#but fuck i’m so glad to be alive to see such genuine masterpieces come to fruition

[spark1edog]

oh also partner and i watched across the spiderverse finally

[ratnco]

How to Kill a Great Film in 2021

Good Films die every day in Hollywood. Contracts are written and thrown away, writers can be hired and fired as fast as old drafts can be thrown away and rewrites can be made days before production. And when that doesn’t stop a project from being a success, Producers can cut funding at the second to final lap around the track, locations can change, or in more recent cases, the entire world can change. 

But let’s pretend this pandemic isn’t currently still in effect and fast forward to 2023, when cinemas are open again (sadly not for the Cinerama Dome) and a new movie is released once a week and regardless of how much we enjoy it, we get to talk about it. In this fantasy land, let’s talk about the 5 ways you can kill a good movie before, while, or after Production…

Relationship between Director and Producer

Whenever the release of a certain cut of a film that isn’t what the Director intended on releasing makes its way to Theatres, the thing that comes to most people’s minds is ‘Studio Interference’. If you’re an aspiring filmmaker, writer or just a fan of Cinema in general, you’ve heard all of your favourite Filmmakers talk about how much they hate their Producers, you hear horror stories about the un creative old rich man trying to be creative, forcing their bad ideas onto a project and thinking they have creative control because they’re funding it. And a lot of those stories are true, but is that really all? Are Studios really that mean? Even so, there was still a moment where the Producer sat down with the Director and said ‘I like your project, let’s make it.’ So they can’t be that terrible. 

The truth to this problem lies at that meeting. Whatever the problem is that the studio, Director or Crew will find themselves knee deep in down the road, its source will be born on the desk where that meeting takes place. The Producer may have bad, unoriginal ideas and is just out to make bank on your project, and you may be an unknown indie-filmmaker just trying to find an outlet for your talented voice, but as different as these two forces are, they need each other to survive. A Producer needs a film to be successful in every theatre in the country in order to keep their business alive, and the Filmmaker needs to successfully capture their vision onto screen so they can share it with audiences around the globe, and that won’t happen without Studio Funding, and the Film won’t be made without a Filmmaker. 

So what happens if you don’t get along, if the Producer changes their mind on the casting for the main character, or the third act of the script? Do you just say ‘Yes’ or ‘Fuck off!’? It’s up to the Filmmaker, but either answer won’t produce a good Film. 

Another thing you’ll probably find in common with any Director whose movies have suffered a great deal of box office failure to what they claim is Studio interference, is that they hate producers, they say mean things about them during interviews and they establish bad relationships with Hollywood, and more often than not, their line up of upcoming projects grows thinner and thinner as the years go by. 

A Filmmaker shouldn’t be surprised when they have a hard time getting their films made when this is how they treat the people funding them. As attached as you are to the movie you’re making, getting your film properly released involves your key role in a game that must be played, and played extremely well. If you have a disagreement with somebody, is the most wise next step to scream in their face? No. If you’d like somebody to see your point of view, it’s done only by a genuine back and forth dialogue, allowing both parties to level with one another, acknowledging each other’s perspectives and reaching a common goal they can both agree on. 

A Filmmaker can still receive these requests and still say no and still have a great relationship with their Producers, it all comes down to the trust you establish with your collaborators, and yes, they are collaborators. 

Not Getting Final Cut

Reason number two is exclusively caused by reason number 1; Getting the Final Cut for your film means that you alone have creative control over what the version of the movie you’ll one day be showing to audiences will look like. If you’re passionate about how you're going to eventually show your story to an audience, this is pretty important, as failure to do so will result in a version of your film reaching audiences that you did not play much of a role in. 

Nobody wants somebody to take something they’ve made and turn it into something else entirely. If you’d like to see a prime example of this, watch Natural Born Killers. One of the most talked about Tarantino films isn’t even really a Tarantino film. ‘You don’t fuck with my material’, Quentin Tarantino told Oliver Stone when handing over his original script, to which Oliver and his team responded by taking his characters and plot and flipping it on its head, creating a new film that doesn’t even come close to resembling what Tarantino originally wrote, to which Tarantino responded by requesting his name be taken off of the writer’s credits.

How the Director Controls a Set. 

When a Film is made, hundreds of people are involved other than the Filmmakers, Producers and their cast, there’s also a massive crew who must be considered. If you’re a Director, all of these people are working for you, which means you’re also responsible for feeding them, managing how fast or how slow they work, and their overall mindsets while making a movie and if you at any point assume that these decisions play a key role in the result of the final product, just walk into any retail store and see what happens when a Staff is treated poorly by its managers. 

I’m glad I brought up Quentin Tarantino, because the Writer/Director has a very interesting rule on all of his sets: No Cellphones. At the door of a Tarantino set, a ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ will retrieve your device and give it back to you at the end of the day or in case of emergency. On Top of that, there are speakers planted on set, blasting music, chosen by Tarantino for the cast and crew to listen to while working. What results is a very chatty cast and crew, forced to engage each other in between takes or set ups, rehearsing lines and enjoying and embracing the atmosphere rather than trying to escape it. QT also has another very interesting rule: No Sleeping. But breaking this rule won’t result in death, only something worse… Floating around the internet is a photo of Brad Pitt and other Cast members of past Tarantino Films with a giant purple Dildo held against their sleeping faces on set. Morale is key. 

Marketing

When shooting's wrapped, editing is almost complete, and everyone involved is very excited and thrilled that the release of their movie has met and maybe even exceeded expectations, now it’s time to release it. But to make sure that goes smoothly, you’ll need to advertise it so that people will know about it. 

Which means it’s time to make your trailer. Making a trailer involves just as much writing as the birth of the Final Draft of your Screenplay.. The Filmmaker has a chance here to control how the future audience of their movie will perceive their story, how they absorb it and how they will use that information to make a decision on whether or not they’ll leave their house to go see it. 

Here’s another place where studio interference may come into play. Say you’ve got a 3 hour long Western Drama that you’re trying to advertise, but the studio says that since this is a slightly more niche genre of cinema, and given the runtime it would be more wise to make the trailer feel rather fast paced and action packed, containing loud and fast music and sounds of gunshots and screaming! That way when people at home view it, they’ll feel excited, their hearts are racing because you've tapped into a very common human emotion that everybody on the planet could respond to: excitement. 

Sure, this approach may sell a lot of seats on opening night, but what will the rest of opening weekend look like? Chances are, pretty blique. Because your Western Drama may indeed be a beautifully executed masterpiece filled with tension and tear jerkers, but the problem you’ll now face is that all of the people who went to see your movie left their houses because they’re big fans of high octane action films and that’s exactly what they were expecting when they came to see your movie. But that’s not what they got, so now they’re upset. 

One thing that a lot of Producers today won’t admit is that a Film may not be for everybody, and that’s okay. Because rather than marketing to a broad selection of people who may or may not like your movie, your Audience will do a better job at championing your Film if you chose to only Market to the people who will want to go see it. Even if these numbers are fewer, if those people really enjoy your movie, they’ll do the rest of the marketing for you, which will get you an even bigger fanbase, which can maybe even turn into a cult following. The long term success of what you release will have a major effect on your ability to control future releases. The battles you fight now will win you the war of your career as a filmmaker. 

As frustrating, controlling and sometimes crazy Hollywood can be to its Talent, at the end of the day, it's only an outlet for voices looking to speak out, it’s a malleable mechanism used by all of us, and without us it wouldn’t survive and vise versa, so we coexist. Any Film can be a great Film, but aspiring talent may not like to hear that talent will only put words on a page or a subject in frame, the true impact of what you create comes down to something as simple as knowing how to talk to people who aren’t like you, a method also referred to as ‘empathy.’ 

By Ezra Crittenden

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2010s: 85 - 81

85. Norma John - “Blackbird” Finland 2017

[2017 Review here]

What a beautiful gothic swansong. ❤ Man, I don’t even need to tell you how robbed “Blackbird” really was. The song is (Edgar Allan) Poetry come to life. Leena delivers a gorgeous, haunting, ethereal voice that sends leaves me stunned in silence. It’s not my type of Eurovision song, at all, but it’s one of the best in its genre.

Of course, what bloats Norma John’s ranking even further is that they are also ROBBED NQ ANGELS. I have already liberally spoken about the baffling decisions made by the 2017 SF1 juries, but Jesus-fucking-Christ on a bike:  Tamara = musical torture + a *FAILED* a cape throw: 62 points!!! Martina = endless jazz tedium + hideous yellow & purple lights: 81 points!!! Norma John = a time-transcending loss ballad + perfect vocal delivery: ...41 points??? . . . The ubiquitous bullying of Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest DISGUSTS ME and I’ll continue opposing it by giving their entries the spotlight they DESERVE! 🤗

________________________________________________________________

84. Molly Sterling - “Playing with numbers” Ireland 2015

Yet another robbed NQ angel. 😭 The one time I love an Irish entry and it gets christerigged out of the finales. LeSigh. “Playing with numbers” holds a special place in my heart because it’s the 1 ~great~ Irish entry we’re getting every decade. Seriously, I... should totally keep my anti-Ireland rants for the addendum since this update is Ireland’s funeral, but honestly, is “THEY FUCKING SUCK!!!” really that much of a spoiler? Seven victories my ass. 🙄 

Anyway, back to Molly. It’s a similar deal to Joan Franka and Norma John to me: “Playing with numbers” feels like a genuine song by an earnest singer, telling a real story, and I’m INVESTED in their life, happiness and success.

However, two more things set “Playing with numbers” apart for me. One, Molly is an INTROVERTED INDIE GIRL 😍, which is one of my favourite Eurovision tropes (e.g.: Ieva, Blanche, Michela, Tinkara, Francesca, all of whom are still alive in this ranking). Two, Molly takes the pleasant-sounding but otherwise insipid sentimentality often found in Irish entries and turns it into a fresh, root-worthy experience. Which is impressive considering how generally indifferent I am to the Irish sound. And now for the seamless transition into this:

Was this Ireland’s worst decade? I am not sure, actually. Ireland is one of my least favourite eurovision countries in general, but the worst Irish decade between the 2000s and this one. The 2000s had a higher high (”ET CETERA”  😍), but also three of the worst entries of ALL TIME (Millennium of Love, Dervish and D*st*n th* T*rk*y), so they were probably worse. Regardless, with 80% of the entries being bad or boring, Ireland is EASILY my least favourite country in this decade (though in my ranking they mathematically outrank Croatia, proving once and for all that maths is a total waste of time [in rankings]). With their tendency to qualify in mostly weak years (2013 excepted), Europe tends to agree. Hopefully they can capitalize on the KEiiNO craze by sending an ethnobanger in 2020, but watch them try to flimsily copy “Proud” and flop. 🙄

________________________________________________________________

83. Luca Hänni - “She got me” Switzerland 2019

After Eleni had set the world ~en fuego~ last year, the least one could expect was a slew of trashy reggaetons that paid tribute at her altar to slayage. Of the many pretenders, Luca was by far the most faithful adaptation. “She got me” is literally (literally literally) genderswapped “Fuego”. ��

However, because there already was a precendent for me to like here, I found it generally easier to get into Luca than Eleni. Fortunately, I also managed to appreciate Luca for Luca. I expected him to be a meatheaded oaf and was ready to roll my eyes at his fukboi’esque stupidity. Thank fuck I was wrong, because, a of all the dumb jock of the year was in fact Chingiz (again, this man celebrates via flexing) and b of all Luca proved himself a hyperactive bromosexual spazz with NO attention span whatsoever. 😍 OBSERVE his hilariously clunky ~DiRtYdAnCinN~

Luca also provided the #1 Interview Moment of 2019 (not featuring Godper Santl), which was this hilariously awkward exchange with an Icelandic reporter on Hatari’s payroll who asks him whether his song is about the oppression of women (0:76), after which Luca SUDDENLY has to “go to the toilet” (aka ask permission)

Later, the same reporter then calls his song a Hegelian dialectic (02:24) and Luca’s  reaction can only be described as ‘experiencing a human bluescreen of death’, after which he’s swiftly whisked away by a handler. 😍 

and the Swiss HoD has to step in (Actual quote: “It’s the accent, he cannot understand you right” 😍) and take over and it turns into deepest discussion about feminism. 😍 while Luca obliviously spazzes out in the background as his memory chip is updated <3

All of this was more than enough to endear me to Luca AND pull “She got me” into the Love zone, exactly like Eleni did a year ago. However, when you have to rate a great entry that borrows everything from another great entry...

________________________________________________________________

82. Eleni Foureira - “Fuego” Cyprus 2018

[2018 Review here]

...it is important to remember that the original is always better. And yes, Eleni and Luca are just two sides of the same genderflipped coin and you won’t convince me otherwise:

Both are infectuous reggaetons with a playfully flirtatious undertone, Both are trashfests with hilarious lyrics (”When she go low / She go solo” is the new “You got my pelican fly-fly-flying”)  Both feature even more hilarious attempts at “singing” Both were the poulains of Sacha Jean-Baptiste, carried into top five because they’re ~worth it~ [/l’oréal] Both convinced jurors of their worth, despite being (g)utter trash.😍🤭

However, I prefer Eleni for several reasons. Firstly, yes she is the original ~mediterrenean trashpop diva~ entry and none of the copycats improved on her formula (well, Michela did but “Chameleon” has outgrown its “Fuego Clone” label, more on that when I get to her in a few updates). 

Secondly, um, Eleni is a f’cking goddess?

What a hair-flippingly gracious force of FIERCE. 😍 I’m glad she got to return this year for the epic Song Switch interval act: Spamming gifs here since I am currently out of embedding credit: 

What a star. I am BALD and STRAIGHT!! Her rank is limited by the fact that I still am not ~Fully In Love~ with her song, but more than anything Eleni proved herself as an indisputed performance queen and I cannot wait to see her cameos in the future editions yet to come.

_______________________________________________________________

81. The Common Linnets - “Calm after the storm” The Netherlands 2014

Lmao I forgot it took like 46 seconds to get to the song because of Basim’s giant banner <3

Anyway, Common Linnets, Common Linnets :snaps fingers: 🤔 what is there to write that hasn’t been said or written many times, by people more passionate about them than I am? Well, I love that Ilse and Waylon rolled with an authentic country song instead of the baseborn country pop the Netherlands is famous for. (Check this Walzing Matilda sound-a-like out, courtesy of ms. DeLange). The Linnets have stellar chemistry, especially for two people who can’t stand each other irl:

The act is a cinematic masterpiece, framed beautifully by Hans Pancake’s critically acclaimed motion-picture-like style. It transforms “Calm after the storm” into an oasis of tranquility, which still holds up to this very day. 

So, overall, I would say “Calm after the storm” is a pretty great entry. It’s a well-composed song, lacking in campness, avoiding incompetence, not requiring mind-blowing artistry or loud-as-fuck circus gimmicks to reach it’s full potential. It is competent and well-produced. The perfect entry for anyone who watches Eurovision for the music. 

However, um... I am not one those people. I love trashy pseudo-ethnic schlager bangers.I love underappreciated indie darling. I love the staging circus of Eurovision. I love personality quirks and unprofessionalism. I LOVE shit like Gasper Santl calling out bad journalism in front of the assembled press or Al Bano walking on the 76 stage and INSTANTLY forgetting his lyrics. Eurovision is made perfect by its imperfections.

So for ~me personally~ "Calm after the storm” doesn’t offer me enough, and we’re close to entering the endgame of this ranking. You need to step up your game, because at this point, having a great song will no longer be good enough to avoid the cut.

[adonis-koo]

HII!! ((submitting a post because i really don’t think just sending an ask is gonna TAKE IT ALL)) HOW YOU FELLIN? hope you’re fine :)

so, i went away a little because i had all kind of tests coming up this week (even on weekends fUCK i hate my school) and i come back for your masterpiece a.k.a tease ch.7 and it was really cool to exchange the exhaustion for still-exhausted-and-sleepy-but-genuinely-enjoying-the-reading, yeah… so thank you for that

why won’t hanjae go away and leave my babe alone?? kinda glad that jungkook was there to knock him off OC but still very pissed at hanjae’s aggressive behavior and that he had to have another man coming up (and beat him) to leave her alone- what we got from that we all arealdy knew but still i’m gonna say it: men ain’t shit.

ok so the scene with jimin and OC?? where did that come from? LMFAO IM SHOCKED AS HELL and then jk appeared and i was like: OOPS BITCH LOST YOUR CHANCE JIMIN HAS HER IN HIS LAP, i knew you said something about their interactions but still!! i was very shocked and enjoying those drunk hoes way to much, drunk oc is hilarious to read (and i relate to her very much), got a little mad at jk later because he said she gave him blue balls and left?? when the girl was almost drooling on his thighs but i still get it tho, if i was with a girl who has the same behavior as oc i wouldn’t want to our first time being with her drunk either because i know she would care

least but not least important, IM SO GLAD NAMJOON WAS FINE i mean he has an injured leg BUT he’s alive and (apparently) fine wich is great cause’ did you know that many people loose their movements in legs for silly things?? so yea i was kinda worried but let’s look on the bright side: a. we don’t need to get into the routine of all the strippers to know that they don’t have enough rest, so this is an opportunity for him to go all “netflix and chil” (or “prime vídeo and chill”- honestly netflix not worth at all with their recent shows and movies and it’s not very cheap either but aNYWAY) THE SIDE PROBLEM THOUGH IS IF HE’S GONNA BE ABLE TO MAKE IT like those people who can’t stay too long without doing anything (can’t relate but oh well) b.this is also a new opportunity for oc!!! i know she must be nervous and all but it was really nice of namjoon to trust her with this and i also hope everyone’s on their circle is gonna be supportive of her

YEAH SO OKAY THIS WAS LONG AND YOUR HEAD MIGHT HURT FROM HAVING TO READ TOO MUCH BUT I HAD TO SAY ALL THAT ok??again gonna remind you that you’re a great writer and all that because it’s great to tell those things to people (and because truly, you are) and i hope you’re happy and feeling okay!! byeee

~~~~

alkjdlkjdiqdaw i keep reading this over and over the past few days just !! smiling like an idiot ! ty so much for reading even tho you were HELLA tired and probably was ready to pass out !!! :) and I am doing well! Staying hydrated and eating some yummy food! :)

Hanjae is....definitely a piece of work,  he a lil lowkey obsessed with MC at this point, then again, when you’re used to someones completely and undivided attention, and then it’s suddenly stopped, obivously you’re gonna be hurt even if you don’t like them that much romantically. It’s not an excuse, it’s actually a really shitty excuse and doesn’t quite explain his, mmm lil crazy behavior but :(( atleast she had JK there who aint afraid to beat the shit out of him if Hanjae goes too far. 

jk be like: aite imma head out (with mc bc fuck you) HAHAHAHA petty boy will be petty. Jimin is like, that hoe friend that constantly jokes about fucking you but like, after joking about it so long you can’t help but be like ‘ uhhh chief you fr?” HAHAHAAHA he’s the lowkey sleazy friend that would eat the soul from your pussy then act like yall just woke up from a slumber party afterwards. 

Jungkook is also, a big big big tease, he likes to edge and play with MC constantly just to hear her whine before he leaves. I think, if MC was actually down to fuck he’d probably whip is dick out at the speed of light fr, but both you and he knows that she would probably be lowkey upset if he let her do it while she was drunk or hungover. She’d ultimately be okay because it’s Jungkook, someone she is very close to and trusts deeply but like, still upsetting y’know?

Namjoon bb :(( he is very much okay! But even a hairline fracture still HAS to hurt yuck!! I think he’ll be okay ultimately and given he’s a soloist it isn’t likely he’ll be fired buuut 6-8 weeks is a long time. Mayhaps a good opportunity for MC tho...WE JUST GONNA HAVE TO SEE HELL YE she’s definitely nervous! No doubt but next chapter...HMM she snaps a lil ngl and not in a... ummm good way :)

[alongtimeagoinablogfarfaraway]

Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2017

#1- This album starts with a track titled Down and it is everything that represents a calm before the storm. It is smooth and reminds us all that the two geniuses behind Run The Jewels are back. Then track #2-6 happens and our ear drums don’t have a second to calm down or recover from what happens next. I wasn’t sure if Killer Mike and El-P could top RTJ2 AND BOY WAS I STUPID TO THINK SO. I think it’s safe to say this is my favorite Run the Jewels album and if you know me that’s saying A LOT. Track #4 Call Ticketron is undeniably in contention for my favorite song of the year…or possibly the track before it Legend has it. Once I listened to this album I was sure there was nothing that would even come close to entertaining me and making me as happy as this album did listening to it. As with its two previous predecessors, Run The Jewels 3 continues to make you automatically transition from any mood into a crazy “I want to smash walls and conquer the world” kind of mood. These two play-off of each other so well and having seen them live this year I can honestly say it may be the most genuine and true rap duo out there right now. This album is pure GOLD as it would seem the hands depict on the cover. Maybe they knew they were making the epic conclusion to this history making album trilogy that have become tied for my favorite rap albums of all time. And just for those saying this came out in 2016, the physical copy dropped in stores January 2017, so shut it.

#2- The fact that this album and RTJ3 came out in the same year makes this one of the best years of releases I can remember in recent history. These two albums cannot be touched and this is by far my favorite Kendrick album since his masterpiece GKMC. DNA may be one of my favorite tracks ever and if your mood doesn’t automatically change as soon as that song comes on then there’s something wrong with you. It’s amazing to say that I am alive to witness the greatness that is Kendrick Lamar and how he just continues to demolish anyone else out there trying to be the best. He is the best and has been and after this album it’s once again proof how close no one is to him. I mean what more can you say other than Kendrick Lamar has done it once again. I mean the album was so liked that it was re released in backwards order because that’s how he said it was really supposed to be listened to. Only Kendrick could do such things. We are witnessing one of the greatest and in an age where so many are losing their likability for me and should stop (Eminem), this is refreshing. 

#3-  I was not a fan of the song Bounce Back or Moves when I heard them prior to this album releasing. That had me worried about this album. Not sure why I still doubt Big Sean so much because now his last two albums have landed at the #3 and #4 spotson my top ten lists, which is pretty damn good. Now, when listening to the album I don’t mind the two songs previously mentioned. They fit well within the album but I honestly still am not a fan of listening to them solo (I know I’m weird). Bigger than me is this album’s One man can change the world but honestly I think it’s even better. It’s such a great song and so is Jump out the window and Halfway off the balcony and I guess I could go on and on. This album surprised me because Sean’s previous album was by far his best and my favorite. After listening to this I can honestly say I may like I Decided just as much and unlike most artists these days, Big Sean seems to keep getting better with his albums and I will never doubt him again unless he makes another extremely underwhelming album like Hall of Fame again but I don’t see that happening after the last two great albums he’s released. Sean’s one of the best and still underrated rappers in my opinion but he’s definitely in my top ten of favorite rappers these days and this album showed me why and that’s why it’s all the way up at #3.

#4- CONGRATULATIONS to the 2017 Stay Trippy Award Winner. You should know what this means whether you know me or have read my previous post. Before last year I had never really listened to Dave East at all so my first real listening experience of him landed him at the #4 spot with his debut album. Impressive. And also more than deserving of the Stay Trippy Award. I first really noticed Dave East off the song Olympian from the album that happens to be up next on this list. I loved what I heard and decided to go see if there was some music of his that I could listen to and sure enough his new album had come out, which was perfect. I was very impressed and am looking forward to listening to much more of Dave East. From a song like Phone Jumpin, which is a high volume type song I love to Maneuver, which is a little more low key, Dave East is already a rapper I can say I like a lot because he well….raps. These days with the way this music is evolving and changing and becoming it’s getting hard to discover true genuine rappers like this. Instead we’ve got the Playboi Cartis of the world who quite honestly just suck, don’t even try saying they don’t.  Anyways, quite a debut for Dave East as he comes in at #4 in his first appearance on one of my top 10 lists. 

#5-This would have been the Stay Trippy Award winner but everyone knows how obsessed I am with A$AP Mob and all it’s eccentric members. A$AP Ferg is no exception and while his first album had some awesome hits, he really has never delivered at the album level for me. I expected this album to be no different. There are a lot of features on this album, which is usually a component of most A$AP albums but they all worked great like Dave East on Olympian or Cam’ron (who I did not see coming at all) on Rubber Band Man. The ultimate BANGERS on this album include Mad Man, Nasty, The Mattress (a song about fucking on a mattress and other kinds of stuff, only on an A$AP album), and East Coast Remix. I didn’t anticipate this album even making my top 10 let alone to come in at #5 but this album is the Ferg album I’ve been waiting for and I feel like what everyone else should have been waiting for if they are a fan of him. That’s’ really what it came down to with this album and I found myself listening to it more than most albums this year, which is why it was up so high on my list.

#6- This album came out later in the year without warning…sorry had to do it, and I’m glad it did because it’s pretty much all I listened to for the weeks following its release. The first two songs of the album are Ghostface Killas and Rap Saved Me and they are two of my favorite songs of the year. The combination of Metro Boomin and 21 Savage had become hit or miss for me. Their debut project Savage Mode I loved but Issa Album really didn’t do it for me. The fact that Offset (my favorite Migos member) was also a joint artist on the album made me enjoy it that much more. This is what you would expect from a Metro Boomin, 21 Savage and Offset album and that’s always a good thing to me. I listened to this album probably the most or close to the most for the last two months or so of the year. This was a fun album, had its bangers on it (sorry for using that word a lot but I do love songs with good beats and that are noisy) and definitely surprised me at how much I ended up liking it because I’m honestly not the biggest 21 Savage advocate but on an album like this I don’t mind him and am a fan of his music and hooks. 

#7- Oh Logic. He’s probably in my top 5 for favorite artists right now. His last album The Incredible True Story is still my favorite but if you’re looking for an album where someone is trying to send a message than look no further than Logic’s Everybody. Racial discrimination and civil rights issues are becoming more prevalent than ever once again and whether it’s a guest montage from the amazing Killer Mike or the many many claims that he isn’t ashamed to be black and white, this album is a movement and it’s a movement towards trying to make the world a better place. While this album wasn’t everything I hoped it would be you cannot deny appreciating the powerful message that Logic depicts and as I listened to it more and more I began to realize how great this album really is. Logic does not shy away from his feelings about race and the problems in the world right now and it’s one of the greatest displays of that from an artist on an album that I’ve seen recently. A great album with an even greater message, which is why there was never a doubt whether this would or would not crack the top ten. I mean c’mon, whats better than having a song called Black Spider-Man on your album? And it’s a fucking awesome song.

#8- My girlfriend Alexis wouldn’t stop telling me to listen to Khalid. If I didn’t credit her for my listening to this album she probably would take my head off (She actually just texted me saying “I better get a shout out”). Now not only did I enjoy this album but it was also the official Stay Trippy Award runner up. American Teen, Young, Dumb & Broke, Another Sad Love Song and 8Teen are some of my favorites off this album but the album as a whole from top to bottom is great and it just gives off the feel that the title of the album looks to embody. Let me just say that I do still hate the song Location. I wish that song wasn’t on the album but it’s whatever because I enjoy every other song very much. After listening to this album I’m very excited to see what we get next from Khalid and if I will like his next album as much as I liked his debut one. One of my favorite things every year is trying to discover new artists and finding new music and albums to listen to. This was one of my favorite examples of that happening last year and with all that being said it had to make it into my top ten list. 

#9-  Now because of how much I love A$AP some might think this is another interesting pick for my top ten but to be honest on a weaker year this may have made it much higher up on my list. What held this back from being higher up on my list was that is that while it was an impressive debut effort from one of my favorites A$AP Twelvyy, it wasn’t anything that stood out as exceptional. To be honest this album did meet my expectations and in some ways exceeded them. It has the feels of an A$AP album between the typical skits or fellow appearances from the other mob members, Twelvyy does a good job of establishing himself as a good artist. However there are many songs that depend upon some heavy features like one of my favorite tracks A Glorious Death featuring the Flatbush Zombies. There are also a couple songs here and there I found myself not too fond of, which is another reason this album ended up towards the back end of my top ten list.

#10- Last time Jay-Z released an album was in 2013 and it was Magna Carta Holy Grail. The album really wasn’t anything memorable and that hurts saying that considering we’re talking about one of the greats Jay-Z. Perhaps that was the beginning of the end. 4:44 definitely proves otherwise. Now I feel like a lot of people may be wondering why this is all the way back at #10 barely making it into the top ten. This album is great and definitely has some great songs, I mean it starts off with great back to back tracks in Kill Jay-Z and The Story of O.J. Everyone was so awed by this album going “OMG Jay-Z admitted to cheating on Beyonce”. I mean he admitted he did something wrong and while that seems to have gotten the album a lot of its initial attention, I think people began to realize the heart and soul Jay-Z sort of lets out in this album. While this wasn’t an album I listened to nonstop throughout the year there’s no denying it was one of the ten best rap/hip-hop albums to come out in the year 2017. 

2017 had A LOT of music come out from many of my favorite artists. It was honestly one of my favorite years for music but there were still come anticipated albums that did not come out that has me looking extremely forward to 2018. Let me finish by giving my top 5 most anticipated albums for 2018 as of this moment. 

1- SremmLife 3

2- Untitled A$AP Rocky album 

3- King Push (But I’m pretty sure this is the new Life of Pablo that will take years to come out because he’s already said it’s coming out two years in a row) 

4- AstroWorld

5- Untitled Schoolboy Q album 

[i-love-my-exhoes]

Nascency (chapter 1)

Pairing: EXO x reader

Genre: fantasy!au

Wordcount: 3.6k

Prologue/ Chapter 2/ Chapter 3/

You felt like you were flying, never in your life had you ran this fast. You had thrown own your clothes, made a quick ponytail, skipped breakfast and ran out the door. Now you were sprinting to make it in time, and the world around you seemed to blur a little bit. You blamed it on your focus on being in time.

You were almost there when all of a sudden you saw something approach you from the corner of your eye. It was a figure covered in darkness. But you didn’t stop to see, you were late for your job after all so ain’t nobody got time for dah.

You did notice that the figure stopped to watch you, but you didn’t care. You kept running until you were in front of the tall building. It was huge and it was brilliantly made, an architectural masterpiece that should have taken years to build but somehow only ended up taking 3 months.

You checked your watch and your eyes widened, you had actually made it. But not just that, you were 3 minutes early.

‘is my clock showing the wrong time then?’ you mumbled to yourself questioningly. You couldn’t possibly have run the 10-minute walk in under 2 minutes. You shrugged it off though because it wouldn’t be the first time you got the time wrong, and you had somewhere to be.

You walked into the magnificent building and quickly passed the marble countertop of the reception. The receptionist smiled at you, she probably recognized you from last time. You went into the elevator and pressed the button to the top floor (it was Mr. Huang’s floor). The elevator shot up at an amazing speed, and you wondered whether it was trying to shoot you straight into the sky. You clenched your eyes shut. You never liked elevator rides, they made you nauseous.

The elevator doors opened and you opened your eyes, hoping no one had seen you close your eyes. To your relief, no one was around when you left the elevator. You knew Mr. Huang was around here somewhere, but you had been told he never really kept to one office but rather just walked around on his floor.

‘Are you my assistant?’ someone spoke from behind you, startling you in the progress. you jumped slightly but quickly turned towards the owner of the voice. Before you stood a beautiful man that was well dressed and snickering at you for getting started.

‘Oh my god, I actually scared you. I have never seen any-’ he burst out laughing halfway through his sentence. You pouted at him, he was making fun of you.

‘No’ he whined ‘don’t go pouting now, I didn’t mean anything by it!’ he was obviously easily winded up.

‘Yes’ you said. He looked at you in confusion. ‘Yes, I am (Y/N), your new assistant. Well, that is assuming that you are Mr. Huang’ you clarified, raising your eyebrow at your last statement.

The man let out another laugh ‘good thing it’s you, you seem awesome enough to keep me entertained’. He looked you up and down before smirking. ‘But sweety, what are you wearing? You look so, plain’.

You looked down at what you were wearing and he was right, you were wearing the plainest clothes you owned. ‘I’m sorry, I thought my good looks would make up for that’ you excused. 

‘Sweety no one in this world has looks good enough to wear dull clothes’ He told you, smirking once again. ‘Maybe you should try out some Gucci? It would suit you’ His eyes started glowing when he talked about Gucci but you blamed it to the light that shone on his eyes through one of the many windows.

‘Why not your own brand though? Shouldn’t you think your brand is better than Gucci?’ I questioned him. ‘Please, I’ve accepted Gucci will always be better than me years ago. Gucci is my main inspiration nowadays’ he explained.

You really liked your boss, he seemed like a nice person and he was fun to talk to.

‘You should call me Tao, by the way, I don’t like it when people call me Mr. Huang. I’ll feel old’ he smiled at you genuinely. ‘Also, I’m glad you weren’t late, I already have way too much time to wait for people’ His eyes seemed to glaze over as he said this. But he recovered quickly ‘But sweety as much as I already like you, I ain’t paying you to stand around and talk. So let’s get you started, shall we?’.

Your workday seemed to pass by slowly like time was going slower than it really was. But you didn’t mind, you liked your new job and you enjoyed working with Tao. You were a bit surprised that your work time was over the exact second that you actually finished your work. This satisfied you though because it meant that you were efficiënt.

You were walking back home now, enjoying the last warm beams of sunlight the sun shot at you before going down. The sun went down fast though and you were only halfway home when it did. 

Normally you wouldn’t have minded, you liked the night and the streetlights gave you enough light to not freak out. But for some reason none of the lights turned on in the street you were walking through. And as if that wasn’t suspicious enough you could see the end of the long street and the next street did have light.

You sped up. Maybe this was just a malfunction? If you could just make it to the next street everything would be normal again. And I mean what could go wrong? it was only 60 meters at most. definitely not enough time to get murdered, right?

doubt struck your mind as anxiousness tore through you, your body moving before your brain could even think about it and suddenly you were sprinting down the sidewalk once again. Only a few meters left now but you didn’t slow down, you really didn’t want to get killed at the edge of the light. That would be too much of a bummer.

right before you reached the corner something slammed into you, and suddenly there was a burst of light throughout the entire street. It came along with a roar and when you looked into the direction it came from you saw a tall figure standing in between two huge ass flaming wings. ‘YOU PIECE OF SHIT BETTER STOP RUNNING NOW’ The figure growled in a deep voice.

what the in actual fuck was happening? suddenly you felt yourself hoping the man had just stuffed some fireworks into his pockets and had let them explode, but you knew that wasn’t what had happened. Deep down you felt like all of this was familiar. But all you could really think of now was how fast those flames would end your life (according to your own completely made up calculations, that would be instantly).

‘CHANYEOL STOP, WE ARE FRIENDS!’ another voice shouted from right next to you. You gasped and turned around, you had forgotten about the thing (person apparently) that had slammed into you. On the floor was a gorgeous man with tan skin and soft looking lips, you were sure that if you had been in a different situation you would have stared at this man. But now as his gaze fell on you and his eyes widened, all you could do was suppress a scream and try to run away.

You had taken three steps away from the man on the floor (obviously running away from “Chanyeol” the terrifying pyromaniac as well) when the air in front of you rippled, you swear you could see an entirely different world in those ripples before they disappeared. And then the tan man from before was in front of you, he came out of nowhere and was exactly where the ripples were a split second earlier.

This time you were the one that slammed into the man, simply because you didn’t have the time to stop. You ran straight into his chest and for a second you were sure the both of you would fall to the floor and get burned to ashes by the pyro that was now charging at the both of you with a crazy look in his eyes, so you squeezed your eyes shut. You never felt your body hit the floor, but you didn’t open your eyes. Because not falling didn’t matter, if you were being held you couldn’t run and that meant incineration.

Nothing happened for another second until you felt something move, making you whimper softly. ‘I’m sorry, are you okay?’ The voice belonging to the man that had held you spoke to you making you realize that not only were you still alive but also that he was still holding you. You slowly opened your eyes and immediately you were met with the handsome face of the stranger that had almost gotten you killed.

‘Oh thank god, you are alright. For a second I thought you may have gotten hurt there’ he spoke, showing you a dazzling smile that somehow set you at ease. ‘I went ahead and got us out of there because Chanyeol can get destructive when he’s mad. We’re in a warehouse in your town right now, if you were wondering’ Another smile that made you feel slightly lightheaded was shot your way.

But his words got through to you, and they were right. When you looked around, you realized you were in a warehouse that was across from town from the place you two were seconds earlier.

‘H-how?’ you stuttered out weakly. ‘HOW THE FUCK IS ALL OF THIS WEIRD SHIT HAPPENING? YOU AND YOUR PSYCHO FRIEND CAME FROM OUT OF NOWHERE EARLIER! THEN HE ALMOST KILLED US WHEN HE BURST OUT INTO FUCKING FLAMES, WHICH HE DIDN’T EVEN DIE FROM! AND NOW WE MOVED ACROSS THE ENTIRE CITY WITHIN A FEW SECONDS?! AM I GETTING PUNK’D OR SOMETHING?!’ Your voice sounded hollow throughout the empty warehouse. you wiggled out of the mans grasp.

He was silent for a second but then he burst out laughing. ‘Sorry, I get that you’re scared but it’s just your choice of words was so funny’ he continued to laugh for a few seconds and his laugh was surprisingly cute. He started calming down again. ‘sorry, but when I first bumped into you I thought you were one of us. Your aura is way different from what humans usually have.’

he was freaking you out even more now, was he really comparing you to them? the guys that just popped out of nowhere and literally used super powers? If you hadn’t seen him use his powers you would have thought he was messing with you.

‘But now you know’he mumbled it and frowned. ‘I’m sorry, but I think you’ll have to come with me for now. I promise I’ll explain everything to you though! Because I guess you’re caught in this mess now too’ he whispered the last part guiltily.

He reached out to grab your arm again but you moved away from him, last time he held you in his arms he took you across town, this time he might take you farther and you were honestly not in the mood to get kidnapped.

‘No, get away from me!’ you said as he reached out again. ‘You can’t just say that I’ll need to go with you! that is not how things work, I’m not going anywhere with a stranger, especially not when that stranger almost got me killed a minute earlier!’.

He sighed deeply as if he wasn’t surprised but had hoped for you to react differently. ‘Well then, My name is Jongin but please call me Kai’ he introduced himself.

‘what are you doing?’ You questioned his strange actions and change of mood. 

He shot you another smile in return as he replied ‘I’m introducing myself, you should too’.

you knew where he was going with this, really anyone and their mother could see where he was going with this. But for some reason, maybe it was the mental exhaustion due to all the terrors you had gone through today or maybe because you were dazed because of Kai’s smile, you couldn’t see where he was going with it at that moment.

‘I’m (Y/N)’ You said as you reached to shake his hand that he had been holding out to you. The second you touched his hand, however, you could feel the world around you twist and ripple. Your eyes widened in surprise as you saw what looked like a shadow version of your world. Then the world started to spin around you, literally. The world seemed to move how Kai wanted and before you could really process anything you had just seen you two popped into another place.

‘Sorry for tricking you like that but I had to get us out of there, it wasn’t safe there. But I’ll explain now like I promised!’ Kai let go of your hand and walked through the room. 

It looked like a normal studio apartment but you knew it wasn’t, the swirling darkness you could see out of the window might have been what gave that away though. You also noticed that there wasn’t a door that led outside, so even if you could get away from Kai (who could teleport) you wouldn’t even have the slightest clue on how to get out of his house. 

So you decided to take his offer and let him explain but he insisted to get you comfortable first, you were his guest after all (his words). And so he sat you down on his couch, gave you a blanket (and wrapped you up in it when you refused to do so yourself), went to make you hot cocoa, and finally even tried to feed you fried chicken saying something about it healing your heart.

A ridiculously long time later (Kai was trying so hard to be polite that it was almost rude) you and Kai sat down on his couch both of you wrapped up in a blanket. ‘So, where should I even start?’ he wondered, probably to himself but you answered him.

‘Start with the powers’ This evening you had seen: two fully grown guys just pop into existence right in front of you, one of said fully grown guys lighting himself on fire with his mind and attacking you, the other fully grown guy travelling across a huge city in a second, and then he even brought you to his home (of which you were pretty sure wasn’t even in your world). You definitely wanted to know about the powers first.

He nodded to himself and started talking. ‘all right, so Chanyeol and I are obviously not human but you probably already figured that out’ you nodded and he continued explaining. ‘Well, we’re pretty much from another world. Or more like other worlds, because we didn’t even come from the same world but you know what I mean’ You didn’t.

‘all worlds have different inhabitants with different powers like you saw Chanyeol controlling fire while I can teleport. Even people within the same worlds can have different types of power, a friend of mine for example. He came from forests, that’s one of the worlds by the way, and most people there can grow plants easily or communicate with animals. But this guy can control the freaking ground, he can crack open the ground if he feels like it, that dude is crazy strong’ Kai continued explaining animatedly, he seemed to be enjoying talking about the worlds.

‘So there used to be thirteen worlds, one of which is earth. But three of these worlds were lost in the darkness’ as soon as Kai spoke these words, you seemed to be getting a flashback.You were surrounded by darkness and you were suffocating, you heard someone call out to you and that’s when you returned to Kai’s story. ‘This created tension between the remaining worlds, all the worlds thought at least one of the other worlds had helped the darkness take over. The worlds never really got together before, but since the disappearance, any contact between someone from another world was forbidden’.

‘And here’s where I start explaining about the situation you found me in earlier’ He shot you another million dollar grin. ‘I had a group of friends, we were exceptional, we were from all the different worlds except for earth so there were twelve of us. We met because most of us lived near portals to each other's worlds, and we had been friends for a long time when the first two worlds disappeared simultaneously. It was hard for us all, we had just lost two of our friends but we were still close friends. It was when the third world vanished that the tension reached our group too. People began accusing others and before we knew it we were fighting.’ he looked at you sadly. ‘That’s what you saw earlier, Chanyeol thinks that I’m helping the darkness, along with the rest of my people’.

you didn’t know anything about the situation (apart from what Kai had just told you) but you knew that that must have hurt,  especially since Kai doesn’t seem to be holding a grudge to any of his friends.

‘Personally, I think no one is helping the darkness. None of us have real reasons to but no one believes me when I tell them’ he looked exasperated, this is obviously really getting to the boy (of whom you already knew that he was usually bright and playful). he shook his head a little and continued. ‘You witnessed the first actual fight amongst us, a fight where one of us wants to kill the other. But please don’t think Chanyeol is crazy, he’s just scared, the world closest to the darkness is the world of light and that’s the world Baekyun, his best friend, is from.’. Kai obviously genuinely cared for his friends. Hell, he didn’t want me to think ill of Chanyeol even if he had tried to kill him.

‘So that’s what happened. Basically, Earth is the only place our group can talk to each other anymore and you got screwed by that. And if I were to take you back now, I’m pretty sure Chanyeol’d find you within five minutes cause your aura glows. And he’s a great guy, but he’d do anything for Baek so right now he’s dangerous’ Kai said his face serious and his eyes filled with sadness and hurt.

‘Kai if darkness is our enemy, then why is this house located inside of it?’ you asked the obvious question because it just seemed suspicious.

‘This is a different darkness, we are on my homeworld now.  It’s called Echo, Basically, because the people from there can travel through echo’s of other worlds but these echo’s are dark versions of the worlds. Which is why Echo itself is a dark world too. I think this is why Chanyeol thinks I’m helping the evil darkness’ He finished explaining.

‘Was the shadow world I saw the echo you traveled through?’ It was all starting to make sense now.

Kai looked confused ‘I guess you could call it that, but how did you “see” it? only people from Echo can see the echo’s, that why we’re the only ones who can travel that way’.

He looked like confused almost like he was trying his best to believe you but couldn’t. you decided to prove to him that you did see it by telling him as much as you could remember about the shadow world.

You pictured the world you and Kai had traveled through in your mind but before you could tell him anything the air around you rippled. The last thing you saw before you shot into an echo was Kai’s astonished face.

The echo was moving underneath you like it had done when you traveled with Kai but you didn’t know why, or how, and you feared that you were going to be stuck here forever. Thankfully you didn’t have to fear for that long because after a few seconds of the echo moving around you appeared in your living room.

‘AAAAAAH’ a deep voice shouted from right in front of you. Your reaction, of course, was screaming back right into his face.

after a minute of shouting the both of you got quiet and you took a second to assess the man that had broken into your house. He was freakishly tall, he had a slight bump on his nose but it suited his face and somehow made him even more attractive, he had the cutest ears and his face looked like it had been made for a god.

‘You scared me’ The huge-ass burglar with a voice as deep as the ocean pouted at you, you had to resist the strong urge to laugh.

‘You’re the one that broke into my house, don’t go blaming me for scaring you!’ You replied, there’s no way in hell you’ll let this telephone pole guilt trip you just because he’s cute.

‘I didn’t break in, you weren’t here but I was looking for you so I went in’ He looked like he truly thought that that would make him innocent of burglary, sadly for him, it does not.

‘That’s still breaking in if I don’t know you!’ you probably sounded exasperated by now, because this hot idiot wasn’t getting anything you said. It went straight through his adorable ears.

He grinned mischievously and stuck out his hand. oh no, you were not falling for this again. Kai may have gotten you last time because he caught you off-guard but you were not letting this adorable retard trick you. ‘Hi, I’m Chanyeol’ This?! This was the man from before? The guy Kai had just warned you about? You were so shell-shocked that you shook his hand.

 ‘I’m (Y/N)’.

                                                           Next->

Thank you for reading this.