#i did competitive dance for 10 years and have been dancing since i was 3! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bad268 · 9 months ago

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new req idea but Kimi and reader being “she fell first but he fell harder” trope and reader is also a dancer and there can be a part where reader is practicing and one of her friends is prob in the room prob resting or smth and they catch Kimi (he went to visit her) looking at reader with a lovesick gaze like HES SO IN LOVE WITH HER BYE IM A DANCER ALSO SO

You Are The Reason (Andrea Kimi Antonelli X Dancer! Reader)

Fandom: RPF/F2/F3

Requested: Clearly (As an ex-dancer, I had fun with this <3) (Also, shoutout to @67-angelofthelordme-67 for the spam, you literally gave me the will to knock out three stories lol)

Warnings: None, but friend’s nickname is Peaches in honor of my actual best friend and no I will not elaborate :) Also, the song referenced is You Are The Reason by Calum Scott

POV: Second Person (You/your/She/her)

W.C. 1389

Summary: The Senior Solo (trademark) that changed it all.

As always, my requests are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

~~(^Pinterest)

Dancing has always been a passion of yours. For as long as you can remember, you have been dancing. Your parents enrolled you in dance classes at age two, and you have not stopped since. You started competing at age six, and you even won national titles throughout your years.

Despite your major success in dancing, you always tried your best to maintain relationships with your friends. Dancing was your passion, and it was incredibly time-consuming. You ended up moving to Bologna, Italy when you were about 10 years old, and you met your neighbor, Kimi, who happened to be in a similarly demanding sport.

Anytime that he was home for the weekend, you made sure that you did not have a competition. Since you chose which competitions you competed in and he could not choose his karting races, it just made sense to maintain the friendship.

Well, the friendship eventually blossomed into a relationship, and that relationship, ultimately, played a role in you leaving competitions. Kimi’s karting was ramping up rather quickly, and you were happy with where you were at in your dance career and all of the awards you won. You were more than happy to take a step back if that meant others could also succeed. You have also made the step into the professional world. You were modeling for different dancewear companies, being asked to be on Dancing With The Stars, and you had been in a few auditions where you got the role you wanted. Plus, you started mentoring the minis. Your schedule was jampacked, but it’s not like you were ready to leave the dance community entirely. You just stopped competing every weekend. You also wanted to start supporting Kimi during some weekends, and this step back allowed for that.

This week, though, Kimi had an F2 race, or training with Mercedes, you’re not entirely sure. You were too excited because your dance company director said they were hosting a showcase, and you were chosen to have a senior solo. When your dance company director pulled you aside to tell you this, you were ecstatic. You already had the song and some of it choreographed since you hoped to at least compete one last time before you graduated out of your age category.

You could not wait to finish it, so you pulled your friend, Peaches, in to help you choreograph the last few counts.

“What if you did a jump or turn here? Like use the space,” Peaches chuckled as they paused the music. You two were locked up in the main studio since it was roughly the same size as the stage, and all of the other classes had ended for the day.

“For the instrumental part, I could do a giant circle and have pirouettes and chaines and run through the center at the end for the last couple of 8 counts. Like this,” You responded as she rewinded the song to the climax of the song, and let you test out the moves. You ran up to the mirror as the music slowed back down and you paused for a second, staring into your eyes. “Can I have the room? I want to try something, but I don’t know if it will work and the last thing I need is for you to hold this over my head.”

“Yeah, I’ll be in the hall. I’ll go get us waters first,” Peaches laughed, knowing immediately where you were coming from, so you got up and left you to your devices. Unbeknownst to you, not only was the entire dance company standing outside the room, looking through a couple of small windows, but Kimi was also there, watching in admiration. Peaches looked around at everyone as most of the dance company dispersed to look like they were doing something else, but Kimi stood still. He was mesmerized, so Peaches walked to stand beside him, gently bumping into him before whispering, “Is this what we’re doing? Creepily staring at your girlfriend? I’m in.”

“I am not creepily staring at her,” Kimi tsked in defense, but as the silence grew, he started thinking about it. “Okay, maybe I was, but she’s so captivating. I can see why she’s won so many times.”

“At least you’ve got eyes,” Peaches joked with a small laugh, “Anyway, I’m going to get us water. Don’t make it obvious you’re staring.”

Peaches took off down the hall to one of the storage rooms where they stored water bottles while Kimi sat in silence as he watched you move throughout the room. When it came to the part you were previously working on with Peaches, you kept going on for the last 8 counts. This was the part that you wanted to try alone because if it worked, in theory, it would look beautiful, but if it didn’t, it could look sloppy.

You ran up to the mirror before pausing, taking a couple of exaggerated breaths. You slid down to the floor and did a few slow and sharp floor tricks before getting up, and doing one of your signature moves. Then, for the last few beats, you held yourself together with one arm crossed over your chest, holding your shoulder, and the other across your stomach as you swayed as the song faded out.

As soon as it ended, you squealed, running over to where your phone was propped up, recording the entire dance. You rewatched it and immediately knew that this was the dance you wanted to be your senior solo. You ran out of the room to show your company director, but you found Kimi standing in the hall, staring blankly into the studio with tears in his eyes.

“Kimi? Mio amore (My love)?” You said softly as you walked up to stand beside him. “Did you like it?”

That snapped him out of his trance as he turned to you and immediately pulled you into his arms. He hid his face in your neck as a few tears slipped from his eyes as he whispered praises about the dance. When he finally pulled away, he moved his hands to your face as he gave you a passionate kiss. He pulled away but did not let you go as he leaned his forehead against yours.

“Ti amo (I love you),” he whispered as he gazed into your eyes.

“You’ve never said that to me before,” You replied in awe as you looked up at him. “I love you too, but this is the first time you said it.”

“What can I say? Seeing you in your element makes me fall harder for you,” He answered with a joking eye-roll. “You’re beautiful, inside and out, and your dance is perfect. The emotion you show when dancing is insane. How do you do that?”

“Do you want to see the dance with the music?” You offered as you pulled back, running your hands from his sides to hold his hands as you pulled him into the studio when he nodded. “Shoes off, and maybe this will help answer your questions.”

He took his shoes off as he took Peaches’s original seat by the computer, and that’s when he was able to see the song choice. You Are The Reason by Calum Scott. It was a song you referenced a lot when talking about Kimi, and he immediately knew he was the inspiration behind the dance.

“Would you mind playing it from the beginning?” You asked as you finished setting up your phone to record and got into your starting position.

You ran through the dance with more emotion than the last time, thanks to Kimi being in the room this time, and Kimi did not think he could have loved the dance any more than he previously did. Every part of the dance fit with the music, and he could not find it within himself to even blink, not wanting to miss even a millisecond of your performance. By the end, he was overwhelmed with love. He ran up behind you and held you against his chest as he looked at you through the mirror.

“If I were a competition judge, I’d say that was a perfect score,” He praised as he left a kiss on your temple before leaning against your shoulder and swaying with you.

~~~~~

#andrea kimi antonelli x reader #andrea kimi antonelli #kimi antonelli x reader #kimi antonelli #kimi x reader #formula 2 x reader #formula 2 imagine #formula 2 #f2 #f2 x reader #f2 imagine #mercedes amg petronas #bad268 #ship268 #thing268

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fountainpenguin · 11 months ago

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there making another fop

I've heard! I'm not sure what the status is on it right now, but I saw some concept art almost a year ago, I think. For all I know, it might have started airing, but I haven't been keeping up with it (Not even sure where).

I'm not enthusiastic about the idea, but I don't love being negative on my fandom blog, so I haven't said anything, and if I do say positive things after watching it, there are some uneasy roots beneath. Based on what I've seen, I'm not impressed, but I've heard rumors that they're bringing the Pixies back (about 16 years since their last episode iirc), and if that's true then I've pumped. I miss them so much.

I think I heard there was time travel involved in the new series, something about the future, and if they've killed off H.P. and Sanderson's taken over as Head Pixie, I'm gonna go feral.

All I want is pathetic lapdog Sanderson, H.P defending his title as the sassiest character in all Fairly OddParents, and a reference to a 37-year plan, and I'll be content.

If you are not going to put Sanderson in charge of all the universe's magical paperwork just to have him peace out and run off to another singing competition, then what is even the point. smh. "Fairy Idol," my beloved.

I have serious doubts that a new crew of writers will take the time to study or even want to keep all of H.P.'s subtleties, so his sass is probably on the chopping block in favor of easy dull and gray stereotypes... but I will always love that stupid man who offered Fairy World in a mini golf gamble, nearly bailed 5 seconds later because he changed his mind and wanted to go to a rave, and proceeded to lose to a 10-year-old despite the fact he was cheating the entire time.

Even before Jorgen showed up, H.P. was losing that entire match, and this was after bragging about how skilled he is because "he's magic." He's the best. He's so cocky and so, so silly. I love him.

He spent 37 years taking over the world and immediately after he did, he got drunk, went home, and sat in his hot tub. His job is to fill all the magical paperwork, but he flits around calling people "Meat" and "Dude" and he likes to break dance while wearing a full business suit.

He used a newborn as a yo-yo once. He likes robots, pizza, setting his godson up on dates, and giving stupid nicknames to important heads of state. He makes Sanderson carry him, but he'll be the one to carry Anti-Cosmo. His idea of an evil plan is prank-calling you and saying "Hi" while he stands two feet away. He's scared of Mama Cosma. His henchmen are daycare workers who sing songs and wear pink. His hat is also a pen. He's the world's most perfect man <3

#I love H.P. so much. that's it that's the post.#FAIRIES!#Fairly OddParents #FOP Head Pixie #I'm wasp dad trash #asks #We're Pixies!#Sanderson is neat

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dxncingwithastrxnger · 1 year ago

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Lexy's Christmas Sleepover!! (Attempt #3)

Hello, everyone!!!! It's that time of year again!!! Now, I know that in the past two years, I haven't been very reliable at getting out my Christmas requests, and I greatly apologize for this. But in previous years, I've also tried to make myself write a bunch of full length one-shots which for me usually means 3k+ words, SO, this year, I'm gonna go ahead and say that I can't guarantee a full length one-shot on every single request, BUT I will at least write a drabble for any requests sent to me this year!! I can guarantee this for sure!!!

NOW, Since I'm a multi-shipper, I will write for mannyyyyy different ships in each of my fandoms and it would take awhile to list every single one of them, SO, instead, I'm going to list each of my current fandoms that I'm comfortable writing for and then you can send me either a ship or a character you'd like a reader insert fic for. Poly ships, platonic ships, and platonic/family groups are perfectly okay as well!!! If you happen to send me a ship or character that I'm not comfortable writing for, for any reason, then I'll let you know, but I doubt that will happen, tbh. So, without further ado, here are the fandoms and prompts!!

[Some of the dialogue prompts I'm using came from this list]

When requesting, please tell me: Fandom + Group/Ship/Character + Reader Gender (If Needed) + At least 1 Prompt (I will accept multiple!). You may request as many as you'd like!!

Duration:

11/28/23 - 12/31/23

KNY/Demon Slayer

Fandoms:

Seven Deadly Sins

Four Knights Of The Apocalypse

Miraculous Ladybug

Riverdale

Bungo Stray Dogs

Marvel

The Vampire Diaries

The Originals

Legacies

Legend of Zelda (Mainly BOTW + TOTK)

Stranger Things

Supernatural

Scenarios:

MHA/BNHA

1.) Decorating The Tree

2.) Dancing In The Snow

3.) Present Shopping

4.) Gift Giving

5.) Wrapping Gifts

6.) Making A Gingerbread House

7.) Gingerbread House Competition

8.) Snowball Fight

9.) Sledding

10.) Mistletoe

11.) Christmas Baking

12.) Christmas Market

13.) Making Snowmen

14.) Christmas Party

15.) Watching Christmas Movies

16.) Dancing To Christmas Music

17.) Going Ice Skating

18.) Christmas Dinner

19.) Making Christmas Dinner

20.) Fake Dating For Christmas Ball

21.) Secret Santa

22.) Both Reaching For The Last Cookie

23.) Making Christmas Decorations

24.) Christmas Carolling

25.) Decorating The House/Apartment

26.) School Winter Dance

27.) Christmas Office Party

28.) Stranded On Christmas Eve

29.) Christmas Drinks

30.) Christmas Photo Shoot

31.) Christmas Tree Farm

32.) Cookies For Santa

33.) Christmas Dress Up

34.) Fireplace Snuggles

35.) Accidental Christmas/Eve Confession

36.) Winter Walk

Dialogue:

A.) “Stop trying to get me to walk under the mistletoe.”

B.) "That should be our Christmas card this year.”

C.) “Why’d you turn the music off?”

D.) “I know we said no presents this year but…”

E.) “I hate Christmas shopping.” - “I love Christmas shopping!”

F.) “Do you want to put the star on the top of the tree?”

G.) “What do you think? Like the tree?”

H.) “Open your stocking!”

I.) “It’s snowing!”

J.) “What are you doing?” - “Making a snow angel.”

K.) “Do people even use nutcrackers?”

L.) “Do you still believe in Santa?”

M.) “You’d make a cute elf.”

N.) “Look! Reindeers!”

O.) “Is that supposed to be a snowman?”

P.) “Do you have any carrots?”

Q.) “This is the best gift you could’ve given me.”

R.) “You have snow on your eyelashes, looks cute.”

S.) “Come here by the fire.”

T.) “Please don’t make me wear this, I look ridiculous.”

U.) “You’ve really made my Christmas this year.”

V.) “I thought you were going home for Christmas.” - “Well, I couldn’t leave you all alone.”

W.) “I’m never letting you convince me to go carolling again.”

X.) “Here, you can have one of my gloves.”

Y.) “What are you wearing?”

Z.) “Did you get us matching pyjamas?”

AA.) “You look so beautiful in the snow.”

BB.) “It’s bold of you to assume I haven’t eaten my entire advent calendar.”

CC.) “Christmas hot chocolate is not normal hot chocolate. Where are the marshmallows?”

DD.) “Smell this candle, it’s amazing.”

EE.) “Aren’t you going to write your letter to Santa?”

FF.) “I’ll let you sit on my knee.”

GG.) “You’re my Christmas angel.” - “Wow that was…intense.” - “Just take the compliment.”

HH.) “But I wanted to be Santa this year!”

II.) “Did you make me a tinsel crown?”

JJ.) “I can’t get the star on, would you give me a hand?”

KK.) “Looks like you’ve had a few drinks!” - “You haven’t had enough if you’re noticing. Come on, bar’s over there.”

LL.) “Will you make me a hot chocolate?” - “Name all the reindeer and I will.”

MM.) "I've never understood the tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve. Why would anyone do that?"

NN.) "I've hid all of your presents where you'll never find them." - "They're under your/our bed, aren't they?"

OO.) "Someone ate Santa's cookies last night and it wasn't me."

PP.) "It's Christmas Time!" - "Oh god."

QQ.) "In the name of Christmas Spirit, I demand you come with me."

RR.) "You know what that means?" - "Christmas?" - "Christmas."

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niuniente · 1 year ago

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Reading your dream made me want to share my dream. Because it's been sitting on my mind the role day for some reason and that's not something that happens often. I hope you don't mind me just sharing it, i feel like i need to put it out there.

I dreamed that i was late to school. mind you, i'm 31 years old and so i was in the dream, I feel.

And the school was the one i studied until i was 14 years old. my home wasn't my home or any home i ever lived in. in the dream i woke up at the correct time but took too long getting ready. like school started at 9 and it was getting close to 10. (Never had lessons starting at that weird time until college when i choose late classes because i lived a bit far away from school) I somehow had no material for school other than a folder with loose paper, both used and blank one,s and a pencil case, my bag was a simple tote bag. (that also struck to me as strange but i felt like i was trying to just not go empty handed to something i wasn't ready for.) I was finishing getting ready when a friend called me asking if i was okay and why i was late. This friend is someone i met by the time i was on the second half of my college years, he was saying the first class would be at the pool, since they were wanting to revitalize the school's sportive center. the school does have a sports center but no pool in reality. I somehow get in time even thought i previously was almost a hour late, when i see my classmates they're mostly people i did go to school with. plus the friend from college. we all on our 30's. we were also accessing the sports center through the street not the footbridge the school has linking the two buildings like we used to do. when we get there the pool is not only pretty much underground it also is in a awful state. most of the tiles are missing and broken, the water doesn't even fill half the pool and it's very dirty, almost bog like. One of the boys that i remember from my school years jump down into it and kinda walks around while everyone else kinda says 'eww', he than jumps out of it and starts to playfully chase the girls that made more noise when he went in, including the girl he was dating at the time we went to school, they start to scream and giggle trying to dodge him. he was wearing a coral bating suit. and then i woke up! It's funny... i don't usually see faces very well in my dreams, i know who people are, but the faces are not clear, but this is the second dream in less than a month where the faces of a few people were very clear to me. and last time it wasn't even someone i know.

I mentioned some time ago earlier this year that something has shifted in dreams. I've always seen people in my dreams and they're just something vague. Now, I can see them clearly, sometimes I even know their names. If I could draw portraits, I could draw them easily because they're as clear as a day (and these aren't real people, mind you).

It was fun that you shared that dream with me because I keep having the same dream theme! Not so much anymore, but occasionally it comes up. I need to go to school and I'm late. Sometimes it's been already 3 months and I have forgotten to go to the school. Sometimes, I manage to get to the school but I don't know where my class is, what subject I'm having etc.

I always read school dreams as "Okay, listen; you've already gone through that literal life lesson. No need to try to backtrack and do it again. No need to. You're done with it. Let it go."

Sometimes, I have dreams were I have to perform but I have don't know how to do it. It can be a beauty pageant competition, a dance competition, a singing competition, or a play which I have role in but I don't know what it is. I don't know my lines or my cues.

Once, I tried to escape from the theater, right before the play starts, through a window but I couldn't. Billy Idol was sleeping on the window sill. I tried to move him but he was too heavy. I tried to open the window but it kept hitting his head. Then, I woke up and I knew the message was "We know it's scary and you have no idea what's going on, but you have to stay where you are. You're at the right place, it's going to be OK. Don't run. We won't let you because it will hurt you. You're save".

#ask niu

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sweetestberryofthebunch · 2 years ago

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16 questions for 16 mutuals 🎶

Thank you darlings @purplejan @nickysjaida @aqpippin for tagging me!

1. are you named after anyone?

Not initially, but shortly after my birth my mother read a book where the serial killer had my name and always said that was a bad omen since then.

2. when was the last time you cried?

December 27th :)

3. do you have kids?

Naurr

4. do you use sarcasm a lot?

Yess and i always end up apologising immediately after in fear it doesn’t translate …

5. whats the first thing you notice about people?

The way they talk? I very quickly pick up on speech patterns and shit and love to analyse them!

6. What’s your eye color?

Brown, Hazel on a sunny day

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

Scary movies with disturbing plots and bittersweet endings!!!

8. Any special talents?

Uhm, kind of a sad one but I’m really good at lying? Like my lies to my parents growing up have been surprisingly solid, even tho the guilt would eat me up hard …

9. Where were you born?

*war flashbacks to hours spent in the immigration office* G… Germany ..

10. What are your hobbies?

Writing, Sewing, Drawing, watching old Lady Gaga performances and doing the choreo in my living room, a nice slow video game sometimes, generally being very annoying to the people around me

11. do you have any pets?

Back at home my family has a dog and a bunch of chickens (my daughters). Here in the great white north i mostly give neighbourhood pets so much attention that they love me more than their owners, but sadly no pets of my own yet …

12. what sports do you play/have played?

Tried lots or things as a kid, my mom was very insistent that we always did at least two sports … Ballet, Hip Hop, played lots of soccer on the schoolyard, was part of a handball team for a few years, then finally found kickboxing and loved that for almost five years. Had to quit cause my trainer said some homophobic shit and the disagreement had the potential to really blow up, but i miss it a lot. Lately I’ve been back to dancing, taking some striptease classes and all, but I’m hoping to find a boxing studio that has a kick or thai boxing class and is inclusive and safe for me :) apart from that i went skiing a lot with my family, used to join my dad at the badminton court and also went hiking quite a lot. Oh and i was part of a small school swim team as a kid that actually once won a competition! But that was a one time thing, we trained for that competition for a few weeks and then parted afterwards. But yeah I did lots of stuff for sure …

13. how tall are you?

5‘10‘‘

14. favorite subject in school?

Philosophy, duh

15. dream job?

Would love to be able to live off of performance art one day…

16. sunsets or sunrise?

Sunsets :)

I tag @fuckyeah-dragrace @petitmonde @lanawinters-ily @lanawinterscigarettes @missjansport @mistysswampmud @missvanjiebitchh @snowflakenali @thecollectionsof @ggigigoode @archiveofdorothea @blonbersjonde @bechloesupercorp @froofrou @hannahlovesdance07 @that-art-hoe

#games with friends

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anyways-wonderwall · 2 years ago

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Eurovision Special!

It's my favorite time of year, Eurovision time! Every year I make a post talking about my five favorite songs from the year and generally talk about what I thought of the whole competition.

Uhh here's the thing though, this year SUCKED. Like I have been following Eurovision for six years and there has never been a more mid year in my experience. There were literally only 5 songs I liked, which while it made writing this really easy, is terrible given I usually playlist around 10 songs each year. I don't know what was happening but the countries dropped the ball on picking entries and the jury decided that only boring songs were allowed to do well. I cannot express how disappointed I was this year. (I just realized in my last post I wrote "Eurovision is getting too good, and what comes up must come down sometime" and unfortunately I was right)

Anyways, if you haven't read my last two Eurovision posts (which you can find here and here) I give each song a score from 1-10 in four categories: singer, song, catchiness, and performance. While technically a perfect score is a 40, there are available bonus points based on whether it isn't in English, it makes me laugh really hard, embodies Eurovision, etc. Each song also gets a fun little note so I can remember what it sounded like. Listen it's really hard to keep track of 37 songs.

Without further ado, here are the only good songs in Eurovision 2023:

5. Lithuania - Stay by Monika Linkytė

Score: 28/40

Notes: chutoh aahh tootoh

Final Ranking: 11th

I was really on the fence about including this one since it didn't really grab me at first, and in all honesty its not that great or unique and I kind of wrote it off as your standard Eurovision song.

But then as the days went on, I found the chorus - ‘Čiūto Tūto’ haunting me. I have never had more fun than dancing along with the chorus and there has not been a day I haven't sung this song. I'm re-listening to it now and honestly, I'm fine never listening to it again, but it has changed my life.

4. Austria - Who the Hell is Edgar? by Teya & Salena

Score: 30/40

Notes: Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe

Final Ranking: 15th

Now this is why I listen to Eurovision. I come here for camp nonsense and this year Austria delivered. A feminist song about being possessed by Edgar Allan Poe?? Perfection. The song itself is really catchy, the singers are incredibly fun and charismatic, and the music video is just such a great time. I am really sad this song didn't place higher, especially since a lot of people were praising it. You deserved more girls!

(although edgar allan poe was actually very pro-slavery so they should be canceled /j)

3. Malta - Dance (Our Own Party) by The Busker

Score: 30/40

Notes: Perfect sax part

Final Ranking: didn't make it to the grand finale >:(

As the comment suggests, the strength of this song is the killer sax riffs (riffs multiple!! they just kept delivering!). The song as a whole is a super fun time, with a fun message and a goofy music video, once again things that I look for when I listen to Eurovision songs. Plus they're from Malta! A micronation represented by people actually from there! I feel like that alone deserves bonus points (I mean Malta only has half a million people, less than Wyoming).

2. Portugal - Ai Coração by Mimicat

Score: 38/40

Notes: Cabaret flamenco

Final Ranking: 23rd

This song reminds me a lot of Fanfare Ciocarlia in the best way. Its quick, full of brass, and makes me want to dance. It's also all in Portuguese and the live performance was absolutely mesmerizing. I don't know exactly what this genre is called, but I'm such a fan. Give me fast-paced music and some brass and I'm in love.

Finland - Cha Cha Cha by Käärijä

Score: 39/40

Notes: Why did the bridge keep going

Final Ranking: 2nd

C'mon, did you really think that I would put any other song at number one? This song hooks you from the beginning, has an aggressively European synth riff, nonsense Finnish lyrics, an inexplicable heavy metal chorus, this song is absolutely wonderful and one of the best to come from Eurovision. This song clearly stands out from all the others, and is the only one that I know of that made its way into international Tiktok. I mean if my roommate knows a Eurovision song without my involvement that means that it has some cultural power.

Unfortunately, I don't think this song is perfect. The bridge kind of ruins the momentum of the song by steering it into generic pop and for some reason they keep that overtone for the rest of the song. They were so close to committing to the bit, then they weirdly tried to make it sound normal. That aside, this is clearly the best song of this year and I am convinced that they rigged it.

I think the only songs I actually liked enough to keep listening to in my daily life are the last two, which is pretty bad for a Eurovision year. I just hope they do something good next year in stupid Sweden.

(and my least favorites this year were Georgia and Greece, really bringing down the letter "G." Luckily Germany brought a great song to make up for those two.)

#eurovision #eurovision 2023 #music review #music recommendation

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captainericvgc · 2 years ago

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EPISODE II: CAPTAIN ERIC VS THE RUINOUS RULESET

I’d been planning to write about my thoughts about the Global Competition I that happened last weekend only for another GC to be up next weekend. This article also got eaten by when my computer restarted without my permission so thanks for that Windows update. The Team For the GC I used Clover Bell’s BaxBalance team. The only difference is Baxcalibur actually has Icicle Spear instead of Icicle Crash and I actually played a few games on Showdown with the team before I realized the mistake. I’m not going to go too much into detail about the team like a normally would because I didn’t build it! Credit goes to Clover Bell and you can check his explanation of the team here. I will say what drew me to this team as opposed to the other ones featured was Palafin. I’d seen Gavin Michaels use it to some success and it had been doing work in online tours. I never thought to use it because I didn’t like how telegraphed you had to be switching it out to bring in the Hero form but having watched EUIC, I could definitely stand to use Zero form more for damage. Results I went 10-4 in the GC which wasn’t bad and honestly if I did get so completely bamboozled by a Crabominable in one game and if Baxcalibur gets hit by Heat Wave instead of dodging it forever (which would’ve given me a Thermal Exchange boost which would have secured a knockout) I probably could’ve gone 12-2. Between friends having birthdays and meeting with my family for Easter I didn’t play all 45 matches which is kind of disappointing. I don’t think I would’ve been on Three Things 1. Practice Practice Practice I just straight up do not play enough Pokemon Showdown to be successful consistently at a high level. I did maybe 15-20 unfocused matches with the team before the GC. I won all but maybe 2 or 3 of them but I can’t tell you what my gameplan was on Team Preview or what my endgame plans were. I just was winging it way too much. I need to have the team flowcharted better especially since it seems like the core this team is built around is going to be dominant format in Reg C for a while. 2. Need More Damage One thing I really like about this team is that it is really hard to OHKO any of them and with even my average positioning skills, I always felt I had good options in the mid-to-end game to pivot too. That said the draw back to this is I felt like dealing damage was pulling teeth. Flutter Mane missed a KO on an enemy Flutter by maybe 2hp that could’ve cost me a match if the opponent didn’t time out. Palafin hits way harder than I thought it did and would and I don’t mind that Arcanine doesn’t hit so hard because it’s more of a support mon anyways, but I need more out of Flutter Mane and Baxcalibur and that’s something I’m going to test before this Global Competition which leads to... 3. Is Bax Him? I don’t feel I bring or use Baxcalibur that much anyways and I wonder if something better would go into that slot. I’ve considered Roaring Moon, Iron Hands and Kingambit for possible swaps. To be fair, Baxcalibur is great because of the immunity to burns keeps his attack rocking. It may be worth it to switch Loaded Dice for Clear Amulet and make a Dragon Dance and make him more imposing that way. Iron Hands can buy me turns with Fake Out and a slow Volt Switch to get Palafin in quicker and safer than having to do two hard switches or wait for a KO and then I can bring it back in immediate. Roaring Moon as an option would give me a faster attacker and the Protosythensis/Booster Energy/Acrobatics combination deals alot of damage. It could also in theory provide speed control with Tailwind or Damage mitigation with Breaking Swipe. Kingambit is a solid defensive Pokemon and would discourage opposing Intimidate users which would help make Palafin’s job easier and helps with enemy Flutter Mane. Up Next I’m competing in BauerdadVGC’s weekly tournament on Tuesday April 18th to close out my 32nd year on this planet. Then it’s gonna be a mad dash to trying to confirm my team for the GC on April 21-23.

#pokemon #vgc #vgc23 #vgc2023 #baxcalibur #flutter mane #amoonguss #arcanine #ting lu #palafin #iron hands #roaring moon #kingambit #article

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halfseoulco · 2 years ago

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#GeniusLabListens 2022 Top Spins

Published Sunday, December 25th, 2022 — As 2022 comes to an end, I want to remember all the amazing music that came out this year. With the KPOP industry growing more and more competitive as months go by, we saw 2022 give birth to a multitude of notable full-length albums and EPs; and some artists even released more than one record this year. Being a multi-stan, I end up listening to a long list of releases every year and it was a little difficult to narrow it down*—but here we are.

Merry Christmas everyone. This is Genius Lab USA and here are the #GeniusLabListens 2022 Top Spins.**

1. DISHARMONY : FIND OUT — P1Harmony (EP)

Release Date: January 3, 2022

P1Harmony has this quirky tendency to make an entire EP full of bangers—except for the last track, which is a ballad. I can’t pick a favorite song, so I’m not going to, although I will say that of the six, I listen to “Before The Dawn” the least.

2. THE SECOND STEP : CHAPTER ONE — TREASURE (EP)

Release Date: February 15, 2022

Short and sweet. “DARARI” was used in a lot of Instagram Reels and TikToks around the time of release, but “JIKJIN” will always be the star of this EP to me—and rightfully so.

3. YOUNG-LUV.COM — STAYC (EP)

Release Date: February 21, 2022

STAYC have been huge favorites for me this year, not just among girl groups but in the general KPOP soundscape. “YOUNG LUV” makes me cry ugly tears every time and “RUN2U” deserved better than what the general public gave her.

4. Love Pt.1 : First Love — WEi (EP)

Release Date: March 16, 2022

WEi is another group who I personally think got paid dust this year and I would really love it if more people appreciated them because they are going places. “Too Bad” may be a song about confessing to someone you like but it got me through a lot of stressful times since the EP’s release, since I chose to interpret the chorus in a different way.

5. ODDINARY — Stray Kids (ALBUM)

Release Date: March 18, 2022

The album itself is a little odd in its experimental nature—hence the name ODDINARY—but I enjoyed the overall flow from song to song and the group’s willingness to play around with their sound. Favorite tracks are “MANIAC” and “FREEZE”.

6. Glitch Mode - The 2nd Album — NCT DREAM (ALBUM)

Release Date: March 28, 2022

NCT DREAM being the most active sub-unit was one of the biggest surprises of 2022 and I really enjoyed this album a lot. Big winners for me are “Fire Alarm” and “Saturday Drip”.

7. memeM — PURPLE KISS (EP)

Release Date: March 29, 2022

No one’s doing it like PURPLE KISS, in my opinion, because no one else has Swan in their group. This EP was delightfully eerie and I found joy in “Pretty Psycho” and “memeM”. Honorable mention: “Hate me, Hurt me, Love me”.

8. SERIES 'O' [ROUND 3 : WHOLE] — VERIVERY (ALBUM)

Release Date: April 25, 2022

I still have mixed feelings about this particular album because of the fact that “Childhood” sounds like a carbon copy of ATEEZ’s “Dancing Like Butterfly Wings”—but it has a lot of good songs on it. Favorite tracks are “Wish U were here”, “O”, and “Fine”.

9. FLASHBACK — IKON (EP)

Release Date: May 3, 2022

I did not see this EP coming but I’m so thankful because “BUT YOU” hurts so good. That’s all I have to say about it—that’s all I need to say about it. I hear “I’m in love again” and my emotions are toast.

10. minisode 2: Thursday's Child — TOMORROW X TOGETHER (EP)

Release Date: May 9, 2022

The best birthday present HYBE has ever given me. The entire EP is perfection, cohesive and artistic perfection. “Good Boy Gone Bad” is what I would consider an outlier amongst the other songs, but she still serves and keeps serving. I love “Opening Sequence” with all of my heart.

11. Drive to the Starry Road — ASTRO (ALBUM)

Release Date: May 16, 2022

This album is very true to ASTRO’s established sound and style, but the solo songs were a nice touch. “Candy Sugar Pop” is a fun, light summer bop but my picks are “Something Something”, “Light the sky”, and “Like stars”, plus Sanha’s solo track “24 Hours”. It was also the last album MJ participated in before enlisting.

12. TRICKSTER — ONEUS (EP)

Release Date: May 27, 2022

Listen, ONEUS have never released a bad record. That’s the truth and more people need to recognize that. This EP is pretty kooky but it’s great. Good things come in pairs, as with “Intro : Who Got the Joker?” and “Bring it on”.

13. GOT7 — GOT7 (EP)

Release Date: May 23, 2022

The single most beautiful thing to have happened to the KPOP industry this year if only because GOT7 look so happy to be making the music they want and out of reach of JYP’s claws. I love the entire vibe of the EP but my queen is “Drive Me To The Moon”.

14. The Story — KANGDANIEL (ALBUM)

Release Date: May 24, 2022

I wasn’t too crazy about him prior to this year, but I think that KANGDANIEL really understands vibes. Favorite tracks are “Don’t Tell (feat. Jessi)”, “How We Live (feat. sokodomo)”, and “Mad (feat. Chancellor)”.

15. 4th Album 'Face the Sun' — SEVENTEEN (ALBUM)

Release Date: May 27, 2022

Need I say anything? It’s a perfect album from start to finish and I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite song because I love them all, although “Darl+ing” and “’bout you” have joined the ranks of SEVENTEEN favorites. I hope they’re very proud of this album because I’m proud of them.

16. Story Written in Music — OMEGA X (ALBUM)

Release Date: May 31, 2022

What happened to them this year was really unfortunate and infuriating, but in spite of what SPIRE ENTERTAINMENT put them through, OMEGA X really put out a fantastic summer album. They have fun, party music but also sweet romantic songs, of which “DANCE WITH U” and “LOVE” are my absolute favorites.

17. DOUBLAST — Kep1er (EP)

Release Date: June 20, 2022

I know they put out another EP after this, but for me, this one hit me in more of the right places and the line distribution (I think) was the best it’s been so far. Released during the peak of summer comeback season, it has a wonderful dreamy feel to it. Favorite track is “LE VOYA9E”.

18. MANIFESTO : DAY 1 — ENHYPEN (EP)

Release Date: July 4, 2022

I haven’t forgotten about the recurring bullying incidents within this I-LAND disaster group but I have to admit that ENHYPEN knows how to keep people’s attention. This EP packs a powerful punch and “Future Perfect (Pass the MIC)” is a top-tier hype song.

19. HOLIDAY — WINNER (EP)

Release Date: July 5, 2022

Like IKON’s EP, I didn’t see this one coming either but “I LOVE U” has me by the throat. I mean, do you hear those high notes? Crisp, clear, stable. Check, check, and check. “10 MIN”, “HOLIDAY”, and “FAMILY” are also bops.

20. THE EARTH : SECRET MISSION Chapter.2 — MCND (EP)*

Release Date: July 7, 2022

Arguably one of the most fun releases of the summer—and this year, quite honestly—this EP proves that no one should be sleeping on MCND. I love every single song but I especially thrive off of “W.A.T.1″. It’s just so good.

21. THE WAVE OF9 — SF9 (EP)

Release Date: July 13, 2022

I’m not sure what they put in this EP but it’s definitely something. Every track is so completely addictive and perfect for the summer mood they were trying to set. My top track for this release, however, is “OK OK”.

22. CHECKMATE — ITZY (ALBUM)

Release Date: July 15, 2022

I know it’s their title track but I like every other song on this album except “Sneakers” and personally, I think it would’ve been a perfect album without it. Cringe-y TikTok song aside, this record is pretty solid and not as bad as people were making it out to be. Top tracks for me are “RACER” and “365″.

23. 4th Album Repackage 'SECTOR 17' — SEVENTEEN (ALBUM)

Release Date: July 18, 2022

Ah, here we are again. Not counting the songs from the original release, this album is still perfect. “Circles”? Tears. “_WORLD”? Cute and catchy. “Fallin’ Flower (Korean Ver.)”? Gorgeous. But the winner that takes all is the SEVENTEEN Leaders unit song “CHEERS” because it’s playing all day everyday like rent is due.

24. Geekyland — PURPLE KISS (EP)

Release Date: July 19, 2022

This EP feels like a continuation of “memeM”—in a good way, of course—and again, no one else is doing it like them. It’s a shame they haven’t done anything to promote it but the stand out of this record for me is “FireFlower” with an honorable mention for “Love Is Dead”.

25.WE NEED LOVE — STAYC (SINGLE)***

Release Date: July 25, 2022

STAYC stays destroying my emotions and the difference between “BEAUTIFUL MONSTER” and “I LIKE IT” gives me whiplash but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Also, “BEAUTIFUL MONSTER” is up there with “YOUNG LUV” in making me shed tears.

26. Grown Ass Kid — ZICO (EP)

Release Date: July 27, 2022

I may still be channeling my love for BLOCK B through ZICO but this EP was really something special. Experimental, edgy, and expressive, I love all the different styles he explored in just five songs. Standout song for me is “OMZ freestyle”.

27. THE WORLD EP.1 : MOVEMENT — ATEEZ (ALBUM)

Release Date: July 29, 2022

Holy hell. If you read my very in-depth analysis of this album when it first came out, you’ll know that I spent a lot of time ruminating over the themes and messages; and if you’re an ATINY, you know that there is an entire universe contained in ATEEZ’s discography. The dystopian evil government takeover they were describing in this album was brought to life so flawlessly, I could almost believe that they’re really fighting for something. I am a “Sector 1″, “Cyberpunk”, and “The Ring” enthusiast.

28. 7TH MINI ALBUM [BE AWARE] — THE BOYZ (EP)

Release Date: August 16, 2022

I think THE BOYZ always put out fun records but that people usually miss out on the more poignant or softer tracks because of the ones they choose to promote instead. I really like “C.O.D.E” and “Timeless” but “Survive The Night” is my dearly beloved of beloveds.

29. 5th EP Album 'OK' Episode 1 : OK Not — CIX (EP)

Release Date: August 22, 2022

This EP only has four songs but they’re all great. CIX has been going in the direction of softer, more R&B-style songs recently, which I’m all here for, especially since Bae Jinyoung’s voice is very suited for that genre. I really, really, really love “Without You”.

30. BETWEEN 1&2 — TWICE (ALBUM)

Release Date: August 26, 2022

I would say that I’m someone who generally likes everything TWICE puts out but obviously there will be albums I like more. Conceptually, BETWEEN 1&2 is more mature, which is indicative of the girls getting older, and I think that’s a great thing. I am a superfan of “Queen of Hearts” and “When We Were Kids", although I also really like “Gone”.

31. MALUS — ONEUS (EP)

Release Date: September 5, 2022

This release had me by the throat throughout the entire fall season. In fact, it still has me by the throat. I can’t even tell you how often I listened to “Same Scent” and I definitely watched every single time they performed it. I also have a very special place in my heart for “Gravitation” and “STUPID LOVE”. This EP is also very bittersweet to me because it’s the last Korean release RAVN worked on before he left RBW and I can definitely say that their future records will not sound the same without him.

32. THE SECOND STEP : CHAPTER TWO — TREASURE (EP)

Release Date: October 4, 2022

The timing of this EP happened to coincide with Yedam and Mashiho leaving YG, which is still quite sad to me—but on the plus side, the songs are very catchy, moreso overall than their previous release. I really enjoyed the unit songs, namely the rap line’s “VolKno”, but “HELLO”—like “JIKJIN”—was the star.

33. MAXIDENT — Stray Kids (ALBUM)

Release Date: October 7, 2022

MAXIDENT is really everything I wanted in a Stray Kids album. For one thing, they gave me the Korean version of “CIRCUS”, which I had been begging for. For another, it has “CASE 143″, “CHILL”, “3RACHA”, and “TASTE” on it. But nothing—I repeat, nothing—beats the “nyaooooom”s in “SUPER BOARD” because it’s so unserious.

34. ANTIFRAGILE — LE SSERAFIM (EP)

Release Date: October 17, 2022

If you had told me that in 2022, a KPOP group would be releasing a genuinely authentic reggaet��n song, I probably would’ve laughed at you but here we are. I will probably never get over “ANTIFRAGILE”. Ever. And “No Celestial”? Oh my God, someone give those girls a raise.

35. YOUTH — KIHYUN (EP)

Release Date: October 24, 2022

This EP only reinforced what I already thought about Kihyun: that he’s really a KPOP vocalist by day, indie rock singer by night. I love that for you, sweetie. You do you, Kihyun. Song I fell in love with the hardest is “STARDUST”.

36. Choice — VICTON (EP)

Release Date: November 15, 2022

VICTON had a release earlier this year that also has a lot of songs that made it onto my personal playlists but I did very much prefer this one, especially since it has “Time Chaser” because “Time Chaser” is such a beautiful song. So beautiful. Please love it.

37. 'The ReVe Festival 2022 - Birthday' — Red Velvet (EP)

Release Date: November 28, 2022

I don’t know what people’s issue with this EP is but it’s definitely my favorite out of Red Velvet’s more recent releases. Personally, I haven’t liked a release so much since their “Red Flavor” era. Top pick from this EP is “ZOOM”.

38. HARMONY : SET IN — P1Harmony (EP)

Release Date: November 30, 2022

Twice in one year, P1Harmony made an EP full of winning hype tracks and one ballad—but “Back Down” is on an entirely different level from the rest of the record. It’s so hard-hitting and powerful, the kind of song you’d play in your car with the windows down so that the cops might think about pulling you over for disturbing the peace.

39. Indigo — RM (ALBUM)

Release Date: December 2, 2022

This album is a vibe. A vibe! If you want to know more of my thoughts on this particular release, please read my review. My favorite songs are “All Day (with Tablo)”, “Closer (with Paul Blanco, Mahalia)”, “Hectic (with Colde)”, and “Wild Flower (with youjeen)”, which is inevitably the song that made me sob like my heart was shattering. Anyway, stream Indigo.

40. SKZ-REPLAY — STRAY KIDS (ALBUM)

Release Date: December 21, 2022

I didn’t think we were going to get anything else this late in the year but Merry Christmas and happy holidays to Stays from Stray Kids with this two-side record consisting of 25 tracks that include solo songs, sub-unit songs, and songs performed by the group. Top picks are “Fam”, “Limbo”, “Deep End”, and “#LoveStay”.

Feel free to share some of your favorite releases from this year! Did some of them make it onto this list?

*Releases were chosen based on how many songs from each release are currently on my personal playlists.

**Please note that this list is in order of release and does not include singles or anthology albums.

***WE NEED LOVE by STAYC is categorized as a single by Spotify but since there are three songs that are not remixes on it, I’ve chosen to include it on this list.

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theducks-111 · 3 months ago

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Eating Disorder Issues:

I have had a diagnosed Eating Disorder for about 2 years. I have been fighting one since I was 11.

It started with just not having food in the house

My mom was sick, my dad was dead, my brother hated me, and I was an elementary school child

I made due but I didn't eat much outside of school

But the problem was I hated school and did all I could to avoid it

Then I hit puberty and started to gain weight

I looked at pictures of me at 10 and 9 and longed for that body

I was 12 when I started restricting

At the time I was also on a competitive dance team so that does not make the body image issues any easier

I restricted on and off going from eating just fine to eat a pack of fruit snacks a day at most

It came to a head when I was 14 and I had been eating a snack 1-4 times a week for months.

Went to the doctors and learned I had dropped 40 pounds in a month and a half

Then I went to the mental hospital where they made me eat

And having a food scarcity fear and an eating disorder in the mental hospital is not fun

I would have pretzels and goldfish hidden in my bin and around my room yet I was barely eating and drinking enough to avoid getting tubed

After a 6 month stay, I was eating at least 1 meal a day and 2 snacks

After another year I had gained back a few pounds and was eating 2 meals most days

In present day I eat at least 3 mediocre meals a day and 2 snacks

But recently I went to my friends house

She's my same age but much more beautiful

Tall, blonde hair, blue eyes, freckles, she's the whole package

And she's skinny

Add on that my mom had been on a diet herself

So for the last few days I have been closely monitoring my food

This morning I ate eggs and berries, for lunch I had… more eggs and berries + toast

I didn't want to eat dinner.

I told myself I was gonna but I was just exhausted

My mom ordered me my favorite noodles

I was so nauseous with hunger but the thought of food made my jaw heavy

So now, I sit in the bath trying to eat my favorite food when my jaw is heavy and locking and the food feels like clay in my mouth

#rant writing #possibly poetry #mental health #im pissed #recovery

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steamishot · 4 months ago

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T-29 days

i'm now updating my calendar for every event i have this month. so far, it's:

8/8: pizza with S&I

8/10: beacon hike with matt

8/11: NJ hike/hangout with T&S

8/16: dinner at LG's home for the first time (will start giving away my plants)

8/18: visit A and her baby with S at her apartment/pool day

8/21: carbone lunch with matt

8/22: rubirosa and comedy cellar with matt

8/26: switzerland

9/6: last dinner with T

9/7: last brunch with S&I

i have resistance to some events, and the feeling is definitely bittersweet. i find myself not truly enjoying the hangouts because it is laced with some sadness. my depresso would rather not see anyone until it comes time to move. but, it is nice that my last month will be filled with special moments.

i chatted with K about this, who has had a few losses/breakups in the past few years. she mentioned sobbing for an hour because she had just found a great dance partner but in the coming months, he will likely be deployed/away for months at times while he focuses on his military career. it's like that quote "'tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

ceramics: i've made entirely all bowls and one mug this semester. my mug didn't turn out that great. aesthetically, it was okay, but i tried drinking hot peppermint tea from it and it tasted funny. so i'm most likely not going to use it for drinking purposes. for my last few pieces, i'm torn between keeping them for myself or giving them away as gifts. the last thing i put in the fire was a blue bowl and a pink bowl - let's see how those turn out. class ends in two weeks already.

exercise/health: i'm really ramping up on the exercise recently. walked/hiked about 20 miles this past weekend, did a 7 mile bike ride, yoga sessions, etc. ran ~2 miles a few times! for a minute when i was super full, i stepped on the scale and reached my goal weight of 120lbs. but now i'm back down to 116-117. glad that i haven't had any hemorrhoids/blood in my stool since may.

last work week: it's matt's last work week at NYU! he was off for 10 days so i'm glad he's going back to work haha. it's his last night shift week here, and i'll have the whole apartment and bed to myself to chill this week. excited to drink tea and read.

odd bucket list items: yesterday, we had mcdonald's for the first time in NYC. i usually only get mcd's when i'm in LA. before we leave, i also want to give the panhandler who is always outside of our building "a dollar or two".

moving logistics: the moving company has been set. actual apartment is still up in the air. we're not ruling out the luxury buildings anymore. i've been checking daily for the same community that we're in now. it's more convenient to lock in for future move-in dates, and i trust that the building/maintenance will be good. slowly, the late september move-in date listings are coming out. i notice that rentals are claimed pretty quickly, so the market is quite competitive. i've been also browsing zillow rentals and have email updates for new listings, but those are not as frequent.

duolingo: i completed the chinese sessions, and have been learning japanese for the last few weeks. i was practicing music for a bit; may go back to it later. my friend K's competitive nature has been rubbing off on me. i've been trying harder at the game instead of doing the bare minimum. she's all about getting the XP and winning in the game (maintaining a top 3 status). i'm now at 237 day streak!

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ghoulishdude · 4 months ago

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Hi, everyone! Been a while since I wrote one of these but I really need to let it out somehow...warning for somewhat (?) unbalanced personal situatiob, also excuse any typos I'm just trying to get it all out at once

So, for context my mom grew up in the 80's , youngest daughter of 6 siblings, basically helping run the household since she was about 8, cooking cleaning gardening washing...you name it (this is a fact she constantly brings up btw)

The thing is, she continued the cycle with me, which I'm thankful for cause honestly life skills ™, having me do my laundry and ironing since I got my first period (9 years old) as well as do the dishes and put them away, aside from other things.

Well, I have an older brother...and guess what, this was not the case for him. Sure, he'll wash his own dish and take out the trash every once in a while but that's it. Ask him to fold his socks and he'll look at you like all confused.

Now the issue for me has always been the expectation of having to do everything for everyone else, and my brother not getting the same treatment. Like, if my mother's reasoning is that we need to know these things for when are independent, why am I the only one receiving these 'lessons'? (Note: a few years ago I actually asked her and she told me, a bit jokingly but still concerning, that my brother would just move in with me when she passes away, and then find a wife to do those chores for him, which...wow)

It's also annoying that, since he won't do the chores in question, whenever I'm doing something of my own, I'm asked to get up leave it and go do that chore. Some examples: having to get up to take the laundry out of the dryer while I'm trying to meet a deadline for a class I'm taking, despite being told that my sole focus should be my academic growth (ok contradictions), having to pause my workout routine (that I started because she subtly told me I was getting chubby) because I had to help her find something in the kitchen and today's incident...

Basically what happened over this weekend is that my best friend of over ten years invited me to her sister's dance competition and then to sleepover at her house (this is a yearly occurrence so you know). I'm always reluctant to attend not because of them, I love them they've always made me feel like part of their home, but because of my mom's reaction when I get back home the day after.

When I was younger I understood as her looking after her teenage daughter and being worried about her staying the night at a different house...fine, understandable. Now, having the same reactions when I'm a young adult (literally 22) and staying at a house where I've stayed hundreds of times, and being promised to be driven over before sundown? Weird If you ask me.

Anyways, everything was going well the morning after the competition, Sunday morning, she texted me and asked when I was going to be home, I told her that after lunch and that my bestie's mom was driving me, she said ok. We had lunch at about 4:30/5pm (again, it's a Sunday and also we woke up super late), she texts me super insistently asking where I was, I told her that still at the house, she asked why I didn't take a taki, I reminder that my friend's mom was giving me a ride, why spend money at all? Well, she basically told me to do whatever i wanted then. I expected that but it still hurt.

I came back home at around 6:10, the sunset hadn't even begun, and what did I get home to? Passive aggression and the cold shoulder, who would've known? Part of me wonders if it's bitterness at not getting to have the same experiences (at my age she already had my brother and been married to my dad for 3 years) or it's the lack of control over having me near at all times?

Oh, yeah, I forgot, I came home and noticed that all the laundry was tended out to dry and hadn't been put away, so all the insisting I get home was to fold the laundry and put it away in everybody's closets. Fun.

Which brings me to my previous point...all the frustration I feel about my brother and I not having the same responsibilities or duties. Like, if I'm not home or I'm busy, couldn't my brother, you know just thinking out loud, do the frickin laundry? And then when I try to bring it up she shuts me down with how it doesn't bother her to cook and clean for everybody so why does it bother me, and how I'm so selfish, cold hearted and I'm going to die alone if I keep acting that way (honest to God)

By the way, it's the same with cooking, everytime she wants to show me a new trick or dish I tell her to get my brother and she tells me that it's no point because I'll be the one cooking at the end (yeah, because you never bothered to teach him anything, like you did me) Also I was nine years old with you making me cry over not knowing to fold underwear. Maybe a twenty seven year old man will learn faster? But idk

That's all for now. I'd appreciate any advice, quote, moment, new perspective...over all I just needed to express my feelings and this has helped before.

If you've made it this far tell me what's your favorite book! I've been trying to get back into reading.

Thank you and good night <3

#vent post

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phoebenpiperx · 1 year ago

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Thanks for the tag, @kaysonthejackal

Here's some fun facts about me, in case anyone's interested:

Are you named after anyone?

My parents wanted to name me a C name (because both their names begin with C), so I'm named after a Shakespeare character. And my middle name is a combo of my parents middle names (Wayne + Elaine = Layne)

2. When was the last time you cried?

I teared up a few days ago. It's been awhile since I had a full-on cry.

3. Do you have kids?

No real ones.

4. What sports do you play/have played?

I held the school's 50-yard-dash record in elementary school.

I did track (sprints, hurdles (until I fell), long jump, high jump, & triple jump); ran cross country; and played basketball in jr. high & high school.

In college the theatre club had a sand volleyball team for intramurals (so that we'd actually get out in the sun some!) We were terrible, but we didn't care, which seemed to freak out the competitive teams, so we actually ended up in the middle of the standings!

I pitched a softball game for a work thing (crime lab vs. police) a few years ago.

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Uh...what do you think?

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

What colors they're wearing. Unfortunately, if everyone's wearing the same color (or they're wearing a different color the next time I meet them), I don't recognize them!

7. What's your eye color?

Brown. When I was little they were super dark and would look maroon if I wore maroon (so I wore it a lot), but now they're a lighter boring brown.

8. Scary movies or Happy endings

Happy endings. I also like scary movies, like ghost stories, not slasher films.

9. Any talents?

I sing, play the piano, dance, act, and write.

I can also find blood at crime scenes that everyone else has missed (which is either a talent or a super power!)

10. Where were you born?

The same hospital as one of the Indigo Girls!

11. What are your hobbies?

Writing fanfic, reading, playing piano, crocheting, sewing, and putting together puzzles with my friend.

12. Do you have any pets?

Two cats: Moritz and Serafini

13. How tall are you?

5'10.5" (though people always think I'm taller!)

14. Favorite subject in school

Math and music.

Also my 7th grade creative writing class because we got to write whatever we wanted for 15 minutes every day. 😁

15. Dream Job?

My current job, with only my fave bits (crime scenes, bloodstains, video, stats, and teaching) and without the rest (latents, cell phones, and audits).

I'd also like to publish my novel and go on a book tour about it and then have them make a movie about it where I could be involved (and maybe even play one of the small roles, which I kinda based on myself!) 😁 And there's a musical in it so I'd like to help with the writing of the music and doing the choreography!

...

no pressure tags: @swearphil @law-of-nines @redshirt2 @skinnyscottishbloke @coruscantiscribbler @prettyinsoulpunk @jelazakazone @amsaro @nelsonandspringforever @redlyncentral @after-nine-at-the-oasis

15 Questions 15 Mutuals

The rules are: Answer the 15 questions and tag 15 of your mutuals.

ty @trvbblemaker for the tag :D

Are you named after anyone?

not that i know of

2. When was the last time you cried?

like last week after the orthodontist lmao

3. Do you have kids?

i have plants

4. What sports do you play/have played?

i did gymnastics and dance now i do nothing~

5. Do you use sarcasm?

it's somewhat of a coping mechanism

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

how they dress/their hair

7. What's your eye color?

hell if i know

8. Scary movies or Happy endings

happy endings :]

9. Any talents?

i'm rlly good at overthinking and ignoring problems (like genuinely tho ig i'm good at art)

10. Where were you born?

america 🇺🇸 (i hate it here)

11. What are your hobbies?

crocheting, watching shows, drawing

12. Do you have any pets?

cat named otis <3

13. How tall are you?

i think technically 5'4 1/2"

14. Favorite subject in school

art

15. Dream Job?

something i don't hate hopefully in an art field

no pressure tags: @newtness532 @lirdgorl @rainysaturdayafternoon @justkeepwalkingnothinghere @snek-amiga @deusetco @crayonssmellgood @arshemelsoe @lizvi @bbreaddog @noworneverphantom + open tag

#fun facts #i'm terrible at tagging people #so if you see this & want to do it consider yourself tagged 😁#and if i tagged you & you don't want to do it don't worry about it

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nemesis-21 · 11 months ago

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15 people, 15 questions

Thank you @visualtaehyun for the tag! I've never done one of these before and the questions seemed interesting, so I had to give it a go before the new year.

1) Are you named after anyone?

Yes! I'm named after one of my paternal great grandmothers.

2) When was the last time you cried?

When I met my nephew for the first time a few days ago (he's my first nibling making me an auntie officially, so I was very overwhelmed in a good way).

3) Do you have kids?

No and I plan to keep it that way.

4) What sports do you play/have you played?

Growing up I swam and did karate competitively. I also did gymnastics, tap dance, and ballet. (I also bowled on my school's varsity team later on if that counts. Lol)

5) Do you use sarcasm?

All the time.

6) What's the first thing you notice about people?

How they interact with me and others (their communication style, eye contact or no, their tone, if they're rude, kind, impatient, etc.).

7) What's your eye color?

Hazel, but they look more green or blue depending on the day.

8) Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings. Scary movies tend to bore me despite my appreciation for the genre and storytelling (I keep trying to like them, I swear!). But I tend to enjoy happy endings more cause they help me relax from the stresses of daily life.

9) Any talents?

I'm not quite sure. Maybe baking? Or I've been told I'm a really good gift giver?

10) Where were you born?

The United States

11) What are your hobbies?

Reading, crafting, baking, consuming a lot of different Asian and/or queer content, hiking, and (unsuccessfully) studying languages (formerly German and Korean, currently Tagalog).

12) Do you have any pets?

Unfortunately, no. But I really want some.

13) How tall are you?

5'3" (about 160 cm) with my boots on

14) What was your favorite subject in school?

This is a tough one because I was and still am a huge nerd, so it's a tie between my English, language, and history classes.

15) What is your dream job?

Working for an international NGO within the realm of gender equality and/or human rights (based somewhere outside of North America).

Since I don't tend to directly interact with a lot of people here (the love is still there for you all, I'm just shy), I'm going to leave this up to anyone who sees it and wants to participate, go for it!

#happy new year everyone!#personal #tag game

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hotarutranslations · 1 year ago

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#HelloProDanceGakuen! Public Recording!

#HelloProDanceGakuen

The public recording! Is over!

I'm already going to fall asleep in 3 seconds! The heat level was too crazy, my head hurts! I'm too tired but I'm not tired at all from the adrenaline! Look, you don't what I'm talking about, right!

I'll do my best to write!

First off,

We've had Hello Pro Dance Gakuen, since it started in 2019 but, All of the fans that loved and supported the show, Also the many teachers who have helped us, I want to convey the fun of dance! I love dancing! with just the mindset () As colleagues from different groups, With Hama-chan, Manakan, and Kaedy, Every time, sometimes desperately with tears our my eyes, we have encouraged each other

With that! We're finally able to have a large scale public recording! That is,

This isr really big for the show, I wonder if there will be another opportunity for this, I've thought,

I seriousssllyyyyy tried today,

I realized that!!!!!!

Thank you very much for your support🫨🫨🫨

It was amazing…… We did so many things……

Wait, don't give up, if you haven't seen it yet--

You can watch it!!!

This time the public recording event, Will be available on HELLO!PROJECT STREAM!

Big applause, everyone

The way I heard it, maybe it wasn't originally planned, I don't know but……

It seems there were a lot of applicants, That is, really, a lot of people wanted to see it, While doing it, while watching it, I also thought this so🔥

Happyyyy!!!

I don't know if there are others who think like that, Like those who didn't go got jealous, You really don't think so, please definitely watch it…… Everyone was amazing……

The streaming period will be determined soon⚠️

They have to check a lot of things, right-- There will be another announcement, wait for it!

Also,

For everyone on the worldwide level, Wasn't the non-stop showcase, too crazy?

When it was time for us to change our clothes, I changed quickly and watched from the sleeves🕺🕺🕺

I really wanted to see by the front🕺🕺🕺

Everyone in KOSÉ 8ROCKS break dancing🕺

Thats right, break dancing is now part of the Olympics and KOSÉ 8ROCKS was made up of Avengers of the best in the world in break dancing, it was really exciting at the venue too, aah, everyone will like them more with this

SHUHO-san led HOUSE🕺

SHUHO-san is a teacher who helped us in season 8 and has won many competitions, a lot of people have never experienced HOUSE, right, its stylish, right, I wonder if their feet are floating already I want to check the video, right

Also, The MC super duper heated things up, Umebo's Imagine-san!!!!!!

Umebo-san has helped us twice at Dance Gakuen

Also with Imagine-san, He has also been the MC for various dance battles around the world,

With that, Our first stage of a dance battle, I'm honored he was our MC……

The last scene was the best🕺

Also, also with peace of mind and trust, Joujou Gundan-sannn! They said it was really exciting and amazing,

During the public recording it felt like I was doing everything for the first time,

I'm grateful for their present that reminded of how things are normally-------!

Eh,

Really, doing an improvised dance battle….. Uwaa……

For Ishida, its my 13th year (I said it was my 12 year during the event⟵) and you may be thinking how many times is she going to say,

Improvisation and free dancing is really😕😕😕😕😕😕

Although,

it was super super super fun! I had fun! That is my #1 emotion!

Make no mistake, I did my best with my experience with a public recording and,

I was able to do it with your support!

Within this dance dance dance day, I also realized, I'm an idol after all...🤍 Idols are fun, I love them

Thank you very much for the wonderful experience!

This was thanks to everyone who supports the show! Thank you very much!

Finally started this month, Hello Pro Dance Gakuen season 10 is airing,

Don't miss it🌏💫

From now on I'll cook and eat a streak

Also everyone, For tomorrow as well for me,

It will be an amazzzzinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggggg day

Those who know, know, right

My heart is in shambles

7:00PM……▶

Please look forward, and kinda, look over me… Howawawawawawawawa

7:00PM

(nah but maybe we can meet up again after 7:00PM) (How about we go there and then come back here later) (Well in any case look forward to tomorrow)

see you ayumin <3

#Ishida Ayumi #Morning Musume '23 #Morning Musume #Sasaki Rikako #Danbara Ruru #Akiyama Mao #Hirai Miyo #Hiromoto Ruli #Hello! Project #Translation #Blog

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deadcactuswalking · 2 years ago

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS EUROVISION SPECIAL: 20/05/2023 (+ Lil Durk/J. Cole & Ed Sheeran)

Content warning: Discussions of Israel-Palestine conflict, death/grieving and brief mentions of r*pe, homophobia and Drake

Welp... it’s a big one. Despite all of the movement and a hefty competition, “Miracle” by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding reigns for a sixth week. This’ll be fun to run through... welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

As always, we start with the notable dropouts and as you’d expect, there are a lot this week, mostly because we have 16 new songs to cover... which may be a record. What I consider notable dropouts are songs that exit the UK Top 75 – which is what I cover – after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40, which means we say farewell to “Scrap the Monarchy” by The Krown Jewelz, “Favela” by Nines featuring J. Styles, “Boat” by Ed Sheeran, “Alone” by Kim Petras and Nicki Minaj, “Make Me” by Borai and Denham Audio, “Peaches” by Jack Black, “Here” by Tom Grennan, “Snooze” by SZA, “Us Against the World” by Strandz, “Players” by Coi Leray, both “Mother” and “Made You Look” by Meghan Trainor (not her best week), “Pointless” by Lewis Capaldi and of course, some of the long-time bottom-feeders – “Afraid to Feel” by LF SYSTEM, “Another Love” by Tom Odell and finally, “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers, because of course.

It’s a busy week... yet somehow, Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved” found time to return. 16 new arrivals and we have “Someone You Loved” at #75... the UK Singles Chart, everyone. We also have a ton of other random re-entries, like “CUFF IT” by Beyoncé after her tour announcement – it previously peaked at #5 – as well as “Creep” by Radiohead getting a Guardians of the Galaxy-related surge to #41 (it peaked at #7 in 1993, and Thom Yorke is right about it – it sucks). As for our notable gains... I mean, we did see some boosts for “Waffle House” by the Jonas Brothers at #37, “MATHEMATICAL DISRESPECT” by Lil Mabu at #27... this is all terrible news. Outside of that, we have “Dancing is Healing” by Rudimental, Vibe Chemistry and Charlotte Plank at #23, “Dog Days are Over” by Florence + the Machine at #21, “Giving Me” by Jazzy at #14 and Mae Muller copping her first top 10 with “I Wrote a Song” at #9 after a particularly bad closing performance at the You-Know-What contest.

The top five on this week’s UK Singles Chart consists of a mix of your standard, expected tracks from past weeks and at least one surprise. We have “Wish You the Best” by Lewis Capaldi at #5, “Eyes Closed” by Ed Sheeran at #4, “Daylight” by David Kushner at #3, “Tattoo” by Loreen at #2 – we’ll get to that soon, don’t worry – and of course, “Miracle” at the very top. Now to cover the big story I haven’t been mentioning by name:

Eurovision Song Contest 2023

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest broadcast included a video presented by Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA that bragged about the recent success Eurovision acts had been having on the charts, which we saw ourselves on this show – if I can call it that – with Maneskin, “Arcade”, “SNAP”, and I’m sure I’m missing some. Eurovision songs always appear on the chart if they do well, but prolonged success is rare and the streaming success as of recent is pretty good for the contest’s longevity. Of course, Eurovision was hosted in Liverpool – on behalf of Ukraine – this year, so there was a lot more buzz about the final in the UK than usual, with me myself getting back into the hype for this year. I did enjoy it, for the record – I don’t do Eurovision reviews because a lot of it ends up in the top 75 the week after but if I did, I’d be pretty positive since I liked the minimalism of some of the staging, especially the more inventive or sparse-looking performances, as well as appreciating a lot of the songs. My favourites were Luke Black from Serbia and Slovenia’s Joker Out, but they did not get far in the competition or on Spotify at least in the UK, so we’ll have some of the lesser songs – but at least not any of the dull ballads – debuting here instead, and since I did it last year I may as well cover them separately once again. As with the new songs, the numbers represent the debut position and I’ll note which country the song is representing instead of the production credit – but don’t worry, I’ll weave them into the review as with last year. Oh, and I’ll keep the #2 debut for last just like Sam Ryder for consistency’s sake; Loreen will not be in this section. As for who will be, well...

#63 – “Because of You” – Gustaph

REPRESENTING: Belgium

Landing at the seventh spot in the song contest is Belgian singer Gustaph, who self-produced this cute little dance-pop track alongside Willem Vanderstichele – awesome name. Cribbing from Jamiroquai’s fondness for both big hats and funky beats, we have a groovy house track on our hands wherein Gustaph honestly carries himself as a diva over an infectious synth bass and more generic house production that sounds as 90s as it could possibly sound. It’s a love song where Gustaph carries on because of his partner, and whilst the drop doesn’t do much justice to the celebratory tone of the song in my opinion, it has really grown on me due to the live performance, which was fantastic, and the notable anti-homophobia undertones are obviously going to resonate in the current... LGBTQ hellscape in the western world. It’s a defiant song that makes up for its shortcomings in pure charisma – I wish there was more to it, but that final crescendo with the fizzling percussion and strings does a whole lot to sell me on it. It’s a song that’s absolutely fit for the burst of energy format that Eurovision tends to allow for.

#56 – “Solo” – BLANKA

REPRESENTING: Poland (controversially)

Yeah, there were some issues surrounding this one. Apparently, there were accusations of rigged votes due to connections the jury had with BLANKA... and I hope 19th place was worth the corruption, guys. It’s not like the end result of it, produced by Tribbs and Maciej Puchalski, is all that good. You wouldn’t be able to tell a Pole made it considering the generic European pop sound reliant on a reggae-esque beat that somehow gets stiffer the more percussion is added, sounding like a modern version of Ace of Base that nobody asked for. BLANKA celebrates how she’s better off without this partner, and I don’t really care because she doesn’t sound like she does either, with the entire song sounding as processed as possible. Eurovision is at its worst when it’s boring, and BLANKA absolutely was, with the performance being just as dull as the song is. BLANKA even released extra remixes – and this is not like Ukraine, wherein TVORCHI released an original mix and a Eurovision mix (the song – and especially the genius performance – were great, by the way, and it’s a shame it did not chart). No, it has a nightcore version, several producer-led remixes (they’re both cheap garbage but the Audiosouls slap house remix kind of works for what it is), a live acoustic version that does her pronunciation absolutely no favours and a Goddamn Christmas version. It adds jingle bells. Next.

#48 – “Who the Hell is Edgar?” – TEYA and SELENA

REPRESENTING: Austria

I guess we had to be on a strictly first-name basis with the entrants this year, and despite coming 15th with a surprisingly minimal and drab performance, I at least like the song’s conceit. It’s about ghostwriting, and takes a pretty comical approach with the two suddenly having this hit song on their hands, being possessed by the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe because... of course, and ending up not being able to pay rent still despite the song’s popularity, making a point about how little artists get royalties-wise from streaming services. It makes a decent point and is pretty goofy doing so, making little cute references to the business side of the industry... though that may be why the juries were unwilling to give it the time of day. With that said, it’s an alright song, though it’s kind of soured on me – the warping synths, staccato bass and rollicking guitars in the verses are great, but it doesn’t entirely mesh once we get to the hypnotic chorus, especially with the bass distracting from the hypnotism of it if anything. In fact, it gets a little too bombastic for me especially with the choir interludes and some of the delivery feeling a bit noxious, but that’s kind of expected with this goofy premise. It’s alright, but not one of the Eurovision tracks from this year that I come back to often.

#45 – “Unicorn” – Noa Kirel

REPRESENTING: Israel

You know, to an extent, Eurovision is about representing countries and their public image. This has always been necessary for Europe, as we have committed some of the worst crimes against humanity known to, well, humanity, and to be seen as fun-loving and progressive is just what we want to look like in the face of growing discontent and awareness of the bloodied history of these nations thanks to the war in Ukraine. Produced by Yinon Yahel and placing third, this song tells the story of Israel, and whilst Kirel has said it represents harnessing the feminine power of the unicorn and that she’s promoting “togetherness”, don’t be fooled: she’s lovey-dovey with President Herzog, and this song is a bitter, bitter version of the story of Israel sang by someone who didn’t get the memo that Kesha wasn’t being 100% serious. Kirel dismisses believing in old stories – which, for someone with family that survived the Holocaust, you’d think she’d be more open to hearing – calling them “fairytales” whilst making references to her DNA and professing the “independent” power of Israel amidst other people “calling them names”, with an extra touch of condescension to, you know, native people fighting for their freedom? She does the whole patronising motivational aspect, which could come off okay if she weren’t representing Israel – say what you want about what the song truly means and it’s going to mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people (which is great!) but to me, this is sly propaganda written off as a girl-power anthem. When the continued oppression and murder is ongoing, current and brainwashed into Israelis in their youth, it’s hard to compare it to a motivational song from many of these other countries that are not so explicitly murderous, especially due to how pissy and defensive this is lyrically. To make it this danceable and kitsch is just the genocidal cherry on top of the cake of ethnic cleansing. Screw this song, free Palestine, and let’s move on.

#10 – “Queen of Kings” – Alessandra

REPRESENTING: Norway

I mean, if we’re getting political still, there are some Queens and Kings here in England I wouldn’t mind to see gone. This song placed fifth and is the first top 10 hit by Alessandra, the part-Italian singer, alongside production from Henning Olerud and Stanley Fernandez, who I think are the main issues here. I did think the performance was completely fine, if a bit disappointing, but this girl-power anthem is not about genocide – thank God – but instead is kind of a Game of Thrones escapist fantasy acting as a release for the struggle that it was for Alessandra to grow up bisexual in Italy. It’s not immediately obvious in the lyrics but it’s Eurovision – it’s usually AGAP (as gay as possible). Her breathy belting is impressive and rapid, even if it didn’t translate that well live, but I don’t like the dramatic swell of this, mostly since it feels really cheap and over-produced, which really muddies Alessandra’s performance: she just has no space here, especially with the bass at the front of the mix that gives it a nauseating, headache-inducing feel that shreds it of a lot of its genuinely promising elements. It’s a shame because the high note is impressive and the song is catchy as sin, but the first of our Eurovision top 10s doesn’t impress me that much. At least it’s better than Mae Muller, and with this, her and Loreen, as well as the next song, we actually have four Eurovision songs simultaneously in the top 10, showing an unexpectedly large impact for the contest this year. Oh, and by the way, I’m sure you know but “I Wrote a Song” placed 25th... hey, it could have been worse. We could have been Germany.

#6 – “Cha Cha Cha” – Kaarija

REPRESENTING: Finland

Now this one is probably our strangest: as expected, the vast majority of the charting Eurovision tracks are 90% to 100% in English, but this one is by a formerly practically unknown rapper whose vocals are solely in Finnish. Whilst it came second overall, it won the televote and there were a lot of fans in the audience that night, I imagine partly because of how over-the-top and outwardly quirky it all is. It was a rather populist track in that regard, and I’m not surprised that despite its inaccessibility, it’s in the top 10... and it’s not just the language: it’s really out there. Produced by Aleksi Nurmi and Ki-RO, I wouldn’t be all too surprised to hear 100 gecs over this, combining hypnotising bass and intimidating techno rhythms with a creepily layered vocal in between a perking siren that eventually takes us headfirst into a dance-rock jam, with a charismatic chant vocal Keith Flint would be proud to hear still near the top of the charts. I have no idea what the song is about and I don’t think I’m supposed to: the “cha cha cha” is there to make sure I don’t need to care, and the guitars smash into the mix to ensure the only important element of the song shines: it goes hard. It goes intensely hard... and then it goes really 100 gecs on us and turns into a full-on trance song, still using the “cha cha cha” motif but otherwise ditching the chorus for a completely new one and it’s just Goddamn brilliant. With an utterly seamless transition, Kaarija’s yell dampens into an Auto-Tuned croon fit for 90s bubblegum dance, and every flash of synth has so much colour over the still pulsating dance beat that you almost forget this is one song until the crowd cheering comes in like this is “Zombie Nation” and a soaring guitar leads us into the final refrain. It’s adorable, it’s aggressive, it’s bizarre and honestly, with the ending callback to the original hook and siren loop, it’s kind of genius. Of course it won the televote, and whilst it wasn’t my favourite, it absolutely deserved to win the contest as a whole. We’ll get to the true winner after a not-so-brief interruption from songs that may actually last.

NEW ARRIVALS

#72 – “Real Back in Style” – Potter Payper

Produced by Jason Julian and Kyle Evans

Potter Payper was blocked by Ed Sheeran for the #1 on this week’s albums chart, with the album of the same name as this track debuting at #2, which is still his highest peak yet. I’ve never really been impressed by Mr. Payper, but his guest verse from last week was alright so I had some hopes for this and honestly, it’s not bad at all. The filtered gospel choir-sounding vocal sample is pretty airy with how it’s edited and it leads to a levitating foundation which fits Mr. Payper’s yelling delivery since it makes him stand out even more as he makes his entrance before the pounding drums come in and he finds his pocket a bit more tightly. The rhyme schemes are pretty good, with a flubbed rhyme actually being used for tension purposes, which is a sick decision, and the soaring chipmunk vocal behind the hard military-esque drums is a nice touch too. Sadly, he focuses from Recovery-era Eminem melodrama syndrome with an unnecessary, cheap-sounding electric guitar but it’s not that distracting when Mr. Payper is going so hard delivery-wise. He’s barely adding much groove or rhythm as much as he’s just yelling into the clouds about his life, and it’s kind of endearing due to the sheer passion. The beat switch could have been pulled off a bit better – the build-up feels a bit too long for what is essentially just a trap beat, and not one that goes consistently hard either. It sounds like Mr. Payper wrote and rapped over a beat with no drums and the producers just jumped the percussion in afterwards. With that said, the second beat is where Potter gets the most profound – if he hadn’t been placed in prison and mistreated by police, if he didn’t get involved in drug trafficking, if he wasn’t impoverished, he wouldn’t be able to receive the praise and success he does now... and that’s a sad existence when laid out as explicitly as it is here. Maybe this guy really is improving, though it may take another single for me to really be convinced to check out that album. Regardless, I’m impressed it charted. Speaking of album cuts charting, however...

#71 – “Satellite” – Harry Styles

Produced by Tyler Johnson and Kid Harpoon

We’re basically a year on from the release of Harry’s House and man, I still think it’s pretty terrible. I don’t like this one at all but it’s probably one of the better tracks, and now it’s got a video, it barely made its way here. Maybe it’s grown on me? I mean, no, it really hasn’t. It’s the track I want to like the most, with its progressive electronic swirl at the start furthered by Styles’ ambient humming, but the cosmic sparseness of it doesn’t allow for Harry to actually dive in as much as he clearly wants to. He feels a bit unambiguous to his own instrumental, which may fit due to the song being about him orbiting, just waiting for his love interest to bring him in... but then why does it have a corny dance beat in the chorus? Why is there a pitch-shifted post-chorus interlude that only plays once before being a distracting layer of some of the lines in the chorus? That chorus never changes like I feel like it should – it’s one of those songs that demands a bit of a narrative switch but it’s constantly stuck in flux, adding nothing of interest except for a brief crash of guitars that sounds great, especially with the distant reverb on Harry’s voice and the soaring synths, but it really is too little too late and there’s something about the guitars combined with a continued unchanging chorus that prevents it from ever feeling cathartic. I would have preferred it maybe go into a half-time breakdown or you know, he finally gets the girl, making more of a moment of the song instead of flindering off into nothingness, but I guess that would mean it doesn’t fit into the numb void of Harry’s House. If he played into it more with the songwriting, maybe it’d actually be interesting.

#70 – “TMO (Turn Me On)” – Luude and Bru-C featuring Kevin Lyttle

Produced by Chase & Status and Luude

...What? Were we really in need for a remix of “Turn Me On” by Kevin Lyttle by the “Down Under” guy with vocals from... Bru-C of all people? Why aren’t Chase & Status credited but the sample is? For what it’s worth, I really like the original. If I ignore the backing vocals from a BTEC Sean Paul, I can get into Lyttle’s unique falsetto that makes the song feel really cute, especially with the upbeat dancehall rhythm and extra synth inflections added by RedOne. It’s additionally VERY catchy, and has not left my head since it peaked at #2 in 2003 – he was blocked by Sugababes, which was a surprise to me. I assumed this had got to have gone #1, but alas, here we have Luude, Bru-C and Chase & Status taking the song to a new generation of listeners and is the remix any good? To be fair, Luude tried his best to make sure the general vibe – even if not genre – was replicated, with an uncredited emcee hyping up the track before it starts, and the dancehall rhythm being replicated with breakbeat stabs... and Goddamn it, it’s really good and I have no idea how to feel about that. It doesn’t do much to the original other than changing the sound – in convention, it’s very similar, with rubbery synth glitches reflecting the jerkier synth strings in the original. That’s probably for the best in this case, as making this any darker would completely ruin the naive, fun-loving spirit Lyttle has, and Bru-C’s “desperately trying to be cool” cadence fits perfectly, especially with a slicker-than-usual rhyme scheme and flow that sounds pretty sick over the pulsating drum and bass beat. This song is one that absolutely knows its intentions and completely succeeds with flying colours. It didn’t really exceed my expectations but... it’s a drum and bass remix of “Turn Me On” by Kevin Lyttle, what should even BE my expectations?

#69 – “hotline” (Edit) – Billie Eilish

Produced by FINNEAS

This is a one-minute cover of “Hotline Bling” by Drake. There is a full version of the cover, which was recorded in 2018, and released on her SoundCloud as well as a physical single, but she noticed it going viral on TikTok and released this tiny edit of it onto streaming services. You can barely tell that it’s a cover, given its acoustic guitars and her whispered delivery that phases into the cloudy production... and uh, that’s kind of it. I don’t like the original song because it’s a tad whiny, and Eilish’s version definitely isn’t but I don’t get much obvious emotion from it at all. This is essentially just a nicely-produced snippet of an acoustic instrumental that features barely audible Drake lyrics in the background, and it sounds like it would make a good background track for a scene in a particularly pastoral film set in a forest, or a dream sequence. That’s probably more analysis than this tiny snippet will ever have. I like the sound, though, and if Billie’s going this direction with the next album and this re-release is a reflection of it – I wouldn’t put it past her to include this on it – I’m pretty excited for what might be next.

#66 – “Area Codes” – Kali

Produced by Tate Kobang and YG! Beats

Ludacris’ “Area Codes” featuring Nate Dogg is a classic, lighthearted jam that sadly never charted in the UK. It has Luda’s signature brash fun and carefree bars alongside Nate’s rich voice dripping in untouched swag and charisma. It’s full of hooks, and I recommend you hear it if you like this interpretation by Kali, a rapper who I know (and liked) from XXL but have otherwise heard not much else from. I expected a more fun, swaggering track reminiscent of the funky R&B hook of the original, but this is such a bare snap track wherein Kali’s rapid whispering is at the front of the mix as she raps about taking advantage of all these men she’s with. The minimal, eerie nature of the beat alongside the soaring sound effects in the back allow for it to sound really dark, and it’s a shame that Kali doesn’t fully play into that, as I’d prefer it to fully give in to the evil seductress vibe implied by the laughing and flow than keep in this awkward middle stage. This is especially an issue with the song’s length, as it just kind of flounders off into an instrumental... which doesn’t serve much of a purpose when there’s practically nothing to said instrumental. This is far from bad, and I’m pretty impressed by Kali’s presence here, especially on the call-and-response chorus where she throws in that her hoes might even include your dad, but I’m not fully on board because there just isn’t much here.

#53 – “Side Effects” – Becky Hill and Lewis Thompson

Produced by Jon Shave and Lewis Thompson

Man, I’m not even close to finishing this episode, am I? Well, at least the charts are somewhat making it easy – I can’t say much about one-minute snippets or really even Becky Hill tracks. This sounds like any of her others for the most part but there is an interestingly darker tinge to this that would be interesting... but the flashier swell and the sing-songy chorus kind of ruins that vibe for me. Becky actually fits very well on darker production here, so I’m pretty disappointed they didn’t go that route fully, as again, I’d like her to play the villain more – framing it as a moving on or breakup song is just less compelling and less fitting production-wise than going into full cheating, regretless one-night stand mode. With all of that said, this song is still very much functional, and Lewis Thompson’s production has enough quirky sound effects to differentiate it slightly from the typical slap house, with the vocaloid drop being a tad more ethereal helping with this quite a bit. Also ever since I mentioned them in the “TMO (Turn Me On)” review, Sugababes must be on the mind because the chorus of this song, even just the first line, immediately reminded me of their version of “Freak Like Me”. Honestly, Becky Hill could kill that. Now that’s a cover I want to hear more than one minute of.

#35 – “Mountain” – Sam Ryder

Produced by Jimbo Barry, Lewis Allen and Sam Ryder

During the performance at Eurovision, Sam Ryder brought out Roger Taylor of Queen. A legend, of course, he deserved to be there and he was even given a little camera pan and acknowledgement by aging homosexual Graham Norton. He played drums on this song. That was it. Ryder didn’t come out and cover a Queen song, which is beyond me since when I think about British music, Queen is one of the first acts to cross my mind. Roger Taylor was just... there. He doesn’t even play drums on the official version, so that felt like a massive wasted potential. Regardless, the performance raked up some sales for this song and I’ve not been diagnosed with narcolepsy so it’s clearly not my fault that I immediately felt the urge to fall fast asleep when I pressed play on this one, right? Ryder has a nice voice but this song has no weight or grit to it, just a whole lot of fake handclaps and a surprisingly weak chorus when it comes to a recognisable melody. It just feels very staccato and also very reminiscent of Katy Perry’s “Roar” which had that exact same problem. There’s an instrumental break that consists of a single drum fill and what sounds like the start of a guitar solo... before it just creeps below the final chorus in the mix. If I were to soundtrack an advert for cars that I didn’t actually want anyone to buy since I kind of liked having them, and I’m not going to make much of a profit anyway since they’re not great-looking or designed by expensive companies, they’re just kind of middle-of-the-road cars that couldn’t be afforded by the average person but also is below the price range of the kind of person who would flex a car collection, so I’m just kind of showing off the cars in well-shot ads that clearly cost a lot to produce so I should probably try and sell the cars, but there’s not much of a demographic for them anyway so it might be cheaper to keep them since I rented this sent to film so I definitely have the space at least for now, and Hell, I might be able to coerce the person who owns the property I used to film the semi-professional-looking car adverts to take at least two off of my hands for his troubles... this is my first choice.

#29 – “Life Goes On” – Ed Sheeran

Produced by Aaron Dessner

I have still yet to hear – (Subtract) in full, but this seems to the post-album release single Ed is pushing, considering it has the video and a duet version with Luke Combs. Sadly, Combs isn’t credited here, but this folkish tune was in his wheelhouse before he was on it. The song is an acoustic ballad about the death of his friend and entrepreneur Jamal Edwards. He says that he wanted the world to stop like it did for the Queen and he got some of that comfort through the traditional “Nine Night” custom where for eight nights, friends and family gather for drinks and recollection of memories they have with the deceased. The ninth night is a party to commemorate their life and acknowledge that things have to go back to normal, but Ed struggles with this idea, because it hit him so heavily initially that he can’t bring himself to do anything but sink and sulk. He continues the weather theme that’s present in some of the other singles and you can hear a lot of the raw emotion in Ed’s great vocals here, and since it’s mostly acoustic, he really shines, with a lot of the moments of swell seeming borderline sarcastic considering how he’s convinced himself that life must go on. The bridge leading into the final chorus is a really crushing moment and as someone who is still processing a very important loss, this hit me really hard. It’s a beautiful tribute whilst also serving as Ed passionately taking a grip on his own grieving process, which is very difficult to do, and because of how personal it is, I think the Luke Combs version, which take the same lyrics, doesn’t serve the song much purpose, even if I love his vocals as always on here. It just means a lot more to hear it from just Ed.

#17 – “All My Life” – Lil Durk featuring J. Cole

Produced by Dr. Luke

Sigh, one thing I really hate about J. Cole is his blistering ignorance of issues that don’t directly affect him. You can’t be a conscious rapper and be spitting on beats produced by rapists, Jermaine, and that same vitriol goes to any rapper who won’t admit their imperfections on wax. That’s why it’s particularly annoying that he’s present on this song about Durk actively trying to improve himself, with a motivational chorus led by a children’s choir (which rarely ever works and doesn’t here under the weak trap beat) and a verse that shows how despite some of the blame being on the system, and rightfully so, he’s going through a lot of his own trials to get himself out of the violence he had become so accustomed to. It’s a great verse, with the difficulty of keeping the balance reflected in the varying cadences that go from mellow, muted melodic snippets and nasal, unabashed yelling, as well as his crooning about how a lot of the problems are inherent and internal – he’s not trying to preach, he’s using this to remind himself more than anything. So why is J. Cole here? He’s flexing, mostly against other rappers which just feels misguided when half of the verse is about a murdered rapper he admits he’d never heard of until he died, then getting rightfully upset at the media for publicising it and attracting fake hype just because he was the victim of a murder. Without many specifics or any interesting imagery, he’s essentially saying nothing about this societal issue whilst attracting all of the issues towards his own orbit; it’s all about him, and how he’s above all of that, despite the fact that he continues to use weapons as imagery when describing how much better he is than all these reckless, clueless rappers. To have this holier-than-thou verse after Durk’s honest one about how he lived that life and it’s a difficult mental process to get out of it is completely tone-deaf, and the fact that he really isn’t showing much technical skill or even a good flow here makes it even more bitter. The hook was growing on me by the end as well, and the melancholy Rod Wave-esque beat is not bad at all... so piss off, Cole, find worse songs to ruin. This could have been good.

#2 – “Tattoo” – Loreen

REPRESENTING: Sweden

Produced by Jimmy Jansson, Peter Bostrom and Thomas G:son

FINALLY! Oh, my God, finally, this week is over. Let’s just get this 16th song over with – sorry if it’s anti-climactic but for a Eurovision-winning song, it feels more like jury bait than anything all that interesting. I like the filtered synths but both the 80s synthpop pastiche context and 2010s EDM sound are very much done to death nowadays, so the song feels more like placing two clichés together than actually playing with them all that much. The performance and staging was excellent, however, and Loreen looked and sounded as excellent as she does on record if not even rawer and more powerful. The song itself is Loreen fighting through a troubled relationship and the claustrophobia that could set in from that tension is definitely there, especially in the orchestrated breakdown, but it just doesn’t click with me, especially due to the abrupt ending. It’s her first top 10 since she last won Eurovision in 2012 in Baku with “Euphoria”, which means she’s only the second singer to win Eurovision twice after Johnny Logan from Ireland, which ALSO means Loreen is the highest-charting non-UK Eurovision winner since Mr. Logan. Sweden tired the Irish for the most wins in the contest with seven and bam! – there’s your chart stats, you got my opinion, you got the background. It’s a song review speedrun.

Conclusion

Fittingly for a week with 16 songs it was kind of a mixed bag, though one thing I found they had in common was a lack of things to say... which is a saving grace because again, 16 songs. As for what I give out at the end, well, Ed’s done it again. Sheeran gets Best of the Week for the second week in a row for “Life Goes On”, though a close Honourable Mention goes to “Cha Cha Cha” by Kaarija. As for the worst, it’s a shame but Eurovision kind of dominates. That J. Cole pissed me off but not nearly to the extent that Noa Kirel does so “Unicorn” grabs Worst of the Week – it’s not a political cop-out if the genocide’s in the lyrics – and I think Sam Ryder gets the Dishonourable Mention for “Mountain”. I talked about cars for the vast majority of that review, and I barely know anything about cars. As for what’s on the horizon, I really don’t expect the Eurovision stuff to stick around outside of maybe Loreen and hopefully Kaarija, so I imagine it would be a similar free-for-all next week... though especially with less songs. Please, Britain? I have a life to live. Regardless, thank you for reading – if you were able to make it this far – and I’ll see you next week!

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