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smylealong · 3 years

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Year in review - 2020

2020 has been a mixed bag of an year. Where on one hand it has been a raging dumpster fire with a global pandemic, lockdowns, social distancing, online schools, politics, forest fires, Karens and the general sense of ennui that the year brought. On the other hand, the year gave us all time. Time to reflect on ourselves. Time to teach ourselves new things. Time to binge watch. And boy did the streaming platforms make full use of it. Listed below are the best things I saw in 2020. (Across languages and in no specific order.) IT IS A LONG POST. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

HINDI Thappad: Dir: Anubhav Sinha. Starring: Tapasee Pannu, Pavail Gulati, Diya Mirza, Kumud Mishra and Ratna Pathak Shah. On surface level, the premise seems frivolous. After all, it was just a slap. Just. One. Slap. Yet, with that one slap, the protagonist’s neatly organized world comes apart at the seams. From there begins Amruta’s (Tapsee Pannu) journey into exploring the micro-aggressions and tiny slights that she has turned a blind eye to, for the sake of keeping peace. The film never veers into a glorification of violence nor does it get overly preachy. It is a mirror to the patriarchal society and raises pertinent questions about the things that the society as normalized. Things that shouldn’t be normalized.

Bulbbul: Dir: Anvita Dutt. Starring: Tripti Dimri, Avinash Tiwari, Rahul Bose, Parambrata Chatterjee and Paoli Dam.

Horror does not always lie in the things that go bump at night. Sometimes, horror is what society expects of you. Horror is the consequence of not fitting into the role that has been written for you. Sometimes, it is terrifying to be a woman in a male-dominated society. That is what Bulbbul explores. Wrapped in a beautiful package, Bulbbul tells the raw story of a child-bride who is punished, harshly, inhumanly, for acting her age. If you haven’t seen it yet, drop everything and watch it. It’s on Netflix.

Lootcase: Dir: Rajesh Krishnan. Starring: Kunal Khemu, Rasika Duggal, Vijay Raaz, Gajraj Rao.

This was a charming little movie that had me in splits. A story of a simple man who chances upon a bag full of money. What follows is a hilarious tale of lies, deception and comedy of errors. Kunal Khemu proves that Bollywood does not realize just how talented he is. Vijay Raaz’s deadpan comedy and Gajraj Rao’s evil smiling desperation are a delight to behold. I’m smiling even as I am writing this. This was fun!

Raat Akeli Hai: Dir: Honey Tehran. Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, Ila Arun, Shweta Tripathi, Tigmanshu Dhulia.

This was India’s answer to Knives Out. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is at his finest as the honest and frustrated (in more ways than one) police officer who finds himself attracted to the mistress of the murdered man. What follows is a tale so full of twists and turns that I could not predict where it is going. When you have Siddiqui at the helm, you are almost certain to get a good film. But when he is backed by stellar performance from the able cast, that takes the film to another level altogether.

Patal Lok: Dir: Avinash Arun and Prosit Roy. Starring: Jaideep Alhawat, Niraj Kabi, Abhishek Bannerjee, Swastika Mukherjee, Gul Panang, Ishvaak Singh.

Wow. Just. Wow. This is arguably the BEST thing that I have seen all year. On the surface this is an attempted murder case. But what it actually is, is a mirror to our society. It is a human story. A story of greed, corruption, power, violence, misogyny, depravity and true evil. It is a story of love, hope, support, kindness and humanity. It is a story of us. My hats off to the entire cast and crew for coming up with something truly special.

ENGLISH

Haunting of Bly Manor: Created by: Mike Flannagan. Starring: Victoria Pedretti, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Amelia Eve, T’Nia Miller, Rahul Kohli.

Based on Henry Jame’s Turn of the Screw, this was a poignant tale of love, loss and pain. While it pales in comparison to its brilliant predecessor, Haunting of the Hill House, and the 1961 screen adaptation of the novel, The Innocents, Bly Manor still manages to be a worthy watch. In Mike Flannagan’s deft hands, we get to see a completely different perspective of the Haunting. I won’t say more, for spoilers, but this was definitely one of the better things I watched this year. Especially since I almost eschewed English movies/series this year. (I did watch some forgettable movies like Extraction and Mulan, but even mentioning them here feels sacrilegious.)

Korean

This year, I returned to Korean Dramas after a long time. My last Korean Drama before this year was Faith that I saw in 2014. Since Boys Over Flowers (Read Kim Bum) is my guilty pleasure watch, I decided to have it on in the background sometime in March or April this year. (Honestly, in 2020, who knows?). BOF took me to The King: Eternal Monarch. And TKEM introduced me to Woo Do Hwan who gave me some of the best times in this year. Three of his dramas feature here.

Save Me:- Dir: Kim Sung-soo. Starring: Ok Taec-yeon, Seo Yea-ji, Woo Do Hwan, Jo Sung-ha, Jo Jae-yoon.

Do you fancy a kick to your teeth? Because that is what this series is. What starts a simple story of a regular family’s struggles upon moving to a new town, quickly turns into a harrowing nightmare in which you are simply the viewer. The story delves into cults and the insidious power they hold. Through Seo Yea-ji’s brilliant performance as Im Sang-mi, we see a K drama heroine who is not a damsel in distress. She isn’t the one throwing the punches, that is done by Ok Taec-yeon and Woo Do Hwan. Still she is the one that leads the fight. If that wasn’t enough, Woo Do Hwan, plays Seok Dong-chul. Arguably one of the best male leads I have seen.

Mad Dog:- Dir: Hwang Ui-kyung Starring: Yoo Ji-tae, Woo Do Hwan, Jo Jae-joon, Ryu Hwa-young, Kim Hye-sung.

What a treat this show is! Smart protagonists pitted against equally intelligent antagonists and a taut plot that rarely sags (It does sag just a wee bit in the middle but it picks up pace very quickly). Woo Do Hwan is fantastic as the ever changing, tough to pin down, Kim Min Joon. The layers in this character! This show will keep you guessing. Every cast member is stellar and no one has a single misstep. A must watch!

My Country: Dir: Kim Jin-won Starring: Yang Se Jong, Woo Do Hwan, Kim Seol-hyun, Jang Hyuk.

This series brings a set of very complex emotions in me. Don’t get me wrong. I love the series. Its story, characterization, costumes, cinematography, acting, action scenes, OST. They are top notch. A+. But... and this is a big one, this series is also a glaring display of what happens when a writer falls in love with one of their characters. As a writer, I can say that we love all our characters. But it is very dangerous for a writer to move from simply loving the character to falling in love with the character. When that happens, the writer becomes afraid of letting that particular character make mistakes. Or glosses over their flaws. Often at the expense of the other character. Which is what happened here. The writer fell in love with Seo Hwi and Nam Seon ho paid the price. Hwi could literally assassinate people in front of Hui Jae and still be forgiven for it, while Nam Seon-ho gets demonized for trying to save Hwi by telling lies. I could go on and on about how unfair this series was to Seon-ho, but that would be a separate post altogether.

Tale of a Gumiho: Dir: Kang Shin-hyo Starring: Lee Dong Wook, Jo Bo-ah, Kim Bum.

I started this series for Kim Bum (I LOVE THE GUY). I was prepared for some cheesy, goofy fun with some good looking people. But soon, I was watching it for the story. A smart Urban Fantasy with elements of Korean Mythology, this was UF done right! This series made me do research. I am so tired of seeing the same old myths in fantasy that this came as a breath of fresh air. Intelligent protagonists who communicate well (gasp! what? That happens?). A flip-flopping anti-hero. A truly psychopathic villain and a bunch of other well-fleshed characters make for one entertaining watch. I highly recommend it.

Chinese:

K-dramas made me revive the Tumblr account that I had created sometime in 2017 and which lay dormant since then. Soon, my Tumblr feed was filled with gifs and metas of a show with pretty men. I did not pay much attention to it, till a post about Jin Ling’s Uncle made me snort. Even though I didn’t understand what it was talking about, it was still funny. Realizing that the show is on Netflix, I saw the trailer and wasn’t impressed. Then there was the length. 50 episodes! Holee-moleee. “No. I ain’t got that much time,” I said and moved on. But then, I saw a gif of a man smiling. I had never seen a smile that dazzling. There was something about that smile that made me go back and click on the first episode. And in less than ten minutes of the episode, they killed the man whose smile drew me to the show. WTF? But I had seen gifs of him. There had to be more. Then, the show began and I had no idea what was happening. I decided no smile could be worth the brain-cells I am having to expend for this. Chuck it. But people in Tumblr said, hold on. You will understand it. Episode 2, and I still wasn’t sold. I gave it till episode 5. Then, before I knew it, I finished the 50 episodes and currently reside in the rabbit hole that is The Untamed.

Dir: Zheng Weiwen and Chen Jialin Starring: Xiao Zhan, Wang Yibo, and a host of others. I can’t write the name of the entire cast, even though I want to.

PS: In case you don’t know, the man with the pretty smile is Xiao Zhan.

#2020 year in review #long post warning

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zoetekohana · 4 years

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tagged – now you’re it!

☆ ☆ ☆ Tagged by the lovely @sakurastar28. ☆ ☆ ☆

Rules: Answer these questions and tag 9 people you want to get to know better, or catch up with:

THREE SHIPS:

Taichi/Mimi (Digimon) | always and forever the main otp

Henry/Amy (The Next Step) | I shipped them since s4 and they finally got together in s7. (I just wish their relationship got more focus in s7 before and especially after they started dating, though. And I wish we’d gotten to see a reaction from Summer, but yeah, this could turn into an entire essay so let’s not go there now.)

Johnny/Dutch (Killjoys) | I just need to watch the final season of this show, but I absolutely adore their relationship. It’s a best friends/platonic lifepartners/more than friends but not more than friends/soulmates bond and I love every minute of it.

LAST SONG:

Probably not the most original answer to this question currently, but I am slightly obsessed with Taylor Swift and Bon Iver’s “Exile”. I absolutely love love love Bon Iver (I was going to go to their concert last April but that’s postponed due to corona), and I was intrigued to hear them teaming up with Taylor, but gdi their collaboration is absolutely amazing. What a touching song!

It doesn’t help with the obsession that I stumbled upon two wonderful fanvids for Jess/Rory and Jon/Sansa. The lyrics fit both perfectly, mostly Jonsa. (”Like you’d get your knuckles bloody for me.” and the parallels to Ned/Cat with “I think I’ve seen this film before.”)

But I’ve begun listening to Billie Eilish’s “My Future” a lot too.

LAST MOVIE:

Strangely (well, not that strangely considering everything) I haven’t watched as many films this year as other years, but the last feature film I saw was the cynical yet quirky “Destination Wedding”, starring Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder.

The last short film I watched was the Korean “Summer, bus”. So very beautiful and heartwarming. I teared up.

I recommend both!

CURRENTLY READING:

I recently began reading “The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James. As for fanfiction: now that I finally revamped my saved files of “My Captain’s Lady” by Pied Piper, I started a re-read.

CURRENTLY WATCHING:

Currently working through S6 of “Veep” and through S5 (aka the last season) of “Killjoys”.

I should start watching “Digimon Adventure 2020″, though. But I might watch S3 of “Killing Eve” first.

CURRENTLY CONSUMING:

A glass of water. Yes, I’m very basic.

CURRENTLY CRAVING:

More time, more hours in a day.

TAGGING:

I’m going to tag @firstdove15 @beeftony @ribbonedcuriosa @ladyofodaiba and @eruriku

☆

PS: I am going to reply to @sakurastar28′s message as well:

[[ @zoetekohana you’ve been MIA but I’m really hoping you’re doing ok!! ☆(◒‿◒)☆ ]]

Thank you for having tagged me and for asking me how I’m doing! I know, I haven’t been around much the past... year? Wow, see, I desperately crave more time. But life has been very hectic. Health-wise I am doing better, minus the flurry of migraines, but there’s so much going on in my personal life, I am currently stuck, highly stressed (hence the surplus in migraines), and I can’t even bring myself to lie and say I’m okay, because I’m not. But I’m trying to persevere and hope for better times. (And if it’s any consolation, I have quite a few Michi projects in mind.)

#memebox #michi #taichi x mimi #hamy #henry x amy #dutch x johnny #@#sakurastar28

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thepropertylovers · 4 years

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Happy Friday Night

TGIF friends. We really mean that tonight. Pizza is ordered, wine is poured, and we’re looking forward to couch & Netflix time. Maybe the new Charlize Theron movie? We just finished season 2 of The Order and if you haven’t seen it, we highly recommend it! If you liked Sabrina, it’s similar but a little edgier.

This week has been one of those weeks, the kind that never seems to end and where, by the end of it, we want to put forth the most minimal effort possible to enjoy ourselves and relax. That’s what’s happening tonight and we’re so looking forward to it.

Happy Friday night, friends, and have a lovely weekend xo.

PS: wear a mask, please. ��🏼

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vinylrosess · 5 years

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So I just saw Midway and it was an amazing experience. It’s Veterans Day, and over half the people there to see the film were veterans. After the (rather phenomenal) movie, everyone was standing up and clapping. Those of us who weren’t veterans all made sure to thank those who were as all of us were leaving the theater. Thank you to all Veterans, I’m forever grateful for what you have done for us.

PS: if you haven’t seen Midway, it was incredible movie and I highly recommend it.

#midway #veterans day #midway 2019 #history #wwii history #wwii

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mcwriting · 5 years

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starstruck (2)

Heyyyyyy so I stuck to my word lol.

I’m basically unable to function after seeing far from home this evening but also it was so good. I teared up when tom did and my mom made fun of me but its okay because his acting was awesome! Highly recommend y’all see it (even tho ik you probably will if you haven’t already lol)

Ps this is my first time linking one post to another so please lmk if it doesn’t work, but if it’s not, you’ll always be able to access this through my starstruck tag!

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

Fandom: Tommo Holland

Ship: Tom Holland x Reader eventually

Setting: LA

Word Count: 1386 (lol it’s shorter this time srry)

Warnings: i actually don’t think there’s any here, but lmk if there should be

Rating: K+ still

Background: part 2 of my DCOM inspired fic

B/f/n: your best friend’s name

__________________________________

Previously on starstruck...

The faint remains of his cologne wafted to your nose and you couldn’t help but breathe it in. You relaxed further into his grip and stayed comfortable until you heard a buzz on the table next to you.

You decided to ignore it until it happened two more times. Finally, you decided to wiggle out of Tom’s grip and succeeded without waking him. You picked up the cell and noticed it was 10 a.m. and all three texts were from b/f/n

Hey I’m coming over

I’ll bring ice cream since you said you weren’t doing too hot yesterday

I’m on my way

“No. No, no, nonoNO,” you exclaimed, getting louder and louder, causing Tom to sleepily ask,

“Could you keep it down, darling?”

“No, I can’t ‘keep it down,’ Thomas, because b/f/n is ON HER WAY HERE!”

“What!?”

He sat up fully awake.

“We have to get you out of here without her seeing, and she’s probably gonna be here in like 5 minutes.”

Tom rushed to get up and find his keys that were in the pocket of his discarded jacket while you hurried to brush your hair and take a makeup wipe to your face.

You clambered down the stairs and hurried Tom through the kitchen and into the laundry room when you heard the doorbell ring, and when you didn’t answer in apt time, it began ringing like crazy.

Panic stuck your chest and you looked at Tom.

“Open the garage and leave in 5 minutes, then text me so I can close it.” You commanded, beginning to walk towards the entryway.

“Wait, wait,” he grabbed your arm, “I don’t have your number!”

You scrawled it down on a sticky note and ran, hoping he would get out safely and quickly. You opened the door to find b/f/n holding two pints of ice cream, raspberry sorbet for you and coffee ice cream for herself.

“My gosh what took you so long? I about started searching for the spare key with all these goods melting.”

You were about to reply when the door between the garage and utility room shut loudly.

“Uh, who was that?” she asked, knowing your parents were at work.

“Oh, uh, a friend from dance. We’re working on a piece together and we decided to talk about it last night since I hurt my head,” you lied.

B/f/n furrowed her brows for a second before letting it go and coming inside to set up your typical movie day in the living room. Meanwhile, you headed back to the kitchen to grab spoons and check your phone, where a new number had sent a message.

I’m out so you’re good to close the door. Thanks again for the great night ;)

You smiled and sent back

That makes it sound soooo much worse than what really happened haha. You made it out without suspicion too :)

You decided to put his number in as a contact, disguising him as “Clara Twinkletoes” after a joke made late into the previous night, then headed to the living room.

__________________________________

After finishing one movie and your separate ice creams, you both decided to take a break and were looking at your phones.

“Hey, I know you hate talking about Tom Holland,” you gave a side-eyed glance to the bringing up of his name, “but guess what? He liked my picture last night! I just remembered to tell you!”

B/f/n held up her phone to show you the notification, then went back to staring at it excitedly.

“That’s actually really cool. I’m happy for you,” you expressed, leaving out the fact that you had asked Tom to like it when you were talking about the post at 1 a.m.

A few minutes later, b/f/n breathed out a soft “woah.”

You looked at her in confusion.

“Y/n, look at this girl Tom was photographed with yesterday, she looks like your twin!”

Dread filled your stomach as you stared at the picture of you and Tom in his black Audi A8, that stupid ballet skirt wrapping your head.

“Yeah, maybe if I took ride alongs with celebrities and wore nineteen fifties headscarves,” you quipped, “you only think that girl looks like me because you want it to be me, b/f/n.”

“Hmm, I guess…” she trailed, taking back her phone to continue scrolling through Instagram.

Not long after, you got a text from Clara twinkletoes.

Have you seen the picture??? I’m getting tagged and you are too

Like… everyone thinks that girl is you

Psh as if. We can talk about it later, I’m busy with my gal pal

Fine. Also, I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to the beach tomorrow? I wanna talk about all this in person

Hmm. Maybe. Probably not ;)

“Hey, b/f/n?” You asked tentatively.

“Yeah?”

“Is it cool if you don’t spend the night tonight? I need to go to dance early tomorrow since I took the day off and I’ve also got this head injury so…”

it wasn’t a complete lie. You did have a head injury and your plan was to go to dance at some point, but you decided to leave out the part where you might actually go hang out with hot shot Holland.

“Oh, uh yeah, sure. My sister is coming into town this week so it’s probably for the best, you know how my mom is about cleaning the house and stuff,” she said, obviously trying to hide her disappointment.

Around 4 pm, she got up to leave. You had watched two more movies and eaten plenty more snacks throughout the afternoon.

“I guess I’ll see you later, y/n. Hope you’re feeling better tomorrow,” she smiled.

You returned the gesture and gave her a hug, then watched from the doorstep as she mounted her bike and rode off to her house only a few neighborhoods away, you feeling queasy about lying so much.

__________________________________

You headed upstairs after a light dinner and some TV. It was only about 8 o’clock, but the combination of a head injury, late night, and slight emotional distress (from lying to b/f/n) made you feel exhausted, not to mention you would be waking early the next day.

You changed into sweats and flopped into bed, checking your social media for a little bit to wind down.

Your snapchat was just pictures from friends, only a couple of them joking to you about the whole Tom Holland situation (but of course none of them knew the truth)

Twitter and Instagram, however, were a different story. After the premiere, you had chosen to turn off notifications and were especially happy to know it was the right choice.

On Twitter, fan accounts and other people were replying to a joking tweet you had made days before the premiere in reply to b/f/n where you said “Why be friends with that tom holland guy when you could hang out with your superior best friend hmmmm?? He’s lame compared to me lolol”

People were going nuts about it, divided over whether you were just messing around or if you really didn’t like him. Most of them chose the former, though you knew you had meant the latter. Other people were tweeting about you separately and debating about that picture from the day before.

You almost deleted your Twitter in a rash decision but realized how suspicious that could look and instead closed it and moved to instagram.

It too was overflowing with tags and comments and follows and likes. Your stomach churned as you realized how big this was becoming. Finally you made the choice to meet Tom tomorrow, even if it risked being caught again. You sent him a single text to let it be known:

Alright twinkletoes. Let’s go to the beach.

You figured you could reply to whatever he sent in the morning and put your phone on do not disturb before plugging it in and checking the alarm.

You snuggled into the sheets and buried your head into a pillow. A sweet and musky scent drifted into your nose and you took a deep breath.

Tom’s cologne

You sat up, sniffing around the sheets, pillows, and covers, realizing he had left his scent everywhere.

“I need to wash these sheets tomorrow” you breathed to yourself in an annoyed tone.

With that you laid back down, glad that b/f/n wasn’t there to ask whose scent was all over your bed. Though you tried to convince yourself that you wanted the smell gone, had anyone been watching, they couldn’t deny the way you sunk into the bed and the faint smile that made its way to your lips as you drifted into slumber.

__________________________________

A/N: there’s chapter 2!! Hope you guys enjoy. I don’t think I’ll post 3 until this weekend but who even knows haha. Love y’all and am so happy to have your support!

Tag List: @marvel-lously

#starstruck #tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland imagine #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #marvel #spider-man #spider man #Spider Man: Homecoming #SPIDER MAN FAR FROM HOME #SPIDER MAN: FAR FROM HOME

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dweemeister · 4 years

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2019 Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song (final)

*breathes deeply*

TAGGING: @cokwong; @dansmonarbre; @emilylime5; @fredsbarandgrill; @halfwaythruthedark; @ideallaedi; @introspectivemeltdown; @loveless422 (of @classicladiesofcolor administering); @maximiliani; @memetoilet; @mindo80; @monkeysmadeofcheese; @myluckyerror; @nazur; @phendranaedge; @plus-low-overthrow; @shadesofhappy; @stephdgray; @themusicmoviesportsguy; @theybecomestories; @umgeschrieben; @underblackwings; @yellanimal.

And also tagging a few first-timers or those who haven’t done this in a while: @astorytellertothestars; @bitch-genius; @dog-of-ulthar; @ineedanumbrella; @jayb3; @kataka-taka; @nudehearth; @shootingstarvenator; @thethirdman8; @thewolfofelectricavenue; @voicetalentbrendan; and @wehadfacesthen.

This is not the latest we've ever started the final round, but here we go!

For those who participated in the preliminary, I thank you for your time, but we're not done quite yet. The madness has only begun. After a chaotic end to the preliminary round in which contenders crashed out and unheralded underdogs rose in the final hours, who knows who takes this final? For the uninitiated, I have an Oscar-like ceremony on my blog celebrating all the movies of that year’s Movie Odyssey (all the movies I saw for the first time in their entirety) at the year’s end. For the last five years, I have asked family and friends to help out with the Best Original Song category - because in all other categories, you'd be forced to watch entire movies to decide it. This is a musical thank-you to those, who have contributed, in their own ways, to support the Movie Odyssey and me over the last calendar year.

I normally would have known if I would have asked folks to help participate in MOABOS around the end of summer. But due to work commitments, I had no idea whether or not we would be doing this as late as mid-October. I consider it very fortunate we were able to get this off the ground this year - some of you, interestingly enough, look forward to this every year for some strange reason.

As a result of this year's limitations, this is the one of the most monolingual fields we've ever had in a final. But that's not to besmirch the quality of music seen here. In one notable piece of MOABOS trivia, a Vietnamese-language song has reached the final for the first time. A record two songs in the final are from a documentary film (albeit they are from the same documentary).

INSTRUCTIONS Please rank (#1-15) your choices in order. The top ten songs will receive nominations. The tabulation method used in the preliminary round is being used for the final only as the second tiebreaker (the tabulation method that will be used principally for the final - aka "single transferable vote" - is described in the "PS"). There is no minimum or maximum amount of songs you can rank, but because of the nature of single transferable vote, it is highly recommended to rank as many songs as possible, rather than only one or two. Those who rank fewer songs run a greater risk of their ballots being discarded as I am counting the ballots. Again, this is all described in the "PS". Why not implement at a minimum number of songs to rank? Well, I believe in giving you folks as much freedom as possible.

Please consider to the best of your ability: how musically interesting the song is (including and not limited to musical phrasing and orchestration); its lyrics; context within the film (contextual blurbs provided for every entry for those who haven't seen the films); choreography/dance direction (if applicable); and the song's cultural impact/life outside the film (if applicable, and by far the least important factor). Imperfections in audio and video quality may not be used against any song. I encourage you to send in comments and reactions with your rankings - it’s always fun to read reactions to individual songs, and it usually makes the process (for everyone) more enjoyable!

The deadline for submission is Tuesday, December 31 at 7 PM Pacific Time / 5 PM Hawai'i / 6 PM Alaska / 9 PM Central / 10 PM Eastern. If you're across the Atlantic, that's New Year's Day at 3 AM GMT / 4 AM CET / 5 AM EET. There will be no deadline extensions.

The fifteen finalists (to access the below via YouTube playlist, click here... please keep in mind many of these finalists are meant to be watched and listened to):

“Are We Dancing?”, music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, The Happiest Millionaire (1967)

Performed by John Davidson and Leslie Ann Warren

After convincing her father to let her attend boarding school, Cordy Biddle (Warren) meets Angier “Angie” Buchanan Duke (Davidson in his film debut) at a social dance. Cordy, stressing herself too much in believing that she must go out of her way to attract a boy, is pleasantly surprised by Angie’s taking to her. Just before the song, she initially dismisses waltzes as a dance, “for old people” - repeating a line her father said once. The song’s melody is quoted occasionally in the film’s score.

“Crazy World”, music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, Victor/Victoria (1982)

Performed by Julie Andrews

Victoria Grant (Andrews) is a woman playing a man named “Victor” who is impersonating a woman. Victoria, as Victor, has become the hit vaudeville act of Paris. This is Victoria’s first performance as “Victor” not pretending to be a woman. Is your head spinning yet?

“Detroit”, music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, The Happiest Millionaire

Performed by John Davidson and Lesley Ann Warren

(partial use in film)

Lovebirds Cordy Biddle (Warren) and Angier “Angie” Buchanan Duke (Davidson in his film debut) have been discussing their future together. Angie does not want to inherit his father’s tobacco business - instead wishing to head to Detroit to be a part of the automotive industry (the film is set in 1916, as the city was booming because of the auto industry).

“East Bound and Down”, music and lyrics by Jerry Reed and Dick Feller, Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

Performed by Jerry Reed

This is the theme song for this comedy, which also describes the plot somewhat. Smokey and the Bandit is about two truckers - “Bandit” (Burt Reynolds) and “Snowman” (Reed) - who have been offered $80,000 by a rich Texan to pick up 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas and return to Atlanta within twenty-eight hours. In 1977, Coors was only found in the Western U.S. and transporting it across Southern state lines was illegal (giving Coors a mystique in the Eastern U.S.).

“I Dug a Ditch”, music by Burton Lane, lyrics by Lew Brown and Ralph Freed, Thousands Cheer (1943)

Performed by the Kay Kyser Band, Kathryn Grayson, Georgia Carroll, Harry Babbitt, Sully Mason, M.A. Bogue, and chorus

NOTE: An entirely separate song, “Should I”, is integrated from 3:04-3:36.

Apologies for the text overlaying the video. The second half of Thousands Cheer is essentially an elaborate revue musical performance for American World War II troops in which the film’s initial pretense of attempting a story is entirely dropped. “I Dug a Ditch” is one of the songs appearing in the film’s second half.

“I Wish I Didn’t Love You So”, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, The Perils of Pauline (1947)

Performed by Betty Hutton

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song

Based on the life of silent film actress Pearl White (played by Hutton), The Perils of Pauline sees Pearl become a star in silent serial films, garnering worldwide popularity. Complications with Pearl’s engagement and impending wedding/honeymoon with her partner force her to break the engagement and leave the film industry. Much later - far from Hollywood, feeling down - she auditions for a Paris nightclub with this song.

“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”, music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin, Rocketman (2019)

Performed by Elton John and Taron Egerton

This is the first song played over the end credits of this biopic of Elton John. This is John and Taupin’s (John’s songwriting partner through the 1960s-1990s) first collaboration outside the Sherlock Gnomes series for this decade.

“The Joint Is Really Jumpin’ in Carnegie Hall”, music and lyrics by Roger Edens, Ralph Blane, and Hugh Martin, Thousands Cheer (1943)

Performed by Judy Garland and Jose Iturbi

The second half of Thousands Cheer - where this song is found - is essentially an elaborate revue musical performance for American World War II troops in which the film’s initial pretense of attempting a story is entirely dropped.

“Le Jazz Hot!”, music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, Victor/Victoria (1982)

Performed by Julie Andrews

Victoria Grant (Andrews) is making her Parisian debut playing a man named “Victor” who is impersonating a woman. The scheme was hatched by her friend, Carroll “Toddy” Todd (Robert Preston) - both of them desperate for money, and Toddy is the only one who knows that “Victor” is Victoria. Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, James Garner, and John Rhys-Davies, and Alex Karras are present in this scene.

“The Next Right Thing”, music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Frozen II (2019)

Performed by Kristen Bell

Anna (Bell) has seemingly lost her friends and her sister at what is the lowest point in the film. Uncertain what to do, she recalls a small piece of advice that leads her forward.

“The Place Where Lost Things Go”, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, Mary Poppins Returns

(Initial performance) / (reprise)

Performed by Emily Blunt; reprise by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, and Joel Dawson

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song

This is a lullaby sung by Mary Poppins (Blunt) to the Banks children, who have lost their mother before the events of the film. The song was inspired by an idea from P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins novels, in which Poppins takes Jane and Michael Banks (the aunt and father of the Banks children for this film, respectively) to the moon. There, they learn that the dark side of the moon is where things get lost. The song is referenced occasionally in the film’s score.

“The Shady Dame from Seville”, music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, Victor/Victoria (1982)

(Initial performance) / (reprise to be watched at your own spoiler-y risk)*

Performed by Julie Andrews; reprise by Robert Preston

*watch at your own spoiler-y risk because it gives away the film’s comical musical ending

Victoria Grant (Andrews), after making her Parisian debut playing a man named “Victor” who is impersonating a woman, has become the hit vaudeville act of Paris. This is one of her signature performances. Preston’s reprise - which appears near the film’s conclusion - was done in one take, hence his sweaty and fatigued appearance at the end.

“Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”, music and lyrics by Stephen Stills, Woodstock (1970)

(an excerpt of how this song is framed in the film)

Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Brief Spanish lyrics sung in counterpoint

Directed by Michael Wadleigh, Woodstock was the official documentary film for the eponymous August 1969 music festival. The festival organizers retained film distribution and music recording rights. “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” refers to Stills’ thoughts towards his imminent breakup with folk singer Judy Collins. This song is composed in the form of a classical music suite (in layman’s terms, it sounds like an ordered collection of separate songs in one).

“Trường Tương Tư”, music and lyrics by Leon Le, Song Lang

Performed by Isaac and Liên Bỉnh Phát

Lyrics in Vietnamese

English translation and context are in the link.

“Woodstock”, music and lyrics by Joni Mitchell, Woodstock

Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

This song appears in the end credits to Woodstock - the official documentary film for the eponymous August 1969 musical festival.

The winner is somewhere above. They will join a list that includes the following past winners:

2018: "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing", Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

2017: “Remember Me (Recuérdame)”, Coco (2017)

2016: "Stayin' Alive", Saturday Night Fever (1977)

2015: "Amhrán Na Farraige”, Song of the Sea (2014)

2014: "Rainbow Connection", The Muppet Movie (1979)

2013: “The Gold Diggers’ Song (We’re In the Money)”,Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

Go forth and listen! You may submit your responses in any way, as long as they come in before the deadline. I am free to answer any questions about anything you have about the process.

Happy listening, and have a happy holiday season as we conclude this decade (already?)!

TABULATION Like the preliminary... a respondent’s first choice receives 10 points, the second choice receives 9, the third choice receives 8, etc. HOWEVER, this points system is used only for tiebreaker purposes.

The winner is determined by a process called single transferable vote (the Academy Awards uses this method to choose a Best Picture winner, visually represented here - you should really watch this video if the below doesn't make sense... which it probably won't):

All #1 picks from all voters are tabulated. A song needs more than half of all aggregate votes to win (50% of all votes plus one... i.e. if there are thirty respondents, sixteen #1 votes are needed to win on the first count).

If there is no winner after the first count (as is most likely), the song(s) with the fewest #1 votes or points is/are eliminated. Placement will be determined by the tiebreakers described below. Then, we look at the ballots of those who voted for the last-placed song(s). Their votes then go to the highest-remaining and non-eliminated song on their ballot.

This process (in step #2) repeats until one song has secured 50% plus one of all votes. We keep eliminating nominees and transfer votes to the highest-ranked, non-eliminated song on each ballot. NOTE: It is possible after several rounds of counting that respondents who did not entirely fill in their ballots will have wasted their votes at the end of the process. For example, if a person voted the second-to-last place song as their #1, ranked no other songs, and the count has exceeded two rounds, their ballot is discarded (lowering the vote threshold needed to win), and they have no say in which song ultimately is the winner.

A song wins when it reaches more than fifty percent of all #1 and re-distributed votes.

Tiebreakers: 1) first song to receive 50% plus one of all #1 and transferred votes; 2) total points earned; 3) total #1 votes; 4) placement on my ballot; 5) placement on my sister’s ballot; 6) tie declared

#2019 Movie Odyssey Awards

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thestudyfeels · 6 years

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How to Get Back Into the Creative Process

A definitive guide by @thestudyfeels

If you follow me (highly recommended, shameless plug), you might’ve noticed that I haven't posted in, well, a million years. The reason being that for about two months I hit an incredible low when it came to making content. I had ZERO creativity and inspiration for quite some time, and if you're a creator, you might recognize that as the best recipe for disaster out there. It's finger lickin' good! (Wow, now I'm dissing KFC, what's this turning into, Wendy's twitter?)

As a rule, I refrain myself from writing posts when I'm dead, since I know without a doubt, that the ennui will automatically transfer into the post. (I sincerely hope that none of my readers are walking zombies with a taste for lifeless posts and aimless rambles. Signed, me.)

But the truth is, my life revolves only around creating and doing crazy shit so I couldn’t deprive myself of this litness for too long. It meant that I had to pick my shit up real quick and get my ass back into the game.

Which is exactly what I did. (This is how you clickbait, youngsters. Watch and learn.)

During my record-breaking low, I couldn't fathom the thought of writing because of the non-existent ideas. I really wanted to, after all I felt empty inside from not doing anything worthwhile, but the lack of inspiration was eating me alive. (Again with the zombie jokes. Sorry, lmao.)

As a creator, such experiences probably sound common. Allow me to assure you that it's okay to be completely blank. It's okay to feel like shit because you love bringing your imagination to life but just can't seem to at the moment. You will get back to grinding again. Never lose faith in that. In fact, I'm specifically writing this guide to help you get back into creating (oh, and to rant about how awesome it is and how I can't get enough of it).

[And yes, this guide works no matter what kind of a creator you are. Bloggers, vloggers, podcasters, writers, illustrators, editors - legit every single one of you who identifies as a creator. I got yo’ back, my Liams and Janes.]

Finally! Now, with the intro done, let's settle down (here's your mint tea and Oreo cookies—no, no burnt popcorn this time #DoItDifferent) and get on with what I promised. Drumroll please, for this marks the starting of a new era where you make a comeback in your field, better than you’ve ever been.

I'm excited to see you win.

Creating is tough. Truly. I find it funny how most people under-appreciate the Arts, because a) hello Monica, wake UP. We're making stuff here. Fresh, crisp, and hot out of our skull-shaped baking pans. Isn't that insane? And b) I doubt any of us would be happy without the sappy rom-com movies and mystery shows to look forward to, or philo books to engulf in a day, or fast-paced vlogs to binge watch or addicting gam- ok, you get my point.

Although most of us are aware of how incredibly demanding and magical the entire process is, we still beat ourselves up for lacking those creative juices at times. Here's a pat from my side and a reminder to NOT do that. Why? Because all creators go through a “dry period” where they feel like they're totally done and are never going to produce anything ever again. In fact, even pop stars routinely take a step back from their fast-paced lifestyles to restore their creative talent - Ed Sheeran being a somewhat recent example (and a great one, have you listened to Divide?). I mean, if they can pause their careers and afford to take a break, then so can you. So stop making excuses and take that day off.

You can also think of it this way: the juices dry up (stop sniggering, ya hoes) because you’ve been using your craft too much, too fast (remember, genius only happens in small quantities) but they start flowing better than ever after a short period of revitalization. So, if you ever find yourself stuck, gazing at the walls in despair, blank docs becoming your serial killers - take that break and don't feel guilty about doing so.

Alrighty, moving onto making that break productive and getting those creative juices back into us. Oh, and Monica? Wipe that stupid smirk off your face.

Now, I don’t know why you started creating (bless you for doing so though), but I do know that there must be something which ignites you and keeps you pushing, even when you hit the lows. This can be anything - nature, music, puppies, art galleries, your loved ones - absolutely anything that makes your soul dance inside and your face flush with pure joy.

During my break, I spent a majority of my time listening to mentors and reading non-fiction. And listening to angelic yet badass music (cough, Billie Eilish, cough). And watching sunsets. And taking pictures of said sunsets. And doing yoga outside while that glamorous sun continued to dip below the horizon. (And trusting all along that I'll get back on track soon.) All things I genuinely love, no effs given. From outside, it seemed like I was on vacay, chilling out; but from the inside, I could feel inspiration and hope trickling back in, my needle moving towards full tank once more.

Point is, DO NOT waste your break loitering about. It's fun to play and party, but the real disaster unfolds when you get back to work and realize you're in the same state again, if not worse. A creative break should centre on getting inspiration back. Figure out what feeds your soul, be it watching other creators, spending time alone, or having meaningful convos, and just do more of it. Re-energize. Rejuvenate. And revive your art.

Now that break’s over and you finally feel more in touch with your creativity, it's time to ease back into it. And I said ‘ease’ because see, the thing is you simply can't force this process. A hint: the more you force yourself for ideas, the more you start relying on your surroundings and other people's work and start losing your own originality. So don't push your creativity.

BUT, good news, if you used that break to rethink your craft, you'll ALWAYS come back with a bunch of ideas, which are much more inventive than anything you've done before. (If you don't, it might mean that you need to extend your break just a teensy bit more.)

Easing means getting back slowly. With consistency. Every single day, without fail, spend some time creating in small chunks. And you CAN'T say “fuck it” or ignore it and purposely start a new show on Netflix after closing that blank doc again in the next tab because you didn’t wanna face the guilt. That's a rule. Obviously, once you get comfortable with the process, increase your time and increase the number of “create” blocks.

This is your life, so don't you dare tell me you're tired or sad or can't make stuff, because I know you can. I've seen you produce magic before and I know you have it in you to create lit fireworks this time as well.

… And soon enough, you'll find yourself happier than ever, for you'll be creating again. I hope you'll feel proud of yourself, because I, for sure, will be.

PS: let's also talk about me finishing this post. This is the first one after my break, HOHOHO! *wiggles eyebrow, which doesn't exist* The girl's back at it again as you see, and I hope you're just getting started too.

We're in this together.

Want to read more? Kay, plopping down some related posts right away —

Read my last post: Biggest Takeaways from The Alchemist (book review, sorta?)

Mentioned: Ed Sheeran’s creative break of almost a year

Rebecca Green and her creative low (you see, it happens to everyone!)

An update chit-chat post by Rebecca on the burnout (if you want the entire story)

Interview Two: motivation to get going (talks about how inspiration comes from inside - me recommending ways to regain your creative energy won’t help for inspiration is different for everyone)

+ Want to request a blog post? Leave your request in my ask box!

Well, that’s a wrap! I post new articles twice a week, on every Sunday and Thursday, so you can follow me if you are into killing the game & conquering life. I’ll do my best to help you in the tough yet amazing journey called life. ✧

If you want to go through my blog, I suggest picking your choice of post from my masterpost list! Or, if you want to read something insightful on your cozy afternoon while chilling under blankets, I recommend reading one of my interviews. Feeling spoilt for choices? Here’s another! If you want to implement the ideas I share in my masterposts by taking action, take on one of my challenges!

I hope you are well; stay strong and conquer life, my conqueror.

— Nandini (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

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distortedlightbeam · 5 years

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Hi! Your edits are amazing. Can you tell how you make your gifs look so smooth? If that's not a secret. Have a lovely day anyway!

hi!!! thank you so much, i really appreciate it💞 and i don’t mind explaining at all, although i will mention that i haven’t been asked this before so i don’t know how much sense this will make.

so, imo there’s six main components to making nice looking gifs. first is video quality, second is sharpening, third is cropping and resizing, fourth is coloring, fifth is timing, and sixth is save for web. i’ll talk about them under the cut. also, the tools i use are handbrake, mplayer osx extended, and photoshop cc 2019.

1) video quality: i highly, highly recommend you use 1080p as much as possible. 720p works ok, but the thing about gifmaking is that you’re taking tiny video clips and processing them quite a bit, so you really want to optimize your final result from the beginning onwards. you can go here to find most shows/movies, and here if you want to avoid torrents.

2) sharpening: sharpening is key to making gifs look good. when you’re cropping and resizing your gif, a well-done sharpen will help maintain that gif quality. this page is immensely helpful for directing you to gif tutorials, and it also has a link to the sharpening action i use myself.

3) cropping and resizing: tumblr has pretty strict rules about dimensions; if you go here it explains what the current guidelines are.

there’s one trick i’ll mention i don’t think i’ve seen in reference to live action and cropping– let’s say i’m making a gif and i want the final size to be 540x230. generally speaking, when you crop things in ps, you’ll wind up with these weird white lines as borders. to avoid this, what you can do is crop the gif to a 542x232 ratio, use image size to reduce it to 542x232 pixels, and then use canvas size to crop it to 540x230. that way, you don’t wind up with those borders.

in addition, when you’re in image size, setting your resample to bicubic (smooth gradients) is a good idea.

4) coloring: now, i’m going to mention first that i don’t use psds. there’s an action i’ve made to set up my preferred adjustment layers, but i color each scene individually. my main advice when it comes to coloring is that you don’t want to go too overboard on either darkening or lightening up the gif, or you get those unfortunate grainy patches, weird gradients, and possibly an inability to understand what’s happening in the gif at all. a good balance of light/dark in your gifs will make them look great. work on each adjustment layer carefully and double check that what you’re doing is an improvement, and don’t be afraid to experiment.

5) timing: live action shows and movies are done at either 24 or 25 fps. this means that in a minute, you want your frames to be going at a rate of either 0.04s or 0.05s to look natural. now, ps has this super annoying glitch where you cannot actually save your gif at those setting initially if you ever move to timeline, which is the most useful setup for making smart objects, sharpening, resizing, and coloring.

if you have your frame delay at 0.04s and then move to the 30fps timeline, the gif will end up at 0.03s and this is… too fast, usually. however, if you have your frame delay at 0.05s and then move to timeline, your gif will wind up being 0.07s, which is… too slow, usually. there’s an option in the timeline to change the fps from 30 to something else, but then you lose frames. i’m still not sure why, but i wouldn’t advise messing with it.

what you have to do, unavoidably, once your gif has been completely done, is save it. and then you open it back up in ps and change the frame delay to either 0.04s or 0.05s to have natural looking speed. and then you save it again, and your gif will look like the improved video clip its meant to.

6) save for web: lastly, there’s a few things to look at in save for web when you’re exporting your gif. number one is the look of the gif itself. the way your gif looks in save for web is the most honest portrayal of your gif you will see; if you aren’t satisfied with it, now’s your time to go back and make some adjustments. number two is the settings. for live action, i have mine set at selective diffusion, 100% dither, and 256 colors.

make sure your gif is set on loop for forever and that it’s below 3mb for posts and 2mb for your blog, and you’re good to go!

#it is entirely possible you only wanted the info on the timing stuff and in that case i apologize for the extraneous information #if you want me to go more in depth on anything i'll do my best to answer!#also wow this got way longer than expected whoops #anonymous #answered

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nochuuuenthusiast · 5 years

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tag!

hii~ so i got tagged by @snugglemejeon thank you so much ! i think this is really cute hehe (to the people i tagged: i’m sorry if i tagged you and we haven’t talked that much... i don’t know that many people on tumblr... and also, you don’t have to do this challenge, so feel free to ignore it !)

rules are: (1) tag the person who tagged you (2) answer the questions (3) tag 10 people (sorry i don’t know that many people here on tumblr so i’m only gonna tag one or two :( but ps! if you wanna be friends with me, don’t hold back and just talk to me hehe)

(1) how tall are you?

i haven’t checked in a bit but i’m about 5′2″ (ish) so that’s around 158cm (*sighs* yeah i know... i’m pretty short)

(2) what color and style is your hair?

i actually got a haircut yesterday before my blackpink concert hehe so now my hair is layered and it goes a little past my shoulders. i didn’t start growing out my hair until late last year since i used to always cut it short (like, a little above my shoulders) so yeah... i used to dye my hair a longgg longggg time ago but now it’s its original color which is dark brown

(3) what color are your eyes?

a solid brown (not totally light, but not too dark) (my mom has really pretty light brown eyes but they didn’t get passed down to me so ahhaha *cries*)

(4) do you wear glasses?

yes, but no (?) i have glasses but i don’t wear them 24/7 since my eyesight isn’t that bad... i only wear them in class when i’m too far away from the board. i have kinda circular, brown glasses (lmao, i know no one asked but...)

(5) do you wear braces?

i used to wear braces a couple of years ago so now i just wear my retainers once a week (you’re supposed to wear them every night but whatever,,, i’m pretty lazy and irresponsible and my teeth haven’t shifted sooo once a week will do ahah)

(6) what’s your fashion sense?

i care about how i dress but i don’t worry about how i look all the time soooo... i’ll sum up my style in a few words: 26 year old single korean girl walking to an aesthetic cafe on a sunday afternoon. yeah. that’s basically my style. lol i hope you guys understand what i mean... if not, i’m terribly sorry

(7) full name?

only a few people on tumblr know my name... but i don’t want to reveal it here since i know everyone can see this, and tumblr is the only social media platform where my identity is hidden sooo...

but if you want to get to know me and learn my name then you can definitely message me or send something to me :) i’m nice, i swear

(8) when were you born?

july 2001; i’m 17 ;)

(9) where are you from and where do you live now?

i was born and currently live in los angeles, california however, i am 100% korean. both of my parents were born and raised in south korea. and yes, i am fluent in korean.

(10) what school do you go to?

i am a highschooler. and that’s all i’m gonna say. skool sucks :P

(11) what kind of student are you?

i would like to say that i’m more of a hard worker than a naturally smart person, but i am currently getting straight As and for those of you who live in the us, i’m taking 5 APs (which totally sucks :’( but i’m handling them kinda well... i think). and i don’t really like being complimented because one of my biggest fears is of me becoming arrogant so let’s move on,,, pls.

(12) do you like school?

hell no. but i have to deal with it since everyone does so :/// school isn’t that bad if you daydream and think about bts all day hehe. but in all seriousness, i think school is okay if you have the right friends to hang out with and talk to

(13) favorite subject?

history!!! i know this is really weird since not a lot of people like history, but i love ittt!!! i think it’s really fun since it’s kinda like one big story of our world (i’m sorry, i’m such a dork)... i took ap art history last year and i fell in love with it!

(14) favorite tv shows?

i used to watch kdramas a longgg time ago, but i kinda stopped but idk why... but my favorite tv shows are friends, the office, stranger things, jane the virgin, etc, etc... i can literally name so many tv shows that i’ve watched but then i’d go rambling on and on and on and i don’t want to bore anyone...

(15) favorite movie?

forrest gump !!! (and also, did anyone see the two bts movies? i watched both of them at cgv and i literally exploded when i saw the members... okay, moving on (sorry... i get off topic really easily))

(16) favorite books?

i read a book called “pachinko” by min jin lee over the summer and it was so! freaking! good!!! i highly recommend it everyone~ it’s a historical fiction novel about 3-4 generations of this korean family who lived in korea and then moved to japan. it takes place a little before the korean war and it talks about the discrimination that koreans faced in japan at the time. i recently went to the library to check it out since i wanted to read it again but they didn’t have an english copy of the book so i’m reading it in korean at the moment.

(17) favorite pastime?

rewatching and rewatching and rewatching bangtan. oh, and streaming their new album ;) oh, and stressing over the new test questions on the fan cafe that the staff upload every week (i need to level up but the test is so hard... i cry every time)

and writing for this blog! i originally made this blog to de-stress and write some scenarios and reactions and i didn’t know that people would actually like them and respond to them,,, so hey, thank you :) you make me happy every day

(18) do you have any regrets?

yes. too many to count. but i’m not gonna sit here and list them all lol

(19) dream job?

i don’t really know... but something in corporate law (?)

(20) would you ever like to be married?

yessss! have you seen my entire blog??? it’s an entire fluff kingdom!!! i mean, i know that marriage is not just one big fluff and i know that it’s tough, but i would still like to get married one day

i have my own little fantasies about how married life would be, but that’s a little secret so i’ll save it for next time ;)

(21) would you like to have kids?

as much as i love kids, i’m not too sure if i would want any... i mean, obviously my answer will change in the future, but i kinda want either no kids or just one kid... the responsibility of being a parent kinda freaks me out...

(22) how many?

oops, i kinda answered this already in (21) but i’ll answer again anyway: 0-1

(23) do you like shopping?

no, i absolutely LOVE shopping. i think i’m addicted lmao.

psssss: i know no one asked, but my favorite retail shop is madewell

(24) what countries have you visited?

ahhh finally... the question i’ve been waiting for... so if you get to know me, i really really really reallyyyyy love traveling and i’m so grateful for all the opportunities i’ve been given to travel at such a young age.

so, let me just list all the places i’ve been to (an i know not all of these are countries, or out of the us, but just hear me out,,, okay?) : france, italy, south korea, mexico, us (hawaii, nevada, utah, etc (lol, i can’t remember all of them))

my favorite location out of all of these places is definitely italy <3 (italy has my heart)... i stayed at rome and i also visited pompeii and positano (which were absolutely stunning and beautiful). i went to rome last spring (around april/may) and i personally, really love sightseeing and history and since rome is full of those two things i reallyyy enjoyed it there. oh, and don’t even get me started with the food <3333

i also really loved france... i stayed at paris and my favorite thing about paris was definitely the louvre museum (once again, i love art history) as well as this place called montmarte (ahh! it’s so pretty)

and last but not least, (as much as i love love loveee south korea) i really enjoyed mexico! i love calming, relaxing vacation spots so i got to go to cancun (twice!) and snorkel and swim and see little fishies in the clear turquoise ocean... yeah, i miss it there... :(

(25) scariest nightmare you have ever had

i would totally tell you guys, but it was too complicated so i’m not even gonna bother.

(26) any enemies?

i am a lover, not a fighter (hehe)

(27) any significant other?

does jungkook count? lmaooo it’s a joke... he doesn’t even know i exist lol.

my answer is no.

(28) do you get along with you family?

yes, yes i do.

(29) do you believe in miracles?

i believe things happen for a reason... so does that count?

last but not least... (30) how are you?

i’m actually doing pretty well :))) i was in this really big emotional slump that kinda felt like a roller coaster ride last year, but i’m over it now so... yeah... i doing pretty well :)

okay, so now that i’m done, i have to tag people, and like i said, i don’t talk to that many people on tumblr since i’m a loser lol so here are the people i’ll tag (sorry, i’m not gonna tag 10 people) :

@pjmochii @jsuga @kpopsffct @ anyone who wants to do it...

but yea, i seriously don’t know that many people since i haven’t been on tumblr for a long time, so i’m sorry to the people who i tagged (if i haven’t talked to you a lot, i’m sorry... i’ll try to be a better person and try to talk to you more ...)

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am-molloy · 5 years

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20 Facts About Me: A.M. Molloy

Hello everyone! Welcome back (or to) my blog.

Today I thought I would share with you all 15 random facts that you may or may not know about me. These factoids may not have to with my writing life, but they’ll help you understand who I am as a person. So! Let’s take a dive into my life.

If you didn't know this already, I have a cat named Sorren. She is my soul-kitty and the love of my life. We’ve barely been apart the 11 years she’s been in my life. I wasn’t going to accept any job abroad unless I could bring her.

I love to travel. In fact, my first big travel was to a summer camp in China when I was 15, way back in 2004.

So far, I’ve been to (in order), China, America, Japan ( x3 ), Korea, (x3 ), Belgium, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Hong Kong, and Thailand. Being Canadian, I’ve obviously been to Canada, though I haven’t travelled as much within my own country. I do plan on visiting more countries soon, but for now, I’m planning another return visit to Japan for my upcoming summer vacation.

I am a 2nd-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, although it’s been a few years since I practiced due to financial issues. I would love to practice again, especially as I live in Korea now, but now is not the right time for me. I still have all my equipment and remember most of my forms so perhaps someday!

Side note, back in the day when I did practice, I used to go to competitions and would usually win first or second place. Usually first for forms and second for sparing. I rarely got lower and if I did it was for sparing. Forms were my strong suit.

I used to be an animator. I went to an art school studying animation and graphics and working in my field after graduation. Though if I’m being honest, I was never the best at animation. Still, art was more my thing. So when I worked for Contendo, I eventually gravitated towards mostly audio work and eventually becoming their Senior Audio Editor. I still do art, but it’s now for fun rather work. And let’s be honest, the art I did for Contendo isn’t what you would have expected me to be doing. At Contendo we made training videos for oil and gas companies.

Below is my super old demo reel, and I have improved since 2009 But this is to just show you what I used to do. I was by far the best but I enjoyed doing it all the same.

Note: The video is from my old YouTube channel from college. I do not use that channel anymore. If you want to see more up to date videos and life in Korea, check out my actual YouTube channel: Canadian Abroad: A.M. Molloy.

I have a total of 11 tattoos! (So far). Below is a slideshow from my very first tattoo (the tribal dragon when I was 17) to my latest, number eleven done this year in Korea (Sorren).

I am fluent in English, French, Spanish and I can speak intermediate Japanese (taught myself) and beginner Korean (also teaching myself).

My dad is French (from Quebec) so I learned English and French growing up in my household. I majored in Spanish at university and spent a semester in Spain as an exchange student.

I used to do a lot of cosplay, but I haven’t done so in years. I haven’t cosplayed very much and I reused the same cosplay for many cons (and halloween costumes) but I still enjoyed doing it all the same. I can’t sew so I always had help making them. I still appreciate a good cosplay from other cosplayers.

I love photography, though I’m still learning. I’m far from good but I’m getting better every day. I mostly take iPhone photography shots because I don’t always lug around my Nikon D3200. Honestly, with a bit of practice, anyone can make iPhone pictures turn out great. Featured below are a few of my favourite shots taken with my iPhone 8.

I have a wall of all my shots but my favourite will always be of my best friend, Leila, holding the Polaroid picture I just took of her. The picture of her holding the picture (INCEPTION) was also another iPhone shot.

I made my own language/culture because reasons. Mostly RP though. The language is called Hikaran and is spoken by a race on the planet Spira. I go into full length on said language and people in a previous blog post, so please, go ahead and check it out!

Admittedly, I made most of this up during math class in high school. It’s safe to say I’m not very good at math.

Anyway, instead of going into full detail here (because it’s in the blog post), I’ll just leave this popular Hikaran saying here:

While on exchange to Spain back in the summer of 2016, I met and shook hands with the queen of Spain in what I call a happy accident. One day I was walking around my school and taking a stroll around town and I noticed a blocked road a crowd starting to form where there usually isn’t. So, naturally, I had to get up front to see what was going to happen. Turns out the queen of Spain was in town and she took time to shake hands with people and I got lucky enough to be one of them. Moral of the story: when you see a tent or a barricade and people starting to gather where there usually isn’t, get up front because awesome things are gonna happen. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture with her, but I do, however, have a picture of her. (Pictured above).

Back in high school, when it was time for graduation photos, we were told we could bring an item, like a soccer ball or baseball bat, if we wanted for our pictures. Being the cat-obsessed weird person that I am, I legit brought my cat, Marbles (AKA Mibs) in a duffle bag (it was open) to school for my picture. Needless to say, I was the talk of the school for bringing a cat haha. I lived super close to my school so I took my picture and brought her straight home. She hated going to school but was a good girl and took an amazing picture.

I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. Literally grew up with it. I was in the 6th grade reading the first three books because that’s all that was published at the time. When the first Harry Potter movie came out, I’ll never forget the experience. It was amazing and I loved every bit of it.

PS: I’m a proud Gryffindor. I also have many friends from all of the houses, but most of them are from Slytherin.

I grew with Pokemon. I was around when it was all first released and Pokemon Red was my first ever game I owned to go with the first ever consul I opened, Nintendo Colour. I buy every game, still collect cards, and I used to watch the anime. Pokemon will always have a special place in my heart.

My new all time favourite game is Life is Strange all other games in said franchise. THAT GAME IS MY LIFE, YO. I mean, if you noticed on fact number 5 that one of my tattoos is Life is Strange themed.

My favourite author is Rachel Vincent.

Literally, anything she writes is golden to me.

My favourite series of hers will always be the Soul Screamers series. I still can’t believe how she ended that series. Love it! I just get so invested in each world that she creates that I feel like I’m right there with the characters and I don’t know what to do with my life when I finish each book.

If you love reading, I highly recommend checking her out.

The origin of my author name: A.M. Molloy is basically the initials to my given name, Alex Molloy. However, in person, I prefer to be called Mina. Mina is my Korean name and to be honest, I was never fond of Alex. Since I live in Korea, everyone here calls me Mina. It makes me happy to hear people call me Mina. :3

My novel is in its third round of edits and beta reader stage. One of my beta readers created SOUTH’s very first meme! I’m so in love with it that I’m sharing it here.

So, my university had this mini ball pit kept in the student center. Once during a society meeting at my university, my friend and I decided to completely organize the ball pit into a rainbow. It literally took us forty-five mins straight but we did it! And then no one wanted to sit in the ball bit for like a week because they didn’t want to mess it up so we had to mess it up again so people would use it again.

During my second visit to Japan, I had the pleasure to meet a real sumo wrestler. It was an honour. I wish I could have seen an actual match but this was still awesome all the same.

I loved volunteering at my university for many things, but my favourite was being an NSO Leader. My last year at uni I had the privilege to be on the best team, Yellow Team, and had the most amazing crew. It was truly the best experience. I loved helping all the newcomers to UPEI and I would do it again in a heartbeat if I was still in school.

Well, you’ve made it this far! Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about me. For now, this concludes my new post, 20 facts about me.

Take care.

— Mina (A.M. Molloy)

#FAQ #Ramdom Facts #Author

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manspirations · 6 years

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Had too much free time at work last night, so here’s a Masterlist of totally could happen, I need these in my life, Movie/Show AUs for the fest in January. All of these are free game, so take, go crazy, be fruitful. Let’s make magic happen! (Links to IMDB pages)

Romantic/Comedy

Shows

Gilmore Girls (x)

The Office (x)

The Mindy Project (x) (But they’re bickering doctors who pretend like they’re not in love!!!!)

Scrubs (x) (Best friends Au)

Please Like Me (x)

Lovesick (x) (Roommates!)

Weightlifting Fair Kim Bok Joo (x) (For my Kdrama babes out there)

Parks And Recreation (x)

Life With Derek (x) (Hahahaha Life w/ Theo. Boning Step Siblings)

Those Who Can’t (x) (Horribe, inappropriate Teachers Au)

The Bachelor (x)

Young & Hungry (x)

Marry Me (x) (Where they’re already married and it’s such a disaster, we can’t look away, but they’re happy, so good for them.)

She’s Gotta Have It (x) (All of Liam’s boyfriends/girlfriends: Hayden, Theo, Brett)

Blue Mountain State (x)

Don’t Trust The B In Apartment 23 (x) (Theo as Chloe!!!! Rofl)

Movies

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (x) (Only its Forgetting Hayden Romero)

She’s All That (x)

Friends with Benefits (x)

Love Don’t Cost A Thing (x)

The Girl Next Door (x)

Pretty Woman (x) (I’m getting total Theo=Julia Roberts feels)

She’s The Man (x)

Breakfast Club (x)

The Wedding Date (x)

First Daughter (x) (The one with Katie Holmes. Theo as the secret service body-guard?!?)

While You Were Sleeping (x)

The DUFF (x)

XOXO Au (x)

The To Do List (x) (This could almost be canon, with Theo being Amber’s character)

Good Kids (x) (Go to all the parties, you hot nerds!)

Easy A (x)

The Ugly Truth (x) (Oh god, the elevator scene!!!)

It’s a Boy Girl Thing (x) (Why can I see your junk in the mirror?!?! Theo!!)

Dirty Dancing/ DD Havana Nights (x) (x)

So Undercover (x)

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (x)

Cheaper By the Dozen 2 (x) (From large opposite families that despise each other!!!)

American Pie Series (x) (Immediately, I can see the OG American Pie, Band Camp, Beta House, AND Naked Mile.)

Action

Shows

Timeless (x) (Theo = Wyatt & Liam = Lucy, anyone?)

Criminal Minds (x)

Chicago PD/Any Detective Drama Ever Really (x)

Spartacus (x) (Nagron Parallels, anyone?!)

Revenge (x) (Theo targeting everyone who killed his family!!)

Santa Clarita Diet (x) (yess...middle aged husbands banter!)

Animal Kingdom (x) (Mmmmm...)

Movies

Mad Max: Fury Road (x)

The Bourne Series (x)

Kingsman (x) (I’m doing this one too, but its so them that maybe someone else would be interested alol)

Horror/Thriller

Shows

American Horror Story (x) (Any season, but Freak Show or Roanoke take the cake for them)

Eyewitness (x)

Outsiders (x)

Movies

Get Out (x)

The Roommate (x)

Train to Busan (x) (I’m having some true Leo feels right now! Ugly crying!)

Zombieland (x)

Warm Bodies (x)

Tear Jerker

Shows

This is Us (x) (Oh no. Oh no. Families of choice!)

Parenthood (x)

13 Reasons Why (x)

Grey’s Anatomy (x)

Anne of Green Gables (x) (Sobbbs. Theo just wants to find a family.)

Red Ban Society (x)

Movies

The Last Song (x) (I’m still not over this movie. And it has crazy Liam x Dr. Geyer feels all over it.)

Titanic (x)

Brokeback Mountain (x)

A Walk to Remember (x) (Ohhh goddd. Why am I doing this to myself?!)

Me Before You/Me After You (x)

My Girl (x) (I can’t!)

Fault in Our Stars (x)

The Fox and the Hound (x) (Sobbbssss! The Wolf and the Coyote.)

PS I Love You (x)

Latter Days (x) (If you really want to fuck up your day, sniffles)

Call Me By Your Name (x) (I just. tissues please.)

Sy-Fy/Fantasy

Shows

Magicians (x)

Doctor Who (x)

Orphan Black (x)

Sense8 (x)

Into The Badlands (x) (Where they’re totally young clippers training on the compound)

Blood Drive (x) (Liam as Barbie, in a police uniform *Heart Eyes*)

Goblin (x) (Another KDrama where Liam is the Goblin and Theo would be the Reaper and they live together, eek!! If you haven’t seen this one, do it for all the Thiam feels!)

Drama

Shows

Shameless US/UK (x|x) (Liam a Gallagher? Theo a Milkovich? Vice Versa?!)

How To Get Away With Murder (x)

Girls (x)

Looking (x)

Hit The Floor (x) (Zero/Jude-esque relationship?)

Suits (x)

Friday Night Lights (x) (Theo is so Tim Riggins lol)

The Royals (x) (Liam is a troubled prince and Theo is his dirty secret)

Movies

Life As We Know It (x) (OMG Corey and Mason pass away and they have to care of their children for them. Sobbss!)

Perks of Being A Wallflower (x)

Take the Lead (x) (I can just picture them forcibly tangoing. The hips, though!)

Supernatural/Superhero

Shows

Lost Girl (x)

The Punisher (x)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (x)

Defenders (x)

Misfits (x)

Being Human (x)

Arrow (x)

The Flash (x) (Captain Cold=Theo x Flash=Liam, sexual tension? I think, YES)

Lucifer (x) (Theo as Lucifer! He’s one step there already, already gone to hell!)

Heartless (x) (Where Theo & Tara are twin orphans and are accidentally murderous supernaturals and Theo meets Liam, the headmaster’s son at a prestigious boarding school, the one place they’ve discovered holds their family’s horrifying secrets.)

Movies

The Little Vampire (x) (Except the Little Werewolf and they’re kiddos, eek!)

Deadpool x Spiderman (x|x)

Sky High (x) (Where Theo is 1000% Warren Peace, alol, and Liam is 2000% William Stronghold)

Chronicle (x)

Power Rangers (x)

Push (x)

Avengers (x)

Captain America: The Winter Solider (x) (I mean, this is pretty unexplainable right? *heart eyes*)

Guardians of the Galaxy (x)

Additions By You All

Brooklyn Nine Nine

White Collar

If you already didn’t have a million ideas, I now hope you have a million more. Feel free to add to this list if you can think of anymore! Also, if you haven’t seen some of these movies/shows, I highly recommend them ALL! Come talk Movie AUs with me haha!

#thiam #thiammovieaufest #theo raeken #liam dunbar #teen wolf

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littleleighxo · 3 years

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3/17/2021 Late Afternoon Thoughts. (Single Blog) 🍀❇️💚

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day Everyone! & Happy Wednesday! 🍀❇️💚

How is everyone doing?, Hope you all are doing ok & feeling good. So sorry! I didn’t do part 3 of yesterday’s blog, I was tired! SO I am going to stick to single to double blogs, till further notice. Today is Saint Patrick’s day, my mom is making corned beef & cabbage w/potatoes. She always makes this for Saint Patrick’s day. She used to make stuffed cabbage, but she lost the recipe lol! Though she collects & has various cookbooks, stashed in her bookshelf. I do tell her to go on the New York Times cooking app. Which I use, to find & search various recipes. You can do the monthly plan or the yearly plan. I have the yearly plan. Highly do recommend it! If you like to cook. I remember being in 3rd grade, I was in a school play, for Saint Patrick’s day. When my classmates & I sang various classic Irish songs. Which was waaaay back in the mid 90s. We had a construction paper shamrock with yarn, wrapped around our necks, like a necklace. The lyrics was like “look up, look down, look right, look left & under the shamrock too” .Earlier today, I baked Vanilla cupcakes w/homemade whipped cream, added green artificial colorant, was going to add mint extract but my local produce market didn’t have it. Late last night, I decided on watching the movie “Now & Then”. I spoke about that in my previous blog from yesterday. It’s kinda like the female version of Stand By Me/The Body by Stephen King. Cause that movie, just randomly popped in my mind today. Cause I haven’t seen in the longest time. Though Stand By Me, was darker. I do remember I loved it growing up as a kid. Two of the quotes, from that movie stood out the most to me. Earlier this morning, I woke up to the buzzing & vibration of my iPhone under my pillow. Which was a text message from my friend Maria, wishing me a happy Saint Patrick’s day. Then I went downstairs, stood at my kitchen counter, having a hot cup of coffee & a bowl of Raisin Bran w/almond milk. After having my breakfast, I been working out every morning, regardless of how much sleep I’ve had, from the the night before. I do not get enough sleep, I need about 7 to 8 hours ideally. My daily work out, I went on my indoor cycle for an hour. I defiantly do feel like working out in the morning is a perfect way to get your heart pumping & blood flowing. Ideal way to wake the body up too. Working out is an amazing way to start the day & amazing self care too for me. Plus a amazing stress reliever too. Always puts my mind at ease too. I do feel it in my legs, ass, tail bone & stomach after every work out. I do listen to music as I work out too, it feels like I have an indoor Soul Cycle Studio in my own home lol! Compared to going to the actual Soul Cycle Studio. Though I never been to a Soul Cycle Studio. Today for my work out, I listened to DJ.EarWorm, various mixes & mash ups from the early to mid 2000s. Earlier today, my aunt generously treated my family & I to Chinese food, from the local Chinese take out. I ordered the veggie lo’mein, decided on having a vegetarian meal for lunch. Plus I am trying to remove meat from my diet little by little, by going vegetarian again. I went vegetarian for a short period of time in December of 2019 into January of 2020. After seeing a feather in my chicken fry from Burger King, which made me cringe & felt queasy. Going vegetarian was easy for me, like I saved a ton of money, on my produce bill at the produce market. By eating & consuming lots of whole fruits & veggies. To be very honest/blunt w/ you guys, I love cheeseburgers from time to time, like from the local diner near me, or when I went to In & Out Burger in LA. I am very much aware, they do make meatless substitutes like The Beyond Burger, Gardein. That looks like authentic meat. But I’m not SO crazy about it. It’s a great placebo, to trick a meat eater. Lol! I wrote a lot, like I always say in every single entry of my blogs. As always Keep the faith & have faith, be kind & subscribe! For more unedited, unfiltered & uncensored daily blogs. Ps: Hope you all are loving & enjoying these blogs as much as I do writing them.

#lifestyle

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hubskitchen · 6 years

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Hub’s Kitchen Episode 5: Dragon Ball FigherZ Review: The Game Dragon Ball Fans Need

Hey guys, Hub here again, and welcome to Episode 5 of Hub’s Kitchen. Today, I’m gonna be reviewing Dragon Ball FighterZ for the Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. I apologize for not being active for a good while. Blame college and my okay-ish midterm grades and me getting them up for that. I’ve been wanting to talk about FighterZ for a while, and oddly enough, I didn’t think I was I gonna talk about Dragon Ball so soon on this blog. I’ll get to the point: I’m a casual Dragon Ball fan. I haven’t read the manga, but I have watched the original Dragon Ball anime as well as the Dragon Ball Z anime (well Kai anyway because fuck having to watch 291 episodes). Dragon Ball is not a masterpiece in story-telling, nobody’s gonna argue that it is. However, the fighting and character interactions make up for those shortcomings (except for GT. Fuck GT). That, and Dragon Ball Z Abridged. Watch that, it’s amazing. I have played a few DB games before, mainly the first and third Budokai games and the Legacy of Goku games on the GBA, but I haven’t played that many games from the franchise. Anyway, enough with the stalling, it’s time to review Dragon Ball FighterZ!Oh, and be prepared to see names and storylines that might not be familiar to you guys, since I’m not sure if my followers know anything ‘bout Dragon Ball.

STORY

Dragon Ball FighterZ takes place within the Dragon Ball Super timeline (aka, in between the Buu saga and Peaceful World arc from Z). When exactly? I don’t really know. I’ve seen conflicting reports from saying it takes place after the Universe 6 arc but before the Goku Black arc, other say it takes place before the Tournament of Power. I’m gonna say it takes place before the Goku Black arc, but I think FighterZ is non-canon anyway, much like the DBZ movies. Anyway, because of strange energy waves that are disrupting their power, the Z-Warriors lost all their power (or strength) and are now on the same level, and believe me, for some characters, that is a good thing ‘cause it won’t be another Goku show (That’s what GT is for). The Z-Warriors also see that a soul is trapped inside the main character of the arc (yes, I’ll get to this), and that by linking with that soul, it allows you to fight alongside the Z-Warriors. Elsewhere, there’s a new character: Android 21. All we know from the Super Warriors arc is that she resurrected some of the classic DBZ villains using the Namekian Dragon Balls, like Frieza and Cell, and plans on doing… things to them. I won’t go into spoiler territory because that’s just one of the three stories. Yes, you heard me right. FighterZ gives you three stories to play. The Super Warriors arc, which focuses on the heroes and Goku being the main character (I mean, he is Goku after all), the Villain arc, which focuses more on the villains and Frieza being the main character (man, Super really loves Frieza. Not that I mean, but still), and the Android arc, with Android 18 being the main character. Having three stories in a fighting game, a genre not known for story? Sounds awesome, right? It does… until you actually play the story mode.

Okay, so here’s the biggest problem with the story mode: There are three, fucking stories in this game, and all of them last roughly four hours long. Doesn’t sound bad yet? Well, throughout the story, you move your characters throughout different points on a map, with limit amount of movements. That never becomes a problem, so ignore that. The bad part starts with the clones. As you’re moving along map, you have to fight clones of the characters, and this gets old faaaaaaast. By the time I got to the Android saga, I was so fucking done fighting clones that I had to listen to different music, podcasts, and have something on in the background because I needed something to keep me going. That’s a huge shame because the cutscenes and the character interactions are great. Whenever you enter a fight with certain characters, you’ll get a cutscene to trigger. Let me just say: Anything, and I do mean anything with Cell is fucking gold. Go look up videos of Cell in this game. He’s fucking amazing. It’s just that having to play 3 stories, fight clones the entire time, and for roughly 12 hours too gets tedious and boring fast. It’s easily the weakest part of this game.

PRESENTATION

Dragon Ball FighterZ looks and sounds fantastic. The Unreal 4 engine was used brilliantly, and the game almost looks like it came straight from the anime. The game even lifts direct pages from the manga and anime, like the Father-Son Kamehameha and the Family Kamehameha, and they look beautiful. The characters animate well in cutscenes and on the battlefield, and many of their signature moves (take Krillin’s Destructo Disk or Kiensan for you weebs out there), look fantastic.

The soundtrack is also pretty good, if a little reliant on hard rock. Then again, I love hard rock, so I don’t mind. Sadly, because of this, the music can all blend together, and the character themes are often ignored. A lot of the character themes are great. My personal favorites being Goku, Yamcha, Hit, Gohan, and Vegeta.

The voice acting is solid too. FighterZ allows you to switch between Japanese and English, and as much as I love Masako Nozawa’s take on Goku, I’m more of a Sean Schemmel guy. Anyway, both voice casts do a great job. Got not much to say about that.

GAMEPLAY

If you’ve played Marvel Vs Capcom 2, then you’d understand how Dragon Ball FighterZ works. For the uninitiated, first off, get initiated, but more importantly, DBFZ is a 2D 3v3 style fighting game. What that means is that you have a team of 3 characters and you can tag them in and out of battle. You have your combos, tech, assists to help you in battle, super meter that allows for heavy-hitting attacks, all that good stuff. In an interesting twist, FighterZ is designed as a fighting game first, and a Dragon Ball game second. Most of the time, it’s the other way around. A lot of Dragon Ball games try to capture the feeling of the anime, even down to the gameplay. From what I’ve seen, the Tenkaichi, Raging Blast, and Xenoverse games tend to do this fairly well. While that’s well and fine, I tend to prefer a simple 2D fighter with Dragon Ball characters.

One thing that sets FighterZ apart from something like Street Fighter is that FighterZ decides to make things simpler for new players. The game has an auto-combo system. What that means is that you can press a button (let’s say square for example), and you can get a combo from that. While this is good for introducing players into the game, it’s gonna get their asses kicked if they try to spam auto-combos online. It’s recommended that you get into practicing the game’s mechanics, which the game’s first story in the story mode helps you come to grips with. Or you could try learning the mechanics in the practice mode.

The roster for FighterZ is pretty solid, but if you’re spoiled by the likes of the Budokai Tenkaichi games with their huge rosters, FighterZ might disappoint you. It has everyone important (Goku, Vegeta, both Teen and Adult Gohan, Frieza, etc) to characters from Super like Hit, Goku Black, and Beerus. The game is getting DLC, and the first two characters confirmed are Bardock (father of Goku) and Broly (one of the most popular DBZ movie villains, and is, to quote his abridged movie, is a “literal giant fucking baby”).

Like every fighting game these days, Dragon Ball FighterZ has an online mode. Sadly, this review will not be going over that because I have not played any of them yet ‘cause I don’t have a Playstation Plus subscription at the moment and need to renew it. From what I’ve heard, the online has had several problems, from games losing connection, to having a hard time finding matches, etc. Doesn’t help that the game has this stupid lobby system that you have to be online for. Sure, there’s an offline lobby, but it’s still kinda lame that the game has to have an online lobby to begin with. There recently was an update that I heard fixed some of the problems, as well as adding a Party Mode of sorts, but again, ‘cause I don’t have PS Plus, I can’t verify if that’s the case for me.

OVERALL

Dragon Ball FighterZ is definitely a welcome addition to both Dragon Ball and fighting games in general. While the story mode was a bust outside of great character cutscenes, and the game having some noticeable online problems, FighterZ excels in the most important area: the fighting. Fast-paced, frantic, and easy to play, you don’t need to be a Dragon Ball fan to enjoy this game. I highly recommend it.

And that’s it. Sorry for the lack of depth, but I wanted to try to be quick and to the point with this review, seeing as how it was my first game review. Anyway, on the next episode of Hub’s Kitchen, I’m gonna review my second movie on this blog, and one I’ve had requests for. That movie, is Coco. ‘Til next time guys. I’m Hub Pie, and thanks for reading!

#dragon ball fighterz

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daydreamer0078 · 4 years

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10 Best Sci-Fi Movies of All Time You Must Watch

Space, Future, Technology, Apocalpyse. These all come to the Scifi genre. Every movie lover likes a particular genre. Some people like action thrillers, some people like rom-coms, some special people like the SciFi genre. Scifi genre has a special place for every movie lover even if they like other genre. Perhaps, it's because of complexity that SciFi movies have. Sometimes, we may not understand what we are watching. Suppose, let's take Inception movie. A lot of people in their first watch didn't understand what they are seeing. But, when you start perceiving the film, you're gonna go into a different world. That's called SCI-FI. Sometimes, we want to experience how the future could be. We want to know how technology is gonna explore in the future and we want to know how space looks like and how it works. That's why we all have sci-fi movies. Scifi movies give us an opportunity to go into a different new world and experience for 2 hours. Scifi is always special and let's discuss what are the best SciFi movies you must watch if you haven't seen. 2001: A Space Odyssey - 1968

2001 A Space Odyssey is one of the old space sci-fi movies that represents the epic adventure in the space. The movie was released in the year 1968 which is too old. But, still it is one of the greatest SciFi films you have to watch. Keir Dullea did a phenomenal performance in this film and well-directed by Stanley Kubrick. The Climax is very ambiguous that has several meanings to the film. You may need to adjust with the quality of the movie. But, still a great watch :) IMDb Rating: 8.3/10 Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, and more.. Plot: After discovering mysterious remnants underneath the lunar surface, humanity sets off on a quest to find the origins with the help of artificial intelligence. WATCH NOW Blade Runner - 1982

Blade Runner 1982 was released in 1982 with a new great future concept. It is one of the well-made sci-fi movies of all time. The movie depicts the future and blows our minds with the concept of the movie. Recently, this movie has got a sequel in 2017 as Blade Runner 2049. The sequel has received positive reviews from people liking the movie. However, this is the first scifi movie that introduced how future could be. We may not recognize the difference b/w humans and robots ( known as replicants ) in the future. These kinds of movies still scare us that the world would completely be controlled by artificial intelligence eliminating the freedom for humanity. Although, if you haven't watched this epic sci-fi film, watch this film right away. IMDb Rating: 8.1/10 Cast: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and more. Plot: A man who is an ex- retired officer assigned to work again known as ( blade runner ) to track down four replicants ( robots ). WATCH NOW Back to the Future Series - 1985- 1990

Back to the Future Trilogy is one of the greatest SciFi movies released in 1985. I guess this is the first sci-fi movie has made in the cinema world. In 1985, this trilogy had an immense impact on cinema, and people have watched this film curiously to know the specialty. I think this movie is also the first time movie that introduced the concept of time travel. Many time-travel movies may come and go but, this series is a masterpiece classic that have a separate fan base. Even I'm a huge fan of this series as a sci-fi movie lover. I've enjoyed the whole trilogy with twists, comedy, thrilling, and eagerness to watch what happens next. Though, If you're still haven't watched this fantastic series, Don't call yourself as a sci-fi movie lover. You will understand why I'm saying this after you finishing the trilogy. IMDb Rating: 8.5/10 Cast: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and more. Plot: Marty Mcfly, high school students accidentally sent back to 30 years back in time travel machine invented by his old friend Doc. The trilogy is about how he confronts the consequences and corrects them for a better future. WATCH NOW The Matrix - 1999

The Matrix is one of the greatest Scifi movies released in 1999. But still, it stands out one of the best Scifi movies you can watch right now. I think, a lot of people ignoring this excellent movie saying it is an old movie released in 1999. But believe me guys, you should watch this film if you haven't looked at this yet. Keanu Reeves has done a fantastic performance along with Lana Wachowski and others. In 1999, this movie made a huge impact on movie lovers and has a separate fan base for this series. IMDb Rating: 8.7/10 Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and more.. Plot: The matrix is about "A computer hacker learns mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and he fights many enemies to set humanity free. WATCH NOW Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - 2004

Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind is one of best romantic Scifi movies made in 2004. If you're both rom-com and sci-fi movie lover, this film is perfect choice for you to watch it right away. The film has a unique concept that will remain in our minds for a long time. Especially, the way Michel Gondry brought to the climax is extraordinary. You'll never expect how the ending would be. I was amazed with the climax and screenplay narrated by him. I think this is the first sci-fi movie that I have watched and loved the genre. Don't miss this beautiful Scifi movie. IMDb Rating: 8.3/10 Cast: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, and more.. Plot: When a couple decides to end their relationship, they undergo a medical method that allows erasing both each other memories from their brain. WATCH NOW Avatar - 2008

Of course, Everyone knows Avatar film. But, still few people haven't watched this epic sci-fi film. Avatar was released in 2008 directed by one of the creative directors - James Cameron. He is best known or his works- Terminator and Avatar. Avatar had made a huge impact on box office numbers shattering all records and made the top 1 film on the list. Of course, Avengers Endgame recently has overtaken this great film which had remained the top 1 movie for 10 years. So, you can understand the greatness of the movie. James Cameron currently working on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 as well. Avatar movie is well known for the visual effects produced by Cameron and how he introduced a new experience to the audience. This is the greatest achievement for James Cameron producing this epic film and bringing to people in 2008 where there are low technological resources. Though, if you haven't watched this epic sci-fi film. What the heck are you doing then? IMDb Rating: 7.8/10 Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, and more. Plot: A disabled Marine dispatched to Pandora planet on a mission. Apparently, he feels pandora as his home and becomes conflict b/w humans and pandore species. WATCH NOW Inception - 2010

Inception is also one of the greatest sci-fi movies made by Christopher Nolan. Just like he did with interstellar, he killed this movie with his unique concept. This movie has a separate fan base and admires Christopher Nolan for his brilliant work in this film. It's because of the reason that it has distinctive concept that you didn't see in any other movie. Leonardo DiCaprio did a phenomenal performance and other major roles did the same. If you're looking for a really different sci-fi film. You're highly recommended to watch this excellent movie. IMDb Rating: 8.8/10 Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, and more.. Plot: Inception movie is about A thief who steals secrets through dream-sharing technology is given the task of inserting an idea into CEO'S mind for business purposes. WATCH NOW SnowPiercer - 2013

SnowPiercer is also one of the greatest sci-fi films directed by one of the greatest visionary directors - Boon Joon hoo who is well known for Parasite. The movie sets in post-apocalypse depict the politics and discrimination between the humans. I was amazed and thrilled while I was watching with the ambiguous climax. I thought Boon Joon hoo decided to put that ending referring to the early story in the bible. However, if you haven't watched this fantastic post-apocalyptic sci-fi film. Watch this film right away. Chris Evans did a great role in this film which is completely different from Captain America we've seen in Marvel. Ps. Despite of negative reviews, this film is so good that you can watch it. Don't know what's wrong with the reviewers. IMDb Rating: 7.1/10 Cast: Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, and more.. Plot: In the post-apocalyptic future, the lucky humans who boarded the train that travels around the globe emerge class groups. WATCH NOW Her - 2013

Her is one of the best Scifi movies made in 2013 depicts the role of artificial intelligence in the future and how it could destroy the nature of humanity. Joaquin Phoenix did a fantastic performance in this film. Her movie tells us how artificial intelligence influences relationships in the future and how it works. It is one of the unique and well-made sci-fi movies you should watch if you haven't seen yet. Spike Jonze, the director of this movie perfectly represented and narrated the storyline to the audience. IMDb Rating: 8.0/10 Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, and more. Plot: In the future, a writer develops a relationship with artificial intelligence. WATCH NOW Interstellar - 2014

Interstellar is one of the best sci-fi movies that has made in Hollywood. It is directed by one of the greatest directors - Christopher Nolan. He is very well known for scifi genre movies. Lot of scifi movie lovers admire and adore his work. Personally me, he is one of my favorite directors. He is one of the best directors in Hollywood who have not won oscar yet. The specialty about movie is the way he represents time, space, and relativity concept. Matthew McConaughey had done an excellent job with other leading roles. You may not comprehend what you're watching for the first time. But, once you start grasping the film, you're gonna enjoy the whole movie. It's one of my favorite sci-fi movies. If you're a sci-fi movie lover, I would highly recommend you to watch this. IMDb Rating: 8.6/10 Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and more.. Plot: Interstellar is about a team of astronauts travel through a wormhole to explore the survivability of mankind on earth. WATCH NOW

Honorable Mentions for Best Scifi Movies :

The Martian Gravity Mad Max: Fury Road Arrival Blade Runner 2049 Annihilation Source Code Although, these are the best scifi movies you can watch and enjoy. Let me know what is your opinion and your favorite movie. You can drop down your suggestions if you would like to. If you're looking for the best thriller movies : 10 Best Thriller Movies of All Time You Must Watch if you haven’t watched some best 2019 films and want to finish them. Check out : 10 Best Movies in 2019 that You Must Watch If You Haven’t Seen If you're looking for Netflix series : 10 Best Netflix Series of All Time If you love the genre of action and adventures : 5 Best Action Movies and Franchises of All Time You Must Watch I think this is the perfect time for you to start MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE : MCU Timeline – Watch Every Marvel Movie in Order Read the full article

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