That's where she stopped, her pen in the air waiting for inspiration.
Nothing
What could she do in 2016 to better herself? To show she had advanced? To show that she was growing, as a person in her own right?
No clue
Her resolutions from 2015 had gone completely ... incomplete, it was embarassing. Which was exactly why she didn't share her resolutions with anyone, as she was sure to have somebody on her back about one thing or another.
In the last year, she had loved, she had lost, and she had learned. It's better to love and lose, because it's only then that you know you have experienced, and only then that you know you have learned.
She had learned to love her flaws, many and all-encompassing as they may be; she had come to terms with the idea of potential anxiety, with stress and its backlashes, with public speaking being a no-go. Acceptance was a thing,and it had happened, and she was proud.
Somehow, she had grown, and was expected to grow further in the next year.
So why not write what she thought? What she thought was best for 2016?
Her pen dipped towards the paper, scratching against the page in true biro fashion.
Her New Year's Resolutions for 2016?
Be happy
* * *
I had a different prompt for this, but it required much more fleshing out than I currently have creativity for, so this is what you get!
Not gonna lie, it's based on my year, what I've learned about myself,and stuff, and it's short as hell, I'm so sorry!
Now Imma work on my TV favourites, so I'll go do that!
This is mum's fault. She decided over the summer that I needed to be dragged into this 6 series phenomena.W're currently 3 series in, and you can't miss a second! The way that simple, throwaway lines are brought back as something important an episode or even a series later makes you realise how intricate it all is! I also really like that every character is focussed upon, even some secondary characters get their moment (before being killed off :) ) Enter this series at your peril, honestly!
Daredevil The release of Marvel series on etflix is something I'm so happy for! I have yet to watch Jessica Jones, but I fell in love with Matt Murdock and Hell's Kitchen. The fact that Matt has found himself two mediums with which to fight , both legally and as a vigilante, is amicable. Character chemistry is awesome, Charlie Cox is amazing, and stills from season 2 were released today. I have no clue about the comics and what happens there,but Elektra looks incredible!
Agent Carter
Three of the main characters are British, and I am eternally grateful for that! Hayley Atwell is badass, James D'arcy is the perfect blend of apprehensive and sassy, Dominic Cooper is so unbelievably cocky, but it's endearing!
I love that this is Peggy-centric, showing she's so much more than the coffee girl she's thought of. Also, there's that history with the Red Room that's shown, and I want to know so much more, I can't wait for season 2, which is here in January, and Dottie is confirmed as a guest, so is Angie, AND ANA JARVIS PEOPLE!
Pretty Little Liars I binge watched a season in a day in November, then lost it, which is the story of many shows I watch, but the first series was interesting, I am intrigued, and will probably pick it up again in a moment of procrastination-fuelled weakness!
Great British Bake Off This year's series was incredible - beetroot gateaux,biscuit boxes, charlotte russes, and even more awesome stuff went down in the tent this year, and Nadiya was such a deserving winner!
The Apprentice The Apprentice is such an interesting series to me; as someone whose understanding of business is limited,it makes good conversation (though not with my mother, because she doesn't have the best opinion of Lord Sugar). I love sitting and thinking about the decisions I would have made - the book-writing task was ridiculously handled - and generally laughing at the cock ups going on!
Scream Queens The way this series parodies the general horror tropes is incredible (how many times have I used this word?), as is the way it battles cliches. The star studded cast was entertaining as hell, and the writing was glorious! Hoping season 2 will be much the same!
Jekyll & Hyde I'm on about the ITV series here, and it's so unbelievably good. For anybody who loves steam punk aesthetics, this is the show for you. It goes so far beyond a man battling with two men within his body, it explores the need for Hyde that Jekyll has, the feeling that Hyde handles certain situations better. It's also just a time period I seriously love watching shows for, and steam punk is something I will happily get behind!
Hopefully tomorrow, I will have been able to sift through photos and memories in order to bring my Events favourites together into a post, but if not, expect it on the 1st or the 2nd, as that is a lot of content to work with!
Marvel Cinematic Universe I got into the MCU around Easter this year, and I've already talked at length about my love for the beauty that is this universe, so I won't continue to bang on about it, as that can be found here. I am majorly excited for all of Marvel's future exploits, already dying for Civil War!
The Nanny Diaries I decided to watch Chris Evans films (go watch Not Another Teen Movie, it is the best parody ever!) but this film is honestly so good. It examines class difference in a way that, while displaying the difference, also shows that people of different classes do experience similar problems. It also tackles the idea of following rules in order to fit in. Also, Chris Evans & Scarlett Johansson's chemistry is awesome, and I just need more films with them together (go watch the Perfect Score whilst you're at it!) Easy A
Emma Stone is awesome, undoubtedly, and this is awesome to boot. Nevermind the cast, made up of a few childhood favourites such as Lisa Kudrow, Dan Byrd (Carter from a Cinderella Story!), Amanda Bynes, but also Penn Badgely, who's brilliant in all two films I've seen him in.
Based off of the Scarlet Letter, it explores both the idea of slut shaming, but also the idea of having sex with someone giving status - which is a post all of its own, honestly, the ideology of sex in our generation is slightly fascinating, slightly horrifying.
So, it's tackled maturely, with a perfect element of comedy that softens it all, a definite recommend!
John Tucker Must Die Girls banding together to help out other girls!
I'm running out of words other than awesome to us, because, really, this is just that!
The fact that these girls are trying to expose a serial dater by getting him another date is just hilarious in its own right, but I love seeing the girls become friends throughout it!
Also, the only reason I know estrogen is the XY development hormone is because of this film! The Dark Knight Trilogy You see, I am not only Marvel trash, I can go for some DC too! Calling it the 'Dark' Knight trilogy was the best bet, this is such a goddamn sombre series, does Christian Bale ever smile? Only criticism? The addition of Rachel Dawes as a love interest was unbearably unnecessary to me; I could get behind CatWoman, because she's awesome, and she's a villain for fun, it's cool, but Rachel grated, honestly, as did Harvey Dent's Two-Faced, he as a crap villain! 10 Things I Hate About You We watched this for English, and it was probably the best film I've watched for schoolwork ever! Some good points: 1. Heath Ledger singing 2. Baby Joseph Gordon-Levitt 3. Heath Ledger 4. Shakespeare references 5. Heath Ledger and his Australian accent
I'm just, in love with this film! So Good!
Books: The Maze Runner Trilogy - James Dashner I'll admit now, I haven't read the Kill Order. However, I liked the books, don't get me wrong, though they could be fleshed out a bit more. Maybe there's more information available in the Kill Order, but I feel like WICKED and its motivations were lost, and kind of confused amongst it all. Still, good books. Unfortunate Fairy Tales - Chanda Hahn Technically speaking, I started this series a good few years back, but I finally got my grubby mits upon the last two books, and I binge read whilst I was on holiday to the point where I spent the majority of the 5th book crying and partially screaming until half 2 in the morning. I love fairy tales which, again warrants its own blog post eventually, and these books honestly rekindled that. Do yourself a favour and read them! The Morganville Vampires - Rachel Caine
These were a birthday present from the twin (hi Lara!), and I binge-read the first, then binge-read the second recently, and am currently on the third, and will probably need to buy the next three, because I need!
I love the fact that, whilst this kind of thing would warrant cliches and tropes galore, it kind of stays away from that. Claire Danvers isn't some sort of 'chosen one', she's just trying to help her friends out. Eve (ayyyyy) isn't a typical goth, Shane isn't a brick wall love interest, Michael isn't all he seems, full stop.
I haven't read vampires in a long while, and it's nice to see something new, sue me!
This was written so fast, after the mortified realisation that I'd allowed it to continue to be scheduled with nothing but four notes for films to talk about, whoops!
So, tomorrow is TV series (also, a few Netflix, because that still counts), and Thursday is events from the past year, which will probably be long af!
Also tomorrow is a Writing Wednesday, which I need to write, oh god help me!
Have a nice day!
Obviously, as an internet-based hermit, I spend a great majority of my time on youtube (read: I lose a great majority of my time on youtube). It's therefore only fair that I have a collection of youtubers who I love the vidoes of, or binge on.
JamBeauty89
I love Jessica's videos, they're great when you want something long to watch. She reviews so much good stuff, and it's so interesting to see the kind of products that are in America.
She does a video every month on her everyday makeup drawer, where she keeps products that she's maybe gotten recently, or wants to use up, or keep from getting lost in her collection. Her declutters are awesome too!
RachhLoves
Rachel's such a friendly character, it comes off in every single video. I love that she reports back on every haul she does, telling you if she recommends the products or not (cleverly titled Buy or Bye).
I also loved her declutter videos, especially when she talked about not only products she was scrapping, but also products she'd definitely keep!
I wish her so much luck in the new year with baby #2 on the way!
ThreadBanger - and Rob Czar, Corinne Leigh & ToyTure
I get such a laugh from Man vs Pin, Corinne vs Pin, Man vs YouTube, and the new ToyTure, I can quite literally sit and cry at their videos.
Small warning, though, quite a few of the Man vs Pins use blood spillage as a feature, and many of the earlier ones don't come with a warning for that, so just a mention.
AmandasChronicles
Maya got me into Amanda actually, but she's brilliant to binge on, mainly due to their short length. Her sense of humour is amazing, always gets me laughing, but she uses it to also talk about current stuff going on in America, which is refreshing.
Also, I just spent the last 10 minutes watching her, and now I'm crying... oops!
BeautyByKat08
Kat goes to my local university, but that's not the main reason I really like her videos. She's just a very real person, so down to earth. She also talks a lot about being a university student, which is great when, you know, that's going to be you in just over 2 1/2 years.
Also, she so pretty!
Hannah Renee
I'm absolutely in love with Hannah's tutorials, even if I have absolutely no hope of recreating them! She's such a relatable character, it's actually unreal. Her skills are enviable, and it's so interesting to see how her face comes together.
Also really pretty!
Markiplier
Does anything honestly need to be said about Mark? He's such a funny person, but he also comes across on screen as someone who'd be generally the same in real life - except, you know, less screaming.
He's so open with his subscribers, so honest about things going on with him, so it feels like you know him so well.
Just... Markiplier, people!
Sorted FOOD
As I mentioned yesterday, I love cooking, and cooking channels are life, seriously. If I could try to make everything I like the look of, I would die happy.
Also, the dynamic between the four lads shines through, which is so nice to see, it adds a comedy to the videos that aren't often there in food videos.
Thomas Sanders
Thomas Sanders is such an enjoyable person to watch, he is literally so humble, it's amazing. He's funny as hell, but he also takes time to talk about issues, especially surrounding mental health. I love seeing youtubers who use their outlet to talk about stuff that matters, as well as being entertainers!
OpenLetters
I love Lucy, honestly. She talks about current stuff going on in the news, or stuff that just interests her, and I love that! It's been great to see how her editing and youtube style has changed in the last year, and I can't wait to see what she brings to 2016!
ohemgeeitsmaya
It goes without saying that this gal is one of my best friends, and it's been amazing to watch her grow. I know she's going to be doing a lot of cool stuff in 2016 - though I don't know what it is - so just check her out!
Favourites day 2 complete! Tomorrow will be films and books!
I gave up on favourites posts a while back, but I thought I'd look back upon 2015, things I liked, memories I've made and just...reflect and appreciate it all, because if there's one thing I've learnt, it's appreciation.
Due to post length, I've split my 2015 Favourites into 5 separate parts, so from today (December 27th) until the 31st, I will post a different category each day. Also, the 30th will bring a double post, because of my final December Writing Wednesday, so get excited!
Today is, quite obviously if you've read the title, about beauty favourites of the year, with a bit about food, because otherwise there wouldn't be 5 posts!
This will still be pretty long due to swatch images, etc.
Beauty:
Avon Liquid Eyeshadow - Chromed Cocoa
The best time saver in the world! Because of the doe foot applicator, you can literally swipe the colour over the lid, leave it to dry, then get on with the rest of your eye makeup. The colour also matches pretty much everything, so it gets a bonus point for neutrality.
Max Factor Eyeshadow - Earth Spirits
This came in a little Christmas set my sister got me a couple of years back, and as it turns out, is a lovely crease colour. This works into my most basic eye look, alongside the liquid eyeshadow and the eyeliner, so very very quick.
Collection Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner
I hadn't exactly tried winged eyeliner before owning this, but I'd say I've become... alright in the last six months. For £3 you can't exactly complain, plus, I've gotten a load of compliments whilst wearing eyeliner, so yay!
Rimmel Extra 3D Lash
I've been using this as my everyday mascara since I got this at the Clothes Show last year (to see what else I got, go here).
It gives amazing length to my lashes without looking like it's too much, or too clumpy.
No7 Stay Perfect Lip Stain
I stole this off of my mum, technically, but she wasn't using it, so it's fine. At times, it looks patchy, but it does give a noticable wash of colour to my lips which reflects the colour it's meant to be.
Also, here's a picture of a makeup look using all five products, nothing else. Sorry you can't see the eye makeup much
Sally Hansen New Lengths - Berry Burst I've been loving the colour of this nail polish, especially in autumn/winter. The colour's opaque from the first application, and honestly just very pretty.
You can see why I don't write reviews that often.
Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Polish - Coconut
The trend for nail polish this year has been white nails - by the looks of it, at least, what do I know about trends? Wearing white nail polish, shiny and smooth thanks to the formula, makes me feel so put together.
Feather Hair Comb - Accessorize
This was a Christmas present last year, and when I opened it, the first thing I thought of was this hairstyle by Cute Girls Hairstyles, which, is 100% do-able on your own, though it takes a lot of arm strength and patience.
Using this makes the hairstyle look like it took so much more effort.
What you can't see here is the 20 minutes I spent trying to get a good picture
And, because I had six topics, and only 5 days, I've thrown food favourites in, or really, recipe favourites.
Food:
Egg Fried Rice
I've written out my recipe for this, found here, and I'm glad I did it, because it's so easy to do. Cook the rice and the chicken, start frying them, then crack an egg in, so easy!
Hot Chocolate for One
We ran out of hot chocolate mix earlier this year, and this recipe, I have to say, tops the instant kind. Also, really quick to make, and easy to duplicate, apparently.
Cheese Sauce
I've actually only made this a couple of times, but it was so nice, and again easy (an essential when I'mthe cooking)
Chicken Stock!!!
This is a discovery that I am so glad I made:
Cooking rice or pasta in chicken stock
I haven't exactly tried this with other stocks, but it would probably work too.
But seriously, the usual amount of water you use to boil the stuff in, throw a stock cube in, and then let it cook down until there's next to no liquid left. Leaves the best flavour!
So, there be my first favourites of 2015 post, let's roll on the rest of the week!
Prompt stolen from the depths of tumblr, because I had to throw a soulmate AU in.
AU where everything is black and white until you meet your soulmate
There was an appeal to Christmas,
obviously, but there’s only so much you can enjoy when you can’t even tell what
colour the tree in your living room is. Or when your mother asks you to hand
her the purple box of baubles, and all you can do in return is ask whether
that’s the set of baubles that’s darker than the other.
You wouldn’t believe it, but it
also makes Christmas shopping one of the worst experiences; sure, your older
sister’s favourite colour is pale blue, but from experience, it’s also
surprisingly like grey when in grayscale. Yet shopping with your mother is only
a reminder that you haven't found them yet, and no, mother, for the last
time I’m not going speed dating to try and find them.
That was how she ended up spending
a good five minutes in front of the jumpers, debating whether it was that grey
one or whether it was that slightly lighter grey one. Goddamn Lucy,
couldn’t you just like black like everyone else in this generation? Or even
white, although it’s hardly very functional, what with spillages and stuff.
It was with regret, then, that she
turned to the woman beside her, tapping her tentatively on the shoulder. “Excuse
me, sorry to bother, but can you tell me which of these is pale blue? Last year,
I somehow ended up with green…apparently.”
“Well, I wish I could tell you,” the
other woman offered, removing her glasses to wipe them clean, “but I suppose
you could say I’m in the same situation as you.”
The pair smiled in tandem,
glancing up to find acknowledgment in each other’s eyes.
And colour
“Did you know your eyes are green?”
The other woman asked with the widest of smiles.
“I’ve been told. Did you know your
glasses are purple?”
“So it said when I paid for them.”
The other woman reached past her, picking a shirt up from the rack, pressing it
into her arms. “This one’s pale blue, and my name’s Jenny.”
Gripping
the shirt, she smiled for Jenny. “Am I glad I didn’t go speed dating! I’m Beth.”
* * *
Let's be representative, because everyone deserves love at Christmas, including the love of friends and family, people!
This is actually my 99th post, which means my 100th will be the start of
*drum roll*
My 2015 favourites week!
5 days, 6 categories of favourites all smooshed together into 5 posts to ring in the New Year!
That starts on the 27th all the way through until the 31st if my writing works! I will make myself, don't worry!
Therefore, this is my last post before Christmas, so have a brilliant weekend, whether you celebrate or not, spend time with the people you love, and just...
