Happy Sunday!

Well, it’s the end of March, and I think I can speak for the human race when I say: WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK IS HAPPENING ANYMORE. XD

Seriously, March was just one big pile of insanity that I wasn’t sure I’d survive. But here we are.

Maybe April won’t be as insane, and maybe we can all catch a breather. XD

(also, let’s begin the count now of how many times I say “amazing” during this post XD)


There is a LOT to unpack here.

And by that I am of course referring to the elephant in the room: COVID-19. *sigh*

Look, I think we’re all sick of talking about this, so I’m going to make this brief: yes, this is becoming a big thing in the US, yes, we’re all stuck at home, yes, it’s not fun, and yes, we’ll get through this. I don’t really want to discuss this more than necessary, just because so many other bloggers are doing it so much better than I am. But let’s just keep praying so this gets resolved. <3

(Although I might make a parody post of “What it’s like for a public schooler to suddenly be homeschooled” - if you guys would be interested in that, let me know. XD)

In other news, homework has gone absolutely off the rails this month. Why is March always such a bad homework month??? *sigh*

BUT. I cleaned my room. Which is saying something, because it was an absolute disaster for about a month and a half. But now I can actually WALK THROUGH IT WITHOUT STEPPING ON BOOKS. *mind-blown*

And my friends randomly brought a surprise chocolate cake to school lunch one day, and we ate it and it was great. <3

Brace yourselves. There is quite a bit here, lemme tell you.

The Illuminae Files. Another reread! Clearly I can’t go for 8 months without rereading this series. It’s just so ADDICTIVE. Nik is the best (of course) but the stakes are amazing and the format is amazing and the other characters are amazing, etc. etc. If only there wasn’t so much cursing in it . . .  *sighs* I guess nothing’s perfect. :(

Newsies. none of you are surprised. I FINISHED THE MOVIE. *collapses* EXCUSE ME I AM DEAD FROM THIS EPICNESS. 10/10 recommend this movie/musical for the singing alone. But also the sass levels are off the charts. And if you’re listening to the musical, so are the angst levels. XD

(from GIPHY)

Blank Mastermind. I don’t see many people talking about this book for some reason, which is a shame because it deserves allllll the recognition. It’s by the amazing Rosey Mucklestone and it’s just amazing. I came for the snark, but I got the full range of emotions. XD I laughed, I cried, I gave it 5 stars and would heartily recommend.

Your Lie in April. *shaking breath* So I am not done with this show yet, but I am Very Concerned for everyone and am sure that I will be a sobbing mess by the end of it. I’ll update you in April.

Wait a second. I just realized that I’ll probably be finishing this show. IN APRIL. OH MY WORD THIS COULDN’T BE MORE PERFECT. (so maybe this’ll warrant a blog post. XD)

just NO ONE SPOIL IT FOR ME PLEASE BECAUSE I AM ALREADY SEMI-SPOILED AND I WANT MY HEART TO BE CLEANLY BROKEN. XD

(from GIPHY) KOUSEI MY HEART

The Blades of Acktar. This is my first reread of the series and I THINK LEITH IS QUITE POSSIBLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS OF ALL TIME. *fangirls* His character development is perfection and just aaaaahhhhhh. *wording has failed yet again*

Lord of the Rings. My family and I rewatched this entire trilogy and, like usual, I was a sobbing mess by the end and couldn’t even finish the last movie. (THE GREY HAVENS SCENE, THOUGH *breaks down*) But why did I wait so long to watch these again????

I need to keep my thoughts about this series to a short paragraph, otherwise I’ll just go off on a six-hour long ramble. XD

(from GIPHY) *cue the sobbing*

Lockwood and Co. As you may have seen in my vlog, I was about to read book 4. And I did. And it was incredible. And I’m bracing myself for book 5. I’m not ready for this series to end. XD

Okay, WOW, I’ve been too involved in the fandom world, clearly. Yikes.

So. Writing. That’s funny.

Remember how I said I would write every day in 2020?

That has been an EPIC fail.

(Part of the reason is because I got sick this month. Again. Apparently my immune system has just HAD it with me, but it’s fine. XD But there have been some days when I was just so stressed and busy that writing . . .just didn’t happen. And that’s okay. The tiny bits of writing I HAVE gotten done have been good, I think.)

I meant to submit to two short story contests this month. I didn’t submit to any. But that’s okay too. Maybe in April I’ll try again.

(and that’s MY lie in April XD)

I haven’t prepared for Camp NaNoWriMo at ALL, so this’ll be fun. I think I’m going to write The Inhumans. But I’ve also been kicking around a story idea that I really really really want to write. *sigh* I still have *looks at the calendar* two days to decide. XD

So, in case you missed any of my posts, here’s the lineup from March:





(And here’s the link to my blogoversary post/vlog, because it was easy to miss. XD)

Meanwhile, around the blogosphere . . .

Merie @ Imperial Scribis has started a serial on her blog! It’s only two chapters long so far, but already my mind has been BLOWN by her writing style and the characters and EVERYTHING.

Emily @ The Ones that Really Matter shared a quarantine to-do list that has renewed my resolve to become a Jedi once more. XD If you find yourself being bored this quarantine season, check it out. :D

Kathryn @ In the Depths of Dreams shared some thoughts about the word surrender and this time of uncertainty. <3 <3

Skye @ Ink Calamities talked about some things she hates about fae books that I 100% agree with. (If anyone has good fae book recommendations, leave them down below!)

And let’s not even count the number of blogoversary posts that have gone around lately. Some of these include Faith’s amazing Q&A, Christine’s post with facts about herself, and Lia’s two Q&A posts. I’m sure I’m forgetting someone’s post . . . sorry!

——————————————————————————

So. Here comes April. Hopefully it’s less crazy for you, and hopefully we don’t all go stir-crazy from sitting around at home. (I hope all my fellow introverts are having a good time, though. XD)

-Nicole <3

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!!

*epic music begins playing* *confetti and streamers come out of nowhere*

DO YOU KNOW WHAT TODAY IS????

On this day . . . THE RING WAS VANQUISHED!!!!!!!! *fireworks*

Oh yeah. And I also started a blog two years ago. XD

Today, I bring you: the Q&A video!

A warning. It’s long. Very, very long. I got more questions than I did last year (thank you all <3) and since I’m awkward in front of the camera, I stumbled over my words more times than was necessary.

But.

Here it is.

*deep breath*



...here's the link, in case the embedding didn't work XD...

Did you survive it? I hope you survived it. I barely survived it. XD

Anyways, I just wanted to say THANK YOU ALL. Seriously. Two years ago, I never thought that I’d meet many people or get many followers or comments or anything.

And now, 72 FOLLOWERS LATER (*mind-blown*), here we are.

So thank you for everything. For the memories, for the comments I read late at night, for the friendships. <3 <3 If I could hug you all right now, I could.

And hopefully I’ll actually get the chance to do that in person one day.

But for now . . . see you at three years? ;)

-Nicole <3

Happy Sunday!

Today’s post is going to be super short,  because SOMEONE has a vlog to edit. *mumbles something about procrastination*

As an everyday fangirl, I frequently find that “normal” words that come up in conversation can have double meanings for me. However, most people don’t understand exactly why I want to slug the wall when I hear them talking about legacies, or why mentioning honor will make me smirk.

I call these words with double meanings my “ruined words” because the chances of me seeing them normally again are ruined. XD And today, we’re going through a few of them, dictionary-style. So this is basically my own personal dictionary. You’re welcome. ;)

Three Thousand

noun
1. the words of a young child to her now-deceased father, used to show her love
2. more than one ton
3. commonly used after the words “I love you”

Four

noun
: death; similar to the Chinese word for death

Five

noun
1. the perfect and safest number
2. with it, you can wear the suit and stay alive

Honor

noun
1. a quality that can be “lost” by disrespecting your father, and “found” by listening to your crazy uncle and helping the person you’ve been trying to capture
2. a catchphrase of an angsty boy with a scar over his left eye

Newspaper

noun
: not sold by headlines, but by newsies
(see papes)

Brooklyn

noun
1. home of both a shield-wielding capsicle and a scheming paperboy
2. is here

Teal

adjective
: the color of a particularly attractive, but hot-headed, elf’s eyes.

Quirk

noun
1. a power 80% of the population has
2. it’s yours! Yours, not his!

Ring

noun
1. a gold band that goes around one’s finger and, when thrown into a fire, produces words written in some form of Elvish
2. my precious
3. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

Potatoes

noun
: boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew

Rum

noun
: why is it always gone?

Legacy

noun
1. planting seeds in a garden you never get to see
2. a phrase commonly used to describe your evil parents’ schemes for you


Well, I think that’s all for now. XD If you have any “ruined words” of your own, comment them down below - I’d love to hear them!

And hopefully, I’ll see you Wednesday, on my blogoversary! (If this stupid video will get edited - it’s SO LONG, guys . . .)

-Nicole <3

Happy Sunday!

Today comes the post that will make me sound hypocritical. Maybe I am hypocritical. Let me know in the comments. ;)

But today I’m discussing my gripe with inspirational content.

I don’t know if my post On Comparison “qualifies” as inspirational content, but if it does, I’m about to sound like an idiot. Here we go. XD


I have a love-hate relationship with “inspirational” content.

Now, there’s not really anything wrong with inspirational content, as far as I’m concerned. It’s not bad or immoral or whatnot - it’s just a way to get people hyped up and to encourage others to keep going. And I love that; it seems like pessimism dominates the Internet, and inspirational content is a nice break from that.


But.

This is how viewing this content goes for me.

1. I pull up a random inspirational video, probably while procrastinating, and I say, “This’ll give me the kick in the pants I need.”

2. I watch the motivational video and really enjoy it - I can feel the inspiration coming back!

3. I say, “Wow, that was incredible! Just one more, and I’ll be ready to start writing/doing homework/chores/that thing I need to do but haven’t yet.”

4. I search “motivational videos” or look for motivational blog posts.

5. Thirty minutes pass of me consuming inspirational content.

6. I look at the time and realize - what have I been doing for the last half-hour? The inspiration high  is beginning to fade, and now the stress kicks in. But I decide to make the most of it and pull up whatever I’m supposed to be doing.

7. I work for approximately thirty seconds.

8. I stare at whatever I’m doing in frustration and throw my pen down (okay, that’s an exaggeration) and think, “I can’t do this. I’m not those people in the videos who can get everything done perfectly. What am I even doing?”

9. I stress out and procrastinate even more. My mindset becomes way more negative, and I start beating myself up for not doing things. Which makes my stress levels go up more, which means I don’t do the things, etc. etc.

Obviously, this is a bad system. XD


As creators, as students, and as people in general, we all want that inspiration, that positive motivation to keep going. Homework is not the most enjoyable thing to do, and sometimes writing isn’t either. We’d rather do the fun and games before we sit down to work, and we think that inspiration will fix this.

But if you take on a mindset of needing inspiration, before long, you’ll stop wanting inspiration for getting things done and start wanting it because it feels good.

The fact is, creating isn’t about how much inspiration you have. It’s about how much perseverance and patience you have. It’s about if you’re willing to work even if you don’t feel like it or want to. Because that homework assignment isn’t going to finish itself, and that story isn’t going to write itself.

And honestly? I’ve found that the best inspiration comes from doing the thing. You can look back and say, “I wrote that book, and I think it was kind of decent. So I can definitely write this book.”


Please, don’t rely on inspiration. It can only take you so far, one step on that journey of a thousand. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll begin to enjoy inspirational content more than you enjoy acting on that inspiration.

And of course I’m not perfect at this either. 99% of this post is calling myself out for my mistakes. But I think we need to stop getting inspired and start doing the stuff we want/need to do.

And besides, if you spend all your time on consuming inspirational content, you won’t have any time to act on that inspiration, when you should REALLY be working on whatever you want to be doing.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll stop procrastinating by writing this “anti-inspiration” post thing and start getting my ACTUAL homework done. XD

Whoops.

-Nicole <3

Dear Peter Parker,

This is ironic, to say the least. I never thought I’d write a letter to specifically you. (No offense.) I thought I’d be writing this to the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, gushing over every single movie in excruciating detail.

But then I realized: I don’t really have a super-personal connection to any other movies except the two Spider-Man movies (Homecoming and Far from Home). And after thinking about why for a little while, I realized that it’s because of you.

Let me explain.


When I watched Spider-Man: Homecoming for the first time, I had just created my pen name, I was still new to blogging, and I was fresh from completing my first ever rough draft of a book with some potential. I was in the beginning stages of . . . well, pretty much everything.

It was a little overwhelming, to say the least. That summer, upon completion of said rough draft, self-doubt came calling, which was not fun.

And then Peter Parker came into my life: a sixteen-year-old nerd with a secret he hid from pretty much everyone. He went by an alias in the superhero world and spent his afternoons fighting petty crime.

I could almost completely relate to you. (The small part of unrelatability is the “fighting petty crime” part. I have no desire to ever try that.) Sure, I’d read a few books about superhero teenagers, but none of them fit me - not even the nerds. They were just too smart, and they already seemed super mature for their age.

But you were just a kid - a nerdy, geeky kid who never really was super strong (well, at least before the spider bite).

And you also had an alter ego with somewhat of an Internet presence. You did stuff after school that you could never really tell anyone, because, to an extent, they wouldn’t understand.

Similarly, it’s really hard to explain why you run a book and writing blog under a pen name to a classmate. XD Not to mention it’s extremely awkward, because they probably don’t like books. And telling people “I want to be an author” is almost worse. The dreaded comment of “You know you can’t make much money writing” comes up, with the insinuation of “You should maybe pick another career.”


I think the moment I truly realized just how much I related to you was when Spider-Man: Far from Home released. I went to see it in theaters while on vacation (which was pretty cool, actually).

While I loved the villain and thought the action scenes were super cool, there was one part in particular that really hit home: your constant self-doubt.

You worried all the time that you’d never be able to measure up to Iron Man. You were never sure if you were making the right choices or not, and when you made a choice you believed in, it turned out to be wrong. And that just made the self doubt worse. It was a nasty cycle.

There are quite a few characters with self-doubt, but this portrayal of it really hit home. I’ve never been confident with my writing, and when I think I’m taking a story in the right direction, I’ll find out later that it’s a complete and utter mess.

But you eventually made me realize that I’m never going to become the next Iron Man of writing. All I can do is what God has given me to do. And that’s enough.


I don’t exactly know what I’m trying to get at here. There are tons of superhero films featuring people with alter egos, and there are tons of teen protagonists with self-doubt. I don’t know why these two films are any different.

I guess what I’m trying to say is. . . .

Thank you, Marvel, for giving me a teen superhero I could relate to.

Thank you, Peter Parker, for making me feel I’m not alone.

-Nicole <3

Happy Sunday! I hope everyone enjoyed their "extra day" yesterday. I, for one, can say that I used it well (and by well I mean procrastinating until five o’clock at night XD).

It’s the first day of March, which means a lot of exciting things are coming to you on this blog in the coming weeks! But first, let’s do a Happenings post, because they’re fun and I enjoy them and let's just cut this intro and go already.

(Yes, this is my current state of mind. Sorry. ;D )


all GIFs from GIPHY
Life. Um. You know. It’s life. Sometimes it throws chocolate at you (which is a good thing, because CHOCOLATE), and sometimes it throws rotten apple cores.

This month leaned more towards the rotten apple core side of the spectrum.

But I’m not going to dwell on the hard things that happened, because I don’t want this blog to be a place of Depression and Pessimism and All Around Doom and Gloom. Maybe I'll go into some detail later *shrugs*.


One of my favorite things that happened this month was the TwoSetViolin Tchaikovsky livestream! I missed it live by about nineteen minutes, but it was amazing and they deserve allllll the subscribers.

I’ve also had an insane amount of Scholar Bowl tournaments lately. We had one about two weeks ago, one last Thursday, and another one this Thursday. And THEY DON’T ASK LORD OF THE RINGS QUESTIONS. WHAT IS THIS MONSTROSITY. *sulks in a corner* XD

(but I'm pleased to say that due to my obsession with TwoSetViolin I am VERY familiar with composers and can answer those questions XD okay, I'll stop talking about TSV now)

I got together with family last weekend and saw a few cousins I hadn’t seen in a while! We stayed up till midnight watching Big Hero 6, one of the best movies of all time. <3 <3

Big Hero 6. Because, as mentioned, it’s one of the best movies of all time, and I hadn’t seen it since last March. I think my favorite character this time around would have to be Fred. No other character has lines like these:

“Hello, my name’s Fred, and it has been thirty days since my last HOLY MOTHER OF MEGAZON!”

“Nothing is better than free food! . . . Unless it’s moldy!”

“Six intrepid friends, led by Fred, their leader Fred! Fred’s Angels, doo doo. Fred’s Angels. Harnessing the power of the sun, with the ancient amulet they found in the attic. Fred’s Angels. Fred's Angels. The amulet is green. It’s probably an emerald -”

Sorry, am I rambling? XD I just REALLY love this movie.

me @ this movie

My Hero Academia. I FINISHED SEASON THREE. *collapses* WOW that was a ride. Insanely stressful, heart-wrenching, hilarious . . . just your typical MHA season. XD

And for some reason I now want to write fanfiction. This is not a good thing. My fanfiction is always just fangirl-vomit. XD

haven't seen this scene yet but OH BOY am I excited

Newsies. MY NEW MUSICAL OBSESSION, HERE WE GO. I honestly cannot remember the last time I was this into a musical - probably Hamilton, actually. But I love basically ALL the songs, and Jack Kelly is amazing and wonderful and he does not deserve what he goes through. It's just an all-around good musical.

I mean, just look at this choreography. I rest my case.


Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere. So, technically this isn't a fandom I'm in yet, but I'm including it because I'm giving myself a reading challenge this year. During 2020, I want to read all of the books set in this "world." Which is at least ten books, at least 600 pages each. *collapses again* I'm already halfway through Elantris (the "first book") and really enjoying it!

(but seriously, if anyone wants to join me, I will wait up for you. this is going to be insane)

thank you, Spot, for your support during this trying time XD

So, this month, I’ve done my best to keep up with my writing goals of writing every day and writing one flash fiction story per month.

I . . . missed a day of writing, but honestly? I’m okay with that. If I had written, it would have been two words - I felt AWFUL that day. So I don’t really regret it - and if you miss a day of writing if you want to write every day, don’t feel bad about it! Just do it the next day. <3

And I did write my flash fiction piece for the month! (Well, technically it was over 1000 words, but shhhh, I still count it.) It was for a short story contest that I’m super pumped to enter.

Right now, I’m starting to give thought to Camp NaNoWriMo in April. I thiiiiiink I know what I’ll be writing, but it’s always subject to change. ;) But if someone does a Camp NaNo tag or something, I’ll probably be joining in, so you’ll hear about it there.

So, in case you missed a post of mine, here are the links to all of them:

Meanwhile, around the blogosphere . . .

Brooke wrote a fantastic short story called Carry On that you should definitely read if you’re having a hard time. <3

Diamond’s post about cheaply bullet journaling is super inspirational and aesthetic! It really does prove you don’t need to have the expensive supplies to bullet journal. :D

Megan wrote a really interesting post about X-Flies and baseball that is honestly so beautiful. (And I’ve never even seen X-Files.)

Faith announced her new WIP and EXCUSE ME BUT I NEED THIS BOOK NOWWWWWW.

And Julian’s been writing a series on first drafting which is super neat! My personal favorite post is this one about character journaling - I really want to give it a try!

...

And now for the fun part.

So, last week, you all voted on what you’d like to see me do for my blogoversary, and the answer, by vote of 41.2% of you (look, Google Forms said it, not me) is . . .

*drumroll please*

ANOTHER Q&A!!

(Honestly, I didn’t expect that one to win. I guess you all liked the one I did last year, so here we gooooo)

So leave your questions down below! Ask any and everything (except maybe not my SSN - that might be crossing the line XD), and I will post a video of my answers on the 25th!

As for the next blog posts . . . you’ll be getting a little bit of everything this month. There miiiiight be another fandom letter in the works, for instance *cough*.

Anyways, I hope you guys had a good February, and I hope your March is fantastic!

-Nicole <3