Happy Sunday!

Finally, finally, we've reached the end of this crazy year. It feels like it passed in a snap, but also January was approximately six million years ago. XD

This might sound weird, but I've actually been really excited to write this wrap-up. 2020's been such a strange and hard year, but to me that's all the more reason to document it. And at the end of this decade, I want to look back and remember 2020 and everything I learned.

why am I planning a decade reflection blog post already. help.

Anyways, this is going to get long - as they always do. It'll be a lot more reflective since I want to get my honest thoughts down. So feel free to skim. This post could get interesting. XD

When I thought back on my favorite stories of 2020, a lot of things came to mind. Surprisingly, though, I had a hard time thinking of books. It's strange, because I know I read a lot of amazing books this year. 100 Days of Sunlight was definitely my favorite read. I also really loved the Lockwood and Co. series and Blank Mastermind, both of which I'm planning to reread in 2021.

But my favorite stories of 2020 weren't books. They were anime.

Wow, that feels odd to type. Last year, I had barely watched any anime. I thought it was weird and not my type of content, and the few episodes of My Hero Academia I'd watched hadn't overly impressed me.

And . . . yeah, I still think anime's weird. XD But I was SO wrong in thinking that anime wasn't up my alley. I loved nearly every single show I watched this year.

My Hero Academia gave me the motivation to get through my spring semester and even do a little exercise sometimes. ;) Your Lie in April made me laugh and cry and realize just how much I value music and my friendships. Fullmetal Alchemist quickly became my second-favorite TV show of all time, and I'm not kidding when I say the ending was unlike anything I've ever seen before.

There are so many other examples: A Silent Voice, Attack on Titan, even Death Note . . . all of them, in some way, literally changed my life.

Even the fandoms of some of these shows were so mind-blowing. I got into the Villain Deku side of the My Hero Academia fandom, and while I only regret watching some of the animatics, it gave me inspiration to write a villain origin story and introduced me to some of my favorite songs ever.

Speaking of songs, I also found my favorite genre of music through anime: J-pop. I listened to a LOT of music this year, and 92% of it was j-pop.

In short: Anime introduced me to amazing characters and songs, blew my mind with every show, and gave me some of the best memories of 2020. <3

And if it's all right with you guys, I'd like to talk more about anime and fandoms next year. Let me know in the comments if that's something you want to see. :D

In terms of writing this year . . . man, I don't know. It's been a weird writing year, to be sure. I entered into a love-hate relationship with the Inhumans, which I'm now back to writing again, this time with substantial edits set in place. XD It's been . . . an interesting time. But I think I'm finally on a better path with this story, and I'm so, so glad for it.

Other writing feats of 2020:

- finishing the first draft of Project Chaos, which made me cry XD

- writing down six thousand story ideas and never acting on any of them

- forgetting to write down another six thousand story ideas (specifically on Christmas) and dying inside

- getting published on Havok again! :D

- getting published in a Havok anthology!! *still mind-blown*

- procrastinating

- more procrastinating

- yeah. it's very sad. BUT my goal for 2021 is to take my writing way more seriously and make a conscious effort to do it every day. We'll see how it goes.

Honestly, you all made 2020 amazing. I met so many of you this year and got to know a lot more of you better. <3 <3 You all are the best community of writers and readers I could ask for. :D

And you really liked some of my posts. As of the end of this year, the Get To Know Me Tag - Writer's Edition was my top post, which is kind of strange, seeing as that was one of my very first posts. *shrugs* Another really old post you liked was my Seven Characters with Great Redemption Arcs post. 

how are all these old posts getting so much traffic??? can someone explain please??

This year, 79 of you followed me, and you viewed my blog almost 50,000 times. 

Wow.

Seriously, thank you so much. You are all amazing, kind, beautiful people. <3 <3

*cue the rambles*

I was going to wrap up everything that happened this year, but we all know 2020 has been a TRIP, and that task just felt so overwhelming. 

I was reading through my 2020 journal entries to try and gather my thoughts, and to my surprise, recurring themes kept popping up. I was astounded at how I saw God work in my life this year. He answered my prayers in ways I didn't even think possible. 

I also saw a huge theme of self-reflecting. I started journaling a lot more frequently, and I documented the different lifestyle experiments I tried and the things I tried to make me more productive. While most of these backfired in embarrassing ways, it really helped me figure out how I tick.

And I tick in very time-wasting ways.

So that's why my phrase for 2021 is to live intentionally. 

I have to start taking opportunities when they come, listen to my gut, and stop wasting my time. Because if 2020's taught me anything, we only have a limited time to enjoy what we have and make an impact.

Well, in a few days, 2020'll be over. I can't even begin to imagine what will happen next year. I know that things won't automatically get better once the New Year arrives. 

But I can't wait. 

And at the risk of jinxing it all . . . bring it on, 2021.

just kidding, please come in quietly and don't make a fuss

-Nicole <3

How was your year? Do you have any goals for 2021? How are you spending your last days of 2020? Let's talk before the year ends!

Happy Sunday!

Usually this time of year, I try to write a post about Christmas. I don't make posts about my faith that often, but I at least try to do it around major holidays, like now.

But this year . . . I don't know why, but it's been so hard for me to narrow down a topic. Everything this month has been so weird, even for 2020.

*sigh* how is it already December?

This year's been intense. It seems like everything bad that could happen, has happened. There's a lot of fear and despair in the air, and everyone's been counting down to 2021, me included.

But look. If I'm going to be brutally honest here, moving from December 2020 to January 2021 isn't going to change anything. The change of year itself won't suddenly make everything better. If only it could. 

I don't know about you, but knowing that kind of makes me feel a little sad and depressed. Do we not have anything to look forward to?

And that's why I think it's so important to celebrate Christmas this year.

This season is a season of love, of the love that the Father gave us when he sent his Son to Earth, when Jesus took on our human nature and was born a tiny baby in a manger. 

It's a season of hope, of waiting, of rejoicing that our Father hasn't abandoned us, even in times of darkness.

Right now, it's so easy to see all the darkness, all the sin, all the despair of the world. It only seems to get worse in each passing moment.

But that's not all that's there. There's love and hope and faith and joy, even if you have to search to find them. There's beauty in the stars that sparkle each night and the snow that sweeps across the grass. There's joy as kids finish up their semesters and when friends see each other on video call. 

And there's the ever-present reminder in Mass and songs and Christmas trees that our God hasn't abandoned us. There is still hope for a better day. He didn't make the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate act of love, so we could despair forever. He didn't come down and assume our own nature just for us to lose hope.

Sure, this year's Christmas celebrations might be a little different, a little more lonely than usual. But just remember: there is still hope. 

And as we move closer to the new year, we need to bring that hope with us and let it drive our actions.

God is with us. Emmanuel.

- Nicole <3

Merry Christmas, friend. <3 <3

 Happy Sunday!

It's December, and we all know what that means: exam-taking, last-minute studying, and stress. And if you're like me, you'll want to alleviate some of that stress - for instance, by listening to music.

But I get so distracted by the type of music I typically listen to. You can bet I'll stop studying if a Hamilton song comes on in my playlist.

Today, I'm bringing to you six fantastic, mostly wordless albums for you to listen to while you're studying for that final. But honestly, they work well in any situation where you need to focus on your work: writing, cleaning, in the middle of your Zoom class, etc.

This has been my ultimate school soundtrack for the past two years. As most of you probably know, Big Hero 6 is about college students, so that automatically helps make the music even more relevant. However, its atmosphere also makes this album perfect for doing homework. 

No, I don't know why that text is centered. I tried to fix it and Blogger wouldn't cooperate. XD

Some tracks are very electronic (like Microbots), some are very chill (like Inflatable Friend), and some are mildly intense and motivational (like Big Hero 6, which is the actual name of a song in the album). There's a little bit of everything!

The video below plays Nerd School, which is equal parts motivational and chill:

Somehow, this soundtrack manages to combine the beauty of movie soundtracks and the feeling of lofi, and it's AMAZING. Granted, it can be sad at times, but it's so calming and peaceful that it's great for any study session or chill writing time.

My personal favorites from this soundtrack include:

- lvs: one of those songs that has the feeling of lofi, yet isn't lofi

- frc: one of the most intense songs in the album that'll really ignite your fear of homework deadlines XD

- lit(var), which you can listen to below. :)

Minecraft follows the trend of a lot of video game music in that it was created to be atmospheric, not distracting. Many of the tracks fade in and out, providing for seamless transitions between them. They're all very simple and relaxing - that is, except for the few songs that play whenever monsters approach, or the occasional jarring electronic piece. Beware of those. XD

Even if you've never played Minecraft before, you've definitely heard some of the most iconic songs, like Sweden, a calm piano track. I also really love Beginning, one song that fades in at the beginning and fades out at the end. My favorite, though, is the song Minecraft, which gives me A Silent Voice vibes:

All right, so this technically isn't a soundtrack. Cursedsnake is an electronic music composer that I found on Spotify. And while I haven't listened to ALL his songs - because he has a lot of them - they're great soundtracks for when you're writing or researching a paper.

My personal favorites, Calm and Sunrays, both have slow buildups, and their beats are simple yet perfect for background music.

yes, they're my favorites because they're used in Geometry Dash levels, why do you ask

Remember how I said that Cursedsnake was great for writing papers? The Death Note soundtrack is like that, but more intense. I listened to this soundtrack quite a bit while writing papers - the music made me feel like I was a genius detective doing important work that would change the world. It's very hard to explain. XD 

Also, I'd suggest you listen to piano versions of the soundtrack, because otherwise it's super intense. There's a great album called L's Theme (The Greatest Instrumental Themes from Death Note) by Anime Kei that I highly recommend.

My absolute favorite song out of this entire soundtrack is L's Theme. It's what I would classify as Serious Piano Music, and I'm listening to an hour-long loop of it now. XD Here's a much shorter clip of it:

I don't personally use these soundtracks too much because its nostalgia distracts me, but one of my friends SWEARS that the MarioKart soundtrack helped her write her essay quickly. *shrugs* I'm taking her word for it. XD

Also, if you need something repetitive to play in the background, I HIGHLY recommend the ten-hour Wii theme song video, which I've "helpfully" linked down below. I got through five hours of it in two days and then needed to stop because I thought I would go insane.

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So yeah! These are essentially the soundtracks that got me through my last semester. I'm curious to know what you listen to while studying or writing - there are so many epic soundtracks out there!

If you're still taking exams, best of luck - you've got this! <3 If you're not, then best of luck on whatever project you're working on! :D

-Nicole <3

What soundtracks do you listen to while studying or working? Do you like electronic music? Thoughts on lofi? Let's talk!

HAPPY SUNDAY!!! *tackle-hugs you*

Wow, it has been a longgggg time since I've written a blog post, and I do apologize for that. The past few months have been weird and crazy and fun, what with school and all. But now that exams are done, I can FINALLY sit down and start writing blog posts again. And this time, I don't plan on disappearing for a while. <3

Anyways, to get myself back in the blogosphere, I'm doing the Sunshine Blogger Award! I have been tagged for this six times. I probably should have done it earlier. It's fine. XD

THE RULES

1. Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you and link back to their blog(s) so others can find them. All right, a huge shoutout to Sarah @ Pen of a Ready Writer, Lacy @ The Life of an Elf, Bethany @ Scribbled Fiction, Ash @ Starlight Strands, Rakayle @ A Story Detective, and MovieCritic @ Movies Meet Their Match for tagging me! You need to check out their blogs - they're all so kind and incredible! <3

2. List the rules and display an award logo on your blog post. 

3. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you. So, plot twist, I'm not doing this. There would be 66 questions to go through, and I don't think anyone wants that. XD Instead, I'll pick my favorite 3-4 questions from each blogger.

4. Ask the nominees 11 new questions. This was a struggle for me when I did this tag last time. We'll see what happens. XD

SARAH'S QUESTIONS

What's your dream work space aesthetic? 

. . . I have literally never thought about this before, but it's such an interesting question!

I really like the library aesthetic - bookshelves around every corner, pages rustling, stuff like that. But if I were to work in that environment, I would have to make sure I couldn't see anyone. For some reason, whenever I work in a crowded library, I get really distracted. *shrugs*

What's a subject in school that surprised you by not being as awful as you thought?

Chemistry! I mean, don't get me wrong, the math aspects are still awful. But the non-math elements are super interesting, and I'm hoping it's helpful for a future story. We'll see.

. . . who am I kidding, the main reason I liked chemistry in high school was because we got to make lava. It was pretty great. :D

What song's lyrics have had the most impact on you and why?

I don't think I could narrow down any song that's influenced me throughout my life. I only started listening to music regularly about . . . three years ago? But in 2020, "Pompeii" by Bastille has definitely impacted me - especially the line "But if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?"

So many things changed this year, but at the same time it feels as though we've reached a new normal of sorts. And this song really reflects that feeling for me.

LACY'S QUESTIONS

Favorite scene from a book (can be a WIP)?

Wait. Favorite scene EVER? *screams*

Okay, okay, that's too broad. I'm separating this into two categories:

- Scene from one of my WIPs: it's a tie between (a) a scene in Project Chaos involving Aspen (which made me cry) and (b) a reunion scene I'm planning for the Inhumans (which I'm sure will make me cry). 

- Scene from a different book/movie/show: I think the "Hello, Zuko here" scene in season three of Avatar: the Last Airbender might have to steal this award. It's just . . . it's just awkward perfection, what can I say?

In your opinion, what is the most overrated emoji?

The high-five emoji. I didn't understand it was a high-five emoji for the longest time - I thought it was a prayer emoji. And besides, when do you ever use the high-five emoji anyways?? It just seems so pointless to me.

What do you have a possibly unhealthy stash of?

Besides books? too many books can never be unhealthy Right now, it'd have to be junk food. I have an absurd amount of chocolate stashed in my bedroom. The sadder part is, I'm going to eat it all myself.

Would you rather have a pet giraffe or live in Antarctica with the penguins?

I LOVE THIS QUESTION SO MUCH. And while I'd love to go penguin-sledding in Antarctica (if you know, you know), I think I'd rather stay warm and have a pet giraffe.

I will admit, though, I don't know where I would keep said giraffe. I'm sure I could figure something out, though. 

BETHANY'S QUESTIONS

What is the song you know every word to?

The entirety of Hamilton. I wish I was kidding, but at long last I think I've got the entire musical down. (okay, maybe not Say No to This, but let's be honest, I don't want that in my head)

You're going to battle against the boss villain. What fictional mentor are you bringing back to life to give you advice?

Um. There are too many to choose from. I don't know if I can do this. 

Right now, I'm thinking I want Brom from the Inheritance Cycle. I don't know why. I just think he would give great advice that would take into account all my physical inabilities. aka my lack of muscle, strength, and speed

In your opinion, what is the best book in the world?

I literally have no idea why I picked this question, because I don't have an answer for it. XD

Actually, never mind, I have an answer: the Bible. ;)

ASH'S QUESTIONS

What's your favorite color and why?

My favorite color is teal. It's a gorgeous color! definitely has nothing to do with the fact that I once shipped Sophie Foster with a certain teal-eyed boy, definitely not

What inspired you to start blogging?

This is actually a really long story, but essentially one day I stumbled upon Katie Grace's blog (A Writer's Faith), thus discovering the blogosphere and becoming driven to start blogging. 

If you were given $1000 to spend right now, what would you do?

Probably panic, because I'm very indecisive and horrible at snap decisions. So basically I'd waste this golden opportunity to partially pay for college and buy books.

RAKAYLE'S QUESTIONS

What movie did you last watch?

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation! We recently bought the six-movie collection of the MI movies and are slowly going through them. This one, #5, was pretty good - although I still stand by my opinion that Fallout is the best one. 

One YouTube channel you recommend?

you all know what's coming

Personally, I highly recommend TwoSetViolin, a classical music / comedy channel. ;) Their content is precisely my kind of humor, and I learn things about classical music from them! (I've even considered making a fandom letter for them, but also . . . they're real people, and it feels weird. XD)

But if you're tired of my non-stop promotion of this channel, I'd also recommend Dein0mite. He's a lesser-known piano channel who is very educational when it comes to memes. While his humor is also spot-on, he's worth watching just because you can tell that he loves playing the piano. 

(I kid you not, Megalovania started playing while I wrote Dein0mite's description, and if you're familiar with his channel, you'll know why I'm FREAKING OUT OVER THIS.)

What language do you want to learn?

Korean! I have a Korean friend, and she's really inspired me to learn the language. 

But I didn't realize how hard learning Asian languages would be to an English speaker. If anyone has any advice, please let me know. XD

Have you ever played Minecraft? 

Um, HECK YEAH I HAVE. That game deserves all the hype it has ever received. I don't really play it anymore (*cries*), but I hope that someday I have the time and motivation to pick it back up again!

(let's be honest, though, the real reason I don't play anymore is because I had a giant wooden mansion in survival mode and one day I accidentally set it on fire -_-)

MOVIECRITIC'S QUESTIONS

Are there any movies you like better than the book they were based on?

Actually, yes. I much prefer the Rise of the Guardians movie (the one with Jack Frost) to the book series on which it's based.

Now, don't get me wrong - the books are good. But something about the movie is just so magical and fun, and the books don't really capture that, in my opinion. I would still highly recommend both, though. :D

If you were in an action movie, what would be your weapon of choice?

First off, if I was in an action movie, I would die about five minutes in. BUT, if I somehow managed to survive those five minutes, I'd probably want a gun. I don't know how to use guns, but it'd probably go better than if I used knives or (heaven forbid) straight-up martial arts.

But can I please just be the behind-the-scenes tech person that never fights, like Benjy in Mission Impossible? XD

What are the best and worst books you've read so far this year?

Ooo, this is really hard. I think the best books I've read so far would have to be the Lockwood and Co. series by Jonathan Stroud. It's a fantastic series about children who fight ghosts for a living, and it's just EPIC. (Lockwood the character is also legitimately amazing <3)

As for worst . . . maybe A Map for Wrecked Girls? It wasn't really my type of story, and it had a LOT of mature content that I don't believe was well-written. Another book I didn't like this year was Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf. It was a school read, and I just did NOT like the overall experience. :( 

What are your thoughts on time travel?

TIME TRAVEL IS SO COOL IN FICTION - when done right. looking at you, Flash

THE TAGGED

*sigh* we've hit this part again, haven't we? 

By this point, I think most people have done this tag. If you haven't done it yet, you're tagged. No exceptions. XD

And your questions to answer are as follows:

1. What's been the best part about your day today?
2. Most anticipated book or movie release of 2021?
3. Current favorite song?
4. What's something that surprised you about blogging?
5. What drives you to get out of bed in the morning? 
6. Chocolate or caramel?
7. Show us three GIFs that describe your blog post writing process.
8. A book that changed your life?
9. Describe your ideal day.
10. If you could delete any food from existence, what would it be and why?
11. Least favorite social media platform?

those questions should not have been that hard to create XD

It's so good to be blogging again! I've missed talking to you guys, and I can't wait to share more random content with you all. Thanks for sticking around. <3

-Nicole <3

How's life been for you these past couple months? Do you play Minecraft? What's your weapon of choice? Let's talk! :D