#this post is more showing how clueless i am but also pleasantly surprised

[kitsquared]

The beautiful thing about picking pokemon in this AU is sometimes ill pick them for one thing and then find out info later that makes it even better

Like with Dazai taking in Oda's Eevee. Dazai doesn't see the need to evolve his pokemon and even uses it as an advantage but he evolves Eevee into an Espeon which requires a Dawn Stone and high friendship.

There's all the meaning behind that. However, its typing which is Psychic didn't matter to me until i looked up the pokedex entry and

Well, of course you can predict moves. Who was your og owner.

___

Then there's Sigma whom I gave a Trapinch/ Vibrava. He wakes up in the dessert so I thought i should give him a pokemon found in that terrain.

In my experience, I saw Trapinch and thought what cute lil guy but generally thought of them as okay and didnt realize all the ground/dragon Flygons came from them.

So. For Sigma akhdkska. Give him the ant pokemon that turns into a dragon type.

He has the second evolution which is Vibrava. Later on i checked the pokedex entry and...

Okay???? Whatever???? Just. Use it as inspiration for your resonance gun i guess??

Can't keep surprising me while I make these?!

[amphtaminedreams]

Filling the Met Shaped Hole (No, Not Like That): The Best Red Carpet Looks of Awards Season 2020

Hi to anyone reading,

I want to jump straight into things and ask a question. Which is the best Met Gala theme of the last 5 years and why is it Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination?

Seriously though, despite the fact that I’m not sure anything will top Heavenly Bodies with the preceding and succeeding Met Galas being relatively disappointing (the camp theme definitely could have been taken further and lets not even talk about the Comme Des Garcons disaster), I still get excited for the gala every year, staying up til whatever hour of the morning so I can see all the fashion live. Of course, it makes complete sense that this year’s event has been postponed until October given the circumstances but the chosen theme of Fashion and Duration had the potential to be quite interesting, so I hope we do eventually get to see it; whilst I don’t miss endlessly scrolling through photos of every white male celebrity wearing the exact same suit and tie to the point where fangirls claim Harry Styles to be a pioneer of breaking gender norms because he wore a pink top, I long for the days where we could all temporarily coexist in peace and harmony thanks to the internet’s collective dragging of the Kardashians for paying no attention to the theme whatsoever. We should’ve guessed life as we know it was about to be flipped on its head when they actually turned up in something interesting last year.

What I’m trying to say is that I would love nothing more than to jump back in time to when tomorrow morning’s top Google search would be best Met Gala looks, and not how many lives did Boris Johnson’s fuckery cost us today. So in honour of the lack of trivial content, I thought I’d fill the Met shaped hole in our lives (amongst many other unfilled holes; today the freezer door at work hit me on the ass whilst I was putting ice cubes out and I think for a split second I got all flushed) by putting together a collection of my personal favourite red carpet looks from this year’s awards season and their respective afterparties: the BAFTAs, Brits, Critic’s Choice Awards, Golden Globes, Oscars, SAG Awards, and the Grammys to finish with.

Enjoy!

British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award (yes, that’s the BAFTAs but I needed a longer title)

(L-R: Zoe Kravitz in Dior, Rooney Mara in Givenchy, and Scarlett Johansson in Versace)

I am a British fan of television and arts but I will gladly say it: of all the awards ceremonies, the BAFTAs is hardly the most exciting, and the red carpet even less so. As I said, lots of boring men in boring suits and middle aged women being dressed by stylists who seem to think we’re dead from the neck down by the time we hit 40 and dress us accordingly so. Any hint of a décolletage explicitly forbidden.

There were a few good looks, however. From left to right, above we have Zoe Kravitz in Dior, Rooney Mara in Givenchy and Scarlett Johansson in Versace, who looks so amazing I almost forget that 1). Versace is going down the drain and 2). Scarlett Johansson would stand in front of a forest and take the role of a tree if she could. Which, along with her whole defence of Woody Allen, is really shit-she’s genuinely great in Marriage Story and an otherwise talented actress. As for Zoe Kravitz, she is up there with Robert Pattison as one of my biggest crushes right now and looks amazing in literally everything she wears, and Rooney Mara is consistently low-key yet elegantly dressed. 

(L-R: Greta Gerwig in Gucci, Florence Pugh in Dries Van Noten, Renee Zellweger in Prada)

Renee Zellweger proved an exception to the rule when it came to women over the age of 40 generally having clueless stylists-her dress is beautiful, very reminiscent of the delicate, demure beauty of 50s icons such as Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn. Florence’s dress, I actually really loved. It didn’t seem to go down all too well with actual Florence Pugh fans but red and pink together is an elite combo; I’m still firmly on the “surprised that it works but I’m into it” train. I mainly included Greta’s dress for the green velvet, to be honest; it’s disappointingly low-key for Gucci but nice enough all the same.

(L-R: Andrew Scott in Paul Smith, Charlize Theron in Dior, Daisy Ridley in Oscar de la Renta, and Emilia Clarke in Schiaparelli)

I was particularly excited to see Emilia Clarke in Schiaparelli-yes, I adore her because she played Daenerys Targaryen and I was ride or die for that bitch but also whenever I see her interviewed she has the most exuberant energy and honestly I want to be best friends. It’s not the most interesting dress Schiaparelli has ever put out there, but I like the fact that she went for something unique all the same.

Forest green is a colour I find hard to resist which is why I included Andrew Scott’s otherwise kinda basic suit (points for it being velvet) and Daisy Ridley in Oscar de la Renta. As elegant as the dress is, I would love for her stylist to have really leaned into the forest nymph vibes I’m getting and do something a bit less uptight with the hair and makeup; like imagine loose curls with tiny braids and hair rings and a dark lip and a slight smoke around the eye and...yes, I have very specific visions, I know. As for Charlize Theron, her work with Dior is the only reason I care about the brand; there’s definitely a case to be made here for giving Maria Grazia the benefit of the doubt, assuming that she tries all the prototypes on women who look like Charlize and that that’s why she’s happy to send dresses that are otherwise relatively underwhelming down the runway. 

The Brit Awards

(L-R: Charli XCX in Fendi, Ellie Goulding in Koche, Hailee Steinfeld in Fendi, and Harry Styles in Gucci)

In my opinion a much better reflection of quintessential British style than the BAFTAs, I originally ruled out including any music award ceremony red carpets in this post until I saw Maya Jama and Charli XCX’s looks. Consider me pleasantly surprised by Hailee Steinfeld’s cobalt blue burnout dress, a classic incarnation of the regal bohemian aesthetic Fendi channelled in their 2019 haute couture show. Plus Charli’s emo take on Glinda the Good Witch is also Fendi, driving home for me just how much I love their collections. I don’t know if I’d be sure about Ellie Goulding’s dress on the rack but the simple styling makes it work and she looks gorgeous, and Harry Styles looks just as pretty in a Gucci look that is MADE for him.

(L-R: Adwoah Aboah in Vivienne Westwood, Celeste in Gucci on the far right! I’m not sure who the guy in the middle is, I’m sorry and if anybody knows drop me a message and I will correct this immediately!)

Unfortunately, Harry Styles and Celeste didn’t get to pose together because this is really a perfect his and hers Gucci look; I feel like seeing one outfit next to the other would really highlight the quirky elegance of each. That being said, it feels criminal to talk about elegance without including Adwoah Aboah in Vivienne Westwood in the sentence; the dress is obviously stunning quality on its own merit, but Adwoah is what elevates it from unremarkable to ethereal. Fuck the weird ass knight figure that’s currently on top of the Brit Award, this woman is the definition of statuesque! Put her on top of the trophy you cowards!

And just to get it out of the way, when it comes to the guy in the middle, to quote Keke Palmer:

Sorry to this man.

Honestly, I saved all the red carpet photos from a Nylon (I think it was Nylon?) article back when the awards aired and towards the end of the photos they stopped including names-this happened a few times when I was looking through red carpet galleries. I reverse image searched where I could but not every photo turned anything up. If anyone does know who this man is, message me so I can include his name. He looks sick, and as far as suits go, this one is built upon and accessorised enough that it’s actually a look rather than the same old variation of a suit we’ve seen a million times before that may as well be the straight man’s designated red carpet uniform. 

(L-R: Maya Jama, Neh Neh Cherry in Bottega Veneta, Laura Whitmore)

And now the woman that forced me to include the Brits red carpet in this post in the first place: Maya Jama. Don’t get me wrong, my mind isn’t blown by this dress on its own, I probably prefer Laura Whitmore’s (Jaded do a similar newspaper dress and I’ve resisted adding it to my basket for 6 months now, this is the ultimate test of whether or not I finally cave), but Maya looks fucking MAGNIFICENT. The fit, the gloves, the confidence with which she carries it, it’s all SO good. Considering the timing, this is basically her Princess Diana revenge dress levelled up, 2020′s Jessica Rabbit moment. 

(L-R: Maya Jama, Ellie Goulding, Kendall Jenner)

Obviously anything is gonna be a step down from the red carpet look but Maya’s Brits afterparty outfit was cute too, if a tad Pretty Little Thing. 

Don’t ask me what Kendall Jenner was doing at the Brits afterparty btw, because I have no idea. We live in a world where the Kardashian-Jenners just seem to occupy every public space possible and I’ve begrudgingly accepted it at this point. I don’t have the energy to question it-and it helps that green catsuit is actually Very Cool™. 

For the last of my favourite Brit Awards looks, we have a few more afterparty photos-from left to right we have Charli XCX again, Lizzo, and Anne Marie. It was Charli posting her dress on Instagram that sent me searching for afterparty looks in the first place; apparently wearing nothing but feathers and crystals is something that appeals to me, and the more I read that statement, the more it sounds spot-on. I’d categorise it as gothic glamour hoe, and slot it in with the rest of the night-out clothes in my wardrobe that I think I’ll finally have the balls to wear out of sheer desperation once this lockdown is over. The Blossom to Charli XCX’s Buttercup here, we’ve also got Anne Marie looking extra AF and I loveeeee it; it’s an ensemble somewhere between a high-end version of Alaska Thunderfuck’s candyfloss Sugar Ball dress from season 5 of Drag Race (Alaska DID deserve to win AS2 nation, rise up) and a low-key version of a Katy Perry California Dreams Tour costume. I don’t call it low-key as a drag, just a regretful admission of the fact that maybe wearing a cupcake bra which squirts whipped cream out of the boobs is a bit too much for most of us. 

Critic’s Choice Awards

(L-R: Alison Brie in Brandon Maxwell, Chloe Bridges in Azeeza, Cynthia Erivo in Fendi, Florence Pugh in Prada)

I was going to say the Critic’s Choice Awards is kind of America’s version of the BAFTAs but then I remembered that the BAFTAs is really the only big TV and film awards ceremony we have here in the UK and that it’s kind of sad that I have to compare our most high-profile red carpet of the year to L.A’s most low-key one. Getting Cynthia Erivo and Florence Pugh to infiltrate is the best we can do. 

THAT BEING SAID! 

They both look amazing. This is Florence’s best red carpet look of this year, imo (she the prettiest icicle I’ve ever seen), and Cynthia Erivo’s arm must ache from serving the entire awards season. And in Fendi! Taste!

Side note before we move onto the next set of looks: has anybody else watched Alison Brie in Mad Men and Community simultaneously and experienced the extreme cognitive dissonance that comes from watching her play a tragically nerdy (relatable tbh) 18 year old and an overly-sophisticated 30 something married to an ad man in the 60s at the same time? Weird, but anyway! The orange dress with the red lipstick is channelling Marina Diamandis’ Froot era style subtle sex appeal and is a timeless, playful combo. Put the hair up into a beehive and it’s Megan Draper on a date in Cabo-don’t know much about the place but I know the sea is aqua and the sun seekers are blindingly white and the cocktails are plentiful (and whatever colour you want them to be), and all that together is a juicy palette if we’re talking cinematography. The Mad Men directors are out there somewhere shaking their fists at the sky that they never got to consult me on that, I’m sure. 

(L-R: Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Dior, Saoirse Ronan in Erdem and Zendaya in Tom Ford)

Zendaya’s red carpet look was the stand out of the Critic’s Choice Awards for sure; the skirt I can do without but I hope that hot pink metal breastplate ends up on display somewhere because that is ART, and she is the perfect person to wear it. The Tiffany Pollard “she's so powerful” meme was made for this moment. 

Also, can we talk about Phoebe Waller-Bridge backing up my Dior 2019 Haute Couture wasn’t *that* bad hypothesis? Because unless I’m mistaken this is one of the dresses from that collection and it is quite beautiful. Yeah, black mesh isn’t going to start a revolution or anything but it’s so delicate looking it almost seems out of place on a red carpet-I don’t know if it’s the structure of the bodice or the tulle but I can totally see this in a gothic ballet, whether that’s sensible in theory or not. Probably not. But then again I did quit ballet when I was 10 after months of getting people to near poke me in the eye on the way out of class so it would look like I’d been crying and I didn’t have to go to my lessons after school. So what do I know? Fuck all, in case that wasn’t clear. I also feel a little vindicated by Saoirse wearing one of the Erdem dresses I loved from last year’s collection-if multi-award winning actress Saoirse Ronan’s probably ridiculously well-paid stylist liked it enough to pick it out for her then I guess I’m doing okay in terms of taste levels.

(L-R: Olivia Wilde in Valentino, Lucy Hale in Miu Miu, Mandy Moore in Elie Saab, and Margaret Qualley in Chanel)

The last few Critics Choice Awards looks I picked out above aren’t thrilling or anything but they’re cute enough to include-from left to right we have Olivia Wilde in Valentino, Lucy Hale in Miu Miu, Mandy Moore in Elie Saab and Margaret Qualley in Chanel. It’s kind of besides the point, but Margaret worked with Chanel throughout awards season and I just wanted to add my two cents in here and say that I think she’s the perfect person to collaborate with (also think Laura Harrier would be a good match, anyone agree?) and that in a similar vein, I urge Miu Miu, the creative directors of which I’m sure are eagerly awaiting the opinion of irrelevant Tumblr user amphtaminedreams, to work with Lucy Hale more often. I feel like if girl stopped starring in those shitty Blumhouse horrors and did something a bit more sophisticated she’d fit the brand right down to a T.

The Golden Globes

(L-R: Cynthia Erivo in Thom Browne, Dakota Fanning in Dior, Jane Levy in Steven Khalil, and Janina Gavankar in Georges Chakra)

Finally! I hear you cry! A more exciting red carpet! It’s not the Oscars, but celebrity stylists still pulled the big guns for this one, the Golden Globes probably being considered the second most prestigious American awards ceremony of the year. Plus Dakota Fanning was there! Big yay for me! She and Elle can practically do no wrong in my eyes and are probably the only 2 women that could take on Dakota Johnson and Jennifer Lawrence when it comes to established red carpet style. 

Cynthia Erivo did it again, of course, as slick, as dignified and as regal as she was at the Critic’s Choice. The woman really has got this power stance thing locked down; she always seems so cool and confident in everything she wears that the whole getting dressed up to go out out out (we call going to the club going “out out”, but I’d say a red carpet is a slightly bigger deal than my local club with the sticky floors hence the 3rd out) thing looks like second nature.

(L-R: Zoey Deutch in Fendi, Karamo Brown in Grayscale, Lucy Boynton in Louis Vuitton and Kat Graham in Georges Hobeika)

Lucy Boynton was another of my Golden Globes stand outs, and in general is someone who I really look forward to seeing at red carpet events. She (or her stylist, I don’t know how much of a role she plays!) always seems to commit fully to an outfit and sees it as part of a whole concept where the makeup, hair and accessories are equally as important and that is a girl after my own heart. 60s space age empress is the theme here and I’m all about it-well, either that or a feminine editorial take on the tinman from the Wizard of Oz but the former sounds a bit cooler and does way more justice to how good she looks so we’ll go with that. Quick shoutout to Kat Graham too because she looked absolutely radiant. 

(L-R: Shailene Woodley in Balmain, Winnie Harlow in Laquan Smith, and Zoe Kravitz in Saint Laurent)

The trio above I really couldn’t skim over, Winnie Harlow especially; my America’s Next Top Model grudges aside, she consistently turns it out at every event she’s invited to. She’s another woman that wears pieces with such confidence that they look like they were actually made on her body-even if the garment itself isn’t the most breathtaking in the room, she’s the one that draws my attention. Though she’s got these dainty, other-worldly qualities about her, what you’d expect to be a gentle presence is firm and commanding and whilst the sharp drama and glitz of the dress probably helps, that’s just the way Winnie Harlow is naturally, based on her other red carpet appearances. 

Zoe Kravitz is an interesting one because, on the one hand, her looking amazing with that bone structure (I would trade a vital organ to look like that any day) is a given, but it does also seem like she went out of her way to do something a bit different this past awards season. I have always loved her street style for its trademark edge and the androgynous, oversized silhouettes that she leans towards, and the overt femininity of her red carpet dresses is that grungy, skater girl aesthetic completely flipped on its head. It’s cute, and if anyone can pull a dress as kitschy as this off, it’s Zoe. She’s got that just rolled out of bed look we all dream of that screams “I’m over this shit” whereas the rest of us have to rely on dark circles to get the message across. It’s very weird to think that she and Shailene Woodley were in Divergent together, especially since Zoe in particular has changed so much since. 

My main note with Shailene was just that I got excited to see that Balmain dress off the runway-it was one of my favourites from the S/S 2020 collection (IIRC, mostly on the basis that I’m pretty sure it wan’t haute couture), and it looks good! Not wildly good because I’m not sure the fit of the dress is inherently all that flattering, but still good-she makes it work.

(L-R: Taylor Swift in Etro, Sofia Carson in Giambattista Valli and Scarlett Johansson in Vera Wang)

I know a lot of people online didn’t seem to like Taylor Swift’s dress, but she looks cute, imo. I will say that I’m surprised it’s Etro! At first glance I would’ve thought Carolina Herrera or Oscar de la Renta or something along those lines. And predictably, I think Sofia Carson looks flawless. If you’ve read any of my other posts you’re probably sick of hearing it but I really can’t resist anything that is this modern Disney princess, like powder pink layered tulle? Feathers? What did you expect me to say, ew? I think deep down my clothing preferences will always be that of a 9 year old girl and you know what, that’s okay. Sometimes. Well, when it comes to red carpets. That’s when you can kinda get away with it.

(L-R: Bell Powley in Miu Miu, Billy Porter in Alex Vinash, and Charlize Theron in Dior)

There’s a few things worth mentioning when it comes to the above outfits. Firstly, and most importantly, I need to proclaim my love for Billy Porter. No man is doing it like him, honestly. To compare Harry Styles in his pink suits is unfair. The drama and the beauty and the flair that Billy brings every awards ceremony is on another level and that’s all I have to say about that. If you disagree, I’m gonna need a bullet pointed essay-I am that firm in my opinion.

Second, Bell Powley in Miu Miu semi confirms the direction their PR team tend to head in when choosing women to work with. I might be totally alone here but I feel like she and Lucy Hale both have one of those porcelain doll faces which work really well with Miu Miu’s signature girlish silhouettes and overly-ornate details. 

And thirdly, just to restate my earlier point: someone give Charlize Theron a pat on the back for bringing some life to a Dior design. That is all.

(L-R: Jodie Comer in Mary Katrantzou, Joey King in Schiaparelli and Kaitlyn Dever in Valentino)

All the newcomers really turned it out too, which is a sentence I type through gritted teeth; to call Jodie Comer of My Mad Fat Diary origins a newcomer pains the former depressing 2013 black and white Tumblr user in me, though I suppose to the US audiences uncultured in the ways of British teenage angst Vilanelle is her breakthrough role. And how Vilanelle is this dress too!? It’s bold and it’s attention-grabbing and it’s fun and it is definitely very theatrical female fictional villain that you were inexplicably drawn to as a child before you realised why as an adult-”oh, it’s because she was hot”. 

Joey King in Iris van Herpen was a pleasant surprise too considering that when I first looked through the red carpet photos I only knew her as the girl who was in that shitty Netflix original-having watched her in The Act, I apologise for the dismissal! And I admire the sartorial choice! I adore Iris van Herpen designs but as a short girl, wearing one of her dresses to a red carpet event is a risky decision-I hate to admit it because casting a diverse range of people for shows is something I have come to expect of my favourite brands, but the appeal of a lot of IvH pieces comes from the movement of the garments on standard willowy runway models. Fortunately, the styling is really complementary here, and whilst it can’t be denied that the dress itself does swamp her a bit, I liked that she and her stylist stepped out of the box. 

Kaitlyn Dever’s red carpet look is obviously a lot more typical, but you can't go wrong with a Valentino dress, and this one in particular is so suited to the aura she gives off-it’s young and it’s fun and it’s fresh and the intricate floral print, otherwise muted if not for the spring influenced pops of pink and red, is timelessly pretty.

(L-R: Akwafina in Dior, Saoirse Ronan in Celine, Beanie Feldstein in Oscar de la Renta, and Renee Zellweger in Armani)

Lastly, there was Saoirse Ronan in Celine-one of my highlights of the night; she looked phenomenal, a glacial toned dream, and it was pretty different to what I generally expect to see her in. I might be way off base and in need of a bit of a review of her red carpet style, but I feel like she usually leans more towards pretty than edgy with regards to her styling at these kinds of events and a loose fitting, gun metal glittered slip dress is, imo, the perfect way to hit that previously uncharted midway point between the two.

(L-R: Kate Bosworth in Prabal Gurung, Kathryn Newton in Valentino and Sarah Hyland)

Now onto the afterparty looks, and I’m not gonna lie, they’re usually the highlight of the ceremonies for me; I feel like the initial ceremony is all about looking respectful and maintaining that whole dedicated actor image, whereas it seems the literal point of these showbiz parties is a competition to be the best dressed person in the room. Competition really makes people step their game up, and we always get to see more young talent whose style tends to be more current than that of the people we see on the red carpet. 

I’ve got to say, as annoying as I found her character in The Society, I have to overlook that gut instinct of irritation when I see Kathryn Newton and accept how stunning everything going on here is; honestly, she looks like an angel, and I feel like the team at Valentino must reeeeally like her to put her in that dress.

(L-R: Alexa Demie, Ashley Benson in Georges Hobeika, Maude Apatow and Barbie Ferreira)

Obviously I was super excited to see the Euphoria girls on the red carpet, especially Alexa Demie-she does 90s/early noughties inspired glamour better than anyone else on the young actor scene right now and her personal style and the sass she does so well as Maddy Perez shines through every time. Whilst Barbie Ferreira’s look is more casual and achievable for the rest of us in terms of wearability, it’s just as interesting a take on the same period; the delicate pink makeup, hair and jewellery with the 90s inspired slip dress in light teal is a red carpet take on soft grunge for the ages. As for Ashley Benson, she always looks gorgeous and that’s all I’m gonna say before I get emotional and start going into a rant about how her and Cara Delevigne’s relationship was one of the only good things about this shitshow of a year and how now that they’ve broken up the single flame of hope inside me has been extinguished and how their sex swing is gonna get so lonely with them caught in the middle of an ugly custody battle and-

You get the idea.

(L-R: Storm Reid, Sophia Bush in John Paul Ataker, and Sydney Sweeney)

(L-R: Billie Lourd, Paris Hilton, and Camila Morrone)

The Oscars

(L-R: Charlize Theron in Dior, Cynthia Erivo, and Florence Pugh in Louis Vuitton)

Ah, the Oscars. This is where the big money is really spent, and bad decisions are made-in fairness, this year’s winners were a lot more satisfying than usual and I think all of us felt that Parasite was a well-deserved win. I really thought it was gonna be Once Upon a Time in Hollywood just as a bit of a token gesture to Tarantino considering it’s his 9th film, though undoubtedly his worst of the ones I’ve seen, so I was relieved that this wasn’t the case. That being said, it still pains me to see the horror genre being ignored by the academy-in my mind, Florence is here for her performance in Midsommar just as much as Little Women. 

At the risk of getting repetitive, just assume my opinions on Charlize Theron in Dior here are the same again, that Cynthia Erivo is still bringing goddess energy (this is probably my favourite of her looks), and that against the opinion of the masses, Florence looks divine in this colour. I mean, when I say the masses I just mean the people I follow on Twitter, but still, I just wanted be an excuse to be dramatic so that I could insert a meme.

(L-R: Natalie Portman in Dior, Regina King in Versace, Scarlett Johansson in Oscar de la Renta, and Sandra Oh in Elie Saab)

Once again, Scarlett Johansson’s stylist is doing God’s work; this outfit is everythingggg-the Oscar de la Renta dress is probably my favourite thus far. Like we’re talking angel, but make it fitted and sexy, and I hope you read that in the Tyra Banks voice I intended because 2 memes in a row would rob me of any credibility I’m building as a fashion account and I’m not ready to trash that for bad memes just yet; give it a couple of mental breakdowns and I’ll be there. Natalie Portman’s look was a favourite of mine too, with the cape over the top adding a sophisticated touch to the celestial, slightly bohemian feel of the dress. I initially found the detail of the names embroidered into said cape to be quite moving-in a dream world, directing would be my career of choice and so I really admired the statement-but finding out that Portman herself is the only director hired by her own production company ruined that for me a little bit. Then again, multi-millionaire celebrities making performative gestures for good publicity and not doing all that much to make any real change? Colour me shocked.

(L-R: Beanie Feldstein in Miu Miu, Brie Larson in Celine and Billie Eilish in Chanel)

Now, of all the Miu Miu looks so far, I think Beanie Feldstein definitely got the best one. The intricacy of the embroidery, the silhouette, the old Hollywood stye curls-it’s all so graceful. I’d say this is probably her best look of awards season and she and her stylist did a really great job.

And as for Billie Eilish...Guys...do you think she might be wearing...Chanel...by any chance? I’m not sure.

Seriously though, as far as an oversized tweed suit with the brand’s logo emblazoned all over it goes, I like this look. The acid green roots and the jewellery are what make it for me, adding to the grunginess of the outfit which is interesting against Chanel’s prim and proper aesthetic of the last few years. I know she has good reason for the way she dresses, but I’ve never quite been able to appreciate it-this outfit proves to me that her style doesn't automatically equal ugly and occasionally, she can make it work.

(L-R: Leona Lewis, Colton Haynes, Dita von Teese)

Elton John’s Oscars afterparty being the less exciting of the two big ones in terms of fashion-the other being the Vanity Fair afterparty which I’ll cover in a moment-I thought I’d whizz through it (posturing aside though, I bet Sir Elton’s party was a lot more fun).

(L-R: Chiara Ferragni, Donatella Versace, Bella Thorne)

This is a big statement considering Alexa Demie attended, but I think Chiara’s outfit and overall styling might be my favourite of the partygoers; if they decided to do a live action Barbie film in 2020 minus the PG ratio-because lets be real, she’d be a noughties Paris Hilton type and get up to some SHENANIGANS-this is the look that would become iconic. 

(L-R: Ashley Greene in Off-White, Alexa Demie, Sydney Sweeney, Annalynne McCord)

It was a hard decision to make though: I’m just as into Sydney Sweeney’s interpretation of burlesque come 1950s red carpet Barbie, Ashley Greene’s surprisingly delicate Off-White number, and Alexa’s dress and (as always) impeccable styling. That being said, Chiara’s clearest contender here for the best dressed of the night is Annalynne McCord. I know I'm one to throw similes around but she looks like an ACTUAL Disney princess-the dress is magical and an absolutely flawless fit. She carries it with such grace. I'm truly in love.

(L-R: Tessa Thompson in Versace, Vanessa Hudgens in Vera Wang, SZA)

As for the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty, there were SO many iconic moments this year. SZA was the definition of the fire emoji, Tessa Thompson’s throwback Versace was the mermaid’s take on BDSM fashion I never knew I need to see, and I’d die to turn up to my graduation ceremony (here’s hoping for a successful attempt at the old uni shebang this time, lol) looking as elegant and simultaneously extra as Vanessa Hudgens did in Vera Wang. I mean, this was before Vanessa went on her dumb Instagram live corona rant because she was upset she couldn’t go to Coachella and I still kinda lived for her, mostly because of moments like this. She’s always been the queen of channelling a more hedonistic, carefree era and this dress is the most refined example of that boho decadence yet. It sounds dramatic to say but the rich purple is such a bold choice considering it’s a a colour we rarely see on the red carpet but now I’ve seen eggplant coloured silk I need it, lol. 

(L-R: Suki Waterhouse in Fendi, Lili Reinhart in Marc Jacobs, Lucy Boynton and Margaret Qualley in Chanel)

Then there was Suki, Lilly, Lucy and Margaret as well who all went full angel mode in some of my favourite runway looks of last summer’s haute couture week; Suki’s Fendi dress and Lili’s Marc Jacobs number were highlights of both their shows and there’s something even more magical about them both when the uniformity of the runway is removed. I also would go on about how much I love Lucy Boynton’s style for the millionth time but I think you get my point.

(L-R: Nicole Richie, Cynthia Erivo, Hunter Schafer, Billie Porter)

The more I look at the photos I saved from the Vanity Fair “red” carpet, the more I come to the firm conclusion that these looks are my favourite as a collective. Along with the elegance and sex appeal of the outfits above, we’ve got all these looks too which are so VIBRANT and fun and experimental. Billie Porter is absolutely majestic and continues his reign as the king of in-your-face, theatrical red carpet style, and Hunter and Cynthia look so radiant. Whilst Nicole’s look isn’t as colourful, she still brought drama with the satin gloves and the smoke lined eyes, and she is definitely ready to step on someone’s neck here.

(L-R: Halima Aden, Ella Balinska in Schiaparelli, Emma Roberts, Ciara)

(L-R: Kiki Layne in Michael Kors, Kim Kardashian in Alexander McQueen, Kylie Jenner in Ralph and Russo, Lashana Lynch in Michael Kors)

(L-R: Rowan Blanchard in Iris van Herpen, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Stella Maxwell, and Sarah Paulson with Holland Taylor)

I’ve got to say, it’s really cool to see Rowan Blanchard in Iris van Herpen too; it’s interesting that as far as I know, she and Joey King were the only ones to wear her this awards season, both being up and coming actresses. It would be a good choice for the brand, probably best known for its futuristic, conceptual aesthetic, to also focus its PR efforts on the young potential inheriting that future. Orrrr it could just be that Rowan, Joey and I have the same (good, lol) taste-not gonna lie, from my experience of stalking her instagram Rowan Blanchard does make some unique fashion choices and her feed is full of bold outfit inspiration.

(L-R: Adriana Lima in Ralph and Russo, Alessandra Ambrosio in Armani, Billie Eilish in Gucci, and Donatella Versace in Versace)

Then there’s Billie Eilish, who is really on another level. This is her second custom made baggy suit of the night, this time Gucci. IMAGINE. Chanel and Gucci making custom pieces to suit your very specific style. Again, though, I really like this; whilst it’s very clearly a Billie outfit, it’s got a level of sophistication, cohesiveness and glamour to it that takes it to that I can admire. 

(L-R: Camila Mendes in Moschino, Barbara Palvin and Dylan Sprouse, and Chiara Ferragni)

Honestly, the Vanity Fair red carpet really belonged to young talent this year, and Camila Mendes in one of my favourite Moschino looks from the Picasso collection really seals it. She could’ve just gone for a basic pretty dress-this isn’t a natural choice-but she really does have the proud, regal look of a woman who knows some man is gonna paint her a portrait that will end up in a famous gallery one day. 

One last thing before I move on, though. How the fuck does Chiara Ferragni get everywhere?! And by that I don’t mean how does she get invited, I had the shock of finding out this woman I followed on Instagram because I liked her outfits and thought she was pretty is a hugely successful businesswoman in Italy long ago. Power to her. She’s a big deal! I get it! I just mean, physically HOW? How do you hit Elton John’s party AND the Vanity Fair party in one night and look this good? God really does have favourites, huh. Well, I guess in this hypothetical scenario where I believe in him anyway. 

The SAG Awards

(L-R: Dakota Fanning in Valentino, Kaitlyn Dever in Ralph Lauren, Scarlett Johansson in Armani, and Zoe Kravitz in Oscar de la Renta)

So, I kinda forgot the SAG awards existed and thought that my post was basically finished before I looked in my folder and saw the one dedicated to this ceremony. My initial reaction was like “oh, this is the shitty Oscars, right?” and I assumed the red carpet would be shit and that I could call it a night-it’s 3:30am, I wish I was calling it a night-but then I looked and saw that I had even more outfit photos saved in that folder than I did for my Oscar dedicated one. Because fuck, I want to to sleep, but the SAG awards had a surprisingly good turn out?! So maybe not as irrelevant a ceremony as I thought? Because Dakota Fanning turned up looking like some divine mythical being again, Scarlett Johansson pulled another incredible look out the bag, Zoe Kravitz was a modernised Audrey Hepburn, and Kaitlyn Dever read my comments about her dress being “timelessly pretty” and said “bitch, you really thought” before showing up looking hot as fuck. Truth be told, I think the SAG awards were first but in this universe where Kaitlyn Dever would pay any attention to my opinion of her outfit do we really care? 

(L-R: America Ferrera, Andrew Scott in Azzaro Couture, Camila Mendes in Ralph and Russo, Caleb McLaughlin )

(L-R: Lupita Nyongo in Louis Vuitton, Lily Allen, Nathalie Emmanuel in Miu Miu, Cynthia Erivo in Schiaparelli)

See, I was going to make a comment above how I took back what I said about Camila Mendes not just going for pretty dresses (which I guess I just did here instead-JUST TO BE CLEAR SHE STILL LOOKS STUNNING) and then I uploaded the next photo set and got distracted by 2 things:

1. How weird it is that British legend Lily Allen, who does not get NEAR enough credit for her smart her songs were might I add, is dating David Harbour AKA. Hopper off Stranger Things!?

2. How mad I still am about Game of Thrones and how dirty the writers did Nathalie Emmanuel (and Emilia Clarke and Lena Heady and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and basically everyone else on that show but that’s another story).

In this same universe where Kaitlyn Dever cares about my opinion can we make the issues I have in the last bullet point not exist? Please?

(L-R: Sophie Turner in Louis Vuitton, Renee Zellweger in Maison Margiela, Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Armani, and Renee Bargh)

(L-R: Gwendoline Christie in Rick Owens, Madeline Brewer in Monique Lhuillier, Kathryn Newton in Valentino, and Lili Reinhart in Miu Miu)

Finishing off the SAG looks, we’ve got the four above. 

Once again, Kathryn Newton was Valentino’s blushing crown jewell; Allie Pressman hate aside, she really is the perfect dressing up doll for the brand. Fresh faced and poised, she has all the elegance and gentle femininity necessary to make floating down the runway as Valentino models do look natural, and Lili Reinhart did an equally good job being a Miu Miu girl. She makes that idiosyncratic cutesy-ness work, all the frills and fragility of a china tea set look easy where I’d just look like I’d been consumed by a charity shop doily. Madeline Brewer did a good job too, helping a Monique Lhuillier design pop in a way that it doesn’t usually. When your hair is bright red and your dress cerulean blue, coral tinted lipstick is a *ahem* choice, buuut in this case it paid off because the result is a look which demanded my attention-ML dresses are reliably pretty, however, they tend to be predictable. Madeline and her styling did a good job subverting that formula. To end the section, though, I feel it’s only fair to save my fave woman til last-probably one of the few people in the world that isn’t a Rick Owens model that can pull off his designs. Ofc, I’m talking about the queen that is Gwendoline Christie. If we’re talking embodying brands, she did justice like nobody else could to the spectacle of Owens’ formidable, out-of-this-world aesthetic. This is her version of the princess moment, and when you’re as striking as she is, nothing less would do. 

At least my girl Brienne of Tarth is thriving<3

The Grammys

(L-R: Ariana Grande in Giambattista Valli, Cardi B in Mugler, and Pia Mia in Julien Macdonald)

TBH, like I said with the Brits, I never planned to do any music award ceremony red carpets, just because I feel like the fashion tends to be more geared towards a younger audience buuuut I’m kinda glad I changed because Ariana looks INCREDIBLE. MESMERISING. TRANSCENDENT. JFC. There’s a reason the photo of her on her Wiki page has been changed to one from this night and it’s because she looks absolutely exquisite, like some kind of moon goddess with an R&B touch which I suppose is kind of her brand? Sometimes I go kind of lukewarm on Giambattista Valli and forget how mystical but at the same time frothy and indulgent and all around luxurious the pieces can be. This is a cupcake of a dress and I want to eat it. Cardi B has become a bit of an unexpected fashion icon and Pia Mia looks as hot-party-girl as ever but I feel to put anyone next to Ariana in this dress seems harsh because she just completely stole the show and I don’t even know if she won any Grammys.

(L-R: Josephine Relli, Gwen Stefani, Jameela Jamil in Georges Chakra, and Chrissy Teigen in Yanina Couture)

Other than Ariana, I’m not gonna lie, there was nothing wildly exciting, BUT I did think there were some beautiful colours out on the runway-plus for all her occasionally bad takes I really like what Jameela Jamil stands for and her style has always been very quirky cool. The electric blue tiled effect with the black mesh underneath kinda reminds me of a peacock, and contrasts wonderfully with the carpet-it’s very reminiscent of her T4 days. She’s one of those people that seems to get aggression directed at her that’s completely disproportionate to whatever it is she’s supposed to have done; sometimes the way she goes about saying things is wrong but the intention behind what she’s saying is usually good. Then again, the internet still despises Chrissy Teigen (in a way that’s kind of excessive considering what we seem to collectively let some people get away with) for a dumb AirPods tweet and I’ve included her too. THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL STATEMENT, this time anyway. I just think she looks good!

If I’m going to get controversial about anything, it’ll be Gwen Stefani. She looks stunning, the dress is stunning, and the boots are stunning. The outfit is not my problem! My problem is how she seems not to have aged at all. This woman is 50 years old! That she drank the blood of her Harajuku girls is the only explanation here. Can you imagine if she tried to pull that shit today? She’d get rightly accused of being a culturally appropriating weeb in about 10 seconds flat and we’d have to pretend to stop liking Cool and Hollaback Girl. 

(L-R: Finneas O’Connell in Gucci, Lucky Daye, and Shaun Ross)

(L-R: Tess Holliday, Dua Lipa in Alexander Wang, Tyler the Creator, and Grace Elizabeth in Giuseppe di Morabito)

Back to what I’m supposed to be talking about in this blog post: the fashion. And here, most importantly, Tyler the Creator looking like a cast member of the Grand Budapest Hotel. IDK why. But I love this man.

(L-R: Lil Nas X in Versace, Lizzo in Versace, and Shawn Mendes in Louis Vuitton)

(L-R: Billie Porter, FKA Twigs in Ed Marler, and Swae Lee in Giuseppe Zanotti)

See in general, the men were a lot more interesting on the Grammys red carpet. With the exception of Twigs, Dua and obviously Ariana, the men’s outfits are a lot more memorable; Billie Porter became the most fashionable meme on the internet, for god’s sake. And even when their outfits weren’t extravagant, they were just more interesting, imo, which is a rare occurrence. I didn’t expect Finneas O’Connell to be the writing half of Billie Eilish (the other half being Billie herself) I cared about and yet, in that Gucci blazer, here we are. 

(L-R: Jessie J, Hailee Steinfeld, and Madison Beer)

(L-R: H.E.R, Usher, FKA Twigs, and Matt Shultz)

Of the afterparty looks, my favourites are what we can see of these more casual outfits-I love what F.K.A Twigs and H.E.R are wearing, the headscarf with the leatherjacket on top is in particular very throwback rockabilly, and I’m even into whatever it is Usher’s got on.

(L-R: Olivia O’Brien, Amine, and Alrissa)

(L-R: Salem Mitchell, Machine Gun Kelly, and Sydney Sweeney)

Now, how to round this all up!? How to relate the confusingly persistent but very welcome presence of Sydney Sweeney on, like, ALL these red carpets back to the MET!?

IDEK. It’s been a long year. 

The Met Gala has usually come and gone before we know it, but with everything going on, it’s been the longest January-May I think most of us have ever known. I keep going on about COVID-19 in all my posts now but I have almost forgotten how to write an intro and outro because the pandemic is pretty much consistently on the brain and unless I have something right in front of me to use as a distraction, my mind tends to wander off into a very anxious place. I think, like many others, I feel frustrated and disappointed and angry with the way the situation is being handled by the people who are supposed to protect their citizens, and by how much of a fight some are putting up against measures that are in place to try and save lives. The point of this ramble, I guess, is that whilst we should never forget what’s going on and do the best we can to help prevent the spread of the virus, it’s okay to still care about mundane shit. Was this post one big long distraction for me? Probably. But if there’s something harmless you can do to keep your anxiety at bay, don’t feel bad for doing it. Contrary to popular belief, you can care about more than one thing at once. You can be sad that something you were looking forward to has been cancelled whilst still being sad for the people who are suffering because they’ve lost love ones or who have been forced into precarious living conditions. If talking about clothes on the internet is going to help you get through this pandemic, power to you.

If anyone has read til the end, thank you! I hope you are well! As always, feel free to reply to the post or inbox me with your thoughts! It doesn’t even have to be related to this post. If you’re struggling with everything going on, feel free to reach out too. I spend too much time on the internet anyway, lol! My plans are to finish my fashion week reviews and then I have a Lana Del Rey albums inspired lookbook which I pinched off the stans on Twitter (who I will of course credit when I write it!). For the time being, look after yourselves!

Lauren x

[willows-adventures-in-words]

Now that October is over I’m gonna share my thoughts on my prompts from the month. I guess this could be considered a director's cut of sorts. So if anyone is interested in that sort of thing it’ll be under a read more since I have 16 prompts so it’ll be long.

The Whumptober prompt from day 1. I can't remember if I wrote this one first or if I wrote the other day one prompt first. But this one was interesting since it's the start of a new au. (Honestly, I need to stop making more.) As well as a honest attempt at writing a zombie apocalypse type story. I took some reference points from the game 7 Days to Die, hence the au title. But in regards to the prompt, it was the set up for the other day one prompt since I knew what I was doing for the other one already. I had to get Chase and Anti to meet and become travel buddies. But for that to happen Chase had to suffer a little. He had to lose what he had otherwise he wouldn't end up traveling with Anti. It was interesting to write. With Chase's regret and attempted suicide... Obviously, I knew he wasn't going to die but it still hurt to write it. And his little voice of doubt. Also, I can't help but like the quote, “She was my wife, you insensitive fuck.” a little more than I should.

The Egoshiptober prompt, as I said I knew what I was doing already. It hadn't taken long to decide that it would be Anti who had fallen for Chase. That he had no knowledge if Chase would feel the same for him or not. I had debated it for a bit if it would be unrequited or not. After discussing it with one of my two readers IRL I have concluded with certainty that, no it is not unrequited. Chase, at this point isn't aware that that is how he feels yet though. He cares a lot about Anti at this point, they've been through a lot after all. But since the only relationship he's had was with Stacy he can't quite comprehend his relationship with Anti in that way yet. Though despite that, I feel like the hints are there. I'm happy with how this turned out. Chase's concern for Anti. The trust and the history between them. As well as Anti's realization over how he feels about Chase. Realization settled over him like a warm blanket. I loved that line. I'm proud of that line.

The Whumptober prompt for day 3 was different than what I'm used to. I had an idea, but couldn't quite work it out. And originally this one and day 15 were going to be one and the same when I realized I could break them up and complete two prompts (yay). But anyway, the beginning of this one was difficult to figure out. But once I got to the confrontation between Jackie and the gang leader I started to work through it pretty quickly. This one, like all my prompts actually, I have all this background info in my head that has no place in the prompt that I can work with. With this one for example, Henrik was kidnapped by the gang as he was leaving work because one of their own was injured. As well as the fact that the gang leader really didn't intend to injure Henrik but Jackie inadvertently pushed him into action. It was a convenience that they still had Henrik there when Jackie showed up. In the end I enjoyed writing this one.

The Whumptober prompt for day 4 was pretty much an excuse to write what happened immediately after Marvin was sold at the auction in my winged AU. I'd been mulling over what happens after off-and-on ever since I'd written it and now I had a reason to write it. Or part of it anyway since he's going to be there for awhile.

Now, the Whumptober prompt for day 7 I knew when I saw the prompt option of Enemy to Caretaker that I was going to do a superhero-villain thing with Jackie and Marvin. Than Anti came into the picture because, obviously, Marvin had to become Jackie's rival turned caretaker. I pretty much had this one mapped out from the get go. Background info on this one is that Marvin has history with Anti so when he saw the shape Jackie was in, as well as the uncomfortable feeling in the air, he knew Anti was involved. At the end of this one though I had debated on how Marvin was going to seal off the place so Anti couldn't get to them. One option was a sort of switch next to the door making the place disappear or something. In the end I ended up leaving it vague. I'd also thought to make this one longer and add a bit when Jackie wakes up in a bed but decided against it.

Whumptober day 8 prompt. This one was... This one was personal. I wrote it about myself. So... yeah.

Anyway, day 9 was Egoshiptober. And this one was unexpected. I hadn't expected or planned to write it. I was at work thinking about the prompt list and the idea came to me. How Jackie goes to Henrik to patch him up when he gets hurt. Then one day he accidentally blurts out how he feels about him. Before Henrik really has a chance to address it Jackie makes up an excuse and bolts out. He avoids Henrik for two weeks before Henrik searches for him and, upon finding him, asks him on a date. And voila! The story was born from there. It was surprisingly easy and fun to write. Especially the second half when Jackie started to relax. Their banter was my favorite part. And when Jackie takes Henrik's hand at the end just makes me smile when I reread it.

Day 10 for Egoshiptober was the fastest and easiest for me to write. Simply because I had already written something with them before; though I'm constantly unsure if I'll ever post it (a snippet of it is posted now tho). So when I saw the prompt I knew right away. This was one of the first prompts I wrote. I also believe it's one of the sweetest things I've written as well. I love it. It never fails to makes me smile.

Now the day 11 prompt for Egoshiptober was an accident. It was the tenth and I was doing my updates on here when I realized it was the day that has been labeled as Anti's birthday. Which I didn't realize. So, I checked my list to see who was available to pair him with (everyone except Chase) and came up with this. Originally I was going to add a part when Jackie finds out he missed Anti's birthday, but couldn't make it work. My favorite bit was the very ending. I was smiling nonstop when I thought of it.

And this one. Day 13 for Egoshiptober. My god it took me forever to figure out what I was going to do with it. All I knew for weeks was that it was going to be with Jackie and Marvin. Then finally (after I wrote the last prompt of the month) I figured it out. Jackie's hair changing when he wore his mask. I was so happy when I figured out what to do. I remember writing a good portion of it at work. There are a lot of little things I liked with this one but my favorite part to write was when Marvin magically kept Jackie from coming in the room and the bickerment that went with it.

Ah yes. Day 15 for Whumptober. The second half of day 3's prompt. This one took time. I knew what I wanted with it but had no idea how to go about it. I actually found myself doing research (which is a rarity for me). Once I thought of it, I fell in love with the idea of Henrik teaching Marvin how to heal and repair the human body. The problem came in when I had to actually write it. I had, and still don't really know, how to write someone doing magic. I had also thought to add a scene at the end of this for when Jackie arrives at Henrik's place to find them both asleep. This is one of the prompts that made me the happiest when it was finished. That I actually wrote magic in a way that made sense. Honestly, I am so proud of how that turned out.

Prompt 19 for Whumptober wasn't supposed to be so long. But I couldn't just have the grief and mourning without some lead up. Then it turned into this. I mean, there couldn't be no side-effects to what happened in the very first prompt of the month. The thing with this one was I wanted them indoors, that's where the lead up came in. 'Cause clearly homes and residential areas aren't going to be 100% safe during a zombie apocalypse. Some background on this one; I already, more or less, know Anti's background. He's lost someone as well. Though they weren't in a relationship like Chase and Stacy, but he's gone through it as well. He just handled it differently than Chase did and had more time to coup with the loss. Though Chase was glad he finally had a name he could call his travel buddy. As well as being happy at the little bit of conversation they had.

When I saw the prompt Crown for the 22nd day of Egoshiptober the first thing I thought of was royalty. But with no idea how to make that work, I remembered those cardboard crowns from Burger King from when I was a kid. I thought, hey, I could work with that. It was slow progress figuring this one out after that though. I knew it would be Henrik, Chase, and Chase's kids, but outside of that I was clueless. I don't know how to write children. How was I going to make this work... Well, after I finished it and had my IRL proofreader read it, I was pleasantly surprised to be told I hit the mark on the age bracket I was aiming for. As with some of the other prompts, it's the little things with this one that I liked. The willingness of Henrik to join in on the antics. While at the same time taking control of it. The kids siding with Henrik. This one was fun.

I kinda felt bad that for Egoshiptober day 25 I made it sad. I mean, I coulda done haunted house or something. But no. I went with one of the two dying and 'haunting' the other. That Marvin's spirit stayed with Chase. Though despite it being sad there is some distinct sweetness there too. Marvin doesn't want Chase to drink himself to the bottom of the bottle. How Marvin is trying to take care of him while getting used to his own situation. I love how heart-wrenching yet sweet this is. Marvin's little 'I love you.' that wakes up Chase during the last bit. Then he brushes his hair out of the way and kisses his forehead. It's just... so sweet. I also had thoughts to continue this one and make it longer. But I didn't since where I ended it felt like enough. Also, I felt it would loss the 'haunted' feel to it if I made it longer and expanded on it.

The prompt for the 28th day was an Alternate prompt from the Whumptober list. This one I was really nervous to post. I was so afraid of having negativity thrown at me for writing something I have zero personal experience in. Despite my concerns, I personally like how it turned out. It's part of backstory to another story I have started. As I said, I have no personal experience in the situation I had written. I have much sympathy to anyone who has as well as much resentment to those who have put someone in that situation.

And finally, day 30 for the Egoshiptober prompt. As well as an Alternate prompt from the Whumptober list. This was surprisingly one of the first prompts I'd written. I think it was anyway. It turned out longer than I had expected it to. But I'm very happy with how it turned out. My proofreader, one of the two people who I feel comfortable enough with to read my writing IRL, liked this so much she wanted a continuation. Personally, there's so much I like with this one. Again a lot of little things. The ending is just... heartbreaking for Jackie though.

[dangmanronpaimagines]

Hello! Could I request how the SDR2 guys would react if they found out there female S/O was secretly looking on the computer at plastic surgery prices because she has low self esteem about her body? Sorry if this is awkward, I've just been having problems with mine >__

No, you’re fine! I hope this at least cheers you up a little!! Iunderstand that in the end, most people will believe that they aren’t perfect.However, it may be important to realize that everyone comes with their flawsand mistakes. I tried to incorporate that here, because I didn’t want just arepeat of all the guys saying ‘hey gurl, ur ~*~*perfect~*~*’ and I didn’tthink it would help that much to just leave this post with that message.

And also, after a bit of thought I decided to leave out the imposterfrom this list. After browsing through the wiki page, I feel like more of hischaracter is introduced in the anime, which I haven’t watched. I kinda hatewriting people OOC, even if I already accidentally do it sometimes. Anyways,here we go!

Hajime Hinata

His heart drops when he spots his S/O looking at things likethat because he sees the saddened look on your face and how your postureradiates hopelessness. He can tell right away that you’re not looking at thewebsite out of pure curiosity, but rather out of frustration with your ownbody. He’s sad that you’re sad, and for a moment he’s so shocked that nothingcomes out of his mouth right away.

He sneaks up behind you to take a glance of what you’relooking at first, so he can find the argument he needs to convince you that youdon’t need to change at all, and as if he had an elevator for organs, he felthis heart drop again, not realizing that it came back up in the first place. Good lord, those are some hefty prices.

He practically grips his chest after seeing that and hegrunts, eliciting you to look back at him in surprise. In the middle of youtalking and asking questions – ‘Hajime, what are you doing here?’ ‘Me? I-I wasjust browsing! I’m writing an essay on plastic surgery!’ ‘Hey are you okay, youlook like you’re having a stroke…’ – he starts to wave you off and get back ontrack with his original goal. When he finally begins to speak, he has his handson your shoulders and keeps eye contact with you.

“While I am here tosupport anything you want to do, I want to say first that I think you’reamazing just the way you are. None of us are perfect and we all have our flaws,but I’m by your side already and so are many other people in your life. Youdon’t have to change anything about yourself because people like me alreadylove you as you are. Also, I cannotafford to help you get surgery, I’m sorry.”

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu

While Hajime took the Good Boyfriend approach, Fuyuhiko is alittle rougher around the edges. Upon glancing at your laptop while you were inthe bathroom, he saw the list of surgeries that could be performed and, likethe classy man he is, let out a loud and resounding, “WHAT THE FUCK.” You quickly finished up your business and rushedout of the bathroom and to him, going “What? What? What happened?”

“This! This is what happened!” He pointed to your laptop,clearly gesturing to what you had left on. Fuyuhiko would be kind enough toremain silent while you tried to explain yourself, saying that you were justlooking because you were curious about it. However, his angry face and assertivestance quickly makes you confess the truth. You’re just… not feeling that goodabout yourself. Yeah, he ‘fuckin’ figured that was the case’.

With a sigh, he softens up a bit and glances off to the side,obviously still upset. He starts off mumbling, but soon raises his voice foryou to hear him. He’s trying to assure you in the best way that he possiblycan, mentioning that while he can cover whatever decision you wantedmoney-wise, he felt it was a waste of time. He grew attached to you because ofyour personality first and your looks last. NOT THAT HE THINKS YOU DON’T LOOKGOOD- FUCK!! DON’T CRY!!!

He’s trying his best, he really is. The honest truth he has ahard time getting across is that he lovesyou and that your looks are never an issue and it never had been.

Gundham Tanaka

No mere mortal shouldever have come into possession with the dark knowledge of shape-shifting …Or something. He’s clearly against the plastic surgery whenhe catches you looking at it one day. While his tone and language gives off theimpression of him being rather unaffected by your misery-induced perusing, he’sactually pretty worried. Why do you want to change yourself? …Did he dosomething to make you upset? He never really voices those worries, but it’shidden in the words he speaks. Surely anevil obsession with demons hasn’t compelled you from beyond? Are my words toopowerful for you to stand at your current state?! …Or something.

The moment he gives you a chance to speak, you explainyourself, not bothering to cover up anything. Like Fuyuhiko, he is silent whileyou talk, but his face is hidden slightly by his scarf and he has the sameserious look he always does so it’s hard to pick up on what emotion he isactually feeling. In the process of talking, if you start to become upset, hisFour Dark Devas of Destruction will skitter onto you. It’s almost like they cantell that you’re sad! Just like their owner, they hate seeing you like you are.

In the case that you might break down and start crying,Gundham will hesitantly place his hands on your arms. An illusion covers the true power that dwells within you! Someone withsuch untapped potential like yourself should never adhere to the constraintsthat normal mortals hold! I, myself, am understanding of the demonic appearanceI give to others… I am as captivated by your likeness as I hope you are mine. Icherish the times where we revel in each other’s company!

Kazuichi Souda

He understands it the most. While the two of you may havewanted to change your appearance under different reasons, he gets it. He changedhimself, so upon seeing you looking dejected as you scrolled through differentwebsites offering different procedures, he puts a hand to his head and clearshis throat. Despite trying to get your attention – and surprising you in theprocess, as you didn’t know he was there – he doesn’t really know what to sayfor a moment and he’s left clueless on where to begin.

Should he start out by saying he gets you? Should he say thathe doesn’t think surgery should be the first step? Maybe he should just suggesttrying easier options first? Perhaps he should start out by saying ‘you’reperfect already’ or something. With an exaggerated sigh, he says that he’s metplenty of people with crappy noses and they get by just fine. When you tiltyour head to the side in confusion he gestures quickly to the screen, hisnerves starting to get to him. “Right there! It says rhinoplasty and it’s got apicture of a nose.”

And with his speech already beginning, he takes over yourcomputer and starts scrolling through on his own. “Tummy tuck, thigh lift, skingrafts?! Eyelids, brows, ears, and botox?” He turns to you and gripsyou tight in his hands, squeezing you in desperation. “I get makeovers, butS/O, will I recognize you anymore?! I like you!!”

In a weird turn of events, you end up consoling him some, andhe ends up apologizing by suggesting dying your hair like he did if you reallyneed a breath of fresh air. Maybe you should get some kind of bright, neon…turquoise, blue color? Then your hair would complement his and vice versa! It’slike wearing matching couple stuff!

Nagito Komaeda

I think he wouldn’t even need to catch you looking on awebsite or anything to understand that you were upset about your body. He’dcatch you looking in disdain at your reflection, and he’d notice how you neverreally looked happy when picking out an outfit for the day or when you went tothe bathroom to get ready. He’d remain silent about these things he’s picked upon, waiting for you to come to him. He’d be sort of passive about it all,trying to get you to come to terms with yourself by making comments every sooften, comments that were intended to lift your spirits and, best of all, hope!But in order to obtain what he wanted for you, you had to use this crisis inyour life to become even stronger!

However, when he’d see your browsing history on the computer,it’d click that things are not goingin the direction that he’d like for you. Perhaps he should meddle more? He hadjust wanted you to see that your beauty came from inside and when you weretruly happy and content with yourself, then that beauty would radiate out andshine bright. People would then see the real you!

When he gets up and follows his resolve to find you, yourthoughts aren’t actually occupied with your insecurities at that moment. So,when he pulls you into his arms and places his hand in your hair, you’repleasantly surprised, but confused. When he begins talking, you slowly start toput the pieces together, and end up listening to his words. He repeats all ofwhat’s on his mind, and ends up complimenting you until he knows some of whathe said has gotten through to you.

Nekomaru Nidai

You both had been sitting on the couch in your living roomwhen he left to go to the bathroom. You, not knowing when he would come back, beganto get just the slightest bit bored. When you opened your phone to preoccupyyourself, it unlocked to show your browser, and to the website you had beenlooking at just a few hours prior to meeting up with Nekomaru. Just like that,you felt your own happiness float away. The seemingly endless list of thingsthat you could change about yourself shadowed over you again. Sitting there,you could feel a sense of dread that made your heart hurt. There’s just so many things that you could do to meldyourself into something different. So many things that would possibly make yourlife a little easier somehow. Things that could make you feel better aboutbeing you.

“BUT THEN YOU WOULDN’T BE YOURSELF, WOULD YOU?” Nekomaruseemed to yell out of nowhere. He startled you and made you drop your phone.His voice did make your heart jump, in a different way than he usually made itdo. When he picked up your phone and looked at it himself, he only shook hishead.

“S/O… When you change yourself, it should be FOR YOU!! Notfor others! Changing yourself to make others like you ISN’T THE WAY TO GO!” Yousort of wondered how he was able to tell that your nosedive in confidence ledto looking up plastic surgery, but his words did make you feel better.

“PLUS, NEITHER OF US CAN AFFORD ANY OF THAT. I HAVE ENOUGHFOR A HAIRCUT.”

Teruteru Hanamura

He’s flabbergasted, to be honest. You?! YOU?! YOU- ”YES, ME!” Youthink that you’re not beautiful enough? You think that you’re not meant to keepthe body you’ve been born with, giftedwith, and one that you’ve shared with him in ‘such intimate moments with’?

You resist the urge to hit him because he’s obviously not takingthe situation seriously. Even after explaining yourself to him, he’s not reallyunderstanding your point of view. Not necessarily because he doesn’t bother to,but more because he genuinely believes that you’re already incredibly gorgeous.Which… while you do appreciate his words in some ways, it doesn’t really domuch with helping your self-esteem. He was known for being an incredible pervert before you two gottogether and his tastes were wide and varied with nearly anyone fitting intohis wide radius of attraction. It made you feel worse, thinking that the onlyreason he even ended up with you was because you just happened to like himback. Your self-esteem, topped with that thought alone made you feel incrediblyfrustrated.

While it’s unfortunate that he wasn’t be able to realize itbefore, seeing you roll your eyes, cross your arms, narrow your eyebrows andpuff your cheeks in anger strikes a different chord in him. Oh, you reallybelieve that you’re body… isn’t… beautiful…

“Hey, I might be a huge pervert, but I only have eyes foryou, angel cake! Why make a bitter face when you’re sweeter than any dessert I’veever made?” You roll your eyes again. He stutters, seeing how that didn’treally help the situation. It’s only then that he really becomes desperate tosee you happy again. He mentions how he’ll make you your favorite foods, how he’llwake you up with breakfast in bed every day and how he’s come to realize thatthere’s no one else he’d rather take home to meet his mother. He sweeps you inhis arms and twirls you around, voice strained with worry. He’s really tryingto get you to see his side of things. In the end, he did make you forget aboutwhat you were browsing through and when you finally get back to your computer, youexit out of that tab.

[oneviewatatime]

Bali

On the 26th July I took my flight out of Australia and departed on my trip (and first time) to South East Asia.

During a delayed wait for my flight in Perth, and whilst slightly freaking out on how to navigate myself from the airport to my hostel at 2am – as I had heard some stories and did not know what to expect – I overheard some guys near by discussing a taxi out of the airport. Of course I wanted some advice so went over to ask what they knew but they were as clueless as me, but luckily after the flight I bumped into them again and they were heading in the same direction so offered to share a taxi. Grateful is not the word, I was relieved that my first experience wouldn’t be a crazy one trying to haggle my way through taxi drivers by myself. We finally found a taxi driver who agreed to a more reasonable price, and headed to Kuta the first stop.

The guys, gentlemen, kindly walked me to my hostel before they headed to their own and I was happy to find someone to check me in at 3am, finally getting to sleep at 3.30am – waaaaay past my bedtime.

In the morning we met up and found a good place for brunch, a buffet style restaurant that was really cheap and so filling! Then we headed out to explore and get harassed by the millions of street market vendors selling the same stuff from store to store – clothes, accessories, sarongs, random tourist souvenirs but all pretty much the same except trying to offer you different prices! The guys were all over it, buying some vests and watches, me on the other hand knew I couldn’t manage to fit anything else in my bag so only treated myself to some classic traveller gap yaaar trousers ready for some temples!

I only planned on staying in Kuta for one day, and wanted to head straight to Ubud, and the guys agreed and decided to join me! So we grabbed a Grab. (yes, the asian version of uber, but it gives you a fixed price before you set off so the slow traffic or long way round does not affect you one bit! Definitely recommend downloading this app before you leave as you need a text code to register!)

Heading to Ubud mid afternoon, we checked into the cutest little hostel Sri Hostel that was tucked away and served the BEST banana pancakes in the morning (no exaggeration). We went for dinner and watched a traditional fire dancing show – where a group of local men were sat chanting and singing and they had characters all dressed up acting out different spirits and stories, and then a guy started kicking the burning coconut shells and walking all over it!

We rented a scooter the following morning for two days and headed to the Monkey Sanctuary. After finally finding each other (we had no internet and lost each other in the traffic and then were waiting at opposite entrances to the park for quite a while hahah) and we drove down this super hectic footpath that was so narrow but had two ways of scooters heading down, terrifying but hilarious at the same time! We checked out the cheeky monkeys running around doing their thing, playing, fighting, trying to steal people’s wallets from their bags, you know the usual.

Next we headed to Tegallalang Rice Terraces – the famous instagrammable spot of Bali. It was stunning, you could see a large area of rice terraces cut into the sides of the valley, and it is very impressive, seeing the locals working by hand to maintain and harvest the crops. We spotted a swing – one I had recognised from Instagram where everyyyoneee gets a picture on – and it was an expensive tourist trap, dammit insta! I thought it was better to leave to the people who are actually getting paid to post these kinds of photos, ya know.

After soaking in the views on the scooters, feeling the freedom in our hair we checked out Pura Tirta Empul – a famous Hindu Temple. It was stunning, and so beautiful to see the worshipping taking place. People were getting into the baths fully clothes, and walking along a series of fountains to submerge their head and pray and receive blessings.

We headed back to the hostel and went for food and drinks. Maybe one too many cocktails but, warning – Arak vodka is deadly, cheap but deadly. Whoops!

Next morning, after a scramble around, we headed out again on the scooters. Me feeling a little worse for wear but I am glad I was up early ate breakfast and then headed out before my body could complain haha! We checked out an amazing waterfall. A majorly slippery walk down, and too cold to actually swim but Nungnung Waterfall was beautiful. I am a major waterfall lover and this one was up there with the impressiveness and intensity!

Later we headed to check out Mount Batur, where you could do a sunrise hike setting off at 2am but instead we headed to a viewpoint and was told by a local artist to go down to the bottom and head to the floating restaurants. Of course we did and had some fresh juice at the bottom of the lake and had a perfect view of the mountain and was pretty much all by ourselves!

The guys left from Ubud that evening and I decided to check out the local Ubud area the following day, so I set off and headed to the Ridge Walk, a 15 minute walk from my hostel and crazy stunning views with so many trees. Mainly passing locals, or joggers I walked along and decided to take a pit stop in a cute tree top overlooking cafe for a smoothie. Yum. In the evening I found a hidden restaurant down a back street as I was enticed in by a big neon sign – Alit Warung – super cheap and in a garden atmosphere and had some live music. Perfect way to end the day.

Gili Islands

I got a transfer bus and fast ferry to Gili T through my hostel – for reference, I paid 550k return Ubud – Gili T – Gili T – Seminyak. On the tourist boards and most places advertise as around 1 million IDR for a return, however you do need to haggle this down, ask around, and definitely ask the place you are staying! A friend of mine thought he got a cheap deal with 650k for a one way to Gili!

I checked into La Boheme Mini – the cheaper one of a set of three hostels but around the corner from the Sister hostel. The local staff were amazing, pretty young but full of energy, super friendly and always joking around and making sure you are comfortable! This hostel was cheap, but more than did the trick, only problem was it was very small capacity so I had a room of three, so I would go and hang out in the Sister hostel as it had a much more social vibe and met people there!

I went for a walk along the beach to watch the sunset and grab a bite to eat. A local guy started chatting to me after he had noticed me walk past him earlier in the day and was helping his mates at the restaurant. He was telling me about his boxing career and trying to crack a load of jokes and apparently because of my spacebuns hairstyle, I reminded him of his cat… I mean I am not going to lie but I haven’t worn my hair like that since…

The following morning I set off early and caught the local boat to Lombok, hired a scooter off a very persistent man and bezzed off around the coast heading to the south of the island. It was a long drive but very worth it! I checked out the views, stopped at an abandoned hotel that didn’t get finished building. I then went through some very rural towns and had a lot of people asking me if I was lost, did a bit of offroading before finding the real road again, and stopped at a little beach with a cute ‘I love you’ sign. Where some kids all appeared from nowhere to talk to me and take photos with me. I then headed for some lunch and a few last stops before driving straight back to the harbour.

It was an amazing day, I felt so free driving around on my scooter, soaking in the views of the empty countryside, and weaving around the island. On the way back I drove down a winding road in the trees where a lot of monkeys were playing on the sides of the roads. It was a lot of driving in one day and was very rushed so I would recommend to go to Lombok for more than one day, but I am so glad I did go as I was very pleasantly surprised by this island. I was told it wasn’t very touristy and was low key, but the road infrastructure was a lot better than mainland Bali and is the same size as the island, I found the locals seemed to know more english too and it was just a very friendly, stunning and lovely place!

I got back and went to watch the sunset with the hostel, and with some new friends we headed to the night market for some yummy street food! We also headed out to check out the bar scene and went for a few drinks and a good boogie! This island is supposedly a very party destination but it definitely is how you make it, some people were hella drunk and roaming the streets but others like us were lowkey just enjoying the music and having fun!

The following day me and Joelle went for a yoga class – Vinyasa. It was wonderful, I am not a massive yoga person as I am way too restless and need more active work outs but this was a good balance and tested my strength! Was very rewarding to have a little workout too! We went for a little snorkelling session and swam with a large group of turtles which was very cool!

I then headed back in order to find my friend Mel, who I hung out with in Noosa, Australia, and we had a reunion and checked out the sunset and had a much needed catch up! We went snorkelling again in the morning to meet some more cute turtles in their natural habitat! Then we walked up the hill on the island to watch the sunset and went for a drink on the beach front with Joelle!

After a classic morning getting some cool photos on some of the many swings on the beach I said goodbye to Mel and heading to the next island Gili Air! After walking from the harbour in the intense humidity with my ever so heavy backpack I couldn’t check into the hostel I wanted to instead went next door to a quiet hotel style hostel and went for a dip in the pool.

I went in search of food and didn’t go too far I stopped at a small place around the corner Warung Ada – much recommended! The Jamaican owner is lovely as are the rest of the staff! Amazing food and he takes care of his customers, creating the majority a small seashell bracelet and he also made me a necklace! Every time I went past I would stop and have some food and hang out with the guys, was so lovely to know they cared about their customers and not just throwing food in front of them! Was a lovely way to be introduced to the island, and went to chill on the beach and read my way into the sunset.

Next day I changed hostels to a ‘sociable’ hostel, which was full and was cute with little bamboo huts and a mushroom shaped swimming pool. I went for a walk around the island and then in the evening headed to watch the England World Cup game on the beach being played on a large projector!

There were a lot of groups in the hostel, mainly english people, though I did not want to just stay at the hostel like everyone so I went for a massage and had some breakfast and relaxed. Then surprise surprise Mel arrived on the island again!! We went and got some pizza and beers for the sunset and I got harassed by a little cat who wanted to always be sat next to me haha!

This was my last day on the Gili Islands, so in the morning I headed back to Gili T to get my return ferry to Seminyak! Here I only stayed one night, did my laundry, ate some good food near by hostel Cozy Bobo hostel – which I would recommend for a short stay, few people good wifi good chilling area and free breakfast! Then I headed the next day to the airport for my flight to Singapore.

Indonesia was an amazing introduction to South East Asia and despite only being there for two weeks (as I had to book an onward flight before I went in case I got asked at the airport however I didn’t but better to be safe than sorry!) I met some amazing people, experienced some amazing sunsets and was a fantastic set up for the rest of my journey!

Have you been to Indonesia recently?! What were your favourite moments? Or need any more recommendations if you are heading there soon! Comment below!

  Indonesia – Start Of South East Asia Bali On the 26th July I took my flight out of Australia and departed on my trip…

[bentchcreates]

Carla De Guzman Trio

(Marry Me, Charlotte B; Driving Home; and Up All Night)

I took too long to post a review of Carla’s book that I was able to read and finish two more of her short stories. Heehee. I’m posting these review in the order that I’ve read them. :)

Marry Me, Charlotte B

This was actually my first book from her. I got my copy at MIBF 2016, the same day I first met her, but I went ahead and read her other books first. LOL. This was also the last book I’ve read in 2017 and ugh, I don’t know why I waited so long to start with it. I liked it so much!

It felt like a reality show Devil Wears Prada*, which I think was a strong influence in the writing of this, but it’s wonderfully separate from that because the romance here is swoon-worthy friends-to-lovers. I also love that (spoiler alert?) Nellie undergoes a mini-makeover, but (another spoiler alert) she didn’t really need it. LOL. I don’t want to say anything anymore because I feel like I’m just gonna go ahead and tell you the story, haha. But watch out for the conflict (Rob’s fault, but not entirely)and the brilliant way they patch things up, the red-herring, and the side romance of Nellie’s clients. It’s amazing! Robert is charming and clueless at times, which made him even more adorkable in my opinion.

I also love the pop-culture references especially the RuPaul ones; and the word-styling** was perfect. It made the reality-TV setting more authentic.

Admittedly, I was confused in the first few paragraphs because I thought Charlotte B was the name of the protagonist, so I didn’t understand why everything was revolving around Nellie.  After about three pages, I read the blurb behind the book and it finally made sense! Hahaha! I love the Charlotte B character, though, and I rarely do fancasts of books I read but I couldn’t shake the image of Jessica Lange being Charlotte. Jessica Lange in AHS Coven, but less evil glam, and more Miranda Priestly-boss levelz. ;)

Also, Donna is the level of chill I will forever aspire to be. Now that I think about it, maybe the character is also influenced by another Donna character from that TV show with lawyers that I sometimes watch with my cousin. (I completely forgot the title, I’m sorry. I’ll edit this when it finally comes to me.)

I absolutely enjoyed this book more than I expected. The print book is quite thin so I was pleasantly surprised when a lot of things happened (a lot of kilig-things happened, specifically) and towards the end, I kind a forced myself to slow-read the last few pages because I didn’t want it to end yet, I didn’t want to leave the universe Carla created yet, but no such luck. I was super excited for things to fall into place for my girl, Nellie.

*I have only seen the film (a fifty times, at the very least) and haven’t read the book yet. **WillReadForFeels taught me this word over at Litsy. XD

The following are two short stories available for FREE at Instafreebie (links below)

Driving Home

I remember feeling ridiculously giddy when I started reading this because the heroine, Isabel, picked an orange (my favorite color) Volkswagen as her car. (I love Beetles, but my heart belongs to the Samba!) Also, Nacho, her LI, is a tall man (my heart belongs to them, too, choz) and this is a bestfriends-to-lovers story that spans a couple of years (slow-burn romance burns my heartstrings on fahyerrr)

It’s quirky and light-hearted, and while it’s deeply rooted in local places (compared to other books by Carla featuring amazing places all over the world) the sense of adventure is still as fascinating to read.

I also love the shout-out to Ang Bandang Shirley in the dedication at the end of the story. I don’t remember ever hearing a song from them before (I’m so sorry again, ehe) but I’m adding them now to my Artists To Discover playlist.

Up All Night

This is another adventure I thoroughly enjoyed. This time, Carla takes the readers to Hong Kong and Macau with a cute MC (another Canlas girl!! I’m so happy!) and a crushable LI. This combination of protagonists exuded strong Asian Drama feels for me and when this story becomes adapted on screen (TV or Movie, idc) I know I’ll bingewatch this several times. LOL.

I love the photo inserts (taken by the author/with the author herself) and the inclusion of food in the cultural aspects of the tourist spots mentioned in the book. I especially loved the ‘pink slip’ incident and the special restaurant date that resulted from it. The end scene made me squeal internally at 2 AM, so be prepared for that! Heehee.

I need more of Penelope and Anton!! So bad! I mean, I liked how this short ended, but may I demand for an epilogue from the author? Like, maybe a 30k worded epilogue (lels) because I need to know what happens after that end scene happens! I have so many follow-up questions! Haha

4.5 of 5 Stars for each. I loved all these stories! They were awesome books to start 2018 with and I am looking forward to reading more from Carla this year!

Blurbs:

Marry Me, Charlotte B!

“Marry Me, Charlotte B!” premieres their first ever season! 

Chronicling the everyday life of the fabulous wedding planner Charlotte Bertram and her team, the show features wedding planning tips, a colorful cast of characters, and an unexpected love story. The season focuses on Charlotte B’s biggest challenge yet—planning the royal wedding of Pop Princess Renee Winters to her beau Congressman Ewan Walters, while searching for her apprentice. Will it be her sexy son Robert? Her quiet assistant Nellie or her fabulous receptionist, Donna? Diva meltdowns, wedding madness and gorgeous weddings set in the beautiful backdrop of San Francisco come together to make for great reality TV that will have you screaming, Marry Me, Charlotte B! Marry Me Charlotte B airs its first episode…right now.

Buy Links:

Marry Me Charlotte B!:

Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Marry-Me-Charlotte-Carla-Guzman-ebook/dp/B00WG9Y4G4 Print: https://somemidnights.typeform.com/to/eQWo23

Up All Night: https://www.instafreebie.com/free/Qm5Ie Driving Home: https://www.instafreebie.com/free/580X3

About the Author:

If you ask Carla what she does for a living, she will tell you that she’s not quite sure.

By day, she works a regular day job and writes for a lifestyle website. By night, she’s an author and an artist, spending her midnights at her desk and making these silly love stories. She loves to travel, coming home to her dog Kimchi and spending her weekends having dinner with her crazy family.

She’s currently on a quest to see as many Impressionist paintings as she can, and is always in search of the perfect pain au chocolat.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/somemidnights

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/somemidnights

www.somemidnights.com

somemidnights@gmail.com