Pottermore

After finding a Harry Potter house quiz and finding out that I was a Hufflepuff (the best house) I happily told my friends. Only then did I learn that to find your true house, it is paramount that you only listen to "Pottermore" the website designed by queen J.K. Rowling, for the most accurate test on where the sorting hat would put you.

I was both excited and nervous to find out, so in my typical nervous habit, I waited as long as I could before actually doing something important. So, after signing up, I first had to take a test to figure out which wand I would have and personally, mine is a really nice one, although apparently it is also like the one Lucius Malfoy owns, but Harry's wand was Voldemort's wands twin, so having a villains wand can not be that bad.

My lovely wand here's the sign up link

Then it was time for the moment of truth where I would find out if I had what it takes to be a Hufflepuff. Most of the time with character tests and the like it is easy to spot what answers to give to get what you want, but with this test I had no idea. Then, the quiz was over and I saw what I was. I was now most officially the newest member of Ravenclaw. They are all really nice houses and I am rather happy with what I got.

The game also gives the player wizard money, also known as Galeons. With the money you can purchase a multitude of items, including potions items and messenger owls. I am not very good yet at handling potions, but they are fun to make and important for winning the house cup.

 With each successfully brewed potion, the house the brewer is in will receive house points. The house with the most points by the end of the year wins the cup. Houses can also earn points by being excellent finders, good friends, or winning duels. It is a friendly competition that also breaks all of the house stereotypes in the best ways. 

I have also seen the Daily Prophet, the Harry Potter version of a tabloid paper that no one should believe a word of, but for some reason think that it is absolutely true. The pet shop was cute and included a half dozen owls and cats. Eventually I had to pick a Barn Owl because my aunt gave me a book about them that was really nice and gave me more feels than an owl should.

That was my complete experience in the wizarding world of Harry Potter, it was really cool and for any potter head out there not yet on Pottermore I would highly recommend signing up and I hope you get your favorite house. Then for any muggles, you ought to read the books or watch the movies, because they are awesome.

Dan and Phil

I have recently discovered another thing to be totally obsessed about. Youtubers danisnotonfire and AmazingPhil.  They are British best friends who make videos about their lives and vlogs (video blogs). Both of them are tremendously funny and give surprisingly good advice. 

They are some of the most popular people currently making these sorts of videos, but other ones I like are Tyler Oakley and animators Domics and OnlyLeigh. All of their channels are pretty comedy orientated and binge watching all of their videos has a part in why when I sit down to do homework I never get anything done. 

Back to Dan and Phil, together they also have a gaming channel, creatively named ‘DanandPhilGames’ where they play games such as Five Nights at Freddy's and the Sims 4. On Dan's main channel he does ongoing segments called Reasons Why Dan’s a Fail!, Internet Support, and What not to do at the (beach, public transport, town, ect.). 

And Phil has invented many popular youtube tags. Some of them are the Toilet tag, a silly Q&A video, the Seven Second Challenge were he obviously has to do a challenge the person he is playing with tells him to in seven seconds or less,and the Explore my Brain tag were he talks about his thoughts. Since they live together they regularly appear in each others videos and help each other with video ideas, which is pretty nice of them.

Dan's channel trailer

Phil's Channel Trailer

Together they host a popular radio show on BBC1, and because of that UK Disney asked them to have cameo roles in their new movie Big Hero 6. I want to see that version just for the five seconds they are going to be speaking. Phil also voiced an emo goose for the app crossyroad.

Together they have been nominated for these awards in their youtube careers, Shorty Award for YouTube Star, and the Teen Choice Award for Choice Web Collaboration. Dan has over four million subscribers and they have ongoing jokes about how long it takes for him to upload a new video. Quite honestly there are pretty big pauses in between each of his videos, but it is ok with me as long as he stays a part of youtube. phil has a little over two million subscribers and has a end segment on most of his videos called “Draw Phil Naked” and I do not think that I can explain that to make it sound any less weird.

Both love Pokemon, Doctor Who and many different animes, which is why I started reading death note and watching the best ever Attack on Titan series. Well, that and the fact that three of my friends would not stop pestering me about reading/watching them, and ok, you guys were right I love them, you win for peer pressure.

Seriously, they are some of the best people on youtube, and if you want to check out my favorite episodes of theirs, here is Stuck on a Roller coaster by Phil Lester where he 'nearly died', and here is Dans video What Not to do on Public Transport where Dan accidentally got his head stuck in a subway door. Yep, I am proud to call these guys my role models.

A Fangirls Christmas

Ah, the holidays. One of the best and worst times of the year to be a fangirl. Now like anyone I love all of the gifts and tasty holiday foods, but leading up to getting presents is maddening. Let me explain.

Before the holidays, everything I want either can not be found, or, like this year, my parents ask me to go along with them on their christmas shopping for me. Way to ruin the magic. I mean, I get it it is difficult to figure out what to buy someone, but asking them what they want seems a little better than telling them to pick out what they want in a TJMax. 

It is also awful trying to pick out something that a friend or family member would like when they have different tastes than you. This here is a common problem everyone suffers from, especially those who, like me, do not understand how not everyone wants an Attack on Titan Eren plushie, or a god tier hero of heart shirt from Homestuck. 

Although, by far the worst thing about it is that I do not know what books I will get that year. This means that to avoid reading a potential gift, the entire month of december turns into a book deprived sadness month. I am not being dramatic, every year it means I have to deal with reality much more than usual. It is exhausting. Seriously how do people live with only reading very little or not at all? It makes me crazy to go to school, or anywhere really, without a trusty book. 

I even brought 16 books on a cross country road trip to Michigan and was worried it would not be enough for what I then though would be a month long trip that turned out to be a little over twice as long. Thankfully the books held out with some meticulous rationing and Netflix binge watching.

Disappearing Weeping Angel mug

Hero of Breath

Another thing that tends to happen all the time is that I will receive a book that I already have. The current record is held by The Book Thief, one of my favorite books of all time, but when you have three copies of that book, it gets to be just a bit too much. Bookshelf space is slowly disappearing while the new books are quickly piling up. For the record I do like using my kindle to read, but there’s something really nice about owning a real life book, like hi lighting it, dog-earing pages (my biggest pet-peeve in library books), and books legitimately smell absolutely amazing, do not judge me just visit a book store and you will get what I am talking about.

Heart T-shirt 

Anyways, Christmas this year was very good I got tons of cool gifts, had fun with my family, and I think everyone got what they wanted this year. This year I got a Misha Collins t-shirt, two Homestuck t-shirts and a Dan and Phil t-shirt TARDIS socks a weeping angel tea mug and 4 books. It was a super awesome break and it made going back to school even more difficult (no offense), but I hope you had a good holiday and appreciate how tough being a fangirl is during the holiday season. 

Top 10 books of 2014

At the beginning of last year I made a resolution that I would read 50 or more books in 2014. I finally finished halfway through December. Anyways, I thought it would be a good idea to share the top ten books that I read in 2014 along with favorite characters and scenes of the books.

The Beginning of Everything—A tenis prodigy is injured in a car accident and over the course of his last year in high school gets in touch with his inner nerd. My sister recommended this book to me and after the events of the first few pages I was seriously doubting her. Trust me though, it’s actually an amazing book. Favorite scene was the debate tournament *cough* join debate *cough* and Toby was my favorite character.

Blood of Olympus—Since it is the last book, I don’t want to spoil it, so I will simply say it is about children of the greek and roman gods fighting monsters to save the world. The Percy Jackson books are some of my absolute favorite books, and I loved The Heroes of Olympus too, so it was really sad to see it come to an end but good that it ended on such a high note. My favorite character was Piper and the best scene was Leo fighting the medicine gods protecter.

Shadow and Bone—In a land torn in two by a mythical darkness full of monsters called the void, Alina and her best friend Mal are in the army passing through the void. Alina soon finds that she has magic no one else possesses that could save her country. Thanks to Aunt Barbara for buying me this book this summer. My favorite character for this series was the main character Alina and my favorite scene was the second time Alina travels through the fold.

Shadow and Bone Website

Legend—It follows June on her mission to find her brothers killer, Day, the other main character in dystopian western America. The street fight is my favorite scene and the character is Day.

Frozen—No, this is not about the movie. The world has frozen over and Natasha Kestal is desperatly searching for “the Blue” a mythical land of warmth and magic. She hires Ryan Wesson and his crew to take her to the Blue. My favorite character was Shakes and my favorite scene was when they rescue a stranded ship.

Milkweed—This was the second time I read this book,  and it still managed to make me cry and left me feeling more than a little shellshocked. I guess you don’t read World War two books unless you want to feel that way, but still. My favorite character was Misha, (coolest name) and my favorite scene was when he was being hit to get the lice off of him.

Squashed—The story is about Ellie, who is trying to grow an award winning giant pumpkin. I bought it at the library sale and it is the funniest and most original book that I bought that day.My favorite character was Roger and the best scene was the weighing contest.

Hero—The story follows Saturday Woodcutter on her adventures trying to find her brother and freeing a trapped lord on the worlds tallest mountain. It was sort of a silly book, but I have that sort of humor so I laughed too much. My favorite character was Betwix, a shapeshifter animal. My favorite scene was the first visit to the gardens.

Fangirl—The main character Cath, is starting college with her twin sister who she feels abandoned by, while also trying to finish her massively popular fanfiction and pass her advanced writing class. Ok, I’m not in college and my fanfiction is not that popular, but otherwise Cath is me. Favorite character is of course, Cath and the fanfic reading was my favorite scene.

Rainbow Rowell's Website

The selection—The main character America reminds me of my friend Mazana, who recommended it to me, and sadly moved a few weeks ago. In the futuristic society of Illeà, thirty-five  girls are randomly selected to get the chance to marry the prince. The character is America and her maids taking care of her and vice versa.