Besties Across the World - The Power of Twitch

Hello and welcome to another post by me, Lilly. Today, I would like to talk about an online platform that could help you if you are feeling alone.

 It's crazy to think that I have met some of the best people in my life on Twitch; basically, my whole friend group is people I have met on Twitch. A lot of them are from England or pretty close, such as Ireland and Scotland. The group I have all have similar intrests but when someone finds something new, they share it with the group. It's a great community we have created over a three-year span, but seriously, these people are some of the best I have ever met in my life, and I am glad something like Twitch exists where people all across the world have the opportunity to chat and hang out without it being in person.  I actually came across Rambo because of my sister raiding into her, and I am so glad to call Rambo my bestie. This woman is outgoing, has similar goals in life to me, and she will message me every day. Twitch really has changed my life for the better, and you don't need to be streaming to make great friends from the platform. Just make a profile, search for a game you are interested in, and find someone who doesn't have that many viewers. I feel like a lot of people make the mistake of going into the bigger streamers' streams, but a lot of messages in the bigger streamers' chats will get missed. I recommend that you find someone who has single to double-digit viewers, as you may have better luck making a connection with the streamer and their viewers. Just remember, you are never alone. There is always someone out there willing to listen you just have to find them.

A little warning, if you are brand new at twitch there is such a thing as Twitch etiquette. Not every streamer wants to hear things such as bad thoughts or experiences; try to keep the conversation light. Maybe after sending a few messages in someone's chat, tell them it's your first time on Twitch or that you are new and are still learning what to do and what not to do. If you stream do not say in their chat that you stream too, I can only speak for my community but we tend to just give everyone a shout out so it will become known that you are also a streamer, some people will ask if you stream or what you stream, that ids your moment to shine let them know a little bit about what you do. Respect the chatters, respect the streamer, and respect the rules. If you follow this guide, you should be pretty good to go. Good luck in your Twitch adventures.

Thank you so much for reading. I really appreciate your time, and if you are someone who is feeling alone and wants to talk to someone, I stream most Thursdays and Saturdays, 8pm to 11 p.m. GMT. I hope you have a great rest of your day, and I will see you in the next blog post, I do or see you in a stream :)

Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special review

Hello and welcome to another movie review. Today, I would like to discuss Hannah Montana. Personally, I was not one of those kids who had the Disney Channel growing up. We just watched what was on the TV and didn't complain about it. It was only when I first discovered Netflix and, a few years later, Disney+ that my eyes were opened to the world of Disney shows that ran when I was younger. 

I actually binged-watched a few shows such as Victorious, Sam and Cat, and Hanna Montana around the age of 18-19. These were some truly great shows. I loved Victorious because it was very music-based, and Jade West was just an Icon to me as an emo. I wanted to be her. After Victorious, I moved on to Sam and Cat because it had Ariana Grande in it, so I had to watch it after I loved her as Cat in Victorious. 

But Hannah Montana had a flavor of something different, she was a rockstar but also lived as a normal girl. I think a lot of us wanted to be her growing up.

The anniversary was good, don't get me wrong, I just expected something entirely different, maybe a storyline of how Hanna's adult life would be, but it wasn't that, it was more reliving the memories, such as the set and the costumes. Miley also spoke to a few different people. It was really nice to see Chappell Roan in it. That was very unexpected for me. I do like how Miley has become a version of both the Hannah persona and herself. Miley has even worn the hair that was so iconic for Hannah. 

I think if I had watched Hanna Montana when I was a lot younger, seeing all the sets and costumes again would have been so nostalgic, but because I had seen it relatively recently, it didn't have the effect on me that it would have on a fan who has been a fan for longer. 

It was great to see Miley with her dad again; that was very heart-warming, but if you also expect a storyline of how Hannah's life has been since she has grown up, you might want to lower your bar. 

One thing I loved was that Miley performed some of the most iconic songs, and it was really great to relive some of those best moments of Hannah Montana, so I think I would rate it 5/10 because it wasn't what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed watching it. 

Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed my insight into this, and if you watch it, I really do hope you enjoy it. I hope you have a great rest of your day, and I will see you in the next one :)

The Secret Garden 1993 Movie Review

 

Hello and welcome to another movie review. This one is an older film than the ones I have been watching recently. The whole reason I watched it recently was that I had done so much socialising the day before that my energy was just gone; I didn't even feel like playing games, so I watched something I had previously watched when I was younger. Spoilers ahead.

I really like the way the main character, Mary, has inner dialogue. That is something older movies do, but I haven't seen it used too much in newer movies.

Mary also undergoes brilliant character development. Before she leaves India, she doesn't know basic manners, such as "please" and "thank you." She doesn't know how to dress herself. By the end of the movie, she is being nice to the staff, has made her first friend, and has learned to cry. It's a big change of character.

The friend (Dickon) Mary makes is a younger brother of one of the staff working in the house, as well as meeting and befriending her supposedly sick cousin, whom she had no idea existed and vice versa. She learns her cousin (Colin) is sick and has spent his whole life in bed. They discuss their mums and hang out at night, so Mrs Medlock, the woman in charge of Colin's care, doesn't catch them and keep them apart. 

In the end, Colin is allowed to leave the house and visit the Garden Mary, and Dickon replanted and brought back to life. Anytime I think about this movie, it reminds me of both my nans. One of my nans loved gardening; it was her favourite thing to do, and the other nan really likes movies like this one, so it is a pretty great movie in my mind, so for that, I will rate it 10/10. If you are looking for a cozy movie, this might be the one for you. I also found out there are other versions that I have not seen, so I have had to put those on my watch list, too. 

Thank you so much for your time in reading this. I think some of it may have gotten a little carried away, but I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you have a great rest of your day, and I will see you in the next blog post that I end up doing. :)

More Movie Reviews w/ Lilly - Trolls

Hello, all you wonderful people. I know I said I wanted to watch and review a lot of zombie movies, but my choice changed a little bit when I didn't really feel in the mood to watch a zombie movie right before bed. So instead I watched Trolls for the first time. I didn't think I would enjoy this movie when it first came out, so I avoided it. The only reason I decided to watch it was that it has Anna Kendrick playing a main role. 

Anna voiced Princess Poppy; I really liked how she took the lead on a lot of the songs sun in this movie, and there are a lot. So if you are not a fan of musical-type movies, this may not be for you, but I can say with quite a lot of certainty that children will genuinely love this movie. It's an explosion of colour, so much glitter, and there are sides of the good and bad guys, in the end, that actually gets resolved mainly because of what Princess Poppy does.

This movie has adventure, emotion, and some really great characters who end up bettering their character towards the end of the movie. The list of songs in this movie is crazy, and I will list a few of them after this paragraph, but I will say 'The Sound of Silence' was my favourite one, mostly because I never thought it would be in a movie this upbeat, and it really was a beautiful rendition. 

The songs used;

Better Place - Justin Timberlake

True Colours - Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake 

Sound Of Silence - Anna Kendrick

I'm Coming Out - Zooey Deschanel and Anna Kendrick

Get Back Up Again - Anna Kendrick

Can't Stop The Feeling - Justin Timberlake

They Don't Know - Ariana Grande

Hair Out - Gwen Stefani and Justin Timberlake

There were a lot of songs, and to list them all, I would be typing all the names out for a while. I picked some ones that probably encapsulate the movie and are a good few to listen to to see if this might be a movie for you. I think there are 26 songs used in the movie. I am not 100% sure, as it was a late-night watch, but I did try to count, and that is something. 

I have been trying to avoid spoilers, but I still give you as much detail as possible so you can judge if this would be a movie for you. However, I will give you one spoiler: the ending of the movie. When it is decided that the bad guys are no longer bad, they are all happy (the main focus of this movie is happiness). You, as the viewer, do not find out if the two factions of beings end up living together in harmony. I assumed that they would; however, this is not confirmed. So, because of that little fact, I think I am going to rate this movie a 9/10.

Thank you so much for reading. If you watch this movie, I really hope you enjoy it, and I will be back in a week with another movie review (probably) :)

Falling out of love with food and the journey back

 Hello, friends. Welcome back to my ramblings. I know it's been a while, but I don't always have much to say on the things that are going on in my everyday life that would be interesting. But I do now, so buckle up, maybe this is something you can relate to.

For the past month, I have not really found any enjoyment in food. I eat the same few meals on a rotation that doesn't change up all that much. Granted, I will eat them in different orders to add a little more variety. But myself and food haven't ever really gotten on so well. I started being a vegetarian around the age of 16-ish, and it didn't occur to me that I should keep the date. I decided to change my dietary choices in my brain, but it has been a while since I made that choice. 

For the past month, food has just not been satisfying. I am eating, you know, you have to do that to stay alive, but it just doesn't hit the spot. I don't think I could add too many new things to make food hit the spot of satisfaction. I will try to hunt for some new dishes to make, and try to let you know if it changes. I just don't know why my body is saying no, this isn't good enough.

A list of the different foods I have made that didn't hit the spot recently;

Cheese pizza, vegetarian spaghetti bolognese with garlic, oregano, cheese, and raw onion, hash browns with cheese topped with garlic and raw onion, fake roast chicken, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, broccoli and cauliflower, cheese and onion sandwich, cheese on toast, cheesy chips, fake bacon sandwich, cheesy pasta with garlic, oregano, and raw onion.

I had no idea so many of the meals I have regularly, have so much cheese in them, and I am lactose intolerant.  

I don't eat fish, I am not a fan of many different vegetables, but I am still eating fruits. I wanted to say this just in case I got some judgment on the whole meal thing. Maybe one day my palate will mature a little bit to the point of being able to enjoy foods such as ratatouille, eggplant, etcetera.

I have recently tried spinach for the first time. It's actually been a whole week of me putting spinach into everything, I put it on cheese on toast, and pizza. I have even had three sandwiches for dinner this past week, and I have put them in those too. I think I am finally starting to get back to at least being okay with making something, and it actually tastes fine. I think a big part of finding my way back to enjoying the food I am eating was getting my mental health in check and also finding something new to spice things up a bit.

If you feel like you are falling out of love with something, try taking a step back and looking at it from a different angle. It doesn't just have to be food. It could be anything. For example, when I am not feeling great, and I feel like maybe this is the start of a depression spiral, I will do everything I can to not feel like I am falling even further. Having a shower is always something that makes me feel less icky, and tidying up my surroundings can help with that too. Even though tidying/cleaning can feel overwhelming, tackling the task before you can think about it too much might be the best way to go. Wake up and get on with it, don't sit doom-scrolling rotting away. Do the thing that needs to be done because eventually it will feel like a weight off your shoulders. It's the same for falling out of love with food. Try meal prep, something in the morning that will go towards your dinner in the evening. 

Things will get better; you just have to give it time. Thank you so much for reading. I hope you have a great rest of your day, and I will see you in my next post. :)

'Love, Actually: Stories of the 'Verse 2956 Contest' - A Star Citizen Short Story

 
   Our love did not start in the stars, but it's endless just as the galaxy seems to be. 

No, our love did not start in the stars, rather it started on a planet where the greens had become a muddled brown and the sun was hiding behind the smog created by growing industries. Wall-e would be disappointed in us as a society. But, I would like to think he would be proud of us as a couple. Just as Wall-e and Eve stole everyone’s hearts dancing in the dark of space, stars and fire suppressant twinkling in their eyes; our love has soared through the galaxies.

He took to the stars before I did, had to scope out the ships and make sure it was safe. We started by calling Arccorp home, Area 18 was not a very original name for a base but it was sure better then ending up trapped in Area 51. Our first jobs were not very exciting, nor were they very productive. I may or may not have crashed a few times in the process of learning how to fly my Aegis Titan. But he knew how to help me be better. Taking me out of the driver seat. That can’t always be the solution though. Sure, it works out for when we are traveling to the moon that’s veiled in a violet mist that prevents me from seeing the ground and knowing where to land. Or when we are trying to track down Kopions and he needs somebody to help man the gunnery seat. So when we made our way to New Babbage and I fell in love with the little wonderful snowboarding penguin Pico, we knew we found a new home base as well as a new way to make me a better flyer. And so, my little fluffy flight companion became a staple in every adventure we took together. My hubby would be there waiting for me with a fresh friend every time I logged on and woke up in them hotel room beds. Sometimes he even takes me to Crusader to pick up the Stormwal duo Finley and Francis to have play dates with Pico. If Pico could put out a distress beacon, I would be there. Just as I will always be there for my favorite Space Man. Being a piece of candy hunting, loot goblin, who adopts every left behind plushie and fills his cockpit with an army of plushies.

Together we have taken on new planets, discovered new creatures, collected many pieces of ‘candy’ (aka luminalia presents and lunar year envelopes), and many Pico plushie companions guiding us through the adventures we take.

Here’s hoping for many more flights through the stars and many more years of our love.

Lilly's First Movie Review - World Ends At Camp Z

Hello, I know it's been a little while. I have been busy working on my YouTube channel content and the podcast episodes that are due to go out in this coming month, but while I was doing some editing, I thought I would throw on some background noise like people do. 

I was scrolling through a bunch of movies, and a thought popped into my mind. I love zombie movies! I have seen so many different zombie movies, so I am going to be re-watching everything I have seen in the zombie movie genre and then reviewing them here.

When I was younger and in school, I had no social life at all. I would wake up, go to school, come home, and jump straight onto Netflix. Most of what I would watch back in the day was spooky, dark, and a bit of horror. I still love zombie movies, but don't really have time to watch as many as I originally wanted with all the different projects going on in my life, but I am now going to make time for them. I do review movies on the podcast I run with my co-host Leo, but I don't think there will be much crossover from these two different platforms, at least at the start. Just know, I will write these out first, so maybe the blog posts will be more detailed, and obviously, I will be able to speak my whole truth on a matter without a time limit.

Today's movie is World Ends At Camp Z.

This movie took so long to introduce a single zombie; it was about 53 minutes in before a single zombie had appeared on screen. For a zombie movie, I expect more zombies. The storyline was watery at best. What I mean by that is it was just so diluted. The characters are not memorable. I remember one character name, and that is it. Her name is Vanessa, so we will start there. SPOILERS AHEAD! 

Vanessa arrives at the camp that her client (her boyfriend) wants to buy, but the person she meets is a great storyteller (gives vibes of a bear and is probably a teddy bear), and the guy who ends up being everyone's lacky he mostly wears a blue coat, so I will refer to this guy as Blue. Blue doesn't like Vanessa when she arrives, but they all have to have dinner together, and she needs Blue's help. These two characters start warming up to eachother. Then her, probably crazy rich, boyfriend arrives with his friends. I can only describe these people as frat boys. There was another woman with the boys in the helicopter; this woman basically has her hands all over Vanessa's boyfriend, and it turns out the boyfriend was lying to her about what he wanted to do with the camp. Vanessa clearly deserves someone better, like maybe Blue. If that was also your train of thought, you would be wrong. They don't end up together. Blue tried to save everyone's lives, even though they treated him like dirt, but paid him well enough to shut up and get on with it, while the group of rich people partied like it was their last party ever. Well, it turns out it might actually be their last party ever. Cause they get attacked by a group of zombies, and the only two not lost in the pile of starving living dead are Vanessa and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is like, "Oh, I will save Blue". Probably because he feels bad and has been a bit of a dirtbag. This may be the one good deed he did in his short-lived life, because oh no, that's the end of Mr.Money Bags. Boyfriend pulls Blue out of danger, then gets attacked himself. Blue and Vanessa row away from this awful situation in Blue's canoe, but oh no, he's been bitten. Guess it's bye-bye Blue. They stop by a tree, and Vanessa has to kill him because he doesn't want to become a zombie. The movie ends with Vanessa sailing away in the canoe on her own. 

This is a storyline where no one wins, and I feel like I wasted about an hour and a half. I would not recommend this movie; it would maybe be different if Blue and Vanessa got to live a long, happy life in a log cabin hidden in the woods or something. This storyline also would not have been possible if Vanessa and Mr.Money Bags decided to stay home because there was a pandemic mentioned once or twice in this movie. 

If you want some background noise of something that isn't terribly interesting, this might be great; however, if you are looking for a decent zombie movie with lovable characters that you can form an emotional attachment to, this is not for you.

I am sorry this is not the best start to the zombie movie review series that I wanted to start, but this just infuriated me so much because I wanted something decent to watch while doing some other stuff on my computer. I think I was renaming files and putting them all in the correct place. So I ended up having two things that were kind of boring going on at the same time when it could have just been one. My overall rating of this movie would be a 3/10 its only so high for what it was because I liked Vanessa when she started warming up to Blue, and the storyteller was a cool character, but he had barely any screen time. There was also a cool-looking zombie. Lots of zombie movies/tv shows have zombies that have skin rotting and peeling off them; these zombies did not. 

Thank you so much for reading. I really hope my next movie review will be far better because I have seen some great ones. Have a great rest of your day, and I will see you when I next post again. :)