Annual missing One Direction Post.

The other day I spent a considerable amount just sitting and listening to One Direction music. I tend to do that a lot sometimes, and I’m pretty sure I’ll keep doing it for a long time. One Direction came into my life randomly and then really suddenly left it as well. I always had these dreams of watching them in concert and freaking out and when they left for their break, I still thought these dreams could come true sometime somehow. No doubt that their solo careers have been fulfilling especially for Harry with his recent Grammy successes, but that never takes away the fact that there has not been new One Direction music for the past five years now.

I recently came across a ton of people who adore One Direction still as much as I do. Their music is simple pleasure and its so hard to find that with anything else. So here with my Annual One Direction post, here are my favourite songs from every single album!

1. Up All Night (2011): Save you tonight.
2. Take Me Home (2012): Back for you.
3. Midnight Memories (2013): Through the dark.
4. Four (2014): Where do broken hearts go.
5. Made in the A.M. (2015): End of the day.

Person of Interest Series Finale!

NOT spoiler free:

I started Person of Interest very casually, very uninterested. I wasn’t going to be emotionally invested: I mean, how original could a crime solving show really be? But Person of Interest had widely different plans. Created by Jonathan Nolan, it follows the story of Harold Finch and John Reese: two totally unlikely heroes who team up to save people from crimes that would be committed on them, or by them. They are guided by ‘The Machine’ – an artificial intelligence programmed to eke out crime from the American society, a machine that predicts people’s behaviour and that the government uses to secretly spy on the people all in an effort to avoid another devastating terror attack.

Finch and Reese start off as a formal partnership but you know right from the start that it’s only a matter of time before they mean much more to each other than they planned to.

The show introduces and kills off various characters over the years with many joining these two in their crusade and with three of them staying right till the end. The series finale – episode 13 of the fifth season has a final showdown of the team against the evil artificial intelligence they’ve been fighting. The forty minute episode ends up being an extraordinary end to what’s been an ordinary show.

The finale wraps up every character’s storyline perfectly and also leaves room for new beginnings. The episode brings with it some of the best quotes from the whole six years run of the show. I read this article titled ‘person of interest’s moment that really matters is its last one’ and nothing rings truer than that.

Without speaking too much of it, Person of Interest ends much better than 90% of shows I’ve watched and if you want to experience a very wholesome series finale – watch Person of Interest.

Travelling and how therapeutic it feels.

I love travelling. It makes you feel so much and gives you so much. You can go anywhere and you can go with anyone and it’s all exciting. Travelling is so beautiful too. Every new place that you see and discover is full of stories – that’s probably the best part about the whole travelling scenario.

Vacations have been put on a back burner for a while now. It’s frustrating because even a small vacation – even just a day can change so much for you. It can make you all relaxed and forget about so many things. Conversely, it can make you remember things you didn’t think were important but hey, they’re important!

Almost every person I know loves travelling. Really, it’s s so hard to not love it. You meet things and people, you eat, and every place you go to somehow it becomes a part of you. Like it can be just 0.0000001% a part of you but once you’ve been there – it’s a part of you. I love that. It makes travelling so personal for everyone. With 2021 going faster than anticipated, here’s hoping everyone gets some small amount travelling squeezed in because it can really make a huge difference.

Anime and how feel-good it is.

For the past 1.5 years I’ve been watching a lot of anime. And I mean, a lot. Almost every alternate show I start is an anime. I’ve watched so much mainstream stuff (mostly recommended by my brother) and a few on my own as well. Anime was a very unexplored avenue for me before 2019 and now I can only say it’s one of the happiest additions to my life.

Anime is nothing if not wholesome, feel-good, pure and so dam gripping that you can’t help but recommend it to everyone you know! Most anime will have a great story, loveable characters and really good humour. I have yet to come across one that I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed and devoured.

Over the past few months I’ve watched Free, Haikyuu, My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer: all of them are world class. I know these are super famous ones and that’s why they are total must-watches! Every little thing in an anime stands out beautifully- friendships, family, origin stories and ships. Everything I watch delivers me one favourite character but believe me when I say so, you will have to search long and hard to find an anime with despicable characters. From Haikyuu’s volleyball boys to Demon Slayer’s mind blowing lead, you will love every single thing they do.

Watching anime is so refreshing that I’m always surprised when people don’t watch it. These small 25 minute episodes are so fulfilling and gripping that you don’t even register you’re watching a totally different language! All in all, anime is really good and I highly recommend it to increase your daily dose of happiness.

Writing and how magical it feels.

I’m currently reading The Priory of The Orange Tree and I’m 95% done with it. There are various parts that I’m reading and I’m just blown by the beautiful writing. Reading this got me thinking about how amazing writers are. I mean, here there are these regular people who can write so incredibly well that it make you feel so much. You can feel joy, hurt, happiness, love and pretty much everything just by reading their words. That is some mad talent.

Sometimes I read something so beautiful that it gives me goosebumps. Or I’ll read a scene described so well that I can see it right there in front of me. And it never fails to surprise me how people can people so brilliant. It got me thinking how this is something that you’re probably born with, that you can’t learn. Something not everyone can do.

I love books. I love reading. But my favourite part is always the writing. And it’s that special kind of writing that’s so pure and so ‘you can’t put it down’ that always does it for me. The other night I spent hours thinking about this: about how some people are so dam special with their writing and how much better the world is because of them. I concluded that writing is the positively one of the best things to have and I think I’ll never stop loving how it makes me feel.

A Happy Day Playlist:

Beginning, Middle and End – Leah Nobel

Suburbia – Troye Sivan

Afterglow – Ed Sheeran

Throw Me Now Your Arms – Damien Jurado

Follow Your Fire – Kodaline

To All The Boys: Always and Forever

I don’t think I’ve really cared for a rom-com as much as I’ve cared for the TATB franchise. Both the books and the movies are the ultimate definition of feel-good. They’re so pure, simple and unrealistic that I can’t help but love Lara Jean and Peter page after page, and scene after scene.

The third and final instalment of the movies dropped on Netflix on the 12th of February and hands down is my favourite one. Being the longest of the three movies seems like it would be a stretch but it’s so adorable that you don’t even want to look for faults.

Always and Forever follows Lara Jean and Peter in this senior year of high school with all the cliches – prom, senior trip, choosing a college, and the mighty scary future. The movie retains and rewrites a lot of the book. Major moments from the book are still but same, but lots of stuff is different. However, that doesn’t make a difference because Lana and Noah deliver an adorable teen romance that you won’t be able to get enough of.

The song delivers a beautiful song as Lara Jean and Peter’s “song” and believe me, you will be addicted. The movie is filled with super cute moments and I kept pausing the movie at various times just to stare at these perfect moments. Plus, Lana Condor looks amazing, and her lipstick choices are pretty rad. After pausing at multiple times, I also took and fangirled over the following pictures: (you’re welcome).

This movie is total must watch! Rating: 9/10!

Really Feeling 24:

I’m not a birthday person. I mean, not really. If I’ve know you for a while and you mean loads to me, then I’ll do a lot to make your birthday special. I’ve never really been a ‘I care about my own birthday’ person. It’s never been a big deal for me and I always try really hard to treat it like a regular day. Really, my favourite part about it is the fact that I share it with my brother. 

And so every year, our birthday goes by and nothing changes because it’s one day and that’s okay. But this year, something really weird happened. 

I really, really felt like I grew a year older this time (and I’ve never felt that before). I think this feeling was related to many small different feelings. Like not really wanting the day to even come or like not wanting to answer questions about what I’m doing or what I plan to do. I guess I’ve never realised this but people take birthday wishes as an excuse to start a question based conversation that is totally unnecessary (and pretty annoying). 

Somewhere during the day I couldn’t help but think ‘hey, this is now what I thought me at 24 would be’. Sure, I didn’t have any clear picture but I think I knew what I wouldn’t be doing. Life is pretty funny that way. 

So there I am, sitting and replying to messages and turning 24 and really feeling like I’ve gone a whole year doing not much and that I’ve turned 24 way, way too soon. 

Anyone else grow older and really feel older?

Book Review: Red, White and Royal Blue

You know how you’re really waiting for something – a person, a job, a movie – and then you get it and it totally turns out to be shit and you’re so disappointed? Forget that feeling because every thing you might’ve heard about RWB is true.

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey Mcquiston is her debut novel following the lives of Alex – the son of the president of the United States and Henry – the Prince of Wales. It’s a love story that is so pure and maybe a bit cliché but that’s probably the best part.

I was really excited for this book. It had been on my list for almost eight months and I’d heard such great things about it. I was a bit scared too. I worried that having such high expectations may lead to me not enjoying the book and that would suck because I really enjoy YA. But, RWB is a joy. It’s simple and addictive and it’s written so incredibly well that you’re just hooked right away.

As all fiction, so many things feel unreal. This is my favourite thing about fiction though: that no matter how unreal something feels, it’s pretty beautiful to experience. The book is a journey you take with Alex and Henry and watch as they hopelessly fall in love through late night phone calls, official visits and quoting hopelessly from old love letters.

Rating: 4.5/5

Fate or Destiny or Something

I’ve been a strong believer in that thing people say – that you get exactly what you need when you need it or that anything that has to happen for you will happen at the right time. That if you’re looking at other people getting things that you really want as well, you have to believe that it’ll happen for you exactly when it has to.

But that’s a really hard belief to keep. I mean, there are so many times where you end up thinking, ‘If I really, really want something shouldn’t I just go get it?’. Or you know, you think about how college will be the best time of your life and you’ll experience things and meet people and then suddenly that doesn’t happen – but it happens to everyone else. Then all you can think is how there’s nothing to believe in and that anything can only happen when YOU do something about it.

I once read somewhere that it’s pretty important for people to have something to believe in. Pretty much anything to believe in, like destiny, or a chosen path, or the fact that One Direction music can really be comfort music. Because beliefs can be so important. They can be so important because you can be anywhere, thinking of anything, dealing with everything and you have that 1% of belief in something and you’re okay.

Thinking about all this, I’ve been wondering what other beliefs people might have out here?