Sunshine Blogger Award

Hey guys! Well, my aim this month was to be more productive and I have actually been very motivated to get stuff done, just apparently not on my blog XD (I'm the worse blogger!). So far this month, I have been focusing all my energy (which is not a lot to be honest, Seasonal Affective Disorder is not fun!) on my toy photography hobby. Over on my Instagram that's dedicated entirely to my love of toys and collectable vinyl figures, I have been taking part in two daily challenges, one of them has prompts for each day which is great (Oh, and I just started joining in with a new one today!). Its been very fun! I've also been dealing with the typical #WriterProblems of ignoring the piece I'm supposed to be working on, indulging my overactive imagination, and writing new stories, haha! It's both enjoyable and frustrating- I'd just like to finish a 'project' for once! 

So anyhow, today I'm focusing on my blog (and my story :D because I just want to exist in a fantasy realm as much as possible) and finally answering the tag post that the awesome Kim over at Chimmyville tagged me in. Be sure to check out her blog & have a read of her answers :) Thankyou for the tag lovely ♥ I hope you all enjoy reading! 

I can't seem to find who the original creator of the Sunshine Blogger Award was, but I absolutely love that it's given from blogger to blogger and is a celebration of bloggers who are inspiring, motivational or positive :) It's a lovely message and an awesome way to spread the love! Here are the rules for the Sunshine Blogger Award: 

♥ Thank the blogger who nominated you & link back to their blog,

♥ Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you,

♥ Nominate 11 bloggers to receive the award & ask them 11 questions,

♥ And finally, make sure to list the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post and/or your blog. 

Here are my answers to Kim's questions... 

1. What keeps you motivated?

I actually struggle a lot with motivating myself, a very frustrating symptom of depression, which is something that I struggle with. Probably not a very positive way to start my post, but to be honest I haven't found much that keeps me motivated! Well, other than to do things that I really love to do :) If I enjoy it, then I'm more likely to be motivated to do it because it makes me feel good. This year I've been working on not forcing myself to do things and putting too much pressure on myself. I've been trying to just go with the flow and do things whenever I get a random burst of motivation! Sorry guys, I know this isn't very helpful advice... but just do things that make you happy, and don't force things! Oh and make to-do lists, they do actually help me! Remember to break your tasks up into smaller, more manageable ones so that they won't be as much of a challenge to complete. Baby steps are key when you're feeling unmotivated in my opinion! 

2. If you could travel anywhere in the world (money is no object here), where would you go and why? 

I would most definitely travel to Japan. I have wanted to go ever since I was in my early teens and it would just be a dream come true! :) I am determined to get there some day! Not only does it look like such a beautiful place with its gorgeous natural scenery and interesting culture and architecture, it's also rich in history and fascinating traditions. Plus it's just the perfect place for nerds :p 

3. What is your favourite season and why?

My favourite season is Autumn, for so many reasons. I love the seasonal changes, the colourful leaves are just gorgeous and I adore that the blaring sunshine and the heat goes away because I'm not a fan of it at all! It's nice to experience a few sunny days but I much prefer autumnal weather, when it's not too hot and not freezing cold yet. It's also the time of year in which both my birthday and my favourite holiday fall (haha, get it! :D). Halloween is wonderful and I look forward to it so much! It's super fun being able to dress up and also decorate my bedroom with ALL THE SPOOKY THINGS! (Although my bedroom has spooky things in it all year round; well spooky to some, beautiful to me!). You can check out what else I love about Autumn here, on the first blog post I ever wrote back in 2015 :O 

4. List your five favourite movies and why they're your favourites.

♥ Disney's The Lion King 2 (and the first movie too of course)

- Because the soundtrack is AMAZING, it's super nostalgic to me and makes me feel happy whenever I watch it, Scar is my favourite Disney villain, I absolutely love Kovu's and Zira's characters from LK 2 and oh my gosh, the sassy zebra & antelope that sing 'Not One of Us' :D they are fabulous! 

♥ Little Shop of Horrors 

- This is an outstanding musical! It was the first ever musical that I watched when I was around six years old and I just fell in love with musicals from then on :) As a fan of horror, I love that this musical has a horror theme and Audrey 2 is fantastic! The soundtrack is epic and I find myself randomly bursting into song all the time with them. 

♥ Princess Mononoke
- It's actually so tough for me to choose my absolute favourite Studio Ghibli movie because they are all so wonderful, but I think it's gonna have to be Princess Mononoke. One of the reasons why I love Studio Ghibli movies so much is their attention to detail when it comes to their nature animation. It looks so beautiful, and Princess Mononoke has a lot of it! I love the mythology theme of the movie and all of the gorgeous creatures it in. I also love Princess Mononoke herself because she's epic! Are you a fan of Ghibli movies guys? Let me know your favourite in the comments :) 

♥ Pan's Labyrinth
- I love Guillermo del Toro's movies, they are fantastic, especially Pan's Labyrinth :) It's basically a fairytale for adults with a sinister story and spooky legendary creatures. I'm a fan of both fairytales and horrors, and this is the perfect combination of the two. I just love it! I also really like watching movies in other languages, and this one is in Spanish. If you haven't seen it, you need to! 

♥ The Devils Rejects 
- I couldn't not include a horror movie on here and although I actually have three top horror movies, I find it hard to rank them so I just picked one of them at random to include on this list. I really enjoy movies from Rob Zombie, and this is my favourite horror he's done. It's about a family of serial killers and I like that a lot of the story is told from their point of view, VS the 'good guys' involved. I don't want to give away too many spoilers if you haven't watched it so I can't explain some of the reasons why I love it, but one thing I can say is that there are some really funny lines in it, that never fail to make me laugh :D 

5. List your five favourite TV shows and why they're your favourites. 

♥ Game of Thrones
- I loved the books, it's got the perfect mix of fantasy and history, lots of strong female characters, sorcery, lots of wit and humour so it always makes me laugh, DRAGONS! Also, I have it to thank for bringing Jason Momoa into my life! Khal Drogo though *heart eyes*

♥ Vikings
- Lots of historical accuracy because it's produced by the History Channel, I didn't know much about Viking history from the point of view of the Vikings themselves before watching the show so I found it very interesting learning all about them, I love Norse mythology, lots of gorgeous guys, epic battle scenes, Lagertha (she's amazing!), shield-maidens (if you didn't know, the Vikings had female warriors and they were badass)! 

♥ The Handmaid's Tale
- I really enjoy the dystopian genre, the lead is a really relatable and strong female character, the whole story revolves around the life of women living under a strict, religious regime that oppresses and controls them and there are so many badass characters who are fighting for their lives and trying to escape so it's a very compelling watch :) The book by Margaret Atwood that it's adapted from is really good too! 

♥ The Walking Dead
- Daryl Dixon and other intricate, interesting characters, the zombies look incredible and the makeup artists who bring them to life are so so talented, it's another dystopian/apocalyptic themed show that also has a lot of horror elements to it, so many great storylines and relationships that make you really invested in the characters, epic villains (especially Negan!), did I mention Daryl Dixon? Because he's fantastic! :P 

♥ The OA
- This is a brilliant tv show written by Brit Marling, who is also an amazing actress (who happens to star in this show too)! It's a Netflix series and I cannot recommend it enough :) It's a mix of several genres that mesh so well together to create a complex, fascinating tale. It is one of the many shows that has helped me get more and more interested in Sci-fi, and its' one of those shows that really gets you thinking and questioning things. Plus, Jason Isaacs is in it and he's one of my favourite actors, and he's not so bad to look at either ;) 

6. What are you reading at the moment? 

I've not long finished reading the Harry Potter novels and the urge to read them all over again is real, but I'm currently writing a fanfiction branching off the stories so I don't want to distract myself away from my own storyline by reading the books again! :D I'm going to get myself a copy of the new book, Vox by Christina Dalcher (check out my awesome friend Estelle's review all about it here) as soon as I can spare the cash :) I also think it's about time that I read the Lord of Rings trilogy & The Hobbit, so I need to pick up books those too! 

7. Why do you blog?

I blog for so many reasons, but I originally started my blog to give myself a creative outlet and to help encourage myself to focus on something, to distract myself away from the hard things I was experiencing in my life. My mental health got really bad when I was in my final year at university and after I graduated, I was still in a really dark place so I was in desperate need of my own little happy place, somewhere to take myself away from all the stuff I was dealing with on a daily basis. So, I made my blog as a space for me to talk about all of the things that I loved! Now three years later, I am still dealing with the struggles my mental health conditions bring and so my blog is still somewhere I can go to remind myself of all the good things in life. It's been a tough year for me, and I haven't been able to blog as much as I've wanted to, but it's still awesome being able to look back on all the positive things that have happened in my life over the last few years via my blog :) 

8. If you could go back in time, which period of history would you visit and why?

As a history geek, this question was such a challenge to answer! I've been sitting here for like 10 minutes trying to settle on just one :D My favourite historical periods/civilisations were the Vikings, the Ancient Egyptians, the Native Americans and the Victorians. I really like the Middle Ages too. I could list several more XD But I think I'm gonna have to go with Ancient Egypt as my final answer. It has been the historical time period that I have been fascinated with for the longest. I was only around 7 or 8 when I become really interested in history and I have the Egyptians to thank for that :) I just love everything about their history: the religions and all the ceremonies and deities that came with them, the architecture, the traditions and culture. It would be incredible to see it all with my own eyes! *starts drawing up plans to make a time machine*… HA I won't get far with my maths skills XD

9. You're holding a dinner party, which five fictional characters would you invite and why? 

I would invite Tyrion Lannister from The Song of Ice & Fire/Game of Thrones, Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, Newt Scamander from Fantastic Beasts, Hannibal Lecturer from the TV series, Hannibal, and Jason Momoa in any fictional form he wants XD Tyrion because he's hilarious and witty af, so he'd make the dinner party so entertaining. Luna because she's wonderful and quirky and I'd love to have conversation with her about creatures and all things mythical. I'd invite Newt for similar reasons, and he'd be able to share stories of his adventures in far-off lands and about all the creatures he's encountered along the way! It probably sounds weird that I would invite Hannibal :D but the guy is so intelligent and I think he'd talk about some very interesting things. I'm a sucker for deep conversation. And finally, why Jason? Because this dream banquet wouldn't be complete without some eye-candy :p 

10. Would you spend £10,000 on a deposit for a house or your dream wedding?

I'm a single pringle right now, but to be honest I'd rather have a cute, little, inexpensive wedding to get the chance to buy a beautiful house in the countryside with land for all my dream pets any day! 

11. What is your dream car? 

I am not really up to date with popular car models and makes, and I don't drive, but I like big trucks and I cannot lie :p If it looks like a serial killer in a horror movie would drive it, I'll take it XD I don't even know why! #HorrorObsessed

Now, here are my 11 questions for all of the wonderful bloggers I've tagged to answer :)

1. What's your favourite mythical creature?

2. Do you collect anything? If so what?

3. If you could dress up as anything for Halloween (with no cost restrictions in mind), what would you dress as?

4. What are your top 5 songs right now?

5. Share a fond memory from your childhood, and why it's meaningful to you :) 

6. What's your favourite species of bird? (hahaha I know this is super random, but I was just having a conversation about birds and was compelled to ask! :D) 

7. Imagine you could be a witch or wizard for a day, what spell would you most like to cast first? Tell us why.

8. Do you have a go-to Autumnal make up product?

9. Spooky or Spoopy? (or both like me!)? 

10. What's something that you love the texture of? (Apologies for the random questions guys, I'm not very good at this!) 

11. Are you a fan of Sci-fi? If so, do you have a favourite movie and/or TV show?

I nominate... 

♥ Natalee

♥ Estelle

♥ Jess

♥ Eleanor

♥ Stacey

♥ Cate

♥ Elle May

♥ Gail 

♥ Amy 

♥ India Rose

♥ Vikki

Thankyou for reading! I know it was a super long post to get through :D 

I hope you have a lovely week everyone!

♥ 

I'd love to hear your answers to any of the questions I've answered in today's post,

or to any of my 11 questions so please feel free to share those in the comments :)