Comic book - Anya's Ghost

 
 It’s finally Thursday, and if you are reading that must mean that my introduction did not scare you away completely - which is great! Because I have some goodies to present for you today!

I have chosen to talk about one of my favorite (and newest) comic book ''Anya's Ghost'' by Vera Brosgol. The book is about a girl named Anya who tries to survive her life in high school without getting too much unwanted attention, but that is hard when you are a bit of a klutz and come from Russia and therefore already standout both with looks and accent. But over the years Anya has learned the social ground rules and thereby made school attendance easier compared to her Russian childhood friend Dina who goes to the same school, and are daily bullied.

Anya’s life suddenly gets turned around when she accidentally falls into an old well. She soon discovers that she is not alone down there: The ghost of a dead girl is patiently waiting by her skeleton for someone to find her – and Anya is the lucky one. The Ghost ask Anya to help her and Anya promise but inside knows, that when she gets saved from the well she will put the whole thing behind her – but the ghost has other plans for her.

What I like about this comic, aside from the wonderful art is that it just portraits a typical teenager with all her flaws. As the reader you can really identify yourself with her - and it just makes the book so much more amiable!

She is one of those girls who are capable of so much, but think so little of themselves - In the course of the book, however, we see her grow - she begins daring to be herself, standing up for what she believes in - she is Russian, and it occurs to her that is nothing to be sorry about.

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The author Vera Brosgol has really managed to make a fantastic youth comic book with a lovely message - You embrace what defines you!

Creepypasta Recommended #1 - Technology

Do you love the technology? Your television, computer and phone? It did something good to the world, didn’t it? Oh, what wonders have come out of it! Everything we see and hear today has probably come in touch with technology at one point.

But have you ever thought of the consequences of these lovely wonders? There’s always a bad side to the good. Always a negative to the positive. You may not see it in the beginning. You may not ever see it. But it is there. Lurking and ready to show whenever the timing is there.

 Wonders can so easily turn into horrors.

Horrors that will come and haunt you – till you feel that all sanity has left your body. It will come for you, and attack at your most vulnerable moments, draining your will to live.

 

This Wednesday will be a creepypasta day! Today I will be recommending a creepypasta I read last week! For those of you who don’t know what a creepypasta is:

A creepypasta is usually a short story containing scary elements with the point of disturbing or creeping out the reader – sometimes with a nice twist added in the end. It is not the typical horror stories, since they often deviate from the classical horror elements, and they can also be accompanied with video files or pictures.

Many of the popular creepypastas were posted on message boards all around the internet, having people forwarding them, and they were shared that way. Therefore it can sometimes be hard to tell whether the creepypasta is a true story or just pure fiction.

To have a more detailed description of what creepypastas are, you can go to this link: 

Know Your Meme - Creepypasta

 

The other day I read a very popular creepypasta with many titles; “Ben Drowned”, “Majora’s Mask”, “Haunted Majora’s Mask cartridge” and the simple title “Ben”. I’m going to go with the last one.


Source: Unknown

[Spoilers – You have been warned]

 

The story “Ben” is told by a guy called Jadusable. When visiting different garage sales, he stumbles upon the Legend of Zelda game – Majora’s Mask.

He starts playing, and sees that another game has already been saved - with the name “Ben”. He starts up a new game and soon forgets about the other one. As he is playing, he feels like trying out a well-known glitch in the game which lets the player have one more day to complete a certain mission. Things do not go as he had expected though, and the game starts acting weird, having some really creepy glitches.

Jadusable keeps playing – and as more disturbing stuff appears - he gets more and more terrified by the game. The game is soon known to be “haunted” by a boy called Ben who drowned and died – and Ben haunts Jadusable both through the game and computer creating havoc in Jadusable’s life.

The story is very long – I spent most of my day reading it, but since it caught my attention right away and kept hold on me till the end, it could have much longer for what I care. You might be thinking; the story is about a Legend of Zelda game? Is that going to be scary at all? And to answer that; Well, you may or may not have played the Legend of Zelda game Majora’s Mask, and may or may not have found it interesting when playing it.



Legend of Zelda - Majora's Mask
Source: Unknown

As for myself, I have never played any kind of Legend of Zelda game (which is probably bad upbringing, but oh well) and I found this story terrifying! I had problems sleeping after reading it, and my paranoia went right to the top, making me jump at every little sound and having me observe every movement made by my very still furniture and non-living stuff.

It might just be me, but the creepypasta must be so popular for a reason, right?
As if the written description of the stuff that happened in the game wasn’t enough, our so-called Jadusable even posted videos of the game play showing everything exactly as it was described.




“Ben” is a great example of how technology can turn out to be something horrifying and feared. The boy Ben chooses to act like a virus in Jadusable’s computer – watching everything Jadusable does, deleting posts on the internet, and maybe even writing some itself. Who knows – maybe it was even Ben who made this whole story up?

Even though the story may not be real – it still makes you rethink how much you trust the technology in this world. You might just be the next victim.

Read the creepypasta “Ben” here:

Ben (HauntedMajora’s Mask)

That was all I had for today. I hope you enjoyed my first real post on Funny little features – even though it was a rather dark topic, ha ha! If you know any good creepypastas, be sure to say in the comments! I’m always open to a new scare!

I apologize for any wrong or mistaken information.
I will see you next Wednesday!

Shia

Guilty Pleasures

Last week was all about getting to know the name behind Tuesday and today is somewhat similar – I will be sharing my guilty pleasures with all of you so I can feel a little better about myself.

Of course I have a lot of guilty pleasure (I mean, who doesn’t?) and most of them – yes, you guessed correctly – revolves around food. I cannot avoid the unavoidable any longer – let’s just get this over with.

MARSHMALLOWS

I have an intense love for marshmallows that goings way beyond anything even remotely reasonable and healthy. I just love marshmallows beyond any comprehension and I judge any and everyone who doesn’t like them. How can you not like marshmallows?! What’s not to like? They are absolutely wonderful – sweet, fluffy, gooey, spongy and just utter perfection. Especially of you give them a lovely brown crust so the exterior will be all crispy and chewy and the interior will be all soft and gooey and sticky and just ooze all over the place and make a mess. And sandwiched between two chocolate covered biscuits – what more could you possibly want?

ICE CREAM

Where do I start? How do I even begin to describe this frozen wonder in all its glory? How can anyone understand the immense love I carry for this amorous dairy product? How can I, a simple 

human being, describe the amount of perfection ice cream carries? It is impossibly, dear readers. Impossible. I will never be able to convert the wonders of ice cream into words. I can’t. So I won’t even try. I’m gonna go and eat the feelings that emerged just from writing this.

BREAD

Yes bread. I know this is somewhat lame but I have this horrible habit of snacking on bread whenever I’m bored. It’s horrible and full of carbs and I don’t know how to stop. I need help. This doesn't even deserve a picture.

DIET COKE

With this one I am completely defenceless. I have basically got this stuff in with my mother’s milk. When my mum was pregnant with me she would drink this like it was some sort of ambrosia, she would just inhale it. So yes, I might get cancer but it tastes too good to put an end to it, so stop trying to make me feel guilty about it. Diet Coke and I have had a long, meaningful relationship and I have no intensions of ending it any time soon. We love each other too much.

To be completely honest, I don’t feel guilty about this at all. If you enjoy something you shouldn’t have to feel guilty about it. So what if you love taking multiple naps a day? Don’t feel guilty about something that makes you feel good. And that goes for food as well! Of course I don't eat this every day (save for the bread ... I eat that s*** all the time) but when it's available I can't help myself.

I have so many guilty pleasures beside those I have listed here but if I were to write about every single one I would never finish.

Courage,

Laura

PS Grammar mistakes, I'm sorry

Pictures featured found here: 
http://inventors.about.com/od/foodrelatedinventions/a/marshmallows.htm
http://thegoodfoodbuzz.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/diabetes-and-ice-cream-what-are-your-options/
http://www.thewalkmagazine.com/home/?p=2219

Magical Musicals

There are tons of tons of stuff I want to share with you on this blog, but since it is my first “real” entry on here I think I should limit myself to only one subject for today.
I’ve been thinking about what would be a good thing to start with all week and I’ve come to the conclusion that favorite musicals and why I love them might be a good one to pick. Let’s get to the basics! (and you’ll be prepared for future references…)

I’ve loved everything musical-ish ever since I saw my first Disney-movie (including High School Musical – I don’t think I have to elaborate on that one. What’s not to like about a singing school?), but it was when I went to London’s West End with my mom and sister to watch The Lion King and Hairspray my love for watching them live began to grow. There is just something hauntingly beautiful about a live-production and seeing people on that stage never missing a beat and just having a burning passion for what they’re doing.


Later I started in high school and I signed up for the choir of the annual school musical (even though I’m not the best singer – very close to being the worst, actually, if not the worst), which turned out to be none other than Spring Awakening – an absolutely stunning, fantastic and extremely clever musical about a bunch of kids in the 19th century trying to figure out life and what it involves.
The musical quickly turned out to be one of my all-time favorite musicals. I love the message, the passion and the simplicity every production seems to contain. The songs are so, so dear to my heart and even though they’re not your usual Broadway-showstoppers they are just so incredibly catchy! Also, fun fact: Laura and I was in the choir together and I think it was the stepping stone for our friendship. :)


A few months later when the production was over, I couldn’t bear listening to the songs because, well... it reminded me of an extremely good time and, frankly, it was a bit depressing knowing it was already over, so I started listening to the soundtrack of Wicked. The musical is based on the story of Wizard of Oz, only it’s a prequel to the well-known tale and centers around the wicked, green witch Elphaba and the glittery, good Witch from West: Galinda (or Glinda) instead of Dorothy.

I have never watched Wicked live but it’s one of my biggest wishes to do so one day. The score is such good one and never fails to cheer me up when I have a bad day – especially Dancing Through Life is the perfect song to give a listen when you are a little down and do not want to go to school.
I love the way the score is so bright and dance-y without topping over, but also the fact that the story is about friendship, how unexpected it can turn up and the fact that evil persons aren’t necessarily all evil and vice versa.


The theme of evil is also covered in my most recent favorite musical Phantom of the Opera. I went to watch the Danish production of the sequel to it, Love Never Dies, back in October last year and got totally blown away. The only thing though was that I couldn’t remember Phantom that well, so I went home and stumbled upon the 25th anniversary performance of the musical in the Royal Albert Hall and thus my obsession was born.

The music is extremely captivating, beautiful and haunting and as I listen to the score I can’t help but feel the magic rush over me. The fascinating story about the choirgirl, Christine Daaé, and the Phantom of the Pariser Opera is told entirely through songs but it doesn’t matter. The songs are so varied and the music so rich; you will always discover new things when you listen to the score for the billionth time (trust me, I know) and that is why I love it so much. With passion, suspense, love, danger, desire and sorrow it’s basically the most perfect cocktail you could ever stumble upon and I so hope I one day will be able to watch live. It is kind of a contradiction to the other shows I love, but that is why it’s so special to me.

So yes, these are my three absolute favorite musicals. I have a lot of other favorites as well, but 1.) Phantom, Wicked and Spring Awakening are those which mean the most to me and 2.) I think this post is already too long for its own good so maybe I’ll tell you about them later! As you can read from all of this, it is probably a good thing I have this blog to pour out my heart or else people would start ignoring me full-time. ;)

Let me know if you have any favorites and we'll see each other next Monday, where I've, hopefully, been visiting a green troll in his swamp.

Courage and everything,
Becca

Picture source: Unknown

A Saturday Surprise

Surprise! Five has been made into six and Saturday is now officially a day of blogging. Exciting isn't is? I am, as the other five girls, a danish student from the same class as the others and part of the same lovely group of friends. I am 17 (very soon 18!), young, wild and free and loving life - at least when it is not raining and I don't have to do my homework.

I used to be a quiet, some times a bit lazy girl, who enjoyed lying on my bed reading a good book all day or watch television. I still like to do that whenever I have the time but a little over 8 months ago my life took a quite unexpected turn. I started down at the local rowing club in my town and suddenly I found myself turning into a weirdly aggressive sports freak - me who used to hate gym class and hard physical activity. Now I train four times a week and row competitions and hope that I sometime during spring can start training six times a week.

Now you might be sitting and thinking "What the hell... Don't you have a life?" The answer to that is no - I don't have a life... I row and I row and I row, and when I don't row I think about rowing and I always look forward to the next time I can go rowing. So as you might get an impression of I don't do much besides rowing. And I absolutely love it.

Of course there are also other things which are very important to me. My friends for example mean so so much to me and whenever I have the time I try to squeeze in a few hours with them. I also love fashion and design and I did actually for quite a few years dream about becoming a fashion designer. I weave (or well, I have been trying to finish the same piece for half a year now, so...) and I just finished a sewing course. I enjoy reading, doing yoga, watching all sorts of TV series and just doing normal teenage stuff.
So as you can hear I do have lots of other hobbies! I just don't have the time to do it because I use all my time on rowing...

As you might have guessed my main focus on this blog will be rowing, sport and how to stay healthy. I will try to explain how a sport can be so fantastic that it can make you change your life completely (I don't quite know the answer myself yet, but I will try my best to figure it out - it is still a mystery to me) and I will show you why sport is so awesome. I mean, sport is hard, it hurts, it takes all your time and basically it is just pure pain. So why do I keep coming back? I don't know, but what I do know is that I love my sport - and I will try to show you just why I love it so much.

I hope you will find it interesting and if you don't, then what the hell, I'll just keep writing anyway!

With love and all that
Christine (you may also call me Sporty Spice, if you prefer that)

Introducing miss Friday!

It is finally Friday at Funny little features, which means it is my turn to introduce myself!
I am your miss Friday, and I will be posting on that day every week from now on! Today I will just introduce myself, so you know what my posts will contain the next many freaky Fridays!

My name is Freja, I am of course danish like the other girls, I have a sidecut, a cake-obsession, and I turn 18 tomorrow!! I have a very big passion for music - mainly new and upcomming. And I am said to have a radio addiction, because there always is a radio playing where ever I go in my home. I don't even notice it, since I have grown up with that as a background noise all my life.

I have a very wide taste, when it comes to music. I listen mostly to indie, rock, electronica, folk and some pop. My most recent concert was Mumford and Sons, and next up is Imagine Dragons, which I look very much forward to! I love alternative music with lyrics you have to think about, and beats that makes you feel. I love it when the words are sung like they are twisted and turned in a way you never heard before. I love it when the words become difficult to sing, but I also love minimalism and saying only what is necessary. And most of all, I love it when I get big time chills from an amazing song.

I also have a big passion for art and use a lot of my time on an artschool for young people. We experiment with a lot of different ways to express yourself, and we try to learn a lot of different techniques. Recently I am working on an eBook with 'narrative art', but I use most of my artistic time on photography. Style and design means a lot to me, and so does fashion. My big idols are Gabrielle Coco Chanel and Marilyn Monroe, because I love the old timeless classics, but I also the love new, wicked and current world of fashion. As you might have guessed by now, I am a big believer in (re)using old design in new combinations and improvements.  

Having all this said, I hope you have a at least superfishial idea of who I am by now. If not, I am glad to announce that I will be here every Friday, writing other nonsense for you to interpret! And that I will be looking very much forward too!

Freja