The Mermaid’s Pyjamas

[angelicakatebooks]

[yuumei-art]

Roses without thorns

Wings without horns

Skin stained in color

Still, I grow duller

[greyelven]

Elves + names in Tengwar

[elenath9]

This is so cool

[king-incarnadine]

We'll Make them Look Up

(A Gold-Spotted Eel and Mercury)

[melaniesmithwriting]

30 Day Challenge: Day 19: My first love

My first love is from when I was 4 and 5 years old. At school, in Reception class, I made friends with this boy. We'll call him John. So John and I became friends, and it didn't take long before our friendship became love. <3 So one day, John and I were sitting on a bench together, and according to our mums, I kissed him on the lips. After that we held hands a bit. I'm not sure how long my little romance went on for, because I don't remember most of it and am going off what my mum told me when I was a bit older. I don't know how it ended, I think I got cross and upset because the grown-ups kept making fun of me, and I think I ended it for that reason, lol. Our mums made us stay in touch when they moved away, but John never answered my letters, and I got bored and refused to write anymore. But still, you asked for my first love, and that's John. :) 

[nonconformityhub]

Aroace Experiences We Don't Talk About Enough (Infographic)

(If you're interested in a blog where aspecs can talk about experiences like this, I've since made an aspec venting space!)

Icon Credits: hands with hearts - @blackholemojis face holding flag - @sammywammyclone paw - @paw-pride hug - @eldritch-emojis gem - @genderdoomed

Some @'s for reach: @our-aroace-experience @gray-ace-space @aroaceculture @acespec-ed @acexualien @cordwaner @asexualadvice @aromantic-diaries @aroacespecsafeplace @arospec-daybook

[melaniesmithwriting]

30 Day Challenge: Day 18: 30 Facts About Me

1. My name is Melanie.

2. I am 35.

3. I am studying Chemistry at the OU.

4. I previously studied English Literature. 

5. I didn't finish my English Literature degree.

6. I have 6 x Level 3 Diplomas in various English or History subjects, and Business Studies.

7. I am doing yet another qualification through a group I go to. We're doing Healthy Eating.

8. I am about to do my Level 2 Food Hygiene as well. 

9. I am a Forum Guide on a Mental Health forum.

10. I am a published poet.

11. My biggest career dream is to be a famous author.

12. I can't sing.

13. I can't play an instrument.

14. I can't dance.

15. I don't think I can act, but I'm curious about trying it out.

16. I really love coffee.

17. I drink tea as well, but usually only once a day.

18. I am on anti-psychotics.

19.  I have a cat.

20. I have a dog.

21. I am a lesbian.

22. I started reading the Wheel of Time series this year.

23. I only started reading Game of Thrones last year.

24. I love Anne Hathaway, but she also gets on my nerves.

25. I love Marilyn Monroe.

26. My favourite play on my Drama course was Educating Rita by Willy Russell.

27. I'm going to online summer school later this month. For Chemistry.

28. I'm worried I'll fail my degree.

29. I'm starting my 3rd year of a 6 year part-time degree in October.

30. My blog wasn't supposed to be a studyblr, but it might be going that way. :)

[melaniesmithwriting]

30 Day Challenge: Day 17: Ways to win my heart

I'm not sure how someone would go about winning my heart. Being kind to animals is the first thing that comes to my mind. And you have to love my dog. If you don't love my dog, then gtfo. Another way to win my heart is to tell me it's ok to tell you how I really am, rather than fob you off with an, "I'm fine, thanks," when I'm anything but. I like people who genuinely care about how I am and are willing to listen when I'm not. Like, people who don't expect me to hide my feelings for them. I also like people who are understanding and patient about my hearing. If you do that, you're a star!

[theaftersundown]

[melaniesmithwriting]

30 Day Challenge: Day 16: Someone you miss

Someone I miss is my mum. She died when I was 9. I don't want to talk much about this one. She loved the Titanic movie and the My Heart Will Go On was played at her funeral. It felt like my world shattered and I never got it back together again afterwards.

Sorry for the sad post. It's the prompts!

[melaniesmithwriting]

30 Day Challenge: Day 15: If you could run away, where would you go?

So if I ran away, where would I go? I really don't know. I always imagined I'd just run. Just get on a train somewhere and just go. But I'm too practical for my own good sometimes.

If I got on a train or whatever, what would I do once got there? It would be really scary and dangerous and I might run out of money and get stuck somewhere. No one would know I was missing for ages. What would happen when they do notice? I'd get sectioned and lose my home and my furkids.  So there's no point in running away. What I should do instead is talk to someone. 

[melaniesmithwriting]

30 Day Challenge: Day 14: Describe Your Style

Oh my goodness, I don't have a style! I'm one of those people that doesn't know what to wear, ever. I wish I could dress better, but I just don't have a clue. I hate ballet flats, but I look stupid in trainers and I can't walk in heels. It's hard to know what to wear, and I tend to live in jeans. Hopefully I'll be going back to work later this year or early next year, and then it's a bit easier because I can dress for work. I want to look smarter, but there's no point yet because I don't need to wear anything smarter yet. 

I wish I was bolder, but that it would pay off. Rather than being bolder and looking crazy, haha!

[monthlywritingchallenges]

Quiet beauty, golden light, and soft moments

This July, we’re embracing the calm, the glow, and the intimacy of the Golden Hour. Those quiet moments where time seems to stretch, the air is warm, and everything feels a little softer.

You can write every day or just pick your favorites, and mix them, there are no rules, just inspiration!

🌅 Here are your 31 prompts for GOLDEN HOUR:

1. Golden light

2. Slow smiles

3. "Stay a little longer."

4. Dappled sunlight

5. Bare feet on warm ground

6. "You look happy."

7. Whisper

8. Window glow

9. Wilted wildflowers

10. "You don’t have to say anything."

11. Dust in the sunlight

12. Long shadows

13. Silence shared

14. "Is it always this beautiful?"

15. Orange-stained

16. Soft cotton sheets

17. "I didn’t know you noticed."

18. Held breath

19. Rooftop

20. Tangled thoughts

21. "This moment. Just this."

22. Warm skin, cool breeze

23. Between goodbye and hello

24. "You never say what you mean."

25. Fingertips brushing

26. Golden fields

27. A half-finished sentence

28. "You make everything feel softer."

29. Slow walk home

30. Lingering eyes

31. "Don’t let it end yet."

🌅 Tag your works with #GoldenHour and @monthlywritingchallenges

See you in the glow 🌞

[melaniesmithwriting]

30 Day Challenge: Day 13: Favourite Book

My favourite book as a child was Tolkien's The Hobbit. I first tried reading it at 6 years old, but didn't finish it because it was too hard. I finally read it in full at 12, along with the Lord of the Rings. I've read the Lord of the Rings trilogy twice, and The Hobbit several times. I've read The Silmarillion twice as well. 

I also really love the Harry Potter books, and have read the earlier ones everal times each and the later ones at least twice each, except the last one. 

Other than that, I am a massive Terry Pratchett fan and have read the whole Discworld series in order. :) I've read almost all his fiction. and need to start his folklore stuff.  I haven't read Nation, and the latest children's short story collection. There might be 2 of those I haven't read. 

My favourite book of the year so far is The Savior's Champion by Jenna Moreci. I need the sequel ASAP! 

[melaniesmithwriting]

30 Day Challenge: Day 12: Favourite TV Series

My favourite TV series changes all the time, it depends what I'm watching. At the moment, it's Squid Games, because that's one of my favourites and the new series is out. I am saving up episodes to binge watch though. I also like Stranger Things, Riverdale, The Vampire Diaries, and Elite. I've finished Elite though, and for once I actually liked the ending of a Netflix series. They used to have a nasty habit of dropping shows with a major cliffhnager ending and there not being any resolution. 

Another TV show I like is anything with David Attenborough, as well as some other things like Queens (Nat Geo), or that wild cats series. I think that was BBC. I love a nature documentary, but I have to be in the mood for it, or I can't sit still, because they're really slow programes and my anxiety gets in the way. I have to have something to do while I watch TV at the moment, unless it's something I'm really into like Squid Games. 

[melaniesmithwriting]

30 Day Challenge: Day 11: Talk about your siblings

I am an only child, lol. I wish I had siblings though. I always wanted a little sister, or maybe a big sister. But probably little. I guess I like being an only child sometimes, but other times it's hard. If I had a sibling I would be a lot better off in life than I am at the moment. I would be a lot less isolated and I wouldn't have lost my whole support system. I would still have some close family left.  Sometimes I really wish I had a sibling. 

[melaniesmithwriting]

30 Day Challenge: Day 10: Your Best Friend

I don't really have one at the moment. When I was younger, I always had a best friend, but that kind of stopped in my early twenties. I would have the same best friend for years, and then it would change. Not on purpose, just as we went through different stages of chldhood and drifted apart. It was worse the couple of times we moved and I had to change schools. But I never had a problem making friends as a kid. As an adult, it's really hard. It seems like, if I had kids or a baby, I'd make friends easily, but because I don't, it's hard on other people and nobody knows what to do with me. Like I'm an alien because I don't have a baby, and they don't know what to talk about.