About Me!
Hello! My name is Ivory(Pen Name), I live near the sea and love walking along her sun-drenched waters, breathing in her salty perfume, and looking at the peaking sun in between her leaves. I love reading, drawing, making crafts, alternative reality game horror (ARG) explained, true crime, and any comedy & slice of life.
No Creeps Here Please!
HOPES AND DREAMS:
This blog is to capture a filtered version of my personality into a hidden part of the internet filled with strangers leading their own separate life completely different from my own. I hope, if you ever encounter them, find comfort/ideas in my blog and choose to stay with me throughout my journey. This is a safe space for me to tell stories and ramble about my interest.
ABOUT ME_____________________________________
#Favourite-Books: Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, A tale for time being by Ruth Ozeki, Heaven by Meiko Kawakami, A girl who fell beneath the sea by Axie Oh, The memory Police by Yoko Ogawa, The woods by Vanessa Savage
#Favourite-Food: (Savory) sushi/cali maci, pasta, burger, fries, sandwiches (tuna, egg, salmon, etc.), takoyaki. (Sweet) Blueberry cheesecake, Nutella & banana, ice cream, biscoff yogurt ice cream. (Drink) mango shake, frappe, coke.
#Favourite-ARG-Horror: Mandela Catalogue, Mother horse eyes, Q, Petscop, Old view, any wendigoon video
#Favourite-Anime: school babysitter, the yuzuki family's four sons, ouran host club, insomniacs after school, toilet-bound hanako.
Note: This blog is shouldn't be taken too seriously, grammar errors are inevitable. These blogs are meant to be seen in a light-hearted way....not like I talk about a lot of things other than my life and interest ..lol
There are a lot of genres in different forms of media (whether it be in books or films), but for me, I categorize books in two forms, light and heavy books. The category of heavy books can be determined by its sad and depressing themes. But, despite these descriptions, I don't feel like it describe the feelings better than the word "heavy". The category "light", on the other hand, can be determined by themes that are easy to read because of its easy-going topics and dialogue that can be labeled as "comforting". Just a small background!
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
Axie Oh'sĀ The Girl Who Fell Beneath the SeaĀ is an enthralling retelling of a classic Korean folktale, perfect for fans ofĀ Wintersong, Uprooted, and MiyazakiāsĀ Spirited Away.
Deadly storms have ravaged Minaās homeland for generations. Floods sweep away entire villages, while bloody wars are waged over the few remaining resources. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now curses them with death and despair. In an attempt to appease him, each year a beautiful maiden is thrown into the sea to serve as the Sea Godās bride, in the hopes that one day the ātrue brideā will be chosen and end the suffering. Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the villageāand the beloved of Minaās older brother Joonāmay be the legendary true bride.
But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheongās stead. Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep.
With the help of a mysterious young man named Shināas well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spiritsāMina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all. But she doesnāt have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from wakingā¦
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
Goodreads Choice Award nominees: Nominee for Readers' Favorite Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2014)
September 3, 1940. Ten peculiar children flee an army of deadly monsters. And only one person can help them - but she's trapped in the body of a bird. The extraordinary journey that began in "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" continues as Jacob Portman and his newfound friends journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. There, they hope to find a cure for their beloved headmistress, Miss Peregrine. But in this war-torn city, hideous surprises lurk around every corner. And before Jacob can deliver the peculiar children to safety, he must make an important decision about his love for Emma Bloom.
Divine Rivals By Rebecca Ross
Goodreads Choice Award: Winner for Readers' Favorite Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2023)
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring againā¦
All eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow wants to do is hold her family together. With a brother on the frontline forced to fight on behalf of the Gods now missing from the frontline and a mother drowning her sorrows, Irisās best bet is winning the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette. But when Irisās letters to her brother fall into the wrong hands ā that of the handsome but cold Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper ā an unlikely magical connection forms. Expelled into the middle of a mystical war, magical typewriters in tow, can their bond withstand the fight for the fate of mankind and, most importantly, love?
Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
A woman who runs a cat rescue in 1920s Montreal turns to a grouchy but charming wizard to help save the shelter in this heartwarming cozy fantasy from theĀ New York TimesĀ bestselling author of the Emily Wilde series.
Agnes Aubert leads a meticulously organized lifeāand she likes it that way. As the proudly type-A manager of a much-needed cat rescue charity, she has devoted her life to finding forever homes for lost cats. But after she is forced to move the cat shelter, Agnes learns that her new landlord is using her charity as a frontāfor an internationally renowned and thoroughly disreputable magic shop.
Owned by theĀ disorganizedānot to mention self-absorbed, irritating, but also decidedly handsomeāHavelock Renard, magician and failed Dark Lord, the shop draws magical clientele from around the world, partly due to the quality of Havelockās illicit goods as well as their curiosity about his shadowy past and rumors of his incredible powers. Agnes's charity offers the perfect cover for illegal magics.
Agnes couldnāt care less about the shopāmagical intrigue or not, there are cats to be rescued. But when an enemy from Havelockās past surfaces, the magic shopāand more importantly, the cat shelterāare suddenly in jeopardy. To save the shelter, will Agnes have to set aside her social conscience and protect the man who once tried to bring about the apocalypseāand is now trying to steal her heart?
The Secret Garden By Frances Hodgson Burnett
In a house full of sadness and secrets, can young, orphaned Mary find happiness?
Mary Lennox, a spoiled, ill-tempered, and unhealthy child, comes to live with her reclusive uncle in Misselthwaite Manor on Englandās Yorkshire moors after the death of her parents. There she meets a hearty housekeeper and her spirited brother, a dour gardener, a cheerful robin, and her wilful, hysterical, and sickly cousin, Master Colin, whose wails she hears echoing through the house at night.
With the help of the robin, Mary finds the door to a secret garden, neglected and hidden for years. When she decides to restore the garden in secret, the story becomes a charming journey into the places of the heart, where faith restores health, flowers refresh the spirit, and the magic of the garden, coming to life anew, brings health to Colin and happiness to Mary.
I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.
I have a cousin who teaches people how to dive (they are called trainers) so when my family went there for an event, they tried their hand in learning how to dive. Unfortunately, at the time, I had a lot of major exams coming up so my parents decided that I should just stay behind to focus on my studies. When I found out that they went diving without me, I asked that we go back again after my class is over. So, now, here I am blogging about my experience first time diving!
I only know the basics, but even then, I didn't realize how complicated it is to maintain the gears during (while using them underwater), before, and after to ensure that the experience is enjoyable and the quality isn't damaged. It really does make one realize that the ocean really isn't made for the human body.
At first, I went alone with my trainer because the tank was so heavy to the point that every small wave that comes our ways would take me with it while I was trying to put on the different gears. The basic actions that I was taught while my trainer regulated the oxygen in my tank, vest, and gears overall was:
#Equalizing: At first, I just pressed my nose because it wasn't specified to blow air at the same time which caused me to feel the pressure of the depth for the first time (your supposed to equalize more and more the deeper you go). Because of this, we went back so I can practice how to equalize since it is a very important skill to learn in order to dive.
Here is a more accurate description from Google:
Equalizing in diving is the process of consciously opening your Eustachian tubes to let air into your middle ear, balancing the increasing water pressure on your eardrums. You must equalize early and often during descent, ideally before feeling any pain or discomfort.
Here are the common techniques:
Valsalva Maneuver: Pinch your nostrils closed and blow gently through your nose.
Frenzel Maneuver: Pinch your nose and make a "K" sound in the back of your throat to force air into your Eustachian tubes using your tongue.
Swallowing: Simply swallow (or combine it with a pinched nose, called the Toynbee maneuver) to flex your throat muscles and open the tubes.
Jaw Wiggling / Yawning: Move your jaw from side to side or make a yawning motion to help stretch your Eustachian tubes while equalizing.
#Removing water from your diving mask: I didn't struggle with this at first because we already practiced this at the shore before going to deeper areas but, sooner or later, it got harder the deeper we went. Especially at the time when we went diving with a missing rubber that I was biting on since it keeps slipping everytime I try to remove water from my mask.
Here is a more accurate description from Google: It is done by placing two fingers at the top of the mask frame, looking slightly upward, and exhaling gently through your nose. The air you blow out will push the water out through the bottom skirt.
#Memorable Memories: Because it is my first time diving, I had a hard time directing myself underwater causing me to either float too high towards the surface and away from my trainer (yes that really happened and I got too see how far away we really are :)) or get stuck on the seafloor as I try to move forward and keep up without touching the corals too much.
#Sightings: Personally, I saw tons of corals, some smaller than me and some taller than even my trainer. The colors are more dulled down in real life compared to edited pictures but they were still very pretty. I know very little about wildlife underwater therefore I can only give very vague descriptions but, what I can say for sure, is being in the middle of a school of fish was a sighting I found fascinating in person (which my sister agreed). I didn't see a turtle despite both my trainer and sister seeing one, which saddens me, but since I have seen one before, I am sure it was very fascinating sighting too.
ps. I'm still waiting for my journal to be made and delivered so I'm satiating my excitement with blogs in Tumblr.
-A letter for the girlies who struggle with finding themselves in a world that categorizes human nature!
I couldn't stop thinking about my future in both the beautiful and melancholy sense so, in this blog, lets focus on the exciting side to cheer myself up.
Background:
There are a lot of things I wanted to do but couldn't ask because it didn't fit my family's "simple and humble" image. At first, I felt like it made forming my own individuality and style more challenging which made me feel boxed with my shy, rigid, and sentimental personality, along with the environment I was in. But as I grew I realized that instead of hindering me, it could possibly make the world more exciting and beautiful than it really is once viewed in that lens. It made me think of the times, I was so excited to go to the small store outside my grandmother's house to buy a biscuit and drink with her in that hazy little child mind, tinged in the color of sunlight, where I looked for creatures in the bushes and tried to avoid the canals while chatting randomly with my grandmother. I'm thinking that maybe I'm having a form of that innocence in teen form.
We have more time experiencing adulthood than seeing the world in the eyes of a child so why not relish it for a bit and dream of all the things we want to do when we grow up!
#Style: tons of rings and jewelry in general (doesn't have to be expensive), handcrafted clothing, acrylic nails (not all the time just for fun, its even more fun when I'm the one who decorates my own nails (wine red)), clothes that makes me feel confident (no matter how I look) like these (it doesn't have to follow a specific aesthetic):
With a hair color like this:
#hobbies: I hope that in the future I would be at peace enough that I can journal daily and read books in between breaks while having enough money to go to malls to look through books, art/craft supplies, and clothes without having to contain myself too much (I'm an impulsive buyer). I would also love a library at my home (my hometown doesn't have libraries), specifically a library where I can read and make art in so I hope it would be filled with long and big comfortable chairs and big/overlooking windows!
#summer-in-adult-form: I hope I can travel at least one time a year to go to different countries with people who I am comfortable with, occasionally I would also like to still take new lessons even when I'm already an adult like guitar lessons, art lessons, karate, etc. to make life more fun. To summarize, I wish to do a lot of side quests.
#profession: This is the type of question we are expected to already have an answer to but I believe that keeping my desires simple can make my life more satisfactory. I just want to be a physician with a positive environment that enlightens me and keep my impactful job light and efficient. Having a steady income that makes my family proud and an environment that lightens the hard work is a dream!
#daily-life: I think walking/driving around different places is an effective way to feel like your in an adventure, I would love to go to different festivals and events that fit my interests like maybe a book sale, and of course, always being present at the bookstore to look for new books! One little dream I am guilty of is vlogging...I would love to vlog and talk too myself in a socially acceptable way, I feel like it would make being alone even more fun and less awkward (it doesn't have to be a big channel, just enough to make me feel less alone). I hope in the future I would be more comfortable with doing fun stuff with myself without other people making it a big deal or seeing it as a weakness.
Writing this made me feel so much better. I always loved thinking about stuff like these because it makes me excited for my future. It wasn't always like that and, for the first time in a while, it didn't feel like that yesterday too but writing this made me feel better. Thank you for reading this self indulgent rant! (Well...every single one of my blog is self indulgent). For the people who still dream childishly!
I'm going to buy a new journal! It wasn't the one that made me want to get a new one (because it was too expensive) but I'm still SO excited for it. It has tons of freebies too like notebooks, ziplock, engravings, string, side eyelets, and charms which I'm looking forward too. I used to only know about the different decorations you can use for the pages but after finding out ways to decorate the book itself I was ECSTATIC.
Decorations for the cover__________________________ (I'm IN LOVE with leather covers)
1. Photo strips from photobooth: People would clip their photo strips onto the cover of their journal and it would look so CUTE. It made me want to take photo strips with myself, if only I wasn't too shy and awkward with camera. I am planning to push myself on day though, in the meantime I'm going to use the one with my sister. She also has a camera that prints out pictures automatically so I'm also planning to use that.
2. Lace, engravings, and embroidery: I saw some customizable leather journals that allow you to choose what lace, engravings, and embroidery you would like to be sown in and how but it is more expensive. It really shows how creative you can be with your journal if you know how to do it yourself. Some would just tuck the laces underneath the string of the journal.
This is an example from Pinterest!
ps. It's so exciting to see how much you can also customize like the string, the charms, etc. on the outside and also decorate the arrangement of your journals and pictures/stickers on the inside!
Gakuen Babysitters (also known as School Babysitters) is a heartwarming and episodic slice-of-life series created by Hari Tokeino. The story follows two orphaned brothers, Ryuuichi and Kotarou, who join a school babysitter club after being taken in by the stern but caring chairwoman of Morinomiya Academy.
The series seamlessly balances comedy, slice-of-life antics, and gentle drama. While it heavily focuses on the cute and often unpredictable behavior of the daycare children, it also serves as a poignant exploration of grief and family bonding. The bond between the two brothers remains the emotional anchor of the show.
Ratings: 3.9/5ā
Ouran Host Club
Ouran High School Host Club follows Haruhi Fujioka, a brilliant, middle-class scholarship student at the ultra-wealthy Ouran Academy. Seeking a quiet place to study, she stumbles upon the Host Club, a group of elite, beautiful boys who entertain female students. After accidentally breaking an $80,000 antique vase, Haruhi is forced to join the club as an errand boy to work off her debt. Because of her short hair and gender-neutral clothing, the club initially mistakes Haruhi for a male student. However, once they realize she is a natural at charming the club's clients, they promote her to a full host and keep her gender a secret.
Rating: 4/5 ā Very silly
Insomnia after school
Set in the coastal city of Nanao, Japan, the story begins when grumpy, sleep-deprived Ganta and the carefree Isaki cross paths in the dilapidated astronomy club observatory. To prevent the school from locking them out of their quiet haven, the two unlikely friends revive the defunct astronomy club. The show beautifully explores how their shared struggle with sleeplessness organically evolves into a tender relationship where they help one another navigate the anxieties of adolescence and find comfort in the quiet, starlit nights.
Rating: 3.5/5ā Love the ending & climax
Shounen Maid
After the tragic loss of his mother, Chihiro Komiya is left orphaned and homeless. His late mother's life motto was strictly "No work, no food." His situation changes when he meets Madoka Takatori, a rich costume designer who turns out to be his long-lost uncle. Madoka offers to take Chihiro in, but upon arriving at the massive mansion, Chihiro discovers it is in a horribly dirty and cluttered state. Chihiro's neat-freak instincts immediately kick in, and he proceeds to clean the entire residence. Wanting to earn his keep rather than just be handed a free ride, Chihiro accepts a deal to live at the Takatori mansion in exchange for handling all the cleaning and cooking. The catch? Madoka gleefully forces his young nephew to wear a frilly, handmade maid uniform while he does it.
Ratings: 3.4/5 ā
The Yuzuki Family's Four Sons
The Yuzuki Family's Four Sons (Yuzuki-san Chi no Yon Kyoudai) is a heartwarming slice-of-life story based on the award-winning manga by Shizuki Fujisawa. It follows four orphaned brothers navigating the loss of their parents, balancing everyday school, work, and household chores while highlighting the deep, resilient bonds of brotherhood.
