Author: Courtney Shek

Nashville Season 3 Finale

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment
I am hysterical.
WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS TO US?!
I don’t know why but it took this show way too long to get good. At least for me. Season one was kind of boring and season two got more interesting but this season…things blew up completely and I am both really happy and really devastated about that.
So if you don’t know what Nashville is about it’s basically about country singers in Nashville. Which sounds boring but trust me, it can get very dramatic and things aren’t always as they seem. I mean I never really knew so much drama could come out of something like this but oh my God. It’s just…so much. I feel like I need to start giving details so if you don’t want spoilers now would be a good time to stop reading…
So I think the best place to start is Deacon. He’s been having dreams about dying. Um…not good. He is freaking out because he is finally about to get his liver transplant but what if something goes wrong?
Now, this whole season I have been trying to remain positive about the whole Deacon thing. I mean things haven’t been great for him since the start of the show and I just need him to be happy and healthy and live! He finally has the family he has always wanted with Rayna and I really don’t want to see him go.
I am so glad his sister agreed to give him the liver transplant. I mean I really don’t like Deacon’s sister because she is a real bitch but if she is going to save Deacon’s life I can deal with her. Which is how I feel everyone feels about her. Like, I know it’s not just me.
Oh so you know…Deacon and his sister go into surgery and everyone is feeling really positive that everything is going to turn out okay but…just like Deacon’s dream something is wrong a heart monitor is dropping and I’m freaking the fuck out. DEACON CANNOT DIE OKAY. I refuse to let that be a thing. If he dies I’ll actually be so upset and I refuse to believe it.
I mean as it was happening I had this idea, what if it wasn’t Deacon’s heart monitor that went down but his sister’s? Which is also terrible but because she isn’t a main character it wouldn’t be as devastating. I know that makes me sound like a horrible person, but that’s just how I feel. I don’t want to lose Deacon.
Plus I don’t even know how Maddie would feel if Deacon died. Like that would just be heart-breaking.
Deacon and Rayna at the hospital
But that’s not the only problem that Rayna’s family have right now. There’s also Teddy’s situation.
To be honest, for the longest time I didn’t think a lot about Teddy. I thought he was always a nice guy and always tried to do the right thing and then as the show went on I began to feel really sorry for him. His life was just not going anywhere and he got involved with Jeff Fordham – which is NEVER a good idea and ended up in some trouble.
And from there he just kept spiralling and eventually he was caught up in a scheme and was facing some time in prison which, as the mayor is not a good thing. So he agrees to work undercover until he finds out he would be implicating Rayna’s sister and Rayna and her record label. So Teddy decides to stop working undercover and ends up getting arrested.
It was horrible because he asked if he could have a few days to explain himself to Rayna and his daughters but he wasn’t allowed that and he was just whisked off…
I mean I feel so bad for him. It makes me really sad he got in this dark place. And I don’t even know what’s going to happen when Rayna and the girls actually find out. I mean they have been so busy with Deacon’s situation that they haven’t really seen much of Teddy. I just hope he can get out of the situation.
Teddy getting arrested…
Moving on to someone who is also going through something traumatic… Juliette. It really does just feel like everyone is going through some kind of crisis in this episode. But Juliette is seriously going through something and I’m really worried about her. And more so, I am worried about Avery and the baby.
I mean I kind of thought Juliette would be a better mother to her daughter after what happened between her and her mother, but things didn’t exactly go that way. Instead, it seems Juliette has a severe case of Postpartum Depression.
Since the start of the show Juliette has been one of my favourite characters but recently she hasn’t been and it’s because she’s going through this really bad phase and she’s become a monster. She doesn’t care for Avery or the baby at all and it’s all about her getting her career back.
And it’s kind of always been that way for Juliette because she always needs the spotlight, but I feel like it’s 10 times worse now. Especially since when everyone stepped in to give her an intervention she walked out and then ended up firing her manager and turning to Jeff Fordham.
I mean seriously? Jeff AGAIN?! I hate Jeff so much, but we’ll get to him later.
If I’m honest I thought Juliette would have wised up after she almost hit Avery and the baby with the snow globe. I mean she really has lost it and Avery was right to leave her. I just wonder where he will go. And I am so glad Avery has stepped up because he used to be a total douche in season one. I guess it just shows how much people change.
All I can hope is that Juliette realises what she’s doing. I mean I definitely think it was a mistake to go to Jeff Fordham and an even bigger mistake screwing over Rayna by signing with Luke’s record label. I mean I like that she’s back because I did miss her while she was pregnant, but now all I want is for her to get some help and to realise what she’s doing.
“Happy family”
Jeff Fordham
Moving onto Jeff Fordham…oh how I hate him. He’s like the worst character on the show. And what’s worse, he’s managing Layla Grant and he’s seriously hurting her.
Like he has banished her from the outside world because she can’t handle the criticism and is controlling her whole life. And the sad part is, Layla still believes he’s doing the right thing by her. Which in some ways he might be, he might be doing good things for her career but her emotional wellbeing not so much. I mean I feel like Layla has been through enough emotional damage with being married to a gay guy for a whole season but this…no. Just no. Jeff leave her alone!
I mean Layla found out Jeff was the one that got her kicked off Jade’s tour and she attacked his car with a golf club. I mean I seriously thought she was going to do some real damage and then I got so scared when Jeff took the golf club from her…Like I just see Jeff doing something so horrible to her and I just don’t want to see it happen.
I really just think Layla needs to spend some time away with Jeff and with some people that really care about her. Which I know is hard for her since she doesn’t really have anyone, not even Rayna because she’s been dealing with Deacon…
Layla attacking Jeff’s car with a golf club
As for Jeff, I can’t believe he accepted Juliette’s offer about him being her manager and got her signed with Luke. Like I just don’t need this. Jeff has hurt so many people and I know this thing with Juliette will explode and just…ugh. People need to stay away from Jeff.
And he’s not even like the other characters on the show who have changed, he’s still the same. And I find it hard to believe he cares for Layla because of the way he is and I just…need him banished. Plus he’s the reason why Teddy is in trouble with the police. He’s just an awful person.
Moving away from that and onto something a little bit lighter, Scarlett and Gunnar.
These guys have been through so much this season and I really don’t know whether I want them to get together or not.  I mean they are back singing as a duo like they were originally and the song they wrote in this episode was really good but…I thought Scarlett was happy with her doctor boyfriend and Gunnar was trying to figure out what he had with Kiley.
Plus I wanna know if Scarlett and Gunnar actually kissed. I mean they left so many cliff-hangers in this episode that I can’t wait for season four.
I mean I guess I would be happy either way with those two. Together or not I’d be happy. I mean I used to ship them a lot but then I saw how happy Scarlett was with her new boyfriend and I thought maybe not…
But you never know. I feel like Scarlett and Gunnar will get back together but who knows if it’ll last. I mean at this point I’m just glad nothing too tragic has happened to either of them and they are okay right now. Like on the drama scale, they are pretty low…
Scarlett and Gunnar’s possible kiss?!
Now moving onto the best and happiest news of the whole episode. Will Lexington finally came out!
You have no idea how HAPPY this makes me! After all this time denying it and having secret hook-ups he’s finally told the world and I am so glad.
I mean Luke is not happy because he had no idea of the situation before it exploded, but that doesn’t matter.
I am so glad Will has told everyone and can now be free. Plus he’s in love and it’s so cute and he definitely deserves it after everything he has been through. Like I am so over the moon about this. It was the happiest thing to happen in the whole episode.
Now if Will could just leave Luke’s record label and hop over to Highway 65 that would be great.
Plus I thought my reaction to Will coming out was great…and then I went on Twitter and I saw Clare Bowen’s reaction:

Her reaction just made me so happy too. I mean I feel like that’s how we all felt really haha. It was just a really great moment on the show because we have been seeing Will struggle with his sexuality for so long and he’s finally been able to tell the world and I love it. It’s so great. I mean I really have no words about it I just think it’s amazing that he doesn’t have to hide anymore.
And that concludes my thoughts on the Nashville season finale!
There was a lot, I know, but that’s just how much that happens on the show. And I used to think this show was boring. Season three definitely stepped it up. I mean this season has just been a roller coaster and by the end of the finale episode I was feeling like the world is ending. At least on this show it was.
Now the only thing to do is sit back and wait. Which kills me because it means all my shows are ending for the summer. Even Vampire Diaries is ending this week and Elena is leaving so that’s another show that’s going to leave me an emotional wreck…
WHY DO I GET SO ATTACHED TO TV SHOWS?! On the bright side… PLL comes back next month…
Anyway I’m gonna go now…probably cry over fictional characters on a show or something but please leave me a comment letting me know what you thought of the Nashville finale if you watched it and I’ll be back soon with a new blog post, probably about Nina Dobrev leaving the Vampire Diaries…but we’ll see.
~ Courtney x

RuPaul’s Drag Race–The Shade, the Costumes and more!

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Hey guys, so I posted here about a week and a half ago about how much I love RuPaul’s Drag Race and so today I thought I would give more insight to why I love it. I didn’t really know how to explain my fascination with it before but I think I can a bit better now.
So I have basically been watching the show non-stop since I first watched it and I have currently watched seasons 4-6 and I am caught up with season 7. I decided to watch them in reverse order for no reason other than I heard seasons 4 and 5 were really good.
But the show is just that addicting that it’s literally the only thing I have been able to talk about recently and I that’s kind of how all my obsessions go. Once I like something everyone needs to know about it which I admit can be really annoying…so I would like to apologise to anyone who follows me on social media because I know all my tweets lately have been all #RuPaulsDragRace haha.
rupauls-5
Anyway, I think the main thing about the show that I love so much are the contestants. Normal reality shows just don’t have characters like these drag queens. I mean I think I love them because they all have such big personalities and are all so different. It’s good to have a lot of variety out there so you aren’t just seeing the same things every episode. Another thing about is, there don’t seem to be that many contestants. I mean I know they start out with 14 but when you binge-watch the series that quickly drops down to five or six which you get to know very well.
season 6
I always become really attached to the top 3 drag queens of every season because after spending about 14 hours watching them you really feel like you know them. So the top 3 have always been my favourites out of all the queens. However because they are all so unique they definitely leave an impression on you, and even the ones that don’t make it far in the competition you remember, well almost remember, if they leave the competition in the first few episodes I normally don’t remember too much about them. But the longer they are in the competition the more of an impact they make.
Another thing about the show is that the challenges are…insane. I mean I guess I don’t watch a lot of reality TV but I don’t know a lot of shows that do challenges that involve dressing up manly men and turning them into full drag queens. That’s always quite entertaining to watch, there are some guys that would be really into it and some that wouldn’t. Which I think is really interesting to hear what other people think about drag in general.
Like, personally I never thought too much about it. I was never really against it or anything I accept it. And after watching the show I live for it. I mean the amount of work that goes into getting into drag is incredible and the difference between some of the guys on the show, when they are in and out of drag, is insane. You almost don’t recognise some of them…
And then there are those guys that look more feminine than you on the show and you know that’s when they did a good job. I personally prefer the fishy queens, but there are a lot of styles of drag out there that, if you are the person that can pull it off, it can be done really well.
I mean I think the show really does help you gain a better understanding of the world of drag queens because it’s not really something that is so easy to come by. At least not where I live, it’s like unless you are actively interested in this lifestyle you won’t know anything about it. But through the show I have learnt a lot of interesting things I find myself wanting to know more. To be honest, if I wasn’t a girl I’d probably be a drag queen. Hell, I kind of want to be a drag queen. I feel like I, personally can’t get away with wearing a ball gown every day but in drag? Yes, you can. I think it’s amazing.
Another thing I have learnt a lot about is the slang of drag queens. I don’t really know if these are things used in the everyday language by drag queens or just on this show but I love their slang. I was kind of introduced to it through Shane Dawson’s YouTube, like when he was hanging out with GiGi Gorgeous and people like that. Words like ‘hunty’ and ‘shade’, I kind of knew about but there’s a lot of terms like that.
My favourite words/phrases are probably ‘shade’, ‘no tea, no shade’, ‘*anything* realness’, ‘Sissy that walk’, ‘read’ and ‘condragulations’. I feel like I should incorporate these into my daily life just because they are so fabulous.
the shade of it all
Also the one thing about this show that makes me love it a whole lot is the shade. I mean these queens be throwing shade like nobody’s business. I think season 5 is probably the one with the most shade. That whole rivalry between Alyssa Edwards and Coco Montrese had me HOOKED. It’s just so entertaining to watch and you’ll just never know what anyone is going to say next. Although sometimes the shade can be too much and you’d wish everyone would get along…kind of like in season 5 when everyone kept picking on Jinkx at the end. I mean I feel like it’s okay to be shady and bitchy at times but if you’re just that all the time I find it very hard to like you…
enhanced-buzz-15555-1367609106-28
An example of that is Bianca Del Rio, at first I didn’t like her in the show because she was shady and bitchy to everyone but she actually turned out to be so nice and she did help the other girls when they needed it but at the same time she kept it real with the comments she made on the show. She was basically one of my favourite queens out of the entire series so far just because of the comments she made.
Bianca Del Rio
My favourite challenge that they do on the show is probably Snatch Game. This is a twist on the Match Game where the drag queens have to impersonate a celebrity. This is always really interesting because you always want to know what character everyone has picked and if they can pull it off or not. Some people can do an amazing job whereas others…not so much. I just think it’s a really fun challenge especially if they can pull off their characters, it makes it really fun and enjoyable to watch. Otherwise it kind of just becomes a bit of a train wreck like season 4s Snatch Game was kind of all over the place…
snatch game season 6
Another thing I love about the show is the Runway looks. These girls make the most fabulous gowns, or they have someone else make them for them. But it is actually incredible some of the things they are able to make. I mean if I could sew I know I’d probably make all of my outfits. I always get excited to find out what theme they are going for on the Runway and what everyone is going to come out in. I mean you’ll never feel over dressed on this show, it’s go big or go home.
courtney act runway
My dream is to one day be able to put a fabulous gown on and walk the runway of RuPaul’s Drag Race. For no other reason than to walk the runway. I think it’d be amazing and so much fun. Basically any reason to dress up fabulous and walk a runway, I’m in.
And of course the show would be nothing without it’s lip sync battles. I know that this is not something that is new and a lot of shows are doing lip sync battles now – in fact there’s an actual show all about lip sync battles, but I don’t think it can compare to the lip sync battles on Drag Race.
From watching the show I now believe one of the requirements to be America’s Next Drag Superstar is that you need to have a death drop or be able to do the splits or something to that affect because a lot of girls who end up lip syncing will death drop and it is quite amazing.
laganja death drop
And overall the show is just a lot of fun to watch, I mean it’s definitely something different and crazy and totally out there but I definitely think that you should give it a go. I mean I never really knew what to think about it at the start but from the bitchiness and the fashion alone I knew I was going to love it.
I have to say I have a lot of respect for people that do this and through this show you can really see the struggles that some people have to go through and the things drag has done for them. I mean it’s so sad that so many of them have families that don’t support them and love them just because they do drag, I think it’s horrible. But that’s why I am so glad there is a show like this and a community of people like this that are so accepting of one another. It’s a huge family and I love it so much and so I just thought I would share it with everyone.
And of course I couldn’t go without saying how much I love RuPaul. I feel like that’s a given. Without her the show would be non-existent and I wouldn’t have gotten to know any of the amazing people who have been on the show. I mean RuPaul is just so inspiring and amazing and all of the things she has accomplished in life have been incredible. So keep it up mama! Winking smile
rupaul
And so I think that’s everything that I have to say. I know I’ll be sad when I’m caught up with everything because I’ll be wanting more but we still have half of season 7 to go and they are even casting for season 8 which is fabulous. I look forward to seeing so much more from this show and the contestants and I just hope it’s around for a long, long time.
Now remember, “If you can’t love yourself how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else? Can I get an amen up in here?”
if you can't love yourself

RuPaul’s Drag Race – My New Obsession

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Okay, so I’ve heard a lot about this show, mainly through Tyler Oakley and Shane Dawson because they have talked about it on their podcasts. But I’d never watched it. I’m not really one for reality TV shows or competitions so I never really considered the idea of watching it but last night when I was at Hannah’s house, Camille put it on Netflix and we ended up binge watching it.
I love it.
Like oh my God. I have no idea how to describe it, it’s incredible. The things that they do on this show are so amazing and, of course, the shade, the shade is EV-ER-Y-THING.
So far, I have only seen half of season 6 because that’s where we started to watch from, but that’s fine by me. I love all of the season six contestants so much. They are all so sassy and fierce and amazing and just…wow.
It’s kind of crazy how much effort drag queens put into their look and I really admire it because it’s so amazing. Like they really go all out and it’s crazy but I love it.
I mean I love anything to do with fashion and beauty so the fact I didn’t get hooked on this show sooner is quite upsetting but I’m with it now and I’ll be with it forever.
And yeah; I guess that’s all I wanted to say really, I have a new TV show in my life and I thought I would share.
Oh and one more thing, I feel like this is very important so I had to share it too.

“If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?” – RuPaul

My Top 10 Favourite Glee Songs!

~ Courtney Shek ~ 1 Comment

Today I have decided to make a post talking about my favourite Glee songs. This seems kind of random and that’s because it is, but I feel like with the ending of Glee’s final season we should celebrate it and everything it was and so with that I am going to share with you some of my favourite Glee songs.
So all of the songs I am going to be talking about are cover songs because that’s what Glee did best. They did have a few original songs which I did enjoy which I might talk about in another blog post but this is about their cover songs. (Yes I am one of the few people that actually like their cover songs…)
It was so hard to choose my most favourite songs but these are the ones I keep coming back to and can’t stop listening to. So without further ado, in no particular order, here are my top 10 favourite Glee songs:

  1. If I Die Young
    This song was sung by Naya Rivera in the Cory Monteith Tribute episode and I loved it. I mean I was an emotional wreck during that episode of Glee and loved all of the songs sung in the episode but this was my favourite. I don’t know why exactly it is that I keep listening to this song…I think it is probably because of Naya Rivera’s voice which I am obsessed with. It’s such an emotional song and with her voice and the context in which it was sang in, it was just…perfect. I haven’t heard the original version of this song and I kind of don’t want to because I think Naya’s version was so good.

  2. How to be a Heartbreaker
    This was sung by Dean Geyer a.k.a Brody in season four of Glee. I really love this song in general because it’s got such a good beat and is really catchy but I do prefer the cover of the song to the original. I’m not really sure why but I think it might be because a guy sings it. And I know it sounds sexist but I just prefer that it’s a male singing it rather than a female. Plus on the show Brody was a male escort so the song kind of fit his profession and they had a dance number and everything on Glee it was pretty great.

  3. Brave
    Sung by Naya Rivera and Lea Michele in season four. I really love this song, mainly because of the lyrics. I had this idea in my head that the song was quite old when I first heard it but it was actually quite recent. I love both the cover of the song as well as the original so I will listen to both from time to time, it just depends which one comes up on my iTunes shuffle.

  4. Stereo Hearts
    This song was sung by a few cast members in season three in the Valentine’s episode. I loved the song just because it was a nice song and it was in the theme of the episode. Plus when Glee do group numbers, it’s always a pretty good time. I think I have heard the original of this song but I do prefer the Glee version, for no other reason than it’s the Glee version.

  5. American Boy
    This song was sung in season five by Darren Criss and Chris Colfer and I am obsessed with it. I used to be obsessed with the original song when it came out but I loved that they did a cover of it on Glee. I especially love it because Darren and Chris sang it and it definitely brought back the nostalgia of hearing the song for the first time. Like to me it’s such a cringey song but I still love it and any ‘Klaine’ duet is a favourite of mine.

  6. Mean
    Sung by Mark Salling and Dot-Marie Jones in season three I loved the message of this song. I also loved that it was sung by Mark and Dot-Marie because they are two characters on the show that have never sung together before and it was really nice. I don’t remember exactly what happened in the episode where they sang it but I do remember it was a really sweet moment between the characters and I thought the song was perfect.

  7. Smooth Criminal
    Probably one of the best covers they ever did on Glee. It was sung by Naya Rivera and Grant Gustin in season three. For this performance they were accompanied by 2Cellos and I think that made it so much better. It was a very intense scene and I just loved Naya and Grant’s voices together it just works so perfectly. The scene is very enjoyable to watch and it is definitely one of my favourite performances of all time.

  8. Raise Your GlassSung by Darren Criss accompanied by the Warblers for the first time in season two. It was also covered again by Glee in the 100th episode in season five with Kristin Chenoweth. I really like this song because it’s such a fun song and it’s one of those songs that is really ‘feel good’. I love both the covers of the song as well as the original and so overall that makes it a really great song.

  9. Jessie’s Girl
    Covered by Cory Monteith way back in season one, it is a really great cover. I think this song was perfect for this episode because at the time in the show Rachel was dating a guy called Jesse and Finn wanted to get back together with Rachel and so was jealous of Jesse and so this song just happened to fit right in. This was definitely one of my favourite Cory Monteith performances from the show and one of the few solos he had on the show.

  10. Doo Wop (That Thing)
    Sung by Naya Rivera and Amber Riley in season five I felt like this song was made for these two to sing. I always love when Naya and Amber do duets because their voices are amazing together and this one was the best. I actually thought this was an original song, I had no idea it was a cover until I was looking it up, I haven’t heard the original but I don’t think I’ll like it as much as the cover.

And there you have it, my list of my favourite Glee songs! Surprisingly Don’t Stop Believin’ was not on my list because I felt like after the fourth time they covered it on the show it was done. But if I had to include it because it’s what the show is famous for, I’d say my favourite cover of Don’t Stop Believin’ is the very first one. They brought it back during the season finale and I got so emotional because they used the exact footage of season one so Cory Monteith was in it and I just can’t keep it together when they mention him on the show.
Anyway, those are my favourite Glee songs and I didn’t realise until writing this just how much I love Naya Rivera. Like her voice is just amazing and everything she sings on Glee is so good.
Obviously there are so many more songs on Glee that I love and would happily sit and write about all day but I think 10 is a good amount – 11 counting Don’t Stop Believin’ so I’ll leave it at that. Please feel free to leave a comment telling me what your favourite covers of Glee were or even what your least favourite Glee covers were. I try not to be negative about the show because I love it so much but sometimes there were some songs that just didn’t need a cover like, the Chipmunk Christmas song…but that’s a whole other blog post for another time…
If you guys are interested in learning more about my favourite things about Glee then stay tuned because I think I will be doing a couple of other blog posts related to Glee in the future, just because the show is over doesn’t mean it won’t live on in our memories. x

PLL Season 5 Finale – WE KNOW WHO A IS

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Oh my God.
I have no words.
Well I do have words. Just not coherent ones. If you guys would like to see my initial reaction to the big A reveal then please watch the video below…
*WARNING SPOILERS FROM BELOW THIS POINT*

So it’s been a few days since I watched the episode and tonight I decided I would watch it again to talk about it.
I’m still pretty unsure of everything.
I mean I’m not actually one of those people that comes up with PLL theories. Which seems weird when you watch the show because I think everyone has their own theories from time to time about this show. I think it’s gotten to the point where I just don’t anymore because there’s so many things in the show to consider when coming up with a half decent theory.
But I think it’ll be a project for me over summer – rewatch PLL and try to connect the dots.
They say there are major hints in seasons 3-5 to the identity of A and I have yet to really pick up on any but I am seriously set on going through every episode again and trying to come up with a solution.
I’ll probably blog about it.
Anyway…onto the actual episode.
On a whole I would say this is probably one of the best PLL episodes to date. I mean it was amazing and it was intense and it was just so…everything. I mean I don’t really know how else to describe it I just loved it so much.
The big reveal was of course disappointing. I mean Charles DiLaurentis was worked out from the previous episodes when we discovered that Mona’s random sentences were anagrams of Charles DiLaurentis. And when I say “we” I mean hardcore fans because I definitely didn’t get Charles from those sentences haha.
However I feel like he’s A.
I mean I like to believe he is because then we have a person who A could be. Plus he’s keeping the girls in this house for a reason.
Yes there is always the chance he is doing this for someone of a higher power a.k.a Black Widow who is supposed to be Uber A. Like I really don’t know how many of these people there can be.
But I did do a search and Big A – Charles – is different from Uber A.
Which means…Charles is like second in command.
I mean they said they’d reveal Big A. And they said at the end of the episode #CharlesIsA. Like I kind of take that to mean Charles is A.
People tend to think different but this is what I’m going with for now.
The real question is though who is Charles? We don’t see his face but from the build of him and his height it is only assumed he is a male. However I have seen several posts who think it’s actually a woman. I have no idea where that comes from.
I mean after I watched the episode the first time I went online to find out what everyone else’s reactions were and not a lot of people were happy about this reveal. And every so often on Tumblr you would scroll past a post that said “WHO THE FUCK IS CHARLES?!” which I found quite funny because everyone else was posting serious theories and then you’d get one confused person haha.
A lot of people seemed to think Charles is a brand new person but I don’t know why? I think because we haven’t heard the name before everyone assumes it’s a new person but apparently it is someone we’ve seen on the show before.
Which leads into this idea that Andrew is Charles. I don’t believe this. I mean I believe Andrew is part of it but I don’t think he’s Charles. I mean clearly Andrew is part of it he was listening to Melissa’s phone call to her parents. Which leads you to wonder why Melissa was calling…
I have also read theories that Charles wanted to be a girl but the DiLaurentis family wouldn’t let him and so sent him to Radley and that would explain his obsession with dolls…
Some people don’t think Charles is Jason’s twin and that he’s someone else entirely…
I kind of go along with the Jason twin thing. I mean that video shown in the nursery room place where Spencer gets approached with Charles suggests that Jason has a twin as these two boys are seen with Mrs D and a baby which we assume is Alison and her two brothers.
However watching it back I realised only one of the boys kisses the baby and the other one sort of stands by so maybe it’s not what we think?
I mean all Mrs D says is “come over here and kiss your sister..”
OMG I just had this idea…
What if the baby Mrs D is holding is not Alison? What if it is BETHANY. What if one of the boys is Charles but it is Bethany’s brother?! Who is to say that Mrs D and her family were there alone? What if they were with the Young family?!
Mind blown.
Not even kidding I kind of think that.
But then the pictures Mona is looking at in the room focus on the two boys…there is a connection. But I don’t know what and it’s driving me insane.
Like if they aren’t twins what are they? Because they look extremely similar.
Also during the episode I had this idea that maybe Charles is someone’s twin but it’s not Jason and it’s someone else like a girl. I kind of got this because there were two puppets in the room one a boy and one a girl so it’s a bit far fetched but what if someone random like CeCe had a twin. I mean they said there was going to be a twin thing but not like the books and it’s not 100% clear that it’s Jason…
My head is hurting trying to think this through haha.
There are so many theories.
But the main focus is definitely on Charles.
However when I was searching for information on Charles people also suggested that the name is actually Rachel S and not Charles at all. But I definitely think it’s Charles because the figure in the episode is male.
Out of all the characters on the show we have seen so far I have no idea who could be Charles. I mean I guess we have to start looking for characters of a similar height compared to Spencer…
Plus I was even trying to tell who it was by their hair? Like their hair was bothering me but then I was reading that it could have been a wig so that kind of rules that out.
I mean it’s safe to say this whole thing is just a really big mystery. And if the show doesn’t have a wonderful explanation of it I know everyone’s going to be mad. Including me.
I mean I can’t have this show turn into How I Met Your Mother…when we found out who the mother was but then found out she dies…and Robin goes AWOL and so does Barney and they don’t even stay together…
Like that can’t happen to this show.
I can’t have a random person be A they have to be tied to the girls in some way…
There’s just so much going on right now…
I don’t even think this blog post makes sense.
So I think I’ll leave it here haha. I mean I think I’m just typing whatever comes into my head and that doesn’t always make sense and can seem disjointed. So yeah…
What do you guys think? Who is Charles? Is he the twin of Jason? Do you think someone else is A? What are your theories?
I am very interested to know.
Also if you want to find out who I thought was going to be revealed as A before the episode ended you can watch the video below…it’s quite long but there was a lot of people to consider…

Apart from that I hope you liked this blog post, even if it was a bit unstructured and I will hopefully be back soon with more PLL theories…as we still have two more seasons to go and it can only start to make more sense from here…right?
~ Courtney x

Love Tanya Book Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Hey guys, so I’m here with another YouTuber book review. These books seem to be all I’m reading lately but I promise I will have some reviews of non-YouTuber books soon.

So Love Tanya is written by British YouTuber Tanya Burr and as always I am happy to hear when a YouTuber is releasing a book. I feel like it’s a way to connect with them that more personal. Especially if they have written about themselves.
One thing I love the most about these books is that they are all different. While Grace’s and Tanya’s books both give advice they do it in very different ways and I love to see the YouTuber’s personality come out through their writing.
When I was reading Tanya’s book I felt like I was reading a fairy tale. There is something simple about her writing style and the tone she writes in that makes her life sound like a fairy tale. Especially in the chapter where she writes about her relationship with Jim.
That was probably my favourite chapter in the book because you can tell just how much Tanya loves Jim and how important he is in her life. I’m a total sucker for a sappy love story and Tanya and Jim’s is definitely one of my favourites.
Jim and Tanya’s relationship has always been one I have loved. Not only do they look amazing together but they way they work together and support each other is so adorable and I will definitely ship them forever. I wish them the best of luck with their future and their upcoming nuptials.
Anyway…sorry I let my inner fangirl/shipper get in the way there…
I really enjoyed learning more about Tanya’s life before YouTube. I started watching her videos in August last year I felt like I didn’t know her as well as other YouTubers, so this book was the perfect way to get to know her. Plus, who doesn’t love photos of people when they were babies?
This book also contains a lot of Tanya’s style and beauty tips which I appreciated a lot. Sometimes you don’t want to sit through a 20 minute video to find the right makeup brush to use and this book explains it quite well.
I also learnt a lot about skin care through Tanya’s book as she took us through her beauty routine. Sometimes in videos people may not give proper descriptions on how a product works with their skin but in the book Tanya was able to give a better insight into her favourite beauty products.
One section of the book I didn’t actually read was the baking section however I don’t think that is a section of the book you can read in one go. However I did flick through these pages and the photos make everything look amazing so I can’t wait to get around to using these recipes in the future.
Another part of the book that went unused were the sections that Tanya left for us to write in. I know that they are there for us to write in but I feel like it’s wrong to ruin such a beautiful book with my writing. Like I just can’t bring myself to write in it so I have left these pages blank…I don’t know if anyone else is like that or just me but I am sure you understand what I mean…
Another thing I really liked about this book were Tanya’s “top ten..”s at the end of each chapter. Again it was another thing that allowed you to learn a little bit more about her and the things that she has a personal connection with. I know that when you watch YouTube videos you often miss things like that, especially if you don’t watch every single video a person posts so it was nice to learn about the little things like what her favourite places are.
These were also great for learning tips and tricks that Tanya had for different aspects of your life. Some of her advice is quite simple but it is often the type of things people forget so I think it’s nice to be reminded of them every once in a while.
Overall I think this book captures Tanya Burr perfectly as she discusses personal issues such as her anxiety, lighter topics such as beauty and baking and everything in between. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking to learn more about beauty, fashion, baking, dating and of course Tanya Burr herself.

Goodbye Glee

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

So I just watched the last ever episode of Glee and I cried…
I didn’t really think I would get this emotional about it. But when I look back I realise Glee has been a big part of my life. I haven’t been around since the pilot episode, I got introduced to it about halfway through the first season and since then I’ve been in love with it.
I know the show has had it’s ups and downs…there were times when the seasons weren’t going so well and you kind of just wanted to give up with it all together but I am so glad I stuck with it. In the end it redeemed itself and made you remember why you loved Glee in the first place.
To be honest…I’m not really sure how to describe how I’m feeling, I’m just sort of all over the place. I mean I have literally grown up along side this show since it began in 2009 and I was about 12…it’s been a long journey since then. And I think the show had a lot of important messages about equality and being who you are and I think that was one of the most important things to have when you are growing up…especially as a teenager.
I think having the show around definitely helped me become who I am and be more open minded to things because not everyone is going to be like you.
With so much diversity on the show there’s at least one person you can relate to and that’s really important especially if you are feeling alone. Glee was always a place where you felt like you belonged and I feel like I needed that sometimes because not everyone understands what you’re going through.
So I guess this blog post is just my Thank You to the show. A thank you for everything because it’s been such an amazing show to watch and I can’t have imagined it being any better than it was.
It’s been an incredible journey to watch and I know I’ll never forget it. I know I’ll still 9 times out of 10 choose the Glee version of a song over the original and I know I’ll still think about Cory Monteith from time to time…I know that this is a show that will never get old for me. And I just hope it never gets old for anyone else either.
I mean I feel like there is so much more that I could say but I honestly don’t know how to put it into words. I just think it’s been an amazing show and that if you’ve ever felt like you didn’t belong or that you were different it’s the perfect show for you.
So goodbye Glee, thank you for everything, you made us laugh, you made us cry, you taught us some valuable life lessons and you will forever live on our hearts ❤
~ Courtney x

#DearMe – A Letter to my Younger Self

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

I’m a little bit late with this since International Women’s Day was yesterday and the YouTube campaign has stopped and everything but I have decided to take part anyway because it seems like such a great concept to me and it not only helps yourself but also helps many other people too. 🙂

Dear Me,
I have never been the best at giving advice but I think if I was going to advise anyone I think the best person would be to advise myself. So that’s what I’m going to do.
The first thing I’d like to say to my younger self is that it’s okay to want to spend time on your own. You might think it’s weird when you get days when you don’t want to talk to anyone and just want to shut yourself away and be invisible and that is okay. You are just not a people person. It’s not anything to feel bad about and it is okay to turn down plans if you aren’t feeling up to them. Your friends will understand, it’s just that sometimes you just need to take the day to yourself and just be.
On the other side of that it is also okay to want to be heard. If you have an opinion don’t be afraid to speak up and share it. Even if you are worried about people getting offended you have a right to say how you feel. Almost 99% of the time you say something someone is going to disagree but you just have to stand your ground and stay true to what you believe in. It is also important to be careful with the way you word things, while it’s important to be heard it is also important to be mindful of other people. Don’t go out of your way to purposely hurt someone with your words. Respect that they have a different opinion from yours.
Also stay away from the internet when you are angry. It is okay to rant when you are angry, it is okay to have negative thoughts from time to time but try not to share them with the world. I know I’ve always found comfort in sharing my thoughts online but if they are hurtful and rude I would keep them to myself. Spreading hatred online can only lead to trouble and you have no idea how the person you are aiming these things toward feels on the other side. 
It is also best not to indirect post about other people. You might be angry with someone about something and you think the best way to let them know you’re angry is to talk about them indirectly. That’s the opposite of what you should do. I know I’ve never liked confrontation but it is better to talk directly to the person you have an issue with rather than tell everyone else but that person. Having open communication with people can make relationships a lot easier and save a ton of drama.
I would also advise my younger self not to worry so much about other people. It is okay to care about your friends and worry about them from time to time but you can’t force them to get help or change. So don’t worry so much you put their needs before your own because this can have a negative effect on you too. All you can do is be there for your friends and give them advice but it is their choice whether to take the advice you give. The most you can do is do your best to help them but  you can’t control what they do with their lives. So while you may not agree with everything they do, you should accept them for who they are and hope they will make the right choices for themselves.
It is also okay to let go of the past and the people in it. I know it’s hard to let people out of your life but sometimes it’s for the best. You shouldn’t be holding onto people in your past if it is stopping you from living in the present. While yes, you have great memories with these people you have to accept that that’s what they are, memories. You can always look back and enjoy the time you had with them but at the end of the day if things didn’t work out it’s okay to move on. It just takes time.
And the last piece of advice I would give to my younger self is be yourself. Don’t be discouraged by people around you that don’t like who you are. Don’t let them influence how you live your life because they aren’t the ones living it. Find what you love and do it. It is always best to stand out on your own rather than follow the crowd. Be proud to be different and embrace it. Because it’s your life and you have to live it, no one else. So don’t be ashamed of doing what you love, don’t be embarrassed if you don’t like what everyone else likes. As long as you’re happy with your life, that’s all that matters.
Love, Courtney x

And so there’s my letter to my younger self. I am sure I would have so many more things to add but I think this covers a lot of it.
I hope you guys enjoyed reading this advice I’d give to my younger self and that you can relate to it and it helps you in some way. I’d also love to know if you have any advice you would give to your younger self because I think even when we are older we still forget basic advice like this. Especially when you are still growing up like me…
Thanks so much for reading. 🙂
~ Courtney x

Girl Online Book Review!

~ Courtney Shek ~ 1 Comment

It took me a long time to get around to reading it but I finally finished Girl Online!
Girl Online is a fictional book written by British YouTuber Zoella and I have to say I was so excited when I heard she was writing a book! I mean I have been excited for every YouTuber book coming out but I was very excited to learn that Zoe’s was a fictional book. Almost every other YouTuber is writing an autobiography/lifestyle type book so I was interested in seeing how Zoe’s was different from everyone else’s.
And before I get into the review of the actual book I just want to say that the cover of this book is stunning. The cover of the book is actually the whole reason I bought my own physical copy. I was originally going to buy a kindle version of the book because it was cheaper at the time but once I saw the cover I changed my mind and when I went to change my preorder the physical copy had went down in price so it was close to the kindle version’s price so I was very happy about that.

So I know that a lot of people were upset to learn that Zoe’s book had a ghost writer…and I just want to address my thoughts on that. I don’t really have a problem with the fact that she had one. I mean if she had help to make her novel she had help, there’s no shame in admitting that. Plus I think it’s a bit much to have high expectations for someone who has little writing experience to be a best-selling author right off the bat. Besides she’s not the first person to have a ghost writer…
However I do understand why people would get upset about the fact she didn’t write it on her own. I have to admit I was a little upset about this but only because other YouTubers that are writing books have done it on their own. The difference being that their genre of book is different from Zoe’s. Other YouTubers are writing about themselves which is easy to do but Zoe is writing fiction so it’s understandable why she would turn for help.
At least that’s just what I think about the whole thing. While I wish she hadn’t used a ghost writer there’s nothing I can do about it. I mean I know if I was in her position I’d probably do the same thing. So yeah…moving on to the actual story…

Penny has a secret.
Under the alias Girl Online, Penny blogs her hidden feelings about friendship, boys, high school drama, her crazy family, and the panic attacks that have begun to take over her life. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets Noah, a gorgeous, guitar-strumming American. Suddenly Penny is falling in love – and capturing every moment of it on her blog.
But Noah has a secret, too, one that threatens to ruin Penny’s cover – and her closest friendship – forever. 
– Girl Online Blurb (source)

As soon as I read the blurb I was interested in this story… and I was so excited to finally begin reading it and while I did enjoy the story I didn’t like it as much as I thought I was going to.
To me it felt like this book was written for a younger age group. The style of the writing is simple and the whole storyline turned out to be a tiny bit anti-climactic for me.
I thought that the beginning of the book was good, I liked the style of writing for Penny’s blogs and I found this aspect of Penny very relatable. As someone who also enjoys blogging and understands the need to put your thoughts out there for even one person to read I did enjoy this part of the book. I also found the reason for Penny going to New York understandable…
I have never had a video of me go viral before but if it did I’d probably flee the country too. Especially if it was that embarrassing.
Another thing I found relatable about Penny is her struggle with friendships. I’m sure we’ve all been there. When we have to decide when it’s time to stop being friends with someone or you’ve “outgrown” them. It’s something everyone has to do in their lives and I liked the way this is handled in the book. However not all fake friends are as easy to spot in real life as they are in the book.
Something that I wasn’t able to relate to is Penny suffering from panic attacks. I don’t suffer from a lot of anxiety but I do understand that a lot of people do. This book gave me an insight into what it’s like for someone who might be dealing with anxiety and I found this really interesting. I also liked that there was advice on how to deal with anxiety in the book. I thought this was important especially since Zoe has suffered from anxiety and panic attacks her whole life.
As the book goes on and Penny and Noah spend more and more time together I found the book was getting a little bit boring. I just thought that nothing really happened in that time she spent Christmas and New Year’s with him. And I know not every part of a book has to be exciting but I was just waiting for the time when Penny would finally learn about Noah’s secret…
Throughout the book I had my own ideas about what his secret might be. I think I was thinking too outside the box and have been reading/watching too many vampire things because I thought he was going to be a vampire or some other supernatural being….Or I thought he was going to find out about Penny’s blog or that he was actually a criminal or something really crazy and unexpected.
My friend Bryce actually came up with the idea that Noah was really gay and was going to end up with Penny’s gay best friend Elliot which would have been quite funny but also kind of mean.
But none of those things were Noah’s big secret.
I do have to say when I found out what his secret was I was a little bit sad. I mean I wasn’t expecting his secret to be what it was but I was expecting something a lot bigger. Which is why I felt like it was a little anti-climactic.
I was also surprised that we only find this out about 3/4s of the way through the book…I thought we’d find out sooner than that.
After that I felt like everything just happened in a blur. Which I guess is how it’s meant to feel but to me everything just seemed to be happening too fast. Faster than the rest of the book and I feel like it caused them to brush past some more important issues.
For example what Elliot was going through with his father. I feel like it should have been something that was put into more detail. I know that he’s not the main character in this book but if he is dealing with a serious problem like that I think maybe there should have been more about it…I feel like it was a little bit random to have in the midst of everything else towards the end.
However I did like the way that Penny took control of her situation and dealt with the cyber bullying. It also teaches you the lesson that while anyone can make up a rumour about you only you know the truth and that’s all that really matters. As long as you and the people you’re close to know the truth it doesn’t really matter what other people think and I think that’s a really important message to have. Especially if you are someone who does put themselves out there, on the internet or in real life.
As for the ending of the book…it was predictable. Which I didn’t mind because I do prefer happy endings more than sad ones. And for a book like this I didn’t expect there to be a sad ending. I also know that when two people go through so much together it does seem like a waste for them not to end up together. However sometimes that’s for the better but not in this case.
Overall I’d say the book was okay. I didn’t really hate it but I didn’t love it either…like I said before I really felt like the book was aimed at a younger audience just because of the style of writing and the way the story played out…I did however think the love story between Noah and Penny was quite cute but I’m a sucker for any type of love story.
Now the real question is…will I be buying the sequel? I wasn’t actually aware of the sequel until one day I was on Amazon and it came up as a recommended item for me. But I think I’ll have to wait to find out what the sequel is about before I consider buying it. Considering how I felt about this book I’m not sure if I will immediately jump at the chance to get the sequel but I guess we shall see when the time comes.
If you guys have read Girl Online please leave me a comment letting me know what you thought and also let me know if you will be buying the sequel when it comes out because I’d be interested to know.
And until the next blog post I bid you adieu 🙂
~ Courtney x

My Strange Friends and Picking Photos! | Pages 188, 25, 6 & 154 | The Pointless Book

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

This is my first Pointless Book blog post for this blog!
If you want to see my previous Pointless Book blog posts click here.
So with this Pointless Book video I took my book into school and asked my friends to fill in some things and it got a little weird…
The first page I asked them to fill in was the one where you ask a friend to describe you in 3 words. I didn’t ask just one of my friends, I asked three so I have three phrases below which are supposed to describe me:

The first one was written by my friend Georgie and she says I am “dedicated to FSOG” for those who don’t know FSOG is the abbreviation of Fifty Shades of Grey and if you follow me on Twitter you can see this is a pretty accurate statement haha.
The second one is written by my friend Megan and she says I am a “vlogging-obsessed fangirl” which is very true. I started my YouTube channel almost a year ago and I have become obsessed with vlogging…and I have been a fangirl for about 8 years now…
And finally the last one was written by my friend Ashleigh and she says that I am a “lover of Ashizzle” which basically means I love Ashleigh. Again true, we are really good friends and I love her a lot.
So all in all it is safe to say my friends know me pretty well. Then again I feel like if you just went on my Twitter you’d know these things about me. Apart from my love for Ashleigh you might have been unclear about that until now lol.
The next page that I asked my friends to fill in is the one where you ask a friend to write a message and swap pages with them. Now because none of my friends have a Pointless Book I decided just to let them write a message in my book and I would share it with you all and I have three messages as shown below:
The first and last messages were written by my friend Ashleigh. As you can see she is very open with her feelings for me haha.
The middle one is written by my friend Victoria who had some requests to make. This was done a while ago before Christmas and so this is why she is calling me Santa lol.
And that is what my friends got up to with my Pointless Book. I basically just handed them the book and asked them to write something it’s amazing it was as calm as that I can imagine it could have been much worse haha.
The next two pages I did were to stick in photos and this was an easy task. These are the two pages:
                  
The first one is a photo of me and my friends from 3rd year which was like four years ago…I have to say we look a little bit different now haha but mostly the same. It’s the first photo we have of all six of us together so it’s a very significant time. Especially since these were my first secondary school friends, I’m still friends with all of them even if some of them don’t go to the same school anymore but we’ve had lots of fun over the years. That’s why I decided to add this photo to my book.

The next photo is a really old photo of me from when I was younger haha. I don’t remember anything about this photo, I just know it’s me and my sister found it a while back and posted it on Facebook and I thought I would share it with you guys. At least it’s not too embarrassing.

And this concludes my first Pointless Book blog post for this blog! Woo!
Like always I did make a YouTube video of me talking about these pages so if you would like to see that you can click below – I say the same things in my blog posts as I do in my videos but I feel like if I do both then the event is documented very efficiently. There’s no need for both but I feel like I should have them both haha.
~ Courtney x