#signed unknown

I've always been the kind of person who gets attached to fictional characters.

Not in a normal way, either.

I mean in the "making playlists for them," "saving edits on Pinterest," and "thinking about them years after I finished the show" kind of way.

The funny thing is that when I look at some of my favorite characters, they don't really have much in common.

1. Hermione Granger

The original overachiever.

She made me believe that being smart was something to be proud of. She was brave, stubborn, and somehow always carrying everyone else's problems on top of her own.

I wanted to be her when I was younger.

Now I just understand why she was stressed all the time.

2. Bonnie Bennett

To this day, I still think Bonnie deserved better.

She spent the entire series saving everyone around her and asking for almost nothing in return.

If loyalty was a person, it would probably be Bonnie Bennett.

3. Bella Swan

I know.

I know.

Trust me, I've heard all the Bella Swan slander before.

But there was always something comforting about her.

Maybe it was how much time she spent inside her own head. Maybe it was because she felt ordinary while everyone around her seemed extraordinary.

4. Aria Montgomery

Aria Montgomery is probably responsible for at least 40% of my personality.

Books, coffee shops, oversized sweaters, and making things significantly more complicated than they need to be.

Looking back, that explains a lot.

5. Merlin

I watched Merlin years ago (and am still rewatching), and somehow he never left.

Nobody talks enough about how much emotional damage this man caused me.

He spent years protecting people who didn't even know what he was sacrificing for them.

The final episode still upsets me.

6. Daenerys Targaryen

Before the writers started fighting demons in the last season, Daenerys represented resilience to me.

Daenerys was one of the most inspiring characters I'd ever seen.

She lost everything multiple times and kept going anyway.

And I think that's why people loved her.

Looking back, I don't think these characters raised me because I wanted to become them.

I think they raised me because they gave me language for parts of myself I didn't know how to explain yet.

Maybe that's what favorite characters really are.

Tiny mirrors we carry around until we grow into the person staring back at us.

Signed,

I've always had the habit of collecting things.

Random things. Silly things.

Screenshots I'll never look at again. Quotes from books I haven't even finished. Half-formed story ideas scribbled on my notes while at work. Conversations I replay long after they've ended (I'm a chronic overthinker, unfortunately).

I started this blog because my head is crowded, and everything needs somewhere to go.

Some of these posts will be about books. Some will be about psychology. Some will be about things that happened to me. Some will be completely random. Some might just be late night tangents that made perfect sense at the time.

Think of this less as a blog and more as a collection of things I didn't want to lose.

Anyway.

If you're reading this, welcome.

Signed,

I realize that I find myself wildly out of hand with the situations I’m places in

Under prepared, undergifted, held to high standards when I don’t even know the basics of what I’m doing

And instead of seeking a way out, not that there usually is one I get stuck in a rut of seeking approval while simultaneously hoping the best case to blend in and be unnoticed