#looks ugly unfortunately the clips have too many different colours

[kimtaegis]

A Taegi Series, pt. 7: personal space ❌ being attached at the hip ✅

cr. namuspromised, jung-koook, 0613data

[itstheendofthegoddamnworld]

Infinity of Stars (Reader x Rocket Raccoon) CHAPTER 1

When taken from her home planet, Terra from a young age, Y/N L/N, also known as Iris, is taught to survive and becomes one of the galaxies' well-known bounty hunters.

But what happens when rumor spreads that she knows the locations of the rare and dangerous infinity gauntlet; a highly powerful weapon that could destroy all?

She is the only human to know of its whereabouts, something which the Guardians of the Galaxy  need to find, before its too late.

But... Who will get to the weapon of mass destruction first?

Chapter 1

19 years later, Xandar

Today was just any other normal day in the heart of the planet, Xandar; the people were going about their everyday lives, young and old cheering of what business they got up to. Life here grew in bustling numbers, and it was on this day, a small spacecraft landed, its blue and red exteriors shined from the bright sun, bringing warmth to the atmosphere.

After the engine rumbled a few times and the smoke finally disappeared, a hatch opened up, and a small group of people, all different colours, races appeared, “You remember the plan; once you get it, you bring it back to me.” The main leader, a tall large red skinned alien spoke to someone by his side, the person beside him was much smaller, their figure curved making it obvious it was a female, even when wearing a large male leather jacket.

“Relax Zerron.” A clear crisp female voice spoke, followed by an elegant and melodic laugh, as her boots clicked into sight from the sunlight, her figure tall and slim, yet showed her curves clearly. Brown jeans and a Brown jacket clung to her body, her bag attached to her hip swung gracefully with every step she took. Her H/C short locks came into view, short and choppy by her shoulders, the other half was thrown into a messy and careless bun on top of her head.

Her skin was smooth and S/C, making it more obvious that she wasn’t from around here at all, compared to all other lives that walked around her. The female, who seemed young, walked further into view, “You better not fail girl, you remember I can-”

“I know, you’ll eat me.” She spoke back, her E/C eyes gleaming up at him cheekily, “I’ll see you later, and if I need you, holler back as soon as possible, I don’t want things getting ugly.” She said, adjusting the visible gun in its holster on her left hip and the many different bombs in her pockets and bag.

She turned back to the strange red man, “You always were a strange one Y/N.” He murmured, rolling his green eyes at the Terran girl that begun walking off the plank to the ground, “I know, but there's no other bounty hunter like me!” She shouted back, as she hopped off, landing gracefully on her feet.

Once she was out of sight from the spacecraft, was when her mission begun, “Now, where’s that son of a bitch telling me to meet him?” She muttered to herself, walking through the crowd of different coloured people, her destination in sight as she walked inside the building.

“That’s her correct?” A female voice asked, bringing the man to stop staring through his visa, staring back at the green female, “She’s the most well known bounty huntress, Gamora. Everyone wants her head.”

The man spoke, “She would definitely know where it would be, and we would have to get to it first, before everyone else does.” He bent to his knee, adjusting his jetpacks on the sides of his legs, “This is probably one of your most silliest plans out there Quill.” Gamora muttered, crossing her green arms around her chest. “Relax, it will go swimmingly, as long as we go through this calmly and quickly as possible, before the Nova Corps find out she’s here.”

“As Gamora said, this plan is stupid Peter.” An extra voice came into ears view, making the two turn around, “Did you just hear what I said Drax? My plans always go swimmingly well.”

“Yeah, like that 12% one you had last time.”

“I am Groot.”

“So what if it’s better than 11%?!”

“Chill man. Rocket, the plan will go fine, as long as we all go along with it and remember to remain calm.”

“Yeah, like she will.”

Gamora rolled her eyes at the Raccoon’s antics, “Well, we better act fast, we don’t want to make a scene around here.” Peter spoke, holding up a device, “she will help us all.”

“As long as I get those units Quill, I ain't complaining!”

Y/N stepped into the building, an empty room with many stands and tables, and there stood the guy she was looking for. His small and lanky figure was recognised as she walked over to the desk, her footsteps bringing the Xandarian man to stop what he was doing and to look up, his golden eyes staring confusedly at her, "Good morning." She grinned, throwing her a small bag, the rumbling and clanging inside made the man know that she had the change on her, "You're not Zerron, I was expecting him. Where is he?"

"He had a sex change." She begun, her E/C eyes boring into his own, "You know who I am, I work for him, and he said that you were expecting me here to collect what was so needed." The man stared at her up and down, until his eyes widened from the eventual realisation, “Y-You’re Iris, the famous bounty hunter.”

Y/N rolled her eyes, “We got there in the end. Look man, I’m in a bit of a hurry, have you got it or what?” She tapped her fingers against the glass table, provoking the man to fidget.

Looking behind her to the door, he turned nervously to the cabinets that filled the entire back room, going to the last drawl in the right-hand corner, he opened it with his fingerprint, before pulling out the blue paper.

“No-one else can see this, you don’t know how dangerous this can be. As soon as those know you have it, they’ll be sure to get from you in anyway-”

“Blah, blah, I got it. Thanks again.” She smiled, a smile that showed her annoyance, as she picked up the paper, folding it and stuffing it into her pocket in her leather jacket.

She turned on her heel, walking causally out to carry on the rest of her day, “Zerron? You there?” She asked from the device that she carried, his deep voice vibrated through the device's speakers.

‘Yes. Where are you?’

She smiled to herself, “That doesn't matter. Just know, come collect me in 20, I’ve got it.”

“What can I get you miss?” Y/N looked from her gun in her lap, to meet the eyes of a rather good-looking Xandarian man, his skin was light blue and his purple hair was slicked back, the accent of his was coherent, and she only managed to understand what he had said.

“Whatever is most popular sweetheart.” She spoke lowly, she pulled out a bit of change from her pocket, “I hope that’s enough. You can keep the change.” She winked at him, causing him to nod quickly, a shy smile adore his face as he went to get her order.

It wasn’t long before her drink was presented to her, a black tar colour liquid and purple foam on the top in a large cup was placed in front of her, and she recognised the drink from it’s strange liquorice smell; one of the popular drinks among those in Xandar. She placed the cup to her nose, the smell was burning her nostrils, but it was strong and pleasant in a way that she could tolerate.

She placed the cup to her lips, drinking down most of the concoction and placing back onto the coaster, the fruity taste bubbling on her tongue. Her moment of happiness and success didn’t last much long, sitting alone in the bar was something she hoped for, but it was taken so shortly when a small group of Xandarian men came into the bar, their ‘macho’ figures were something that brought fear to many.

They walked over to the bar, the men sitting -unfortunately for her- beside her making her roll her eyes in annoyance as they asked for their orders by the bartender. She hoped that they didn’t strike a conversation with her-like they normally did- only until she saw from the corner of her eye one of them grinning towards her, “Hey, you come here often sweet cheeks?” Y/N  saw how he flexed his veiny muscles out to make them stand out more.

Y/N sighed heavily, holding her glass again to her lips, “Not anymore.” She gulped the rest of her drink down, before standing to her feet.

She was about to walk out, until her exit was blocked by the same ugly guy again, he was twice her height, his disgusting brown teeth showing as he smirked down at her, “Hey, don’t be like that babe. It’s rare to see someone as exotic like you around here-” His flirty was cut short as his body suddenly twitched uncontrollable and he fell to the floor.

“Like I said, I won’t come here again if you want to bother me like that.” She placed her gun into its holster, as she turned on her heel, pushing the door as she strolled out.

“Arsehole.” She muttered, pressing the clip behind her ear to activate her black mask, which covered her face. She continued her walk, hoping that Zerron would arrive quickly to pick her up. She walked and walked, mainly bored as she strolled through the crowds, people looking at her strangely, but she ignored them all.

“Get that bitch and bring me her head!” She heard someone shout from the crowds as she looked behind her, the same guys from the bar had followed her.

“THERE SHE IS!!” The same one shouted, as they begun running towards her. “Great,” She thought, “just when I didn’t want to cause a scene.” She turned and ran as fast as she could, running through the crowds as she hoped to avoid them.

They were fast- so to say- and they easily caught up with her, “Gotcha you stupid girl.-” The same guy grabbed her arm, but as she went to pull her gun out, a pulse of electrical current exploded and just about missed her body, hitting the guy as he screamed and fell to the floor, his bulky body pulsing once again.

She looked to the person who shot the electrical current, catching a man standing not so far from where she was. He was tall, muscular and some-what athletic guy, with a red leather jacket and brown pants and boots, I only saw the Walkman and headphones attached to his hip, the realisation brought to her that he either stole them from someone from Terra, or he was from Earth himself.

“Who are you?” Her voice came out deeper thanks to the mask she wore, as the man stood in front of her, “The names Peter Quill, but you can call me Star-Lord.” He watched her cock her head to the side, “Nah, doesn’t ring a bell buddy.” She said, smirking behind the mask as the man muttered in annoyance, "Seriously?"

She was about to turn round and run off, when she was interrupted by him again, “I know who you are though.” She paused, turning to him, “You’re Iris, or that’s what folks call you. Your real name is Y/N L/N, and you’re from Terra.” She pulled her gun out of holster, pointing towards him.

“How do you know so much about me 'Star-Lord’?” She threatened, her steps growing smaller and smaller towards him. “Because,” he begun, “other than your real name, we know that you have what we and everyone else in the galaxy are looking for; the locations of the gauntlet."

She was shocked by this 'Star-Lord’, and this statement brought her to be interrupted when she was suddenly knocked to the ground, the wind being knocked from her lungs, "No, wait Gamora!"

Y/N heard from Star-Lord, as she felt a heavy weight on her chest, a green woman pinning her down to the ground, "I told you Quill, this plan is stupid. You never learn.-"Y/N brought this time to rummage through her bag, grabbing a bomb, and throwing it towards her; a stun gun, hit the skin of Gamora as she gasped, being knocked off and spasming on the ground beside her.

“WAIT!” Y/N stood to her feet, running the opposite way she came from, jumping off the balcony and landing effortlessly onto the ground. “Zerron, I need you! Where the hell are you-” She was knocked forcefully again to the ground, her mask falling off as she heard a voice above her. Groggily looking up, she was met with... a raccoon? A talking raccoon??!

“Drax, bring me the rope!” She was surprised by the voice that came out of him, as she looked over to see a small tree and Christmas coloured alien come running over to them.“GET OFF ME!” She shouted, scrambling on the floor and trying to get the raccoon off of her.

The raccoon on her looked down, a snarl on his face, his teeth baring, but he seemed to pause, those eyes filled with emotions that she couldn't read. At that moment, he seemed almost reluctant to fight against her.

Y/N managed to get him off, leading to the small creature being thrown harshly off her and down a small flight of stairs to land close to the fountain.She stood to her feet, pulling out her gun, she stepped over the small tree and towards the Christmas coloured alien, “Alright big guy,” pointing her gun towards him, “show me what you got.”

She pressed the trigger and a swarm of branches and vines came out, wrapping him tightly around his weirdly shirtless chest, as he struggled to get free.“Y/N!” She looked up, the hovering noise above them made her realise that she had backup. Grabbing her grappling hook, she pointed it upwards, the hook being released with the push of a button.

“She’s escaping!” She heard someone yell below, presuming it was the green skinned woman, as her feet left the ground, shooting her up into the air as she trailed behind the ship as it tried to hover upwards.

Using the strength, she managed to pull herself up the rope, bringing her higher and higher up towards her safety.She was pulled up, her E/C eyes trailing towards the red skinned alien, her smile widening as she thought she was free from any danger.

Her happiness was worn thin, something hitting the side of the ship, and knocking everyone backwards. Unfortunately for Y/N, the ship’s door was still opened, as she tripped and lost her footing, sending her flying out of the ship backwards.

“NOO!” She heard Zerron shout in frustration, his voice getting further away from her as she came closer to hitting the ground. She braced for the harsh impact, as within mere inches with her death, she stopped falling.

She opened her eyes, seeing that her face was inches from the ground, her body hovering as she looked around her; there stood the five people that were trying to capture her, but they hadn’t.

The whooping sound suggested to her that she wasn’t captured by these 5 people: but the Nova Corp instead. She groaned, having been arrested wasn’t the first time in her life, she now didn’t have Zerron to save her. She had to defend for herself.

[p101recaps]

Broduce 101: Episode 5 (Quick Livestream Recap)

Unfortunately I had a few problems with my livestream although the mods did a wonderful job, so I missed most of the first half and a few bits after. Here are a few things that happened that were worth mentioning from the parts I did catch. There were a lot of tears to swift through so I’m sorry if that affected my recap, which is not in order soz:

At some point, Pledis’ Dongho (or Baekho) arm wrestled and pretty much humiliated the whole of the Avengers team. It was very cute because they keep editing him as this massive sang namja guy while I think he’s a squish.

The Avengers team are pretty much squishes. Ha Sungwoon was shook.

Their editing of Baekho is weird in general, since it’s based on his appearance.

Oh god I had a vision into the future where they make him lose weight. I don’t know if it’s Pledis for the now practically guaranteed Nu’est comeback or Mnet because he made BOI

The editing also very helpfully kept showing the trainees around their number to maintain suspense. If the camera swerved to Noh Taehyun after a number is called out, I feel comfortable assuming his name’s going to come out

Also it was 60 trainees that made it, not 61. Probably because they had dropouts anyway.

They also kept the 60 seat empty for last because the suspense about whose dream is going to get crushed is more than watching Park Jihoon take first place

Park Jihoon was first place btw. He was very gracious but no one’s surprised.

His labelmate, deep voiced cutester Kwon Hyeob did not make it. It’s a shame, because he looked great. He has such a nice face, and a nicer voice. I’m bitter.

There were hair changes! Kim Samuel is blonde, Baekho had a haircut and some perm that I hope can be brushed away. Ong Seongwoo has a haircut and looks fine as ever

Yoon Jisung has deep purple hair, Kang Daniel got a trim and is an ashy brunette. It suits them both really well The other MMO kids changed their hair too

Joo Jinwoo made it at 45! He jumped 32 places, for which he has to thank his incapable teammates

Park Woodam, the other vocal discovery, made it by the skin of his teeth because how soon the voting ended

Oui’s Kim Donghan, the centre from Jang Moonbok’s CMB that everyone thinks looks like Yugyeom jumped a whopping 41 places to made the cut. He should thank his stars their performance aired earlier.

Kwon Hyunbin made it at 23, he changed his hair too. He’s been feeling the backlash from all the people that voted for his looks and were furious at the crappy edit Mnet gave his laziness to make Pledis Jonghyun rise, so he was a bit teary. He thanked his Sorry, Sorry team and said he’ll work harder to improve

Lee Daehwi has dark hair now, which is a better look. He dropped 5 places and had to apologise for being a sixteen year old which is just upsetting. He said he’ll make up for his mistakes and work harder too.

I think they’ve all already worked harder in two weeks than I have this last year.

Both Starship boys made it - Sewoon was 13

Jang Moonbok dropped to 14, but he’s also number one on male voting lists. He thanked his hyungs, but they’re crappy fans, Hip Hop President. You deserve better.

Both Hotshot boys made it. 

Noh Taehyun, whose had a haircut and got a bronze-blond dye, was 26. His new hair looks really good, he’s a lot handsomer with the styling.

Ha Sungwoon was 21, which is slightly disappointing because I want him to be in the final line up. He had to stand next to tall trainees in addition to being so nervous that he was more adorable than usual. BoA offered her stand because he was so embarrassed being a shortie next to his tall hyungs

Tiptoe Ajusshi made it! He also apologised for his lack of coordination and said he’ll improve

Jaehwan made it. He picked Woodam as a vocal rival, whose apparently is also his hyung?? He looks so young though?

My man Star Road’s Kenta made it. He thanked his parents in Japanese was very precious.

The usual suspects from the F ranked visuals made it. Joo Haknyeon very sweetly thanked his sisters and his family. He’s a good boy, my top candidate for the Chaeyeon this season

Yuehua’s Ahn Hyungseob, Justin, JungJung and Lee Euiwoong made it.

Handsome man Ong Seongwoo was number 4, and picked Samuel as future dance rival. He said he’d like to battle him, and BoA said she’d like to see that

Me too, personally

Brand New’s quieter talents Im Youngmin and Park Woojin made it

The kid whose parents handed out flyers, Wings’ Kim Youngjin, he made it. He’s the twerking kid from Mansae. I’m worried for him because there are so many Brohyes this season and he really needs more training. His hair is copper coloured now

Kiwi’s Kim Dongbin miraculously made it

Thankfully C2K’s Kim Seunglee, aka easily best singer on the show, made it. He’s also changed his hair colour to a darker shade that suits him more. No screentime that I saw yet though.

All of Nu’est made it. JR and Minhyun were top 11.

Kang Daniel was 5. He knew he was going to be in the whole time, but he was surprised it was that high. Meme King Jisung aka his mother yelled when his name got called and cried dramatically. 

He’s top pick for women over 30 lol. I see it, he really is handsome. There’s something about his eyes and laugh that reminds me of my ultimate bias too. He thanked the noonas. As his noona, let me assure you, it was gr8.

At some point, Daniel shifted in his seat and almost knocked over his big crown 5 chair 

Speaking of Meme King Jisung, he was third, to the surprise of everyone. He began tearing up when BoA said he was a candidate for top 3 and fully ugly cried when he got third place

He pigeon bobbed his head walking up like a big toddler, so endearing I died. His ugly crying was so extreme BoA didn’t know what to do and they had to cut to when he was more in control a few minutes later

Jisung was basically gratified he was being received well at his age out of nowhere. He thanked everyone and ugly cried to his seat, where he saw hunched over like they were going to tell him to get out anytime soon

Samuel got second place and had more Somi comparisons. I’m not sure about his blonde hair yet. The shade is jarring.

When he got to his seat, he reached out to high five Meme King Jisung over a distance of three feet and Jisung almost knocked his own crown 3 chair over to return it

Hip Hop President’s rap buddy Vibe Label’s Sung Hyunwoo got axed at number 61. It was awful because all his labelmates got through, but he thank Jang Moonbok’s check power for pulling him up there at least.

At the end, when the elimated trainees and their friends were crying, Jang Moonbok sprinted to the back to where Hyunwoo was to sob

Kwon Hyeob cried, so I felt bad. This is why I stopped watching closely last year. I can’t see young girls being torn down :(

Yong Yongbin of the real high arched nose didn’t make the cut although his hair is silver now. It’s a shame, he was good too.

Next episode has position evals with the trainees picking their positions. There’s voting on the website with five (?) demo songs of different genres, and voters have to pick which of the trainees suit which best

Honestly, the audio clips were only 30 seconds but all but the hip hop sounded palatable. I’m also not sure what qualifies lay people to pick songs for trainees like this. Half of the popular picks can’t sing and we haven’t heard enough of the other trainees’ voices.

This is super long, but I’ll come back when I have more details! Let me know if you see errors, please!

[mynosejob]

4 Years On

Four years ago today, aged 20, I had a nose job. My family and my closest friends knew, but when I rocked up to start my third year of University – it came as a surprise to a lot of people, I was there with a slightly different face and a lot more confidence. In the last four years, a lot more than just the shape of my nose has changed, but I’m not sure I would be where I am now if it wasn’t for having it done, but perhaps I would. So after reminiscing through the post and looking at hilarious pictures of me post op, I thought I would clear out my brain and share a few thoughts 4 years post rhinoplasty.

Pre-op

Post-op

New Nose, No Problems?

I thought getting a nose job would fix everything in my life - my confidence and my idea of how I thought people viewed me. It did not. In my first and second (and only) blog posts, I talk about why I had my nose job done. From the age of about eleven, when puberty hit, I had a nose that in my opinion was large for my face and had a huge bump on it, was crooked and turned down. Actually, that is my opinion of what my nose was, now reflecting back on it. If you’d have asked me before I’d had it done, age 20, or age 13, or anywhere in between, I would firstly have not answered because I skilfully managed for almost ten years to avoid conversations about parts of the body I dislike about myself, in fear of drawing more attention to it. But, in my own mind, with my own hatred for myself, I would have said that it was hideous and ugly, or simply that I was hideous and ugly. I was bullied for the best part of secondary school, sometimes just little comments here and there, sometimes I’d be the featured graffiti on our local playground. I was told that I was hideous, I was called ‘IT’, I was told that no boys would ever want me or love me. It wasn’t long before I believed it.

I would sit in my bedroom googling a multitude of things including; 'How to be pretty’ 'How to get people to like you’ 'How to make your nose look smaller’ 'How to get boys to like you’ 'How to look hot’ 'How to stop being ugly’ 'Actors with bumps on their noses’ 'Actresses with big noses’ 'How to do a summer make-over’ It is safe to say, I had a cripplingly low self-esteem. The amount of tears I used to cry just from looking at my reflection, isn’t something I’m proud of. I saw myself as someone unworthy and unloveable but knew inside that I was a kind, loving, intelligent person. ‘If I could be pretty, finally I will be good enough.’

I wanted a nose-job from the age of eleven or twelve, I don’t really remember. So when I finally booked in that operation, I thought it would make everything better.

Beauty, The Beast

Beauty is a concept I sometimes really struggle with. I can find beauty in so many things and so many people. Whether it’s beauty in the way a child laughs with their parent, or in a construction of a building or the magic of the mind – I notice things and I get fascinated about the world and its wonders. I see people and I see good in them. I hear when people say negative things about themselves and I wonder how on earth they could possibly think that because I see them so beautifully. I pride myself on that. I am an intelligent woman, I am creative, I have a heart full of an unlimited amount of love and care. I am a fantastic daughter and sister and auntie. I am open-minded and I am accepting of others. I am brave, determined, hard-working, a brilliant listener, generous and sometimes funny. These are qualities I’ve championed in myself and worked to nurture and expand my whole life. Yet I would never call myself beautiful. When I look at the words I describe myself as, I know that they are important, that they are the traits that matter and external beauty is merely the way society is brainwashing us to believe we have to look a certain way to be accepted. It’s not just the media telling us how we should look, it’s on our phones now, every time we open-up a social media website, there is something suggesting a quick-fix to make ourselves a better, more ‘beautiful’ version of ourselves. Whether it’s the latest diet, the intense scrutiny of a celebrity or a filter giving us the opportunity to make our skin less blotchy and our eyes a little brighter. But we all know that – we know what it’s doing, we know that what we see isn’t real, and yet still, for a lot of people, we want it.

New Nose News

I would never call myself beautiful. I never have. Not even post nose-job. I used to hate my nose, now I just mostly dislike my new one. Some days I look at myself in the mirror and I am over the moon with how I look, I feel confident, I feel sexy, I feel pretty. But all it takes is a photo, a video clip, seeing myself in the CCTV screen in Morrisons every morning when I walk through it, to knock me out of my bubble and to make me feel crappy about myself. I see a crooked nose still, I see a nose too wide on the bridge because they didn’t shape it properly, I see a nose too big for my face, I see an upturn on my nose, I see nostrils too big at the sides, I see one side a different shape to the other, I see a dent on the left side of my nose, I see pores, I see glasses that don’t quite fit properly, I see a nose too gigantic for my face when I take photos, I see a nose that gets even worse when I smile. But on top of that, because I’m not seeing a humungous bump like before, I am seeing every other part of my face and disliking that as well. After my first year post-op, I tried to get the surgeon to make some edits, he said no, he said my nose was lovely. He also said that the tip of my nose had to remain thick because of the thickness of my skin – that is stuff that googling doesn’t tell you.  I basically still have a lot to work on in my own mind about how I see myself.

Yet all this being said, it is still one of the greatest decisions I have ever made. The amount of confidence I have gained through having surgery, is priceless. Before I used to think about how I looked any free moment my brain had to wander. Now I don’t. Now it’s just an unfortunate thought that pops into my head when I really don’t want it to. I no longer feel like I have to hide. I have taken more photos in the last year of my life with friends, with family, of myself, more than I possibly ever have. Not every photo ends in tears. But I finally have photographs I can celebrate as memories and inside of focusing on my face, I can look at the picture and think, what a glorious day with wonderful people. I won’t hide behind my glasses, in fact I usually take off my glasses for photos, or for days where I want to feel good about myself. I am no longer hiding and that is a beautiful feeling in itself.

CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE

It upsets me, beyond imagine, when I think of the way beauty is viewed. I am an auntie and one day I hope to be a mum, more than anything else in the world. The thought of any child growing up in this negative society fills me with dread and an urge to do anything I can to make a difference to that. I’m not so sure I know what that is yet. I hate how much technology has played a part in my formative years. I love it – because technology is incredible, but I also despise it. So, to know that the children of today are being born into a world where they are immersed into a world of Photoshop, filters, swiping and selfies from the moment they arrive in this world, it breaks my heart. My parents told me I was beautiful. They, particularly my mum, gave me incredible role models who championed brains and kindness above anything else and I do. So, it wasn’t even something they could do to make my self-confidence stronger. I fear for how young people will view themselves. I fear for how young people will view others. We are breeding a toxic view of beauty in the world and it isn’t okay. It will only get worse. As a society we are gradually being more accepting of people who do not fit a certain criteria, but it isn’t enough.

Pictures are key – everyone, everywhere has something they want us to see. So rather than switching off and pretending it all doesn’t exist. Maybe it is time that we all look. Really look. If we look hard enough we can see that the images surrounding us are more often than not, impossibly perfect. We should talk about it, we should acknowledge it, we should challenge it.

We should talk about beauty in a positive way.

When I used to work with young people regularly, I would hear children, girls mostly, rip themselves apart over a lunch break. Girls as young as 10. Everyone should teach their children to not be a bully. But equally, everyone should teach their children to not be a bully to themselves. We need to find ways of teaching self-love, celebrating every part of us, inside and out. Children need to learn the language of self-love and feel comfortable in complimenting themselves, in calling out what they love because what they have in themselves is unique. Children need to see pictures of people of all different physical appearances.In fact, adults need to see that too.

I don’t have a solution to this problem. But if we don’t start to tackle it, in ten years time the world is going to be having a population with lower-self esteem than anyone could imagine. My self esteem was crushed from a bunch of horrible comments made when I was at school. Imagine that, all day, every day, and there is no voice to it, it just slowly becomes the voice inside your head because you see everywhere that you are not good enough or that you should b a certain way. It has to stop! A letter to my future children and anyone else who needs to hear it ... To whoever is reading this; your beauty exists, whether you want to believe it or not. There is not just one type of beauty, not one type of colour your hair, your eyes, your skin should be. There is not one size you should be, one height, one weight. There is not a certain angle your nose should slant at that decides whether or not your are beautiful. Your beauty is not how thick your eyebrows have to grow or how smooth your skin has to look. It is not the amount of hairs that exist on or off your body, it is not the whiteness of your teeth or the plumpness of your lips. Externally, an amalgamation of every inch of you is what makes you beautiful.

If you find yourself, in a place where I have found myself so many times, that you are caring about your external beauty, even when so many people tell you it is only the internal beauty that matters, there are things I want you to know. You are unlike any one to exist on this planet, that ever has existed, that ever will. When you are made to feel bad about looking different in any sort of way, it is because not everyone has been taught that the most beautiful thing of all is a kind heart. A lot of people who try to look the same is because they are scared too, or too scared to appear different because they know sometimes how cruel people can be. Your differences are what make you magic.   If you are ever worried that someone wont find you beautiful, that someone won’t find you sexy, or desirable, if you ever feel like no one will fall in love you. YOU ARE WRONG. There are people in this world who will fall head over heels in love with the things that you see in yourself that you may not like. There are people in this world whose idea of perfect is someone who looks like you.  

The way you view yourself should not depend on what other people say, how other people feel, but there is also a good chance that from time to time it might.

Experiment with make-up, dye your hair, get a nose job if you really want to. But know that you are enough. You are more than enough, exactly how you are. Remember, that ‘flawless’ skin, a ‘perfect’ nose, whatever - will look ugly if you are ugly on the inside. Be kind to everyone. Fill the world with love and fill your brain with happiness, music, knowledge, adventures, experiences and fun. For then you will shine and you will make people of every sort feel as good about themselves as they deserve to feel. Those who make you feel bad, they are not worth being a place in your heart or being a worry in your mind. Hopefully if/when I have children, I will have come to terms with my body. Or maybe even in the next four years. Or maybe, because we are all human, this will be a never-ending battle with ourselves. You are beautiful. Always. (Even when you feel like crap and have greasy hair, sweaty feet, more spots than you’d like, I promise). xx

Today - after possibly 100 attempts to get a photo I was happy with. Here I am, 4 years on, no make-up, spots, eyes different size, nose with a bit of a curve, barely a brush through my hair...  4 years on, overall, I am the happiest I have ever been. Unfortunately, I would say my nose job has a huge amount to do with that.  Come on future, we can be better than this. We have to.