Eddie the Eagle

Hullo!

I've just been out for dinner and I am stuffed. Like, I'm at least twice the size I used to be.

Anyway...

Last night I went to see the film Eddie the Eagle. I didn't really want to see it, but my friend could only go later on and it was either that or the Batman/Superman movie. It wasn't until we were sitting in the screen that I doubted my decision to go see the movie about the famous ski jumper. I didn't really want to see that or the superhero movie, I wanted to go see Zootropolis, but we couldn't make the last showing.

Turns out, I shouldn't have worried. The film was amazing. I hardly stopped smiling the whole way through. I loved Taron Egerton in Kingsman: The Secret Service and this film only made me love him more. As far as I could tell, he was amazing at portraying Eddie Edwards.

It was so easy to smile and laugh through the whole thing. Yes, you're laughing at Eddie, but you're supposed to, and it's in a good way. Like, for example, when he decides to move to Germany to pursue ski jumping and a conversation sort of like this happens.

Eddie: mum, have you seen my camping bag?

Mum: it's in the cupboard. Are you going camping?

Eddie: no, I'm moving to Germany.

Oh, okay then, see you later! It wasn't exactly like that but you get the picture. He's just so determined! I was constantly wanting to scream 'no' at him every time he went onto bigger jumps because I just saw him falling and hurting himself. He just didn't seem to have any awareness of his own safety. He landed the 40m jump once and went straight onto the 70m! Like... Calm down!

I loved it. Every scene with Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman was fun to watch. When Jackman first appeared they don't show his face straight away, but it was obvious it was his entrance. I turned to my friend and said 'give you a tenner if you can guess who that is' and she laughed because it was like, here he comes, this is him.

The number of crashes they showed too! Oh my goodness I cringed away from every one and hid behind my hands and everything! It looks terrifying! There's a moment (quite a big spoiler here but not really and it's not as if I haven't already ruined things before) when Eddie does the 70m and he's flying through the air. In the moment that it becomes obvious he's not going to land, the cinema was silent. It was so quiet and all you heard was me whisper 'oh no' and then he fell and ended up in hospital. My friend did laugh at me then. But you couldn't help but love him and I didn't want him to get hurt. I just felt so absorbed in the story and you felt Eddie's joy, disappointment and determination. I really wanted him to succeed and was annoyed when he didn't.

Summary? Go see it. It's so, so, so, so good! Just everything about it was brilliant. Although Jackman's character was fictional, I really loved the relationship between him and Eddie. I like that they did that instead of having a bunch of different people give Eddie advice without one constant person with him, like what I think happened in real life.

Such a good movie! Highly recommend it!

    

(Just added that picture of Taron Egerton because... you know... he's absolutely stunning and I might think he's super hot... just saying).

Bye-bye!

Making big decisions

Hullo!

I'M IN A VERY HYPER MOOD!!

Oh my goodness I'm just so BUZZING!!

It's been a big couple of days for me! Lots of decisions being made and things changing! It's exciting!

So, I've written a post about my dad and how much of an ass he is. Something happened the day before yesterday that really set it in for me that I don't need him in my life. I don't need his attitude affecting me. So... I acted on a thought I've been having for a while, and I changed my name! My mum and dad are divorced and my mum has re-married, but I still have my dad's name. It's a horrible name and I've never, ever heard of another person with this second name. Nobody knows how to pronounce it or spell it. I've finally changed my name to match my mum's new name and the name of my step-family. It's a massive thing for me but my mum said this would be a good time to do it; while I'm leaving school and filling in forms for new things. It's so strange to hear it with my first name after 17 years of my old second name... And it's a nightmare changing everything on social media and stuff!

The second big thing is that I got a job! I applied for a new job a few weeks ago but as they had just taken on new people I didn't get accepted straight away. A few days ago I got an email telling me that I got an interview. I went to the interview the day before yesterday and yesterday I found out that I was accepted! So I'm going to a welcome meeting tomorrow. I'm so excited. I can't wait to start making my own money again. I haven't been able to get another job since I left my last one last... October time? And it's even better because my brother and sister both work there along with my other brother's girlfriend and a bunch of other people I know. Jasmine also wants to start there but can't till May because of her age.

Anyway...

Last, but not least, is that I applied for college. I wasn't originally going to go to college and it's very last minute so I might not get accepted. It's for a travel and tourism course which I thought might help towards becoming a cabin crew member. A bunch of people have suggested it and my cousin's girlfriend said her friend done it then went on to work for Emirates. So hopefully it helps and if not I'm going to re-apply next year.

I've been worrying so much about the future for the last few months. I've been really upset and panicking, and now it's all sorted within a matter of days! It feels so weird knowing that I don't have to worry about anything. If I don't get accepted to college I still have a job, and it feels like such a relief to have a plan A and B sorted.

My advice to you: don't do what I did. Don't sit worrying and fussing about the future, but do nothing about it. If you know what you want to do, then do everything in your power to get it done. Apply for a bunch of colleges, universities and jobs. Don't leave it too late. Research what you want to do and figure out what you need to do to get to your dream job. Nothing is impossible. If you want to work in some far away country doing some random thing nobody has heard of, then go do that. Nobody is stopping you but yourself and the limits you put on yourself. If money is a problem, do what I'm going to do and take a couple of years off and get a good job to save. Maybe do another course in the meantime that could help?

You can do anything you want, but you have to have the determination and put in the work to reach your goals.

I'm looking forward to the future now, rather than dreading it. I've even thought about what it would be like to live by myself, which I've never even considered before. I feel so happy! I just want to share it with everyone!

Okay, that's me done with the encouragement speech.

Bye-Bye!

The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon #2

Hullo!

Now, I wasn't going to do too many of these in a row, 'cause I don't want it to look like all I talk about is games, but I'm bored and in the mood for Spyro. So, here goes the second part of my Spyro walkthrough: Twilight Falls!

In this level there will be:

7 Blue gems

1 Red gem

2 Green gems

2 Chests of Armour

1 Elite Enemy

This one starts just after the escape from The Catacombs with Spyro and Cynder flying down this big waterfall and Hunter jumping along below. Fly straight and when you come out onto the waterfall the screen will just sort of tilt down. Head towards the purple light save point which is pretty noticeable. Straight away you'll have to fight flying Grublin things. They're as easy to defeat as normal Grublins but you need to jump a bit more to get a hold of them.

After they're gone you'll be able to save and also collect the blue gem that is on the ledge beside it. Here, I'd like to suggest that you use some of you're blue gems to upgrade Spyro's Earth power as you'll need it to be at level 2 to defeat the Elite Enemy in this level.

(Yes, again, that is my top in the background of the second picture. I tried to fix it but, hey, I'm not perfect)

Right-y-o! Run towards the screen and it turns around and there's another blue gem beside the waterfall. If you cross the river to the other side there's a rock that juts out that you can jump up on. If you jump up it and follow the waterfall up a bit and over a few more ledges there's another blue gem in the water. Then jump back down to the grass and there'll be a few more flying Grublins that you don't necessarily have to fight but I like to make sure everything is done so I do it anyway. Nothing happens if you don't. (I don't think).

If you follow the grass around there's a bunch of vines growing and covering a blue gem. Just use Spyro's Fire breath like last time. Follow the path around and you'll get back to the river. Jump over and this is where Hunter is waiting for you. You'll have to fight two lots of Grublins and then this elephant thing. The elephant is easy to defeat, just keep hitting him with Spyro's Electricity and Cynder's Shadow. Try not to get too close because he does this sort of like purple electric storm thing around him that is hard to get away from. He's not as scary as he looks.

When he dies a blue gem will be revealed. There's also a green gem in the clearing and a blue gem tucked up between the rocks against the cliff wall. Now, opposite the cliff wall is a pathway that leads to another load of vines. Through these is the first armour chest of this level. Armour can be found in the start menu. If you get a whole set, like down the way with a helmet, back plate and the ankle things, then it gives you special abilities or something that helps with attacking and stuff. The first set doesn't come for a little while though, after you've got quite a few of them.

Right, this is where you need Spyro's Earth to be at level 2. If you don't have it then you can't do this next bit but there's still another blue gem in this level, so you can go get that first if you need it and come back. If that's not enough then you'll need to leave the Elite Enemy and come back later to defeat him.

Jump up the ledges on the cliff wall to a little tunnel. At then end of this there will be the second green gem. Jump down the other side at the bottom of the big swirly twister and stock up on life and mana. If you fly into the twister, it'll take you to where the Elite Enemy is. There's also an armour chest, but ignore that until after you've fought this guy. Okay, you'll need Spyro's Earth power and you'll need to use R1 instead of the usual R2. This uses up the mana quicker, so don't go crazy, but it's the best and easiest way to get rid of this enemy. His mask will come off quickly, then you can attack him as normal. Oh! Mine came off with one bullet. Easier than I remember. Like the last Elite Enemy, don't let him hit you too much.

Right, after you've opened the chest, go back to where you fought the elephant guy. Behind Hunter is a tree that you push over to get to the next, and final, area. Use one of the dragons to climb up the vine on the wall and go as high and as far right as possible. Then, switch to the other dragon and press and hold cross. It'll start to swing and you do this to get to the red gem on the right. Swing up to the top of the cliff and there will be a final blue gem. After you've got it head over to Hunter and you'll be able to press circle to go to the next level.

There you go! The second level of Spyro. There weren't as many pictures this time which wasn't on purpose. I just didn't take as many while playing. It's quite a short level and everything is contained in a small space so easy to find. I hope that I made everything clear and you found everything! Next time I'm definitely going to take more pictures because I love how pretty the next level is. The whole game is so well designed and the artwork is just beautiful.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this walkthrough, I know I enjoyed making it. I'll do the next level sometime soon.

Bye-Bye!

The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon #1

Hullo!

Okay, so I've decided to start writing about useful stuff now, and kind of stop writing about random things about nothing. I'm going to continue with the book reviews, because I like to talk about books once I've finished them.

This post might be a bit long, I'm not entirely sure yet, but it's going to look at the first chapter -called The Catacombs - of the game The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon. I love the Spyro games and this one is my favourite. I know where everything is and know how to defeat most (if not all) of the enemies. So, I want to pass on my lovely wealth of knowledge. I may not be the best at the game, or know everything about it, but I'm proud of the fact that I've done it all myself with no help from the internet.

Okay, so I'm going to be playing this on the PlayStation 3 and by myself. Two players is super fun for this game, though. I'll try to add as many pictures as possible, too. I'm so excited! Okay, let's start playing...

So! I'm going to trust that you're not stupid and are capable of starting the game by yourself. The game starts with a short video about the little bad guys getting Spyro and Cynder out of the big yellow crystal thing. I'm sure you would know why they're in it if you had played the previous game to the end, but I haven't so I don't know. You also see Hunter for the first time and Sparx! Love Sparx. If you want to skip it just press start and it gives you the option to skip the cutscene but I always like to watch them.

You start off with both Spyro and Cynder joined to the circle thing on the floor that you can't break till later. The little bad guys, which are called Grublins I think (they are, I Googled it), come down to beat you up. They're really easy to kill by pressing square or triangle. You can also grab them by pressing circle then tapping square, triangle or cross to swing them around and stuff and kill them. Oh yeah, and if you hold triangle you'll knock them up into the air where they'll stay for a while or you can jump up to get them with cross and do the circle-grab thing again. You'll fight two lots of the Grublins before the big scary Golem comes up.

Now you can break the circle trap on the ground. Press circle next to it and tap square to break it. You'll be free to fly around now by pressing cross three times (fly! I love that he can fly. It's great. I fly around for the sake of it sometimes. It's so much fun). The Golem is really easy to defeat. He'll put his hand down on the left (the message comes up telling you to hit his hand) and you hit his hand with triangle until he shouts and pulls it away. He'll then start swinging his arm around but just jump down to the little ledge right beside where he put his hand until he's done having his tantrum. Then you can just jump back up and hit the hand again. You have to do that 3 times and then the next video thing will start.

Okay, now fly up to where Hunter is and another video will be shown about their conversation. Right! Now the game really begins. Swap between Spyro and Cynder by pressing L2, like the message says (just in case you missed it). The little jars and things all around the edge of the room can be broken by hitting them and they give you blue gems that can be used to upgrade your different powers. You don't have to do it cause it takes ages but nobody is stopping you. If you head to the right you'll find some red gems which raise your health bar. The dragon you're not playing as won't lose health while fighting enemies which is great if you're in a battle with no easy access to red gems. If you're playing as Spyro and his health gets low, just jump to Cynder and you'll have a full health bar to play with. Easy! Okay, now through the little gap in the wall.

(Yes, those are my tartan pyjama bottoms at the bottom of the second photo. I'm not an expert picture taker. Leave me alone.)

You don't have to jump over all the little island bits like Hunter, just fly over them and Spyro will land on the one you're supposed to. Okay, it tells you here you can glide by holding cross. I'm not an expert at gliding. I don't really get it. The most I know about flying is you press cross three times to get in the air, keep pressing cross to flap and stay in the air, tap cross rapidly to do this air tornado thing and press and hold cross for a bit then let go and Spyro will drop to the ground. Anyway, Golem will appear and you just wait until you can press the button that comes up at the bottom of the screen then he'll shove you through a wall into the next bit.

Use the purple light thing at the back of the room to save (make sure you don't save over previous games, I've done that loads of times, it's so annoying). Then fly down to the next room and the green gem. They're for getting mana so you can use your powers which are also given to you in the video that plays when you get down there. Each dragon gets four powers you use by pressing R2. Spyro: fire, electricity, ice and earth. Cynder: poison, wind, fear and shadow. My favourites are fire, poison and shadow. Now you have to fight a bunch of Grublins the same way you did at the start. When fighting the Grublins, if you do the circle-grab thing and tap triangle, the Grublin you swing around hits those standing around you as well, so you can hit more than one of them at the same time. Once you've done that use Spyro's fire to get through the vines. There's two sets. The ones at the back of the room take you to a red gem and the ones on the ledge where Hunter is takes you to the next part of the level.

There's a blue gem at this first platform bit. Flick the switch on the right of the door by pressing circle then tapping square to change the platforms on your right. Pick up the orb at the front on the left which weighs you down so you have to jump up the platforms rather than flying. Once at the top use Spyro's electricity to zap the switch on the right that changes the platforms on this level. This switch gradually changes so you can't take too long getting to the top. Also, it can be annoying playing one player here because whichever dragon you aren't playing with takes ages and doesn't keep up very well, but be patient and take your time and it's easy. Don't go through the door straight away. Go back into the room with the moving platforms and keep going left on the highest platforms until you hit the wall. Then fly towards the screen and you'll find a fancy red gem which goes towards making your health bar bigger. Hit it the same way as the others.

Okay, go through the door now. There's a lot of gems and things in this section. If you drop down to the right straight after going through the door there's a blue gem. After that fly towards the screen and it'll turn and you'll see a fancy green gem on a platform further out. This goes towards increasing the size of your mana bar. If you go back to the door you came through you'll see a blue gem on a high platform near the back of the room. There's also a switch you need to use in roughly the middle of the room which turns one of the big pillar things.

                                             vvv

Now you need to climb all the vines and jump between the platforms to get to the next bit. Grab them by pressing circle like when attacking the Grublins. The path is easy to follow. Hunter does it first and you follow him and the camera also turns to show you where to go. Oh, and an easy way to drop of the vines is by pressing circle. It means you won't go flying off the things and fall off the platforms. There's two blue gems along the way. At one of them it comes up with a message telling you that you can update your powers. You do this in the start menu.

Right. Golem will turn up when you get to where Hunter is. He doesn't do much. Just focus on jumping across the vines on the wall. Avoid the areas where the water starts to sort of bubble cause that's where he'll be hitting next. You'll get to a part with a huge vine covering the wall. If you follow this all the way to the left you'll find a blue gem.

Now follow the vines all the way to the right, jump up onto the platform and you'll have to press cross to avoid being hit by the Golem's fist. This'll bring up another video and afterwards you'll have to destroy the black gem in his arm. After it shows him screaming in pain and stuff and falling off the edge, don't go through the door. Instead, drop down off the side where his arm was, right down to the floor. There's a blue gem on the edge where the Golem was standing that was revealed when he first appeared. There's also one right beside it, hidden in a little nook to the left. Okay, now go to the back corner, to the right of the door you first came through. Once in the corner, a message will come up telling you that you've found an Elite Enemy. It's basically a special Grublin that wears a helmet.

Mine is wearing a black helmet that is for Cynder's shadow power. That means I have to get the helmet off using that power. The helmet comes off after a couple of hits, then you can fight him using the normal buttons for any other Grublin. I hate this bit because the stupid black lighting he zaps you with takes away a good chuck of your life and you die after he hits you, like, twice. So be careful and remember you can switch between the dragons and make use of each of their life bars.

Once he's gone go back up to where you hit the Golem's arm. You can use the bridge he created when he hit the pillar that's right next to where the Elite Enemy appears. Jump over to where Hunter is standing and you'll find a blue and red gem and also another save point. Jump up and to the right and you'll find Hunter standing there. Beyond him the next room. Right at the front on the left is a blue gem. Jump up the vines to the ledge after you've got it. This next room is the final room of this chapter. Turn the wheel thing right next to the door and after a bit a bunch of Grublins will show up. After you've defeated them you can turn the wheel the rest of the way and the horn will come down to the floor.

Blow into the horn with Cynder's wind power until the door opens and - once again - Golem appears. He'll snatch Cynder up and you've to tap square repeatedly so Spyro can pull her free. After that they'll all run through the door and that passage leads you to the next chapter.

So, there you go! The first chapter of The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon. If you read this and it helps any, please let me know in the comments. I'm going to do the second chapter at some point, too. Also, please tell me if there's any way I can make it clearer as to what I'm doing and if you would like more/less pictures.

Bye-Bye!

The Maze Runner Trilogy

Hullo!

I'm in a really hyper mood today so decided to wash the car. I literally washed and hovered the car just for the sake of it. You know when you just have so much energy and you just have to do something? That was me.

Now that I've washed the car and have done something productive, I'm going to play Sims 4 because there's only so much I can do in a day and washing the car is my limit.

So, I've recently finished the Maze Runner and I'm currently reading the prequel. I thought that I could talk about the trilogy because I can. So I'm going to.

(This really annoys me because it isn't my picture. In the last review it was my picture.)

SPOILERS!! Don't read the paragraph that starts 'Book three...' if you don't want to know about some major spoilers. The rest has a few tiny wee things that don't really count and don't give a lot away but if you don't want to know then don't read on.

I loved the Maze Runner. I really did. I loved how the reader is just thrown into the confusion and is as clueless as the character. But, it is the only series where I prefer the movie. I'm going to focus on the book though because I don't want to ramble on for an age and a day.

Don't get me wrong! The books are amazing. But I just prefer the way things happen in the movie. Not to mention the movie has both Dylan O'Brian and Thomas Brodie Sangster, but we'll gloss over that just now.

The first book is my favourite. Like I said: I love how you have no idea what's going on. Thomas is a great character. He's not annoying or stupid like I feel some main characters can be. He gets stuff done. I love how Dashner made it so Thomas doesn't take charge and lead everyone into battle. Thomas steps back and lets the other characters and leaders deal with it after Thomas has had his say. Of course, I love Newt and Minho grew on me.

The only thing I didn't like about it was that I couldn't picture the Grievers. Everyone is different. People imagine things differently and everyone will see the Grievers differently but I, personally, couldn't see them. That didn't stop the book from being enjoyable though.

The second book was okay. Not as good as the first or third... A typical middle book really. I like how Thomas didn't really know what was going on with Teresa. I loved the jumps between her being good or bad and trustworthy or the enemy. I was so glad that Thomas got fed up of her when I got fed up of her because I preferred Brenda.

Book three... I barely want to think about book three. (My poor Newt!) I feel like it was very good at rounding off the story and answering any questions that had been built up over the course of the books. I loved the ending and loved how Thomas and Minho fought together through all of it and made it to the end together (though there should have been another one there but I know things have to be done and characters have to be lost for it to be realistic) and Jorge and Brenda were there too.

Overall, I really liked the trilogy and think it was very well written and suspenseful and... a bunch of other words used to describe great books. Reading back over this I realise I haven't talked about the plot a lot but I think that's okay. I'm writing this to encourage other people to read it not give away everything that happens. Though I did give away the ending a little bit... I'll put 'spoilers' at the top in big letters.

If anybody actually reads this, please post a comment and tell me if you like my blog and what I'm writing. Or say anything you want. I'm not trying to tell you what to do.

Bye-Bye!