#ok but when can i preorder the third book

[docandoob]

i finally opened my first independent HS bank account this week! yay!! the first thing i did with my newfound financial freedom was immediately order hardcover book copies of both Iron Widow and Heavenly Tyrant by @xiranjayzhao. i have zero regrets to end 2024 :D

[kingwuko]

Mako in the Avatar Legends: Republic City Setting Toolkit

Ok so I've mentioned a few times I'm deep into Avatar Legends, running a game with my irl dnd group. It's my first time really GMing anything and it's been a wild ride but I'm having so much fun (and my players say they are too, but my imposter syndrome makes me question it haha).

I'm cutting this because it got extremely long and it's just incoherent rambling about Mako and the game.

I just downloaded my preordered pdf of the newest book for the game, Republic City Setting Toolkit. I have not read the whole thing in depth because holy shit is it detailed and involved. tons of info about the actual city and its districts, business, government, etc. But they also introduced some very detailed mechanics for Pro-Bending, vehicles and Mechs. And when I say detailed.... Like i tried to read the pro-bending rules and I literally had to stop because it was so detailed that my brain couldn't process it at the moment- from the rules of the actual matches in the fiction, to a whole new gameplay mechanic for players, moves and techniques, and even tournament structures. There's rules for vehicle racing and chases, and combat incorporating vehicles. and mechanics for piloting mechs.. its just like SO MUCH and I'm excited to get into it but it will take my brain a while to comprehend all of it.

But of course after I went cross-eyed reading that I'm like, lets just jump to the premade adventure at the end and all the new NPCs: Bolin, Lin, Zhu Li, Iroh, and of course our beloved Mako.

The first thing I want to talk about is Mako's principle. In the game, there is a mechanic called "Balance". For PCs, they get two opposing principles and they have to pay attention to their actions throughout the game keeping their two opposing principles in balance with one another and not favoring one over the other too much. It's a whole mechanic that can sometimes give them advantages or disadvantages in rolls. Each NPC gets only one principle- (NPCs work differently and there isn't a focus on their inner turmoil or conflict about their actions the way it is for PCs, so the one principle serves an NPC just fine)

Mako's principle is a new one that I haven't seen in an NPC yet- Family. It's just perfect- particularly because throughout the character sheet it clarifies that, to Mako, family means both biological family and found or chosen family. In the instructions on how to roleplay as Mako, the first suggestion says "Put family first. Family, whether biological or chosen, is always Mako’s priority. Whether he has to enforce the law or bend it to protect loved ones, he does whatever it takes."

NPCs also get a drive (just a quick blurb to help the GM portray them, making sure to always have them act toward their drive), Mako's is "To defend and provide for his loved ones".

The next thing I want to talk about is his combat techniques. The game has a mechanic for combat, called "Combat Exchanges". It's got very specific, step by step rules for how each exchange plays out, but essentially each exchange is where the characters come together, exchange a series of blows, then breaking apart for a moment (and then either entering another exchange or ending the combat with different moves or actions or whatever). Combat imposes positive and negative statuses, each of which has rules that will affect what the character can and can't do in the fiction.

Mako has two techniques that are available to PCs- Lightning Blast and Fire Blade. Self explanatory attacks, no need to explain the mechanics. He can hurl lightning and slash with a blade of fire.

But his third technique is one that is not available to PCs- it's called "Indomitable Will" and it's incredibly powerful. "Push yourself to overcome anything holding you back" is the first sentence in the description. I'll try not to get too dry with the gameplay mechanics, but what makes it powerful is: first, it is in a category called "Defend and Maneuver". PCs and NPCs who use defend and maneuver techniques go first in the order, so he gets to use it before anyone can actually attack him. The ability lets him immediately use any other ability he knows, while ignoring any negative status effects. Then he gets to clear a negative status of his choice.

This is basically what he does when Amon blood bends him in season one. Before Amon can take his bending, Mako uses his sheer force of will to ignore the negative status of being "trapped" by Amon's bloodbending, blasts him with lightning, which then frees him of being 'trapped', effectively clearing the condition. Like. Absolutely amazing. I recently reblogged something about his super powerful bending, and like, this technique is a perfect demonstration of that.

In the Premade adventure of this book, "The Quick and the Quarrelsome", Mako is the one who sets the PCs on the path of the adventure. The adventure is all about illegal racing in the tunnels beneath the city. Mako calls on a the PCs to square away a favor they owe him (starting the session involves all the players answering questions about how they know Mako and what situation he had helped them with leading to them owing him one). He has been keeping an eye on the illegal racing, in particular the street kids who run the whole thing, who call themselves the Badgermole Triad. Due to a myriad of political reasons, the police are about to crack down on the races (Up til now, Beifong has turned a blind eye because the racing is underground where it isn't really affecting anyone but the racers). Mako apparently has a soft spot for these kids and doesn't want them to get in trouble, but his hands are tied, so he asks the PCs to infiltrate the races and help the Badgermole Triads possibly turn to legitimate racing before they are arrested. (or whatever other solution manages to come out of how the adventure goes)

I love everything about this, Mako looking out for street kids, Mako having helped the PCs out of something in the past, and of course the fact that it's the Badgermole triad he's helping out. Wu is probably rooting for these kids too, if not for any other reason than their taste in triad name.

Mako's character sheet also firmly establishes him as a workaholic which should come as no surprise. He basically never relaxes except if his friends force him to or if he decides to catch a pro-bending match to relive his days in the arena.

I haven't decided if I'm going to run this adventure for my players yet but if I do I'm both nervous and excited to roleplay as Mako, even for a short time. I already had to roleplay as Varrick at the conclusion of the Water and Mist adventure, and THAT was a trip, let me tell you. Mako is like, a normal guy so it will probably be easier, but still. I still get shaky about portraying NPCs, in particular the characters that already exist in the show!

If you've read this far, thank you for letting me wordvomit all of my Mako thoughts into one place. Now that I've got that out of my system, I'm going actually read the book and plan for the next session of my game haha

[cocktailsfairytales]

🏒𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐑𝐁 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐀𝐋 🏒

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐥 by Andi Burns is releasing November 21st!! This is an accidental pregnancy, hockey romance you won’t want to miss!

Blogger Sign Up: https://forms.gle/9YfaqXqvwf78ma7m9

Blogger Sign Up: @wordsmithpublicity

WHAT TO EXPECT:

🥅New Adult/College

🏒Hockey Romance

🤫Secret Romance

🍼Accidental Pregnancy

Blurb:

Brick Wall is a college hockey romance with a hero who falls hard and fast for the one girl he can’t have.

JT

Life hasn’t always been easy, but things are beginning to look up. I’m the starting goalie for the BU Wolves, Coach Baylor has become the family I have always wanted as a kid, and my dream career is waiting for me. All I need to do is defend my net for the next few seasons so I can prove to the Boston Bruisers that they drafted me for a reason. That’s a pretty bright future for a man with a past like mine.

When I hit up a party with a bunch of my roommates, I never expected to fall hard. But from that night on, it’s out of my control. Maggie Baylor is the one for me, no matter how much she tries to deny it.

Just when I think we’re getting somewhere, she ghosts me. But there’s one thing Maggie doesn’t understand: I’m not letting anything or anyone—not even Coach—stand in our way.

Maggie

As a transfer student, I have one goal: finish my senior year without any drama. And, ok…I may have lost sight of that goal before the year officially started. But that’s not my fault—Hottie Gym Shorts Guy was…well, hot. And sweet. And so very talented. That’s why I bolted the next morning. I didn’t move back home to fall in lust or worse, love. I came back to Bainbridge to spend time with my Uncle Hudson and earn my degree.

Besides, there won’t be any drama because I’m never going to see him again.

Except I do. We just keep running into each other. It’s fine, though. I can resist.

Until I can’t. JT is crumbling all my defenses. I’m on the verge of letting myself fall in love, even if I know my uncle will disapprove, when two little pink lines appear. I brace myself for impact because the only thing I know about love is that it doesn’t last.

But JT doesn’t leave my side. He slays my dragons and rubs my feet and makes me reconsider everything I thought I knew.

Is this really something I can believe in, or will our world come crashing down just when we need each other the most?

***

Brick Wall is the third book in the Bainbridge U hockey series, but it can be enjoyed as a standalone. If you love a stoic hero who’ll do anything to protect the woman he loves and the family they’ve created, no matter who tries to stop him, JT Norris will melt your kindle. If you can’t resist a jaded heroine who learns to trust again, Maggie Baylor is your kinda girl. If you want all the laughs, all the feels, and every single bit of steam, and no third act break-up, then settle in with your favorite snack—Maggie recommends dark chocolate peanut butter cups—and dive into this forbidden love, surprise baby college hockey romance.

The Bainbridge Hockey Series: https://geni.us/BBHockey

Find more books by Andi Burns here: https://amzn.to/4bjWaKq

#BlurbReveal #AndiBurns #BrickWall #BainbridgeHockeySeries #SportsRomance #hockeyromance #ComingSoon #preorder #accidentalpregnancy #wordsmithpublicity

[kidgezine]

FAQ

General Questions

Are these the same mods that did [insert failed zine here]? No. None of our mods have ever run a failed zine. Some of us have been contributors for them though so we know your pain. We are doing everything we can to be sure that doesn't happen to us. All our mods have access to the zine email and socials as well as contributor submissions so if one of us were to disappear the rest would be able to pull it together. Finances are being handled by our head mods (umbraja and kdxart) who are both professional graphic designers with experience in small business management and print publications. The rest of the mods are being given updates and could take over finances if the head mods were to die in a firey laptop explosion.

Are these the same mods that did last year's Kidge Zine? Yes. Most of us anyway. We lost a few but also added some new faces and learned a whole lot - mostly about the horrors of shipping and taxes. We did a good job last year and hope to do even better this time around! We've also padded our schedule so there shouldn't be as many delays.

I'm so excited - when will the zine come out? As of right now we are shooting for a delivery date of early June, 2020. We may have an early (kickstart) round of preorders in the new year (with Valentines Day merch) for those who are super dedicated to getting this thing made but that's not set in stone. We may modify the schedule if we fall behind or need to take more orders to reach our stretch goals. See our Tentative Schedule for more information.

OMG I NEED this, how can I help make this zine a thing? The best thing anyone can do is reblog our posts to help get the word out. If you want to do more you could make a money donation to help cover costs (and enter to win a Limited Edition Bundle). Just buy Pidge some coffee on Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/kidgezine.

Zines are usually self-financing so why are you talking about money donations? Because it lets those of us who have extra money subsidize the cost for those that can't afford it so we all get a better product. A self-financed publication has to price itself to cover the full cost of production but that severely limits the number of artists and writers we can put into it and what merch we can sell alongside it. Last year we had over 50 contributors create a 200 page full color book with lots of merch and priced it all considerably under cost so that our community could actually afford to buy it. We still lost money in the end but it was less than our finance officer had put aside to cover it and that is thanks to the many, wonderful people who were willing to kindly donate.

How do I go about donating to help cover costs? First, thank you so much for the willingness to help out. All you need to do is buy Pidge some coffee on Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/kidgezine. This will also enter you for a chance to win a Limited Edition Bundle when the zine comes out.

Are profits from zine sales going to a charity of some kind? No. Unless you would consider next year's Kidge Zine a charity, then sure. Truth is we don't expect to make money. We hope it does better than last year so we don't end up covering a loss but we're pretty sure it's not going to profit. In the very unlikely event that we do turn a profit the funds will stay in the Kidge Zine account for use next year.

Contributor Questions

Will contributors be paid for their work on the zine? We would love to pay our contributors but, due to legal and logistical concerns, the staff voted that no one should get paid for this endeavor - not even the staff. We are giving contributors a free digital copy of the zine and a discount on buying the physical copy and merch. The discount amount will depend on stretch goals so we can't provide specifics at this time.

I want to give you content for this zine, how do I do that? Read over the Requirements and fill out the applications listed there.

What kind of content is allowed? We're pretty chill but we do have a few Requirements to follow. Check that link for specifics but the short of it is pretty much anything featuring Keith and Pidge in some sort of fantasy situation. It doesn't have to be romantic, AUs and canon are both allowed, so long as those two are together in some way. We're not even going to limit it to the usual digital art and narrative writing so if you want to do something unusual give it a try. We'll accept: cosplay photos, sculptures, journals, poetry, songs, schematics, editorials, things I can't even think of right now - pretty much anything Kidge related is welcome.

I want to write but English is not my first language, is that OK? Some of my favorite authors don't speak English at all and some of my favorite fanfics are written by people who only know it as a second or even third language. So long as you can get your writing translated to English our staff will work with you to get it polished and sounding natural. You just have to be willing to go through that editing process with us.

Will everyone who applies be accepted as a contributor? We're going to try and include everyone but since the zine is a print publication it's going to cost real money for every piece we include. If we get too many submissions and put all of them in the book it would end up costing too much for most of y'all to afford. Nobody wants that. So we might have to leave some things out of the book itself but will be more than happy to include any work that gets left out in the pdf version so long as it follows all the rules. This will allow us to produce a better product while not excluding anyone from participation.

How will contributors be chosen? Our staff will use the samples provided in your application to judge your average quality of work so be sure to give us good examples. We will be looking at your work only, not your popularity or participation in the fandom, so don't worry if you're new to the ship or just don't know anyone. Some of our staff don't know many people and our production designer hasn't even seen the show (she just does very good work). Art will be judged on overall aesthetic, perspective/proportions appropriate for the style, composition/balance, and technique. Writing will be judged on overall readability, characterization, plot, style, and flow. We will not judge grammar because we want to include non-native English speakers. Just be ready for an editing process where we'll help you get the grammar fixed before publication.

When will I know if I'm accepted as a contributor? Acceptance emails will be sent out November 1st. Everyone should get an email so if you don't get yours then ask a mod to see what's up. We had trouble with emails getting lost in junk filters last year so be sure to check for that.

Do you have a deadline for submissions? We have multiple deadlines to keep y'all on track but the finished work should be turned in by February 15th. See the Tentative Schedule for more information.

Is this canon only or are AUs allowed? We're not gonna limit setting so canon or any other universe is allowed. Have fun with it.

What if I don't want to write/draw something Fantasy themed? Fantasy is such a broad theme that we are going to be strict about it this time but we're certain y'all will be able to find something you like that fits. Pretty much anything that's not limited by real world physics is, technically, Fantasy. So canon universe is Fantasy. So are superheroes, any sort of mythology, folklore, most horror, sci-fi, steam punk, supernatural, occult, and way too much else for me to list.

[bondsacrosstime-blog]

Remaining Orders Announcement

Hi! My name is Cari, or @Storyofthedoor online, and I will try to explain what is taking so long with the shipping! :D Sorry this announcement is really long, it is quite detailed, I tried to thoroughly explain what has happened with the remaining 60ish orders.

TL;DR version: 60 orders to go! Struggling with getting money transferred from one mod to the other. Still trying though!

Long version:

First I want to apologize that it is taking so long to finish the last orders. When I joined this project, I really wanted to make sure the shipping was fast! I’ve been a part of, and purchased, a lot of zines that take months and months and months …. To the point that I’ve wondered if the zine is actually coming or….? So I didn’t want that to happen to Bonds Across Time. I’m sorry that for some orders, they have had to wait a long long time.

So I’m gonna start at the beginning, and then try to explain the difficulty.

In the beginning there were two mods! They were Nayuun and (x). They worked on Bonds Across Time together throughout the making of the zine. Nayuun organized artists, and (x) organized writers, and the zine came together to the point of being a book ready for preorders. At this time, I was just an artist. My total involvement was to make an art, and occasionally talk to Nayuun. I didn’t attend to anything other than that.

And then the paypal problems started.

Some of you who have been wanting a book since the beginning of January remember the paypal account being frozen with funds in it just a little bit into preorders. There was never a way to get the funds out of paypal. Nayuun tried to talk to paypal several times, and if you’ve ever had a problem with paypal, you can imagine how that went. Their customer service does not particularly deserve applause. At all. There was no resolution, all the preorders were returned to the buyers. Around this time, (x) needed to leave the project. Their work is still in the zine, but they had no other involvement after the initial paypal problems.

This left Nayuun by herself, and this is her first zine. It is most definitely difficult to run a zine, especially as a single mod, and especially if you’ve never done it before.

So I, Story, joined the mod team! C: My duties are getting stuff printed, and shipping out US and further abroad orders. Nayuun will handle Canadian shipping.

I’ve run a few projects, including kickstarters and a tarot deck zine, so I feel comfortable working with printers and doing shipping.

With this new layout of mod tasks, Nayuun and I opened preorders again! This time with payments being directed to Stripe, through the Storenvy shop.

Now begins the second round of financial problems. Remember: Nayuun has not run a zine before, so couldn’t see this coming. I *have* run zines before, but I and my fellow mods have been completely US based while running them. Nayuun and (x) are both Canadian.

Preorders go great through Storenvy with Stripe receiving payment! Honestly thank you for that. C: We are both really grateful that the preorders went well.

Storenvy is set up to receive payment in USD and dish it out to Stripe in CAD. (Because both prior organizers are Canadian this set up makes sense. This right here is where the problem happened. If hindsight was helpful at all, I would use hindsight to make Stripe receive funds in USD.)

No problems so far.

Because I, Story, am handling the printing and most of the shipping, we determine it’d be easiest if I received the payout from Stripe.

Stripe is holding the money as CAD.

My bank accounts are all in USD.

This isn’t really that big of a problem ….? Americans and Canadians transfer money to each other and conduct trade all the time…..?

We deposit the money into Nayuun’s bank, Stripe won’t let anything else happen.

There are plenty of ways to transfer money internationally. Paypal comes to mind, but we’ve just had huge problems with paypal freezing funds. Also they take a percentage instead of a flat fee. So two other methods are more common with large amounts of money. Wire transfers, and money orders. I’ve done both wire transfers and money orders, but only to US and China receivers. I’ve never tried to receive a wire transfer or money order from Canada.

I think a wire transfer is faster than a money order. It only takes a few days. So I tell Nayuun to try it.  I provide bank info for me.

For this first wire transfer attempt, I use my local credit union. I go in person and speak to them, they say a wire transfer from Canada is fine? It just needs to land as USD. Sounds fine.

A few days later, Nayuun’s bank receives the money back and claims they can’t send money to my credit union. To be fair, that credit union I use is small, who knows if they even know what they’re doing.

So I use a larger online bank for a second attempt at a wire transfer.

I guess which banks we’re using is not terribly important private information. This is a wire transfer from TD Bank in Canada, to Discover Bank in the US. These are two giant, common banks. They both know how to do wire transfers. I mean they probably both do wire transfers, to each other, dozens of times a day, independent of Nayuun and myself. Is there something I’m missing or not understanding?

We wait for the transfer to work. Nothing. TD Bank says it will take 4 - 5 business days.

I call Discover Bank. They say it will take 14 business days. They also say they cannot look up the wire transfer without a firm USD amount. When we initiated the wire transfer, it was for this large sum of CAD, and I assume a fixed USD amount was not given because it would be based on the exchange rate the day the transfer occurs……………? Discover Bank will not look up the transfer with the firm CAD amount. Who knows why. No amount of asking or calling will change their refusal. If I were to try a wire transfer a third time, I think we should initiate it as a firm USD amount, and whatever CAD is required is what goes. Not exactly convenient there but possibly more traceable by Discover.

TD Bank now claims the wire transfer may take up to 20 business days.

We wait ….

We waited a week for the first wire transfer to fail.

Now we wait four weeks.

The second wire transfer fails.

No explanation is given. None. At. All.

I know it’s hard for you, the preorderers, to count out the time here and understand why things are taking so long.

We closed preorders mid Feb or something like that?

And then had to wait about two weeks for Stripe to release all the funds to Nayuun’s bank.

And then we work on the zine and put it all together and get the printing going. Maybe a week or two for print prep and initiate the printing. I think I paid for printing beginning of March on all the merch and books.

A week to try a wire transfer.

Four weeks to try ANOTHER wire transfer ….

And we arrive now at mid April.

This …. Might? Maybe? Lead you to ask how any merch has been printed at all? Or how any zines have been shipped at present? If the funds have been tied up in multiple failed wire transfer attempts?

I, Story, have been paying for the printing and the shipping so far, just on my credit card. I don’t mind getting it all going. I do really care about the project. C: I love zines, and I love self publishing. I really want people to feel happy preordering an artist produced book, too! The helpfulness of a credit card is it does allow me to get a project going! While I wait for Stripe to make funds available … while I wait for a wire transfer … and a second wire transfer … but of course a credit card payment does come due. I paid for all these things at the beginning of March. That billing cycle closes end of March. That bill becomes due end of April, and I must pay the card bill or pay an additional interest penalty. That is how the credit cards do the do.

So! Here in a week or two I am indeed paying this card bill, for a few thousand dollars of printing and shipping. ^^; I have a bit of money saved, it will be ok.

But I’ve got about 40 orders left to ship, and about 20 orders that are Canadian and need to go to Nayuun for her to ship. And I have no more money to get stuff going until one of these methods of fund transfers works out.

It is pretty tiresome and frustrating that the funds exist, they just can’t be moved from Canada to the United States? None of our banks will tell us why.

Now we are trying a money order. When I last shipped a proof copy of the book to Nayuun, it took about 9 days? She lives in Alberta, I live in Maryland. Maybe in 9 days I’ll have a money order in my mailbox? *But can I just point out here that we have experienced first hand that MAIL DOES INDEED MOVE BETWEEN US …. Ok money order, you have no excuses.*

I’m sure you can imagine, I feel pretty dumb now. I’ve spent a lot of money, and am struggling to be reimbursed, and it is no one’s fault. Not Nayuun’s, not mine, just cosmic bad luck maybe. All we can do is keep trying to find a way to deal with a funds transfer? If not a money order through the post office … then…. Western Union? Or we try paypal again (my hopes are not high.)

I’m sorry again that I’ve got all this stuff printed and I’m unable to get the remaining orders going until we can manage this funds transfer. ;_; I really hope a money order would finally work. That would be really great if this kind of old fashioned method could just go through and be fine. ^^;

Thank you to those who have received your orders so far and loved them! You’ve made all the effort worth while, and I really appreciate it. C: I hope that when the remaining orders go out, they will be worth the wait.

[hotwaterandmilk]

Silent Möbius QD Volumes 4 & 5 Listed

It’s been two-and-a-half years since the third Silent Möbius QD volume was published and well over a year since the final chapter was published. However, there has been no word on the publication of the final arc in bound volumes after the kerfuffle with volume #3. 

That is until this week when Neowing/CD Japan, Honya Club, and Gamers began listing volumes 4 & 5 for release on October 4th 2019 (OK Honya Club has only mentioned volume 4, but still). 

The 4th volume has tentatively been listed several times before but been delayed almost as frequently as the third volume was back in 2017. However, this is the first movement on these books in literal years so while I can’t be 100% sure they’re going to happen, it’s SOMETHING after years of NOTHING so I’ve preordered both and will wait and see what happens.

For those interested you can preorder your own copies here;

- Silent Möbius QD #4 (CD Japan) - Silent Möbius QD #5  (CD Japan)

Let’s see if October 4th happens and our books end up in the mail, shall we? Although QD was the epitome of disappointing, I do still want its final chapters to enjoy a tankoubon release (if only because my shelves look weird with a half-finished story on them).

[jaereads]

January/February Reading Update

I’m back at it again procrastinating homework so here I am with a reading update. 

In January I decided I’d somehow be able to read 50 books this year so I guess this is just seeing if I’m actually going to be able to read 50 books. So in January before classes started back up again I read 4 books, a good start to my challenge I guess. 

The first book I finished was The Traitor’s Kiss by Erin Beaty I had it on my tbr for like a year so when I found one on the shelf at Barnes and Nobles I almost screamed. Well little did I know that I wouldn’t really like it. I gave it 3 stars, it was kind of interesting until she met her boo then it kind of got boring from there. After that I went to the hair shop with my mom when she got her hair braided and it only took 2 and a half hours which is WILD because it usually takes like 6 hours, but in those two hours I read Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu in one sitting. I gave it 3.5 stars it was interesting and fast paced but I hated his love interest/crush all I was thinking every time he talked about her was “SHES IN JAIL FOR MURDER, YOU BASICALLY PUT HER IN JAIL WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! SHE USED YOU TO BREAK OUT OF JAIL ARE YOU BEING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW, FOR REAL!”  I could not believe, I could not what is the deal with characters falling in love with their enemies/ villains like is your brain working.

That's a pet peeve of mine and somehow I keep reading books like that and its driving me crazy. I preordered The Wicked King by Holly Black so the whole day I was like “AMAZON BRING ME MY BOOOOOK!” I heard the knock grabbed my book and immediately started reading I would’ve finished in one day but I had work the next day and I had to open so I decided to go to bed at a reasonable time so I could wake up in the morning. ANYWAYS as soon as I got home from work I flew through the rest I liked it but not as much as the first book. That ending though, I need the third book ASAP. The last book I read before classes started back up again was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling. The start of the book for me was so slow I didn't really get into it until the last 300 pages which is crazy because the book is over 700 pages long. I gave 4.5 stars because that last part of the book had me trying to read faster then I could because it got so interesting I just wanted to know what was going to happen.

The last book I read in January before classes started was Catwoman by Sara J Maas. When class started back up I discovered libby, its basically an app where you can borrow audiobooks and e-books from your library so I have begun to listen to audiobooks which I never thought I’d be able to do. Catwoman was my first audiobook and my first Sara J Maas book and I didn’t like it because the main characters are enemies like mans is trying to put her in jail and somehow they fall in love omg, for real can you do your job and I kind of thought it was boring I kept having to rewind the book because my brain would just tune out. 

So all together in January I read 5 books and that put me ahead of schedule by one book bless. 

In February I was about to give up on audiobooks after listening to samples of other books and being like this is weird, I don't think I like this. UNTIL I borrowed Commonwealth which miraculously didn’t have a wait list. Yo that book was so goooooood. I could literally just sit somewhere and stare at a wall while listening to it, I want to listen to it again, I loved it I gave it 5 stars. After that I read The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo which I got as an e-book from Libby. And I read it during church, lmaooooo. Its just sometimes I legitimately cannot focus during church so when the pastor started talking and I almost fell asleep I grabbed my kindle and read about 75% of the book during service and finished the rest of the book in the car on the way home. I didn’t rate it, I don't know why but a couple of the stories I loved and others I liked so I’d probably give it 4 stars. I think my favorites were the first one and the siren one, I can’t remember the titles of them but I liked those two the most. After that I listened to Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, and all I have to say is that I LOVED IT. It was great  loved it that's all. 5 STARS!!!

I think for audiobooks I should stick to “adult” books because those are the ones I’ve enjoyed so far. As I listened to a little of and stopped One Dark Throne and Renegades. 

Ok so I just looked at my goodreads and I actually finished The Traitor’s Kiss in December like two days before January which means that with the three books I read in February I’m actually behind schedule.

Its fine, I’m like 50% through The Girl Who Drank the moon by Kelly Barnhill and spring break is at the end of this month which will end my history class which makes me want to die. So hopefully I’ll catch up during spring break and have another audiobook to listen to by the end of this week because I don't have one lined up and I will not do my math homework without an audiobook to listen to.

Anyways I unfortunately have homework to do, a test to study for, and I still haven’t eaten lunch yaaaay!

[movieiwatchedtonight]

Monthly Movie Recap: May 2017

Monthly Movie Recap: May 2017 It was one of those months that it was nearly over before I realized that I hadn't seen any movies yet! I did see Guardians of the Galaxy on opening night with Amy, but then I didn't see another movie till my group of friends and I saw Everything, Everything for my birthday. Then with my parents the next night I saw Baywatch. So only three this month but between both my brother and I's birthdays,finals, graduation, and starting my new job that's not too bad. Guardians was by far my favorite, then Baywatch, and least was Everything, Everything. Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2:

Now I remembered little to none of the first movie, I think I only saw it full out once but I didn’t really need to to understand what was going on here. Side story; but the only time I’ve seen the first movie was in Disneyland back in 2014 before it was officially released in this really cool 4D theater. Also let’s keep in mind that I’m a casual comic book movie fan so I’m not really basing my opinions on anything other than my enjoyment.

I was able to see it twice. I went to a preview screening that my local theater does (and brought my best friend Amy as well) on the Thursday before it came out and then again on Sunday in a old small town theater in Jacksonville. (Completely unrelated but one theater showed the Thor trailer and one did not)

The first time I really was just paying attention to the story and just enjoying it (which I did) and the second time I actually took notes. Here’s some of the general notes about the movie that I wrote down from my second viewing:

- There’s a new intro where it shows movie characters rather than flipping through comic book pages. Not sure which one I like better, though I don’t mind the new one

- I love the opening scene. Am I biased because I’m from Missouri and I love the 80s? Maybe  

- Also James Gunn is from Missouri; St.Louis more specifically so I love it. Fun fact Sean Gunn went to SLUH for high school

- An odd thing to love but I love all the colors, especially at the end (more on this later)

- Is Awesome Mixtape Vol.2 actually awesome? Yes. I personally prefers over Vol. 1

- Hey the dad from Sky High is here too

- Baby Groot needs a car seat

- Some lines were predictable but that’s every movie. One I really didn’t care for was when Ego tells Peter he’s just like everyone else and Peter says “what’s so wrong with that?”

- Also thought that sometimes jokes weren’t needed, a moment can just be a moment

- “Spacesuits for emergencies, or for fun”

- Ego’s planet was so pretty ( why does it remind me of the emerald city?) but was there really a need for a museum type show about why and how he formed the planet

- Kicking and messing with Baby Groot? Not okay

- Baby Groot dancing to basically the whole song Mr.Blue Sky while everyone else is fighting a giant space monster? Very okay (and so adorable!)

- Okay but like we kind of knew Ego was the bad guy the whole time, right?

- “You’re like Mary Poppins!” “Is he cool?” “Yeah he’s cool” “I’m Mary Poppins!!”  

- Didn’t mind that they used The Chain twice because I love that song but we could have fit Fox on The Run in there somewhere

- I agree, Baby Groot is too adorable to kill

- I don’t know what Cheers is either Gamora, but if I did I’m sure it would have been a cool reference

- “I thought Yondu was your father.” Turns out he was

- Why do I love Sean Gunn’s character so much? I’m not even really sure I know who he is or what his purpose was besides getting the ship ready but I loved him. Especially when he asks Nebula what she’s going to do with her cut of the money (units?) and she tells him about wanting to kill her sister and buy a bunch of weapons and he’s just like “I meant like a pretty necklace, or a hat, something the girls would aw at”

- “They killed all my friends"😭

- Yondu’s arrow is so cool, Hawkeye should get himself one of those.

- Baby Groot getting crushed by rocks (?) and has no idea what else to do so he just starts crying, that broke my heart   

- Cute little space family

- Screw Ego for putting the tumor in Meredith’s brain. I hate him

- Ok but Peter building Pac-Man was so cool

- “I’m going to make some weird shit!”

- I wish I knew what was so important about the batteries that the gold girl kept trying to kill them for stealing them

- The gold people’s little remote controls spaceships had arcade sounds and I loved it

- So many credit scenes that were about the movie (the Peter and Groot scene was my favorite)

- Also when Rocket, Baby Groot, Yondu and Kraglin were jumping through all the worlds (the part where Stan Lee has him cameo) I thought it would have been cool to like flash Asgard, just an idea

- I’m a sucker for friends choosing to become a family

- So did Peter lose his immortality and God qualities when they killed Ego? Or not?

- The scene where Ego and Peter are playing catch is emotionally manipulative  

- I’m also a sucker for power group shots and there’s a good amount of them, enough to make me happy

- Baby Groot trying to get the fin but he keeps coming back with different things was so cute. Brings back a desk; “we told you it was this big!”

- My favorite arrow scene was when it hit the lights out and then killed all those people and all you could see was the trail of red glow

Now back to what I said earlier about colors. I have a personal theory, that at least for me, bright colors matter. I mean I often find myself re watching movies like The Avengers or Captain America: Civil War (which isn’t overly colorful but is bright) but not movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier or like Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice because they’re just dark. Like literally have a dark color palette. I don’t know if that makes any sense but this movie was full of colors and it was beautiful.

This may be a movie series where I prefer the second one over the first. They’re both good but I really like Vol. 2. I love the music in it so much, defiantly more than the first movie.This is definitely worth seeing in theaters and not waiting till it comes out later. Also wish I would have seen it in 3D because there’s a couple scenes that I bet look amazing in 3D! Especially the funeral scene, I bet that’s awesome in 3D! With all the colors and pretty lights.

Watch again: YES I will for sure see it again in theaters, hopefully 3D, and this will be a movie I preorder the DVD

Watch the sequel?: it’s a marvel movie, so of course, I’ll watch Vol. 3 as well as anything else remotely related to this movie

Baywatch: I thought this movie was alright. I definitely laughed and thought some parts were funny and I wouldn't go out of my way to not recommend it to someone. It's not going to be a summer favorite or anything but who doesn't love Zac Effron? I think my favorite part was definitely the High School Musical reference and just the whole name thing was funny to me and my parents. I didn't not enjoy this movie, it had me laughing a decent amount but I know it's not going to be like a classic comedy for me or anything like that. It’s a typical good summer comedy. I'll probably watch it again and most likely will get it on DVD but I don't think I'll go see it in theaters again.

Watch again: Yeah, I would watch this movie again but I don’t think I ever seek after it or get a craving to watch it again.

Watch the sequel?: Yeah, again I think I would. I enjoyed the first one enough to watch the second one, should one be made. Everything, Everything: I was not a fan of this movie. I mean it's one of those movies you go into knowing it's going to be far fetched and ridiculous but I just couldn't get on board with this movie. I went with about six friends to see it, Amy and I sat next to each other and just ripped the movie apart. I mean we made fun of everything, she described us as the old guys from the muppets (Statler and Waldorf). The movie wasn't as bad as we made it out to be, but I still didn't really like it. I knew it would be out there but like it was so out there. Now I never read the book, I do own it, and it's in my personal library, but I haven't had the chance to read it yet so I can't say how accurate it was to the book. I did like something's about it, I like the little twist where Maddy discovers that she was never really sick, and I liked the actor who played Olly (Nick Robinson) I thought he was pretty good. I also really loved the scene where he taped all the pictures of the ocean on her window and said something along the lines of “Every ocean deserves to be seen by you” that was really cute and I do really love that moment from the movie. I did also like how the movie made me think differently, like how we as people put so must trust into the people we love because we love them, we just believe everything they say is the truth because so far they haven’t proven us otherwise. That’s kind of scary, like to think that we just trust the people we love so easily, and we really could have no idea what's actually true and what isn’t. So in summary, I didn’t love the movie, but I liked how it got me thinking deeper.

Watch again?: Not on my own, no. The only way I see myself watching this movie again is if I’m with a group of people who want to.

Overall: May was a bus month and I didn’t see as many movies as I would have liked to, but with it now being summer vacation, I should be able to catch up for what I missed in May in June. I love that I got to see Guardians on opening night, that was really cool and a great way to start the summer movie season.

Next Month: June is a jam packed month for movies. So excited for Wonder Woman!! Also I feel like I might be alone in this, but I’m actually really excited for Baby Driver as well! As for kids movies, I’m actually going to Disney World the week Cars 3 is released so I plan on seeing it down in Orlando and Despicable Me is one of Amy’s favorite movies so we’ll go see the third on for sure. I will 100% be skipping out on 47 Meters Down, no thank you. Book of Henry has my interest because I’m slightly confused by it. Basically June is the hot spot for summer movies and with my theater having 5$ Tuesdays and 5$ student Thursdays, I hope to see as many as I can

[islamicreliefusa]

“ What A Relief Podcast ” 93: The Real Deal with Khalil Ismail from Islamic Relief USA on Vimeo.

You’re going to want to have a pen and paper handy when you listen to this week’s “What a Relief!” podcast with Khalil Ismail. There is just too much good stuff coming up that you aren’t going to want to miss.

Khalil Ismail is a man who always has a lot going on, but he’s outdoing himself right now. On this episode, he’s got updates on an upcoming movie, not one but three new albums (he’s working on them all at the same time, of course), a trip to South Africa, and his first book—on relationships. Oh, and a project to help youth tell their stories. And some podcasts.

“Dang, man, when do you SLEEP?” says host B.C. Dodge.

Turns out sleep is one of Khalil’s keys to success. Plus, he points out, when you don’t have a 9-to-5 with an hour of driving each way, you can get a lot done. And that he does.

The notebook is to jot down the release dates and places where you can catch his new releases. The host is clearly sold on all of them.

The upcoming movie is “His Other Wife,” based on a book written by Khalil’s wife Umm Zakiyyah. One new album will be his first full R&B album, another will be hip-hop, and the third is nasheeds. (Why work on three albums at once? “Because that’s how I satisfy my ADD,” he said, laughing. “I have to keep my mind busy, it’s good for me.”)

Not only that, but he’ll be releasing each album along with a podcast on issues he finds interesting or concerning. For example, the nasheed album and its podcast touch on issues like teachers who break the community’s trust, and how to keep the faith through turmoil. “With this album I’m delving a lot deeper than I normally have into some issues that go on in the Muslim community,” he said.

The hip-hop album and podcast will relate to some of the issues he sees doing community work—issues like how to become self-sufficient and serve better. And the R&B album and its podcast tie into his book on relationships.

Host B.C. Dodge finds that book intriguing. Khalil explains that most of the work out there on relationships in Islam focus on rules and ideals. He wants to focus on contemporary realities in America, and how to deal with them with emotional intelligence and hikmah, or wisdom.

A lot of young Muslims have been raised in America, he said—often living double lives, at home vs. at public school. And many people have made mistakes and they’re trying to be better people, but they don’t know where to turn for advice without being judged. And that past history and trauma lead to compatibility problems that couples have to learn to work through.

This part of the podcast gets real, so check any oversensitivities at the door. These issues exist in our communities, Khalil and B.C. agree, and denying them doesn’t solve the problems.

So that book is in the works, but that’s a little further down the line of all of Khalil’s new releases. The movie is coming out sooner, and preorders are about to start, and the online screening is a package deal that got B.C. all excited. When you buy tickets for the online screening, you’ll get two free books by Umm Zakiyah and two free albums by Khalil Ismail, all for $14.99.

“OK, people, listen,” B.C. says. “I’m already just waiting … because that’s awesome.”

Tune in to find out how to get all of this good stuff, and to hear more real talk with Khalil Ismail.

**And now you can reach out to us at our new email address: warp@irusa.org!**

“What a Relief!” is the official podcast of Islamic Relief USA. Hosted by digital media specialist B.C. Dodge, IRUSA’s “What a Relief!” puts a human face on what’s going on in the world and how you can enact positive change in it. New episodes every week!

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