{Watch, Read, & Listen} Billie and Emma, God Storm, & Commander in Chief

Oct 26, 2020

♥ watch, read & listen is a weekly feature where I share and recommend

my current movie, book, music and podcast obsessions every monday. ♥

Watch: Billie and Emma (2018) 🌈

Set in the mid-90's, the film tells the story of Billie, a troublemaker from the big city, who finds herself exiled to San Isidro to live with her spinster aunt who is also the town's religion teacher. Determined to change her ways and get through the last year of high school without incident, Billie hides herself from the world until she meets Emma, the ambitious, star student who coaxes Billie out of her shell. They soon fall in love but things get complicated when Emma finds out that she's pregnant. Together, they explore the fleeting nature of love and life on this journey of growth, laughter and music.

Directed/written by Samantha Lee
Starring Gabby Padilla, Zar Donato, Beauty Gonzalez

Rep: Filipino lesbian main characters

May I implore you a few minutes of your time to brush up on what's going on in the Philippines and ways to help Filipinos, whether it be by donating, signing petitions, calling Philippine lawmakers to veto the Anti-Terror Law, or by simply amplifying Filipino voices: junkterrorbill.carrd.co and parasapinas.carrd.co

Read: God Storm by Coco Ma

Everything has a price.

In the kingdom of Axaria, a darkness has fallen. After defeating the evil mother who summoned an immortal demon to kill her, newly coronated Queen Asterin Faelenhart should have every reason to celebrate. Her kingdom is safe, forbidden magic eradicated, and her friends are alive. Except Asterin’s triumph has come at a devastating cost - forced to choose between a lifelong friend and true love, she’s lost both. But the shadows in Axaria have begun to stir once again, and no one is more starved for vengeance than Asterin....

Yet it soon becomes clear that the shadows plaguing her kingdom are just the beginning. Another realm coexists with the mortal world - the beautiful, nightmarish Immortal Realm ruled by the wicked God of Shadow, King Eoin. When their paths entwine, Asterin realizes that Eoin possesses exactly what - and who - she seeks most. And the fates of all those that she holds dear - Orion, her missing Guardian; Luna, the friend she could not save; Harry, the demon who saved them all; and Quinlan, her beloved broken prince - ultimately rest in the god’s hands.

But in a world of magic, not everyone is always as they seem. When shocking discoveries threaten everything and everyone Asterin has sworn her life to protect, she won’t be the only person forced to make a choice...a choice that will change the mortal world forever.

And maybe even destroy it.

Publication date: October 20, 2020

God Storm is the sequel to Shadow Frost, out now! If you haven't read the first book yet, Shadow Frost is on sale on e-retailers for a limited time.

Listen: Commander in Chief -- Demi Lovato

It's election season in the U.S. and there's much work to do to secure our democracy and rights for all Americans. Election day is next week on November 3rd, so if you haven't voted yet, please peruse vote.org, voteathome.org, voternetwork.us, ballotready.org, ballotpedia.org to help you with your ballots and to vote safely. Know Your Voting Rights with this resource by ACLU in case you run into problems at the polling place. For the Election Protection Hotline: call 1-(866) OUR-VOTE. If you want to get out the vote in key states, text/phonebank voters with NILC Justice Immigrant Fund, ACLU People Power, Indivisible Guide, and Swing Left.

Friendly reminder that Black lives still matter and that Black Lives Matter protests are still going on around the world -- Continue signing petitions (updated often), donating (if/when you can), protesting safely (more protest tips here and here), emailing/calling your reps/AG/DA, register to vote/vote-by-mail, and educating yourself and family members.

More ways to help support Black people and the BLM movement can be found on BLM's official Linktree, blacklivesmatter.carrd.co, and blmsites.carrd.co. More resources can be found on the sidebar as well. ➔

{Watch, Read, & Listen} Kiss the Ground, The Pōrangi Boy, & I'm Not Mad

Oct 19, 2020

♥ watch, read & listen is a weekly feature where I share and recommend

my current movie, book, music and podcast obsessions every monday. ♥

Watch: Kiss the Ground documentary on Netflix (2020)

A revolutionary group of activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians band together in a global movement of "Regenerative Agriculture" that could balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world.

Resources to utilize to help fight climate change - including orgs to volunteer/donate to, call scripts to your Senators + Reps, sign petitions, and more:

Cultural Survival

Earth Guardians

Environmental Defense Fund

The Natural Resources Defense Council

Rainforest Action Network

Clean Water Action

The Nature Conservancy

Regeneration International

Sustainable Harvest International

Kiss The Ground

Call your members of Congress to pass H.Res.109 with this call script by indivisible.org or 5calls.org, urge your Senators to support HR 9 with this call script by 5calls.org, urge your members of Congress to act on the climate change crisis with this script by 5calls.org, and ask your Senators to pass HR 1146 to protect Alaska's wildlife refuge with this call script also by 5calls.org.

Read: The Pōrangi Boy by Shilo Kino

Twelve-year-old Niko lives in Pohe Bay, a small, rural town with a sacred hot spring and a taniwha named Taukere. The government wants to build a prison over the home of the taniwha, and Niko's grandfather is busy protesting. People call him porangi, crazy, but when he dies, it's up to Niko to convince his community that the taniwha is real and stop the prison from being built. With help from his friend Wai, Niko must unite his whanau, honour his grandfather and stand up to his childhood bully.

This book is available on New Zealand retailers such as Huia and The Women's Bookshop.

Listen: I'm Not Mad -- Halsey 🌈

{Story Diary} Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse | An Epic Fantasy Unlike Anything I've Ever Read + Favorite Quotes

Oct 13, 2020

For fans of R. F. Kuang, S. A. Chakraborty, Tochi Oneybuchi, and N. K. Jemisin

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Epic Fantasy, SFF, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+

October 13, 2020 from Simon & Schuster/Saga Press

From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Resistance Reborn comes the first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic.

A god will return

When the earth and sky converge

Under the black sun

In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.

Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.

Crafted with unforgettable characters, Rebecca Roanhorse has created an epic adventure exploring the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts in the most original series debut of the decade.

Meridian / City of Tova

[Image Source]

The 4 Sky Made clans of Tova

➸ Winged Serpent
➸ Golden Eagle
➸ Water Strider

➸ Carrion Crow

Reasons to add Black Sun to your library right now

☀ It's a high stakes political intrigue and rivalries fantasy that will draw you into the expansive world the whole way through.

☀ The worldbuilding, inspired by various Indigenous cultural influences, is excellent, sharp, innovative and expansive. The world of Meridian is populated by mermaids and corvids, and filled with forbidden magic, mystical quest, assassins, tempests, spear maidens, sailors, rival clans, cults, god-like godmade storms, crow god, sun priest, and a rare life-changing celestial event. And the prose is absolutely vivid and vibrant which really brings this fantasy to life. It's unlike anything I've ever read and I cannot wait for more to come in this trilogy. Rebecca Roanhorse has the range. 🌎

☀ Black Sun is a pre-Columbian America's inspired fantasy and you'll see that geographically, and in the cultural influences Roanhorse drew from that's incorporated into the story, characters attire, the trades, as well as addressing generational trauma. ⛵

☀ Complex and fully developed characters (one you may consider morally grey) that you will come to love and whom complete this truly expansive world. There are multiple POVs told from the main characters that offers readers a chance to know the characters, a peak into their lives and past, how they feel and how they view the world. It's hard not to become immersed into these characters lives and relationships with each other and their roles in the story. It's also hard to tell if a character is hero, villain or anti-hero, so this mystery keeps you on your toes and anticipating to see more character arcs unfold throughout the trilogy.

☀ The rep. One of the MCs is nonbinary whom prefers neo-pronouns (xe/xir) to which the characters respect. Another MC is bisexual. The casual queerness is commonplace in their non-cis/heteronormative society and it's very much appreciated. There's nuanced disability rep as well which was also handled with care (i.e. the author hired sensitivity readers). 🌈

☀ The story does revolve around the winter solstice, a time for celebration and renewal, however this one will coincide with a solar eclipse which is a rare celestial event that tips the balance of their world. The Convergence will explain where the book title comes from. ❄☀☽★

☀ The honey scene, the bath scene. Those who've read it -- y'all know exactly what I'm talking about. For those who have yet to -- you'll know once you get there. All I'm going to say is that there is sensual tension and it is written exceptionally well. Let's all collectively thank Roanhorse for this and higher our standards to match that energy. 🍯🛁

☀ This book will stick with you ~~long after the cliffhanger~~ and will have you ~~wanting~~ needing the next book immediately. Seriously - it will live in your mind rent-free. It's one of my most favorite books this year, or of all time. Right up there with Felix Ever After, The Poppy War and Raybearer.

☀ Though it's an adult fantasy, it'll also appeal to fans of YA as well (though heed trigger warnings as there are dark and graphic themes).

Tropes / Themes

☽ Dark fantasy

☽ Celestial prophecy

☽ Forbidden magic

☽ Morally grey character
☽ Mystical quest

☽ Rivalries

☽ Slow burn romance

☽ Sensual tension

☽ Revenge plot

☽ Abusive parent(s)

Rep

⚓ Nonbinary MC (xe/xir) + SCs
⚓ Bisexual (possibly pansexual) MC
⚓ Disabled MCs + SCs
⚓ Trans SC
⚓ Past nb/f relationship
⚓ Indigenous author (Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo + Black)

⚓ Indigenous America's, Mayan, Incan, Aztec, Tewan, Cahokia, ancestral Puebloans, and Polynesian cultural influences

Content/Trigger Warnings

➤ Violence

➤ Alcohol use

➤ Mass murder

➤ Death

➤ Trauma

➤ Mentions of slavery

➤ Homophobia

➤ Mentions of human sacrifice

➤ Cults + cult rituals

➤ Mention of sexual abuse

➤ Child abuse/abusive parent

➤ Gore

"The costliest mistake one can make is to underestimate one’s opponent through low expectations."

--Rebecca Roanhorse, Black Sun

"Life is a series of false hopes. We all have misplaced hopes until we learn better. I did."

--Rebecca Roanhorse, Black Sun

"Violence should only be used in defense, and even then, it corrupts. If you must kill your enemy, do it quickly and be done. To linger only invites humiliation of both the victim and the self, and there is no honor there."

--Rebecca Roanhorse, Black Sun

"If your stories are of the glory of war, then I will know you value power. If your stories are of kinship, then I know you value relationship. If your stories are of many children, I know you value legacy. But if your stories are of adaptation and survival, of long memory and revenge, then I will know you are a Crow like me."

--Rebecca Roanhorse, Black Sun

"Usually," Xiala said carefully, "when someone describes a man as harmless, he ends up being a villain."

--Rebecca Roanhorse, Black Sun

"The sea herself," she said. "I am her daughter, and when I'm with my mother"--she exhaled gustily--"nobody fucks with her children."

--Rebecca Roanhorse, Black Sun

[Quotes are from an unedited advanced review copy and is subject to change in the final publication]

Rebecca Roanhorse is a NYTimes bestselling and Nebula, Hugo and Locus Award-winning speculative fiction writer and the recipient of the 2018 Astounding (Campbell) Award for Best New Writer.

Her novel Trail of Lightning (Book 1 in the Sixth World Series) won the Locus Award for Best First Novel and was a Nebula, Hugo and World Fantasy Finalist. It was also selected as an Amazon, B&N, Library Journal, and NPR Best Books of 2018, among others. Storm of Locusts (Book 2 in the Sixth World Series) was a Locus Award Finalist and was longlisted for the Hugo Award. It also received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist, and was named an Amazon, Powell’s, and Audible Best of 2019. Her novel, Resistance Reborn, is part of Star Wars: Journey to The Rise of Skywalker and a USA Today and NYTimes bestseller. Her middle grade novel Race to the Sun for the Rick Riordan Present’s imprint was a NYTimes Bestseller and received a starred review from Kirkus. Her next novel, Black Sun, has received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and Library Journal and comes out on Oct 13, 2020.

She lives in Northern New Mexico with her husband, daughter, and pup. She drinks a lot of black coffee.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

☀ Let's chat! Is Black Sun on your TBR?

Have you read it yet? I'm dying to know your thoughts! ☀

{Watch, Read, & Listen} Yellow Rose, Black Sun, & I'm Over You

Oct 12, 2020

♥ watch, read & listen is a weekly feature where I share and recommend

my current movie, book, music and podcast obsessions every monday. ♥

Watch: Yellow Rose (2020)

Rose, an undocumented Filipino girl, dreams of one day leaving her small Texas town to pursue her country music dreams. Her world is shattered when her mom suddenly gets picked up by immigration and Customs Enforcement. Rose, facing this new reality, is forced to flee the scene, leaving behind the only life she knows, and embarks on a journey of self-discovery as she searches for a new home in the honky tonk world of Austin, Texas.

Directed/written by Diane Paragas; story by Andy Bienen

Starring Eva Noblezada, Lea Salonga, Gustavo Gomez, Princess Punzalan

See showtimes on the official yellowrosefilm.com website.

Side note: happy Filipino American Heritage month to my fellow Fil-Am's! Let's help out our people in the homeland: junkterrorbill.carrd.co and parasapinas.carrd.co

Read: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Resistance Reborn comes the first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic.

A god will return
When the earth and sky converge
Under the black sun

In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.

Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.

Crafted with unforgettable characters, Rebecca Roanhorse has created an epic adventure exploring the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts in the most original series debut of the decade.

Publication date: October 13, 2020

Check this space tomorrow to find out why Black Sun is one of the best books I've ever read.

Listen: I'm Over You -- Matt Marcii x Andrea Ekeli

{Story Diary} Misunderstanding Mr. Popular by Dane Luna | A Short and Sweet Enemies to Rivals to Lovers Novella

Oct 4, 2020

Misunderstanding Mr. Popular by Dane Luna

Young Adult Contemporary Romance, Novella

August 28, 2020

Sebastian Reed. Part of the jujitsu team. Six feet tall and a hunk and a half. Struts along the hallways of Welton Prep like he owns the place. The whole school has fallen for his charms.

But just because everyone likes Mr. Popular doesn’t mean Oli Park can’t hate him.

Because Oli Park hates Sebastian Reed. And there’s nothing that can change her mind.

Reasons to Read Misunderstanding Mr. Popular

♥ Enemies to rivals to lovers

♥ Opposites attract 💞

♥ While on the topic of tropes and themes, there's also a brief teaching how to play an instrument scene

♥ The MC, Oli, works at a puppy café! The cafe's resident pup is a shiba inu named Wasabi. 🐶☕

♥ Oli and Sebastian are competing for student council president, which turned their ~~(more like Oli's)~~ "hate" to a rivalry. 🗳️

♥ The characters, their banter, the wild schemes they come up with, the MCs mom's, their schoolmates... are pretty hilarious. It definitely added to the quirkiness and comedic relief that makes this novella even more sweet and wholesome. 🥺💕

♥ There's also a scene that takes place at a library café that might involve a sweet old lady who owns the café + some slow dancing 📚

♥ Revenge plots, smear campaigns, evil plotting, vote rigging gone wrong and covert operations. 😈

♥ It sort of reads as a kdrama (imo)

♥ Fighting attraction and the will-ya'll-just-kiss-already. Just add tension to the list ok.

♥ Cult classic movie references 🎬

♥ Important message about honesty, learning from your mistakes, consequences, priorities, friendship, not everything (or everyone) is as it seems, feelings and crushes.

Rep

☀ Korean MC

☀ Korean SC

☀ POC side characters

☀ Author of color (Filipino)

Content/Trigger Warnings

➤ Mention of deceased parent

➤ Humiliation

➤ A scene where a character who cannot swim gets pushed into a pool

I didn't miss the tinge of hurt in my best friend's voice. Now I have more reason to take Sebastian Reed down.