In Which I might Scream about...

 

Rebels.

Star Wars: Rebels.

Not a whole lot of people know about it. It's a four season TV show made originally for the Disney Channel. Most people who've heard of it think it's kiddish, boring, or cheesy.

Originally, I thought so too. My first encounter of this show was on Youtube, watching a "Funniest Animated Star Wars moments" compilation, or something like that. My first reaction was, "What the heck."

I mean, when my first look at this is these two:

there's at least a little grace, right? 

I mean, you grow to love them, eventually. But at the beginning, there's a bit of "Um, why?"

At least for me.

Anyways, I had no idea what I was watching, so I did what any responsible child should do (by child, I mean 13ish years old): I found my older sister and fellow Star Wars fanatic --at least at that time-- and asked her if she knew anything about it.

She only knew one scene.

And that scene almost made me completely run full speed away from Rebels.

Yes, that is Darth Vader riding on top of a TIE-Fighter, using the Force to make his cape blow majestically, because they are underground.

ANYWAYS.

You're probably thinking, "are you trying to convince me to not watch Rebels?"

No. No, I'm not.

I just want you to know what you'd be getting into, because the first few episodes of the first season are definitely NOT the gritty, gorgeous animation, a bit less kiddish Star Wars series. Especially with the Ahsoka series coming out, people might be thinking some of the Rebels characters are really grown up and fancy and sophistacated.

Not quite.

I definitely suggest watching Rebels before the Ahsoka series, since it looks like Ahsoka is a live action Rebels season 5. WHICH I AM PUMPED ABOUT.

Anyways again.

I wanted to talk now about why I do love Rebels.

A good portion of my family has watched it, and at least two have not been enamored, especially by some of the leading characters. So I want to reiterate, the first season is a little rough and young feeling, especially at the start. The first maybe four episodes are really just getting the story warmed up, introducing the characters' personalities, etcetera. There isn't a whole lot telling who the characters used to be before it started. And yes, Chopper is a bit of an acquired taste. If you were to say he's not for you, you would probably be my dad's new favorite person. 

But what I really love about Rebels, character wise, is the villains. There is a good amount of the nameless Stormtroopers and random officers, but most episodes follow Agent Kallus, Lieutenant Liste, Admiral Konstantine, Governor Pryce, Grand Admiral Thrawn, or one of the Inquisitors. The thing that kept confusing me in Clone Wars and occasionally in Bad Batch is that there are so many different villains. Often times, one random chap shows up, hops around being stupid in one episode, dies, and life moves on, la-di-da-di-da. But Rebels has a cast of good, smart villains, who are better than the rebel crew, so it's fun to watch them trying to outsmart each other. 

While not all of the bad guys are super smart --i.e. Konstantine and Liste-- they make it so there actually ARE stakes. And you get to watch them learn from their mistakes, prove why they got to be top of the class, and keep trying. I like that. I feel like a good bit of other Star Wars media has villains who just show up, throw a blaster around, and die, not really doing anything important or memorable. OR they show up already knowing EXACTLY how to defeat the heroes, and to me that's just a no-no. I like watching journeys, even villain journeys.

Enough about the villains, though. While Kallus does have those impeccable sideburns that just make his character so much better for some reason, the overall animation can look a little "hmmm" at times. The first time I watched it, I was a little uncertain about how I felt about how much the characters gesture and just plain wiggle. Eventually, it just faded into the animation style, and I grew to appreciate that it is actually very pretty. 

Don't get me started on season 4, that one is just ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh gorgeous and I love the story and the characters and someone stop me before I spoil everything....

But there are plenty of shots and scenes in the first three seasons that made me jump up and start screaming about how pretty they are. I do that a lot. No judgement, please. 

season 1

season 2

season 3

season 4

I took those as screenshots watching the show for the first time. Yeah, I think it's plenty pretty.

Anyways x3, moving away from visuals and villains, I want to talk just briefly about the heroes and the plot of the show. I know, I've probably been dragging on for a while; bear with me.

The heroes (Kanan, Hera, Zeb, Sabine, Ezra, and Chopper) have one of my favorite dynamics. They struggle to become a team, to fully trust each other, to learn how to change, to become something they think they're not, some of them tend to feud half the time... it feels realistic. So many times they just happen to be ready to let everyone do what they do best and not worry about how they got there. Clone Wars does that a little, including the movie, where you can see Anakin and Ahsoka figuring out what their roles are, but most of the other stuff is just implied. 

Don't get me wrong, it's implied very well, and I don't feel like anything's lacking, but I do enjoy getting to see the dynamic starting. I think that's really what season 1 is, getting the characters to their familial point and then using the later seasons to really explain why it was a struggle to get there.

Several people have said they think the characters are a bit flat. I can understand that. In the first season, and a little in the second, they do seem that way. But it's a four season series, with season four as the big culmination of all the arcs. Ezra and Kanan fully step into their roles as Jedi. Sabine becomes the leader she always was dancing away from. Hera and Zeb embrace their parts of the rebellion as a whole and stop trying to run away from the past. Chopper... is Chopper. Each character has a detailed story, and if it was tried to be crammed all into say the first two seasons, it would be too much and the last two seasons would be boring.

The series itself can seem to have several filler episodes, which are very annoying, but something from each of the "filler" episodes comes back, usually in the finale, to be something really important.

For example, in the season 1 finale, the crew realizes they need a TIE-Fighter, but they just blew them all up. Then Zeb and Ezra reveal that a TIE they stole in a filler episode is still around. It's little things like that that really hold the show together.

Alright, so I've been yammering on for a while. I'll stop now.

I highly suggest Rebels to any Star Wars fans who haven't seen it yet, and I especially suggest watching it BEFORE you watch Ahsoka, or at least refreshing your memory.

If you're part of that gang who's already watched and loved the series, thank you for bearing with me through all this insanity, and I hope I didn't completely waste your time. 

I hope y'all enjoyed my opinion of Star Wars: Rebels. Thank you for reading this far, and I hope you have a great Saturday!

Bit o' Writing Stuffs

 

Well, here we are! Some of my writing everything. My current WIP is (a guestimation) a little less than halfway done, so I think I'll hold off on screaming about it for a little bit longer. Definitely will get around to the screaming, but we'll wait just a tad bit longer. 

Instead, I wanted to scream about something else that happened recently: my storyworld.

oh also, the epicness that was going to be We are More than Conquerors has been called off because it was stressing me for some reason... :(

I have five fantasy stories planned out and/or in progress currently, all of which are in different worlds. Then a few weeks ago I started schemey-scheming another future story. (my brain is too busy sometimes, but I can't help it) The basic idea is PIRATES. And pirates need a lot of different ships/places/ports/etc. to plunder.

So I thought, "I have at least five worlds already created. What if they were in the same WORLD, but were each different continents?"

Well.

To say the least, it happened.

It happened rather beautifully, in my opinion:

For those of y'all who are curious, the stories associated with each world are as follows:

Niinia: Currently untitled, originally known as Blueberries Before Dark or THE Game. (note-- this was my first ever story idea. I came up with it when I was seven, I believe.)I broke one of my sisters' hearts when I first showed her this map, since Niinia was originally a planet in a rather large system of other planets, and there was a whole travel between planets everything that was a lot of fun to come up with, not to mention the fact that one of her planets in that galaxy had a waterfall falling from a moon orbiting the planet. So it was very extensive. I'm sad to say that epic bit of ingeniousness has been removed for the time being. We'll see what happens with it. 

Kraidare: Team 14. Also an older story, been through the works of my brain at least six times, probably more. I think I've made mention of this story before on my blog... several hundred years ago or something. Ah yes, here it is. This was another harder continent to create, because it was also a system rather than a singular world, with portals leading around to the other planets. Each planet had a different biome/common weather pattern, and was again very fun to create, but I decided a little while ago (before all this, actually) that the story would work better if it was all one world. As it is, the different countries in Kraidare are named for each original planet, and most of the land types are the same as what the planets would've had.

Myleck: The Last Phoenix. The only of the stories here that has been finished. Home of one of my most popular characters ever written, according to several of my friends who've read it. Myleck was a little kick to myself, since my greatest annoyance with TLP was that I didn't do like any worldbuilding, including I didn't name their world in the story, even though the plot of the story is Let's Save the World. So... I did a little more with the world. And when I edit TLP, there will be a bit more about the actual everything. 

Gerdin: Out from the Stellular. A story that originally was just trying to get me back into writing without any plot or cool characters, just practicing basics again... It worked, until I decided I liked the characters. Now, it's... going to be something more eventually. I never got far enough into it to really do a whole lot of world building, especially since the majority of the story was going to be in inter-dimensional rift full of stars and swirling colorful gases called the Stellular, hence the title... But there still needs to be a bit of a world.

Khogea: A Word Unbroken. My current WIP, and my character happy place... Although the characters themselves aren't very happy usually. It was actually the reason I decided to do this whole world combining thing. I wanted my pirates to meet some of my Khogean characters. Which will be chaotic. Especially when the dragons show up. Wait, did I just say that? I've said too much already... ooops. Anyways, I was already planning on making a map of Khogea before I did the whole world thing, because I've been making the setting a big part, since there's once more portals and world hopping although it's just over the impregnable mountains.... ehhehheh I'm going at it again. It's not that big of secrets, I just don't want to tantalize y'all in case it takes a while to fully rant about AWU. So I'll stop now. I'll get more into the world everything when I go on said rant. 

So today's writing stuffs was a little less about my actual stories. But I hope you enjoyed this little peek at what my brain is possibly cooking up and the basic settings of my future stories. Can't wait to talk about them more!

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

AND WE'RE BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK

 

Hello, hello everyone!

I cannot believe summer is already at a close. It went by wayyyy too fast for my liking. It was a very busy and fun and EXCITING summer, which is probably why it went by too quickly. 

Anyways, since school will be starting up soon, I figured now would be as good a time as any to start figuring out exactly what kind of chaos I'll be causing around here.

Also I figured I should probably explain where the new name for my blog came from... I've had several of my family members ask about it.

Well, whenever I talk to my amazing writing partner, Hannah, about my characters' current shenanigans for the day, I usually end (or start) with saying "chaos." Lots and lots of chaos. So I figured if I was going to go a bit more in depth about my stories here, there will probably be even more chaos, so I might as well say it up front.

And cinnamon rolls... mmmm... actually, that part of the name came from the meme "looks like a cinnamon roll, will actually kill you." If you don't know which one I'm talking about, here's a Clone Wars version:

Yeah, that's basically one of my favorite memes... My plan is when I introduce a new story, I'll drop one of these with my characters as the cinnamon rolls.

So now you know where the name came from. All good? Awesome. If you wanna bail before the chaos starts, I won't blame you. 

Okay! Now that that's outta the way... I wanna talk about my plans. I'm currently hoping to post at least three times a month, most likely posting on Saturdays, but we shall see. If I post more than thrice, that would be spectacular, but with my school schedule and position on my school's newspaper, I'm not sure how often that'll be. We'll also see which day will be the freest. I have no school (woohoo) on Saturdays (hopefully) but we shall seeeeeeeeeee. 

I will be active this year! 

I promise!

And now... I want to tell y'all about what I did this summer, because some of it was amazing. Actually, all of it was amazing, but some of it made a bit more of an impact. There was one really big event for all three months of summer so far (and another this month, but I don't wanna cry currently, so we'll skip that for the time being) so I'll focus on those!

MAY

Well, school ended in May. That in and of itself is crazy to think about, since that was my sophmore year that finished... BUT that's not what I wanted to focus on.

Also in May, my family went on a 10-day trip to Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah National Parks, full of camping, canoeing, car trips, and cuddles from the doggo man. We also stopped at the Natural Bridge State Park in VA on the way home, which was super cool, and we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway for a little while.

And I got to stand under a waterfall and get soaked and be soaked for another two hours, which was FABULOUS (not sarcastic) and yeah I loved it. 

It was also great to spend time with my family, since my oldest sister is in her senior year of college this school year and my other older sister is starting her freshman year, so there won't be much longer for us to be the full family unit (ahhhhh I wasn't going to mention that yettttttttt), so I loved having a week just us being great for a while!

Also, because I want to, PICTURES:

JUNE

And then came June.

And I got to go with my fabulous church on a mission trip to Honduras for a week. 

And it was so amazing.

People have asked me what the most amazing thing that happened on the trip was, and my only answer was just seeing God answer so many prayers. I often get headaches and migraines, some of which make me feel like I just want to lie on the couch and be comatose for a few years. I'd asked for prayers about that, and other than a singular migraine in the airport the day we arrived, I had ZERO headaches. It was amazing.

For the majority of the week, I had the song "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi stuck in my head. Funny fact: I don't even really like or know that song. But I realized, in a sense, my team really was living on prayers. We were doing construction work with our bare hands (in some cases, actually bare because we didn't have enough gloves to go around) and many of my teammates were getting small injuries or ailments. Then after our team prayer time, it seemed like they just vanished.

Once more, it was spectacular.

Anyways, before I start fangirling too hard (this isn't the worst thing I can fangirl about, but I want to keep this post short-ish) I'll just reiterate that it was an amazing trip, and God is working so many amazing things in Honduras.

While we were there, our primary objectives were putting on a VBS for about 120 kids from a nearby school and constructing a wall for a dorm space in a loft above the church. The dorm was going to be a place for men to stay while they were being trained to be missionaries and sent out to the nearby mountain villages.

I have to say it again, although you're probably tired of it: the trip was incredible.

AND PICTURES! BECAUSE WE GOT SOME REALLY EPIC SHOTS:

           

JULY

Almost exactly two weeks after we got back from Honduras, I set out for Virginia alone. First flight on my own, and it was delayed like forty times in a row.

Okay, fine, five... 

I went to a Multi-Media Journalism camp at Patrick Henry College for a week, and it was so fun. So fun. I've recently decided that journalism is what I want to do as a living in some way, shape, or fashion once I'm old enough to live alone. This camp definitely pushed me further down that path.

Also, it's pushing me towards going to PHC as my college eventually... so we'll see where God leads me.

Anyways, the camp itself had a few classes with the Journalism professor, who took us deeper into multi-media journalism. We learned how to do strong interviews, collect ambient sounds, did some green-screen reviews, listened to podcasts and analyzed what made them good, and made our own mini-documentary.

I spent the whole of my free time each day working on that documentary with my amazing teammates, so it was very satisfying that my team won. It was also very fun to learn that I basically found two awesome friends who are almost my twins....

Anyways, PICTURES:

AUGUST

My sisters are going to college.

Nothing more needs to be said.

Oh, and I'm turning sixteen and school starts and stuff....

Alright, now that we've got all that out of the way, I wanted to introduce myself a little bit more in depth. 

My name is Annabeth, but around here I go by Kal Tomson. I am fifteen, but turning sixteen in a little more than a week. 

My five favorite artists are The Arcadian Wild, Skillet, Sarah Sparks, Brit Nicole, and For King and Country. (I also like certain Imagine Dragons and Bastille songs, but not all...)

My three favorite books (currently) are Last of the Nephilim by Bryan Davis, Secrets in the Mist by Morgan L. Busse, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

My favorite movies are Call of the Wild, Polycarp, Rouge One, Return of the King, and Into the Spiderverse. (I also adore The Clone Wars, Bad Batch, and Rebels, but since they're all series, I can't quite count them.)

My current hobbies include taking long walks, writing, sometimes drawing, and singing Disney songs with my little sister. Sometimes repeatedly to annoy my oldest sister, Faith. Who knew she could scream so loudly at the Descendants soundtrack....

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this little flash of who I am and what I've been doing, and I can't wait to start doing this all more often!!!! Thanks for reading!!!!! 

   

Extr-y Extr-y!!!

 

Alright, hello there! (if anyone finishes the quote, i will be very happy)

As you can most likely see, my blog has undergone some big changes, such as the name changing... and it looks different...

Well, that's because I have changed it! I've decided I want to move my blogging life away from basically focusing on my Star Wars fanfictions with a side of other stories to really focusing on my other stories with a side of chaos and craziness of life. 

Because of that, I have done some renovations for the site, and I'm hoping to start some more serious blogging this fall! I will be continuing my hiatus for the next month and a half of summer, and when school starts, so does the chaos! I'm not certain which day I'll be posting, but I'm considering Fridays! 

Farewell fellow fishsticks!!!!

....hi....

 

*peeks in to make sure I'm not going to be murdered*

AhEm.

Greetings, everyone! I'd like to say I've been kidnapped for the past couple months, and that's why I left y'all on that cliffhanger and haven't said ANYTHING at all, but it's nothing that glamorous. 

I've been suffering from a terrible sickness called Writer's Block. 

Some of you might know what I'm talking about. Yeah. I have written several stories on varying levels of "I hate it" to "this is just trash" to "ugh, that just doesn't WORK!" 

Ok, I do have an achievement to share...

I finished my co-written book with my good buddy Hannah... last month? January? I really don't remember when... But I have finished it!

Other than that, tho, WHICH I AM REALLY EXCITED ABOUT FYI, I have hated literally everything I've written.

So I made the decision that I'm taking a blogging hiatus. I know, I've basically been on hiatus already, but I wanted to let y'all know what's what. I might pop in now and then to post an update about my WIP, because I do have some *hopefully* exciting news about that one.

It's currently called We are More than Conquerors, and it's part of the legendary Martyrs Saga, although none of the characters are the same. I'm not gonna share much about it other than that, because I really need this one to work.

Because...

*deep breath*

After I finish it (hopefully end of June) and get some juicy edits in, I am going to start the self or indie publishing process.

Hopefully.

I am scared of all of this --although I think terrified is a better term-- but I really have wanted to do this for a while, so I'm also super excited. So if I don't say anything for a VERY long time, know it is for a good reason.

Anyways, that's all for right now. Bye!!! 

New Years Story -- Revenge of the Unwritten Part One

Kalleb Chyr-Ja bounded though the blustery air toward an open glade. Somewhere behind him, Perpetua was probably yelling at him to slow down, but he didn't care.

He needed this moment alone to run free.

After a minute, he was out of the creaking trees and in the open spot he had hoped to reach. There was a thin layer of ice in some patches in the grass, but after only seeing mud and dead sticks everywhere for sixteen years, he didn't mind the little dusting of frost. Actually, the world had been dead for closer to six hundred years, hadn't it?

Kalleb flopped down on the grass, closed his eyes, and released a loud, contented sigh. It was nice to catch a break from saving the world. Maybe he could catch a nap while waiting for Perpetua to catch up. That sounded nice. She had the food, after all.

Just as he started to drift off, though, a stray thought from an unfamiliar mind scrapped across his conscience. He jerked up, instantly reaching for the knife Perpetua had recently started to insist he wear.

"Calm down, feisty pants, I'm not gonna hurt you." A short girl with long blond hair and a flowing purple dress stepped out from behind a tree. "If I was, I wouldn't have alerted you to my presence."

Kalleb frowned as he tried to place her accent. It wasn't anything he'd ever heard before, but it was familiar in a sense to. "You know about my telepathy?" He was bad at keeping secrets, but she already seemed to know.

"I also know that you can shape-shift but can't right now because of your injured arm, so you rely mostly on turning invisible, but you've never let Pet Ar-Kan know."

Kalleb blinked twice and lowered his hand from his knife. "How do you know so much about me?"

"I was told all that," she responded, still leaning casually against the tree, "by your author."

"My... what?" Kalleb didn't think he'd ever been more confused than he was now. Was Perpetua secretly writing stuff? She wasn't really his... yet.

"Your author." The girl pushed away from her tree and stepped closer to him. "The Castle Lands are in danger, you are needed to help immediately."

Kalleb had never heard the term 'Castle Lands' before, but he somehow understood what he had to do. "How do we get there?" 

There was a strange urging to get to these Castle Lands, as if he always knew what they were and now was dying to get back. 

The girl nodded, as if she understood his thought process. "I'll take you through. To be honest, you've been the fastest to accept so far. The girl tried to shoot me and one of the boys set my hair on fire." She shifted her braid so Kalleb could see the scorched ends. "The third one just didn't believe me."

"I've been told I'm very trusting." Kalleb glanced back over his shoulder. He could see Perpetua in the distance, but something told him this was much more important than a picnic. Then he walked over to the girl. "Alright, let's go."

The girl nodded and thrust her hand into a circular motion, creating a whirlpool of light floating in the air. 

Kalleb felt his mouth drop open. "Well... that's quite the ability."

The girl laughed and pointed him toward the portal. "After you."

He hesitated one second, then stepped into the swirling light and felt himself get swept away from the small glade.

Giftie Giftie!!!!

 

Merry Christmas, y'all!!!!!!!

As it is a special holiday that is well known for giving out presents, I thought it could be fun if I give all of you loverly readers a little something as well. 

I think I've mentioned my novella The Last Phoenix? If not, I have now. I have a very short, about ten chapter long novella titled The Last Phoenix. I wrote it over Easter Break this year, and have not had a chance to edit it. So it is a very rough draft, and when you read it, please bear in mind it was written in five days.

Yes, your Christmas gift from me is the first draft version of The Last Phoenix. See? I'm a nice person.

Anyways, a little concept art to make y'all happy:

a concept cover drawn by moi

Kalleb Chyr-Ja, one of the protagonists

Perpetua Ar-Kan, the POV character

Now that we've gotten those out of the way, here's how this is gonna work. I have created a Google Form, and if you would like a TOTALLY free online copy of The Last Phoenix, you may simply send in your email and what format will be easiest for you to read, and I'll send you the story. 

NOTE: this is not signing up to be a beta-reader or anything like that. I simply wish to share my story with y'all. If you have any critics about something that makes the story TERRIBLE, then you may definitely tell me, but I'm not looking for any edits. Thanks!

Here's the Form

Enjoy, y'all.

Merry Christmas again!!!!!

End of the Year

 Wow, it's been quite a year, hasn't it? Just me? Hopefully not. 

Anyways, I decided I'd pop in and show a few little clues into what I've been doing this past year. This will include books I've written and read, new movies, music I've listened to, artwork, and a little bit of looking into the future. 

If there are no questions, let's dive right on in.

WRITING

Wow, I only just realized how much writing I've gotten done this year. I have fully finished FOUR whole novels/novellas. To be fair, one of them was mostly written last year, but I completed the first draft this spring. And one was a collab with a friend, but I think it still counts? Anyways, here's a brief blurb and word count for each finished story.

To Die is Gain

Wilson Tomas is doubting himself and the good he can actually do in the world. He's a Christian with lying as his number one hobby. Smuggling is the only thing he can think of to make himself feel like he matters, but bringing a few illegal books around seems so lame compared to the risk he's taking. But when a suspicious soldier grounds him with the people he was smuggling to, maybe he can find the answers he desperately needs. But the last he expected was... Ariel.

Ariel Johnson needs her brother back. And she will get him, no matter the cost. But when her dangerous and reckless plan backfires, she is forced to become something she is not. There is nothing about her that screams betrayer. But if it saves Israel, she'll do it. Until she meets the Underground church and meets the Savior. Her brother's fate lies solely in her hands, but how can she save him by betraying her new family?

As these two teens struggle through their new lives and issues, they try to understand what it truly means to live for Christ... and to die for him.

So I've talked a bit about the Martyr's Saga, and I'm probably going to continue to, because this is just my favorite series I've ever written. This next book is the third book in the series titled the Heroes Saga i dont like calling my series "something+saga" that's crazy  and it's VERY different than To Die is Gain. It's much lighter and more written for fun, and the series was started much earlier in my writing career. This is also the collab I wrote with my friend.

Heroes of the City

It has been at least three years since the heroes were in civilization. Since then, they have all developed their powers to something... well, powerful. And, in some cases, dangerous. All of them have been castaways in some way, shape, or fashion, but now that they're together, it's time to face the past.

Juli just wants to be normal, but with Rian's power becoming more and more random and dangerous, there's no way life can go back to the simple middle school days it had been. Ellysa is still struggling to understand how to cope with her family's death, and becoming the leader of this chaotic bunch is not the ticket. But she somehow forgets that she isn't the only one who lost family. Michael is still trying to navigate the unknowns of who he is now as maybe things with Emma are getting...complicated. The Grant sisters want to go home, but with the unknown kidnappers on the loose, it just isn't safe. 

As the gang struggles, rumors of the bandits's return start circulating. And when one of them goes missing, maybe it's time to accept outside help.

Like I said, it's a pretty simple and less mature story than some, but I still ADORE it with my whole heart and soul. It's just so FUN to write. Next up is one that is also pretty simple and probably more enjoyed by a younger audience, but I still love the characters.

The Last Phoenix

Perpetua Ar-Kan has only one mission: restore the nearly extinct race of phoenixes. She is ready. After all, she's been practicing for this moment for years. Bring back the phoenixes and heal the dying world she lives in. The only thing she's not ready for is-- Kalleb Chyr-Ja. 

A hooligan with crazy magic powers on her quest? No way. He just isn't someone she's willing to trust. But when the duo is attacked before the quest even starts, they are forced to put aside their differences and team up. Their journey is fraught with danger, fear, mistrust, and a menace as old as the phoenixes themselves, but Perpetua and Kalleb will stop at nothing to finish their quest.

After all, who can refuse the dying command of the last phoenix?

Hope it sounds interesting, because there's gonna be something more about it later ;} ;} Anyways, this last one is probably known by at least some of you regulars.

Take Up your Cross

Sienna desperately wants to prove herself as a smuggler but can't seem to stop getting caught. With the famous Wilson Tomas gone, this is her time to shine. But Wilson returns, defeated and heart-broken, with two new companions. And when the foursome gets sent on a mission to the missing Christians in a recently destroyed town, Sienna might finally have her chance to prove herself.

Keith just wants life to go back to normal. He wants to know that his parents are safe at home, not part of the many missing citizens of their city. But with that fateful raid, he has to protect his twin sister- but can he, when he doubts himself? When he doubts his faith?

When an unexpected and shockingly calculating villain reveals herself, Sienna, Keith, and their companions are forced to trust each other to survive. But with two of their company doubting themselves, can they find their way to safety... and rescue their captured friend?

So, that was the majority of my writing this year. I've started several stories that haven't been finished, some of them I just wasn't feeling and others are still in progress, but these are the ones I've finished! Tell me which one sounds the most intriguing to you, and I'll go more in depth on it next.

Reading

Okay, well, I am ashamed to say I have not done much reading at all this year... Way too much writing, I guess? But I have read some, so here are my favorites from this year:

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

With the exception of Stellarlune, I read all eight and a half other books. Now, this is definitely NOT my favorite series. Flashback and beyond was... I'm not going to say "trash" because there were some parts that were really good, but they were really boring in my opinion. I DID really enjoy Keeper of the Lost Cities, Everblaze, and Neverseen, and count those as some of my very favorites. Lodestar and Nightfall are very good too, but I like those three mentioned above better. 

And for any other KOTLC fans out there, I don't have a Sophie+anyone ship currently. In my opinion, it's highschool crushes being made into something really extensive. except Dexphie, which i truly loved with all my heart ANYWAYS. KOTLC. YAY. READ IT.

Ascendance Series by Jennifer Nielsen

I did the first three a few years ago, but I got the newest two this year for my birthday, and so I read them this year. And I gotta say, they were pretty good. I hadn't ever thought this was one of the series that needed continuation, but Jennifer Nielsen did a great job of it. The characters were very them, and I appreciated the villain that was closer to a match for Jaron than some of the others. One thing I didn't really like was the timing, the fact that it was between The Shadow Throne and that last paragraph in The Shadow Throne --not gonna say the paragraph or any of the events so as to not spoil anything-- because it just felt a bit too soon, but everything else was great.

Search for the Astral Dragon by Bryan Davis

I have to say I love this book. I was a little iffy with some of the other newer Bryan Davis books, so I went into this one very hesitantly, but it was great. It's definitely for younger audiences, but that didn't make it any less powerful for me. I don't really know how to explain what I like about it at this moment, but it is still amazing, and I recommend it.

Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan 

Um okay. I... am very mixed about this series. I've always been very alert about the Percy Jackson books, mainly because, well, Greek gods and demi-gods and stuffs. But... this one was different, because there were some things that weren't Greek/Roman mythology. I really didn't like how one of the side characters got a slightly LGBT arc. A lot of people say I'm over reacting about it, considering it's a modern, non-Christian book and it's only one character, but it's something that's all over everything, why would I want to seek it out farther? Also, the last book was VERY anticlimactic in my opinion, so... I don't really know what to say about it. The first two books were fine, but after that... nope. Not really. So I'll just say I don't like this series

Tales of Goldstone Wood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Yes, I have this series before. No, I didn't just get one of the books. Yes, I did a whole series re-read. Yes, I still love them. I STILL ADORE THEM OH MY FREAKIN' WORD THEY ARE INCREDIBLE.

Anyways. I think I'll stop myself right there and move out of reading into the next section. 

Movies

Ooh, what have I watched that's new this year... hm... wow, this was the year of lots of grown-up-ish movies.

Interstellar

I had forgotten that it was only this year I watched this movie. At least I think it was this year.... Well, it was this year I started listening to the soundtrack so we'll count that. 

Anna and the King

It was... interesting. Not my favorite style movie, but still very good.

I am Not Ashamed

~sniffles~ I- ~sniffles~ I just... ~sobs~ THIS MOVIE Y'ALL. One of the first ones that made me literally CRY watching it. I just... I just can't.

1917

TBH, this was one of the first WWI movies I have ever seen. I don't actually know

much about this time period... Anyways, the movie was interesting. I wasn't a fan of

the amount of language in it, but the style was pretty cool.

Godzilla 2014

I liked it. My sister thinks I'm a little crazy for that opinion, but I liked it. It, uh, is 

actually my first monster movie I've seen.

Kenobi

So, even though this is a series, I'm still counting it here. Technically I watched it in burst on Youtube, but... I did watch all of the first season in that fashion. It was okay, not my favorite Star Wars but alright nonetheless.

Music

Well, this was quite the music year for me... I heard lots of new songs and artists this year. This was probably my biggest Spotify wrapped year, at least so far. I guarantee some of the next years will have many more minutes listened to. 

Here's my top songs playlist

Yes, there was a lot of instrumentals. That's what I listen to while I do school and writing and stuff. Here are a couple of other favorite playlists:

Instrumentals  Favorites

Also, I got the chance to go to TWO concerts this year: For King and Country in April and Andrew Peterson last week.

I sadly do not have any photos from the For King and Country concert, but I do have plenty from Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God show.

  

 

Art

Yes, I am going to show off some of my artwork from this year. These are the pieces my family has dubbed my best works. Let me know what you think.

 

   

Alright, I think that's all for the moment! I hope y'all enjoyed this little year-end wrap up! 

A really fast look into the future, I've already mentioned the New Years story coming out soon. After that, I'm hoping to finish up Winera's story and go more in depth about some of my other stuff. If any of y'all have suggestions on what I should later, go ahead and let me know.

I'm planning on doing a Q and A some point soon, so if y'all want to start thinking about questions, I'd be very happy! 

Thank you for being a great part of my year!