LIZORAE

Disney's Encanto  is easily the best movie I've watched in 2021. It is truly "fantastical and magical". Everything about it bursts with hope and life, something we all need in light of hot summers and Covid.  Even though it's technically not a Christmas movie, it's one of my favourite Christmas presents from the internet. Especially because it was released one day before Christmas, and we all know those early presents are the best. It's like cheating the system, but legally.  Encanto  is one of my most anticipated movie releases of 2021, along with Marvel's  Black Widow and Spielberg's West Side Story . Where Marvel failed to win me heart and body, and where I failed to watch Romeo and Juliet but with guns in time for New Year, Encanto  will be with me forever. *cue Titanic theme*  Let's get to! Enjoyability  |  ⭑⭑⭑⭑ In case the intro wasn't already clear, I love Encanto. If I could adopt it, I would. Why do I love it so much? I'm glad...

Hey authors! Today, we celebrate two things. Firstly, after six months with only two posts to show for it, I'm finally back. It's been a long time, but I'm pumped and ready to go.  Secondly, and most importantly, it's Lizorae's 2nd birthday! While I've only been active for 1.5 years (my bad, lol), the site has aged and that's all that matters, right?  So here's what this year brought Lizorae and a yearly review. Let's get to!  Lizorae's Journey Vol II If last year was about figuring out the ropes and building writing muscle, this year was learning about mental health and writing.  In the middle of May, certain things happened that completely drained me. I decided to take an unannounced hiatus for a week or two to refuel, but life kept throwing more and more stuff that ultimately was more important than the blog.  Since the only profit I make from here so far is the satisfaction of writing, I only work on the blog during my leisure time. But with...

I'm not a huge fan of anime. I haven't read much manga either. There's something about their over-acting that just doesn't work for me. But you know what will convince me? An absolute banger musical adaptation.  Musicals are my jam, even the obscure ones. Especially the obscure ones, like Death Note: The Musical , which didn't even make it to an English stage. I did find a Japanese version (English subs) with the English concept album dubbed over it and let me tell you guys, it was awesome .  Okay, 'nuff with the intro. As usual, major spoilers will be marked, but I recommend you proceed with caution. These are my opinions and you're free to agree or disagree respectfully.  Let's get to!   Enjoyability  |  ⭑⭑⭑⭑ I came because I liked the music. A YouTuber I subscribed to covered one of the songs and it hit me in all the right places. I knew it was from an anime so I didn't have my hopes high, but I needed to see what kind of show had these bangers i...

Transcript -  6 Mistakes in Middle Grade Spelling everything out. Kids will figure it out. They are more insightful than you think. Dumbing everything down. Kids aren't stupid. Don't treat them like that. Not exploring deep topics. Kids will experience hardships, so don't shy away from them. Antiquated writing. It's not the era they grew up understanding. Use more modern slang to make prose more accessible. Adult-like main characters. Make your character relatable. Mature content. Just don't have it. Seriously. 

Hey authors! So much has happened in the two months since our last update. As I'm writing this, this post is almost seven weeks overdue. I'm going to be writing this as if this time gap never happened. Better late than never, right? Let's get to!    Updates  Life will become even more busy over the next month. New posts won't be published until two months later. Thank you for waiting! :) As life doesn't seem to want to stop throwing hurdles, you're probably going to see more Fandom Chat posts. They're going to be different from the ones I have done before. Instead of ranting, they're going to be more review-esque. I have a carefully planned starring system that works well in theory. Let's hope it holds out, lol.  That means less information centred posts and more opinion centred posts. It will be much easier on my mental health because they take less time to write. Hopefully you'll enjoy the new direction! Leave comments telling me what you th...

Dear Evan Hansen.  The musical is out. The book is out. The movie is coming out this September. And boy does this musical deserve the hype.  It's a pop style musical, and I talked about it in my 10 Musical Recommendations post (which you should totally check out). This post is going to be formatted a little differently from usual. Instead of a LFTM or FC type post, this is going to be more like a review. Let me know if you enjoy this style.  As usual, all spoilers will be marked, so no fear, Gandalf is here. (You can ignore the last bit. It rhymed and I thought it sounded cool.) More so than usual, this is a review, so everything here is simply my opinion. You can agree or disagree respectfully.  Let's get to! Disclaimer: Involves discussion of sensitive topics. Viewer discretion is advised.  Enjoyability | ⭑⭑⭑⭑ Let's start off with the most important thing. Did I enjoy it? Well you can go ahead and smash that YES button. I was hooked from start to finish....

Am I late to the party again? Yup. But I've finally read it. The first  Red Rising  trilogy by Pierce Brown. The whole series was a ride. From the moment I picked up the first book, I leapt into the cart and prepared for the journey. I was strapped in and determined to love the series.  Spoiler alert, I was in no way prepared for what the series gave.  Here's a list of my jumbled feelings on  Red Rising . Be ye warned for spoilers.  Let's get to! 1. Darrow  So I have a thing against the mainest of main characters. It's an irrational bias, I know. But I enjoyed Darrow. For one thing, he's not as cliche as I thought he would be. I expected him to be something of a special snowflake who becomes more powerful than the Golds. He still got a load of sweets, but it wasn't enough to make him pretentious in my eyes.  He has a wife. He starts out already married and without the usual teenage angst. He's settled down through and through. That's something ...

Filling your creative well is vital for all authors. But don't only take inspiration from books. There's loads of other mediums, obvious ones being movies and TV shows.  Last month, we discussed ten  webcomic recommendations . This month, it's musicals. And boy do I love musicals. The ones on this list are my top ten favourite musicals, in no particular order.  Let's get to!      Disclaimer: The images are not my own or stock images. Most of the descriptions are summarised from stageagent.com . 1. Hamilton   Genre: Hip hop, historical Content notice: Mature themes Description: It's the story of the forgotten Founding Father of America, Alexander Hamilton. It's his journey to power in the setting of the American War of Independence. Filled with gags, total bops and an emotional dump truck, Hamilton is non-stop. That's right, we're kicking off with arguably the most popular musical for our generation. This has taken the musical theatre world by storm, ...