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Playing the Palace
Playing the Palace
Paul Rudnick | 2021 | Humor & Comedy, LGBTQ+, Romance
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Funny and sweet romantic comedy
Carter Ogden fantasized about the Prince of England growing up--who didn't? Openly gay Prince Edgar is handsome and easy to adore. When Carter meets Edgar through a work event, sparks fly. Before he knows it, it seems like the two are dating. But their relationship receives intense media scrutiny--and the disapproval of the Queen of England. Can they find a happily ever after when it seems like everything--and everyone--are against them?

"He was destined to become the king of England, and I was a nice Jewish boy from New Jersey; we both knew what we were supposed to be doing, but we were fighting it. When it came to emotional stability, neither of us had a prayer."

This is a cute and funny story overall. We have Carter, who is reeling from a breakup and does not feel worthy of love and then Edgar, who is scared to trust. It's not easy to be in a relationship when you're the Prince of England. As Edgar states, he's "a symbol and an institution." The two meet at the United Nations and there's definitely some insta-chemistry, but they are also pretty sweet together. You can't help but root for this pair.

"Because ever since I can remember, there's been only one unthinkable sin, and that was disgracing my family and my country, in any way. I was being held to a different standard, which I agreed with. I had one job: to represent the royal household and to make England proud, and I was a calamity."

The book is a little ping pong-ish in its highs and lows. Everything is good... and then it's not. Rinse and repeat. At times, it seems a little insane that Edgar and his family cannot trust Carter, yet you can understand how utterly crazy and invasive the British media is--we see it all the time. I would have liked to see the two communicate a bit more, but new relationships are hard.

The cast of characters in PALACE are wonderful--completely engaging. Carter's family and friends are adorable, especially his sister and aunt Miriam. They make you laugh and cry. There's an excellent vomiting scene with poor Carter that will have you cringing and chuckling. Parts of this story are just plain hilarious. But it's also serious in its look at finding love after loss, insight into homophobia, and seeking acceptance for yourself and your partner, no matter what kind of relationship you may be in.

Overall, this is a fast and fluffy romantic read that also offers a good take on acceptance. 3.5 stars.
  
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Thundercat recommended Musical Massage by Leon Ware in Music (curated)

 
Musical Massage by Leon Ware
Musical Massage by Leon Ware
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Leon Ware is one of those people, if not the main person, that taught me what it was to be a songwriter. I'm very happy and fortunate to say that I got a chance to tour with him at a very early age. He was my first experience with songwriting. When you go listen to Musical Massage, you can hear the spirit behind most of the things people were doing in the 70s; everybody that we know that Leon used to write with, like Minnie Riperton and Quincy Jones and Marvin Gaye, just to name the ones that are easily pinpointable out the gate. You can see his spirit through the music. Musical Massage is, I think, the perfect soul album. I'm not lying to you. In my opinion there's only a few that exist in that space. Leon Ware's album was the actual definition of soul. And you can hear songs that were copied from it; you can hear like 'oh, this is where this person did this' and 'This is where this person took this'. That's where I learned how to be a songwriter; Leon Ware taught me everything about songwriting. He taught me the emotion behind it, he taught me how to get to those emotions, he showed me what it was to not to ever quit, no matter what is getting thrown at you. One of my favourite songs that brings tears to my eyes, like to this day is 'Got To Be Loved' on Rockin' You Eternally – I know that's a big jumped from 1976 to 81, but let me say, every time I hear that song I can feel that whatever he was feeling when he wrote it, and I think it hit me at different points in life too. So this is all about Leon Ware's prowess as a songwriter and why he was the hit maker that he was. I get to spend some time with some quality time with him growing up, and I'm really grateful for that. So Musical Massage is a journey, man, it's a real journey. I remember telling Tyler, The Creator about Leon Ware, and Tyler's very much to himself, but you can see every now and again Tyler will say something about how important Leon Ware's music is, and I think even Tyler even went so far as to try to write some stuff with Leon. God rest his soul because he passed a few years ago; that was very difficult. He left me and us with a lot of music, and to this day when I think about my own songs like 'Them Changes' or 'The Turn Down' it's always was a reminder to say how you feel."

Source
  
Dusk
Dusk
2018 | Action
I am late to the party with this one but DUSK is a game that I have been aware of since it was first announced but only recently had a chance to play. For fans of First Person Shooters and especially those who played early genre classics like DOOM, DOOM 2, and The Wolfenstein series; the recent trend of Indie developers making retro-looking shooters has been growing. While most have been fairly mediocre; there have been some such as Ion Fury which captured the Pixelated action that players embraced before 3D cards became widely used and eventually a necessary part of gaming.

DUSK lovingly blends old and new as it even has a DOS-like startup menu while the game loads to provide plenty of loving nostalgia.

The game is broken down into three chapters and tasks players to survive a dangerous cult and the various creatures and enemies they encounter. The gameplay is fairly simple as players gather weapons, ammunition, health, and other items and dispatch enemies as they race through a level to find various keys needed to open locked doors and advance to the end of the level.

Players will have an impressive arsenal at their disposal from pistols, shotguns, machine guns, hunting rifles, a Rivet gun, grenade launchers, and a sword. All of which will come in handy as there are multiple enemy types that lurk in the darkness.

Players will have a flashlight as well but be warned; there are maps where it will not be functional in certain parts and having to fire guns to provide temporary lighting in order to find a well-hidden path to advance will test your patience.

Players will also be able to double down on some weapons and dual Shotguns can be very enjoyable but may not have the rate of fire that players need.

There are also power-ups along the way that can speed up a player’s rate of fire and other enhancements to help move things along.

Levels were generally very fun and engaging and provided plenty of solid gameplay and enjoyable moments. There is a multiplayer aspect that features the old Deathmatch format but I was unable to find anyone in any of the games during the times I checked.

DUSK was a winning mix of nostalgia and action and had some very clever map designs and sequences such as one frustrating one where gravity was upturned and forced players to be very patient and creative.

I hope we see a DUSK 2 in the near future as the game is a winner and can show bigger studios how to make an engaging shooter that gamers will love without the mega-budget bells and whistles.
  
    Pocket God

    Pocket God

    Entertainment and Games

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    App

    What kind of god would you be? Benevolent or vengeful? Play Pocket God and discover the answer...

    Madbarz Workouts

    Madbarz Workouts

    Health & Fitness and Lifestyle

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    Build muscle at home - without weights. Quick workouts, premium workout plans, nutrition... Join the...

    1Q

    1Q

    Business and Lifestyle

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    App

    1Q pays you (or a charity you choose) an instant fifty cents every time you answer a simple...

LINE WEBTOON - Daily Comics
LINE WEBTOON - Daily Comics
Comics, Entertainment
10
9.1 (7 Ratings)
App Rating
'Webtoon' is a fantastic free app!

Whether or not you love manga, or comic books, this is a good step towards experiencing these formats in the digital world. It may even be the encouraging bridge towards them, especially if you have thought about dabbling in that world but never taken the leap.

The app itself is easy to use, and there are no adverts thrust upon you, or anything that gets in the way of enjoying the series you are reading.
A great deal of the series are produced weekly, you can 'subscribe' to those ones you enjoy, so that you will receive notifications of when they have been updated.
As with most apps there is also the opportunity to purchase 'coins'. Most series are about 3 weeks ahead of the general release, and you can spend those 'coins' on unlocking episodes ahead of the majority of readers (or if you simply can't wait until the next week!)
There are also occasionally 'challenges' so you can earn coins too.

The different series range from having audiences of a couple of hundred people to the millions, but each series is filled with such care and love, you can't help but fall in love with them all, and want to help the 'smaller' artists, by growing their fanbase!
The app also has different projects that give you tasters of potential series, which you can vote on, and then they will help the artist out and make their series a permanent feature.

There is a great community feel in the comments sections, and it is a perfect way for the artists/authors etc to gain feedback.
The artists/authors will occasionally incorporate this into their work, or even steer a story down a path that they hadn't considered before, or will drop an episode about a fan favourite character.

It all feels very personal, and I always thoroughly enjoy reading the episodes, then diving into the comments sections, to share joy with other enthusiastic fans (spoiler free ofc!)

All of the artwork is stunning, and there are so many styles to suit everyones tastes. Some artists will also work with musicians and incorporate music into the episode, this always adds to the magic, whether it is a few sound effects, or a full track.

The ONLY pitfall I would say is that occasionally it can feel like the episodes are a bit short but I imagine it is hard work keeping up with the schedules sometimes!!
However, if you fall in love with a series, it won't matter how long an episode is, it will always leave you wanting more and excited for the next episode ☺