Handsome Siblings [2020]

 I have recently finished another Chinese Drama. This time it's titled Handsome Siblings. It tells the story of two brothers (Jiang XianYu and Hua WuQue) that were separated at birth and told that they are each other's enemies. Only, they meet each other and realize that they have way too much in common and that they enjoy each other's company. And obviously, when one of them realizes that the other is the one he was told he has to kill, he only does it because it was an order from his aunts. He doesn't really want to do it, but still, he tries. And fails again and again. Until they finally agree to have the fated duel in three months flat. And enjoy the time they have together until then. 

Imawa no Kuni no Alice [2020]

 

Arisu is a carefree NEET. He has two friends and one day, they end up in some kind of a weird world. It's still Tokyo, but it's empty. Barely anyone there and at first, it seems like they are the only ones there. Until they find the Games. 

Alice in Borderland (the English title) is based on a manga series. It was adapted before, as an anime, but it was short and cut off pretty abruptly, this seems to be a more cohesive adaptation and it also seems like season 2 is a possibility, considering how season 1 ended. I'll try not to spoil too much, but let's just say, that this is not a completely spoiler-free review. 

So Arisu and his friends find themselves in the so-called Borderlands. In Borderlands, you either play games to extend your visa, or you die by laser when your visa expires. You can also die playing those games, but Arisu is really smart. Unfortunately, he and his friends end up in a game that can only have one survivor. At first, they try to come up with a different solution, but in the end, his friends realize that they want Arisu to live so when he fulfills the surviving conditions, they hide and wait for the timer to end. 

An Acorn

 This was done on the last page of one of my sketchbooks. Done in IKEA watercolor pencils and finished with a pentel aquabrush. I think it's pretty good for a last page drawing. What do you think?

~AnnElfwind

Written on the 14th of January, 2021

Portrait

 

Just a little something I painted based on a D&D character from the Dungeonbreaker D&D group from Dicebreaker on youtube. 

~AnnElfwind

Written on the 22nd of January, 2021

J.P. Oliver - His Paladin

Gosh! Another book. What happened, you might be asking. Well, lonely days in the office happened and the fact that I have about 20 audiobooks on my phone. That's what happened. Deal with it. But don't worry, the next post will be something else, though still a review. Just not a book one. 

So, this book, decidedly something else that I was expecting. It was listed under BL and Fantasy. Well, the BL part is correct. But the fantasy, not so much. It takes place in the modern-day and the only fantasy that's happening there is real-life roleplay. I would not have listed this under fantasy. It's misleading. But it's partly on me anyway, as I don't think I read the summary a tall, or if I did, I only read like one or two sentences. So yeah... 

Despite this, the book wasn't too bad. I even enjoyed it. After I got over the shock. 

So, Quinn, a bisexual widower, is an army man. And it's his time to find something fun to do on Fun day for his team. And he sees a billboard and picks real-life roleplay at Lochmire castle. And that's where we meet Raine. A single dad with a 6-year-old daughter Nicole. 

Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl

 And no, I'm not talking about the movie. Even if it was the reason I decided to re-read the books. 

I've read the books as a kid and they were great. I don't think I've read them (back then) more than once, but they stayed with me. When I got a little older, better at English, I started reading fanfiction and among those were stories featuring Artemis Fowl. The ones I read most of were crossovers, mostly with Harry Potter, which, now that I think about it, has even more potential. What with Colin Farrell playing Artemis' father. The potential for fanfics just went from great to infinite. Or close to it 

Lily Morton - Black and Blue #1: The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings

 

Levi's boyfriend cheated on him and his mother died. Thankfully, he inherited a house in York and can start a new life there. Not so thankfully, the house is haunted. Doors opening, windows opening, lights flickering... Think a hunting phase in Phasmophobia. 

And then he meets Blue Billings. An almost homeless man who does Ghost walks for a living. Basically touring York and the sites of killings. 
It also turns out that Blue can actually see the ghosts. And that he's not the only one in York who can. And then the two of them start to try to unravel the mystery of the house Levi inherited. And at the same time, they start to fall for one another and end up in a relationship together. Which, not really a shocker, considering this is a BL novel. 
Still, it's well written and worth a try. It seems to be the first book in a series. Which, good. At least I have some inspiration as to what to look for when I finish all the books I currently have. Oh, and I didn't actually read this book. I listened to it in an audiobook format. That way, I could listen to it at work. At least during the days, I'm alone in the office. When my colleague is there with me, she turns on the radio. And considering she doesn't speak English and does not know about my preference for reading BL, she probably wouldn't like my choice of books anyway. 

Captain Rolith?! WTF?!

 I don't know why, but this looks like Captain Rolith from DragonFable. I don't know how that happened, but it did. It's done in charcoal and I love how it turned out. But I still can't get over the fact it looks like Rolith.

~AnnElfwind

Written on the 10th of January, 2021

Phasmophobia

 I'm still shaking. I just survived two back to back huntings. Today was my second time playing this game. And I have yet to play together with someone. All my ghost hunts so far were done solo. And for that reason, I keep picking the same house over and over again, because it's small. And I play on amateur. And with the five-minute window, I learned something. Easiest way is to find the room, either with EMF or a thermometer. Then place the camera. Then, in the camera's view, close enough for you to see, place the other one (EMF or thermo) and then add the spirit book, also in view. Use the remaining time before you can be hunted to try and talk to the ghost or look for fingerprints. Then, cheese it out of there and use the camera view to look for other signs. This way is the best way to see if something was written in the book. 

I did my latest hunt this way and it turned out well. Even saw a ghost orb. So yeah. Completed two out of the three daily objectives, figured out the best way to survive a hunt, and wanted to play with someone, but that didn't work out... So... I guess I'll try that out some other time. 

Still, the game is great and I do recommend it. But it is scary. I think the most important thing is to keep an eye on hiding places. Closets and similar. Though I just went to steam discussions and frankly, at this point, I'm not all that sure about hiding and what works and what doesn't. Closet worked for me so far. So, I think I'm gonna trust it. The ghost walked right past me and didn't try anything. Could be because I played on amateur, but who knows. 

I love the voice chat integration. The way you can anger the ghost. Though I haven't had a ghost talk to me yet, I had one play the piano for me after I talked to it. And I'm not even sure the house had a piano. So, ghost piano anyone? 

I've also been watching the Oxbox play the game on youtube. And even watched Eurogamer play it on their channel. And I learned some things from that. And the main thing is to get to level 3 asap. Because it unlocks the strong flashlight for you. And I have the funds for it already, but I don't have the level yet. I'm almost there though. So, hopefully, when I regain enough nerve to play again, I'll reach it and will be able to finally have more light. 

I did buy the thermometer though. It makes things somewhat easier in terms of finding the ghost room. Or basement, as was the case for my latest hunt. That was why I was placing everything in view of the camera. I didn't wanna go back. But I did, in the last minute before hunting, I tried to talk to the ghost and that was when she played me the piano. And the ghost turned out to be a banshee. And I guessed it right. So yay me. 

~AnnElfwind

Written on the 28th of November, 2020