I like the house

 I got more art. After a bit of a break. Two new pics. Did them both more or less in one sitting. The first one is a blue-haired girl done in crayons. And yes, I know that the nose and the mouth don't really align as they should. So, either she has a skewed smile or there's something wrong with her. Sue me. It was kinda hard to do it in crayons. I just don't understand how people can layer them so well... I can do that with oil pastels, but with regular crayons... Nope. Most of those I own feel really scratchy when put to the paper. Although, most people I've seen using crayons on youtube were using Crayola crayons.  And they don't offer those where I live. Not at all. So I can't compare them with the ones I own. Maybe when I finally make the trip to a country that sells them, I will be able to do a bit of a test and see how they perform for myself. 

But back to the picture. Like I said, done in crayons. Just a simple portrait. I had no reference for this. The only thing I used was the image on the back of the page. And well, the paper in this sketchbook is really thin. So it was visible and I used it as a little bit of a guideline. And then I used reference for the hair. I am really bad at coming up with hairstyles. I mean, I can imagine them, but without actual reference, if I try to draw my vision, it all ends up looking the same. No creativity whatsoever. So I've started using references for hairstyles. And I'm probably not gonna stop any time soon. 

Playing lots of Skyrim

 Lately, I've been playing a lot of Skyrim. It started with me finally deciding to tackle one of the mods I had installed. It's called Blackland. You can teleport to it from Riverwood's Inn. And only from there. Or you risk crashing your game. So I did, I teleported there. And immediately, I was surprised by something. It put me in a legitimate cutscene. I had absolutely no control over my character. And I'm not talking about having to sit through an unskippable dialogue, like with the Daedra. No, the character de-quipped her weapons and even moved and sat down. And that was definitely something new. 

Yeah, you get scenes in the vanilla Skyrim where you stand and watch something happen, but even with that, your character doesn't move on its own. Or at least not to this extent. I mean, my PC sat down, on a fucking chair. And that was just one of several instances of this throughout the mod. 

Mulan [2020]

 Well, I expected more from it. But I'm biased. I recently watched The Untamed. So yeah. Like, if you've never seen the original Mulan or any Chinese historical drama (made by the Chinese people!), it's not too bad an action flick. But I have! Seen both. Both the original Mulan and recently I've been into watching Chinese drama. So yeah. I'm biased. 

First of. They completely removed Mushu and Shang. As well as changed the name of the main villain. Honestly, Bori Khan sounds nowhere near as epic and badass as ShanYu. Excuse the spelling if it's wrong. I'm too much in the groove to go look it up. But I'm probably correct and if not, I'll edit it later. Back to the stuff they changed - not for the better. 
I could have accepted the switch from Mushu to the Phoenix, sure, why not. But captain Shang was the best character from the whole thing! Him being replaced by an unknown random soldier? Sorry, but I'm not buying it. Honestly, when I hear the words Live-action remake, I kind of expect the plot to stay the fuck the same! At the same time, I understand that some things that are easy to animate might be really hard to do with special effects. Yet! When it comes to Mulan, the only thing that really needs serious special effects is Mushu. And possibly crickee. But that's a different story. 

Next. Why would they even put the Witch in! She brings nothing to the story, only muddles it up. And that stupid redemption sub-plot? Nope. It would have been more interesting if she killed Khan near the end of the movie and turned into the ultimate villain. Also, shapeshifting into a bloody bird?! Again, nope. But again, I'm biased. As right now, I'm watching a Chinese drama - Guardian - and there's a tribe of raven shapeshifters. Yeah, maybe I picked the wrong time to watch Mulan, but I can't help it! I blame The Untamed! 

Cosimo Yap - The Gam3 #3: Sacrificial Pieces

 Well, let me tell you something first. This is a fucking PREQUEL TRILOGY. And I'm not happy about it. Most of all because the author wants to take a break from this universe. Which... Rude! Anyway! This book mostly deals with Alan fixing the Abyss Labyrinth and learning more about the Revenant faction. At least in the first half or so. Then, in Act 2, we get to the good stuff. Not that the Labyrinth isn't interesting, but learning more about the fucking game, well, that's the reason I devoured the book so fast. Even if it took a bit for me to write this. So! Warring factions, Haxlards vs. the Empire, Black Rose Guild stuck in the middle, people having to reveal true allegiances. And more! 

Turns out that the Emperor is a predecessor. The same one that attacked Alan in the tutorial back in book one. And well, at the very end, Alan sacrifices himself in order to kill this guy. And when I say sacrifice, I mean he actually dies. Only for us to learn something game-changing. Literally. Get ready people! The game has several layers. At least five of them! Inception-style! Apparently, Earth has never been anything more than a simulation run by the so-called gods. And now they revealed themselves to Alan. He's a major player now and he (and us!) finally knows something more about the nature of the game. 

And that's where it cuts off. Bummer. I mean, it's a great cliffhanger and everything. An interesting place to cut it off, but damn! I hate cliffhangers. This is also the place that tells you it is a fucking prequel trilogy. I'm still pissed off about that. I almost immediately went to google the next book, but it doesn't exist yet. But I'll be keeping an eye out for it.