Let's Play: The Evil Within ~ The Assignment

I’m always hyped and down for a strong female lead in any form of media. So without a doubt, one of the best sources of such is in video games. That’s why I’m really loving The Evil Within’s Juli Kidman, and is extra pleased that she has received two DLC (downloadable content) packages to further her character, as well as the core game's story.

Now I don’t want to get into talking about The Evil Within too much. My brief history is that I finally played the game back in December (picked it up in a Redbox first) and thought it was awesome. Except for a handful of technical and story flaws, it was a thrilling entry in the survivor horror genre. I found myself so wrapped in it that I felt that teenage nostalgia series like Resident Evil and Silent Hill built in me. When I upgraded to a PS4 in February, I decided to get The Evil Within again (there’s nothing really out there to play anyway). So I enjoyed the game a second time. Whether it’s surviving zombie hordes, upgrading for bigger battles, or collecting trophies, The Evil Within remains an unforgettable experience. And that’s how I like my games. I need plenty to go after and strong replay value.

As for the newly release DLC, we switch from the core game’s protagonist, Sebastian, and step into his “partner” Kidman. And she is a treat, stomping around with a hostler and stilettos within gameplay that damn near switches completely away from the core game's methods of survival.  Juli operates off stealth and a flashlight.  She's disarmed for most of her scenarios–while finding herself hunted by one of the most macabre game development creatures ever.  And said creature sends my blood pressure through the roof throughout each encounter.  Which only means I'm enjoying myself.  Still, seeing how one-sided Juli appeared as a character within the core story, her four-chapter package shines a light on how she should be recognized as not only a dynamic character, but also a viable hero to The Evil Within.  Honestly, alone, the revelation concerning her background and how she got into her current situation should breed some kind of sympathy for her. 

I knew there was something more too Juli from the jump.  I remember at her appearance in the opening sequence of the core game how I immediately blurted I'd prefer playing as her.  Her DLC package will do, though.  Here it is with the first part of her chapter, The Assignment. On to my replay of the experience…

Inspirational Library Haul

Hero by Rhonda Byrme

How to Rule the World From Your Couch by Laura Day

How Did I Get Here? by Barbara De Angelis

Infinite Possibilities by Mike Dooley

You know how you’re just cruising along on auto-pilot until you spot something that catches your attention?  Something you feel like you may need.  Okay, yeah.  That’s what happened at the library over the weekend.  I went there to get my usual quiet time (which was a success) and came home with a stack of self-help books.  I’m always there for an inspiring word and change of direction.  And considering I’ve been sucking at fiction lately, I came home with these four.

Everyone’s familiar with Rhonda Byrne.  She’s the author of the famed, The Secret.  It's the book all about manifestation and the law of attraction.  It’s been a minute since I’ve read The Secret, so Hero seemed like a neat choice.  In Hero, she talks more or less about being such in our own lives.  Or acknowledging and taking responsibility for the life we’re given.

Laura Day’s How to Rule the World From Your Couch is all new to me; the author and her unique perspective on self-help.  She takes an intuition approach, with exercises for change taken from your couch.  Sounds interesting.

How Did I Get Here? by Barbara De Angelis has kind of been on my self-help list since forever.  I just never got to her, until I was pulled to her book at the library.  Anyway, her book is an inspirational handbook that tackles all the areas of our lives in which we suddenly find ourselves asking, “how did I get here?”  I don’t know about you, but that question pops up frequently in my inner dialogues.

I love Mike Dooley.  If you’re not familiar with his daily “Message from the Universe” emails, then get familiar with them.  Sometimes, they’re exactly the motivation I need when I wake up.  So while I’ve followed Mike for awhile on Youtube and Facebook, I’ve never read a book by him.  Infinite Possibilities seemed… well… possible.

That’s it.  I'm happy to say I’m shifting into this arena for awhile to refuel my inspirational pool and take a break (because I seemed broke) from fiction until the Summer.

Another Michael's Haul

Evidently, (because I don't check my emails) Michael’s is having a 20% off Memorial Day weekend discount on all purchases. I didn’t know that until the cashier scanned a coupon for me, turning my total from $20+ to $18. That seemed to be a positive sign from the Universe. Had I sat on my ass all day–hungry and confused about my next move–I might have missed such a deal. Nonetheless, running dangerously close to having absolutely no paper to draw on, I made a quick run and will now do another haul to show you guys what I like to work with.

First, I needed another pad of Bristol board. Sometimes, I can’t imagine how I used copier paper before I discovered how necessary this type of paper is. It’s smooth and heavyweight. Furthermore, pencil and ink love it. Unless you're using some insane amount of unnecessary force, erasing doesn’t scratch up the board either.

I forgot a vinyl eraser during my last haul, or at least one for the sketching process. I love vinyl because it does a clean job erasing, and can erase just about anything if you finesse just enough. So there aren't any pink streaks like with rubber erasers, or any gum crumbs from a gum eraser (which I do use for another purpose). As seen in the image, I use extra soft Facts white vinyl erasers.

Last time I went to Michael's I ordered myself not to step into the scrapbook aisle. This time, I wandered in. I browsed around for a bit–my imagination going wild–and settled on two sheets of this brick-themed scrapbook paper. I got some cool ideas in mind for them.  They were 59 cents apiece so I grabbed two just in case. One day, I’m going to let myself loose in the scrapbook aisle. Until then, I’ll try to use what I’ve already stashed.

So that’s it. I made up a little from my last Michael’s trip.  However, I wish I was willing to pay $36 for a portfolio, because I need one desperately. So for those who love to draw, I hope my personal go-to tools will come in use should you seek recommendations. I can’t wait to share whatever it is I come up with after using these three.

Until then, always remember it doesn’t matter what you use, only that you complete whatever it is you’re doing!

Battle of the Covers: Kidglove-style vs. Saucy-style

 

Kidglove-Style

Saucy-Style

No drawing description necessary.  Or at least not with this one.  This is what happens when you try to create your own ebook cover.  You try and try again to find the right look.  So far I've gotten two, and I think I'm sticking with the second one (saucy).  The first one seemed to be going well, but it just didn't connect with me at the end.  First, she just didn't seem to hit me as a black character.  I didn't see that until the very end.  And it's true when they say that sometimes drawings take on their own–we just have to listen to them.  Second, I embellished too much around her eyes.  

I realized that I should do all the embellishing through the computer.  So I sauced her up some with a re-drawing to better fit the character.  And I did all the extended work in PhotoFiltre.

However, the saucy image got to be too much also (should I share the original final version?).  I got to make changes and keep her eyes simpler–as I'd learned my lesson the first time around.

Anyway, I'm on my way to work and wanted to keep this post quick.  Any questions, leave in the comments.  Also vote which do you think would make a cool ebook cover.

Why I Haven't Been Reading...

I am 16 days into May, and haven’t completed a book yet! And it’s torture. It truly is. Life. Life. Life. It’s always there. And while I’m not one to claim stress (because I believe we perceptive and own what we will), there is definitely something going on. Something that is most certainly working for my highest good.  So I wanted to create a post concerning why I haven’t completed a book–and how I hope things get on track. You see, I believe when things seem to get hard, it’s God/the Universe’s way of moving things/situations out of the way so our better good can come in.  Or for our desires to manifest. And nothing could be more evident than having my car totaled last month.

It was a simple kind of Saturday. I was finally off work, and my best friend had moved into her new apartment the day before. She was adjusting, and I wanted to be there to help her through the process.  We met at her old apartment, the one she shared with her family.  I parked my car in my usual parallel parking spot at her old apartment complex, and then we took her car to her new place.

So the day was moving nicely. We went to her new apartment; chatted and shared decorative ideas. We went trolling around shopping centers for materials to implement a few of those ideas. We ordered pizza and watched movies. Around 10pm, it was time to pick up her brother.  We went to pick him up, and didn't get back to her old apartment until well after 11. It was then that I went out to get in my car and saw it had been hit. At first, I refused to believe it; I paced along the parking area certain the car I was seeing wasn't mine. 

All this happened on 4/18.  Tuesday I finally got my wrecked car towed out of my driveway after nearly a month of sorting out insurance, police reports, and the responsible party. The title was FedEx'ed to the driver’s insurance company, and the check is finally on its way. I've been in a new car for two weeks, and within those two weeks came another set of issues, until I replaced its camshaft last weekend.

The new car (and replaced camshaft) came right on time, because another challenge has been surviving my 9-5. Tuesday my transfer to another location finally happened (the delay is another beast of a story). The new location is a ways out, and my transportation came together right on time (that’s the Universe calling). So I worked all this week, and very little has changed concerning my perception between my old location and this one. I needed a change of pace, and I got it. However, nothing can replace the overpowering desire to be liberated. To be free within the use of my own time, schedule, and finances. So the new location is different, slower, cleaner, and quieter.  Even so, it still feels like starting over, and with little to no change in my feelings.  It’s still uninspiring.  Dull.  Creatively void.  And just overall dispiriting if you let it be.  Nonetheless, the transfer is meant to be a breather until I find something better.

I've been filling out applications for better job opportunities, to get me out of this company for good and somewhere different as I continue to pursue my dreams here. (Check out my new Spreadshirt store.) Nonetheless, after two years and six months, I figured I've been doing this job for long enough and has long given it everything I had. The tiredness. The tedium. The emotional voids. The chronic, compulsive urge to hop in my car and drive away for good. It’s all there. No seriously, every day I want to quit that place. And somewhere inside of me, I feel like that’s the answer. Quit and move the hell on. The issue is I’ve been drummed to uphold my responsibilities, and I’m not a quitter. So faith is what's left in me.

I haven’t been inspired to pick up and finish Charlaine Harris’ Day Shifted, or any other book. All the images of books in this post are my recent acquisitions. The Stephen King book I found in a $5 bin in this new store in town. I couldn't pass it up.

I may just let the rest of this month ride on by with my reading. At least until I can get into a more comfortable, better feeling place. You would think books would be the perfect escape. Normally, they are. However, I can tell you I’m too unsettled to fall into any novels at the moment.

So in closing, I can't wait to come back to this post a few months from now.  So do you guys ever go through this?  Where life kind of takes a piece of you in another direction?

~6. Back 2 High School - Towel Style ~

Back... in action....  Sadly, I think I'm almost done.  Nonetheless, here we are with the 6th collection of my high school manga.  More and more Naoko Takeuchi influences, including character sketches ripped straight out of Sailor Moon.  I couldn't help myself back then.

We're still wrapped in the B-story surrounding our two heroines and their adventure through this portal that leads them to another world.  In said world, they attempt to save the life of this strange child.

Towel is apparently in a trance of some sort.  She's being led toward her destiny...

Finally, Towel confronts the new girl, Minno.  Looks like all that hypnotizing Minno did to her classmates came with a purpose.  One being that she's an alien or monster of some sort.  This, of course, leads Towel to change.

Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  The burnt scene come straight out of Sailor Moon R.  Research it.

Internal monologues are probably unusual, but here, Towel delivers.  Finally, the confrontation we've all be waiting on.  See what happens next time...

Last Thoughts on God Help the Child by Toni Morrison

“Spare and unsparing, God Help the Child–the first novel by Toni Morrison to be set in our current moment–weaves a tale about the way the sufferings of childhood can shape, and misshape, the life of the adult.

At the center: a young woman who calls herself Bride, whose stunning blue-black skin is only one element of her beauty, her boldness and confidence, her success in life, but which caused her light-skinned mother to deny her even the simplest forms of love.  There is Booker, the man Bride loves, and loses to anger.  Rain, the mysterious white child with whom she crosses paths.  And finally, Bride’s mother herself, Sweetness, who takes a lifetime to come to understand that “what you do to children matters.  And they might never forget.”

A fierce and proactive novel that adds a new dimension to the matchless oeuvre of Toni Morrison.”

It has taken me a minute or two to write about Toni Morrison’s God Help the Child, but I’m essentially here. I say "essentially” because I still haven't wrapped all my thoughts around the book; it’s a Morrison novel so I have to dig deeper than my initial reading to get the dept of its context (which often leads to over-thinking, analyzing, and a necessary re-reading). So I have to write this as I go, and keep it brief before I write myself right off the damn page. Low pressure.

I enjoyed God Help the Child–for a variety of reasons. One was Morrison’s conciseness. While I’m always there for soaking up her way with language, I’m sometimes left confused and bewildered as it concerns how she paints a scene. Thankfully, God Help the Child gave me little trouble in managing Morrison’s writing, style, and narrative flow. In essence: I gathered clarity of her scenes and overall story.  The prose in God Help the Child didn't feel like mental power tumbling to shape a clear picture/comprehension of what was taking place throughout the characters' narratives.  Nor did her usual poetics (did I just make that up?) override scene and direction.  This allowed me to stick with the book without getting lost or wandering toward outside distractions, similar to what happened during my reading of A Mercy.

Nonetheless, the most prominent reason I enjoyed the book came from its identifiable theme on how we carry what’s done to us as children (mainly by her parents) into our adult lives. The book’s exploration into uncovering that theme was many times rough, haunting, and maybe even barbarous. However, I found those tougher avenues to be honest and consistent with my take of the book's objective, albeit unsettling. God Help the Child is an emotional peek into the psychological development behind children, and it doesn't hold back from darker paths. From self-acceptance, fighting conditional love, and finding self-respect, God Help the Child touches it all.  And I really like that Morrison took on this because, as black people, we almost swerve away from psychological concerns in place of stepping into churches for spiritual solutions.  At least that thought came to mind once I finished the book.

Nonetheless, there were moments where I wanted a little bit more story and closure from some characters, one being Bride’s friend, Brooklyn. And there were also times where I felt a lot more telling took over showing. However, the dept that Morrison takes us through Bride and her beau, Booker (whose story I found the most compelling of them all), makes up for it all.  With these two, I felt like Morrison really takes you places you'd never even been before with a character.  (Just read about their journey and you'll see.)

I've always rung my hands over this personal topic, but God Help the Child is another book where I reflected back to those feelings I had growing up. While it wasn't anywhere near as severe as Bride’s case, the lack of praise I felt growing up definitely resurfaced while reading God Help the Child.  Which, in turn, only propelled my connection with the book, characters and themes.