Hello! I know I disappeared for quite some time, with lockdown restrictions lifting here in the UK, it meant that I had to return to work which means life is basically one big mess at the moment. While I enjoy waitressing at my current place, I’m trying to look for post-graduation jobs. I’ve been looking for full-time work since last summer and this whole year of job searching has taken a toll on me mentally. But I think I’m starting to feel a lot better and it completely slipped my mind to update my #Maysia progress on here! If you need a refresher on #Maysia, I’ve included the original Twitter thread below!
all asian creatives are encouraged to take part in this month-long event meant to showcase us celebrating our identities with any chosen medium. me + the other organizers are SO excited to see what y’all make! pic.twitter.com/NHoZmcjiIB
Start from the beginning! If you haven’t seen Day 1 – 21 yet, you can check out the beginning of the twitter thread here! or see their blogs posts, week 1, week 2 andweek 3!
Hello! I am back with another #Maysia update! Today I’m sharing with you all the drawings I posted for Day 15 – 21! I tried to use this week to really branch out with the art I wanted to draw. I’m still new to using Procreate and trying to figure out what style I prefer!
all asian creatives are encouraged to take part in this month-long event meant to showcase us celebrating our identities with any chosen medium. me + the other organizers are SO excited to see what y’all make! pic.twitter.com/NHoZmcjiIB
Hello! I am back with another #Maysia update! Today I’m sharing with you all the drawings I posted for Day 8 – 14! I tried to use this week to really branch out with the art I wanted to draw. I’m still new to using Procreate and trying to figure out what style I prefer!
all asian creatives are encouraged to take part in this month-long event meant to showcase us celebrating our identities with any chosen medium. me + the other organizers are SO excited to see what y’all make! pic.twitter.com/NHoZmcjiIB
May seems to be a very creative month I see. On Twitter, I see loads of different drawing challenges. I was even contemplating partaking in #Mermay but I can barely draw humans so mythical creatures might be a step too far. However, my sister informed me of #Maysia! Maysia is a month long event aimed at Asian creatives to create anything with their chosen medium. I’ll embed one of the organiser’s tweet so you can find more information!
all asian creatives are encouraged to take part in this month-long event meant to showcase us celebrating our identities with any chosen medium. me + the other organizers are SO excited to see what y’all make! pic.twitter.com/NHoZmcjiIB
I mentioned before that I got an iPad for my birthday in March so I’ve been slowly practising and figuring out my own personal style. Maysia is a lot of fun because I’m trying really hard to branch out and try different styles as I go down the prompts. I’m sharing my art on Twitter, but I would it would be fun to also share it here on the blog as well! I’ll be posting my art in weekly updates! I draw using my iPad and the app Procreate!
Day One: Self-portrait
My sister told me about the event May 2nd so I had to rush my first two posts so I don’t fall behind! I seem to fall back on this pose a lot in my drawings especially if I’m working without a reference. Check out the embed below to see the entire Twitter thread!
Defy Hades, the god of the Underworld, as you hack and slash your way out of his domain in order to reach the surface. Aided by the Gods on Olympus and other denizens of the underworld, Zagreus is hellbent on making it out of his father’s domain.
Listen carefully, says the narrator, as the player, young Zagreus, gracefully lands outside the House of Hades, sending his last goodbye to his father. With only a sword, you venture into the depth of Tartarus, the first biome. There you must defeat a variety of enemies: wretched thugs swing their clubs, the witches cast a damaging projectile and brimstone’s energy beam can stack up damage fast. Each completion of a chamber rewards you a variety of goods and, more importantly, access to the aid of multiple Greek gods, Zagreus’s uncles and cousins. They root for you as make your escape. Each failed attempt sends you straight back home via the Styx.
Oh, how a random fanart that ended up on my timeline led to me discovering one of my favourite games ever. Here I was thinking nothing could top the sheer joy I felt playing Breath of the Wild, but Hades comes quite close. Hades is one of the best games I’ve ever had the pleasure to play. From music to gameplay, Hades is a visual and audio treat.
“Beyond the present chamber lies the outermost perimeter of Tartarus, promising terrifying dangers far beyond the Underworld Prince’s reckoning.”
The Narrator
As Zagreus, I play it simple, my trusty Stygius is my weapon of choice for the first ten or so runs. That is until I received enough keys to unlock the rest of Zagreus’s armoury, which range from a bow, shield, spear and my favourite, the Twin Fist of Malphon, a pair of armoured gloves that have carried me through over ten successfully attempts in the underworld. Hades is made with replay value in mind. Each run is almost unique and dependent on the player’s choice. Completing a run was never really on my mind as the journey making it there brings just as much joy. Unique chambers on each biome reveal a shade to befriend and a cause to help, further along, you receive the aid of an old friend who isn’t all too happy to see you leave. (Thanatos, I would die for you.)
There are no difficulty settings in Hades, which had me, an easy mode player, sweating a bit. But God mode was extremely helpful to combatting any problems I had. You are not invulnerable, but it does reduce the damage you take from enemies, each death will increase your resistance by 2%. The music of Hades is amazing. I found myself way too focused on my runs to really appreciate it until I made it to Asphodel, the second biome of the Underworld, where you have the chance to meet Eurydice who gifts you treats that can boost the Boons you have acquired. When you enter the chamber, it is silent and then comes the gorgeous voice of Ashley Barrett. A song dedicated to her carefree life in the afterlife, now unbothered by her worries of mortal life. There I was compelled to listen to the soundtrack on its own and genuinely felt its effect.
The art style truly had me scrolling through Twitter to find any and all fan art I could find. I had initially seen pictures from the game in development where most of the major characters were given placeholder images. In its official release, you see the gods, Chthonic and Olympian, in all their glory. Hades towers over you in his seat as he scoffs at your return. Nyx, the personification of Night, is your adopted mother who guides you in your journey, offering wisdom and advice. One of her sons, Hypnos, watches over you and greets you in your return. His hilarious quips and unhelpful advice (“Maybe try killing [the enemies] beforehand, I don’t know!”) makes each failure almost worth it. You also meet Zagreus’s mentor, famed Achilles, who taught him everything he knows, who stands strong within the halls of the house of Hades, far away from the man he once knew.
Image: Supergiant Games. From left to right: Zagreus, Meg, Hypnos (in red), Thanatos, Achilles and Zeus
Hades is ridiculously addicting. A completed run would take me around thirty minutes at most, I’ve slowly shaved off time in each run, but it appears to be my average time. Loss is nothing in this game because each failure brings a new path. The heart of the game resides in Zagerus and his interaction with the various mythic figures. Each reinterpretation stole my heart and broke it at the same time. By the time the final credits roll, the game is not done, new storylines and challenges appear that will have you returning to the House of Hades in no time. As the game eerily proclaims with each death, there is no escape.
As always during the most stressful moments of university, I find myself latching onto certain games as a form of comfort. My first year of university it was The Sims 4, where for the first time I actually bought an expansion and stuff packs. The second-year was replaying Nintendo’s newest addition to The Legend of Zelda series, Breath of the Wild. For the third year, I feel like it’s a juggle between Stardew Valley and Shadow of the Colossus. My childhood gaming experience was exclusively being a backseat spectator to my older brother, and Shadow of the Colossus was a game I remember fondly as a child. I didn’t even mean to pick up the game. I was scrolling through my brother’s PS4 games, deciding what I was going to play once I had finished my final assignments. I had decided on the Kingdom Hearts series, another game franchise where my entire experience of it came straight from peering over my brother’s shoulder. I was even considering just starting the game right there and then, but knowing my tendency to fixate on games once I get hooked, I didn’t want to risk it when I’m buried under paperwork. So, there on the bottom of the list was Shadow of the Colossus. I had ignored it initially, mainly because I recall it looking rather challenging to play but when you’re stressed from multiple essays and deadlines, all coherent thoughts go out the drain, and I started a new save file. (I would say thank God for easy mode on the PS4, but even I struggled at times.)
My first thoughts playing the game was how much I remember and how much I’ve forgotten since the days of watching over my brother’s shoulder. The plot of the game stayed with me long into adulthood, but my terrible memory was a saviour at this moment because everything still felt brand new. Even though I played on Easy mode, I still struggled and to be honest, that is just who I am as a player. Even in the moments of frustration when I accidentally let Wander fall from the top of a colossus, and I swear that I won’t play this game again when I finally completed it, I still found myself opening the game the very next day to repeat the process all over again.
So, this post isn’t a review of Shadow of the Colossus and, like my BOTW post, I want to showcase what I liked about the game, but I couldn’t bring myself to list certain aspects definitively. So instead, I decided to rank my favourite colossi. This isn’t a list of worst to best (since I don’t think any of them as actually bad) but more a ranking of how much I enjoyed fighting each other. Also, if you haven’t played the game before, you primarily traverse across barren land to revive a girl named Mono by defeating sixteen massive beings (Colossi), aided only by your horse, limited weapons and the voice of a mysterious creature.
Note to anyone reading this post and hasn’t played the game: of course, spoilers but I’ll also be referring to the colossi with their fan-given names.
as told by zaheerah 