elena @ ????

and i have more still to say about individual mechanics and pacing and the 'gameplay loop' but honestly a lot of that is spoilers?
i will say early game characters feel more unique but flatten over time.
i had fun! but now I kinda want to grind the original game instead of finishing the post game

(the game also makes said actions the true core of the gameplay unfortunately)
-most of the environments and maps end up feeling very similar and the outpost capturing feels less important
-side quest mechanics get repetitive early and the payoff is...
-too much resource management for no reason

-characters in general all work well and there are plenty of grinding work arounds
and now negatives:
-characters are not particularly individually gimmicky and thus fall flat. almost all play the same or can become identical because of the additional actions outside of the base move set

- new story and characters are charming and fleshed out from what TotK laid out (even when I wish they were able to do more)
-big overworld map is fun and I appreciate it having dynamics
-enemy variety is fun and 'makes sense' which is hard in musou

thinking about it even more I feel like gameplay wise I have more to say without spoilers (warning, long)
first the good:
-game actually runs very well. weirdly it looks the worst during pre rendered cutscenes?
-ui works fairly well and intuitively including submenus (which u need often)

unfortunately my fear about Age of Imprisonment being 'canonical' was true: it is much more serious in tone and thus less whimsical and silly 😔
Still many things I like and probably the smoothest to play? but its landing as my least favorite (I have played all versions of each Hyrule Warriors game)

a screenshot from the National Weather Service: highlighting Chicago Metro will potentially receive 6-12 inches of snow

oh...
probably not doing a photoshoot then!

a picture of a bush/fence outside, covered in fresh snow

oh it like SNOWED last night, not just wintry mix....
long weekend birthday plans may be shifting but we'll see!
(yes i have also still been doing house reno work this weekend, deadlines wait for no one)

anywhere here is the treat my sister woke up early to make this morning:
Trifle with frsh pomegranates, pomegranate mousse and chocolate cake.
it was very delicious and I'm excited to snack on it for the next several days.
back to playing Hyrule Warriors 🫡

a selfie of me sitting on the stairs

wow 35 huh. that's crazy

me cosplaying a great fairy dressed as a bee

me cosplaying a great fairy dressed as a bee

me cosplaying a great fairy dressed as a bee

me cosplaying a great fairy dressed as a bee

its Hyrule Warriors day!!! I love these silly games with my whole heart. May we were treated with more weird guys and strange alt outfits 🙏🏽
Great Forest Fairy cosplay by me circa 2018 (its a golden bee outfit from the original Hyrule Warriors on Wii U)
📸 @nudecarbon-studios.bsky.social

Rude Rude or impolite, including crude language and disrespectful comments, without constructive purpose. Highlighted Off, darkened Warn, and darkened Hide buttons.

If you aren't seeing skeets from some of your fave people, they might have been labeled "Rude" by bsky mods. Idk what they are thinking, I don't need a mommy to tell me who to be buddies with. Anyway, go into Settings > moderation > bluesky moderation (advanced) and turn Rude off.

its also super obvious when my hair is not dyed/faded, but isnt yet white enough to show up dramatically on camera.
obvious enough that my notoriously unobservant mother literally pointed at it and commented on it while it was pulled into braids last weekend

selfie of me pulling my hair back in a ponytail. my right temple has a noticeably bright streak of blue/purple

finally redoing my hair and I just think it's super cool that I just get to be one of those dark haired old ladies with white streaks at the temples.
i noticed it a long time ago but it has become more obvious as time passes (and my bangs grow out)
i do think it's fun to dye it bright colors too

reupping this as I start planning out what everything I need to do before MAG
mentally I am there

Y'all did it: Super MAGFest 2026 badges are SOLD! OUT! Super MAGFest badges can ONLY be bought/transferred through our in-house registration system - any others are fraudulent and cannot be honored or refunded. Be vigilant of scams if buying secondhand and use a platform with purchase protection!

i need to feel creatively accomplished and do something!!! I miss working on cosplay!
home renovation is exhausting and time consuming but does not scratch that same itch.
I want to be silly and impractical and whimsical!

thinking about using my time off wisely and actually doing a shoot on either fri or mon.....
would be nice to get photos of any of the 9 (!!!) costumes that I want proper photos of and the current fall atmosphere is at least interesting??
unfortunately may mean self shooting tho

back to the Ode to Castlevania secrets grind for meeeeee
(ok but really anyone want to play online with me let me know :))

"finally I'm done with Hades II"
Supergiant announces a patch to add more events and hopefully improve the RNG that makes so many mid-post game tasks extremely grindy.
.....I did not learn my lesson from last time

thank you! all of us are fairly experienced and handy at doing this (perhaps why we volunteered to take it on)
we just keep finding new things that we should probably do asap 🫠

working mid week (alone) after work because we realized just painting wise each room needs:
0. normal spackle and paint prep
1. odor blocking primer
2. regular primer
3. trim painted (what I'm doing tonight)
4. ceiling painted
5. color paint
...and we need to average 2 rooms a week

I'm so excited for the Vampire Survivors updates and true online co-op AHHHHHHHHHH
I want to play with friends and yap (I've done it with steam share before to emulate local coop and it was fun but doing it from my own account will be even better!)

Vampire and DC Bombshells 📸 by @nudecarbon-studios.bsky.social (from longer ago than I want to admit)
La Muerte (based on art by @jijidraws.art) 📸 Marlo Louden
Vampire Survivors 📸 @kameraninja.bsky.social

cosplay photo: vampire in black drinking a bloodbag in the rain

cosplay photo of DC Bombshells Enchantress in the forest with some dry ice

cosplay of photo of La Muerte, an OC of Jiji Knight

cosplay photo of Giovanna from Vampire Survivors

Tis' the season 👻
God I just want to dress up and take spooky photos in the woods right now.
Even narrowing this down to 4 cosplays was hard, I love doing kinda spooky characters and I will not stop!
(photo/art credits below)

3 days in a row of weird physical labor later, I am sore in some truly weird places.
deciding I want to do some mid week, after work painting/prep alone is definitely a mistake but I hate leaving it to weekends only, I like making more regular progress!
(this is why I'm not doing cosplay stuff rn)

did some tallying and was trying to get priorities sorted tonight so it's looking like:
11 rooms to be prepped/ painted
1 (big) floor refinishing
installing/replacing lights, electric, heating, a/c
making/ installing curtains
furniture and appliance moving

its a lot for 6 working adults ok

started my next project:
we have approx 9 weeks to get as much house remodeling work done as possible at my sister's new house before her family moves in.
i think its an interesting mix of who among us is cognizant of how little time that is for how much work we're attempting 🙃

would anyone be interested in me posting the card game guide I wrote for Rappig? I tried to make it so it could be used alone or as a written reference after I demonstrated the games.
i dont know how interested other people are in card games lmao

made myself laugh seeing this again which is probably the only value this game has to me