The Cracked Mug v 2.0

[erikavonkaiser]

@mek thank you!! This is all genuinely very good and helpful information, I may reroll Gild (I saved their appearance so I think I can just, make a new identical thembo) and start over since I'm not very far in, and veer into the areas you mentioned. It helps a lot to know what areas to go to; I understand it's not the nature of games like Elden Ring to give you that information upfront, but it is hard when I'm used to having clearer markers for that sort of thing. Erikas intrinsically tend to follow instructions vs. fuck around and find out, so I probably wasn't exploring as much as I should.

I'm eager to play some more!! I probably won't be able to until this weekend but I'll let you know what my findings are Feel free to throw any more info you want to or think of in here, it is useful to me! Right now I'm looking up weapon types and it looks like curved swords and katanas are probably what I want, although I'll try daggers too. I usually don't like daggers in video games because Too Close but since you tend to be right up the average enemy's butthole while you're fighting anyways, it may not bother me. We shall see!

[Fetian]

You can summon Bloody Finger Hunter Yura to help you fight Bloody Finger Nerijus if you follow his (Yura's) questline, that link has a guide to do so because it's a little convoluted and there are missable steps

The progress guide doesn't have a specific recommendation for Nerijus but is recommending ~20 to start Yura's quest and ~50 for the last steps of it, so somewhere in there

So multiplayer! When you use an item to try to trigger cooperative multiplayer, this also opens you up to being invaded for PVP, so if you want to hang out with someone and run around together, there's a chance you'll get invaded, but if you just summon someone for a boss fight, invaders can't invade when you're in the boss area and also can't follow you through the fog gate, if they've already invaded. So the surest way to co-op without getting invaded is to only summon for co-op at boss gates

Another sure way is to only co-op with three people at a time, because there's a max number of other people who can be connected to your game, but that's a bit harder to coordinate

Either way, go back to the roundtable hold and find the statues of the finger-reader twins, buy the white cipher ring from them (they also sell other multiplayer items, and if you get a bell bearing (mostly gotten from mines and from dead shops) you can give it to them to buy the items associated with it). The white cipher ring does this:

• Allows you to automatically send out requests for a hunter from another world to rescue you when you've been invaded by a Bloody Finger.

• You can also use this after being invaded to summon a hunter for help. (Summoning rescuers may not always be possible.)

I know the Dark Soulses have a time limit on how often you can be invaded, but I don't think Bloodborne does and I can't find confirmation either way for Elden Ring. I do know there's an item that lets people re-invade (a dumb choice, in my opinion) so it may be moot even if there is a time limit. But the good news is that the game is so strict about whether or not you're eligible for invasion that you don't even need to switch to offline mode to prevent it

[erikavonkaiser]

Either way, go back to the roundtable hold and find the statues of the finger-reader twins, buy the white cipher ring from them (they also sell other multiplayer items, and if you get a bell bearing (mostly gotten from mines and from dead shops) you can give it to them to buy the items associated with it).

14608107_1180665285312703_1558693314_n.jpg

I won't lie, the way it sounds like PvP works makes me a bit nervous because I really dislike the idea that people I have not invited can enter my game without my consent to, you know, kill me, but we'll see how it plays out! Hopefully it's not as oppressive as it sounds, and I imagine I'll be playing solo most of the time, anyways.

I have to get back to the round table area on my restarted game and then I will see about getting the items to do the multiplayer things! Since it sounds like I need that to play regular co-op? Or can I do that without the, uh, finger items?

[erikavonkaiser]

also RIP the days I could sit and just Play the Video Game because every time I get the urge to legit binge a video game I am physically incapable, I get too fidgety and grouchy

the mind is willing but the body is weak

[Fetian]

also RIP the days I could sit and just Play the Video Game because every time I get the urge to legit binge a video game I am physically incapable, I get too fidgety and grouchy

the mind is willing but the body is weak

Need to hook it up to a treadmill

[Fetian]

You want the ring mentioned, and the severer that will let you end co-op sessions if need be. You can also get the co-op initiating item, but it's also craftable:

Just north of the start area is a crumbling church, inside is a merchant. Buy a crafting kit from him and you'll be able to craft furlcalling finger items, which when used will reveal summon signs. Gold signs are friendly, red ones are pvp. Using the item again (or dying while it's active) will cancel it and refund the item

(I am pretty sure you have the recipe for it by default but you might need to buy the cookbook from the merchant as well)

[erikavonkaiser]

Need to hook it up to a treadmill

okay but lowkey one of my mental "expensive but I'd probably get a lot of use out of it" purchases is I'm thinking about buying one of those walking treadmills, the folding ones that can be put away under a bed/in a closet when not in use.

My only hesitation (and the thing that kept me from getting one this winter, aside from unexpected vet bills redirecting my finances) is at a glance it seems like I'll have to really scrutinize reviews in order to get one that's good quality, since I anticipate using it a lot, and it looks like an item that has a lot of cheaply made but still expensive models in circulation.

anyway tl;dr I genuinely think if I could drag over a walking treadmill and walk for a bit while playing video games I would be a ridiculous himbo but a happy himbo

[erikavonkaiser]

It's a back to routines kind of day!

With Hell Week followed by Sophie Visit, my normal schedule and routines have gotten all fuckered up. So today I'm filling out my planner and redirecting myself back to working on writing/projects a bit each day when I'm able, making sure I do my strength training instead of just cardio, etc. I'm also attempting to set myself up for a hermit battery-recharging weekend since I know I'll need it, which means at some point before Friday (currently my Saturday equivalent) I need to make a grocery list/get groceries and do some of my household chores.

So I'm gonna charge a bunch of electronics (well, my tablet and my Kindle), tidy up on the apartment, and then go ahead and do my exercises. The next two days is somewhat crummy weather so I definitely want to get a good run in while I'm able.

Oh! And it's Monday so I need to brush Baby's teeth, because when you have an elderly pet your weekly to-do list gets kinda weird like that sometimes

[erikavonkaiser]

I loaned Sophie my favorite book and,

Screenshot_20230220-142511.png

yeah that's pretty much the vibe

[erikavonkaiser]

I went ahead and got groceries today since the weather starts getting gross early tomorrow, and when you walk to get your groceries that tends to be a deciding factor. I'm pretty food apathetic at the moment, so I mostly acquired things to make salads and some basic supplies I was low on.

(Which included getting grumpy, as I usually do, at not only how expensive toilet paper is but how meaningless the advertising beacon of "this is a MEGA MAXIMUM ULTRA ROLL, the size of TWENTY FOUR ROLLS" is, because a roll of toilet paper is not any sort of regulated size, so if your irritatingly enormous rolls of paper are the size of eighty "normal" rolls, that means NOTHING! YOU HAVE NOT FOOLED ME AND NOW THE ROLL IS TOO BIG TO FIT IN MY HOLDER!)

Anyway, I decided to take today as my rest day from cardio to give myself a little bit of extra time for some food prep and also to draw. One of my goals this year has been to start drawing again (I haven't since a teenager), and I broke that goal into "draw once a week" with "draw," in this case, being deliberately vague. A doodle counts, a fully completed drawing counts, a practice sketch counts. I have some prompts and challenges saved in case I need inspiration, and at some point I'd like to specifically try to do a Bob Ross painting or something just to practice colors and use different kinds of brushes. So it's flexible, which I personally need when goal-setting something consistent or that I want to integrate into my daily/weekly routines.

I've enjoyed it! I'm not good, but I can make shapes that resemble the thing I meant them to resemble, and I'm learning and trying new things out each time. The one I'm working on now I'm testing different line weights, and also working on a bigger canvas, so we'll see how it goes.

Speaking of, lemme check on my food prep, throw on a YouTube, and draw a bit more before I have to take Baby Dog on her potty walk.