✧ life on Lenù...

[river]

15.12.2020

Hello, you!

Since this is the 100th reply to this thread and I've been really feeling the holiday vibes by The Bell Tree, I thought I'd write something appreciative to this space and everyone who writes and keeps up with journals here. You know, something cute, something mushy, maybe even something corny lol

This year has tested all of us in different ways and I'm sure brought a lot of new perspectives to a lot of people, but one of the simplest lessons I've learned from this drab of a year has been to really appreciate the small, simple things that make me happy.

That's the charming thing about this part of the website, all of us on our little threads talking with such care about something that on the surface is so... unimportant? Unimportant in like, the scale of the world right now... You know?

But in actuality, showing so much love to something so... our own... escaping to beautiful tropical islands with our favorite little animals, and feeling love and showing care to this virtual space... It's so important and so lovely. At least to me, the feeling that I was creating something unique, something so incredibly mine, gave me this little breathing room away from this dreadful year.

And seeing other people putting in the time and the effort to make this website the charming, warm and welcoming community that it is is something truly special, and so important. And yes, important in the scale of the world right now too.

The thought that people actually enjoy reading my ramblings here warms my heart, because I love reading all the threads here. And the truth is, this wouldn't be the 100th reply, making me all sentimental and stuff, if it wasn't for all the people who dropped by to leave a nice comment and chat with me about all those simple, unimportant things which are also absolutely unique, and truly ours.

So here's to all of us

You are all people who are loved, and are appreciated, and I'm grateful that you all managed to find time to come here and write about your islands, the silly stuff your villagers say... It brightens my day and it makes me happy, so thank you ♥ I'll leave you with one more pearl of wisdom from Pascal:

“Makin' friends is a lot like makin' music. It's a soundtrack for your life, maaan, wrong notes and all.”​

Hope you and your families are safe and taking care of each other this holiday season,
I'll see you around!

PS.: Can't wait to get me some snowflakes and send some gifts around... TBT staff once again killing it with the seasonal events

 

[An0nn]

15.12.2020

Hello, you!

Since this is the 100th reply to this thread and I've been really feeling the holiday vibes by The Bell Tree, I thought I'd write something appreciative to this space and everyone who writes and keeps up with journals here. You know, something cute, something mushy, maybe even something corny lol

This year has tested all of us in different ways and I'm sure brought a lot of new perspectives to a lot of people, but one of the simplest lessons I've learned from this drab of a year has been to really appreciate the small, simple things that make me happy.

That's the charming thing about this part of the website, all of us on our little threads talking with such care about something that on the surface is so... unimportant? Unimportant in like, the scale of the world right now... You know?

But in actuality, showing so much love to something so... our own... escaping to beautiful tropical islands with our favorite little animals, and feeling love and showing care to this virtual space... It's so important and so lovely. At least to me, the feeling that I was creating something unique, something so incredibly mine, gave me this little breathing room away from this dreadful year.

And seeing other people putting in the time and the effort to make this website the charming, warm and welcoming community that it is is something truly special, and so important. And yes, important in the scale of the world right now too.

The thought that people actually enjoy reading my ramblings here warms my heart, because I love reading all the threads here. And the truth is, this wouldn't be the 100th reply, making me all sentimental and stuff, if it wasn't for all the people who dropped by to leave a nice comment and chat with me about all those simple, unimportant things which are also absolutely unique, and truly ours.

So here's to all of us

You are all people who are loved, and are appreciated, and I'm grateful that you all managed to find time to come here and write about your islands, the silly stuff your villagers say... It brightens my day and it makes me happy, so thank you ♥ I'll leave you with one more pearl of wisdom from Pascal:

“Makin' friends is a lot like makin' music. It's a soundtrack for your life, maaan, wrong notes and all.”

View attachment 343432

​

Hope you and your families are safe and taking care of each other this holiday season,
❄ I'll see you around!

PS.: Can't wait to get me some snowflakes and send some gifts around... TBT staff once again killing it with the seasonal events

I love this. It wonderfully sums up how I feel about Animal Crossing and the community myself. A beautiful post

 

[river]

20.12.2020

Foggy mornings... Snowy nights...

A little wintery update for Lenù!

So, as I suspected I'm not the biggest fan of how the winter colors changed the overall vibe of the town. Turns out my overuse of flowers when I don't know how to decorate a spot doesn't look as cozy during winter (aka the season that kills all real flowers) go figure!

But there are still moments when the lighting is just right... The shimmering snow, the festive lights everywhere... And I'm reminded of how magical winter can be.

Yesterday I woke up to some very dramatic fog and at night it snowed a bit so I thought I'd share some scenes here today

The big footprint was looking particularly... Mysterious... This morning... ​

Seeing these two photos together right now... I'm kind of in love with these areas?

That last one is my Rock Garden™ which was super not hard to make, not at all annoying or stressful.
At first I was going to take a more regular route and make it more... Gardeny? But then while playing Undertale♥ I had this ideia of making it to resemble an abandoned mine, surrounded with jewels and with mysterious lights and stuff like that... As you can see, there isn't a lot of that yet lol

But I'm working on it!

I guess Tasha forgot to put up her holiday lights like her neighbour Reneigh... ​

Oh yes, I am also really in love with my museum right now. Those hedges look so gorgeous in the snow, the statues, the Brachiosaur in the back... None of which are really my original ideas might I add, just details I've seen around other people's island that I decided to put together around here. It's so good when you find inspiration online and can actually make it work and give it your personal twist on your own island... So I'm.. cautiously proud of this.

Last night I found Erik wondering around the bug section... You know, hanging out with his buddies, telling jokes, sharing secrets... Discussing such important subjects as bugs do.

Yesterday was also Chief's birthday, I remember months ago when I thought I might let him go for another cranky... I am so glad I didn't. Chief's really special to me now.

Happy birthday to this king ​

My last “villager related” news is that yesterday I got a campsite villager! It had been soooo long since that last happened lol

For most people I understand our visitor would not have been very warmly welcomed, but thankfully Beardo landed on an island of extremely sophisticated taste.

No, I didn't actually get him

I had meetings and a lot of work to get done yesterday so I couldn't play that much, I kept loosing his card game and when I got it he would choose one of my favorites to kick out and I just couldn't do it...

But I did enjoy seeing him in person. Beardo's one of those notoriously hated villagers, like Pietro and Barold, and I always wondered how I would feel about him if I ever bumped into him...

My verdict is that Beardo is a good egg.

I like his shade of blue, I like his mustache and I think he fits the smug personality pretty well. Yeah he's pretty funny looking but that just means he's unique. I would definitely like to have him around if I ever get the chance to again

Oof this has been a lot, huh?!

I'm so exhausted from writing for school and work even writing stuff here is making me a bit tired haha

The one thing holding me together this month has been the TBT holiday events... I've been loving to participate in the challenges, I've been checking out and reading a lot of other people's entries... It's been really cute and really fun. I'll probably compile everything I've done here once it's done.

Well, this is it for today!
Hope you're having a great weekend, and thank you so much for reading!

PS.: Does it look like I'm throwing a bell into the fountain on that last photo? 'Cause that's... What I was going for ... lol

 

[An0nn]

20.12.2020

Foggy mornings... Snowy nights...

View attachment 345272​

A little wintery update for Lenù!

So, as I suspected I'm not the biggest fan of how the winter colors changed the overall vibe of the town. Turns out my overuse of flowers when I don't know how to decorate a spot doesn't look as cozy during winter (aka the season that kills all real flowers) go figure!

But there are still moments when the lighting is just right... The shimmering snow, the festive lights everywhere... And I'm reminded of how magical winter can be.

Yesterday I woke up to some very dramatic fog and at night it snowed a bit so I thought I'd share some scenes here today ❄

View attachment 345277

❄ The big footprint was looking particularly... Mysterious... This morning... ❄

View attachment 345276​

Seeing these two photos together right now... I'm kind of in love with these areas?

That last one is my Rock Garden™ which was super not hard to make, not at all annoying or stressful.
At first I was going to take a more regular route and make it more... Gardeny? But then while playing Undertale♥ I had this ideia of making it to resemble an abandoned mine, surrounded with jewels and with mysterious lights and stuff like that... As you can see, there isn't a lot of that yet lol

But I'm working on it!

View attachment 345274



❄ I guess Tasha forgot to put up her holiday lights like her neighbour Reneigh... ❄

View attachment 345275​

Oh yes, I am also really in love with my museum right now. Those hedges look so gorgeous in the snow, the statues, the Brachiosaur in the back... None of which are really my original ideas might I add, just details I've seen around other people's island that I decided to put together around here. It's so good when you find inspiration online and can actually make it work and give it your personal twist on your own island... So I'm.. cautiously proud of this.

​

Last night I found Erik wondering around the bug section... You know, hanging out with his buddies, telling jokes, sharing secrets... Discussing such important subjects as bugs do.

View attachment 345273​

Yesterday was also Chief's birthday, I remember months ago when I thought I might let him go for another cranky... I am so glad I didn't. Chief's really special to me now.

View attachment 345298

Happy birthday to this king ​

My last “villager related” news is that yesterday I got a campsite villager! It had been soooo long since that last happened lol

For most people I understand our visitor would not have been very warmly welcomed, but thankfully Beardo landed on an island of extremely sophisticated taste.

View attachment 345304​

No, I didn't actually get him

I had meetings and a lot of work to get done yesterday so I couldn't play that much, I kept loosing his card game and when I got it he would choose one of my favorites to kick out and I just couldn't do it...

But I did enjoy seeing him in person. Beardo's one of those notoriously hated villagers, like Pietro and Barold, and I always wondered how I would feel about him if I ever bumped into him...

My verdict is that Beardo is a good egg.

I like his shade of blue, I like his mustache and I think he fits the smug personality pretty well. Yeah he's pretty funny looking but that just means he's unique. I would definitely like to have him around if I ever get the chance to again

​

Oof this has been a lot, huh?!

I'm so exhausted from writing for school and work even writing stuff here is making me a bit tired haha

The one thing holding me together this month has been the TBT holiday events... I've been loving to participate in the challenges, I've been checking out and reading a lot of other people's entries... It's been really cute and really fun. I'll probably compile everything I've done here once it's done.

View attachment 345308

​

Well, this is it for today!
❄ Hope you're having a great weekend, and thank you so much for reading!

I had the same issue with winter; all of my scattered flowers suddenly don't fit in as well as they did during the fall. From the pictures, Lenù seems to have this kind of surreal prettiness that fits very nicely with winter, so for what it's worth I think it still looks gorgeous (mysteriously blooming flowers and all!).

PS.: Does it look like I'm throwing a bell into the fountain on that last photo? 'Cause that's... What I was going for ... lol

It absolutely does! Very cool picture

 

[river]

I had the same issue with winter; all of my scattered flowers suddenly don't fit in as well as they did during the fall. From the pictures, Lenù seems to have this kind of surreal prettiness that fits very nicely with winter, so for what it's worth I think it still looks gorgeous (mysteriously blooming flowers and all!).

It absolutely does! Very cool picture

Thanks An0nn! ♥

 

[river]

25.12.2020

Yes, here I am, updating my Animal Crossing journal on Christmas morning...

What can I say? I don't have anything better to do!

I've officially entered my months off and yeah, I've been oddly invested in the holiday season at the Bell Tree. Later on I'll be registering here all the stuff I worked on to participate in the Season of Giving events, which were responsible for all my holiday spirit this year to be honest.

But first off, let's talk about Toy Day...

When it comes to games, I get such a strong satisfaction from planning things in advance (wish I could apply this IRL though...) so Toy Day used to be one of my favorite events in New Leaf. I'd have a little notepad near me whenever I played in December so I could write down all the clues, and I'd feel so excited when the day arrived and I would get all my villagers the right gifts.

So yeah, the New Horizons version was a bit disappointing in that regard. I didn't mind it too much though, I was kinda busy being in awe of how gorgeous this game is, and how cute everyone looked in their Santa hats...

I am a simple girl, I see themed sweaters, I'm happy

There were shenanigans...

There were matching outfits...

There was adoration of holiday decor...

Erik was the absolute MVP yesterday... I gave him a Santa coat and hat the other day but didn't expect him to wear them together like this... He looked so cute I just kept following him around and taking photos of us. And I know he is technically a moose but he looked like he could be Jingle's lost cousin or something...

But also shoutout to ~Holiday Kiki~ over there in her Festive tree sweater, she seemed like she was having a great time as well.

I got special gifts from Chief, Erik and Reneigh, who are truly some of my closest villagers. I was very happy with their dialogue, it was very heartwarming ♥ Thank you virtual animal friends ily

Later on I traded gifts with the other villagers too, but the only one I think it's really worth mentioning is Shep because I just got him the most perfect gift ever...

You can't really see it but he was definitely ~eyeing~ that dog plushie at Nooks'... ​

Well, that's it. Another Toy Day in Animal Crossing.

Kinda makes me feel like a kid again, hiding out on the porch playing Wild World on my DS while the whole family was in the living room talking their ears off... This has been a much quieter Christmas Eve, but I'm glad I still had this to feel nostalgic and sentimental about.

I'm also so grateful to have a spot on the internet where I can shamelessly express all my sappiness and sentimentality, and I'm flattered that someone might actually take the time to read all this...

So, thank you ♥

A very merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and if you don't, I wish you an amazing Friday and an awesome weekend.

I'll see you around!

 

[radiical]

Your season's greeting card is perfect :') You really have the aesthetic you're going for down exactly, it's super nostalgic and heartwarming.
And wow, good job spotting that dog plush. It even has his lil feetsies... I also just realized that you gave me a little Christmas gift!! Thank you, I'm so flattered and happy that you thought of me ) Hope you're doing well <3

 

[MartyFromCherryfall]

What a lovely journal, I just skimmed it since I'm kinda late to the party, but I love the pictures, presentation and writing! Oh, and I've neevr had one of those foggy weathers... Maybe I don't get up early enough in the morning... probably

 

[river]

Your season's greeting card is perfect :') You really have the aesthetic you're going for down exactly, it's super nostalgic and heartwarming.
And wow, good job spotting that dog plush. It even has his lil feetsies... I also just realized that you gave me a little Christmas gift!! Thank you, I'm so flattered and happy that you thought of me ) Hope you're doing well <3

Thank you!! So glad you liked the present I've been on a break for the last few weeks but felt the urge to check in here today and was happy to see your message! Hope everything's good with you too

What a lovely journal, I just skimmed it since I'm kinda late to the party, but I love the pictures, presentation and writing! Oh, and I've neevr had one of those foggy weathers... Maybe I don't get up early enough in the morning... probably

Aw thank you!!

Totally okay to skim through this journal cos I do write a awful lot here lol
And yeah the foggy weather seems to be for early mornings only :/

 

[river]

05.02.2021

Hello, hello, hello!

Just checking in to let somebody (well... anybody!) know that I'm still alive lol

The truth is that I'm in the middle of taking a break from Animal Crossing :/

Unfortunately I've been very burned out from all the stuff from December and I can barely pick up my Switch to play right now... It is temporary though, I know that for sure. I've played New Leaf for years so I know I'll be back eventually and keep on journaling here, because I do love doing it.

How strange that this is my first entry in 2021... And we're already in February! Man, I had such big plans for Festivale (especially because I'm not getting to celebrate real Carnaval here in Brazil this year...) but since I've been gone all the update stuff seem like too much information to take in. I have some serious catching up to do when I'm back for real.

For now I thought I'd drop a little something here from last year since - and this is a dreadfully embarrassing revelation, I know - I've yet to play AC in 2021...

Shame!

But I've been doing pretty well though, to be honest.

Taking it easy, started reading again, watching a lot of movies, taking a lot of naps. And I hope that you've had a lovely beginning of the year too, and that you're taking things easy as well. We all deserve a little break sometimes.

I'll be dormant here for a little longer, but I will be back so... See you soon!

With love,
River

 

[river]

03.03.2021

Hello, spring!

Yeah, turns out I'm pretty sure most of my burnout was because of the snow. Now that it has melted away (revealing that gorgeous overcooked vegetable color, as CrankyCupcake put it on their journal lol) I found myself enjoying ac again.

So I've been playing a bit every day, working on some new areas, changing some stuff, doing a little spring cleaning. I'm excited for what 2021 is gonna bring to the community and I (maybe unfortunately so) have big hopes for the anniversary update.

(Nook's Cranny upgrade please I am begging.......)

So yeah, here are some new early spring scenes from Lenù... Boy, have I missed being here

To take back something I wrote a couple months ago, I don't think Lenù is ever gonna be completely "finished". Just trying a bit of honestly with myself here lol

I want to try to move way from that expectation this year. For someone who talks so much about "taking it easy" I am an absolute perfectionist and also annoyingly stubborn. Even though I cycle through being excited and bored by whatever mood I decide to go with for the island for each given season (or month!), I can't bring myself to simply start over.

I'm sticking with Lenù, so at least I can still have the company of most of my dreamies while I continuously move their houses around and spend all my bells building and destroying inclines.

Lately I've been rewatching Twin Peaks, so that's the mood that has been inspiring me in this rebuild. I've added an RR Diner area behind the Cranny, and when I find the time I want to make me a little waitress design to go with it.

If Rooster isn't coming back to make us some damn fine coffee than I guess we'll have to sort ourselves out on our own, right?

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnimalCrossing/comments/lws753

Last thing that I want to show off are some changes I made to the entrance.

I saw this on twitter a while ago, someone who used perspective to make this big plaza tree illusion, as an homage to New Leaf, you know. I had to give it a try, and I actually love it. Doesn't even look that bad from other angles either, and I'm excited to see it change as the seasons go by.

Thinking about the New Leaf tree makes me so nostalgic...

But yeah, this is it. I hope this means that I'm back to updating here at least semi-regularly, but as always, we'll have to see.

Thank you so much for stopping by, and I hope you have a great day!

 

[piske]

I am so happy to see an update on Lenù! The snow was debilitating, tbh. I'm glad that your burnout has faded! Your entries are always engaging and aesthetically-pleasing (the photos are so dreamy), I love reading them.<3 I really like what you did with your entrance! It definitely successfully imitates the NL town tree :3

"so at least I can still have the company of most of my dreamies while I continuously move their houses around and spend all my bells building and destroying inclines." - This is a total mood, btw.

Looking forward to what spring brings for Lenù!

 

[river]

I am so happy to see an update on Lenù! The snow was debilitating, tbh. I'm glad that your burnout has faded! Your entries are always engaging and aesthetically-pleasing (the photos are so dreamy), I love reading them.<3

Aw this is such a sweet thing to say, thank you piske! Always warms my heart when you drop by to leave me a message

I love writing here so I'm excited to start journaling again! <3

 

[river]

15.04.2021

Turning over a new leaf indeed…

Wow, it seems like months since I’ve been here. It’s been a long couple of weeks, huh?

I have some bittersweet news to share today, this is actually a farewell post.

I’ve decided to leave this journal because I decided to leave Lenù too. I haven’t actually played in a long time and I genuinely don’t know when I’ll be ready to give the game another chance, but I know that when I pick up my Switch again it will be to restart my island.

I know I always make things seem so serious, but I’ve just been in the mood for a fresh start, and turns out those are very rare in life so I’m taking any single one I can get my hands on, even if it’s just in a game.

I didn’t want this to be too personal, but I also didn’t want to leave without saying anything, so I put the stuff that may be uncomfortable to read under spoilers.
I’ve been listening to old City Folk soundtracks and getting very emotional, so I’m gonna take advantage of the anonymity here and open up a bit.

​

Spoiler: Open for TMI :)

I believe I have already mentioned this here somewhere, but I'm Brazilian. I love my country, I think that there's so many great things about us, but if you've heard anything about Brazil this past year it probably left you a bit horrified.

It doesn’t seem like COVID is going anywhere soon, and the only word I can think of to describe our leadership right now is plainly genocidal. And that has been taking a toll on me.

It’s crazy how much mental space worrying about the future can take up. The truth is, I think it kinda destroyed my capability of enjoying my hobbies, my moments alone, my own headspace.

Pandemic finally broke me down a bit, essentially.

Now, I am absolutely fine. I am physically healthy, my family is safe. I am very privileged and things could be worse, I know.

But still, I’ve reached my breaking point.

Turns out it wasn’t really burn out after all, Animal Crossing just hasn’t been a good enough distraction right now.

I’ve been trying to come back, working on myself, talking to my friends again, trying to be present. And yeah I wanna indulge in my hobbies again. I miss playing Animal Crossing like there was no tomorrow to worry about.

But it has suddenly become something that’s difficult for me to do… And that’s not the way it should be.​

​

​

Life has been pretty heavy since New Year’s, and I’ve been having a harder time escaping it all. Animal Crossing has always been there for me when I felt like this, and I do want to find that breezy, carefree kind of fun again some day...

Maybe I’m just missing Wild World too much, but it did get me thinking about how exciting early New Horizons was. All that wide open space, so much possibility…

​

Of course I’ll miss Lenù, but I won’t miss it too much since I’ll always have this thread to reminisce about this part of the adventure. So, again, I have to praise this slice of the internet for providing so many wholesome moments for me to get emotionally attached to

But yeah, this is goodbye for now. I feel a bit gloomy about it but also as if a bit of weight has been lifted from me. I hated the idea of simply abandoning something that I’ve worked so hard on and that represents such good memories, so that’s why I wanted to give it a proper ending.

​

I am so grateful for anyone who caught up with our Lenù shenanigans this past year and to everyone who stoped by to leave a comment, thank you so much for your kindness, you all made my 2020 a lot more bearable and my heart a lot warmer through these though times.

I'm still around the forums even when I'm not playing, so I’m sure that I’ll be back in some way before anyone realizes I’m gone

So long!

P.S.: If you see me a week from now asking for spare DIYs at Nook's Cranny no u didn't shhhh