#idk how many slots I'd have open...

[welcometogrouchland]

Since I just got ghosted abt the art job I applied for and I still wanna make some dough this summer

[jabbage]

What are the top 5 most middle class things that have ever happened to you?

Ooooooh good question... now I'm going to do the most British thing ever and preface it with a short essay providing half my life story, out of a sense of denial.

Both sides of my family are staunchly working class, as far back as I can find records. They were farm labourers and dock workers and hopped in and out of workhouses. My mum worked housekeeping and cleaning jobs, and my Dad managed to snag a white collar job in a factory out of school (because he's really clever).

But then two complications -

My Dad became a clergyman. This meant that we got to live in nice houses owned by the church he worked for, sometimes in quite affluent areas. We didn't have much money, but still.

2. I managed to get into Oxford University with a gazillion bursaries tied to my parent's low income. I then used the bursary money to fund doing a master's degree, and now I work in academia.

So, am I middle class? I'm begrudgingly realising that I might be? Except if I am I feel like middle class people shouldn't be constantly worrying that their now-retired parents can't afford to switch the heating on, or whether they'll ever live in their own home. And it's alienated me from my extended family, who have jumped to the conclusion that I think I'm better than them.

Anyway, the top 5 most middle class things that have ever happened to me.

One

Last year I got invited to an anniversary meal at my Oxford college, called a gaudy. I nearly didn't go because my time at uni was not very happy and I don't remember some of my contemporaries fondly, but then I figured that if I go, next time I read Dorthy L Sayers excellent book "Gaudy Night," I will have better brain-pictures. So, the setting, for your own brain-pictures:

Latin grace was sung before the meal, which comprised of salmon confit, followed by venison, followed by black forest gateau, followed by fruit and chocolates and port.

I was sat next to a nice middle aged man with an OBE. When he asked me "So, what do you do?" I decided not to say the job which *actually* pays my bills, but to reply with my evening job: that I make comics. I felt like this was a fun thing to say in a room full of people who Work In The City etc etc.

Except it turned out that he runs one of the UK's biggest comic arts festivals. He offered me free tickets. He offered to put me in touch with publishers. He offered to introduce me to significant people.

And I was like.... oh. Is this how it happens? Like, you're in an Oxford college and you just RUN INTO a posh bloke who Knows People and that's how you finally get a book deal???

Anyway I went to the festival. They had a panel on a yacht. And talked to people, or rather had people talk over me. So many times they'd ask me a question, and then interrupt before I'd given my answer. And I dislike schmoozing SO MUCH.

So uh, yeah, no book deal ;D YET

Two

One time I was wearing my college scarf while I was walking around Durham, and I ended up meeting a very cute elderly couple who went to the same college forty-five years earlier (well, the husband did, the wife wouldn't have been allowed.) They invited my to a dinner party at their house, which turned out to be a very cute little town-house by the river with five stories.

At the time I was doing my Master's degree, and they became kind of surrogate parents who I could call in on for a free hot meal and good conversation. But it was entirely sparked by "going to the same college at Oxford" which is very ew.

Three

Idk there was just this one time I was coming home on the train from having seen the Royal Shakespeare Company's latest production of Much Ado About Nothing and I stopped off somewhere to get sushi and I spent the whole time staring at a wall thinking "What have I become?"

Getting tickets to the ballet from a colleague slots into this catagory, I think.

Four

One time I was asked to open a village fete because the local lady of the manor couldn't make it.

Why me? Apparently "local clergyman's daughter" and "went to Oxford" and "draws silly pictures sometimes" was enough to make me a local celebrity.

I got to give a little speech and judge some cakes and everything.

Five

One time I got invited to a dinner party at CS Lewis' house, the Kilns, and I met his lovely secretary Walter Hooper. I remember being shown around and having a deep impulse to check the backs of all the wardrobes.

When I first went in it was through a door that led straight into his bedroom, and I was told that I could take my coat off and just toss it on the bed. No sooner had I done so than my guide mused, "CS Lewis died in that bed."

So I guess I own a coat that has been on the bed where CS Lewis died, is that middle class?!! Idk

[spottedenchants]

**CR C3 Spoilers** So I was just reading “Just a Little Bit Longer, Love” in your TS series and in Chapter 3, when Essek’s teasing Caleb with all the names of his many aliases/disguises, you included: “Maybe Journey, or Seth?” Did you… did you somehow PREDICT his Cobalt Soul disguise???! 👀

okay short answer: no, not really xD

Seth (the name) is 100% from C3 ep94, and TS!Essek has had a Cobalt Soul persona in the bg of the the series for (irl) years. 'Prediction' feels like it requires some narrative foresight- I just wanted to make Essek do some community service xD

long answer with its own tl;dr:

One thing I like about fanfic is that it's a very fluid medium. One thing I like about writing TS as a non-chronological series is that fluidity is inherent to the 'overarching' story I am telling- it's like revisiting and revising memories. I'd like to think of TS as being canon-adjacent or canon-compatible, and I do on occasion edit minor details when something comes up in CR canon that I would like to include in the series. For example, the Nein Heroez is destroyed in Mighty Nein Reunited, so I went back through the series and renamed the ship to the Nein Heroez II because I thought the original getting destroyed was interesting while also still being very fond of its name.

'Seth' is not a name I came up with as an alias for Essek- that 100% came from C3 ep94. In fact, the original name I had there in Just a Little Bit Longer, Love was 'Tristan', an alias I have never used in TS save for that singular instance and thus far have not even drafted/planned anything for beyond a rough concept you can find on this post here.

THAT SAID (<- getting excited)

For the longest time, I have had TS!Essek doing Cobalt Soul work alongside Beauregard and Caleb in the background of the series (in the bg because idk how to write the work he is doing in an interesting way yet) and I am absolutely thrilled that Essek might be pursuing a similar path by 843 PD in CR canon AND that other people seem enthused about the idea too!

'Seth' as a concept (divorced from Cobalt Soul things) has helped me work through some open-ended tangles I've been picking at in my WIP pile for ages, such as Arc 2 TS!Essek being displeased when maintaining his persona of Phillip Sommer for prolonged periods of time. Phillip Sommer was drafted to be TS!Essek's main face in the Empire and thus his Cobalt Soul persona. However, all of TS!Essek's personas are gifted by his friends, kindly, yes, but gifted just the same, and that means none of them are Him- they don't look like him, their names don't sound like his, they are Different People. So 'Seth' slots in very nicely and I am Very excited to carve into TS!Essek's sense of self as it relates to 'Seth'.

TL;DR: While I do edit minor details like Tristan -> Seth, I am and have been a staunch supporter of Essek working with the Cobalt Soul for A While and I am so very excited to see others warm up to the concept so readily :D

[catholic-character-tournament]

Hey OP I know there's still almost a week left, but I think an option should be that a character who gets over a certain number of votes (IDK 2000[questionmarkthattumblrwon'tletmeaddforsomereason]) but still loses can be reintroduced to the tournament elsewhere with the justification that if they got that many votes but still lost then it can be chalked up to a seeding issue because, given most of the polls being under 1000 votes total, it was probably just an issue of seeding.

Am I suggesting this for selfish reasons[questionmark] Yes, absolutely. But also there are five or six days left and I may theoretically be doing The Enemy a favor if the tides turn because [gestures at the numbers] a lot of people clearly care about this and maybe if the matchup happens AGAIN later in the tournament, we can get an even wider sample size and really duke it out

Someone should have told me X pairing was bad because they're both fan favorites, either one of them getting disqualified in round 1 is just bad for the game.... However, I am a little noodle with no backbone and am terrified of judgment and I know another tournament host deleted a poll because people were talking about wincest?? And people got mad at the host for being a bad sport and saying they manipulated the outcome because they were unhappy??? (No judgment to the host, they told the people they were uncomfortable, I wouldn't be very happy if people were talking about SA in my tags)

Proposal: How mad will you guys be if you-know-who loses this round BUT takes the slot of whoever has less number votes TOTAL. So like X character who has 1500 votes takes the spot of X character who only got 150 votes.

Pro: It's more fun. They're a fan favorite. I worry that people will turn out if such a popular character doesn't even make it to the top 32. One of the most highly submitted characters. The poll has only been live less than two days and it already has more than twice as many votes than any other poll.

Con: Against the rules and people may get mad at me.... I don't want to open the doors to do this for everyone.

Other Proposal: Every round leading up to the semi finals, a 24 hour poll of "won with the least number of votes and lost with most number of vote" and who every wins that one stays. Soccer tournament style. I think. i don't know. I don't want spots.

& Being totally totally honest, if my blorbo does get into the top 32 I dont think I'll have the motivation to run part two "whos most likely to get into heaven" because these polls are a lot of work and i need at least one blorbo to seriously root for or its not fun for me. You could call me a bad sport idc the polls take at least 5 hours to make 32 with the graphics, organize the propaganda, queue and then continue to check the reblog in case there's more propaganda.

This isn't like a threat or anything, if anyone else would like to host the "most likely to go to heaven" tournament, I'd totally welcome and support them. It just wouldn't be fun for me and I'm not going to do something that doesn't bring me joy. That being said, I will still finish this tournament no matter what.

[teethclawsmonsterjaws]

SO here’s a rough of that YCH feat. Pet thingy? I have yet to actually decide on things but i think it’ll be a full coloured piece, 2-3 pairs / 4-6 slots ($30-35 per slot), and will be printed (gotta look into that..) and mailed to the clients.

kinda excited to do this but also nervous because this is a first, so any feedback/questions are welcome !

[asterism343]

Wait so. Hang on a second. You made that really deep post yesterday or so, yes? With the rainbow text? How'd you do that?

Okay so! Here's how you do it. This only works on desktop btw so sorry mobile users you're gonna have to switch if you want to try it. also it doesn't work if you're answering an ask or using the "chat" style of post

okay so first of all you need to be using the old post editor. You can toggle this with the switch in the top right corner.

now you need to have the text you want. you need a decent number of characters for it to work right, i'd say about 80 at least (not including spaces). how do you find how many it has? it's simple! paste the text into a google doc and use the keyboard shortcut ctrl+shift+c (or command+shift+c if you're on a Mac). this will show you your word count, and most importantly how many characters there are.

you need to cut the text in thirds, so now take that number and divide it by 3. I've got 54.667, which means two of the sections will be 55 characters and one will be 54. so i've done that. you might cut a word in half don't worry about it.

now you need to go to this website: https://www.stuffbydavid.com/textcolorizer. and you need to open three tabs of it. now paste each one into the text box here. you'll have three tabs, make sure to get them in order.

Now, if you want the exact rainbow i got, which is a pretty good one if i do say so myself, you need to do this: tab 1: set start color to #FF0000 and end color to #D1D107 tab 2: set start color to #D1D107 and end color to #0DC6FA tab 3: set start color to #0DC6FA and end color to #FA12F7

now what you need to do is (start with the first one) scroll down, find the box that says "HTML code for this text: (To use on your website)", and copy the whole thing into your google doc. or a new one it doesn't matter

then do it again with the second one, and the third one. make sure it's all in order. It's going to be pretty long, don't worry about it.

so now you'll have a google doc with this whole thing in it. and what you need to do now is get rid of all the semicolons. idk why they're there but tumblr doesn't like them. you can go and delete them all manually or you can do the easy way which i will explain now: use the keyboard shortcut ctrl+h (command+h might work but i'm not sure). then do this:

put a semicolon in the "find" slot, and don't put anything in the "replace with" slot. then hit "replace all". now it's semicolon free!

now to actually put it in a post. first thing you have to do is switch to the old post editor with the switch in the top right. you're gonna want to make sure that if your post has any images you put those in first, and any other text should ideally go in before the rainbow as well. you might want to mark where the rainbow should go with like [rainbow text here] or something.

now you need to switch to html mode. do it like this

this is what it looks like before (left) + after (right) switching to html mode.

Now, wherever you want to put your rainbow text, paste it from the google doc into your post. some of it may show up black instead of blue and purple, don't worry about that either it's just tumblr being weird.

Once you've put it in, you can hit the "preview" button to see how it will look after you post it! here's mine:

if you want it to be the small text, put <small> before the rainbow part and </small> after it.

the text colorizer does have a "colors of the rainbow" setting but tbh i don't like the rainbow that it gives you, you can barely see the yellow on a light background

oh yeah and one more thing! you can't edit the post after it's been posted, saved as draft, or queued without messing up the rainbow, unless you do this:

now, when you go to edit the post with the rainbow, it will start out in HTML mode. you should probably switch it back to rich text after though because html mode is kind of a pain to use

so yeah that's how you do it

[starlightxsvt]

Hellion

pairing: Jeonghan x female reader

genre: fluff, suggestive, idk what this is

warnings: cursing

word count: around 1.5k

A/N: Firstly, happy birthday to the Jeonghan, our con man. I know I'm a day late so forgive me for that. Secondly, I've no idea what the hell I wrote. I've cancelled two other drafts I wrote for his birthday cause none of them were coming together and in the end I've decided to post this shit. Anyway, your feedback would be really appreciated in this mess of a story :').

"What's Jeonghan doing here?" You hiss to Mingyu who has a hard time prying his eyes off of Chaeyeon. "I invited him. I never thought he'd actually come. I'm surprised too." He replies.

"Wha- why would you invite Jeonghan to my birthday party!" You glare at him to which he rolls his eyes, "Come on now, he's in our friend group. And college is almost over. You don't know when you'll see him again. Ogle him while he's still here." He smirks.

"What did you just s-"

"Oh come on, don't act like I don't know that he's your secret crush. Maybe make up with him and if you're lucky you'll get some good dick as a birthday present." Mingyu chuckles at your open mouth before scurrying away to avoid your wrath. You glare at his retreating figure before inhaling sharply. And before you can stop yourself, you start to look for him.

You spot Jeonghan at the large porch in the back of Mingyu's house, sitting in one of the porch seats while sipping beer. He looks dashing as always, his black hair messy, his pale skin glowing in the moonlight, his cheekbones getting a prominent shine. You sigh.

Jeonghan was an exhausting person to be around and maybe, he'd say the same for you. You've known him since highschool and after a particular incident of him spilling his banana milk all over your brand new scarf, you decided to call it war. To this day you believe that he did it on purpose because you told your homeroom teacher that he slept during his class.

After that it was like an unspoken rule- you two would bicker whenever you were in the same space. It only infuriated you that he was so good looking, smart, famous and the fact that you had some feelings developing for him. Each time you saw him with a girl you'd feel a bitter feeling all over and you could only hope that those feelings would pass over time. But no they didn't, they only grew- the small branches had formed a tree now, the roots planted deep in your heart.

"How long are you going to stand there and stare at me?" Jeonghan calls, without turning behind. You clear your throat before walking to him, "Didn't expect to see you here, fuck face."

"Can you not call me names for a day please? You're just jealous I'm good looking." He remarks drowning the can of beer.

You snort, "Haha. You wish, loser." You plop down beside him. "I see you've finished quite a few cans. What's up? Got ditched?" You poke him.

"What do you care?"

"You're ruining the mood here with all these sad aura around you. Go drink your sorrows away somewhere else, this is my party."

"Yet you are sitting with me and my sad auras."

"I came to tell you that," you scoff, crossing your arms over.

"Parties are not your thing, I know. And Mingyu wasn't shy on inviting people. It feels more like his birthday than yours." Jeonghan comments, still staring ahead. His words are true and they infuriate you. You can't help but get defensive, "What do you know, sad boy? I'm enjoying myself just fine."

"And yet you are sitting with me and-"

"Stop saying that, will you!" You snap. Jeonghan chuckles before looking at you. He unabashedly eyes you up and down, heating your cheeks up in the process.

"Nice dress," he murmurs. His words catch you off guard and you glare at him, "Stop staring at me, pervert."

"You were staring at me earlier."

"Seriously? Can you stop for one goddamn second?"

"You're the one who started it."

"That's it. I shouldn't have come here," you stand up to leave but to your utter surprise Jeonghan grabs your hand, sending your heart to a frenzy. "Wait."

You swallow nervously, heart thudding loudly in your chest as Jeonghan lets go of your hand and meets your eyes, "Sit down, I've a gift for you."

You frown, "You have a gift for me?" Jeonghan nods before sitting straight, setting down his can. "Before that, I need you to know something."

"W-what?"

"I really didn't spill my milk all over you intentionally that day." He meets your eyes.

You can't help but laugh out loud partially because he's still concerned about that and partially because you believe he's lying.

"Listen here, sad boy, I've put that well past me. And I know for a fact you did it on purpose so don't-"

"You didn't, ___. We've been fighting over that for our whole goddamn lives. And no, I'm not lying. I've no reason to. I never cared if you told our teacher shit or not." His chocolate orbs bore into yours and you swallow. The air surrounding you suddenly becomes thick and you start to feel jittery and maybe a slight amount of guilt. Is he really speaking the truth?

"W-whatever, I don't care anymore." You say, sitting down gently beside him.

"And yet you still hold a grudge against me," Jeonghan sighs. "Besides you're not even fun to fight with."

"What did you say?"

He laughs, his eyes forming crescents and the sweet melody echoing in the air. You quickly look away before he catches you staring, "I don't have all day. Where's my gift?"

"Yeah, right." From beside him he produces a bag that you didn't notice before. He hands it to you and you tentatively peek in, half expecting a bug to jump out.

To your utter surprise, a scarf that looks identical to the one he ruined lies there. A small gasp leaves your mouth.

"I bought it that day after I stained yours. I was going to give this to you as an apology but dear lord, you were on my ass the second I got to class next day." Jeonghan speaks and a blush coats your cheek leaving you feel vulnerable all of a sudden.

"I don't know what to say," You whisper more to yourself. Jeonghan chuckles, "I know, you're touched. It's okay, we're even finally."

You bite your lip and exhale loudly before meeting his eyes, "Thanks." Jeonghan moves his hand in a dismissive wave. "I thought I'd finally give it you, call it a truce. We'll probably never see each other again after this month and I wanted to depart on good terms."

Your throat constricts, an overwhelming sadness enveloping you. He's right, you two would probably never see each other again. His dad owns a huge business and he'd probably go abroad to manage it.

"You're right, let's call it a truce," you whisper staring at the scarf in your lap.

"Come on now, don't look so sad, sad girl," Jeonghan teases you and you roll your eyes. He's still the same.

He hands you a beer, "Have a drink with me to sign the truce." You quietly laugh, taking the can from him. You two share a comfortable silence, staring at the night sky, the music from the party fading into the background until Jeonghan decides to break it.

"I know you like me, ___." The words slip past his lips like it's the most casual thing ever. You choke on your beer before looking at him eyes wide like saucers, "W-what!"

Jeonghan slightly turns to face you, his features calm, "You don't have to act. I've known all along."

Oh. My. God.

Heat spreads all over your face like wildfire. Your first thought is that Mingyu told him. You chew your lip as you see no way out. "W-who told you?" You squeak.

"I've figured it out myself," He says nonchalantly, resting his head on his hand as you stares at you.

"You-you did?"

"Mhmm."

You fumble with the hem of your dress before murmuring out, "I-I should get going." You need to escape him. Forever.

But Jeonghan isn't done. He casually goes on, "I've always thought you were pretty. Even when you get red after losing an argument." You blush furiously as your palms sweat.

"You know I really had no intention of picking a fight with you but you...you were so desperate to bring me down. You always speak too much and I often think about the many ways I could shut your loud mouth. Such a shame, we would've made a great couple."

Your face feels like it's on fire by now. You swallow before nervously laughing, "I s-see what you're doing here...You're trying to p-prank me, asshole."

Jeonghan runs a hand through his hair, sighing, "See? There you go again, running that damn mouth." Your lips press together as you clench your fists, thinking of a way out. In the blink of an eye Jeonghan scoots closer to you and leans in to capture your lips in a kiss.

A squeak leaves your mouth as Jeonghan tilts your head, cupping your cheek. You want to pull back, smack him, call him names but you can only moan as his mouth slots against yours perfectly. Your tongues clash as you grab a fistful of Jeonghan's shirt, moaning.

When you pull back for air, you're mortified, wanting to be swallowed up by the ground. Jeonghan is totally calm as he takes in your messy state licking his lips.

"Do you want to continue?"

"W-wh-what?"

"I said do you want to continue this? If you don't want to I'll leave. If you do then you're coming home with me. Which one is it gonna be, ___?"

You bite your lip. Oh my God. This can't be happening.

You grit your teeth as every ounce of your resolve disappears, "I...I want you."

The smile on Jeonghan's face is victorious, a smile you've seen million times before, a smile that makes you week in the knees. "Good girl." He says encasing your lips in another kiss before standing up holding out his hand. "Come along, sweetheart. I'm gonna ruin you for any other man. Even when it's morning you'll only be thinking about me," he whispers in your ear before tugging you out of the porch- your heart hammering in your chest as you squeeze the scarf on your hand.

Fuck, you owe Mingyu a fruit basket or some shit now.

A/N 2: Also, that video of Jeonghan exercising made me 🥵🥵 this man is so infurating. I was literally dehydrated from watching that video.

[dourpeep]

Seeing people complaining about the lack of anniversary rewards is getting so tiring. The game's ratings dropped to like 2 on Google play, all comment sections of official accounts are full of complaints. I know and understand that people are upset but it's just so so tiring to the point where I unfollowed most accounts that aren't related to fanart or fanfiction because of all that negativity

I personally spent (a little) money on the game so I get where p2w players come from but idk. I saw that we didn't get anything and moved on pretty quickly. Maybe that's just me, idk

Maybe you have a different view on this and if so, I'd like to hear it

Sorry for ranting in your inbox

hehe no need to apologize because I have quite a bit to say myself nodnod

Read if you like, don't if you don't--this is just my opinions and stuff based off my experience knowing Eastern gatcha games as well as talking about using a 5* vs 4* of the same build + slot

This got kinda long ehe-

Like really long.

Anyway

My turn for a Hot Take (tm)

Yeah I understand this--I've been feeling so drained and my enjoyment of the game and writing has diminished immensely because all I see everywhere is just that.

I understand that the event rewards suck but at the same time? I realize how gacha aren't really popular here in the West--and I have seen a lot of comparison between Genshin and Cookie Run but they're also two entirely different genres despite both being gacha. Not to mention that Cookie Run is fast at first until you get to around uhh Kingdom lvl 37~~ and you're stuck and can't go forward because things cost too many materials or your cookies aren't strong enough even though you have several stars on your team consisting of epics built as optimally as possible-

So the maintenance rewards for Cookie Run have been the only significant amount of gems I've been getting for a few weeks now compared to when I first started and could do 10 roll after 10 roll.

Also also, Cookie Run is PvP (arena, guilds, etc). Being able to get more rolls is absolutely a gamechanger. If you can't get a good defense cookie or healer cookie, you're fucked.

So!! That's why Cookie Run is more generous with rolls. You're not going to want to keep fighting other people in the Arena or doing Guild stuff if they don't add in those generous rewards.

On the other hand, Genshin Impact is an open world rpg w/ co-op (note, co-op doesn't count as pvp because you're collaborating) where you can build pretty much any of the characters to be viable (dps/vampire Barbara is one major example, Noelle is a guarantee roll character for that beginner's banner and she can easily be built to be a tank/healer/dps to fill whatever slot you desire)

So they're not going to be incredibly generous w/ rewards because the characters you have--meta or not--don't really effect your ability to play the game (unless we're talking spiral abyss which really is considered endgame anyway) when you're able to get at least one character of each element for free I mean, you start out with traveler who can be anemo, geo, or electro once you get to the respective places, Amber, Kaeya, Lisa, Barbara (iirc, you need to get to rank 20?), Xiangling (complete spiral abyss floor 3), and Noelle (reduced cost 10roll w/ guaranteed Noelle).

Which would be one of each element and a variety of one of the 5 weapon types nodnod.

Time to talk about builds and why it's not necessary to have a 5* unlike in other gatcha games like Cookie Run (again, a kingdoms builder) before going back to the anniversary stuff

But continuing, like Eula is considered a fantastic 5* character who features a kit that is based around her being a physical damage character. My sibling, C, has her built and she does some insane damage.

On the other hand, I have Xinyan built as a physical dps and if you were to compare their damage?

With crit, C's Eula deals 9k to 14k with Skyward Pride (5* claymore w/ energy recharge substat). With crit, my Xinyan deals 8k to 13k with Song of Broken Pines (5* claymore w/ phys substat) OR 7k to 10k with Prototype Archaic (4* craftable claymore w/ attack substat).

Both C and I agree that they're pretty evenly-matched in the sense of damage output.

We have similar builds focusing on physical damage, however, C's Eula uses 4pc Pale Flame and my Xinyan uses 2pc Bloodstained, 2pc Pale Flame (both have the 25% phys damage bonus for the 2pc). It's also good to note that both their Eula and my Xinyan have a physical dmg % cup.

So just by stacking up more phys on Xinyan, you get a physical dps (with some elemental support capabilities due to her E and Q) you can easily make her deal consistent, reliable damage that is comparable to a fully built Eula. Ofc, I'm sacrificing Xinyan's shield, but since she's built to be a physical dps, it doesn't matter anyway.

Another thing is Zhongli is an incredible shield support. His shield?? Absolutely insane because it's based off his hps. Guess who else has a hp-based shield and heals??? Diona. Another incredibly good support 4* with a shield and healing would be Noelle!

But with Diona, specifically since I did kinda cover over Noelle already, she can easily be built along with her shield having over 100% uptime (like how Zhongli has over 100% uptime). The fact that Diona is also a healer definitely is a perk too.

Ofc the difference with this is that Zhongli can be built as a burst support/dps while Diona is not. But the point isn't that--the point is that you don't need a 5* shield support to have a good, reliable shield support.

But regardless of 4* or 5*, to get a viable character, you need to build them well. So if your character isn't doing satisfactory damage, you just have to take a quick peek at what artifacts they're running and fix as needed!

Another thing--

Talking about the rewards and stuff for the anniversary-

Generally, gatcha games aren't really that generous with rewards and instead usually have some sort of event. In this case, I'm pretty sure that Moonchase is considered a part of the anniversary which is why it's giving so many rewards- just the primos from the first day alone with the chests and quest was enough for two rolls (40 chests * 5 primos each + 60 from the quest and a few that I forgot where they come from but are from the event) as well as the 4* Luxurious Sea Lord claymore.

Before you say that it's shitty for them to make a festival into the anniversary event, I'm certain that people would complain if the anniversary rewards were just a little more than the 10x fates and stuff and that's it because it'd feel like they're skipping over the anniversary entirely. (keep in mind, festivals don't normally give this much stuff in terms of primogems from what we've experienced so far--they're mainly focused on the free event weapon you can get and build like with Festering Desire, Windborne Ode, Dodoco Tales)

Also companies love taking advantage of festivals to make an event bigger + more fleshed out. It'd be otherwise kinda boring to have to just log in every day for a week (not to mention, not everyone does that) and encourages players to play to get rewards.

yeah, that's supposed to work in their favor because they want to keep interest.

So the fact that there's a lot of backlash on everything going on is tiring and also?? I want to make the point that they'll only listen to so much. Getting heard is important, but there will be a point where Mihoyo will just stop listening to the players entirely because all they're getting is a constant barrage of "this event is the worst" "no one likes that character" "(insert character) when???" "okay but where's (blank) rerun?" pasted over the forums, discord, twitter, facebook, instagram--

You can't keep demanding more while also talking shit constantly about the new stuff added because then they'll just not add those new stuff because we (general) seem to never be satisfied.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up just cutting Genshin Impact as a loss entirely if this continues as it has and gets even worse.

But I digress.

Anyway, I agree that it sucks that the daily login rewards for the anniversary are just cut and pasted from the Lantern Rite, but as someone who's played a lot of gatcha games, it's pretty much the standard.

Have a daily sign in for rewards and a big event featuring a ton of stuff you can get instead of having an 'official' anniversary event.

I'm sure there's a lot I'm missing because it's not coming to mind, but yeah. These are my general thoughts on what's happening with the discourse.

[csventbutfaster]

Grem Response Is Horrid

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qn8TCWMgkkWVYRb6hpAxj51nNgrsfGQuZI2Ovlo8tGY/edit 

hooooolly shit this is unsatisfying and I need to break it down piece by piece. I'll be copy+pasting exact sentences too that you can read in the doc anyways I just need to show my disproval at this awful excuse of a response. 

"The points regarding MYO slot earning and accessibility will be and are at the absolute forefront of our priorities once the ARPG is open and running."

ONCE? once as in the ARPG that's been in the works for years?? idk how you do it since most species can cobble together something at least working within a year or two and yet you've got nothing to show for it.

"Our intent and the purpose of myo slots being non-tradeable is to try and ensure that only the people trying to buy them are the people who actually want myo slots, rather than people who might only view them as a bargain trade token toward a pre-made grem. We'd have an influx of people trying to buy slots just for their trade value, making it harder for people just seeking a myo slot, or affordable entry into the community. "

"We keep the cost of these slots low despite market value to keep them accessible and affordable, something that allowing trade for $300 pre-made grems would severely undermine"

looooll hate to break it to you but that hasn't worked worth JACK. You know who often can get access to MYO slots? People who already own a Grem or have ways to trade it under the table. In words it sounds alright but it's not working in practice and you have the audacity to say the prices are low as well. Shame on you.

"This is a topic we have a number of reasons for feeling uncertain about, but we’ll be having discussions about it in the near future to re-evaluate those reasons. It’s a big discussion however and we’d like to prioritize getting the ARPG up and running before tackling something like that."

aka we're never going to get an answer till we stop lining densy's pockets, gotcha.

"Hard commitments can be stressful on team members to have to adhere to frequently."

read that again to me but slower. It reads as 'it's okay for our staff to miss deadlines because life is hard' which I'd be okay with if Grems didn't try to parade around the title of  being business. 

"I do also want to note however that there have been a lot of occasions where several hours of meetings were consumed by discussions whose details being shared would violate the privacy of the users involved."

Damn then just tell us it was mostly about users and not ARPG development. Just be upfront with it because hiding it as 'I can't tell you' is not satisfactory. Literally just be 'I can't tell you because it was mainly about users and not about ARPG' 

"There has been a huge demand from many people for more cypherus sales, and when it comes to trying to give people what they want, it’s hard for that to be outweighed by the idea that we should simply stop making them until MYOs are available.

Please understand that Cypher grems are neither being withheld nor created as any special form of profit, as their sale price/s are kept at a uniform range, and that the time and effort it takes to design and create a single Cypher is often more than it would take to create an equivalent amount of normal grems to sell."

What the fuck are you saying a Cypher costs closer to 1000usd per how is that not for profit. I'm so sorry that not using a base needs to cost 500 more dollars it's so much work. Also excusing the inability to hold them back because 'lots of users want them' is because you've made them so damn scarce in the first place. YOU are making the problem with them but not having any lore, in turn withholding making more or giving out MYOs, and in turn making them impossible to get in the first place. YET you still are pushing them out BECAUSE you want the money they give, why would you even do that in the first place when their concept hasn't even been finalized. All cyphers are are Grems that Don't Have To Be Grems that's all we know so of course we want more for the price we've been paying.

"Making mut/pred/et tickets common prizes is absolutely something we are open to doing, and is one of the things that the implementation of lorekeeper would most definitely help"

lol stopped reading here.

"This should either be eliminated soon, or reduced significantly as we get those half-baked traits worked out and available!"

once again pushing out stuff that isn't even finalized and admitted to. You do know a Predatory Grem costs 400 dollars, right?

"Concerns about members being afraid to give feedback/suggestions, or feeling like feedback is not heard:"

Just a funny reminder that the fact users have felt uncomfortable giving suggestions was not brought up in this. No acknowledgement that previously silencing users has ever occurred.

In short your document has been the same salesman pitch you've been giving over and over and the only thing acted on is lifting the restriction of needing Densy's approval for redesigns. The problem is your words don't mean much to us anymore because it's always been 'once the ARPG/lorekeeper comes out' ad nausem for the last 6 years. Your users don't trust you to make any fruitful changes you say to us and that is why the species is dying.

I get that it sounds like nothing you guys do will be enough for us and personally that's true for me. Just put your money where your mouth is for once and stop answering us with 'until the ARPG/lorekeeper comes out'

[niuniente]

This year I can't support you and get a new year reading, but seeing your post reminded me of past years getting readings from you. Even if it seems like something maybe small, when I went through some really bad times I'd go back and reread the fortune and idk it made me feel really hopeful. I think it's a little bit late, but I was suddenly overcome with emotions about it and I wanted to say thank you

You are very, very welcome! Feeling hopeful means that the message resonated with your soul - your soul knows everything - and it is a sign that things will eventually turn better. Good for you!

I will open 10USD New Year Readings later this month but this time with limited slots. I have not yet decided how many slots I can keep open. The 35USD 3 card reading and 100USD 30-40 minute audio reading for each month have unlimited slots.

[trashpits]

Hey, I saw your commissions post, and that reminded me; I want to do commissions this summer, but I've never done it before. Do you have any tips for starting out? I'd really appreciate it!

 definitely price around. i usually try and average them out so im not selling for too much or too little. also asking what your friends think of your prices is good too. a lot of my friends have stopped me from under pricing.

don’t be afraid to kind of push your commissions on all social media. i even posted it on fb and had some family and old teachers ask me for commissions before. don’t limit yourself to just tumblr.

don’t overwork yourself. try and think about how much you are willing to draw. you aren’t always going to draw something you are super interested in and its hard to motivate yourself when you do. it took me until just recently to realize i HATE drawing full body pics unless its something i really wanna draw. it’s not my thing so i don’t offer it anymore. also don’t open too many slots!!! i’ve done it before. it was bad.

keep in contact with you customers. give them updates if they ask. i’ve been really bad at this in the past especially because my mental health makes me afraid to talk to people, but people commissioning you most of the time are super sweet and understanding.

always flip your canvas.

uhhh idk what else. this is all i can think of at the moment. i wish you luck with your commissions!!