#just super casual chill

[des-no9]

Anyway my dear friend Una drew Vanquish last night smug as shit holding the Orphic Hammer and it's the best thing ever

[narwhalandchill]

anyway tho like. overall (SPOILER FREE!!) natlan first impressions over last week in no particular order for me bc i felt like it sooooo

Firstly: the environments are absolutely insane like. i love the vibrancy they brought into it and the striking distinct sceneries between the three main regions (tho lowkey any water region post-fontaine is... unfortunate for basically feeling like its lacking a layer w/o diving) that rly make them feel unique!! like i havent explored an insane amount but a decent bit nonetheless and i think as much as i Liked fontaine the aboveground environments there just werent that unique which like. kinda couldnt be helped given the geographic inspirations like it was good and v beautiful in its own way but more like. mondstadt premium french steampunk edition if that makes sense. whereas natlan is already striking such a distinct image for itself and thats just great

also loving all the kinds of living creatures going about everywhere like not even accounting for the saurians genshins rly come so far from the early days of barely any non-monster creature anywhere (mondstadt cavalry but no horses moment) and i love all the creatures sm 💕💕 Especially all the surprise chests theyve incorporated into tiny interactions with the animals like it just feels v fresh and immersive. theyve rly nailed the feeling of making the natural environment feel lived in its so nice

the music is also just. knocking it out of the park like ive had to pause on multiple occasions just to listen bc holy shit its good 😭😭😭 and this is also sth i think compares to fontaine bc. i mean as much as of a cringe moment the whole "wow YPC left and now fontaine music is mid its over" tantrum was (ESPECIALLY once remuria dropped like 💀💀💀 that was just gloating . A whole music based region and culture????? ya we get it) buuut. now w natlan. i do have to admit that fontaine does suffer from some of its environmental soundtracks not being as distinctly memorable as previous nations and now natlan as well . obviously fontaine has its shiver-worthy standouts but its interesting that most of those for me are bc of their use in the AQ and that association . whereas natlans been jumpscaring me left and right on the first listen lmao . anyway to be clear the point is not me hating on fontaine music for lacking impact (but never polish or quality) in some tracks just that hoyomix in natlan is delivering some insanely good stuff rn jsjskskskakdkdk

next. SAURIANS. hoyo. Hoyo . WHY DO WE HAVE TO KILL THEM????????!??? HELLO????@?

ITS SO AWFUL I FEEL LIKE A MONSTER 😭😭😭😭😭 like the small ones?????? The whelps WHIMPERING?????? id rather you punched me in the face this is horrible 😭😭 like you rly saw all the complaints about killing the cute sea creatures in fontaine being too cruel and we dont want that and went bet 💀💀💀 why do i have to wear the skin of a baby saurians mom to murder the kids its so. This is terrible why would you do thisss. id rather merk 7848 seals in Fontaine than hurt a single saurian its so badd

But uhhhhh yeah saurians are great, i rly rly love their goofy animations and how much personality each kind exudes theyre just . Lovable shaped and all i just wish they didnt. Make them THE abundant overworld enemy we need for mats 💀💀💀

In all seriousness tho gameplay wise i really like how the saurians kinda bridge the gap between the older 1.x-2.x exploration where it was really mostly just you with your characters not that many exploration mechanics to boost mobility and traversal at all and then the 3.x era and afterwards where there are all forms of assistance from things like the dendro anchors and chenyu vale mechanics and everything bc. as much as the mobility boosts are nice they kinda had the risk of taking you Out of the exploration so it just turns into a zoom around with gadgets mini game ya know???? But i think w the saurians its a lot more balanced bc. youre still playing As a specific character with their own movement and controls not just getting warped from 1 location to another as a hydro bubble and thats rly rly nice. tho i have to say the koholasaur controls are kinda ass compared to the other 2 lmao . like ig its just post fontaine problems where we Already Got flawless underwater movement so its just. not the saurian alone but the water environments themselves just being ehhh without that added... depth (haha) there??

anyway unfortunately tho on a more negative note wrt the characters im still very uhhhh. mixed on the very modern design direction taken for the playable units and the overall lack of cohesion between a lot of them like. yes natlan is its own thing with different tribes and it should stand out but something about it just takes it a bit too far for suspension of disbelief . the three 5.0 characters i think look overall good and work well enough, but then theres designs like chasca and mavuika where its just . Ehhhh.

like chasca in particular (and im sorry in advance for never letting you unsee this either) i havent been able to stop thinking about a comment i saw about how like. her makeup is WAY too detailed and intense for genshins facial models and makes her face look really weird and just kind of like a bratz doll? compared to the rest of the cast like its really this borderline "yassified" parody of a heavy makeup look that just. Doesnt look natural nor fit in with the rest of genshins characters roster and she just looks off its . Weird. like obviously ik theres a lot of v intense hate going on for her design to the point where its actively hurtful to those who like her and idt thats good at all but this is kinda why her model has such issues for me. and the mess of an outfit doesnt help with the uncanny face stuff either lmao

mavuika is more of an outfit problem honestly like. her hair is good the eyes are amazing the color scheme is great & love the sun motifs and her hair accessory but i just. a biker????? Huh? and not even a particularly good looking biker design its literally just a plain bodysuit design without the usual detailing and dangly things to make it look better from the back that theyve usually done w bodysuit type charas (think shenhe) its just this. uncomfortable looking sausage casing of a disaster garment and that zipper is just.... not it 💀💀💀 like. it doesnt look completely awful if i dont actively think about it so its like whatever but i wish she was given sth a bit different. also ffs i hope she doesnt get ACTUAL motorbike animations like the memes are funny yeah but. thats too much for me sorry thats hsr and zzz stuff . like its just. The overt modernity in natlan isnt doing it for me very much 😔😔

But oh well i hope ill warm up to the cast over time. beyond mby chasca its not like i hate-hate the look of anyone to the point where its off putting its just a Bit of a mixed feeling for now. kinich and citlali are easily my favorites from the revealed designs tho and i do actually like xilonen as well (& kachina is baby) . n like to be fair maybe its just not my style this time around - fontaine was Really catering to me personally with the designs there bc i love ruffles and lolita style inspirations and more historical fashion references and uniform-like elements for garments so a lot of designs were just hook line and sinker for me personally lmao . but ig that does make it very fucking predictable that my favorite design in natlans cast so far is Easily capitano even tho he kinda doesnt count bc i just fucking love goth historical military uniform aesthetics so much its embarrassing 😭😭😭 dont ask me how many times ive rewatched The cutscene just to watch the way his garments shift around as he moves at the beginning its...........

iiii dont think im gonna comment on the WQs yet? since its bit of a spoilery territory and im far from done w all of them but ive really liked the ones ive done so far!!! And hmm what else

OH THE REPUTATIONS. So first RIP weekly bounties and requests past max reputation for 150k weekly free mora that was such an unnecessary change hoyo what the fuck.

BUT. i have to say. Absolutely LOVE how the reputations are now distributed among the tribes and how much more lived in the entire nation feels compared to p much. ANY previous one by having multiple settlements and communities that all get their own quests and narratives like. yes its a natlan thing bc it has the 6 tribes but i RLY wish theyll keep some version of this system for snezhnaya too bc like. Especially with the story quest incorporation into the tribal chronicles chain its just??? Such an organic way to tie a playable character INTO their environment and community in a way thats been a major failing in a lot of older SQs before like its just. genius

anyway point being. just Imagine playable tonia happening except theres also some sort of morepesok reputation questline and system like??? Actually featuring the village and its people AND childes entire family fr fr in their own storyline in a voiced capacity?? Please itd be so good 😭😭😭😭

but yeah i love the tribal chronicles approach so much its like the perfect marriage between world quests and story quests and reputation like chef kiss truly. and also new bounty and request QoL is great.

Also no spoilers but man doing the first parts of the scions of the canopy quest.... yeah i was in fucking tears . If you know you know.

aaaand i think thats it for now ??? Overall been having a great time, not pulling for anyone in 5.0 on my main, maybe kinich on my alt but cant guarantee him there . i think ill get xilonen and then mavuika for sure bc obvious archon (unless shes an on fielder HSJSKSOEKDIEI) but the big lookout is still chioris rerun lmao. xilonen and her at the same time would be ideal thanks xx

hope its been fun for yall too o777

[phoenixcatch7]

So earlier I made a post about sun/moon from fnaf getting reincarnated as jc, when I was torn between him and wwx. I really couldn't quite finalise it as jc, wwx just had too much potential.

But then I thought, well, why not both? Sun and moon are technically two people! Just give them different bodies!

And obviously you think hyper overworked sun = wwx and quiet angry moon = jc, but... I actually think it might be better the other way around? I'm not sure

Because we don't really see enough of moon to get a clear read on his character? He's corrupt now, we know that, scaring the kids, but there's proof of him previously being very good at putting hyper kids down for nap time, on top of his role as the guard dog of the complex during the hourly recharge when the lights go out. So clearly he's actually capable of being soothing and gentle and caring, as well as probably very protective. By the game, though, he's just a malicious hunter kidnapping kids for the rabbit boss. A bit of a mischievous streak, he certainly likes to make you sweat.

There's a great parallel obviously between moons corruption and wwx's demonic cultivation, jc constantly being the no fun responsible one sick of everything like sun, but I feel like suns martyring protectiveness is much more like wwx. Sun is a bit of a control freak though, and moon seems much more adaptable.

There's also the twin jades but they're way too stable to be the daycare attendant XD. Maybe jgy and jzx? They're half brothers with the same birthday after all... I don't know... The potential is there but again they're not as manic as the twin prides lol.

Anyway they'd make excellent foils, being in different bodies and able to communicate for the first time. I can see them basically being glued at the hip as soon as they were reunited. The fear of dogs would be interesting because they're theoretically more than old and experienced enough to not have it be so world defining but on the other side they were made lived and died in the pizza plex, they would never have seen real animals before except MAYBE the occasional service dog that wouldn't be allowed in the actual play area anyway. I could see wwx loosening up and getting a bit boisterous as he finally gets to live life on his terms (ish) no matter which he is. Him being trained as the right hand of jc would be really interesting if he was moon, given their original roles. Either way I can see him going dark to protect the wens and the other being beside himself at the thought of being separated again. They'd both have pretty severe trauma regarding losing cores, so I don't know if wwx would actually be able to sacrifice his. That little time would be very interesting... Very canon divergent.

In terms of romance, though... I can't see them being willing to share lol. Maybe if they both dated the same person....? I really don't know, romance is not my scene. I'm making them asexual either way lmao.

Oh but the dynamics would be so good!! Yes, I'm thinking moon wwx, they'd be nigh telepathic twins who live to rile each other up. There'd be the angst of recovering their 'relationship' from ruin, being separate people instead of one... Never being able to return to what they once were and if they even want to... Moons broken trust in sun and suns guilt at the way he handled it but having no other option... Both of them completely disillusioned by authority and the people that should have saved them, especially so in wwx's case when his parents died and left him on the streets again.

Ooh! A scene where people get cursed to gem fusion or something, meant to force bickering couples to work together or something, but the prides just flow together like they were meant to be. Lots of should they/shouldn't they unfuse and the realisation that they're separate people now with separate wants and wishes.

They'd probably have pretty severe separation anxiety that their parents would hate though... Burial mounds time skip would be the WORST.

Wwx, experiencing freedom and sunlight for the first time: BEST SECOND LIFE EVER :D!! I can't believe humans get to live like this!

Jc, now having to do work on PAPER like a neanderthal and unable to get moon to shut up by flicking the light switch, still dealing with simultaneously overbearing and emotionally neglectful handlers/parents: yeah no this is just fantastic.

Or wwx: hey hey hey play with me now we're in separate bodies let's go swimming like humans

Jc, grounded for running off to play with wwx and missing training: >:(

Wwx:... *back flips his way upright and tosses jcs paperwork into the harbour*

Jc: *years of pent up aggression that would have gotten them discontinued if he'd acted on it* *bodily throws them in the lake after it*

They'd be soooooo particular about the arts too XD. Mr sun 'be creative on your own time we are making ART' drop. Ooh jc being able to reconnect with kids on his own terms, not being forced to care for them twelve+ hours a day every day without break. Wwx being able to person again without the corruption.

My headcanon for the DA is that it's one person, just two... Filters? Probably share a memory bank but slightly different ai that grew more separate as the corruption spread, cuz it's something to notice that while moon seemingly had it the worst out of the animatronics, sun... Had zero influence. He was perhaps even less affected than freddy, and infinitely more aware of the situation, though he was powerless to change it.

I'm not sure entirely how it would rewrite the plot, that's something for a different time.

[ded-inside-anonymous]

OH MY GOSH NO WONDER PEOPLE ARE AFRAID OF COLORS-- THEY'RE CALLED COLOR SCHEMES

[yioh]

it’s so crazy and dystopian that average conversations these days on social media are abt whether or not a group of random ass people have the right to be alive or if they should all just be indiscriminately murdered and bombed and die the most painful death

[munamania]

having a moment. it's like. something else to have someone be so genuine and openly interested and swoony im not um. very easily accustomed to this yk it's like cognitive dissonance unfortunately. as much as i want to be with it

[illithilit]

Someone: how have you avoided Vlaakith for so long?

Amis: it is simple, really; she sends her chosen to hunt me, I send them back to her as severed heads. :|

[mars-ipan]

man. strangers you don’t know but have heard stories about are wild

[invisiblyvisiblejay]

hi so remember that girl yknow the one who slept over and i kissed and i said i kinda wanted to do first time shit with yeah so just heard a rumor her girlfriend is lowkey a transmedicalist and a terf. yeah. so. i called her (girl i kissed) she didn't pick up her phone is probably dead but now we have to have a serious conversation called Do You Know What Transmedicalism Is And You Are Aware I Am Nonbinary And You Understand All That Entails Right 😁

i don't think i care that much if her girlfriend rly is a transmedicalist bc i don't fucking know her girlfriend and she was subtle enough abt it that she got on the fucking qsu board at my college lol (she was an exchange student) but it's kinda fucking concerning that this (cis) girl im fucking around with is. yknow. dating her.

classes literally haven't even started im going to fucking sue someone what the fuck

[pears-trinkets]

Whenever i tell people how im burnt out creativity wise and how I crumbled under the pressure of always creating and it having to be good all the time and not having time to just draw for fun and just enjoy the process and not having the outcome put so much pressure on me.... their response usually is something like "oh you can draw me a picture if you want to! Like it has to be this and this and very specific to my liking that has nothing to do with your style or what you do but its no pressure at all!!" or "well i always wanted to make a book for children and im looking for someone who would work on that with me, that would be a great opportunity for you right??? I could even maybe pay you" which just leaves me staring at them like did you listen to anything i said?

[orcelito]

also. what they dont tell you about being a sorcerer (5) bard (1) is that

you get a F U C K ton of spells

[digitaldiseas3]

.

[exopelagic]

tragic: the one time he’s actually queer he has a girlfriend

[thefunniestguy]

how the fuck do you make friends in college AHHGHGHHGH . send tweet

[kit04kat]

I like to think that all the bat siblings just randomly drop insane lore about themselves. Like- they all have so much going on that there's no way to update everyone on everything so whenever one person mentions something crazy that happened in passing, the rest of the bats that didn't know are super chill about it. Except Bruce. When he finds out something he doesn't know, he always freaks out a little bit (control freak).

(Tim taking his daily antibiotic)

Bruce (trying to remember if something happened on patrol): Are you injured?

Tim (casually): No I'm alright. I've just had to take these ever since I lost my spleen.

Jason: Word. Good to be careful I guess.

Bruce (internally panicking): You lost your spleen?

Tim: well, maybe lost is the wrong word. I'm pretty sure Ra's Al Ghul still has it in a jar somewhere.

Jason: Not even surprised. He's creepy like that.

Bruce: ??!??!?!?!!

(Dick, Cass, Tim, and Bruce after patrol one night)

Tim: Hey Dick that was a cool move you pulled back there

Dick: Oh that? Yeah I learned that when I was apprenticing for Deathstroke.

Cass (nodding): Skilled fighter.

Dick: Yeah, situation kinda sucked but oh well.

Bruce: (Trying to piece together when the fuck that happened)

[cocklessboy]

The biggest male privilege I have so far encountered is going to the doctor.

I lived as a woman for 35 years. I have a lifetime of chronic health issues including chronic pain, chronic fatigue, respiratory issues, and neurodivergence (autistic + ADHD). There's so much wrong with my body and brain that I have never dared to make a single list of it to show a doctor because I was so sure I would be sent directly to a psychologist specializing in hypochondria (sorry, "anxiety") without getting a single test done.

And I was right. Anytime I ever tried to bring up even one of my health issues, every doctor's initial reaction was, at best, to look at me with doubt. A raised eyebrow. A seemingly casual, offhand question about whether I'd ever been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Even female doctors!

We're not talking about super rare symptoms here either. Joint pain. Chronic joint pain since I was about 19 years old. Back pain. Trouble breathing. Allergy-like reactions to things that aren't typically allergens. Headaches. Brain fog. Severe insomnia. Sensitivity to cold and heat.

There's a lot more going on than that, but those were the things I thought I might be able to at least get some acknowledgement of. Some tests, at least. But 90% of the time I was told to go home, rest, take a few days off work, take some benzos (which they'd throw at me without hesitation), just chill out a bit, you'll be fine. Anxiety can cause all kinds of odd symptoms.

Anyone female-presenting reading this is surely nodding along. Yup, that's just how doctors are.

Except...

I started transitioning about 2.5 years ago. At this point I have a beard, male pattern baldness, a deep voice, and a flat chest. All of my doctors know that I'm trans because I still haven't managed to get all the paperwork legally changed, but when they look at me, even if they knew me as female at first, they see a man.

I knew men didn't face the same hurdles when it came to health care, but I had no idea it was this different.

The last time I saw my GP (a man, fairly young, 30s or so), I mentioned chronic pain, and he was concerned to see that it wasn't represented in my file. Previous doctors hadn't even bothered to write it down. He pushed his next appointment back to spend nearly an hour with me going through my entire body while I described every type of chronic pain I had, how long I'd had it, what causes I was aware of. He asked me if I had any theories as to why I had so much pain and looked at me with concerned expectation, hoping I might have a starting point for him. He immediately drew up referrals for pain specialists (a profession I didn't even know existed till that moment) and physical therapy. He said depending on how it goes, he may need to help me get on some degree of disability assistance from the government, since I obviously shouldn't be trying to work full-time under these circumstances.

Never a glimmer of doubt in his eye. Never did he so much as mention the word "anxiety".

There's also my psychiatrist. He diagnosed me with ADHD last year (meeting me as a man from the start, though he knew I was trans). He never doubted my symptoms or medical history. He also took my pain and sleep issues seriously from the start and has been trying to help me find medications to help both those things while I go through the long process of seeing other specialists. I've had bad reactions to almost everything I've tried, because that's what always happens. Sometimes it seems like I'm allergic to the whole world.

And then, just a few days ago, the most shocking thing happened. I'd been wondering for a while if I might have a mast cell condition like MCAS, having read a lot of informative posts by @thebibliosphere which sounded a little too relatable. Another friend suggested it might explain some of my problems, so I decided to mention it to the psychiatrist, fully prepared to laugh it off. Yeah, a friend thinks I might have it, I'm not convinced though.

His response? That's an interesting theory. It would be difficult to test for especially in this country, but that's no reason not to try treatments and see if they are helpful. He adjusted his medication recommendations immediately based on this suggestion. He's researching an elimination diet to diagnose my food sensitivities.

I casually mentioned MCAS, something routinely dismissed by doctors with female patients, and he instantly took the possibility seriously.

That's it. I've reached peak male privilege. There is nothing else that could happen that could be more insane than that.

I literally keep having to hold myself back from apologizing or hedging or trying to frame my theories as someone else's idea lest I be dismissed as a hypochondriac. I told the doctor I'd like to make a big list of every health issue I have, diagnosed and undiagnosed, every theory I've been given or come up with myself, and every medication I've tried and my reactions to it - something I've never done because I knew for a fact no doctor would take me seriously if they saw such a list all at once. He said it was a good idea and could be very helpful.

Female-presenting people are of course not going to be surprised by any of this, but in my experience, male-presenting people often are. When you've never had a doctor scoff at you, laugh at you, literally say "I won't consider that possibility until you've been cleared by a psychologist" for the most mundane of health problems, it might be hard to imagine just how demoralizing it is. How scary it becomes going to the doctor. How you can internalize the idea that you're just imagining things, making a big deal out of nothing.

Now that I'm visibly a man, all of my doctors are suddenly very concerned about the fact that I've been simply living like this for nearly four decades with no help. And I know how many women will have to go their whole lives never getting that help simply because of sexism in the medical field.

If you know a doctor, show them this story. Even if they are female. Even if they consider themselves leftists and feminists and allies. Ask them to really, truly, deep down, consider whether they really treat their male and female patients the same. Suggest that the next time they hear a valid complaint from a male patient, imagine they were a woman and consider whether you'd take it seriously. The next time they hear a frivolous-sounding complaint from a female patient, imagine they were a man and consider whether it would sound more credible.

It's hard to unlearn these biases. But it simply has to be done. I've lived both sides of this issue. And every doctor insists they treat their male and female patients the same. But some of the doctors astonished that I didn't get better care in the past are the same doctors who dismissed me before.

I'm glad I'm getting the care I need, even if it is several decades late. And I'm angry that it took so long. And I'm furious that most female-presenting people will never have this chance.