#just... ugh

[conjuring-ghouls]

IN GOD YOU TRUST

Copia being horny on stage (3/?)

As always, go to @sxnnelysister for part 4 (check out her gifs and give her a follow if you still haven't!)

[godbirdart]

damn, what a shit year for social media platforms

[justsomeoneunordinary]

If we tweak canon just a teensy bit, we can make Katsuyu a sea slug (she certainly already looks it) instead of a terrestrial one, from the seas surrounding Uzushio, thus giving Tsunade a connection to her Uzumaki side that Kishimoto failed to do so himself

[justeasing]

So, I've said this before - mostly to friends and fellow gamers - but I want to go into depth on what I mean when I say—

"Genshin Impact is the abusive relationship I didn't know I was in, until I met Wuthering Waves."

Just to clarify: I don't say this lightly.

I don't mean this as a throwaway comment or jestingly, I mean this legitimately. I've actually been in abusive relationships before - friendships and romance - so I know the severity and gravity of a statement like that, but I think what people fail to realize at times is that "relationship" is broader than those two types.

You, as a consumer, can have relationships with companies. You can formulate the equivalent of a fleeting tryst by only playing one game out of a series and loving it while hating all the others (me with Far Cry: Primal, lol). Or, you can create bonds of trust with a company by loving all their titles and then have that trust broken as you get older and deeper into something that no longer gives you the warm and fuzzy feelings it did in your youth (like me with Kingdom Hearts). Or, you can get married to a game series and still twirl your hair and giggle when you talk about them (like me with Horizon: Zero Dawn, etc.)...

These types of relationships between consumer and supplier are common and should be discussed more often when it comes to video games. Everyone has their favorite clothing brand, favorite restaurants, favorite type of phone, etc. But what about games?

What about Gacha Games, specifically?

For ages now, players are just accepting of the predatory nature of Gacha. They're not made to be kind. They're a gambling addiction in disguise, and we all know it. There's literally science behind it and statements from Gacha developers saying how they researched casinos in order to capitalize on the attractiveness and effectiveness of their games. This isn't an opinion at this point: it's a fact.

I actually knew this going into Genshin Impact almost 2 years ago. In fact, I'd avoided the title for a really long time because I didn't want to risk getting sucked into the 8th Ring of Hell... Gacha. But then, through multitudes of fanworks I couldn't seemingly escape from, I was drawn in by Kaveh and Alhaitham (whom i still love, by the way! No slander to them). I wanted to know them, know their world, their relationship, and WHY THEY WERE SO GODDAMN HOMOSEXUAL??? OMG?

LIke, guys— There's the LGBT+ Flag, and then there's them. They're gayer than the flag. They ARE the flag.

Anyways.

So, I got sucked in, and I actually had a lot of fun! I liked the mechanics of Elemental mixing, and I'm a sucker for the open world, and the team thing was new to me... But, just because your "first date" is perfect, it doesn't mean the relationship will be golden.

Still, I stuck it out. I went through everything, and I've basically 100% the entire map at this point, except Mond & Liyue because... why bother? At this point, I'd be sniffing for scraps, and I'm not interested in doing that. But that's just it... I hadn't realized yet that scraps were what I'd be surviving on once my new boyfriend - Genshin - and I had moved in together.

I'd committed. There's money spent here and there, a give-and-take where Genshin took, and I gave, and I ignored it because it's fun! They're fun. The horrible sentence of "they make me laugh" comes to mind. It's that thing of you ignoring the way they belittle you because they're the only good thing you have at the time, and then you've sunk so much attachment and energy into the mix that you can't break away.

You're stuck.

I was stuck.

I felt like it was all I had: The constant attention hoarding Genshin demanded of me, checking in every single day, making sure I did what he told me to do down to the letter, running every commission and clearing every Spiral, just to get those little scraps I mentioned before. A shred of affection, gifts, things I didn't really need nor wanted, but I took anything I could because "it's the thought that counts."

I asked for Resin increases like you beg a shitty boyfriend to buy you the type of cake you love for your birthday, brainwashed into thinking it's okay he didn't get chocolate, and instead got you Liyue talents you don't need, don't want, but you thank him for the coconut cake, even though it's your least favorite. You just cope and hope and think, "it's fine! It's still fun when we finally go out! He takes me on fun dates once a month and buys me something pretty!" Like event weapons and free 4☆s and you smile and pretend you're in love with what you've got when really it's just hurting you and they never listen and tell you you don't matter and no other game will give you what THEY do, and then—!!

And then... there's Wuthering Waves.

Now, I can recognize that this analogy could be taken too seriously by some readers. I'm not ACTUALLY romantically in love with a video game, but it gets the point across.

Wuthering came into my life, and it feels... warm.

Where Genshin used to feel exciting with Elemental Reactions, it had started to feel restrictive and limiting. A slave to "the Meta". You have to have Vaporize to capitalize on your damage and you have to have Faruzan on your Anemo DPS and you have to do this and you have to do that— NO.

No more.

Wuthering Waves removes the stress of "Meta" and makes it feel like you really COULD build a Healer as a DPS for fun, and have them be viable, instead of just building a Healer in Genshin because you're bored out of your goard and thristy for attention.

Wuthering Waves takes away the tediousness of a stamina bar, allowing you to run and fly freely - quite LITERALLY now, with 2.0 - and not have your excitement towards exploring hampered by having to huff up a hill barely slanted. Y'know... your back-flipping, ass-kicking, anime demi-God that can't handle a hike outside of pre-rendered cutscenes. Panting. (Ridiculous!)

KuroGames listens. They mess up sometimes, yes — the email thing was YEESH. 😬 — but they quickly apologize, scramble to make up for it, and then make everything better. They fumbled through the "first date," but now it's a cute memory more than a bad first impression. They strive to make good on their promises, and then they succeed.

When Wuthering holds your hand and says, "Don't worry, I've got you," it feels legitimate. Unlike... Genshin.

Genshin puts the bill for dinner on your side of the table after ordering steak and lobster and says they'll get it next time, while Wuthering splits the bill and then buys you ice cream afterward, and I genuinely feel pity for anyone still dating that scummy sonuva bitch - Mr. Impact - because, honestly? I still haven't gone "no contact" with Genshin yet, myself, even though I know in my heart I should.

I still linger on because of that spent cash and time, but now there's a difference. I don't let them manipulate me anymore. I don't tolerate their mind games and I hold them accountable for their actions, or - more so - lack thereof!

I'm onto their shit and have someone better, and Mr. Waves is treating me right! While Genshin...?

Genshin is just the abusive relationship I didn't know I was in... until I met Wuthering Waves.

[prismatic-starstuff]

So was it ever explained why Gwyn decided 'my moon-aligned son must be forcibly raised a daughter because the moon is feminine' but did Not decide 'my sun-aligned daughter must be forcibly raised a son because the sun is masculine,' or is the explanation just 'Gwyn fucking sucks'

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

a very huge part of anxiety is getting upset over things that have not happened yet or may not happen ever. and it sucks

[sygneth]

decided to record a drawing process timelapse and now i remember why i don't record the drawing process timelapses

[sideblogformentalhealtshit]

What does it feel like to have smooth fingers? To have smooth nails, maybe even long ones? To be 8 years old and not have to hide your toes in shame during gym/P.E class because they're chewed and incomplete and ugly? To not be scolded and called gross when you don't even notice what you're doing, told that you'll just grow out of it?

To try everything you can think of to stop it. Gloves, nail polish (even the kind that's disgusting, because even that will be ripped away), everything. And to have nothing work.

What does it feel like to not have the nails of your little toes grow in two? To not have a flappy little extra nail that gets caught on everything and hurts you? To not sometimes be missing such a large amount of skin on your big toe that you can't walk without wrapping it in bandages?

To let your scabs heal normally, to not have them last for months and months and months because you just keep picking at them everytime, to not have open bleeding spots on your arms, to not know the way they crunch in your mouth.

To not suffer with infections; on your toes, your back, hardly ever being aware of them because they're just par for the course?

What does it feel like to look at the newly-healed skin on your big toe, and see anything other than a snack?

I don't know. I don't think i'll ever know.

[tagapagsalaysay]

Imagine trying to fight for your life squeezing into a train that has mihoyo bullshit on it

[inmenanswiththejaffacakes]

Like it's so weird atp cause you can tell this isn't a joke... like they haven't agreed to prolong the drama! You can tell A is just pissed and does not like PJ which is fine, whatever, but the girl has been hounding on PJ for weeks now and it's like... Jesus Christ, take a breath! It's honestly kinda concerning cause it's like... unless there was something more that we didn't see happen off camera, the shit we saw on camera should not have gotten to you THAT badly that you're still this upset about 8 months later

[snow-in-the-desert]

I made tiramisu for christmas :))))

but I got my period and can't have coffee or sugar related things because it will intensify my cramps to a level of physical pain that would knock down king kong :(((((

[blazeismyname]

My therapist kinda frustrates me. I was talking about TMA, and she looked it up, read the description, and then told me to write a statement about a time I faced a fear. I told her I've written a statement before about a murderous pen, and my dawg goes, "No, I don't want it to be supernatural. I want it to be about a real time you faced a fear in a TMA style format." Then I tried explaining that there is like, 0 formatting besides statement begins and statement ends and SHE TRIES TO WISDOM ME BY SAYING "Sometimes the formatting can be the trickiest part".

So um. Thought you all would find my suffering funny. Enjoy :)

[luffylaws]

I love starting a voice message with "i have to be a bitch for a second" and then being reassured that i'm actually being more graceful than the situation warrants 😂

[xivu-arath]

I learned too much leaked knowledge today and it is such a burden, my lore-only leak standard was in fact the right one

[fairytwles]

it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.

it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.

it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.

it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.

it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.

IT MAY TAKE ME A MONTH TO PUT OUT A CHAPTER BUT AT LEAST IM NOT USING AI TO WRITE IT

[inkskinned]

my brother got covid because he's a college professor and there's not much he can do to mitigate exposure when he has 200+ students per lecture. he's got a baby at home, so he does his best, but.

the governmental website for covid information is now propaganda. not a joke, not hyperbole, not an exaggeration: it's genuinely the definition of propaganda. this is biased misinformation determined to push a political stance. it is being hosted on a government server. it looks like something you'd find in a "top 10 weird internet conspiracy stories (and their origins)" youtube video.

my brother called me when he saw it. he had me type it into google. for a second i legitimately thought that i had typed something wrong. we have both taught college: we have both said "a .gov site is usually a reliable resource." i just stared at my phone for a long, long time.

i thought about how when i was a kid, conspiracy theories were mostly fun and a little spooky. unserious. i remember reading some long, complicated website about how avril lavigne is dead. how bigfoot is real. it used to be funny-and-a-joke.

over seven million people (globally) have died from covid. america has the highest death rate with over 1.2 million people.

the thing is - every time a person dies from something like a mass shooting or poverty or treatable illness - we are told don't make it political. we are told it's just something that can happen. we are told it's sad but what can you do!

the president of the united states is using a government website to try to erase the very-real deaths that he personally caused due to a complete mismanagement of the pandemic. the president of the united states is using a government server to host propaganda, undermine science and medicine, and encourage distrust amongst his followers.

nothing is going to happen. nobody's gonna, like, do anything about it. it's a thursday today, and we are just going to move on from this like we have been moving on from everything else.

yesterday my brother was outside walking his dog, mask included. a guy in a truck pulls up and shouts something about covid and whatever the fuck else. my brother has a good sense of humor, described it to me as enthusiastic! i hadn't ever been catcalled before, this was new and therefore thrilling! i do see why you hate it, though. like. i have actual covid, does he want me to cough on him?

my brother doesn't get extra time off work anymore, because the cdc practically doesn't exist. my brother said i'm not exposing 200 students to covid. his boss shrugged and said: who cares? they're going to get it eventually anyway. like it isn't a pandemic.

like it's just a fucking thursday, and who cares about it.