#there might be some things I missed

[sereneabyyss]

An Actual Unbiased Review on Wuthering Waves

Tired of seeing either people absolutely bashing Wuthering Waves with refusal to actually talk about the good parts? Or exhausted of people calling Wuwa the Genshin Killer and refusing to accept that two games can exist and competition shouldn't kill each other completely? Well as a certified 'gacha is gacha' enthusiast who's actually played multiple gacha games and not just hoyo games and has gone through multiple games with maintenance and consistent updates, I'm here to give an actual unbiased review of Wuthering Waves and what it already excels at and what it needs work in. This won't go into any story details or anything that would be spoilers so don't worry about that

Instead of talking about the pros and cons individually I'm gonna talk about different aspects of the games and talk about the pros and cons of each thing. Because trust me everything has its pros and cons. I'm also going to do some comparisons for certain things and explanations for my thoughts on the individual topics.

For those who've played the game, let's start with the most obvious thing. Game optimization.

Cons:

The ping has been horrendous

Movement has been clunky and laggy because of bad ping

Some people had issues with npc faces looking blurry and weird skies? I didn't personally have these issues so I'm not sure

Some people have been having issues with crashing. Again, I have not, so I'm not sure if that's been fixed with the latest update

Pros:

Kuro has been pumping out update after update since launch to fix the known bugs and optimize everything

Since the update earlier ping has reduced significantly for me and I know it has been better for some of my friends

Now some of my thoughts on optimization and why the lack of optimization is actually fine and not proof that the game is crashing and burning: ahem.

EVERY SINGLE GAME UPON LAUNCH HAS BUGS AND OPTIMIZATION ISSUES

Betas are great and all, but they are NOT a representation of the strain a global launch has on servers and the game itself. Having the game in beta longer would NOT have prevented the optimization errors. These are so common in games it's genuinely astounding that there are people who think this is showing how bad the game is.

Let's do some comparisons: Tower of Fantasy literally flashed rainbow lights at players as a bug and it did not get fixed within the first week that I gave it a chance. Enstars' global release was an absolute disaster and was completely unplayable for a length of time. I didn't play Genshin when it first released but even when I started playing it had optimization issues. Genshin STILL has optimization issues that they fix with every update.

Games constantly have issues and bugs and need to be maintained 24/7. The thing to look at is NOT if it has bugs. It's to look at how the developers deal with those bugs. And like I said, Kuro has already done multiple emergency maintenance fixes and it fixed the ping spikes majorly for me.

I agree that bugs and optimization errors are frustrating, but they happen with every single game ever. What's important is how fast Kuro is working to fix those bugs!

Story/VA (Kuro lumped these together in their survey so I'm doing the same)

Cons:

The voice acting for Yangyang is so bland

They tried to do a mix of the characters trusting Rover and not trusting Rover to appease multiple audiences and it's just awkward

Dialogue boxes aren't entirely working properly so you just don't see the subtitles for half of a character's lines sometimes

Pros:

The story is interesting and intriguing (this is subjective but so is hating the voice acting)

They actually give the players real choices in certain instances of the story

Rover having actual voice lines is a breath of fresh air

Some of my thoughts: there's a lot of rumors surrounding the voice actor choices and that hoyo "sabotaged" Kuro by not letting voice actors for genshin voice wuwa characters. Whether that's true or not doesn't really matter in my books it doesn't matter if a name is big or not what matters is if they're good and while I think the voice fits Yangyang I don't like the acting part of it and it reads as bland and apathetic. It might improve in the future but otherwise I don't like it but I also don't like Paimon's voice in Genshin so I'm fine with not liking a voice actor. I won't bash an entire game for that.

I have been really enjoying the game so far and it's story is very intriguing. They use a lot of music terms for the lore and I enjoy that a lot. I'm interested in not only the Rover but what's going on with the world itself which is very important in a game. While I do have an opinion on how the story compares to other games I won't give it as that is purely subjective but just know I do think this is one of the better 1.0 stories I have played.

Gameplay/mechanics

Cons:

The Ding for the character switching perfect timing for a special attack is not always the easiest to hear. It's gotten better but the sound is very faint especially when listening to music while playing

Pros:

The tutorial/practice stages for the resonators and the dodging mechanics are a life saver

The combat is skill based yes but you can also button mash your way through

The world is very fun to explore and the chest puzzles actually had me thinking but were still very intuitive on how they actually worked

Echoes are genuinely one of the most unique "artifact" systems to come from gacha and it has been fun collecting them and using them

Comments: I genuinely don't have really any cons for the gameplay. I think it's phenomenal and a really unique and fun experience that while can make you think "oh this is similar to this game" still has a twist to it that makes it its own thing. I'm not sure how they could fix the dinging issue and not being able to hear it, but I do have to mention that it can be hard to get it because of that but honestly you can genuinely button mash through a fight. They aren't that hard in base game. And this is including bosses.

Overall: Like I said at the beginning. Gacha is Gacha. Enjoy whatever games you want to enjoy. I enjoy Gacha and I love open world. So I like both Genshin and Wuthering Waves. There are issues in both games and you have to recognize that but that doesn't mean you should use those issues to tear a game down to boost your favored game. Play what you want to play and recognize competition is good for video games. No I don't think Wuthering Waves will kill Genshin. And no I don't think Wuthering Waves is going to crash and burn. I enjoy playing both games and so this is my overall review for Wuthering Waves within the first few days and just how things have continued to develop after the initial launch.

[voiice-of-the-soul]

It irritates me alot when people say that making medic more compassionate is ''missing the point of his character'' when he is literally shown to be in the comics.... did you miss the part where he showed concern for both sniper and miss pauling's well being in comic 5 and 6.

His actions are a combination of genuine attachment + clinical interest and these things do not cancel out one another. He is always pushing boundaries and going against the grain and i think this is what led to him losing his license in the first place. He felt stifled by the rules imposed on him.

He is shown to be extremely passionate so it makes sense that he would use his endless fascination with medicine as a way to show his affection. He loves his friends so he will find a way to make them borderline indestructible. Malpractice is his love language.

[lloyd-the-green-gremlin]

My beautyful daughter who came back wrong :)

[frenchphobe]

griddlehark modern pen pal au where they don’t know each other but are assigned as pen pals for those pen pal projects you get in middle school and it just turns into them sending each other hate mail and somehow they just keep going for several years, even though they dont rly have to

[canisalbus]

✦ 2023 summary of art ✦

[deoidesign]

Return date for my webcomic, Time and Time Again!

It's been set for a while but sometimes they change the date without warning, so I'll keep you updated if anything changes!

I'm extremely proud of the work I've been doing on it, I can't wait to share everything!

See you then!

[snazzydwarf]

Dp x DC: Mind Traveller

Okay do y'all remember the old trope in DP fics of "Danny get's hurt by a ghost/machine and is now in a coma like state, the only way of getting him to wake up is to go inside his mind and meet different aspects of Danny's personality (sometimes it's looking through his memories)"

Okay yeah that but! Make it Dp x DC!

Maybe a war has broken out between the GZ and the GIW, conflicting information is being given to the JL from both sides, and so far their stuck between a rock and a hard place.

On one hand there's a whole species and town throwing allegations towards a Government organization about kidnapping, torture and experimentation.

Then there's the Ghost Investigation Ward saying they've been working withing legal limits, and haven't done anything wrong. It's not breaking the Meta Protection acts due to none of the "affected" having the Meta gene, and therefore not counting as a Meta.

Most GIW subjects had not survived when it had came to light, those who had "lived" could not come out of the Ghost Zone because of how fragile their cores had become, and everything was still too risky to send someone over on uncharted territories to get their statement.

The one option they had was a young boy they had found, although he was in a coma and hadn't woken up in weeks. The situation was getting more and more dire as the public and ghosts grew restless with every day that passed.

Martian Manhunter spoke to Danny while he was in his coma, however he was only able to access surface entry due to unknown reasons. This was enough to talk to the boy however, and gain permission to enter his mind and find out more about the situation they had all landed themselves into.

With written consent from both of Danny's parent's a small group of 3 JL members along with Jazz, Sam and Tucker ( who came along to clean up any confusion or questions they might have) journeyed into the mind of the young boy, not realising they are about to witness the rise and fall of a hero who was born to young.

[nocreativityfornames]

Everything we know about Michael so far, lore wise.

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR ALL SEASONS

➤ He's an high-ranking angel from the Celestial Realm, more specifically a Seraph. (nb: 18-2 and nb card: Luke - "I can do it too!")

➤ His love for sweets is the reason Luke took interest in baking. (swd: 5-12 and 23-5)

➤ He and Lucifer were equals in the Celestial Realm and no other angel shared the same status as them. Simeon referred to them back then as "the two great leaders of the Celestial Realm's legion of angels." (swd: 23-7) But currently Michael carries that position alone. (swd: 23-5)

➤ He was supposed to meet MC when they visited the Celestial Realm with Solomon but couldn't because a secret spring suddenly started drying and Michael had to go there to investigate the situation. (swd: 23-7)

➤ He used to be Mammon's mentor and tried his best to train the white-haired brother while in charge of him but wasn't able to figure out how to handle him and eventually went to Lucifer asking for help. And since Lucifer was somehow able to get Mammon to listen to him, he ended up taking over Michael's role and became his mentor instead. (swd: 27-19)

➤ He was originally the one in possession of the Ring of Wisdom but gave the ring to Solomon at a time when the human was feeling "lost" and Michael wanted to help him. (swd: 29-5)

➤ During MC's 2° stay in the Devildom when Diavolo was keeping secret from everyone that their powers had become a threat to the three realms, Michael sent the prince a message through Simeon, warning him that if whatever he was keeping a secret affected the Celestial Realm, angels wouldn't hesitate to intervene. (swd: 31-16 Hard Mode)

➤ He's the one who found the Ring of Light, counterpart to the Ring of Wisdom that Lucifer had lost during the Great Celestial War (swd: 37-9), and quickly noticed it was missing when Simeon stole it to give it to MC ( since it was the only other way to control their powers ), shooting the other angel a text stating that they needed to have a "good, long talk" and that he wanted to see him as soon as possible. (swd chat: M, "untitled")

➤ When MC was given the Ring of Light and fell unconscious because of it, Michael appeared to speak with them. And during their talk, the seraph told MC that he had pictured them to be truly wicked person due to being so well-liked by the brothers, but that he had been proven wrong after meeting them. (swd: 38-17)

➤ In that same conversation, Michael confessed to being jealous of MC. He told them: "I must admit that I'm jealous of you, MC. I wish I could have been more like you. Because I loved Lucifer and his brothers, and I lost them. Perhaps things could have been different..." (swd: 38-17)

➤ When asked, Satan explained to MC that Michael was the opposite of Lucifer appearance-wise but that they felt like twins at the same time. And when Mammon brought up Michael's adoration for Lucifer, Satan chimed in saying that in his opinion the reason Michael liked Lucifer so much was because he was the embodiment of everything he wanted to be but couldn't. (swd: 43-19)

➤ He would be the one having meetings with Diavolo when the prince took over the kingdom if he hadn't thrown the responsibility onto Lucifer in the last minute, making Michael in a way the stepping stone that led Lucifer to question his faith and start having doubts about God and the Celestial Realm in general. (swd: 44-15)

➤ When MC ended up in the past Celestial Realm through a dream Solomon sent them to accidentally by feeding them his food, Michael was the one to bring them back home. The angel told MC that they and the brothers would likely forget what happened in the dream but that it would still have an effect on all of them and he would keep an eye on them to make sure that said effect didn't have negative consequences in the future. (swd: 44-18)

➤ Luke told MC that he often found Michael in the hall where the brothers' portraits used to hang staring at the empty space, lost in thought. According to the small angel, Michael to this day still deeply misses the brothers and has regrets about the war. (swd: 49-15)

➤ He was the one to cast out the brothers from the Celestial Realm and send them to the Devildom. (swd: 50-7)

➤ According to Mammon, Michael and Simeon must've pulled some strings behind the scenes to get Luke to participate in the exchange program and be able to visit the Human World with Simeon because, with his low ranking, he'd never be the one chosen for those sorts of things and the Avatar of Greed is convinced that they're doing this because they want Luke to experience life outside the Celestial Realm, see that there's more out there than heaven, and stop thinking that angels are perfect beings who can do no wrong. (swd: 50-10)

➤ He's knowledgeable on constellations and likes them so much he had Raphael rebuilt a whole room so Human World constellations could be seen even from the Celestial Realm. (swd: 52-7) He also taught Mammon about them when he was still in his care, and later on taught Luke as well. (swd: 50-12)

➤ It was actually he who went into the Devildom and told the brothers that they had been forgiven by God and had to choose between staying in the demonic kingdom ( and making an enemy out of heaven ) or coming back to the Celestial Realm and leaving Satan behind. And in a conversation with Raphael, Michael said the reason for his disguise was that he was worried about what could happen if he showed up as himself. But Raphael quickly rebutted that by saying that the true reason Michael didn't go as himself was because he wouldn't know how to act around the brothers. (nb: 20-14 Hard Mode)

➤ Still disguised as Raphael before going back to the Celestial Realm, Michael told Luke that he wasn't surprised that the brothers didn't accept his offer to go back to heaven and actually knew that would be the outcome of it. He was also surprised not too long after when Luke, not knowing it wasn't Raphael who he was talking to, pointed out that Michael seemed sad and lonely whenever he was staring at the wall where the brothers' portraits used to be. Michael's exact response to the younger angel's words was: "...I didn't realize that's what people thought.” (nb: 20-A)

➤ When asked by Raphael if he planned to attend RAD in the future, Michael avoided giving an direct answer and left. (nb: 20-14 Hard Mode)

[raiiny-bay]

some WIPs from the 80s AU i never finished

[nebuladreamz]

He's just a little angry I think

[oceanwithouthermoon]

yk when i think about it, especially when im watching the anime with people who havent read the manga, the reason a lot of people who only watch the anime and didnt read the manga misinterpreted saikis character so badly is definitely in part because of how damn fast paced the anime is 😭

like that little smile and eye shine frame is there for not even half a second in the anime, so its easier to miss it and assume that he really did only finish those workbooks to get coffee jelly ☠️ its much more clear if you get a good look at how he reacts here that hes just a silly little tsundere and a fucking liar

[off-mozzarella]

A lil something for Whumptober day 10: blow to the head

[ahollowgrave]

Updated Odette is so so so so so so so beautiful and precious and darling !!

[mellohiizz]

@saiintvalentiine hello. the npc fic left me absolutely in shambles i needed to draw them.

[witchinatree]

thinking about how in the magnus protocols universe tim and sasha are (probably) alive, and don't know each other

thinking about how basira and daisy are still cops, (probably) slowly getting corrupted by the hunt (again)

thinking about how georgie and melanie may finally be able to be healthy and happy together (fear and eyes in tact)

thinking about the other jon and martin. the other jon and martin who have not met. without the magnus institute, without the horrors, they never would have fallen in love.

thinking about our jon and martin, in love and in a computer

thinking about what would happen if they met their others. the others of their friends. thinking about

[backfromtwitterforw]

Coming from someone who watches q!Baghera's pov from afar, there's something really sad about her trying so hard to get into a family on one side and almost refusing the one she already has on the other.

"Almost" because ofc she's not refusing to be Dapper's mom, or anything, that's not what I mean, but when offered to live close to Pomme other parents (q!BBH and q!Aypierre), she didn't say no, but she didn't say yes either, she said she'll think about it as a second house, because she really wants to be close by the one she decided would be her father figure.

It's devastating to see how growing up parentless made her cling to someone who is not able or not willing to give her what she needs right now and overlook friendships she could have.

And sure, q!Badboyhalo was mostly offering it to make sure Dapper will have people nearby for when he'll be... you know, gone. But still there's something about her willing to rather dig a tunnel under someone's house than build near a co-parent and her other child's place.