u/Low_Sherbet_9401

I’m not gonna act like I’ll never get the game, I waited a long ass time for it and it does genuinely look impressive… but damn that lack of true physical copy news really took the wind out of the hype for me.

I remember getting my copy of RDR2 the holiday it came out, excited as hell. Going into the game store and coming out with my hard copy. Coming home opening that bitch up and finding a physical map of the game. Little cool shit like that added to the excitement, it just doesn’t hit the same just downloading it from your system.

This might sound delusional but I was even looking forward to a potential midnight launch. I know those have been dead for a while but I couldn’t imagine retail stores not taking advantage of the biggest entertainment launch of our time and NOT bringing that tradition back. Never went to the one for GTA 5 but the videos looked crazy.

Now you’ve got the Sony news with no physical games post January 2028, it’s just been a sad week for gaming news. I know some won’t give a shit but as someone that likes physical media this sucks.

Emotionally. I feel like I’ve run into so many spouts of disappointment that I don’t really have anything positive to look forward to. Nothing to excite me or put me in a happy mood. A lot of what I was looking forward to got tainted with bad news in the mix.

I’ve taught myself over the years to never get my hopes up, even if things seem to be going good. A good general rule to have if you’re disappointment to success ratio is skewed to the former. I’ve successfully achieved this mindset to the point where nothing really makes me happy anymore.

I always expect some caveat to good news and more times than not there is, but that’s also left me hollow to the few very rare occasions things are going ok.

Idk I’m just rambling. Carry on.

Let’s look at Pixar and Dreamworks lineup up until 2010 or so.

Pixar: Toy Story, TS2, Bugs life, monsters inc, finding Nemo, Incredibles, cars, Wall-e, up

Dreamworks: The shrek films, Madagascar, over the hedge, Kung fu panda, how to train your dragon, megamind, chicken run, Wallace and gromit, etc.

That’s not even touching on the decrease in animation budget since then making a lot of animated films today seem almost samey and “cute-ified”. From about 2000-2010 you saw a visible upgrade in graphical quality in these movies. I can’t say I’ve seen much difference between 2016 and 2026. Hell even before that.

That’s not to say we haven’t had great animated movies since, I think Spiderverse is a staple of both innovative animation and quality storytelling. My point is we get so few quality 3D movies these days compared to the 90s/2000s where it felt like we got them almost every year.

Not without merit though, let’s not get it fucked up. Life’s been ass since the day of my birth, and has only gotten worse with time. Especially in this cursed decade.

With that said my entire mental frame is so filled with the negativity and bullshit of life that I can’t even enjoy the positives. Like today for example, not great but a decent day with some positives sprinkled in. I can’t even fully let those positives marinate because my mind will default to the bad.

It’s made me a very resentful, bitter person. Something I don’t want to be but I see no justification for thinking more positive either. Not a valid tangible one anyways.

1. The most obvious one, you’re verbally told this… consistently. From different circles and different people. It gets to a point, they all can’t be lying.
2. You’re invisible in social settings. By invisible I don’t mean you’re just a quiet soft spoken person that no one can hear, I mean you’re blatantly ignored. With full intent.
3. Kind of an expansion of the last point but, going out to clubs/parties with your more attractive friends. I feel like this one doesn’t really need much explaining, if you’re ugly you already know what time it is. You’re better off going with an invisibility cloak.
4. You know that stare and smile a lot of women will hold with a guy they’re interested in to show interest?…yeah neither do I. I’m not even a staring type dude but I’ll notice the few times I’ll happen to glance at a woman in my immediate line of sight they’ll look away with the quickness lol.
5. People will generally have lower tolerance for you, be more short with you etc than someone more attractive. Many do it subconsciously but it very much is a thing. I’ve experienced it first hand and seen other ugly mfs go through it in real time.

The dichotomy of seeing the shit attractive people get away with while being crucified by the same people in judgement for far less is astounding. The gaslighting like it’s not a real thing is the cherry on top though.

I’m sure there’s more but that’s most of what I’ve got off the dome. Don’t give me the “nobody’s truly ugly” spiel either, save that shit for the gullible.

1. The most obvious one, you’re verbally told this… consistently. From different circles and different people. It gets to a point, they all can’t be lying.
2. You’re invisible in social settings. By invisible I don’t mean you’re just a quiet soft spoken person that no one can hear, I mean you’re blatantly ignored. With full intent.
3. Kind of an expansion of the last point but, going out to clubs/parties with your more attractive friends. I feel like this one doesn’t really need much explaining, if you’re ugly you already know what time it is. You’re better off going with an invisibility cloak.
4. You know that stare and smile a lot of women will hold with a guy they’re interested in to show interest?…yeah neither do I. I’m not even a staring type dude but I’ll notice the few times I’ll happen to glance at a woman in my immediate line of sight they’ll look away with the quickness lol.
5. People will generally have lower tolerance for you, be more short with you etc than someone more attractive. Many do it subconsciously but it very much is a thing. I’ve experienced it first hand and seen other ugly mfs go through it in real time.

The dichotomy of seeing the shit attractive people get away with while being crucified by the same people in judgement for far less is astounding. The gaslighting like it’s not a real thing is the cherry on top though.

I’m sure there’s more but that’s most of what I’ve got off the dome. Don’t give me the “nobody’s truly ugly” spiel either, save that shit for the gullible.

If you haven’t figured out this dating thing by 25 it’s over. You’re naturally stunted in your development.

Most people were ahead of you by high school, while you’re still figuring out basics in your mid 20s. If you weren’t at least decent with women by this point it’s not gonna get better onwards. Even if you grow by this point you’ve already missed most of your youth, experiences you’ll never have. Memories you’ll never look back on.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, best course of action is to find a way to reduce your desire for romantic companionship of any kind and just focus on other things in life. Something that should be done regardless anyways but the point is to mentally strip yourself of that desire entirely.

Convince yourself it’s not a viable option in life and your subconscious will do the rest naturally.

I’m not gonna act like life wasn’t fucked up before 2020, lord knows mine certainly was/is, but this decade has been objectively bad since its inception.

At least I used to have the illusion of a brighter future, now it’s all bleak and hopeless. All the color and joy as been stripped away, or maybe that was just the bullshit coverup I fell victim to believing.

I hate everything about people, the way the world is ran systematically, socially, this whole picture is disgusting. Imagine living in a terrible present with nothing but awful past memories to reminisce on. Makes you question the purpose of your birth.

I feel like the color has just been stripped away, all that’s left is a bland haze. It feels like this dark cloud has been hovering over the world since the decade started… nah fuck that life’s never been super great in all honesty. To me anyways I can’t speak for everyone.

There’s something almost lifeless, soulless about the atmosphere right now, and it’s been building up for years. I used to be naively optimistic, even through the bullshit. Now I feel emotionally dead, devoid of a positive thought or hope.

Now I’m just in a trying present reminiscing on a fucked up past and childhood, wondering why I was even born in the first place.

Those that lived in both which do you personally like better? Obviously LA is a much bigger city, but I feel like Austin also has a semi California vibe/culture (mostly because of the people moving here than the way it actually looks).

Those that lived in both which do you like better?

I’m kinda mixed. The new designs are something to get used to but I know their old animation studio shut down years ago so I won’t fault them there.

The actual humor, also mixed, but more leaning on the positive. The gumdrop BBL joke does nothing for me but the Olaf one got me, can’t even lie. The clever use of the fairies in the police siren, donkeys 48 hrs reference singing Roxanne, overall it does seem like there’s some decent classic Shrek humor on this.

Hope we didn’t watch the funniest jokes in the trailer though.

Looking to move to the west coast from Texas. Currently work at Costco making $20 an hr and wanted to transfer stores, I’m also car-less but managed to make Austin work for my situation.

I’m also a single guy in his mid-20s (African) that likes nightlife but it’s not the most important thing to me. I could live in a chill place without much going on and could plan a trip to neighboring cities with more going on if need be. I know Sac isn’t crazy far from SF and Tacoma isn’t far from Seattle.

Those that are familiar with either or both cities which would be a better fit? Financially and just in general?

Looking to move to the west coast from Texas. Currently work at Costco making $20 an hr and wanted to transfer stores, I’m also car-less but managed to make Austin work for my situation.

I’m also a single guy in his mid-20s (African) that likes nightlife but it’s not the most important thing to me. I could live in a chill place without much going on and could plan a trip to neighboring cities with more going on if need be. I know Sac isn’t crazy far from SF and Tacoma isn’t far from Seattle.

Those that are familiar with either or both cities which would be a better fit? Financially and just in general?

Currently in Austin and tired of Texas overall. Austin itself is fine but I feel like I’ve worn out my time here (10 years).

Looking for something else and have wanted to live in California for years, only thing is it’s expensive as hell from what I hear. I understand Sacramento is one of the more affordable decent sized cities in the state but i don’t know how much it would still be compared to Austin.

I’m on a Costco wage rn and while it’s good money for retail I don’t know if it’s feasible in California. I’m also car free so there’s that but I manage Austin fine without one.

Idk would moving here be a mistake in my situation?

How do you feel about the city? As much as I’d love to live in NYC it’s too expensive at the moment. One of the man draws for me is the proximity to NY and the affordability.

Those of you from NY or that have lived in both what is your honest opinion of this city?

To you guys working in the NYC locations do you think it’s sustainable to live there with a Costco wage? I currently work in TX and wanted to transfer stores.

My expectations are grounded, I know I’d likely have to rent a room and live in the outer boroughs, which I don’t mind doing at all. Even with that is this sustainable or will I be putting myself in hyper survival mode?

I did the math on my earnings and what I’d be able to afford living wise. With my current pay and job I can most likely afford a 1 bdrm or studio in Chicago in a decent neighborhood and a room in the outer boroughs of NYC. I don’t have a car hence why these 2 are attractive cities to me.

If I had it my way I would choose NYC in a heartbeat because I fell in love with the city (still need to visit Chicago), but my money would take me farther in Chicago. It’s really a dilemma between choosing a dream city with less a than favorable living situation (and still somewhat struggle) or live in another big city with more comfortable living. Philly would be the cheapest but I’ve heard it’s very rough in many neighborhoods.

Those that have lived in both cities which do you like more?

Not the most positive post but it’s authentic to me and maybe others can relate. I’ve been a fairly ugly dude my whole life, from childhood to now (age 25). To the point where many people have gone out of their way to let me know.

It is what it is though, it’s something I’ve come to terms with years ago but it took me a long time to actually accept it as a reality. I don’t believe in the “nobody’s really ugly” cope. You don’t have multiple different people across multiple different places you’ve lived comment on your looks unprovoked if you weren’t. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but there’s definitely stats at play at a certain point lol.

Often times you’ll be the invisible easily ignored one in a group setting even when you do try to socialize, you’ll be compared to your more attractive friends, you’ll be gaslit by people telling you how much looks don’t “really” matter while going through the exact opposite experience in real time. People will generally have lower patience for you than someone they deem more pleasing to the eyes.

Overall you just won’t have the most positive warm experience with people as an ugly person regardless of gender. You’ll get a lot of coldness from people even before you speak. Many do it subconsciously, some do it maliciously.

At the end of the day fuck it though, that’s just what it is. Curious to know other peoples experience that have been or are in the same shoes. Sorry for the long ass post.

Looking to get the fuck out of Austin. Texas overall really. I’m a black man (25y/o) without a car working at Costco making 20 an hr (that’s starting pay, we get dollar raises every 1000 or so hrs worked. If you’re a supervisor you’re automatically bumped to 32). Retail isn’t my dream but Costco is a solid company with great benefits, hence why I’m sticking with them for now.

My plan was to transfer stores to another city, preferably a walkable one that would be at least livable with my wage. I am into clubbing/bars, nightlife etc.

Any suggestions? Was looking into Chicago and maybe Philly but there isn’t a store in Philly. NYC is out of the question financially as much as I would’ve loved to live there.