omg omg omg!
i fixed it!!!
Support suggested first to update my video driver, but that wasnt the issue, but glad to have updated it all the same!
so!
I found this post:
http://local.getflywheel.com/community/t/how-can-i-forcefully-restart-the-local-by-flywheel-vm/6388
and I tried using that shutdown procedure.
and rebooted it, but I noticed that, when I booted Local again, the virtual box didnt start automatically anymore. It was just stuck.
I then updated Virtual Box to see if that was the issue, because it said it was out of date, but the same issue was present, it just wasnt starting the virtual box with “Local” booting.
I began to think that something with that settings for the virutal box was now corrupt.
So I deleted it all together.
Uninstalled Local.
Reinstalled A Different Version of Local > Downgraded to previous version.
AND STILL NOTHING! THE LEVEL OF RAGE CONSUMED ME! SOMETHING WAS STUCK SOMEWHERE, BUT WHERE?!
And then it came to me, there has to be some APP data somewhere, practicing some form of evil caching.
SO!!
over to the C Drive (you may need to turn on show hidden files to see this folder*)
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028316/windows-view-hidden-files-and-folders-in-windows-10
C:\Users\ WhateverYourUserNameIs \ AppData\Roaming\Local by Flywheel
From there, I made a folder on my desktop and moved all the contents within this folder into the new folder, just as a backup in case my theory was wrong.
(*you may need to use the task manager to shut down any Local processes still running)
And then chose to start local back up! AND THE SWEET GLORIOUS LOCAL UI APPEARED!
and now I can continue my day with no further sadness.