Trying to put together a manip for a series of photos I found, but the whole thing just looks so crappy in paint. This might be a stupid question but if there are any experienced manipers out there what software do you use?

paint.net (this isn't the traditional paint but an opensource program) or photoshop

www.gimp.org/

With experience, Gimp can be used at the same level as Photoshop. I use it for animations as well.

Yup this was my weapon of choice when I manipped as well

I never upload anything I make, but I use GIMP also. My GF likes FireAlpaca, but also enjoys good ol' Photoshop. Paint gets the job done if you know how to install fancier fonts and do some more advanced things, but it's severely limited. Paint dot net is also an option, but it's kind of a pain to get acclimated to IMO.
EDIT: These are all free options, by the way. FireAlpaca locks a lot of features behind a paid version, but it's stuff you wouldn't really need for manipping, I believe.

Paint.net for me, cuz I can Always change the image size if i need to

Photoshop for raster effects. Emptying out eyeballs and such.

Illustrator for text and layout. <<hypnohub.net/post/show/45...e-breasts-brown_hair-coll| It turns out that simple things aren't trivial, and you need the right tool for the job.>>

I've heard a lot of people have had success with Gimp in place of Photoshop. I just happen to own a license of CS5 and like the UI a bit better.

I do not yet know of something I would endorse in place of illustrator for vector illustration and typesetting. Inkscape fails in this regard and has for nearly a decade - its UI isn't necessarily bad but the thing fails constantly on a windows system, even at .9x. Haven't tested it on linux, might have better luck there, but that's contingent on your willingness to experiment. Xara used to offer a free linux package of their program that might be worth checking out. If someone else knows, I'd be interested to hear about it.