#I still have a disc holder from it

[dragontamer05]

#radio shack #radioshack #polls #7 day poll #I still have a disc holder from it

[sortanonymous]

I know expecting Congress to get anything right these days is like expecting to see a triple rainbow in the Arctic, but if we could just get sticky, scratchy, awful cardboard sleeves for physical media discs illegalized, that would just be lovely!

#cd #cd collection #cd collector #physical storage media #physical media #dvd #blu ray #sorry to spoil that collection post i was just teasing but my beatles red and blue remix albums just came in #and both blue album discs got so messed up by damaged sleeves that it feels like a miracle that the flac files seemed to be ripped properly #it seems they basically changed nothing besides the back text and booklet from the packaging of the 2010 cd versions #not good since at least the white album and 1 remix cd's had digipak slots just how it should be #(don't know about the other remix cd's since i only have white album and the version of 1 with the dvd but still) #i have a few sleeve cd's like this but none nearly as bad this #and don't even get me started on dvd's and blu rays like this! #i can't even count how many dvd's and blu ray's i've either bought or wanted to buy separate replacement cases for #(although admittedly a good chunk of them aren't sleeves but just bad cases or disc holders) #please better apple (or sony or paul and ringo or giles or whoever handles these cd's) never do sleeves again #the beatles #bad packaging

[vainvenus]

⌲;꒰ Head over heels. ꒱

Pairing(s): Vance Hopper x Gn!Reader

Summary: You're the only person Vance can stand being around or talking to.

Includings: No Grabber!Au, best friends to lovers, chill x hothead dynamic, kinda ooc vance, jealousy, bit of a slowburn, mutual pinning, happy ending tho!

An: First post for Vancey boy! 💪🏾

I don't like the ending bc it was rushed a hard to write

"And now I'm the one who's in trouble! Me? Because that fucking dipshit and his stupid ass friend bumped into me!"

You hummed in response so that he knew that you were still listening to him as you were looking for your dark blue lighter.

You were listening to Vance rant, having just learned that he was now banned from the Grab-And-Go for a week for starting a fight all because some boy's bumped into the pinball game he was obsessed with.

"It's fucking stupid and I should've kept pounding his head into the floor until he passed out."

You had found your lighter and grabbed a lavender scented incense, lighting it and letting the flame burn before you blew at it and put it in the incense holder.

"It was an accident, Vance. You should've handled it more responsibly and walked away from the situation."

He had furrowed his brows, he knew that you were right but he was still too stubborn to admit it at the moment so he rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. The fuckers should've watched where they were going." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

You nodded "Yes, they should have. I'm sorry you got kicked out, Vance. I'll make sure no one beats your high score."

Although Vance was in the wrong for him beating the boys up over a something like that you didn't want him to feel like the way he felt about the situation was invalid or him overreacting.

You walked over to your record player, going through a few of your discs to find something to play so that he at least wouldn't be in such a bitter mood.

You smiled softly as you pulled out one of the discs and put it into the record player, placing the stylus on it as it had started playing 'Dancing Queen' by Abba and you turned your head to smile at Vance.

"C'mon..I know you want to." You said, walking towards him and chuckling softly as you grabbed his hand and tried to pull him up from his spot on the bed.

"I don't fuckin dance... especially not to Abba." He said and you knew for a fact that he was lying because the last time you borrowed his mixtape player it was one of the first songs that played.

"Dancing is a good way to free your body from negative energy. Something you seem to have a lot of." You had said as you swayed to the music, the sound of the multiple bracelets you wore shaking together.

Vance narrowed his eyes up at you "That's bullshit."

"Is not! Works for me whenever I'm angry."

He furrowed his brows "I've never seen you angry before though."

"That's because I don't show it. I don't let my emotions control my actions or mouth. I find better ways to release my anger."

Vance had thought about that sentence for a while. He wondered what you were like if you were to finally snap like how he does, furrowed brows and shouting profanities like a sailor.

"Dance with me, Vance! C'mon!!"

He groaned as he rolled his eyes and stood up from his spot on your bed and stiffly moved to the song like he was a robot and you couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?!"

"You dance like we're at our first dance together and the slow song just came on!" You had giggled. "Loosen up!"

Vance had glared playfully at you. "I thought this was a judge free zone?"

"Oh it is...just not for stiff dancers."

The boy had chuckled at this, a genuine one that showed his teeth and he couldn't even be mad about the situation that happened earlier.

It was always like this when he would go to you to rant for a bit, you would talk to him and make him feel like his feelings were completely valid, you reassured him every single time but scolded him rightfully.

You were the comfort he longed for constantly. That missing peace in his life. You felt like what home should've felt like for him.

You were sweet and caring. Not once could he think of a time where you yelled at him even if he was screaming his lungs out at you. You were understanding and he loved that, he love that you knew his better than he knew himself.

Vance loved you.

"Hey, Vance!"

He snapped from his thoughts as he looked over to you who was back at the record player, going through your discs once more. He was sure you had every song under the sun with the stack you had.

"Any song requests?"

"Hotel California."

"Gotcha!"

♡

When you heard your door swim open an slam shut you hadn't even questioned it at this point, already knowing who the culprit was.

You turned your attention away from the painting you were working on as you turned to look at Vance who looked like he was already angry if you couldn't tell by the door slam.

"What's the matter now?"

"Nothing. What're you doing?"

You had knew that he was lying but you would take care of what was bothering him when he wanted to talk about it so you gestured to the canvas.

"I'm painting. The sky's really pretty right now so I'm trying to capture it while I can." You had told him and he had rolled his eyes.

"You should try it. Painting can help let off steam." You said, dipping your brush back into the light pink paint.

You always tried to get Vance to paint or draw with you, telling him it was a good way to express his anger without yelling or breaking something but art just wasn't his forte.

"i don't paint. It's hard to work with and I'm not good at it." Vance had complained as he crossed his arms, standing beside you while staring at your painting.

"Oh c'mon, the last time you painted with me was a finger painting."

"I don't care."

You shrugged as you turned back to the canvas, glancing back at the sky before you went back and had glided your brush against the canvas, letting the music playing fill in the silence.

Vance shifted in the spot next to you, eyes glancing from the painting before back to the sky which was a mixture of soft purple, blues and pinks with the sun peaking from them.

He looked back to you as you were back into focus mode. Your eyebrows knitting together whenever you were like this and he couldn't help but smile a bit at the expression.

"Starings rude, y'know."

His face immediately shifted and he had scoffed "I wasn't staring, asshole! I was looking at the painting!"

"Mhm..you sure you don't wanna give painting another go? You don't even have to paint the sky you can paint your emotions and-"

Vance swiftly cut you off "Just give me a canvas and brush before you start with your hippie emotion bullshit."

You had giggled softly as you went to grab another canvas and easel, setting them beside your own as you gave Vance an empty pallette and set the paints between the two of you.

He picked up the blue paint and looked back over at you who seemed to be caught up in finishing up your painting and he had smirked.

He had opened it as turned his body a bit as he squirted it onto the palm of his hands, rubbing them together and pressing them against the canvas.

He watched as you turned to him with a smile before your smile had dropped. "Vance, really?! C'mon! I thought you were behind finger and hand painting! You're gonna make a mess!"

He had smirked, reaching out to touch you as you had backed away. "Vance Hopper! Don't!"

"Don't what? Do this?"

He had grabbed you arm to pull you towards him as he pressed his palm against your cheek now leaving a blue handprint there as he pulled away laughing.

"Asshole!" You had playfully shouted as you grabbed the pink paint and rubbed it across your palms, now pressing your hands against his face and he had laughed loudly as he pressed his hands back against yours.

You both pulled away to reach for more paint, a childish game now being played between the two of you as you were grabbing different colors.

Red, blue, pink, purple and yellow handprints were plastered all over your faces, arms and even shirts. Neither of you were mad at the mess though now on the floor and laughing at how idiotic the two of you looked.

"You're an idiot, Vance! I'm gonna have to take like four showers!"

"Oh stop complaing! You literally fought back."

You giggled as you looked at the red paint on your finger and rolled closer to Vance as you lazily drew a heart on the back of his hand.

Vance stared at the red heart with wide eyes before he looked back at you who had that same bright smile on your face that made his heart skip a beat.

"See, you could've just drew that on me but you wanted to be a childish asshole." You hummed, pressing red paint again this nose and Vance stared at you.

Yeah.

Vance had already fallen in love but he was falling harder.

♡

The next time Vance had came over he had noticed that you had the music playing again but he could also make out the sound of another person.

The two you seemed to be laughing together, the sound overbearing the song that was playing at the moment and he furrowed his brows.

He stomped up in the stairs and made a B-line for your room, gripping onto the doorknob, twisting it and pushing the door so roughly that it slammed against the wall when he entered the room.

His eyes glanced from you who was staring at him with wide eyes gore he glanced over the person you had been laughing with.

Bruce Yamada. somebody he wasn't too fond of just because he was everything Vance wasn't. Popular (for the right reasons), kind and caring, not a bad bone in his body. Everyone either wanted to be him or be with him.

He noticed that you were holding his hand with a bottle of blue nail polish in your other hand as the two of you were staring at him with wide and confused expressions.

"Vance. Stop entering my mom trying to catch me doing drugs."

"The hell is he doing here?" He completely disregarded your statement, glaring at Bruce and oh if looks could kill the Yamada's would be having a funeral.

Bruce had only smiled that award winning smile at Vance though "We're painting nails! You-"

He had cut him off swiftly, venom dripping from his tone as he spoke "I wasn't talking to you, asshole."

You had frowned as you looked up at blonde, placing the nail polish back in the tube. "Vance you shouldn't talk to him like that. He hasn't done anything to you."

You were right, Bruce was innocent and all he did was answer his question but Vance was acting on his emotions right now which were pure jealousy and fury.

"And? I wasn't fuckin' talking to him so why did he even reply?" Vance spat and Bruce awkwardly sat there.

You had narrowed your eyes slightly at Vance before inhaling and exhaling softly, looking back to Bruce with a small smile.

"Bruce, I'm sorry to cut this short but can we continue another time? I think me and Vance need to have a talk."

"Yeah..of course. Sorry for..uhm.."

"No, don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. You told him, glancing back to Vance back to him.

"Get home safe, mkay?" You commented and he had smiled and nodded at this. "I'll call you when I get home. Thanks for having me." He had waved you goodbye, slipping past Bruce and out the door.

Once you heard the door from downstairs close you had gathered up the nail polish and put them back into your box.

You turned to turn off the record player and looked back at Vance who was giving a distasteful look to the wall.

"Wanna tell me what that was about?"

He hadn't answered, keeping his eyes away from yours and after a short while he had just shrugged.

"Don't just shrug at me." With the way you were talking with him he was sure you were irritated and it only upset him more when he realized he ruined your mood.

"That was completely uncalled for." You stated, gesturing to Vance who looked like a child being chided for the first time.

He shrugged again, his words being stuck in that lump in his throat and he watched as you crossed your arms, shaking your head like a disappointed parent.

"I don't know what made you so upset before you came here but it gave you no right to call Bruce names and get angry with him."

Vance knew this, he knew he was in the wrong all the way this time but he couldn't help it, always thinking with his mouth and fists and never that head of his.

He huffed "Yeah? Well, he shouldn't even fucking being over here....with you...alone."

You raised your brows, holding back the urge to scoff "So you're the only one who gets to be alone in my room with me?"

"No! I...I'm not saying that but-"

"Then what are you saying, Vance?"

And there it was, that word vomit that he had been trying so hard to hold back.

"I'm saying that I love you, okay?! I fucking love you and every time I'm around you I just fall harder for you!" He shouted, voice cracking like he was on the verge of tears.

"So yes when I saw you alone, painting nails and giggling with Bruce 'Hearthrob' Yamada I was a little pissed off!"

It was silent after that.

Not even any music playing in the background to fill it up, just complete silence and the heavy pants of Vance.

It was probably four minutes of silence before you had spoke up.

"So you mean to tell me..you were rude to Bruce because you were jealous?"

Vance had gave a small nod, biting on the inside of his cheek.

You had let out a huff, chuckling a bit "Vance...that had got to be the most idiotic thing you've ever done. I don't even like Bruce like that, we're like siblings ."

"Oh.." Vance mumbled, now more embarrassed than before. He would definitely owe the boy an apology at school tomorrow.

"And plus, I'm not really into baseball players, I like people who play pinball."

His eyes widened slightly as he pointed to himself "You're... You're talking about me, right?"

"No Vance, I'm obviously talking about Moose. Yes, you."

"Why me?"

You tilted your head in confusion "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why me? I'm not definitely not a dreamboat like Bruce or-"

He was cut off by your lips on his, that vanilla flavored ChapStick you always wore now glossing over his lips and he stared at you like a deer in headlights when you pulled away.

You tilted your head and shrugged "I don't want dreamboat Bruce or any other person you're about to name."

You grabbed his hand and held him softly while grinning up at him "I want been my best friend for years troublemaker Vance."

It was quiet for a bit and Vance rubbed his thumb over the palm of your hand after you made it pretty clear that you weren't letting his hand go.

"You sure?"

You placed another kiss on his cheek, pretending to think for a moment before nodding.

"Positive. Couldn't see myself with anyone else."

He had smiled and brought you close to wrap his arms around you and decided that walking over to the bed would just be too much and he slid down the wall onto the floor with you.

With you laying on his chest and playing with his curls that definitely needed a good wash or brush he had heard you mumble;

"Well...maybe Keanu Reeves..."

"[Y/n]."

"Joking! Joking! You gotta admit he's pretty though"

He gestured to himself "Am I not?"

"Oh you are! Prettiest boy in Denver. But have you seen Keanu Reeves?"

Sure he had competition with Keanu Reeves but at least he knew that he outranked everyone in Denver.

#the black phone #the black phone x reader #the black phone x you #vance hopper #vance hopper x you #vance hopper x reader #bruce yamada #finney blake #griffin stagg #billy showalter #gwen blake #donna the black phone

[bunniekittiee]

stranglehold- johnny slaughter x fem. reader

Yes, I know none of this is date accurate to Ted Nugent’s release of his album but ykw just go with it, just pretend it’s not something I changed. Based off my headcanon that Johnny would be a sucker for Ted Nugent. Also, you can't tell me that this song isn’t his theme song?!

Curtesy to my bf who showed me Ted Nugent when we first started dating. He is the man, the myth, the legend, my world (referring to my bf not old man Nugent lol). My dad is also a Ted Nugent fan, but I found this out way after I started dating my bf but yk shout out to my dad.

I lowkey suck at endings so I apologize if it isn’t the best. Also, I wanted to change this and give the reader more fight in her. I always write them submissive to Johnny, and I wanted this one to give him a fight.

I’ve had this sitting in my drafts for a couple of months and I knew I needed to finish it.

Content warning: Blood, gore, description of wounds, Johnny being a little sexual and pushy, and not proofread.

December 25th, 1963

The Slaughter boy was a fan of Ted Nugent the minute he unwrapped one of his last few gifts from Chop Top. Hazel eyes scanning the cover, they were caught by the man himself. Ted Nugent, standing there with his guitar and his hair a crazed mess. The outline of him was slightly hazy, but it was still him.

“Heard ’im playing on the radio in the shop.” Chop Top said as Johnny ran his fingers over the cover. “After finding out who it was, I got it for ya’. I have a feelin’ ya’ gonna’ like it.”

Antsy for the rest of unwrapping gifts, Johnny eyed the album that he held carefully in his lap. He was itching to play it, he wanted to hear what Mr. Nugent sounded like. The messy hair, the glistening of sweat on his skin, the blur of his body, this was extremely impressionable on the young Slaughter boy whom was only fifteen.

Presents were done being unwrapped and Johnny immediately dashed off to his room. Chop Top chuckled at the boy’s excitement and elbowed Nubbins. “I am the best gift giver to that kid.” And Johnny would agree with him, he truly was.

Johnny took the record out of its plastic covering and slid the disc itself out of the cardboard holder. Carefully, he placed it on his record player and let the needle drop.

The guitar started echoing in his room, Johnny watching with his mouth slightly agape at the record spinning. He started nodding his head to the drum beat when it came in.

“Here I come again now baby, like a dog in heat. You can tell it’s me by the clamor now baby, I like to tear up the streets.”

Listening intently to every sound that played back to his ears, he felt his blood rush and goosebumps raise on his flesh. Something in this song captivated him. Whether it was the vocals or the haunting howl of Ted Nugent’s guitar, Johnny knew one thing for sure. This song would follow him for the rest of his life.

August 12th, 1973

Nine years had passed, almost ten since that fateful day of Chop Top’s incredible gift. Johnny went from a shy, reserved young boy to a flirty, rough, man. He was not the kid he once was, his muscles and height being very physically telling of that. He once had grown his hair out long, but he chopped it off. A dire mistake had almost cost him his life, so it was not worth the risk anymore. However, he did not want it completely short, so he cut it to where it could not be tugged on or get caught on objects. He hated when his hair was touched, it enraged him.

Finishing his cigarette, he began to get into his truck when Sissy waved at him to stop. He sighed.

“What is it now that ya’ want?” he asked with annoyance traced within his words

She hummed. “When are ya’ gonna’ bring your little girlfriend around? I’ve been wantin’ a new friend.” She smiled and Johnny rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know. But ya’ ain’t comin’ around her.”

“Why not?” She pouted.

“I don’t trust ya.”

“That’s real funny comin’ from ya’. She shouldn’t trust ya’ yet she does.” Sissy said while crossing her arms. “She has less of a risk getting killed by me than she does ya’, and I ain’t even datin’ her.”

Johnny chuckled. “Ya’ right, I’ll give you that.”

“Just think about it, don’t shoot the idea down now.” Sissy said as she tapped the truck and began to walk back to the house.

Johnny shrugged and started to turn the truck around to leave. He was going to see Y/N, and he was excited, but not in the way you think. He was excited to get his hands on her body and rip her apart, but she had barely let him touch her, let alone kiss. It was still a fresh relationship, but the Slaughter boy never took anything slow. It was always fast and rough. Like many attributes of Johnny that you would come to know. He wanted to take her now. But she always insisted on waiting. He would play the waiting game, but there was no doubt that he was going to devour her.

He was tired of her being around other people. Her friends, her family, her coworkers, anyone. He wanted her to be around him and him only. He hated the hot white jealousy that licked away at his lower belly when he saw her interact with people other than him. It made him want to bash her fucking skull in for being so damn insensitive to his feelings. But he played nice, he played the perfect, goody-two shoes Southern boy role with disgust. No one ever noticed how his eyes were empty of all emotion when he smiled or how his face darkened at the talk of the murders that he had dabbled in. He felt like James Dean in a movie role that he was made for.

Putting a tape into the radio, he felt the goosebumps he felt on that life-changing day of December 25th, 1963. He was a very big fan of Ted Nugent, and he had many records and tapes to prove that. He learned how to play “Stranglehold” on guitar and many other Nugent classics that he held near and dear to his heart. To say he was a fan was an understatement, he moreso worshipped the musician.

But “Stranglehold” was something special. Despite the fact that it was his first song he had listened to from the music idol he favorited, he related to it on a primitive level. He and Ted had something in common, they wanted to both devour the girl in their life and let her know that she had nowhere else to go. Johnny wanted full control of her, he wanted her to know that she had absolutely no safety when she was around him. She would stay with him forever, she had nowhere else to run to.

Adrenaline pumping, his fists tightened around the wheel as he drove. He wanted to teach that bitch a lesson for making him wait so damn long for some pussy. He wanted to keep her all for himself. He wanted her now. He wanted her to go with him and never return home. She would be in his presence 24/7, and he would not feel the jealousy he felt when she talked to others but him. He chewed on his lip as his pupils began to expand. This song dug into some other part of Johnny that he did not know he had.

He did not understand why she was so special to him. Why he felt jealousy towards the people around her. Why he felt the need to keep her in his home. Why he felt the desire to even keep her alive. But here he was, listening to his favorite song and wondering about how her head would look like impaled on a fence pick.

They were supposed to hang out today at her house as her parents were gone on a trip. He wore his dark blue flares with a black shirt, a little reminiscent of his hunting outfit. He slicked his hair back to perfection and wore some bone jewelry Nubbins made him. It was easy for him to look good no matter what. That’s what brought in dinner, and dinner made the family happy. Family comes first, right?

Pulling into the driveway, Johnny sighed and glanced in the mirror one last time before getting out of his truck. He did not want to keep putting up his sweet country boy persona but he knew he had to. As annoying as it was, it lured everyone in. Made them believe the lies he spoke.

Knuckles rapping the door, he waited for her to come to his calling. He held no expression, his face at its natural state. As much as he tried to hide it, his natural face was very telling of who he was and what he was feeling. It was void of many attributes of what made a human being. It looked like it was an lifeless portrait.

As soon as she answered the door, his facial expression immediately changed. One that was grinning. “Hey sweet pea.”

She returned his smile. “Hey Johnny. Come in!”

Welcoming inside of her home, Johnny glanced around. He had been inside her home before, and he had the layout of it inside of his head. While she slept in her bed, he would wander around the house like a silent leopard. He was able to memorize all exit points.

He knew it was worth the trouble.

“So what’s the plan, babydoll?” He asked with a small smirk. He pulled her body flush to his as she blushed.

“I was thinking I make us some lunch and we can watch a movie. I got some tapes from the video store.” She said as Johnny peppered kisses on her face.

“How about no lunch and we get into the movie?” He lowered his hand to her ass, grabbing a handful. “Come on.”

She shook her head giggling. “No, Johnny. You already know the answer to that.”

His irritation had risen but he hid it well. “What’s the real reason, doll face? Ya’ been holdin’ out on me for months now.”

“I’m waiting until marriage. You know this.” She replied as Johnny sighed into her neck. She bit her lip, feeling a little guilty that she was holding out on Johnny, making him wait. He was a respectful and loving boyfriend, why should she make him wait?

But it was her choice. No one else’s.

“Guess I gotta’ marry ya’.” Johnny said with a small smile. “Keep ya’ away from everyone else too.”

She chuckled, not understanding what he was hinting at. This only made him smile wider. “Is someone jealous?”

His eye twitched, but she did not see. “Just don’t like other people around ya’.” Johnny said as he rested his hands on her waist. “That’s all.”

“Like who?” She asked jokingly.

“Everyone, doll face.” He replied back.

Still thinking he was joking, she giggled. “Why would you be jealous of everyone around me? You’re still my number one, Johnny.”

His eyes were now darkening and his facial expression was a little off-putting. Almost as if it was not Johnny, it was something else. “I want ya’ ta’ forever stay by my side. I don’t want anyone around ya’ but me.”

“Awww, you’re quite the romantic type.” She said as she burrowed her head into his shoulder.

He scoffed. “I don’t think yer’ understandin’ what I’m sayin’, I want to keep ya’ locked away. Be mine forever.”

The uneasiness began to settle in the pit of her stomach as she pulled away from Johnny for a moment. It was like looking at a stranger. His eyes were not inviting and warm like they once were, they were cold and void. His face was hardened, no smile or any emotion showing. “What do you mean by that?”

“Yer’ a smart girl.” He said lowly. “Piece it together, sunflower.”

Locked away forever? Away from everyone around her? She stepped back from him and he inched closer to her. His murderous aura was beginning to tense the room up. “You want me to be kept away from my friends and family?” She questioned, her fear being exposed through her words.

“Exactly. I hate everyone yer’ around. I want ya’ for myself, and only me.” Johnny now looked much scarier and bigger, his size increasing from what it seemed like to his girlfriend. “I want ta’ kill yer’ parents. Yer’ friends. I hate when they’re around ya’. Ya’ only need me.”

Breathing quickening, she continued to step back as her eyes were wide. Like a rabbit face-to-face with the wolf. Johnny flashed a smile, but it did not hold the same comfort it once did. “Johnny, I need you to leave.”

“Ain’t goin’ anywhere, doll.” He said back as he lunged for her. He narrowly missed her as she dodged his attack, barreling her way to the front door to leave her home. Her adrenaline pumped as Johnny trailed not so far behind her. “Ya’ better get back here ya’ bitch! If ya’ know what’s good for ya’!”

She picked up her pace faster, sprinting down the dirt road and screaming like a banshee for help. But to her dismay, not many people came down that road. It was her and Johnny.

Johnny hopped in his truck and quickly pulled out of her driveway. Pushing his foot as far as he could on the gas pedal, he sped after her. He smiled manically to himself. She was heading right into the direction of the Devil’s lair. The Sawyer home was not too far from hers, so this was going to be easy for him.

Panting and her sides in excruciating pain, she whipped her head back and forth to see how far Johnny was from her. He was pretty damn close to her, and she felt that it was quite unfair that he had the ability to chase her in his truck. Human legs were not always a match for a vehicle.

In the distance, she saw a sunflower field and a two-story home that brought her great relief. She could get help there. That was her way to safety. She quickly rerouted herself to go into the sunflower field making Johnny’s grin wider as he slammed his foot on the break. She was now in his territory. He knew those sunflower fields very well, unbeknownst to her.

The wolf lurched out of his truck and chased after his rabbit who had hopped into the maze of sunflowers. Breathing heavily and moving away the large stems out of her way, she hoped that she was able to escape Johnny this way, or at least throw him off of her path.

That was, until she didn’t hear any footsteps or scurrying behind her. She whipped her head around, attempting to catch her breath as well as look for Johnny, but she did not hear anything.

Just the birds chirping and the soft wind.

“Hey there!” Johnny laughed as he lunged at her from his position. She screeched, running in the opposite direction as he continued his chase once again.

It was not long as a sudden pain surged through her leg as she tumbled to the ground. Her yowling echoed in the field as Johnny smirked at her injured state. “Well well well, look at what the cat dragged in.”

She was caught in Nubbins’ trap. Tears streamed down her face from the amount of pain she was in. Her foot was mangled in the trap. She tried to back away from Johnny who inched closer to her, but it only made her pain worse.

“Sorry doll, it just had to be this way.” He said disappointingly as he kneeled down. “Don’t worry, when you wake up, you will feel better.”

Confused at his words, Johnny immediately slammed her head into the ground to knock her out. She was weak, it was too easy. Undoing the trap and setting it up once again, he picked up her limp body and carried her to his shed that the Sawyers kept on their property for his ‘guests’. As much as Drayton hated it, he did not want it in his home, so he made sure that Johnny kept them out. He made his way into his shack and wrapped her foot up hastily. He did not want to spend much time on her, he needed to prepare for his night.

‘You ran the night that you left me, put me in my place. Got you in a stranglehold baby, you better trust your faith.’

The ache chewed away at her, worsening when she awoke from her drowsy state. Her foot felt like it was searing, and it was extremely uncomfortable. Shifting around, she glanced around her surroundings and her heart dropped. It came flooding back to her where she was at.

Johnny had taken her hostage. Her limbs were tied up and she was laying on a dirty mattress with questionable stains. It was cold and dark. There were no signs of Johnny or anyone else for that matter. The structure she was in was small, almost like it was made to be a shed of some sort. A shed with hardly any light filtering in from the moon and with freezing temperatures.

She shivered while she looked around for an exit point. The door was locked shut and there was one small window. Not that she could fit through it. Attempting to stand up, she gritted her teeth in pain as she tried to walk on her bad foot. She landed right on her butt. It was too painful to get around. Her head throbbed from him slamming it into the ground.

Her thoughts went to her parents, her friends. She did not want to die here. Not from the hands of him. Someone who she trusted, loved. Someone she thought she had a future with. Her eyes watered at the fact that he had betrayed her.

But she could not weep for long as the door began to jiggle, and there was a sound of a key entering the key hole. Wipe her tears away, she looked as the Slaughter boy opened the door. He had a smirk on his face as he approached his piece of meat.

“I see yer’ awake, doll. Ya’ ready to meet the family?” He asked her as kneeled down in front of her. She glared at him, her eyes swimming with anger. “Awwe, don’t give me that look, pretty girl.” He held the back of his hand to her face and she moved her head away. How dare he touch her.

“Come on, let’s get ya’ up.” He said as he cut the rope around her ankles and pulled her up, making her practically scream at the weight she put on her injured foot.

“I can’t walk.” She said aggressively as she moved away from Johnny.

He rolled his eyes. “Figure it out, doll. I ain’t carryin’ ya.”

Limping and fighting back tears, she attempted to walk beside him. It was so painful. Blood oozed out of her wound, and the corners of her vision began to blacken. Johnny pulled her along faster, grumbling about her taking her sweet time, and the pain increased. She felt dizzy. She could not run from Johnny now, not in this condition.

He pulled her inside the house, leading her to the dining room where his family sat. Sissy whistled when her brought her to the table, forcing her to sit as he tied her to the chair.

“Ya’ really did pick a purty’ one, Johnny.” She purred as she eyed his girlfriend. “Ma’ names Sissy. I’ve never had a sister before.”

“Oh stop it, Sissy.” Johnny said flatly. “Now yer’ just kissin’ ass.”

Sissy frowned. “Rather it be that way than for me ta’ try cuttin’ her up.” The woman’s heart rate increased and her eyes began to dart around.

“Ya’ wouldn’t try nothin’.” said the Slaughter boy with a glare. “Not on my watch.”

“Be quiet both of ya’! Sit down and eat dinner.” Cook yelled at the two ‘siblings’. “This girl is more trouble than she’s worth.”

“Oh keep it quiet, old man.” Johnny snapped. “Ya’ couldn’t get it up if ya’ even wanted to. Don’t stick yer’ nose in my business.”

Nubbins doubled over in laughter while Bubba wrung his hands anxiously. Drayton’s face turned red as he narrowed his eyes at the young man. “Wait until yer’ mother finds out about yer’ foolishness! Ya’ created a mess for yerself’ Johnny!”

“It ain’t any of yer’ business.” Johnny stabbed into the unknown meat on his plate with a knife. “Don’t fuck with me and piss me off before dinner, old man.”

Drayton shut up and stared at his dinner plate angrily. The tension in the room was suffocating. She felt awkward. Johnny nudged her plate towards her while he chewed on a piece of meat. “Don’t be shy.”

Nausea twisted in her stomach as she grimaced. “I can’t.”

“Yes ya’ can. Try it.” He said encouragingly.

“What is it?” She asked, almost not wanting to know.

Nubbins giggled while Sissy grinned, exchanging a look with the twin. “Just try it sweetheart.”

Johnny stabbed in a chunk and held it to her lips. “Open wide, doll face.”

Not wanting to upset them this early, she bit into a small piece of it. She chewed slowly, tasting the seasonings and flavor.

Johnny couldn’t help his wide, sadistic smile on his face. “It’s good, isn’t it sweetheart?”

She nodded, swallowing it completely. “What is it?”

If his grin could get wider, then it definitely did. “Nothin’ much, just someone’s liver.”

Her face paled. Bile had risen up in her throat and she threw up on the table. Sissy recoiled back and Drayton looked at the girl like she was disgusting. “Now ya’ threw up all over dinner!”

She coughed and held her head down. Johnny t’sked as he shook his head. “Way to go. Now yer’ just bein’ ungrateful.”

Sissy approached her with a napkin, attempting to wipe away the bile from her face until Johnny grabbed her wrist harshly. “Now what do ya’ think yer’ doin’?”

“Cleanin’ her up since ya’ ain’t bein’ a gentleman.” Sissy replied with a roll of her eyes. “Why? Is that a problem?”

“Get yer’ filthy hands off of her. Ya’ ain’t allowed to touch her.” Johnny smacked at Sissy’s hands while she pulled away.

Sissy crossed her arms. “What are ya’ afraid of, Johnny? It’s not like I’m hurtin’ her.”

“Don’t act like yer’ sunshine and rainbows. Yer’ just as fucked up as the rest of us, Sissy. Cut the act.” Johnny was now angry.

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she clenched her jaw. “How about ya’ stop keepin’ her to yerself’ and start sharin’ the meat ya’ bring! She ain’t nothin’ else to ya’ but somethin’ to fuck.”

“Are ya’ jealous or just being bitchy?” Johnny asked with a huff. “It ain’t yer’ business what I’m doin’.”

They began to bicker back and forth. She felt herself spin as their voices got louder and louder. There was a piece of wood sticking out behind the chair that she began to rub the rope back and forth across. If it could cut through the rope, she would be free. All she had to do was bolt out the front door. If she could find it.

'Some people think they gonna die someday. I got news you never got to go.'

Their yells ensued to screams, ones that caused Bubba to rock back and forth while crying and Drayton to scream at them to shut up. Her ears rung, and the rope gave way. Waiting for the right moment, she pushed Sissy harshly out of the way, making her land on the ground.

“Get back ’ere!” Sissy screeched as she quickly got up from the floor to chase Johnny’s girlfriend. Johnny trailed after her, telling Sissy to leave it to him. She limped to the front door and unlocked it quickly, swinging it open and hitting Sissy and Johnny in the face. They both hit the floor, stunned and staring up at the ceiling as Drayton screamed at Bubba to get his chainsaw and Nubbins to chase her.

She ran, well, what she could only describe as running. Her ankle hurt terribly, blood coating the cloth Johnny had wrapped around it. Every step shot pain up her leg, but she was running on adrenaline. She screamed as loud as she could for help, but all she heard back was her own echoes and the revving of Bubba’s chainsaw. She continued to wail as Johnny started to catch up to her.

"Gotcha!" he yelled as he pulled her close to him and started to fight with her. She wrestled him as much as she good, putting all of her weight on her injured ankle despite how much distress the injury was in. More blood seeped out and stained the dirt road. Bubba's revving got closer and closer the more they continued to fight. Johnny grinned manically at her, grunting and taunting her while she wrestled him off. She was able to push him to the ground, sprinting off right before Sissy could slash her with her knife. Sissy yelled at Johnny to get his lazy ass up off the ground and continued the chase that Johnny couldn't seem to catch up with.

As much as he liked to play games, this one had more fight in her than he thought. She had never showed this side of her when they were dating. At least, not to this extent. Recovering from yet another stun, Johnny got to his feet and narrowed his eyes. He needed to put an end to it now. This was beginning to only piss him off more since Drayton decided to ruin their dinner with his two cents.

He started the chase again, sprinting as fast as he could and breathing heavily. He had to catch up with his prey and Sissy, and he hoped that Sissy wouldn't take his kill. She was his, not hers.

"That'll teach ya' ta' fuckin' push me!" Sissy said with a laugh as she slashed her knife at the girl, making her adrenaline peak more and more. Her wounds oozed red liquid that trailed behind her, and she felt the edges of her vision darken. She did not want to die here; she did not want to die at the hands of her captors. She had almost reached the edge of the property, and she had the entire family chasing her down. Even Drayton was in it, he was just last compared to his family, and he was screeching like a banshee to kill her.

Sissy grabbed her, but she turned around quickly to fight off the woman. Wrestling her like she did Johnny, she launched Sissy to the ground before taking off again. Sissy stared up at the night sky for a second before recollecting herself. Johnny passed her and teased her. "Guess ya' gettin' lazy too." She wanted to punch the Slaughter boy in the face for creating a huge mess.

She had now crossed over the edge of the Sawyer property. Lungs heavy and the pain hitting her, she felt weakened. But she was not out of the radar yet. She continued to run, as well as scream for help, as Johnny trailed behind her. The rest of the family did not follow him off the property. They knew that whatever took place outside of the property was something they did not need to witness. He was never nice with his punishments.

Suddenly, she was rolling on the ground with Johnny, dirt flying everywhere as he tackled her. He sat on top of her and held her arms down. She felt so angry. She was so close to escaping, yet here she was now. Underneath Johnny who stared down at her like a hungry wolf.

"You and your entire family are crazy! Let me go, Johnny!" She fought against his grip on her arms.

"Can't do that, sunshine." He said back, his facial features almost consumed in darkness. But she could still see those eyes. "Ya' caused a lot of trouble tonight. Too much. I thought ya' would be different."

Her heart dropped at his words. "There were more before me?"

"Did ya' really think I was some sort of virgin boy? Of course, there were more before ya', there was plenty." He smiled at her, but it was empty. "I just thought ya'd be different. I wished ya' were different."

"I would never stay with you. I would rather die than to be held captive by you! You are crazy!" She retorted back while her face scrunched up. Disgust filled her body. To think this was the man she wanted to marry one day, have a future with. And this is what he did to her.

His eyes darkened and he frowned. He grabbed her by the hair and held his hunting knife up to her throat. "Watch yer' mouth, girl. Ya' suddenly forget that I can easily kill ya'." Johnny did have a good point, and she whimpered quietly when he pressed the knife deeper to her throat. Her wide eyes locked with his, fear swimming in them. He felt goosebumps rise on his skin from seeing the fear. It was something he liked to see on his victims.

Johnny moved the knife away from her throat and smiled again. "There girl, don'tcha worry now." His gloved hand caressed the side of her face. "You'll come around; I promise ya' that. But I can't promise ya' that my family won't try to kill ya'. Ya' gave them a headache."

'You created it yourself,' she thought to herself when Johnny got to his feet and pulled her up. Her ankle yowled in pain. She did not want to go back to the Devil's Lair. She could not. Not when she got so far. Johnny did not make an effort to help her along, and she took another opportunity. Elbow ready, she rammed it straight into his crotch, making Johnny double over in pain. "God-fuckin' dammit!"

She took off again in the opposite direction, still screaming for help as she limped along. She wanted to get away no matter what. Despite how much agony her body was in and how much blood dripped from her wounds, she could not let them win. Johnny was in pain, but he was now aggravated. He had given her many chances to play nice, but she took advantage of his kindness. All because she wanted to control the situation. He did not like that.

He stumbled towards her direction to ease the pain that did not seem to let up. He knew he would have to tough this one out. He could not let his prey escape. Starting to jog, he trailed after her. He would catch up to her one way or another.

And he did. He tackled her once more to the ground, his hands wrapping around her throat and squeezing. He had a snarl on his lips as he tightened his grip. Choking out, she clawed at Johnny's hands and face to try to loosen his grip. But he only made it worse.

"This will be the last time ya' try to two-time me." Johnny muttered as he stared her down. "I wish it was different. I really do. But ya' made me do this."

Her eyes fluttered as she felt all the air escape her lungs. She could never escape him. Why did she think she could? Johnny Slaughter hardly let his prey get away.

Choking again, her arms splayed out next to her and her vision and hearing fading in and out, she was defeated.

With a crunch, Johnny snapped her neck. He breathed hard as he looked at his beautiful creation. He was an artist himself. He knew deep down inside she was worth all the trouble. But it was time to feed the family. He knew he owed it to them.

Picking up her limp body, he lifted her over his shoulder and began to walk back to the Sawyer house. There was never a chase he didn’t end up enjoying. No matter how much trouble they caused.

‘I got you in a stranglehold baby. That night I crushed your face.’

#texas chainsaw massacre #texas chainsaw game #johnny sawyer #johnny slaughter #tcm johnny #tcm nubbins #tcm bubba #tcm game #tcm 1974 #johnny slaughter x reader #johnny sawyer x reader #johnny tcm

[alters-in-a-box]

i have. no requirements. putting just "perma2020s" into the box and seeing what comes out of it. that is all i cares about just "stereotypical 2020s-era, bunnyhat-wearing alt kid"

I had a lot of fun with this! The nostalgia of looking at some 2020 era content to remember the vibe was great, I hope you like xem!

📦

Name: kai / bug / arson / toms / clementine

Pronouns: she/he/it/xe/they/it/buzz/pog/uwu/owo/fluff/cool/epic/disc/music/📀

Gender: nyancatgender, buggender

Age: perma14

IDs: perma2020, transcharacter c!tommyinnit, transmascfem, bi lesbian, transpolyam

Role(s): nostalgia holder

Little info blurb: Kai is a cheerful teen who loves doing cosplays that are intentionally way over accessorized to the point of not being able to tell who it is, and absolutely loves making and trading kandi accessories! He is transcharacter c!tommy from dsmp, and adores seeing all other dsmp characters! Though the "dream smile" still makes disc anxious to see

--

Picrew

#📦 ~ open the box ;; alter builds #alters in boxes #build an alter #build a headmate

[olderthannetfic]

Hi! So I have a rambling explanation that’s going to lead into a genuine question about making a website somewhat like a03 or finding alternatives to a site I will mention (it’s not a03 don’t worry)

I am a non/disney editor, crossover artist, amv maker and deep faker and any other term for “make videos of characters in canon or au type scenarios to music”. I’m also a fanficcer. And I remember when being wary of Anne Rice and Archie Comics and DC was a thing. A teacher, to cover his ass for an assignment of mine, taught me how to write an apology letter to a company on the offhand my hand written basically Batman fanfiction, made it’s way online or was heard about. I was in the tail end right before A03 but I am extremely grateful that the site exists. Okay. So now I need to talk about the Owl House. In season three episode special one, Luz Noceda makes an amv coming out to her mom.

Editor friends in a private discord were both happy and worried. Luz is one of us….but also Disney knows about us, to some level. Nothings happened I’ve just been stewing and I’m just worried something might hit the fan for the community given many of us use Disney media (hard not to when 80% of things put out is by them) So I’m asking how one would make a platform like A03 but for video media. Or if there’s things you know like that. YouTube is getting more and more difficult for anyone nowadays too.

Again, nothings really happened yet, I just can’t get it out of my head

--

Video is worlds harder than text, but you know that.

There are a couple of approaches here: First, more is more. The more sites you have your stuff on, the smaller the chance that Disney can nuke all of them. Second, if you're not just using youtube and getting good at playing the algorithm, you need some way for people to find you or to keep track of all your alternate hosting.

Vidders of the oldschool sort have taken to using AO3. It doesn't have native hosting, of course, but it provides a stable URL and useful fandom-based tagging without algorithm bullshit. It's also a decent way to get vids out there if you only have download links and no streaming (though, of course, that means fewer views). You can embed a bunch of different copies of the same thing in the same work.

I don't know of a ton of fannish attempts at video hosting that are open to everyone. The only person I can think of who's heavily working on that is the guy behind Vidders.net who has a few different projects going.

For other hosting options, I'd see what AO3 currently has whitelisted for embedding. Two obvious ones are Critical Commons and Archive.org.

--

Broadly, yes, fanvids and AMVs have been subject to even more disastrous mass deletions than fanfic has, and far fewer of them have been saved by other fans because video files are huge.

Oldschool AMVs in the strict sense (i.e. Japanese anime and not Disney) are catalogued and sometimes hosted on animemusicvideos.org. Oldschool Media Fandom has some vidding archivists, and really old stuff was released on tape and then disc, and people still have their copies of those. But online-only fannish video stuff from the 00s and 10s has massive gaps in the historical record already.

Disney is quiescent now, but they haven't always been, and neither have other rights holders. Worse, a bunch of hosts vidders liked just up and deleted their entire sites, wiping out eras of videos and commentary.

Your stuff is in less danger than it would have been 10 years ago, as far as anyone can tell, but video is always in massive danger of disappearing.

--

If you actually succeed at video!AO3, more power to you! I'm just skeptical that you'll be up to the technical and financial challenge if you don't already know more than you currently do, you know?

Hosting video has, among other problems, the issue that people trading actual abuse materials will upload their videos to your service. Hosts often play whackamole with illegal and traumatizing content. I've known people whose jobs exposed them to this shit, and they were... not okay.

I guess you could make things slightly easier on yourself if you restricted video to cartoons only, but then you'd have the same issues amvs.org does where people who start as one kind of editor start working with other footage and keep trying to upload the wrong thing.

It's often not really viable to host unless you make everyone pay and/or you're authorizing a few dozen accounts of people you've vetted, not running a service just anyone can sign up for. Hosting a hundred videos for friends that you have reviewed and know to be fanvids/amvs is a lot easier than hosting enough stuff that you can't personally review it all.

If you or anyone else is interested in trying to start a site, I'd go check out the various writings by Denise (who runs Dreamwidth). She has some twitter threads and posts on enforcement and running a platform. I remember she talked about the tech people use to detect CSAM from known law enforcement databases.

I don't want to be a downer here, but there are serious legal implications to being the actual host as opposed to just running a discord or something on someone else's platform and reporting some fucker if they try to post illegal shit.

--

If I were you, I'd get my buddies together, embed all our works on AO3, and then maybe make a collection or tagging standards so we could find each other's stuff.

For hosting, I'd add the Internet Archive, Vimeo, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc. to Youtube and do a periodic audit of AO3 works to make sure links were still working.

AO3 already has a lot of tags that have been made filterable, like Fanvids, AMV, Video Format: Streaming, etc.

[a-reader-and-a-writer-for-all]

Bake Me a Cake (Stephen Holder Drabble)

Fandom: The Killing, Stephen Holder, f!reader

Summary: An offhanded joke leads to unexpected places.

Word Count: 562

“Bake me a cake, and we’ll talk.”

It had been a joke. An off-the-cuff response to Holder’s incessant flirting. After all, you had never seen him eat anything other than take-out or junk food. There was no way this man knew how to bake anything, even something as easy as a cake.

And yet, when you came into work the next morning, there was a fresh cake sitting on your side of your shared desk. Holder was nowhere to be seen, but it was obviously from him. Besides the obvious fact that the two of you had been discussing it yesterday, on top of the pink frosting he had spelled out “Let’s talk” with chocolate chips.

There was a fork and a CD next to the cake that had “Just ta prove it” scrawled on it in Holder’s messy writing. Popping the disc into your computer, you were greeted by slides of pictures and videos of Holder in his kitchen. He had exchanged his hoodie for an apron, and he was smiling goofily at the camera. As the slides progressed, it showed Holder making the cake through every step of the progress. There was no doubt about it. The pastry on your desk was made from scratch by your partner.

You eyed it cautiously. Even though it had seemed as if Holder had followed all the correct steps in the video, you were still hesitant to try it. But then again, how bad could he really screw up cake?

Picking up the fork, you broke off a small bite and brought it to your lips. As soon as the flavor hit your tongue, you couldn’t help the moan of pleasure that escaped your mouth.

“Ah snap! I knew I could get you to make that sound one way or another.” You whipped around to see Holder leaning against the doorframe, the same goofy smile as from the video spread across his face.

“What the hell, Holder!”

His face dropped immediately. “No, I…it was just a joke…I didn’t-”

You waved him off. “Not that. You’ve said worse in front of suspects or the boss. No, how the hell did you never tell me you knew how to bake like this!”

“Oh!” He seemed momentarily surprised but then he shrugged. “You never asked. When my moms left and Liz started takin’ care of me, I taught myself to cook so I could help out some.”

“Wait….so it’s not just cake? You can cook real meal food too?”

“Sure. Whatever you want, mama.”

You crossed your arms. “You realize if you would have told me that a long time ago, I would have agreed to this date a lot sooner.”

“Really?” he asked.

“Sure. Haven’t you ever heard the expression, ‘a way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach’?”

“Yeah but-” he paused as he finally realized what you had said. “Wait…so does that mean you’ll go out with me?”

You shrugged. “Why not. Turns out, there’s still a lot I don’t know about you. Maybe it’ll be nice to learn more once we’re away from the job.”

Holder practically leaped for joy. “Ah yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout! And if you think I’m good in the kitchen, just wait ‘til you see what I can do in the bedroom.”

You rolled your eyes, but you had to admit….you were pretty excited to find out.

#sfw repost #drabble #stephen holder drabble #stephen holder #stephen holder x reader #stephen holder x you #stephen holder x y/n #detective stephen holder #the killing #joel kinnaman #fluff

[sandrockianblues]

*kicks down door* Alex from Discord here- give me headcanons for my main duo, Qi and Burgess. I need to know about them. I need more fuel for the fanfic fire.

🌻Burgess🌻

-Burgess gets antsy with leaving the task of watering the plants to anyone else and WILL make sure they do it by sneaking around and hiding behind shit

-one of Burgess’ favorite things is when Miguel asks for his help with weeding and planting new life near the church grounds. It’s one of their bonding moments

-Burgess’ favorite song is You Are My Sunshine. He sings it for various moods, and it alleviates his nerves just a little.

-it’s not something he tells the builder, but rather they find out on their own because he subconsciously does it. Singing it to him or when he’s around gives him this strong sense of peace and comfort. He doesn’t like to make a big deal about it but he appreciates it an overwhelming amount

-taking long walks around town and looking at the thriving plant life is one of his favorite things to do. Suggesting it as a date will make his entire day and he’ll think back on it for the rest of the week

-start pressing flowers in books with him! He starts to worry about those that are frail and weak. The ones that are helpless as soon as their stem is near snapped off and can’t be fixed. Start a journal where you press flowers in it and write about where it was from, the day the builder and him found it, what it symbolizes

-start looking into what flowers symbolize too! It’ll become a new hobby to share with one another

-pet names are great and all, but nothing is gonna make him feel more loved than calling each other by a flower as well. Like “My daffodil”, “my rose”, “blossom”, etc

-he won’t admit it, but he secretly wishes to have Macchiato for a pet. She’s just so cute and her fur is so pretty when she sunbathes between blades of grass. He’s got such a soft spot for her and unlike Banjo, she doesn’t eat at the plants.

-he actually surprisingly likes to link arms more than hold hands! There’s a certain closeness to the body it provides and feels more intimate. He’ll hold the builder’s hand, ofc, but he’s not prone to linking fingers together as one would think.

-he enjoys picnics between the small collected trees not too far from the builder’s workshop! It’s peaceful and shaded with the few plant life around

🚀Qi🚀

-just, just get an unlimited supply of tea.

-when he desperately needs sleep and is too preoccupied to truly notice anything, switch his mint tea out for chamomile. Literally, he’s too distracted to actually know

-he loves to talk about space and theories and all that when given the chance and time. The builder doesn’t have to know exactly what he’s talking about. But just listening and watching him makes him feel like the most important person alive

-keep an eye out for any data discs that are actually movies! While he prefers sci-fi, he’s actually really fascinated with the Old World and is willing to watch anything “for the sake of science”

-waltzing in during the mornings with a cup holder filled with hot steaming tea actually brightens his day significantly and guarantees a more approachable Qi

-he won’t admit it for years, but he just loves when the Builder comes in with a book and settles in while he works. It’s that peaceful silence he can bask in because he’s got their company to tune into.

-having the Builder close by alleviates a portion of his stress. When his mind feels too rattled with information and hypotheticals and equations. Even Qi needs a break sometimes. Having the builder within view for when his eyes drift up is a weird sort of peace he’s come to love.

-asking him what he’s doing and then the five W’s and “how” actually helps him refocus when he’s losing track. Sometimes it helps with a breakthrough.

-making him rice helps him throughout the day, but he still needs proper meals despite not requesting it. A lump sometimes forms in his throat though when he turns suddenly only to find a plate of food there that he hasn’t noticed before- a sudden burst of love flooding him as he eats because he has someone to do that for him now

-the Builder can convince him to go to a fireside meeting- he’s just gonna make it their problem by being a loveable frustrating little shit

-Qi actually knows when he’s getting on their nerves sometimes and does it purposely when he’s getting bored with his work. There’s something about seeing the fire in his significant other’s eyes that triggers the need to work even harder so he can pay attention to them fully afterwards

-if he’s stressed, the sudden presence of their hand in his messy hair loosens him up and prompts him to stop for a second, letting him breathe. The gentle movements and threading of their fingers eases his nerves

-believe it or not, if he were to own a pet, it’d be CoCo. He’s utterly fascinated by the owl and respects the bird more than the majority of the residents of Sandrock

#my time at sandrock #mtas #sandrock #pathea #sandrock builder #mtas builder #Mtas qi #Sandrock qi #Mtas burgess #Sandrock burgess #Mtas head canon #Sandrock head canon #ask box #siren speaks

[bro3256]

Reproductions are just Counterfeits with a different name

Since the dawn of time, video games have been copied illegally and sold on the second hand market without the endorsement of license holders. However it was pretty easy to tell the difference between a legit copy of a game and a bootleg. You couldn't fool anyone that this was a legit copy of Super Mario Bros. 3, right?

They were often sold for cheap, or in some cases were able to be rented. However as console gaming moved from cartridges to discs these bootleg cartridges slowly started to fade away in western markets. They didn't completely disappear but the prominence of them dwindled up until the 2000s. Then slowly but surely, we started to see cartridges pop up that look like the real deal but are actually counterfeit.

These are often called "Reproductions" or "Repros" for short. Despite the new name, the purpose of these cartridges still serve the exact same purpose as those bootleg cartridges from decades ago. Except this time these repros were made to look real to the point where it can fool people who don't know any better. Sure the hardcore collector can easily tell which is real or counterfeit, but everyone else?

But wait! There are also cases of "reproductions" being made of games that technically don't exist. Here we have a copy of Kid Dracula on NES which... hang on a minute! This was a Famicom game that never left Japan which never saw an NES release. This also seems to contain an English fan translation which I doubt the manufacturer of this cartridge got permission to use that for this cartridge. So wait why even call this a reproduction to begin with? This isn't mimicking anything that exists, it's no different to any other counterfeit cartridge.

There's also folks who consider modern cartridges such as this to be "reproductions". This is not trying to replicate anything that exists. It's a bootleg multicart, it's also not a "fake" game. The games on this cartridge are very real but the cartridge itself is worth next to nothing due to it being counterfeit.

There's also a huge issue with "reproductions" being sold for an absurd markup. Even if its not trying to replicate an existing game, why would you spend around $40 for what is essentially an unlicensed cartridge that realistically is worth dirt. If your argument is because this allows you to play these games on original hardware then invest in a flash cartridge or anything that lets you run rom files on original hardware which negates ever considering purchasing any of this.

I'm not a huge fan of calling all these newly manufactured cartridges reproductions when there are many which clearly do not fall under the actual definition of a reproduction. For something to be labeled as a reproduction it must replicate the original such as this EarthBound cartridge.

It's clearly based on the real thing and without further inspection looks close enough to the authentic cartridge. Compare that to other cartridges such as this seemingly innocent North American cartridge of Animal Crossing. The thing is that this never left Japan at least on the N64. So would you call this a reproduction?

Going by the actual definition it does not qualify due to it not replicating the original cartridge but instead mocking up what an American copy would look like. Since its distinct from the original cartridge I find it hard to call it a reproduction when it isn't even reproducing anything outside of the core game within (with a stolen fan translation might I add). If you were to give it a label it's simply a counterfeit or unlicensed cartridge despite the fake ESRB and Nintendo seal on the cartridge.

If I had to guess as to the reason why everything of this nature is labeled as reproductions is probably just to cover up the fact that these are by nature unauthorized copies of games which in return technically falls under copyright infringement. So its likely that this term is widespread to cover up that fact. That's not to say I'm completely against cartridges like this in general. I like collecting the odd bootleg cartridge every so often, but these newer cartridges don't appeal to me. I'll just stick to either buying original copies or play these games on flash cartridges.

#video games #collecting #retro games #retro gaming #bootlegs #counterfeits #reproductions

[homosociallyyours]

Megan, I love your brain and I'd love to know what you think about the most recent tidal wave to hit our wee fandom. Is this just gonna be a brief reprieve before we get Aloucia, did Eleanor decide she finally wanted a meaningful life of her own beyond bathroom pics and dog walking? What do you reckon ? X

ok so THIS is the ask I've been wanting to get to!! thank you to everyone who sent me asks and helped me open my computer!

and MAJOR thanks to @goodshiplarrypop for asking my opinion on something?? It's rare and a fun lil treat! AND it's probably for the best that I'm not answering when this is actually the main discourse, bc as much as I do like sharing my thoughts I do NOT like being pulled into disc horsing around, really? That said. I'm putting my answer behind a cut:

I will preface this by saying that this is all my opinion and conjecture, and I don't expect anyone to agree with me. I'm also not interested in debating, so if you don't agree with me that's chill BUT I have no need to hear about it.

I think we've seen signs that Eleanor has been doing her own thing and developing a stronger work life for a while now. She's been working with a lot more brands, and honestly from what I can tell she seems to be having success as a luxury influencer. Her follower count is high enough and even with comments turned off on posts she still gets decent engagement in terms of likes and stuff.

It does appear to me that she loves animals, and I will be surprised if we don't see her with Cliff sometimes. A big part of me thinks that this ending is meant to be a "more mature" one for her and Louis-- they wanted different things and grew apart but still care for each other vs. him basically being a cheater party boy (or having that for her). If that's the approach they take, it could do a lot for allowing Louis down time-- lots of "will they get back together?" moments based simply on her proximity to him BUT allowing her the freedom to actually be out in the world with any man she's really seeing.

For Louis, this is a great chance to be Single and career focused, and honestly kinda makes his interactions with F over the past year+ make a lot more sense to me. I think it's entirely possible that the idea of hanging out with a kid every once in a while-- something Louis likes doing and is good at --might feel like a better use of his time than going on week long trip or doing a papped night out to feed into a straight guy narrative. And obviously timing-wise the January-January ending feels like something that's been planned and expected.

That said, is Aloucia coming asap? I mean. I would be surprised? But I often am! I have a feeling that it's meant more as a place holder, like maybe something more could connect them in a few months. Maybe it was a wink and a nod to anyone who pays attention to stunts. Maybe he likes pictures of fireworks! I truly don't know.

One thing for sure is that if she does happen to stunt with him, I plan on being really annoying and pointing out the ways that beards can't win and are treated horribly no matter what they do or how they do it. It's the one place where I feel like outside critique of larries actually holds water, and I just hate to see antis taking that W on us when we could honestly just thrive by saying less! OH ALSO i find it funny that half of Clexa and half of Larry could be "together" like WHAT IT THE ACTUAL FAN FICCING FUCK??? hilarious!!!! like reliving the 2010s!

ok I think that's all I've got to say for now! hopefully you don't regret sending me this ask!

#1d #if this ends up in any tags i am so so sorry #these are simply my thots and onions :) #i do not claim to be correct and you don't have to agree with me #stunt mention

[witchlockmonsterfox]

i’ve been working on my new herb collection for a couple or so months now because i couldn’t afford to buy it all at once and it’s almost complete… i’m very excited to finally show it off although a lot of stuff i got tiny packages of because i worried about not using them. there’s also not many herbs (so it won’t be some massive, impressive collection like i used to have) and some i still want but don’t know when i really can put in the money for (sandalwood sticks… the nice ones can run like 30 dollars)

i still have a few more i need to buy myself at the store/take from my own plants/scavenge for and dry out because it’s cheaper than buying them online when i don’t have to (mint, ginger root, cloves, star anise, rose petals… i often buy bouquets for roses but i know a place of public property to get them it’s just out of town and i can’t waste the gas for it. hopefully eventually i’ll get my opium poppy pods too for my altar which are one of my favourite decorations but that’s going to be months from now)

i already have all my old pagan/witchcraft tools and bought some things like chime candles and charcoal discs a couple years ago so i’m good on that… i think the last things left are new fabric to use as my altar’s foundation and some new candle holders so hopefully i’ll finally have an altar set up again next month? maybe?? this is taking forever because as usual… money…

i also am still deciding what to do with my book of shadows… years ago i took apart my old one, keeping the pages i liked, and keeping the cover which is a hard cover, black, and has the triple moon symbol in gold.

problem is as i discovered over the years it’s REALLY annoying working with a physical BoS that doesn’t have a ring holder so you can easily remove/add/reorganize pages so i don’t know if i want to attempt to DIY it or just buy a new one. especially since most of my info/spells/etc. are in a digital format and it’d make it so much easier to choose my favourites, print (maybe on special paper and adding other personal touches myself), punch holes, add…

i think i’ll try to DIY myself first then go for a new one already in a binder format (either something with a design or adding my own)… i just love the cover of my original and most binders are kind of cheap looking… not that my original was that fancy either but

#ted.txt

[vanillagvsts]

I was about to write some violent text about what im feeling but then my therapist responded me (i was chatting with her about my feelings in text since my session is wednesday), and she wants me to talk more about [ ] and what [ ] represents to me to see if this is gonna make us feel better,

I hope it does, this blinding rage never ends up well, i never end up making anything good out of it, i understand [ ] sucks and i hate [ ] but i also started to recognise that there's nothing really productive anymore on going after [ ], i already did what i could do, the victim is protected now and that's what matters, my image does not, my rage does not, my violence does not, at least not to the public, it matters to me, so i need to treat those violence, rage and desire for revenge on myself,

I think what makes me most rageful is that the comparisons [ ] make of us never really justify what [ ] did, it's like the most mediocre competition of the world, but one is just trying to finish the task and the other is trying to overpower the other. Literally nothing will change what [ ] did to multiple people, even if i was revealed to be scum of the earth,

So why do I feel so much rage? I think it's repressed rage from years finally coming up, it's pain, it's sadness, it's anger, blinding anger that don't really have more to it, it's the same feelings looping over and over again until they disappear, it's the need to make [ ] suffer, i want [ ] to suffer. That's the end of it, [ ] made me suffer and I don't want [ ] to go away from that cleanly,

Everytime i talk about my rage and desire of making [ ] suffer, i get told i'm okay for having those feelings, even my therapist says it's okay, [ ] made me suffer, so i want [ ] to suffer, but it doesn't feel in character for me, it's like i'm always fighting a rabid dog, which i literally am, our revenge holder is a literal dog LOL

The memory of [ ] is traumatizing, it re-traumatizes me everytime i have an episode related to [ ]. it splits so many fucking people that's why there's like so many introjects of the same motherfucker.

This goes beyond the callout to me now, the callout was a dry cut to me, it was something it needed to be addressed, and it was, now that don't matter anymore, i already did my part on combating what was right to combat, I'm not gonna lose my time repeating the same thing over and over again like a broken disc, the thread exists, people can read it over and over again, the proof is there, the things are spilled, there's nothing about that to speak to anymore, there's nothing else to fight anymore, now it's just feelings left to feel, now it's just rage.

I finished my fight but at the end of the day i'm still the same fight dog, there's nothing else to bite, nothing else to fight, i can't do anything else than what i already did,

The fear of being misinterpreted everytime i write a line still permeates within me and it came to a point i don't care anymore, accuse me of being morally terrible, i don't really care what others think about me if they're not my friends, i want to express my feelings and i will,

I know you will take my words and use them against me, that you will crop parts of my words and use it to tell your 5 boot-lickers of how horrible i am, but yeah i don't really care about being terrible anymore, if there's something i learn about in my new job is that people will give you hell for making a mediocre job, even if it's not anything bad, i heard so many terrible things about myself at work for trying my best from clients who don't understand how it's hard to be in my role, so i guess work did teach me something new that i can carry for life: Sometimes people will say you fucking suck and you can't do shit about it, but who cares honestly

This ramble is not any kind of message, i'm not really trying to start anything, this is more of a cathartic thing for me, after all this is my vent account and i want to be free to express myself, and honestly i don't feel angry anymore after writing this, i feel better, i think writing your feelings really is good for your emotions,

I think if i wanna add something is that i thought (( was gonna hurt me way more, but it really didn't, in the end i don't think i care about (( anymore, (( was kind of an annoying person to be around to me but i never really noticed how much (( was annoying until (( left, sometimes people just fucking suck as friends lmao, i can't say no one misses (( i think some headmates do and still cry over it, but i think personally me i don't really think about (( at all

I've been clean from looking at [ ] stuff for months, and i'm pretty proud of it, i think if younger me could see me today, they would be relieved,

I think thats all, this really made me feel better, thanks for reading my vent

[sortanonymous]

Sorta's CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Collection

Tons of notes under the cut

The Beatles Red and Blue albums are the 2023 remixed and expanded versions, not the 2010 remasters with practically the exact same packaging.

The Bad 25 case has been jammed since I got it in 2019, so despite it having a bonus disc inside, I've only ever been able to use the first disc. Yeah, that's nice.

I do have the slipcover on Echoes in a drawer, but not on the case because the case is kind of busted and can't fit it.

The tiny replacement case is for Running with Scissors by "Weird Al" Yankovic.

I don't actually have Rio or Surf's Up (at least not the discs anymore) but I'm using them as replacement cases for the Snow White 2001 cases, since that case wasn't in great shape. Prepare to see something like that a lot.

The Tangled DVD case has disc 1 of the Atlantis DVD due to a bad disc holder in that case (disc 2 isn't too bad though)

The copy of Iron Man on the third shelf was one I bought from a record store in 2020 that somehow didn't have the bonus Blu-Ray, but instead a DVD copy, and for some reason I didn't think to get a refund (it was the same visit actually when I got Echoes and its bad case).

I put the discs for the Steven Universe box set in those four clear cases due to how bad the sleeves were. However, I also keep the original Season 1 DVD there (which I got a couple years earlier in 2018) because the identical S1 discs in that specific box set might have been particularly ruined. (Now do you see why I want disc sleeves in box sets banned?)

I do have Angry Birds Toons S2, Vol. 1 on DVD, but due to, wait for it, another bad case, I have the disc in the Lion King 2011 Blu-Ray case, which conveniently was missing the DVD. (Same story actually for Finding Dory as I moved my Kirby's Dream Collection case into there from a bad GameStop case, although nowadays at least it's backed up through USB Loader GX.)

The Star Trek Compendium steelbook version on the 2nd shelf (which was also from that visit to that record store that I swear was way better than I'm making it out to be) was such a nightmare packaging-wise that I just ordered the case version of it.

The version of Star Trek Beyond I have is the Target 2-disc Blu-Ray, with the DVD thrown into the Snow White 2001 case.

The Cartoon Saloon box set's weird disc holders were bad (especially for Song of the Sea, which had to spend a few days after Christmas '21 in an empty Wii U case) so I have those 4 discs in a plain case.

The Arrested Development S1 DVD I bought in 2023 had a broken disc spindle, so the 3 discs are spread across an empty Minecraft Xbox case, a LEGO Star Wars Force Awakens PS4 case, and the actual case.

I also have a VERY old DVD of Batman (1989) via a Wii copy of LEGI Batman: The Videogame.

Ftr, I still haven't mentioned that I'll probably need replacement cases, for varying reasons, for Encanto, A Bug's Life, every 2018-present Pixar movie with 2 Blu-Ray discs, MCU Phase 3b (and 3a if I ever get that in 4K), Holy Grail Extraordinarily Deluxe edition, SpongeBob 100 Episodes, and especially del Toro's Pinocchio.

Tl;dr: my tastes might be a bit limited and weird and apparently making a reliable case is 100 times harder than you think. Viva La Disque!

#physical media #physical storage media #blu ray #dvd #cd #blu ray collection #dvd collection #cd collection #death to disc sleeves #btw i'm such a horrible procrastinator at just watching movies that a good chunk of these i've never even watched #and the ones i have i haven't seen most of the extras that make me buy extra versions #but i just love the collection #a collection of purchases spanning well over a decade #and movies literally spanning almost a hundred years (even if nearly everything pre-2000s is just mostly-disney animated films) #also fun mixing in the classics everyone knows with some out of left-field over looked gems #like literally who else's tiny cd shelf includes brian wilson the beatles coldplay drake pink floyd weird al and oneohtrix point never? #actually scratch that who's cd shelf even includes oneohtrix point never? well i know mine does!

[westofwyeast]

Altar, 1st of Maimakterion, Year Three of the 700th Olympiad (15th of November, 2023)

Holiday: Noumenia

First time making honey cakes for offering. Will work on making this happen every Noumenia.

First time preparing a Kadiskos for Zeus Ktesios

Prints on the altar will eventually need to be hung on the wall. That will serve as a sort of ancestor shrine rather than part of the main altar. Need to get the rest of the prints I want for this display and purchase frames before beginning this process, however.

Old raku-glazed jar serving purpose well as holder of barley grain for offerings. May need to add other things to it (such as frankincense for smoke offerings in resin burner).

Speaking of the resin burner, need to purchase tongs or tweezers for aiding in lighting of charcoal discs for incense.

San Diego Zoo glass very helpful for extinguishing incense puck so the room can be left/made safe for cats. However, it's not a long term solution. Recommend purchasing more used glassware from Goodwill to replace this in the near future.

The blue cup for spilling libations into until I can properly take them outside is so nice and I love it so much and gods, I hope I don't drop it and break it. It's just stuff if that happens, but still.

Not quite sure what the tiny glasses I bought are going to do now that I have the big blue cup, other than for secondary libations when promised or offered, but its helping keep things symmetrical for the moment which is good enough.

White votive candle from the Dollar Tree working well now I have a wax taper to light it with. Definitely seems the best way to continue forward with having Hestia at the altar.

#praxis diary #altar #noumenia #november 2023

[docrotten]

ZOMBIE 3 (1988) – Episode 232 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

“I like smoking. I take a toke once in a while, and now and then I like to piss on a bush! Am I going to go to Hell for that?” It depends on your religion. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr – as they experience Zombie 3 (1988), Lucio Fulci’s faux sequel to his faux sequel.

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 232 – Zombie 3 (1988)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

When a terrorist’s body, infected with a stolen chemical, is cremated by the US military, a virus is unintentionally released into the atmosphere over a small island.

  Directors: Lucio Fulci, Bruno Mattei, Claudio Fragasso

Writers: Claudio Fragasso, Rossella Drudi, Lucio Fulci

Producer: Franco Gaudenzi

Edited by: Alberto Moriani

Special Effects Makeup: Franco Di Girolamo

Stunts

Ottaviano Dell’Acqua (stunt coordinator)

Dante Abadeza (assistant stunt coordinator) (as Dante Abadessa)

Massimo Vanni (stunts) (uncredited)

Selected Cast:

Deran Sarafian as Kenny

Beatrice Ring as Patricia

Ottaviano Dell’acqua as Roger (credited as Richard Raymond)

Massimo Vanni as Bo (credited as Alex McBride)

Ulli Reinthaler as Nancy

Marina Loi as Carol

Deborah Bergamini as Lia

Robert Marius as Dr. Holder

Mike Monty as General Morton 

Maricar Totengco as Suzanna (uncredited)

Claudio Fragasso as Soldier at creamatorum (uncredited)

Bruno Mattei as Soldier at creamatorum (uncredited)

It’s time to return to the gloriously gory realm of the Italian zombie movie. Whoa-boy! Zombie 3 (aka Zombi 3, aka Zombie Flesh Eaters 2), is a sequel to Fulci’s Zombi 2 (1979) in name only, much as Fulci’s Zombi 2 (known as Zombie in the U.S.) is a “sequel” to Romero’s Zombi (1978, known as Dawn of the Dead in the States). Alternate film titles, am I right? Woof. 

Regardless, Fulci does return to direct this feature but it’s eventually co-directed by Bruno Mattei and Claudio Fragrasso when Fulci leaves the Philippines for . . . reasons. What about those reasons? Or the story? Or the locations? Or the effects work? Or the acting? Or the . . . well, you’re just going to have to check out what the 80s Grue Crew have to say about this latterday Fulci effort.

Hey, it’s still Fulci which makes it worth a watch in the Decades of Horror book. At the time of this writing, Zombie 3 is available to stream with ads from Tubi and The Roku Channel; by subscription from Flix Fling, Night Flight, or Screambox; and from multiple PPV sources. Zombie 3 is also available as a Blu-ray disc from Severin Films.

If you’re interested, here are other Decades of Horror episodes focused on movies directed by Lucio Fulci:

ZOMBIE (1979) — Episode 62 — Decades Of Horror 1970s

CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (THE GATES OF HELL, 1980) – Episode 145 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

THE BEYOND (1981) – Episode 123 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (1981) – Episode 209 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

THE BLACK CAT (1981) – Episode 184 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Jeff, will be The Loch Ness Horror (1982). “Boom!” goes the dynamite.

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans – so leave them a message or comment on the Gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the Gruesome Magazine website, or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at [email protected].

Check out this episode!

[blubberquark]

Drawing the line at NFT Games?

I originally wanted to start this post with a list of changes in the games industry, changes to games, how they are developed, released, and played, and explain how they made gaming worse over the last 25 years. I decided against it. If you do not understand how day-1 patches, on-disc DLC, microtransactions, invasive DRM, and the absence of LAN/offline play have made games worse over time, I don’t know what to tell you. The same economic pressures that made AAA games more expensive to fund and soul-crushing to work on also those games less fun to play. In order to squeeze as much money as possible out of games, game design has been tainted by monetisation, and monetisation takes every opportunity to take the fun out of games and hide it behind a paywall.

Even existing games are not safe from this. You used to be able to play Rocket League on Linux, but now you can’t.

Not all games have become FarmVille, but games becoming more like FarmVille - not fun, but a tedious grind - has been normalised. A large part of the hype around NFTs is just a re-branding of existing monetisation schemes.

This poses a significant problem when I look at the criticisms of “NFT games“. Almost none of the drawbacks of NFT games are new. They are same the things we have seen for years, but now they are on the blockchain. The blockchain is almost always an afterthought, and the developer’s servers are the actual authority on game state. Most NFT games could easily “patch out“ all the blockchain and smart contracts with an update, leaving the gameplay side intact.

Some games have already showed us that the game code takes precedence over NFTs, and have removed tokens - so much for provable, unassailable owenership of digital goods! Games could even selectively blacklist some NFTs and not others.

Taking the blockchain out of a tedious NFT game like Axie Infinity would leave a FarmVille style game, with all the microtransactions that make the game not fun still intact, and all the digital goods stored on directly game servers.

Conversely, adding blockchain technology to an existing AAA game will not automatically make the game design worse, what makes it worse is pay-to-win mechanics, a degraded standard experience intended to make the player reach for the wallet to alleviate pain and boredom by paying his way out, advertising DLC you are “missing out on“ if you play the main game without it, and so on. Storing those on the blockchain will not degrade the game. Having in-app purchases at all is the problem.

Theoretically, backing in-game inventory with NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain could allow players to trade items outside of the game, but in practice, this only makes sense if the items are worth real money. There is no reason to trade items between players of different games any more than I have a reason to add playable bored ape characters to my next game jam game and limit them to NFT holders - which is to say the reasons are hype and novelty, because I can, and maybe it would be fun to implement. It definitely wouldn’t be fun to play.

Theoretically, you could even have trading card games where individual cards are stored on the block chain, and you could trade them outside the game. Again, the block chain does not really enable anything truly new, it would just be the data storage for card ownership. It would probably make people who buy card NFTs as investments mad if they were nerfed or superseded by stronger cards. You could also just make a game where everybody has all the cards, and building a deck is the main focus, or you could make a draft mode, or you could design your game so playing your cards right within a match is more important than deck building, or you could allow mods and custom cards. Collectible card games already have monetisation strategies that exert negative influence on game design, NFTs or not.

Tradeable items sold for real money with the game developer’s blessing have already existed in the Diablo 3 Real Money Auction House (RMAH), and continue to exist in Eve Online. Why did Diablo 3 fail where Eve succeeded? I think it’s because Diablo 3 had an un-fun game design, with too much emphasis on grinding and not enough on game play, whereas Eve has varied and interesting gameplay. Interestingly, blizzard later re-designed Diablo 3 and took out the RMAH, and only then could they re-design the game, re-balance drop rates, and create a sensible in-game economy. Backing tradeable items with NFTs would introduce the same problems the RMAH had, but

Of course, the negative environmental externalities of a blockchain are much worse, and transactions may take a long time to finalise. But that would be giving the NFT hype too much credit. Most “adding NFTs to games” schemes do not use the blockchain all that much. It’s just hype. It would be inefficient if every rare item dropped in a hack-and-slash game was committed to an eternal public ledger, and since this is all hype, AAA games that want to have “NFTs“ as just another bullet point next to “crafting”, “progression mechanics”, and “open word” would probably just mint five hundred custom texture packs and auction them off, instead of tying their core game loop to the Ethereum blockchain.

Most of the problems of “NFT“ games are already present in non-blockchain games. Most of the cool applications of blockchain tech in games were already possible, and nobody built them.

None of the above is new. There is a new type of game, like Axie Infinity, which I will call financialised games. Those present themselves as an investment opportunity, a new line of work, or a financial instrument. They are trying to create their own version of the World of Warcraft gold farming industry or the Eve Online space ship market out of whole cloth. They are trying to establish their in-game currency as an investment.

The driving idea behind financialised NFT games like Axie Infinity is not just storing your Mii or your Blue Eyes White Dragon on the block chain. It’s creating a new fungible (yes, fungible), sellable token that is “backed” by wasted time in the same way bitcoin is “backed“ by wasted electricity. Instead of the price of electricity, this token can be mined for the minimum wage.

I don’t think I have to explain to game designers why it doesn’t work like this, but in case you work in finance are the kind of guy who gives other people unsolicited stock advice at cocktail parties, here is the problem: Gold farming in World of Warcraft was profitable because the game was a slow grind, and Blizzard got paid by the month, and they made it so you couldn’t just grind the game in one sitting, so people who wanted to do high-level raids with their friends had to commit a lot of time every week to keep up, or they paid people to farm gold and level their characters. The value of gold in-game was so high because there was cool content behind the grind, and there were people in there who played the game for fun.

The same goes for Eve Online. It has a large player base of dedicated players who play it for fun, and to socialise with other Eve players. They hang out on forums and in chat rooms to strategise.

Play-to-earn games on the other hand are not marketed as places to hang out with your friends or rich worlds full of cool stuff to discover, with weeks worth of story content. They are marketed as opportunities to earn money. Nobody even pretends that they are fun to play for more than a couple of hours. If they were, they could charge money up-front, like regular games. Instead they pay players who otherwise couldn’t be bothered to play the game on their free time, because the game is not fun. And the game can’t be fun, or that would drive up the supply of in-game currency. Game design again suffers from monetisation, but in the case of play-to-earn games, it suffers more. That means the value of in-game money cannot be driven by people who want to get ahead in the game for fun, only by people who see it as an investment opportunity.

And then what? Who will you sell your in-game currency to? Other people who hate playing it?

Play-To-Earn game currencies are a bad investment opportunity because they do not have good fundamentals. They don’t have fundamentals at all.

#if I tag this will annoying bots follow me #block chain #NFT games #game design