#i can’t not get this vinyl too i’m a ~collector~

[foliejpg]

yup the folie merch is soooo ugly haha!! (checking my bank account) you guys are right it’s sooo bad their merch is sooo ugly (checking internet connection) they should hire a graphic designer haha!! (charging my phone to full battery) so ugly!!!

[the-bjd-community-confess]

“Legit BJDs under 200 USD” oh please! If you like them so much and think they’re such a great deal, then you buy them! All those off topic looking, vinyl, blank, tiny or ugly dolls. This “too bad so sad” attitude for doll collectors not in the “community” or who can’t afford a legit, beautiful doll with a face up disgusts me. Not everyone can paint a doll on their own or afford a company face up. Not to mention, recast dolls only hurt companies, not the artists. Companies pay artists per projected sale, not unit. They don’t get paid for every single copy of the original doll sold. When a company hires/commissions an artists to create a sculpt, that sculpt is licensed through the company.

They pay them a certain % of each doll the company is expected to sell. Once the dolls are made and shipped the artist has already been paid for their work, even if the company sells more than they anticipated, it’s a fixed commission price. If a company shuts down because of recasts, the licensing of those sculpts can go back to the artist, and they could have them cast and sell them individually by order, like a lot of newer small artists do. At the end of the day they’re selling a product. I don’t want to pay for “art”, I’m buying a doll. If I am going to pay more than 100 dollars for a toy, I need it to be painted, at the very least have eyes, and not wait 2 years for it to come in the mail. And not everyone wants to collect tinyfox or pennyboxes or small dolls, or fat ugly little anime dolls with no face up, or brittle 3D printed, un-sanded pieces of junk 😒 bootlegs only hurt people who feel entitled to not let anyone enjoy something for less money than they paid. “Boohoo! I paid 600 dollars for this doll so you have to as well! Or pay 200 for something you don’t like just to be part of a hobby you want nothing to do with!” Go pound sand if you don’t like what people do with their money.

~Anonymous

[landlordrecords]

Charity CD shopping for beginners

About nine years ago, I did THIS post: https://www.tumblr.com/landlordrecords/77471855182/charity-record-shopping-for-beginners , which I thought was quite good & summed up the subject of shopping for records in charity shops quite well, & seemed to get the odd nice comment. Since then, vinyl has swung back into favour, & everyone now seems to think every piece of vinyl is worth a fortune, & hence the charity shops either have overpriced vinyl or none at all (as either the shops sell them online or at central stores, or punters hold onto them or sell them online). Hence, the current state of the charity shops for vinyl is very poor, back to the days of largely bad easy listening & 80s records. It must be an annoying time to be starting out as a record collector (can you imagine starting now? Jeez. It was a tall enough order when I started at the beginning of the 90s). I covered CDs briefly in that piece, but I felt that with the way things have gone, that bit needed expanding somewhat. As with the previous one, if you’ve been around for a while, most of this will be obvious, but...

When the vinyl in charity shops started drying up a few years ago, I noticed the CDs were becoming more plentiful & cheaper. I often largely ignored these before, rushing from shop to shop when I was in a town for an hour or two, to look at all the vinyl. CDs in charity shops often used to be relatively expensive (£3/£4), considering that you can’t always guarantee they will play right, & the selection often poor. Now, as more people clear out collections & settle for streaming, the charity shops didn’t know what to do with them all, they had so many, & they have dropped to a max of usually £1.25, & often even 20p/25p, at which price it doesn’t really matter if the odd one doesn’t play (indeed, this is cheaper than replacement jewel cases used to be - if I was more mercenary, I’d hoover up loads of Westlife CDs, throw out the discs & replace all my bust boxes). With the pandemic, there was a huge amount of stuff people had time to sort & throw out, & this did seem to cause a charity shop wobble, with some being overwhelmed with CDs they couldn’t get rid of, & stopping doing them altogether (I even stuck one place £20 when they were literally giving away two rooms full of discs & I’d handpicked 100 from them). This seems to have calmed down now though. I have no idea how many I’ve bought in recent years - certainly many hundreds, maybe low thousands - I’ve had to start a supplementary part of my collection at my parents’ house, at the other end of the country, for the less exciting ones, there have been so many. Don’t get me wrong, I REALLY love vinyl - I was a record collector for several years before we even got a CD player, & I just stuck with it, BUT I’m not ultra-fussy - I do like to have physical copies of things, but don’t really mind what format, & new vinyl prices are truly mental, so... CDs also do have some obvious advantages - more compact, not better but more reliable audio playback (& probably better audio for a small but significant number of very quiet releases where you’d need virgin vinyl kept pristine to get good audio for them on vinyl), plus readymade for ripping from. 

My first big bagging was a couple of full collections of hip hop CDs - I pretty much completely overhauled my hip hop collection, filling in classics I’d never got round to, pretty much full (relevant) discographies for various rappers I’d never caught up with. There were earlier & later ones, but the bulk were from what I’d call the silver age (mid 90s-early 2000s), a lot of which I had ignored because of the received wisdom that this generation of hip hop albums were overlong, had too many skits, were just a couple of singles & an hour of filler. I have to say, this changed my opinion on that - I generally listen to CDs in the car, often hopping between stop-offs, & (taken in this episodic way, & able to dedicate more concentration than I can often give rap lyrics, while driving mechanically around well-known streets), I found most (certainly not all) to be way better than that, & well worth a listen or two. Also (& this isn’t new, but I’ve increased it), I spend a lot of time looking at 90s CD singles: these were often ultra-long, full of soundalike remixes, & I found this a chore at the time, but (still fiending for a lot of stuff from then), it’s surprising how many have good quality mixes buried away deep into the tracklist, even ones by acts you wouldn’t normally touch with a bargepole, & while some might be expensive on vinyl, they’re certainly not on CD single (if you can spot them). With the aforementioned episodic driving, I even quite like listening to half an hour’s worth of mixes of the same tune in order to find the goodies!

Most of the rules which I gave in the earlier piece, regarding vinyl, stay the same here -

For the Collector, Not the Dealer: I know several people who have advocated for years not to throw the baby out with the bath water on CDs - yes, they started overpriced, but became a useful, cheap way to pick up catalogue BUT they are not generally worth much still. I am starting to see rumblings that this is changing (think pieces etc), & it surely will do over time, as supplies on some titles get tighter; plus I seem to be selling cheap CDs better than a few years ago, for ever so slightly more, & occasionally for good prices BUT this is not a goldmine, it is for the enthusiast.

Broad Not Deep: Some genres I barely find in charity shops - for instance, any experimental stuff will be near-random & rare, & I don’t see much metal at all (I presume people hold onto it or swoop in first). Hence, you can’t generally go in expecting to find certain stuff (with the odd exception of ones I’ve seen hundreds of times but not thought I was interested in, then hear, like, & know I can go out & find within the next few stores). To be heavily into it, you need to be into a broad spread of stuff, & prepared to come home with a pretty random selection, commercial or obscure.

Go In Them All, Look At Every CD: Charity shops are seriously random, you never know what will come in when.

Be Prepared For Defeat: To be fair, with charity shop CDs at the mo, I could always buy SOMETHING, but try to keep your quality control going & be prepared to be pleased just to have swept that area recently. I sometimes find comps that have one or two tracks I’m after, but I listen to everything (eventually), & can’t always bear the thought of hearing all the other tracks I’ve got ten times over yet again.

If It Seems Right, Ask: I haven’t bothered getting into situations where I might get into the storeroom so much with CDs as with vinyl, but I still do occasionally get invited to look at further hidden stock if I ask if they’ve any more music. Worth a go in the right situation.

The Genres You Don’t Buy Yet: Refer back to Broad Not Deep.

Prices: We are starting to get back to where a few of the chains now have a special shop where they send all the good stuff (books, DVDs, CDs), & ramp the prices up. I’m willing to look, but unlikely to buy anything, at big prices in charity shops unless it’s some unbelievable find - most CDs are probably the same price or less new online still. Fair play to them though, & the prices aren’t as mental as those they sometimes put on vinyl yet (that trend has spread further & further, & to be fair, in recent years, has thrown up a handful of charity shops where they are clearly run by someone who knows their stuff, & I have found myself looking at racks & racks of things I never really thought I’d see copies of...but I can’t afford).

CONDITION

This was what I wanted to expand on most - I didn’t previously say much before regarding CD condition, other than that they don’t always play. I’m no expert on CD cleaning, so this is very much a rough guide, but:

Look at the playing surface of the disc in the light (usually the silver side with no artwork, although there are other colours, & sometimes I think you get double-sided ones, & some might have basically zero artwork, so are plain silver either side - hence, be slightly careful). If there is some dirt or whatever on it, it’ll probably come off - just give it a brush - & it’ll be fine. As with vinyl, with scratches it largely comes down to how deep they look - if it has just brushed against some stuff, it will probably be fine (although I might leave it if it is a spiderweb of such marks), if the marks look like it has literally been scratched, it might still play but I would generally just leave it. If you can see through the disc where paint has flecked off, it is toast, leave it. You won’t see many cracked ones, but obviously they won’t play. Beyond that, it is hard to tell - I was playing a DVD I’d picked up for 20p the other week, got halfway through & it started skipping chapters. When I got it out, I realised I must not have checked it very well, & the entire playing surface was covered in some sort of misty see-through build-up. I spent quite a while putting it under a slow cold tap, dabbing it dry with a soft towel, & repeating (all my CD-cleaning stuff died some years ago & it’s not something I need often enough to replace), eventually then rubbing the watery surface repeatedly when the previous technique wasn’t making much difference. It played fine afterwards. Others might look fine but not play at all - they can be temperamental.

Disc rot seems to mainly affect a generation of CDs from about the early 90s, although I’ve not seen it often enough to take much interest in it. It sounds like the name (look it up on Google Images), & obviously isn’t good if you do stumble across one with it. Bronzing comes from the same period (the discs end up looking bronze in colour), & I don’t remember having issues with ones like this, although I read that they will degrade, & they look pretty ugly.

Packaging-wise, if the disc has been kept OK, there may well be next to nothing wrong with the booklet etc - sometimes they’re a bit bent up or have rusty staples. The main annoyance is when they’ve been pushed in incorrectly & there are marks from the tray tabs on the booklet. This isn’t going to bother me unless they’ve caused a heck of a lot of damage. You also get water-damaged ones - best avoided, but if they are valuable ones & it’s just a bit of moisture (not everything stuck together), buyers don’t seem to mind. The real issue with CD packaging is the darned boxes. You can have lots of little imperfections with vinyl packaging, but in most cases, if it’s there, it looks broadly OK. CDs, however, were blessed with the dreaded jewel case, one of man’s worst inventions. To be fair, these are easily replaceable, & do generally do the job of protecting what’s inside, but they are also seriously maddening. They often get cracked, not that that is usually a big deal, but the worst is the hinges breaking off - they are really delicate. I have so many sat around here that I sometimes only have to move my chair around slightly to have another few to replace. About as annoying are the teeth which are meant to keep the disc in place - you can often open them straight from the factory & half of these are already broken off or flattened. Arguably better, but still flawed, are digipaks (the ‘softback’ of CD packaging) - these look way nicer to start with, but (as the tray is glued into the card), if the teeth go, it somewhat ruins the effect, & they are a bit prone to getting rubbed & scraped & little tears. I’m starting to think about putting my better ones in PVC slips. Far too late in the day, the industry eventually came up with super jewel cases, which are basically the same design & size as jewel cases, but much more robust (particularly around the hinge areas) & feature the latest in a long line of attempts to improve on the teeth. To be honest, I have relatively few of these, so the jury is still out for me, but they’re certainly better than what came before. Either way, as mentioned above, jewel cases are pretty much interchangeable & therefore easy to replace (it is more the number that need replacing after a while that is irritating) - some of the majors did do their own branded ones, but it is subtle & they did enough that these aren’t hard to replace either, if you are so inclined. I’ve never seen anyone arguing the toss over what generation of jewel case is on their expensive second-hand CD purchase, although I can imagine that coming in the future.

CDRs are a separate thang. A brilliant format to start with (wow, home recording artists can cheaply make their own releases, as with cassettes, but you can skip to individual tracks), they have turned out to be rather temperamental. To be fair, I have been examining mine a bit in recent times & it does mainly seem to be very early ones from certain labels (ie certain makes of machine) that have died, & even if they don’t work in players anymore, they sometimes still rip (or vice versa) - this is also the case with skipping CDs in general. A lot of the stuff that has died was by people who are still around, loading stuff up on Bandcamp etc, so it isn’t the end of the world but (as with breaking delicate 78s), it is a bit galling when they go, although some collectors don’t even seem to mind, they just want the item for posterity. If you’ve got lots of CDRs you haven’t ripped at high quality, especially early ones, it might be time to get them done if still possible.

VALUE?

There are, of course, plenty of CDs which are rare, although it is limited numbers compared to vinyl (which, as well as being generally agreed as more attractive, has a much longer history). The sort I see going for extreme money are one-offs (studio discs of work in progress etc), or box sets, or very obscure but trendy stuff, but there are plenty of second hand ones around at old CD prices (£10-15): if you imagine picking one of them up in every fifty 20p CDs from charity shops, it helps keep things affordable. I suspect some very early CDs might be worth money (although I’ve not seen much evidence of it in ones I’ve had, & would note that some of the early reissues have quite poor sound quality, obviously transferred from vinyl ‘needledrops’ rather than master tapes). I generally have a look at pop ones from past the mid-2000s, as sometimes these weren’t done in very long runs & can be worth at least enough to keep my hobby going, although it does vary (the golden rule is to only buy stuff I’d happily keep if it’s not worth anything). Certainly you see a lot of more recent promo ones by people who went on to be big going for inflated prices on Discogs, although this may wane over time, as they fall out of favour. The most valuable CD I own is the first Sleaford Mods CD(R), picked up as I think one of the last copies, just as they were about to go big. The most valuable I’ve picked up from a charity or junk shop is a donk double mix CD (!), but that’s only worth 50 quid, so you’re not going to make your fortune here BUT YOU ARE GOING TO PICK UP LOTS OF INTERESTING MUSIC YOU’VE NEVER HEARD BEFORE.

[allylikethecat]

Totally unrelated to most of the stuff you post but on the topic of your Taylor explanation just and your comment about not rlly buying the variants anymore-

I’m a fan of her music for sure but the way they sell variants just really gets me. I mean there is absolutely NO NEED. The way they release the original on presale first so everyone gets it and then they release each variant individually with a different song on it saying it’s “exclusive” and “only going to be available for 70 hours” or something like that, only for them to be repeatedly restocked and then eventually made widely available in indie record stores. Like it’s just straight up lying for money??? That they don’t need. And THEN releasing the same vinyl records with signed inserts so that people buy the SAME record. Again. It’s so incredibly tone deaf and exploitative idk Ik it’s a choice to variant collect but it’s just milking people for no reason. And I know so many other labels do it but none do it NEARLY as bad as it is done for Taylor swift. And Ik it’s not like it’s under her control or whatever but she has so much money and influence that she ABSOLUTELY could do something about it if she wanted to or cared in the slightest ygwim?? I am a vinyl collector but I honestly find it hard to even bring myself to get one version of her albums bc of this. And like considering a lot of her audience is so young as well idk it rlly rubs me up the wrong way. And each one gets posted on the Instagram with love hearts and a cute picture and it’s just like 🥳🩷🤩buy this too!😂😇💕. Idk Ik so many artists do it but like influence wise she’s not really at the mercy of her label ig?? At least not to the extent that she couldn’t make moves to combat it if she wanted?? Anyways that rlly put me off ig (I’m still a fan though can’t help myself). Also Ik this is soo unrelated to your account and you ABSOLUTELY don’t have to respond to this if you don’t want to. I just saw that other post and it made me think about it.

Alsoooo any clues on the fic being posted tomorrow 🫢?? 🥹🥹 I ask like I have a favourite but I will very much be excited at ANY update I won’t lie

AND I’m dying at the fact we are HALF WAY through all the kings horses??!? Idk if I can handle not having a new chapter each Friday. But also excited for fictional Matty and George to get together and possibly be happy even (crazy thought Ik)??

Oh my gosh thank you for sending me this super long ask! This is another one I debated answering because I don't want to start any kind of fights or cause any kind of issues or drama. Also, as always I do want to say that these opinions are my OWN and are based on how I feel and I am not saying that I am *right* or that someone else is *wrong*. I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything, just tossing in my two cents / my perspective.

Even though I'm not a *huge* fan of Taylor anymore, and have felt like I have outgrown Taylor Swift the Brand, I do still enjoy her music (for the most part) but I 100% get the million variations thing from a marketing / sales prospective? Like it sucks but that's business and if people are going to keep buying them they're going to keep making them. As a businesswoman these days I would expect nothing less. Let get that money!

HOWEVER, I know Billie Eilish got a lot of flack for her comments about vinyl variations and then also having a billion of them for her new album, and while I'm not really a fan of her music (I think she's talented she's just not really my vibe) I did think it was cool that regardless of how her comments were misinterpreted she put all her variations on sale at the same time and the track listings were all the same, therefore giving fans the opportunity to just choose and purchase their favorite colors instead of scrambling because something is "limited edition" but not really. Maybe not as good for the seller since the panicked demand isn't there, but that does make for a more pleasant experience as the buyer. Also yay bundled shipping!

Even though it was probably a let down, I hope you enjoyed the sick fic I posted today - I don't think anyone guessed that would be the fic updated so maybe I can still be surprising haha

Hehe I'm so happy that you're enjoying All the King's Horses! That is currently my favorite fic and I am so absolutely obsessed with it and having so much fun working on it! I love horses and the boys SO MUCH and I am so excited to continue sharing their story 🩵 We're roughly halfway through- a few chapters might get added because I don't know if I'll be ready to leave the yet when the time comes haha I'm very excited Fictional!George is going to take Fictional!Matty on a date soon, it's going to be very sweet and very them.

Thank you so much for sending me this ask and for reading and your continued support! I hope I answered it in a satisfactory way that doesn't ruffle anyones feathers too badly! I want to keep my blog a happy positive space when possible! (Heartbreak fanfic not included in that happy statement haha) I hope your Tuesday is going well and that you have a great week!

❤️Ally

[stranger-nightmare]

any thoughts on vampire!eddie? just for science of course 👀

— 🍉

Just A Few Thoughts on Vampire! Eddie

nsfw under the cut so 18+ only - minors do not read on

This is for people 18+ only. Minors do not read on. By clicking ‘keep reading’ you are hereby agreeing that you are 18 or older.

first and foremost vampire Eddie is absolutely insatiable, both with his bloodlust and his regular lust

like he’ll be fucking and sucking you as much as you’ll let him / your body can physically take

also I definitely see vampire Eddie as the kind who likes to drink blood from the inside of your thigh as well as from your neck

drinking from your thigh is both his and your favourite bc once he’s done ‘eating’ he gets right to eating you out too

but Eddie’s sweet and gentle side still remains and he always makes sure to provide the absolute best aftercare and make sure you’re alright, he’ll even give you a few drops of his blood to help heal you up afterwards (if that’s the kind of lore we’re going with)

he does become quite possessive as is just the nature of vampires, if he even catches a whiff go another man’s scent on you he’s immediately bending you over and reminding you who you belong to

on the possessive note he loves to leave you absolutely covered in hickies as often as he can

he also becomes possessive in the sense that he insists on you wearing is rings or his necklace or something at all times so that other people can see you’re his, not that you mind ofc

I think vampire Eddie would also be hyper aware of how fragile you are as a human so he’s also very protective and kind of dotes on you a lot as well, it’s remnants from how sweet and loving and doting he was when he was human

I also think vampire Eddie would be a bit of a hoarder / collector, he just keeps on adding to his collection of albums and mixtapes and vinyls etc.

on that note I also think he’d be into showering you with gifts, like mixtapes and stuff that reminded him of you

or also pretty jewellery that he secretly swiped off people, like I see vampire Eddie using his new abilities to his advantage to pickpocket people, but only people who are assholes and deserve it

I also have to imagine he sometimes uses his abilities for fun

like I’m picturing him scaring the shit out of Jason and his friends by creeping up on them in the dark and just whizzing around with his vampire spoed and scaring them bc they can’t see what the fuck is going on and what’s running past them

if he was the kind of vampire who could like control bats and stuff he’d definitely sic a bunch of bats of Jason and his friends to send them running whilst screaming hahaha

Masterlist

A/N: this is a very random and chaotic collection of just a few thoughts I have on vampire Eddie, I hope you liked them! <33

[divinegrey]

𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 / 𝚟𝚒 𝚡 𝚏!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

happy sunday! this is totally inspired by steph gingrich aka my other wife bc life is strange true colors is a fucking fantastic game and you should go play it.

arcane masterlist

prompt: hi! is it possible for u to write abt vi working in a music shop/record shop? she flirts w girls by giving them music recommendations :’) [requested by anon]

words: 970

warnings: vi being hot and flirty

The music shop isn’t really interesting in itself. Sure, you can get any vinyl you want (and you always do, considering you’re a bit of a collector), scope out the radio booth, or look at the range of instruments available for sale. It’s the town's number one stop for anything music-related, but you, a person who can’t play any instrument to save your life, probably go there more often than anyone else does.

Probably because of the worker who runs the place.

Vi. That’s her name. You’ve said it to yourself dozens of times after the first time you met her. She cracked a joke when you pointed out the tattoo under her eye, and even though it was one of the stupidest things you’d ever heard, you couldn’t help but chuckle at it.

So here you are now, pushing open the door to the record shop to peruse at the new stocks they have. It’s relatively quiet— and by that, you mean you’re the only person inside when the bell over the door chimes to announce your arrival. The red light over the booth tells you one thing; Vi’s working the booth with her tunes. You walk over to go look, just out of curiosity.

“So if you want some of the best ice cream in town, ski right over to the doors of Avalanche Ice Cream. It’s winter, so brain freeze is guaranteed,” Vi says into the microphone, headphones over her ears as she recites the ad on the spot. “Up next, we’ve got one of my favorite tunes to educate you young punks about what real indie is.”

A random song starts playing. You smile at Vi when she glances over to see you. She presses mute on her soundboard and hangs up her headphones. A second later, she’s out of the booth and grinning that classic, cocky grin of hers.

“Back for more already? Spending sixty bucks on a collector’s edition vinyl yesterday wasn’t enough for you?” Vi puts her hands on her hips, her clunky docs landing on the floorboards with heavy thumps. You snort.

“You ever think I’m here for something other than vinyls, Vi?” you ask, folding your arms over your chest and raising a brow.

“Oh?” Vi spares a glance behind her back at the booth. “Here for some exclusives? Lucky I like you, Y/N. Come on.”

She takes your arm and drags you into the booth behind her. You stay quiet when she holds her finger up to you, sliding the headphones over her head.

“Alright, hope you all enjoyed that song. I got another one coming right up, some of you might already know this. It’s MAMMAMIA by Maneskin,” Vi says, putting the song on the queue. You hear the high-tempo music play through the speakers. You’re a little impressed, but not really, because you did order the vinyl for this album last week on back-order.

Vi comes over to you, shoulders shifting to the beat of the music. She starts mouthing the words to you, offering her hand. With an eye roll, you placate her by letting her spin you around.

“You wanna handle me, but I'm a bit too much,” Vi sings to the music, a wink tossed your way before she twirls you. “I'll burn all the place down, 'cause I'm too fucking hot!”

Before you realize it, the song’s over and your face might be a little red. You blame it on the impromptu dancing, but really, it might be connected to Vi singing a song about fucking straight to your face. She’s brazen like that, you’ve learned. You listen to her radio station whenever you can and she’s about as flirty as one can get while being a radio host. People dig it. Specifically, the ladies dig it.

“So, you play that song for any girl whose pants you wanna get into, or?” You ask, doing your best to pretend that you aren’t flustered (you are). Vi’s hot. She knows it. She’s confident about it. Probably one of the best things you like about her in the time you’ve come to know her as one of the folks in your little secluded town in buttfuck nowhere.

“Only the ones I like,” Vi replies, pressing a random button to queue another song. She turns to you. “So? Did it work?”

“Technique was rusty,” you retort.

“Ouch, tough crowd,” Vi replies, tossing her hair to the side. Some strands fall out of the messy bun she must’ve thrown it in this morning.

“I’m not easy to please, Vi,” you reply. Vi huffs.

“Not a problem for me. I can take my time,” Vi says, accented by a wink. The silver of her nose ring glints in the low lighting of the radio booth. She raises her arm and puts it over your head against the wall. “How about it, cutie?”

“Take me out to dinner, then we’ll see,” you say. Vi’s mouth curls up in a grin, and despite all of her bravado, you know this one is genuine. The wrinkles by her eyes speak volumes. You lean up and give her a kiss on the cheek before patting it. “Get back to work, slacker. Meet me at the bar tonight, seven o’clock.”

“The one on the end of Main street?”

“You know it. See you then, Vi. Don’t be late,” you say, pushing her off of you. You step out of the radio booth.

Vi puts on her headphones. “This one goes out to all the pretty girls but for me, one in particular. Here’s Beauty, by LOVE SUPREME.”

You listen to the song as you walk out of the shop, a broad smile on your face with the promise of a date with the hottest woman in town. How’s that for scoring the bag?

~~~~~

A/N: i miss steph gingrich

[razzbarry]

💖Draculaura haunt couture review 💖

She FINALLY arrived today so I’m gonna compare her to the Adult Collector Draculaura from 2015.

The collector Drac retails for 50 usd while the haunt couture retails for 75. I can see where the extra money goes into with these dolls, however, I have a lot of problems with the haunt couture Drac.

There were several threads that I had to trim off to make her more presentable, but it’s an easy fix, so it’s not really a problem.

Now, when she first arrived, I noticed immediately that her eyelashes were uneven, which is a problem I’ve seen in all three dolls so far. They were way worse when I unboxed her, one strand was curly and bent in the wrong direction and I had to clip it off completely. Meanwhile she has several problems with her face paint. There are several flecks all over her face that I can’t wipe off, the worst of which is an error that makes it look like she has a dark circle under her eye????

The worst part however, I noticed she had a fiber stuck to her right eye and when I picked it up, it took the eye paint with it. They printed the eye on while there was a fiber on her face.

Now let’s look at collector Draculaura.

I got her all the way back in 2015 for her original price and she’s held up very well. She has absolutely no paint errors and as far as I remember, no problematic threads. Any mistakes in the sewing, I must have clipped off. Her eyelashes have been perfect since day one, I don’t remember ever having to trim them and they’re LEAGUES better than the haunt couture’s lashes.

She also has a feature that only exists on this doll and sadly has never been recreated ever again, moulded fangs. I have no idea why Mattel only did this for her because there’s no instance where it wouldn’t improve a doll.

Hc Drac has the same bat heels/soles as collector Drac, which is fine to me cuz the actual shoes are different. (The heels on hc are smaller too, which means it’s not even from the same mould, it’s just the same design.) However, I prefer the collector’s shoes because they have more painted details.

(I upped the contrast so you can see the details.)

I also just prefer collector Drac’s stand because look at it.

The pole has difficulty sticking to the plate but look at it it’s so cool look. Hc Drac’s stand is just the standard mh stand but metallic pink. Also, collector Drac’s box is way cooler.

The detachable accessories (i.e. the little hearts on her belt) are a downgrade in my opinion. It just makes it easier for them to get lost.

Overall, I really do love hc Drac, but she’s incredibly disappointing. I could forgive all these mistakes if she wasn’t sold for 75 dollars. I spent almost 90 just to get her and that’s with the normal shipping.

Also, the earrings on my hc Frankie’s ears bled onto the vinyl and now her earlobes are permanently green, plus the lever-heels on her shoes pop off with no struggle, which makes them easy to lose. Clawdeen, surprisingly, has none of these problems (at least none that I’ve noticed.) Her eyelashes are still pretty wonky tho.

For 75 dollars + shipping, they should not have these problems. This is disappointing. I can only recommend her for hard core collectors.

[repost-this-image]

Being anti-recast is not “elitism.”

I am pro-bootleg-Barbies.  Mattel is a giant, faceless corporation, and getting a bootleg Barbie doesn’t harm their bottom line.  Plus, bootleg Barbies are cheap and plentiful, both on- and offline.  They’re a doll for children.  A doll meant to be played with and loved by kids, regardless of whether their parents have a lot of cash or not.

Some doll collectors collect playline dolls, and that’s awesome.  It’s a fun, usually-inexpensive hobby.  Sometimes, you can’t find a used playline doll for a reasonable price, like Monster High nowadays, and bootlegs are pretty much the only option.  For playline dolls, I don’t see an issue there.

Playline dolls are both machine-cast in huge amounts, and allow all children (and some adults) to have cool toys to play with.

BJDs, on the other hand, are not mass-produced.  Resin--which is already more expensive than other plastics, just right off the bat--has to be hand-cast, often multiple times, to get each doll part.  This takes hours of labor; hours that need to be paid for so that the artist can eat.  The long waitlist for new dolls?  It’s because of how much time and effort it takes to get even one doll made.  (This is not a hobby for impatient people, like in general.  Waiting six months or more, BEFORE the doll is made and shipped from Japan or South Korea, is normal for a BJD.)

There are some elitists who think that buying a legit doll secondhand isn’t good enough.  Fuck those people; they suck.  Your secondhand doll is just as good as their new dolls.  One of my dolls is a new head on a secondhand body.  The resin doesn’t match, but you can’t tell when he’s wearing clothes.

If the secondhand market isn’t good enough for you, for whatever elitist reasons you may have, then go on Etsy.  A lot of artists design and 3D-print BJDs for sale on Etsy, because even buying a 3D printer and filament is still cheaper than casting resin.  DoA doesn’t consider them “real” BJDs, but (and this is important) DoA isn’t the be-all and end-all of doll collecting.  You can join communities that aren’t DoA.  They exist.  They aren’t all that hard to find.  You can even start your own Discord server if you want.  I’m not stopping you.

Hujoo is a South Korean company that made ABS BJDs alongside their resin line.  They’re Asian; they’re ball-jointed; they often come up for less than $100 on eBay.

Parabox/Obitsu also makes really nice Japanese dolls that are as customizable as BJDs, and in the same huge range of sizes.  They’re also vinyl, so they’re way less expensive.  If you want to go even further into anime-style, Nendroids are also way less expensive than BJDs, and they’re super-detailed and look really nice.  You can even buy a nude, fully-articulated “blank” or character-based Nendroid doll and create your own character.

Pullip by Jun Planning is pricier than the above options, but still less expensive than most BJDs of the same size.  She’s designed to be extremely customizable, too.  Plus, she can wear Skipper’s clothes (as in Barbie’s little sister, Skipper), so you can find clothes or patterns for her for dirt-cheap!

If you cannot afford resin BJDs on the secondhand market, and your doll MUST be ball-jointed, then order the 3D printed ones on Etsy, or find a Hujoo doll which is ABS plastic. 

My point is, there are A TON of ways you can get a nice, collector-quality doll, without it being an expensive resin one.  You can get a collectible doll that is good quality without it being a $500 doll, OR a recast.  It isn’t hard; I literally just named 4 brands off the top of my head, including some that are less than $100.

There’s also ResinSoul/Bobobie, which offers legit dolls at recast-level prices.  There’s still a super-long wait, but if you’re determined to get a resin BJD, it’s worth it.  Plus, they offer a huge variety of colors!

I have been in the BJD hobby for 7 years.  You know how many dolls I have?  TWO.  One took up my entire tax refund for that year.  The other is a head and body that were purchased separately, and the body is secondhand.  Having one or two BJDs is doable, if you’re willing to scrimp and save and wait long periods of time between dolls.  The “elites” of this hobby are rich folks who can afford to buy a dozen dolls within a few years, not people like me who just want to enjoy one or two luxury collectible dolls without people acting like I’m a sucker for not getting a bootleg.  Because all of these dolls are a luxury.  Nendoroid dolls just happen to be a way less expensive luxury than a Fairyland Pukifee.

[ron-do-i-get-to-sing-my-way]

maybe 16 and 17? and also 20: do you have 2+ copies of the same album in your collection?

Thank you Times!

16. Vinyl you own but don’t listen to much/at all?

I admittedly do have a few that I don’t listen to much (mostly some records that I got from my mom that don’t match my music taste anymore…) I’m also friends with this older record collector who I think is slowly passing his collection on to me (hey, I’m not complaining, he has good taste!), but sometimes he gives me records that aren’t my jam.

Some of the fun ones include this Disco Album that I don’t listen to on a daily basis, let’s put it that way.

I’ve also been meaning to give the Rolling Stones another try (I’ve listened to this once but I couldn’t seem to get into them)…

I’ve also played this RCM record maybe twice? The reason I picked it up was for the Peter Dunn inner sleeve. For people who aren’t from Canada, Peter Dunn’s Vinyl Museum was a record store in downtown Toronto that apparently stocked all sorts of curiosities and records. The inner sleeves have random bible quotes and are frankly hilarious.

Alright, alright last one, this one is pretty cool. It’s this children’s disk set and the vinyl is flexible. I never listen to it (I guess I COULD), but it’s a unique piece of my collection!

17. Vinyl with sentimental value?

All of them haha! Asides from the ones I mentioned in my answers to other questions, I’m also quite attached to my Simon and Garfunkel stuff. It’s such soothing music and my grandfather really liked them (and I do too!). These two albums in particular are really sentimental albums for me.

Also, this is a very random album to have sentimental value attached to, but it was one of my grandfather’s favourite albums and I can’t listen to it without associating it with him.

20. 2+ copies of the same album?

I have a few, but I don’t actively collect them… Sometimes I get them from people or rescue them when they would otherwise get thrown out. I already mentioned that I have two copies of Rubber Soul, but I also have two copies of this ABBA album (one was given to me and the other I got for next to nothing).

I also have two copies of this Monkees album (one is in very rough shape). I didn’t buy them, I think I picked one up with the Rubber Soul album and the other was given to me by aforementioned Older Record Collector ™️

[sugvrpink]

Happy birthday, my love!  ( @xdischordia )

I can’t believe it’s another year that I’m here to shove cake in your face as you make another trip around the world. You’re the love of my life, you’re my (maybe second) best friend, and you mean the absolute world to me. Husband. HUSBAND. I’ll never get tired of saying that. I love you, so, so, so much.

And I could ramble on forever about the hows and the whys, but you’ve heard it all a million times.

But I love you.

And I cannot wait for our new set future to begin. Even if I’m insanely nervous. It’s easier with you.

💜💚💗

A mask from the "Scream" motion picture to be released in January, 2022. "Ghostface" was actually worn on screen during the filming of the movie making it a true collector's item. It contains a certificate of authenticity.

The mask I managed to win somehow, someway in an auction. It’s a mask from the movie that’s coming out in 2022, and all the proceeds went to charity. It has the certificate of authenticity and everything, and so I put it all in a case so you don’t have to worry about it maybe getting damaged or anything.

The singing bowls are a full set, one for every chakra. I know you’ll use the root the most, but we need total balance, yanno?

There’s a journal with Tyr’s symbol and some fur, because hello. And an obsidian crow, because hello.

Another thing was this art piece I had commissioned, where they drew us as Chucky and Tiffany. Since you’re big into the show right now. And because just “gendah flooid.” 

The new Docs are made specifically for winter, like grip so you don’t fall and bust your ass. Especially with all the changes coming, I figure some help being stuck to the ground would help. I was gonna get these super cute suede ones that were shearling lined and looked cute and fire as hell, but I knew you’d complain about being hot because you’re unnatural and weird and I don’t understand.

The boots kinda also work with one of the parts of the gift. I know you’ve wanted to go out in the snow and board for awhile, so we’re going to Vail, Colorado! It’s a huge place for snowboarders, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. I might have gone a little silly, but I planned on renting at the Sebastian but they have these places you can “own.” I’ll show you all the info later, but it’s more gorgeous and homey and it fits for us. It’s super luxury and obscene, but I think you’ll love it. Or I hope you will.

Also like, Colorado. Reasons.

And the glasses, they’re some cool new technology nonsense. They like, audio sunglasses? You can mix and match the frames so you’re never too bored of them, but I thought they’d be good for you when you’re out in public and you’re trying to ignore the Loud people when ya’ll are down south. 

Then there’s some little things I thought were cool. This little vinyl record wall mount that you can put your current favorite on, whatever you keep playing or you just wanna present because the art is super cool. 

The keychain is super lame, but I thought it was super cute. Beautiful Stranger is forever important to me, always makes me think of you-- and I used your favorite picture we took from the wedding.

And then, of course, I planned with your family to make all your favorite meals, breakfast lunch and dinner. An insane amount of dessert. Mexican hot chocolate. I’m spoiling your pretty mouth this entire week with all of these dishes I��ve busted my ass to learn, just so I can spoil you this one week how you spoil me every day.

I love you. Forever. 

xo, Nat.

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Now hear me out, maybe the reason people don’t want to talk politics with you, is because this is a doll hobby. Not because it’s a hobby specifically, or some shit, no because like too many of the collectors are either immature, can’t see past their own nose, or are incredibly entitled, and know it all, who think they’re just soooo awesome because they have this one set mentality, they’re never going to change, and let me mention how many people think the world ends either at the US borders, or at the European borders. And even there, people forget like a bunch of places. Seriously, who in their right mind, would honestly think that some random doll collectors, who talk to dolls like their living beings, have huge arguments about bust/boob sizes, have a problem with immature manbabies, and women throwing toddler tantrums, sexualizing of plastic dolls, people complaining about people sexualizing plastic dolls, calling homophobia on gay dolls, people policing how to do transdolls, to transdoll owners who’re trans, other bullshit, and write cringy shit, should be the the go to people, to talk about the socio economic crisis somewhere in the world? Do you really, really want to talk to those types of people, about things that need some serious consideration, and actual willingness to listen, and do research?

Hell, some times I wonder how some people manage to even turn on their phones, with how backwards some people are. I mean, have any of you noticed how people will literally flock to the same scammers over and over again, or just passively accept being shat on by sellers, and just not do anything? Everyone knows the names of the scammers, and still I see people take the chance, and then complain months down the line that they got scammed… again. I see people talk about the exact same people, how bad their customer service is. How they didn’t get their stuff. How they waited for months, with no response. How they literally spent hundreds, and are now basically being ghosted. And they still ask if they should fill a paypal claim. -The answer is yes btw, especially if you know they’re a serial scammer. Do your research.- Or they even ask if they just seem to forget about this, and go to the next scammer. And hey, how about how often people get literally offended, when people ask how people can afford all these dolls, or when people show some critical thought, to people encouraging spending way past your means? Some collectors are literally unable to feed themselves, but still keep buying, and people in this hobby encourage it. Yeah, really the people you’d want to speak serious business with, that needs thorough thought. /S Let me tell you, as a European person, most Europeans think they know about US politics, and they just fucking don’t. That’s how you get so many shit takes made by Europeans, about the US. Especially those who speak little English. Not every, honestly most Euros don’t have any idea about anything, because that’s how it be. Same for US people, they’re also not gonna know a shit ton of Euro politics, especially when it’s not published in any English speaking news. I can’t count how many bad takes I’ve seen from US people about European stuff. It’s fucking mutual. I wouldn’t want anyone to start talking about anything important with me, especially politics, if I met them through this hobby, because I just can’t see anyone here having enough braincells to form a coherent enough thought for me to WANT to understand. Hell, I’m probably that brainless troglodyte to some people, and you know what? Fucking good. I have other people I can talk to, about politics, mental health, disabilities, and whatever else we think is important. People who are prepared to talk these issues, and I can have the expectations that they have the needed respect for the issues talked about. I don’t think I’m smart, I’m a huge idiot, and I’ll admit to that, and I know maybe I’m viewing this from my narrow view of the hobby, but I’ll still throw it out there: This hobby, dolls, vinyl, resin, whatever, is too dumb for serious topics. Maybe not everyone individually, some individuals are smart, and nice enough, and respectful of the issues that exist, but as a collective, this hobby is dumb. Just, really dumb. If I sound condescending, or you’re gonna call me a dumbass for this, yeah fine, but seriously, would you personally honestly want to actually find people in this hobby, just to talk politics? Talk some serious political issue, to someone you don’t actually know? Who’s entire presence to you, is literally just a bunch of dolls. Also, why is it always boiling down to politics? I’m just curious since that’s the go to topic, but there are like hundreds of topics that could be talked about, but it’s always just politics. Is someone ever going to demand we talk about abuse to people? Or other shit like that? Politics isn’t the only real world thing, and is probably some of the most subjected to where you live, so how are you even gonna talk stuff like local politics, to someone who doesn’t even live in the same country?????? I am going to say though, if it’s something political actually relating to the hobby. Like the ringdoll, hongkong, nazi thing from a few weeks ago, you know, actually relevant to the hobby, I’ll be right fucking there talking, and calling that shit out. I’ve called out people for Nazi sympathizing, with their dolls. How people try to make excuses for continuing to buy ringdoll shit, or how they pretend nazi scum isn’t really that bad bc “Uwu, it’s just the style that’s nice.” FUck off to those fucks.

~Anonymous

[johannesviii]

A Useless Post Rating the Preppers From Death Stranding

Because I can and I will. I got super attached to some of these bunches of pixels while playing, and I want to share my useless and extra subjective opinions

No plot-related spoilers. This is only listing the Preppers and not any Bridges employee from the various cities and facilities. No reasonable individuals to be found here, only strange people living in bunkers, baby

Let’s go

The Ludens Fan

Shelter placement: On a mountain, right between a Timefall zone and MULE territory, and not on any obvious delivery route. Not great. The view is super nice, though. 6/10

Prepper: A cinnamon roll who believes the world will be saved by fandoms and games. Always happy to see you. Gets super excited when you find old figurines for him. Sends lost stuff to people he doesn’t even know. Has toy dinosaurs.

Will I get something nice if I help them: Not really.

Opinion while playing: He is a Friend. 9/10

The Musician

Shelter placement: Hidden behind a little cliff, on a mountain, in a patch of nice fresh moss, next to a cool waterfall, overlooking the whole valley. Not on any delivery route whatsoever but come on. This guy is living the dream. 10/10

Prepper: Talks to you as if he’s known you since highschool. Has an emo haircut. Very passionate about rock albums from the “beginning of the 21st century” so I’m assuming he’s a fellow MCR fan. The walls of his shelter are covered in vinyls. Wants to create and share the music of the future for free. Streams his concerts on the chiral network.

Will I get something nice if I help them: A harmonica. You can play it. I’m in love

Opinion while playing: Hell yeah what a cool dude 10/10

The Engineer

Shelter placement: In plain view right next to a huge road and two MULE territories. Dude didn’t even try to hide and his packages are stolen all the time. At least the weather is nice? 3/10

Prepper: Has spent his entire life inside of this bunker since birth. Polite and a bit shy. Has a friendly smile. Judging by the amount of alcohol we deliver to him, feels lonely. Sometimes you’ll find gallons of lube with his name on it and he’ll refuse to give any kind of explanation and to be fair the guy probably uses it for all his mechanical inventions. But deep down, we know.

Will I get something nice if I help them: Upgrades for the Power Skeleton. You know you want them.

Opinion while playing: Another Friend. I will judge him silently every time I have to bring him his lost lube though. 9/10

The Craftsman

Shelter placement: Next to a huge road on a plain ravaged by Timefall, between two MULE territories and a voidout crater choke-full of BTs. Can potentially see the nightmarish ruins of a roadside factory and a traffic jam where everyone clearly got killed. I don’t know if I hate it or respect the shit out of it. 2/10

Prepper: Suspicious of us. Sends us on a suicide mission to fetch old equipment in a terrifying place. Hates Fragile, so we can’t be friends. Likes to fix broken watches, apparently. A lot of his lost packages seem to be special reinforced underwear. I’m curious but also I don’t want to pry.

Will I get something nice if I help them: Custom hematic grenades. Can’t live without them.

Opinion while playing: A suspicious little shit and I don’t trust him but he’s still a good ally. 5/10

The Elder

Shelter placement: On a majestic plateau in the middle of the region, overlooking everything. Not on any obvious route, which is a problem, but also away from danger, Timefall and MULEs. A green little patch of heaven. 9/10

Prepper: Old and kind but takes no shit from anybody. All of his emails are like “anyway, f█ck the government and f█ck this country” and I’m living for it. Will give away old photo albums, books and games predating the Death Stranding, in hope they can be shared with other people and their kids. Wholesome as hell.

Will I get something nice if I help them: Not really.

Opinion while playing: The most valid boomer you will ever see. My adoptive grandfather and I must protect him at all costs. 10/10

Peter Englert

Shelter placement: Not on any obvious delivery route but right next to Lake Knot City on a plain ravaged by Timefall. You can see Middle Knot City’s crater from there. Not a bad spot, but also no good vibes whatsoever. 6/10

Prepper: Never at home, has no hologram and keeps finding terrible excuses not to be there, which is rude. Possibly imaginary friends and relatives. Writes extremely long and well-spoken, obsequious, smarmy emails to you and you’ll receive them at the worst possible moments, like he just knows. Only interested in pizza, and you.

Will I get something nice if I help them: Hope you like high quality guns, and very disturbing journal entries.

Opinion while playing: Was literally calling him my nemesis even BEFORE learning anything about the guy. The best and the worst prepper at the same time. Go f█ck yourself, dude, I love you. Pizza/10

The Timefall Farmer and the Environmental Scientist

Shelter placement: Right next to a huge MULE territory. There’s the Tar Belt in the distance and no city, road or friends for miles. Very awkward. 4/10

Preppers: Planned to study the effects of Timefall on plants and became farmers instead. They are not enjoying it one bit and you’re under the impression they occasionally get on each other’s nerves even though they’ve been colleagues for years. The concept of their farm is a fantastic bit of worldbuilding, though, but they are a bit bland themselves.

Will I get something nice if I help them: A goose hologram. I need it

Opinion while playing: They’re super nice but their general weariness is too contagious for comfort. 4/10

The Film Director

Shelter placement: In the middle of jagged rocks, reasonably far away from local MULEs and Timefall, but also from any kind of road or decent delivery route. The ground is a poisonous reddish brown with occasional smoke. Ominous. 5/10

Prepper: Really worried about ancient media getting lost and forgotten, and will do anything to save old movies from oblivion. Trusts you instantly. Is always surprised you brought something for him, or just thought about him, and it’s heartwarming to see. Geeks about things he likes in your emails when he isn’t low-key flirting with you. Has the most epic beard you will ever see in your life.

Will I get something nice if I help them: A rock hologram. Uh?

Opinion while playing: Came for the geeking, stayed for the flirting  8/10

The Collector

Shelter placement: Inside a cavern two-thirds up a vertical rock face in a canyon slap bang in the middle of MULE territory. Invisible from ground level, and invisible from the bottom of the canyon. The MULEs live literally next door and don’t even know the guy is there. No chill whatsoever. Incredible. What a king. 10/10

Prepper: Shaped like a friend. Loves videogames and loves geeking about them. Fascinated by pre-Stranding press like “people were buying newspapers? On real paper?? :O”. Really wants you to read his emails because he’s got nobody to share his special interests with. Wants to write about your adventures to inspire other people. Occasionally you’ll find a lost package with a vintage playstation and you know it’s for him even without looking at the name on the tag.

Will I get something nice if I help them: A backpack cover to protect your stuff from Timefall?? holy shit?

Opinion while playing: We have no choice but to stan. 9/10

The Junk Dealer

Shelter placement: On a heavily polluted, rust-colored hill in the middle of a scrapyard full of broken down cars, overlooking both MULE and BT territory AND some f█cking terrifying ruins on all sides. It’s metal as shit, but also, the dude’s got a death wish. 3/10

Prepper: Tries to emotionally blackmail us with videos of his supposedly dead girlfriend. Very rude. Sends us on a suicide mission in BT territory to look for junk just for a laugh. Is such a piece of shit he got divorced by a woman who was willing to be carried under heavy Timefall through a horde of BTs to see him. Killed his girlfriend’s parents and didn’t tell her.

Will I get something nice if I help them: Upgrades for the Speed skeleton, and also chiral ladders, which are both life-saving, and I hate the fact that I need those so much.

Opinion while playing: A piece of shit and a terrible human being. Go sit on some rusty metal in BT territory, my dude. 1/10

The Chiral Artist and her Mother

Shelter placement: Overlooking a bottomless lake of tar and depressing ruins plagued by Timefall, far from civilisation but also far from trouble. Depressing, but safe. 6/10

Preppers: A little ray of sunshine. Capable of planning a journey on foot while avoiding Timefall and BTs after having done the trip exactly once (1) and on our back, which makes her one of the bravest Preppers we ever meet. Talented as hell with chiralium. Very awkward speech patterns and elocution which I always find relatable. Makes extremely bad choices regarding her love life. Will send you likes in a cringy but cute way. I don’t really trust her adoptive mother too much but she seems to be friends with the Cosplayer and any friend of the Cosplayer is my friend.

Will I get something nice if I help them: Chiral boots. Literally the most useful thing anyone anywhere gave me in this game. No matter how far I am from her and her mom I will backtrack to get some brand new chiral boots from her every time I need them. They are that good

Opinion while playing: I love her but she’s making extremely bad life choices and it’s giving me mild anxiety 8/10

The Cosplayer and the Wandering MC

Shelter placement: At the very bottom of a long, narrow canyon plagued by Timefall, inside a vertical hole in the ground. How they haven’t both drowned yet is beyond me. This is the worst idea ever. 1/10

Prepper: Both of them are always super excited to see you. Trade a ton of art and crafts supplies back and forth with everyone in the region. Organised a goddamn post-apo cosplay convention through the chiral network. She considers cosplay to be ‘the art of transformation’, and he’s a big fan of you, and also otters. Otter facts. Dad Jokes to the max. Legends only

Will I get something nice if I help them: Backpack custom options. And the otter hood. Come on. Who doesn’t want to look like an otter. According to the MC it was “threaded and triple stitched by [his] cosplay partner using silk”. I don’t deserve this gift

Opinion while playing: Just because it’s the apocalypse doesn’t mean you can’t look and feel your best 10/10

The Doctor and the Medical Device Engineer

Shelter placement: Overlooking a little river in the mountains, right before the snow starts. Extremely close to Mountain Knot City. Practical and beautiful. Lovely spot. 8/10

Preppers: She invented and crafted a medical terminal that allows doctors to examine patients remotely through the network, and distributed it for free. He’s sitting on years of medical knowledge and stockpiles of meds, and also sharing both with everyone. Got married because they admired each other so much and shared a common hatred of the lack of medical assistance post-Stranding. Two absolute angels. We don’t deserve them

Will I get something nice if I help them: Custom blood bags. A must during boss fights.

Opinion while playing: A bit too serious, but mad respect. 7/10

The Photographer

Shelter placement: In the mountains, in the middle of nowhere, overlooking the valley, but away from everything and everyone, next to BT territory and daaaangerously close to the biggest Demens camp in the entire country. Who told you this was a good idea. 4/10

Prepper: The walls of her shelter are decorated with photos of beautiful landscapes. Friendly but takes no shit. Constantly trying to go out to take pictures of cool places and weird paleoart and stuff even though there’s a whole gang of terrorists outside firing live ammo at anyone on sight. Her cameras get stolen all the time, and yet she keeps doing it again and again. Judging by one delivery she sent to Mountain Knot City, she even has footage of Edge Knot City. You know. The unreachable nightmarish place beyond the f█cking Tar Belt. HOW

Will I get something nice if I help them: Guns because she clearly has no chill

Opinion while playing: This woman has more nerves in her left pinky than I have in my entire f█cking body. We stan a queen 9/10

The Novelist’s Son

Shelter placement: In a vast, beautiful green plain full of rivers and lakes, kind of in the middle of nowhere but also at a safe distance of the Demens territory. It’s painted the same green as the rest of the plain, which is a stroke of genius. 8/10

Prepper: Considering his title and the fact that the walls of his shelter are full of bookshelves, I expected a pretentious writer of sorts. But no. He doesn’t write. He’s just a soft boy who wants to save the world with plants. Will make sure you read his emails because he’s very passionate about gardening, gourds and mythology, and wants to talk about it with everyone. Too good for this world, too pure.

Will I get something nice if I help them: Special cryptobiotes! Pretty cool. I want to save some for Fragile

Opinion while playing: I love him I love thinking about him 10/10

The Roboticist

Shelter placement: High in the mountains, but in some sort of hollow, surrounded by snow and rocks on all sides. There’s also a nice hot spring nearby. Feels strangely safe and pleasant for such an isolated spot. 7/10

Prepper: Super approachable and quite friendly. Clearly a genius considering how good the all-terrain skeleton is. The stuff she’s looking for goes from stuff for her projects to a plush for her kid or a vintage coffee machine. Her emails, meanwhile, are shit-your-pants terrifying, like her wondering if machines should replace humans, or pranking you by pretending she was dead the whole time and her hologram is an IA. Thank you for the heart attack.

Will I get something nice if I help them: Upgrades for the all-terrain skeleton, hell yeah baby

Opinion while playing: I’m very conflicted because her emails are scary as shit but if she stepped on my face I’d say “thank you” 8/10

The Mountaineer and the Mountain Guide

Shelter placement: On top of a mountain but in a relatively flat and safe area, very isolated but also far from Beached Things, with good visibility. There’s logic to the madness. 6/10

Preppers: Initially in panic mode due to a medical emergency. Tough outside, but soft inside. He gives you precious advice about whiteouts and how to deal with them and stay alive in the mountains. We don’t know much about her, except she used to explore the mountains using chiral climbing anchors. Just speculation but I’m under the impression they met one day on a super dangerous expedition and ended together because they were both tough as nails, or maybe because they saved each other. Their kid is going to be unstoppable.

Will I get something nice if I help them: Chiral climbing anchors.

Opinion while playing: Wholesome couple of adventurers. A bit bland, but in a good way 7/10

The Spiritualist

Shelter placement: On a mountain peak in the middle of a whiteout area, but sometimes the weather can be decent and the view pretty nice, if you squint. Getting there feels like a test to join a secret cult and I don’t like that one bit. 3/10

Prepper: Twin sister of the Cosplayer, but gives off a very different vibe, like some sort of white suburban mom who’s discovering new age stuff. Has a very mystical approach to this whole apocalypse thing but seems to be wayyy too much into it for comfort. Really wants to see the Beach and tries to do so through meditation. We can receive chemicals from her. I do NOT want to know what’s in there.

Will I get something nice if I help them: A RACCOON HOLOGRAM?? I LOVE IT

Opinion while playing: Harmless but she scares me. 3/10

The First Prepper

Shelter placement: On a nearly inaccessible mountain peak battered by snow storms. The slope is so dangerous I straight up died once while walking on it. Absolutely nothing for miles and no visibility. That’s not a shelter, that’s a coffin. 1/10

Prepper: Apparently his family has lived in shelters ever since the beginning of the Cold War, then decided to stay there in case the world would end in the year 2000, then because of the Bush era, and long story short the guy is like “I did it before it was cool” and he’s literally gatekeeping other Preppers and calling them amateurs. Tries really hard to convince us to stop helping people and get our own shelter. At least he admits self-sufficiency is a mirage in the end, which is more than I expected from this clown.

Will I get something nice if I help them: A hat, and a wolf hologram

Opinion while playing: When the nicest thing I have to say about a Prepper is “well they’re not hurting anybody”, you know it’s bad. What a jerk 2/10

The Evo-Devo Biologist

Shelter placement: On an isolated snow slope away from civilisation, overlooking ruins and geysers in the distance. Not far from BT territory and terrorists, but still at a reasonable distance. Next to a hot spring. The view is majestic as f█ck. 9/10

Prepper: Looks strict and gives off severe teacher vibes, but you’re under the impression that’s purely because she hasn’t seen or talked to another human being in years. Polite but distant. Thinks the sixth mass extinction is a golden opportunity for science, and inevitable, and that we should study the shit out of it even if we end up dying. She’s not wrong exactly but also, yikes

Will I get something nice if I help them: Not really.

Opinion while playing: I genuinely have no idea. An enigma. 5/10

The Geologist

Shelter placement: High in the mountains on a desolate snowy slope, completely isolated from everything. I think I’ve seen a movie about that kind of place once, except it was a hotel. 2/10

Prepper: The first package we bring to him is a shipment of meds to fight chiral contamination. No more nightmares or suicidal thoughts after that, so he’s ok. Also he’s obsessed with Heartman to the point you wonder if he’s got a crush on him, belittles himself and his work constantly, and also thinks saving the world is a waste of time and effort. No no he’s still ok, he swears. But yeah uh. Dude is clearly one small step away from blowing a fuse and going full Demens, we need to sit down and talk about your problems my friend

Will I get something nice if I help them: Not really.

Opinion while playing: I like him but he worries me a lot and I’m a bit scared for him 7/10

The Paleontologist

Shelter placement: In a little valley in the mountains, where grass and snow meet, miles away from civilisation and roads, but also miles away from problems. If there wasn’t this pit full of toxic gas literally next door, this would be perfect. 8/10

Prepper: Likes to complain about everything and everyone. A bit rude but more in a familiar way than an unpleasant way. Extremely passionate about fossils and prehistoric stuff and gets super excited about ammonites in particular. Mentions exploring a place full of toxic gas without any kind of protection just to fetch some neat rocks once, so we both clearly have the same level of survival instincts when our special interests are involved.

Will I get something nice if I help them: Not really, unless you count level 2 Hematic Grenades

Opinion while playing: Relatable as shit. I feel like I’d be this guy if I existed in this game’s world. 9/10

The Veteran Porter

Shelter placement: Nowhere Man lives on a very abrupt slope full of rocks in the middle of Nowhereburg, Nowhere State, Nowherica. You get the feeling he knows the region like the back of his hand and picked that spot exactly for that reason and frankly, I have to respect that. 7/10

Prepper: Ex-Porter with a damaged spine. A retired adventurer, exhausted after carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Higgs used to be his boss back when he was still working at Fragile Express so the dude has massive trust issues now and I won’t argue with that. Initially suspicious of us and Bridges, for good reasons. Every time I found a super isolated bunker signed under Fragile Express I was like “woah their employees were hardcore to find all these places that Bridges couldn’t find”, and he’s one of these guys, and I get it now. And he’s tired. So tired. A whole mood.

Will I get something nice if I help them: Not really.

Opinion while playing: Unlike the First Prepper I respect the shit out of him and I want him to enjoy his well-earned retirement 8/10

[malebodyinvasion]

Another Favor from Him (Alvin's POV)

Disclaimer:  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.

This is a sequel to Babysitter for A Day.

I suggest reading Another Favor from Him (Ryan's POV) first before proceeding to this one.

Last night I asked Ryan a favor if he and I could swap bodies. I told him I need to pickup an order from a store next city but I have a special meeting tomorrow. That meeting is not really that important so I decided to get the package myself in Ryan's body. I haven't told him that the order was a collector's edition of a vintage vinyl record I am interested as of late. If I told him he may not agree. Forgive me Ryan.

After my opening speech, I swapped our consciousness right away. When I opened my new eyes, I was in front of the dining table having breakfast. As expected, he will get up late. I cannot blame him since he rarely got sleep before his licensure exam.

"This is the second time I'm eating the food I prepared this morning." I told myself. Ryan's voice is really a music to my ear, or rather, his ear.

I stood up to place the plates on the sink. "Woah." I said adjusting to my new balance. Being a few inches shorter and less muscular reminds me of the days I was new to workout.

May be I should take a bath before leaving home? While walking, I noticed that Ryan have no underwear under his tight shorts and his morning wood is caressing between the cloth and his legs. This reminds me of that one time he mentioned that if he kept his morning wood untouched, he will be bothered for the whole day. And I'm starting to feel that. I hope he doesn't mind me dealing with it.

Thinking about it, makes it harder. I have a crush on Ryan and being in his body makes me excited. Ever since I met him, I always keep my cool so he would respect me. I realized my feelings for him after that one time I taught him to dance. I always think how's he doing whenever I'm at work and he's at the campus. I'm so worried about him I joined him every time he take a walk at night. And I'm enjoying it.

I pick some clothes from his closet. Is it just me or he had few pairs of underwear? It's not even enough for a week. Wait... Don't tell me he enjoys going commando?! Not that I'm against it, but the fabric of these shorts I'm currently wearing, or Ryan's body is wearing, is not good for the skin, plus the fact it's fitted in a sensitive area! I'll grab some garments for him after I got my order.

After deciding what to wear, I went to bath. I removed his shirt revealing his quite lean body. As I thought, he's really a twink, or a twunk? Then I removed his tight shorts revealing an enormous member. I can't believe what I'm seeing. The length, the girth, the popping veins -- it's impressive. It's bigger than mine! His balls is the same size as mine and he is younger than me. It makes me wonder how he could manage to hide it from me, err... to keep it unnoticed from the eyes of others. He might be a grower.

I have no time for this. I need to hurry before the store got busy. I groped his member with his left hand and pumped it, as his right hand caressed the soap over his body. The perks of being ambidextrous. I shot the cum towards my current legs and quickly wash everything from there to the feet. Then, I dried myself and wore the clothes I picked.

Since I used my car going to the resort this morning, I rode a bus going to the next city. I'm never this bored, or maybe I'm just always busy with work so I never feel empty. I checked Ryan's phone for games but he doesn't have any. I opened some of his applications and scroll for something interesting -- except I saw those e-books, some are paid and some are pirated. I should have expect that from a former examinee. I tried to take a peek from his diary app but it's password protected. I'm kind of curious. Then, I checked his pictures and I was surprised with how many stolen shots of me he had. Could it be... that it's more than respect? That he likes me too somehow? No, no. I should not jump to weird conclusions. I continuously explored his phone and saw some pictures of us together. I cannot help but smile. I'm going to miss him if ever he leave my unit. Such a nice guy.

Few minutes later, I arrived to my destination. I hurriedly walk towards the store. I almost forgot that I'm not in my body so I presented the manager a sort of authorization letter. While waiting for the manager, I walked around the shop to look for other items that may pick my interest. But at the end, I left the shop with only my order.

"I should look for some clothes," I mumbled. I entered one of the popular clothing boutique and pick some tops and bottoms that may suit Ryan's body. I also grabbed three pairs of underwear for him. I decided to try out some of the clothes to get a better judgment. With his cute and handsome face, any combination of clothes fit his appearance well. I cannot stop myself from getting amazed of his body everytime I removed and put on some of the clothes, and found myself getting hard. I grope his hands over his bulge. No, no. It's not the right time or place. Besides, I'm not supposed to do anything that may result me releasing pleasure.

Furthermore, I took some photos while inside the fitting room. Ryan sure will love it. It gives me an idea to change my current attire to some of the clothes I just bought.

"The weather is great. Maybe I should look around until afternoon. I'm sure Ryan won't mind." I told myself while typing a text message for Ryan. "I hope he had my phone with him."

During my stroll, there was this guy who keeps on checking on me. When I accidentally looked at him in the eye, he gave me a wink and started caressing his pectorals over his tank top. This dude is obviously flirting and trying to get into Ryan's pants. But there's no way in Earth, he could have Ryan. I'm the one in control and I'm sure you’re not Ryan's type.

Suddenly, this dude grabbed my arms and pulled me. Now that his near me, I could say he has the same build as my body with only an inch or two shorter. He looks familiar but I can’t put my finger where I see this guy. I tried to resist and shout for help but there are no other people here and his grip is too strong I can't run away. We entered an isolated public restroom and locked the door.

"I know you want this too," the guy told me in the ear. His voice is kind of sexy and Ryan's penis twitches one after another. He pressed me against a wall and started kissing my borrowed neck. I don't know if I'm enjoying it but I can tell that Ryan's body is getting excited on what is happening. He raised his head and gave Ryan's lip a passionate kiss. My current body is like acting on its own when I answered his tongue with my current tongue. It seems this dude really knows what is he doing. Then he placed his right hand over my hardening wood. He freed my mouth from the kiss. "It’s Kevin. I always want to do this ever since I saw you in the gym.” That’s it! This guy is one of the gym patrons. I rarely see him but it seems he knew Ryan.  Do Ryan have a thing for this guy? But I’m sure I am better in looks.

“I think you have mistaken.” I retorted.

“Doubt it. You’re big fellow down here is telling me the opposite.” He answered back as he started unbuckling my pants. He knelt down and pulled it down and he is surprised by how huge Ryan’s bulge is. He is probably as amazed as I am. No, no. it’s not a time for this. I need to get out of here.

But before I could take any action, he quickly stands up and kisses me again. He continuously caressed his hands over my bulge. “Aghhh,” I let out a huge moan. He then removed his tank top revealing his eight-pack abs. My body is more defined but Ryan’s excitement and my currently weak resistance somehow makes things harder for me to fight back. I’m afraid that I’m giving in.

Kevin

I moved my hands over his pectorals and start pinching his nipples. “Oh, that’s great!!” He shouted erotically. “Please lick it, Ryan.” Then I placed Ryan’s lip over his pecs swallowing its entirety. I used my borrowed tongue to play its tip. Then my tongue ventured to the other side doing the same thing, then I followed the curves of his abs. I licked every angle of Kevin’s abdomen. I could smell his sweat and taste the salty skin. Then I level myself for another erotic kiss. We crossed our tongues likes sword clashing. “Suck me, Ryan.”

I followed as what he instructed. I got on my knees and pulled down his shorts. A four-inch pecker appeared, which is quite shorter to what I’m expecting. In size, mine is longer and larger. But it doesn’t matter in this moment, I teased him by swallowing his balls and my hands massaging his rod. I slowly move towards his dick’s tip until suddenly he pushed his entire length inside my mouth, choking me.

“I’m sorry.” He apologized as he quickly pulled it off my mouth. “I got too exci…” Before he could finish, I swallow it back. This is my first time giving someone a blowjob and I’m not even in my own body. I swirled my tongue around his rod. He placed his hands behind my hand. ‘I’ll be gentle.” Then he moved his hips back and forth. It feels great and I’m getting addicted to it. Seconds later, he released hot stream of cum inside my mouth. I have no choice but to swallow them as he pushed his hands harder than before. It’s kind of slimy but the bitter taste got mixed with his sweaty rod, resulting to a weird flavor. He pulled me up for another kiss.

“It’s my turn.” He whispered to my ear. He wildly removed my underwear and I could already see precum on the tip of my borrowed dick. I watched him choke himself trying to devour Ryan’s entire length. He played his tongue around the impressive rod and massages my balls with his hands. This is also my first time getting a blowjob, and possibly Ryan’s too. Losing control, I started pinching my own nipples. I moan louder and louder. His hands moved towards my butt cheeks and pressed it pushing my super hard dick down his throat. I imitated how he moved his hips before. I could feel it… But I can’t! It will lock me and Ryan in each other’s body. He may hate me for it. I tried my best to prevent releasing but Kevin took my dick off his mouth and licked the small hole.

“Aahhhh!” Streams of cum rocketed to his chiseled body as I shout in ecstasy and worry. He then cleaned off my cock by slurping the remains of cum in my rod down to my legs.

“That was hot, Ryan.” He announced as he stood up. When he is about to kiss me again, his phone rang. I cannot hear what they’re talking about properly as I’m still dumbfounded of what I’ve done. I realized my mistake. Ryan would hate and despise me now. He might lose his respect for me.

“I need to go Ryan. My girlfriend is waiting for me. Let’s do this again next time.” Kevin said as he wore his clothes then run off like a fireman.

“Yeah.” It was only my response. This dude just gave me a blowjob and he had a girlfriend. What kind of boyfriend he is?! No, no. That’s not my problem. My problem is how could I explain this Ryan. This is bad. I put my pants back and left the place as fast as I can.

While on the bus way home, I cannot think of a proper explanation. I cannot just tell him, “I got so horny in your body and decided to go with the flow.” Even if it is the reason. I tried searching on the internet for some leeway but what caught my attention is the weather news regarding a storm tonight. My worry heart overcomes my self-loathing, and impulsively dial my phone number. Ryan answered my call.

"I'm so sorry Ryan. I didn't mean to." Wha… what did I just say?! I’m supposed to tell him about the storm. This is bad. I haven’t think off a good explanation.

"Huh, what happened? Did you get into an accident?!" He’s now raising his voice. He might be on a bad mood.

"Sort of..." No…

"Sort of?"

"You see... I cum three times while in your body!" I ended up confessing. But I’m still not ready to tell him about my blowjob with Kevin.

"Eh?!" I knew it. His respect… his trust on me… shattering…

"I'm really sorry, Ryan. I cannot control my urges."

"How did that happen? What happened to your usual cool?!" His voice is getting louder. He’s mad now. He’s probably judging me now.

"Well..." I explained him ‘what’ happened but it’s all lies. I want to save our friendship at least. I tell him the truth once he got home.

"So we're stuck for a day?" Ryan asked. Hearing that with my voice is like a boss disappointed of what just happened. But his voice is quite calm now. Did he buy my lies?

"Seems... like it. I'm so sorry Ryan. I let my horniness got ahead of me." I apologized again… hoping for the best…

"I should apologize as well...” Ryan paused. “Since I also masturbated this afternoon..."

I gasped. Does that mean he touched my penis? Does that mean he caressed my body? Does that mean he likes me too? Or… does that mean he simply enjoy being me? I’m one to talk.

"I know it's not the right time Alvin, but I actually like you.” He continued talking. ‘I appreciate everything you did for me... I tried my best to resist my dirty thoughts but I failed." Is that a confession?

I took a deep breath. "I also... like you Ryan.” I ended up confessing my crush on him. “It's probably one of the reason I ended up trapping us both. But don't worry, it will be automatically undone in a day. Let's talk about our feelings when you got home." I talked calmly so he won’t notice I’m really nervous.

"Then wait for me. I'll dress up now and be on my way. I'll use GPS if I need to..." I could feel his excitement.

"Wait!" I interrupted him. "Stay there."

"But why?"

"It's dangerous. There will be a storm tonight according to the news. The roads there are kind of dangerous when raining."

"You should have said that first."

"Well... I feel like… apologizing first… so you could avoid panicking." I messed things up and I’m actually the one who is having a panic. I let a loud sigh. "But it seems you panic either way. Anyway, stay there for the night."

"Alright, I'll do that."

"Then it's settled. Let's talk again later..." I’m saved for now.

"Wait." Or not. "It's about Michael." Michael is there? I thought he wasn’t going.

Ryan explained everything. I felt unfair to him. He was able to tell me this but I couldn’t. I’m really going to tell him everything when he got home.

"I see... Michael… is always like that." I reacted. "I already turn him down even before I have you living with me, but he never stops." This sounds trouble.

"Do you like him by any chance? A little?" He asked. Oh no! Did he misunderstand my reply?

"As a friend, yes. Why did you ask?"

He then told me that my body twitches whenever Michael is flirting.

"He's my type of… guy… but not exactly him. He reminds me of you. Or in this case, he reminds 'my body' of you." It’s the truth. They share some similarities but I hate Michael’s ego. Ryan, on the other hand, is easier to approach and interact. Michael and I were once roommates but he never listed to what I say even if it’s for our own good. Thinking about it makes Ryan’s dick hard a little. "This is kind of embarrassing... and weird. We're in each other's body and it's like confessing to myself. Ha…Haha…Hahaha." I tried to laugh it off. I think my face is red now.

Then he followed, "Are you sure it's not the other way around?"

"Nope." I responded. "I'm sure." You’re far better than him.

"Thank you, Alvin. Sorry if I doubted you."

"It's fine. I had an idea you would noticed." I’m kind of glad you didn’t notice my lies about the body swap lock.

"So... What should I do about him?"

"Just try to keep your distance from him." If Michael is being flirtatious to that level, it’s kind of dangerous. He might do something unwanted. I can’t do anything for now except hoping for the best. 

I wish the storm could pass sooner, I want to see Ryan now and settle everything.

[disengaged]

Hey, Pegs, you collect CDs, yeah? I was wondering, as someone who also collects CDs, why do you do it?

AH YES, a fellow CD collector!! hello!! 🤠👋

part of it is probably just sheer sentimentality tbh! CDs were my first real introduction to music ... i got my first ipod when i was 12/13, but before that they were all i had access to. i used to take a bus to the mall every weekend just to loiter at HMV lmao

second reason is that they're MAD affordable. CDs really aren't "in fashion" right now, which means they're super cheap at secondhand stores/bargain bins/etc - ive gotten a ton from my local library over the years & they're barely even used. even a brand new CD is usually ~$10-15(CAD), which is WAYY more reasonable than $45 for a record imo 😳✌️

third reason is that i don't trust computers & i just like having actual physical belongings! i currently have apple music on a student membership, but i kinda hate apple and i don't want to have it forever, so. i'll always have my CDs. theyre super easy to burn at home too, which i like bc i make a TON of mixtapes. & even though they're not the most portable, basically every car has a CD player, used boomboxes are cheap, and you can definitely find used discmans for sale all over.

fourth and final reason is the ART ..... i looove poring over lyric booklets and fun disc/case designs and stuff. you definitely can't get that kind of thing with streaming services!

it's also worth mentioning that CDs also have SUPER high quality compared to mp3s ... we're talking 1411 vs. 320 kilobits per second, which is a staggering difference if you think about it. society went from vinyl (~32kbps!!!!!) all the way up to CDs, and then file sharing happened and suddenly the goal was to shrink file size, so quality went completely down the drain and still hasn't recovered since. (not that i'm some kind of quality purist, cuz i don't really care about that stuff whatsoever... but it's crazy to think about from a musical history perspective !!)

the way i see it, CDs are kind of the "ugly duckling" of music formats right now... everyone is obsessed with vinyl and cassettes are starting to make a comeback, but CDs are still kind of unpopular, which is fine by me !! curious to hear, what's your reasoning ??? 👀

[endercafe]

┊͙˘͈ᵕ˘͈ ⊰ complementary dish! (matchup)

hi!! could i get a matchup pls? i’m 4ft11, bi w/ a slight lean towards guys, and i go by she/they pronouns. i’m an infj and a 2w1 if ur into personality stuff too! i love reading, drawing/designing, photography (i want to work in the field), collecting things (i have snowglobes, books, vinyl records, u name it lol), and listening to music! there have been days where music is playing nonstop for 24 hours,, it really helps w my anxiety and is just really lovely in general lol. i cry rlly easily too (4x during tangled whoops),, i also want to travel a lot!! i love learning about things and the world in general, which is partially why photography is something i love to do lol- i’d give anything to just wander around from country to country!! i try to aim for a cottagecore aesthetic but i’m torn between that and light academia, so i’ve settled for like a fun grandma vibe? comfy sweaters, overalls, and fun earrings :] i hope your day’s been well, tysm!!

@dontstopbeingyellow — ” i match you with...

eret!

__________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

eret is very supportive of every single thing you want to do in your life, he’s always there to hype you up and validate you no matter what! he’s a collector as well :] he has portraits, pretty rings, and shiny gems that he collects all displayed around his kingdom for visitors to view. he’s very particular when it comes to keeping the items you guys collect in good condition lol, nothing gets neglected and he makes sure to keep all of your snowglobes shiny and pretty!!! eret also understands how music can be comforting, he makes sure to keep your favorite songs playing anytime you want them to, and if you want to change the song you’re always able to do so.

he thinks it’s sweet that u cry easily, but never ever tries to purposefully cause you to cry!!! if anyone tries to get you in such a state on purpose then eret is quick to step in >:0 whenever you do cry, he’s there to hold your hands and make sure you’ve got a box of tissues to dry your eyes with. traveling is eret’s absolute favorite thing to do, so you both go wherever you wish at any time! if he can’t accompany you on your journeys, he asks if you’d like a friend to come with you (niki, techno, anyone he and you trust!) your style is super unique and adorable to eret as well, if you want to design your own clothes he’s got tailors and servants who are willing to help make your dream outfit a reality.

honestly you can do almost anything when with eret! he’s a ruler after all, so the possibilities are about as limitless as you can imagine!!

[galadrieljones]

As You Were (Chapter 5)

Fandom: The Last of Us | Pairing: Joel x OC | Content: Fix-it | Rating: Mature

Masterpost

When Joel and Ellie take a wrong turn on their journey from Pittsburgh to Wyoming, they find themselves lost in, what feels like a time warp: a beautiful place with a dark and dangerous secret. While there, they meet Cici and Noah, a mother and son fighting tirelessly for survival, and who have recently endured a terrible tragedy on their family farm. Amidst their joint desire to find hope for the future, the two groups decide set out west together, changing the course of the story (as we know it), and the very course of their lives.

This is an AU, starting after the events of the Summer chapter in the first game, and extending into the timeline of the second game. Joel lives.

Chapter 5: Living Room Jam Session

"There are a million ways we should have died before today, and a million ways we can die before tomorrow. But we fight, for every second we get to spend with each other. Whether it's two minutes, or two days, we don't give that up. I don't wanna give that up."

That night, Cici went out to the circuit breaker next to the shed, and she switched on the electric fence. It worked after all.

“It’ll use up a lot of fuel,” she said to Joel. “But we can’t risk it.”

The farm was peaceful. Almost like nothing had ever happened. A couple cows had escaped, earlier that day. Joel had offered to help wrangle them, but Noah said don’t bother. “We can’t feed them anyway." He shrugged. He slaughtered a cow in the early evening. He showed Joel how to clean and butcher the meat, and how to salt and cure it for longer term use. They had steaks for dinner that night, prepared this time with a few potatoes, seasoned with dill from the garden, which was picked almost clean.

Joel was beginning to gather that their time on that farm was coming to a rapid conclusion. They couldn’t stay there, not much longer. If there were spores in the tributaries, that meant they could get into the water table, too. Cici and Noah knew this. They had been making four hour drives to the Fox River in Fon du Lac for several months now, bringing back water sourced from Green Bay. They said this was how they were able to trade for their fuel for the generators, from the Amish on the other side of the hill—making long drives to clean water. Even with the rain, they could no longer water their crops or sustain their livestock, and the Infected were becoming more of a threat every day. They had a lot of reserves, but it was only a matter of time before they ran out of food, or worse. Like Cici had said, him and Ellie showing up like they had, it was almost happenstance.

“I can get you your fuel tomorrow,” said Cici. They were still outside, leaning against a tree, looking at the circuit breaker. “You made good on your bargain. Thank you, Joel.”

Joel had got a big old cut on his forehead from the events down at the trench. She had patched it up for him with alcohol and gauze. Hadn’t made a fuss, just did it. “Cici, I know we ain’t known each other that long, but I ain’t leaving you and Noah here to deal with this all by yourselves.”

“You don’t owe us anything.”

“I know that,” said Joel. “And trust me, I been wrestling with it myself. But it don’t change anything.”

Cici straightened up off the tree and looked around. Her hair was down now, kind of tangly and windswept. Noah and Ellie were inside the house. “Noah said he told you about LaCrosse.”

Joel looked down at the grass as if to count the moonlit blades. “He didn’t go into a lot of detail,” he said. “But yes, he gave me the gist. Said your husband, he died in a fire. I’m sorry, Cici. I truly am.”

She just shrugged her shoulders. “We never got to find out, what’s been going on,” she said, blinking back tears. “We couldn’t stay, after it happened, and then we couldn’t go back.”

“Noah wants me to come with him,” said Joel. “Back. To LaCrosse. He asked me after dinner.”

“There’s no point,” she said. “There’s nothing we can do. Even if you find the source of the problem, the farm is too far gone to save.”

“I think it’s more about closure,” said Joel. “He didn’t say as much, but I get it. I told him I’d go. I hope I ain’t crossing any lines in doing so.”

She closed her eyes.

“Me and him are gonna head up tomorrow,” he went on. “I figure, the sooner the better. Shouldn’t take more than a couple days. I was gonna ask if you wanted to come with us, or if you'd be okay staying here, with Ellie. I don’t want to take her, because she’s just a kid, and she’s been through enough, and I don’t know what the hell we’re getting into up there, but I won’t leave her here alone.”

“It’s okay,” said Cici. She didn’t even try to argue. “I’ll stay. I don’t—I can’t go back there anyway.”

“Do y’all have anywhere to go?” said Joel. “I mean, aside from this farm? Noah mentioned family down in Moline. The I-80 runs right through there. I don’t know what we’ll find, but we could take you.”

Cici shook her head slowly, staring at the earth. “My sister-in-law was trying to get back there like six months ago. She said she’d come back for us, if it was all clear, but we never heard from her again.”

“I heard about some turf wars going on in the Quad Cities,” said Joel. “Just warning you. It was the kind of place too small for a QZ, but it was too big and too isolated to try and save. The military all but abandoned it. Now that was years ago. Things could have changed. Either way, it’s right on the Mississippi, so if your little problem extends into Illinois and Iowa, it probably ain’t gonna be pretty. But we can try.”

She took a deep breath, and she opened and closed her fists a couple times. She had little bones. She was small, but she wasn’t a weakling. “I wanna think about it.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s go inside,” she said, pulling herself together. She had this way of tucking her hair behind her ears. It was like hitting a reset button or something. Truth be told, he was a little confounded by Cici. Not in a bad way. He just found it very hard to predict her, despite her seeming steadfastness, as a woman. “Ellie and Noah are into the vinyls," she went on. "Who knows what they’ve got playing in there.”

“You guys got a ton of records,” said Joel as they headed back to the porch in the moonlit grass. “What is it with that? You just collectors or something?”

“My husband was,” she said. “William. He used to say that if the apocalypse ever came, at least we’d still be able to listen to music.”

“Well, he was right,” said Joel.

The seemed to comfort her. He saw her almost smile, out the corner of his eye.

“What’s this band called again?” said Ellie. She was sitting on her knees on the floor, in the middle of a big old pile of records. Noah was on the floor nearby, sifting through the pile one-by-one. It had been a long time since he’d really taken inventory, since before his dad died.

He picked up the vinyl, examined it front and back. “The Wallflowers.”

“The Wallflowers?” said Ellie. “Weird name, but I like it.”

“Do you know what a wallflower is?”

“Uh,” said Ellie, “like a flower that…grows out of the wall?”

Noah was amused. “It’s a metaphor. It’s like, somebody who stands on the sidelines. They don’t really get in on the action.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” said Ellie.

“The singer for this band is Bob Dylan’s son.”

“Neat,” said Ellie. “Who’s Bob Dylan again?”

Noah started going through a stack on his left, where he kept the sixties stuff. “This guy,” he said.

“Ah,” said Ellie. “The Blowing in the Wind guy. Very cool.”

“Did you guys ever listen to music in the QZ?”

“Yeah,” said Ellie, “but we didn’t have records. And everything I wanted, I had to steal or trade for with my ration cards. It was like, music or food sometimes. I had a walkman though, so I would just listen to tapes.”

“Do you still have it?”

“No,” said Ellie. “It broke like a thousand miles ago.”

“Bummer,” said Noah.

“Pretty much.”

They listened to the song. It was called “Josephine.” I know you’ve been sad. I know I’ve been bad. But if you’d let me, I’d make you ribbons from a paper bag.

“What do you think this song is about?” said Ellie.

Noah thought about it, looking up at the ceiling. “I think it’s like, the end of a relationship,” he said. “The guy messed up, but he doesn’t feel like he’s good enough for Josephine anyway. He’s apologizing, and he knows he can’t get her back, but he still loves her. That’s what I get from it, but it sounds dumb as hell when I say it out loud.”

Ellie examined the sleeve. It was just a whole bunch of yellow stars on a black background. “It’s not dumb,” she said. “It’s just really sad. Why doesn’t he think he’s good enough?”

“I don’t know,” said Noah. “Why does anyone think anything?”

Ellie thought this was kind of funny. “Good point.”

“Let’s try this one,” said Noah.

He took the Wallflowers record off the platter, put a new record on.

“What’s this?” said Ellie. “Lightning Bolt. Pearl Jam? I think I’ve actually heard of these guys.”

“This one’s got a story behind it. You want to hear?”

Ellie straightened right up. “Hell yeah.”

“Okay,” said Noah, looking down at the sleeve. It was like this big, red eye, full of white lightning bolt decals. “So apparently like, this album was supposed to be released a few weeks after the day the outbreak officially hit in 2013. It got pushed back like everything else, and then the stores all closed and it just like, never happened. My dad had really been looking forward to it, so like six weeks after shit went dark, him and some guys went to a Best Buy up in Madison and looted all these unreleased vinyls from the warehouse.”

“Holy shit,” said Ellie. “That’s fucking awesome.”

“I know. He said he had to get by military guys and everything.”

“Dude, your dad was a total badass,” said Ellie. “You should be proud.”

At first Noah got quiet. Ellie hadn’t thought anything of it. She’d never had a dad, or a mom, or anyone to be proud of like that. She just thought it was so unbelievably rad that he had a story like this to tell other people, about his dad. Eventually, Noah smiled. She smiled along with him. He said, “There’s one song on here I like a lot.”

“Play it,” she said. “As long as it’s not about people breaking up. Because that shit sucks.”

“It’s not,” said Noah.

He set down the needle, and together, they listened.

The song was slow and beautiful, thought Ellie, but it grew. Piano—crisp and clean and rushing as the river—gave way to a man’s voice and the guitar, big as a boat. She sat without talking. She tucked her hands in her lap and looked down at her wrists. She closed her eyes and tried hard to let the music overwhelm her. It was hard for Ellie to let things overwhelm her. She wore heavy armor. She would make a joke. She would roll her eyes.

But this was different than the other song, thought Ellie. It was sad, maybe sentimental, but it was a good kind of sentimental. All the missing crooked hearts, they may die, but in us they live on. I believe. I believe 'cause I can see. Our future days. Days of you and me. It was strong, and it seemed to be about trying. Like, trying to be better, through the eyes of someone else. Loving, and being loved, even when it’s hard. You have to try. It put her back in time, almost to another universe, but she hammered it away. She liked this song much better than the last song. She wished to live inside the music.

When it ended, she looked at Noah, who was looking at the ceiling again, leaning back on his hands and listening, with intent. The song had filled the house with a purifying energy and brought it down, made it simple. The bad things that had happened that day, they were clean.

“That one was awesome,” said Ellie.

“Are you okay?” said Noah. He seemed like he was half-joking, but sort of earnest. It was enough joking to make her smile, but not too earnest to freak her out.

“Oh,” said Ellie, looking down at her shoe laces. “I’m fine. I just—these songs sort of remind me of someone I once knew. In another life I guess.”

Noah waited what seemed like a long time before he spoke again. He was mulling it over, with his elbows now resting on his knees. Then he said, “I get that.”

They played the song again. Then, they couldn’t take it anymore. They took it off and put on some emo shit by a band called Coldplay. It was kind of terrible, they agreed, but they listened anyway, as it was like a dream.

A little while later, Joel and Cici came back inside. Joel held the door for her and once they were in the living room, raised his eyebrows and made fun of the Coldplay.

“You guys okay in here?” he said. “Sounds like you made a wrong turn somewhere.”

“Oh, we’re great, Joel,” said Ellie. “You guys are seriously missing out on our jam session.”

“Ha,” said Cici.

Joel stretched and got real big, and then he leaned against the kitchen table. He seemed kind of faded, thought Ellie. He had that cut on his eye. He seemed very tired. “It’s been a long day,” he said. “I think I’m ready to head up. You wanna come Ellie, or you fixing to stay awake a while longer?”

Ellie got up and wiped her hands on her jeans. They’d gotten kind of dusty from handling all the vinyls. “I’ll come up,” she said. “I’m pretty wiped.”

“I’ll have breakfast ready early,” said Cici.

“Sounds fine,” said Joel.

“See you guys in the morning,” said Noah. He glanced up at Ellie then, as if thankful for something.

When they got upstairs, Ellie went to look in the mirror on the bureau and she took down her ponytail. Her hair felt like a rat’s nest. She started to brush it out, aggressively.

“Where’d you get that hair brush?” said Joel, taking his shoes off.

“Cici let me borrow it,” she said.

“Right,” said Joel. He put his face in his hands then, scrubbed them down his cheeks. “Ellie—"

She stopped mid-brush, turned around. “Noah told me about LaCrosse,” she said. “I wanna come.”

Joel took a deep breath, as this had caught him by surprise. “Ellie, no.”

“Well what the fuck?” she said. She set down the brush on the bureau, hard. “Why the hell not?”

He just took to staring at her. She wasn’t actually that mad, he thought, she just seemed genuine in her confusion. “Because,” he said. “I got no idea what we’re walking into up there.”

��Oh, but you did in Pittsburgh, when you drove us straight into a fucking trap?”

“That is beside the point.”

“How, Joel?” said Ellie. “Noah is only four years older than me. I can hold my own.”

“Those are four critical years, Ellie,” said Joel. He was trying not to raise his voice. “And honestly, it don’t matter whether you can hold your own, because this thing going on in, it ain’t about you. It ain’t about me neither. You understand? It’s about Noah atoning with his dad’s death. He needs help, and he asked me, and I am providing that for him.”

“I can help,” said Ellie.

“I know you two get along,” said Joel. “But you're helping most by staying put.”

“What about Cici? She doesn’t wanna go?”

Joel waved her off, started rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “No,” he said. “Cici’s made her peace. Or what’s left of it.”

“She doesn’t seem…at peace.”

“I didn’t say she was at peace. I just said she’s made her peace.” Ellie seemed to understand this, and now, he could tell she was just scared, of being left behind. “Look, Ellie,” he said, shaking his head. “You can’t come. That’s the end of this conversation. But we’ll only be gone a couple nights. You got Cici with you. She might seem quiet, but I think she's pretty hardcore, and you two got the electric fence. Me and Noah, we’ll be okay.”

“I know,” said Ellie, like she was defending herself. She had flipped open her switch blade, was studying the tip. “I know.”

“We good then?” said Joel.

She hesitated, but then she closed up the knife and flopped back onto the bed. “Fine,” she said.

He was relieved.

“But then you better fucking bring something back for me.”

This surprised him. He gave her a look. “Bring something back?” he said. “Like a souvenir?”

“Yeah,” she said. “A souvenir.”

“A souvenir from LaCrosse?”

“You heard me.”

Joel tugged the covers back, was getting ready to crawl beneath. The day had become a heavy weight, all of it resting right on his eye lids. He was glad it was all okay. “All right,” he said, yawning. “I’ll see what I can find.”

“Good,” she said.

“Now get some goddam sleep.”

“Ay ay, cap’n.”

A few minutes went by. Joel was about ready to get under the covers for good when Ellie said, “I gotta pee.”

He looked at her. “Now?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” he said. “Okay. Just—just be quick.”

“You think I wanna take my time peeing in that thing? Outhouses are like the one bad thing about this place. Other than the whole, contaminated-water part, I guess.”

Joel took a breath, told her he would leave his lamp on. “Just hurry, and turn the lamp down when you get back.”

“I will,” she said.

Ellie went pee in the outhouse and did her best not to make any sounds. When she got out, she didn't feel tired, so she went over and stood by the river like a detour. She did not plan on staying long. She just looked at it, right down into it, and then it blinked back at her like the little bitch it was, bubbling deceptively in the moonlight. She  suddenly hated that something so innocent could also be so deadly, and so fucking sad. The night was cooling down but it was still humid. She switched open her knife and wiped the sweat from her forehead on the back of her hand. She switched her knife closed again, then open again. She tried thinking about anything else, but that stupid Pearl Jam song had awakened something inside her.

“I haven’t seen you in…in I don’t know how long,” she said.

"Forty-five days?” said Riley. She was nervous. “Well, forty-six. Technically. Wanna know what I’ve been up to?”

The rain outside was like a drum. Ellie didn’t care. “All this time,” she said. “I thought you were dead.”

Riley felt everything, but just like everybody else in the whole wide world, she couldn’t show it. “Yeah,” she said. And she took off the dog tag. “Here. Look.”

“God fucking dammit,” said Ellie. She was on her knees now, overcome by something, and she stabbed the knife into the river bank. “Stupid fucking bullshit. Fuck you.” She stabbed it again, and then she felt like a complete dumbass, put it away. She thought about crying but she stared back at the river instead. “Go away,” she said.

“Ellie?” said someone. It was Cici, she was calling out to her from the porch. It must have been too long. “Ellie, you okay?”

“Shit,” said Ellie. "I'm okay." She got up, frantic, and her knees were all wet from the river bank. “I'm okay. I'm coming."

"Just checking," said Cici.

When she got back up to their room, Joel was under the covers. The lamp was dim. He lie very still, on his side, facing the wall, and she stood watching him for a second to see if he'd roll over and scold her or something. But he seemed like he was sleeping, and she was relieved. She didn't know why she cared, but she did. So she turned down the lamp right away and tried to be as quiet as she could so as not to disturb him. She took off her shoes and set them down silently, one by one. Then she took her jeans off, too, hung them over the bedpost to dry. She only had the one pair. She got under the covers and pulled them up to her chin, trying to sink into the mattress, forcing her brain to shut the fuck up. Please. For once, just shut the fuck up. But then,

“'Night, Ellie,” said Joel. He had not moved, by the dim light of the moon coming through the window.

She was near on startled. His voice was really deep and it always filled the room no matter how quiet. “Oh, shit,” she said. “Sorry, Joel."

"That's okay," he said.

"‘Night, Joel.”

Days of you and me.

***

On the record player: “Josephine” by The Wallflowers, “Future Days” by Pearl Jam, “The Scientist” by Coldplay