#i just sold my xbox

[undyingavenue]

is it too much to ask to be hyperfixated on a whole gaming console. cause i will be i will be so autistic about the ps4

[wereverine]

if i had a nickel for every time a family member sold their switch w/o knowing that i desperately want one i would have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice

[aqueousablution]

I love disassembling a controller entirely just to learn something I could have easily deduced from product photos I already knew of (^: Especially when one of the screws is so tight that it requires attaching a wrench to the screwdriver and having someone hold it in place and apply downward force to the screwdriver while the other person twists just to get it to budge (^:

Anyway. 8BitDo's SN/SF controller line's face buttons are incompatible with their Ultimate line because the leftmost button on the Ultimate controllers has nubs that don't match up with any of the SN/SF line's buttons; the others match up, but only if you rotate some of them and swap others, so they can't have glyphs on them, and even then I didn't bother checking the heights because I'd already noticed the first issue and didn't feel like cracking open my Ultimate just to find out. Yay. Yippee. Woohoo. *inhales* Aaaaaaaaaaaagh.

[anx1oustig3r]

i feel like seeing these games all lumped together speaks more about my personality than talking to me does

[creations-by-chaosfay]

Because I was asked about this today:

The reason I don't have rag quilts listed is because I have no closet space to store them. They take up more space because they can't be folded completely flat. This is due to the nature of the rag side. We have no closets in this house. Just two standing wardrobes and several plastic boxes for storage. All the smaller finished quilts and all finished quilt tops are stored in my standing wardrobe. Coasters and mug rugs are in a small plastic box I use for storing some of my loose patterns. Quilts larger than 40x40 inches are stored in a larger plastic box. All this is to avoid dust and prevent my cat from gaining access to them.

Storing rag quilts can be tricky. The one I have for myself is on the back of my armchair because it's simply easier than trying to fit it in a plastic box. For buyers, how and where you store you quilt(s) is entirely up to you, though I do advise keeping them out of direct sunlight because it bleaches the colors out of the fabric.

If you have a rag quilt, would you mind sharing how you store them?

Quick question about a quick quilt...

I can finish a lap size rag quilt in less than a week, twin size in about a week, queen size in two weeks. It's three layers of fabric, quilt-as-you-go, minimal piecing, and they are heavy. Excellent for cold weather and folks who like the weight of blankets but not weighted blankets.* These quilts aren't as hot as layers of fabric plus beads/pellets, and they breathe much more effectively. For a heavier rag quilt, it's a layer of denim and two layers of quilting cotton or flannel. I have a rag quilt for myself that's three layers of quilting cotton. My house is drafty and winters are full of rain, which means the cold sinks into your bones with the humidity. My husband keeps stealing my quilt because his man-cave is the coldest room in the house. He doesn't care that it's very feminine colors "because it's warm."

As for why it's called a rag quilt, here's a sample:

The top is the fluffy side with the exposed seams. Instead of a quarter inch seam allowance the seams under the fabric, it's a one inch seam allowance and the seams are exposed. Said seams are then cut at one inch intervals. With every washing, the seams get fuzzier and softer. They're fun to touch and feel really nice. It's also why these must be dried ALONE or all the strings will end up on whatever else is in the dryer. Three layers of fabric also means two rounds in the dryer on high heat (which is why I like using flannel rather than quilting cotton) or one round of high heat and hanging to dry for a couple hours.

The back looks like a more traditional quilt top and is often the side with denim on it if denim is used. The one is three layers of flannel and was a giveaway prize earlier this year, to celebrate meeting a ko-fi goal.

These are a delight to make and excellent for cold winters and drafty homes. Did I mention they're pretty heavy? The one I have, once all folded up, weighs about six pounds, and knocks my husband out within about ten minutes of him laying over himself. It's why I plan on making a rag quilt for him. He keeps stealing mine.

For context regarding prices, these take significantly less time to make. This one, a lap size, took just 14.5 hours, and that included the quilting. A traditional style baby quilt starts at $2125 because I have a lot more cutting and sewing, and I do the quilting by hand (though it will soon change due to soon having a machine I can use on my Cutie frame and do all my quilting on it), and can take 70-80 hours start to finish. I charge $27/hour + cost of materials to come to the final price.

*A PT I know hates weighted blankets because they cause a lot of injuries. People rolling in bed with a weighted blanket on them have ended up in physical therapy because of soft tissue tears. Most especially dangerous for people with EDS and other connective tissue conditions. Other injuries they've seen are from the pockets with the beads/pellets in them tearing open. Pets and small children have been known to choke on those, and folks who are heavy sleepers can also be injured if the pockets near their face tear in their sleep. When the beads/pellets get all over the floor, people fall and end up with serious injuries from that. Not to mention overheating under all of them because the material doesn't breathe well.

[foone]

AAA games? Pfft. Indie games? Double pfft.

I only play games from the alternate history where Hillary Clinton was elected in 2008 and banned all video games. You can only imagine how weird their underground gaming scene is. People like to call unlicensed games "bootlegs" but they've got actual bootlegged games! I've played games about helping your grandmother in hospice care realize she's a lesbian by reading Sappho to her, at 2am in a speakeasy in Baltimore. The cops raided it the next night, hundreds of Gamers were arrested. They posted pictures all over Friendster of the Baltimore PD destroying the arcades with axes.

I nearly got busted once because I was imaging old disks from a 386 and someone tipped off the gaming cops that there was a copy of Commander Keen in there. I had to prove that I didn't know it, I was imaging the disks blind and then indexing them later, and I would of course turn over any contraband to the proper authorities.

I was already on a watch list because I'd been known to have some gamedev-related activities pre-ban. They can't arrest me for making games back in 2007 when it was still legal, but they do want to keep an eye on me since I have the skills to break the law.

Anyway that universe's bootlegs are mainly PC games. Can't really have console games if there hasn't been a console release since the Wii/PS3/360 era. At one point Nintendo threatened to release the Wii SDK so game devs in the US could make unlicensed games, but that didn't happen as there were quickly no functional Wiis left in the US, except for very rare holdouts that never move. PC games are easy to distribute samizdat and hide on a USB stick or CD-R labeled "nickelback".

Japan's games industry is still going, so the later Nintendo and Sony consoles still exist, but Microsoft got out of the business of course. They sold the franchise to Sega who were hoping to release the 360 successor (the Xbox One in our universe) as the Sega Phoenix but it never materialized, either through their own financial incompetence or because of pressure from the US. There's a lot of international treaties that the US has pushed "and this aid only goes through if you ban games" clauses into. That would have been an official UN resolution if the USSR hadn't vetoed it. For once, thank God for the security council, eh?

I mainly get my gaming news through Japanese gaming sites (through a set of VPNs, since they're blocked at the border firewall), and some tor onion site run by a weird guy in Minnesota who is obsessed with documenting all the underground US games.

There's a lot being worked on, but it's always a tricky trade off. Too much attention and the police might be able to track down the creators, and it's basically impossible to fund underground games, as the VISA/PayPal etc funds get seized immediately. There's a whole task force for that.

Anyway one of the weirdest differences between our two time lines is that they've gone back and edited out gaming from a bunch of movies. Those that they can, of course. War games was just banned because they couldn't remove the tic tac toe ending. The Net just removed the scene at the beginning where she's playing Wolfenstein 3D, by recording some new screen footage and a new voice over. She's fixing a spreadsheet in the new edition.

(Yes, I've seen The Net from this alternate timeline. On Laserdisc, of course. I'm just that kind of person!)

They even edited Star Wars. You know that scene where R2-D2 is playing holochess with Chewie? They edited it to be a board game instead of holograms, because that made it too "video gamey".

Technically it's not illegal to show gaming in a movie, but it needs to be an 18+ film and you have to show the deleterious effects of gaming and/or the gamesters coming to a bad end.

This has affected films less than you'd think, to be honest. They were never great about showing video games even before they banned them.

Anyway, go have fun playing your AAA games with hundred-million-dollar budgets. I only play indie games made by people under a constant threat of arrest for their art.

[bobacupcake]

indie game releases may 9 2024

today is just an absolutely amazing day for indie game launches. like there is something here for just about everyone. i want to catalogue all the ones ive seen

animal well

described by some as a "metroidvania thats similar to outer wilds in that you want to go into it knowing as little as possible" . which i assume if youre like me is all you need to know to be sold on this, so thats all i have to say

steam | switch | ps5

little kitty big city

you play as a little kitty in a big city. incredibly cute. great for people who love cats and play games to just take it easy and have a nice time. you get to put the kitty in so many silly hats

steam | switch | xbox (also on gamepass)

rabbit & steel

"what if you could do mmo raid progression but without having to invest hours into an mmo" here you go this is the game for you. get together with friends and learn mechanics and fights and get 5 different debuffs and try to parse what they mean before they make you explode in 5 seconds. i hope this sounds fun to you because to me this is what i live for

steam

crow county

an incredibly stylish ps1-style survival horror game. solve mysteries!! shoot monsters!! pick up items!! you probably know if this is the game for you already!! from what ive seen its a great love letter to the genre

steam | ps5 | xbox

1000xresist

i have heard /immense/ praise over this game from a narrative angle. scifi thriller. also the trailer starts with someone getting stabbed. cool. if you play games for their stories and a hyper-cinematic scifi adventure is up your alley check this one out

steam

cryptmaster

a dungeon crawler where you do everything by typing words . i dont know how to properly describe this but it looks incredibly cool the trailer through the link does a much better job of showcasing it than i do. AND , if this game and 100xresist both look up your alley, you can actually get a bundle with both of them for 40% off

steam

anyways thanks for getting through my big wall of gifs i really wanted to showcase these games because like these are some Real amazing games all launching on the same day. and also the same week as hades2 . and im sure theres even more that i didnt even see!!! check the replies because im sure people are gonna add even more

[dayque]

Magnus: What happened to my cute baby? Do you remember when I could hold him and he would ask me to read him stories every night?

Izzy: He once burned down the greenhouse.

Simon: Helped Kit steal the silver weapons to sell it on the shadow market in exchange for Xbox video games.

Clary: He broke all my cell phones trying to figure out how they worked.

Alec: He sold his brother's milk horns in the shadow market. It took us 3 years and 10 thousand dollars to recover them.

Jace: He disorganized the library's over 5,000 books into unbreakable code just to annoy me. By him self. IN ONE NIGHT.

Ragnor: He stole my spell books and, I have no idea how, translated them and posted them on every social media site known to the shadow world.

Magnus: My clever little baby, at least you have to give him credit for being persistent.

[vole-mon-amour]

is it just me or the way Wyll blushes and hides the pic of Mizora in that xbox ad doesn't sit well with you as well?

so Mizora traps him in a contract, owns him via contract, can boss him around, yank his invisible leash, and, if he disobeyed or if she dies, he either dies as well or immediately goes to hell for an eternity. I'm a way, he's her slave. as far as he knows, he can get out out of the contract by sacrificing himself (or he can sacrifice himself to save his dad).

sure, you can go behind Mizora's back and save Ravengard, buy we'll go with Wyll Doesn't Know That for the sake of my point.

and canonically Wyll dislikes Mizora and her company. he wants to get rid of her. he hates that she turns him into a devil. he hates how he looks. he hates everything about that.

and what Larian say in that xbox ad? oh, Wyll actually blushes and keeps the implied sexy pic of Mizora and it's implied that he has a crush on her/would have sex with her.

AND Karlach, who was also a slave with no means to get out, who was sold to slavery by a person she trusted and protected, elbows Wyll and goes, "what, you don't want it?" Karlach who KNOWS how it feels and who wants to kill Gortash for what he did to her, and Mizora is Wyll's Gortash in a way.

so first we have Halsin being a sex slave for three entire years and he feared for his life every single day. yet, that info is hidden very deeply and is easily misseable, and its written in the manner of him victim blaming himself with "i was a young druid" and he chuckles as he says that and it's presented in a way way as if he had fun? as if he was there willingly? as if it's all a big joke and not a big deal?

like, i know it's a big topic, but why is only Astarion's trauma taken seriously? why is Astarion's story written and loudly told in a way that we know that Cazador tortured him in every way, including rape, and not once it's treated like a joke? but when it comes to other's slavery, abuse, and trauma, it's suddenly treated like a joke?

Halsin's story is generally badly written/portrayed & he deserves way better, and maybe I'm reaching with this because neither Shadowheart's or Gale's stories show their captors as something good (still not as detailed as Astarion's though), but somehow that slips/gets dismissed when it comes to others.

I think Larian should stop with memes and hehe haha teeheee and be serious when it comes to others' trauma, not just Astarion's.

[plxnetn1ne]

since everyone in this fandom and their mum seem to be giving their piece about the ‘update’ coming to Hogwarts Legacy on the 6th, i figured id give my piece even if no one has asked

ive been seeing a lot of posts and replies about how “we should just take what we get and be grateful” and “the devs are working hard, do you know how hard game development is?”

im very aware of how difficult game development can be and how mentally taxing it is. i dont doubt that they’ve been through the mill.

the update is trash. its that simple. we’re allowed to feel upset about it, and for people saying that its not fair to be upset — it is fair. we shouldnt have to expect the bare minimum from a game that sold 22 million copies and reached nearly 2 billion dollars in revenue, a game that had 14 nominations for awards and 3 wins.

we were told we were getting a summer update alongside the Haunted Hogsmeade quest — the quest they promised to release to PC and Xbox in march when the game celebrated one year of release. they said, and i quote;

“As we near the one-year anniversary of Hogwarts Legacy, we wanted to let our community know that the Hogwarts Legacy PlayStation-exclusive content will be available on other platforms later this summer, along with additional updates and features for the game. Stay tuned in the coming months for more details on what’s coming to Hogwarts Legacy this year.” copy and pasted straight from Hogwarts Legacy’s official twitter page. along with additional updates and features to the game.

yes — i know, thats a very vague statement. it could have been taken in any way, but typically when additional updates and features — plural — is put into a sentence, you assume that there will be more than one new feature. it wasnt wrong for the community to assume that there was more than a few new additions coming to the game.

okay, we got photo mode — thats great for console players, but it isnt new for us PC players. im happy for my console buddies that finally get to bring their mc to life in the way ive been able to. im looking forward to seeing the uptick in photos upon the updates release. PC and Xbox got the new haunted hogsmeade quest, and thats great, considering the release of it was delayed by 3 months, but atleast we’re getting it. but basically. PS5 was fucked in the process, because everything minus photo mode is stuff they already had, and honestly, thats not fair. and double honest — thats not an update. thats the release of exclusive content plus a new addition.

for several months a summer update was hyped up, and the result was…. ps5 getting fucked, a photo mode that im going to bet my ass on will be buggy as all hell, and some cosmetics. so no — i wont be grateful. especially when we keep getting promised things and then getting fucked by a hot iron in the process. because i havent forgotten the documentary that was supposed to come out, and i still remember during September when they hyped up a digital surprise for Back to Hogwarts day and it ended up being 30 percent off on a game most of us already had, only for the game to go on sale for half off the following Nov/Dec for the holiday sales.

since the release of the game, modders have been basically picking up the slack by working their asses off to create bug fixes, better cosmetic options, enhanced schedules, companions, and so much more to keep the community somewhat entertained. this as well as the file miners that are constantly digging things up that we were robbed of, like the relationship list for companions, gaunt manor, other house specific quests, more quests concerning Isadora, on and on. on top of this, ive seen first hand how much of the outer parts of the map was developed only to be cut out. i spent a solid hour and a half today using free cam to fly around the outskirts of the map — buildings, caves, entire areas laid out for towns or poacher camps, all thrown out on top of all of the discarded quests and content.

and while im at it — ill be one of the few to say it, but Hogwarts Legacies storyline was not well thought out, or at the very least it wasnt very well portrayed. there were hundreds of questions we were left with upon beating the game. where did Anne go? what happened to the keepers after the final battle? why wasnt Isadora in her portrait? what were the keepers hiding? did inhaling the magic actually make a difference or was it just for shock value? how much of Isadora’s story did we miss? how was the undercroft tied in with Isadora when it was apparently a Gaunt secret? what even really was the undercroft?

yes, i know — “well arent they making a second one?” and yeah, im pretty sure they are, and maybe thats why we’ve gotten nothing more than a pile of bricks in the last year and a half. but, they should probably finish the first game before starting on a second.

this doesnt mean i dont love Hogwarts Legacy. i love the people ive met, the stories ive read, and i love capturing the screenshots i take from that game. the entire situation is just frustrating to no end.

[alpaca-clouds]

Ghost Hunting Is Kinda Silly - And Getting Sillier

The guiltiest of all my guilty pleasures are paranormal documentaries. Like all of it.

As I spoke about yesterday: I was super afraid of ghosts and stuff, until I started watching Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth. Mostly because back then (around 2010) one of my besties became hyperfixated on this stuff fo a while. And she got me to watch a lot of it together with her - so in the end? I just started enjoying it for myself, especially just having some of it run in the background while I was working on other stuff.

So, yes. Since about 2010 I basically watched everything in regards to paranormal documentaries I could get my hands on.

Now, mind you. While I have seen a couple of things in those documentaries, where I believe that something happened that I personally cannot explain, I usually watch those shows assuming that most of the time something happens it is faked to make the show more interesting. Like the three or four instances where I do think at least some weird happened, it was stuff where just the reaction of the people were so freaked out, that I do put it above the actual acting abilities of everyone involved. (And in one regards the person this happened to apparently also dropped out of the show after it, which makes it a bit more believable to me.)

But yeah, a lot of the time stuff is either faked, or there is some minor stuff that can be explained (EVPs are a top one) being played up as shocking and stuff. Like, yeah.

Those things are kinda expected and were always par for the course. Because they are still trying to make interesting television. I get that. I absolutely get that.

I get it.

But these days? It is getting a lot more silly. Like... Look, between about 2010 and 2013 I did some ghost hunting myself (no, I did not find a single ghost, but in two cases found faulty wiring in the places). But back in the day the "equipment" was simple: Something to record with, some photo equipment, an EMF-meter, and a FLIR. That was usually what was used pretty much by everyone. Sure, some of the bigger organisations had some other equipment stuff, but generally that were the things. And in fact those things were often very useful. Because a lot of "ghost hunting" back in the day was at least in some regard about debunking ghosts. Like finding that faulty wiring, finding stuff that produces infrasound, or cold spots. Stuff that can actually make people "experience" supposed paranormal stuff.

Now, though? There is so much stuff people use, that is just... Well, it is assuming that ghosts are real and doing stuff, while also not having any basis of backing it up. This started with the silly Occulus thing (that produces words out of electromagnetic fields), and the radio frequency scanner that randomly spoke out words. Nobody ever cared to explain why those things would work or why ghosts would know how to manipulate this stuff. It was silly. And then folks came out with this Kinnect Thingie for the XBox, that "lines out" human figures, and by now gets sold as a specific thing for ghost hunting. But... Like that thing just halucinates figures, ESPECIALLY in darkness. It is not proof of anything.

And when I am watching stuff from the last about two years... There is just so much random equipment, that is even less based in reality, and based very much just already assumes that a) ghosts are real, and b) can be detected by magentic fields and stuff.

Again, the original reason why ghost hunters used EMF-meters, was, that we had some evidence, that certain magnetic fields can make at least some people think that they are not alone in a room, and from that halucinate at times figures in the corner of one's eyes. Something that especially if one expects there to be ghosts (because it is like a supposedly haunted castle) will then be interpreted as ghosts.

Yet, by now everyone is treating it as if EMF are a proof that there is paranormal activity - rather than exactly the opposite. And nobody really seems to be interested in finding alternative explanations of why certain places might have people have "strange experiences".

And yeah... Like, I do still kinda enjoy it as trashy background TV. But man... I am honestly a bit sad, how folks do no longer go into the explanations for those experiences.

[goodday-goodmorn]

Todays work is of @ghouljams Cowboy141 au! Featuring the nasty boy himself- König! Told from the lovely perspective of Murphys (an OC of Ghouls for those who don’t know) granddaughter!! Go check out Ghoul they have some amazing COD stuff over there (the demon darling AU is one of my fav’s but they’re known for their fae and cowboy stuff!- odd niches i know-)

You had been thinking about this day for months now. Today would finally be the day you earned your honorary, ‘I sold cookies to Birdie’ badge.

And of course, all good plans begin with a pack of markers, paper, and a whiteboard that you borrowed from the back of your pappy's shop. (He wouldn't miss it, besides if he got grumpy you would just pull out the puppy dog eyes until he relented.)

Using some magnets you pin various torn out notebook papers to the whiteboard. It isn't quite like the movies where they use push pins and red sting but well- that would be inconvenient for your purposes anyway.

Face furrowed in deep concentration you stare at the board as if doing so for long enough would solve all your problems.

“Are you still planning?” A familiar voice rings out beside you, your fellow girl scout and current best friend, Alexis. She sits on a beanbag, sipping on soda as she stares at your mess of plans. You frown, clearly she wouldnt understand the intricacies of how important this was. After all, she already had her Birbe badge.

A perk she got of being the one to make the things, meant that the first year they were implemented, she got to sell to Birdie with no competition.

(You remember standing on the sidelines and watching her turn and hand Birde a box of peanut butter patties with a smug look on her face. It had been painful to have to stand there with your fellow troop members.)

The rewards were worth the sacrifice however, because now there's more at stake than the bragging rights of selling to everyone's favorite teacher. Now, you get an unofficial badge for it, made every year by the crafty hands of Alexis.

This year’s is sitting just over there on the coffee table, nearly finished. All it's missing is the border around the bird in the center, mostly because Alexis ran out of the thread she needed and has yet to ask her grandmother for more.

You sigh, grumbling out something as you continue to stare at the board.

She shakes her head and goes back to playing Minecraft on her older cousin's well loved Xbox. Trying not to die by the hands of a spider, she says, “Look- if you’re so serious about it why not just find a way through Goose?” You frown more, shaking your head. As much as you do get along well with your pappy’s favorite customer…

“Nope, not possible. Birdie’s friends are banned ever since Moon started complain’ bout it… Plus after Jordans stunt last year of getting in the good graces of Birdie’s momma- we aren't allowed to do stuff like that.” You explain, using a marker to scribble out more ideas and add to your current map of where Birdie might be when you all get access to the cookies.

She tends to be out during it, likely to make it harder for people to earn their badge by camping out on her front porch.

How she knew when you all got the first cookie shipments, you weren't sure. Probaby Moon. Yeah- definitely Moon.

“Besides,” you continue, switching your marker to a purple color, “Even if I did- that wouldn't be me selling to Birdie- it would be me selling to Goose. So it don’t count.”

She hums, “Tough luck.” You sigh dejectedly, nodding. She finally kills the spider and then turns to you, from the depths of her very filled pockets she fishes out a lollipop. She offers it to you like she's offering you a hit after a stressful day at your 9 to 5.

Gratefully, you take it, green apple, nice.

“Well, I wish ya the best of luck. If you fail, offers open to go selling with me later.” You nod, waving her off, “Mhm… i reckon ill get it this year though.”

She shrugs, pointing to the nearly finished badge which sits a few feet away. “Well, if you do, then that badge is as good as yours.”

You stare at it longingly, vowing to yourself that this year you would finally-

———————————————

“You didn't do it did you?”

You frown, a sour look on your face as you try and fix your now messed up braids. Alexis sits beside you, the two of you back in her grandmother's basement. She's got a bag of frozen peas against your jaw, trying to prevent the bruise you know is coming. You say nothing, instead just sitting there with a pout, normally you wouldn't be this upset but…

“So who did manage it this year?” She asks, leaving you to hold the peas while she goes to grab the first aid kit under the coffee table.

“Susie May.”

Alexis bumps her head on the table as she pops up, looking surprised. “Again?” She sounds as incredulous as you are upset.

“Yeah!” You cry angrily, throwing your free hand up.

She whistles, walking over to you and tending to your scraped up knees. It's something that happens so often you don't really feel it, but both you and Alexis know that if your parents, or her grandma, sees you all banged up and bruised, they won't be happy. “How’d she manage that?” She inquires, cleaning your scrapes and pulling out bandages.

“Playing fuckin’ dirty thats how.” You parents would also not be very happy with your use of swears but it's just Alexis and you right now. Plus you are rather pissed off at the manner in which Susie happened to win the race this year.

“Yeah I can see that…” Alexis mumbles, taking in your dusty clothes, frazzled hair, and scraped up knees. You decide to make it worse by opening your mouth and showing how your tooth is now loose and barely hanging on by a thread. It's a baby tooth, luckily, but still.

Alexis blinks, “How in the hell-?”

“She pulled on my braids just as I was about to get there. I tried to not fall but sending all my weight forward meant when she let go-”

“-You fell flat on your face?”

You nod, grumbling under your breath. The reason you're so upset is because well- Susie May already has her badge. And she was also the one to sell cookies to Birdie last year. Which means this is her third time selling.

The general polite thing to do after getting your badge is to either A) back out of the race to sell entirely, or B) if you’re gonna participate, give it a year or two after you earned your badge, then continue with much less vigor.

Alexis seems rather irritated herself, grumbling about how she's not gonna make a badge for someone who already has one.

There wouldn't be a point, plus it's such a waste of her time and supplies. And because Birdie only buys a box from the first girl scout to reach her- that means no one gets a badge this year.

Safe to say the troop is not gonna be happy about this. Not one bit. And you are eagerly awaiting the next time you all meet up and Alexis gets to break to everyone that the reason no one gets a badge this year is thanks to Susie.

After Alexis has finished patching you up, you huff, resting your chin in your hands as you drop the pea bag.

“Well- that was a bust.” Alexis says with a sympathetic shrug, flashing the Birdie badge, “Guess you’ll get it next year.”

You groan, flopping over to lay on the beanbag. She in turn, grabs her own girl scout sash and uniform, “Well since you failed-” You glare at the reminder to which she puts her hands up in surrender- “Since you…didn't get it. You wanna go with me to try and outsell her?”

You think it over but it really isn’t a hard decision, “Alright. But we’re stoping at pappy’s place, i need to fix my braids.”

“Cant you just do it yourself?”

“Yeah but he can do it with ribbons and considering Susie's got the Cherry with her, we’re gonna need some extra charm.”

Alexis pulls a face, “Since when does Cherry hang out with Susie May of all people?”

You shrug, waiting for your friend to finish getting ready. “Dunno. Though, I'm kinda hoping Cherry finds out what happened and punches her.” Out of your little trio of friends, Cherry could hit the hardest. She was smaller and shorter than both you and Alexis, and looked like a little angel, (hence why you and Alexis used her to make a bunch of sells), but you both knew she was a proper troublemaker.

Course- none of the adults did, which made things very useful for both her, you, and Alexis whenever you three decided to get into trouble.

Alexis grumbles, a bit upset by the news, understandable, she didn't have many friends other than you and Cherry so she probably wasn't taking the news that Cherry was hanging out with someone else very well. You decided to make it your mission to cheer both yourself and her up.

“It's alright, I reckon we can handle it without her.”

———————————————

“You sure we’ll even find anyone out here?” Alexis asks, skeptical. Fair,

considering the two of you have been riding your bikes for a while now.

You nod, reaffirming for what feels like the hundredth time, “Mhm! Look I'm telling ya- I saw some newcomers at Pappys shop a few days ago! And they certainly ain't in town, which means they gotta be out here somewhere.”

She frowns, “This doesn't feel worth it though.”

You shrug, “Well we already got everyone in town that we could for now, and they aren't gonna want any more cookies till at least a week so…”

She makes a face, knowing you’re right. “Fineeee. But once we find a house and sell we’re leaving. If we don't then we might not be back before dark.”

She glances up at the sky and you scoff, “You’re such a worry wart. We’ll be fineeee.”

She raises her eyebrow, “That's what you said last time and we ended up having to race home.”

You pull your lips into a thin line, and before she can say anything else, you see a ranch in view. “Oh look! A place let's go-!” You say quickly, racing ahead and leaving her to quickly pedal after you.

You stop on the road and hop off your bike, tugging your basket of girl scout cookies off the backseat. Alexis does the same, unclipping her helmet and letting it hang on her bike handle. “Huh, those horses are big as hell.” She comments, making you turn your head to see the draft horses.

You are overtaken with the urge to ride one of them, if only to be able to see how high up you would be.

Alexis cuts you off before you can even consider, “Don't even think about it. Your momma would be pissed if you tried.”

You huff, of course you weren't gonna try. That would just be a plain stupid idea, you have no idea what temperament those horses have. Still would be cool if you could though. “Whatever, let's go!” You run off towards the house, leaving your friend to scramble after you.

In the process you accidentally trip over something, but as per usual you simply get up and keep going. When Alexis does finally catch up to you, shes huffing and holding up something small and light in her free hand. The other is gripping onto her cookie basket. She calls your name and then suddenly stops, looking past you at…

Huh. That guy’s nearly as big as his horses. Once more you are overcome with a similar urge to ride on his shoulders. He kinda looks familiar actually…

Alexis comes up to your side, fussing over you and you quickly realize why. There's blood in your mouth, and that's when you realize the thing she's holding just so happens to be one of your front two teeth.

The big man seems even more concerned by the sight of blood, he slings the shotgun he was holding over his back and awkwardly bends down to you speaking in what you assume is german. “Geht es dir gut, Kleiner?” He talks weirdly soft for such a big fella.

At the absolute blank look you give him he blinks, and then translates, “Are you alright?”

“Oh uhhhhh” You ponder the question, are you? Yeah, mostly anyway. You can't feel any pain, but the taste of blood isn't exactly something you enjoy and its quickly overtaking your mouth. You spit to the side, smile, then give him a thumbs up with your free hand. However, when you’re missing a tooth and your teeth are stained with blood- it doesn't serve to reassure him.

Alexis takes hold of your shoulders and pries your mouth open, (in the process temporarily setting down her cookies), looking at the gap in your teeth intently to make sure you’re alright.

She frowns and turns to the big fellow- (who oddly enough seems more nervous of her than she is of him, he stiffens) -with a scowl. She isn't meaning too, you know, she just happens to have a resting bitch face, but the man doesn't know that. “Can we borrow your sink?”

The man seems to clearly have questions, namely why the hell you’re here, until he notices your sashes. “Pfadfinderinnen...?” He mumbles to himself, then upon being blankly stared at by the unwavering gaze of Alexis he nods, guiding the two of you to the house.

Not by leading you there, but rather by standing behind you and ushering the two of you forward like you were little mice. Mice that bite apparently, because despite ushering you forward he keeps a wide berth, as if scared to get too close and frighten you.

(Which you thought was strange considering out of you and Alexis, he was the more nervous one.)

Normally you wouldn't care too much about your missing tooth. Cause well- now you could get some extra pocket money from the tooth fairy! But right now, you do wanna go inside and rinse out your mouth. As much as you could suck up the taste of your own blood- you would rather not pedal all the way home with it. Also you wanna get a good look at where your tooth is missing. Plus maybe you could pull sympathy points and get this guy to buy a bunch a’ cookies, considering you tripped on his property, It was worth a shot.

He seems so weirdly familiar, that you can't help but stare. Oddly enough, this only makes him even more awkward. Does he recognize you? Once the three of you are inside, before Alexis can shove you off to the bathroom mirror and sink, you bluntly say, “Do I know you? You’re weirdly familiar…”

You frown, trying to figure out where you've seen him before. He stiffens but before he can respond, Alexis is pulling you into his restroom. Predictably, the counters are built for him and therefore tall as fuck, so she has to help you climb up there so you can comfortably rinse your mouth out without struggle. Now sitting on the countertop, blood washed down the drain, you inspect your mouth.

“Hahah! Alexis look- look-!” You say excitedly, pointing to the gap to which she just sighs. You turn on her, leaning forward excitedly, “Wait-! Wait wait wait- did you get my tooth?”

She looks at you blankly, saying your name.

“...Yeah?”

“Of course I picked up the tooth, why wouldn't i?” She fishes it out of her pocket, accidentally pulling out various random strings and threads it was tangled in. In the process, pulling out a few pebbles and other assorted nicknacks. They clatter to the ground but she pays them no mind.

You hold both your hands out for her to place the tooth in your open palms. It's covered in blood, dirt, and pocket lint.

“Its beautiful.” You say with a large grin to which she nods seriously, “How much you think I'll get for it???” There's excitement in your tone.

She ponders for a moment, “Well- for my first one I got 15 dollars. My first front one was worth a pretty penny too… I heard that Maxie got 20 for his first tooth.” She shrugs, you both grin, matching smiles that say, ‘Oh we are so going to the candy shop later.’

You hop off the counter and then the two of you are speaking to each other in hushed but excited tones, leaning into each other and swinging your baskets. When you walk back into the living room, you find the man awkwardly standing there. It's then you nudge Alexis.

(Mostly because she doesn't get to make sales often, she never was very good at talking to people. Some could say her personality was an acquired taste, she was blunt and awkward, however, luckily for her, the man in front of you both seemed even more awkward.)

(Typically cherry made all the sales, and if not her, than you. So- you wanted to give Alexis a chance to shine.)

“Oh yeah.” She blinks and then turns to the man.

“Uh- Hey mister.” She looks him directly in his eyes, he seems uncomfortable at the direct attention. “You want cookies?”

He blinks.

She blinks.

“...Cookies?”

“Yup.”

…The man is silent after that. So is Alexis. They both just stare at each other awkwardly. Well, you were proud of her for trying and that's all that mattered-! “Sure.” Wait what? That worked?

Alexis blinks, seemingly just as surprised as you. She shuffles with her cookie basket, “Okay.” She says, and then more silence ensues. You nudge her gently and she kickstarts again, “Uh- what flavor do you want?”

“What is good?” He inquires, tilting his head slightly to which Alexis looks at you at the same time you look at her. The two of you share a glance with meaning behind it. And then you’re pulling out boxes and doing what you did best: talking.

With your sales pitch, combined with the genuine occasional comments of Alexis, you end up talking for a whole 20 minutes. By the time you are finished, the man now has an armful of different cookie boxes. Everytime he would so much as make any sort of positive comment, or hum or “I see…” Alexis would silently bring him that flavor and hold it up to him. Too awkward to refuse, he simply took each box.

“Uh- kleines Mädchen- you gave me two of this one…” He says almost timidly at Alexis while you ramble about Trefoils. She stares up at him, unblinking.

“That ones my favorite.” She says simply, as if that explains everything. Konig can't find himself to protest against her absolute deadpan as she settles the box of Adventurfuls in his arms with the rest.

At some point he sat down in his armchair, making it much easier for Alexis to slowly yet surely add to the growing pile of cookies he holds.

“-It's a classic, these are based off of the original girl scout cookie recipe! You just gotta try em Mister- i mean the texture is just to die for-” You let Alexis take the Trefoils from your hands and replace it with a box of thin mints. She slowly and calmly goes to add the Trefoils to the pile.

“Oh! Now this one- lemme tell ya Mister- this is like the girl scout cookie, everyone loves a good thin mint!”

You don't even have to say more about that one before Alexis takes it and puts in his arms, patting the top of the box gently. Then she walks back over to you and holds her basket in both her hands, silent. She's pulling out a sheet of paper from her basket, and a pencil from her pocket, scribbling away as you finish your spiel.

“-And that concludes all the flavors!” He blinks, looking relieved to finally be free, alas you continue, “-Lets see for all that, that’a be…”

You turn towards Alexis who was calculating on her paper and cuts in with a casual, “372 dollars and 46 cents.”

To your delight, he simply shuffles, careful not to let any of the boxes fall as he dejectedly gets his wallet. He pulls out four 100 dollar bills and softly tells you to keep the change, you and Alexis’s eyes are wide as you stare at the money now in your hands. The two of you share a glance and then with your sweetest (now gap toothed) smile, you thank him.

Then with hardly any more words you and Alexis book it out of there, waving goodbye and leaving him stunned. Alexis is just staring at the money with wide, amazed eyes and you are excitedly chatting her ear off.

“Look at that! I can't believe you managed to get such a good sale- oh my god Cherry is gonna flip! You probably got us halfway to our quota already-!”

“I… I did that?” She says in slight amazement, technically you both did, but you'll let your friend have the win on this one.

“Yeah!”

“Yeah…” She says, a small smile growing on her face as you playfully shove her.

“See- i told you this would be worth it.”

She blinks and then looks very concerned all of a sudden. She says your name with a growing horror. You tilt your head, urging her to continue. She gestures to the sun which is starting to fade. Shit. And then the two of you end up frantically pedaling back to town, panickedly laughing all the way. It isn't until you are home and in bed that you remember why the large fellow was so familiar.

He's the guy you threatened to ban from your Pappy's shop a month ago!

[schooltrashers]

Piracy Killed The Dream

How Piracy Killed The Dreamcast!

Written By: Ninja-X³ on February 27, 2025

It is often debated or talked about, but apparently the pro-piracy crowd doesn't want piracy to take blame for anything bad that happens to consoles. Dreamcast was negatively affected by piracy. Sure there was a lot of contributing factors that led to the demise of the Dreamcast, but piracy was a big one.

Let me explain. Imagine you were running a comic book shop. But some asshole decided to scan and upload every comic available in that comic book shop, turn it into a PDF file and then give it away for free. How is that comic book shop suppose to make a profit when people can just download the PDF version on their tablet?

The same applies to video games. Consoles are suppose to make profits off of selling games. Sega was selling Dreamcast at a LOSS so that they can SELL more games to make up for that loss profit. Without those sales, Sega losses money. Any chance they had against the PS2, went down the drain once piracy was widespread during the summer of 2000, months before the PS2 even became available.

The pro-piracy crowd would argue that piracy has no negative impact on consoles and that the most successful console is often the most pirated, but they'd be wrong. For example in order to pirate a PS1 back then, you have to have a mod chip. Luckily modchips weren't widespread, neither were CD-R's or CD burners at the time. So the chances of owning a modded PS1 was slim to none. Used video game stores weren't available at the time either. Everyone who has ever owned a PS1, didn't know that a modchip could be installed.

So of course with the lack of piracy, many games on the PS1 would end up becoming best sellers, selling over a million copies and often leading to a Greatest Hits version being sold in stores. Such as my copy of Silent Hill. Yeah...couldn't get the original version, I ended up with the Greatest Hits version. Same game, just the Greatest Hits label is on it.

Piracy would end up becoming a problem by 2000, CD-R's started becoming common, I can play DreamSNES on my Dreamcast to play Super Nintendo games on. It was wild. Didn't even own that DreamSNES disc by the way, a friend of mine brought it over and I was mind blown that I can play Nintendo games on a Sega console. This was the first time I discovered that piracy was possible on a Dreamcast. Didn't see it as a big deal at the time.

Then I saw countless articles about piracy, I knew that the Dreamcast days were numbered. Then by 2001, Sega pulled the plug on the Dreamcast. I was disappointed. A lot of things ended in 2001. For example WWF bought WCW and ECW. Dreamcast of course ended. But my virginity also ended, since I lost my virginity to a hot redhead.

Point being that piracy did lead to the demise of the Dreamcast. Piracy scares off video game publishers. PS2 had the advantage of being on a new format(DVD), which is harder to pirate. Gamecube had a mini disc. Xbox also had DVD. So of course the PS2, Gamecube and Xbox would live on. Dreamcast on the other hand died too quickly.

Piracy would have been okay, IF it had happened AFTER the console's lifespan. NOT during the console's lifespan, that just causes a huge host of problems. If you're going to pirate, then pirate the consoles that go woke (PS5, Xbox Series X). Not the consoles that deserve your hard earn money (Switch).

Conclusion:

Yes, piracy killed the Dreamcast. I'm not saying piracy is bad, it can do good. But NOT during the console's lifespan. When is piracy good? Well I know how hard it is to obtain Deadpool for the PC, so by all means go for it. If it's rare, go ahead. If it's no longer sold in stores, GO AHEAD! But when a console is trying to make money, DON'T DO IT! This is what frustrates me about piracy, it does have bad consequences and there is no defending those bad consequences. With that said, it is safe to say that piracy killed the Dreamcast.

[creations-by-chaosfay]

Why can't your husband buy his own xbox :/ why does he NEED an xbox anyway if y'all are struggling...

We can't afford anything nice at the moment. I had planned on using my earnings from selling my quilts, but I didn't make enough money to cover the more important things, like paying off our debts. Why should people who are poor not have nice things? Why must those of us who are poor be made to suffer because capitalism insists on hoarding money rather than putting it into livable wages that then make it possible for people to spend money and make the economy healthier? Why must those of us who are poor be forced to live unhappy?

My husband just started a new job two days ago, he turns 50 next month, and he has his original XBox One, and it's falling apart. It can no longer read discs, and all his games are on disc. It likes to randomly disconnect from the internet, and we using streaming services rather than cable. It also likes to randomly lose the ability to even operate at all. Why must he suffer and be unhappy?

An outlet for the struggling is healthy, but going to the gym is not nor shall ever be an option because they're filthy, and we're both high risk of getting sick and dying from covid19 (over 1000 people die from it every week in the US, but the economy is more important than people). Playing video games is a good way to get aggression out without actively hurting anyone.

How do you suggest he spends his off-hours? Or his days off? After all the yard and housework is finished, he's in pain. Arthritis in his shoulders, elbows, and hands, neuropathy in his feet, these make it difficult to do much physical labor without suffering from pain for hours or days afterwards. Dyslexia makes reading difficult, and just sitting and painting his miniatures without something playing in the background makes it less enjoyable and more difficult to focus courtesy of unmedicated ADHD. Do you suggest he just sit in a quiet room for hours and hours, staring at the wall?

The reason I ask for help acquiring a new console for him is because we are struggling. If I sold all my paintings at my asking price, it would have most of the debt covered. I would be more comfortable spending money on something nice for him if I had most of the debt paid. He's my caregiver, and I'm permanently Disabled. He does the cooking, laundry, yardwork, and so much more, while also working outside our home. He's exhausted. Playing video games helps him recover and prevent burnout. Do you suggest he burnout and suffer it for months or years?

Now how about you relieve yourself of some stress and misery by pulling out the stick you have shoved up your ass and stop criticizing folks for asking for help? Just because you're miserable doesn't mean you need to make certain everyone else is as well, seeing as misery loves company. That nasty taste of last week's dinner that you've been tasting is having a serious impact on how you interact with other people. Removing the stick and the taste will go away, give yourself time to recover and adjust to having a major source of your unhappiness removed, and learn to breathe and accept that some people don't see shame in asking for help. If, however, you insist on continuing with keeping the stick up there and judging me based on limited information and many assumption, you must purchase either a quilt or painting from my shop. Otherwise our next interaction will result in me simply blocking you. I have more important things to do than justify not wanting to be miserable.

If the stick is difficult to remove, a laxative might be just what you need.

[boss-poss]

My take on the whole HD2 psn account scandal is that it sucks and it should have been expected but I really want to highlight just how far under the bus sony is throwing the devs with this:

-Announcement came out yesterday, meaning that the brunt of the (assuredly) expected blowback occurs over a weekend when most of the players don't have anything better to do and the news has reached most of them. Arrowhead takes the heat and eventually anger simmers down when monday rolls around and people get back to work and such. No skin off sony's back.

-Arrowhead community managers are already known to be blunt and dismissive compared to other games making them, and arrowhead by extension, seem the easy target as they deal with complaints. AH says they're already chasing sony about related issues but the chance of the big S giving anything more than an empty promise (if even that) is remote.

-HD2 has a large community, and as with any game playerbase, it's filled with reactionary idiots and trolls. The principle of the thing (giving sony your leash), not to mention the hassle or regional issues that could come with creating a psn account, is enough to whip people into a frenzy. There was no way this was expected to go over well.

-The requirement for a psn account was always noted but was waived for a couple of months, more than enough time for people to get invested and buy premium currency, not to mention the game becoming a landmark title among a sea of trash. That's more than enough time to forget a stipulation like that. Can't have people refunding to show their displeasure!

-A warbond was announced right before the psn mandate so whether that was to try and cushion the blow or just unfortunate timing or a mandate from higher up it makes AH look like they prioritize selling you stuff over player enjoyment, adding fuel to the fire.

-A lack of polish in certain areas of the game and rampant balance issues that cause players and the devs to butt heads have been ongoing issues since launch. Clearly, AH is having a time keeping their vision and player enjoyment balanced which has already created a fairly deep divide. The psn requirement is pretty much taking a hammer to a widening crack and will (whether intentionally or not) bring more heat towards the developers.

-PSN is famously bad at security and ultimately pointless off of their consoles, with numerous huge data breaches and accounts offering little more to players than a way for you to give your information so sony can sell it. That seems to me to be the main motive here, alongside cementing the notion of HD2 as a playstation exclusive (sorry xbox players but I don't think you'll be getting this game anytime soon). A live service game that isn't squeezing every last penny out of its players at every opportunity is ultimately financially inefficient and I'm sure some sony people are kept up at night by that fact.

-The biggest fuck you I've seen though is that the game is sold on steam in countries sony doesn't support, meaning that you could have bought and played the game already and then now be barred from playing it a few months later (can't have those pesky, preemptive refunds). Also, VPNs are against sony terms of service, so yeah... any burner accounts could get you banned and be a huge hassle.

I can't conclusively say that sony set up arrowhead as the patsy while they try to collect all that sweet, succulent, valuable, personal data but I don't believe this was an accident either. Corporations are far from stupid and fortunately for them and unfortunately for consumers, a significant portion of us are pretty easy to lead by the nose to certain conclusions. They know this and many facets of business work along those lines. Outrage is profitable and brings attention, if you're not the one in the direct line of fire.

I feel bad for the devs and I doubt much will come of this besides a temporary drop in players and maybe some sort of optional linking concession if things get dire enough, but I doubt the game will fail. Arrowhead aren't the devil but they did sign on his dotted line and sometimes the cost of success is getting told you'll bending over and taking it for someone else. Seems to be the case here to me at least.

[splintergirl13]

My brother got me an oled (bless him he is too sweet) so I decided to sell my first gen switch since I feel like the new one will be coming out this summer

And the gamestop employees are first of all the best employees ever. There's a manager and a second in command who are always there and are so chill and play dnd together and always run events. We came in and there was a pokemon trading event going on and they were giving away prizes. I got a sticker.

We roll in, my friend and I, and are talking to the manager about the sale. She's laughing like oh I'll give you full price if you give us some of that sauce (we had just gone to get me gluten free hoisen sauce)

So we chatted for a while and the second in commend floated up to us and goes "You want to hear a story?" Immediately we were both like absolutely.

So he proceeded to explain how a customer was pissed that they had only gotten $20 cash for an Xbox 360. The day he sold it the dude was like cool whatever gas money. But the next day he realized that he could have gotten a lot more either in trade in value or selling it himself. And so dude called the employee and said if he didn't give him a refund he would put a curse on the Xbox.

So the employee goes "jokes on you my mom is a witch" and then hangs up and calls his mom. And the mom tells him to write in permanent marker on his arm. He says no he's at work and can't do that. So she says okay then instead get some toilet paper. Draw a circle with an x. Put it on the Xbox. And flush it down the toilet.

He does so and he said he pet 4 dogs that afternoon. One was named pasta. So good luck acquired.

He left us with one regret. That he didn't get the details of the curse from the man. He would have asked. "What diety do you intend on cursing me with so i can properly protect myself?" And I want that as a mug.

The manager also proceeded to hand me pokemon chopsticks with no explanation at first mid story and afterwards was like oh yeah a Ramen bowl just broke and you look like someone who eats a lot of Ramen. I mean. You probably can't because you're gluten free. But you have options right? Right. Take the sticks.

Love them dearly.