[Splintered]

I <3 Black Metal.

Anyway.
Hot Topic is a strange place for me.
I went in there about, oh, a week ago.
I've never really taken the time to give Hot Topic a good look over. I've been there in passing, and I've seen their merchandise, but I've never really looked into what is actually in Hot Topic.

So, when I found out I was going there, I decided I would.

The first place I headed too, were the band T-Shirts. Hot Topic is supposed about the music (Or so I've been told), so I figured, that would be where the best variety is.

In total, there were 60 odd T-shirts, in total. (They had two display cases, one was 7 x 5, the other 6 x 5. So, if I'm doing my math right, 65.) Half of these T-Shirts, weren't even related to music. The ones that were, primarily centered around: Insane Clown Posse, Slipknot, and other various bands that fall somewhere within the "Metalcore" genre. That's all fine and dandy. I mean, these are respectable bands. (And no, I don't care about your opinion on whether you like them or not. As far as I am concerned, if you have the balls to get up in front of a stage and display your musical talent, or lack thereof, you get respect.) But there wasn't that much to choose from. In fact, taking a total, there was only one band that seemed even to touch anywhere outside of these genres (Cannibal Corpe). There was maybe one or two of the newer punk bands, and that was it. That pissed me off. Royally. I'd atleast expect something I'd remotely find on MTV. Maybe if we're lucky, something you'd see on headbanger's ball. But there was nothing. At all. I would have had better luck finding T-Shirts of bands I was thinking of at a Christian Fundamentalist Church.

So, after that revelation, I decided, maybe there's something else. Maybe, I can find my refuge of something that turns my crank, elsewhere. Belts. Nearby, were belts. I like belts.

But not these belts.
Oh no! These belts were crap. Half of them already were scratched up, or had something wrong with them. This is completely disregarding the fact that the belts were really ugly in my opinion. Someone else probably liked them. But they were damaged. What the fuck?!

Maybe Bracelets would show me salvation. Hot Topic could redeem themselves with bracelets. Nope. Frayed, ugly, and consisting of either "Nightmare Before Christmas", or random bands of the same genre of T-Shirts. Not what I was expecting.

I was crushed.

Then.
I found out they sold lingerie.
Maybe, just maybe, they could redeem themselves with my teenage sexuality. I would be so turned on, that I would worship at Hot Topic's feet.

Well. I'm writing this rant.
So, guess what? It was a whole bunch of poorly put together frills, and handcuffs. While the handcuffs may be kinky, they really just looked uncomfortable. They just looked... Bad. That was the only way to describe it.

So.
With my hopes crushed, and my dismay, I sauntered out of Hot Topic.
Destroyed.

And out of the glimpse of my eye, I saw something.
I couldn't believe my luck. Was it? Could it be? Yes.

What saved Hot Topic? Patches.
My love.
Patches.

They actually had a selection of fairly funny patches.

So? What did I learn from this?
Shop for Hot Topic for patches. Everything else, we have online stores for.