• Sam [none/use name]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    17
    ·
    25 days ago

    I was always looking for reasons to avoid the gender segregated stuff on the playground as a kid so one winter I just gave everyone who wanted them conkers, when you destroy someone else’s conker you get to tie their string to your own. Since all the trading cards and stuff had been banned from the school it was the only gacha-brain activation we could get as pre-cellphone kids so it actually was kind of popular for a month or so.

    The first set of conkers I gave people were regular, but I made sure to rub Sudocrem into mine to make it stronger. Then the next set I gave out were soaked in vinegar. I didnt particularly care about winning I just thought it would keep it interesting to have a champion conker to try and beat. Eventually I had a thread about 1m long and we were running out of conkers so I gave another Sudocrem conker to my friend and let him beat mine so we could go out with a bang.

      • CloutAtlas [he/him]@hexbear.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        17
        ·
        24 days ago

        Conker refers to the seed of a British chestnut, and is also the name of a game where you carefully drill a hole through the seed, feed a string through it, tie it so it becomes a tiny, organic wrecking ball. Your goal is to swing your conker at another child’s conker until one of them breaks.

        It’s one of those old timey children’s games like chasing a hoop with a stick or playing marbles or smoking cigarettes at the age of 9.