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2023.06.02 17:41 bikingfencer Galatians - introductions through chapter 2
Galatians
From The Interpreters’ Bible:
"Introduction
-1. Occasion and Purpose
Conservative preachers were persuading the Galatians that faith was not enough to make sure of God’s kingdom. Besides believing that Jesus was the Messiah, one must join the Jewish nation, observe the laws and customs of Moses, and refuse to eat with the Gentiles (2:11-14, 4:10). One must have Christ and Moses, faith and law. Paul insisted that it must be either Moses or Christ. (5:2-6). [Mind you, the congregations were literally segregated at meals according to whether the male members’ foreskins were circumcised; compare with the trouble regarding the allocations between the two groups of widows reported in Acts.]
Not content with raising doubts concerning the sufficiency of Christ, the Judaizers attacked Paul’s credentials. They said that he had not been one of the original apostles, and that he was distorting the gospel which Peter and John and James the Lord’s brother were preaching. They declared that his proposal to abandon the law of Moses was contrary to the teaching of Jesus, and they insinuated that he had taken this radical step to please men with the specious promise of cheap admission to God’s kingdom (1:10). If he were allowed to have his way, men would believe and be baptized but keep on sinning, deluding themselves that the Christian sacraments would save them. Claiming to rise above Moses and the prophets, they would debase faith into magic, liberty into license, making Christ the abettor of sin (2:17). The Judaizers were alarmed lest Paul bring down God’s wrath and delay the kingdom. They had not shared the emotion of a catastrophic conversion like Paul’s, and they found it hard to understand when he talked about a new power which overcame sin and brought righteousness better than the best that the law could produce.
Another party attacked Paul from the opposite side. Influenced by the pagan notion that religion transcends ethics and is separable from morality, they wanted to abandon the Old Testament and its prophetic insights. They could not see how Paul’s demand to crucify one’s old sinful nature and produce the fruit of the Spirit could be anything but a new form of slavery to law (2:19-20, 5:14, 2-24). They accused him of rebuilding the old legalism, and some said that he was still preaching circumcision (2:18; 5:11). Whereas the Judaizers rejected Paul’s gospel because they believed it contrary to the teaching of the original apostles, these antilegalists felt that he was so subservient to the apostles as to endanger the freedom of the Christian Movement.
Actually Paul had risen above both legalism and sacramentarianism ... his faith was qualitatively different from mere assent to a creed (5:6). He was living on the plateau of the Spirit, where life was so free that men needed no law to say ‘Thou shalt’ and ‘Thou shalt not’ (5:22-24). But this rarefied atmosphere was hard to breathe, and neither side could understand him. The conservatives were watching for moral lapses… and the radicals blamed him for slowing the progress of Christianity by refusing to cut it loose from Judaism and its nationalistic religious imperialism.” (Stamm, TIB 1953, vol. X pp. 430)
Paul’s defense of his gospel and apostleship was the more difficult because he had to maintain his right to go directly to Christ without the mediation of Peter and the rest, but had to do it in such a way as not to split the church and break the continuity of his gospel with the Old Testament and the apostolic traditions about Jesus and his teaching. …
To this end Paul gave an account of his relations with the Jerusalem church during the seventeen years that followed his conversion (1:11-2:14). Instead of going to Jerusalem he went to Arabia, presumably to preach (1:17). After a time he returned to Damascus, and only three years later did he go to see Peter. Even then he stayed only fifteen days and saw no other apostle except James the Lord’s brother (1:18-20). Then he left for Syria and Cilicia, and not until another fourteen years had passed did he visit Jerusalem again. This time it was in response to a revelation from his Lord, and not to a summons by the authorities in the Hoy City.
Paul emphasizes that neither visit implied an admission that his gospel needed the apostolic stamp to make it valid. His purpose was to get the apostles to treat the uncircumcised Gentile Christians as their equals in the church (2:2). Making a test case of Titus, he won his point (2:3-5). The apostles agreed that a Gentile could join the church by faith without first becoming a member of the synagogue by circumcision. … They … recognize[d] that his mission to the Gentiles was on the same footing as theirs to the Jews – only he was to remember the poor (2:7-10). So far was Paul from being subordinated that when Peter came to Antioch and wavered on eating with the Gentile Christians, Paul did not hesitate to rebuke him in public (2:11-14). (Stamm, 1953, TIB vol. X pp. 430-431)
Paul’s defense of his apostolic commission involved the question: What is the seat of authority in religion? A Jewish rabbi debating the application of the kosher laws would quote the authority of Moses and the fathers in support of his view. Jewish tradition declared that God delivered the law to Moses, and Moses to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the men of the Great Synagogue, and that they had handed it down through an unbroken rabbinical succession to the present. If Paul had been a Christian rabbi, he could have treated the Sermon on the Mount as a new law from a new Sinai, which God had delivered to Jesus, and Jesus to Peter, and Peter to Paul, and Paul to Timothy and Titus, and so on through an unbroken apostolic succession until the second coming of Christ. Instead of taking his problems directly to this Lord in prayer, he would ask, ‘What does Peter say that Jesus did and said about it?’ And if Peter or the other apostles happened not to have a pronouncement from Jesus on a given subject, they would need to apply some other saying to his by reasoning from analogy. This would turn the gospel into a system of legalism, with casuistry for its guide, making Jesus a second Moses – a prophet who lived and died in a dim and distant past and left only a written code to guide the future. Jesus would not have been the living Lord, personally present in his church in every age as the daily companion of his members. That is why Paul insisted that Christ must not be confused or combined with Moses, but must be all in all.
The Judaizers assumed that God had revealed to Moses all of his will, and nothing but this will, for all time, changeless and unchangeable; and that death was the penalty for tampering with it. The rest of the scriptures and the oral tradition which developed and applied them were believed to be implicit in the Pentateuch as an oak in an acorn. The first duty of the teacher was to transmit the Torah exactly as he had received it from the men of old. Only then might he give his own opinion, which must never contradict but always be validated by the authority of the past. When authorities differed, the teacher must labor to reconcile them. Elaborate rules of interpretation were devised to help decide cases not covered by specific provision in the scripture. These rules made it possible to apply a changeless revelation to changing conditions, but they also presented a dilemma. The interpreter might modernize by reading into his Bible ideas that were not in the minds of its writers, or he might quench his own creative insights by fearing to go beyond what was written. Those who modernized the Old Testament were beset with the perils of incipient Gnosticism, while those who, like the Sadducees, accepted nothing but the written Torah could misuse it to obstruct social and religious progress. (Stamm, 1953, TIB X pp. 431-432)
To submit to circumcision would have betrayed the truth of the gospel because it contradicted the principle that all is of grace and grace is for all (2:5). Perpetuated in the church of Christ, the kosher code and other Jewish customs would have destroyed the fellowship. Few things could have hurt the feelings and heaped more indignity upon the Gentiles than the spiritual snobbery of refusing to eat with them.
The tragedy of division was proportional to the sincerity of men’s scruples. The Jews were brought up to believe that eating with Gentiles was a flagrant violation of God’s revealed will which would bring down his terrible wrath. How strongly both sides felt appears in Paul’s account of the stormy conference at Jerusalem and the angry dispute that followed it at Antioch (2:1-14). Paul claimed that refusal to eat with a Gentile brother would deny that the grace of Christ was sufficient to make him worthy of the kingdom. If all men were sons of God through Christ, there could be no classes of Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female (3:26-28). What mattered was neither circumcision not uncircumcision, but only faith and a new act of creation by the Spirit (5:6; 6”15). (Stamm, 1953, TIB X p. 433)
Church unity was essential to the success of Christian missions. Friction between Aramaic and Greek-speaking Jewish Christians in Palestine had to be eliminated (Acts 6:1). The death of Stephen and a special vision to Peter were required to convince the conservatives of the propriety of admitting the Gentiles on an equality with the Jews; and even Peter was amazed that God had given them the same gift of the Spirit (Act 11: 1-18). This hesitation was potentially fatal to the spread of Christianity beyond Palestine. Many Gentiles had been attracted by the pure monotheism and high morality of Judaism but were not willing to break with their native culture by submitting to the painful initiatory rite and social stigma of being a Jew…. Had the church kept circumcision as a requirement for membership, it could not have freed itself from Jewish nationalism.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB X p. 433)
III. Some Characteristics of Paul’s Thinking
… “the law” of which Paul is speaking does not coincide with “law” in a twentieth-century state with representative government. His Greek word was νομος [nomos], an inadequate translation of the Hebrew “Torah,” which included much more than “law” as we use the term. [When “תורה ThORaH” appears in the text I translate it as “Instruction” – its literal definition - capitalized.] Torah was teaching on any subject concerning the will of God as revealed in the Scriptures. Since the Jews did not divide life into two compartments labeled “religious” and “secular,” their law covered both their spiritual and their civil life. Nor did Paul and his fellow Jews think in terms of “nature” and the “natural law.” They believed that everything that happened was God’s doing, directly or by his permission. The messiah was expected to restore the ancient theocracy with its power over both civil and religious affairs.
The Gentiles too were accustomed to state regulation of religion and priestly control of civil affairs. The Greek city-states had always managed the relations of their citizens with the gods, and Alexander the Great prepared the way for religious imperialism. When he invaded Asia, he consolidated his power by the ancient Oriental idea that the ruler was a god or a son of God. His successors, in their endless wars over the fragments of his empire, adopted the same device. Posing as “savior-gods,” they liberated their victims by enslaving them. The Romans did likewise, believing that the safety of their empire depended upon correct legal relations with the gods who had founded it. … Each city had its temple dedicated to the emperor, and its patriotic priests to see that everyone burned incense before his statue. Having done this, the worshiper was free under Roman ‘tolerance’ to adopt any other legal religion. … Whether salvation was offered in the name of the ancient gods of the Orient, or of Greece, or of the emperor of Rome, or of Yahweh the theocratic king of the Jews, the favor of the deity was thought to depend upon obedience to his law.
One did not therefore have to be a Jew to be a legalist in religion. … Since Paul’s first converts were drawn from Gentiles who had been attending the synagogues, it is easy to see how Gentile Christians could be a zealous to add Moses to Christ as the most conservative Jew.
This is what gave the Judaizers their hold in Galatia. The rivalry between the synagogue, which was engaged in winning men to worship the God of Moses, and the church, which was preaching the God who had revealed himself in Christ Jesus, was bound to raise the issue of legalism and stir up doubts about the sufficiency of Christ.
Gentile and Jewish Christians alike would regard Paul’s preaching of salvation apart from the merit acquired by obedience to law as a violently revolutionary doctrine. Fidelity to his declaration of religious independence from all mediating rulers and priesthoods required a spiritual maturity of which most who heard his preaching were not yet capable. … Paul’s gospel has always been in danger of being stifled by those who would treat the teachings of Jesus as laws to be enforced by a hierarchy. (Stamm, TIB 1953, X pp. 434-435)
V. Environment of Paul’s Churches in Galatia
The conclusion concerning the destination of the epistle does not involve the essentials of its religious message, but it does affect our understanding of certain passages, such as 3:1 and 41:12, 20.
From the earliest times that part of the world had been swept by the cross tides of migration and struggle for empire. The third millennium found the Hittites in possession. In the second millennium the Greeks and Phrygians came spilling over from Europe, and in the first millennium the remaining power of the Hittites was swept away by Babylon and Persia. Then came the turn of the Asiatic tide into Europe, only to be swept back again by Alexander the Great. But the Greek cities with which he and his successors dotted the map of Asia were like anthills destined to be leveled by Oriental reaction.
About 278 B.C. new turmoil came with the Gauls, who were shunted from Greece and crossed into Asia to overrun Phrygia. Gradually the Greek kings succeeded in pushing them up into the central highlands, where they established themselves in the region of Ancyra. Thus located, they constituted a perpetually disturbing element, raiding the Greek cities and furnishing soldiers now to one, and now to another of the rival kings. Then in 121 B.C. came the Romans to 'set free' Galatia by making it a part of their own Empire. By 40 B.C. there were three kingdoms, with capitals at Ancyra, Pisidian Antioch, and Iconium. Four years later Lycaonia and Galatia were given to Amyntas the king of Pisidia. He added Pamphylia and part of Cilicia to his kingdom. But he was killed in 25 B.C., and the Romans made his dominion into the province of Galatia, which was thus much larger than the territory inhabited by the Gauls. (Stamm, 1953, TIB X pp. 437-438)
War and slavery, poverty, disease, and famine made life hard and uncertain. In religion and philosophy men were confused by this meeting of East and West. But man’s extremity was Paul’s opportunity. The soil of the centuries had been plowed and harrowed for his new, revolutionary gospel of grace and freedom.
Not all, however, were ready for this freedom. The old religions with prestige and authority seemed safer. Most Jews preferred Moses, and among the Gentiles the hold of the Great Mother Cybele of Phrygia was not easily shaken. Paul’s converts, bringing their former ideas and customs with them, were all too ready to reshape his gospel into a combination of Christ with their ancient laws and rituals. The old religions were especially tenacious in the small villages, whose inhabitants spoke the native languages and were inaccessible to the Greek-speaking Paul. To this gravitational attraction of the indigenous cults was added the more sophisticated syncretism of the city dwellers, pulling Paul’s churches away from his gospel when the moral demands of his faith and the responsibilities of his freedom became irksome. This was the root of the trouble in Galatia. (Stamm, 1953, TIB X p. 438)
VI. Date and Place of Writing
Some consider it the earliest of Paul’s extant letters and place it in 49 … In support of this date it is said that Paul, who had come from Perga by boat, was met by messengers from Galatia, who had taken the shorter route by land. They reported the disturbance which had arisen in his churches soon after his departure. He could not go back immediately to straighten things out in person, because he saw that he would have to settle the matter first in Jerusalem, whence the troublemakers had come. So he wrote a letter.
But … [w]e do not know that the trouble in Galatia was stirred up by emissaries from the church in Jerusalem … Moreover, this solution overlooks the crux of the issue between Paul and the legalists. His contention was that neither circumcision nor the observance of any other law was the basis of salvation, but only faith in God’s grace through Christ. … On the matter of kosher customs, as on every other question, he directed men to the mind and Spirit of Christ, and not to law, either Mosaic or apostolic. That mind was a Spirit of edification which abstained voluntarily from all that defiled or offended.
We may say that the situation [in Galatia] was different – that in Macedonia it was persecution from outside by Jews who were trying to prevent Paul’s preaching, whereas in Galatia it was trouble inside the church created by legalistic Christians who were proposing to change his teaching; that in one case the issue was justification by faith, and in the other faithfulness while waiting for the day of the Lord.
The letter to the Romans, written during the three months in Greece mentioned in Acts 20:2-3, is our earliest commentary on Galatians. In it the relation between the law and the gospel is set forth in the perspective of Paul’s further experience. The brevity and storminess of Galatians gives way to a more complete and calmly reasoned presentation of his gospel. (Stamm, 1953, TIB X pp. 438 - 439)
At Corinth, as in Galatia, Paul had to defend his right to be an apostle against opponents heartless enough to turn against him the cruel belief that physical illness was a sign of God’s disfavor … and they charged him with being a crafty man-pleaser … He exhorts his converts to put away childish things and grow up in faith, hope and love…
Most childish of all were the factions incipient in Galatia, and actual in Corinth … He abandoned the kosher customs and all other artificial distinctions between Jews and Gentiles and laid the emphasis where it belonged – upon the necessity for God’s people to establish and maintain a higher morality and spiritual life… He substituted a catholic spirit for partisan loyalties ... (Stamm, 1953, TIB X pp. 440-441)
VII. Authorship and Attestation
If Paul wrote anything that goes under his name, it was Galatians, Romans, and the letters to Corinth. … F.C. Baur and his followers tried to show that the letters ascribed to Paul were the product of a second-century conflict between a Judaist party and the liberals in the church, and that they were written by Paulinists who used his name and authority to promote their own ideas.
[But] the earliest mention of the epistle by name occurs in the canon of the Gnostic heretic Marcion (ca. [approximately] 144). He put it first in his list of ten letters of Paul. A generation later the orthodox Muratorian canon (ca. 185) listed it as the sixth of Paul’s letters. … While the first explicit reference to Galatians as a letter of Paul is as late as the middle of the second century … the authors of Ephesians and the Gospel of John knew it; and Polycarp in his letter to the Philippians quoted it. Revelation, I Peter, Hebrew, I Clement, and Ignatius show acquaintance with it; and there is evidence that the writer of the Epistle of James knew Galatians, as did the authors of II Peter and the Pastoral epistle, and Justin Martyr and Athenagoras. (Stamm, 1953, TIB X pp. 441-442)
VIII. Text and Transmission
Although the epistle was composed neither carelessly nor hastily, the anxiety and emotional stress under which Paul dictated his cascading thoughts have produced some involved and obscure sentences … and a number of abrupt transitions… These have been a standing invitation to scribal clarification. … Paul’s debate with his critics takes the form of a diatribe, which is characterized by quotations from past or anticipated objectors and rapid-fire answers to them. Paul did not use quotation marks, and this accounts for the difficulty in 2:14-15 of deciding where his speech to Peter ends. The numerous allusions to person and places, events and teachings, with which Paul assumed his readers to be acquainted, are another source of difficulty. All theses factors operated to produce the numerous variations in the text of Galatians." (Stamm, 1953, TIB p. 442)
From Adam Clarke’s Commentaryi :
"The authenticity of this epistle is ably vindicated by Dr. Paley: the principal part of his arguments I shall here introduce …
'Section I.
As Judea was the scene of the Christian history; as the author and preachers of Christianity were Jews; as the religion itself acknowledged and was founded upon the Jewish religion, in contra distinction to every other religion, then professed among mankind: it was not to be wondered at, that some its teachers should carry it out in the world rather as a sect and modification of Judaism, than as a separate original revelation; or that they should invite their proselytes to those observances in which they lived themselves. ... I … think that those pretensions of Judaism were much more likely to be insisted upon, whilst the Jews continued a nation, than after their fall and dispersion; while Jerusalem and the temple stood, than after the destruction brought upon them by the Roman arms, the fatal cessation of the sacrifice and the priesthood, the humiliating loss of their country, and, with it, of the great rites and symbols of their institution. It should seem, therefore, from the nature of the subject and the situation of the parties, that this controversy was carried on in the interval between the preaching of Christianity to the Gentiles, and the invasion of Titus: and that our present epistle ... must be referred to the same period.
… the epistle supposes that certain designing adherents of the Jewish law had crept into the churches of Galatia; and had been endeavouring, and but too successfully, to persuade the Galatic converts, that they had been taught the new religion imperfectly, and at second hand; that the founder of their church himself possessed only an inferior and disputed commission, the seat of truth and authority being in the apostles and elders of Jerusalem; moreover, that whatever he might profess among them, he had himself, at other times and in other places, given way to the doctrine of circumcision. The epistle is unintelligible without supposing all this. (Clarke, 1831, vol. II p. 361)
Section VII.
This epistle goes farther than any of St. Paul’s epistles; for it avows in direct terms the supersession of the Jewish law, as an instrument of salvation, even to the Jews themselves. Not only were the Gentiles exempt from its authority, but even the Jews were no longer either to place any dependency upon it, or consider themselves as subject to it on a religious account. "Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto faith which should afterward be revealed: wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith; but, after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Chap. [chapter] iii. 23-25) This was undoubtedly spoken of Jews, and to Jews. … What then should be the conduct of a Jew (for such St. Paul was) who preached this doctrine? To be consistent with himself, either he would no longer comply, in his own person, with the directions of the law; or, if he did comply, it would be some other reason than any confidence which he placed in its efficacy, as a religious institution. (Clarke, 1831, vol. II pp. 366-367)
Preface
The religion of the ancient Galatae was extremely corrupt and superstitious: and they are said to have worshipped the mother of the gods, under the name of Agdistis; and to have offered human sacrifices of the prisoners they took in war.
They are mentioned by historians as a tall and valiant people, who went nearly naked; and used for arms only a sword and buckler. The impetuosity of their attack is stated to have been irresistible…’” (Clarke, 1831, vol. II p. 369)
From The New Jerome Biblical Commentaryii
"Introduction
The Galatai, originally an Indo-Aryan tribe of Asia, were related to the Celts or Gauls (“who in their own language are called Keltae, but in ours Galli”) ... About 279 BC some of them invaded the lower Danube area and Macedonia, descending even into the Gk [Greek] peninsula. After they were stopped by the Aetolians in 278, a remnant fled across the Hellespont into Asia Minor …
Occasion and Purpose
… He … stoutly maintained that the gospel he had preached, without the observance of the Mosaic practices, was the only correct view of Christianity … Gal [Galatians] thus became the first expose` of Paul’s teaching about justification by grace through faith apart from deeds prescribed by the law; it is Paul’s manifesto about Christian freedom.
... Who were the agitators in Galatia? … they are best identified as Jewish Christians of Palestine, of an even stricter Jewish background than Peter, Paul, or James, or even of the ‘false brethren' (2:4) of Jerusalem, whom Paul had encountered there. (The account in Acts 15:5 would identify the latter as ‘believers who had belonged to the sect of the Pharisees.’) … The agitators in Galatia were Judaizers, who insisted not on the observance of the whole Mosaic law, but at least on circumcision and the observance of some other Jewish practices. Paul for this reason warned the Gentile Christians of Galatia that their fascination with ‘circumcision’ would oblige them to keep ‘the whole law’ (5:3). The agitators may have been syncretists of some sort: Christians of Jewish perhaps Essene, background, affected by some Anatolian influences. … (Joseph A. Fitzmyer, 1990, TNJBC pp. 780-781) END NOTES
i The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The text carefully printed from the most correct copies of the present Authorized Version. Including the marginal readings and parallel texts. With a Commentary and Critical Notes. Designed as a help to a better understanding of the sacred writings. By Adam Clarke, LL.D. F.S.A. M.R.I.A. With a complete alphabetical index. Royal Octavo Stereotype Edition. Vol. II. [Vol. VI together with the O.T.] New York, Published by J. Emory and B. Waugh, for the Methodist Episcopal Church, at the conference office, 13 Crosby-Street. J. Collord, Printer. 1831.
ii The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Edited by Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Union Theological Seminary, New York; NY, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J. (emeritus) Catholic University of America, Washington, DC; Roland E. Murphy, O.Carm. (emeritus) The Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC, with a foreword by His Eminence Carlo Maria Cardinal Martini, S.J.; Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1990
Chapter One
…
Chapter Two
-16. And since [וכיון, VeKhayVahN] that know, we, that [כי, KeeY] the ’ahDahM [“man”, Adam] is not made righteous in realizing commandments [of] the Instruction [Torah, law],
rather in belief of the Anointed [המשיח, HahMahSheeY-ahH, the Messiah, the Christ] YayShOo`ah [“Savior”, Jesus],
believe, also we, in Anointed YayShOo`ah,
to sake we are made righteous from inside belief in Anointed,
and not in realizing commandments [of] the Instruction,
that yes, in realizing commandments [of] the Instruction is not made righteous any [כל, KahL] flesh.
The life that I live now in flesh, I live them in the belief of Son [of] the Gods that loved me and delivered up [ומסר, OoMahÇahR] himself in my behalf [בעדי, Bah`ahDeeY].
is not if [it] is possible to become righteous upon hand of the Instruction, lo, that the Anointed died to nothing [לשוא, LahShahVe’]?
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Paul can be forgiven for equating the destruction of Israel with the end of the world. Everyone who loves Israel wants to save her, the controversy between the Judaizers and Paul was over how to do it.The Gospel of Paul
From The Interpreters’ Bible:
"Introduction
-1. Occasion and Purpose
Conservative preachers were persuading the Galatians that faith was not enough to make sure of God’s kingdom. Besides believing that Jesus was the Messiah, one must join the Jewish nation, observe the laws and customs of Moses, and refuse to eat with the Gentiles (2:11-14, 4:10). One must have Christ and Moses, faith and law. Paul insisted that it must be either Moses or Christ. (5:2-6). [Mind you, the congregations were literally segregated at meals according to whether the male members’ foreskins were circumcised; compare with the trouble regarding the allocations between the two groups of widows reported in Acts.]
Not content with raising doubts concerning the sufficiency of Christ, the Judaizers attacked Paul’s credentials. They said that he had not been one of the original apostles, and that he was distorting the gospel which Peter and John and James the Lord’s brother were preaching. They declared that his proposal to abandon the law of Moses was contrary to the teaching of Jesus, and they insinuated that he had taken this radical step to please men with the specious promise of cheap admission to God’s kingdom (1:10). If he were allowed to have his way, men would believe and be baptized but keep on sinning, deluding themselves that the Christian sacraments would save them. Claiming to rise above Moses and the prophets, they would debase faith into magic, liberty into license, making Christ the abettor of sin (2:17). The Judaizers were alarmed lest Paul bring down God’s wrath and delay the kingdom. They had not shared the emotion of a catastrophic conversion like Paul’s, and they found it hard to understand when he talked about a new power which overcame sin and brought righteousness better than the best that the law could produce.
Another party attacked Paul from the opposite side. Influenced by the pagan notion that religion transcends ethics and is separable from morality, they wanted to abandon the Old Testament and its prophetic insights. They could not see how Paul’s demand to crucify one’s old sinful nature and produce the fruit of the Spirit could be anything but a new form of slavery to law (2:19-20, 5:14, 2-24). They accused him of rebuilding the old legalism, and some said that he was still preaching circumcision (2:18; 5:11). Whereas the Judaizers rejected Paul’s gospel because they believed it contrary to the teaching of the original apostles, these antilegalists felt that he was so subservient to the apostles as to endanger the freedom of the Christian Movement.
Actually Paul had risen above both legalism and sacramentarianism ... his faith was qualitatively different from mere assent to a creed (5:6). He was living on the plateau of the Spirit, where life was so free that men needed no law to say ‘Thou shalt’ and ‘Thou shalt not’ (5:22-24). But this rarefied atmosphere was hard to breathe, and neither side could understand him. The conservatives were watching for moral lapses… and the radicals blamed him for slowing the progress of Christianity by refusing to cut it loose from Judaism and its nationalistic religious imperialism.” (Stamm, TIB 1953, vol. X pp. 430)
Paul’s defense of his gospel and apostleship was the more difficult because he had to maintain his right to go directly to Christ without the mediation of Peter and the rest, but had to do it in such a way as not to split the church and break the continuity of his gospel with the Old Testament and the apostolic traditions about Jesus and his teaching. …
To this end Paul gave an account of his relations with the Jerusalem church during the seventeen years that followed his conversion (1:11-2:14). Instead of going to Jerusalem he went to Arabia, presumably to preach (1:17). After a time he returned to Damascus, and only three years later did he go to see Peter. Even then he stayed only fifteen days and saw no other apostle except James the Lord’s brother (1:18-20). Then he left for Syria and Cilicia, and not until another fourteen years had passed did he visit Jerusalem again. This time it was in response to a revelation from his Lord, and not to a summons by the authorities in the Hoy City.
Paul emphasizes that neither visit implied an admission that his gospel needed the apostolic stamp to make it valid. His purpose was to get the apostles to treat the uncircumcised Gentile Christians as their equals in the church (2:2). Making a test case of Titus, he won his point (2:3-5). The apostles agreed that a Gentile could join the church by faith without first becoming a member of the synagogue by circumcision. … They … recognize[d] that his mission to the Gentiles was on the same footing as theirs to the Jews – only he was to remember the poor (2:7-10). So far was Paul from being subordinated that when Peter came to Antioch and wavered on eating with the Gentile Christians, Paul did not hesitate to rebuke him in public (2:11-14). (Stamm, 1953, TIB vol. X pp. 430-431)
Paul’s defense of his apostolic commission involved the question: What is the seat of authority in religion? A Jewish rabbi debating the application of the kosher laws would quote the authority of Moses and the fathers in support of his view. Jewish tradition declared that God delivered the law to Moses, and Moses to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the men of the Great Synagogue, and that they had handed it down through an unbroken rabbinical succession to the present. If Paul had been a Christian rabbi, he could have treated the Sermon on the Mount as a new law from a new Sinai, which God had delivered to Jesus, and Jesus to Peter, and Peter to Paul, and Paul to Timothy and Titus, and so on through an unbroken apostolic succession until the second coming of Christ. Instead of taking his problems directly to this Lord in prayer, he would ask, ‘What does Peter say that Jesus did and said about it?’ And if Peter or the other apostles happened not to have a pronouncement from Jesus on a given subject, they would need to apply some other saying to his by reasoning from analogy. This would turn the gospel into a system of legalism, with casuistry for its guide, making Jesus a second Moses – a prophet who lived and died in a dim and distant past and left only a written code to guide the future. Jesus would not have been the living Lord, personally present in his church in every age as the daily companion of his members. That is why Paul insisted that Christ must not be confused or combined with Moses, but must be all in all.
The Judaizers assumed that God had revealed to Moses all of his will, and nothing but this will, for all time, changeless and unchangeable; and that death was the penalty for tampering with it. The rest of the scriptures and the oral tradition which developed and applied them were believed to be implicit in the Pentateuch as an oak in an acorn. The first duty of the teacher was to transmit the Torah exactly as he had received it from the men of old. Only then might he give his own opinion, which must never contradict but always be validated by the authority of the past. When authorities differed, the teacher must labor to reconcile them. Elaborate rules of interpretation were devised to help decide cases not covered by specific provision in the scripture. These rules made it possible to apply a changeless revelation to changing conditions, but they also presented a dilemma. The interpreter might modernize by reading into his Bible ideas that were not in the minds of its writers, or he might quench his own creative insights by fearing to go beyond what was written. Those who modernized the Old Testament were beset with the perils of incipient Gnosticism, while those who, like the Sadducees, accepted nothing but the written Torah could misuse it to obstruct social and religious progress. (Stamm, 1953, TIB X pp. 431-432)
To submit to circumcision would have betrayed the truth of the gospel because it contradicted the principle that all is of grace and grace is for all (2:5). Perpetuated in the church of Christ, the kosher code and other Jewish customs would have destroyed the fellowship. Few things could have hurt the feelings and heaped more indignity upon the Gentiles than the spiritual snobbery of refusing to eat with them.
The tragedy of division was proportional to the sincerity of men’s scruples. The Jews were brought up to believe that eating with Gentiles was a flagrant violation of God’s revealed will which would bring down his terrible wrath. How strongly both sides felt appears in Paul’s account of the stormy conference at Jerusalem and the angry dispute that followed it at Antioch (2:1-14). Paul claimed that refusal to eat with a Gentile brother would deny that the grace of Christ was sufficient to make him worthy of the kingdom. If all men were sons of God through Christ, there could be no classes of Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female (3:26-28). What mattered was neither circumcision not uncircumcision, but only faith and a new act of creation by the Spirit (5:6; 6”15). (Stamm, 1953, TIB X p. 433)
Church unity was essential to the success of Christian missions. Friction between Aramaic and Greek-speaking Jewish Christians in Palestine had to be eliminated (Acts 6:1). The death of Stephen and a special vision to Peter were required to convince the conservatives of the propriety of admitting the Gentiles on an equality with the Jews; and even Peter was amazed that God had given them the same gift of the Spirit (Act 11: 1-18). This hesitation was potentially fatal to the spread of Christianity beyond Palestine. Many Gentiles had been attracted by the pure monotheism and high morality of Judaism but were not willing to break with their native culture by submitting to the painful initiatory rite and social stigma of being a Jew…. Had the church kept circumcision as a requirement for membership, it could not have freed itself from Jewish nationalism.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB X p. 433)
III. Some Characteristics of Paul’s Thinking
… “the law” of which Paul is speaking does not coincide with “law” in a twentieth-century state with representative government. His Greek word was νομος [nomos], an inadequate translation of the Hebrew “Torah,” which included much more than “law” as we use the term. [When “תורה ThORaH” appears in the text I translate it as “Instruction” – its literal definition - capitalized.] Torah was teaching on any subject concerning the will of God as revealed in the Scriptures. Since the Jews did not divide life into two compartments labeled “religious” and “secular,” their law covered both their spiritual and their civil life. Nor did Paul and his fellow Jews think in terms of “nature” and the “natural law.” They believed that everything that happened was God’s doing, directly or by his permission. The messiah was expected to restore the ancient theocracy with its power over both civil and religious affairs.
The Gentiles too were accustomed to state regulation of religion and priestly control of civil affairs. The Greek city-states had always managed the relations of their citizens with the gods, and Alexander the Great prepared the way for religious imperialism. When he invaded Asia, he consolidated his power by the ancient Oriental idea that the ruler was a god or a son of God. His successors, in their endless wars over the fragments of his empire, adopted the same device. Posing as “savior-gods,” they liberated their victims by enslaving them. The Romans did likewise, believing that the safety of their empire depended upon correct legal relations with the gods who had founded it. … Each city had its temple dedicated to the emperor, and its patriotic priests to see that everyone burned incense before his statue. Having done this, the worshiper was free under Roman ‘tolerance’ to adopt any other legal religion. … Whether salvation was offered in the name of the ancient gods of the Orient, or of Greece, or of the emperor of Rome, or of Yahweh the theocratic king of the Jews, the favor of the deity was thought to depend upon obedience to his law.
One did not therefore have to be a Jew to be a legalist in religion. … Since Paul’s first converts were drawn from Gentiles who had been attending the synagogues, it is easy to see how Gentile Christians could be a zealous to add Moses to Christ as the most conservative Jew.
This is what gave the Judaizers their hold in Galatia. The rivalry between the synagogue, which was engaged in winning men to worship the God of Moses, and the church, which was preaching the God who had revealed himself in Christ Jesus, was bound to raise the issue of legalism and stir up doubts about the sufficiency of Christ.
Gentile and Jewish Christians alike would regard Paul’s preaching of salvation apart from the merit acquired by obedience to law as a violently revolutionary doctrine. Fidelity to his declaration of religious independence from all mediating rulers and priesthoods required a spiritual maturity of which most who heard his preaching were not yet capable. … Paul’s gospel has always been in danger of being stifled by those who would treat the teachings of Jesus as laws to be enforced by a hierarchy. (Stamm, TIB 1953, X pp. 434-435)
V. Environment of Paul’s Churches in Galatia
The conclusion concerning the destination of the epistle does not involve the essentials of its religious message, but it does affect our understanding of certain passages, such as 3:1 and 41:12, 20.
From the earliest times that part of the world had been swept by the cross tides of migration and struggle for empire. The third millennium found the Hittites in possession. In the second millennium the Greeks and Phrygians came spilling over from Europe, and in the first millennium the remaining power of the Hittites was swept away by Babylon and Persia. Then came the turn of the Asiatic tide into Europe, only to be swept back again by Alexander the Great. But the Greek cities with which he and his successors dotted the map of Asia were like anthills destined to be leveled by Oriental reaction.
About 278 B.C. new turmoil came with the Gauls, who were shunted from Greece and crossed into Asia to overrun Phrygia. Gradually the Greek kings succeeded in pushing them up into the central highlands, where they established themselves in the region of Ancyra. Thus located, they constituted a perpetually disturbing element, raiding the Greek cities and furnishing soldiers now to one, and now to another of the rival kings. Then in 121 B.C. came the Romans to 'set free' Galatia by making it a part of their own Empire. By 40 B.C. there were three kingdoms, with capitals at Ancyra, Pisidian Antioch, and Iconium. Four years later Lycaonia and Galatia were given to Amyntas the king of Pisidia. He added Pamphylia and part of Cilicia to his kingdom. But he was killed in 25 B.C., and the Romans made his dominion into the province of Galatia, which was thus much larger than the territory inhabited by the Gauls. (Stamm, 1953, TIB X pp. 437-438)
War and slavery, poverty, disease, and famine made life hard and uncertain. In religion and philosophy men were confused by this meeting of East and West. But man’s extremity was Paul’s opportunity. The soil of the centuries had been plowed and harrowed for his new, revolutionary gospel of grace and freedom.
Not all, however, were ready for this freedom. The old religions with prestige and authority seemed safer. Most Jews preferred Moses, and among the Gentiles the hold of the Great Mother Cybele of Phrygia was not easily shaken. Paul’s converts, bringing their former ideas and customs with them, were all too ready to reshape his gospel into a combination of Christ with their ancient laws and rituals. The old religions were especially tenacious in the small villages, whose inhabitants spoke the native languages and were inaccessible to the Greek-speaking Paul. To this gravitational attraction of the indigenous cults was added the more sophisticated syncretism of the city dwellers, pulling Paul’s churches away from his gospel when the moral demands of his faith and the responsibilities of his freedom became irksome. This was the root of the trouble in Galatia. (Stamm, 1953, TIB X p. 438)
VI. Date and Place of Writing
Some consider it the earliest of Paul’s extant letters and place it in 49 … In support of this date it is said that Paul, who had come from Perga by boat, was met by messengers from Galatia, who had taken the shorter route by land. They reported the disturbance which had arisen in his churches soon after his departure. He could not go back immediately to straighten things out in person, because he saw that he would have to settle the matter first in Jerusalem, whence the troublemakers had come. So he wrote a letter.
But … [w]e do not know that the trouble in Galatia was stirred up by emissaries from the church in Jerusalem … Moreover, this solution overlooks the crux of the issue between Paul and the legalists. His contention was that neither circumcision nor the observance of any other law was the basis of salvation, but only faith in God’s grace through Christ. … On the matter of kosher customs, as on every other question, he directed men to the mind and Spirit of Christ, and not to law, either Mosaic or apostolic. That mind was a Spirit of edification which abstained voluntarily from all that defiled or offended.
We may say that the situation [in Galatia] was different – that in Macedonia it was persecution from outside by Jews who were trying to prevent Paul’s preaching, whereas in Galatia it was trouble inside the church created by legalistic Christians who were proposing to change his teaching; that in one case the issue was justification by faith, and in the other faithfulness while waiting for the day of the Lord.
The letter to the Romans, written during the three months in Greece mentioned in Acts 20:2-3, is our earliest commentary on Galatians. In it the relation between the law and the gospel is set forth in the perspective of Paul’s further experience. The brevity and storminess of Galatians gives way to a more complete and calmly reasoned presentation of his gospel. (Stamm, 1953, TIB X pp. 438 - 439)
At Corinth, as in Galatia, Paul had to defend his right to be an apostle against opponents heartless enough to turn against him the cruel belief that physical illness was a sign of God’s disfavor … and they charged him with being a crafty man-pleaser … He exhorts his converts to put away childish things and grow up in faith, hope and love…
Most childish of all were the factions incipient in Galatia, and actual in Corinth … He abandoned the kosher customs and all other artificial distinctions between Jews and Gentiles and laid the emphasis where it belonged – upon the necessity for God’s people to establish and maintain a higher morality and spiritual life… He substituted a catholic spirit for partisan loyalties ... (Stamm, 1953, TIB X pp. 440-441)
VII. Authorship and Attestation
If Paul wrote anything that goes under his name, it was Galatians, Romans, and the letters to Corinth. … F.C. Baur and his followers tried to show that the letters ascribed to Paul were the product of a second-century conflict between a Judaist party and the liberals in the church, and that they were written by Paulinists who used his name and authority to promote their own ideas.
[But] the earliest mention of the epistle by name occurs in the canon of the Gnostic heretic Marcion (ca. [approximately] 144). He put it first in his list of ten letters of Paul. A generation later the orthodox Muratorian canon (ca. 185) listed it as the sixth of Paul’s letters. … While the first explicit reference to Galatians as a letter of Paul is as late as the middle of the second century … the authors of Ephesians and the Gospel of John knew it; and Polycarp in his letter to the Philippians quoted it. Revelation, I Peter, Hebrew, I Clement, and Ignatius show acquaintance with it; and there is evidence that the writer of the Epistle of James knew Galatians, as did the authors of II Peter and the Pastoral epistle, and Justin Martyr and Athenagoras. (Stamm, 1953, TIB X pp. 441-442)
VIII. Text and Transmission
Although the epistle was composed neither carelessly nor hastily, the anxiety and emotional stress under which Paul dictated his cascading thoughts have produced some involved and obscure sentences … and a number of abrupt transitions… These have been a standing invitation to scribal clarification. … Paul’s debate with his critics takes the form of a diatribe, which is characterized by quotations from past or anticipated objectors and rapid-fire answers to them. Paul did not use quotation marks, and this accounts for the difficulty in 2:14-15 of deciding where his speech to Peter ends. The numerous allusions to person and places, events and teachings, with which Paul assumed his readers to be acquainted, are another source of difficulty. All theses factors operated to produce the numerous variations in the text of Galatians." (Stamm, 1953, TIB p. 442)
From Adam Clarke’s Commentaryi :
"The authenticity of this epistle is ably vindicated by Dr. Paley: the principal part of his arguments I shall here introduce …
'Section I.
As Judea was the scene of the Christian history; as the author and preachers of Christianity were Jews; as the religion itself acknowledged and was founded upon the Jewish religion, in contra distinction to every other religion, then professed among mankind: it was not to be wondered at, that some its teachers should carry it out in the world rather as a sect and modification of Judaism, than as a separate original revelation; or that they should invite their proselytes to those observances in which they lived themselves. ... I … think that those pretensions of Judaism were much more likely to be insisted upon, whilst the Jews continued a nation, than after their fall and dispersion; while Jerusalem and the temple stood, than after the destruction brought upon them by the Roman arms, the fatal cessation of the sacrifice and the priesthood, the humiliating loss of their country, and, with it, of the great rites and symbols of their institution. It should seem, therefore, from the nature of the subject and the situation of the parties, that this controversy was carried on in the interval between the preaching of Christianity to the Gentiles, and the invasion of Titus: and that our present epistle ... must be referred to the same period.
… the epistle supposes that certain designing adherents of the Jewish law had crept into the churches of Galatia; and had been endeavouring, and but too successfully, to persuade the Galatic converts, that they had been taught the new religion imperfectly, and at second hand; that the founder of their church himself possessed only an inferior and disputed commission, the seat of truth and authority being in the apostles and elders of Jerusalem; moreover, that whatever he might profess among them, he had himself, at other times and in other places, given way to the doctrine of circumcision. The epistle is unintelligible without supposing all this. (Clarke, 1831, vol. II p. 361)
Section VII.
This epistle goes farther than any of St. Paul’s epistles; for it avows in direct terms the supersession of the Jewish law, as an instrument of salvation, even to the Jews themselves. Not only were the Gentiles exempt from its authority, but even the Jews were no longer either to place any dependency upon it, or consider themselves as subject to it on a religious account. "Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto faith which should afterward be revealed: wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith; but, after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Chap. [chapter] iii. 23-25) This was undoubtedly spoken of Jews, and to Jews. … What then should be the conduct of a Jew (for such St. Paul was) who preached this doctrine? To be consistent with himself, either he would no longer comply, in his own person, with the directions of the law; or, if he did comply, it would be some other reason than any confidence which he placed in its efficacy, as a religious institution. (Clarke, 1831, vol. II pp. 366-367)
Preface
The religion of the ancient Galatae was extremely corrupt and superstitious: and they are said to have worshipped the mother of the gods, under the name of Agdistis; and to have offered human sacrifices of the prisoners they took in war.
They are mentioned by historians as a tall and valiant people, who went nearly naked; and used for arms only a sword and buckler. The impetuosity of their attack is stated to have been irresistible…’” (Clarke, 1831, vol. II p. 369)
From The New Jerome Biblical Commentaryii
"Introduction
The Galatai, originally an Indo-Aryan tribe of Asia, were related to the Celts or Gauls (“who in their own language are called Keltae, but in ours Galli”) ... About 279 BC some of them invaded the lower Danube area and Macedonia, descending even into the Gk [Greek] peninsula. After they were stopped by the Aetolians in 278, a remnant fled across the Hellespont into Asia Minor …
Occasion and Purpose
… He … stoutly maintained that the gospel he had preached, without the observance of the Mosaic practices, was the only correct view of Christianity … Gal [Galatians] thus became the first expose` of Paul’s teaching about justification by grace through faith apart from deeds prescribed by the law; it is Paul’s manifesto about Christian freedom.
... Who were the agitators in Galatia? … they are best identified as Jewish Christians of Palestine, of an even stricter Jewish background than Peter, Paul, or James, or even of the ‘false brethren' (2:4) of Jerusalem, whom Paul had encountered there. (The account in Acts 15:5 would identify the latter as ‘believers who had belonged to the sect of the Pharisees.’) … The agitators in Galatia were Judaizers, who insisted not on the observance of the whole Mosaic law, but at least on circumcision and the observance of some other Jewish practices. Paul for this reason warned the Gentile Christians of Galatia that their fascination with ‘circumcision’ would oblige them to keep ‘the whole law’ (5:3). The agitators may have been syncretists of some sort: Christians of Jewish perhaps Essene, background, affected by some Anatolian influences. … (Joseph A. Fitzmyer, 1990, TNJBC pp. 780-781) END NOTES
i The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The text carefully printed from the most correct copies of the present Authorized Version. Including the marginal readings and parallel texts. With a Commentary and Critical Notes. Designed as a help to a better understanding of the sacred writings. By Adam Clarke, LL.D. F.S.A. M.R.I.A. With a complete alphabetical index. Royal Octavo Stereotype Edition. Vol. II. [Vol. VI together with the O.T.] New York, Published by J. Emory and B. Waugh, for the Methodist Episcopal Church, at the conference office, 13 Crosby-Street. J. Collord, Printer. 1831.
ii The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Edited by Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Union Theological Seminary, New York; NY, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J. (emeritus) Catholic University of America, Washington, DC; Roland E. Murphy, O.Carm. (emeritus) The Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC, with a foreword by His Eminence Carlo Maria Cardinal Martini, S.J.; Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1990
Chapter One
…
…Tiding of [בשורת, BeSOoRahTh, Gospel] one
[verses 6-10]
……………………………………………
How [כיצד, KaYTsahD] was [היה, HahYaH] Shah`OoL [“Lender”, Saul, Paul] to become a Sent Forth [Apostle]
[verses 11 to end of chapter]
Chapter Two
…Sending forth of Shah’OoL required upon hands of the Sent Forth
[verses 1-10]
...…………………………………………
The YeHOo-DeeYM [“YHVH-ites”, Judeans] and the nations, righteous from inside belief
[verses 11 to end of chapter]
-16. And since [וכיון, VeKhayVahN] that know, we, that [כי, KeeY] the ’ahDahM [“man”, Adam] is not made righteous in realizing commandments [of] the Instruction [Torah, law],
rather in belief of the Anointed [המשיח, HahMahSheeY-ahH, the Messiah, the Christ] YayShOo`ah [“Savior”, Jesus],
believe, also we, in Anointed YayShOo`ah,
to sake we are made righteous from inside belief in Anointed,
and not in realizing commandments [of] the Instruction,
that yes, in realizing commandments [of] the Instruction is not made righteous any [כל, KahL] flesh.
“As a Pharisee, Paul had been taught that works of law were deeds done in obedience to the Torah, contrasted with things done according to one’s own will. The object of this obedience was to render oneself acceptable to God – to ‘justify’ oneself. Having found this impossible, Paul reinforced the evidence from his own experience by Ps. [Psalm] 143:2, where the sinner prays God not to enter into judgment with him because in God’s sight no man living is righteous. Into this passage from the LXX [The Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible] Paul inserted ‘by works of law,’ and wrote σαρξ [sarx], ‘flesh,’ instead of ζων [zon], ‘one living.’ This quotation warns us against setting Paul’s salvation by grace over against Judaism in such a way as to obscure the fact that the Jews depended also upon God’s lovingkindness and tender mercies (I Kings 8:46; Job 10:14-15; 14:3-4; Prov. [Proverbs] 20:9; Eccl. [Ecclesiasticus] 7:20; Mal. [Malachi] 3:2; Dan. [Daniel] 9:18).” (Stamm, 1953, TIB X p. 483)-19. I died according to [לגבי, LeGahBaY] the Instruction, because of [בגלל, BeeGLahL] the Instruction, in order [כדי, KeDaY] that I will live to God.
“Justified is a metaphor from the law court. The Greek verb is δικαιοω [dikaioo], the noun δικαιοσουνη [dikaiosoune’], the adjective δικαιος [dikaios]. The common root is δικ [dik] as in δεικνυμι [deiknumi], ‘point out,’ ‘show.’ The words formed on this root point to a norm or standard to which persons and things must conform in order to be ‘right.’ The English ‘right’ expresses the same idea, being derived from the Anglo-Saxon ‘richt,’ which means ‘straight,’ not crooked, ‘upright,’ not oblique. The verb δικαιοω means ‘I think it right.’ A man is δικαιος, ‘right’ when he conforms to the standard of acceptable character and conduct, and δικαιοσυνη, ‘righteousness,’ ‘justice,’ is the state or quality of this conformity. In the LXX these Greek words translate a group of Hebrew words formed on the root צדק [TsehDehQ], and in Latin the corresponding terms are justifico, justus, and justificatio. In all four languages the common idea is the norm by which persons and things are to be tested. Thus in Hebrew a wall is ‘righteous’ when it conforms to the plumb line, a man when he does God’s will.
From earliest boyhood Paul had tried to be righteous. But there came a terrible day when he said ‘I will covet’ to the law’s ‘Thou shalt not,’ and in that defiance he had fallen out of right relation to God and into the ‘wrath,’ where he ‘died’ spiritually… Thenceforth all his efforts, however strenuous, to get ‘right’ with God were thwarted by the weakness of his sinful human nature, the ‘flesh’ (σαρξ) [sarx]. That experience of futility led him to say that a man is not justified by works ‘of law.’” (Stamm, 1953, TIB X p. 483)
[Actually Paul changed his point of view as a result of his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, not as a result of intellectual contemplation. His many failures hitherto had not led him to this conclusion. The description of Paul in the preceding paragraph is a fiction.]“In the eyes of the psalmists and rabbis this was blasphemously revolutionary. Resting on God’s covenant with Abraham, they held it axiomatic that the ‘righteous’ man who had conscientiously done his part deserved to be vindicated before a wicked world; otherwise God could not be righteous. … In Judaism God was thought of as forgiving only repentant sinners who followed their repentance with right living …
The theological expression for this conception of salvation is ‘justification by faith.’ Unfortunately this Latin word does not make plain Paul’s underlying religious experience, which was a change of status through faith from a wrong to a ‘right’ relationship with God… It conceals from the English reader the fact that the Greek word also means ‘righteousness.’ … (observe the ASV [American Standard Version] mg. [marginal note], ‘accounted righteous’).
But ‘reckoned’ and ‘accounted’ expose Paul’s thought to misinterpretation by suggesting a legal fiction which God adopted to escape the contradiction between his acceptance of sinners and his own righteousness and justice.
On the other hand, Paul’s term, in the passive, cannot be translated by ‘made righteous’ without misrepresenting him. In baptism he had ‘died with Christ’ to sin. By this definition the Christian is a person who does not sin! And yet Paul does not say that he is sinless, but that he must not sin. … This laid him open to a charge of self contradiction; sinless and yet not sinless, righteous and unrighteous, just and unjust at the same time. Some interpreters have labeled it ‘paradox,’ but such a superficial dismissal of the problem is religiously barren and worse than useless.
The extreme difficulty of understanding Paul on this matter has led to a distinction between ‘justification’ and ‘sanctification,’ which obscures Paul’s urgency to be now, at this very moment, what God in accepting him says he is: a righteous man in Christ Jesus. Justification is reduced to a forensic declaration by which God acquits and accepts the guilty criminal, and sanctification is viewed as a leisurely process of becoming the kind of person posited by that declaration. This makes perfection seem far less urgent than Paul conceived it, and permits the spiritual inertia of human nature to continue its habit of separating religion from ethics. To prevent this misunderstanding it is necessary to keep in mind the root meaning of ‘righteousness’ in δικαιοω and its cognates.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB X pp. 484-485)
“… The Pharisees taught that the Torah was the life element of the Jews; all who obeyed would live, those who did not would die (Deut. [Deuteronomy] 30:11-20).” (Stamm, 1953, TIB X pp. 488-489)-20. With the Anointed I was crucified, and no more I live, rather the Anointed lives in me.
The life that I live now in flesh, I live them in the belief of Son [of] the Gods that loved me and delivered up [ומסר, OoMahÇahR] himself in my behalf [בעדי, Bah`ahDeeY].
“The danger was that Paul’s Gentile converts might claim freedom in Christ but reject the cross-bearing that made it possible. Lacking the momentum of moral discipline under Moses, which prepared Paul to make right use of his freedom, they might imagine that his dying and rising with Christ was a magical way of immortalizing themselves by sacramental absorption of Christ’s divine substance in baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The church has always been tempted to take Paul’s crucifixion with Christ in a symbolic sense only, or as an experience at baptism which is sacramentally automatic. It has also been tempted to reduce Paul’s ‘faith’ to bare belief and assent to his doctrine, and to equate his ‘righteousness’ with a fictitious imputation by a Judge made lenient by Christ’s death.-21. I do not nullify [מבטל, MeBahTayL] [את, ’ehTh (indicator of direct object; no English equivalent)] mercy [of] Gods;
Against these caricatures of ‘justification by faith,’ Paul’s whole life and all his letters are a standing protest. He never allows us to forget that to be crucified with Christ is to share the motives, the purposes, and the way of life that led Jesus to the Cross; to take up vicariously the burden of the sins of others, forgiving and loving instead of condemning them; to make oneself the slave of every man; to create unity and harmony by reconciling man to God and man to his fellow men; to pray without ceasing ‘Thy will be done’; to consign one’s life to God, walking by faith where one cannot see; and finally to leave this earth with the prayer ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.’
… When Christ the Spirit came to live in Paul … Paul was guided at each step, in each new circumstance, to answer for himself the question: What would Jesus have me do? And the answer was always this: Rely solely on God’s grace through Christ, count others better than yourself, and make yourself everybody’s slave after the manner of the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you.
… The phrase εν σαρκι [en sarki] … means, lit. [literally], in the flesh. Someday – Paul hoped it would be soon – this would be changed into a body like that of the risen Christ, which belonged to the realm of Spirit.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB X pp. 490-493)
“Christ lives in me: The perfection of Christian life is expressed here … it reshapes human beings anew, supplying them with a new principle of activity on the ontological1 level of their very beings.” (Joseph A. Fitzmyer, 1990, TNJBC p. 785)
is not if [it] is possible to become righteous upon hand of the Instruction, lo, that the Anointed died to nothing [לשוא, LahShahVe’]?
“It is not I, he says, who am nullifying the grace of God by abandoning the law which is his grace-gift to Israel, but those who insist on retaining that law in addition to the grace which he has now manifested in Christ.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB X p. 495)Footnotes 1 Ontological - relating to the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being An Amateur's Journey Through the Bible An Amateur's Journey Through the Bible
2023.06.02 17:35 ReserveMaximum My dog bit another dog and now the other owner is now wanting us to pay $8k vet bill
Approximately 2 weeks or so ago, an untethered/unsupervised chihuahua charged my German shepherd as I was walking him on a public sidewalk (my dog was leashed and harnessed and the leash was connected to a belt around me so that he couldn’t get away even if I lost grip). Before I could react in time to pull my dog away, he bit the chihuahua who then ran back home screaming. The owner then came out of the house and started yelling at us. I pulled my dog away and immediately called animal control to let them know what happened. The animal control officer told me that since my dog was leashed and the chihuahua was not, me and my dog are not at fault (our county has a very strict dogs must be on leash at all times policy). I also gave animal control my information so that if the other owner called in they would have it on file.
Today as I was walking my dog (not in the same area) the other dog’s owner pulled up across the street and demanded my contact information. I exchanged my info and took hers down. When I got home I tried calling animal control to add her information to the report but the dispatch said that the office that handles this case wasn’t open yet. The other owner mentioned that the vet bills for her dog were $8k. I think she is going to try to sue me for these vet expenses. What is my next step here?
Edit: I should also note that this is not the first time this dog has barked at and charged at us in the street. There have been 3 other times in the months leading up to the incident that we have called animal control about this dog being at large but this was the first time the chihuahua got close enough for our dog to reach it before I could react. I requested that those previous reports be attached to our incident report to show that the owner is repeatedly negligent about controlling her dog.
submitted by ReserveMaximum to legaladvice [link] [comments]
Today as I was walking my dog (not in the same area) the other dog’s owner pulled up across the street and demanded my contact information. I exchanged my info and took hers down. When I got home I tried calling animal control to add her information to the report but the dispatch said that the office that handles this case wasn’t open yet. The other owner mentioned that the vet bills for her dog were $8k. I think she is going to try to sue me for these vet expenses. What is my next step here?
Edit: I should also note that this is not the first time this dog has barked at and charged at us in the street. There have been 3 other times in the months leading up to the incident that we have called animal control about this dog being at large but this was the first time the chihuahua got close enough for our dog to reach it before I could react. I requested that those previous reports be attached to our incident report to show that the owner is repeatedly negligent about controlling her dog.
2023.06.02 17:10 r3dsca Obscure subreddit posting - The Branding Issue of Democrats from the 90s to Now
This was posted in the AngryObservation subreddit (that I stumbled on two seconds ago)
Essay posted by u/dcmetro7
https://www.reddit.com/usedcmetro7/
Democrats have a branding problem : AngryObservation (reddit.com)
I was inspired by u/Randomuser1520 's post about the Democratic Party's seemingly weak bench of future potential presidential nominees.
A lot of the problems trace back to 2016, but I'd argue the Democrats' branding woes go back even further. Think all the way back to the last time the Democrats had a consistently strong electoral record as a party -- the 90s, where the only truly bad year for Ds was 1994. Bill Clinton had successfully rebranded the party under the 'Third Way' label that Dems at any level could embrace and benefit from, and he had a clear successor in Al Gore. But Gore loses narrowly in 2000, and the problems for the Dems' brand begin.
'Yes We Can'
After 9/11, the electorate supports Bush and they support war. Dems' brand takes a hit and they lose the 2002 midterms. In 2004, John Kerry is successfully painted as an out-of-touch Ivy League liberal, disengaged from 'real America.' Dems lose and their brand suffers further.
But by the end of Bush's term, most Americans are disillusioned with Dubyaism. They wanted change, and one man promises to lead them to it with posters that proclaim 'HOPE' and cries of 'Yes We Can,' heralding in a new age of politics. Barack Obama and the Democrats are swept into a trifecta in Washington.
And we certainly got a new age of politics. When Obama was inaugurated, pundits speculated about the 'emerging Democratic majority', and how the GOP may literally go extinct in ten years. By the end of Obama's second term, those same pundits are surveying the absolutely decimated state of the Democratic party at all levels of power. Dems had lost the Senate, the House, most governorships, and most state legislatures. Control of the state legislatures makes the GOP's hold on the House even stronger. Control of the Senate effectively leads to control of the Supreme Court.
While Obama certainly can't be blamed for everything the GOP threw at him, I feel like it's safe to say his rebranding of the Democratic party failed in the long run. The 'Party of Hope' was sunk into the quagmire of a slow economic recovery, some of the most cynical politicking ever, and some of the most dysfunctional White House-Congress relationships in the history of the country. Obama's signature healthcare legislation would languish in the 30s approval-wise until after he left office. By 2015, no one was talking about the Democrats as the Party of Hope anymore. Even the guy who designed the original 'Hope' poster said he was frustrated by the lack of progress under the Obama admin. I'd argue that the Republicans were responsible for the clear majority of this dysfunction, but if their goal was to muddy the waters between the parties, they succeeded. And with the Tea Party, they were better at rebranding themselves even when they were in the opposition.
And none of this was helped by the face that Obama seemed extremely reluctant, even uninterested, in stepping into the role of party leader. Congressional Democrats were frustrated at the way he kept his distance from them, making it hard to solidify the policy goals they'd implemented in his first term. This article (https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/us/aloof-obama-is-frustrating-his-own-party.html) sums it up well, with this prescient quote sticking out:
'Stronger Together'
In 2016, Democrats didn't plan for a primary, they planned for a coronation. Hillary Clinton had been locking up all the support she could get from the Democratic establishment while Obama was serving his second term. Biden would seem like the clear establishment successor, but by the time he was able to turn his attention from VP duties to the primary he realized Hillary had completely boxed him out. She had already corralled all the big donors, operatives, and endorsements into her corner, and Joe was checkmated before he even sat down to the board. Thus, he turned down the opportunity, likely burying his long-nurtured presidential ambitions.
But then the coronation gets bumpy. Sanders challenges her from the outside, and immediately begins putting her on the spot as to why she's running. In other words, what does she envision for the Democratic brand? Hillary herself doesn't know. Is it a third term of Bill (whose star was starting to fade among everyone whose name doesn't rhyme with Shames Scarville), a third term of Obama (whose Hope posters have since become landfill), or an all-new thing?
To Hillary's credit, she couldn't portray herself as a total break from the past, both because she had been was strongly anchored to the national political landscape for the last thirty years, and because she could hardly attack Obama's record too harshly. In the end, she also struggled to brand both herself and the party. Consider the slogans most associated with her campaign; 'Forward Together' and 'Stronger Together' sound like the slogans of a centrist third party with no concrete policy ideas. They just attempted to project a feeling of unity onto a people who were united only, if the candidacies of Sanders and Trump meant anything, in the feeling that 'establishment' politicians like HRC had failed. And, of course, 'I'm with Her' was barely a rebrand at all, simply associating the party with its uncharismatic yet seemingly unstoppable frontrunner.
In the meantime, Trump had done the opposite, rebranding himself and the GOP as the party of 'America First populism.' What that meant exactly in terms of policy seemed to change from day to day But as a brand, as a forceful statement of intent, it worked, especially when contrasted with a seemingly rudderless HRC campaign that failed to answer the age-old question: 'Why are you running for president?'
'For the People'
After the 2016 fiasco, the Democrats were decimated and leaderless. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had passed his leadership position to Chuck Schumer and passed on soon after Trump took office. Tim Ryan led a mutiny against Nancy Pelosi, blaming her in part for the party's plunge from ascendance to irrelevance in the House. Hillary Clinton disappeared into the woods of Chappaqua. Obama started making a docu-series for Netflix. Joe Biden entered semi-retirement and wrote a book.
But in all of this, they found something they had been lacking. A brand.
Not the one they would have preferred, but one that would work nonetheless for winning elections. House Dems would embrace the (once-again) vague slogan of 'For the People' ahead of the 2018 midterms, but the aim was clear. The Democrats were now the Opposition; the Anti-Trump party.
Trump's approval rating was not just low, but incredibly sticky. People tended to have very firm opinions on him, and so his approval rating barely escaped the 35-45% range, with him almost hitting 50% before the pandemic hit. Thus, running on opposition to Trump would be fine electorally. In 2018, the Democrats had a blue wave year based mostly on opposition to Trump, retaking the house. Ironically, a big policy motivator for voters was backlash against the GOP's effort to repeal and replace Obamacare -- a promise that had driven Republican electoral gains since the bill was passed into law. Republican branding and messaging had been so successful that, for the better part of the decade, people trusted them to 'fix' the ACA until the very last minute before the replacement was signed.
'Battle for the Soul of the Nation'
But the problem remained for 2020 -- who would lead them? This was a difficult decision even before the pandemic. And Democratic primary voters were treated to a veritable buffet on angles on how to rebrand the party to beat Trump.
Should the party embrace democratic socialism under Sanders, or heavy consumer advocacy under Warren? Should it embrace a young, charismatic up-and-comer like Harris, Buttigieg, or O'Rourke or someone just as 'establishment' as Hillary, like Michael Bloomberg? Old-school liberalism with the Klob? Whatever Andrew Yang was doing?
But as the polls drew near, the Democrats seemed to conclude that beating Trump was simply more important than charting a new course for the party. If they could get elected or rebrand, they'd choose the former. And so all the other more moderate candidates dropped out to consolidate the vote around Biden, as the safe, expected pick who could stay the course. Biden and his surrogates began adopting the slogan 'Battle for the Soul of the Nation,' an epic and apocalyptic phrase that is still fundamentally reactive in tone, implying that the biggest motivator to vote for Democrats that fall was not to pass any specific agenda, but to put a stop to the GOP's plans.
Biden wouldn't govern in this way, but he would campaign this way -- as the normal, capable candidate who could lead the country's post-covid recovery in opposition to Trump's perceived incompetence. Biden won, but Democrats didn't get nearly the boost they wanted from covid, and House candidates underperformed Biden nationally, leading to a surprising loss of seats in the House. And after the effort to throw out the election failed, Trump left office with severely damaged standing with independents. The anti-Trump brand had delivered Dems a trifecta; now it was time to use it; hopefully to establish a new brand for a new decade.
'Building Back Better'
Upon taking office, Biden and the Dems lay out their agenda; the 'Build Back Better' plan, which centers on a three-pronged approach; a pandemic relief bill, an infrastructure bill, and a social policy bill. Passing such plans will involve all 50 Senate D's on board in some cases, and a bipartisan filibuster-proof majority of 60 senators in other cases.
People laugh, think back to 2010, and begin arguing whether a prediction that the GOP will control 55 Senate seats by 2023 is too conservative. Nancy Pelosi is trying to manage a mere five-seat majority in the house. Mitch McConnell, who once feasted on the Democrats' lost hopes the way a hungry turtle devours a plate of juicy strawberries, still held enough sway in the Senate to hold up any significant policy not related to budget reconciliation. Even then, Schumer must wrangle mavericks like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. Dramatic divisions still rip across the fabric of American society. But then, something truly strange happens.
The 117th Congress ends up being one of the most productive sessions ever.
Whether or not you think any or all of the 117th's acts were good policy, it's undeniable that this was an unusually politically efficient session, especially considering the last decade of hardball politics. Bipartisan majorities drive the infrastructure act, a gun control act, a tech-manufacturing promotion act, and even a somewhat-legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide. Plus, Schumer and Pelosi navigate their tiny majorities toward passing partisan priorities, like the pandemic relief act and the scaled-down Build Back Better social policy bill, rebranded as the Inflation Reduction Act or IRA. McConnell drops his trademark stonewalling and collaborates with Biden on the bipartisan bills, and 'Yea' votes roll in even from deep red states -- Republican senators from Mississippi, West Virginia, and North Dakota get these bills over the line. Bipartisanship returns to Congress in fleeting glances -- something that I feel confident in arguing absolutely no one expected Biden or the Dem leaders to be able to do.
Of course, no one has forgotten 2010, and 2022 looks to be another rough year. Inflation soars, and Biden's approval rating drops. Dems brace for impact. The Dobbs ruling happens, but polls repeatedly suggest that the economy is the top issue on voters' minds, and they don't like Biden's handling of it.
But while these things are true, they ignore a crucial factor -- the GOP is embroiled in an identity crisis of its own. The leader of the party is claiming to be the legitimate president of the United States, which is a bit of a hard issue to ignore. Trump loyalists beat out 'establishment' Republicans in the primaries, and bring their hard promotion of the MAGA brand to the general elections. And they lose.
I think it's fair to say that the GOP lost most of the key races of the 2022 midterms, rather than Democrats winning them. Swing state Republican parties chose candidates who adhered so closely to a brand so toxic that independents still chose the Democrats, even in some cases where they were dissatisfied with the party. Republicans who have managed to establish a brand for themselves -- DeSantis, Kemp, and DeWine among them -- soar, while the Trumpiest candidates fall flat. McConnell remains in the minority, and McCarthy becomes the head of a very, very dysfunctional family.
Will Brandon's Rebrand Stand?
So, coming off an unusually strong midterm, where does the party go in 2024? Probably, as u/Randomuser1520 said, back to Biden. When your party wins one of the most fiercely contested elections in American history, has a productive legislative session, and then massively overperforms in the midterm, you don't usually change horses regardless of what approval polling says. If Biden were just 10 years younger and the health concerns were off the table, there would be no question in anyone's mind who to nominate.
The establishment and progressive wings of the party seem to be behind him if he runs, meaning challenges will only come from real outsiders like Marianne Williamson and Robert Kennedy Jr. The DNC will probably work to make those challenges as unviable as possible.
2024 is tricky to predict. Trump is favored on the Republican side, and as said before, his brand is so toxic that Biden can probably glide to reelection barring any massive economic downturns or serious health problems. I won't get too much into 2024, because it seems pretty clearly on the path to becoming another referendum on the GOP's brand, not the Democrats'. Biden's second term (and the rest of his first term) may be defined as much by implementation of the legislation they passed during the 117th as much as by new legislation, if not more.
So the question becomes this -- where does the party go in 2028? Or, in other words, what will Democrats take away from the Biden presidency, and how will Biden shape the party's brand going forward? Who they choose to lead the party next will tell, and Biden's presidency may already be laying out a blueprint.
In his 1996 State of the Union address, Bill Clinton declared 'the era of big government is over,' essentially conceding that Reagan and his vision of a small role for the federal government in domestic affairs had won out for the time, and that Democrats would need to work within that political reality in order to win elections. Obama's efforts to change that status quo resulted in an avalanche of backlash from Tea Partiers, self-proclaimed champions of fiscal conservatism. Hillary Clinton's failed campaign strategy arguably rested more on that understanding of the political climate than anything else, causing her to miss a series of growing frustrations with Reaganism at times channelled by Sanders and, at times, Trump -- at decimation of the manufacturing sector, at the growing gap between rich and poor, at China's seemingly unstoppable three-decade rise at the expense of the U.S.
Biden's approach to American industry and government is a strong repudiation of Reaganism, based around the idea that it is the government's job to fortify and guide the economy in ways that are necessary where the free market has little incentive to. It argues that the issues of infrastructural decay, manufacturing decline, and the growing need for green energy in the face of climate change will only be solved if the government directs the power of the private sector towards those goals at great upfront cost. And free trade, long held as the unassailable source of America's prosperity, must now only be employed in moderation -- if the U.S. has to arguably break international law to lure foreign investment into the U.S. through generous subsidies, it will be worth it, even if it earns the fury of our economic partners. This may be the groundwork of Bidenism.
These plans may fail. The money may be wasted by incompetent or corrupt administrators and the American people may become even more jaded at the thought of big government. But movement within the GOP may suggest a broader shift in the American mind towards this kind of economic interventionism is already in progress. Promising to reverse the decline of manufacturing through tariffs and other measures would have been political anathema twenty years ago, but it has become a core Republican plank. Florida Republicans' punitive measures towards Disney and the GOP's growing support for government action against Big Tech companies suggests openness towards not just using state power to guide the economy, but also to reshape the social landscape by manipulating the private sector. It may well be that the era of small government is over.
I've sorted some potential 'brands' and some of the people who might be nominated in 2028 / become party standard-bearers should the Democrats go in that direction. These lists aren't exhaustive; I'm just trying to establish a general vibe.
The 'Biden Blueprint': Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Gina Raimondo
These are members of the Biden admin who have been given great power (and great piles of money) to enact the legislation of the 117th. If American sentiment towards big government changes as quickly as I think it could, a Cabinet secretary could have a decent shot in 2028. Harris would be the natural successor as the VP, but Transportation Sec Buttigieg and Commerce Sec Raimondo, who were empowered to implement much of the Infrastructure Act and the CHIPS Act respectively, could become standard-bearers for this new vision of technocratic governance if they administer these programs well (and in a way that makes headlines). If Energy Sec Granholm were a natural-born citizen, she would definitely fit here as well, considering how much power the IRA gave her department.
The 'New New Deal': Amy Klobuchar, Catherine Cortez Masto, Mark Kelly, Tammy Duckworth, Raphael Warnock
Liberal senators who are capable of working across the aisle to achieve compromise could be a strong bet if Democrats want to recreate the success of the 117th Congress in the future. There's always an argument that effective legislators won't necessarily make for effective executives, but these choices would help with Democrats' goal of rebranding the Democratic party as the party you vote for if you want Washington to function properly and anticipate constituents' needs. Such a ticket could brand itself as the path to bipartisan yet assertive solutions on familiar and emerging issues like immigration reform, federal protection for abortion, the housing shortage, and the drug crisis.
The 'Bulwark': Roy Cooper, Laura Kelly, Andy Beshear
I'll admit that when I began writing this post, I had a more favorable opinion of the above three governors and politicians like them as presidential nominees and the potential 'future of the party.' I no longer feel as strongly about them, however, because I don't believe they do enough to change the brand of the Democrats and the political environment as a whole. These governors are best known for winning races in red states; for holding the line against the most conservative policies while finding areas of compromise, especially on kitchen-table issues.
But this brand of Democrat is fundamentally reactive, even defensive -- it assumes that most of the job will be obstructing right-wing legislation from a red legislature. In other words, it is a kind of strategy you use when you're trying to hold ground, not gain it. It works well when your opponent's brand is toxic (as the GOP's has been since 2016), but this I suspect this brand of 'competent normality' will struggle if the opposition ceases to actively repel voters. If Trump and his acolytes continue to hold a strong grip on the party through 2024 and beyond, this brand may not be a bad bet short-term, but long-term Democrats want to be the ones establishing the rules of the game, not just beating your opponent at theirs. That's what a successful political brand does. While Dems in similar situation should definitely look to these governors for guidance in running their campaigns (and hopefully, their administrations), I would caution at this point against basing the national party's brand on their model.
I think somewhere between these three groups lies a successful path forward for the Democrats that towards becoming the dominant party in U.S. politics at the federal level. There are some other interesting currents in the party; like how Democratic governors like Whitmer, Evers, and Walz have rebuilt D strength the Midwest after a rough 2010s, and how Western Dems like Jared Polis, Mary Peltola, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez have found unexpected electoral stength by embracing a form of libertarianism. However, these currents may be regional, and Democrats shouldn't necessarily try to nationalize every idea that works in one part of the country. Creating different regional 'flavors' of Democrat would be necessary to keep the party relevant in all parts of the country.
Regarding the 2020 primary runners-up, I don't think most of the visions laid out then work post-2024, and for this reason I tend not to give too much weight to current Democratic primary polling, because it assumes these same people would be running again.
Assuming Biden ends his term without catastrophe, I don't think the party needs to place all their faith in a young, charismatic Obama wannabe like O'Rourke or Swalwell, nor does it need to drastically pivot to the center, nor does it need to proclaim itself the party of 'outsiders,' nor does it need to give the reins to the progressive wing. If everything goes right, they can remain ideologically where they are now (roughly) and establish a solid brand for the first time in a generation.
The Democrats been losing the branding war since the days of Nixon. They may currently have all the tools they need right now to change that, and set the expectations for the next fifty years of politics. Let's see how they do.
This is my first big write-up, so I almost certainly missed some stuff and made some assumptions. Let me know what you think.
submitted by r3dsca to redscarepod [link] [comments]
Essay posted by u/dcmetro7
https://www.reddit.com/usedcmetro7/
Democrats have a branding problem : AngryObservation (reddit.com)
Democrats have a branding problem
😴 Long Observation 😴I was inspired by u/Randomuser1520 's post about the Democratic Party's seemingly weak bench of future potential presidential nominees.
A lot of the problems trace back to 2016, but I'd argue the Democrats' branding woes go back even further. Think all the way back to the last time the Democrats had a consistently strong electoral record as a party -- the 90s, where the only truly bad year for Ds was 1994. Bill Clinton had successfully rebranded the party under the 'Third Way' label that Dems at any level could embrace and benefit from, and he had a clear successor in Al Gore. But Gore loses narrowly in 2000, and the problems for the Dems' brand begin.
'Yes We Can'
After 9/11, the electorate supports Bush and they support war. Dems' brand takes a hit and they lose the 2002 midterms. In 2004, John Kerry is successfully painted as an out-of-touch Ivy League liberal, disengaged from 'real America.' Dems lose and their brand suffers further.
But by the end of Bush's term, most Americans are disillusioned with Dubyaism. They wanted change, and one man promises to lead them to it with posters that proclaim 'HOPE' and cries of 'Yes We Can,' heralding in a new age of politics. Barack Obama and the Democrats are swept into a trifecta in Washington.
And we certainly got a new age of politics. When Obama was inaugurated, pundits speculated about the 'emerging Democratic majority', and how the GOP may literally go extinct in ten years. By the end of Obama's second term, those same pundits are surveying the absolutely decimated state of the Democratic party at all levels of power. Dems had lost the Senate, the House, most governorships, and most state legislatures. Control of the state legislatures makes the GOP's hold on the House even stronger. Control of the Senate effectively leads to control of the Supreme Court.
While Obama certainly can't be blamed for everything the GOP threw at him, I feel like it's safe to say his rebranding of the Democratic party failed in the long run. The 'Party of Hope' was sunk into the quagmire of a slow economic recovery, some of the most cynical politicking ever, and some of the most dysfunctional White House-Congress relationships in the history of the country. Obama's signature healthcare legislation would languish in the 30s approval-wise until after he left office. By 2015, no one was talking about the Democrats as the Party of Hope anymore. Even the guy who designed the original 'Hope' poster said he was frustrated by the lack of progress under the Obama admin. I'd argue that the Republicans were responsible for the clear majority of this dysfunction, but if their goal was to muddy the waters between the parties, they succeeded. And with the Tea Party, they were better at rebranding themselves even when they were in the opposition.
And none of this was helped by the face that Obama seemed extremely reluctant, even uninterested, in stepping into the role of party leader. Congressional Democrats were frustrated at the way he kept his distance from them, making it hard to solidify the policy goals they'd implemented in his first term. This article (https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/us/aloof-obama-is-frustrating-his-own-party.html) sums it up well, with this prescient quote sticking out:
In interviews, nearly two dozen Democratic lawmakers and senior congressional aides suggested that Mr. Obama’s approach has left him with few loyalists to effectively manage the issues erupting abroad and at home and could imperil his efforts to leave a legacy in his final stretch in office.And sure enough, Obama's legacy was in peril before he even left office.
'Stronger Together'
In 2016, Democrats didn't plan for a primary, they planned for a coronation. Hillary Clinton had been locking up all the support she could get from the Democratic establishment while Obama was serving his second term. Biden would seem like the clear establishment successor, but by the time he was able to turn his attention from VP duties to the primary he realized Hillary had completely boxed him out. She had already corralled all the big donors, operatives, and endorsements into her corner, and Joe was checkmated before he even sat down to the board. Thus, he turned down the opportunity, likely burying his long-nurtured presidential ambitions.
But then the coronation gets bumpy. Sanders challenges her from the outside, and immediately begins putting her on the spot as to why she's running. In other words, what does she envision for the Democratic brand? Hillary herself doesn't know. Is it a third term of Bill (whose star was starting to fade among everyone whose name doesn't rhyme with Shames Scarville), a third term of Obama (whose Hope posters have since become landfill), or an all-new thing?
To Hillary's credit, she couldn't portray herself as a total break from the past, both because she had been was strongly anchored to the national political landscape for the last thirty years, and because she could hardly attack Obama's record too harshly. In the end, she also struggled to brand both herself and the party. Consider the slogans most associated with her campaign; 'Forward Together' and 'Stronger Together' sound like the slogans of a centrist third party with no concrete policy ideas. They just attempted to project a feeling of unity onto a people who were united only, if the candidacies of Sanders and Trump meant anything, in the feeling that 'establishment' politicians like HRC had failed. And, of course, 'I'm with Her' was barely a rebrand at all, simply associating the party with its uncharismatic yet seemingly unstoppable frontrunner.
In the meantime, Trump had done the opposite, rebranding himself and the GOP as the party of 'America First populism.' What that meant exactly in terms of policy seemed to change from day to day But as a brand, as a forceful statement of intent, it worked, especially when contrasted with a seemingly rudderless HRC campaign that failed to answer the age-old question: 'Why are you running for president?'
'For the People'
After the 2016 fiasco, the Democrats were decimated and leaderless. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had passed his leadership position to Chuck Schumer and passed on soon after Trump took office. Tim Ryan led a mutiny against Nancy Pelosi, blaming her in part for the party's plunge from ascendance to irrelevance in the House. Hillary Clinton disappeared into the woods of Chappaqua. Obama started making a docu-series for Netflix. Joe Biden entered semi-retirement and wrote a book.
But in all of this, they found something they had been lacking. A brand.
Not the one they would have preferred, but one that would work nonetheless for winning elections. House Dems would embrace the (once-again) vague slogan of 'For the People' ahead of the 2018 midterms, but the aim was clear. The Democrats were now the Opposition; the Anti-Trump party.
Trump's approval rating was not just low, but incredibly sticky. People tended to have very firm opinions on him, and so his approval rating barely escaped the 35-45% range, with him almost hitting 50% before the pandemic hit. Thus, running on opposition to Trump would be fine electorally. In 2018, the Democrats had a blue wave year based mostly on opposition to Trump, retaking the house. Ironically, a big policy motivator for voters was backlash against the GOP's effort to repeal and replace Obamacare -- a promise that had driven Republican electoral gains since the bill was passed into law. Republican branding and messaging had been so successful that, for the better part of the decade, people trusted them to 'fix' the ACA until the very last minute before the replacement was signed.
'Battle for the Soul of the Nation'
But the problem remained for 2020 -- who would lead them? This was a difficult decision even before the pandemic. And Democratic primary voters were treated to a veritable buffet on angles on how to rebrand the party to beat Trump.
Should the party embrace democratic socialism under Sanders, or heavy consumer advocacy under Warren? Should it embrace a young, charismatic up-and-comer like Harris, Buttigieg, or O'Rourke or someone just as 'establishment' as Hillary, like Michael Bloomberg? Old-school liberalism with the Klob? Whatever Andrew Yang was doing?
But as the polls drew near, the Democrats seemed to conclude that beating Trump was simply more important than charting a new course for the party. If they could get elected or rebrand, they'd choose the former. And so all the other more moderate candidates dropped out to consolidate the vote around Biden, as the safe, expected pick who could stay the course. Biden and his surrogates began adopting the slogan 'Battle for the Soul of the Nation,' an epic and apocalyptic phrase that is still fundamentally reactive in tone, implying that the biggest motivator to vote for Democrats that fall was not to pass any specific agenda, but to put a stop to the GOP's plans.
Biden wouldn't govern in this way, but he would campaign this way -- as the normal, capable candidate who could lead the country's post-covid recovery in opposition to Trump's perceived incompetence. Biden won, but Democrats didn't get nearly the boost they wanted from covid, and House candidates underperformed Biden nationally, leading to a surprising loss of seats in the House. And after the effort to throw out the election failed, Trump left office with severely damaged standing with independents. The anti-Trump brand had delivered Dems a trifecta; now it was time to use it; hopefully to establish a new brand for a new decade.
'Building Back Better'
Upon taking office, Biden and the Dems lay out their agenda; the 'Build Back Better' plan, which centers on a three-pronged approach; a pandemic relief bill, an infrastructure bill, and a social policy bill. Passing such plans will involve all 50 Senate D's on board in some cases, and a bipartisan filibuster-proof majority of 60 senators in other cases.
People laugh, think back to 2010, and begin arguing whether a prediction that the GOP will control 55 Senate seats by 2023 is too conservative. Nancy Pelosi is trying to manage a mere five-seat majority in the house. Mitch McConnell, who once feasted on the Democrats' lost hopes the way a hungry turtle devours a plate of juicy strawberries, still held enough sway in the Senate to hold up any significant policy not related to budget reconciliation. Even then, Schumer must wrangle mavericks like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. Dramatic divisions still rip across the fabric of American society. But then, something truly strange happens.
The 117th Congress ends up being one of the most productive sessions ever.
Whether or not you think any or all of the 117th's acts were good policy, it's undeniable that this was an unusually politically efficient session, especially considering the last decade of hardball politics. Bipartisan majorities drive the infrastructure act, a gun control act, a tech-manufacturing promotion act, and even a somewhat-legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide. Plus, Schumer and Pelosi navigate their tiny majorities toward passing partisan priorities, like the pandemic relief act and the scaled-down Build Back Better social policy bill, rebranded as the Inflation Reduction Act or IRA. McConnell drops his trademark stonewalling and collaborates with Biden on the bipartisan bills, and 'Yea' votes roll in even from deep red states -- Republican senators from Mississippi, West Virginia, and North Dakota get these bills over the line. Bipartisanship returns to Congress in fleeting glances -- something that I feel confident in arguing absolutely no one expected Biden or the Dem leaders to be able to do.
Of course, no one has forgotten 2010, and 2022 looks to be another rough year. Inflation soars, and Biden's approval rating drops. Dems brace for impact. The Dobbs ruling happens, but polls repeatedly suggest that the economy is the top issue on voters' minds, and they don't like Biden's handling of it.
But while these things are true, they ignore a crucial factor -- the GOP is embroiled in an identity crisis of its own. The leader of the party is claiming to be the legitimate president of the United States, which is a bit of a hard issue to ignore. Trump loyalists beat out 'establishment' Republicans in the primaries, and bring their hard promotion of the MAGA brand to the general elections. And they lose.
I think it's fair to say that the GOP lost most of the key races of the 2022 midterms, rather than Democrats winning them. Swing state Republican parties chose candidates who adhered so closely to a brand so toxic that independents still chose the Democrats, even in some cases where they were dissatisfied with the party. Republicans who have managed to establish a brand for themselves -- DeSantis, Kemp, and DeWine among them -- soar, while the Trumpiest candidates fall flat. McConnell remains in the minority, and McCarthy becomes the head of a very, very dysfunctional family.
Will Brandon's Rebrand Stand?
So, coming off an unusually strong midterm, where does the party go in 2024? Probably, as u/Randomuser1520 said, back to Biden. When your party wins one of the most fiercely contested elections in American history, has a productive legislative session, and then massively overperforms in the midterm, you don't usually change horses regardless of what approval polling says. If Biden were just 10 years younger and the health concerns were off the table, there would be no question in anyone's mind who to nominate.
The establishment and progressive wings of the party seem to be behind him if he runs, meaning challenges will only come from real outsiders like Marianne Williamson and Robert Kennedy Jr. The DNC will probably work to make those challenges as unviable as possible.
2024 is tricky to predict. Trump is favored on the Republican side, and as said before, his brand is so toxic that Biden can probably glide to reelection barring any massive economic downturns or serious health problems. I won't get too much into 2024, because it seems pretty clearly on the path to becoming another referendum on the GOP's brand, not the Democrats'. Biden's second term (and the rest of his first term) may be defined as much by implementation of the legislation they passed during the 117th as much as by new legislation, if not more.
So the question becomes this -- where does the party go in 2028? Or, in other words, what will Democrats take away from the Biden presidency, and how will Biden shape the party's brand going forward? Who they choose to lead the party next will tell, and Biden's presidency may already be laying out a blueprint.
In his 1996 State of the Union address, Bill Clinton declared 'the era of big government is over,' essentially conceding that Reagan and his vision of a small role for the federal government in domestic affairs had won out for the time, and that Democrats would need to work within that political reality in order to win elections. Obama's efforts to change that status quo resulted in an avalanche of backlash from Tea Partiers, self-proclaimed champions of fiscal conservatism. Hillary Clinton's failed campaign strategy arguably rested more on that understanding of the political climate than anything else, causing her to miss a series of growing frustrations with Reaganism at times channelled by Sanders and, at times, Trump -- at decimation of the manufacturing sector, at the growing gap between rich and poor, at China's seemingly unstoppable three-decade rise at the expense of the U.S.
Biden's approach to American industry and government is a strong repudiation of Reaganism, based around the idea that it is the government's job to fortify and guide the economy in ways that are necessary where the free market has little incentive to. It argues that the issues of infrastructural decay, manufacturing decline, and the growing need for green energy in the face of climate change will only be solved if the government directs the power of the private sector towards those goals at great upfront cost. And free trade, long held as the unassailable source of America's prosperity, must now only be employed in moderation -- if the U.S. has to arguably break international law to lure foreign investment into the U.S. through generous subsidies, it will be worth it, even if it earns the fury of our economic partners. This may be the groundwork of Bidenism.
These plans may fail. The money may be wasted by incompetent or corrupt administrators and the American people may become even more jaded at the thought of big government. But movement within the GOP may suggest a broader shift in the American mind towards this kind of economic interventionism is already in progress. Promising to reverse the decline of manufacturing through tariffs and other measures would have been political anathema twenty years ago, but it has become a core Republican plank. Florida Republicans' punitive measures towards Disney and the GOP's growing support for government action against Big Tech companies suggests openness towards not just using state power to guide the economy, but also to reshape the social landscape by manipulating the private sector. It may well be that the era of small government is over.
I've sorted some potential 'brands' and some of the people who might be nominated in 2028 / become party standard-bearers should the Democrats go in that direction. These lists aren't exhaustive; I'm just trying to establish a general vibe.
The 'Biden Blueprint': Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Gina Raimondo
These are members of the Biden admin who have been given great power (and great piles of money) to enact the legislation of the 117th. If American sentiment towards big government changes as quickly as I think it could, a Cabinet secretary could have a decent shot in 2028. Harris would be the natural successor as the VP, but Transportation Sec Buttigieg and Commerce Sec Raimondo, who were empowered to implement much of the Infrastructure Act and the CHIPS Act respectively, could become standard-bearers for this new vision of technocratic governance if they administer these programs well (and in a way that makes headlines). If Energy Sec Granholm were a natural-born citizen, she would definitely fit here as well, considering how much power the IRA gave her department.
The 'New New Deal': Amy Klobuchar, Catherine Cortez Masto, Mark Kelly, Tammy Duckworth, Raphael Warnock
Liberal senators who are capable of working across the aisle to achieve compromise could be a strong bet if Democrats want to recreate the success of the 117th Congress in the future. There's always an argument that effective legislators won't necessarily make for effective executives, but these choices would help with Democrats' goal of rebranding the Democratic party as the party you vote for if you want Washington to function properly and anticipate constituents' needs. Such a ticket could brand itself as the path to bipartisan yet assertive solutions on familiar and emerging issues like immigration reform, federal protection for abortion, the housing shortage, and the drug crisis.
The 'Bulwark': Roy Cooper, Laura Kelly, Andy Beshear
I'll admit that when I began writing this post, I had a more favorable opinion of the above three governors and politicians like them as presidential nominees and the potential 'future of the party.' I no longer feel as strongly about them, however, because I don't believe they do enough to change the brand of the Democrats and the political environment as a whole. These governors are best known for winning races in red states; for holding the line against the most conservative policies while finding areas of compromise, especially on kitchen-table issues.
But this brand of Democrat is fundamentally reactive, even defensive -- it assumes that most of the job will be obstructing right-wing legislation from a red legislature. In other words, it is a kind of strategy you use when you're trying to hold ground, not gain it. It works well when your opponent's brand is toxic (as the GOP's has been since 2016), but this I suspect this brand of 'competent normality' will struggle if the opposition ceases to actively repel voters. If Trump and his acolytes continue to hold a strong grip on the party through 2024 and beyond, this brand may not be a bad bet short-term, but long-term Democrats want to be the ones establishing the rules of the game, not just beating your opponent at theirs. That's what a successful political brand does. While Dems in similar situation should definitely look to these governors for guidance in running their campaigns (and hopefully, their administrations), I would caution at this point against basing the national party's brand on their model.
I think somewhere between these three groups lies a successful path forward for the Democrats that towards becoming the dominant party in U.S. politics at the federal level. There are some other interesting currents in the party; like how Democratic governors like Whitmer, Evers, and Walz have rebuilt D strength the Midwest after a rough 2010s, and how Western Dems like Jared Polis, Mary Peltola, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez have found unexpected electoral stength by embracing a form of libertarianism. However, these currents may be regional, and Democrats shouldn't necessarily try to nationalize every idea that works in one part of the country. Creating different regional 'flavors' of Democrat would be necessary to keep the party relevant in all parts of the country.
Regarding the 2020 primary runners-up, I don't think most of the visions laid out then work post-2024, and for this reason I tend not to give too much weight to current Democratic primary polling, because it assumes these same people would be running again.
Assuming Biden ends his term without catastrophe, I don't think the party needs to place all their faith in a young, charismatic Obama wannabe like O'Rourke or Swalwell, nor does it need to drastically pivot to the center, nor does it need to proclaim itself the party of 'outsiders,' nor does it need to give the reins to the progressive wing. If everything goes right, they can remain ideologically where they are now (roughly) and establish a solid brand for the first time in a generation.
The Democrats been losing the branding war since the days of Nixon. They may currently have all the tools they need right now to change that, and set the expectations for the next fifty years of politics. Let's see how they do.
This is my first big write-up, so I almost certainly missed some stuff and made some assumptions. Let me know what you think.
2023.06.02 16:35 ProvenStrange The Ultimate Disguise
I’m not sure if this is the right place to be posting this, but I don’t know where else to go for help. I know that after I describe the events that just happened, the ones involved may come looking for me. I have decided it’s worth the risk though. I’m still pretty shaken up, but I’m going to do my best to recall everything exactly as it happened. If something similar has happened to you or anyone you know, and you could advise me what to do next, I would really appreciate it. It might actually save my life.
Last night wasn’t the first time I had been woken up by a sound coming from the wall behind my bed. It sounded like something LARGE and HEAVY sliding along the other side of the wall. It was especially odd, because I didn’t think there was anything on the other side of that wall. I thought I had heard it several nights before this one, but was never certain if I had dreamt it or not. This time though, I knew I was awake. I was lying in bed next to my husband, Jason. I had my eyes closed, while trying to fall asleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about the fight Jason and I had a couple hours before. He told me in the five years we had been married, he had never seen me like this— a complete shell of the person I once was. He told me that I had let my paranoia completely consume me. I could tell he was deeply concerned, but also frustrated with my lack of effort to dispel it. I knew that even if I was honest about what I was worrying about though, he would not understand.
I slowly sat up in bed, straining to listen for another sound. Maybe it was some kind of animal? It sounded much too large to be a raccoon though, and bears are not common in our area. As I slowly leaned in closer to the wall, my heart jolted as I heard a very loud, THUMP THUMP. It sounded like a deliberate pounding on the other side of the wall, almost as if it was trying to get my attention.
In a low whisper, I immediately called out to Jason as he slept next to me. How could he have slept through that? He didn’t even stir, so I called his name again and tried touching his shoulder. He continued to sleep like a baby. I was about to call his name one more time when I remembered that my paranoia was the main reason for our fight earlier. Would he even believe me? I sat in the dark for a few more minutes before deciding to get up and investigate myself.
As I made my way downstairs, I caught a glimpse of a photo of the two of us from our honeymoon. Although it was from only five years ago, Jason and I looked so much younger. It was probably due to the fact that we were smiling so big. I have been trying so hard to be that happy girl in the photo for him and for me, but recently, I haven’t even come close.
I decided to start my investigation of the mysterious sound with the garage, since it is located directly under our bedroom. I flipped the light on and scanned the room from wall to wall, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Everything looked the way it was supposed to. Our car was parked out on the street that night, so the garage was just a large, echoey room. Gardening tools, storage containers, cleaning supples and various pieces of sporting equipment packed the shelves along the far wall. There was also a small stockpile of food and water Jason liked to keep just in case of a disaster. Remember, being paranoid is my thing though…
I made my way over to the shelves to see if anything could have made a noise like the one I heard. As I was halfway across the garage, I heard a loud SLAM come from above me. My eyes darted up to the attic door in the ceiling and the pull string that dangled from it. The string was slowly swaying from left to right.
Great. That’s normal, right? I never realized that our bedroom shared a wall with the attic until now. I thought hard about running upstairs to get Jason’s help. That would be the most logical thing to do, but just as I was about to do that, I had this feeling. I had a very faint idea of what could be the source of the disturbance, but knew that it would defy logic. I also knew that based on the five weeks we had been together, if there was even the slightest chance that my suspicion was correct about the source of the noise, Jason would not understand— nor would he even be willing to help me deal with it. If I was going to be able to protect the both of us, I knew I had to deal with this myself.
I walked over to the attic door and grabbed the pull string. With a loud CREEEAAAAK the door slowly swung down. I grabbed the ladder attached to the door and unfolded it down to the ground. I directed my attention back up to the ceiling, and stared into the black hole that was the attic entrance.
My eyes strained to make out anything inside, while I waited for something— anything to come out of the darkness. I turned to the shelf next to me and grabbed a flashlight. After pointing it toward the black hole in the ceiling, I still couldn’t make out anything, so I contemplated my options. Less thinking, just do, Mel. I knew that if I waited any longer, my thoughts would scare me into complete paralysis, so I began to climb. With each step, the ladder let out a painful creak. This ladder was as old as the house, and I have no idea if it was ever inspected. The way it would bend under my very minimal bodyweight made me realize the very real possibility that it could give out at any time. We really need to have this thing inspected…
The black hole grew bigger and bigger with each step. I held my breath the whole time, ready for either the ladder to crumble beneath me or something to emerge from the darkness. Thankfully, neither of those things happened. Once my head breached the attic opening, I remembered to breathe, and drew in a large breath of stale, musty air.
I scanned the attic with my flashlight. It wasn’t really a room— more just a storage space between the ceiling of the garage and the roof of the house. The ceiling formed a triangle with the highest point being only five feet tall. As I slowly panned my flashlight across the space, its beam revealed various objects in storage— an old dollhouse, a large shop vacuum, a full-sized scarecrow, a snow shovel, a vintage suitcase, a pair of kayak paddles, several boxes, and lots of Christmas and Halloween decorations. The holiday decorations appeared pretty unsettling in the beam of the flashlight…probably because a lot of them had faces that were looking back at me. The witch especially gave me the creeps with her pale, green skin, hands covered in warts, and open mouth full of yellow teeth. Oh and don’t forget the random Christmas elf’s detached head just resting on top of a box with its single, beady eye reflecting back at me! Why does it only have one eye?? Why is its head not with its body?? Why do we even have this thing??
After doing a full scan of the space with my flashlight, I reached behind me to turn on the attic light. The second the light turned on, I jumped as I heard the sound of movement coming from the pile of junk in front of me. I held my breath and stared long and hard, while looking for any sign of movement. THAT WITCH BETTER NOT MOVE, I SWEAR. After a long minute of waiting, nothing had moved in the slightest.
Just as I was letting out my long awaited exhale, a loud, “BWAK BWAK BWAK,” erupted from my right side. I whipped my head around to reveal a plush toy of a chicken lying on the floor on its side.
“BWAK BWAK BWAK,” its electronic voice box cried out again. I looked around, wondering what could have caused it to go off. The floorboards beneath me creaked as I crawled my way over to the plush chicken and picked it up. I stared into its black, soulless eyes. There was something about this chicken. It felt too personal for some reason— almost like it was a taunt. Then, I heard the sound of movement coming from the pile of junk again. I looked back and could have sworn one of the objects had moved. Was it the witch? The scarecrow? I couldn’t tell for sure.
I waited several seconds before directing my attention back to the chicken. That’s when I noticed something behind it. About 4 feet up from the floor, there was a very small hole in the wall about the size of a pea. I put my eye up to it, and my stomach lurched. Through the hole, I could see right into my bedroom. I couldn’t see the bed so well, but I could make out pretty much anything at eye level. Whoever or WHATEVER was in the attic could have been watching us this whole time. From inside the bedroom, the hole was positioned just under one of the framed pictures hanging on the wall. The shadow from the frame must have concealed it all this time. I could feel my heart rate begin to drastically accelerate. I turned back to the pile of junk, since whoever or whatever was in the attic with me must be hiding somewhere in that pile.
That’s when I noticed what had changed. Earlier, the scarecrow was sitting upright with its back against a box, but now it was slumped over with one hand extended out toward me. And was it closer?? I stared at its still, faceless head hidden in shadow beneath the brim of a wide, black farmer’s hat. I looked for any sign of life in its body, which wore a red flannel shirt covered in hay and stained khaki pants with patches on the knees. I began to hyperventilate. Come on, Mel! If you have a panic attack now, you are done for!
I slowly backed away from the scarecrow until I heard a loud CRUNCH under my feet. I looked down and saw that I had stepped on an empty plastic water bottle. I gasped in horror as I noticed several other empty water bottles along with empty food cans and a pile of blankets resembling a makeshift bed. SOMEONE WAS LIVING IN OUR ATTIC.
Before I could react, I heard fast stomping coming right toward me. I looked up and saw the scarecrow LUNGING for me. I fell onto my back with my eyes closed, and braced for the inevitable. I heard the sound of movement, the creaking of the ladder, and then all was silent. My eyes slowly opened. The scarecrow had vanished.
I crawled over to the attic entrance in the floor. The garage light below had now been switched off, so the way down was nothing but a black void. I grabbed the flashlight and pointed it down into the garage. I let out a gasp as I saw the scarecrow standing directly at the bottom of the ladder facing up at me. I wanted to scream, but nothing was coming out. It stood there perfectly still…almost too still for a person to be inside of it. Was this a person?? I waited and waited until…it CHARGED at the ladder, making its way toward me.
I frantically dove toward the pile of junk and grabbed a paddle to defend myself. When I turned back to the ladder, the scarecrow was gone. There was only the rickety ladder and the black void below me. I gave myself a few seconds to catch my breath. If I was in fact dealing with what I suspected I was dealing with, I had a right to be scared out of my mind. I also knew that I couldn’t let it get to Jason first. Whatever this thing was, I had to stop it.
After taking a deep breath, I made my way down the ladder. I held my flashlight in one hand and the paddle in the other. I made sure to alternate the flashlight between the steps below me and the rest of the garage. If the scarecrow was able to knock me off the ladder, I would be done for. When my feet finally touched the concrete floor, I wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but I knew the fight was still ahead of me….or maybe behind me. It was so dark, the scarecrow really could have been anywhere.
If I could just make it to the door to the house, I knew I could flip on the light, spot the scarecrow, and charge it with everything I had. I walked as fast as I could toward the door, whipping my flashlight in all directions. I only got halfway through the garage when I heard a loud squeaking noise to my left. I knew I wasn’t getting the chance to make it to the light switch. I slowly turned my flashlight to reveal the scarecrow slumped over and sitting on an old, red Radio Flyer wagon.
This was it. I knew that the element of surprise was all I had.
I charged at it with everything inside of me. I swung the paddle again and again with all of my strength. I wouldn’t let this thing ruin the life I had worked so hard to obtain. I didn’t stop swinging until the scarecrow was completely facedown on the ground. My rage turned to fear as I slowly sensed something was off. I realized the scarecrow’s torso had become completely separated from its legs during the beating. My heart nearly stopped when I finally realized that there was nothing inside of the scarecrow but hay.
I poked its body a few times before I noticed a trail of straw leading away from it. Wherever this trail led to, I knew it wasn’t going to be good. As I followed the trail of hay with my flashlight in one hand, I shakily held my paddle in the other, ready to strike again. The trail curled away from me until it ended at A PAIR OF BARE HUMAN FEET. I let out a quiet scream as I tilted my flashlight up as fast as I could and—WHAM! I could barely make out the image of a metal baseball bat whirling toward my head before everything went black.
I woke up only a few seconds later on the garage floor with my head throbbing in pain. My vision was fuzzy, but I could see there was a shape standing in front of me. It was backlit by the light of my flashlight, which had rolled away from me. It took a few seconds for my eyes to focus on the pair of bare, dirty feet in front of me, covered in hay. As I slowly tilted my head up, I could see those feet were attached to a pair of legs wearing tattered pants. Those legs were attached to a body with two arms— one holding a metal baseball bat. The body was attached to a head, and on that head, was a face. It was exactly the face I feared I would see. It was the face of a woman with the exact same face as me— the face of Melody Bennett.
“No,” I gasped. “How did—“
Melody stared at me with rage in her eyes. Pieces of hay covered her hair.
I turned my head to the side and looked at the scarecrow’s lifeless, empty body next to me. Then, I turned and looked at Melody’s hay-covered feet.
I have to admit it now. Wearing the scarecrow as a disguise was a brilliant strategy. She really took a page from my book of deception and used it against me.
“Your life was mine,” I began to cry with eyes full of fear. “I took it from you.”
“I’m taking it back,” she declared and raised her bat high.
I tried to let out a scream, but it was too late. She was already on top of me. Whaling on me with the speed and aggression of a wild animal. She struck my head with the baseball bat again and again. With each blow, I could feel my face start to change out of the face of Melody and back into its natural form. First, my mouth morphed away, followed by my nose, and then my ears. Just as she was about to swing what would have been the killing blow, I threw my hand up and grabbed the bat. Both of us were now struggling for control of the bat. That’s when I could see my true face reflected in Melody’s eyes. My two eyes were wide and bulging, completely filled with terror. My other features were completely gone. Smooth skin was now in their place. I looked into Melody’s eyes as we struggled with the bat. This was a woman that would stop at nothing to take back her life and be rid of me. I wasn’t going to win this fight. I had to escape.
My fear somehow gave me enough adrenaline to throw her off of me. I knew I only had a second before she would be on top of me again, so I booked it out of the house as fast as I could.
I didn’t stop running until I was across the street hidden in the shadows of a neighbor’s tree. I turned back to see Melody standing in front of her house blocking any hope I had of going back there to her beautiful, lovely life— a life, which she had taken for granted until now. She had the last five weeks to think about it as she was living in the attic. All that time, she watched helplessly behind the wall of her own bedroom as I, an imposter wearing her face, tried my best to pass as her. She had all that time to watch me, study my weaknesses, and devise a plan to take her life back.
From across the street, I watched as she took in one last big breath, smelling the fresh air and appreciating the world she had once taken for granted. She slowly exhaled before walking confidently back into her house and locking me out for good.
I can’t tell you how frustrated I am that this one didn’t work out for me. I thought for sure that I had killed Melody before I had replaced her. I thought for sure that I was going to get to live in her place forever. I won’t make the same mistake again. Next time, I will make sure the person I am replacing is actually dead.
I know most of you reading this will probably think I’m just a normal person making this story up to scare you. I was counting on that. You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you that there are many like me living among you.
To those of you that are like me, please let me know if you have had a similarly frustrating experience. Besides the very obvious mistake I already mentioned, what can I do differently next time? If you have any advice or know anything else I did wrong, please tell me.
I just want to find a nice life and be happy like everyone else. Why does it have to be this difficult?
submitted by ProvenStrange to nosleep [link] [comments]
Last night wasn’t the first time I had been woken up by a sound coming from the wall behind my bed. It sounded like something LARGE and HEAVY sliding along the other side of the wall. It was especially odd, because I didn’t think there was anything on the other side of that wall. I thought I had heard it several nights before this one, but was never certain if I had dreamt it or not. This time though, I knew I was awake. I was lying in bed next to my husband, Jason. I had my eyes closed, while trying to fall asleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about the fight Jason and I had a couple hours before. He told me in the five years we had been married, he had never seen me like this— a complete shell of the person I once was. He told me that I had let my paranoia completely consume me. I could tell he was deeply concerned, but also frustrated with my lack of effort to dispel it. I knew that even if I was honest about what I was worrying about though, he would not understand.
I slowly sat up in bed, straining to listen for another sound. Maybe it was some kind of animal? It sounded much too large to be a raccoon though, and bears are not common in our area. As I slowly leaned in closer to the wall, my heart jolted as I heard a very loud, THUMP THUMP. It sounded like a deliberate pounding on the other side of the wall, almost as if it was trying to get my attention.
In a low whisper, I immediately called out to Jason as he slept next to me. How could he have slept through that? He didn’t even stir, so I called his name again and tried touching his shoulder. He continued to sleep like a baby. I was about to call his name one more time when I remembered that my paranoia was the main reason for our fight earlier. Would he even believe me? I sat in the dark for a few more minutes before deciding to get up and investigate myself.
As I made my way downstairs, I caught a glimpse of a photo of the two of us from our honeymoon. Although it was from only five years ago, Jason and I looked so much younger. It was probably due to the fact that we were smiling so big. I have been trying so hard to be that happy girl in the photo for him and for me, but recently, I haven’t even come close.
I decided to start my investigation of the mysterious sound with the garage, since it is located directly under our bedroom. I flipped the light on and scanned the room from wall to wall, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Everything looked the way it was supposed to. Our car was parked out on the street that night, so the garage was just a large, echoey room. Gardening tools, storage containers, cleaning supples and various pieces of sporting equipment packed the shelves along the far wall. There was also a small stockpile of food and water Jason liked to keep just in case of a disaster. Remember, being paranoid is my thing though…
I made my way over to the shelves to see if anything could have made a noise like the one I heard. As I was halfway across the garage, I heard a loud SLAM come from above me. My eyes darted up to the attic door in the ceiling and the pull string that dangled from it. The string was slowly swaying from left to right.
Great. That’s normal, right? I never realized that our bedroom shared a wall with the attic until now. I thought hard about running upstairs to get Jason’s help. That would be the most logical thing to do, but just as I was about to do that, I had this feeling. I had a very faint idea of what could be the source of the disturbance, but knew that it would defy logic. I also knew that based on the five weeks we had been together, if there was even the slightest chance that my suspicion was correct about the source of the noise, Jason would not understand— nor would he even be willing to help me deal with it. If I was going to be able to protect the both of us, I knew I had to deal with this myself.
I walked over to the attic door and grabbed the pull string. With a loud CREEEAAAAK the door slowly swung down. I grabbed the ladder attached to the door and unfolded it down to the ground. I directed my attention back up to the ceiling, and stared into the black hole that was the attic entrance.
My eyes strained to make out anything inside, while I waited for something— anything to come out of the darkness. I turned to the shelf next to me and grabbed a flashlight. After pointing it toward the black hole in the ceiling, I still couldn’t make out anything, so I contemplated my options. Less thinking, just do, Mel. I knew that if I waited any longer, my thoughts would scare me into complete paralysis, so I began to climb. With each step, the ladder let out a painful creak. This ladder was as old as the house, and I have no idea if it was ever inspected. The way it would bend under my very minimal bodyweight made me realize the very real possibility that it could give out at any time. We really need to have this thing inspected…
The black hole grew bigger and bigger with each step. I held my breath the whole time, ready for either the ladder to crumble beneath me or something to emerge from the darkness. Thankfully, neither of those things happened. Once my head breached the attic opening, I remembered to breathe, and drew in a large breath of stale, musty air.
I scanned the attic with my flashlight. It wasn’t really a room— more just a storage space between the ceiling of the garage and the roof of the house. The ceiling formed a triangle with the highest point being only five feet tall. As I slowly panned my flashlight across the space, its beam revealed various objects in storage— an old dollhouse, a large shop vacuum, a full-sized scarecrow, a snow shovel, a vintage suitcase, a pair of kayak paddles, several boxes, and lots of Christmas and Halloween decorations. The holiday decorations appeared pretty unsettling in the beam of the flashlight…probably because a lot of them had faces that were looking back at me. The witch especially gave me the creeps with her pale, green skin, hands covered in warts, and open mouth full of yellow teeth. Oh and don’t forget the random Christmas elf’s detached head just resting on top of a box with its single, beady eye reflecting back at me! Why does it only have one eye?? Why is its head not with its body?? Why do we even have this thing??
After doing a full scan of the space with my flashlight, I reached behind me to turn on the attic light. The second the light turned on, I jumped as I heard the sound of movement coming from the pile of junk in front of me. I held my breath and stared long and hard, while looking for any sign of movement. THAT WITCH BETTER NOT MOVE, I SWEAR. After a long minute of waiting, nothing had moved in the slightest.
Just as I was letting out my long awaited exhale, a loud, “BWAK BWAK BWAK,” erupted from my right side. I whipped my head around to reveal a plush toy of a chicken lying on the floor on its side.
“BWAK BWAK BWAK,” its electronic voice box cried out again. I looked around, wondering what could have caused it to go off. The floorboards beneath me creaked as I crawled my way over to the plush chicken and picked it up. I stared into its black, soulless eyes. There was something about this chicken. It felt too personal for some reason— almost like it was a taunt. Then, I heard the sound of movement coming from the pile of junk again. I looked back and could have sworn one of the objects had moved. Was it the witch? The scarecrow? I couldn’t tell for sure.
I waited several seconds before directing my attention back to the chicken. That’s when I noticed something behind it. About 4 feet up from the floor, there was a very small hole in the wall about the size of a pea. I put my eye up to it, and my stomach lurched. Through the hole, I could see right into my bedroom. I couldn’t see the bed so well, but I could make out pretty much anything at eye level. Whoever or WHATEVER was in the attic could have been watching us this whole time. From inside the bedroom, the hole was positioned just under one of the framed pictures hanging on the wall. The shadow from the frame must have concealed it all this time. I could feel my heart rate begin to drastically accelerate. I turned back to the pile of junk, since whoever or whatever was in the attic with me must be hiding somewhere in that pile.
That’s when I noticed what had changed. Earlier, the scarecrow was sitting upright with its back against a box, but now it was slumped over with one hand extended out toward me. And was it closer?? I stared at its still, faceless head hidden in shadow beneath the brim of a wide, black farmer’s hat. I looked for any sign of life in its body, which wore a red flannel shirt covered in hay and stained khaki pants with patches on the knees. I began to hyperventilate. Come on, Mel! If you have a panic attack now, you are done for!
I slowly backed away from the scarecrow until I heard a loud CRUNCH under my feet. I looked down and saw that I had stepped on an empty plastic water bottle. I gasped in horror as I noticed several other empty water bottles along with empty food cans and a pile of blankets resembling a makeshift bed. SOMEONE WAS LIVING IN OUR ATTIC.
Before I could react, I heard fast stomping coming right toward me. I looked up and saw the scarecrow LUNGING for me. I fell onto my back with my eyes closed, and braced for the inevitable. I heard the sound of movement, the creaking of the ladder, and then all was silent. My eyes slowly opened. The scarecrow had vanished.
I crawled over to the attic entrance in the floor. The garage light below had now been switched off, so the way down was nothing but a black void. I grabbed the flashlight and pointed it down into the garage. I let out a gasp as I saw the scarecrow standing directly at the bottom of the ladder facing up at me. I wanted to scream, but nothing was coming out. It stood there perfectly still…almost too still for a person to be inside of it. Was this a person?? I waited and waited until…it CHARGED at the ladder, making its way toward me.
I frantically dove toward the pile of junk and grabbed a paddle to defend myself. When I turned back to the ladder, the scarecrow was gone. There was only the rickety ladder and the black void below me. I gave myself a few seconds to catch my breath. If I was in fact dealing with what I suspected I was dealing with, I had a right to be scared out of my mind. I also knew that I couldn’t let it get to Jason first. Whatever this thing was, I had to stop it.
After taking a deep breath, I made my way down the ladder. I held my flashlight in one hand and the paddle in the other. I made sure to alternate the flashlight between the steps below me and the rest of the garage. If the scarecrow was able to knock me off the ladder, I would be done for. When my feet finally touched the concrete floor, I wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but I knew the fight was still ahead of me….or maybe behind me. It was so dark, the scarecrow really could have been anywhere.
If I could just make it to the door to the house, I knew I could flip on the light, spot the scarecrow, and charge it with everything I had. I walked as fast as I could toward the door, whipping my flashlight in all directions. I only got halfway through the garage when I heard a loud squeaking noise to my left. I knew I wasn’t getting the chance to make it to the light switch. I slowly turned my flashlight to reveal the scarecrow slumped over and sitting on an old, red Radio Flyer wagon.
This was it. I knew that the element of surprise was all I had.
I charged at it with everything inside of me. I swung the paddle again and again with all of my strength. I wouldn’t let this thing ruin the life I had worked so hard to obtain. I didn’t stop swinging until the scarecrow was completely facedown on the ground. My rage turned to fear as I slowly sensed something was off. I realized the scarecrow’s torso had become completely separated from its legs during the beating. My heart nearly stopped when I finally realized that there was nothing inside of the scarecrow but hay.
I poked its body a few times before I noticed a trail of straw leading away from it. Wherever this trail led to, I knew it wasn’t going to be good. As I followed the trail of hay with my flashlight in one hand, I shakily held my paddle in the other, ready to strike again. The trail curled away from me until it ended at A PAIR OF BARE HUMAN FEET. I let out a quiet scream as I tilted my flashlight up as fast as I could and—WHAM! I could barely make out the image of a metal baseball bat whirling toward my head before everything went black.
I woke up only a few seconds later on the garage floor with my head throbbing in pain. My vision was fuzzy, but I could see there was a shape standing in front of me. It was backlit by the light of my flashlight, which had rolled away from me. It took a few seconds for my eyes to focus on the pair of bare, dirty feet in front of me, covered in hay. As I slowly tilted my head up, I could see those feet were attached to a pair of legs wearing tattered pants. Those legs were attached to a body with two arms— one holding a metal baseball bat. The body was attached to a head, and on that head, was a face. It was exactly the face I feared I would see. It was the face of a woman with the exact same face as me— the face of Melody Bennett.
“No,” I gasped. “How did—“
Melody stared at me with rage in her eyes. Pieces of hay covered her hair.
I turned my head to the side and looked at the scarecrow’s lifeless, empty body next to me. Then, I turned and looked at Melody’s hay-covered feet.
I have to admit it now. Wearing the scarecrow as a disguise was a brilliant strategy. She really took a page from my book of deception and used it against me.
“Your life was mine,” I began to cry with eyes full of fear. “I took it from you.”
“I’m taking it back,” she declared and raised her bat high.
I tried to let out a scream, but it was too late. She was already on top of me. Whaling on me with the speed and aggression of a wild animal. She struck my head with the baseball bat again and again. With each blow, I could feel my face start to change out of the face of Melody and back into its natural form. First, my mouth morphed away, followed by my nose, and then my ears. Just as she was about to swing what would have been the killing blow, I threw my hand up and grabbed the bat. Both of us were now struggling for control of the bat. That’s when I could see my true face reflected in Melody’s eyes. My two eyes were wide and bulging, completely filled with terror. My other features were completely gone. Smooth skin was now in their place. I looked into Melody’s eyes as we struggled with the bat. This was a woman that would stop at nothing to take back her life and be rid of me. I wasn’t going to win this fight. I had to escape.
My fear somehow gave me enough adrenaline to throw her off of me. I knew I only had a second before she would be on top of me again, so I booked it out of the house as fast as I could.
I didn’t stop running until I was across the street hidden in the shadows of a neighbor’s tree. I turned back to see Melody standing in front of her house blocking any hope I had of going back there to her beautiful, lovely life— a life, which she had taken for granted until now. She had the last five weeks to think about it as she was living in the attic. All that time, she watched helplessly behind the wall of her own bedroom as I, an imposter wearing her face, tried my best to pass as her. She had all that time to watch me, study my weaknesses, and devise a plan to take her life back.
From across the street, I watched as she took in one last big breath, smelling the fresh air and appreciating the world she had once taken for granted. She slowly exhaled before walking confidently back into her house and locking me out for good.
I can’t tell you how frustrated I am that this one didn’t work out for me. I thought for sure that I had killed Melody before I had replaced her. I thought for sure that I was going to get to live in her place forever. I won’t make the same mistake again. Next time, I will make sure the person I am replacing is actually dead.
I know most of you reading this will probably think I’m just a normal person making this story up to scare you. I was counting on that. You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you that there are many like me living among you.
To those of you that are like me, please let me know if you have had a similarly frustrating experience. Besides the very obvious mistake I already mentioned, what can I do differently next time? If you have any advice or know anything else I did wrong, please tell me.
I just want to find a nice life and be happy like everyone else. Why does it have to be this difficult?
2023.06.02 16:30 Arrowpestcontrol Free your home from pests now.
Pest control is very important for every residential and commercial place to keep your living space healthy. Through pest control, you can eliminate pests and organisms that are detrimental to human health, the environment, and economic activities. Pests like insects, rodents, birds, and other animals invade homes, agricultural fields, and commercial establishments, causing damage or transmitting diseases.
You may find house lizards as pest control at home, which are commonly small reptiles that are often found around your homes. Lizards are generally harmless and help control insect populations as well. But when you have house lizards at your place, it is not safe either.
Lizards get attracted to places with an abundance of insects and a primary food source. Maintaining good hygiene and cleanliness in your home can help reduce the availability of insects, making your house less attractive to lizards.
Getting pest control from Arrow Pest Control will help you get rid of all insects and lizards from your home. They also have an experienced team of professionals to provide you with quality work and a decent budget when compared to the market.
At Arrow Pest Control, we also provide services for cockroach bite treatment. You will find most of the cockroaches in every kitchen, which will make your home unhygienic, and they also carry lots of germs, which can lead to lots of disease.
Taking pest control services from Arrow Pest Control will help you get rid of cockroaches and insects from your home. Wood boring beetles can cause significant damage to wooden structures, furniture, and other wooden items. If you’re dealing with an infestation of wood-boring beetles.
Arrow Pest Control provides you with treatment for wood boring beetles that cause damage to furniture. Wood borer is also a common part of it whose food is wood. With the help of Arrow Pest Control, we can protect vulnerable wood from future attacks.
Arrow Pest Control has 25 years of experience and a team of professionals and skilled experts in all domestic spheres. We are here to provide pest management with a professional look, with multiple establishments offering different services for pest control.
We offer you a comprehensive range of professional pest management services and quality products and equipment through the company's wide network and dedicated workforce. Contact Arrow Pest Control now at https://arrowpestcontrol.in/.
submitted by Arrowpestcontrol to u/Arrowpestcontrol [link] [comments]
You may find house lizards as pest control at home, which are commonly small reptiles that are often found around your homes. Lizards are generally harmless and help control insect populations as well. But when you have house lizards at your place, it is not safe either.
Lizards get attracted to places with an abundance of insects and a primary food source. Maintaining good hygiene and cleanliness in your home can help reduce the availability of insects, making your house less attractive to lizards.
Getting pest control from Arrow Pest Control will help you get rid of all insects and lizards from your home. They also have an experienced team of professionals to provide you with quality work and a decent budget when compared to the market.
At Arrow Pest Control, we also provide services for cockroach bite treatment. You will find most of the cockroaches in every kitchen, which will make your home unhygienic, and they also carry lots of germs, which can lead to lots of disease.
Taking pest control services from Arrow Pest Control will help you get rid of cockroaches and insects from your home. Wood boring beetles can cause significant damage to wooden structures, furniture, and other wooden items. If you’re dealing with an infestation of wood-boring beetles.
Arrow Pest Control provides you with treatment for wood boring beetles that cause damage to furniture. Wood borer is also a common part of it whose food is wood. With the help of Arrow Pest Control, we can protect vulnerable wood from future attacks.
Arrow Pest Control has 25 years of experience and a team of professionals and skilled experts in all domestic spheres. We are here to provide pest management with a professional look, with multiple establishments offering different services for pest control.
We offer you a comprehensive range of professional pest management services and quality products and equipment through the company's wide network and dedicated workforce. Contact Arrow Pest Control now at https://arrowpestcontrol.in/.
2023.06.02 16:24 EventideGamesStudio How Do Solo Game Developers Make Video Games?
Hello Everyone!
How Do Solo Game Developers Make Video Games?
TL;DR
The process solo developers go through to build a game breaks down into 6 phases: Idea, Prototype, Iteration, Polish, Release, and Post-Release. Each phase impacts the game in a specific way.
Let’s jump right into it!
How do solo game developers make video games? Game development is a large topic to cover with many nuances. Today, we’ll walk through the process that solo game developers go through to develop the game itself.
Why is this important for solo game developers to understand this process?
Like the gaming industry, you have limited resources. Your time. Your money. Your effort. Your skills. Unlike the industry though, you are the driving force behind your game. You are responsible for everything. Marketing. Business. Art. Engineering. Building the game itself is a tiny part of the process. But, it is the core of the entire process.
How does the gaming industry build games? It breaks down into 6 phases:
Where does the game fit into each of these phases? Which ones are specific to the game themselves? These are vague and we can do better. Let’s break it down further.
Here’s how each of the 6 game industry phases relate to the game itself:
It can come from anywhere: video game, board game, personal background, an experience, your brain, random idea generator, AI, players, friends, a team, group of people, family, etc.
The game idea we are going to use throughout this blog is for a survival crafting game.
Let’s elaborate on the definition of what makes up the prototype.
Smallest
Smallest meaning you only want the core game elements present in the prototype.
How do you do this?
Start by disassembling the game idea into its core gameplay loop. A gameplay loop contains the main tasks that the player will be doing throughout the game.
In a survival crafting game, the core gameplay loop would look like this: gather resources, craft items and weapons, defeating enemies, and repeat.
The next step is to break down each task into systems that make the task possible. Then, you build those systems.
For example, to gather a wood resource, what systems do you need to get wood? Here’s a few you would need:
Quick & Playable
We want a fast way to play and test out these tasks and the game itself. The two ways to do this are with a physical prototype or with a digital prototype.
The physical prototype is building the pieces and components that make up the game. Then, using them to interact with rules (which are in your head) and the environment. This method is quick and tangible. Unfortunately, it doesn’t scale well. It doesn’t work for all games (like our survival crafting game). You’ll need to convert it into a digital format anyway for the rules, systems, etc.. It’s hard to share and get feedback. For these reasons, solo developers favor the digital prototype.
The quickest way to create a playable digital prototype is with a game engine.
What is a game engine?
It’s a software tool embedded with many features and functionality that you build your game on top of. A good way to think about it is with an analogy: a game engine to a game is what a foundation is to a house. They are convenient, powerful, and ready to use (little to no setup required).
If you are new to game development, use a game engine. Picking one is a whole topic in itself. Depends on:
Reflects the game’s core idea
Are you building systems related to the game idea and the game you want to make? If so, keep it. Else, drop it.
Using our survival crafting game example, a system to transition from day to night and back is nice. But, the game doesn’t depend on it.
This also includes the art. Use simple images for 2D and basic shapes, like spheres, capsules and cubes, for 3D. Remember we want small, quick and playable. This also avoids scope creep, a process of adding features until the game it’s too big and too complex to finish.
When you finish the prototype, it’s going to feel underwhelming to play.
Why is that? We have expectations.
First, we have expectations of ourselves. We know we can do better.
Second, we have expectations based on the games we’ve played. We’ve had great experiences and memories playing these amazing feeling and looking games. This prototype is not that.
This is 100% normal.
Remember the end goal of the prototype phase: decide whether to transform this prototype into a full game.
Deciding this is up to you and your goals. Is it fun? Does it offer a different and unique experience? Play around with it. Explore the space of the game idea. Don’t be afraid to experiment. This is when you should share it with people and get their thoughts with a playtest. As this blog relates to development of the game itself, we are going to skip it right now and move on to the iteration phase.
For our survival crafting game example, during this phase you might do the following:
Build a system or improve an aspect of the game. Test to make sure it works. Analyze if it improves the game and aligns with the game’s idea. If it does, great! Move to the next thing. If not, why not? Was it not fun? Hard to use? Decide whether to improve it, shelve it or drop it.
With your time, effort and dedicated focus, the game will grow. It will morph into the game you are expecting. The game may scratch the itch but is not satisfying. It’s missing that extra umph that makes it special and impactful. This is where polish comes in.
What do you do during this phase then? Integrate those extra details that make the game pop.
Using our survival crafting game example, this could include but is not limited to:
Once you feel it’s ready, the next step is to put it into the player’s hands. Releasing it.
For PC, a few locations are Steam, itch.io and Epic Games. For Mobile, there is the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. For consoles, there is Sony’s Playstation Store, Microsoft’s Xbox Store and Nintendo’s Store & eShop.
You can expand the game using updates or Downloadable Content (or DLC). This could be adding more to the game that you couldn’t fit or didn’t have time to put in before release.
Examples for our survival crafting game could be:
Examples could be:
It depends on you, your goals and your time. It’s up to you on what to do next.
submitted by EventideGamesStudio to devblogs [link] [comments]
How Do Solo Game Developers Make Video Games?
TL;DR
The process solo developers go through to build a game breaks down into 6 phases: Idea, Prototype, Iteration, Polish, Release, and Post-Release. Each phase impacts the game in a specific way.
- Idea: Have an idea for a game to create.
- Prototype: Build a small, quick, playable version of the game that reflects the game’s core idea.
- Iteration: Assemble and expand on the game’s core gameplay loop.
- Polish: Integrate extra details that make the game pop and stand out.
- Release: Share the game for others to play.
- Post-Release: Expand, Maintain, or leave the game as is.
Let’s jump right into it!
How do solo game developers make video games? Game development is a large topic to cover with many nuances. Today, we’ll walk through the process that solo game developers go through to develop the game itself.
Why is this important for solo game developers to understand this process?
Like the gaming industry, you have limited resources. Your time. Your money. Your effort. Your skills. Unlike the industry though, you are the driving force behind your game. You are responsible for everything. Marketing. Business. Art. Engineering. Building the game itself is a tiny part of the process. But, it is the core of the entire process.
How does the gaming industry build games? It breaks down into 6 phases:
Where does the game fit into each of these phases? Which ones are specific to the game themselves? These are vague and we can do better. Let’s break it down further.
Here’s how each of the 6 game industry phases relate to the game itself:
- Idea -> Idea
- Pre-Production -> Prototype
- Production -> Iteration
- Post-Production -> Polish
- Release -> Release
- Post-Release -> Post-Release
Idea
The idea is the thought or scenario for a game. This is the backbone and vision for the game. The more catchy, fun, and original it is, the better. The goal of this phase is to have an idea that you build a game off of.It can come from anywhere: video game, board game, personal background, an experience, your brain, random idea generator, AI, players, friends, a team, group of people, family, etc.
The game idea we are going to use throughout this blog is for a survival crafting game.
Prototype
A prototype is the smallest, quickest, playable version of the game that reflects the game’s core idea. The goal of this phase is two fold: Build the prototype and decide whether this prototype is worth growing into a full game.Let’s elaborate on the definition of what makes up the prototype.
Smallest
Smallest meaning you only want the core game elements present in the prototype.
How do you do this?
Start by disassembling the game idea into its core gameplay loop. A gameplay loop contains the main tasks that the player will be doing throughout the game.
In a survival crafting game, the core gameplay loop would look like this: gather resources, craft items and weapons, defeating enemies, and repeat.
The next step is to break down each task into systems that make the task possible. Then, you build those systems.
For example, to gather a wood resource, what systems do you need to get wood? Here’s a few you would need:
- To get wood from a tree, you need a tree to exist. Build a tree.
- How do you interact with the tree? You need to hit it. Need a system to contain a way to trigger actions with the keyboard and mouse. Then, you need to use that system to trigger actions like hit. You need a system on a tree to recognize the hits from you.
- How does the tree know when to turn into wood? When it’s destroyed, after 3 hits. Then, you’ll need the tree to have a health system.
- How do you get to the tree? You need to move to it. Need a player controller for the player to move around.
- Once you get the wood, how do you pick it up? Need a pick up system to pick up nearby resources.
- Once you pick up the wood, where is it stored? Need an inventory system to track the wood you’ve picked up.
Quick & Playable
We want a fast way to play and test out these tasks and the game itself. The two ways to do this are with a physical prototype or with a digital prototype.
The physical prototype is building the pieces and components that make up the game. Then, using them to interact with rules (which are in your head) and the environment. This method is quick and tangible. Unfortunately, it doesn’t scale well. It doesn’t work for all games (like our survival crafting game). You’ll need to convert it into a digital format anyway for the rules, systems, etc.. It’s hard to share and get feedback. For these reasons, solo developers favor the digital prototype.
The quickest way to create a playable digital prototype is with a game engine.
What is a game engine?
It’s a software tool embedded with many features and functionality that you build your game on top of. A good way to think about it is with an analogy: a game engine to a game is what a foundation is to a house. They are convenient, powerful, and ready to use (little to no setup required).
If you are new to game development, use a game engine. Picking one is a whole topic in itself. Depends on:
- What matters to you (e.g. support, tutorials, asset store, open source)
- What kind of game you’re building (e.g. 2D vs. 3D, pixel art vs realistic)
- Your skills and experience you have (e.g. programming).
Reflects the game’s core idea
Are you building systems related to the game idea and the game you want to make? If so, keep it. Else, drop it.
Using our survival crafting game example, a system to transition from day to night and back is nice. But, the game doesn’t depend on it.
This also includes the art. Use simple images for 2D and basic shapes, like spheres, capsules and cubes, for 3D. Remember we want small, quick and playable. This also avoids scope creep, a process of adding features until the game it’s too big and too complex to finish.
When you finish the prototype, it’s going to feel underwhelming to play.
Why is that? We have expectations.
First, we have expectations of ourselves. We know we can do better.
Second, we have expectations based on the games we’ve played. We’ve had great experiences and memories playing these amazing feeling and looking games. This prototype is not that.
This is 100% normal.
Remember the end goal of the prototype phase: decide whether to transform this prototype into a full game.
Deciding this is up to you and your goals. Is it fun? Does it offer a different and unique experience? Play around with it. Explore the space of the game idea. Don’t be afraid to experiment. This is when you should share it with people and get their thoughts with a playtest. As this blog relates to development of the game itself, we are going to skip it right now and move on to the iteration phase.
Iteration
This is when you start to build up the game. You will spend a majority of your time here assembling and expanding the core gameplay loop. You’ll work on elements of the game that not only add breath but also depth.For our survival crafting game example, during this phase you might do the following:
- Make more enemies (Zombies, Raiders, Mercenaries)
- Add more resources to gather (rock, metal)
- Make more weapons (swords, throwing knives, guns)
- Create more items (first aid kits, pickaxe, torch)
- Expand crafting to make interesting weapons and items (bottle + gas + cloth = molotov cocktail)
- Create puzzles to complete (Need key to unlock safe, solve riddle to find rare resources)
- Start a progression system or skill tree (Learn to craft more items, enhance melee abilities)
- Make more levels (dense green forest, snowy mountain, dry arid desert)
- Incorporate art assets (rocks, trees, buildings, first aid kits, swords, guns, zombies, birds, bears, etc.)
- Create a menu with settings (audio, video, gameplay)
- In-Game UI
- Day and Night Cycle
- Hunger, Stamina & Hydration system
- Interesting enemy AI (enemies maneuver in groups, find cover, attack with different weapons, reposition themselves)
- Narrative (why are you trying to survive?)
- Vehicles (Cars, motorcycles)
Build a system or improve an aspect of the game. Test to make sure it works. Analyze if it improves the game and aligns with the game’s idea. If it does, great! Move to the next thing. If not, why not? Was it not fun? Hard to use? Decide whether to improve it, shelve it or drop it.
With your time, effort and dedicated focus, the game will grow. It will morph into the game you are expecting. The game may scratch the itch but is not satisfying. It’s missing that extra umph that makes it special and impactful. This is where polish comes in.
Polish
Polish is the process of making the game look pretty, feel good to play, and elevate it to the next level. An important step before beginning the polish phase is that the game should be close to finished. Adding more content, systems and assets into the game puts you back into the iteration phase. Polish can be a distraction if done too early.What do you do during this phase then? Integrate those extra details that make the game pop.
Using our survival crafting game example, this could include but is not limited to:
- Ambient sounds (water flowing, birds chirping)
- Music (tense music when an animal chases you, cheerful music when walking through a meadow, creepy music when walking around in the dark)
- Sound effects (firing a gun, chopping a tree, walking on rocky terrain, “oof” and “uggs” when taking damage)
- Particles (gun’s muzzle flash, wood chunks fly off of trees when hit, smoke rising from a fire)
- Post-processing (red bloody outline on screen when getting hit, chromatic aberration when feeling woozy)
- Screen shake (gentle sway when running, violent shake when taking damage)
- Visual effects (grenade explosions, x-ray vision)
- Animations (squash & stretch, player running, UI Transitions)
Once you feel it’s ready, the next step is to put it into the player’s hands. Releasing it.
Release
Congrats, you’ve made it to the end! 🥳 Time to let the game shine and let your players play it. Releasing your game means to share it online for players to access it by put it on a marketplace.For PC, a few locations are Steam, itch.io and Epic Games. For Mobile, there is the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. For consoles, there is Sony’s Playstation Store, Microsoft’s Xbox Store and Nintendo’s Store & eShop.
Post-Release
You finished the game. Where do you go from here? There are three options: Expand it, Maintain it, or Leave it as-is.You can expand the game using updates or Downloadable Content (or DLC). This could be adding more to the game that you couldn’t fit or didn’t have time to put in before release.
Examples for our survival crafting game could be:
- Additional guns
- Cosmetic upgrades
- More game modes (like playing as an animal and hunting the player)
- A level editor
- Mod support
- New levels (like an abandoned metropolitan area.
Examples could be:
- Prevent visual glitches
- Stopping enemies running through walls
- Fix the save system
- Prevent item duplication
- Fix the inventory
It depends on you, your goals and your time. It’s up to you on what to do next.
Summary
The process solo developers go through to build a game breaks down into 6 phases: Idea, Prototype, Iteration, Polish, Release, and Post-Release. Each phase impacts the game in a specific way.- Idea: Have an idea for a game to create.
- Prototype: Build a small, quick, playable version of the game that reflects the game’s core idea.
- Iteration: Assemble and expand on the game’s core gameplay loop.
- Polish: Integrate extra details that make the game pop and stand out.
- Release: Share the game for others to play.
- Post-Release: Expand, Maintain, or leave the game as is.
2023.06.02 16:09 T0TALfps BATTLEFIELD 2042 UPDATE #5.0.0
 | Hey Everyone, submitted by T0TALfps to battlefield2042 [link] [comments] Season 5 for Battlefield™ 2042 deploys across all platforms on Wednesday, June 7 at 12:00 UTC, while Update 5.0.0 goes live at 08:00 UTC. https://preview.redd.it/7jxh480mpl3b1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6b59ab13929a2efaacda03dc444f53f33e54e9ab What’s new in Season 5? Here is an overview of the new content in the Season 5 Update, alongside highlights for changes and improvements:
Once Update 5.0.0 is available for play you will be able to jump into our latest map, Reclaimed via 24/7 playlists on both Conquest and Breakthrough. Once the Season is live later on that day, you’ll be able to unlock the Battle Pass contents where the all-new Weapons, Gadgets and cosmetics await you. //The Battlefield Team Stay Informed Follow us on the @BattlefieldComm Twitter account to stay informed on the roll out of our updates. You can also follow along with our tracking of Known Issues and further game changes we’re making via our Battlefield forums. ___________________________________________________What’s New?https://preview.redd.it/2t9u8zjspl3b1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6740ef676a6a5e1ef494ce2f7a6f7cdaf336a954 New Map: ReclaimedWar has descended upon an abandoned industrial facility, slowly being reclaimed by nature in the Czechian region. Fight in and amongst derailed trains, abandoned turbines and warehouses as you work towards secrets hidden within the mountains.View our Reclaimed Flythrough Here: https://youtu.be/isg409g3d24 The Crash Site, featuring the derailed train, is designed primarily as a vehicle combat area, with the Landing Zone an area of forest providing a circular area that will enable close-quarters combat and new sightlines opening up when trees are destroyed. https://preview.redd.it/ayr7gml0ql3b1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f0929adafa2e558166dd7f9888ab795f2b4c88a You may see the inspiration we’ve taken for the Abandoned Turbine and Military Warehouse. The indoor space of the Abandoned Turbine will enable crossfires due to its verticality and cover. While the Military Warehouse’s floors will no doubt attract snipers and a range of gunplay experiences due to the narrow layout. https://preview.redd.it/co8mioq2ql3b1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=19259d1daaf6bc24780e0247f64ecbd3c236a07e Hidden inside the nearby mountain lies The Bunker, forgotten and made up of a central room whose linear space will bring intense, short-range, close-quarters combat. In comparison to this, The Silos is another outdoor area set up for vehicle combat with its generous roads perfect for tank battles. Easy to spot due to its four towers rising up from the ground, The Silos also provides plenty of elevated areas for infantry to get a shot at vehicles dominating the ground. https://preview.redd.it/pabp7bj4ql3b1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e4e0ddc6d2f9ad2d39c806105eb60c064fc29c96 New Weapons: BFP.50, XCE Bar, GEW-46The weapons arsenal is expanding this Season with not only new weapons, but also further much community requested improvements to Vault Weapons.BFP.50 The BFP.50 is a powerful hand cannon, giving you another sidearm that dishes out heavy damage at close range. Anticipated to become a highly popular choice due to its size, sound and power, we just know you’re going to love this updated version for The World of 2042! https://preview.redd.it/9td7zpfiql3b1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=3956c1d9c838ab24b4e5c97b15a99da6030d0ab0 GEW-46 The GEW-46 assault rifle offers high stability with short-burst fire. Great for the medium-range environments that you’ll experience across the Reclaimed map. https://preview.redd.it/fvgtdvemql3b1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=889956787d599e124d4372750b1425c426c1d254 XCE Bar The XCE Bar is a high-precision bolt action rifle. It has expanded attachment capability to accompany its stopping power, allowing you to quickly swap through attachment options to engage the enemy at various distances. https://preview.redd.it/zz0683zoql3b1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=d10317789d3d63bb78297c16725426b915d29dcd New Gadgets: Spring Grenade, Anti-Tank Grenade, Mini Grenade & RPG-7V2https://preview.redd.it/ko7te42sql3b1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5749ffb7bb967c9c71281cc2098e4a42ce9e32cf Anti-tank Grenade A bundle of grenades that will detonate on impact against vehicles while dealing substantial damage. Mini Grenade An anti-personnel grenade that can be thrown a longer distance, and after a short delay explodes across a small area. Spring Grenade An old familiar projectile behavior as seen before in the form of the S-Mine or Bouncing Betty. It operates through a spring-activated thruster to reach head-height altitude before imminent explosive detonation. RPG-7V2 Veterans of the franchise will be familiar with this much loved gadget, and we’ve heard your requests to bring this boomstick through to All-Out Warfare from Battlefield Portal. With Season 5, you’ll now have access to use this fan favorite gadget however you see fit! https://preview.redd.it/gmodm37uql3b1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=aa892cfc461d7b2e997d476216b1116dbb1d5e8a New Battle PassSeason 5 brings with it two factions - one that’s cutting-edge, calculating and professional versus a more survivalist group who are savage, independent and ruthless.You’ll see this in the cosmetics available as you play through the Battle Pass, some of the best we feel we’ve ever brought to Battlefield! From Falck’s ‘Regenerator’ Skin at Tier 0, to Dozer’s ‘Overthrower’ Skin at Tier 100. https://preview.redd.it/ia6h6gayql3b1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eab85f779658e6f1495a4ee347f8cef2467cac6c There’s a whole load of items to unlock across 100 tiers of the Free and Premium Battle Pass including cosmetics, XP boosters, and the new premium Seasonal Booster! Additionally, those that were Year 1 pass holders will also receive an Epic Skin and XP booster during the first two weeks of Season 5, as a thanks for continuing to play.* Lastly, we’re continuing to work on the game beyond Season 5. We are committed to continuing the Battlefield 2042 journey and are working through the best ways to bring new content and experiences for you all. Expect to hear more from us on what’s planned later in Season 5. Quality of Life ImprovementsVault Weapon Attachments & Universal Cosmeticshttps://i.redd.it/1j3epbg5rl3b1.gif We will be adapting Vault Weapons for use with All-Out Warfare attachments during Season 5. To start, we’ll focus on Assault Rifles and Sniper Rifles with attachments for the M16A3, A-91, M416, MTAR-21, AEK-971 and the GOL Sniper Magnum. We’ll continue to provide attachment support for Vault Weapons in subsequent updates. https://i.redd.it/rz04rst7rl3b1.gif With Season 5, we will also be introducing Universal Cosmetics for all Vault Weapons, from Forest Multi-terrain (Unlocked at Rank 0) to Desert Technical (Unlocked at Rank 19) and more. You’ll now be able to decide not only the attachments and versatility of your Vault Weapons, but the look of them too. We’ll also be extending Universal Cosmetic support to Battlefield Portal! Tune in to our Inside Battlefield Podcast, or read our latest Dev Notes blog for full details. Reworking Vehicle LoadoutsWe’re restructuring vehicle loadouts to ensure their combat roles are clearly defined and to reduce prevalence of explosive weaponry. This will also add further readability on the battlefield to ensure you know what to expect from vehicles when you encounter them.The restructuring of loadouts primarily focuses on our ground vehicles, and we’ll both remove and add weapons to each available vehicle loadout. For example, explosives will no longer be an option for all vehicles, and overall you’ll find more choice through a larger selection of weapons available to you. Let’s use the LATV4 Recon as an example of what that looks like. The LATV4 Recon is one of the most used vehicles in the game, and having explosive weaponry readily available pushed it outside of its intended role as a transport. We’re removing all its explosives, such as the 30mm, 50mm and Grenade Launcher, and will replace them with anti-infantry weaponry instead. https://i.redd.it/j184rmacrl3b1.gif Tune in to our Inside Battlefield Podcast, or read our latest Dev Notes blog for full details. Specialist ImprovementsDozer and Irish will receive improvements to ensure they provide similar gameplay experiences as others within their class.Dozer For Dozer we will be enhancing his movement and animations when using the SOB-8 Ballistic Shield. You will now be able to strafe, rotate and pitch with your shield more quickly than previously, as well as being able to traverse ziplines with your shield equipped! Lastly, we’ll also be including two new XP Events to reward further acts of teamplay when playing with Dozer. https://i.redd.it/yazxm1wfrl3b1.gif https://i.redd.it/lr57zuklrl3b1.gif On the receiving end when firing at his shield, we will be increasing its spread and introducing more bullet trajectory upon hitting his shield. This will ensure that during these encounters you still have a fighting chance, and at the very least, won’t be as impacted by your own bullets as before. https://i.redd.it/2n9xpwaxrl3b1.gif Irish Irish will receive a balancing pass to the capabilities of his APS-36 Shootdown Sentinel. We’re doing that by having it cycle through new intercept and recharge states alongside an added short cooldown, versus its previous always-on state. https://i.redd.it/ohe3pnp3sl3b1.gif https://i.redd.it/5bjv1dy5sl3b1.gif We’ve also improved its audio, alongside adding new colors to help you identify which state the APS-36 is currently in. Tune in to our Inside Battlefield Podcast, or read our latest Dev Notes blog for full details. Squad Management ImprovementsAlongside the Season update we’re also adding improvements to the current Squad functionality. https://preview.redd.it/jnt24yt9sl3b1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0fb247cecc0cb470fb9894a30fc3b822fe7e678 Squads and Players The Squad Menu is now separated to give you a full overview of all squads on your team. In this menu you can make someone else the leader, and see how many players or friends are in a squad. It also shows class icons so you know how to best complement a squad before joining it. And to add some personal flavor, leaders can also show off their Player Card Tag as the squad icon. We also worked with the narrative team to come up with code names for each squad for that additional personal touch. One of our personal favorites is Gravedigger -- surely the Gravediggers know how to PTFO. We definitely don’t mess with that squad! Create and Join At any time you’ll be able to create or join a new squad directly via the Squad Menu. Previously you could only switch to a random squad, and only from the deploy screen. If you create a new squad then we’ve also added a short waiting period before other players can matchmake into your squad to ensure you can play together with your friends. Easy navigation The Squad Menu was created to make it easier and faster to manage and navigate through squads on your team. While before it was unclear when and how to change squads, you’ll now be able to do that at any time and with only a few clicks. We hope that with this new improved Squad Management experience you feel that you have the control over who you’d like to play with during a match. Once this is in your hands, please stay in touch and give us your feedback about how you feel about it! Later during Season 5 we’ll also add Squad Orders functionality which allows you to work together as a squad to receive increased XP rewards. In short, PTFO - and get rewarded! Tune in to our Inside Battlefield Podcast, or read our latest Dev Notes blog for full details. Other Areas of ImprovementDamage Unit FunctionalityAs part of Season 5, you will now be able to decide if you wish to show damage units at the bottom of your screen, at the side of your crosshair, or not at all. This new functionality can be defined to your liking via Options > Display > HUD General > Damage Numbers. Accuracy & Dispersion Changes Since Launch, our Level Design team has been reworking our maps to react to feedback on cover opportunities, and traversal improvements. These changes have also resulted in alterations to combat distances, and our weapons were tuned for these previous distances and combat scenarios in mind. Over time, this has resulted in feedback from you about several weapons being too accurate at long ranges without penalty. With Season 5, we aim to address this gap with balancing the accuracy and dispersion of several categories of weapons. Assault Rifles from All-Out Warfare and their Vault Weapon counterparts will be the first to receive this treatment. You will notice that the maximum dispersion has been increased by an average of 15-20%, and the weapons will now reach that maximum dispersion level when they reach half of the magazine while on full auto, and full spray mode! This should encourage everyone to do smaller bursts instead of prolonged fire towards a moving target, and in consideration with the map rework should increase survivability at longer ranges to encourage further up close and personal combat. We will be assessing your feedback to this change over time and continue to make necessary changes in future updates. New Unlock Requirements for Lis, Crawford, Zain and Blasco Lis, Crawford, Zain and Blasco will now be available as rewards as you gradually gain Player Levels through earning XP. Their previous unlock requirements are no longer available. Go get ‘em! Camera Sprint Movement We have made adjustments to the Camera Movement when sprinting in Battlefield 2042. This change is meant to add physicality to sprinting by introducing more immersive camera movement dependent upon the type of weapon and sprint type that you may be using at that time. You will notice a different amount when using an Assault Rifle compared to an RPG for example. We hope you enjoy this new sense of weight and body motion through the camera. For accessibility you may turn off the new motion in the accessibility options. On top of that, there are also some golden rules to camera motion in FPS games that ensure your understanding of where you are in space, aligned with what the camera tells you, and we have taken the opportunity to improve that further by focusing on rotations rather than translations in space. We look forward to hearing your thoughts! Aim Down Sight Field of View is now active for all players. Normally a scope will adjust your field of view. With this option set to “On”, the field of view will instead be taken from the field of view you chose in general, in your display settings. Some weapons will not be affected if they have specifically been designed to have a certain field of view that should not be changed. Why is this important? The amount of input it takes for your aim to move across screen space changes when field of view changes. Uniform Soldier Aiming calculates your aim rate to take the same amount of pixel distance on screen for a given physical movement of the mouse. In 4.2 we set Uniform Soldier Aiming to On by default (see our Dev Note for further detail). Setting ADS field of view to On, ensures the consistency achieved by Uniform Soldier Aiming remains the same across various scopes since your field of view will not change when zooming. Like Uniform Soldier Aiming, this will help to build muscle memory, which is essential to aiming in first person shooters. ____________________________________________________ ChangelogGeneral Fixes and Options
All Recon Specialists will now be able to use the Concussion Grenade. We have also made substantial changes to how the Concussion Grenade works in a couple of areas, based on distance to the player and in comparing the direction of the player upon grenade detonation. The effects of the Concussion Grenade are defined by Near, Far and Frontal scenarios. When it detonates within close range it will heighten the duration and intensity at the point of detonation. Beyond that near range, it will lead to a lessened duration and intensity. This effect is also decided and impacted by if the detonation takes place in front of the player.
Through telemetry and community sentiment, since moving the Prox Sensor out of the throwable slot and into the Gadget Selection field we have seen this gadget decline in relevance compared to the TUGs and other viable gadgets. We have made some adjustments to allow for the Prox Sensor to be an equally viable choice as part of your loadout.
Casper
Zain
Progression
M5C Bolte
LATV4 Recon
This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible. |
2023.06.02 15:55 DestroyerOfDoubts Debunking the Global Flood narrative atheists claim about the Quran:
Critic: The Quran Clearly parallels the Genesis flood Narrative which is scientifically, geologically and historically inaccurate.
Response: Noah's Ark is Local in the Quran
POINT 1: SENT TO HIS RESPECTIVE NATION/TRIBE.
In Islam, there has been a respective messenger that has been sent to their respective nation as mentioned in the following Quran verse:
(16:36) Surah Nahl
"We surely sent a messenger to every community, saying, “Worship Allah and shun false gods.” But some of them were guided by Allah, while others were destined to stray. So travel throughout the land and see the fate of the deniers!"
This strengthens the first point of a messenger being sent to their nation ; but there was only one exception.
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was sent to the whole of mankind and was the last and final prophet.
In Sahih Muslim 523a he states:
"I have been given superiority over the other prophets in six respects: I have been given words which are concise but comprehensive in meaning; I have been helped by terror (in the hearts of enemies): spoils have been made lawful to me: the earth has been made for me clean and a place of worship; I have been sent to all mankind and the line of prophets is closed with me."
And In Sahih Al-Bukhari 335:
"The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I have been given five things which were not given to any one else before me. -1. Allah made me victorious by awe, (by His frightening my enemies) for a distance of one month's journey. -2. The earth has been made for me (and for my followers) a place for praying and a thing to perform Tayammum, therefore anyone of my followers can pray wherever the time of a prayer is due. -3. The booty has been made Halal (lawful) for me yet it was not lawful for anyone else before me. -4. I have been given the right of intercession (on the Day of Resurrection). -5. Every Prophet used to be sent to his nation only but I have been sent to all mankind."
The Sixth point is the most important point.
It states that:
"I have been sent to all mankind and the line of prophets is closed with me." Implying, the Prophet (SAW) was sent to a global scale rather than being sent to a specific area like Prophet Nuh (PBUH) was sent to.
The Quran states how he was sent to his people by saying:
(23:23) Surah Al-Mu'minun
Indeed, We sent Noah to his people. He declared, “O my people! Worship Allah ˹alone˺. You have no god other than Him. Will you not then fear ˹Him˺?”
POINT 2: SUPPOSEDLY, "2 BY 2 OF EACH ANIMAL"
Many People ,who interpret Noah's (PBUH) Flood was global, often cite the following verses as evidence for their claim
The Quran says in the following verses:
(11:40) Surah Hud
"And when Our command came and the oven burst ˹with water˺,1 We said ˹to Noah˺, “Take into the Ark a pair from every species along with your family—except those against whom the decree ˹to drown˺ has already been passed—and those who believe.” But none believed with him except for a few."
(23:27) Surah Al-Mu'minun
So We inspired to him, "Construct the ship under Our observation, and Our inspiration, and when Our command comes and the oven overflows, put into the ship from each [creature] two mates and your family, except those for whom the decree [of destruction] has proceeded. And do not address Me concerning those who have wronged; indeed, they are to be drowned.
He took domestic animals with him (11:40). Many commentators of Quran adopted popular Judeo-Christian description and said that Prophet Noah (PBUH) took one pair of all animals. But, this is NOT the understanding of all commentators. The word "kullin" means ALL, but it also means EACH. The word used for "pair" is in dual form (“zawjayni”). Thus, the verse says: "Noah took EACH kind/sex within the pair" NOT "He took a pair of ALL animals" (This is the interpretation of Imam Razi stated in his Book, "The Great"). This is what you do during a local flood. You take a pair of animals available in your area, and you make sure that within the pair each sex is included, that means you don't take 2 males or 2 females, but you take 1 male and 1 female.
POINT 3: MAGNITUDE OF THE FLOOD
In the Quran it states:
(11:42) Surah Hud
"And ˹so˺ the Ark sailed with them through waves like mountains. Noah called out to his son, who stood apart, “O my dear son! Come aboard with us and do not be with the disbelievers.”
Then water came in big waves, like a mountain. Here, it doesn’t mean that the wave had the same size as a mountain, but it is only a way of expression. So verse 11:42 is saying that huge waves of water came.
Also in the Quran, it states how the water was absorbed by the earth.
(11:44) Surah Hud
"And it was said, "O earth, swallow your water, and O sky, withhold [your rain]." And the water subsided, and the matter was accomplished, and it [i.e., the ship] came to rest on the [mountain of] Jūdiyy. And it was said, "Away with the wrongdoing people."
Many people who believe the flood was global cite this ayah to prove how the flood was allegedly global. However, lets look at the lexicology of the "earth".
The word used for earth is, "yaardu'" which is used in the nominative sense and originally derives from the Arabic word "ard" meaning land or earth. It is used in the sense of earth, i.e the earth is swallow up the water. If it was the whole earth, how would it all be sucked in? By the rivers or the oceans. It would cause sea levels to dramatically increase beyond the sea levels during the time of Prophet Noah (as).
Here it makes sense to have it in the sense of land rather than Earth.
Check out Lane's Lexicon 40/409 on the definition of "ard"
Also the flood covered the "ard". In the Quran, the word "ard" often means ground or land, not always the full globe. One example of this is:
(30:2-3) Surah Rum
"The Romans have been defeated- in a nearby land (ard) yet following their defeat, they will triumph.
Definitely, they were not defeated in the whole world. You will find such usage of the word "ard" as local land or just the ground in many other verses (7:110, 7:137, 12:9, 12:80, 14:13, 20:57 and many others).
Noah’s son told that he would escape by climbing a mountain, but he was drowned (11:43). But the Quran doesn't give any such description that he was above the mountain and water covered him. It just says that water came between Noah (PBUH) and his son, and his son drowned. Thus, you can't assume the height of the water from this verse either.
Thus, the Quran doesn’t have any description of the flood being global though our minds deceive us as our minds are already preoccupied with descriptions from other sources and many commentators fall into this trap. Their descriptions are also full of extra Quranic unnecessary detail that they used in an attempt to paint the whole picture, that doesn't necessarily mean that necessarily Quran confirms those ideals.
In conclusion, we can say that the Quran doesn’t parallel the Biblical which states how the flood was global.
See what the Bible says Noah's Flood.
Genesis 6:5-8
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord Regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Genesis 7:22-23
Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
submitted by DestroyerOfDoubts to extomatoes [link] [comments]
Response: Noah's Ark is Local in the Quran
POINT 1: SENT TO HIS RESPECTIVE NATION/TRIBE.
In Islam, there has been a respective messenger that has been sent to their respective nation as mentioned in the following Quran verse:
(16:36) Surah Nahl
"We surely sent a messenger to every community, saying, “Worship Allah and shun false gods.” But some of them were guided by Allah, while others were destined to stray. So travel throughout the land and see the fate of the deniers!"
This strengthens the first point of a messenger being sent to their nation ; but there was only one exception.
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was sent to the whole of mankind and was the last and final prophet.
In Sahih Muslim 523a he states:
"I have been given superiority over the other prophets in six respects: I have been given words which are concise but comprehensive in meaning; I have been helped by terror (in the hearts of enemies): spoils have been made lawful to me: the earth has been made for me clean and a place of worship; I have been sent to all mankind and the line of prophets is closed with me."
And In Sahih Al-Bukhari 335:
"The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I have been given five things which were not given to any one else before me. -1. Allah made me victorious by awe, (by His frightening my enemies) for a distance of one month's journey. -2. The earth has been made for me (and for my followers) a place for praying and a thing to perform Tayammum, therefore anyone of my followers can pray wherever the time of a prayer is due. -3. The booty has been made Halal (lawful) for me yet it was not lawful for anyone else before me. -4. I have been given the right of intercession (on the Day of Resurrection). -5. Every Prophet used to be sent to his nation only but I have been sent to all mankind."
The Sixth point is the most important point.
It states that:
"I have been sent to all mankind and the line of prophets is closed with me." Implying, the Prophet (SAW) was sent to a global scale rather than being sent to a specific area like Prophet Nuh (PBUH) was sent to.
The Quran states how he was sent to his people by saying:
(23:23) Surah Al-Mu'minun
Indeed, We sent Noah to his people. He declared, “O my people! Worship Allah ˹alone˺. You have no god other than Him. Will you not then fear ˹Him˺?”
POINT 2: SUPPOSEDLY, "2 BY 2 OF EACH ANIMAL"
Many People ,who interpret Noah's (PBUH) Flood was global, often cite the following verses as evidence for their claim
The Quran says in the following verses:
(11:40) Surah Hud
"And when Our command came and the oven burst ˹with water˺,1 We said ˹to Noah˺, “Take into the Ark a pair from every species along with your family—except those against whom the decree ˹to drown˺ has already been passed—and those who believe.” But none believed with him except for a few."
(23:27) Surah Al-Mu'minun
So We inspired to him, "Construct the ship under Our observation, and Our inspiration, and when Our command comes and the oven overflows, put into the ship from each [creature] two mates and your family, except those for whom the decree [of destruction] has proceeded. And do not address Me concerning those who have wronged; indeed, they are to be drowned.
He took domestic animals with him (11:40). Many commentators of Quran adopted popular Judeo-Christian description and said that Prophet Noah (PBUH) took one pair of all animals. But, this is NOT the understanding of all commentators. The word "kullin" means ALL, but it also means EACH. The word used for "pair" is in dual form (“zawjayni”). Thus, the verse says: "Noah took EACH kind/sex within the pair" NOT "He took a pair of ALL animals" (This is the interpretation of Imam Razi stated in his Book, "The Great"). This is what you do during a local flood. You take a pair of animals available in your area, and you make sure that within the pair each sex is included, that means you don't take 2 males or 2 females, but you take 1 male and 1 female.
POINT 3: MAGNITUDE OF THE FLOOD
In the Quran it states:
(11:42) Surah Hud
"And ˹so˺ the Ark sailed with them through waves like mountains. Noah called out to his son, who stood apart, “O my dear son! Come aboard with us and do not be with the disbelievers.”
Then water came in big waves, like a mountain. Here, it doesn’t mean that the wave had the same size as a mountain, but it is only a way of expression. So verse 11:42 is saying that huge waves of water came.
Also in the Quran, it states how the water was absorbed by the earth.
(11:44) Surah Hud
"And it was said, "O earth, swallow your water, and O sky, withhold [your rain]." And the water subsided, and the matter was accomplished, and it [i.e., the ship] came to rest on the [mountain of] Jūdiyy. And it was said, "Away with the wrongdoing people."
Many people who believe the flood was global cite this ayah to prove how the flood was allegedly global. However, lets look at the lexicology of the "earth".
The word used for earth is, "yaardu'" which is used in the nominative sense and originally derives from the Arabic word "ard" meaning land or earth. It is used in the sense of earth, i.e the earth is swallow up the water. If it was the whole earth, how would it all be sucked in? By the rivers or the oceans. It would cause sea levels to dramatically increase beyond the sea levels during the time of Prophet Noah (as).
Here it makes sense to have it in the sense of land rather than Earth.
Check out Lane's Lexicon 40/409 on the definition of "ard"
Also the flood covered the "ard". In the Quran, the word "ard" often means ground or land, not always the full globe. One example of this is:
(30:2-3) Surah Rum
"The Romans have been defeated- in a nearby land (ard) yet following their defeat, they will triumph.
Definitely, they were not defeated in the whole world. You will find such usage of the word "ard" as local land or just the ground in many other verses (7:110, 7:137, 12:9, 12:80, 14:13, 20:57 and many others).
Noah’s son told that he would escape by climbing a mountain, but he was drowned (11:43). But the Quran doesn't give any such description that he was above the mountain and water covered him. It just says that water came between Noah (PBUH) and his son, and his son drowned. Thus, you can't assume the height of the water from this verse either.
Thus, the Quran doesn’t have any description of the flood being global though our minds deceive us as our minds are already preoccupied with descriptions from other sources and many commentators fall into this trap. Their descriptions are also full of extra Quranic unnecessary detail that they used in an attempt to paint the whole picture, that doesn't necessarily mean that necessarily Quran confirms those ideals.
In conclusion, we can say that the Quran doesn’t parallel the Biblical which states how the flood was global.
See what the Bible says Noah's Flood.
Genesis 6:5-8
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord Regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Genesis 7:22-23
Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
2023.06.02 15:49 DestroyerOfDoubts Re: Noah's flood was global in the Quran, therefore it is scientifically, geologically and historically inaccurate.
Critic: The Quran Clearly parallels the Genesis flood Narrative which is scientifically, geologically and historically inaccurate.
Response: Noah's Ark is Local in the Quran
POINT 1: SENT TO HIS RESPECTIVE NATION/TRIBE.
In Islam, there has been a respective messenger that has been sent to their respective nation as mentioned in the following Quran verse:
(16:36) Surah Nahl
"We surely sent a messenger to every community, saying, “Worship Allah and shun false gods.” But some of them were guided by Allah, while others were destined to stray. So travel throughout the land and see the fate of the deniers!"
This strengthens the first point of a messenger being sent to their nation ; but there was only one exception.
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was sent to the whole of mankind and was the last and final prophet.
In Sahih Muslim 523a he states:
"I have been given superiority over the other prophets in six respects: I have been given words which are concise but comprehensive in meaning; I have been helped by terror (in the hearts of enemies): spoils have been made lawful to me: the earth has been made for me clean and a place of worship; I have been sent to all mankind and the line of prophets is closed with me."
And In Sahih Al-Bukhari 335:
"The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I have been given five things which were not given to any one else before me. -1. Allah made me victorious by awe, (by His frightening my enemies) for a distance of one month's journey. -2. The earth has been made for me (and for my followers) a place for praying and a thing to perform Tayammum, therefore anyone of my followers can pray wherever the time of a prayer is due. -3. The booty has been made Halal (lawful) for me yet it was not lawful for anyone else before me. -4. I have been given the right of intercession (on the Day of Resurrection). -5. Every Prophet used to be sent to his nation only but I have been sent to all mankind."
The Sixth point is the most important point.
It states that:
"I have been sent to all mankind and the line of prophets is closed with me." Implying, the Prophet (SAW) was sent to a global scale rather than being sent to a specific area like Prophet Nuh (PBUH) was sent to.
The Quran states how he was sent to his people by saying:
(23:23) Surah Al-Mu'minun
Indeed, We sent Noah to his people. He declared, “O my people! Worship Allah ˹alone˺. You have no god other than Him. Will you not then fear ˹Him˺?”
POINT 2: SUPPOSEDLY, "2 BY 2 OF EACH ANIMAL"
Many People ,who interpret Noah's (PBUH) Flood was global, often cite the following verses as evidence for their claim
The Quran says in the following verses:
(11:40) Surah Hud
"And when Our command came and the oven burst ˹with water˺,1 We said ˹to Noah˺, “Take into the Ark a pair from every species along with your family—except those against whom the decree ˹to drown˺ has already been passed—and those who believe.” But none believed with him except for a few."
(23:27) Surah Al-Mu'minun
So We inspired to him, "Construct the ship under Our observation, and Our inspiration, and when Our command comes and the oven overflows, put into the ship from each [creature] two mates and your family, except those for whom the decree [of destruction] has proceeded. And do not address Me concerning those who have wronged; indeed, they are to be drowned.
He took domestic animals with him (11:40). Many commentators of Quran adopted popular Judeo-Christian description and said that Prophet Noah (PBUH) took one pair of all animals. But, this is NOT the understanding of all commentators. The word "kullin" means ALL, but it also means EACH. The word used for "pair" is in dual form (“zawjayni”). Thus, the verse says: "Noah took EACH kind/sex within the pair" NOT "He took a pair of ALL animals" (This is the interpretation of Imam Razi stated in his Book, "The Great"). This is what you do during a local flood. You take a pair of animals available in your area, and you make sure that within the pair each sex is included, that means you don't take 2 males or 2 females, but you take 1 male and 1 female.
POINT 3: MAGNITUDE OF THE FLOOD
In the Quran it states:
(11:42) Surah Hud
"And ˹so˺ the Ark sailed with them through waves like mountains. Noah called out to his son, who stood apart, “O my dear son! Come aboard with us and do not be with the disbelievers.”
Then water came in big waves, like a mountain. Here, it doesn’t mean that the wave had the same size as a mountain, but it is only a way of expression. So verse 11:42 is saying that huge waves of water came.
Also in the Quran, it states how the water was absorbed by the earth.
(11:44) Surah Hud
"And it was said, "O earth, swallow your water, and O sky, withhold [your rain]." And the water subsided, and the matter was accomplished, and it [i.e., the ship] came to rest on the [mountain of] Jūdiyy. And it was said, "Away with the wrongdoing people."
Many people who believe the flood was global cite this ayah to prove how the flood was allegedly global. However, lets look at the lexicology of the "earth".
The word used for earth is, "yaardu'" which is used in the nominative sense and originally derives from the Arabic word "ard" meaning land or earth. It is used in the sense of earth, i.e the earth is swallow up the water. If it was the whole earth, how would it all be sucked in? By the rivers or the oceans. It would cause sea levels to dramatically increase beyond the sea levels during the time of Prophet Noah (as).
Here it makes sense to have it in the sense of land rather than Earth.
Check out Lane's Lexicon 40/409 on the definition of "ard"
https://lanelexicondotcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/an\_arabic\_english\_lexicon\_part\_1.pdf
Also the flood covered the "ard". In the Quran, the word "ard" often means ground or land, not always the full globe. One example of this is:
(30:2-3) Surah Rum
"The Romans have been defeated- in a nearby land (ard) yet following their defeat, they will triumph.
Definitely, they were not defeated in the whole world. You will find such usage of the word "ard" as local land or just the ground in many other verses (7:110, 7:137, 12:9, 12:80, 14:13, 20:57 and many others).
Noah’s son told that he would escape by climbing a mountain, but he was drowned (11:43). But the Quran doesn't give any such description that he was above the mountain and water covered him. It just says that water came between Noah (PBUH) and his son, and his son drowned. Thus, you can't assume the height of the water from this verse either.
Thus, the Quran doesn’t have any description of the flood being global though our minds deceive us as our minds are already preoccupied with descriptions from other sources and many commentators fall into this trap. Their descriptions are also full of extra Quranic unnecessary detail that they used in an attempt to paint the whole picture, that doesn't necessarily mean that necessarily Quran confirms those ideals.
In conclusion, we can say that the Quran doesn’t parallel the Biblical which states how the flood was global.
See what the Bible says Noah's Flood.
Genesis 6:5-8
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord Regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Genesis 7:22-23
Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
submitted by DestroyerOfDoubts to IslamicRefutations [link] [comments]
Response: Noah's Ark is Local in the Quran
POINT 1: SENT TO HIS RESPECTIVE NATION/TRIBE.
In Islam, there has been a respective messenger that has been sent to their respective nation as mentioned in the following Quran verse:
(16:36) Surah Nahl
"We surely sent a messenger to every community, saying, “Worship Allah and shun false gods.” But some of them were guided by Allah, while others were destined to stray. So travel throughout the land and see the fate of the deniers!"
This strengthens the first point of a messenger being sent to their nation ; but there was only one exception.
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was sent to the whole of mankind and was the last and final prophet.
In Sahih Muslim 523a he states:
"I have been given superiority over the other prophets in six respects: I have been given words which are concise but comprehensive in meaning; I have been helped by terror (in the hearts of enemies): spoils have been made lawful to me: the earth has been made for me clean and a place of worship; I have been sent to all mankind and the line of prophets is closed with me."
And In Sahih Al-Bukhari 335:
"The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I have been given five things which were not given to any one else before me. -1. Allah made me victorious by awe, (by His frightening my enemies) for a distance of one month's journey. -2. The earth has been made for me (and for my followers) a place for praying and a thing to perform Tayammum, therefore anyone of my followers can pray wherever the time of a prayer is due. -3. The booty has been made Halal (lawful) for me yet it was not lawful for anyone else before me. -4. I have been given the right of intercession (on the Day of Resurrection). -5. Every Prophet used to be sent to his nation only but I have been sent to all mankind."
The Sixth point is the most important point.
It states that:
"I have been sent to all mankind and the line of prophets is closed with me." Implying, the Prophet (SAW) was sent to a global scale rather than being sent to a specific area like Prophet Nuh (PBUH) was sent to.
The Quran states how he was sent to his people by saying:
(23:23) Surah Al-Mu'minun
Indeed, We sent Noah to his people. He declared, “O my people! Worship Allah ˹alone˺. You have no god other than Him. Will you not then fear ˹Him˺?”
POINT 2: SUPPOSEDLY, "2 BY 2 OF EACH ANIMAL"
Many People ,who interpret Noah's (PBUH) Flood was global, often cite the following verses as evidence for their claim
The Quran says in the following verses:
(11:40) Surah Hud
"And when Our command came and the oven burst ˹with water˺,1 We said ˹to Noah˺, “Take into the Ark a pair from every species along with your family—except those against whom the decree ˹to drown˺ has already been passed—and those who believe.” But none believed with him except for a few."
(23:27) Surah Al-Mu'minun
So We inspired to him, "Construct the ship under Our observation, and Our inspiration, and when Our command comes and the oven overflows, put into the ship from each [creature] two mates and your family, except those for whom the decree [of destruction] has proceeded. And do not address Me concerning those who have wronged; indeed, they are to be drowned.
He took domestic animals with him (11:40). Many commentators of Quran adopted popular Judeo-Christian description and said that Prophet Noah (PBUH) took one pair of all animals. But, this is NOT the understanding of all commentators. The word "kullin" means ALL, but it also means EACH. The word used for "pair" is in dual form (“zawjayni”). Thus, the verse says: "Noah took EACH kind/sex within the pair" NOT "He took a pair of ALL animals" (This is the interpretation of Imam Razi stated in his Book, "The Great"). This is what you do during a local flood. You take a pair of animals available in your area, and you make sure that within the pair each sex is included, that means you don't take 2 males or 2 females, but you take 1 male and 1 female.
POINT 3: MAGNITUDE OF THE FLOOD
In the Quran it states:
(11:42) Surah Hud
"And ˹so˺ the Ark sailed with them through waves like mountains. Noah called out to his son, who stood apart, “O my dear son! Come aboard with us and do not be with the disbelievers.”
Then water came in big waves, like a mountain. Here, it doesn’t mean that the wave had the same size as a mountain, but it is only a way of expression. So verse 11:42 is saying that huge waves of water came.
Also in the Quran, it states how the water was absorbed by the earth.
(11:44) Surah Hud
"And it was said, "O earth, swallow your water, and O sky, withhold [your rain]." And the water subsided, and the matter was accomplished, and it [i.e., the ship] came to rest on the [mountain of] Jūdiyy. And it was said, "Away with the wrongdoing people."
Many people who believe the flood was global cite this ayah to prove how the flood was allegedly global. However, lets look at the lexicology of the "earth".
The word used for earth is, "yaardu'" which is used in the nominative sense and originally derives from the Arabic word "ard" meaning land or earth. It is used in the sense of earth, i.e the earth is swallow up the water. If it was the whole earth, how would it all be sucked in? By the rivers or the oceans. It would cause sea levels to dramatically increase beyond the sea levels during the time of Prophet Noah (as).
Here it makes sense to have it in the sense of land rather than Earth.
Check out Lane's Lexicon 40/409 on the definition of "ard"
https://lanelexicondotcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/an\_arabic\_english\_lexicon\_part\_1.pdf
Also the flood covered the "ard". In the Quran, the word "ard" often means ground or land, not always the full globe. One example of this is:
(30:2-3) Surah Rum
"The Romans have been defeated- in a nearby land (ard) yet following their defeat, they will triumph.
Definitely, they were not defeated in the whole world. You will find such usage of the word "ard" as local land or just the ground in many other verses (7:110, 7:137, 12:9, 12:80, 14:13, 20:57 and many others).
Noah’s son told that he would escape by climbing a mountain, but he was drowned (11:43). But the Quran doesn't give any such description that he was above the mountain and water covered him. It just says that water came between Noah (PBUH) and his son, and his son drowned. Thus, you can't assume the height of the water from this verse either.
Thus, the Quran doesn’t have any description of the flood being global though our minds deceive us as our minds are already preoccupied with descriptions from other sources and many commentators fall into this trap. Their descriptions are also full of extra Quranic unnecessary detail that they used in an attempt to paint the whole picture, that doesn't necessarily mean that necessarily Quran confirms those ideals.
In conclusion, we can say that the Quran doesn’t parallel the Biblical which states how the flood was global.
See what the Bible says Noah's Flood.
Genesis 6:5-8
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord Regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Genesis 7:22-23
Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
2023.06.02 15:46 Dismal-Jellyfish Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) seeks public comment on the Risk Management Program Requirements for Swap Dealers and Futures Commission Merchants. Regulation 23.600 does not explicitly require an SD’s RMP to include written policies and procedures to safeguard counterparty collateral.
 | https://www.cftc.gov/media/8671/federalregister06012023/download submitted by Dismal-Jellyfish to Superstonk [link] [comments] From a Press Release:The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking public comment on potential amendments to the Risk Management Program (RMP) requirements in CFTC Regulations 23.600 and 1.11 (collectively, RMP Regulations) applicable to swap dealers and futures commission merchants. Background:Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (DoddFrank Act) amended the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA)2 to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework to reduce risk, increase transparency, and promote market integrity within the financial system by, among other things, providing for the registration and comprehensive regulation of swap dealers (SDs) and major swap participants (MSPs), 4 and enhancing the rulemaking and enforcement authorities of the CFTC with respect to all registered entities and intermediaries subject to its oversight, including, among others, futures commission merchants (FCMs). Added by the Dodd-Frank Act, CEA section 4s(j) outlines the duties with which SDs must comply. Specifically, CEA section 4s(j)(2) requires SDs to “establish robust and professional risk management systems adequate for managing the day-to-day business of the [registrant].” CEA section 4s(j)(7) directs the Commission to prescribe rules governing the duties of SDs, including the duty to establish risk management procedures. In April 2012, the Commission adopted Regulation 23.600, which established requirements for the development, approval, implementation, and operation of SD risk management programs (RMPs). Wut mean? (I think):The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was introduced to provide comprehensive regulation of the financial system. It required the creation of robust risk management systems by Swap Dealers (SDs) and Major Swap Participants (MSPs). In 2012, Regulation 23.600 was established, outlining the risk management program (RMP) requirements for these entities. After several insolvencies involving misuse of customer funds in 2011-2012, additional risk management rules were established in 2013 for Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs).Despite these measures, there were ongoing queries from SDs about compliance, particularly regarding governance, suggesting further clarifications necessary. There were also significant variances observed in the risk exposure reports (RERs) of SDs and FCMs, which affected the ability of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to understand how risks were being monitored and managed. There are also concerns that the current reporting schedule and lack of a specific format result in inconsistent reports with outdated information. Many SDs reported that these RERs were only created for compliance purposes, not for internal risk management, suggesting a review of this requirement is needed. Lastly, there is recognition that risk management programs might need to be updated to reflect technological innovations. Therefore, the Commission is seeking industry and public comments on these issues related to the existing RMP regulations. Periodic Risk Exposure Reporting by Swap Dealers and Futures Commission Merchants:In accordance with Regulation 23.600(c)(2), an SD must provide to its senior management and governing body a quarterly RER containing specific information on the SD’s risk exposures and the current state of its RMP; the RER shall also be provided to the SD’s senior management and governing body immediately upon the detection of any material change in the risk exposure of the SD.48 SDs are required to furnish copies of all RERs to the Commission within five (5) business days of providing such RERs on a quarterly basis to their senior management.49 Likewise, Regulation 1.11(e)(2) has an identical RER requirement for FCMs.50 This Notice seeks comment generally on how the current RER regime for SDs and FCMs could be improved, as well as specific responses to the questions listed below:
Potential Risks Related to the Segregation of Customer Funds and Safeguarding Counterparty Collateral:The segregation of customer funds and safeguarding of counterparty collateral are cornerstones of the Commission’s FCM and SD regulatory regimes, respectively. Currently, the existing RMP Regulations address the management of segregation risk and the safeguarding of counterparty collateral in different ways, given the differing business models between FCMs and SDs. Regulation 1.11(e)(3)(i) requires an FCM’s RMP to include written policies and procedures “reasonably designed to ensure segregated funds are separately accounted for and segregated or secured as belonging to customers. This requirement further lists several subjects that must, “at a minimum,” be addressed by an FCM’s RMP policies and procedures, including the evaluation and monitoring process for approved depositories, the treatment of related residual interest, transfers, and withdrawals, and permissible investments.The Commission seeks comment generally on the risks attendant to the segregation of customer funds and the safeguarding of counterparty collateral. In addition, commenters should seek to address the following questions:
Potential Risks Posed by Affiliates, Lines of Business, and All Other Trading Activity:In light of increasing market volatility and recent market disruptions, as well as the growth of digital asset markets, the Commission generally seeks comment on the risks posed by SDs’ and FCMs’ affiliates and related trading activity. Generally, the RMP Regulations require SD and FCM RMPs to take into account risks posed by affiliates and related trading activity. Specifically, Regulation 23.600(c)(1)(ii) requires an SD’s RMP to take into account “risks posed by affiliates” with the RMP integrated into risk management functions at the “consolidated entity level.” Similarly, Regulation 1.11(e)(1)(ii) requires an FCM’s RMP to take into account risks “posed by affiliates, all lines of business of the [FCM], and all other trading activity engaged in by the [FCM].”The Commission seeks comment generally on the requirements related to risks posed by affiliates and related trading activity found within the RMP Regulations for SDs and FCMs, including non-bank affiliated SDs or non-bank affiliated FCMs. In addition, commenters should seek to address the following questions:
How to comment:You may submit comments, identified by RIN 3038-AE59, by any of the following methods:
TLDRS:
|
2023.06.02 15:32 FoleyisGood My dog was attacked at Pierce Field this morning
This guy had his dog off leash and it made a straight shot across the park and attacked my dog.
https://imgur.com/a/mR2s2Nu
police and animal control were involved but be on the look out for this irresponsible fuck
as an FYI there are no off leash dog areas in east providence except for the dog park. all parks and greenspaces dogs are required to be leashed. it doesn't matter how well behaved you think your dog is or how social you think they are - stop being an entitled disrespectful prick and leash your dogs.
submitted by FoleyisGood to eastprovidence [link] [comments]
https://imgur.com/a/mR2s2Nu
police and animal control were involved but be on the look out for this irresponsible fuck
as an FYI there are no off leash dog areas in east providence except for the dog park. all parks and greenspaces dogs are required to be leashed. it doesn't matter how well behaved you think your dog is or how social you think they are - stop being an entitled disrespectful prick and leash your dogs.
2023.06.02 14:25 Ebizfiling01 Unlocking the Potential: Exploring the Features and Functions of Wholly Owned Indian Subsidiaries
 | https://preview.redd.it/3j5u6s3ill3b1.png?width=2048&format=png&auto=webp&s=59a965ef858131e1351b9d81ec0d0ff82a37db0a submitted by Ebizfiling01 to u/Ebizfiling01 [link] [comments] Functioning of Wholly Owned Indian SubsidiaryA wholly-owned subsidiary is a corporation with all its shares held by another corporation, known as the parent company. This type of subsidiary can be established through a takeover or split-off from the parent company. Typically, the parent company holds ownership ranging from 51% to 99%. However, if the parent company desires lower costs and risks, it may create a subsidiary, associate, or joint venture where it owns a minority stake. This approach is also applicable when the parent company cannot obtain complete or majority ownership. In this article, we will explore the features and functions of an subsidiary company in INDIA.How does Wholly owned Indian Subsidiary work?In a wholly-owned Indian subsidiary, the parent company owns all the shares, eliminating the presence of minority shareholders. The subsidiary operates with the approval of the parent company and may or may not have direct input into all activities and management decisions. This arrangement could result in an unconsolidated subsidiary.A wholly-owned subsidiary is typically established in a country different from that of the parent company. The subsidiary often has its own executive structure, products, and customers. Having a wholly-owned subsidiary enables the parent company to sustain operations in different geographic areas and markets. These factors help the parent company adapt to market changes, geopolitical factors, and trade practices. Basic Features of a Wholly Owned Indian SubsidiaryA wholly-owned subsidiary can be formed as a private limited company, share-limited company, guarantee-limited company, or a liability company. The Indian Companies Act of 2013 offers numerous exemptions for private limited companies, making it recommended to establish a private company with a wholly-owned subsidiary.Key Features of Wholly Owned Indian Subsidiary
Functioning of a Wholly Owned SubsidiaryWhile the parent corporation exercises analytical and tactical control over its wholly-owned subsidiaries, the subsidiary's operational autonomy is generally lower than that of the parent company, especially if the subsidiary has a long operational history abroad. When a company uses its own employees to run the subsidiary, it becomes easier to develop standard operating procedures compared to taking over an existing company and running it.The parent company can utilize its access to data and protection guidelines to safeguard the acquired subsidiary's intellectual property. Additionally, implementing similar financial structures and sharing administrative and marketing programs can lead to cost savings for all businesses. The parent corporation guides the invested assets of the wholly-owned subsidiary. However, establishing a wholly-owned subsidiary may result in overpayment for assets, particularly if other companies are competing for the same business. Building relationships with local sellers and buyers can also cause delays in the company's operations. Cultural differences can pose challenges when recruiting workers from an outside affiliate. The parent company assumes all the risks associated with owning a subsidiary, which may increase if the local legislation significantly differs from the laws in the parent company's country. Examples of wholly-owned subsidiary systems include Volkswagen AG, which is wholly owned by the Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., and its leading brands: Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini (wholly owned by Audi AG), and Volkswagen. Marvel Entertainment and EDL Holding Company LLC are wholly owned by the Walt Disney Company subsidiaries. Starbucks India, a coffee giant, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Private Limited. Minimum Criteria to Start a Wholly Owned SubsidiaryTo start a wholly owned subsidiary in India, the following criteria must be met:
ConclusionThe formation of a wholly-owned foreign company subsidiary in India requires approval for 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India is no longer necessary. Nowadays, FDI is permitted under the Automatic Route without the government's prior consent and RBI registration. |
2023.06.02 12:36 NimbleThor 5 Quick tl;dr iOS Game Reviews / Recommendations (Episode 178)
Happy first Friday of June, my friends! :) And welcome back to this weekly mobile gaming recommendation thread based on some of the most interesting games I played and that were covered on MiniReview this week. I hope you'll enjoy the read.
Support these posts (and YouTube content + development of MiniReview) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NimbleThor <3
This episode includes an amazing adventure flying game, a cute polished puzzle game, and old school action arcade game, a fun Brotato alternative, and an indie tower defense real-time strategy game.
New to these posts? Check out the first one from 178 weeks ago here.
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by NimbleThor:
Laya’s Horizon is a fantastic 3D adventure flying game where we explore a large island, participate in mini-games, and complete quests – all by gliding from mountaintops using the cape on our back.
Starting at the top of a mountain, we tap to launch ourselves into a glide across a completely open game world. Scattered across the island are NPCs with quests or mini-games, airstreams that provide an uplift so we can glide further, and lots of hidden secrets.
The mini-games range from flying under bridges or close to threes without hitting any obstacles, to racing against NPC gliders. Bust most importantly, gliding around the island just feels amazing – especially when going fast. Although the core gameplay is different, it has a bit of that same feel as flying in “Sky: Children of the Light”.
Despite the many challenging quests, however, the gameplay feels more like a relaxing free-roam experience than something you’re meant to complete as fast as possible.
A few hours into the game, we also discover new mountain tops to launch from, and better capes with different advantages, which allows us to reach new areas of the map.
Laya’s Horizon is made by the developers of Alto’s Adventure, which shows in the game’s atmospheric art style and overall feel. Combined with the music, it creates a highly immersive experience.
The controls may seem daunting at first, but I quickly got the hang of them, and after an hour or two, they start to feel natural.
The biggest downside is that the game requires a beefy phone to run properly. Hopefully, it also expands with more islands down the road.
Laya’s Horizon is a premium game that can only be played with a Netflix subscription. If you already have Netflix, it’s a must-try for anyone fond of casual adventure games.
NOTE: if you don't have Netflix, it's not worth buying the subscription if you only plan on playing Laya’s Horizon.
App Store: Here
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Some
tl;dr review by AlexSem:
Where's Samantha? is a beautiful and clever physics-based puzzle platformer that tells a romantic story of two living pieces of fabric who brave increasingly dangerous challenges in order to eventually reunite.
The game takes place in a surreal and colorful textile world full of gaps, springs, levers, buttons, gates, moving platforms, and other interactive objects. There are also plenty of dangerous traps that we need to overcome, including spike pits, rotating saw blades, shooting cannons, and even laser turrets.
Starting as an easy "walk in the park", the game gradually turns into a deadly obstacle course that requires some serious platforming skills to survive.
Throughout our journey, we can make use of an unusual gameplay mechanic that allows our character to split into two, or even three separate pieces of fabric that we can then operate independently. This enables us to solve complex puzzles that involve interacting with multiple remote objects simultaneously.
What’s more, our weight and physics change when splitting up, which means we can apply a large force to doors and platforms when playing as a single character, or split up so we can jump higher to get over obstacles.
What I like the most about the game is its amazing visual style, where every item we see and interact with is hand-drawn to resemble a real-world physical object. Add to this the game’s atmospheric music, crisp sound effects, responsive controls, fluid animations, and an absolutely amazing voice-over narration by an award-winning actor – and you have yourself one of the most aesthetically pleasing experiences you can hope for from a mobile game.
Where's Samantha? shows occasional ads, with a $0.99 to disable them and a $3.99 iAP to unlock the full game.
It's rare to find such a high-quality game on mobile, so if you enjoy puzzles and platformers, I can easily recommend checking it out.
App Store: Here
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by AlexSem:
Retro City Rampage DX is an old-school racing and shooting arcade game that draws heavy inspiration from the famous Grand Theft Auto series. It features lots of pixelated violence, energetic 8-bit soundtracks, hectic action, and tons of references to movies and video games of the past.
Playing as a henchman for a powerful crime lord who is robbing yet another bank, we quickly find ourselves dragged into a dangerous cascade of events that only get weirder when time-traveling and other ridiculous sci-fi elements get introduced.
I personally stopped paying attention to the story after a while, as it mostly served as a background for all the crazy events taking place, and as an excuse to reference endless iconic characters from popular franchises.
Just like in GTA, there’s a lot happening very quickly - shooting, racing, fighting, stealing vehicles, robbing banks, chasing the police, participating in minigames, and much much more. The game doesn’t restrict itself to a specific genre, instead just mashing together various elements from all the retro hits of the past. And it somehow actually works.
If we get bored by the fast-paced story mode, we can freely roam the city to do whatever we want, or hone our skills in various arcade challenges.
Unfortunately, this mobile port of the game isn’t perfect. Everything looks too tiny on small screens, and the touch controls aren’t comfortable when we need to react ultra-quickly. So it’s highly recommended to use a Bluetooth controller.
Retro City Rampage DX is a premium game that costs $4.99 on iOS. It’s a great tribute to the classic games of the past, and it succeeds at inducing a deep level of nostalgia while providing the exact type of highly entertaining gameplay experience seasoned gamers grew up with.
App Store: Here
Orientation: Portrait + some Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by NimbleThor:
Pickle Pete is a reverse bullet-hell roguelike that combines the over-the-top chaotic gameplay of Brotato with the permanent character progression of Archero for a surprisingly fun gameplay experience.
The objective is to survive 10 time-limited waves of enemy attacks, return home, and then continue to the next chapter. During each wave, we control our pickle character with a large joystick while it auto-shoots at any enemies in range.
After every wave, we get to first pick one of three random stat-boosts if we leveled up during the wave, and then spend the pickles we’ve collected on buying weapons and items. Just like in Brotato, we can equip six weapons at a time, which quickly makes the gameplay chaotically fun.
If we get two of the same item, we can even merge them to increase the rarity, which makes it a lot stronger. I found the weapons to be decently diverse, and it’s entertaining to experiment with everything from snipers to magic wands, anvils, turrets, and drones.
After defeating the boss in wave 10, we receive gold and permanent items. In-between runs, we equip and upgrade these items to grow stronger, and buy stat boosts. All this permanent progression makes the game feel slightly more rewarding than Brotato.
Playing normal runs requires energy that we eventually run out of. Thankfully, the game also features a daily mission game mode, a competitive endless mode, and several challenge modes that are almost entire games on their own. Most of these don’t require any energy.
The art and animations are silly but neat, and I found it particularly nice that we can see where an enemy is about to spawn.
Pickle Pete monetizes via incentivized ads to revive, receive extra gold, or refresh the shop. There are also iAPs for items and a paid battle pass, but none of this is needed to progress at a decent pace.
App Store: Here
Orientation: Portrait
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by AlexSem:
Nanuleu is an area control real-time strategy game where we expand our territory, accumulate resources, and place defenses to repel the enemy onslaught until we can launch an effective counterattack.
We play on a randomly generated square grid where certain tiles contain valuable resource deposits such as minerals and water. Starting at the center, we spend resources to build various nodes adjacent to the tiles we already occupy.
Cheap root nodes serve as roads that expand our network, while more expensive extractors can only be placed on deposit tiles to increase resource production. Our objective is to reach several distant tiles on the map and build special nodes there.
As time goes by, enemy camps start to appear in the corners of the map. These spawn troops that attack our nodes, and to oppose them, we must place defense towers that fire projectiles. Once we occupy all the special tiles, we get access to our own troop factories so we can produce units that destroy the enemy spawns. Getting rid of all the enemies is the ultimate goal of the game.
The strategy revolves around carefully balancing our expansion and resource production while racing against the ever-growing enemy forces. If we fail to occupy the deposits, we may not be able to produce enough towers in time, but a larger territory is also harder to control and requires more resources for towers. I found this balancing to be quite challenging and unforgiving, which highly contrasts the game's seemingly casual art style.
Nanuleu is a $2.99 premium game without ads or iAPs. Despite being rather simple and repetitive, it still provides an entertaining and unique experience for fans of real-time strategy and tower defense games.
App Store: Here
Special thanks to the Patreon Producers "marquisdan", "Lost Vault", "Farm RPG", and "Mohaimen" who help make these posts possible through their Patreon support <3
Google Sheet of all games I've played so far (searchable and filter-able): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bf0OxtVxrboZqyEh01AxJYUUqHm8tEfh-Lx-SugcrzY/edit?usp=sharing
TL;DR Video Summary (with gameplay) of last week's games: https://youtu.be/ED1TnAyhKko
Episode 161 Episode 162 Episode 163 Episode 164 Episode 165 Episode 166 Episode 167 Episode 168 Episode 169 Episode 170 Episode 171 Episode 172 Episode 173 Episode 174 Episode 175 Episode 176 Episode 177
submitted by NimbleThor to iosgaming [link] [comments]
Support these posts (and YouTube content + development of MiniReview) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NimbleThor <3
This episode includes an amazing adventure flying game, a cute polished puzzle game, and old school action arcade game, a fun Brotato alternative, and an indie tower defense real-time strategy game.
New to these posts? Check out the first one from 178 weeks ago here.
Let's get to the games:
Laya's Horizon [Game Size: 546 MB] (Netflix-only)
Genre: Adventure / Casual / Flying - OfflineOrientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by NimbleThor:
Laya’s Horizon is a fantastic 3D adventure flying game where we explore a large island, participate in mini-games, and complete quests – all by gliding from mountaintops using the cape on our back.
Starting at the top of a mountain, we tap to launch ourselves into a glide across a completely open game world. Scattered across the island are NPCs with quests or mini-games, airstreams that provide an uplift so we can glide further, and lots of hidden secrets.
The mini-games range from flying under bridges or close to threes without hitting any obstacles, to racing against NPC gliders. Bust most importantly, gliding around the island just feels amazing – especially when going fast. Although the core gameplay is different, it has a bit of that same feel as flying in “Sky: Children of the Light”.
Despite the many challenging quests, however, the gameplay feels more like a relaxing free-roam experience than something you’re meant to complete as fast as possible.
A few hours into the game, we also discover new mountain tops to launch from, and better capes with different advantages, which allows us to reach new areas of the map.
Laya’s Horizon is made by the developers of Alto’s Adventure, which shows in the game’s atmospheric art style and overall feel. Combined with the music, it creates a highly immersive experience.
The controls may seem daunting at first, but I quickly got the hang of them, and after an hour or two, they start to feel natural.
The biggest downside is that the game requires a beefy phone to run properly. Hopefully, it also expands with more islands down the road.
Laya’s Horizon is a premium game that can only be played with a Netflix subscription. If you already have Netflix, it’s a must-try for anyone fond of casual adventure games.
NOTE: if you don't have Netflix, it's not worth buying the subscription if you only plan on playing Laya’s Horizon.
App Store: Here
Where's Samantha? [Total Game Size: 310 MB] (Free)
Genre: Platform / Puzzle - OfflineOrientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Some
tl;dr review by AlexSem:
Where's Samantha? is a beautiful and clever physics-based puzzle platformer that tells a romantic story of two living pieces of fabric who brave increasingly dangerous challenges in order to eventually reunite.
The game takes place in a surreal and colorful textile world full of gaps, springs, levers, buttons, gates, moving platforms, and other interactive objects. There are also plenty of dangerous traps that we need to overcome, including spike pits, rotating saw blades, shooting cannons, and even laser turrets.
Starting as an easy "walk in the park", the game gradually turns into a deadly obstacle course that requires some serious platforming skills to survive.
Throughout our journey, we can make use of an unusual gameplay mechanic that allows our character to split into two, or even three separate pieces of fabric that we can then operate independently. This enables us to solve complex puzzles that involve interacting with multiple remote objects simultaneously.
What’s more, our weight and physics change when splitting up, which means we can apply a large force to doors and platforms when playing as a single character, or split up so we can jump higher to get over obstacles.
What I like the most about the game is its amazing visual style, where every item we see and interact with is hand-drawn to resemble a real-world physical object. Add to this the game’s atmospheric music, crisp sound effects, responsive controls, fluid animations, and an absolutely amazing voice-over narration by an award-winning actor – and you have yourself one of the most aesthetically pleasing experiences you can hope for from a mobile game.
Where's Samantha? shows occasional ads, with a $0.99 to disable them and a $3.99 iAP to unlock the full game.
It's rare to find such a high-quality game on mobile, so if you enjoy puzzles and platformers, I can easily recommend checking it out.
App Store: Here
Retro City Rampage DX [Game Size: 29 MB] ($4.99)
Genre: Action / Arcade - OfflineOrientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by AlexSem:
Retro City Rampage DX is an old-school racing and shooting arcade game that draws heavy inspiration from the famous Grand Theft Auto series. It features lots of pixelated violence, energetic 8-bit soundtracks, hectic action, and tons of references to movies and video games of the past.
Playing as a henchman for a powerful crime lord who is robbing yet another bank, we quickly find ourselves dragged into a dangerous cascade of events that only get weirder when time-traveling and other ridiculous sci-fi elements get introduced.
I personally stopped paying attention to the story after a while, as it mostly served as a background for all the crazy events taking place, and as an excuse to reference endless iconic characters from popular franchises.
Just like in GTA, there’s a lot happening very quickly - shooting, racing, fighting, stealing vehicles, robbing banks, chasing the police, participating in minigames, and much much more. The game doesn’t restrict itself to a specific genre, instead just mashing together various elements from all the retro hits of the past. And it somehow actually works.
If we get bored by the fast-paced story mode, we can freely roam the city to do whatever we want, or hone our skills in various arcade challenges.
Unfortunately, this mobile port of the game isn’t perfect. Everything looks too tiny on small screens, and the touch controls aren’t comfortable when we need to react ultra-quickly. So it’s highly recommended to use a Bluetooth controller.
Retro City Rampage DX is a premium game that costs $4.99 on iOS. It’s a great tribute to the classic games of the past, and it succeeds at inducing a deep level of nostalgia while providing the exact type of highly entertaining gameplay experience seasoned gamers grew up with.
App Store: Here
Pickle Pete: Survivor [Game Size: 248 MB] (Free)
Genre: Arcade / Bullet-Hell - OfflineOrientation: Portrait + some Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by NimbleThor:
Pickle Pete is a reverse bullet-hell roguelike that combines the over-the-top chaotic gameplay of Brotato with the permanent character progression of Archero for a surprisingly fun gameplay experience.
The objective is to survive 10 time-limited waves of enemy attacks, return home, and then continue to the next chapter. During each wave, we control our pickle character with a large joystick while it auto-shoots at any enemies in range.
After every wave, we get to first pick one of three random stat-boosts if we leveled up during the wave, and then spend the pickles we’ve collected on buying weapons and items. Just like in Brotato, we can equip six weapons at a time, which quickly makes the gameplay chaotically fun.
If we get two of the same item, we can even merge them to increase the rarity, which makes it a lot stronger. I found the weapons to be decently diverse, and it’s entertaining to experiment with everything from snipers to magic wands, anvils, turrets, and drones.
After defeating the boss in wave 10, we receive gold and permanent items. In-between runs, we equip and upgrade these items to grow stronger, and buy stat boosts. All this permanent progression makes the game feel slightly more rewarding than Brotato.
Playing normal runs requires energy that we eventually run out of. Thankfully, the game also features a daily mission game mode, a competitive endless mode, and several challenge modes that are almost entire games on their own. Most of these don’t require any energy.
The art and animations are silly but neat, and I found it particularly nice that we can see where an enemy is about to spawn.
Pickle Pete monetizes via incentivized ads to revive, receive extra gold, or refresh the shop. There are also iAPs for items and a paid battle pass, but none of this is needed to progress at a decent pace.
App Store: Here
Nanuleu (Game Size: 59 MB] ($2.99)
Genre: Tower Defense / Strategy / Indie - OfflineOrientation: Portrait
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by AlexSem:
Nanuleu is an area control real-time strategy game where we expand our territory, accumulate resources, and place defenses to repel the enemy onslaught until we can launch an effective counterattack.
We play on a randomly generated square grid where certain tiles contain valuable resource deposits such as minerals and water. Starting at the center, we spend resources to build various nodes adjacent to the tiles we already occupy.
Cheap root nodes serve as roads that expand our network, while more expensive extractors can only be placed on deposit tiles to increase resource production. Our objective is to reach several distant tiles on the map and build special nodes there.
As time goes by, enemy camps start to appear in the corners of the map. These spawn troops that attack our nodes, and to oppose them, we must place defense towers that fire projectiles. Once we occupy all the special tiles, we get access to our own troop factories so we can produce units that destroy the enemy spawns. Getting rid of all the enemies is the ultimate goal of the game.
The strategy revolves around carefully balancing our expansion and resource production while racing against the ever-growing enemy forces. If we fail to occupy the deposits, we may not be able to produce enough towers in time, but a larger territory is also harder to control and requires more resources for towers. I found this balancing to be quite challenging and unforgiving, which highly contrasts the game's seemingly casual art style.
Nanuleu is a $2.99 premium game without ads or iAPs. Despite being rather simple and repetitive, it still provides an entertaining and unique experience for fans of real-time strategy and tower defense games.
App Store: Here
Google Sheet of all games I've played so far (searchable and filter-able): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bf0OxtVxrboZqyEh01AxJYUUqHm8tEfh-Lx-SugcrzY/edit?usp=sharing
TL;DR Video Summary (with gameplay) of last week's games: https://youtu.be/ED1TnAyhKko
2023.06.02 12:35 NimbleThor 5 Quick Tl;Dr Android Game Reviews / Recommendations (Episode 265)
Happy first Friday of June, my friends! :) And welcome back to this weekly mobile gaming recommendation thread based on some of the most interesting games I played and that were covered on MiniReview this week. I hope you'll enjoy the read.
Support these posts (and YouTube content + development of MiniReview) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NimbleThor <3
This episode includes an amazing adventure flying game, a cute polished puzzle game, and old school action arcade game, a fun Brotato alternative, and an indie tower defense real-time strategy game.
New to these posts? Check out the first one from 265 weeks ago here.
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by NimbleThor:
Laya’s Horizon is a fantastic 3D adventure flying game where we explore a large island, participate in mini-games, and complete quests – all by gliding from mountaintops using the cape on our back.
Starting at the top of a mountain, we tap to launch ourselves into a glide across a completely open game world. Scattered across the island are NPCs with quests or mini-games, airstreams that provide an uplift so we can glide further, and lots of hidden secrets.
The mini-games range from flying under bridges or close to threes without hitting any obstacles, to racing against NPC gliders. Bust most importantly, gliding around the island just feels amazing – especially when going fast. Although the core gameplay is different, it has a bit of that same feel as flying in “Sky: Children of the Light”.
Despite the many challenging quests, however, the gameplay feels more like a relaxing free-roam experience than something you’re meant to complete as fast as possible.
A few hours into the game, we also discover new mountain tops to launch from, and better capes with different advantages, which allows us to reach new areas of the map.
Laya’s Horizon is made by the developers of Alto’s Adventure, which shows in the game’s atmospheric art style and overall feel. Combined with the music, it creates a highly immersive experience.
The controls may seem daunting at first, but I quickly got the hang of them, and after an hour or two, they start to feel natural.
The biggest downside is that the game requires a beefy phone to run properly. Hopefully, it also expands with more islands down the road.
Laya’s Horizon is a premium game that can only be played with a Netflix subscription. If you already have Netflix, it’s a must-try for anyone fond of casual adventure games.
NOTE: if you don't have Netflix, it's not worth buying the subscription if you only plan on playing Laya’s Horizon.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on MiniReview:: Here
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Some
tl;dr review by AlexSem:
Where's Samantha? is a beautiful and clever physics-based puzzle platformer that tells a romantic story of two living pieces of fabric who brave increasingly dangerous challenges in order to eventually reunite.
The game takes place in a surreal and colorful textile world full of gaps, springs, levers, buttons, gates, moving platforms, and other interactive objects. There are also plenty of dangerous traps that we need to overcome, including spike pits, rotating saw blades, shooting cannons, and even laser turrets.
Starting as an easy "walk in the park", the game gradually turns into a deadly obstacle course that requires some serious platforming skills to survive.
Throughout our journey, we can make use of an unusual gameplay mechanic that allows our character to split into two, or even three separate pieces of fabric that we can then operate independently. This enables us to solve complex puzzles that involve interacting with multiple remote objects simultaneously.
What’s more, our weight and physics change when splitting up, which means we can apply a large force to doors and platforms when playing as a single character, or split up so we can jump higher to get over obstacles.
What I like the most about the game is its amazing visual style, where every item we see and interact with is hand-drawn to resemble a real-world physical object. Add to this the game’s atmospheric music, crisp sound effects, responsive controls, fluid animations, and an absolutely amazing voice-over narration by an award-winning actor – and you have yourself one of the most aesthetically pleasing experiences you can hope for from a mobile game.
Where's Samantha? claims to show occasional ads, with a $0.99 to disable them and a $3.99 iAP to unlock the full game, but after finishing all 48 levels, I haven't encountered a single ad nor been asked to pay.
It's rare to find such a high-quality game on mobile, so if you enjoy puzzles and platformers, I can easily recommend checking it out.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on MiniReview:: Here
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by AlexSem:
Retro City Rampage DX is an old-school racing and shooting arcade game that draws heavy inspiration from the famous Grand Theft Auto series. It features lots of pixelated violence, energetic 8-bit soundtracks, hectic action, and tons of references to movies and video games of the past.
Playing as a henchman for a powerful crime lord who is robbing yet another bank, we quickly find ourselves dragged into a dangerous cascade of events that only get weirder when time-traveling and other ridiculous sci-fi elements get introduced.
I personally stopped paying attention to the story after a while, as it mostly served as a background for all the crazy events taking place, and as an excuse to reference endless iconic characters from popular franchises.
Just like in GTA, there’s a lot happening very quickly - shooting, racing, fighting, stealing vehicles, robbing banks, chasing the police, participating in minigames, and much much more. The game doesn’t restrict itself to a specific genre, instead just mashing together various elements from all the retro hits of the past. And it somehow actually works.
If we get bored by the fast-paced story mode, we can freely roam the city to do whatever we want, or hone our skills in various arcade challenges.
Unfortunately, this mobile port of the game isn’t perfect. Everything looks too tiny on small screens, and the touch controls aren’t comfortable when we need to react ultra-quickly. So it’s highly recommended to use a Bluetooth controller.
Retro City Rampage DX is a premium game that costs $2.99 on Android. It’s a great tribute to the classic games of the past, and it succeeds at inducing a deep level of nostalgia while providing the exact type of highly entertaining gameplay experience seasoned gamers grew up with.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on MiniReview:: Here
Orientation: Portrait + some Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by NimbleThor:
Pickle Pete is a reverse bullet-hell roguelike that combines the over-the-top chaotic gameplay of Brotato with the permanent character progression of Archero for a surprisingly fun gameplay experience.
The objective is to survive 10 time-limited waves of enemy attacks, return home, and then continue to the next chapter. During each wave, we control our pickle character with a large joystick while it auto-shoots at any enemies in range.
After every wave, we get to first pick one of three random stat-boosts if we leveled up during the wave, and then spend the pickles we’ve collected on buying weapons and items. Just like in Brotato, we can equip six weapons at a time, which quickly makes the gameplay chaotically fun.
If we get two of the same item, we can even merge them to increase the rarity, which makes it a lot stronger. I found the weapons to be decently diverse, and it’s entertaining to experiment with everything from snipers to magic wands, anvils, turrets, and drones.
After defeating the boss in wave 10, we receive gold and permanent items. In-between runs, we equip and upgrade these items to grow stronger, and buy stat boosts. All this permanent progression makes the game feel slightly more rewarding than Brotato.
Playing normal runs requires energy that we eventually run out of. Thankfully, the game also features a daily mission game mode, a competitive endless mode, and several challenge modes that are almost entire games on their own. Most of these don’t require any energy.
The art and animations are silly but neat, and I found it particularly nice that we can see where an enemy is about to spawn.
Pickle Pete monetizes via incentivized ads to revive, receive extra gold, or refresh the shop. There are also iAPs for items and a paid battle pass, but none of this is needed to progress at a decent pace.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on MiniReview:: Here
Orientation: Portrait
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by AlexSem:
Nanuleu is an area control real-time strategy game where we expand our territory, accumulate resources, and place defenses to repel the enemy onslaught until we can launch an effective counterattack.
We play on a randomly generated square grid where certain tiles contain valuable resource deposits such as minerals and water. Starting at the center, we spend resources to build various nodes adjacent to the tiles we already occupy.
Cheap root nodes serve as roads that expand our network, while more expensive extractors can only be placed on deposit tiles to increase resource production. Our objective is to reach several distant tiles on the map and build special nodes there.
As time goes by, enemy camps start to appear in the corners of the map. These spawn troops that attack our nodes, and to oppose them, we must place defense towers that fire projectiles. Once we occupy all the special tiles, we get access to our own troop factories so we can produce units that destroy the enemy spawns. Getting rid of all the enemies is the ultimate goal of the game.
The strategy revolves around carefully balancing our expansion and resource production while racing against the ever-growing enemy forces. If we fail to occupy the deposits, we may not be able to produce enough towers in time, but a larger territory is also harder to control and requires more resources for towers. I found this balancing to be quite challenging and unforgiving, which highly contrasts the game's seemingly casual art style.
Nanuleu is a $2.99 premium game without ads or iAPs. Despite being rather simple and repetitive, it still provides an entertaining and unique experience for fans of real-time strategy and tower defense games.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on MiniReview:: Here
NEW: Sort + filter reviews and games I've played (and more) in my app MiniReview: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=minireview.best.android.games.reviews
Special thanks to the Patreon Producers "marquisdan", "Lost Vault", "Farm RPG", and "Mohaimen" who help make these posts possible through their Patreon support <3
Episode 248 Episode 249 Episode 251 Episode 252 Episode 253 Episode 254 Episode 255 Episode 256 Episode 257 Episode 258 Episode 259 Episode 260 Episode 261 Episode 262 Episode 263 Episode 264
submitted by NimbleThor to AndroidGaming [link] [comments]
Support these posts (and YouTube content + development of MiniReview) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NimbleThor <3
This episode includes an amazing adventure flying game, a cute polished puzzle game, and old school action arcade game, a fun Brotato alternative, and an indie tower defense real-time strategy game.
New to these posts? Check out the first one from 265 weeks ago here.
Let's get to the games:
Laya's Horizon [Game Size: 546 MB] (Netflix-only)
Genre: Adventure / Casual / Flying - OfflineOrientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by NimbleThor:
Laya’s Horizon is a fantastic 3D adventure flying game where we explore a large island, participate in mini-games, and complete quests – all by gliding from mountaintops using the cape on our back.
Starting at the top of a mountain, we tap to launch ourselves into a glide across a completely open game world. Scattered across the island are NPCs with quests or mini-games, airstreams that provide an uplift so we can glide further, and lots of hidden secrets.
The mini-games range from flying under bridges or close to threes without hitting any obstacles, to racing against NPC gliders. Bust most importantly, gliding around the island just feels amazing – especially when going fast. Although the core gameplay is different, it has a bit of that same feel as flying in “Sky: Children of the Light”.
Despite the many challenging quests, however, the gameplay feels more like a relaxing free-roam experience than something you’re meant to complete as fast as possible.
A few hours into the game, we also discover new mountain tops to launch from, and better capes with different advantages, which allows us to reach new areas of the map.
Laya’s Horizon is made by the developers of Alto’s Adventure, which shows in the game’s atmospheric art style and overall feel. Combined with the music, it creates a highly immersive experience.
The controls may seem daunting at first, but I quickly got the hang of them, and after an hour or two, they start to feel natural.
The biggest downside is that the game requires a beefy phone to run properly. Hopefully, it also expands with more islands down the road.
Laya’s Horizon is a premium game that can only be played with a Netflix subscription. If you already have Netflix, it’s a must-try for anyone fond of casual adventure games.
NOTE: if you don't have Netflix, it's not worth buying the subscription if you only plan on playing Laya’s Horizon.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on MiniReview:: Here
Where's Samantha? [Total Game Size: 310 MB] (Free)
Genre: Platform / Puzzle - OfflineOrientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Some
tl;dr review by AlexSem:
Where's Samantha? is a beautiful and clever physics-based puzzle platformer that tells a romantic story of two living pieces of fabric who brave increasingly dangerous challenges in order to eventually reunite.
The game takes place in a surreal and colorful textile world full of gaps, springs, levers, buttons, gates, moving platforms, and other interactive objects. There are also plenty of dangerous traps that we need to overcome, including spike pits, rotating saw blades, shooting cannons, and even laser turrets.
Starting as an easy "walk in the park", the game gradually turns into a deadly obstacle course that requires some serious platforming skills to survive.
Throughout our journey, we can make use of an unusual gameplay mechanic that allows our character to split into two, or even three separate pieces of fabric that we can then operate independently. This enables us to solve complex puzzles that involve interacting with multiple remote objects simultaneously.
What’s more, our weight and physics change when splitting up, which means we can apply a large force to doors and platforms when playing as a single character, or split up so we can jump higher to get over obstacles.
What I like the most about the game is its amazing visual style, where every item we see and interact with is hand-drawn to resemble a real-world physical object. Add to this the game’s atmospheric music, crisp sound effects, responsive controls, fluid animations, and an absolutely amazing voice-over narration by an award-winning actor – and you have yourself one of the most aesthetically pleasing experiences you can hope for from a mobile game.
Where's Samantha? claims to show occasional ads, with a $0.99 to disable them and a $3.99 iAP to unlock the full game, but after finishing all 48 levels, I haven't encountered a single ad nor been asked to pay.
It's rare to find such a high-quality game on mobile, so if you enjoy puzzles and platformers, I can easily recommend checking it out.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on MiniReview:: Here
Retro City Rampage DX [Game Size: 29 MB] ($2.99)
Genre: Action / Arcade - OfflineOrientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by AlexSem:
Retro City Rampage DX is an old-school racing and shooting arcade game that draws heavy inspiration from the famous Grand Theft Auto series. It features lots of pixelated violence, energetic 8-bit soundtracks, hectic action, and tons of references to movies and video games of the past.
Playing as a henchman for a powerful crime lord who is robbing yet another bank, we quickly find ourselves dragged into a dangerous cascade of events that only get weirder when time-traveling and other ridiculous sci-fi elements get introduced.
I personally stopped paying attention to the story after a while, as it mostly served as a background for all the crazy events taking place, and as an excuse to reference endless iconic characters from popular franchises.
Just like in GTA, there’s a lot happening very quickly - shooting, racing, fighting, stealing vehicles, robbing banks, chasing the police, participating in minigames, and much much more. The game doesn’t restrict itself to a specific genre, instead just mashing together various elements from all the retro hits of the past. And it somehow actually works.
If we get bored by the fast-paced story mode, we can freely roam the city to do whatever we want, or hone our skills in various arcade challenges.
Unfortunately, this mobile port of the game isn’t perfect. Everything looks too tiny on small screens, and the touch controls aren’t comfortable when we need to react ultra-quickly. So it’s highly recommended to use a Bluetooth controller.
Retro City Rampage DX is a premium game that costs $2.99 on Android. It’s a great tribute to the classic games of the past, and it succeeds at inducing a deep level of nostalgia while providing the exact type of highly entertaining gameplay experience seasoned gamers grew up with.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on MiniReview:: Here
Pickle Pete: Survivor [Game Size: 248 MB] (Free)
Genre: Arcade / Bullet-Hell - OfflineOrientation: Portrait + some Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by NimbleThor:
Pickle Pete is a reverse bullet-hell roguelike that combines the over-the-top chaotic gameplay of Brotato with the permanent character progression of Archero for a surprisingly fun gameplay experience.
The objective is to survive 10 time-limited waves of enemy attacks, return home, and then continue to the next chapter. During each wave, we control our pickle character with a large joystick while it auto-shoots at any enemies in range.
After every wave, we get to first pick one of three random stat-boosts if we leveled up during the wave, and then spend the pickles we’ve collected on buying weapons and items. Just like in Brotato, we can equip six weapons at a time, which quickly makes the gameplay chaotically fun.
If we get two of the same item, we can even merge them to increase the rarity, which makes it a lot stronger. I found the weapons to be decently diverse, and it’s entertaining to experiment with everything from snipers to magic wands, anvils, turrets, and drones.
After defeating the boss in wave 10, we receive gold and permanent items. In-between runs, we equip and upgrade these items to grow stronger, and buy stat boosts. All this permanent progression makes the game feel slightly more rewarding than Brotato.
Playing normal runs requires energy that we eventually run out of. Thankfully, the game also features a daily mission game mode, a competitive endless mode, and several challenge modes that are almost entire games on their own. Most of these don’t require any energy.
The art and animations are silly but neat, and I found it particularly nice that we can see where an enemy is about to spawn.
Pickle Pete monetizes via incentivized ads to revive, receive extra gold, or refresh the shop. There are also iAPs for items and a paid battle pass, but none of this is needed to progress at a decent pace.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on MiniReview:: Here
Nanuleu (Game Size: 59 MB] ($2.99)
Genre: Tower Defense / Strategy / Indie - OfflineOrientation: Portrait
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by AlexSem:
Nanuleu is an area control real-time strategy game where we expand our territory, accumulate resources, and place defenses to repel the enemy onslaught until we can launch an effective counterattack.
We play on a randomly generated square grid where certain tiles contain valuable resource deposits such as minerals and water. Starting at the center, we spend resources to build various nodes adjacent to the tiles we already occupy.
Cheap root nodes serve as roads that expand our network, while more expensive extractors can only be placed on deposit tiles to increase resource production. Our objective is to reach several distant tiles on the map and build special nodes there.
As time goes by, enemy camps start to appear in the corners of the map. These spawn troops that attack our nodes, and to oppose them, we must place defense towers that fire projectiles. Once we occupy all the special tiles, we get access to our own troop factories so we can produce units that destroy the enemy spawns. Getting rid of all the enemies is the ultimate goal of the game.
The strategy revolves around carefully balancing our expansion and resource production while racing against the ever-growing enemy forces. If we fail to occupy the deposits, we may not be able to produce enough towers in time, but a larger territory is also harder to control and requires more resources for towers. I found this balancing to be quite challenging and unforgiving, which highly contrasts the game's seemingly casual art style.
Nanuleu is a $2.99 premium game without ads or iAPs. Despite being rather simple and repetitive, it still provides an entertaining and unique experience for fans of real-time strategy and tower defense games.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on MiniReview:: Here
Special thanks to the Patreon Producers "marquisdan", "Lost Vault", "Farm RPG", and "Mohaimen" who help make these posts possible through their Patreon support <3
2023.06.02 11:50 Erwinblackthorn Drawn Together: A Postmodernist Martyr Pt1
Part 2
Recently, I have been hit by a writing bug for a story I’m working on, where the entire thing will be a combination of Warehouse 13 and Kingdom Hearts. I want the story to be a critique of both how postmodernism functions and how it destroys contemporary culture by trying to subvert that which works and that which people enjoy. In order for me to write this story, I am required to study both postmodernism and satire of postmodernism, which has strangely led me to a little cartoon from the middle of the 2000s known as Drawn Together.
It ran for 3 seasons, had a direct-to-DVD movie, and vanished from the face of the Earth after that. Nobody dares to mention it and yet there are tons of youtube clips of it that are filled with praise in the comments. People love the show, yet nobody can mention its name without social backlash from the woke left. Why is that? Well, let’s get into what the show even is to begin with.
Like every chick who dresses as Harley Quinn for Halloween, it has some severe issues that are treated as normal.
Postmodernism was already popular by the time we hit the 2000s, and by this time we have had postmodernist media for about 40 years. An entire generation worth of rejecting modernism. With this, we gained a lot of different media styles and new genres. The internet was growing into something capable of creating flash cartoons, movies like Fredy Got Fingered popularized shock comedy and neo dada, we started to have shock jocks take over the airwaves with uncensored satellite radio, and soap operas for the ladies were being replaced with reality TV.
Postmodernism allows for a blending of media and real life to create a hyper reality where we can’t see where media begins and reality ends. Media is part of our lives, all day every day, in this highly connected and social media focused postmodernist era. Even now, we wake up to our pop music alarm clock that holds notifications to our social media and the only way to escape media is to leave society and never read anything. That’s impossible for most of us, so we’re stuck in this hyper reality where we’re always watching others and we ourselves are always being watched. We’re at a point in history where people can become popular by just filming themselves making a goofy sound, vomiting, or taking off their clothes.
Usually it’s all three.
This should concern everyone, yet we tend to embrace the absurd reality that is postmodernism and reality tv. Despite common belief, reality TV began with Candid Camera, a show from 1948 where people would be filmed while being at the butt end of a prank. This kind of filming was a look into how real people provide real reactions to things when they aren’t expecting certain situations, which is actually in relation to the neorealism film movement that was inspired by the poetic realism french film movement. We enjoy seeing pranks being done because we get to see a real person provide real emotion and it’s no different than seeing a fight break out in real life, or seeing a car crash. It’s that train wreck mentality that keeps us glued to the scene as shit gets real.
Or was it the shit that glues us to the train as our real mentality gets wrecked?
It’s the same reason we love to see game shows and court shows and Jerry Springer. Add in some sexual exploitation like busty Ukranians and you have Naked Funny, which is a show people search for without caring about any words being said, since it’s a show with zero dialogue but plenty of mouth watering mammaries. Have the exploitation be where people are horrifically injured or do something sensational, and you have Jackass. Have a bunch of people pretend to be outraged and engage in scripted events while living in a single house, and you have The Real World.
That’s right: it’s a show with fake situations and it’s called The Real World.
This type of “reality” TV caused a massive issue in media because it allowed incredibly fake situations to pass as real, and there was no way to counter it because people were convinced it’s real. Just like professional wrestling, just like any show featuring a magician and a paid audience, just like any porno, there is a mix of real things and fake things that create this ambiguous state of hyper reality. Yes, a person can actually be hit by a chair or a sledgehammer, but there’s no way someone is going to be trying to win a match by holding their hand over the head of the sledgehammer and lightly tapping the other guy with it. Obviously, they don’t want to hit their co-worker, unless they’re in a porn shoot with a white woman. That’s when it’s fair game.
Postmodernism is a term that postmodernists try to avoid defining, because of the main doctrine of postmodernism: there is no such thing as a truth that can be verified by human experience. This means that anything being stated must be an opinion and thus everything being stated is completely disconnected from one another. A postmodernist is unable to make a clear and definitive statement that is true, because it goes against their doctrine. Everything must be vague and open-ended. Everyone has an equally valid interpretation. With that kind of mentality, art can be anything we want to call art. Rules are there to be broken, especially if they are rules of a broadcasting network. The R rating, the X rating, the unrated, these are products of postmodernism, due to the intention to break rules.
Subjectivity, blurring of genres, juxtaposition, playfulness, skepticism of a grand narrative, intertextuality, irony, pastiche, appropriation; all of these things are what makes postmodernism appealing to the masses. There is no desire to make something good, so the goal is to do something else, like be blindly entertaining or blindly propagandist. There is so much art before postmodernism and so much established through modernism, like science, that the goal of the postmodernist is to deconstruct all of that and make it feel like none of it matters.
Despite all of the deconstructionism and subversion that comes with postmodernism, media still has to appeal to an audience, and an audience reacts well to archetypes. We don’t know who to cheer for if we don’t know who is the heel and who is the good guy. There can’t be drama if there isn’t some red haired succubus or pampered shrew to throw a wrench in the circle of hotties. And at the same time, we can’t have all of them being that type of person, or else there’s nobody to root for. In the most ironic way possible, postmodernism is required to appeal to archetypes even more than modernism, due to the demand for audience retention and interaction.
Every reality show had to have at least one of every archetype, but remember: it’s totally real, everyone. It just so happened that there’s only one sneaky bitch and there’s only one cool guy and there’s only one innocent girl and there’s only one slacker. It was by random, totally not on purpose, and you’re crazy if you think producers are controlling the environment of these shows in any way. Same goes for dating shows like Next. It’s obvious that these people with their one liners and bad acting are being honest with all of us.
If you didn’t get it by now: I’m being sarcastic, these shows are faker than lady boy tits and the apologies from Bud Light for advertising with such fake tits. And yet, people can’t stop watching these pointless shows. Even I enjoy it, because of how dumb it is. A big part of my life after school was relaxing late at night with MTV and watching stupid reality tv shows. Even respectable ones like Cops were dumb because the entire show was about police officers finding people breaking the law. The entertainment comes from people ruining their day or their entire life with one dumb act after another.
You’re probably wondering: What does any of this have to do with Drawn Together?
Well, imagine all of these reality shows mixed into a cartoon and then each cartoon archetype is from a different type of cartoon. That’s Drawn Together, and the show gets more insane from that point on. The eras of cartoons are represented by the cast members who are to live in one house, as a satire of things like The Real World and as parody of cartoon archetypes. You have Princess Clara(a parody of the Disney Princess), Foxxy(a parody of 70s mystery solving cartoons like Scooby-doo), Xandir(a parody of 80s Nintendo and action cartoons), Wooldoor(a parody of 90s style Nickelodeon shows like Spongebob), Ling-Ling (a parody of anime like Pokemon), Spanky(a parody of internet cartoons from the early 2000s), Toot(a parody of 1930s black and white cartoons like Betty Boop and Popeye), and Captain Hero (a parody of 90s superhero cartoons like Batman Animated Series and Animated Superman).
These character types are all based on their known stereotypes when it comes to appearance, with their appearances never really mixing since these are all different types of cartoons from different styles. You never see a Pikachu with a Batman, or a human unmasker talk to a video game character, or a human princess from a fairy tale talk to a farting pig from the internet. These things never happen in their environment because these things don’t mix. Then the show puts all of these unrelatable characters into a single house to provide random challenges in the same way reality tv does in order to juxtapose the genres.
The art styles also are juxtaposed. Captain hero is drawn with a square jaw, while Toot is drawn incredibly circular and with a giant head. Woldor has giant white eyes while Foxxy only has pupils. Xandir and Claira are drawn rather similar, but even they have their differences with colors and the thickness of the outline. To the untrained eye, these are easy to miss, but to the artist, these are great homages to the very style something is drawn in. An important part to note is that these are all based on other things and are meant to represent them as symbols. There’s no reason for any of this, yet the show does it anyway.
This is what postmodernism is all about: doing things for the sake of doing it. Juxtaposition is a big part of postmodernism. Blending genres and mixing them around is a big part of postmodernism. Subverting tropes to claim originality is a big part of postmodernism. Non-sequitur is a big part of postmodernism. This entire show is one of the most postmodernist things you can find out there and I love everything about it.
You might be thinking “Is Erwin sick? He talks day and night about how postmodernism sucks and then says he loves Drawn Together. Is this an imposter?!”No, it’s me. I’m simply able to understand the purpose of the show, and I love the meta attempt in all of it: the show is a postmodernist attack on… postmodernism. Everything in the show is designed to be a massive middle finger to how postmodernism functions, by being the dysfunctional postmodernist mess it is. From how meaningless the challenges are, to how characters can never die all the way, to how 4th wall jokes stop the show, to how there is a mundane message tacked on at the very end. Everything in this show is a jab at postmodernism, but at the cost of the show’s own integrity.
In the story I’m working on, I would be required to present postmodernism in it so that I can critique it. But, if my entire story revolves around only that, then I would be presenting postmodernism the entire time, which means I can’t separate the thing that I’m attacking from my work, just how a story about the evils of racism would have to feature a racist. Postmodernists attacking postmodernists is the same as a racist saying “racism is fine, but only in the way I do it.”
But is all postmodernism really the same? The show is hated now, after all, right?
Yes, it’s hated now, because it(ironically) went against the grand narrative that postmodernists currently hold, but it was part of the narrative that was held during the early 2000s. Barely 20 years ago, less than half of a generation, millennials were being raised by exploitation. I know that the postmodernists hate it when I use this word to describe nearly all of postmodernism, but by definition, it’s exploitation. You can blame the 80s for this, because once home media became popular, we had movies that went straight to VHS and then later DVDs that were able to push the envelope.
That’s what postmodernism started as: a way to push the envelope.
South Park and Simpsons didn’t do things that were part of the status quo. They went against it to then become the status quo right after. In fact, there’s an amazing joke from the show Bevis and Butthead(another example of postmodernism) that captures this phenomena perfectly, where the two go to a radio show because they were the only caller, and then they influence the radio show by saying stuff sucks and stuff is stupid.
Their own stupidity and negativity was seen as a sort of punk culture by the viewers and so they demanded the radio host, who was angry at them, to do the same. And so, the next day, the radio host does exactly what he threw Bevis and Butthead out for doing. This complete hypocrisy that somehow there are rules, but they can be broken if the money is there, is something Drawn Together also tackled.
The entire first season was all about having pointless challenges with a character called Jew Producer, who was a parody of both Richie Rich and Donald Trump. How did they connect these 3? Easy: Donald Trump had a show called The Apprentice, Richie Rich was a cartoon, and a Jewish producer is a Hollywood cliche that's entirely true. A lot of Jewish people produce Hollywood stuff and TV shows. I don’t know why this is a controversial statement or why the left always gets insulted by that fact, but they constantly freak out the second someone mentions that someone like Harvey Winstein exists.
While I’m talking about controversies, Adam Carolla, the voice of Spanky, was blacklisted by Hollywood because he decided to do the cardinal sin of… demanding free speech in a country with free speech as a constitutional right. I know, how dare he! It shouldn’t surprise us that the former hippies who ran Hollywood on the backbone of free speech and demanded freedom of expression are now against… freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Meanwhile, Tara Strong, a proud jewish woman, voices a character like Princess Clara, with Princess Clara being a racist, homophobic, anti-semite who is also in a sexual relationship with her father.
So, let’s recap: a jewish woman is able to do the voice for such a terrible thing, yet an Italian male comedian is not able to ask for the acceptance to joke about such topics.
Why is this even a thing?Well, at first it really puzzled me, but like when we saw the left defending drag queen acts in front of children, it finally clicked. The problem in Hollywood isn’t that something terrible is said or written or put in a show. A white princess saying terrible things is normal to them, because that’s how they view white people. Their fear is that something might make a non-white person look bad. Something might make the LGBT look bad. There might be an “uncomfortable truth” revealed in a chain of unregulated jokes.
One of the most profitable postmodernist comedians around, Dave Chappelle, was canceled over making trans jokes, despite being a good friend of a trans person who killed themselves after… trans advocates hated the trans person due to being friends with Dave Chappelle. The woke are disgusting people, to put it bluntly. Zero people were harmed by Dave’s comedy, yet the woke harassing people has a death toll that’d make Pol Pot take notes on their efficiency.
So the difference between Tara and Adam is that Adam wants to make jokes about anything, while Tara is just doing her job and reading the script. The free thinker is the threat, while the obedient follower is not. That’s why Tara still gets jobs and Adam is off doing a podcast and somehow still making millions. I’m sure he’s wiping his tears with gold bullion over the thought of no longer being able to do voices for farting animated pigs.
But what exactly makes Drawn Together hated?
To be honest, I didn’t even know someone could hate the show until I was around 20 or so. Some online people I chatted with told me how offended they were by the show and I never understood what offended even meant until that era. I watched the show throughout my teen years without a care in the world. To me, it was another adult animated show that tried to do anything offensive and it was funny all around. Some of the subject matter, contains but is not limited to:
And this is where we find the split in postmodernism. When postmodernism began as a means of subverting modernism and regulations, it quickly became a cesspool of creative INABILITY thanks to the woke taking over. We went from freedom of expression to being required to advocate, which is a detriment to comedy. Recently, we had a controversy over a show called Big Mouth, which was hated by the right for being considered pedophilic and indoctrination, because the characters were teenagers dealing with puberty monsters and were depicted as being sexualized.
This is one of the many areas the right is losing the battle on, because so many of them are trying to be Platoist or Mohism, meaning they want some kind of hyper utilitarian and aesthetic free environment due to a hatred of art. Plato believed that art was an “imitation”, that it was a “copy of a copy of a form”. It was a corruption and perversion of reality, thus he saw art as evil. Mo-Zi, a Chinese philosopher who shared a lot of his views, also saw art as a pointless distraction because it’s not the responsibility of the government. These kinds of “right wingers” are accidentally falling for philosophies that pave the way for socialism, so it’s hard to take their positions on art seriously when they can’t see how brainwashed their approach is.
I’m going to go with the Jews on this one and say that art is very important, and so is freedom to make art.
Big mouth is not a show that I will say is one of my favorites, but it’s nothing as how the right wanted to depict it as. Obviously these are just people who wanted the next Cuties outrage and they had a swing n’ a miss. The left, on the other hand, is able to say something like Drawn Together is offensive to them and so it must be canceled. And lo, we have the tumblr people unable to reblog about it, we have reddit radio silent about it, we have twitter people afraid to meme with it, but then it’s still prospering in places like youtube.
People want to watch it, but nobody is brave enough to talk about it in fear of being canceled.
The show is a Martyr in two ways:
He then straight up tells her that she’s not their audience, so her opinion doesn’t matter on whether or not the show is good. And he’s right, if you aren’t the audience for something, why should anyone listen to your opinion on the thing you instantly don’t like? It’s like if I had an opinion about which sports team is better. I am 100% uninformed about anything sports related, and the only sport I ever willingly watched was professional wrestling. That’s a sport, right?
Either way, the show is aware that it’s offensive. It’s proud to be offensive. Each character has their own way of offending, both when it comes to a group and when it comes to art itself. This is when postmodernism kicks in and subversion is used to create a surreal environment suited for satire and parody.
As a quick reminder: Satire is when a subject is critiqued and parody is when a subject is used for a joke. An example of this would be where satire is when Scream uses movie tropes to figure out a murder and parody is when the alien from Signs pees with his finger in Scary Movie.
Princess Clara is the Disney princess. Usually a Disney princess seeks a prince to live happily ever after, and she is pure of heart. They subvert this by attaching a bit of reality to the word “princess” and have her in a sexual relationship with her father because princesses would sometimes do that to keep royalty in the family. She’s also a racist and Christian, because royalty in Europe was Christian and it’s “old fashion” for a rich white girl to be racist. Although they keep her desire to sing, the lyrics are still going to hold her views about people, so the humor comes in how she delivers terrible things with a cheery tone. Her character is meant to make fun of traditionalist people, all while using the Disney princess as a face.
With the way wokeness is going, I don’t see a difference between Clara and the current Disney princess now.
Foxxy Love is the Hanna-Barbera style mystery character who is meant to solve crimes, most likely inspired by Valerie Brown from Josie and the Pussycats. She suberts the role by causing crimes and being a degenerate all over. She is a slut, she acts ghetto, she constantly has abortions, you know the deal. This juxtaposition comes from the fact that Valerie is meant to be a hippie musician, and black women on reality TV are depicted as ghetto thanks to shows like Flavor of Love. And for those who don’t know, hippie musicians are usually promiscuous and incredibly loose, with zero regard for decency or sticking to one sex partner because they are all about second wave feminism.
Again, ironically the woke have caused this subversion to be their intentional norm for a lot of black female characters, only they see it as virtuous instead of comical.
Wooldoor Sockbat is the Nickelodeon style hyperactive loony toon who is meant to be both stupid and gullible. There’s not much subversion here with personality, but it’s all with how far he’s willing to go with his zany humor, such as randomly threatening to suck someone’s dick and having giant tits out of nowhere, which he will then squish into the camera while crying. He’s meant to be loud and random, just like Spongebob or Stimpy. However, with the way Spongebob has become after their first movie, the only thing separating Wooldoor from something like Spongebob is direct word usage.
Plus, Ren and Stimpy had their adult party cartoon reboot made by the creator, so doing something gay and entirely disturbing is nothing new for that kind of character. I still can’t believe that it came out in 2003. In fact, I can’t believe Ren and Stimpy was on Nickelodeon with the stuff they put in there. But, that’s the appeal of Wooldoor, because he does the stuff people have been doing with characters like him for years. I would even say he’s not much of a satire since he’s so close to the content he’s meant to make fun of.
Xandir Wifflebottom is the 80s action cartoon parody, as well as early video game cartoons. During the 80s and 90s, we had a lot of Nintendo shows like Legend of Zelda, which took after plot scripts like Transformers, GI Joe, He-Man, and other product placement shows during that time. Only a few episodes of Drawn Together make fun of these simple action plots, but this connection between the merchandise advertising shows and video game cartoons is important, since they are the same thing, and it’s a product of postmodernism. Shows during the 80s and 90s that were simply there to sell something with the show, whether it was a game or a toy, were part of this media and real life blur. His gayness comes from how people viewed both He-Man and Link, since Link was a feminine looking elf and He-Man was a muscular dude who didn’t wear a shirt when he’s fighting.
This one is kind of interesting since it touches on the subject of queer coding. The left is so desperate to feel like the LGBT is represented, they will declare something is gay because it “feels gay”. This feeling is based on whoever is attracted to a fictional character, so if gay men are attracted to He-Man, or if they like his outfit, then that means he’s totally gay. Link is a character who has sadly been considered a “gay icon” by websites like Polygon, all because the designers made him rather gender neutral in later games in order for him to appeal to a female fanbase that was growing. And when they say gender neutral, they mean “he’s not muscular and he has a pretty face”, similar to practically any 00s alt rock band memeber.
Apparently, having that and then having gay people make gay fanfics about the character instantly means the character is gay. The show made fun of this queer coding nonsense by making Xandir a raging homosexual that is constantly killed like a Mortal Kombat character.
Captain Hero, my favorite character, is the comic book show hero that we all know and love. He’s meant to save the day from evil villains, but they subvert his role by having him be entirely useless and usually the cause of mass destruction. He has superpowers, but he’s so stupid and useless that he doesn’t use them most of the time, like when he is immune to bullets but he still grabs a random woman to use her as a “hero shield” when getting shot at. His character makes fun of how postmodernist super heroes try to depict the classic hero as a terrible monster or some kind of morally warped anti-hero. This is due to how Batman went from whacky detective to psychotic nut job during the transition from the 60s to the 80s, thanks to influences like Alan Moore’s Watchman and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. His character is more like a Superman, which the Bizzaro Superman comics have covered that kind of thing to make way for a super powered idiot who has sex with corpses.
Why does he have sex with dead bodies? Well, because he’s “alien” to us, the point of the joke is that he’s so super powered that he can do whatever he wants, and uses his powers to have sex with something that can’t fight back. Kind of a “he can have any woman he wants, but he would rather have sex with a rotten corpse” kind of thing. Or maybe it’s making fun of how Superman cares about Lois Lane even though she might as well be a rotten corpse to him, because she’s a human and he’s an alien. Either way, it covers a big problem we started to get in the 90s where superheroes were quickly becoming hyper violent assholes who do anything disgusting for the sake of shock value.
Ling-Ling is basically a Pikachu, but here he will battle with anything and cause gory deaths upon his opponent. The joke is that kid shows featuring these little monsters, like Pokemon and Digimon, will have zero blood, and yet the attacks they do are strong enough to cause giant explosions. Thankfully, these go past the typical Dorkly joke and Ling-Ling will also have jokes centered around being Asian and have a made up language that sounds Japanese because he says “kitowa” a lot.
Just like Xandir, Ling-Ling is treated like a punching bag by the others in nearly every episode, and I think it has to do with the video game relation, since Pokemon began as a video game and the show was there as a way of advertising the product. Plus, during the 00s, there was little respect for something like anime, no matter how much someone knew about the golden age of 80s anime.
Spanky Ham is something I’m not really sure what influenced him, but it’s said it might be an early flash cartoon called Evil Piggies. However, there is a flash cartoon from 1997 made by John K, the creator of Ren and Stimpy, called The Goddamn George Liquor Program, that seems more in line with Spanky’s scat fetish. Early internet cartoons usually had people’s faces done in a South Park style, where the mouth moved by cutting the bottom half off and moving that up and down. When I went on Newgrounds during that time, all I would see were stick figures, parodies of existing cartoons, and something like Ctrl+Alt+Del where the characters were drawn as humans in that typical web comic style. He might have also been inspired by Happy Tree Friends, which first came out in 1999, so the idea of cute animals dying randomly, and the crude humor of The Goddamn George Liquor Program might have caused a farting pig to come into fruition.
The joke is that he’s a pig who likes to drink and have sex, as well as be disgusting, but then somehow he’s also like Ren where he has schemes to make money. I forget if there is a word for this kind of character, but he’s the Squidward type who always gets harmed by his own greed. There is also a lot of Fritz the Cat in his character, which was an animated movie based on an underground comic about a cat who would go on sexual escapades. This “cartoon animal doing adult stuff” has been a joke since the 60s, and even Howard the Duck had issues with what Nostalgia Critic calls “duck boobies”. Speaking of adult ducks, there is even a show called Duckman that was made by the same company that made Rugrats.
People treat Bojak Horseman as this hip new thing when it’s simply part of a long line of animated foul mouth farm animals wearing suits.
Finally, Toot Braunstein is the representative of silent cartoons. Betty Boop was seen as sexy for being curvy, and the joke is that Toot is just plain fat and old, with her body hair and repulsiveness, as well as her tits always sagging to her cankles. She is always harming herself because of a self-esteem issue, caused by her weight and age, which is joined by an alcoholic problem due to her being from the roaring 20s. The joke is that she’s that girl in every reality TV show that is completely disgusting to look at, but she’ll see herself as a hot chick despite hitting the wall so hard that illegals can pour through the cracks. Plus, people believe Betty Boop was based on Clara Bow, who was a flapper “it girl” who suffered from hard drug use, schizophrenia, and was constantly rejected for being too fat.
Toot is the only one in the list who’s not directly a product of postmodernism, but there was a particular charm to rubber hose animation(gained its name for how limbs acted like rubber hoses) that continued onward to create things like Ren and Stimpy, Loony Toons, Tom and Jerry, and even some movies that tried to revive properties of the 30s. The Popeye movie is a great example as to how studios in the postmodernist era tried to desperately mix live action with cartoons, and same goes with Who Framed Roger Rabbit with how it was a movie that mixed live action with rubber hose animation.
Part 2
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Recently, I have been hit by a writing bug for a story I’m working on, where the entire thing will be a combination of Warehouse 13 and Kingdom Hearts. I want the story to be a critique of both how postmodernism functions and how it destroys contemporary culture by trying to subvert that which works and that which people enjoy. In order for me to write this story, I am required to study both postmodernism and satire of postmodernism, which has strangely led me to a little cartoon from the middle of the 2000s known as Drawn Together.
It ran for 3 seasons, had a direct-to-DVD movie, and vanished from the face of the Earth after that. Nobody dares to mention it and yet there are tons of youtube clips of it that are filled with praise in the comments. People love the show, yet nobody can mention its name without social backlash from the woke left. Why is that? Well, let’s get into what the show even is to begin with.
Like every chick who dresses as Harley Quinn for Halloween, it has some severe issues that are treated as normal.
Postmodernism was already popular by the time we hit the 2000s, and by this time we have had postmodernist media for about 40 years. An entire generation worth of rejecting modernism. With this, we gained a lot of different media styles and new genres. The internet was growing into something capable of creating flash cartoons, movies like Fredy Got Fingered popularized shock comedy and neo dada, we started to have shock jocks take over the airwaves with uncensored satellite radio, and soap operas for the ladies were being replaced with reality TV.
Postmodernism allows for a blending of media and real life to create a hyper reality where we can’t see where media begins and reality ends. Media is part of our lives, all day every day, in this highly connected and social media focused postmodernist era. Even now, we wake up to our pop music alarm clock that holds notifications to our social media and the only way to escape media is to leave society and never read anything. That’s impossible for most of us, so we’re stuck in this hyper reality where we’re always watching others and we ourselves are always being watched. We’re at a point in history where people can become popular by just filming themselves making a goofy sound, vomiting, or taking off their clothes.
Usually it’s all three.
This should concern everyone, yet we tend to embrace the absurd reality that is postmodernism and reality tv. Despite common belief, reality TV began with Candid Camera, a show from 1948 where people would be filmed while being at the butt end of a prank. This kind of filming was a look into how real people provide real reactions to things when they aren’t expecting certain situations, which is actually in relation to the neorealism film movement that was inspired by the poetic realism french film movement. We enjoy seeing pranks being done because we get to see a real person provide real emotion and it’s no different than seeing a fight break out in real life, or seeing a car crash. It’s that train wreck mentality that keeps us glued to the scene as shit gets real.
Or was it the shit that glues us to the train as our real mentality gets wrecked?
It’s the same reason we love to see game shows and court shows and Jerry Springer. Add in some sexual exploitation like busty Ukranians and you have Naked Funny, which is a show people search for without caring about any words being said, since it’s a show with zero dialogue but plenty of mouth watering mammaries. Have the exploitation be where people are horrifically injured or do something sensational, and you have Jackass. Have a bunch of people pretend to be outraged and engage in scripted events while living in a single house, and you have The Real World.
That’s right: it’s a show with fake situations and it’s called The Real World.
This type of “reality” TV caused a massive issue in media because it allowed incredibly fake situations to pass as real, and there was no way to counter it because people were convinced it’s real. Just like professional wrestling, just like any show featuring a magician and a paid audience, just like any porno, there is a mix of real things and fake things that create this ambiguous state of hyper reality. Yes, a person can actually be hit by a chair or a sledgehammer, but there’s no way someone is going to be trying to win a match by holding their hand over the head of the sledgehammer and lightly tapping the other guy with it. Obviously, they don’t want to hit their co-worker, unless they’re in a porn shoot with a white woman. That’s when it’s fair game.
Postmodernism is a term that postmodernists try to avoid defining, because of the main doctrine of postmodernism: there is no such thing as a truth that can be verified by human experience. This means that anything being stated must be an opinion and thus everything being stated is completely disconnected from one another. A postmodernist is unable to make a clear and definitive statement that is true, because it goes against their doctrine. Everything must be vague and open-ended. Everyone has an equally valid interpretation. With that kind of mentality, art can be anything we want to call art. Rules are there to be broken, especially if they are rules of a broadcasting network. The R rating, the X rating, the unrated, these are products of postmodernism, due to the intention to break rules.
Subjectivity, blurring of genres, juxtaposition, playfulness, skepticism of a grand narrative, intertextuality, irony, pastiche, appropriation; all of these things are what makes postmodernism appealing to the masses. There is no desire to make something good, so the goal is to do something else, like be blindly entertaining or blindly propagandist. There is so much art before postmodernism and so much established through modernism, like science, that the goal of the postmodernist is to deconstruct all of that and make it feel like none of it matters.
Despite all of the deconstructionism and subversion that comes with postmodernism, media still has to appeal to an audience, and an audience reacts well to archetypes. We don’t know who to cheer for if we don’t know who is the heel and who is the good guy. There can’t be drama if there isn’t some red haired succubus or pampered shrew to throw a wrench in the circle of hotties. And at the same time, we can’t have all of them being that type of person, or else there’s nobody to root for. In the most ironic way possible, postmodernism is required to appeal to archetypes even more than modernism, due to the demand for audience retention and interaction.
Every reality show had to have at least one of every archetype, but remember: it’s totally real, everyone. It just so happened that there’s only one sneaky bitch and there’s only one cool guy and there’s only one innocent girl and there’s only one slacker. It was by random, totally not on purpose, and you’re crazy if you think producers are controlling the environment of these shows in any way. Same goes for dating shows like Next. It’s obvious that these people with their one liners and bad acting are being honest with all of us.
If you didn’t get it by now: I’m being sarcastic, these shows are faker than lady boy tits and the apologies from Bud Light for advertising with such fake tits. And yet, people can’t stop watching these pointless shows. Even I enjoy it, because of how dumb it is. A big part of my life after school was relaxing late at night with MTV and watching stupid reality tv shows. Even respectable ones like Cops were dumb because the entire show was about police officers finding people breaking the law. The entertainment comes from people ruining their day or their entire life with one dumb act after another.
You’re probably wondering: What does any of this have to do with Drawn Together?
Well, imagine all of these reality shows mixed into a cartoon and then each cartoon archetype is from a different type of cartoon. That’s Drawn Together, and the show gets more insane from that point on. The eras of cartoons are represented by the cast members who are to live in one house, as a satire of things like The Real World and as parody of cartoon archetypes. You have Princess Clara(a parody of the Disney Princess), Foxxy(a parody of 70s mystery solving cartoons like Scooby-doo), Xandir(a parody of 80s Nintendo and action cartoons), Wooldoor(a parody of 90s style Nickelodeon shows like Spongebob), Ling-Ling (a parody of anime like Pokemon), Spanky(a parody of internet cartoons from the early 2000s), Toot(a parody of 1930s black and white cartoons like Betty Boop and Popeye), and Captain Hero (a parody of 90s superhero cartoons like Batman Animated Series and Animated Superman).
These character types are all based on their known stereotypes when it comes to appearance, with their appearances never really mixing since these are all different types of cartoons from different styles. You never see a Pikachu with a Batman, or a human unmasker talk to a video game character, or a human princess from a fairy tale talk to a farting pig from the internet. These things never happen in their environment because these things don’t mix. Then the show puts all of these unrelatable characters into a single house to provide random challenges in the same way reality tv does in order to juxtapose the genres.
The art styles also are juxtaposed. Captain hero is drawn with a square jaw, while Toot is drawn incredibly circular and with a giant head. Woldor has giant white eyes while Foxxy only has pupils. Xandir and Claira are drawn rather similar, but even they have their differences with colors and the thickness of the outline. To the untrained eye, these are easy to miss, but to the artist, these are great homages to the very style something is drawn in. An important part to note is that these are all based on other things and are meant to represent them as symbols. There’s no reason for any of this, yet the show does it anyway.
This is what postmodernism is all about: doing things for the sake of doing it. Juxtaposition is a big part of postmodernism. Blending genres and mixing them around is a big part of postmodernism. Subverting tropes to claim originality is a big part of postmodernism. Non-sequitur is a big part of postmodernism. This entire show is one of the most postmodernist things you can find out there and I love everything about it.
You might be thinking “Is Erwin sick? He talks day and night about how postmodernism sucks and then says he loves Drawn Together. Is this an imposter?!”No, it’s me. I’m simply able to understand the purpose of the show, and I love the meta attempt in all of it: the show is a postmodernist attack on… postmodernism. Everything in the show is designed to be a massive middle finger to how postmodernism functions, by being the dysfunctional postmodernist mess it is. From how meaningless the challenges are, to how characters can never die all the way, to how 4th wall jokes stop the show, to how there is a mundane message tacked on at the very end. Everything in this show is a jab at postmodernism, but at the cost of the show’s own integrity.
In the story I’m working on, I would be required to present postmodernism in it so that I can critique it. But, if my entire story revolves around only that, then I would be presenting postmodernism the entire time, which means I can’t separate the thing that I’m attacking from my work, just how a story about the evils of racism would have to feature a racist. Postmodernists attacking postmodernists is the same as a racist saying “racism is fine, but only in the way I do it.”
But is all postmodernism really the same? The show is hated now, after all, right?
Yes, it’s hated now, because it(ironically) went against the grand narrative that postmodernists currently hold, but it was part of the narrative that was held during the early 2000s. Barely 20 years ago, less than half of a generation, millennials were being raised by exploitation. I know that the postmodernists hate it when I use this word to describe nearly all of postmodernism, but by definition, it’s exploitation. You can blame the 80s for this, because once home media became popular, we had movies that went straight to VHS and then later DVDs that were able to push the envelope.
That’s what postmodernism started as: a way to push the envelope.
South Park and Simpsons didn’t do things that were part of the status quo. They went against it to then become the status quo right after. In fact, there’s an amazing joke from the show Bevis and Butthead(another example of postmodernism) that captures this phenomena perfectly, where the two go to a radio show because they were the only caller, and then they influence the radio show by saying stuff sucks and stuff is stupid.
Their own stupidity and negativity was seen as a sort of punk culture by the viewers and so they demanded the radio host, who was angry at them, to do the same. And so, the next day, the radio host does exactly what he threw Bevis and Butthead out for doing. This complete hypocrisy that somehow there are rules, but they can be broken if the money is there, is something Drawn Together also tackled.
The entire first season was all about having pointless challenges with a character called Jew Producer, who was a parody of both Richie Rich and Donald Trump. How did they connect these 3? Easy: Donald Trump had a show called The Apprentice, Richie Rich was a cartoon, and a Jewish producer is a Hollywood cliche that's entirely true. A lot of Jewish people produce Hollywood stuff and TV shows. I don’t know why this is a controversial statement or why the left always gets insulted by that fact, but they constantly freak out the second someone mentions that someone like Harvey Winstein exists.
While I’m talking about controversies, Adam Carolla, the voice of Spanky, was blacklisted by Hollywood because he decided to do the cardinal sin of… demanding free speech in a country with free speech as a constitutional right. I know, how dare he! It shouldn’t surprise us that the former hippies who ran Hollywood on the backbone of free speech and demanded freedom of expression are now against… freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Meanwhile, Tara Strong, a proud jewish woman, voices a character like Princess Clara, with Princess Clara being a racist, homophobic, anti-semite who is also in a sexual relationship with her father.
So, let’s recap: a jewish woman is able to do the voice for such a terrible thing, yet an Italian male comedian is not able to ask for the acceptance to joke about such topics.
Why is this even a thing?Well, at first it really puzzled me, but like when we saw the left defending drag queen acts in front of children, it finally clicked. The problem in Hollywood isn’t that something terrible is said or written or put in a show. A white princess saying terrible things is normal to them, because that’s how they view white people. Their fear is that something might make a non-white person look bad. Something might make the LGBT look bad. There might be an “uncomfortable truth” revealed in a chain of unregulated jokes.
One of the most profitable postmodernist comedians around, Dave Chappelle, was canceled over making trans jokes, despite being a good friend of a trans person who killed themselves after… trans advocates hated the trans person due to being friends with Dave Chappelle. The woke are disgusting people, to put it bluntly. Zero people were harmed by Dave’s comedy, yet the woke harassing people has a death toll that’d make Pol Pot take notes on their efficiency.
So the difference between Tara and Adam is that Adam wants to make jokes about anything, while Tara is just doing her job and reading the script. The free thinker is the threat, while the obedient follower is not. That’s why Tara still gets jobs and Adam is off doing a podcast and somehow still making millions. I’m sure he’s wiping his tears with gold bullion over the thought of no longer being able to do voices for farting animated pigs.
But what exactly makes Drawn Together hated?
To be honest, I didn’t even know someone could hate the show until I was around 20 or so. Some online people I chatted with told me how offended they were by the show and I never understood what offended even meant until that era. I watched the show throughout my teen years without a care in the world. To me, it was another adult animated show that tried to do anything offensive and it was funny all around. Some of the subject matter, contains but is not limited to:
- Incest
- Self harm
- Suicide
- Homoerotic behavior
- Satanic rituals
- Genocide
- Mass murder
- Mass shootings
- Fat jokes
- Donkey shows
- Cannibalism
- Necrophilia
- Pedophila
- Mexican babies getting pregnant
- Asians and their inability to drive
- Black fathers leaving their kids
- Lewd conduct
- Shitting on a pizza
- A live action squirrel with big balls
- An old man with dirty balls
- And let’s not forget the idea that Clara’s vagina is a giant hentai tentacle monster
And this is where we find the split in postmodernism. When postmodernism began as a means of subverting modernism and regulations, it quickly became a cesspool of creative INABILITY thanks to the woke taking over. We went from freedom of expression to being required to advocate, which is a detriment to comedy. Recently, we had a controversy over a show called Big Mouth, which was hated by the right for being considered pedophilic and indoctrination, because the characters were teenagers dealing with puberty monsters and were depicted as being sexualized.
This is one of the many areas the right is losing the battle on, because so many of them are trying to be Platoist or Mohism, meaning they want some kind of hyper utilitarian and aesthetic free environment due to a hatred of art. Plato believed that art was an “imitation”, that it was a “copy of a copy of a form”. It was a corruption and perversion of reality, thus he saw art as evil. Mo-Zi, a Chinese philosopher who shared a lot of his views, also saw art as a pointless distraction because it’s not the responsibility of the government. These kinds of “right wingers” are accidentally falling for philosophies that pave the way for socialism, so it’s hard to take their positions on art seriously when they can’t see how brainwashed their approach is.
I’m going to go with the Jews on this one and say that art is very important, and so is freedom to make art.
Big mouth is not a show that I will say is one of my favorites, but it’s nothing as how the right wanted to depict it as. Obviously these are just people who wanted the next Cuties outrage and they had a swing n’ a miss. The left, on the other hand, is able to say something like Drawn Together is offensive to them and so it must be canceled. And lo, we have the tumblr people unable to reblog about it, we have reddit radio silent about it, we have twitter people afraid to meme with it, but then it’s still prospering in places like youtube.
People want to watch it, but nobody is brave enough to talk about it in fear of being canceled.
The show is a Martyr in two ways:
- It is a postmodernist work attacking postmodernism
- It is a dead form of comedy due to both the left and the right trying to cancel things like it
He then straight up tells her that she’s not their audience, so her opinion doesn’t matter on whether or not the show is good. And he’s right, if you aren’t the audience for something, why should anyone listen to your opinion on the thing you instantly don’t like? It’s like if I had an opinion about which sports team is better. I am 100% uninformed about anything sports related, and the only sport I ever willingly watched was professional wrestling. That’s a sport, right?
Either way, the show is aware that it’s offensive. It’s proud to be offensive. Each character has their own way of offending, both when it comes to a group and when it comes to art itself. This is when postmodernism kicks in and subversion is used to create a surreal environment suited for satire and parody.
As a quick reminder: Satire is when a subject is critiqued and parody is when a subject is used for a joke. An example of this would be where satire is when Scream uses movie tropes to figure out a murder and parody is when the alien from Signs pees with his finger in Scary Movie.
Princess Clara is the Disney princess. Usually a Disney princess seeks a prince to live happily ever after, and she is pure of heart. They subvert this by attaching a bit of reality to the word “princess” and have her in a sexual relationship with her father because princesses would sometimes do that to keep royalty in the family. She’s also a racist and Christian, because royalty in Europe was Christian and it’s “old fashion” for a rich white girl to be racist. Although they keep her desire to sing, the lyrics are still going to hold her views about people, so the humor comes in how she delivers terrible things with a cheery tone. Her character is meant to make fun of traditionalist people, all while using the Disney princess as a face.
With the way wokeness is going, I don’t see a difference between Clara and the current Disney princess now.
Foxxy Love is the Hanna-Barbera style mystery character who is meant to solve crimes, most likely inspired by Valerie Brown from Josie and the Pussycats. She suberts the role by causing crimes and being a degenerate all over. She is a slut, she acts ghetto, she constantly has abortions, you know the deal. This juxtaposition comes from the fact that Valerie is meant to be a hippie musician, and black women on reality TV are depicted as ghetto thanks to shows like Flavor of Love. And for those who don’t know, hippie musicians are usually promiscuous and incredibly loose, with zero regard for decency or sticking to one sex partner because they are all about second wave feminism.
Again, ironically the woke have caused this subversion to be their intentional norm for a lot of black female characters, only they see it as virtuous instead of comical.
Wooldoor Sockbat is the Nickelodeon style hyperactive loony toon who is meant to be both stupid and gullible. There’s not much subversion here with personality, but it’s all with how far he’s willing to go with his zany humor, such as randomly threatening to suck someone’s dick and having giant tits out of nowhere, which he will then squish into the camera while crying. He’s meant to be loud and random, just like Spongebob or Stimpy. However, with the way Spongebob has become after their first movie, the only thing separating Wooldoor from something like Spongebob is direct word usage.
Plus, Ren and Stimpy had their adult party cartoon reboot made by the creator, so doing something gay and entirely disturbing is nothing new for that kind of character. I still can’t believe that it came out in 2003. In fact, I can’t believe Ren and Stimpy was on Nickelodeon with the stuff they put in there. But, that’s the appeal of Wooldoor, because he does the stuff people have been doing with characters like him for years. I would even say he’s not much of a satire since he’s so close to the content he’s meant to make fun of.
Xandir Wifflebottom is the 80s action cartoon parody, as well as early video game cartoons. During the 80s and 90s, we had a lot of Nintendo shows like Legend of Zelda, which took after plot scripts like Transformers, GI Joe, He-Man, and other product placement shows during that time. Only a few episodes of Drawn Together make fun of these simple action plots, but this connection between the merchandise advertising shows and video game cartoons is important, since they are the same thing, and it’s a product of postmodernism. Shows during the 80s and 90s that were simply there to sell something with the show, whether it was a game or a toy, were part of this media and real life blur. His gayness comes from how people viewed both He-Man and Link, since Link was a feminine looking elf and He-Man was a muscular dude who didn’t wear a shirt when he’s fighting.
This one is kind of interesting since it touches on the subject of queer coding. The left is so desperate to feel like the LGBT is represented, they will declare something is gay because it “feels gay”. This feeling is based on whoever is attracted to a fictional character, so if gay men are attracted to He-Man, or if they like his outfit, then that means he’s totally gay. Link is a character who has sadly been considered a “gay icon” by websites like Polygon, all because the designers made him rather gender neutral in later games in order for him to appeal to a female fanbase that was growing. And when they say gender neutral, they mean “he’s not muscular and he has a pretty face”, similar to practically any 00s alt rock band memeber.
Apparently, having that and then having gay people make gay fanfics about the character instantly means the character is gay. The show made fun of this queer coding nonsense by making Xandir a raging homosexual that is constantly killed like a Mortal Kombat character.
Captain Hero, my favorite character, is the comic book show hero that we all know and love. He’s meant to save the day from evil villains, but they subvert his role by having him be entirely useless and usually the cause of mass destruction. He has superpowers, but he’s so stupid and useless that he doesn’t use them most of the time, like when he is immune to bullets but he still grabs a random woman to use her as a “hero shield” when getting shot at. His character makes fun of how postmodernist super heroes try to depict the classic hero as a terrible monster or some kind of morally warped anti-hero. This is due to how Batman went from whacky detective to psychotic nut job during the transition from the 60s to the 80s, thanks to influences like Alan Moore’s Watchman and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. His character is more like a Superman, which the Bizzaro Superman comics have covered that kind of thing to make way for a super powered idiot who has sex with corpses.
Why does he have sex with dead bodies? Well, because he’s “alien” to us, the point of the joke is that he’s so super powered that he can do whatever he wants, and uses his powers to have sex with something that can’t fight back. Kind of a “he can have any woman he wants, but he would rather have sex with a rotten corpse” kind of thing. Or maybe it’s making fun of how Superman cares about Lois Lane even though she might as well be a rotten corpse to him, because she’s a human and he’s an alien. Either way, it covers a big problem we started to get in the 90s where superheroes were quickly becoming hyper violent assholes who do anything disgusting for the sake of shock value.
Ling-Ling is basically a Pikachu, but here he will battle with anything and cause gory deaths upon his opponent. The joke is that kid shows featuring these little monsters, like Pokemon and Digimon, will have zero blood, and yet the attacks they do are strong enough to cause giant explosions. Thankfully, these go past the typical Dorkly joke and Ling-Ling will also have jokes centered around being Asian and have a made up language that sounds Japanese because he says “kitowa” a lot.
Just like Xandir, Ling-Ling is treated like a punching bag by the others in nearly every episode, and I think it has to do with the video game relation, since Pokemon began as a video game and the show was there as a way of advertising the product. Plus, during the 00s, there was little respect for something like anime, no matter how much someone knew about the golden age of 80s anime.
Spanky Ham is something I’m not really sure what influenced him, but it’s said it might be an early flash cartoon called Evil Piggies. However, there is a flash cartoon from 1997 made by John K, the creator of Ren and Stimpy, called The Goddamn George Liquor Program, that seems more in line with Spanky’s scat fetish. Early internet cartoons usually had people’s faces done in a South Park style, where the mouth moved by cutting the bottom half off and moving that up and down. When I went on Newgrounds during that time, all I would see were stick figures, parodies of existing cartoons, and something like Ctrl+Alt+Del where the characters were drawn as humans in that typical web comic style. He might have also been inspired by Happy Tree Friends, which first came out in 1999, so the idea of cute animals dying randomly, and the crude humor of The Goddamn George Liquor Program might have caused a farting pig to come into fruition.
The joke is that he’s a pig who likes to drink and have sex, as well as be disgusting, but then somehow he’s also like Ren where he has schemes to make money. I forget if there is a word for this kind of character, but he’s the Squidward type who always gets harmed by his own greed. There is also a lot of Fritz the Cat in his character, which was an animated movie based on an underground comic about a cat who would go on sexual escapades. This “cartoon animal doing adult stuff” has been a joke since the 60s, and even Howard the Duck had issues with what Nostalgia Critic calls “duck boobies”. Speaking of adult ducks, there is even a show called Duckman that was made by the same company that made Rugrats.
People treat Bojak Horseman as this hip new thing when it’s simply part of a long line of animated foul mouth farm animals wearing suits.
Finally, Toot Braunstein is the representative of silent cartoons. Betty Boop was seen as sexy for being curvy, and the joke is that Toot is just plain fat and old, with her body hair and repulsiveness, as well as her tits always sagging to her cankles. She is always harming herself because of a self-esteem issue, caused by her weight and age, which is joined by an alcoholic problem due to her being from the roaring 20s. The joke is that she’s that girl in every reality TV show that is completely disgusting to look at, but she’ll see herself as a hot chick despite hitting the wall so hard that illegals can pour through the cracks. Plus, people believe Betty Boop was based on Clara Bow, who was a flapper “it girl” who suffered from hard drug use, schizophrenia, and was constantly rejected for being too fat.
Toot is the only one in the list who’s not directly a product of postmodernism, but there was a particular charm to rubber hose animation(gained its name for how limbs acted like rubber hoses) that continued onward to create things like Ren and Stimpy, Loony Toons, Tom and Jerry, and even some movies that tried to revive properties of the 30s. The Popeye movie is a great example as to how studios in the postmodernist era tried to desperately mix live action with cartoons, and same goes with Who Framed Roger Rabbit with how it was a movie that mixed live action with rubber hose animation.
Part 2
2023.06.02 10:31 lazycat1989 Trip Review - South Africa, May 2023
Just got back from a solo trip through South Africa, and despite all the cautions and reservations I heard on- and off-line, I loved every bit of it! Sharing some quick notes here for reference, and happy to answer any queries from people thinking of travelling there.
Profile
34 yo Indian man. Not the primest of targets for crime, admittedly, but I didn't really look like a poor write-off as well.
Dates
21 May 2023 - 31 May 2023
Itinerary
2N in Johannesburg with visits to Apartheid Museum, Soweto, and Rosebank Mall. Stayed at Clico Boutique Hotel in Rosebank. Found the city to be pleasant and well worth the stopover, also perfectly safe if navigated using Uber or through join-in tours.
3N in Greater Kruger, specifically at Nyati Safari Lodge in the Balule Reserve, with 2x game drives daily (morning and evening). Saw 3 of the big 5 (missed out on Rhinos and Leopards but have seen them earlier in India, so no heartache) as well as animals unique to Africa - hippos (right outside my room!), zebra, giraffes, and more antelopes than I can remember the names of. Also did a bushwalk, and loved all the bush sundowners and breakfasts. It was absolutely safe inside the lodge, the bigger threats mere mischeivous monkeys raiding the mini-bar. This was my first African Safari experience, and I loved every bit of it - can definitely see myself become a safari hoe in the years to come.
2N in Franschhoek, with a day-long self-cycle through the region (the road from Berg River Dam to Huguenot Memorial is beautiful), and more wine tastings (highly recommend Eikehof and Glenwood) than I'd had in the entirety of my life till the day. The place was my favourite in SA - beautiful, delicious, creative, and a bubble of safety. Stayed at the lovely Chanteclair guesthouse (the host Allan is a gem).
3N in Cape Town, with visits to Table Mountain, the waterfront, a peninsula tour (Camp's Bay, Hout Bay, Chapman's Peak, Cape of Good Hope, Boulders Penguin Colony, and Muizenberg), Kirstenbosch, Company's Garden, Zeitz MCAA (fantastic if you're into art) and Bo Kaap (with the lovely and free Cape Town Walking Tours). The city is easily one of the most, if not the most, beautiful in the world - the setting is spectacular, even in the cold, windy, rainy weather I was there in. It was also markedly safer than Joburg, and there were several parts of town where walking around didn't make me feel as on-edge. Stayed at Taj Cape Town (stellar downtown hotel which allows easier access to the actual city than the tourist enclave hotels of the lively but sterile Waterfront area).
Safety
Almost everyone I spoke to before visiting South Africa painted it as a free-for-all crime zone. I'd be mugged, raped, killed, or whatnot here, they said. Don't go alone. Don't go at all. All of it, ofcourse, turned out to be overblown, panic-stricken hogwash. I navigated the country without incident. BUT I didn't just stroll into town with an open wallet either - I made sure to stay at good hotels (within my budget), keep my valuables hidden away like in a secure backpack or an inside pocket, check locally for safety advice, and use Ubers or tours wherever recommended. These weren't special safety procedures designed for South Africa, mind you, they were just common precautions I'd use in any country I was visiting. It helped my travel remain incident free, and the only time I was approached by someone mildly unsavoury was when a drunk man stumbled past saying 'Good day brother' in Bo Kaap. The biggest threat to my safety in SA turned out to be marauding monkeys at my lodge near Kruger who raided the neighbouring room's minibar and made away with milk and coffee sachets. Also, contrary to some advice, things left lying around in my hotel room as well as check-in baggage at the airports remained absolutely safe and untampered.
Power (Cuts)
Load shedding is rife, and Joburg was seeing 10-12 hours of load shedding while I was there. However, all my hotels had power backup, and all the spots I visited had power backup (wherever needed), so I effectively only ever noticed loadshedding during the switch-overs between supply and gensets in my smaller Joburg and Franschhoek hotels. I even disabled the push notifications for the power supply app (ESP) because it was of no real use to me any more. Moral of the story - make sure your hotel has power backup, and carry a power bank in the unlikely event you find yourself at a cafe without electricity. Also, check up on the power points - I didn't do my research properly and had to buy two overpriced plugs in Joburg.
Weather
Joburg had crisp weather with lots of sun, but cool temperatures. Kruger had warm days and cool nights - layers were essential! Franschhoek was kinda like Joburg weather, while Cape Town was windy and rainy. The only place I could contemplate swimming was in Kruger and in the heated pool of my Cape Town hotel.
Food
EXCELLENT everywhere, even in remote Kruger. Franschhoek, however, was a highlight - if there's one place you'd want to splurge for good food, it's here. Also helps that the wine is cheap and plentiful and sublime. For vegetarians and vegans, most restaurants had symbols identifying suitable menu items, and everyone speaks English so its easy to clarify. Would recommend making online reservations at the more popular fine dining spots.
Costs
On the whole, South Africa is very affordable for someone used to American or European or Japanese or Singaporean prices, especially with the unabated fall of the ZAR. Coming from India, however, it was a bit of a mixed bag - dining out was very cheap, and hotels were great value, but domestic flights and longer taxi transfers (like Cape Town - Franschhoek or the day tours) felt expensive. Uber rides and high street shopping were just a tad pricier than I'm used to in India while the coffee and alcohol prices were an absolute delight. Entrance tickets to most sights, however, are fairly steep and much closer to the European norm than the African or Asian. That said, major sights are professionally managed, clean, safe, and have power backup.
Tipping is expected, I'd round things upward of 10% of the bill amount, except at a fine dining experience in Franschhoek where a service charge was explicitly included and informed about. Tips can be added to the card machine and need not necessarily be paid in cash.
Paying by card is practically universal in tourist-friendly spots (including entry tickets and even for smaller payments), and I didn't need to exchange any extra cash or use an ATM. Visa and Mastercard work everywhere ofcourse, and Amex has appreciable reach as well. Diner's Club and others, however, won't help.
It's good to exchange a small amount like 100 USD to help with petty payments like parking tickets or small tips or quick bites from convenience stores.
Communication
I purchased a Vodacom sim on arrival at Johannesburg, and it worked well everywhere, even giving 5G in most of Joburg, Cape Town, and Franschhoek centre. Data and talktime prices were a tad expensive (I'm spoilt because it's dirt cheap in India), but it was easy to top things up online or at stores on-the-go.
Free WiFi was widely available at airports, tourist sights, restaurants, malls etc, and worked quite decentl
Getting around
Uber works well in Joburg and Cape Town, with many local recommending Uber X. Bolt, however, was universally NOT recommended because it wasn't very reliable. I didn't try public transport, but heard that the Gautrain in Joburg and the Myciti BRT in Cape Town were safe and good quality.
I also flew from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit and Hoedspruit to Cape Town with Airlink, which was a great little regional airline with good service, punctual arrivals/departures, and a very tourist-friendly schedule and network. The tickets were quite overpriced though, and Amex refused to work on their own website, but I did get to check-in on to business class seats on economy tickets so I guess it was good overall.
I didn't self-drive. However, I met several travellers who did it (including a German lady who was campervanning solo across the entirety of southern Africa), and they reported it being easy and safe. The only precautions were to make sure you were hiring from a reputable company, not driving too much at night (out of fear of being stranded more than anything else), and purchasing the insurance plan with the agent. I did use plenty of roads, and generally observed that most highways were in decent shape and allowed for 100+ kmph speeds. Petrol stations were plentiful, and many came attached with convenience stores and mini-malls, usually with power backup. For parking, you'd usually have a local tout popping up helping you manouevre the car and watch over it for a small 5-10 ZAR tip (don't skimp on this, as petty thieves have been known to break into unattended cars to pilfer whatever they can, though I never ever saw this in action - practically every street in every town had a parking attendant on hand).
I did cycle around Franschhoek by myself and it was fantastic, much better than the kitschy Wine Tram experience. It was also very safe, and I even biked through town for dinner and some moonlight photos. The only bugbears were car traffic on the main roads, and a caution by the bike rental shop against leaving the night lamp on the bike unattended (had to unlatch it and keep it on me instead - but still, safer than biking in Amsterdam lol).
Getting there
Joburg is the biggest international airport with the better flight deals and has direct flights to all inhabited continents. It's a fairly modern and easy-to-use terminal, and I didn't observe any of the usual scams. Cape Town is the better looking airport, but has fewer connections, although it's still easy to get here with a simple transit at a major hub like London or Dubai. Durban also has a middle-sized airport with a handful of long haul links.
Most other airports are small - Hoedspruit was basically a collection of open-to-air pavillions - and have only domestic flights to the likes of JNB or CPT. Nelspruit, in southern Kruger has a few Airlink connections with Victoria Falls and the Mozambique coast, aimed at holidayers.
As an Indian, I was eligible for an evisa but the system never worked, taking my documents but never letting me pay the application fee. I instead applied manually at Delhi's VFS centre, and got my visa in 2 days (the VFS staff also told me that the evisa portal was hopeless and I shouldn't even have bothered). The evisa system finally budged while I was en-route to JNB, telling me that my application was rejected because I never submitted a bank statement (which I did) and completely ignored the fact that I never paid for my application (thanks to the inactive payment link). The rejection clearly didn't get slotted in anywhere because Immigrations was absolutely fine with my stamped-visa and didn't bother asking me anything other than why I was visiting and when I'd leave.
I flew in on Etihad via Abu Dhabi (decent airline but the airport needs a lot of work to compete with its neighbours) and back on Emirates via Dubai (excellent airline with very generous meals and a great IFE, as well as a huge and modern megahub airport experience albeit with overpriced food and shopping). Flight timings were fairly convenient both ways, with day-time arrivals and check-ins.
People
Some of the friendliest I've ever met! Everybody is happy to have a zany chat, and conversations can quickly become pal-ly and banter-ful if you're open enough. On the whole South Africans felt fairly extroverted and loosened up - very informal and sleeves-rolled-up. You'll have to excuse yourself out of a conversation, else you'll be left talking to them the whole day and not have any time left to sightsee.
Race
Speaking as an outsider who only observed things for 10 odd days, I felt that there's still a decent amount of racial segregation at play in SA.
While many lower-paying jobs are almost exclusively held by blacks and the colours thanks to the country's history of institutionalised racism, Blacks and Coloured peoples can now also be commonly seen in upscale areas as guests and visitors. However, the majority of patrons in these locations appeared to be white and Afrikaans speaking. I also only ever saw one mixed group - a white lady entertaining a black man and his daughter at a Cape Town waterfront restaurant where I was having dinner.
I did share a few drinks with Joburg-based white couples at my safari lodge, and on the whole, they didn't feel inherently racist. They in fact remembered the Mandela and Mbeki days with pride, and felt that most of the crime in South Africa was thanks to the corruption in the African National Congress (they were all praises for the opposition who holds sway in the Cape) and immigrants from neighbouring countries - they rather trusted Black South Africans for everyday affairs. At my Cape Town hotel, meanwhile, I met a few black businessmen and politicians at the pool and gym, and they told me similar things - that the ANC was corrupt, immigrants are to blame for crime etc, and didn't really have any strong opinions about whites. These experiences contrasted greatly with my conversation with a white Afrikaner pensioner in my Zanzibar hotel ten years ago, who was spewing hate against black crime after two whiskeys.
Since I'm Indian, I was often mistaken for a local - everybody (regardless of their race) would be taken aback when they heard my accent and learnt I was actually not South African (which has a large South Asian origin community) or even African (many South Asian origin peoples in eastern Africa and Mauritius especially). This spoke volumes to me - in the UK, where I studied and which now has an Indian-origin PM and a hugely visible South Asian diaspora, people would still ask me 'what country are you from?' on appearance alone. It really did emphasize how SA was more of a rainbow nation than just a slogan.
What did I like?
Practically everything, even Joburg. The safari experience was better than I expected, Cape Town was breathtaking, and Franschhoek became my favourite little town in the world. Also loved the food and the wine, and loved meeting and chatting with the locals. Of all the countries I've visited, SA is the one I'm surest about wanting to return to - and I'm not trying to be diplomatic - I honestly felt like I need more time here.
What didn't I like?
I disliked how such a great country with excellent basic infrastructure is being mismanaged. EVERYONE I spoke to was complaining about how corruption killed the country's power supply system and railways and is now threatening other aspects of life. None of these directly or visibly impacted my travels, but I would've liked being able to take a train instead of flights or not spend a premium to stay at places that had generators.
Anything I'd change?
While Joburg turned out to be a pleasant place, had I the option, I'd have skipped it to spend more time in Cape Town. I'd also spend a few more days in Franschhoek and around - the area turned out to be my favourite. Now that I've also had a lay of the land, I'm more confident about self-driving next time I visit. Also, I only realised how convenient it is to travel from SA to neighbouring countries, and would like to latch on visits to the Namibian desert, Botswana's game parks, the Victoria Falls on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border, and the beaches of Mozambique alongside a return to SA.
I realise I could have managed some things better on this trip, but bottom line is that I enjoyed it, and that this is not a 'who had the best trip' competition. I'm just sharing my positive experience of South Africa in the hope that it encourages others to properly and safely plan a trip to the place instead of avoiding it out of second-hand-scares.
Happy to take any follow ups in the comments :)
submitted by lazycat1989 to solotravel [link] [comments]
Profile
34 yo Indian man. Not the primest of targets for crime, admittedly, but I didn't really look like a poor write-off as well.
Dates
21 May 2023 - 31 May 2023
Itinerary
2N in Johannesburg with visits to Apartheid Museum, Soweto, and Rosebank Mall. Stayed at Clico Boutique Hotel in Rosebank. Found the city to be pleasant and well worth the stopover, also perfectly safe if navigated using Uber or through join-in tours.
3N in Greater Kruger, specifically at Nyati Safari Lodge in the Balule Reserve, with 2x game drives daily (morning and evening). Saw 3 of the big 5 (missed out on Rhinos and Leopards but have seen them earlier in India, so no heartache) as well as animals unique to Africa - hippos (right outside my room!), zebra, giraffes, and more antelopes than I can remember the names of. Also did a bushwalk, and loved all the bush sundowners and breakfasts. It was absolutely safe inside the lodge, the bigger threats mere mischeivous monkeys raiding the mini-bar. This was my first African Safari experience, and I loved every bit of it - can definitely see myself become a safari hoe in the years to come.
2N in Franschhoek, with a day-long self-cycle through the region (the road from Berg River Dam to Huguenot Memorial is beautiful), and more wine tastings (highly recommend Eikehof and Glenwood) than I'd had in the entirety of my life till the day. The place was my favourite in SA - beautiful, delicious, creative, and a bubble of safety. Stayed at the lovely Chanteclair guesthouse (the host Allan is a gem).
3N in Cape Town, with visits to Table Mountain, the waterfront, a peninsula tour (Camp's Bay, Hout Bay, Chapman's Peak, Cape of Good Hope, Boulders Penguin Colony, and Muizenberg), Kirstenbosch, Company's Garden, Zeitz MCAA (fantastic if you're into art) and Bo Kaap (with the lovely and free Cape Town Walking Tours). The city is easily one of the most, if not the most, beautiful in the world - the setting is spectacular, even in the cold, windy, rainy weather I was there in. It was also markedly safer than Joburg, and there were several parts of town where walking around didn't make me feel as on-edge. Stayed at Taj Cape Town (stellar downtown hotel which allows easier access to the actual city than the tourist enclave hotels of the lively but sterile Waterfront area).
Safety
Almost everyone I spoke to before visiting South Africa painted it as a free-for-all crime zone. I'd be mugged, raped, killed, or whatnot here, they said. Don't go alone. Don't go at all. All of it, ofcourse, turned out to be overblown, panic-stricken hogwash. I navigated the country without incident. BUT I didn't just stroll into town with an open wallet either - I made sure to stay at good hotels (within my budget), keep my valuables hidden away like in a secure backpack or an inside pocket, check locally for safety advice, and use Ubers or tours wherever recommended. These weren't special safety procedures designed for South Africa, mind you, they were just common precautions I'd use in any country I was visiting. It helped my travel remain incident free, and the only time I was approached by someone mildly unsavoury was when a drunk man stumbled past saying 'Good day brother' in Bo Kaap. The biggest threat to my safety in SA turned out to be marauding monkeys at my lodge near Kruger who raided the neighbouring room's minibar and made away with milk and coffee sachets. Also, contrary to some advice, things left lying around in my hotel room as well as check-in baggage at the airports remained absolutely safe and untampered.
Power (Cuts)
Load shedding is rife, and Joburg was seeing 10-12 hours of load shedding while I was there. However, all my hotels had power backup, and all the spots I visited had power backup (wherever needed), so I effectively only ever noticed loadshedding during the switch-overs between supply and gensets in my smaller Joburg and Franschhoek hotels. I even disabled the push notifications for the power supply app (ESP) because it was of no real use to me any more. Moral of the story - make sure your hotel has power backup, and carry a power bank in the unlikely event you find yourself at a cafe without electricity. Also, check up on the power points - I didn't do my research properly and had to buy two overpriced plugs in Joburg.
Weather
Joburg had crisp weather with lots of sun, but cool temperatures. Kruger had warm days and cool nights - layers were essential! Franschhoek was kinda like Joburg weather, while Cape Town was windy and rainy. The only place I could contemplate swimming was in Kruger and in the heated pool of my Cape Town hotel.
Food
EXCELLENT everywhere, even in remote Kruger. Franschhoek, however, was a highlight - if there's one place you'd want to splurge for good food, it's here. Also helps that the wine is cheap and plentiful and sublime. For vegetarians and vegans, most restaurants had symbols identifying suitable menu items, and everyone speaks English so its easy to clarify. Would recommend making online reservations at the more popular fine dining spots.
Costs
On the whole, South Africa is very affordable for someone used to American or European or Japanese or Singaporean prices, especially with the unabated fall of the ZAR. Coming from India, however, it was a bit of a mixed bag - dining out was very cheap, and hotels were great value, but domestic flights and longer taxi transfers (like Cape Town - Franschhoek or the day tours) felt expensive. Uber rides and high street shopping were just a tad pricier than I'm used to in India while the coffee and alcohol prices were an absolute delight. Entrance tickets to most sights, however, are fairly steep and much closer to the European norm than the African or Asian. That said, major sights are professionally managed, clean, safe, and have power backup.
Tipping is expected, I'd round things upward of 10% of the bill amount, except at a fine dining experience in Franschhoek where a service charge was explicitly included and informed about. Tips can be added to the card machine and need not necessarily be paid in cash.
Paying by card is practically universal in tourist-friendly spots (including entry tickets and even for smaller payments), and I didn't need to exchange any extra cash or use an ATM. Visa and Mastercard work everywhere ofcourse, and Amex has appreciable reach as well. Diner's Club and others, however, won't help.
It's good to exchange a small amount like 100 USD to help with petty payments like parking tickets or small tips or quick bites from convenience stores.
Communication
I purchased a Vodacom sim on arrival at Johannesburg, and it worked well everywhere, even giving 5G in most of Joburg, Cape Town, and Franschhoek centre. Data and talktime prices were a tad expensive (I'm spoilt because it's dirt cheap in India), but it was easy to top things up online or at stores on-the-go.
Free WiFi was widely available at airports, tourist sights, restaurants, malls etc, and worked quite decentl
Getting around
Uber works well in Joburg and Cape Town, with many local recommending Uber X. Bolt, however, was universally NOT recommended because it wasn't very reliable. I didn't try public transport, but heard that the Gautrain in Joburg and the Myciti BRT in Cape Town were safe and good quality.
I also flew from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit and Hoedspruit to Cape Town with Airlink, which was a great little regional airline with good service, punctual arrivals/departures, and a very tourist-friendly schedule and network. The tickets were quite overpriced though, and Amex refused to work on their own website, but I did get to check-in on to business class seats on economy tickets so I guess it was good overall.
I didn't self-drive. However, I met several travellers who did it (including a German lady who was campervanning solo across the entirety of southern Africa), and they reported it being easy and safe. The only precautions were to make sure you were hiring from a reputable company, not driving too much at night (out of fear of being stranded more than anything else), and purchasing the insurance plan with the agent. I did use plenty of roads, and generally observed that most highways were in decent shape and allowed for 100+ kmph speeds. Petrol stations were plentiful, and many came attached with convenience stores and mini-malls, usually with power backup. For parking, you'd usually have a local tout popping up helping you manouevre the car and watch over it for a small 5-10 ZAR tip (don't skimp on this, as petty thieves have been known to break into unattended cars to pilfer whatever they can, though I never ever saw this in action - practically every street in every town had a parking attendant on hand).
I did cycle around Franschhoek by myself and it was fantastic, much better than the kitschy Wine Tram experience. It was also very safe, and I even biked through town for dinner and some moonlight photos. The only bugbears were car traffic on the main roads, and a caution by the bike rental shop against leaving the night lamp on the bike unattended (had to unlatch it and keep it on me instead - but still, safer than biking in Amsterdam lol).
Getting there
Joburg is the biggest international airport with the better flight deals and has direct flights to all inhabited continents. It's a fairly modern and easy-to-use terminal, and I didn't observe any of the usual scams. Cape Town is the better looking airport, but has fewer connections, although it's still easy to get here with a simple transit at a major hub like London or Dubai. Durban also has a middle-sized airport with a handful of long haul links.
Most other airports are small - Hoedspruit was basically a collection of open-to-air pavillions - and have only domestic flights to the likes of JNB or CPT. Nelspruit, in southern Kruger has a few Airlink connections with Victoria Falls and the Mozambique coast, aimed at holidayers.
As an Indian, I was eligible for an evisa but the system never worked, taking my documents but never letting me pay the application fee. I instead applied manually at Delhi's VFS centre, and got my visa in 2 days (the VFS staff also told me that the evisa portal was hopeless and I shouldn't even have bothered). The evisa system finally budged while I was en-route to JNB, telling me that my application was rejected because I never submitted a bank statement (which I did) and completely ignored the fact that I never paid for my application (thanks to the inactive payment link). The rejection clearly didn't get slotted in anywhere because Immigrations was absolutely fine with my stamped-visa and didn't bother asking me anything other than why I was visiting and when I'd leave.
I flew in on Etihad via Abu Dhabi (decent airline but the airport needs a lot of work to compete with its neighbours) and back on Emirates via Dubai (excellent airline with very generous meals and a great IFE, as well as a huge and modern megahub airport experience albeit with overpriced food and shopping). Flight timings were fairly convenient both ways, with day-time arrivals and check-ins.
People
Some of the friendliest I've ever met! Everybody is happy to have a zany chat, and conversations can quickly become pal-ly and banter-ful if you're open enough. On the whole South Africans felt fairly extroverted and loosened up - very informal and sleeves-rolled-up. You'll have to excuse yourself out of a conversation, else you'll be left talking to them the whole day and not have any time left to sightsee.
Race
Speaking as an outsider who only observed things for 10 odd days, I felt that there's still a decent amount of racial segregation at play in SA.
While many lower-paying jobs are almost exclusively held by blacks and the colours thanks to the country's history of institutionalised racism, Blacks and Coloured peoples can now also be commonly seen in upscale areas as guests and visitors. However, the majority of patrons in these locations appeared to be white and Afrikaans speaking. I also only ever saw one mixed group - a white lady entertaining a black man and his daughter at a Cape Town waterfront restaurant where I was having dinner.
I did share a few drinks with Joburg-based white couples at my safari lodge, and on the whole, they didn't feel inherently racist. They in fact remembered the Mandela and Mbeki days with pride, and felt that most of the crime in South Africa was thanks to the corruption in the African National Congress (they were all praises for the opposition who holds sway in the Cape) and immigrants from neighbouring countries - they rather trusted Black South Africans for everyday affairs. At my Cape Town hotel, meanwhile, I met a few black businessmen and politicians at the pool and gym, and they told me similar things - that the ANC was corrupt, immigrants are to blame for crime etc, and didn't really have any strong opinions about whites. These experiences contrasted greatly with my conversation with a white Afrikaner pensioner in my Zanzibar hotel ten years ago, who was spewing hate against black crime after two whiskeys.
Since I'm Indian, I was often mistaken for a local - everybody (regardless of their race) would be taken aback when they heard my accent and learnt I was actually not South African (which has a large South Asian origin community) or even African (many South Asian origin peoples in eastern Africa and Mauritius especially). This spoke volumes to me - in the UK, where I studied and which now has an Indian-origin PM and a hugely visible South Asian diaspora, people would still ask me 'what country are you from?' on appearance alone. It really did emphasize how SA was more of a rainbow nation than just a slogan.
What did I like?
Practically everything, even Joburg. The safari experience was better than I expected, Cape Town was breathtaking, and Franschhoek became my favourite little town in the world. Also loved the food and the wine, and loved meeting and chatting with the locals. Of all the countries I've visited, SA is the one I'm surest about wanting to return to - and I'm not trying to be diplomatic - I honestly felt like I need more time here.
What didn't I like?
I disliked how such a great country with excellent basic infrastructure is being mismanaged. EVERYONE I spoke to was complaining about how corruption killed the country's power supply system and railways and is now threatening other aspects of life. None of these directly or visibly impacted my travels, but I would've liked being able to take a train instead of flights or not spend a premium to stay at places that had generators.
Anything I'd change?
While Joburg turned out to be a pleasant place, had I the option, I'd have skipped it to spend more time in Cape Town. I'd also spend a few more days in Franschhoek and around - the area turned out to be my favourite. Now that I've also had a lay of the land, I'm more confident about self-driving next time I visit. Also, I only realised how convenient it is to travel from SA to neighbouring countries, and would like to latch on visits to the Namibian desert, Botswana's game parks, the Victoria Falls on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border, and the beaches of Mozambique alongside a return to SA.
I realise I could have managed some things better on this trip, but bottom line is that I enjoyed it, and that this is not a 'who had the best trip' competition. I'm just sharing my positive experience of South Africa in the hope that it encourages others to properly and safely plan a trip to the place instead of avoiding it out of second-hand-scares.
Happy to take any follow ups in the comments :)
2023.06.02 10:19 YamiJanp April/May - Double the months, double the games [20/25]
I somehow forgot to post an update for April and when I realized my mistake, it was already almost the end of May, so I decided to lump the two together. These two months were mostly the months of Pathfinder. I spent whole April and most of the May playing Kingmaker and brainstorming my character for Wrath of the Righteous. I think my friends, who decided to play alongside me helped that a lot. And we even started talking about trying Pathfinder tabletop game just few hours ago, which I'll DM for. It's nice when videogames have this kind of effect on people. Other than that, I finished Hero's Hour and while I had fun with it as Heroes clone, it was lacking some depth that would hook me on it. I also played forgotten adventure A Vampyre Story, which I wish got a sequel. I finally finished Heidi: The Game. Took me like an hour in total. It was mindless 2D platformer and I still don't regret playing it. Then in May, I opened Itch.io and a small game called Fridge Floppers caught my attention. It was fun in-and-out action to complete during my break. I also finally got around to play Frog Detective 3 and it was magnificent ending to the whole trilogy. I played Five Dates, which is well-made interactive movie about dating in the time of corona. And I also played the Mafia: Definitive Edition, a remake of my childhood game. At the end of the month, I started playing Total War: Three Kingdoms. Last Total War game I played was Napoleon, so it has been a while. It's fun so far. On Switch, I made some progress in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but I'm close to just dropping it. I'm not feeling it. On the other hand, I bought Fire Emblem: Engage and I'm having fun with it so far. I also played LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which is really boring and doesn't live up to the original LEGO games. I'm currently at Episode VIII, so I think I'll just quickly get past the story mode and end it there. So, let's talk about these games. This will be long update. And as always, beware of spoilers...
Hero's Hour
Well, this journey finally ended. I had to make it my secondary go-for game to break a gameplay stereotype a little bit, but I think I'm finally done with it.
I appreciate what the devs decided to do. A Heroes clone that combines stuff from 3rd and 4th entry sounds crazy, but it works. I felt like at home right from the start. The inspiration is sometimes way too obvious, for example there are structures with 1:1 design taken straight from Heroes. I don't mind it that much, I took it as a nod to the legendary series. I would say the inspiration helped me get "in" the game and understand some of the deeper mechanics faster.
The fractions in this game are a combination of Heroes 3 and 4 fractions mixed with something new. Each fraction had its own gimmick that made it unique. For example undead fraction could rise dead enemies, the barbarians could only level up their units by combat, sea fraction could dig up pearls and trade them for more units, lovecraftian fraction had powerful heroes, who could be on multiple places at once, but had to sacrifice some cultists to be able to recruit stronger units and so on... I've played about a half of maps with random fraction to try them all, but later rotated between 3-4 fractions based on my current mood. I think my favourites were undeads and seafolks.
Each fractions had multiple heroes, each one with unique skill tree. But some skills were shared by multiple characters. And with it comes one of my biggest gripes with the game. These skill trees are so unbalanced. There is OP skill that let's you fill a bar after each battle and when you fill it up, it will spawn a Red Dragon on your team. Red Dragon is one of the strongest units in the game. And that is not all. When level up, this skill also let's you upgrade Red Dragons into Black Dragons, who are even more broken than their Heroes 4 counterpart. And some characters can get this skill as early as level 2. Meaning that you can get extreme push in power within first few turns of the game and can completely steamroll your opponents. But it's not the only skill that is unbalanced. While heroes take active part in the battle, their damage is minimal and there are barely any skills that would make them better. Meaning that heroes' main purpose is to cast spells. And the problem is that some heroes only get spell skills at the top of their skill tree. While there are some good pasive skills, the ability to completely wreck your enemies with spells is just better. I mean there are spells that will basically take your opponent's units and make them yours. And once again, some characters can get these spells super early in the game or even start with them.
Which slowly brings me to battles. I had love-hate relationship with them throughout the whole game. Your units move and attack on their own and your only interaction with the battlefield are your heroes' spells. Well, you can also tell your units to retreat or move somewhere else, but it usually had no effect on the battle. So your only way to affect the battle stands on the ability of your hero to cast spells. And having enough mana to do so. As I said, some spells were crazy. There were multiple times, when I got in the battle with just my hero and small army of troops against huge army. And I won just because my hero could cast overpowered spells the whole time. Be it summoning spells or spells that make some of your opponent's unit instantly disappear or change the team or just good old meteorite rain. On the other hand, when my hero had no spells or couldn't cast them, I had to sit through multiple minutes of automatic battle, which got boring pretty fast, because each unit has one animation for movement and one for attack. Because the battlemaps were flat with nothing interesting on them, I also could strategize in any meaningful way. And it was the worst during battles I knew I'll win, just based on power and numbers of my units, but still had to sit through them. Also in most games, there was usually one huge clash with each opponent, after which my opponent could never get enough momentum again to be any threat.
Final point I would to gather my thoughts on are maps themselves. There is no campaign, only few skirmishes. Well, there are over 40 of them. Each map is randomly generated, but you always see the general skeleton the map will follow. It will show you if you and your enemies are connected by land or sea and if there are any neutral towns. But while each map was randomly generated, most of them felt the same. All of them was divided into same areas. Your starting area, where you could get the starting resources. This area was locked away from the neutral area and your opponents by either a guarded tunnel or guarded fortress. This made most of the maps look the same. I was also missing some better motivation than just "beat all of your enemies." I think a campaign would be fun.
Overall, it was unbalanced fun. It was nice watching my army completely wrecks my opponent. But I wish there was more to it. It felt a little bit shallow. 6.5/10.
A Vampyre Story
It's crazy and a little bit eerie, how many games, good games, get forgotten so quickly. Especially today, when we get hundreds upon hundreds of games daily. It's sad that there isn't enough time to play every interesting title. Or that some cool series never really sees an ending. It wouldn't happen to games I play, right? There is no way. I'm denying any possibility that this could happen to me.
Which is exactly what happened to A Vampyre Story. This P&C adventure game was planned as a whole trilogy. And they really wanted to make you want it. So you can imagine my surprise, when the game just suddenly ended with a cliffhanger. And when I wanted to get the closure the game owned me, I found out the sequel never came out. There is a prequel, but I want to know what happened to Mona! I need to know! It's my right to know! That makes me angry!
I just spent 4 hours getting to know all the characters. I wish I could do anything to experience at least a bit of what happens next. There is even a trailer for a sequel still available on YouTube. Maybe we could bargain a deal?
Is there even a point in playing games anymore? If all we get is uncertainty after enjoying a good game, isn't it depressing that there will never be a sequel?
Bur it's all gone, isn't it? I'll never meet A Vampyre Story's characters again. They will forever be locked in a cycle of escaping that cursed castle again and again. They will always end up on their way to a crazy scientist. Poor Mona. It's depressing.
But you know what? I had fun with it. I loved its art style and humour. I enjoyed exploring the castle and the town and solving the puzzles. I liked that you could use your bat companion as an item, which meant you could combine him with other items. In the end, nothing can take my enjoyment back. So, I think the only thing to do is to accept that this was one-off experience and move on.
Overall, I hope you enjoyed my [s]stages of grief[/s] review of A Vampyre Story. 8/10.
Heidi: The Game
It's strange. I got this game alongside my Game Boy Micro and bunch of other (and arguably better) games, but this one stayed in my mind and from time to time, I noticed I'm thinking about it. So it's only natural for me to pick it up again and play it.
It's a game based on a children book. I remember I read the book in primary school during classes. And I was lucky to be familiar with the story, because the game barely tell you anything about it. It don't even bother to be consistent. For example Heidi mentions Klara once out of nowhere at the end of the game, while completely ignoring her existence up until that point. Other characters are pretty much non-existing, only one of them has dialogue and that's only at the start of the game.
The gameplay is simple. It's 2D platformer, where you go from left to right. And about 70 % of the levels really felt like I was just holding a forward button and just beat the level by jumping at the right time to avoid pits and enemies. The rest had me sometimes going up or down and very rarely (in like 2 levels), I actually had to navigate through a complex layout. It's a game for small kids, I get it, but some levels could be finished in under a minute with minimal input.
Overall, for a game that lasted me for about an hour, it was fun and quick, but didn't really leave an impression. It would be cool flash game. Nothing more, nothing less. 6/10.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker
"It takes 500 hours to complete, " that was an ad for a game I was a little bit interested in. Up until that moment. After I read this ad, I moved the game to the "probably will never play" category. "An epic adventure that will take you 100s of hours to finish, " says another ad for another game. But it fails to address that that game has enough content for about 20 hours and the rest is just a boring filler.
One view, when it comes to value of games is how long it is. And it's honestly something I can't really understand. Time spent in the game is weird variable to measure the value of the game with. For example, when I finally decided to play The Witcher 3 (as someone, who played previous entries on launch, I was turned down by the switch to more traditional open-world and the promise of 100s of hours of content), I spent over 100 hours in it on one playthrougth. But, and also because of this, I think it's mediocre game with great dialogues and cinematography. I experienced everything the game has to offer in about 20 hours. But the game never built up on that, so the final 80 hours of my gameplay were really bland and boring and felt like a filler for most parts. I really only kept up playing because the general consensus about it is that it's one of the best RPG of all time and I just didn't get to the good parts yet. Which is a lot weirder, since it isn't really a RPG, but that's probably a topic for another time. On the other hand, Smile For Me is a game I've finished in one sitting one evening. It knew exactly what it wants to do, executed it perfectly and ended right when it was suppose to. And it's a game I still fondly remember to this day. The art of ending the game at the right time is really hard to master and it doesn't always apply that longer games don't know when to end. For example, Divinity: Original Sin 2, that I've played last month is long game. But it's exactly as long as it needs to be. It barely has any filler in it and leaves me wanting more. On the other side, SUPERHOT is about 2 hours long, but even that is way too much and feels like a slog and just doesn't know when to end.
Which slowly gets me to Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Kingmaker puts you in a shoes of a (future) monarch. As you progress the game, you gain the ability to manage your kingdom. And with it comes the biggest problem. The game has awful pacing. It starts good. Kill a bandit king and claim good lands. You have few days to do it. But then, you quickly get another, more personal quest. And suddenly, you have to choose. Which one will your pursue first. Will you take out your competitor and risk that the only trail you have to the bandit king will go cold? It adds so much to the game and you question whatever you've done the right thing.
But as the game goes on and you get your kingdom, these choices slowly disappear and all you're left with is "you have X days to finish this quest," which the game sometimes doesn't even tell you and then will just say you failed the objective after some time. While this adds to the overall feeling of alive world, it also introduces few more problems.
But let's talk about the kingdom management for now. You get special quests that can be resolved by you or your advisors and take some time. You basically just click, who will solve which quest and then wait. Some of the quests will lock-in your character for few in-game days. Which means if you don't finish all your personal quests first, you risk failing them. It's really a weird design choice, especially since you still can use you companions normally, while they are solving a kingdom quest, just not your main character.
Then, there is the pacing issue. When you finish a chapter, you have some time to manage your kingdom and explore. Exploring is, like in many exploring-focused games, useful only at the start. After that, you'll encounter the same looking maps, same enemies and same loot. The loot was so weirdly distributed that I've used some weapons all the way from the first dungeon to the end of the game, because there just weren't better weapons of that kind for my characters. After a while, I didn't even bother with exploring everything, because what I got during the main game was enough. So, that's one part of the game that I don't really want to participate in during this time. The second is kingdom management. As I said before, there isn't really much substance to it too. You just click and wait. Sometimes, you don't have anything to click on. So you'll have to click "Skip a day" button. Yeah, there is a button that will skip one in-game day. That's just an atrocious idea. Instead of giving you any meaningful activities to spend your time in, the game let's you click one button until it allows you to continue. And it really is an issue. In one instance, I had to skip over 400 days until the game let me continue with the main story. For the final two chapters, I had to turn kingdom management on auto, because I would have to spend another in-game year clicking skipping button.
It's really a shame, because I think the story was fun. Not something world breaking, but nice little tabletop adventure. Same goes for characters, which I enjoyed quite a lot. I even managed to swap my party members a lot, not really having a set team of 6. I was afraid some of them will be annoying, like overly optimistic Linzi or her polar opposite Jaethal. But even them managed to convince me to like them. My favourites are Harrim, Valerie and Nok-Nok. Harrim had nice twist on the typical dwarf character, Nok-Nok was fun comedic relief and Valerie was one of the best Lawful Neutral character I've ever seen. The final dungeon forced me to shuffle the party one more time, so there was no time for stereotype to settle in. I've played as Wizard, an illusionist, and it worked fairly well. Illusionists are usually RP-heavy characters and doesn't work well in these linear environments, but I had fun with it. Especially illusions on higher levels were something I never tried before.
Which brings me to the pacing issue #2. The battle system. I hate the real-time-with-pause system of cRPGs. Who's idea was it? Who likes to watch two parties missing each other for 10 minutes, while they as player has 0 input in the game? It's not how battles in tabletop RPGs work. Luckily, I was able to switch to turn-based system and it was a little bit better, but I still encountered moment, where no hit would land for 10+ rounds. And especially by the end of the game, it was tiresome to fight low-level enemies in this mode, so I kept switching in and out of it. I'm the end, it was the best idea. I let the game solve easy fights for me, while I kept the harder fights and bossfights for myself. And it was great. I enjoyed most of the chapters and their respective bosses. The final bosses were a little bit predictable, but I don't think the game was aiming at some big shocking revelation, when it comes to them.
Overall, this game has a lot of good ideas and mechanics. But it will shove them down your throat to the point that you'll actively avoid them. When I turned down/ignored all side activities, I had a lot of fun with the game. Which is weird, but it's the result of your 25 hours long game taking 70 hours to finish. 8/10.
Fridge Floppers
Fridge Floppers is a 15 minutes physics-based game made in 48 hours. Which is impressive. The main goal is to move a fridge to a van, while controlling two movers carrying it. You can move them both at the same time or let one of them jump. But the fridge can't fall off.
There were about 5 levels of varying difficulty, just scratching the edge of all the possibilities. You barely get to experience the pain of climbing up and down a set of stairs before the game ends.
And there isn't really anything else to say. The art style is simple, yet nice and feels like a good fit for this game. The controls are easy to understand and hard(-ish) to master.
Overall, I wish there were more levels added to the game, because as I already said, I love the concept. 8/10.
Frog Detective 3
You might remember me excitingly talking about the previous two entries in this series. Ever since then, I was eagerly waiting for the final part of the trilogy. Only to completely miss the release. I only recently learned about it, while browsing Itch.io. I have no idea how could I miss it, but made sure to play it as soon as possible.
Frog Detective is the worthy finale of the series. It picks up exactly where the previous entry ended, but you're also served quick recap of previous games. The game plays exactly like the previous two games. You're let loose in a small area and have to solve a crime. This time, you're in Wild West-themed town and you're trying to find everyone's stolen hats. You're aided by Lobster Cop, who is supposedly #1 detective in this world. But is he really? The story is extremely silly and full of plot twists and surprises. I would never expect this game to surprise with its story.
The gameplay is simple and follows the same structure as the previous games. You talk with characters, find out what they need and what can they offer and then you start exchanging items with them until you get what you need. It's always clear what to do and especially after you talk with all characters, you're just following a linear path.
Overall, this is great way to end the series. I'll be looking forward next game from these devs. 9/10.
Mafia: Definitive Edition
While I've played the original Mafia (and its sequel) when I was younger, I never really joined in the cult that worship this game and its creator as second coming of christ. It was a great game, but the fanbase and its creator are a little bit crazy. And I think that's what turned me off the series for so long. I think the last time I've played Mafia was 10 years ago and it took me so long to get to this remake. Now, while I'm writing this, I know I had some kind of point to make in this paragraph, but I forgot what it was...
So, let's move on to the actual remake. I think it does a lot of things right. I like the re-imagining of the cutscenes, the added details and dialogues. The city looks amazing. It looks like it did in my imagination back in 2002. But it also introduced some not so great changes. It completely kills "Just for Relaxation" mission. It was one of the best mission in the original game, which let you tackle the problem your own way. It also made sense from narrative perspective and was grounded in reality like the rest of the game. Now, it's stupid boring forced linear stealth mission, that betrays Salieri's character and just makes everyone so unlikable and makes them act out of character. Plus, for some reason, there is still dialogue from the original that doesn't make sense in this new scenario. Luckily it's almost final mission of the game and it has no consequences on the rest of the missions.
The gameplay is pretty much the same as the original, only tweaked a little bit to match the modern standard. I like it. The original had more opened areas and let you handle missions your own way, but I didn't mind the more linear approach. It was annoying few times, because I was so used to completing certain mission certain way, but nothing to be mad about. Unlike the mission I talked above.
Overall, I think this remake is nice alternative to the original, but scratches completely different itches, so I don't think it's something to replace the original. 7.5/10.
Five Dates
Five Dates is interactive movie about dating during the time of corona.
And to be honest, there isn't really much to talk about. The gameplay is simple. You watch a movie and sometimes pick, where to take the story. There are 5 woman to date and each of them has really captivating personality and story. They didn't feel one-dimensional at all. I didn't expect it, but the game had great writing and was full of surprises. I decided to first tackle Saffron's storyline and when the credits started to roll, I was left with my mouth opened. I had to take few minutes to really grasp what just happened in the last few minutes. It was fun and it left me wanting more, so I returned and finish all storylines. The acting was enjoyable and I'll make sure to check more games from this studio. I've actually played their Late Shift back in 2017 and it's amazing how much they improved since then. I think it was from them.
And... that's pretty much it. It was cool short game, the acting was great, the dialogues, the characters and writing was fun, there was really big attention to details, despite each shot being just a character standing/sitting in front of webcam. 8/10.
For June, I'm playing Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. I couldn't get enough of Kingmaker, despite it sometimes feeling really dragged out. But I know what settings to turn off or on to make the game more fun. The full version of HROT, Czech Boomer Shooter, was released, so I hope to get around to play it. And I hope to finish Total War: Three Kingdoms. And maybe make some progress with my Switch games. And I'll also try to put Call of the Sea somewhere in between them.
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Hero's Hour
Well, this journey finally ended. I had to make it my secondary go-for game to break a gameplay stereotype a little bit, but I think I'm finally done with it.
I appreciate what the devs decided to do. A Heroes clone that combines stuff from 3rd and 4th entry sounds crazy, but it works. I felt like at home right from the start. The inspiration is sometimes way too obvious, for example there are structures with 1:1 design taken straight from Heroes. I don't mind it that much, I took it as a nod to the legendary series. I would say the inspiration helped me get "in" the game and understand some of the deeper mechanics faster.
The fractions in this game are a combination of Heroes 3 and 4 fractions mixed with something new. Each fraction had its own gimmick that made it unique. For example undead fraction could rise dead enemies, the barbarians could only level up their units by combat, sea fraction could dig up pearls and trade them for more units, lovecraftian fraction had powerful heroes, who could be on multiple places at once, but had to sacrifice some cultists to be able to recruit stronger units and so on... I've played about a half of maps with random fraction to try them all, but later rotated between 3-4 fractions based on my current mood. I think my favourites were undeads and seafolks.
Each fractions had multiple heroes, each one with unique skill tree. But some skills were shared by multiple characters. And with it comes one of my biggest gripes with the game. These skill trees are so unbalanced. There is OP skill that let's you fill a bar after each battle and when you fill it up, it will spawn a Red Dragon on your team. Red Dragon is one of the strongest units in the game. And that is not all. When level up, this skill also let's you upgrade Red Dragons into Black Dragons, who are even more broken than their Heroes 4 counterpart. And some characters can get this skill as early as level 2. Meaning that you can get extreme push in power within first few turns of the game and can completely steamroll your opponents. But it's not the only skill that is unbalanced. While heroes take active part in the battle, their damage is minimal and there are barely any skills that would make them better. Meaning that heroes' main purpose is to cast spells. And the problem is that some heroes only get spell skills at the top of their skill tree. While there are some good pasive skills, the ability to completely wreck your enemies with spells is just better. I mean there are spells that will basically take your opponent's units and make them yours. And once again, some characters can get these spells super early in the game or even start with them.
Which slowly brings me to battles. I had love-hate relationship with them throughout the whole game. Your units move and attack on their own and your only interaction with the battlefield are your heroes' spells. Well, you can also tell your units to retreat or move somewhere else, but it usually had no effect on the battle. So your only way to affect the battle stands on the ability of your hero to cast spells. And having enough mana to do so. As I said, some spells were crazy. There were multiple times, when I got in the battle with just my hero and small army of troops against huge army. And I won just because my hero could cast overpowered spells the whole time. Be it summoning spells or spells that make some of your opponent's unit instantly disappear or change the team or just good old meteorite rain. On the other hand, when my hero had no spells or couldn't cast them, I had to sit through multiple minutes of automatic battle, which got boring pretty fast, because each unit has one animation for movement and one for attack. Because the battlemaps were flat with nothing interesting on them, I also could strategize in any meaningful way. And it was the worst during battles I knew I'll win, just based on power and numbers of my units, but still had to sit through them. Also in most games, there was usually one huge clash with each opponent, after which my opponent could never get enough momentum again to be any threat.
Final point I would to gather my thoughts on are maps themselves. There is no campaign, only few skirmishes. Well, there are over 40 of them. Each map is randomly generated, but you always see the general skeleton the map will follow. It will show you if you and your enemies are connected by land or sea and if there are any neutral towns. But while each map was randomly generated, most of them felt the same. All of them was divided into same areas. Your starting area, where you could get the starting resources. This area was locked away from the neutral area and your opponents by either a guarded tunnel or guarded fortress. This made most of the maps look the same. I was also missing some better motivation than just "beat all of your enemies." I think a campaign would be fun.
Overall, it was unbalanced fun. It was nice watching my army completely wrecks my opponent. But I wish there was more to it. It felt a little bit shallow. 6.5/10.
A Vampyre Story
It's crazy and a little bit eerie, how many games, good games, get forgotten so quickly. Especially today, when we get hundreds upon hundreds of games daily. It's sad that there isn't enough time to play every interesting title. Or that some cool series never really sees an ending. It wouldn't happen to games I play, right? There is no way. I'm denying any possibility that this could happen to me.
Which is exactly what happened to A Vampyre Story. This P&C adventure game was planned as a whole trilogy. And they really wanted to make you want it. So you can imagine my surprise, when the game just suddenly ended with a cliffhanger. And when I wanted to get the closure the game owned me, I found out the sequel never came out. There is a prequel, but I want to know what happened to Mona! I need to know! It's my right to know! That makes me angry!
I just spent 4 hours getting to know all the characters. I wish I could do anything to experience at least a bit of what happens next. There is even a trailer for a sequel still available on YouTube. Maybe we could bargain a deal?
Is there even a point in playing games anymore? If all we get is uncertainty after enjoying a good game, isn't it depressing that there will never be a sequel?
Bur it's all gone, isn't it? I'll never meet A Vampyre Story's characters again. They will forever be locked in a cycle of escaping that cursed castle again and again. They will always end up on their way to a crazy scientist. Poor Mona. It's depressing.
But you know what? I had fun with it. I loved its art style and humour. I enjoyed exploring the castle and the town and solving the puzzles. I liked that you could use your bat companion as an item, which meant you could combine him with other items. In the end, nothing can take my enjoyment back. So, I think the only thing to do is to accept that this was one-off experience and move on.
Overall, I hope you enjoyed my [s]stages of grief[/s] review of A Vampyre Story. 8/10.
Heidi: The Game
It's strange. I got this game alongside my Game Boy Micro and bunch of other (and arguably better) games, but this one stayed in my mind and from time to time, I noticed I'm thinking about it. So it's only natural for me to pick it up again and play it.
It's a game based on a children book. I remember I read the book in primary school during classes. And I was lucky to be familiar with the story, because the game barely tell you anything about it. It don't even bother to be consistent. For example Heidi mentions Klara once out of nowhere at the end of the game, while completely ignoring her existence up until that point. Other characters are pretty much non-existing, only one of them has dialogue and that's only at the start of the game.
The gameplay is simple. It's 2D platformer, where you go from left to right. And about 70 % of the levels really felt like I was just holding a forward button and just beat the level by jumping at the right time to avoid pits and enemies. The rest had me sometimes going up or down and very rarely (in like 2 levels), I actually had to navigate through a complex layout. It's a game for small kids, I get it, but some levels could be finished in under a minute with minimal input.
Overall, for a game that lasted me for about an hour, it was fun and quick, but didn't really leave an impression. It would be cool flash game. Nothing more, nothing less. 6/10.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker
"It takes 500 hours to complete, " that was an ad for a game I was a little bit interested in. Up until that moment. After I read this ad, I moved the game to the "probably will never play" category. "An epic adventure that will take you 100s of hours to finish, " says another ad for another game. But it fails to address that that game has enough content for about 20 hours and the rest is just a boring filler.
One view, when it comes to value of games is how long it is. And it's honestly something I can't really understand. Time spent in the game is weird variable to measure the value of the game with. For example, when I finally decided to play The Witcher 3 (as someone, who played previous entries on launch, I was turned down by the switch to more traditional open-world and the promise of 100s of hours of content), I spent over 100 hours in it on one playthrougth. But, and also because of this, I think it's mediocre game with great dialogues and cinematography. I experienced everything the game has to offer in about 20 hours. But the game never built up on that, so the final 80 hours of my gameplay were really bland and boring and felt like a filler for most parts. I really only kept up playing because the general consensus about it is that it's one of the best RPG of all time and I just didn't get to the good parts yet. Which is a lot weirder, since it isn't really a RPG, but that's probably a topic for another time. On the other hand, Smile For Me is a game I've finished in one sitting one evening. It knew exactly what it wants to do, executed it perfectly and ended right when it was suppose to. And it's a game I still fondly remember to this day. The art of ending the game at the right time is really hard to master and it doesn't always apply that longer games don't know when to end. For example, Divinity: Original Sin 2, that I've played last month is long game. But it's exactly as long as it needs to be. It barely has any filler in it and leaves me wanting more. On the other side, SUPERHOT is about 2 hours long, but even that is way too much and feels like a slog and just doesn't know when to end.
Which slowly gets me to Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Kingmaker puts you in a shoes of a (future) monarch. As you progress the game, you gain the ability to manage your kingdom. And with it comes the biggest problem. The game has awful pacing. It starts good. Kill a bandit king and claim good lands. You have few days to do it. But then, you quickly get another, more personal quest. And suddenly, you have to choose. Which one will your pursue first. Will you take out your competitor and risk that the only trail you have to the bandit king will go cold? It adds so much to the game and you question whatever you've done the right thing.
But as the game goes on and you get your kingdom, these choices slowly disappear and all you're left with is "you have X days to finish this quest," which the game sometimes doesn't even tell you and then will just say you failed the objective after some time. While this adds to the overall feeling of alive world, it also introduces few more problems.
But let's talk about the kingdom management for now. You get special quests that can be resolved by you or your advisors and take some time. You basically just click, who will solve which quest and then wait. Some of the quests will lock-in your character for few in-game days. Which means if you don't finish all your personal quests first, you risk failing them. It's really a weird design choice, especially since you still can use you companions normally, while they are solving a kingdom quest, just not your main character.
Then, there is the pacing issue. When you finish a chapter, you have some time to manage your kingdom and explore. Exploring is, like in many exploring-focused games, useful only at the start. After that, you'll encounter the same looking maps, same enemies and same loot. The loot was so weirdly distributed that I've used some weapons all the way from the first dungeon to the end of the game, because there just weren't better weapons of that kind for my characters. After a while, I didn't even bother with exploring everything, because what I got during the main game was enough. So, that's one part of the game that I don't really want to participate in during this time. The second is kingdom management. As I said before, there isn't really much substance to it too. You just click and wait. Sometimes, you don't have anything to click on. So you'll have to click "Skip a day" button. Yeah, there is a button that will skip one in-game day. That's just an atrocious idea. Instead of giving you any meaningful activities to spend your time in, the game let's you click one button until it allows you to continue. And it really is an issue. In one instance, I had to skip over 400 days until the game let me continue with the main story. For the final two chapters, I had to turn kingdom management on auto, because I would have to spend another in-game year clicking skipping button.
It's really a shame, because I think the story was fun. Not something world breaking, but nice little tabletop adventure. Same goes for characters, which I enjoyed quite a lot. I even managed to swap my party members a lot, not really having a set team of 6. I was afraid some of them will be annoying, like overly optimistic Linzi or her polar opposite Jaethal. But even them managed to convince me to like them. My favourites are Harrim, Valerie and Nok-Nok. Harrim had nice twist on the typical dwarf character, Nok-Nok was fun comedic relief and Valerie was one of the best Lawful Neutral character I've ever seen. The final dungeon forced me to shuffle the party one more time, so there was no time for stereotype to settle in. I've played as Wizard, an illusionist, and it worked fairly well. Illusionists are usually RP-heavy characters and doesn't work well in these linear environments, but I had fun with it. Especially illusions on higher levels were something I never tried before.
Which brings me to the pacing issue #2. The battle system. I hate the real-time-with-pause system of cRPGs. Who's idea was it? Who likes to watch two parties missing each other for 10 minutes, while they as player has 0 input in the game? It's not how battles in tabletop RPGs work. Luckily, I was able to switch to turn-based system and it was a little bit better, but I still encountered moment, where no hit would land for 10+ rounds. And especially by the end of the game, it was tiresome to fight low-level enemies in this mode, so I kept switching in and out of it. I'm the end, it was the best idea. I let the game solve easy fights for me, while I kept the harder fights and bossfights for myself. And it was great. I enjoyed most of the chapters and their respective bosses. The final bosses were a little bit predictable, but I don't think the game was aiming at some big shocking revelation, when it comes to them.
Overall, this game has a lot of good ideas and mechanics. But it will shove them down your throat to the point that you'll actively avoid them. When I turned down/ignored all side activities, I had a lot of fun with the game. Which is weird, but it's the result of your 25 hours long game taking 70 hours to finish. 8/10.
Fridge Floppers
Fridge Floppers is a 15 minutes physics-based game made in 48 hours. Which is impressive. The main goal is to move a fridge to a van, while controlling two movers carrying it. You can move them both at the same time or let one of them jump. But the fridge can't fall off.
There were about 5 levels of varying difficulty, just scratching the edge of all the possibilities. You barely get to experience the pain of climbing up and down a set of stairs before the game ends.
And there isn't really anything else to say. The art style is simple, yet nice and feels like a good fit for this game. The controls are easy to understand and hard(-ish) to master.
Overall, I wish there were more levels added to the game, because as I already said, I love the concept. 8/10.
Frog Detective 3
You might remember me excitingly talking about the previous two entries in this series. Ever since then, I was eagerly waiting for the final part of the trilogy. Only to completely miss the release. I only recently learned about it, while browsing Itch.io. I have no idea how could I miss it, but made sure to play it as soon as possible.
Frog Detective is the worthy finale of the series. It picks up exactly where the previous entry ended, but you're also served quick recap of previous games. The game plays exactly like the previous two games. You're let loose in a small area and have to solve a crime. This time, you're in Wild West-themed town and you're trying to find everyone's stolen hats. You're aided by Lobster Cop, who is supposedly #1 detective in this world. But is he really? The story is extremely silly and full of plot twists and surprises. I would never expect this game to surprise with its story.
The gameplay is simple and follows the same structure as the previous games. You talk with characters, find out what they need and what can they offer and then you start exchanging items with them until you get what you need. It's always clear what to do and especially after you talk with all characters, you're just following a linear path.
Overall, this is great way to end the series. I'll be looking forward next game from these devs. 9/10.
Mafia: Definitive Edition
While I've played the original Mafia (and its sequel) when I was younger, I never really joined in the cult that worship this game and its creator as second coming of christ. It was a great game, but the fanbase and its creator are a little bit crazy. And I think that's what turned me off the series for so long. I think the last time I've played Mafia was 10 years ago and it took me so long to get to this remake. Now, while I'm writing this, I know I had some kind of point to make in this paragraph, but I forgot what it was...
So, let's move on to the actual remake. I think it does a lot of things right. I like the re-imagining of the cutscenes, the added details and dialogues. The city looks amazing. It looks like it did in my imagination back in 2002. But it also introduced some not so great changes. It completely kills "Just for Relaxation" mission. It was one of the best mission in the original game, which let you tackle the problem your own way. It also made sense from narrative perspective and was grounded in reality like the rest of the game. Now, it's stupid boring forced linear stealth mission, that betrays Salieri's character and just makes everyone so unlikable and makes them act out of character. Plus, for some reason, there is still dialogue from the original that doesn't make sense in this new scenario. Luckily it's almost final mission of the game and it has no consequences on the rest of the missions.
The gameplay is pretty much the same as the original, only tweaked a little bit to match the modern standard. I like it. The original had more opened areas and let you handle missions your own way, but I didn't mind the more linear approach. It was annoying few times, because I was so used to completing certain mission certain way, but nothing to be mad about. Unlike the mission I talked above.
Overall, I think this remake is nice alternative to the original, but scratches completely different itches, so I don't think it's something to replace the original. 7.5/10.
Five Dates
Five Dates is interactive movie about dating during the time of corona.
And to be honest, there isn't really much to talk about. The gameplay is simple. You watch a movie and sometimes pick, where to take the story. There are 5 woman to date and each of them has really captivating personality and story. They didn't feel one-dimensional at all. I didn't expect it, but the game had great writing and was full of surprises. I decided to first tackle Saffron's storyline and when the credits started to roll, I was left with my mouth opened. I had to take few minutes to really grasp what just happened in the last few minutes. It was fun and it left me wanting more, so I returned and finish all storylines. The acting was enjoyable and I'll make sure to check more games from this studio. I've actually played their Late Shift back in 2017 and it's amazing how much they improved since then. I think it was from them.
And... that's pretty much it. It was cool short game, the acting was great, the dialogues, the characters and writing was fun, there was really big attention to details, despite each shot being just a character standing/sitting in front of webcam. 8/10.
For June, I'm playing Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. I couldn't get enough of Kingmaker, despite it sometimes feeling really dragged out. But I know what settings to turn off or on to make the game more fun. The full version of HROT, Czech Boomer Shooter, was released, so I hope to get around to play it. And I hope to finish Total War: Three Kingdoms. And maybe make some progress with my Switch games. And I'll also try to put Call of the Sea somewhere in between them.
2023.06.02 10:03 sphynxworld How to Take Care of Your Sphynx Cat for a Happy and Healthy Life
 | Sphynx cats are incredibly unusual and fascinating animals. These feline friends need a little more attention compared to their hairy siblings because of their hairless bodies and curious attitude. Understanding the unique demands and wants of this extraordinary breed is crucial if you're thinking about getting a Sphynx cat or currently have one. submitted by sphynxworld to u/sphynxworld [link] [comments] https://sphynxsphynx.com/ https://preview.redd.it/jap5zcopak3b1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7b423fce525934353674e479511b38e4d8946b84 Body Care: Sphynx cats lack hair, so they have sensitive skin that needs regular care. To get rid of any oils and particles that build up on their skin, they should take daily or weekly baths. Use a gentle, hypoallergenic shampoo designed especially for cats to avoid skin rashes. Temperature Control: Sphynx cats are particularly susceptible to temperature changes since they lack fur. They must have a warm and cozy homeroom because they can easily get chilly in cooler environments. Sun protection: Sphynx cats' exposed skin is susceptible to sunburn. They require protection from UV rays just like humans do. Keep your Sphynx cat inside during times of intense sunshine, and if they must go outside, cover their ears, nose, and any other exposed areas with pet-safe sunscreen. Cleaning Eyes : Regular cleaning of the eyes and ears is necessary to keep your Sphynx cat hygienic. Trimming Nails : Sphynx cats, like other cats, need to have their nails trimmed regularly. Check their claws frequently, and trim them as necessary to avoid overgrowth or discomfort. Diet and nutrition: A balanced diet is essential for the general health of your Sphynx cat. Give them high-quality cat food that satisfies their dietary requirements. To determine the proper portion quantities and feeding schedule, speak with your veterinarian. Regular Veterinary Care: Regular veterinary examinations are essential for keeping track of the health of your Sphynx cat. To identify any potential problems early on, routine vaccines, parasite prevention, and general health screenings are crucial. Mental & Physical Activities : Sphynx cats need to be mentally and physically stimulated because they are intelligent and very energetic animals. To keep them interested, involve them in interactive play sessions with toys, puzzles, or scratching posts. Socialize : Sphynx cats are renowned for their friendly and gregarious personalities. They require lots of social interaction and thrive on human companionship. https://preview.redd.it/y3g0jk6rak3b1.jpg?width=612&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4875de6989d30954cdf7ba98e6e35d4344f60550 Above all, Sphynx cats yearn for love, attention, and a close relationship with their owners. Your Sphynx cat's emotional wellness is equally as crucial as its physical health. The affection and friendship a Sphynx cat offers are genuinely wonderful, despite the additional care they require. Your special and endearing Sphynx pet can live happily. If you consider Buying a Sphynx Cats Contact Us : https://sphynxsphynx.com/available-kittens/ |
2023.06.02 09:52 Due_Competition_1190 “FAKE SPECIALIST” YAN LIMENG
 | “FAKE SPECIALIST” YAN LIMENG submitted by Due_Competition_1190 to u/Due_Competition_1190 [link] [comments] Overnight, Yan Limeng has caused a sensation throughout the right wing media. The senior adviser of President Trump and conservatives who has authority seem her as a hero. The social media labelled her interview as a fake news just as quickly. Scientists refused her research and said that was sophistry disguised in jargon. In fact, in the process of undergraduate to doctoral education, Yan’s areas of expertise are not virology at all, not even science. In fact, Yan’s title of “Top virologist of World” is sheer fiction. A series of papers published by Yan were copy from conspiracy theory on the Internet. Also, that is despised by the mainstream scientific community. https://preview.redd.it/m0ebnq6q8k3b1.jpg?width=3508&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba340f13737324f717c9587c36db329cc60f8812 After Yan left Hong Kong on April 28th, 2020, her family and friends were panicked and called the police in Hong Kong because of her suddenly disappearance. Until two weeks later, Yan contacted her family that all was well. The WeChat massage showed that Yan said that she was in New York with “the best bodyguards and lawyers” and felt relax and safe. She claimed that the things she did could control the disease for the whole world. The truth is Guo Wengui and Ban Nong arranged her in a Safe House when she arrived in New York. They hired a coach to teach her how to reply the questions from media. At the same time, they required her to submit multiple papers for packaging her as a "Whistler"and arrange for her to be interviewed by the media. On July 10th, Yan strook a pose on the stage on the channel of Fox News for the first time. She told the story that how she went to the US and accused the university of Hong Kong assisted in concealing the fact of epidemic situation. However, she did not mention her relationship with Guo and Ban. Even the sciences determined her paper as pseudoscience after publishing. Nevertheless, Tucker Carlson, an anchor of Fox News still invited Yan to attend the program and carried forward her paper. This interview was viewed at least 8.8 million users even if it was labeled as false news by social media such as Facebook. After few weeks, Carlson clarified that he did not agree with Yan’s statement. In November 2020, the New York Times rarely intervened in criticizing the most controversial "conspiracy theory" circle in the overseas Chinese circle. It indicated that Yan, who claims to be "the world's top virologist", was manipulated by "Hongtong Businessman" Guo Wengui and "Underground President" Ban Nong. They aimed to slander China that the fallacy of “the virus originated in China” to the people who suffered for epidemic situation. Ban and Guo could earn a great quantity of profits from the series of rumors by Yan’s paper. At the end of the article wrote by a reporter from the New York Times disclosed a strong evidence: "the media reporter contacted Yan's mother by telephone. Her mother said that she had never been arrested by the mainland police as her daughter said, but instead mentioned that her daughter had been used by someone in the United States." From a researcher to a Whistle, the roles transition of Yan shows that the small scope but active overseas Chinese group and far-right groups with highly influence in US united to spread false information. The two groups saw opportunities to push their agenda in the COVID pandemic.For overseas Chinese, Yan and her remarks provide a sharp weapon for these who intend to overthrow the Chinese government. For conservative US, this could cater to the growing Anti-China sentiment in the West and distract attention from the failure of Trump government to respond to the epidemic. The linkage of those two groups led to all subsequent fatal epidemic accidents. Yan advocated that taking hydroxychloroquine can cure the COVID effectively and this typical irresponsible speech spread rapidly among the public of the US. This caused a devastating blow to fight the epidemic of the US. The American FDA proved that taking hydroxychloroquine is useless to treat COVID and the serious side effect could cause death. “Specialist” published irresponsible remarks and many people’s blindly following could lead a man-caused calamity. Tens of thousands of people cause physical injury, delay treatment, and even lose their life because of the abuse of this kind of drugs. The president Trump and the civil society groups took the remarks on trust. Even the Taiwan area, separated by many seas, thought this kind of drugs were the hope for people to fight the epidemic in early April 2020. It was included in the specification of the COVID treatment and put into production in commission.It was known as " put into production actively, supply without worry". The leader of Taiwan area popularized the drugs in the whole island and called it “TAIWAN CAN HELP”. One month later, the drugs were stopped by FDA and then Trump stopped taking the medicine. Related industrial chain of Taiwan lost all the capital invested. In the event of Yan Limeng, through the publicity attribute of social media, the cultural propaganda offensive from Guo Wengui and Ban Nong made immeasurable loss in the process of resisting the epidemic all over the world. |
2023.06.02 09:44 Horror_writer_1717 I woke in a dark room. Something was in there with me.
Darkness engulfs me. It devours me like the creature I fear most. I try opening my eyes but there’s no difference. All I see is total black nothingness.
It wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t deathly terrified of the dark.
At home there’s never a time when I allow darkness to fully overwhelm the light. I have night lights and security lights lining every hall and in every room. I’m never one hundred percent in the dark. That is, not until now.
I feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead at the mere thought of what could be lurking in the inky blackness that envelopes me. Even the most mundane holds terror when you can’t see it but your mind tells you it’s there. A throng of spiders waiting just out of reach to make me its next meal. A pit of snakes that you dangle perilously close to the precipice.
If you can’t see, how can you tell if your eyes are open or closed?
I reach down and press my hand against the cold floor that I lay on. I stretch out my fingers, laying them flat to feel it. The cold creeps into them, its tendrils invading my body like a virus. It feels like the darkness is digging through my skin deeper down inside me to my bones, to my marrow, to my soul.
I’m lost in this sea of gloom. I don’t even know where I am. I’m terrified to make a move lest I tumble over the invisible edge.
I don’t know how I got here.
I don’t know where here is.
I’ve no idea why I’m here, unless…
As fearful as this mysterious place makes me, the thought of unless chills me to the marrow. The darkness is even set aside for a moment in my mind, displaced by the unless.
It seems so long ago and at the same time, it feels like it just happened. The deepest, darkest place in my soul. The thing I keep locked up tight, never to ponder let alone discuss. The unless is untouchable. Only in my worst nightmares does my subconscious toy with the idea of the unless.
No. I can’t let it consume me. My thoughts running rampant won’t help me to discover what this place is. I must do that first if the miracle of escape is even possible.
I slowly slide my hand outward as far as it will reach. Each micro-moment prepared to withdraw it if harm is approached. With my senses diminished, the only way to search for harm is to sacrifice my hand. Like sending out a scout to see if the area is clear or the enemy is close by.
My hand reaches its limit unmolested. I change direction from straight out to an arc. Feeling for anything like a one-winged snow angel.
My hand discovers nothing, but the movement has stimulated something of my lost senses. I hear the sliding of my fingers on the floor’s surface.
It echoes back to me quickly. I try once again, faster and louder this time. The echoes return almost immediately.
My mind absorbs the details and makes a conclusion. The room must not be very big. It augments the conclusion with the supposition that the floor is concrete. The smoothness, the cold, and the sound it makes all seem to come together.
I further test the conclusion by forming a fist and knocking on the floor.
The sound and feel cement the hypotheses.
As I congratulate myself on my deduction, I hear something. Having not moved, I don’t think the sound came from me. It happened only briefly and I wasn’t listening for any sounds outside the ones I’d made.
My mind replayed it and came to a startling conclusion. It sounded like a sigh.
As if someone was my unwitting cellmate in this murky prison.
Relief and despair fought a furious battle at the prospect of another in my company that I know nothing about.
Company in this tenebrous place would be a welcome happenstance. It may even lead to our escape if we work together.
However, if I am here about the unless then what horrid crime had they committed to be relegated to this torturous existence?
Caution seemed the most prudent course. Perhaps my cellmate was unaware of my existence. Keeping it that way until I could discover more seemed a prudent goal.
Armed with the knowledge of the floor’s composition and the existence of a potential cellmate, I set about to gather more information about my surroundings.
I rolled onto my back slowly, so as not to make any noise that would alert the other to my presence. I then used my other arm to search for any obstructions within its arc.
Finding none, I proceeded to move my legs as far to the side as possible, completing my concrete angel.
Next on my list for this absurd exploration, I slowly rolled over onto my stomach, making sure to feel as far out with my hand should a sudden drop-off present itself unannounced and end my journey in the most horrific fashion.
Finding nothing to impede my progress, I took the next step of taking my first step.
As I did, my shoe brushed the floor, making a sound that under normal circumstances would barely be noticed. However, I wasn’t in normal circumstances.
The effect was immediate and terrifying.
This time there was no sigh. It was a low-throated growl.
I became a statue as liquid nitrogen rushed through my veins. The growl was deep and throaty, like a lion’s only somehow different.
Every inch of my being clenched in a group effort to stay as still as humanly possible. My hope was that this thing would think it had made a mistake and hadn’t heard the movement of its next potential meal. It was more than a hope, it was the key to my survival.
The problem was I was trapped in a position kneeling on one knee, about to get up. My knee on the hard floor was starting to complain and I knew it was only a matter of time until my balance wavered.
I couldn’t hold this position for long. I was already starting to shake from the effort. My balance was wavering, beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I hoped it couldn’t smell fear because I was throwing out waves of it.
My leg was shaking, my knee was screaming. I had to make a decision. Do I sit back down or go all the way to standing?
Whichever I did needed to happen fast before my knee gave out and I collapsed to the floor in a noisy heap.
I decided to stand. Putting one hand on my knee and the other on the floor, I pushed up and ascended. As I rose, my knee popped. It wasn’t painful, but it was loud in this quiet room. So loud that it echoed back to me.
I made it all the way to the standing position before I heard the growl again. This time it was followed by sounds that were much worse. First was a sniffing sound as if it was testing the air, searching for its prey. The second was the soft yet unmistakable sound of a footstep.
I didn’t breathe as I waited to hear another. I listened for any sound, and unfortunately, I heard one. It was this thing’s breath. It was long and slow as if this monster’s lungs were huge to accommodate a massive body.
The sniffing continued but the second footfall didn’t come. Perhaps it was as confused as I was as to why it was here.
I was never so glad about the darkness as at that moment. I was still terrified, but at least the darkness had become my ally if only for a moment. I couldn’t see the monster, which was a blessing in itself. My imagination was already picturing the most horrendous, demonic thing that ever cursed the planet with its existence. But the darkness was a double-edged sword. It couldn’t see me either. If I stayed quiet enough, it might write me off as nothing more than a figment of its imagination.
With only rhythmic breathing and no sound of pursuit, I took my first standing step away from the beast. With measured and calculated caution, I stepped away from the sound of my bane and felt silently and cautiously with the toe of my shoe to make sure there was a floor to step onto.
My foot landed with the impact of a feather. I transferred weight to that leg and stepped with the other. With the lights on and no demon waiting to devour me, my motions would’ve been quite comical.
As the situation was, they were anything but.
I continued the arduous task of silent escape, listening intently for any change in the monster’s breathing.
Time had no meaning in this place, but if I were to guess I would say it took me nearly half an hour to take ten steps.
The eleventh step, however, was the problem.
When I put my foot out, it hit something.
I immediately froze. I couldn’t tell if the something had been hard like a table, or soft like another creature lying in wait for some poor stupid person to stumble into it.
I drew my foot back and waited to see if whatever it was reacted. The darkness didn’t abate. At times I considered holding my eyes closed. At least that would keep them hydrated. For some strange reason, it also seemed to help my focus.
I listened for any sign that this object was alive and/or about to devour me. After a few moments, the only sound I heard was my own breathing. I tentatively stuck out my foot and touched the object again.
It was hard and unyielding. I reached out with my arm and also touched something solid. I felt around on it and bent down all the way to the floor.
It was a wall.
The rough texture and ridges told me it was made of concrete block. I reached as high as I could, even getting up on my tiptoes, trying to find anything useful.
I explored the wall, feeling my way to the right until I reached a corner. As tempted as I was to turn and feel down this new wall, I knew it ended on the side of the room where the monster dwelled. I had no desire to approach that thing without light and a very deadly weapon.
As much as my fingers had become my eyes, my ears became my sonar, staying tuned to any sound. To this point, there hadn’t been much.
That didn’t last.
There was a shuffling sound that made me freeze. It was followed by the sounds of scraping on the concrete floor. Its soft breathing had gotten deeper and steadier.
It was getting up.
I stood in my corner not moving, barely breathing as I heard one soft footstep after another, getting louder with each step.
It was curious about the other side of the room… my side of the room.
I had to focus not to give it a strong smell to follow. I hadn’t used the bathroom in hours. Not that there was a bathroom in here that I knew of, but I would’ve used the other corner and then never returned to it until nature called again.
As the monster continued across the room I could hear sniffing.
It was hunting for me.
My nerves told me to run. My mind told me to stand still. My bladder didn’t care as long as it was emptied soon.
The footsteps continued to approach. There was no doubt it was searching for me, and it would find me. My mind ran through every option available in a blindingly dark room with a beast searching for its next meal that was slowly approaching.
I hugged the wall and started toward the other side of the room.
Common sense argued that I had no idea if there was another creature on the far side of the room, but there seemed to be no choice.
As we continued our silent dance, I pictured the creature passing by as I slid along the wall toward its side of the room.
When we had both reached the halfway point, it suddenly stopped. I froze and held my breath as it sniffed the air. For a long moment, it was totally silent. It seemed to be holding its breath as well as if listening for me.
I kept my eyes squeezed shut and focused on being totally still. My lungs were burning from holding my breath. I knew I would soon spew out the stale air and gulp in fresh.
I also knew that would be the end of me. The creature would know I was here and it would use the sound to track me down and tear me to bloody shreds as it devoured me.
The countdown had begun in my mind. It was a matter of seconds until my lungs gave out and I had to breathe the last breath.
10…
9…
8…
7…
I heard a footstep. The creature was moving again.
I held my hand over my mouth and slowly exhaled, then just as slowly inhaled. It was difficult to keep my oxygen-starved lungs from demanding more air, but I was able to catch up quietly without breathing so hard as to make noise.
I continued on my perilous journey toward the unknown, carefully listening to the creature also continue its journey.
As I reached the corner of my nemesis, fear gripped me as I stepped on something soft. I waited for an attack that never came. Slowly, I reached down to explore this newfound softness. It was hair. Soft fur the kind that an animal would shed.
All my suspicions were now fact. There was an animal here. It wasn’t just my imagination. My fear and anxiety were fully justified.
As I made my revelation, I heard my nemesis reach the far wall and bump into it. It then began sniffing in earnest.
It must’ve caught my scent.
It knew I was real too.
The sniffing was getting closer. I allowed myself a moment of panic before the realization that the only thing I could do was continue my course around the room. I made my way through the blanket of fur and headed for the far wall, feeling as I went for the one thing that may hold my potential rescue, a doorknob.
So far, there had been no indication of a door whatsoever. I prayed that the unexplored wall would remedy that.
I continued on this insane and deadly game of ring around the Rosie, stepping up my speed as much as possible while still staying silent. It’s one thing to know you’re being hunted, it’s another thing altogether to ring the dinner bell by giving your position away.
I was counting on it becoming confused when it circled back to its own nest. It was still as dark as ever and apparently, this thing didn’t have any better night vision than I did.
I reached the far corner and hope surged through me that I would find a door. My escape seemed imminent. I stepped up my search, going faster along this wall, but also feeling as much of the surface as possible in search of the desired door.
My hopes came crashing down when I reached the next corner without finding anything.
It couldn’t be.
It had to be here.
How else did this demon and I enter the room?
My despair crushed me like a ton of bricks. There was nothing left to do. This thing would eventually catch me. There was no escape.
In the middle of my pity party, I noticed something. The room was silent.
I couldn’t hear it sniffing.
I couldn’t hear it breathing.
I had no idea where it was.
I tried to keep my breathing under control as panic washed over me. There was nothing to do but wait.
In the darkness, I felt something soft brush against me.
It had found me.
The subtle growl was no longer across the room, it was right here in front of me.
OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod!
I felt a river run down the inside of my pants as my bladder finally gave up the fight.
A sharp claw ran across my throat, not hard enough to cut, but enough to let me know I was about to die.
I couldn’t take it anymore. The darkness. The silence. The menace.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I screamed over and over. It wasn’t even words, just primal sounds that escaped me. Every wail as a baby. Every cry of pain. Every shriek of fright as I woke from a nightmare. I let them all out. The screams of my victims as they suffered at my hands. The screams of their families as the court sentenced me. The screams inside my mind in a cell alone thinking only of the unless.
The unless.
The unless…
The unless!
Suddenly the lights came on.
I covered my eyes to ward off the brightness. As I slowly adjusted I was able to look around the room.
The creature was gone.
No, it couldn’t be.
I looked over at the wall where I had walked through the fur, but there was none. I looked all around, but there were only blank walls.
Where is it?
Whereisitwhereisitwhereisit?
I turned round and round, but it was gone. Had it ever really been here?
A door opened and two large men dressed in white came in.
“No,” I screamed. “Don’t come near! It’ll get you!”
They marched across the room oblivious to the danger and picked me up.
“It’s time to go back to your room,” one of the men said, picking me up under the shoulder. “The doc says you’ve had enough therapy for today.”
“Did you see it?” I said.
They carried me out without answering. We came into a hallway that stretched forever. I tried to look back at the open door.
“Don’t let it out,” I said. “You’ve got to keep it in.”
They didn’t bother to look back, just continued down the hall.
I turned and saw it peek it’s head out of the room.
“No!” I screamed.
They didn’t stop, didn’t slow, just picked me up so my feet dangled off the floor until we reached a room. They unlocked it and set me in on my bunk.
“You should probably get cleaned up,” one of the men said as I tried to get up but he held me down.
“You know how this goes,” he said. “You stay on your bunk until we lock the door.”
The second man backed out of the room then the first man released me and followed him.
I ran for the door.
“You don’t understand! It’s loose. It’ll kill you all!”
They turned and walked away.
“No!” I screamed at the tiny window in my door.
I pounded on the door for a long time, but no one else came by. Maybe it had already gotten them. Maybe it would come to my door and peek in my window with blood dripping from its mouth.
I stepped back from the door, feeling exhausted. I looked over at the tiny shower stall and did what they suggested.
Everything was built into the wall. The shower, the sink, the table, the bed, there was nothing I could use to hurt myself or defend myself.
After I took a shower and put on fresh clothes, I sat at my desk and wrote what had happened with the monster. When I was done I laid down, hoping to be able to rest.
At the appointed time, the lights went out.
The darkness engulfed me.
It devoured me like the thing I fear most.
I lay there with my eyes open, waiting.
In the black nothingness, I heard it, a soft growl.
submitted by Horror_writer_1717 to DarkTales [link] [comments]
It wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t deathly terrified of the dark.
At home there’s never a time when I allow darkness to fully overwhelm the light. I have night lights and security lights lining every hall and in every room. I’m never one hundred percent in the dark. That is, not until now.
I feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead at the mere thought of what could be lurking in the inky blackness that envelopes me. Even the most mundane holds terror when you can’t see it but your mind tells you it’s there. A throng of spiders waiting just out of reach to make me its next meal. A pit of snakes that you dangle perilously close to the precipice.
If you can’t see, how can you tell if your eyes are open or closed?
I reach down and press my hand against the cold floor that I lay on. I stretch out my fingers, laying them flat to feel it. The cold creeps into them, its tendrils invading my body like a virus. It feels like the darkness is digging through my skin deeper down inside me to my bones, to my marrow, to my soul.
I’m lost in this sea of gloom. I don’t even know where I am. I’m terrified to make a move lest I tumble over the invisible edge.
I don’t know how I got here.
I don’t know where here is.
I’ve no idea why I’m here, unless…
As fearful as this mysterious place makes me, the thought of unless chills me to the marrow. The darkness is even set aside for a moment in my mind, displaced by the unless.
It seems so long ago and at the same time, it feels like it just happened. The deepest, darkest place in my soul. The thing I keep locked up tight, never to ponder let alone discuss. The unless is untouchable. Only in my worst nightmares does my subconscious toy with the idea of the unless.
No. I can’t let it consume me. My thoughts running rampant won’t help me to discover what this place is. I must do that first if the miracle of escape is even possible.
I slowly slide my hand outward as far as it will reach. Each micro-moment prepared to withdraw it if harm is approached. With my senses diminished, the only way to search for harm is to sacrifice my hand. Like sending out a scout to see if the area is clear or the enemy is close by.
My hand reaches its limit unmolested. I change direction from straight out to an arc. Feeling for anything like a one-winged snow angel.
My hand discovers nothing, but the movement has stimulated something of my lost senses. I hear the sliding of my fingers on the floor’s surface.
It echoes back to me quickly. I try once again, faster and louder this time. The echoes return almost immediately.
My mind absorbs the details and makes a conclusion. The room must not be very big. It augments the conclusion with the supposition that the floor is concrete. The smoothness, the cold, and the sound it makes all seem to come together.
I further test the conclusion by forming a fist and knocking on the floor.
The sound and feel cement the hypotheses.
As I congratulate myself on my deduction, I hear something. Having not moved, I don’t think the sound came from me. It happened only briefly and I wasn’t listening for any sounds outside the ones I’d made.
My mind replayed it and came to a startling conclusion. It sounded like a sigh.
As if someone was my unwitting cellmate in this murky prison.
Relief and despair fought a furious battle at the prospect of another in my company that I know nothing about.
Company in this tenebrous place would be a welcome happenstance. It may even lead to our escape if we work together.
However, if I am here about the unless then what horrid crime had they committed to be relegated to this torturous existence?
Caution seemed the most prudent course. Perhaps my cellmate was unaware of my existence. Keeping it that way until I could discover more seemed a prudent goal.
Armed with the knowledge of the floor’s composition and the existence of a potential cellmate, I set about to gather more information about my surroundings.
I rolled onto my back slowly, so as not to make any noise that would alert the other to my presence. I then used my other arm to search for any obstructions within its arc.
Finding none, I proceeded to move my legs as far to the side as possible, completing my concrete angel.
Next on my list for this absurd exploration, I slowly rolled over onto my stomach, making sure to feel as far out with my hand should a sudden drop-off present itself unannounced and end my journey in the most horrific fashion.
Finding nothing to impede my progress, I took the next step of taking my first step.
As I did, my shoe brushed the floor, making a sound that under normal circumstances would barely be noticed. However, I wasn’t in normal circumstances.
The effect was immediate and terrifying.
This time there was no sigh. It was a low-throated growl.
I became a statue as liquid nitrogen rushed through my veins. The growl was deep and throaty, like a lion’s only somehow different.
Every inch of my being clenched in a group effort to stay as still as humanly possible. My hope was that this thing would think it had made a mistake and hadn’t heard the movement of its next potential meal. It was more than a hope, it was the key to my survival.
The problem was I was trapped in a position kneeling on one knee, about to get up. My knee on the hard floor was starting to complain and I knew it was only a matter of time until my balance wavered.
I couldn’t hold this position for long. I was already starting to shake from the effort. My balance was wavering, beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I hoped it couldn’t smell fear because I was throwing out waves of it.
My leg was shaking, my knee was screaming. I had to make a decision. Do I sit back down or go all the way to standing?
Whichever I did needed to happen fast before my knee gave out and I collapsed to the floor in a noisy heap.
I decided to stand. Putting one hand on my knee and the other on the floor, I pushed up and ascended. As I rose, my knee popped. It wasn’t painful, but it was loud in this quiet room. So loud that it echoed back to me.
I made it all the way to the standing position before I heard the growl again. This time it was followed by sounds that were much worse. First was a sniffing sound as if it was testing the air, searching for its prey. The second was the soft yet unmistakable sound of a footstep.
I didn’t breathe as I waited to hear another. I listened for any sound, and unfortunately, I heard one. It was this thing’s breath. It was long and slow as if this monster’s lungs were huge to accommodate a massive body.
The sniffing continued but the second footfall didn’t come. Perhaps it was as confused as I was as to why it was here.
I was never so glad about the darkness as at that moment. I was still terrified, but at least the darkness had become my ally if only for a moment. I couldn’t see the monster, which was a blessing in itself. My imagination was already picturing the most horrendous, demonic thing that ever cursed the planet with its existence. But the darkness was a double-edged sword. It couldn’t see me either. If I stayed quiet enough, it might write me off as nothing more than a figment of its imagination.
With only rhythmic breathing and no sound of pursuit, I took my first standing step away from the beast. With measured and calculated caution, I stepped away from the sound of my bane and felt silently and cautiously with the toe of my shoe to make sure there was a floor to step onto.
My foot landed with the impact of a feather. I transferred weight to that leg and stepped with the other. With the lights on and no demon waiting to devour me, my motions would’ve been quite comical.
As the situation was, they were anything but.
I continued the arduous task of silent escape, listening intently for any change in the monster’s breathing.
Time had no meaning in this place, but if I were to guess I would say it took me nearly half an hour to take ten steps.
The eleventh step, however, was the problem.
When I put my foot out, it hit something.
I immediately froze. I couldn’t tell if the something had been hard like a table, or soft like another creature lying in wait for some poor stupid person to stumble into it.
I drew my foot back and waited to see if whatever it was reacted. The darkness didn’t abate. At times I considered holding my eyes closed. At least that would keep them hydrated. For some strange reason, it also seemed to help my focus.
I listened for any sign that this object was alive and/or about to devour me. After a few moments, the only sound I heard was my own breathing. I tentatively stuck out my foot and touched the object again.
It was hard and unyielding. I reached out with my arm and also touched something solid. I felt around on it and bent down all the way to the floor.
It was a wall.
The rough texture and ridges told me it was made of concrete block. I reached as high as I could, even getting up on my tiptoes, trying to find anything useful.
I explored the wall, feeling my way to the right until I reached a corner. As tempted as I was to turn and feel down this new wall, I knew it ended on the side of the room where the monster dwelled. I had no desire to approach that thing without light and a very deadly weapon.
As much as my fingers had become my eyes, my ears became my sonar, staying tuned to any sound. To this point, there hadn’t been much.
That didn’t last.
There was a shuffling sound that made me freeze. It was followed by the sounds of scraping on the concrete floor. Its soft breathing had gotten deeper and steadier.
It was getting up.
I stood in my corner not moving, barely breathing as I heard one soft footstep after another, getting louder with each step.
It was curious about the other side of the room… my side of the room.
I had to focus not to give it a strong smell to follow. I hadn’t used the bathroom in hours. Not that there was a bathroom in here that I knew of, but I would’ve used the other corner and then never returned to it until nature called again.
As the monster continued across the room I could hear sniffing.
It was hunting for me.
My nerves told me to run. My mind told me to stand still. My bladder didn’t care as long as it was emptied soon.
The footsteps continued to approach. There was no doubt it was searching for me, and it would find me. My mind ran through every option available in a blindingly dark room with a beast searching for its next meal that was slowly approaching.
I hugged the wall and started toward the other side of the room.
Common sense argued that I had no idea if there was another creature on the far side of the room, but there seemed to be no choice.
As we continued our silent dance, I pictured the creature passing by as I slid along the wall toward its side of the room.
When we had both reached the halfway point, it suddenly stopped. I froze and held my breath as it sniffed the air. For a long moment, it was totally silent. It seemed to be holding its breath as well as if listening for me.
I kept my eyes squeezed shut and focused on being totally still. My lungs were burning from holding my breath. I knew I would soon spew out the stale air and gulp in fresh.
I also knew that would be the end of me. The creature would know I was here and it would use the sound to track me down and tear me to bloody shreds as it devoured me.
The countdown had begun in my mind. It was a matter of seconds until my lungs gave out and I had to breathe the last breath.
10…
9…
8…
7…
I heard a footstep. The creature was moving again.
I held my hand over my mouth and slowly exhaled, then just as slowly inhaled. It was difficult to keep my oxygen-starved lungs from demanding more air, but I was able to catch up quietly without breathing so hard as to make noise.
I continued on my perilous journey toward the unknown, carefully listening to the creature also continue its journey.
As I reached the corner of my nemesis, fear gripped me as I stepped on something soft. I waited for an attack that never came. Slowly, I reached down to explore this newfound softness. It was hair. Soft fur the kind that an animal would shed.
All my suspicions were now fact. There was an animal here. It wasn’t just my imagination. My fear and anxiety were fully justified.
As I made my revelation, I heard my nemesis reach the far wall and bump into it. It then began sniffing in earnest.
It must’ve caught my scent.
It knew I was real too.
The sniffing was getting closer. I allowed myself a moment of panic before the realization that the only thing I could do was continue my course around the room. I made my way through the blanket of fur and headed for the far wall, feeling as I went for the one thing that may hold my potential rescue, a doorknob.
So far, there had been no indication of a door whatsoever. I prayed that the unexplored wall would remedy that.
I continued on this insane and deadly game of ring around the Rosie, stepping up my speed as much as possible while still staying silent. It’s one thing to know you’re being hunted, it’s another thing altogether to ring the dinner bell by giving your position away.
I was counting on it becoming confused when it circled back to its own nest. It was still as dark as ever and apparently, this thing didn’t have any better night vision than I did.
I reached the far corner and hope surged through me that I would find a door. My escape seemed imminent. I stepped up my search, going faster along this wall, but also feeling as much of the surface as possible in search of the desired door.
My hopes came crashing down when I reached the next corner without finding anything.
It couldn’t be.
It had to be here.
How else did this demon and I enter the room?
My despair crushed me like a ton of bricks. There was nothing left to do. This thing would eventually catch me. There was no escape.
In the middle of my pity party, I noticed something. The room was silent.
I couldn’t hear it sniffing.
I couldn’t hear it breathing.
I had no idea where it was.
I tried to keep my breathing under control as panic washed over me. There was nothing to do but wait.
In the darkness, I felt something soft brush against me.
It had found me.
The subtle growl was no longer across the room, it was right here in front of me.
OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod!
I felt a river run down the inside of my pants as my bladder finally gave up the fight.
A sharp claw ran across my throat, not hard enough to cut, but enough to let me know I was about to die.
I couldn’t take it anymore. The darkness. The silence. The menace.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I screamed over and over. It wasn’t even words, just primal sounds that escaped me. Every wail as a baby. Every cry of pain. Every shriek of fright as I woke from a nightmare. I let them all out. The screams of my victims as they suffered at my hands. The screams of their families as the court sentenced me. The screams inside my mind in a cell alone thinking only of the unless.
The unless.
The unless…
The unless!
Suddenly the lights came on.
I covered my eyes to ward off the brightness. As I slowly adjusted I was able to look around the room.
The creature was gone.
No, it couldn’t be.
I looked over at the wall where I had walked through the fur, but there was none. I looked all around, but there were only blank walls.
Where is it?
Whereisitwhereisitwhereisit?
I turned round and round, but it was gone. Had it ever really been here?
A door opened and two large men dressed in white came in.
“No,” I screamed. “Don’t come near! It’ll get you!”
They marched across the room oblivious to the danger and picked me up.
“It’s time to go back to your room,” one of the men said, picking me up under the shoulder. “The doc says you’ve had enough therapy for today.”
“Did you see it?” I said.
They carried me out without answering. We came into a hallway that stretched forever. I tried to look back at the open door.
“Don’t let it out,” I said. “You’ve got to keep it in.”
They didn’t bother to look back, just continued down the hall.
I turned and saw it peek it’s head out of the room.
“No!” I screamed.
They didn’t stop, didn’t slow, just picked me up so my feet dangled off the floor until we reached a room. They unlocked it and set me in on my bunk.
“You should probably get cleaned up,” one of the men said as I tried to get up but he held me down.
“You know how this goes,” he said. “You stay on your bunk until we lock the door.”
The second man backed out of the room then the first man released me and followed him.
I ran for the door.
“You don’t understand! It’s loose. It’ll kill you all!”
They turned and walked away.
“No!” I screamed at the tiny window in my door.
I pounded on the door for a long time, but no one else came by. Maybe it had already gotten them. Maybe it would come to my door and peek in my window with blood dripping from its mouth.
I stepped back from the door, feeling exhausted. I looked over at the tiny shower stall and did what they suggested.
Everything was built into the wall. The shower, the sink, the table, the bed, there was nothing I could use to hurt myself or defend myself.
After I took a shower and put on fresh clothes, I sat at my desk and wrote what had happened with the monster. When I was done I laid down, hoping to be able to rest.
At the appointed time, the lights went out.
The darkness engulfed me.
It devoured me like the thing I fear most.
I lay there with my eyes open, waiting.
In the black nothingness, I heard it, a soft growl.
2023.06.02 09:43 Horror_writer_1717 I woke in a dark room. Something horrible was in there with me.
Darkness engulfs me. It devours me like the creature I fear most. I try opening my eyes but there’s no difference. All I see is total black nothingness.
It wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t deathly terrified of the dark.
At home there’s never a time when I allow darkness to fully overwhelm the light. I have night lights and security lights lining every hall and in every room. I’m never one hundred percent in the dark. That is, not until now.
I feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead at the mere thought of what could be lurking in the inky blackness that envelopes me. Even the most mundane holds terror when you can’t see it but your mind tells you it’s there. A throng of spiders waiting just out of reach to make me its next meal. A pit of snakes that you dangle perilously close to the precipice.
If you can’t see, how can you tell if your eyes are open or closed?
I reach down and press my hand against the cold floor that I lay on. I stretch out my fingers, laying them flat to feel it. The cold creeps into them, its tendrils invading my body like a virus. It feels like the darkness is digging through my skin deeper down inside me to my bones, to my marrow, to my soul.
I’m lost in this sea of gloom. I don’t even know where I am. I’m terrified to make a move lest I tumble over the invisible edge.
I don’t know how I got here.
I don’t know where here is.
I’ve no idea why I’m here, unless…
As fearful as this mysterious place makes me, the thought of unless chills me to the marrow. The darkness is even set aside for a moment in my mind, displaced by the unless.
It seems so long ago and at the same time, it feels like it just happened. The deepest, darkest place in my soul. The thing I keep locked up tight, never to ponder let alone discuss. The unless is untouchable. Only in my worst nightmares does my subconscious toy with the idea of the unless.
No. I can’t let it consume me. My thoughts running rampant won’t help me to discover what this place is. I must do that first if the miracle of escape is even possible.
I slowly slide my hand outward as far as it will reach. Each micro-moment prepared to withdraw it if harm is approached. With my senses diminished, the only way to search for harm is to sacrifice my hand. Like sending out a scout to see if the area is clear or the enemy is close by.
My hand reaches its limit unmolested. I change direction from straight out to an arc. Feeling for anything like a one-winged snow angel.
My hand discovers nothing, but the movement has stimulated something of my lost senses. I hear the sliding of my fingers on the floor’s surface.
It echoes back to me quickly. I try once again, faster and louder this time. The echoes return almost immediately.
My mind absorbs the details and makes a conclusion. The room must not be very big. It augments the conclusion with the supposition that the floor is concrete. The smoothness, the cold, and the sound it makes all seem to come together.
I further test the conclusion by forming a fist and knocking on the floor.
The sound and feel cement the hypotheses.
As I congratulate myself on my deduction, I hear something. Having not moved, I don’t think the sound came from me. It happened only briefly and I wasn’t listening for any sounds outside the ones I’d made.
My mind replayed it and came to a startling conclusion. It sounded like a sigh.
As if someone was my unwitting cellmate in this murky prison.
Relief and despair fought a furious battle at the prospect of another in my company that I know nothing about.
Company in this tenebrous place would be a welcome happenstance. It may even lead to our escape if we work together.
However, if I am here about the unless then what horrid crime had they committed to be relegated to this torturous existence?
Caution seemed the most prudent course. Perhaps my cellmate was unaware of my existence. Keeping it that way until I could discover more seemed a prudent goal.
Armed with the knowledge of the floor’s composition and the existence of a potential cellmate, I set about to gather more information about my surroundings.
I rolled onto my back slowly, so as not to make any noise that would alert the other to my presence. I then used my other arm to search for any obstructions within its arc.
Finding none, I proceeded to move my legs as far to the side as possible, completing my concrete angel.
Next on my list for this absurd exploration, I slowly rolled over onto my stomach, making sure to feel as far out with my hand should a sudden drop-off present itself unannounced and end my journey in the most horrific fashion.
Finding nothing to impede my progress, I took the next step of taking my first step.
As I did, my shoe brushed the floor, making a sound that under normal circumstances would barely be noticed. However, I wasn’t in normal circumstances.
The effect was immediate and terrifying.
This time there was no sigh. It was a low-throated growl.
I became a statue as liquid nitrogen rushed through my veins. The growl was deep and throaty, like a lion’s only somehow different.
Every inch of my being clenched in a group effort to stay as still as humanly possible. My hope was that this thing would think it had made a mistake and hadn’t heard the movement of its next potential meal. It was more than a hope, it was the key to my survival.
The problem was I was trapped in a position kneeling on one knee, about to get up. My knee on the hard floor was starting to complain and I knew it was only a matter of time until my balance wavered.
I couldn’t hold this position for long. I was already starting to shake from the effort. My balance was wavering, beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I hoped it couldn’t smell fear because I was throwing out waves of it.
My leg was shaking, my knee was screaming. I had to make a decision. Do I sit back down or go all the way to standing?
Whichever I did needed to happen fast before my knee gave out and I collapsed to the floor in a noisy heap.
I decided to stand. Putting one hand on my knee and the other on the floor, I pushed up and ascended. As I rose, my knee popped. It wasn’t painful, but it was loud in this quiet room. So loud that it echoed back to me.
I made it all the way to the standing position before I heard the growl again. This time it was followed by sounds that were much worse. First was a sniffing sound as if it was testing the air, searching for its prey. The second was the soft yet unmistakable sound of a footstep.
I didn’t breathe as I waited to hear another. I listened for any sound, and unfortunately, I heard one. It was this thing’s breath. It was long and slow as if this monster’s lungs were huge to accommodate a massive body.
The sniffing continued but the second footfall didn’t come. Perhaps it was as confused as I was as to why it was here.
I was never so glad about the darkness as at that moment. I was still terrified, but at least the darkness had become my ally if only for a moment. I couldn’t see the monster, which was a blessing in itself. My imagination was already picturing the most horrendous, demonic thing that ever cursed the planet with its existence. But the darkness was a double-edged sword. It couldn’t see me either. If I stayed quiet enough, it might write me off as nothing more than a figment of its imagination.
With only rhythmic breathing and no sound of pursuit, I took my first standing step away from the beast. With measured and calculated caution, I stepped away from the sound of my bane and felt silently and cautiously with the toe of my shoe to make sure there was a floor to step onto.
My foot landed with the impact of a feather. I transferred weight to that leg and stepped with the other. With the lights on and no demon waiting to devour me, my motions would’ve been quite comical.
As the situation was, they were anything but.
I continued the arduous task of silent escape, listening intently for any change in the monster’s breathing.
Time had no meaning in this place, but if I were to guess I would say it took me nearly half an hour to take ten steps.
The eleventh step, however, was the problem.
When I put my foot out, it hit something.
I immediately froze. I couldn’t tell if the something had been hard like a table, or soft like another creature lying in wait for some poor stupid person to stumble into it.
I drew my foot back and waited to see if whatever it was reacted. The darkness didn’t abate. At times I considered holding my eyes closed. At least that would keep them hydrated. For some strange reason, it also seemed to help my focus.
I listened for any sign that this object was alive and/or about to devour me. After a few moments, the only sound I heard was my own breathing. I tentatively stuck out my foot and touched the object again.
It was hard and unyielding. I reached out with my arm and also touched something solid. I felt around on it and bent down all the way to the floor.
It was a wall.
The rough texture and ridges told me it was made of concrete block. I reached as high as I could, even getting up on my tiptoes, trying to find anything useful.
I explored the wall, feeling my way to the right until I reached a corner. As tempted as I was to turn and feel down this new wall, I knew it ended on the side of the room where the monster dwelled. I had no desire to approach that thing without light and a very deadly weapon.
As much as my fingers had become my eyes, my ears became my sonar, staying tuned to any sound. To this point, there hadn’t been much.
That didn’t last.
There was a shuffling sound that made me freeze. It was followed by the sounds of scraping on the concrete floor. Its soft breathing had gotten deeper and steadier.
It was getting up.
I stood in my corner not moving, barely breathing as I heard one soft footstep after another, getting louder with each step.
It was curious about the other side of the room… my side of the room.
I had to focus not to give it a strong smell to follow. I hadn’t used the bathroom in hours. Not that there was a bathroom in here that I knew of, but I would’ve used the other corner and then never returned to it until nature called again.
As the monster continued across the room I could hear sniffing.
It was hunting for me.
My nerves told me to run. My mind told me to stand still. My bladder didn’t care as long as it was emptied soon.
The footsteps continued to approach. There was no doubt it was searching for me, and it would find me. My mind ran through every option available in a blindingly dark room with a beast searching for its next meal that was slowly approaching.
I hugged the wall and started toward the other side of the room.
Common sense argued that I had no idea if there was another creature on the far side of the room, but there seemed to be no choice.
As we continued our silent dance, I pictured the creature passing by as I slid along the wall toward its side of the room.
When we had both reached the halfway point, it suddenly stopped. I froze and held my breath as it sniffed the air. For a long moment, it was totally silent. It seemed to be holding its breath as well as if listening for me.
I kept my eyes squeezed shut and focused on being totally still. My lungs were burning from holding my breath. I knew I would soon spew out the stale air and gulp in fresh.
I also knew that would be the end of me. The creature would know I was here and it would use the sound to track me down and tear me to bloody shreds as it devoured me.
The countdown had begun in my mind. It was a matter of seconds until my lungs gave out and I had to breathe the last breath.
10…
9…
8…
7…
I heard a footstep. The creature was moving again.
I held my hand over my mouth and slowly exhaled, then just as slowly inhaled. It was difficult to keep my oxygen-starved lungs from demanding more air, but I was able to catch up quietly without breathing so hard as to make noise.
I continued on my perilous journey toward the unknown, carefully listening to the creature also continue its journey.
As I reached the corner of my nemesis, fear gripped me as I stepped on something soft. I waited for an attack that never came. Slowly, I reached down to explore this newfound softness. It was hair. Soft fur the kind that an animal would shed.
All my suspicions were now fact. There was an animal here. It wasn’t just my imagination. My fear and anxiety were fully justified.
As I made my revelation, I heard my nemesis reach the far wall and bump into it. It then began sniffing in earnest.
It must’ve caught my scent.
It knew I was real too.
The sniffing was getting closer. I allowed myself a moment of panic before the realization that the only thing I could do was continue my course around the room. I made my way through the blanket of fur and headed for the far wall, feeling as I went for the one thing that may hold my potential rescue, a doorknob.
So far, there had been no indication of a door whatsoever. I prayed that the unexplored wall would remedy that.
I continued on this insane and deadly game of ring around the Rosie, stepping up my speed as much as possible while still staying silent. It’s one thing to know you’re being hunted, it’s another thing altogether to ring the dinner bell by giving your position away.
I was counting on it becoming confused when it circled back to its own nest. It was still as dark as ever and apparently, this thing didn’t have any better night vision than I did.
I reached the far corner and hope surged through me that I would find a door. My escape seemed imminent. I stepped up my search, going faster along this wall, but also feeling as much of the surface as possible in search of the desired door.
My hopes came crashing down when I reached the next corner without finding anything.
It couldn’t be.
It had to be here.
How else did this demon and I enter the room?
My despair crushed me like a ton of bricks. There was nothing left to do. This thing would eventually catch me. There was no escape.
In the middle of my pity party, I noticed something. The room was silent.
I couldn’t hear it sniffing.
I couldn’t hear it breathing.
I had no idea where it was.
I tried to keep my breathing under control as panic washed over me. There was nothing to do but wait.
In the darkness, I felt something soft brush against me.
It had found me.
The subtle growl was no longer across the room, it was right here in front of me.
OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod!
I felt a river run down the inside of my pants as my bladder finally gave up the fight.
A sharp claw ran across my throat, not hard enough to cut, but enough to let me know I was about to die.
I couldn’t take it anymore. The darkness. The silence. The menace.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I screamed over and over. It wasn’t even words, just primal sounds that escaped me. Every wail as a baby. Every cry of pain. Every shriek of fright as I woke from a nightmare. I let them all out. The screams of my victims as they suffered at my hands. The screams of their families as the court sentenced me. The screams inside my mind in a cell alone thinking only of the unless.
The unless.
The unless…
The unless!
Suddenly the lights came on.
I covered my eyes to ward off the brightness. As I slowly adjusted I was able to look around the room.
The creature was gone.
No, it couldn’t be.
I looked over at the wall where I had walked through the fur, but there was none. I looked all around, but there were only blank walls.
Where is it?
Whereisitwhereisitwhereisit?
I turned round and round, but it was gone. Had it ever really been here?
A door opened and two large men dressed in white came in.
“No,” I screamed. “Don’t come near! It’ll get you!”
They marched across the room oblivious to the danger and picked me up.
“It’s time to go back to your room,” one of the men said, picking me up under the shoulder. “The doc says you’ve had enough therapy for today.”
“Did you see it?” I said.
They carried me out without answering. We came into a hallway that stretched forever. I tried to look back at the open door.
“Don’t let it out,” I said. “You’ve got to keep it in.”
They didn’t bother to look back, just continued down the hall.
I turned and saw it peek it’s head out of the room.
“No!” I screamed.
They didn’t stop, didn’t slow, just picked me up so my feet dangled off the floor until we reached a room. They unlocked it and set me in on my bunk.
“You should probably get cleaned up,” one of the men said as I tried to get up but he held me down.
“You know how this goes,” he said. “You stay on your bunk until we lock the door.”
The second man backed out of the room then the first man released me and followed him.
I ran for the door.
“You don’t understand! It’s loose. It’ll kill you all!”
They turned and walked away.
“No!” I screamed at the tiny window in my door.
I pounded on the door for a long time, but no one else came by. Maybe it had already gotten them. Maybe it would come to my door and peek in my window with blood dripping from its mouth.
I stepped back from the door, feeling exhausted. I looked over at the tiny shower stall and did what they suggested.
Everything was built into the wall. The shower, the sink, the table, the bed, there was nothing I could use to hurt myself or defend myself.
After I took a shower and put on fresh clothes, I sat at my desk and wrote what had happened with the monster. When I was done I laid down, hoping to be able to rest.
At the appointed time, the lights went out.
The darkness engulfed me.
It devoured me like the thing I fear most.
I lay there with my eyes open, waiting.
In the black nothingness, I heard it, a soft growl.
submitted by Horror_writer_1717 to Horror_Writer_1717 [link] [comments]
It wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t deathly terrified of the dark.
At home there’s never a time when I allow darkness to fully overwhelm the light. I have night lights and security lights lining every hall and in every room. I’m never one hundred percent in the dark. That is, not until now.
I feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead at the mere thought of what could be lurking in the inky blackness that envelopes me. Even the most mundane holds terror when you can’t see it but your mind tells you it’s there. A throng of spiders waiting just out of reach to make me its next meal. A pit of snakes that you dangle perilously close to the precipice.
If you can’t see, how can you tell if your eyes are open or closed?
I reach down and press my hand against the cold floor that I lay on. I stretch out my fingers, laying them flat to feel it. The cold creeps into them, its tendrils invading my body like a virus. It feels like the darkness is digging through my skin deeper down inside me to my bones, to my marrow, to my soul.
I’m lost in this sea of gloom. I don’t even know where I am. I’m terrified to make a move lest I tumble over the invisible edge.
I don’t know how I got here.
I don’t know where here is.
I’ve no idea why I’m here, unless…
As fearful as this mysterious place makes me, the thought of unless chills me to the marrow. The darkness is even set aside for a moment in my mind, displaced by the unless.
It seems so long ago and at the same time, it feels like it just happened. The deepest, darkest place in my soul. The thing I keep locked up tight, never to ponder let alone discuss. The unless is untouchable. Only in my worst nightmares does my subconscious toy with the idea of the unless.
No. I can’t let it consume me. My thoughts running rampant won’t help me to discover what this place is. I must do that first if the miracle of escape is even possible.
I slowly slide my hand outward as far as it will reach. Each micro-moment prepared to withdraw it if harm is approached. With my senses diminished, the only way to search for harm is to sacrifice my hand. Like sending out a scout to see if the area is clear or the enemy is close by.
My hand reaches its limit unmolested. I change direction from straight out to an arc. Feeling for anything like a one-winged snow angel.
My hand discovers nothing, but the movement has stimulated something of my lost senses. I hear the sliding of my fingers on the floor’s surface.
It echoes back to me quickly. I try once again, faster and louder this time. The echoes return almost immediately.
My mind absorbs the details and makes a conclusion. The room must not be very big. It augments the conclusion with the supposition that the floor is concrete. The smoothness, the cold, and the sound it makes all seem to come together.
I further test the conclusion by forming a fist and knocking on the floor.
The sound and feel cement the hypotheses.
As I congratulate myself on my deduction, I hear something. Having not moved, I don’t think the sound came from me. It happened only briefly and I wasn’t listening for any sounds outside the ones I’d made.
My mind replayed it and came to a startling conclusion. It sounded like a sigh.
As if someone was my unwitting cellmate in this murky prison.
Relief and despair fought a furious battle at the prospect of another in my company that I know nothing about.
Company in this tenebrous place would be a welcome happenstance. It may even lead to our escape if we work together.
However, if I am here about the unless then what horrid crime had they committed to be relegated to this torturous existence?
Caution seemed the most prudent course. Perhaps my cellmate was unaware of my existence. Keeping it that way until I could discover more seemed a prudent goal.
Armed with the knowledge of the floor’s composition and the existence of a potential cellmate, I set about to gather more information about my surroundings.
I rolled onto my back slowly, so as not to make any noise that would alert the other to my presence. I then used my other arm to search for any obstructions within its arc.
Finding none, I proceeded to move my legs as far to the side as possible, completing my concrete angel.
Next on my list for this absurd exploration, I slowly rolled over onto my stomach, making sure to feel as far out with my hand should a sudden drop-off present itself unannounced and end my journey in the most horrific fashion.
Finding nothing to impede my progress, I took the next step of taking my first step.
As I did, my shoe brushed the floor, making a sound that under normal circumstances would barely be noticed. However, I wasn’t in normal circumstances.
The effect was immediate and terrifying.
This time there was no sigh. It was a low-throated growl.
I became a statue as liquid nitrogen rushed through my veins. The growl was deep and throaty, like a lion’s only somehow different.
Every inch of my being clenched in a group effort to stay as still as humanly possible. My hope was that this thing would think it had made a mistake and hadn’t heard the movement of its next potential meal. It was more than a hope, it was the key to my survival.
The problem was I was trapped in a position kneeling on one knee, about to get up. My knee on the hard floor was starting to complain and I knew it was only a matter of time until my balance wavered.
I couldn’t hold this position for long. I was already starting to shake from the effort. My balance was wavering, beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I hoped it couldn’t smell fear because I was throwing out waves of it.
My leg was shaking, my knee was screaming. I had to make a decision. Do I sit back down or go all the way to standing?
Whichever I did needed to happen fast before my knee gave out and I collapsed to the floor in a noisy heap.
I decided to stand. Putting one hand on my knee and the other on the floor, I pushed up and ascended. As I rose, my knee popped. It wasn’t painful, but it was loud in this quiet room. So loud that it echoed back to me.
I made it all the way to the standing position before I heard the growl again. This time it was followed by sounds that were much worse. First was a sniffing sound as if it was testing the air, searching for its prey. The second was the soft yet unmistakable sound of a footstep.
I didn’t breathe as I waited to hear another. I listened for any sound, and unfortunately, I heard one. It was this thing’s breath. It was long and slow as if this monster’s lungs were huge to accommodate a massive body.
The sniffing continued but the second footfall didn’t come. Perhaps it was as confused as I was as to why it was here.
I was never so glad about the darkness as at that moment. I was still terrified, but at least the darkness had become my ally if only for a moment. I couldn’t see the monster, which was a blessing in itself. My imagination was already picturing the most horrendous, demonic thing that ever cursed the planet with its existence. But the darkness was a double-edged sword. It couldn’t see me either. If I stayed quiet enough, it might write me off as nothing more than a figment of its imagination.
With only rhythmic breathing and no sound of pursuit, I took my first standing step away from the beast. With measured and calculated caution, I stepped away from the sound of my bane and felt silently and cautiously with the toe of my shoe to make sure there was a floor to step onto.
My foot landed with the impact of a feather. I transferred weight to that leg and stepped with the other. With the lights on and no demon waiting to devour me, my motions would’ve been quite comical.
As the situation was, they were anything but.
I continued the arduous task of silent escape, listening intently for any change in the monster’s breathing.
Time had no meaning in this place, but if I were to guess I would say it took me nearly half an hour to take ten steps.
The eleventh step, however, was the problem.
When I put my foot out, it hit something.
I immediately froze. I couldn’t tell if the something had been hard like a table, or soft like another creature lying in wait for some poor stupid person to stumble into it.
I drew my foot back and waited to see if whatever it was reacted. The darkness didn’t abate. At times I considered holding my eyes closed. At least that would keep them hydrated. For some strange reason, it also seemed to help my focus.
I listened for any sign that this object was alive and/or about to devour me. After a few moments, the only sound I heard was my own breathing. I tentatively stuck out my foot and touched the object again.
It was hard and unyielding. I reached out with my arm and also touched something solid. I felt around on it and bent down all the way to the floor.
It was a wall.
The rough texture and ridges told me it was made of concrete block. I reached as high as I could, even getting up on my tiptoes, trying to find anything useful.
I explored the wall, feeling my way to the right until I reached a corner. As tempted as I was to turn and feel down this new wall, I knew it ended on the side of the room where the monster dwelled. I had no desire to approach that thing without light and a very deadly weapon.
As much as my fingers had become my eyes, my ears became my sonar, staying tuned to any sound. To this point, there hadn’t been much.
That didn’t last.
There was a shuffling sound that made me freeze. It was followed by the sounds of scraping on the concrete floor. Its soft breathing had gotten deeper and steadier.
It was getting up.
I stood in my corner not moving, barely breathing as I heard one soft footstep after another, getting louder with each step.
It was curious about the other side of the room… my side of the room.
I had to focus not to give it a strong smell to follow. I hadn’t used the bathroom in hours. Not that there was a bathroom in here that I knew of, but I would’ve used the other corner and then never returned to it until nature called again.
As the monster continued across the room I could hear sniffing.
It was hunting for me.
My nerves told me to run. My mind told me to stand still. My bladder didn’t care as long as it was emptied soon.
The footsteps continued to approach. There was no doubt it was searching for me, and it would find me. My mind ran through every option available in a blindingly dark room with a beast searching for its next meal that was slowly approaching.
I hugged the wall and started toward the other side of the room.
Common sense argued that I had no idea if there was another creature on the far side of the room, but there seemed to be no choice.
As we continued our silent dance, I pictured the creature passing by as I slid along the wall toward its side of the room.
When we had both reached the halfway point, it suddenly stopped. I froze and held my breath as it sniffed the air. For a long moment, it was totally silent. It seemed to be holding its breath as well as if listening for me.
I kept my eyes squeezed shut and focused on being totally still. My lungs were burning from holding my breath. I knew I would soon spew out the stale air and gulp in fresh.
I also knew that would be the end of me. The creature would know I was here and it would use the sound to track me down and tear me to bloody shreds as it devoured me.
The countdown had begun in my mind. It was a matter of seconds until my lungs gave out and I had to breathe the last breath.
10…
9…
8…
7…
I heard a footstep. The creature was moving again.
I held my hand over my mouth and slowly exhaled, then just as slowly inhaled. It was difficult to keep my oxygen-starved lungs from demanding more air, but I was able to catch up quietly without breathing so hard as to make noise.
I continued on my perilous journey toward the unknown, carefully listening to the creature also continue its journey.
As I reached the corner of my nemesis, fear gripped me as I stepped on something soft. I waited for an attack that never came. Slowly, I reached down to explore this newfound softness. It was hair. Soft fur the kind that an animal would shed.
All my suspicions were now fact. There was an animal here. It wasn’t just my imagination. My fear and anxiety were fully justified.
As I made my revelation, I heard my nemesis reach the far wall and bump into it. It then began sniffing in earnest.
It must’ve caught my scent.
It knew I was real too.
The sniffing was getting closer. I allowed myself a moment of panic before the realization that the only thing I could do was continue my course around the room. I made my way through the blanket of fur and headed for the far wall, feeling as I went for the one thing that may hold my potential rescue, a doorknob.
So far, there had been no indication of a door whatsoever. I prayed that the unexplored wall would remedy that.
I continued on this insane and deadly game of ring around the Rosie, stepping up my speed as much as possible while still staying silent. It’s one thing to know you’re being hunted, it’s another thing altogether to ring the dinner bell by giving your position away.
I was counting on it becoming confused when it circled back to its own nest. It was still as dark as ever and apparently, this thing didn’t have any better night vision than I did.
I reached the far corner and hope surged through me that I would find a door. My escape seemed imminent. I stepped up my search, going faster along this wall, but also feeling as much of the surface as possible in search of the desired door.
My hopes came crashing down when I reached the next corner without finding anything.
It couldn’t be.
It had to be here.
How else did this demon and I enter the room?
My despair crushed me like a ton of bricks. There was nothing left to do. This thing would eventually catch me. There was no escape.
In the middle of my pity party, I noticed something. The room was silent.
I couldn’t hear it sniffing.
I couldn’t hear it breathing.
I had no idea where it was.
I tried to keep my breathing under control as panic washed over me. There was nothing to do but wait.
In the darkness, I felt something soft brush against me.
It had found me.
The subtle growl was no longer across the room, it was right here in front of me.
OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod!
I felt a river run down the inside of my pants as my bladder finally gave up the fight.
A sharp claw ran across my throat, not hard enough to cut, but enough to let me know I was about to die.
I couldn’t take it anymore. The darkness. The silence. The menace.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I screamed over and over. It wasn’t even words, just primal sounds that escaped me. Every wail as a baby. Every cry of pain. Every shriek of fright as I woke from a nightmare. I let them all out. The screams of my victims as they suffered at my hands. The screams of their families as the court sentenced me. The screams inside my mind in a cell alone thinking only of the unless.
The unless.
The unless…
The unless!
Suddenly the lights came on.
I covered my eyes to ward off the brightness. As I slowly adjusted I was able to look around the room.
The creature was gone.
No, it couldn’t be.
I looked over at the wall where I had walked through the fur, but there was none. I looked all around, but there were only blank walls.
Where is it?
Whereisitwhereisitwhereisit?
I turned round and round, but it was gone. Had it ever really been here?
A door opened and two large men dressed in white came in.
“No,” I screamed. “Don’t come near! It’ll get you!”
They marched across the room oblivious to the danger and picked me up.
“It’s time to go back to your room,” one of the men said, picking me up under the shoulder. “The doc says you’ve had enough therapy for today.”
“Did you see it?” I said.
They carried me out without answering. We came into a hallway that stretched forever. I tried to look back at the open door.
“Don’t let it out,” I said. “You’ve got to keep it in.”
They didn’t bother to look back, just continued down the hall.
I turned and saw it peek it’s head out of the room.
“No!” I screamed.
They didn’t stop, didn’t slow, just picked me up so my feet dangled off the floor until we reached a room. They unlocked it and set me in on my bunk.
“You should probably get cleaned up,” one of the men said as I tried to get up but he held me down.
“You know how this goes,” he said. “You stay on your bunk until we lock the door.”
The second man backed out of the room then the first man released me and followed him.
I ran for the door.
“You don’t understand! It’s loose. It’ll kill you all!”
They turned and walked away.
“No!” I screamed at the tiny window in my door.
I pounded on the door for a long time, but no one else came by. Maybe it had already gotten them. Maybe it would come to my door and peek in my window with blood dripping from its mouth.
I stepped back from the door, feeling exhausted. I looked over at the tiny shower stall and did what they suggested.
Everything was built into the wall. The shower, the sink, the table, the bed, there was nothing I could use to hurt myself or defend myself.
After I took a shower and put on fresh clothes, I sat at my desk and wrote what had happened with the monster. When I was done I laid down, hoping to be able to rest.
At the appointed time, the lights went out.
The darkness engulfed me.
It devoured me like the thing I fear most.
I lay there with my eyes open, waiting.
In the black nothingness, I heard it, a soft growl.
2023.06.02 09:42 Horror_writer_1717 I woke in a dark room. Something horrible was in there with me.
Darkness engulfs me. It devours me like the creature I fear most. I try opening my eyes but there’s no difference. All I see is total black nothingness.
It wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t deathly terrified of the dark.
At home there’s never a time when I allow darkness to fully overwhelm the light. I have night lights and security lights lining every hall and in every room. I’m never one hundred percent in the dark. That is, not until now.
I feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead at the mere thought of what could be lurking in the inky blackness that envelopes me. Even the most mundane holds terror when you can’t see it but your mind tells you it’s there. A throng of spiders waiting just out of reach to make me its next meal. A pit of snakes that you dangle perilously close to the precipice.
If you can’t see, how can you tell if your eyes are open or closed?
I reach down and press my hand against the cold floor that I lay on. I stretch out my fingers, laying them flat to feel it. The cold creeps into them, its tendrils invading my body like a virus. It feels like the darkness is digging through my skin deeper down inside me to my bones, to my marrow, to my soul.
I’m lost in this sea of gloom. I don’t even know where I am. I’m terrified to make a move lest I tumble over the invisible edge.
I don’t know how I got here.
I don’t know where here is.
I’ve no idea why I’m here, unless…
As fearful as this mysterious place makes me, the thought of unless chills me to the marrow. The darkness is even set aside for a moment in my mind, displaced by the unless.
It seems so long ago and at the same time, it feels like it just happened. The deepest, darkest place in my soul. The thing I keep locked up tight, never to ponder let alone discuss. The unless is untouchable. Only in my worst nightmares does my subconscious toy with the idea of the unless.
No. I can’t let it consume me. My thoughts running rampant won’t help me to discover what this place is. I must do that first if the miracle of escape is even possible.
I slowly slide my hand outward as far as it will reach. Each micro-moment prepared to withdraw it if harm is approached. With my senses diminished, the only way to search for harm is to sacrifice my hand. Like sending out a scout to see if the area is clear or the enemy is close by.
My hand reaches its limit unmolested. I change direction from straight out to an arc. Feeling for anything like a one-winged snow angel.
My hand discovers nothing, but the movement has stimulated something of my lost senses. I hear the sliding of my fingers on the floor’s surface.
It echoes back to me quickly. I try once again, faster and louder this time. The echoes return almost immediately.
My mind absorbs the details and makes a conclusion. The room must not be very big. It augments the conclusion with the supposition that the floor is concrete. The smoothness, the cold, and the sound it makes all seem to come together.
I further test the conclusion by forming a fist and knocking on the floor.
The sound and feel cement the hypotheses.
As I congratulate myself on my deduction, I hear something. Having not moved, I don’t think the sound came from me. It happened only briefly and I wasn’t listening for any sounds outside the ones I’d made.
My mind replayed it and came to a startling conclusion. It sounded like a sigh.
As if someone was my unwitting cellmate in this murky prison.
Relief and despair fought a furious battle at the prospect of another in my company that I know nothing about.
Company in this tenebrous place would be a welcome happenstance. It may even lead to our escape if we work together.
However, if I am here about the unless then what horrid crime had they committed to be relegated to this torturous existence?
Caution seemed the most prudent course. Perhaps my cellmate was unaware of my existence. Keeping it that way until I could discover more seemed a prudent goal.
Armed with the knowledge of the floor’s composition and the existence of a potential cellmate, I set about to gather more information about my surroundings.
I rolled onto my back slowly, so as not to make any noise that would alert the other to my presence. I then used my other arm to search for any obstructions within its arc.
Finding none, I proceeded to move my legs as far to the side as possible, completing my concrete angel.
Next on my list for this absurd exploration, I slowly rolled over onto my stomach, making sure to feel as far out with my hand should a sudden drop-off present itself unannounced and end my journey in the most horrific fashion.
Finding nothing to impede my progress, I took the next step of taking my first step.
As I did, my shoe brushed the floor, making a sound that under normal circumstances would barely be noticed. However, I wasn’t in normal circumstances.
The effect was immediate and terrifying.
This time there was no sigh. It was a low-throated growl.
I became a statue as liquid nitrogen rushed through my veins. The growl was deep and throaty, like a lion’s only somehow different.
Every inch of my being clenched in a group effort to stay as still as humanly possible. My hope was that this thing would think it had made a mistake and hadn’t heard the movement of its next potential meal. It was more than a hope, it was the key to my survival.
The problem was I was trapped in a position kneeling on one knee, about to get up. My knee on the hard floor was starting to complain and I knew it was only a matter of time until my balance wavered.
I couldn’t hold this position for long. I was already starting to shake from the effort. My balance was wavering, beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I hoped it couldn’t smell fear because I was throwing out waves of it.
My leg was shaking, my knee was screaming. I had to make a decision. Do I sit back down or go all the way to standing?
Whichever I did needed to happen fast before my knee gave out and I collapsed to the floor in a noisy heap.
I decided to stand. Putting one hand on my knee and the other on the floor, I pushed up and ascended. As I rose, my knee popped. It wasn’t painful, but it was loud in this quiet room. So loud that it echoed back to me.
I made it all the way to the standing position before I heard the growl again. This time it was followed by sounds that were much worse. First was a sniffing sound as if it was testing the air, searching for its prey. The second was the soft yet unmistakable sound of a footstep.
I didn’t breathe as I waited to hear another. I listened for any sound, and unfortunately, I heard one. It was this thing’s breath. It was long and slow as if this monster’s lungs were huge to accommodate a massive body.
The sniffing continued but the second footfall didn’t come. Perhaps it was as confused as I was as to why it was here.
I was never so glad about the darkness as at that moment. I was still terrified, but at least the darkness had become my ally if only for a moment. I couldn’t see the monster, which was a blessing in itself. My imagination was already picturing the most horrendous, demonic thing that ever cursed the planet with its existence. But the darkness was a double-edged sword. It couldn’t see me either. If I stayed quiet enough, it might write me off as nothing more than a figment of its imagination.
With only rhythmic breathing and no sound of pursuit, I took my first standing step away from the beast. With measured and calculated caution, I stepped away from the sound of my bane and felt silently and cautiously with the toe of my shoe to make sure there was a floor to step onto.
My foot landed with the impact of a feather. I transferred weight to that leg and stepped with the other. With the lights on and no demon waiting to devour me, my motions would’ve been quite comical.
As the situation was, they were anything but.
I continued the arduous task of silent escape, listening intently for any change in the monster’s breathing.
Time had no meaning in this place, but if I were to guess I would say it took me nearly half an hour to take ten steps.
The eleventh step, however, was the problem.
When I put my foot out, it hit something.
I immediately froze. I couldn’t tell if the something had been hard like a table, or soft like another creature lying in wait for some poor stupid person to stumble into it.
I drew my foot back and waited to see if whatever it was reacted. The darkness didn’t abate. At times I considered holding my eyes closed. At least that would keep them hydrated. For some strange reason, it also seemed to help my focus.
I listened for any sign that this object was alive and/or about to devour me. After a few moments, the only sound I heard was my own breathing. I tentatively stuck out my foot and touched the object again.
It was hard and unyielding. I reached out with my arm and also touched something solid. I felt around on it and bent down all the way to the floor.
It was a wall.
The rough texture and ridges told me it was made of concrete block. I reached as high as I could, even getting up on my tiptoes, trying to find anything useful.
I explored the wall, feeling my way to the right until I reached a corner. As tempted as I was to turn and feel down this new wall, I knew it ended on the side of the room where the monster dwelled. I had no desire to approach that thing without light and a very deadly weapon.
As much as my fingers had become my eyes, my ears became my sonar, staying tuned to any sound. To this point, there hadn’t been much.
That didn’t last.
There was a shuffling sound that made me freeze. It was followed by the sounds of scraping on the concrete floor. Its soft breathing had gotten deeper and steadier.
It was getting up.
I stood in my corner not moving, barely breathing as I heard one soft footstep after another, getting louder with each step.
It was curious about the other side of the room… my side of the room.
I had to focus not to give it a strong smell to follow. I hadn’t used the bathroom in hours. Not that there was a bathroom in here that I knew of, but I would’ve used the other corner and then never returned to it until nature called again.
As the monster continued across the room I could hear sniffing.
It was hunting for me.
My nerves told me to run. My mind told me to stand still. My bladder didn’t care as long as it was emptied soon.
The footsteps continued to approach. There was no doubt it was searching for me, and it would find me. My mind ran through every option available in a blindingly dark room with a beast searching for its next meal that was slowly approaching.
I hugged the wall and started toward the other side of the room.
Common sense argued that I had no idea if there was another creature on the far side of the room, but there seemed to be no choice.
As we continued our silent dance, I pictured the creature passing by as I slid along the wall toward its side of the room.
When we had both reached the halfway point, it suddenly stopped. I froze and held my breath as it sniffed the air. For a long moment, it was totally silent. It seemed to be holding its breath as well as if listening for me.
I kept my eyes squeezed shut and focused on being totally still. My lungs were burning from holding my breath. I knew I would soon spew out the stale air and gulp in fresh.
I also knew that would be the end of me. The creature would know I was here and it would use the sound to track me down and tear me to bloody shreds as it devoured me.
The countdown had begun in my mind. It was a matter of seconds until my lungs gave out and I had to breathe the last breath.
10…
9…
8…
7…
I heard a footstep. The creature was moving again.
I held my hand over my mouth and slowly exhaled, then just as slowly inhaled. It was difficult to keep my oxygen-starved lungs from demanding more air, but I was able to catch up quietly without breathing so hard as to make noise.
I continued on my perilous journey toward the unknown, carefully listening to the creature also continue its journey.
As I reached the corner of my nemesis, fear gripped me as I stepped on something soft. I waited for an attack that never came. Slowly, I reached down to explore this newfound softness. It was hair. Soft fur the kind that an animal would shed.
All my suspicions were now fact. There was an animal here. It wasn’t just my imagination. My fear and anxiety were fully justified.
As I made my revelation, I heard my nemesis reach the far wall and bump into it. It then began sniffing in earnest.
It must’ve caught my scent.
It knew I was real too.
The sniffing was getting closer. I allowed myself a moment of panic before the realization that the only thing I could do was continue my course around the room. I made my way through the blanket of fur and headed for the far wall, feeling as I went for the one thing that may hold my potential rescue, a doorknob.
So far, there had been no indication of a door whatsoever. I prayed that the unexplored wall would remedy that.
I continued on this insane and deadly game of ring around the Rosie, stepping up my speed as much as possible while still staying silent. It’s one thing to know you’re being hunted, it’s another thing altogether to ring the dinner bell by giving your position away.
I was counting on it becoming confused when it circled back to its own nest. It was still as dark as ever and apparently, this thing didn’t have any better night vision than I did.
I reached the far corner and hope surged through me that I would find a door. My escape seemed imminent. I stepped up my search, going faster along this wall, but also feeling as much of the surface as possible in search of the desired door.
My hopes came crashing down when I reached the next corner without finding anything.
It couldn’t be.
It had to be here.
How else did this demon and I enter the room?
My despair crushed me like a ton of bricks. There was nothing left to do. This thing would eventually catch me. There was no escape.
In the middle of my pity party, I noticed something. The room was silent.
I couldn’t hear it sniffing.
I couldn’t hear it breathing.
I had no idea where it was.
I tried to keep my breathing under control as panic washed over me. There was nothing to do but wait.
In the darkness, I felt something soft brush against me.
It had found me.
The subtle growl was no longer across the room, it was right here in front of me.
OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod!
I felt a river run down the inside of my pants as my bladder finally gave up the fight.
A sharp claw ran across my throat, not hard enough to cut, but enough to let me know I was about to die.
I couldn’t take it anymore. The darkness. The silence. The menace.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I screamed over and over. It wasn’t even words, just primal sounds that escaped me. Every wail as a baby. Every cry of pain. Every shriek of fright as I woke from a nightmare. I let them all out. The screams of my victims as they suffered at my hands. The screams of their families as the court sentenced me. The screams inside my mind in a cell alone thinking only of the unless.
The unless.
The unless…
The unless!
Suddenly the lights came on.
I covered my eyes to ward off the brightness. As I slowly adjusted I was able to look around the room.
The creature was gone.
No, it couldn’t be.
I looked over at the wall where I had walked through the fur, but there was none. I looked all around, but there were only blank walls.
Where is it?
Whereisitwhereisitwhereisit?
I turned round and round, but it was gone. Had it ever really been here?
A door opened and two large men dressed in white came in.
“No,” I screamed. “Don’t come near! It’ll get you!”
They marched across the room oblivious to the danger and picked me up.
“It’s time to go back to your room,” one of the men said, picking me up under the shoulder. “The doc says you’ve had enough therapy for today.”
“Did you see it?” I said.
They carried me out without answering. We came into a hallway that stretched forever. I tried to look back at the open door.
“Don’t let it out,” I said. “You’ve got to keep it in.”
They didn’t bother to look back, just continued down the hall.
I turned and saw it peek it’s head out of the room.
“No!” I screamed.
They didn’t stop, didn’t slow, just picked me up so my feet dangled off the floor until we reached a room. They unlocked it and set me in on my bunk.
“You should probably get cleaned up,” one of the men said as I tried to get up but he held me down.
“You know how this goes,” he said. “You stay on your bunk until we lock the door.”
The second man backed out of the room then the first man released me and followed him.
I ran for the door.
“You don’t understand! It’s loose. It’ll kill you all!”
They turned and walked away.
“No!” I screamed at the tiny window in my door.
I pounded on the door for a long time, but no one else came by. Maybe it had already gotten them. Maybe it would come to my door and peek in my window with blood dripping from its mouth.
I stepped back from the door, feeling exhausted. I looked over at the tiny shower stall and did what they suggested.
Everything was built into the wall. The shower, the sink, the table, the bed, there was nothing I could use to hurt myself or defend myself.
After I took a shower and put on fresh clothes, I sat at my desk and wrote what had happened with the monster. When I was done I laid down, hoping to be able to rest.
At the appointed time, the lights went out.
The darkness engulfed me.
It devoured me like the thing I fear most.
I lay there with my eyes open, waiting.
In the black nothingness, I heard it, a soft growl.
submitted by Horror_writer_1717 to ZakBabyTV_Stories [link] [comments]
It wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t deathly terrified of the dark.
At home there’s never a time when I allow darkness to fully overwhelm the light. I have night lights and security lights lining every hall and in every room. I’m never one hundred percent in the dark. That is, not until now.
I feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead at the mere thought of what could be lurking in the inky blackness that envelopes me. Even the most mundane holds terror when you can’t see it but your mind tells you it’s there. A throng of spiders waiting just out of reach to make me its next meal. A pit of snakes that you dangle perilously close to the precipice.
If you can’t see, how can you tell if your eyes are open or closed?
I reach down and press my hand against the cold floor that I lay on. I stretch out my fingers, laying them flat to feel it. The cold creeps into them, its tendrils invading my body like a virus. It feels like the darkness is digging through my skin deeper down inside me to my bones, to my marrow, to my soul.
I’m lost in this sea of gloom. I don’t even know where I am. I’m terrified to make a move lest I tumble over the invisible edge.
I don’t know how I got here.
I don’t know where here is.
I’ve no idea why I’m here, unless…
As fearful as this mysterious place makes me, the thought of unless chills me to the marrow. The darkness is even set aside for a moment in my mind, displaced by the unless.
It seems so long ago and at the same time, it feels like it just happened. The deepest, darkest place in my soul. The thing I keep locked up tight, never to ponder let alone discuss. The unless is untouchable. Only in my worst nightmares does my subconscious toy with the idea of the unless.
No. I can’t let it consume me. My thoughts running rampant won’t help me to discover what this place is. I must do that first if the miracle of escape is even possible.
I slowly slide my hand outward as far as it will reach. Each micro-moment prepared to withdraw it if harm is approached. With my senses diminished, the only way to search for harm is to sacrifice my hand. Like sending out a scout to see if the area is clear or the enemy is close by.
My hand reaches its limit unmolested. I change direction from straight out to an arc. Feeling for anything like a one-winged snow angel.
My hand discovers nothing, but the movement has stimulated something of my lost senses. I hear the sliding of my fingers on the floor’s surface.
It echoes back to me quickly. I try once again, faster and louder this time. The echoes return almost immediately.
My mind absorbs the details and makes a conclusion. The room must not be very big. It augments the conclusion with the supposition that the floor is concrete. The smoothness, the cold, and the sound it makes all seem to come together.
I further test the conclusion by forming a fist and knocking on the floor.
The sound and feel cement the hypotheses.
As I congratulate myself on my deduction, I hear something. Having not moved, I don’t think the sound came from me. It happened only briefly and I wasn’t listening for any sounds outside the ones I’d made.
My mind replayed it and came to a startling conclusion. It sounded like a sigh.
As if someone was my unwitting cellmate in this murky prison.
Relief and despair fought a furious battle at the prospect of another in my company that I know nothing about.
Company in this tenebrous place would be a welcome happenstance. It may even lead to our escape if we work together.
However, if I am here about the unless then what horrid crime had they committed to be relegated to this torturous existence?
Caution seemed the most prudent course. Perhaps my cellmate was unaware of my existence. Keeping it that way until I could discover more seemed a prudent goal.
Armed with the knowledge of the floor’s composition and the existence of a potential cellmate, I set about to gather more information about my surroundings.
I rolled onto my back slowly, so as not to make any noise that would alert the other to my presence. I then used my other arm to search for any obstructions within its arc.
Finding none, I proceeded to move my legs as far to the side as possible, completing my concrete angel.
Next on my list for this absurd exploration, I slowly rolled over onto my stomach, making sure to feel as far out with my hand should a sudden drop-off present itself unannounced and end my journey in the most horrific fashion.
Finding nothing to impede my progress, I took the next step of taking my first step.
As I did, my shoe brushed the floor, making a sound that under normal circumstances would barely be noticed. However, I wasn’t in normal circumstances.
The effect was immediate and terrifying.
This time there was no sigh. It was a low-throated growl.
I became a statue as liquid nitrogen rushed through my veins. The growl was deep and throaty, like a lion’s only somehow different.
Every inch of my being clenched in a group effort to stay as still as humanly possible. My hope was that this thing would think it had made a mistake and hadn’t heard the movement of its next potential meal. It was more than a hope, it was the key to my survival.
The problem was I was trapped in a position kneeling on one knee, about to get up. My knee on the hard floor was starting to complain and I knew it was only a matter of time until my balance wavered.
I couldn’t hold this position for long. I was already starting to shake from the effort. My balance was wavering, beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I hoped it couldn’t smell fear because I was throwing out waves of it.
My leg was shaking, my knee was screaming. I had to make a decision. Do I sit back down or go all the way to standing?
Whichever I did needed to happen fast before my knee gave out and I collapsed to the floor in a noisy heap.
I decided to stand. Putting one hand on my knee and the other on the floor, I pushed up and ascended. As I rose, my knee popped. It wasn’t painful, but it was loud in this quiet room. So loud that it echoed back to me.
I made it all the way to the standing position before I heard the growl again. This time it was followed by sounds that were much worse. First was a sniffing sound as if it was testing the air, searching for its prey. The second was the soft yet unmistakable sound of a footstep.
I didn’t breathe as I waited to hear another. I listened for any sound, and unfortunately, I heard one. It was this thing’s breath. It was long and slow as if this monster’s lungs were huge to accommodate a massive body.
The sniffing continued but the second footfall didn’t come. Perhaps it was as confused as I was as to why it was here.
I was never so glad about the darkness as at that moment. I was still terrified, but at least the darkness had become my ally if only for a moment. I couldn’t see the monster, which was a blessing in itself. My imagination was already picturing the most horrendous, demonic thing that ever cursed the planet with its existence. But the darkness was a double-edged sword. It couldn’t see me either. If I stayed quiet enough, it might write me off as nothing more than a figment of its imagination.
With only rhythmic breathing and no sound of pursuit, I took my first standing step away from the beast. With measured and calculated caution, I stepped away from the sound of my bane and felt silently and cautiously with the toe of my shoe to make sure there was a floor to step onto.
My foot landed with the impact of a feather. I transferred weight to that leg and stepped with the other. With the lights on and no demon waiting to devour me, my motions would’ve been quite comical.
As the situation was, they were anything but.
I continued the arduous task of silent escape, listening intently for any change in the monster’s breathing.
Time had no meaning in this place, but if I were to guess I would say it took me nearly half an hour to take ten steps.
The eleventh step, however, was the problem.
When I put my foot out, it hit something.
I immediately froze. I couldn’t tell if the something had been hard like a table, or soft like another creature lying in wait for some poor stupid person to stumble into it.
I drew my foot back and waited to see if whatever it was reacted. The darkness didn’t abate. At times I considered holding my eyes closed. At least that would keep them hydrated. For some strange reason, it also seemed to help my focus.
I listened for any sign that this object was alive and/or about to devour me. After a few moments, the only sound I heard was my own breathing. I tentatively stuck out my foot and touched the object again.
It was hard and unyielding. I reached out with my arm and also touched something solid. I felt around on it and bent down all the way to the floor.
It was a wall.
The rough texture and ridges told me it was made of concrete block. I reached as high as I could, even getting up on my tiptoes, trying to find anything useful.
I explored the wall, feeling my way to the right until I reached a corner. As tempted as I was to turn and feel down this new wall, I knew it ended on the side of the room where the monster dwelled. I had no desire to approach that thing without light and a very deadly weapon.
As much as my fingers had become my eyes, my ears became my sonar, staying tuned to any sound. To this point, there hadn’t been much.
That didn’t last.
There was a shuffling sound that made me freeze. It was followed by the sounds of scraping on the concrete floor. Its soft breathing had gotten deeper and steadier.
It was getting up.
I stood in my corner not moving, barely breathing as I heard one soft footstep after another, getting louder with each step.
It was curious about the other side of the room… my side of the room.
I had to focus not to give it a strong smell to follow. I hadn’t used the bathroom in hours. Not that there was a bathroom in here that I knew of, but I would’ve used the other corner and then never returned to it until nature called again.
As the monster continued across the room I could hear sniffing.
It was hunting for me.
My nerves told me to run. My mind told me to stand still. My bladder didn’t care as long as it was emptied soon.
The footsteps continued to approach. There was no doubt it was searching for me, and it would find me. My mind ran through every option available in a blindingly dark room with a beast searching for its next meal that was slowly approaching.
I hugged the wall and started toward the other side of the room.
Common sense argued that I had no idea if there was another creature on the far side of the room, but there seemed to be no choice.
As we continued our silent dance, I pictured the creature passing by as I slid along the wall toward its side of the room.
When we had both reached the halfway point, it suddenly stopped. I froze and held my breath as it sniffed the air. For a long moment, it was totally silent. It seemed to be holding its breath as well as if listening for me.
I kept my eyes squeezed shut and focused on being totally still. My lungs were burning from holding my breath. I knew I would soon spew out the stale air and gulp in fresh.
I also knew that would be the end of me. The creature would know I was here and it would use the sound to track me down and tear me to bloody shreds as it devoured me.
The countdown had begun in my mind. It was a matter of seconds until my lungs gave out and I had to breathe the last breath.
10…
9…
8…
7…
I heard a footstep. The creature was moving again.
I held my hand over my mouth and slowly exhaled, then just as slowly inhaled. It was difficult to keep my oxygen-starved lungs from demanding more air, but I was able to catch up quietly without breathing so hard as to make noise.
I continued on my perilous journey toward the unknown, carefully listening to the creature also continue its journey.
As I reached the corner of my nemesis, fear gripped me as I stepped on something soft. I waited for an attack that never came. Slowly, I reached down to explore this newfound softness. It was hair. Soft fur the kind that an animal would shed.
All my suspicions were now fact. There was an animal here. It wasn’t just my imagination. My fear and anxiety were fully justified.
As I made my revelation, I heard my nemesis reach the far wall and bump into it. It then began sniffing in earnest.
It must’ve caught my scent.
It knew I was real too.
The sniffing was getting closer. I allowed myself a moment of panic before the realization that the only thing I could do was continue my course around the room. I made my way through the blanket of fur and headed for the far wall, feeling as I went for the one thing that may hold my potential rescue, a doorknob.
So far, there had been no indication of a door whatsoever. I prayed that the unexplored wall would remedy that.
I continued on this insane and deadly game of ring around the Rosie, stepping up my speed as much as possible while still staying silent. It’s one thing to know you’re being hunted, it’s another thing altogether to ring the dinner bell by giving your position away.
I was counting on it becoming confused when it circled back to its own nest. It was still as dark as ever and apparently, this thing didn’t have any better night vision than I did.
I reached the far corner and hope surged through me that I would find a door. My escape seemed imminent. I stepped up my search, going faster along this wall, but also feeling as much of the surface as possible in search of the desired door.
My hopes came crashing down when I reached the next corner without finding anything.
It couldn’t be.
It had to be here.
How else did this demon and I enter the room?
My despair crushed me like a ton of bricks. There was nothing left to do. This thing would eventually catch me. There was no escape.
In the middle of my pity party, I noticed something. The room was silent.
I couldn’t hear it sniffing.
I couldn’t hear it breathing.
I had no idea where it was.
I tried to keep my breathing under control as panic washed over me. There was nothing to do but wait.
In the darkness, I felt something soft brush against me.
It had found me.
The subtle growl was no longer across the room, it was right here in front of me.
OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod!
I felt a river run down the inside of my pants as my bladder finally gave up the fight.
A sharp claw ran across my throat, not hard enough to cut, but enough to let me know I was about to die.
I couldn’t take it anymore. The darkness. The silence. The menace.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I screamed over and over. It wasn’t even words, just primal sounds that escaped me. Every wail as a baby. Every cry of pain. Every shriek of fright as I woke from a nightmare. I let them all out. The screams of my victims as they suffered at my hands. The screams of their families as the court sentenced me. The screams inside my mind in a cell alone thinking only of the unless.
The unless.
The unless…
The unless!
Suddenly the lights came on.
I covered my eyes to ward off the brightness. As I slowly adjusted I was able to look around the room.
The creature was gone.
No, it couldn’t be.
I looked over at the wall where I had walked through the fur, but there was none. I looked all around, but there were only blank walls.
Where is it?
Whereisitwhereisitwhereisit?
I turned round and round, but it was gone. Had it ever really been here?
A door opened and two large men dressed in white came in.
“No,” I screamed. “Don’t come near! It’ll get you!”
They marched across the room oblivious to the danger and picked me up.
“It’s time to go back to your room,” one of the men said, picking me up under the shoulder. “The doc says you’ve had enough therapy for today.”
“Did you see it?” I said.
They carried me out without answering. We came into a hallway that stretched forever. I tried to look back at the open door.
“Don’t let it out,” I said. “You’ve got to keep it in.”
They didn’t bother to look back, just continued down the hall.
I turned and saw it peek it’s head out of the room.
“No!” I screamed.
They didn’t stop, didn’t slow, just picked me up so my feet dangled off the floor until we reached a room. They unlocked it and set me in on my bunk.
“You should probably get cleaned up,” one of the men said as I tried to get up but he held me down.
“You know how this goes,” he said. “You stay on your bunk until we lock the door.”
The second man backed out of the room then the first man released me and followed him.
I ran for the door.
“You don’t understand! It’s loose. It’ll kill you all!”
They turned and walked away.
“No!” I screamed at the tiny window in my door.
I pounded on the door for a long time, but no one else came by. Maybe it had already gotten them. Maybe it would come to my door and peek in my window with blood dripping from its mouth.
I stepped back from the door, feeling exhausted. I looked over at the tiny shower stall and did what they suggested.
Everything was built into the wall. The shower, the sink, the table, the bed, there was nothing I could use to hurt myself or defend myself.
After I took a shower and put on fresh clothes, I sat at my desk and wrote what had happened with the monster. When I was done I laid down, hoping to be able to rest.
At the appointed time, the lights went out.
The darkness engulfed me.
It devoured me like the thing I fear most.
I lay there with my eyes open, waiting.
In the black nothingness, I heard it, a soft growl.