I can't believe it.
So a No Somniel run pretty much means that during the run, all activities that are done in the Somniel are banned. There are several combat-related implications of this - no refining weapons (no early strong weapons like a Levin Sword until Ch. 11 for example and can only use base weapons), no engravings, no Bond Rings, no cooking, no activities, no Well, and no Arena. The early Steel weapons that you get upon going to the Somniel from an update are banned as well as the Heroes rewards (the Bond Rings and the weapons, Folkvangr, Fensalir, and Noatun). No Arena means that leveling up the bond rank of Emblems on each character will have to be done in the maps themselves and skill inherits are impossible. Reclassing is still possible, but more difficult now that you have to level up bond ranks in maps and because weapon proficiencies past bond rank 5 will need at least two maps with the Emblem Ring. No DLC either, but that doesn't impact me since I don't have it anyway. And while it's not a Somniel activity, I didn't have Network Connection enabled for the weapon drops, EXP, and other small benefits scattered on a map. I had finished a normal Ironman run with no big issues (one death, RIP Louis), but I went into this run fully expecting to lose it. An Ironman means no using the Draconic Time Crystal, so no rewinding my mistakes and every input I make is final. If a character dies because of my poor decisions or they get crit by the enemy, they remain dead.
Run casualties:

• Chloe: Died in Ch. 6. Fog of war claimed another life. Chloe got hit by an axe fighter and a thief that I didn't have vision of. It was entirely my mistake to overextend with her when I could've just played it safe. I was going to use Chloe this run as an early carry before likely transitioning her to a more support based role if her combat couldn't keep up.
  
• Yunaka: Died in Ch. 8. Overall, I think Chloe's death kinda snowballed the deaths in Ch. 8. Going into this chapter, I lost a character that was going to be one of my early carries. Lapis was Chloe's replacement, but I needed to get staff proficiency on her just in case I was going to pivot her to a support later (especially since I can't get staff proficiency for a long time after Ch. 10). Lapis therefore had to have Micaiah for several maps and I tried to continue using Marth on Alear on Ch. 8 instead as a carry. However, because of my poor timing of Engage attacks and just being badly positioned because I was unprepared for when Kagetsu and Zelkov started moving, I got myself in a situation that required me to hit a 65% to defeat Kagetsu. Missed the 65% and Yunaka died to him.
  
• Framme: Died in Ch. 8. I didn't have Lodestar Rush or enough power in general to take down Ivy in one turn. But I had to start taking down her health bars eventually otherwise I would have game over'ed since enemies would've reached the target point. As such, almost all of my units were in range of Ivy at that point and she had free reign to choose whoever she wanted to kill. In the end, she chose to Killer Axe crit Framme to death (Framme would've died even without the crit).
  
• Celine: Died in Ch. 10. I'm really mad at myself for this death because Celine died on turn one. I calculated how much damage she would take from the armor and pegasus knight on the left if they both hit her and concluded if Celine was next to Alear, she would live at 1 HP. Well, she didn't live at 1 HP because I didn't account for the Resonance damage from having Celica on her. And of course both the armor and pegasus knight hit their 50% attacks. Celine was my only early game carry because Chloe had died. And now she was dead on turn one of a difficult 2-part map.
  
• Diamant: Died in Ch. 10. Got frozen by Hortensia and I couldn't get in range to Restore him without risking Alear's death to Hortensia's Dragon effective Luin. However, I did forget to have him equip a lighter weapon and because he had the armorslayer equipped, he got doubled by Hortensia and died. I don't fully remember if he could've lived if he wasn't doubled by Hortensia (because there were other enemies around him), but I'm still frustrated at myself for letting that happen. I don't know if it's just me, but I always have trouble with taking down Hortensia in this chapter; on my normal Ironman run, I had to resort to freezing her due to a lucky early Freeze staff from the Well, but alas, no such resources like that exist in a No Somniel run.
  

RIP Chloe, Yunaka, Framme, Celine, and Diamant.
The Final Team:
Some quick notes - the screenshot on the top has HP tonics already applied to everyone so subtract 5 if you want to see their true HP. That was the first thing I did when I went into the final map and then thought maybe I should screenshot everyone. The screenshot on the bottom has everyone with their Emblem Rings and full tonics applied to them.

• Martial Master Alear (Lucina): I really like support Alear and having them as the Bonded Shielder has worked wonders in my previous playthroughs. I figured that I would need Alear's +3 flat damage for my carries and since they support everyone in the cast, they provide +10 hit for free as well. I chose to go with Martial Master Alear because my combat carries were going to be in several different class types and I wanted the flexibility to have 100% activation rate on Bonded Shield for all of them if the need arises. I also really like Chain Guard. As such, in early game, I fed Alear experience through Mercurius farming and then gave them Micaiah to get staff proficiency and to farm via Great Sacrifice. By Ch. 11, Alear was a Griffin Knight because I believe having Alear in a flying class in Ch. 11 is invaluable so you can quickly reach the point on the map to trigger Ivy, Zelkov, and Kagetsu to join you before you get overwhelmed by Corrupted with Emblems. After staying a few more chapters in Griffin (until I could give Alear Lucina after getting sword proficiency off of her on another character), Alear became a Martial Master and mainly Bonded Shielded or Chain Guarded. Not being able to Micaiah Engrave a Shielding Art to drive enemy hit rates close to 0% meant that I had to be more cognizant of where I used Bonded Shield. The enemy AI mostly decides which character to attack based on expected damage (combination of actual damage they'll do in a round of combat, how likely it is they'll hit, and their crit chance on you is also factored in). So when Bonded Shielding, I had to make sure that Alear was not going to get targeted and if they were, that they were not going to get killed from it. As such, it wasn't as simple as plop two units down and go to town deleting enemies, but it was still really strong nonetheless.

Stat Boosters: One Boots, one Seraph Robe, one Speedwing, three Dracoshields, three Talismans, two Goddess Icons

• Wyvern Knight Amber (Lyn): For Amber, I was particularly cognizant of the fact that in my previous normal Ironman run, he sometimes had 90% hit rates in the endgame despite having a +hit rate engraving on his lances. That's why I decided to go with sword/lance Wyvern instead of axe/lance Wyvern even though it would've been easier to get axe proficiency on him (axe proficiency is at bond rank 2 on Leif while any sword proficiency requires at least bond rank 6, which means at least two maps worth of using a specific Emblem vs. just one). That decision really paid off. Amber was mostly using swords throughout the midgame of this playthrough because he wasn't getting 90%+ hit on lances even while I was activating his personal for +20 hit. I can only imagine his hit rates while using axes... it just spells disaster if a crucial attack misses in an Ironman (Yunaka's death...). If I saw Amber's hit rate really going into the gutter by the endgame, I was prepared to have him switch to Sniper and just kill fliers, but that never ended up happening especially after I used all my Secret Books on him (none of my other combat characters could use them since many of them capped dex and for those that didn't, they were accurate anyway). Amber remained good throughout even though by endgame, he rarely one-rounded enemies.

Stat Boosters: One Energy Drop, three Secret Books, one Speedwing

• Warrior Kagetsu (Roy): I had my sights set on getting Kagetsu into Warrior despite Wyvern being easier to reclass into and still a strong class for him because I felt I needed the absolute best out of my units to get through this run (and I believe Warrior is Kagetsu's best class). Getting him into Warrior was a bit of an endeavor, but having to delegate an Emblem to Kagetsu wasn't going to make the game harder; on the contrary, it likely made things easier because Kagetsu is such a strong unit to start with. Kagetsu immediately got Lyn for Ch. 12 and 13 to get bow proficiency. This worked out for me in a lot of ways because Ch. 12 is an easy chapter so Emblem allocation isn't that important to get through the map. Plus, Lyn on Kagetsu for Ch. 12 doubles the Wolf Knights once you get two Speedtaker stacks so I found it quite nice having Lyn on him. And my strategy for Ch. 13 always involved Lyn on Kagetsu (see my chapter thoughts in the comments) anyway. Now, he's got bow proficiency just in time for Ch. 14, where Ike immediately goes on Kagetsu to get axe proficiency. And soon after, he's a Warrior and just snowballed from there. I was initially a bit worried about using axes at all in this playthrough considering their low base hit rates (I was prepared to pivot Kagetsu into Wyvern and have him use swords if I needed to), but Kagetsu had 100% hit rate with a Silver Axe often. His Longbow was accurate too (same base hit rate as Silver Axe). Overall, Kagetsu snowballed hard. And when I got Roy on him, and eventually the Binding Blade unlocked, he could clear entire groups of enemies by himself (cleared the entire top lane of Ch. 24 himself with just a healer nearby). After this run, I wholeheartedly believe Roy is Kagetsu's best Emblem and it reaffirms my belief that Warrior is Kagetsu's best class. He just hits so hard with axes and doesn't take much damage either. Wyvern's great for Kagetsu, but really, try him in Warrior if you get the chance. He won't need crits to one-round, only a Silver Axe. If he can cleanly one-round a ton of endgame enemies with just a base Silver Axe and no inherits on this kind of challenge run, actually forging a Silver Axe up a bit and maybe giving it an engrave should achieve similar or better results than what I got as I'm pretty sure my Kagetsu is about average strength-wise (+1 strength than average if I calculated correctly, he got two Energy Drops and is overleveled which is why his strength looks astronomical). My Kagetsu was speed screwed (speed and build were lower than average in the midgame) for nearly the entire run because he should've capped speed way before looping and he didn't cap until after looping in Warrior. That actually mattered a few times and it made me really miss having Speed+X on him, but it wasn't something I couldn't work around and he was a powerhouse regardless.

Stat Boosters: One Boots, one Seraph Robe, two Energy Drops

• Mage Knight Pandreo (Marth): After I got Pandreo, I immediately gave him Lucina to get sword proficiency to switch into Mage Knight. He did pretty well in Mage Knight, but it wasn't until after getting partway through Ch. 17 (gave him Eirika so he got bond rank 3 for Bravery at that moment and got the Bolganone that Griss drops), where he really started to snowball. After that, he could consistently one-round a lot of enemies without help until Ch. 20. Unfortunately, that's when his speed cap in Mage Knight caught up and in the endgame, 31 base speed that is not quite enough without a bit of speed boosting from an Emblem considering I cannot inherit Speed+X. In the last couple of chapters, I mostly used Marth (sometimes switched to Eirika) on Pandreo. Marth has some +speed stat boosts innately and can boost damage as well if Engaged via Divine Speed providing an additional attack at 50% damage. Using Marth on a magic unit was something I did before when I played around and used Mage Knight Kagetsu lol It worked well then and it worked well now. This Mage Knight Pandreo's stats besides magic have actually been the least impressive I've had so far. I think his magic is maybe around +2 to +3 above average though (I forget what level I class changed him from High Priest to Mage Knight), which more than makes up for his other stat deficiencies. I'm just surprised he didn't cap dex or resistance by the end of the game when he usually does. Nonetheless, Pandreo was a powerhouse and carried the run like Kagetsu even though I couldn't just send him into a group of enemies without being covered by Bonded Shield and know he'll live whilst taking them all down (unless it's a group of enemies with Great weapons he can double, those are fodder to Pandreo).

Stat Boosters: Three Spirit Dusts

• Warrior Merrin (Eirika): Unlike with Kagetsu, I didn't go through four whole maps of raising bond ranks up for Merrin to change classes. That's because she'll probably end up being able to change into Warrior by Ch. 18 if I did that. Meanwhile, if I just waited until Ch. 17 to get Leif back, I would have Warrior Merrin in time for Ch. 19. It's a one chapter lag for a huge team power difference from Ch. 14 through 17 as one of my stronger units wouldn't be able to use Lyn or Ike. Merrin mostly chipped as a Wolf Knight and even when I got her into Warrior, she still was chipping (occasionally, she would one-shot fliers with the Radiant Bow) because her damage wasn't good enough and she was under the level curve. Plus, her hit rates were shaky for a good amount of time. However, I wanted her to be more so I kept feeding her kills whenever I could and I gave her Eirika after I got Marth back. With Eirika, she could sometimes do some great damage with a Brave Axe (and Eirika's damage boost helped her hit some one-round thresholds with a bow on magical enemies, that's how low her damage output was). But once she got access to Sieglinde, she could finally one-round some endgame enemies due to effective damage.

Stat Boosters: One Speedwing

• Thief Zelkov (Byleth): Bought a Short Knife just for him because I didn't want this unlucky guy to get randomly crit if he faced any combat, but in hindsight with all the luck that Byleth provides, maybe that wasn't necessary. Byleth on a covert gives +5 speed when Instructing and after a Goddess Dance and considering that I cannot inherit Speed+X on my characters, I knew I was going to need the speed buff since the speed thresholds get really high on Maddening. In the end, that speed buff wasn't needed for my primary carries (Kagetsu and Pandreo) until Ch. 20, but after that, it really was needed. Pandreo caps speed in Mage Knight at 31 (so with a speed tonic, Special Dance from Seadall, and Chaos Style activated, Pandreo can only naturally double enemies that are at 34 speed or below) and Kagetsu caps speed in Warrior at 35 (so with a speed tonic, Special Dance from Seadall, and while Engaged with Roy, Kagetsu can only naturally double enemies that are at 38 speed or below). From what I saw, enemy speed can reach up to 44 so that Instruct was absolutely needed so that they could double enemies up to 39 or 43 speed respectively.
  
• Dancer Seadall (Sigurd): I don't think there's much to say about Seadall except that I put Sigurd on him because I only have one Canter to give out and having it on a dancer felt like the most useful. I can't use Override, but that's a small price to pay for the flexibility in positioning for Goddess Dances.
  
• Sage Citrinne (Corrin): Citrinne replaced Celine's role as an early game carry after Celine's death. While she only really had one map to shine (Ch. 11), she really did shine in that map. I luckily had the foresight to get a melee weapon proficiency on Citrinne in case I needed to make her a Mage Knight. I could've promoted her to Sage, but I compared the stats and saw that Mage Knight Citrinne would double a lot of enemies on Ch. 11's map and that's what I needed at the time. Citrinne put in a lot of work that map, immediately one-rounding the first axe fighter (if not for Roy's Hold Out). I had Citrinne stay in Mage Knight for several chapters as she was my best option for a magical carry for some time (Pandreo was stuck in High Priest for several chapters while having Lucina equipped before he can reclass) and her performance was pretty good. If I kept using her for combat and gave her resources like Lyn, I feel she would've turned out great. But in the end, Citrinne reclassed to Sage once I got Corrin because she was one of my few units that could be in a Mystical class (no tome proficiency to work towards either for a long time) and pivoted into a support role after that (which was my intention with Celine once I reached that point). She was great nonetheless. Corrin on a Mystical unit is a tried and true combo that I really like because it means being able to debuff and freeze enemies in place from three range (especially important now that I don't have Canter), and the Fire Dragon Vein is the most useful one imo. In all honesty, I didn't use the Fire Dragon Vein much to ward enemies off. My combat carries were strong enough that I rarely needed it. As such, it was mostly spammed to raise Corrin's bond rank. But it was still great to have that option in my back pocket in case I needed it.
  
• Griffin Knight Lapis: Lapis replaced Chloe, but not as well as Citrinne replaced Celine. I couldn't really use Lapis much in combat because she had to have Micaiah equipped to get staff proficiency in the early game. I think I messed up and didn't focus enough on leveling Lapis's bond rank with Micaiah because she had to keep Micaiah all the way until Ch. 11 to get the proficiency. But tbf to myself, I nearly lost the run on Ch. 8 so leveling up bond rank wasn't on the forefront of my mind. By Ch. 11, there was no real justification I could make to try to make her combat work. As like any other staff user, she did her job.
  
• Cupido Fogado: I was unable to get Fogado off the ground in this playthrough. He was alright up to around when I did Roy's Paralogue as he could still one-shot the Wyverns there with a Radiant Bow even if his hit rates were in the 70s (had to just make sure to have a backup plan if he did miss, which he did a few times); but soon after that, I couldn't consistently find ways to have him contribute and he was left in the dust. I still brought him into the final chapter because maybe some of the chip damage he could do to fliers would help and I felt like I had enough staff users (he actually was helpful in two occasions on the final map!).
  
• Lindwurm Ivy (Ike): I probably would've used Ivy as a carry if not for the fact that she faces crit from nearly every enemy. Her inaccuracy with tomes is a problem as well, but I didn't need her to chip too often. Essentially, no engravings to fix these issues meant she was relegated to staff duty. She did her job and I think throughout this playthrough she had higher offensive staff hit rate (Freeze, Fracture) than Hortensia most of the time, though it wasn't by a significant amount. After midgame, Ike eventually went on Ivy mainly because I have just one source of Reposition (I really missed not being able to put this skill on most of my support units) and I wanted it on a flier.
  
• Slepnir Rider Hortensia (Micaiah): Nothing to really say about this as it's as standard and straightforward as can be. She and Citrinne had held a Surge tome just in case I needed someone with 100% accuracy to finish off an enemy (this did happen a couple of times this playthrough).
  
• Griffin Knight Mauvier (Leif): He's a staff user that can luckily take a few hits because he did need to survive a few in my playthrough. I put Leif on him because Leif wasn't doing much on anyone else after the midgame. But then again, it didn't much on Mauvier either besides being used to Quadruple Strike the Dark Bishop on the final map.
  
• Sage Veyle (Celica): I kinda messed up because I didn't realize Veyle had access to S tomes in her Fell Child class and the main thing I wanted to do was use her with Nova. I could've saved myself the trouble of reclassing, but in the end, it was okay because reclassing to Sage does increase Veyle's offensive stats. I do miss out on the Fell Child class skill (which is quite nice), but getting Celica Engage back is low priority anyway so the trade-off was fine. Since my team lacked a second source of magic damage, Veyle was helpful as someone who can do a lot of damage with magic. She didn't one-round a lot of enemies, but her performance was satisfactory.
  

Stat Boosters: One Seraph Robe, one Speedwing
In comments below, I detail my thoughts on the individual chapters if anyone's interested (starting from Ch. 6 since that's the first chapter where something actually happened and where I also had a clear goal in mind for the map). I never thought I would successfully complete this run so I don't have any screenshots to chronicle events from before Ch. 24-ish (also, I forgot to screenshot too many things). I unfortunately don't remember the exact details of the early/midgame chapters that well anymore, but I tried my best to recall whatever information I could. This is listed by the order I tackled the maps. A full turn count, playtime, and MVP list is here.

Hello, i have bought this saw yesterday and today i wanted to clean out the room where a chain is, after putting the saw on the side it started to leak the fuel mixture. After a heart attack i found out it goes out of “vent pipe” for the tank to release air. Could anyone tell me how it looks like when installed properly? Second problem is that i cant find the vent for my saw. Is there anything i can do? Thank you!

“I saw my corpse, and from my mouth crawled Hatred, A father burned his children on a pyre and a mother molded a new age from the ashes, I saw the weak made strong, a pack of lambs feasting on wolves, Tears of blood rained on a desert jewel, and the way to Hell war torn asunder, Then came a spear of light, piercing Hatred’s Heart, And he who was bound in chains was set free.”
– Rathma’s Prophecy
After arguing with someone on the forums I thought more about what the prophecy could actually mean.
I saw my corpse, and from my mouth crawled Hatred
This is obviously referencing Inarius killing him after Mephisto “refined” the hatred that Inarius had while he was confined. Also sowing hatred between Lilith and Inarius.
A father burned his children on a pyre and a mother molded a new age from the ashes
I think rather than the church/religion burning other people in Inarius’ name, I think this is about Inarius bringing his army to the Burning Hells to die.
As for Lilith’s part of this line, I think it’s her death rather than an action she had while alive. When she died she turned to ash. I am unsure if her death will be the cause of the new age or if she will speak to us while she is “dead” due to our connection to her and maybe prove that she actually has the mortals best interests at heart.
I saw the weak made strong, a pack of lambs feasting on wolves
I believe this is referencing the player’s character, growing from weak to strong as we level up. We have gone from lambs guided by the wolf Mephisto to containing him in a soulstone.
Tears of blood rained on a desert jewel, and the way to Hell war torn asunder
I am unsure if this will be what happened in game already or if this actually has to do with where Neyrelle has gone as it somewhat depends on how chronological this prophecy was told. However, we saw Neyrelle crossing the snowy fractured peaks and the Desert in Kehjistan before crossing the Sea/Ocean. It is possible this will actually be happening in the expansion in Lut Gholein which is called the “Jewel of the Desert” in Aranoch.
Then came a spear of light, piercing Hatred’s Heart
I believe this might be Tyrael in the expansion. They said that he left while looking worried and it’s possible that he had the same idea about the Jewel of the desert and went to investigate Lut Gholein to look for signs of the Lord of Hatred OR he may have found something about this spear of light that might be able to kill the Lord of Hatred for good. Likely something to do with Anu if this is the case.
And he who was bound in chains was set free.
Continuing on with the assumption of this being chronological, the Lord of Hatred’s heart being pierced by a spear of light will free someone who is bound by chains. This is where I am completely unsure of what will happen. Is it referring to Diablo who might be chained up after his little plan of trying to consume all 6 of the other Evils? Is this something from the void being summoned after a Prime Evil has been truly killed? Is it maybe Trag’Oul who vanished after after setting necromancers on their path?
This last bit is the only part I am unsure about
Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Do you think I'm reading too much into this and the prohecy really was only about the even of the base game and don't involve the expansions?

I got the free membership from Amazon prime and ordered 2 days in a row. The pin for my house happens to be in the wrong location, so I sent a message to the driver restating my delivery instructions. When I ordered the second day, I sent the same text and both messages are in the same text chain. Does that mean that driver 1 got my message on the second day? Driver 2 never responded and it was contactless delivery so I have no idea if he saw it. Both times I just used the message option from within GrubHub app. I'm used to DoorDash where it's definitely separate text chains with drivers. Just wondering if all GrubHub texts default to the same number or if this was a fluke.

Heads up! This story is both unpolished and unfinished, and posted here only for the sake of not letting my work go entirely to waste. If you want to continue the story yourself, feel free to do so.
Credit for The Nature of Predators goes to u/spacepaladin15.
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Memory Transcription Subject: Rania, Gojid Civilian
Date [Standardized Human Time]: Error 560 (estimated date: September, 2136)
At first, we assumed it to be an Arxur weapon, but we had plenty of time to get a more detailed look at the object intersecting our FTL trajectory. A mass of energy, far more than a star could emit, yet giving off no light. Gravitational pull was intense, but completely wrong for a black hole. Maybe the remains of a massive warp core accident? Whatever it was, it was directly in our path.
We had ample time before our collision, and nothing we could do. Our course was set, and escape vessels couldn’t be launched during an FTL jump. All that was left was to wait, and pray for a mercifully quick death that we all knew was unlikely. We built our starships to withstand direct assault from Arxur warships. Our deaths would be both inevitable and slow.
I was away from the refugee’s quarters, on the bridge. I couldn’t bear to watch pups cry in terror, as their parents tried hopelessly to ease their fear. The bridge was only marginally better. Some of the crew were facing their imminent death with stoicism. Many were praying. Many were crying. I don’t remember what I was doing when it hit, but I was probably crying too.
Then… then…
Pain, agonizing and blinding pain. No screaming. No noise at all. Silence, darkness, death.
Movement. But I couldn’t possibly move myself. Was I carried?
​
My first coherent memories started taking shape next to a fire. I couldn’t see, but the warmth and crackling were unmistakable. I tried to move, only to find myself unmoving. Was I in the wreckage of the ship? I felt no pain. Was I already dead?
“Hey, look who’s finally back in the land of the living. Can you hear me?”
A human. The species that started this whole mess. That attacked our cradle, let the Arxur find an easy target. That taunted us with their “Evacuation” cattle roundups. The disgusting mockery of a voice washed over me, tainting my very soul.
That fire must be to roast my flesh. Does it want my fear, before it kills me? It won’t get a single goddamn word, not so much as a noise.
“You… damn, he must still be out of it. Maybe another stimpak..?”
Cli-hsssss. A stabbing pain in my arm, followed by… relief? My arm twitched slightly, but I couldn’t manage anything more. A rushing sound filled my ears, overpowering the growl on my left until it bore me away to unconsciousness.
—
I woke up on a bed, staring at what must’ve been the ceiling, though all I could see was vague rust-brown shapes in the distance. My body still refused to move. And yet still, somehow, so little pain. Was my nervous system destroyed?
No. Hunger. Brutal, snarling hunger stabbed through my stomach like a dagger. I made a weak noise, remembered where I was, and rapidly forced silence. If it knows I’m awake, it’ll torture me until it lets me die…
“Oh! You— you’re awake again! Can you hear me?”
Don’t make a noise. It might lose interest.
“...No. Dammit. It’s going to starve if it doesn’t fully wake up soon… I can’t afford all these meds for much longer anyway. I’ll just have to… leave this here for it. Maybe it’ll wake again while I’m out.”
And just like that, a rush of movement and it was gone. It worked! I lived… I lived, just so I could starve…
​
By the graces of the protector. Food. I could smell food, just inches to my right. Can I move to pick it up? Can I move my jaw to eat?
Is it a trap? The human must be trying to fatten me up. Or maybe it didn’t leave at all, and is just waiting in the shadows to see if I take the bait. Or… maybe…
Fuck it. I was already good as dead, I could at least die full. I tried moving my arm, but to no avail. My other arm was no better. Maybe I could move my head?
The world shifted around me, a nauseating whirl of muted colors. But that meant my head could move. I could move… the food was still just barely out of reach. I can almost taste it… it’s so close to my nose…
I let out a weak cry of frustration. I couldn’t help myself. Did the human intend for this torture? The frustration became rage, filling my body like a white-hot star until I—
Trembling, my claw grasped the food. Rage and hunger animated my arm, pushing it forward. Whatever this was, it was soft. It smelled heavenly. I brought it up to my face. My vision was just recovered enough to make out its form; a strayu-like pillow drizzled with a sweet glaze. I tore into it like an animal, barely even tasting. I must not have eaten in days.
Gone in seconds, and the hunger was barely sated. But it was enough energy to force movement with. Slowly, unsteadily, I rose to a sitting position. The world threatened to shift away from under me, but I held, trying to get my bearings.
I’m in… some sort of shack. Bare, rusted sheet metal on the walls; clearly an improvised structure. Other than that oddity, the room was surprisingly normal. No blood dripping from cages, no hunting trophies on the walls. A torn up carpet, a beaten-up table and chair, some cabinets, all illuminated by soft rays of light pouring in from a window over the table. And right next to my little mattress… is that more food? Some sort of orange vegetable. Like the sweet strayu, I ate without even tasting.
Much better. I was still starving, but only metaphorically. I could even move my other arm, though my legs were entirely numb and refused to cooperate no matter how much I pushed them. Could I escape by dragging my body with my arms?
No. I was still too weak. I had to count on the human fattening me up a bit more before I could make a break for it.
​
​
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Memory Recovery Subject: Nathan Dunne, sole survivor of Vault 111
Date: December 13th, 2287
Just a hair to the right… and… Now. The interloper, a feral dog that had wandered onto the property, dropped without a sound.
I couldn’t afford to attract any attention, so I’d hastily slapped together a silencer for my pipe revolver. An old oil filter, just small enough to not obstruct the scope I’d hastily tied to the top. The gun looked ridiculous, but it got the job done silently. If I attracted any visitors, my alien guest was as good as dead. Nearly a week after finding it, and it still wasn’t waking up consistently.
Now’s not the time for thought. Focus. Now.
The second dog also dropped. The alpha of the pack still hadn’t noticed anything, a miracle. I lined up one last shot… pulled the trigger, and finally let myself breath. That was way too close. Every day without the fence finished was another day of silent stress.
Putting up a fence was easy enough, but putting up a fence QUIETLY was nightmarishly slow work, constantly punctuated by hiding from any would-be visitors. But these dogs had wandered onto the property without even seeing me. Could they smell the alien? I knew Dogmeat could track injuries from a far greater distance…
Fence should've been up yesterday. Back to work.
I’m running out of barbed wire. And screws. And boards. Can I afford another expedition? What if Dogmeat can’t defend him? Not a chance in hell I’m risking any other group learning about this… although Mama Murphy probably knows anyway, doesn’t she. Maybe the Minutemen can—
No. I can’t risk it. I’ll have to improvise. Maybe I can set up a Tesla arc as defense and leave to raid Sunshine Tidings. Rusted metal sheets don’t make for the best walls, but better than nothing.
The sun was still high, so I had some time if I hurried. As I began gathering supplies, a thought crossed my mind. A Tesla arc was better than nothing, and Dogmeat was formidable enough, but… surely if the alien was in serious danger, it could use some self defense. Those spikes weren’t gonna cut it. Maybe that bastard Kellogg’s old .44 would finally get some use?
I grabbed the .44 revolver, a spare arc trap I’d salvaged from Fort Hagan, and some tools. It would have to do. There was already power hooked up to the shack for heating, so wiring the—
The food’s gone.
Dogmeat didn’t eat carrots, so I knew there was only one culprit. The alien must’ve woken up while I was working. It was back asleep now, but at least it got something down. It wouldn’t starve. Thank god.
…right. If it can wake up, this trap is probably more dangerous to it than any invader. I walked back over to the shed, stowed the Tesla arc and tools, and grabbed a handful of vegetables and a water canteen. If it could stomach food, it needed to start putting on weight now to make up for lost time. This would be a start, at least.
I set the food and water on the table (taking care not to break the digital chimera I’d already laid there), and the gun beside the bed. I knew it could reach to there, without a doubt. Maybe toss in a handful more bullets, too; it’s not like I’d ever be able to make myself use the damn thing. I gave one last glance at the alien curled up on a bare mattress before closing the door and setting out.
—
Memory Transcription Subject: Rania, Gojid Civilian
Date [Standardized Human Time]: Error 560 (estimated date: Unknown)
Help me. Kay-ut. Ki-ra. Protector. Anyone. It’s right there.
When I heard the human coming, I faked sleep hoping it wouldn’t check. As seconds passed, that hope grew thinner and thinner. Clearly, it could see the food was gone. Not that it needed to figure anything out; it could probably see through my deception just looking at me. Ki-yu, trickster; please, let this work. Let me live a moment longer. Noises all around me. Was it laying out torturous weaponry? Was it getting ready to gut me?
Protector. Please. I don’t want to die.
The noise around me stopped. Had the gods heard my prayers? I dared not check; if the human was still there, and I so much as opened an eye, I was dead. But death failed to claim me, and more noises failed to appear, until I finally worked up the courage to take advantage of my blessing and open my eyes.
The human was gone. I was alive. One more look around the room, to make sure it hadn’t—
A gun. A human weapon, close enough to grab. And ammo…
I knew humans were masters at trapping, at deceiving; such was their nature. I stared at the gun, trying to figure out what the trap was.
But I was tired, and hungry, and every sense told me that this wasn’t a trap, but a loaded gun. An answer to my prayers for safety. I couldn’t hold myself back anymore. I picked it up. It felt solid and weighty in my hands, lending some sense of security to the otherwise hopeless situation. Emboldened, I tried to rise to my feet again.
If I grabbed some of the furniture and stood on my good leg, I could just about stay upright without pain. That would have to do for now. Maybe I could use something in this room as a crutch. A leg of the table might do nicely, if I could—
Food. More food, all over the table. A sprawl of alien vegetables, including that orange one I had earlier. A metal jug, probably filled with water. And… is that a translator?
Curiosity overpowered both my hunger and my fear. On closer inspection, it was indeed a translator, one of the older dedicated units. Wired into… some sort of metal armband with a green flickering screen. The craftsmanship was shoddy; some parts were literally held together with insulated tape. Still, it appeared to be powered on and functional.
If I wasn’t in so much danger… I’d love to get a better look at what the human did with this thing. To wire Federation tech directly into one of their devices, and make it work…
My attention drifted back to the bounty laid out on the table before me. It could all be poisoned, but I’d already eaten the human’s food; what harm could it do to be full?
—
Sweeter than the orange one, but not as filling. Kind of mushy. Now no longer starving, I began to savor my meal slightly more. The green fruit was next, the one nearly the size of my skull. Upon breaking open the shell, it turned out to be pinkish red inside, and so juicy that I didn’t even need the water in the jug.
Bitter, but strangely satisfying. Next was a massive purple flower, which I could only guess was supposed to be food as well. The taste was unpleasant, but it felt bizarrely good to eat. Maybe a medicinal herb?
Why would the human give me a medicinal herb?
I’d been circling around the question for some time now. Why the food? Why the gun? Why the lack of gutting? Even if those supposed “empathy tests” weren’t faked, our species were at war! Did it not know?
Well-fed prey made for better-tasting prey, but a gun did not feed. A translator did not feed. Did it really want to talk to me? I weighed my options.
Option 1: Run. Impossible to do in my current state. Even with a large head start, even with uninjured legs, humans were nothing if not persistent; my odds were not all too favorable. And where would I go, anyway?
Option 2: Hide. Impossible to do in any state. Humans were perceptive and cunning. Nothing short of divine protection would hide me. And again, where would I go afterwards?
Option 3: Fight. I had a loaded gun, but for all I knew it was only there to lure me into a false sense of security. And besides, did I really expect to outfight a predator?
Option 4: Talk. It wasn’t likely, but maybe the human would have some sympathy (or at least fake some sympathy to keep up appearances). I was already injured, and it hadn’t torn me apart already; it clearly had something else in mind. Maybe the translator was involved in its “Something else”?
I didn’t… like that last option, but it seemed a hair better than shooting on sight when the human came back. Maybe I was forsaking the protection of the gods, forsaking my fellow Gojid. But none of the options were without risk, and I had to try something bold if I wanted to survive.
A noise from outside roused me from my thoughts. It’s coming. Time to make your choice.
​
​
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Memory Recovery Subject: Nathan Dunne, sole survivor of Vault 111
Date: December 13th, 2287
Halfway through the outbound trip, I realized I’d forgotten my pip-boy at camp. I’d taken both off, while working on wiring in that translator to the spare one from Vault 81. Having no way of assessing potential injuries simply would not do.
Halfway through the return trip, I realized I’d brought Dogmeat with me instead of leaving him to guard. I managed to make myself move a little faster. That .44 was no guarantee of safety, not if the alien simply couldn’t get up.
Once back, I could at least be sure that nothing happened. No blue blood seeping through the shack’s foundation. I grabbed the pip-boy, ordered Dogmeat to patrol, and prepared to leave before the daylight faded.
That’s a bit cold, isn’t it? Leaving without even checking on your guest?
I was leaving so I could build a fence for its protection, but… a quick check couldn’t hurt. Just to make sure nothing happened, right? Yeah. Sure. I had the time. Though maybe barging straight in wasn’t the brightest idea, not when I had just given it a revolver.
I knocked twice, and tried to lower my voice to a more soothing register. I had no idea if my hacked-together translator abomination would work, so tone was key. Before I could even speak, I heard a wild scrambling from the inside.
“Don’t— please don’t k-kill me, human, I’ll… I’ll do anything.”
…I guess I should be glad the translator worked? What the hell was that?
“I’m not gonna hurt you. I promise. Is it OK with you if I come inside?”
“I… Y-Yes.”
I gave Dogmeat a strong look to stay back, and cracked open the door. The terrified sniveling over the translator couldn’t have prepared me for what met my gaze.
A few weeks ago, I’d heard a heart-wrenching noise while poking around the edge of the glowing sea; a lone radstag doe, torn literally in half by a deathclaw. The beast was scared off by an approaching Vertibird, leaving the doe to wail helplessly until I put it out of its misery.
I had nothing else I could compare the alien to. It was shaking like an aspen leaf, eyes screwed shut and body curled up against the wall. The gun was still technically in its hand (claw?), but pointed at nothing. Just looking at the thing made me feel helpless.
But I brought it back from the brink of death. Soothing terror would surely be easier than saving its life.
—
Memory Transcription Subject: Rania, Gojid Civilian
Date [Standardized Human Time]: Error 560 (estimated date: Unknown)
Protector. Please, give me strength. It’s… It’s going to…
No. It just wants to talk. Rania, get a hold of yourself.
I cracked open an eye. Tears largely blinded me from the horrifying details of the predator, but the human still towered over me, casting an engulfing shadow over my weakened form. It was all I could do to not further embarrass myself with incoherent pleading.
It seemed to take notice of my fear, crouching down to roughly eye level.
“You’re OK. I’m not going to hurt you, no matter what. What’s your name?”
“R-Rania.” I forced another eye open. The human had moved itself to a chair. Soft daylight illuminated a pair of forward-facing eyes, but no predatory scowl. It had an expression which could be mistaken for solemn sympathy on another species. But it had no reason not to be sincere. There was no other audience, nor anything I could do to escape. Could it really be concerned?
“Rania. My name is Nate. Can you tell me… what you are?”
“Just Nate? I— I thought humans had two names.”
“Oh, uhh… Nathan Dunne. I just go by Nate.”
I noticed a distinct look of confusion engulf the human’s face. Actually, I started to notice a lot of things. It wasn’t just the building and translator that were so clearly improvised. It— Nate’s armor was clearly not standard-issue anything. Nor the weapon on his side, some sort of pistol made seemingly from scrap.
He didn’t look like a UN soldier, nor a civilian of any type. And… just now… did he ask what I was? How could he not know?
“I’m a… I’m a G—Gojid. Does that mean anything to you?”
He shook his head, which even I knew was a human gesture for no. “Not as such. I might need to work out some issues with the translator, though, so don't count on it meaning—”
“The Federation? The cradle? Venlil? Arxur? UN?”
A bizarre shudder passed through Nate. “I know about the UN, though I can’t imagine how they’re relevant now… and no to the rest.”
“I can’t imagine how they’re relevant”!? What the hell could that mean?
“What— what does the UN mean to you?”
Again, that shudder, like a shadow cast over his soul. “They were a global group, trying to keep international peace. When the first Resource wars sparked… they collapsed like a house of cards. 2052. I was 12. After that, it…” he trailed off, before forcing himself to speak. “It all went to hell. As you can see.”
I couldn’t speak for shock. Predators were deceitful by their nature, yet I knew in my heart his words were sincere. It was plain as day, etched across his face. And if so… What the hell? What the hell!? What was any of that?
“As you can see? What do you mean?”
“Can you walk?”
Should I reveal my weakness? I don’t see any way he couldn’t notice my condition by now, so maybe I can get some sympathy for it?
“I… no, I don’t think so…”
“Then I can carry you outside. If you want, I mean. You’ll see what I meant by ‘went to hell’ real quickly.”
He’d have to… oh Protector, if he chose to carry me to slaughter, there’d be nothing I could do. But by this point, my fear was starting to wear thin from weariness. Curiosity was slowly taking the upper hand.
“S-show me.”
And just like that, the world moved out from under me. Instinctively, I grasped the human’s artificial pelt like a pup clinging to its mother. Light flooded my still tearstained eyes. I blinked them clear, and looked out on the world.
​
​
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Memory Transcription Subject: Rania, Gojid Civilian
Date [Standardized Human Time]: Error 560 (estimated date: Unknown)
Was this Earth? This couldn’t be Earth. Earth was green, wasn’t it?
Yellow foliage, grey trees. A soft blue sky, intermittently broken up by concrete highways that towered towards the clouds. And on the horizon, the mammoth corpse of a city, a metal carcass that dominated the skyline.
No green. No life. Not even wind. The whole scene was eerily still, seemingly frozen in time.
Unable to make sense of the wider world, my attention drifted closer. A ring of ramshackle fencing, a larger building that I might mistake for a house. An ancient hand-worked water pump. A plot of vegetables. A beast with glistening fangs, bounding towards—
“Dogmeat, no. Stay.”
Somehow, impossibly, the beast heeded the command, slowing down enough for me to get a better look at my imminent demise. Long brown fur with black markings, a swishing tail, a red fabric tied around its neck. Forward-facing eyes gleaming with hideous intelligence. It sat down, tilting its head and letting out a shrill whine.
“You still haven’t met Dogmeat yet, have you— Rania? Rania!”
I couldn’t breathe. It was looking straight at me. I thought the human was terrifying, but this thing made it look harmless. Did Nate not realize the danger he was in?
“N— No! Please… don’t let it…”
“It’s not going to hurt you either. You’re OK. Breathe.” Nate turned slightly, shielding the beast from view. “Here. We can go back inside if he scares you too much.” I managed to choke out an affirmation, and felt darkness overtake me as we rushed back into the relative safety of the shack. The door clicked shut, sealing the beast outside.
“Rania, talk to me. Can you breathe?”
“Please… please don’t feed me to it…”
Nate’s eyes went wide, and his hand rose to cover his mouth. I didn’t know much human body language (aside from the vicious snarl they called a smile), but shock was a constant across almost every species. His eyes cast around the room wildly, his breathing becoming erratic before he managed to regain control.
“Rania, I— I’m not going to feed you to him. You— listen, I won’t even let him in. It’s safe here.” He clearly had something else to say, and silently struggled with the words for a moment before finding his phrasing. “Can you tell me why you’re so scared? What happened before I found you?”
The words took several moments to consciously register, but their effect was immediate. If Nate was trying to startle me out of my fear, he couldn’t have done a better job. When I spoke, it was with startling clarity as fear was replaced by near-indignant confusion.
“How could I not be scared? You’re predators. Even if… even if you really don’t want to kill me, seeing injured prey must be a powerful temptation to your instincts, no? Not to mention the invasion of the cradle; even if you do have empathy, why try to save an enemy species?”
A few moments of stillness, and then I mimicked his previous motion of shock as I realized what I’d done. If he somehow didn’t know the situation with the Gojid before, he did now. Even prey empathy didn’t extend to their sworn enemies. My stupid thoughtless rambling meant I was good as dead.
“Rania.” Nate’s words were slow, soft, and measured. “I don’t know where you come from or what the situation is out… up there. But I can promise you this.” He tapped my shoulder, snapping me out of my terrified reverie and forcing me to pay full attention. “I’m never going to hurt you. I’ll keep it safe here, as long as it takes for you to heal. You can hold me to that.”
“Safe… even safe from that monster..?”
Nate looked deeply hurt, but quickly covered it up with his previous expression of concern. “Yes. I wish I could prove to you that my dog is friendly, but… if he scares you that much, I’ll find somewhere else for him.”
He stole a glance out the window, before turning back to me. “Listen. I need to get some supplies for the fence while there’s still light. I’ll take Dogmeat with me. Do you know how to use this?” He gestured towards the gun, still sitting where I’d carelessly let it slip from my claws minutes earlier.
“Y-yes.”
Apparently seeing straight through my lie, he bent down to show me. “Here, you just need to pull back the hammer. Finger over the trigger, and line up these sights on your target. Only pull the trigger when you know you have your shot.”
Nate stood up, putting one hand on the door before remembering something. “If you start hurting, you can use this.” He set a syringe down on the table. “Just stab wherever it hurts. The pack’ll do the rest for you. I’ll be back at sundown.”
And just like that, he was gone.
​
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Memory Transcription Subject: Rania, Gojid Civilian
Date [Standardized Human Time]: Error 560 (estimated date: Unknown)
For a while, I just sat there, gun in hand and mind slowly dissolving from all the new information weighing it down. But boredom is a powerful thing, and even injured as I was, restlessness started to take hold.
With the beast gone, and gun in hand, I started convincing myself that it might be a good idea to get another look at the land. I needed to know what I had to work with in case… something happened. And I swore I saw a vegetable garden earlier. Curiosity was getting the better of me.
I tested my legs again. One was sore, but shockingly capable. The other was still burning when I applied pressure, and swaddled in bandages. I didn’t particularly feel like knowing what was under there. One leg would have to do. I didn’t need my legs to shoot, after all.
Cautiously, without making a sound, I cracked the door open. Nobody was out there. I took one shaky step. Then another. Inch by silent sore inch, I made my way over to the “house”.
Like everything out here, it was a rough-hewn heap of rusted metal and thick planks of wood. On closer inspection, however, some care had clearly been put into making it insulated. The windows even had glass (albeit covered in dust), rather than the screen mesh in my shack. This must be where the human lives.
What could Nate be hiding from me?
My curiosity burned brighter than the pain in my leg as I ambled towards the door. Unlocked. I peeked inside.
Thick layers of carpet. A fireplace on the wall, a couple paintings. A mattress much better-maintained than mine, pushed up under one of the windows.
No blood dripping from cages. No hunting trophies on the walls. No indication that this was the lair of a predator. If not for the construction materials, it could be mistaken for a house back on the cradle. It even has refrigeration and lights, without a functional power grid. I guess that predatory cunning comes in handy.
I already knew what the fridge must be filled with. I made the decision not to look. It’d be better if Nate didn’t know I was here, and that’d be pretty hard to hide with vomit all over his carpet. I couldn’t stop myself from looking in one of the cabinets, though. The thing was stuffed with cans of food, nearly full to bursting. Some were clearly homemade, some looked like they’d been excavated from the dirt. Maybe they had been.
My good leg was starting to ache, cutting my exploration short. With no small hesitation, I forced myself back outside, back to the shack where I could rest up a bit.
—
I was only steps away from the door when a horrifying sight stopped me in my tracks. Dead animals, three of them. Sickly looking things, but recognizably the same species as that ‘Dogmeat’. I couldn’t look away. Was Nate hunting before I woke up? I stepped closer, morbid curiosity dowsing my pain. I don’t see any bite marks. And… predators don’t eat other predators.
​
Did he kill them to protect me?
Humans were apex predators on their planet. It couldn’t have been self-defense. Nor could it have been hunger, if he’d just left them to rot. So… what other reasons would he have to fight?
I looked closer, my eyes meeting a series of glassy stares. Two of them looked literally skin and bones, but the third looked a lot like Dogmeat. Mouth closed, eyes staring up at the sky unseeing. I almost felt bad for it.
“I wish I could prove to you that my dog is friendly, but… if he scares you that much, I’ll find somewhere else for him.”
Did Nate feel any conflict, having to shoot them on my behalf? Was he going to shoot Dogmeat too, just to ease my fears? He clearly cared about the beast, but if he thought “keeping me safe” meant…
​
No. I wouldn’t let it come to that. I had to overcome my fear. If I wanted to survive, I needed to be stronger.
Reaching out to the body, arm trembling, I ran a claw down its side. It was soft… still warm, too. The thought that this predator had been alive so recently, only to be put down for my safety, managed to elicit a twinge of sorrow. That feeling, hold on to that. Force it through your fear.
My movements got bolder, even exploring the rows of sharp teeth hidden by a clenched jaw. And the soft fur on its underbelly… its long tail, which sat limp and unmoving on the dust. I could feel my fear begin to fade more and more with every second I sat next to the body of this predator.
Eventually, I forced myself to rise. As I walked back to my bed, I stole one last glance backwards. Instead of horrifying predators, all I saw was a family of three. That they had to die so I could live… the thought filled me with a strange sense of shame.
I couldn’t stand there forever. My poor legs wouldn’t allow it. Back to the bed, step by shaky step.
​
​
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Memory Recovery Subject: Nathan Dunne, sole survivor of Vault 111
Date: December 13th, 2287
Hauling sheet metal was no easy task, even with the help of a dog. It was dark by the time I got home; I’d missed my appointment with the sunset by nearly half an hour.
Supplies stowed away, armor shed, weapons holstered. I rummaged around the fridge for a radstag fry I’d prepared a couple days ago. I didn’t have the energy to cook, and I still needed to check in with Rania. Dogmeat hovered around my ankles, performing his best puppy impression.
These might be the last meals you get to eat with him. I gave a few scraps for his unconvincing performance.
I knew the minutemen would take good care of him, and Valentine could make good use of his nose. But saying goodbye would be a challenge. He’d had my back practically since I escaped Vault 111, and casting him aside felt like nothing short of a betrayal.
The radstag felt like sawdust in my mouth. I tossed the rest of it to Dogmeat, who looked up quizzically rather than digging in. I knew he was wondering why I was being so generous all of a sudden, but I wasn’t ready to break the news to him yet.
—
“Is it OK with you if I come in?”
The voice responding sounded completely different. Still recognizably Rania, but without the terrified quivering I’d expected. “Yes. We need to talk.”
I slipped inside, taking care not to let out too much heat. The figure facing me, while again still undoubtedly Rania, was otherwise unrecognizable. Sitting up straight, unshaking, looking directly at me. A far cry from the poor creature I’d talked to when I left. He (he? I decided to assume it was male, given the voice from the translator) turned his head slightly to the side, leaving one eye to meet both of mine in what I assumed was an intense stare for a person with side-facing eyes.
“Nate.” Rania’s voice was thick with determination. “I’ve decided… I want to get used to Dogmeat. If he’s really as friendly as you say, you shouldn’t have to get rid of him just because of my fear.”
It was all I could do to suppress a full-bodied sigh of relief. If he’s on the fence on this decision, showing my joy would force his hand. I have to stay calm. “Can I ask why?”
“I, uh… I found the other predators. The feral ones. The ones you shot.”
Oh.
“And I… I don’t want you to have to do the same for him. It doesn’t…” The quivering returned in shades, but he continued. “Even if you meant ‘find somewhere else for him’ literally, you shouldn’t have to do that for my sake.”
“I…” I buried my face in my hands, trying to beat back tears. “Thank you. I couldn’t imagine having to… thank you. I can still keep him away from you if you’re scared. You shouldn’t have to live in fear.”
Rania shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Actually, I was thinking I should… you know, get used to him, not just tolerate him from a distance. Face my fear head-on. Just… not tonight, OK?”
For all that quivering, he’s a lot braver than I thought he’d be.
“Yeah. We can get something worked out later. Right now, you need to rest. I’m not just talking about tonight; you’re still injured. Best you can do right now is rest and eat. Which reminds me… The vegetables I brought you earlier. How were they? Any you really liked?”
“Oh, uhhh… yeah, the orange one was really nice. And that red mushy one wasn’t so pleasant; I could eat it anyway to get full, but I’d rather not. Why do you have so many vegetables, anyway?”
Why wouldn’t I? “What do you mean?”
“Well, I thought… predators eat flesh, right? Were you growing them for decoration? I mean… it was nice to see something green and growing out here, but that seems like a lot of effort!”
I couldn’t manage a verbal response to this. All I could give was a baffled stare, which Rania seemed to interpret as a threat.
“I— I didn’t mean to insult you—”
“No, no, it’s just…” I rubbed my eyes. Hauling sheet metal had sapped all my energy, but I couldn’t just let this slide. “I mean… humans aren’t obligate carnivores. Most predators aren’t; even deathclaws forage for mutfruit when they can. Or does the word ‘predator’ mean something else to you?”
It was Rania’s turn for a blank stare, and I began to wonder if I’d just said something insulting. He looked down, mumbling something the translator couldn’t catch, then turned his attention back. “I think we should talk about this later. I need to rest.”
I knew it was a flimsy excuse (I could practically see his mind overheating as he stared back into the ground), but he wasn’t exactly wrong. I bid my farewell with a solemn nod.
—
The moon cast a picturesque blue light through the windows, giving just enough illumination to fend off sleep. On its own, the meager light couldn’t fight off the exhaustion radiating through my muscles, but Rania’s bizarre outburst was also keeping me up.
Not knowing about the history of our planet was perfectly reasonable, given his alien identity. Being so scared of humans despite apparently knowing about them was strange, but nothing a bit of trauma couldn’t induce. But even schoolchildren knew the basics of the food chain, and I found it hard to believe that a space-faring alien race would be less knowledgeable about ecology than the local population of raiders. Even with no education at all, certain things were obvious by observation.
If nothing else, Rania was right about one thing. We will need to talk about this later.
​
​
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[Continued in comments]

Everything in my inventory is up for trade. The most valuable items are listed here, the rest you can find in My Inventory

Feel free to Add Me or even better send a Trade Offer. Open for any suggestions: upgrades, downgrades / knives, gloves, skins / stickers, patterns, floats.

All Buyouts are listed in cash value.

KNIVES

★ Butterfly Knife Freehand FN #1, B/O: $2500

★ Butterfly Knife Ultraviolet FT, B/O: $822

★ Butterfly Knife Scorched FT, B/O: $616

⎯

★ Bayonet Tiger Tooth MW #1, B/O: $1300

★ Bayonet Autotronic FN, B/O: $1050

★ Bayonet Tiger Tooth MW, B/O: $629

★ Bayonet Bright Water FT, B/O: $326

★ Bayonet Safari Mesh BS, B/O: $233

⎯

★ Karambit Lore FT, B/O: $1110

★ Karambit Damascus Steel FT, B/O: $840

★ Karambit Freehand MW, B/O: $784

★ Karambit Bright Water MW, B/O: $759

⎯

★ M9 Bayonet Fade FN, B/O: $1801

★ M9 Bayonet Fade FN, B/O: $1801

★ M9 Bayonet Damascus Steel FN, B/O: $751

⎯

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★ Nomad Knife Slaughter MW, B/O: $544

★ Nomad Knife Blue Steel WW, B/O: $318

⎯

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★ Flip Knife Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $574

★ Flip Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 1) MW, B/O: $552

★ Flip Knife Case Hardened FT, B/O: $257

★ Flip Knife Freehand FT, B/O: $255

★ StatTrak™ Flip Knife Bright Water FN, B/O: $287

⎯

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★ Huntsman Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $436

★ Huntsman Knife Doppler (Phase 3) FN, B/O: $353

★ Huntsman Knife Autotronic FT, B/O: $212

★ Huntsman Knife Bright Water FT, B/O: $129

★ Huntsman Knife Forest DDPAT MW, B/O: $129

★ Huntsman Knife Forest DDPAT BS, B/O: $123

★ StatTrak™ Huntsman Knife Rust Coat BS, B/O: $127

⎯

★ Bowie Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 2) FN, B/O: $375

★ Bowie Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 1) FN, B/O: $363

★ Bowie Knife Tiger Tooth FN, B/O: $269

★ Bowie Knife Crimson Web WW, B/O: $192

★ Bowie Knife Bright Water FN, B/O: $159

★ Bowie Knife Ultraviolet FT, B/O: $126

⎯

★ Stiletto Knife Slaughter FN, B/O: $616

★ Stiletto Knife Crimson Web FT, B/O: $412

★ StatTrak™ Stiletto Knife Night Stripe FT, B/O: $227

⎯

★ Falchion Knife Lore FT, B/O: $214

★ Falchion Knife Autotronic FT, B/O: $192

★ Falchion Knife Scorched WW, B/O: $105

⎯

★ Survival Knife Crimson Web BS, B/O: $216

★ Survival Knife Case Hardened FT, B/O: $198

★ Survival Knife Scorched FT, B/O: $111

⎯

★ Shadow Daggers Fade FN, B/O: $368

★ Shadow Daggers Doppler (Phase 3) FN, B/O: $228

★ Shadow Daggers, B/O: $201

★ Shadow Daggers Damascus Steel FT, B/O: $108

★ Shadow Daggers Ultraviolet FT, B/O: $105

★ Shadow Daggers Black Laminate FT, B/O: $99

★ Shadow Daggers Forest DDPAT FT, B/O: $85

⎯

★ Gut Knife Doppler (Sapphire) MW #1, B/O: $1700

★ Gut Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 1) FN, B/O: $223

★ Gut Knife Marble Fade FN, B/O: $203

★ Gut Knife Doppler (Phase 2) FN, B/O: $191

★ Gut Knife Case Hardened BS, B/O: $127

⎯

★ Navaja Knife Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $199

★ Navaja Knife Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $199

★ Navaja Knife, B/O: $138

★ Navaja Knife Damascus Steel FN, B/O: $111

⎯

★ Classic Knife Urban Masked FT, B/O: $146

★ StatTrak™ Classic Knife Stained BS, B/O: $168

⎯

★ Ursus Knife Doppler (Phase 3) FN, B/O: $476

★ Ursus Knife, B/O: $375

⎯

★ Skeleton Knife, B/O: $1137

★ Talon Knife, B/O: $608

★ Paracord Knife, B/O: $305

★ Survival Knife Forest DDPAT FT, B/O: $97

GLOVES

★ Moto Gloves Transport MW, B/O: $204

★ Moto Gloves Polygon BS, B/O: $142

★ Moto Gloves Blood Pressure BS, B/O: $84

★ Moto Gloves Blood Pressure BS, B/O: $84

★ Moto Gloves 3rd Commando Company BS, B/O: $63

★ Moto Gloves 3rd Commando Company BS, B/O: $63

⎯

★ Specialist Gloves Crimson Kimono WW, B/O: $1215

★ Specialist Gloves Tiger Strike FT, B/O: $672

★ Specialist Gloves Lt. Commander FT, B/O: $305

★ Specialist Gloves Lt. Commander BS, B/O: $140

★ Specialist Gloves Crimson Web BS, B/O: $137

★ Specialist Gloves Buckshot FT, B/O: $75

⎯

★ Driver Gloves Crimson Weave FT, B/O: $359

★ Driver Gloves Imperial Plaid BS, B/O: $229

★ Driver Gloves Overtake BS, B/O: $77

★ Driver Gloves Racing Green FT, B/O: $48

⎯

★ Sport Gloves Omega FT, B/O: $739

★ Sport Gloves Amphibious BS #2, B/O: $733

★ Sport Gloves Arid BS, B/O: $292

⎯

★ Hand Wraps Giraffe MW, B/O: $212

★ Hand Wraps Leather FT, B/O: $160

★ Hand Wraps Desert Shamagh MW, B/O: $101

⎯

★ Broken Fang Gloves Yellow-banded MW, B/O: $185

★ Broken Fang Gloves Needle Point FT, B/O: $67

★ Broken Fang Gloves Needle Point WW, B/O: $59

⎯

★ Hydra Gloves Case Hardened BS, B/O: $65

★ Hydra Gloves Emerald FT, B/O: $65

★ Hydra Gloves Emerald BS, B/O: $62

WEAPONS

AK-47 Case Hardened BS, B/O: $130

AK-47 Bloodsport MW, B/O: $79

AK-47 Fuel Injector BS, B/O: $76

AK-47 Fuel Injector BS, B/O: $76

AK-47 Bloodsport FT, B/O: $70

AK-47 Neon Rider MW, B/O: $60

StatTrak™ AK-47 Aquamarine Revenge FT, B/O: $72

⎯

AWP Fade FN, B/O: $1039

AWP Asiimov FT, B/O: $139

AWP Asiimov FT, B/O: $139

AWP Wildfire MW, B/O: $95

AWP BOOM MW, B/O: $93

AWP BOOM MW, B/O: $93

AWP Duality FN, B/O: $81

AWP Asiimov BS, B/O: $79

AWP Asiimov BS, B/O: $79

AWP Chromatic Aberration FN, B/O: $60

StatTrak™ AWP Hyper Beast FT, B/O: $68

StatTrak™ AWP Hyper Beast FT, B/O: $68

StatTrak™ AWP Electric Hive FT, B/O: $55

⎯

Desert Eagle Blaze FN, B/O: $623

Desert Eagle Emerald Jörmungandr FN, B/O: $241

Desert Eagle Cobalt Disruption FN, B/O: $81

Desert Eagle Cobalt Disruption FN, B/O: $81

Desert Eagle Cobalt Disruption FN, B/O: $81

Desert Eagle Printstream FT, B/O: $54

⎯

M4A1-S Blue Phosphor FN, B/O: $434

StatTrak™ M4A1-S Bright Water MW, B/O: $55

⎯

M4A4 Poseidon FN, B/O: $1465

M4A4 Asiimov BS, B/O: $55

M4A4 Hellfire MW, B/O: $50

⎯

USP-S Kill Confirmed MW, B/O: $72

USP-S Printstream FT, B/O: $69

StatTrak™ USP-S Kill Confirmed FT, B/O: $139

⎯

AUG Flame Jörmungandr FN, B/O: $234

P90 Run and Hide FT, B/O: $147

Five-SeveN Candy Apple FN, B/O: $61

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Knives - Bowie Knife, Butterfly Knife, Falchion Knife, Flip Knife, Gut Knife, Huntsman Knife, M9 Bayonet, Bayonet, Karambit, Shadow Daggers, Stiletto Knife, Ursus Knife, Navaja Knife, Talon Knife, Classic Knife, Paracord Knife, Survival Knife, Nomad Knife, Skeleton Knife, Patterns - Gamma Doppler, Doppler (Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, Phase 4, Black Pearl, Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald), Crimson Web, Lore, Fade, Ultraviolet, Night, Marble Fade (Fire & Ice, Fake FI), Case Hardened (Blue Gem), Autotronic, Slaughter, Black Laminate, Tiger Tooth, Boreal Forest, Scorched, Blue Steel, Vanilla, Damascus Steel, Forest DDPAT, Urban Masked, Freehand, Stained, Bright Water, Safari Mesh, Rust Coat, Gloves - Bloodhound Gloves (Charred, Snakebite, Guerrilla, Bronzed), Driver Gloves (Snow Leopard, King Snake, Crimson Weave, Imperial Plaid, Black Tie, Lunar Weave, Diamondback, Rezan the Red, Overtake, Queen Jaguar, Convoy, Racing Green), Hand Wraps (Cobalt Skulls, CAUTION!, Overprint, Slaughter, Leather, Giraffe, Badlands, Spruce DDPAT, Arboreal, Constrictor, Desert Shamagh, Duct Tape), Moto Gloves (Spearmint, POW!, Cool Mint, Smoke Out, Finish Line, Polygon, Blood Pressure, Turtle, Boom!, Eclipse, 3rd Commando Company, Transport), Specialist Gloves (Crimson Kimono, Tiger Strike, Emerald Web, Field Agent, Marble Fade, Fade, Foundation, Lt. Commander, Crimson Web, Mogul, Forest DDPAT, Buckshot), Sport Gloves (Pandora's Box, Superconductor, Hedge Maze, Vice, Amphibious, Slingshot, Omega, Arid, Big Game, Nocts, Scarlet Shamagh, Bronze Morph), Hydra Gloves (Case Hardened, Emerald, Rattler, Mangrove), Broken Fang Gloves (Jade, Yellow-banded, Unhinged, Needle Point), Pistols - P2000 (Wicked Sick, Ocean Foam, Fire Element, Amber Fade, Corticera, Chainmail, Imperial Dragon, Obsidian, Scorpion, Handgun, Acid Etched), USP-S (Printstream, Kill Confirmed, Whiteout, Road Rash, Owergrowth, The Traitor, Neo-Noir, Dark Water, Orion, Blueprint, Stainless, Caiman, Serum, Monster Mashup, Royal Blue, Ancient Visions, Cortex, Orange Anolis, Ticket To Hell, Black Lotus, Cyrex, Check Engine, Guardian, Purple DDPAT, Torque, Blood Tiger, Flashback, Business Class, Pathfinder, Para Green), Lead Conduit, Glock-18 (Umbral Rabbit, Fade, Candy Apple, Bullet Queen, Synth Leaf, Neo-Noir, Nuclear Garden, Dragon Tatto, Reactor, Pink DDPAT, Twilight Galaxy, Sand Dune, Groundwater, Blue Fissure, Snack Attack, Water Elemental, Brass, Wasteland Rebel, Vogue, Franklin, Royal Legion, Gamma Doppler, Weasel, Steel Disruption, Ironwork, Grinder, High Beam, Moonrise, Oxide Blaze, Bunsen Burner, Clear Polymer, Bunsen Burner, Night), P250 (Re.built, Nuclear Threat, Modern Hunter, Splash, Whiteout, Vino Primo, Mehndi, Asiimov, Visions, Undertow, Cartel, See Ya Later, Gunsmoke, Splash, Digital Architect, Muertos, Red Rock, Bengal Tiger, Crimson Kimono, Wingshot, Metallic DDPAT, Hive, Dark Filigree, Mint Kimono), Five-Seven (Neon Kimono, Berries And Cherries, Fall Hazard, Crimson Blossom, Hyper Beast, Nitro, Fairy Tale, Case Hardened, Copper Galaxy, Angry Mob, Monkey Business, Fowl Play, Anodized Gunmetal, Hot Shot, Retrobution, Boost Protocol), CZ75-Auto (Chalice, Crimson Web, Emerald Quartz, The Fuschia is Now, Nitro, Xiangliu, Yellow Jacket, Victoria, Poison Dart, Syndicate, Eco, Hexane, Pole, Tigris), Tec-9 (Rebel, Terrace, Nuclear Threat, Hades, Rust Leaf, Decimator, Blast From, Orange Murano, Toxic, Fuel Injector, Remote Control, Bamboo Forest, Isaac, Avalanche, Brother, Re-Entry, Blue Titanium, Bamboozle), R8 Revolver (Banana Cannon, Fade, Blaze, Crimson Web, Liama Cannon, Crazy 8, Reboot, Canal Spray, Night, Amber Fade), Desert Eagle (Blaze, Hand Cannon, Fennec Fox, Sunset Storm, Emerald Jörmungandr, Pilot, Hypnotic, Golden Koi, Printstream, Cobalt Disruption, Code Red, Ocean Drive, Midnight Storm, Kumicho Dragon, Crimson Web, Heirloom, Night Heist, Mecha Industries, Night, Conspiracy, Trigger Discipline, Naga, Directive, Light Rail), Dual Berettas (Flora Carnivora, Duelist, Cobra Strike, Black Limba, Emerald, Hemoglobin, Twin Turbo, Marina, Melondrama, Pyre, Retribution, Briar, Dezastre, Royal Consorts, Urban Shock, Dualing Dragons, Panther, Balance), Rifles - Galil (Aqua Terrace, Winter Forest, Chatterbox, Sugar Rush, Pheonix Blacklight, CAUTION!, Orange DDPAT, Cerberus, Dusk Ruins, Eco, Chromatic Aberration, Stone Cold, Tuxedo, Sandstorm, Shattered, Urban Rubble, Rocket Pop, Kami, Crimson Tsunami, Connexion), SCAR-20 (Fragments, Brass, Cyrex, Palm, Splash Jam, Cardiac, Emerald, Crimson Web, Magna Carta, Stone Mosaico, Bloodsport, Enforcer), AWP (Duality, Gungnir, Dragon Lore, Prince, Medusa, Desert Hydra, Fade, Lightning Strike, Oni Taiji, Silk Tiger, Graphite, Chromatic Aberration, Asiimov, Snake Camo, Boom, Containment Breach, Wildfire, Redline, Electric Hive, Hyper Beast, Neo-Noir, Man-o'-war, Pink DDPAT, Corticera, Sun in Leo, Elite Build, Fever Dream, Atheris, Mortis, PAW, Exoskeleton, Worm God, POP AWP, Phobos, Acheron, Pit Viper, Capillary, Safari Mesh), AK-47 (Head Shot, Wild Lotus, Gold Arabesque, X-Ray, Fire Serpent, Hydroponic, Panthera Onca, Case Hardened, Vulcan, Jet Set, Fuel Injector, Bloodsport, Nightwish, First Class, Neon Rider, Asiimov, Red Laminate, Aquamarine Revenge, The Empress, Wasteland Rebel, Jaguar, Black Laminate, Leet Museo, Neon Revolution, Redline, Frontside Misty, Predator, Legion of Anubis, Point Disarray, Orbit Mk01, Blue Laminate, Green Laminate, Emerald Pinstripe, Cartel, Phantom Disruptor, Jungle Spray, Safety Net, Rat Rod, Baroque Purple, Slate, Elite Build, Uncharted, Safari Mesh), FAMAS (Sundown, Prime Conspiracy, Afterimage, Commemoration, Dark Water, Spitfire, Pulse, Eye of Athena, Meltdown, Rapid Eye Move, Roll Cage, Styx, Mecha Industrie, Djinn, ZX Spectron, Valence, Neural Net, Night Borre, Hexne), M4A4 (Temukau, Howl, Poseidon, Asiimov, Daybreak, Hellfire, Zirka, Red DDPAT, Radiation Hazard, Modern Hunter, The Emperor, The Coalition, Bullet Rain, Cyber Security, X-Ray, Dark Blossom, Buzz Kill, In Living Color, Neo-Noir, Desolate Space, 龍王 (Dragon King), Royal Paladin, The Battlestar, Global Offensive, Tooth Fairy, Desert-Strike, Griffin, Evil Daimyo, Spider Lily, Converter), M4A1-S (Emphorosaur-S, Welcome to the Jungle, Imminent Danger, Knight, Hot Rod, Icarus Fell, Blue Phosphor, Printstream, Master Piece, Dark Water, Golden Coil, Bright Water, Player Two, Atomic Alloy, Guardian, Chantico's Fire, Hyper Beast, Mecha Industries, Cyrex, Control Panel, Moss Quartz, Nightmare, Decimator, Leaded Glass, Basilisk, Blood Tiger, Briefing, Night Terror, Nitro, VariCamo, Flashback), SG 553 (Cyberforce, Hazard Pay, Bulldozer, Integrale, Dragon Tech, Ultraviolet, Colony IV, Hypnotic, Cyrex, Candy Apple, Barricade, Pulse), SSG 08 (Death Strike, Sea Calico, Blood in the Water, Orange Filigree, Dragonfire, Big Iron, Bloodshot, Detour, Turbo Peek, Red Stone), AUG (Akihabara Accept, Flame Jörmungandr, Hot Rod, Midnight Lily, Sand Storm, Carved Jade, Wings, Anodized Navy, Death by Puppy, Torque, Bengal Tiger, Chameleon, Fleet Flock, Random Access, Momentum, Syd Mead, Stymphalian, Arctic Wolf, Aristocrat, Navy Murano), G3SG1 (Chronos, Violet Murano, Flux, Demeter, Orange Kimono, The Executioner, Green Apple, Arctic Polar Camo, Contractor), SMGs - P90 (Neoqueen, Astral Jörmungandr, Run and Hide, Emerald Dragon, Cold Blooded, Death by Kitty, Baroque Red, Vent Rush, Blind Spot, Asiimov, Trigon, Sunset Lily, Death Grip, Leather, Nostalgia, Fallout Warning, Tiger Pit, Schermatic, Virus, Shapewood, Glacier Mesh, Shallow Grave, Chopper, Desert Warfare), MAC-10 (Sakkaku, Hot Snakes, Copper Borre, Red Filigree, Gold Brick, Graven, Case Hardened, Stalker, Amber Fade, Neon Rider, Tatter, Curse, Propaganda, Nuclear Garden, Disco Tech, Toybox, Heat, Indigo), UMP-45 (Wild Child, Fade, Blaze, Day Lily, Minotaur's Labyrinth, Crime Scene, Caramel, Bone Pile, Momentum, Primal Saber), MP7 (Teal Blossom, Fade, Nemesis, Whiteout, Asterion, Bloosport, Abyssal Apparition, Full Stop, Special Delivery, Neon Ply, Asterion, Ocean Foam, Powercore, Scorched, Impire), PP-Bizon (Modern Hunter, Rust Coat, Forest Leaves, Antique, High Roller, Blue Streak, Seabird, Judgement of Anubis, Bamboo Print, Embargo, Chemical Green, Coblat Halftone, Fuel Rod, Photic Zone, Irradiated Alert, Carbon Fiber), MP9 (Featherweight, Wild Lily, Pandora's Box, Stained Glass, Bulldozer, Dark Age, Hot Rod, Hypnotic, Hydra, Rose Iron, Music Box, Setting Sun, Food Chain, Airlock, Mount Fuji, Starlight Protector, Ruby Poison Dart, Deadly Poison), MP5-SD (Liquidation, Oxide Oasis, Phosphor, Nitro, Agent, Autumn Twilly), Shotguns, Machineguns - Sawed-Off (Kiss♥Love, First Class, Orange DDPAT, Rust Coat, The Kraken, Devourer, Mosaico, Wasteland Princess, Bamboo Shadow, Copper, Serenity, Limelight, Apocalypto), XM1014 (Frost Borre, Ancient Lore, Red Leather, Elegant Vines, Banana Leaf, Jungle, Urban Perforated, Grassland, Blaze Orange, Heaven Guard, VariCamo Blue, Entombed, XOXO, Seasons, Tranquility, Bone Machine, Incinegator, Teclu Burner, Black Tie, Zombie Offensive, Watchdog), Nova (Baroque Orange, Hyper Beast, Green Apple, Antique, Modern Hunter, Walnut, Forest Leaves, Graphite, Blaze Orange, Rising Skull, Tempest, Bloomstick, Interlock, Quick Sand, Moon in Libra, Clean Polymer, Red Quartz, Toy Soldier), MAG-7 (Insomnia, Cinqueda, Counter Terrace, Prism Terrace, Memento, Chainmail, Hazard, Justice, Bulldozer, Silver, Core Breach, Firestarter, Praetorian, Heat, Hard Water, Monster Call, BI83 Spectrum, SWAG-7), M249 (Humidor, Shipping Forecast, Blizzard Marbleized, Downtown, Jungle DDPAT, Nebula Crusader, Impact Drill, Emerald Poison Dart), Negev (Mjölnir, Anodized Navy, Palm, Power Loader, Bratatat, CaliCamo, Phoenix Stencil, Infrastructure, Boroque Sand), Wear - Factory New (FN), Minimal Wear (MW), Field-Tested (FT), Well-Worn (WW), Battle-Scarred (BS), Stickers Holo/Foil/Gold - Katowice 2014, Krakow 2017, Howling Dawn, Katowice 2015, Crown, London 2018, Cologne 2014, Boston 2018, Atlanta 2017, Cluj-Napoca 2015, DreamHack 2014, King on the Field, Harp of War, Winged Difuser, Cologne 2016, Cologne 2015, MLG Columbus 2016, Katowice 2019, Berlin 2019, RMR 2020, Stockholm 2021, Antwerp 2022, Swag Foil, Flammable foil, Others - Souvenirs, Agents, Pins, Passes, Gifts, Music Kits, Cases, Keys, Capsules, Packages, Patches

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Hi all!
I've been following D4 on Reddit for the past couple of weeks and after seeing a bunch of negative threads about the game, I wanted to give my take on the matter.
I will preface this by saying that I consider myself a semi-casual. I have more time to play the game than most casuals and I take my time to do a lot of research into optimization etc before and during my gameplay. That said, I don't have the time to go full hardcore as many of the true ARPG fans and that does limit my experience with the "true" endgame.
Now, here's a list of all the things I have enjoyed so far:

• Build progression and synergies: D4 character power progression is much closer to D2 than D3.
  • For the first couple of da,ys I was disappointed with how little impact the synergies between abilities and legendary effects had. Getting the "required" codex powers for my Chain Lightning Sorc didn't really change my gameplay. Switching to the Ice Shards build and getting better gear, I realized that I was used to the large power spikes in D3 and that D4 power progression is a lot smoother. Getting a good rolled piece of gear with CDR, mana reduction and crit could really be felt and I started to see how my build played more and more efficiently and fast the more gear I got and the more I paid attention to the right stats.
• Story: It's pretty good.
  • I'm no expert on good storytelling but I genuinely enjoyed most of the characters and I was surprised how dark it turned at times (Initial priest scene, Scosglen ending and swamp scene fx.). Pretty good coming from D3 and I was glad I didn't have to listen to the whole "Nephalem" thing again.
• Atmosphere and sound: Dark, gritty and extremely polished.
  • This honestly rivals D2 in its atmosphere. Every scene and area is masterfully crafted. The play of light and shadows in the scene as your character moves through a dark cellar or cavern is amazing. It's dark, it's gritty, it's full of gore and genuinely horrible things. I have often stopped and zoomed in on details or just stood there taking in a view. The sound design is equally as impressive. Spells and abilities just sound amazing. Not much else to say. I thoroughly enjoy playing with sound on.
• Graphics: Not much to say other than it's top notch.
  • My only complaint is that I experience plenty of stuttering when traversing into new areas I haven't visited in a while. I haven't heard anything similar happening on consoles, so it might be due to hard drive streaming that consoles use that isn't transferable to PC.
• Events and open world content: The events and side quests are for the most part great, but get repetitive quickly.
  • I'm a big MMO player, so I'm probably biased here. I really enjoy the open-world content. It's not crazy-powerful in its reward structure, but short and fun enough that I often stop to do the event for those extra obols and a good chance for some legendaries. My only complaint is that the variation is quite low. World bosses are really nice. Not too hard but you can't AFK either.
• Materials and currency drop rate:
  • This might be a spicy take, but I think its fine. The scarcity that people experience now is the same in literally every MMO or ARPG for the first 2-3 weeks. The first couple of weeks we constantly find new upgrades and go through our materials quickly. But in 2-3 weeks any upgrade will be few and far between and we will be swimming in materials again.

Things I would like to see changed:

• Renown system: Random events and Tree of Whispers should contribute
  • It hasn't been too bad to do the renown since I get a ton of XP and gear from all the dungeons and side quests, but I wish that random events and Tree of Whispers events would contribute to it aswell. I often run past them when I'm trying to complete my renown track because they don't contribute anything to it.
• Dungeon "quests": The "kill all monsters on this level" is cancer.
  • When I enter a new dungeon and see the "Kill all monster" quest, I immidiately think to myself "Yep, this is going to be a 15-20 minutes run instead of 10".
• Skins: Should be cheaper and earned in-game down the road.
  • In principle, I have nothing against skins that can be bought with real money. As long as it's reasonably priced and eventually available through in-game activities. I buy a skin from time to time in the games I play, as a treat after a long month of work or similar, but I wish that more games would implement the Trading Outpost from WoW. Skins can be bought from the in-game shop but become available to everybody through in-game activities after a few months. That means that people who REALLY want the skin can buy it now, and the rest can just wait a bit.

Overall I'm really surprised by how much I have enjoyed the game so far. The slow burner progression is surprisingly addicting compared with the huge power spikes we saw in D3.
Please bear in mind that this is my opinion and not an objective view of the game.

The Mortal Roan:
If you noticed some obvious inspirations from other media, specifically anime don't be surprised. Things I do not have names for yet I used names from already existing media. But the story is entirely original.
So the idea for this story is to be set in the an alternate version of the modern day where the population is 40% lower than 8 billion.
Advanced prosthetics and cybernetics exist. Way more advanced than they are currently in the real world. Mostly due to the aid of electrical and gear magic. Also advanced technological databases and prophetic computer code algorithims often work as oracles or prophets.
There are three main types of beings in this world. Sorcerers, humans born with inherit magical ability that is passed on through genetics. They exhibit mana, which is the abstract essence of where their power comes from and can be detected by other mana users. Mysterious Beings, nonhuman, although sometimes humanoid mythological/folklore creatures that use magic dedicated to their realm of specialization. Ex. Werewolves - moon magic, Vampires blood magic, Lamia Serpent magic, U'tlun'ta - spear magic etc. They also have mana for their magic which is detected and acts the same way as a sorcerer's. And the last group, normal humans or sprites. They are magic-less humans that have no extraordinary supernatural abilities and rely on the protection of Sorcerers like the Roan Knights to protect them from supernatural threats from Mysterious beings.
Nick... is a normal human. He has no magical ability. He comes from an unremarkable family of Bulgarian immigrants, he is a Historical European Martial Arts practitioner in Longsword and is weak against supernatural threats. At least he was. That was until his godfather, who is also a regular human, saved him from a vampire attack using a sword and a special fighting technique called Vita-viz, a extrasensory way of converting one's own and surrounding life energy into superhuman power. Also known in eastern cultures as qi. This ability isn't inherited and isn't genetic. It is a learned ability that any living thing has the potential to use. Although being's with mana tend to have a more difficult time accessing it due to mana often interfering with their qi channels. Vita-viz takes a lot of arduous training to unlock, unlike Sorcerers' mana which provides magic free of any effort, though a sorcerer still needs to train to become more powerful.
Nick's world is rocked by a overnight camping trip in the Appalachians with his Hema buddies where the group is attacked by Vampires and brought to their lair where they are all tortured and mutilated. All of them die except Nick and his best friend at the time Ethan. Nick manages to escape due to some sorcerers passing through. They don't take note of the prisoners and after the Vampires are killed, they leave, abandoning the prisoners. Ethan is turned into a vampire and Nick is forced to stake his best friend through the heart with a broken longsword.
Nick is taught by his godfather how to use Vita-viz and joins the Roan Knights. The existence of Vita-viz has largely been forgotten by the magical world at large save for some folktales. Also none of the algorithms made any prophecies about mana-less warriors and barely any about Vita-viz. So the presence of a mana-less user going toe to toe with magical beings threatens to alter the paradigm.
Nick eventually befriends two sorcerers at the Roan Knights academy. Ave who is an esper (mind magic sorcerer) and is the quint essential Mary Sue of the overarching story and chosen one, though she is not the main character. She is descended from a famous and rich magical family known for their supernatural contributions during the American Civil War. So she is pretty privileged. The second sorcerer is John, he is a dhampire (his mother is human and he never knew his father) he is also half Cherokee. He uses blood magic and uses a double sided scythe that can detach its blades from the staff's using a chain. His mixed human and nonhuman nature makes him a product of ridicule among the Roan Knights as most are human though they do sometimes use imprisoned mysterious beings as slave soldiers. Also forgot to mention the Roan Knights academy is in the Appalachians.
Also despite what some may expect, Nick is the weakest character of the friend group power wise. The point of his character is that I wanted to make an action fantasy story where the side character is the main character. The character that doesn't come from a remarkable background, doesn't have any prophecies about him and that doesn't get pulled along by the story by some chosen one prophecy but instead makes his own story. I always find these side characters the most compelling because even though they aren't the strongest, seeing their journey is often more entertaining than the Mary Sue chosen ones.
My Probably Final Story Arc Pitch - Fake Defector:
After a couple of years and excited Nazi vampire war arcs later...
Keep in mind this is near the end of all the character's journeys and most of the main characters are unbelievably powerful at this point. The powerscaling for them would be around city to multi-city level amounts of power. Though at the beginning they'll start off grounded and more reasonably scaled.
Nick is ranked as an Top rank 6 mysterious being, specifically a vampire, under the Ash organization. An organization with the main objective of the supremacy of mythological entities over the human population. They are not Nazis though they are fascist in favor of Mysterious beings. The Nazi vampire organization in previous arcs were ethnically supremacist but used Vampires to achieve their goals (think Hellsing). But in the Ash organization, out of all the other top ranks, Nick is the only human though all the other members of the organization think he's a vampire, save for Upper 3 vampire, Melidos, and the Ash organization master.
Nick betrayed the Roan Knights after saving Melidos in the battle of London, though it wasn't known at the time as while saving Melidos, the area underwent a large explosion and Nick was presumed dead. But he met up in secret with Melidos after the battle to join his cause after being offered by him a few days earlier to be one of the architects of a new order of mysterious beings set to rule the world. But there was one condition, that if Melidos really did change and he really did value Nick's loyalty and friendship, he would allow him to join as a human. Melidos agreed and that they would disguise Nick as a newly christened vampire, Cygon, converted by Melidos to be the next member of the Upper ranks to the rest of the membership, unknown of his real name and identity. Though the organization's master knew of Nick's real identity as a betrayer, he didn't know he wasn't a vampire until later, and upon discovering it he forced Nick to prove himself by offering him to murder the vampire that originally killed Ethan and his old friends, Grimmel. Confused, Nick asked why would this be his task? As taking revenge for loved ones would be easy, especially if they were a vampire. The master replied it's not if he kills him, but how. Nick complied and kills Grimmel in the most revenge filled and sadistic way. Coating his blade in anti-regenerative serum while cutting at his vital arties so that he slowly bleeds out until he dies from blood loss, which is uncommon for a vampire. Though it was for show to prove himself, part of Nick enjoyed the torture, as it was very fulfilling to kill his friends' murderer. Yet at the same time he never wanted to feel that same feeling again, and was finally starting to grasp what he got himself in to. It was sufficient proof he was worthy to be part of the ranks and the master allowed him to stay and keep his identity under wraps.
To the other Top ranks he was the vampire Cygon, turned by Top rank 3 Melidos, and sort of taken under his wing. He used his new silver cyborg prosthetics and armor as a guise to come up with a new alias and reputation. He also wore a fully encompassing robotic mask without a helmet rim. The mask had a circular right eye slot and a horizontally ovular left eye slot with modified tech to enhance his damaged eye. Both glowed green. He also wore a tattered brown cape reaching his calves and kept his newly forged cyber sword on his back. Cygon was a cyborg vampire to the top ranks. And although he was the lowest of the top ranks number wise he garnered a reputation. Known as the physically weakest Top rank, he also became known as the most intelligent due to his immense knowledge of battle strategy and cybernetic tech. He is known to be so smart, he managed to develop the perfect mana cloaking technique. This is a guise to explain away why no one can detect mana from him. Because Nick is actually mana-less and uses the Vita-vis system instead of the expected blood magic or gear magic, though no one the upper ranks knows this except Melidos. Cygon also has the reputation as being the most tryhard in the Top ranks by the other members. They say he takes the job way to serious and stresses too much about results. Because of their position as Top ranks there hasn't been a single mission failure from any one of them since they were formed.
The only way to rise the top ranks is to challenge someone higher rank than you to a blood battle in front of the others and the victor gains or keeps the aforementioned title and drinks a large portion of the loser's blood. The loser takes the lower ranked position. Cygon hasn't challenged any of the upper ranks to a blood battle because, one he is not a vampire and doing so would expose him, and two, he wants to hide his full power from the others as to not give his enemies opportunities to study him. In reality, at full power he is worthy of rising to Top rank 4 (Mid Dragon) but is staying at Top rank 6 (Low Dragon). Melidos is Top rank 3 (High Dragon).
The whole purpose of joining the Ash organization isn't because of common beliefs. But as a secret infiltration for the Internal Mysterious Revolutionary Organization, or IMRO. A nonhierarchical organization made up of sorcerers, mysterious beings, and regular humans all of equal standing with the goal to change society to be a multicultural world of beings with different magical standings. Nick joined them and agreed to defect from the Roan Knights after being dissalusioned with them and saw them as a corrupt organization. Seeing they were nothing but pawns for the current political world powers to wield, they cared not for equality of the races. This defection happened in secret shortly before he faked his own death and his undercover mission began. Nick is acting as a spy for them in the Ash org with the sole mission to gather as much information in the org's master and kill him. John, Nick's old best-friend from his Roan days also converted to the IMRO although he is unaware of Nick's mission or that he is even alive. The mission was known by only a few people/beings of influential standing in the IMRO.
Back to the Ash organization. I am thinking of making the Master a Demon that has the special ability to summon a portal to hell. And also thinking of the Top rank 1 Mysterious being to be the Boogeyman, or at least the physical manifestation of his idea. He would be physically the embodiment of the Roko's Basilisk thought experiment. If you don't know it, it's pretty fascinating.
Conclusion:
So what do you think? I am ready for some harsh criticism but compliments are welcome as well.

Hello,
I'd like some fair exchange for those, i'm willing to put more than one game against a game i really want, depends on the offer. I could accept Paypal, but that's not my goal (just getting games i'd like to play). I might want to keep something in those lists, i also have some other Humble and Fanatical games i'm not sure i'll play, so they might appear one day (could be money for an exchange if you have something from my wishlist, don't hesitate to ask). I'm from Europe, that might matter for Keys or gift links. Also, i have many games now, and a lot to do yet, so i might be very picky, even for games on my wishlist (it's more a list for interesting games, that i might want in an undetermined future if i have time).
(HB Unrevealed Key = i have it still unrevealed, but will provide a key, considering the Humble view on trading games)
For people living in France, i also have some old games in boxes that i can send by post, ask me if interested.
My IGSRep page
My SGSFlair page
My GameTrade page
My Barter (come to Barter, it's so much better !)
My SteamTrade
*** I have Amazon Prime, so i already have the games that drop there ***
*** Please tell me what you're interested in in my list and don't just drop yours ***

112 Operator (HB Unrevealed Key)
6120 (Indiegala Key)
911 Operator (HB Unrevealed Key)
A Conversation With Mister Rabbit (Indiegala Key)
Alien Cat 2 (Indiegala Key)
Aliens: Fireteam Elite (HB Unrevealed Key)
Alone With You (DIG Key)
AMID EVIL (HB Unrevealed Key)
Arata Haunted Asylum (DIG Key)
Army Men RTS (HB Unrevealed Key)
AWAKE - Definitive Edition (Fanatical Key)
Baba Is You (HB Unrevealed Key)
Backbone (HB Unrevealed Key)
Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery (HB Unrevealed Key)
BOK-BOK: A Chicken Dating Sim (DIG Key)
Borderlands 3: Super Deluxe Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Builder Simulator (HB Unrevealed Key)
Click and Slay (Fanatical Key)
Codename Ghost Hunt (DIG Key)
Combat Tested (Fanatical Key)
Conflict Area (DIG Key)
Conflict Area (Indiegala Key)
Cosmonautica (Fanatical Key)
Cris Tales (HB Unrevealed Key)
Dagon - The Eldritch Box DLC (HB Unrevealed Key)
Death Squared (HB Unrevealed Key)
Detached: Non-VR Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Destiny 2: Beyond Light (HB Unrevealed Key)
Dezinsector (Indiegala Key)
Don't Look (DIG Key)
Driftland: The Magic Revival (HB Unrevealed Key)
Duke Nukem Forever: Hail to the Icons Parody Pack (HB Unrevealed Key)
Duke Nukem Forever: The Doctor Who Cloned Me (HB Unrevealed Key)
Explosionade (Fanatical Key)
Fling to the Finish (Fanatical Key)
Flyist (DIG Key)
Forep Man (DIG Key)
Frick, Inc. (HB Unrevealed Key)
Fury Unleashed (HB Unrevealed Key)
GALAXIUM (DIG Key)
Generation Zero® (HB Unrevealed Key)
Gloria Victis (HB Unrevealed Key)
GOD's DEATH (DIG Key)
GRIME (HB Unrevealed Key)
Il Sole e la Luna (DIG Key)
Game of the forgotten Gods. Wake up / Игра забытых Богов. Проснись (DIG Key)
GameGuru (HB Unrevealed Key)
Good puzzle: Castles (Indiegala Key)
Guilty Gear X2 #Reload (HB Unrevealed Key)
Hack 'n' Slash (HB Unrevealed Key)
Harpoon (Indiegala Key)
HoloSprint (DIG Key)
Honey, I Joined a Cult (HB Unrevealed Key)
Incandescent (DIG Key)
Intelligence (Indiegala Key)
Izmir: An Independence Simulator (HB Unrevealed Key)
Lemuria: Lost in Space (DIG Key)
Lust from Beyond: M Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Meeple Station (HB Unrevealed Key)
Mello Haunted House (DIG Key)
Metal Strike (DIG Key)
Midnight Ghost Hunt (HB Unrevealed Key)
MirrorMoon EP (HB Unrevealed Key)
Morbid: The Seven Acolytes (HB Unrevealed Key)
NAVALNY: A Nightmare of Corrupt (DIG Key)
Not Another Weekend (Indiegala Key)
Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru (Indiegala Key)
Onsen Master (IGN Key)
Orbital Racer (HB Unrevealed Key)
Patriots: Back to Civilization (DIG Key)
Pixross (HB Unrevealed Key)
Planet TD (HB Unrevealed Key)
Quantum Replica (Fanatical Key) x2
Quest: Escape Room (Indiegala Key)
Raccoon: The Orc Invasion (DIG Key)
Railroad Tycoon 3 (HB Unrevealed Key)
Reach the Summit (Indiegala Key)
Remnants of Naezith (HB Unrevealed Key)
Rocky Ride (Indiegala Key)
Runner3 (Fanatical Key - Might Keep)
Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter - Legend of the Beast DLC (HB Unrevealed Key)
Sid Meier's Railroads! (HB Unrevealed Key)
Sit on bottle (Indiegala Key)
SMIB: Mission Cure (Indiegala Key)
Soul Searching (HB Unrevealed Key)
Soulblight (HB Unrevealed Key)
Space BloX (DIG Key)
Space Crew: Legendary Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Spider-Robots War (Indiegala Key)
Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Stacking (HB Unrevealed Key)
STAR WARS Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (HB Unrevealed Key)
STAR WARS: The Force Unleashed Ultimate Sith Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
StarCrossed (HB Unrevealed Key)
Stick Fight: The Game (HB Unrevealed Key)
Strange Brigade (HB Unrevealed Key)
Sunlight (HB Unrevealed Key)
Supreme Ruler Cold War (Fanatical Key)
Swag and Sorcery (HB Unrevealed Key)
Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon (Fanatical Key)
System Shock: Enhanced Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
System Shock: Enhanced Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
System Shock 2 (HB Unrevealed Key)
Telefrag VR (HB Unrevealed Key)
Teleglitch: Die More Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Amazing American Circus (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Amazing American Circus (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Big SokoBang (DIG Key)
The Detective Chapters: Part One (DIG Key)
The Governor (DIG Key)
The Inner World (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Invisible Hand (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Orphan A Tale of An Errant Ghost - Hidden Object Game (DIG Key)
The Watchmaker (Fanatical Key)
The Wild Eight (HB Unrevealed Key)
Thyra Adventure (DIG Key)
Ticket to Ride (HB Unrevealed Key)
Time Lock VR 2 (Indiegala Key)
ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove (HB Unrevealed Key)
Townsmen - A Kingdom Rebuilt (HB Unrevealed Key)
Trash Squad (DIG Key)
Tricone Lab (Indiegala Key)
Turbo Golf Racing (HB Unrevealed Key)
Unexplored (Fanatical Key)
Vanguard Princess (DIG Key)
War Robots: Planet Defender (DIG Key)
What A Trash Game (DIG Key)
Win The Diamond (DIG Key)
Worms Rumble (HB Unrevealed Key)
X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack (HB Unrevealed Key)
XCOM: ULTIMATE COLLECTION (HB Unrevealed Key)
Yet Another Hero Story (Indiegala Key)
YOU DON'T KNOW JACK Vol. 2 (HB Unrevealed Key)
Zack 2: Celeste's Map (Indiegala Key)
Zen Cube (DIG Key)
Zombie Claus (Indiegala Key)
Zombie Driver HD Complete Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)

Removed / Banned / Delisted / Purchase Disabled games :

• Afterfall Insanity Extended Edition
• Beast Boxing Turbo
• Betrayer
• Cloud Chamber
• Defenders of Ardania
• Depths of Fear :: Knossos
• Dollar Dash
• Droplitz
• Gettysburg Armored Warfare
• Grind Zones
• Leviathan: Warships
• Magicka: Wizards of the Square Tablet
• Naval War: Arctic Circle
• On The Path
• Quadrant M4
• Quixzel Rush: Pumpkin Bash
• Quixzel Rush: Tooth Protector
• Run Away
• Shadows: Price For Our Sins Bonus Edition
• Sine Mora + Ex
• Spaceguy 2
• Star Shield Down
• Trials of The Illuminati: Women of Beauty Jigsaws
• Trials of The Illuminati: Animated Christmas Time Jigsaws
• Two Brothers
• World War 1 Centennial Edition
• ZombieRush

Challenges, Lootboy, second hand, might have some dupes in it (also might not be up to date) => i can exchange them for games but also for trading cards, based on grey market value Vs trading cards market value :

• 1954 Alcatraz
• A New Beginning
• A New Beginning - Final Cut
• A Valley Without Wind
• Alien Spidy
• Angvik
• Animals
• Anna - Extended Edition
• Anna's Quest
• AquaNox
• AquaNox 2
• Bad Rats
• Bang Bang Racing
• Beat Hazard
• Beat Hazard Complete
• Bionic Heart
• BlazeRush
• Bunch Of Heroes
• CAPSULE
• Car Mechanic Simulator 2014
• Cargo! - The quest for gravity
• Ceville
• Clockwork Survivors
• Commander: Conquest of the Americas
• Commandos 2: Men of Courage
• Commandos 3: Destination Berlin
• Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
• Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty
• Company of Crime
• Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
• Crash Time 3
• Critical Mass
• CrossKrush
• Dangerous platform
• Dark Fall: Lost Souls
• Darwinia
• Dead Hungry Diner
• Deadly 30
• Defunct
• Demigod
• Deponia
• DESOLATE
• Disciples II: Galleans Return
• Disciples II: Rise of the Elves
• Dragon Blast DLC
• Drop Hunt - Adventure Puzzle
• Dungeon of the Endless
• Dungeons - The Dark Lord
• Eidolon
• El Matador
• Elite Forces
• Escape From Russia: Mobilization
• Eternal Step
• Ethan: Meteor Hunter Deluxe Edition
• EUIII Chronicles
• eXceed - Gun Bullet Children
• Fantasy Wars
• Fated Souls 3
• Fester Mudd - Episode 1
• Figment
• Final Slam 2
• Finding Teddy
• Fireburst
• Flower Shop: Summer In Fairbrook
• Flower Shop: Winter In Fairbrook
• Future Wars
• Galactic Civilizations I: Ultimate Edition
• Girlfriend Rescue
• Going Under
• Grand Ages Rome
• Grand Ages Rome Gold
• Grav Blazer
• Greed: Black Border
• Grotesque Tactics: Evil Heroes
• Gunman Clive
• Hard Reset Extended Edition
• Heileen 2: The Hands Of Fate
• Hero by Chance
• Holy Avatar vs. Maidens of the Dead
• Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?!
• Home
• Huntsman: The Orphanage
• Idol Hands
• Imperial Glory
• In Between
• inMomentum
• Ion Assault
• Jets'n'Guns Gold
• Jumping Cat
• Kalaban
• KAMI
• King's Bounty: Armored Princess
• King's Bounty: The Legend
• Kingdom Wars 4 - The Plague: Kingdom Wars
• Knights of Honor
• Konung 2
• Konung 3
• Legends of Eisenwald
• Little Racers STREET
• M.U.D. TV
• Magicka
• Majesty 2
• Mata Hari
• Megabyte Punch
• Memory Booster
• Men of War: Assault Squad GOTY
• Mind: Path to Thalamus
• Miner Wars 2081
• Multiwinia
• NASCAR '15 Victory Edition
• NASCAR Heat Evolution
• Night Wanderings
• Nordlicht
• Norega Barracks + Academy DLC
• Nuclear Dawn
• Nuclear Dawn
• Of Orcs and Men
• Oil Rush Bundle
• One Finger Death Punch 2
• Onikira - Demon Killer
• Overcast - Walden and the Werewolf
• Painkiller Recurring Evil
• Painkiller Redemption
• Painkiller: Black Edition
• Patrician IV
• Patrician IV Gold
• Pirates of Black Cove
• Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic
• PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate
• Planets Under Attack
• Plush
• Poly Memory: Cats
• Poly Puzzle: Dogs
• Poly Puzzle: Furries
• Poof
• Post Apocalyptic Mayhem
• Praetorians
• Primal Carnage
• Punch Club
• Purgatory: War of the Damned
• Puzzle Art: Cats
• Puzzle Kingdoms
• Quell
• Quell Memento
• Quell Reflect
• Race! Beauty! Bugs!
• Razor2: Hidden Skies
• Really Big Sky
• Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered + Armageddon Bundle With DLC (Nordic D)
• Red Johnson's Chronicles - 1+2
• Regions of Ruin
• Rise of Flight: Channel Battles Edition
• Runaway, The Dream of the Turtle
• Save the Dodos
• Shadowgrounds Survivor
• Shift Happens
• Simple Builder
• Skilltree Saga
• Sky Mercenaries
• Smalles Class DLC
• Space Empires IV Deluxe
• Space Empires V
• Space Pilgrim Academy: Year 3
• Spirited Heart Deluxe
• Square's Route
• Star Ruler
• Star Wolves
• Starsphere
• Stellar Interface
• Stoirs VR
• STRIDER
• Stunt Hill
• Swamp Jump
• Switch Galaxy Ultra
• Sword of the Stars Complete Collection
• Terror Time
• The Deed II
• The Deed: Dynasty
• The End of Labyronia: Nerubis
• The God's Chain
• The Joylancer: Legendary Motor Knight
• The King's Crusade - Lionheart
• The Old City: Leviathan
• The Void
• Theatre of War 2: Africa 1943
• Theatre of War: 3 - Korea
• Theatre of War: Centauro
• Theatre of War: Kursk + Caen
• Toby: The Secret Mine
• Toy Tinker Simulator
• Trainz Simulator 12
• Trainz Simulator 12 - Coronation Scot DLC
• TRAUMA
• Tropico 3
• Trulon: The Shadow Engine
• Turba
• Twin Sector
• UFO Afterlight
• Undefeated
• Uplink
• Us and them
• Valnir Rok
• Vault Cracker
• Vegas: Make It Big
• Velvet Assassin
• Vessel
• Warrior Kings
• Warriors' Wrath
• Wasteland Angel
• Weable
• When Our Journey Ends - A Visual Novel
• Whispering Willows
• Windforge
• Windscape
• Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship
• Zombie Driver HD Complete Edition
• Zombie Pirates
• Zombie Shooter

Wishlist :
Various offers welcome, i'll browse lists, and most wanted are :
Currently or recently bundled : * ABRISS * Achilles: Legends Untold * AFTERLIFE: KILLING DEATH * ALTF4 * Blade of Darkness * Boneraiser Minions * Brotato * CARRION * Deadlink * Dome Keeper * Dread Delusion * Gearshifters * Gone Viral * GRAVEN * HYPER DEMON * Impaler * Just King * LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga * Loot River * Mago * Prince of Persia (various) * Project Warlock II * Rogue: Genesia * Shantae and the Seven Sirens * The Citadel * Ultratron * ULTRAKILL * Windbound * Zombieland: Double Tap - Road Trip
Bigger or rarer (for a big load of my games) : * Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord * RESIDENT EVIL Village * Hades * Cyberpunk 2077 * ELDEN RING * A Plague Tale: Requiem * Cuphead * GTFO * Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy * Noita * Choo-Choo Charles * Garry's Mod * Prototype 1 and 2 * Bleak Faith: Forsaken
DLCs : * The Surge The Good, the Bad and the Augmented DLC * The Surge 2 - Season Pass * Vermintide 2 DLCs : Warrior Priest Career - Sister of the Thorn * Borderlands 3 Season Pass 2 * Mortal Shell: The Virtuous Cycle * Rocksmith DLCs * Lego Season Passes (DC Super Villains - Jurassic World - Marvel Super Heroes - Movie - Hobbit - Incredibles - Worlds) * Dead by Daylight DLCs (A Nightmare on Elm Street - Ash vs Evil Dead - Chains of Hate - Charity Case - Curtain Call - Ghost Face - Headcase - LEATHERFACE - Resident Evil Chapter - Silent Hill Chapter - Stranger Things Chapter - The Bloodstained Sack - The Halloween Chapter - The Saw Chapter - Sadako Rising Chapter - Forged in Fog - Resident Evil: PROJECT W)
See here for the rest of my wishlist.
Compare2Steam
+ offers, i'll browse lists, and eventually take Paypal, but i'm more interested in Paypal & TF2, but i'm more interested in games trades

Hello,
I'd like some fair exchange for those, i'm willing to put more than one game against a game i really want, depends on the offer. I could accept Paypal, but that's not my goal (just getting games i'd like to play). I might want to keep something in those lists, i also have some other Humble and Fanatical games i'm not sure i'll play, so they might appear one day (could be money for an exchange if you have something from my wishlist, don't hesitate to ask). I'm from Europe, that might matter for Keys or gift links. Also, i have many games now, and a lot to do yet, so i might be very picky, even for games on my wishlist (it's more a list for interesting games, that i might want in an undetermined future if i have time).
(HB Unrevealed Key = i have it still unrevealed, but will provide a key, considering the Humble view on trading games)
For people living in France, i also have some old games in boxes that i can send by post, ask me if interested.
My IGSRep page
My SGSFlair page
My GameTrade page
My Barter (come to Barter, it's so much better !)
My SteamTrade
*** I have Amazon Prime, so i already have the games that drop there ***
*** Please tell me what you're interested in in my list and don't just drop yours ***

112 Operator (HB Unrevealed Key)
6120 (Indiegala Key)
911 Operator (HB Unrevealed Key)
A Conversation With Mister Rabbit (Indiegala Key)
Alien Cat 2 (Indiegala Key)
Aliens: Fireteam Elite (HB Unrevealed Key)
Alone With You (DIG Key)
AMID EVIL (HB Unrevealed Key)
Arata Haunted Asylum (DIG Key)
Army Men RTS (HB Unrevealed Key)
AWAKE - Definitive Edition (Fanatical Key)
Baba Is You (HB Unrevealed Key)
Backbone (HB Unrevealed Key)
Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery (HB Unrevealed Key)
BOK-BOK: A Chicken Dating Sim (DIG Key)
Borderlands 3: Super Deluxe Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Builder Simulator (HB Unrevealed Key)
Click and Slay (Fanatical Key)
Codename Ghost Hunt (DIG Key)
Combat Tested (Fanatical Key)
Conflict Area (DIG Key)
Conflict Area (Indiegala Key)
Cosmonautica (Fanatical Key)
Cris Tales (HB Unrevealed Key)
Dagon - The Eldritch Box DLC (HB Unrevealed Key)
Death Squared (HB Unrevealed Key)
Detached: Non-VR Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Destiny 2: Beyond Light (HB Unrevealed Key)
Dezinsector (Indiegala Key)
Don't Look (DIG Key)
Driftland: The Magic Revival (HB Unrevealed Key)
Duke Nukem Forever: Hail to the Icons Parody Pack (HB Unrevealed Key)
Duke Nukem Forever: The Doctor Who Cloned Me (HB Unrevealed Key)
Explosionade (Fanatical Key)
Fling to the Finish (Fanatical Key)
Flyist (DIG Key)
Forep Man (DIG Key)
Frick, Inc. (HB Unrevealed Key)
Fury Unleashed (HB Unrevealed Key)
GALAXIUM (DIG Key)
Generation Zero® (HB Unrevealed Key)
Gloria Victis (HB Unrevealed Key)
GOD's DEATH (DIG Key)
GRIME (HB Unrevealed Key)
Il Sole e la Luna (DIG Key)
Game of the forgotten Gods. Wake up / Игра забытых Богов. Проснись (DIG Key)
GameGuru (HB Unrevealed Key)
Good puzzle: Castles (Indiegala Key)
Guilty Gear X2 #Reload (HB Unrevealed Key)
Hack 'n' Slash (HB Unrevealed Key)
Harpoon (Indiegala Key)
HoloSprint (DIG Key)
Honey, I Joined a Cult (HB Unrevealed Key)
Incandescent (DIG Key)
Intelligence (Indiegala Key)
Izmir: An Independence Simulator (HB Unrevealed Key)
Lemuria: Lost in Space (DIG Key)
Lust from Beyond: M Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Meeple Station (HB Unrevealed Key)
Mello Haunted House (DIG Key)
Metal Strike (DIG Key)
Midnight Ghost Hunt (HB Unrevealed Key)
MirrorMoon EP (HB Unrevealed Key)
Morbid: The Seven Acolytes (HB Unrevealed Key)
NAVALNY: A Nightmare of Corrupt (DIG Key)
Not Another Weekend (Indiegala Key)
Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru (Indiegala Key)
Onsen Master (IGN Key)
Orbital Racer (HB Unrevealed Key)
Patriots: Back to Civilization (DIG Key)
Pixross (HB Unrevealed Key)
Planet TD (HB Unrevealed Key)
Quantum Replica (Fanatical Key) x2
Quest: Escape Room (Indiegala Key)
Raccoon: The Orc Invasion (DIG Key)
Railroad Tycoon 3 (HB Unrevealed Key)
Reach the Summit (Indiegala Key)
Remnants of Naezith (HB Unrevealed Key)
Rocky Ride (Indiegala Key)
Runner3 (Fanatical Key - Might Keep)
Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter - Legend of the Beast DLC (HB Unrevealed Key)
Sid Meier's Railroads! (HB Unrevealed Key)
Sit on bottle (Indiegala Key)
SMIB: Mission Cure (Indiegala Key)
Soul Searching (HB Unrevealed Key)
Soulblight (HB Unrevealed Key)
Space BloX (DIG Key)
Space Crew: Legendary Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Spider-Robots War (Indiegala Key)
Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Stacking (HB Unrevealed Key)
STAR WARS Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (HB Unrevealed Key)
STAR WARS: The Force Unleashed Ultimate Sith Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
StarCrossed (HB Unrevealed Key)
Stick Fight: The Game (HB Unrevealed Key)
Strange Brigade (HB Unrevealed Key)
Sunlight (HB Unrevealed Key)
Supreme Ruler Cold War (Fanatical Key)
Swag and Sorcery (HB Unrevealed Key)
Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon (Fanatical Key)
System Shock: Enhanced Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
System Shock: Enhanced Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
System Shock 2 (HB Unrevealed Key)
Telefrag VR (HB Unrevealed Key)
Teleglitch: Die More Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Amazing American Circus (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Amazing American Circus (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Big SokoBang (DIG Key)
The Detective Chapters: Part One (DIG Key)
The Governor (DIG Key)
The Inner World (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Invisible Hand (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Orphan A Tale of An Errant Ghost - Hidden Object Game (DIG Key)
The Watchmaker (Fanatical Key)
The Wild Eight (HB Unrevealed Key)
Thyra Adventure (DIG Key)
Ticket to Ride (HB Unrevealed Key)
Time Lock VR 2 (Indiegala Key)
ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove (HB Unrevealed Key)
Townsmen - A Kingdom Rebuilt (HB Unrevealed Key)
Trash Squad (DIG Key)
Tricone Lab (Indiegala Key)
Turbo Golf Racing (HB Unrevealed Key)
Unexplored (Fanatical Key)
Vanguard Princess (DIG Key)
War Robots: Planet Defender (DIG Key)
What A Trash Game (DIG Key)
Win The Diamond (DIG Key)
Worms Rumble (HB Unrevealed Key)
X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack (HB Unrevealed Key)
XCOM: ULTIMATE COLLECTION (HB Unrevealed Key)
Yet Another Hero Story (Indiegala Key)
YOU DON'T KNOW JACK Vol. 2 (HB Unrevealed Key)
Zack 2: Celeste's Map (Indiegala Key)
Zen Cube (DIG Key)
Zombie Claus (Indiegala Key)
Zombie Driver HD Complete Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)

Removed / Banned / Delisted / Purchase Disabled games :

• Afterfall Insanity Extended Edition
• Beast Boxing Turbo
• Betrayer
• Cloud Chamber
• Defenders of Ardania
• Depths of Fear :: Knossos
• Dollar Dash
• Droplitz
• Gettysburg Armored Warfare
• Grind Zones
• Leviathan: Warships
• Magicka: Wizards of the Square Tablet
• Naval War: Arctic Circle
• On The Path
• Quadrant M4
• Quixzel Rush: Pumpkin Bash
• Quixzel Rush: Tooth Protector
• Run Away
• Shadows: Price For Our Sins Bonus Edition
• Sine Mora + Ex
• Spaceguy 2
• Star Shield Down
• Trials of The Illuminati: Women of Beauty Jigsaws
• Trials of The Illuminati: Animated Christmas Time Jigsaws
• Two Brothers
• World War 1 Centennial Edition
• ZombieRush

Challenges, Lootboy, second hand, might have some dupes in it (also might not be up to date) => i can exchange them for games but also for trading cards, based on grey market value Vs trading cards market value :

• 1954 Alcatraz
• A New Beginning
• A New Beginning - Final Cut
• A Valley Without Wind
• Alien Spidy
• Angvik
• Animals
• Anna - Extended Edition
• Anna's Quest
• AquaNox
• AquaNox 2
• Bad Rats
• Bang Bang Racing
• Beat Hazard
• Beat Hazard Complete
• Bionic Heart
• BlazeRush
• Bunch Of Heroes
• CAPSULE
• Car Mechanic Simulator 2014
• Cargo! - The quest for gravity
• Ceville
• Clockwork Survivors
• Commander: Conquest of the Americas
• Commandos 2: Men of Courage
• Commandos 3: Destination Berlin
• Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
• Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty
• Company of Crime
• Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
• Crash Time 3
• Critical Mass
• CrossKrush
• Dangerous platform
• Dark Fall: Lost Souls
• Darwinia
• Dead Hungry Diner
• Deadly 30
• Defunct
• Demigod
• Deponia
• DESOLATE
• Disciples II: Galleans Return
• Disciples II: Rise of the Elves
• Dragon Blast DLC
• Drop Hunt - Adventure Puzzle
• Dungeon of the Endless
• Dungeons - The Dark Lord
• Eidolon
• El Matador
• Elite Forces
• Escape From Russia: Mobilization
• Eternal Step
• Ethan: Meteor Hunter Deluxe Edition
• EUIII Chronicles
• eXceed - Gun Bullet Children
• Fantasy Wars
• Fated Souls 3
• Fester Mudd - Episode 1
• Figment
• Final Slam 2
• Finding Teddy
• Fireburst
• Flower Shop: Summer In Fairbrook
• Flower Shop: Winter In Fairbrook
• Future Wars
• Galactic Civilizations I: Ultimate Edition
• Girlfriend Rescue
• Going Under
• Grand Ages Rome
• Grand Ages Rome Gold
• Grav Blazer
• Greed: Black Border
• Grotesque Tactics: Evil Heroes
• Gunman Clive
• Hard Reset Extended Edition
• Heileen 2: The Hands Of Fate
• Hero by Chance
• Holy Avatar vs. Maidens of the Dead
• Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?!
• Home
• Huntsman: The Orphanage
• Idol Hands
• Imperial Glory
• In Between
• inMomentum
• Ion Assault
• Jets'n'Guns Gold
• Jumping Cat
• Kalaban
• KAMI
• King's Bounty: Armored Princess
• King's Bounty: The Legend
• Kingdom Wars 4 - The Plague: Kingdom Wars
• Knights of Honor
• Konung 2
• Konung 3
• Legends of Eisenwald
• Little Racers STREET
• M.U.D. TV
• Magicka
• Majesty 2
• Mata Hari
• Megabyte Punch
• Memory Booster
• Men of War: Assault Squad GOTY
• Mind: Path to Thalamus
• Miner Wars 2081
• Multiwinia
• NASCAR '15 Victory Edition
• NASCAR Heat Evolution
• Night Wanderings
• Nordlicht
• Norega Barracks + Academy DLC
• Nuclear Dawn
• Nuclear Dawn
• Of Orcs and Men
• Oil Rush Bundle
• One Finger Death Punch 2
• Onikira - Demon Killer
• Overcast - Walden and the Werewolf
• Painkiller Recurring Evil
• Painkiller Redemption
• Painkiller: Black Edition
• Patrician IV
• Patrician IV Gold
• Pirates of Black Cove
• Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic
• PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate
• Planets Under Attack
• Plush
• Poly Memory: Cats
• Poly Puzzle: Dogs
• Poly Puzzle: Furries
• Poof
• Post Apocalyptic Mayhem
• Praetorians
• Primal Carnage
• Punch Club
• Purgatory: War of the Damned
• Puzzle Art: Cats
• Puzzle Kingdoms
• Quell
• Quell Memento
• Quell Reflect
• Race! Beauty! Bugs!
• Razor2: Hidden Skies
• Really Big Sky
• Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered + Armageddon Bundle With DLC (Nordic D)
• Red Johnson's Chronicles - 1+2
• Regions of Ruin
• Rise of Flight: Channel Battles Edition
• Runaway, The Dream of the Turtle
• Save the Dodos
• Shadowgrounds Survivor
• Shift Happens
• Simple Builder
• Skilltree Saga
• Sky Mercenaries
• Smalles Class DLC
• Space Empires IV Deluxe
• Space Empires V
• Space Pilgrim Academy: Year 3
• Spirited Heart Deluxe
• Square's Route
• Star Ruler
• Star Wolves
• Starsphere
• Stellar Interface
• Stoirs VR
• STRIDER
• Stunt Hill
• Swamp Jump
• Switch Galaxy Ultra
• Sword of the Stars Complete Collection
• Terror Time
• The Deed II
• The Deed: Dynasty
• The End of Labyronia: Nerubis
• The God's Chain
• The Joylancer: Legendary Motor Knight
• The King's Crusade - Lionheart
• The Old City: Leviathan
• The Void
• Theatre of War 2: Africa 1943
• Theatre of War: 3 - Korea
• Theatre of War: Centauro
• Theatre of War: Kursk + Caen
• Toby: The Secret Mine
• Toy Tinker Simulator
• Trainz Simulator 12
• Trainz Simulator 12 - Coronation Scot DLC
• TRAUMA
• Tropico 3
• Trulon: The Shadow Engine
• Turba
• Twin Sector
• UFO Afterlight
• Undefeated
• Uplink
• Us and them
• Valnir Rok
• Vault Cracker
• Vegas: Make It Big
• Velvet Assassin
• Vessel
• Warrior Kings
• Warriors' Wrath
• Wasteland Angel
• Weable
• When Our Journey Ends - A Visual Novel
• Whispering Willows
• Windforge
• Windscape
• Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship
• Zombie Driver HD Complete Edition
• Zombie Pirates
• Zombie Shooter

Wishlist :
Various offers welcome, i'll browse lists, and most wanted are :
Currently or recently bundled : * ABRISS * Achilles: Legends Untold * AFTERLIFE: KILLING DEATH * ALTF4 * Blade of Darkness * Boneraiser Minions * Brotato * CARRION * Deadlink * Dome Keeper * Dread Delusion * Gearshifters * Gone Viral * GRAVEN * HYPER DEMON * Impaler * Just King * LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga * Loot River * Mago * Prince of Persia (various) * Project Warlock II * Rogue: Genesia * Shantae and the Seven Sirens * The Citadel * Ultratron * ULTRAKILL * Windbound * Zombieland: Double Tap - Road Trip
Bigger or rarer (for a big load of my games) : * Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord * RESIDENT EVIL Village * Hades * Cyberpunk 2077 * ELDEN RING * A Plague Tale: Requiem * Cuphead * GTFO * Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy * Noita * Choo-Choo Charles * Garry's Mod * Prototype 1 and 2 * Bleak Faith: Forsaken
DLCs : * The Surge The Good, the Bad and the Augmented DLC * The Surge 2 - Season Pass * Vermintide 2 DLCs : Warrior Priest Career - Sister of the Thorn * Borderlands 3 Season Pass 2 * Mortal Shell: The Virtuous Cycle * Rocksmith DLCs * Lego Season Passes (DC Super Villains - Jurassic World - Marvel Super Heroes - Movie - Hobbit - Incredibles - Worlds) * Dead by Daylight DLCs (A Nightmare on Elm Street - Ash vs Evil Dead - Chains of Hate - Charity Case - Curtain Call - Ghost Face - Headcase - LEATHERFACE - Resident Evil Chapter - Silent Hill Chapter - Stranger Things Chapter - The Bloodstained Sack - The Halloween Chapter - The Saw Chapter - Sadako Rising Chapter - Forged in Fog - Resident Evil: PROJECT W)
See here for the rest of my wishlist.
Compare2Steam
+ offers, i'll browse lists, and eventually take Paypal, but i'm more interested in Paypal & TF2, but i'm more interested in games trades

Hello,
I'd like some fair exchange for those, i'm willing to put more than one game against a game i really want, depends on the offer. I could accept Paypal, but that's not my goal (just getting games i'd like to play). I might want to keep something in those lists, i also have some other Humble and Fanatical games i'm not sure i'll play, so they might appear one day (could be money for an exchange if you have something from my wishlist, don't hesitate to ask). I'm from Europe, that might matter for Keys or gift links. Also, i have many games now, and a lot to do yet, so i might be very picky, even for games on my wishlist (it's more a list for interesting games, that i might want in an undetermined future if i have time).
(HB Unrevealed Key = i have it still unrevealed, but will provide a key, considering the Humble view on trading games)
For people living in France, i also have some old games in boxes that i can send by post, ask me if interested.
My IGSRep page
My SGSFlair page
My GameTrade page
My Barter (come to Barter, it's so much better !)
My SteamTrade
*** I have Amazon Prime, so i already have the games that drop there ***
*** Please tell me what you're interested in in my list and don't just drop yours ***

112 Operator (HB Unrevealed Key)
6120 (Indiegala Key)
911 Operator (HB Unrevealed Key)
A Conversation With Mister Rabbit (Indiegala Key)
Alien Cat 2 (Indiegala Key)
Aliens: Fireteam Elite (HB Unrevealed Key)
Alone With You (DIG Key)
AMID EVIL (HB Unrevealed Key)
Arata Haunted Asylum (DIG Key)
Army Men RTS (HB Unrevealed Key)
AWAKE - Definitive Edition (Fanatical Key)
Baba Is You (HB Unrevealed Key)
Backbone (HB Unrevealed Key)
Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery (HB Unrevealed Key)
BOK-BOK: A Chicken Dating Sim (DIG Key)
Borderlands 3: Super Deluxe Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Builder Simulator (HB Unrevealed Key)
Click and Slay (Fanatical Key)
Codename Ghost Hunt (DIG Key)
Combat Tested (Fanatical Key)
Conflict Area (DIG Key)
Conflict Area (Indiegala Key)
Cosmonautica (Fanatical Key)
Cris Tales (HB Unrevealed Key)
Dagon - The Eldritch Box DLC (HB Unrevealed Key)
Death Squared (HB Unrevealed Key)
Detached: Non-VR Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Destiny 2: Beyond Light (HB Unrevealed Key)
Dezinsector (Indiegala Key)
Don't Look (DIG Key)
Driftland: The Magic Revival (HB Unrevealed Key)
Duke Nukem Forever: Hail to the Icons Parody Pack (HB Unrevealed Key)
Duke Nukem Forever: The Doctor Who Cloned Me (HB Unrevealed Key)
Explosionade (Fanatical Key)
Fling to the Finish (Fanatical Key)
Flyist (DIG Key)
Forep Man (DIG Key)
Frick, Inc. (HB Unrevealed Key)
Fury Unleashed (HB Unrevealed Key)
GALAXIUM (DIG Key)
Generation Zero® (HB Unrevealed Key)
Gloria Victis (HB Unrevealed Key)
GOD's DEATH (DIG Key)
GRIME (HB Unrevealed Key)
Il Sole e la Luna (DIG Key)
Game of the forgotten Gods. Wake up / Игра забытых Богов. Проснись (DIG Key)
GameGuru (HB Unrevealed Key)
Good puzzle: Castles (Indiegala Key)
Guilty Gear X2 #Reload (HB Unrevealed Key)
Hack 'n' Slash (HB Unrevealed Key)
Harpoon (Indiegala Key)
HoloSprint (DIG Key)
Honey, I Joined a Cult (HB Unrevealed Key)
Incandescent (DIG Key)
Intelligence (Indiegala Key)
Izmir: An Independence Simulator (HB Unrevealed Key)
Lemuria: Lost in Space (DIG Key)
Lust from Beyond: M Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Meeple Station (HB Unrevealed Key)
Mello Haunted House (DIG Key)
Metal Strike (DIG Key)
Midnight Ghost Hunt (HB Unrevealed Key)
MirrorMoon EP (HB Unrevealed Key)
Morbid: The Seven Acolytes (HB Unrevealed Key)
NAVALNY: A Nightmare of Corrupt (DIG Key)
Not Another Weekend (Indiegala Key)
Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru (Indiegala Key)
Onsen Master (IGN Key)
Orbital Racer (HB Unrevealed Key)
Patriots: Back to Civilization (DIG Key)
Pixross (HB Unrevealed Key)
Planet TD (HB Unrevealed Key)
Quantum Replica (Fanatical Key) x2
Quest: Escape Room (Indiegala Key)
Raccoon: The Orc Invasion (DIG Key)
Railroad Tycoon 3 (HB Unrevealed Key)
Reach the Summit (Indiegala Key)
Remnants of Naezith (HB Unrevealed Key)
Rocky Ride (Indiegala Key)
Runner3 (Fanatical Key - Might Keep)
Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter - Legend of the Beast DLC (HB Unrevealed Key)
Sid Meier's Railroads! (HB Unrevealed Key)
Sit on bottle (Indiegala Key)
SMIB: Mission Cure (Indiegala Key)
Soul Searching (HB Unrevealed Key)
Soulblight (HB Unrevealed Key)
Space BloX (DIG Key)
Space Crew: Legendary Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Spider-Robots War (Indiegala Key)
Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
Stacking (HB Unrevealed Key)
STAR WARS Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (HB Unrevealed Key)
STAR WARS: The Force Unleashed Ultimate Sith Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
StarCrossed (HB Unrevealed Key)
Stick Fight: The Game (HB Unrevealed Key)
Strange Brigade (HB Unrevealed Key)
Sunlight (HB Unrevealed Key)
Supreme Ruler Cold War (Fanatical Key)
Swag and Sorcery (HB Unrevealed Key)
Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon (Fanatical Key)
System Shock: Enhanced Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
System Shock: Enhanced Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
System Shock 2 (HB Unrevealed Key)
Telefrag VR (HB Unrevealed Key)
Teleglitch: Die More Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Amazing American Circus (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Amazing American Circus (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Big SokoBang (DIG Key)
The Detective Chapters: Part One (DIG Key)
The Governor (DIG Key)
The Inner World (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Invisible Hand (HB Unrevealed Key)
The Orphan A Tale of An Errant Ghost - Hidden Object Game (DIG Key)
The Watchmaker (Fanatical Key)
The Wild Eight (HB Unrevealed Key)
Thyra Adventure (DIG Key)
Ticket to Ride (HB Unrevealed Key)
Time Lock VR 2 (Indiegala Key)
ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove (HB Unrevealed Key)
Townsmen - A Kingdom Rebuilt (HB Unrevealed Key)
Trash Squad (DIG Key)
Tricone Lab (Indiegala Key)
Turbo Golf Racing (HB Unrevealed Key)
Unexplored (Fanatical Key)
Vanguard Princess (DIG Key)
War Robots: Planet Defender (DIG Key)
What A Trash Game (DIG Key)
Win The Diamond (DIG Key)
Worms Rumble (HB Unrevealed Key)
X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack (HB Unrevealed Key)
XCOM: ULTIMATE COLLECTION (HB Unrevealed Key)
Yet Another Hero Story (Indiegala Key)
YOU DON'T KNOW JACK Vol. 2 (HB Unrevealed Key)
Zack 2: Celeste's Map (Indiegala Key)
Zen Cube (DIG Key)
Zombie Claus (Indiegala Key)
Zombie Driver HD Complete Edition (HB Unrevealed Key)

Removed / Banned / Delisted / Purchase Disabled games :

• Afterfall Insanity Extended Edition
• Beast Boxing Turbo
• Betrayer
• Cloud Chamber
• Defenders of Ardania
• Depths of Fear :: Knossos
• Dollar Dash
• Droplitz
• Gettysburg Armored Warfare
• Grind Zones
• Leviathan: Warships
• Magicka: Wizards of the Square Tablet
• Naval War: Arctic Circle
• On The Path
• Quadrant M4
• Quixzel Rush: Pumpkin Bash
• Quixzel Rush: Tooth Protector
• Run Away
• Shadows: Price For Our Sins Bonus Edition
• Sine Mora + Ex
• Spaceguy 2
• Star Shield Down
• Trials of The Illuminati: Women of Beauty Jigsaws
• Trials of The Illuminati: Animated Christmas Time Jigsaws
• Two Brothers
• World War 1 Centennial Edition
• ZombieRush

Challenges, Lootboy, second hand, might have some dupes in it (also might not be up to date) => i can exchange them for games but also for trading cards, based on grey market value Vs trading cards market value :

• 1954 Alcatraz
• A New Beginning
• A New Beginning - Final Cut
• A Valley Without Wind
• Alien Spidy
• Angvik
• Animals
• Anna - Extended Edition
• Anna's Quest
• AquaNox
• AquaNox 2
• Bad Rats
• Bang Bang Racing
• Beat Hazard
• Beat Hazard Complete
• Bionic Heart
• BlazeRush
• Bunch Of Heroes
• CAPSULE
• Car Mechanic Simulator 2014
• Cargo! - The quest for gravity
• Ceville
• Clockwork Survivors
• Commander: Conquest of the Americas
• Commandos 2: Men of Courage
• Commandos 3: Destination Berlin
• Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
• Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty
• Company of Crime
• Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
• Crash Time 3
• Critical Mass
• CrossKrush
• Dangerous platform
• Dark Fall: Lost Souls
• Darwinia
• Dead Hungry Diner
• Deadly 30
• Defunct
• Demigod
• Deponia
• DESOLATE
• Disciples II: Galleans Return
• Disciples II: Rise of the Elves
• Dragon Blast DLC
• Drop Hunt - Adventure Puzzle
• Dungeon of the Endless
• Dungeons - The Dark Lord
• Eidolon
• El Matador
• Elite Forces
• Escape From Russia: Mobilization
• Eternal Step
• Ethan: Meteor Hunter Deluxe Edition
• EUIII Chronicles
• eXceed - Gun Bullet Children
• Fantasy Wars
• Fated Souls 3
• Fester Mudd - Episode 1
• Figment
• Final Slam 2
• Finding Teddy
• Fireburst
• Flower Shop: Summer In Fairbrook
• Flower Shop: Winter In Fairbrook
• Future Wars
• Galactic Civilizations I: Ultimate Edition
• Girlfriend Rescue
• Going Under
• Grand Ages Rome
• Grand Ages Rome Gold
• Grav Blazer
• Greed: Black Border
• Grotesque Tactics: Evil Heroes
• Gunman Clive
• Hard Reset Extended Edition
• Heileen 2: The Hands Of Fate
• Hero by Chance
• Holy Avatar vs. Maidens of the Dead
• Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?!
• Home
• Huntsman: The Orphanage
• Idol Hands
• Imperial Glory
• In Between
• inMomentum
• Ion Assault
• Jets'n'Guns Gold
• Jumping Cat
• Kalaban
• KAMI
• King's Bounty: Armored Princess
• King's Bounty: The Legend
• Kingdom Wars 4 - The Plague: Kingdom Wars
• Knights of Honor
• Konung 2
• Konung 3
• Legends of Eisenwald
• Little Racers STREET
• M.U.D. TV
• Magicka
• Majesty 2
• Mata Hari
• Megabyte Punch
• Memory Booster
• Men of War: Assault Squad GOTY
• Mind: Path to Thalamus
• Miner Wars 2081
• Multiwinia
• NASCAR '15 Victory Edition
• NASCAR Heat Evolution
• Night Wanderings
• Nordlicht
• Norega Barracks + Academy DLC
• Nuclear Dawn
• Nuclear Dawn
• Of Orcs and Men
• Oil Rush Bundle
• One Finger Death Punch 2
• Onikira - Demon Killer
• Overcast - Walden and the Werewolf
• Painkiller Recurring Evil
• Painkiller Redemption
• Painkiller: Black Edition
• Patrician IV
• Patrician IV Gold
• Pirates of Black Cove
• Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic
• PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate
• Planets Under Attack
• Plush
• Poly Memory: Cats
• Poly Puzzle: Dogs
• Poly Puzzle: Furries
• Poof
• Post Apocalyptic Mayhem
• Praetorians
• Primal Carnage
• Punch Club
• Purgatory: War of the Damned
• Puzzle Art: Cats
• Puzzle Kingdoms
• Quell
• Quell Memento
• Quell Reflect
• Race! Beauty! Bugs!
• Razor2: Hidden Skies
• Really Big Sky
• Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered + Armageddon Bundle With DLC (Nordic D)
• Red Johnson's Chronicles - 1+2
• Regions of Ruin
• Rise of Flight: Channel Battles Edition
• Runaway, The Dream of the Turtle
• Save the Dodos
• Shadowgrounds Survivor
• Shift Happens
• Simple Builder
• Skilltree Saga
• Sky Mercenaries
• Smalles Class DLC
• Space Empires IV Deluxe
• Space Empires V
• Space Pilgrim Academy: Year 3
• Spirited Heart Deluxe
• Square's Route
• Star Ruler
• Star Wolves
• Starsphere
• Stellar Interface
• Stoirs VR
• STRIDER
• Stunt Hill
• Swamp Jump
• Switch Galaxy Ultra
• Sword of the Stars Complete Collection
• Terror Time
• The Deed II
• The Deed: Dynasty
• The End of Labyronia: Nerubis
• The God's Chain
• The Joylancer: Legendary Motor Knight
• The King's Crusade - Lionheart
• The Old City: Leviathan
• The Void
• Theatre of War 2: Africa 1943
• Theatre of War: 3 - Korea
• Theatre of War: Centauro
• Theatre of War: Kursk + Caen
• Toby: The Secret Mine
• Toy Tinker Simulator
• Trainz Simulator 12
• Trainz Simulator 12 - Coronation Scot DLC
• TRAUMA
• Tropico 3
• Trulon: The Shadow Engine
• Turba
• Twin Sector
• UFO Afterlight
• Undefeated
• Uplink
• Us and them
• Valnir Rok
• Vault Cracker
• Vegas: Make It Big
• Velvet Assassin
• Vessel
• Warrior Kings
• Warriors' Wrath
• Wasteland Angel
• Weable
• When Our Journey Ends - A Visual Novel
• Whispering Willows
• Windforge
• Windscape
• Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship
• Zombie Driver HD Complete Edition
• Zombie Pirates
• Zombie Shooter

Wishlist :
Various offers welcome, i'll browse lists, and most wanted are :
Currently or recently bundled : * ABRISS * Achilles: Legends Untold * AFTERLIFE: KILLING DEATH * ALTF4 * Blade of Darkness * Boneraiser Minions * Brotato * CARRION * Deadlink * Dome Keeper * Dread Delusion * Gearshifters * Gone Viral * GRAVEN * HYPER DEMON * Impaler * Just King * LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga * Loot River * Mago * Prince of Persia (various) * Project Warlock II * Rogue: Genesia * Shantae and the Seven Sirens * The Citadel * Ultratron * ULTRAKILL * Windbound * Zombieland: Double Tap - Road Trip
Bigger or rarer (for a big load of my games) : * Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord * RESIDENT EVIL Village * Hades * Cyberpunk 2077 * ELDEN RING * A Plague Tale: Requiem * Cuphead * GTFO * Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy * Noita * Choo-Choo Charles * Garry's Mod * Prototype 1 and 2 * Bleak Faith: Forsaken
DLCs : * The Surge The Good, the Bad and the Augmented DLC * The Surge 2 - Season Pass * Vermintide 2 DLCs : Warrior Priest Career - Sister of the Thorn * Borderlands 3 Season Pass 2 * Mortal Shell: The Virtuous Cycle * Rocksmith DLCs * Lego Season Passes (DC Super Villains - Jurassic World - Marvel Super Heroes - Movie - Hobbit - Incredibles - Worlds) * Dead by Daylight DLCs (A Nightmare on Elm Street - Ash vs Evil Dead - Chains of Hate - Charity Case - Curtain Call - Ghost Face - Headcase - LEATHERFACE - Resident Evil Chapter - Silent Hill Chapter - Stranger Things Chapter - The Bloodstained Sack - The Halloween Chapter - The Saw Chapter - Sadako Rising Chapter - Forged in Fog - Resident Evil: PROJECT W)
See here for the rest of my wishlist.
Compare2Steam
+ offers, i'll browse lists, and eventually take Paypal, but i'm more interested in Paypal & TF2, but i'm more interested in games trades

If I’d had any idea that the same six ladies who had been cooking and serving me meals and beverages were secretly a coven, I… well, I probably would have kept going there anyways. We’d arranged to meet after hours together with my savior human and Elijah Carter to go down to the grotto. The witches were already waiting for us outside the unlit neon sign. They were wearing the same matching dresses that constituted their mildly out-of-date yet undoubtedly elegant diner uniforms. With them, swaying and light on his feet like a tiny golden bird, was Frankie Preston.
I skipped up to him to give him a hug. He rolled his eyes, then wrapped his arms around me rather tightly. “Hey Sunshine. Oh. He-ey,” he added to Nettie when she came up behind us. “We’re good, right?”
“I said so, didn’t I,” she replied evenly. “I gotta stick to my word now, for better or for worse.”
“You know, I like you just fine. I was being an asshole for no reason. It’s not gonna happen again.”
“It better not,” she said, shrugging sweetly while not bothering to hide the threatening undertone in her response.
“Right,” Rhonda chimed in, looking slightly uncomfortable. “I understand you got a nixie or mermaid needs rescuing…”
“Precisely. You’re sure this is manageable for your coven?” I ventured.
“I’m not sure about anything. But I told you we’d see what we can do.” She gave me a generous smile. “You’re getting the friends-and-family-discount.” She reached over to ruffle Fran’s hair. He groaned, then moved over to me to make room for Nettie as she sidled up to the ladies.
I slid my hand into his. He grinned. “Demanding, you.”
I withdrew. “Sorry.”
“Oh, brother,” he grumbled, snatching back my hand. “Sure stand out from this crowd tonight, don’t I?” he asked jokingly, nodding at the gathering.
“You stand out most of the time.” I perked up when Mae-Lynn pointed out another, decidedly taller figure approaching. Eli was wearing a longer coat, shielding himself from the nightly chill carried to us upon the breeze. His hands were buried in his pockets and his shoulders hunched, but a smile crossed his face nevertheless when he spotted us. "Good to see you. How've you been?"
I traded uncertain glances with Nettie, then Fran. "Busy," I concluded, answering for the three of us.
"I'm glad you came," my savior human supplied.
"I don't know if I can be of much use," he muttered, allowing her to wrap her arms around him for a moment.
Rhonda waved him off. "Sure you can. Let's get going, now that we're all here."
Our group began to head down to the beach. Dim moonlight illuminated our path through the streets and across the sandy expanse, guiding us along with the sound of tossing waves drawing nearer. The smell of salt hung heavily above us, the wind tugged on our clothes and tousled our hair. We were a strange procession as we climbed over the rocks and down to the mouth of the cave. Had anybody seen us, I wouldn't know what they'd have made of it. I glanced over at Nettie to find her shivering. Whether it was due to the crisp spring night temperature or the excitement of the moment I couldn't tell. Instead, I reached for her hand. "Are you alright?"
She gave me a wavering nod. Flicking on her lime green flashlight, she allowed the bright beam to cut through the darkness. Her thumb rubbed over the stickers adorning the shaft of the small torch—a piece of memorabilia from our early years. "I put those there," I reminded her, pointing them out.
"Oh, I know," she deadpanned. "That was the same week I gave you all those handicraft supplies. Never again. You know how long it took to pry off the dozens of googly eyes you glued to the toilet seat?"
"It was artful. I thought you'd like them."
She snorted, lightly batting my shoulder. "Of course you did." Her chest heaved as she took a deep, cleansing breath. "Okay. Let's go."
Elijah and I led the way ahead, the former carrying his own heavy flashlight which he kept trained on the ground at our feet. We tried to stay as close together as possible, wary of the slippery surface we were walking on. The further we proceeded, the more anxious we became. Eli hid it masterfully, the only thing that gave away his apprehension being the vein that bulged on his forehead. I could feel his tension, though. It was in his shoulders, the stiff way he held his neck, in the force of his grip on the torch. It almost looked like he was trying to crush it.
The witches appeared to be nowhere near as impressed. They moved forward with a relaxed sort of confidence, casually stepping over puddles in their paths as though they were merely skirting around tables at the diner. Their attitude was mirrored by Frankie. I couldn’t help but glance back at him over my shoulder every couple seconds, his wheat-blond locks bouncing around his head with each of his spirited steps. Nettie Peterson, hanging from my arm, followed my gaze and let out a low grunt. “That boy is entirely too cheerful right now,” she muttered, only to squeak when she nearly tripped over a small rock. “Lord, I hope you know where we’re going.”
“Sure we do,” Elijah replied from up front.
“Approximately,” I added.
We weaved our way through the tunnels, trying to recall the way to the corpse cave. Rhonda had told us she wanted to see Kit Sutton’s mother. In a strange way, I was looking forward to seeing the sleeping giantess again. Despite the horror she was surrounded with, her sight had left a deep impression on me. The coven was chatting to each other in the back, their hushed voices the only sound to break the otherwise clammy, uneasy silence. Until we heard it.
A voice carried through the darkness, sweet and bell-bright with a heated, gravelly undertone. Her song filled the washed out corridors, echoing off the rounded stone walls and riding the ripples of the lake we were currently passing by. The words were in a foreign tongue, but I would have recognized my roommate’s singing anywhere.
Nettie tensed up, her arm around mine turning to stone. I could hear the hitch in her breath, taking note of the way her eyes grew wide in the lamplight. Our whole group had come to a halt in the middle of the large cave room, glancing about in awe as we tried to locate the source of the voice. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere at once, an omnipresent melancholy with just the hint of a fury in it. Like a calm, slow river with a strong, rapid undercurrent. I listened in rapture, my gaze fixed on my savior human’s elegant profile. Her lower lip trembled ever so slightly, its gloss capturing the warm sheen.
"Kit!" she suddenly called out.
The song broke off, leaving only eerie silence.
"Are you there?" my best friend shouted again, her voice nearly breaking.
Everything was still for another beat. Then we heard stones shift and clatter, followed by naked feet slapping the wet ground. We turned around, and there, standing beneath the arch of one of the side tunnels, was Kit Sutton. Nettie let out a sharp cry, broke free from my hold and ran towards her, wrapping her arms around the taller woman's neck. Kit stared down at her in shock before throwing her arms around her, burying one hand in her long, dark coils of hair and pressing the other to the small of her back. Anabel, who works the kitchen at the diner, let out a soft coo. We stayed back for the two of them to have their moment before my savior human eventually disentangled herself.
"You're very wet," she told Kit, inspecting her now damp sweater.
My roommate's lips curled. "I mean, you hugged me pretty close, so…"
Nettie smacked her upper arm. "Idiot," she whispered, her tone warm and gentle.
The smile faded from Kit's face as her eyes roamed the small crowd, settling on me. "What are you doing here? I told you not to come back, and now you've actually brought more people?"
"Kit, this is the coven from the diner. Coven, this is the water spirit I told you about." I turned to Rhonda, who nodded and took a step forward.
"We came to see if we can't do something about your situation," she told her.
Kit scrunched her brows. "You guys are a coven?"
"They are," I supplied. "And they managed to hold off my stalker with their magic so they're pretty serious about it. That reminds me; I have a stalker now. Anyways, they want to see your mom."
My roommate looked beyond skeptical. "You know this is dangerous, right?"
Hailey groaned. "Girl, we've been in this for a long-ass time. Either you let us see what we can do or you don't, but don't think for a moment that we're ignorant."
Kit threw up her arms. "Fine. Come along then. I warned you."
She started marching ahead, her impossibly long hair trailing behind her like a veil. Nettie had to be careful not to step on it as she walked alongside her, the two having linked hands. When we reached the corpse room, my savior human looked like she was about to faint. The sight once again sent a cold chill down my spine and I instinctively looked over at Eli Carter. His face was scrunched up, his brows knitted as he attempted to keep his eyes trained on the ground. Frankie on the other hand appeared to be rather interested, his gaze roaming the hall. The coven didn’t seem to care whatsoever, instead following Kit to the water hole where the enormous statuesque creature was resting.
“Woah,” Nettie said eloquently as she leaned over to look into the depths of the pond. “That’s your mom?”
Kit Sutton gave a brief, unspirited nod. “She is, actually. Quite a bit bigger than me but yeah. Well, I don’t see how this is—” She fell silent when the six ladies started to round the pit, exchanging knowing glances as they reached for each others’ hands. “What? What now, what are we doing?” she stammered, taking a step back and slightly raising her barnacle-covered arms.
Hailey turned to her with an encouraging smile. “We could wake her up. I really think we could.”
For a moment, she didn’t respond. “You think that’d help?” she then asked.
“Would it help to have a giant sea goddess up against your father?” Rhonda deadpanned. “Of course it would. He clearly had a problem with her, else he wouldn’t have done that. He felt threatened, most likely. You might not be able to fight back against him yourself, but she ought to tip the scales.”
“Great idea,” Frankie said, earning a proud nod from the older waitress. “It’s a good rule of thumb. If you’re too weak, you just find someone strong and scary to hide behind.” He beamed at me. “You’re so pretty, Eva.”
Kit snorted, looking a little more at ease but still uncertain. “You guys know I’ve actually never spoken with her, right? What if she’s, like, feral? Maybe she won’t want to help me; she could just make things worse.”
“Worse?” Nettie Peterson blurted out. “Girl, you’re grounded for a hundred years! It doesn’t get much worse than that.”
“Good point.”
“Glad we agree,” Mae-Lynn crisply chimed in. “Okay now, everyone join hands, go on.” She reached out for us and we gathered around the pool. Nettie entwined her fingers with mine on my left while Aliyah, the oldest of the witches from the looks of it, took her place on my right. She told Frankie to stay out of the circle, giving him an apologetic smile as she sent him off to wait on the side. “Sorry, sweetie,” she told him over her shoulder. “But having an inorganic link might disturb the chain.”
“So what now?” Elijah asked.
“All of you just close your eyes and clear your minds. Don’t think of anything, like you’re meditating. You’ve got to stay calm. I’m gonna borrow what I energy I can from your minds and use it for the big girl,” Rhonda told us, pointing her chin at the motionless giantess in the water down below. “Now, what Blue here says is true, so if this works, we’ll just all bolt, okay? We wake up the water queen and then we leg it.” She nodded to Kit. “You have the best chances at dealing with her on your own. I’m optimistic overall but she’s been locked inside her own body for God knows how long. She’s likely to be confused and we don’t want to make her feel ganged up on.”
“That actually makes sense,” my roommate conceded, brightening up a bit.
“Everybody ready?” Rhonda asked, receiving scattered nods and mumbles of affirmation. Bracing herself, she rolled her shoulders and proceeded to raise her voice, beginning to murmur something I could not understand. It sounded like a human language, but not any one that I knew. My heart was beginning to beat a little faster, her rhythmic cadence reminding me of the beating of a drum. I couldn't help it. I took a peek at Rhonda, my stomach sinking when I saw her face.
Her eyes were wide open and had rolled back into her head, leaving only the white to fill the eerie, void spaces. Her body was trembling as if there were invisible hands shaking her by the shoulders. The veins and arteries on her face and neck were standing out, weirdly discolored. The longer I looked at them, the darker they became until eventually turning black entirely. They were pulsating, the blood pumping through them at a powerful, forcible pace.
I pressed my eyes shut once more, trying to clear my mind despite the image sticking with me. Focus on nothing, focus on nothing…
It turned out to be quite difficult. I've never tried to actively empty my head before, not like this. Something always kept popping in, disturbing the peace up there. Unwanted thoughts of Jewel's tears, the Devourer Of Worlds, my intestines quelling from my stomach pushed their way into the void I was trying desperately to create. When it wasn't that, it was the image of Frankie's beautifully coordinated movements. I briefly allowed my eyes to flutter open once again to turn and sneak a glance at the waiter. He was sitting cross-legged on the rocky ground, busy tossing pebbles at the slimed-up corpses to see if they stuck. Forcing myself to concentrate, I tried to picture what "nothing" would even look like.
Probably all black. Light had to be absent after all. Endless; no ceiling, no floor, nothing to stand on and nothing overhead. Nothing to hear, see, smell or feel. Nothing at all; nowhere.
Around me, I felt the air in the room beginning to heat. The grating of stone upon stone penetrated my ears in the most uncomfortable way, but this time, I was determined not to muck it up. My facial muscles straining as I clenched my lids and mouth shut, I tried to ignore the sound of water beginning to bubble nearby. The pond was hissing as if it were a pot of boiling soup, splashes and dripping noises overtaking the silence. Rhonda's voice rose higher and higher, bouncing off the hollowed cavern walls and coming back with three times the volume. Goosebumps threatened to break out on my arms, the hairs on the back of my neck already standing up. I had lost my sense of space—I had no idea who was standing beside me anymore, I could barely feel their hands in mine; their touch was a foreign sensation I was only distantly aware of.
There truly was nothing there. Nothing but Rhonda's chanting. It filled every nook and cranny of my mind, coming from everywhere around me. My pulse was fluttering as if dancing to its rhythm. My heart was pounding like a drum to the best of its cadence. A faint sense of panic was whispering to me at the edge of my conscience, but it was unable to perturb the nothing. There was a veil before my inner eye that could not be lifted anymore.
And then, all of a sudden, one of the hands I was holding was wrenched from my grasp as a scream interrupted the incantative chorus. "Run!" Rhonda cried out.
My eyes flew open, instantly coming to rest on the pond. The water's surface was bulging, looking like a stretched out balloon about to burst. It formed a strained, blue dome, as from beneath it, two enormous hands rose to break its ceiling.
"She's coming!" Kit yelled out, her face a contorted grimace of hope and horror. "Get out of here! Hurry!" Shoving Nettie and Eli towards the exit, she rallied our group.
Frankie had jumped up and snatched my hand, already dragging me into the direction of the corridor. I craned my neck to look behind me, only for him to pull harder. "This room is gonna be flooded in, like, a moment! You wanna drown?" my waiter shouted, largely into my ear. I was still a bit dazed, the mental fog from the ritual not yet having let up. I really didn't have the time to come to, though. The ground was shaken by a sudden, massive earthquake. The walls began to shudder, drops of water raining down on us from all sides along with tiny pebbles coming loose from up above.
"Get out of here!" Kit bellowed, her voice so loud it came close to cracking.
Rhonda and the rest of her coven were already crowding the mouth of the cave room, racing out into the tunnel single file. I, Frankie and Elijah followed on their heels, the latter ducking his head as he slipped through the opening. Nettie kept looking back over her shoulder. I yelled her name at the same time as Kit shouted at her to leave. Eli Carter was already fumbling with his flashlight and grabbed her wrist with his other hand to drag her into the corridor with us. "You need to—"
"I know," she interrupted him, tearing herself loose and breaking into a sprint.
And thus, we ran. Somehow, it was a lot easier to find the way back than I'd expected. Before I even had the time to process the twists and turns in our path, we were already standing outside the cave again. The stale air from inside was replaced with the fresh smell of salt and the roaring of restless waves. My heart was pounding like a sledgehammer, my blood singing in my veins.
"We can't stay here," Eli hollered as he emerged behind us. "When that thing stands up, the whole cave is gonna break in! Move!"
Nettie Peterson let out a high-pitched whine but readily hurried along as the ten of us scrambled up the sand and boulders, away from the grotto and the shore. We finally came to a halt a safe distance away on one of the cliffs, overlooking the scene. For a moment, the only sound disrupting the nightly symphony was our joint heavy breathing.
Then the sound of massive rocks shifting and cracking reached our ears. From the grotto, a vibration spread through the ground all the way over to where we were standing. The mouth of the cave began to crumble, bits of stone falling down and sealing the opening. Then the whole cave began to split. My savior human grabbed onto my arm, her fingernails digging into my skin. "She'll be okay, right?"
"For sure," I said, ignoring my pulse thrumming in my ears.
Time to call Mary Markov again.
X
1
2: deadbeat roommate
3: creepy crush
4: relocation
5: beach concert
6: First date
7: Temp work
8: roommate talk
9: a dismal worldview
10: warehouse
11: staircase
12: explanation
13: hurt
14: hospital
15: ocean
16: diner
17: government work
18: something in the caves
19: shopping cart
20: olms and Jewels
21: long hair
22: recruitment
23: waitresses
24: dollhouse
25: burning plastic
26: fog dimension

Saw this at a Wargaming chatroom.

Having Gotten off from playing a session of the Pen and Paper Role Playing Game Blades In the Dark, this question came up. As the titles obviously shows, Blades In the Dark is a system that relies on stealth as you explore a Victorian inspired setting and you do various freelance jobs like assassinations, thefts, etc. And going back to the title, the best character stealth functions like sneaking and critical hits often use short blades of varying sizes from pocket knives to small swords. Longer weapons are available like clubs and sabers but have a big penalties and are only used as last resort when you are cornered by police nigthwatch and militia, etc.
I also remember in the Thief Computer games,you have a longsword available as weapons and while you can do surprise attacks, you really can't do insta kills while walking up to an enemy from behind consistently. The games' equip you with a knife by default and its extremely easy to score one-hit kills with a successful backstab.
So I ask if there's any truth to knives and other short blades smaller than a Gladius really are much more suited for stealth attacks than say a one handed axe or a generic arming sword?
So many movies like the silent film World War 1 J'Accuse often has a scene where the hero sneaks into the bad guy's camp with a knife and plenty of Sci Fi literature like Dune has elite soldiers like the Fremen who often go into enemy trenches, camps, and even fortifications, and wipe out entire platoons of soldiers equipped with the latest machine guns and laserguns using a knife like weapon.
Even in real life its super easy to find the use of knives as the dominant weapon by commando types. All you have to do search online about the special forces officer Bull Simmons who was dropped into Iran with a sharp object in his hand which wasn't even a proper military knife for intel gathering missions before his actual commando team attacked a facility in Iran to free two hostages and safely transport them back into the US. Thats doesn't even touch the icing of the cake of how knives are used so much in real stealth situations.
So I really ask, what advantages do knives and other short blade class weapons offer over swords and spears and other proper battlefield weapons for sneak attacks and other stealthy scenarios and espionage? Whats the reason why people armed with more effective weapons like gangsters with baseball bats and Medieval Crusaders would prefer to sheathe their swords or keep their bicycle chains in their vehicles and pull out a knife as they go around sneaking an enemy base? Why do even modern professionals like Italian Mafia and SAS commandos cut and stab enemy with knives instead of using a bayonet or a heavy walking cane when they infiltrate secret locations?

So I myself am intrigued. Why is there an emphasis on modern military using knives for stealth and not say a trench club and mini maces used in World War 1 raiding? To restate what the quoted paragraph above says, is there any differences between smaller blades and other weapons like standard issue bayonets and extendable batons? There are other stealth weapons like the aforementioned stealth clubs so why is knife the main focus in modern warfare especially among Special Forces and espionage?

Saw this at a Wargaming chatroom.

Having Gotten off from playing a session of the Pen and Paper Role Playing Game Blades In the Dark, this question came up. As the titles obviously shows, Blades In the Dark is a system that relies on stealth as you explore a Victorian inspired setting and you do various freelance jobs like assassinations, thefts, etc. And going back to the title, the best character stealth functions like sneaking and critical hits often use short blades of varying sizes from pocket knives to small swords. Longer weapons are available like clubs and sabers but have a big penalties and are only used as last resort when you are cornered by police nigthwatch and militia, etc.
I also remember in the Thief Computer games,you have a longsword available as weapons and while you can do surprise attacks, you really can't do insta kills while walking up to an enemy from behind consistently. The games' equip you with a knife by default and its extremely easy to score one-hit kills with a successful backstab.
So I ask if there's any truth to knives and other short blades smaller than a Gladius really are much more suited for stealth attacks than say a one handed axe or a generic arming sword?
So many movies like the silent film World War 1 J'Accuse often has a scene where the hero sneaks into the bad guy's camp with a knife and plenty of Sci Fi literature like Dune has elite soldiers like the Fremen who often go into enemy trenches, camps, and even fortifications, and wipe out entire platoons of soldiers equipped with the latest machine guns and laserguns using a knife like weapon.
Even in real life its super easy to find the use of knives as the dominant weapon by commando types. All you have to do search online about the special forces officer Bull Simmons who was dropped into Iran with a sharp object in his hand which wasn't even a proper military knife for intel gathering missions before his actual commando team attacked a facility in Iran to free two hostages and safely transport them back into the US. Thats doesn't even touch the icing of the cake of how knives are used so much in real stealth situations.
So I really ask, what advantages do knives and other short blade class weapons offer over swords and spears and other proper battlefield weapons for sneak attacks and other stealthy scenarios and espionage? Whats the reason why people armed with more effective weapons like gangsters with baseball bats and Medieval Crusaders would prefer to sheathe their swords or keep their bicycle chains in their vehicles and pull out a knife as they go around sneaking an enemy base? Why do even modern professionals like Italian Mafia and SAS commandos cut and stab enemy with knives instead of using a bayonet or a heavy walking cane when they infiltrate secret locations?

So I myself am intrigued. Why is there an emphasis on modern military using knives for stealth and not say a trench club and mini maces used in World War 1 raiding? To restate what the quoted paragraph above says, is there any differences between smaller blades and other weapons like standard issue bayonets and extendable batons? There are other stealth weapons like the aforementioned stealth clubs so why is knife the main focus in modern warfare especially among Special Forces and espionage?

Saw this at a Wargaming chatroom.

Having Gotten off from playing a session of the Pen and Paper Role Playing Game Blades In the Dark, this question came up. As the titles obviously shows, Blades In the Dark is a system that relies on stealth as you explore a Victorian inspired setting and you do various freelance jobs like assassinations, thefts, etc. And going back to the title, the best character stealth functions like sneaking and critical hits often use short blades of varying sizes from pocket knives to small swords. Longer weapons are available like clubs and sabers but have a big penalties and are only used as last resort when you are cornered by police nigthwatch and militia, etc.
I also remember in the Thief Computer games,you have a longsword available as weapons and while you can do surprise attacks, you really can't do insta kills while walking up to an enemy from behind consistently. The games' equip you with a knife by default and its extremely easy to score one-hit kills with a successful backstab.
So I ask if there's any truth to knives and other short blades smaller than a Gladius really are much more suited for stealth attacks than say a one handed axe or a generic arming sword?
So many movies like the silent film World War 1 J'Accuse often has a scene where the hero sneaks into the bad guy's camp with a knife and plenty of Sci Fi literature like Dune has elite soldiers like the Fremen who often go into enemy trenches, camps, and even fortifications, and wipe out entire platoons of soldiers equipped with the latest machine guns and laserguns using a knife like weapon.
Even in real life its super easy to find the use of knives as the dominant weapon by commando types. All you have to do search online about the special forces officer Bull Simmons who was dropped into Iran with a sharp object in his hand which wasn't even a proper military knife for intel gathering missions before his actual commando team attacked a facility in Iran to free two hostages and safely transport them back into the US. Thats doesn't even touch the icing of the cake of how knives are used so much in real stealth situations.
So I really ask, what advantages do knives and other short blade class weapons offer over swords and spears and other proper battlefield weapons for sneak attacks and other stealthy scenarios and espionage? Whats the reason why people armed with more effective weapons like gangsters with baseball bats and Medieval Crusaders would prefer to sheathe their swords or keep their bicycle chains in their vehicles and pull out a knife as they go around sneaking an enemy base? Why do even modern professionals like Italian Mafia and SAS commandos cut and stab enemy with knives instead of using a bayonet or a heavy walking cane when they infiltrate secret locations?

So I myself am intrigued. Why is there an emphasis on modern military using knives for stealth and not say a trench club and mini maces used in World War 1 raiding? To restate what the quoted paragraph above says, is there any differences between smaller blades and other weapons like standard issue bayonets and extendable batons? There are other stealth weapons like the aforementioned stealth clubs so why is knife the main focus in modern warfare especially among Special Forces and espionage?

A while ago, I posted a test that was to determine what kind of writer someone is, based on what part of the “modernist” spectrum they fall into. Part of the reason why I did this was to see how much I understand about the subject matter, since I will always have a postmodernist tell me that I am clueless as to what any of these are. Another reason is to have writers start realizing why they think the way they do, and possibly start questioning why they write how they do. I found out that, from the dozen or so people who took the test and posted their results to me, that most people I encounter and get along with online are modernist. A lot of these people reject mainstream media and they are secluded in alternative media sites because they don’t get along with the current overton window that’s among popular sites. I think it’s safe to say a lot, if not all, of these people are anti-woke, and they received 1 or 0 answers on the woke aspect of the test.
If I can pat myself on the back for anything, at least I can say I got the woke part correct.
Although the buzzwords I used for woke might be cheating since we all know I’m referring to something woke when I say something like “inclusivity” or “intersectionality” or “oppression”, because anyone who listens to even something like Joe Rogan will know these terms and treat them like they’re dripping with vomit and diarrhea. A lot of us, especially the classical liberal, center to center-right types, and even the center-left types, are tired of this woke nonsense. Even some guy who drinks beer while watching football and shopping at a basic store like Target is tired of this tomfoolery.
So this followup is to address a lot of the complaints I received and also to bring in some insight into how I wanted to conceptualize the test and how it turned out. I will also explain the relevancy of this type of test since some are wondering why something like scoring modernist means anything.
In philosophy, you are to hit 5 branches in order for your philosophy to be considered “full” or at least “full enough” to be granted a name. These 5 are:

1. Metaphysics (study of existence)
2. Epistemology (study of knowledge)
3. Ethics (study of action)
4. Politics (study of force)
5. Aesthetics (study of art)

If you hit all 5 of these at least once, you have a full range of addressing the stuff that makes up a philosophy. I tried to reverse engineer these 5 categories into 22 questions, and after the fact(meaning this evening), I realized that I should have had 4 questions for each category and then 2 questions about the reader and then the writer. The number 22 is related to the major arcana in tarot, with the 2 extras being the fool(the writer) and the world(the reader). That or maybe something like “what exactly do you write in your story?” and then that can relate to worldbuilding or something. It would have to be a question that lets us know what the person sees as a good world to write in the first place, because then that would show us the world they aim for, which is related to their worldview.
Or maybe to question what they read so that we can see what a writer finds interest in, so that it correlates with what they would write.
That was not critiqued by others, but I know I messed up on that. I was listening to a Jordan Peterson video where he said that a good survey questionnaire takes months of planning to get the wording right for the questions and the answers, and I looked at my test and saw I did it in a day, and went “well, I think I messed up, yeah.” My own critique will be taken into consideration so that I can remake the test and make it better. To repeat what I said in the test: I wish to use this to determine who to avoid when hiring and working with people, because anyone scoring even something like 2 answers on the woke mentality is something to be concerned about.
Other critique involves question 1 where the phrase “copy it” should be changed to “emulate it”. Yeah, I agree, that makes more sense, since copy makes it sound like someone is not putting their own spin on it or putting it in their own words. Imitate, match, resemble, something that intends to retain the purpose but including your own position on the matter. Question 17, how we get our knowledge, is a very open question about epistemology, and that one seems to have given a few people the woke answer by accident, even if they aren’t woke in the way they answer. The problem with the term “lived experience” is that people think it’s a normal term and it is one of the few woke terms that go over some people’s heads. The term is used commonly in correspondence with articles that feature globohomo artwork and they talk about how it’s important to have a person in your corporation or non-profit organization who holds “lived experience” and they are referring to living as a black person to know what a black person feels.
I find this incredibly woke because, as I’ll explain further later on, the woke are saying that the only way to know something is to be that thing, thus forcing writers to be, say, autistic in order to write an autistic character. Or they must be a woman to write a woman. Or they must be a black to write a black. This enforcement is what causes the demand for diversity hires, because somehow these diversity hires hold mystical magical knowledge that nobody else in the company would even dare to understand or comprehend unless they checked off some boxes first. On top of that, the term “pragmatic action” was poor wording and that’s my bad. I was trying to say something like “scientific realization” in order to attach the modernist to science. Something that is both pragmatic(able to be done practically) and part of some kind of education/training. You’ve done it, you’ve learned about it, you see others do it, that can be the modernist idea of knowledge.
Other than those two, I think every other question went over rather well, but I will still enhance them to be worded better as time goes on and as I revisit it with more of an organized “5 sets of 4 and the 2 big ‘uns” in mind. But then there comes the elephant in the room. The scoundrel who dared to question my authority and make a critique about the test. How dare they and stuff.
Jokes aside, I really like this kind of critique and it’s great that she put it into clear questions that I can firmly address. I like it when people are clear. It’s much better than that obfuscation thing the postmodernists always do when they complain about me without really having a reason other than something where they don’t like labels or they were offended that I dared to mention any category of anything. Page Zaplendam, a fellow writer, brought up 3 important questions which you can see for yourself here:

1. Where are the definitions of the terms?
2. How do you justify reducing things to something like woke?
3. How do you prevent people from rejecting pre-modernism?

I’ll address the first one to then follow through with the rest of the answers, because they all go in a long chain of “why, why, why” and “how, how, how”.
To begin the explanation, we’re going to need to establish what modernism is so that the others can be explained. It’s the word that created the reason we see a difference in aesthetics like this because this was the moment we engaged in what’s called the enlightenment. During the early 17th century and around that time, people started to remove their dependency on kingdoms and instead create nations and industry. Religion was also being questioned because scientific advancements through record keeping allows people to give better assessments on what causes something to happen in the world. The view of the world started to become more natural and so naturalism was common, as well as rationalism and empiricism. People were using logic to make their decisions and data to come to conclusions, rather than faith or scripture from prior.
During this time, the modern age, traditions were tarnished and deemed as unnecessary. Medicine allowed people to praise science instead of pray for a mystical cure. Predictions of weather with meteorology allowed people to reduce famines and starvation. Printing presses allowed books to become more common, machinery allowed more production of goods, and life went from depending on neighbors to depending on communities and global trade. This dramatic change in both lifestyle and mentality allowed art to enter the modernist art era, which is determined as art that experiments to search for new meaning and objectivity without the necessity of a deity, tradition, or the supernatural.
Mythology became psychology, alchemy became academia, and religion became fandom. Everything mentally changed under modernism to create an environment of experimentation, the romances took over, which led to the pulp adventures and existentialist works of things like noir. Weird tales brought us ideas of cosmicism, thanks to the lack of god or at least the lack of a god who cares about humanity. With this freedom from religion, the mostly liberal environment of modernism allowed people to make up their own rules, their own ideas of what’s real, and thus we were able to focus more on the individual, rather than the collective. Stephen Hicks has a great video where he lectures about how modernism came to be and what it is, but I can simplify it into the 5 categories he has on his chart.
Metaphysics: naturalism
Epistemology: empiricism and reason
Human Nature: Tabula Rasa(everything mental is gained from experience)
Ethics: individualism
politics/economics: liberal capitalism
As you can see, modernism caused this reliance on the self, but also reliance on science as a replacement for religion. It caused the worship of money, while also opening people up to other ideas thanks to the liberal mindset. The liberty to engage with other things allowed people to mingle with both good and bad ideas. This is actually why people, like James Lindsay, say that liberals caused things like Nazism and Communism to come into fruition, because the liberal is so open and accepting that they allow terrible ideas to take over the top of the social structure and they think it won’t touch them if they are on the bottom. This is also how dictators were able to trick people into treating them like a God, because the dictator convinced people that they were able to answer prayers and did this during their campaigns to get elected or during the revolution while they’re beheading their opponents in the streets.
In other words, the uprising of democracy had people rely on voting in the same way as people relied on prayers, but here it’s where we pray to a natural government and hope they do something we want.
One thing that we don’t like to realize is that colonization occurred because of a scientific superiority among the Europeans, and this scientific advancement was caused by years of wars and immense dedication to their royalty. Then there were areas they colonized that had a crazy amount of gold, such as Australia and the Aztec empire, and this abundance of gold allowed trade to skyrocket, while Indian trade and the silk road allowed wealth to spread across the globe. Diamonds and gold found in Africa, like a sick joke from God to force white people to go to such a hellhole to get the diamonds in the rough. It’s not that white people wanted to go around and rule the world. It’s that enlightened explorers and merchants wanted to make a crazy amount of money and these environments were inhabited by people who left these literal gold mines untapped, and these explorers used technology to take over.
No wonder modernism was full of that toga wearing utopia sci-fi stuff!
It’s not hard to realize why the Europeans took over entire empires with small groups of conquistadors. They had armor, guns, ships with cannons. Those Chinese must have their face red realizing they are the ones who sold them black powder. Every alchemist should feel bad and stuff that they are the reason guns were used versus the people who didn’t have guns. It was such a destructive force to use guns against savage tribes and kingdoms because it was both physical and psychological. It was like dealing with metallic robots who fired lightning from their arms and filled the area with a concealing smoke. That’s like showing a caveman a cellphone, their brains instantly melt trying to comprehend what’s going on.
So people are angry at the modernists for being… rational and empirical, and I guess being urbanized or industrialized. People are mad at capitalism for being effective and a good way to globally get along. They’re mad at liberals for being okay with race mixing. The utter nerve of such horrid actions. How dare people mix. I’ll make sure to tell my own future mixed kids that they should be ashamed of themselves for having parents who came from different parts of the Earth and that’s about it.
So modernism, do I like it?
Well, it’s not bad. A lot of my favorite stuff is modernist and usually when people say they want to go back to the old days, they point at modernism as the example. Hell, a lot of postmodernists now are saying they want to go back to modernism, and then they say they don’t, because they feel like it's superior, but they hate the idea of accepting that it’s modernist. I mean, that’s why it’s called postmodernism, it’s the thing after modernism is gone, it’s the rejection of modernism and also pre-modernism. But more on that one later.
I noticed a lot of people got mostly modernist as their answers on the test and it makes sense. Many people online, especially on alternative social media, will be actual liberals who are open to different ideas, which allows them to engage with things that both offend them and possibly something they see as evil. They’re open to having their minds changed and they are always willing to learn more because there’s a big idea on learning more and experimenting, which is something I can relate to because I’m always trying out new restaurants in my area and I don’t mind trying a genre that I’m not familiar with. For me, I have a bit of that liberal mindset because I try out a lot of things I’m not familiar with and I end up liking some stuff, but I usually stick to what I established as my firm ideas from prior.
For example, when I was a kid I hated eating beans and I refused to eat fish that wasn’t canned tuna. Now, after being more open, I love salmon and I love eating beans, which dramatically helped my nutritional intake. There is a healthiness involved with experimenting and there is also a risk factor. But if you know how to avoid dangers, I don’t see a problem with trying out something like a new genre you’re not used to, just to see if you can get into it.
I mention this because the modernist writer will experiment, but will also claim a truth that comes from rationalism, which assumes the world we live in is logical. Even if it’s chaotic and absurd, they’ll say it’s logical, because it’s predictable and we can interact with it. This allows their writing to hold to formulas through things like pulp, while also experimenting through things like weird fiction. There is repetition that happens, and this is why genres became a big thing, so the reader can tell what form of repetition they want to deal with through what they are familiar with. This caused what’s called a comfort zone, which is the state of mind where a person feels at ease because there is an abundance of familiarity and a lack of unwanted challenges. Genres create these comfort zones, and this is then where we have to talk about individualism.
Liberalism has the problem of causing individualism to slowly become sophistry and egotism. The person declaring they are the one who is to be relied on and they are the ones who make up their own rules becomes a person who can’t tell who they’re obeying. Especially if that person puts something above themselves, like race, or science, or nation, or the opinions of others through democracy. Thanks to romanticism during this modernist time, we were able to feel like we had an abundance of freedom and capability, but then barely a century later the rise of Naizsm and Communism caused people to realize that this capability is in relation to what the shadow is capable of. The darkest, most disturbing and destructive actions a person is capable of, beyond their imagination and beyond what we’d consider a “human act”.
This quick change into the most dangerous entity nearby is why I don’t trust anarchists when they say their utopia would be functional. When it comes to real life, that doesn’t work, we need a more powerful overarching thing to keep that shadow in check, and we need that entity above the human to be in check of its own shadow on top of that. And this shadow is also what causes the modernist to engage with things like dada and a hatred of art to the point where they can say the work is for them and them alone, or that all art is equal, down to where a turd on a pedestal is the same as the Mona Lisa.
The pro of modernism is a focus on the individual, which promotes movements like poetic realism and neorealism, which grants a look into everyday lives. The mundane can be put into the forefront and average people can feel like they relate, which allows the average person to buy the work. That is a great plus, and it’s why the most popular shows out there are stuff that involves soap opera style drama and an environment that is simple, like a hospital or a police station. The sitcom is a result of modernism, because only a modernist would find value in seeing a family hang around their house while you’re sitting in your house with your family watching someone else in their house with their family.
Now let’s get on with pre-modernism, after all of that introduction is said and done. Pre-modernism is everything that came before this enlightenment and this separation from God. Atheists like to say how atheism has been popular forever and they have simply been suppressed, but something crazy that they ignore is that every civilization, without ever talking to each other, before any contact with anyone else, became a religious, spiritual, civilization. We even have a name for this basic religion, called animism. This natural desire to be religious in humans comes from how we think when we are young, as well as how we think when we are not relying on science or even words.
I know this sounds strange but we think more in pictures and visions than we do with words when we don’t know how to read. Reading unlocks a vast amount of knowledge that can be gained practically instantly, but a lack of language in our ability to think causes an abundance of symbolism in our head to fill in the gaps, meaning the ability to read locks away this visual aspect. When we’re babies, we view everything as giant, threatening, and frightening. And why not? We’re this tiny soft thing that has a skull that can easily be dented and we’re unable to feed ourselves. We need someone to throw food into our mouths like bananas into the mouth of a hippo at a zoo. We have our parents doing stuff for us, and so our brain right away connects the two.
Stuff happening around us is caused by something like a parent, like an authority, like a sky father and earth mother. The father gives me brain stuff and the mother gives me food stuff. But then we’ll grow up and realize that something like the wind moves on its own, the moon comes up to replace the sun on its own, and the seasons change on their own. There’s something we can’t see that’s doing this, something beyond the sky and under the ground, and everywhere we can’t see, especially behind our eyeballs. There’s this strange image that appears behind my vision that is not of the world but of my mind, and I conjured it.
And if I didn’t conjure it, I had someone else put it in my head through a spell, in the form of words, which cast the symbol to occur in my mind. Writers in the pre-modernist age are spellcasters, wizards, that make sure something is explained about the mysterious and supernatural world that is beyond the stuff we see around us. This “rejection of the average” causes the pre-modernist writer to talk about stuff that are not only real, but hyper-real. It doesn’t speak about an individual and it’s not for an individual, because it’s attaching everyone under the same umbrella and form. This is why I find poor interpretations of mythology humorous but also rather useless.
People will look at something like Greek mythology where a god has a child with their sister and go “well, isn’t incest a bad thing?” Not only do they miss the point, but they forget that it's a god we’re talking about and it’s not a human. It’s not some biological thing standing in front of you. It’s the supernatural, it’s beyond something like biology. Or better yet when someone reads the bible and goes “why did Adam take a rib out to get a woman? Couldn’t God just make a woman without taking his rib?”
It’s like, you missed the point and you’re ignoring the importance of symbolism, and this symbolism grants all of the meaning that you’re missing from the bible. Yes, Eve is made from Adam, and yes, it takes a rib, because rib is a bone and bone is structure. A rib is near a heart, a protector of heart. Heart is courage, love, emotions, stuff that makes our blood pump. Blood is a humor based on air, and air is one of the 4 elements. The connection goes on and on and on, because this mythology is all connected together into one giant story that goes beyond the words stated in the story. Each tiny noun or verb means way more than it lets up to mean. I’ve been studying mythology for a while, and really trying to look into them before I say anything about them, and there is so much inner history with mythology that’s both present and reachable, but it’s practically endless with how everything connects.
And at the same time, all of this is essential, of a form, symbolic, and objective.
This relation to religion in pre-modernism causes the definition to be something like “the art form that depicts hyper-reality in an objective truth that involves the supernatural as a source of the natural and as the source of truth.
Stephen Hicks puts the politics of the pre-modernist as feudalism, but it’s more like monarchy, where you believe that there should be a king, because someone has a family line that was sacred enough to treat like one. In pre-modernism, we had ancestor worship in every culture, because your family line was important to keeping your existence relevant. This is because everything in the pre-modern age involved titles, which were granted by an authority, and many times this authority is a god or an ancestor.
Your title within your family is in relation to your family members and your last name determines your family’s title for others to recognize. If someone was a smith, they would get the last name smith, like say John the smith just becomes John Smith, and they will endow their established trade to their next of kin. So if the son of John Smith wants to make a living, he’s going to be a smith as well. There is this lineage and family business that is treated seriously, because if you step out of this title, you’ll have to create your own. People could do that by entering a trade or a guild, by learning from others, from gaining a title after being born a bastard, or whatever they could to get a title.
But the key factor is that title is important to the pre-modernist. What’s even more important is form, because this religious mentality creates the environment that perfection is possible. A metaphysical manifestation separate from the material world that is able to be aimed towards and sought after, even if unable to be reached. This was well portrayed in characters like Jesus, which Christianity dedicated itself to fulfill the traits of Jesus, due to Christianity being a religion where people follow the teachings of Jesus.
I would say that every religion had their own type of Jesus, the perfect form that someone or something has to uphold and look up to as inspiration.
Later on, alchemy came out of the prototype phase and started to connect all of these religions and symbols with each other to create more overarching symbolism that went for more core ideas. At this point, people could only argue against combinations and where something is in a hierarchy, rather than the validity of the claim of something like a single god or a creator. Sects of religions were made in order to determine different end goals, or different ideas in how a ritual should be done, or whether something like a church is important for worship, and these were the biggest sources of dispute possible.
You either followed God's will or you didn’t, and if you didn’t, you were a heathen. Heathens are sent to the bad place, believers go to the good place. We have a supernatural aspect of our body, beyond our body, beside our body, that went there for us, usually in the sense of a soul or spirit. The mind is an intermediary between the body and spirit that allows communication between the two at all times. This was usually depicted with gods like Psyche or Hermes or any other messenger god.
The gods would speak to us with omens and with us using clairvoyance. Any pattern in front of us or up in the stars could be used as a means to decipher a supernatural message. This message was easily able to repeat itself because there was an objective meaning to everything, which is why something like Zodiacs are constantly watched even to this day. Pre-modernist art retains this tradition of using mythology and symbolism to depict truths about the world. Romanticism was an attempt to return to this truth telling style during the modernist era, but Romanticism was absent of the religious aspect and was more of something like a neo-alchemical way of handing stories, where symbols were kept basic and for individual progress instead of a collective one.
A big part of pre-modernism is collectivism, especially the collective unconscious, which Jung coined later on when referring to his more pre-modernist analysis of psychology that heavily relied on alchemy and mythology. We used mythology to say something of value, with a universal or at least human level of objectivity, and the only way to miss the message is to deny that symbolism exists for them. Or at least, your level of symbolism in your interpretation would have to be so low resolution that it misses every point entirely and has zero context as to why mythology is important in the first place.
Mythology grants the idea that our world holds order, while the modernist idea is more about how the world is chaotic and we hold order to shape the world better. Fables grant the idea that particular personalities do particular things, while modernism declares that things change or can be grey and shows how. The black and white morality of the pre-modernist merged into grey once modernism kicked in, because there is the lack of theism under modernism.
We’re half way through the explanation and now we come to postmodernism.
Pre-modernism establishes that the supernatural causes order to cause truth, modernism changed that to say a secular natural world causes chaos to have us find truth. So what does postmodernist do to change all of that?
It rejects both and says both pre-modernism and modernism are wrong, and instead says everything that can be perceived is subjective and the objective is unknown to us. Stephen Hicks says in his video that postmodernists are really intelligent and well read into an abundance of stuff, and he’s impressed by that. I would have to disagree with him because it’s not like they read everything they did in order to understand it. They read everything and continue searching because they intend on claiming it’s not true, and use their personal interpretation to claim such. It’s very much like when a person studies mythology to then say “you know, the gods committing incest and magically transforming is really weird.”
Before I get deep into postmodernism, I would like to explain the concept of realism. Realism, in both philosophy and art, is to depict a thing as how it truthfully is. There is accuracy, there is something there that really exists, and it has attributes that causes it to really exist. Both modernism and pre-modernism have this as an axiom. Postmodernism on the other hand is ANTI-realism.
You cannot believe in something being “real” as a postmodernist because to claim something is real is to claim an objective truth, which a postmodernist is allergic to doing. They are unable to claim anything as true, because there is no proof for them to use, thus any statements they make must be an opinion and any statement they see must be perceived as an opinion as well. In all honesty, I have trouble finding postmodernists who go this far down the rabbit hole. All of them focus on subjectivity, but they’ll still try to tell others that things can be real in a colloquial way that lets them blend in with modernists. It’s hard to get people to follow you when you claim things aren’t real, so there is a form of deception and contradiction that occurs, but it’s also acceptable to the postmodernist.
This is because postmodernists don’t care about logic, and anything they want to claim as “true” is based on a social subjectivism that can also be considered an overton window that shows them what is acceptable to say and what isn’t. A lot of them try to push it, others try to blend in with it, with the intensity depending on how far they want to push their deconstructionism and reductionism. For example, phrases like “we’re all just stardust floating around” is a way for the postmodernist to seem deep with their reductionism, but it’s actually their way of saying they are nihilistic while trying to sound deep and poetic.
Stephen Hicks does have an amazing point in his presentation where he says truth no longer matters to the postmodernist and what does matter is power. That kind of concept comes from Nietzsche’s will to power (which is why Nietzsche is considered a proto-postmodernist, one who helped birth it into existence) and Marx’s historical materialism. The thought that human labor forms the material basis of society, and this idea being spread out into every 3rd world country(aka communist country during the cold war) means that a big chunk of the world is convinced of this concept of power through labor and power through capital that’s seen as “stolen labor” when it’s a bourgeoisie.
This leaning into Marxist terminology, thanks to communists and hippies, causes postmodernist politics to be considered leftist, and exclusively leftist. There is no way for a right wing postmodernist to even occur because the right winger believes in a truth through natural rights and there is no way to remove that aspect. This is why Stephen Hicks calls the postmodernist political and economic idea socialist, which what he really means is leftist. Although, socialist works a bit more for the political aspect since socialism is a wonky word that means whatever the socialist wants it to mean.
They think the worker owns the means of production and that some form of social relevancy should happen and the rest is dependent on what they want to advocate for. Not surprisingly, this socialist aspect quickly turned into syndicalism and later corporatism when relying on the government to enforce this social power upon the masses, also known as a cult of personality. The cult leader, or leaders, tell everyone that they have power, they tell everyone that they’re special, the people don’t question it because they think it’s a common opinion, and so the cult grows unrestrained. We see this at all times when people will both hold water for a politician for any little thing and also attack their opposition for any little thing, no matter how much of a double standard or fallacy they apply to their advocacy.
To the postmodernist, advocacy is labor geared towards power, with advocacy being the only thing you can do to socially stay relevant.
When it comes to postmodernist media, the key idea is exploitation, because the goal is to get as many views as possible and break as many boundaries as possible. Modernist rating systems are pushed and pushed constantly into exploitation to the point where new ratings are made and R rated material becomes the new norm. The grindhouse is a common place and is normalized, even though before these would be considered taboo, because the way the overton window moved more towards the left through their advocacy. The leftist postmodernist demands power as the social structure and so they demand power and are slowly granted it over time. But there is a bit of a weird thing that happens between how Hicks and I see postmodernism.
In his chart, he labels postmodernism as collectivist and egalitarian. I see this as a bit misleading since the leftist is not really for collectivism in the same way as a pre-modernist would claim we’re all connected. The postmodernist believes that we’re all connected in how we’re all trapped in our own subjective constructions, as if we’re all islands in this massive chain of islands and the water between us is the subjective separation.
For example, let’s say I look at a dog and another person looks at a dog. We both see the dog but the dog is one dog for me and another dog for them and there is this supposed infinite number of dogs who make up this single entity that takes up the space where the perceived dog resides. And not just an infinite number of dogs, but infinite number of things between what the dog is made of, with an infinite number of those for each smaller thing. I guess, to him, that’s collectivism, and the egalitarian thing comes from how leftist demand that people are to be treated equal, as well as all art to be treated equal.
Just like dada, which was a proto-postmodernist art movement, the postmodernist thinks that all art is equal, with the Mona Lisa holding the same aesthetic value as a turd on a pedestal. This allows the postmodernist to use juxtaposition to combine something of high regard with something of low regard, like say having classical music play during a moment where someone is being tortured in a grindhouse way. Or maybe another example is like how Tarantino combines low quality exploitation movies with high quality dialogue that people praise for its realism and tension. This is why surrealism became popular under postmodernism, because surrealism juxtaposes a high concept symbol with nonsensical low concept literal images or events.
Another aspect of postmodernism is the idea that art and real life has merged into a type of hyperreality that blurs the line where life and art meet. People record their lives online and turn that into media, thus turning even things like talking about people who are in media into a form of media itself(aka Hollywood gossip stuff and youtube drama).
Without much of a message or objective symbolism, a lot of postmodernist media focuses on playfulness, because messing with things is all that there’s left as a means of entertainment and media making. Personal interpretation as the only means of experiencing causes the postmodernist to aim for open interpretation work, using vague wording and dog whistles to hide intents that they believe a common audience wouldn’t like, but select circles would catch. And with this demand for social power came the rise of corporate media, where corporations crank out stuff with self made trends and control groups who guide the corporation towards more money, thus more power.
There is also a combination of media, usually in the form of merchandising, so that a form of media will still be advertised and thought about, even when not engaged with the media directly. For example, GI Joe started out as a toy for kids. Then it became a comic and a show for kids. Now it’s a movie series for kids. Transformers, He-Man, I think even Gundam. These things aim for sales first and then plan the story after, because it’s all one big marketing campaign. There’s nothing in these that try to say what is true, they simply try to say things that will have people think they agree with it, or at least can’t argue against it to where they disengage with the product that’s being sold.
This has caused postmodernist media to become both highly marketable but also highly forgettable. Things easily get outdated even if the tech level stays consistent because of intertextuality, which is the relationship one media has with another to grant the user of intertextuality with relevancy that can have the audience understand the reference. This is a fancy way of saying something like an inside joke or a typical reference like a meme that we see online. If you ever want to understand this one, just think of any Channel Awesome reviewer. They will try to make jokes that reference something in media, probably something they reviewed prior, in order to keep the dedicated fans in the circle of attention and make the new fans try to keep up with this intensifying requirement of knowing jargon.
Intertextuality can also be seen as a sort of specialized culture within a franchise or company or genre or just stuff that is similar, so that the people who are of the fandom can all enjoy speaking some special language with each other and keep out the people who don’t know about their niche idioms and references.
This combination of reality and media, along with removing objectivity from the equation, with high and low arts being combined through playfulness and for marketing, is why our media is the way it is today. It’s made like fast food, doesn’t offer anything for the brain to work with, and is actually more for our brains to turn off if anything. People like Ray Bradburry saw this issue with TV and determined it was going to turn us into Idiocracy, which he explored in his book Fahrenheit 451. People are indulged and distracted by the idiot tube, they stop questioning things, books start being called evil, the government enacts a war against books, all people have left are things that keep them dumb, and then they can’t even see a war that’s happening all around them and in their own backyard.
The benefit of postmodernism is that it can appear more creative and people get entertained. That’s about it. No more feeling like you need to tell the truth, now you can make a story about whatever. The only benefit quickly becomes the main problem with it: it’s a bad influence. Postmodernists can only deconstruct and so they’re never pleased.
We see this all the time with Channel Awesome reviewers where they will miss the point of everything in a movie, like say Last Action Hero, and even though Last Action Hero is a postmodernist deconstruction of action movies, the reviewer will scream and holler about how the movie can’t be taken seriously. Then when they are challenged on the integrity of their review, they will spin it around and say they were just being meta and knew it was satire all along, that nobody should take any review of theirs seriously or as their actual opinion.
Or better yet, a postmodernist fan will chime in and speak for the reviewer, like when I said Spoony’s review of Final Fantasy 8, yet another deconstruction work that people were conflicted on, was misguided and wrong. A bunch of fans came in and said “Well, that’s not his REAL opinion. He didn’t REALLY say what he wanted to during the months he spent working on that review.”
I guess the point of postmodernism is to NOT say what you mean. Because how can they? That would address there is an objective idea in their head of what they mean, and that can’t happen under postmodernism. So you’re left with this endless chain of people trying to make a satire or make fun of something that is already making fun of something and that thing is already not to be taken seriously, and… you get the picture.
But then, recently, a sort of organized idea sprouted out from postmodernism. This idea that everything is both power and subjective, while also being a social construct, coagulated into a unification of something under what is called intersectionality. In 1989, Kimberly Chrenshaw coined the term, which already was working off of ideas during postmodernism such as second wave feminism and critical race theory. Through the idea that extreme egalitarianism is the way, in a subjective way, these defenders of the marginalized demanded that media should cater to whoever they deem as marginalized.
This branch of postmodernism is known as woke.
For wokeness, there isn’t much of a history or even aesthetic choice to shift through, but there is an awful lot of jargon to explain so that people know what I’m talking about. So for the majority of the woke explanation, I will be explaining the special words used that the woke will both claim are super important to know, but will also refrain from defining because they want to keep it on the down low. They mostly want to do that because they know their reasoning doesn’t make any sense and because it’s self contradictory, but that’s okay for them because they are, by their own admittance, anti-logic and “there is no real wokeness”.
Actually, before I explain the jargon, I want to get into that “there is no such thing as woke” talking point they always do. This is the same thing as saying “I want everyone to do x and there is no x”. Or when they are less radical, they will say something like “Everyone should do x, but nobody has done x yet.” But recently it’s been more like “This thing in the media has always been x, which is why we need it to be more x”.
As you can see, the narrative is always changing and they are always telling people to do something. This is the opposite of postmodernism in how it’s authoritarian, but is part of postmodernism because of the subjective aspect, as well as the neo-dada form of anti-art. The “art” of woke art is meant to express representation, and this representation is supposed to be of a group, and this group is supposed to look a particular way, absent of any stereotypes, negative or positive, and absent of any grand narratives, pre-modernist or modernist.
Therefore, all we’re left with is… appropriation and exploitation of marginalized groups.
Something tells me they didn’t think this through. It’s almost as if their goal is to be the thing they claim to fight against, but they don’t want to be called racist or sexist or whatever phobic because they don’t want to lose social power. This enforcement of an ideology, an ideology that tries to equally exploit for money, is put under the acronym DEI: Diversity, equity, and inclusion. This is a profitable business to get into, because DEI is estimated to have corporations annually spend $17 billion on DEI programs and organizations by the year 2027. In 2003, it was estimated that corporations spent $8 billion. In 2022, that number was recorded at $9 billion.
What do these numbers mean? It means companies are wasting money on this and they’re losing money after enacting woke policies.
When we combine wokeness with the socialist/Marxist mentality of the postmodernist, we end up with a constant drain of capital on the end of the media maker. The one making the art LOSES MONEY when they go woke, which is why we say “go woke, go broke.” There is no intention on making money with wokeness. This is why governments added wokeness to what is called the ESG score, which is a score that governments use to subsidize companies that follow things like climate change advocacy, DEI, and following whatever regulations a country puts in like mask regulations.
Follow these things, get closer to the “leader” score, and you get more money from the government. This is why companies don’t care when they lose customers, because at the end of the day, they are kept afloat by tax dollars. Then the people in charge of these companies buy the lowered stock that was hit by a controversy, and they have it go back up between woke projects. This is why the CEO of a corporation loves woke backlash, as long as they can pretend they had nothing to do with the woke decision. This is why, for example, Budlight decided they had nothing to do with hiring Dylan Mulvaney AFTER the boycotts worked, instead of, you know, while hiring him to be a spokesperson for the beer on April Fools day of all days.
So the go broke part is for the company itself, while the people using wokeness for their benefit are grifting and taking short term gains. Same thing was for something like BLM, which is an organization that revealed the money donated for the purpose of helping black communities was instead used to buy the founders mansions. The idea that wokeness brings in the cash and it can be called “woke capitalism” is absurd due to the lack of longevity the concept has. This is like calling a stolen item that gets sold at a pawn shop “illegal capitalism”. It doesn’t mean much, and it’s just trying to tie capitalism in with something negative, which is hilarious since wokeness is meant for the left.
With that out of the way, I’m going to get into the jargon, which will allow us to see some of the “philosophy” behind woke. The first one is “critical theory” which is what everything under wokeness is based on to enact a policy. This is how they choose who is marginalized and who isn’t. The term critical race theory originated in the 1980s through discussions about laws because some people decided that equality was not enough. It’s not enough that you can treat a person as an equal, like how a liberal does, because somehow a person born in 1980 is influenced by their ancestry from 1480. Judith Butler helped popularize critical queer theory, which lost the critical part once that aspect was seen as bad, thanks to critical race theory.
They kept all of the critical theory roots, but they removed the word critical because they don’t want to appear… critical. This also happened when Lisa Tuttle popularized the current form of feminist theory, where they remove the critical part because of the stigma they know the word has. No matter what, deception and omission must be used to get their agenda through, because that’s all they know how to do. They cannot get power unless they deceive people into giving them their power. And I find that a little odd since critical theory is a Marxist theory that came from the Frankfurt School from a man named Max Horkheimer, way back in 1937.
Max’s idea was that the enlightenment was a mistake, making him anti-modernist, but the postmodernists of this school of thought will still insist that there is something modernist about critical theory. They claim it’s because Marx was objective because Marx thought something objective is whatever is practiced, yet nothing he claims that is practiced was ever true, so it’s sort of a strange way to misdirect people into thinking that his appeal to his own version of rationalism was somehow actual rationalism. In other words, it’s wordplay. But, we can still say something like his attachment to science being a key element of his ideology, with science trying to be used to determine the natural world, is sort of modernist.
And this is the first step into getting confused as to what anything is, which is why people need a clear explanation as to what something like a modernist is. A good way to explain if something is actually modernist is if you can ask a writer if they believe in marxism and objectivity. If they say no, then we can see that Marxism appeals to the postmodernist in a way that is by design, not by accident. This is why Jordan Peterson is forced to call actual Marxists “neo-Marxists” and “cultural marxists”, because of the constant wordplay that is used by the very same Marxists.
Now, I want to harp on Marxism due to the fact that every single critical theory that the woke adopted is a Marxist theory. Critical theory was based on Marxism and critical theory declared that cultural equality was required in order to prevent fascism. It determined that individuals are not the ones behind social problems, but instead these problems were caused by social structures and cultural bias. What are these problems and what are the solutions, you may ask?
Well, critical theory doesn’t have any of that covered. In fact, the goal was to NOT cover any of those and to just say “social problems are at the social level” and that’s it. Congratulations, theory complete. The social thing is about society and society is how individuals interact. So it’s not the individual’s fault, it’s how they act with each other that’s the problem. So the theory is saying we need to change our act in order to solve the problems, and this was followed by the feminists who say we need to help the women get up in life. This was followed by the CRTists who said we need to help certain races get up in life. This was followed by the Queer Theorists who said we need to help the LGBT get up in life. There is the body positivity, the handicapped, the “don’t slut shame me" movement, and the list goes on and on.
Now we’re in a world where all of these things are in our media and forced into our media because somehow critical theory is the new normal, but you’re not allowed to say it’s forced. If you say it’s forced, some people might reject it and then the enforcers lose power, so they will always say “this is how media always was”. This is how we now have people claiming that ancient civilizations were pro-trans and pro-gay, even though they weren’t and I thought the entire point in CHANGING society is because these social problems are ingrained into society?
This is how the woke say one thing and then mean another. They want the power, but claim the power is given to someone else, while they take the power for themselves. Something like gender is told to be super important and something even worth committing suicide over, but then the lady who made up queer theory says that gender is performative, meaning that it doesn’t matter. Feminism is told to be super important because this is how we can help women become equal, and then we’re told by the person who made current feminist theory that “you’re not born a woman, you become one, even if you were born a male.”
This “equality of power” that the critical theorists said they wanted quickly turned into an “equality of babbling”. Nothing under wokeness makes any sense, and neither does the origin of the term woke. It is meant to mean a person is awake, that they were sleepwalking through life and now they are aware that bad things are happening in society. What are these bad things? Well, whatever you can make up and convince others is bad, since it’s all subjective. If someone steals a VCR and they are black, you can say the police who arrested the thief are evil because they are oppressing a desperate black man who “wouldn’t have stolen if society just treated him better.”
Of course, this implies that rapists only rape because they weren’t treated well enough by society, but only of that rapist is a particular skin color. The woke quickly tie the “need to rape” with skin color, and then call others racists. Actually, now that I’m on the race topic, let’s lay out CRT and how they view race from their supposed “law related origins”.
CRT determines that race doesn’t actually exist, that white people created race to then create racism. I’ll say that again to make sure if you caught that. CRT, a belief about how race works, claims that race doesn’t exist. But then it blames a particular race because… it’s not racist. Did I mention that this belief is anti-evidence and anti-reason? Yes, they do not want reason or evidence to be used for laws, because these things are biased. Instead they want storytelling from the marginalized person, who is called black, even though they don’t believe black as a race exists. This storytelling can be something like “I was walking down the street and I saw a police officer and I felt fear. I should not feel fear. That means the police officer is racist because I’m black and they made me fear.”
To make it even worse, they determine that color blindness from laws causes racist laws to form, because discrimination can occur from certain laws like murder rates, drug use, and theft. Something like being on time to work is considered racist, because a clock is a construction by white people to keep black people down. There’s always something designed by the white man to “keep black people down” because they believe white people only have power because they can keep others down. This is why they advocate to pull all of the non-whites up by forcing white people to hire non-white people into roles in movies or something like a job or using affirmative action to force black people into college classes by reducing their requirements.
Apparently, when you go to the military, the goal is not to have a good soldier but to allow more women to get in by reducing the standard for them. The goal of getting black people into college is to reduce the requirements for them so that they can get in, while increasing the requirements for Asians because there are too many Asians in college. But if we look at media, and only the US media, we can see there is a lack of Asians, so Asians are forced into film sets. Yes, there are plenty of Asians in, you know, Asian countries, soaking up all of the film time, but they don’t count.
In fact, they don’t count because white people don’t watch them as much, so now we have to have an enforcement of Asians being translated into English for western audiences to indulge in Asian culture, which is why Netflix transfers money from the west to the east and tries to get a bunch of Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai content out. A lot of this Asian content is also LGBT, because even though these Asian countries don’t care for such content, the west must believe that the east is super open about it. There will be something like a comedy about a pregnant male that comes from Korea, and the west will take that and say it’s empowering because it fights against gender norms.
Meanwhile, the story is just a postmodernist joke about how it would be funny if men felt pregnancy pain. And it’s because there was a postmodernist comedy called Junior which had the joke “wouldn’t it be funny if a big buff Austrian dude was pregnant?”
My point is that wokeness is just appropriation, through and through. If it’s ancient bigotry, they will say it’s woke. If it’s modernist liberalism, they’ll say it’s woke. If it’s postmodernism making fun of wokeness, they’ll say it’s woke. No matter what, they will spin something to call it woke, just so that they can say liberalism is evil and equality is evil. Their goal is to have an equal outcome, which is their excuse to give certain groups more money and fame, all while ignoring merit. The very idea of rejecting merit as a qualifier is the reason woke media is designed to lose money, and is also a way to tie woke to postmodernism.
I think this is enough explanation of the jargon for now. Not sure if I missed anything, but I think enough of a point is made on that part to have anyone understand how wokeness works. The metaphysics is the same as postmodernist, it’s all subjective. The epistemology is through lived experience because of the storytelling that’s deemed as superior to reason. The ethics is social justice, because they demand equity, aka equal outcome. The politics are marxist, meaning their goal is to remove capitalism because capitalism is an evil product of liberalism. And finally the aesthetic is what I would call anti-art.
I guess I might be able to explain the aesthetics, but it’s rather loose. The problem is that art to the woke is just propaganda. The don’t really give a story or plot with woke media, instead they just take something generic and roll with it, assuming they even give it a plot. For example, there is a woke comic from Marvel(since every comic from them is woke now) where a superhero gets stopped by a cop for being native american. This female, possibly lesbian, native american uses her powers to have the cop realize he’s racist by mind controlling him into thinking he’s racist.
Work with me here…
So the cop is at his house later and decides that he can’t live with himself as a racist person, so he shoots himself in the head. The native american woman watches him from afar and goes “my work here is done” and considers herself a hero for the day. Comic book issue over. So the plot of that story was “super hero uses powers to make a random cop kill himself because racism.”
There is nothing in the story we can call true, nothing we can call interesting, nothing can be called entertaining, nothing can be called useful, nothing can be called anything other than utterly pointless. But the point was to say “racism exists. Stay woke.” That’s the message. That’s the reason an artist spent a month working on a comic and that’s why a company invested money into it to sell it to people who decided to pay money for it and read it. I have no idea who paid money to read that, but I can safely say it wasn’t that many people.
The goal is not to have people buy the product, it’s to simply say the product exists and point to it and go “see, a company put money into that group.” This is kind of like an updated version of “everyone gets a trophy” but instead of everyone, it’s the non-whites, non-cis, non-straights, and non-males. And instead of a trophy you get a product people don’t want to buy.
This is why I consider any answer as woke in my test as an indication of a person being woke. You really do need to jump through a bunch of hurdles to get stuck into this kind of mentality and the only question that people got woke was the one where lived experience is the answer. I think a better term might be anecdotal evidence, because like I said, the woke will reject reason and evidence and instead focus on storytelling, with storytelling here meaning you’re saying what you thought happened through your subjective opinion, and this can be anything you want it to be.
Hell, I can say something like “I felt like a unicorn” and that is considered a lived experience, because somehow I know what a unicorn feels like and somehow you now need to believe I did. So maybe anecdotal is the proper term to use, but then the woke will avoid that one since they know it looks like a fallacy and they can’t socially bring themselves to be stigmatized like that when they think it’s not acceptable. So it’s one of those things where I can either have one wording that causes a false positive or the other wording that will cause a false negative. But, then again, if someone is woke already, they would fail other questions anyway, so maybe I can put that one as not really important to worry about.
So there you have it, definitions and grave detail into all 4 types. I’m sure someone will conjure up more questions and I’m sure a postmodernist will say I’m wrong about everything, but at that point, I did my part so it’s not my problem.
Onto the next section that follows the next question: How do you justify reducing things to something like woke?
Reductionism is when you take something that is complex, like a story, and reduce it to particular fundamentals to provide a sufficient explanation. This is something like when a story gets reduced to a genre when you label it with a genre, because the genre is fundamental. This can also be something like calling yourself a Christian when you believe in the teachings of Christ. Sure, you have other qualities about yourself, but this can be an explanation into something that explains very quickly because it broadens the scope. But the question is HOW do I do this with something like woke, or modernism.
Simple: you look at the definition and go “ah, I see, that’s what it’s doing.”
Pre-modernism and modernism are objective, postmodernism and woke are subjective. Already these two groups are split by a single key factor. I can instantly say woke is a terrible storytelling way of thinking because the goal is to treat merit and superior quality as oppressive, so there is no possible way of making a good story that’s woke. It’s, by design, unable to be good. If we take postmodernism, we can say that it instantly rejects telling the truth, so it must make something up with exploitation and it’s going to be like fast food for the brain. It is, by design, unable to stand the test of time.
But then if we take something like modernism, we can see a truth is there, even if it tries to be individual, because then a guide based on personalities can be seen, and a way might be unlocked. This is why a modernist story is considered classic, and we look up to it as inspiration. Pre-modernism is as primitive and societally significant as you can get, to the point where it’s part of history books as a mythology. We base entire cultures around this type of media and we follow through with our daily life by using this type of media as a guide. In fact, pre-modernism is found IN postmodernism by accident when a postmodernist tries to appropriate, which is why we can find something like alchemy and Gnosticism in a postmodernist movie like The Matrix. There are modernist concepts like The Rabbit Hole in The Matrix, despite The Matrix trying to subvert it and reject it.
So like a genre, the direction of your modernist variant is reliant on both intention and focus, rather than if something is there. I can have a cockroach crawl into my cake when I’m baking it, that doesn’t mean cockroach is part of the recipe. So the goal of the test is to see what kind of recipe people are following and we can determine what kind of cook they are in how they view recipes. There is no danger of reductionism because reductionism is used to prevent dangers. In fact, in the most ironic way possible, to claim reductionism is dangerous here is to use dangerous reductionism to make such a claim, because it reduces the entire process to the idea of dangerous.
Now for the last question: How do you prevent people from rejecting pre-modernism?
Page has determined that if you claim form = function = truth, then you have caused pre-modernism to be the same as woke. As I’ve explained, they aren’t the same thing. Yes both are based on religions, with wokeness being based on Gnosticism, which is to self worship and deem yourself as the true god that is imprisoned in your body by the demiurge, but that isn’t the same thing as “telling an actual truth”.
Gnosticism is sophistry mixed with satanism. I always forget the term and can never find it, but it’s the belief that you’re alone and you’re talking to yourself even when you talk to others. This is how people get trapped in an echo chamber, because all the can do is hear themselves talk and tackle their own ideas of what could be wrong, which requires them accepting they could be wrong, and if they don’t accept that possibility, then everything goes in one ear and out the other. They start to follow a script, become an NPC, and all they can do is become violent once the script runs dry.
Can the pre-modernist become the same thing? Absolutely not. The benefit of a pre-modernist is that we don’t believe we rule the world. We understand that the world is in control, the supernatural controls the world, and we are below all of that as measly humans. We are the cameraman, not the director. Better yet, we are the audience watching a live feed with a cameraman controlling what we get to see, and we’re not involved in any of the production. This acceptance of humility allows the pre-modernist to seek truth, which is how a mythology is born in the first place. The only valid criticism is that the subjects become so grand and universal that they are basic and unable to really tackle the more personal and social issues that modernism tackles.
This basic and broadness is what Page considered “unentertaining”. But during a later exchange, during the making of this response, I found something fascinating. Page’s definition of entertaining is contradictory, because she believes it is objective in the fact that entertainment exists, but WHAT WE SEE as entertaining is subjective. So the complaint that something could be unentertaining isn’t valid, because it doesn’t mean anything if it’s subjective. It’s like saying a traditional dish doesn’t taste good and that’s why that traditional dish is bad to limit people to it.
Well, what if every good dish becomes traditional because people see it as tasty? I am not limited to my own personal tradition, I can enjoy another person’s tradition. I can eat sushi as a German who loves bratwurst and sauerkraut. I can eat pad thai and I can eat sweet and sour pork. I can eat baba ghanoush and shepherd’s pie.
Do you know why I can eat these? Because they are all food that is made of nutrients that people ate since the dawn of time. My human body needs stuff that humans eat for nutrients and there is a select number of nutrients that I need per day because it’s the stuff my body uses. Same goes for storytelling and the specific things my brain will use to gain wisdom and intelligence. The pre-modernist believes that there are these end points that we can address and say “this is the form, this is the end point, can’t go past that.”
The modernist claims “this is scientifically why we can’t go past a certain point, but we might get more information later that will allow us to pass that point.”
Then the postmodernist says “that point is a made up line, the limitation is made up, and the idea you’re in a particular position is also made up, so just mess with things and call them different things.”
Then the woke say “That point doesn’t exist but it’s oppressing me.”
As you can see, the pre-modernist is the most coherent because it’s the most accepting of how things are. I think what Page misunderstood is that some people think a form is what humans determine the form to be, and the form is left as that. Wrong. Form is to reach an endpoint and we cannot physically reach this endpoint, meaning the form will only be in our mental state through symbolism when we’re trying to think of such. Thus, symbolism is the key factor, and all you have to do is make the symbol more clear.
What really struck me as odd is that Page also declared the Bible as entertaining, meaning a pre-modernist work is the prime example of entertaining while her rejection of pre-modernism is because it is not entertaining. I cannot make any sense of that contradiction other than maybe Page believing that media being full of lies is entertainment and that’s not allowed under pre-modernism, which doesn’t mean anything to me.
That’s like going “well, your philosophy doesn’t allow contradictions and uses only logic, so it’s not a good philosophy.”
At that point, we simply have to call such a person postmodernist, because only a postmodernist would demand such a thing.
What am I going to do now that the test was tested? Well, I am sure I am going to make 5 sets of 4 questions for sure, with the 2 overarching questions added in the beginning and end. I will also try to use that google forms thing so that it can be a real test. When I get a website up for my company, I will have the test as part of the entrance exam to join the club. Pre-modernists are preferred, modernists are welcomed, postmodernists are tolerated, and woke are excluded. Sorry, we don’t allow such hateful people into the club. We like to work with normal functional people, and the woke do not meet either requirement.
And I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I am working on the test to have writers see what they KNOW about writing. That one is going to be a bit harder to put together, since I was thinking of getting written answers rather than multiple choice. I think the hardest part with that one will be figuring out how to work in creativity, since that one is tricky to sense if it’s intentional or accidental. But, like always, if I need help, I’ll ask.
Till next time.