If you missed the last few posts on this, Sora is the newest product from OpenAI that generates video from text prompts.

For a first public preview, it's pretty impressive. You can tell it's AI when you look for it, but your average infinite scroller won't suspect a thing.

https://openai.com/sora

A few sample videos.

On to the reaction posts.

The AI subs are gaga over it, as expected.

https://old.reddit.com/r/StableDiffusion/comments/1arm6df/sora_by_openai_looks_incredible/

https://old.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1arm2g5/introducing_sora_our_texttovideo_model_openai/

https://old.reddit.com/r/OpenAI/comments/1arm4ff/things_are_moving_way_too_fast_openai_on_x/

https://old.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/comments/1arm7rf/sora_by_openai_looks_incredible_txt_to_video/

https://old.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1armkty/video_generated_with_openais_sora_hard_to_wrap/

https://old.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1arm58d/we_are_so_back/

VFXcels

https://old.reddit.com/r/vfx/comments/1arn9t5/open_ai_announces_sora_text_to_video_ai_generation/

Sorta mixed reactions

https://old.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1arnxem/creating_video_from_text_sora_is_an_ai_model_that/

https://old.reddit.com/r/aiwars/comments/1armtr3/openai_announces_sora_texttovideo_model/

Doomposting

https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1arnv9f/sora_creating_video_from_text/

Schizoposting

https://old.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1aroo5e/video_of_potential_uaps_are_not_going_to_be/

Flabbergasted and impressed

https://old.reddit.com/r/MachineLearning/comments/1armmng/d_openai_sora_video_gen_how/

Filmcels

https://old.reddit.com/r/cinematography/comments/1artwbl/sora_makes_me_depressed_love_the_art_of/

https://old.reddit.com/r/editors/comments/1arrmbi/openai_announces_sora_today_introducing_their/

RSP

https://old.reddit.com/r/redscarepod/comments/1armuvg/its_over/

https://old.reddit.com/r/redscarepod/comments/1arummz/this_sora_ai_stuff_is_awful/

R-slurposting

https://old.reddit.com/r/conspiracy_commons/comments/1aro45h/its_over/

A few controversial posts.

https://old.reddit.com/r/vfx/comments/1arrvua/new_sora_ai_that_thing_has_the_power_to_replace/

https://old.reddit.com/r/vfx/comments/1art200/its_now_or_never/

https://old.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/1arrumb/nvidia_will_cross_2000/ r-slurs wildly speculating

https://old.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1arnjtt/why_are_all_these_sora_videos_of_asian_people/

https://old.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1aro532/sora_is_cool_but_probably_not_the_end_of_hollywood/

https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1arry7l/will_history_come_to_see_todays_announcement_of/

https://old.reddit.com/r/AskConservatives/comments/1arqo4n/thoughts_on_ai_and_especially_sora/

And many, many more https://old.reddit.com/search/?q=sora&sort=comments&t=day

Something for all! !fellas !redscarepod !kino !accelerationists !codecels

In November 2023 my sister purchased a 2015 Kia Sedona. The milage at time of purchase was 100,458mi. At 105,227 miles she experienced no heat coming from the HVAC system and dropped the car off with a local shop. The shop, upon noticing severe oil intermix in the coolant, diagnosed a failed head gasket.

I thought this was odd, since she hadn't experienced any overheating, and decided to research what could cause the issue. During this I discovered the problem with soft castings on KIA/Hyundai 3.3L V6 engines causing the head bolts to work their way out, taking the threads with them. The local shop was not equipped to deal with something of that magnitude, so we had the van towed back to her house.

Upon extensive research and contacting several KIA dealerships, I learned there are a few options moving forward.

• Option one is to replace the engine with a new one. The most expensive option. I also understand there is a long waiting list to acquire one.

• Option two would be to install a used engine. The risk of this being unknown maintenance, as well as the fact that the head bolts could similarly go at any moment.

• The final option would be to remedy the issue on the existing engine, which involves drilling out the bad threads and replacing them with steel inserts. While there is always the chance of the inserts failing, the cost of the procedure is much lower than that of a replacement engine and in my own opinion less risky than gambling on a used engine.

I also understand that Kia is aware of the problem. They used the same engine in the 2016-2017 Sorrento and just recently extended the warranty to 15 years / 180k miles to all owners, specifically to address this issue.

My sister is self-employed, and the Kia is her only form of transportation. She also just barely qualified for the loan, and doesn't have much, if any, money to work with. She needs a working car and cannot wait to see if KIA decides to recall the Sedona in the future. Because of this, I have agreed to help her out with the repairs.

We decided that option three, installing inserts, was the best choice given the circumstances. The problem with option three was finding somebody to perform the work. I contacted twelve separate shops in the Lexington area, and none showed interest in performing the work.

After around two weeks of internal debate and assessing my abilities, I decided to travel from Michigan down to Kentucky in order to perform the job myself. It took about a week to get everything ordered and all of my cowtools packed up, and just over seven hours to drive down.

While digging into the engine I discovered signs that a head gasket had already been replaced on this car. There was excessive sealant on the water pump and timing chain guide surfaces. Bearing journals were engraved with their positions, “KIA LEFT HEAD” was written in marker on the left head. I believe the previous owner experienced a bad head gasket and had it replaced without accounting for the bad head bolt threads. It was then traded in and sold on to become our problem.

Here are some more photos from the disassembly:

Also managed to strip the head on one Allen bolt, one that was in too tight of a spot to fit an extractor. Thankfully I brought my tiny welder and was able to tack a 6mm bit to it.

I had to remove the bumper and a bit of the exhaust but finally was able to get the heads off and confirm my suspiscions. Three of the head bolts took the block threads with them. Also some borescope photos of a good hole and a hole that's been stripped. I've been making sure to document this thoroughly in case I have a chance in the future to get some compensation from KIA.

With the heads off I'm able to drill out the old, weak holes, and thread them to accept stainless inserts, which then provide me with some reinforced, freshly threaded holes to grip those head bolts.

And finally here's what a rethreaded hole with an insert looks like:

Then all that was left was to reassemble everything back in the order I took everything apart. Flush the oil and coolant, fill with fresh, and start her up.

If you have a 2015-2017 Kia and are experiencing head gasket issues, I highly recommend doing this procedure. Anyone with a decent set of cowtools can tackle this in a day or two.

I'm going to format this like a listicle so everyone reads and I get lots of attention

10 - @FrozenChosen "proves" @Garry_Christmas is a fake doctor

The beef between @FrozenChosen and @Garry_Christmas came to a head when FroCho posted evidence that GC wasn't, as he claimed, a real doctor. Keep in mind that GC is constnatly posting about being a doctor, so this claim basically undermined his entire persona. Is it true? I have no idea, but it was definitely dramatic.

9 - "Based" Pro-R*pe Joins RDrama

@rosemulet, a twitter who gained infamy for saying that it was better to be r*ped than for the male feminist to die, and who is also anti-abortion (), joined RDrama! This was one of our first "hooked" users. She didn't last very long, however, before the transphobia got to be too much for her to handle.

8 - RDrama's first look at @TED_SIMP

@TED_SIMP posted a selfie, letting us know what a beautiful birding vixen whe really was. Despite how much the incels of rdrama hate women, they couldn't help but flock to the thread, which got 438 comments. Definitely because they hate women, guys. Definitely.

7 - @404incorrect joins

A new girl on the block! At first, everyone thought she was a sockpuppet (and even allegations that it was @transb-word (more on xir later)), but she has receipts proving that there is actually a (slightly deranged) female behind the account. The thread got 450 comments.

6 - A tale of two kweens (and their simps)

OK I don't really understand this, but from what I gather, @SpaceMilk was simping for both @Elfbinn and @TED_SIMP, when the two kweens got into a spergfight. @SpaceMilk tried to smooth it over, but then decides to post the deets. The thread got 510 comments.

5 - @transb-word tries to sell rdrama exploits, gets permabanned by @A

@transb-word, an extremely dramatic known for her confounding blogposts and confusing PRs, made a post on a groomercord, selling an alleged XSS attack on rdrama!

All this because @A refused to delete a picture of @transb-word's boobs (which she had posted voluntarily). In response, @A banned xir. @transb-word sent a message to @A which sounded like something a villian says at the end of a movie to set up the sequel...

4 - @A cracks down on the chuds

@A, the resident codecel and capybara, had it with those fricking chuds, and made a post explaining the harsh new laws that he was going to prosecute chuds with.

3 - @sirpingsalot messages a girl immediately after she joins

@404incorrect, a verified foid, joined rdrama, and was immediately DM'd an absolute rizzbomb by sirpingsalot

but why was this such a dumpster fire? well...

2 - @sirpingsalot, @R-slur, and @TED_SIMP (and @TheGrillcast )

The third most dramatic post of all time was The_Grillcast interviewing SirPingsALot in the wake of the neurodivergent allegations. To summarize if you aren't online enough, @sirpingsalot, our very own longposting neurodivergent, fricked @TED_SIMP, a nubile bird lady. @R-slur also fricked @TED_SIMP, and accused @sirpingsalot of raping @TED_SIMP. This probably isn't true, but the tea that was spilled revealed the true depths of @sirpingsalot's moid ultraautism.

1 - @gee891

The two most dramatic posts of all time both involved a single , @gee891. The top one was literally called "guys am i an butthole for being sad that i'm miserable when older trains get to live their lives happy and get fricking usable for s*x vaginas". I have no idea what that means, but it generated 800 comments.

The second most dramatic post of all time was @AuntyAbortion raging that someone was bullying their "pet ", who was, of course, @gee891, who showed up in the thread to defend xirself. The post got 800 comments as well.

Conclusion

What's your favorite RDrama Meltdown? Leave a Comment and and Upmarsey for more EPIC RDrama content.

Since summer is coming all too soon to !texas I got to work on a project I been needin to do recently: fixing my window unit

A little backstory. I live in a trailer. pulled this circa 2003 ish unit, from another trailer. it sat since the end of 2010

it was 2021 I pulled it out.

when you're a country boy, you make do. why go buy a new window unit when the old trailer's got some sitting around?

actually, I pulled 2 sister units of the same vintage and manufacture at the time. one had a bad refrigeration circuit, probably the compressor rotted out on the bottom and leaked the gas

a parts unit

it sat in its new home beside the driveway patiently until it would be needed

lo and behold, just 2 yeears later, its time came

the working unit had served me well for 21 and 22 but the bearings on the fan were shot from sitting 10 years without moving, partially exposed to the weather.

it was pretty loud.

and since you need AC at least 8 months out of the year in this glorious state , it was working pretty hard.

I had alreaty scrounged the capacitor from the parts unit bc it was going, and every six months or so I had to oil the bearings or they'd start to seize.

and it was getting worse. as 'winter' finally rolled around last year and I only needed the thing some days I could spare time to try and fix it. the seizing was terminal at this point and she would suffer no more

this wasn't my first time putting together a frankenstein unit. I had done basically the same thing before with 2 other sister units from another building. these were from 1998/1999, the good old days , older than me

they also sat since 2010

well one had no refrigeration and the other had a seized motor right from the get go. so I took the good from each and made one working unit

back to the newer unit... I pulled the fan assembly from the driveway machine and put it in. one uuge problem. It was so fricking loud

I couldn't even sleep with it on. these bearings were worse than the old ones, but at least they were still spinnign. there was still some heat to get through before november brought peace so I powered through

but it got worse. the plastic condenser fan, having sat outside, dissembled in the driveway, had been exposed to a bunch of UV I guess and had turned to more or less cardboard. (I could just peel pieces of it apart when I took it out)

the fan blades were breaking and making it go out of balance.

So by the end of the cooling season this thing was an ear bleeding and earthshaking monstrosity in my windowsill.

something had to be done... but its december now there's no need for AC I'll fix it later

that time was (is) now. ferbruary is coming to a close and with it will go the beutiful cold I've been enjoying. ( can't wait to find home)

I took the seized fan unit that was just waiting for some kind of final solution. I tore that motor open

there they were...

2 easy to replace 608s

got a 10 pack online for $7

pulled the mfs and pressed the new ones on

spin the thing

silence

so I threw her back together and into the window.

turned it on and there's only the sound of the air (and compressor) now

now you might have read this (probably not ) and wondered, what's that title about?

well its about what happened last night when I got the thing in the window and turned it on.

the satisfaction of a job well done washed over me as I sat down at the old puter to browse rdrams.

and then thought popped into my head. the pernicious idea. only for a moment, but made me stop right in my tracks: "why didn't I take pictures of everything to make an effortpost?"

and then I was sick

I realised this was the thought of a social media user. this is not me. no.

so no I DIDN'T take pictures. No you DON'T get to see

I'm going to enjoy my life with my own dmn eyes and I'm not going to become a 'gram zombie posting my every meal.

everytime I see a picture of a modern concert or venue where every. single. person. there is more concerned about filming the thing than actually being there, I want to vom.

it's disgusting and I feel ashamed for even the brief moment of remorse I felt about not filming this mundane task for the viewership of what, like 23 r-slurs online.

still felt the need to make the text post albiet

I should be making marseys like I came here to do but instead I've been gooning to stable diffusion building workflows and exploring advanced generative ai systems all weekend. at least I went outside and fixed a AC

Greetings Dramatards

Today I'm very excited to talk about the never-ending deluge of drama and controversies which followed RSA's bid to host the 2010 Soccer world-cup, and its aftershocks which still have dire ramifications upon South Africa today.

Now by now, most of us having only taken a token glance at the proceedings of FIFA (a frog acronym for Fédération internationale de football association, French for International Association Football Federation) the head international governing body of soccer worldwide. FIFA controls much, if not everything significantly related to international soccer, and are famous for being one of the most, stunningly, STUNNINGLY corrupt organizations ever known in history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA

The open secret of their perpetual bribery and backchannels to enable 3rd world nations a preferential treatment for being chosen by the 4-year repeated Host-nation ceremonies, as well as perpetually taking bribes from nations involved in Human-Rights abuses follow them in international headlines, like flies follow shit

Back when brazil was chosen to be the Host-nation for the 2014 world cup, a very large amount of strikes and protests would follow, especially after their government would undergo a massive budget expenditure for both the hosting process AND the massive reckless expenditure of the construction of the many new mega-staduims required to host the prestigious event of FIFA Host.

So much so, that even backwards places like Sef-Efrica news would pick up upon it. SA of course was responsible for many of these protests indirectly. You see FIFA by the time the 2010 and 2014 Soccer World-Cups had arrived upon the public awareness of both of the nations of Brazil and South-Africa, had the dark reputation of enabling 3rd World and poor nations to host the fricking international soccer matches, even though the expenditures of these prestigious events was way way WAAAAYYYY out of the economic capacity of these places.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/10/why-hosting-the-world-cup-can-be-a-bad-idea-for-some-countries.html

A common theme before the story even began at RSA in 2010, was nations' history of "overspending on infrastructure and stadiums, that has led to some hosts being in massive debt and left with constructions that serve little use after the FIFA World Cup comes to a close."

=====(from cnbc article)

Host countries rely on the economic impact derived from the tournament to generate revenue, and there are short-term and long-term economic impacts. A surge in tourism, hotel stays, job creation, and above-average spending at local restaurants and businesses are examples of short-term economic indicators.

But some host countries, which do not have the necessary infrastructure or stadiums to support the world's largest soccer tournament, incur huge debt loads and are left with so-called “white elephant” structures after the tournament ends.

Consider Brazil: The cost of the 2014 World Cup there ballooned as the country needed to construct new roads, transit lines, stadiums and hotels. Estimates suggest that $11.6 billion was spent on that tournament.

====(end quote)

For much of the history of FIFA, a lot of arguments had been made in the parliaments of the countries whom had ended up as the Host-nations, with many politicians arguing about the economic merits of being a World-Cup host versus the actual budget realities against which these governments ought to have taken into account, and usually the extreme prestige of soccer wins out against common sense (as well as the usual bribery and corruption).

https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2022/11/17/do-host-countries-make-money-from-the-world-cup

=====(from aljazzeera article)

The football World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the global calendar … ahead even of the Olympics. From ticket and merchandise sales to corporate sponsorship, prize money and tourism, there are immense amounts of money kicking around an event like this.

But, for a host country, is it financially worth it? The short answer is no. Most countries hosting a World Cup spend tens of billions on preparations, developing infrastructure, building hotels and so on. Much of that is often not recouped, at least not in terms of hard cash.

======(end quote)

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/12/anti-world-cup-protests-brazilian-cities-sao-paulo-rio-de-janeiro

For the Brazillian protestors whom were having violent scuffles and fights with riot police during the opening week of FIFA in 2014, they protest the "high cost of the stadiums, corruption, police brutality and evictions. Similar demonstrations have been organised via social networks in 100 cities, including several that host World Cup games, such as Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre and Recife."

The protesters started in a festive mood, spraying pink glitter on passersby and dressing up as hula-hooping pixies and cupids to mark Brazilian Lovers' Day, which is also being celebrated today. But their messages were serious. "The World Cup steals money from healthcare, education and the poor. The homeless are being forced from the streets. This is not for Brazil, it's for the tourists," said Denize Adriana Ferreira.

Point being that there was large scale discontent about the Brazil 2014 Worldcup-hosting, and much of this discontent was intermingled with dissatisfaction with corruption within the government. And much of this fear of excessive spending, ESPECIALLY for the fricking stadiums! Months of unrest and rioting would proceed the dated Soccer matches and opening weeks.And much of this was quite literally because of the massive warning example of South Africa's handling of the 2010 Cup-hosting, before during and after!

The comically corrupt handling of the Hosting by the ANC-party, and the wasteful expenditure of building stadiums by South Africa, which would quite literally in some cases, be used ONCE and only ONCE for the fricking finale Soccer matches they would host, and fricking never again, put warning signs for many perceptive Brazilians looking across the Atlantic Ocean and filled them with horrified alarm at the similarity between their corrupt government's handling of the Cup, and that of South Africa's.

https://money.cnn.com/2014/06/09/investing/world-cup-south-africa-brazil/index.html

=====(from cnn article)

As the soccer world descends on Brazil for the 2014 World Cup this week, disillusionment over the last tournament still lingers in South Africa.

The 2010 World Cup boosted tourism and national pride, but it's clear the economic benefits failed to live up to the hype and came at a very high price. Many now see Africa's first ever World Cup as a squandered opportunity.

There is ample research that suggests the impact of pricey sporting events tends to be brief and limited for host countries, with few exceptions such as the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The 2010 World Cup did little to disrupt that notion.

Pricey tourism lure: According to estimates, South Africa shelled out about $3.9 billion on the 2010 games, including $1.3 billion in stadium construction costs alone. It's notoriously difficult to determine just how beneficial major sporting events are on local economies, but one key ingredient is the ability to attract rich tourists from other countries.

One research paper published in the Journal of African Economies calculates that South Africa attracted about 220,000 extra tourists from countries outside southern Africa during the 2010 World Cup and 300,000 over the entire year.

That's means the country spent a whopping $13,000 per visitor, the paper said.

Some of the money spent on the 2010 World Cup went into infrastructure projects aimed at meeting demand for the games, increasing foreign investment and improving the lives of South Africans. That includes a state-of-the-art rail system, renovations to major airports and highway improvements. Mark Clark, a business professor at American University, said South Africa has not been able to attract as much business investment as it hoped.

The pride factor: Despite the difficulty of translating major events into sustainable economic growth, countries continue to vie for the right to host spectacles like the World Cup and Olympics. That may be partially due to less visible benefits like generating national pride and improving a country's standing in the world.

"I loved being there during the World Cup as South Africans came together and were proud. You could feel the excitement," said Mike Diamondis, who was born in South Africa and currently lives and works in Angola.

====(end quote)

Point being was that there were major warning signs for our friends in Brazil about the colossal costs associated with this monumental process of hosting the soccer World Cup, and that the bet of making all your construction money back via ticket slaves from the influx of rich tourists and soccer fans did not usually go out favorably. For South Africa, it was in reality disastrous, as the ANC government had expected approximately between 500 000 to 1 million tourists to attend the event, an expectation which wasn't as unreasonable as you might think, because the Burgerland World Cup in 1994 had an astronomical 3,568,567 tourists for their event, which was however one of the most successful world cups ever in the history of soccer, as Burgerland was very wealthy and basically broke mostly even with their stadiums expenditure and even used most of their soccer infrastructure afterwards, compared to most 3rd world poorcel nations hobbling themselves with debt just for the prestige.

For South Africa, it would only be later realized that a pathetic paltry 200 000 tourists and soccer fans attended the entire event!! You see as many as 3 million people in total would attend all of the dozens of Soccer matches during the 2010 World Cup, but the vast majority of these were local South African soccer fans, and some peeps from Southern African countries like Namibia and Botswana, which made the stats initially looked very very good, especially compared to places like Burgerland which held similar figures - but the grim reality we had a fraction of the usual tourists which other nation had before. The gov had banked on rich foreign tourists filling up our hotels and lodges, and using the World cup to do additional tourism in non-soccer related events to pump wealth into the SA economy. But the reality was thatt the mass of foreign tourists railed to realize in the hoped for numbers, leaving RSA with a massive deficit which the ANC themselves would not even fricking realize until later.

Even Ratface, our wingcucked friend John Oliver make a good segment, covering the grim reality that FIFA makes the lionshare of the ticketmoney for all of the seats sold in all of the matches of a Host-Nation, and that basically it's the reality that the Host nation must recuperate their construction costs via additional tourism just to break even, enlarging the danger of nation-states putting themselves into morbid debt just to build stadiums which will fricking host as little as only 4 matches!! Before likely being left into destitution post-Worldcup.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/world-cup-brazil-cost-mounts

"For the outside world, such debates may seen irrelevant. After all, it will be Brazilian taxpayers who bear the brunt of the costs, while Fifa rakes in the income from what looks likely to be the most lucrative World Cup ever in terms of sponsorship and broadcasting rights."

https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/sport/story/20140616-fifa-world-cup-2014-brazil-pele-ronaldinho-luiz-felipe-scolari-804046-2014-06-06

"Yet, there are problems. Serious ones, in fact. The Brazil team bus was stoned and blocked by protesters on May 27 when players were about to leave the hotel for their pre-tournament training camp near Sao Paulo. The $11.5 billion spending on the event, three times the amount spent by South Africa in 2010, in contrast with deplorable conditions in the health and education sectors, has converted the World Cup into an unfortunate white elephant for a sizeable section of Brazilian society to rile at."

"In Brazil, we have already seen the literate classes questioning the prudence of hosting an elaborate sporting extravaganza when basic infrastructure is lacking in most of its cities. Housing and water is still not available to common folk in some cities and high mortality rates remain an issue. Drug use is growing and crime is at an all-time high. Too add to this, the protesters have questioned the claim that close to $300 million will be raised from tourism during the World Cup and have objected to the government's assertion that the tournament will not add too much to the tax burden of the common Brazilian."

Anyways you guys get the idea, the danger of bankrupting a country when the fabulously corrupt FIFA officials come visiting your country, rises exponentially when your r-slurred government has the insanity to agree with their demands and the Hosting.

https://time.com/2930699/world-cup-brazil-spending/

====(from time article)

Brazil is throwing a party that, in the end, will cost it somewhere between $15 billion and $20 billion, according to a report in Sports Business Journal. FIFA keeps the revenue from TV rights, tickets, corporate sponsorships and marketing. Brazil gets to keep, in my estimate, around $500 million from tourist spending. That's not a very favorable equation.

South Africa spent around $6 billion for the 2010 World Cup. Germany (2006), France (1998) and the United States (1994), with developed infrastructure and modern stadiums, spent less than a billion each. When they co-hosted in 2002 and built new facilities, South Korea spent $2.5 billion and Japan $5 billion.

====(end quote)

And that was the crux of the matter for the major drama both for RSA in 2010, and and Brasilia in 2014. Compared to 1st world nations like South Korea and Burgerland, these delinquent due vastly overspent compared to very wealthy nations, which already possessed strong and able infrastructure for the Hosting event, whilst SA and Macacosland built all of their shit from the ground up, because there had never been a need for such a scale of sleeping accommodations, roads, parking, food stalls and stadiums needed before in either country, and (this is the very important point), neither fricking nation would ever need this wasteful infrastructure again!!!! Or ever be even able to use the new stadiums to any regular amount to ever EVER justify their construction costs

Brasilia and SA were truly mirrors or each other in this regard

Many nations (or even cities) even opted out on allowing the Hosting of the Soccer World Cups, because the dark legacy of wastefulness of the FIFA event, the corruption of the FIFA organization itself, and the costs of the Hosting process, which was infamous long before the 2010 Soccer world cup would even arrive on the drama stage.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-fifa-bid-2026-1.6091623

BACK TO SOUTH AFRICA THE BRIBING OF FIFA PRE-2010:

Before the shitshow of South Africa's ludicrous and obscene spending on the Worldcup even began, another series on controversies would envelop the news within the country, as to how the actual frick RSA actually managed to obtain its place within the FIFA lottery process to obtain a bid as Host-Nation.

Rumours were well known that Nelson Mandela (whom was still alive and in reasonable health at that time) had been instrumental in convincing the overlords of FIFA, to enable South Africa to be the 1st African nation in the world to host the Soccer WorldCup, and at the time it was a rumor of pride, that the nation's hero would expend his influence to allow South Africans to experience this grand and great pride!

But as the immensity of the corruption and exploitation of FIFA towards RSA became apparent after the 2010 World Cup, a lot of opinions soured as to this specific rumour, namely than the Great and Dignified Mandela Madiba himself would soil his integrity with the heads of the ANC in 2006-2010 to enable this vast corrupt enterprise and expose his own people to further economic hardship, as the costs of these grand stadiums would have to be carried by the already impoverished black taxpaying populations of SA

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32934264

Was Mandela just a fool? An old man past his prime, easily manipulated by the likes of Jacob Zuma, to enable Mandela to speak on behalf of the ANC, to convince FIFA, to accept RSA's bribes over all the other countries, and that t would be good for optics, that FIFA allowed a poor but striving nation like RSA to finds its global place amongst all the world's nations as an equal?

=====(from bbc article)

A bitter taste has been left in the mouths of South Africans by the allegation by US prosecutors that bribes were paid to host the 2010 World Cup. Nelson Mandela was seen as instrumental in South Africa hosting the first tournament on African soil.

Many people I spoke to in Johannesburg believe it was his "Madiba magic" of the anti-apartheid hero that clinched the bid - and that South Africa proved itself by putting on a good show.

Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula was unequivocal in his denial about the alleged $10m (£6.5m) bribe mentioned in the US indictment. "We are not in any way involved as government in the transferring of illegal money for the purposes of the 2010 World Cup," he said.

The indictment also mentions an earlier incident when a high-ranking South African bid committee official allegedly handed over "a briefcase containing bundles of US currency in $10,000 stack in a hotel room" in Paris to a co-conspirator of former Fifa Vice-President Jack Warner - who has denied all the allegations.

"It's really sad. But the reality is, this is Africa and it's the sort of thing we've come to expect," a businesswoman said. But an official from the South African Football Association insists the bid was run by "men of integrity", including Nelson Mandela.

Some South Africans tend to play the race card (LMOA THIS IS ACTUALLY IN THE ARTICLE I DIDN'T EDIT THIS SETENCE) when criticised - believing they are being singled out simply because they are Africans. They feel that Afro-pessimism is at play even in this case.

But what they are reluctant to recognise is that this is a wide-ranging investigation about Fifa, and not about South Africa in particular. There are many other countries that are also implicated in this scandal.

=====(end quote from bbc article)

SAFRICA BRIBING FIFA PROOF COMES OUT:

https://qz.com/africa/640707/south-africa-paid-millions-of-dollars-in-bribes-to-host-the-2010-world-cup-fifa-says

=====(FRom qz article)

FIFA, the football's world governing body, has acknowledged that its own officials accepted up to $10 million in return for votes that awarded South Africa the 2010 World Cup tournament, Agence France-Presse reports.

Allegations that South Africa bribed officials to win the bid to host the World Cup first surfaced last year, following a wide-ranging investigation of corruption at FIFA by the US Department of Justice. Its findings led to the indictment of Jack Warner, a former FIFA vice president and executive committee member, for selling his vote on the 2010 tournament, among other things. The scandal forced the resignation of Sepp Blatter, the organization's long-term president.

This is the first time that FIFA has backed up American investigators' version of events. South Africa has long denied such allegations. When the issue first erupted last May, the country's sports minister Fikile Mbalula dismissed accusations of corruption. “We ran a proper process,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “We're clear we've not done anything untoward.”

=====(end quote)

South African peeps were royally pissed at this bribing story having been confirmed in 2016 by the USA department of Justice raping the corrupt FIFA officials with Burger justice-c*ck. In combination with the after-effects of the immense wasteful crap infrastructure built for the 2010 WorldCup only being slowly realized afterwards, and exposed by SA journ*lists, Safricans were clamourring for holding politicians responsible this monumentally grotesque waste of money responsible; especially as by 2016, the corruption of the Jacob Zuma mob, and State-Capture had become a common term used by SA households, and people began associating wasteful spending with the Zuma cabinet, all the while SA languished in perpetual poverty.

https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/2010-world-cup-10m-bribe-sa-left-out-even-as-201m-returned-to-fifa-20230605

CAPE TOWN STADIUM CONTROVESY:

Because FIFA had harsh demands for Hosting the World Cups, the ANC would bend over backwards to fulfil their assinine demands. FIFA required SA to have multiple stadiums capable of hosting crowds of up to 50 000 people easily. The problem was that the foremost Cape Town stadium, at that time called the Green Point Stadium, was only capable of hosting 18 000 people - which was more than enough at the time, as Safricas seldom had larger needs, prior to the Worldcup.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Point_Stadium

It was partly demolished in 2007 during construction of an adjacent new stadium, the Cape Town Stadium. Construction of the Cape Town Stadium began in March 2007. In 33 months, joint venture contractors ompleted the project at a cost of R4.4billion – or approximately US$600million.

https://web.archive.org/web/20100216194911/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/FIFA2010/Newsandmedia/Pages/CapeTownStadiumhandedoveronschedule.aspx

As you can imagine drama would follow the end of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, when inevitably the darn thing would receive way too few uses by the local sports teams in Cape Town, with its excessive capacity never being utilized fully to justify the cost of its existence, and worse the costs of its upkeep

https://monocle.com/monocolumn/business/the-empty-stadiums-south-africa-s-white-elephants/

=====(from monocle article) (An extremely good article!)

21 October 2010

What should a city do with a football stadium no one uses, sitting on prime land in the centre of town? Demolish it, you say.

The answer would be simpler were the question not over the future of the new but already iconic Cape Town stadium, completed only six months ago for the World Cup at a cost of R4.5bn (€460m).

The stadium, on Green Point Common, has been controversial since before it was even built. Many Capetonians believe it should have been built at Athlone, on the impoverished Cape Flats, where most of the city's football fans live. There, a club might have been found for it after the World Cup.

But the world football's governing body, Fifa, insisted on the city centre location, offering Cape Town a semi-final on the condition that it be played well out of sight of shacks and poverty. The government and local organising committee acquiesced.

Stade de France, who were due to take charge on 1 November for 30 years, have now backed out of the deal saying its shareholders are not prepared to support the “projected substantial losses” it will incur. Servicing the stadium and keeping the pitch in shape costs €45m a year.

Capetonians are divided over whether the stadium is an elegant icon or a useless monument to South Africa's excessive spending on the World Cup. Other stadiums – such as the 45,000-seater Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit, which cost R1.3bn (€134m), and the Peter Mokaba stadium in Polokwane (cost: R1.25m) were always expected to become white elephants. But Cape Town's stylish stadium was the most expensive of the 10 World Cup venues, leading everyone to believe that the number crunchers considered it sustainable.

“Demolishing the stadium would be an act of vandalism,” says Mokena Makeka, a columnist for the Cape Times. “The stadium is an asset that has firmly positioned Cape Town in the pantheon of global cities,” he says.

Given that the city of Cape Town is under tremendous pressure to provide running water and pottys in poor areas, it cannot justify maintaining the stadium empty.

The only solution offered by planners is to convince Western Union Rugby to move to the stadium from their legendary home at Newlands, a wealthy suburb. But WP Rugby are said to be reluctant to leave the ground they own in favour of leasing a stadium they consider unsuitable for rugby.

====(end quote)

CULTURAL CONTEXT:

Lol. Lmoa. Lololol. When the Capetonians and ANC became aware of just how fricking expensive the upkeep would be, and when the Frog company which had originally tendered to be the Facility managers got cold feet after realizing just how few actual crowds the Cape Town Stadium would be able to attract post-2010 Cup, shit hit the fan. In their depravity to please their FIFA overlords, the ANC morons had agreed to build the stadium in the most visible part of the city, near the docks, and in the most famous viewing angle of Table Mountain, as the FIFA scum wanted the best areal views for advertising the stadium, and for their promotion.

Additionally the problem of deliberately building the stadium away from the Cape Flats, and poorest regions of Cape Town which is filled with ultra poor blacks and coloured peeps, they had als built the stadium as far away as possible from the lionshare of soccer fans in the capital city. And more importantly, they had built the stadiums in a very very vehicle heavy and car-centric portion of the city, which was great for foreign tourists taxing from the airport, but made for an absolutely disastrous accessibility location for poor peeps.

If a Town Planner had made the decision for the placement of the Cape Town Stadium, he would have been fired and stripped of his degree, it is so bad to get there for people who don't posses a car.

This is significant because of all cities in South Africa, Cape Town is unique in that it's the most pedestrian friendly city in the country, there are a great many multitude of foot-bridges to cross highways, many zebra-crossings are heavily enforced by actually competent traffic police. Busses have special lanes built for them in the heaviest highways to promote public transport. It also the only city which operates a still running public transport train (outside of the Gautrain in Gauteng).

Additionally the nature of Cape Town being the oldest city in the country, means that the street layout of the oldest sectors had been for foottraffic, before the age of the car, and is thus similar to Euro cities which are more pedestrian-orientated. The city however is not perfect, and regular car traffic still causes daily congestian, as the amount of cars in the capital have increased above what the roads had been deigned for 30 years ago.

Much of the poorest shanty town township dwellers have relied upon this pedestrian friendly system to go about their lives in Cape Town, the fact that the fricking Cape Town stadium was built as far as the poorest sectors of the city as possible (deliberately!) meant that fricking the most avid fanbase of the capital city was literally locked out of easy accesibilty to just physically get there!!!

Taxi fares from Cape Flats to the darn stadium was also not especially cheap, resulting in poorcels having take tickets AND taxi fares into account.

This basically left the rich Upper Middle class whites to be the majority car having peeps, to be the biggest theoretical base of peeps to come and watch soccer, right??

But see here the biggest problem, in South Africa there was, and is, a massive racial divide between sport preference in South Africa. This racial divide is worth a whole other Longpost, but what is needed to be known for cultural context, is that for the majority of the past 100 years, the culturally dominant white Afrikaners had preferred cricket and especially Rugby as their primary pastime sport.

For Boeroids Rugby had been the everyman sport played by rich and poor white alike. And because Segregation had been the order for 53 years in south africa, black peeps were not aloud to participate in rugby tournaments with whites on national or even provincial matches. Curiously however, SA whites did not play soccer as much at all, and didn't care for Soccer as a prestige sport at all, which naturally meant that black peeps would migrate to Soccer as their prime everyman sport. The Afrikaner government cared little for the prestige of soccer which i don't know why

But regardless thee NP regime even actively encouraged separated black only Soccer events, to actively culturally enforce Apartheid unto all races in the country, and was only too happy enable the natural development of black peeps having provincial soccer matches, thus fascillitating not just segregation in sports, but actual segregation OF SPORTS - so that Rugby gradually became to be identified as a white sport, and soccer as a black sport.

When in 1994 the democratization of RSA meant that any race could play in any sport, there gradually would over the decades become black peeps interested in Rugby, and whites into soccer - but the stark divide still persist to this day, and persisted until 2010.

When the ANC and Cape Town gov attempted to persuade the Western Union Rugby, to trade places with the Newlands Rugby stadium, the rugby Union basically laughed in their face, as they had no need for such a fricking colossal asset, and had no desire to be left holding the bag for the Upkeep costs associated with the Cape Town Stadium

But much much more significantly, was that the majority car-having white Upper Class Capetonians, had very little interest in utilizing the Cape Town Stadium post-2010 to view soccer, as whites in general have very lukewarm appreciation for soccer in SA, with Rudby and Cricket being the much more dominant sports. Many Bong south africans have culturally a much more soccer orientated view, and enjoy Football than their inland boer counterparts, but even they despise South African soccer, because our national soccer team is soul-crushingly pathetic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_national_soccer_team

The South African national soccer team is called Bafana Bafana - and they are so so inept and shit Bafana as an organization is immensely corrupt and nepotistic, painfully made aware when compared to the fabolous achievements by the SA cricket team (the Proteas, named after the national flower), and compared to the stunningly capable SA Rugby team (the Springboks, named after the national antelope) :masrseyza:

It will be surprising for foreigners to learn that coloureds are massive massive soccer fans and enjoyers, but despise the ineptitude and nepostism and anti-coloured bias the South African Bafana Bafana team has, and subsequently are ardent Bong Football enjoyers! Much of my coloured friends i had during my studied in UCT was spent being lectured by my coloured peers, both wealthy and poor, about the various famous Bongland soccer teams like Liverpool and Manchester United, and all these small english provinces, because RSA coloured followed english Super-matches even more religiously than they did our fricking local RSA teams, like the Kaizer chief or whatever.

https://yougov.co.uk/ratings/sport/fame/football-clubs/all

The reason being that Bong Football is just on another professional level than the crappy butt-backwards 3rd world tier which Bafana Bafana inhabits. And many ardent soccer fans in RSA, like Bong whites and coloureds prefer to watch football at the highest level of play if they do like soccer as a sport.

Thus disasterously, the fricking Cape Town Stadium is left with an ever decreasing pool of theoretical crowds which could fill its seats, as neither Upper Class whites, or Middle Class coloureds car-havers, have any interest in the mostly black dominated soccer in the local levels of SA. And guess who's the poorest demographic in Cape Town

https://www.politicsweb.co.za/opinion/why-cape-town-stadium-should-be-demolished

That being said, it's not absolute doom and gloom, and I should not overstate the uselessness of the Cape Town Stadium, as it has been used for Curry Cups in Rugby, and a multitude of soccer matches and finals through the decades since. And the increased seatings means also that many events have been held their since, so I do believe it may pay itself back slowly over time.

The same cannot be said for the other fricking 9 stadiums languishing in much less populated parts of South Africa

THE FATE OF THE REST OF SA STADIUMS:

https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/red-card-world-cup-stadiums-losses-run-into-millions-as-they-struggle-to-meet-profit-goals-20231223

====(from news24 article)

While eThekwini's Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban has registered a loss of more than R200 million, it is not the only stadium specifically built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup that is in the red.

Five stadiums - Moses Mabhida Stadium, the DHL Stadium in Cape Town, Mbombela Stadium, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane - were all built from scratch to accommodate soccer fans during the World Cup.

But 13 years after the international teams left our shores, losses are running into the millions.

======

However, the stadium only generated "a portion of the running costs" in revenue each year, said City of Cape Town spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo.

The operating costs for the stadium in the 2022/23 financial year were R95.9 million. In the same year, the stadium generated R50.7 million in revenue.

He added the biggest costs in running the stadium were maintenance costs, as well as the costs of powering the stadium, especially in the face of ongoing load shedding.

"With WP Rugby now the anchor tenant and approximately 15 televised rugby events per year, Cape Town City and Cape Town Spurs both playing matches at the stadium brings a further 20 televised PSL matches a year," said Tyhalibongo.

He added the City was looking at diversifying revenue streams at the stadium as well as developing property in the stadium precinct. "A stadium lifespan is between 150 and 250 years. The DHL Stadium is 13 years old and at a very young stage of its lifespan…

"There is no doubt the value generated both in economic and global exposure will far outweigh the initial investment. The city positions itself as an events capital in Africa and the world, and the DHL Stadium plays a large part in enabling this strategy."

=====(end quote)

The running theme is the same for the other 9 stadiums in SA built for the 2010 World Cup, in that basically all of the stadiums are just too fricking big they were built with the short term view of housing the stipulated 30 000 to 50 000 spectators by the FIFA goons, and not for the needs and requirements of their local populations which had little to no need for such excessive and grandiose infrastructure. The constant theme is that not enough spectators fill seats for each of these oversized stadiums, and that they are all running at a loss.

The ANC had projected that although the stadiums were expensive to build, that they would generate revenue from the World Cup, and subsequent 15-20 years of events, to redeem their building costs, and pay for themselves over time. HOWEVER, in their typical and spectacular r-sluration, our glorious ANC leaders literally did not take maintenance into account. They literally didn't fricking future plan for the upkeep of these monumental stadiums, and has presumed that ticket sales would be a perpetual net income.

Thus to compound our national woes, the fricking upkeep expenses and maintenance like cleaning and cutting the grass, and water and electricity, was never taken into account or foreseen, and the planned annual income which fricking gov counted on to offset the constuction-costs, have instead turned into annual losses for the nation !!!!!!

https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0615/World-Cup-stadiums-What-s-with-all-the-empty-seats

=====(from article)

World Cup stadiums have had gaping holes where people should be. South Africans fret that it's a sign that the Cup will not bring the prosperity that they had been promised by FIFA and politicians.

Forget, for a moment, the dulcet tones of that popular (and yet curiously plastic) trumpet that South Africans call the vuvuzela. Look at the stands. Where are all the fans?

“As South Africa, we got the stadiums built, and all FIFA had to do was sell the tickets,” Mr. Vegter adds. “They seem to have made a peepee-up of it.”

=====(end)

https://www.si.com/soccer/2015/02/02/world-cup-stadiums-brazil-south-africa-fifa-white-elephants

=====(from si article)

A mere four years after the competition, most of South Africa's World Cup venues stand largely empty, used only for poorly attended local soccer games and the occasional concert. It is a long way from being enough to justify the huge construction and running costs of the stadiums. One of those is the $600 million Cape Town Stadium, which, according to a story in the Toronto Globe and Mail last year, is losing an estimated $6 million-$10 million annually.

“During the current (2012) season Ajax Cape Town has played 10 games in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) with a total attendance number of 40,000, giving an average of 4,000 in a stadium with a capacity of 55,000,” says the World Stadium Index, noting that “both of the local rugby teams, Western Province and The Stormers continue to play their games at Newlands Stadium (Cape Town's historic rugby stadium).” While Ajax's average crowds improved to 8,000 last year, it is still hardly enough to make the use of such a vast stadium worthwhile.

And the story has been repeated across South Africa. Other than the country's two biggest teams, the Kaizer Chiefs and the Orlando Pirates, the PSL draws poor crowds, with average attendance varying between 2,000 and 10,000 – nowhere near enough to justify the costs of playing in expensive FIFA-standard stadiums. It is a situation that is now being reflected in Brazil. In addition to running costs, the expense of staging a game at the Arena Pantanal has been estimated at around $40,000, a sum clearly unviable when considering the crowds small local teams might hope to attract.

One of the ongoing debates that surround the hosting of events such as the World Cup or the Olympics, and the costly white elephants they almost inevitably leave behind, is who is responsible for the size and scale of the tournaments and the stadiums required to hold them? FIFA, with its grandiose demands that can often seem preposterously self-indulgent, particularly given the harsh reality of life for many in countries such as Brazil and South Africa, or local government, for pandering to the whimsies of Sepp Blatter and Co.?

FINAL-POLOKWANE STADIUM:

I worked for 2.5 years after graduating as a Land Surveyor in Polokwane in the province of Limpopo

And I even surveyed near the roads of the Peter Mokaba Stadium, the stadium built for the 2010 Soccer World Cup for the Limpopo province. I enjoyed my time there, the Pedis are nice people and friendly, and i enjoyed my time working there, although the massive mountains and many thorntrees made surveying hard. I was very incompetent at that time, and have much improved as a surveyor, I wish I could go back give a better service for my boss, i have many regrets.

In Polokwane there is still many decorations left all the way back from 2010, untouched in 13 years. It's like a scarring of a city having suffered a warlike artillery barrage, but instead with constant useless crap built for a one time event, which visually enforces the monetary waste.

https://www.citizen.co.za/review-online/news-headlines/2018/04/19/citys-costly-nice-to-have-stadiums-operating-deficit-over-r30-million/

"Although figures of the finances of the new Peter Mokaba Stadium for the current financial year which ends on 30 June are not available as yet, a report that was tabled in the Polokwane Municipal Council recently, showed that the municipality has suffered losses to the estimated amount of R30 million during the last four financial years and that some cost cutting measures have to be implemented as a matter of urgency."

And like the rest of the other 9 stadiums built in SA, the Peter Mokaba Stadium was just too big and grand and costly to upkeep successfully, being another burden on the struggling already poor municipalities

https://mg.co.za/article/2011-06-10-stadiums-score-costly-own-goals/

Also Google is fricking racist and sometimes completely useless!!!1 The stupid Google Maps sometimes can't find african names and i have to force the stupid machine manually to local towns. For capitals like Polokwane it's easy, cuz i know the general shape of RSA and each province intimately and where each capital is relative to each geographic feature and border, but small tiny towns can sometimes be long search lmoa

In Polokwane, at the entrance of the Southern Highway, you can still see there soccerball lamppost things which decorate all of the main streets into Polokwane. They were part of massive decorations which covered the city all for just 4 matches which were played within the new mega-stadium. They still stand untouched 13 years later, all over the city, serving no purpose, just existing from a time before, remarkably many stand unmolested or looted, as they contain no copper or useful materials to loot, they are mainly plastic. for me they represent the unmeasurable wealth squandered, not just for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, but also for the ANC government having let so much potential wasted for an event which gave no value to the people of RSA other than temporary pride.

WORLD CUP OPENING-CEREMONY DRAMA:

Shakira's famous Waka Waka song was a huge hit in RSA, and was played over the radios constantly. She was subsequently hired to come and perform during the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 2010 World Cup. Many cucks and moral busybodies sneeded and bitched that the RSA ceremony wasn't African enough because it featured several white foreign artists like Shakira, instead of being mostly black singers and performers. This was directed from both Safrican black peeps, and pan-african yanks, and African continentals

https://www.france24.com/en/20100610-world-cup-2010-south-africa-concert-soweto-not-african-enough-boycott-shakira

=====(from article)

The World Cup festivities are set to kick off Thursday at 1800 GMT with an opening ceremony featuring pop star Shakira and the Black Eyed Peas (pictured). The event, however, has drawn criticism for not being "African enough".

Set to be broadcast live around the world from 8pm Paris-time, the World Cup opening ceremony promises to be spectacular. Headlining the event at Orlando Stadium in Soweto is Colombian pop star Shakira and her controversial song called “Waka Waka” (meaning “This Time for Africa”), the competition's official anthem, which was allegedly lifted directly from a well-known piece of music from Cameroon. The event will also feature the Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys and John Legend.

However, a smattering of African dance steps incorporated into her routine and a South African pop group – Freshlyground - slated to accompany her are apparently not enough to help the South American singer fend off critics. Dissatisfied by the concert's line-up, a union of South African artists are calling for a boycott of the event. They argue that the event is “not African enough.”

The event's ‘Africaness' is not the only thing ruffling feathers. Ticket prices, which are priced between 450 and 1,400 rands (47 to 145 euros) is another source of frustration. “This amount is more than the weekly salary of many workers in this country. It's an elitist event that is not geared toward the entire population”, protested Lebogo. Despite the high prices, however, the concert is already sold-out.

In the face of such fierce criticism, FIFA has finally decided to organise a second event. In addition to Thursday night's performance, there will be another show Friday preceding the Cup's opening match. The programme will be a “surprise”, but it is widely anticipated to be an event dominated by South African artists. So far, only one honoured guest has been confirmed: former South African President Nelson Mandela, who is scheduled to make a 15 minute appearance. “Madiba”, as Mandela is often called in South Africa, will however then return directly home, where he will follow the rest of the night's events on the television.

======(end quote)

Lmoa FIFA literally had to hold a second ceremony concert event to placate the South African sneedfest where black SA artists were about not having exlcusively black african performers in the coveted 1st Soccer World Cup hosted by the African continent.

Anyways that's all I got, Good Day!!

!g*mers

=>

context

Crystal Dynamics has added a content warning to Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered flagging what it described as racial and ethnic stereotypes.

Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered includes new versions of the first three Tomb Raider games, developed by defunct UK studio Core Design in the mid-to-late ‘90s to massive sales success.

Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered, out this week on modern consoles and PC, includes a message from current Tomb Raider custodian Crystal Dynamics that warns against some of the content in the games and explains why the developer chose to leave it in.

Does anyone even remember what these harmful and inexcusable things were???

apparently this

hahahaha no

As usual Kotaku is MAD

https://archive.ph/BEAbl

Oof. Yes, the reason that—when updating aspects of Tomb Raider such as the art, sound and controls—they felt it important to leave in the “harmful” and “inexcusable” prejudice is because they want you to jolly well learn your lesson. This is such a spectacularly disingenuous message, seemingly an attempt to gobble down the racist cake without either a) thinking better of it, or b) altering the content to better reflect these claimed values. I've checked, and none of the game's marketing material mentions its woefully harmful content before you buy.

A cynic might surmise the developers don't actually care at all, but thought this quick screen would cover their backs. Although—and let's not mince words here—given Crystal Dynamics spent 2013 through 2018 making some of the most white-savior-promoting games in modern history, it's hard to exactly pin down where these values lie. Yes, sure, flag up-front that the games feel dated in their depictions of some cultures, absolutely. But pretending that selling them unadjusted is a virtuous act on the developers' part to offer us a vital and excoriating sociology lesson is gross and dishonest.

TRIANGLE BOOBS ARE GOONEEEE !coomers THEY ARE GONE

R/GAMES thread https://old.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1apyfwt/tomb_raider_13_remastered_includes_racial_and/

“The games in this collection contain offensive depictions of people and cultures rooted in racial and ethnic prejudices. These stereotypes are deeply harmful, inexcusable, and do not align with our values at Crystal Dynamics." "Rather than removing this content, we have chosen to present it here in its original form, unaltered, in the hopes that we may acknowledge its harmful impact and learn from it.”

I prefer a message, like this, instead of them going full on 4kids, but I find this part of the message funny:

and do not align with our values at Crystal Dynamics.

Implying these "harmful and inexcusable" stereotypes did align with Core Design and Eidos's values back in the day.

I am sure the person who wrote this didn't want this implication, but it's awkward how no one else noticed this. If they simply remove this part and keep it ambiguous, it would have been fine. I could see a number of former Core Design members complain about defamation thanks to this message.

The Warner Bros racism warning works because they were the ones that always published those cartoons, while Crystal Dynamics are the current caretakers thanks to Eidos.

i guarantee this'll be modded out day 1

i guarantee nexus mods will remove that mod day 5

i guarantee the mod will be archived and spread 10x more because of that.

Imagine being such a sad person that you would use a mod to take out a content warning screen.

someone get their feelings hurt?

Yeah. By the looks of it, you did.

Now we come to our transistors

https://old.reddit.com/r/Gamingcirclejerk/comments/1aq1ld6/the_tomb_raider_collection_has_a_content_warning/

Its pure

Wait until that guy who is excited about FF VII Remake learns they edited Tifa's lines so she no longer calls Barret the R word and also made the female characters actual characters and changed 90% of Wall Market so it's no longer an offensive gay joke but actually celebrates queer and drag culture

WTF SHOOT THOSE R-SLURS

KIA Thread thread https://old.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/1apuop8/from_tomb_raider_iiii_remastered_coming_out/

LOTS OF CONFUSION AND ANGER

now lets see XITTER

LOTS more if you go into the QTs and replies of this

https://x.com/tombraidertweet/status/1757313706294149241

https://x.com/tombraidertweet/status/1757313706294149241/quotes

It still Fresh so I will keep adding more if worthy

@A pls pin for an hour

updates

I did a little buy copy pasting the Kotaku text on GCJ

https://old.reddit.com/r/Gamingcirclejerk/comments/1aq1ld6/the_tomb_raider_collection_has_a_content_warning/kqaf3vv/?context=8

@cabalist reports

PCG*mer also be seething

Worst of all, the trilogy's depictions of anyone who isn't a sassy British tomb raider with a fondness for teal tank tops has, at best, aged like milk left out in the midday sun, and at their lowest points are nothing less than racist.

The remaster's accuracy does confirm that some parts of these games should have stayed buried, or at least not been uncritically reproduced without some official acknowledgement of their thoughtlessly offensive fumbles. So—same as always—this collection is the very best, and very worst, of Lara Croft's adventures.

Look at all the goodwill your stupid little disclaimer bought you, Crystal

https://archive.is/nMySg

Meet our crew!

William Oefelein -- worst part about this story is that he's not even that hot.

Lisa Nowak -- this is here in her prime

Colleen Shipman, the new girl

So this girl named Lisa Nowak was a very accomplished NASA astronaut, had been to space and everything, and had a nice husband with three kids. But one fateful week at work (NASA) during a survival exercise in the wilderness, Lisa became very, VERY close with another man, William Oefelein, on her trip and they started having an affair. But they were also both high-ranking naval officers at the time (in addition to NASA astronauts), and the Navy prohibits its members from having extramarital affairs. They had one anyways, and eventually the spouses of Lisa and Bill found out what happened and they both got divorced. And then a short while after that, Bill decides he doesn't even like Lisa anymore and breaks up with her Now she realizes she ruined her marriage for nothing. Bill and Lisa had talked, for some reason Bill thought that he and Lisa were good and that Lisa wasn't about to go psycho (he was wrong).

So now Lisa is fuming, she still had a key to Bill's apartment so while Bill is in space, she lets herself in and snoops through his computer. To her horror, she finds racy slutty emails from Colleen on Bill's computer! Here are some of the emails that I could find online, courtesy of the NY Post. More are probably available if you submit a request for to the Orange Osceola State Attorney's office, but I dont feel like doing that.

First urge will be to rip your clothes off. Throw you on the ground and love the heck out of you

But honestly, love, I want you to totally and thoroughly enjoy your hero's homecoming

Bill sent Colleen a pic of something in space and she couldn't see shit

I don't see the charm though! pant, pant. It's like those erotic hidden picture games that they have at the bar . . . only you're fully clothed in the picture

• • • But the thought of you without any clothes is pretty nice ‘sigh.'

In response to the fact that you can't see shit:

I'm a boob. Apparently I can be a moron even when you are not physically with me

I imagine this doesn't surprise you anymore, this idiot you decided to like. You must really have me around your finger that I can't even function without you here and with you here I am slightly smarter than a slug.

I don't know. Maybe I should be a road kill scraper-upper. That shouldn't be too hard. I can scrape things up that don't move on the road like armadillos, after they've been discombobulated by sexy, hot bodies. Just a thought. I need help. (Author's note: what the actual frick?)

...

Will have to control myself when I see you. First urge will be to rip your clothes off, throw you on the ground and love the heck out of you.

Lots of love coming your way . . . and kisses and a great big giant hug with my legs around you.

I love you and I am head-over-heels IN love with you.

NY post says:

>Police statements, along with e-mails between Oefelein and Shipman, confirm for the first time that Oefelein had a romantic relationship with Nowak. It lasted two or three years before he broke it off to date Shipman late last year.

>Oefelein has said he considered Nowak to be one of his best friends at NASA.

Anyways, Lisa sees this shit and decides she's going to go cap that b-word, she drives 900 miles and intercepts her at Orlando airport. She pretends to be homeress or something and then pepper sprays her. She also had hammers and a loaded bb gun (that looked like a real gun) and other shit in her bag w her, so she was probably gonna try to kill her.

Anyways here's her mugshot

And here's her in court

She was living the dream. She was a NASA astronaut, she had a husband with 3 kids. Then she got hung up over some dude who dumped her and now she's divorced and convicted of burglary and shit (got off w/ attempted murder). So the lesson here is DONT TRY TO MURDER YOUR EX'S NEW GF HOLY SHIT appreciate what you have, and don't think you could get someone else. The grass is always greener!

The worst part about this whole thing is that this guy isn't even that hot.

So this discourse has been brewing for a couple of days, but since it seems to stick around, I figured I'd put something together. Prepare for the worst - this is about autism, bad faith xitter dunks and worst of all - g*mers.

Background

All of this started... 19 years ago, in January 2005.

That's when Resident Evil 4 was released. Since it was a popular and well-received game, like all vidya slop it was eventually remade. The remake came out in March of last year and it set the stage for an eternal discourse - the infamous yellow paint:

One of the more significant changes in the remake compared to the original was the introduction of this yellow paint, smeared over interactable objects. The purpose is clear - set these objects apart from their environment to guide players and help them navigate, find objectives, etc. Now it is well known that g*mers are fricking r-slurs that would literally eat their video games unless they're made to taste bad and obviously need all the help they can get, but nonetheless this practice ruffled some feathers. It was seen as lazy, blunt, excessive handholding and destroying their immersion. The more unhinged g*mers saw it as an insult to their intelligence. This ladder in particular drew ire and was the subject of memes:

At the time this was a small, short-lived discourse. But it was a precedent and established yellow paint as a symbol for all that is wrong with modern video games (allegedly).

But now, it reared its ugly head again...

Final Fantasy and THE DISCOURSE

Since the video game industry is creatively bankrupt, the inciting incident this time is yet another remake. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth released a demo about a week ago and just what did the poor g*mers have to see there? YELLOW PAINT!

Who isn't familiar with random mountainsides splattered with paint all over? This was seen as an exceptionally silly example of this sort of player guidance and for whatever reason, this time, the drama really took off. As far as I can tell, the following was the initial tweet that started the drama:

THE YELLOW PAINT VIRUS HAS INFECTED FF7

I personally have a feeling the use of "virus" reminded people of the "woke mind virus" phrase that gets thrown around and it infused the whole thing with some of that culture war zeal, leading to it becoming a bigger deal this time around. Plenty of shitflinging in the comments, but we also see some of the early strategies deployed, such as accessability.

Oh no, accessibility settings for those who may be visually impaired that break your immersion in a game where you travel with a talking lion? The horror.

However, the main angle of discussion seems to split the neurodivergents into two camps. One the one side, those that think developers are lazy and should do better than resort to yellow paint. And on the other side those that believe g*mers are fricking stupid and need visual aid. For those of you paying attention, you might notice these are not actually contradictory views, which makes this massive drama just funnier because it's so pointless and in my opinion supports my idea that this is really just another culture war front in the most serious business of video games. Anyway, as with any good discourse, both sides rallied around a shitty comic portraying the other side as stupid:

Pro-Paint

Anti-Paint

And then people argued a whole lot about dumb shit. What follows are some selected "tentpole" posts for your reading pleasure.

Righteous paint enjoyers

I watched a streamer play Metroid Prime for the first time and they would often enter a new room, ignore interactive objects/open paths in plain view at eye level, declare the room had nothing in it, then leave and then complain about feeling lost. G*mers are just that stupid.

Need I remind you guys of that really dumb streamer trying to play TOTK?

DSP catching strays in this as well as advertising Ame . DSP in general morphed into the archetypical "r-slurred g*mer" used by both sides as an example to illustrate what devs need or should not cater to, respectively.

Gaming industry: Lays off thousands of people en masse

Twitter's problem with the gaming industry:

>noooo you must care about random codecels losing their job

oh no i can clearly see the things i can interact with, god forbid

My hot take on the “yellow paint” thing in video games: as someone who's been playing them since the NES days, I've spent so many hours of my life going “where the heck am I supposed to go” that I don't give a shit anymore. Paint stuff yellow. Cool with me. Whatever.

Rare occurence of the gaming r-slur everyone tries to enable speaking up

I can't think of anything funnier about this stupid post decrying yellow paint than interviews with Bulletstorm Devs describing if they made explosive barrels any colour other than bright red they couldn't get any players to shoot them.

This guy in particular started a sub-discussion about the realism of colored indicators in general:

Leading to many,

many,

many jokes.

And what had the other side to say for themselves? Let's check it out.

Stupid, whiny paint deniers

The original comic drew quite a bit of ire, with many questioning the premise:

Game devs and snooty artists love the idea that they are illuminated masterminds making stuff for uneducated monkeys.

"The yellow is there for you stupid g*mers. My massive knowledge in game designs tells me you need it or your poor brain will get lost."

Yes, that is it.

Yellow paint is insultingly lazy and distracting. If you have to guide a player do it in a better, more subtle way lol

to the rescue:

Local chudcel chimes in :

"But without the paint, people would easily miss what you're supposed to do!"

Maybe if modern AAA games didn't regularly sacrifice readable environments for the sake of ultra-realism that wouldn't be a problem?

But a somewhat curious thing that happened is that many of the paint opponents started to notice that the paint supporters seem awfully beligerent, considering all people are complaining about is clumsy design. Isn't that a good thing?

"Man I hate yellow paint slathered over everything"

G*MERS ARE DUMB!

"Just let me turn it off"

BIG DUMMY DUM DUMS

"Just let me turn it off"

DUURRRRRRRR

The "Yellow Paint" discourse is people raising a design point

Being fought back by people who just made up a guy to completely ignore how weird the yellow paint looks to say "PEOPLE WON'T KNOW WHERE TO CLIMB" as if there aren't 50 yellow paintless Assassin's Creed games

Very true. It almost sounds like....

...there was bad faith in the air:

Grillpilled enlightened centrists

This is all I'm going to say about the yellow paint discourse

"G*mers are dumbasses that need to be held by the hand" and "yellow paint marking the critical path is tired and immersion breaking" are two ideas that can coexist

I always feel a bit insane with the annual "yellow paint guidance" discourse and counter-discourse. A g*mer thinks the paint is dumb, and then all the devs are like "YES but you don't understand it's UNAVOIDABLE" and man, no it's not! You can be clear without being patronising

Couple of great examples of less intrusive player guidance in that thread. One of many such threads that popped up.

Yellow paint discourse is already a greatest gaming hit

Person A: "I want better slightly better art direction"

Person B: "You need to deepthroat a 12G"

C: "The VVest has fallen."

This last humorous take brings us to...

Memes and general clownery

Also apparently there's a limit for adding files, so you're just going to have to actually click the links for once.

the yellow paint discourse was a punchline 12 years ago and no one has done it better since

Stanley Parable mentioned

how about a game where you play as the dude who has to go paint interactable things yellow before the adventurer gets there

Added some yellow paint to our browser so g*mers know what they can click on

World's least funny browser just had to get in on the action.

Put a bunch of yellow paint on my front door so I don't get lost when trying to leave.

THE YELLOW PAINT VIRUS HAS INFECTED SUPER MARIO 64

they should make a game about a superhero with the power to produce yellow paint so that he can climb any wall he desires

covering my toes in yellow paint so she knows theyre interactable

the yellow paint virus strikes again ... lazy butt level designers ...

vintage meme

seriously? they used yellow paint to tell me where to go?

surprised there's no splatoon marsey

It's Yellow Paint. Yellow Paint is the Yellow Guy.

Conclusion

Not much to add here if you paid any attention. Obviously g*mers need guidance and obviously there are better ways to do it than just dumping a bucket of paint everywhere. Really groundbreaking stuff that apparently people feel the need to endlessly discuss. In summary:

Sorry for the phoneposting.

The place is alright but I dont want to be here. I want to go home so badly. I can't stop thinking about work and going back to normalcy.

I want to stop taking medication and feeling overwelmed by life. I know can't stop suffering, but I can learn to endure it with dignity. My hope is that this journey starts today. When I leave, I must never cut again. That era is over.

So far, I can describe the feeling as uncomfortable. I'm in high care because of the nature of my self harm and I admitted I'm suicidal. Fricked myself over. Never admit to being suicidal to anyone in a uniform or a coat. You're so fricked if you do. Now I'm under observation in a special ward. I get checked on like every half hour.

They wanted a urine sample, which they received. I gave my piss to a cutie lol kinda based. I admitted to weed use prior. I actually have no clue what they'll find. How long does DMT stay in your piss?

They also searched my bag. They found my Steam Deck and let me keep it which means I have a desktop even though laptops aren't allowed

I'm sharing a room with someone who doesn't sleep. You can tell they're manic because they won't shut up, they'll talk endlessly to anyone and everyone. He's like the opposite of me. Tall extrovert male vs small introvert male. He is also talking endlessly about religion.

I'm leaving on Thursday and I don't give a shit what they say. It sucks but I need it so badly. I already feel healing from just being around others. Like a kind of desensitization. Most people here are visibly screwed. Either drug habits or in the throes of mania like my roommate. I only fit in if I pull down my pants. One look at my thighs and it's obvious I belong here. These are my kinfolk.

The food is nice, which is good and the staff is lovely. The constant supervision sucks but it's my fault I admitted I feel suicidal at times. But I am suicidal and I do cut myself, so I'm where I need to be. This is the consequence of honesty.

That's the bottom line, everything happening right now is deserved. I do cut myself,  I am suicidal, and none of this will stop until I just do the sneedful, take my spanking from life, and finally come out the other side. This is the spanking part.

I'm noticing how much benzos took from me. It shut life out, but it also killed - absolutely murdered - my creativity. No more. I just want to create art sober. I don't need weed or benzos. Also, for all you "muh benzo addiction" fellows, I was never addicted and I quit no problem.

Weed was harder to let go of because it's fun. Life is too short to lose hours of it to a fricking pill because you're sad that a stranger said something mean or was rude to you. Just accept the frigging suffering. Life is literally, undoubtedly about suffering and your response to it. That defines who you are.

I'm hoping to learn how to not cut myself and accept when bad shit happens whether it's my fault or not. Old me would be reaching for pills, and new me just takes it on the chin. I want to create art, and I need to forego benzos to do that. Once I leave it's sobriety. No benzoes or weed (might finish the vapes I have left though lol)

It may sound corny but I've been listening to Eminem a lot these days and relate to his life story. He's been sober for over a decade and I believe I can do the same.

Part of thr problem is that I have so many secrets and points of shame. I've decided to take the 8 mile approach. Just expose yourself before anyone else does. Then you can shit on them while they can only repeated what you said. Just admit you're a brainlet if you know you are or if you're fat just own it without being a whiny b-word about it.

So here's a big HECK YEAH IT'S TRUE list

>I'm short and ugly

>I'm a brainlet

>I make bad choices

>I've been a liar

>Women find me physically unattractive

>I've criticized other for porn use then used it too for hours

>I treat women in my life like therapists

>There is nobody to blame for my failed PhD but me - I had a fair shot and I blew it. Plenty of people struggle with supervisors and still get their degrees. The problem is me.

>I write these posts because I want attention and acceptance

>I'm a polydrug addict

>My dad attempted suicide in front of me as a child

>My dad beat and threatened me for a good chunk of my childhood

>I've been rejected before, which is what makes Sarah's rejection worse

>Sarah had good reasons to reject me - I'm nuts

>I dislike women on some level, not hate but close to it

>I wasn't responsible enough for a job in university and pretty much caused a newspaper to shut down because of my incompetence

>I #metoo'd a girl by spanking her butt at a party in university

That's all I can think of now. Now shame me, it's okay. I already did it. What have you done? Lies and secrets man, lies and secrets. Avoid them because they are your biggest problems.

These things dont give me shame anymore, they're just facts. I already know I'm 156cm, insecure, and am ugly. Tell me something new. If you judge me, that says more about you than the opposite.

I've hurt others. For that I apologize. It doesn't make me a bad person. We're all that way. Grey - good and bad. It's a personality flaw to see only one aspect of a human instead of a wholistic view. I can say I love my dad despitr his violence, because he also provided for me. He's grey. I need to do the same for myself when I think about who I am as a person.

Sarah rejecting me isn't what brought me here. It's the straw that broke the camel's back. It's time to move on.

Thanks for reading if you did. Once I'm back home I'll treat my Groomercord buddies with more respect and lean into my art more. This is my life, nobody else's, and it doesn't have to look any specific way, and I sure as heck don't expect it to be easy. I've made my choices and there's no turning back now. I'll make the most of what I have.

We need a black chud wojak, I demand this! @A

Anyways this weekend, some /r/Africa cuck got Bussy-blasted when a Huuwhitoidd Safrican told the chodes of /r/immigration that he wanted to escape the Mayocide from South Africa, this pisses off the denizens of /r/Africa, as this vile lying Mayo is spreading false information about the mother continent.

"In the post, OP made many attempts to create a false narrative about black South Africans so he could gain sympathy from people overseas. I crossposted it, because I believe it is my duty as a black person to step and expose those who would lie about us. I crossposted the post so that many of us could disapprove the false narrative and educate those who don't know better. Based on the comment thread, my plan worked, and OP was exposed for his lies."

NO BRIGADING

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

What u guys think he said? That this filthy spoke lies!!!!

"You telling me that my crosspost got me a warning and was taken down simply because I exposed someone who was literally lying about black people? The 27 year old kid still has his post up. What the heck is this. He can go around lying on reddit about black people, but I am not allowed to even defend black south africans and disapprove his lies."

ALSO

"Edit: Stop hijacking the post to spread false propaganda about black South Africans randomly killing other Africans. Sheesh. Just go create a new post of your own. This right here is a different matter." LMOA

Pan-Africanism! false propaganda about black South Africans randomly killing other Africans!

SOME MORE SNEED IN COMMENTS:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Africa/comments/1ao8g6p/this_is_ridiculous_reddit_allows_spreading_of/kpxl15a/?context=8

"Thanks OP and as a Black South African, I must say we're use to people getting away with all manner of lies about us. If we had to spend our days dispelling every single one, we wouldn't have lives to live. Edit: once again, as can be seen in the comments. It did not take long for someone to lean into the Black South Africans are genocidal and xenophobic trope. "

"No. I am asking you what is the rationale behind fellow Africans that choose to come here. You've asserted that Black South Africans are genocidal and xenophobic savages. If that is known as you've stated it is, why do other Africans come here? Surely no amount of economic migration is worth living in such a perilous landscape."

BECAUSE PLACES LIKE ISLAMIC REGIONS OF NIGERIA AND ZIMBABWE ARE LITERALLY WORSE

BUT NOW WE GETTING TO THE TRULY GALAXY BRAIN AFRIKANS

https://old.reddit.com/r/Africa/comments/1ao8g6p/this_is_ridiculous_reddit_allows_spreading_of/kpy44eq/?context=8

One black Somalian calls out the Afrikkkan circlejerk

"All I have to say is to ask other African immigrants in South Africa, mainly Nigerians or including my people, Somalis. They have been harassed, killed, had their businesses looted, and faced a lot of racism from black South Africans. I don't doubt that the white South African was lying. There are literal video clips showing black South Africans chanting 'Kill and shoot the boer' in large numbers, and that would be terrifying to me if I were a white South African.

And some of you are trying to pass the chant of as a "song" so why are you guys only chanting that part of the song? Are there not any other lyrics??"

THIS ENRAGES THE AFRICAN REGULARS

"Lol so because South Africans are xenophobic they must be killing the white man too, there's no way the white man is lying. Big brains on this one. "

Um yeah ?

CONTEXT IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!!

https://old.reddit.com/r/Africa/comments/1ao8g6p/this_is_ridiculous_reddit_allows_spreading_of/kpy9iv4/?context=8

"Context is important my guy. It's a liberation song because the Boers == literally the white Afrikaans government that controlled land and oppressed people. It's a song rallying against oppression. The EFF themselves said in the context of it's current use the oppressor is the ANC goverment so they are the Boers that they want overthrown. "

"Sigh. Everyday we have to explain this struggle song."

"The title is a metaphor... are figures of speech limited to historically 'white languages'?" THE TITLE IS A METAPHOR YOU PLEBIAN

Fearsome Critters are cryptids that are unique to North American lumberjack folklore that date back to the 20th century. Much like how housewives would tell their children not to walk underneath a ladder least ye' be cursed with bad luck, tall tells of the critters were used to haze newcomers who had come to the frontier for work. An example being the Dungavenhooter that hunts for lumberjacks that drink on the job, "Rum-sodden prey is sought with especial eagerness." Having said that, the critters were more often than not described as comical looking.

Some of the critters are pretty well known, such as Bigfoot and the Jackalope, but most tales of the critters only survive by newspaper clippings and the books written about them, such as:

• Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods by William T. Cox

• Fearsome Critters by Henry H. Tyron

Which is what we'll be taking a look at today. For further reading you can check out the America's Fearsome Creatures by Aoty, The Fearsome Critter Database by the Lumberwoods Unnatural History Musume., The Fearsome Critter page at the Cryptid Wiki and the Book Of Creatures Blog.

THE GUMBEROO

(Megalogaster repercussus.)

In the foggy region along the Pacific Coast from Grays Harbor to Humboldt Bay there ranges a kind of creature that has caused much annoyance in the lumber woods. This is the gumberoo, which, luckily, is so rare that only once in a great while is one seen. It is believed to remain in hiding most of the time in the base of enormous, burned-out cedar trees, from where it sallies forth occasionally on frightful marauding expeditions. During these periods of activity the beast is always hungry and devours anything it can find that looks like food. A whole horse may be eaten at one sitting, distending the gumberoo out of all proportions, but failing to appease its hunger or cause it the slightest discomfort.

The specimens seen are reported to have been coal black, but that may have been due to their being smirched with the charred wood. In size the beast corresponds closely to a black bear, for which it might be mistaken only for the fact that the gumberoo is almost hairless. To be sure, it has prominent eyebrows and some long, bristly hairs on its chin, but the body is smooth, tough, and shiny and bears not even a wrinkle. The animal is a tireless traveler when looking for food, but is not swift in its movements or annoyed in the slightest degree by the presence of enemies. The latter characteristic is easily accounted for by the fact that no other animal within its range has ever found a successful method of attacking a gumberoo or a vulnerable spot in one's anatomy. Whatever strikes the beast bounds off with the same force. Its elastic hide hurls back with equal ease the charging elk and the wrathy hornet. A rock or peavey thrown at the creature bounds back at whoever threw it, and a bullet shot against its hide is sure to strike the hunter between the eyes.

It is believed that the scarcity of gumberoos is due to their combustible character and the prevalence of forest fires. The animal burns like celluloid, with explosive force. Frequently during and after a forest fire in the heavy cedar near Coos Bay woodmen have insisted that they heard loud reports quite unlike the sound of falling trees, and detected the smell of burning rubber in the air.

THE SNOLIGOSTER

(Dorsohastatus caudirotula.)

In the cypress swamps of the South, and particularly in the region about Lake Okechobee, Florida, woodmen tell of a strange and dangerous animal known as the snoligoster. This creature is of enormous proportions and is credited with a voracious appetite. Worst of all, its appetite is only appeased by the eating of human beings. In form the snoligoster resembles a huge crocodile, but it is covered with long, glossy fur and has no legs or fins, except one long spike on its back. A person naturally wonders how such an animal can manage to travel through the water and mud of the swamp region where it lives, but nature has provided it with a means for driving itself along. On the end of its tail are three bony plates much resembling the propeller on a steamboat. These revolve at a terrific rate, driving the animal like a torpedo boat through mud. They serve other purposes as well, for when a snoligoster catches an unfortunate pickaninny, or even a fullgrown negro, upon which it delights to feed, it tosses the victim up and backward so as to impale him upon the spike fin, where several may be carried until sufficient for a meal have been collected. The snoligoster's tail is then driven into the mud and revolved until a hole is scooped out and the victims scraped off the spike and tossed in, whereupon the snoligoster beats them into batter with its rapidly revolving propeller and inhales them.

Mr. Inman F. Eldredge, of De Funiak Springs, Flordia, while hunting for an outlaw negro in the swamps, had a most unusual experience. He caught sight of the negro, dead and impaled upon what at first appeared to be a slender cypress knee, but which presently began to move away. It was then seen to be the spike on a snoligoster's back. Eldredge's first impulse was to shoot the strange beast, but upon second thought he concluded that it was doing a good work and was entitled to live on. The very report of such a creature inhabiting the swamps would deter evil-doers from venturing into these wild places to avoid their pursuers and escape justice.

THE LEPROCAUN

(Simiidiabolus hibernicus horribillis.)

During the early days of Upper Canada, before it became the Providence of Ontario, there were brought into a logging camp on the Madawaska River several young leprocauns from the north of Ireland. This animal was even then rare and has since become extinct in its native land. It is said that during the last famine hungry Irishmen killed and ate the few remaining specimens of this queer beast.

On its native bogs the leprocaun was a harmless creature, celebrated for its playfulness and laughable antics. It would hop across the bogs, turn somersaults, and leap over hillocks with wondrous agility. A favorite trick was to bore into a pile of drying peat and then, with a sudden spring, send the clods of peat high in the air till the commotion looked like a young cyclone. These antics were all right enough in Ireland, but when the animal was brought to Canada its disposition changed at once. The pets on the Madawaska escape into nearby tamarack swamps, increasing and spreading until an occasional one was seen on the upper Ottawa and even over in northern Michigan. Sneaking through the tamarack and cedar , or leaping across the muskegs after whatever appealed to it as food, the leprocaun became a creature to be feared and avoided. Teamsters toting supplies across swamp roads have been attacked by the animal, which would bound clear over the load, snapping its teeth at the driver and reaching for him with its villainous claws. Hasty flight to thick timber, leaving the team to its fate, was the only choice of the driver, who thanked his stars that in running through tangled tamarack even the leprocaun is no match for a frightened man.

THE SLIDE-ROCK BOLTER

(Macrostoma saxiperrumptus.)

In the mountains of Colorado, where in summer the woods are becoming infested with tourists, much uneasiness has been caused by the presence of the slide-rock bolter. This frightful animal lives only in the steepest mountain country where the slopes are greater than 45 degrees. It has an immense head, with small eyes, and a mouth somewhat on the order of a sculpin, running back beyond its ears. The tail consist of a divided flipper, with enormous grab-hooks, which it fastens over the crest of the mountain or ridge, often remaining there motionless for days at a time, watching the gulch for tourists or any other hapless creature that may enter it. At the right moment, after sighting a tourist, it will lift its tail, thus loosening its hold on the mountain, and with its small eyes riveted on the poor unfortunate, and drooling thin skid grease from the corners of its mouth, which greatly accelerates its speed, the bolter comes down like a toboggan, scooping in its victim as it goes, its own impetus carrying it up the next slope, where it again slaps its tail over the ridge and waits. Whole parties of tourists are reported to have been gulped at one scoop by taking parties far back into the hills. The animals is a menace not only to tourist but to the woods as well. Many a draw through spruce-covered slopes has been laid low, the trees being knocked out by the roots or mowed off as by a scythe where the bolter has crashed down through from the peaks above.

A forest ranger, whose district includes the rough county between Ophir Peaks and the Lizzard Head, conceived the bold idea of decoying a slide-rock bolter to its own destruction. A dummy tourist was rigged up with plaid Norfolk jacket, knee breeches, and a guide book to Colorado. It was then filled full of giant powder and fulminate caps and posted in a conspicuous place, where, sure enough, the next day it attracted the attention of a bolter which had been hanging for days on the slope of Lizzard Head. The resulting explosion flattened half the buildings in Rico, which were never rebuilt, and the surrounding hills fattened flocks of buzzards the rest of the summer.

This one's my favorite critter.

THE WHIRLING WHIMPUS

(Turbinoccissus nebuloides.)

Occasionally it happens that inexperienced hunters and others wandering in the woods disappear completely. Guides are unable to locate them, and all kinds of theories are offered to explain the disappearances.

From the hardwood forests of the Cumberland Mountains, Tennessee, comes the rumor of an animal called the whirling whimpus, the existence of which may throw some light upon the fate of those who fail to come back to camp. According to woodsmen who have been “looking” timber in eastern Tennessee, the whimpus is a blood-thirsty creature of no mean proportions. It has a gorilla-shaped head and body and enormous front feet. Its unique method of obtaining food is to station itself upon a trail, generally at a bend in the trail, where it stands on its diminutive hind legs and whirls. The speed is increased until the animal is invisible, and the motion produces a strange droning sound, seeming to come from trees overhead. Any creature coming along the trail and not recognizing the sound is almost certain to walk into the danger zone and become instantly deposited in the form of syrup or varnish upon the huge paws of the whimpus.

THE AGROPELTER

(Anthrocephalus craniofractens.)

Leading a vengeful existence, resenting the intrusion of the logger, the agropelter deals misery to the lumber jack from Maine to Oregon. Ill fares the man who attempts to pass a hollow tree in which one of these creatures has taken up its temporary abode. The unfortunate is usually found smashed or pinned by a dead branch and reported as having been killed by a falling limb. So unerring is the aim of the argropelter that despite diligent search I have been unable to locate more than one man who has been the target for one of their missiles and yet survived to describe the beast. This is Big Ole Kittleson, who, upon a certain occasion, when cruising timber on the upper St. Croix, was knocked down by a partly rotten limb thrown by an argropelter. This limb was so punky that it shattered on Ole's head, and he had time to observe the rascally beast before it bounded from the tree and whisked itself off through the woods.

According to Ole, the animal has a slender, wiry body, the villainous face of an ape, and arms like muscular whiplashes, with which it can snap off dead branches and hurl them through the air like shells from a six-inch gun. It is supposed to feed upon hoot owls and woodpeckers, the scarcity of which will always prevent the argropelter from becoming numerous in any locality

THE SPLINTER CAT

(Felynx arbordiffisus.)

A widely distributed and frightfully destructive animal is the splinter cat. It is found from the Great Lakes to the Gulf, and eastward to the Atlantic Ocean, but in the Rocky Mountains has been reported from only a few localities. Apparently the splinter cat inhabits that part of the country in which wild bees and raccoons abound. These are its natural food, and the animal puts in every dark and stormy night shattering trees in search of coons or honey. It doesn't use any judgement in selecting coon trees or bee trees, but just smashes one tree after another until a hollow one containing food is found. The method used by this animal in its destructive work is simple but effective. It climbs one tree, and from the uppermost branches bounds down and across toward the tree it wishes to destroy. Striking squarely with its hard face, the splinter cat passes right on, leaving the tree broken and shattered as though struck by lightning or snapped off by the wind. Appalling destruction has been wrought by this animal in the Gulf States, where its work in the shape of a wrecked forest is often ascribed to windstorms.

THE CENTRAL AMERICAN WHINTOSSER

(Cephalovertens semperambulatus.)

In the spring of 1906 there appeared suddenly in the Coast Ranges of California an uncanny animal from the region of the Isthmus. It is not a large beast, but what it lacks in size it makes up in meanness of disposition. None of the lumber jacks who have met a whintosser on trail or tote road care to have the experience repeated. The Central American whintosser is always looking for trouble or making it. In fact the beast seems to be constructed for the purpose of passing through unusual experiences. Its head is fastened to its body by a swivel neck ; so is its short, tampering tail ; and both can be spun around at the rate of a hundred revolutions a minute. The body is long and triangular, with three complete sets of legs ; this is a great convenience in an earthquake country, since the animal is not disturbed by any convulsions of the earth. If the floor suddenly becomes the ceiling it does not matter, for the whintosser is always there with the legs. Its hair is bristly, and all slants forward at a sharp angle. It has been found that a cat's nine lives are as nothing to the one possessed by a whintosser. This animal may be shot, clubbed, or strung on a pike pole without stopping the wriggling, whirling motions or the screams of rage. The only successful way of killing the beast is to poke it into a flume pipe so that all its feet strike the surface, when it Immediately starts to walk in three different directions at once and tears itself apart. John Gray, of Anadar, Trinity County, California, knows where a pair of whintossers live in some broken-up country along Mad River.

THE TRIPODERO

(Collapsofemuris geocatapeltes.)

The chaparral and foothill forests of California contain many queer freaks of one kind and another. One of the strangest and least known is the tripodero, and animal with two contractile or telescopic legs and a tail like a kangaroo's. This peculiarity in structure enables the animal to elevate itself at will, so that it may tower above the chaparral, or, if it chooses, to pull in its legs and present a compact form for crowding through the brush. The tripodero's body is not large but is solidly built, and its head is nearly all snout, the value of which is seen in the method by which food is obtain. As the animal travels through the brush-covered country it elongates its legs from time to time, thus shoving itself up above the brush for purposes of observation. If it sights game within a range of ten rods it takes aim with its snout and tilts itself until the right elevation is obtained, then with astonishing force blows a sundried quid of clay, knocking its victim senseless. (A supply of these quids is always carried in the left jaw.) The tripodero then contracts its legs and bores its way through the brush to its victim, where it stays until the last bone is cracked and eaten.

THE COME-AT-A-BODY

(Quadrupes inprovisus)

Reported by Mr. B.B. Bickford of Gorham, N.H. Not found outside the White Mountains. A short, stubby, rather small animal resembling a Woodchuck but having very soft, velvety, kitten-like, fur. Harmless, but surprising. Has the terrifying habit of suddenly rushing directly at you from the brush, then stopping only a few inches away and spitting like a cat. A strong mink-like scent is thrown and the Come-at-a-Body rushes away.

THE DUNGAVENHOOTER*

(Crocodilus hauriens)

Formerly quite common from Maine to Michigan. Today only occasionally met with on the Upper Peninsula of the latter state.

A marsh-dweller, dangerous to human beings. Shaped a good deal like an alligator, but curious as to equipment in that he has no mouth. The nostrils are abnormally large, the legs short and the tail thick and powerful. The only cry is a loud snort.

Concealing itself with Satanic cunning behind a whiffle bush, the Dungavenhooter awaits the passing logger. On coming within reach of the dreadful tail, the victim is knocked senseless and then pounded steadily until he becomes entirely gaseous, whereat he is greedily inhaled through the wide nostrils.

Rum-sodden prey is sought with especial eagerness.

*Not to be confused with the New Brunswicker ghost legend, the “Dungarvon Whooper.

THE HIDEBEHIND

(Ursus dissimulans)

A highly dangerous animal, but, owing to its intense aversion to the odor of alcohol, never known to attack an inebriate. One bottle of Uno beer has been proven to be a complete safeguard even in thickly infested country.

A biggish beast, standing about six feet and walking erect. The slender body makes it possible to hide completely behind the bole of a ten inch tree. The pelt is long thick, and black, and the tail is carried recurved. Looks like a French sheepdog's. Almost impossible to tell whether the critter is going or coming, and practically hopeless to locate its face—if any. The short, well-muscled forelegs are equipped with grizzly-like claws.

Its food is chiefly intestines. Leaping from its hiding-place with a demoniacal laugh, it swiftly disembowels its victim with one swipe. Sometimes the fiendish howl frightens the prey to death before the blow falls.

The Hidebehind is never found in the open. He always conceals himself behind a tree trunk. His marvelously quick, stealthy gait makes it possible for him to stay constantly behind his prey, no matter how quickly the suspicious victim may spin about in the hope of glimpsing the marauder. The beast can go seven years without eating.

I like that with the Dungavenhooter we learn to not drink on the job, but with the HIdebehind we need to be wasted to safely travel the wooded trail.

THE HODAG

(Deformis corniger lacrimans)

Reported in Maine many years past, and in 1895 captured and positively identified near Rhinelander, Wisconsin, by Mr. E. S. Shepard, the Hodag is indubitably one of the best-known of the larger and more dangerous woods varmints. It is now very rare, probably owing to the increased use of lemons in cookery, for Hodags and citrus fruits are in the same ratio as wolves and wolfbane—probably more so.

A distressingly ugly animal. The knobbledy head wears a pair of prominent, bulging eyes and two heavy lateral horns something after the fashion of a male stag-beetle. The claws are stout and powerful, the tail carries a terminal hook, while a row of jagged, stegosaurian dorsal spines complete the picture. The smaller front teeth were formerly often used for umbrella handles.

The Hodag is fully aware of his upsetting appearance, and is given to frequent fits of bitter weeping. I once had a handful of the extremely rare crystallized Hodag tears, but an acquisitive lady friend collected them, believing them to be fine amber. She had them strung into a neck-yoke—and then went and spilled a Tom Collins on herself. Of course the lemon juice dissolved them instantly.

This fellow can't endure being laughed at. When angry, he is fierce and dangerously aggressive. But a pair of lemons is ample protection against a whole herd.

>This fellow can't endure being laughed at. When angry, he is fierce and dangerously aggressive.

Reminds you of someone, don't it?

THE HOOP SNAKE

(Serpenscirculousus caudavenenifer)

A well-known menace. Its existence is thoroughly established by numerous reports from highly creditable parties. The characteristics appear to be about the same in all regions. Its habit of tucking its tail in its mouth and rolling at incredible speed in pursuit of its prey, or a fancied enemy, is not duplicated fortunately, by any other member of the animal kingdom.

The tail ends in a stinger carrying venom of such power that a dose of but 0.003 p.p.m.* is sufficient to make even the leather-skinned Hodag turn green and swell up and die inside of an hour. No wonder that folks wise in woods lore are wary of this circular engine of destruction. He may travel on just one cylinder but that's all he needs.

The speed reached in rolling is nothing short of remarkable. A full grown jack-rabbit is pie for this Snake. A mature Snake, when hooped, has a diameter of 1.5923 feet. He has been clocked, after being enticed on to a cleverly designed rolling metered platform at an r.p.m. of about 1056, or a straightaway speed of some 60 m.p.h. The only way to outrun him is to climb over a fence. The Snake must unhoop to get through.

There are many authentic cases of death from this reptile's venom; possibly the most convincing bit of data is that, in a fit of pique, a Hoop Snake stung one of Paul Bunyan's peavy handles. Of course this handle was a sizeable stick to start with, but the venom swelled it to such dimensions that Paul cut it up into 946 cords of wood. And then the dang stuff wouldn't burn. Just lay in the stove and hissed.

*: Parts per million.

THE LUFERLANG

(Spinacaerulea tresarticulosus)

A dangerous fellow to meet up with. Very likely to attack without any provocation. Bites but once a year, but the bite is sure death.

Certain unique features make it easy, however, to identify the animal. A dark blue stripe down the spine, a bushy, swivel-jointed tail set in the middle of the back (this appendage is most useful in keeping off the flies) and all four legs triple-jointed are what the traveler should look for. These legs make it possible for the Luferlang to run equally fast in all directions. In case of an attack, the victim should suddenly hold a large mirror up beside himself. The double image will so confuse the beast that he will rush off in disgust.

The biting season usually occurs on July 12. An orange-colored handkerchief conspicuously displayed will invariably afford full protection. Green clothing of any shade should be studiously avoided at this season, as it serves to arouse the animal further.

Wait a minute...

THE TREE-SQUEAK

(Arborexusta stridens)

Some folks will claim that the mating call of the Treesqueak is just a dry tree lodged in a “school marm.“ But we old boys know better. The sound is made by an untrustworthy animal still quite common in the North Woods. Built something like a weasel, and with the same nice, friendly disposition he is chameleon-like, and can wrap himself around a tree-trunk and match the bark exactly.

He is sometimes aggressive, but only after a long, dry spell. Has a variety of calls; a whine like a panther, a squeal like a young pig, and sometimes a roar like a bunch of cannon crackers at a shotgun wedding. Look out for him on windy days along towards sundown.

THE WHIFFENPOOF

(Sometimes called the Gilli-Galoo Fish)

(Piscisabsurdus tumescens)

A tasty fish, found only in perfectly round lakes. Hence quite rare. To catch him, row to the exact center of the lake, using the hogyoke to determine position, and bore a square hole in the water. Bait the edge of this hole with a bit of cheese, preferably Brie, Stilton, Liederkranz, or best of all; Limburger. The Whiffenpoof will quickly scent the bait and come for it. When he emerges, spit tobacco-juice in his eye. This will make him so swell with rage that he won't be able to withdraw into the hole, and you can easily net him.

THE SNIPE

(Scolopax inexplicabilis)

A common bird, occasionally seen, but never yet caught. Legions of sharp-eyed young foresters, engineers, cruisers, cookees, rodmen and hard-rock apprentices have made repeated, careful, and valiant attempts to corral one, but notwithstanding the bushels of careful advice and instruction handed out by the older hands in the party, success has not yet been attained. Seldom does the seasoned woodsman make the attempt; he is probably too discouraged to try again. > But he is often willing to travel along with the hunting party just to see what happens, or perhaps to offer an occasional word of advice.

Many years ago I was taken on a snipe hunt and was able to get a good look at one bird which strayed near the bag I was so carefully holding. I couldn't get my hands on the little fellow, but I did have time to study him a bit, and I find that my observations tally very closely with a detailed report received from Mr. > Howard S. Gardner. Here's the summary.

A bird of marvelous coloration: green, blues, pinks, and here and there the glint of gold. Wears both fur and feathers, with the fur side inside, like Mudjekeewis.* Stands erect, about 17 cm high on two legs, but has a third auxiliary slightly aft, for use either as a stabilizer or as a starting mechanism. Lacking this additional leg, permanent unstable equilibrium would result. The eyes are fired with a constant, sulphurous glow, occasionally emitting small showers of sparks. One pupil is vertical, one horizontal, and winking is done alternately, keeping the Snipe constantly alert. His sharply hooked little beak is mounted on a bull-wheel base like a steam shovel, making possible the capture of insects without turning the head.

All in all, a most interesting and elusive animal. The fur-and-feathers combination makes the ideal protective coat for the natural marshy habitat. When the Snipe is swimming, the ridged feathers fold back, forming a perfectly smooth outer surface which reduces skin friction to a minimum. With the fur inside, the Snipe possesses a waterproof, fur-lined overcoat.

*: Figure of Ojibwe legends.

THE DUCK-FOOTED DUM-DUM

(Ventertympanum coxi)

“Not much fish in the lake this summer,” said the old guide sadly, as he rowed with his party across the sun-flecked water where the glistening fish were supposed to be waiting hungrilly for some one to offer them bait.

“What's the matter?” asked the “chap from the city,” on his first trip into the Big Woods.

“Those know-it-all game wardens scared the duck-footed dum-dum away, that's what. Ever see a dum-dum? Funny animal. Comes around every spring. He has two tails like bass-drum sticks and swings them like lightning, beating on the tight drum-like skin on his back.”

“Well, when the fish hear this they all flock near the shore in shallow water and lay their eggs. They wouldn't know it was spawning season if they didn't hear the dum-dum. Then after they lay their eggs they go away and the dum-dum keeps watch until all the little fish are hatched out.”

“So you see when those pesky game wardens come spying around and scare off the dum-dum, we don't get any fish.” And the guide pulled glumly at his little black pipe.

This lil' guy is actually from the Yarns of the Big Woods book but I just had to include him.

Well folks that's it for now, but again I stress that this was just some of the critters. If you want to read more about these weird monsters than be sure to check out the links provided above.

I'm cheap, and so I'm always on the lookout for games on the cheap. I thought I might as well make a post cataloging all the games that peaked my interest and if they are worth buying atm or not. If people find this useful I might make this a semi-regular occurrence.

Humble Bundle:

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/mindbending-masterpieces

The $10 selection ain't bad, Talos Principle, and The Pedestrian are both great, and The Witness and Superliminal are worth playing even if they have problems. If you like 1st person spatial puzzle games, this bundle is a pretty nice selection of some good ones for a cheap price. Manifold Garden is nice to look at, but pretty forgettable and easy af, it doesn't add any value to this bundle.

The $15 selection is not nearly as compelling, of the 2 games added (Patrick's Parabox and Taiji), only Patrick's Parabox adds value, and I'm not sure it's enough of a deal at $5 extra.

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/mega-man-franchise-pack

Full disclosure, some of these games have the r-slurred DRM Capcom decided to add that broke the games on the Steam Deck, I'm not sure this was fixed so if DRM bothers you, skip this bundle I suppose. That being said, if you have any interest in Mega Man, this is a pretty good bundle.

The $2 bundle is only worth considering if you plan to buy Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection immediately, as the 50% coupon expires March 6th and 50% isn't some amazing deal for the collection. It includes Mega Man Legacy Collection but the other levels of the bundle are better if you have any interest in this. This level also includes a 34% off coupon for MEGA MAN X DiVE, I don't know if that is a good deal, doesn't seem like it.

The $10 level is much better, it adds Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 and Mega Man X Legacy Collection which are absolutely worth the extra $8.

The $20 level is worth it if you are a hardcore fan of Mega Man, I've heard Mega Man 11 is good, that alongside Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 and Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection means you get a lot of extra games for only $10 more.

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/controllerd-chaos

This bundle is less of a deal, the $10 bundle is only worth getting if you want both Sunset Overdrive and Destroy All Humans! as both combined only get as cheap as $12.75 on Steam. Both games are good, but have a love it or hate it type of writing that can be annoying. This level of the bundle also has Rain on Your Parade and Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered, but neither add value to this bundle imo.

The $14 level adds Maneater and Orcs Must Die! 3 - Complete Edition both games that took exclusivity deals and got memory-holed because of it. It also adds No More Heroes but the port sucks and the game didn't age well. This level of the bundle is an easy skip.

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/exceptional-indie-allies

This $10 bundle is only worth looking at if you want to buy APICO as the game costs $10 on sale anyway and you might as well get these other games even if they are mid at best. The other games (Endling - Extinction is Forever, Norco, Wytchwood, Mutazione, Not For Broadcast, and One Step From Eden) are not worth discussing.

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/with-soulslike-these-you-need-enemies

In such a packed genre as Soulslikes, these games are all forgettable and mid regardless if you buy the $7 or $15 level of the bundle. Clash: Artifacts of Chaos, Stray Blade, Remnant: From The Ashes, Strayed Lights, Tails Of Iron, Arboria, Hellpoint, Remnant: From the Ashes - Subject 2923 DLC - 70% off Coupon, and Remnant: From the Ashes - Swamps of Corsus DLC - 70% off Coupon are what's included.

Humble Bundle also has a discount on it's store (not bundles) if you are a Humble Choice subscriber ($12 a month), that may or may not be worth it for you. This month's choice is pretty poor though, so I'm not factoring those prices in when comparing to other store fronts.

Fanatical:

DO NOT BUY: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mystery-star-bundle Fanatical always has these mystery key deals, they are always a waste of money and time. Fanatical is great, but these are a complete rip-off, avoid.

Fanatical often has 5% off coupons when you make a purchase during a sale (including this one!), a valid approach is to buy something cheap and use that coupon on everything else you want to maximize savings. They also have something they are calling this time Lunar Sale Red Envelopes, you get one for every purchase you make that's $12 or more. Thus the smart play is to make as many purchases just over $12 as possible to get as many of these as you want, and using each purchases' 5% off coupon on the next order. These things often contain games that are meh, but sometimes you can get something nice so it's worth doing this strat to see if you get anything good.

Fanatical also has "Pick and Mix" which are basically pick what you want bundles, these are often really good and I'll mark them with this:

https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/batman-arkham-collection this collection is almost always available and always the best way to buy all these games. If you have any interest in Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY, Batman: Arkham City GOTY, and Batman: Arkham Knight Premium Edition this is how I suggest you buy them.

[EXPIRED, don't worry, this sale pops up pretty often] https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/rimworld-with-all-expansions this deal is almost always available, it's Rimworld with all the DLC in one $79.96 bundle. This is the cheapest way to get these games legit, so if you want to buy Rimworld this is how I suggest you do so. Make sure to use the 5% off coupon for even more savings. You can also buy the DLC or the base game a la carte for the cheapest price I'm aware of. This deal might not sound great, but the game basically never goes on sale elsewhere, so this is actually pretty good.

https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/safe-in-our-world-charity-bundle-2024 this bundle has a bunch of random games that are not worth talking about, it also has Vampire Survivors but that game is $5 normally and this bundle is $15 so... This bundle is only worth getting if you just want to pad out your Steam library, otherwise skip. The games are (at time of this post, keys can run out): OlliOlli World, Vampire Survivors, Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector, GYLT, Mask of the Rose, Zool Redimensioned, Kao the Kangaroo (2000 re-release), My Friend Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol: On A Roll!, Gigantosaurus: Dino Kart, Arcade Paradise, Say No! More, qomp, Akka Arrh, Caverns of Mars: Recharged, Centipede: Recharged, Breakout: Recharged, Mr. Run and Jump, Stick Fight: The Game, Filthy Animals | Heist Simulator, Kitaria Fables, Stirring Abyss, Homestead Arcana, Calico, Minute of Islands, and Mechs & Mercs: Black Talons.

https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/star-wars-collection this collection is almost always available, it's a bunch of old Star Wars games for $20.99. If you don't have these games from some earlier bundle or deal, this is a good way to buy them. These games can have trouble running on newer PCs, so check reviews first for any games you are interested in. The games included are: Stars Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, Stars Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Stars Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, Stars Wars Republic Commando, Stars Wars Starfighter, Stars Wars The Clone Wars : Republic Heroes, Stars Wars The Force Unleashed : Ultimate Sith Edition, Stars Wars The Force Unleashed II, Stars Wars : Dark Forces, Stars Wars : Knights of the Old Republic, Stars Wars Empire at War: Gold Pack, Stars Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, and Star Wars Battlefront II (Classic) (the good one lol).

https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-relentless-bundle This bundle has Graveyard Keeper, Human Fall Flat, and The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante, these games are worth looking at for a total of $5. The other games are worth skipping, but are For The King, Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered, Bosorka (low stock!), Neighbours back From Heck, Black Book, WizardChess, Void Scrappers, Fates of Ort, Neverinth, Jetstream, Chicken Police - Paint it RED!, Blind Fate: Edo no Yami, SEARCH PARTY: Director's Cut, and The Horror Of Salazar House.

https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/capcom-collection-build-your-own-bundle Skip this bundle, the only game worth mentioning is Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen and that often goes for $4.79 and this bundle has a minimum of $10.

https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/platinum-collection-build-your-own-bundle each month Fanatical has a new Platinum bundle and this one is pretty poor. The only game worth mentioning is Luck be a Landlord but that game often shows up in these bundles and you need to get at least 3 games for this bundle. Skip.

https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-shooter-bundle This bundle on the other hand is great if you like older boomer shooters. Chop Goblins, DUSK, QUAKE, Ziggurat, Doom 64, Wolfenstein 3D, and Return to Castle Wolfenstein are the standouts, but this bundle also has AMID EVIL, Zombie Army Trilogy, RAGE, Anomalous, Hard Reset Redux & Pathologic Classic HD Double Pack (Pathologic is a real love or hate kinda game, worth looking at either way), The Citadel, Viscerafest, Super Buff HD, Golden Light, Splatter - Zombiecalypse Now, The Hong Kong Massacre, and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD.

https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-retro-bundle this bundle shows up every sale. It's a bunch of really old niche games for dirt cheap. If you know you want these, go for it, otherwise skip.

https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-exodus-bundle a grab bag of various games for cheap with a minimum of 2 games. Metro Exodus Gold Edition is the price of the base game at it's lowest but also includes the DLC, Iron Harvest - Deluxe Edition is a neat game premise that fell flat on it's face and is in no way worth it's normal price but might be worth $6 if you like RTSs. Pathfinder: Kingmaker Imperial Edition is a great buy, costing only $2 more than what the base game often goes for but also has all the DLC. The other games; Afterimage, Tails of Iron, Martha is Dead, Heaven Dust 2, Crossfire: Legion, Kraken Academy!!, Tin Hearts, Call of the Sea, The Last Oricru (low stock!), and Gungrave G.O.R.E (Out of stock, may restock) are safe to skip.

Ok that's all the bundles, here are the a la carte games:

Persona 5 Royal for $26.99 is a great price, the all time low on Steam is $30 and the game is absolutely worth $27. This game is one of the few Atlus titles that doesn't have DLC as it is pretty much a standalone base-game+expansion of OG Persona 5 and even includes the OGs DLC.

Persona 5 Strikers is a sequel of Persona 5 (not Royal, this makes sense once you play Persona 5 Royal) even though it's a different genre, so be aware of that if you care about story. $16.49 for the Standard edition and $19.24 for the Deluxe edition is a great buy if you want more Persona 5. The Deluxe edition has an in-game legacy BGM, the OST, a digital art book, and a behind the scenes video, whether that's worth $2.75 is up to you. Personally I always buy the upgraded version when these games are so discounted because I like to put the soundtrack onto my phone and enjoy the uncompressed versions, but that's your call.

Persona 5 Tactica Avoid! For $34.79 standard and $46.39 deluxe, you want to wait for this game to get way cheaper. You can safely skip this game if you don't like Persona, and even if you are a fan this is one of the worst values Atlus has released. I suggest waiting for this game to hit $25.

Many Yakuza and Like a Dragon Gaiden games are on sale. The older games are a great price and worth picking up if you don't have them already. Specifically I suggest buying Yakuza 0 for $6.29 to see if you like the series. Yakuza Kiwami 1 & 2 are not on sale and dated, so you might want to skip them, , or wait for a different sale for those two. After you have experienced the first 3 games (or skipped 1 & 2), you can buy Yakuza 3 Remastered, Yakuza 4 Remastered, Yakuza 5 Remastered, and Yakuza 6: The Song of Life for $6.29 each. If you want even more or want to start with newer titles you can buy Yakuza: Like a Dragon ($10.29 standard, $12.59 hero, and $16.19 legendary hero) or Like a Dragon: Ishin! ($29.39 standard, $31.49 deluxe). Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Judgment, and Lost Judgment are not cheap enough yet for me to recommend them, wait to buy those.

Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster is available for $13.79 which is the price such an old game should be imo. The Steam version is a bit more than a dollar more, and I mention that because you might want to refund this game as it's pretty frustrating for many players. You either love it or hate it, and being able to refund might be worth the $1.25. You can also get the deluxe version for $19.24 and pretty much just adds Dante, which memes aside isn't worth the extra $5.50.

Persona 3 Portable for $11.59 is worth considering. Persona 3 Reload just released but it doesn't let you play as the Portable exclusive female main character and costs $70. So if you want the complete story and gameplay and graphics don't matter, this is worth looking at. Just be aware this game did not age well and there is a good reason people bought Reload.

Persona 4 Golden is considered by many to be the best Persona game, and for $11.59 that's an insane deal. If you are interested in Atlus games in general, this is a great cheap entry point. If you have only played 5, this is also worth playing even though it doesn't have all the QoL features 5 and 3 Reload have. The deluxe version is $14.49 which includes the digital artbook and soundtrack, your call if that's worth $2.90.

Soul Hackers 2 is a deeply flawed game, but some people like it for being different from most modern Atlus games, so ymmv. The base game is $16.49, deluxe is $19.24, and premium is $24.74. Deluxe adds some story stuff, and premium adds a maid outfit , an exclusive Jack Frost variant, some costumes, and some demons. The deluxe version is probably worth the extra $2.25, but the premium version doesn't seem worth it for another $5.50.

Total War: THREE KINGDOMS is the Total War game that turned basically the entire country of China against Creative Assembly. However if you have an interest in the Three Kingdoms mythos, this game is worth checking out for only $18.59. The DLC is also on sale and not included, so if you want to add more stuff, check out The Furious Wild, A World Betrayed, Mandate of Heaven, Yellow Turban Rebellion, Eight Princes, and Fates Divided. Don't buy Reign of Blood the DLC is a joke, it's not on sale and it just adds blood for $3, that's it.

Two Point Hospital is a fantastic deal at $5.39, a wonderful successor to Theme Hospital. This game has a sharp difficulty curve in the 3rd zone and is underrated as a result, if you don't suck at these types of games it's really fun. The DLC are all on sale for $4.04 each, they all add 3 levels each and are meant to be played after the base game or at least after 9 levels, so if you aren't that far yet you probably want to hold off on the DLC.

Etrian Odyssey I HD, Etrian Odyssey II HD, Etrian Odyssey II HD are on sale for $17.99 each. Honestly a bad deal considering how old these are, but if you really like dungeon crawler games, these are some of the best ones on PC.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is $6.74 and is a fine version of the 2 games for singleplayer. Multiplayer is dead because the netcode is trash, so skip if that's what you're looking for.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a great entry point to Super Monkey Ball for $8.24, might not be a perfect collection, but way easier to get into than the OG games imo. The deluxe version is $10.99 and adds some characters (SEGA consoles), the OG soundtrack, and skins (for the main cast).

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD meanwhile is an abortive failure, avoid. Especially since it's $5.39 and you can get the actually good game for just a bit more.

Hi-Fi Rush is a pretty good, if short (10-15 hours), rhythm action game for $16.79 or $20.79 (for the deluxe, which just adds skins). I suggest picking it up for this price if you really like rhythm games, otherwise I would wait for an even deeper discount.

SteamWorld Build sucks and is not as good as other games in the series, the fact it costs $22.49 makes this an easy skip.

SteamWorld Dig is a simple, but actually pretty fun game about digging. This game doesn't have the same depth as the other games in the series, but it's worth looking at for $2.49.

SteamWorld Dig 2 is way better and a much better realized game imo, for $6.99 this is pretty easy to recommend.

SteamWorld Heist is not sold by Fanatical and isn't on sale, but the DLC is for $2.24. It adds some new story that's worth buying if you have the base game and played Dig 2.

SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech is a singleplayer card battling RPG that has some flaws, but pretty fun regardless. I don't know if it's worth $8.74, but if you really like this series or singleplayer card battlers that aren't roguelites, check it out.

ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON is one of the best mech games ever made. If you like mech games but just couldn't stomach $60, at $37.49 ($43.74 for deluxe) now is the time to buy. Deluxe adds a digital artbook and the soundtrack. If you are new to mech games, you might want to wait for a cheaper price, as this game isn't for everyone and will probably drop further in a few years.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition are $6.99 and $14.49 if you don't own Skyrim yet for some ungodly reason (Todd is displeased , buy one of these before it's too late). Anniversary doesn't add enough to be worth the upgrade, mods that are built for AE should work on SE as well. Though you might want to buy Anniversary just to have everything (assuming we don't get another version of Skyrim).

Hogwarts Legacy is $31.49 if for some reason you didn't buy it to piss off Redditors yet. The digital deluxe is $36.74 and adds some cosmetics and a mount, not worth it unless you really like Harry Potter (but you probably already have the game lol). The game was $30 this last Winter Sale, but is normally on sale for $36.

STARFIELD is $41.99 but you would have to be r-slurred to buy it even for that price. Avoid. If you are lobotomized, the premium version is $64.99.

DARK SOULS REMASTERED is $17.99, worth it if you have never played it before. It might be dated, and have a meh PC port, but there is something to be said about the OG (Demon's Souls doesn't count). This is about as cheap as it's ever going to get I reckon, so no reason to wait.

DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin the black sheep in the series is also $17.99. This game is pretty different from all the others, and thus is many peoples least favorite and most favorite.

DARK SOULS™ III - Deluxe Edition is $38.24, which I recommend over the standard edition for $26.99. That's because it includes the DLC which is the highlight of the entire trilogy, don't skip it. The base game was available for $9.99 in 2020 apparently, but with the popularity of FromSoft these days, I don't see that price showing up for some time yet.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human Meh, this game isn't as fun as the first one. It being only 50% off making it $25.19/$39.99/54.99 means I'd wait for this game to be discounted further, I'm sure it will in time.

DOOM (2016) is a great game, and a steal at $3.49. If you like FPS games and don't own this, buy it.

Doom Eternal is not as easy of a recommendation at $6.99/$15.49 (deluxe includes really hard DLC, it's a good value but not for everyone). Unlike Doom (2016) which is perfect, this game has flaws that ruined the game for some. It does have more stuff, but don't be surprised if you end up liking Doom (2016) more.

Blasphemous is a janky but beautiful metroidvania for $5.29. For the price it's really good, but it does have some slightly annoying platforming. Worth getting if that doesn't bother you as it has an aesthetic that few other games have.

The sequel Blasphemous 2 is $19.49 (deluxe not on sale for some reason), might want to wait for a cheaper price unless you really loved the 1st one.

Sid Meier's Civilization V: Complete is $12.49. This game basically never goes on sale anymore, so buy this if you don't have it. Sid Meier's Civilization V: Complete has two listings; Windows: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/sid-meiers-civilization-v-complete-edition which is not on sale, and Mac/Linux: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/sid-meiers-civilization-v-complete-edition-aspyr which is. I have no idea if the Mac/Linux key works on Windows, might not want to risk it if you are a Windowscel.

Sid Meier's Civilization® VI Anthology is the complete version of Civ 6, and a steal at $22.49/$24.99. Again there are 2 versions, one for Mac/Linux and one for Windows, both are on sale and the Windows one is also a bit cheaper... . If you buy the Windows one, make sure it's a Steam key and not an Epic key, there is a drop-down menu to choose which you want. They are the same price but why would you willingly use the Epic launcher?

Back 4 Blood is on sale, but the game is shit and dead. Even at $11.09 avoid this PoS.

Crusader Kings III Standard ($22.49) and Royal ($45.74, includes Fashion of the Abbasid Court, Royal Court, Northern Lords, and Fate of Iberia DLC). Is a good price for the best Paradox game in recent years and the only one with a good dev team. What's nice is it's also the only one that doesn't need DLC but considering the base game is normally $49.99, you could see this as just getting that DLC for free (or you can save $20 lol). If you have an interest in grand strategy games, start hereccomendre.

Digimon Survive is a weird title that honestly is hard to explain, it's a VN about Digimon that's also edgy... but it's $11.99 so maybe buy it if you like Digimon or VN's.

PAYDAY 2 - Legacy Collection is $12.53. Considering this game is alive and well playerbase wise and has a ton of content; buying this pack that includes most of the game's content is a no brainer. Buy it if you don't own Payday 2 and like co-op shooters.

CODE VEIN is anime Dark Souls, for $8.09/$12.79 it's worth a look if that sold you on it.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War Definitive Edition is $7.49, the base game has been cheaper but this is still a good price especially since they removed all the microtransactions. Also it includes DLC that the base game ($6.24) doesn't so I'd just get the Definitive edition.

Frostpunk is $4.79 for a decent city builder with great atmosphere. It's not that hard, but if you like narrative driven games, this one is great at that. The Game of the Year edition is $7.79 and is basically double the content, so an easy buy if you are interested in the base game.

Prey (the newer one) is $2.69, if you like immersive sims this is an easy buy. It's not perfect but a bad marketing decision (the name) hurt sales unfairly imo. The Deluxe edition for $8.79 includes Mooncrash, which is an amazing Roguelite game all on it's own. It's no Deus Ex, but for so cheap it doesn't have to be.

DREDGE is already $15.49/$21.69, which is a much better price than what it release it. Good if you like fishing games, with a twist...

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a surprisingly good (if short) singleplayer adventure game. $3.89 and a nice post-launch update that added more content makes this way easier to recommend.

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank on the other hand is already $10.49 and yet another Roguelite... this game has worse writing, worse gameplay, worse style. Avoid.

Age of Wonders 4 is $31.49 which imo isn't cheap enough when Civ 6 has more content and is cheaper. The premium version is $64.79, which lol lmao.

The Elder Scrolls Online might be tempting for $5.19, but this is not the Steam version, but the standalone one. Also this game often is in bundles, so might want to avoid.

Fallout 76 is $6.99, which is cheap, but tbh the game should be free with it having a subscription and so many microtransactions. Avoid unless you really want to try this game.

Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition is $8.79, which is an amazing deal. This game gets a lot of shit, but it's better than Fallout 3, and a good entry into the Fallout series with it's easy to control gunplay. Solid recommend if you don't own the game yet and like action RPGs.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Galactic Edition is one of the best Lego games in recent years, and is only $17.49 for the galactic edition, which includes a bunch of extra characters for $5 more than the base game. You could just get the base version for $12.49 if you don't care about a ton of extra characters though.

Disco Elysium - The Final Cut is $8.39 for one of the best games of all time, definitely one of the best VNs. It has been cheaper in bundles before, but this is still a great price for how big the game is. If you don't like (how did you get this far?) then you probably won't like it, even if it's fully voiced.

The Riftbreaker is $14.99 which is just low enough for me to reccomend it. It's a solid tower defense base building game that I always felt was a bit too pricey. This however is a solid price if you like tower defense or base building games like Creeper World 3, Bloons TD 6, or Factorio, even if it's not as good as those games imo.

The Escapists 2 is a good coop game for $4.19, however it's not that great singleplayer. If you have friends to play with, this is a nice game to mess around in, but I wouldn't get it otherwise.

Marvel's Midnight Suns is a surprisingly good XCOM 2 spin-off that bombed because it was Marvel and $60 at launch. At $13.49/$17.99/$22.49 this game is actually worth getting if you have already played your fill of XCOM 2. I say that because if you haven't you should instead buy...

XCOM 2 Collection which is the complete package for $7.49, the base game is $2.69 but tbh the DLC adds so much to the game. This game is great, it might be hard, but it's one of the best turn based strategy games ever made. Solid recommend if you like harder turn based games.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is on sale but it's the Social Club version, avoid at all costs.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is $25.99, but even at that price it isn't worth it imo. You'd be better served with Vermintide 2, Deep Rock Galactic, or Payday 2 for your coop fix. Speaking of Vermintide...

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 - Collector's Edition is $7.19 or $4.79 for the base game. If you are looking for a good coop game, just buy this instead. You can buy copies for 4 people and still be out ahead over one copy of Darktide.

Redfall is $15.39, and this game wouldn't be worth even $1... avoid.

The Outer Worlds: Non-Mandatory Corporate-Sponsored Bundle is the version to get for $27. This is because The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition (also $27) is actually worse despite being a supposed ultimate edition. That's cause the game performs like shit and was made by another studio. The game is fine, story is meh, mechanics are meh, you could do better especially for $27. Just make sure to buy the right version if you do want it. Also the standard edition doesn't have the DLC, which imo is the best part of the game, so don't get that version.

Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Remastered is a surprisingly good kids RPG for $6.74. This was when LEVEL-5 was making hit after hit, and it shows. The game has tons of content and is really fun and aged well. This is a steal for the price if you like RPGs.

Ni no Kuni™ II: Revenant Kingdom is not as good as the 1st game and costs $8.39. If you loved the first game, you''ll probably still want to get this. However if the 1st wasn't your thing, the sequel won't change your mind. The Prince's version might be just a bit more, but apparently the DLC is really lazy and boring, so you should just get the base game.

Furi is not a good deal at $6.59, it often goes for $5.99, wait for that.

Gotham Knights might be better than Suicide Squad, but a root canal is better than getting decapitated, so that doesn't mean much. Also at $11.09 you could get the actually good games in the series for cheaper...

LEGO 2K Drive is a fricking travesty that shits all over the OG Lego Racers and Lego Racers 2. It's packed with terrible microtransactions and a terrible grind loop. This game wouldn't be worth it if it was free, much less $17.39 for the base version. Just acquire the first 2.

Kingdom Rush and it's sequels are on sale for $5.99 and up. They often go on sale for cheaper and also show up in bundles pretty often, avoid at this price.

Borderlands 3 at $8.09 might be tempting. Just know you are going to have voices set to muted for this game, the writing is terrible. If that doesn't bother you, go for it. It's a pretty good looter shooter and a good deal at that price. There are 2 versions that include DLC, but apparently the DLC is kinda weak, so your call if you want to spend the $10 or ~$20 extra for mid DLC.

The Forgotten City at $8.24 is tough to recommend. It's a good story game, but tbh the price is a bit high, also the game has shown up in bundles before... overall I'd wait for one of those bundles if a mystery game about history, mythology, and time loops interests you.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is not bad at $7.99. A really good metroidvania with a nice amount of content. However I have seen it in pick and mix bundles for less, so might want to wait for that to happen again.

Fallout New Vegas Ultimate is $5.79, which is a steal for how good this game is. Yes it's overrated, but it is still really good. The game has been cheaper in bundles, but tbh not by much. Solid recommend if you don't mind dealing with the crashes. Best Fallout game imo, one of the best uses of the video game medium as well.

Ok this was far longer than I was expecting, don't expect me to make ones this long in the future. If people think this type of thing is useful, let me know. Also let me know how this could be improved. I already have a bunch of ideas about how to make future ones more compact lol.

If you're a leftist, you need to be working out 4-5 days a week and learning self defense, along with organizing with neighbors & in your local community for defense, food sovereignty, & community defense.

There's no excuse not to do something to strengthen your body daily.

— 🇵🇸𓂆 kiran کرن فاطمہ We'll Remember Your Silence (@kiranfatimaopal) February 8, 2024

Context

Drama

The time for nihilism, self pity, and excuses is over. We are living in a fascist country - whichever country you're living in in the west. Our vulnerable neighbors and people of the global south, e.g. in Palestine, need us to step up.

If this is the kind of solidarity y'all think the global south needs from us you are either purposefully or sorely mistaken, eugenics is not going to help our neighbors

Dude really said you know how we fight against fascism? Ab crunches of course!

Are you going to CrossFit your way out of a right wingers AK47? Please be frickin serious right now

Yes there's a lot you cannot control in the world. What you can control is what food, drink, smoke etc. you put inside your body, and you can control for the most part, how you move your body and when and to what end.Use that. Focus on what you can control.

Leftism growing increasingly indistinguishable from rightism at one second per second, pt wev: this thread

Just putting this out there on behalf of the billions of people who in fact cannot control what they put inside their bodies. For fricks sake

B I L L I O N S

IL

LI

ON

S

Find things you love to do. They don't have to be what others love to do and they can change over time too. Some things I love: boxing, muay thai, weight lifting (for muscle growth), racquetball, basketball, jogging, walking, calisthenics, dancing. Move something every day.

I danced yesterday and my city is still overfunding cops, what now

I used to work out daily and walk miles after for funsies. Then a virus struck me down. Over the years I learned anyone telling me I have to fight is saying this b/c they have no intention of being around after I fall. Disabled people don't exist in their leftist future.

The commie actually makes a good point with her final remarks

If you are still making excuses it's because you want somebody else to carry you. Instead, you could grow the frick up and do what you can do to help others. Stop acting like you are the center of the universe and you don't owe anybody anything. If you're a leftist, act like it.

"If you're a leftist, act like it"???? Idk maybe we have different ideas of what constitutes a leftist because referring to disabled people as a burden to be carried is straight-up right out of the fascist playbook.

saying this in a country where eugenics is so ingrained that disabled schoolchildren are STILL left abandoned at the top of the stairs during fire drills, waiting for someone to literally carry them to safety, is a truly bizarre mischaracterization of what fascism looks like

Neighbor how are you left behind just walk down the stairs r-slur lmao

this is fascist rhetoric. full stop. those of us with the capability to do more to strengthen our bodies absolutely should be doing so BECAUSE there are always going to be others who NEED us to carry them. if your leftist ideology isn't based in empathy it's fricking worthless.

>if your leftist ideology isn't based in empathy it's fricking worthless.

Yeah that's what makes it worthless

Idk, not everyone needs to be athletic, just like not everyone needs to be hacker imo.I'm in decent shape but I've always and will always be a a scrawny intellectual

That's fine i'm not going to join the olympics either. My point is, there is a culture of lethargy and wallowing in misery and nihilism in the western left that needs to go. If anything will change here it will change after we take some responsibility personally AND collectively.

Because Covid is airborne. It's damaging your immune system Don't raw dog the virus anymore, use a respirator indoors, get some quality air purifiers Stop ignoring this.

>"Intellectual" cant figure out a way to get big

It is unironically better to be strong and r-slurred than weak and "smart"

i already workout 5 days a week, which exercises would you recommend i start performing to make my body more resistant to teargas, skunk spray, and rubber bullets?

When did I say that's what you need to do?? Do you understand what community defense means or no?

historically it means armed & violent confrontation with state security & their deputized blackshirt paramilitaries, telling people that the petty bourgeois individualism & aestheticism of workout culture will help prepare them for fascism is misguided at best, dangerous at worst

That is not what I said. So if you want to read that into that that's up to you. It's a simple concept: workout get disciplined get healthy. You want to make a bigger deal out of it? Do it with somebody else. I don't have time for western leftist narcissist bullshit.

thinking that your personal fitness goals are protecting your community from fascism is the epitome of western leftist narcissism, actually

Then do absolutely nothing, surely that's much better

You don't have to try if you immediately give up

You sound rich

You sound white.

It's ok to be white

Why are you engaging with me on an uncontested point and not with the hundreds of people pointing out your ableism? You still haven't addressed the fact we are living through a mass disabling event which masks and vaccines can mitigate against.

Dog look at my socialists we never having a revolution

>You sound white

If you're leftism doesn't include disabled people then it's not leftism.

All leftists are disabled so makes sense

So true

The revolution will only occur after we're DONE with the pandemic

The irony is that once people start getting stronger and fitter and improving their bodies and learning self defense and getting armed and self sufficient they generally stop being leftists because they see how weak and pathetic the ideology is. Just some food for thought

Sauce

I'd really suggest wearing an N95 regularly and making spaces COVID-safe again if you believe this because many millions of people have Long COVID and can't do any of this now. Millions more are dead. If you want a physically strong movement, wear a mask.

the people most affected by Long COVID are Black, Native, trans, poor, disabled, and workers making under $45K per year.

Two ways to prevent coof:

1. Vaccines

2. Make above 45k a year

Better make it 6 months to play it safe

/r/scandinavia is an ultra-conservative subreddit for scandinavians and american larpers, it often has unironic Nordfront ( Self-declared nazi organization (honey pot)) posting. One of the few places on reddit you can say slurs without getting banned, since it's mostly in danish and swedish. It's a subreddit with maybe 15 active users but multiplethreads with over a hundred replies, mostly between 2-3 people.

It has a few consistent characters, notably /u/fortnitetravisscott4 and /u/crazorn who

anger chuds like true wingchads. Another notable charcter is /u/danish_viking1 who was graciously provided with an israel flair for his posts. The most angry chud award goes to /u/antihate_activist, who makes up most of these replies.

Translated for your pleasure.

Record high immigrants in Denmark, first quarter of 2023

It's very frightening

Yes, it is. Something must be done soon.

Why?

"An existing threat against the europ...[whity nonsense]" That's why.

And that's a problem why?

Why do you wish that whites be killed?

Why do wish that everybody but whites be killed?

You good denmark speak, travel home to uganda methinks you should.

No argument, typical.

I don't need to argue with someone who should travel home to Somalia!!!

So you don't need to argue for your opinion? Who knows, maybe i'd be convinced

You say yourself you hate white people, that we should.. [ shit]

It was just to test your reaction, but you whiteys want to take over the planet and drive us all extinct, that's basically your history

Why do you encourage lies about an entire race of people????

People isn't the right word to use.

So whites aren't people anymore

Haha, you're so easy to anger.

I have a solution. Deport all white people.

And people wonder why right-extremism is rising

Racism isn't so fun when it's against you, is it?

I'm not the one who wants all danes dead...

I said it as a joke and it actually worked.

[removed]

Åh gud, you're so triggered, it's wild.

Infiltration or Revolution? - Nordfront.dk

A little group of losers want to start a revolution? It's like a tragicomedy.

NSDAP started as 7 men in a basement without money, a paper, or a known name. NMR can get more than a thousand people for protests, your attempt to denigrate them is not surprising given your hatred of the danish people.

You say the danish people are nazi swine, even though it's just you. Now please, face the wall.

There's the encouragement to genocide again, go home with you, We don't want you.

Nazis aren't people, so it doesn't count.

Go home to Iraq!!

Ædelsten

Yt pipo go without thinking of black pipo challenge (impossible)

That'd be easy, if they went home again.

Who says we want to?

Who says you get a choice

International law and rights, you fricking r-slur.

You have no right to be in the society of whites!

Does anybody want you nazi losers either? NO!

You can either be a national-socialist or a loser, but not both! You must have some seri[ More mayo moralstragging ]

People who are mean to nazis over the internet are losers? lol

It's hard with how you're infecting the nation.

It's also my homeland. Whatever you will say is an enourmous cope from a man that has never been with a woman.

No it isn't. You have no roots here. You're forefathers did not work hard to build Denmark, they did not offer their blood to protect the fatherland. You're as danish, as a goldfish is a landdweller.

You invaded our nations, now live with the consequences.

We do not deserve to die for our waged by the government.

Denmark is a democracy, you chose the government.

It was not danes who voted for the war. It was NATO.

I don't care, maybe you shouldn't have such a warhungry foreign policy.

If you too hate NATOs zionistic policies then we have a common enemy in the international jewdom, we can stop them, but first we need to take back power.

Good thing that's never gonna happen.

Not if we force you to frick off from our nation.

Lol, what a fever dream. We're here to stay.

It's not a fever dream!

So this one of those racist subreddits?

OP : So here you're just racist against immigrants or what? I've never seen so many racists in one place.

(BTW I'm pretty sure the person who made this post is an actual child )

It's a subreddit for people who want to preserve scandinavia

It's not like russians are at a our doorstep or anything.

Russia is also a problem, but so are immigrants.

How does the amount of a different people change whether or not scandinavia exists?

It's about our culture and race. Not the name.

Aha! That sounds like a classic example of racism.

Is it racist to preserve our culture?

[Shortest leftoid meme]

Yes if it means you reject people based on their racial background. I believe we can preserve our culture inspite of immigration.

Then you're mistaken.

More immigrants is more workers!

I'd rather a smaller economy than a dead nation.

The nation won't die

You won't convice that idiot no matter what

I don't know how many votes NB (Nye Borgelige, rightoid party) has. NB are both homosexuals and zionists, there immigration policy is purely symbolic.

You're right, NB isn't extremist enough for the nazi losers on this board.

There's nothing extremist about being critical of the zionist terror state.

Correct, there's nothing extreme about nazi. But reddit clearly doesn't want you people so how about you respect them.

Why do you support child-killing jewish terrorists?

Get some help with your delusions.

US history according to modern schools

What does this have to do with the subs

Read the rules

I see, is this some extremist sub?

There's nothing extremist about preserving your nation and your people!!

I agree with you, but this sub seems to be full of people obsessed with american politics.

That's a good thing.

Denmarks "Liberation Day (WW2) " - Liberated or Betrayed?

Liberated, no doubt about it.

We were so liberated that our nation is now full of brown hordes like you! Thank you jews!

You say it like that's a bad thing

That's because it is, now back to egypt with you.

Who says that? Have only exberienced (sic) racism once, and at it was a drunk homeless man.

Just because most danes would like to be free of you, doesn't mean we can't be polite. Now back to Nigeria with you.

Then why are most people I know white.

Try and ask them how they feel about danes becoming minorities.

Have talked to them about, and don't worry they all hate Hitler.

Wingcuck must jump straight to Hitler.

This one has significantly shortened messages as they were longposting too much at each other.

Children's Television figure, Onkel Reje, accused of paedophilia, Nordfront's take

https://www.nordfront.dk/boerne-tv-figuren-onkel-reje-anklages-for-paedofili Original article

Thought people were done with political correctness. The next will be that Uncle Stewart is spreading propaganda.

Being against censorship of poltical dissidents, is not the same as supporting putting objects up people's butts or men dressing in women's clothing on children's TV. Jewiking once against showing how he's a dishonest loser.

Open your eyes to the program man, it's to make fun of him. Funny how rightoids start looking like SJWs.

"There's nothing wrong with children's television stuffing things up people's butt" Okay Jewiking.

Please show me where this is happening.

We used to call people like you collaborators.

The Youtuber Avi wants no whites in Austrilia

/u/crazorn Do you see now what a bunch of lying racists they are? He denies answering the question because he agrees with the eradication of white people. These people are sick.

Who are "they"

Everything you hold dear, if you respect the danish society, is built on ethnic homogenity

I am against nazis and racists, nothing wrong with people adopting brown kids.

My point is that we need to be focused on ethnicities, that is what danish society survives on, as the research shows.

Oh no people will have kids with brown people, so scary.

Why do you debate with such crudeness? I never said people adopting kids or meeting exotic women was bad. It's a few thousand vs. hundreds of thousands. Are you just hear to harvest internet point for self-validation? Given how you conduct yourself with such an aggressive manner?

How do you feel about nazis?

Nazis are irrelevant, they will never get power. I'd like to speak about other fascists like the Zionists or Communist Chinese.

Of course they're irrelevant. but we still have to talk about them.

White people don't belong in Austrialia, don't even argue with your nazi logic.

Frick your victim complex mayo

They're more racist

This one is just

We both thinks jews are evil but frick you mayoid

The jewish power-structure as described by a jew

53 replies, only 2 users in the thread

To summarise

Jews hold power through political insitutions, look at this article

Jews are just better than you at economy, crazy man.

No they aren't, they simply benefit from poltical control

It's da jooz man!!

What a well thought-out and intelligent argument!

Frick off mayo monkey

The rest is just them screaming at each other.

Reading all this nonsense actually made me actually tired. Sorry the last ones are short.

The takeaway here is that these wingcucks, all of them, are r-slurred. The left cucks double and or triple replied many times in these threads...

link to the Case

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17KDCuf1YrxAQQUmooE2e_0fWnKXReCv3/view

I will mostly be going over this thread discussing some of the more r-slurred points.

Background

in short, this guy was carrying a gun, without a license. Something legal in the majority of states (I think we are at 28 currently)

Why this case had to go to the Hawaii supreme court is because at the time the crime occurred, Hawaii had NEVER given a License to carry to anyone.

Why does that matter, enter two recent supreme court cases heller and Bruen

heller and Bruen

To understand why Hawaii is mad you need to understand what these two cases mean

addition from a user who I'm not sure wants to be @'ed but makes an excellent point.

To understand why Hawaii is mad you need to understand what these two cases mean

It think it's worth pointing out how absolutely outrageous it is for a Supreme Court judge to overthrow the concept of vertical stare decisis which that is the bedrock legal principle that even makes their Supreme Court "supreme".

If only a dramatard was on Hawaii's Second Circuit Court so they could release a ruling saying that the Hawaii Supreme Court's opinion "should be discarded altogether"

Heller:

• Private citizens have the right under the Second Amendment to possess an ordinary type of weapon and use it for lawful, historically established situations such as self-defense in a home, even when there is no relationship to a local militia.

Bruen:

• New York's law was unconstitutional and that the ability to carry a pistol in public was a constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment.

• When applying for a carry license before this, some states were "may issue" (you need to know the mayor to get a license), or "shall issue" (if you meet the standards to get a license, you get it). After this decision, all states are "shall issue".

Ok, now that I've bored you with too much background lets talk about the case, and how wild this case doc is.

1. "The thing about the old days, They the old day"

the court literally decides to quote the wire, as a reason they get to ban guns? it's a good show yes, but wasn't about a guy with a gun killing bad people? wasn't he breaking carry laws or was he a cop?

2. L- posting

"we never carried guns, and were colonized for it, and feel the need to continue to take Ls"

also, they did have weapons, but they were super gay because the people from hawaii were savages waiting for whites to save them.

3. now for a quick poetry slam

here is the law ?

This basically says don't be bad, and don't harass people on the side of the road, not really sure what we are reaching for here tbh?

4. the Vibes argument.

reminder that hawaii had super gay spears so deadly weapons were common in hawaii in pre colonial times. also weird that tons of places have a proliferation of guns but are still pretty chill.

5. this just me

at the time of this case, not a single person had received a CCW permit in Hawaii, so acting like saying gay people can get married and then just not giving out licenses

from anon user yet again:

A point regarding #5:

States retain the authority to require that individuals have a license before carrying firearms in public

Well, well, look at the progressives pulling out that conservative classic argument of "state's rights"!

I wonder what happens when states in the South declare they "retain the authority to require inviduals pass a background and credit check before voting" which was declared unconstituional by that pesky US Supreme Court beginning with the 1966 case of Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections

Do you guys remember that Edd, Ed & Eddy show on Cartoon Network? Ahh those were the days. Back in the early 2000s we Safricans had like 5 fricking channels on TV. SABC1 for Zulu, Sotho and Xhosa language orientated shows and news, SABC2 for Afrikaans orientated shows and news, SABC3 for English news and shows, Mnet for movies, E-TV for shows and movies, and maybe the dedicated afrikaans channel KykNet.

Like 6 channels, and they often had long periods where nothing were broadcasted, especially at night, and just white noise or darkness on the old projector screen (this was before the LED LCD flatscreens for you Zoomers ), so the 6 channels were always a very limited source of entertainment in rural Sef efrica.

Pretty much everyone watched Survivor on SABC3 at 7-oclock on Tuesdays, and everyone watched the Mnet or E-TV movie on sunday nights 8pm. Imagine a whole fricking small rural farm town gossiping about the pirate Rupert having a dress and still kicking butt with his bushy beard, or all school students talking about the same James Bond movie which literally everyone watched, cuz it was either that or listening to your parents frick at night.

So when DSTV cable network came out in RSA, it was a monumental upgrade for most Safricans which bulldozed the previous channels which were local entities on their own. Almost 200 CHANNELS!!! And that was the days when those 200 channels actually mattered and wasn't just Ice Road Trucker spam and low effort storeroom auction crap investing daytime TV.

Oh no bois, those 200 DSTV channels included shit like the Documentary channels, National Geographic, Discovery channel (The mythbusters channel!!), the Hitler....I mean the History channel, Animal Planet, the African Culture channel!!

Then there was a split in Mnet, with TWO movie channels which had 24/7 movies rotating the entire week every second of the day! Holy shit!. There was cooking channels, hobby channels, that one where How-It's-Made factory channel everyday. Old shit like Star Trek, Conan the Barbarian was showned on TCM channel for the very old boomer channels! (by the year 2000 standards).

There was a dedicated channel for news and shows for every Southern African country - Namibia, Lesotho, Swazi-Land, Mozambique, Zims, Botswanan Zambie and Angola - all in their local languages even.

You could literally come home after school at 1pm, cook your meal before schoolwork had to begin, and be garanteed to watch something worthwhile on one of the many DSTV channels, while you ate, and chatted to family about your school days. DSTV was a massive influx of Burger entertainment for the ruralcel who had nothing, not even internet.

If your friend had this weird NASA radio ufo thing installed in their wall, then man they would become popular, because the whole neighbourhood would come and be amazed at the absurd amount of entertainment for that moment in time.

But by far the most catching channel for kids and teens was the Cartoon Network channel. And endless stream of 24/7 cartoons night and day! I lived and breathed the Edd, Ed & Eddy shows, and my sister lived through the Powerpuff grils. Lots of fun

But one episode which I remember for the Edd, Ed and Eddy show was the Fads one. Where the loveable idiots were always one fad behind their neighbourhoods and joined in on the fun. I saw this episode randomly on youtube the other day and it reminded me of a lot of Fads from my past in rural SA, but also their accompanying dramas

It reminded me of the time of Tazos!

JAP SHIT INVADES SA SCHOOLS:

https://allafrica.com/stories/200010270196.html

A lot of fads would come and go, with many school children copying each other, and the impulse to join certain fads would spread like wildfires from school to school Whenever some schools had a sports event, like Rugby,Soccor, Netball or Cricket match with their neighbouring school or provincial events, then kids there would congregate and acquaintances would copycat stuff they felt were cool

Like a virus spreading from one province to the next municipal region, kids (black, white or coloured) would suddenly breakout in a fever for a specific toy or game. In 2000, on the turn of the millenium, there would be a horde of kids begging their parents for pokemon - kids would become so infatuated with playing or trading Pokeshit merchandise that many SA schools would unironically fricking ban kids from bringing them to class, as they caused disruption!!

SIMBA CHIPS:

Before we come to Tazos, we must discuss the Simba chips brand, once the most successful and ubiquetos brand in all of Southern Africa. In 2004, you could buy Simba Chips in Cape Town, in Windhoek Nambia, in Zimababwe, In mosambiue, Lesotho and Swazi-Land. They were everywhere and all because of their spectacular on point marketing.

Simba Chips saw the spectacular success which Jap merchandise in Jap chips had oversees, and deigned to copy that strategy in Southern Africa. They hardcore capitalized on kids being able to find Tazos (dont worry I'll come there in a moment) in their products, and bought massive amounts of TV advertising space to broadcast to the population their strategy of attracting kids to buy their brand of chips over others, as their would be a nice surprise inside them.

Kids would beg their parents for a pack of simba chips when they stopped at a petrol station, or when mom was busy buying the week's groceries, or they would buy Simba chips themselves in Tuckshops or Snoepies during school breaks. The point is that their jumping on Pokemon or Digimon or Dragonball Z or the latest anime bullshit, and advertising these Tazos in their chips, would be wildly successful and would propel the Simba brand to be everlasting in the South African conscience.

Now Simba was a moderately successful brand before the Tazo craze hit SA, but their utilizing the Tazo-fad, propelled them to infamy and lucrative financial success, it was deemed one of the most successful marketing campaigns in all of African economic history.

https://web.archive.org/web/20180414130009/http://www.themarketingsite.com/live/article/a-flavour-of-genius/2836

Simba still holds 63% of the entire SA crisps market.

Here is a short history of Simba Chips in the thickest Sef Efrican accent ever recorded:

SO WHAT EXACTLY ARE TAZOS?!

https://oversaturated.co.za/blogs/things-only-south-african-millennials-remember

https://www.citizen.co.za/northern-natal-news/uncategorized/2017/03/30/throwbackthursday-toys-past-make-nostalgic

Tazos were these generally flat disc or square shaped plastic pieces which featured characters or monsters from famous Japanese shows, they would either be tradable collectibles or work like those stat-challenge cards of trains and planes, where some had better or worse statistics, and would consequently win depending on the game.

The Pokemon Tazos were these round thick plastic discs, which had the monster's picture on one side, and their elemental power stats on the other, and they worked in a convoluted Rock-Paper-Scissors game, where water beat fire, and electricity beat water? I dont remember i was never a Pokemon fan.

But they were EXTREMELY popular the immediate moment when Simba ran their fad advertisement campaign, and their popularity spread with never before seen rapidity from school to school. Kids would see their peers at a visiting school play with these weird plastic Discs, and collect them from the Simba chips, and even see their peers gamble for them.

The Simba chips acted like random lootboxes, where certain types of Tazos were more rare than others, or came in seasonal waves, depending on which Jap season was aired that time. I recall the English translation of Pokemon was very well done and popular with kids, and thus anything pokemon related and consequently Pokemon Tazos - the very 1st Tazos. Unfortunately I never got a chance to care personally about Pokeshit, as their airing time conflicted with afterschool activities.

https://old.reddit.com/r/southafrica/comments/o6mqjw/the_simba_chips_got_me_nostalgic_remember_opening

People would go apeshit in collecting these Tazos. A complete collection would be sold for hundreds to thousands of Rands at the time. A collection mania would follow many kids, and even more subdued people would have at least some amount of Tazos lying around in their playroom or Toybox, an incomplete collection of Pokemon DBZ and other shit. Even and especially poor black kids likened especially to Tazos as their great poverty usually prevented them from posessing expensive plastic toys like their Upper Middle Class white peers.

These tazos were toys which could be collected by just continuing to buy the same daily or weekly snacks from their food allowance, and Simba chips were very reasonably cheap back in early 2000s, and the fricking Rand still had buying power and value, before the ANC r*ped us all. Thus poor black kids in afrikaans or sotho schools would have an especially strong collectors mania for Tazos of various kinds.

Eventually as you guys can imagine, the fad wore off, or the population became saturated with Tazos to the point where even the rarest variants of Pokemon would have had a chance to be picked up by peple not looking for the collections as hard as the most hardcore collectors.

Even with a second season of Pokemon monsters released the mania wasn't as strong as the 1st. (Again I know basically nothing about Pokemon, so I cant comment on this). But Simba marketing was always on point at this stage, and pivoted to also release Tazos from OTHER Jap popular cartoons - this included Digimon and DragonBall Z.

https://old.reddit.com/r/southafrica/comments/816pfp/in_response_to_the_person_who_posted_simba_tazos

I personally was also not a big DBZ fan at all, so I dont recall the order in which they were released, but soon after Pokemon, Simba would release a new type of Tazo - these metal DBZ ones! Now they were especially popular with boys, especially black and coloured boys, who apparently watched DBZ religiously. Kids would play with these metal variants by betting a said amount, and trying to flip as many over by throwing them with other tazos like Pool or cards. Gambling with rare tazos was especially popular!

Later an even more compelling variant of DBZ tazos would be released - these time a square Tazo! Theser square Tazos were so designed, that they may be attached to one another and form dice! And the characters whom was the most powerful had the highest dice level, some even had a fricking seven on their size, as there was canonically 7 Dragonballs in the show or some shit lol. I personally like these Tazos the most of all because I liked building dice with nothing but fricking 7s on them lol!

Lots of fights would start because gambling with Tazos, using the Tazo dice would follow on the playground, and the highest dice scores would win - however when the loser realized his opponent had nothing but 7s on his fice, the fists would come flying lmoa

https://www.bobshop.co.za/item/299917610/28_Dragonball_Z_Super_cubes_2_Free_Dragonball_Z_Cards.html

They are still sold on the 2nd hand collector's market in RSA today.

Simba or whoever thought about designing these Tazos were utterly ingenious - because as soon as the one seasonal Tazo craze fad seemed to be dying down, a new wave of tazos would be anounced by Simba - every 6 months a new exciting toy or collector's item to be found in your local Simba crisps - a cheap enough packet of chips in your local supermarket or petrol stop.

The next wave of Tazos would include these DBZ octagonal ones, which could be used to clip into one another, and basically act as building blocks for some kind lego or bionicle pieces!

https://old.reddit.com/r/southafrica/comments/gb0trg/i_still_have_my_tazos

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/392313060075

Apparently the above Tazos are from Australia so they must have also had Tazos!

https://spakatak.com/tazos/australia

SAFRICANS SIGN PETITION FOR SIMBA TO RE-RELEASE TAZOS:

https://www.change.org/p/simba-chips-simba-tazo-s

Tazos are still sold to this day on 2nd hand online and IRL markets, by relatives who clean their dead husband's room and finds a hidden stack of old Tazos, or springclean the room of their 30 year old manchild, and sells the crap away.

https://www.valueforest.co.za/action.php?view=grid&key=tazos

TAZOS WERE RELEASED INTERNATIONALLY:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tazos

A whole host of countries saw the release of Tazos, in their local respective brand of chips or crisps.

TAZO DECLINE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Post 2005-2006 Tazos would rapidly decline from RSA as a fad, after 5 golden years of popularity. This apparently was a global trend as well. For SA there was a myriad of reasons.

1st - the Simba company had deemed them too costly to import or construct and package. The amount of saves attributed because of Tazos alone had decline by the 2nd half of the 2000s and, and thus a clear market indication of their declining popularity amongst kids, regardless of what show they represented - Pokemon and DBZ were both falling out of view.

2nd - A series of South Africans have had close calls after choking on Tazos, because they carelessly didn't read the advertising strip on the Simba packet, and didn't expect a hard plastic or metal disc they were swallowing and consequently would choke near death. This would happen dozens of times in South Africa, especially with small kids, especially small black kids who were given chips to eat by Sotho mothers who literally could not read English

Old people with sensitive teeth and gums, would get hurt after carelessly chewing a hard piece of plastic or metal, and despite the craze on Tazos by children, a still large enough part of the SA population would be completely unaware of the Simba brand or its Tazos.

The ANC government was also actually somehow managing to squeeze legislation through parliament which actually benifitted Safricans, like increased Health and Safety standards in sold foodstuffs, and ruling against hazardous food being sold. Simba would fear this legislation would become much more broad, and in combination with the increasing tales of choking incidents, Simba quietly discontinued the Tazo scheme in their chips, just before a deadly incident might occur in which they could be sued, where they felt especially vulnerable with new regulatory legislation making its way through parliament.

3rd - Parents and schools were also beginning to lodge complaints about the Tazos causing disruption, and the collectors craze causing kids to spend their parents' money to buy exorbitant collections. More schools were beginning to ban Tazos, as "beheerliggaams" or school exterior regulatory bodies (consisting of Karens and busybody moral police parents) would b-word about Tazos being Satan and the cause of all their children's unruliness (and not their shit parenting).

Unfortunately most of these events were recorded in fricking local newspapers, in an era where internet and online publications and articles are very rare, so I could not for the life of me find any sources, no matter how much I searched, or which search-engine I used Google fricking sux donkey ballz and keeps trying to sell me Tazos from Gumtree and other 2nd hand shops

Few of those newspapers even exist anymore, many closed as they could not compete against the internet era - hells bells, it's like internet link-rot, except for information about real world events by physical newspapers. I could not even find a singular example about the simba Chips in their original forms from 2000-2006 when they had these strips attached to their front, indicating and advertising their tazos inside.

Probably no such singular photo or image exists, as few South Africans had phones or cameras to capture the event. so i can only give you guys my word on this last chapter, I literally can find no proof of these events on the fricking internet.

Anyways that's all I got, Good night! Here's some frooooooogs