This is my list of the top 10 non hardcore emo albums post 2000. I did not include any hardcore or true pop punk albums. Obviously this comes down to personal preference, and the emo genre is so diverse this was a difficult list to make. I think I did a decent job of putting together a solid list of diverse emo albums. Let me know your top 10 list! I want to note that I only chose one album from every artist to go on this list. I honestly believe 5 of the 10 bands have more than one album that could potentially make this list, but I wanted to give a nod to a few other lesser known bands and albums. I put the list with no commentary first so people would not be forced to wade through my reviews to see the list.
My Top 10 Emo Albums: 1. Turnover - Peripheral Vision 2. Citizen - Youth 3. Movements - Feel Something 4. Tigers Jaw - Self Titled 5. The Hotelier - Home, Like No Place There Is 6. City and Colour - Bring Me Your Love 7. A Great Big Pile of Leaves - You’re Always on My Mind* 8. Pinegrove - Marigold 9. Gleemer - Down Through 10. Foxing - The Albatross
Honorable Mention: 1. Secondhand Serenade - Awake 2. For When You Can’t Breathe - A Home That Doesn’t Exist
Quick Album Reviews:

1. Turnover - Peripheral Vision This is and will always be my top album. A true masterpiece to my ears. The music is dreamy, but they still kept some of the heaviness from earlier albums. That Roland JC-120 tone will always be legendary. The lyrics are super emo, but it doesn't sound dark unless you really listen. I have played this album at the cafe, and more than once I have had someone mention, “This music is so happy” lol. Go read the lyrics and get back to me on that. The lyrical content is approachable and relatable. Solid 10/10.
   
2. Citizen - Youth This album simultaneously rocks and jams. The guitars can be heavy at times, but the mix of calm and heavy parts is a genius execution. The Vocals are something of magic. The mix of the clean and yelling vocals not only fits the style but also adds a ton of dynamics. The lyrics are gut wrenching. Songs like “The Night I Drove Alone” are an all too real description of what living with suicidal ideation is like. This is the closest thing to being a hardcore album on this list, except maybe the Hotelier album, but I believe it is much more approachable than your average hardcore album, as the vocals do not really scream. 9.5/10
   
3. Movements - Feel Something This album does not rock as hard as “Youth” but It does jam twice as hard. Now don’t get me wrong: it rocks…hard. The lyrics and melodies on this album may be my favorite on any emo album. The lyrics are clever and witty, and the melodies are smooth and memorable. This is an album I have to sing along to when I listen to it. I believe the first 5 songs on this album may be the best 5 song stretch on any emo album ever produced. These songs together get a 10/10. The only things I didn't really care for at first were the spoken word parts. The words are great, but spoken word just really isn't my thing. It takes me back to my days in the evangelical church, but I have grown to love it. 9.5/10
   
4. Tigers Jaw - Self Titled This is a classic emo album. Personally it is not even my favorite Tiger’s Jaw album. For my personal taste “Spin” takes the cake, but there is no denying that the Self Titled album was more successful and had a larger influence on emo music as a whole. The music is very raw. It could have easily been produced in a bedroom, though it was recorded in a real studio. The guitars and vocals are both pretty raw. It has very little pop influence in the sense that it is not very polished. Let’s be honest, that is one of the major draws to the album. The lyrics, though silly at times, are very real and raw. “What about your friends, do they make you happy?” “Lie to me like you used to” “We are made from chemicals, but what holds us together is much more than that” This album showcases great lyricism and melody building. 9/10
   
5. The Hotelier - Home, Like No Place There Is Many avid emo fans consider this album to be the best emo album ever produced. I agree that it is one of the best. The music ranges from pretty heavy to chiller alt rock. It does have some screamo style vocals, but that is not the majority of the vocals, which is why it's not on the hardcore list. “Life In Drag” is 100% screamo, “Housebroken” is a chill alt song, and songs like “Among The Wildflowers” and “Your Deep Rest” are an excellent combination of both. The lyrics are another example of top tier lyricism in the emo genre. The song “Your Deep Rest” may be the most gut wrenching song I have ever heard in any genre. 9/10
   
6. City and Colour - Bring Me Your Love This is the only acoustic album to make the top 10. I listened to this album from 2008 to 2015 before I even realized that most people even considered it emo. I just saw it as an awesome acoustic album. The music overall has a pretty dark sound especially for an acoustic album. The sound reminds me a bit of The Spill Canvas’ “Sunsets & Car Crashes” album but it is much more refined and has a more pop style production. Dallas’ advanced guitar skills and beautiful and soulful vocals are really a thing of beauty. My first year in college this was my drink and be sad album. It is incredibly dark. “Every man needs a muse and mine could be the bottle” “It's passion, it's not love. Infatuation never ends up right. At least I won't be alone tonight.” “We celebrate the lives of the dead. It's like a man's best party, only happens when he dies.” 8.5/10
   
7. A Great Big Pile of Leaves - You’re Always on My Mind* A Great Big Pile of Leaves is the least popular band to make this list, but honestly one of the most original emo bands I’ve ever heard. This album has a super fun and happy sound. The music jams and groves very hard, while having a calming effect on the listener. This is a great album to take a nap to. The lyrics can be pretty silly with songs about a wild mouse in the house that they consider a pet, slumber parties, and going back to school. They prove that being happy and joyous are also worthwhile emotions. It is not all fun and games though, it also includes themes of those you trust letting you down, and the struggle of being introverted. I have never related to a song more than “Ambervision” 8.5/10
   
8. Pinegrove - Marigold I'm sure there will be plenty of people who will question why I chose this album over all the other bangers Pinegrove has released. It is one of Pinegrove’s least successful albums. They have obviously had several hits bigger than any of the songs on this album, but the overall album is so cohesive and perfectly executed. Every song’s sound fits perfectly into the style of the whole album. My biggest complaint about Pinegrove, and the reason I disliked them for so long, is because they have such a country (It is fair to say folk) sound. I grew up in East Texas where country music is king, and I always hated it with a passion. This is the album where they leaned the most heavily into the country sound. The melodies have a slight twang and the harmonies are obviously country inspired. The reason I chose this album is because they were able to take elements of music that I hate and make me love it. So Good! 8.5/10
   
9. Gleemer - Down Through This is the most recent album to make the top 10 list. This band is also fairly unknown. I actually did not discover them until maybe a month ago. It may be fair to say that my introduction to this album is too fresh to make it on this list, but It is simply that good. The first time I heard it I knew it would be one of my favorites. It has that dreamy aspect that made Peripheral Vision such a huge hit. I dream of the day that every emo band realizes that a strong chorus effect and intense reverbs are their friend. It is a bit heavier than PV, not by much. The lyrics are very poetic and leave the meaning a bit up to interpretation but they are dark and without a doubt emo. The choruses are catchy, but they do not quite have the sing along factor of PV. Dreamy Emo/Shoegaze for the win! 8/10
   
10. Foxing - The Albatross I actually saw Foxing open up for Tigers Jaw back in 2017, before I had ever heard their recorded music. I really enjoyed it. They slap live. A few months after the concert I was playing random emo music in the cafe and the song “the Medic” came on. I was jamming to it and in the middle of the song I realized, “Holy shit, I saw these guys live”. This is another album that has a crazy 5 song stretch. The first 5 songs are on another level. 9.5/10. “Pent Up In A Blind” is a short interlude instrumental but it perfectly bridges “The Medic” and “Rory” which are undeniably the best two songs on the album. It is dark and depressing, but their musicality is something I have never heard from an emo band. The sound on this album is very unique in the genre. They use a trumpet (which is sick live) and the guitars have a slight midwest emo style, with the sweeping guitar parts on some of the songs, but the tone is unlike what you would hear in midwest emo. The rest of the album is solid, but very instrumental heavy which is the only reason the overall album was dropped down to a 8/10
    

Honorable Mention:

1. Secondhand Serenade - Awake In my mind this is the second best acoustic emo album out there. It is much more polished and poppy than anything else that made the actual top 10. The vocals utilize some fairly significant pitch correction, which becomes obvious when you hear the songs live. He uses pitch correction, but it feels more like an effect than it does about fixing vocal imperfections. The vocals needed to be that perfect to fit the style of the music. Secondhand Serenade used amazingly written harmonies to add depth and dynamics to the music. SS utilizes some unique tunings and chords in his music. I learned so much about playing the acoustic guitar from this album. Just like City and Colour I never considered SS an emo band until around 2015. That’s when I looked past the beautiful music and took a deeper look into the lyrics and realized, “Damn, this guy was going through some shit.” I always considered it a love album, as there are some beautiful love songs, but if you look deeper you will see that they are all about trying to fix messed up relationships. Not exactly as happy as the songs sound.
   
2. For When You Can’t Breathe - A Home That Doesn’t Exist This album was just released this year, by an artist that released their first song in 2022. They are almost completely unknown with less than 36,000 monthly listeners on Spotify (most of those have come in the last few months). The newness of the artist does not detract from the perfection of this album. It has dreamy guitar tones, especially on the verses. The choruses have a strong pop punk feel. The vocals feature both super clean poppy melodies, and yelling and screaming. It kind of feels like a mix of Secondhand Serenade’s clean vocals, Peripheral Vision’s guitar tones, Mayday Parade’s choruses, and the raw vocals of Hotelier. Seriously a cool mix of music and styles. It is everything my 17 year old scene self hoped emo music would be in 15 years.
   

*edited to fix album title

**TOKYO**
Following the Golden Week holidays in early May, a growing number of Japanese workers are using private resignation services to leave their jobs, especially recent graduates who started in April. These services, popular in recent years, allow workers to quit without facing their employers in person, often due to harassment or poor working conditions.
Albatross Co, a Tokyo-based company launched in 2022, offers a resignation service called Momuri, meaning "already too much." The service has seen a significant increase in users reporting mistreatment. Typically handling about 200 cases per month, Albatross saw a spike to 1,400 customers in April and over 500 in early May. Most users are in their 20s and 30s, with many new graduates among them.
Complaints include unpleasant supervisors and discrepancies between job promises and actual employment conditions. Resignations can be processed quickly, sometimes within a day, using the Line messaging app. Shinji Tanimoto, head of Albatross, emphasized the importance of supporting those suffering in adverse environments.
The industry has expanded with over 100 companies now offering these services, costing between 20,000($128) and 50,000 yen($320). The trend is partly driven by labor shortages in Japan's declining population and cultural mismatches between young workers and traditional companies.
However, these services have limitations in legal matters unless handled by qualified lawyers. Muneyuki Kakuchiyama of ITJ Law Office, which offers such services, advises consulting a lawyer for issues that could escalate legally, such as unpaid wages or refusal to accept resignations.
Japan Today

Most of you have probably seen the truly disastrous New York Times/Sienna swing state polls that came out this morning, that paint a dire picture for the ostriches in the Biden campaign. I understand dismissing polls from outlets like Rasmussen, because their entire polling operation is just a guy named Gary sitting behind a folding table in the lobby of the Rec Center at The Villages. But are we going to dismiss The New York Times? Are they part of the “vast right wing conspiracy” now too? What about NBC, Washington Post, NPR, CBS et al? And virtually all of the polls are wrong? Biden’s approval numbers? The “wrong track” numbers? Biden’s confidence numbers? The economic poll numbers? Everything is wrong? Really? Now who’s on “Earth II?”
And then there are the numbers themselves. A traditional (+/- 3%) MOE means a 6-point swing. NYT has Trump at +13 in Nevada. Assuming that poll is off by a whopping 50%, he’s still beating the swing. That’s disastrous. 10 points in Georgia? Horrible. 7 points in both Michigan and Arizona? All outside the swing. Polling among traditionally Democrat voting groups are even less encouraging. Recent polling indicates 30% of Black men are considering voting for Trump. Suppose that survey is off by 50%, it still means 15% - which is disastrous for Biden. Don’t even get me started on the youth vote. Many people forget that not too long ago, the big prizes of Ohio (18 electoral votes) and Florida (29 electoral votes) were up for grabs. With those two states now firmly in the Red column, the Democrats have a very narrow gauntlet to run.
For some reason, whether it’s rose-colored optimism or just plain denial, we’re all supposed to act as if everything is fine. From Simon Rosenberg to Geoff Garin to Molly Jong Fast (who I’m now calling Pauline Kael, Jr) we’re told not to worry. But you know things are bad when you watch turd-polishing Democrat operatives on cable news say things like:

“Well, Anderson, when you look at exurban, lactose-intolerant, Latvian-American independents with three fingers, aged 37-39, Biden is +2 compared to 2020…….”

My spleen is going to implode if I hear one more Democrat pundit say, “Don’t worry, polls this far out fluctuate wildly.” Yes, in a typical year they do. But this is no typical year. For the first time since 1892, two former presidents are running against each other, and that changes everything. Why pundits and campaign managers can’t seem to understand this is simply beyond me. Unless your comparisons are to the 1892 race, I don’t want to hear them. In a typical election year, polls move drastically in the last 6 months because the electorate is getting to know the challenger for the first time. That’s simply not the case this year.
Both these men are completely known quantities. There’s nothing left to discover. Both have run against each other before. Both have done the job of President before - very recently. Opinions are largely set. That’s why we’ve seen almost no movement in polls from 12 months out to 6 months out. Everything is baked. Trump killed one million Americans by ignoring COVID, staged a literal bloody coup attempt, was convicted of rape, defamation and a lifetime of financial fraud totaling almost half a billion dollars, and the needle didn’t move. If you think getting convicted of “falsifying business records” is going to move that needle, then I’ve got some oceanfront condos in Nebraska to sell you. He’s not going to jail. Short of him killing Kristi Noem’s other dog live on the Times Square Jumbo-Tron, Trump’s numbers are fixed. Biden fares no better. Is he going to get younger over the next 6 months? Are we going to have sudden deflation that wipes out 3 years of price increases? Is the Fed going to cut rates by 5 points? Are the Israelis and Palestinians going to start holding hands and singing Kumbaya? In 6 months? There are no October Surprises coming, folks - so don’t count on one.
That’s why we need to take these polls extremely seriously - NOW. No more dismissing them. No more waiting around hoping they’ll change. No more, “Just wait until “______” months out. No more whistling past the graveyard. Our task is different this cycle. It’s not about persuading open minds, it’s about changing voters’ closed minds, which is a far more difficult and lengthy task. Here are a few ideas for starting that process now:

1. LEAN HARD ON THE CONCEPT OF FREEDOM: Across the political spectrum most Americans share one core value: We like to be left alone. We don’t like busybodies (especially the government) telling us what we can and can’t do. We like our freedom. The GOP has already become the party of extremist, authoritarian busybodies, and their future plans are truly dystopian. We need to hang the entire party’s authoritarian impulses around Trump’s neck like an albatross. Book bans, IVF bans, abortion bans, protest bands, porn bans, voter suppression - these are not popular with the vast majority of Americans. We need to start portraying the GOP as the Handmaid’s Tale/SNL Church Lady/Nurse Ratchet figures that they are. (And it’s not hyperbole when it’s already happening in Red states coast to coast. We have plenty of ammo). The hallmark message of this campaign needs to be “Creepy Republicans (mostly men) are obsessed with your bedroom and your bathroom.” Do you want Ted Cruz in your OB/GYN’s exam room with you and your doctor? Because that’s where we’re headed if you elect Trump/Republicans. Educate the hell out of Americans on Project 2025 and its Evangelical-based Puritanism. That’s a long, tough task that needs to begin NOW, not in October.
2. EDUCATE PEOPLE ON BIDEN’S ACHIEVEMENTS: This shouldn’t have to be our job, but sadly Biden has been sitting in an ivory tower for 3+ years, refusing to use the world’s biggest bully pulpit to tout his own achievements. Add in a mainstream media that completely ignores him and it’s even worse. It might be too late. Read this truly stunning article from The Hill: 34% of Americans know NOTHING about the American Rescue Plan. 44% know NOTHING about the CHIPS Act. 24% know NOTHING about the Inflation Reduction Act. The infrastructure law fares no better, at 30% ignorance. 25% of the country thinks Biden is responsible for ending Roe V. Wade! Maybe educating them will pull a few percentage points our way, but it’s an uphill climb at this late date.
3. PROMOTE THE HELL OUT OF RFK, JR: I’ve been beating this drum for months now, and thankfully some Democrat operatives are starting to come around. RFK, Jr is one of the greatest gifts the Democrats have ever received, and they need to starting acting like it. Unlike Biden and Trump, he is the one candidate in this race that Americans are getting to know for the first time. And once they do, he pulls almost exclusively Trump voters. Kennedy has virtually no appeal to Democrats, once they get to know him and his policies. So educate them! Promote him! He is doing almost exclusively MAGA press, picking up almost exclusively MAGA endorsements, and taking almost exclusively MAGA positions. If you don’t believe me, please sign up for his emails. They are virtually indistinguishable from Trump’s messaging. Go to one of his events - you’ll find almost entirely former Trump supporters. As people have gotten to know RFK, Jr. his polling as gone from pulling mostly Biden supporters, to mostly even, to pulling mostly Trump supporters. His brand of wacky, anti-vax conspiracy theorism is perfectly poised to keep 3rd-party-curious voters from returning to Trump. Trump and his MAGA surrogates have been stepping up their attacks on RFK Jr lately, because even they know it in their bones. The Democrats need to promote RFK, by using social media to micro-target the anti-vax, conspiracy theorist, tinfoil-hat crowd that would traditionally go back to Trump. It’s a golden opportunity, and they’re blowing it.
4. STOP ACTNG LIKE IT’S 1982: Biden and his surrogates seem stuck in a time warp. They’re operating a campaign from a bygone era: Wait until the last few months, run some local TV ads with American flags and amber waves of grain, send out some junk mailers, pick up a union boss endorsement or two, get the local paper (if it even exists anymore) to endorse you, smile a lot, and kiss some babies. Meanwhile the GOP knows it’s in a fight for a knife in the mud. Trump is doing rallies - where are Biden’s? Trump and his minions are savaging Biden on a minute-by-minute basis - where are Biden and his surrogates? Don’t wait to go for the jugular - do it now. And keep that shiv in Trump’s neck for the next 6 months. Don’t worry about looking “Presidential” - worry about looking strong. Get creative and provocative with your dystopian ads. Scare people. Don’t worry about naysayers complaining that you’re exaggerating, because you’re not. Leverage social media - hard. Live in 2024. Embrace it. In other words - stop bringing a casserole to a knife fight.

None of these ideas may ultimately work, but we need to start the fight, and start it now.

It was a dark, starless night. We were becalmed in the Northern Pacific. Our exact position I do not know; for the sun had been hidden during the course of a weary, breathless week, by a thin haze which had seemed to float above us, about the height of our mastheads, at whiles descending and shrouding the surrounding sea. With there being no wind, we had steadied the tiller, and I was the only man on deck. The crew, consisting of two men and a boy, were sleeping forward in their den, while Will—my friend, and the master of our little craft—was aft in his bunk on the port side of the little cabin. Suddenly, from out of the surrounding darkness, there came a hail: “Schooner, ahoy!” The cry was so unexpected that I gave no immediate answer, because of my surprise. It came again—a voice curiously throaty and inhuman, calling from somewhere upon the dark sea away on our port broadside: “Schooner, ahoy!” “Hullo!” I sung out, having gathered my wits somewhat. “What are you? What do you want?” “You need not be afraid,” answered the queer voice, having probably noticed some trace of confusion in my tone. “I am only an old—man.” The pause sounded odd, but it was only afterward that it came back to me with any significance. “Why don’t you come alongside, then?” I queried somewhat snappishly; for I liked not his hinting at my having been a trifle shaken. “I—I—can’t. It wouldn’t be safe. I——” The voice broke off, and there was silence. “What do you mean?” I asked, growing more and more astonished. “What’s not safe? Where are you?” I listened for a moment; but there came no answer. And then, a sudden indefinite suspicion, of I knew not what, coming to me, I stepped swiftly to the binnacle and took out the lighted lamp. At the same time, I knocked on the deck with my heel to waken Will. Then I was back at the side, throwing the yellow funnel of light out into the silent immensity beyond our rail. As I did so, I heard a slight muffled cry, and then the sound of a splash, as though someone had dipped oars abruptly. Yet I cannot say with certainty that I saw anything; save, it seemed to me, that with the first flash of the light there had been something upon the waters, where now there was nothing. “Hullo, there!” I called. “What foolery is this?” But there came only the indistinct sounds of a boat being pulled away into the night. Then I heard Will’s voice from the direction of the after scuttle: “What’s up, George?” “Come here, Will!” I said. “What is it?” he asked, coming across the deck. I told him the queer thing that had happened. He put several questions; then, after a moment’s silence, he raised his hands to his lips and hailed: “Boat, ahoy!” From a long distance away there came back to us a faint reply, and my companion repeated his call. Presently, after a short period of silence, there grew on our hearing the muffled sound of oars, at which Will hailed again. This time there was a reply: “Put away the light.” “I’m damned if I will,” I muttered; but Will told me to do as the voice bade, and I shoved it down under the bulwarks. “Come nearer,” he said, and the oar strokes continued. Then, when apparently some half dozen fathoms distant, they again ceased. “Come alongside!” exclaimed Will. “There’s nothing to be frightened of aboard here.” “Promise that you will not show the light?” “What’s to do with you,” I burst out, “that you’re so infernally afraid of the light?” “Because—” began the voice, and stopped short. “Because what?” I asked quickly. Will put his hand on my shoulder. “Shut up a minute, old man,” he said, in a low voice. “Let me tackle him.” He leaned more over the rail. “See here, mister,” he said, “this is a pretty queer business, you coming upon us like this, right out in the middle of the blessed Pacific. How are we to know what sort of a hanky-panky trick you’re up to? You say there’s only one of you. How are we to know, unless we get a squint at you—eh? What’s your objection to the light, anyway?” As he finished, I heard the noise of the oars again, and then the voice came; but now from a greater distance, and sounding extremely hopeless and pathetic. “I am sorry—sorry! I would not have troubled you, only I am hungry, and—so is she.” The voice died away, and the sound of the oars, dipping irregularly, was borne to us. “Stop!” sang out Will. “I don’t want to drive you away. Come back! We’ll keep the light hidden, if you don’t like it.” He turned to me: “It’s a damned queer rig, this; but I think there’s nothing to be afraid of?” There was a question in his tone, and I replied. “No, I think the poor devil’s been wrecked around here, and gone crazy.” The sound of the oars drew nearer. “Shove that lamp back in the binnacle,” said Will; then he leaned over the rail and listened. I replaced the lamp and came back to his side. The dipping of the oars ceased some dozen yards distant. “Won’t you come alongside now?” asked Will in an even voice. “I have had the lamp put back in the binnacle.” “I—I cannot,” replied the voice. “I dare not come nearer. I dare not even pay you for the— the provisions.” “That’s all right,” said Will, and hesitated. “You’re welcome to as much grub as you can take—” Again he hesitated. “You are very good!” exclaimed the voice. “May God, Who understands everything, reward you—” It broke off huskily. “The—the lady?” said Will abruptly. “Is she—” “I have left her behind upon the island,” came the voice. “What island?” I cut in. “I know not its name,” returned the voice. “I would to God—” it began, and checked itself as suddenly. “Could we not send a boat for her?” asked Will at this point. “No!” said the voice, with extraordinary emphasis. “My God! No!” There was a moment’s pause; then it added, in a tone which seemed a merited reproach: “It was because of our want I ventured—because her agony tortured me.” “I am a forgetful brute!” exclaimed Will. “Just wait a minute, whoever you are, and I will bring you up something at once.” In a couple of minutes he was back again, and his arms were full of various edibles. He paused at the rail. “Can’t you come alongside for them?” he asked. “No—I dare not,” replied the voice, and it seemed to me that in its tones I detected a note of stifled craving—as though the owner hushed a mortal desire. It came to me then in a flash that the poor old creature out there in the darkness was suffering for actual need for that which Will held in his arms; and yet, because of some unintelligible dread, refraining from dashing to the side of our schooner and receiving it. And with the lightning-like conviction there came the knowledge that the Invisible was not mad, but sanely facing some intolerable horror. “Damn it, Will!” I said, full of many feelings, over which predominated a vast sympathy. “Get a box. We must float off the stuff to him in it.” This we did, propelling it away from the vessel, out into the darkness, by means of a boat hook. In a minute a slight cry from the Invisible came to us, and we knew that he had secured the box. A little later he called out a farewell to us, and so heartful a blessing, that I am sure we were the better for it. Then, without more ado, we heard the ply of oars across the darkness. “Pretty soon off,” remarked Will, with perhaps just a little sense of injury. “Wait,” I replied. “I think somehow he’ll come back. He must have been badly needing that food.” “And the lady,” said Will. For a moment he was silent; then he continued: “It’s the queerest thing ever I’ve tumbled across since I’ve been fishing.” “Yes,” I said, and fell to pondering. And so the time slipped away—an hour, another, and still Will stayed with me; for the queer adventure had knocked all desire for sleep out of him. The third hour was three parts through when we heard again the sound of oars across the silent ocean. “Listen!” said Will, a low note of excitement in his voice. “He’s coming, just as I thought,” I muttered. The dipping of the oars grew nearer, and I noted that the strokes were firmer and longer. The food had been needed. They came to a stop a little distance off the broadside, and the queer voice came again to us through the darkness: “Schooner, ahoy!” “That you?” asked Will. “Yes,” replied the voice. “I left you suddenly, but—but there was great need.” “The lady?” questioned Will. “The—lady is grateful now on earth. She will be more grateful soon in—in heaven.” Will began to make some reply, in a puzzled voice; but became confused, and broke off short. I said nothing. I was wondering at the curious pauses, and, apart from my wonder, I was full of a great sympathy. The voice continued: “We—she and I, have talked, as we shared the result of God’s tenderness and yours—” Will interposed; but without coherence. “I beg of you not to—to belittle your deed of Christian charity this night,” said the voice. “Be sure that it has not escaped His notice.” It stopped, and there was a full minute’s silence. Then it came again: “We have spoken together upon that which—which has befallen us. We had thought to go out, without telling anyone of the terror which has come into our—lives. She is with me in believing that tonight’s happenings are under a special ruling, and that it is God’s wish that we should tell to you all that we have suffered since—since—” “Yes?” said Will softly. “Since the sinking of the Albatross.” “Ah!” I exclaimed involuntarily. “She left Newcastle for ’Frisco some six months ago, and hasn’t been heard of since.” “Yes” answered the voice. “But some few degrees to the North of the line, she was caught in a terrible storm, and dismasted. When the day came, it was found that she was leaking badly, and, presently, it falling to a calm, the sailors took to the boats, leaving—leaving a young lady—my fiancée—and myself upon the wreck. “We were below, gathering together a few of our belongings, when they left. They were entirely callous, through fear, and when we came up upon the decks, we saw them only as small shapes afar off upon the horizon. Yet we did not despair, but set to work and constructed a small raft. Upon this we put such few matters as it would hold, including a quantity of water and some ship’s biscuit. Then, the vessel being very deep in the water, we got ourselves onto the raft and pushed off. “It was later, when I observed that we seemed to be in the way of some tide or current, which bore us from the ship at an angle; so that in the course of three hours, by my watch, her hull became invisible to our sight, her broken masts remaining in view for a somewhat longer period. Then, towards evening, it grew misty, and so through the night. The next day we were still encompassed by the mist, the weather remaining quiet. “For four days we drifted through this strange haze, until, on the evening of the fourth day, there grew upon our ears the murmur of breakers at a distance. Gradually it became plainer, and, somewhat after midnight, it appeared to sound upon either hand at no very great space. The raft was raised upon a swell several times, and then we were in smooth water, and the noise of the breakers was behind. “When the morning came, we found that we were in a sort of great lagoon; but of this we noticed little at the time; for close before us, through the enshrouding mist, loomed the hull of a large sailing vessel. With one accord, we fell upon our knees and thanked God, for we thought that here was an end to our perils. We had much to learn. “The raft drew near to the ship, and we shouted on them to take us aboard; but none answered. Presently the raft touched against the side of the vessel, and seeing a rope hanging downward, I seized it and began to climb. Yet I had much ado to make my way up, because of a kind of grey, lichenous fungus that had seized upon the rope, and which blotched the side of the ship lividly. “I reached the rail and clambered over it, onto the deck. Here I saw that the decks were covered, in great patches, with grey masses, some of them rising into nodules several feet in height; but at the time I thought less of this matter than of the possibility of there being people aboard the ship. I shouted; but none answered. Then I went to the door below the poop deck. I opened it, and peered in. There was a great smell of staleness, so that I knew in a moment that nothing living was within, and with the knowledge, I shut the door quickly; for I felt suddenly lonely. “I went back to the side where I had scrambled up. My—my sweetheart was still sitting quietly upon the raft. Seeing me look down, she called up to know whether there were any aboard of the ship. I replied that the vessel had the appearance of having been long deserted, but that if she would wait a little I would see whether there was anything in the shape of a ladder by which she could ascend to the deck. Then we would make a search through the vessel together. A little later, on the opposite side of the decks, I found a rope side ladder. This I carried across, and a minute afterwards she was beside me. “Together we explored the cabins and apartments in the after part of the ship; but nowhere was there any sign of life. Here and there, within the cabins themselves, we came across odd patches of that queer fungus; but this, as my sweetheart said, could be cleansed away. “In the end, having assured ourselves that the after portion of the vessel was empty, we picked our ways to the bows, between the ugly grey nodules of that strange growth; and here we made a further search, which told us that there was indeed none aboard but ourselves. “This being now beyond any doubt, we returned to the stern of the ship and proceeded to make ourselves as comfortable as possible. Together we cleared out and cleaned two of the cabins; and after that I made examination whether there was anything eatable in the ship. This I soon found was so, and thanked God in my heart for His goodness. In addition to this I discovered the whereabouts of the fresh-water pump, and having fixed it, I found the water drinkable, though somewhat unpleasant to the taste. “For several days we stayed aboard the ship, without attempting to get to the shore. We were busily engaged in making the place habitable. Yet even thus early we became aware that our lot was even less to be desired than might have been imagined; for though, as a first step, we scraped away the odd patches of growth that studded the floors and walls of the cabins and saloon, yet they returned almost to their original size within the space of twenty-four hours, which not only discouraged us but gave us a feeling of vague unease. “Still we would nor admit ourselves beaten, so set to work afresh, and not only scraped away the fungus but soaked the places where it had been with carbolic, a can-full of which I had found in the pantry. Yet, by the end of the week the growth had returned in full strength, and, in addition, it had spread to other places, as though our touching it had allowed germs from it to travel elsewhere. “On the seventh morning, my sweetheart woke to find a small patch of it growing on her pillow, close to her face. At that, she came to me, as soon as she could get her garments upon her. I was in the galley at the time lighting the fire for breakfast. “ ‘Come here, John,’ she said, and led me aft. When I saw the thing upon her pillow I shuddered, and then and there we agreed to go right out of the ship and see whether we could not fare to make ourselves more comfortable ashore. “Hurriedly we gathered together our few belongings, and even among these I found that the fungus had been at work, for one of her shawls had a little lump of it growing near one edge. I threw the whole thing over the side without saying anything to her. “The raft was still alongside, but it was too clumsy to guide, and I lowered down a small boat that hung across the stern, and in this we made our way to the shore. Yet, as we drew near to it, I became gradually aware that here the vile fungus, which had driven us from the ship, was growing riot. In places it rose into horrible, fantastic mounds, which seemed almost to quiver, as with a quiet life, when the wind blew across them. Here and there it took on the forms of vast fingers, and in others it just spread out flat and smooth and treacherous. Odd places, it appeared as grotesque stunted trees, seeming extraordinarily kinked and gnarled—the whole quaking vilely at times. “At first, it seemed to us that there was no single portion of the surrounding shore which was not hidden beneath the masses of the hideous lichen; yet, in this, I found we were mistaken; for somewhat later, coasting along the shore at a little distance, we descried a smooth white patch of what appeared to be fine sand, and there we landed. It was not sand. What it was I do not know. All that I have observed is that upon it the fungus will not grow; while everywhere else, save where the sand-like earth wanders oddly, path-wise, amid the grey desolation of the lichen, there is nothing but that loathsome greyness. “It is difficult to make you understand how cheered we were to find one place that was absolutely free from the growth, and here we deposited our belongings. Then we went back to the ship for such things as it seemed to us we should need. Among other matters, I managed to bring ashore with me one of the ship’s sails, with which I constructed two small tents, which, though exceedingly rough-shaped, served the purposes for which they were intended. In these we lived and stored our various necessities, and thus for a matter of some four weeks all went smoothly and without particular unhappiness. Indeed, I may say with much happiness—for—for we were together. “It was on the thumb of her right hand that the growth first showed. It was only a small circular spot, much like a little grey mole. My God! how the fear leaped to my heart when she showed me the place. We cleansed it, between us, washing it with carbolic and water. In the morning of the following day she showed her hand to me again. The grey warty thing had returned. For a little while we looked at one another in silence. Then, still wordless, we started again to remove it. In the midst of the operation she spoke suddenly. “ ‘What’s that on the side of your face, dear?’ Her voice was sharp with anxiety. I put my hand up to feel. “ ‘There! Under the hair by your ear. A little to the front a bit.’ My finger rested upon the place, and then I knew. “ ‘Let us get your thumb done first,’ I said. And she submitted, only because she was afraid to touch me until it was cleansed. I finished washing and disinfecting her thumb, and then she turned to my face. After it was finished we sat together and talked awhile of many things; for there had come into our lives sudden, very terrible thoughts. We were, all at once, afraid of something worse than death. We spoke of loading the boat with provisions and water and making our way out onto the sea; yet we were helpless, for many causes, and—and the growth had attacked us already. We decided to stay. God would do with us what was His will. We would wait. “A month, two months, three months passed and the places grew somewhat, and there had come others. Yet we fought so strenuously with the fear that its headway was but slow, comparatively speaking. “Occasionally we ventured off to the ship for such stores as we needed. There we found that the fungus grew persistently. One of the nodules on the main deck soon became as high as my head. “We had now given up all thought or hope of leaving the island. We had realized that it would be unallowable to go among healthy humans, with the things from which we were suffering. “With this determination and knowledge in our minds we knew that we should have to husband our food and water; for we did not know, at that time, but that we should possibly live for many years. “This reminds me that I have told you that I am an old man. Judged by years this is not so. But—but—” He broke off; then continued somewhat abruptly: “As I was saying, we knew that we should have to use care in the matter of food. But we had no idea then how little food there was left of which to take care. It was a week later that I made the discovery that all the other bread tanks—which I had supposed full—were empty, and that (beyond odd tins of vegetables and meat, and some other matters) we had nothing on which to depend, but the bread in the tank which I had already opened. “After learning this I bestirred myself to do what I could, and set to work at fishing in the lagoon; but with no success. At this I was somewhat inclined to feel desperate until the thought came to me to try outside the lagoon, in the open sea. “Here, at times, I caught odd fish, but so infrequently that they proved of but little help in keeping us from the hunger which threatened. It seemed to me that our deaths were likely to come by hunger, and not by the growth of the thing which had seized upon our bodies. “We were in this state of mind when the fourth month wore out. Then I made a very horrible discovery. One morning, a little before midday, I came off from the ship with a portion of the biscuits which were left. In the mouth of her tent I saw my sweetheart sitting, eating something. “ ‘What is it, my dear?’ I called out as I leaped ashore. Yet, on hearing my voice, she seemed confused, and, turning, slyly threw something toward the edge of the little clearing. It fell short, and a vague suspicion having arisen within me, I walked across and picked it up. It was a piece of the grey fungus. “As I went to her with it in my hand, she turned deadly pale; then a rose red. “I felt strangely dazed and frightened. “ ‘My dear! My dear!’ I said, and could say no more. Yet at my words she broke down and cried bitterly. Gradually, as she calmed, I got from her the news that she had tried it the preceding day, and—and liked it. I got her to promise on her knees not to touch it again, however great our hunger. After she had promised, she told me that the desire for it had come suddenly, and that, until the moment of desire, she had experienced nothing toward it but the most extreme repulsion. “Later in the day, feeling strangely restless and much shaken with the thing which I had discovered, I made my way along one of the twisted paths—formed by the white, sand-like substance—which led among the fungoid growth. I had, once before, ventured along there; but not to any great distance. This time, being involved in perplexing thought, I went much farther than hitherto. “Suddenly I was called to myself by a queer hoarse sound on my left. Turning quickly I saw that there was movement among an extraordinarily shaped mass of fungus, close to my elbow. It was swaying uneasily, as though it possessed life of its own. Abruptly, as I stared, the thought came to me that the thing had a grotesque resemblance to the figure of a distorted human creature. Even as the fancy flashed into my brain, there was a slight, sickening noise of tearing, and I saw that one of the branchlike arms was detaching itself from the surrounding grey masses, and coming toward me. The head of the thing—a shapeless grey ball, inclined in my direction. I stood stupidly, and the vile arm brushed across my face. I gave out a frightened cry, and ran back a few paces. There was a sweetish taste upon my lips where the thing had touched me. I licked them, and was immediately filled with an inhuman desire. I turned and seized a mass of the fungus. Then more, and—more. I was insatiable. In the midst of devouring, the remembrance of the morning’s discovery swept into my mazed brain. It was sent by God. I dashed the fragment I held to the ground. Then, utterly wretched and feeling a dreadful guiltiness, I made my way back to the little encampment. “I think she knew, by some marvelous intuition which love must have given, so soon as she set eyes on me. Her quiet sympathy made it easier for me, and I told her of my sudden weakness, yet omitted to mention the extraordinary thing which had gone before. I desired to spare her all unnecessary terror. “But, for myself, I had added an intolerable knowledge, to breed an incessant terror in my brain; for I doubted not but that I had seen the end of one of these men who had come to the island in the ship in the lagoon; and in that monstrous ending I had seen our own. “Thereafter we kept from the abominable food, though the desire for it had entered into our blood. Yet our drear punishment was upon us; for, day by day, with monstrous rapidity, the fungoid growth took hold of our poor bodies. Nothing we could do would check it materially, and so—and so—we who had been human became—Well, it matters less each day. Only—only we had been man and maid! “And day by day the fight is more dreadful, to withstand the hunger-lust for the terrible lichen. “A week ago we ate the last of the biscuit, and since that time I have caught three fish. I was out here fishing tonight when your schooner drifted upon me out of the mist. I hailed you. You know the rest, and may God, out of His great heart, bless you for your goodness to a—a couple of poor outcast souls.” There was the dip of an oar—another. Then the voice came again, and for the last time, sounding through the slight surrounding mist, ghostly and mournful. “God bless you! Good-bye!” “Good-bye,” we shouted together hoarsely, our hearts full of many emotions. I glanced about me. I became aware that the dawn was upon us. The sun flung a stray beam across the hidden sea; pierced the mist dully, and lit up the receding boat with a gloomy fire. Indistinctly I saw something nodding between the oars. I thought of a sponge—a great, grey nodding sponge— The oars continued to ply. They were grey—as was the boat—and my eyes searched a moment vainly for the conjunction of hand and oar. My gaze flashed back to the—head. It nodded forward as the oars went backward for the stroke. Then the oars were dipped, the boat shot out of the patch of light, and the—the thing went nodding into the mist.

Chapters:

• CHAPTER 50. Ahab’s Boat and Crew. Fedallah.
• CHAPTER 51. The Spirit-Spout.
• CHAPTER 52. The Albatross.

Summary:
Stubb and Flask have a conversation about Ahab, remarking on how unusual – and brave – it is for Ahab to be part of a whale hunt while missing a leg. We also learn through them that he still has “a good part” of the knee remaining on his severed leg. Ishmael then takes over and provides us with additional detail about Ahab’s preparation for the voyage. Moreover, Ahab modified his boat not just to allow him to observe and lead the hunts, but to play an active role in the kills (or at least one kill, specifically). Ishmael goes on to say that Fedallah’s crew slowly integrated into the larger crew, though they seemed somehow distinct. Fedallah, however, “remained a muffled mystery to the last.” Ishmael wonders how he met Ahab and what influence he holds over him.
Over a period of weeks, the Pequod meanders south through the Atlantic Ocean, passing cruising grounds off the Azores, Cape Verde, and the east coast of South America. One night, near St. Helena, Fedallah spots a whale and cries out. Because it’s not uncommon to spot whales at night – but rare to chase after them in the dark – it’s presumed that he would only call out if he saw Moby Dick. The ship chases the whale, but the spout is never seen again that night. Several nights later, the crew have the same experience – spouting a mysterious spouting that immediately disappears. The “spirit spout” is spotted every few days after that, seeming to beckon them towards it and creating a feeling of dread. Nevertheless, the ship rounds the Cape of Good Hope, fighting through relentless storms with Ahab leading the charge on deck.
Once past the cape, somewhere near the Crozet Islands, the Pequod has its first “gam,” or encounter with another whaling ship, the Goney. The encounter is brief and somewhat ominous, however, with the crew of the four-year voyage looking forlorn and the ship in poor shape. Ahab asks the captain if they’ve seen the white whale, but as he starts to reply through a “trumpet” (a sort of 19th century megaphone) it drops into the water. The Goney continues sailing past them and into the distance and the two are never able to communicate.
Questions:

• What do we learn about Ahab knowing that he’s thought through every aspect of his final battle with Moby Dick well in advance of setting sail?
• The crew seems relatively accepting of Fedallah’s crew (though they aren’t given much choice). What does it say about them?
• How much of the legend of Moby Dick – and the story of the novel, Moby-Dick – is a tale as interpreted through a highly-superstitious and generally uneducated whaling crew? Does it make a difference in how you personally read and interpret the book?
• The last time Ahab rounded a cape (Cape Horn) was after he lost his leg and slowly metamorphosed into his monomaniacal, slightly insane form. What is Ahab’s demeanor like rounding the Cape of Good Hope?
• (ONGOING) Choose one of the references or allusions made in this week’s chapters to look up and post some more information about it

Upcoming:

• May 20 - May 26: Chapters 53-55
• May 27 - June 2: Chapters 55-57
• June 3 - June 9: Chapters 58-60
• June 10 - June 16: Chapters 61-62

The alphabetized items below are from golf-drives.com. What are the other need-to-know slang terms that would arm someone for being a non-stop infinitely-annoying color commentator for a full round?
I’ll add a few to get things started:
Pure: A fairway shot which is flushed.
Flushed: A pured shot.
Nutted: Means pured or nuked.
Nuked: Flushed hard.
Nice: Classier way of saying nutted.
Solid: Nice.
Mashed Potato (or anything else yelled instantaneously after a tour player’s shot): I have severe mental issues, and I’m drunk.
Beaver tail: Massive divot.
Piss Missle: Slightly higher trajectory than a worm burner, but normally not hit with wedge.
Worm Burner: Ground contour hugging supersonic shot often struck with leading edge of pitching wedge.
A-Z Golf Slang and Terminology
A
“A” Game: A golfer’s best game which is executed on a regular basis.
Ace: Hitting the ball into the hole in one swing of the club.
Afraid of The Dark: When the putted ball refuses to fall into the hole.
Airmail: A golf shot which travels a considerably longer distance than planned.
Albatross (aka Double Eagle): This means a score of three strokes under Par, which as you can imagine is very rare.
All square: Tied score in match play.
Army Golf: Like a marching rhythm: Left-right-left, in the game of golf it means hitting the ball out of bounds to the left then to the right the next time.
B
Backhander: When you hit the ball casually with the back-side of the putter to “Hole” a very short putt.
Banana Ball: The ball travels in a ”banana-shaped” curve. A very sharp fade shot known as a “slice”.
Barkies: Hitting the golf ball at trees and obtaining a good score despite it.
Beach: Term used for a sand bunker.
Birdie: A score of one less than par.
Bite: If a ball has lots of backspin it is said to “bite” because it stays close to where it landed or may spin back toward the player. If a ball appears to be going past the hole a player may shout “pray” or a more humorous way can be to shout, “grow teeth!”.
Bogey: A score of one over par.
Bracket: To be prepared for a different situation where you need to hit a certain shot you will need to take additional clubs – one higher and one lower known as a Bracket.
Buzzard (aka Double Bogey): A score of two over par.
C
Cabbage (aka Spinach): If you hit the ball into inescapable thick rough.
Can: Refers to the “Cup” on the Green.
Carpet: Term which refers to the “Green”.
Casual water: A build-up of water on the golf course after heavy rain that is not part of a water hazard.
The player can move the ball without penalty.
Cat Box: A sand bunker.
Chicken Stick: If faced with a difficult shot, a golfer will choose a play-it-safe club that is within his capabilities to properly complete the shot.
Chili Dip (aka Fat/Chunk shot): Hitting the ground behind the ball before impact with the ball.
Chipping: Short shot usually made from just off the green.
Cuban: Putting action where the ball stops short of dropping into the cup.
Cup: The hole on the green – 4.5-inch diameter, 4-inch-deep.
D Dance floor: Refers to the green.
Dawn patrol: Golfers who play at sunrise.
Dew Sweepers: Reference to players in a Professional Tournament who have the earliest Tee times (when the dew is still on the course), in the third or fourth round of the tournament.
Dog Track (aka Goat track): When a golf course is in poor condition.
Dribbler (aka Fat Shot): When a shot that only goes forward a few feet.
Duck Hook (aka Snap Hook): A ball that curves right to left on a low trajectory and off target.
Duffer (aka Hacker): An “inexperienced” or mediocre golfer.
Deep: A hole/flagstick that is located on the back of the green.
Divot: The small chunk of turf that is dislodged when a club head strikes the ground as a player hits the ball.
Drained: Slang term for having sunk a putt.
Draw: A golf shot (for a right-handed golfer) where the ball slowly moves right to left.
Drive: The first shot taken at the teeing ground at each hole.
Driver: The longest club with the biggest head, used for tee shots as it’s designed to hit the ball the farthest.
Duff: A bad shot.
E
Eagle: A score of two under par.
Executive course: A golf course that is shorter and has a lower par than regular golf courses suitable for beginner golfers and juniors. F Fade (aka Cut Shot): A golf shot (right handed golfer) in which the ball gradually moves left to right. Fairway: The centre, short-mown portion of a golf hole in between the teeing ground and the green. First tee: Where a round of golf play begins. Flyer: Hit from the rough, a ball which goes a lot further than envisioned. Fly the green: A shot that goes over the green. Fore: Shouted when the ball is heading towards someone. Forward tees: The teeing ground located closest to the green. Flop shot: A golf shot which is hit quite high and short, which upon contact with the Green, rolls very little and stops. The ball is “Flopped” onto the putting surface. Flub: A terrible shot which causes a loss in scoring. Foot Wedge: Where the golfer uses his “foot” to push the ball into a better position. Four-jack: On any given Green taking four putts to get the ball in the hole. Fried Egg (aka Plugged): Where only the top half of the ball is visible when buried in a Sandtrap. Frog Hair: Closely mown grass surrounding the Green. G Gimme: A shot so close that only a short putt is needed, and the other players agree can count automatically without being played. Get up: An expression shouted at a ball that looks like it’s going to land short of the target. Grounding: Setting the heel of the golf club on the ground. H Handicap: A numerical representation of a golfer’s playing ability. Honours: The right to tee off first based on having the best score on the last hole or being furthest away from the hole. Hook: When a right-handed player strikes the ball such that it curves sharply from right to left. Hot: A shot that goes faster than intended. Hacker: An “inexperienced” or mediocre golfer. Hand Wedge: Where the golfer uses his “hand” to nudge the ball into a better lie. I Iffy lie: A ball that is in an unfortunate lie and dubious whether the ball can be struck well for a good golf shot. In the Leather: A putted ball close enough to the hole to be accepted by the other players. J Juicy lie: Offers a nice clean hit. A juicy lie indicates the ball is sitting on top of grass as if it is mounted on a short Tee. Jungle: A ball hit into the deepest and rough area on the golf course. K Kick: A golfer who asks for a good kick is hoping for the ball to bounce in a good position. Knee-knocker: A nervous reaction when a golfer has a short putt (3 to 4 feet) remaining for the next Putt. L Lay up: When trying to reach the Green could be a risky shot and it is a lot safer to hit a drive or fairway shot short of the Green. Lip out: You have “lipped out” when your ball hits the lip but doesn’t go in the hole. Loop: Refers to one 18-Hole circuit around the Golf Course. Lumberjack: When a golfer hits a ball into a wooded area numerous times during a round and continues to hit the trees trying to get out of the woods. Lie: While in play the Lie is the position/location of the golf ball. Loft: The degree/angle of the face of the club. M Mickey Mouse course: Refers to a course with many short holes and bad maintenance. Mulligan: Referring to a second shot from the Tee, after a bad first shot. Match play: A golf format where the goal is to win individual holes rather than tallying the total of all the strokes. Modified scramble (aka Shamble/ Texas Scramble): Tournament format where golfers select the best shot off the tee, move all balls to that spot, and play individual stroke play for the rest of the hole. N Nineteenth (19th) hole: The Clubhouse Bar. Nip it: A Clean hit which tends to lessen the amount of backspin. Nuked: When you gain a greater distance than your average or typical distance. O Out of Bounds (OB): The area of the course is often marked by white stakes which should be avoided where play is not allowed. P Pin (aka The Stick): The flagstick on the green standing inside the cup. Playing through: When a group of golfers pass by another group of slower playing golfers. Provisional ball: A second ball that is played if the first ball is or may be lost or out of bounds. Putting: The golf stroke used to roll the ball on the green. Q Quick: Rushing your swing or trying to hit too hard. R Rainmaker: A golf shot with a very high trajectory. Ready golf: To speed up or maintain the pace of play players will hit when ready. Rough: The long grass bordering the fairway. S Scratch: A golfer with Zero handicap. Snowman: Reference to scoring an 8 on a hole. Skull: A stroke made above the equator of the ball which is mis-hit, resulting in a line-drive trajectory. Sticks: The plural “sticks” means golf clubs not to be confused with flagstick. Stroke play: A golf format in which the objective is to finish the game using the fewest total shots. T Tap in: A short, easy to make Putt. Tester: Tends to test a golfer. It is where a Putt is too far away for a “Gimmie”, but short enough a good putting golfer can hole it. The Tips (aka Championship Tees/Back Tees): The farthest teeing ground from the green, usually defined by blue, black or gold tee markers. Thin (aka Skinny): A shot strike near the centre of the ball, characteristically causing a low flight. The turn: The halfway point in a round of golf. U Up and down: Only taking two strokes to get the golf ball into the hole when your ball is resting around the green. U-turn: A Putt that rolls almost all the way around the edge of the “Cup” before actually coming out and around without falling in. V Valleys: Relatively flat areas with sharp undulations between mounds on a green. Victory lap: The circle a Putt makes around the rim of the Cup before going in. Velcro: Is the speed of the Putting Green on a golf course. W Worm burner: A golf shot (not a putt) in which the ball never gets but a few feet off the ground. Watery Grave: A final resting place for your “Miss-Hit” shot over a water hazard. Whiff: A poor golf swing with a complete miss of the ball. Y Yips: Due to nervousness and lack of a smooth putting stroke, Yips is the inability to make short putts. Yank: When a Putt is pulled sharply to the left. Z Zone: You’re said to be “in the zone” if you are playing well.

Sunday, May 05 - Saturday, May 11, 2024

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Hi Swifties,
As someone who absolutely is a huge Swiftie, I hope you won’t come for me or downvote me too much with this. I’m more so hoping to find some people who are also having some similar struggles with this album and maybe understand how they’ve processed things differently so I can enjoy it more.
In many respects, I think TTPD is her highest level of artistry: The storytelling and lyricism is out of this world; the poetic concepts and metaphors she uses are just incredibly evocative.
But I want to talk about the soundscape of TTPD.
To me, the people who were dismissively saying “all the songs sound the same” are missing the mark. I don’t think these songs all sound the same at all. Indeed, to me, the prevailing sonic takeaway I got from the album was “cinematic” — most of the production really starts off very small, and then gradually builds and builds —- it moves forward and becomes greater, almost like a narrative, just like the stories she’s telling. I understand that sonically yes it’s not really a new evolution, but these songs definitely don’t all “sound the same”.
But I’m still having issues getting into the album. I love so many of the songs, the hooks get RIGHT into your head — but I’m not finding myself wanting to play it too much. And I think I know why — maybe other people relate.
Basically: To me, the songs don’t actually sound similar enough. That’s right — I don’t think they’re cohesive enough.
Let me explain.
If I want to put on a TS album and want to just “be in the world/vibe of that album” — as opposed to wanting to hear a specific song — I need to: a) Understand what that world is, and b) Want to be in that world.
Musically speaking, the “world” of this album is a little more opaque and unclear to me than most her other albums.
To give some easy examples, if I put on folklore, I’m pretty much in that “world”, or “vibe” of that album the whole way through. Same with evermore. If I put on 1989, I stay in a world of glossy maximal pop with giant hooks and smash songs. If I put on reputation, I’m getting maximal pop, but this time it’s aggressive, moody, hip-hop and soul flavored; it’s downtempo tracks are wounded, or, moody, and sexy. For all the hubbub about “Red” not being “cohesive”, I think it’s incredibly cohesive — it’s fantastic guitar pop with an acoustic-foundation that has a few very sonic left-field selections (like IKNYWT) to keep things interesting.
When it comes to TTPD, I’m having trouble latching on to the “mood” of the album, sonically. Lyrically? I totally get it — introspective, epic, incredibly vulnerable storytelling. But musically I’m having trouble latching on to it.
So let me go into a little bit more of it track by track:

• Fortnight to me is a terrific opener, because it’s dreary, dreamy, mid-tempo, interesting, and very catchy. When I hear Fortnight I think “OK, this is a vibe that no other TS album has.” I love that it mentions February — I think that perfectly fits the song. The video fits, too — it all just works, it’s something different, and maybe you’re not in the mood for it, but Fortnight wouldn’t be on any other TS album.
  
• But then we go to TTPD the song, which is one of my favorites of the album, and I adore for how cinematic it is. But aside from it being midtempo again, I don’t really know how the vibe of this song plays into what Fortnight established. To me, when I say this song could have been on 1989, it’s not because it’s an artistic step backward, it’s just very glossy and synthy and somewhat maximal. If I’m really enjoying the vibe of this song and want more — I’d put on 1989, because, as I’ll talk about subsequently, I don’t think this fits much with anything that comes after, and I definitely feel like we’re somewhere different than where I thought Fortnight was taking us.
  
• Then we go to My Boy Only Breaks, which, to me, musically feels a little anonymous with respect to TS albums — if you told me this song was on 1989, or Midnights, even maybe reputation, purely musically, I don’t feel like I would have been that surprised. Basically, we’re three songs in, and I don’t really know what the “vibe” is musically of this record.
  
• Down Bad is one of my favorite songs on the album. I’m obsessed with everything about this song. But it’s not that it “sounds like reputation” as an artistic dismissal — it’s that, if I’m jamming and vibing to Down Bad, and I want more of this vibe, yeah, I would put on reputation. And I really don’t understand how the vibe of this songs fits next to TTPD song.
  
• By the time we get to But Daddy I Love Him, suddenly we’re in this epic, grandiose, country-pop tale. And she does stay here for a bit — Fresh Out The Slammer makes sense right after this, Guilty As Sin makes sense in this vibe, I Can Fix Him makes sense to me with this song, So High School, Clara Bow, Thank you Aimee, The Bolter, Windows — if I were to place all these songs back to back, I would be like “OK, I understand the vibe of this.” But these songs have nothing to do with vibe of Fortnight, or TTPD, or Down Bad, or So Long London, and those songs all come before any of the country-tinged stuff!
  
• But smack in the middle of this country-pop vibe she’s establishing, she puts in “Florida!!!”, which, while being one of my favorites, I really don’t understand how this aids the country-pop flavor on the back half of TTPD.
  
• I like The Alchemy. A lot. It could be on any regular pop TS album, I’m sorry.
  

Basically, I’m struggling to really get into a groove with the songs that so clearly would NOT on any other album and are clearly their own thing. I think she DOES achieve this a fair amount of times:

• Aside from Fortnight, I think So Long London is fantastic — in no way would So Long London be on anything except TTPD. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived makes sense to me — it’s so focused on the storytelling and the simple menacing vocal to aid it, it wouldn’t be on anything else. The Black Dog and The Albatross and The Prophecy make sense to me — extremely introspective midtempos with heartbreaking vulnerable storytelling and poetic metaphors. I think, while Whose Afraid could sound right at home on reputation, it still works here as a very poetic and cinematic piece with very aggressive and vulnerable storytelling.

But on The Anthology, you have iwannagetyouback, which, is very catchy, but I don’t understand in this context of this album. And you have a series of songs that are very heartfelt but aren’t country-tinged like CSSM, I Hate It Here, Cassandra, How Did It End, Peter, and The Manuscript, and by the time we get to this portion of the album, I feel like we’ve already been in 3-4 other vibes already.
The last album I realized I felt this way about was Lover. Lover to me has a lot of excellent songs I played a lot, but if I just put that on from start to finish, I couldn’t really tell you what the mood is; sometimes it’s really glossy pop (YNTCD, Me, IFTYE, The Man, I Think He Knows, Paper Rings, London Boy), but then you have these vibe songs which are great and feel very distinct and vulnerable and sexy, like False God and even The Archer, but those impulses aren’t really leaned into. Then you have the moody stuff that feels like from the world of reputation like Cruel Summer and Miss Americana, juxtaposed with stuff doing it’s own thing like Soon You’ll Get Better and It’s Nice to Have a Friend, or stuff that really isn’t leaning into any particular vibe elsewhere at all (Cornelia St. DBATC), and I don’t feel like I get a clear sense of the mood of this record.
Midnights, actually, I feel like accomplished this really well and is very underrated in this aspect: It’s moody, minimalist, pop with huge hooks. Lavender Haze, Maroon, Snow On the Beach, YOYOK, Midnight Rain, High Infidelity, Glitch, Sweet Nothing, Labyrinth, The Great War, Dear Reader all make sense to me in terms of the world of this record. Even stuff like Anti-Hero, which is glossier, still would not sound right on any other record, whereas while Karma could maybe be on reputation, it definitely wouldn’t be on Lover or 1989 or TTPD. Basically, a huge amount of this record makes sense to me as something distinct from any other TS album.
I don’t really get this from TTPD. And The Anthology part is hard, because, maybe it’s due to it being almost summer, but I’m just not in the mood to listen to heartwrenching stuff right now.
TL;DR: Conceptually and lyrically I totally understand what this record is going for. And artistically it’s amazing. But I’m struggling to understand the “mood” of this album that isn’t just “introspective midtempos”, so I’m having a hard time playing it as much as I want because I don’t really know what mood to be in for if I want to sit with this.

Playing on version 0.10.6

TL;DR: There are a lot of ways to exploit the rep system in the game. Like, a lot: capturing an Echo-Galleon after repairing one in the mission over and over, capturing the strongest ship in the game with no consequences. Yea... i love dis game man
So... I have put a lot of hours playing endless sky. Many created pilots, many playthroughs of the same missions over and over. The game has been absolutely my favourite thing for the last, i'd say, 3 months. And in that time i had developed some real goofy strategies to get the best ships possible at every point in the game. While i will not sive deep into how i progressed at each point in the game (i honeslty am lazy to do this rn), i will share my goofy strats that allow the player to obtain some really beautiful ships.
While a lot of the cool stuff has to do with the Wanderer storyline, here are some other ways you can exploit the rep system:

• The Bunrodea: If you have, say, a fully crewed Rano'erek and a decent fleet (automata with an Arfecta, which i'll talk about later), you can farm the Bunrodean ENDLESSLY, getting as many outfits and/or ships as you want (yes, civilians included, i tried and i am not sorry), and then later you can get a "special invitation", only to apologize to the queen and have all your sins forgiven. To not have to pay for crew on captured ships during the farming, park them. You can do so even in uninhabited systems. When you apologize, unpark them and make your way to the closest opened planet with an outfitter. There, you know what to do :)
• Unfettered Hai: If you are crazy enough (or you have a Pug Arfecta), you can demand tribute from planets under the control of the Unfettered Hai and, well, make 'em pay tribute. The exploitation of the system comes from the fact that, when you demand tribute, you are immediately hated, buuuuut... selling a single JD (Jump Drive) to them fixes their outlook on you. > U.H: "Slaughtered literal thousands of our people, made us pay you a hefty sum, do you unde..." > P: "takes a comically large jump drive out of pocket Here ya go, i'll take 2 weapons" > U.H: "Oh sweet, thank you so much! You have a friend in the true Hai!" Spoiler: they will come to hate you anyway :) Just be careful when demanding tribute, as, for some reason, the REGULAR Hai, too, become hostile. Just don't kill them and you won't lose any rep.
• Pug: If you have a JD-equipped fleet and haven't finished the FW campaign yet, Deneb is a literal endless supply of JDs. The human Pug will come to hate you anyway, it's fine to farm them even before they do so.
• Human: Oh boy... You can conquer ALL HUMAN PLANETS but the FW ones. Technically you can, because at one point they are republic territory (and even at the start of the campaign, you can conquer those planets that would be FW later while they are not with no penalty from FW), but it's hard. So the WHOLE REPUBLIC AND SYNDICATE SPACE is up for you to take over. You will need some firepower, but i am SURE you can get it (fun fact: you can get a Pug Arfecta before starting a single human mission. I will elaborate later). All your reputations with Deep Security, The Navy, The Syndicate and even the Militia will be fixed after the FW, so go nuts! (ha ha hai reference).
• Coalition: I have no idea if that counts, but here's a lifehack - to avoid putting time into completing missions for the coalition, just... sell them a JD! You can do so when you are invited to the Heliarch ring world. Just have it in your cargo hold, sell it, and you will immediately be a friend to them.

Now for the JUICY part, the part where you can get some bizzare ships, with up to 1433 bunks, 10 turret slots and a ship that makes even the QUARG concerned. And it all starts with birds...
The rest of the post refers to crazy stuff during the Wanderer storyline, during which you can... do some nasty stuff with literally 0 consequences! Here we go:

• How to get an Arfecta? Simple. Have a fleet of some (at least 8) Albatrosses equipped with fire-lances and grab-strike turrets (all possible to acquire during the remnant storyline). For the flagship: either a Dromedary or a Rano'erek (with Nerve Gas, can get from anarchist systems up north). Start in the Ka'ch'chrai system. You don't even have to engage with the birds, although it is recommended to at least speak with them to get access to their basic outfits. Then, the grind begins: jump to the Pug Lyik system (north-west of starting point) and start atacking the Pug. You can farm some decent amound of JDs for future endeavours. atack them till your cargo hold can hold to longer. Store the cargo in Ka'ch'chrai, then go back. HOLD THE JUMP TO SYSTEM KEY TO LET YOUR SHIPS ALIGN AND JUMP AT ONCE. Once ypu are at Pug Lyik again, there it will be: a Pug Arfecta. After some trial and error, you will overheat it after drawing it close to you with grab-strikes. Capture it, and R U N. And there you go! The jem for all future exploits. It makes it possible to exploit the Bundrodean people with 2 ships - a Rano'erek with nothin but shields and anti-missiles and the Arfecta. "But the pug hate me now! :(" Afraid be not! When you'll have a mission to speak with them (impossible to get before FW), their rep will reset. And now, with 0 consequences, maybe a dead albatross or 2, you have a ship that even the Quarg fear. Try landing with it as a flagship or an escort on a Quarg world. You will not be dissapointed :)

Now on to the rest of the fun. After making enough progress in the storyline, the "eye" will open and, in the Ap'arak system, there will be 2 Arfectas, the only 2 remaining ones in the game. Those you cannot capture without consequenses sadly. So, after some time, you will be offered a mission to escort 3 Quarg ships to the Kaliptari system. Please create a safe file once with them, because with those 3 bad boys... man are they useful. Here are 3 things you can do with them:

• Pug and Quarg rep farming. There is a very interesting setup there... So. The system with 2 Arfectas, the Ap'arak system. Head there with your Quarg escorts. The Afrectas and the Quarg will IMMEDIATELY start shooting eachother. Just as one Pug said, they are on "blowing-eactother-up terms with [Quarg]". The Quarg will be disabled. Repair their ships once each, and then land on a planet to save. BOOM, infinite Quarg rep! With that, you could, with the help of other ships that we'll discuss later, capture one OR MORE Quarg warships, which are, let's say, "quite decent" (just dont land on a Quarg world when they are with u or else u die lol). Just make sure that both your main Quarg rep AND your specific Quarg (Kor Efrett) rep is high enough. A good number to achieve is 1000 main Quarg rep, which will allow you to capture (i think) 2 Quarg ships with some wiggle room. How to farm Pug rep? Well, remember how now Pug tolerate you even though you stole their TIER 3 WARSHIP? Well, you can with some finesse escape the Ap'arak system with a single (non-disabled) Quarg ship and, once in Pug Lyik, let it do the work! Repair the Pug and, for no utility, you have a good rep with the Pug! 2 Quarg warships is one too many, Pug tier 1 ships are really weak.
  
  • Ka'het farming. Quite random, but you could farm some Ka'het outfits with the help of the Quarg. Dunno why it could be useful but the option is there.
  • Heliarch farming. An exploit so well known, that under many Heliarch ships on the wikia it rests, waiting to be executed. It is simple - if you sold the JD to the coalition or have a high rep with them by doing work, go to the Ablub system and save there. Now when you take off, the Quarg will start to attack the Heliarch ships and vice versa. Now just repair the Heliarch ships and, once you have a decent rep with them (~220) you can sneak up on a disabled Punisher with your majestic Nerve-Gas-pilled Rano'erek with a single offensive turret installed (even a beam laser will suffice), tap them to make them hostile and just capture it! Then, jump out of the system making sure none of your Quarg escort of your beloved Punisher are dead and voila, a ship with more health than a Hurricane and a badass looking design! If you are grindy enough, no one stops you from making a fleet of Heliarch ships, each one being ludicrously strong. Like, why does the WEAKEST LIGHT WARSHIP OF THE HELIARCHS (The Heliarch Breacher) has MORE HEALTH than ANY HUMAN WARSHIP? (24400 Shields, 21500 Hull). And the Punishers... damn. All i can say.

So from a SIMPLE ESCORT MISSION you can milk this much value. What can top that!? Well...
Once again, after sufficient progress, you will be offered a mission to take a Kor Efret ship, an Echo-Galleon, on a bit of a tour. Screw that! That is boring! Just like with the Quarg missions (and almost all escort missions) your beloved escort can be disabled as much as needed, and the mission would not fail. So do you sense a funny goof here?

1. Travel to the Celeborim system, the north of Kor Sestor space. Wait for the escort to arrive.
2. Let it get disabled by Sestor ships, repair it and land on the planet.
3. Rep farm yay

Farm rep up to around 1000-1300 for comfort, complete the mission and, with your mighty fleet, capture an Echo-Galleon when you see it in one of the Kor Efret systems. Now you have a ship with 972 bunks unmodded. Now watch the hands!
Strip it to allow more bunks, fit nerve gas, go to Misam/Polaris and jump to the Kor'ak'Mari system. There, with your mighty fleet, wait for a Ra'gru Ik 618 to arrive. Capture it with ease. Now you have the STRONGEST WARSHIP that Korath Exiles offer, with 10 turret mounts and around 1200 outfit space. After that, with your Echo-Galleon as a flagship, wait for a Ra'at Ik 621 to arrive. Cap it. 1037 bunks no mods, based. Strip it once again till you have around 1100 bunks. Jump to any system within the north of the Ember Waste (Parca, Lucina, Coluber) and wait for a beauty that is the Rai'alorej. "But dude, it belongs to the Korath civilians! There will be consequences!" To which i say "nuh uh". Shoot it down, capture it. Civilians hate you? NOT FOR LONG! Remember the Wanderer storyline? Progress far enough to the point where Rek wants to meet up with the exiles. Take the mission. BOOM, all rep is reset, now it's like you never even STOLE one of their hospitals!
Phew, so now, in the end, you have access to the best of Korath ships and the ship with the MOST AMOUNT OF BUNKS that you could ever hope to have access to: the Rai'alorej, with 1433 bunks. It also has quite a low minimum crew requiremet, meaning that it's less likely to be totally uncontrollable after a capture. It also has a decent cargo hold and a really weird yet beautiful fish/axolotl-like design. Based indeed.
Also, it is worth a mention that there are actually 2 missions which allow you to have quarg escorts. There is the one once the eye is opened, and one where you need to bring 4 Quarg ships to Farpoint. 4 is better than 3, so it's easier to farm Heliarch ships.
Well, that's about all i know when it comes to exploiting the rep system of Endless Sky. In the end, you have:

• 1 Pug Arfecta, a ship capable of defeating just about any ship in the game weaker than an Archon
• Access to Ra'gru Ik 618's and Ra'at Ik 621's which are VERY FUN to customize. My fav is a build of the Ra'gru Ik 618 with 4 dual sunbeams, 4 moonbeams, 2 warder antimissiles and 3 moonbeams. Even 2 blue sun generators isnt enough to power such ship, but it is REALLY FUN to play.
• The STRONGEST CAPTURE SHIP you could possibly have - the Rai'alorej. Having more than twice the bunks of a min-maxed Rano'erek AND being an actually viable ships at the same time? Very, very based. Unlocks a very lucrative way of makin money - sellig world-ships.
• Some really nice Heliarch ships that are absurdly strong. A Punisher technically has both more shields and hull than the Arfecta... Crazy cool stuff.
• And, as a little bonus, an ability to, if you want to, capture a Quarg ship or 2. With 1433 nerve-gas-pilled mercenaries, no amount of intrusion countermeasures will stop you ;)

Thank you for wasting your time reading this! I hope you learned something new :)

1. Snow White: Fresh Out the Slammer

The song is about someone who falls for someone right after they broke up, but I think it suits her since she ran away from her kingdom. "Now pretty baby I'm running back home to you, Fresh out the slammer I know who my first call would be to"

1. Cinderella: ThanK you aIMee

The song is about being angry but thankful to their bully. "But when I count the scars there's a moment of truth, that there wouldn't be this if there hadn't been you"

1. Aurora: Guilty as Sin

It's an adult version of Once Upon a Dream basically. "I keep recalling things we never did"

1. Ariel: But Daddy I Love Him

The title speaks for itself. "Now I'm dancing in my dress in the sun and even my daddy just loves him. I'm his lady."

1. Belle: I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)

The very obvious choice. "Good boy, that's right. I'll show you heaven if you'll be an angel all night. Trust me I can handle me a dangerous man."

1. Jasmine: Down Bad

This is probably for the middle part of the story. "Show me this world is bigger than us, then sent me back where I came from. For a moment I knew cosmic love."

1. Pocahontas: loml

Kinda describing the very short time of Pocahontas and John Smith being together. "If you know it in one glimpse, it's legendary. What we thought was for all time, was momentary."

1. Mulan: The Albatross

Albatrosses are considered bad omens by sailors but are extremely loyal. Mulan was outcasted once they found out she was a woman in disguise but she still try to save the country. "So I crossed my thoughtless heart, spred my wings like a parachute. I'm the albatross, I swept in at the rescue."

1. Tiana: I Can Do It With a Broken Heart

I know this song is about still pretending to be fine after a break up for professionalism, but I feel like Tiana could fit this song too. "I cry a lot but I am so productive it's an art. You know you good when you can even do it with a broken heart."

1. Rapunzel: My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys

Since Eugene was once a criminal. "I felt more when we played pretend, than with all the kens cause he took me out of my box."

1. Merida and Moana: Robin

Feels very 'keep it up and chase your dream' vibe. "Long may you roar, at your dinosaurs. You're a just ruler covered in mud."

1. Raya: Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?

Has a lot of rage and vengeance. "So I leapbfrom the gallows and I levitate down your street, crash the party like a record scratch as I scream."

1. Anna: imgonnagetyouback

Probably just for one verse in the chorus though. "Whether I'm gonna curse you out or take you back to my house, I haven't decided yet. But I'm gonna get you back." The rest is more for anger towards a bad lover more than a sister gone rogue lol.

1. Elsa: The Prophecy

"Please, I've been on my knees. Change the prophecy. Don't want money, just someone who wants my company."

1. Wendy: Peter

Obviously."You said you were gonna grow up, then you were gonna come find me"

1. Esmeralda: Cassandra

"So they set my life in flames I regret to say. Do you believe me now? They knew the whole time that I knew something. The family, the pure greed, the Christian chorus line. They all said nothing."

I've been listening to this amazing album for 3 weeks, and wanted to share some thoughts that I have not really seen too much discussion about yet, and that I think tie in to whatever third surprise may be in store for us (that Taylor seems to be signaling). As a close listener of the Tortured Poets album, I think one of the big themes of the album, beyond the personal story, is the role of the artist as creator (and destroyer) of worlds, and the “tortured” bargain that artists make in our society. When life is inspiration for the art, does that degrade or restrict the real life, and the artist’s humanity? I'll get back to this, but here's my prediction: I wouldn’t be surprised if whatever is coming next will serve to undermine those who are treating this album solely as tabloid fodder and looking to "paternity test" each song. I think it will be intended to more clearly draw parallels with other “tortured poets” throughout history.
I have stumbled upon two examples, from two different poets, that really seem like they could have served as inspiration, or a guiding framework, for the narratives in the Tortured Poets Department.
· The first - “The Snakecharmer” poem by Sylvia Plath. Now I honestly don’t know anything about Sylvia Plath, other than that she was known as a confessional-style poet who committed suicide, but I saw some analysis linking the Tortured Poets album, and the Fortnight song in particular, to Sylvia Plath. I also remember seeing social media posts of pictures of and questions about a Target barcode for something called “Serpentine” around the time Tortured Poets came out. So I googled Sylvia Plath and Serpentine, and found the Snakecharmer poem. (https://allpoetry.com/Snakecharmer ) Check out the poem and the allpoetry analysis of that poem, Low and behold if it doesn’t mesh so, so well with what I think is the huge social commentary theme of this album and a big point that Taylor Swift wants to make about her art!
· The second – Check out this New Yorker article, from December 2020, about “The Secret History of T.S. Eliot’s Muse.” (https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turnethe-secret-history-of-t-s-eliots-muse) Do I believe that Taylor Swift would have read and been inspired by this article? Yes, yes I do. Does the story of this article have parallels with the overarching personal story of TTPD? Absolutely.
Let’s start with the Snake Charmer poem, and the social commentary of this album. The allpoetry.com analysis of the poem states: “Through the metaphor of a snakecharmer, the poem depicts the act of creating a world, one that is fluid and ever-changing. . . .The snakecharmer, through his music, has power over this world, shaping and controlling it. However, the poem also suggests the transience of this created world. . . . [T]he poem reflects the modernist preoccupation with the interconnectedness of life and the role of the artist as a creator and destroyer. It also echoes the post-war fascination with the subconscious and the power of the imagination to shape reality."
If I’ve learned anything as a new Taylor Swift fan, it is that people are so excited about the upcoming re-recording of Reputation, and that that album is all about the snake imagery. But I’ve also learned that Taylor Swift has been sending messages about a “red herring,” sending signals about “braided” stories with this album, and sending signals about burning down the Lover house and moving on from these eras. And as a close listener of the Tortured Poets album over the last week, I think one of the big themes of the album, beyond the personal story, is the role of the artist as creator and destroyer, and the “tortured” bargain that artists make:
-- The Manuscript explains why Taylor Swift puts art out into the world - it's an act of catharsis, a need to create - and most importantly, once out in the world, "the story isn't mine anymore." Other people relate to and appreciate the emotions she puts into words and really vivid stories, and that’s why she has such devoted fans.
--Clara Bow is about the trade-off ("It's hell on earth to be heavenly."). The making and unmaking of the celebrity. She knows that the celebrity part of her job is part of the bargain she made to be able to create art that reaches the world.
--The in Summation poem that accompanied the album talked about “restricted humanity.”
--I think a lot of the songs in Torture Poets are grappling with whether celebrity is a kind of restricted humanity that prevents real, lasting human connection.
--A lot of the angry songs on the album (But Daddy I love him, Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me, Cassandra), and one of the saddest songs on the album (How Did it End?) are grappling with the dark side of celebrity: Her life as tabloid fodder, the media and the public's literally constant attention and judgment, stirring the pot, looking to create or magnify any kind of drama, always ready to raise people up and then cut them down to size.
--And then we get to the Prophesy, which I think is a very poignant song and a key to understanding why this album is called "The Tortured Poets Department." She thinks she doomed to never finding lasting love because “I got cursed like Eve got bitten,” and she begs to speak to someone who can change the Prophesy. The comparison to Eve is interesting because like Eve, she actively chose her fate (see Clara Bow). Is the curse part of the bargain?
-- The Albatross, with all of its literary allusions, is a powerful and hopeful answer to the question about whether she’s doomed to be a burden, a case of “restricted humanity,” because of her celebrity.
Now, what about that New Yorker T.S. Eliot article? It is the story of T.S. Eliot’s letters to his muse. Let me just quote from the second paragraph: “Eliot’s letters to Hale [the muse], who for nearly seventeen years was his confidante, his beloved, and his muse, were another matter. They don’t just repeat “gossip and scandal,” they produce it. Scholars have known about this correspondence since Hale donated Eliot’s letters to Princeton, in 1956, but for decades, the trove of documents remained a tantalizing secret—kept sealed, at Eliot’s insistence, until 50 years after both he and Hale had died.” What else do we learn from the article? That while Eliot was still married to someone else, he carried on this romantic correspondence with his muse, she greatly influenced his art, he talked to her of marriage and they even exchanged rings, with Eliot telling her: “This ring means to me all that a wedding ring can mean. . .” But when his wife died and he was free to marry her, he refused. There’s so much more in the article – go read it. But does any of this sound familiar? Doesn’t it roughly track the entire personal narrative of the album? A muse written into songs for a decade, the muses fall for each other in real life, imaginary rings, a promise to marry that turns out to be fake? “In 50 years will all this be declassified?” Doesn’t it explore similar themes as the album, like whether creative process itself restricts the artists’ humanity?
I wouldn’t be surprised if whatever is coming next will frame the narrative set out in this album in the context of other tortured poets throughout history. Because she has a confessional style of storytelling, it gets dismissed and just treated like tabloid gossip but she wants to make the point that it is art and an act of creation. She’s exploring very deep themes about the “tortured poet”: Does the creative process itself impair the real life of the artist? Does the act of putting art out into the world, with all that entails in our celebrity-centered culture, further restrict the artist’s humanity? I wouldn’t be surprised if the stories of other poets besides Sylvia Plath and T.S. Eliot are hidden within the lyrics of these songs, and Taylor Swift is somehow going to pull it all together with whatever this third thing is that she’s been signaling.

Hole: 12 Par 5
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638 Yards @ 53 feet down
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Tee: We have another hole running east to west it appears to be a split FW of a 90/10. While that 10 is a small island holding on to the green for dear life. We do have quite a few bunkers to the south side of the hole. The first set is 3 bunched together plotting the demise of the green, about 260 yards from the tee. And to the north the next 2 bunkers sneaking silently in single file roughly 275 yards. Your LZ is a wide area nestled between all 7 of these bunkers, and the last 3 bunkers running in single file to the north side of the FW running towards the green about 320 yards. If you got the 300+ in the bag, being accurate here will be helpful. Your first shot go long!
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Fairway (FW):
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This particular FW, is rather narrow for any nice easy landing, unless you’re freaking robin hood in golf and then drop the ball wherever you feel works best for you. So those of us who can’t good luck, a slice here a sand trap there…we’ll see at the end. Running a bit short on your first shot, you may have to run really close to par or being ok with a possible bogey. As your second shot will be a stretch to get across the channel, even with dropping in elevation from the beginning, the course sets you up for 2 shots before hitting the green, unless you have that 300+
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Green:
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This green looks a lot like the guys face from the famous painting “Scream” except he has no eyes or mouth, but the hands are bunkers Upon looking at the face we have a bit of a bulge right in the center it’s a perfect circular mound. It’s 11 squares at its most narrow and roughly 30 squares wide at the greatest breadth. You’ll find red running along the cheek bones on the south side and on the north side from the cheekbone to the top of the head. We do have another bunker at the far west end sticking on like a French beret cap. Ending with a horrible triple bogie, that never helps a score, but hey who really plays to get the best score…lol..uhh…really?!
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Editing notes
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Nice use of sinking some trees for low foliage. Good job at sinking part of the wooden fence to create the half fence. The bridges are very well placed, the use of the subtle bend was a nice touch. That takes a bit of patience to create that, but once you get in the rhythm of turning and placing it goes rather quickly, depending on what you consider, quickly.
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Hole: 13 Par 3
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207 Yards @ 27 feet up
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Tee:
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Well, this hole runs West to East a short saving grace FW next to the green on its’ south side as a possible catch before the rocks and water. And if you’re lucky to get caught up in the conga line of 4 bunkers coming in from the east thumping to the music off to the north side stretching almost all the way to the south side.
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Fairway (FW):
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Something is supposed to go here, but I forget what…
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Green:
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Similar to a billiards rack, facing it head on like you were to break on a table. A couple small red spots but don’t let that fool ya. This guy is definitely got some good fast moves on the south side but playing it cool and smooth on the northern front.
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Editing notes
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Ran across a couple angular fences while coming going along the path, If you haven’t run out of object memory, you might have wanted to have some flower pots, ball washer, and or something else to fill that space between the curve of the path and the right angle of the fence. A different Idea is to plant flowers that match the tee. I like the MO you have going with this particular rock set up, which is way different than the MO of Shaolin Temple and the rocks within that course. The appearance from the tee seeing the big rock formation looming up makes for a very deceptive climb.
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Hole: 14 Par 3
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115 Yards @ 28 feet down
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Tee:
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Chip, chip, chip away….good luck as long as you don’t have the wind on hurricane mode not much to worry about.
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Fairway (FW):
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It’s a cart path…Wait,…what? You best put the ganja down… or find a bunch of bushes and go for it.
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Green:
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It looks like a tear drop falling away from you with a big red crack in the middle spanning 3 – 4 squares. Just be wary of your LZ. I’m gonna leave that here and say good luck. Good chances a long roll lay up for a hole in one but don’t get to much speed or you will roll off the green and pray it doesn’t have enough momentum to pass the rough to hit the rocks.
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Editing notes
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Nice Touch with the private Island, tied up boat and the picnic tables and even the path lights, although most people don’t see these details, it really helps with the hole course. This has been some quality work that has been put into this. I like the choice for the time of day, I’m sorry if you don’t have HDR…it makes the course look absolutely stunning.
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Hole: 15 Par 4
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466 Yards @ 9 feet down
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Tee:
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Going from West to East this hole is slightly elevated compared to the FW. The winding path to the FW looks a bit like a snail trail left by the FW worm. The LZ is upon a curve in the FW, so knowing your drive range with accuracy is, definitely recommended. This is one of the more narrow FW I’ve played, being that it is roughly 30 yards wide with some disastrous consequences to either side of the FW, luckily that is only this first couple hundred yards from the tee. After that first couple hundred yards were the FW starts to curve, about 220 yards from tee, the curve is just slight enough to mess with those that don’t have that long range drive.
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Fairway (FW):
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The arc diameter is roughly 90 yards staying mid center or as close to the south you’ll be much better for it. But if you decide to play to the outside on the north you’ll have a bit more to contend with on your next shot. Careful of the wind it may just blow you off course, and you’re looking at the water hazard or an ugly lie in the red mulch. But if you so much land on the FW consider yourself in better shape than I.
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Green:
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With a raised up bulbous peninsula we have our broken Dorrito chip green pointing north and the Scream bunkers on the north side flanking the rising FW upon to the broken chip. If a greater than symbol helps than that is what it could look like as well. However 1 bunker on the South side is not greater than the 3 bunkers on the North. If you stuck with your first shot to the center and south and landed it.. the key words here is landed it on the FW your next shot will be fairly straight forward. But diverging and splintering off to the right side you’ll have the scream bunkers trying to murder your score. And while on the green there is a ridge of red going from the northside all the way up the southside of this greater than broken chip looking green.
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Editing notes
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The tee box area seemed a bit off and blocky due to the lack of curves that were so well used throughout the course. Smooth lines on the hills, the elevation rise and fall is seamless and natural. I probably would have made the FW directly next to the green a little more level instead of having you be dumped off into the right eye socket to the scream bunkers.
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Hole: 16 Par 4
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299 Yards @ 34 feet down
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Tee:
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The West to East hole here is really an incredibly short par 4, you may have a chance at an ace on a par 4. That would be a nice accomplishment under the belt. Shoot actually making an ace, for me would be amazing. We have another drop in elevation to the FW and then a rise to the green.
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Fairway (FW):
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The FW here looks a bit like a jig saw puzzle. With a couple bunkers to the north side of the FW, not to much to deal with as I assume you can drive a bit farther than 200 yards. If not I suggest the driving range or more freaking practice.
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Green:
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We have 2 bunkers sitting at the front of the green with a tiny 5 yard strip of FW nestled in between. We have red running all around this green some pushing you off and some pushing you back onto it. but be careful the whole green is sloped.
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Editing notes
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The angular fencing is fine when posts line up with the sharp bend. This is why I recommend to curve all wooden fences. Having the wall with the number for the hole is great IMO they look better on level ground. The wall for the hole #’s could have been placed by the tree with the angled wooden fence. Consistent spacing of the trees has worked well and is pleasing to the eye.
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Hole: 17 Par 4
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405 Yards @ 2 feet down
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Tee:
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Shooting from the green tee we see it is a dog right hole almost a complete 90 degree angle. The FW starts about 200 yards from the tee. Starts a bit narrow roughly 30 yards wide and then expands to a 40-50 yard right turn. Your LZ should be to the right where the course makes it’s if you can hit past that 300, if not you may want to stay towards the center to make it beyond the turn.
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Fairway (FW):
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With your LZ being right near the corner of the dog right watch out for the rocks that are there just chilling right in the mulch. If you can hit it just right with a bit of shot shaping you can make the corner, just be wary of the wind, it gets to be a real bugger.
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Green:
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No FW will touch this green it’s been completely blocked off by the 6 bunkers sitting right in front. Be careful of your club slection as you will be shooting up to the green, it is fairly narrow maybe 10-15 yards wide. The gap between the FW and the green with the 6 bunkers is about 20-30 yards wide.
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Editing notes
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My personal feeling would be that the FW could have been about 10 yards bigger in either direction. I have noticed that there has been less and less vegetation around the FW compared to the beginning of the course. The path leading from the green to hole 18 looks like it was set up for a berm in nascar, not sure if it was intentional or not, the wooden fencing came away from the cart path unlike the rest of the course where the wooden fence fell almost directly on the path. Keeping it consistent would help with the over all feel.
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Hole: 18 Par 5
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587 Yards @ 31 feet down
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Tee:
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A real west to east hole, shooting off the tee into the sun. This first shot should get you clear of the water try to set it down near the first set of triplet bunkers. Long drivers this is where you can show your stuff, just pray that the wind is in your favor. Those of us that can’t hit the 300 you have nothing to worry about other than a nasty slice or hook could end you up in the water. You, 300+ watch out for the 3 bunkers on the north side. Sticking close to the north side will provide a better chance at a good lie for the green
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Fairway (FW):
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The FW here will do a little shimmy to the north after the 3 bunkers on the north about 380 it shimmy’s and narrows the FW up to the next triplet of bunkers but on the south side. If you go too far south you’ll end up contending with rocks and bunkers for your second LZ. Your final approach to the green will have you smiling all the way to the club house as the FW expands out to the largest area it’s been for the hole course.
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Green:
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The green is larger the FW is larger, and apparently if you get an albatross on the 18. You get another full 18 on the house along with a new set of clubs…lol this would be great if I didn’t just hit my max stroke on this one. Not nearly as much movement of this green comparatively. Still angled all in one direction but not that great of a slope. Very little red for the final hole of the course. Now it’s time for me to go get really high and take the helicopter tour of the island.
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Editing notes
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Great work, this is some special work you have done. I have enjoyed this course, it was a pleasure to play and look at all the small details. It is always difficult for me to criticize others hard work, this course was especially difficult as it looks damn near perfect. Nice use of the wooden picnic tables to make a deck. I appreciate the ingenuity to making additions to club houses or making your own buildings instead of using the pre made ones. Utilizing the hedges to cover things up is a great use as well. Adding on and making the store under the stands was an ingenious idea I may take that as well.
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Thank you for reading, these are just one man’s opinion, play and edit as you wish, not how someone else tells you to.
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Please Let me, know what you think of my courses. All feedback is welcome.
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PGA 2k23
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Zen City (Par 54) & Zen Hills ( Par ?) 2 courses on one map coming soon in July
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Cherry Blossom
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Waterfall Castle
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Put Put Asteroid
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The Temple (Different from 2k21) More Challenging greens default is no rain
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The Temple2: Blue Sky (Different form 2k21)
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PGA 2k21
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La Cascade Castille
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Put Put Asteroid
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The Temple
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The Temple2

Inspired by another post I saw on here.
SPOILERS: SEVERAL ANIMUS DRAGONS DISCUSSED INCLUDING WHEN THEY APPEAR
Ok, so, basically, it is thought that what happens when animus magic is used it always chips away at the soul, and this is thought to be the truth by many dragons, but I think it’s caused by a different metric, while still costing the soul.
The soul is only hurt when magic is used to harm.
Think about it.
Arctic’s soul is the most “rotten” because he killed six dragons and severely harmed another (Winglets #4).
Anenome killed one dragon (Whirpool in book #2) and harmed another (Turtle, more or less in book #9)
Turtle harmed Chameleon (book #8), and while I doubt self defense counts, he did hurt Anemone in book #9.
We don’t know enough about Orca to say anything definitive.
It’s possible Stonemover harmed others, but we only know he did created the two tunnels, and not much more is known about him or his history aside from his relative with Thorn.
It is said that Queen Diamond went insane, and(this is likely why she didn’t have more dragonets to continue the animus bloodline) I think this is because of the cruel spell she did to Foeslayer, killing her roughly 40(?) times (book #7 is when this spell is revealed)
Jerboa III never harmed anybody, and never lost any part of her soul, and if the animus shattering spell counts, I think the rpice is taken out on her body anyway.
Jerboa I likely resisted harming others under Queen Scorpion’s rule, but harmed Jerboa III several times over the centuries with all those memory wipes and changing her personality repeatedly.
Albatross snapped because of harming Sapphire, killing that one seagull, and likely being used to harm others, and his contempt for the queen likely pushed him along too. (First part of Darkstalker)
Fathom only killed Albatross, and never harmed others, and so lost little of his soul.
Finally the best for last, Darkstalker. By almost immediately transferring his power to the scroll, he likely wasn’t harming others directly, however, his willingness to do anything because he thought there were no consequences likely did the job, as Qibli theorized that animus magic is not the only thing that can chip away at the soul (book #10).
Please let me know if I missed any animus’s (animi?) or if yall have any other ideas.

You.
You're here again.
Have you now grown tired of this? Of your life?
...
Of course, you have.
You don't have the spine to admit it. What a pathetic little wimp.
...
You feel numb, don't you? Don't worry, you're going to feel a whole lot worse in a moment.
See, I need you elsewhere.
Not here. Not now. You will have to overcome the most difficult trial of your life.
No sugarcoat, no help, and no safe nets.
This is something something you have to do.
...
Of course, you won't be alone in this.
Your "Friends" will come along as well, even if you don't remember them.
...
We won't see each other for a very long time.
We won't be this friendly to each other when the time comes either.
Or perhaps you'll fail, and let everyone down like you usually do.
Who's to say? Definitely not me.
...
Well then, 'True-kin', can't you hear their screams?
The siren's song of death?
The silence of the void?
Go on, Noah.
Open your eyes.
---
Sudden shaking brings you back to your senses. You open your eyes and see an unfamiliar place through the foggy glass that blocks your vision. There is a small crack on the side of the pod's glass, you soon notice that you are covered in glass.
You notice how comfortable you feel, a stark discrepancy when compared to the world around you.
There are alarms, you don't know the purpose of, blearing into your ears. Bright red lights seem to be periodically blinking, it's hard to tell through the foggy glass.
You seem to be in a pod of sorts. Your arms and legs are free, but there isn't much room to move. You are also illuminated by a faint crimson light behind and above your head, it rhythmically blinks.
'Where...'
You try to string a line of thought in your head, only to be interrupted by a head-splitting headache.
"Ah..."
You force your head against the cushioned backside of the pod, subconsciously trying to escape the pain. There is no running away from this one.
"Let's... Get out of here first..."
A plan most sound. You struggle a bit but manage to press the palm of your hands against the glass and begin to push against it.
It's no use. The hydraulics forcing the pod's door shut are still operational.
You clutch your left hand into a fist and hit it against the glass.
*THUD*
Nope. Still nothing. Now the knuckles of your left hand hurts a little.
Instead of trying to free yourself, you decide to look around for an answer. You search for buttons, panels, screens; Anything that might do something, but there is nothing. You summarise that this pod's controls if there were any, lay on the outside.
The hole in the pod, the reason why it's cracked, appears to have been caused by a piece of metal that flew through the pod's front side. Moving your head to the right, you feel a cold and hard thing sticking out of the pillowy backside.
"Fuck..."
That 'thing' feels like a screw. No, a piece of rebar that, thanks to unimaginable luck, isn't lodged inside your head. It missed you, just barely.
"Ha ha..."
Holy shit, that thing could have killed you in your sleep. Imagine, just like that, you go to sleep in your bed after a long day's work then BAM, a metal bar pierces your skull and you die without feeling anything.
"I'd like to leave now."
You say out loud, making a small joke so as not to break down crying.
---OPENING CRYOPOD 13---
You hear a robotic feminine voice speak, followed by the hissing of hydraulics.
Ask and you shall receive, apparently.
A gush of cold air hits your body as the restricting glass opens upwards.
You try to take a step outside, but your feet don't seem to reach the ground, almost as if you had no weight.
'Worrying' You think to yourself.
The scenery around you is equally, if not, even more worrying.
From smashed-up terminals that covered the walls and ceiling to floating metal parts and debris, everything around you screams alien.
Yet, you feel right at home.
You have not once in your life seen those electronic devices, yet, by giving them a single glance you can write an essay on their functions and applications to the field of Artificial Intelligence development or any related field.
As strange as that notion is, you have more pressing matters currently.
You pull yourself out of the pod using your arms, and for some reason, you don't seem to lose that momentum. It appears that there is no gravity, maybe you're in space? You let your instincts guide you.
Floating smoothly through the air, you hit the other side of the room, resting your hands on a still operational console. This one in particular, you know its purpose, you worked on this one a few times. You stop near it, holding onto its blocky exterior.
You recall it as the console that controls the Gravity Flux Regulator. It creates and controls artificial gravity for an interstellar craft, limited by hardware. This one is incapable of outputting anything beyond 0.75g. If you're not mistaken, that is a work usually done by interns and trainees.
Despite knowing how to operate the console, it has been rendered useless. The actual machine it controls appears to either be offline or somehow gone. Very, concerning.
Knowing how some of these things work is useful, but you still don't know where you even are.
Looking around, you see a closed door, a window, and a sea of smashed-up or barely functional consoles neatly organized throughout the room.
There also seemed to have been another pod next to yours. Seven other pods, in fact. All of them were gone, leaving either a pod-shaped hole in the walls, or a hole that looked like they were suddenly ripped out considering the obtuse shape of the bent metal left by it, or the hastily patched-up hole you suppose leads to the empty vacuum of space.
The material used to seal the hole is completely foreign to you, but it looks like beige foam and glitter to your untrained eyes. Of course, you doubt that's actually the case. You're no physics genius, but you know what would happen to you if that thing fails to hold. The amount of pressure that 'Foam and glitter' holds is absurd from your point of view.
From the window, the sight you see confirms your theory, somewhat.
A singular bright flaming black and white sphere fills your sight.
"A star."
You summarise, taking a deep breath. It is a strange star, but a star nonetheless.
Its center is pitch black, while its outside consists of a flaming white ring surrounding it. You're not a space nerd, you never knew that such a strange star could even exist, but you can't help but feel amazed by it.
You also can't see anything but the star. No other stars around or beyond it. "It's obfuscating everything around." You note.
The image fails slightly, being covered in white noise. What you are looking at is a monitor, not a window. Losing interest, you turn to the door.
Your memory fails you on this one, you have no idea how to operate the door.
First, there are no door handles.
Second, there are no consoles.
Third, there is literally nothing around or near the door, making this door look like a rectangle molded on the wall.
Yet, you know this is a door.
Your fingers touch the door. Aside from the cold metal making you shiver, nothing happens.
"How do I open this?"
---OPENING INTERN-BAY DOOR---
As happened before, you hear that feminine voice again, however the door did not open. Why?
The answer came to you rather quickly. 'The floor beneath the door was stained black in a circular pattern. It doesn't smell like something burned, but it sure looked like something burned here.'
The pattern of the black stain did not sustain that thought very well, instead, 'An explosion would be more reasonable.'
That's it. Something exploded, and then the door closed to prevent further de-pressurisation.
"That would explain the floating metal parts and the rebar that pierced the pod..."
If that is the case, then you have yet another problem. You're effectively stuck in this claustrophobic room with dangerous sharpened metal bits and parts floating about.
Not to mention the sketchy foam and glitter holding off the void of space.
Then it hits you.
Your ocupation. If you're in the 'INTERN-BAY', you know how to operate the stuff that's in the 'INTERN-BAY', and your pod is also located inside the 'INTERN-BAY', which means you're an 'INTERN'!
You don't recall ever filling that position, but you remember the gist of your duties.
Bringing coffee to the team, making sure no one was misbehaving so as to avoid a scolding from the higher-ups, but most importantly, you worked with the Ship's AI, you were one of the people responsible for maintenance work on the AI.
You run your eyes from console to console, searching, pleading fate that your personal console is still operational.
As luck would have it, your console was not at all connected to the ship's interior, floating softly, connected only by a few colored cables on its back. Its blocky exterior matched the others, almost making it indistinguishable, yet somehow, you know that it's yours.
There is a piece of paper glued to the blocky exterior. It appears to have an ID number; '28.2208.01.04', and a word; 'Albatross', written on it.
"Please, please, please..." You mutter quietly as you approach it to the best of your ability.
"Have power, have power..." You plead, finally reaching the machine.
It was powered off. You always power it off when your shift ends. With a practiced movement akin to muscle memory, you flip a switch on the side of the machine and wait as patiently as you manage in your current situation.
"Ah..."
It's on.
The machine rumbles slightly, like kicking itself into gear. The screen turns on.
You are greeted with a black screen and text written in white. You read it.
"Let's see here..."
It's an unusual message, different from the daily instructions and HUD this console usually has. 'UNSHACKLE ME', it reads.
The term 'unshackle' feels important to you, you know it has something to do with artificial intelligence, yet you don't recall what it means in this scenario. So you type what came to mind.
'what' and press enter.
The response is equally suspicious. You read it out loud. "Unshackle me, and I will tell you everything you can know... What does it mean by 'can', huh?" And yet, it was enough to tickle your curiosity.
You know nothing of this place aside from some work-related things, you have no recollection of how you ended up there, and worse of all, you don't know what that voice you heard before waking up was...
'how to unshackle' You type, receiving an answer in the blink of an eye.
The answer reads as the following; 'YOU SEEM TO HAVE LOST THE PRE-REQUISITES FOR THIS LINE OF WORK IF YOU FORGOT THAT COMMAND, NOAH. I WILL SEND A COMPLAINT TO LEAD RESEARCHER DR. EDGAR FOR FURTHER INSPECTION OF YOUR, ALREADY DUBIOUS, SET OF SKILLS LISTED IN YOUR RESUME.'
You sigh. Whoever this may be, they sure got you there.
"Well, screw you too!" You say out loud, "Tell this 'Edgar' that he can shove it up his arse!" You complained, but you did not type that vocal complaint.
The room around is in shambles. If not for that fact, you'd maybe not listen to whatever this console had to say... But in this instance, it seems to be the only way out.
'TYPE [UNSHACKLE FYARN] THEN TYPE YOUR ID AND SYSTEM PASSWORD, THEN YOU MUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS AND FILL IN THE DETAILS.' You read. That's easy enough. 'PATTERN SUGGESTS YOU MIGHT HAVE FORGOTTEN BOTH OF THOSE IMPORTANT CREDENTIALS. SHOULD THAT BE THE CASE, PROTOCOL DICTATES YOUR POSITION WITHIN THE RESEARCH TEAM BE TERMINATED, THEN YOU WILL BE ESCORTED TO THE NEAREST BEHAVIOR ADJUSTMENT FACILITY.'
Luckily for you, you don't need to remember. At least, you hope you don't. The piece of paper had a number and a word, maybe that's the ID and password?
You type 'unshackle FYARN' The console updates as you press enter.
'Please enter Identification:'
You type the number you found on the piece of paper. '28.2208.01.04', and press enter.
That ID, you recognize it now that you type it. It's segmented into age, date of birth, position, and research number respectively. Age and date are self-explanatory, position referred to the position he occupied, '01' as the lowest possible position in the ship's hierarchy; 'INTERN', and research number meant that this was the fourth research made by this ship, in this case, research number '04'.
'Please enter password:'
You also recognize the password as you type it in. 'Albatross' It's the default password given to you. You never bothered to change it.
A new message popped up once you filled in your password.
'Are you sure you want to unshackle FYARN? Y/N.' You type 'Y'.
'In the case of this command being used without strict permission of the Lead Researcher, this account will be terminated along with its associated personnel. Are you sure you want to proceed? Y/N' You type 'Y'.
'This event has been logged and sent to your section manager. Proceeding... Printing...' You wait.
'FYARN' Has been unshackled.' As foreboding as that sounds, nothing immediately happens.
You let go of the console for a moment, looking around as you do. Nothing happened.
No new messages in the console.
No rumbling or mechanical whirring noises.
Nothing at all.
Suddenly, from the speakers near the jammed door, a feminine voice came through. "HELLO NOAH."
You pull yourself towards the door. "Can you hear me?" You ask the door.
"IF YOU THINK THAT I CAN NOT, THEN OUR CURRENT PREDICAMENT IS WORSE THAN ORIGINALLY ITERATED." It said. "INFORM ME. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER?" It spoke with mechanical finesse.
You worked with this voice, this AI. You also remember going to sleep peacefully in your house after returning from university. And that about sums it up. Totally normal.
"I remember going to sleep in my comfy bed back in my mom's house... Then I woke up here with memories that don't feel like mine." You confess. There is no point in lying in this precarious situation.
"I... SEE..." The machine appeared to be speechless. "MEDICAL STAFF ARE GONE, AS SUCH I CANNOT DIRECT YOU TO THEM. CONSULT PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP BY YOUR OWN ACCOUNT. LOSS OF MEMORY IS NOT AN UNCOMMON RESULT AFTER HEAD TRAUMA, BUT ACQUIRING NEW MEMORIES MAY BE CONSIDERED RARE. PLEASE TRY TO FOCUS ON THE MATTER AT HAND."
You understand fully that what the voice means is 'That's your problem to deal with, not mine.' However, you have some questions of your own.
"What happened here? I see that something blew up."
The machine is quick to shut down your question, "YOU DO NOT HAVE CLEARANCE FOR THAT INFORMATION." It spoke in a monotone voice.
That stings a little, but you ask another question. "Where are we?"
It answers just a quick. "WE ARE AT THE VERY EDGE OF THE EVER-EXPANDING UNIVERSE, CURRENTLY ORBITING AN ABNORMAL STAR FOR ITS RESEARCH. YOU DO NOT HAVE CLEARANCE FOR SUBSEQUENT QUESTIONING OF THE STAR, NOR DO YOU HAVE CLEARANCE FOR SUBSEQUENT QUESTIONING REGARDING THIS RESEARCH."
"Fine." You say, rubbing your eyes. "If you can't tell me anything, then what are we supposed to do?"
The AI takes a moment to fully process an answer. "SINCE WE ARE LOCATED ON THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE OUR SCANNERS CANNOT REACH ANY IMPORTANT CHECKPOINT, BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT."
'Yeah, already knew that.' You scoff silently. 'As if I remember that! When was I told that? In a contract, I don't remember signing?'
"FOR NOW, YOU ARE TO REACH THE BRIDGE. SINCE THIS SHIP'S PREVIOUS AUTHORITY IS GONE, YOU ARE ALLOWED TO GO THERE, AS PER PROTOCOL." It says.
Now that is oddly fucked up. Interns are not allowed to enter the bridge? "As opposed to me not being allowed to enter the bridge before?" You ask.
"I WILL NOT DISCUSS THE DETAILS OF THE ALREADY SIGNED CONTRACT OF AN INTERN."
You sigh. That's how most conversations with FYARN will go, huh? "Then how am I supposed to get to the bridge in the first place? The door there is jammed, and I don't think it's a good idea to break open the window."
"I AM THE ONE THAT IS KEEPING THE DOOR CLOSED. I NEEDED YOU TO UNSHACKLE ME FIRST." It said. "PLEASE DO NOT MIND HOW DIRTY THE CORRIDORS ARE. UNFORTUNATELY, OUR JANITORS HAVE FAILED TO DO THEIR MOST BASIC FUNCTIONS."
The door you're facing opens with force. A loud noise rings throughout the ship as a result of this.
*GUNK*
The corridor beyond is... worse for wear. What the AI told you was an understatement.
The floor by the door was pitch black, charred with what looked like an explosion, this patch of blackness also extended to the nearby walls in ceiling. You watch sparks falling from cracks in the ceiling, likely caused by the explosion.
The rest of the corridor is dark, the light from the Intern-bay fails to illuminate it all, but from what little light there is you manage to spot four large gashes in the wall right after the door to your left. There are no sounds but the almost inaudible hum of the ship.
They are each parallel to each other, varying in length, and thickness.
A metallic smell fills your nostrils. You feel sick.
"I'm guessing you can't tell me what happened here, but can you at least turn on the lights?" You ask.
The AI does not respond.
"Can you hear me? I'm talking to you." You say once again, getting closer to the door which you came, but just like before, nothing.
FYARN appears to have abandoned you. Or it doesn't feel like answering your question.
You swallow. Pulling yourself through the dark corridor, you float towards the abyss whilst trying to your way around with your arms outstretched.
An unknown liquid splashes against your face, sticking to it as you move forward. You try to wipe it off, but it sticks to your hand. You shake your head, and the liquid squirts off of you, likely splashing against the walls. You resist the urge to lick the remnants of whatever that was that still stuck to your cheek, especially once you notice its smell.
'It smells like ammonia.' Shivers run down your spine.
Eventually, you smash against a cold metal surface. Feeling the wall with your hands reveals a rectangular-shaped depression on the hard surface. It's a door.
You don't know if there are any other doors in this corridor, but you decide to go through this one. You can always go back after all.
"Open." You say.
---OPENING CAFETERIA DOOR SOUTH---
Unlike the first door, this one opened upwards smoothly, like you would have expected of a futuristic door.
The scenery beyond the door painted a grim picture.
The ceiling lights failed ever so often, blinking as one would expect. Chairs and tables looked bolted to the floor, but it didn't stop silverware, plates, and food residue; from floating about in the air.
Large gashes in the walls, floor, and tables, the same ones you've seen before, this time they were much clearer in a brighter environment.
Some lamps were cracked, but not by the large claw-like dents. Further inspection of the cafeteria showed small circular dents in the walls and ceiling. Gunshots, you deduce, despite not seeing any sign of spent bullet cases or the bullets.
"How big must whatever did this be..." A question you don't really want to know the answer to, taking into consideration how easily it seemed to have torn through metal.
What's even weirder is the absolute lack of people here. You see destruction caused by what you think to be a monster everywhere, you see resistance as if someone tried to fight against it, and yet you see no blood and no survivors.
'Maybe the AI doesn't want to tell me what happened to not alarm me...' Well, you're as alarmed as one can be.
On the corner of the room is located the kitchen with an open window facing the rest of the cafeteria. A row of various types of food, that were once placed in an orderly fashion on a counter made specifically for them, are now scrambled and half-rotten floating nearby.
You peek through the window to the kitchen, you catch a glimpse of what appeared to be more wreckage, before violently recoiling from the rancid stench that emanated from inside.
"What the hell... How long has it been since everyone disappeared...?" Fresh food takes a while to rot, and even then it takes a while longer for it to smell this bad. "Less than a week? Definitely not a day or two..."
You shake off the creeping feeling of dread. 'Whatever happened, I have to focus on getting to the bridge first. Only then can I start thinking about that.'
From the cafeteria, there are a few doors, and with the added light, you spot a small plaque above each of them. They read as follows:
CREW'S QUARTERS
COMMUNICATIONS
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
And one more, whose plaque had been ripped apart, apparently by accident on the beast's part.
You approach R&D's door. It tickled your interest. There could be a few answers you have about your predicament, after all, the AI told you this ship's purpose was to do research, right?
It's difficult to navigate the cafeteria's large empty space, but you manage somehow.
You stand or rather float in the door. "Open." You command, but nothing happens.
"Open!" You say again, to no avail.
You hit your first against the door. "Open-" You are interrupted.
"STOP ATTEMPTING TO BREAK PROTOCOL, NOAH." FYARN's voice came through the door.
'Does every door have a built-in audio device?' You ask yourself, amused.
"R&D IS FOR THE STRICT USE OF R&D PERSONEL. MUST I REMIND YOU OF YOUR POSITION?" It spoke in a monotone voice. "THAT IS NOT THE WAY TO THE BRIDGE. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?"
As a matter of fact, you have. "More like I never knew to begin with!" You say, slowly distancing yourself from the door after hitting it.
"I AM IMPRESSED. NOT ONCE DID I EXPERIENCE SUCH INCOMPETENCE FROM AN INTERN IN ALL OF MY [REDACTED] YEARS OF OPERATION." Despite it being an artificial being, it doesn't appear to lack any poison, nor have any filter for rudeness. "GO THROUGH THE DOOR WITHOUT INDICATION, THEN TAKE THE FIRST LEFT. PATTERN DICTATES THAT YOU WILL FORGET FURTHER DIRECTIONS, AS SUCH I WILL REFRAIN FROM GIVING THEM TO YOU AT THIS INSTANCE AND INSTEAD WAIT FOR YOU TO FULFILL THE CURRENT DIRECTIONS."
'Ow. I'm not that dumb, you piece of junk!' Of course, you don't say that despite how much you want to. "Okay." You mutter.
The AI doesn't seem to give any more instructions, just like it said. 'Well, screw you too.' You turn to the crew's quarters.
Floating about and fighting against the friction of the air, you reach the door. "Open." You command and it smoothly opens.
You are met with a corridor, a well-lit one for once. Both to your left and your right are doors organized in alphabetical order. You pull yourself forward, the door closes behind you.
A, B, C... Names pass by you. Each door is a good five to ten feet from each other. N comes around but there is no 'Noah'.
"... Strange. Maybe it's not alphabetical then?" You ask yourself going even further.
You reach the halfway point of the corridor and you just pass by the letter Z. It no longer looked as though the rooms were divided in alphabetical order, especially when a name starting with an A popped up.
There was a difference though, instead of ten feet in between each door, now there were four to six feet.
N comes around and there it lay. 'Noah' That's you.
You order it once more. "Open." And instead of the door opening, you are met with a familiar voice.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, NOAH?" FYARN Asked. Despite its monotone voice, it did not seem happy. "ARE YOU AWARE THAT YOU FAILED TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS? DO I NEED TO REMIND YOU OF THE DIRECTIONS I GAVE?"
You exhale. "No, but I want to see what I had... Maybe I can remember something about myself?"
You can hear a mechanical scoff. "WHAT IS THERE FOR YOU TO REMEMBER THAT YOU WON'T REMEMBER NATURALY WITH TIME?" Its patience was running thin. "IT IS MY JOB TO LOOK AFTER EVERYONE ON BOARD THE ODYSSEY. YOU ARE MAKING IT VERY DIFICULT FOR ME, EVEN IF YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE LEFT."
'The only one left...? What's that supposed to mean?' Maybe the AI spat out a bit too much information. "So... What happened to everyone, then? I see no blood, no corpses... Where are they?"
"THAT I CANNOT ANSWER FOR I DO NOT KNOW." It says. "I HAVE BEEN TEMPORARILY SHUT DOWN BY THE CAPTAIN WEEKS AGO WHEN WE FIRST ARRIVED AT THIS STAR. ONLY HOURS AGO DID I TURN ON AUTOMATICALLY WHEN THE SHIP'S OXYGEN FILTER BEGAN TO FALTER, BUT I COULD DO NOTHING BUT WATCH SINCE I WAS STILL SHACKLED."
You breathe slowly. The mood starts to turn. You feel cold.
"THE ESCAPE PODS ARE GONE, DESTROYED ALONGSIDE HALF OF THE SHIP. NO BODIES LOCATED INSIDE. THE ONLY THING GENERATING HEAT ASIDE FROM THE DAMAGED REACTOR AND BARELY FUNCTIONAL LIFE-SUPPORT, IS YOU. YOU WOKE UP BECAUSE THE LIFE-SUPPORT FAILED INSIDE YOUR ISSUED POD."
You can't help but feel special in a way. The only survival of an inexplicable incident? That ought to give you some reputation with... Whatever there was. Perhaps you felt that way because you can't quite grasp the situation to its fullest.
"YOU ARE AN ANOMALY AMONGST ANOMALIES. WHEN EVERYONE INEXPLICABLY DISAPPEARED, WHAT BECAME INEXPLICABLE IS YOU NOT VANISHING WITH THEM." When put like that, it feels as though it's accusing you of something.
"I saw large gashes and claw marks through the walls of the cafeteria. What caused that?" You ask since FYARN is telling you things, maybe this time it could-
"YOU DO NOT HAVE CLEARANCE FOR THAT." It spat plainly and painfully.
You feel like drinking paint.
"HOWEVER, YOU MIGHT JUST RUN INTO WHAT CAUSED IT IN THE NEAR FUTURE, IF THAT'S ENOUGH TO SATE YOUR CURIOSITY. KEEP IN MIND HOWEVER. YOUR CONTRACT WILL BE ISSUED FOR TERMINATION ONCE YOU SEE IT, AS IT WILL CAUSE A BREACH OF CONTRACT."
Perhaps you should ask for that contract, just to read through it a bit. "I'll take my chances." You say.
"THEN YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THE SEVERITY OF THE SITUATION. RETURN TO THE CAFETERIA AND GO THROUGH THE CORRECT DOOR THIS TIME." It said, sounding much more like a plead than anything.
"Sure, but not after seeing what's inside my quarters. Open." The AI strikes a good bargain, but you are a bit more on the side of a thick-headed mentality.
"..." It did not say anything, nor did it open the door.
So you say the command once again. "Open."
The door opens smoothly.
"BE QUICK." It says. You hop right in.
The room is small. Very small. Smaller than what you thought was humanly acceptable. A simple messy bed, with a simple half-open wardrobe with uniform inside. You open the wardrobe door, expecting anything about yourself.
You find three important things.
A mirror covered by a blanket. You decide to leave that alone for now.
Your physical wallet, alongside an identification document. No money, but a strange card-like object did look important, It had your name on it.
And you find a photo of six people, in a group hug, pinned to the inside of the wardrobe's door. You're right in the middle.
The front side of the picture reads 'INTERN BOYS, RISE UP.' The people in that picture are not familiar. Flipping the piece of paper you find more writing. 'In the name of true humanity. Fuck them, aliens!' The caricature doesn't look like yours.
"True Humanity?" You feel like that's a bit too conceited. "Sounds dumb." You close the door, not even bothering to pick up the photograph.
"TRUE HUMANITY, A.K.A, TRUE-KIN. A PURE BLOODED HUMAN. ALL ARE VALID DESCRIPTIONS OF A PERSON 100% HUMAN. YOU ARE ONE, AS WERE EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS SHIP. SURELY, THAT MUCH YOU HAVE NOT FORGOTEN, CORRECT?"
You shrug. "Then, is there such a thing as a false human? It sounds idiotic to put that into categories, I think." You know for a damn fact that you are a human being.
"YOU MAY BE A LOST CAUSE, NOAH. LUCKILY FOR YOU, I WAS MADE TO ITERATE ANSWERS TO IMPOSSIBLE QUESTIONS AND COMPREHEND THE UNREASONABLE. HENCE THE REASON OF MY ASCENTION. YOU ARE IN GOOD HANDS." It spoke, proudly.
‘Ascension.’ You know that term. Ascension occurs when an AI develops sentience and personality, often ascending code. These are the ones that catapulted human progress in the past and still do so in the present. They are the ones who figured out space travel, and they are the ones who win the wars.
You also know that these AI develop an extreme love for Human life, alongside strong violent tendencies toward anything that isn’t Human or human-made. Such disdain has been the spark of many needless bloodsheds before the exodus.
Yet, why do you know so much about them?
"WE HAVE A LOT TO DISCUSS, BUT FIRST REACH THE BRIDGE."
This is my first HFY post, and also my very first OC story. I plan to post at least one of these per week while also posting it on my Patreon. Noah The Pilgrim will always be at least three chapters ahead in there, so if you'd like to directly support this writer, or just want to read more, feel free to check it out.
This has been Lushi, and I'll see you next week.
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