'Clam Story' is an existential, surreal, and dreamlike recursive story that seems to be a Rorschach test for the reader to implement their own introspective thoughts and feelings as to what the 'true meaning' is actually about. The deceptively simple title and the hand-drawn art betray the intensity of what the story wants to convey to the reader. Is the creature human? Is it a demon? Is this even furry? Is this world based on Earth? Is this a metaphor? Is this a time loop? Do I take this at face value? Is this actually nothing? (Yes and no to all of these questions really.) Does the author care? Does the reader care? Should the reader care? (I just spent an hour of my life that could've been spent reading and reviewing someone else's entry.) Does this author even want me to give it a fair shake? Are they laughing at me? Are the concerned that I don't understand it? Is there some kind of prose that's happening here so profound that it's going over my head? Does it even want me attempting to decipher what it could mean? Is it about environmentalism and global warming? How about a commentary on the ruthlessness of war and sociopolitical environment that cultivates it? Is it a metaphor for mental health? How about the value of art as a concept? Is there a religious angle to it? Maybe it's about love and acceptance? Is it about pointlessness and tragedy? Is it just provoking me in the way you slap someone in the face just to get a reaction?
(I can't answer that.)
The story is about a creature on a beach. A wolf exists. There is a clam. Stuff happens. The world ends. The end.
The presentation is surprisingly competent. The art is very simple and crude, the wolf taking on an almost child-like drawing appearance, yet the backgrounds and text boxes having deliberate animation and text font changes. This gives me the impression that a lot of this is done deliberately by design. Little things like how detailed some of the props are or the drawing of the leaf-god with so many little leaves leads me to believe that there's just a tad too much effort put into this to be a shit-post. Yet, I also know the lengths one would go for a shit-post are far greater than I can reasonably fathom. Is the prose good? IDK. Does it have anything to do with folklore? No. Is it creative? If you consider a rage room to be an artistic creative endeavor, then sure.
Even checking the history of the author, comes up empty. Am I being trolled? I don't know. The author clearly put a lot of effort into the presentation and substantial word count, so does it deserve praise for that alone? Is it hiding behind a facade of obfuscation as to avoid criticism? Is to even attempt to give constructive feedback a fools errand? Am I to be mocked by this? Am I to be shunned for questioning the integrity of the author? Does the author care about integrity to begin with? I've spent a second hour of my time towards trying to provide a proper critique or feedback, so take that time spent as a gift, for any feedback I could give is nothing. I feel like others may appreciate this entry more than me. Good for them.