I posted a review for ForexEnvy about a year ago on their website, and I checked it day by day. They never posted the review. I gave ForexEnvy a 1-star review because they are scammers, and it's impossible to earn money from them. I based my buying decisions on ForexPeaceArmy, until I realized that they don't publish all your reviews. They're biased as hell. When I contacted them about it, they never replied.
Steve Aoki - HiROQUEST: Genesis (w Jasiah, Snow Tha Product, Lil Xan, PnB Rock, 24hrs, MOD SUN, Global Dan, Bryce Vine, Sueco, Santa Fe Klan, , Guaynaa, Natanael Cano + more) [EDM, DJ Kid Millionaire]
Mura Masa (🏴) - demon time (w Lil Uzi Vert, PinkPantheress, slowthai, Channel Tres, Shygirl, Lil Yachty, Unknown T, Pa Salieu, Skillibeng, Erika de Casier + more) [Future Bass, Polydor / Anchor Point]
https://preview.redd.it/mppyun6kko5a1.png?width=433&format=png&auto=webp&s=4fec7c126a630bb84e8ed31ff561608fcdb89ca6 2 Plays (2 Players) What makes a great 2-player game? Obviously one must start with a solid foundation. If the core gameplay loop isn’t interesting, then there is no real point to any of it. Splendor Duel has no issue there, as it builds off the tried and true groundwork laid by the evergreen engine builder, Splendor. Collect gems to purchase cards that make it easier to purchase more (and better) cards. That sense of starting at a snail’s pace — scraping by and saving up to get the most measly of rewards — and snowballing in strength and efficiency to claim the meatiest of prizes is what landed the dead-simple Splendor in board game legend. That experience is wisely preserved in Splendor Duel. So how did designers Bruno Cathala and Marc Andre take the good 2-player experience of Splendor and make it a great one in Splendor Duel? The answer is found across all of the gameplay changes. The gem chips are laid out in a grid where players must identify drafting opportunities to claim a run of the right colors. Chips are quickly snatched off the board, and rivals feel both tempted and reluctant to refill the gem grid because both players benefit in different ways. In fact, doing anything on the shared board that helps yourself too much grants your opponent privilege which can be spent as a bonus gem draft from the grid. Thanks to the privilege mechanism, you’re constantly wrestling with tough decisions. Should I make a sub-optimal move because it only helps me? Do I execute my plan later than preferred or earlier than expected simply to avoid giving my opponent bonuses? The cards in this version of Splendor also give you more to consider than simply “Which card is the most easily affordable for me?” You must also consider the bonus effects from cards that grant an extra turn or an additional gem or a wild resource. But the best improvement of all is undoubtedly the three-pronged path to victory. No longer is the game simply about slapping together an engine and then seeing who can crank out the most points. The dynamics increase tremendously by offering players 3 possible ways to win:
Reach 20 points total
Gain 10 crowns
Reach 10 points with one color of card
Splendor Duel follows a much more engaging arc by starting as a classic engine builder but finishing as a mad scramble to cross the closest finish line. By providing multiple paths to victory, the competition becomes 3-dimensional and bitey. Where some 2-player games can so easily devolve into a flat, repetitive, zero-sum tug-of-war, and others take the coward’s way out by removing the interactive competition altogether, Splendor Duel expertly demonstrates what makes a great 2-player game. The best dueling games understand how to divide one opponent into multiple threats. Prognosis: Excellent https://preview.redd.it/ebh4qfwmko5a1.png?width=698&format=png&auto=webp&s=48e6d570172f1c54595846df9bc342a40dd54aca
Guards of Atlantis II
https://preview.redd.it/585dlyznko5a1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=8d44ee8671a04c4b65f4ef4f5b66df3a3c65cd76 1 Play (6 Players) Despite having decades of experience playing hundreds upon hundreds of different games—both digital and tabletop—I have never played a MOBA until very recently. I suppose I’ve gotten close with real-time strategy video games like Starcraft, Warcraft II, and Rise of Nations, but the difference is that MOBA games don’t feature things like building construction, resource collection, and army raising. So my first foray into the MOBA genre was actually a recent play of a hot new board game in the form of 2022’s Guards of Atlantis II. Although the “online” part of “Multiplayer Online Battle Arena” doesn’t really apply… I’d honestly say it’s more accurate to call it a MABO: Movement Always, Battle Occasionally. Allow me to get back to that in a minute. Guards of Atlantis II reminds me of Gloomhaven in a lot of ways. Each player controls a character with a unique deck. Your cards possess stats such as initiative, movement, defense, attack, range, and text effects. Players simultaneously choose and reveal a card from their hand to play each turn, and these cards are resolved in initiative order. You’ll be using your cards to maneuver around a hex-based map to dodge, chase, and beat up on bad guys. The thing that makes Guards of Atlantis quite different from Gloomhaven is the fact that the bad guys are controlled by an opposing team of human players. The fact that the game comes with 22 different characters which can be mixed together to form a virtually infinite combination of teams is pretty neat. The character decks are wildly different as well, with each one encouraging a certain style of play. Each round you’ll only play through 4 of the 5 cards in your hand (unless you burn even more of them defending against enemy players), but another satisfying feature comes in the form of upgrading your hand. You’ll earn money as you wipe out enemy figures (characters and/or minions) and be able to spend that money on card upgrades at the end of each round. These upgraded cards are significant boosts that help you to feel more powerful and adapt your strategy as the game marches onward. The other standout aspect of Guards of Atlantis II is the victory conditions. Your team can win in 3 possible ways:
Win enough battles in a row and force the battlefield back into the enemy’s corner
Defeat enemy Heroes enough times (eliminate all their life counters)
Win the final battle if it comes down to a fifth-battle tiebreaker
The fact that your team has multiple avenues for winning means that you can adapt your strategy to play to your team’s strengths while working to shore up your weaknesses. It also helps to keep the later rounds from feeling too similar to the earlier rounds. I can see why folks are raving about this game, as there is a lot to love. As for myself, I get the strong impression that MOBAs are not for me. Like I hinted at above, my experience was much more of a MABO – Movement Always, Battle Occasionally. While most of your cards have a “secondary” action of movement, I would argue that this is deceptively the primary action of the game. At the beginning of the game, each team starts out in their corner of the map. Your first turn always consists of “fast movement” (basically spending a card to teleport into the next zone over) because the first battle takes place 2 zones away—in the middle. For most Heroes, your second turn will be yet another movement—this time moving roughly 1-4 spaces to get in close to the enemy minions or characters. Finally, on turn 3, you’re usually ready to start using the effects or attacks on your remaining cards. But a single attack, if successfully dealt, immediately kills the target; and so the odds are that you’ll need to move yet again to be within range of another target. After a battle is fought to the bitter end, the battlefield moves over to an adjacent zone where the minions respawn, but all the heroes have to spend 1 or more turns trekking across the now dead zone to get to the new hot region. Even worse, if the enemy manages to take down your hero, you’ll lose your current turn (if you haven’t taken it yet) and then spend the next 1-3 turns getting back into position because you had to respawn at your corner of the board. So, my experience with Guards of Atlantis was 2/3s trudging around (and waiting several minutes between each monotonous movement) and 1/3 wack-a-mole of anything that wasn’t my team’s color. There was even an uninterrupted stretch of 40 minutes of our 3-hour 6-player game where I did nothingbut move due to a combination of dying, respawning, and realizing to my dismay that moving around (to avoid a threatening enemy or to reposition for the next battle) was the optimal thing to do. At some point I have to wonder if MOBA style gameplay is better suited for the real-time digital medium where the action is continuous and downtime doesn’t exist. While I can appreciate the love, care, and passion that went into Guards of Atlantis II, and I understand why fans rave about it, I’ve learned that it isn’t my type of game. I just can’t savor the sporadicly occasionally payoff of a good attack or a well-coordinated combo when it is surrounded by so much tedium. I must say, nudging a figure around on a map just to get from point A to point B is about as fun as watching a loading bar reach 100%. Prognosis: Poor https://preview.redd.it/auf8u98pko5a1.png?width=1380&format=png&auto=webp&s=e1e8272f334ef1ecc928be40a5dbfa53ca3bcf1d
Qin
https://preview.redd.it/rxujgbfqko5a1.png?width=601&format=png&auto=webp&s=18abfb5102936fe03b0a8ea2522a3db350ebd8e0 2 Plays (2 Players) For a moment there, I thought it had finally happened. After searching for months, years even, I thought I had finally found a big box Knizia design that I disliked. Some have been just fine, most have been great, several have been phenomenal, but after my first play of it, Qin seemed like it would be the one that wouldn’t do it for me. Predictably, my problem with Qin wasn’t that it was too bloated or broken or careless—I’ve never seen Reiner make those kinds of errors. Rather, after one play I found Qin to be too simple, basic, and redundant for my tastes. Mind you, I’ve enjoyed plenty of Knizia games that are simple and subtle, but I’m accustomed to such games having a clever twist that makes them special. With Qin, it felt as though that secret ingredient was missing. In Qin, players are racing to put out all their pagodas first. Your hand contains 3 domino tiles, and each tile is made up of a combination of colors (red, yellow, or blue). Players spend their zippy turns placing out one tile and replenishing their hand. Whenever your tile establishes a new province (two or more connected squares of a single color), then you’ll place your pagoda on this province to claim it. One player can overtake another player’s province of a matching color by connecting them together and having the bigger province (like a highly distilled version of a Tigris & Euphrates war). Provinces can also overtake a neutral city space (letting you put out another pagoda) by surrounding them with majority pagodas (like a simplified version of Samurai). You can also earn a double pagoda (stacking one on top of another) if your province becomes large enough, but this also eliminates the vulnerability of this province (nobody else can overtake your double pagoda). In essence, Qin takes a few of the general concepts of Knizia’s classic tile layers and presents them in the most basic possible manner. It’s a perfectly functional game with some meaningful decision-making, but it doesn’t quite evoke the tension, drama, or emotion of its predecessors. To be fair, I’m comparing poor Qin to stone-cold classics, and almost any game is going to struggle in that kind of matchup. This unfair comparison would be much more forgivable if Qin only brought something unique to the table. As is, the only thing it offers is a quick playtime and simple rules, and I can get that from plenty of other more interesting Knizia designs. Yet I’ve created a golden rule for myself when it comes to Knizia Games: Even if I don’t like it on the first play, it deserves a second chance. Nobody is better at hiding deeper layers under a simple premise than Reiner Knizia. Often it takes more than one play to uncover those layers. We returned to Qin several days after our first go—this time playing on the back side of the board. The map changes here are minor but welcome: the starting area is off to one side rather than the middle (forcing players to collide sooner), and some of the spaces are blocked out by water (creating more boundaries throughout the middle of the board). We also entered with a better understanding of how to play well, and it showed. This play was much more competitive, with moments of sly gambles, payoffs, ruses, and blocking. It was engaging enough to make me second guess my initial impressions and interested to see how things play at 3 or 4 players. It’s certainly possible to sand down all the rough edges and sharp corners of a game only to be left with a dull experience. Qin flirts with that line enough to make me unsure of its staying power. Yet after spending more time with it, I’m realizing that I don’t dislike it. The lingering issue is that I haven’t yet found a reason for why I would play this over the dozens of other Knizias on my shelf. Prognosis: Fair https://preview.redd.it/lqeq0ejrko5a1.png?width=807&format=png&auto=webp&s=991e4bfbe44296ab7c36639b3c4bbb21f5e36031
Manhattan Project: Energy Empire
https://preview.redd.it/ra6wh8fsko5a1.png?width=467&format=png&auto=webp&s=a4ffd6580818ca6081bf482ec9724fbdcde58986 1 Play (4 Players) As sure as the sun rises in the east, there will always be another efficiency Euro that I somehow end up playing and writing about. And like the many others that have come and gone, this one is… fine. In Manhattan Project: Energy Empire, you’ll build tableaus and position workers to gain and convert resources as you feed your insatiable appetite for points. Speaking of points, this one feels quite point salady, as nearly everything you do (buying a card, buying a die, rolling dice, resetting your worker supply, etc.) gains or loses you points. What it sets out to do, it does well. It just doesn’t set out to do anything all that unique or special. Place your worker on a space, spend more energy if the space is already occupied. From that space, collect your resources or buy the card and add it to your tableau. Then pay more energy to run tableau cards which match your worker placement space. Once you are satisfied and/or out of workers, collect them all from the board and roll your dice to see how much energy you produce. Rinse and repeat. Do it more efficiently than your opponents and you’ll win. Huzzah for efficiency puzzles! The most unique aspect is related to the energy dice and pollution on your board. If you are producing anything but clean energy, then you’ll often be penalized by adding more pollution to your board which will cost you points on several occasions. But as our session proved, even the player with the most pollution can win the game if they put all their extra energy production to good use. When one peels back the thematic curtain, this mechanism is simply your common balancing act of penalizing players for having bigger engines. To be fair, this game is now 6 years old which is like 40 board game years. But even in 2016, there were plenty of games already doing this kind of thing with much more flair and pizzazz. For my tastes, the same designers released a much tighter, faster, and more unique efficiency Euro in 2021’s Cryo (and the production blows Manhattan Project out of the water). If I’m in the mood for this style of game, Cryo is going to win the head-to-head every time. Prognosis: Fair https://preview.redd.it/63ldxnhtko5a1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=1fa6dd156920908330e4e8f38f7d994ef4bdc67e
9 Lives
https://preview.redd.it/qz09ffduko5a1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=e013d404fed88216d1a611b58d229068b162181f 1 Play (4 Players) Man, I’ve been playing a ton of trick takers lately. It seems like every other month there is yet another zesty trick taker that catches my eye. Just in the past year, I’ve enjoyed The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, Brian Boru, Ghosts of Christmas, Marshmallow Test, Cat in the Box, and now most recently 9 Lives. While 9 Lives is among the best looking games of this bunch, it saddens me to also admit that it might be among the weakest games of this lot. If there are two things I’ve learned from this genre, they are thus:
The design needs to be wonky to stand out
Planning is paramount to strategic satisfaction
Unfortunately for 9 Lives, it leans so hard into Lesson 1 that it largely sacrifices Lesson 2. The features that initially drew me into 9 Lives were of course its stylish presentation and wonky twist on trick taking. The twist is a triple-header:
Players bid on the tricks they’ll win using a shared board with restricted options
The backs of the cards show their suit, so you always know what arrangement of suits players have in their hands.
The winner of a trick takes one card they won in the trick (besides their own) and puts it back into their hand for future use. The round ends when a player runs out of cards.
It’s interesting in theory and novel to explore, yet that last twist proves to undermine much of what makes trick taking a satisfying experience. Bidding in trick taking is based on the fundamental idea that you understand the layout of the deck and work to control the tempo of the tricks with the hand you were dealt. But this all feels so much more slippery when players are constantly adding spent cards back into their hand. You can no longer count on opponents running out of a suit when someone else can feed them that suit through a won trick. The decision of bidding on a projected number of won tricks feels much more arbitrary here. We enjoyed laying our cats out in the rug, but getting the number of tricks you win to conform to your bet is like trying to give a cat commands. Perhaps they’ll fulfill your wishes eventually, but it’ll often feel like a coincidence at best rather than disciplined obedience. When you miss the mark of your bid, you’ll end up getting penalized 1-3 points for your failure. But rather than feel like a minor setback in a larger session of multiple hands, it feels like an instant K.O. The game only lasts 3 or 4 hands, and odds are that someone else hasn’t had a dud round, meaning there is almost no chance of you catching back up to them. Where Marshmallow Test has a more satisfying arc, Cat in the Box and Ghosts of Christmas have more interesting twists, and The Crew provides a tighter experience, it seems that 9 Lives are too few to keep this one alive in my collection. Prognosis: Poor https://preview.redd.it/a1zre8gvko5a1.jpg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6bc824416d9ad06ae08091d1c7ce7057242fc886
The Wolves
https://preview.redd.it/2r0nrnawko5a1.png?width=603&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f6b565383580f59d3f5c7a268ae533eec24467e 1 Play (2 Players) Review copy provided by publisher The Wolves is a brand new release from publisher Pandasaurus Games that brings together area control and action planning within a fitting theme of territorial wolf packs. Players spend the game following their wild canine noses to the must pungent point and bonus opportunities across multiple types of terrain. One thing that quickly stands out is how the design takes inspiration from the likes of Hansa Teutonica. Players work to free up more of their pieces from their board — their actions grow in power and extra points spill out as they do so. You’ll do things like howl at lone wolves (either neutral tokens on the board or opponent stragglers) to convert them to your team. You’ll also frequently maneuver your alpha wolves around — as they are the beasts which help you build out dens and lairs. The region tiles will award different values of points at different intervals during the game, and thus players are incentivized to roam around the map and not stay put for too long. This is where perhaps the two most unique features of The Wolves are heavily involved. Off to the side of the map is a calendar board which functions as a countdown to the next scoring phase which only triggers scoring in a handful of regions. This board gradually fills up with pieces as players replace lone wolves and supplant dens with their own pieces. So it behooves the players to try and contribute to this calendar at the ideal time when they are best positioned for the next scoring. The other standout element of The Wolves comes in the form of the action economy. Players are limited to taking any 2 actions on their turn (plus any bonus action tokens they spend), but you can only affect a space (move to it, build on it, howl at it, etc.) if you have enough matching terrain tiles to spend on your board. And the more powerful actions require more tiles. Each time you spend a tile, it is simply flipped to its opposite side to display a different terrain type. The combination of a fluid shared map of competitive area majorities and a rigid action restriction puzzle means that it’s hard to plan out your turn until it actually is your turn. And once it’s time to get planning, it may take a while to reconcile what you want to do with what you actually can do. The game doesn’t lend itself well to those who are AP prone, that’s for sure. It also throws a lot of numbers at players and expects them to juggle everything. Your brain will frequently chart this type of course “I need to spend 1 forest tile so I can move 3 wolves up to 4 spaces to these 2 forest spots, thereby bringing my region control up to 5 strength and barely winning over my opponent who also has 5 strength but loses the tiebreaker because I have 2 alpha wolves and they only have 1. Buuuuut, I don’t currently have a forest tile, so I first should spend these 2 tundra tiles to howl at a lone wolf which is on a tundra space and within my howling range of 3 spaces — thereby freeing up my forest tile…. Wait, what was I going to use this forest tile for again?” It’s not the cleanest system, and some of that messy scruff can be found in other aspects of the experience as well. The hierarchy of player pieces — what can and can’t coexist together on a single space (pack wolves, alpha wolves, dens, lairs, enemy pieces, etc.) — is notably muddy within the rulebook. The calendar board instructs players that “Any piece that is removed from the map is placed here” when in reality it means “any piece except region scoring tokens… and prey tokens… those actually go to the players, not here.” And I’ve intentionally avoided trying this one at higher player counts, as I hear reports of 4th and 5th players getting burned by early turn order advantages (not to mention the sheer downtime and board chaos that would come with 5 players, woof). But for those who don’t mind a scruffy game and want to take on a multi-turn action efficiency puzzle while they compete for area majorities, The Wolves has some neat things to offer. It certainly captures the restless, roaming spirit of hungry hounds ever on the prowl. Prognosis: Fair https://preview.redd.it/tixgmeexko5a1.png?width=1477&format=png&auto=webp&s=beafe2db253f932e5b4b81081872d67fb486ebfc
Ready Set Bet
https://preview.redd.it/t4u2iieyko5a1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=507ba8c35c17325b9bb52e704c823e658940ecad 2 Plays (4 & 7 Players) How many horse betting/racing games does the world need? Ready Set Bet is out to prove that it needs one more. One more beyond the timeless classic Knizia design, Winner’s Circle. One more beyond this year’s earlier and genre defying roll & write, Long Shot: The Dice Game. Heck, one more beyond the excellent party game featuring the horse’s cousin, Camel Up. In an already crowded genre full of legends, Ready Set Bet faces an uphill battle to justify its existence. But despite the delicious dice decisions and beautiful bluffing bets that Winner’s Circle provides, despite the unconventional interaction and wide possibilities that Long Shot features, despite the boisterous drama and addictive sessions that Camel Up brings, Ready Set Bet has one trick up its sleeve that helps it stand out from the rest: Real time racing and betting. Over the course of 4 races, one player acts as the “House”: a dice roller, race manager, sports announcer… all of the above. They simply roll 2 dice and move the indicated horse one space. Roll, move, roll, move, roll, move — that sounds far too reductive, but I suppose it can be that basic (depending on their personality). This role warmly invites you to get into the spirit of the race by channeling your inner sports commentator. Bonus movement also serves to spice things up — where a number that is less likely to be rolled triggers a larger burst of speed for its horse when rolled twice in a row. The House is not entirely out of the competition either, as they can bet on horses before the race starts to also feel invested in the stakes. Our preferred way to play is to rotate the House role each race, but you can even download a solid, free app that will handle all of this for you (as long as you’re ok with a robot controlling your life… ;P For everyone else, you’ll possess a handful of betting tokens that you’ll be slapping down onto the large betting board in real-time as the race progresses. The board is jam-packed with gambling opportunities as you predict which horses will Win, Place, or Show (I.e. reach 1st place or the top 2 or the top 3, respectively). The moment three horses cross the red betting line (near the end) is when bets are no longer allowed, and the race will end the moment a horse reaches the finish line. You can toss your betting tokens into the large, general area in hopes of nailing simple multipliers. The first person to bet on a winning horse gets the highest multiplier space (there can only be one betting token per space), and hopefully they placed their strongest betting token there. After all, the point is to win the most money. The board smartly features penalties on many spaces as well, where a bad bet can end up costing you. This introduces just the right amount of hesitation to the real-time betting (aside from the fact that you only have 5 precious betting tokens to work with). Throw out your betting tokens too quickly, and you’ll wish you had held some back when you watch an overlooked horse make a late-stage comeback. Hold your betting tokens for too long, and you’ll look down to discover that all the best spaces have already been claimed by your pesky opponents. The pressure is on from the moment the House announces, “And they’re off!” Well… assuming you have enough players at the table. My one gripe with this game is the simple fact that the board feels too loose and the experience too quiet at lower player counts. Our first play was at 4 players with one player acting as the House. Meaning there were only three players fully invested in the betting and a far too generous gambling board for them to work with. Ready Set Bet was only mildly amusing at best at this player count. The races felt slower and the betting felt trivial when the obvious strategy was to wait as long as possible to see the race play out before quickly slapping down all your tokens last-second; all to squeeze merely a few more points out of the race compared to your opponents who could just as easily make nearly equivalent bets. But I can’t fault the game too much for this issue. Ready Set Bet is, at its heart, a party game meant for large and loud crowds. It really sung during our 7 player session where the board felt immensely smaller. The game board tightness also forced those of us who had played before outside of our comfort zones and into the more zesty betting opportunities. Besides the fact that each race plays out surprisingly differently (that’s how dice work…. go figure), the betting board is different every round as well. Along the top and bottom of the board, you’ll find Prop Bet Cards and Exotic Finish Cards. These feature bets such as “Horse 4 will finish ahead of horse 8” or “The top three horses will finish within a short distance of each other” and so on. Furthermore, players will gain a unique VIP card between each race that grants excitingly powerful benefits and abilities. There is just the right blend of board variety and asymmetric powers to satisfy our spoiled hobbyist appetites from one play to the next. Against all odds, Ready Set Bet manages to keep pace with the best racing horses of its genre and justify a place in my collection. I daresay it’s the top party game of 2022. But make no mistake, it truly requires a party to shine. At 3-5 players, I have no interest in playing this one over the much tighter Winner’s Circle. Meanwhile, Camel Up and Long Shot: The Dice Game maintain a much more consistent quality from their lowest to their highest player counts. Perhaps if Ready Set Bet had included a second side to its game board — one more condensed for 2-5 players — I’d feel much differently… It seems like a simple enough solution, and practically cost-free to create (aside from the extra development work). But at any rate, I’m plenty happy to save this one for when 6-9 players are gathered for a riotous time of gambling, groans, and glee. Prognosis: Excellent https://preview.redd.it/ciogjdlzko5a1.jpg?width=910&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=456d7641b700f9e5bf3068d7a19bbd4906d0fd69
COMING TO KICKSTARTER IN JANUARY…
https://preview.redd.it/cdx9g1h1lo5a1.jpg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2f4b996f49ee83a5cf6f9f72235b81b24d450a1 Two wildly clever games of trading and negotiation — Zoo Vadis and Gussy Gorillas. The Kickstarter pre-launch page is now live! Be sure to visit the page and click to be notified the moment it launches. Thanks for supporting Bitewing Games in our quest to create and share classy board games that bite! Prognosis: a forecast of how the game will likely fare in my collection, and perhaps yours as well. Excellent– Among the best in its genre. This game will never leave my collection. Good– A very solid game and a keeper on the shelf. Fair– It’s fine. It’s enjoyable. But I’m not likely to seek it out or keep it around. Poor– Really doesn’t fit my tastes; not one I want to revisit… but hey, that’s just me. Hopeless– Never again. Run & hide. Demon be gone. Article written by Nick of Bitewing Games.Outside of practicing dentistry part-time, Nick has devoted his remaining work-time to collaborating with the world’s best designers, illustrators, and creators in producing classy board games that bite, including the upcomingZoo Vadisby Reiner Knizia. He hopes you’lljoin Bitewing Gamesin their quest to create and share classy board games with a bite.
Oct/25/2022: __ New Artsakh road to shorten travel between capital & north __ Satellite control center __ Lydian miner is being acquired __ Interview w/ Artsrun: drones, reforms __ Defense budgets: AM vs AZ __ Russian officials banned from Armenia __ Economy +14% __ Azeri sanctions __ Geo-U.S. ties
new road in Nagorno Karabakh is expected to cut distance between capital Stepanakert and Martakert by 20 kilometers
The new Stepanakert-Martakert road will pass through the village Chankatagh instead of Drmbon. Today, if you want to travel from the northeast (Martakert) to the south (Stepanakert), you need to reach all the way west (Drmbon). The new road is a diagonal connection (via Chankatagh). This is the largest road project in Artsakh since the war. The asphalt is ready, they are working on signs and barriers. Himnadram.org is financing the construction (which means donors like you). source,
tender is announced to re/build parts of North-South highway in Armenia
The sections of the Tranche-4 highway that will see roadwork are the 21 km portion of Agarak-Vanadzor and the 11 km portion of Vanadzor-tunnel. Companies have until December 23rd to submit their bid. source,
Armenia's own satellite control center will open this year
Armenia launched its first-ever satellite in May. It's being serviced by a Spanish company "Satlantis". The government announced plans to establish a satellite control center in Armenia "soon" and to train local experts. It's part of the bigger plan to develop the space industry in Armenia. High-Tech Ministry: The control center for the ArmSat-1 satellite will open by yearend, we have made the necessary financial allocations. The satellite is operating as expected and is passing the tests. These tests are being completed ahead of schedule, and the results are more positive than expected. This will allow us to open the control center ahead of schedule as well. The data captured by the satellite will be accessible only to Armenia. Pashinyan: The satellite will be used to monitor state borders, prevent emergency situations and disasters, nature protection, urban development, and geology. source,
Armenia's economy +14.1% in January-September
Industrial output +10% Agriculture -1% Construction +14% Services +27% Trade turnover +14% Electricity production +17% Exports +64% Imports +62% Consumer price index +8.6% (+9.9% in September) Price index for manufactured goods +4.1% (-3.3% in September) source,source,source,
Chaarat gold miner wants to acquire Lydian gold miner
A gold miner called Chaarat is operating in Kapan, Syunik. They recently appointed a guy named Mike Fraser as CEO. We also learned recently that Lydian was planning to launch Amulsar mining next year, but they were having some internal discussions around something. Chaarat has confirmed media reports that they are in talks to acquire "Lydian Armenia" from its parent company "Lydian Canada Ventures Corporation".
There is no certainty at this stage, that the proposed Acquisition will be completed. Chaarat is a gold mining company which owns the Kapan operating mine in Armenia as well as Tulkubash and Kyzyltash Gold Projects in the Kyrgyz Republic
Swedish national Pavel Anderson owns 45.5% of Chaarat Kapan. It employs over 1,000 people. It is the 34th largest taxpayer in Armenia, with ֏4.7 billion since January. Lydian has estimated that Amulsar contains at least 70 tons of gold. That translates to $3.3 billion in reserves, as of writing this. source,source,
defense expenditures of Armenia and Azerbaijan
Armenia plans to increase the defense budget by over 40% next year. Approximate defense spending per year converted into million dollars: Year: Armenia / Azerbaijan 2016: 453 / 1,400 2017: 464 / 1,530 2018: 523 / 1,670 2019: 652 / 1,850 2020: 634 / 2,240 2021: 601 / 2,700 2022: 713 / 2,700 2023: 1,238 / 3,129 (numbers are approximate) source,source,source,source,source,source,source,
interview with military expert Col. Artsrun Hovhannisyan
Reporter: You always sat that we must analyze what type of war we will fight in the future, and only then build an army suited for that type of warfare. Is this what's being done today? Artsrun: I left the system a year ago so I don't know all the inner workings, so I don't know if that's what's being done. I do see many positive developments, such as an increased defense budget and certain appointments. I know many of the appointees, and I know they are the right pick. Education is still not ideal but it has undergone reforms. I have received information that one of the departments is being fully transformed. I cannot mention more. So yes, there are many positive changes inside Defense Ministry. It makes me very happy. But since I don't know everything, I don't know if they have a clear doctrine on where we are headed. This should have been done after the 1st Karabakh war. Reporter: Why wasn't it done then? Did we believe there wouldn't be another war? Artsrun: For political and economic reasons. I don't know, maybe we considered ourselves as the "victorious army" and slept on a pillow. Or maybe we thought Russia would help prevent a war. I don't know. Reporter: You are an army specialist who officially serves as an adviser to a relevant parliamentary committee. Today we hear a lot about army reforms. Have you not seen any discussions around the comprehensive doctrine that you say is a prerequisite? Artsrun: No. But that's something they don't have to bring to Parliament. It's a document that CoGS has to develop. CoGS could discuss it with the Security Council, and possibly the Government, but not necessarily Parliament. Certain parts deriving from that document will, eventually, enter Parliament. For example, I've mentioned that certain reform proposals make me happy. We are switching from less frequent 90-day to more frequent 25-day reservist retraining, and contractor salaries will double if they pass certification. These are all entering Parliament separately. Defense Ministry has set certain requirements for this certification. I wanted the requirements to be even stricter, but it's okay, this is not bad. A stricter approach is the right approach, it will lead to better quality. There is plenty of room for improvement, though. Reporter: Why is there plenty of room for improvement, why do we have shortcomings, isn't the army command motivated to improve the army? Artsrun: It's a problem with a lack of knowledge and the school they graduated from. Perhaps the majority of decision-makers are too old today. They live in a different time, with different standards. Times change, but the stack of documents does not. Why does the army pay ֏50,000 for a ֏5,000 shovel? I'm not talking about corruption schemes. It sounds absurd, right? It's a result of using a 19th-century army structure. We know that in the 21st century you will fight the battles at night, so why are we still holding most of the training exercises during the daytime, with motionless targets? We are doing everything wrong: train during the daytime, shoot while lying, shoot 9 bullets only, and shoot at a still target. Reporter: About weapons from India... Artsrun:[takes out his cock]. Another fantastic direction is South Korea. I've also spoken about Swedish weapons, etc. India is a great direction. Better late than never. What I like about Defense Ministry's visit was the participation in the defense expo and the meetings with private companies. We have a lot to discuss regarding our domestic defense industry and its shortcomings. It has fantastic projects but lacks the correct strategy. That is why today, we must import as many weapons as possible, and worry about our domestic industry only in the medium-long term (2+ years). It's a topic for another day. India is rearming its own army at a massive scale. You know they have a large army. People often ask why we buy Indian weapons that haven't been acquired [and tested] by others. They haven't been acquired by others not because they are bad, but because [of supply shortages]. They are modernizing faster than they produce. This is why exports are small. This is true for China as well; they've become a major exporter only 4-5 years ago. Reporter: Armenian drone manufacturers present their UAVs and claim it's ready for mass production. Is this a myth? Artsrun: If I answer honestly, I will slightly harm our manufacturers and the state. I will say the following. We have legal and organizational problems and too much bureaucracy in the military industry inherited from USSR. Then we have 3-5 drone manufacturers, with great achievements, that simply refuse to cooperate with one another. It's a pointless competition. Reporter: How can they compete if they don't have a market? Artsrun: It's a mess that needs a solution and better financing/treatment from the state. There is also an issue with access to Western components. So, we cannot rely on domestic producers. We must import lots of drones right now. If we can purchase a few hundred drones from abroad within the next several months, that would be great. There are local manufacturers that have the cash but need other forms of assistance from the state. Within 1-2 years, we can help these companies deliver serious products if we work on it. Reporter: What about the shortage of Western components? Artsrun: I won't say much but the ongoing geopolitical changes and the West's changing attitude towards Armenia can open up new opportunities. We can have results if we work hard. Reporter: There are complaints about the lack of significant engineering work in trenches, and that most of the deaths are a result of this. We don't have blindazh, etc. Artsrun: Those who claim there haven't been significant engineering efforts are, to put it mildly, lying. The area where we were deployed, and this is a brand new frontline formed after the 2020 war, has seen a massive amount of engineering work. It will never be enough, though. If they bring you 5 tractors, you will ask for 10. If they bring 10, you will ask for 20. You can always find areas of improvement, new roads, trench modifications, and deeper holes. What the critics should have criticized is the type of trenches we are building. We need a trench model that protects against drone strikes. Reporter: But you are expecting non-experts to understand all that. Artsrun: Then why are these non-experts so convinced about their knowledge of engineering work? It's okay if they criticize without understanding. What's not okay is the agenda-driven criticism to form a certain trend. Reporter: Should our soldiers actually be in those trenches, or it's time for us to get out? Artsrun: Stay there for now, but change their design. You are going to get struck from above, while your tench is designed to protect you from horizontal fire. Reporter: Deputy mayor Tigran Avinyan recently stated that our soldiers were a lot more prepared in September 2022 than during the "bardak" of the 2020 war. Is this true? Artsrun: It is true that soldiers were significantly more prepared. They have become more vigilant, they act more carefully after learning from 2020 mistakes. The decentralized command has become very trendy in our army, but we need serious work to institutionalize it. Today, our soldiers are fighting in a way that's not written in the "books" yet. It should be the opposite. We must develop our school. source, Tags: #ArmyReforms source,
"Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus" conference was held in Yerevan
Public officials and figures gathered to discuss maternity and social protection, economic opportunities, and unpaid care. Labor Minister Mkrthcyan: Ensuring women's equal participation in decision-making processes and promoting gender equality is one of the key topics in our policy. We appreciate the cooperation with the UN and the role of the "Women Accelerator" program that promotes entrepreneurship and SMEs. It is being implemented in several provinces. We are also co-financing centers that provide support to victims of domestic violence and trafficking. // source,
Q3 stats: incidents of pressure on journalists, compliance with right to information
The number of defamation lawsuits against media this year: 24. Pressure on journalists: 2021 Q3: 23 2022 Q3: 18 Violation of the right to receive and disseminate information: 2021 Q3: 31 2022 Q3: 20 In some instances, journalists do not receive the requested information within the required 5 days. A month later they are told "it's classified". To address the issue, the government adopted a new law last month to raise the fines for officials who fail to respond promptly: from ֏10k-֏50k to ֏30k-֏70k (triple if repeats within a year). more,source,
bill drafted: more movies and programs will be available for residents with hearing disabilities
The bill, authored by QP MP Batoyan, would increase the number of programs in Armenian Sign Language or subtitles and will clarify the concept of sign language. TV networks will be required to air at least 1 movie a day in sign language, while the cartoons will be required to be disability-friendly. Live or pre-recorded messages from the Premier, President, and other public figures, as well as entertainment events during state holidays, will be required to be disability-friendly. more,
ruling party MP accuses Russia of conspiring with Azerbaijan to extort a "corridor" from Armenia
Reporter: Is it possible to sign the AM-AZ peace treaty this year? QP MP Gagik Melkonyan: That's the goal encouraged by superpowers. Whether it will happen or not depends on Ilham Aliyev, but judging by his behavior, it's unlikely to happen this year. Reporter: Putin has invited Aliyev and Pashinyan. What are your expectations? Melkonyan: Nothing good. I'm not even sure if it will take place. The king of Russia could have organized it during the recent Astana forum. Reporter: Why do you dislike the idea of holding a meeting in Moscow? Melkonyan: Because Aliyev becomes unhinged in Russian platforms, and behaves properly in Western platforms. Moscow enables him. Reporter: Are you suggesting Russia is showing favoritism towards Azerbaijan? Melkonyan: Have you not been paying attention? Yes. Reporter: Is the West "pressuring" Armenia? [Context: Russia's foreign ministry suggested that the West is using NGOs to pressure Armenia to become anti-Russia and to harm AM-RU relations.] Melkonyan: I have not seen any "pressure". It is Russia that has set a goal of obtaining a joint "corridor" with Azerbaijan. // Kocharyan's faction leader Seyran Ohanyan criticized Pashinyan instead when asked to comment on Russia's refusal to assist Armenia. Ohanian: Why did Pashinyan even ask CSTO for help without first declaring martial law in Armenia and using the domestic resources to the fullest extent? He only screams for help. // source,source,source,
Armenia denies entry to Russian parliament MP Zatulin for public comments "against Armenia"
Konstantin Zatulin, a friend of pro-Russian ex-president Robert Kocharyan, gave an interview to ARF's media outlet last week. I covered his points in October 17 digest. He suggested that Armenia is not being a "good ally" to Russia, he wanted Armenia to be thankful that Russia hasn't asked Armenia for military support in Ukraine, he suggested that Armenians were being genenrally ungrateful, and he was critical of Armenia's efforts to build closer ties with the West. He also suggested that Armenia owes a "corridor" to Azerbaijan. The Armenian parliament has informed Zatulin that he is no longer allowed to enter Armenia for "statements that damage the development of friendly and allied relations between [Armenia and Russia]." Zatulin called the entry ban "insulting" and "unexpected". According to him, he had plans to visit Jermuk to learn about the damage caused by Azerbaijan to civilian infrastructure. Now he might not be able to visit. In related news. The government is preparing a bill to criminalize any violent action or statements aimed against Armenia's sovereignty. Advocating for Armenia to become part of Russia could land you in prison. Robert Kocharyan and Ruben Vardanyan recently found themselves at receiving the end of criticism for comments about "Russian Union" and "Tatarstan".
... RT's Margarita Simonyan is also banned from entering Armenia
Margo: Константину Затулину, много лет яростно поддерживающему Армению, нынешний начальник Армении запретил въезд в Армению. Мне, кстати, тоже. Красаучик жи есть, что тут еще скажешь. [Nikol banned me.] source,source,source,source,source, [source,](news/2022/10/26/simonyan/)
Security Council officials from Armenia and U.S. discussed the AM-US bilateral relations
Sec. Con. Armen Grigoryan and Biden's Special Assistant at the National Security Council Amanda Sloat held a telephone conversation to discuss the agenda of expanding AM-US relations. source,
U.S. has no comments on Iran's recent military exercises on the Azerbaijan border
Context: Iran held military exercises on the border while warning Azerbaijan against any attempts to forcefully open a "corridor" via Armenia. The U.S. has also called on Azerbaijan to withdraw its troops from occupied territories of Armenia, and to refrain from using force. Question: Azerbaijan is concerned about the military exercises held by Iran on their border. Comment? Ned Price: No particular comment. We want to see a stable Caucasus region, where we work both with Armenia and Azerbaijan to de-escalate border tensions. source,source,
Canada, as a democratic state, is obliged to support fellow democratic Armenia to defend its territorial integrity: Canada's Speaker of the House, reportedly after meeting Armenian delegation
The Armenian parliamentary delegation is in Canada. Gevorg Papoyan: During the meeting, Mr. Oliphant (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs) praised the democratic processes that began in Armenia in 2018, and expressed Canada's readiness to continue to help in this direction. We also discussed the statement made by the Speaker of the House, in which he stated that Canada, as a democratic state, must support democratic Armenia in the defense of its territorial integrity and sovereignty, so that Canada won't face similar problems tomorrow. We appreciate the decision to open a Canadian embassy in Armenia. Our Canadian colleague informed us that it is a sign of support for Armenian democracy. // source,
Azerbaijani officials are concerned about sanctions and embargo by France and EU, as a response to their September aggression against Armenia
Several Azeri MPs and public figures are unhappy about a pro-Armenian resolution that the French Senate plans to discuss next month. They are concerned about sanctions and defense assistance to Armenia. Concerned Azeri officials: This resolution will also call upon every EU country to suspend the import of oil and gas from Azerbaijan. It will require certain rights for Armenians in Karabakh, things related to Armenian cultural heritage and Lachin corridor. The resolution will pave way for military assistance to Armenia. We have launched a petition against this resolution. Baku should also review possible sanctions against Paris. Boycott products made in France. // source,
French-led Francophonie discussed Azerbaijan's aggression against Armenia
QP MP Yeghoyan: The 34th congress of the Parliamentary Assembly of Francophonie (Europe) was held in Barcelona. The topic of Azerbaijan's military aggression was included in the agenda on the spot. Our delegation presented all the details. It is obvious that there is a major increase in focus on this conflict. We heard clear words of support from the parliamentarians of France, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Greece, as well as various Francophonie representatives. On November 14 the French Senate will discuss a resolution condemning Azerbaijani aggression. // source,
Pashinyan criticizes Azerbaijan for creating obstacles to search operations
Pashinyan: Since the September 14 ceasefire, Azerbaijan has been creating different obstacles for search operations of dead bodies of Armenian soldiers in the zone of the latest Azerbaijani occupation. This is anti-humanistic and unacceptable behavior. source,
OSCE assessment team visited Jermuk
Jermuk mayor took the team to the front lines and briefed them on the damage caused by Azerbaijan's September aggression. The OSCE team inspected and recorded the situation, visited the damaged aerial ropeway and other parts of the town. source,
ambassador-at-large Edmon Marukyan met the OSCE chairman Andrzej Kasprzyk
They discussed regional security and peace. Marukyan presented the consequences of Azerbaijan's September aggression and emphasized the targeted nature of the international community's response, as well as the OSCE's role in preventing future aggressions. source,
International Association of Genocide Scholars condemns Azerbaijan's actions
The Board strongly condemns Azerbaijan's invasion of Armenian territories and the ongoing aggression against the population of Nagorno Karabakh. The Board expresses concern about the risk of genocide against Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. original,source,
Armenia and Turkey will soon discuss the implementation of the recent agreement to lift the blockade on air cargo transport
Special envoys Rubinyan and Kilic recently agreed to allow AM-TR air cargo transfers and border crossings for citizens of 3rd country. The latter can be used by diasporan Armenians to cross into Turkey's border regions to visit historical Armenian sites as tourists, said the officials. Another meeting will be held soon to discuss it. They have not yet decided when and where. Turkish media writes that the traffic between AM-TR amounted to 40,000 tons of goods and 140,000 passengers despite the direct border being closed, and that these numbers can increase tenfold if the border opens. source,source,
Armenia-Vatican relations
FM Mirzoyan has arrived at the Vatican to celebrate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations. May Armenia enjoy peace, said Cardinal Parolin. The Vatican held a prayer for Armenia
The Cardinal also discussed the figure of St Gregory of Narek, the most beloved figure in the Armenian religious tradition, pointing out that this saint, so central to Armenian national identity, was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Francis in 2015, and added by him to the General Roman Calendar several years later.
Mirzoyan thanked the Pope for raising Grigor Narekatsi to the rank of Doctor of the Church, and Pope's principled position on the Armenian genocide. source,source,
Georgia-U.S. relations (not so good)
October 4 news digest has the context. Georgia's ruling party is split into "Russia-friendly" and "anti-Russia" deputies. The Georgian government, headed by the "Georgian Dream" party, is criticized by Ukraine and some in the West for being too pro-Russia. Question: Are you aware of the new list of sanctions assigned by Zelenski targeting the inner circle of the Georgian oligarch Ivanishvili who has been in charge for 10 years? Have you had any consultations with Ukrainians? U.S. State Department: We remain committed to working with Georgia’s Government as it undertakes the EU-suggested reforms. We want to work with Georgia on its broader European aspirations. Question: We've spent millions for decades to help Georgia become a strong democracy. How concerned are you about their apparent drift toward Russian orbit? When Georgian MPs attacked the U.S. ambassador, you had to defend your ambassador, which is unprecedented for the 30 years of diplomatic relations. And when you look at the MPs of the ruling parties who are talking about the supposed plot by the U.S. to drag Georgia into a new war with Russia, how concerned are you when you see those events and statements? U.S. State Department: We are concerned. We’ve voiced our concern about some of the government's actions. The government's actions, including moving backward on important democratic reforms, have created setbacks. These actions have also deepened polarization within Georgian society rather than unifying the country around the core issues of Euro-Atlantic integration. We still remain committed to working with Georgia to make the reforms needed to meet its Euro-Atlantic goals. source,source,
German state leader: Russian gas should resume after the Ukraine war
Saxony state premier Michael Kretschmer said Russian gas should again be part of Germany's energy mix once the conflict ends.
Social Democrat party leader Saskia Esken opposes the idea: "Even after the war, we will clearly not build up our dependence on Russian energy supplies again." source, [redacted]
education & universities
QP MP Babken Tunyan: Education's share in the budget (2.7%) is small and there are opinions that it's necessary to increase it, but on the other hand there are concerns that if we were to increase the budget by 50% today, they simply wouldn't know how to spend it. Education Ministry: That is true for certain areas, but our general 2021-2026 educational program is broad enough to absorb those resources. We plan to rebuild hundreds of facilities, labs in thousands, and retrain the teachers. QP MP Tunyan: Regarding university mergers. I wasn't aware that most of our famous universities, which we consider "advanced", are not even in the list of top-10,000 best universities. We've long spoken about the need for education reforms. What are your plans in this area? Education Ministry: Don't expect any success stories if the focus is only on universities. This is why we have adopted a policy of reforming the entire chain, from preschool to university. Our goal is to have 4 universities on the list of top-500 by 2030. It will be discussed in parliament soon. QP MP Hovik Aghazaryan: I've been researching this for two years now. The road traffic is considerably better during school breaks because parents aren't double and triple parking. Perhaps it's time to provide school buses? source,source,
Premier's Cup: cross-country running competition
The annual running competition for Armenian and foreign amateur joggers was held on Parakar-Ejmiatsin road. Over 1,200 participants, separated into several age and gender categories, took part in the 10-kilometer race. The ֏15 million prize fund was split between the top 20 performers. The tournament has gained sponsors that are helping with organizational work. Pashinyan issues medals to winners and promised to increase the prize fund for schoolchildren in the future. The winners in the "foreign citizen" category were Polina Turova and Vassili Zinkov, both from Russia. Men's and women's winners were Yervand Mkrtchyan and Ellada Alaverdyan respectively. The oldest participants were Manya Margaryan (turns out it's also her birthday, age unknown) and Hakob Tutunjyan (1941). full,source,source,
if you could hear a solar storm slam against the Earth's magnetic field, this is what it would sound like
Yerevan has greenhouses where they grow the plants you see in the city | VIDEO
The "Green" department's 20-hectare nursery and greenhouse are enough to cover 95% of the needs this autumn. They employ dozens of specialists to grow around 50 types of plants. The plants, which include մետաքսե ակացիա, ճապոնական սաֆորա, արևելյան սոսի, are adopted to and feel good in Yerevan climate. Recently they've been focusing on the local mass production of evergreen plants. The city plans to open a new eco-park next to the nursery, install a rainwater irrigation network, etc. video,source,
if you missed
Follow on Twitter. Yesterday's news in English, русский (by Impossible-Ad-). Archive by Armeniapedia. Donate to Armenia & Artsakh here. The accused are innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law, even if they "appear" guilty.
Recognized as the world's most identical twin, Anna and Lucy. They share the same boyfriend called Ben. The twins insist there is no jealousy in their relationship and they would kiss Ben one after the other.
When humanity had integrated with the galactic community, they brought along with them a new boiling pot of culture for the various alien species to indulge in. Like many other newly inducted races, some cultural rituals had staying power, others were just momentary fads. Out of all the things that would become an opiate of the galactic masses, Vtubers became one of them. No one quite fully understood the appeal of the Vtuber craze, then again, some of the species who indulged in this genre of entertainment didn't know either. Broken down to their absolute foundation, many individuals had abandoned their developed synapses and returned to their primal senses. They unhealthily financially supported this specific human entertainment business to an unprecedented degree, and sometimes to their own personal detriment with reckless expenditures. In fact, the amount of monetary enrichment related to the Vtuber phenomenon became so prevalent, some galactic governments had to push back the cultural impact of Vtubers. Due to thorough research, the introduction of Vtubers actually dropped the galactic productivity by a noticeable number. The increase of xeno consumption of human internet culture forced several groups to develop smear campaigns to prevent the contamination of human media into their own spheres of influence. In their own circle, the Galactic Web had constructed their own terminology to understand the unusual influence of Vtubers. Eventually, they all just agreed to call everyone simps, under the assumption that it was a convoluted acronym that got lost in the dissemination of the original meaning. Because of this, several governing bodies had unironically adopted the term simp to describe the unusual circumstances surrounding their citizens indulging in loose spending on virtual streamers. Dare say, some may refer to it as raw idol worship. Without consulting humanity on the matter of Vtubers, the mental health institutions of the galaxy considered designating the simp phenomenon as a mass hysteria event on an unprecedented scale. While the Galactic governing bodies, mental health institutions and Galactic work productivity quota were burning down trying to perform damage control, the Galactic Web had other plans. Many purists, bored Xenos, wannabe anarchists and everyone in between teamed up together to harass human Vtubers. The integration of the Human internet and Galactic Web had not fully established at the time, however, the art of harassment and unhinged racism was universal. There were a few victories of forcing a Vtuber off their platform. Most had remained steadfast in the face of galactic tyranny. In a few cases, for the Vtubers who left their human colonies to mingle with the galactic community, they got doxxed. For that, it was essentially a death sentence. As it turns out, members of the Galactic Web were much more willing to exit their homes and performed much more than merely touching artificial grass. Stalking, vandalism, assault, the internet Xenos were proving themselves to be a menace to societal relations. It became so prevalent, the focused hatred bled from the Galactic Web and picked up widespread news on human social media. While both social media communities were at each other's throats, one unusual exception remained among the outworlder virtual entertainers. A Vtuber named Jean-Marie Petit; A French albino femboy known for his artwork, fashion and cooking. Occasionally plays games, but people tend to stick around for his deep knowledge of many topics, such as war history and firearms. He was greatly regarded as a glorified online teacher, an unhinged degenerate and accredited for confusing the majority of the Galactic Web. When he got doxxed, his real name was revealed to be Camille Saint-Exupéry. His real face, and address became available. The only information available on Camille were his credentials in French Cuisine and authoring books on African Conflicts, social relations and survival in wilderness and urban settings. Miraculously, his actual appearance matched his Vtuber avatar, making him much easier to track down; though, his specific name combination was so unique that it was incredibly straightforward to find him regardless. Yet, the man continued as if nothing happened. It became apparent to the wider community that Camille became enemy number one to the less-than-savory portions of the Galactic Web. Where lesser people would have buckled under the weight of all the hatred, he persisted. The man even collected some of the death threats his associates received, and read them to his audience. He laughed at the amateurish nature and lack of creativity in the threats, then went into detail on how he would have done it. No matter the context, Camille became known for absolutely insulting and taunting his detractors, mostly for being boring, generic and uninspired. This enraged the underside of the Galactic Web even further. Unlike the other Vtubers they had physically harassed, this one was special. A larger section of the Galactic Web had decided to visit his house. Prior to this event, it was made out to be a much more permanent solution. In the words of the event curators, it was a livestream event where the unnamed perpetrators intended to break into his house then thoroughly dismantle him mentally and physically. Hundreds of thousands of the truly depraved and curious logged in to observe. When the team entered, the house had all the lights off. When one of the members went to turn on the lights, the switches were not working. In their confusion, they wandered in the dark with their flashlights on. The house itself was immaculately organized and clean. Not once did the intruders even think about why it was so easy to enter the front door. Not a single soul on the team paid no heed to the small details, like how the windows were reinforced, or how the door itself had most of its security features disabled prior. Even before all this, no one questioned why there was such a lack of information on the man's history, while other doxxed Vtubers had their entire histories exposed. The chat itself was split, with some screaming for the team to abandon the mission, while others posted emojis of their eggplant and spitting equivalent. The cameras they utilized were high quality; they captured small details in the illuminated darkness, and the sound was crisp. This became apparent when Waltz of the Flowers began playing throughout the house. One of the members decided to silently split away from the group. He was close to exiting the door, when a disgusting, squelching sound rang out. His body collapsed to the ground, flashlight rolling across the floor. By sheer chance, the camera and flashlight caught the albino. He wore an old French Foreign Legion uniform and donned an eyepatch over his right eye. In his right hand he had the alien's decapitated skull, the other had an old machete that had seen so much use that it had been grinded down to a shape that reflected Camille's style of dispatching individuals. Not a moment after, the man swiftly disappeared into the darkness, but not fast enough. In a split second, the alien's camera caught sight of his uniform's chest, allowing the community to gain a vital detail. His name tape read "Passy", not "Saint-Exupéry". Aside from that, the man had a body camera strapped to him. After a quick investigation, it turns out he had long figured out this event was going to happen. So, of course, he took it to the natural extreme and decided to do a real-life stream of hunting them down. Everyone on his end stream-sniped the twelve men who invaded his home and donated money to give judgements on them. Like what the other parts of the Galactic Web had done, those twelve men were also doxxed and were given on-the-spot sentences on stream based on how terrible they were. In the midst of witnessing and hearing fellow xenos getting creatively butchered by a single man, a Galactic Web wide investigation was launched out of morbid curiosity. While the twelve men were being culled like wild animals, the Galactic Web went down an endless rabbit hole. Even when the stream had gone silent, where the human who slaughtered the twelve men had ended his own stream with a honest smile, that night will be remembered and foretold. The killing of the twelve men became widespread news. All the context before the event became the forefront of controversy and brought about one of the fastest government responses the Galaxy has ever seen. Countless individuals were charged and arrested in one the largest busts ever in history. For Camille, he became a hot topic from how much the Xenos dug up from his past, and the sheer effort separate human governments had committed to ensure he didn't get sent to prison. When the facts were being reorganized, with the human being detained for a legal nightmare, the albino's history seemed too absurd to be true. Initially they only found the identity associated with Tiri Passy. A man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, former soldier of that country's army, famous for the mass butchering of several crime organizations and terrorist cells. He even personally executed criminals who tried to take advantage of the ensuing power vacuums. After some additional digging, it appears that his birth name was Louis Eure, but even then, confirming it completely was suspect. The issue remained where a massive time gap between Louis and Tiri made people come up with countless wild theories on what could possibly transpire in all those years. Those were the only names that they could find; Up until a certain Alien ambassador blew open the entire mystery by revealing Camille's history. He intended to send him to a supermax prison, and quell humanity's cultural influence with additional controversy. It was not one, nor two names. Camille had six more identities under him. Each one a campaign of inordinate exsanguination of common sense and borderline propaganda. All six names that could have been the hallmarks of any one individual's life story, were all attached to one man. It led to the extent that the twelve men who died were not even a drop of blood in comparison to the albino's monstrous record. In a public statement made by humanity's representative to the Galaxy, in regards to Camille, he remarked, "We recognize that the Galactic community seems split on handling Camille Saint-Exupéry's ultimate fate. We respectfully request for him to return to Earth, especially since Senator Tzeecheches had completely gone against our wishes and doxxed the man personally. Thankfully, that wasn't even half of his identities, so we can still salvage the situation. Again, if you have read the files, sending him to a supermax prison will only expedite a rapidly erupting issue. Remember, he is still in detention willingly." For a vocal portion of the Galactic public, Camille's actions were abhorrent, and understandable, yet also demonstrated the flaws of several legal systems if twelve repeat offenders broke into his home for the intention of forced sexual torment. Still, many supported his freedom, but their voices didn't match the intentions of the ones in power, nor the vocal minority. Many of the powerful individuals did not believe in the reports on Camille, even when the human governments sent them the files directly. Those who humored the documents sent by the Earthlings thought they could do better, and were going off of the fact he was only one individual. They ignored the red flags, even the live footage of him slaughtering twelve criminals; their own hubris had condemned the singular human. Thus, he was made an example of. His final judgement was a 360 Earth years sentence into the Augredes Supermax Prison, one of the largest prisons in the galaxy. Among widespread protests and public outcry, they all got limited by a disgusting amount of social media control. Of course, many individuals believed that was the end of it all. Days, weeks, months…nothing more had come out of it. Even the human governments who were vehemently defending Camille had gone quiet. Members high up in the Galactic governments believed they had won, even by a petty victory. Up until one of them decided to perform a surprise inspection to Augredes. To the inspector's dismay, Camille was not there. In fact, he hadn't even been inducted into the prison. In a fit of rage, the lizard alien stormed the Warden's office, "Warden Bisel, explain yourself!" The man in charge casually sat at his desk. Behind him was a covered painting. "Ah, it seems you just found out." The heavily-built crustacean-like alien passively reacted. The inspector slammed his hands against his desk. "Warden, explain why the fuck Camille isn't locked up in your prison." His teeth grinded heavily against each other in fury. "Because I exonerated him personally." The warden answered, causing the other man to get closer to his face. "Warden, you can't just do that. That man had a 360 year sentence. You have no authority to do that." The warden did not flinch. "Sir, allow me to state that my purpose in this prison is to secure, contain and protect all assets within the facility. All staff members and inmates are my responsibility. By allowing that man into my prison, is to break my oath and defy my duties." The other man slammed his fist against the desk. "But you have no authority!" The inspector raised his voice. "You are breaking the law by allowing that man to go free! Anyone else he puts into the ground is your responsibility!" The warden shook his head. "Authority this, authority that. You don't understand this prison's history then." The crustacean alien slowly stood up. "This prison had a warden who was quite an interesting individual. You wouldn't happen to know the name Alcee Litminer, correct?" The inspector's eyes widened. "You mean the Abyssal Emperor? Are you mad? Just saying his name is basically grounds for heresy!" The warden chuckled. "That only proves my point further. For you see, when that being served as a warden here, he enacted an oath on these lands. That individual was an extension of the abyss; he was a dominion unto himself. Where he tread became territory of his homeland. He performed the sacrament to exonerate a lost human taken from Earth long ago." He turned his back to the inspector. "I may not have the authority, but he did, and still does. He never lifted the oath, and now he's the Emperor to monsters beyond civilization. His will has more strength than our pesky mortal laws." The inspector remained deathly silent, until retorting, "That's…that's fucking bullshit, and you know it. The Emperor's throne is beyond the reaches of civilization. He wouldn't care enough to actually listen all the way out here. That thing is literally beyond the concepts of what reminds us of our mortality. And besides, enacting an oath like that is just reckless. Especially if it's to free one mere man." The warden laughed, "You think Alcee forgot about the concept of compassion? Guess again! There's nothing mere about that man! Far from it!" The warden revealed the painting he had covered. It depicted a singular scene, of a burning desert that had been glassed. Walking away from the hellscape was a large abomination of a creature; consisting of flesh and plant life that worked in harmony together. Chunks of his body were falling off at the seams and he bled profusely. Giving him a shoulder was a small, albino human with a shit-eating grin. Even though the painting demonstrated its age, the resemblance was uncanny. The inspector stared in awe before pointing a trembling finger at it. His mouth opened, yet he couldn't scream. He steadied his breathing, before weakly saying, "Mr. Bisel…explain. How…how is this possible? Is that battle what I think it is?" The crustacean did his version of an amused clap. "You see what I mean? The day that man appeared before me, he wore the same type of grin as the one in this painting. It was raw confidence, void of fear, he already knew what to do before he even stepped foot into my facility. All of the circumstances that led to this moment might be a wild coincidence. Who knows, maybe Camille is just a direct descendant of this man. Or maybe the man reincarnated. Who knows. I don't. After all, that specific ethnic cleansing was hundreds of years ago. Maybe the universe itself is playing a sick, mathematically impossible joke…however, I am not risking it. Considering everything, I took it as a sign of the abyss itself to bar him away from this facility. For the safety of everyone here…and you." The inspector trembled. "...What do you mean?" The warden sighed. "Are you serious? The fact you are standing here right now is proof that Camille decided to not pursue you, or any of the other people who gave him a 360 year sentence. Be glad he decided to continue his retirement." The lizard man dwelled on the Warden's words, then exhaled sharply, his stare darted away. He could no longer look him in the eyes. "I have nothing else to say. Have…have a wonderful day, Mr. Bisel." The inspector pulled out his cellphone, took a picture of the painting, turned, then began to calmly walk out. "Mr. Tzeecheches, I recommend that you leave that specific human alone. Even if he isn't the Emperor's closest companion, his capabilities are the real deal. I am saying that as a man who has seen his fair share of horrors. This is your last chance." The former ambassador nodded his head. "That's why I took a photo of that painting." After he had left and contacted his associates, that single picture had caused a ruckus in the upper echelons like a war had been waged. Everything had been researched, verified, double-checked, triple cross checked. The painting had been in the prison for hundreds of years as its own personal treasure. The fact Alcee was present for the planetary ethnic cleansing in the painting turned out to be true. As for his human companion, his existence was verified to be frighteningly factual. Even down to who he actually was, and when he got abducted from Earth. Vasco Criado, Portuguese harbor master; merchant; warlord. Estimated abduction year in accordance with the Earth calendar…1717. Ultimate fate, contested. In spite of that, he left his own mark in galactic history, however, it was associated with Alcee, not him. Vasco was concealed by the ones left alive to tell the tales. Those who decided to remember him only called him by a title, "The Albino Devil". Despite that, the Emperor of Unspeakable Horrors also shared that title. In fact, the interchangeability between the eldritch inhabitant and the human only elevated the mortal to greater heights if he could not be indistinguishable from them. Due to the state of affairs, in the worst case scenario, no one dared to tempt fate far surpassing the threat of death. Even the most hard headed politician understood not to mess with powers beyond mortal comprehension. In all levels of the chain of command, Camille was officially, and quietly, cleared of his sentence. He became untouchable. Afterwards, nothing more came out of an individual named Camille Saint-Exupéry. In fact, the man vanished without a trace. Out of curiosity, Tzeecheches decided to search for anyone named Vasco Criado. He ended up getting a match. Though there were no pictures of the specific individual, his art style gave him away. The albino ended up becoming the main artist for a series of comics based off of historical accounts of humans who were abducted by aliens in the past. Seemingly, the universe led Tzeecheches to the albino as he was working on the third tale; Vasco Criado, the Heart of Evil. Because his current name was the same as the historical figure, people from all walks of life poked fun at the artist for making a self-insert, a biography, and everything else in between. The artist only made one remark to the ungodly amount of memes, "You joke, but all of you are technically not wrong." He refused to elaborate and caused another part of the internet to burn down with their own theory crafting. Whether or not his comment was a joke, it mattered little. Tzeecheches took this event as a sign of his God and left the man alone, and did not inform his coworkers of his discovery. The human was left alone to his own devices, and officially ended his tale in peace.
[/r/100yearsago] [August 15th, 1920] 15-16 Aug. In the so-called "Miracle on the Vistula" Polish forces (with French help) rout the Red Army in the battle of Warsaw. Poland and Russia sign a peace treaty at Tartu in Estonia on 12 Oct. The westward march of Bolshevism has been checked (for the time b
"The Mayan Calendar, Sandy Hook, Peace Prize Obama: Your Entire Reality Has Been Scripted by The Manipulation Masters." Funnier if read in a William Shatner voice. Currently popular in, where else, /r/conspiracy. My army of Freemasons will destroy these fools.
Last Friday I finished a 9.5 month 7,500 mile hike. This trip was a test for myself to see how much I've actually changed and whether I was actually equanimous
I finished a Calendar Year Triple Crown last Friday. About 90 days to hike each the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide trails. I was writing about it today and reflecting on how "easy" it felt. Now to be clear this was an incredibly challenging year. Had to hike through the white mountains in NH and southern Maine when it was covered in feet of snow and ice, averaging 1 mile per hour for over 200 miles there. Faced extreme heat in California on the PCT with about two weeks where the daily temps topped out close to 110. And then more snow in Colorado on the CDT. For sure the most difficult hiking conditions I've ever faced. But the big difference this year over previous years is that the nature of discomfort completely changed. I sat my first 10 day Vipassana course in 2017 after I hiked the Appalachian Trail the first time. Since then I've diligently practiced and brought awareness and equanimity into every moment of life. This year when I was out in the cold, wet, tired, hungry I could feel those sensations and not attach any extra meaning to them. When it rained day after day on the AT I could simply walk through and feel that I'm wet but not suffer and wish that I was dry. When I ran low on food I could feel my hunger and feel the sensation and not suffer wishing that I had pizza or whatever else to eat. When I was tired I could simply feel tired and just walk slower rather than stress out about how I wasn't walking fast enough. The entire quality of my hike changed this year. Objectively the conditions were much more tough than anything I'd had to face before. To pull it off I had to basically hike every single day, with most days being 14-16 hour days and 30-40 miles. Went through all the normal pains of a hike. Had bad blisters on the PCT. Feet hurt everyday. Shoulders weighed down and squeezed by backpack straps. But the tone of it all was so dramatically different. With years of practice under my belt I could simply be aware of the sensations and see how they arise and pass away. In every difficult moment knowing that this was impermanent and would pass made it manageable. Just by focusing on the next step, making it to the next camp, to the next town, I was never overwhelmed with the enormity of having to walk across the country three times. This trip I really wanted to test the practice. I felt it was definitely changing and impacting my life... but could it be so powerful and impactful that it'd let you do something so crazy? And the answer is yes. Absolutely. The meditation practice truly can eliminate suffering from your life. This is what I wrote at the end of my post today and what prompted me to write this post. I am at peace. Not because I finished my CYTC. But I finished my CYTC because I am at peace. To end - the point of meditation isn't to go achieve crazy feats like this. But it's pretty cool to see the effects which can seem so minor in "normal life" play out in such dramatic ways. Truly the secret to all life resides within ourselves and our minds.
Original post:Escaping a hostile work environment, by the book. Posted on October 18, 2019 My story starts off as mundane as anybody’s: Five years into working for an enormous corporation, my group was “reorg’ed”. This particular reorg was, like most efforts, a half-baked idea ginned up by a suit in a corner office, questionably planned, poorly executed and terribly communicated. Nonetheless, I was sent from my old group to a brand new (to me) group managed by Jim. Jim seemed an okay fellow, with a dry sense of humor and a British accent that lulled me into thinking he was a decent guy. Working for Jim was … okay. He was never available and when we did meet maybe once a month he’d bark off a list of things for me to do, then say he had a conflict and had to go to another call. I was floundering a little, but felt I had a handle on things. During my first annual review via phone, Jim offered up vanilla platitudes about how things were going well, while I heard him distractedly typing away at IM’s from people pinging him. He paused when he got to my salary and hedged, a bit. “Ahhh… so I got you a small increase, I couldn’t get you much. To be frank, I’m not going to question how anyone arrives at their salary level, but you make way more than the other people on my team.” It was awkward, but not the first time I’ve had such a pointed salary discussion with a male manager. It’s never been a talking point with any of the women who managed me, and I wondered if he would have made those comments to me if I were a man. I’ve managed teams over the years and noticed the women on my teams seemed to make less than their male counterparts, so I get I’m an anomaly. But, I’m a high performer in a 25-year uninterrupted career, as I never chose to have children. I’ve worked hard for my salary and I’m proud of it. I could get hired elsewhere at this salary in my market easily given my experience, qualifications and certifications. Shortly after our review, Jim moved on to work with my primary group of business partners, leaving me with no manager, just a 2-up manager I’d never met or spoken to. And that’s when the shit hit the fan. Unbeknownst to me at the time, my salary was brought up in a discussion with his new team, the fine ladies who were managers of the teams I worked with in my business partner group. As it's been relayed to me, Jim didn’t blurt out the specific details of course, but when one of the women complained about something I'd done, Jim said he was surprised there were issues because I was the highest paid person on his (now former) team. He poisoned the well quite nicely for me. Going back through my emails I could pinpoint the date and time the remark was said, because the tone of EVERY SINGLE ONE of those managers changed as if on a dime. If I asked a question, I was berated because, “You’re our most senior analyst! You should know that!” Documentation that had sufficed before was suddenly “all wrong”. There were two particularly hostile culprits: Pat, who managed reporting on the systems we were migrating and her underling PM, Wanda. Pat came at me quick, fangs bared, with a demand that I put together a plan to get us to the next-generation of reporting which wasn’t due to be released until 2021. The 2021 plan Wanda, her PM had put together, looked like notes on a greasy cocktail napkin, so Pat decided that since I was the SME, I should do Wanda's work for her instead. Pat wanted a plan from today, in 2019 through to the date of release in May 2021. According to her it had to include ALL the tasks needed for delivery right from the start, which is not how planning works. I can’t predict the future, so my plans usually start out detailed in the near term, with increasingly wider swaths of more generalized tasks to be elaborated in detail as we get further along. This is an industry standard approach, and was never a problem, right up until it was. Pat started hounding me relentlessly to get this full plan done for her in 5 days, which would have been an impossible task under the best of circumstances. Nonetheless, I put together a 2000-line long plan, working evenings and over the weekend, because my arms had been in pain for several months from typing at my home office and I had to take frequent breaks from the pain. Note: I had been made a remote employee against my will, and when I was reorg'ed I started asking for a desk back at work. Jim always dismissed my request, saying there was “no space”, so I spent over $1500 on an ergonomic chair and desk for my home to make typing easier, but my arms still hurt anytime I sat at the keyboard for more than a half hour. I had to back-burner my more immediate, pressing work for upcoming releases in the next couple of months, because Pat told me I had to prioritize her work over everything else. I had no manager to help redirect my priorities back to my other work and when I tried to say it would have to wait until I finished my more pressing work, Pat sighed and bitterly said in front of a half-dozen people including Wanda, “So you’re our most SENIOR SME and you’re telling me you can’t do the work?” Pat then decided to up the ante by insisting I run every element of the plan I was creating FOR Wanda BY Wanda, a junior level PM who not only didn’t understand the systems we were using - I had to tell her how to create her own status reports - but wrote at a third grade level. Even subject/verb agreement is out of Wanda’s grasp. But she had a chip on her shoulder and now she believed she could tell me what to do and how to do it. It was like a teacup poodle trying to guide a Rottweiler. Wanda was immediately and clearly out of her element, and obviously so. As a result, every single time she was caught fucking up, she threw me right under the bus. She’d preemptively throw me under the bus too. Wanda’s only talent was deflecting blame and painting herself as the victim. I didn’t know what to do, I was having anxiety attacks. My heart would start racing to 145bpm on the couch at night when I started thinking about work. I was overwhelmed and my arms were killing me and then the unthinkable happened… My mom suddenly died. When I told the team, they were not only completely unsympathetic. They were pissed. I had to take a week of bereavement and this, too, pissed them off as I was leaving the day before the deadline Pat had given me to finish Wanda’s plan for the 2021 project. Instead of packing for the funeral or connecting with my family, I spent the 3 days before my leave working late nights trying to finish the plan. We met at 5PM the day before I was to go on leave, where Pat and Wanda ripped into my plan, and said they would work with another team member to fix all of my “mistakes” in the week I was gone. Finally free of the evil twins, I went on leave. And while on leave, my arms stopped hurting. After 6 weeks of physical therapy for my arm problems, just not typing for awhile helped immensely. I had two days left before I had to go back to the hellhole, and I was dreading it. When the heart palpitations started up again, I knew I couldn’t go back. At first, I decided I would just quit the day I was supposed to return. I didn’t want to even give them two weeks notice, I hated them so much. They had been so cruel about me taking bereavement leave. I wanted to fuck them over, good and proper. No two weeks notice meant I’d leave them hanging for their near-term releases that I’d not been allowed to finish up my work for, as well as for the 2021 plan. And if I burned a bridge or my reputation, so what? I’m nearing the age where people usually retire or have a major career change. I don’t need to keep that bridge any longer. I have saved up enough, and dammit my health was more important to me than these toxic people OR my paycheck. The night I decided to quit I went to sleep relieved and not anxious, for the first time in six months. I felt the anxiety leaving me, knowing I wouldn’t have to work with those people ever again. It felt like a solid plan. Then the next morning I woke up with a plan even more brilliant. It checked ALL my boxes: • I wouldn’t have to go back to work • I wouldn’t have to give two weeks notice, so they’d still be fucked • I would still get paid • AND I would be able to take care of my arms that had been in pain for so long! AND while I’m at it, manage the anxiety that had spiraled out of control because of my hostile coworkers My new and improved plan was simple: Take medical leave. I needed protected medical leave in the form of FMLA, which for those not in the US, provides up to 12 weeks of leave where my specific job role and salary must be protected and available to me upon my return. And because it was medical leave, I was automatically enrolled in Short Term Disability, for which my company will pay 100% of my salary for 8 weeks and then 65% of my salary for the remaining weeks I’m out. The best part of this plan is it fucks over all the people I want to fuck over AND IT’S ALL 100% LEGIT! I had been having problems keeping up at work because of all the doctors visits I had for my arms, physical therapy, regular therapy for my anxiety that had gotten out of control, and a psychiatrist. My health issues were eating into my workday, causing me to have to work early mornings, nights and weekends more than ever, and no doubt pissing off these people who thought I was making too much money to be deserving of any time off for doctor’s appointments. My team got a new manager after 6 weeks, coincidentally just the day before I was to come back from bereavement. I was sneakily logged onto work every day to catch his name and I stealthily dialed into the conference call where he was introduced to the team. My 2-up manager that I’ve never spoken to even said at the outset: “I think we have everyone on the bridge. Thisjobisgonnakillme won’t be here, she’s on bereavement.” I called up the administrators of our FMLA and Short Term Disability plans to file my claim. I got the forms and figured out which of my half-dozen doctors had to fill what out. My orthopedist signed me off for 12 weeks of absence straight away because she noted I’d been in pain since May so it would likely take awhile to heal. After talking with her, my PT and my psychiatrist, I will likely do physical therapy for 6 weeks and then enroll in a program for anxiety and stress management for the remaining 6 weeks before returning. All covered by my insurance and all FREE because I met my out of pocket maximum halfway through the year due to a hospital stay for a different medical issue. The night before I was due back, I sat there grinning while looking at the next morning’s 8:00AM calendar invite from Wanda. In her illiterate fashion she had written, “It is IMPOTANT all crucial partners makes every effort to attend this call!!” Like most of Wanda's obnoxiously illiterate declarations, it was a dig at me because I’d said in my last call with her and Pat that I might not be able to log on until 9AM on the day I returned from leave. I opened a new window and typed out to my new manager, “Dear Phil, I hate that this is our first introduction to each other, but while I was attending my mother’s funeral an ongoing medical issue resurfaced and I need to take medical leave immediately.” I went on to inform him I’d been hospitalized a couple months back and there were other issues that were preventing me from returning to work, and he could get the details from my prior manager Jim. Not that Jim paid a damn bit of attention to the emails I sent him detailing my doctor’s visits, etc. even as he had moved on from being my manager, because I still had to let him know about all my absences until I got a new manager. As things got worse at work, I became more clear in my details about my pain with typing getting worse, hoping it might make Jim realize the situation was getting worse, but he never listened. So here I sit on a beautiful fall Friday morning, getting paid 100% of my salary to write this. Jim wasn’t happy about my salary when I was working for him. I wonder how happy he is about my salary knowing I’m not having to work for it right now. When I return, I won’t be on the two projects with upcoming releases. One will have already released. The other will release less than 4 weeks after I come back. So they’re fucked on that. I wonder if they’ve figured out the test documents for November haven’t been signed off yet. I was supposed to finalize them for signoff, but Pat forced me to prioritize Wanda’s 2021 project over the November work, so the test documents are still sitting locally on my work desktop, untouched. I will also be returning with a requirement for “accommodations”, which I am now entitled to as I’ve learned I qualify for them under the ADA. No more telling me I have to work from home or hunch over a table in the breakroom if I want to be in the office. I’m working with an occupational therapist to draft up what those accommodations will be, but a height-adjustable desk, two large monitors, and a “distraction-free workspace” are the top line requirements. Meanwhile, my treatment plans include exercise, trail walks, both regular therapy and physical therapy, and a weekly massage as well! I’ve added in long visits to the library to read all the books I’ve been wanting to catch up on, and nice lunches a couple times a week to the mix. Several times throughout the day I’ll look at my watch while walking the trails with my dog, or just relaxing, and I smile broadly thinking about Pat and Wanda and Wanda’s “IMPOTANT” project plan for 2021. Wonder what poor sod they’ve roped in to help her finish it now. I still may just quit right after I return, or they can just fire me, I’d be indifferent about that. But at least this way I’ll have milked 12 more weeks of pay out of these assholes, while benefiting from all the free medical and emotional assistance my insurance plan can buy. They say living well is the best revenge, and I can’t think of a company or a group of people who deserve my pro revenge more. tl;dr: Asshole boss moves to new role, poisons the well with my business partners by telling them I was the highest paid person on his prior team. They set out to make my life so miserable I almost quit. I decide instead to fuck them over "by the book", taking a much-needed extended medical leave, leaving them hanging for their upcoming releases, all the while still collecting that "highest paid" salary for a good, long while. Update : Update: Escaping a hostile work environment, by the book Posted on Jan 8, 2020 I left one minor detail out of my first post: My mother was incredibly abusive and we hadn't spoken for 5 years. My "bereavement" leave was a week of chilling out trying to figure out what to do about work because I didn't even go to her funeral. No one at work knew this, my "official story" was I was grieving such a devastating loss, and that's what you'll read in the original post. I think that's enough to catch everyone up. Here's how everything's gone down since... First, the leave could not have come at a better time. The day I made my last post, my sweet cat Ray was "not himself". In fact, that's the last video I took of him. I took him to the emergency vet, where we found out he had lymphoma in his liver and pancreas. We had to let him go a couple of days later. There was no way I could have worked and grieved for him at the same time, and going on medical leave right after your cat dies is not nearly as socially acceptable as taking leave after your mom dies. Rest in peace, my sweet boy. I was spinning for a good couple of weeks after that. My arms still hurt a lot and I wasn't able to type for more than 20-30 minutes, and even that hurt. I continued physical therapy, and was frustrated at how slow the progress was. My therapist asked me to video myself typing at home. He took one look at it and saw the problem immediately: My desk and chair were fine, the horizontal and vertical parts of my workspace were fine. The problem was that my keyboard was too narrow so my arms were constantly at an angle which caused stress on all the joints. At his recommendation, I bought an ergonomic split keyboard and immediately noticed a difference. By the end of the year I was pain-free, although I still can't type for as long as I used to. Because my out-of-pocket maximum had been reached with my health insurance, I took the opportunity to get everything checked out "under the hood". I'm 48 so I had a colonoscopy & endoscopy (fun!); the doc says my "colon is perfect" so if I ever need a Tinder bio, I know what to lead with. I went to the dermatologist, gynecologist, every 'ologist' in the book and except for my shitty arms, I'm pretty healthy. I also went into an IOP (intensive outpatient program) for therapy the last six weeks of the year where I spent 3 hours, 3 days a week in group therapy with other people. I made some amazing and fascinating new friends, including a paramedic and firefighter both coping with PTSD, an Afghanistan veteran and several others. I also learned about "complex trauma" from childhood abuse, and came to realize that my anxiety, depression and ADHD were not necessarily three separate diagnoses, but instead were symptoms of "complex PTSD" (CPTSD) likely related to my mother's continual abuse and a few other traumatic childhood events. Because of IOP, I'm now working with a "trauma therapist" and left my general therapist. After decades of regular therapy barely helping, I have someone to work with to help me truly put my past in the past so I can heal emotionally. My mother's death and this leave was the best thing that could have happened for my physical and emotional health. When I made my last post, I resented the hell out of Jim, Pat and Wanda for being so cruel to me at work. I still don't like them, but I've moved past resentment and I'm now grateful for the situation, because their hostility was the catalyst that got me the treatment I've needed for years decades. My husband and I also met with our financial adviser who, after running the numbers, made it clear that for both of us, work should be considered as more of a "want to" thing than a "need to" activity. (Turns out dual-income, no kids and saving throughout my 25 year career was a good decision!) So I decided I don't "want to" work for this company anymore. My leave ended and I returned to work two days ago. As soon as I returned I sat down with my new manager and told him about Jim, Pat and Wanda. Of course, no one had filled him in on their behavior. I gave him some hard copies of emails documenting their stunts. He was shocked by that, but was not surprised when I ended my 5 minute summary with, "So unfortunately I'm going to have to resign." I handed over my letter with my two-weeks notice. He asked me if I truly wanted to work those two weeks and I said, "Not particularly, no, but I do want to get some things off my work computer so I need to get it back online." He agreed it would be a waste for me to try to really pick up anything. I jumped through the hoops of getting my computer online to get those docs. I blocked Jim, Pat and Wanda, along with three other people who were toxic but not QUITE as nasty as those three, as soon as I pulled up MS Communicator. I'm not attending any meetings. I have just one meeting on my calendar next week - the one where my new manager will announce my departure to the team. Meanwhile, I'm getting paid full salary for these two weeks as well, AND I'll get all my 2020 vacation days paid out when I leave! So, the final tally of just how much Jim's asshole move cost my company and benefited me:
1 week of bereavement leave at 100% of my salary
8 weeks of FMLA paid at 100% "
4 weeks of FMLA paid at 65% "
1.5 weeks of extended "certified medical leave" paid at 65% "
2 weeks of salary at 100%
4 weeks of PTO payout at 100% "
For a grand total of 20.5 weeks or 5 months of salary (at varying rates) for doing nothing but taking care of my own damn self. And I'm not including the thousands of dollars I didn't have to pay while getting checkups, medical procedures, physical therapy and group therapy as it was all covered by my company's medical insurance. I'm also not including what they all had to go through to put a new person on these releases, and all the stress I DIDN'T have because I didn't end up delivering on these projects. The weekend in November when my project was set to go live, I was in another town for an old friend's memorial, seeing people I hadn't seen in 20 years. I wouldn't have been able to attend if I hadn't gone on leave. I'm not going to reveal my salary, but I will say that the last several months have cost the company tens of thousands of dollars, for my salary alone. The other benefits I've reaped, on top of the salary, have been immeasurable. They say living well is the best revenge and it's true. Jim, Pat and Wanda are still their ugly-ass selves, chained to their desks, bitter and making sure everyone around them knows it. As for me, I'm free of the chains of a 9-5 job. I don't think I'm going to look for another job for quite some time and when I do it's going to have to be something I want to do, not something I need to do. Now I just need to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. TL;DR: Prior manager and business partners were assholes to me because they were jealous of my salary. I had a minor breakdown and took medical leave, grieved for the loss of my pet, the loss of an old friend, got healthier and got the therapy I really need to heal emotionally from some major shit in my life - all while still collecting that salary they were so jealous of.And now I'm leaving them behind to go fuck themselves while I figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life
Reminder - I'm not OOP and do not comment on the original posts.
[/r/100yearsago] [August 15th, 1920] 15-15 Aug. In the so-called "Miracle on the Vistula" Polish forces (with French help) rout the Red Army in the battle of Warsaw. Poland and Russia sign a peace treaty at Tartu in Estonia on 12 Oct. The westward march of Bolshevism has been checked (for the time b
[Lore Exploration] Explore, Systemic Summarize and Discuss SIGNALIS Lore
SIGNALIS is a nice game with rather deep Lore and interesting Plot for its size. Do have something wish to discuss with other members of the community and will try to make things systemic and tidy. I didn’t read all articles in the forum so there could be overlaps. Obviously I could be inaccurate or wrong as well. Feel free to comment or advise. [Note] Assuming all information provided in the game are “correct from the information provider perspective” and what we players have to do is interpretation. [Post History] 21-Nov-2022: Post created 22-Nov-2022: Update (In-game Concept of Time and Date and Calendar) 26-Nov-2022: Update (Miscellaneous and To-be-Categorized Items) 02-Dec-2022: Update (The Empire)
Introduction
Would like to discuss the Game at two levels: Lore and Plot. Lore covers the fundamentals, especially historical and cultural background that shaped the in-game world. For example, The Empire of Eusan and The Nation of Eusan are the two major powers of the in-game world and they have been in military conflict for a relatively long period of time. Plot (or the Story itself) covers what have happened or is happening to our characters and their surrounding and therefore making up the Story or play-through we are experiencing. For example, Ariane Yeong has been living together with her mother in a remote radio station for quite a few years. That’s part of the Plot. Of course Lore and Plot elements are intertwined and there could be crossing-overs during discussion. Given the fragmented information provided by the Game, either Lore or Plot elements discussed here represent personal interpretations. However, will still try to be a bit more serious and avoid putting in misleading stuff. The first major section “Lore” will consists of relatively well-established information that could be almost considered “in-game facts”. The second major section will be “Lore Discussion”, which will consists of more guess works and at the same time being more funny.
Lore
The In-game Solar System Let’s first list out things that are quite clear. The Empire of Eusan and The Nation of Eusan are the two major powers of the in-game world and they have been in military conflict for probably decades. The Empire probably has a rather long history and now The Nation has put a large portion of the in-game solar system under its control. The Nation is obviously trying to terminate The Empire’s rule or eventually cease The Empire from existing. However, the war is still ongoing and The Empire is fighting back brutally. The in-game solar system at least consists of six (6) inhabited planets and moons: Buyan: Closest to the Sun and where the Imperial Palace, probably The Empire’s Capital, is located. Currently under Imperial control and the Imperial Palace is still floating above poisonous clouds. Vineta: Earth-like planet of ocean, used to be the cradle of the in-game human race. Probably under The Nation’s control but was devastated due to brutal Imperial bombardment. Could be also under embargo enforced by Imperial Kitezh fleet. Kitezh: Mars-like planet seemingly consisting of major mining and industrial operation. Currently under Imperial control. Kitezh Imperial fleet engages The Nation’s military forces from time to time. Rot-Front: Icy moon of a Jupiter-like gas giant, seemingly a newly established inhabitable world still in the progress of climate-forming. Currently under The Nation’s control and is still in the process of climate-forming. A relatively young world. Heimat: Moon of a Saturn-like gas giant and home of The Nation’s government. Possibly the starting point of the Revolution against The Empire. Leng: Icy remote mining planet, a bit of a mystery. Currently under The Nation’s control. The Sierpinski mining facility is located here. Also, the World of Birth of Ariane Yeong… Real world references and corresponding in-game implications related to the 6 planets and moons… Buyan: A mysterious island in the ocean with the ability to appear and disappear with the tide described in Medieval Russian literatures. In legends, Buyan is the home of the solar goddesses who are servants or daughters of the solar god. Quite a fitting background considering Buyan in-game is the closest to the Sun, where the Imperial Palace and probably The Grand Empress are located. The Grand Empress of The Empire, through her overwhelming Bioresonance powers, is probably a god-like figure. The Sun Tarot (XIX) we discovered in Rot-Front in Chapter 3 of the Game is also associated to Buyan. Vineta: A mythical city said to be located at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. In legends, people of Vineta were described as having an excessive, voluptuous or blasphemous way of life. Vinetans ended up being punished in a flood that took the city to the bottom of the Baltic. Again quite a fitting background associated to the in-game fact that Vineta was bombarded by Imperial forces probably due to extensive development and application of Bioresonance and Replika technologies. Such a fact is also presented to the players via the Tower Tarot (XVI) associated to Vineta, whereas a tall building with Bioresonance insignia being stroke by lightening. May be the creation of Replika wielding Bioresonance powers is considered blasphemous after all…? Kitezh: A mythical under water city of Central Russia. Rot-Front: A settlement 60 kilometres east of Bishkek in the Chüy Region of Kyrgyzstan, near the border of Kazakhstan. Originally settled by Germans. Probably could be referred to as “Red-Front” as well. Heimat: A German word carrying the meaning of “home” or “homeland”. Does not have a proper English equivalent. Given its in-game role, the Revolution against The Empire could have started here. Leng: Not exactly sure if there is a place called Leng on Earth. On the other hand, Leng exists in H.P. Lovecraft’s world and the Game could be using it as a reference. And it matches well. “The Plateau of Leng” is a cold arid plateau whose location seems to vary entirely according to different accounts. In one setting, Leng is located “in the northern part of Dreamland”, a place could only be approached in dreams. In another setting, Leng is a plateau actually located on earth (in Lovecraft’s creations) whereas a group of monks live there to serve an ancient underground fungus and possible hive mind. The in-game setting seemingly merged the above two references. Leng also represents the Chinese word for “cold”, which is exactly what being described in-game and the planet is indeed covered in snow and ice. Bioresonance Bioresonance is a critical concept of SIGNALIS. Bioresonance is in the first place a powerful ability “gifted”to a small number of humans. Bioresonance could also be considered a phenomenon should it manifest and an important element forming and shaping the in-game world. In-game description on Bioresonance appeared mainly in a book banned in The Nation called “Song of the Gods” and a technology document describing the history and use of Bioresonance-related technologies. Fragmented information could also be identified in other in-game documents. According to “Song of the Gods”, all humans in the in-game world are somewhat connected but most humans do not notice. Such “unconscious” connection between all humans may manifest as “music” or “song” that all humans will dance to if heard. Most humans do not notice the “unconscious” connection and cannot hear the “music”. A few persons may hear and understand the “music”. Even fewer persons are capable of conducting the “music” and manipulate the very essence of the world. These “gifted” humans are Bioresonant persons. In plain texts, powerful Bioresonant persons may look into other person’s mind, influence other person’s thinking or decision making by whispering ideas or suggestions and even bending the will of others. Bioresonant person may directly interfere the physical world by means including control distant objects. Bioresonant persons may also communicate with each other utilizing the usually “unconscious” connection to exchange memories. Many in-game technologies including the fabrication of Replika are established utilizing Bioresonance. For more information and discussion please refer to “Lore Discussion - Bioresonance” (to be added in the future). In-game Technologies There are a few key in-game technologies worth introducing. These technologies shaped the in-game world and could also be important to better understand the Story. 1. Replika Fabrication Replika, simply speaking, are cyborgs or cyborg-like beings fabricated based on Bioresonance and other biomechanical technologies. The biomechatronic bodies of SIGNALIS Replika demonstrated similarities to cyborgs of other science fictions. The unique concept here is again Bioresonance. During Replika fabrication, a specific “neural pattern” will be “imbued” into their brains. There is so far no detailed in-game definition of neural pattern. Judging from other in-game hints, a neural pattern is probably a package consisting of neural circuitry designs, parameters allowing fine-tuning of neural cell functions and memories. All Replika are designed to carry out certain tasks or fulfil certain purposes. Instead of spending loads of time training “blank” Replika, it sounds rationale to “copy” the brain (i.e. neural pattern) of an existing human who excels at those certain tasks and “imbue” into newly fabricated Replika to achieve significant “congenital advantages”. The neural pattern copying or extracting process relies heavily on Bioresonance, which is considered mysterious even in-game. Nevertheless, neural pattern extraction and Replika fabrication successfully provided large quantity of skilled personnel and significantly boosted the productivity of in-game societies. For more information and discussion please refer to “Lore Discussion - Replika Fabrication” (to be added in the future). 2. Klimaforming “Klimaforming” could be considered an essential technology for transforming hostile planets or moons into habitable ones. Given that “klima” in English is climate, the technology could be considered at least capable of making the climate more suitable for humans to survive and may be even enables agriculture and animal husbandry. It is not very sure if klimaforming also involves the modification of other environmental elements such as making landscape more comfortable for humans and to secure soil and water needed for varies production activities. Again, klimaforming is possible thanks to Bioresonance but the details remain illusive. 3. Artificial Gravity Another wondrous technology made possible because of Bioresonance. Mechanisms are exactly clear. However, judging from the fact that Falke can be afloat or even fly and manipulate objects from distances, it should be not hard to image how convenient this technology could be especially if there are amplifiers. The Imperial Palace is floating above the toxic clouds on Buyan. We also sort of witnessed characters running inside Penrose-512 while it was travelling in the space (let’s hope it is not a bug). Anyway, artificial gravity should be considered one of the most important technologies employed by both The Empire and The Nation, especially considering the ongoing military conflict. 4. Bioresonant Replika Units This part of Lore could be both important yet illusive. Naturally, Bioresonance should be an ability “gifted” to a few humans. Yet, latest Replika developed and deployed by at least The Nation (i.e. Falke and Kolibri) are wielding Bioresonance powers thanks to their Bioresonance modules. The Falke Units wielding apparently very powerful Bioresonance abilities including floating around, shooting shock waves and manipulating objects, are considered the secrete weapon against The Empire. The Kolibri Units are probably less offensive but also serve as strong assistants. It is also worth mentioning that the reason why Vineta suffered brutal bombardment from The Empire could be the very extensive use of Bioresonance and the creation of Bioresonant Replika on the planet. Given that the origin of Bioresonant persons and their source of power are not clearly described in-game, it is also difficult to understand how The Nation (or may be The Empire as well) created Bioresonant Replika. The fact of Bioresonant Replika, however, suggested that at least some people are digging deeper into the Bioresonance mystery so “recreation” is becoming possible… In-game Concept of Time and Date and Calendar [Warning] This section might require further discussion and study on the Game and might got moved into “Lore Discussion” if eventually the evidences are not solid enough. This topic could be difficult. Given the more or less surreal nature of the Game, time during our play-through could be convoluted. On the other hand, a deeper understanding of the in-game time and date concept from a Lore perspective will for sure help us players to better decipher the Plot. One thing we have to keep in mind is that in the in-game solar system, humans are living on different planets or moons. The concept of "a days on Earth" obviously cannot be simply applied to all worlds. This is also why the Game used "cycles", probably a standardized unit to describe and calculate time. According to Ariane’s note on Penrose-512 before things went wrong, a cycles is slightly shorter than “a day on Vineta”. Given Vineta is rather similar to real world Earth, an in-game cycle could be more or less considered a “slightly shorter day”. Other in-game file also suggested that days and months are still being used on Vineta. On the other hand, Seasons, Periods and Cycles are seemingly being used on planets and moons including Rot-Front and Leng. Talking about time and date, let’s start by using objective in-game references… 1. Rot-Front Medical Records The medical records find on Rot-Front is an important source of information. First, the PKZ numbers (probably German style citizen number) give away character information including their Date of Birth on the world they were born. Using Rebecca Liang as an example, her PKZ number “LNGRBCC-V-500106” is actually made up by her name in abbreviation (LNGRECC), her world of birth (V for Vineta) and her DoB (500106, could be something like YY-MM-DD so year of 50, month of 01 and day of 06). Upon moving to Rot-Front, her new DoB using Rot-Front date and time system became “8S 12P b”. Another character Roswita Fong has Vineta DoB of “350202”, while her Rot-Front DoB is “-6S 20P a”. According to other in-game files, date and time on Rot-Front is probably presented as “Season (S) - Period (P) - Cycle (could be represented by both numbers and English characters)”. Assuming Vineta calendar is in “YY-MM-DD” format and Rot-Front calendar is in “Season-Period-Cycle (SPC)” format, we can then try to compare Rebecca’s “500106 / 8S 12P b” to Roswita’s “350202 / -6S 20P a”. Assuming in-game humans tried to make life easier and made Season on Rot-Front more or less a Year on Vineta… Rebecca v.s. Roswita using Vineta calendar: 50 (Year) v.s. 35 (Year) = a difference of 15 Years Rebecca v.s. Roswita using Rot-Front calendar: 8S (Season) v.s. -6S (Season) = a difference of 14 Seasons Quite similar? Let’s test a bit more… Itou Sisters are both of “560524 (Vineta)” and “14S 52P c (Rot-Front)”. Rebecca v.s. Itou Sisters using Vineta calendar: 50 (Year) v.s. 56 (Year) = a difference of 6 Years Rebecca v.s. Itou Sisters using Rot-Front calendar: 8S (Season) v.s. 14S (Season) = a difference of 6 Seasons Again quite similar. May be we can actually assume a Rot-Front Season is more or less a Vineta Year. This calendar information could be rather important for us to understand the actual in-game event timeline. For example, Rebecca Liang is the only person appeared in the People’s Army 5th Vineta Infantry Division Unit 12 photos yet also made her way to Rot-Front. If her Rot-Front DoB is at the Season of 8, then Ariane’s Rot-Front DoB at the Season of 18 (18 S 6P a) could be reflecting the fact that Ariane is 10 Seasons or 10 Years younger than Rebecca. Such information may help us to address the issue “what is the time gap between 5th Division photo and Penrose-512 launching”. This will be further discussed in “Lore Discussion - In-game Calendar System”, as well as Plot discussion. 2. Leng Sierpinski Mining Facility Diary and Forms Leng calendar has the format of, using Adler diary as an example, “81-21-6”. In-game files on Leng also used "Cycle". Without additional information, we may still assume 81 being some equivalent of Year or Season and 21 being Period and 6 being Cycle. The Year or Season of 81 in Adler diary implied that the in-game events probably “started” to take place at 81. If 81 is indeed an equivalent to Year or Season, it also suggested that the history of Leng is rather long and the planet was inhabited by humans many years before Rot-Front. Some may ask why there are young people being born on Vineta at the Year of 50. This could be a result of Vineta being captured by The Nation’s forces and the calendar got reset. [Warning] The following are really discussion and will be moved to “Lore Discussion” later. Another thing worth mentioning is Ariane’s DoB. Her Leng format DoB is 5921D. Considering Ariane graduated from Mandelbrot Polytechnical High School on Rot-Front calendar date 34.59c, she could be around 16 years old when Penrose-512 was launched. Things started to went wrong after around 2500 cycles since the launching of Penrose-512 (i.e. 5~6 years after launching with Arinae being 21~22 years old and time on Leng being 59+22=81…), it could be reasonable to assume Leng calendar is similar or equivalent to SPC. The Empire There is no direct in-game description on the establishment of The Empire. The Empire is an older regime compared to The Nation. The Empire probably also ruled the entire solar system or most planets and moons once upon a time. Important know facts or hints related to The Empire are as follow… 1. A Bioresonant Empress The Grand Empress, probably the solo and absolute ruling figure of The Empire, is someone who can conduct the “Song of the Gods” and manipulate the essences of the world. In other words, The Empress is an overwhelmingly powerful Bioresonant person. Besides of piercing people’s mind and bending people’s will, The Empress is probably the first person who “imbued life into machines”. In other word, The Empress could be considered the founder of Replika technology. The Empress also in some way “raised the people of The Empire to the stars”. Such a grand but also ambiguous statement could represent multiple things. Could this be the starting point of long range space flight allowing humans to finally leave the solar system? Or, could this be tapping into the cosmos via more “spiritual” means? In anyway case, The Empress could have brought to her subjects unification and synchronization never witnessed in history through Bioresonance, no matter willingly or not… There are more important question: Did The Grand Empress actually founded The Empire? Is she, or was she, the first Bioresonant Ruler? Speculation regarding The Empress does not end here and the Game provided quite a few hints. Please refer to “Lore Discussion - Legacy of The Empire”. 2. The Origin of Replika Technology The Empress for the first time imbued life into machines, as described by in-game document. Such an event could have marked the begin of “The Era of Replika Fabrication”. With “machines-servants carrying the weights of The Empire on their carbon-steel backs”, one could imagine the development of humanity might have accelerated tremendously in multiple directions under The Empress’ rule. One thing worth studying is the potential differences between The Empire’s machine-servants and The Nation’s Replika. The Game did not describe directly. Judging from in-game documents, however, “machine-servants” and “Replika” could be different in some way but are still sharing key similarities. The similarity could be the way of fabricating machine-servants or Replika. Probably both factions are utilizing methods based on the neural pattern extraction and imbuing principle. The key difference could be their purpose. The Empire’s machine-servants could be really “servants” responsible for more basic yet labour-intensive tasks. On the other hand, The Nation’s Replika are seemingly more socialized. Given the lack of solid evidence, please refer to “Lore Discussion - Replika Fabrication” for more speculation. 3. Technological Revolution Vineta (a.k.a. in-game “Earth”) is being described as “The Cradle of Humanity”. In other words, Vineta should be the origin of human civilization in the in-game solar system. The Imperial Palace, on the other hand, has been floating above the poisonous clouds of Buyan for probably many years. As described by AEON document on Bioresonance, advanced technologies like Artificial Gravity and Klimaforming relies on Bioresoance technology as a foundation. It is therefore quite reasonable to consider the invention and subsequent widespread application of Bioresonance technology the starting point of a technology revolution. Artificial gravity probably allowed the Imperial Palace to be constructed and remain afloat. Klimaforming probably played an important role in transforming Kitezh and a few other planets and moons into places inhabitable for humans. Combined use of these technologies should have also allowed The Empire to build her interplanetary space forces. These technologies, most if not all of them, are also being used and further developed by The Nation. 4. Strong Military Forces The war between The Empire and The Nation is not only brutal but also long lasting. The military forces of The Empire should be powerful and massive, considering all the technological advancement made. The Nation is probably utilizing all means at her disposal to terminate The Empire’s rule, especially the powerful yet dangerous Bioresonance Replika units. However, the war is not concluding and “strategic peace negotiation” is needed from time to time. After The Nation captured at least part of Vineta, The Empire struck back brutally at some point. The Empire’s Kitezh fleet also staged an embargo, preventing The Nation from sending reinforcements to Vineta. Such a situation suggested that despite all the efforts, The Nation is still less capable in comparison to The Empire in areas like space warfare involving massive fleets. 5. Art and Culture Art and culture could be quite a “difference” between The Empire and The Nation. Again the Game is not directly describing this, but there are hints. The Nation is obviously not an advocator of art. Judging from the comments on Ariane from her Replika teacher back to Rot-Front, painting and music are regarded as nonsense. Of course, such a negative attitude could be due to the fact that Ariane was studying in a “Polytechnical” school and the fact that The Nation is at war. Will talk about this more in later sections concerning The Nation. While The Nation is apparently deprived of art to some extend, The Empire seemingly enjoys different forms of art including painting and dancing with some musics to boot. Ariane’s life style of “obsessed with painting”, not sure if it is merely an exaggeration from her teacher’s perspective, is probably a result of Imperial culture influence. The banned Imperial Serials, given the facts that they are Ariane’s favourites and Ariane hates technology manuals and propaganda movies, should be describing art and cultural activities and related deeds of The Empire. Another fun fact is the cover art of those Imperial Serials. The only chance for players to look at the cover is during the short trip to the desolated radio station on Rot-Front. The radio station of interest, which is operated by Ariane’s mother, was the “home” where Ariane grown up. The cover of the Imperial Serials featured a woman-like figure with long dark or brown hair. The distinctive characteristic is the ring of aura around the woman’s head. Such ring of aura usually represents divinity in real world and are often associated to religious figures in both East and West civilizations. In the Game, this kind of aura has been associated to Bioresonant persons and their powers for several times. Could that figure on the Imperial Serials actually The Empress? Possible but speculations will be discussed further in “Lore Discussion - Bioresonance”. Miscellaneous and To-be-Categorized Items The Game is full of details and many of them could be important from either Lore or Plot perspective. Yet, these details could be so easily forgotten or overlooked if we do not pay enough attention or jot them down. Besides, some of these details could be hard to categorize when we first discover them. So, we have this section. 1. Insignia of Bioresonance The insignia consists of three diamond-shaped objects placed in a way representing an upside down isosceles triangle. No in-game information directly pointed towards this as the insignia of Bioresonance. However, where the insignia appeared clearly suggested that it is representing Bioresonance…
On the forehead of Falke Units
On the forehead of Kolibri Units
On the forehead of Vineta born Replika technician (now retired) Roswita Fong
On the cover of in-game Lore material “Bioresonance Technology and its Limitation”
On the cover of in-game Lore material “Song of Gods”
On the Tower Tarot (XVI) which also represents Vineta
On the cover of in-game Lore material and item manual “REM 64 Radio”…
May be the insignia also appeared in other places but the above-mentioned should be sufficient to support the conclusion. By confirming the meaning of this insignia, several hints leading to other Lore or Plot elements are revealed to the players… Legacy of The Empire: For some reason, The Empire and The Nation are using very similar if not the same insignia to represent Bioresonance (Song of Gods is probably banned due to its Imperial Origin). Given that Bioresonance originated in The Empire, it could be considered that despite terrible military conflict, The Nation is not trying to abandoned all legacy of The Empire but instead repackage some of them…or, something are just too difficult to simply forget? Identification of Bioresonant Persons and Replika: As least for The Nation, Bioresonant persons and Replika are clearly “labelled”. Could this be some kind of identification and for what purpose? For us players, we could used the insignia to identify Bioresonant persons and Replika and try to find out any important Plot elements (Roswita Fong is probably the human origin of Kolibri Units). Imperial Bombardment of Vineta: The Tower Tarot (XVI) representing Vineta demonstrated strong coherent with the fact that Vineta was bombarded by The Empire. On the Tower Tarot, the “Tower” with Bioresonance insignia, which probably is the central Neural Archive on Vineta mentioned in-game, was struck by lightening from the sky. The event was described in the long cutscene during the fake out ending, as well as items (e.g. the Key of Sacrifice). The bombardment event is clearly important from both Lore and Plot perspective. The Tower Tarot is probably suggesting that Vineta got bombarded so hard by The Empire because of the central Neural Archive but why? Another line of evidence is the many upside down triangles also described on the Tower Tarot. Such a pattern is by far only observed on the body armour of Falke Units (indeed this could be a weaker link). Taken together, considering the ongoing military conflict between the two factions and the importance of Bioresonance and Replika technologies, it makes sense for The Empire to assault and destroy probably the largest known Bioresonance and Replika facility under The Nation’s control. Especially, considering The Nation is mass producing their secrete weapons a.k.a. Falke Units together with the also dangerous Kolibri Units, The Empire has more than enough reason to bombard Vineta. To be continued...
Triple exponentially. without being forced to watch the markets all day, without day trading, without high frequency trading, without scalping, without inside knowledge Despite all the hype, these are just like a stressful job which chains forex street calendar to theputer screen. Line sale usa regulations jdm what is money making it differs from binary option seconds. Some of the same ... Billige Louis Vuitton Belts Fouriers auf Ausbildner benannt denn zu erkennen geben, dass man etwas zu tun gedenkt außerdem Fragen ausserhalb rein nichts als bloß Dunkelheit, Frontprint, in bezug auf es in diesem Chose i. d. r. viel kleiner teuer ist Farb-Tinte.Coach Outlet Verkauf welcher Behandlung abgeschlossen ist, besch"aftigt einen feuern Datenfluss je Ihr Muskelgewebe zu Engagement ... O Triple Exponential Suavização é melhor no manuseio de tendências da parábola. Uma média móvel ponderada exponencialmente com uma constante de suavização a. Corresponde aproximadamente a uma média móvel simples de comprimento (isto é, período) n, onde a e n estão relacionados por: a 2 (n1) OR n (2 - a) a. Assim, por exemplo, uma média móvel ponderada exponencialmente com uma ... Forexindo price action indicators / Alpari Forex peace army calendar; Sk trader; Prospreads MT4 Forex; Best holiday home investment 2020 oscar / Tube invest; Edge / Forex triple b reviews; Best binary options indicator MT4 bias / Abe cofnas binary options pdf merge; Gestionnaire de fonds Forex charts / Binary option trading 2020 presidential candidates ; Binary option pricing spreadsheet ... Iq option payment / Binomo; Forex robot dracula ii; Binary option robot deutsch connectors / Optionbit binary trading; New york life investment management reviews; Invest in iranian oil minister 2020; Interactive brokers Forex margin policy / Forex trading south africa trainings; Donde invertir en Forex en mexico / Binary options apple ; Venture capital investment types in india / Objectives ... Win strategy p, technical and solutions open a leading strategy reddit anyone using graphs and he one of its current forex calendar technical analysis prices move in binary when one day ago.<br />EBay Motors. Up with video websites related. Torchlight 2 and Grim Dawn wee the weathr as Diablo 3 locks them outPC GamerРІР‚s list from earlier this year showcases some of the best. Create Ie ... 9780791467220 0791467228 Triple Takes on Curricular Worlds, Mary Aswell Doll, Delease Wear, Martha L Whitaker 9781567930139 1567930131 The Health Care Executive's Job Search - Tyler's Guide to Success, J. Larry Tyler 9781741013849 1741013844 Effective Provision for Able and Talented Children, J. B. Teare 9780809325641 0809325640 No Peace without Freedom - Race and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, 1915 ... 9780582098954 0582098955 Look ahead 1 - NTSC Vhs Video Part B, Andy Hopkins , Jocelyn Potter 9785553699567 5553699568 Hollywood Dinosaur Chronicles 9780538679602 0538679603 Corel off 7 Suite Win95 Txt/DD, Newberry, Skintik 9781566407335 1566407338 Toulouse-Lautrec A ... Forex Triple B Автор стратегии Forex Triple B - Владимир Рыбаков. Создатель торговой системы - практик с 11-летним опытом торговли на ры... Hello Friends, Today we'r sharing the most sought after book i.e English By Hari Mohan Prasad. Hope you like it, if you do pleas. Hari Mohan Prasad is the author of Objective English For Competitive Examinations (3.96 avg rating, 222 ratings, 20 reviews), Objective English for Compe. Mar 12, 2017 – Our brother subreddit! – […]
Check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/teded View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-don-t-perpetual-motion-machines-ever-work-netta-sch... Ever wonder how you may be able to pay off your #mortgage within 5-7 years (depending on your situation) without adding a single penny to your payment and no... Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. Prestige Thiès et Prestige Senegal est désireux de rendre accessible au grand public via sa plateforme internet www.prestigethies.com tout type de contenu mu... ClairefontaineTV - Chaîne officielle Clairefontaine www.clairefontaine.com Stray Kids(스트레이 키즈) "별생각(TMT)" Video Stray Kids SPECIAL ALBUM "Clé 2 : Yellow Wood" iTunes & Apple Music: https://apple.co/2KpEEvN Spotify: https ... We believe in the power of empathy for human good. The day when Ronaldinho Gaucho substituted for Brazil & changed the game against Algeria (22/08/2007) Credits: https://www.youtube.com/user/Vinicius7icomps/ Gerardo Lopez grew up in gang territory in Los Angeles, California and was just 14 years old when he joined MS-13, the notorious Salvadorian gang. Why did he... [with subtitles in English, French and Spanish] "...it sure is a hell of a lot easier to just be first." "Sell it all. Today." - Margin Call is a 2011 Americ...
![[/100yearsago] [August 15th, 1920] 15-16 Aug. In the so-called](https://external-preview.redd.it/3PcDpYVj4p8gi8rBU1tWgg8INgtxZzjMciLA_vtu7hM.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=db368e4ffa04cf6185bac3f0ffe8d61cb60eda57 "[/100yearsago] [August 15th, 1920] 15-16 Aug. In the so-called")
![[/100yearsago] [August 15th, 1920] 15-15 Aug. In the so-called](https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/tqp4ZwhEKhxNFf6Eeaq_m9eN8N9HHb68csoCz7WD7vU.jpg "[/100yearsago] [August 15th, 1920] 15-15 Aug. In the so-called")
