Docket

• Pokedoku Special (SirToastyToes made a guest puzzle)
• Balatro
• Abiotic Factor

Twitch VOD
Post your favorite clips in the comments pls

9-minute read.

France welcomes the latest round of negotiations between foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Kazakhstan

FM Mirzoyan said the negotiations in Kazakhstan were held in a constructive environment and referred to the statement made after the meeting.
PARIS: France stresses the importance of both sides confirming their commitment to the Almaty Protocol of 1991 and to mutual recognition of each other’s territorial integrity as the core of this process, following the quadripartite meeting in Prague on 7 October 2022.
France calls to continue the delimitation of the border on the basis of the principles agreed in the declaration of April 19, 2024, and as an extension of the first demarcation work carried out on the ground. At the same time, it calls for continuing discussions with a view to signing a peace treaty between the two countries.
France welcomes the initiative of the Kazakh authorities to facilitate the holding of these talks.
France continues to work together with its partners to establish just and solid peace in the South Caucasus in accordance with international law. //
source, source, source, source,

OSCE: Reaching stable and comprehensive peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains a priority for us

OSCE Chair-in-Office Ian Borg visited Armenia on Monday.
BORG: The only way to ensure comprehensive and stable peace is through diplomacy. The steps made towards border delimitation between Armenia and Azerbaijan are the actions needed to reach peace. //
Pashinyan and Borg discussed the AM-OSCE cooperation and the peace talks.
BORG: The OSCE is committed to supporting stable peace, solving all conflicts in the OSCE area, and applying the organization’s mandate to ensure regional peace and stability. //
source, source,

opposition activists detained and released after briefly shutting down several streets in Yerevan

Last week the protest organizers, led by Archbishop Bagrat and MPs representing pro-Russian parties, called for strikes and road closures on Monday. They demand PM Pashinyan's resignation. The opposition parties have not yet disclosed when they plan to launch the impeachment process in the parliament. They likely have the minimum number of MPs to launch the impeachment but they'd still need dozens of ruling party MPs to join them for the motion to succeed, which is unlikely.
On Monday over 170 people were detained and released after blocking roads, including with the use of trash cans and hay. A red beret pushed a journalist out of his way while running up the stairs, sending him to the ground. Another journalist fainted during a clash between police and protesters. In the morning, Yandex Maps showed the traffic congestion in Yerevan at Level 5 on a scale of 1-10, a "usual workday".
In one instance, an angry driver got out of his car and pushed the trash can out of the street, while other cars proceeded to drive through the sparse group of protesters. Video.
ARF MP Garnik Danielyan, a co-organizer of the protest, engaged in a dispute with a driver. The angry driver told the MP to go "siktir", while the MP called him "chatlax". Video.
One protester suggested catching and "putting down" police officers one by one while they are alone, "because they feel good in large numbers." Video.
A psychotic incident was recorded between a protester and a bystandedriver who was presumably trying to open the road. The protester hit the man and called him "Nikol's trash". The police intervened to push the protesters out of the road.
During an encounter between a protester and one resident, the protester asked the latter if he was a Christian:
PROTESTER: Քրիստոնյա՞ ես
RESIDENT: Հա
PROTESTER: Հա ու համփ արա [suck my dick]
The resident pushes the protester, and the protester spits on him. Several people got off the buses and urged the protesters to leave or to "go protect the borders" instead. The red berets arrived within minutes and removed the trash cans and the small number of protesters from the road. video, video, video,
While the ARF has long been viewed as the voice of diaspora, other movements have emerged to challenge its dominance. The Armenian Movement of France has organized a change.org petition that calls to encourage Armenia's independence and Euro-Atlantic integration, to keep the church and state separate, and not take any destabilizing actions.
KHURSHUDYAN: They [ARF and protest organizers] are attempting to convince the diaspora to join them by influencing various organizations like the Lemkin Institute. It is strange that the Lemkin Institute released a statement accusing PM Pashinyan's Genocide statement of containing "victim blaming" only now, during these protests, several weeks after Pashinyan made that statement. It took a lot of effort for these forces to lobby and create the impression that the diaspora as a whole is on their side. //
The BEVER (Sasna Tsrer) party leaders said they are cooperating with the pro-Russian former regime parties but only on the issues of removing Pashinyan and stopping the border delimitation process.
BEVER (Ara Papyan): If Pashinyan resigns now and pro-Russian forces win the elections democratically, it will be the population's fault, not ours. // video
As you know from Sunday news digest, the pro-Russian forces and a group of ex-diplomats led by Kocharyan's Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian, are against using the 1991 Almaty declaration as the basis for delimitation. Foreign Minister Mirzoyan was asked to comment on Monday.
MIRZOYAN: The Deputy PMs of Armenia and Azerbaijan, who are in charge of border commissions, have come to an agreement to launch the delimitation process taking into account the 1991 Almaty Declaration. This was welcomed by numerous states and international organizations. The foreign diplomats you mentioned are deserters who fled their duties while Armenia was under physical attack in 2021. I can no longer treat them seriously. That is the most civil language I can use toward them. In reality, by torpedoing the Almaty Declaration and the peace process based on Almaty, these ex-diplomats continue to torpedo the sovereignty, statehood, and territorial integrity of Armenia. In the best-case scenario, they do this without understanding, and in the worst-case scenario, they are following the orders of a foreign state. I don't have further comments. //
Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan said they will not hold daily meetings at Republic Square anymore, and that smaller gatherings will be held near the St. Anna church every evening to wrap up the day and discuss future plans. Yesterday Arman Babajanyan revealed a meeting between church officials. On Monday, Archbishop Galstanyan confirmed that he indeed met Catholicos on Sunday. Galstanyan was asked whether he plans to "transfer" the "leadership" of the movement to political parties. He said he is open to that idea: "Թող գան, վերցնեն, ով ցանկանում է:"
source, source, source, source, source, source, source, source, source, source, source, source, source,

Executive Vice President of the European Commission for Economic Affairs, the EU Trade Commissioner, will visit Armenia this week

Valdis Dombrovskis will meet Armenian and EBRD officials and take part in an annual meeting of the EBRD Board of Governors.
source, source,

PM Pashinyan is in Denmark for the "Copenhagen Democracy Summit"

Nikol Pashinyan will take part in the discussion on “From the frontline: Armenia’s defense of democracy.”
source,

Armenia will bring its consumer protection legislation in line with European standards

The head of Armenia's Competition Protection Commission visited Poland to participate in ICPEN (International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network).
They spoke about unfair business practices and how to combat them, online taxi service regulations, online casinos, discounting policies used by businesses, etc.
GEVORGYAN: Armenia is going through an important phase in terms of protecting the interests of consumers. Discussions are underway to align Armenia's consumer protection legislation with EU standards. It is necessary to use digital technologies and train skilled experts in this field.
source,

Russia begins withdrawing border agents near the border village Nerkin Hand: residents

The villagers noticed that the Russian soldiers were no longer observing the traffic from the observation post and that they were packing some of their stuff.
source, source,

anti-corruption: Patrol Police officer is charged with accepting a bribe from a driver

INTERIOR MINISTRY: In early March, two officers pulled over an Indian driver on Kievyan St. One of the officers demanded a ֏20,000 bribe to ignore the fact that the vehicle didn't pass a tech inspection. They negotiated it down to ֏7,000. The officer was charged with felony bribery. He confessed. The case is in court. //
source,

Yerevan Mayor Avinyan had a lightbulb moment

The city has purchased 6,000 LED lights producing 4000K white light. Mayor Avinyan instructed the department to install them only on roads and to purchase weaker 3000K bulbs for condo backyards in order not to disrupt sleep.
Last month the city replaced 8.6 kilometers of cables. The Mother Armenia statue and the Opera building will have new գեղարվեստական lighting.
source, source, video,

Yerevan implements GIS (geographic information system) to collect data from various sources and make targeted decisions based on visualized data: VIDEO

MAYOR AVINYAN: The Municipality and all the district offices are switching to a new management style with the introduction of GIS. Every department will join it, phase by phase. We are talking about digital maps which we must learn to use. This is going to significantly simplify some of the work done by departments.
OFFICIAL: This is part of the digitization strategy. This unified GIS platform will collect information from the cadastre, transport, Active Citizen app, utility services, construction, etc., and make them accessible in one place. The visual data allow us to carry out analysis and make fact-based decisions.
For example, we created a cadastre GIS by using a satellite image as the base layer, then integrated it with the cadastre database. This map shows in detail the boundaries of properties, the purpose and status of each land plot, etc.
Another example is a map of air pollution, prior records, and analytical tools.
The GIS map for the Active Citizen app allows us to see the submissions and the completed work, their locations on the map, and how well the city responds to issues reported by citizens. You can filter the issues by category. For example, you can show only the reports about illegal dumping, click on the report and see the image shared by the citizen, then click to see the status and the outcome of city's response. The tools allow you to analyze the data and the performance rate.
Another map shows the 3D image of the city with its buildings and green areas. Here we can calculate the capacity of bus stops, etc. Drones can be used to create a very detailed digital 3D copy of specific buildings.
You can click on a land plot and it'll pull up the ownership information, the permit records, etc.
Connecting two dots shows you the altitude differences and other data that you can use, for example, during the installation of irrigation pipes.
This is less than 1% of its potential. We plan to train employees next week.
MAYOR AVINYAN: We should make some of this data public, like the air quality map or certain maps that did not require financial resources to create [քձիբ խոզ]. This is a revolutionary change in the municipality. We need to speed up the work with the use of digital tools.
video,

Yerevan begins planting hundreds of adult "high-value" trees and thousands of bushes near the new promenade/park around the Yerevanyan Lake: VIDEO

video,

Central Bank chief was invited to Parliament to discuss economy and expenditures

MP: Regarding CB's report on the efficiency of service vehicles used by state agencies. The state buildings scheduled to receive solar panels should also be equipped with EV chargers so the service vehicles can use the energy generated by the panels. I requested information from Yerevan Municipality about the service vehicle expenditures and it shows that EVs are not only cheaper because of electricity, but also because they are overall more affordable to maintain. We are talking about large savings.
CB CHIEF: Our estimates show that EVs are 2x-3x more affordable compared to combustion engine vehicles, even if we factor in all the adjacent expenses. In Yerevan, we have [state] buildings with solar panels on roofs but [connecting them to EV chargers in the parking lot] will be very difficult because these are old and sometimes "historical" buildings. They also have problems with air conditioning, plumbing, etc. At the same time, we are trying to implement this solar panel project in the newer buildings, for example, in Dilijan, where we have EV chargers for service vehicles in the parking lots.
video,

Central Bank chief spoke about the deflation in Q1

RULING MP: It is great for our residents' pockets that the prices have fallen but what is its effect on the economy and exports? What is the best inflation rate to maintain a "balance"?
CB CHIEF: During the discussions with our colleagues from IMF, regarding regional and global events, we agreed that countries develop when the inflation is low and manageable. It encourages investments. In this regard, the overall microeconomic stability and the fiscal policy of Armenia create a very good environment for this predictability. This is one of our "cards" in our relations with foreign entities.
During each CB session, we discuss several market and inflation scenarios. Under one scenario there is a risk of inflation becoming too high, while under other scenarios it could remain low. We are trying to find the most balanced option and thank God we have been able to continuously lower the [refinancing] rates, which helps the state. //
Ըստ զեկուցողիդրամավարկային քաղաքականության ծրագրում ներկայացվող սցենարների համաձայն 2024 թվականի կարճաժամկետ հորիզոնում գնաճը կպահպանվի նպատակային ցուցանիշից ցածր մակարդակում` տարեվերջին այն կկազմի 1,3%-1,5%:
video, source,

Central Bank chief spoke about the refinancing rate, the rate at which the state borrows from banks, copper prices, etc.

video,

how did the family of Ilham Aliyev's security chief obtain so many properties in the United Kingdom?

Offshore companies owned by Eyyubov’s wife and daughter spent $114 million on real estate in the United Kingdom. The family, including Eyyubov himself, also own over $46 million in properties in Dubai.

OCCRP report,

growing concerns in Abkhazia that Putin might have secretly "sold" them to Georgia as a confederation in exchange for Georgia's neutrality between West and Russia

video,

Maybe this information came to me in a vision or maybe a little bird told me or maybe I’m making it all up. That’s for you to decide.
The current wars going on in Europe and the middle east are going to lead to nuclear war. This is all by design.
Putin and the Russian oligarchy have always been the same and have not suddenly changed in recent years, yet at one time they were accepted as partners with the west.
What changed was the wests attitude to Putin and the oligarchs. a) Because Russia now needs to exist as the enemy based on how many nukes it has. Rather than the previous position, where b) it was too dangerous to alienate Russia so it had to be brought into partnership because of the amount of nukes it had.
One of these positions makes rational sense and the other, current one, does not. At least it makes no rational sense to people who don’t have full information as to why this 180 has occurred between the USA and Russia. I’ll get into this later. It has nothing to do with BRICS. Thats a misdirection.
The pandemic was the precursor to this escalation in global conflicts because the pandemic solidified for the first time a coordinated global response, in the modern era, to a global crisis. This was in effect a beta test. Of how the global population could be controlled in every country at the same time.
I won’t go into the many other conspiracy theories surrounding covid or vaccines because when one huge event is designed it is never designed for only one purpose. The huge events always have multiple purposes and are planned years in advance giving all stakeholders every opportunity to factor in other benefits they can derive from such events. Including the more benign aspects such as manipulation of the stock market.
During the 2016 election H Clinton repeatedly threatened that no option was off the table, up to and including nuclear war, in response to alleged Russian hacking.
At this point it was beyond obvious that nuclear was had already been a designated goal and Russia due to its massive nuclear stockpile, was the only country capable of participating in mutually assured destruction (MAD). Because you don't threaten nuclear war over hacking. Especially when China does even more hacking and obviously the other “allies” hack each-other too.
This is the primary reason Trump got elected. His anti war stance. This then led to the relentless smear of being a Russian asset. Again proving beyond any doubt that Russia is the designated partner in nuclear war.
The real reason there was so much objection to Trump from the political/media establishment was because Trump due to his ignorance of plans, was delaying the trajectory to nuclear war. Meaning there has been an urgency to keep things on track. Meaning nuclear war is time sensitive. It has to happen by a specific date or it will be too late. It also means the reason for nuclear war did not exist at the end of the cold war. Because there would have been no reason to make stop the cold war, if nuclear war was always the plan.
Something has been discovered that has lead nuclear war to being a solution to an even bigger crisis. What possible crisis could be bigger than all out nuclear war? And what possible crisis could MAD help solve??? Solve being a relative term. Meaning billions of people die and most of the earth is too contaminated for people to inhabit. Yet this is better than an even worse alternative disaster. Ill explain this further on.
In a conspiracy this large only a core group can know about the true reasons we have been set on the road to Armageddon. But i mentioned BRICS earlier and will explain first why that is not the true reason.
The dollar is pegged to oil and deindustrialisation and the push to zero carbon (essentially an impossible goal but something for the masses to believe in) will massively decrease oil consumption and production. Saudi Arabia is already throwing all its oil money into a massive white elephant, infrastructure project, called “the line” which nobody will end up living in because it’s in the middle of the desert, in a country with Sharia law.
The line is designed for the Saudis post oil future. If one of the main oil producers is quitting oil then the petro dollar is on the way out regardless of BRICS. Plus this is only one of the reasons the petro dollar is on its way out but one of the biggest reasons obviously. The massive money printing operation and devaluation of the currency is another major reason.
Again, many, probably even most of the players involved in this trajectory do not actually know the true reasons we are heading to a very predictable nuclear war with Russia. The politicians are all bought and paid for and the people doing the buying and just another layer of the onion. So in the end very few people really know what the real reason for all this is but multiple other semi plausible reasons have to be shilled on websites like this, in order to make people believe its about economics or some other relatively trivial reason because if you think rationally nuclear war is a reasonable response for economic reasons or “hacking” then you bought the propaganda.
What else is coinciding with the trajectory to nuclear war? Its getting hotter and hotter. Except its not being caused by people. The best way to calm people down about global warming is to blame them for the warming.
This way everyone can believe that its potentially manageable if we stop driving or flying or using plastics and “stay in doors most of the time”. Which was a hall mark of the pandemic. To stay inside.
We already know because it’s been mentioned that it will happen. That the next series of lockdowns will be climate lockdowns. Again covid had to give people a psychological fear conditioning to stay inside. Now everyone has experienced that negative feedback conditioning it will be easy to reactivate it for other pandemics or climate change, especially if extra fears are added.
The sun cannot be managed and it’s obviously beyond human control. This blatantly obvious fact can’t be talked about if the sun is getting hotter. Instead we have been lied to that the climate change is down to mankind. Something we do have control over is our own behaviour.
Except everyone in the western world is being blamed for using petrochemicals when we were all born and indoctrinated into a civilisation we are forced to participate in but do not control. So for the powers that be to shift blame onto a population they control, for using chemicals they promoted and conditioned us all to use and never gave us viable alternatives, is obviously nonsensical.
Again, we have to conditioned to believe global heating is our fault. When as I’ve pointed out, even if it was down to carbon emissions, it still would not be the fault of the average person, who had been born onto this civilisation.
But the main reason we have to believe its our fault is so that we can also believe “science” can solve it. It cant. We cant stop the sun being the sun.
Nuclear war will kill most people and destroy most of the planet but it will lead to global cooling. It will leave the southern hemisphere largely untouched. This is why NEW ZELAND has been the designated safe zone for the billionaire class.
Without nuclear war, the entire planet becomes uninhabitable. Nuclear war thereby is the lesser of two evils.

food in anime is... weird
whenever it's on screen, a tremendous amount of focus in animation and detail is put into making it look as delicious and savory as possible, and in general if your anime doesn't make food look tasty enough to plaster on a restaurant menu, then the people will be disappointed and call it low effort. this obsession in the anime industry actually originates from this show named Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na... erm... this one, which had such terrible looking cabbages they were ridiculed for it and ever since anime as an industry has vowed to never make food look that stupid ever again
and yet funnily enough, despite this seeming obsession with food, it is very rarely used to convey meaning in stories that aren't expressly about cooking. The closest many shows get to having meaning in their food is to use the always hungry anime character trope, where one such character, usually the protagonist, and especially if it's the protagonist of a Shonen battle series, will have a bottomless pit of a stomach and appetite, and loves eating to an almost obsessive degree.
I often view this as a representation of ambition. These characters dream big and always being hungry for more. Never being satisfied enough to not eat more is a great, if basic, representation of their personality. From my understanding in anime history, this particular trope was popularized by goku, and was as a result, present in many other series that started soon after dragonball exploded. 2 of the biggest and most famous examples of characters inheriting this trait are luffy from one piece and naruto from... wait i forgot the name of the show
Using these 2 examples, I think that one show naruto is from is a fair bit worse at incorporating meaning into its food than one piece, and I wanna talk about what the difference is.
in "that show", food is almost never really used to convey anything thematically or inform a character's personality. it feels like naruto only likes to eat a lot because he's the protagonist and that's what's expected of him. Why is choji pudgy? is it anything about his character? no, it's just because he eats choppers rumble balls as a super power and so the auther went "he swallows pills to get strong so he swallow everything else too."
one piece by contrast I feel does a lot more than either dragonball or naruto with food. luffy's cannonical ability to eat as much as he does is explained by his stomach being made of rubber and capable of expanding as he eats, and food directly works it's way into the power system for him, as many of luffy's gear techniques require huge amounts of energy and body fuel and leave him incredibly fatigued. on whole cake island he looks like this after just a single day of intensive combat with no snacking. And this is taking place on aan entire island made of cake and deserts you can eat, a place where it litterally rains syrup instead of water. This is an act of protest to sanji, as sanji is attempting to leave the crew and luffy told him to his face that he would starve to death on purpose unless his next meal was made by sanji. it's an important plot point and character moment for the 2 of them. sanji is a cook and a major part of his backstory involves him being stranded on the ocean with no food and starving for months, only being rescued within an inch of his life. This experience greatly informs his character, being willing to serve anybody who is hungry, even if its his enemy and it would be in his best intrests not to, like when he served don krieg and his pirates knowing full well as soon as they finished eating they would have the body stregnth to follow their plan and slaughter everybody at baratie and steal the ship, which is the major conflict of that arc. he puts several lives in danger, and condemned some to death because to him feeding somebody who is experiencing starvation is more important.
I jokingly called chojis pills the chopper rumble balls, but they really similar, even including massive side effects after eating 3 of them. however the meaning they have to the characters are quite different. choji just happened to be born in a family that uses them, and knows eating the third one means death (even though it really doesnt) and thats his only personal connection to the pill. by contrast, chopper invented his rumble balls himself using his medicinal knowledge as a doctor, and only discovered the third one is dangerous by accidentally eating 3, causing him to lose concious control of his body and turning him into a monster that attacks indescriminately. he's fearful of the third ball not because he'll die, but because he's afraid of what he'll become and afraid he'll hurt innocent bystanders, which is counter to his entire role and character as a doctor
this is not to shit on "whats that shows name", but to say that Food is clearly an important thing to oda, the author of one piece, as it plays a vital role in multiple staw hats personalities, and informs the decisions and situations the characters find themselves participating in, in a show that on the surface has nothing to do with food. it is a testimate to how you can use food to convey meaning and character in your world
but while food is meaningful and important in one piece, it's downright SACRED to golden kamuy. whereas one piece has food a comonplace staple and uses it to convey meaning once ever 20 episodes or so, or ocasionally throughout an entire food based arc like baratie or whole cake island, golden kamuy uses food to convey themes, messaging, character backstories and decisions, power dynamics, violence, connecting characters, foreshadowing major plot points, detecting lies, and more, and it does this on an episodic basis. there are SCARCELY few episodes of golden kamuy with no food or mentions and discussions of food. it is the very lifeblood of the show. it is such a big facet of the show that golden kamuy is often jokingly referred to by its community as a cooking show, and it puts more meaning and care into the food it's characters eat than many actual cooking anime.
food is the most universal languages in the entire world, and a fact of life is that everbody needs to eat. we may not see eye to eye, we may not eat the same thing, but we all eat. what we eat and why can tell us a lot about people, about our cultures and beliefs. islamic and jewish people don't eat pork, and hindu don't eat beef due to their religious beliefs. vegans care for animals and don't feel that they can personally participate in the consumption of living things. vegans that also try to make their dog or cats vegan are animal abusers who just do it to feel superior to others. what you eat can say a lot about where you're from. american cuisine looks far different than russian or scottish cuisine, which looks far different than african cuisine. ox penis is something ocasinally eaten in china, and pufferfish in japan. whale skin and blubber were eaten by the various inuit people, along with most every other part of the whale, due to availability. the land we live on can dictate what we eat in a very real way. most places with strong cultural beliefs against eating certain foods have a lot more variety in edible resources than other places. many hindu people refuse to eat beef or are straight vegetarians, and they mostly live in places where other types of food are easy to come by. by contrast, you would be hard pressed to find a vegetarian inuit, simply because that's not sustainable where they live, and their beliefs reflect that. cultures that historically had less food available to them are strongly abhorrent to letting any part of their food go to waste, and many indigenous people historically see using as much as humanly possible from the animals you hunt as a necessary part of honoring and thanking that animal, and not letting anything go to waste.
food is the most universal language, and it might just be the most meaningful one as well. offering someone food as a form of thanks is a lot more meaningful than just saying thanks for example. it's a way we connect to people, and is why most first dates are at restaurants. it's even a language that can transcend species. we train animals by offering food as rewards, and pets are often most attached to the person who feeds them. food is one of the most important aspects of who we are as people, and nobody writing fiction seems to understand this more satoru noda, the creator of golden kamuy... him and ryoko kui, the creator of dungeon meshi, but as much as I love that manga thats not what today's video is about.
I'll be focusing on the anime in this video, so meals that only happen in the manga or that happen after the current point the anime is at will not be talked about here. Truth be told, I don't really know where this script is going as I'm writing it, I just want to talk about many of the various ways that golden kamuy uses food, because I think it's something a lot of shows can learn from.
food is first brought up or used in golden kamuy as early as... oh would you look at that the very first line in the entire show! golden kamuy starts off in a flashack during the russo-japanese war on 208 meter hill. the very first interaction with any character in the series is sugimoto in the trenches eating an ant off his finger and commenting it tastes sour. he then comments that he would eat the russians he kills if thats what it took to survive. this establishes in only a few seconds that the living conditions in the trench are terrible, people are hungry, and that sugimoto is a survivalist, but didn't consider desertion, instead of you know... canibalism. this is all before the charge up the hill, before we learn he's a monster in close quarters and is nicknamed sugimoto the immortal. that's a LOT of information given in just a couple lines using an ant. we know sugimoto proably wasn't seroius about eating people, but are almost given the impression throughout the scene that if push came to shove he would do it. sugimoto is a person who does whatever it takes to survive. this is one of his most central character traits and is conveyed using food in a matter of seconds within the start of the show.
soon ashirpa is introduced, a young ainu hunter and joins sugimoto as they begin a quest to... uh... skin people for the purposes of making a treasure map... look golen kamuy is a weird show okay?
ashirpa and sugimoto are the 2 primary leads of the show, and neither of them are particularly familar with the cultures of the other, but they grow closer and bond over the course of the show and learn about each others lives and backgrounds. this is shown throughout the show by the meals they eat. when they kill a bear that was hunting them in episode 1, ashirpa comments that although the ainu to hunt and eat bears, she can't eat the bear they killed, as eating a wenkamuy: a bear that's eaten people before, is against her people's beliefs. so it's not until episode 2 that the pair share the first meals on their journey. they make chitatap, an ainu dish of raw meat that is meant to be made only using fresh kills, and ashirpa offers sugimoto the brains of the squirrel they hunted raw on a spoon as a snack for him to try. sugimoto is naturally at first repullsed by the idea, but after being preassured by ashirpa and not wanting to offend her he eats it, and reluctantly admits it's good. It's not clear in this scene whether he actually thinks it's good or if he's placating ashirpa, but it's definetely clear he still finds at least the concept of eating a brain gross. he also eats the chitatap and likes it, but believes it would taste even better by adding miso to it, and this time it's ashirpa who looks upon in disgust as she see's an unfamiliar japanese paste she insist's must be poop is willingly added to his portion of the meal. she even refuses to try it upon being presented with some, denying the same courtosey that sugimoto showed by eating brains just earlier. this is changed by their meal in meal a few episodes later when she tries miso at the insistence of both sugimoto and their new traveling companion shiraishi, and much like sugimoto admits it's good, even if it still visualy repulses her. from this point on, the characters share and mix both of their cultures into the food they eat and slowly become more used, accepting, and eventually enjoying each others cuisine, something shown with some hilarious screenshots. this mirrors of course their growing trust in each other. we don't need to be told that these 3 characters are closer when we can see it visually by sugimoto passionately sucking on a giant eyeball, or drunkenly babybirding shiraishi chewed dumpling, or ashirpa developing an obsessoin with miso and also wanting to try dried persimons because sutimotos favorite food and... fuck im getting emotional thinking about that scene again. I talked about it more extensively in my anti-war video on golden kamuy, so go watch that. but its so clear and disturbingly beautiful how much these characters have grown to care for each other by viewing their eating habits.
chitatap, the first meal they properly shared, becomes used repetedly throughout the show as a way to meet new people and intermingle characters, because it'a a dish meant to be prepared by everyone eating it together by taking turns chopping the meat, and we get to learn about every character by how they interact with the process of making chitatap, such as hijikata being cool with using his historial treasure of a katana, one of the few relics of his samurai days, to chop up raw meat because because a little kid thougt it would be cool and fun, or how ogata thinks he's too cool for school to chant chitatap while he cuts like everyone else, but the second time they make the meal he says it once just loud enough for ashirpa to hear.
meals have also been used to foreshadow events in golden kamuy, like when kioranke's betrayal is foreshadowed in this meal immitating the final supper. kioranke is in the seat and position judas in, and yes those are human corpses that have been turned into mannequins at the dinnertable, why do you ask?
on the topic of kiorankes betralal, after sugimoto is shot in the head and believed by ashirpa and half the characters to be dead, the fun joyous meals stop temporarily in the show. ashirpa is still eating and still enjoying hunting and trying new food, she's still ashirpa, but for the first couple of meals, the animals the capture reportedly don't taste good, such as this seal thing and musk deer. the only meal we were told as good was a snack made by someone else and eaten off screen. it's only after kioranke tells ashirpa that musk deer was her father's first kill and she finds a new purpose in the journey to learn more about her father and the karafuto indiginous that she begins to eat good food again.
food can be a tool in storytelling to display dynamics between characters. this is often in shown as a differentiating factor between the wealthy and poor, such as in the hunger games, but that's not the only dynamic that can be shown through this. to use lt tsurumi as an example, his second major scene where we learn about him as a character is a conversation with sugimoto after sugimoto has been captured by the 7th division. during this scene, sugimoto is handcuffed and sitting straight in his chair with 2 armed gurads while tsurumi casually questions him while eating dango on a stick, offering nothing for the captive to eat, representing a power dynamic showing which of them is in charge. tsurumi eats the dango throughout the scene, and the way he eats it is somehow offputting, and animated in such a way where you know there is something about him that just isn't right. I never thought eating dango could be intimidating, but here we are. I am terrified of this man. sugimoto does actually get to interact with the dango in this scene too, so we can contrasst it with how tsurumi did it to learn something... how did sugimoto get to interact with the dango again?
oh right, he gets STABBED THROUGH BOTH CHEECKS BY THE DANGO STICK by tsurumi as soon as he declines he gets caught in a lie. it's clear at this moment that the niceties and fun in games are over. tsurumi caught sugimoto in a lie about his identity, and the gloves are off.
food can also be used to show a sickness of the mind. ogata, who could be the topic of a whole nother video, has a hatred of monkfish stew. this is one of the only emotinal connections he has been shown to have food, and was born from his parents. ogata is the son of a high ranking military official and a geisha. ashamed of the mothers side of the family, the father forced them to leave and never make contact again while ogata was still a young child. over time, his mother lost her mind and began to only make monkfish stew to eat. it was his fathers favorite meal, and in her sickened mind she convinced herself that if she made it than one day the father would come back. she made it day after day after day. ogata picked up shooting and would kill ducks and birds to bring to his mother so he could eat something else and she would still only make monkfish stew. one day he put rat poison in the stew and killed his mother. ogata isn't right in the head either, he's a psychopath. he didn't kill his mother out of hatred of her food, but out of simple curiorsity to see if his father would care to show up at the funeral. he didn't.
monkfish stew here is used in golden kamuy as a representation of stagnation of the mind. denial that things will never go back to the way they were for the mother. it represents an insanity, doing the same thing over and over without change in hopes for a different outcome.

Curious about your opinion 😊
Concept and Creation of the Devil Fruit
We know that Dr. Vegapunk embarked on a project to synthesize a Devil Fruit that emulated the properties of a Logia-type but failed. Given Crocodile’s extended duration as a Warlord, Vegapunk had considerable opportunity to study and experiment with Crocodile's lineage factor. In my story his original aim was to recreate Suna Suna no Mi abilities outright, in parallele of his ongoing efforts to replicate a Zoan-type fruit using Kaido's traits.
However, directly replicating a Logia proved to be exceedingly complex. In the meantime the creation of an artificial Zoan-type was in a better direction which shifted Vegapunk’s approach. Encouraged by the early success, he theorized that integrating King's Lunarian lineage factors could enable the emulation of Logia-like abilities within a more stable Zoan framework.
This innovative approach aimed to merge the robust physical traits of Lunarians—such as their durability, flight and fire manipulation—with sand manipulation capabilities, forming a hybrid Zoan-type fruit. This strategy sought to bypass some of the inherent difficulties of creating a true Logia by instead producing a Zoan-type fruit that could exhibit similar elemental manipulations through the properties of Lunarian physiology.
Reasons for Being Considered a Failure
Despite the innovative approach, the project was labeled a partial failure due to several unforeseen complications and the perfectionnist streak of Vegapunk :
Instability of Sand Body: The fruit allows the user to transform their body into sand, but this aspect is highly unstable, not providing the consistent intangibility typically seen in Logia users. This instability could lead to vulnerability during combat. Permanent Lunarian Form and Incomplete Transformation: Users permanently remain in their Lunarian form, unable to revert to their original human form. Furthermore, the gigantification aspect of Lunarians was not fully replicated, making the transformation incomplete.
Summary of Powers and Synergies
I) Lunarian Physiology:
Durability: The inherent toughness of Lunarians provides resilience when the sand transformation is unstable. Flight and Fire: The user can ignite themselves and has flight capabilities through Lunarian-like wings. In addition to high speed. Wing Utilization: Wings shed sharp, heat-resistant feathers used as projectiles or to create defensive whirlwinds. They also enhance mobility and assist in controlling sand and fire during combat.
II) Heat-Fused Glass Production and Metal Casting:
Sand + fire = glass which is thematically great since glass is at the same time a natural and man-made element… kinda like this fruit! Glass Creation: Users can instantly turn sand into glass, forming weapons, barriers, or intricate traps. Metal Manipulation: Utilizing heat from sandstorms to reshape metal objects on the battlefield requires careful temperature control to avoid damaging the structures. Defensive and Strategic Uses: Glass domes can protect allies or trap enemies, and large glass structures can alter the battlefield landscape. Utility Functions: Glass is used for making optical tools like lenses and prisms, containers for transporting sensitive substances, and for construction purposes.It could be use for spying, observations but also trading.
III) Illusion Power:
Mirage Creation: Strategic heating of air to create realistic mirages, used for deception and camouflage. Refractive Illusions: Complex glass structures refract light to create visual illusions, aiding in stealth and psychological warfare. Environmental Camouflage: The natural color and texture of sand allow the user to blend seamlessly into sandy environments.
IV) Adaptation of Crocodile's Techniques:
Desert Spada & Desert Girasole: Adaptations might not extend as smoothly or be as precise, but the integration of Lunarian fire could enhance these techniques by adding thermal damage or creating localized, heated sand traps. Barján & Sables: Generalized dehydration effects and controlled sandstorms might be less targeted but can significantly impact the terrain and enemy mobility. Ground Secco: Attempts to dry out large areas may be smaller in scale but intensified by Lunarian heat traits.
V) Additional Superheated Sand Moves:
Flaming Sand Constructs: Combining fire and sand to create combustible sand sculptures that can be used offensively. Heat Insulation and Fire Extinguishing: Utilizing sand to protect against and extinguish fires, creating safe zones for allies during combat. Combustible Sand Manipulations : The sand itself could be imbued with flammable properties or mixed with flammable substances that the user can ignite at will: Traps and Mines: The user could lay down patches of combustible sand that can be ignited to explode or burst into flames when an enemy steps on or disturbs it.
Challenges and Limitations Vulnerability to Vibrations and Temperature Sensitivity: Glass structures are susceptible to breaking under certain conditions, which could pose risks in battle. Metal Casting Precision: Requires a high degree of knowledge about metal properties and careful handling to avoid errors during the heat-intensive casting process.
These powers and their applications demonstrate the Devil Fruit’s potential to create a highly versatile and formidable fighter, capable of adapting to various combat scenarios and environmental challenges. More detailed descriptions of these powers and their tactical implementations can be provided in additional comments as needed.😊
Evolution into Seraphim and the Role of User’s Will
Development Leading to Seraphim: Insights from this fruit’s development and its limitations informed the subsequent perfection seen in the Seraphim models, which corrected many of the initial shortcomings, particularly in terms of stability and predictability. Importance of User's Will: Unlike Seraphim, who miss a personal resonanc due to lack of real sense of self for now, the human user of this fruit possesses a will that synergizes with the fruit’s which allow his “activation”. It would not have been possible for pacifiste hence the green blood and why it was considered a failure !

Hi, I'm looking for "new-wave" multiplayer games like Lethal Company and Content Warning.
I've played almost to all the major coop games I would say, whether it's Divinity 2, even checked out Palworld.
I'm looking for if any there's anything new out there, underground. Some games that have captured the energy for me:

• Lethal Company
• Content Warning
• GTFO
• Barotrauma (Friends can't commit to learning)
• Phasmophobia
• Gunfire Reborn
• The Outlast Trials
• 7 Days to Die
• Abiotic Factor (Major plug for this game if you are looking for something new and underground that scratched that itch. It's a co-op game that's sort of like Project Zomboid mixed with Half Life and Rust and is a whole new theme - can spend hours playing).

Are there any other new-wave unadulterated multiplayer fun games?

WARNING FOR LORE/SPOILERS. Reposting with better title.
As most people know, Dottore (then Zandik) was expelled from the Akademiya prior to his recruitment into the Fatui. However, because of the way that the Wise Doctor's Pinion was translated by the English localization team, I don't think most people realize just how young he probably was.
In the original CN text, Dottore is referred to as "少年", which in CN means teenage boy. While there's not an exact definition of what ages that encompasses, it's typically considered 10-16 years old, or 12-18 years old. But the literal translation of the characters is "young" & "years".
The Wise Doctor's Pinion also ends by describing how Dottore was sought out and recruited by Pierro.

但是…
「很好。那么，我们就是同伴了。」
「至于对你的称呼，这样如何——」
因为惊诧，因为给他的名号实在是太过讽刺，少年不禁放声大笑起来。
However...
"Good. Then, we are now in partnership."
"As for the matter of your title — what do you say to this..."
Taken completely by surprise by the sheer irony of the title he was given, the young man (少年) burst into hysterical laughter.

So, AT THE TIME OF HIS RECRUITMENT, he was still a teenager.
We don't know how long he was wandering around the desert, how long he'd been studying at the Akademiya, or what age he was when he was driven out of his village, but this does help contextualize the timeline and asserts the fact that all this happened before he was even grown.
I think this is important because it paints a picture of who and what Dottore/Zandik was, even at that age, and also how he was treated.
Given the fact that he was already a Trainee Dastur (something equivalent to a candidate PhD student), he must have been extremely gifted and intelligent even compared to the other students at the Akademiya. It also might help explain the mentality of the people who hated him; regardless of whether or not he was highly dangerous at this point, the high-level folks of the Akademiya probably feared him because of how quickly he was advancing in rank and how much more intelligent he was than them. This made him a risk factor and a threat to their seats of power. Several people, myself included, have surmised that Sohreh's death MAY have been part of a set-up meant to incriminate Zandik so he could be expelled, and this would tie into that theory.
This also goes to show what kind of relationship Dottore might have with Pierro/the Fatui in general. Dottore was young, impressionable, and clearly craving some form of acceptance and recognition. Pierro freely offered that, gave him a home, and allowed him to use his brilliance in a meaningful way. While Dottore might think he's just a part of the Fatui because it is easy and convenient and he gets funding for his experiments, it's likely his feelings are much more complicated than that, regardless of whether he realizes it. And depending on how Hoyoverse plans on spinning his story, you could probably argue that little Zandik was groomed into his role as the now-fully fledged Doctor (regardless of Pierro's intentions and goals). Living in the Fatui environment, it probably had a major impact on his development and how he sees the world. Or, maybe he really is immune to that kind of influence... But I truly doubt that, or Hoyoverse wouldn't have had any reason to specify that he was a child.
Since the CN and JP versions both make this clear, it is a real shame that the English localization didn't pick that up and tell that story... But at least I can share this now.
TDLR; Dottore was described as "少年" (boy; teenager) at the time of his recruitment into the Fatui in both the CN and JP versions, which complicates his relationship with the Akademiya and the Fatui.

I need to hold a 5 min presentation about the abiotic factors at the mudflats (wad in Dutch) at Schiermonnikoog. I wil be presenting to highschool seniors. I am struggling to find comprehensive in formation. And I would like to do some interaction with the group as wel with the mudflats as we will be standing in the mudflats during the presentation. But I am clueless what to do.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
If it is against the rules plz remove.

Continuing on Party Roll

​
The entire crew in real life are back together, so it was mostly RP last episode.
Sarn finally wakes up and instantly goes into debate mode with the party. Morals, loyalty and trust are the main debate factors, but before we turn to in-fighting, we come upon the none moving Sandcrawler. Things are silent and there isn't anyone around....however there is a glow coming from the front of the crawler. When we go to investigate it, we find before us a long haired man, humming to himself. It's Otto! (Reborn) Seems the gods deemed him unworthy, so they brought him up to their plane, trained him and sent him back as a man. Is he Jesus Christ?! Anyways, the King's guards come out and start pointing spears at us. Seems like they've gone through it these last couple of days. Thankfully, we have Krimbim with us and a gentle explanation is all that's needed to enter. When we get inside we instantly go see the King and tell him what's up. This is where it gets funky. See.... Krimbim is working on getting the crawler working again, meanwhile, the party is having their sidebar with the King, yet we don't have a plan after that. Do we try and head back and stop Sir Onn'd with Alabaster? What if Alabaster CAN bring down the wall? Are there more sinister ulterior motives at hand? Each of these question need to be debated, but time is not on our side. We don't know if we have been followed and it's on good belief that the baddies have a general idea of their location...
​
​
​
Party Roll to beat 19
Mark 17 Matt Nat 20!!! Jose 16 Cory 4 Dusty Nat 1 Vanessa 7
Matt parties with himself. Technically he steamed himself on twitch, so the drinking didn't make him feel totally alone and weird. He ends up crying in the shower.
​
Back to the story
​
​
We jump ahead a few days. The Sandcrawler is fixed, we have AC again, the King is in a better mood.
Sarn takes the few days to atune to the staff we've been carrying around all this time.
The sandcrawler seems to be getting on, albeit a little slower. We've taken a wider path and heading away from the city, that way we hope, to go undetected. Unexpected to us, we come across what looks like to be a pop-up farm. Now for some reason, the King wants us to talk to these guys to warn them about current events. Basically our King wants us to bribe them into not telling anyone who may be passing by about our whereabouts. The King slings us some money and tells our party to give them a floppy excuse; so, CHOP CHOP.
We head towards this farmland area and Otto, loaded with full charisma decides to take the lead on this one. Otto approaches a farmer and introduces himself and the party at do-gooders. But then tells the farmer that nefarious people are after them, but here's a bag of gold to keep you mouth shut. It's not so easy; the farmers have no need for gold. They are on a barter system with each other. So we negotiate; the farmers need seed, food for the plants we destroyed with our sandcrawler and equipment for irrigation.
Ugh, well for a bunch of poor people, they certainly are good at gouging. Krimbim figures he can take some parts of an AC unit and maybe help them out.
Krimbim, roll for mechanics, lol 11 +3 with guidance from Otto, 14 Krimbim can make it seem like the equipment can work, without it actually working.
​
Sledge decides that he wants rakes. His "clever" plan is to have these rakes trail the sandcrawler and "cover" up our tracks so that no one can follow us. \slaps head**
Seeing as the farm has very little and now they are giving up their tools, the farmer says he'll take their gold sack now for the inconvenience. To add a cherry on top, we offer over the deed to our bar in the city that we took. We don't tell him that it's charred to shit.
Krimbim gets to working, Sarn goes looking for seeds. After some time, we've traded an AC, some food, seeds and the gold, keeping the deed to the bar and more importantly, having the farmer keep his mouth shut.
We rig up our rakes to the back of the crawler and as we set off, the tracks disappear and mimic more of a giant snake. Getting back on the trail, nightfall soon approaches and guards begin to murmur about movement out in the dunes. The King is a little worried. We are north of the city and heading east where the massive battles that took place 500 years ago happened. It's a boneyard. It's also the area where the storm wall coalesces and it rains sometimes, raining down magical energy on these bones, giving them life again for a limited time.
Reality starts to sink in. Can we actually continue in this sandcrawler? Is there a way to continue without it? Debate breaks out and we start evaluating our options. It may take weeks to safely get across this area with the Crawler. We decide that misdirection is the best option, so we have the Sandcrawler go off in one direction, have the King and guards go North, towards an old dwarven city in the mountains. We however, will traverse the boneland wasteland on horse back, making our way to the last known spot of the mechanic creators, in search for answers.
We pass this idea with the King who agrees to it.
​
SIT REP
We got ourselves the giant desert in the shape of an Oval. To the north is a Mountain region, where the greedy dwarves live. In the west, the Orciling folk live (orc ppl) They are almost all dead after what happened in the city with the staff and storm wall and the running into it. The south is just desert, where you have the town of Drybed and the larger city In the far east we have a place named 'Ricecomine', the old mechanical city. Its more rocky than sandy
​
​
We gather equipment for our new journey and are introduced to Krimbim's newest creation; An automaton that goes by the name of JBR 5. It's a large, 10 foot tall, very steam punk looking robot. It can carry a couple of people, minimal weapons, meant to carry storage and had limited talking capabilities. Sledge commands JBR 5 and forward we go.
​
Lots of travel happens and first day is pretty uneventful. Night comes and we find ourselves in a more rocky area. We haven't seen any bones yet, but we know we're heading in the right direction. We keep traveling and then we come across a narrow canyon. There IS a path above, but its rocky and would prove difficult with our horses/JBR 5. We decide to use JBR 5 to haul up our cart and horses across this steep rock face. The canyon is only about 20ft deep, so it's shallow. Gathering JBR 5, we path it forward until we come a "T" in the ravine, cutting off in front of us, forcing us to walk a few hundred yards around. Down in the ravine, Meeb notices there are small huts set up. A make shift fence is there and some mean ass dogs are already barking at him. This is a grinders hut. The bone pickers do their processing there and send off their product to the city when it is refined. A stranger spots Meeb and yells at him to identity himself. The distance makes it hard to hear and soon an arrow comes flying through the air towards Meeb....
--- To Be Continued ---
​
Is JBR 5 related to Carl 7?
​
Is this all a metaphor for the war on drugs in the 90's?!
​
What reeeeeeeeeeeeeallly is our plan after we get to the mechanical city?
​
​
Christ, this is getting deeper than a Vatican coloscopy and I sense things are only gunna get dirtier the deeper they go! Find out if it does, on the neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxtttttttttttt PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttttttttttttttttyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
​
​
Quotes
"It's all about Pornhub comment pages now, that's how the kids are communicating these days" - Dusty
"Are you?!" Matt to Jose, who thinks his whore character is Lawful neutral
"Do unicorn horns go limp, whenever they are not aroused?" - Steven
"Their just Dwarfie about their property" - The king, in need of sensitivity training
"Well there is Sand Paul, but no one takes him seriously" - Dusty on a 3rd option for King
"Did you say 'suck the gringo outta you?" - Dusty, always mishearing things
​
​
​
​
​
Trivia
- Sledge gets a new Maul -Otto has become slightly more annoying by preaching to the party about his faith now. With pamphlets.
-And that's how you grow your own Pineapples https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4iDBK0U6po
-Sarn cannot fully attune to the staff, but he can use it. It comes with a charm spell.
-Bone pickers are commoners who go out in this world, steal the bones and grind them up to make magical essence. It's very addictive.
-The constructs/mechanics that created the storm wall still exist in this world, but there are only a few left.
-The magic rain tastes like 'Surge' and glows blue.
-Zydrate https://repo.fandom.com/wiki/Zydrate#:~:text=Zydrate%20is%20a%20highly%20addictive,in%20a%20little%20glass%20vial.
-Rory's wife said this was the worst movie she's ever seen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd7HXt6a78w
​
​
​
partyrollpodcast.com
@ party_roll on twitter
https://www.patreon.com/partyrollpodcast
Teener Time https://www.youtube.com/@TeenerTime
www.youtube.com/@PartyRollPodcast

The vibe you get while walking around, the “recycling/refurbishing” everyday office items, the creative weapons, both are in office environments overrun by aliens, the hazardous traps in the environments, the way the story is given to you and let’s you complete it at your own pace, hacking, emails, status effects, skills.
I love it and it makes me want to go replay Prey again.
Does Abiotic Factor remind you of Prey or any other games? If so why?