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Playboy going public: Porn, Gambling, and Cannabis
NEW INFO 5 Results from share redemption are posted. Less than .2% redeemed. Very bullish as investors are showing extreme confidence in the future of PLBY. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/playboy-mountain-crest-acquisition-corp-120000721.html NEW INFO 4 Definitive Agreement to purchase 100% of Lovers brand stores announced 2/1. https://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/Playboy+%28MCAC%29+Confirms+Deal+to+Acquire+Lovers/17892359.html NEW INFO 3 I bought more on the dip today. 5081 total. Price rose AH to $12.38 (2.15%) NEW INFO 2 Here is the full webinar. https://icrinc.zoom.us/rec/play/9GWKdmOYumjWfZuufW3QXpe_FW_g--qeNbg6PnTjTMbnNTgLmCbWjeRFpQga1iPc-elpGap8dnDv8Zww.yD7DjUwuPmapeEdP?continueMode=true&tk=lEYc4F_FkKlgsmCIs6w0gtGHT2kbgVGbUju3cIRBSjk.DQIAAAAV8NK49xZWdldRM2xNSFNQcTBmcE00UzM3bXh3AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA&uuid=WN_GKWqbHkeSyuWetJmLFkj4g&_x_zm_rtaid=kR45-uuqRE-L65AxLjpbQw.1611967079119.2c054e3d3f8d8e63339273d9175939ed&_x_zm_rhtaid=866 NEW INFO 1 Live merger webinar with PLBY and MCAC on Friday January 29, 2021 at 12:00 NOON EST link below https://mcacquisition.com/investor-relations/press-release-details/2021/Playboy-Enterprises-Inc.-and-Mountain-Crest-Acquisition-Corp-Participate-in-SPACInsider-ICR-Webinar-on-January-29th-at-12pm-ET/default.aspx Playboy going public: Porn, Gambling, and Cannabis !!!WARNING READING AHEAD!!! TL;DR at the end. It will take some time to sort through all the links and read/watch everything, but you should. In the next couple weeks, Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp is taking Playboy public. The existing ticker MCAC will become PLBY. Special purpose acquisition companies have taken private companies public in recent months with great success. I believe this will be no exception. Notably, Playboy is profitable and has skyrocketing revenue going into a transformational growth phase. Porn - First and foremost, let's talk about porn. I know what you guys are thinking. “Porno mags are dead. Why would I want to invest in something like that? I can get porn for free online.” Guess what? You are absolutely right. And that’s exactly why Playboy doesn’t do that anymore. That’s right, they eliminated their print division. And yet they somehow STILL make money from porn that people (see: boomers) pay for on their website through PlayboyTV, Playboy Plus, and iPlayboy. Here’s the thing: Playboy has international, multi-generational name recognition from porn. They have content available in 180 countries. It will be the only publicly traded adult entertainment (porn) company. But that is not where this company is going. It will help support them along the way. You can see every Playboy magazine through iPlayboy if you’re interested. NSFW links below: https://www.playboy.com/ https://www.playboytv.com/ https://www.playboyplus.com/ https://www.iplayboy.com/ Gambling - Some of you might recognize the Playboy brand from gambling trips to places like Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Cancun, London or Macau. They’ve been in the gambling biz for decades through their casinos, clubs, and licensed gaming products. They see the writing on the wall. COVID is accelerating the transition to digital, application based GAMBLING. That’s right. What we are doing on Robinhood with risky options is gambling, and the only reason regulators might give a shit anymore is because we are making too much money. There may be some restrictions put in place, but gambling from your phone on your couch is not going anywhere. More and more states are allowing things like Draftkings, poker, state ‘lottery” apps, hell - even political betting. Michigan and Virginia just ok’d gambling apps. They won’t be the last. This is all from your couch and any 18 year old with a cracked iphone can access it. Wouldn’t it be cool if Playboy was going to do something like that? They’re already working on it. As per CEO Ben Kohn who we will get to later, “...the company’s casino-style digital gaming products with Scientific Games and Microgaming continue to see significant global growth.” Honestly, I stopped researching Scientific Games' sports betting segment when I saw the word ‘omni-channel’. That told me all I needed to know about it’s success. “Our SG Sports™ platform is an enhanced, omni-channel solution for online, self-service and retail fixed odds sports betting – from soccer to tennis, basketball, football, baseball, hockey, motor sports, racing and more.” https://www.scientificgames.com/ https://www.microgaming.co.uk/ “This latter segment has become increasingly enticing for Playboy, and it said last week that it is considering new tie-ups that could include gaming operators like PointsBet and 888Holdings.” https://calvinayre.com/2020/10/05/business/playboys-gaming-ops-could-get-a-boost-from-spac-purchase/ As per their SEC filing: “Significant consumer engagement and spend with Playboy-branded gaming properties around the world, including with leading partners such as Microgaming, Scientific Games, and Caesar’s Entertainment, steers our investment in digital gaming, sports betting and other digital offerings to further support our commercial strategy to expand consumer spend with minimal marginal cost, and gain consumer data to inform go-to-market plans across categories.” https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tMDAA1 They are expanding into more areas of gaming/gambling, working with international players in the digital gaming/gambling arena, and a Playboy sportsbook is on the horizon. https://www.playboy.com/read/the-pleasure-of-playing-with-yourself-mobile-gaming-in-the-covid-era Cannabis - If you’ve ever read through a Playboy magazine, you know they’ve had a positive relationship with cannabis for many years. As of September 2020, Playboy has made a major shift into the cannabis space. Too good to be true you say? Check their website. Playboy currently sells a range of CBD products. This is a good sign. Federal hemp products, which these most likely are, can be mailed across state lines and most importantly for a company like Playboy, can operate through a traditional banking institution. CBD products are usually the first step towards the cannabis space for large companies. Playboy didn’t make these products themselves meaning they are working with a processor in the cannabis industry. Another good sign for future expansion. What else do they have for sale? Pipes, grinders, ashtrays, rolling trays, joint holders. Hmm. Ok. So it looks like they want to sell some shit. They probably don’t have an active interest in cannabis right? Think again: https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/09/24/playboy-gets-serious-about-cannabis-law-reform-advocacy-with-new-partnership-grants/?sh=62f044a65cea “Taking yet another step into the cannabis space, Playboy will be announcing later on Thursday (September, 2020) that it is launching a cannabis law reform and advocacy campaign in partnership with National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Last Prisoner Project, Marijuana Policy Project, the Veterans Cannabis Project, and the Eaze Momentum Program.” “According to information procured exclusively, the three-pronged campaign will focus on calling for federal legalization. The program also includes the creation of a mentorship plan, through which the Playboy Foundation will support entrepreneurs from groups that are underrepresented in the industry.” Remember that CEO Kohn from earlier? He wrote this recently: https://medium.com/naked-open-letters-from-playboy/congress-must-pass-the-more-act-c867c35239ae Seems like he really wants weed to be legal? Hmm wonder why? The writing's on the wall my friends. Playboy wants into the cannabis industry, they are making steps towards this end, and we have favorable conditions for legislative progress. Don’t think branding your own cannabis line is profitable or worthwhile? Tell me why these 41 celebrity millionaires and billionaires are dummies. I’ll wait. https://www.celebstoner.com/news/celebstoner-news/2019/07/12/top-celebrity-cannabis-brands/ Confirmation: I hear you. “This all seems pretty speculative. It would be wildly profitable if they pull this shift off. But how do we really know?” Watch this whole video: https://finance.yahoo.com/video/playboy-ceo-telling-story-female-154907068.html Man - this interview just gets my juices flowing. And highlights one of my favorite reasons for this play. They have so many different business avenues from which a catalyst could appear. I think paying attention, holding shares, and options on these staggered announcements over the next year is the way I am going to go about it. "There's definitely been a shift to direct-to-consumer," he (Kohn) said. "About 50 percent of our revenue today is direct-to-consumer, and that will continue to grow going forward.” “Kohn touted Playboy's portfolio of both digital and consumer products, with casino-style gaming, in particular, serving a crucial role under the company's new business model. Playboy also has its sights on the emerging cannabis market, from CBD products to marijuana products geared toward sexual health and pleasure.” "If THC does become legal in the United States, we have developed certain strains to enhance your sex life that we will launch," Kohn said. https://cheddar.com/media/playboy-goes-public-health-gaming-lifestyle-focus Oh? The CEO actually said it? Ok then. “We have developed certain strains…” They’re already working with growers on strains and genetics? Ok. There are several legal cannabis markets for those products right now, international and stateside. I expect Playboy licensed hemp and THC pre-rolls by EOY. Something like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/842996758/10-playboy-pre-roll-tubes-limited?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=pre+roll+playboy&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search_click=1 Maintaining cannabis operations can be costly and a regulatory headache. Playboy’s licensing strategy allows them to pick successful, established partners and sidestep traditional barriers to entry. You know what I like about these new markets? They’re expanding. Worldwide. And they are going to be a bigger deal than they already are with or without Playboy. Who thinks weed and gambling are going away? Too many people like that stuff. These are easy markets. And Playboy is early enough to carve out their spot in each. Fuck it, read this too: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimosman/2020/10/20/playboy-could-be-the-king-of-spacs-here-are-three-picks/?sh=2e13dcaa3e05 Numbers: You want numbers? I got numbers. As per the company’s most recent SEC filing: “For the year ended December 31, 2019, and the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s historical consolidated revenue was $78.1 million and $101.3 million, respectively, historical consolidated net income (loss) was $(23.6) million and $(4.8) million, respectively, and Adjusted EBITDA was $13.1 million and $21.8 million, respectively.” “In the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Licensing segment contributed $44.2 million in revenue and $31.1 million in net income.” “In the ninth months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Direct-to-Consumer segment contributed $40.2 million in revenue and net income of $0.1 million.” “In the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Digital Subscriptions and Content segment contributed $15.4 million in revenue and net income of $7.4 million.” They are profitable across all three of their current business segments. “Playboy’s return to the public markets presents a transformed, streamlined and high-growth business. The Company has over $400 million in cash flows contracted through 2029, sexual wellness products available for sale online and in over 10,000 major retail stores in the US, and a growing variety of clothing and branded lifestyle and digital gaming products.” https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tSHCF Growth: Playboy has massive growth in China and massive growth potential in India. “In China, where Playboy has spent more than 25 years building its business, our licensees have an enormous footprint of nearly 2,500 brick and mortar stores and 1,000 ecommerce stores selling high quality, Playboy-branded men’s casual wear, shoes/footwear, sleepwear, swimwear, formal suits, leather & non-leather goods, sweaters, active wear, and accessories. We have achieved significant growth in China licensing revenues over the past several years in partnership with strong licensees and high-quality manufacturers, and we are planning for increased growth through updates to our men’s fashion lines and expansion into adjacent categories in men’s skincare and grooming, sexual wellness, and women’s fashion, a category where recent launches have been well received.” The men’s market in China is about the same size as the entire population of the United States and European Union combined. Playboy is a leading brand in this market. They are expanding into the women’s market too. Did you know CBD toothpaste is huge in China? China loves CBD products and has hemp fields that dwarf those in the US. If Playboy expands their CBD line China it will be huge. Did you know the gambling money in Macau absolutely puts Las Vegas to shame? Technically, it's illegal on the mainland, but in reality, there is a lot of gambling going on in China. https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/10/19/magic-johnson-and-uncle-buds-cbd-brand-enter-china-via-tmall-partnership/?sh=271776ca411e “In India, Playboy today has a presence through select apparel licensees and hospitality establishments. Consumer research suggests significant growth opportunities in the territory with Playboy’s brand and categories of focus.” “Playboy Enterprises has announced the expansion of its global consumer products business into India as part of a partnership with Jay Jay Iconic Brands, a leading fashion and lifestyle Company in India.” “The Indian market today is dominated by consumers under the age of 35, who represent more than 65 percent of the country’s total population and are driving India’s significant online shopping growth. The Playboy brand’s core values of playfulness and exploration resonate strongly with the expressed desires of today’s younger millennial consumers. For us, Playboy was the perfect fit.” “The Playboy international portfolio has been flourishing for more than 25 years in several South Asian markets such as China and Japan. In particular, it has strategically targeted the millennial and gen-Z audiences across categories such as apparel, footwear, home textiles, eyewear and watches.” https://www.licenseglobal.com/industry-news/playboy-expands-global-footprint-india It looks like they gave COVID the heisman in terms of net damage sustained: “Although Playboy has not suffered any material adverse consequences to date from the COVID-19 pandemic, the business has been impacted both negatively and positively. The remote working and stay-at-home orders resulted in the closure of the London Playboy Club and retail stores of Playboy’s licensees, decreasing licensing revenues in the second quarter, as well as causing supply chain disruption and less efficient product development thereby slowing the launch of new products. However, these negative impacts were offset by an increase in Yandy’s direct-to-consumer sales, which have benefited in part from overall increases in online retail sales so far during the pandemic.” Looks like the positives are long term (Yandy acquisition) and the negatives are temporary (stay-at-home orders). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921006093/tm213766-1_defa14a.htm This speaks to their ability to maintain a financially solvent company throughout the transition phase to the aforementioned areas. They’d say some fancy shit like “expanded business model to encompass four key revenue streams: Sexual Wellness, Style & Apparel, Gaming & Lifestyle, and Beauty & Grooming.” I hear “we’re just biding our time with these trinkets until those dollar dollar bill y’all markets are fully up and running.” But the truth is these existing revenue streams are profitable, scalable, and rapidly expanding Playboy’s e-commerce segment around the world. "Even in the face of COVID this year, we've been able to grow EBITDA over 100 percent and revenue over 68 percent, and I expect that to accelerate going into 2021," he said. “Playboy is accelerating its growth in company-owned and branded consumer products in attractive and expanding markets in which it has a proven history of brand affinity and consumer spend.” Also in the SEC filing, the Time Frame: “As we detailed in the definitive proxy statement, the SPAC stockholder meeting to vote on the transaction has been set for February 9th, and, subject to stockholder approval and satisfaction of the other closing conditions, we expect to complete the merger and begin trading on NASDAQ under ticker PLBY shortly thereafter,” concluded Kohn. The Players: Suhail “The Whale” Rizvi (HMFIC), Ben “The Bridge” Kohn (CEO), “lil” Suying Liu & “Big” Dong Liu (Young-gun China gang). I encourage you to look these folks up. The real OG here is Suhail Rizvi. He’s from India originally and Chairman of the Board for the new PLBY company. He was an early investor in Twitter, Square, Facebook and others. His firm, Rizvi Traverse, currently invests in Instacart, Pinterest, Snapchat, Playboy, and SpaceX. Maybe you’ve heard of them. “Rizvi, who owns a sprawling three-home compound in Greenwich, Connecticut, and a 1.65-acre estate in Palm Beach, Florida, near Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg, moved to Iowa Falls when he was five. His father was a professor of psychology at Iowa. Along with his older brother Ashraf, a hedge fund manager, Rizvi graduated from Wharton business school.” “Suhail Rizvi: the 47-year-old 'unsocial' social media baron: When Twitter goes public in the coming weeks (2013), one of the biggest winners will be a 47-year-old financier who guards his secrecy so zealously that he employs a person to take down his Wikipedia entry and scrub his photos from the internet. In IPO, Twitter seeks to be 'anti-FB'” “Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia looks like a big Twitter winner. So do the moneyed clients of Jamie Dimon. But as you’ve-got-to-be-joking wealth washed over Twitter on Thursday — a company that didn’t exist eight years ago was worth $31.7 billion after its first day on the stock market — the non-boldface name of the moment is Suhail R. Rizvi. Mr. Rizvi, 47, runs a private investment company that is the largest outside investor in Twitter with a 15.6 percent stake worth $3.8 billion at the end of trading on Thursday (November, 2013). Using a web of connections in the tech industry and in finance, as well as a hearty dose of good timing, he brought many prominent names in at the ground floor, including the Saudi prince and some of JPMorgan’s wealthiest clients.” https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/technology/at-twitter-working-behind-the-scenes-toward-a-billion-dollar-payday.html Y’all like that Arab money? How about a dude that can call up Saudi Princes and convince them to spend? Funniest shit about I read about him: “Rizvi was able to buy only $100 million in Facebook shortly before its IPO, thus limiting his returns, according to people with knowledge of the matter.” Poor guy :( He should be fine with the 16 million PLBY shares he's going to have though :) Shuhail also has experience in the entertainment industry. He’s invested in companies like SESAC, ICM, and Summit Entertainment. He’s got Hollywood connections to blast this stuff post-merger. And he’s at least partially responsible for that whole Twilight thing. I’m team Edward btw. I really like what Suhail has done so far. He’s lurked in the shadows while Kohn is consolidating the company, trimming the fat, making Playboy profitable, and aiming the ship at modern growing markets. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-ipo-rizvi-insight/insight-little-known-hollywood-investor-poised-to-score-with-twitter-ipo-idUSBRE9920VW20131003 Ben “The Bridge” Kohn is an interesting guy. He’s the connection between Rizvi Traverse and Playboy. He’s both CEO of Playboy and was previously Managing Partner at Rizvi Traverse. Ben seems to be the voice of the Playboy-Rizvi partnership, which makes sense with Suhail’s privacy concerns. Kohn said this: “Today is a very big day for all of us at Playboy and for all our partners globally. I stepped into the CEO role at Playboy in 2017 because I saw the biggest opportunity of my career. Playboy is a brand and platform that could not be replicated today. It has massive global reach, with more than $3B of global consumer spend and products sold in over 180 countries. Our mission – to create a culture where all people can pursue pleasure – is rooted in our 67-year history and creates a clear focus for our business and role we play in people’s lives, providing them with the products, services and experiences that create a lifestyle of pleasure. We are taking this step into the public markets because the committed capital will enable us to accelerate our product development and go-to-market strategies and to more rapidly build our direct to consumer capabilities,” said Ben Kohn, CEO of Playboy. “Playboy today is a highly profitable commerce business with a total addressable market projected in the trillions of dollars,” Mr. Kohn continued, “We are actively selling into the Sexual Wellness consumer category, projected to be approximately $400 billion in size by 2024, where our recently launched intimacy products have rolled out to more than 10,000 stores at major US retailers in the United States. Combined with our owned & operated ecommerce Sexual Wellness initiatives, the category will contribute more than 40% of our revenue this year. In our Apparel and Beauty categories, our collaborations with high-end fashion brands including Missguided and PacSun are projected to achieve over $50M in retail sales across the US and UK this year, our leading men’s apparel lines in China expanded to nearly 2500 brick and mortar stores and almost 1000 digital stores, and our new men’s and women’s fragrance line recently launched in Europe. In Gaming, our casino-style digital gaming products with Scientific Games and Microgaming continue to see significant global growth. Our product strategy is informed by years of consumer data as we actively expand from a purely licensing model into owning and operating key high-growth product lines focused on driving profitability and consumer lifetime value. We are thrilled about the future of Playboy. Our foundation has been set to drive further growth and margin, and with the committed capital from this transaction and our more than $180M in NOLs, we will take advantage of the opportunity in front of us, building to our goal of $100M of adjusted EBITDA in 2025.” https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201001005404/en/Playboy-to-Become-a-Public-Company Also, according to their Form 4s, “Big” Dong Liu and “lil” Suying Liu just loaded up with shares last week. These guys are brothers and seem like the Chinese market connection. They are only 32 & 35 years old. I don’t even know what that means, but it's provocative. https://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1832415.htm https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mountain-crest-acquisition-corp-ii-002600994.html Y’all like that China money? “Mr. Liu has been the Chief Financial Officer of Dongguan Zhishang Photoelectric Technology Co., Ltd., a regional designer, manufacturer and distributor of LED lights serving commercial customers throughout Southern China since November 2016, at which time he led a syndicate of investments into the firm. Mr. Liu has since overseen the financials of Dongguan Zhishang as well as provided strategic guidance to its board of directors, advising on operational efficiency and cash flow performance. From March 2010 to October 2016, Mr. Liu was the Head of Finance at Feidiao Electrical Group Co., Ltd., a leading Chinese manufacturer of electrical outlets headquartered in Shanghai and with businesses in the greater China region as well as Europe.” Dr. Suying Liu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp., commented, “Playboy is a unique and compelling investment opportunity, with one of the world’s largest and most recognized brands, its proven consumer affinity and spend, and its enormous future growth potential in its four product segments and new and existing geographic regions. I am thrilled to be partnering with Ben and his exceptional team to bring his vision to fruition.” https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201001005404/en/Playboy-to-Become-a-Public-Company These guys are good. They have a proven track record of success across multiple industries. Connections and money run deep with all of these guys. I don’t think they’re in the game to lose. I was going to write a couple more paragraphs about why you should have a look at this but really the best thing you can do is read this SEC filing from a couple days ago. It explains the situation in far better detail. Specifically, look to page 137 and read through their strategy. Also, look at their ownership percentages and compensation plans including the stock options and their prices. The financials look great, revenue is up 90% Q3, and it looks like a bright future. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tSHCF I’m hesitant to attach this because his position seems short term, but I’m going to with a warning because he does hit on some good points (two are below his link) and he’s got a sizable position in this thing (500k+ on margin, I think). I don’t know this guy but he did look at the same publicly available info and make roughly the same prediction, albeit without the in depth gambling or cannabis mention. You can also search reddit for ‘MCAC’ and very few relevant results come up and none of them even come close to really looking at this thing. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gOvAd6lebs452hFlWWbxVjQ3VMsjGBkbJeXRwDwIJfM/edit?usp=sharing “Also, before you people start making claims that Playboy is a “boomer” company, STOP RIGHT THERE. This is not a good argument. Simply put. The only thing that matters is Playboy’s name recognition, not their archaic business model which doesn’t even exist anymore as they have completely repurposed their business.” “Imagine not buying $MCAC at a 400M valuation lol. Streetwear department is worth 1B alone imo.” Considering the ridiculous Chinese growth as a lifestyle brand, he’s not wrong. Current Cultural Significance and Meme Value: A year ago I wouldn’t have included this section but the events from the last several weeks (even going back to tsla) have proven that a company’s ability to meme and/or gain social network popularity can have an effect. Tik-tok, Snapchat, Twitch, Reddit, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter. They all have Playboy stuff on them. Kids in middle and highschool know what Playboy is but will likely never see or touch one of the magazines in person. They’ll have a Playboy hoodie though. Crazy huh? A lot like GME, PLBY would hugely benefit from meme-value stock interest to drive engagement towards their new business model while also building strategic coffers. This interest may not directly and/or significantly move the stock price but can generate significant interest from larger players who will. Bull Case: The year is 2025. Playboy is now the world leader pleasure brand. They began by offering Playboy licensed gaming products, including gambling products, direct to consumers through existing names. By 2022, demand has skyrocketed and Playboy has designed and released their own gambling platforms. In 2025, they are also a leading cannabis brand in the United States and Canada with proprietary strains and products geared towards sexual wellness. Cannabis was legalized in the US in 2023 when President Biden got glaucoma but had success with cannabis treatment. He personally pushes for cannabis legalization as he steps out of office after his first term. Playboy has also grown their brand in China and India to multi-billion per year markets. The stock goes up from 11ish to 100ish and everyone makes big gains buying somewhere along the way. Bear Case: The United States does a complete 180 on marijuana and gambling. President Biden overdoses on marijuana in the Lincoln bedroom when his FDs go tits up and he loses a ton of money in his sports book app after the Fighting Blue Hens narrowly lose the National Championship to Bama. Playboy is unable to expand their cannabis and gambling brands but still does well with their worldwide lifestyle brand. They gain and lose some interest in China and India but the markets are too large to ignore them completely. The stock goes up from 11ish to 13ish and everyone makes 15-20% gains. TL;DR: Successful technology/e-commerce investment firm took over Playboy to turn it into a porn, online gambling/gaming, sports book, cannabis company, worldwide lifestyle brand that promotes sexual wellness, vetern access, women-ownership, minority-ownership, and “pleasure for all”. Does a successful online team reinventing an antiquated physical copy giant sound familiar? No options yet, shares only for now. $11.38 per share at time of writing. My guess? $20 by the end of February. $50 by EOY. This is not financial advice. I am not qualified to give financial advice. I’m just sayin’ I would personally use a Playboy sports book app while smoking a Playboy strain specific joint and it would be cool if they did that. Do your own research. You’d probably want to start here: WARNING - POTENTIALLY NSFW - SEXY MODELS AHEAD - no actual nudity though https://s26.q4cdn.com/895475556/files/doc_presentations/Playboy-Craig-Hallum-Conference-Investor-Presentation-11_17_20-compressed.pdf Or here: https://www.mcacquisition.com/investor-relations/default.aspx Jimmy Chill: “Get into any SPAC at $10 or $11 and you are going to make money.” STL;DR: Buy MCAC. MCAC > PLBY couple weeks. Rocketship. Moon. Position: 5000 shares. I will buy short, medium, and long-dated calls once available.
So what you are saying, basically, is you got rich because Bendolzians will have sex with each other more easily than humans will sex with each other? Yes. But what does THAT have to do with accusations of defrauding an entire species for billions? I didn’t do that. Ever. But everyone accused you off it? I made my money legally. Those charges were dropped. So why did you have 384 separate arrest warrants out on you at one time? Jealousy. Jealousy? You were accused of massive intergalactic fraud and theft by 83 separate nations, out of jealousy? Yes Mr Robert. That’s a big statement. I can back it up. With evidence. Alright. Not on the phone. It’s too dangerous. Come to my house. The Bendolzian consulate? My house. I know you are nearby. Come quick. Before someone tries to intercept you. They’re watching me closely. Get down to the marina. Look for a Bendolzian boat. How will I spot it? You’ll spot it. Hurry. They will be moving in on you from the moment this call ends. Click Belize, June 4th 2114 The line went dead. Robert Fadden blinked. The fact he managed to get a phone interview with the most elusive man on Earth was enough to keep his editor happy. He had heard the rumours, everyone had; Sanjay Gupta was an Indian who had made his fortune in the waste disposal business. Somehow a decade or so ago he then made a bigger fortune defrauding the Bendolzians. The details were sealed and secret. But everyone wanted this man. He had gone on the run. He was utterly paranoid they said. He lived on a private island where he partook in drug fulled orgies. He was a real life Bond villain. Still, mused Fadden, there WERE parts of his story that had his hard-nosed journalistic soul wondering. The Bendolzians had responded to the arrest warrants out on him by designating his island home their consulate and was considered Bendolzian territory. Rumour said he was forced them to do it- but how do you influence an entire alien species to do your bidding? And the charges were ALL mysteriously dropped a couple of years ago. No clear explanation was ever given. Every journalist on Earth wanted to work out what was going on with this story. And he had gotten to talk to the man. The first to have ever done that. Fadden sat at the desk of his hotel room, sweat clinging to his body. ‘They will be moving in on you’? Well the paranoia part was correct. Inwardly, Fadden could hear his mother, her strict Presbyterian Scottish accent, Don’t be having anything to do with dangerous men Bobby his internal version of her intones, Ya neva know what trouble it can land ya in. But another part of him hears the words of his editor, Get the story Rob, and I promise you a front page. For about ten seconds Robert Fadden is torn between prudence and daring, between caution and risk. He opts for risk. He moves without explanation or pause. He grabs his phone and throws it into his bag, followed by his digital recorder, a cheap digital camera, and the keys to the rental car parked in the garage below the hotel. He puts on his jacket (despite the heat) and heads out. He foregoes waiting for the old lift, but takes the fire stairwell: moving fast, leaping the last three steps to each landing, downwards, forwards, driven as much by the excitement of the story than the fears of some paranoid billionaire. In a few moments he enters the relative coolness of the underground car park; half full, he spots the small green 2093 Zephyr sat by itself. It was boxy, had seen much better days and was clearly the kind of hire car people on a budget would take. Which is why it was his. He leaps in, inserts the key, watches as its electric engine starts instantly and silently, and quickly makes his way up and out onto the street besides the Hotel Anacebo. The heat is stifling; even with the cars aircon he can feel it. A tropical heat, wet and stuffy, where the humidity was enhanced by the rainforest that surrounded the town and threatened, always, to overwhelm it. The town was small. All roads led either out to the forest or down to the marina. He took the turns to the latter. He didn’t drive especially quickly but he did glance, nervously, at his rear view mirror a few times. 30 years had passed since humans had encountered Bendolzians; a gentle, faintly insectoid, interstellar species, whose exploration ship had emerged on the edge of the solar system and who had come towards Earth broadcasting messages of peace in a dozen languages. Three decades of amazement and wonder. It had changed the world. The Bendolzians were far more advanced than we were in the realm of science. Human life expectancy had increased on average 25 years since they began sharing their technologies with us. People spoke of a new golden age. In return the humans had a culture and a civilisation that fascinated the aliens. Human music, human languages, human art. The Bendolzians, it was said, had given the human race the technology to produce stable clones in return for a live performance of a concerto by Bach. At least that is what everyone said. The aliens didn’t use currency. They gave us technology, we gave them culture. But as Fadden drove he realised that while a generation had passed since then and Bendolzian technology had impacted upon all aspects of human life... in some places it was more apparent than others. Here? Miles from anywhere, a small, poor town, in a small, poor province of a small, poor country? You couldn’t tell at all. The cars were ramshackle, the streets badly paved, the shops were basic. Life here carried on as if it was the 2030’s not the 2110’s. Poverty. Unemployment. Corruption. Mankind maybe wasn’t alone anymore but it sure hadn’t changed much. The marina’s car park is crowded but he finds a spot, parks the car, slugs his bag over his shoulder and strides towards the water. Inwardly he grins. He was on his way to meet a real life Bond villain. He scans the scene before him. As usual the place is filled with rusty fishing boats that have seen better days and a few small cargo craft. Further down is where the private boats are- he can see the masts of about two dozen yachts. Most will be small, he knows from experience; folks who live on the sea, often retirees. Living the dream and sailing the world. As he walks he finds himself looking behind him and wondering if anyone was following him... Stop it. The guys paranoid He strides onwards purposefully and notices a bunch of locals staring with real interest out at the edge of the marina. And then he sees what they are staring at. It’s a boat. It’s a boat because it moves on water. But no part of it is touching the water. It hovers about six feet above the waves, gliding through the air. Its not... flying... as it’s wake causes the water to stir as if it was gliding in on some kind of invisible fin. Long, sleek, elegant, very purple, and slightly ominous. Clearly the Bendolzian boat then. Robert makes his way towards the pier the boat seemed to be aiming at. The glare of the water makes him squint for a moment before he decides to put on his sunglasses. He stands there, watching the boat cut its engine and drift towards him. A tall Scot, in casual trousers, blond crew cut, and sunglasses. How very fuckin James Bond of ya, ya wee Weegie Shite! goes his inner monologue. Fadden is a tad disappointed that stepping onto the edge of the boat isn’t an actual Bendolzian but a human. By the looks of things, a local, dressed in a crisp white uniform. “Mr Fadden?” “Yes. Is this for me?” “Yes Mr Fadden. Please come on board. We have instructions to take you at once to the Consulate...” The Consulate of the Most Serene Chorus of the Beldolzia Collective had once been on the market as a millionaires retreat, a few decades ago. A half moon shaped island, two miles off the coast of Belize and facing the Caribbean. There was a mansion, tennis courts, private grounds, more. All available for anyone who wished for privacy and avoidance of US Tax laws. But then Sanjay Gupta has bought it and it had become an alien consulate and was one of the more discussed places on Earth. Still, as the craft sliced through the air above the sea Robert couldn’t help have the impression he wasn’t approaching the some evil lair, rather somewhere that looked like a small, tacky, tourist resort. It was conservative, slightly garish and very boring. No grand displays of alien technology, no alien flags, no aliens. As the ship carefully and expertly navigated to a landing pad next to a pier the only indication he was technically on alien soil was a small sign which informed visitors that this island was under the laws and jurisdiction of the Bendolzians. He was met by a polite staff and escorted to see the elusive billionaire. As he strides, Fadden looked about him. Can’t imagine anyone having an orgy in a place like this. Maybe a game of bingo... Twenty five minutes later, small talk over with, he has his recorder set up and mic placed to pick up his target. He had to admit- Sanjay Gupta was not what he was expecting. Bespectacled, hair thinning, his face filed with a smile that was a little too over eager, a growing gut. If anything Fadden would have said he seemed more needy Indian uncle than evil billionaire. The Scottish reporter clears his throat, turns on the recorder and begins. “So, Mr Gupta...” “Sanjay please. I prefer informality in my interviews,” comes the reply. Gupta’s English was perfect; the exact intonations of formal Received Pronunciation. Fadden could tell he had spent a lot to hide his origins form Uttar Pradesh. “Fine. Sanjay. So, for the record, why did so many governments accuse you of fraud and theft?” The billionaire smiles his over eager smile and sits back on his luxurious couch. “Do you know the precise accusations or only the board terms?” He’s avoiding... “Only the broad terms, obviously.” “Why is this? You are a journalist after all? Surely YOU would know more?” Fadden can sense some kind of trap, so makes sure to answer precisely. “The United World Global Council declared that since the crimes were committed against Beldolzians it would be better if the exact details remains a secret, to prevent any inter-species misunderstandings they said.” Gupta seems pleased with this answer, and nodding says, “Indeed. The seven nations in the UWGC decreed it and the other 79 in the general assembly who had made allegations against me agreed to follow their decision. So the world was only ever given a broad over view of what I supposedly did.” “Massive fraud of the Beldolzians,” says Robert, hoping to get more out of him, “and theft and deception. Hundreds of counts. Which makes me restate my question: Why?” “Because they were jealous. I merely saw a gap in the market first and they could not see a way of closing this gap,” comes the reply. “So the accusations were untrue?” “Indeed Mr Robert, but it is worse that that? They were a smokescreen. The governments of humanity only alleged those things so they could shake me down for money. They wanted a cut of my profits. Extortion. So I made a deal with them and suddenly the charges were dropped.” “Really?” Fadden tried to keep the skepticism out of his voice but fails. Gupta did not seem to notice. “Really Mr Robert. There WAS a fraud committed but not enacted by myself. It was done by the leaders of the world. I’m the victim here.” “That’s a very serious accusation...” “Would you like me to show you the emails? The private correspondence I have from the worlds leaders? The President of the EU? Prime Minister of the Greater Indian Republic? I even have a mail from the Patriarch of the Holy Russian Theocracy offering to lift the excommunication they had placed upon me, in exchange for hard currency. Extortion.” “Because you are making...” “Because I’ve made a fortune and made the Bendolzians very happy. Our alien friends pay me for simply providing them a service,” says the Indian. The Scot was having none of this, his hard nose journalist edge sought to sting his subject into revealing more. “By selling them fake art? That seemed to be the gist of the accusations.” Gupta smiles, all teeth and thin lips, but his eyes are cold. “I never sold fakes. I sold copies.” “You don’t pay a fortune for a copy,” spits back Fadden. “The Bendolzians do.” “Why?” Gupta thinks and leans forward and say quietly, ‘I need to talk about that sex statement I made on the phone yes?” “It was a hell of a statement to make. Provocative.” “Deliberately so, Mr Robert. But not incorrect.” “Explain it to me. Why do alien sexual practices mean you made fortune selling them copies of art?” The billionaire nods and leans back again, his eyes searching Fadden’s face for a moment. “Alright Mr Robert. I need to ask you a hypothetical question to begin. Indulge me for a moment.” “Go ahead,” comes the crisp Glaswegian accent. “Let us assume you are gay. Or that sexuality and gender is not something you cared about. I don’t know if you do, I don’t care, I just need you to suspend those concepts for me before I ask you this question,” says Gupta. “Alright. Consider them suspended. What’s the question?” “Would you be inclined to sleep with me. Right now.” Robert blinks. Part of him has to admit, he did NOT expect such a question. Rapidly, he regains his composure. “Er... no.” “Alright. Why?” “I don’t find you attractive. As men go. If I was to find a man attractive, I don’t think you would be it.” “So,” says Gupta, talking as casually as he would an old friend, “there is an aesthetic quality you would desire in a partner. My ‘looks’ are not attractive enough to entice you?” “Indeed. Not attractive enough.” The Indian smiles, this time with an amused twinkle in his eye. “But consider- I am the richest man on Earth. Worth billions. Being my sexual partner has its advantages then.” “Are you offering me cash to sleep with you? Hypothetically speaking of course,” says Robert, also amused at the conversation. “Let’s assume I’m not, so let me be more precise- isn’t there a certain allure to the idea of having said ‘I slept with the richest man on Earth?’ Would this change your mind?” “Maybe. I’m unsure.” “Let us assume then if you slept with me, you would receive financial benefits.” “How much?” “Assume a lot.” “No offence, it would have to be,” he says automatically, but the journalist inwardly worries if his reply went too far. Luckily it did not seem to have. “None taken. But assume it would be a life changing amount. Does this change your answer?” “Maybe. Probably. I don’t know. Probably.” “Aha. So the result of my proposition depends upon the CONTEXT it occurs in. By myself? You have no desire to have sex with me. With my wealth? Maybe. With material reward? Probably. I am correct in this?” Robert couldn’t help but worry where this was going. “Mr Gupta, I have to say...” “Mr Robert- firstly? It’s Sanjay. Secondly, let me assure you, I have NO desire to sleep with you. At all. You are are someone I do not find attractive. And you do not have an alluring multi-billion dollar fortune to help compensate for this.” Fadden grins, and says, “So why the questions?” “Consider the human criteria for sleeping with people. Trust me Mr Robert, I am not one of the winners in the lottery of life in this regards. But I am aware that all people have certain traits, certain criteria we all place before us when it comes to choosing a sexual partner.” The billionaire folds one leg under his body and gets into his stride. “For some it is good looks we value most. For others it is wealth. Others would find a man who is gentle to be what they seek for most. Still others would place the ability to make them laugh. Usually it is not just one thing, but a combination of things, of desires, that all mix together and are manifest in something called the hierarchy of desire.” The Scotsman blinks and says quietly, “You referring to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?” The Indians face lights up, the way a persons face changes when they realise someone understands what they are talking about. “Partly. Maslow’s theories do not have any scientific proof behind them yes? But they remain popular over 150 years after they come out because we all recognise something of ourselves in them?” “That’s a fair assessment,” says Robert, trying to remember courses in psychology and sociology he had studied in university decades ago. “So, I do not use HIS example as the actual model of this heirachy, as humans are more complex and there is probably much more interplay beteeen the actual levels...” “I’d always thought so.” “Good. We agree. But I use the term ‘hierarchy of desire’ as shorthand to describe the complicated, and uniquely individualistic ways we humans make the choice to decide if we are going to have sex with someone. Or not. There are a myriad of factors yes?” Robert remained silent. He’d have to do some reading after this interview to see if Gupta’s words were valid or just cherry picking aspects of things, but for now he was just letting his target speak. Gupta simply carries on. “Deep seated desires, physical fetishes, the circumstances you find yourself in, your location, all these are a factor. But, when the decision is made, we ALL follow a simple concept- where does the person who wishes to sleep with me fit within my heirachy of desire?” A shrug, “Above the criteria for sex? We will have sex most probably. Below it? And we most probably won’t.” Fadden sat and watched this little Indian explain the theory with glee. He was also aware he had allowed Gupta steer the interview away from him. It was time to try and bring it back. “Alright Sanjay, assume I agree with that. What has all of this to do with accusations of defrauding an entire alien species?” Sanjay Gupta sighs and shakes his head. He stands and walks away from the seating area towards the far wall of his grand study. Along one side, open windows with billowing curtains, reveal a stunning vista of the Caribbean but he ignores it. “Follow me please,” he says as he does this. Robert Fadden, startled, grabs his microphone and follows the billionaire. Gupta walks towards a painting at the far, far end of the massive room, leans upon a nearby desk and indicates to it. “Mr Robert? Please, look at this,” he says politely. The Scotsman joins the billionaire and gazed at the painting. It was sumptuous. A renaissance work he was sure. A woman holding a rather chubby baby, talking to another woman, with a man stood behind her. Robert is drawn to the way the sumptuous colours and fine detail. He gazed at it a few seconds and says “Beautiful. Is it expensive?” Gupta grins and says,”It is ‘A Sacra Conversazione: The Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria’ by the Renaissance master, Titian. Painted around 550 years ago. It was last sold in 2011 for just shy of 17 million dollars. Its current value is 378 million dollars. US.” Unsure of how to respond to the billionaire showing off his wealth Robert simply says, “It’s amazing.” Gupta raises his eyebrows. “I bought this for 250,000 dollars. Cash.” “Why so cheap?” “Its not the original,” comes the cool reply. “It isn’t?” “I paid a man in Hong King, a most skilled fabricator, that much cash to create a copy of it. A copy so good that only a true expert armed with a bevvy of technology would be able to detect it is NOT the real thing. It is by all accounts an amazing replica. Right down to the exact number of brushstrokes.” Robert gazed at it. It LOOKED authentic. He has no idea why he is looking at it, but part of him senses the billionaire is close to confessing his fraud, So remains silent. People hate silence. They fill it. Two seconds later Gupta fills the silence. “Next question Mr Robert; if this is virtually indistinguishable from the original, except to the eye of an utter expert who has spent a lifetime studying the paintings of Titian, why is original verison worth 1384 times more than this?” “Its a fake.” “No, it would ONLY become a fake if I ever tried to say it was the original. I do not. It is a replica. A copy. I repeat the question; why is it worth much less than the original?” “Because it’s NOT the original.” “Agreed. But why do we insist an original is worth more than a copy?” This is it Robert- this is him confessing... careful man... just entice him to confess... “I dunno”, comes the Scottish brogue accent, “it’s complicated. Why do we value art?” “A complex question, yes. But consider it this way- ultimately all you are saying is that the difference between this painting and the one it copies is the CONTEXT of both paintings yes?” Robert Fadden frowns and thinks for a moment before speaking. “Are you saying it’s like the way we pick sexual partners?” “Not in so many words but at its heart, yes. There is an underlying pattern of thought. The thoughts themselves differ Mr Robert, but the pattern of thought, the idea of a hierarchy of desire remains.” “I suppose I see your point Mr Gupta... Sanjay. But it’s rather thin don’t you think?” Slowly the billionaire walks away from the painting to the open windows and just beyond it, a wide balcony that runs along the side of the massive room. There is no wind today, but despite the sun, the balcony is in shade. Robert finds it so wonderfully refreshing... and it’s a heck of a view. As he walks, Gupta chats along with the journalist casually. “You know what I was reading the other day? The original reviews of an old 20th century movie called ‘Psycho’. It is an amazing film. It is about a woman who steals money of her employer and then flees to join up with her lover in another state. As she drives, she is troubled by a violent storm and so decides to stop on her journey at somewhere called the Bates Motel, where she meets the owner, one Norman Bates...” “Yes Sanjay, I am aware of ‘Psycho’. She gets murdered in the shower.” “Oh good. Now what’s interesting is that the critics, without exception, slated the film. They called it unimaginative and plodding and even said it was infested with tediousness. Meanwhile the public hated it. They did not go see it. It was a commercial failure.” The reporter frowns, “No. Wait. That’s not right. Hitchcock’s Psycho is a classic.” The Indian smiles broadly at this reply. “Ah. I refer to the remake made by Gus Van Sant 38 years later. An almost shot for shot remake of the original. A perfect copy. Utterly overlooked. It’s existence is almost forgotten about.” There was a remake? “Tell me- what is it about copies we hate so much? In the heriarchy of desire why do we hate ‘fakes’- men who try too hard, or movies that make copies of classics or modern versions of ancient paintings?” Fadden gazed at the waves for a moment and says, “Authenticity. We value authenticity.” “Ah, very good Mr Robert. We value authenticity. The key word there is ‘value’. When we talk about art we say authenticity. When we talk about sexual partners we can say sincerity. Or attractiveness. Whatever. It is NOT about HOW we place things in the heirarchy of desire, it is that we have these values at all that is crucial.” “Alright Sanjay. Let’s assume I go along with this. What does all this have to do...” “I’m getting to that Mr Robert. All I am saying ultimately is that when you study humans you quickly realise that this method of thinking in ingrained so deeply into us that it manifests itself in a million ways. So, shall I have sex with this person or that person? Shall I buy this suit or this coat? Shall I purchase this limited edition car? Shall I visit this country or that country? How much is this painting worth? Do you see?” Robert stares out at the sea for a few seconds. “Yes. I see. I think.” “Or put it this way. Take the Mona Lisa. The most expensive painting in the world. It said to be priceless but I happen to know that if you offered the French government 7 billion Euros? They would let you purchase it. Of course it must remain in the Louvre for all time. But for seven billion you get a little plaque next to it saying it’s yours.” Fadden can’t help but grin at Gupta. “You asked didn’t you?” “I was curious,” he laughs, “but now consider this. The Mona Lisa is worth 7 billion. A high grade copy of it printed on canvus with the best processes money can buy? Ten thousand euros. A low grade copy? Maybe 400. And a poster? Ten euro. See? We value originals, authenticated and unique above all others. And the CONTEXT of the other copies will dictate where we place them on the hierarchy of desire.” “Right but...” “But what about our alien friends?” “Indeed,” says Fadden. “Bendolzian’s are an odd bunch to look at. You must have seen pictures. Trust me they are much more shocking to meet for real. Eight feet high. Six legs around a long central core containing their mouth for eating and oriface for excretion. They have the torso above the core, which means arms, mouths, eyes and ears and crucially brains are separate from functions for eating and movement...” “Yes I am aware of how... different they look. When did you first have dealings with them?” The billionaire began walking back to his fake painting by the desk, the reporter carefully making sure his microphone picks up every word. Gupta seems to be happy to talk about his dealings with the aliens. “I first visited the Bendolzian home world 9 years ago. Part of a mostly failed trade delegation. I was hoping to see if they needed any large scale waste disposal.” “Go on?” “My first day there? I met a human XenoBiologist. One of the first who went there. He told me something fascinating. The Bendolzians love sex. For the sake of sex.” Robert nodded. Back to the sex talk. “They DO?” He tried to sound mock shocked. “Yes. Or so he thought. Bendolzians are capable of feeling intense pleasure during sex and seem to copulate often. Yet sex is a common social interaction for them. They use sex in greeting, departing, in establishing rapport. They have no sense of shame about it. And aside from a prohibition upon close familial members, to prevent genetic deformities, no hangs ups. They copulate. Frequently. Its why their population is so staggeringly large. There are 11 billion humans and 580 billion Bendolzian” “So they like sex, good for them...” “No Mr Robert. That’s not the point. You make the same mistake the XenoBiologists make. You see events but don’t think about what they mean...” Gupta is back leaning against his desk. It’s covered in papers, neatly arranged, held down with some kind of gold coloured paperweight; perfectly aligned pens; a small, but powerful computer to one side. Fadden however is focused utterly upon the Indian. “What this shows Mr Robert, is the Bendolzians do NOT have a heirarchy of desire.” Gupta smiles, “And I realised at that exact moment that they and we THINK differently. This is not exactly a original thing to realise. It obvious really. My gift was I saw exactly how we differed in thought- what process of human thought they did not have. It’s why they don’t use currency. Why their society is far more fluid socially. They simply appreciate the pleasure of sex or the beauty in an object because it is pleasurable or beautiful.” The Scotsman raises an eyebrow and says quietly, “So you mean...” “I mean that to a Bendolzian, the ten euro poster of the Mona Lisa is as valuable as the high grade copy, or even the original. They do not fixate upon the need for authenticity. A thing is a thing to them. If it is a beautiful painting? They appreciate the painting, even if it is merely a cheap copy to us.” Fadden watched as the India picked up the golden paperweight on his desk in an absent-minded manner. He then realised it wasn’t a golden paperweight at all, but an actual small ingot of gold, a few inches long, solid and set. Having it on the desk seemed like the kind of onsetentious display a billionaire liked to make. But he put it out of his mind. He had his exclusive. “So,” says the reporter, zeroing in on his story, “you realised this and then exploited this?” “I capitalised upon it. Bendolzians adore human culture yes? So I made a deal with them. I gained the exclusive rights to sell them human art. They love human art. Its alien but fascinating to them. I would sell copies of human paintings to them. To all of them. Any Beldozian now could own a small copy of any human painting. A simple high resolution copy. And they would pay me. Not much. But there are hundreds of billions of them. Micro transactions really do add up.” “Wait- that IS fraud. That’s the work of artists. You are using THEIR work to gain profit...” That smug grin returns. “I never used any art created by a living painter. In fact I don’t use any work less than 100 years old. That left me all the art work from antiquity to the start of the twentieth century. Billions of images. All in the public domain. A never ending supply really.” “What about the owners of these paintings? Or the museums? They hold the rights to these images, in terms of profit making...” The India smiles and begins walking back to the comfy chairs, the reporter following him as he spoke. “Two things Mr Robert- firstly, ALL human laws regarding licensing rights were written specifically to do with the gaining of currency and Bendoldzians do not use currency so they are technically inapplicable.” Sanjay Gupta sits down, his face wearing a Cheshire Cat grin, “Secondly- museums? Really? Did you ever read about how in the early 21st century there was a rash of ‘copyright farmers’? Legal firms who would purchase the rights to old songs and then go after anyone who used those songs in any media, demanding payment? Men who never had a damn thing to do with the writing, performing and recording of the song, but who bought the rights and made a fortune from them? Tell me, how are museums functionally different from those odious creatures?” “That’s a debate for the courts. I don’t think they would agree,” says the reporter sitting down opposite his target. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. But the cases never came to court. The great and the good spluttered at what I was doing in utter indignation and rage, unleashed a bevvy of criminal charges upon me, sought to demand I cut them into my deal. A shake down. They were outraged that I, solely, was profiting from the collective output of thousands of years of human art.” “Yes, agreed. Its not fair really...” The billionaire smiles as he stares into his reflection in the small gold ingot he casually toyed with in his hands. “Perhaps. But then? They dropped ALL the charges. Dropped everything. Retracted every single allegation. Can you guess why?” “You cut them in?” “Actually? I made a deal but not the one they wanted. I never gave them a penny. Which begs the question- why did they drop the allegations?” “It was the Bendolzians? They were getting art from you. They moved to protect you?” “Oh no Mr Robert. The answer is much more mundane and obvious. Think back along what I have told you during the interview. What is the one glaring inconsistency in my story. What part, when you think about it, doesn’t make sense? A single idea that doesn’t sit right?” Robert Fadden blinks and sits back. His mind ranges over the rambling discussion. None of it really made too much sense he supposed. A billionaire justifying his fraudulent method of getting rich. Still, it DID seem to have a consistency to it. Fadden mused. About sex, and art, and how humans think and how the aliens think, and about copies of art, and museums and lawsuits and fraud and... He blinks. “Wait. You said the Bendolzians PAID you. But Bendolzians don’t use currency. They never ‘pay’ anyone. They trade. Technology for art.” “Ah, you are very intelligent Mr.Robert. Yes they trade. A thing for a thing.” “They gave you technology?” “No. I have never displayed any advanced technological item have I? No, they did not give me any technology for this art.” “So what did they give you?” The Indian smiles and tosses across the small gold ingot casually at him, underarm. Fadden catches it, loses it, and hurriedly grabs it as it falls. He stares at the gold bar for a few seconds. “Gold?” “The heriarchy of desire Mr Robert. Question- why do we value gold?” “It’s precious.” “No, WHY? Why is it considered precious?” “It’s rare.” “Yes. All gold on Earth arrived here at a very specific time period in the planets history. The late heavy bombardment; the asteroids came they hit the thick crust and gold was deposited. But it isn’t much. Gold is a rare and precious commodity on Earth. This rarity makes it desirable. It moves up the heirarchy of desire.” “But the Bendolzians...” “The Bendolzians are a very advanced civilisation. They harvest plasma from their sun you know? This process provides fuel for their ships. There is, however, an annoying side effect in this process.” “Annoying side effect?” “What business did I begin in again Mr Robert?” Robert Fadden clings to the small gold ingot, but his eyes widen and in a horse Scottish whisper says, “Waste disposal...” “Well done Mr Fadden. Bendolzians harvest plasma from their sun and remove the many impurities they find there, including huge quantities of a useless, soft yellow metal, that they have no need for. Gold. I offered to dispose of it for them. In my eagerness however, I unfortunately mentioned it had a value to us humans. Otherwise they may have just given it to me for free. But I was able to fashion an arrangement. I give them art, they give me lots of this waste metal,” he smiles. “But... that... I mean...” “Question Mr Robert- can you imagine what would happen to human civilisation if it was revealed that the most precious metal, the actual bedrock of the global economy, was actually as common as sea water?” “It would... the price would...” “It would lose its place in the heriarchy of desire Mr Robert. It would no longer be a Mona Lisa, but a low quality postcard of it. The value would plummet.” “It would... it could... cause a global economic meltdown.” “Which is what the leaders of the world realised. So a deal was struck. They leave me alone and I keep this a secret. I was allowed enough gold to enter the market to make me richer than anyone else who has ever been and then? I sit on the rest. Occasionally I make secret transfers to the few governments who know. I have actually helped prevent a economic crisis or two. I get good rates.” “But that’s...” “Merely a function of the hierarchy of desire Mr Robert. Human beings are no longer alone in the universe. But we haven’t actually changed at all have we? We are still human.” He laughs, joyful and happy. He catches Robert’s shocked face and his grin seems to grow. “Of course, I need to keep this fact a secret, but I’m fine with that. Mostly.” The reporter feels a cold clammy sweat trickle down his back. He gazed at the gold bar in his hand, his mind awash with a thousand thoughts and then one thought stops his thinking dead. One single thought makes him slowly look up, look at his microphone and the recording device, and then look Sanjay Gupta dead in the eye. “Wait. You have to keep this secret. From everyone. Why are you confessing to me?” “Oh Mr Robert. I’m not confessing... I am BRAGGING. The only issue with having pulled this off, this brilliant manipulation of TWO species is, alas, I can’t tell anyone about it. It can be somewhat vexing.” He leans forwards eagerly, a cold glint in his eyes. “And so? Every so often, when the desire to gloat gets too much much for me? I invite a journalist who is sniffing around, and there are ALWAYS journalists sniffing around, to come meet me. And then I get to brag about this brilliant thing I have done. It is most refreshing and enjoyable to do so. You will be the fourth person I have told this too.” “What happened to the other three?” A shrug. “They are all dead. Oh, it wasn’t me who did it. All three left this Island as alive as when they arrived. But what can I say? All three knew a secret. And maybe they would have published the story. Or maybe they would have kept it to themselves. Who knows? But I ask you? What government can take that chance eh?” “They were killed?” “Maybe. They are all certainly dead. Which is odd don’t you think?” Robert Madden finds himself standing, moving towards the open windows, staring out onto the perfect Caribbean Sea. It’s blue waves gently undulate but the beauty of it is lost upon him. His mind races, considering possibilities and permutations. Behind him two security men enter the room quietly, and the Indian muses, “Of course we have to ask WHY human governments would think it better to dispose of the reporters like this. Where exactly DO trashy tabloid journalists fit on the hierarchy?” Fadden feels very cold. A Bond villain after all... “You can keep that, by the way,” says Gupta, and Robert is aware he is still holding the gold bar; he gazed at it as his host says, “it’s not like I would miss it.” Robert closes his eyes. He considers all he knows about the world, all he has learned about life and comes to one sudden, cold, reality. “I’m fucked,” he says openly, his Glaswegian accent becoming thicker as he gets upset. “Alas yes Mr Andrew. It would appear so. Now, these gentlemen will escort you to the boat.” Robert turns and sees his recording device on the table. Next to it sits Sanjay Gupta, smiling away and next to him stand two menacing gentlemen in well made suits. Twenty minutes later he gathers his wits. As he sits on the purple boat he realises he has one chance, just one chance... if he can upload the interview onto the web, he could maybe use it as leverage. His mind races through possible negotiations with mysterious government figures, his silence can be bought. But as he fumbles with his phone he spots something and a few minutes later a crew member explains “Mr Gupta apologises, but Bendolozian craft generate a field that prevents signal getting out. If you could wait until you reach the shore...” Robert Fadden’s mind races. He’ll upload the moment he gets to the marina, then go back to his hotel, if he has time, encrypt the recording, hide all trace, use its existence as a way to... But as the boat comes into view of its destination he sees them. A small handful of local police officers. Amidst them westerners. Tall ones. Casually dressed. Wearing sunglasses. Their faces all staring at the purple boat that glides into the marina... He hears his mother’s voice echo in his mind Don’t be having anything to do with dangerous men Bobby; Ya neva know what trouble it can land ya in.
Hi all, here's your summary of what's up this spring. I don't include reading/individual study courses or field courses. FSJ does have courses available that are not listed below. Summer one is posted as well! Spring: A:
ACCTNG 322: Intro to Acc for Management Decision Making
This feathered flying serpent has taken on many forms throughout history, though it is most well known in Aztec society. There, the feathered serpent, Quetzalcoatl, was the Aztec god of wind, air, and learning, and was one of the most revered gods. Quetzacoatl was treated as a patron god to scholars and priests, due to its representation of learning and knowledge. Even before the Aztecs, in the ancient Mesoamerican cultures like the Olmec and Totonac of Teotihuacan, this feathered serpent can be found decorating a variety of different structures. In Dungeons & Dragons, the feathered, flying serpent is named the Couatl. In the early editions, the Couatl was a being of immense power and intelligence and, of the many editions, was one of the few beings in the Monster Manual that wouldn’t kill an adventurer immediately. Often thought of as benevolent, a Couatl always seems to have its wings in great efforts against evil, but maybe it’s hiding something across the editions… something evil and malevolent.
OD&D
No. Appearing: 1-4 Armor Class: 5 Move: 6/18” Hit Dice: 9 % in Lair: 15% Treasure: B, I No. of Attacks: 1 bite/constriction Damage/Attack: 1-3/bite, 2-8/turn of constriction *also poison saving throw must be made*
The Couatl first appears in the Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry (1976) and, unlike many other monsters from this edition, we actually have a bit of information to talk about. They are winged, feathered, serpent-like, and quite reclusive creatures who prefer to stick to warm jungles. They are quite intelligent and outsiders often regard them as divine creatures who rarely interfere in the world around them. They are probably considered divine because all of them can use magic, as a magic-user and as a cleric. They aren’t high level, only able to cast up to 3rd level magic-user spells or 4th level cleric spells. But, what they lack in raw power, they make up in flexibility as they are all decent in psionics. They have up to 16 different cleric abilities based on their psionics with attack and defense modes and, if you know nothing about psionics in OD&D, just assume that that is good. The more abilities you have, the greater your psionic potential, and the more psionic attacks you can make. And maybe spells and psionic attacks just don’t do it for you. The Couatl has another way of attacking creatures by biting and then constricting them with their serpent body. If you are unlucky enough to be bit by a Couatl, you have to save against poison or become poisoned. Poison in OD&D functions the same for every creature and the poisoned creature just deals half damage. If you are curious about the duration, we are too as there is no set time limit on it. It seems as if you are simply poisoned until the DM says you aren’t or you are hit by a neutralize poison spell. Lucky for you, that is a 4th level cleric spell so maybe the Couatl who just poisoned you will be willing to remove it if you ask nicely. That is, you’ll have to squeak out your request as the Couatl can use its tail to constrict you, crushing your body slowly as it, presumably, looks on with hunger. Of course, maybe it doesn’t look at you with hunger or even bite you, to begin with. Couatls are lawful creatures, with a few neutral tendencies, and largely avoid the outside world. Despite their lack of interest in the affairs of mortals, they speak several human languages and can speak to most serpents and avian creatures as well. We suppose that even hermits want to have some conversations with others, though we aren’t sure what exciting conversations a snake or a bird is going to have. The Couatl makes one last appearance in the Supplement IV: Gods, Demi-Gods, & Heroes (1976) where there is a small section on the Mexican and Central American Indian Mythology. Here, Quetzalcoatl appears as the feathered Serpent-God of the Mayan religion. He can appear when and where he wants, can hurl down lightning bolts, and all serpents must serve him. In fact, he has a dragon of every type and color under his beck and call, following out his orders and overseeing his commands. Unfortunately, there is nothing in this very brief section about the Couatl and their relationship with this divine being, so maybe they just look similar and want nothing to do with each other.
AD&D
Frequency: Very rare No. Appearing: 1-4 Armor Class: 5 Move: 6”/18” Hit Dice: 9 % in Lair: 10% Treasure Type: B, I No. of Attacks: 2 Damage/Attack: 1-3/2-8 Special Attacks: Poison, magic use Special Defenses: Become ethereal Magic Resistance: Standard Intelligence: Genius Alignment: Lawful good Size: M (12’ long) Psionic Ability: 60-100 Attack/Defense Modes: vary
The Couatl can be found in the Monster Manual (1977), and sadly doesn’t provide much more information than what we got before. It is only found in warm jungle regions, they are typically worshipped by the humanoids that live there, and are, of course, seen as divine beings of great power and intelligence. They don’t deal with the trivial matters of the humanoid races, and why should they when they can speak to all the wonderful serpents, snakes, and birds in the jungles? The Couatl can speak most serpent and avian languages. They also spend their time flying through the ether, as in the Ethereal Plane. In fact, according to the Dungeon Master’s Guide (1979), it is a favored tactic of the Couatl to use their constrict ability on a target, force their target, and them, to begin falling, and right before they hit the ground, going ethereal and letting their prey splat against the jungle floor. Kind of a messy meal, but maybe the Couatl aren’t very big on table manners. Speaking of constricting prey, we finally get a bit more information on constriction! The Couatl attacks a creature, and on a success, they wrap themselves around the victim. At that point, the victim takes damage, and then every round after that, and the couatl is still constricting, the victim automatically takes more damage. Of course, you then have to worry about it biting you, and poisoning you which is a dangerous proposition in this edition. According to the Dungeon Master’s Guide, the poison of monsters are all-or-nothing. Either you save, and don’t have to worry about the poison, or you fail and you die within a minute. Those are your two options, so you better hope you are friendly with your cleric. Going along with OD&D, the Couatl still has their cleric or magic-user abilities, as well as having psionic powers. The only new piece of power they get is the ability to polymorph themselves, though it doesn’t specify what exactly they like to polymorph into. Assuming it can polymorph based on the 4th level magic-user spell polymorph self, the Couatl can change into any form for 8 turns. Quetzalcoatl reappears in this edition in the Deities & Demigods (1980), though beyond a picture of a Couatl, it really has nothing to do with the creature. He assumes many forms, none of them mentioned even remotely look like the Couatl, and he is thought to be the mightiest god of the Central American Mythos, though his arch-enemy, Tezcatlipoca, might have a few things to say about that. For those wondering, Tezcatlipoca is the god of the sun, responsible for growing crops and bringing about drought and famine. Not a real nice guy, seeing as how his priests like to sacrifice humans and offer hearts to him, hoping to encourage his more benevolent side.
2e
Climate/Terrain: Tropical and subtropical jungles Frequency: Very rare Organization: Solitary Activity Cycle: Any Diet: Carnivorous Intelligence: Genius (17-18) Treasure: B, I Alignment: Lawful good No. Appearing: 1-4 Armor Class: 5 Movement: 6, Fl 18 (A) Hit Dice: 9 THAC0: 11 No. of Attacks: 2 Damage/Attack: 1-2/2-8 (2d4) Special Attacks: Poison, magic use Special Defenses: Etherealness Magic Resistance: Nil Size: L (12’ long) Morale: Elite (13-14) XP Value: 6,000 Psionic Ability: Level 9, Dis/Sci/Dev: 4/5/18, Attack/Defense: Any/All, Power Score: Int., PSP’s: 1d100+110
The Couatl is first introduced in the Monstrous Compendium, Volume One (1989) and is later reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993). It once again draws from the lore of culture's past and doesn’t change much from the previous editions. A creature that still resides in the warm jungle lands and the ether, the Couatl grows somewhat in its divine status. Known for its incredible intelligence and wisdom, it is a creature that was honored and admired profoundly and respectfully, it could grant gifts of health through medicine and bountiful harvests in agriculture. Despite the fact that they aren’t gods, nor trick people into believing they are, they have shrines built in their name by people hoping to be granted its gifts of health and harvest. This is the first edition to talk about how the Couatl is often thought to be a relative of a dragon, but there is no proof actually proving such a connection. This feathered serpent is not an aggressive creature but does have a rather low opinion of evil individuals. While it won’t attack an evil creature outright, it will wait and bide its time until it can catch them red-handed doing a foul deed and attack them then. Since the Couatl can still polymorph, you might not even realize a Couatl is observing your sins until they return to their natural form and squeeze the life out of you… or, maybe a dire beast just decides to eat you if the Couatl thinks its polymorph form would be better at stopping you and your evil deeds. Combat for a Couatl doesn’t change. It hangs out in the back, flinging spells and psionic powers before it runs out, and then closes in and starts biting and constricting. This time, we are given specific information about its poisonous bite and it is different than you die in a minute if you fail the save. Now, if you fail the save, you just die immediately. Which isn’t great. We also get information on its constrict and how it will constrict a victim until it, or the Couatl, is killed. Kind of a sticky situation there. If the Couatl goes to constrict, it better be pretty confident it is going to kill its victim, either through its bites or crushing it, or else someone is eating a feathery snake that night. Getting into the new information about Couatls, they are usually lone wolf type creatures. They like to travel and explore the world on their own, though they show no hostility to others of their own kind, in fact, they see all Couatl as belonging to the same tribe and will often, upon finding another of their kind, spend days and weeks talking about all the new information they have gathered. If they do happen to meet that special someone, they’ll mate for life and remain together. These two love bird-snakes will share a lair, which must be a big step for a creature that’s used to being alone. If they are extremely fortunate, they can give birth to their own bouncing baby Couatl. When we say extremely fortunate we mean it, as a live birth occurs approximately every 100 years. You might have thought that an amalgamation of snake and bird would result in an egg, but they don’t lay eggs - just a live-born baby bird-snake. Couatl junior will stay at home till at least 30 to 40 years of age, and maybe even up to a century before they set off independently. One has to wonder if the parents are charging rent for this late bloomer, but once they leave, they will forever be on the hunt for wisdom as they explore the world. The Couatl is one of the most intellectually curious creatures in existence and will travel to great lengths to obtain information, no matter how obscure or trivial others might see it. Talking about how great these creatures are, you’d probably think that they’d be adherent followers of some sort of divine being. You aren’t wrong, though it isn’t who you think it is. Quetzacoatl does show up in Legends & Lore (1990), and is even described as a flying serpent covered with green feathers, but that’s about as far as it goes. Luckily for the Couatl, not all hope is lost for a divine being comes into existence in the 1992 Monster Mythology. Jazirian, the greater god of the Couatl, is a powerful being and seen as the perfect manifestation of a World Serpent. They, as the divine being is both sexless and hermaphroditic, believes in the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge, that through reflection and contemplation, one can truly ascend. Jazirian appears as a magnificent rainbow-colored Couatl that glides through the skies of the Seven Heavens of Mount Celestia, a sight that all Couatl yearn to experience at least once in their lives.
3e/3.5e
Large Outsider (Native) Hit Dice: 9d8 + 18 (58 hp) Initiative: +7 Speed: 20 ft., (4 squares), fly 60 ft. (good) Armor Class: 21 (–1 size, +3 Dex, +9 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 18 Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+17 Attack: Bite +12 melee (1d3+6 plus poison) Full Attack: Bite +12 melee (1d3+6 plus poison) Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Constrict 2d8+6, improved grab, poison, psionics, spells Special Qualities: Change shape, darkvision 60 ft., ethereal jaunt, telepathy 90 ft. Saves: Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +10 Abilities: Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 19, Cha 17 Skills: Concentration +14, Diplomacy +17, Jump +0, Knowledge (any two) +15, Listen +16, Search +15, Sense Motive +16, Spellcraft +15 (+17 scrolls), Spot +16, Survival +4 (+6 following tracks), Tumble +15, Use Magic Device +15 (+17 scrolls) Feats: Dodge, Empower Spell, Eschew Materials, Hover, Improved Initiative Climate/Terrain: Warm forests Organization: Solitary, pair, or flight (3-6) Challenge Rating: 10 Treasure: Standard Alignment: Always lawful good Advancement: 10-13 HD (Large); 14-27 (Huge) Level Adjustment: +7
The Couatl first appears in the Monster Manual (2000/2003) and is made out to be a creature of incredible beauty and intellect. The people that live nearby still revere the Couatl, who’s now a large-sized serpent with rainbow-colored wings. Couatls speak Celestial, being that they are divine creatures, Draconic, furthering the rumors of their shared heritage with dragons, and Common, to speak with the little people. They can communicate via telepathy when they feel that verbal communication is beneath them. The Couatl is a mighty creature and has the abilities and traits to prove it, compared to 2e, one might think it’s been hitting the gym. While its melee attacks are still secondary, it still has a poisonous bite and its constriction still allows the Couatl to hold its own when it feels like getting close. Unfortunately, despite our excitement for the Couatl, its bite is no longer instantaneous death, which is probably for the best. Instead, you’ll just wish you were dead. The poison targets your Strength and decreases it by 2d4 on the initial bite, and then decreases it again by 4d4 later on, which sucks for those front line fighters who like to get their hands dirty in melee. But the Couatl doesn’t like being in the front, so let's check out what it can do from afar. In this edition, it gains a bunch of new spellcasting abilities and brings in its psionic powers. The biggest change though is that it is now a 9th-level sorcerer as opposed to being a magic-user or a cleric. Even better, it gains cleric spells that it treats as arcane spells, meaning it doesn’t have to worry about fiddling around with a divine focus or have to worry about different spellcasting abilities. It can learn 23 spells of its choice up to 4th-level, and the book recommends such goodies as wind wall, scorching ray, and summon monster III, along with a bunch of cure wound spells. If that isn’t enough for you, it also gains psionic spell-like powers that are spells it can cast that can’t just be stopped with a counterspell or dispel magic since they aren’t technically spells. It can detect thoughts, go invisible, and even plane shift with its mind! To top it all off, you may not even realize you are fighting a Couatl as it still has its innate ability to change shape into a small or medium humanoid. That means if a kobold is all of a sudden throwing spells at you after catching you doing something evil, maybe the kobold is actually a Couatl and is here to ruin your life. In the Expanded Psionics Handbook (2004), the Couatl gets a bit of a lift as this book brings in psionics for the game. This of course means that many of the monsters in the Monster Manual get a bit of a facelift so that they are truly psionic instead of just flavor-psionic. You still use the Couatl stat block found in the Monster Manual, but with some adjustments. A psionic Couatl gets another way to change its shape with its metamorphosis power, it can protect its mind from outside intrusions with its thought shield power, and has a few other defensive abilities to help protect it against outsiders and to gauge how truthful a creature is being with it. We’ve been going on about how cool the Couatl are with all of their abilities… what if you wanted to be one? Well, you can’t actually play as a Couatl but in 2004 the Complete Divine book is released and with it are a bunch of divine-themed prestige classes. One of those classes is the Rainbow Servant, which means that your character has pilgrimaged to one of the ziggurats hidden away in the deep jungles and have been blessed with divine spellcasting from a Couatl. Adventurers who follow this prestige class gain divine spellcasting abilities to further increase their arcane abilities, grow colorful wings full of feathers, and, the most exciting part of it all, gets a d4 hit die. Alright, maybe that isn’t very exciting but rather painful, but you get wings! Sometimes, you just have to make a few sacrifices. Of course, maybe that d4 for hit points is to much of a deal breaker, but a d8 for hit points sits so much better with you. Going back in time to Dragon #307 (May 2003) there is another prestige class you can take called The Follower of the Skyserpent. In this class, you get a poison bite attack that deals damage to a creature’s Strength, can cast fly on themselves to soar through the air, gets a long snake tail, and, at the final level of this class, you gain feathery wings that give you a permanent fly speed and changes you into an outsider instead of a humanoid. While this only takes 5 levels to get beautiful rainbow wings, it does mess with your spellcasting progression so it has its trade offs. In the Forgotten Realm campaign text, Serpent kingdoms (2004), an origin story for this setting’s Couatl emerges, along with a brief history of them. The Couatl was born from one of the five creator races within the Faerun known as the Sarrukh. These creatures spread throughout the Faerun, and as they did, they began to embrace the darker side of their nature. Not everyone wanted to end up all brooding and evil, so a small group broke away and implored one of the great World Serpent fragments, Jazirian, a fragment of the world serpent, for assistance. Jazirian complied, and these Sarrukh were reborn as the Couatl. Outnumbered, they still waged war against their former brethren until Jazirian was killed by another fragment of the world serpent who fought with the Sarrukh. The Couatls had no choice but to retreat from the Faerun. A few brave souls returned to Faerun in an attempt to sort out all the baggage left behind by their ancestors and they took up residence in the jungles of Chult. The Couatls were also responsible for bringing humans to Chult, assisting them in migrating and surviving in those hostile lands. Eberron has its own take on the Couatl and in the Eberron Campaign Setting (2004) and the Dragons of Eberron (2007), Couatls are the only threat to the domination of this world's dragons. Couatls are, for all practical purposes, immortal creatures in this setting, giving them a leg up of the long-living but still mortal dragon. Lore tells stories of the Couatl being created from the blood of Siberys and that they are responsible for securing away the rakshasa spirits who threatened to take over the world. The dragons and Couatl had worked together in the past, but the dragons had abandoned them in their fight against the demon overlords in the Great War. The Couatl were almost completely wiped out as they had sacrificed themselves to bind the demon overloads in a divine prison, and while some dragons felt a bit bad about it, the dragons decided to keep looking forward instead of worrying about the great loss of Couatl life.
4e - Couatl Cloud Serpent
Level 18 Artillery Large immortal magical beast (reptile) / XP 2,000 Initiative +13 / Senses Perception +21 HP 135; Bloodied 67 AC 30; Fortitude 29, Reflex 30, Will 31 Saving Throw see twist free Speed 6, fly 8 (hover) Action Points 1 Bite (standard; at-will) ✦ Poison, Radiant Reach 2; +25 vs. AC; 1d6 + 4 poison and radiant damage, and ongoing 10 poison and radiant damage (save ends). Hurtling Coils (minor 1/round; at-will) Reach 2; +23 vs. Fortitude; the target is pushed 2 squares and knocked prone. Sky Bolt (standard; at-will) ✦ Lightning, Radiant Ranged 20; +23 vs. Refl ex; 2d10 + 6 lightning and radiant damage. Snaking Arcs (standard; recharges when first bloodied) ✦ Lightning, Radiant Area burst 3 within 20; targets Radiant Absorption ✦ Radiant If a couatl cloud serpent takes radiant damage, its attacks deal 5 extra radiant damage until the end of its next turn. Twist Free A couatl cloud serpent makes saving throws against immobilized and restrained conditions at the start of its turn as well as at the end of its turn. In addition, a cloud serpent can make saving throws against immobilized and restrained conditions that do not allow saving throws and would normally end at the end of its turn or at the end of an enemy’s turn. Alignment Unaligned / Languages Supernal Skills Arcana +20. Diplomacy +19, Insight +21 Str 19 (+13) Dex 18 (+13) Wis 24 (+16) Con 21 (+14) Int 22 (+15) Cha 20 (+14)
4th edition comes and relegates this noble creature to the Monster Manual 2 (2009), stripping it of its previous lore. It is now described as an ancient race that hates demons, that they are single-minded in their pursuit of the extinction of evil, and have little time for anything else. Supposedly born at the beginning of time, Couatls have fought in the great war, known as the Dawn War, between primordials and the gods. We don't know whose side they were on, but we’ll assume it was the winning side since they reside in the Astral Plane which is the home of the divine. They are still creatures of kindness and good, but they are also overly focused on the task and sometimes ignore the situation at hand. You may be trying to do something for the greater good, but if it conflicts with what the Couatl is doing at the moment, you may find yourself the target of their fury, especially when the Couatl inevitably thinks it is in the right. We are presented with two versions of the magnificent winged snake, the Couatl Cloud Serpent and Couatl Star Serpent. The bite and the constriction melee attacks remain, but that’s about it. Spellcasting is gone, along with any chance of them having psionic abilities. What replaces them isn’t anything to write home about, as the creature is now more of divine celestial power, with the abilities to go along with it. What that boils down to is that the Couatl now does a lot of radiant damage. Its bite still does poison damage but also does radiant damage, and you don’t have to worry about just dropping dead immediately. The Couatl can summon radiant lightning to its aid, striking down its enemies, and can absorb radiant damage to make its attacks even more devastating. Our next Couatl shows up in the Primal Power (2009) book which provides all those winged-serpent lovers to become one! If you are playing the Warden class, a divine-powered ranger, you can take a paragon path at 11th level and become a Radiant Serpent. This path allows you to eventually take on a serpentine appearance surrounded by radiant light. You sprout wings, you can heal your allies, and smash your enemies down with radiant energy. The best thing about all of this is you don’t have to worry about taking a 1d4 hit die as this is tied to your Warden class. The last bit of information can be found in The Plane Above (2010), where the Couatl takes a dramatic turn in its personality, though it is quite close to this edition’s Monster Manual 2. No longer benevolent creatures that stand for all that is good and kind in the world, they are now just jerks. When we say jerks, we really mean giant jerks who are so focused on destroying evil, that it’s more of a miracle that they fight for good and the divine and not the other way around. It turns out their reputation of being good creatures is predicated on demons being their arch-enemies, so people just assumed they were goody-two-wings. In reality, they live to fight, and their society is based on a ranking system of how many kills and trophies they have. Not only that, but they are braggarts who love to tell stories about their conquests, embellishing them at every opportunity, of course, they don’t prune about these stories, they have bards and servants to do that. Living in their fancy cities in the cloudlands, Couatls spend their time trying to climb the social ladder when they aren’t slaying demons and other evil creatures like beholders, aboleths, and other foul creatures. Further illustrating what jerks they are, Couatls go around the multiverse searching for adventurers, warriors, and more to take on as part of their retinue and to use them as pawns to destroy evil, and thus increase their rank in Couatl society. The text calls them retainers, but considering how it goes on to talk about how the Couatl will use “mild coercion” to get adventurers to work for them, we’re not quite sure we believe them. While Couatls won’t start off being a pushy feather-serpent, as it will attempt to use its vast treasure hoard to persuade others, it will eventually start working against the adventurers until they learn from their mistakes, apologize to the Couatl, and agree to keep working with them. It’s not all bad for the Couatl, they do a lot of good work around the multiverse, but they are just focused on social climbing that they have forgotten that fact. As evidence of that, there is a splinter group of Couatl who have realized what a bunch of jerks they have turned into and have broken off into a group known as the Deniers. They believe in self-denial and that they shouldn’t be destroying evil just to help themselves, but to help others. They decorate their wings with ashes and give up much of their wealth to organizations that further the goals of goodness and light. Couatls who have splintered off with the Deniers hate them and have nothing but loathing for them.
5e
Medium Celestial, lawful good Armor Class 19 (natural armor) Hit Points 97 (13d8 + 39) Speed 30 ft., fly 90 ft. STR 16 (+3) | DEX 20 (+5) | CON 17 (+3 ) | INT 18 (+4) | WIS 20 (+5) | CHA 18 (+4) Damage Resistances radiant Damage Immunities psychic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 15 Languages all, telepathy 120 ft. Challenge 4 (1,100 XP) Innate Spellcasting. The couatl's spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring only verbal components: At will: detect evil and good, detect magic, detect thoughts 3/day each: bless, create food and water, cure wounds, lesser restoration, protection from poison, sanctuary, shield 1/day each: dream, greater restoration, scrying Magic Weapons. The couatl's weapon attacks are magical. Shielded Mind. The couatl is immune to scrying and to any effect that would sense its emotions, read its thoughts, or detect its location. Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 8 (1d6 + 5) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 24 hours. Until this poison ends, the target is unconscious. Another creature can use an action to shake the target awake. Constrict.Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one Medium or smaller creature. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage, and the ta get is grappled (escape DC 15). Until this grapple ends, the target is s restrained, and the couatl can't constrict another target. Change Shape. The couatl magically polymorphs into a humanoid or beast that has a challenge rating equal to or less than its own, or back into its true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (the couatl's choice). In a new form, the couatl retains its game statistics and ability to speak, but its AC, movement modes, Strength, Dexterity, and other actions are replaced by those of the new form, and it gains any statistics and capabilities (except class features, legendary actions, and lair actions) that the new form has but that it lacks. If the new form has a bite attack, the couatl can use its bite in that form.
Arriving in 5th edition, the Couatl appears in the Monster Manual (2014) and, unfortunately, takes a few steps back in terms of lore and danger. Looking at the stat block, it is obvious the Couatl is a creature that is meant to assist the party and not to engage them in combat. The bite and constrict melee attacks remain, and while the bite is at least slightly more dangerous than 4e, it just knocks you unconscious for 24 hours or until someone shakes you awake. The Couatl retains its polymorph ability but it is restricted to humanoids and beasts that are CR 4 or less. It regains its spellcasting abilities, though it's all buffing and healing spells, probably to help whatever group of unfortunate adventurers are saddled up with it. Looking at the lore, it harkens back to the older editions, though that isn’t necessarily a good thing. At least 4e changed some things up to make it an interesting creature to come across while 5e’s lore is all about hiding, refusing to reveal yourself to outsiders, and, in case we forgot to mention it, hiding. The Couatls were first created as guardians by some ancient being that only they can remember, and were each given special mandates to fulfill. Nowadays, those mandates have all mostly been fulfilled with just a few Couatl still waiting for their prophecies to come true. This means a lot of Couatls just twiddling their tails and waiting for time to pass them by. This is especially a problem for the Couatl as they have a lifespan that borders on almost forever. They will eventually die from old age, but a lack of food or air is no big deal. To add to that, they can see their death up to a century in the future and, while they aren’t looking forward to it, they do accept it. Though, if their life goals haven’t been finished, they will search for a mate to reproduce with. It doesn’t sound like the Couatl believes in true love, or proper parenting either. Once their offspring is old enough to go out into the world on their own, they are tasked with completing the parent’s goal and are trained until the parent dies. This rather lackluster bit of lore makes it difficult to try and include these creatures in a campaign. They hate revealing what they are, they hate talking to people, they are secretive, they prefer hiding and not interacting with others, and to top it all off, most of them have already finished their big quests of good and are just wasting time until they die. Not exactly a lore full of exciting adventure hooks for a DM to use. But it’s not all bad for the Couatl in this edition, as they do have a limited role in an adventure! In the Tomb of Annihilation (2017), there is a jungle guide of Chult who is a disguised Couatl who is willing to help adventurers get through the jungles and arrive in Omu. She doesn’t reveal herself to be a Couatl, unless she has to, and tries to have the adventurers clear out sources of great evil in the jungles without telling them why or revealing anything else. So while not a great traveling partner, she can at least cast a few spells to heal the party if they are feeling a bit beaten up after an encounter, not like she is going to do much during combat anyway. The Couatl is a magnificent feathered serpent whose radiant beauty is enough to make onlookers weep. They are incredibly standoffish and want nothing, or very little, to do with outsiders as they are so wrapped up in their own quests. Despite a few strange steps here and there, they are interesting creatures, it's just a shame that much of their lore makes them reclusive jerks who can’t be bothered to help mortals.
Why we possibly live in a simulation and is love the key?
https://preview.redd.it/655wghivrae61.png?width=660&format=png&auto=webp&s=ed50b4a58bd20e400fa0f0a77013e550596dd23e Albert Einstein once said: “Reality is an illusion — albeit a very persistent one”. Over the years, there have been a growing number of people who have suggested that we are inhabiting an illusion or virtual reality. Elon Musk has said that the chances we’re living in base-reality are “a billion to one” and has suggested that at the rapid rate at which video-game graphics’ sophistication and verisimilitude is increasing it won’t be long before games become “indistinguishable from reality”. In which case, the argument goes, how do we know we aren’t already in a computer simulation now created by more advanced beings? Philip Dick once said: “We are living in a computer-programmed reality and the only clue we have to it is when some variable is changed and some alteration in our reality occurs”. This is more than whimsical thinking and science fiction. While exploring the mathematics of String Theory, physicist James Gates discovered literal “computer code” buried deep within the equations, with Gates saying: “I’m left with the trouble of trying to figure out if I live in The Matrix”. https://preview.redd.it/ou6u6kcurae61.png?width=478&format=png&auto=webp&s=14b701636f282968a050ea4ec0fe9ecc0f6b22d1 A common argument that we could be in a virtual reality or computerized simulation comes from the discovery of Quantum Entanglement (otherwise known as Nonlocality) which describes the ability of objects to instantaneously correspond with one another, even when separated by large distances (supposedly even across the known universe). In a simulation or video-game, distance doesn’t limit instant correspondence because all points in the game are equidistant with respect to the source of the simulation. In which case, Nonlocality would make sense if the world were a simulation. The implications of the Double Slit experiment also suggest that we could be living in a simulation due to the fact that the particles which behave like waves are in a superstate. They are neither there nor are they not there. In other words, what you don’t see isn’t actually present. This is how performance optimization works in video-games and how we are able to represent massive open worlds. What is not visible to the observer simply does not exist and doesn’t have to be rendered (see the book ‘The Simulation Hypothesis’). https://preview.redd.it/jwkh5570sae61.png?width=456&format=png&auto=webp&s=0bdc608c5cfcd1e426c24f281905dcf827ce271c The idea that ordinary humanity is trapped or imprisoned in a virtual reality is a very old one of course. Plato once allegorized our perception of existence to that of shadows on a cave that had been watched by a group of prisoners since they were born. The prisoners in the cave (being representative of unenlightened humanity) believed that the shadows represented true reality because that is all they ever knew. In Buddhism, there is also the concept of Maya which tells us the world is an illusion. But it doesn’t just refer to any illusion. Maya is used to represent the fact that we take the world around us to be real when it’s only a temporary illusion. Meanwhile, according to Gnosticism, our souls have been trapped in materialism. Gnostics believed the world had been created by a malevolent being called the Demiurge and that our souls have descended from above and are capable of reascending through “gnosis”. They identified the Demiurge with Yahweh. According to Gnostic researcher John Lash, Gnostic “cosmological text explains that the [realm] of the Demiurge is a virtual reality”. https://preview.redd.it/qc48y0x4sae61.png?width=475&format=png&auto=webp&s=925af7142229622b1469a373a3a12011bc834726 Assuming we are trapped in a virtual reality, how do we escape? Some say that to escape the material world and ascend, we must unite the macrocosm with the microcosm through the Tree of Life, thus accomplishing the Great Work (a term used in Hermeticism to describe enlightenment and the rescue of the human soul from the forces that bind it). Part of the Great Work is to “become one with our soul and our loved ones and make the world a better place”. According to Gnosticism, there’s only one way to escape the material world and it’s through “gnosis” which entails “demonstrating love and compassion and striving to escape from materialism”. Meanwhile, in the book ‘The Simulation Hypothesis’, Rizwan explains that to break the spell of Maya (and Samsara) and escape the material world and ascend, we must transcend our Karma and achieve Moksha (a Buddhism term). The law of Karma is said to be the fundamental law of the universe underlying all the laws of nature. Rizwan describes Karma as the process whereby “every being evolves towards its own intrinsic perfection”. https://preview.redd.it/f7hw2ca9sae61.png?width=474&format=png&auto=webp&s=b988c2de93e851e102b636350e914b3f9ab96d0e The idea of escaping Samsara and breaking the spell of Maya through Karma can be seen in various movies and TV shows. Most notably, Groundhog Day, where the protagonist is trapped in a loop. The movie is jovial, but profound. The protagonist, Phil, finds himself repeating the same day over and over again, with no escape. He starts off as being unkind to others and self-absorbed and floats along without comprehension of how his actions affect those around him. Only when he learns to be more caring does he escape. As someone else says: “Groundhog Day is the message of Buddhism where the hero escapes the suffering of life by being good and doing good for others. Students of Buddhism believe that we are destined to relive events based on Karma and only the most enlightened among us get to “awake” and will escape”. The movie Christmas Every Day also touches upon the same themes. The protagonist, Billy, starts off ungrateful and self-absorbed, and finds himself trapped in a loop, with Christmas repeating every day, until he learns to be more caring, which breaks the loop. Another movie with a comparable storyline is Before I fall. Similar to Groundhog Day and Christmas Every Day, in this movie the protagonist is also condemned to live the same day over and over again, until she figures out how to escape the loop. Initially, she possesses all the selfish whims of teenage desire, but like Groundhog Day, eventually, she learns to be a better person. After repeating the same day many times, she learns a lot about herself and how she has hurt those around her. Her shift from selfishness and absorption in her boyfriend (who she only cares about because of his looks) to emotional maturity and genuine love for her friends and family, is what breaks the loop. The Endless is another loop movie that “examines Karma and confronts the characters with variations of the same challenges over and over again”. The take-home message is: Good Karma (and love) will release you from Samsara. In the movie Interstellar, love also plays a role in Cooper escaping the loop and hypercube, which he sums up by saying: “Love is the one thing that transcends time and space”. https://preview.redd.it/j59lo3fgsae61.png?width=475&format=png&auto=webp&s=1b1eb5db3a0e5f86b69eae7249e149d12071829c Similar to Groundhog Day, The Matrix also has Buddhist elements. The virtual reality that Neo inhabits in The Matrix is periodically reset. In this sense, the Matrix is akin to Samsara, and Neo represents the ancient Buddha who set the example of breaking free. How does Neo break free and overcome Smith? He tries everything to overcome Smith. But in the end, dies, and has to be brought back to life by Trinity. It was the love Trinity had for Neo that brought him back from the dead. “You can’t die, because I love you” she says, as she kisses and resurrects him, echoing the story of Isis and Osiris: The two soul mates who were reunited through love, and the resurrection of Osiris by Isis, who breathed life back into his body, leading to the vanquish of Set (Smith). It was self belief powered by love that unlocked Neo’s true power. His journey could be seen as a representation of us once we’ve been surrounded by people that we love. The Matrix, in my opinion, is another story that sends the message that love is the key to setting oneself free from the clutches of the Demiurge’s virtual reality. The idea of escaping the material world and ascending by having good Karma and by having a good heart is not only hinted at in Hollywood movies. According to many religions, when someone dies, their soul (or heart) is evaluated. Thousands of years ago, paintings show dead Egyptians appearing before the gods and having their deeds weighed on the Scales of Justice. On one side of the scales was placed their heart which was counterbalanced by a feather that represented Maat — the goddess of truth and justice. If their deeds were good and their heart pure, they would move on to the afterlife where they would live for eternity (the afterlife for the ancient Egyptians was known as the Field of Reeds and was like Earth, except for the fact that there was no sickness or death). However, if their deeds were bad and their hearts tainted by evil, their hearts would be swallowed by a monster and some say they would wander Earth for eternity. The weighing of hearts against a feather on a scale determined by truth and justice is an ancient model of what most people today would call Karma.
The fundaments of Armenian nationalism, cultural/moral standards, the Armenian Honour Codes and political guidelines of the Armenian Renaissance movement (still a concept, needs to be rewritten and there are a lot of points that need to be added).
Lately the extreme leftist Armenians (usually whitewashed, Westernized or NGO shills) engaged an attempt to rewrite and redefine on what Armenian traditional family life means. This is mostly consisted of cheap misrepresentations and presenting the worst examples as being the main drive of our traditional family life - which actually in reality proves to be more stable, lovely and meaningful than the current Western family life that mostly got deconstructed by the academic, cultural and media influences of Cultural Marxism, harmful parts of capitalism/hypermaterialism/consumerism, feminism and egocentrism/hedonism that replaced any sense of belonging and higher transcendent ethnic goals. Problem with "liberalism" is that it gives people the illusion of choice while this "choice" is mostly decided by the dominant corporates and globalist powerstructures that give the mass selective ideas of "freedom" (through controlled/conformistic ideas that are pushed by their institutions of education, artificial mass-cultures & media). Most people rather let others think for thems & follow their lusts.Thats why any administration that loves the well being of it's own people needs to have a defense-mechanism against external threats & subversive elements that damage the cultural and religious values of your nation (which are essential for the continuation of your ethnic group). It was evident that Armenians were easy to manipulate in 2018 by the effective Western ideologic imperialism and didnt understand the socio-cultural harmful parts of "liberalism" (especially for a country like Armenia that can't afford to be weakened and fragmentized).Western "liberalism" also gives room for other influential parties to spread degeneracy among your people (this happend to Armenia with all these Soros lackeys infiltrating in our government). We cant let the current globalist օտարամոլ traitors of Nikols party rule us any longer. You can also clearly see the negative results of "liberalism" in our diasporan communities where many of our young Armenians are alienated from our traditional culture & rather LARP the values & ideologies of white liberals. Many of them have severe identity-crisises due to this & then call your culture "outdated", "bigoted" & "archaic" for the sole reason that it doesnt represent their "progressive" standards. Liberals and fake neo-conservatists are the true colonizers of the modern world, while the most European nationalists just want their own space. There are many examthes in this document on why certain Western liberal doctrines should be rejected in order to protect the moral and cultural well being of your people. Liberal-progressivist Armenians should wake up from their ideologic arrogance and realize that we cant afford to culturally and morally weaken ourselves. The CM methods are meant to deconstruct our essential values and replace them with what the political Western elite wants. West-Europeans have ruined many unique cultures in the past by Westernizing/Colonizing them and trying to make them behave and think like them. They still try to do the same by using their political and media influences (to reach Ideologic Western Hegemony > their code word for this agenda is Cultural Globalism, political liberalism/progressivism or mass culture). For example: the Brits used Westernized Indish lackeys for their colonial/imperialistic interests by giving them power and the idea that they are superior over other Indians who wished to stay true to their cultural principles (Im sure any there should ring a bell to any Armenian EU-NGO shill reading this). Be an individual for heavens sake, there is no pride in being a tool of foreign group of people who dont care about Armenia or Armenians (its their own idoelogic, political and cultural agenda that has the priority). Thats why we non-Western PoC that value our traditionalistic cultures need to have a more aggressive tone and approach towards their indoctrination methods (cultural whitewashing/assimilation), so that we dont fall for the same cultural deconstruction proces that happend to many authentic cultures who were assimilated and Westernized by white West-Europeans (you can compare the contemporary Melting Pot tactics to this development). If you’re proud of your traditionalistic culture say it out loud! You will not conquer us ideologically, culturally or spiritually (by spreading your void, liberalism and nihilism) and we will stay true to ourselves even if it means literally fighting you! Dont trust white liberals, they are just as arrogant like their ancestors who thought that you’re a savage if you didnt submit to their “progressivism”. The Rebirth of the Armenian Soul in the Modern Era : The Struggle For Survival of The Armenian Diaspora. The imprortance of a New Cultural Awakening and a Revolution against Cultural assimilation and ideologic liberal colonialism. The fundaments of Armenian nationalism, cultural standards, the Armenian Honour Codes and political guidelines of the Armenian Renaissance movement.
Family and community are the cornerstones of the society and the guarantee of having a future for the Armenians. Starting a family and having as many children as possible must be encouraged at all time and by any means. This also implies not giving postmodern Western anti-family values any space in Armenia or in our diaspora.
Armenian nationalism should be the default mindset of any nation loving Armenian who prioritizes the well being of his/her people. Protecting our own interests and countering globalists or Panturkic powerstructures is an essential part of maintaining this mindset.
Respecting our Armenian church that ensured the existence of the Armenian identity during the periods of Islamic and Soviet occupation. Christian values are also vital for having a morally balanced society and Armenian Apostolic Church is the main institution to project these values into our people. Every Armenian family is obliged to teach their children proper theology, Church history, teachings of our Church fathers (not seculahumanistic drivel of the current Western churches) and giving the same responsibility to pass this on to the next generation.
(Diaspora): Permanent repatriation should be the goal of all Armenians who live in the diaspora. There is no long term future for the Armenian diaspora since cultural detoriation, Westernization (mass-culture) and mixed-marriages intensify the assimilation process.
(Diaspora): being able to speak, read and write in Armenian is an important part of what makes us Armenian and what makes possible to pass down our cultural identity to the next generation. Speak Armenian at home and with your Armenian friends, there are no excuses of not knowing your own language when we live in the age of accesible information overload. The Armenian soul lives through the breath of our language.
(Diaspora): Our history (see lost diasporas) and many researches already proved that mixed-marriages result into higher rates of assimilation for the upcoming generation (its basically game over when your half-Armenian child also marries a non-Armenian). By knowing this we should teach our children to focus on trying to find an Armenian partner and try to avoid dating otars (this will make it harder for your future children to grow up Armenian (identity crisis). This does not mean that we should exclude half-Armenians (its not their fault that they are half), in contrary: we should encourage them to adapt the same protectionistic mentality and to marry with an Armenian. We cant afford to lose even more Armenians to assimilation since we are less than 8 million in the world (this would have been different if we had 20+ million Armenians around the world). Its important to recover from the Armenian Genocide by increasing our population. Note: this is not relevant for Armenia itself since the mixed Armenians will be overwhelmengly influenced by the dominant Armenian culture and will stay Armenian.
Ensuring a more interactive connection/relation/institutions between Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora (as a means for repatriation or cultural preservation).
Installing diaspora governments that are situated in Russia, USA, France and Middle-East (as a part of guideline 7).
Every Armenian should aspire to have a higher understanding of our history, ethno-genetics, literature, poetry, language, music, traditional/cultural values, dance, customs and spiritualism. Its important to also facilitate this knowledge/insights to your children.
The Western liberal order and its mass-culture bring new challenges in preserverving our culture in the diaspora and in Armenia itself. Armenians must be aware of this ideologic warfare and not replace our values with the ones that go against our own principles and cultural standards. You're not only Armenian by name but also need to be Armenian in your soul, mind, behaviour and lifestyle (by being wise, mentally strong and intelligent enough to recognize Western postmodern poison and protect whats ours - this should also apply to Armenian socialists that reject imperialism and Western neo-colonialism). What use does it have to call yourself an Armenian when you have culturally more similarities with foreign nations? (Becoming more enveloped in and identified with the Western contemporary culture/mindset) Being raised and surrounded by primary Western culture and influences is not an excuse to degrade and feel more superior over the culture/mindset which the majority of our people from our actual homeland cherrish and respect (refind your roots instead of trying to change it for your own comfort or cope for your identity crisis).
No matter what these deconstructionist/Globalist pseudo-intellectual "educated" subversives say, what an Armenian is does depend on essential collective factors (they are interlinked):
Genetics
Cultural identity
Language
Religious identity
Traditional values
I will complete the following guidelines in the coming days (these are still unfinished concepts) -
The nuclear monogamous hetrenormative family structure remains the standard (by opposing the Capitalistic Trojan Horse of Neo-Feminism ).
Traditional gender norms in the family that generate harmony, healthy relationships and order.
Wholesome protectionistic masculinity.
Virtueous nurturing femininity.
Men have the obligation to take care of their community, be responsible for its people, protect the honour of its women, raise their sons in way that they can take over this responsibility and act as strong moral guidelines.
Having higher standards of sexual morals that is needed to keep the worth of love and intimacy in balance. Not losing the worth of intimacy by normalizing meaningless soulless HookUp and Tindr culture in your community - sexual "liberation" degeneracy (Essentialism)
Respect and decency against older people and our parents.
Egocentrism, selfishness and having cold relationships are not appreciated within the family.
Honour, dignity, sacredness, class & nobleness are concepts that we have the responsibility to keep them alive (see point ... for more explanation).
We don’t hypersexualize our culture or sexually objectify our women (at least not our decent women who dont want to oversexualize themselves and rather keep their class, elegence and dignity).
Honour-codes in the family
Dont let your daughters fall into whoredom and your sons into weak effeminized men or MGTOW lowlives
When we date each other, we have the intention to look at the possibilies of engaging a long term relationship that eventually will lead to marriage and start a family.
We don’t see our women as sexual objects for temporary use but as future mothers and loving wives (unless they present themselves as such).
Reject promiscuity. Valuing your intimacy and not sharing it with everyone is vital for having a healthy marriage & healthy perception of what love is. There is a good reason why promiscuity causes so much misery in the more Western liberal countries (higher divorces, teen pregnancies & degeneracy). Teaching your children that unfiltered "sexual revolution" does have negative consequences on their mental state & commitment is one of the essentials to prevent this damage. They will only accept partners who have serious intentions with them (not solely for their temporary pleasure). This is the an important obligation that parents have towards their children. You need to give your daughters wise directions on how to be modest, elegant and most important of all: to be a woman that has dignity. This will reduce the chances of attracting the "wrong crowd". You need to teach your sons to protect their women, be responsible, be respectable towards women who also respect themselves and focus on finding and recognzing women that are suited for marriage.
Even before marrying, we make sure to involve our parents and create a stronger bond so our families can unite with each other (collectivism > individualism).
After the marriage the other family members are still involved to assist and support you with matters like raising up children, relationship issues or maybe help you out from certain financial problems. We always look for each other.
During the marriage there are clear roles and functions that the husband and wife NATURALLY are taking on them.
Upholding the sanctity of marriage between husband and wife.
Husband: keeps the peace at home, loves his wife and makes her feel the queen of the castle. Loves his wife unconditionally and does everything to fulfil her demands, makes his wife confident and lets her feel special, provides for the needs of his wife and kids, takes important decisions, sets out the essential moral values of the family, is a natural leader that radiates dominance without even forcefully demanding authority. Protects his daughter from intruders who have bad intentions with her (also teaches her how to recognize wrong men and how to bond with men in a more healthy way) - she also needs to understand the concept of the worth of intimacy and selfrespect. Explains to his son what being a man is, the concept of honour and how to take responsibility for his own actions + teach him how to recognize girls who are suited for marriage.
Wife: she is the safe haven of the home and very caring for the whole family. She decides how the house is run, takes care of the household, is the architect of the appearance of the house and makes sure everyone is loved at home. She supports her husband to become more successful and gives him confidence and hope, loves him UNCONDITIONALLY even when he gets struck by misfortune, always doing effort to look good for her husband. Her traits are soft, elegent, classy and she cares the pride of the family with her. The mother must be like a second girlfriend to her daughter and teach her everything what it means to be a good loving wife and protects her from the filth of the outside world (oversexualization, degeneracy, wrong men, harmful subcultures). Also every other aspects of giving them the Christian and Armenian heritage that I described in the sections ...
Active ivolvement of other family members. “To each his own” is a postmodern selfish individualism that diminishes any warm bonds between the family members (cold approach).
Keeping our tradition of valuing and respecting erudition, intelligence, talent, excellence, high education, ancient wisdom and creativity by not being taken away by Western Mass Culture, consumerism-materialism and their shallow decadent entertainment industry that lowers and dumbs down the collective quality of our people (brain drain).
The militarization of our minds and bodies
Rejection of decadentism, hedonism, nihilism and cosmopolitan worldview (duty before pleasure) - having a connection to our homeland and culture rather than identifying with an abstract cosmopolitan feeling of “universalism” or "Global Citizen" (which is a vague artificial Western concept) or worshipping the corporate pushed Western mass-culture (entertainment industry, liberal order and other institutions of social-engineering).
Ethnocentrism
Allegiance to the foreign country first is out of the question (supporting/working for foreign powers that go against our interests)
Understanding the fragile position of Armenia and Armenians in the diaspora by not promoting Western liberal values like pacifism, cultural-moral relativism, anti-patriotism and egotistic fake "individualism" which weakens the fundaments, unity, ethno-cultural identity and the urge to fight for the cause of our people
Defensive Nationalistic mindset and having Historic Realism above Political Correctness if it comes to our enemies (reject all notions of the deluded illusions of "co-existence).
39.The transcendent understanding of our Tribal (pagan), Tseghakron and Christian Spiritualism
Rejection of normalizing and facilitating sins that go against our religion or common cultural moral standards
pornikutsjun
gomikutsjun
alcoholism
drug addiction
cheating
see 7 deadly sins
Healthy dose of “social-control” (keeping each other sharp and on check).
The current Western notions of secularism and "humanism" are counterproductive for the interests of the Armenian people.
Rejection of the progressive religion, 3th wave feminism and the goal of moral/cultural deconstruction to reach their idealistic standards of utopian egalitarianism.
Completely reject the actions of Armenians who degrade themselves sexually but still use the Armenian label, which they have no right to, to advance their evil intentions (ex. lowlife hook-up culture that is spreaded by the likes of Kim Whoredashian trend, materialistic/shallow “Kukla” lifestyle and neo-feminist degeneracy)
Completely reject the throwing down the name of Armenians via cultural, historical, and other means of harassment (attempts of liberalization, whitewashing and Westernization of our ethnic-cultural identity)
THE POLITICAL GUIDELINES OF THE ARMENIAN RENAISSANCE MOVEMENT
Prioritizing the position of the Church and our faith with the use of education, media and public Church activities.
Oppose any form of LGBT-propaganda, anti-family feminism or other ideologic imperialistic movements that are instigated from the West - the true inentions rely behind geo-political hegemonie and dominance in our region (stop being naive and understand the intentions behind the Western NGO infiltration of our government and other public institutions).
Abortions must be more restricted in order to stop the decrease of the Armenian population.
Not allowing any mass-immigration from nations that are not compatible with our ethno-cultural identity (repat of Armenians must be the top priority).
Ban online porn websites in Armenia.
Increase the punishment of prostitution (also for the visitors).
Restrict the requirement for casino permits.
Increase the punishment for the distribution of drugs.
Free speech will only be restricted in cases of physical threats
Aspire for higher standards of aesthetics & beauty in the fields of art, theater and architecture
Improve the Labour Laws and working conditions of the least paid workers (ARF Socialism)
The public schools do not promote or push demoralizing and deconstructive harmful doctrines of Cultural Marxism and other ideologies (see points ...) that go against our Armenian interests.
The Armenian public tv/media do not broadcast and facilitate degeneracy and demoralization.
Not allowing hormone therapy on children to turn them transgender
Localism above Globalism if it comes to fragile markts/branches/sectors (putting some restrictions on hostile/predatory multinationals)
Prohibit any Soros linked NGO’s.
Responsible deep ecology/environmentalism.
Improving our own Labour Market instead of importing cheap immigrant workers.
Criticizing mass bio-industry.
Implementing laws that improve transparancy and monitoring banks.
Maintaining good diplomatic relationships with Russia, Iran and China and be more attentive (in a careful way) on Western hegemony in the region (their imperialistic program of ousting Russia in expanse of Armenia).
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