3/5 stars
The Chinese Army (KMT) was an important allied contributor in the war against Japan, mainly as a punching bag. The KMT had just emerged victorious in the warlord period and was hopelessly outclassed by the more sophisticated Japanese. This book is supposed to give visual structure to the KMT in this period, and in this regard achieves only marginal success due to poor plates and a bloated subject matter - why include the civil war in such a tiny book?
After being advised by the USSR, the KMT received a Nazi German military mission which formed ten élite divisions equipped with the famous M35 German steel helmet. Those divisions would be destroyed in Shanghai and Nanking; a trend for the KMT during the war: armies would be continually raised and crushed throughout the war, ending 1945 with a seemingly strong and well-equipped force that would be routed by the Communists in the final showdown of the civil war.
The greatest problem with this book is "Show, don't tell". The author tries to present the KMT soldier as a salvagable case but the text does not convey this view properly - especially by the ill-judgement of including the civil war. Even fighting the Japanese in Shanghai 500,000 to 200,000 the KMT still managed to lose; with élite German-trained troops notwithstanding.
The armoured forces are discussed this time, with the author claiming the US-trained ones could-maybe-luckily-perhaps be almost an equal to their Japanese enemies, but I am not convinced. Not mentioned is the fact the KMT had 15 Panzer I light tanks for the fight in 1937; it didn't make them much good, but still. The KMT paratroops got only one single photograph with the description hammering yet again the trope and nothing else. Something that could have been mentioned is that some of those paratroopers would hijack a ship from Taiwan and defect to mainland China in the early 1950's.
There is a cronology at the beginning of the book and I was surprised to see the Chinese did manage to beat the Japanese back a few times - even if unskillfully and at great cost. The more manageable time frame was mostly wasted in repetition and a poor grasp of visual representation; making this one of the few Osprey books where photographs are better than the plates. The book also suffers from lack of proper proof-reading, with many typos, lack of spaces and bold where it is due.
The plates are ugly, underwhelming, disproportionate and very repetitive; showing pretty much the same thing over and over again. The style is bad and many figures are just too small to present the bagdes and ranks painstakingly described in the text - sometimes not even present in the illustration - and some of the plates are almost exact copies of others simply to show a badge you can barely see. The author again places the KMT ranking system (half the page) already showed in the previous book (and again in the next) and another half-page written description of the old and new shoulder straps. Those lenghty and overlapping explanations should have been visually represented in the plates, with the actual colors and shapes. Some plates should have depicted only the bust of the soldiers with the head gear and rank insignia - show, don't tell.
The core value of this book is the discussion about the KMT strengths and weaknesses. The KMT units ranged from adequate to very poor (to the point of being useless). The brutal military culture in China gave no reward for victory beside the opportunity for pillaging, and the Chinese peasant soldier had no emotional stake beyond his own immediate unit. Very little changed from the peasant levies of the medieval periods and their mindset is also interesting: courage and endurance were not the qualities looked on to, but rather caution and cunning in an environment riddled with feuds and constant betrayals.
The Chinese soldier was always in trouble and when he wasn't chased by the Japanese soldiers and Chinese puppet troops, he had to contend with the Communists and with his own paucity of resources in a squalid country. It was also common for Chinese soldiers to be absorbed by the victorious armies when defeated (the cadres could be killed, though) and the KMT also lost many men that way, especially in 1948. Not mentioned in the book is that the long suffering peasant soldier of the KMT would still be braving enemy fire as far as 1953 against the UN forces in Korea.
The narrative is very laborious to read, plagued by repetition, padding and a narrow focus on uniform details - how many times do we need to read about puttees and shoes? I got it the first time. Might as well just make a footwear section of one paragraph. The constant repetition left out far too much, such as the US-KMT relation, the KMT occupation of northern French Indochina and the island battles up to 1950.
The lack of unity would be the KMT's undoing, especially with their abusive relationship with the Americans. The author describes the incompetent General Stilwell as "the logical choice", which is ludicrous. He was awfully unfit for the job, having served behind a desk up to that point and lacking strategic vision; he and his second in command (who was recommended sacking and court-martial by Stilwell's successor) would have been easily banished from commanding even a cleaning working party if they were in North Africa or France. Stilwell also kept holding Lend-Lease material from the Chinese as blackmail and used the Chinese as cannon fodder throughout the war against the KMT's best interests.
The KMT also had the problem of taking cities in Manchuria that were stripped clean of industrial machinery by the Soviets; sort of karma really, since the KMT occupied the Tonkin in French Indochina and refused to leave until reaping the profits of the poppy production there. Not to mention that the KMT also interned the French forces that shot their way through the 800km of jungle from Tonkin to China, in a running battle with the Japanese, as if the French were enemies and not allies. The KMT march to occupy the Tonkin was also painfully slow - they took three months to march on foot - and the Viet Minh had time to build their cadres, terrorize the population and to capture Japanese weapons. All of which they kept doing with the KMT there, with the addition of buying weapons from those very troops.
The subject is interesting and the author is knowlegeable on the subject matter, but the true "face of battle" endured by the KMT soldier remained elusive amid constant detours to appease modellers. The author devotes adequate space for weaponry and tanks (albeit wasted in those awful plates) and the discussion of the motley supply the KMT had. Thankfully, the author sticked to Wade-Giles, so the reader can more easily follow through the narrative. The photographs are high quality and the first half of the book is compelling. The author also published longer books on the subject such as "Soldiers of the White Sun: The Chinese Army at War, 1931-1949" (208 pages) and "China's Wars: Rousing the Dragon 1894-1949" (400 pages).

Yesterday I had multiple people ask me to post this, and their comment has 552 likes at the time of me writing this, so I have spent the last day and a half editing, and adding information so it's up to standard. Overall, it has taken me close to a week to make. It probably isn't perfect, but I will edit it if I notice any mistakes. I hope you enjoy ❤
I would like to start this off by saying that this is an incredibly long write-up. This case spans 54 years, and this write-up is over 8650 words long, and is in fact so long that it exceeded the character limit, forcing me to make 2 parts. u/that1guywiththehat has already covered this case, and their write-up is much shorter. I will link it here, and you can check it out if you'd like. They did a fantastic job. 😊
https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/g3wqcc/after_18yearold_annette_craver_vail_vanishes/
Secondly, this write-up borrows EXTENSIVELY from "Gone," a 35,500 word book about the life and crimes of Felix Vail. It contains information that you simply cannot find anywhere else, and I'd estimate that around 80% of this write-up uses it's information. While it's extremely long, being over 4 times the length of this write-up, it is well worth the read. I will also link it here so you can check it out if you'd like.
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/felixvailgone/2016/12/29/felix-vail-gone-one-wife-dead-two-other-missing-jerry-mitchell/95895894/
Now with that out of the way...

PART 1:

MARY HORTON:

​
Born on the 16th of February 1940 to Floyd and Lillie Horton, Mary was popular, beautiful, and well liked. She became homecoming queen at Eunice High School and wrote for the school newspaper. After graduating she began attending McNeese State University where she was so popular that all 5 sororities invited her to join. She eventually chose Chi Omega.
https://www.clarionledger.com/gcdn/-mm-/d313713be82928fb5c54a52348e9f0b6fbe9ca88/c=0-232-3288-4617/local/-/media/2016/12/27/JacksonMS/JacksonMS/636184665129485321-mary-horton-0001.jpg?width=300&height=401&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
(Mary Horton from 1957, as Eunice High School homecoming queen.)
A FATEFUL ENCOUNTER
In 1960 she began dating William Felix Vail Sr, who goes by Felix. He was 6’, slender and in the words of another sorority girl “looked like he’d been touched by heaven.” In her diaries and messages to friends, Mary spoke of being happy and excited. However, not everything was sunshine and rainbows for the young couple.
On June 20th, 1960, Mary confided in a friend “I really do love Felix, but I don’t think that I like him anymore. He really is sweet, but we don’t see eye to eye on things.” She requested that a friend set her up on a date with another man in the hopes that Felix would leave her.
In response to this date, he came to Mary saying he suffered from a disease. She asked what disease he had. He meant Mary.
The 2 had a conversation that Mary described as ‘Felix doing all the talking, and her just listening.’ He told her that he had changed, and she said that she had too.
The 2 began dating again, but Mary continued to see other people. She attended a house party with Kelley McFarland, who afterwards heard that Vail was so angry he ‘wanted to kill him.’ McFarland tracked him down, eventually meeting him in dark woods. The 2 exchanged no blows, and they went their separate ways.
After this incident, Mary described herself as “miserable” and Felix as “jealous”, although she reiterated her love for him. There was reportedly an incident at a pool party where Felix “walked up to Mary and just slapped the heck out of her,” according to Mary’s high school boyfriend Leonard Matt.
Despite everything, Mary continued to defend him, calling him a “wonderful person.”
THE MARRIAGE
On July 1, 1961, in Eunice, Louisiana, Mary Horton and Felix Vail got married.
https://www.clarionledger.com/gcdn/-mm-/3a212b032aef874dfc60297c45f3a63946f5aeee/c=0-304-1765-2658/local/-/media/2016/12/28/JacksonMS/JacksonMS/636185193505145184-1022maryhorton003.JPG?width=300&height=401&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
(Mary Horton in her wedding dress, July 1st, 1961.)
In the fall of that year, Mary began her job as a second-grade teacher at Moss Bluff Elementary School. That December, she found out she was pregnant. Another teacher, Myrtis Quinilty said Felix didn’t want a child.
Her sister-in-law, Sue Jordan, told Mary the only reason Vail believed she wanted to get married was to have a baby, and not because of him. Mary blamed herself, saying “I can see, looking back, from many things I said how they could have been misunderstood.” Mary insisted that the couple were happy but did comment on how unattractive she felt while pregnant, a sentiment that Felix shared.
On their anniversary, Mary gave birth to William Felix Vail Jr, who they called Bill.
https://www.clarionledger.com/gcdn/-mm-/c701d4cdc0e5ff127e79b575a1c137adfa57d585/c=0-0-180-240/local/-/media/2016/12/28/JacksonMS/JacksonMS/636185195986996911-TCLBrd-08-11-2016-ClarionLedger-1-A001-2016-08-10-IMG-636047953682196834-M-1-1-G0FAJ00I-L860703094-IMG-636047953682196834-M-1-1-G0FAJ00I.jpg?width=180&height=240&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
(Mary holding Bill in 1962)
Within a month, Mary suspected that she may be pregnant again. At this time, strange things began to happen in the couple’s apartment. One morning, the couple awoke to find their front door had been removed from its hinges. Another time, they found the front door of their apartment wide open. Nothing was stolen.
Mary began receiving threatening calls. The couple concluded that whoever was calling must be watching them because the caller only ever did it when Felix wasn’t home.
Mary spoke with her mother about divorcing Felix. Her mother, a devout Catholic, urged her daughter to stay and work things out. It would be a fatal mistake.
MARY'S DEATH
On October 28th, 1962, at 7:30pm, Felix Vail drove up to Shell Beach saying that his wife had fallen in the water of the Calcasieu River while they were running trot lines. It took 2 days to find her body, close to where Vail had said she disappeared.
Her funeral was held on October 31st. Vail never paid a cent for it.
On November 4th deputies arrested Vail at work, hauling him to jail and questioning him. He refused to take a lie detector test. The coroner ruled Mary’s death an “accidental drowning,” a sentiment not shared by the officers who found her body, or the community at large. Days later, Vail was released without charge, as the D.A declined to prosecute.
Months later, he picked up his son, Bill, from the Louisiana home of his late wife’s aunt and headed for Mississippi. According to Bill years later, Vail told him that he and Mary were out fishing, that a boat had come by and caused a big wave and knocked her out of the boat. Mary didn’t know how to swim, had no life jacket (despite being afraid of water) and so immediately sank and drowned. He said he had almost died trying to rescue her.
I will go further in depth into Mary’s death further down this write-up when I go through the investigation that followed, decades later. There are more details that I will cover there.
ROBIN SINCLAIR:
In this section I will cover his relationship with a girlfriend between the murders of Mary Horton and Sharon Hensley. Vail was a full-time scumbag and I want to illustrate that, as well as show some of the other lives he’s impacted, and other people he’s hurt. I will be covering multiple instances like this one. If you only want to read about the 3 murder victims, feel free to scroll down, I have them clearly marked for convenience.
AN 11 YEAR AGE GAP AND A DEAD-BEAT DAD
In 1967, Vail met a 17-year-old Robin Sinclair at a bus stop in San Diego. (Vail would have been 28 at this time. Large age gaps will be a theme in this write up.) She was spending the summer there with her sister, and the 2 began dating. When summer break ended, she left without him, returning home to San Francisco.
In October of 1968 while attending an Iron Butterflies concert, Vail appeared again. Sinclair took it as a sign that the 2 belonged together. He had his young son Bill, and the 3 bounced from place to place together. Sinclair would later describe how Bill was poorly looked after, neglected and that Vail would even give the young boy drugs. Bill would later recount his father giving him LSD as a child.
While watching over another couple’s home during the Christmas holidays, she learned she was pregnant and shared the news with Vail. He said, “Well, I don’t think you’re emotionally stable enough to handle the pregnancy.” The next morning, Vail and his young son had vanished. A friend told Sinclair that he went back to Mississippi, that it was time for his son to go to school and that he didn’t want to be with her.
Heartbroken, Sinclair would move in with her parents. In August of 1969 she gave birth to her daughter, who she named Simone. She wrote Vail an angry letter, and 2 months later he showed up on her doorstep. She told him to leave, and that she never wanted to see him again. She never did.

SHARON HENSLEY:

​
Sharon Hensley was born on December 20th, 1948. Growing up in the state capital of Bismarck, North Dakota, she dated football players and belonged to the high school’s 'Demonettes', an award-winning dance team founded by a former Rockette.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT-drYY1YZjqadja6gpHI_j8-zHNTiww7XDLwZ3pq-m&s
(A photo of Sharon Hensley.)
She graduated in 1966, and attended Bismarck Junior College, where she took classes in dance and acting, performing in a play with her older brother, Frank.
In 1967, aged 19, Sharon discovered she was pregnant. Wanting to escape her hometown, she followed her brother Frank and other classmates to San Francisco. After arriving, she stayed in a home for single mothers, where she gave birth to a girl she named “Cherry” after the popular Neil Diamond song. She told friends she wanted to keep the child but was unable to. Two years after leaving for California, Sharon was in jail and her mother, Peggy, headed there with a $5,000 cashier’s check to bail her out. When she returned, Sharon wasn’t with her.
“She said she had lost her daughter,” her younger brother Brian would later say. “She cried almost every night. She was never the same after that.”
MEETING VAIL
While house-sitting in a high-rise apartment, Vail would meet his future girlfriend, Sharon. She was 20, and attractive, having even modeled in her teens. They became friends, and then started a relationship despite the 10-year age gap.
While hitchhiking across California, Vail would confess to Hensley that he had killed Mary, something his son Bill overheard. Because of this, Bill would later go to the police to report his own father for murder. The police at first didn’t believe Bill, but after camping out on the front steps, one detective listened. He told the detective that he was hungry, tired of using the drugs his father gave him, that he wanted to go back to school, live like other kids, and that he had overheard his father admit to killing his mother.
At a beach along the Merced River, police found his father and Hensley, carrying a bag of LSD capsules. Police charged the couple with LSD possession and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Vail received a six-month jail sentence, plus three years’ probation, after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of LSD possession.
California police shared their information with Louisiana authorities. Once again, the district attorney in Lake Charles once again passed on prosecuting Vail for murder. Another fatal mistake.
Bill returned to Mississippi to live with his grandparents, who then gained full custody. On January 23rd, 1971, Vail and Sharon showed up in the driveway. Bill thought Vail was there to kill him, and his grandmother had to reassure him that he was safe.
The father and son eventually sat down and had a talk. Vail told Bill that he didn’t blame him for the time he spent in prison, but instead blamed Sharon, which the young boy found strange because “she had nothing to do with it.”
The family wondered how the couple could even legally be in Mississippi if they were supposed to be on probation in California. They couldn’t. After a visit from the Sheriff, the 2 were smuggled out of town and given enough money to get back to the West Coast.
In the Summer of 1972, the couple appeared unannounced at Sharon’s childhood home in Bismarck. The more the family saw of the couple, the more horrified they became. Sharon wore a mini skirt with no panties and had armpit hair and leg hair "like a man." She had been losing weight and losing clumps of hair.
Her younger brother Brian said it felt like his sister had been brainwashed. If someone asked her a question, “either Felix would answer the question for her, or she would look at Felix while she was giving the answer.”
The couple left then North Dakota and traveled to Mississippi, where they stayed with Vail’s family. On the dairy farm the family owned, they helped paint the home. The couple also sunbathed in the nude, drawing the ire of neighbors.
Peggy Hensley received a telephone call from Sharon, who said she and Vail were heading to New Orleans and then to Miami to make pornographic films. She believed it was a cry for help as “what daughter tells her mother she’s going to do a porno?” Sharon’s parents wanted to travel down to get their daughter back but couldn’t. (The 2 did end up shooting pornographic scenes together, but I won’t get into any of that.)
In early 1973, Sharon called and talked of traveling to South America with Vail, where they would eat natural foods and write a book. It was the last conversation the family would ever have with her. Soon after, she would send her final letter. It contained a photo of her holding a pen, captioned “making travel notes.” It was the last picture ever taken of Sharon Hensley.
https://www.clarionledger.com/gcdn/-mm-/94195697544ea2e63b0b95e33a6de88a8b4f1e2b/c=0-50-399-276/local/-/media/2016/12/28/JacksonMS/JacksonMS/636185487179588030-Sharon-Hensley.jpg?width=399&height=226&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
(The last photo ever taken of Sharon.)
THE DISAPPEARANCE
In March of 1974, Peggy received a letter from Vail, claiming he was in West Florida. He wrote that he last saw Sharon about a year before in Key West, with an Australian couple that was traveling around the world. All he recalled was the first names of the couple (John and Vanessa), who were talking with Sharon about “island hopping around South America, the West Indies, --- Hawaii for a while, maybe a couple of years in the Philippines, then India, Egypt and the Mediterranean islands and coasts. I don’t know which of these (if any) they decided on or in what order.” Peggy didn't believe a word of it.
In the fall of 1975, Vail’s mother wrote to the Hensley family, saying that her son was surprised the family hadn’t heard from Sharon during that time. Interestingly, Vail told his mother the names of the couple that Sharon left with were Frank and Sally, different names than he had given a year earlier. Vail explained to his mother that before Sharon left, she had burned all her identification cards, got new IDs, and declared that she would become a completely different person.
Bill recalled his father mentioning Sharon. “He said she would never bother anyone ever again.” The words upset Bill, who believed his father had just confessed to another murder. “There was not a soul I could tell about it because I had had my experience in court when I was 8, no one would believe me. It would be my word against his, and no one would believe a 13-year-old.”
​
SHARON CAMPBELL:
I want to talk about this relationship because of the egregious age difference. For reference, Campbell is only 4 years older than Vail’s son.
While riding a bus to north Mississippi in 1975, Vail sat next to 17-year-old Sharon Campbell. Despite being literally twice her age, he commented on how fit she looked, saying "he needed someone like her to keep him fit." In spite of this, she felt flattered and shared her telephone number with him. Not long after she got home, Vail appeared in a yellow Volkswagen bug.
Vail said he wanted Campbell to travel with him, and she told him the only way her parents would allow it was if they got married.
On July 24, 1975, they did, honeymooning in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
In court years later, she would tell prosecutors that they never consummated the marriage because “he was unable to obtain an erection.” (This isn’t relevant, I just wanted to include it out of spite because fuck this guy.)
Several weeks later, she went with Vail to visit his relatives in Louisiana. There, she said a niece told her, “You probably need to know that he killed his first wife --- they arrested him. We all believed that he did it, he drowned her out of a boat.”
Campbell didn't believe them, telling herself that he would be in prison if he was a murderer. But as the months passed by, she concluded that he “had no value in the female gender,” and that “he hated women.”
She later traveled with Vail to his parents’ home in Montpelier. While there, he was outdoors working on the Volkswagen and Campbell walked closer without him noticing. He opened a compartment, and she said she saw “sinister, surgical looking saws of all shapes and sizes in a neat formation.” To her, the sight screamed evil. “It scared me. I said, ‘I’m not going anywhere with you.’” She left, annulled the marriage, and never looked back. It was likely the best decision she ever made.
After the divorce he would marry a woman named Carolyn in 1977. The relationship would end after he cheated on her with a woman named Alexandra Christianson during a double date. When Carolyn called Vail’s mother and asked her if the behavior surprised her, she simply replied “no.”
After being served the divorce papers, Vail smashed his car into her MGB Sports Car. A month later he would call her saying “I love you.” She did not reciprocate. She would later describe Vail as “mentally deranged.”
​
ALEXANDRA CHRISTIANSON:
Alexandra is the woman Vail cheated on Carolyn with. She eventually got married to him in Mexico after he officially divorced Carolyn. Not long after their marriage, she heard that Vail was cheating on her.
After a motorcycle accident, he came to rest up at her condo in Costa Mesa, where she confronted him about the cheating. He reportedly got agitated and said, “you know my first wife died.” When she replied saying he’d told her she drowned, Vail shot back “I could have saved her, but I chose not to.”
After telling him to leave, she went to have a shower. While in the shower, Vail attacked her, wrapping his hands around her neck. Hearing her screams, Alexandra’s young brother came in, grabbing Vail and forcing him to the ground. Vail then left.
Soon after this, she found out she was pregnant. The child was still-born, and Alexandra was heart-broken. She would later lead important investigators to witnesses that were used in Vail's eventual trial.
In part 2, I will cover Vail's final victim Annette Craver, and the lengths her mother went to to finally secure justice.
Here is Part 2:
https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/143riqi/felix_vail_the_pedophile_serial_killer_caught/
MY SOURCES:
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/8284?nav
https://charleyproject.org/case/annette-michelle-craver-vail
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/felixvailgone/2016/12/29/felix-vail-gone-one-wife-dead-two-other-missing-jerry-mitchell/95895894/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5796622/mary-elizabeth-vail
https://charleyproject.org/case/sharon-hensley
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/20525?nav

Predictmedix – a great way to surf the Artificial Intelligence wave. There is a saying attributed to Mark Twain that goes, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but if often rhymes.” This means circumstances might be different but similar events often recur. This is good because securities regulators demand that you make it clear that in the financial markets, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” However, investment analysts continue to use rhymes and here’s one that could help you see sizeable investment returns from Predictmedix Inc. (CSE: PMED, OTCQB: PMEDF). This is how the rhyme comes together: A. The 1990s technology boom: The parallel I see is between the current Artificial Intelligence cycle and the dot-com stock market cycle of ≈1990 to ≈ 2002. As background, the 1990s either developed or laid the groundwork for changes that completely transformed the world we live in. Out of that time came many new technologies and related developments and each was highly disruptive. Here is a very brief list of some of those developments: (1) Nokia was the first mass-produced cellphone offered in 1992 with the ability to send and receive phone calls as well as store data (e.g. phone numbers). (2) The World Wide Web, a.k.a. the Web browser was proposed in 1990 and debuted in 1991. This was the start of the Internet, Websites, e-mails and a massive amount of information that would become available to everyone. (3) With the explosion of data available, finding it became a challenge. Mosaic started as the first search engine in 1993 followed by Yahoo in 1994 and Google in 1998. Today, Google has risen to the top and become synonymous with an Internet search. Google it. (4) Other important developments of that time included the growth in the capacity of microprocessors, Photoshop, texting, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, realistic videogames for a more adult market, collecting and using DNA, the start of e-tailing and more. (5) Finally, we have the stock market. Cisco, Dell, Intel and Microsoft are sometimes referred to as the four horsemen of the 1990s tech boom. But we can’t ignore Apple and Google and there were many more that benefited. The smaller, new, Initial Public Offering companies came to the fore with incredibly high returns in the second half of the 1990s. The chart to the right shows how stock markets performed during the 1990’s high-tech boom. A few things are worth noting: (1) The Dot.Com stock market cycle lasted a long t time. Essentially, more than the decade of the 1990s. It’s length reflected the importance of the fundamental changes taking place. (2) There was an important development regarding the stock market that has become part of the stock market legend. On December 5, 1996, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan in a televised speech used the term “irrational exuberance” to describe a stock market that he thought was highly speculative and overvalued. His comment was intended as a warning from the Fed that the stock market, driven by the high-tech developments described above, was overvalued. His timing was five years early which is a lifetime in the stock market. (3) The five years after Greenspan’s “irrational exuberance” statement was the most profitable for investors of the entire ten years plus of the stock market cycle. As you sit reading this brief, imagine your life without a cell phone, the Internet, e-mail and text messages. How different would your life be without just these four products that emerged from the 1990s. A more relevant question might be how different would your life be if you had purchased shares in Apple or Cisco or Dell or Google or Microsoft back then? B. The Artificial Intelligence Boom (AI): The term Artificial Intelligence was created in 1955. The idea was to have a machine that could take data, and find patterns that would enable it to make predictions and reach conclusions (make decisions). The Oxford Dictionary defines AI as “The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.” It was Moore’s Law in 1975 that stated the capacity of semiconductors would continue to double every two years which enabled computers to be able to put into practice the AI Boom that is taking place today. Current forecasts say the AI industry will grow to $900 billion by 2026 and $15.7 trillion by 2030. AI growth in the 1920s could dwarf anything high-tech was able to accomplish in the 1990s. (1) There is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) boom going on and many people don’t yet realize it is even happening. AI is used in: i. Self-driving and parking cars. AI is used by Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Toyota and Volvo. ii. Maps and navigation. Enter where you are and where you want to go by car and Google Maps, for example, will give you a choice of routes, the time optimal route taking into account construction and traffic. iii. Facial detection or recognition. Facial detection identifies a human face or facial recognition that identifies a specific face that can be used for surveillance and security. iv. Digital assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google’s Now and Microsoft’s Cortana. When combined with search and recommendation AI, Alexa or Siri is able to learn your preferences and recommend things you are interested in. v. Customer service chatbots that answer frequently asked questions, track orders or direct calls. Often people will be unaware they are dealing with a machine. vi. Vehicle recognition use computer vision and deep learning to find a specific car on a surveillance video. vii. Robot vacuums can scan a living area, look for and remember objects in the way, remember the best route for cleaning the area and decide how many times it should repeat cleaning a specific area. It is estimated that by 2030, between 400 and 800 million jobs will be displaced by Artificial Intelligence and 375 million people will have to change to a totally different type of work. It is also forecast that it is not just lower-paying, blue-collar jobs that will be replaced by AI. Jobs such as accountants, lawyers, doctors, investment advisors and portfolio managers might all be substantially eliminated. AI will impact all industries and the rate of change will be exponential, that is, the rate of change will accelerate. For example, what does a doctor do? In general, a doctor gathers new information, refers to a patient’s medical history, refers to a medical book or today’s Internet, makes a diagnosis and provides s treatment. This is also what a lawyer does. AI might reach the point where it can do it faster and better than a human.. AI does present threats to human existence. As AI is changing exponentially, it will happen faster than the technology boom of the 1990s. It took technology 20 years to produce the changes we discussed above. AI could produce equivalent changes in 10 or 15 years. For example, ChatGPT, an AI product went from zero to 100 million users within months making it the fastest-growing consumer software product in history. There will be others. (2) The AI shift could drive economic change and a stock market cycle at least as significant as the last “dot.com” cycle. The “go-to” companies today for participation in AI are the likes of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Meta (NASDAQ: META), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Oracle (NYSE: ORCL). These are very large companies. GOOGL has a market cap of $1.6 trillion, AMZN has a market cap of $1.2 trillion, META has a market cap of $$648 billion, MSFT has a market cap of $2.4 trillion, NCDA has a market cap of $963 billion and ORCL has a market cap of $282 billion. (3) While these are excellent businesses, they are also amongst the world’s largest companies. In 2022, GOOGL, META and MSFT purchased 2 out of every 3 AI chips. In my opinion, it is almost unthinkable that GOOGL can be a ten-bagger from a base market cap of $1.6 trillion or AMZN from $1.2 trillion. But it is clear these stocks now have a major component of their value derived from involvement in Artificial Intelligence and it is not surprising that early adopters would choose a lower risk/lower return approach to gain exposure to an emerging Artificial Intelligence industry. (4) The changes created by AI also carry some risks. The speed of change will be challenging to human beings. There are forecasts that say one in four workers globally will see their jobs disappear and one in eight workers will have to be retrained in a totally unrelated field. During the industrial revolution and the tech boom, there was always the promise of more and better jobs. With AI we may have reached the point where machines actually do replace workers. (5) Cathie Wood is a well-known and widely followed money manager with a reputation for expertise in the Artificial Intelligence sector. Wood manages a range of portfolios including the ARK Innovation Exchange Traded Fund (ARKK) and since its founding in 2014, Bloomberg estimates NDVA has contributed 13% of the fund’s 112% total return only behind Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Invitae Corp and Tesla. That is all positive but Wood sold the ARKK holding in NVDA in January 2023 just before it rallied strongly adding some $560 billion to its market cap with $200 billion coming on one day after reporting earnings. Wood’s investors have basically missed the huge rally in the stock and the sector in 2023. (6) But there is another phase I would look for and that is the participation of smaller, retail investors. Whether it was in the tech cycle I discussed above, the “meme” stocks or commodity exploration and development cycles in the past, the retail investor buys in before the bull market ends. Market pundits such as Citi global asset allocation and Vanda Research make the same observation: where is the retail investor? We know the institutional investors have been getting in. So far in 2023 according to Bloomberg, the top 4% of stocks in the S&P 500 have contributed 94% of the index return and 8 of the top 20 include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet Class A, NVIDIA, Alphabet Class C, Tesla and Meta. In other words, the top 2% of the stocks in the S&P 500 contributed 94% of the return. Through mid-May, if the AI stocks are omitted, the S&P Index would be down -1.4% instead of up +8.3%. All of these stocks are AI leaders and each of them is an institutional stock. Yet, I believe the retail investor will come into the market and when they do, it is stocks like PMED for which they have always had an appetite. C. I think investors will get more bang for their buck by investing in a small company like Predictmedix Inc. (CSE: PMED, OTCQB: PMEDF) with a total commitment to AI. From a base market cap of $16.6 million and, as I have pointed out in recent reports, many different business verticals to get them higher, I see PMED as a unique opportunity for aggressive growth investors. It is hard to imagine any decade having more of an impact on the ensuring socio-economic decades than the 1990s. Imagine your activities today without your cellphone, Internet, email and texting. I expect the cycle driven by AI to be a long one, similar to the dot-com cycle that lasted longer than the decade of the 1990s. To the right is a chart published by Luke Lango’s Hypergrowth Investing. It shows the stock market in the 1990s and overlays current results. The parallels Lango sees include: • Federal Reserve’s tight money policy slowed economic growth in 1990 as it is doing currently. • In 1990, the markets were down around 20% and in 2022 stocks dropped around 25%. • In late 1990, the Fed started reducing interest rates and the markets rebounded. • In late 2022, the Fed has turned less hawkish and into 2023 has slowed the pace of interest rate increases. The markets have been recovering. • In the early 1990’s, the dot-com stock market rally began and the market would advance generally higher for the rest of the decade and into the new millennium. • Today, it is Artificial Intelligence that is pushing stocks higher and given my expectations for AI, it could stock prices higher until at least 2030. Conclusion: I believe Predictmedix Inc. (CSE: PMED, OTCQB: PMEDF) is exceptionally well positioned to participate in the upcoming boom in Artificial Intelligence. There are many different ways to describe market cycles that evolve around such drivers. Here is mine: Accumulation: the earliest buyers tend to be larger institutions that gain the information necessary to be early adopter. I have given several statistics to show this has been happening. Retail Participation/Speculation: as the story gains acceptance, less experienced investors enter the market and prices begin to rise more quickly. After two to three years of combined buying by large and small investors, it is possible to identify speculative activities such as very rapid increases in a stock price or underwritings of companies based on questionable valuations. This is the next phase I see ahead for the current AI cycle. Distribution/Sale: At some point, toward the end of the Retail Participation/Speculation phase, some investors will begin to sell. It is popular to believe that institutional investors or “smart money” sell at this stage. During the many years, I have spent in the investment business, this is not true. Institutions can hold on to their AI stocks for far too long and end up seeing their portfolios incinerated. This is still many years away. The challenge today with a stock like PMED is not getting out; it is getting in. Bear Market: eventually there will be a broad sell-off of AI stocks. Some institutions will sell without regard for their impact on the market. Margin buyers will get margin calls and may be forced to sell again without regard to price. At this time, over half of the AI companies trading at that time will simply disappear. Some will be successful but remain smaller. Some will merge with another AI company. Some will be acquired. Very few will survive and become leaders in the industries. They will become the Alphabets, Amazons, Metas, Microsofts, Nvidias, and Oracles of the 2040s and 2050s. I started out with the quote “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” So I don’t think the AI cycle of the 2020s will be the same as the high-tech cycle of the 1990s but I think it will be similar. If you agree, Predictmedix Inc. (CSE: PMED, OTCQB: PMEDF) is a stock to buy for your portfolio.

Predictmedix – a great way to surf the Artificial Intelligence wave.
​
https://preview.redd.it/dsdoua3bum4b1.png?width=741&format=png&auto=webp&s=0c6465d57b00593297b8a23bd6609b3702f9a710
There is a saying attributed to Mark Twain that goes, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but if often rhymes.” This means circumstances might be different but similar events often recur. This is good because securities regulators demand that you make it clear that in the financial markets, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.”
However, investment analysts continue to use rhymes and here’s one that could help you see sizeable investment returns from Predictmedix Inc. (CSE: PMED, OTCQB: PMEDF). This is how the rhyme comes together:
A. The 1990s technology boom: The parallel I see is between the current Artificial Intelligence cycle and the dot-com stock market cycle of ≈1990 to ≈ 2002. As background, the 1990s either developed or laid the groundwork for changes that completely transformed the world we live in. Out of that time came many new technologies and related developments and each was highly disruptive. Here is a very brief list of some of those developments:
(1) Nokia was the first mass-produced cellphone offered in 1992 with the ability to send and receive phone calls as well as store data (e.g. phone numbers).
(2) The World Wide Web, a.k.a. the Web browser was proposed in 1990 and debuted in 1991. This was the start of the Internet, Websites, e-mails and a massive amount of information that would become available to everyone.
(3) With the explosion of data available, finding it became a challenge. Mosaic started as the first search engine in 1993 followed by Yahoo in 1994 and Google in 1998. Today, Google has risen to the top and become synonymous with an Internet search. Google it.
(4) Other important developments of that time included the growth in the capacity of microprocessors, Photoshop, texting, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, realistic videogames for a more adult market, collecting and using DNA, the start of e-tailing and more.
(5) Finally, we have the stock market. Cisco, Dell, Intel and Microsoft are sometimes referred to as the four horsemen of the 1990s tech boom. But we can’t ignore Apple and Google and there were many more that benefited. The smaller, new, Initial Public Offering companies came to the fore with incredibly high returns in the second half of the 1990s.
The chart to the right shows how stock markets performed during the 1990’s high-tech boom. A few things are worth noting:
(1) The Dot.Com stock market cycle lasted a long t time. Essentially, more than the decade of the 1990s. It’s length reflected the importance of the fundamental changes taking place.
(2) There was an important development regarding the stock market that has become part of the stock market legend. On December 5, 1996, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan in a televised speech used the term “irrational exuberance” to describe a stock market that he thought was highly speculative and overvalued. His comment was intended as a warning from the Fed that the stock market, driven by the high-tech developments described above, was overvalued. His timing was five years early which is a lifetime in the stock market.
(3) The five years after Greenspan’s “irrational exuberance” statement was the most profitable for investors of the entire ten years plus of the stock market cycle.
As you sit reading this brief, imagine your life without a cell phone, the Internet, e-mail and text messages. How different would your life be without just these four products that emerged from the 1990s. A more relevant question might be how different would your life be if you had purchased shares in Apple or Cisco or Dell or Google or Microsoft back then?
B. The Artificial Intelligence Boom (AI): The term Artificial Intelligence was created in 1955. The idea was to have a machine that could take data, and find patterns that would enable it to make predictions and reach conclusions (make decisions). The Oxford Dictionary defines AI as “The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.”
It was Moore’s Law in 1975 that stated the capacity of semiconductors would continue to double every two years which enabled computers to be able to put into practice the AI Boom that is taking place today. Current forecasts say the AI industry will grow to $900 billion by 2026 and $15.7 trillion by 2030. AI growth in the 1920s could dwarf anything high-tech was able to accomplish in the 1990s.
(1) There is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) boom going on and many people don’t yet realize it is even happening. AI is used in:
i. Self-driving and parking cars. AI is used by Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Toyota and Volvo.
ii. Maps and navigation. Enter where you are and where you want to go by car and Google Maps, for example, will give you a choice of routes, the time optimal route taking into account construction and traffic.
iii. Facial detection or recognition. Facial detection identifies a human face or facial recognition that identifies a specific face that can be used for surveillance and security.
iv. Digital assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google’s Now and Microsoft’s Cortana. When combined with search and recommendation AI, Alexa or Siri is able to learn your preferences and recommend things you are interested in.
v. Customer service chatbots that answer frequently asked questions, track orders or direct calls. Often people will be unaware they are dealing with a machine.
vi. Vehicle recognition use computer vision and deep learning to find a specific car on a surveillance video.
vii. Robot vacuums can scan a living area, look for and remember objects in the way, remember the best route for cleaning the area and decide how many times it should repeat cleaning a specific area.
It is estimated that by 2030, between 400 and 800 million jobs will be displaced by Artificial Intelligence and 375 million people will have to change to a totally different type of work. It is also forecast that it is not just lower-paying, blue-collar jobs that will be replaced by AI. Jobs such as accountants, lawyers, doctors, investment advisors and portfolio managers might all be substantially eliminated. AI will impact all industries and the rate of change will be exponential, that is, the rate of change will accelerate.
For example, what does a doctor do? In general, a doctor gathers new information, refers to a patient’s medical history, refers to a medical book or today’s Internet, makes a diagnosis and provides s treatment. This is also what a lawyer does. AI might reach the point where it can do it faster and better than a human..
AI does present threats to human existence. As AI is changing exponentially, it will happen faster than the technology boom of the 1990s. It took technology 20 years to produce the changes we discussed above. AI could produce equivalent changes in 10 or 15 years. For example, ChatGPT, an AI product went from zero to 100 million users within months making it the fastest-growing consumer software product in history. There will be others.
(2) The AI shift could drive economic change and a stock market cycle at least as significant as the last “dot.com” cycle. The “go-to” companies today for participation in AI are the likes of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Meta (NASDAQ: META), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Oracle (NYSE: ORCL). These are very large companies. GOOGL has a market cap of $1.6 trillion, AMZN has a market cap of $1.2 trillion, META has a market cap of $$648 billion, MSFT has a market cap of $2.4 trillion, NCDA has a market cap of $963 billion and ORCL has a market cap of $282 billion.
(3) While these are excellent businesses, they are also amongst the world’s largest companies. In 2022, GOOGL, META and MSFT purchased 2 out of every 3 AI chips. In my opinion, it is almost unthinkable that GOOGL can be a ten-bagger from a base market cap of $1.6 trillion or AMZN from $1.2 trillion. But it is clear these stocks now have a major component of their value derived from involvement in Artificial Intelligence and it is not surprising that early adopters would choose a lower risk/lower return approach to gain exposure to an emerging Artificial Intelligence industry.
(4) The changes created by AI also carry some risks. The speed of change will be challenging to human beings. There are forecasts that say one in four workers globally will see their jobs disappear and one in eight workers will have to be retrained in a totally unrelated field. During the industrial revolution and the tech boom, there was always the promise of more and better jobs. With AI we may have reached the point where machines actually do replace workers.
(5) Cathie Wood is a well-known and widely followed money manager with a reputation for expertise in the Artificial Intelligence sector. Wood manages a range of portfolios including the ARK Innovation Exchange Traded Fund (ARKK) and since its founding in 2014, Bloomberg estimates NDVA has contributed 13% of the fund’s 112% total return only behind Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Invitae Corp and Tesla. That is all positive but Wood sold the ARKK holding in NVDA in January 2023 just before it rallied strongly adding some $560 billion to its market cap with $200 billion coming on one day after reporting earnings. Wood’s investors have basically missed the huge rally in the stock and the sector in 2023.
(6) But there is another phase I would look for and that is the participation of smaller, retail investors. Whether it was in the tech cycle I discussed above, the “meme” stocks or commodity exploration and development cycles in the past, the retail investor buys in before the bull market ends. Market pundits such as Citi global asset allocation and Vanda Research make the same observation: where is the retail investor?
We know the institutional investors have been getting in. So far in 2023 according to Bloomberg, the top 4% of stocks in the S&P 500 have contributed 94% of the index return and 8 of the top 20 include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet Class A, NVIDIA, Alphabet Class C, Tesla and Meta. In other words, the top 2% of the stocks in the S&P 500 contributed 94% of the return. Through mid-May, if the AI stocks are omitted, the S&P Index would be down -1.4% instead of up +8.3%. All of these stocks are AI leaders and each of them is an institutional stock. Yet, I believe the retail investor will come into the market and when they do, it is stocks like PMED for which they have always had an appetite.
C. I think investors will get more bang for their buck by investing in a small company like Predictmedix Inc. (CSE: PMED, OTCQB: PMEDF) with a total commitment to AI. From a base market cap of $16.6 million and, as I have pointed out in recent reports, many different business verticals to get them higher, I see PMED as a unique opportunity for aggressive growth investors. It is hard to imagine any decade having more of an impact on the ensuring socio-economic decades than the 1990s. Imagine your activities today without your cellphone, Internet, email and texting.
I expect the cycle driven by AI to be a long one, similar to the dot-com cycle that lasted longer than the decade of the 1990s. To the right is a chart published by Luke Lango’s Hypergrowth Investing. It shows the stock market in the 1990s and overlays current results. The parallels Lango sees include:
• Federal Reserve’s tight money policy slowed economic growth in 1990 as it is doing currently.
• In 1990, the markets were down around 20% and in 2022 stocks dropped around 25%.
• In late 1990, the Fed started reducing interest rates and the markets rebounded.
• In late 2022, the Fed has turned less hawkish and into 2023 has slowed the pace of interest rate increases. The markets have been recovering.
• In the early 1990’s, the dot-com stock market rally began and the market would advance generally higher for the rest of the decade and into the new millennium.
• Today, it is Artificial Intelligence that is pushing stocks higher and given my expectations for AI, it could stock prices higher until at least 2030.
Conclusion: I believe Predictmedix Inc. (CSE: PMED, OTCQB: PMEDF) is exceptionally well positioned to participate in the upcoming boom in Artificial Intelligence. There are many different ways to describe market cycles that evolve around such drivers. Here is mine:

1. Accumulation: the earliest buyers tend to be larger institutions that gain the information necessary to be early adopter. I have given several statistics to show this has been happening.
2. Retail Participation/Speculation: as the story gains acceptance, less experienced investors enter the market and prices begin to rise more quickly. After two to three years of combined buying by large and small investors, it is possible to identify speculative activities such as very rapid increases in a stock price or underwritings of companies based on questionable valuations. This is the next phase I see ahead for the current AI cycle.
3. Distribution/Sale: At some point, toward the end of the Retail Participation/Speculation phase, some investors will begin to sell. It is popular to believe that institutional investors or “smart money” sell at this stage. During the many years, I have spent in the investment business, this is not true. Institutions can hold on to their AI stocks for far too long and end up seeing their portfolios incinerated. This is still many years away. The challenge today with a stock like PMED is not getting out; it is getting in.
4. Bear Market: eventually there will be a broad sell-off of AI stocks. Some institutions will sell without regard for their impact on the market. Margin buyers will get margin calls and may be forced to sell again without regard to price. At this time, over half of the AI companies trading at that time will simply disappear. Some will be successful but remain smaller. Some will merge with another AI company. Some will be acquired. Very few will survive and become leaders in the industries. They will become the Alphabets, Amazons, Metas, Microsofts, Nvidias, and Oracles of the 2040s and 2050s.

I started out with the quote “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” So I don’t think the AI cycle of the 2020s will be the same as the high-tech cycle of the 1990s but I think it will be similar. If you agree, Predictmedix Inc. (CSE: PMED, OTCQB: PMEDF) is a stock to buy for your portfolio.

Hey 👋🏻
I'm Neil, a 31 year old chap born and raised in Worthing, West Sussex but now living in Worcester, Worcs. I'd consider myself to be a down to earth and easy going man that's light hearted and cheeky natured. I'm your classic Pisces as per textbook - romantically affectionate and physically intimate, wearing my heart on my sleeve. I highly value my physical health being a Physiotherapist in the NHS but even more so importantly, my emotional well being given that like many of us, I've experienced my fair share of ups and downs but with time, effort and patience, I've come out the other side a far better version of myself.
I've attached a photo of myself below in order for you to put a name to a face but to give you a brief overview of my physical characteristics, I'm white British, dark haired, green eyed, around 5'10 and lean shaped.
https://imgur.com/a/RWT14Ea
In terms of my hobbies and interests, I have a wide range inclusive of but not limited to: drinking coffee - mines a skinny latte if we're out and about, console gaming - with a current love for the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Hogwarts Legacy, Netflix series - drastically ranging in genre from the Crown to Sex Education, outdoor cycling - typically along routes adjacent to both the Worcester canal and river Severn, country pubs - out in the sticks with an open fire and traditional grub, and weekend getaways - getting out into the great outdoors and exploring those hidden gems, both new and of old.
I'll be honest in saying that I'm brand new to Reddit, hence the blank profile as of now. I can fully appreciate that for some, this may present as a red flag, therefore if this thorough description and attached photo is not putting your mind at ease, let me please add that I'm also wanting to verify in different formats early on into the conversation as we're online after all. Say by going from texting to calling, videoing and so forth as and when we're comfortable to do so of course.
Now, as to what I'm hoping to seek out on here, well, as per many of you I'm sure, I've tried the more conventional dating apps and what not, however despite matching with various people of different backgrounds, I'm yet to stumble upon that special somebody in which I can create both a deep and meaningful connection with. The type of conversation where all just naturally flows with plenty of smiling, laughing and joking but also, with an underlying desire in wanting to plan for the future and settle down. I'm at a point in my life right now where I'm ready to meet my better half, dare I say it, soul mate?
Anyhow, that's enough of my waffling for now. If any aspects of my post have caught your eye, please do reach out and introduce yourself. All I ask is that you make a concerted effort in your initial message as I have and ideally, attach a facial photo so I can see that beautiful face of yours. As an ice breaker for you, why don't you start by telling me what drives you to rise out of bed every single morning?
And if you're one for the banter, I use to work in a factory that distributed fresh orange juice but for some unknown reason, my manager started to put the squeeze on me. I found this awfully tough over time and began to lose my concentration, ultimately resulting in me being canned from my job...
Stay happy and healthy fellow Redditors!
Ta-ra for now,
N 🤗

Hey 👋🏻
I'm Neil, a 31 year old chap born and raised in Worthing, West Sussex but now living in Worcester, Worcs. I'd consider myself to be a down to earth and easy going man that's light hearted and cheeky natured. I'm your classic Pisces as per textbook - romantically affectionate and physically intimate, wearing my heart on my sleeve. I highly value my physical health being a Physiotherapist in the NHS but even more so importantly, my emotional well being given that like many of us, I've experienced my fair share of ups and downs but with time, effort and patience, I've come out the other side a far better version of myself.
I've attached a photo of myself below in order for you to put a name to a face but to give you a brief overview of my physical characteristics, I'm white British, dark haired, green eyed, around 5'10 and lean shaped.
https://imgur.com/a/RWT14Ea
In terms of my hobbies and interests, I have a wide range inclusive of but not limited to: drinking coffee - mines a skinny latte if we're out and about, console gaming - with a current love for the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Hogwarts Legacy, Netflix series - drastically ranging in genre from the Crown to Sex Education, outdoor cycling - typically along routes adjacent to both the Worcester canal and river Severn, country pubs - out in the sticks with an open fire and traditional grub, and weekend getaways - getting out into the great outdoors and exploring those hidden gems, both new and of old.
I'll be honest in saying that I'm brand new to Reddit, hence the blank profile as of now. I can fully appreciate that for some, this may present as a red flag, therefore if this thorough description and attached photo is not putting your mind at ease, let me please add that I'm also wanting to verify in different formats early on into the conversation as we're online after all. Say by going from texting to calling, videoing and so forth as and when we're comfortable to do so of course.
Now, as to what I'm hoping to seek out on here, well, as per many of you I'm sure, I've tried the more conventional dating apps and what not, however despite matching with various people of different backgrounds, I'm yet to stumble upon that special somebody in which I can create both a deep and meaningful connection with. The type of conversation where all just naturally flows with plenty of smiling, laughing and joking but also, with an underlying desire in wanting to plan for the future and settle down. I'm at a point in my life right now where I'm ready to meet my better half, dare I say it, soul mate?
Anyhow, that's enough of my waffling for now. If any aspects of my post have caught your eye, please do reach out and introduce yourself. All I ask is that you make a concerted effort in your initial message as I have and ideally, attach a facial photo so I can see that beautiful face of yours. As an ice breaker for you, why don't you start by telling me what drives you to rise out of bed every single morning?
And if you're one for the banter, I use to work in a factory that distributed fresh orange juice but for some unknown reason, my manager started to put the squeeze on me. I found this awfully tough over time and began to lose my concentration, ultimately resulting in me being canned from my job...
Stay happy and healthy fellow Redditors!
Ta-ra for now,
N 🤗

Hi, so I'd like to sell my account. Could someone experienced help me determine its approximate value? Here are its parameters: Server: EU AR: 55 tcg lvl: Max Characters: 5★: Wanderer lvl 90, talents lvl: 9, 6, 6 Yae Miko lvl 90. talents lvl: 6, 10, 10 Tighnari lvl 87, talents lvl: 3, 7, 6 Qiqi lvl 70, talents lvl: 3, 4, 4 Kamisato Ayaka lvl70, talents lvl: 4, 4, 4 Diluc c1, lvl 20, talents lvl: 1, 1, 1 Traveler lvl 50, geo c6, anemo c6, electro c6, 4★: Layla c3, lvl 90, talents lvl: 6, 9, 8 Yanfei c2, lvl 80, talents lvl: 8, 8, 8 Fischl c2, lvl80, talents lvl: 1, 8, 5 Xingqiu lvl 80, talents lvl: 2, 6, 8 Barbara c5, lvl80, talents lvl: 3, 9, 9 Xiangling c1, lvl80, talents lvl: 6, 6, 7 Ningguang lvl60, talents lvl: 4, 1, 1 Kaeya c1, lvl 51, talents lvl: 1, 1, 1 Shikanoin Heizou c3, lvl 50, talents lvl: 1, 4, 1 Amber, lvl 21 Gorou c1, lvl 20 Noelle, lvl 20 Faruzan c1, lvl 20 Sucrose c4, lvl 20 Mika c2, lvl 20 Diona c1, lvl 20 Chongyun c1, lvl 20 Kujou Sara, lvl 20 Lisa, lvl 20 Collei c1, lvl20 Thoma, lvl20 Xinyan, lvl20 Weapons: 4★: Sacrificial bow lvl 90 Eye of Percepcion lvl 90 Eye of Percepcion lvl 90 Mappa Mare lvl 90 The Catch lvl 90, refinement rank 5 The Stringless lvl 80 Sacrificial Sword lvl 80, refinement rank 2 The Flute lvl 70/80 Sacrificial Fragments lvl 60, refinement rank 2 Dragonspine Spear lvl 60 Prototype Amber lvl 20 Favonius Greatsword lvl 17, refinement rank 3 Alley Hunter, refinement rank 3 Rust Favonius Warbow, refinement rank 2 The Widsith, refinement rank 2 Favonius Codex, refinement rank 3 Deathmatch Dragon’s Bane Mailed Flower, refinement rank 5 Sacrificial Greatsword The Bell Toukabou Shigure, refinement rank 5 Kagotsurube Isshin The Alley Flash, refinement rank 2 Iron Sting Prototype Rancour Lion’s Roar, refinement rank 2 Statues of The Seven: Electro: lvl 9, 16/30 Geo: lvl10 Frostbearing Tree: lvl8, 5/10 Anemo: lvl 10 Sacret Sakura: lvl 48, 18/25 Dendro: lvl 6, 8/32 Tree of dreams: lvl 21 Reputation Level: Liyue lvl Max Mondstadt lvl Max Inazuma lvl 6 370/700 Items: 163 five stars artifact 47 Hero’s Wits 207 Adventurer’s Experience 8 Crowns of Instight 3 Intertwined Fate 5 Acquaint Fate 8 Masterless Starglitter 195 000+ mora Northlander 1 Sword billet, 3 bow billet, 4 claymore billet, 2 catalyst billet, 3 polearm billet Midlander 1 sword billet, 2 claymore billet + thousands of other farmed resources Map: Mondstadt – all waypoints Liyue – all waypoints Sumeru – rainforest all waypoints - desert most waypoints Enkanomiya – all waypoints The Chasm – half of waypoints Archon Quests: - Perilous Trail, Interlude Chapter: Act II - Through Mist of Smoke and Forests dark

Introducing a different kind of expansion, Risk of Rain! (Specifically Risk of Rain 2)
This was just something I quickly whipped up but I've converted most RoR2 items to be used in B&B. The items listed are either a Moxx-tail or Relic but the effects can easily be translated to suit a gun or grenade. I had a lot of fun designing these to suit B&B's balance but also stay true to the item and how it's used in RoR2. This is still a WIP as I've only reviewed the work maybe once or twice so the balance for things may be off, but I'm open to any feedback or suggestions. I haven't included some items as I couldn't see how they would work in B&B so if you discover which ones are missing from the list and have an idea for it feel free to comment :)
I still need to get to the void items so I'll update the post soon. Also, there may be some terms that need definitions that I haven't included in the post.
Things still to come:

• Void Items
• Risk of Rain 1 Items
• Monster Stat Blocks

Common (Moxx-Tails)

• Armor Piercing Rounds - Add a Hit to your Ranged Attacks when attacking a Badass or Boss Enemy for the rest of the encounter
• Backup Magazine - Gain an extra use of your Action Skill.
• Bison Steak - Gain +25 Max Health for the rest of the encounter
• Bustling Fungus - After standing still for 1 turn, create a zone around you that heals you and all adjacent allies for 1d6 Health per turn. Effects last for 2 hours.
• Cautious Slug - Gain +3 Health Regen for the rest of the encounter
• Crowbar - Add +2 Hit to undamaged Enemies for the rest of the encounter
• Delicate Watch - Gain 1d6 to all damage for the rest of the encounter. The effects of the potion wear off if you drop below 50% of your Maximum Health.
• Energy Drink - Gain +2 to your Extra Movement and +1 on Traverse Checks for the rest of the encounter.
• Focus Crystal - For the rest of the encounter if range 2 or less gain 1d6 to all damage.
• Gasoline - For the rest of the encounter, after killing an enemy all adjacent enemies take 2d6 incendiary damage and will ***Burn for 2 turns, taking 1d6 incendiary damage.
• Lens-Maker's Glasses - For the rest of the encounter on a Ranged Attack that deals Crit Damage, Roll 1d20. On a 19+, you roll double the crit dice.
• Medkit - For the rest of the encounter after being hit, heal 1d8 Health during the End Turn phase.
• Mocha - Gain +1 Hit on your attacks and +1 to your Movement for the rest of the encounter
• Monster Tooth - For the rest of the encounter, after killing an enemy 1 healing orb drops healing 1d4 Health if picked up by an ally.
• Oddly-shaped Opal - For the rest of the encounter gain 10 *Temporary Armor if you haven't been hit for 2 turns.
• Paul's Goat Hoof - Gain Extra Movement for the rest of the encounter
• Personal Shield generator - Gain 5 Shield Recharge for the rest of the encounter
• Power Elixir - The first time your health drops below 25%, instantly heal back to Maximum Health. The effect only happens once for the encounter.
• Repulsion Armor Plate - Gain 1d4+1 Damage Reduction for the rest of the encounter
• Roll of Pennies - For the rest of the encounter, each time you are hit gain 1d4 Gold.
• Soldier's Syringe - Gain Extra Attack each turn for the rest of the encounter.
• Sticky Bomb - For the rest of the encounter after hitting an enemy, roll 1d20. On a 19+, a sticky grenade is attached to the Enemy dealing 3d8 Explosive Damage.
• Stun Grenade - For the rest of the encounter after hitting an enemy, roll 1d20. On a 19+, the enemy is stunned for 1 round.
• Topaz Brooch - For the rest of the encounter gain 5 *Temporary Armor after you kill an Enemy
• Tougher Times - For the rest of the encounter on being Hit, Roll 1d20. On an 18+, you fully block that Hit.
• Tri-tip Dagger - Gain 1d6 Bleed Damage for the rest of the encounter.
• Warbanner - Drops a banner that lasts until the end of the encounter. All allies adjacent to the banner gain Extra Attack and Extra Movement for 1 turn.

Uncommon (Moxx-Tails)

• AtG Missile Mk. 1 - For the rest of the encounter at the start of your turn, roll 1d20. On a 19+, fire a missile at the closest enemy dealing 4d8 Damage.
• Bandolier - For the rest of the encounter after killing an enemy roll 1d20. On a 15+, the enemy drops an ammo pack that gains 1 free action skill use.
• Berzerker's Pauldron - For the rest of the day, after killing 2 or more enemies in a round, gain Extra Attack and Extra Movement.
• Chronobauble - For the rest of the encounter, apply Slowed for 1 turn to enemies hit.
• Death Mark - Enemies hit within the next turn are ****Marked for death for 1 turn.
• Fuel cell - For the rest of the day, increase the number of uses of your Action Skill per encounter.
• Gnor's Tome - For the rest of the day after you kill an enemy, roll 1d20, On a 15+, you gain 25 Gold.
• Harvester Scythe - For the rest of the day, +1 ACC Mod and heal 1d8 Health when landing a crit.
• Hopoo Feather - +5 to Jumping Traverse Checks for the rest of the day and jump 1 square higher.
• Hunter's Harpoon - For the rest of the encounter, killing an enemy you gain Extra Movement for that turn.
• Ignition Tank - For the rest of the encounter, all Incendiary damage is multiplied by x3 instead of x2.
• Infusion - For the rest of the day, killing an enemy increases your maximum health by 2. Your maximum health resets back to its original value at the end of the day.
• Leeching Seed - Dealing damage heals you for 5 health for the rest of the encounter
• Lepton Daisy - Release a nova healing yourself and all allies within 3 squares 3d8+10 Health.
• Old Guillotine - For the rest of the encounter, a Badass Enemy you hit that falls below 20 hp instantly dies.
• Old War Stealthkit - When health drops below 25%, gain Extra Movement and become Cloaked for 1 turn.
• Predatory Instincts - For the rest of the encounter, gain +1 ACC Mod, and landing a crit grants your gun Burst for 1 round.
• Razorwire - For the rest of the encounter after getting damaged by an enemy, immediately deal 1d8 damage to all adjacent enemies.
• Regenerating Scrap - Grants a re-roll of the gun's type and guild on an equipped gun.
• Rose Buckler - For the rest of the encounter gain 10 Temporary Armor for 1 turn if you've used Extra Movement on your turn.
• Shipping Request Form - A Medium Cache spawns in front of you.
• Shuriken - For the rest of the day, performing a Melee Attack also throws a Shuriken at an enemy within 3 range, dealing 3d6 Damage.
• Squid Polyp - Summons a Squid Turret that attacks nearby enemies for 3 Turns. Deals 2d6 damage and has 20 Health.
• Ukelele - For the rest of the encounter after hitting an Enemy, roll 1d20. On a 15+, a bolt of chain lightning begins dealing 2d6 Shock damage to the enemy and then jumping to the next closest enemy. Can hit a maximum of 3 enemies per chain lightning.
• War Horn - For the rest of the encounter, activating your Action Skill grants you and your allies an Extra Attack.
• Wax Quail - For the rest of the encounter, performing a running jump when using Extra Movement grants you 2 extra squares of movement.
• Will-o'-the-wisp - For the rest of the encounter, upon killing an enemy, a lava pillar is spawned from their corpse dealing 4d8 Incendiary Splash damage.

Legendary (Relic)

• 57 Leaf Clover - All effects requiring a 1d20 roll gain an extra 1d20 roll. Take the higher result of the two.
• Aegis - Healing past Maximum Health grants you *****Temporary Health for 50% of the amount you healed. The Temporary Health is stackable but will only last until the end of your next turn.
• Alien Head - Gain +1 use per encounter for your Action Skill.
• Ben's Raincoat - Immune to 1 Element Type (Roll 1d6) and gain 5 *Temporary Armor. The Temporary Armor recharges if the PC hasn't taken a hit for the turn.
• Bottled Chaos - Activates a random Action Skill when using your own Action Skill.
• Brainstalks - After killing a Badass Enemy you enter a Frenzy for 1 turn. Activating your action skill while Frenzied extends your action skill duration by 2 turns.
• Brilliant Behemoth - All your attacks become Explosive and add an extra 2d6 Damage.
• Ceremonial Dagger - Killing an enemy spawns 3 homing daggers dealing 2d4 damage each. Daggers target the closest enemy.
• Defensive Microbots - Summons a Defensive Microbot that flies around the player that has equipped this relic. The Defensive Microbot is able to reduce the number of hits from a ranged attack by 1 to any adjacent allies.
• Dio's Best Friend - Gain +1 Life. The player respawns at the start of the next round and is also invulnerable to all damage for that round. This effect can only be used once.
• Frost Relic - Killing an enemy surrounds you with an ice storm that lasts 2 rounds. The ice storm deals 4d8 Cryo damage at the end of each turn and hits all adjacent enemies. Killing more enemies before the ice storm ends increases the size of the storm by 1 square up to a maximum of 3 squares.
• H3AD-5T-v2 - Gain the ability to perform a Ground Slam. Ground Slam acts as a Melee Attack and can only be done if the user falls 3 or more blocks and deals 3d6 Explosive Damage. Every square above 3 adds an extra 1d6 damage. The user is able to vertically jump 3 squares. Happiest Mask - After killing an enemy, roll 1d20. On a 19+, spawn a ghost of the killed enemy with double the health. The ghost lasts 3 rounds before disappearing and acts on your turn. Hardlight Afterburner - Gain +2 daily uses of your Action Skill. Action Skill Durations are extended by 1 turn.
• Interstellar Desk Plant - On kill, a healing fruit seed is planted where the enemy dies. After 1 turn, it grows emitting a healing aura and giving an ally 5 Health each turn they are next to it. The fully grown plant dies after 2 turns.
• Laser Scope - Doubles the number of Crits on your equipped gun.
• N'kuhana's Opinion - Store any healing you receive as *****Soul Energy. When your Soul Energy reaches 10% of your maximum health (rounded down), a skull is fired at the nearest enemy dealing 2x the soul energy as Radiation Damage.
• Pocket I.C.B.M - +2 Hits on your Ranged Attacks with Rocket Launchers.
• Rejuvenation Rack - Any healing you receive is doubled.
• Shattering Justice - After hitting an Enemy 5 times (Each hit on a gun counts as a hit), halve their armor.
• Soulbound Catalyst - After killing an Enemy, you can activate your Action Skill for free. This effect can happen once every 2 turns.
• Symbiotic Scorpion - Each Hit on an enemy reduces their Maximum Health by 2.
• Unstable Tesla Coil - You can activate the Tesla Coil to hit 3 enemies within 2 squares of you dealing 3d6 Shock Damage to each Enemy. The Tesla Coil will only be activatable once every 2 turns.
• Wake of Vultures - Gain the Badass Effect of the Badass Enemy you kill for the rest of the encounter. Killing another Badass Enemy replaces the effect that you currently have.

Lunar (Relic)

• Brittle Crown - When hitting an Enemy, roll 1d20. On a 14+, gain your level in gold. When taking damage, lose your level in gold.
• Corpsebloom - All healing you receive is doubled, however, you can only heal 5 Health per turn. Any excess healing you received gets placed in a pool that decreases as you heal.
• Egocentrism - During an encounter, every turn you gain an orbiting bomb that detonates on an adjacent enemy dealing 3d8 Explosive Damage, up to a maximum of 3 bombs. Every day a random gun/relic/potion in your inventory is converted into another Egocentrism relic. For every Egocentrism Relic in your inventory, increase the maximum orbiting bomb stack by 1.
• Eulogy Zero - When generating an item, roll 1d20. On a 1, generate a Lunar Relic instead.
• Gesture of the Drowned - Add +2 Extra uses of your action skill. At the start of every encounter, you must activate your action skill as your first turn.
• Light Flux Pauldron - Add +1 to all skill tree abilities with durations. -1 Hit to all Ranged Attacks.
• Mecurial Rachis - A random Ward of Power spawns on the map at the start of every encounter. Anyone adjacent to the Ward of Power adds an extra 1d8 Damage on their attacks.
• Purity - Add an extra use per encounter of your Action Skill. Anytime you roll for chance, roll another 1d20 and take the lower result.
• Shaped Glasses - Doubles all Damage. Reduces maximum health and shield by half.
• Stone Flux Pauldron - Doubles the Maximum Health. Reduce your movement speed by half rounded down. Minimum 1 Movement.
• Transcendence - Your Current Health is 1. Your Maximum Health is increased by 50% and is then added to your Maximum Shield.

Boss (Relics)

• Charged Perforator - On Hit, Roll 1d20, On an 18+, a lightning bolt strikes the enemy dealing 8d6 Shock Splash Damage.
• Defense Nucleus - After killing a Badass Enemy, spawn an Alpha Construct that lasts 2 turns. Deals 3d6 Damage with a range of 4 squares and attacks twice each turn. Empathy Cores - Once per day summon two Solus Probes that last 3 turns. See Solus Probes Stat Block for stats.
• Genesis Loop - Once per day when you fall below 25% of your Maximum Health, an explosion centered around you deals 100 Radiation Damage.
• Halcyon Seed - Once per day, Roll a percentile die. On a 90+, the Halcyon Seed activates allowing you to summon Aurelionite. Check Aurelionite Stat Block for stats.
• Irradiant Pearl - Increases all stats modifiers by 1.
• Little Disciple - When using Extra Movement, fire a tracking wisp that deals 3d8 radiation damage to the closest enemy.
• Mired Urn - The first Enemy that is adjacent to you becomes Tethered. Tethered enemies are dealt 2d6 damage per turn which will also heal you for that amount.
• Molten Perforator - When hitting an enemy, roll 1d20. On a 19+, 3 magma balls spawn each hitting an individual adjacent enemy, dealing 3d8 incendiary damage.
• Pearl - Increase Maximum Health by 10%.
• Planula - You heal 10 HP before getting attacked by an Enemy.
• Queen's Gland - At the start of every encounter, you summon a Beetle Guard for 3 turns.
• Shatterspleen - For each crit that you land on an enemy, the enemy gains 1 Bleed stack that lasts 1 turn. Bleed stacks deal 2d4 health damage during the End Turn phase. Bleeding enemies explode on death dealing 4d8 + 10% Maximum Health as Damage to all adjacent enemies. Titanic Knurl - Gain 40 Maximum Health and Health Regeneration by 5.

Equipment (4th Gun Slot)

• Blast Shower - Once per encounter, remove any status effects you currently have. Gain Immunity to all elemental damage for 2 turns.
• Disposable Missile Launcher - Once per day, fires 12 Homing Missiles dealing 1d10 Explosive Damage each.
• Eccentric Vase - Once per day, create a straight quantum tunnel for 5 rounds up to 1000m in length that you and your allies can travel through using an interact check.
• Executive Card - Once per day, get 10% of the spent gold back on an item.
• Foreign Fruit - Once per day, Instantly heal half your maximum health.
• Forgive Me Please - Once per day, you throw a doll out that triggers any on-kill effects you have.
• Gnarled Woodsprite - During an encounter, gain 1d4 Health Regeneration. Each turn you can send the Gnarled Woodsprite to an ally giving them your 1d4 Health Regeneration.
• Goobo Jr. - Once per day, Spawn a clone of yourself that lasts 3 turns. The clone can only perform Attacks and Movement.
• Gorag's Opus - Once per day, you and your allies all get Extra Movement and Extra Attack for 1 turn.
• Jade Elephant - Once per day, gain 100 Temporary Armor for 1 turn.
• Milky Chrysalis - Once per day, gain +1 SPD Mod the ability to fly for 3 turns.
• Molotov (6-Pack) - Once per day, Throw 3 Molotovs that create a 3x3 incendiary puddle where it lands. The puddles deal 1d6 incendiary damage.
• Ocular HUD - Once per encounter, convert all hits to crits for 1 round.
• Preon Accumulator - Once per day, Fires Preon Tendrils in a 1 square line. Enemies adjacent to the 1 square line take 3d8 Radiation damage. The preon tendril explodes on the first enemy hit in the 1 square line dealing 4d20 Radiation Damage to all enemies within 3 squares.
• Primordial Cube - Once per day, place a black hole within 2 squares of you that pulls all enemies within 3 squares of the black hole towards it. The black hole lasts 2 turns.
• Radar Scanner - While equipped, +10 to Loot Search Checks.
• Recycler - Once per day, a player can re-roll the guild and gun type of a gun they generate.
• Remote Caffeinator - Once per day, request an Eclipse Zero Vending Machine from the UES Safe Travels. By interacting with the Vending Machine, you can pay your level + badass rank to heal up to 3 targets 2d8+5 Health.
• Royal Capacitor - Once per day, Call down a lightning strike on any targeted enemy within sight. Deal 8d6 Shock Splash Damage and stun each enemy hit for 1 turn.
• Sawmerang - Once per day, throw 3 large saw blades in a cone shape dealing 4d8 damage to each enemy within 3 squares. The blades also apply Bleeding to each enemy hit dealing 3d4 Health Damage per turn for 2 turns.
• Super Massive Leech - Once per encounter, heal 50% of the damage you dealt during your turn for 1 turn.
• The Back-up - Call in 4 Strike Drones that deal 3d4 damage each for 2 turns. Strike Drones have 30 Health, 4 Movement (Flight), and Range of 3 Squares.
• The Crowdfunder - Activate/Deactivate The Crowdfunder with an interact check. The Crowdfunder does a Ranged attack each turn and deals 3d4(2-7)/4d4(8-15)/6d4(16+) Damage and costs you the same amount in Gold. The Crowdfunder doesn't get any Favored weapon bonuses.
• Trophy Hunter's Tricorn - One use only. Instantly kills a Badass Enemy and will drop an Epic Gun. The Tricorn is destroyed after being used.
• Volcanic Egg - Once per day, transform into a draconic fireball for 1 turn with 5 Movement. Traveling through enemies deals 5d6 Incendiary Damage.

Some have noted the similarities between the Empyrean Miquella and Dionysus/Bacchus.^[1] During the Hellenistic period, Dionysus was identified with Horus-the-Child (I’ll cover Harpocrates in another post eventually). The Cleanrot Knights share the same name with certain grapevines in the JP version of the game, “Noble Rot”.^[1] The bewitching branches that the young Empyrean used to compel affection seems very Dionysian indeed. The branches of the Haligtree also seem to have grapes growing on the vines. quirkus23 noted that the aforementioned image reminded him of this engraving of “Satyr Family”[F], by Sebald Beham.
The bewitching branches that paint the young Empyrean in a more sinister light seem to take inspiration from Bacchic wands, also known as the thyrsus. They are comprised of narthex (fennel rods) from the Giant Fennel plant found in the Mediterranean, and a cluster of ivy leaves adorned on top.^[2] This rod thus has the power and symbolic value of Dionysus. Bewitching branches in Elden Ring require both sacramental buds and Miquella’s lilies, both entwined into a spear shape, just as Dionysus calls one “an ivy spear” in the Greek tragedy The Baccahe by Euripides.
In this famous tragedy, considered one of the greatest ever written, the king of Thebes Pentheus (whose name means “man of sorrows”) has banned the worship of Dionysus, which prompts the god to visit the city to punish him^[2]. Dionysus in disguise prompts Pentheus to dress himself in Bacchic garbs, garlanded in ivy leaves crowning his head, to infiltrate a group of Bacchic maenads (cultists). Pentheus thus becomes a thyrsus visually, and becomes an even greater symbol of Dionysus as the tragedy progresses. The play makes explicit that “a thyrsus is something created from an ordinary narthex by attaching a cluster of ivy leaves to its tip; then it may be raised in the worship of the god, once it has again become a thyrsus.” A parallel is enforced between Pentheus, the thyrsus, and Dionysus (who is garlanded with snakes).
“He then asks for instruction in the use of the thyrsus, with the god approving of his ‘change of mentality’ (944, 947-48). ‘A creature filled with the Dionysiac sense of power…’” - Kalke
In the forest where the maenads (followers of Dionysus) are, Dionysus bends a fir tree downwards, and hoists Pentheus onto the tip of the tree, described as being “crowned” with Pentheus on top (who is under his Bacchic influence). He thus becomes a grand thyrsus in the climax of the play. Importantly, Dionysus can no longer be seen when Pentheus sits high on his perch, because he has manifested himself in that grand symbol of his power. Dionysus then instructs his maenads to have at him for his transgressions against the god. Pentheus at this point is only the crown adorning this massive thyrsus, no longer an individual. The maenads (his mother among them) then uproot the tree with their bare hands, symbolically raising it in worship of their god. Pentheus falls to the ground and his mind returns to reality as he sees his mother, still under the Bacchic frenzy, and begs for his life.
The maenads rip Pentheus to pieces with their bare hands. The scene as described in the Bacchae is shockingly gruesome and sickening. That scene alone is worth checking out from the Bacchae in my opinion. Agave (Pentheus’ mother) then sticks his head onto her own Thyrsus, Pentheus now crowning it (she does so believing he is a lion she has slain). In the end, he is transformed into a gruesome symbol of Dionysus and in the words of Seidensicker: “compares Pentheus to a sacrificial victim, who, ‘consecrated to the god by a rite of investiture,’ becomes a surrogate of the god.”^[2] Pentheus was truly, “a man of sorrows”.
There are strong parallels between Miquella and Pentheus here. Miquella had Bacchic wands of his own, and embedded himself in the greatest symbol of his power, the Haligtree, only to be torn away by his half-brother Mohg, an adherent of the Formless Mother, and became a gruesome surrogate of the goddess in the form of a womb, living up to his name like Pentheus in the end by becoming “one who is like god” (Miquella’s name seems to be “a variation of Miguella, itself a feminine version of Miguel, a name of Hebrew origin meaning ‘who is like God.’)^[3] in a bloody manner.
Some have argued the play is about an enlightened individual martyred to an evil religion, of reason versus the irrational, a criticism of the Olympian system. I’m no expert of Greek literature, but William Arrowsmith^[4] has argued convincingly in my opinon, that such interpretations are incomplete readings of Euripides and his Greek tragedies. Most importantly, he noted that Euripides invoked in the Bacchae most strongly the moral term that I believe permeates all of Elden Ring: “sophia”.
It roughly translates to “wisdom” but encompasses much more than that, especially in the Greek experience. “...they [moral terms like “sophia”] are exposed to static definition without regard to the transformations which tragedy may force upon them as the hero moves from a situation of conventional morality and reality to an ordeal for which the traditional wisdom of the Chorus may be utterly inadequate.”
Someone pointed out to me that Raya Lucaria sorcerer crowns resemble the busts of Greek philosophers, so the Burger King headpieces may be more than nods to these great thinkers.
For a good while, I’ve personally identified Marika with Sophia thematically, thanks to Solarbro and their post^[5] on Elden Ring and Gnosticism, the similarities for me didn’t stop there, and for reasons that would be best left to another post, I believe the world of Elden Ring is fundamentally Gnostic, or heavily inspired at least. I highly recommend watching Garrulous_Goldmask's excellent video^[6] if you’re skeptical.
In Gnosticism, Sophia, an emanation of eternal light, is analogous to the soul, and in some sects has a consort (Barbelo) who is her mirror image. In the Gnostic mythos, she is a fallen figure from her place as creator of the universe. The parallels are very strong in my opinion. Marika’s other self is Radagon, and the emanations that protrude from her would be the Elden Ring. There is much more to unravel here but my focus is on Miquella.
In the Greek experience, sophia means “a knowledge and acceptance of one's nature and therefore of one's place in the scheme of things. It presupposes, that is, self-knowledge, an acceptance of those necessities (fate and circumstances) that compose the limits of human fate. It also means the consequent refinement of feelings by which a man recognizes and respects the sufferings of others before necessity: it issues in compassion.” In contrast, its opposite amathia is “a deep, brutal, unteachable, ungovernable self-ignorance which breaks out in violence and cruelty."^[4]
Arrowsmith brilliantly describes necessity "that set of unalterable, irreducible, unmanageable facts which we call the human condition. Call it destiny, call it fate, call it the gods, it hardly matters. Necessity is, first of all, death; but it is also old age, sleep, the reversal of fortune and the dance of life; it is thereby the fact of suffering as well as pleasure, for if we must dance and sleep, we also suffer, age and die. It is also sex, the great figure of amoral Aphrodite who moves in the sea, land, and air and as an undeniable power in the bodies of men, compelling and destroying those who, like Hippolytus, refuse to accept her. Or it is Dionysus, the terrible ambiguous force of the Bacchae..."^[7] There is a dualism described here I find interesting in regards to Elden Ring.
Marika embodies “sophia” as an Empyrean who is host to nature and its laws in the form of the Elden Ring, a golden star guiding fate, enforcing one’s place in the world through Order. Her first consort Hoarah Loux is amathia incarnate, wildly violent, needing to be tamed by the beast regent Serosh. "If the sophos [wise man] is by definition susceptible to the feelings of civilized humanity, a compassion learned in fellow-suffering, the amathes is callous and merciless, a barbarian by nature.”
Sophia also groups traits such as skill, cunning, cleverness, know-how, and expedience (wisdom) under its umbrella. Below these traits but still encompassing sophia in the play are “the knowing animal cunning of the practiced hunter, the cool eye and feline skill of Dionysus stalking his intended victim."^[4] I believe some of these traits can be attributed to Mohg, who snatched away the young Empyrean at the opportune moment (most likely when Malenia warred with Radahn).
There is also to sophon, the “calculating, shrewd, even opportunistic, skill of the worldly and ambitious”, blinding its possessor to the good that comes from accepting the here and now, usually a confidence of the young according to Plato’s Republic.
Through the dynamic transformations of these terms during the course of the play, Euripides set out to show in The Bacchae the falsity of the sophias of the opposing Pentheus and Dionysus: “Pentheus' cleverness foundering terribly upon the force he refuses to accept; the sophia of the Dionysiac quest nakedly revealed as sheer animal cunning and brutality. We witness, in short, sophia becoming amathia. There, in amathia, the god and his victim meet."^[4]
Pentheus demonstrated his amathia as “the proud iconoclastic innovator, rebelling against tradition, outside of the community's ‘nomos’ (custom as law), and disdainful of any power above man.”^[4]
Miquella seems to mirror these traits as he showed his unparalleled talent in creating his needles of unalloyed gold, great ambition in his attempt to become a god of the next age, rejecting Golden Order Fundamentalism, and rejecting higher powers such as the Greater Will and the Outer Gods. Mohg in turn seems mad in establishing his bloody Dynasty, since Miquella does not stir in their shared bedchamber, the palace surrounded by bloody mire and wretched refugees squaloring in it.
He was a maverick who rejected the gods and sought an entirely different age, perhaps of Abundance with what’s left in the final game. Many of us already know of Miquella’s sinister side through his bewitching branches. The namesake of the sacramental buds used to create them could suggest use in a religious ritual. This is thematically significant to me, as perhaps Miquella unwittingly worshipped the Formless Mother as Pentheus did for Dionysus, participating in a grand ritual that ended in their demise. Mohg may have been drawn to the young Empyrean through the usage of his blood, with himself as a sacramental (religious ceremony or ritual) bud embedded in not a branch, but his tree, the greatest symbol of his power.
“Believed to originate long ago from a strain of buds cultivated with youthful, sacramental blood.” - Sacramental Bud
“A delicate water lily of unalloyed gold that has started to fade and wilt. A flower signifying faith in the Haligtree. Thought to be beloved by the Empyrean Miquella in his youth.” - Miquella’s Lily
Miquella → Sacramental Bud
Haligtree → Miquella’s Lily
The parallels between both stories may not of course, mean they mirror each other exactly. There are theories that Marika watered the nascent Erdtree with her own blood to grow it, and the Formless Mother never seemed to take any interest in her. Furthermore, the living jars seemingly gather up flesh and blood to fertilize the Minor Erdtrees throughout the Lands Between. The use of the word “sacrament” for the buds and Miquella’s blood could mainly refer to them as being sacred, not as part of a ritual (though the word to me seems an allusion to The Bacchae, and any ritual in regards to Miquella embedding himself in the Haligtree is more likely symbolic than literal).
In The Bacchae, “it is by playing upon Pentheus' vulnerability, his deep ignorance of his own nature, that the god is able to possess him, humiliate him and finally to destroy him”^[4] in a gradual usurpation, but I don’t believe this was quite the case for Miquella. There isn’t any evidence that the Formless Mother was influencing him all along when he used his blood. In terms of sophia, it seems it was his own hybris (hubris) of attempting godhood (or perhaps attempting to bewitch the world by embedding himself) on his own terms, and ignorance of his place in the grand scheme of things that led to his demise.
“If the stars command our fates, then amber-hued stars must command the fates of the gods. Such is the belief that inspired the use of these shards to prepare a most special draught.” - Amber Starlight
The Bacchae shows that “great powers...stalk the world, real with a terrible reality, the source of man's very condition...which determine his life. And if the feelings stirred by what is limited before the unlimited are religious, then man's attitude toward these “daimones” [personified spirits of the human condition] is religious, the veneration and awe the fated must feel before the great gods of existence: Death, Life, Sex, Grief. Joy. Sophia accepts because it is a wisdom of experience, based on awe learned of both joy and bitter suffering."^[4]
Though an Empyrean with unparalleled talent, called “the most fearsome” demigod by Malenia, Miquella, like Pentheus, was still yoked under the necessity (state of things or circumstances) enforcing his course (his being the Elden Ring). Seen broadly, for defying the gods, Miquella was reduced to a bloody symbol upon an altar. This doesn’t necessarily mean the Greater Will or Formless Mother consciously acted against him. It’s an interesting notion I feel, that the Outer Gods act with real awareness, but there isn't any real indication they do. The closest evidence of anything of the sort I feel are the Two and Three Fingers relaying the wills of the forces they serve, and tantalizingly, a female voice who can be heard communing with Mohg during his “Nihil!” (I can't find the video again on Twitter so I hope someone links it if possible). Nothing conclusive at all, so for now, it is safer to say that the gods are motive forces that act upon the world with real consequences, and that Miquella’s demise through his amathia was more circumstance than fatal flaw (Though it's possible Mohg became enamored with him due to his penchant for compelling affection I'll admit).
"the most conspicuous failure of both the traditional and the new critics in respect to Greek tragedy has been the failure to realize turbulence: turbulence of experience, turbulence of morality in the process of getting made, and the turbulence of ideas under dramatic test"^[7]
Euridepean plays are not as structured in the Aristotelian sense, such as where a man falls due to a “fatal flaw”, but to Williams, are more faithful to the human experience by displaying the turbulence of circumstance and fate that can befall a man at any time. To Euripides, there are often no heroes, only protagonists, where fate may deprive one of responsibility, or strike when it no longer matters. Necessity then, seems center to all of Greek tragedy, and before it in “anguish comes the discovery of community and love in weakness before necessity. Love is the hope which finally permits Heracles to endure a hideous necessity he never made, and from his discovery of love and helplessness flow acceptance and courage, the courage which asserts the human demand for order in a world which annuls all hope of a moral order".^[7] Heroism to Euripides is finding strength from the weakness one does not expect to face, first reduced by circumstance, then raised.
“If he [the hero] has a “hamartia” [fatal flaw], it is not sin or flaw but the ungovernable tragic ignorance of all men: we do not know who we are nor who fathered us but go, blinded by life and hope, toward a wisdom bitter as the gates of hell. The cost of action is suffering, and heroism is the anguished acceptance of our own identities and natures, forged in action and pain in a world we never made."^[7]
Sophia, amathia, necessity, turbulence. I find all of these moral terms and ideas very relevant to many of the characters and themes in Elden Ring. Did Martin and Fromsoft fashion the entire game after Euridipean and Greek ideas of tragedy and storytelling? I'm not sure. Sophia though, is one of the more important ones, even central in my opinion.
So now the young Empyrean lies in his bloody cocoon, and if he lives, then it is almost certainly in dreaming, though his slumber I feel, may not be a peaceful one. If Fromsoft continues Miquella’s story in the Euridipean fashion in the dlc, then it may be the Tarnished that helps raise him to heroism from his suffering, helping him gain his dignity and perhaps finally usher in a new age.
Sources:
[1]Miquellas Dream the Duality of Dionysus
[2]The Making of a Thyrsus: The Transformation of Pentheus in Euripides' Bacchae
[3]The names, terms and language of Elden Ring (etymology/nomenclature study)
[4]The Bacchae, translated by William Arrowsmith
[5]Elden Ring and Gnosticism
[6]The Frenzied Flame in Elden Ring is Based (on Gnostic Christianity)
[7]The Criticism of Greek Tragedy by William Arrowsmith

Predictmedix – a great way to surf the Artificial Intelligence wave. There is a saying attributed to Mark Twain that goes, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but if often rhymes.” This means circumstances might be different but similar events often recur. This is good because securities regulators demand that you make it clear that in the financial markets, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” However, investment analysts continue to use rhymes and here’s one that could help you see sizeable investment returns from Predictmedix Inc. (CSE: PMED, OTCQB: PMEDF). This is how the rhyme comes together: A. The 1990s technology boom: The parallel I see is between the current Artificial Intelligence cycle and the dot-com stock market cycle of ≈1990 to ≈ 2002. As background, the 1990s either developed or laid the groundwork for changes that completely transformed the world we live in. Out of that time came many new technologies and related developments and each was highly disruptive. Here is a very brief list of some of those developments: (1) Nokia was the first mass-produced cellphone offered in 1992 with the ability to send and receive phone calls as well as store data (e.g. phone numbers). (2) The World Wide Web, a.k.a. the Web browser was proposed in 1990 and debuted in 1991. This was the start of the Internet, Websites, e-mails and a massive amount of information that would become available to everyone. (3) With the explosion of data available, finding it became a challenge. Mosaic started as the first search engine in 1993 followed by Yahoo in 1994 and Google in 1998. Today, Google has risen to the top and become synonymous with an Internet search. Google it. (4) Other important developments of that time included the growth in the capacity of microprocessors, Photoshop, texting, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, realistic videogames for a more adult market, collecting and using DNA, the start of e-tailing and more. (5) Finally, we have the stock market. Cisco, Dell, Intel and Microsoft are sometimes referred to as the four horsemen of the 1990s tech boom. But we can’t ignore Apple and Google and there were many more that benefited. The smaller, new, Initial Public Offering companies came to the fore with incredibly high returns in the second half of the 1990s. The chart to the right shows how stock markets performed during the 1990’s high-tech boom. A few things are worth noting: (1) The Dot.Com stock market cycle lasted a long t time. Essentially, more than the decade of the 1990s. It’s length reflected the importance of the fundamental changes taking place. (2) There was an important development regarding the stock market that has become part of the stock market legend. On December 5, 1996, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan in a televised speech used the term “irrational exuberance” to describe a stock market that he thought was highly speculative and overvalued. His comment was intended as a warning from the Fed that the stock market, driven by the high-tech developments described above, was overvalued. His timing was five years early which is a lifetime in the stock market. (3) The five years after Greenspan’s “irrational exuberance” statement was the most profitable for investors of the entire ten years plus of the stock market cycle. As you sit reading this brief, imagine your life without a cell phone, the Internet, e-mail and text messages. How different would your life be without just these four products that emerged from the 1990s. A more relevant question might be how different would your life be if you had purchased shares in Apple or Cisco or Dell or Google or Microsoft back then? B. The Artificial Intelligence Boom (AI): The term Artificial Intelligence was created in 1955. The idea was to have a machine that could take data, and find patterns that would enable it to make predictions and reach conclusions (make decisions). The Oxford Dictionary defines AI as “The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.” It was Moore’s Law in 1975 that stated the capacity of semiconductors would continue to double every two years which enabled computers to be able to put into practice the AI Boom that is taking place today. Current forecasts say the AI industry will grow to $900 billion by 2026 and $15.7 trillion by 2030. AI growth in the 1920s could dwarf anything high-tech was able to accomplish in the 1990s. (1) There is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) boom going on and many people don’t yet realize it is even happening. AI is used in: i. Self-driving and parking cars. AI is used by Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Toyota and Volvo. ii. Maps and navigation. Enter where you are and where you want to go by car and Google Maps, for example, will give you a choice of routes, the time optimal route taking into account construction and traffic. iii. Facial detection or recognition. Facial detection identifies a human face or facial recognition that identifies a specific face that can be used for surveillance and security. iv. Digital assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google’s Now and Microsoft’s Cortana. When combined with search and recommendation AI, Alexa or Siri is able to learn your preferences and recommend things you are interested in. v. Customer service chatbots that answer frequently asked questions, track orders or direct calls. Often people will be unaware they are dealing with a machine. vi. Vehicle recognition use computer vision and deep learning to find a specific car on a surveillance video. vii. Robot vacuums can scan a living area, look for and remember objects in the way, remember the best route for cleaning the area and decide how many times it should repeat cleaning a specific area. It is estimated that by 2030, between 400 and 800 million jobs will be displaced by Artificial Intelligence and 375 million people will have to change to a totally different type of work. It is also forecast that it is not just lower-paying, blue-collar jobs that will be replaced by AI. Jobs such as accountants, lawyers, doctors, investment advisors and portfolio managers might all be substantially eliminated. AI will impact all industries and the rate of change will be exponential, that is, the rate of change will accelerate. For example, what does a doctor do? In general, a doctor gathers new information, refers to a patient’s medical history, refers to a medical book or today’s Internet, makes a diagnosis and provides s treatment. This is also what a lawyer does. AI might reach the point where it can do it faster and better than a human.. AI does present threats to human existence. As AI is changing exponentially, it will happen faster than the technology boom of the 1990s. It took technology 20 years to produce the changes we discussed above. AI could produce equivalent changes in 10 or 15 years. For example, ChatGPT, an AI product went from zero to 100 million users within months making it the fastest-growing consumer software product in history. There will be others. (2) The AI shift could drive economic change and a stock market cycle at least as significant as the last “dot.com” cycle. The “go-to” companies today for participation in AI are the likes of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Meta (NASDAQ: META), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Oracle (NYSE: ORCL). These are very large companies. GOOGL has a market cap of $1.6 trillion, AMZN has a market cap of $1.2 trillion, META has a market cap of $$648 billion, MSFT has a market cap of $2.4 trillion, NCDA has a market cap of $963 billion and ORCL has a market cap of $282 billion. (3) While these are excellent businesses, they are also amongst the world’s largest companies. In 2022, GOOGL, META and MSFT purchased 2 out of every 3 AI chips. In my opinion, it is almost unthinkable that GOOGL can be a ten-bagger from a base market cap of $1.6 trillion or AMZN from $1.2 trillion. But it is clear these stocks now have a major component of their value derived from involvement in Artificial Intelligence and it is not surprising that early adopters would choose a lower risk/lower return approach to gain exposure to an emerging Artificial Intelligence industry. (4) The changes created by AI also carry some risks. The speed of change will be challenging to human beings. There are forecasts that say one in four workers globally will see their jobs disappear and one in eight workers will have to be retrained in a totally unrelated field. During the industrial revolution and the tech boom, there was always the promise of more and better jobs. With AI we may have reached the point where machines actually do replace workers. (5) Cathie Wood is a well-known and widely followed money manager with a reputation for expertise in the Artificial Intelligence sector. Wood manages a range of portfolios including the ARK Innovation Exchange Traded Fund (ARKK) and since its founding in 2014, Bloomberg estimates NDVA has contributed 13% of the fund’s 112% total return only behind Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Invitae Corp and Tesla. That is all positive but Wood sold the ARKK holding in NVDA in January 2023 just before it rallied strongly adding some $560 billion to its market cap with $200 billion coming on one day after reporting earnings. Wood’s investors have basically missed the huge rally in the stock and the sector in 2023. (6) But there is another phase I would look for and that is the participation of smaller, retail investors. Whether it was in the tech cycle I discussed above, the “meme” stocks or commodity exploration and development cycles in the past, the retail investor buys in before the bull market ends. Market pundits such as Citi global asset allocation and Vanda Research make the same observation: where is the retail investor? We know the institutional investors have been getting in. So far in 2023 according to Bloomberg, the top 4% of stocks in the S&P 500 have contributed 94% of the index return and 8 of the top 20 include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet Class A, NVIDIA, Alphabet Class C, Tesla and Meta. In other words, the top 2% of the stocks in the S&P 500 contributed 94% of the return. Through mid-May, if the AI stocks are omitted, the S&P Index would be down -1.4% instead of up +8.3%. All of these stocks are AI leaders and each of them is an institutional stock. Yet, I believe the retail investor will come into the market and when they do, it is stocks like PMED for which they have always had an appetite. C. I think investors will get more bang for their buck by investing in a small company like Predictmedix Inc. (CSE: PMED, OTCQB: PMEDF) with a total commitment to AI. From a base market cap of $16.6 million and, as I have pointed out in recent reports, many different business verticals to get them higher, I see PMED as a unique opportunity for aggressive growth investors. It is hard to imagine any decade having more of an impact on the ensuring socio-economic decades than the 1990s. Imagine your activities today without your cellphone, Internet, email and texting. I expect the cycle driven by AI to be a long one, similar to the dot-com cycle that lasted longer than the decade of the 1990s. To the right is a chart published by Luke Lango’s Hypergrowth Investing. It shows the stock market in the 1990s and overlays current results. The parallels Lango sees include: • Federal Reserve’s tight money policy slowed economic growth in 1990 as it is doing currently. • In 1990, the markets were down around 20% and in 2022 stocks dropped around 25%. • In late 1990, the Fed started reducing interest rates and the markets rebounded. • In late 2022, the Fed has turned less hawkish and into 2023 has slowed the pace of interest rate increases. The markets have been recovering. • In the early 1990’s, the dot-com stock market rally began and the market would advance generally higher for the rest of the decade and into the new millennium. • Today, it is Artificial Intelligence that is pushing stocks higher and given my expectations for AI, it could stock prices higher until at least 2030. Conclusion: I believe Predictmedix Inc. (CSE: PMED, OTCQB: PMEDF) is exceptionally well positioned to participate in the upcoming boom in Artificial Intelligence. There are many different ways to describe market cycles that evolve around such drivers. Here is mine: Accumulation: the earliest buyers tend to be larger institutions that gain the information necessary to be early adopter. I have given several statistics to show this has been happening. Retail Participation/Speculation: as the story gains acceptance, less experienced investors enter the market and prices begin to rise more quickly. After two to three years of combined buying by large and small investors, it is possible to identify speculative activities such as very rapid increases in a stock price or underwritings of companies based on questionable valuations. This is the next phase I see ahead for the current AI cycle. Distribution/Sale: At some point, toward the end of the Retail Participation/Speculation phase, some investors will begin to sell. It is popular to believe that institutional investors or “smart money” sell at this stage. During the many years, I have spent in the investment business, this is not true. Institutions can hold on to their AI stocks for far too long and end up seeing their portfolios incinerated. This is still many years away. The challenge today with a stock like PMED is not getting out; it is getting in. Bear Market: eventually there will be a broad sell-off of AI stocks. Some institutions will sell without regard for their impact on the market. Margin buyers will get margin calls and may be forced to sell again without regard to price. At this time, over half of the AI companies trading at that time will simply disappear. Some will be successful but remain smaller. Some will merge with another AI company. Some will be acquired. Very few will survive and become leaders in the industries. They will become the Alphabets, Amazons, Metas, Microsofts, Nvidias, and Oracles of the 2040s and 2050s. I started out with the quote “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” So I don’t think the AI cycle of the 2020s will be the same as the high-tech cycle of the 1990s but I think it will be similar. If you agree, Predictmedix Inc. (CSE: PMED, OTCQB: PMEDF) is a stock to buy for your portfolio.

Hello everyone.
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Mention what you want 1st please. Use grey markets values that we all know as value guidelines. I understand that most of us want the best trades we can posiblly get but try not to lowball me please. If your offers are reasonable i will respond ASAP.
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Foundations of Humanity 28 (Upturned Stones) - an NoP fanfic
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Thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for establishing the Nature of Predators Universe, and for allowing Fanfics to flourish! Thank you again, u/Braquen, u/Acceptable_Egg5560, u/BiasMushroom721, and last but not least u/Liberty-Prime76 for proofreading! This is my side of the Nature of a Giant crossover!
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Memory transcription subject: Valek, Venlil tourist
Date [standardized human time]: Sept 11th, 2136. Middle of 3rd Claw
“Well then, what would that make me?”
I jolted, swinging around at the sound. I had felt the voice come from behind me and resonate in my own chest. My fur stood on end as I locked onto his baleful eye glaring down at me. Alvi was frozen to her seat and Maeve had a hand to her chest, her chair now sat nearly half a tail from the table from her jump, her veil fallen from the jolt.
“Jesus Fucking Christ, Tarlim!” She swung her head to meet his eye over her shoulder, “How are you so quiet? Please don't sneak up on me like that.”
Tarlim continued to stare me down, and I could feel myself crumbling under the weight of his attention, though Jacob broke his concentration with a kind greeting, which Maeve returned likewise before asking, “Would you like to join us? These two were just teaching me about Predator Disease. I hope that isn’t a problem?”
Just like that?! Just mentioning his diagnosis set him wild earlier, and we’re just going to keep talking?!
“Not at all!” Jacob replied while he wandered over to the opposite side of our table and sat himself down. So I guess we are going to just keep talking! Even though the Giant was so obviously glaring down at me! But despite that, they just sat across from us, squeezing onto adjacent seats.
I found my tail wrapping itself around Alvi. I didn’t want her to get hurt. I didn’t want anything to happen now that they found us. How… How did they find us? “How did you know where we were?”
The Beast swung its arms wi-
NO! No! Night be damned, you WILL get this through your thick skull Valek. Tarlim. He! Is Tarlim!
Tarlim swung his arms wide, emphasizing the otherwise barren balcony. "You have a human with you. It wasn't hard to guess. It’s a rather familiar feeling. I always seem to end up in a place that the rest of the herd isn’t, and the same seems true for humans." His weighty focus came back to me, "I believe one of you was saying that was a symptom of predator disease?”
“That’s right,” Maeve answered immediately, clueless to or pointedly ignoring Tarlim's eyes on me. “Though it confuses me how the behavior of observers can be part of a diagnosis. That seems… less than scientific.”
“Yes, I would also like to know the logic behind that,” his ears and eyes locked onto mine while pointedly eating a dough ball, “I am very curious.”
Maeve gave me a nod of encouragement, urging me to continue, “Well… I-If the herd is avoiding someone, they must not be communicating ‘safety’ well enough. O-Or even being aggressive! So they would need to be taught how to not be a danger to others.”
“Really?” His ears were perked to signal his interest. ”And since everyone runs, screams, freezes, and cowers at the sight of me simply…” His voice wavered into silence. I could see his expression barely holding back rage and despair as he forced himself to hold a neutral serious expression.
It was Maeve who finished the thought. “Simply for being what you are. Valek…” She faced me directly. Her voice was a tone I heard when we talked about difficult things; devoid of accusation and yet carried by a desperate need to know, “do you believe that a living creature, any thing, sapient or not, should be abandoned because of how they are born?”
My ears fell flat. I could feel the attention of the world on my psyche, and I felt my tail pull from Alvi to protect myself instead. “I… No… But… But what if they’re a danger to the herd? Even humans wouldn’t keep a dangerous human free, would they?”
Jacob spoke through one of his dough balls. “Depends on what you mean by ‘dangerous.’” He swallowed and picked up another, “most ‘dangerous’ humans are like those Venlil who stabbed their partner, or that other Venlil who smashed their partner’s head on some stairs.” What?! The three of us were all startled at that news. “One was a fear response, the other just a simple accident. Worth a punishment, sure, but not always imprisonment.”
Maeve gulped and added, “Jesus, what happened on Prime Station…? Anyway, something else I noticed is: your process seemed very… proactive. Humans are reactive to injustice, or at least we try to be. Even if we know someone is at high risk of being a danger to those around them, we believe it is wrong to punish them for something they haven’t done. Innocent until proven guilty is a key tenet of our entire justice system.”
“Hey, it’s like they said,” Tarlim swallowed another ball, “it’s about teaching, not justice.” And levied his next challenge against me. “So what is it that I need to be taught? After all, you guys freaked out at seeing me, so you must know exactly what made me so aggressive and dangerous! Right?”
Of course I know why I freaked out! It was because he was big and… he was big and… No, no, that wasn’t the only reason! It couldn’t be the only reason. He was… he was big and he… His teeth! That’s it! They were… big and… And… Was that really it? Was that as deep as this fear went? I can’t even say I was afraid for my life, or for Maeve or Alvi’s life. Not next to how I felt running across the farm. There had to be something more to this than just how he looked!
My mind was spinning trying to justify itself, when Maeve cut through the fog, “Valek… What do exterminators… do?”
I thought for a long moment, “They… They protect us from predators. When there is a predator sighting, they investigate, locate, then exterminate the creature.”
Maeve took a moment to think on my words, then continued, “So what would an exterminator do… if a sapient was a Predator? Would they exterminate them too?”
“Ah, that’s simple!” A gruff voice leapt over a mouthful of dough, “They shoot ‘em with a flare with shotgun-level powder, douse ‘em with gas, and watch ‘em burn alive! That’s what they do!”
The sudden shock derailed our lesson, before Maeve asked incredulously, “Excuse me?? Did you just say exterminators… exterminate… with fire?!” Fear was evident behind her voice.
That couldn’t be true! The exterminators weren’t like that! They were- they were…
The Gi- Tarlim propped up his data pad toward us. There was a human wearing a blue spacesuit standing opposite what looked like more than a dozen exterminators in full flamer gear. The human held up one hand. “Hail people of Venlil Prime! I come in Peace! Take me to your leader!” Instantly, the exterminator closest to him pulled out a flare gun and shot the human. He fell to the ground, the flare bouncing off.
“Ah must say,” Jacob picked up another ball of dough, “Ah thank God Ah wore that suit. That flare still gave me a good bruise, but at least Ah didn’t need any skin grafts.”
I wanted to say it was just that one Venlil. But when the human defended himself, he was doused with fuel. Then there was… there was Tarlim. He was scrambling. Trying to save the human. Trying- trying to protect a friend! But he couldn’t! Jacob was set ablaze! He- he was!
The video ended with Jacob burning on the ground.
They had to have their reasons! Their duty is to protect the herd! They were trained to do only that! They take an oath to do only that! They can’t be… Evil! There’s proof they aren’t!
Like there’s proof they helped people during Herd Protection?
My heart stopped still.
“I-I need to go.”
---
I could only hear my claws clacking against the tile as I bolted down the stairs, through the arcade and out the front door, filling my lungs with fresh air. In the noise of the city surrounding my isolation, I felt my heart steady its pulse, and I walked aimlessly to clear my head.
I looked around at the city, constantly moving and beating with life and activity. This was the prosperity that the Federation promised us, that Exterminators put themselves in harm's way to protect. Was all of it just a facade? Some cheap veneer to cover bloodstained rot? We weren’t a utopia, I had never believed that; the Federation and Exterminators can’t be perfect. But Emerald Marble, Krakotl researchers, Tarlim’s imprisonment… These kinds of things are not accidents, and are not the work of a single person.
My mind drifted as I tried to understand why, while my paws carried me back to the hotel. I didn’t take stock of my surroundings until I heard the familiar buzz of the Forum, and stopped a moment to listen.
“My cousin Mavek got into the JEOTC, you know! That kid’s going places!”
“Did you hear? Farzer’s son was diagnosed with predator disease.” --- “I always knew something was off about that boy.”
“I saw one of those freaks on the street.” --- “Another? Are you sure it was one of them?” --- “I saw the scars on their neck! There’s no doubt that they were from there!” --- “I still can’t believe that they would just throw all those monsters out on our streets.”
“No, really! I saw it!” --- “That’s a puddle of Speh! Nobody could live in those drain tunnels for so long!” --- “On my mother’s Star I saw it! I think they’re hiding in there, working together; planning something!” --- “But they’re diseased! They don’t have the brains to work together!”
“And now the landlords are trying to more than double our rent!” --- “Double?? But- but we’re barely making ends meet as it is!” --- “Look, there’s still time to negotiate the contract. In the meantime, I can get more double shifts in the lumber yard.”
“So I called the exterminators, but instead of setting out gas or poison, they bring out the flamers! An entire half of that reserve burnt to ash! Those things only had a couple years until they were ready to cut!” --- “What?! But that reserve was part of our finance plan! How are we going to pay the equipment loans when that forest’s harvest comes around?” --- “We’ll think of something. Brahk. It was a Groben root chewer! They shouldn’t burn the forest just ‘cause it bit a worker’s hand!”
Of course: it's here too. How deep do I have to dig to see these things? Are they even buried at all?
I looked for and found a place to sit, then dug out my pad. Tarlim seemed surprised we didn’t know about him, but Alvi had, and she lived in the Capitol, so his lawsuit must have been televised. And he was right, all I had to search was ‘Dawn Creek correctional facility’ and I immediately found page after page of reports.
“A shame upon Corrections!”
“The secret drug trade of Dawn Creek”
“The failure of Dawn Creek’s Correctional Facility: Doing more harm than good.”
“Against the Herd: The predators deserved it!”
“Venlil weakness on full display”
“The illegal modifications of proven therapy devices!”
I clicked on that last one, figuring it would be the most likely to describe even a little of what physically went on inside. And it did. My stomach turned over and my heart sank to meet it: pictures of empty cells, empty of inhabitants and beds and tables and light. An open bathroom that once was sterile now a splashed palate of grime and filth. A kitchen that no one should ever eat from, with food that defies definition.
And the therapy devices! The Herd Therapy room had a photo of the safe spot, one of the investigators standing inside for scale. The article said that the room would commonly take twelve but that circle looked like it was rated for half that! And the electronics for the floor… They were a nightmare! The voltage was shown to be half-again over the mandated amount!
Then I saw The Chair… it was too big. A massive crown of connectors for the head. Metal clamps for the limbs instead of cloth straps. Electric probes set apart that a normal Venlil would be too small to connect. There… there was only one person that could have been used on.
“My stars… Why had it taken so long for the Light to find this?”
Maybe because it was never in shade?
‘Facility patient testimonials’. It took skipping three pages to get past all of Tarlim’s lawsuit, before I found another one. “This is the third week that I’ve been on latrine duty. Doctor Volm said it would teach me to value the herd. B-But I have to do it alone! I don’t understand…” Spoken from a patient of Clegel Falls Correctional Facility, followed immediately by the same Dr. Volm talking about how the diseased needed to learn their lesson with hard work. That the neglect was simply from a lack of staff. And the author sung the Doctor’s praises in their prose.
Fine. If hard work is how you fix predator disease, then what is their success rate?
The patient name went nowhere, she testified while incarcerated and never left. But the author was prolific, and I found one story that followed a success case. Checking their name, four others were released with them, in addition to a pawful from around the planet. Perfect! I would be able to cross reference their names and find out what happened! Doing just that, I found other release records, but it was just the same names again.
Ok… well if it is so successful, they must want everyone to know it! So finding lists of released persons shouldn’t be too hard. ‘Correctional facility release stories’... hmm, nope. ‘Correctional Facility successes’ - OH that is not what I meant. Brahk. Fine, how about ‘Dangerous predators released on the city’. There we go.
There’s Dawn Creek again. Guess Tarlim wasn’t lying about setting everyone loose. Alright here we go. Let's check these names. There’s my twelve. And there they are again. And again. Why is this story eve- Wait. [Standardized Human Times: 2129? 2126? 2132]...? They’re just releasing the same list over and over!
Were these people even patients?!
I checked each article detailing their release, and they couldn’t even get their diagnoses straight. Same issues: predator sympathizer was on every list, herdless behavior on most, excessive aggression on one or two, but they kept switching who had what. Ok, fine, just pick one!
Kaulna. The first article with her name mentioned predator sympathy, so start there. Treated at the Capitol… and Sweetwater? And Glacierview?? They’re on opposite sides of the Band!! Sun blast it, fine, what about early life? Nothing about education. This ‘Kaulna’ is alive and well in Clegal… and four years old. Oh, one with a medal for honorable service?? No, He died before my Kaulna’s first treatment.
Alright let's try Chelm the… Gojid Harchen? Ok what about Tarsi… who has three single biological mothers in separate cities. Brahking spawn of speh! Stranek?! Anyone?!
Please! Just one person! Just one person who got out who’s not- who’s not…
There was one.
“My son was cured after we took him to the Facility. Only took a few paws to find the right sedative!”
Wait, paws?
I altered my search. ‘Correctional sedatives’. Tons of stories now appeared. New stories. A parent would bring a child in and they would get a sedative to correct the ‘disease’ the child had and be sent on their way. There were several results about such things happening on the Yotul homeworld. But… none of these people were actually interred in the facilities. I found a public list of inmates who were incarcerated in the Capitol in the last month and compared names with the parents talking about their kids.
The kids who returned weren’t on the list. The kids who didn’t… they were.
None of the kids who were on the list had any records of leaving. No record of someone leaving after checking in. Only… only…
… Tarlim. I’m so sorry Tarlim.
I felt the wind around me as my legs sprinted back to the arcade. I shouldered through the door and kept running back to the food court, then bounded up the steps to our table, spurned again by the sound of Alvi crying.
“If what… They do is a choice… what even is a predator?” I crested the top of the stairs, “What… what even is predator disease?”
I knew the answer.
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