So like a lot of you I recently had the opportunity to play the Diablo IV beta and I have to say that I'm really impressed with the overall gameplay and atmosphere of the game. In particular, the Barbarian class stood out to me for its challenging gameplay. However, I feel like some of the other classes, such as the Sorcerer, are way easier to play and requires less dodging (A mechanic I reeeally like by the way). Dodging has impact and really gives you a sense of achievement, when you dodge a big attack.
Playing barbarian is so fun and rewarding!! Really feels like you can die anytime and the weapon switching is very cool!
I've played both classes on veteran difficulty and overall I am really happy with the difficult and challenge!
As a player who enjoys a challenge, I found that playing the Barbarian required a lot of skill and strategy. The gameplay is fast-paced and requires quick reflexes to dodge attacks from enemies. Boss fights are especially well-designed, requiring players to learn attack patterns and timing in order to succeed. (I died many times to some of the main story bosses).
However, when playing the Sorcerer, I found that the gameplay was much easier in comparison. The Sorcerer deals a lot more damage and doesn't require as much skill when it comes to avoiding attacks. This I feel like is a shame and should be addressed, so you feel like there's actually something on the line.
What are you guys thoughts on the overall skill and difficulty of the game, as it is now?

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 50%. (I'm a bot)

NEW DELHI - Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday invited his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for the Group of Seven major industrial nations' summit in May and announced action plans for a new Indo-Pacific initiative aimed at countering China's influence in the region.
It fits with Japan's new national security strategy adopted in December under which Tokyo Japan is deploying long-range cruise missiles to strengthen its strike-back capability, and using development aid more strategically in support of like-minded countries.
The relationship between New Delhi and Beijing also has deteriorated since 2020, when Indian and Chinese troops clashed along their undefined border in the Himalayan Ladakh region, leaving 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead. Kishida also held talks with Modi to deepen bilateral cooperation while also addressing food security and development financing.
Kishida said Modi accepted his invitation to participate in the G-7 summit, which will be held in Japan's western city of Hiroshima in May. In his statement, Kishida said he told Modi that he hopes to take up challenges at the summit including upholding the rules-based international order and strengthening partnership with the international community that goes beyond G-7 and includes the Global South, a term used for developing nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Japan holds the G-7 presidency in 2023 and has sought deeper ties with developing countries to lay the groundwork for a successful summit.
ADVERTISEMENT. "In order to respond effectively to the various challenges that the international community is currently facing, cooperation between the G-7 and the G-20 has greater significance. Such pressing challenges include food security, climate and energy, fair and transparent development finance," Kishida wrote.

Summary Source FAQ Feedback Top keywords: Japan^#1 Kishida^#2 include^#3 Modi^#4 G-7^#5
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NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.

I'm not particularly a religious person. I never really connected with the idea of believing in a God or a Devil; something like religion never really resonated with me until the night a few of my friends and I explored the Lockwood house.
My mother gave me a laptop this morning; she thought that it might help me cope or whatever so here I am, typing what I remember. I haven't been able to sleep; there's a shadow that stands in the corner of my hospital room at night, and sometimes I hear voices inside my head telling me to do things, and I'm terrified.
No one believes me. They keep stating that my traumatizing experience must have triggered my anxiety. They called it a dissociation or detachment from reality, I think. Whatever. I know that what I saw in that house was real, and what had happened to my friends actually did happen. We just wanted an experience. We never really stopped to evaluate the risks that might come with it.
I guess I'll start from the beginning.
It was Friday morning, and I decided to kill some time in the library across from my high school. The greatest thing about being in a library was the calming atmosphere. I leaned forward on the worn sofa and rolled my eyes as I turned the page.
What? I scoffed. Why is this even a thing someone would think is even remotely attractive?
[ I am a lot to handle, but I can assure you that you'll have fun handling me, love ]
Seriously? I've met drunk perverts hanging outside of bars with better pick up lines than that I thought to myself. I didn't think it could get any cringier until I read the next line.
[ My heart did an unexpected flip, startled by his bizarrely attractive smile ]
I frowned inwardly. You know what you really need instead of a creepy-ass stalker boyfriend? A cardiology consult
"So annoying," I sighed. How is this tripe a best seller?
"What's annoying?"
"Oh, shit." I squeaked. I sat upright and turned around, instinctively about to clog the person when I realized who it was. Harlen leaned up against the wall with a tilted smirk on his face. He stood between me and the fluorescents.
Harlen was a fellow classmate and a friend of Mark's, who was an older guy Albie, and I guess Harlen hung out with. Harlen was a tall, attractive guy with an athletic build, short obsidian hair, and grey eyes. To quote the main character in the novel, Harlen was the kind of trouble smarter girls than I had fallen into with disastrous results and a few regrets.
My cheeks flushed and I closed the book as he cocked his head at me. "Did I seriously scare you?" He joked, but his smile faltered slightly as I glared up at him.
"Dude," I groaned. "Don't sneak up on me like that,"
"What? I didn't sneak," He crossed his arms over his chest in protest. "No sneaking was involved. I just walked over here. And to be fair, this is a library-silence is sacred in a library so technically we're supposed to sneak. We're also the only ones in here right now anyway, so who cares."
My eyes did a pointed sweep of the decidedly empty area before settling back on Harlen's with an unamused glower. "Yeah," I said. "I'm pretty sure the zero other people in here appreciate the deceptive aura of calm. What are you doing here?"
"Well, actually I was doing some research for a paper I'm writing for English." He tightened his grip on his bookbag. "I was told I'd find you here," He explained.
"Why?" I asked. "I didn't tell anyone that I was here."
"I've got my ways of tracking people down."
When he saw my expression, Harlen rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on Kaya. I'm just kidding! Is it really that weird that I happen to be in here the same time as you?"
"I guess not."
"I'll let you get back to reading, then. Oh," He started. "I almost forgot. Meet us down at the Love Triangle for lunch. I found a cool place for us to urbex."
My friends and I loved urban exploring. Most of the time it was exciting and exhilarating. Sometimes it was a challenge; some places were remote enough that you could simply walk in through the front door like a welcomed visitor. Other times we would be forced to climb up over fences or crawl through windows.
There was this one time we decided to check out a drainage tunnel because a few people have sworn they heard ominous laughter coming from it. Water seeped into our clothes and we shivered at the coldness. I remember that I cracked a joke about the movie "IT" when we suddenly heard a loud BOOM right next to our heads. I have no idea what caused the sound, but I doubt that it was anything paranormal.
I was in the middle of stabbing at a large crouton with my fork when Harlen, Albie, and Jessica took their seats at the table.
"Hey, Kaya," Albie said as he sat down beside me. Albie and I have been friends since we were little. He was a skinny black guy with a box fade haircut and light brown eyes. We were neither popular nor unpopular. We were what some people called, "drifters" and, according to Albie, those whose social standings meant that if he made random eye contact with someone in the halls he would probably get a nod back, and maybe even a quick "Hey" or "What's up" If you didn't know us personally you'd likely assume that we were siblings, especially with the way we acted around each other most of the time.
"What took you guys so long?" I asked, pointing my fork in his direction.
"It was my fault. I'm sorry." He grumbled, as he unzipped his lunch bag. "Mr. Wizzner chastised me for like, ten minutes."
"To be fair, You were looking at your phone in class." Jessica said. Jessica was Albie's girlfriend, a petite girl with long blond hair, and hazel eyes. "And that wasn't the only thing,"
Albie sighed. "You're not wrong, but he's kind of an asshat."
"You should use that filter once in a while," Jessica said.
"Oh baby, since when have you known me to have such a filter?"
"Oh please," I scoffed. "You just choose not to use it."
Albie gave me a frown and tossed a baby carrot my way, which I was able to dodge easily.
Harlen cleared his throat as he pulled out his phone. "So, shall we get to it, then?"
The Lockwood house had been abandoned for years now, but a few people who have walked the trail close to the place have claimed they could see the spirits of the family walking around inside, and others had even heard music coming from the house. When they went to investigate, there was no one inside.
In 2010 Ethan Lockwood brutally murdered his wife, Anna Lockwood, and her parents Steven and Isabelle Thompson in the middle of the night. Authorities found Anna's parents dead in their bedroom; both of their bodies were in pieces, and their daughter's body was found in the basement. Anna had multiple blunt force head injuries and what's worse, her eyes and tongue were missing. Ethan's body was found in the living room with a shotgun beside him, and a deep laceration on his neck. People have compared this to the Amityville horror - which was a huge reason we were doing this.
"Get this," Harlen said, as he scrolled down. "There was a survivor - a ten year old boy. He also had a twin brother, but he was never found."
Some have assumed the father killed him and buried his body somewhere on the property, and others have assumed the boy escaped and is probably alive under a new identity. I guess we'll never know.
"Holy crap. What happened to the boy who survived?" I asked.
"I don't know. I guess that part was kept confidential," Albie said. "For the boy's protection I guess."
"Poor baby," Jessica frowned.
"So," Harlen said. "Are you guys up for it?"
◇
We all crawled into Harlen's truck around 6pm and headed to the Lockwood house. Albie took his video recorder and held it in front of his face. "Hey, what's up guys, gals, and nonbinary folks!" Albie spoke with conviction as he stared wide-eyed in the video recorder. "We're going to prove that ghosts are real!"
I rolled down the window and glanced out at the scenery. I laughed to myself when we passed a large cornfield. "Guys, this seriously looks like we're going straight into a modern day horror film."
"It really does," Jessica agreed.
"I can already feel this place, I'm beginning to sweat all over." Albie exclaimed as he turned his camera to the window then back on himself.
"Like something about this place isn't right at all? That's pretty understandable, considering." Harlen said, turning down a gravel road.
"We're gonna recieve a ton of views for this!" Albie smiled. He turned the camera toward Harlen who waved back from the review mirror.
"Dude," Harlen chuckled. "I bet some of these viewers are going to think you're crazy because you're willing to allow something to throw you across the room and-possibly-murder you for content."
We pulled up to the gate in front of the two - story colonial home. There was already a green van parked outside the gate to the property. Mark greeted us at the gate with a colorful bottle of vodka. Mark was an average looking guy in his early 20s with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes. He raised the bottle in his right hand with shot glasses in the other.
"Hey, guys," Mark handed each of us a shot glass. "Did you get here alright?"
"Oh yeah. I've driven passed this place a couple of times, I didn't even need the GPS" Harlen said.
"This definitely screams illegal." I commented, pointedly toward the large house.
"Only if we get caught, but this place is abandoned so I doubt we'll get into any trouble with the law." Harlen said.
"I'm giving you alcohol, and you're more worried about "breaking and entering"? Mark laughed.
Albie took his shot of the Three Olives Loopy vodka and made a face. "This tastes like Tucan Sam fucked me."
"Ew," Jessica grimaced.
Harlen and I laughed. Mark only snorted.
After we each had several shots of vodka, we got ready. We each grabbed a headlight in order to keep our hands free, gloves, and disposable face masks and placed them into our backpacks, along with first aid (just in case). Mark had been urbexing for a while, and he was always prepared with supplies just in case anyone forgot to bring something.
"So, what happens if we're not alone in the house?" Jessica asked.
Even though urbex sites are technically "abandoned" that didn't mean you wouldn't run into other people inside like squatters or addicts, and they may not react well to seeing a stranger in their space.
"It's a good thing I brought this along," Mark said. He pushed his jacket aside and revealed a hand gun tucked inside its holster.
"Holy crap, man." Harlen said.
"I can't believe you brought a gun." Albie said.
Jessica and I were speechless. It's a good idea to bring some sort of self defense tool just in case your physical safety is threatened, but bringing something like a gun raises the risk of you accidentally injuring yourself.
"Of course I did. It's always good to carry protection." Mark explained.
A few minutes after, the five of us walked up to the large rusted gate. With a little bit of work, we each slipped through the bars and headed up to the house.
"You know those haunted attractions where people dress up in order to scare the shit out of you, except it's actual demons and they're going to steal your soul!" Jessica smiled beside Albie who threaded his fingers through hers. "It's actually kinda thrilling."
"Awesome," Harlen smirked. "I'm glad you sound so optimistic about it."
"I try to be!"
We stepped up onto the porch, which wrapped around the front of the house. The paint on the door was chipped with age in places. "Are you guys ready?" Harlen asked. "Once we enter this house, we will possibly become vulnerable to any demonic presence that might reside here."
I rolled my eyes. "If I'm in serious danger, I'm getting out. I'll throw myself out the window if I have to."
"I'm on Kaya's team," Jessica agreed. "Team rational."
"What, and risk getting a broken leg?" Albie asked.
"Better a broken leg than having your soul taken by some kind of entity." I replied.
"Alright, guys let's do this." Harlen said. He opened the door and the five of us headed inside.
The front door opened up into a foyer. Straight ahead of us was a staircase that led up to the second floor. There was a spacious living room to our right and a dining room to our left, and from there, an alcove enterance that led into the kitchen. I could tell that this place had been abandoned for years; there was cobwebs and peeled paint on the walls. There were remnants of furniture left ripped, dismantled, and stained which laid disorderly on the floor of the living room, reminding me of death.
This had once been the home of a happy upper-class family, full of life. Now it was replaced by ghosts of the past, vermin, spiders, dirt, and trash. The smell of rot and the taste of regurgitated food made me grimace in disgust.
"Why hasn't anyone fix this place up and put it back on the market?" Jessica asked.
"Who really knows," Albie replied.
"Hello!" Harlen announced as he twirled on his heels. "Are there any spirits here?" I glanced over at Harlen with a look and he shrugged.
"Is this what you guys imagined?" Mark queried.
"Sure, minus the dead bodies," I walked into the living room and spotted a mid century record player console propped up against the wall next to a grand piano. There was a record still on the turntable, "Tonight You Belong To Me" by "Patience and Prudence"
"Hey, come check this out." Out of curiosity I placed the stylus and tried turning it on, not really expecting anything to happen. I jerked my hand away when it began to play.
I quickly took the needle off, a little creeped out. "Holy crap, that scared me."
"That thing still works?" Albie asked, as he inspected the record player. "That song is kinda sweet,"
"No it isn't," Jessica frowned. "It's the kind of song you would hear while being tortured to death."
After we goofed around a little bit, we all decided to begin exploring around the house. Mark started up the stairs and asked if anyone would like to join him.
"I'll join you, man." Harlen said. He gave me a wink before heading towards the stairs with Mark, and I glanced over at Albie and Jessica as they disappeared down the hall.
I was alone.
I walked over to the piano, and carefully lifted the lid up and over to reveal its keys. My fingers traced the lines in between them and pushed down lightly on a few. The deep sounds reverberated around the room.
My eyes drifted up to the small picture frame sitting on top of the piano. I absent-mindedly bit my bottom lip and reached up to grab the frame. My fingers trailed across the picture, leaving an oily impression against the glass that held the picture in place. A family of four stared back at me and I realized that it was Ethan, Anna, and their twin boys. I was so focused on the twins that I almost didn't hear my phone alerting me that I had a new text message.
It was a text from Albie.
From "Albie" at 6:45pm: Meet us down in the basement. I want to show u something.
To "Albie" at 6:46pm: What is it?
From "Albie" at 6:46pm: There's some cool shit down here. Hurry up.
I rolled my eyes and placed my phone in my pocket as I made my way down the hall. I paused at the top of the basement stairs. I could hear Jessica and Albie, the beems from their headlights bouncing around.
"Albie?" I called out.
"Yeah, Kaya, we're down here." He replied. "Come on down. We have something to show you."
"Alright, I'm coming down hold on." I carefully descended the stairs and turned the corner. "So, what did you want to show me-"
My voice died in my throat. It was dark down here, and my friends were nowhere to be seen. I was gripped by a sudden sense of unnease. I stood near the stairs and turned on my headlamp. "Hello? Albie, this isn't funny, dude."
What answered me was silence. Absolute silence. I was alone, or I thought I was until my light fell onto something moving a few feet in front of me. It was an androgynous looking kid around my age with pale skin, shoulder-length black hair, and violet eyes. They wore a long sleeve gothic cloak poncho, over thin black leggings. Their lips pulled back into a malicious grin as they came closer to me. I watched in horror as their eyes rolled to the back of their head and their mouth split open wide, revealing sharp teeth.
They reached out for me and I screamed in terror, my instincs finally kicked in. I bolted up the steps, and stumbled into the hallway. I ran for the front door and tried to leave, but it wouldn't open. What the hell?! that made no damn sense! My heart sank into the pit of my stomach. Suddenly I felt something touch my shoulder. I screamed, ready to defend myself.
"Hey. Hey! Kaya, stop it's me, Albie."
I stopped struggling as my eyes refocused on the familiar faces in front of me. Albie, Jessica, and Harlen stared back at me with confused alarm.
"Are you alright?" Harlen asked. "What happened?"
I shook my head and quickly glanced behind them at the basement door, but there was nothing there. I know I hadn't imagined it! I turned my attention back to my friends. "I saw something down in the basement! I want to leave. Now."
"What are you talking about, Kaya? Hold up, did you see something down there? Holy shit. The ghosts didn't think one of us would see them, but we did. Can you-"
Before Albie can finish his sentence, I roughly pushed him away from me and turned back to the door. "Damnit, Albie! I don't want to be in this fucking house anymore! It won't open! Why won't it open!"
"Seriously, Kaya what the hell?" Albie asked, almost annoyed.
"Just relax, Kaya. Let me give it a try, alright?" Harlen offered, calmly. He grabbed the knob, but it stayed shut. "What the hell?"
"See? I told you it won't open!" I hissed.
"What do you mean, "it won't open" let me give it a try." Albie shoved his way passed us. He motioned for all of us to stand back and we watched as he tried to use his whole body against it.
"M-maybe the door's jammed." Jessica exclaimed. "Let's chill out. The front door isn't the only exit out of this place."
"Jessica's right. Let's try the door in the kitchen." Harlen said. We entered the kitchen and Harlen quickly made his way over to the screen door that faced the forest. He cursed under his breath. "Damnit. Nothing."
"Hold up, guys. Where's Mark?" Albie asked.
Harlen quickly pulled his phone out to call Mark when we all collectively got a text from him. Reminding us that we had set up a group chat for easy contact. Harlen glanced back at me with an odd expression I couldn't name. I opened my texts and a sharp stab of dread settled in my stomach.
From "Mark" at 7:05pm: I'm down in the basement, Harlen. Where r u?
From "Mark" at 7:06pm: Harlen is that u? It's not funny, man.
Harlen texted Mark that we were all in the kitchen. I watched as the three small dots in a text bubble pending before it disappeared and Harlen's cell phone rang. He answered and placed Mark on speaker phone.
"What the hell do you mean you're in the kitchen? I definitely heard your voice down here."
Harlen cursed, and told Mark to make his way to the kitchen. Harlen started toward the basement and we all followed right behind him. Before we could reach the stairs to the basement, however, the door swung shut, the force of it knocked us backwards. We heard Mark's gun go off several times followed by his peircing screams of terror before they were abruptly cut short. In our inebriated panic, I failed at the last second to realize we were all running in different directions.
I remember running up the stairs and locking the bathroom door behind me. My heart pounded painfully against my ribcage as I fumbled for my phone, thankful that it hadn't fallen out of my pocket. I willed myself to control my sobs and called 911, but for some reason my call wouldn't go through.
"Nononono! Fuck, please no." I collapsed against the bathtub and cried into my sleeves. Paranoia nearly consumed me once I thought of my friends and every horrible scenario when I received a text from Albie. I looked at it confused.
I wiped the snot from my face and quickly texted him back. How in the hell was I able to receive his texts when I couldn't get ahold of the cops?
From "Albie" at 7:20pm: Apparently we can contact each other in this house, but our phone's service seems to be cut off from the outside world. Where r u?
What the hell is going on in this place??
To "Albie" at 7:21pm: I'm in the upstairs bathroom. Do u know where Harlen and Jess are?
From "Albie" at 7:25pm: Jess is with me. I don't know where Harlen is.
My stomach dropped, but before I could reply Albie sent another text, and what I read made my blood run cold.
From "Albie" at 7:25pm: There is smthing moving in the hallway outside the room we r in. Stay quiet and keep ur phone on silent. If we need to contact each other use text.
It was around thirty minutes after when Albie replied with another text updating me with their situation. The thing stalking outside their room a while ago was gone now, and it hadn't come back.
From "Albie" at 8:00pm: We're going to make our way to you. Stay where u r
To "Albie" at 8:02pm: Ok. Be careful.
I slowly got to my feet and set my phone down beside the sink and took a deep breath to level my breathing. Suddenly, I heard something pound against the door. I screamed and stumbled backward. "Holy shit!"
"Kaya?" It was Harlen. "Kaya, is that you?"
"H-Harlen?" I collected myself and made my way over to the bathroom door. I walked into the hallway, relieved that I wasn't alone anymore. Harlen was safe, thank God. "Oh my god, Harlen I'm so glad you're-"
I gasped, and I stumbled forward as the door behind me slammed shut. I felt a sudden wave of dread wash over me as my eyes swept up and down the vacant hallway. Whatever was keeping us here tricked me. I quickly tried going back into the bathroom, but it wouldn't open, not only that but I left my phone by the sink. "No! Damnit!" I needed my phone, it was my only way to stay in contact with my friends, and how was Albie going to know where I was? I had two options, I could try and make my way to Albie or find another place to hide.
My heart thudded loudly in my ears as my headlamp bounced off the walls, chasing nothing more than shadows. I stuck close to the wall as I made my way down the hall. From somewhere down the hall, I heard a voice call out. It was Albie's voice telling me to come over to him. I hesitated for a moment. What if it was another trick? It definitely could be since whatever is toying with us was capable of mimicking voices. What if it really was Albie? Regardless, I had to go passed the room if I wanted to find Albie or another place to hide.
"Kaya, we're in here," Albie whispered to me as I got closer to one of the bedrooms. I hesitated before I stepped inside. The bedroom smelled awful, like rotten meat hung out in the sun for too long. My headlamp's light swept the room until it landed on a lone figure lying face-up on the bed.
"...Albie?" I whispered, tentatively. My voice sounded thin, like old paper. The figure on the bed didn't answer, but when I crept closer, I slipped on something wet. I glanced down at the floor. It was blood; a trail of blood led in from the doorway all the way to the bed. "Oh my god!" I screamed. My stomach rebelled and I heaved out my lunch until I couldn't expel anything else.
My throat burned as I wiped my mouth, and my chest hurt from sobbing out his name. Mark laid sprawled on the bed, his abdomen was ripped open and what remained of his entrails spilled over his body like a gory blanket. I stumbled backward, I fell against the door closing it shut. I was about to leave when I spotted the gun tucked under Mark's jacket.
Oh god, this was probably the worst decision ever and the likelihood that this was yet another trick was high, but I needed something to protect myself with. I've watched Mark use it before when we all went camping a year ago, so I kind of knew how to use it. I steeled myself and started toward the bed.
The closer I got the more I can see the damage done to his body; his abdomen and chest cavity were open and hollowed out. The skin looked like it was rolled back, torn and ragged. His sternum was completely gone, a few of his ribs were cracked so they protruded from either side of his body like fangs. Half of his bottom lip looked like it was chewed off and his left ear was missing. I shook my head and tentatively reached out for the gun. Just as I grabbed it, I felt something gooey covered on the grip of the gun.
I yelped and dropped it on the floor. I cursed and bent down to pick it up. Once I did I wiped the substance off with my sleeve with a grimace and made sure the safety was on. I was tucking it into my jacket pocket when something dripped onto my hand. I looked up and saw Mark or what used to be Mark looming over me from the ceiling like Spiderman. His eyes were oily black, his face twisted in an agonized and vengeful expression. Before I could move, he threw himself at me.
Somehow, I managed to dodge him and wrench the door open, hitting Mark as he lunged at me. The blow was hard enough that it sent Mark sprawling across the floor. I rushed out of the room and back into the empty hallway. I took a chance and looked back, but Mark wasn't there.
When I reached the end of the hallway, I felt hands grab me and pull me around the corner. I opened my mouth to scream, but a hand clamped over my mouth, silencing me. Panic cut through my body like a hot blade, and new found adrenaline flooded my system as I twisted and shoved at the person holding me immobile.
"Kaya, stop," Albie hissed. "It's me."
I turned around and my eyes widened with tears as Albie released his hand from my mouth, and Jessica pulled me into a hug as I told them what happened. Albie pointed towards the stairs and motioned for us to follow. Albie led us into the foyer. We heard movement in the basement so as quickly and quietly as we could, we crawled inside a closet across from the living room.
"What are we going to do?" Jessica asked. "We have no weapons!"
"I found this on Mark's body." I exclaimed as I showed them the hand gun.
Albie got to his feet. "ah, crap...I'm going to be right back. I left my camera in the kitchen."
"What? Hell no." I hissed. Splitting up is a terrible Idea! Risking his life for that damn camera? Was he an idiot?
"Just stay here, alright? Kaya, keep that gun out." He said, with no room for an argument. "Whatever this thing is, it can mimic our voices so we'll need a password to distinguish them from us." He took out his phone and typed Last Alliance
After he left, I crawled over to the door and locked it. I sat down next to Jessica who was sobbing. I turned to her and placed my palms to her tear stained face. "Hey, Jess. We'll make it out of here alright? I promise-"
Jessica shook her head and pushed my hands away from her face. "Don't say that shit to me. We're going to die here, Kaya!" She hissed. "Why is this happening? I wanna go home!"
I sat back against the wall and sighed.
Ten minutes later I heard movement coming from outside the room. I quickly got to my feet and placed my hands on the door.
"Last Alliance," Albie whispered, rather quickly. "Hurry up and let me in."
I hadn't even released the door knob when Albie pushed passed me and helped Jessica to her feet without much protest on her end. "Shit, it was him all along."
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"I caught it on camera!" He whispered frantically. "The reason he brought us out here wasn't to-shit-" he was breathing hard. He moved toward me and shoved the camera in my direction. "Here, hold onto it for-" His sentence was cut off abruptly as the thing that used to be Mark drilled his fist into Albie's chest from behind. Albie's eyes widened as his mind had come to the realization at what happened.
Mark dropped Albie's body on the ground and his lips twisted into a manic grin as he examined his blood-covered arm. "He was spying on us," Mark said, but it didn't sound like Mark anymore. His voice sounded like several voices overlapping, fighting for center stage. "He didn't think that we would notice, but we did."
We screamed, and holding onto the camera with one hand I pulled her toward me with the other, quickly. We couldn't save him, and I knew that if we didn't move now we would end up just like him.
Jessica and I bolted down the hallway and back up the stairs. We found an empty room that must have been a personal office at one point, and barricaded ourselves inside. I cursed when I noticed the room we were in didn't have a window wide enough for us to escape through. I sat against the wall beside Jessica who sobbed into her sleeves.
I glanced down at the camcorder which felt heavy in my hand. What did Albie capture on camera that had him so upset? I turned it on and what I saw on the screen made my blood run cold. It was Harlen, the kid from the basement who stood beside Harlen, and the thing that used to be Mark; Harlen was speaking to him, but it was in a strange language that I couldn't understand. After he was finished, the thing that used to be Mark knelt down as if Harlen was some kind of royalty, and that was where the video stopped.
I heard that thing right outside the room we were in. He was telling us that no matter what we did, we were not leaving this place. A few seconds later, he broke through the door, pushing the desk and chairs out of the way with ease. With the force, one of the chairs knocked me to the floor.
He released a sick and twisted laughter, and stalked toward me, eyes filled with malice. Jessica grabbed something heavy from the floor and chucked it at Mark. Mark was startled for a second, and then slowly turned his attention to her. She yelped and frantically swept her eyes around the room for anything she could use as a weapon. He lunged for her and they collided to the floor.
I fumbled for my jacket's zipper for the gun, but I was too late. I watched in utter horror as he ripped into my friend; her screams of terror and agony will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life. I pulled myself to my feet, my back bumped into something hard. A metal filing cabinet. Mark turned his attention back on me, but before he could reach me, he tripped over something and he fell to the floor. I shifted, and using my whole body weight, I managed to tip it over. It landed on top of Mark with a sickening crunch of bone and viscera.
I slowly made my way to Jessica's body and collapsed to my knees. I clutched at my own head and screamed until it hurt. At that moment, all I wanted to do was crumble in defeat. My voice had broken into heavy sobs so loud and ugly that I almost didn't hear Harlen's footsteps behind me.
"Kaya, is that you?" He called out to me, his voice full of worry. I was hardly listening to him. This was his fault! Rage spiked through me like a knife to my gut, it twisted and turned until I was all ground beef inside; I had the sudden urge to pull the gun from my jacket and-no, I had to calm down. Maybe if I feigned ignorance, I might still have a chance to escape, however slim that was. He bent down, and I let him pull me along with him without protest. With his eyes forward, I slowly put my hand on the gun.
We were almost to the kitchen when Harlen turned around, and leaned against the wall. "So, you know, don't you."
It wasn't a question. I slowly pulled out the gun, unlocked it, and trained it on him. He stared at me with an unsettling expression, and I could have sworn his eyes were black. I suddenly felt an intense pressure pour down on me. I could feel a miasma of something intense as his eyes bore into mine; my arms trembled with the effort of keeping them aloft. The gun clenched tightly in my hands like a life line. I couldn't faulter. I knew that if I did, even for an instant, Harlen would undoubtedly kill me.
"Oh, don't be like that, Kaya. You're not getting out of this house unless I say so, so let's just chat, hm?"
I shook my head and raised the gun to his chest, and for a brief moment I caught a glimpse of a surprised expression on his face when I pulled the trigger. The sound of the gunshot reverberated around me. I pulled the trigger again and again, but the gun was empty. I dropped it to the floor, my hands shaking. He glanced down at himself. "Huh. Well, would ya look at that, you managed to get me through the ribs, good job."
I was running before Harlen finished his sentence. However, he wasn't coming after me-at least not yet. Figures. I couldn't leave this place so he had no reason to put much effort into the chase. I stumbled through the house, catching myself on overturned furniture in order to keep my balance as I made my way towards the stairs.
I tripped over something and I caught myself against the wall across from the stairs. I paused for a moment to catch my breath. The house seemed to resonate with his manic laughter. I glanced behind me, and I felt a wave of cold dread as he sauntered toward me down the hall. Hands in his pockets, with an almost amused expression.
"Where do you think you're going, Kaya?" He asked. "Didn't I tell you before?"
The words, "There is no escape" suddenly appeared all over the walls in blood. I cursed, and pushed myself off the wall and bolted up the steps, down the hall, and into one of the bedrooms and quickly closed the door. I looked around at what was once a child's room. There was a twin sized bed in the center of the room, a nightstand across from the closet, and a bathroom.
I spotted a decent sized window and I ran over to it, but it wouldn't open and I cursed when there was nothing around me to break it with. Without any time to come up with a plan, I quickly slid underneath the bed and turned off my headlamp. I immediately cursed at myself again, of all the places to hide I chose the first place any one would look!
I contemplated whether or not to find another hiding place, but before I could move I heard him make his way down the hall singing that creepy ass song. "My honey I know with the dawn that you will be gone, but tonight you belong to me, just little 'ol me~"
The bedroom door opened. I covered my mouth and tried to silence my breathing, hoping to God that he wouldn't find me under the bed. I watched in fear as he closed the door behind him and made his way over to the bed. The bed dipped slightly as Harlen's weight sank onto it. He told me things I didn't want to hear and more. This monster-this demon-slithered into our lives just for all of this to happen.
My eyes widened and I tucked my arms to my sides, the wooden bed frame gave a protest above me as Harlen laid down on top of it. Then he sighed, almost forlorn. "This was my brother's room, you know. Coming back here brings back so many memories,"
Right after he said that I felt something prickle behind my eyelids. I shut my eyes tightly as gruesome scenes appeared inside my head. There was so much blood, and images shown of a young boy in pajamas stalking through the house with an ax in his hands picking off his family members one by one-doing things a normal child his size wouldn't be able to do, but Harlen was anything but normal. I felt bile rise in my throat but I managed to keep it down.
"The final stage of grief is acceptance, Kaya." He said. His cruel voice brought me back to the present. "You have a lot of spirit, I like that. I'm also in a good mood so I'll give you two options: you can either die here or you can come with me. You should be grateful that I'm even giving you an option. So, what's it going to be?"
I opened my mouth and closed it again; what was I supposed to say to something like that? What was going to happen to me if I said yes? If I said no...
A low growl -yes, a growl- rumbled above me and I felt something snag my ankle. I panicked, my fingers tore into the wooden floor as I was dragged out from underneath the bed. I was thrown across the room, pain shot up my back as something bit into my spine. Harlen straightened up and started toward me. I quickly averted my gaze, the panic swarmed all over me like a hive of angry bees.
"Wh-why are you d-doing this?" I asked, my breath hitched between sobs.
Harlen knelt down in front of me. "Hey...hey look at me, Kaya."
Absolute terror gripped me as he forced me to look at him. His features weren't human; the light of the moon highlighted the inhuman planes of his face. Black, spidery thread-like lines creeped around his forehead and right beneath his oily black eyes. His mouth had split open, wider than any human mouth was capable of.
His nails grew long and sharp against my chin. It was mesmerizing, fascinating almost, like watching a lion's face before it tears yours off. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe; my lungs felt swollen and inflamed, my hands came up to my throat as I coughed and wheezed. Was this an asthma attack? No, it was Harlen.
"When I ask you a question, do not answer it with another question do you understand?" He snarled. "You will understand why when you arrive. Now, will it be a yes or a no?"
His features calmed and he looked human again, and whatever power on me broke, it allowed me to inhale sharply. I gasped. I wanted to scream at him, I wanted to rage. Instead, I dropped my hands on my thighs. I wanted to live.
◇
"Kaya, honey" My mom said, as she came into my hospital room, "You've got someone to see you this morning! One of your friends from school, I think."
I placed my book down on the table beside me. She bent down and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "And he's very attractive," She whispered, "It's not every day a tall handsome boy comes to sit by your bedside."
I nodded and gave her a small smile as my chest filled with dread. The doctor informed my mom that I was found in the middle of the woods, unconcious by a young man. She had no idea what really happened to me or what happened to my friends'. Harlen told me that he had ways of covering his tracks so there was no use in telling anyone what really happened. It didn't matter if I did or not because no one would believe me anyway.
Harlen came around the corner with a bouquet of flowers. My mom smiled at him and walked toward the door, "I'll just leave you two alone. What did you say your name was again?"
"My name is Harlen," He said, as he stepped forward. "Harlen Lockwood."
"Nice to meet you, Harlen," She said, smiling back at him before exiting the room.
Harlen placed the flowers on the table and sat down next to the hospital bed, he placed a hand on my thigh. "I'm so glad you're feeling better, Kaya." He said. He gently pushed a loose strand of my hair out of my face and gently tucked it behind my ear. "Remember what we talked about. You will come to me after you are discharged from the hospital,"
I shivered at his touch, and out of curiosity I asked, "What happens if I don't?"
Harlen let loose a dark chuckle. His head dips until his lips skate by the curve of my ear. "Then I'll hunt you down." He whispered to me like it's obvious. "I'll kill you and everyone you care about. I'm capable of all sorts of horrors; things you can't even imagine." I watched as Harlen stood up from the seat.
"Now, I've got a few things to do before you arrive," Harlen said, smiling down at me. He paused by the room's door. "I'll see you soon."
His visit was a few days ago. I've made up my mind; all of those lives are dependent on me. Everything that happened that night was real. I know that most people won't believe me, but to be quite honest I don't care anymore.
[Update] I just got the news I'll be discharged tomorrow.

create a literature list out of the data i found on the net - i have roughly speaking 150 records - sets of data:
the set looks like so - how to do that - what would you do

Emerging regional innovation policies for industry 4.0: analyzing the digital innovation hub program in European regions JL Hervas-Oliver, G Gonzalez-Alcaide… - Competitiveness …, 2021 - emerald.com … perspective to improve regional innovation, is over-looked. Specifically, this paper aims to focus on analyzing the nascent European Commission (EC) digital innovation hub (DIH) … Speichern Zitieren Zitiert von: 55 Ähnliche Artikel Alle 6 Versionen https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/CR-12-2019-0159/full/html A quality innovation strategy for an inter-regional digital innovation hub J Queiroz, P Leitão, J Pontes, A Chaves… - ADCAIJ: Advances in …, 2020 - torrossa.com … , large or small, of the digital transformation opportunities and benefits, requires the … Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) are an important instrument, strongly promoted by the https://www.torrossa.com/gs/resourceProxy?an=5010988&publisher=FZ5922#page=33 Digital Innovation Hubs—The present future of collaborative research, business and marketing development opportunities A Georgescu, S Avasilcai, MK Peter - Marketing and Smart Technologies …, 2021 - Springer … of Digital Innovation Hubs (… the European Commission launched the Digitising European Industry (DEI) Strategy to strengthen the European Union’s competitiveness in the field of digital https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9330556/ Digital innovation hubs in health-care robotics fighting COVID-19: novel support for patients and health-care workers across Europe K Jovanovic, A Schwier, E Matheson… - IEEE Robotics & …, 2021 - ieeexplore.ieee.org … This article reports on the first 10 industrial projects funded by the Digital Innovation Hubs in Healthcare Robotics (DIH-HERO) project across Europe that will have a clinical impact … Speichern Zitieren Zitiert von: 14 Ähnliche Artikel Alle 13 Versionen https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9330556/ Challenges and opportunities for digital innovative hubs development in Europe I Gernego, M Dyba, S Onikiienko - Management Theory and …, 2021 - ejournals.vdu.lt … digital innovative hubs development in Europe; finally, the potential for European digital innovative hubs … the study develops the digital innovation concept, highlighting the role of digital … Speichern Zitieren Zitiert von: 1 Ähnliche Artikel Alle 5 Versionen https://ejournals.vdu.lt/index.php/mtsrbid/article/view/2050 [PDF] Digital innovation hubs in smart specialisation strategies G Rissola, J Sörvik - Publications Office of the European Union …, 2018 - core.ac.uk … in Digital Innovation Hubs. I hope other regions that want to invest in Digital Innovation Hubs will find it inspiring, and will find their way to set up Digital Innovation Hubs in their regions. … Speichern Zitieren Zitiert von: 45 Ähnliche Artikel Alle 7 Versionen https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/162257008.pdf 

hello dear experts
i need to create a literature list out of the data i found on the net - i have roughly speaking 150 records - sets of data:
i want to store it in calc-table
they look like so .- see a example

Emerging regional innovation policies for industry 4.0: analyzing the digital innovation hub program in European regions JL Hervas-Oliver, G Gonzalez-Alcaide… - Competitiveness …, 2021 - emerald.com … perspective to improve regional innovation, is over-looked. Specifically, this paper aims to focus on analyzing the nascent European Commission (EC) digital innovation hub (DIH) … Speichern Zitieren Zitiert von: 55 Ähnliche Artikel Alle 6 Versionen https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/CR-12-2019-0159/full/html A quality innovation strategy for an inter-regional digital innovation hub J Queiroz, P Leitão, J Pontes, A Chaves… - ADCAIJ: Advances in …, 2020 - torrossa.com … , large or small, of the digital transformation opportunities and benefits, requires the … Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) are an important instrument, strongly promoted by the https://www.torrossa.com/gs/resourceProxy?an=5010988&publisher=FZ5922#page=33 Digital Innovation Hubs—The present future of collaborative research, business and marketing development opportunities A Georgescu, S Avasilcai, MK Peter - Marketing and Smart Technologies …, 2021 - Springer … of Digital Innovation Hubs (… the European Commission launched the Digitising European Industry (DEI) Strategy to strengthen the European Union’s competitiveness in the field of digital https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9330556/ Digital innovation hubs in health-care robotics fighting COVID-19: novel support for patients and health-care workers across Europe K Jovanovic, A Schwier, E Matheson… - IEEE Robotics & …, 2021 - ieeexplore.ieee.org … This article reports on the first 10 industrial projects funded by the Digital Innovation Hubs in Healthcare Robotics (DIH-HERO) project across Europe that will have a clinical impact … Speichern Zitieren Zitiert von: 14 Ähnliche Artikel Alle 13 Versionen https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9330556/ Challenges and opportunities for digital innovative hubs development in Europe I Gernego, M Dyba, S Onikiienko - Management Theory and …, 2021 - ejournals.vdu.lt … digital innovative hubs development in Europe; finally, the potential for European digital innovative hubs … the study develops the digital innovation concept, highlighting the role of digital … Speichern Zitieren Zitiert von: 1 Ähnliche Artikel Alle 5 Versionen https://ejournals.vdu.lt/index.php/mtsrbid/article/view/2050 [PDF] Digital innovation hubs in smart specialisation strategies G Rissola, J Sörvik - Publications Office of the European Union …, 2018 - core.ac.uk … in Digital Innovation Hubs. I hope other regions that want to invest in Digital Innovation Hubs will find it inspiring, and will find their way to set up Digital Innovation Hubs in their regions. … Speichern Zitieren Zitiert von: 45 Ähnliche Artikel Alle 7 Versionen https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/162257008.pdf 

​
question - is there any chance to get a insert into the calc-list quickly - how would you treat the dataset - how would you go on - to achieve the goal!?

Fear In D&D - Originally posted on The Map and Key Blog - https://www.mapandkey.net/blog/fear-in-dampd
From OSE SRD:

Reversed: Cause Fear
Will cause a target within 120’ to flee for the duration unless it saves versus spells.

Fear in old school D&D is a very simple spell effect. The creature runs away. This works great for players casting a fear spell on creatures. The issues arise when the PC is the target of a fear effect. Nothing is more frustrating than losing total control of your characters actions. When your character is the target of cause fear, they will flee for 2 rounds (20 minutes). If this was cast during a combat, they are effectively sidelined for the rest of the combat.
Modern board games have culled the ‘skip your turn’ mechanic, and unfortunately not all RPGs have followed this trend. Luckily, 5th edition does a little bit better.
From 5th edition D&D:

Frightened
- A frightened creature has disadvantage on Ability Checks and Attack rolls while the source of its fear is within Line of Sight.
- The creature can’t willingly move closer to the source of its fear.

5th edition imposes a mechanical penalty when your character is frightened. Both of these effects encourage the player to move away from the source of the PC’s fear. It results in the character acting in accordance with a fear effect, without fully taking away the agency of the player. This is a vast improvement.
But the ‘Frightened’ status in 5e is still lacking in one key way. This mechanic presents merely a puzzle to solve during combat for the player. It doesn’t, however, increase tension in the way that actual fear does. Of course we can’t tell players to feel fear. If we want that, we must invoke it. In OSE, a magical fear effect that causes your player to run blindely through the dungeon corridors can invoke a real sense of fear in the player themself. Their character charging off into the unknown, potentially exposing themselves to more danger.

From The Monster Overhaul by Skerples:
A GM is free to tell a player that their PC has died, lost a limb, become a vampire, collapsed from exhaustion, or remembered a detail about a rare herb, but telling a player that their PC is experiencing an emotional state is something most GMs avoid. Supernatural spell-like fear is permissible; regular emotional fear never occurs unless a player decides it occurs.

Invoking Fear
So how do we both narratively and mechanically invoke fear in both the player and character? I believe we can raise the tension and keep player agency in-tact.
From Goblin Punch Blog:
I think chokers can be cool and scary if they bungee down off the ceiling, grab a hireling, and then bungee back up into the darkness, where they strangle the dude 20' above your head. Which is weird because normally chokers are pretty lame.
This snippet from the Goblin Punch blog inspired my thinking on fear. A choker pulling hirelings up into the ceiling to strangle them to death is pretty awesome. I’m going to try this in an upcoming campaign. But we need to think of this from a game-play standpoint. If, as the GM, I just grab and choke a player to death out of nowhere… sure the rest of the players will feel frightened. But the owner of the dead PC will rightfully call bullshit on my ‘rocks fall you die’ situation. We could telegraph the danger… but this can be difficult as well. If you telegraph too much information, they players will bypass the challenge easily. If you don’t telegraph enough information, you’re back in bullshit GM territory.
So how do we pull off a scene like this in our games fairly? I think FEAR is the answer.

New PC status: Frightened - Your PC is frightened. Frightened creatures are seen as easy prey by monsters, and may have tactics that can make a quick meal of a panicked PC. Frightened creatures, when confronted with a stressful situation may flee, panic, go catatonic, or otherwise react rashly - roll an appropriate save to counteract such effects.

That’s it. That’s the rule. Frightened is not a mechanical imposition, it doesn’t take away player agency. It’s a THREAT. PC’s who become frightened will be targeted first by stalking monsters. The monsters may gain bonuses against frightened creatures. PC’s may suffer penalties or unpredictable effects later if they choose to keep marching toward fearful situations.
In the choker scene described on the Goblin Punch blog, when the PC’s enter the dark cavern, you ask for a saving throw against fear. Any characters who fail are frightened. In this case, one of the hirelings fails his save and begins to panic.
“I don’t like the look of this place”, he says, stepping in some sludge on the cavern floor. The hireling sniffs at his boot, “there’s something in here with us.”
One PC asks if they know what the droppings are and the GM rolls behind the screen: they fail. “It’s just bat droppings”.
Then, the chokers, targeting any frightened characters first, drop from the ceiling. Each getting advantage on their attacks against frightened characters, and doing bonus damage during their strangulation. The PC’s dodge the tentacled hands, but the NPC is pulled into the darkness of the cavern above.
GM: “Everyone roll initiative, and roll to resist fear.”

The accounting industry underwent significant changes in response to COVID-19, and technology played a crucial role in enabling businesses and industries to transition to remote work. Accounting firms made decisions regarding technology adoption based on the need to collaborate remotely, visibility across work and tasks, integration across multiple systems, and internal communication with clients. While some work habits may return to pre-COVID, technology adoption has and will continue to reshape the accounting industry permanently.
Navigating Cloud Migration in Accounting Firms
The rapid shift to remote work in 2020 has significantly changed how many businesses operate, including accounting firms. One of the most notable changes has been the increased need for cloud migration, which has become more popular. Cloud migration provides accounting firms with solutions that enable communication across remote teams, convenient and secure data management, and improved data backup with remote servers. While the benefits of cloud adoption are clear, it is essential to consider this change's potential drawbacks and realities to make informed decisions about how to approach cloud migration.
Benefits:

1. Cloud migration provides accounting firms with solutions that enable communication across remote teams, which is especially useful for remote work arrangements
   
2. The cloud allows for convenient and secure data management, ensuring authorized personnel can access essential data anywhere
   
3. Improved data backup with remote servers prevents physical damage to hardware and irreversible damage to data
   
4. Cloud adoption provides firms with cost-effective scalability compared to on-premise systems that require tedious server overhauls
   

Drawbacks:

1. Cybersecurity remains a pressing challenge, especially with the cloud and its numerous contact points
   
2. Rushing through cloud migration with proper training for protocols and procedures can prevent networks from being exposed to attack
   
3. Confusing cloud-native and cloud-enabled solutions may result in a backward step disguised as a forward step
   

Realities:

1. Cloud migration is an increasingly necessary change for accounting firms, given the rise of remote work and the need for secure and convenient data management
   
2. However, it is essential to approach cloud migration cautiously, ensuring proper cybersecurity measures and protocols are in place to prevent data breaches
   
3. Understanding the differences between cloud-native and cloud-enabled solutions is essential to ensure the correct answer is chosen for the firm's needs
   

Redefining Accountants Toolkit in the Digital Age
Modern accounting professionals must adapt to the new digital reality and acquire new skills to remain competitive. This section will explore the redefined accountant toolkits' benefits, drawbacks, and realities.
Benefits:

1. Accountants with data analytics and accounting technology skills are in high demand, which means they have more job opportunities
   
2. Innovative technology like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning can help accountants generate data-backed results more efficiently and with fewer errors
   
3. Using technology in accounting can lead to reduced manual labor and increased productivity, allowing accountants to focus on more complex tasks
   

Drawbacks:

1. The accounting industry may face a significant skills gap as digital natives and seasoned workers with less digital exposure work side by side
   
2. Firms may need to invest significant time and resources into training their staff on new technologies and digital tools
   
3. Adopting new technology may be challenging for some accountants who resist change, making it easier to realize digital transformation's benefits fully
   

Realities:

1. Accounting is becoming more digitized, and professionals must keep up with the latest tools and technologies
   
2. Digital literacy is becoming an increasingly important skill for accountants, and those needing it may be disadvantaged
   
3. Firms that invest in digital training and provide their accountants with the necessary tools and resources to succeed will be better equipped to compete in the modern marketplace
   

Tech Stack Assessment for Remote Work Integration
As more firms embrace remote work, having a solid tech stack becomes increasingly crucial. However, integrating systems without proper consideration can result in costly mistakes.
Benefits:

1. By assessing the tech stack, an accounting firm can identify areas where automation can improve efficiency. This can free up staff to focus on more complex tasks, reduce the risk of errors, and ultimately increase the amount of work that can be completed in a given period
   
2. By streamlining data and connectivity, an accounting firm can ensure that its data is accurate and up-to-date. This can help prevent errors, reduce the risk of compliance issues, and improve decision-making abilities
   
3. An accounting firm can leverage technology to provide better client services. For example, it can use data analytics to provide more sophisticated financial analysis or forecasting services or use cloud-based accounting software to provide real-time financial information to clients. This can help the firm differentiate itself from competitors and attract new clients
   

Drawbacks:

1. One of the main drawbacks of implementing integrated systems without fully understanding how to capitalize on their integration is that it can lead to ineffective use of technology. A firm needs the expertise to fully utilize the integrated system to avoid investing in technology that doesn't provide the expected benefits
   
2. Implementing new and integrated systems can be expensive, and the costs can be significantly higher if the implementation is not well-planned or executed
   

Realities:

1. The pandemic accelerated the shift in accounting from reactive technology to proactive, intelligent solutions. While there are good and bad aspects, optimizing your firm’s tech stack and digital capabilities is not too late
   
2. Leadership teams play a crucial role in ensuring successful tech adoption throughout their teams. This can be achieved through information and onboarding sessions, consultation processes, and clear communication
   

Virtual Staffing
As businesses strive to become more efficient, virtual staffing has become increasingly popular. Accounting firms have embraced this practice as it provides access to a global talent pool and reduces overhead costs. However, just like any new integration, virtual staffing also poses challenges that must be considered.
Benefits:

1. Virtual staffing allows accounting firms to hire the best talent from anywhere in the world rather than being limited to local candidates
   
2. Hiring remote workers can reduce overhead costs for renting office space, utilities, and supplies
   
3. Virtual staffing can provide greater flexibility in work schedules, leading to increased job satisfaction and retention
   

Drawbacks:

1. Virtual staffing can complicate communication, mainly when dealing with complex accounting issues requiring face-to-face interaction. Read our recent article “Hiring Remote Staff - 5 Points to Consider While You Interview”
   
2. Virtual staffing requires technology, which can lead to technical difficulties and downtime
   
3. Virtual staffing requires transferring sensitive financial data, which can lead to security breaches and data theft. Working with premium partners like Entigrity is highly recommended as we prioritize the security of our client's data and have recently achieved SOC 2 compliance, adding a layer of assurance for our clients
   

Realities:

1. “Virtual staffing is not a panacea” While it can bring numerous benefits to an accounting firm, it is not a cure-all for all organizational problems
   
2. To be successful with virtual staffing, accounting firms must hire the right people with the right skills and work habits
   
3. Virtual staff needs to be trained and developed to be effective, and they need to be given ongoing support and feedback
   

The accounting industry has undergone significant changes in response to COVID-19, with technology playing a crucial role in enabling businesses and industries to transition to remote work. Cloud migration, redefining accountant toolkits, assessing the tech stack, and virtual staffing are among the changes accounting firms have made to adapt to the new digital reality.
While these changes have brought several benefits, including improved efficiency, reduced costs, and access to global talent, they also pose potential drawbacks and challenges that must be carefully considered. Leadership teams play a vital role in ensuring successful technology adoption throughout their teams, focusing on providing the necessary training and resources to stay competitive in the modern marketplace.
Entigrity™ is a trusted offshore staffing partner to 600+ accountants, CPAs, and tax firms across the US and Canada. Our flexible and transparent hiring model gives helps firms of all sizes to hire staff for accounting, bookkeeping, tax preparation, or any other task for 75% less cost. As a firm 'run by accountants, for the accountants,' Entigrity captures the hiring needs of accounting firms most precisely, providing staff that works directly under your control and management; still, you are left with the least to worry about compliance, payroll taxes, overheads or any other benefits.

Notwithstanding the several massive welfare schemes that are being implemented during the last two years, owing to the unprecedented and difficult reforms undertaken, we have reduced the annual revenue deficit of around Rs.62,000 crore which we inherited on assuming office, to around Rs.30,000 crore in the Revised Estimates of the current year. It is noteworthy that this is approximately Rs.5,000 crore lower than the level of the pre-COVID year of 2019-20. In accordance with the mandate of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of achieving Zero-revenue deficit, the State will adopt a smooth glide path without compromising on our welfare initiatives and developmental priorities
The main reason for the fiscal stress faced by the Government at the time of assuming office was the fall in tax revenue in the previous years. The State‟s own tax revenues which were at a healthy 8 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) during 2006-11 have witnessed a precipitous fall in the last 10 years and reached 5.58 per cent in 2020-21. This is much lower when compared to other large States such as Maharashtra and Karnataka. Though the Tax-GSDP ratio has increased to 6.11 per cent in the current year due to the efforts of this Government in the last two years, concerted action is needed to raise it further to find financial resources for welfare schemes.
The Hon‟ble Chief Minister adroitly handled the second wave of Covid, major floods in Chennai and severe financial stress. In spite of these constraints, he was able to fulfill the promises to the people and has several achievements to his credit. He has urged us to strive to fulfill the expectations of the people in the coming years and I have prepared this budget keeping these instructions in mind. With these introductory remarks, let me now proceed to sector-wise view of the Budget 2023-24.
To honour the legacy of Tamil martyrs Thiruvalargal Thalamuthu and Natarajan, who sacrificed their lives to protect Tamil in the struggle against Hindi imposition, a memorial will be established at Chennai.
In order to propagate the ideals of Annal Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution and the architect of a progressive and egalitarian India, the Government will provide a grant of Rs.5 crore to translate his works into Tamil language.
To give an impetus to the growth of Tamil as a global language by promoting its usage in the technology sector, an „International Conference on Tamil Computing‟ will be held with the participation of renowned experts from across the world. This will greatly encourage development of software in Tamil language.
With a view to celebrating the glory of Tamils who have conquered many lands overseas, efforts will be taken to promote and support sea cruises that will connect places of significance in Tamil culture. These cruises will showcase the rich history, literature, art, culture, handicrafts and cuisine of Tamil people and will spread the State‟s glory across the seven seas.
The Government has been providing free bus pass to elderly Tamil scholars in recognition of their invaluable contribution to our language. In the coming year, the Government will extend this benefit to 591 more Tamil scholars.
To enable the younger generation to imbibe and appreciate our celebrated art heritage, the Government will expand the widely popular Chennai Sangamam cultural programme to 8 major cities in the coming year. It will provide a platform to nurture folk art and artists and celebrate the shared cultural ethos of the Tamil people. An amount of Rs.11 crore is provided in this Budget for this purpose.
To preserve folk arts and to ensure that these traditions continue to flourish in the future, 25 part time folk art training centres will be set up across the State.
The Cholas are one of the greatest dynasties who conquered seas and the lands beyond, and ruled vast stretches of India and South East Asia for many centuries. Tamil art, music, architecture, sculpture, crafts and dance reached their pinnacle during the Chola period and their glory spread far and wide. To highlight the contribution of the Cholas who ruled the world, and to preserve artefacts and relics of that age, a “Grand Chola Museum‟ will be set up in Thanjavur.
The Hon‟ble Chief Minister intervened on humanitarian grounds to send essential commodities to help the people affected by the severe economic crisis in Sri Lanka. After securing the consent of the Union Government, 40,000 MT of rice, 500 MT of milk powder and 102 MT of medical supplies, worth Rs.197 crore have been sent in three ships.
We have been continually requesting the Union Government to grant Indian citizenship to Sri Lankan Tamils residing in India. Pending this request, this Government had announced that 7,469 houses will be constructed in the rehabilitation camps for Sri Lankan Tamils, with the objective of providing safe and quality accommodation. In the first phase, 3,510 houses were taken up for construction at a cost of Rs.176 crore and the works are underway. In the second phase, the Government will sanction Rs.223 crore towards construction of the remaining 3,959 houses in the coming financial year.
Recognizing the valour and supreme sacrifice made by security forces in guarding our nation, the ex-gratia that is being offered by the State Government to the next of kin of armed forces personnel hailing from Tamil Nadu who are killed in wa war-like operations will be doubled from Rs.20 lakh to Rs.40 lakh. Further, the monetary grants that are offered to gallantry awards/distinguished service medal winners in armed forces hailing from Tamil Nadu will be enhanced four times.
Ensuring quality education and medical facilities to all is the fundamental objective of this Government. It is in pursuance of this goal that the Government is implementing pioneering schemes like Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam and Innuyir Kappom, besides taking several initiatives to strengthen the public health infrastructure in the State. The Government is implementing the novel Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam scheme, where non-communicable diseases are identified and addressed at an early stage. This Government which is deeply concerned about the welfare of workers, who are the bedrock of our economy, will launch a new initiative to address the issue of non-communicable diseases among workers in factories and in unorganised sectors like construction. The Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam scheme will be expanded to 711 factories covering 8.35 lakh workers in the first phase. Health checkup camps will be held in these factories with specific emphasis on non-communicable diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes. Migrant labourers will also benefit under this scheme.
Under the Chief Minister‟s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme, insurance coverage of Rs.5 lakh is being given per year per family. During the current year, so far, 11.82 lakh patients have availed treatment worth Rs.993 crore, which is the highest since the inception of the scheme.
The 1,000 bedded Kalaignar Memorial Multi Super Speciality Hospital in the premises of King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research Centre, Guindy will be inaugurated this year. New speciality hospital buildings are being constructed in three Government medical college hospitals at Madurai, Coimbatore and Kilpauk at a total cost of Rs.1,020 crore and they will be put to use shortly
New buildings will be constructed at a cost of Rs.110 crore in the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital, which caters to the medical needs of people in Tiruchirappalli and its surrounding districts. In order to fulfil the medical needs of people in North Chennai, a new multi-speciality block, nurses training school and hostel will be constructed in Stanley Hospital at a cost of Rs.147 crore.
The first Government Siddha Medical College in the State was established in Palayamkottai in 1964. At present, there are 100 undergraduate and 60 post-graduate students in this institute. Further, treatment is also being provided to nearly 1,000 patients on a daily basis. The Government will undertake works to improve the infrastructure of the college and hospital at a cost of Rs.40 crore. Rs.18,661 crore has been allotted towards Health and Family Welfare Department in the Budget.
Due to the various initiatives launched by this Government in the last two years, the student enrolment in Government schools has increased significantly. Therefore, the Government had launched the „Perasiriyar Anbazhagan School Development Scheme‟ to modernize and upgrade physical infrastructure at an outlay of Rs.7,000 crore over a period of five yeaRs.During the current year, works to the tune of Rs.2,000 crore have been taken up. In the upcoming financial year, the Government will construct classrooms, laboratories and toilets at a cost of Rs.1,500 crore.
The „Ennum Ezhuthum‟ Programme aims at achieving Universal Foundational Literacy and Numeracy for students in classes 1 – 3 by 2025. Owing to the positive response received, this programme will be expanded to classes 4 and 5 with an outlay of Rs.110 crore in the upcoming financial year.
The goal of social justice can be fulfilled only when knowledge is made widespread and accessible to people in the remotest of places. With this objective, moving beyond Chennai, book fairs were conducted in all districts and five literature festivals were successfully conducted during the current year. This great initiative will continue next year also, at a cost Rs.10 crore. The Government successfully organized the first edition of the Chennai International Book Fair in January 2023 with participation from 24 countries. An unprecedented number of 355 MoUs were signed between publishers from Tamil Nadu and various countries paving way for knowledge and copyright exchange. This international book fair will also be conducted next year.
Educational institutions play a vital role in establishing social justice, equality and equity in all walks of life. Therefore, the Government has been taking multiple initiatives in the last two years to improve the quality of education through schemes such as Ennum Ezhuthum, Schools of Excellence, Hi-tech Labs, Model Schools, and Perasiriyar Anbazhagan School Development Scheme. It is essential that the benefits of these programmes reach all students. Requests have been received to operate and maintain Adi Dravidar Welfare Schools through the School Education department in the State High-Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee meetings held under the chairmanship of the Hon'ble Chief Minister on 19.8.21 and 12.4.22. To achieve the goal of social justice in the field of education, to improve the quality of schools functioning under various departments and to ensure that all students are provided quality education, all schools functioning under various departments like Adi-Dravidar and Tribal Welfare, Backward Class, Most Backward Class & Denotified Communities, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments and Forest will be brought under the School Education department. It will be ensured that the service conditions and benefits of teachers and staff presently working in these schools are protected.
The Government is using data based governance to remove various shortcomings in the implementation of schemes. In order to reduce the unnecessary delay in the disbursement of scholarships by various departments and to ensure that scholarship amount reaches eligible students in a timely manner, directly to their bank accounts, an integrated scholarship portal will be created.
An iconic eight-storeyed library in two lakh square feet, with all modern amenties is being constructed in Madurai, the seat of Tamil Sangam. This library will cater to all sections of the society including children, students, researchers, youth who are preparing for competitive exams, homemakers, senior citizens and the differently abled. The library will feature special facilities including children‟s section with colourful books, separate area with internet facility for those writing competitive exams, braille books for the visually impaired, air conditioned meeting halls, art gallery to exhibit the cultural heritage of Southern Tamil Nadu and an exquisite repository of the writings and speeches of Muthamizharignar Kalaignar.
In the first phase, this library will house 3.50 lakh books in Tamil and English relating to various subjects like literature, culture, science, engineering, law and medicine. This modern temple of knowledge in Southern Tamil Nadu will be named Kalaignar Centenary Library to mark the commencement of centenary celebrations of Muthamizharignar Kalaignar, in recognition of his immense contribution to the Tamil society. This library will welcome its first readers in June this year. Rs.40,299 crore has been allocated towards School Education Department in the Budget.
The Government is cognizant of the fact that human resource is the greatest wealth of the State and has been investing heavily in its development. We recognise that a highly skilled workforce is a unique competitive advantage to attract investments into the State. Therefore, to create a workforce suited for the rapidly changing industrial ecosystems, a scheme is underway to transform 71 Government ITIs to Centres of Excellence at a cost of Rs.2,877 crore. The works will be completed and students will be enrolled in new courses in the coming academic year itself.
In the next phase, the Government will launch a programme in the coming year to transform and modernize the Government Polytechnic colleges into „Centres of Excellence‟ in accordance with the Industry 4.0 standards in collaboration with industry partners. The programme will focus on infrastructure modernization, industry relevant course content creation, capacity building of faculty members and employment opportunities for the students. 54 Government polytechnics will be upgraded as „Centres of Excellence‟ at a total cost of Rs.2,783 crore under this scheme.
The Government proposes to establish a world class skill centre named “Tamil Nadu World Innovation and Skill Training Hub” (TN-WISH) at Ambattur at a cost of Rs.120 crore with the objective of providing skill training to trainers in ITIs and polytechnics and to create a highly skilled workforce. The hub will provide training in advanced technologies such as Mechatronics, Internet of Things, Advanced Automobile Technology, Precision Engineering and Advanced Welding.
The Hon‟ble Chief Minister had launched the visionary programme “Naan Mudhalvan” last year to train 10 lakh students and youth in industry relevant skills and thus generate job opportunities for them. This programme is being implemented in all engineering and arts and science colleges in collaboration with industry partneRs.Academic curriculum has been revised to include industry relevant courses to improve employability of students. Currently, about 12.7 lakh students from engineering and arts and science colleges are being trained under this programme. 12,582 engineering faculty and 7,797 arts & science faculty have also been trained. Rs.50 crore has been provided for this scheme in the budget.
To scale up skill training infrastructure in a massive way, factories will be used as Skill Development Centres. Industries will be incentivized to provide on-the-job-training to youth in factories. In this Budget, an amount of Rs.25 crore has been allocated for this „Factory Skill Schools‟ programme. A state-of-the-art Skill Development Centre will be established, at an estimated cost of Rs.80 crore, in SIPCOT Industrial Park, Shoolagiri in Krishnagiri district, which is emerging as the third largest industrial cluster in the State.
The Perunthalaivar Kamarajar College Development Scheme was launched last year with an outlay of Rs.1,000 crore for improving infrastructure and basic amenities in Government colleges over a period of five yeaRs.In the current year, works such as construction of new classrooms and additional laboratories have been taken up in 26 Government polytechnic colleges and 55 Government arts and science colleges. These works will be carried out in the coming financial year also at an estimated cost of Rs.200 crore.
It is seen that the number of students from Tamil Nadu clearing the Civil Services Examinations has been on the decline in the last few years. With the objective of reversing this trend, Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation (TNSDC) will implement a scheme in co-ordination with Anna Staff Administrative College to help civil services aspirants to access better coaching facilities and materials. Every year 1,000 civil services aspirants will be short listed through a screening test. Each aspirant will be provided Rs.7,500 per month for 10 months to prepare for the preliminary examination. Those students who clear the preliminary examination will be provided a lumpsum amount of Rs.25,000. For this programme, an amount of Rs.10 crore has been allocated to TNSDC in the Budget Estimates 2023-24. In aggregate, an allocation of Rs.6,967 crore has been made to the Higher Education Department in this Budget.
With the realization that tomorrow‟s society is the responsibility of today‟s youth, this Government is committed to making the youth strong and vibrant. With the successful conduct of International Chess Olympiad in Chennai and the competitions for Chief Minister‟s Trophy being held across the State, the sports sector has been given a new impetus. As the next step, the Government through the Chennai Metropolitan Development Agency will set up a state-of-the-art Global Sports City in Chennai which will promote the development of sports and emerge as a favoured destination for leading sports events. For this purpose, a detailed project report will be prepared by engaging international experts.
The Government will undertake a comprehensive renovation of the iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Outdoor Stadium, Chennai and equip it with modern sports facilities at an estimated cost of Rs.25 crore.
This Government, which is founded on the principles of social justice and equitable growth, attaches highest priority to the development of Adi-Dravidars and Tribals. With the objective of increasing the Gross Enrolment Ratio of Adi Dravidar and Tribal students in higher education and providing them safe and quality accommodation, four new hostels will be constructed with modern facilities in Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli and Nilgiris at an estimated total cost of Rs.100 crore. These hostels will be maintained and managed by engaging professional agencies.
It has been a long pending demand to enact a legislation to ensure effective implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Tribal Sub Plan. Heeding to this request, the Government will bring a new legislation to ensure adequate allocation of funds and effective implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Tribal Sub Plans. The draft bill will be introduced in the next session of the Assembly after due consultation with stakeholdeRs.
The practice of manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks is a blot on humanity. In order to completely prevent deaths due to manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, a new scheme has been recently launched by this Government. By transforming sanitary workers into entrepreneurs and facilitating them to procure modern machinery, this scheme will enable them to undertake these works in a safe manner and generate income. In this scheme, priority will be given to families of sanitary workers who died during manual cleaning and to persons currently engaged in sanitary work, on the basis of their willingness. In the first phase, the scheme will be implemented in the Chennai Metropolitan area. Based on this pilot exercise, the scheme will be expanded to the entire State.
It is seen that the share of persons from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities who avail various entrepreneurship promotion subsidies from the Government is very low. In order to promote economic development of SC/ST entrepreneurs, a new scheme called „Annal Ambedkar Business Champions Scheme‟ will be launched in the coming financial year. The new scheme will provide 35 per cent capital subsidy and offer 6 per cent interest subvention for loans to procure machineries and equipment. A sum of Rs.100 crore is allocated for this scheme in the Budget Estimates 2023-24.
To revive the Welfare Board for Puthirai Vannars, Rs.10 crore will be provided to undertake livelihood development and welfare activities.
A new scheme named „Iyothee Thass Pandithar Habitation Development Scheme‟ will be launched to ensure basic amenities in Adi Dravidar habitations in both urban and rural areas and to bring about comprehensive socio-economic development. The scheme will be implemented at a cost of Rs.1,000 crore over a period of 5 years.
A sum of Rs.3,513 crore has been allocated to the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department in this Budget.
It is well known that it was Muthamizharignar Kalaignar who coined the term „Differently Abled‟. Given the importance of this department, it is directly looked after and works are closely monitored by the Hon‟ble Chief Minister. RIGHTS project is being implemented at a cost of Rs.1,763 crore with financial assistance from World Bank. The main objective of this project is to create an inclusive society by promoting accessibility through creation of barrier-free structures and employment opportunities through vocational training. The project will be implemented in 15 districts in 2023-24. At the divisional level, 39 One Stop social care service centres will be established to provide services including disability assessment, certification and early intervention. Further, 150 neighbourhood centres manned by volunteers will be set up to provide treatment at home and assistance in availing benefits under various welfare schemes.
For the benefit of the 6.84 lakh differently abled persons across the State, the Hon‟ble Chief Minister has already issued orders to increase the pension from Rs.1,000 to Rs.1,500 and the maintenance allowance from Rs.1,500 to Rs.2,000 for severely affected persons with disabilities. Towards this, a sum of Rs.1,444 crore has been allotted in the Budget.
The State Government is providing guarantee and interest subsidy for the development of enterprises of differently abled persons. Through these initiatives, Tamil Nadu has facilitated loan assistance to 11,155 differently abled persons to the tune of Rs.50 crore through National Handicapped Finance Development Corporation this year, placing Tamil Nadu in the first place in the Country.
The Government is developing a comprehensive database of differently abled persons to ensure effective delivery of benefits under Government schemes. In the first phase, a database of 9,08,000 persons who are benefitting from various welfare schemes has been created.
The Government has been taking various steps to improve the functioning of Backward Class and Most Backward Class hostels by upgrading infrastructure, and providing nutritious food. In the last two years, works for the construction of 9 hostels at a cost of Rs.36.25 crore are being implemented. Further, based on the requirements of students, fifteen school hostels have been upgraded as college hostels.
In the Budget Estimates, a sum of Rs.252 crore has been allocated towards Pre-Matric and Post-Matric scholarship schemes. An amount of Rs.305 crore has been earmarked towards distribution of bicycles to students. A sum of Rs.1,580 crore has been allocated to the Backward Class, Most Backward Class, Denotified Communities and Minorities Department.
Following the ancient Tamil tradition, many leaders of the Tamil society have introduced pioneering schemes to eradicate poverty and promote the educational development of students. In 1920, Sir Pitti Theagarayar, the then chairman of the Chennai Municipal Corporation introduced mid-day meal programme in Chennai for the first time in the Country. During Perunthalaivar Kamarajar‟s tenure as the Chief Minister, the mid-day meal scheme was expanded at the state level, marking a transformational change in the history of education in Tamil Nadu. This was followed by further efforts to eliminate hunger including the Nutritious Meal Programme by Puratchi Thalaivar MGR and the scheme to provide eggs along with nutritious meals by Muthamizharignar Kalaignar.
At this juncture, it has come to light that some children studying in Government schools are suffering from stunted growth and malnutrition. Recognizing that students may be unable to concentrate on studies as they come hungry to schools without eating breakfast, the Hon‟ble Chief Minister launched the „Chief Minister‟s Breakfast Scheme‟ last year, which is the landmark scheme of this Dravidian Model Government founded on social justice. This historic scheme was inaugurated on September 15, the birth anniversary of Perarignar Anna.
The Chief Minister‟s Breakfast Scheme is being implemented in 1937 Government Primary Schools and it is benefitting 1,48,315 students studying from Class I to Class V. Out of the 1,543 Elementary schools,where the scheme was implemented in the first phase, the attendance of students has increased in 1,319 schools. The attendance has increased by 10per cent in 624 schools, 20per cent in 462 schools and 30per cent in 193 schools. In Tiruppathur, Perambalur, Ariyalur and Tiruvarur districts, attendance of students has increased in all the schools where the Breakfast scheme was implemented. To translate the noble vision of the Hon‟ble Chief Minister that we will make any sacrifice to ensure that no child remains hungry while learning and to make learning joyful and education universal, the Chief Minister‟s Breakfast Scheme will be expanded to cover all the 30,122 Government primary schools in the State from the coming academic year. Rs.500 crore is allotted for this scheme in this Budget which will benefit 18 lakh students studying from Class I to Class V.
Educated women are essential for a prosperous and self-sufficient society. Well aware of this, Muthamizharignar Kalaignar introduced the Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Marriage Assistance Scheme in 1989 to promote women's education. Realizing that many girls from poor families in Tamil Nadu are unable to continue higher education after completing 12th standard, this Government has redesigned the scheme as Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Pudhumai Penn Scheme, under which all girl students studying from 6th to 12th standard in Government schools are provided Rs.1000 rupees per month for their higher education. At present, 2.20 lakh girl students are benefitting under this scheme every month. Compared to the year 2021-22, 29 per cent more girls have entered colleges this year, which is an addition of 20,477 girl students. The fact that the many girls who did not pursue higher education after completing their schooling have now enrolled in colleges is a testimony to the success of this scheme.
The self-help group movement, that was pioneered by Muthamizharignar Kalaignar in the country in 1989 at Dharmapuri, has today blossomed into a massive people‟s movement. This Government is undertaking several measures for capacity building and livelihood development of women self-help groups. In the current year, so far, women self-help groups have received bank loans of around Rs.24,712 crore. In the coming financial year, a target of Rs 30,000 crore has been set for credit linkage to SHGs.
Women entrepreneurs continue to face difficulties in accessing adequate, timely credit and marketing of products. To address these challenges, the Government will establish an exclusive „Start-up Mission‟ for women. This mission will facilitate women entrepreneurs in all aspects of their business.
Since 2021-22, a total of 213 godowns have been constructed with a storage capacity of 2.86 lakh MT at a combined cost of Rs.238 crore to augment storage capacity and minimize losses. Further, 12 godowns with a storage capacity of 28,000 MT are being constructed at a total cost of Rs.54 crore.
To meet the liabilities of the important poll promises fulfilled by this Government, a sum of Rs.2,393 crore for the waiver of agricultural loans, a sum of Rs.1,000 crore for the waiver of jewel loans and a sum of Rs.600 crore for waiving self-help group loans, totalling an amount of Rs.3,993 crore has been allotted in the Budget.
The Government will frame a comprehensive long-term plan to carry out structural reforms in Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation to improve efficiency in operations and fiscal sustainability. An amount of Rs.10,500 crore has been provided in this Budget towards Food Subsidy in the Public Distribution System. An allocation of Rs.16,262 crore has been made to the Co-operation, Food and Consumer Protection Department in this Budget. The Government is taking several efforts to restore and rejuvenate the water bodies. Under Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation Project, the Government has sanctioned rehabilitation works in 341 tanks, 67 anicuts and 11 canals at an estimated cost of Rs.462 crore. Further, repair, renovation and restoration works are being undertaken in 309 tanks at an estimated cost of Rs.258 crore.
Long term flood mitigation works are being undertaken at a cost of Rs.184 crore in the districts of Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Cuddalore. Of these, 9 works have been completed and 2 works are in progress. In the current year, 12 flood mitigation works have been undertaken in Chennai, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu and Thiruvallur districts at a total cost of Rs.434 crore.
The Tamil Nadu Animal Welfare Board, under the chairmanship of the Hon'ble Chief Minister, has been restructured to promote the welfare of animals in the State. In order to control the burgeoning street dog population, it is necessary to set up Animal Breeding Control Centres. To strengthen and improve the effectiveness of the Animal Welfare Board, an amount of Rs.10 crore has been provided in the Budget. This fund will be used to carry out animal breeding control activities, provide training to local Government employees and implement animal welfare activities.
This Government is empathetic to the welfare and special needs of fisher folk and has increased the special allowance during lean months to Rs.6,000 from Rs.5,000. An allocation of Rs.389 crore has been made to benefit 4.3 lakh beneficiaries for implementing the fishermen welfare schemes such as Lean period assistance, Ban period relief assistance and Savings cum Relief schemes.
Coral reefs provide shelter and food to fish and increase the probability of survival of fingerlings. To improve the livelihood of country craft fishermen, 217 units of artificial reefs will be established at a cost of Rs.79 crore in the 3 Palk Bay districts and 200 units will be set up at a cost of Rs.64 crore in other districts.
Due to increasing vagaries of climate change and pressure caused by the burgeoning population, the coastal ecosystem and the livelihood of coastal population are likely to be severely affected in the near future. The Government will implement the „Tamil Nadu Coastal Restoration Mission‟ with the objective of preventing sea erosion, reducing marine pollution and conserving marine biodiversity. The mission will be implemented with World Bank assistance at an estimated cost of Rs.2,000 crore in the next 5 years.
A contiguous stretch of protected forests is essential to protect endangered wildlife. The Government will notify a new wildlife sanctuary „Thanthai Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary‟, with an extent of 80,567 hectares in the forest areas of Anthiyur and Gobichettipalayam Taluks in Erode district to link the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve with Cauvery South Wildlife Sanctuary. This will be the 18th wildlife sanctuary in the State.
Tamil Nadu is located in the Central Asian Flyway and hosts a large number of migratory birds every year. In order to promote conservation of birds, encourage research in the field of ornithology and create awareness about the role of birds in nature, the Government shall set up an „International Bird Centre‟ at Marakkanam at an estimated cost of Rs.25 crore.
CONTINUED IN COMMENTS

I havent touched Factorio since 2020, so I poked around recently to see what was new. Kras 2 never did it for me, and I like the scrappy earlier tiers so SE isn't for me either.
Holy smokes! Industrial Revolution is so well done, each step is familiar while also a unique new challenge. The clockwork steam phase is adorable, and creates this nice tension where your don't want to pollute much since you dont have the tools to fight yet, and also rewards you with more electric/iron tier stuff for your 'real' base if you push it.
I like the emphasis on industry over research, and the slight changes in where things are (early electric furnace, red belts taking rubber instead of being another iron sink), and the reasonable and logical recipes always feel appropriate and not just 'work.'
Honestly, I'm addicted again and I didn't expect to be!

Welp... It's gonna be a three parter, since I went over the 40 000 characters limit...
Day 1:
Marie-Ange went to sleep immediately, while Gaia screamed at Julien. How dared he attack the Capitol ! Doing so ruined his chances at any sponsor or support. The boy did not seem to care, surrounding himself in an icy silence while his mentor gave up on scolding him and started giving phone calls. She did so for the entire night.
In the morning, no one was able to eat breakfast. They didn’t talk, didn’t make eye contact, until it was time to go to the holding rooms. Pavel Demigloss accompanied Julien. He stayed back, probably afraid that the boy would attack him if he said anything. Julien put on a short-sleeved white shirt, linen shorts and tan espadrilles. He was as pale as his shirt, every muscle tensed as he climbed into the launching tube. Pavel risked a soft “good luck” before running out of the room.
Gaia and Marie-Ange cried. A lot. The mentor had to convince her to put on her clothes, which she helped with, and then to climb into the tube. Marie-Ange tried to fight and run away. A pair of peacekeepers had to intervene in order to help Gaia maintain her into the glass cylinder. She almost collapsed when her podium started to rise.
In Annie and Reef’s apartment, the preparations were quickly finished. They had gone to sleep immediately the past night, in order to be full of energy on the first day. Tavali Landow accompanied Reef. She criticized his unkempt appearance, which didn’t bother him. He took a deep breath before entering the tube that would send him to a certain death. The stylist waved at him cheerfully.
Annie, once dressed, approached her mentor. She gave Oleander a neatly folded piece of paper. “Could you please find a way to give this to Marley ? The address is on it”. At first, Oleander was shocked. Never had a tribute tried to communicate to the outside world before. She nodded, but then changed her mind. “You know what ? I’ll keep it safe, so that when you come back you can give it to her yourself.” Annie burst into tears and hugged Oleander very tightly. She thanked her mentor before climbing into the glass tube. Her eyes were puffy and red, but her jaw was set in a determined scowl.
Julien stood straight as an arrow as he was lifted into the arena. It took him a little time to adjust to the blinding sun. Once he was used to the light, he looked around. The cornucopia clearing wasn’t one. It was a sort of plaza, paved in beige stone. Julien stood on the northwestern side of the ring of podiums. Behind him was an open gate leading to some sort of main road, and in front of him, to the South, was the front entrance of a luxurious hotel.
The cameras lifted up as Head Gamemaker Jahani Vishwa greeted the tributes and began the countdown. This year, the arena was an island, inspired from the Mediterranean Sea. On the Southern side was a huge hotel complex, with many rooms, a restaurant, pools, gardens, and even a whole spa. The Northern side was occupied by a small village for the employees of the complex. Linking each side was a narrower part of the island, with gift shops and restaurants. All of this stood on a plateau, as the terrain turned into steep cliffs dropping into the water. There was a single beach, with a treacherous path leading down to it.
As Urania was describing the rocky cliffs of the island, an explosion sounded. The cameras turned back to the cornucopia clearing. It was Galax (5). He’d been standing on the edge of his podium, and a single sneeze was necessary for him to fall off of it. The landmines placed around each podium to prevent the tributes from getting a head start worked incredibly well and Galax was pulverized.
Marie-Ange had been staring at the cornucopia, which had taken the form of a sumptuous golden fountain in the shape of President Crane. She held a spear in one hand and stood on top of a literal cornucopia overflowing with supplies. Most of the weapons sat in there or in the empty basin, but some less interesting things (water, bland food, scraps of fabric,…) were strewn about the plaza. When the explosion happened, Marie-Ange screamed. The droplets of blood that splattered around her made her feel queasy.
Reef stood on the Western podium, between Freya (2) and Edna (8). He looked for his allies in the circle. Once he found them, Galax was dead, and the countdown was at ten. He followed Annie’s glances to the entrance of the hotel. From the tribute’s perspective, it didn’t look that big. The viewers could see that the other floors were carved down into the island, creating terraces on the opposite side of the entrance. However, he agreed with his district partner. He signaled to Heath (12) that they were planning on entering the building.
Annie signaled their plan to Brandy (12), who stood two platforms away. Between them was Templar (1), focused on the cornucopia. Annie became pale, now realizing that Chevron (8) was on the other side of her. In her back, the door of the resort beckoned to her. As the countdown reached zero, she readied herself. She eyed a big backpack laying against the edge of the fountain.
As soon as the countdown ended, Julien flew to the center of the cornucopia. He was joined by Faunus on the way. The two boys knew what they needed to get. As Julien bent down to grab a bow and a quiver of arrows, one of Filigree’s knives hit Faunus in the neck. Julien picked up the collapsed boy’s supplies and joined Freya (2), who was already getting ready to leave. There were too many strong tributes, some even with a grudge, fighting in the clearing for now.
Marie-Ange ran for the bag she had spotted. Her path crossed with Dakota’s, who eyed her with a devious smile. Fortunately for her, Chevron (8) tackled the other boy to the ground. The girl didn’t stay long enough to watch who killed who (Chevron won) and made her way to the backpack. She grabbed it without looking inside and went the other way. Instead of choosing the front door, Marie-Ange went to the side and climbed into one of the open windows. She ran through the maze of corridors.
Annie ran to the center, Brandy at her side. She saw Dakota falling, then Deezer (3) being impaled by Templar (1). She felt sick but kept on running, picking up useful supplies here and there. Reef and Heath (12) ran their way, holding weapons and packs. They decided to leave as soon as possible. Annie caught Filigree (1) approaching from the corner of her eye. Just as she turned, she felt something yank at her back. She almost lost her balance when Harvey (11) tried again. He took out a knife.
As the fighting started to die down, Freya (2) and Julien made their way East, through the terraced gardens. Down the heavy slope was a jetty with a small motorboat. The wiry silhouette of Planche (7) stood there, trying to detach the heavy ropes tying it to the dock. No words were needed, the two tributes knew what they had to do.
Annie and Harvey stood a few feet from each other now. He approached but she kicked him in the chest. He fell backwards, as did she. However, she just hurt her back on the warm stone. Harvey, on the other hand, broke his neck on the ledge of the fountain. Without further ado, the four allies ran to the hotel. They were afraid someone had followed them, but the pair from 1 had deemed the other alliance, composed of Edna (8), Chevron (8), Cornelia (9), Shepherd (10) and Chica (10), a more important threat.
After half an hour, the 5 cannons of the bloodbath sounded. With 21 tributes still in the competition, Marie-Ange didn’t feel relaxed in the least. She tried every door, but most of them were closed. The keys were still in the lobby, all hanging behind the welcome desk.
Marie-Ange stayed on her guards. The grey carpet muffled every sound, but she heard someone coming her way. It was Virginia (6), who was in the middle of a withdrawal episode. Her head was bent at an angle and her walk was jittery. From behind a big vase, the girl from N could see she was holding an axe. There was no other issue than the other side of the corridor.
Marie-Ange waited until the other girl was walking past her, then pushed the vase. It shattered against Virginia, not hurting her, but causing enough surprise for Marie-Ange to get away. She feared the noise had attracted other tributes. She ran, and Virginia followed. Her head start helped a lot. She noticed a door without a key hole, labeled “Laundry”. She entered, thanking “god” for the open door. The room was dark, but she felt a big cart full of towels and linen. She jumped in, buried herself in them, and hoped for the best. Virginia limped past the door and did not come back.
When entering the hotel, Annie, Reef, Heath and Amber had not noticed the room keys. They’d run downstairs. There were other bedrooms, a lounge area, and another set of stairs. A big sign said “restaurant” in neon letters. They went down again. Brandy was the smallest of the group, so she scouted ahead. In the meantime, the other allies shared what they had picked up in the bloodbath. Reef had managed to grab a trident, but they would have to share the two other knives. They also had a bow, but no arrows. There were also general supplies, such as wiring kits, med packs and towels. Annie wondered why there wasn’t any food in the bags, but Brandy stopped her. “Come, quick!” said the girl. She was grinning from ear to ear. The restaurant was empty, but the kitchen was not. There was everything, from vegetables to fresh desserts, along with bread, charcuterie and other “survival” foods. Heath blocked the double doors with a pair of chairs. “Well let’s have lunch !” he exclaimed. Since every appliance worked, Reef and Annie decided to prepare as much food as possible while eating the things most likely to spoil first.
While that little group was feasting, Freya and Julien were ambushed, waiting for their prey. Planche (7) had managed to untie the boat, and she had spent a couple of hours drifting away from the island. During this time, the pair hid in the bushes. They knew she would have to come back eventually. She started to panic when she noticed the faint shimmer of the perimeter closing in on her, and managed to turn on the motor. The boat roared and jumped forward, dropping its passenger in the water. It crashed into the cliff. Planche (7) was a good swimmer. She made it all the way back up to the dock, unaware of the tributes waiting for her there. Julien didn’t wait. He stood up as she was almost there, and it was too late for her to do anything. He shot Planche in the eye, sounding her cannon immediately. Freya clapped him in the back. “Next one is mine, she said. But first we need to rest up.”. Julien acquiesced, and they made their way back up to the cornucopia plaza.
After having eaten all that they could, the 4-12 alliance decided to find a place to camp. They didn’t feel safe inside the hotel. There were not enough exit points. They walked along the pool, admiring the sea view, then headed westward towards the setting sun. They avoided the boxy building housing the spa. That was where the pair from 1 was resting at the moment. There were also a scattering of small villas, each with its own private jacuzzi. As for the rest of the hotel rooms, the doors were locked. Annie was afraid to attract attention if they forced them. Instead, they climbed down the rocky cliff on a narrow path to end up on a beach. It looked almost like a postcard. Since the path was the only way to access that beach, they felt safe enough setting up camp there.
Marie-Ange was much too scared to get out of her linen closet. She drank from the laundry room faucet, and built herself a little nest out of bedsheets behind the cart she’d hidden in. With any luck, no one would see her. In the evening, her stomach started growling. She rummaged through the contents of the shelves, finding a bunch of tiny chocolates, which she deemed enough. Marie-Ange went to sleep shortly after.
Julien and Freya (2) were like peas in a pod, meaning that neither of them spoke unless it was to share pertinent information. The boy found a wisteria climbing up the single floor of the hotel visible from the plaza, and the pair used that to get to the roof. It meant they would be safe and could see a big chunk of the arena. Julien took first watch. At midnight, the portraits of Faunus (2), Deezer (3), Galax (5), Dakota (6), Planche (7) and Harvey (11) were displayed in the starry sky. With 6 tributes gone, there were still 20 left in the arena.
Day 2:
Marie-Ange was one of the first tributes to awaken on the second day. The realization of where she was hit her like a freight train. She suffered from the “day 2 effect”, like many other. Once her tears had stopped, she could hear the gurgling of her stomach. The chocolates would not be enough. She listened at the door, making sure no one was wandering the corridors, before emerging. She walked to the lobby, but saw that Templar was browsing the many room keys. He and Filigree (1) didn’t notice her, so she just took another corridor and exited via an open window. She emerged near the garden, but continued walking north, parallel to the small street.
After an uncomfortable night on the roof of the hotel, Freya and Julien started their day by looking around and spotting the other tributes. Many of them were hidden inside buildings, but they saw Keyra (3) making her way to the docks and Reaper (9) hovering around the heliport on the opposite side of the island. Sometime later, they heard the sounds of conversation right under them. The pair crept to the edge of the roof, hoping to surprise the group that was there, but Julien stepped on a dislodged tile. It shattered on the ground and the chatter stopped abruptly.
Freya and Julien jumped down, but the small group was already running into a corridor. It was the alliance of 8, 9 and 10. The tributes followed them but they entered a room and locked it tight. Julien wanted to kick the door in, but Freya had a better idea. This room, like all the others on this side of the hotel, had a view of the pool, which meant a big window.
It took only a minute for them to go around. Shepherd and Chica (10) were still holding the door just in case, while Cornelia (9), Edna and Chevron (8) stood at the ready with their weapons. When they turned around and screamed, Julien was surprised at the effect he had on them. The window was not even broken yet they looked paralyzed by fear. Then he saw his reflection in the glass. He only had time to jump aside. An enormous tiger collided with the window. It didn’t break, so the beast turned around and attacked the closest target : Freya. It swiped a first time, ripping her sword out of her hand. The second swipe let deep gashes appear on her chest. She looked imploringly at Julien. With one bite, the tiger finished her, sounding her cannon. It was only then that the boy from N released his arrow. It killed the tiger immediately. Julien ran.
Annie, Heath, Brandy and Reef had spent the night on the beach but had not been bothered. They lazed a bit before deciding to explore. The group walked back up to the upper part of the island using the narrow path. It took them about half an hour to get to the top, and they decided to explore the main street with all its little novelty shops. The restaurants were mostly empty. Some tributes had already gone through some of the food, but there was more than enough left. They did not hear the first cannon.
They also picked up other supplies. Brandy grabbed a butcher’s knife and a barbecue fork “just in case”. They raided the pharmacy and covered themselves in sunscreen. Reef and Annie were used to the seaside sun, Brandy and Heath, however, were already turning red. Once they had all that they needed, they sat around inside the “Paradiso Cocktail Bar” and discussed their strategy. Annie wanted to hide for as long as possible. The beach seemed like the perfect place. They could defend it, set traps on the path down. Brandy agreed with her, but Heath and Reef were reluctant. “There’s four of us, said Reef. As long as we stay together, we won’t get attacked.”
In the meantime, Marie-Ange was picking apples. They weren’t that nutritive, but they would be better than chocolate at least. Suddenly, a voice called her : “Marie-Ange ? Is that you ?”. She swiveled around to the face of Berry (11) inside a bush. Actually, she was the bush. Berry went to hug her ally, then remembered that she was covered in branches. Marie-Ange executed a short victory dance and offered an apple to the other girl. “Thanks, but I have better…”. She took her to the back of a bakery. Marie-Ange could recognize the smell. She was about to open the door when the tiger that had just been released inside roared. The girls ran as quickly as they could, even though the beast was stuck inside.
Back in the Capitol, Head Gamemaker Vishwa explained that she had chosen to only release a dozen tigers, but that they would not be gone. Instead, some were stuck in rooms or buildings. They would be a constant threat to the tributes unless they were dealt with. “And if they’re not, added Urania, I was just looking for a nice throw rug…”
Reef and his allies had also dealt with a tiger that appeared out of nowhere. Since they were in a fishing shop at that time, they survived by throwing every net and fishing line available at it until it was too entangled to move. Heath killed it.
Once they were full of supplies, the group decided to try their luck in the hotel’s kitchen again. Maybe it was the fact that they had just defeated a tiger, or the dreaminess of the island that made them imprudent. Either way, they walked straight to the hotel, without paying too much attention to their surroundings. They traversed the cornucopia plaza, which had been emptied of its supplies. Reef led the group as they entered the hotel. He gasped in surprise as a knife pierced his skull. Brandy screamed and grabbed Annie’s arm. They ran as fast they could. As Filigree (1) appeared from behind the door where she was hidden, Templar came out from behind a bush to block the allies’ path. He held a sword at the ready. Brandy used one of the bags to deflect it as the trio collided with the boy from 1. Since they were there, Brandy also decided to plant her meat fork into his chest. He dodged, but the utensil still stabbed him in the shoulder. Annie, Heath and Brandy got back up and stumbled towards the gardens. The pair from 1 hesitated before following them.
Reef’s cannon surprised Julien and almost made him miss his mark. After a fruitless hunt for a tribute, he’d spent some time building traps with some wire he had collected. He fabricated tripwires and snares to disperse around the villas on the southwestern side of the arena. After that, he had climbed onto one of the rooves with his bow. There were still no tributes, but another tiger had appeared, freed by Virginia (6) a little earlier. He shot it once, then a second time in order to kill it. He didn’t bother fetching his arrows. An hour later, as the sun started to set on the island, another cannon sounded.
Annie, Brandy, and Heath eventually managed to lose the pair from 1. Every time they thought they were well hidden, Filigree and Templar’s footsteps came back. They ended up hiding in the pool house behind the cleaning products. They waited for what seemed like an eternity. Annie peeked through one of the vents, but she couldn’t see or hear anything. She was the first to exit the cramped cabin, a knife in one hand and a neon pink pool noodle in the other.
Once she was certain that no one was there, she beckoned the others. They were about to go back down to their camp on the beach when Annie got distracted by colorful lights. The jacuzzi of one of the villas was turned on, and along with the bubbles it displayed a nice show of colors. Brandy was too curious to let it go, and the two others followed. I hope it’s warm, laughed Heath. He plunged hand into the water and started seizing.
Brandy tried to grab his arm, but Annie pulled her away. A cannon sounded. As suddenly as he had started, Heath stopped seizing. The jacuzzi switched off. In the newly obscured backyard, a silhouette ran away. Annie and Brandy didn’t notice, they were too busy trying to reanimate their ally. To no avail. A smoke emanated from his corpse, a smell similar to that of cooked pork.
In the Capitol, the footage was rewound to show Eileen (5) rigging a trap to electrocute any tribute touching the water on her first day. She had waited 24 hours for her first kill, not expecting that there would be survivors. As she ran through the perfectly trimmed bushes, Annie and Brandy mourned their friend and cursed their stupidity.
No one else had bothered Berry and Marie-Ange in their orchard. They spent their afternoon and evening building some sort of nest in the biggest apple tree, using branches, but also tablecloth, beach towels and cushions from the shops. They talked a little more of their life in their respective district. Marie-Ange was surprised that her friend could not choose what job she wanted to do. Berry, however, was totally content working at a canning factory and not in the fields like most citizens of district 11.
Once their nest was built, they climbed inside. It was not very discreet, especially with the multicolored fabric hanging from it, but it would work for that night, thought Marie-Ange. They nestled together and fell asleep almost immediately.
When the last cannon of the day sounded, Annie and Brandy had barricaded themselves in a hotel room. They had picked a random key from the lobby whilst Filigree and Templar were absent. Room 215 had a cozy king size bed, a heavy commode they used to barricade the door, and a view of the sunrise. Meaning right now it was completely dark. The girls bundled up in the bed, Brandy scooting over to rest her head on Annie’s shoulder.
The cannon in question belonged to Cornelia (9), who had fallen victim to a particularly sneaky tiger. Chevron (8) and Shepherd (10) dispatched it quickly, leaving only two surviving tigers in the arena. They were both still locked in rooms of the hotel. From his perch on the roof, Julien saw the little group of them enter the spa. He did not bother to follow, as it was already late. He fell asleep, and the hymn of Panem woke him up. The portraits of the fallen were displayed in the sky, including Freya (2), Reef (4), Cornelia (9) and Heath (12). In the Capitol, the viewers hoped for the next day to be even more challenging for the 16 remaining tributes.
Day 3:
On the third morning, Julien woke up early. He remembered Gaia telling him that the Feast was usually held on this day. He made sure there was no one around before climbing down from the villa whose roof he had slept on and walked to the cornucopia plaza. There was nothing there yet, but he was happy to be the first there. He wouldn’t be alone all day though, so he did the same as on the first day and climbed up to the roof. Since there was only one floor, he was positive he could just jump down in case of emergency. Surely enough, Templar and Filigree appeared soon after. They were in a foul mood after having played hide and seek for an hour with Reaper (9). They had given up.
Marie-Ange was still deeply asleep next to Berry when something woke her up. The tree was shaking slightly. Someone was there. She opened her eyes ,and surely enough, a small silhouette was in the process of detaching her bag from the branches. She lunged, waking Berry in the process. The thief was Keyra (3), who had survived this whole time by following the bigger groups and stealing from their supplies.
Marie-Ange’s first reflex had been to grab at the other girl. Keyra was quick, however, and she managed to dodge. She jumped down from the tree, holding a small bag with the stolen supplies, and ran. Marie-Ange followed, leaving a dumbfounded Berry to guard their base camp. She caught up with Keyra and they fought for the supplies, inching dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. Only the girl from 3 noticed. Once Marie-Ange had her back to the edge, her opponent let go of the bag. She fell backwards and landed a dozen feet lower, impaling herself on a particularly sharp rock. Her cannon only sounded ten minutes later, but the cameras of the Capitol did not show her agony.
Right after the cannon, an announcement by Head Gamemaker Vishwa was broadcast in the arena. “Dear tributes. As you may have guessed, it is time for the Feast. At noon, in the cornucopia, you will each be offered the chance to grab something that might be the key to your victory. May the odds be ever in your favor !”.
Annie and Brandy had overslept in order to get as much energy as possible. When Marie-Ange’s cannon sounded, it woke Annie. Brandy was spooning her, which made her quite uncomfortable. She broke out of the unconscious hug and began preparing herself for the day. Getting a shower and revisiting what weapons the pair had. There were only kitchen knives left, but it would have to do. Annie had to shake Brandy out of her slumber. At that time, noon was approaching, and they worked together to remove the commode whilst making as little noise as possible.
Julien was ready for the start of the Feast. He had hidden his bow on the roof, opting for two long knives instead as it was close quarters combat that was expected. He watched as the other tributes approached, waiting for someone to take the first step. Only Berry (11), who was still searching for her dead ally, Keyra (3) and Virginia (6) who was suffering from an intense bout of fever due to withdrawal, were not present. Some, like the pair from 1 and the outlying alliance, were standing in the open, waiting for anyone to dare attack them. The others, Annie, Brandy (12), Eileen (5), Reaper (9) and Forrest (7), kept low and hid behind various bushes or doors.
As the sun reached its apogee, the statue of President Crane started to rise. Under it, 8 keys hung from small hooks. Each had a room or house number on it, but no mention of any specific district. Julien jumped from his roof and charged into the fray, kickstarting the battle.
Annie and Brandy jumped into the fray too, after concluding a silent alliance with Eileen (5). They didn’t know she was responsible for Heath’s death. The three girls covered each other’s backs, so The pair from 1 concentrated on lone tributes. Reaper (9) received a series of knives to the throat from Filigree (1) and Templar managed to chase Forrest (7) away without a key. The girls reached the statue, which was guarded by Chevron (8) and Edna (8). Brandy distracted them as Annie grabbed a random key. She did not try her luck, instead backing away immediately. The pair from 1 was approaching.
Julien did not feel confident in melee, so he only defended himself. He managed to wound Shepherd (10), avoided Templar’s sword, and grabbed a key for himself. He watched Annie, Brandy and Eileen run away with a key. Chevron (8) followed them and threw his spear. It hit Eileen in the back, paralyzing her. Chevron finished her. The remaining tributes scattered, leaving Filigree and Templar to deal with the three remaining keys.
Annie and Brandy ran without stopping. Their key bore the number 204. The gamemakers had made it so the tributes going to their “rooms” were less likely to encounter each other. Annie noticed that Eileen was not following them, but Brandy exclaimed that they didn’t need a third wheel.
Room 204 sat at the end of the western corridor, two floors down from the lobby. The inside made Brandy giddy, although Annie was a little more suspicious. There were no weapons or useful supplies, just a luxurious buffet of expensive foods. Turkey, cakes, roasts of all sizes and canapés stood on a table, still steaming. Brandy hugged her ally tightly and started eating. There was also a big bottle of champagne. A jeroboam, detailed Urania Whimsiwick, who was a fine connoisseur of wines.
Julien had inherited of villa number 18. It also contained a small meal, much smaller than that of Annie and Brandy, but also some body armor and kneepads. All the keys were actually a form of lottery, some rooms contained food, some weapons, some cosmetics and camouflage supplies.
Julien did not spend much time there. He ate some, put the rest in his bag, put on his armor and went out again. His first stop was the roof, where he got his bow back. He wondered if he would have enough arrows. His stock decreased quickly. He didn’t hope for a sponsor gift, even though he had seen some silver parachutes in the past days. Most had gone to the careers and the outlying alliance.
He decided to go to the Northern part of the island, which had been quite empty of tributes in the past. He almost crossed path with the outlying alliance, but heard them soon enough and dove behind a small building. He readied his arrow, but before he could release, Templar jumped out of another bush and stabbed Chica (10) with his sword, sounding her cannon. Filigree appeared behind him, but her knife only bounced off Edna’s ribs. Shepherd, Chevron, and Edna ran, pursued by the pair from 1. Julien stayed there, sulking. He spent the evening in the same location, alone and angry at himself.
In room 204, things were getting awkward for Annie. She had eaten a little bit of food and was trying to bend one of the silver platters into a functional chest plate. Brandy, however, had sampled the champagne. A lot of it. She was drunk and sulking since Annie had emptied the remains of it in the bathtub. The scene was very entertaining to watch, with Brandy trying desperately to invite her ally in bed. Annie turned her down, her cheeks reddening. The other girl wouldn’t take no for an answer, but soon fell asleep. Annie waited until she was passed out to get in bed, as far away from her as possible.
At midnight, the portraits of Eileen (5), Reaper (9), Chica (10) and Marie-Ange (N) appeared in the sky and on the many screens inside the hotel. This left 12 remaining tributes to start the 4th day.

The park department closes the Narrows at Zion whenever the current flow is above 150 cfs. Anything over 100 cfs makes the hike much more challenging. Current flow is just barely under 150 cfs. Can find data at North Fork Virgin River Water Levels. Current flow is highly variable this time of year so check current conditions before heading to the trail head. Expect the levels to rise with warmer temperatures as there is a very high snowpack depth this year (and any rain will make it quickly worse).
Current and historical snow depth in the drainage above the Narrows here: Kolob SNOTEL site
Adding to historical data on closures from https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/thenarrows.htm:

Year	Close	Open	Snow Depth on 3/13	on 3/20
2016	April 3	May 22	52"	46"
2017	March 11	May 21	64"	54"
2018	Did not	close	due to snow melt (29")	35"
2019	April 6	June 22	97"	87"
2020	April 9	May 18	71"	82"
2021	Did not	close	due to snow melt (48")	40"
2022	Did not	close	due to snow melt (52")	54"
2023	March 11	?	111"	114"

As you can see, current snow depth is high compared to prior years. Lots of caveats here - could get more snow, could get rain when snow is melting, could get an early quick thaw that is done by mid-May - but I would be expecting some pretty hefty flows this year.
For the skilled and prepared adventurous, you can get a permit to kayak the Narrows if the flow is between 150cfs and 600cfs for 24 consecutive hours.

First Prev
It was the cusp of midwinter on Trulhaimer. Seas froze and cities sunk beneath miles of snow. The icy hellworld arced ever closer to the zenith of its annual trek, stretching the cold grip of its distant sun so far that it was almost an attempt to escape. For the Truljan, native inhabitants of the planet, it was a time of revelry. A period of perpetual feasting before the long hibernation that was soon to come. For their captives, it was a time of horror. Save for the lucky few breeders and lab rats, all would be emptied from the relative safety of their dungeons into the grand feast-halls of their captors above, where they would be humbled to consummate degree. For what was more humbling than to fulfill the primal binary, the original act of submission? Indeed, in the end, great minds, powerful limbs, and once mighty civilizations, reduce to one sameness. Flesh. They would be sustenance. They would be prey. Unlike the other God-Races, the Truljan had no slaves, only livestock. The feast-time was when they taught their captives this lesson.
Up till then, we had been fortunate, relatively speaking. Being a new species, we were far too curious, far too exotic to simply be consumed yet. So for a Truljan year, we were spared the axe, to endure the scalpels and the chems. For a Truljan year, they studied us, and we studied them.
They sliced into our skins, and found our souls beneath. In our scarred genes and tainted blood, they saw a sickly beast thrashing about in the cratered remnants of armageddon. In our flawless biomechatronic organs and ageless telomeres, they saw the beast climbing beyond the rim of its past, headed for the same apotheosis they enjoyed.
For our own part, we gazed into the faces of the gods, and found ourselves. The Truljan, like the best of ourselves, were driven by a need to understand the world around them. This gave us a sliver of hope, and we tried to reason with them. Unfortunately, like the worst of ourselves, the Truljan never turned their querying gaze inwards. The gods knew the world laid at their feet. They would not deign to humour the mewlings of beasts. So we had no choice but to gnaw on our shackles and bang against the bars of our cages.
We at Trulhaimer were not so lucky as the captives of Haksis and Vulcea. We were imprisoned in individual coops, provided with no resources (and potential tools of resistance) save for sustenance, so there was no chance of coordinated revolt. But being treated as livestock had its advantages too. Security was lax. Not to the extent that the beasts could leap out of their cages and overpower them, but in a way that allowed them to scurry off into cracks and seams. There were simply far too many coops to monitor, far too many moving parts to oil, and the Truljan simply did not care for the few escapees that fled into the sewers and the wastelands every few weeks. They would not last long, they thought. They could not organize, they thought. What could one human do against a Truljan, let alone entire cities, they thought. How wrong they were, on all fronts.
They thought us beasts, and so thought our escape attempts to be driven by instincts of self-preservation. But we survived not for ourselves, but for the sake of our future, and our loved ones. I survived for the sake of my wife and son. So despite being utterly disorganized, we all came to the same conclusion. Self-sacrifice, if need be, for the sake of collective good. We were all augmented in some way, either technologically or genetically, and in the absence of other resources, those augments became the resource. We cannibalized our own bodies, ripping apart crucial systems to craft tools and weapons, so that the next one of us to run the escape gauntlet went a little bit farther.
Presently, we stood, bearing the weight of a thousand fallen comrades. Before us loomed a Truljan, bearing the stone visage that betrayed the nonchalance with which their race slaughtered our comrades. In his eyes, we were vermin. Distasteful, but unthreatening. For a moment, we turned from him, to help the man struggling to stand up behind us. Bemused, the stone giant waited.
“Run,” we told the man.
He complied, limping off as fast as he could into the frozen wastes, blood and machine fluid dripping from his torso. Perhaps he would make it, one more soldier for the cause. Perhaps he would not, and his reclaimed body would serve in his stead.
We turned back towards the giant. He seemed to be in good humour, like a man who just saw a hen try to save a chick by facing off against the butcher. His cold, haughty eyes locked onto ours, and he fired his weapon. The projectile whistled past our ear, and in a split second, we heard our newfound comrade hit the ice with a grunt. The giant smirked. This one loved his job, apparently.
Eyes still locked onto ours, he lowered his weapon. Our move. The wind picked up, threatening to haul us both away into the winter skies. The hum of our reactor grew louder, fighting to keep our flesh warm. We cloaked.
He engaged thermal sight, perhaps hoping to catch us fleeing. He found our face inches away from his own. Startled, he swung blindly. We dodged, slipping under his arm and rising up behind him. He turned around, to find me levitating a full foot above his head. He wasn’t smirking anymore. In a blink, we were behind him once again, this time kneeling on the ground. In another blink, he crumbled to the ground in a broken heap. Smoke rose from our fists as Truljan blood boiled and charred on titanium skin. We rose, bearing the gifts of a thousand fallen comrades.
“Are you okay?” we asked, turning to our comrade.
“Yeah, mostly,” he said, from beneath the netting that pinned him to the ice.
“Who... what are you?” he asked as I tore him free from the netting.
“We are the wrath of a thousand dead men,” we answered.
Alarms began to blare. Biometric surveillance must have picked up the dead Truljan by then. We bid my comrade to flee, and headed in the other direction.
Soon, troops arrived. Heavily armed, and heavily armoured, unlike the livestock warden we had neutralized a while ago. A tougher fight. Probability of failure. But this was the only way. The feast-time had arrived. If nothing was done, there would be none to rescue.
From behind the vehicles and barricades, one emerged. A leader. A chieftain.
“Einherjar.”
So he knew our name.
“I see you.”
The Truljan greeting. They acknowledged us as enemy, not prey.
Again, a pause. A challenge. What would we do when defeat was assured?
He found his answer, in the smoking hole that erupted between his eyes. A hole that erupted despite the force field and the helmet that stood between him and our weapon.
The hum of our reactor roared loud. The power cores of a thousand fallen comrades fought against meltdown within its confines. We cloaked. Our weapon charged up again. Time was of the essence. We had to act.
An hour of fighting later, we found ourselves surrounded by a regiment of dead Truljan. Decent enough of an outcome, we thought. We fell to our knees. Smoke emanated from our reactor. We were out of time.
More Truljan emerged, and surrounded us. One came forward. Another chieftain.
“This does not change anything,” she said.
We blacked out.
Waking up, we found ourselves strapped to a dissection table.
Of course, they would not just let us die. Their nature would not allow it. Here was a gestalt consciousness, a thousand human minds integrated within the same platform. A platform wielding a thousand weapons, a thousand augments. And the entire system being powered by a thousand power cores working in tandem, rendered stable via the constant supervision of more than a dozen human minds at any given time. They would have to know how, and why.
They got to work. Connecting us to an external power source, they ripped away our cores. Plugging us into their mainframe, they ripped away our minds. Cutting into us layer by layer, partitioning each of us into holding cells. Probing into our minds, decrypting cultural codes and hypnotic suppression.
I woke up again, no longer part of the gestalt. In front of me stood the Truljan chieftain. The blue of her face had washed away, leaving only pale grey.
“Wha.. what is a Trojan horse?” she stammered.
I smiled. Victory.
The lights turned off. The airlocked doors unlocked. So did my shackles.
I rose, and staggered into the corridor outside, towards the screams and sounds of automated gunfire.
The chieftain did nothing to stop me. She had bigger things to worry about.
(Excerpt, Man Of A Thousand Half-lives by Dr. Lamech Cain, Ph.D.)
---
[Edit: Added links]
First Prev

Hi all, i just want to write out some on my thoughts on the various aspects of the game avalible in the beta.
I made two complete playthroughs as rouge, one melee and one ranged and here are some of the things i noticed throughout, this turned out kinda long so bare with me.
Gameplay and Visuals
Not much to say here, everyone is playing the game and they know its straight fire, the game plays like a dream, extreamly polished and responsive, my char always does what i want it to do and every skill i've used so far feels clean, almost all hitboxes are on point also. (those red ghosts have a really out of sync one though and those ice statues, they hit you when you arent even close all the time).
Ontop of that the game visuals and atmosphere is on point, looks and feels amazing.
Movement
Movement is really precise, excapt when i try to dodge a mechanic and start attacking becasue you have an attack on your move button like the people who made this have never played an arpg before.
The force move bind also does not work as it should since you cannot interact with the move key. move and interact either need to be the same key or let you bind the same key to multiple action.
I tried binding force move to middle mouse button but it just feels so garbage in gameplay, this is one of the highest priorites that needs to be fixed imo.
Melee vs Ranged
Melee is playing an entierly different game than ranged, as melee i had to 24/7 dodge telegraphed attacks and ground mechanics while trying to find windows to DPS, where as range you just DPS and and ignore most everything, seems very unbalanced so far at level 25, especially at Ashava, imo melee needs some kind of inate cc/degen/damage reduction so you arent constantly on egde trying to dodge everything while rangers just run around outside the area DPSing, this was especially noticable in the Malnok stronghold boss where as Melee i could not do anything but run for 90% of the fight and the boss would kill me in 2 hits if i let him while as range i just gunned him down easy without risk.
Skill tree
I see alot of talk about lack of customisation but for me its not the biggest issue, i think having limited builds leads to better game balance, i just hope there are actually more build avalible with the full game than currently appears to be. if each class has at least 5 builds of comparable power i will be happy even if you can't fully make your own personal build tbh.
One thing i will mention is that the "enchanced" skill node is a 100% pointless point sink, if you take a skill you are taking that also. its not a choice, it should just be part of the base skill to save wasing a point for no reason.
Another thing is that all skills have 2 choices that lead into 1 build or the other and it doesn't seem like too much, but its possible for them to add new ones later down the line in seasons to open new things, im interested to see if that will be the case.
Ulimate skill
Needs its own slot, the cooldown is too long to use on normal enemies and risk not having it up if somthing strong pops up so you just end up walking around with a wasted slot 90% of the time.
Hold attack
I would like the option to make certain attack always hold attacks, i really don't want to be walking towards enemies when firing ranged attacks at them, even if they are out on my range. As simple as this
Dungeons
Another one i've seen alot of negativity about but for me they seem fine, there were many environments to the dungeons and were about 6 objectives that are mixed and matched, honstly i liked them, being repetative isnt an argument against them imo, this is an ARGP, repetative is the name of the game. Also i very much doubt we will be farming regular dungeons in the end game as opposed the act boss dungeons (which im assuming the last one not avaible in the beta is) or tailor made speacial ones with more challenge, these one are just for gathering aspects and not more. At this moment i think they are okay and im gonna let them cook.
Strongholds
Don't really have much to say about these tbh, they are cool and i had fun, i like them, it was cool how one of them truned into an "over leveled" zone where you could fight harder monsters, excited to see more.
Map
I would like an overlay map in the middle of the screen like most othere ARPGs, in the beginning it was very annoying to keep opening the world map and stopping gameplay every 5 seconds to see where i was going, eventually i realised i didn't really need it when i found i can just pin my path and follow it which is just as good imo, but i'd still like the option.
Also on the world map i would like named location to be lised on it after you've been there, i spent hours looking for a placed called Lake Rusgitov to check if i'd missed a random drop side quest there and i could just not find it, i still haven't actually. Example
Quest Log
Based on my last point of trying to find a quest i'd missed, i think there should be a quest log where you can see what quests you have already done so you can identify which ones you have missed, there are many side quests in this game that are randomly found out in the wild and nothing helps you in knowing which ones you have found or have yet to find.
UI
Im not a hige fan of the UI but honstly i find it unlimatly inconsequential, having a better one would be nice but it doesn't ruin the game as it is it just makes it a little immersion breaking when you open your inventory, i think not much needs to change, i like not playing tetris with my items but i don't like items having their rarity coloiur in the inventory, its too colourful, just show it when you hover over them or give them just a small coloured dot in the icon corner would be 10000% better imo.
I also think the advanced stat tab should replaced the attack armour life part of the UI, those stats are ultimatly worthless as thay don't take so much into account and it looks really lazy and i'd prefer to just see my raw stats all the time. Like this
We NEED a Gem tab, just with the small amount you find on the beta they take up so much room in the inventory and bank, if you can have a Potions and Aspects tab you can also have a Gem tab.
Renown
Good system, i like collection logs in game, i want to be encourgaed to play as much content as possible.
Statues of Lilith
I actually have a small issue with these, there are too many and you will not ever find them all naturally, i think there should be much less, like 5 in key locations throughout the act so its kind of a progression thing and you just get the total stats when you get them all or each one gives more, the expirence with these as is will be every season opening up your map guide and spending an hour each act collecting them all, its just a needless time sink. But at the end of the day its not a huge deal either, i just think it could be better.
Waypoints
Maybe this is just a symptom of the beta not having mounts and we have no way to really know how mounts feel at this moment but there is not enough waypoints, only 7 in act 1 and they are all in towns a million miles away from anywhere you want to be making it take a long time to get anywhere, i really hated this, there needs to be more out in the world or horses better be really fast.
Itemisation
Could be better and maybe it will be in he future with season mechanics and such but also not terrible as is imo, i kinda like what they are going for, leveling its kinda mid uparrow gaming but once i reached 25 and the base stats of items were leveled out and i could start hunting affixes that benifited me it was much more fun, the range of affixes is kinda small so its not greatly exciting but i still like it, they have room to add more in future but i don't want it to be like PoE with a million affixes that change things to do things they shouldn't because its easy to break the game balance that way.
Fashion
You should unlock wardrobe transmogs from just finding the items or taking the aspect aswell imo, there are a few cool looks i missed out on because i wanted to disenchant the aspect rather and salvage it and thats kinda silly, but also probably a short term issue aswell as if you are playing for a long time you will find many of the same and be able to salvage one i guess, idk i just think it should be easier.
Also allow us to hide weapons when not in use, i don't want to see a bow on my back all the time while playing melee Rogue.
Enemies
Enemies in this game feel amazing, not only is there a huge veriety, like maybe more in act one than the whole of D3 might not even be a streach but the mechanics are so good, even normal enemies can be dangerous if you don't dodge their telegraphed attacks and bosses have actual mechanics, honestly im loving the enemies and combat 10/10 on that front so far, i just hope late game actual bosses will provide some real mechanical challenge.
If you made it this far i'd like to hear any thoughts you had on the game agree or disagree, i for one am very excited to play the full game, for sure even if it doesn't turn out to be the greatest game ever i will get alot of fun out of it.

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Overview

YieldBotz is an NFT project that launched on Stargaze as a way to hold NFTs and earn passive income. It resembles the idea of an investment club. The YieldBotz team takes 100% of the proceeds from their mints, and they invest those into various strategies. They then take 70% of the rewards earned and airdrop them to holders of the NFTs for passive income. Another 15% of the rewards are re-invested into new strategies to improve their earning streams. For royalties today it is helping reimburse the founders for the artwork but in the future, they plan to re-invest in those royalties as well.
YieldBotz already has done one collection that raised $4 091 to test the market. YieldBotz 1 invested $5 091 (more than what was raised) After a successful launch, they are investing in a second collection minting right now. This collection aims to raise $25,000. Each collection will be invested with its own strategies.
YieldBotz is a 555 NFT collection, and YieldBotz 2 is a 2020 supply NFT collection. YieldBotz 2 is currently available for mint on Stargaze for 1,000 STARS.

Utility and Chain

The utility for YieldBotz is straight forward they are investing the funds and will pass on passive rewards. If a user would like to speculate on this beyond wanting to hold the NFT to be part of the community, there are also strategies for that. According to their team project, 1 YieldBotz targets 23 STARS per NFT per month. For YieldBotz 1 though, they announced recently that the first month is looking to be around 36 STARS, and YieldBotz 2 targets 68 STARS per month in rewards. So if users like the art and want to hold the NFTs to be part of the community, there is also a potential path towards recouping some of their investments.

Roadmap

According to Juan of YieldBotz, they would like to do several more collections. They believe the more money they raise, the more opportunities they can open up that were not available previously to smaller investors. This is a classic investment club strategy where users can partake in as low as $20 into a fund of $25,000.
Long-term, this also opens up the ability for investors to invest in strategies that meet their personal risk factors if they would like or based on the unique art of each collection.
They do a lot of research, according to Juan, into each investment and target real utilities such as forex and commodities trading.
This seems like they should also consider the idea of combining this with Cosmos further long term. This could be like a Cosmos decentralized VC-like investing strategy for one of them. Investing in projects in the early stages can hopefully result in bringing real utilities to Cosmos and bringing rewards to holders, such as tokens in their projects.
In the future, they would also like to get the communities to help dictate where they should invest the capital, but for now, they have done their own research to identify their strategies.

Social Followings/Unique Community Building

• Twitter - 2,927 followers
• Discord - 125 members

Investment Strategy

YieldBotz 1 portfolio today

• Osmosis - OSMO/STARS is ~41% of the portfolio
• High Frequency Trading (FX and commodity trading) - is ~59% of the portfolio

Team

They have 2 team members who founded the projects. According to Juan they are both accountants, and one is a chartered accountant. They have experience in the space and have invested in different ecosystems. They were inspired to start the project after being rugged by various projects in the past. They want to focus on transparency and allow for opening up the opportunities for average investors.

Concentration of Holdings

The concentration of holdings is something always to consider. One large whale tired of the project or upset could dump their entire holdings and drag down the market. Also, the more people who are or want to hold, the bigger the potential community is for future expansions and suggestions. While YieldBotz 2 is still minting YieldBotz 1 has been completed and appears to be pretty decentralized. Out of 550 NFTs, there is 206 owners, which is a healthy distribution at only an average of 2.66 NFTs per wallet. This compares to some projects recently, like Trailer Park Kids which have an average of 7.69 NFTs per wallet.
With that said, they do have one wallet that is their treasury, according to Juan, that has 10% of the collection the top 10 holders control the following %s of the collection.

1. 55 or 10% of the collection but this is the treasury wallet
2. 23 or 10% of the collection
3. 16 or 4.18% of the collection
4. 12 or 2.18% of the collection
5. 10 or 1.82% of the collection
6. 10 or 1.82% of the collection
7. 10 or 1.82% of the collection
8. 10 or 1.82% of the collection
9. 10 or 1.82% of the collection
10. 8 or 1.82% of the collection
11. 8 or 1.82% of the collection

Removing their treasury wallet, which according to Juan does not earn yield than the actual top 10 addresses hold 117 of the NFTs or 21.27%. Looking at some other collections, this is a relatively good distribution.

Volumes/Data (Volumes on marketplace and prices)

Currently, the floor price of YieldBotz is 614. With the current monthly rewards target this month, that puts the gross yield on these at ~66%.
Since the marketplace sales began on February 11th, 2023, they have had 83 sales. The floor has moved from its 300 mint price to 614, and their median sale price has been 550 STARS.

Challenges/Concerns

The challenges here can vary and could be pretty large. If this project was ever reviewed, it could be considered a security instead of a standard NFT or investment club. This would likely be one of the biggest risks.
Given the size of the above risk, the largest could be the team rug pulling the funds. This would take it from an NFT you can own and passive income to simply an NFT you own. This could severely impact the price of the collection and hurt holders. Even with proof of reserve system, which I do not believe they have yet, this is still a risk until they have many multi-sig holders if they ever do.
Besides any other risks, one of the larger ones is that their investments are negatively impacted.

Conclusion

The project does not come risk-free by any means but is a unique experiment on Stargaze. If you enjoy the art and want to be part of a group like an investment club, this may be a great opportunity to do so and try and recoup some of your investment.
As a disclaimer, Curious Cosmonaut holds 1 YieldBotz in its long-term gallery, which can be viewed here. Curious Cosmonaut may also hold some in its temporary market trading wallets.
If you enjoyed this please check out our research site featuring hundreds of articles on Cosmos https://curious-cosmonaut-research.ghost.io/yieldbotz-a-stargaze-nft/