u/Safebox

I've said in two previous posts that the last 2 years has been bloody abysmal for finding any kind of job between graduate to junior to senior (as I sit at senior who somehow "lacks experience"). Recently one of the jobs advertised by an agency that I applied to turned out to be for my former employer who laid me off and I have mixed feelings about returning but I'm biting the bullet anyway.

It mostly comes down to having lost 2 years to a career coma with people I worked with having progressed in their career to the point that some I mentored are now in a managerial position. My coming back feels like I've "lost" almost because I was semi-optimistic about finding a new job or transitioning to a different career path that I was equally qualified for.

I'm gonna keep looking for a better job while I go back, but I'm worried about spending another 5 years there for fear that I'll just be laid off again back to another 2 year job hunt. Has anyone else been a boomerang employee? What are your experiences dealing with... *gestures vaguely into the yonder*?

So I already know that the game lets you deviate pretty drastically from the show's events with some of the choices you can make, but my wondering is how drastically?

• If I leave Tuvix fused, how does that affect missions focusing on either of those (eg. Repression, Homestead) or where both are pivotal to the plot (eg. Rise, Riddles)?
• Are there "Kirk @ Kobayashi Maru" scenarios for some choices with a secret third option that gives you both choices at the same time (eg. keeping Tuvix, but getting Tuvok and Neelix back)?
• Are the non-conventional episodes in the game or are they skipped:
  • Time travel (eg. Future's End, Shattered)
  • Erased timelines (eg. Relativity, Non Sequitur, Year of Hell)
  • Bottle episodes where everything takes place on the ship (eg. Flesh and Blood, Q2, Macrocosm)
  • Episodes where the focus isn't the Voyager crew (eg. Blink of an Eye, Pathfinder, Course: Oblivion)

In the west we have this perception that they're childish shows cause of their over the top action, colourful costumes, and cheesy costumes. But most fans know about the more serious storylines that some episodes have in the original Japanese storyline.

So I'm wondering how do Japanese audiences perceive these shows? Are they cheesy with b-tier charm? Are they cult hits like Doctor Who and Firefly? Are they cultural phenomena like Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

I noticed the other day when looking for new games on Steam that there's a lot of ones that turn chess into other genres like RPGs, card games, crowning rules. And it got me wondering, why is the version of chess played today the one that both won out in Europe and became the standard internationally?

The only similar game I'm familiar with is shogi, which does play similarly but with the main differences being that the king can't capture, most pieces get promoted when they reach the opponent's side, and captured pieces can join your side of the board to mimic swayed prisoners of war. But it has a few variants that have equal popularity both casually and professionally.

Its other variants get a little more creative by including stuff like cannon pieces which can attack without moving, fire pieces which make the squares next to then untouchable, the lion piece in one of the standard variants can move twice per turn, etc. And they do get some attention in charity events, but I don't seen chess' fairy pieces or variants get much love.