Tale of an eJourney

Day 1,433, 16:29 • Published in Belgium USA • by MaryamQ

A long time ago, in an eCountry far across the sea, there lived a young eRepublikan who thought he would like a nice society builder medal to wear. This particular youth, whose game name was Henry, had a rather limited circle in RL, and he made the unusual choice to invite his mother. Thus it was that an eBaby appeared in Maine, eUSA, 2 years and 2 days ago, and she decided to call herself MaryamQ. Despite the circumstance of being, in a sense, her own grandmother, this eBaby was a bit naïve when it came to playing this type of game. She settled in a region without a hospital, a serious problem in those long ago days of V1, but she really was not all that interested in fighting, so she muddled along for a while until it occurred to her that 2¬-clicking her way through eLife was not very interesting. Unlike Henry, she had no particular aspirations to become eWealthy and did not think she was suited for a political career. She thought she might like to write, but had trouble finding something to write about that would be interesting and informative. Then she discovered strategic voting. She found, due to the late hours she normally kept, that she was able to be useful to her party and be part of something larger than 2 clicks and done. As often happens in life, one thing led to another, and she joined SAC, figuring she could help her eCountry and see the world without being a warrior. These were turbulent times, and she was deployed to eUK, where she had the interesting experience of being separated from her source of income by rapidly changing control of the regions she chose to live in. As things settled in eUK a bit, she was next sent to eBelgium, and this is where her eLife took an unexpected turn. She joined Res Belgica, and mindful of her instructions from SAC commanders, she became active on the party forum.



This was an eLife-changing event. RB felt like home. Led by Aldous Zamiatin (praise Aldous!), it was an active, engaged and honorable group who warmly welcomed and supported new members. Contrary to popular belief, it was RB with the incomparable and dearly missed Reaussou who introduced virtual cookies to Maryam, not the other way around. It was a band of brothers who were happy to have a sister, or in this case an auntie, in their ranks.

Shortly after this, Henry eDied, having spent too much RL money without having achieved anything greater than a single hard-worker medal, but Maryam was hooked. Henry bequeathed her such eWorldly goods as he had managed to accumulate, most of which she promptly gave away, but she had resigned her membership in SAC and was about to embark on a political career. In the following months, she achieved unexpected things with the help and support of RB and friends in other parties. She was eventually to earn 19 hard worker medals, 12 super soldiers, 8 Congress medals and 1 CP, all under the wing of RB. With their careful training and example, she gave all the Congress and CP gold to the national bank without question or complaint and she signed in faithfully on the forum where she was active in debates and votes.

Sadly, in eLife and RL, things happen. Disheartened by events on the forum that caused rifts with people she had formerly considered friends, pressured by her RL husband to spend less time on the game, and invited by her RL daughter to participate in her first triathlon at the interesting age of 60, she decided to pull back for a time, though she never actually quit. This is an actual photo of her with her two daughters on the afternoon of the triathlon. Please note that, even though both of them also completed it, the one in the middle at twice the distance, Maryam is the only one who appears wiped out by the experience.



In the interim, there were a lot of changes both in-game and on the forum, some good, some decidedly not. One of the saddest of these is that RB diminished in activity and influence and fell to number 6 nationally. Although 3 of the people who were there when she joined the party remained loyal still, it was not enough. She found, if she wanted to return to politics in eBelgium, that she had to look for a new home.



She did some research, looked at party lines and membership, and rather to her surprise, found that Belgium for Belgians appeared to be the best fit for her. She joined and was welcomed kindly – as I am sure she would have been by the other parties who had attempted to recruit her recently – and is settling in even as we speak.

Short version of this lengthy story: I am MaryamQ, I am back, and I am running for Congress as a BfB member in Brussels.

I can’t finish this tale without a nod to international friends who have made this journey fun, particularly a certain Thedillpickl who rarely fails to give a shout when I make my occasional random comments in the media, of course mittekemuis who has also reached out multiple times in recent months, and the venerable old bird who is the author of
this and many other interesting articles. Thanks for making it interesting enough to give it another try!