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Congrats!
Congratulations! An even dozen of wins is quite the achievement. :)
Many congratulations @Nikolai
Congratulations!
Congrats @Nikolai! :D Certainly a worthy recipient.
Many well-earned plaudits to you, @Nikolai :)
Congrats @Nikolai a very well deserved win!
Congratulations ! Well deserved and a 12th win, that's amazing.
Many congratulations @Nikolai!
Thanks all! :) I must confess it's a good feeling to be recognized like this - even though I'd probably be as active no matter what. :) The great thing with AARland is there is so many great fans - not only the "big boys" that get recognized like me and stnylan - but people that comment and encourage without having got this awAARd a dozen times. The number of comments on an average AAR might have lessened the last few years, but the amount still is large. And as a certain someone have said, comments are the life blood of AARland!

So go comment folks, even a short comment can make someone's day - it doesn't have to be a novel in itself! :D

Speaking of AARland, while I have made a pause of a few months on my own AAR writing (I did one one chapter one a week or so ago, but else it's been quiet this summer after 15 AARs in 5 years...), others have not! I'd like to showcase some good AARs I've been reading recentishly - I must confess this summer of no AAR writing has also seen a steep decline in my commenting too, for which I am sorry. Life and all, you know. ;)

First, a Vicky2 AAR with a twist, by @Kienzle :
Vpred Zachadie is not of our timeline, I love those AARs! :)

A reboot of an old and excellent AAR is done by @Crimson Lionheart :

@ibicko is doing with Mallorca as everyone I am sure would do; conquering stuff:

My good friend @stnylan is writing one of his best stories so far, long in the making:

@Henry v. Keiper is writing an excellent alt.hist. AAR, I did say I love them right? ;)

@Le Jones also has an excellent story going in HoI:

Back in CK2, @Fiftypence is weaving a great story too:

I would be remiss not to mention @mad orc 's excellent Vicky 2 AAR, which won the category in the recent ACAs I ran - this guy is also a great fan of various AARs and would have been my choice for the next Fan of the Week had he not been selected too recently to be elegible. :)

@hjarg keeps making excellent AARs too, this one is really something when it comes to the world it exists in!

@Macavity116 has been writing their opus magnus for a good while, this one is the latest. The chapters are huge, HUGE I say and it takes some courage to start reading one of them, but when you do, you will really enjoy them:

@HistoryDude has several AARs running right now, this one is the one I enjoy the most at this time:

Lastly, if only because I have to stop SOMEWHERE, is @Cora Giantkiller 's take on the story from Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri from 1999 - only the best Civ game ever to be produced mind you! - in Stellaris:

I will come back Sunday for nominating my successor. :)
 
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Thanks for the mention!

Congrats again.
 
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It is Sunday night. And so it is time to hand off the title of Fan of the Week again.

Many worthy recipients roam the AARlands, some recently awAARded and honored, some not. I had a list of possible recipients, but in the end, one must win out.

The next Fan of the Week has been active long, in many AARs. It is fair to say they are a mainstay and dedicated. No, it is not @stnylan . ;) The next Fan of the Week is a man of the people, or so their title suggest. I am sure they are. ;) The next Fan of the Week has won four times before, first time in 2009 - virtually aeons ago. The last time, however, was way too long ago - in fact it is closing in on three whole years.

The next Fan of the Week, ladies, knights, amazons and gentlemen, is none other than @volksmarschall ! :D
 
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Well done!
 
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Congratulations!
 
Well this is certainly a pleasant surprise, especially given -- of late -- my time is very turbulent and ebbs and flows with ups and downs. But, as @Nikolai implicated, I do try to spend more of that free time reading and commenting.

Writing is, of course, the great endeavor and spirit of humanity. I don't say this as a professional writer myself; I know first hand -- on this forum and elsewhere in real life -- that the best writAARs write because they have a passion inside of them to do so, and they engage in this noble and heroic endeavor which is time consuming and mentally demanding, not for themselves but for others. The Greek Fathers had a term to explain the Trinity which I find apt in the spirit of writing: perichoresis. Perichorsesis is the waltz of the Godhead in an overflow of love, joy, and communion that perpetually abounds and grows and grows and grows until all things are brought into the dance. Here in AARland, all of our writAARs, small or large, old or young, invite us into that dance of love, joy, and community that writing brings.

Spending a great amount of time not merely playing a game, but then taking that game experience into an AAR experience, is burdensome! And there is nothing more special, whether it's our first AAR, or yet another AAR, when we find faces -- old and new -- who decide to join the dance. It provides the fuel to continue, to be creative, and to not be discouraged by the silent void. Nikolai provided a wonderful list of AARs, some of which I myself am a very joyful participant of, so I will not double dip other than to say I wholeheartedly would agree with everyone of Nikolai's AAR promotion because of his good taste, and to give a special nod to the recommendations of @Macavity116 @mad orc @HistoryDude and @Cora Giantkiller. But I would like to invite all to @Sinister2202 and his War of the Stars AAR for keeping the classic NARRATIVE AAR alive in Stellaris with a bold new entry. An old favorite of mine is also @Eurasia and his Road of Queens in CK2. Hopefully CK2, with so many great AARs still ongoing, won't be eclipsed too quickly by CK3's arrival. @Tommy4ever, an old warhorse and friend, not to mention megacampaign fiend, seems to have an incredible pace of writing and is already in Vic 2 with his Here Dwells a Jewish God. I must shamefully admit I have not even finished the EU4 campaign. But I have no doubt that the Vic 2 continuation is superb as his works tend to be. @slothinator, funny name! ;) also has a great little AAR in Vic 2 going on with a nation that is always overlooked in the Italian Peninsula. Annutio Vobis: A Papal History of Italy is another honorable entry into Victoria 2's favorite genre of AARs: History Book.

There are no doubt many other great AARs out there. And it should noted, here, that every WritAAR who merely takes that leap of courage to posting is a hero of the AARland community and forum.

I'm sure the publishers won't mind, but in June for a literary journal, when discussing the importance of reading, I stated:

Writing is the manifestation of our attempt to understand ourselves, our place in the cosmos, and our destiny. Reading, then, is the endeavor to partake in the pilgrimage of the self through a world of violence to the cosmos of loving abundance. We read to heal ourselves, to discover ourselves, to save ourselves.

While I may have written that in the context of Homer, Dante, and Tolstoy, I believe it is also true here in AARland. Every AAR is an invitation to join in a pilgrimage, a journey, a sojourn, perhaps through the cosmos (as in Stellaris), perhaps through pictures, perhaps through characters invented or historically reimagined.

To the writAARs of AARland, without you there couldn't be a Fan of the Week! And to all Fans of the Week, past, present, and future: Let us never forget that every AAR is an invitation to participate in something beautiful. Let us also remember that even the simplest comment can lift up the writAAR to new heights. And perhaps, just perhaps, you'll get to know a forumite in person as is my case! WritAAR and Fan are interlinked in a waltz together! We do not exist in isolation of each other.
 
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As above. I always appreciate it when fellow fans take the time to share their own recommendations, and thoughts on the community generally :) Volksmarschall has always been someone who puts a great deal of care and attention to detail into anything he does, which I've always found quite inspiring.