Over the past 3 years, I've been touched and inspired by many of the hardship stories & comments people have shared on the GME subs. Often I've found myself in tears or close-to-tears, while I empathically bump my fist at my laptop screen and proclaim solidarity.
When my father passed a few years back, he had little more "wealth" than several thousand in dogshit-catshit mutual funds. They bounced up and down and all around, for a good 20 years. By the time we liquidated them, the paperwork alone, and transfer processes, made it barely worth it (and not really). He was not a financially smart man, but he tried; he tried as best he could with the limited financial knowledge he was able to glean from our "given choices". He also got blindsided by life numerous times, or maybe his choices could have been clearer. But he believed in his investments, because it was what was pushed on him by "smart" advisors/brokers with duplicitous smiles. (Picture the 2 mortgage broker guys in The Big Short) My disgust and contempt for these people -- even the lower levels dealing with the working class peasants -- deepens by the day. Now to the bigger fish...
These people that run the earth... this.... PARASITE CLASS... what a bunch of sick fucks. Out of touch, uncaring, entitled shits; when greed meets narcissism and psychopathy, and presents them with the gift of fiat-ponzi. Most are generational with their lackadaisical dismissal of the peasants: "To the manor born", as Agent Patrick Denham describes in thinly-veiled-disgust, in Wolf of Wall Street. Douchebags descended from douchebags, with no real desire to make the earth a better place, but only to satisfy their own distorted view of Maslow's Hierarchy, and what they may define as Self-Actualization or Transcendence. Hell, I'd be willing to bet most never make it that far, and are stuck somewhere in the "acceptance by others" part.

Dear Parasite Class,

...We're coming. We're coming for your comforts, your money, your homes, your stable & appreciable assets that you will have to publicly auction or surrender to foreclosure (Schitt's Creek, anyone?). We'll be shopping for your office towers on TenX (vertical-farming ape, right here), and car collections that may not see Pebble Beach Concourse in 2025.
Don't fuck with the internet, don't fuck with Reddit, and don't fuck with poor people, because we have nothing left to lose.
“Remember this. The people you're trying to step on, we're everyone you depend on. We're the people who do your laundry and cook your food and serve your dinner. We make your bed. We guard you while you're asleep. We drive the ambulances. We direct your call. We are cooks and taxi drivers and we know everything about you. We process your insurance claims and credit card charges. We control every part of your life.
We are the middle children of history, raised by television to believe that someday we'll be millionaires and movie stars and rock stars, but we won't. And we're just learning this fact. So don't fuck with us.”
I want any super-wealthy people reading this (and our alphabet agencies too, cause fuck you for not doing anything for 3 years), to ponder the following sampling. And then I'm going to piss-off back to my own livelihood, and convert the fake fiat to more shares of The Precious....
How would your life be if you:

• Woke up every morning with a sense of DREAD, instead of a sense of JOY. What does it do to a human?
• Didn't know how you would pay your upcoming bills, and had to juggle.
• Had your car's AC die in a place like Houston, Texas, and no money to fix it.
• Prayed every day that your car doesn't generally break down at any given moment.
• Knew that if it does break down, it could cost you your job.
• Saw the car repair bill would strain everything else, including that AC bill.
• Dared to introspect that in the lives of working-class people, even "minor" setbacks cause ripples.
• Actually considered that the CPI and inflation numbers are lies, and lived in constant anxiety.
• Needed to contemplate the uncertainty of being 1 emergency medical issue away from catastrophe.
• Were constantly told that "poor people should invest better", and then getting rug-pulled when you do.
• Watched for years, as your parents "give up on life", and accept mediocrity.
• Had aging parents you knew someday you'd have to take care of, but weren't sure you financially could.
• Were to forecast your own retirement, and knew the math didn't work.

There's more, but now I've got myself all riled-up again.
I'm done ranting for the moment. I'm angry as shit. I would have sold my 1-share $300 buy of 2021 for $1,000 (thanks TDAmeritrade for graying the buy-button and not letting me do it). Now I'm selling until I see people going to prison, bankers jumping from buildings (I wanna see cabbage/Chrisanova the savage), and a complete worldwide exposé of the naked-shorting racket, ALONG WITH the multi-generational, debt-based, fiat ponzi scheme that has been structured for everyone.
Cause Fuck 'em, that's why.

Edit: If you are going to comment on the length of this post, please don't. This is not a simple snark but rather an actual critical think piece about feminism and Taylor Swift.

Introduction

Pertaining to Taylor Swift, "Female Rage" has deviated from its intended meaning after Swift debuted a new performance of The Tortured Poets Department during the Eras Tour. Now, according to Swift's use of the phrase, female rage is interpreted as public backlash against Swift's dating choices rather than as a response to the broader injustices against women and women's rights. This post examines Taylor Swift's flawed feminism, philanthropy, branding, and the controversial trademark petition for the phrase "Female Rage: The Musical". Swift's background as an entertainer, indeterminate politics, and alignment with capitalism over feminism pervades her legacy, again threatening her public tolerance as not just an individual but as a brand.

Once Upon a Female Rage...

If you were cognizant in the early 2010's, you've heard countless jabs at Taylor Swift in the media. Magazines, radio, or online. Music critics did not take her seriously as a songwriter; parents put a woman on an unrealistic pedestal as the ideal role model for their children; she dated too much and used men as lyrical fodder. No matter the story, it inevitably spread, conjoined with everyone's respective opinions, and you'd be left to wonder, "Why does everyone hate this girl so much?"
Taylor's target demographic has always been young or adolescent girls, more so when Swift herself was one. She made music that spoke to the awkward misfit, cultivating a para-social relationship with fans on MySpace, then later twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, where Taylor posted relatable vlogs showcasing the life of a homegrown American girl. Taylor had a delayed public "growing up" and, compared to her female pop contemporaries, Swift never "gratuitously sexualized her image and seems pathologically averse to controversy" (and, apparently, never even had a sip of alcohol until she turned 21). She was more than happy to spin this narrative to allude to an inherent moral superiority above other women in the industry (Better Than Revenge, heard of it?), engaging in the very slut-shaming that she herself endured (the Madonna and Whore archetypes). The victim complex arose with the need to prove Taylor as a different type of pop girl. Based upon her holy and clean image, Swift had been dubbed "a feminist's nightmare", and that "[To Swift] other girls are obstacles; undeserving enemies who steal Taylor’s soulmates with their bewitching good looks and sexual availability." Feminism and Tennessee-Christian country values don't exactly mix, it seems.
Years later, Swift befriended Lena Dunham and thus experienced white feminism osmosis, where Dunham taught Swift that real feminists defend rapists, makes insensitive jokes about rape and abortion, and prioritize all-white casts. Swift then declared herself a feminist in 2014, saying,

"Becoming friends with Lena – without her preaching to me, but just seeing why she believes what she believes, why she says what she says, why she stands for what she stands for – has made me realize that I’ve been taking a feminist stance without actually saying so."

I suppose the male-centric songwriting subject that permeates Swift's discography contained covert feminism and that we just didn't see that. Perhaps, the "Bad Blood" song and music video were written only in jest and not about poor Katy Perry, for Swift, as a feminist, would "never make it a girl fight" or tear other women down (though all Katy did was date your terrible ex-boyfriend and allegedly steal three backup dancers from your tour). In 2013, Swift said, in response to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's joke towards her serial dating, "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women."
There was that time in 2015 Taylor said that Nicki Minaj was "invited to any stage [she is] on" (as if Taylor expects to have access to every stage, award, and platform that Nicki might not otherwise have as a black female artist...yikes!) in response to Nicki's criticism of the white + thin VMA nominations. Later, Nicki responded with confusion, as Swift continued, "It’s unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot..". Of course, this 'beef' was 'squashed' when Nicki performed with Taylor at the VMAs, with Nicki quite literally only having 38 seconds of stage time without Taylor. Maybe all that parading around with a legion of famous white women - similar to the way Taylor might've done with her numerous 1989-era handbags - was in fact a stance against gender inequality, and that this display of "girl power" should be enough to constitute Swift as a feminist icon.
Even while Swift says that Dunham informed her feminist outlook, she dances around the exact contents of those beliefs: "what she believes, what she says, what she stands for" is not exactly insightful towards what beliefs Swift might have inherited. Taylor never broaches women's rights topics such femicide, FGM, forced pregnancy & marriage, sex trafficking, women in slavery, women's financial and political oppression, women's educational rights, women's health, or women's autonomy, so we can assume she only gives a fuck about "girls supporting girls" (whatever that fucking means).
Despite some questionable (and sometimes vindictive) behavior, Taylor as a young woman did not deserve every media lashing that she received. We cannot deny that most headlines and criticisms perpetuated a misogynistic rhetoric which has plagued Swift for a majority of her career. Acknowledging events such as the development of her ED, her sexual assault trial, "Famous" lyric and MV depiction of Taylor, and the explicit Twitter deepfakes, for example, as both disgusting and unfortunate things that happened to a young woman in Hollywood does not negate the fact that Taylor is mostly a performative feminist.

Get Your Fucking Ass Up and Be a Philanthropist, It Seems Like Nobody Wants to Be a Philanthropist These Days

In 2013, Taylor Swift cut the ribbon at the grand opening of the Taylor Swift Education Center at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. The donation amount - $4 million - was the largest individual artist gift ever donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame, which is, of course, mentioned on Swift's website. The two-story facility features three classrooms, an instrument room, and an interactive children's exhibit gallery. Swift also performed at "All for the Hall" charity shows and has donated numerous artifacts from her career (such as notable guitars, tour costumes, etc) to the museum.
This was over 11 years ago, and it is still the only notable philanthropic contribution Taylor Swift has made.
For a woman of her net worth and stature, and a woman who recognizes the difficulties for women in film and music, you would think that Taylor Swift might establish a scholarship program for women to study the arts or something. Perhaps Swift might even consider becoming a member of organizations that support female artists, or one that supports LGBTQ+ causes (since she is now proudly an ally), yet she remains superficial with her graces. Broader philanthropy, such as donating relief aid to Palestinian women or women impacted by violence and discrimination will probably never receive any financial support from Miss Swift because then she'd be using her money towards philanthropies involving anyone but white entertainers.
She even says herself in Miss Americana, "My entire moral code as a kid and now is a need to be thought of as 'good'." Well, she's certainly thought of as good, though her actions say otherwise. She's more than happy to do a vaguely altruistic song and dance for a clip-worthy interview quote and mass appeasement, then fuck off to one of her mansions on a 20 minute private jet flight, rather than actually contribute to anything pertaining to the causes she has endorsed. Yet, far too many people continue to give a woman such as her their money, time, and energy, and she hoards these resources to herself.

I Like Some of the Taylor's Songs, But What the Fuck Does She Know About Feminism?

Swift continued with her self-proclaimed feminist campaign, positioning herself as a political activist and LGBTQ+ ally in the Miss Americana documentary. The primary focus of the documentary consists of the sexual assault trial, Andrea Swift's cancer diagnosis, Taylor's ED and body dysmorphia, media scrutiny, and, largely, finally speaking up about her politics publicly, mostly her opposition to the 2018 Tennessee Republican senate candidate, Marsha Blackburn, and Blackburn's beliefs. Swift says, following a scene discussing her experience during the trial,

"I just couldn't really stop thinking about it. And I just thought to myself, next time there is any opportunity to change anything, you had better know what you stand for and what you want to say."

We must ask ourselves, though: when has Swift ever spoken up to change anything? Okay, pulling her entire catalogue from Spotify because they didn't pay their artists enough and similarly pulling her catalogue from Apple Music are changes that she leveraged due to her revenue potential and power, but they are not pertinent to the average woman's rights. Moreover, these are issues that directly impacted Taylor's income, which was enough reason for her to protest in the first place. Swift has sold the most units for a female artist in first week sales, is the first female artist with 100k monthly Spotify listeners, is the first female artist to win the Album of the Year Grammy 4 times, and is the first female artist to do X, Y, and Z, all while being inoffensive and family-friendly to boot. The actual Taylor Swift seems unwilling to compromise the brand of Taylor Swift by contributing in meaningful ways to feminist causes, especially if it is for women outside of America and Hollywood.
The reason political anthems such as "The Man" and "Only the Young" of the Lover era feel disingenuous and corporate is because, well, it is. Taylor has taken every opportunity to advance her career or public image at the expense of other women. What is truly genuine to Taylor's outlook on other women is vying for male attention, taking down female competition, and vocalizing feminist injustices only if they directly impact her and her money. Some will argue that it's satisfactory for a woman with such a huge platform to even TALK about feminism, but that just isn't enough. It's even less impressive when you candidly look at the scope of her feminist lens: "If I was the man, then I'd be THE MAN", or "I really resent the ‘Be careful, buddy, she’s going to write a song about you’ angle, because it trivialises what I do", and, of course, "We all got crowns". Feminism, but only when it happens to me. It gets worse when you look at Taylor's track record of copying other famous women and removing other female artists as potential threats to her pop prowess.
It's good for PR to align yourself with certain blanket feminist and political beliefs, therefore good for branding, therefore good for ticketing and merchandise sales, therefore good for business. And Taylor Swift is a business.
She's not a feminist. Taylor Swift is a capitalist.

I Can't Pay Those Sweatshop Workers a Livable Wage or Benefits! How Else Would I Make My Billions?

Recently, Taylor's team filed to trademark the phrase "Female Rage: The Musical" after Taylor said during Paris N1 of the Eras Tour,

"So you were the first ones to see The Tortured Poets at the Eras Tour...or as I like to call it, 'Female Rage: The Musical'."

This trademark petition was filed last week on Saturday, and news comes about just as numerous unofficial fan-made merch designs have cropped up with this phrase plastered on Fruit of the Loom basics. I'm of the opinion Swift's team motioned for a trademark so that they can send out cease & desists to all those that make knockoff merch, which disrupts potential sales for Bravado, UMG's choice merchandising company; however, since it was filed earlier, perhaps Swift has bigger plans with the bizarre use of the gendered phrase. One Swiftie referred to the phrase "female rage" as "a funny Eras Tour joke". Could it be a possible fourth version of the Eras Tour Movie? Whatever the reason, the motion to capitalize off of such a concept is disgusting, but not unsurprising, for a woman that profits on her vain feminism.
Swift, through her company, TAS Rights Managements, has also trademarked over 200 phrases, including "1989", where she owns the property rights to this calendar year on keychains, phone cases, sunglasses, stationary, bags, beverage ware, clothing, entertainment services, your subconscious, and, of course, Christmas ornaments.
The vapid consumerism in Swiftie culture is, frankly, disgusting. Bravado's sustainability statement is non-existent, the quality control is abysmal, and the materials they use are horrible. The materials, such as acrylic and polyester, are made from petrochemicals. This means they are non-renewable, shed microplastics, and are quite toxic in production. The manufacturing process to make all of those lazy-rushed Eras Tour logo graphic tees is a huge blow to environmental well-being. Apparently, though, Swifties don't give a fuck. They sell out products in seconds and either have to face the manufactured scarcity or buy from a scalper that resells for 200% of the already ridiculous retail price. This doesn't include the environmental impact of vinyl records, CD, and cassette production, of which Taylor produces many variants that sell unsustainable amounts.
If we're talking about women's rights violations, why is no one acknowledging the women that work in the inhumane sweatshop conditions that have to pump out fugly t-shirts and hats? The millions of plastic microfiber dander they are inhaling, or the toxic dyes that touch their bare skin? Are they being compensated fairly for their skilled labour and are they in safe working environments? Do these women have minimal bargaining power, and do they have authority over their worker's rights? Is Taylor Swift female raging at their injustices? Does Taylor Swift ever feels bad that her wealth was built on the backs of women of color, disadvantaged by the demands of the global economy and garment industry? Do you think she ever says a little white feminist prayer for them before she goes to sleep at night?
What's even crazier is not that Taylor herself doesn't care, it's that Swifties don't care. There CANNOT BE ethical billionaires. You only make a billion dollars if you are exploiting other human beings for capital gain. Based on public perception of the possible "Female Rage: The Musical" trademark, it seems like Swifties are already asking for merch with this phrase. "If Taylor made it, I'd buy it." Oh, cool. So not only do you champion Miss Swift's avarice and billionaire status, but you also are unashamed to admit to your blind consumption of her music and merchandise, no matter where they might originate in production or sincerity. Just as Swift takes and takes and takes, Swifties' consumerism of Taylor Swift cannot be quelled.
The tortured artist's most vulnerable and sincere poetry...available now in 21 different versions!

I Am Tortured Poet, Hear Me Whinge

Look - even if Taylor's intention is to characterize TTPD as more "tortured" and "angry", the main thread of the album is "I was ghosted by my decade-long situationship with a controversial indie boy and my fucking stupid fans wrote a 'Speak Up Now' open letter prompting me to drop him" anger, which is adequately expressed in the lyrics and performances. The extent of Taylor's "female rage" on TTPD is on tracks such as "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?", which contends with relentless media scrutiny; "But Daddy I Love Him", where Swift firmly states she'll date whoever she likes no matter how "Sarahs and Hannahs" may react; and "The Albatross", a track mythologizing her reputation and the consequences of dating her. Of course, these coincide with deep psychological wounds that formed during Swift's early years in the media, and so, from her feminist perspective, these subjects tackle the misogyny and double standards that she faced.
Yet Taylor Swift still has no grounds to be claiming that TTPD best exemplifies female rage and therefore she, in the context of this album, is female rage incarnate. As the daughter of a stock broker and mutual fund marketing executive, Taylor was born into wealth and allowed privileges like trips and subsequent relocation to Nashville all so that she might get a record deal. Her father even invested at least $120,000 into the then-fledgling label, Big Machine Records, which ensured Taylor's place with Borchetta after leaving her dead-end development deal with Sony. The fact that her parents were able to buy her a fucking brand new guitar for Christmas and pay for music lessons says so much about the financial security and safety of her childhood.
Money is privilege and protection, and despite Swift's experiences with misogyny and loser boyfriends, she does not know what female rage is.
Her rage is derived from her frustrations with her obsessive fans pulling the moral superiority card on Taylor in response to her rebound with Matty Healy. That's literally it. She's just pissed that the monster she created is no longer obediant, it's become a feral, sovereign entity that depletes the world of its natural resources and thinks it is more intelligent than it actually is because it's mommy has started to talk to it with big words. Apparently, 'illicit', 'elegy', 'nonchalant', and 'precocious' are considerably big words for the oafish monster, and I find it strange that this level of literacy is present in a group of fans that allegedly have GPAs of 3.5 or higher, but I digress.
Taylor Swift has never been one paycheck away from destitution. Taylor Swift has never experienced racial discrimination. She may have instances of gender discrimination, but she possesses the ideal white, blonde American beauty standard and therefore reaps the benefits of being a conventionally attractive woman. Taylor Swift has sufficient social capital. Taylor Swift is a billionaire woman prolonging her victimhood though she, as a woman, has mostly had control over her image and music (unlike her contemporaries). Taylor Swift is NOT entitled to be championed for her "female rage", nor should she be. Taylor Swift has never even been the struggling artist, for fuck's sake. I don't give a fuck if she's trying to fill the empty lunch tables of her past. Taylor Swift purporting herself, her unpolished album, and her lukewarm feminism as a musical bleeding with female rage is asinine.

Sigh Try and Come For My Job, Poors

Out there in the world right now is a 23-year-old woman, a recent college grad, who works as a barista. She has to wake up and get ready to go into a minimum wage job because she cannot get a job in her field. She doesn't have healthcare benefits or sick time, so she has to go into work no matter how she's feeling. All day long she is berated by vicious customers and creepy men, and, exhausted from being on her feet, she knows she has to go home to her shitty roommate that never does the dishes and her roommate's shitty dog. To comfort herself, she considers getting a treat, but thinks against it when she remembers that matcha lattes cost $15 and they taste like milky dirt. She knows that she needs to buy groceries this week, and so the woman resolves to go home, but notices that her gas tank is low. She goes to put gas in the car, but the pump stops at $27.86 because that's all that she has in her checking account. The woman, bereft and reeling, sinks into the driver's seat. "Well," she thinks, her head in her hands, "at least I don't have Taylor Swift's job. I just couldn't imagine."
Fame is somewhat of a choice. If at any moment Taylor feels that she is misunderstood, misconstrued, or overwhelmed by public opinion, she can LEAVE the public eye - Lord knows she has the retirement fund and residuals to do so. In "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart", the TTPD song about meeting the demands of your career-zenith mega-tour while in the relationship trenches, Taylor ends the song by rambling,

"You know you're good when you can even do it with a broken heart...you know you're good...and I'm good, cause I'm miserable, and no one even knows!...try and come for my job."

Yeah, obviously we wouldn't know, you recently passed the billionaire threshold and are the most famous and in-demand performer in the world right now. Taylor Swift makes an estimated $10 to $13 million dollars A NIGHT on the Eras Tour. Furthermore, the Eras Tour movie grossed $261.6 million globally, (which, as the producer, Taylor takes home 57% of the ticket sales) not counting the streaming revenue from Amazon Prime Video and the estimated $75 million deal that Disney paid to have it on Disney+. We're not even considering the income from cheap plastic popcorn buckets and drink cups plastered with colored squares in her Era-specific likeness.
It's funny. Taylor Swift often said that being famous wasn't hard, that she "isn't complaining". I'm sure it is difficult to always have to present in a good mood, else you'll end up misrepresented in the media, and I'm sure it's invasive to virtually have no privacy or semblance of anonymity. Still, Taylor Swift shows up each night of tour and performs. For a majority of her career, she has penned her sad songs while on the road. Most of "Red", her breakup album, was written in the thick of the Speak Now World tour. Now, some Swifties say they almost "feel bad" for attending the Eras Tour with Swift's revelations in this song, that they have had a 'dimmed experience' upon hearing Taylor's misery whilst performing. Despite the fact that Taylor said that "this was the happiest she's ever been" at Gilette Stadium in May, the lyrics "boohoo, woe is me, smile for the cameras and make the fans happy!!!" are jarring for Eras attendees.
While Taylor Swift was making double-digit millions a night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and feeling miserable, Ana Clara Benevides Machado passed away due to heat exposure. The concert promoters, Time For Fun, are now the subject of a criminal investigation due to their lack of adequate hydration and safety. Taylor Swift cancelled the Sunday show that was to follow and offered VIP tent tickets to Benevides Marchado's family, which was a kind gesture, but perhaps incongruous to the incident of which they were offered as consolation. Everyone grieves differently, of course, but I'm not sure attending the very show at the very same venue that my daughter or sister passed away in two days prior, where the singer CONTINUED the show despite her death, would be healthy for closure.
There was no female rage at the show as Swift never saw Benevides Machado pass out. There was no female rage towards the disregard for fans as humans while Swift elected to proceed with her Brazil tour dates despite the country being in historic heatwaves (at risk of overheatting herself). If Taylor Swift was so shaken by touring with a broken heart or a fan's passing, she wouldn't have added an additional North American leg of Eras just two months after the Matty breakup. She's brokenhearted but willing to mend the cracks with your money and move onward with her worldwide female rage induced pillaging.
No matter what happens, even if you die at a Taylor Swift concert, Taylor collects a big fat check and flies away. She doesn't know you as anything other than a conversion rate or earning potential despite what her nearly 20-year long parasocial relationship with fans might otherwise indicate. She knows that, while some Swifties are without disposable income, they feel obligated to spend on a "48 Hours Only!" exclusive vinyl variant instead of necessities because they are so entrenched in Taylor Swift's intoxicating celebrity, they'll prioritize materialistic fandom before their needs. This is good enough for her because this means she can expand her real estate portfolio and finance her cat's lavish lifestyles. They're worth an estimated $100 million dollars. Her three cats could pool their net worth and solve world hunger.
While you and I might be denied bereavement leave and barely surviving the current political and economic climate, Taylor Swift has to, instead of gets to, perform for stadiums at full attendance for three nights in a row across the globe. You and I might be replaced by AI at our longtime jobs, but Taylor Swift is threatened with losing more and more money each time you listen to a "Stolen Version" of her songs. If we don't buy every variant of all of her albums, then who is going to pay for the fucking cats?
It is tone deaf to spend as she spends and lives as she lives in this economy, but this is her reality. She was able to donate $100,000 to all of her tour truck drivers, and that's wonderful, but it leads me to wonder about the ethos of the 2020s where one woman can hoard such life-changing amounts of money. Remember in 2014 when she gave a fan $90 ($120 in today's money) to get Chipotle because she had no fucking clue how much it cost? This is a 34-year-old woman who is increasingly out of touch with the reality for working class people and women in general. Normal everyday adults must wake up and go to their thankless jobs, and yet Taylor Swift, despite all her riches, incessantly references the lows of her life and career as a public figure and entertainer to farm sympathy and drive sales. And still, the corporate women have latched onto "I cry a lot, but I am so productive! It's an art!" as their cubicle battle cry.
Do you think that, from up in her private jet, Taylor Swift gazes at the world through her poetic, tortured eyes, and thinks, "All the little people, in their cars, walking, going about their lives...all those girls that don't support girls...do they know that I've made an album about female rage?"

Conclusion/TLDR

Thank you for reading. I would love to hear your critical insights towards this entire ordeal: TTPD, the trademark, the implications of it all.
TLDR: Taylor Swift is a bad feminist and is delusional to think that the TTPD eras set exemplifies female rage at women's injustice.

Hi everyone!
I wanted to give a detailed review of my experience with sm global package for taemin’s metamorph concert in tokyo at the nippon budokan. I am months delayed in posting this (thanks to grad school) but I initially wrote it out of post-concert depression prior to returning to the states back in March.
buying the global package, twin ver:
the package was announced sometime in december 2023 if im not mistaken and I stayed up until midnight (pst) on 1/22 to book a twin package for ‘course c’ which was 2N3D (sunday concert 3/10) for my friend and I. The packages that included all three nights (5D3N) of the show sold out the quickest, but there were still packages available for individual show days. As a tip to make things easier, make sure to have your friends’ passport info to input in advance so the booking goes easier if you are booking a twin package. If you are the one making the booking, make sure to have the global package app downloaded as they will send you notifications along the way about day of show schedule, merch preorder, etc. They ask that you relay this info to your partner when you purchase a twin package, as you are the primary reservation holder. You also cannot split the cost while booking, it must go on one card through paypal. When booking, you have the option to request extending your stay at the hotel through sm c&c, but since we were planning to go to Kyoto after the concert, we just checked out the day after the concert as planned. Also we didn’t have any ACE memberships, but if I remember correctly, you can enter that info to get an exclusive MD benefit.
merch preorder:
Prior to arriving in Japan, we got a notification at around 6pm pst on 2/28 (11 days prior to the show) with our exclusive merch preorder links which went live at midnight that same night. The prices were in yen and you pay using paypal. I had no problem getting the MD I wanted, however since there were limits on the amount of MD you could purchase (including the 2 different pins, which were 1 per order) I had to ask my friend if I could purchase an additional pin through his MD preorder link since there were 2 different pins in this specific concert MD. The day of the show (3/10) at around 10am, we picked up the MD we preordered with ease and pulled our concert seat tickets and received our global package exclusive gift (a mag safe wallet) and let the staff know which transports we would be taking (round trip bus or one way to/from the venue). I was a ljttle disappointed in the global package benefit MD as I had seen what the metamorph show in Korea had received (I think it was a handwritten letter from Taemin and a little lego figurine of him 🤧). Everything was smooth and efficient. Even after the concert, I was able to get into the MD line to purchase more, even though most of the MD was sold out.
checking in/out of the hotel & hotel review:
We stayed at the Hotel Monterey Hanzomon which was really close to the venue and across the street from the Hanzomon subway line, so it was very accessible by public transit. My friend and I both flew into Haneda and it took a little less than an hour to get to the hotel from the airport via public transit, but after a 12.5 hour long flight it was exhausting. When I asked the people at the airport if there was an airport limousine to the area, they said it wouldn’t take me close enough to the hotel and recommended I take the subway. We had met a few people in line for the MD pickup who said that we (allegedly) had a nicer hotel than those who did the NCT 127 global package for their Tokyo dome show (same weekend) but all in all, Hanzomon was an economy hotel with nothing to write home about. I will say the breakfast buffet included was really nice and I’m glad we didn’t skip out on it. When we checked in the day before the show, we just showed our passports and checked in like any other hotel. In the lobby there was a whiteboard with all of the concert info (opening times for md pickup, bus schedules, and concert schedule) displayed in english, korean, chinese, and japanese. I was a little bummed to find out that the concert (which took place in the middle of the afternoon) was only going to be an hour and a half maximum, even though NCT’s concert was almost 4 hours (!!!) in length.
day of show:
We had breakfast in the lobby around 8:30/9ish then after that we got to the sm desk at 9:45am to pick up our md and pick our tickets for the show (thanks to the tip from another fan on reddit, well worth getting there a little before the booth opened). I did notice the ACE membership MD benefits were nice, but neither me nor my friend have any fanclub memberships. It was relatively straightforward, they checked our passports and handed us a lanyard that acted as our bus pass and then one person per twin package picks the pair of tickets at random (in sets of 2 so you sit with your friend) and we got seats in section A3 (floor) which were great. They asked us if we wanted a seat on the bus ride round trip or one way and we originally said only one ride to the venue, but my friend decided to take the bus back too once we got to the venue so we notified the SM staff and they added us to the roster for the ride back easily. When we got to the venue (an hour and a half-ish before doors) they escorted us to the front and we were let in immediately. The efficiency was incredible. They didn’t check my bag prior to entering like how they would for a concert in the US so I didn’t bring a water bottle into the venue but thankfully they had vending machines inside and concessions on the top levels of the venue. We also went to a booth upstairs to pair our lightsticks for the show, since the Japanese Shinee Lightstick app is only available for Japanese phones, so we showed our ticket locations and they were able to calibrate. The show was short yet sweet, we did not see anyone ejected for taking photos/videos but we were too scared to risk it. If you are caught filming or taking photos they will make you delete the photos/videos and kick you out with no sign of return, but I think because it was the last day and we were in the middle of a crowd, it was a little easier to get away with. There was a sadness in the air because it was Taemin’s last concert as a soloist under SM, but overall the show was incredible. One thing of note though is Japanese audiences are very quiet, they tend to clap rather than scream in between songs and there were times where you could hear someone from the rafters sneeze and it would resonate, so be prepared for that cultural difference. We still screamed when it felt appropriate to do so and the fanchants were loud but it was definitely strange to be golf clapping in between songs, especially in comparison to shows in the US where fans are barking 💀. It was nice to be able to hear Taemin speak uninterrupted during the ments, without pick-me fans interjecting their screams. He spoke exclusively in Japanese and there was no translator so we were left to guess what he was saying. A K-fan next to us was live Papago-ing his ments to Korean and I would peek and read what the translation was. Also shout out to this lovely K-shawol because she let my friend borrow one of her lightsticks! Once the show ended, everyone queued up to leave the venue in an orderly fashion and we cleaned up any trash we saw and we went out to the MD booth to buy any last minute MDs before going to the bus. On the bus, they gave us each a (unthemed) bag with some strawberry cookies and a waterbottle and we had a fun time air-dropping photos and videos from the show with other (braver) global package attendees. Everyone we met was so lovely and everything about the global package went very smoothly and efficiently.
edit: I forgot to mention that Japanese fans who had floor seats (most likely ACE club membership) received some sort of paper goods (postcard, photocard, folder etc.) upon entering the venue, a benefit that global package members did not receive. I only saw it because I went upstairs to the main entrance to sync my lightstick. I was too afraid to ask about the benefits, but I think it also might have had to do with which company you bought your ticket from (?) or where you preordered the album from (?)
closing thoughts:
the day after the show, we took advantage of the free breakfast and checked out with ease. The SM C&C staff left the whiteboard in the lobby and left a nice note for us and we wrote our thank yous on there. Overall, the package cost was $1559 for 2 people ($779 ea, 2 twin beds for 2N3D) and even though it was pricey it was so worth the convenience of not having to try to buy tickets locally, which I heard sold out entirely during fan club presale. Please note that this cost did not include airfare or transit to/from the airport. The concert coincided with my spring break and Taemin is one of my ults, I just wrote a paper on him for grad school so it was a no brainer, I had to be there no matter what lol. I was a bit disappointed in the lack of theming (I heard the concerts in Korea come with themed rooms, themed snacks, etc) and the lack of transportation to and from the airport (which I heard is sometimes an option for shows in Korea and would have been a great benefit). But otherwise the hotel was clean and convenient (a little small, but that’s how it is normally in an economy hotel in Japan), breakfast was good, SM staff were helpful and nice, and we made some new Shawol friends in the meantime :)
overall, I would absolutely book with global package again, but I would definitely want to see a show in Korea to compare the benefits. It was an unforgettable experience to be apart of the pearl aqua ocean 💎
if you have any questions ask away! prior to booking this package, I took the advice of another fan under a different thread, and it was really helpful so I wanted to offer any insight based off my experience.

I am a recent retiree from the Army. I have been interviewed for one position I did not get, and I am looking for pointers on improving my resume. I also use the USA.jobs resume creator when required. I have 15+ years of operations experience up to the Sergeant Major level but also just graduated with an accounting degree with honors. I am trying to leverage my education and experience, but also applying to the fields separately. I keep getting conflicting advice on my resume, so any help is appreciated.
Citizenship: Yes - United States Citizen Security Clearance: Active Secret Clearance Availability: Full-Time/ Permanent
PROFILE SUMMARY
Accomplished leader with over 15 years of experience in operations, strategic planning, and team leadership. Dedicated to driving organizational excellence through dynamic strategies aligned with institutional objectives. Proven track record of adept leadership, fostering cohesive teams, and ensuring timely project delivery. Skilled in problem-solving and communication, adept at identifying and resolving operational challenges. Proficient in fiscal management and cost optimization, resulting in budget-friendly solutions and improved profitability. Experienced in organizational development, enhancing work culture, and boosting employee engagement and retention.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
[U.S. Department of the Army](): Senior Operations Manage Operations Sergeant Major 1-314^th Infantry Battalion - Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ April 2022 to Retirement (40 Hours per Week)
~Duties & Related Skills:~

• Trained and supervised staff on financial databases and digital systems crucial for accurate financial record-keeping and daily operations
• Received formal recognition for administrative expertise, driving successful financial operations, and influencing process improvements
• Collaborated with operational partners to facilitate two Army-level training exercises and coordinate financial aspects of all training activities
• Conducted specialized correspondence training for financial and operational staff, enhancing financial reporting accuracy and efficiency
• Identified, remedied, and approved Defense Travel System travel claims, resulting in substantial cost savings and heightened quality assurance in financial processes

U.S. Department of the Army: Senior Operations Manage Future Operations and Planning Lead & First Sergeant Fort Drum Garrison Headquarters & 10^th Mountain Division Headquarters - Fort Drum, NY September 2019 to March 2022 (40 Hours per Week)
~Duties & Related Skills:~

• Provided direct administrative and technical support to senior executives and a team of 15,000 personnel
• Revamped and optimized the future operations staff section, fostering a professional environment focused on organizational enhancement and superior customer service
• Handpicked to lead a planning and future operations cell, surpassing fifteen highly qualified candidates based on proven expertise and exceptional results
• Conceptualized, developed, and implemented standard operating procedures for expeditionary logistics nodes, resulting in considerable time savings for outload and mission command establishment
• Demonstrated mastery in overseeing six digital automation networks and executing senior operational actions for five international training exercises, ensuring seamless mission command
• Successfully planned and executed training exercises involving over 3,000 personnel across a dispersed area spanning 250 miles, achieving a 100% success rate

U.S. Department of the Army: Senior Operations Manage Current Operations Lead & First Sergeant 1-504^th Parachute Infantry Regiment & 82^nd Airborne Division Headquarters - Fort Liberty, NC December 2015 to August 2019 (40 Hours per Week)
~Duties & Related Skills:~

• Supervised division current operations section, enabling rapid worldwide deployment of contingency forces within 18 hours
• Demonstrated effective communication, interpersonal, multitasking, and leadership skills, driving results in dynamic environments
• Maintained precision and diligence in performing duties, consistently delivering accurate results
• Excelled in planning and organizing tasks under adverse conditions with minimal supervision, achieving exceptional outcomes
• Conducted data analysis, program evaluation, and risk management for eleven joint-level exercises, earning formal recognition from executive leadership
• Coordinated real-world deployments, humanitarian missions, international exercises, orders production, emergency responses, casualty affairs operations, and daily correspondence with upper echelons
• Projected an expert proficiency with Microsoft Suite tools, PowerBI, and Tableau.
• Managed a $15 million renovation and transformation of a joint task force operations center, overseeing assets worth over $2.5 million

CIVILIAN EDUCATION
Institute: Southern New Hampshire University Degree: Bachelor of Science – 2024 Major: Accounting Honors: Summa Cum Laude (3.9 GPA)
MILITARY EDUCATION
Basic, Advanced, and Senior Leadership Course U.S. Advanced Airborne School Air and Unit Movement Officer U.S. Air Force Air-load Planner Combat Lifesaver Emergency Medical Technician
CERTIFICATIONS
· U.S. Defense Counterintelligence & Security Agency – DOD Mandatory Controlled Unclassified Information, Awareness & Reporting · U.S. Department of the Army – Information Security Program, Army OPSEC Level 1 · U.S. Department of Defense – Certified OPSEC for EOP Operators/ OPSEC Awareness for Military Members, DoD Employees & Contracto Combating Trafficking in Person for Investigative Professionals/ Combating Trafficking in Person General Awareness/ Combating Trafficking in Persons for Acquisition & Contracting Professionals/ Level 1 Antiterrorism Awareness, Military Occupational Code, Managing your Transition, Financial Planning for Transition, Employment Fundamentals of Career Transition, Identifying & Safeguarding Personally Identifiable Information PII, Introduction to Privacy Act 1, 2, & 3
SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES (KSA)
· Demonstrates comprehensive understanding and proficiency in deployment and mobility operations, including wartime contingency plans and adherence to relevant instructions, regulations, directives, and local operating procedures.
· Proficient in handling classified and/or protected documents, with adeptness in utilizing various automated data management systems.
· Proficient in budget analysis and administration, encompassing knowledge of budgetary methods, practices, policies, procedures, regulations, and precedents, as well as the accounting system for budgetary information.
· Skilled in implementing security methods, rules, regulations, and principles, supporting security administration, resolving security-related issues, and performing diverse security assignments.
· Proficient in providing authoritative consultation and conducting complex training administration, with the ability to assess program needs, evaluate status, and recommend/implement improvement solutions.
· Proficient in applying tact and diplomacy in advising individuals and high-level officials on complex and sensitive issues, related to planning, organizing, and directing functions of small organizations.
· Demonstrates entry-level proficiency in applying basic principles, concepts, and practices of the occupation.
· Effective communication skills in conveying factual and procedural information clearly, both orally and in writing.
· Proficient in assessing and measuring organizational trends, concerns, and needs, identifying gaps in services, and providing recommendations for effective plans and tools.
· Ability to analyze problems, identify significant factors, gather pertinent data, and utilize critical thinking skills to recognize solutions.
· Skilled in conducting one-on-one training, group presentations, and training sessions through oral communication.
· Demonstrates ability to plan, organize work, follow instructions, and manage multiple ongoing projects effectively, with proficiency in locating, assembling, and composing information for reports, inquiries, and limited technical correspondence.
· Proficient in identifying training needs, instructing personnel, and communicating effectively both orally and in writing.
ADDITIONAL DUTIES
Budget Analyst 2022 [– ]()2024 Knowledge Management Officer 2016 – 2018 Digital Master Gunner 2016 – 2018 Army Instructor 2011 – 2013 DTS Authorizing, Certifying, and Reviewing Official 2008 – 2024
AWARDS
Eagle Scout Bronze Star Medal Meritorious Service Medal (4) Army Commendation Medal (6) Army Achievement Medal (5) Army Good Conduct Medal (7) Drill Sergeant Identification Badge Combat Infantryman Badge Expert Infantryman Badge Command Cyber Readiness Award First Army Commanding General Award Friends of Lynn Woods Cyrus M. Tracy Award
ORGANIZATIONAL PARTICIPATION
National Eagle Scout Association Veterans of Foreign Wars National Infantry Association 82^nd Airborne Division Association
VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY
Habitat for Humanity 2022 - Present Salem Hospital 1992 - 1996
EDUCATIONAL FOCUS AREAS
Organizational Leadership, Leadership Communication, Operations Management, Principles of Management, Human Relations in Administration, Principles of Finance, Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting I II & III, Advanced Accounting, Cost Accounting, Auditing Principles, Auditing and Forensic Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis, Business Valuation, Federal Taxation, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Business Law I & II, Global Business Dimensions, Driving Business Opportunities, Critical Business Skills for Success, Applied Marketing Strategies, Data Analytics for Financial Professionals, Statistics, and Technology in Society.

I am trying to use Python to read in a PDF form so that I can fill all the elements and then create a new filled in PDF. I found code from this repo and everything works correctly for the most part, but some elements aren't being recognized. Below is what the form looks like when I am editing the elements: https://i.sstatic.net/oTn5wiGA.png
However, when I run my code most but not all of the elements get filled in. In this example I am filling each box with "STRING". https://i.sstatic.net/AQn06u8J.png
In my code, when I list all of the element names ("other, route_to_1, route_to_2, etc) all the names are correct and have been checked over and over. When I debug my code and look at the variable that stores all the form elements, it's simply misreading some of the elements. I am not sure what is causing this. Whether Acrobat made the form incorrectly, or if there's a problem with the code. Any help is appreciated. Here's the code I have:
create_pdf.py

from pdf_processing import ProcessPdf DATA_OBJECT = { "other": "string", "route_to_1": "string", "route_to_2": "string", "route_to_3": "string", "route_to_4": "string", "route_to_5": "string", "route_to_6": "string", "route_to_7": "string", "route_to_8": "string", "route_to_9": "string", "route_to_10": "string", "route_to_11": "string", "route_to_alt_1": "string", "route_to_alt_2": "string", "route_to_alt_3": "string", "route_to_alt_4": "string", "route_to_alt_5": "string", "dep_aerodrome": "string", "dep_elev": "string", "dep_atis_id": "string", "dep_atis_freq": "string", "dest_aerodrome": "string", "dest_elev": "string", "alt_dest": "string", "alt_elev": "string", "chan_id_1": "string", "chan_freq_1": "string", "chan_id_2": "string", "chan_freq_2": "string", "chan_id_3": "string", "chan_freq_3": "string", "chan_id_4": "string", "chan_freq_4": "string", "chan_id_5": "string", "chan_freq_5": "string", "chan_id_6": "string", "chan_freq_6": "string", "chan_id_7": "string", "chan_freq_7": "string", "chan_id_8": "string", "chan_freq_8": "string", "chan_id_9": "string", "chan_freq_9": "string", "chan_id_10": "string", "chan_freq_10": "string", "chan_id_11": "string", "chan_freq_11": "string", "chan_id_alt_1": "string", "chan_freq_alt_1": "string", "chan_id_alt_2": "string", "chan_freq_alt_2": "string", "chan_id_alt_3": "string", "chan_freq_alt_3": "string", "chan_id_alt_4": "string", "chan_freq_alt_4": "string", "chan_id_alt_5": "string", "chan_freq_alt_5": "string", "course_1": "string", "course_2": "string", "course_3": "string", "course_4": "string", "course_5": "string", "course_6": "string", "course_7": "string", "course_8": "string", "course_9": "string", "course_10": "string", "course_11": "string", "course_alt_1": "string", "course_alt_2": "string", "course_alt_3": "string", "course_alt_4": "string", "course_alt_5": "string", "dep_clearance_id": "string", "dep_clearance_freq": "string", "time_off": "string", "dep_app_cont_id": "string", "dep_app_cont_freq": "string", "dist_1": "string", "dist_2": "string", "dist_3": "string", "dist_4": "string", "dist_5": "string", "dist_6": "string", "dist_7": "string", "dist_8": "string", "dist_9": "string", "dist_10": "string", "dist_11": "string", "dist_total": "string", "alt_route": "string", "alt_app_cont_id": "string", "alt_app_cont_freq": "string", "dist_alt_1": "string", "dist_alt_2": "string", "dist_alt_3": "string", "dist_alt_4": "string", "dist_alt_5": "string", "ete_1": "string", "ete_2": "string", "ete_3": "string", "ete_4": "string", "ete_5": "string", "ete_6": "string", "ete_7": "string", "ete_8": "string", "ete_9": "string", "ete_10": "string", "ete_11": "string", "ete_total": "string", "ete_alt_1": "string", "ete_alt_2": "string", "ete_alt_3": "string", "ete_alt_4": "string", "ete_alt_5": "string", "eta_1": "string", "ata_1": "string", "eta_2": "string", "ata_2": "string", "eta_3": "string", "ata_3": "string", "eta_4": "string", "ata_4": "string", "eta_5": "string", "ata_5": "string", "eta_6": "string", "ata_6": "string", "eta_7": "string", "ata_7": "string", "eta_8": "string", "ata_8": "string", "eta_9": "string", "ata_9": "string", "eta_10": "string", "ata_10": "string", "eta_11": "string", "ata_11": "string", "eta_total": "string", "ata_total": "string", "eta_alt_1": "string", "ata_alt_1": "string", "eta_alt_2": "string", "ata_alt_2": "string", "eta_alt_3": "string", "ata_alt_3": "string", "eta_alt_4": "string", "ata_alt_4": "string", "eta_alt_5": "string", "ata_alt_5": "string", "dep_gnd_cont_id": "string", "dep_gnd_cont_freq": "string", "tas": "string", "mach": "string", "dest_tower_id": "string", "dest_tower_freq": "string", "leg_fuel_1": "string", "leg_fuel_2": "string", "leg_fuel_3": "string", "leg_fuel_4": "string", "leg_fuel_5": "string", "leg_fuel_6": "string", "leg_fuel_7": "string", "leg_fuel_8": "string", "leg_fuel_9": "string", "leg_fuel_10": "string", "leg_fuel_11": "string", "leg_fuel_total": "string", "alt_altitude": "string", "alt_tower_id": "string", "alt_tower_freq": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_1": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_2": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_3": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_4": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_5": "string", "efr_1": "string", "afr_1": "string", "efr_2": "string", "afr_2": "string", "efr_3": "string", "afr_3": "string", "efr_4": "string", "afr_4": "string", "efr_5": "string", "afr_5": "string", "efr_6": "string", "afr_6": "string", "efr_7": "string", "afr_7": "string", "efr_8": "string", "afr_8": "string", "efr_9": "string", "afr_9": "string", "efr_10": "string", "afr_10": "string", "efr_11": "string", "afr_11": "string", "efr_total": "string", "afr_total": "string", "efr_alt_1": "string", "afr_alt_1": "string", "efr_alt_2": "string", "afr_alt_2": "string", "efr_alt_3": "string", "afr_alt_3": "string", "efr_alt_4": "string", "afr_alt_4": "string", "efr_alt_5": "string", "afr_alt_5": "string", "cont_fuel": "string", "cont_fuel_1": "string", "cont_fuel_2": "string", "cont_fuel_3": "string", "cont_fuel_4": "string", "cont_fuel_5": "string", "cont_fuel_6": "string", "cont_fuel_7": "string", "cont_fuel_8": "string", "cont_fuel_9": "string", "cont_fuel_10": "string", "cont_fuel_11": "string", "alt_fuel": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_1": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_2": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_3": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_4": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_5": "string", "dep_tower_id": "string", "dep_tower_freq": "string", "lbs_ph": "string", "lbs_pm": "string", "dest_gnd_cont_id": "string", "dest_gnd_cont_freq": "string", "notes_1": "string", "notes_2": "string", "notes_3": "string", "notes_4": "string", "notes_5": "string", "notes_6": "string", "notes_7": "string", "notes_8": "string", "notes_9": "string", "notes_10": "string", "notes_11": "string", "notes_12": "string", "alt_gnd_cont_id": "string", "alt_gnd_cont_freq": "string", "notes_alt_1": "string", "notes_alt_2": "string", "notes_alt_3": "string", "notes_alt_4": "string", "notes_alt_5": "string", "alt_time": "string", "route_dest_iaf_fuel": "string", "route_alt_iaf_fuel": "string", "approaches_fuel": "string", "in_air_used_fuel": "string", "reserve_fuel": "string", "rwy_length_dest": "string", "lighting_dest": "string", "fuel_dest": "string", "ils_dest": "string", "loc_dest": "string", "asr_dest": "string", "par_mins_dest": "string", "tac_mins_dest": "string", "arr_gear_dest": "string", "pubs_dest": "string", "notams_dest": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_1": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_2": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_3": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_4": "string", "etc_dest": "string", "last_cruise_req_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_req_fuel": "string", "bingo_req_fuel": "string", "last_cruise_appr_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_appr_fuel": "string", "rwy_length_alt": "string", "lighting_alt": "string", "fuel_alt": "string", "ils_alt": "string", "loc_alt": "string", "asr_alt": "string", "par_mins_alt": "string", "tac_mins_alt": "string", "arr_gear_alt": "string", "pubs_alt": "string", "notams_alt": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_1": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_2": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_3": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_4": "string", "etc_alt": "string", "last_cruise_res_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_fuel": "string", "add_res_fuel": "string", "stto_fuel": "string", "total_req_fuel": "string", "total_aboard_fuel": "string", "spare_fuel": "string", "last_cruise_total_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_total_fuel": "string", "bingo_total": "string", "waypoint_1": "string", "waypoint_2": "string", "waypoint_3": "string", "waypoint_4": "string", "waypoint_5": "string", "waypoint_6": "string", "waypoint_7": "string", "waypoint_8": "string", "waypoint_9": "string", "waypoint_10": "string", "waypoint_11": "string", "waypoint_12": "string", "waypoint_13": "string", "waypoint_14": "string", "waypoint_15": "string", "waypoint_16": "string", "clearance_cleared_to": "string", "clearance_altitude": "string", "clearance_freq": "string", "clearance_transp": "string", "clearance_route": "string" } data = DATA_OBJECT output_file = 'final_pdf.pdf' temp_files = [] pdf = ProcessPdf('pdf_temp/', output_file) ''' PDF_TEMPLATE_PATH = path/to/your.pdf ''' data_pdf = pdf.add_data_to_pdf("Blank Jet Log Fillable.pdf", data) temp_files.append(data_pdf) 

pdf_processing.py

import os import re import fitz # requires fitz, PyMuPDF import pdfrw import subprocess import os.path import sys from PIL import Image ''' replace all the constants (the one in caps) with your own lists ''' ''' FORM_KEYS is a dictionary (key-value pair) that contains 1. keys - which are all the key names in the PDF form 2. values - which are the type for all the keys in the PDF form. (string, checkbox, etc.) Eg. PDF form contains 1. First Name 2. Last Name 3. Sex (Male or Female) 4. Mobile Number FORM_KEYS = { "fname": "string", "lname": "string", "sex": "checkbox", "mobile": "number" } This FORM_KEYS(key) returns the type of value for that key. I'm passing this as 2nd argument to encode_pdf_string() function. ''' FORM_KEYS = { "other": "string", "route_to_1": "string", "route_to_2": "string", "route_to_3": "string", "route_to_4": "string", "route_to_5": "string", "route_to_6": "string", "route_to_7": "string", "route_to_8": "string", "route_to_9": "string", "route_to_10": "string", "route_to_11": "string", "route_to_alt_1": "string", "route_to_alt_2": "string", "route_to_alt_3": "string", "route_to_alt_4": "string", "route_to_alt_5": "string", "dep_aerodrome": "string", "dep_elev": "string", "dep_atis_id": "string", "dep_atis_freq": "string", "dest_aerodrome": "string", "dest_elev": "string", "alt_dest": "string", "alt_elev": "string", "chan_id_1": "string", "chan_freq_1": "string", "chan_id_2": "string", "chan_freq_2": "string", "chan_id_3": "string", "chan_freq_3": "string", "chan_id_4": "string", "chan_freq_4": "string", "chan_id_5": "string", "chan_freq_5": "string", "chan_id_6": "string", "chan_freq_6": "string", "chan_id_7": "string", "chan_freq_7": "string", "chan_id_8": "string", "chan_freq_8": "string", "chan_id_9": "string", "chan_freq_9": "string", "chan_id_10": "string", "chan_freq_10": "string", "chan_id_11": "string", "chan_freq_11": "string", "chan_id_alt_1": "string", "chan_freq_alt_1": "string", "chan_id_alt_2": "string", "chan_freq_alt_2": "string", "chan_id_alt_3": "string", "chan_freq_alt_3": "string", "chan_id_alt_4": "string", "chan_freq_alt_4": "string", "chan_id_alt_5": "string", "chan_freq_alt_5": "string", "course_1": "string", "course_2": "string", "course_3": "string", "course_4": "string", "course_5": "string", "course_6": "string", "course_7": "string", "course_8": "string", "course_9": "string", "course_10": "string", "course_11": "string", "course_alt_1": "string", "course_alt_2": "string", "course_alt_3": "string", "course_alt_4": "string", "course_alt_5": "string", "dep_clearance_id": "string", "dep_clearance_freq": "string", "time_off": "string", "dep_app_cont_id": "string", "dep_app_cont_freq": "string", "dist_1": "string", "dist_2": "string", "dist_3": "string", "dist_4": "string", "dist_5": "string", "dist_6": "string", "dist_7": "string", "dist_8": "string", "dist_9": "string", "dist_10": "string", "dist_11": "string", "dist_total": "string", "alt_route": "string", "alt_app_cont_id": "string", "alt_app_cont_freq": "string", "dist_alt_1": "string", "dist_alt_2": "string", "dist_alt_3": "string", "dist_alt_4": "string", "dist_alt_5": "string", "ete_1": "string", "ete_2": "string", "ete_3": "string", "ete_4": "string", "ete_5": "string", "ete_6": "string", "ete_7": "string", "ete_8": "string", "ete_9": "string", "ete_10": "string", "ete_11": "string", "ete_total": "string", "ete_alt_1": "string", "ete_alt_2": "string", "ete_alt_3": "string", "ete_alt_4": "string", "ete_alt_5": "string", "eta_1": "string", "ata_1": "string", "eta_2": "string", "ata_2": "string", "eta_3": "string", "ata_3": "string", "eta_4": "string", "ata_4": "string", "eta_5": "string", "ata_5": "string", "eta_6": "string", "ata_6": "string", "eta_7": "string", "ata_7": "string", "eta_8": "string", "ata_8": "string", "eta_9": "string", "ata_9": "string", "eta_10": "string", "ata_10": "string", "eta_11": "string", "ata_11": "string", "eta_total": "string", "ata_total": "string", "eta_alt_1": "string", "ata_alt_1": "string", "eta_alt_2": "string", "ata_alt_2": "string", "eta_alt_3": "string", "ata_alt_3": "string", "eta_alt_4": "string", "ata_alt_4": "string", "eta_alt_5": "string", "ata_alt_5": "string", "dep_gnd_cont_id": "string", "dep_gnd_cont_freq": "string", "tas": "string", "mach": "string", "dest_tower_id": "string", "dest_tower_freq": "string", "leg_fuel_1": "string", "leg_fuel_2": "string", "leg_fuel_3": "string", "leg_fuel_4": "string", "leg_fuel_5": "string", "leg_fuel_6": "string", "leg_fuel_7": "string", "leg_fuel_8": "string", "leg_fuel_9": "string", "leg_fuel_10": "string", "leg_fuel_11": "string", "leg_fuel_total": "string", "alt_altitude": "string", "alt_tower_id": "string", "alt_tower_freq": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_1": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_2": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_3": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_4": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_5": "string", "efr_1": "string", "afr_1": "string", "efr_2": "string", "afr_2": "string", "efr_3": "string", "afr_3": "string", "efr_4": "string", "afr_4": "string", "efr_5": "string", "afr_5": "string", "efr_6": "string", "afr_6": "string", "efr_7": "string", "afr_7": "string", "efr_8": "string", "afr_8": "string", "efr_9": "string", "afr_9": "string", "efr_10": "string", "afr_10": "string", "efr_11": "string", "afr_11": "string", "efr_total": "string", "afr_total": "string", "efr_alt_1": "string", "afr_alt_1": "string", "efr_alt_2": "string", "afr_alt_2": "string", "efr_alt_3": "string", "afr_alt_3": "string", "efr_alt_4": "string", "afr_alt_4": "string", "efr_alt_5": "string", "afr_alt_5": "string", "cont_fuel": "string", "cont_fuel_1": "string", "cont_fuel_2": "string", "cont_fuel_3": "string", "cont_fuel_4": "string", "cont_fuel_5": "string", "cont_fuel_6": "string", "cont_fuel_7": "string", "cont_fuel_8": "string", "cont_fuel_9": "string", "cont_fuel_10": "string", "cont_fuel_11": "string", "alt_fuel": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_1": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_2": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_3": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_4": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_5": "string", "dep_tower_id": "string", "dep_tower_freq": "string", "lbs_ph": "string", "lbs_pm": "string", "dest_gnd_cont_id": "string", "dest_gnd_cont_freq": "string", "notes_1": "string", "notes_2": "string", "notes_3": "string", "notes_4": "string", "notes_5": "string", "notes_6": "string", "notes_7": "string", "notes_8": "string", "notes_9": "string", "notes_10": "string", "notes_11": "string", "notes_12": "string", "alt_gnd_cont_id": "string", "alt_gnd_cont_freq": "string", "notes_alt_1": "string", "notes_alt_2": "string", "notes_alt_3": "string", "notes_alt_4": "string", "notes_alt_5": "string", "alt_time": "string", "route_dest_iaf_fuel": "string", "route_alt_iaf_fuel": "string", "approaches_fuel": "string", "in_air_used_fuel": "string", "reserve_fuel": "string", "rwy_length_dest": "string", "lighting_dest": "string", "fuel_dest": "string", "ils_dest": "string", "loc_dest": "string", "asr_dest": "string", "par_mins_dest": "string", "tac_mins_dest": "string", "arr_gear_dest": "string", "pubs_dest": "string", "notams_dest": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_1": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_2": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_3": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_4": "string", "etc_dest": "string", "last_cruise_req_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_req_fuel": "string", "bingo_req_fuel": "string", "last_cruise_appr_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_appr_fuel": "string", "rwy_length_alt": "string", "lighting_alt": "string", "fuel_alt": "string", "ils_alt": "string", "loc_alt": "string", "asr_alt": "string", "par_mins_alt": "string", "tac_mins_alt": "string", "arr_gear_alt": "string", "pubs_alt": "string", "notams_alt": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_1": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_2": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_3": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_4": "string", "etc_alt": "string", "last_cruise_res_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_fuel": "string", "add_res_fuel": "string", "stto_fuel": "string", "total_req_fuel": "string", "total_aboard_fuel": "string", "spare_fuel": "string", "last_cruise_total_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_total_fuel": "string", "bingo_total": "string", "waypoint_1": "string", "waypoint_2": "string", "waypoint_3": "string", "waypoint_4": "string", "waypoint_5": "string", "waypoint_6": "string", "waypoint_7": "string", "waypoint_8": "string", "waypoint_9": "string", "waypoint_10": "string", "waypoint_11": "string", "waypoint_12": "string", "waypoint_13": "string", "waypoint_14": "string", "waypoint_15": "string", "waypoint_16": "string", "clearance_cleared_to": "string", "clearance_altitude": "string", "clearance_freq": "string", "clearance_transp": "string", "clearance_route": "string" } def encode_pdf_string(value, type): if type == 'string': if value: return pdfrw.objects.pdfstring.PdfString.encode(value.upper()) else: return pdfrw.objects.pdfstring.PdfString.encode('') elif type == 'checkbox': if value == 'True' or value == True: return pdfrw.objects.pdfname.BasePdfName('/Yes') # return pdfrw.objects.pdfstring.PdfString.encode('Y') else: return pdfrw.objects.pdfname.BasePdfName('/No') # return pdfrw.objects.pdfstring.PdfString.encode('') return '' class ProcessPdf: def __init__(self, temp_directory, output_file): print('\n########## Initiating Pdf Creation Process #########\n') print('\nDirectory for storing all temporary files is: ', temp_directory) self.temp_directory = temp_directory print("Final Pdf name will be: ", output_file) self.output_file = output_file def add_data_to_pdf(self, template_path, data): print('\nAdding data to pdf...') template = pdfrw.PdfReader(template_path) for page in template.pages: annotations = page['/Annots'] if annotations is None: continue for annotation in annotations: if annotation['/Subtype'] == '/Widget': if annotation['/T']: key = annotation['/T'][1:-1] if re.search(r'.-[0-9]+', key): key = key[:-2] if key in data: annotation.update( pdfrw.PdfDict(V=encode_pdf_string(data[key], FORM_KEYS[key])) ) annotation.update(pdfrw.PdfDict(Ff=1)) template.Root.AcroForm.update(pdfrw.PdfDict(NeedAppearances=pdfrw.PdfObject('true'))) pdfrw.PdfWriter().write(self.temp_directory + "data.pdf", template) print('Pdf saved') return self.temp_directory + "data.pdf" def convert_image_to_pdf(self, image_path, image_pdf_name): print('\nConverting image to pdf...') image = Image.open(image_path) image_rgb = image.convert('RGB') image_rgb.save(self.temp_directory + image_pdf_name) return self.temp_directory + image_pdf_name def add_image_to_pdf(self, pdf_path, images, positions): print('\nAdding images to Pdf...') file_handle = fitz.open(pdf_path) for position in positions: page = file_handle[int(position['page']) - 1] if not position['image'] in images: continue image = images[position['image']] page.insertImage( fitz.Rect(position['x0'], position['y0'], position['x1'], position['y1']), filename=image ) file_handle.save(self.temp_directory + "data_image.pdf") print('images added') return self.temp_directory + "data_image.pdf" def delete_temp_files(self, pdf_list): print('\nDeleting Temporary Files...') for path in pdf_list: try: os.remove(path) except: pass def compress_pdf(self, input_file_path, power=3): """Function to compress PDF via Ghostscript command line interface""" quality = { 0: '/default', 1: '/prepress', 2: '/printer', 3: '/ebook', 4: '/screen' } output_file_path = self.temp_directory + 'compressed.pdf' if not os.path.isfile(input_file_path): print("\nError: invalid path for input PDF file") sys.exit(1) if input_file_path.split('.')[-1].lower() != 'pdf': print("\nError: input file is not a PDF") sys.exit(1) print("\nCompressing PDF...") initial_size = os.path.getsize(input_file_path) subprocess.call(['gs', '-sDEVICE=pdfwrite', '-dCompatibilityLevel=1.4', '-dPDFSETTINGS={}'.format(quality[power]), '-dNOPAUSE', '-dQUIET', '-dBATCH', '-sOutputFile={}'.format(output_file_path), input_file_path] ) final_size = os.path.getsize(output_file_path) ratio = 1 - (final_size / initial_size) print("\nCompression by {0:.0%}.".format(ratio)) print("Final file size is {0:.1f}MB".format(final_size / 1000000)) return output_file_path 

Preface: This is all my opinion. I came into the game during Chapter 3 Season 1. It wasn't the beginning of the season, but I was able to complete the season pass since I decided I wanted skins from it. I am not an "OG" player but I've definitely seen a lot of variety in the UI and gameplay, so here goes my thoughts.
The UI: I know, I know many people are mixed here. Some people say it doesn't affect gameplay, which is true. It does affect navigation, severely though.
What I would rather see is a splash page. When the game loads, let me see options for the main game modes: Battle Royale, Festival, Lego, Creative, Rocket Racing, Save The World.
If I want to play any of these modes, I shouldn't have to navigate that messy screen that you scroll through. Even putting stuff as favorites doesn't mean it's still easy to get to.
Under each splash page, what you see for a menu is much cleaner. Each sub menu could then have nice clean options once you're in to whichever mode you may want to primarily play.
For example: Under creative it could then have something similar to the search suggestions based on game type. Festival lets you keep the simple choice between Main Stage and Jam Stage. Lego could let you choose worlds you are a part of as well as Lego creative maps. Something like this could go for all the main modes while cleaning up the overall look of the UI.
This also keeps it clean for if/when they add other options under any of these sub modes.
The Locker: This is easily one of the worst changes I've seen made in any game from what it was prior.
Here is what I would like to see.
I would like to see pages. I want to be able to theme out and name a series of saved presets. That way, if I decide to shuffle skins/presets. The presets are based on whatever theme I make. I can theme based on a BP, style of skins such as streetwear skins or medieval skins, holiday, IP, or any other combination I may choose within a page.
Under that, I want what we had back, but with everything matching in a preset.
This is ALL cosmetics. I think just for ease of organizing all items need to be able to be in matching presets.
What would be great on top of this is to be able to copy something to every other preset on a page. For example, if you use the same back bling on all your characters, you don't care about your car, or the instruments. You can just make it so once you copy to the rest of the presets on a page, you don't have to worry about setting that part up as you do the rest of your presets.
I don't know about you, but the current way the locker is set up is also the single biggest reason I have been spending FAR, FAR less in the game.
I used to top up my account with the 13,500 V-Bucks at the start of each season. I haven't done that since Fortnite OG before this chapter started.
Item Shop: I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I miss the old shop. I'd see Marvel take over the shop than whatever this shop currently is. I also HATE the fact the item shops reorganizes itself WHILE you are in the shop and looking at things.
Either bring back the old shop style or give the item shop a truly clean and organized look.
Item costs are all over the place and need to be fixed. This also goes for song costs. To me what is pretty much $5 a song is too much. Especially when once upon a time you could buy Guitar Hero or Rock Band and get a whole library of songs to play for one game cost. I'm not saying songs have to be only $1 each, but $5 is too much. I know I'd be buying songs at like $3 each and I'd consider the value better.
Skin styles: New skins are either feeling really weird in style or super, super boring. Now I understand this is purely subjective.
Take this Greek BP for example though. These Greek Gods don't even feel like they are demi-gods. Artemis could have looked so much better if all her styles didn't look like they were already some form of super style. Also, what's with all the camo on Zeus?
Dagobah Luke didn't look anything like Luke and they already had the face model in the game.
Purchase Gymnastics: What I mean with this is when you make either the purchase for the BP or general cosmetics that then require you to do special quests to get all the items. To me, it's worse when you buy specific cosmetics than it is for BP related items, but it's still annoying to have to do certain things just to get those items unlocked.
Quests: With this, most of my quest experience is within BR and only some in other modes like Lego and Rocket Racing. My thoughts here are focused on BR based quests.
Story quests need to come back to telling a story that you don't have to go searching for to put together. This is one of the biggest things I miss from Chapter 3, was how the story quests went.
Special quests like ones related to Star Wars, Avatar, or anything special need to be more in line with doing things related to it. Maybe this means less quests for special items, but then that's less quests for those special items. For example with air bending quests, one of them was just traveling distance. It didn't matter if you were using air bending or not.
Quests should also be a bit more streamlined with less quests and giving you more. The reason for this is if someone even plays just one other game mode, currently you have to play A LOT of both game modes if you want the items from doing quests.
XP And Leveling: There was a post, I believe yesterday about how you shouldn't have to play other modes in order to get to level 200. While this is something I've just been doing the time I've been playing, I agree with the person who made the post talking about this.
Now I'm not saying you should just be given levels. But I do think if you only play 30 minutes a day or a couple hours a day every few days, you should be able to get to level 200 without having to rely on either buying levels or playing a bunch of other modes/stuff to get there.
This should go with whatever mode you play as your primary mode. Even if the BP doesn't make sense for Rocket Racing. If I play mostly Rocket Racing in a season, I should get that XP for the BP and all the cosmetics within it.
Gameplay: Now, I do understand this is the BR sub. So, I will only go lightly on my thoughts on other modes and focus on BR here.
Lego: I played a fair amount when it first came out, but wow was this not ready to go. It's such a grind, there's no easy way across the map. I haven't played with vehicles, but I've heard they don't always work properly. They should somehow introduce fast travel, even if you have to build your own fast travel points. It didn't have enough to hold interest for me, it was too big of a map, too heavy of a grind, and too many other obscure issues in the game.
Rocket Racing: I don't hate this mode, but I also don't not hate this mode. I had a blast when it first came out. I hate the time trial courses though. I get the idea of it, but at the end of the day it just is boring in the long haul and I don't care enough about the cosmetics to do all the quests.
Festival - Jam Stage: No, just no. At least for me, just no. Also, bring back being able to just AFK for points in this mode. You can't tell me the majority of people in there are actually enjoying that mode?
Festival - Main Stage: I'll admit, I actually do really enjoy this mode. I don't have a lot of issues with it other than costs of songs, and also instruments.
BR: I primarily play Zero Build, for what that's worth to you on my following thoughts.
To me, this entire chapter has felt boring and nothing like how Fortnite felt for Chapters 3, 4, and OG. Now, I admit I felt that Chapter 4 could be overwhelming at times and I wasn't the biggest fan of the jungle. However, give me back that chaos and jungle over whatever this is.
The mod benches need to go, it honestly makes all the weapons so boring. Insanely boring. The gameplay feels flat to me, I think because of mod benches and modded weapons
Bring back hitscan weapons and true weapon variety.
Also give us at least a season without snipers. Even FaZe Replays misses old snipers. FaZe Replays the crazy sniper, doesn't even like the current sniper guns.
I think to most players who have been playing since before this, the map is pretty but also boring at the same time. It doesn't look like Fortnite maps have in the past.
Where are augments? I do feel like the augments were a big part of why Chapter 4 allowed for so many different types of gameplay, and you never knew what you may run into.
Pub BR right now doesn't feel anything like Fortnite. I get it, Epic did heavy layoffs and then did this meta thing. So now BR is hurting. It needs more focus, it needs to not be so boring. Don't turn Fortnite BR into PUBG or other games that are now just about dead.
It's not too late to fix pub BR, but they do need to truly focus on it.
Bring back the old art style, make the map more fun with legitimately fun POI's.
Ranked: Now, I play some ranked but not a lot. In my book though, it's such a broken game mode. Arenas used to actually play more like a comp practice. Ranked does not. Also, the ranking itself needs to be fixed.
I'm sorry but people like Bush Camp Dad should not be able to camp their way to Unreal, or even Champion for that matter.
Ranked needs some major balance changes.
It also needs to play more like Arenas did. If a comp isn't going to have vehicles or mythic weapons, then neither should ranked. Otherwise comps need to match what you have in pubs...which I do disagree with.
I do believe that Ranked and Comps/Cups need to be more of a "core" style gameplay.
The Storm: I believe we need a dynamic storm. The storm should be able to see how many people are left in a game and where they are. If it's down to 15 people just camping their way through and there is still half the map left, then the storm should increase it's damage and shrink down significantly to force gameplay.
I'm not saying they need to make the storm as fast as it was in the beginning of Chapter 5 Season 1, but it needs to be more of a threat than it currently is where it's 1 dps for way too long.
Which is why I believe a dynamic storm is the answer. The storm can change how much it shrinks and the damage it'll do based on player count and how spread out the players are.
Conclusion: For me, both seasons 1 and 2 of this chapter have not been it. I used to play just about every night either trios or squads. I think we're all just feeling bored and letdown with the current state of gameplay.
This was, for a long time one of my favorite games to play and even if I didn't want to play BR, I was at least going and seeing what kind of create maps I could find, especially Death Runs to do.
I'm now only playing a few times a week, mostly just to knock quests out to make sure I get things.
I'm not playing other creative maps as much anymore, I am off and playing other games.

Please don't judge me or be harsh or trolling. I can't handle it at this point in time right now.... I am just moments close to ending everything because I just can't handle it anymore. please if you judge me just keep it to yourself please..
I am on ssi and ssd getting 158 on the first and 805 on the 3rd. the ssd is after both my parents passed they put me on my dads disability drawing off what he earned working but I was originally on ssi to begin with.
I get about 963 a month total to live on. Right now I am in major debt with credit cards since covid broke out. I had to use them to live on.
I moved in with my aunt who is living in apartments based on income but they are not section 8 but they accept section 8. When i moved in, i was told by the manager i didn't need to put my income since i was a cotenant. that was 10 yrs ago. come to find out. i had to put my income now i am being sued by the housing authority for 10k, i owe two more years. my aunt and i pay 220 a month to them. they don't care what happened they just want their money.
i owe one credit card company 4.5k, another 1.8k another 600 and another 700. when i applied for them, it was 3 plus years ago. i put that i made around 700k a year when i applied to them but i was on ssdi at the time making around 11k a year. i went on the websites 3 months ago fixed the right info.
I live in a small town where nothing is available for the next 20 plus miles and have no transport. my aunt won't take me anywhere. her son who si in his late 30's lives with us and works. my aunt is on disability. I get food stamps right now worth a 130 a month which goes to my aunt even though its for me. i pay her 450 a month rent incl internet lights and 130 in food. if i don't give her the food stamps then i have to pay her another 130 a month i can't afford since all my stuff is going to her and credit cards. i legit have nothing left each month right now with having to buy myself instant mashed potatoes, oatmeal top ramen soup, noodles and spaghetti sauce. i live on that through the month.
when she buys food with the food stamps it feeds her son, me and her. but it is only enough to last a week, then for the next 3 weeks i am starving barely eating because i can't afford much when i do buy stuff that i can put in my bedroom to eat on.
past week now, there has been no food, her son has been taking his mom and him out to eat all week not bringing anything home for me. im so hungry. the nearest food bank is 4 miles away one way, but i have no way to get there my aunt won't take me they don't deliver and when i tried getting medicaid transport to take me they said they don't schedule rides except to and from the dr's.
I have no other family, I have no friends. I have no vehicle. been trying to get a minivan so I could live in it. I am sometimes bed ridden due to my bad joints/back/knees/feet/right leg nerve damage. I also struggle from morbid obesity I am around 500 lbs and funny thing is, with how little i eat. i should be losing weight but its the complete opposite.
I will be 47 yrs old when I am out of debt with the credit card companies, I tried filing bankruptcy no one will touch me being under 10k in debt with the credit card companies. i contacted legal aid, the attorney who called me back said he can't help me because its under 10k. but told me how to file but chances of me filing and getting it are slim to none esp without legal help he said.
im thinking of ending my life next month when my aunt and her son leave for a week. I just can't keep living like this. if i had a minivan I could stay in it, do door dash for extra money, I could get around trying to find an aparment based on income. I bene accepted a few times to low income places but had no way to get there and now with all the debt I wouldn't be able to afford having my own place with the credit card debt.
if i stop paying the cards, and the debt collectors come after me, they could take me to court and if they do, they could show the judge i said i made 700k a year and i didn't make that much and was on disability at the time and making only 11k a year. i found out while looking into bankruptcy that it is fraud and i could face prison time.
i just don't know what to do anymore. i really don't know what to do anymore other than ending things next month to get out of this situation i put myself in with my aunt, debt, etc. I just can't do it anymore esp without a vehicle. esp since I am bed ridden half of the day here and there due to my bad joints and weight that i have carried around for 30 yrs destroying my joints and causing nerve damage to my right leg. I can't just get up and go on the streets and live on the streets not with how badly im in pain every day esp just walking to the corner store. just a simple walk to the corner store and back and i am bed rested for an entire day barely able to move.
i can't do it anymore...

Please don't judge me or be harsh or trolling. I can't handle it at this point in time right now.... I am just moments close to ending everything because I just can't handle it anymore. please if you judge me just keep it to yourself please..
I am on ssi and ssd getting 158 on the first and 805 on the 3rd. the ssd is after both my parents passed they put me on my dads disability drawing off what he earned working but I was originally on ssi to begin with.
I get about 963 a month total to live on. Right now I am in major debt with credit cards since covid broke out. I had to use them to live on.
I moved in with my aunt who is living in apartments based on income but they are not section 8 but they accept section 8. When i moved in, i was told by the manager i didn't need to put my income since i was a cotenant. that was 10 yrs ago. come to find out. i had to put my income now i am being sued by the housing authority for 10k, i owe two more years. my aunt and i pay 220 a month to them. they don't care what happened they just want their money.
i owe one credit card company 4.5k, another 1.8k another 600 and another 700. when i applied for them, it was 3 plus years ago. i put that i made around 700k a year when i applied to them but i was on ssdi at the time making around 11k a year. i went on the websites 3 months ago fixed the right info.
I live in a small town where nothing is available for the next 20 plus miles and have no transport. my aunt won't take me anywhere. her son who si in his late 30's lives with us and works. my aunt is on disability. I get food stamps right now worth a 130 a month which goes to my aunt even though its for me. i pay her 450 a month rent incl internet lights and 130 in food. if i don't give her the food stamps then i have to pay her another 130 a month i can't afford since all my stuff is going to her and credit cards. i legit have nothing left each month right now with having to buy myself instant mashed potatoes, oatmeal top ramen soup, noodles and spaghetti sauce. i live on that through the month.
when she buys food with the food stamps it feeds her son, me and her. but it is only enough to last a week, then for the next 3 weeks i am starving barely eating because i can't afford much when i do buy stuff that i can put in my bedroom to eat on.
past week now, there has been no food, her son has been taking his mom and him out to eat all week not bringing anything home for me. im so hungry. the nearest food bank is 4 miles away one way, but i have no way to get there my aunt won't take me they don't deliver and when i tried getting medicaid transport to take me they said they don't schedule rides except to and from the dr's.
I have no other family, I have no friends. I have no vehicle. been trying to get a minivan so I could live in it. I am sometimes bed ridden due to my bad joints/back/knees/feet/right leg nerve damage. I also struggle from morbid obesity I am around 500 lbs and funny thing is, with how little i eat. i should be losing weight but its the complete opposite.
I will be 47 yrs old when I am out of debt with the credit card companies, I tried filing bankruptcy no one will touch me being under 10k in debt with the credit card companies. i contacted legal aid, the attorney who called me back said he can't help me because its under 10k. but told me how to file but chances of me filing and getting it are slim to none esp without legal help he said.
im thinking of ending my life next month when my aunt and her son leave for a week. I just can't keep living like this. if i had a minivan I could stay in it, do door dash for extra money, I could get around trying to find an aparment based on income. I bene accepted a few times to low income places but had no way to get there and now with all the debt I wouldn't be able to afford having my own place with the credit card debt.
if i stop paying the cards, and the debt collectors come after me, they could take me to court and if they do, they could show the judge i said i made 700k a year and i didn't make that much and was on disability at the time and making only 11k a year. i found out while looking into bankruptcy that it is fraud and i could face prison time.
i just don't know what to do anymore. i really don't know what to do anymore other than ending things next month to get out of this situation i put myself in with my aunt, debt, etc. I just can't do it anymore esp without a vehicle. esp since I am bed ridden half of the day here and there due to my bad joints and weight that i have carried around for 30 yrs destroying my joints and causing nerve damage to my right leg. I can't just get up and go on the streets and live on the streets not with how badly im in pain every day esp just walking to the corner store. just a simple walk to the corner store and back and i am bed rested for an entire day barely able to move.
i can't do it anymore...

Today illustrated that the Democrats have become America’s cheerleaders, emphasizing how investment in the nation’s infrastructure has created jobs and rebuilt the country. This week, the Biden-Harris administration is touting its investments in rebuilding roads and bridges, making sure Americans have clean water, getting rid of pollution, expanding access to high-speed internet, and building a clean energy economy, contrasting that success with Trump’s eternal announcements of an “Infrastructure Week” that never came.
The White House today announced that it has awarded nearly $454 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including more than 56,000 projects across more than 4,500 communities across the nation. Those include fixing more than 165,000 miles of roads and more than 9,400 bridges and improving more than 450 ports and 300 airport terminals. It has funded more than 1,400 drinking water and wastewater projects and projects to replace up to 1.7 million toxic lead pipes, as well as more than 8,000 low- and zero-emission buses. It has funded 95 previously unfunded Superfund projects to clean up contaminated sites. It has improved the electrical grid and funded 12,000 miles of high-speed internet infrastructure, and exposed internet junk fees.
The White House explained that this investment is making it cheaper to install clean energy technology and lowering families’ monthly energy bills, and highlighted today the available rebates to enable people to take advantage of the new technologies.
On Wednesday, May 8, a report from the Semiconductor Industry Association and the Boston Consulting Group explored the “breathtaking speed,” as the president of the semiconductor organization put it, at which the industry is growing. In the Financial Times on May 9, John Thornhill reported that the CHIPS and Science Act, which provided a $39 billion investment in the semiconductor industry, has “primed a torrent of private sector investment.” With the influx of both federal money and an additional $447 billion of private investment in 83 projects in 25 states, the report forecasts that the U.S. will increase its share of global manufacturing capacity for leading-edge chips from today’s rate of 0% to 28% by 2032. Thornhill compared this investment to that spurred by Russia’s 1957 launch of the Sputnik satellite.
The Economist yesterday announced that the U.S. “is in the midst of an extraordinary startup boom,” and explored “[h]ow the country revived its “go-getting spirit.”
In contrast to the Democrats’ confidence in America, the Republicans are all-in on the idea that the country is an apocalyptic wasteland. At a rally in New Jersey Saturday, Trump announced: “On day one we will throw out Bidenomics and reinstate MAGAnomics.” He promised to extend his 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.
But the gist of his speech was an angry, vitriolic picture of a failing nation full of “enemies” that are “more dangerous” than China and Russia and who are “going to destroy our country.” In his telling, the criminal case against him in Manhattan is “bullsh*t,” and President Biden has done more damage than the “ten worst presidents in the history of our country” combined: “[h]e’s a fool; he’s not a smart man…[h]e’s a bad guy…the worst president ever, of any country. The whole world is laughing at him.”
Trump lied that other countries are “emptying out their mental institutions into the United States, our beautiful country. And now the prison populations all over the world are down. They don’t want to report that the mental-institution population is down because they’re taking people from insane asylums and from mental institutions.” Then he riffed into “the late great Hannibal Lecter,” the fictional murderer and cannibal in the film The Silence of the Lambs, apparently to suggest that similar individuals are migrating to the U.S.
House Republicans this week are working to pass a nonbinding resolution to condemn Biden’s immigration policies, although it was Republicans, under orders from Trump, who killed a strong bipartisan immigration bill earlier this year.
The only way to turn back this apocalypse, Trump and his supporters insist, is to put Trump and his team back into the White House. From there, Republicans will return those they consider “real” Americans to power.
The last few days have added new information about what that means. On Thursday, May 9, Senators Katie Britt (R-AL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) introduced the More Opportunities for Moms to Succeed (MOMS) act. Britt—who is best known for her disastrous response to Biden’s State of the Union speech from her kitchen—said the measure would provide a federal database of resources for pregnant women and women parenting young children, but that information excludes anything that touches on abortion.
The measure is clear that it enlists the government in opposition to abortion, but more than that, it establishes that the government will create a database of the names and contact information of pregnant women, which the government can then use “to follow up with users on additional resources that would be helpful for the users to review.”
A government database of pregnant women would give the federal government unprecedented control over individuals, and it is especially chilling after the story Caroline Kitchener broke in the Washington Post on May 3, that a Texas man, Collin Davis, filed a petition to stop his ex-partner from traveling to Colorado, where abortion is legal, to obtain an abortion. Should she do so, his lawyer wrote, he would “pursue wrongful-death claims against anyone involved in the killing of his unborn child.” Now Davis wants to be able to depose his former partner along with others he says are “complicit” in the abortion.
Antiabortion activists are also seeking to make mifepristone and misoprostol, drugs used in many abortions, hard to obtain. In Louisiana, state lawmakers are considering classifying the drugs as “controlled dangerous substances,” which would make possessing them carry penalties of up to ten years in prison and fines of up to $75,000.
More than 240 Louisiana doctors wrote to lawmakers saying that the drugs have none of the addictive characteristics associated with dangerous controlled substances and warning that the drugs are crucial for inducing routine labor and preventing catastrophic hemorrhage after delivery, in addition to their use in abortions. “Given its historically poor maternal health outcomes, Louisiana should prioritize safe and evidence-based care for pregnant women,” the doctors wrote.
Louisiana lawmakers also rejected a bill that would have allowed anyone under age 17, the age of consent in Louisiana, to have an abortion if they became pregnant after rape or incest. Passionate testimony from those who suffered such attacks or who treated pregnant girls as young as 8 failed to convince the Republican lawmakers to support the measure. “That baby [in the womb] is innocent.… We have to hang on to that,” said Republican state representative Dodie Horton.
Today, at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization promoting Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander participation and representation at all levels of the political process, Vice President Kamala Harris encouraged young people to innovate and to move into spaces from which they have been traditionally excluded.
“So here’s the thing about breaking barriers,” she said. “Breaking barriers does not mean you start on one side of the barrier and you end up on the other side. There’s breaking involved. And when you break things you get cut. And you may bleed. And it is worth it every time…. We have to know that sometimes people will open the door for you and leave it open. Sometimes they won’t. And then you need to kick that f*cking door down.”
Harris’s advice reflects the history that happened on this date in 1862, when the enslaved mariners on board the shallow-draft C.S.S. Planter gathered up their families, fired up the ship’s boilers, and sailed out of the Charleston, South Carolina, harbor. The three white officers of the ship had gone ashore, leaving enslaved 23-year-old pilot Robert Smalls to take control. Smalls knew how to steer the ship and give the proper signals to the Confederates at Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, and three other checkpoints.
Smalls piloted the Planter, the sixteen formerly enslaved people on it, and a head full of intelligence about the Confederate fortifications at Charleston to the U.S. Navy. In Confederate hands, the Planter had surveyed waterways and laid mines; now that information was in U.S. hands. Smalls went on to pilot naval vessels during the war, and in 1864 he bought the house formerly owned by the man who had enslaved him.
A natural leader, Smalls went on to become a businessman, politician, and strong advocate for education. After serving in the 1868 South Carolina Constitutional Convention that made school attendance compulsory and provided for universal male suffrage, he went on to serve in the South Carolina legislature from 1868 to 1874, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served until 1887. When President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the nation’s first national monument concerning Reconstruction, he cited the life of Robert Smalls.
—
Notes:
https://newjerseymonitor.com/2024/05/12/trump-brings-2024-campaign-to-the-jersey-shore/
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a60774814/trump-rally-new-jersey-weird-speech/
https://www.britt.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/MOMS-Act_FINAL-Britt_Rubio_Cramer1.pdf
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/11/katie-britt-proposes-federal-database-to-collect-data-on-pregnant-people
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/05/03/texas-abortion-investigations/
https://lailluminator.com/2024/05/08/rape-incest/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/05/13/abortion-pills-louisiana-controlled-substance/
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/05/12/america-is-in-the-midst-of-an-extraordinary-startup-boom
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/05/13/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-kicks-off-infrastructure-week-by-highlighting-historic-results-spurred-by-president-bidens-investing-in-america-agenda/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/05/13/fact-sheet-president-bidens-investing-in-america-agenda-is-helping-american-families-across-the-country-save-money/
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/icymi-the-great-american-innovation-engine-firing-again
https://www.ft.com/content/0d39e8f0-38ba-40aa-8ec8-d04e82afb690
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/us/politics/chips-grants-fuel-industry-growth.html
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/11/trump-rally-new-jersey-trial-fascists-00157482
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/12/presidential-proclamations-establishment-reconstruction-era-national
https://www.nps.gov/people/robert-smalls.htm
Twitter (X):
cspan/status/1790048826440503495
Fritschnestatus/1790051154887340473
rosiewestwood/status/1788291766866567439
CecileRichards/status/1789020452855140723
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-13-2024

Hello,
I've finally managed to beat Germans as USSR (Hooray!), however it was far from efficient run. So I'd like to ask for dome advice for my future runs.
The current run:

1. Historical on, no mods. I've played more or less historical too (Stalin, Molotov-Ribbentrop, Annexed Baltics, Puppeted Finland (and did not call it to war)), waited until Germans attack me, non agression with Japan...
2. My industry was pretty OK (nothing stellar, but good enough for defense) at the start of the war
3. Set up a defense line Behind Daugava/Dnieper, managed to get the static AA to max and Forts to 7ish at the start, and upgraded them to 10 pretty soon after.
4. Abandoned everything west of the defense line, scorched earth the areas that would be taken be Germans
5. In the early stages, Germans tried to break through the defenses, but failed miserably (roughly 1:10 losses ratio). Pretty soon I've also managed to beat Luftwaffe so I had Air superiority
6. However, at some point (in retrospect, it might have been at the same time when I've maxed the forts, I've dealt them toughly 1 mil losses at that time) Germans just stopped suiciding themselves and that's where the posts title comes in. We were both dug in on our respective sides of the river, both with 500+ defense unable to break the others frontline. I've tried to break the front at the time, but was unable to, or only with massive losses (unsustainable all the way to Berlin). I've also tried naval invasion to Germany, but failed miserably (lost 3 full armies, mainly due to overestimating the supplies provided by a port).
7. Later, Japan attacked, but they posed pretty much no threat and were quickly dealt with
8. The European war was pretty much stale until late 40s, the Germany lost to me about 3.5 mil (of which 1 mil was lost during 6) ) at that time. And had another 3-6 mil manpower in reserve.
9. What finally broke them, was Turkey joining axis and opening a second front with me. Axis diverted lots of troops to the Caucasus frontline, where I just nuked (50ish nukes in total) them (they had lots of 15-30 stacks at a single tile there) and slowly pushed into Anatolia. Which finally drained the manpower of Germany to zero and allowed me to push the main frontline (Allies also invaded France at this point, so even less troops to deal with)
10. The war ended in the 50s :-/

Problem:
Based on the Above, what should have I done differently? I think airforce could be a solution, but I am probably using it wrongly. As Mentioned, I've had Air superiority for majority of the war, I've also used CAS (set them to ground support and logistic strikes) but IIUC, they bomb only when the troops are in active combat and not when they are just standing there. When the Japan Declared I've made a few strats, but not enough to make a difference, I've totally ignored Tacs.
As for my attack divs, I've used mainly 8/8 (later 10/10) mech/medium with the standard supports, later added some SPG to them, I've also used 8(10) mechs to hold the ground after push. Had also a full mountaineer 7/2art army, but used it mainly as a reserve and later in the Turkish front.
Doctrines: CAS for air, Mass (the left branch) for Ground.
I could have tried to nuke the Germans earlier, however, the tooltip said that I would lose support/stab (not sure which one is it) if I do so. Not sure whether it's a tooltip bug or whether nuking own territory that is occupied by enemy really hurts you.
Edit: Thanks everyone for the replies!
I am currently doing another run and so far it goes well (jun 42, haven't lost a single province, my losses are 160k, Germany's 2Mil +1 extra mil from allies).
What I've done differently:

1. Ignored tanks so far and focused on inf+engineers+aa+art and fighter planes plus one factory making train art, planning to start producing tanks soon
2. Dug in on the German/Hungarian/Romanian borders, did not fall back to the rivers this time.
3. Limited the forts to level 5+1 from the focus, Germans are still trying to get through but failing. I've tried defending without forts in the previous runs and it didn't go too well, so going completely without them is not something I am comfortable with now.
4. Placed a full army group on the German border, three armies on the Romanian/Hungarian borders. Currently have one extra Army group in training (currently 1/3 of the second AG is deployed).
5. Using Superior Firepower (the support branch) this time instead of Mass mob.

Good Morning Patriots
__
Free place to chat and a good place to discuss whatever you like with other sub users
__

2024 Opponents Set.

__

Meet New England’s 2024 Rookie Class.

__

New England Patriots News Catchup Links - Gonzalez, Douglas, Wallace, Maye’s footwork, and More!

• Transactions: Patriots sign three of their eight 2024 draft picks and nine rookie free agents.
• Patriots announce Eliot Wolf has been named Executive Vice President of Player Personnel.
• Mike Dussault reports new head coach Jerod Mayo and the Patriots rookies took to the practice fields on Saturday for the media’s first access in 2024.
• Evan Lazar goes inside QB Drake Maye’s day at Saturday’s rookie minicamp.
• Mike Dussault’s Draft Profile: Fourth-round draft pick WR Javon Baker has an intriguing skillset that could be just what the Patriots ordered.
• Alexandra Francisco reports DL Davon Godchaux and his wife, supermodel Chanel Iman, hosted the ChauxDown Foundation’s first annual Mother’s Day Luncheon at Gillette Stadium on Thursday.
• Press Conferences: Jaheim Bell - Marcellas Dial - Ja’Lynn Polk - Caedan Wallace - Drake Maye - Jerod Mayo.
• Transcript: Jerod Mayo.
• Photos: Patriots Rookie Minicamp - Day 1 & 2 and Day 3.
• Mike Reiss shares some quick-hit weekend thoughts: QB Joe Milton III had ‘too much talent’ to pass up; Possible joint training camp practice with Eagles; Wallace-Robinson duo; Reaction to 18-game season; More!
• Ben Volin’s Sunday Football Notes: Beyond Drake Maye, what should we make of the Patriots’ first draft post-Bill Belichick?
• Steve Balestrieri’s Sunday Patriots News: Rookie mini-camp, Eliot Wolf IS the GM; Ernie Adams; More.
• Andy Hart’s Sunday 7: Jerod Mayo and Drake Maye go camping.
• Doug Kyed’s Rookie Minicamp Notes: Observations from Drake Maye, draft class. Top takeaway: Quarterback play will look different for the Patriots this season.
• Taylor Kyles shares his observations from rookie minicamp: Rookie weapons stand out.
• Tom E. Curran’s Rookie minicamp observations: Drake Maye as advertised, a work in progress with all the physical tools to, someday, maybe, approach his much-discussed ceiling; Joe Milton has a cannon of an arm; More.
• Chris Mason gives us 7 takeaways from Patriots rookie minicamp. 1. Both QBs have big arms.
• Alex Barth’s Rookie minicamp notebook: First look at the Class of 2024.
• Mike D’Abate’s Patriots Rookie Minicamp notes: Jerod Mayo reveals ‘a-ha’ moment; More.
• Sophie Weller posts her photos from rookie minicamp at Gillette Stadium.
• Zack Cox tells us how Drake Maye was taking charge at Patriots rookie minicamp.
• Mike D’Abate points out that based on their usage during rookie minicamp, rookie offensive linemen Caedan Wallace and Layden Robinson may each be facing a possible positional switch.
• Christopher Price hears from rookie offensive linemen Caedan Wallace and Layden Robinson, who say they have been ‘inseparable since we got out here’ at minicamp.
• Doug Kyed spotlights how the rookie receivers and offensive linemen are forging early connections at minicamp.
• Alex Barth posts the Patriots rookie jersey numbers for 2024.

abandon, ability, able, about, above, absence, absolute, absolutely, abstract, abundance, academy, accent, accept, access, accident, accompany, accomplish, according, account, accurate, achieve, achievement, acid, acknowledge, acquire, across, action, active, activity, actor, actual, actually, adapt, addition, additional, address, adequate, adjust, administration, admire, admission, admit, adolescent, adopt, adult, advance, advantage, adventure, advertise, advice, advise, adviser, advocate, affair, affect, afford, afraid, after, afternoon, again, against, age, agency, agenda, agent, aggressive, ago, agree, agreement, agriculture, ahead, aid, aim, air, aircraft, airline, airport, alarm, album, alcohol, alive, all, alliance, allow, ally, almost, alone, along, already, also, alter, alternative, although, always, amateur, amazing, ambition, ambulance, among, amount, analysis, analyst, analyze, ancient, and, anger, angle, angry, animal, anniversary, announce, annual, another, answer, anticipate, anxiety, any, anybody, anymore, anyone, anything, anyway, anywhere, apart, apartment, apologize, apparent, apparently, appeal, appear, appearance, apple, application, apply, appoint, appointment, appreciate, approach, appropriate, approval, approve, approximately, architect, area, argue, argument, arise, arm, armed, army, around, arrange, arrangement, arrest, arrival, arrive, art, article, artist, artistic, as, ashamed, aside, ask, asleep, aspect, assault, assert, assess, assessment, asset, assign, assignment, assist, assistance, assistant, associate, association, assume, assumption, assure, at, athlete, athletic, atmosphere, attach, attack, attempt, attend, attention, attitude, attorney, attract, attraction, attractive, attribute, audience, author, authority, auto, available, average, avoid, award, aware, awareness, away, awful, baby, back, background, bad, badly, bag, balance, ball, ban, band, bank, bar, barely, barrel, barrier, base, baseball, basic, basically, basis, basket, basketball, bath, bathroom, battery, battle, be, beach, bear, beat, beautiful, beauty, because, become, bed, bedroom, bee, beef, beer, before, begin, beginning, behavior, behind, being, belief, believe, bell, belong, below, belt, bench, bend, beneath, benefit, beside, besides, best, bet, better, between, beyond, bicycle, big, bike, bill, billion, bind, biological, bird, birth, birthday, bit, bite, black, blade, blame, blanket, blind, block, blood, blow, blue, board, boat, body, bomb, bombing, bond, bone, book, boom, boot, border, boring, born, borrow, boss, both, bother, bottle, bottom, boundary, bowl, box, boy, boyfriend, brain, branch, brand, brave, bread, break, breakfast, breast, breath, breathe, brick, bridge, brief, briefly, bright, brilliant, bring, broad, broken, brother, brown, brush, buck, budget, build, building, bullet, bunch, burden, burn, bury, bus, business, busy, but, butter, button, buy, buyer, by, cabin, cabinet, cable, cake, calculate, call, camera, camp, campaign, campus, can, Canadian, cancer, candidate, cap, capability, capable, capacity, capital, captain, capture, car, carbon, card, care, career, careful, carefully, carrier, carry, case, cash, cast, cat, catch, category, Catholic, cause, ceiling, celebrate, celebration, celebrity, cell, center, central, century, CEO, ceremony, certain, certainly, chain, chair, chairman, challenge, chamber, champion, championship, chance, change, changing, channel, chapter, character, characteristic, characterize, charge, charity, chart, chase, cheap, check, cheek, cheese, chef, chemical, chest, chicken, chief, child, childhood, Chinese, chip, chocolate, choice, cholesterol, choose, Christian, Christmas, church, cigarette, circle, circumstance, cite, citizen, city, civil, civilian, claim, class, classic, classroom, clean, clear, clearly, client, climate, climb, clinic, clinical, clock, close, closely, closer, clothes, clothing, cloud, club, clue, cluster, coach, coal, coalition, coast, coat, code, coffee, cognitive, cold, collapse, colleague, collect, collection, collective, college, colonial, color, column, combination, combine, come, comedy, comfort, comfortable, command, commander, comment, commercial, commission, commit, commitment, committee, common, communicate, communication, community, company, compare, comparison, compete, competition, competitive, competitor, complain, complaint, complete, completely, complex, complexity, compliance, complicate, complicated, component, compose, composition, comprehensive, computer, concentrate, concentration, concept, concern, concerned, concert, conclude, conclusion, concrete, condition, conduct, conference, confidence, confident, confirm, conflict, confront, confusion, Congress, congressional, connect, connection, consciousness, consensus, consequence, conservative, consider, considerable, consideration, consist, consistent, constant, constantly, constitute, constitutional, construct, construction, consultant, consume, consumer, consumption, contact, contain, container, contemporary, content, contest, context, continue, continued, contract, contrast, contribute, contribution, control, controversial, controversy, convention, conventional, conversation, convert, conviction, convince, cook, cookie, cooking, cool, cooperation, cop, cope, copy, core, corn, corner, corporate, corporation, correct, correspondent, cost, cotton, couch, could, council, count, counter, country, county, couple, courage, course, court, cousin, cover, coverage, cow, crack, craft, crash, crazy, cream, create, creation, creative, creature, credit, crew, crime, criminal, crisis, criteria, critic, critical, criticism, criticize, crop, cross, crowd, crucial, cry, cultural, culture, cup, curious, current, currently, curriculum, custom, customer, cut, cycle, dad, daily, damage, dance, danger, dangerous, dare, dark, darkness, data, database, date, daughter, day, dead, deal, dealer, dear, death, debate, debt, decade, decide, decision, deck, declare, decline, decrease, deep, deeply, deer, defeat, defend, defendant, defense, defensive, deficit, define, definitely, definition, degree, delay, deliver, delivery, demand, democracy, Democratic, Democrat, demonstrate, demonstration, deny, department, depend, dependent, depending, depict, depression, depth, deputy, derive, describe, description, desert, deserve, design, designer, desire, desk, desperate, despite, destroy, destruction, detail, detailed, detect, detection, detective, determine, develop, developing, development, device, devil, dialogue, diet, differ, difference, different, differently, difficult, difficulty, dig, digital, dimension, dining, dinner, direct, direction, directly, director, dirt, disability, disagree, disappear, disaster, discipline, disclose, discover, discovery, discrimination, discuss, discussion, disease, dish, dismiss, disorder, display, dispute, distance, distinct, distinction, distinguish, distribute, distribution, district, diverse, diversity, divide, division, divorce, DNA, do, doctor, document, dog, domestic, dominant, dominate, door, double, doubt, down, downtown, dozen, draft, drag, drama, dramatic, dramatically, draw, drawer, drawing, dream, dress, drink, drive, driver, drop, drug, dry, due, during, dust, duty, dwell, dying, dynamic, each, eager, ear, earlier, early, earn, earnings, earth, earthquake, ease, easily, east, eastern, easy, eat, economic, economy, edge, edit, edition, editor, educate, education, educational, educator, effect, effective, effectively, efficiency, efficient, effort, egg, eight, either, elderly, elect, election, electric, electrical, electricity, electronic, element, elementary, eliminate, elite, else, elsewhere, e-mail, embrace, emerge, emergency, emission, emotion, emotional, emphasis, emphasize, employ, employee, employer, employment, empty, enable, encounter, encourage, end, enemy, energy, enforcement, engage, engine, engineer, engineering, English, enhance, enjoy, enormous, enough, ensure, enter, enterprise, entertain, entertainment, entire, entirely, entrance, entry, environment, environmental, episode, equal, equally, equipment, equivalent, era, error, escape, especially, essay, essential, essentially, establish, establishment, estate, estimate, etc, ethics, ethnic, European, evaluate, evaluation, evening, event, eventually, ever, every, everybody, everyday, everyone, everything, everywhere, evidence, evolution, evolve, exact, exactly, exam, examination, examine, example, exceed, excellent, except, exception, exchange, exciting, executive, exercise, exhibit, exhibition, exist, existence, existing, expand, expansion, expect, expectation, expense, expensive, experience, experiment, expert, explain, explanation, explode, explore, explosion, expose, exposure, express, expression, extend, extension, extensive, extent, external, extra, extraordinary, extreme, extremely, eye, fabric, face, facility, fact, factor, factory, faculty, fade, fail, failure, fair, fairly, faith, fall, false, familiar, family, famous, fan, fantasy, far, farm, farmer, fashion, fast, fat, fate, father, fault, favor, favorite, fear, feature, federal, fee, feed, feel, feeling, fellow, female, fence, festival, few, fewer, fiber, fiction, field, fifteen, fifth, fifty, fight, fighter, fighting, figure, file, fill, film, final, finally, finance, financial, find, finding, fine, finger, finish, fire, firm, first, fish, fishing, fit, fitness, five, fix, flag, flame, flat, flavor, flee, flesh, flight, float, floor, flow, flower, fly, focus, folk, follow, following, food, foot, football, for, force, foreign, forest, forever, forget, form, formal, formation, former, formula, forth, fortune, forward, found, foundation, founder, four, fourth, frame, framework, free, freedom, freeze, French, frequency, frequent, frequently, fresh, friend, friendly, friendship, from, front, fruit, frustration, fuel, fulfill, full, fully, fun, function, fund, fundamental, funding, funeral, funny, furniture, furthermore, future, gain, galaxy, gallery, game, gang, gap, garage, garden, garlic, gas, gate, gather, gay, gaze, gear, gender, gene, general, generally, generate, generation, genetic, gentleman, gently, German, gesture, get, ghost, giant, gift, gifted, girl, girlfriend, give, given, glad, glance, glass, global, glove, go, goal, God, gold, golden, golf, good, govern, government, governor, grab, grace, grade, gradually, graduate, grain, grand, grandmother, grant, grass, grave, gray, great, green, grocery, ground, group, grow, growing, growth, guarantee, guard, guess, guest, guide, guideline, guilty, gun, guy, habit, habitat, hair, half, hall, hand, handful, handle, hang, happen, happy, harbor, hard, hardly, hat, hate, have, he, head, headline, headquarters, health, healthy, hear, hearing, heart, heat, heaven, heavily, heavy, heel, height, helicopter, hell, hello, help, helpful, hence, her, herb, here, heritage, hero, herself, hey, hi, hide, high, highlight, highly, highway, hill, him, himself, hip, hire, his, historic, historical, history, hit, hold, hole, holiday, holy, home, homeless, honest, honey, honor, hope, horizon, horror, horse, hospital, host, hot, hotel, hour, house, household, housing, how, however, huge, human, humor, hundred, hungry, hunter, hunting, hurt, husband, hypothesis, ice, idea, ideal, identification, identify, identity, ignore, ill, illegal, illness, illustrate, image, imagination, imagine, immediate, immediately, immigrant, immigration, impact, implement, implication, imply, importance, important, impose, impossible, impress, impression, impressive, improve, improvement, incentive, incident, include, including, income, incorporate, increase, increased, increasingly, incredible, indeed, independence, independent, index, indicate, indication, individual, industrial, industry, infant, infection, inflation, influence, inform, information, ingredient, initial, initially, initiative, injury, inner, innocent, inquiry, inside, insight, insist, inspire, install, instance, instead, institute, institution, institutional, instruction, instructor, instrument, insurance, intellectual, intelligence, intend, intense, intensity, intention, interaction, interest, interested, interesting, internal, international, Internet, interpret, interpretation, intervention, interview, introduce, introduction, invasion, invest, investigation, investigator, investment, investor, invite, involve, involved, involvement, Iraqi, Irish, iron, Islamic, island, Israeli, issue, it, Italian, item, its, itself, jacket, jail, Japanese, jet, Jew, Jewish, job, join, joint, joke, journal, journalist, journey, joy, judge, judgment, juice, jump, junior, jury, just, justice, justify, keep, key, kick, kid, kill, killer, killing, kind, king, kiss, kitchen, knee, knife, knock, know, knowledge, lab, label, labor, laboratory, lack, lady, lake, land, landscape, language, lap, large, largely, last, late, later, Latin, latter, laugh, launch, law, lawsuit, lawyer, lay, layer, lead, leader, leadership, leading, leaf, league, lean, learn, learning, least, leather, leave, left, leg, legacy, legal, legend, legislation, legislative, legislator, legitimate, lemon, length, less, lesson, let, letter, level, liberal, library, license, lie, life, lifestyle, lifetime, lift, light, like, likely, limit, limitation, limited, line, link, lip, list, listen, literary, literature, little, live, living, load, loan, local, locate, location, lock, long, long-term, look, loose, lose, loss, lost, lot, lots, loud, love, lovely, lover, low, lower, luck, lucky, lunch, luxury, machine, mad, magazine, mail, main, mainly, maintain, maintenance, major, majority, make, maker, makeup, male, mall, man, manage, management, manager, manner, manufacturer, manufacturing, many, map, margin, mark, market, marketing, marriage, married, marry, mask, mass, massive, master, match, material, math, matter, may, maybe, mayor, me, meal, mean, meaning, meanwhile, measure, measurement, meat, mechanism, media, medical, medication, medicine, medium, meet, meeting, member, membership, memory, mental, mention, menu, mere, merely, mess, message, metal, meter, method, Mexican, middle, might, military, milk, million, mind, mine, minister, minor, minority, minute, miracle, mirror, miss, missile, mission, mistake, mix, mixture, mm-hmm, mode, model, moderate, modern, modest, mom, moment, money, monitor, month, mood, moon, moral, more, moreover, morning, mortgage, most, mostly, mother, motion, motivation, motor, mountain, mouse, mouth, move, movement, movie, Mr, Mrs, Ms, much, multiple, murder, muscle, museum, music, musical, musician, Muslim, must, mutual, my, myself, mystery, myth, naked, name, narrative, narrow, nation, national, native, natural, naturally, nature, near, nearby, nearly, necessarily, necessary, neck, need, negative, negotiate, negotiation, neighbor, neighborhood, neither, nerve, nervous, net, network, never, nevertheless, new, newly, news, newspaper, next, nice, night, nine, no, nobody, nod, noise, nomination, nominee, none, nonetheless, nor, normal, normally, north, northern, nose, not, note, nothing, notice, notion, novel, now, nowhere, nuclear, number, numerous, nurse, nut, object, objective, obligation, observation, observe, observer, obtain, obvious, obviously, occasion, occasionally, occupation, occupy, occur, ocean, odd, odds, of, off, offense, offensive, offer, office, officer, official, often, oh, oil, okay, old, Olympic, on, once, one, ongoing, onion, online, only, onto, open, opening, operate, operating, operation, operator, opinion, opponent, opportunity, oppose, opposed, opposite, opposition, option, or, orange, order, ordinary, organic, organization, organize, orientation, origin, original, originally, other, others, otherwise, ought, our, ours, ourselves, out, outcome, outside, oven, over, overall, overcome, overlook, owe, own, owner, pace, pack, package, page, pain, painful, paint, painter, painting, pair, pale, Palestinian, palm, pan, panel, panic, pant, paper, paragraph, parent, park, parking, part, participant, participate, participation, particle, particular, particularly, partly, partner, partnership, party, pass, passage, passenger, passion, past, patch, path, patient, pattern, pause, pay, payment, PC, peace, peak, peer, pen, penalty, people, pepper, per, perceive, percentage, perception, perfect, perfectly, perform, performance, perhaps, period, permanent, permission, permit, person, personal, personality, personally, personnel, perspective, persuade, pet, phase, phenomenon, philosophy, phone, photo, photographer, phrase, physical, physically, physician, piano, pick, picture, pie, piece, pile, pilot, pine, pink, pipe, pitch, place, plan, plane, planet, planning, plant, plastic, plate, platform, play, player, please, pleasure, plenty, plot, plus, PM, pocket, poem, poet, poetry, point, police, policy, political, politically, politician, politics, poll, pollution, pool, poor, pop, popular, population, porch, port, portion, portrait, portray, pose, position, positive, possess, possession, possibility, possible, possibly, post, pot, potato, potential, potentially, pound, pour, poverty, powder, power, powerful, practical, practice, prayer, preach, precisely, predict, prediction, prefer, preference, pregnancy, pregnant, preparation, prepare, prescription, presence, present, presentation, preserve, president, presidential, press, pressure, pretend, pretty, prevent, previous, previously, price, pride, priest, primarily, primary, prime, principal, principle, print, prior, priority, prison, prisoner, privacy, private, probably, problem, procedure, proceed, process, processing, processor, proclaim, produce, producer, product, production, profession, professional, professor, profile, profit, program, progress, progressive, project, prominent, promise, promote, prompt, proof, proper, properly, property, proportion, proposal, propose, prosecutor, prospect, protect, protection, protein, protest, proud, prove, provide, provider, province, provision, psychological, psychology, public, publication, publicity, publish, publisher, pull, punishment, purchase, pure, purpose, pursue, push, put, qualify, quality, quarter, quarterback, quarterly, queen, quest, question, quick, quickly, quiet, quietly, quit, quite, quote, race, racial, radiation, radical, radio, rail, rain, raise, range, rank, rapid, rapidly, rare, rarely, rate, rather, rating, ratio, raw, reach, react, reaction, reader, reading, ready, real, reality, realize, really, reason, reasonable, recall, receive, recent, recently, reception, recipe, recipient, recognition, recognize, recommend, recommendation, record, recording, recover, recovery, recruit, red, reduce, reduction, refer, reference, reflect, reflection, reform, refugee, refuse, regard, regarding, regardless, regime, region, regional, register, regular, regularly, regulate, regulation, regulator, reinforce, reject, relate, relation, relationship, relative, relatively, relax, release, relevant, relief, religion, religious, rely, remain, remaining, remarkable, remember, remind, remote, remove, repeat, repeatedly, replace, replacement, reply, report, reporter, represent, representation, representative, Republican, reputation, request, require, requirement, research, researcher, resemble, reservation, resident, residential, resign, resist, resistance, resolution, resolve, resort, resource, respect, respond, response, responsibility, responsible, rest, restaurant, restore, restriction, result, retain, retire, retirement, return, reveal, revenue, review, revolution, rhythm, rice, rich, rid, ride, rifle, right, ring, rise, risk, river, road, rock, role, roll, romantic, roof, room, root, rope, rose, rough, roughly, round, route, routine, row, rub, rubber, rude, ruin, rule, run, running, rural, rush, Russian, sacred, sad, safe, safety, sake, salad, salary, sale, sales, salt, same, sample, sanction, sand, satellite, satisfaction, satisfied, satisfy, sauce, save, saving, say, scale, scandal, scare, scatter, scenario, scene, schedule, scheme, scholar, scholarship, school, science, scientific, scientist, scope, score, scream, screen, script, sea, search, season, seat, second, secondary, secret, secretary, section, sector, secure, security, see, seed, seek, seem, segment, seize, select, selection, self, sell, Senate, senator, send, senior, sense, sensitive, sentence, separate, sequence, series, serious, seriously, servant, serve, service, session, set, setting, settle, settlement, seven, several, severe, sex, sexual, shade, shadow, shake, shall, shallow, shape, share, sharp, she, sheet, shelf, shell, shelter, shift, shine, ship, shirt, shock, shoe, shoot, shooting, shop, shopping, short, shortly, shot, should, shoulder, shout, show, shower, shrug, shut, shy, sibling, sick, side, sigh, sight, sign, signal, significant, significantly, silence, silent, silver, similar, similarly, simple, simply, sin, since, sing, singer, single, sink, sir, sister, sit, site, situation, six, size, ski, skill, skin, skirt, sky, slave, sleep, slice, slide, slight, slightly, slip, slow, slowly, small, smart, smell, smile, smoke, smooth, snap, snow, so, so-called, soccer, social, society, soft, software, soil, solar, soldier, sole, solid, solution, solve, some, somebody, somehow, someone, something, sometimes, somewhat, somewhere, son, song, soon, sophisticated, sorry, sort, soul, sound, soup, source, south, southern, Soviet, space, Spanish, speak, speaker, special, specialist, species, specific, specifically, specify, speech, speed, spend, spending, spin, spirit, spiritual, split, spoil, sponsor, sport, spot, spray, spread, spring, square, squeeze, stability, stable, staff, stage, stain, stair, stake, stand, standard, standing, star, stare, start, state, statement, station, statistical, status, stay, steady, steal, steel, steep, stem, step, stick, still, stimulate, stimulus, stir, stock, stomach, stone, stop, storage, store, storm, story, straight, strange, stranger, strategic, strategy, stream, street, strength, strengthen, stress, stretch, strike, string, strip, stroke, strong, strongly, structural, structure, struggle, student, studio, study, stuff, stupid, style, subject, submit, subsequent, substance, substantial, substitute, succeed, success, successful, successfully, such, sudden, suddenly, sue, suffer, sufficient, sugar, suggest, suggestion, suicide, suit, summer, summit, sun, super, supply, support, supporter, suppose, supposed, Supreme, sure, surely, surface, surgery, surprise, surprised, surprising, surprisingly, surround, survey, survival, survive, survivor, suspect, sustain, swear, sweep, sweet, swim, swing, switch, symbol, symptom, system, table, tactic, tail, take, tale, talent, talk, tall, tank, tap, tape, target, task, taste, tax, taxi, tea, teach, teacher, teaching, team, tear, technical, technique, technology, teen, teenager, telephone, telescope, television, tell, temperature, temporary, ten, tend, tendency, tennis, tension, tent, term, terms, terrible, territory, terror, terrorist, test, testimony, testing, text, than, thank, thanks, that, the, theater, their, them, theme, themselves, then, theory, therapy, there, therefore, these, they, thick, thin, thing, think, thinking, third, thirty, this, those, though, thought, thousand, threat, threaten, three, throat, through, throughout, throw, thus, ticket, tie, tight, time, tiny, tip, tire, tissue, title, to, tobacco, today, toe, together, toilet, token, tolerate, tomato, tomorrow, tone, tongue, tonight, too, tool, tooth, top, topic, toss, total, totally, touch, tough, tour, tourist, tournament, toward, towards, tower, town, toy, trace, track, trade, tradition, traditional, traffic, tragedy, trail, train, training, transfer, transform, transformation, transition, translate, translation, transmission, transmit, transport, transportation, travel, treat, treatment, treaty, tree, tremendous, trend, trial, tribe, trick, trip, troop, trouble, truck, true, truly, trust, truth, try, tube, tunnel, turn, TV, twelve, twenty, twice, twin, two, type, typical, typically, ugly, ultimate, ultimately, unable, uncle, undergo, understand, understanding, unfortunately, uniform, union, unique, unit, United, universal, universe, university, unknown, unless, unlike, until, unusual, up, upon, upper, urban, urge, us, use, used, useful, user, usual, usually, utility, utilize, vacation, valley, valuable, value, variable, variation, variety, various, vary, vast, vegetable, vehicle, venture, version, versus, very, vessel, veteran, via, victim, victory, video, view, viewer, village, violate, violation, violence, violent, virtually, virtue, virus, visibility, visible, vision, visit, visitor, visual, vital, voice, volume, voluntary, volunteer, vote, voter, voting, wage, wait, wake, walk, wall, wander, want, war, warm, warn, warning, wash, waste, watch, water, wave, way, we, weak, weakness, wealth, wealthy, weapon, wear, weather, web, website, wedding, week, weekend, weekly, weigh, weight, welcome, welfare, well, west, western, wet, what, whatever, wheel, when, whenever, where, whereas, whether, which, while, whisper, white, who, whole, whom, whose, why, wide, widely, widespread, wife, wild, wildlife, will, willing, win, wind, window, wine, wing, winner, winter, wipe, wire, wisdom, wise, wish, with, withdraw, within, without, witness, woman, wonder, wonderful, wood, wooden, word, work, worker, working, workout, workplace, works, workshop, world, worried, worry, worth, would, wound, wrap, write, writer, writing, wrong, yard, yeah, year, yell, yellow, yes, yesterday, yet, yield, you, young, your, yours, yourself, youth, zone.

Hey everyone, amidst the thousands of rants, in light of Nick's movement, I think it's time for me to say something, maybe no one cares, I don't have a major platform to get my word out, but I still think that it's good to get these things out here and perhaps the best thing all of this can do is change the way we perceive the game as a player base. This will be long, so those of you willing to, bear with me.
Let me tell you something from a point of view of someone who loved the game for a long time. We're a bunch of very versatile people from all over the place and maybe it can also teach us a lesson or two. On one hand, you have kids who play it for the same reason I played it some good 15 years ago, and you've got us, the older players, who loved the game for what it was growing up because it was the best football themed game out there in many aspects, although FIFA entries weren't the only good thing about that era (shoutout to PES 2006 and 2010). It's a game that I used to enjoy because I love football as a sport, I used to play it basically on a professional level, this is the best "active" form for me to engage with the game. I'm probably too stupid for Football Manager though I believe it's only a matter of watchin a few videos to get into it and understand the in-depth mechanics. I always tried playing it and got lost in the menus within 5 minutes. But for what it's worth, I understood FIFA, I understood FUT and the shell of what it once was, the grind was fun to me, using players from past and present that I like, well, until it all got burned to the fucking ground within a year. I was never an Elite div or Rank 1 or even Rank 2 player. But I had certain results, I would get 9 to 11 wins most of the time and with enough free time I could always climb to atleast div 2 in Rivals. Sure, many of you are better and I realize that, but it's not about that. To me it was always about getting better at the game for myself, on my own terms, there would be some progression to it and getting better throughout the years always made me happy. Adult life is adult life and it's very individual, some of us have more free time on our hands, others don't. In my case, I barely have time to do my daily play matches, some SBCs and play Champs on the weekend because of work.
But the question is - how can I consistently enjoy the game if:

• a) every single thing and tactic that I figure out, gets nerfed within a few months - and I'm not talking about ratty shit, I'm talking things like finesse shots, trivelas, some useful passes, just gameplay stuff
  
• b) they don't do shit to fix broken things in-game, like OP cutbacks, I came to peace with them, but still, it's too OP, or doing things to somehow nerf or balance situations when people pass between the GK and CB from the 70th minute onwards. Idk how many of you were around when they banned Kurt, but they pulled up a whole statement about policies regarding in-game toxicity for building towards a fun experience for everyone, yet they don't do shit with the game itself.
  
• c) the game itself wants you to feel bad about your gameplay and even tries to pass off DDA as skill issue. Of course, at times it really comes down to your skills, but how often do you hear the commentators praise you? At times even when you're leading, they keep repeating how it's a matter of time until you concede an equalizer. You know those graphics on the pitch itself? The win probability stuff. It shows up only when you're losing, even if you are let's say one goal behind and it's the 65th minute, they'll show you a whole statistic all over the fucking pitch, telling you that you have a 2% chance to win the game. To demoralize you. To make you feel like you need to keep upgrading and upgrading and upgrading and once you run out of fodder and luck, to go dump your money into store packs. And even that doesn't help you, the pack weight is shit, you just get quick fodder for unreasonable money, and the theories that spending money on the game improves your gameplay, it's all bogus. To put it simple, if you achieve something, you will not see anything positive. No congratulations screen, just infographics, but when you do something bad, God forbid, you will get fact-bombed about how shit you are. From a psychological point of view, this game is toxic to it's core and it's very, very, very unhealthy for one's mental health. If you're an adult, trying to relax after tons of stressful shit in your daily life, this is not the place for proverbial relaxation. If you're a kid who's going through your teen years, those years are stressful for many reasons and once again, this cannot possibly help you. I hold no grudge towards many players as I am aware that many players are very young (less than 18) and perhaps that generation is simply like that and there's nothing we can do about it. I'm talking only about FUT, I believe that Pro Clubs are probably way more lighthearted and fun and I treat Career Mode which has been abandoned, as a separate game basically.
  
• d) Obvious gambling issues. Enough has been said. I am one of the minority in thinking that there is nothing wrong with buying a pack here or there if you're an adult and if it doesn't impact serious aspects of your life. If you earn money, it's entirely up to you how you spend it. Some people like fine dining and dump money on food. Some people collect stuff and dump money on collectibles. Some people overspend to impress their s/o. So, in theory, there is nothing wrong with spending money on or within a game as a concept. But what is wrong is how it works in this game in particular. You get new packs over and over again, the store is full of things to spend money on, but the core game itself is neglected gameplay-wise. Content is okay, SBCs are okay, with exchanges and stuff, it's really good actually. I am one of those who actually enjoy both the menus and the gameplay itself, equally. All of it is a part of the experience. But you have really bad things going on with your games and the only thing that you do as a dev is dump packs? And even those packs, the pack weight is absolute shit, it's turned into a casino, a slot machine, because it's all rigged towards you ending on a loss, thus having the psychological effect of you not getting your dopamine shot of packing something nice, often you're not in a situation to buy another one, so this will linger in the back of your head, that you didn't complete the process and you need to see if next time you'll finally get something good. Or, you bought it with coins and now you lost a good amount of coins, so you think of buying the next one with FP, or even worse, you can afford it and you just successfully gave them twice the intended amount of money. This is a serious, self-destructive behavioral pattern, take it from someone who has some education in a field very close to all of that. Teach children that and you can legitimately ruin their lives. Say, if you knew what you're getting, exactly what, or atleast if you knew that there is a smaller pool of what you can pack, or guaranteed something for a symbolic amount of money, I'd say it is what it is, since we truly do live in an era full of microtransactions and that's just something that's a part of online gaming nowadays. The bad part is overspending on something that will just not reward you anyhow or grant you any sort of benefit. Even games with battle passes have better options in this regard. You're getting better progression in exchange for a symbolic amount of money.
  
• e) The game itself doesn't work properly! You're getting DNFs left and right, you can't even navigate through SBCs and your club without the game freezing multiple times. EA keeps fucking up with "unintended rewards" first it was Messi, I did the SBC, got nothing, life goes on. Several times I had issues where objectives didn't count, whatever, life goes on, it's a game. Or some rewards got bugged and fucked me over multiple times, whatever, life goes on. This most recent L1 red pick stuff, that was honestly the last straw, not even the fact that I didn't get them simply because I have a life and don't camp in front of my console each Friday to sweat my ass off for the very start of the Champs Finals, but because they finally spilled the beans, told us we were never supposed to get good cards out of it with a decent percentage and on top of that, they ruined the small amount of fun I had playing with Paletools between meetings at work (by that I mean killing the droprate and nerfing pack weight).
  

The whole situation is very stupid, because there is no viable alternative in terms of football games, and frankly, playing FIFA is a habit and something I've been doing for one half of my life. It's tough for me to get invested into an online competitive game, though I used to play League, Overwatch, stuff like that, but those games became shit over the years as well. That's why, though I'm only one of way too many, from my point of view, my actions bear some value, because as of today, I just don't want to feel like shit because of a game anymore atleast on a weekly basis. As things stand, dumping my time into this game is simply pointless. If I want to play Weekend League, I'll get shat on by the servers, or the gameplay will be horrendous and my cards will feel like freezers getting dragged across the pitch by a rope. Cards with great finishing, will feel like bronze cards, whatever. We're not supposed to get good rewards, and the game will call us out for being "bad" when we get DDAd. At this point, there is nothing positive about it. I will perhaps return for Futties, not that anyone cares, but building fun cards is kinda fun and good, so I'm looking forward to that. Otherwise, I will return only if all of this actually changes something. If the assholes from EA release a statement and actually change something, then I will return earlier, and even then, I'm not giving them a single euro this year. And maybe, for the first time in way too many years, I won't even preorder, maybe I'll play it later on, if it turns out to be better and different. Other than that... there's no point playing if the game is like this. I'm done with feeling negative emotions because of a game designed to gaslight and manipulate us into feeling like shit.
Sorry for the long post, I guess I just felt like I needed to tell someone.

With what happened with the Red picks for Ligue 1 and the NickRtfm siutation I have been thinking of all the things that need to change in this game. This game is infuriating. The amount of things that need to change in this game is actually astronomical. I'm gonna do my best to lay out all the problems I see and some solutions even if they are not be perfect.
1.SERVERS
For a company that boasts about making 1.5 billion in revenue the servers are actually terrible. The amount of DCs I have had while playing champs or rivals is unbelievable. Fix your servers. Understand that at content time the player base count will increase dramatically and account for that.
2.People quitting 0-0, 1-1 etc
Why are you not awarded a win when someone quits at the start of the game makes no sense to me. Especially when it's halfway through a game and they are doing it just to spite the other player. I've heard that they might not do this due to multiple reasons. If this is the case then only add it to CHAMPS at least
3.Corner glitches
The fact I have to 2nd man press and bring my player up short every time so that Roberto Carlos or whoever else has playstyle + whipped cross doesn't cross a ball in and some 6ft CB with aerial+ is dunking on my 5ft RB/LB is crazyyy. If it's not this it's another powershot corner BS tactic. Sort this AI out and do something to stop this OP tactic. Its too consistent and abused.

1. Menus

Why is it I press R1 or L1 too quick the game freaks out and I have to restart it. Who coded this game where it is guaranteed to happen every day. I will have to restart my game every day multiple times.

1. Pack weight

This has to be the scumiest ones of all. When EA put 100% guarantee on getting a TOTS or whatever promo. Why is it always the same 5 players worth 50k or less. I'd like to see the real chance of you packing the million + players. I honestly think that it's based on how much they are worth on the market exactly why you never see extinct players like CR7 or Mbappe. I'd rather see 0.000001% chance of packing Mbappe then see 100% guaranteed. Its too predatory that these packs are worth the price of full fledged games.

1. Draft

What a boring game mode. The same thing for the past 8 years. What's the point going 4-0 if the best of my rewards are gonna be an 83 rated fodder player 90 % of the time. Make it more then 4 games. Make the rewards better. Incentivize players to actually wanna play this gamemode instead of ignoring this mode and just copy and pasting it every year.

1. Rivals

I don't mind this gamemode with the recent change to rewards but the disparity in skill level with elite division makes no sense. I have played actual demons in div 3 and I have played some bots who seem like it's their first time playing in Elite Div. It doesn't matter what div you are in because it's gonna be win some lose some which is fine but I would hope it would be more consistent. I love the skill rating in Elite division but why is this limited to just Elite. Add it to all divisions. If I lose to someone better then me then I'm gonna be less inclined to say its DDA or luck.
7.5 Milestones rewards
How lazy can EA be. Honestly it's actually bewildering that they think it's acceptable to give us a tifo to get us to play games. What happened to rewarding people for playing their game instead of giving us 99% of the player base wont touch.

1. Tifos/Season rewards

I DONT CARE ABOUT TIFOS. SPEND LESS TIME PAYING ARTISTS AND SPEND THAT ON YOUR GAME! How hard is it to put 500 fifa points in the rewards tab. Every other game with a battle pass system can give it out im pretty sure it won't hurt your pockets EA. And the levels of packs that are in season pass are abysmal. All this grind for every 10 levels to get something of value. Surely you can boost these packs this far into the game cycle. Not like I'm gonna pack anything of value with how shocking pack weight is anyway...

1. ICON SBCS ROULETTE.

I don't need to pack another Winter wildcard icon worth nothing that I'd rather put into the exchange then play 1 second with in any game mode... I get that they don't want everyone running around with TOTY Ronaldo but at least make it worthwhile with limiting the bad player pool.

1. FC PRO

It's actually disgusting how much EA forcefeed this dead eSports down our throats just so they have people watching them so their advertisements are happy they have someone watching. If they didn't put packs in to get people to watch I'm sure half or even more would dissappear. Make the gameplay more enjoyable and people would happily watch.

1. SBC grind/Quality of Life

This is how I know EA just don't care or are too lazy to add any quality of life improvements. I have to give props to paleta the guy who made paletools. It basically has everything needed that EA should have added. And if he can do it on his own then why can't EA. In Madden AN EA GAME BTW you can filter through ratings. Why can't we do that in this game? JUST ASK THEM HOW THEY DID IT. I know it's probably different dev teams but they aren't gonna lose any money if you ask and if its a matter of coding it from the beginning then maybe it needs a revamp instead of a copy/paste.
-Duplicates. Add a button that let's me automatically put duplicates into an SBC. Searching through this dysfunctional menu to add a player is so tedious.
-Add a settings menu to see when you complete an objective in game. You have it visible when you play moments. Surely you can add a feature to turn this on and off during a game. Makes objectives so much easier. There are probably other quality of life improvements I am missing but I'm sure people in the comments can add a few.
This is from a fc24 player that is just tired of not having a good product of a game. To charge 70-100 pounds or dollars just to buy this game is a massive slap in the face. I haven't given many solutions to these problems but I know there are many so something can definitely be done. If you guys wants any change then boycott buying fc points. Hurt them where they will feel it the mosts. Their pockets. Then maybe some change will happen.

Hi, I'm 23, I live in the UK, and I have a laundry list of physical and mental health issues that are still largely undiagnosed due to our failing healthcare system, so I'm also being left to completely self manage. Now the government is trying to push disabled people back into work without actually providing the necessary health care and support and I don't know what to do. I'm estranged from my family so I have no support that way and have no choice but to live independently, I have to be able to pay my bills and living costs, and I also have no idea if a job even exists that I'd be suitable for.
I dropped out of secondary school because my health was so poor my school attendance was 34%, I am unqualified to do pretty much anything. I'm considering going back into education hoping that it will open some doors but even that would be a monumental task so here are my limitations:
I would need a minimum of 3 days a month in sick days just to manage my endometriosis flare ups, I would not even be able to work from home on those days as they are mostly spent on the bathroom floor somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness in unmanageable pain.
I have joint and mobility issues that have a flare/remission pattern and are wildly unpredictable, I wake up with dislocated shoulders frequently and randomly, I could go 6 months with my knees being fine and then have recurring patella dislocations that leave me wheelchair bound as crutches cause my elbows problems. I might be able to work from home on days this is an issue.
I have social and sensory issues that are thought to be undiagnosed autism (my brother and father are autistic, I showed all the same signs as my brother, I was just punished for my traits while he was accommodated.) This affects me in work profoundly because I frequently misunderstand instructions or feedback, take things very literally, am seen as overly pedantic and difficult to instruct, and get very burnt out by any kind of customer facing roles, and things like work uniforms, jobs involving unpleasant sensory tasks, can all cause me to experience periods of verbal shut down, self injuring behaviour, repetitive motion (pacing, rocking) and become intolerant of lights, sounds, and temperature. This is a constant issue that I don't know how to manage.
I have chronic pain that also has flare ups, baseline pain, and somewhat remission, it affects my muscles and joints and is unpredictable, baseline pain I'm somewhat functional but limited, flare ups have me bed bound and unable to concentrate. I may be able to work from home on some of these days but not others.
I have digestive issues that cause nausea, alternating bowel movements between cant go and going too much, episodes of passing blood, mucus, extreme painful bloating, severe nausea and weight loss, but there are brief periods of remission. I probably wouldn't be able to do a full day of work from home during a flare up due to the time constraints of actively being in flare up.
I have been coughing up mucus to a point of bleeding from the back of my throat for about a year, I also have episodes of air hunger with pain and wheezing. Again, thank you NHS for no diagnosis or treatment. I could work from home during a flare up of this issue most of the time.
I have some kind of blood pressure or fainting issue, when I stand, I'm close to fainting, its worse when standing still, sometimes walking just about keeps me going but sometimes it ends with my faceplanting the floor, loosing consciousness and fitting. This is unpredictable and I've done everything I can to manage symptoms (cutting out nicotine, caffeine, sugar, pushing fluids and gentle floor based exercise when possible.) I would not be able to go anywhere during a flare up, I'm dubious about my ability to work from home during a particularly bad episode as post faint/fit I'm usually confused and out of commission for hours.
I also struggle with depression, getting out of bed, showering, making food (when physical issues allow) can be a struggle. I also have CPTSD, anxiety, agoraphobia, PMDD, derealisation and depersonalisation. So on bad mental health days, I don't feel real, the world doesn't seem real, I'm reliving traumatic events, can't leave my home, and have back to back panic attacks while having no energy or inclination to care for myself.
All in all, I don't think anyone would want to employ me, and I'm very uncertain about my ability to work, but seeing as my government has created an environment where I can't get adequate healthcare to manage any of my conditions, doesn't believe that I'm that severely disabled due to lack of formal diagnoses for the physical health problems despite my medical record reflecting me seeking help since age 10 for most of these issues, and therefore is now trying to force me back into work or else stop all my payments leaving me homeless and penniless, I'm not sure what to do. I can't stay with family, and they would not financially support me regardless, I've got no safety net. I don't think any jobs exist with the flexibility I need, AND the certainty I'd need of income.
Any advice would be appreciated, I'm really trying to rack my brain for any workable solutions but it's looking bleak.
TLTR:
Physically disabled, mentally ill, unable to access adequate health care, no family support, and possibly being forced to work despite not being able.

Wade took a breath as he picked up his old duffel bag, now loaded with his DD uniform and a few other items from the Ceres mines as he slotted it to his side, with the large band handle around his neck. Having gathered his belongings, he joined Tina, who was waiting near the ship's open bay door as he walked over to her. The couple watched several of the other troopers inside marching out as well, some carrying crates of supplies and items out of the craft as they departed for the base outside. Kelly was one of the last ones still on board, checking on a section of the cargo bay as she did what Wade presumed was some maintenance work.
With the way now clear, Wade and Tina stepped off the transport, glancing at the massive base around them as they touched the roughened pavement. Throughout the large landing port were several more chameleon dropships, their crews disembarking with similar items and loads of rescued drones aboard. Beyond the ships were several hangar bays and fighter craft, mostly A-20s and their space-borne cousins docked in lines going across the pad. And beyond the landing zone, towering over several buildings at the base, were the few cruisers docked to the large clamps holding them in place.
Walking ahead with Tina, Wade observed some of the departing Coalition troops as they neared one of several tents stationed near an inactive group of planes, the military personnel interacting and exchanging the crates with the Coalition officers upon reaching each other. Hearing a low roar of engines from afar, the lover drones looked upward to see the large USN warship that was present at the factory earlier, having followed the transport convoy home and now was beginning to descend for landing. Wade gave a silent gasp as he caught a glimpse of the ship's name and SIC number at the side, remembering it from the ship he and Ron saw while returning to Earth.
"Always a wondrous thing to see, isn't it Wade?" Tina said as she and her boyfriend watched the ship slowly come lower to the unoccupied dockyard clamps below it.
"Sure is, wonder how they built those babies?" Wade replied as the two looked upon the landing starship, the former worker drone smirking as he added, "I could've swore I saw that same exact ship over Henderson when Ron and I came back, before we got mugged earlier."
Tina glanced to Wade with surprise as she spoke up on his claim. "Really? Well, that had to be the one that helped our friends here back at the factory. I think I saw the same name on it too!"
"Wouldn't surprise me, seeing all that's happened today." Wade replied as he chortled a bit, Tina doing the same as the former spoke further. "I wonder, what kind of ship is the... Vickers again? You know?"
"Autumn class, dear. A heavy destroyer variant, not as strong as those enormous Yamato dreadnoughts or Adelaide battlecruisers, but she'll put up a good fight for whatever comes at her." Tina explained as she held back another chuckle, thinking of her education on various USN craft as she teased Wade lightly. "You know, I may just have to grab one of those ship roster tabs when we get in the base. I'd love to show you all they got in their arsenal."
Wade chortled again as he gave his thoughts on the idea. "Well, it wouldn't be bad to have a little more knowledge in ship-story."
Tina almost burst out laughing at his crude pun, Wade smiling at her as F and Nathan jogged over to the two, the latter carrying his own backpack behind him as he spoke. "Well, not a bad place, huh? You guys heading to the clearance station?"
"Oh yes, we were just admiring the ships around us while we walked." Tina said with a stifled laugh, easing herself as she chatted with her new friends. Wade, however, was quickly overcome with panic as he remembered something. Checking his pockets, his fears were confirmed as he failed to find one of his key possessions: his ID card. Wade felt he must have lost it when he was stripped of his old clothing while in the factory.
Oh no, guys? I don't think I can pass through." Wade said with greenish-yellow circles for eyes as Tina and the others looked to him in concern, the drone feeling through his pockets once more before stating his issue. "My ID, they must've taken it off me when they turned me into a disassembly drone!" Wade began to hyperventilate lightly as he grew fearful of the potential outcomes when they reached the security gate ahead. "Oouuugghh, if I don't have my ID, they'll have to keep me lo-"
"Wade, Wade... it's okay. I'll have them make a pass for you, surely we can get them to after getting them to understand what's happened." Tina stated as she put her hand to Wade's chest, who eased his panic as he looked to his girlfriend.
"Yeah, and besides Wade, those people over there went around gathering what ever items the company stole from the drones during their conversion. I'm sure that once they find it, they'll have it sent off to be given back to you!" Nathan said as F nodded in agreement, shunting Wade's panic out of him with their words as he replied to the hopeful responses.
"Right, yeah, they should do that. Sorry." Holding Tina's hand, Wade spoke to her once more. "Lead the way."
Tina nodded to Wade before the two began to walk over to the security gate nearby, several people, drones and humans alike, already in the line as they checked themselves in to the base to relax after the hard-fought battle. Once they reached the line, the four stood together as they waited for the line to slowly go up, more troops and rescued drones coming over to add to the long line. During the wait, a loud, mechanical 'SLAM' erupted through the air, prompting Wade and Tina to glance over to the direction of the noise. The two felt at ease once more as they saw the Vickers finally landed at the base, the loud clang being the docking clamps attaching to the ships hull just moments ago.
As the line moved up further to the gate, Wade and Tina caught sight of a pair of A-20 aircraft passing over them, the two watching as the planes slowed down while descending onto the runway nearby. The four drones' collective viewing of the fighters landing ceased as they caught sight of J, who took flight as she departed the transport nearby before flying over to the tents near the hangar bays.
"Huh, wonder what she's over there for?" Nathan said as he observed J landing onto the ground in front of one of the tents.
"Probably checking on the drones we got back, or meeting up with one of those commanders there." F said as she motioned an arm towards the tents, J walking under one as she made her way to one of the soldiers coming over to her. "Seems like the latter, from the looks of it."
Wade shrugged as he responded to the group's pondering over J's actions. "Well, she'll be here with us if we need her, right? Shouldn't be much to worry about."
Returning their focus to the line ahead, Wade and his team waited as the line moved up over the next few minutes, moving impressively fast as the people in front cleared themselves in one at a time. Eventually, the four of them were up, Tina stepping up to show her ID for clearance. "Hello, it's been a busy day, hasn't it?"
The security agent smirked at Tina's small-talk. "Hah, not too busy here until you all showed up."
As the guard finished scanning Tina's ID, she handed the card back to her as she raised a finger to begin her request. "Oh, um, there's a little issue we need to resolve." Putting a hand to Wade's arm, Tina explained her boyfriend. "This is my dear friend Wade, Wade Carter. We both managed to escape that blasted factory with the help of those Coalition folks there." Wade gave a pleading look as Tina continued. "Unfortunately, Wade was converted into a disassembly drone before he was rescued, and it seems those people at the company took all his belongings he had on him, including his ID. Do you think there's... anyway you could write up something to let him by?"
Stepping forward, F gave her end of the story. "I can vouch for him, Ma'am. Wade and I we're among the teams helping in getting the worker drones out of the factory during the operation." The disassembly drone pulled out a pair of cards as she finished her explanation, one of them being her company-issued Disassembly Service Passcard, which resembled a normal civilian ID in appearance, save for the 'JCJenson (In Spaaace!) Logo on the top left and hazard markings around the rim of the card. As for the other card, it was a well worn, still legitimate ID card, showing F as how she appeared when she was a worker drone. At the side of her picture was a name with an initial. "FELICITY A LEE"
Taking the two cards in her hand, she looked them over and scanned them as Nathan tried to back Wade up as well. "So can I, Ma'am! I helped there too, when he was under the company's control. We all got him out of the factory so we could get him back in order." Pulling out his own ID, Nathan handed it out as the guard returned F's IDs to her.
The guard accepted Nathan's ID as she spoke over what to do with Wade. "Well, normally it takes clearance from higher ranked personnel here to allow someone inside without a legitimate form of identification. We can't just take someone's word on things like this, after all." Tina seemed to frown in disappointment as the guard explained her protocols, Wade looking down at the ground as he felt his worries were about to be proven correct. Going over Nathan's ID further, she gave an intrigued expression at the card before continuing. "Huh, interesting. Got two veteran folks here, I see?" She glanced to Nathan and F as she said that, taking into account their former military background as the former spoke up.
"Three, actually. My pal Kurtis is somewhere back there, I think. He should be heading down here later this evening." The guard glanced back at Nathan's ID as she took in the veteran drone's reply, sighing as she decided to make a slight amendment to the issue put before her and the four friends.
"Well, seeing you two here, I believe I can write something up. The Major won't be happy with me for this, but I think I can trust you with appropriate behavior." Taking a small sticky name-tag, the woman pulled out a pen before starting to write on it. Initially, she glanced to Wade, who stated his name again before she began to write his name on the tag. Once she was finished, the guard gave the tag to Wade, who slapped it onto his jacket before she spoke to him. "You should be fine to enter for the most part, just stick close to your friends and don't cause any trouble. Understood?"
Wade gave a stern salute to the security officer, who held back a chuckle at the honest, yet amusing effort the disassembly drone showed to her. Giving a simple nod and a flick of her hand, she permitted Wade and his friends entrance to the base, the four walking past the walkway barricades as they made their way past the gate.
Wade let out a heavy sigh of relief as he thanked his allies. "I owe you both so much for this, thanks!"
"Don't mention it, Wade." F said warmly as she and Nathan laughed at his joyful face.
"Yeah, just doing what any good friend should." Nathan said as Tina wrapped an arm around Wade, holding him tightly as the two walked together.
Looking to his girlfriend, Wade spoke to Tina about what to do next. "Well, since we're in, you wanna go fi-" He ceased his words as he remembered that there was someone else they needed to find amongst the base. "Oh, I almost forgot about her,"
"Jasmine!" Tina and Wade said aloud together as the former remembered her sister, Wade's words snapping her mind to Jasmine in an instant. "We should look for her, you think she might be here somewhere?"
"Probably. If they got Ron after they captured me, they have to 've picked her up too." Wade stated, Nathan raising a hand as he offered to help.
"I could go looking for her! You know what she looks like?" Readying a holo-projector, he tried to display an image of Jasmine from one of his many memories of her. The picture was, while pixelated and under a blue hue, incredibly well-detailed. And for Nathan, that was all he needed to see to note Jasmine's appearance in his memory. Nodding, he spoke again to his friends. "Got it! I'll see if she's around!" Then, turning to run down one of the paths leading to a nearby base facility, he stopped as he asked one more question. "Oh! One more thing, you got a smartcomm on ya, Wade?"
Readying one from his holo-projector hand, he nodded as he spoke into it. "Seems so, though I don't seem to have all my contacts added in."
Running back over, Nathan pulled out his own smartcomm before putting it up against Wade's hand one, allowing the two devices to exchange information. Upon the devices beeping, Wade and Nathan nodded to each other, the former ignoring a pop-up that stated, "New Contact Added" while the latter spoke once more. "Okay, I'll call you once I spot her!" With that, he began running down the path once more, intent on finding Tina's sister at the base, wherever she could be.
"Fowley! Her last name's Fowley!" Tina said aloud to the departing Nathan, hoping he heard her words before turning away from the miner drone and facing Wade and F again.
As Tina sighed in partial relief, Wade put his own arm around her before asking the question he tried to ask before. "So, uh, with that out of the way for now... You wanna go look for one of those ship tabs?"
Putting a hand to Wade's chest, Tina smiled as she replied. "Oh, certainly." Then, as the three began walking down a different path that Nathan hadn't taken, the pilot drone continued with a chuckle. "I hear they have a place here that sells model kits too!"
...
Jasmine sat in silent sorrow as she took another gulp of her glass of Proxi-Vodka, a tasty, but heavy alcoholic beverage produced at the colony of Proxima 2... and one of Jasmine's preferred drinks to have when she wasn't in a good mood. When she awoke after being stunned by the station guards, she found that she was just recovered by a group that called themselves the 'United Earth Coalition', and that her drone friend, Tina, was unfortunately taken by the JCJenson corporation to be turned into one of their horrid disassembly drones. While the people that saved her offered to help her find Tina, so far there had been no luck in doing so. No successful calls, no response from Wade nor Ron, nothing.
The whole situation widdled at her like scrapes to her form, slowly draining any bit of hope that she had in finding her sister. And once the mission at that factory was over, the ship began heading back to the Nellis Base to escort the recovered drones back to a safe area. Unfortunately for Jasmine, Tina's presence was not given confirmation. Alone, she walked off to one of the bars down at the base, specifically Drexler's Cantina, one of the more popular bars down at the military starport. Thankfully, though she didn't openly exhibit feelings of wanting to be alone in her wallowing, she was glad the place was nearly barren of patrons, with only a few at a couple of tables within the bar.
The stage at the back of the bar also had a few singer drones performing aloud, the lead singer girl reciting the words of a quiet, yet exciting song that, instrumentally, consisted of a strange mix of bass, techno, and a hint of opera. The song itself was one Jasmine had heard a good many times before in her life, known as, 'You Complete My World' by a decades old Earth band by the name of HeartStar. The song, as Jasmine and many others who'd heard it interpreted it, was about someone who described their world like a puzzle, and that the one whom the main singer cared for beyond all was the only thing that could keep their world from shattering into ruin before them.
An oddly fitting tune, given what had just happened on the JCJ Central earlier. For all Jasmine knew, Tina was either alive beyond her knowledge, hopefully searching for her wherever she could, or, the answer Jasmine feared... Dead.
Not wanting to even consider the thought, the human pilot took another swig of the colonial Vodka, relishing in its taste before forcing herself to swallow, almost gagging from the strength of the drink. Easing herself, she glanced out to one of the windows of the bar, taking the faint glimpse of night into her eyes. Then, looking to the clock at the wall ahead of her, she saw the time was about a little over an hour to 10 pm. Jasmine gave a sigh to herself, certain she would be alone for the rest of the night.
Unbeknownst to her, however, Jasmine had been spied upon a little while ago. Nathan, in his search for the woman Tina called Jasmine Fowley, had spotted a woman matching the physical appearance of the target. Knowing Jasmine wouldn't know who he was if he tried to talk to her himself, Nathan immediately went looking for Wade, easing his return to his team by calling the former worker drone and signaling him about his findings.
Deciding to check on the news, Jasmine slowly pulled out her smartcomm, resisting her urge to press the contacts button as she tapped the news app. Looking through it, she spotted a recent story that was posted just over an hour ago, titled, "JCJenson 'Recall' effort sabotaged by joint Government/Militia forces! The Truth Exposed!" Above the article was a video, a play button in front of it teasing Jasmine. Curious over this sudden development, she pressed the button, her attention in complete focus on the video as it began to play.
After the news station's logo appeared on-screen for a short few seconds, the current host for the story, Mrs. Tiffany Joy, appeared at her seat before beginning the story. "Good evening, this is Nevada-78, I'm your host, Tiffany Joy. Tonight, we start with a rapid development for the 'drone recall' incidents propagated by the business conglomerate JCJenson In Space. Throughout the afternoon up to now, several advanced factories under the ownership of the corporation have fallen under violent assault by various militarized forces, ranging from official United Nations operatives to private militia groups with varying goals." The small screen to Joy's left shifted to show the state of Nevada, zooming into it to show a portion of the Mojave desert as Joy continued her story.
"Among these facilities, one such factory based right here in southern Nevada has recently succumbed to the successful efforts of the USN Defense Force and a group by the name of the United Earth Coalition, an alliance consisting of humans and automatons working to create a unified world for both species." The screen shifted again to show the logo for the UEC, which appeared as one half of a human head outline and another of a drone's, along with two arms behind the heads belonging to both beings pictured. "With the attack having concluded just hours ago, we have reporters gathering at the New Nellis Staryards near Henderson City to bring you the aftermath of the conflict. We go to Mr. Jelico, on the scene in five."
The camera shifted after the countdown of five to show Mr. Jelico in front of the camera, the cameraman filming a large tent housing several worker drones being tended to by the base soldiers. "Alright, Jelico here, we're on station at New Nellis. What you're all seeing here are some of the recovered worker drones, many of them were pretty spooked by the events that unfolded in that factory earlier." As the camera panned over the lot of drones, some of them looked to the camera, curious at the news crew filming them as Jelico continued. "A few of them are real glad to be here, Joy. Seems like they feel safe here, as far as I can tell."
As the camera moved to show Jelico again, a plane could be seen taking off as he spoke. "Yeah, these people did them quite a service. The staff here are working to find their original owners and families, it'll probably be a little bit before they can get them all home." The camera switched once again to another view of the base, the lights of various buildings illuminating the night as the news story continued.
At the entrance, Nathan pushed open the door to the bar, the chime failing to catch anyone's attention as he, Wade, F and Tina stepped inside. Carefully pointing at Jasmine, he whispered to Tina, "That's her, from the looks of it. She's been here for a good minute!"
Taking another drink of the Proxi-Vodka, Jasmine listened further to the story. "The authorities didn't just recover a majority of the worker drones taken into the factory, however. A recent update provided by Mrs. Yuka, shows her interviewing a disassembly drone who claims to be among the unfortunate drones the assault force failed to save before their conversion."
"Jasmine!" Tina called out, the voice instantly grabbing the woman's attention as she paused the news story. Swiftly turning her head, her heart began pounding with immense excitement as she saw her drone sister, who grinned upon seeing her face.
"Tina!" Jasmine said aloud, somewhat weakly from her previous wallowing as she tried to run over to her sister, landing on her knees as the two embraced in a flush of emotions. Wade and his friends stood behind the two girls as they hugged each other, clinging onto one another as tightly as they could give. Jasmine seemed to erupt with a pained cough as she allowed some of her sorrow out of her heart, Tina carressing her back in a comforting manner as she held back her own tears. The sisters held the hug for a long moment, not daring to let go of one another for fear of losing each other again. Eventually, however, they did, the two sisters taking heavy breaths as Jasmine spoke up while wiping her face. "I thought I'd lost you."
"Can't say I didn't feel the same way, love." Tina replied as she broke out in light laughter, glancing to Wade before continuing. "But, fortunately, those Coalition boys helped out quite a bit. Though, not as much as my knight in his new armor."
Standing herself up, Jasmine took Tina's helping hand as she looked to the one her sister spoke of. A grateful smile formed on Jasmine's face as she saw Wade, standing in front of her and Tina as he returned the expression. Looking upon her family friend, Jasmine noticed something... different about Wade. He was taller now, his arms were shaped like white cones rather than the silver bendy tubes he and Tina normally had. As for his face, his pure green eyes were replaced with a set of greenish-yellow ones, and above his forehead was a band holding five yellow bulbs that she didn't know the function of.
While the pieces started to click together in her head, Jasmine took Wade's held out hand as she spoke to him. "Wade, I'm so glad to see you! You look different, too. Did something... happen to you?" She already guessed it by this point, but feigned confusion as she opted to hear Wade's take on the matter.
"Yeah, I hope you don't mind your sister dating a vampire from now on." Tina chortled in amusement at Wade's comment at himself, Jasmine raising an eyebrow in confusion at the former worker drone as he returned his expression to a more sincere smile. "The company got me too, and unlike the workers we got out... they managed to turn me into a disassembly drone. From now on, I'm gonna need to take in more oil than I usually did before I was turned. My cooling system's not as good as it should be, from what I've heard." Pulling out his two full canteens, Wade finished his partial explanation. "Don't worry, though. I've got some to keep me down."
Jasmine took in the news with immense surprise, noticing the hazard stripes at the rims of Wade's arms as she replied to her friend. "Oh... Well, if Tina's fine with it, then I see no problem with that, Wade." Admittedly, she was a bit unnerved by the change, concerned for both him and Tina's safety due to this supposed oil coolant issue. Trying to sound as nice as she could on the matter, Jasmine hesitantly asked Wade, "Though... I am a bit concerned with that bad cooling problem you mention. You... don't think you would-"
"Hurt Tina?!" Wade assumed, understanding Jasmine's concern as he gave a horrified glance to the two sisters. Standing with his fists to his hips, he gave his answer to Jasmine's presumed question. "Don't even say such a thing, Jasmine. I'd rather overheat than dare strike her."
Admittedly amused as well as concerned for Wade's selflessness, Tina chuckled at him before speaking up on the matter. "Now now, Wade. It won't be so bad. We'll manage."
Jasmine nodded as she agreed with her sister's optimistic view on the problem. "Indeed we will, we always do." Then, taking notice of the other two drones in the room, Jasmine smiled at them before speaking again. "Ah, I see you brought some friends too."
Wade and Tina glanced over to Nathan and F upon Jasmine's statement, the two friends smiling pleasantly as Wade spoke up. "Oh, yeah. These are some of my work buddies from Ceres, Jasmine. This is Nathan, I first met him when Ron and I came to the mines, showed us around a bit too." Putting a hand on F's shoulder, Wade introduced her too. "And this is Serial Designation F, or, just F. She was one of the guards keeping watch on the place while we worked."
F seemed to blush out of embarrassment as she remembered her and Wade's first meeting. "I... did come off a little rough on them when they first came in, though. Stopped Nathan's touring run too. Just following colony protocol."
Nathan patted F's back as he tried to ease F's guilt. "Oh, it's nothing F. We had to start work in a few minutes anyway. Besides, it's a bit more fun exploring the place yourself without a guide." He winked at the others as he finished his praise. "Trust me, it really is."
Wade, Tina and Jasmine all chuckled at their friend's amusing words, F joining in as she replied to Nathan's encouragement. "Alright, alright."
Walking up to the two, Tina put her hand onto Nathan's as she gave her own praises. "And they may not look like it, dear, but Nathan and F were both formerly in the military, from what Wade's told me."
Jasmine gave a proud smirk at the two as she responded to her sister's claim. "Well, that's quite something. Did she tell you we used to fly for them some years back?"
"Oh, she did, Mrs. Fowley." Nathan replied as he chuckled lightly, F giving a smile of her own as she added her own part to the story.
"Yeah, and given what's happening now, maybe they might call you back for service again. Wade told me you two were excellent pilots."
It was now Jasmine's turn to blush as she chuckled from the compliment, knowing Wade's high praise for her and her sister's flying as she replied. "Well, I can't say that's wrong, Tina saved the day during the flight back here. We ran into an asteroid cluster while in the middle of a jump."
Wade patted Tina on her back as he quietly cheered his love on. "That's what I'm talking about, she's a wonder among the stars, I'm telling you!"
The group fell into an excited fit of laughter at the conversation, a few of the bar patrons taking notice of the bunch as they eventually ceased their joyful moment.
As everyone calmed down, Jasmine spoke up, intending to bring the discussion to another place. "Well, with all that said, it feels great to see you all here. It was such a terrible day after all those company folk showed up." Then, as she scanned the group of friends around her, she noticed someone else missing from this puzzle. "Hey, uh... is Ron here? Did he head off somewhere?"
The mood was quickly put down to a mournful aura as Wade and Tina glanced to the floor in sadness, Nathan and F giving uncomfortable postures as they awaited for someone to speak up on the matter.
Eventually, Wade was the one to open his mouth, breathing steadily as he tried to speak to Jasmine. "Um, Jasmine? Things, uh... really took a nose dive after we got captured. You think we could find a place to sit? It's a lot to talk about."
Looking to the four drones with concern, Jasmine eased her returning fear as she nodded to Wade in agreement. "...Sure, there's plenty of space at the table here." Pointing her arm to the table, which was surrounded by a U-shaped seating bench, Wade and his friends began to move to the table as Tina spoke up.
"I can get us some drinks for the talk, you all want anything?"
"Just some oil, thanks. "Wade answered as F and Nathan gave their own nods to Tina, the drone girl walking over to the bartender near the stage as she went to purchase some beverages.
Sitting down, Jasmine picked up her smartcomm from the table, glancing to it as she spoke up on her half-finished drink. "Heh, and to think I was drowning myself in this drag of a drink before. Probably have to find a different glass."
"Proxi-Vodka? Haven't seen you touch that since we lost Aunt Susan." Wade said solemnly as he examined Jasmine's drink, sighing as he reluctantly continued. "Well, maybe it can go for a few more sips."
Looking to the vodka, Jasmine nodded as she put her smartcomm in her pocket. "I figured, I didn't think this was gonna sound good."
"I wish it did." Wade replied as Tina walked back to the table, a plate of three oil glasses resting on her careful hand as she set it down.
After delivering the drinks, Tina took a seat next to Wade, holding his hand as Jasmine spoke up. "So, where do we start this terrible story?"
Wade gulped a bit as he began to recount the events that transpired today. "Well, it all started when Ron and I came back from the mining colony."

Hi Reddit
I'm going to Japan for the first time in June + July for approx. 5-6 weeks. For the first three weeks, I'll be traveling with my partner and we will mainly visit Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Kanazawa, parts of the Japanese alps and of course Tokyo. For this, we have all the accommodations booked and know more or less what to do. He will fly back mid-June and I'll have another 15 or so days in Japan on my own. It will be my first time solo traveling.
Because I don't want to drive a car alone (nervous driver, especially on the left side, plus would need to get my licence translated which seems really complicated), I will be using public transportation.
I'm generally interested in culture, food, nature/hiking. I don't speak Japanese.
After a lot of research and looking through various very helpful posts here on reddit, I decided on visiting Kyushu and Yakushima and came up with the following itinerary. I have booked all the accommodations plus the flight to/from Fukuoka and the ferry to Yakushima, most of the accommodations can still be cancelled. I have not yet set my eyes on any specific restaurants since I like to go with the flow/look what I'm in the mood for.
I am a bit nervous and I would really appreciate it if you could give me some do's or don'ts or recommendations.
Here's what I thought about:
Day 1 (mid-june): Tokyo Fukuoka

• Flight from Toyko to Fukuoka, arrive at 14:25
• Afternoon/Evening: explore the city, visit Tenjin.
• Eat at Yatai in Tenjin (not Canal City).
• Accommodation: WeBase Hostel

Day 2: Fukuoka 1

• Morning: Visit Nanzoin, approx. 30' by train form Hakata Station, 380 Yen
• Afternoon:
  • Ohori-koen, Fukuoka Castle Ruins, maybe Fukuoka Tower?
  • If still time: Daimyo (thrift stores, Cafes, etc)
• Bad weather option: Art Museum or Hakara Machiya Furusato-kan
• Must try food: Hakata Ramen
• Accommodation: same

Day 3: Fukuoka 2

• Day trip to Daizaifu+Yanagawa
  • Dazaifu and Yanagawa Sightseeing Ticket, ca. 3000 Yen, buy online.
  • Morrning Dazaifu: Daizafu Tenman-gu (Shinto Shrine), Tenkai Inari Shrine, maybe Kyushu National Museum
  • Afternoon: Yanagawa + boat ride
• Alternative: Arita, Imari and Karatsu (pottery towns; not sure if this is doable by train)
• Alternative 2: Yufuin? Looks very touristy/far ride.
• Accommodation: same

Day 4: Fukuoka Kagoshima

• Early train ride to Kagoshima, duration 2h, ca. 10'000 Yen.
  
• Buy Cute transit pass for two days at tourist information, luggage to accommodation.
  
• Afternoon:
  
  • Sengan-en for views + Iso-hama
  • Alternative: Shiroyama Park Observation deck, looks not as interesting as Sengan-en
• Evening: spend time at Tenmonkan
  
• Must try food: Kurobuto (black pork), Satsuma-age (deepfried fish cakes)
  
• Accommodation: Hostel in Kagoshima
  

Day 5: Kagoshima

• Day trip to Sakurajima
  
  • Ferry included in Cute transit pass
  • Maybe Sakurajima Nagisa Park Foot Bath
  • Take island view bus
  • Possible sights: Arimura Lava Observatory, Buried Tori, Yunohira Lookout
• Alternative: Ibusuki + sand baths (weather probably way too hot for that)
  
• To do: look up if Yakushima ferry will leave according to plan the next day.
  
• Accommodation: same
  

Day 6: Kagoshima Yakushima

• Take ferry at 07:45 to Miyanoura, Yakushima. Arrive at 09:45.
• Buy Yakushima Kotsu Free Pass at tourist information center.
• Explore Miyanoura
• Accommodation in Miyanoura (incl. Meals) for all 4 nights

Days 7-9: Yakushima 1-3
I don't have all the days planned since it all depends on the weather.
Explore Yakushima, possibilities:

• Hikes:
  • Shirantani-unsuikyo-tozanguchi Hike: duration ca. 4h, 300 Yen Entrance
  • Jomon-sugi Hike: Duration ca. 10h; bus ticket is separate and has to be bought a day in advance, take first bus.
• Other nice places:
  • Nagata Inaka-hama
  • Oko-no-taki
  • Yakusuki Land
• Onsen: Yudomari Onsen

Day 10: Yakushima Kumamoto

• Take ferry at 10:40, arrive in Kagoshima at 12:30. take Shinkansen to Kumamoto, Duration 1h, ca. 7000 Yen.
• Afternoon: explore Kumamoto
  • Kumamoto castle + park
  • Relax and plan day trips for the next two days, get bus tickets
• Must try food: Higo-gyu (Higo-beef)
• Accommodation: Hotel in Kumamoto

Day 11: Day trip to Mt Aso from Kumamoto

• Check if crater is open (www.aso-volcano.jp/eng/)
• Take bus (duration 2h, 1500 Yen) or train (duration 70min, 2000 Yen) to Aso station
• In Aso: get ticket at Sanko Bus Aso Office, take loop bus
  • See crater if open
  • Maybe Kusasenri
  • Maybe Daikanbo
• Accommodation: same

Day 12: Day trip to Takachiho Gorge from Kumamoto

• Look up bus timetable, reserve 1 day in advance
• Take early bus to Takachiho bus center, duration 2-3h, ca. 2700 Yen
• Walk to Gorge, duration 30min
• Take boat ride, reserve boat in advance online https://takachiho-kanko.info/en/boat_kagura/
• Eat Flowing water noodles
• See Takachaho Shrine
• Get back to Kumamoto
• Accommodation: same

Alternatives for Day 11 or 12: Kurokawa Onsen?
Day 13: Kumamoto Nagasaki

• Get to Nagasaki:
  • Option 1: train, duration 2-3h
  • Option 2: take ferry to Shimabara, then train, duration ca. 5h, visit Shimabara on the way
• Spend the rest of the day exploring central Nagasaki, depending on arrival time
  • Dejima
  • Canals of Nagasaki, Maganebashi Bridge
  • Suwa Shrine
• Accommodation: Hostel in central Nagasaki

Day 14: Nagasaki 1

• Morning: Norther Nagasaki
  • Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum
  • Nagasaki Peace Park
  • One-Pillar Torii Gate
• Afternoon/Evening: Mt. Inasayama Observatory for views, get there for sunset
• Accommodation: same

Day 15: Nagasaki 2 Fukuoka

• Check-out at hostel, leave luggage there
• Morning: maybe trip to Gunkanjima (not booked yet)
• Afternoon: visit sights I missed, maybe Glover Garden, Nagasaki Seaside park
• Late afternoon or whenever I'm in the mood: travel to Fukuoka, duration 1.5h, ca. 6'000 Yen
• Evening: check out city again, should be during Hakata Gion Yamakasa Matsuri
• Accommodation: Hostel in Fukuoka

Day 16: Fukuoka Toyko

• Flight back to Tokyo from Fukuoka at 09:45, arrive at 11:35
• Spend evening in Akihabara, last minute shopping
• Accommodation: Hostel in Akihabara

Day 17: Departure

• Flight home from Tokyo Narita at 11:35

Specific questions:

• Day 11 and 12: Does someone have advice on where to check train and bus timetables for those day trips? I saw some guided tours which would be very cool especially for Takachiho gorge, but the tours from "Explore Kumamoto" seem to be booked. The other ones I can find are really expensive, even though they seem to be self-guided and essentially just tickets for the public bus?
• Day 13: Is it worth it/doable to take the ferry to Shimabara and maybe explore Shimabara? Or is it just complicated and should I rather focus on getting to Nagasaki earlier?

Otherwise, do you think I'm making any big mistakes with this itinerary?
Thanks in advance!
Sarah

I (18) feel like a ton of my transition aspirations are based in the idea of being femininely attractive, but I fear that I'll be an ugly to mid looking girl, when my dream is to have sexy feminine body and beautiful hair and a pretty face, but I feel like testosterone has done too much shit to my body that ill never be on par with the ladies I'm attracted to. I think my expectations were set too high by early transitions who started HRT in early high school or by cis women being used as bait in tg fictions. For me, I cant currently see transition as worth it unless I have a decent chance of being attractive, mostly cause I want to be a girly girl and wear dresses/skirts everyday, and such feminine clothes necessitate a feminine body.
I've been looking at transtimelines a lot and feel like most of the women there don't pass/meet my high standards, but I also know that the majority of them started HRT older than my current age, so idk.
I know transition isn't supposed to be about attractiveness, but I just cant shake my obsession with it. I want to be pretty for fucks sake! And that's legitimately the #1 thing in the world to me right now...
I simply cannot exist in this world as a girl who looks like a dude, I won't tolerate it! I'd rather just be a dude!
Is there hope for me? If I start HRT this summer (turning 19 in July), will I be able to meet my standards if I put in the work? Or is this just a pipe dream and I should just suck it up and continue to be jealous of pretty girls and their pretty clothes for all eternity, and maybe hook up with one some day if I'm lucky?

Yes, I had a lot of time. I originally played this game when it launched during the pandemic and stopped at 1k trophies, and picked it up again ~3 years later. I want to share my thoughts about the last ~15 days while it's still fresh and answer any questions people might have.
I have a 43% win rate in 3600 BR games, and 300+ games with each of the following heroes: Angel, Bastion, Blizzard, Blot, Cyclops, Ghost, Levi, Lynx, Ramsay, Raven, Sparkle, Vi. I have the most fun with Angel, Raven, Ramsay, and Lynx.
I've unlocked every hero except Alice, paid for Blizzard and Vi.

Trophy Tiers

Broadly speaking, the percentage of poor players decreases as you gain higher trophies. Being completely honest, I saw a bunch of mistakes made by enemies, teammates, and myself at 9k trophies. At 10k+ trophies, most of the mistakes I see are my own.

Low Tier: <3k

I have a second account on an old phone at this tier that I use to play under powered / rarely used heroes in casual games. It's mostly bots and occasional humans with rudimentary gameplay.

Mid Tier: 3-7k

People are still misplaying all the time, but in general are improving and trying to coordinate as a team. Pickup teams are pretty easy to create and people are generally friendly. Honestly, I probably had the most fun at this tier since I enjoy playing the game casually with a variety of heroes and different team compositions (vs trying to win all the time).
There's still plenty of bots in offpeak hours.

High Tier: >7k

This is the first tier where it starts to get competitive. Relatedly, this is also the first tier I started seeing bad manners and griefing.
Early on when I was around 2k, I teamed up with some high trophy players and played in 10k games. That's when I learned first hand how much faster and aggressive the game was. On certain maps (Bank, Village, Hotel), fights will often initiate after picking up ~2 items.
As for bad manners, I'm used to it from playing plenty of other online games but enjoyed the fact that Bullet Echo largely doesn't have it. However at 7k+, now you get a lot of people bm'ing when they kill you, if two people fight over an item, etc. It most commonly manifests as sprays/stickers, but also a lot of head shaking and the occasional teamkill grenade for taking "their" item.
Pickup teams are a lot more mercenary. People join up, and if the team loses most will leave; there's little to no chat banter anymore. If someone misplays a few times, they often get kicked from the team, the team is disbanded, and/or they get defriended. This, uhh, has totally never happened to me.

10k

The "end game." Heroes' power typically ranges 1650 - 2200 (Ultimate level 70 to Immortal), with the occasional Divine player. There's relatively few bots during peak times.
The games are fast and brutal, and any small mistake is quickly exploited. My winrate has dropped significantly even when playing my better characters, but I'm learning. Pre-10k, I'd typically open 3x battle and skull chests under 30 minutes. Now, opening battle/skull chests and winning contracts has become significantly harder.

Bravery Road

I don't have any experience with this tier since I lack Divine heroes. Others have shared that it's mostly full of bots.

Heroes

Tier List

This is based on 9k+ trophy BR in the hands of a good player:

• S: Vi, Lynx, Mirage, Arnie
• A: Blizzard, Ramsay, Raven, Dragoon, Angel, Freddie
• B: Firefly, Shenji, Ghost, Alice, Leviathan, Hurricane, Satoshi, Sparkle, Tess, Levi
• C: Blot, Bertha, Doc, Cyclops, Slayer
• D: Bastion, Stalker, Smog

Hero Investment

First off, invest in heroes that you enjoy playing regardless of tier lists. If you want recommendations for <7k gameplay, here's my list:

• Vi, Lynx: A class in most game modes and high tier effectiveness.
• Levi: she is A class for koth (camp and use ability in the final 1v1), and a solid B class in multiple modes: farming bots, sabo, low-mid tier BR. Satoshi is a good alternative.
• Bastion: he is A class for low-mid tier Bsabo/bot farming, and B class for low-mid koth. Don't get too attached though because his effectiveness drops off a cliff at 7k+ (more below).
• Hurricane: shotgunner with a shield and high tier effectiveness.
• Firefly/Blot: Blot's easier to learn snipers and farm bots/sabo in a more campy store, while Firefly has a higher skill ceiling and a more aggressive sniper.
• Ghost: He's probably the easiest SMG to learn with his cloak ability. Angel is better for long term usability and bot farming, but requires better map awareness and teammate coordination.

That's at least one hero per class (for contracts and gameplay variety), but a heavy bias towards Skytech faction because of all the shields.

Bastion

Bastion is great for bot farming and low / mid tier gameplay, but is easily outplayed in 7k+ games. I had a bunch of mid tier Bastion friends that I invited to 7k+ games and they've always left after a few games due to being outplayed.
Outplaying Bastion is usually done through kiting or baiting and flanking with teammates since their range is too short and movement speed is too slow. Bastion (and Blot to an extent) is outclassed by more mobile shield heroes: Angel, Hurricane, Satoshi.
Leviathan gets a special call out since his turret is great for zoning and has extended spray that can be abused to hit behind walls.

Grenade Users (Firefly/Shenji/Sparkles/Freddie)

Pre-10k, most of these are terrible nade spammers hoping to get an easy kill. I've seen so many Firefly users use more nades than bullets in a round, adding little value chucking nades into thin air. Shenji users, please use your nades to zone the enemies and less about trying to kill them. Also stop burning the grass because you can, especially when you're up against snipers.

Vi

My win rate with Vi is significantly higher than the rest of the field, which shows how broken she is. I think she needs to be nerfed, and she's my most played and highest leveled character (Stellar).
I also have some bad experiences after teaming up with a bunch of Vi-only tryhards (about 6-8 different teammates for 5+ games each). They're generally incredibly aggressive and good at racking up a high kill count, but often lack map awareness or team dynamics besides spamming, "Let's go!"

Tips

League

Climb as fast as you can, as high as you can since you get more loot per chest depending on your league level, and streaking gets harder the higher you climb in trophies. Bot farming (read below) is the easiest way to streak games and hit the next league level.
I think there is an argument to be made about staying in purple 1. I found it significantly easier to win most of the contracts at purple 1, but I was grouped with all the other grinders once I hit purple 2. This might be a red herring though.

Resources

• Long term the limitations are: nuts, drone resources, personal gear copies
• Gold, batteries, and 💵 currency (to an extent) is relatively abundant.
• There is a limit to watching ads per 8-12 hr period. If you're going to grind, save the ad watching for 2x battle/skull chests.
• Hero cards are distributed evenly over obtained heroes. My Supreme Shenji, Mythic Levitation, and a dozen Rare and Epic heroes all have enough cards to upgrade to Ultimate level 70 (my average level across all heroes). Recently obtained characters will appear more often in battle/skull chests until they reach the average number of cards across all heroes. My most recently unlocked hero—Mirage—is already at Ultimate level 70 in less than a week despite giving her 0 jokers. This probably means we're going to see a lot more Vi's in low/mid tier games.

Spending Money

Contracts

• 7 day contract hacks (and assuming you have enough time to grind) is the most effective use of money.
• Consistently winning the 21 hr contract for 300 jokers is critical.
• 3 hr contract (particularly in off hours) can be pretty easy to win for 20 jokers.
• Read the contracts carefully. Often you can use a hero to progress against 2 or more contracts simultaneously.
• Bot farming and SvS is usually the easiest way to quickly get contract points.
• Ghost in koth is a great way to grind "The Collector" contract.
• A lot of people in the top 3 will try to snipe the contract in the final hours. You can check their profile to see if they're online and contract leaderboard if their scores are increasing. I've lost a lot of sleep defending my #1 spot in the 2 day and 1 week contracts.
• I've given up on winning contracts and buying contract hacks anymore since the 10k games are significantly harder and I'm burnt out.

Star Pass

• I don't mind spending $15 to get the new hero via the base pass, but I don't think the premium pass is worth it.
• I didn't get tiers 2 and 3 for Vi but still got her to Stellar with a lot of grinding via contract hacks and jokers.

Technology

It's $10/mo. You get a random hero motivated and 8 drone plugins (2 of each color) per week, and 10 tech tokens/day. 70 tech tokens/week is enough to get drone blueprints, 2xpersonal gears boxes, some squad gear, 500 nuts, and 5 costume tokens. Also your name is highlighted in gold.
I think it's great for the first month or two for the personal gear and drone parts, but not sure if it's worth keeping afterwards.

Bots

Recognizing bots means you can adapt your strategy when playing with and against them.

Identification

Pre-game

• in the same bot syndicates: CCCP, Botsavethequeen, 486DX, etc
• are listed after human players
• don't have drones
• never play as the newer characters: Blizzard, Vi, Shenji, Ramsay, Lynx, Tess

You start recognizing the bot names after a few hundred games.

In game

• immediately opens chests
• goes in a straight line while swinging their flashlight, humans tend to run with their flashlight facing forward except when checking corners
• doesn't use any abilities

Farming (BR, SvS, sabo, koth)

Bot farming is a great way to hit the streak for a league jump or grind for festival tokens.
I find sabo, SvS, and sometimes arcade in offpeak hours (or other region's servers) the easiest modes for bot farming.
Generally bots will collect a few items and start roaming looking for enemies. If a firefight ensues, the bots will start swarming towards noise like zombies.
The best characters to farm bots are those that can do a lot of damage without taking any themselves. Since bots will run in a straight line towards you, assault rifles and snipers excel at bot farming.

• Recommended heroes: Bastion, Satoshi, Blot, Hurricane, Levi, Firefly, Blizzard, Cyclops
• Not recommended: Ghost/Stalker (bots are unaffected by cloak), Slayer (fire rate is too slow), SMG users (can't reload fast enough when swarmed)

As teammates

It sucks to get bots as teammates, but if you understand their behavior you can take advantage of it to try and win the round.

• don't get sucked into unnecessary fights, let them die and don't bother reviving
• use them as dumb scouts to flank the enemy
• treat the round as a training exercise on how to win one-vs-many fights. It'll happen more and more often as you climb trophies

Drones

• medpro is great for tanks, assault rifles, and attacking SMGs (Angel, Alice, Freddie, Ghost)
• zenith is great for snipers, Raven/Ghost, 10k+ games
• guard is useless except for the occasional ability to zone enemies

Zenith gets increasingly valuable in 7k+ games as you never have time to revive and/or enemies will camp dead bodies. Zenith's ability to revive through walls can also be exploited.

In game tactics

This is already a long post, so I'll brain dump common improvements / mistakes that I come across. Feel free to ask questions in the comments.

• Don't be greedy and go after risky upgrades/chests. More often than not you're going to get sucked into an early fight. Even if you win that one, you'll quickly get swarmed by bots and/or other teams. It's not worth losing a round because you might get a purple upgrade. Even if you win the fight with only one downed teammate, they're unlikely to be revived in 7k+ games because everyone nades/camps the drones/bodies so you end up permanently hampered being down a teammate or flanked and wiped trying to revive.
• Don't be greedy for early ammo and upgrades. In 7k+ games, fights can/will happen by the time you've picked up 1-2 items. Taking multiple ammo means losing an effective teammate that can shoot a weapon. If you're a low ammo user (e.g. Vi, Slayer, Bastion), opt for a 2x or 3x ammo pack and leave the 4x ammo pack for high ammo users (e.g. SMGs, assault rifles). Leave and ping optimal upgrades for teammates. This means reserving scopes for snipers, armor for machine gunners, extended magazine for SMG/shotgunners, explosive ammo for DPS.
• Shotgun users should heal at spawn and save the armor pickup for others.
• Generally stick together as a team.
• Don't follow suiciders (bots/humans) and get sucked into unnecessary fights, preferring to fight 2v3v3v3. Yes this conflicts with the above bullet point.
• Learn the map. This means knowing where are the spawns, purple chests, hot zones, and choke points. This means you can anticipate where you'll need to slow down and prepare for a fight (e.g. early game near purple chests between two spawns). In low/mid tiers, human teammates often run straight for a neighboring spawn while completely ignoring the safe purple chest right behind them because they run straight ahead in the direction they were facing when spawned. I find it easiest to familiarize myself with maps by using heroes with high vision like snipers (particularly Lynx) and Raven.
• Develop map awareness. You can tell who is left based on the gun sounds and the weapon in kill notifications. Generally avoid fights with many teams remaining, and go after the last two teams as they're fighting. If machine gunners are remaining, try to find open spaces. If snipers are remaining, try to initiate fights near corners and obstacles. In low/mid tiers, human teammates will often emulate bots and run straight towards the fight with a complete lack of map awareness.
• Good Shenji users use grenades to zone enemies rather than outright damage. Bad Shenji users kill their teammates / prevent them from being useful. If you're playing with a Shenji teammate, expect that they're going to nade everything and act accordingly.
• Tess users should try to use the lightning ball judiciously against enemy shields or to zone, and not disable their teammates' shields and abilities.
• Cyclops/Raven users should not spam their skill early game, and used selectively late game. It gives away your position and in high tier games only invites unwanted attention (weak teams run away and strong teams run/dash/jump towards the scan). Learn to use scan offensively and defensively when appropriate. At higher trophies, it can be used as a feint for an invasion or to lure enemies into a trap.
• Deployed drones can be used as a ward to protect blind spots.
• SMG users should use stimpacks offensively rather than only to heal.
• Be careful about any teammate or enemy that jiggles constantly or spams the jump ability/sound. It's usually a skilled, high apm player with Mirage/Arnie/Dragoon. Your blind spots are not safe.
• There is a time to initiate and time to fall back. In early/mid tiers, people need to learn to retreat more often (and communicate it to their teammates). Don't attack that unsuspecting enemy just because you can, but attack if it's the right time to do so (e.g. the team is in the right place, the enemy team is caught off guard/still recovering from their last fight).

tldr

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Bullet Echo, bots and all.

Slutty Sister Has Her Brother Locked For Life (non-con, forced chastity, bondage, punishment)
Part 1
The keyholder nurse gave me instructions and explained everything after it was all over. My family had told me that I was a sex pervert and I was "being dealt with". I knew I was in trouble, but I was a young man, only 18 and I didn't understand what was going on. No one had told me anything after the hearing.
Mom drove me to an odd building, led me to a secure room and left. A young nurse told me to undress. I was totally naked. An older woman in scrubs and a man entered. They strapped my arms and legs down to a cold steel table. The nurse offered the woman a syringe, but she declined and said "No, I want this creep to feel it".
It all started a month ago. I lived with my mom and sister, dad was gone. My sister was 19, with a tight body and medium sized, perky tits. Mom was thick, curvy, with giant tits. Both recently got their naval's pierced with matching studs. Neither had boyfriends, but they were very promiscuous. We lived in a mobile home with thin walls, so I could hear them getting fucked often.
I made some mistakes. First, my sister caught me peeping on her in the shower and told mom. Then, two of her "friends" came over for sex. They took turns on her. She got very loud. After they left, I went in her room. She covered herself, but I saw her pussy and stomach first. There were small puddles of cum around her pantyline, and some more of it leaking out of her. I told her I was still a virgin and asked if I could "go next" on her. She yelled "get out" and told mom when she got home from work.
The third incident was more serious they said. Mom would sometimes drink and pass out. I'd never felt tits before and hers were so enticing. She had some drinks and went to bed. I snuck in. She was asleep, uncovered, wearing a gown. I grabbed her heaving boobs. Then I took one of my hands off her chest and pulled the gown above her waist, exposing her. I slid my hand between her legs and rubbed her pussy. She woke up and caught me. She was pissed. The next day my sister told me they had turned me in and there would be a hearing.
So I knew why I was on the metal table, but I didn't know what was next. I couldn't see, there was a drape at my waist. It started with gloves and cold metal on my genitals, then clamping, pinching, pulling, and eventually a sharp puncturing pain near my balls. I begged them to stop, but they did it 2 more times, once on my cock. Finally a metal device was brought out. I could feel it being slid on, clamped down, tightened, then locked. "All done" they said and left. The young nurse stayed behind.
She removed the drape and released the straps. I inspected the "device". My cock and balls had been fed through a steel ring that tightly encircled them at the base. It was secured to a piercing just above my taint and another at the top. My penis was locked in a tight steel "cage" with a hole at the end for pissing. The head had been pierced and a metal bar went through me as extra security. It wasn't going anywhere. The whole thing was super tight.
"What is this?" I asked.
She explained. "It's your chastity device. Your genitals have been locked up. At the hearing, your mother and sister requested that you be put in chastity. The safety council asked them how long they thought would be appropriate and both wanted you locked forever. Since the incidents involved incest, the council agreed. Your penis is locked for life. I'm your keyholder nurse. I will help with adjustments, cleanings, draining your balls, and anything else needed for chastity".
"When do I get to take off?" I said.
She answered, "You're locked forever. So you wont get to take it off. They have to keep you locked so your sister is safe and to punish you for what you did to your mom. You wont be able to have sex or force anyone. Since you can't masturbate, your balls might swell, so you will see me every other month to drain them, do a deep cleaning, and tighten your cage, if necessary.
--------------------------------XXX--------------------------------

Part 2

The room was cold. My keyholder nurse was a cute twenty-something. A name tag with "Beverly" was pinned above her perky boobs. Her scrub top was tight around her chest. I could see the shape of her breasts and her hard nipples pressing againt the fabric. I stared and my cage got tighter. She noticed and grinned slightly.
I got back to business, "Can I appeal or get parole or something? What happens next?"
She answered, "Sorry, no appeals for chastity. There is parole, but not for incest cases. What you did is considered extremely disgusting, so they deemed you a "most extreme pervert". Incest offenders get more severe penalties and no parole. I'm not supposed to be judgemental, but you're my first incest case and it sounded really awful at your hearing. It's hard to believe creeps as bad as you even exist, who rubs their own mom's pussy? This case is really bad, so I'm gonna go harder on you than my other guys. I hope it was worth it. So here's what's next...your mother and sister are entitled to a final inspection of your genitals, then you'll go directly to prison to be processed and locked up in the chastity unit."
I was confused and responded with frustration, "I can't believe this is happening to me. I just got too horny seeing the girls dressed like sluts and listening to them getting fucked all the time. After seeing my sisters cum-filled pussy, I lost control and slipped up. If she just gave me sloppy seconds, I wouldn't have done all that to mom....What do you mean prison?!?!"
She responded, bursting with excitement, "Dont worry, you'll learn your lesson! OH! I see they didn't tell you about prison yet, since you were a rush case. Chastity is just an add-on to your prison sentence as an extra penalty and to keep everyone safe. Let me look at your file to see how much time you'll serve."
Looking at her tablet, she smiled big and replied, "I've never gotten to do this before! Most guys hear about their sentence before they get to me...Ok, so they actually got you taken care of pretty good here. It got split up into multiple counts, so fortunately, they were able to put you away for a long time."
She continued, "Your sister had you convicted on two charges, one for the shower incident and one for the bedroom incident. You got two more for mom, one for groping her tits and another for going between her legs. I'll read them off...
Count 1, Incestual peeping, sentence: 1 year special confinement
Count 2, Incestual peeping with propositioning, sentence: 1.5 years special confinement
Count 3, 2nd Degree Incestual Sexual Battery, 2 years special confinement
Ok and here's the big one! For touching mom's pussy...
Count 4, 1st Dregee Incestual Sexual Battery, 4.5 years RIGOROUS confinement in the SCU-I, (Special Chastity Unit, Incest wing), with intensive perversion correction."
So you'll do nine years total, with the first four-and-a-half in the incest wing."
I was completely shocked, "Nine years!? Are you serious? What's special confinement? Am I going to regular prison or what?
Beverely explained, "Special confinement means you'll be put in the chastity unit. It's a separate level for inmates that have their genitals locked, like rapists and other perverts. It's a little different. The cells are super small, you don't get any privileges like TV, and you stay locked in your cell for 23 hours a day. But don't worry. Most of my guys are in the chastity unit. They all want out really bad, but they're fine. Some eventually leave for regular population if their sentence allows, but you'll actually just be finishing up in the main chasity unit after you're done with rigororous confinement for the first four-and-a-half. You'll start off in the incest wing".
"What is all that? I asked
Beverly explained further, "It's a big deal. That's why I got so excited when I read your sentence on count 4. It wasn't just the amount of time you got, but what'll be happening to you that makes it a heavy one. I've heard it's very extreme. Since you're my first incest case, I'm not as familiar with it, but I've heard you're basically caged up 24/7 and pretty much treated like an animal. I'm not sure if you even get a toilet or a bed. You only leave your cage once every two weeks for perversion correction, which I might get to assist with, and you'll get another device I've heard about, called the "silver bullet". I think it's an anal device? You'll learn more about that when you get there. Oh! Looks like it's time to get you ready for inspection."
The door opened as she left and two female guards entered. One had a tazer. They led me to another table. This one had wheels. I sat on the edge. One grabbed my ankles and another tried to push me on my back. I resisted, trying to spin off the table. I was immediately tazed, then sedated, imobilizing me. "This will be easier for if you just comply" she said. I was on my back again. My ankles were lifted toward my head, folding my legs over me. Thick zip ties were placed around my ankles and calfs. My hands and forearms were looped through both, then "zzzzzzzztttt", it was all cinched down tight, securing my arms to my legs. A bar was secured between my knees, keeping me exposed. Beverly came back in. One of the guards said "He's all yours hon" as they left.
"Let's get you cleaned up" Beverly said. "Your mom and sister are on their way and they're excited to see your private parts all locked up for good.
She put gloves on, then approached the table, placing one hand over my nose. I opened my mouth and she shoved a gag in and secured it around my head. "This is just a temporary gag. Your sister didn't want you talking during inspection. I believe you'll get more securely gagged and muzzled when you get to processing. I've heard the guys don't get solid food in the incest wing, you get fed a liquid diet, like that soylent stuff, that you'll take through a drinking tube in your gag. It's really amazing how good they have you incest perverts locked up over there. I can't wait to see you like that.
She started the cleaning by soaping and lathering around my crotch, exposed parts were shaved. She walked away, coming back with a tube and a bag full of fluid that she hung from a pole. The label read "Enema". Beverly explained, "Gotta clean you inside and out. First I'll get you lubed up". She grabbed a metal syring, inserted the tip in my ass, and injected me with lube. At the end of enema tube, there was a detachable nozzle with two inflatable bulbs. One was forced in my ass and both were inflated, locking it in place. I could see the tube going from the bag to inside me. I felt like I was being treated like an animal already. She turned a valve, the fluid began flowing and filled me up. She set a timer for 35 minutes, and sat on her stool, reading cosmo. After an agonizing wait, she removed the nozzle plug, allowing me to release. Finally, thank goodness. I was soaped up again and rinsed. She cleaned up the enema nozzle plug, added more lube, and shoved it back1 inside me. "Putting this back in so we dont have any potential leaks" she said, as she inflated it. She disconnected the outside end of the inflatable nozzle where it attached to the longer enema tube, clamped it off, and let go of it. I felt it bounce around as it settled. "You're all set" she exclaimed.
I was wheeled on the cart-like table through a long, busy hallway to a different room for inspection. I could feel the protruding nozzle plug in my ass flop around as the cart moved. The other employees stared as I went by, a few smiled with satisfaction. How humiliating I thought. I heard murmuring. "Bitchtied pervert getting what he deserves!" one girl said angrily.
Finally in the inspection room, I waited. The door opened, Beverly entered with two blondes behind her, my mom and my sister. The two gorgeous sluts were dressed similar. My mom was wearing tight, denim, high waisted shorts that displayed her ass and curvy hips, they were pulled-up high in a way that you could see the denim tight against her twat. My sister came dressed in super short spandex yoga shorts, tight ones that lifted her already firm butt into perfection. Both wore crop tops with their stomachs and matching naval piercings exposed. Images of my sister's sloppy pussy flashed in my head, my cock and balls both swelled. I stared at their bodies and let out a loud, desperate moan as my cage grew excruciatingly tight.
Part 3 to follow...

With what happened with the Red picks for Ligue 1 and the NickRtfm siutation I have been thinking of all the things that need to change in this game. This game is infuriating. The amount of things that need to change in this game is actually astronomical. I'm gonna do my best to lay out all the problems I see and some solutions even if they are not be perfect.
1.SERVERS
For a company that boasts about making 1.5 billion in revenue the servers are actually terrible. The amount of DCs I have had while playing champs or rivals is unbelievable. Fix your servers. Understand that at content time the player base count will increase dramatically and account for that.
2.People quitting 0-0, 1-1 etc
Why are you not awarded a win when someone quits at the start of the game makes no sense to me. Especially when it's halfway through a game and they are doing it just to spite the other player. I've heard that they might not do this due to multiple reasons. If this is the case then only add it to CHAMPS at least
3.Corner glitches
The fact I have to 2nd man press and bring my player up short every time so that Roberto Carlos or whoever else has playstyle + whipped cross doesn't cross a ball in and some 6ft CB with aerial+ is dunking on my 5ft RB/LB is crazyyy. If it's not this it's another powershot corner BS tactic. Sort this AI out and do something to stop this OP tactic. Its too consistent and abused.

1. Menus

Why is it I press R1 or L1 too quick the game freaks out and I have to restart it. Who coded this game where it is guaranteed to happen every day. I will have to restart my game every day multiple times.

1. Pack weight

This has to be the scumiest ones of all. When EA put 100% guarantee on getting a TOTS or whatever promo. Why is it always the same 5 players worth 50k or less. I'd like to see the real chance of you packing the million + players. I honestly think that it's based on how much they are worth on the market exactly why you never see extinct players like CR7 or Mbappe. I'd rather see 0.000001% chance of packing Mbappe then see 100% guaranteed. Its too predatory that these packs are worth the price of full fledged games.

1. Draft

What a boring game mode. The same thing for the past 8 years. What's the point going 4-0 if the best of my rewards are gonna be an 83 rated fodder player 90 % of the time. Make it more then 4 games. Make the rewards better. Incentivize players to actually wanna play this gamemode instead of ignoring this mode and just copy and pasting it every year.

1. Rivals

I don't mind this gamemode with the recent change to rewards but the disparity in skill level with elite division makes no sense. I have played actual demons in div 3 and I have played some bots who seem like it's their first time playing in Elite Div. It doesn't matter what div you are in because it's gonna be win some lose some which is fine but I would hope it would be more consistent. I love the skill rating in Elite division but why is this limited to just Elite. Add it to all divisions. If I lose to someone better then me then I'm gonna be less inclined to say its DDA or luck.
7.5 Milestones rewards
How lazy can EA be. Honestly it's actually bewildering that they think it's acceptable to give us a tifo to get us to play games. What happened to rewarding people for playing their game instead of giving us 99% of the player base wont touch.

1. Tifos/Season rewards

I DONT CARE ABOUT TIFOS. SPEND LESS TIME PAYING ARTISTS AND SPEND THAT ON YOUR GAME! How hard is it to put 500 fifa points in the rewards tab. Every other game with a battle pass system can give it out im pretty sure it won't hurt your pockets EA. And the levels of packs that are in season pass are abysmal. All this grind for every 10 levels to get something of value. Surely you can boost these packs this far into the game cycle. Not like I'm gonna pack anything of value with how shocking pack weight is anyway...

1. ICON SBCS ROULETTE.

I don't need to pack another Winter wildcard icon worth nothing that I'd rather put into the exchange then play 1 second with in any game mode... I get that they don't want everyone running around with TOTY Ronaldo but at least make it worthwhile with limiting the bad player pool.

1. FC PRO

It's actually disgusting how much EA forcefeed this dead eSports down our throats just so they have people watching them so their advertisements are happy they have someone watching. If they didn't put packs in to get people to watch I'm sure half or even more would dissappear. Make the gameplay more enjoyable and people would happily watch.

1. SBC grind/Quality of Life

This is how I know EA just don't care or are too lazy to add any quality of life improvements. I have to give props to paleta the guy who made paletools. It basically has everything needed that EA should have added. And if he can do it on his own then why can't EA. In Madden AN EA GAME BTW you can filter through ratings. Why can't we do that in this game? JUST ASK THEM HOW THEY DID IT. I know it's probably different dev teams but they aren't gonna lose any money if you ask and if its a matter of coding it from the beginning then maybe it needs a revamp instead of a copy/paste.
-Duplicates. Add a button that let's me automatically put duplicates into an SBC. Searching through this dysfunctional menu to add a player is so tedious.
-Add a settings menu to see when you complete an objective in game. You have it visible when you play moments. Surely you can add a feature to turn this on and off during a game. Makes objectives so much easier. There are probably other quality of life improvements I am missing but I'm sure people in the comments can add a few.
This is from a fc24 player that is just tired of not having a good product of a game. To charge 70-100 pounds or dollars just to buy this game is a massive slap in the face. I haven't given many solutions to these problems but I know there are many so something can definitely be done. If you guys wants any change then boycott buying fc points. Hurt them where they will feel it the mosts. Their pockets. Then maybe some change will happen.