For background im 16 NB. I am really good at making myself invisible and when people do say things that upset me I’m good at ignoring them to good. Apparently I don’t have insecurities, because no one sees them. My grandpa keeps making comments about my body. He’s delusional, in the sense that my brother playing video games all freakin day is exercise but me doing jui jitsu, soccer and basketball isn’t stuff like that.(oh an for clarification I’m a healthy weight I lost weight and it lowered my weight to the point where my doctor was concerned) it’s borderline giving me an ED, such as now I feel guilty when I eat anything around him, I’ve started eating way less when’s he’s around just to avoid comments(it doesn’t work) etc. that’s like one example but like people at school when I talk to them and I can never tell when someone’s joking or not and it’s frustrating. People tell me just stop caring what other people say. HOW? I can act like I don’t care and smile in person. I still care it still hurts. And then people tell me that if I was more social it would get easier… do you know what it takes for me to talk to people 1st I actually need to have the thought to want to talk to them 2nd I need to script the entire conversation in my head 3rd I need to hype myself up and convince myself to go talk to them 4th I finally talk to them, they go off the script I put in my head I panic and go into robot mode. 5th i completely mimic their personality, every word that comes out of my mouth is something my social friends have said before It takes so much effort. And I always come off as weird. And then my friends shorten things(lmao, brb, lol, etc.). It took me YEARS to figure out what lmao meant(after my friends started using it) And I didn’t want to ask my friend cause clearly everyone knew but me. When I was a kid I’d read because interacting with people was stressful(if I’m reading people normally left me alone). People have told me that if I interact with people more irl then I’d be happier. If it’s so important why didn’t anyone tell me how to interact with people. My motto at this point is “fake it til you make it” if I just fake not caring and being able to talk to people eventually it will work right? Sorry it’s so long. How do I become more think skinned and interact with people socially??

Greece is 2494 years old (born in 470bc). When I first heard of the 2.5k yo headcanon, shortly after I joined the fandom, I disregarded it as the preconceived notion of always associating modern Greece with ancient Greece. Now, two years later, I decided it’s a 'compelling' narrative standpoint (atleast for me) and has a couple references and adresses certain historical notions. Anyhow, here is the (brief) story before I continue on the narrative value and character arc. (edit: poorly described)
Who we now know as the 3rd Hellenic Republic (Greece) was born/created sometime in Spring of 470bc. He was then known as Macedonia the Latter (or Mace II), son of Macedonia the former (800bc-462bc). Which, yes, means he was the ‘Great Macedonian Empire’ and yadee yadee yadaa. A selfish, pompous fella whose personality, indeed, took a dive into some deep hole. There sure is some improvement after his empire’s fall, but it didn’t last long. It was unmistakenly his fault Greece fell to the Romans. (actually historically accurate) He was dragged by chains to the Alba Fucens prison in Italy (also historically accurate..) Due to the horrendous conditions, most of his cellmates passed on and he himself was moved to another prison. He and his new cellmates planned an escape which was successful. Together with his great Aunt, Corinth, whom he had friended during those four centuries of imprisonment (168bc-370ad), they slowly climbed the social ladder before eventually founding a new state: Roman Politeia (also known as Byzantium). This part is a bit unpolished; I haven’t really settled on a headcanon for this point in time. Macedonia-Byzantium brutally murders Corinth-Byzantium after being convinced that she was plotting against him. At this point, I may mention that he is utterly delusional, unfortunately for everyone around him.
After a reign of 1123 years, he falls to the Ottomans on Tuesday 29th of May 1453, after they enter Constantinople. Byzantium had been declining for centuries, it was blatantly obvious. And he knew it. What he didn’t know, was how far away the fall was- or what would happen after it.
So, when he was just a young naïve king, he had traveled to Libya (specifically the Siwa desert) where he met a priest. The priest called him ‘son of god’ and ‘pharaoh’ and pleaded he granted him a wish; whatever he sought he would get. He wished to live forever. When it was time, on July 13th of 323, he rested his eyes only for a few seconds (actually hours) before opening them again. His wish had been seemingly granted. (no, he is not immortal, he just believes he is)
What he also didn’t know was that that wish was a double-edged sword, as he gradually determined that it was more of a curse than a gift: The world he knew had been rebuilt, the people he loved were gone. He had done and had experienced some awful things which had been engraved in his mind and had to carry them through his lifespan. (kind of cliché but yeah-)
Any regret and sorrow came back to haunt him, as he had plenty of time to think in the cell the Ottomans had locked him in for another four centuries. (the last emperor fell with the city, so not-so historically accurate) From 1453 to 1785, it’s blank. Then, there’s the revolution. The revolutionists disregarded most of Byzantium, except the faith (orthodoxy) and the Constantines (the Great and XI saying that: ‘A Constantine founded Byzantium, A Constantine fell with Byzantium and a Constantine shall bring it back’) and instead turned to their roots: ancient Greece. The word ‘Hellinas’ (=greek) was rebranded as to mean ‘brave and strong like our ancient counterparts’. This fueled arguments over our language and etc. ANYWAYS. I’m taking this as a ‘I don’t want to remember what happened’ and instead turning to a period of joy and glory. A period when he first united all the greeks, likewise now: 1821. He wasn’t fighting for his own freedom tho, but rather his relatives’ (children and grandchildren of his companions and friends) and was planning to retire, leaving Crete as his heir seeing how capable he was. Crete was a fanatic of the ‘bringing back Byzantium’ idea and the ‘Ideal’ (uniting all greeks once again). Seeing how his plan failed, Crete remaining under the Ottomans till 1912, he was encouraged to take a leading position until the Main Powers intervened. They introduced the Kingdom: a ‘reflection’ of Greece, raised to Western standards and there to represent foreign involvement in greek affairs. Little to say, other than that everyone hated him. During the next 2 centuries, the Republic’s (Macedonia-Byzantium-Greece??) and Kingdom’s views clashed, leading to catastrophes and losses. The Asia Minor war (also known as the Greco-Turkish war of 1919) was absolutely devastating, losing any hope of regaining that, historically, Hellenistic area. WW2 was also uttermost devastating, having fallen again to a foreign power but also due to the famine that had hit the country. Right after began the civil war (1946) and a few years later came the Junta. (1967) The Junta was the Kingdom’s last attempt of regaining any form of power, seeing his end was near. Foreign relations were inked; delaying the EEC application and only having an ally in the USA, who encouraged the all-right and anti-communist character of the military Junta. The Junta brought the end upon himself by staging a coup d’etat in Cyprus and having Turkey react to it by declaring war. Under the pressure of said war, the Junta collapsed and the 3rd Hellenic republic came in power once again. The Invasion of Cyprus (1974) was an intense period where Greece chose to not be involved. You read that correctly. He deeply regretted it after, as it compounded his relation with Cyprus, the only relative he’s got left. And so came a period of prosperity, only to be interrupted by the godforsaken economic crisis which we are so infamous for.
The history lesson ends here, where I begin to explain his arc. We start with this egotistical, pompous and with a superiority complex child-king who is set on conquering the world. Great fan of his great grandpa (Mycenae) whom he had as a role model and took inspiration from his heroic days. He wanted to be a hero too, and achieved some great accomplishments in cost of his ego which grew tremendously, until his empire's collapse. That’s when he began questioning his abilities; he had failed his second goal: ruling a united world. When he REALLY really began questioning everything was when he was imprisoned by the Romans, also taking a toll on his self-consciousness and superiority complex which by that point vanished. He was wary of the ‘founding an empire’ idea Corinth projected but went along with it, marking a big improvement on his morals and mentality as a whole. His ego sort of returned after 600ad, when the empire began to take on a greek, rather than a Roman, essence. He comforted himself by conquering, not only the peoples' lands but also their mentality: spreading byzantine culture and faith throughout eastern Europe, mainly Russia (much to the Vatican’s dismay), returning to what he was comfortable and familiar with. After the schism (1054) everything started declining, and that inability of doing anything about it hit him in the face like a basketball in P.E class. The 4th crusade (1204) was one of the most significant events of that period, second to the fall; it also brought back that questioning of his abilities, having lost his empire once again. He was, indeed, able to retrieve it after a few years but that didn’t matter as the end was near. You’d think those four centuries would actually make his character 180° but no, they just made it worse. This beyond redemption and fed-up-with-everything-and-everyone being is ready to take any possible measure to ensure freedom for what he’s got left: family. (in greek culture family is VERY important, making it part of our second motto: “Family, Faith, Fatherland”) He’s done some awful things and he knows it, what’s the point of ameliorating when his story is basically already finished? He's not part of this new-found world, imagine how much he had to relearn, discover and accept after all those centuries. He had to face the fact the past is long gone and the future was surely not all-that bright. The notion that he could never surpass his past achievements, rendering him basically useless, had been nurtured in his mind since the 12th cent. (an actual notion here in Greece, we tend to be very pessimistic) There is only one thing that he’s able to do: pave the way for the new generation.
It was like watching the same play again and again, only differentiating by the technology used by every era. People may change, but war doesn’t; and he knew war very well (unlike economics). There is a visible amelioration in the next 2 centuries , to the point he’d become actually likable- Only to do Cyprus dirty by not helping and neglecting his own people. We’ve gone full circle. Atleast he’s only got a fake ego now! And trying to improve some things. A huge problem is his retrogressing mindset; he’s stuck in the past and can only solve ancient problems with ancient solutions. He doesn’t have what he needs to function in a modern world, and that’s why he put Athens in charge of anything having to do with tech. And while Athens is trying to modernize the country, he’s wary, as he’s afraid he won’t be able to keep up anymore.
edit: He refuses to solve his own problems 🧍
I’m done, thank god. Sorry if I wasn’t able to convey my headcanon due to my horrendous English (I haven’t been in a language school for 3 years). If you read through all this, thank you for spending your time on this humble little rant. I’m still working on it btw.

Majority of the time I am in sweats or basketball shorts. Currently using this $20 Jukmo Amazon belt that has been working but after reading about the Hunter Constantine belt I am curious to see if it’s worth the $95 difference. I wear a tank top underneath my shirt so the Jukmo belt or holster (Sidecar or Tenicor) does not any add discomfort with belly. I read about the Tenicor Zero belt ($70?) and Comfort Concealment belt ($40) as good choices as well. I live by the “Buy once, cry once” motto now so I’m certainly leaning towards the HC belt. No thank you on the Enigma setup in advance i have looked into it already lol.

Hello everybody, I have been struggling with this dilemma for quite some time now - Should I workout/practice/do sports for fun or should I do those to better myself, to improve and build discipline. I am a 16yo basketball player.
I am a huge David Goggins fan, I love his mindset and everything he does and pretty much because of that I got myself into this dilemma. Goggins pushes himself, and us, to work always, improve even in the worst conditions (pain, sadness, emptiness...) and I love that, but is it really smart to go workout with extremely sore muscles, knee pain, shoulder pain etc. I've worked out many times while in pain, but I feel like that's not the most optimal way because one small mistake could scar you for life.
His motto is basically "It will suck, but stop when you're done.". I found myself in situations when I play basketball better and make better decisions by being chill and playing for fun rather than being locked into the mindset of getting work done.
To sum up and not waste any more of your time, lots of times I do things better when I do them for fun, but that contradicts my mindset of getting things done under all and any circumstances. I follow David Goggins' advice on improving yourself, but should I follow it so blindly? Open for discussion.

That's always been our motto right? That's what we've been hanging our hope on, and on some level, he has delivered. He promised to break the playoff drought, and he delivered that sweet relief we all craved. Something that I don't think any of us will ever forget, as sad as it is to cherish a first round playoff loss.
I don't want this post to come off as being a Fox hater, there's definitely a lot of it going on lately. But I do want to try and take an objective and qualitative look at his time with Sac and his future.
Starting with positives, Fox is both fast and quick af. When he uses those skills to their full potential, it's hard to stop him. When he's pushing the pace, leading one man fast breaks after made baskets and just putting pressure on the defense, he can be lethal. At his peak, he's actually a good finisher, and it 's pretty clear why he was an all staall nba player last year. Unfortunately, for him to be as his max potential, our team needs to play fast (all the time) and we have seen that it's not sustainable, especially on defense. I think now we're seeing that Fox, playing in the half court offense, is severely limited.
There are some real criticisms to levy on Fox which we have to compare to other ball dominant all star guards. First, Fox is not that great of a shooter. It was on his draft scouting report that his shot was going to be an issue, and that has pretty much been true during his career in Sac. He's a career 33% 3pt shooter and 73% FT shooter. This is 460 games worth of data. If I'm opposing team, I'm letting Fox launch 3s all day and live with the results. That's why I think the coaching staff and Fox have been a bit low IQ with him suddenly becoming a volume 3 pt shooter; it seems they just wanted to jack up 3s because "analytics". We've routinely see Fox take transition pull up 3s, step backs or side steps and contested ego 3s. I would rather have Monk, Barnes, Keegan or Huerter jack up volume 3s before Fox.
Next, this year more than ever, he does not want to finish tough inside. You think his 2FTa last night was the refs swallowing their whistle? Anytime he went to the basket, it was either a floater or some really tough rainbow layup over the defender. I don't think he likes taking contact anymore; could be injury related. But the fact of the matter is, he's substituting what used to be his best asset as a scorer with contested, fading middys.
His handle is not that tight. It almost seems like he's too fast for his own good and his dribbling can't keep up. He fumbles his dribble way too often in traffic and it's lead to some costly turnover. Hell, look at the his game tying shot vs the Grizzlies the last time we played them; he drove left, tried to cross over step back, lost the ball and recovered it and scored. It happens way to often that it's noticeable.
Lastly, I don't think he's a particularly good playmaker or game manager. You have a guy in Domas who sets elite, tough screens, yet there is virtually no 2 man game with Fox and Sabonis. His creativity and vision seems to be lacking. Despite last year having an elite clutch stretch, i have also seen (even before last year) Fox single handedly lose us games with bad shot selections and poor turnovers.
So why bring all these criticisms up now? Because we're about a year a way from him being eligible to sign some outrageous supermax contract. We have to ask ourself (from a purely basketball perspective), is Fox the number guy on a contending playoff team in the West given our competition? As he enters his prime, is there reason to believe that he will be a bona fide all sta all nba player for the next 5-6 years that has other teams fearing him? Right now, I don't think so, as much as I wish that was the case.
Last night was a perfect example. If Fox goes for 35 last night and is at least the second best player on the floor, I think we win that game. Instead, it seemed like Monk's absence wasn't there to mask Fox's inability to close out the game, while Luka and Ky paraded when it mattered most. If we don't make the playoffs this year, IMO, Fox is going to be in the hot seat because again, we go as far as Fox takes us right?

I'm autistic and as such most accessories give me sensory problems and are not sustainable for me to wear (necklaces, rings) and I have pretty much the same issue with makeup. Wearing them for any length of time makes me want to tear off my skin and is all around a bad time.
I'm also training in martial arts. When I was fifteen, I came up with the motto 'If I can't literally and metaphorically kick someone's face in it, I'm not wearing it', which is a philosophy I've followed almost religiously to date. As such most restrictive clothing is also a no go. (This includes most jeans)
Any tips for clothes/outfits to wear that are 1. sensory friendly, 2. flexible and mobility friendly, and 3. come off as gay? I'm currently rocking the middle school boy, t-shirt + basketball shorts look and I'm hoping to be at least a little more presentable.

I thought about the game from a "love languages" kind of perspective. Sort of.
This is honestly all just educated guess style hot air and semi-bullshit observations. But maybe it helps. None of this is scientific.
There's 4. Because that's the arbitrary number I chose before I even started typing anything.
1: The Spartans
Motto: Whatever I can do to overcome the largest possible challenge, that's what I'm doing. For glory. For dominance. For democracy.
How to spot one: Meta players. "Sweaty". Plays on the highest possible difficulty, or strives to. They want to know the numbers so they can minmax and optimize.
Pros: Generally extremely knowledgeable and skilled.
Cons: Can wind up being condescending or even downright abusive in the face of perceived weakness.
How a Spartan can be more helpful in the community: remember that not everyone is trying to play this game at it's highest level, and even the devs are more subscribed to a "have fun" mentality than a "be the best" mentality. Cool it. Use it to help others, not judge them - and remember that giving advice should always be a sandwich. "You're doing X right, maybe try Y? I also noticed you're doing Z and that's positive too! - otherwise you just come off as critical, judgemental, or controlling.
How the community can be more accommodating to Spartans: Some people drive towards perfection and can't help it. That doesn't always make them "sweaty" or "try hard". Most of the guides that people follow on most video games, tier lists, informational articles, strategy guides... They wouldn't exist without these people. Be thankful for their knowledge and try not to treat it like an unnecessary evil. It is a necessary one. Also understand that if you're playing on their playground (the highest difficulties) then it's respectful to play by their rules. Just like an atheist wouldn't likely say "no, this is stupid" when a religious family invites them to pray at dinner in their home. Grab a hand, bow your head, "When in Rome" and enjoy a lovely meal.
It also doesn't hurt to stroke their ego a little, since this sort of a behavioral pattern often stems from a lifetime full of being made to feel inadequate. Many of them are showing off because they finally get to be good at something. Don't take it away. Maybe they've already had enough of that. Compassion is extremely powerful.
2: The Keggers
Motto: (pulling pin from grenade) Do you think I could blow that stalker back into it's own bug hole? Hold my beer.
How to spot one: Fun above everything. They don't care if they win at all, as long as they've got some stories to tell, ideally funny ones. All the best memes and screenshots come from these guys.
Pros: always good for a laugh and a good time. Low pressure matches. These guys also sometimes figure out hacks, exploits, and tricks that normal people would have never uncovered. Did you know you can dribble SEAF artillery shells like a basketball and move faster doing so? I'd bet you a dollar it was a Kegger that did it first.
Cons: sometimes they're dead weight, or even detrimental. If you try to get them to take things seriously, they just dig in and hold their ground or even become more extravagantly creative in their non-victory-focused efforts.
How a Kegger can be more helpful in the community: Just like in life, there's a time and a place. If the mission is going well, there's lots of reinforcements, and the crowd of enemies is manageable - do your thing, boo. Also, maybe try and involve others or explain what you're doing and why, so people are aware of the general vibe of the match they're in nice and early on. Once, there was an experiment where one group was sprayed in the face with a water gun periodically "because it's hot (100+ degrees F) out and we're seeing if it's more manageable if you're occasionally doused." - the other group was simply periodically doused with no explanation. Which group do you think was happier about it? Sometimes all it takes is communication so people can temper their expectations.
How the community can better accommodate keggers:
They're having fun. Don't hate on fun. We're all just monkeys on a big floating ball. Why so serious? Unless they are directly impacting your chances of survival, who the hell cares? If they're affecting your chances of survival - communicate, don't bitch. "Bro why the fuck are you aggroing all these extra enemies" is not the same as "Woah dude! I see you brought friends. Once we clear these out together, stick close by so we can avoid pissing off so many locals and we can all make it home alive!"
Or... Y'know... You could just say "fuck it" this round, join in the reindeer games, and go have and fun and laugh until your belly hurts.
3: The Heckwaders
Motto: I just want to play my video game... It's a video game. It's super weird that people take it so seriously. Don't tell me how to play, don't critique me, and keep all your meta shit to yourself.
How to spot one: They're this game's casuals. AND THAT'S OKAY, IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT. They don't dive into hell, they wade into heck. They don't no-life the game, they don't care if they win or lose, they don't care what gun is the best. They're usually on lower difficulties. They're playing the game because they like the game and it doesn't really go a lot deeper than that.
Pros: they're neither sweaty nor useless!
Cons: A lot of these guys don't put in the same hours as some of us... So it always seems like there's less of them around than there should be. Generally we wind up diving with mostly Spartans or Keggers. These heckwader guys are often busy "doing real life stuff" (whatever that means, pssh..) and being well-adjusted humans. How strange...
How heckwaders can help the community: as with just about any other game, the casuals are usually the mediators. The middle ground. Look, Spartan, we aren't playing eSports here and we don't have any sponsors. But Mr. Kegger - it would be helpful if you stopped running through every patrol yelling "O'DOYLE RULES!" - Help the fuckarounders realize that there actually is a win condition in this game, and help the tryhards realize that losing in this game doesn't actually impact you in real life. On behalf of all Keggers and all Spartans... We're sorry for making you the middle child.
How the community could better accommodate heckwaders: Give em a break, guys. They're listening to Mom and Dad fighting all the time. Both extreme ends of this game are often a bit too loud for our casual brethren. It's got to be annoying to listen to. The vast majority of us could stand to drift a little closer to the middle ground and look up to our Heckwader peers as a solid example of where this game should end up in our minds. It's a video game, y'all. Always remember that. Don't tell them to turn into tryhards just because they did a few things that are a little outside the meta, and don't assume they're sweaty tryhards just because they don't want to try to punch a bile titan to death. They're exactly what Goldilocks would choose, and that's wonderful.
Don't forget to thank a Heckwader today. It's hard as hell to stay in the middle when everybody seems to be pulling to one side or the other. They are the last bastion of true balance.
4: The Coaches
Motto: I just want others to have more fun and do better.
How to spot one: "here newbie, have my railgun and my shield generator"
Pros: These are the realest helldivers... Sometimes. They will offer advice on comms in a non-confrontational way. They don't judge, they don't accuse. They provide evidence for why something is better. They help people learn. You'll often find them as high level divers playing on lower difficulties to help the noobs out. They take hours of their own time to advance the lower skillsets of the community, which is quite noble.
Cons: sometimes they think they're being a "coach" but really they're just being a jackass that's aggressively offering completely unsolicited advice to people who don't want it, and they're no better than a salty Spartan.
What Coaches can do to help the community: Be careful to make sure people actually want what you're selling before you start throwing it out like candy at a holiday parade. A lot of people absolutely hate being told how to play by a stranger, no matter how helpful you are or how good your intentions were. There's a time and a place. All it takes is a little communication "I think I've got some insights that would be helpful here, do you mind if I share?" - watch your tone. Watch your timing. Be mindful of how frequently/how many things you're coaching do you don't make people feel like they're doing everything wrong, or you come across like an obnoxious know-it-all.
What the community can do to better accommodate coaches: Remember that they're trying to help. Remember that they think they're helping and they're not trying to be awful or bossy. Don't keep your defenses so high. Thank them and encourage them if they're providing helpful advice, even if you don't want the advice. Find a productive, positive way to stop the behavior if you don't want it. "Dude, shut the fuck up!" is not the same as "Thanks for the tip, man! Respectfully, we'll ask for advice if we need it moving forward, is that alright?"
Coaches often feel crushed when they missed the mark. They set out to help and they pissed people off instead. It's not a good feeling. Imagine saving somebody's life from choking and then getting sued by them because you broke one of their ribs (actually quite common). Sucks, right? They wouldn't even be alive to sue you if not for your efforts, but here we are. It's a terrible emotion to go through.
Be nice and recognize the good intentions.
If you DO want the advice... Nothing is going to make a coach more giddy than "That was great advice! Can you teach me anything else?" - you just made them into a kid in a candy store. If you could see them on cam, they're probably glowing and grinning.

I’m putting together a project that requires a collection of inside jokes, chants, sayings, phrases, mottos, local references, etc. Commonly used as well as deep cuts. What are some used by UNC football and basketball fans?

5
In the summer of 2004, before the military training in high school began, I had two months to enjoy my vacation. However, the intense heat of the Southern summer confined people's activities indoors, even with fans, as the air was hot. Spending too much time indoors led to a sense of helplessness, and during the afternoons, it was common to take a short nap to break the monotony. After all, outdoor activities were not suitable from early morning, and indoor spaces were equally inhospitable. The result of this boredom was often a midday nap. Speaking of naps, many times I would fall asleep around midnight and wake up at five or six in the evening, feeling disoriented and groggy. Yet, each day unfolded in a similar manner.
During the scorching intervals, I attempted to do something productive. In one of my sister's parcels, I found a book titled "Youth in Blossom," which I initially treated as a sci-fi adult novel. Later, I dared not continue reading as the plot and story progression were beyond my comprehension. (Around 2011, I stumbled upon the same book at home. Comparing it to my experiences during the years of studying in Beijing, I began to feel that the author wrote a work of documentary literature, depicting aspects of campus life in the early 2000s that still existed in real universities many years later.) Somewhere else, I discovered a book titled "The True Story of Ah Q" and found it captivating. Despite Ah Q's unfortunate life experiences, he did not choose to give up. Instead, he employed a spirit similar to Ah Q's spiritual victory method to cope with the setbacks and disappointments in the real world.
Thus, after reading each of Ah Q's experiences, I had a feeling of being transported to another world. You could interpret this as the power of art, whether it's popular fiction or fabricated stories. Each of Ah Q's independent experiences felt like a movie from beginning to end, and this movie could evoke certain common sentiments in you. This feeling did not occur when I later read about Ah Q. It's not that Ah Q's story is better than Ah P's story; in fact, in many years of reading experiences in Chinese language classes, articles that could evoke common feelings in me were few and far between. Notable examples include Zhang Ruoxu's "Spring River in the Flower Moon Night," Yang Zhenning's speech, and Yu Hua's "Leaving Home at Eighteen." I will discuss these experiences in detail later. At that time, Ah P's story provided me with a rare immersive experience.
This to some extent prompted me to begin pondering my personal situation, although it was only in a very basic sense. Regardless of fiction or non-fiction, good literary works can inspire us to perceive the surrounding world more attentively, experience life more profoundly, or strive harder in life, rather than letting life unfold on its own.
When I talk about reflecting on personal situations, I mean that, at a young age, I began to gain inspiration from written materials. This discovery was based on personal experience, not the routine understanding imposed by the school. Everything presented in the nine-year compulsory education textbooks cannot be considered garbage, but in terms of the presentation of knowledge and information, it's challenging to be satisfied. It's quite amusing that this examination method, primarily based on memorization, can still be seen in some disciplines' Ph.D. qualification exams today. I'm not criticizing the compulsory education system or academic education in China, which ranges from middle to high levels, or even very specialized fields. I will discuss these aspects continuously in subsequent writing and provide detailed comments to explain why almost all levels of education in China are essentially garbage. However, regarding the nine-year compulsory education mentioned here, policymakers in the education sector, textbook writers, and teachers all lack a fundamental understanding of education as a basic national endeavor. This has resulted in a generally low level of reasoning and inductive abilities, not to mention reading comprehension and innovative thinking, among individuals who have or have not received a lower nine-year compulsory education or higher education.
The general path for humans to acquire knowledge is based on empirical reasoning and induction, where we extend our methods of dealing with future experiences based on rational reasoning. Through experience-based induction, we can better engage in rational thinking. If we consider fictional works as a form of knowledge production, it also involves imaginative thinking. When dealing with literary and artistic works, some form of imagination is necessary.
Experience is something every living person has, but the ability to reason or induct based on experience clearly requires specialized training. Even imagination and intuition, which play a crucial role in the humanities, can be and need to be strengthened through training.
However, schools do not teach us these abilities; the focus is on memorization-based education. Reciting and doing exercises have become universal methods in both the humanities and STEM fields. Using the metaphor of teaching someone to fish or giving them a fish, schools do not concentrate on improving individual learning abilities. Instead, they force you to learn, treating the cultivation of learning abilities as a matter of personal enlightenment. The expectation is that one day, during continuous memorization or exercise sessions, you will suddenly awaken, integrate everything, or suddenly understand during some weekend holiday extracurricular training class or interest class. Then, you will forge ahead without turning back.
Around the year 2000, I obviously did not have this realization. However, I was lucky to be inspired by reading "Stories" in the corner, and these short stories stimulated my emotions, leading me to brief contemplation on several idle afternoons. This indirectly triggered an awakening of my self-awareness. I began to actively write diaries to record life, but due to my limited starting level, I wrote about mundane things like today's weather, sleeping and waking times, and so on. After a few days, I found it boring and gave up.
I feel that, in a very loose understanding, the brief encounter with the summer after the third year of junior high school, to some extent, laid a tiny foundation for my later life. This experience hinted at what might attract me later, leading to a related kind of life.
Of course, a small "Stories" or "The True Story of Ah Q" or "Youth in Blossom" cannot have such a great influence. These were just very accidental factors that inclined my personal interests and life trajectory in a certain direction, making me feel close to certain things. Simultaneously, I started cultivating my unique interests because I could find satisfaction in them and receive concrete personal experiences from investing time and energy. A world constructed by books, whether fictional or non-fictional, unfolded certain possibilities in some potential future world for me. It vaguely presented a certain possibility of life, even though only a rough outline was revealed to me. There were too many specific details that I needed to fill in with my own time and energy. Still, considering the source of this accidental influence, the experiences of the summer of 2004 remain stored in the active region of my memory in a very concrete way.
6
The summer of 2004 was not at all lengthy. Within days of paying the school selection fee, I received the admission notice from Quzhou No. 3 High School, explicitly stating that military training would commence in August.
In other words, after idling away for two months of vacation, the guilt brought about by the school selection fee had not yet subsided. As mentioned earlier, this guilt did not stem from my academic performance or the enormity of the sum, but rather from the fact that my parents, despite leading a financially tight life, managed to save money to fund my education. Although I always believed there was no need for such financial hardship, for over twenty years before I ventured out to earn and spend money on my own, I couldn't change my parents' way of life. Apart from emotional guilt, I indeed couldn't change anything. You can't change anything, just like you can't change anyone. Therefore, one of my life mottos is to change the way you describe the world, and you can change the world. Of course, aside from that, the world remains the same. The bugle for military training had already sounded, and it was time to enter the city with my bags and parcels, embracing high school life.
Due to peculiar historical reasons and its advantageous geographical location, Quzhou had a small military airport in the city, complemented by a radar unit. As one of the indicators of various military-civilian collaborations, our school's military training instructors came from the artillery battalion. The content of the military training remained perennial under the sun – standing and running. August was possibly the hottest period of the year. If you have the chance to open Google Maps, you might see tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of junior or senior high school graduates foolishly gathered on open sandy fields in the coastal region of East Asia, all clad in various shades of yellow, occasionally shouting slogans with a strong ideological flavor left over from over sixty years ago.
We don't simply view the military as an emotionless national machine. Strictly speaking, the military belongs to the party, not the nation. The military upholds the interests of the party, not the nation. However, considering the complex political situation domestically, since the establishment of the Republic in 1949, the hereditary party forces have maintained absolute control over the operation of the country. In the discourse system of the Republic, the party is the country, and the country is the party. Although in terms of both connotation and extension, the nation is far larger than the party, in the ideological environment of the past sixty years, what belongs to the country is that of the party, and what belongs to the party remains with the party. As for those in the military, most of them are ordinary people from the masses who undergo paid ideological indoctrination in the military for several years and then return to the civilian population, either unemployed or becoming security guards, continuing along the path arranged for them by the previous generation.
So, what makes military training special? If it's not for inefficient ideological education, what other explanation is there? According to one interpretation, military training is actually a historical legacy. The modern school military training system with clear regulations began during the period of the Republic of China's Nanjing National Government. Considering the political atmosphere in the 1920s, we can assume that the Nanjing government advocated school military training, partly to promote nationalism for military considerations, preparing for the entire population to be soldiers. On the other hand, it was to suppress potential student movement forces domestically. Coincidentally, in Beijing over sixty years later, similar events are still happening. Therefore, according to another understanding, military training is just an industry that has emerged in the past twenty-plus years. In that case, the uniqueness of military training is not hard to understand.
Let's skip these sensitive and foolish political topics and continue the story of the summer of 2004. Carrying an extreme guilt for the thousands of yuan spent by my family on the school selection fee, the impact of the foolish military training and the blows from the instructors were quickly forgotten. I started considering recording all my expenses because doing so might alleviate my guilt about money. From as far back as I can remember until going to a distant place for university, during the nearly seventeen years living with my parents, I witnessed them living an overly frugal life, a lifestyle tradition prevalent and considered normal in Chinese villages, which I found highly inefficient and foolish. However, while living on my parents' money, eating their food, and staying in the space they provided, I couldn't make any meaningful comments or changes. After all, it's not wise to bite the hand that feeds you. That's why, after every big argument with my parents, I would eventually go home and have dinner or go to bed, although all of this ceased after I graduated from university. I rarely went home, let alone eat or sleep there.
So, during the evening self-study sessions after military training each day, I started keeping accounts in a notebook, and occasionally added some diary-like entries. I remember a certain time when I was sitting alone in the back row of the classroom, bowing my head to write my accounts. It was still during military training, and the classes hadn't been organized yet. A classmate came over, looked at me, and realized I was journaling. It made me feel a bit embarrassed. I immediately turned to a new page in the notebook and started doodling.
In reality, life during high school was quite unstable. I once dedicatedly recorded my daily expenses, starting on the last few pages of the exercise book provided by the school, marking dates and various categories clearly. However, not long after, I would find that the notebooks were lost somewhere. In those years, MP3 players hadn't become widely popular, and there was no intentional effort to save data. As a result, many financial records from my early years disappeared with each change of location between semesters, different dorm rooms, or different classrooms. Although I could still provide a basic range for monthly expenses in the early years, those precise and intuitive numerical records were lost in either a paper recycling station or a garbage dump.
After entering university, with the slight development of technology, I began using my phone to record my expenses. One result was that every penny I spent in the last decade has a trace, and I usually create a report for myself at the end of the year, summarizing monthly and yearly expenditure. It helps me gain a practical understanding of my life based on spending. Of course, during the university period, the expenses were limited in terms of categories. Especially between 2007 and 2012, the annual maximum expenditure was limited to tuition fees, followed by food expenses, book purchases, and some other miscellaneous spending. After 2012, when I started living independently, the disposable amount increased slightly each year, but the expense of rent also increased significantly. You see, a year's rent in school was only a few hundred or a couple of thousand yuan, but when you venture out and want a decent living environment, it's in the thousands or tens of thousands.
So, a very strange point is that in 2012, the first year after leaving school, the standard of living for the whole year was lower than when I was in school. In other words, no matter how you scramble for money, life was still very difficult. Later on, life gradually improved with the introduction of credit cards, and in the past two years
, my standard for evaluating my living standard is how much more I spent this year compared to the previous year. I use that to motivate myself to find a job and strive for a better life. All of this becomes very straightforward when I compare the annual bills of the past decade.
7
The military training ended at the end of August, marking the beginning of the new semester. In other words, it was the true beginning of high school life.
In the previous section, I mentioned the unpleasantness brought about by the foolish military training. However, considering the unknown possibilities that the upcoming new life might bring, such discomfort was quickly forgotten. I chose to redirect my energy towards the new academic struggles and experiences I anticipated in my planned study and diverse campus life.
The new life I spoke of began with a meeting after class placement. A group of people, some of whom had connections during military training, formed small groups, either already familiar or inquiring about hometowns. Some even discovered they were from the same hometown or village or were classmates from junior high. Meanwhile, I silently hoped for a female desk mate when distributing books or arranging seats. After all, I wanted to study hard to repay my parents for the school fees they paid.
The specific state of mind at that time is no longer ascertainable. However, when I was organizing my high school diaries later, I found a diary entry from the beginning of the autumn semester in 2006. Regardless, it reflects the general state of high school life:
"7.1 Carefully flipping through, I realized I hadn't written in my diary for more than ten days, like waking up from a nap and realizing it's the first day of school. I was still online in the morning, wandering aimlessly. After a few short hours at noon, I forgot everything and started studying. Slowly, I began to feel the casual nature of time. The confusion of the past seemed to be temporarily unraveled. Finally, I understood what 'no time' meant, how time flows like water, and how time flies. Without a purpose but still continuing the diary, knowing I didn't plan or couldn't write anything good, I continued nonetheless. It's like ignorant people living in ignorance but staying content! (2006.9.2)"
With the commencement of school life, the military green environment during training, which was initially calm, became exceptionally lively due to the arrival of high school juniors and seniors from the same school. I, as usual, silently prepared to immerse myself in intense studying on one hand and hoped to integrate into campus social life on the other.
For the former, it's needless to say; the influx of new courses overwhelmed me, and I quickly lost interest in these boring subjects. Instead, I focused on developing new learning projects. As for the latter, I still vividly remember a particular evening after self-study in the dorm, chatting with others. A classmate forcibly came over, demanding contributions for "protection money" for a senior in the third year, claiming it would be beneficial in the future. Although I was very unwilling to contribute ten yuan, seeing classmates around eagerly paying without hesitation, I went along with the flow.
Contrary to my initial plan of social integration in campus life, it turned out to be this form of integration. I envisioned engaging in communicative social activities, enriching experiences, and meeting interesting people on campus, rather than passively going with the flow. However, throughout the three years of campus social life that followed, I adopted the same approach. It's not that I'm personally weak; it's just that, in the context of that era, campus socializing was monotonous and impoverished.
I can say that I was deceived by TV dramas because reality is completely different from the world depicted in TV and movies. For example, when I finished high school and went to Beijing, wanting to experience another possibility shown in "Waiting Alone," not to mention the worlds depicted in campus romance dramas.
However, in that era, as someone who just finished junior high in a small town and eagerly entered city campus life for thrilling unknown adventures, there was no real reference for me to understand. My sister graduated from the third year of senior high at Three Middle School, but she remained silent, showing no signs of being baptized by the new world. Apart from a few old acquaintances from the village or town, she didn't make any new friends who appeared to be "city people" at first glance. I had to face the potential new life alone, something I had never experienced before in terms of living geography (i.e., the school was located in the city, not the village or town where I had been active for more than ten years) and learning environment (I was a selected student, and undoubtedly, most students in the class studied much better than me). In that era without Baidu Knows or platforms like Douban or Zhihu, if you wanted to know the "experience of xxx," besides TV dramas and movie channels, there were no other reliable channels. In reality, if you wanted to further understand the outside world and the unknown, I could find only two channels. Watch the news during breaks and watch urban romance TV dramas or campus youth dramas (such as the popular "Meteor Garden," "MVP Lover," and "18-Year-Old Sky") in other breaks, plus watching cartoons. That's all there was to life, and those were all the channels available to get information about the outside world.
Continuing with the tense academic life, I once vowed to repay the school fees of thousands and the solemn faces of my father and the worn-out faces of my mother every now and then (our family's economic situation was not considered poor in the village or town, but for some reason, even after more than ten years, my parents still liked to express their understanding of life through similar facial expressions. You should know that this strategy has fundamentally affected the way I spent my three years of high school, making me live under constant pressure during those three years. Generally, my understanding of life is indifferent and plain. If you watch documentaries or the news, you'll see that there are many people on Earth who have lives with food. My parents' sorrowful way of life made me feel that everything was my fault, and they paid for my personal behavior through their hard life. I affirmed the foolishness of studying and school life on one hand, using my willpower to resist the assimilating force of this foolishness, and on the other hand, every time I asked my parents for a few hundred yuan in living expenses, I encountered the tearful faces of my parents, as if a fragile family could collapse at any time due to the few hundred yuan I spent each month. Under the influence of these two pressures, I naturally suffered substantial blows both physically and psychologically. Ten years after graduating from high school, the days I spent affected by neurasthenia have even exceeded ten years, and it can be expected to continue.)
Imagine how eager I was when I received the high school textbooks, hoping that everything would start soon, and I could make a big difference. However, after two class assignments, I was ready to criticize teachers or course arrangements. In the first year, all subjects were covered, with the main courses being Chinese, mathematics, and English, and others including physics, chemistry, biology, politics, history, and geography. I could achieve the class average in all humanities subjects, but lagged behind in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Perhaps the reason was that the latter three required much more homework or exams in terms of quantity, so I became less willing. After all, in any evening self-study or self-study class, I needed to set aside some time to chat with my desk mate (mainly to train my skill of talking nonsense), try to get close to female classmates around (most of the time unsuccessful), and daydream (self-reflection) to think about interesting things.
I don't remember where this general view came from, but from the moment I realized it, it became a substantial standpoint in my worldview. That is, I believe daily life should be interesting. However, everything in high school campus life is completely contrary to fun. My school, Qizhou No. 3 High School, has always emphasized hard work. Although located in the city, the core student source comes from students in surrounding villages and towns, unlike the other two similarly competitive high schools located in the city, whose students mostly come from the main urban area and its surroundings. The difference in student sources is not just a simple geographical distinction because the admission score for Three High is generally the lowest among the three schools. Teachers hope that everyone can improve their college entrance exam results by working hard, doing exercises, and other actions so that the next intake of students will improve, and the school will replace the other school to become the second most eye-catching. However, all this was quite unacceptable to me. I also aspired to go to a good school (for example, if possible, I hoped to enter either of the other two), and I also hoped to enter a broader metropolis through high school studies to achieve the learning or social life I expected. Still, I couldn't accept strategies like alchemy, such as doing exercises and homework intensively, to strive for that goal. I hoped for a smooth progression in between, similar to following a certain trajectory, steadily advancing towards your goal, and naturally reaching the place you want to go without lowering your head and sitting in the classroom doing papers and such. As I expressed in my diary:
"7.2 I can't study, and my grades won't improve. Probably because I don't like reading, don't like homework, don't like classes. I have a certain set of values. I believe that using a huge amount of time and attention to do things must contribute to self-improvement, self-realization, and progress. The so-called reading, attending classes, doing homework, physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, English, Chinese - none of them stirs my interest or enthusiasm. It doesn't make me put in great effort with my full attention. I don't base my entire life direction on learning. Although most of my time is spent on studying, my energy is not focused on it. In my free time, I invest in other things." (2006.11.28)
8
I am talking about life after the first year of high school. The first year begins with class assignments and seating arrangements, and to some extent, these non-natural forces determine the possible social circles for the next few years. For me, the social circle ultimately boiled down to friends sitting around me, particularly those on my left and right. Right at the beginning of high school, I encountered some special classmates around me, whom I still consider extraordinary to this day. However, I haven't decided to delve into this story in detail for now.
Several years ago, when I was organizing my book purchases, I wrote a simple summary, starting from the year 2004. Here is the summary:
8.1 Prehistory of Online Book Shopping
If memory serves me correctly, my personal book-buying experience began around the summer and autumn of 2004. At that time, books like "The Little Prince by the Window" and "Harvard Girl" would occasionally appear on my desk, thanks to my desk mate. As I had no reading habits before (prior to this, I had only read "The True Story of Ah Q" from Storytelling magazine, apart from textbooks and comic books), these books were merely flipped through for the images. It was during the high school period in the city, where I went home every weekend and returned to school before Sunday evening self-study. I would often find new books piled on my desk during these weekends, and in my leisure time, I would often flip through them.
Later on, when my desk mate occasionally brought in the 16mo "Good Books" with vivid illustrations, my interest in flipping through books increased significantly. "Good Books" was a reader's publication from Xishi Bookstore at that time, mainly compiling introductory texts on recently published books, serving as a small-scale book review magazine. Looking back today, what left the deepest impression was an article written by Annie Baobei about "Love Letters" in a certain issue. However, many years later, I discovered that this article was published as an introduction in the July 2004 edition of "Love Letters" by Tianjin People's Publishing House. I can infer that the "Good Books" I saw was probably around the 4th-5th issue in 2004 ("Good Books" is a bimonthly magazine, and the 4th-5th issues were probably published between August and October).
The bimonthly format means that you can only repeatedly flip through a small book within two months. Although my desk mate may have had several issues at hand during that time, it was still not enough. Consequently, almost naturally, I started considering going to Xishi Bookstore myself. So, around the end of 2004, I spent 25 yuan at Xishi Bookstore to buy my first book—Yu Qiuyu's "A Sigh of a Millennium." (This book was probably given to a classmate from Gansu around 2010 or sold, but I lean towards the former).
As for my first book-buying experience, there are probably many things to talk about. For now, I'll only discuss two points: the process of buying books and the issue of book prices. Looking at the background behind the book-buying process at that time, it had a larger context. For instance, during high school weekends, it took about two hours by bus to travel home from the city, making the round trip quite troublesome. So, I usually went home once every three weeks. The living expenses at that time meant that I would only have disposable funds starting from the afternoon of the beginning of each new three-week cycle, just before Sunday evening self-study. Naturally, that became the best time to buy books. This arrangement could continue until the end of high school. Ignoring too many details, after wandering around bookstores for two weekends or more (I might have stood there flipping through a particular book dozens of times; during a certain period, I had developed the habit of standing in a bookstore for an entire weekend afternoon), I finally decided to buy "A Sigh of a Millennium."
The price of 25 yuan was not cheap, at least for me at that time, as 30 yuan was enough to buy a new pair of jeans or something else. Another aspect worth mentioning about the 25 yuan is that I seemed to feel that the prices of most books at that time were around 25 yuan. Due to the membership system at Xishi Bookstore, B-level members could enjoy an 80% discount, and E-level members could enjoy a 75% discount. During most of my book-buying times, I used the B-level membership status of my desk mate, and many books were obtained at the price of 20 yuan, causing the bookstore owner to think for a long time that I was my desk mate. (I reported my desk mate's name when buying books, and the owner could retrieve membership information from the database).
According to my statistical record at that time, the total number of books I purchased from Xishi Bookstore would not exceed 50 (mostly by Annie Baobei, Yu Qiuyu, and similar authors). I am not sure if this "statistical record at that time" is accurate, but even allowing for some error, I think it would not exceed 100 books (which was unimaginable in terms of financial capability at that time; if I'm conservative, I think the total might be around 30 books). Especially after 2007, I began to try more frequently to buy books on Dangdang — many books with titles I had only heard of could be found on Dangdang, and they also offered cash on delivery!
The last memorable book-buying experience came in 2007. One weekend, I bought Chen Danqing's new signed edition, "The Sequel to the Retreat Collection," on Dangdang. Later, I went to Xishi Bookstore specifically to show off and bought another copy there. This was before or after May 1, 2007. As mentioned earlier, in the spring of 2007, I had already started my online shopping journey on Dangdang (the first two books I bought were Schopenhauer's "The World as Will and Representation" and Heidegger's "Being and Time"), even though I often went to Xishi Bookstore near the back gate of the Chinese Medicine Hospital and the new store next to Erzhong later on. It's just that the books in the bookstore could no longer satisfy what I wanted to read, and, at the same time, I had not been doing well for many years. These two factors made me rarely chat with the store owner again. (December 18, 2012)
The above is about the beginning of reading and buying books, which was triggered by my desk mate. Another kind of trigger came from classmates in front and behind. I remember that the student in front of me was a girl who liked basketball. Every week, she would buy "Contemporary Sports" or "Slam Dunk" basketball magazines. At the end of each week, as we sat in the classroom waiting for Sunday evening self-study to begin, many students with extraordinary powers would share strange encounters over the weekend, comment on this week's TV programs, or show something novel to share with everyone.
I took advantage of these moments of exchange or chit-chat, borrowed basketball magazines, and began to read them. It was this unique experience that smoothly turned basketball into my main extracurricular activity for the next three years of high school. At the same time, the "Good Books" my desk mate brought from Xishi Bookstore opened up another world, smoothly making buying and reading books my most continuous hobby for the next decade.
It was a very coincidental and strange experience that happened in the summer when high school began. I have never been a fatalist; I believe that my destiny is in my own hands. Such a belief lasted for at least twenty years. Later, I read Rorty's "Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity," which had a substantial impact on refining my life and worldview. However, I was not convinced by Rorty; I don't believe in the power of contingency. Including later readings on Nagel's moral luck, Aristotle and Hegel's discussion of the individual's position in tragedy, none of them provided much convincing power. Moving forward, as I came out of school, traveled from the south to the north, and, influenced by my life experiences, began to slowly lower my head to fate, I started to believe a bit in the concept of contingency.
Later, in a response by Zhao Jie on a question about fatalism in the "Wenzhao Wheel" on Zhihu, the answer resonated with me. The reason I agreed with that answer is, I think, based on empirical summaries inside. Later, I found an interview with Wen Zhaolun on Weibo, where Old Zhao talked about his fatalism again:
Old Zhao: Acceptance means acknowledging that there are things in the world that you cannot change no matter what, and they may play a decisive role in your life and development. In this way, when you succeed, you will feel that there is nothing to be proud of; it's just a bit better luck, so continue to strive. When you fail, you will also feel that there is nothing to regret; it's just a bit worse luck, so continue to strive.
What I want to say is the shaping power of experience on life. I was once attracted by the power of reason, but in daily experience, I repeatedly found that to change life, the power of reason is so negligible. Later, I turned into a person who purely pursued changing life, and it was obvious that reason's power was insignificant. In the second half of 2016, I changed my Weibo signature to "Have surprises given by fate, unaware of any worries." Before this, my signature was "How can I bow down to the powerful and flatter them, causing me to lose my cuteness." I think life gave me a very substantial education, making me realize the power of fate, making me aware of the illusion I had held for over twenty years about practical daily life. Experience truly began to shape my life.
I am talking about an experience that went from active resistance to passive acceptance, about what I consider the power of fate. I have not become a true fatalist; I believe more in luck than fate. So, in my high school more than ten years ago, when I was assigned to a corner in the classroom with a few peculiar classmates around me—front, back, left, and right—these classmates, unconsciously, influenced all my subsequent life. According to my current perspective, this is also a kind of surprise given by fate, resolving countless possible worries I didn't know about back then.

The previous one if any are interested: https://www.reddit.com/BlueLock/comments/18kqauw/new_generation_world_xi_oc/

Name	Age	Position	Teams	Jersey	Value	Weapons
Dakkhar Ambe "Behemoth"	16	CDM/L	Nigeria, U-20/Archen U-21, U-18, U-16	69	30 millions	God-Given Body, Otherwordly Senses, Assimilation

https://preview.redd.it/yykrzh1sc4ac1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c7a814347ba9f9bc244a23035e2699a496b828f

Backstory

tl;dr: Suffering from success.
Dakkhar Ambe is a Nigerian boy born with extraordinary senses. His 5 senses are so acute that they supposedly merged, making him able to see with his hands, feel with his eyes, smell with his tongue, taste with his ears and hear with his tongue, or so it says… The truth was far less glamorous for him however, this “gift” of supernatural senses completely overwhelming Dakkhar, his world dissolved into a meaningless blur. As his senses bombarded him with inputs from a world he could not understand or even share, he withdrew into himself and pushed out the world. His blessing quickly turned into a curse, offering him an otherworldly window into a world he could no longer comprehend.
Despite Dakkhar's struggles with his curse of overwhelming senses, that was not the end of the troubles for him. Dakkhar was also blessed with remarkable physical prowess. His abilities surpassed the limits of what a boy like him could accomplish, able to run for hours on end without tiring, jumping higher than even experienced jumpers, and maintaining balance no matter how much he was pushed or pulled. In the turmoil that was his existence, his inner self was too beyond comprehension, his body a mystery even to his own mind.
On top of everything, Dakkhar's body was a demanding master and the burden of maintaining it was a heavy one. Dakkhar required a hyper strict diet, rigorous hygiene, and a stringent lifestyle to keep it from crumbling. He endured rigorous training to keep his extraordinary senses in tune and be able to function. Yet he never truly grew attuned to his own body and felt trapped inside of it, afraid to further cultivate his “gifts” in fear that he would lose even the little bit of self that he had over it.
At the age of 15, Dakkhar's world was upended when during a trip to England to assess his condition, he was introduced to football by his cousin Jessica Kessi. Jessica was a rising star with a lot of pull, and she arranged for him to play in a trial against Chelsea U-20 Team. The unfamiliarity of the game, as well as the intensity of his surroundings, utterly overwhelmed him and his world. But in the midst of it all, Dakkhar felt a sense of rightness - for just a moment his body no longer felt foreign, and for the first time, he felt himself rather than just his body.
After the initial moment of epiphany, Dakkhar started a journey of self-discovery. For the first time, he dared to push his unfathomable body and senses, urging them all to their limits in whichever fields he thought appropriate, attempting many different sports, challenges and events in search of a deeper understanding of this unfamiliar shell in which he housed his true self.
But among it all, football was the key that unlocked his inner self, so Dakkhar naturally was drawn to the sport, wanting to explore and grow it further as his calling. Despite the offer to join his cousin at Chelsea, Dakkhar opted to join London’s other club of Archen instead, hoping to find something deeper within himself through the sport.
As Dakkhar joined the Premier League 2, his innate abilities and lack of any worldly experience showed, and he quickly gained recognition for his frenetic pace as well as his erratic, mind-blowing misplays, earning him both praise and mockery from the football world. Despite the criticism, Dakkhar's gifts and relentless drive saw him explosively evolve through the year and his team finish the season in an honorable third place. In an unexpected but well-deserved twist, he was controversially selected in the League XI at the end of it.
During a showmatch between the Premier League XI and the Premier League 2 XI, Dakkhar's career took an unexpected turn for the better. Together with NG11 Matthew Price, Dakkhar managed to hold up the Premier League's top 2 strikers, Chris Prince and Adam Blake, to only 1 goal each. This heightened and limit-breaking competition allowed him to reach flow for the first time, and in a play that was hailed as one of the best of the century, he full-pitch pressed both Prince and Blake, beat them to the ball, went up the field on the counter, outspeeding and muscling the best players of the most physical league and scored a spectacular goal all by himself.
While the match was of course acknowledged as a non-serious competition and the goal as a potential fluke, since that moment the football world has all its eyes directed towards Dakkhar Ambe… and he delivered. Starting to show his potential on a constant basis from that point on, he dominated the rest of English domestic competition and made his first marks on the world stage. He was later included in the PIFA’s New Generation World XI, this time without any doubts or controversies surrounding his selection, solidifying his status as a rising superstar.

Achievements

Team

• Premier League 2 - 3rd Place
• UEFA Youth League - Round of 16
• Premier League International Cup - Runners-Up
• EFL Trophy
• FA Youth Cup
• U21, U18, U16 Premier League Cup
• U-20 Africa Cup of Nations

Individual

• Premier League 2 Player of the Month (x1)
• Premier League 2 Goal of the Month (x4)
• Premier League 2 Rookie of the Season
• Premier League 2 XI of the Season
• UEFA Youth League XI
• U-20 Africa Cup of Nations Player of the Tournament
• U-20 Africa Cup of Nations Top Scorer
• PIFA Goal of the Month (x1)
• PIFA Goal of the Year Contender
• PIFA New Generation World XI

Personality

Having endured years of sensory overload, Dakkhar's emotional and feeling responses were greatly muted. He became solitary, stoic, and detached, with an emptiness that permeated his personality and behavior. Despite the emptiness and isolation that permeated him, the prolonged years of sensory overload gave Dakkhar a great sense of wisdom and a deep level of introspection correlating with a deep longing for a sense of self identifying and discovery.
Having finally found a sliver of path forward, Dakkhar is far more expressive after opening himself to the world. The burst forth of pent-up feelings has brought with it a new side of him, though he remains stoic and eerily calm otherwise. A sharp contrast to his personality once he get going.
Eager to make up for lost time, Dakkhar seeks to experiment and face the world that he kept his back towards for so long.
Though his eagerness comes off in his actions on the field, where Dakkhar tries to be part of every play and refuses to stay idle, his eagerness often gets the better of him. His tactical comprehension may be surprisingly above average, but he often throws it out the window in favor of doing things his own way. In his mind, there is no world where he should ever restrain himself anymore, and though his own body overwhelm him and is still his first foe, he now embraces that challenge head on.
Seeking thrills and challenges wherever he can to an almost masochistic degree, both in and outside of football. He'll gleefully face and match the best players, playing full throttle at all times, constantly pushing himself to the absolute limit in pursuit of the ultimate challenge that’ll force him to understand himself and the world around him.
Dakkhar’s quest for the ultimate challenge is not limited to the field of play. He’ll seek out challenges anywhere and everywhere, especially if it means taking them on in areas where he lacks expertise or experience. His determination and relentless pursuit of new heights and breakthroughs force him to push the limits of his own capabilities in order to grow and forge his own identity.

Abilities

Archetype

• Box-to-Box: Dakkhar’s style of play is typical as that of a box-to-box midfielder. Due to his relentless energy, frightening pace and otherworldly senses, he is able to cover a lot of ground and get involved in the play at all parts of the field. His ability to move freely between attacking and defending, as well as his ability to cover a lot of ground and his eagerness to push himself no matter what, make him particularly effective at connecting the two halves of the game. The "69" on his back encapsulates much of what Dakkhar embodies as a player. As a number stretching from 6 to 9, it represents his role to play from his own box to the opposition's box, encapsulating his ability to cover the entire field and his penchant for playing the game from every angle and at every opportunity.

Compared to geniuses like Itoshi Sae or Michael Kaiser, who desire to destroy their enemies through beautiful plays and optimized strategies, Dakkhar has a decidedly different approach. For Dakkhar, even winning is secondary... His sole goal while playing is to carve his mark into the world, to pour his entire soul into every single play and leave the very last dregs of his being in each and every one, no matter how hideous they might be.
However, Dakkhar’s ability to cover so much ground and get involved everywhere can also be seen as a double-edged sword. His eagerness to be involved everywhere can leave him out of position and leave space open for opponents. While his energy levels and desire to get involved are certainly an asset, they can also cause disruptions to the overall team structure if not tempered properly.
Skills:

• God-Given Body: Dakkhar possesses a truly remarkable physical body that is the envy of the football world. It is a body truly worthy of the "God-Given" moniker it has been given. Its durability and endurance seem endless, able to withstand the most grueling of training and conditioning. His ability to move at hyper speeds in bursts and over long distances is staggering. Also gifted with incredible agility, size, and length, Dakkhar’s body is nonetheless still immature and growing, and his lack of attunement with it further prevents him from realizing its potential, only allowing him to fully unleash it in sporadic and occasional bursts.
• Otherworldly Senses: In addition to his God-given physique, Dakkhar's was gifted with more than acute senses that offer him the ability to feel the game at a whole new level, granting him a unique edge that is nearly impossible to defend against or even comprehend.
  • Spatial Awareness: Thanks to his incredible senses, Dakkhar possesses a truly uncanny degree and unique sense of spatial awareness. With all of his senses active, he is able to perceive space in a unique way, enabling him to manipulate and navigate the field with all his senses in a level of fluidity and coordination that would seem impossible to any player. This ability allows him to quickly identify and take advantage of openings and gaps in the opposition's defense, as well as to anticipate runs, passes, and moves before they have even been decided on. However, his unparalleled spatial awareness is far from being refined which further enhance its drawbacks. The ability to process and understand the spatial relationships on the field so quickly and so thoroughly can be overwhelming and have a stunting effect on his overall development as a player, causing him to get lost in details that other players would see as inconsequential and losing sight of the larger picture at times. His own body occasionally overwhelming his thought process is a natural result of this, as his senses sometimes even take the lead from his own mind.
  • Supernatural Instincts: In addition to his otherwordly senses and God-given body, Dakkhar has been also gifted with incredible instincts, his already extraordinary senses creating a whole new sixth sense operating outside of his own understanding. His sixth sense is almost like a supernatural premonition that allows him to sidestep his lack of experience and almost makes up for it entirely. It is so overwhelming that it can even override his own thought process, forcing him to rely purely on instinct and reactions, and preventing him from making coherent decisions.
• Open Field Specialist: Dakkhar also stands out as a specialist in open field play. His endurance, speed, and agility allow him to excel in these situations, allowing him to maneuver swiftly and decisively in open space. He also no longer needs to think so deeply or process the game and all of the sensorial inputs he receives, being able to instead trust his instincts entirely to guide his movements on the field. This ability to act almost without thought in open field situations has made him incredibly lethal when given space to run into and work with. His ability to exploit and navigate open field situations has made him particularly feared by defenders, especially in late stages of the game with his ability to play at such an intense level for such extended periods of time.
• Assimilation: Thanks to his unique physiology and senses, he also possesses the incredible ability to assimilate the abilities displayed by others into his own arsenal. Though he can copy even unique abilities that require natural talent or physical capability, his lack of experience using his own body prevents him from fully adopting those abilities, instead requiring him to adapt them to his own understanding and mold them into something that can be utilized in line with his own capabilities.
  • X Jessica Kessi: Total Marking - The Total Marking technique uses the concept of utilizing the whole length, width, and depth of one's physical self to become one with one’s foe and utterly erase them from the game. This ability to stay tight on the mark even while heavily contested is an impressive feat that only a rare combination of size, balance, and strength can allow. A last gift from Jessica to her cousin before he set out on a journey to conquer the football world, Dakkhar finally mastered it during round 16 of the Youth League against the Inter Milan of fellow NG Klaj Johanssen and managed to lock him down, but being already down 2-1, it was too little too late and Archen ended up eliminated.
  • X Don Lorenzo: Zombie Dribble (Incomplete)
  • X Michael Kaiser: Kaiser Impact (Incomplete) - The form and accuracy are crude and don't come close to comparing to the real thing, but the swing speed and power are definitely on par with the real Kaiser Impact, if not a bit better.
  • X Seishiro Nagi: Five-Shot Revolver Fake Volley (Incomplete). After witnessing a goal that even he and his body couldn’t grasp, Dakkhar put all of his training into mastering this shot. And with Nagi Seishiro to join Manshine proper, Dakkhar is entranced like never before.
    • X Seishiro Nagi: 2 Stage Fake Volley Shot (Incomplete). Amidst his training for the 5 Stage Volley, Dakkhar managed to get to 2 fakes several times. Though he still has yet to master it fully and be able to use it on the regular.
  • X High Jump: Fosbury Bicycle - Using his ability to assimilate skills not just from other players, but from other sports entirely, Dakkhar used the principle of the Fosbury Flop and mixed it with a bicycle kick to use during corner kick.
  • X Basketball: Hesitation Crossover - As a cross-sport hybrid of football and basketball, it consists of a series of crossovers and feints using his acceleration to threaten a drive into a sudden change of direction using misdirection and speed to get past a defending player. While not quite an entirely unique skill per see, the different canva and curve of learning provided him a better understanding of the maneuver.
  • X Kickboxing: High Volley
• Knuckleball: The shot he scored with during the match against Premier League’s XI. A hazardous shot that even he cannot predict, it was originally born as the result of his own inaptitude, but Dakkhar slowly come to master it.
• Flow State: Dakkhar’s constant desire to push himself to his limits and the intensity of his training and play, on top of his limited playing experience has granted him relatively easy access to a flow state. However, this access is gradual, slowly allowing him to take more control over his overwhelming senses and push his body literally past its limits. During this flow state, Dakkhar’s movements become instinctual, his already extraordinary physical abilities seemingly limitless as he surpasses whatever perceived boundaries were still present. Additionally, whereas some players' flows put them in an almost sedated state of relaxation and narrow down their focus to the minimum, Dakkhar's flow instead thrives on going all out and expands his senses and focus to the maximum. However his lack of experience, coupled with his growing body, makes him more injury prone than others who have refined their skills more fully. Despite these difficulties, Dakkhar continues to seek out the thrill that his flow state can offer, and is determined to push himself past his limits and surpass whatever barriers there may be.
  • Omniscience: While in his flow state, Dakkhar's senses are not only expended but also narrowed down into an intense focus on the details. This focus allows him to pick up on other players' focuses and positions and use them to see through them. His extraordinary senses allow him to stay informed even in the misc of action and should his vision be compromised, he can rely entirely on his other senses in order to remain aware of his circumstances. However, the overload can quickly become overwhelming should he stay in that state for too long, putting a severe strain on his body and mental state.

Skills Parameters

Physical

• Stamina: 99
• Accelereration: 99
• Top Speed: 99
• Jumping: 99
• Agility: 99
• Kinetic Vision: 99
• Reaction: 99
• Power: 99
• Balance: 99

Mental

• Calmness: 99
• Assertiveness: 99
• Stable Condition: 68
• Attack Consciousness: 99
• Defense Consciousness: 99
• Coordination: 53
• Tactical Comprehension: 68

Technique

• Trapping: 80
• Ball Control: 67
• Heading: 86
• Dribbling: 74
• Tackling: 98
• Sliding: 96
• Direct Plays: 95
• Positioning: 84
• Play View: 99
• Feint: 66

Kick

• Kick Power: 99
• Shot Precision: 77
• Short Passes: 79
• Long Passes: 73
• Volleying: 93
• Long Shots: 74
• Free Kick: 70
• Curve Shots: 97
• Centering: 83
• Penalty Kick: 63
• Opposite Leg Precision: 77

GK

• Saving: 71
• Catching: 59
• GK Reaction: 93
• Blocking: 57
• GK Positioning: 20
• Coaching: 3

Cumulative Score

• Speed: S (99)
• Defense: S (98)
• Pass: B (79)
• Dribble: B (76)
• Shoot: A (81)
• Offense: S (96)
• Total: 96 (S)

Profile

• Birthday: 13th April
• Zodiac Sign: Aries
• Hometown: Lagos; Nigeria
• Family Composition: Father, Aunt, Uncle, Older Cousin, Himself, Pet
• Height: 193cm
• Foot Size: 29cm
• Visual Acuity: 2.0 (both eyes)
• Blood Type: O
• Dominant Leg: Both
• Favorite Soccer Player: Jessica Kessi
• Age Started Playing Soccer: 15
• Favorite Motto: “Do it fully or don't do it at all.”
• Best accompaniment with rice: Maafe
• What I think are my strengths: My desire to challenge myself.
• What I consider my weaknesses: Sometimes my own body takes over and I can’t resist it.
• Favorite Food: Cassava Fufu (It’s the first ever thing I could taste properly)
• Disliked Food: Anything can be terrible if poorly cooked.
• Hobby: Skygazing, meditation, drawing, writing, anything that pushes me and/or allows me to explore myself.
• Favorite Drink: Water (It has close to no taste, so it was the only thing I could drink growing up)
• Favorite Season: Spring (Everything come alive then, my senses are stimulated like crazy)
• Favorite Song: waves by Kenichiro Nishihara feat Substantial, The Mountain by Three Days Grace
• Favorite Movie: The Artist (For the longest time it's the only movie I could follow without losing anything)
• Favorite Manga: Air Gear (Flying like that would be the best thing ever)
• Character Color: Dark Blue and Sky Blue
• Favorite Animal: Dragons and anything that fly
• Favorite Subject: P.E (I used to hate it, but now I can’t get enough), Biology (I feel like I can understand myself a little then)
• Disliked Subject: Maths (I don't like being hardwired to think in a certain way)
• What's your fetish?: Something like an amazon. Fit, tall, and thick and if she has a dick, all the better. (A woman who is my equal in every way)
• Age you first fell in love: I rarely ever got out when I was younger, so I never had anyone like that
• First time someone confessed his feelings for you: Didn’t happened
• What would make you happy?: Understanding myself, facing strong players
• Things that make you sad: Not being able to play, losing against my body
• Favorite Type: A mature, assertive and driven woman who knows what she wants, and with whom we could elevate each other.
• Number of Valentine's Day chocolate last year: 0
• Sleeping Time: Around 10 hours... (Before I got an isolation tank I could barely sleep because the slightest distraction woke me right awake.)
• Where do you wash first in the bath: Always change (I still didn’t find what’s more comfortable)
• What do you buy at convenience store: Drawing material
• What made you cry recently: After the match against Premier League pros (I was so tired I couldn't move an inch. It was great!)
• How old were you when you stopped receiving present from Santa?: 6 (When I told my father that I could never do anything with his gifts)
• What will you do on your last day on earth?: I’ll let my body and mind run wild
• What would you do if you received 100 millions yens: Augment my isolation tank
• How would you spend your day off: Take a scroll while thinking about whatever, look for any competition that looks interesting, then try to understand and repeat their moves and stay with myself for the rest of the day

Now a basketball star in China, former Celtic Jared Sullinger still bleeds green
In a CelticsBlog exclusive, former first-round draft pick Jared Sullinger reflected on how Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett taught him how to be a professional, why he considers himself a Celtic for life, and who he predicts will win the 2024 NBA championship.
Jared Sullinger looked up into the raucous crowd and noticed a sight he’d seen countless of times before: an enthusiastic fan holding up his #7 Celtics jersey.
This time, however, it wasn’t 2015, and he wasn’t at TD Garden.
Instead, it was just a few weeks ago and Sullinger was starring in a Chinese Basketball Association game. And though he was donning his red Shenzhen Leopards jersey, many in the crowd still viewed him in Celtic green.
In fact, every time he sees a Sullinger jersey in the stands, the former 21st pick is reminded that though he’s far removed from his playing days in Boston, he remains a Celtic for life.
“The Celtics are a worldwide thing,” Sullinger told me in an exclusive interview last week. “It’s not just in Massachusetts or in the United States — it’s been everywhere I’ve played. I played a year in South Korea, then five or six years in China. Celtics Nation is everywhere.”'
Despite his initial resistance, his Celtics teammates molded the off-court and on-court habits he now holds.
“All those things I saw in my first year, I’m doing them today,” Sullinger said. “I’m in the training room, getting treatment all the time, whether I’m hurt or not. It’s just about taking care of your body. Brandon Bass told me to stretch for 30 minutes a day — I do that every day now. KG [Kevin Garnett] told me I need to find a routine for practices and games, I have that now. I literally do the same thing every game day. No matter how many minutes I play, I do some conditioning — I got that from Paul [Pierce]. There’s a lot of things I’ve taken from those guys that I didn’t do when I was younger, because I felt like I didn’t need to, because I wasn’t at their age. But now, I do them constantly.”
Sullinger also briefly overlapped with Tayshaun Prince, who hammered home to him that even if he had an open jump shot, if he swung the ball or ran another pick-and-roll, he could often create an even better look for himself or a teammate.
“That has stuck with me to this day,” Sullinger said. “There’s times where I have a wide-open shot at the top of the key, and I see that there’s 16 seconds on the shot clock, and I’m like, ‘well, I can get a better one.’ Everything that Tayshaun Prince told me to do, I do to this day.”
“The Boston community was so accepting of who we were,” Sullinger said. “Even in a losing season, they still were showing up to games. That just shows how loyal those fans are to the Boston Celtics. You got to just tip your hat off to these fans — they create that constant of it being a home environment.”
This year’s Celtics team is 14-0 at the Garden, and Sullinger predicts they will win it all.
“But I think that every year!” he said, laughing. “I told you — I bleed green. It’s a motto that we have, and it’s a motto that sticks with you.”
With his career overseas and three little kids in Ohio, Sullinger hasn’t yet had the chance to take up the offer that head coach Joe Mazzulla has extended to former players: to visit Boston and spend time around the team. But he plans on doing so as soon as he can.
He’s particularly eager to see Brad Stevens, who coached him for three years and also recruited him out of high school. “There’s always been a connection between me and Brad,” he said.
Sullinger was initially devastated by the decision to trade Marcus Smart, who he shared the court with for two seasons. “Great teammate, great guy. He never pointed the finger at anybody. He’s always gonna pick you up when you’re down.”
But, he’s sold on the Kristaps Porzingis acquisition. “We have a lob threat, a three-point shooter, and a rim protector,” he said. “And that changes everything for guys like JT and Jaylen Brown.”
He might be nearly 8,000 miles away, but if one thing is clear: Jared Sullinger, like so many other former players, is still a Celtic at heart.
“Once a Celtic, always a Celtic. Celtic Pride never leaves you,” Sullinger said. “I’m always thankful for the Celtics, and I’m always gonna bleed green. I always want them to win a championship, even if I’m not on the roster. It’s something that’s never going to leave me.”
https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/12/22/24001333/now-a-basketball-star-in-china-former-boston-celtics-jared-sullinger-still-bleeds-green

I miss you too Sully.
I wish you had remained healthy with the Celtics, I also think if he had been able to stay leaner, while having some size still, he might've been a solid small ball 5 in today's league.

Disclaimer: This is a summary of yesterdays AGM. This thread uses FC Bayern Official and u/imiasanmia as source material. You will only get a summary here as, of course, the actual speeches were longer and more detailed. I added links to Bayerns official homepage for the whole speech (including text and video) of Hainer, Dreesen and Diederich. For more informations i recommend to read them (i linked the German articles though). Have fun!
Introduction
Watch relive here
Thomas Tuchel applauded by the club's members as he arrives at the AGM
Musiala, de Ligt and Guerreiro are at the AGM as they won't be traveling to their national teams today
Tuchel with Hoeneß and Freund at the AGM
Agenda Item 1: Report of the President - Herbert Hainer Speech
President Herbert Hainer: "At FC Bayern, we have been using the word dialog in capital letters for a long time. Together with you, we have developed a series of dialog formats to regularly discuss with you what is on your mind."
Hainer on the goal for 2024: "Our goal for 2024 is clear: the 12th championship in a row. The 12 stands for you, dear members, for your support. This title would belong to you even more than usual! Let's continue to write history together!"
On the amendment to the statutes: "It makes our club more modern and progressive and further strengthens the rights of the members. We as the Executive Committee will always be in favor of an in-person Annual General Meeting!"
President Hainer concluded with words to the members and fans: "Manuel Neuer keeps our box clean, Joshua Kimmich distributes the balls, Harry Kane scores the goals - and Thomas Müller is just Thomas Müller! But you, who are sitting here today, you are the heart that drives our entire club. Let's always look to the future with optimism. The future always means: FC Bayern."
Hainer on Mazraoui's Instagram post: "One thing is clear - Something like that must not happen again. Generally speaking, anti-semitism has no place in our world. We wish for peace in the world."
Hainer: "I would like to thank Julian Nagelsmann for the 2022 league title – and we wish him all the best and much success with the national team." (applause from the members)
Hainer on Kahn and Salihamidžić: "Unfortunately, we had reached a point on the supervisory board where we decided that something had to be changed. Of course, Oliver and Hasan will remain FC Bayern icons"
Hainer to Christoph Freund: "We are pleased that you are working together with Jochen Sauer to develop more talent on the Campus again. Jamal Musiala, Josip Stanišić, Frans Krätzig and Aleksandar Pavlović are just the beginning. We need more players made by FC Bayern who will make history for us"
Agenda Item 2: Report of the Vice President - Prof. Dieter Mayer and Walter Mennekes
Prof. Dieter Mayer was mainly talking about the financials of the member led club part (so not the football club basically), and Walter Mennekes made a report about the success of all the other parts of the club like Basketball, Handball, Bowling, Chess, senior-football etc. (provided by u/thraff1c)
Agenda Item 3: Report of the auditors on the annual financial statements
Auditor's recommendation: All documents had been duly submitted and the accounts had been properly kept. Singer therefore requested that the actions of the Executive Committee be approved.
Agenda Item 4: Discharge of the Executive Committee
Clear majority: The actions of the Presidium were approved by the members present. President Herbert Hainer thanks them for their trust and declares: "We will not disappoint them!"
Info: A discharge of the Management Board means an acquittal from claims for enrichment and damages. In this way, the Executive Board is absolved of personal liability. The general meeting is responsible for this and can exonerate the board by trusting the actions of the chairman and standing behind him and his actions. The presentation of the annual report at the general meeting is a key basis for this.
Agenda item 5: Report of the board
- CEO Jan-Christan Dreesen: Speech
A trailer for GenerationWembley is shown on the screen. CEO Dreesen comments: "This togetherness, this unshakeable team spirit - they were and are the pillars of our success. We always had outstanding individual players at FC Bayern, but we could only win the big titles if everyone sacrificed for each other and put the club above themselves."
Dreesen mentions that FC Bayern has over 4500 fan clubs and 360,000 fan club members.
Dreesen made an appeal to the Bundesliga: "The principle of solidarity applies - for everyone! Everyone must be prepared to break new ground, because this is the only way the Bundesliga can remain internationally competitive. We must all work hard to significantly increase revenue from international marketing. The summer tours are just a small building block, but I call on all clubs to make themselves more visible. This summer break, only BVB and FC Bayern were on the road - that's not enough."
Jan-Christian Dreesen on his change of role from CFO to CEO: "Who would have thought? A year ago I said goodbye after we had the most successful period in the club's history both from a sporting and economical point of view. Thank you for always seeing more in me than just the man of numbers"
Dreesen on the goals for the season: "The league title and London. The final of the Champions League will take place at Wembley Stadium in 2024 and we'll do everything we can to get there"
"We want to be approachable and tangible, we want to create real closeness and not just flicker across the screens. My wish is that every child in the world knows FC Bayern - but that we also honor and respect our roots and traditions."
Dreesen on Mazraoui: "FC Bayern must stand up to the hatred. Noussair Mazraoui made it clear that he does not harbor any inhumane ideas. But one thing is clear: if there's misconduct in the future, there will be appropriate sanctions"
Dreesen on Daniel Peretz: "These are very, very difficult weeks for him and his family. We stand by his side – just as we as a club stand by Israel’s side"
Dreesen on Harry Kane: "We went all in, and we were lucky that it was worth it. Even though 100 million transfers will certainly remain the exception. A real #9 that fits Bayern’s DNA perfectly. We're happy that he's now wearing the right shirt: Harry Kane. A great athlete and a real gentleman. Never before have so many people visited our social media channels as on the day he arrived. We want to help him add a few more titles to his career"
Dreesen on the members' applause for Ulreich: "I hope he heard that, maybe it will be easier for him then to sign his new contract" Applause
Dreesen on Manuel Neuer: "We are delighted that our five-time world best goalkeeper has returned to his old workplace. The fish belongs in the water, Manuel in goal, it’s that simple."
Dreesen on the Campus: "Welcome, Christoph Freund. He was previously at Red Bull Salzburg. He has become champion eight times there. He already worked there with Jochen Sauer. We want to bring in more talent. Aleksandar Pavlović and Frans Krätzig are wonderful examples, both of whom we recently awarded professional contracts."
Our CEO concludes: "The GenerationWembley motto applies to us all. Stay hungry, stick together and never give up!"
​
- CFO Dr. Michael Diederich: Speech
Today is a very special day for me, I'm practically the new kid on the block at FC Bayern. It is a great honor and a privilege for me to stand here in front of you today!"
"Everything we generate is invested in sport. For us, it's always about sport first and foremost. Our claim remains: national and international top class. Our most important return on investment is titles!"
"Sporting success in a national and international context is what drives us - economic solidity was our mantra, is our mantra and will be our mantra in the future!"
"FC Bayern can once again look back on an extraordinarily successful financial year. In a difficult macroeconomic environment characterized by inflation and a recession in Germany, we have achieved record sales and a significant increase in profitability compared to the previous season. This result demonstrates our financial strength and raises our equity to a new record level. At the same time, FC Bayern remains debt-free - an exceptional phenomenon in top European soccer and a further sign of our financial independence."
At the end, the most important facts from CFO Michael Diederich:

1. your FCB brought in a record turnover last year!
2. your FCB is a beacon in terms of equity!
3. your club is a leader in Europe in terms of marketing
4. your FCB pays a top dividend!

Seperate article: Record sales in difficult economic times
Interesting fact: Diederich reveals that just on the weekend Harry Kane signed his contract, around 20,000 Kane shirts were sold
Additional:
Bayern announce record numbers for the 2022/23 season: €854.2m turnover (+28%). Profit before taxes more than tripled and rose from 17.1 million euros to 54.5 million euros. The annual surplus increased to 35.7 million euros, an increase of 23 million euros compared to the previous season. Graphic
Sponsoring, game operations, merchandising and transfer revenues have all increased in the past financial year Graphic
Revenues from domestic TV rights have been declining in the past few years. CFO Michael Diederich criticizes: "Let me just point out here: a lack of know-how in the marketing of international TV rights cannot be compensated for with a bank loan - a different approach and different solutions are needed" (2018/19 113,2 to 2022/23 89,9 = 21% decrease)
536M€ Equity Capital (32,5M€ increase), Equity Share 61%, 0€ bank liabilities (as in loan/credit)
Agenda Item 6: Election of the auditing company for the annual financial statements.
The auditing company was confirmed with only 13 votes against and 34 abstentions.
Agenda Item 7: The members can now vote on the Executive Committee's proposal to revise the club's articles of association and submitted membership applications.
The Executive Committee's motion to amend the Articles of Association was adopted with 123 votes against, 78 abstentions and an overwhelming 1,432 votes in favor. (92%)
Agenda Item 8: Others (for example Member Reports)
Some of the topics brought up by club members in their speeches:
- a member emphasized that the club's colours are red and white, wondering why Galatasaray played in their home kit at Allianz Arena while Bayern wore the away kit - criticism of some fans who sold their tickets to Galatasaray fans at the recent champions league game - there should be more public training sessions to give the fans a chance to be close to the team - a member gave a speech against racism and anti-Semitism and advocated that right-wing extremists should consistently be excluded from the club - criticism of the traffic situation around Allianz Arena during the home games and how difficult it is to get to the upper tier of the stadium - praise to the club for taking a protective stance for Thomas Tuchel after criticism from TV experts, saying: 'Protect our coach' - a member says he'd rather win 'only' 7 titles in the next 10 years and see more homegrown players with identification for the club being promoted than win the title with a 20-point gap every year while ignoring homegrown players (citing the example of Lukas Schneller as possible long-term Neuer successor) - a member suggests boycotting Sky interviews or just answer with 'no comment' if they continue 'bullying' the club, the coach and the players - a member criticized letting Stanisic and Pavard go without a replacement and pointed out that the squad is currently too thin to win the Champions League compared to 2013 (29 players) and 2020 (27 players). Work to be done in January - a member criticized the sponsorship deal with Rwanda and quoted Human Rights Watch who said that this deal was a 'very bad choice' due to the human rights situation in Rwanda ("It's just about money, human rights don't matter")
Bayerns official summary of yesterdays AGM, mainly in video format
​

This is a fairly detailed recount of my experience with Morton’s Neuroma (overkill but I’m covering all bases). I’m hoping it helps some people as previous posts have helped me.
If you wanna skip through to more relevant parts, read the contents below and skip ahead. My running history is some background about me and feeds into the injury which is how it was caused. Treatment then details my reasoning for undergoing surgery and surgery is a pretty accurate timeline of my recovery process.

Contents

My Running History The Injury Treatment Surgery

My Running History

I’m a 20 year-old male who first discovered running at about 12 and have been pretty avid since. I wouldn’t say I do a huge amount of km’s a week as I love the 5km but I definitely train hard (…too hard).
Looking back, I know for certain what caused the injury in the first place, overtraining. I definitely embodied the motto ‘no pain no gain’ - A run wasn’t complete unless my body had nothing left to give. This culminated in a challenge I set myself to run every single day of 2021. With the wisdom and knowledge I have acquired, I understand this is pretty silly but I’m still somewhat proud that I achieved it. Funnily enough, this isn’t when I first noticed symptoms, but absolutely what started it.

The Injury

It was mid 2022 when I first noticed the neuroma, which at the time I shrugged off as nothing. Over 2022 I had been training for my longest event yet, a half marathon. I personally think I was more disciplined and trained smarter… but not smart enough. Leading up to the event, I started to feel a weird pain in my right foot’s 4th toe. It felt as if my sock had folded in my shoe and was creating a pressure point on my toe. I felt it maybe 4 times, towards the end of long runs (16km+). As soon as I stopped running the pain would go away and as I lowered my training post my event I completely forgot about it.
New Year’s 2023, I tore my MCL snowboarding. So I spent February and March slowly (not slowly enough) building back up to race pace (I was focusing on 5km). After just a couple weeks I started to notice that toe pain again… after only 4km of running. Again, I shrugged it off thinking it was my socks. I persisted and picked up my intensity as my knee healed. Not far into March I had a new pain at the base of my 4th toe underneath my foot. Me being me, assumed it was just a niggle and continued on running for 3 more weeks. Eventually the pain was too much to ignore so I visited a podiatrist.
The podiatrist didn’t want to jump to conclusions but ordered an ultrasound with the suspicion of Bursitis (a sack of fluid between my joints - often confused with a neuroma). I lowered my running down a bit at this point but was keen to get back into shape so still did moderate distance/pace with the same pain. The ultrasound results hinted at a foreign object, potentially bone from a fracture, so off I went to get an MRI. The MRI confirmed it was just bursitis. To which I was told no more running, good footwear and it will simmer down in a matter of weeks.
So, I stopped running and wore Hoka’s to an office job (what a look!). At this point (early May), pain was noticeable when barefoot but the Hoka’s really made everything feel near normal. A weekend at the beach really hammered home the idea of no barefoot walking after feeling high levels.
I made it to late July with this routine and finally couldn’t take it anymore. My pain had not improved and I had lost my favourite hobby. I saw my GP and went down the road of seeing a foot specialist, whom I did not see until mid September.

Treatment

After a 2 minute squiz at my MRI, the specialist correctly diagnosed the issue as Morton’s Neuroma. Thankfully, all the adjustments I had made aligned with the new diagnosis, but obviously concerning as I had seen no improvement.
At this point, I was offered two options:

1. Get a cortisone injection and continue to forego inflammation inducing activities like running or walking in anything other than joggers.
2. Undergo surgery to remove the nerve between my 3rd and 4th metatarsal.

The surgeon gave his honest opinion on each option, and some of my own light research has landed me on the following pros and cons. Again, this is my opinion so do your own due diligence.
Option 1 Pros - Little to no room for error or side effects Cons - Not a cure - Life style changes are likely required
Option 2 Pros - A full cure - Potential to return to the same lifestyle Cons - Room for error and side effects, such as a stump neuroma
The conservative approach is often to exhaust all options in terms of non-surgical treatment in an attempt to avoid any nasty side effects that surgery can entail. These injections and alternatives to surgery rarely cure the neuroma, they are more about alleviating pain. Typically, they provide benefits for a few months and then pain presents once again (some people never feel pain again after one injection, but it's not common). In addition to this, as the neuroma is still in the foot, it's usually necessary to reduce activities' that lead to inflammation. For some this can be a big lifestyle change altering footwear and physical activity.
On the other hand, surgery removes the neuroma altogether so it won't be felt again. But of course, surgery introduces other risks, namely stump neuroma.
My Reasoning
At 20 years-old, I envisioned my life running, wearing formal boots, and enjoying the simple act of walking in barefoot. I wasn't prepared to give that up, especially considering I have so much of life left to enjoy. As scary as it was, the surgery seemed like the only option to me.
I know this choice may be considered irrational and you might not agree with me, but too late I did it and I am just voicing my opinion.

Surgery

Late September I underwent the surgery. There was a small incision made starting between my 3rd and 4th toe going up my foot about 4cm. The first day felt fine, the drugs were working and I had no pain at all. I had lots of bandaging around my foot which would stay on for two weeks and was given a shoe to walk around in.
The second day I definitely felt the pain. Although I was told it was fine to walk, at this point it was too painful. If I did walk, it was small distances either hopping or walking on my heel. This was the only day I took pain killers. As the days progressed my symptoms got better, if I ever felt pain I would elevate my foot and it would soon feel far better. Elevation is definitely key to a speedy recovery.
At the end of the two weeks I was walking around pretty comfortably and was keen on getting out of my bandaging. I felt good but things were still far from normal. With the bandaging removed, it was clear that my wound was no longer really sore, but my whole foot was extremely bruised. This meant I still couldn’t wear a shoe for a few more days and walking had again become difficult without the cushioning of the bandages. Without the bandaging, my confidence in my recovery waivered a little. So at this stage, I think it's important to understand that the environment for the foot changes drastically - remain hopeful and rest.
At 3 weeks post surgery, I went for an incredibly easy hike with comfortable hiking shoes. I probably only walked about 5km but had slight discomfort where the nerve had been. Notably, once home with my shoe off, there was no lingering pain that I had become accustomed to before getting the surgery.
At 4 weeks post surgery I went on my first run. It did not go well. I managed to run about 600m, planting solely on my heel and having no strength in my forefoot to push off. Despite the bad performance, I saw this as the turning point. I had no pain under my foot where the nerve had caused all those problems, I was even able to walk barefoot at home/beach with only slight discomfort, something that once caused considerable pain. I felt almost cured of my neuroma but now had to strengthen my foot after the surgery. This new post surgery pain was instead on the top of my foot, felt most notably when pushing off or landing on my toes.
This is where I entered a new stage of recovery, rather than solely resting, I could begin to exercise. My goal here was to stretch out those tight muscles atop my foot, reduce any residual swelling, and heal the affected area. What I found online was icing, massaging, and physical therapy.
I started a near daily routine of ice bathing both feet for 10 minutes. I remember JJ Reddick saying that the ice bath was his fountain of youth, and boy did I want my feet to stay young. I also began lightly massaging my whole foot. Do I think these improved my healing beyond what resting was already doing? No idea, but I wanted to give my body every opportunity to improve and I recommend the same for everybody.
Finally I started physical therapy. I didn’t see a physio, instead I got some tips online and listened to my body (not my impatient mind). I started with things like grabbing marbles with my toes and putting them in a bucket. I’ll be honest that was boring and I felt little effect so didn’t last long. I then focused on my most troubling area, the pain when I pushed off my toes. Initially I started with calf raises, which had a slight bit of pain. I’d also push my toes downward to stretch the muscles on top of my foot. Eventually I began jogging on the spot, trying to push and land on my toes. This progressed to me jumping from foot to foot on my toes. The pain persisted but each day it got better.
At week 5 I went for a 1km run. It was slow, but I didn’t feel any pain.
At week 6 I spent the weekend at the beach and was able to run around barefoot playing footy and what not. It did hurt when I pushed hard off my toes, but the pain had reduced considerably. A few days later I ran 3km, again slight pain on the top of the foot but I was able to pick the pace up a bit. I let myself snowball (slowly speed up) into a fast jog to see how far my foot was from ready. I was probably about 85%, I now feel comfortable to do light running ~3 times per week and will look to increase load by about 5-10% a week.
A few days later I played pickleball - despite it being a pretty easy sport on the body I still felt some slight discomfort. Notably, this discomfort was not as bad as prior to the surgery. So, up till now it has been a success.
— If people are keen I’ll keep providing updates, but I can only see things going upwards from here. Happy to answer questions as well.
Photos of foot at 2 weeks and 6 weeks post surgery https://imgur.com/a/LkD4qbq
—
Update 7-8 weeks post op:
The past week I have possibly pushed things a little too far. I haven’t had any serious pain but definitely feeling some tenderness under my foot - different to the neuroma more like the feeling of a bruise. I tried wearing business shoes to work all week, the hard sole of these has created a little bit of pain. I also played basketball barefoot in my backyard for like an hour, again not an ideal situation but the pain I felt I think is just tenderness. The ice bath helped with these and I will avoid these situations for a few more weeks now.
I also went on another couple 3 km runs, still keeping the pace slow. The pain on top of my foot is all but gone, so I could comfortably sprint (but won’t because slow and steady increases). I make sure to ice bath after the runs and there is essentially no residual pain. I’ll look to increase distance marginally next week and maybe start doing 3 runs a week.
Next week I head off for a 6 week holiday. I plan to do lots of walking/hiking and hopefully running to explore the areas I’m visiting. I’m not stressed and think it will be a good test of the foot so will let you know how that travels.
—
Update 8-9 weeks post surgery:
As I mentioned last time I am now in the middle of a long holiday through Europe. So, for the past week I have been averaging about 20k steps a day. I’ll be honest, the first 4 days there was a pain on the bottom of my foot that just kept getting worse. I started getting worried thinking it was stump neuroma. Even when I was off my feet I would sometimes feel a painful throbbing sensation in the same area as my neuroma.
Due to some bad weather I decided to rest pretty much an entire day. After that day I’ve not noticed the pain again, leading me to believe it is just swelling and tenderness. I suppose the throbbing pain should have been the sign, as this was a very different pain to what the neuroma had been.
Other than that bump in the road, I have been feeling amazing. I even managed to go on another despite doing so much walking. I truly feel like I am pretty much pain free other than the slight feeling of tenderness.
I feel like the first 8 weeks have been a real mental battle. First I was worried about the pain on top of my foot, and then I became worried that the neuroma had reformed. So my advice is to be patient, don’t rush things. Your foot is going to feel pretty weird, a knife just cut through it.
—
Update 14 weeks post surgery
Here are some signs that tell me I’m healed:

1. Since week 8, I’ve been averaging over 15k steps a day. This would not have been possible before surgery, especially with the small amount of rest I’m doing.
   
2. On top of this walking I have been doing some runs where I can fit it in.
   
3. I’ve been wearing a range of shoes, mainly hiking boots and joggers but have also spent a few full days in some causal rebooks. Pain would come pretty quick when wearing anything that is very flat and unsupportive such as this shoe but I now suffer no consequences.
   
4. I have been able to walk barefoot when inside and don’t have many problems. Every now and then there can be some weird sensations due to numbness but it really isn’t bothersome.
   
5. I am pain free - have not felt pain in some weeks.
   

As I’m heading home within a few days I’ll be starting up a proper running training plan, this should be another good test for me. Although, this time I will really ease into it.

Most people know this already, but...
Winning this game, or the next one, or the one after that does NOT matter.
The ONLY 2 things that matter for the Spurs are:

1. To be financially viable, so the team stays alive long-term.
2. To win as many Rings as possible. As fast as possible.

The first goal is easily sorted. They have Wemby. They are one of the most well-managed organizations in any team sport. And they have one of the most loyal fanbases and an entire city behind them.
The second goal is harder to get. But they are doing the right things:
​

1. First, Pop knows better than pretty much anybody on the planet what it takes to win in the NBA and what it takes to win rings. He knows better than us. We should probably just shut up, be patient and enjoy the ride.
2. He knows the chances for us to get a ring this season are close to 0. Nothing is impossible in sports, but this is as close to impossible as it gets. Getting to the playoffs? Sure. Possible. But getting to the playoffs if you have 0 chance to win it all is almost useless.
   
3. Among the many things you need for a ring, you need a solid, versatile, healthy, competent, and experienced roster, from the starters to the bench, who have the best physical shape and mental strength, as well as experience at the highest level, and a lot of reps and cohesion. The Spurs do not have that yet. They will.
   
4. To get there, they will need a stronger roster: which means... Draft, Trade, Train. Reps and Experience. This is why "Pound the Rock" is the Spurs motto. Time and patience are our best allies.
   
5. Losing is good. It could actually lead to more rings faster. First, it teaches a lot. The Spurs so far have won and lost in many different situations (down and up 20 points, OT, etc), which is a good experience for the youngest team in the league. But more importantly: losing now will lead to better draft prospects for the long term.
   
6. It usually takes years to get there. It takes a lot of stars in the galaxy to align perfectly to get a ring. There's no magical recipe, you need to gather the best cards you have for a few years and then give everything you've got. 30 highly competitive teams want it just as much and have worked for years to get there. They don't come to the fight empty-handed.
   
7. PG Sochan is not about Sochan becoming the future PG or winning now. It's about teaching Jeremy important playmaking skills for the next 10 years with this team. If he can become a good option as a first ball handler, good. That gives the team one more option to play positionless Basketball with a super tall line-up and many mismatches (perhaps the future of Tactical Basketball?). But they will probably draft and/or trade/or develop Tre even more to have 1 or 2 reliable PGs anyway. Bottom line: we don't care if PG Sochan makes us lose short-term. PG Sochan is good for the team to get more rings long-term.
   
8. It's a year to learn, experience, build connections, acquire individual and collective skills. It is not a year to win meaningless games. If we win, cool. If we lose, cool. Part of the process. Let's keep the only important goal in sight. GSG.