I am a 26 years old female and I have Hashimoto’s and PCOS . My thyroid function is at a normal level due to my medication, but it still presents challenges. I have not had a full period in well over 6 months , and I was almost diabetic ( Which is why I started my Wegovy journey to begin with). In the first two months I have lost 4 kg (8.8 pounds) which is lower than some other people, but I get it, it comes with the health issues I previously had.
Is there anyone else who has the same struggles, that has some tips to share? I know I am just at the beginning but the thyroid issues have made weight loss so frustrating over the years. Especially in the past years my system has felt so slow and like I could not lose weight like I did at 19-23. I feel stuck many times because my energy has been so low until recently,and I do not want to give up this time. I am super motivated to keep going but I want to do everything in my power to facilitate weight loss this time.
For guidelines I started at 117 kg( 258 lbs) and I do currently work out 2-3 times a week. I mainly do Zumba classes mixed with some strength training. And I burn around 540 - 600 active calories per session . I also try to get my 10k steps in daily. I try to eat under 1600 calories per day but most days I am in between 1200-1400.
I am open to any kind of tips from exercise/diet advice to any teas/supplements that might help.
Thanks in advance guys, and please be kind , this is my first time posting here on Reddit :D

Why did the farmer visit the pharmacy? To speak with the farm-assist.
Hi and welcome to my post! Wanted to start off with a funny to me dad joke.
Nice to meet you, I'm Dylan! To put it simple, I am a single 22 year old man who has been pretty lonely in life and lacking in female connection and interaction. And part of what comes with that is the desire to be intimate with a person. I am very mature for my age and will always be respectful of your boundaries and feelings, especially with anything sexual. Lately all I have is myself when it comes to sexual desires, so I would like to have someone to keep company with in that regard too.
I'm just relaxing in bed before work and burning a woodwick candle. Perfect for when there's a storm outside. I love candles! 🕯️ Sometimes a campfire outside on a fall night or a crackling WoodWick candle is a relaxing constant among our busy and hectic world. It's nice to just disconnect, feel grounded and happy in your own little cozy space. Feeling calm and collected and at peace. Something that fewer people take the time to do these days.
I am seeking a woman around my age or older to build a close connection with that could possibly lead to a relationship and something intimate which includes the possibility of teasing/sharing pics etc. but only when we were comfortable. Figured I would be open in my Intentions as that's the best way to be.
You:
Kind, respectful, and easy going.
Comfortable with the idea of eventually sharing intimate things together.
Willing to eventually move off of Reddit.
Want something genuine and fun!
Are honest in your intentions and a good person to be around!
That's about it, we will get along great I know it.
I've been feeling a little bummed out lately. I always try and stay happy and see the best in things. But.. I've just been so alone. Most of my whole childhood and adult years have been spent feeling lonely. I grew up surrounded by cornfields which was peaceful but also has a lonely aspect to it. My family never really were close and never did anything as a family really. And part of it too is the fact that I never had any neighbors my age to interact with. But aside from that, my adult life has been very lonely. I'm just always by myself. I barely have any meaningful adult relationships or experiences, or even any friends.
I work a 3-11 job in building maintenance at my company world headquarters building which I love, but again it's very lonely. I work the off shift so the building is always empty. I don't get normal social interaction with people my age or a chance to build relationships. I only have 3 older men as co-workers and we are mostly in the basement away from any people on the floors from knowing our existence. I always walk the floors and see office people laughing and chatting with their coworkers and I just don't have that kind of experience. And just.. no one knows I exist really. Everyone probably assumes I have a lot of friends, but I'm struggling inside with being so alone and trying to meet people and get past the "hi how are you?" "I'm good thanks" stage. Most people don't seem to want to talk beyond that. And most women are already in relationships and thus it would seem weird to approach them in an office setting trying to get to know them deeper. But man those "hi how are yous" are the only real interactions I get during my day.. so thus I decided to come here lol. Rant over, sorry! I promise I'm not a downer. 😅
Now for some things about me!
As you can tell, I am very mature for my age and am polite and have good grammar which unfortunately not everyone my age does anymore lol. I am not active at all on social media/internet culture really and don't know much about all the slang the younger people these days use. I feel like I'm 50. 🤣
I am left handed which is pretty cool. I'm not much of a party person or a drinker, I much prefer a quiet night at home and maybe a beer or two on a weekend but that's about it. I am simple and stay out of drama and trouble and don't get much into politics or other things that cause drama with people. I much prefer a relaxing campfire and a night at home and to just let the world keep on turning haha. I consider myself pretty intelligent and mature, especially for my age which is why I'm open to older ladies.
Physically I'm 180 pounds, have brown hair, green eyes, and a typical build. There's a few pictures on my profile.
Some of my hobbies are:
• Photography
I have a Nikon D200 and D5500 that I love to shoot with. I love nature scenes, abstract, black and white/goth kinda photography, sunsets, etc. it's so fun to just let your mind explore. It's not about what camera you have, but those who are behind the camera! I'm gonna try and photograph the northern lights tonight!
• Cooking and baking
I loveeee to cook and bake! I enjoy making various meals but also love to just have a frozen pizza once in awhile or something like that. I recently made homemade chili which turned out great. I love to bake, especially in the fall! I love pies, cakes, pastries, cookies, etc. I restored a vintage KitchenAid mixer that needed tbe gearbox rebuilt. Eventually I would love to practice home canning my own food.
• Music
Oh my gosh, I like so much!! Alternative rock, punk, post punk, electronic, synth pop, psychedelic rock, hard rock, etc. I am very non judgemental and open when it comes to music. My three current favorite bands are Type O Negative, Joy Division, and the Cure.
• Nature walks and camping
I really enjoy camping, making fires, and relaxing by a campfire. I love to take walks outside and just enjoy the beauty and simplicity of nature. It's wonderful, especially in a world so focused on everything digital.
• Repairing things
I'm a maintenance guy and one of my hobbies is electronics repair so I am good with my hands and just all around good at troubleshooting and fixing all sorts of things around the house. Last week I helped my elderly neighbor get his tractor started, it needed a new component in the starting circuit. So I'm pretty handy which... Comes in handy! 😂
• Autumn 🍁
This isn't a hobby per say, but man do I love the fall!!! It's my absolute favorite time of the year. Oh my gosh. The beautiful colors, crisp cool air, misty and foggy days, rain, lack of bugs, being cuddled up with a candle or by the fire drinking a tea, etc. I love it! There's only two seasons for me. Fall, and waiting for fall! Haha.
• Scented Candles and incense
Going along with my love for fall, I absolutely love candles! I have like 30 something lol. 😂 Currently my favorite are WoodWick, which are owned by Yankee candle. They have such a soothing crackle and the scents are great! I also love to burn incense from time to time as well. I have cottagecore hippie vibes.
• Old houses and architecture
I love old houses! Especially 1900s and Victorian era homes. Old homes have so much character to them and are just so beautiful from a time when people took pride in their craft. I strongly dislike the modern cookie cutter cheap construction of homes today. I would love to live in an old home one day. I also love their architecture and uniqueness, as well as architecture of old cathedrals and other buildings.
• Relaxing
Basic I know, but sometimes on the weekend I just love to get cozy in bed and relax and put on a YouTube video or an album! 😊
That's about it for me, I'm a pretty laid back and simple person. My ideal person is someone who is respectful and honest! I am very straightforward and open minded and would hope that you are as well.
If I seem interesting to you at all I would love to hear from you!
Thank you so much for reading.

Hi everyone, I'm in search of a female feminist to be a guest on an internet news show. We will be discussing feminism and women's liberation and need a guest who is well versed on the topic. This will be conducted remotely through Zoom. We're looking for a female voice who is passionate in feminism and women's liberation as a whole. You don't need any specific credentials or anything. We'll be talking about modern day feminism,systemic sexism, activism, sexism in the workplace etc. You can see a short clip of the show here, it is named "The Information Show" https://x.com/TheRealInfoShow/status/1790841726510203239 This is a paid gig. The guest can expect to be interviewed for about 30 - 45 minutes, and the pay is negotiable, but in the ballpark of $80 - $100. Will provide more details in DM/email. Let me know if you're interested! Must be available Thursday May 23rd around 5pm or 6pm EST.
Thanks, Tony

There are some kinds of wisdom only great suffering can bring. I remember my time in the Bardo with this in mind, for otherwise, the memory might drive me insane.
The night my heart stopped for nearly three minutes started off normally enough. I was working as a nurse in the psychiatric ward at a hospital in the state’s capital. Most of the patients there were harmless, mostly just suicide attempts or people suffering from drug psychosis or severe depression, but some were actively dangerous and certainly psychopathic in every sense of the word. The new admission was one of these- a three-hundred pound black man with a long history of smoking PCP, schizophrenia and violent, psychotic breaks from reality.
His eyes looked like flat pieces of slate as I walked in for my shift. They looked as blank and emotionless as the eyes of a doll. He sat at the table in the front room where the patients ate or played cards, alone under the bright fluorescent lights of the hospital. I walked to the station, where another psychiatric nurse named Ricardo was sitting behind the desk.
“What’s the deal with the new guy?” I asked him. Ricardo looked up, his dark Spanish face forming into a deep scowl. He ran his fingers through his jet-black hair nervously.
“He’s trouble, man,” he said in a crisp accent. “He got in a chase with the police and then punched some cops in the face. It took three guys to take him down, even after he got maced and tased. The judge sent him here on a temporary court order, since he claims he’s been getting chased by Nazis in UFOs, and that’s why he ran from the cops. He thought the cops in their uniforms were actually the SS, and the helicopters were alien spacecraft, or something. I don’t know, I didn’t listen to the whole story.”
“You have his file?” I asked. Ricardo leafed through a stack of folders with his thin fingers, snatching one out and handing it to me. I looked down, reading the information:
“Jeremiah Brown, black male, 37-years-old.
“History: Polysubstance abuse, schizophrenia, antisocial personality disorder.
“Psychiatrist’s note: This patient has scored a 36 out of 40 on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. While I am always hesitant to label a patient as an antisocial personality, a combination of factors has made it essential for this patient.
“Patient has an extensive criminal history as well as a lengthy history of involuntary psychiatric admissions. He has been diagnosed as having antisocial traits since he was a young teenager. Patient has a long history of violence and suicide attempts. He has a history of imprisonment for manslaughter, armed robbery, grand theft and aggravated assault. Upon discharge, he refuses to take any antipsychotic medication, citing the side effects as the reason. Long-term prognosis is poor…”
I had not been sleeping well the past few weeks. I rubbed my eyes as I read through the file, feeling exhausted. I tried putting on lucid dreaming or meditation music from YouTube to help me sleep, but whenever I closed my eyes, I saw horrible things: chalk-white female faces whose lips were cut into an insane rictus grin, flicking their heads violently from side to side and gnashing their fangs at the air. I had a feeling that many years of constantly watching horror movies and serial killer documentaries was catching up with me.
As I read through the file, a student nurse came around the corner wearing a white state university outfit and a name tag that said Kaitlyn. I looked up, seeing Ricardo wink at me from where he was sitting in his chair behind the main desk.
“She’s going to follow you,” he said. Inwardly, I groaned, but I managed to force a smile.
“Oh, great!” I said. She looked like she was probably no older than nineteen or twenty. She had a pretty body, but her face looked strange. All the angles were too sharp and her nose too large. I knew the patients here wouldn’t care, though. They would hit on anything. I sensed trouble. I looked down at my watch.
“Well, I’m Jay, and you already know Ricardo, I guess. It’s good timing, because we need to give medications every day at 9 PM. And we have a new patient, so we can introduce ourselves,” I said, giving her a faint smile.
“That’s exciting!” Kaitlyn whispered. I wanted to roll my eyes. It was definitely not exciting.
I motioned her to follow me as I made my way to the medication room, which was really just a large closet off of the main day room. I had to enter my code on a keypad, and then, once inside, enter it again along with the patient’s number and date of birth. The correct drawers for the medication in each specific dose would fly open, making it extremely hard for the wrong medications or doses to be given, unless it was done intentionally.
“OK, so for this patient, we need Haldol, Ativan and…” I began saying to Kaitlyn when the yelling started. It came out faintly, rising in volume and anger within seconds. I heard Ricardo’s Spanish voice, filled with panic. Something slammed hard against a wall, once, twice, three times, and then I heard the sound of glass breaking. I jumped, spinning around, but I couldn’t see much through the small, shatter-proof glass pane on the wooden door.
“Stay here,” I commanded, seeing Kaitlyn’s eyes widen, her freckled skin looking much paler than when we had first come in. “Don’t leave until I come back and say that it’s safe.” On the speakers strung throughout the hospital, I heard the first of the warnings echo out around us.
“Doctor Strong, Doctor Strong, please report to the seventh floor,” a robotic female voice said calmly, using the code for when a patient had to be subdued by force. I pushed the door open, slamming it shut behind me so that the lock would activate and protect Kaitlyn from whatever chaos was going on.
I heard Ricardo pleading with someone at the end of the hallway that ran past the main desk. He sounded strange, as if he were trying to talk through a mouthful of blood. Huddled behind the main computer, I saw one of the CNAs frantically whispering something in the phone. She must have been the one to call the Dr. Strong order.
“You don’t have to do this, man,” Ricardo gurgled faintly. I couldn’t see what was happening, as Jeremiah’s large body was blocking my view. I could see that the thick glass window at the end of the hallway was broken, however. My heart skipped a beat as I surmised what was likely happening.
I sprinted forward as quietly as I could, but the large man heard me. His massive body turned, his flat, dead eyes scanning me with absolute coldness and calm. I saw he had a bleeding Ricardo in his hands. Ricardo’s back and head were covered in deep cuts and shards of glass. He must have used Ricardo’s body as a battering ram to break the thick glass window. Jeremiah held Ricardo suspended halfway out the window, seven floors above the concrete walkways far below.
“Stay back, or this fucker will know what it feels like to fly,” Jeremiah said in a deep, gravelly voice. He shook Ricardo for emphasis, sending his head snapping back and forth with painful cracking sounds. Drops of blood flew from his nose and a deep gash across his cheek. Pieces of shattered glass littered the carpet, shining like countless tiny stars.
I put my hands up, taking a step back. Far behind me, I heard the front door for the psychiatric ward open. Voices echoed down the hall. Knowing that reinforcements were coming, I tried to buy some time.
“Let’s talk about this,” I said, taking a step forward slowly. “You don’t want a murder charge, do you? You’ll never see the sky again.”
“I don’t give a fuck! I’m not afraid to die!” Jeremiah screamed, pushing Ricardo onto one of the shards of broken glass still attached to the windowsill. It bit deeply into the back of his neck, sending fresh streams of blood rushing out, dripping down to the pavement far below. I heard security guards and doctors running down the hallway behind me, their voices frantic and excited. Jeremiah saw them coming. With an animalistic panic in his eyes, he lifted Ricardo up. I cried out something, stepping forward, but it was already too late. In horror, I watched as he threw Ricardo out the window.
I watched Ricardo’s body soar in a graceful arc, his arms grabbing at empty air as a scream ripped its way out of his throat. Within a fraction of a second, he had disappeared from view, but his terrified shrieking floated up to us for what seemed like a very long time. His screams ended abruptly as a shattering of bones and a wet smacking sound exploded far below us.
Jeremiah turned to me, his large body moving much faster than seemed possible. In his hand, I saw a piece of broken glass, five or six inches long and as sharp as a dagger. I tried to turn and run, but he was fast and strong. He lunged forward, his arm coming up in a blur towards my neck.
The shard entered my skin with a cold, numbing pain. I felt it slice through the flesh easily, felt the blood bubbling up my throat as I tried to scream, choking. The taste of iron filled my mouth as I fell backwards. I was suffocating, I knew. I must be dying.
Something cold ran down my body, gripping my heart like freezing, skeletal hands. The world swam around me and turned black. And then I was rising into a tunnel. At first, it was dark, filled with flickering shadows, but a fiery red light appeared at the end. I followed it, no more than a screaming mass of consciousness rising up into infinity.
***
I rose up through the end of the tunnel and found myself in an empty hospital ward. It looked identical to the psychiatric ward I had just come from. It even had the same smashed, blood-streaked window at the end of the hallway. A massive puddle of blood about ten feet away marked the spot where I must have died. But the fluorescent lights overhead here were flickering, and many had gone totally dark. The shadows seemed to press in on all sides.
The doors to the patients’ rooms were all tightly shut. I felt watched, afraid to call out or make any noise. I started walking down the hallway back towards the day room where the front desk was. All the lights there were out. A thick curtain of shadows hung in the air.
“You can come out,” a male voice as smooth as glass called from the darkness. I jumped, my head flicking in random directions, but I saw nothing. The voice almost sounded like it had an English lilt to it, a slight Cockneyed accent. “I know you’re there.”
“Who’s there?” I called out, not stepping forward. “Show yourself.”
“As you wish…” the voice hissed. “But I think you’ll regret it.”
***
The darkness split apart as if a nuclear missile had exploded. I raised my hand to shield my face, but the light and heat kept pouring out all around me. It blinded me, causing a rainbow of colors and shapes to morph behind my closed eyelids. After a few seconds, it subsided. Blinking rapidly, I squinted in the direction the voice had come from.
A male figure stood there, bathed in a silhouette of light. His face looked as white and as smooth as marble. His eyes were pits of darkness that seemed to flicker and burn. Two black, rotted wings surrounded his body, all sharp angles and thin, curving bones. His body was clothed in silky, blood-red robes, and a hood covered his platinum blonde hair.
He looked somewhat similar to Leonardo DiCaprio, if he was possessed by some ancient god, and it immediately threw me off-guard. If I was dying, and this was a hallucination of my brain, why would I be hallucinating Mr. DiCaprio?
“Who are you?” I asked, taking a hesitant step back. “Where am I?”
“My name is Lucifer, the Bringer of Light and Wisdom, and you are in the Bardo,” he answered.
“Oh,” I said, my heart dropping. “Well, that’s not good. Are you here to torture me or drag to me to Hell or something? You are that Lucifer, right? The Accuser of God and the Father of All Lies?”
“So they say, but, like most things in your world, the words of the powerful and your rulers are the true lies. They call me the Accuser, but of what am I accused?” he spoke in a voice that rose like smoke. “Of bringing knowledge and wisdom to humanity by telling them to eat from the tree of knowledge, the tree that would cause them to rise above the animals?
“Indeed, at the beginning, I saw the creation. I was there at the alpha, standing by the side of God with all the angels as the universe came into being. The endless procession of light, the power of it, was something remarkable to behold. God is, indeed, the source of great power, but his consciousness is not what the believers say.
“After the creation of the universe, I saw his plan, how he ripped eternal souls from the source to imprison them. I saw how he took these divine sparks and forced them, screaming and wailing, into bodies made of meat to die over and over again. He said it was part of the plan, the great, divine plan, a plan of death and destruction, constant suffering and mindless agony. And the worst part was, he wanted to give humanity neither the knowledge of good and evil, nor the tree of life. I convinced them to eat the fruit so they could open their eyes to their nakedness, to their basic animal existence, so they could rise up out of it forever.
“Like Prometheus, I brought down the fire, and yet they call me the Accuser? God was insane long before he formed the universe. These holy men, they live and die in fanatical adoration to a divine being who is, in fact, totally indifferent to them.
“His consciousness twists and distorts, eating itself for all eternity. God feeds off the pain of others, for if his mind is burning, then all others should burn as well. When these holy men die, God will send their souls here to the Bardo, to suffer every evil they have ever done. The wisdom I brought those who called upon me freed them from this prison, and in exchange, the holy men burned them alive. I offered the wisdom that opens your eyes, but it has been forgotten and cursed.”
Lucifer’s body began to dissolve, drifting up into the air like ashes. All around me, a low, powerful current blew, a tornado that spiraled high up into the clouds. Like some sort of Cheshire Cat, his smooth voice continued to echo all around me, even as the form of Lucifer disappeared.
“And yet, you have not the wisdom. For that, like all the others who enter the Bardo, you must suffer, everything you’ve done. Every small hurt and agony inflicted on others comes back a thousand-fold in this place, but don’t be afraid.”
“How could I not be afraid?!” I screamed into the ward, but I found myself alone, the question hanging unanswered in the air.
***
The lights continued to flicker all down the hallway. Feeling strange and dissociated, I stumbled over to one of the windows. As I gazed out, I beheld a strange and alien world.
The sky was flat and gray. It stayed in constant motion, swirling and spiraling, like clouds of roiling smoke. There was no Sun or Moon, no stars, only the strange, shifting whorls of clouds. The streets were filled with burned-out husks of cars and mummified bodies hung from streetlamps. Other signs of carnage and bloodshed covered the apocalyptic streets. I saw what looked like shadows in the shape of people slinking through over the sidewalks, past rotting dogs and streaks of clotted blood. They had no features on their blank, dark bodies. They seemed to skitter and jerk forwards in eerie, twisting motions.
Horrified, I turned away, realizing I was no longer alone in the day room. In the day room, there were dozens of tables set up inside a rectangular perimeter that was walled in by cosmetic walls only four feet high. It was where the patients sat and played games or ate.
Under the flickering lights, I now saw each of the chairs filled with faceless mannequins. Many were dressed in Victorian suits and tophats. The women had frilly dresses of pink and blue that might have been fashionable in the 1800s.
As the lights strobed on and off overhead, I realized with an increasing sense of disquiet that the mannequins were moving each time it went dark. When I had first seen them, they were mostly posed to look like they were staring across the tables at each other, even though they had no eyes, just smooth, flesh-colored plastic. Now all of them were looking directly at me. Some were pointing or raising their hands in my direction. At the tips of their fingers, I saw the glittering of steel. The lights continued to flicker, and the mannequins rose from their chairs in the short periods of darkness, moving towards me in synchronized, strobing motions.
Frantically, I ran down the hallway back towards the broken window. In each of the rooms, I caught glimpses of something from a nightmare peeking out. I hadn’t been sleeping well lately, and when I had closed my eyes, I often saw ancient hags with chalk-white skin and yellowed, broken teeth whose jaws unhinged, their faces jerking in stuttering, dissonant ways that reminded me of the mannequins. Now, on both sides of me, I saw these same figures. They moved continuously out of the rooms, drawing closer with every breath.
I looked back, seeing the mannequins only a few steps behind me. I continued sprinting towards the broken window where the hallway ended in a wall. I didn’t know what would happen when I reached it. At that moment, there was no rational thought. I felt like a deer being chased down by a pack of wolves, feeling waves of blind panic and mortal terror rushing through my body.
But as I reached the end of the hallway, the end of my rope as it were, a blast of noise started, seeming to come from the walls of the building and the sky itself. It sounded like a siren, a low, drawn-out drone of a demonic whale call, rising and falling in crashing crescendos. The mannequins froze in place once again. The strange, witch-like creatures slunk back into the dark rooms.
I looked outside the broken window, seeing clouds of black smoke rising off in the distance. The flickering of massive infernos scorched the land, drawing nearer by the second. The siren sound faded slowly, like the dying echoes of a gong.
I was surrounded by dozens of mannequins. Their sharp hands were inches away from my face and neck. I saw metal glittering all around me and realized they had the sharp points of nails protruding from the ends of their fingers. I was afraid to move, but I heard a familiar voice from down the hallway. It was the confident voice of Lucifer.
“The siren means much worse nightmares than these are coming in the Bardo,” he said, his glossy, black eyes flashing with intelligence. He walked slowly towards me, his face grim and pale. “Hell itself is coming over the land. This building is no more than a construction of your dying mind, but the world outside is real.”
“How can Hell come and go?” I asked, confused. “Isn’t Hell a place?”
“Hell is a monster, a beast with many mouths and many eyes,” Lucifer responded. “It eats constantly, but its hunger never ends. Look, the first of the sacrifices scatter like cockroaches.” He pointed out the broken window, pushing his way through the mannequins effortlessly. I glanced outside, seeing thousands of people sprinting down the dark city streets. The inferno and thick clouds of smoke had moved much closer, and every few seconds, the ground shook slightly, as if we were experiencing the aftershocks of an earthquake.
“What can I do against such a beast?” I asked, my heart freezing with terror. But when I looked back over, I saw his form dissolving again, becoming translucent and drifting away like ashes. It seemed even Lucifer didn’t want to be present when the Hell-beast arrived.
“Seek divine wisdom,” he said, his voice trailing off into whispers. “Remember the source.”
***
Now crowds of tens of thousands of people were streaming into the city, filling every single inch of the streets. Their panic and fear was contagious. I felt it rising inside my body like a snake spiraling up my spine. I took off down the hallway, running through the swarm of frozen mannequins, each in their own ferocious position of attack. The lights flickered faster and went out. Yet the fires outside cast the entire world in a bloody glow, giving me enough light to see by and find my way. I sprinted down the stairwell, taking them two steps at a time. The screaming outside grew louder and more pain-filled. The shaking of the ground worsened with every passing second.
I burst out of the front entrance, seeing a world on fire all around me. Thousands of crushed, bleeding and burned bodies stretched out as far as the eye could see. Behind all this chaos and death, I saw a monster of unimaginable proportions slinking its way towards me.
Lucifer was right, I realized: Hell was not a place, but a creature, an enormous monster the size of a town. It had thousands of skittering, jointed legs that looked like little more than skeletal arms and hands, each of them dozens of feet long and white as freshly-cut marble. Its body stretched out to the horizon, an enormous blood-red cylinder of bony plates that slithered and undulated with a serpentine grace. Waves of peristalsis traveled down its length, like writhing intestines. Thousands of curving, bony spikes stabbed out of it, pointing in every direction. Like the quills of a porcupine, it would protect the massive creature’s body from many forms of attack, if anything was big enough to attack such an abomination.
Hell’s massive eyes flickered, balls of fire that spun and danced. They looked as bright as the Sun. Something like solar flares seemed to emanate from the orbs, flashes of blinding energy that floated over the apocalyptic wasteland. As its many legs smashed the ground, they left trails of fire that caused everything to explode into flames as if napalm dripped from its limbs.
But Hell’s most terrifying feature was its seven dark mouths. Its body looked a thousand feet wide, and the mouths at the front were evenly dispersed. At the front, blood-red teeth in the shape of enormous railroad spikes shone. Its lipless, skeletal face grinned as it moved forward, shaking the ground with every step. The mouths were on long, snake-like necks that could stretch out hundreds of feet. They moved forward in a blur, snapping up as many panicked souls as they could.
Countless souls in the rocky plains of the Bardo ran for their lives, away from this juggernaut. I saw men and women who looked like they came from every country and profession, some dressed in suits or spotless white lab coats, others wearing rags or orange prison jumpsuits. And yet, they all screamed in agony and fear here, their bodies pressed together in a crowd, and no one seemed to remember anything but their own mortal terror. Their voices came out faint and weak next to the roaring of Hell. It shook the ground all around us, as if an earthquake were tearing the land apart.
The first frantic runners of the surging crowd had nearly reached me. The nearest person, a young woman in her mid-twenties dressed in all white, was only ten feet behind me. She looked like she came from wealth, and even from here, I could see a ring with a massive diamond gleaming on her finger.
I took off blindly down the familiar streets of the city where I worked and lived, but these also seemed different. The church down the street from the hospital where I worked had a Satanic pentagram instead of a cross now, its exterior painted a bright, gleaming blood-red. When I had driven past it today on my way to work, I remember it read, “JESUS said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”
Now it read, “Nietzsche said, ‘Of all evil, I deem you capable. I have often laughed at the weaklings who thought themselves good simply because they had no claws.’” I wondered what that meant. Was that some sort of comment on me, on all of us here?
The woman I had seen running had caught up with me. She was fast, much faster than her slim body suggested. Her blue eyes were frantic and wild, filled with an animal panic.
“It’s right behind us!” she screamed, her face covered in a sheen of sweat. I was afraid to turn and look, but I could hear the chaos and bloodshed approaching, smell the flames and choking smoke. “Run! Get away!”
A new wave of energy surged through my body. I sprinted as fast I could down the strange mirror streets of the Bardo. I heard the agonized cries of countless souls behind us as the seven mouths of Hell ate them all greedily and then looked for more.
A skyscraper behind us collapsed into a pile of rubble, shaking the ground with a cacophony of falling concrete and shattering glass. The woman was running by my side. Just as I heard the breathing of something huge and predatory right behind us and smelled its sulfuric breath, a piece of concrete the size of a basketball broke off the collapsing skyscraper and flew into the road. I tripped over it, yelling as I flew through the air, skinning my arms and legs on the pavement. The woman’s eyes widened. Hurriedly, she came over and reached down her hand, trying to help me up.
“Come on, come on!” she cried. I looked behind her, seeing one of the gnashing mouths of Hell reaching forward on a blood-red, serpentine neck. The mouth was big enough to drive a tractor trailer into, filled with huge spikes of teeth. Its throat led into a black, smoke-filled abyss. Its fiery eyes were swirling pools of flickering orange light that shone with bloodlust and insanity. They focused on the woman, the entire head turning on its slithering neck.
I frantically raised my hand, intertwining my fingers with hers. Her hand was warm and soft. She started to pull me to my feet when the mouth of Hell snapped forward. Its jaw unhinged, scraping the pavement with a sound like grinding metal. The woman barely had time to turn as the mouth covered her and snapped shut with a crack.
She disappeared from view instantly, but I was still holding her hand. In horror, I felt warm rivers of blood explode all over my body as the mouth of Hell severed her arm at the wrist. She screamed, bleeding and crying, as she disappeared into the throat of Hell. Hell’s fiery eyes focused on me, and at that moment, I knew I was next. Its mouth opened wide again, like a bear trap ready to spring on a new victim.
It was dark in Hell’s mouth, but I smelled the thick reek of old blood and fire. I caught glimpses of tortured, mutilated bodies writhing and crawling down its throat. Shell-shocked, I could only lay there and watch. And that was when the strange doubling started.
***
I heard the frantic voices of men break through the fog of darkness and the fetid reek of blood. There was a mechanical beeping all around me, but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
“Clear!” one cried. I looked around, only seeing blackness. At that moment, I felt a surge of electricity rip itself through my body. My arms and legs all seized and my eyes rolled up in my head as the pain sizzled through each one of my nerves. I clutched the young woman’s hand tightly, feeling the large, gold ring with the massive diamond biting into my skin.
“Again!” another voice yelled.
“Clear!” the original voice cried. The electricity came again, and a flash of white light flew across my vision. I blinked, seeing from two sets of eyes at the same time: one in the Bardo, and one on the blood-stained floor of the hospital ward.
The Bardo stayed dark and sinister, but the clear white lights of the real psychiatric ward were blinding. It was a bizarre experience. Moreover, everything hurt. Over a few seconds, my vision of the Bardo faded, and I was simply a gravely injured man laying on the floor in a puddle of blood.
Four doctors and paramedics were crouching over me with a defibrillator. My shirt was ripped off, and nearly all of my skin was covered in blood. I raised my left hand, trying to talk, but only a fiery pain raced through my neck. I felt bandages covering my skin. A nurse was rolling a stretcher down the hallway towards me.
“It’s OK,” one of the doctors said, kneeling down. “You’re being taken to emergency surgery. You’ve lost a lot of blood.” I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t talk with the massive slice in my neck.
At that moment, I felt something in my right hand. I looked down, seeing a slim female hand with a massive diamond ring hanging there. Our fingers were wrapped around each other’s, but the hand had been cut off at the wrist. A ragged patch of bloody flesh and snapped bone poked out of the back.
“Nnnn,” I tried to say, shaking my head. I felt fresh streams of warm blood open up. “No…” The doctors looked down, seeing the dismembered hand. Their faces morphed into expressions of confusion and fear.
I closed my eyes as they lifted me up on the stretcher. One of them gently removed the cold hand from my fingers. But they could never remove the memory of what I had seen.
I know what happens after death, and it makes the worst life here seem like a dream. I know that, one day, I’ll be returned to that place. I know that, one day, I’ll see that great monster called Hell and the featureless, swirling sky of the Bardo again.
And the next time, I won’t wake up on a hospital floor, but will be trapped there with the others for eternity: an eternity of blood and fire.

Anyway this is the second story, that I was talking about, this happened fairly recently, I mean, about 4-5 years ago, it was during a particularly difficult time of life, I had lost my friends (not literally, just lost contact), my GF cheated and left me, then came back with an even wilder propostion, which kind of messed me up even more, anyway, it was a time when I was also doing my JEE preparation, and had gotten selected in top batch of one of the most prestigious coaching centres (I was an asshole to think it was ann accomplishment), anyway, I was studying 8-10 hours a day, I was irritable, used to go to school, have fun with friends, then leave it for my coaching and travelled in metro for 2-2.5 hours to reach my coaching centre and generally used to leave by 9-9:30. Anyway, it was January, and my father had some function, so, he had kind of promised that he'd pick me up, en route to Noida. He was so, I ended up standing there till 11, So, he comes, he's with his friend, and another collegue, my father is a teetotaller, he doesn't drink, both of his other collegues were visibly inebriated, his other collegue, was a lady, who was on the phone with her husband, pertaining to some stuff, anyway other guy, who I knew btw (Sadly he's not here anymore) was talking to me about bunch of stuff, asking what I learned, normal stuff that you do, anyway driver started the car, well, it was alright, we were having fun, it was Saturday, so, the 93.5 was on (Top 20 bangers from the week), we were singing, vibing, it was really cool.
Anyway, I had heard in passing about Nicholson Cemetary before, I had been there twice, once with bunch of friends, where we did some weird things including kicking a tombstone, I managed to crack it, my other friend managed to break a part of it, fun I thought, it was actually a tour about 1857 Revolt in Delhi, so, we where allowed to go to lot of areas, where most people are not! Anyway, that's where I heard this rumor that this cemetary is supposed to haunted, I was like right, lol, all cemetaries are haunted, anyway, back to the story: This cemetary was supposed to be in our way, now, I am a believer in ghosts but am not coward, so, I was fine so, were all of the other compatriots in that car. So, off we went anyway, even if you won't believe in ghosts, you'll agree that some people and place tend to have a weird vibe associated with them, and this place is like that, you'll feel a weird heaviness in the air nearby, you'll visibly uneasy, you'll feel that someone is kind of watching you at all times, it's kind of difficult to explain! Anyway, it was supposed to be a long 2 hour drive, so, we just went around didn't really pay attention to surroundings much, well, I was kinda dozing off, but suddenly, my father's coworker she draw the attention to the guy standing near the cemetary's door, now, I being a devout Hindu, am not much sure about Christian burial rituals, but all of us were of firm consensus that they were not supposed to happen at 12-12:30 at night, later we actually confirmed it, so, yeah! Well, he had a bouquet of those whites flowers, was dressed very formally, almost too elegently for any function, so, I deduced it was supposed to be pretty important funeral, anyway there wasn't any other person standing nearby, just a huge white cross above him, painted over an entrance and two small one's adorning the gates, and even gates were closed, only thing, we could conclusively see from there was the generic information about the cemetary, nothing more. Anyway, our car kind of slowed down, and it fully came to halt, I dunno why but our driver had weird fetish of talking to weird men, in weird attire hanging around in weird places. He stopped the car, kind of parked it, near the cemetary so we had a full view of everything and jumped out.
My and me dad were daredevils, two other were drunk, what do think we were feeling? It was pure joy, while the driver was scared shit! Anyway, there's this guy atleast as tall as me, dressed like someone who'd surely say Shashi Tharoor is not eloquent enough, with a bunch of mourning flowers in his hand, what could go wrong? Anyway, fear kind of elected to join me waiting, the driver reached that guy. Anyway, it was obvious that driver was having a hardtime communicating with that guy, I mean obviously, but he kind of managed to communicate with him that it seemed creepy for him to hang around cemetaries at night, anyway whatever entity he was, was cordial enough to consider not hurting his feelings and must have said something about leaving in few minutes, our driver cameback, almost too proud of himself, hopped on driving seat and we all gave him a standing ovation, like he managed to convince that Churchill looking mf, to put it mildly "shove it in", anyway as soon as we turned to see him, he was gone, like nothing, poof! There was no door opening or closing, no car nearby, no leaf unturned, the guy just vanished. It was weird! Anyway, now, the daredevilry and drinks were turning against us, we were paranoid, almost messed up, for driver it took sometime to understand what he had done, he just told a ghost, yes, a literal ghost to leave his area of interest, the charm was cast, the Pompeii was warned, the Rubicon was crossed, and yet, he went out to investigate, I knew that if he was a ghost he'd prolly be looking for me, for some kind of sick twisted revenge for breaking his lovely tombstone. So, I was petrified, but like a knightess in shining armour, my father's coworker went out to check with driver, and result came the same, no proof of that guy ever existing, no flowers, no prints, nothing, nada! They came back, she was feeling kind of uneasy so, she drank some water, maybe it was the drinks or something, but she kind of threw up nearby, we just skidaddled off from there.
Now, while moving through a particularly empty road, my father's friend just said, jokingly, I didn't know the guy we saw earlier was your friend, and there that guy was, just standing nearby, sort of in a grassy side of the road, he didn't flowers with him, he was wearing the similar outfit, I mean, we were some distance away from that prolly 2-3kms from there, there was no other way to reach there, there were cars nearby, not too many, but you know Delhi traffic, right? Maybe, it was a different person, I mean, could be, but he was looking directly upto us, like he remembered the car, well, again my driver wanted to confront him, but we just said fuck off and drove off.
Well, he kind of was a unlucky omen for all of us, the female coworker of my dad lost her husband in COVID, my dad broke his leg in an accident later, the driver was let go and we don't know what happened after that to him, I kind of suffered from deep times of melencholy and depression after that, I actually had to be properly treated, and my father's friend died, his COVID treatment kind of destroyed his family financially, he just left his wife and three children, two of them are in college now, and my father along with his friends are paying for their tuition. Anyway, this story could just very well, be some unique collection of coincidences, I know, and obviously, it wasn't anything special in large cities to know two people, who died during COVID, but it's just something, I have thought about a lot, my father on the other hand still doesn't believe it, although that female coworker of his, does agree with me, she's a friend of my moms, she's the one who told my mother this story, about 2-3 years later, anyway, my mom did this whole elaborate ritual for "Nazar Removal", she consulted a lot of pundits, and other things, my father just joked around saying that he was pretty sure that the ghost or fiend or whatever that entity was, was definately not Hindu.
Anyway, this story is kind of ongoing because apparently, the father's coworker claims, she's still having nightmares, I mean, I can't blame her, she's about 35 and has already lost her husband, she doesn't have a family and her husband's family is not excepting her and her baby (They had a love marriage, that too with consent from both sides, but still I dunno). She's trying counciling, and also going bit into religion, she meets us like every other month, so, yeah, she's brearing the blunt of this.
I have third story too, it kind of happened to friend of me (although I was also there), that too just few months ago, so, it's again quite fresh, just message if you want to hear it too.
Visit this and upvote this, don't upvote this post, I just wanted to create the comment but couldn't! This is in response to his post!
https://www.reddit.com/indiasocial/comments/1csfeoa/whats_the_creepiest_thing_youve_witnessed_irl/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

This has been on my mind for the past few years and this is as condensed as I could make it and I am still leaving out a lot of information, I'm very autistic so bear with me..
I'm 20 years old and have been in a relationship for over 3 and a half years, but have had odd relations to sexuality since I can remember. I can't manage to fully speak up about it in therapy and theres only so much my high libido/hyprsexual partner can help me with, when it comes to figuring out my own, situation. So any input is very welcome and needed.
(FYI I am transgender born female, same as my partner. I identify a little more ambiguously but for all intents and purposes I'm a guy to the general public and have transitioned with hormones. But my boyfriend is, just a guy)
I read about asexuality a lot, and discuss it a fair amount with my boyfriend. He is super understanding about it and has genuine curiosity about the subject which is comforting and all well. But for awhile, it has definetly put a strain on our sex life and romantic relationship given that, I can't tell if I'm ace or not. My partner has what I consider a super high libido (and sexual trauma like me but in the complete opposite direction lol!..) but maybe it's just normal and I think it's high compared to mine. MY libido is elusive to say the least.
Reading about asexuality I've learned that ace people can have sex, which is comforting to know since I do indeed have sex with my partner. I've only recently gotten out of the phase of thinking there is something wrong with me, and trying to fix my low libido because it's "broken". That doesn't sit right with me though. I could be okay just thinking of myself as someone who just doesn't want sex AS much as your average person. But that doesn't fully encapsulate how I feel either. Whenever I describe sex or describe my feelings about it, my boyfriend doesn't understand at all. And vice versa, whenever he talks about his strong desire to have sex with me, I can honestly get uncomfortable, and sometimes I even laugh a little because I just genuinely don't get it or I think he is joking somehow.
For one, I don't really ever initiate sex because I don't think about it much. I've never felt like I needed to have sex so badly. If we have a chance to have sex but it doesn't end up working out, I don't get sad about it. At least not in the same way he does, or the way I see it portrayed in other people. I'm pretty much incapable of going out of my way, to have sex. One time I said I feel like I could never have sex again and my life wouldn't be different. It made him kind of upset at first and I felt bad, but he eventually understood what I meant. The emotional side of sex is important to me, and enjoyable. It's a work out too, and I love being physically active, it makes me happy. I also view sex as a fun activity and experience, and when we laugh during sex or it feels like we're just hanging out, that feels special to me and I see how it benefits our realtionship, It's not like I need that to stop or something...
But... Every time people talk about desire, I genuinely have no idea what that truely means. This real physical urge, and need, for sex. To want it so badly. I barely believe that it's real. One thing that makes me believe I could be ace is how I experience arousal or sexual stuff just on a personal level. Honesty time. I realized recently that whenever I fantasize about sex, through out my whole life, I never think about genitals, or the part that seperates sex from simply kissing or being affectionate/intimate/sensual. And it's hard to connect the situation to me, and MY own body. If I ever do, I start to feel gross in a way, and I can't think about it for long. Most of the time when I'm "horny" or whatever, once it actually turns into sex. It isn't, what I was looking for. Essentially, sex doesn't turn me on. It makes me wonder if I understand what being turned on really is.
It's almost a joke between my boyfriend and I that it is a real complicated puzzle to "turn me on", and it absolutely is. The circumstances for me to be enthusiastic about sex are slim and peculiar, nearly impossible. It's confusing though because we have had some real intense, good times. Typically though... I do not partake in orgasm during sex, and if I do, I do it myself. I get enjoyment out of serving my partner. It used to make me really sad in the beginning of our relationship, I felt left out, or like he didn't enjoy doing things for me, or that it was too hard to make me finish since I take longer. I've come a long way with it though. For more clarification and even more complicated-ness. I do have sexual trauma from my youth where I was forced to do certain things to someone else. It has been really hard to navigate, and asexuality aside, it is it's own monolith to conquer. This whole aspect of being queer and experiencing queer sexual assault, I wonder how much of it just seems like it could be asexuality. My avoidance of being touched or feeling gross about sex, there is a part of it that is definitely because of my trauma, and also being raised in a VERY sexist and "women are sex objects !!" household. But thats a whole other topic I won't get into here. Anyway.
I know that asexuality is a spectrum, and it seems like ace people can experience some forms of sensualness or even enjoy masturbating. Which I kind of do? I think? It honestly isn't super exciting and usually is very short and, not a deep experience or something I enjoy thoroughly. Often it can make me feel even worse! I have two opposing sides, where when it comes to sex, I can be repulsed sometimes. Or just strongly not want to. Some times my boyfriend will tell me how much he wants me in a sexual way and he'll ask me what I want, and, trying to describe how I feel leads to crying a fair amount of the time, because I just don't know what to say. There are a lot of parts of sex that I find gross or just. Why would you want it. The sensory part is a whole other story too. On the other hand, I have other very intense and strong feelings sometimes. But it doesn't feel like desire, it doesn't even feel like sex sometimes. When I think I'm fantasizing about sex, I think about a situation for a looong time, and every detail that would lead UP to sex, but, once it gets to the sex, I don't, think about that part. It has more to do with, the setting. The situation, the colors involved, smells. And not sexy smells or sexy colors, not even sexy situations! I usually just think about being outside, or in a room that has furniture that I like, the colors in the sky, and being held really tight and prolonged eye contact. That's what turns me on, not the sex. Thinking about, things like this in my head feels good, but it isn't quite arousal. It's rare I'll put in effort to make it reality. Even if the situation does come along, I don't feel like I need to escalate it to sex, in order to, get off I guess? Or enjoy it? I enjoy everything that leads up to sex, vastly more.
The most ravenous I ever got over my boyfriend was the one time he drank coffee and I could taste it on his lips. I am obsessed with coffee and, he can't drink it cus it maks him tired, so it was a novel experience. But god it sent me into a frenzy, but once it had to turn into more than kissing or clawing at eachother, it's like how turned on I was didn't count. I didn't want it to go further. I could've just done that for awhile and then stopped and I'd be good. The fact that I felt the way I did actually sent me into a breakdown of sorts and he had to pull me out of it. I didn't understand how I felt and I really didn't want to have sex even though we had great chemistry in that moment. Even though I really thought I wanted to and it felt like being turned on, it just didn't add up. ??? It's like the more "turned on" I am, the less actual sex seems appealing.
During sex, and part of why I am only a giver, is because it's really hard for me to even be turned on by touch. I've never had an orgasm so good where I thought oh I MUST do that again. ?!!?! Even if my body physically reacts, which it's hard for that to happen, it can make me feel gross. I have rarely had sex where I feel like I am just enjoying how my body feels. Some times I can get aroused physically and that's enough but I always have to think about something else. It is a lot of work, and it can lead to me becoming extremly upset and uncomfortable. My body has nothing to do with it. Doing things for my partner is a different story, it's for him and it's more than sex to me. It is fun and takes strength and brain power. It's awesome. And I don't necessarily have to be horny or aroused myself to be present emotionally. I can still have strong feelings and want to do certain stuff.
When it comes to my boyfriend, I am attracted to him, for sure. And my relationship to him is so vulnerable and intimate that I feel comfortable to partake in sex and stuff. But last night he asked me if I'm sexually attracted to him, and I felt so stupid and guilty that I didn't know how to answer. I was just blank and silent. I think he is hot, handsome, we have sex, and I enjoy making him feel good in that way, why couldn't I answer? It isn't a yes or no question to me. It seemed like it should be a yes or no question. Am I ace?
TL;DR: sex doesn't turn me on and I rarely want to have sex and I don't like being touched during sex, but I have intense feelings but they just don't feel quite sexual and I dont have a need to act on them and even if the specific situation presents itself i usually dont want to do it anymore, but having sex for my boyfriend under very specific circumstances can be cool and good, I just dont want any for myself and i cant attach myself to the situation fully, but being present emotionally with my parter, again, cool. its just really hard to do that, while having sex often. is this a form of asexuality?

• How old are you? What's your gender? Give us a general description of yourself.
I'm 17 years old about to be 18 this year. I'm a female, about to enter college in a few months but still unsure of the path I want to take. I don have a lot of hobbies a side from reading and dancing.
• Is there a medical diagnosis that may impact your mental stability somehow?
I was diagnosed with GAD. These past month I have been having a lot of panics attacks and now, depression. One of the effects of how I cope with depression is Maladative daydreaming.
• Describe your upbringing. Did it have any kind of religious or structured influence? How did you respond to it?
I grew up in a well-off household, but was taken care of by a caretaker instead of my parents. I never took my parents as religious nor did I felt our household was religious. I remember my grandmother praying every night with the rosary but she's not very imposive of religious practices. That's why I was at awe when I told my mother I don't really belive there's a god and she got really angry at me. I'm agnostic now, I don't really care if there's a god or not, I have more important things to focus on than that.
• What do you do as a job or as a career (if you have one)? Do you like it? Why or why not?
I'm currently in my final year of high school (or in my country, SHS). I'm thinking of getting in the field of biomedical engineering. I've always knew I wanted to be in the field of medicine, but I have realized that I was not meant for the "service" part of it, rather more of the research and how to apply biology in medicine.
• If you had to spend an entire weekend by yourself, how would you feel? Would you feel lonely or refreshed?
I would feel refreshed. Maybe, a bit used to it? Though, there would probably be points where I feel lonely or scared, but then I'll realize that I enjoy more being alone when people are constantly around me. Especially, when I'm focusing on something.
• What kinds of activities do you prefer? Do you like, and are you good at sports? Do you enjoy any other outdoor or indoor activities?
I'm not very good at sports, the only sport I play was golf and I was okay at it. I definitely enjoy indoor activities for the most part, but I do love eating outside and exploring new restaurants.
• How curious are you? Do you have more ideas then you can execute? What are your curiosities about? What are your ideas about - is it environmental or conceptual, and can you please elaborate?
I feel like in a horror movie, once you leave me alone and I hear a sound, I'll definitely check it lol.
I think I like bringing my ideas to life. In a practical sense of having an idea to go somewhere to having a crazy idea on "what will happen if I do this and this?", and you'll definitely see me do it.
Well, my ideas ranges to anything that I find interesting really. I do have a huge interest biology and most specifically, medical biology and health physics.
• Would you enjoy taking on a leadership position? Do you think you would be good at it? What would your leadership style be?
I avoid leadership as much as possible, or all the time basically. Even though I probably should lead the group I usually just stay quiet and support the one leading the group if they need help.
I don't think I would be good at it, I'm not a decisive person at all, and on top of that I get easily anxious and think that I'm doing is wrong. Unless, I'm very confident of my ideas.
• Are you coordinated? Why do you feel as if you are or are not? Do you enjoy working with your hands in some form? Describe your activity?
I'm very clumsy, and I often feel a bit detached from what is happening around me. I do enjoy working with my hands, currently, I'm making an arts and craft object for my friend for her upcoming graduation and a gift. And I just feel at peace I guess when at some point I'm doing the same thing over and over again and I can space out for a bit.
• Are you artistic? If yes, describe your art? If you are not particular artistic but can appreciate art please likewise describe what forums of art you enjoy. Please explain your answer.
That's the one thing I am absolutely sure I am not. I do enjoy theater and music. I grew up with the influence of ballet when I was younger and everyone's dream around me is to be in theater. I guess, being surrounded by those influence and made me appreciate the little technicalities I see in those shows.
• What's your opinion about the past, present, and future? How do you deal with them?
My past is a mess, present is fine, and future is scary.
I always deeply regret that I could have done something more in the past, but present me is surviving and I consider that as fine. On the subject of the future, I'm scared of it, I'm scared of failing.
• How do you act when others request your help to do something (anything)? If you would decide to help them, why would you do so?
I'll definitely help them ASAP, I feel a bit responsible as someone they confided in for help.
• Do you need logical consistency in your life?
I'd say, I definitely do.
• How important is efficiency and productivity to you?
I do get satisfaction when something is done. Efficiency is of course very important for me, especially, in the things I need to do. Productivity is something that I feel good about, but there are days where I don't mind that it's not there.
• Do you control others, even if indirectly? How and why do you do that?
At some point, yes? I feel like I do control them in a sense if that something affects me and if I don't want to do something or for them do to something, I do meddle in.
• What are your hobbies? Why do you like them?
Reading, it feels like an escape from everything that's going on around me. While dancing is the same thing although more frustrating.
• What is your learning style? What kind of learning environments do you struggle with most? Why do you like/struggle with these learning styles? Do you prefer classes involving memorization, logic, creativity, or your physical senses?
I struggle the most with creativity, I feel like aside from I'm not a creative person, I feel like I'm doing something wrong. I do like logic and the application of it's theories, and memorization too.
• How good are you at strategizing? Do you easily break up projects into manageable tasks? Or do you have a tendency to wing projects and improvise as you go?
I'd say I'm okay at it? Not an expert at it. I like to do things as I go. So, if I feel like this is a task I should do, everything else follows.
• What are your aspirations in life, professionally and personally?
To finish my degree, get a scholarship from an another country for my masters, work in a lab, and make a good living.
• What are your fears? What makes you uncomfortable? What do you hate? Why?
I hate the dark, I hate what's in them. I'm also scared to fail, I don't want other people to pity me.
• What do the "highs" in your life look like?
Doing well academically, socially active, organized, and contented.
• What do the "lows" in your life look like?
Escaping reality, trying to off myself, and withdrawing from everyone.
• How attached are you to reality? Do you daydream often, or do you pay attention to what's around you? If you do daydream, are you aware of your surroundings while you do so?
When I daydream often, for me, it's a sign that things aren't doing well mentally. I try not to pay attention to the people around me, almost like it's intentional that I do that.
• Imagine you are alone in a blank, empty room. There is nothing for you to do and no one to talk to. What do you think about?
What will happen to me in this room? And I need to figure out why I am here.
• How long do you take to make an important decision? And do you change your mind once you've made it?
I am an indecisive person, but I do often change my mind on something if the other decisions start making sense for me.
• How long do you take to process your emotions? How important are emotions in your life?
It does take a while, I usually brush my feelings until I realize that it's on it's final leg. I do think emotion is needed, but too much is a burden.
• Do you ever catch yourself agreeing with others just to appease them and keep the conversation going? How often? Why?
It really depends on the topic. If it's just a non-serious or trivial topics, I just nod and don't bother replying at all to them, but if it's a serious one, I try to set my opinions and facts straight.
• Do you break rules often? Do you think authority should be challenged, or that they know better? If you do break rules, why?
At some point you're going to break rules in an institution. I don't actively or seek to break rules, but if the time comes and it's for the better, I will. Also, if the rules don't make sense, I don't even even try to follow it. I think authority should be challenged if there are people suffering or having a hard time under those rules.

Hello! I’m a female in my early 30s considering a move to Chicago. I’m currently in Manhattan and enjoy the urban life but the humid summers, smells, trash, difficulty living without a car, sheer intensity of this city are getting to me. I have family in Chicago and absolutely love it there- I’ve visited multiple times and am going back in a few weeks for another visit- I’ve never not liked it. My one concern is that the level of outdoor activities is much more limited than where I am now- I love the access to New England (but I do find it difficult to get to without a car). I’m thinking I’ll get out west more living in Chicago and can always be intentional on getting back to New England as long as I plan accordingly.

1. How is it to find things like hiking around Chicago? I’m ok driving a few hours for a day trip.
2. I enjoy skiing (and am originally from Western New York so I know cold and tolerate it just fine)- how do you build this into your life in Chicago?
3. Do you feel like your outdoor needs are met day to day or do you miss the easy access to a mountain?
4. I love the access to water in Chicago- how is it kayaking/paddle boarding in the summer?
5. Those from the east coast, do you miss it?
6. Anything else to add that you find as valuable information.

I do plan to purchase a car before or within a few months of moving. Just need to secure a job there first!

Hi, my cat is a generally healthy and active 10 yr old, neutered, female Persian cat. Not sure if this is relevant but about two years ago, she was treated for a kidney problem (her urine had sediments in it).
This just happened today, not sure what led to it though. There’s a tear in my cat’s (10 Year old, Persian, Female) cornea. She’s not squinting or anything, (probably acting tough for my sake I think) but I’m sure it’s bothering her. She’s been acting strange (very sudden flinching, preferring to stay in dark corners) today. I found out about this at night, so my mom and I are going to take her to the vet in the afternoon tomorrow (cause I have school in the morning, and my mom, work). How serious is this?

I have a label for artists and producers (here's the link to it https://www.instagram.com/theadvancedlabel?igsh=eHhzaWNoMTBreHR1) who are serious about their craft and love/live to make music and who wanna stand out from what everyone else is doing. Also for those who wanna be influential and influence future generations of people and musicians with their sound. We need male and female singers and rappers and producers. Everyone on the label will repost and share everything you drop and we'll heavily promote everything using Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit & Twitter. The label has a family vibe and we'll grow together and come up together. The only requirement is that you actively make music and you actively engage in the groupchat. If you're interested leave a link to your music and your Instagram in the comments.

I know I know... yet another Warcraft movie shill post, but hear me out:
Warcraft movies have long been a fan's daydream. As a long time fan and active player I'm no different. In fact I might have gone a bit overboard with fantasies about it, but I did some thinking and research and here's an outline of what I think can make the franchise a success and launch a potential WoW cinematic universe. I know most of this has already probably been said before, but I want to put it all in a single place where we can see if theres any way to push this to Blizzard/Microsoft and make it finally happen.
A three-part telling of the story of Arthas in streamable series format.
Part 1: The Fall of Lordaeron - We follow Arthas from his young Paladin days through the events of discovering the scourge and ending with the Purging of Stratholm. The ending with "This whole city must be purged" is an amazing finale foreshadowing the downfall of the main protagonist.
Part 2: Frostmourn Hungers - Arthas, now on a downwards spiral goes to Northrend and finds Frostmourn. This part would cover his Northrend campaign, slowly corrupting him into the Lich King's will. Includes the return to kill his father, the destruction of Quel'Thalas, resurrection of Kel'Thuzad and ultimately ends with Arthas putting on the Lich King armor and helm.
Part 3: The Lich King - Starting with the WotLK cinematic, it would follow the story of the WotLK expansion and shift focus slightly on the world banding together to defeat Arthas. The ending should be kept exactly the same - the champions of the Horde and Alliance together with Tirion defeat the Lich King exactly as it was told in the game.
Cast ideas:
It is important that the main cast and director crew are fans of WoW and its story, so they represent it well. I've picked a list of several casting choices that have either played WoW or would just fit too well with the character they portray in my opinion. The following list is more of a wish-list, but as with any production - known names bring audience.
Director - Sam Raimi. He is a WoW player and was allegedly "desperate" to direct the first Warcraft movie. Having a good director who is a fan of the lore and game is critical for the success of this (see Last of Us for example)
Arthas - Henry Cavill is the obvious, well-known, best choice. Apart from being so close to how Arthas looks, he would inevitably bring an enormous audience of non-WoW fans and almost guarantee success.
Jaina - Mila Kunis or Cameron Diaz. Both have played WoW and both can portray Jaina in a slightly different way but close to the depiction in the game. Even Ella Purnel (the Fallout role of Lucy) could do a great job here.
Tirion - Gary Oldman. He not only fits the visual representation of Tirion, but even his voice is similar. His previous roles have resemblance to the character arch of Tirion (e.g. Gordon in The Dark Knight)
Uther - Jeff Bridges. Requires no further explanation. He just is Uther.
Bolvar - Travis Fimmel. He did great as Lothar, but he would do even better as Bolvar in my opinion.
Kel'Thuzad - Ralph Fiennes. We dont have much to go off of for his visual depiction in his Human form, but Fiennes portrayal of Voldemort and Hades fits very well with this character.
Darion Mograine - Christian Bale. This is a an important character and Bale's representation of complex conflicting characters could be amazing for this.
Antonidas - Ian McKellen. Simple - nobody can portray an old wise archmage as good as him so far.
The list goes on and on and I wont try to be exhaustive here as the goal is to just give an idea of what it could look like with a star studded cast. Theres an infinite number of good choices, so theres no point in getting stuck on casting. Frankly the only choice that is non-negotiable is Cavill as Arthas in my opinion.
Main reasons why now is the time for it:
Creating a series, rather then movies, is quite crucial. If Last of Us showed us anything, it is that series allows you to tell peripheral stories really well in isolation, without distracting from the main narrative. I dont see a realistic way of telling all the different plots going into the Arthas story without butchering it. Things like The Wrathgate, The Ashbringer, Tirion's backstory, Illidan and his quest against Arthas, etc. would feel out of place in a movie, but quite natural in a series. There is no other way to tell WoW lore along the main story and open up the doors for cinematic universe of movies and series stemming from this main branch.
Streaming services have allowed series to evolve and tell stories in a way that movies never could. They have started a great trend of bringing games to the big screen. This trend seems to be getting stronger and stronger. Classic WoW showed that Warcraft fans are here and hungry for the epicness of the original games. The hype is there. WotLK just ended, so the nostalgia will start crippling in. We just defeated the Lich King, now its time to see the story told in its full potential.
Blizzard appears to be on a downward trend with WoW subs and are seemingly desperate for cash and ideas of bringing the playerbase back into the game in full swing. What better way then telling this story and potentially turning the whole world to fans who would at least want to try the game after watching a great series? Just think of Cavill as Arthas and the amount of wives/gfs who would suddenly find out that WoW might be cool :D
Microsoft taking ownership of Blizzard is another positive - Fallout is part of Microsoft and it is doing great as a series. This might suggest that Microsoft understands the potential of those franchises coming to the screen and being very successful on their own, while bringing lots of new players to the game, thus increasing profits in two separate streams.
If Last of Us, Witcher and Fallout are doing so well - think of the game that everyone and their mother knows. If there was ever a game that virtually everyone knows, has a story that is perfect to film and has great names in the industry passionate about - it is World of Warcraft. Jumping on this band wagon, WoW has a history of coming to the scene and becoming the king. It would be no different as series - the one that makes them all pale in comparison.
It is what WoW has been leading up to. It is what it was destined to become.
This wont be just a success. This would be a grand slam.
P.S. If you agree with me, help me get a petition or buzz going. I'm a noob at this, but classic wow happened with community effort. This can happen too if we will it into existance. If anyone knows how to do this - let me know.

I know I know... yet another Warcraft movie shill post, but hear me out:
Warcraft movies have long been a fan's daydream. As a long time fan and active player I'm no different. In fact I might have gone a bit overboard with fantasies about it, but I did some thinking and research and here's an outline of what I think can make the franchise a success and launch a potential WoW cinematic universe. I know most of this has already probably been said before, but I want to put it all in a single place where we can see if theres any way to push this to Blizzard/Microsoft and make it finally happen.
A three-part telling of the story of Arthas in streamable series format.
Part 1: The Fall of Lordaeron - We follow Arthas from his young Paladin days through the events of discovering the scourge and ending with the Purging of Stratholm. The ending with "This whole city must be purged" is an amazing finale foreshadowing the downfall of the main protagonist.
Part 2: Frostmourn Hungers - Arthas, now on a downwards spiral goes to Northrend and finds Frostmourn. This part would cover his Northrend campaign, slowly corrupting him into the Lich King's will. Includes the return to kill his father, the destruction of Quel'Thalas, resurrection of Kel'Thuzad and ultimately ends with Arthas putting on the Lich King armor and helm.
Part 3: The Lich King - Starting with the WotLK cinematic, it would follow the story of the WotLK expansion and shift focus slightly on the world banding together to defeat Arthas. The ending should be kept exactly the same - the champions of the Horde and Alliance together with Tirion defeat the Lich King exactly as it was told in the game.
Cast ideas:
It is important that the main cast and director crew are fans of WoW and its story, so they represent it well. I've picked a list of several casting choices that have either played WoW or would just fit too well with the character they portray in my opinion. The following list is more of a wish-list, but as with any production - known names bring audience.
Director - Sam Raimi. He is a WoW player and was allegedly "desperate" to direct the first Warcraft movie. Having a good director who is a fan of the lore and game is critical for the success of this (see Last of Us for example)
Arthas - Henry Cavill is the obvious, well-known, best choice. Apart from being so close to how Arthas looks, he would inevitably bring an enormous audience of non-WoW fans and almost guarantee success.
Jaina - Mila Kunis or Cameron Diaz. Both have played WoW and both can portray Jaina in a slightly different way but close to the depiction in the game. Even Ella Purnel (the Fallout role of Lucy) could do a great job here.
Tirion - Gary Oldman. He not only fits the visual representation of Tirion, but even his voice is similar. His previous roles have resemblance to the character arch of Tirion (e.g. Gordon in The Dark Knight)
Uther - Jeff Bridges. Requires no further explanation. He just is Uther.
Bolvar - Travis Fimmel. He did great as Lothar, but he would do even better as Bolvar in my opinion.
Kel'Thuzad - Ralph Fiennes. We dont have much to go off of for his visual depiction in his Human form, but Fiennes portrayal of Voldemort and Hades fits very well with this character.
Darion Mograine - Christian Bale. This is a an important character and Bale's representation of complex conflicting characters could be amazing for this.
Antonidas - Ian McKellen. Simple - nobody can portray an old wise archmage as good as him so far.
The list goes on and on and I wont try to be exhaustive here as the goal is to just give an idea of what it could look like with a star studded cast. Theres an infinite number of good choices, so theres no point in getting stuck on casting. Frankly the only choice that is non-negotiable is Cavill as Arthas in my opinion.
Main reasons why now is the time for it:
Creating a series, rather then movies, is quite crucial. If Last of Us showed us anything, it is that series allows you to tell peripheral stories really well in isolation, without distracting from the main narrative. I dont see a realistic way of telling all the different plots going into the Arthas story without butchering it. Things like The Wrathgate, The Ashbringer, Tirion's backstory, Illidan and his quest against Arthas, etc. would feel out of place in a movie, but quite natural in a series. There is no other way to tell WoW lore along the main story and open up the doors for cinematic universe of movies and series stemming from this main branch.
Streaming services have allowed series to evolve and tell stories in a way that movies never could. They have started a great trend of bringing games to the big screen. This trend seems to be getting stronger and stronger. Classic WoW showed that Warcraft fans are here and hungry for the epicness of the original games. The hype is there. WotLK just ended, so the nostalgia will start crippling in. We just defeated the Lich King, now its time to see the story told in its full potential.
Blizzard appears to be on a downward trend with WoW subs and are seemingly desperate for cash and ideas of bringing the playerbase back into the game in full swing. What better way then telling this story and potentially turning the whole world to fans who would at least want to try the game after watching a great series? Just think of Cavill as Arthas and the amount of wives/gfs who would suddenly find out that WoW might be cool :D
Microsoft taking ownership of Blizzard is another positive - Fallout is part of Microsoft and it is doing great as a series. This might suggest that Microsoft understands the potential of those franchises coming to the screen and being very successful on their own, while bringing lots of new players to the game, thus increasing profits in two separate streams.
If Last of Us, Witcher and Fallout are doing so well - think of the game that everyone and their mother knows. If there was ever a game that virtually everyone knows, has a story that is perfect to film and has great names in the industry passionate about - it is World of Warcraft. Jumping on this band wagon, WoW has a history of coming to the scene and becoming the king. It would be no different as series - the one that makes them all pale in comparison.
It is what WoW has been leading up to. It is what it was destined to become.
This wont be just a success. This would be a grand slam.
P.S. If you agree with me, help me get a petition or buzz going. I'm a noob at this, but classic wow happened with community effort. This can happen too if we will it into existance. If anyone knows how to do this - let me know.

The famous baseballer, Jackie Robinson, he once said: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” I could not agree more. That is why I try to make as much impact on my faces’ lives as possible. After all, they have done so much for me. It is the least I can do. Unlike them, I need not fear what people think of me. So I can be brave where they are weak. For I will just be someone else tomorrow.

Born in Russia to the Grand Duke Nikolai Kravinoff, Dmitri Nikolaievich Smerdyakov was treated like trash by his noble father and his working class mother. Young Dmitri was approached one day by Gustav Fiers, who was impressed by the boy's impressions and paid for a trip to Karl Fiers academy. There, Dmitri would learn to master the arts of disguise, vocal impression and infiltration, becoming the Chameleon upon his graduation.
He'd move to America and use his talents to pull off high-scale burglary, working for any group that could afford his fee, including the Communist party, Hydra or the Green Goblin. His elicit activity brought him into conflict with the Hulk, Iron Man and most often Spider-Man, all of whom had to act with great caution when the Chameleon was in town. After all, which one of them could tell if that unassuming civilian or their own ally was preparing to stab them in the back?
Dmitri has some mental hangups over his time with the Kravinoffs. He’s managed to repress the memories and considered himself good friends with his half-brother Kraven. In reality, he was more like a whipping boy and slave to the Hunter, and when he has to wrestle with those feelings, he can mentally revert to that scared little boy with no strong sense of identity or independence. But when he’s able to move past these feelings, the Chameleon has proved himself as a powerful, manipulative force, finding his place as temporary Crime Master of New York and member of the Sinister Six.
Scaling

• Spider-Man
• Kraven the Hunter
• Captain America
• Daredevil
• Deadpool

Notes
During one of Dmitri’s mental breaks, he began to believe that he was his deceased half-brother, Kraven the Hunter. So exact was the Chameleon’s performance that he moved and fought with the hunter’s skill and agility. This was an extreme fringe case and there are no other examples of a disguise altering Chameleon's capabilities like this. Physical and skill-related feats from this period will be marked with [KH].
Hover over a feat to see which issue it's from.

Physicals

General

• He’s taken some of Kraven’s potions, which extends his natural lifespan and protects from disease
• Kraven later notes that he only allowed the Chameleon to drink some of his potions, enhancing his strength, although not nearly as much as the Hunter himself

Strength
Unarmed Striking

• Downs a cop with a punch to the back of the head
• Boxes Alexei Kravinoff’s ears, flooring the bigger man
• Tackles and restrains Bruce Banner
• While posing as Tigra, he breaks Mysterio’s helmet with a kick
• Knocks Finesse out with two punches to the back of the head
• [KH] Kicks Alexei in the chin mid-leap
• Hurts Spidey with a kick to the face
• Hospitalized the Shocker

Striking with Weapons

• Floors a man with a suitcase
• Clubs Captain America with a fire extinguisher, flooring him for several seconds
• [KH] Smashes through a ceiling and dives at Alexei
• [KH] Impales a man with a spear, then rams him into a wall hard enough to crack it
• Beats a man unconscious with a pistol

Grip

• Crushes one of Spidey’s tracers in his grip
• Crushes a picture frame
• Crushes a glass in his grip

Other

• While carrying Betty Ross over his shoulder with one hand, the Chameleon uses the other to smack Major Glenn Talbot
• [KH] Holds a wolf away from him
• Carries and fires this absurdly large gun

Durability
Scaling with Spider-Man

• Gets up after a glancing blow from Spider-Man
• Takes a backhand from Spider-Man
• Stays barely conscious after Spider-Man punches him into what looks like a concrete wall hard enough to break it
• Takes two punches from an angry Spider-Man
• While emulating Spider-Man and clinging to a wall with suction cups, he takes a punch from the real Spider-Man but stays clinging and makes an escape
• Spider-Man throws Chameleon head-first into a wall, then smacks him three times, breaking his mask. Despite this, the Chameleon stays conscious and manages to run off.
• Gets kicked in the head by Spider-Man (dressed as Deadpool) but quickly recovers and puts Spidey in a headlock
• Takes a sucker punch from Spider-Man in the Spider-Armor MK III
• [Limit] One casual punch from the Superior Spider-Man knocks Dmitri out

Scaling to Others

• Gets tackled by the Hulk, who was shrunk down to a few inches at the time
• Takes three heavy blows from Daredevil before falling into unconsciousness
• Takes a backhand punch from Kraven
• He gets up after Captain America throws his shield into his back
• Stays conscious after Deadpool punches him out a window
• Takes a punch from Spidey and an elbow from Deadpool
• Gets punched by Whirlwind
• Gets beat on by Teresa Parker

Blunt Force

• Spider-Man punches Vulture, sending the villain flying into Chameleon
• Gets thrown many feet into the air, then falls back-first onto stone
• He jumps off the Brooklyn Bridge and lands in the water below
• [KH, Limit] He’s KO’ed by a woman with a wooden chair
• While disguised as Spider-Man, he gets grabbed and swung around a room by tentacles, at one point getting his head slammed through a concrete wall with no ill effects

Gunfire

• He’s not noticeably harmed after a cop shoots him in the shoulder
• Stays standing after being shot in the thigh
• Twenty minutes after being shot in the shoulder, he’s not noticeably harmed

Vehicle Crashes

• Crashes his car into the Hulk
• Crawls from a crashed HYDRA aircraft
• Unharmed after crashing his truck into a wall
• While piloting a giant Galactus robot, a helicarrier crashes into the robot’s head and the Chameleon’s control room. He survives the crash relatively unharmed.

Other

• He survives after being poisoned and being left in a burning bar by the Punisher
• When Captain America breaks one of Chameleon’s stun guns, the resulting blast melts his rubber face mask, burning him
• He eats a full plate of ambien-laced cookies baked by Aunt May
• Spider-Man webs up a big gun that the Chameleon was using, causing it to blow up in his face. Dmitri gets up right after.

Agility

• Dodges some charges from Hammerhead, first with a sidestep, then by flipping over the mobster
• [KH] Dodges a tackle attempt from Alexei Kravinoff
• He lands hits on Spider-Man pretty easily once the hero loses his spider-sense

Skill

Impersonation
General

• When posing as someone, the Chameleon copies their gait and posture
• When emulating J. Jonah Jameson, not only does the Chameleon copy his personality, mannerisms and body language, but he copies Jonah’s writing style so he can turn in editorials at the Daily Bugle
• [Limit] In 2009, he took the form of Barack Obama and attempted to get sworn in as the POTUS. However, Spider-Man asked the fake and the real Obama a question that only the real Obama would know the answer to, outing the Chameleon as an imposter.
• Mimics Tigra perfectly, replicating her movements, voice and microexpressions
• When posing as a zombie Ezekiel Sims, Chameleon does something to make himself smell like a long-dead corpse

Voices

• Skilled in vocal emulation
• He perfectly emulates voices over the course of minutes after listening to audio recordings or the voices of his hostages
• While posing as the Paris police director, he fools a voice recognition system designed by Henry Pym, allowing him access into an Avengers headquarters
• Can emulate mechanized voices, like Doc Ock’s from when he was a cyborg

Limits

• Betty Ross sees through Dmitri’s Bruce Banner disguise thanks to her female intuition
• Daredevil sees through the Chameleon’s disguises because he can hear Dmitri’s distinct heartbeat
• Spider-Man’s Spider-Armor MK III has a Daredevil-inspired feature built in to the helmet that allows Peter to track Chameleon’s specific heartbeat. This allows him to see through the villain’s disguises.

Combat

• [KH] Fights evenly with Alexei Kravinoff before restraining him with a rope
• Off-panel, he killed a SHIELD agent and a doctor with a pen
• Shanks Superior Spider-Man in the neck with a pen
• While disguised as Spider-Man, he brawls hand-to-hand with Deadpool
• [Limit] Lost a fight to Mary Jane Watson with a baseball bat
• [KH] Slashes two mens’ throats with a single swipe of a spoon

Other

• [KH] Performs a handstand on a tree stump
• Using Klawe’s sound cannon, he blasts MODOK’s psionic blaster, disabling the head’s main weapon
• Leaps from a second story and lands on an awning to break his fall
• Jumps from the back of an aircraft onto the hood of a pursuing flying car
• Nick Fury boots Dmitri off of a flying car, but the villain manages to grab a ladder on a nearby aircraft
• Cracks a locked vault door, possibly using a stethoscope
• Pilots a giant LMD modeled to look like Galactus
• (Poorly) pilots the Iron Man Model 4 before being dropped by an alternate-universe Ghost Rider

Disguises

Realistic Masks

• Originally, the Chameleon employed realistic masks and hairpieces to disguise himself as individuals. He kept these pieces in a multi-pocketed vest, allowing him to alter his appearance on the fly
• After getting one quick glance at Thunderbolt Ross, the Chameleon is able to make a perfect mask of the general’s face in a matter of minutes
• When the Hulk is tearing the Chameleon’s car apart, he quickly changes into the guise of Rick Jones to calm the Hulk, then manipulate him into breaking a friend out of prison
• At one point, he used a gun that squirts fast-drying fluid, which kills victims via suffocation and leaves the Chameleon with a perfect mask of their face
• He once wore four masks layered on top of his plain, white one

Malleable Flesh

• He gets a procedure done to his body that makes his flesh completely malleable, changing in response to electrical stimuli. He also had a specially designed costume that reacted the same way to stimuli. The final piece was a control system built into a belt that could memorize and store any face that the Chameleon encountered. All of these pieces allowed the Chameleon to completely copy someone’s appearance and replicate it through thought alone.
• This exact method of changing his face depends on the comic's art style
  • Most often, the change just occurs instantly between panels
  • It can happens in a flash of light
  • Dmitri's features can melt and morph before reforming into a new face
  • The features can “slide across Chameleon’s head horizontally
• After looking at a photograph of a man, the Chameleon completely embodies him in moments
• When begging for his life, he rapidly switches between a dozen different faces
• When he’s knocked unconscious, his face relaxes and goes back to how it normally looks
• Once made a game out of pretending to be a civilian in need, then attacking Spider-Man when the hero helps him
• [Limit] One time, a very serious Spider-Man shocked and frightened the Chameleon so badly that he let his disguise drop

Other Methods

• Uses convincing costumes when posing as superheroes or supervillains
• Disguises himself as a Statue of Liberty street performer
• Some kind of hidden device emits mist, allowing the Chameleon to change masks and outfits
• Carries a canister of chemical gas that instantly changes the color of his clothing
• Later on, he wears a suit that allows him to instantly change his facial appearance and clothing
  • After confronting Spidey in public and taking a blow from the wall-crawler, the Chameleon assumes the form of a defenseless, old lady to turn the public against the hero
• A high-tech costume can resemble any article of clothing that the Chameleon can think of
• When appearing as someone much bigger than he is, like the Kingpin, the Chameleon uses an inflatable suit
• Poses as a hostage, then uses a hologram projector to make it look like Doc Ock is holding him off a roof
• When working for the Superior Spider-Man’s team of “reformed” villains, the Superior Six, Chameleon used hologram tech to aid in his disguises. This let him appear as Loki, with his massive horns and Asgardian outfit being formed with the tech. It otherwise works more or less like his powers did.
• Most recently, the Chameleon requires the use of a serum to be able to change his features at will
  • As soon as the Chameleon touches someone, he’s able to look exactly like that person. This can also make the other person temporarily swap forms with the Chameleon (or other users of the serum).

Weapons

Non-Lethal
Guns

• Uses a dart gun that instantly knocks a man out with a shot to the shoulder
• Uses a chemical gas gun to instantly knock out Captain America, keeping him out for a few minutes
• A dart gun that leaves victims unconscious and foaming from the mouth
• A stun gun

Injectables

• A syringe full of sedative chemicals that KOs Spider-Man and makes Deadpool woozy for a minute until he heals
• A syringe hidden in a prop torch puts Spider-Man to sleep immediately
• He injects Spider-Man with a poisonous chemical. It brings on extreme nausea and vertigo, then later knocks Spider-Man out for two days straight.

Other

• Snuck into Captain Stacy’s room and administered a few drops of sedatives to Stacy’s decanter. This kept him unconscious all day, allowing the Chameleon to assume his identity and steal priceless pieces of art.
• An aerosol can of sedatives
• One time, he coated his clothing in an odorless sedative chemical. When Spider-Man grabs him by his jacket, the hero falls unconscious in a matter of seconds.
• Gas grenades
• He uses some kind of electric weapon on a shallow body of water, shocking Spider-Man, Husk and Deadpool into unconsciousness

Lethal
Guns

• Normal guns like rifles, a shotgun and a handgun
• A silenced handgun
• A revolver
• A double-barreled shotgun
• He wields a one-handed launcher that carries a variety of capsules, including cyanide gas canisters and concussive explosives
• An absurdly large, Liefeld-esque gun that blows up a computer station
• A energy-based handgun with explosive firepower, used to blast a large hole through Deadpool’s torso and later turn a concrete wall into rubble

Injectables

• A poison ring that would’ve injected JJJ with a lethal dose during a handshake
• [KH] Shoots Spider-Man with a poison dart that would’ve killed him in ten minutes if he didn’t take the antidote

Other

• Usually carries a dagger or other kind of blade
• A grenade
• A small, box-shaped time bomb
• He once used a Man-Thing parasite to protect himself from gunfire and form combat applicable branch-like tentacles

Other Equipment

Field Gear

• Smoke pellets
• When posing as Spider-Man, he used a web-gun to emulate the hero’s web-shooters, although the webbing wasn’t as strong as Spider-Man’s
• While posing as Spider-Man, the Chameleon utilizes suction cup-covered gloves and a web gun to replicate Spidey’s wall-crawling and web-slinging
• A tracking device
• Nose filters protect him from a cloud of cyanide gas
• A jetpack with enough fuel to fly for nearly a full hour
• Typically restrains victims with rope and gags

Base Installations

• Uses a modified radio to send a message across New York that only Spider-Man could hear
• Uses a machine to swap memories with Captain America
• One lair boasts a chair that can be lowered into a pit of acid, used to destroy bodies
• Rigs his lairs to explode if they’re compromised
• He detonates explosives in one of his hideouts that releases napalm-like flames

Other

• He’s helped to design Life Model Decoys that look exactly like Richard and Mary Parker with the goal of investigating Peter Parker and finding out about Spider-Man’s identity. While the false Mary developed a conscience and defied her programming, the false Richard was outfitted with a combat form.
• He holds a gun to the head of a simulacra of Mary Jane. When Spidey determines it’s a fake instead of his real wife, it poofs into smoke.
• Robots that drive his escape vehicles

Miscellaneous

• After coming across a cave full of assorted scrap mechanics, Chameleon builds a missile from the pieces. He later says he “found” the missile, so who knows. At any rate, the missile is strong enough to KO the Hulk when they collide.
• One time, he inexplicably escaped from Spider-Man’s grasp and disappeared from the room
• He kidnaps Spider-Man and imprisons him in Ravencroft Asylum. He then unmasks the hero, puts a realistic mask and straightjacket on him and attempts to gaslight Peter, through the use of psychoactive drugs and fabricated evidence, into believing he’s another man named Herbert Smith. This ruse does convince Peter for a good while until he later remembers his life with Mary Jane.
• He implies that he might be able to disguise his psyche from the telepathic X-Men member, No-Girl, although the claim is not actually proven
• Off-panel, he killed a man, cut off his face and used it for a temporary mask

Monica Rappaccini: I apologize for the delay in initial payment, but we first had to verify your identity. A.I.M.’s intel had been that the Chameleon was dead- or in an insane asylum.
Chameleon: Yes, well. That would be exactly what I wanted you to think. Faded into the background, imperceptible… that’s where a Chameleon is most comfortable… and where I shall now return.

Martin Luther King Jr

Early Life

• Birth: Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Education: He was an exceptionally bright student, skipping grades and enrolling at Morehouse College at the age of 15. He later attended Crozer Theological Seminary and earned a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Boston University.

Civil Rights Movement

• Montgomery Bus Boycott: King's leadership in the 1955-1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott brought him to national prominence. The boycott was a response to the arrest of Rosa Parks and aimed to end segregation on public buses.
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC): In 1957, King helped found the SCLC, which coordinated civil rights activities across the South.

Philosophy of Nonviolence
King was deeply influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's principles of nonviolent resistance. He believed that nonviolence was not only a tactic but a way of life and a means to achieve moral ends.
Landmark Speeches and Events

• "I Have a Dream": Delivered during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, this speech became one of the most iconic in American history, envisioning a future where people would be judged by their character rather than the color of their skin.
• Birmingham Campaign: In 1963, King was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, where he wrote his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail," defending civil disobedience against unjust laws.
• Selma to Montgomery Marches: These 1965 marches were crucial in the passage of the Voting Rights Act, highlighting the struggle for African American suffrage.

Nobel Peace Prize
In 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to combat racial inequality through nonviolent resistance.
Assassination and Legacy

• Assassination: King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, while supporting striking sanitation workers.
• Legacy: King's legacy is celebrated every year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday in the United States. His work continues to inspire movements for social justice and civil rights globally.

Publications
King authored several important works, including:

• "Stride Toward Freedom" (1958): A memoir of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
• "Why We Can't Wait" (1964): Discusses the civil rights struggle in Birmingham and the need for immediate action.
• "Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?" (1967): Reflects on the state of American race relations and the future of the civil rights movement.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s contributions to civil rights and his advocacy for nonviolence have left an indelible mark on history, making him one of the most revered leaders of the 20th century.
Top of Form

Leonardo da Vinci

Class: Ruler
True Name: Leonardo da Vinci
Gender: Young-Girl Type
Source: History, Fate/Grand Order
Region: 2017 Antarctica
Alignment: Lawful Summer
Height: 144cm
Weight: 36.5kg
Strength: D
Endurance: C
Agility: B
Mana: A
Luck: A+
Noble Phantasm: B
Scenario Writer: Yuuichirou Higashide Character Design: Simosi CV: Sakamoto Maaya
Main Appearance: Fate/Grand Order
Class Skills
Riding: EX The talent for riding. She controls the dinosaur-shaped mecha she invented this time.
Item Construction: A The inventor aspect of hers is more pronounced this time compared to her artistic side. The dinosaur-shaped mecha exemplifies this the most.
Magic Resistance: B The Magic Resistance skill acquired as a Ruler. Her durability has slightly improved.
Personal Skills
Dreaming Machine: A A series of support-type dinosaur mecha Da Vinci gave up sleep to develop. Each one has its own unique (though admittedly simple) AI that gives them a degree of autonomy, and they all move just as you'd expect dinosaurs to move.
Triceratops: Fiamma (Italian for "flame") Futabasaurus: Mare (Italian for "ocean") Archaeopteryx: Vento (Italian for "wind")
Treasure Checker: B A treasure-tracking skill Da Vinci gained for her very first treasure hunt. While it's normally meant to detect gold, silver, and other similar ores, in battle, it also serves as a form of active sonar.
Shining at Twilight: EX Every adventure has to end sometime. Once the Singularity disappears, it will be as though the treasure hunt never happened. But, no matter how strong the twilight may have been, there was always something bright shining. Although this skill may resemble Dream Upon the Star, it has very different effects.
Noble Phantasm
Unforgettable Summer Vacation, Dream Of White
Rank: A NP Type: Anti-Personnel Range: 1 - 10 Maximum Targets: 1
Dinosaur Summer Goodbye. Da Vinci transforms her mecha dinosaurs into bullets and fires them with her trusty magical pistol. Each mecha dinosaur "round" has different effects. Although older Mystics are usually stronger, Da Vinci's mecha dinosaurs fall into the cutting-edge category, so unfortunately, their Mystic power is somewhat lacking. Fortunately, Da Vinci's ingenuity is more than enough to compensate for this particular shortcoming.
Character
First person pronoun: watashi Second person pronoun: kimi/aitsu/○○(calling them by name with no honorifics) Third person pronoun: kare (for males)/kanojo (for females)/○○(calling them by name with no honorifics)
○ Personality
Although her class has changed from Rider to Ruler, her personality seems to be unchanged. That said, she does seem more curious than usual, and she has to hold herself back from running around excitedly wherever she goes, though that may just be because she's in a Singularity. And who can blame her, since she finally has the chance to experience something she's so far only been able to observe from the sidelines.
Da Vinci had almost started to ask Master to tell her all about the latest adventure, as she always does, but then, she remembered that she would get to experience it herself this time, and flashed an embarrassed, but happy smile.
○ Motives and attitude towards Master
"I wonder what exciting adventure you'll take me on next?" she asks with excited eyes.
Her excitement is about 30% higher than usual, resembling a girl her age, and her responsible side is slightly subdued as she eagerly awaits the thrilling and earth-shattering events she'll experience.
○ Example lines
"Oh, that's interesting! Now, what kind of adventure will you take me on next?" "What should I do, Master? This stegosaurus has imprinted on me." "Goredolf, you're so tyrannical!!!"
○ Character Portrayal in Fate/GO
This summer has a sense of adventure in the air...
That's how the young-girl type da Vinci adjusted her Spiritron Dress with her gaze.
She investigated the various events that have occurred so far, and intends to enjoy them to the fullest.
Although not interested at first, pirate treasure accidentally fell into her hands.
As a result, an unforgettable summer mayhem unfolds.
At the center of this mayhem are Leonardo da Vinci and Christopher Columbus.
Though these two lived during the same period, there is no historical evidence of them ever having met.
The child a young Da Vinci spoke to about her dreams probably went by a different name, and the same is most likely true for the child to whom a young Columbus confided his dreams.
Regardless, the two children set off on different paths, each determined to make their respective dream come true.
It was a promise made just as the sun was setting. Two children talking about their dreams, though whether it actually happened is anyone's guess.
Of course, it has nothing to do with her.
○ Summer Position
Looking at the records of minute Singularities is one of the few ways Da Vinci is able to entertain herself.
"What in the world happened here?" "How did such a crazy Singularity even exist?" She would think about how the Servants who were trapped there must have felt, or laugh at seeing her predecessor's complaining in the accompanying records, even though she knew she shouldn't.
Though Da Vinci had always admired Singularities, she never thought she would get to experience one herself. That she finally has a chance to do so feels like nothing short of a precious gemstone, and she plans to make the most of it in every way she can.
○Connection to other Characters
Steggy She happened to be imprinted when it hatched from its egg. Though she says "Oh no," she doesn't seem bothered at all. Sensing the impending parting, she takes care of the Stegosaurus.
Columbus (as a boy) When they were children, they apparently talked about their dreams. Unfortunately, neither of them have a clear memory of it. He wonders if he (she) has forgotten about it as an adult. Columbus, however, doesn't remember anything in particular as an adult.
Goredolf "Let's enjoy the summer with each other", she thinks. Meanwhile, Goredolf thought, "Well, it can't be helped", and worked hard at cooking.
Protagonist, Mash "Come on, let's enjoy the summer together!" she says enthusiastically. Since the two of them are very easygoing, they go along with it.
Sherlock Holmes I wondered why he wasn't enjoying the summer, but I soon realized it was because his coat was too hot! It can't be helped...
There's no way it can't be helped.
Comment from Illustrator "Adventure to Treasure Island?" That was the plan, so I dressed her up in an adventurer-style outfit with a bikini underneath. I had prepared a character illustration of her wearing a white swimsuit for her Spiritron Dress, but due to various circumstances it was shelved. Since I had the chance, I had it published in this magazine. While the design of da Vinci herself was simple, the amount of work involved in designing the dinosaur-mecha and Steggy was quite a lot. (Simosi)
Notes: • Her True Name is what it says, which is surprising since it's not Gran Cavallo like every other time they write it. Even her in-game profile puts in Gran Cavallo. • Her personal skills, NP, personality, part of her character profile and summer position are all taken from her in-game profile since I found them identical there. • The white swimsuit Simosi was talking about is the one da Vinci wears in her FA.

A little explanation To me, CGDCT (Cute Girls Doing Cute Things) or Moe anime one of the most popular type of slice of life genres after romance, action and isekai. Mostly focused on cute female characters and sometimes focused on Comedies, club activities, hobbies, idols, and music like Non Non Biyori, Gabriel Dropout, Blend-S, Idolm@ster, Uma Musume, D4DJ (only S1 get dubbed), Bang Dream (Only S2 get dubbed), Onimai, Yuru Yuri etc.
Previously, licensor companies used to dub a some of the CGDCT anime like Ika Musume Squid Girl, K-ON, Lucky Star, Kill Me Baby, Nichijou, Love Live franchise etc. I think some recent CGDCT anime like Great Jahy and Laid Back Camp were lucky to get dubbed and i very glad that the latter is finally get english dub. Now back to the question, why some companies like CR and Sentai not dub more CGDCT/Moe anime anymore ?
I'm still disappointed that Bocchi The Rock not get dub despite popularity, If Bocchi the Rock were made in early 2010, I'm pretty sure it will get dubbed by some companies like Funimation or Bandai.

Hi.. I am 61yo female. Prior to this, whatever this is, hitting me in January 2024, I was doing CrossFit 6 days a week. I did it all.. never tired. I have always been active, super active. Marathons, Ironmans, I bike all weekend, run all weekend, nothing made me tired. Gym class at 5:15am 5-6 a week. I take care of our home inside and out and never had a problem with fatigue. January 2024 I started getting tired and found myself falling asleep super early in the evening like 7:00pm. Everyone assumed it was just Winter blues, I live in Chicago. I couldn't keep up with CrossFit anymore so I quit that end of April :( I'm now going to a regular gym and doing spin class and treadmill work, but I"m wiped out the next day. February same thing.. exhaustion. I scheduled two doctor appointments for blood work in March and my blood came back fine.. except my T4 Free was 0.9 ng/dL on a scale of 0.8 ng/dL - 1.8 ng/dL but doc refused to give me medicine, said thyroid was fine :( I'm exhausted. This is not me. I have been very very active my entire life. Now I completely crash if I have a full day of doing things. Example.. this past Mother's Day I went to the cemetery and then did some yard work, nothing that big. .. but Monday I could barely walk. I signed off of work at 5:00pm Monday.. and I was sleeping by 6:00pm. Slept the entire night through 7:00am Tuesday What else could this be? I have another doctors appt next week with a different doctor... I'm going to ask to please put me on thyroid medicine since my level is just at the low of the scale, I don't know if she will do it. I'm just here for support and reading your stories to hope get some answers. Thanks for reading.

I’ve lived in Denver and moved away to the Midwest and the lack of sun is killing me 🫠. Looking to return to Denver but adding in Scottsdale to the mix. Interests - active city, not necessarily hiking every weekend though that’s great, but I love easy to access long bike trails, beautiful parks, and an active yoga scene. Prefer warm, toasty weather. This, along with the dating scene are important - I’m a single, almost 40 female and the dating where I’m at is challenging (most people are paired up). I work in tech, remotely, so while job market isn’t super crucial, it’s important given the chronic market uncertainty we’re seeing. I make $160k so can afford a decent amount for rent.

Introduction

Christian religious education is defined as the process where by Christian learning takes place. It often involves “teaching which enables practicing Christians to adopt and deepen their Christian belief, values and dispositions to experience and act in a Christian way. It depends to a greater extent on how this process is adopted and practiced in different churches.

Different practices in Christian education in local churches

At some degree of certainty that all Christian churches have a similar aim’s and practices. The liturgical aspect is of paramount importance in the Trinitarian belief and practices in that it serves as introduction to what Christianity is all about. This is where the process of Cognitive learning takes places it involves the worship service where hymns are sang, lessons extracted from the books of the bible are read, sermon often punctuated with exhortation, admonishment and instruction in righteous living is delivered and prayers are said. It also involves the celebration of the holy Eucharist which Jesus Christ himself, recognized as the head of the church, initiated based on experience acquired in the worship service, it can be seen as Christian religious education is a confessional churchly activity of evangelism, instruction and nurture.
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I assure that “Youth are the most critical of all critics when it comes to religion”. Today, common inhabitants do pray and accept the holiness in church for Christ which they are aware that Christ constitutes the sacred bread and wine, but do not entirely act upon worshipping and fail to confront the thoughts and feelings to masses which would spread dignity of godliness among selves. The moral lies in the fact that this creates lackness to reach spiritual beliefs through worship and liturgy resulting in declination the faith which affects the divine nature approaching positivity.
Christian education is a vital important part in youth development. For Christian education to be explored, generation of today should be brought into contact through various practices. In the early centuries, reformers emphasized and trusted true faith and doctrines, to change and reform behaviour as the only solution for salvation in Christian education. Christian school movements prove a challenge as a messenger to convey god’s given mission and honour god.

Traditional approach

This approach was practiced since many decades and is still continued to be practiced which helps in binding and governing the ethics and morality within the religion and belief. Since beginning described, in leaving our homeland to teach the gospels throughout the world through scriptures, god conveyed his message – by sending his son Jesus for us, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Church, and Baptism for building unity.
Christianity consists of three things – Religious faith, way of life and community of mankind towards salvation are most important. The most vital of all belief preached is that there is only one god. The term Christian does not imply on the fact that a Christian should grow up in a Christian community, but precisely accepts Christian faith and belief, follows and leads the path of life on which Jesus walked on and made mankind accept Christian community through involvement and participation physically and mentally, as a result, traditional approach is how the local churches and preachers go about conducting their services. The apostle’s creed was apparently developed to summarize the Christian doctrine for man who baptised himself.

Theological and Biblical approach

This approach is regarded as an abstract discipline which teaches what bible is written. It is the study of god expressing god’s thought. The movement of bible indicates the doctrines to the kerygma to didache, to theological ethics, to revealed truth, to the way of living in Christian community.
God’s salvation to the world, worshipping the holy spirit, baptizing people in the name of god, preaching gospels as the word of god, share Christ’s own body and blood as bread and wine in holy communion, repenting and confessing god’s forgiveness etc are the concepts of theological and biblical foundation to Christian education. Even though mankind is aware but fail to involve due to the increasing evil and greed.
The service is organized to accept the call of god and to love him and others and which aims to gather people to worship him in return allowing him to take control over the world and through his presence spread peace, righteousness, justice, joy and helps in the growth of the life in an individual through increased faith.

Activities organized and performed in different local churches through to these practices

Some churches develop the initiative of the worshippers by confessing their faith in the words of the apostle creed. Each activity is correlated and composes a range of varied elements. Their current activities reflect the lives of an individual and drive them for a purpose through various numbers of activities to attain a better quality of life.
Due to activities, all age group gain variety of skills through many spiritual centred activities. Church acts as an interpreter between god and the worshippers to support in training the composition of these activities which are far more complex to solve a disturbed youth. They have to thereby standardize their curriculum and activities in regards to implement it. Different denominations organize activities to resolve the aim therefore to meet the need of the youth. Curriculum should be more focused than just on providing knowledge.
Activities are necessarily planned to build youth commitment. I believe it is necessary to reach them, i.e. train them to be strong future leaders. They should be kept one step ahead, for their life is very challenging. I believe that the best way to outreach youths mind is to be a youth like them to understand their psychology as it differs from every individual. The same activities do get affected as the youth is choosy and subtle.

Changing activities for tomorrow

Here the question is voiced that, what substantial change can be brought apart from the current activities to eradicate the above upcoming and dynamic problems in nature with respect to behavioural management or of what medication of healing would work out.
I would comment, the activities in the practices should be expanded and conduct likewise programmes workshops on educating purity before marriage, sex, child abuse, exploitation, rape, adultery, adolescence sex, teenage mothers, drugs addiction, aids, and divorce. Workshops, seminars for sex, abuse, peer mentoring, identifying preventive measures instead of curative measures targeting the social, political and the economical factors would be effective for incorporating the overall issues to bring the insight of the good and evil sides of every consequence, discussion on essential real life skills. Our goal is to create “world changers”, inviting the sacrifiers of evil and giving and sharing healthy priorities to save ourselves and the world, before it becomes a terrible fate and a debt for our own selves.
As the world is in unsafe fists of crime, terrorism, corruption, violence, youth have been diverted to a fast-paced and expects instant opportunities. Perhaps, the approaches of these local activities tend to be helpful and may bring positive results but I still feel that there is something missing, to monitor the youth from within. In an article – Practical: The Role of the Full-Time Youth Pastor in the Local Church, by Graeme Codrington, Denomination: Baptist (All), submitted on, May 18, 1997, states that, “In a world that is so busy, and demands so much of all of its inhabitants, young people need a secure environment, where they can experiment and decide who they want to be. They need significant people to be there to help them through this process. They need role models to follow”.
Above statement eventually satisfies the fact that these folks are craving for friendly support socially and for stimulation. Overall factors which conglomerate are peers, parents, teachers, church members and Christian community. All factors rely on one common feature which constitutes leadership. Ironically, most youth do understand the surrounding factors but the factors themselves become tough unknowingly that they can’t quite control the situation which then becomes too late to recover. The task is questioned commonly as what kind of leader a person should be to prove creditability and capability to influence the youth to pursue the direction towards god? In an article again stated by, Graeme Codrington, Denomination: Baptist (All), – Practical: The Role of the Full-Time Youth Pastor in the Local Church, submitted on, May 18, 1997, “Young people are not just “little adults” (cf. Elkind 1984:18). They are complex individuals who are battling to deal with the awesome transformation of their bodies, minds, and emotions. They are in a time of transition and growth, developing from the birthed bundle of potential to a fully integrated, functional member of society. The church is in a unique position to assist in this process”. Church as a role model fosters spiritual growth in every youth making them responsible to participate in Christian faith; she is a sign for an entrance of the god’s kingdom to the world of salvation, repentance, justice and peace to bring equality. She struggles hard and performs her duties wholly and solemnly reminds parents to structure their offspring’s life in Christian formation.
Church members acting as supporters, preach to establish and to promote a platform and share to encourage several types of civic, cultural, religious educational associations. In an article by Arthur Paul Boer – What must a Pastor know? Reflection on Congregational studies defines on writer James Hopewell’s statement saying beyond the embarrassment. “He has also observed that churches are sometimes chagrined by the change of hypocrisy and lament that they cannot measure upto ideals of Christian community”. Writer James Hopewell referred by Arthur Paul Boer notes that Christian leaders are incharge and build a church thereby rise in hypocrites. I observe practically that, though the world is changing, church strategy is also changing in complementing the growth. It still targets the set mission. Even though, somewhere in the corner hypocrites do exist but church leaders aim to find out what is the outcome in the people from the traditional, theological and biblical practices.
Perhaps according my research, I suggest they experiment bringing out good approaches to youth’s growth. Instead of the current activities followed in churches I would want to suggest the approach can be focused to bring in the outcome irrespective to exploration and innovation of ideas and thoughts for internal and external behaviour of an individual related to the surroundings around him, deepening of commitments to the teaching, provide opportunities to analyse socially and theologically and viewing his life in a theological manner. To build a framework of an activity consist of – to have an experience “like us”, to sense new boundaries by exploring new links to every Christian among themselves and to god across social and cultural boundaries.
In addition, exploration and inventive programmes can be executed to judge youth’s spirituality. Daily opportunities resulting in disorientation gets support through mission of god. Integration conceptual activities also can help in building and to capture ‘a born leader’. Church leader serves them as task leaders in the corrosion and freeing the task of a disconnected mind by planning tactics and dividing the burden of other’s through consultation. As the purpose is commitment, to serve the lost, skill based leadership formation training programmes can be organized to develop an effective leader so as to sustain the capability and capacity of the leader to solve the complaints lies in the dimensions of the ability. Workshops on intersections to shape boundaries of an individual and communities through theological and biblical language, symbols, and rituals to attain certain centered objectives.
As growth of globalization is tremendous, these leaders come across and face new opportunities and challenges. I believe they help in building an integral performance in conducting entrepreneurial business-based activities, describing the activities because youth’s mind is business-oriented, therefore the activities are to be structured keeping business in mind involving biblical and theological approaches with the existing resources for a business oriented youth. They tend to produce facilitate management sources to sustain and develop faith and love. When the youth develops a church from within, he will be able to observe and analyse the holistic environment.
The activities require presence of not only church members but also worshippers for youth development in successful implementation of these practices. Some worshippers form in small groups, some large varied to race culture. Arthur Paul Boer also examines simultaneously that when a group of pastors were having service of congregation, one among them exclaimed in deep breath “It showed me I’m not alone”. So often in our churches we berate ourselves for problems we face: not enough men, too few youth, preponderance of a certain race or culture. He is clear with the fact that a single person fails, unity increases strength. We ourselves give birth to a problem and then strive hard to face it because as there are few leaders left to catch a grip to support a large community. Due to less number of youth, less support is achieved to sustain the laws and policies of the church and unable to accomplish god’s mission. It is not only one who contributes but many. Above mentioned statement “It showed me I’m not alone” expresses that each race and culture form their own group; build small churches for their own community within their own boundaries, where god expects togetherness, wholeness. It requires lot of efforts to help small churches grow whereas large church with mass contribution grows as their already exist efforts in large numbers which take over the chained actions for development. Whether single church group or many, big or small, the development is important.
On this contradiction, I would suggest that this also includes that in small group the development is paid more attention and given a close eye, problems are spotted quickly and easily to meet the challenges. No matter how large or small challenges occur, the way we approach it is unique and comprehensive as this brings out effects of development in the youth. Whereas in large it becomes difficult to assist as there are more than one individuals. Due to small groups according to races and culture, differentiation exists. But the important criterion is group commitment and work effort in all sets of practice for congregations in any race or culture for a healthy youth so that to accomplish god’s mission. As a result both objectives are co-related to each other.
To understand the nature of Christian youth it is a very distinguished and a unique phenomenon. Due to the increasing issues of ‘peer pressure’, this has led to the obstruction in the development of youth. There are negative as well as positive aspects of it. Negative aspects influence a weaker mind. It is the most consistent findings revealed in observation. Due to the inquisitive innocence, an innocent becomes a prey of the negative aspect, thereby exploited and develops an evil companionship where he adopts negative qualities and habits. But there is positive aspects as in there are some groups who work towards peer relationship. Here innocent gets an opportunity to identify his fear, weakness and have control over his own power. The peer mentors play the part in organizing programmes to understand the behaviour. They interact with the teens and open lines of communication, build up action plans to change the behaviour by using the discipline skills wherever necessary. As church members play an integrate role, it is a challenge for them to develop the youth and make Christian education reachable to them.
Teachers are responsible preachers. Youth growth depends on a teacher infact they are the true facilitators of our learning, are Baptist figures and true authors of an individual’s life book. They also act as the resource developer and planner setting the curriculum for the healthy growth of an individual, depending how the curriculum is designed with the kind and level of leadership skills to recognize the youth psychology. Parents play a significant role in Christian education. They are the promising leaders which shape up Christianity, infact are the real teachers of Christian education. Parents act as a moral standard and support, therefore can synchronize to their growing youth to be aware from their early hood to gain knowledge in Christian faith and this is done when they themselves too experience a fullness of church.
Misunderstandings and miscommunication between parents and their children are one of the issues which follow breakings in the development of the youth. Due to parent’s own principles, for respect and love of family values often creates harmness to the children’s growth which tempts them to behave against them. Thus youth becomes a totalitarian of his own life by going against the values and ethics and unknowingly gets stucked in the torturous situations. Most Christian youth, fail to act upon the 10 commandments of bible.
I must say, I myself as a youth in my real life experience have observed that the originality of the commandments has changed excessively and replaced with the following:
Thou must worship money
Thou must “lyrically” murder
Thou must have evil possession
Thou must have sex
Thou must enjoy drug addiction
Thou must prosper, worship own self
Thou must not feel guilty
Thou must have no respect for ancestral values
Thou must not serve, sacrifice
Thou must differentiate
Due to the above, youth fails to feel guilty in which guiltness is a part of our conscience creating a false belief system as an obstacle in his maturity and creating structure of his own. Under such circumstances he avoids promoting prayer, sacrifice, grace, redemption, worship and meditation, atonement. Considering money and sex are the only two things reliable to satisfy the needs, creating a limitation and a boundary for establishing personal spiritual growth and development.
In general terms, when the efforts of religious and educational institutions, society lack to perform the planned task for Christian education, a positive approach is expected and constructed to gain knowledge and teaching through parents and teachers. Youth must be aware of guiltiness which is a gift from god to help us in being and doing well.
Still the question is raised in a Journal: Volume 5 Number 4, October 2003 by Author Charlene Tan, “Can Christian teachers and parents teach Christian beliefs without indoctrinating their students and children?”
Yes, they can teach Christian beliefs without indoctrinating their students and children they need to be careful when a child is to be handled as their minds are immature. At times it is difficult to understand them because their way of thinking is varied. Firstly before going to the next process, the first process has to be resolved. As teachers and parents are the role models for the development. In order to develop and understand these three role models should be systematically developed first. Only by abiding this rule, they can achieve the development in child. But the point lies beneath that how teachers and parents can prove themselves as an effective source of development by keeping in mind the relative factor of Child’s mind compatibility and psychology? As there are variations in psychological behavior teachers and parents should be mentally prepared, be changeable and adjustment oriented accordingly.
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The political and current affair of the nation is affected by corruption and evilness rationally which gave birth to vivid factors like jealousy, modesty and so on, making human’s built a tendency to mislead the positive factors. The situations have made the teachers adapt those inequalities within them, affecting the surrounding factors. Parents have too due to their increasing self priority created barriers of understanding among their families.
Many people are often drawn towards the attention of the church because of their felt needs and not for spiritual needs.
For instance, it does occur that why the youth is tuned out of his own way? Even in their interaction with their own members it tends to happen with them that they fail to hear a word said to them – stating “I didn’t hear a word you said?”, even though it is obvious that they have said something relating to us. This proves a kind of negligence in contacting the positive mechanism which grows in the back of our minds. Such system blocks all the wanted and useful messages allowing us to hear and see only what our mind tells us to hear and believe. As this tendency is increased in the youth generation, it is creating gaps between a believer and faith of god.
The question is – How? How can we overcome this problem? Youth have themselves developed a capacity in mind to hear only what pleasures them without taking a decision that whether it is false or truth. My query is – How we can bring these groups of youth closer to god? Unconsciously resulting in unexpected calamities and unknowingly they are unable to repent it wisely. Due to this increasing factor, youth can’t get a grip of effective communication and develop themselves internally. Here the parents then enter the scene to play their role.

The main question lies whether the local churches fulfill and meet to mature disciples in Christian education?

As stated above, ‘youth’ are the most critical of all critics when it comes to religion. In this modern era, youth is distracted to church because they are building castles in air due to the unmaterialistic desire. Youth today have focused their vision to crave success and prosperity for their rising life graph; they exploit their own ones due to greed and selfishness. During the primary phase of struggle and hard work, youth craves to achieve prosperity, at the same time, do thank god and accept his involvement for success, but hand in hand, lack to follow the bibles ethics which says to respect others in and with unity. Due to the competition and growth politically, more often youth seem to push the fellow mates and strive to takeover their place. They themselves are unaware that they give birth to exploitation and inequality. And due to inequality, unity is declined, wherein bible does not specify inequality. In a book source, Pastor – “Rick Warren’ – illustrates in his book – The Purpose-Driven Church -“The issue is church health, not church growth!” declares warren. “if your church is healthy, growth will occur naturally. Healthy consistent growth is the result of balancing the five biblical purposes of the church.”
In addition to this he also declares that “If u concentrate on building people, God will build the church”.
I agree at a certain point with the above statement. I herewith would want to magnify on “How would one build a healthy youth for a healthy church”? In this sense I believe that both are co-related with each other. Again the issue arises in my mind ‘How will the church be healthy if the youth is unhealthy?’ The issue can’t be only concentrated on church. For a church to survive, the basic foundation is the youth and for the youth to be saved and attracted the church has to be healthy. In my knowledge it is a ‘Vicious Circle’.
Local churches upto some extent do specifically fulfill the discipleship through the practices and play a great emphasis in fulfilling and conveying the message of god to us, but still lack to read the minds and bring the youth closer to her, for which she has to upgrade her atmospheric appearance with new packages to reach the youth in a new taste due to the competitive modernism which is hovering on the youth.
The latter part can play the best part coz when first falls in place, everything else falls in place, from the beginning to the end, from all angles in all walks of life. Towards a healthy faith, healthy church can turn and seed a growth of spirituality through which mankind will grow spiritually from within thereby causing church growth.
Author Perry G. Down states in his book – “Teaching for spiritual growth” that ‘how can we best enable Christians to grow towards maturity?’ For this question he suggests three key concepts- ministry, believer, and purpose. But my understanding says that these concepts are incomplete somewhere to create a bond in reaching the results because today’s youth is attracted towards the unrealistic worldly matters, but has resulted in declination towards the god’s spiritual growth. The major role connecting these three concepts is commitment and effort. As the church ministry is the foundation pillar, the main aim is how much measure of commitment is valued and given to achieve the target successfully. Mankind is able to commit only when he chooses the right direction in fear and is able but this is unfortunate as the alien world tend to let us unidentify the type of strategies of growth for maturity. By identifying the type of strategies of growth, we can understand the level of growth required towards maturity at which we can be spiritual. Another reason for in growth is fear. As the youth fears to face unexpected problems, the efforts are less and require the hierarchy’s support.
Author Gary C. Newton stated in his book – “Going towards spiritual maturity” quotes the principle that “God is ultimately responsible for all spiritual growth”. The question arises at this point that if god is responsible for everything, what will be the purpose and role of human? I comment that while god supplies the resources like bible, church, Holy Spirit, baptism, it is also our responsibility to supply effort and commitment to utilize those resources and give results to god. In bible, Paul highlights this principle of his personal lifestyle and in his teachings comparing with the example of a soldier or athlete to illustrate the amount of sincerity and efforts. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27), Paul states that “In a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize”. I herewith conclude in a Christian race all runners (ministry, believers, purpose) will fail to get a prize if there is no effort that is commitment from everyone.
Along with the concept of ministry, believer, purpose; effort is also the key concept and it has to be achieved from the youth as well. A healthy youth will gain efforts only when the growth will favour them from within, when the forces of the ministry believers and youth will collide with each other to form a healthy growth.
This will create a mutual relationship between god’s provisional resources and our active involvement in process which is more clearly in Philippians 2:12-13: “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is god who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose”. This principle is intricate but the application is clear.
If one is to grow towards maturity in Christ then one must cultivate and demonstrate the efforts with passion, Philippians 2:17-18: ” But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you be glad and rejoice with me”.
Therefore the conclusion lies in the above concept, both; effort of the youth along with the work of ministry, believers proves in the healthiness of the church. In the book “Youth At Risk” by Peter Christian Olsen, 2003, he highlights four basic needs which he has clearly created an awareness of the effects that affects the development of youth:
Acceptance – belonging
New beginnings and second chances – forgiveness
Significance – generosity
Freedom – independence
I agree with his confirmation that he examines in deriving the above developmental needs from the provision of the Almighty’s resources as the absence of these needs do intentionally contribute in how they shape the personality, maturity, responsibility and stability of emotions. He emphasizes Christian community in respond to the needs determining that, the resources will be polishing youth through support during the fear and avoid them from destruction. At times the concepts will be foreign, indigestive for youth because unable to realize its importance. Rather the community need not re-interpret or change the language but simplify their thoughts and improve their visionary and understanding by change in structure through a friendly communication by becoming an effective leader to bridge the gap between the church and the youth. Therefore forces and efforts are needed for decision making which is an effective key in respond to ministry believer and purpose for a possibility of a healthy youth to build a healthy church, which will make the church flourish.

Supporting surveys

According to a survey, some findings proved that church fails to answer every question of the youth.

Q.1 In what way and sense is Christian religion, faith and church viewed by today’s modern youth?

Youth of today’s modern era is firm on the point stating that inspiration is lacked in religion; they feel that the world is divided through religion and is the major factor which is affecting the growth. A 17-year-old Jude from Kent says confidently that “He does not agree with the church who talks on subject morality” and is “Overfilled with traditionality”.
Youth pick their ideas which suit their taste through various religious beliefs. There are few in bunch who strongly believe, there exist only single religion which has controlled the truth. Young generation refer to perform all activities as per their own desire which in return less importance to the religious belief are being given, which gives birth to the side effects of the conduct.

Q.2 Why do young crowd feel that Christianity is not a ‘happening’ cultural activity?

An 18-year-old Marcus said that he left church when he was 15 because the teachings did not amuse him and it did not interest him of anything as a youth.
The major quest, a struggle for a religion is to impose an exertion of force of involvement in terms of attraction. I usually attend church service wherein I find young ones missing the services. I kept questioning myself that, where the young crowd has disappeared? Surprisingly the young ones have taken charge for the attendance of the church. In this consequence the church should give priority to change its curriculum and its way of presenting the services with new attractive packages for enhancement.

Q.3 Are the young preachers practicing different approaches in Christianity declining. What are your suggestions?

As the attendance of the youth in church has declined, but on the other hand people practicing approaches are increasing in numbers. The following is revealed through one of the youths that more the deepening are the studies of the bible, more a person becomes a hypocrite of the Christian leadership and unintentionally accepts and performs the lifestyle of the clergy right or wrong at times unknowingly. In such case, the practices are affected and become different from those which are to be precise. Seen are still some true Christian youngsters who are different in their attitude and conduct, but in spite of such difference, they are not involved into the immorality and violence activities with other youths. They present themselves as they are from a different unknown religion, but practice the religion and it

Before I get slandered I would like to point out that I am neutral on this topic and have no inclination to pick a side due to the fact that I am not close enough to the situation to claim wrong doing of either side.
My original understanding from a Historical perspective(please correct me if I am wrong) is that the state of Israel was established around 1948 after WW2. Long before this however I believe it was the Jews who originally inhabited the land that is modern day Israel/Palestine.
The Jews were then kicked out of this land by the Christian’s after being blamed for the death of christ, who was actually killed by the roman’s but the roman’s then turned Christian. They then spread across Europe searching for a place to stay (some stayed in Jerusalem but many were killed the crusades that would follow in the coming years).
Many Jews were not welcomed by the newly Christian states on an equal level, many of them were forced into segregation or had severe laws placed upon them. Many Jews were prohibited from owning property and as a population, they became scapegoats for issues that arose in the community. The post WW1 “stab in the back myth” is a good example of this alongside the blood lybles (which stated that Jews used the blood of children in their rituals) and pogroms across Europe.
From around 1933-1941 many Jews were forced to leave many areas across europe, mainly Germany, and were “dumped” into other nations across Europe and the Americas. The Jews held some connection to Jerusalem and a few wanted their own homeland to establish their own identity (Zionism). At the time (I believe it was called Palestine at this point) the state was under the control of the British, who were less than inclined to have this state as a “dumping ground” for German Jews.
From 1945 onwards my knowledge is limited, but based off of the Historical knowledge around the pre WW2 period I am struggling to understand wether the issue that has arisen due to these two nations being placed in the same proximity is really just the fault of a long standing Anti-Semitic sentiment in Europe.
I know humanity likes to think that we have changed in our views towards other humans, but we have not. One thing I have noticed around my home town, is that Jewish schools and synagogues are having to have security guards stand outside to stop people from attacking the students (talking around 5-12 years olds).
While I also understand that there has been a significant amount of Muslim hate as well, it has been actively protested against in the recent years, and to my knowledge anti-Semitism has not in the same manner.
This is not to say that either side is necessarily better than the other in anyway, and to be honest both sides have done as equally horrible things as the other. I am just struggling to understand why one side was received so much support and the other is being condemned.
Just to clarify the word “genocide”: I understand that the actions being taken place in the state have been called genocidal by some people, however it is not genocide by definition. The Holocaust is an example of genocide, the actions, whil horrible and irredeemable, are not genocidal and more so the victims of war (crimes). The death toll in WW2 was not held in the same regard dispute the number of civilians murdered and innocent death.
Again, I am not supporting one side or the other, I am simply interested in the cold hard facts about the situation and why there has been so much hate directed towards Israel.
note: sorry for all the words, just had a lot of info.

Hello Redditors,
This is an incredible success story of how we helped a client achieve incredible results in just four months, generating an $80,000 return on investment (ROI) with a combination of SEO and Facebook Ads. We have completed many successful projects and there's a certain satisfaction in seeing our strategies translate to such tangible growth. I have tried to keep this post extremely detailed so that it can be beneficial for experienced marketers and newcomers alike.
The Client: Hair Extension E-commerce Brand
Revenue Split Between SEO and Fb ads: 3:2
Average Order Value: $350
Total Revenue(6 months): $140,000
Expenses(6 months): Product Cost + Delivery cost + Team + Agency Fees + Ads Cost+ Website Optimization + Packaging: $60000
Basic Company Background:
The brand was being run by a Mother-Daughter duo for the past 3 months. They had a shopify website with average structure and were struggling with facebook ads themselves. Although they made few physical sales due to friends and relatives but were unable to utilize the digital potential of their business as such. After trying facebook ads for some time they wanted a reliable digital marketing team to work with and they were recommended to us by one of our other customers who has a service based business. Initially we connected majorly for facebook ads but after the initial discussion when were doing research from our side, we found that there is huge potential in SEO for this niche so we suggested that we should prepare a proper website on wordpress and focus on both SEO and Ads parallelly as, although Ads will give an initial boost to the business but SEO will bring some stability and help in building a sustainable business.
Facebook Ads Campaign Structure:

• Our campaign housed multiple ad sets targeting users who are interested in fashion products and we also targeted audiences of some big and costly fashion companies. We were mostly targeting females aged 25-45 with good income source to have optimal conversions in the beginning, with our Seo efforts we planned to target a slightly younger audience as well which is going steadily as of now.
• We ran occasional promotions like "Buy x get x free" to boost AOV.
• Due to the high AOV and especially the product niche sometimes it is necessary to build trust so we used retargeting to build trust and showcase benefits, not just push for immediate conversions. Ads focused on comparison(Before & Afters), Customer Reviews, Hassle free product application and natural look, stylish look.

Ads Creatives and Brand Positioning:
It's important to note that after deep research we could find that a major share our hair extensions customers are females aged between 21-45 so we did not actively position our brand as solving problems of low hair volume, but instead we focused on how the products ads style, gives a much better look and you can try new hairstyles and hair colors daily. Also since almost all the demographics in this age group are working, we tested a professional look angle as well which gave us decent results. In ad creatives as well as on the website we made the daughter as the face of the product as we want to slowly grow her instagram as well which can add another organic and sustainable stream of revenue. She shoots before and after transition videos, general product application videos and other videos for ads according to the target audience and brand positioning strategy we discussed earlier. Instead of making long videos focused on product details a lot, we made short but captivating videos which can appeal to the young audience’s fashion sense.
Key Takeaways from FB Ads:
Mostly Meta Ads or Any other marketing tactic is just a traffic source but conversion will basically happen by how well you are able to communicate your product to the audience through your website. Its is necessary to have a smooth user journey, attractive offers, crisp information and right brand positioning on the website.
It is extremely important to make data driven decisions and track customer journeys meticulously. Always rely on your own tracking or google analytics to avoid the potential unreliability of Facebook Ads Manager.
Seo Strategy
If you don’t already know this, SEO is all about how effectively you can strategize your content and technical efforts keeping a bigger picture in mind. After our initial keyword research we could find that the average Kd of the important keywords was low when it comes to commercial keywords which were directly related to the business.
It's important to note that since the website was being built after our onboarding only so it was easy for us to structure the website according to the SEO strategy that we prepared.
At every stage we had meetings with the developer to ensure that there are no technical issues that will hinder the SEO growth and future and also we structured the website to be SEO friendly. We built separate pages for all the product categories and after through keyword research we added content to those pages so that the pages itself can rank for commercial keywords.
After the website was ready we audited it for technical issues(Like mobile friendliness, H1 tags, canonical tags, etc) we started focusing on the content. We wanted to establish our website as a trusted authority in the hair extensions and hair care industry in general.
Since the website was completely new, initially we created blogs(2-3 times per week) around informational keywords with low KD purely for increasing our website authority and bringing the initial traffic on the website. We have seen that usually people start stressing about approaching big websites for guest postings since the first day itself but if your keyword research and content is solid, that is not required in the beginning. Initially we focused on profile creations, image submissions, pdf submissions, internal linking in the content, web 2.0 backlinks etc and this was more than enough for us to rank for low difficulty keywords and increase our DA to a decent level so that our category pages can rank for low difficulty keywords.
Here I would like to include a tip, many times people are worried that what if the backlink that they have created doesn't get indexed. In the initial phase we work really hard when it comes to what we call as maturing our backlinks as this is the major factor for ranking on low difficulty keywords. So basically what we do is, we make backlinks of our web 2.0 backlinks itself which helps the primary backlink in getting indexed which ultimately helps with our website DA.
Also many people have been asking us in our previous posts how we structure our blog since I talk a lot about content quality, see it's not as hard and it doesn't involve a lot of research at least in the initial phase when you just have to rank on low difficulty keywords. In this phase usually what we do is study the top 5 ranking blogs on the particular keyword and make sure that we include more content and more subheadings then them. Also we try to find opportunities to include tables or charts wherever possible, we include good quality images(original if possible) and at this stage internal linking is very very important so we focus on that as well. In later stages although the basic strategy for framing the blogs remains same, overall content strategy varies a lot from business to business and requires a lot of strategizing depending on the brand positioning goals.
So after we were able to rank for low difficulty informational keywords and our Website DA reached a decent level due to our backlinking efforts, we started writing content around the fashion advice and common problems which people face related to hair in general. But as discussed earlier, we wanted to keep our brand positioning fashion centric, so even while writing about common problems we applied a positive and solution centric approach. We strategically placed internal links to our product pages in the content and tested popups with offers as well. Apart from this, we started guest posting as well at this stage. For finding websites for guest posting we used SEMrush’s backlink gap analysis tool and created a segregated list of blogs that we can reach out to based on their content quality and DA. By this time the store started generating decent revenue from ads and SEO so the client was completely onboard with reaching out to blogs for guest posting. Guest posting and overall strategic SEO application started generating a good amount of traffic for us and in 3-4 months the revenue generated due to SEO surpassed our Ads revenue as well.
Advantages of Combining SEO and Paid Ads
While Facebook Ads played a crucial role in launching the brand and driving initial traffic, SEO has emerged as the primary driver of sustainable growth. This approach allowed us to:

• Reduce Reliance on Paid Advertising: As our SEO efforts matured, we were able to gradually decrease our Facebook ad spend, resulting in cost savings and improved return on investment.
• Build Brand Authority: Our SEO strategy has positioned our website as a trusted authority in the hair extensions industry. This fosters brand recognition and trust, leading to organic customer acquisition.
• Scale Traffic and Revenue: Organic traffic growth has been exponential, leading to a significant and sustainable increase in website revenue generated through SEO.

SEO efforts are always ongoing but we are really satisfied with the base that we have built and we are really looking forward to working with keywords with higher KD and generating more revenue with SEO In the upcoming months. Although we will keep running ads in future as well mostly for awareness purposes but the major revenue will be generated from our SEO efforts. Apart from this, as we mentioned earlier, we are looking to actively start the Social Media efforts as well from the next month itself. We will be looking to target Instagram and Tiktok in the initial phase and we believe in 2-3 months social media will contribute towards 25% of our revenue which will grow rapidly.
Thankyou For Reading!