I'm a first-time player. I have a town hall, market, and trading post, as well ass a chapel and a schoolhouse. I have stored 20k food, 100 medicine, 50 iron tools, 50 leather coats, 50 ale, and 1000+ firewood. I have 8 houses, 3 empty. I've had all the buildings for at least 2 years, and I've had 5 stars and 5 hearts for 5+ years. I haven't had a real shortage of anything in almost 10 years (occasionally I run low on stone or iron, which I immediately replace). my people are starting to die of old age, I'm 12 years in and I have not gained a single new settler, either by my people having children or new settlers joining my settlement. what am I doing wrong?

I'm having self-doubt if this post is in good taste or not, or I'm the one being paranoid here.
So hear me out first.
Char Dham Yatra is supposed to be done to connect your inner self with the God and attain salvation. It means to wash away all the sins and start the life with new motivation.
But so far, I have only seen people coming here just for the sake of coming here.

1. If you really care about being devotional, then why can't you see the sufferings of mules being employed in the Yatra. As a pilgrim, you should see their pain and how horribly they're treated. What I mean to say is I despise those kinds of people who are unable to carry out the Yatra by foot and then employ the service of mules. It's a known fact that how horrible these mules are treated. Yesterday, I saw a real in which few mule owners threw a barely alive mule in the gorge just because he was weak and couldn't carry the pilgrims. I know their sufferings is not on the pilgrims but I can't understand how a person can even sit on a mule who has his ribs poking out of the skin. Though, full marks to those who carry out this treacherous journey on foot.
2. Cleanliness- I saw a video on Twitter in which the person was showing the line and the crowd. What got to me instead was the level of dirtiness in those streets. Every nook and corner is filled with garbage. You have come to the home of God and yet you dare to threw the garbage in the premises. The least you can do is carry that garbage back with you in plastic bags. It's a basic courtesy. Don't treat Dhams like your grandmother's house. Maintain some dignity.
3. Greediness - Every thing at these places are super inflated. Yes, I get that it takes a lot of effort to bring goods to that altitude and I'm all in for rise in prices by 25%, but the items being sold there are inflated upto 400% of their original MRP. Hotel rooms are available at 12k-15k per night. There is literally VIP Darshan if you have money. My father says that all this greediness by business owners lead to the 2013 disaster.
4. Of course the tourism - This has been highlighted very often and I wouldn't add anything to it except that the fact that these Dhams are pilgrimage sites, not some tourist hotspots like Kashmir or Manali.

These points indicate that there is actually a very less percentage of pilgrims who are there with true devotion. Thanks to improved accessibility, most of the "pilgrims" thinks this more as of taking a vacation. Hooliganism is at peak at these sites with people carrying band baaja with them, making reels, dancing, and some even bringing their pets as if they know what it means.
Apart from the people, I also think UK and Central govt is responsible for this.
I might be grossly wrong here, but this is what I think. I have no disrespect for the actual pilgrims, but I think there are more tourists than the pilgrims, and they are the ones who are distorting the sanctity of these sites.
​

New to this sub. Here's my attempt at contribution.
So I got a bike from my cousin. He managed to pop BOTH wheels. That's why he didn't mind me using it.
I rolled it down the hill a bit and teetered. Then I went:
"I either balance and pedal, or it's gonna hurt a lot" and pushed off.
I reached like halfway down and said "fuck it" and put both my feet up. Rode a bit.
Did that a couple of times until I got the balance.
Then started trying to take off Without the hill.
Whole process took a couple of hours. (Kid time. An afternoon)
How I learned to ride a bike was a real indicator for what my learning process would be like in the future.
I jump out of the nest because it's the only way I'll have no choice but to not Freeze.
Being too nice about it would've coddled me and not helped. I've grown to enjoy the fire. And I don't my best work when under pressure 😅
And sometimes I just need to be stupid.
Some people are bread. They need peace and quiet to do their growth. I'm a tea bag. 🍵

C N'Faly Dante from Oregon declared for the draft but is waiting on a waiver to see if he can be approved for a 6th season in college: https://twitter.com/MattPrehm/status/1790792301511589996 Originally from Mali, Dante was a five star recruit out of Kansas in 2019, having moved to the States to further his basketball development. He has suffered through a litany of injuries throughout his career, starting in HS as a sophomore where he tore an ACL. He suffered through tendonitis of his knees as a freshman and was cleared late with eligibility issues, tore his left ACL in 2020, suffered an ankle injury that ended his season in 2023, and had knee surgery after one game this past season, which kept him out 14 games.
Through all of his injuries, he has been able to return to the floor each time and has turned himself into an NBA prospect. The athleticism he continues to possess even after the injuries he's suffered is impressive. He measured in at 6'10 w/out shoes at the combine with a 7'6 wingspan and 9'3 standing reach. 260 points. He's a 6'11 in shoes absolute unit of a physical specimen. Strong, wide, has huge hands, and is very quick in the open floor for a big man. He's gets off the ground quickly and powerfully and is a decent leaper that can elevate from a standstill and gather and power up quickly. He's not the smoothest guy laterally, but is certainly not slow footed by any means and is really mobile for his size.
Dante does all the things you want from a traditional big well. He is one of the very best finishers this class has. Over 80% at the rim. Generates a ton of contact. Elite offensive rebounder. His ability to power up from a standstill, his frame/strength, and his wingspan and large hands gives him a very large catch and finish radius and make it extremely hard to effectively contest his shots, he's an above the rim finisher in the halfcourt. He does a fantastic job making himself available for dump off passes and working his way into position for the catch down low. He catches most balls clean but not every one, but when he doesn't he has the ability to regather himself and finish with ease. He has effective ball fakes that get defenders off their feet.
He is an elite transition threat. He's one of the most dynamic guys at his size you'll see running down the floor. He's an elite transition finisher. He beats guys down the floor and catches lobs or seals defenders and finishes at the rim. He does a great job with seals in the paint. He was one of the most efficient post scorers in college basketball this year. His post game is fairly simple but it's economical, he has nice touch in the post, and the position he gains and the space he clears with his drop step usually gives him a shot right in front of the rim. He has decent footwork in the post...he has a step through move he likes to use in the post. He has a fake spin/hook in his arsenal. He prefers the right hand but will go left. He has the ability to catch balls under the rim and work his way above it. His large catch radius, how light he is on his feet, and his strength, make it easy for him to carve out space down low. That's what really gives him an advantage from the jump as a post scorer. He's pretty decisive in the post...he gets into his moves quickly, which both forces contact and makes him hard to contest.
He is a top class screen setter. He's a wall as a screen setter. He really walls off defenders and clears them out of the way, without being called for fouls, whether that be out of the DHO, off ball, or PnR. He creates a lot of open shots with his screens. He's also great at sealing defenders for drivers for easy baskets. His screen setting contributes to how good of a PnR roller he is. He's also a fantastic slip guy. He's so mobile for his size. His ability to get off the ground quickly and his leaping ability along with his hands and catch radius makes him a major lob threat. He really peels off screens in a dynamic way and with fantastic timing. It's very hard to stop him once he gets going downhill. In a traditional PnR set, it only takes him 1-2 dribbles for him to get to the basket.
He gobbles up rebounds on both ends. He's super strong with the ball as a rebounder. He's a force as a rebounder. He attacks balls in the air, and he is fantastic with positioning. He has natural rebounding instincts, knowing where the ball is going to be off the rim and placing himself in position to grab it. He does a good job keeping the ball high when he grabs an offensive board which makes him an elite put back guy. He can grab rebounds outside of his immediate area with his length and athleticism. He can reach back and grab balls in the air. He will rip balls out of opponents' hands. He often beats opponents for position for offensive rebounds. Once he has you on his back, you're in trouble.
Dante can make a midrange jumper on occasion. He shot 61% from the line. Similar ~60% the last three seasons. He'll never be a shooter, and his shot is a bit flat, but the mechanics are not bad from the midrange. Being able to make a midrange jumper will give him a little more dimension offensively and it wouldn't hurt to provide a little spacing.
His touch and skill on shots outside of the rim is not as good as it is around it. His post range isn't that large. He gets more inaccurate the further out from the post he gets, but he generally gets to his spot close to the rim regardless. He does have some intriguing face up game from both the free throw line and in the post. He likes facing up and attacking his man with a strong dribble or two and usually finishing with a hook or a layup, and he is very effective with these shots. He'll use his strength to drive opponents back on these shots as well.
He is mobile, gets great extension, and has a quick first step and accelerates to the rim, which gives him an ability to drive and finish from the FT line/elbows. He's a straight line driver and things can get a bit adventerous when he has to put the ball on the floor. He's fine with space, but if you close his space, he's not the most secure as a ballhandler. Not much in the way of advanced moves either. Not a part of his game that we'll see much of at all as a pro, but there is some raw ability there as a face up guy.
Dante is a bit of a mixed bag as a playmaker. He has the ability to make some really sharp reads and has pretty good vision. He will make kick outs from the post and can find cutters. He'll make skip passes from the block and hit shooters on the outside. He can find cutters from the top of the key. He does a good job finding the kick out on the double team. He will bait a double team and hit the kick out. That's an important skill for him to possess...he's not a black hole and you can end up getting burned doubling him. He's not an advanced passer overall, but he will make the right reads more often then not, and some impressive ones too.
He gets ahead of himself at times and that's where turnovers can come. Both when putting the ball on the floor, but he makes careless passes a little too often. He will travel on occasion when putting the ball on the floor. His touch and timing aren't always where they need to be. But for a guy who is really gonna be a pure play finisher at the next level, the fact he does have some playmaking ability in him gives him a wrinkle many in that category do not possess.
Dante is an expressive communicator and the heart of the Ducks defense this season. Can he seen pointing to and directing his teammates into position on the defensive end. He can switch a bit on the defensive end. He can hedge high. He's a drop big, but he has switchability and his mobility gives him versatility as a drop defender, he doesn't have to deep drop and can contain ballhandlers fairly high in drop. He uses his length really well as a drop defender...he uses his hands well too. He plays man and ball effectively, with the short space mobility to recover back to his man...he uses his length to disrupt ballhandlers. He gets his hands on quite a few balls as a drop defender, breaking up dribbles or breaking up passes. He makes himself big as a drop defender, which makes him a great rim deterrent.
He's got very good instincts as a rotater. Very good awareness overall defensively. Remains engaged and keeps his head on a swivel. He does a good job rotating over and covering cutters and opponents ducking in around the rim, and does a good job helping the helper. His awareness and his mobility along with the timing he has and his leaping ability makes him a very good shotblocker, both on the weakside and strongside. I think he can be even better, he does miss out on a few potential blocks just by being a bit late on the rotation, but his block percentage sells him short on how many shots he deters and alters around the rim. He's great with verticality, and he does a good overall job not biting on fakes. He's not massively foul prone. He'll pick up some cheap fouls, but he doesn't bite on fakes consistently. He contests with his hands up and tall, and the threat of his shot blocking sees a lot of offensive players looking to avoid his contests and being cute around the rim, or even avoiding taking shots in his vicinity.
He's a very good post defender. He anticipates post passes really really well. He nabs a ton of steals beating opponents to the ball off post passes. He has quick hands. He can be very aggressive with ball denial. He has really good instincts in reading the pass and taking it away and doing so without fouling. He does a good job sticking with an opponent's moves in the post. That along with his strength and length makes it hard to get clean looks off Dante in the post. The players that had the best success against him where the players who had the aggression and strength to seal and quickly take it to him, but very few had such capability. It's easier said than done.
Dante isn't the absolute smoothest mover from side to side but he is a very mobile one. His length also aids him on the perimeter, and he slides his feet well; he has the quickness to not just hang with but cut off drives on the perimeter. He's not someone you can target. I don't think he'll ever be a pure switch guy, but he can more than hang on the perimeter. You can't really just beat him for speed on switches. It may not always look pretty but he can hang with double moves on the perimeter. He does a good job forcing opponents to take the shots he wants them to take from all three levels. He will block jumpers, both on the ball, and when rotating out on contests.
The factors that make him an elite offensive rebounder make him great on the defensive boards as well...he has great technique as a rebounder. Boxes out, asserts dominant position, and he really goes after balls in the air. He really is a vacuum as a rebounder. He tracks balls really well. As a rebounder and as a shotblocker. The elevation ability is the cherry on top, along with his strong and large hands.
N'Faly Dante's length, strength, and athleticism is at the heart of his abilities on both ends of the floor but he's got real skill as a player on both ends as well. He's a mature player who has battled through a lot to get to this point. He's a plug-and-play guy with fantastic physical tools and someone you can envision can fulfill a 10-15 minute role immediately in the NBA. We will see what comes of his waiver process with Oregon, but his current focus is with the NBA as that process continues.
Are you all Thumbs Up, Down, or Across on N'Faly Dante?
Note: Accidentally deleted first post

Hi everyone!
First of all, let me just say I love this sub! Whenever I've hit a reading slump I can always count on this community to have the best recommendations. So I thought I'd share some of my favorite reads since the beginning of 2024. This is not all of them, trust me, my kindle unlimited library loves to point out that I exceed my reading goals every week :'). I wanted to do each of these recs some justice and spent waaaay too long trying to convince you to read them through my ramblings. Enjoy, and PLEASE let me know if you read any of them!!!
We'll go by Genre:
M/M BDSM

• Different Hearts by Izaia Winters - Goodreads - (bdsm, age gap, age play, contemporary)
  • Some people aren't comfortable with age-play and I totally get it. I was too until I read this series. There's something endearing about the care and love that's written in this series about boys and their daddies. Not every book in this story is about daddy kink, there's also some service-oriented kink, sado/masochism, poly, and even puppy-play, this series has something for every itch. Don't yuck someone's yum but enjoy the stories of these characters! If I could read these for the first time again, I'd still devour them like I was starved.
• Love Language by Reese Morrison- Goodreads - (bdsm, transgender, queer, puppy-play, age-play, poly, age-gap, disability)
  • I am on my knees for you Reese Morrison. On. My. Knees. You brilliant person you. Writing a series surrounding the deaf and the bdsm community? GENIUS! GAH! Can you tell I love this series? No? Oh let me enlighten you whippersnappers.
  • This series has 4 books, the first being able to read as a standalone features a deaf trans dom and an older sub whose lost his master. Marco and Greg navigate this new relationship through some very real struggles of being trans while trying to find love and also being deaf. Morrison's writing is so true to the ASL language that you feel like you're in this world with them.
  • The next two books come together in the last one. Book 2 we are introduced to Dustin, a new dom, and Landon, a genderfluid sub who gets to explore a new aspect of kink while offering to help Dustin become the dom he's meant to be. Both characters are also deaf, there's plenty of kinky scenes, and some angst.
  • Book 3 we fall in love with my two favorite characters of all time. Ash, an genderqueer sub who loves sex and kink, grows close with Dustin's friend Zhong. A cuddly asexual dom in denial. Zhong truly believes he can't give Ash what they need, but their love story is one that lives rent-free in my heart.
  • Book 4, we see these two couples navigate the beginnings of a poly relationship and each characters grows and learns more about themselves throughout. This conclusion to the series celebrates the deaf community and how love is unlimited in all its aspects.
  • Maybe I'm just biased bc I'm an asexual poly person but this story and Morrison's ability to represent these aspects feels so personal to me. Now. Add this to your TBR or I will...I'll...I'll cry ;-;

General Romance

• Four Ever by Sloane Kennedy - Goodreads - (poly, hurt/comfort, menage, age gap, angst)
  • One established couple with many furry babies and deep emotional scars take in two young men who have been through an abusive past. I was hesitant to love this one, but there's a build up here that feels so natural. Many poly stories feel like there's not enough time given for each character to get a full scope of them, but Sloane Kennedy wrote this beautiful and healing story with the respect of someone who understands it's not a wham-bam and done deal. You learn to love each character so thoroughly that by the end you can't help but want to give each of them a big hug.
• Rat Park by Marina Vivancos - Goodreads - (hurt/comfort, explicit drug use/recovery/relapse, age gap, redemption, found family)
  • I love anything by Marina Vivancos, and I devoured this book as soon as I saw it on KU. Fair warning, this is not a typical romance. It mostly follows the life of Dominic as he grows up in a drug ridden home and becomes addicted and throughout the years battles his addiction. The second half of the book is where romance comes in but even then, addiction and his past haunts him as he navigates feelings of self-worth and acceptance. I would recommend this book to everyone but there's a special kind of person who can respect the care and time the author took to tell this story.
• Until I Saw You by Diania Roman - Goodreads - (contemporary, disability, hurt/comfort, bi-awakening, abuse)
  • Yeah, yeah, I know everyone will always recommend this one, but have you guys listened to the audiobook version? Cause wow, I thought I'd read Harper and Riley's story, but I felt like I got to listen to a whole new story with how well the narrators did on this one. I can really see how funny Riley is and how calm and lovable Harper is. I was laughing so hard sometimes nd those quiet, solitary sobs one emits when surrounded by others you'd rather not let see you getting weird for sobbing over fictional characters. If you loved the written book, check out the audiobook. You'll thank me later!
• Someday Someday by Emma Scott - Goodreads - (friends to lovers, forbidden love, hurt/comfort, religious trauma, angst)
  • I haven't seen many people recommend this one and I stumbled upon it myself through audible. It's about this heavily repressed man named Silas and Max who applies for a caregiver position for Silas's dying father. Now, I have never hated a fictional man more than I hated that old homophobic bag of bones, but Silas and Max's story was moving and emotional. It was an emotional rollercoaster, but I loved it and would ride it again just for the fantastic writing of Emma Scott. Check trigger warnings before reading this.

Omegaverse Series

• Hedonist by Roe Horvat - Goodreads - (omegaverse, fantasy, erotica, poly, open-relationship, mpreg)
  • Everyone on this sub absolutely loves Roe Horvat! And for good reason! Roe writes these extremely erotic omegaverse novels that are not only hot but also have complex depth to the characters. I wonder if you guys have given the Hedonist series a chance. Yes it's erotic scene after erotic scene but honestly, the premise, the politics, and the personalities of the characters create this whimsical historical fiction world where the omega king needs to find an alpha to give him an heir. The king himself has a group of omegas that he's saved or bought out of abusive situations and gives them a highly respected title amongst the court where the omegas are to be treated with the utmost respect. Consent is a beautiful thing and like any Roe Horvat novel, it is not forgotten. Give this duet and the spinoffs a read, it's truly one of my favorite eroticas.
• Forbidden Desires by Piper Scott - Goodreads - (omegaverse, paranormal, dragons, shapeshifters, romance, knotting, mpreg)
  • I've never quite loved a shifter series more than I've loved this one. I mean, the worldbuilding surrounding this secret society of dragon shifters and the magic of it all is just up my ally. This series follows each brother of the Drake family as they fall in love and find their mates. They have to navigate the politic mess of the dragon world, the nature of dragon shifters, and the adorableness of baby dragons.
  • Don't get me wrong, every single couple is amazing, but my favorites were Harrison & Everard with Harrisons quirky scientific mind and Everard's endless patience and love for his mate. But out of every character, I truly fell for Perry and Sebastion. This couple's story is told from the time they met hundreds of years ago and tells of their losses and love for one another. These two are couple goals, and Perry's struggles with pregnancy and the love he has for his children made it all a truly heart-wrenching story.
  • Oh, and don't discount the audiobooks! I loved them just as much as the written books.
• Alaskan Pebble Gifters by Amy Bellows - Goodreads - (omegaverse, shapeshifter, fantasy, knotting, mpreg)
  • I for some reason avoided shifter omegaverse novels. But I think that was mostly due to just not finding an author whose writing I could really sink my teeth into. Amy Bellows is an author unafraid to write darker storylines, but this series is one that's part typical omegaverse politics, truemate love and hardships, and a whole big part adorable cuddly baby penguins and polar bears <3 oh my god I melt when reading about the babies in this series!!! A baby penguin in a bowtie? GENIUSLY ADORABLE! Def recommend this shifter omegaverse series if you are already familiar with the genre or just starting.

Omegaverse Standalones

• Talk Nerdy to Me by Jett Matterson - Goodreads - (omegaverse, sports, college, contemporary)
  • If I could convince you to read just one Jett Matterson book I will have accomplished my goal here. No, this writing style is not everyone's cup of tea and there's not a whole ton of dialogue. But in my opinion, that just means we can experience the story from the characters point of view. It's written almost chronologically, follows the lives of these characters from the time they meet to its natural ending. But it truly feels like it could keep going on forever and I would faithfully keep reading it.
  • Alpha Matthew is the star football player in college, but he's failing his physics class. So he gets assigned a tutor, and this happens to be omega Miles Tran, a character with past trauma relating to bullying from footballs players like Matthew. But as these two get closer and begin to understand and care for each other, their romance also evolves. Lots of scent marking, sexy times, hurt/comfort, and a love so sweet it makes your tooth ache.
• Cutting the Braid by Jett Matterson - Goodreads - (omegaverse, fantasy, historical, paranormal, romance)
  • What it lacks in eroticism, it makes up for in storytelling. This world that Jett creates reminds me a lot of Marina Vivancos Honeythorne series. Historical with lots of character building. We're introduced to Valentyne, an omega whose lived alone since his mother passed away and works as the village's seamstress. In this world, omegas cut their hair after they lose their virginity, and Valentyne only wants to cut his hair after he meets his destined mate. When Ren moves into the village he knows he's met him. But will he be able to let go of his long beautiful hair for his destined mate? You will fall in love with Ren, Valentyne, and all their friends when you read this story.

Miscellaneous

• Otherworldy by F.T. Lukens - Goodreads - (Fantasy, YA, queer, paranormal, magic, romance)
  • If you are stoically set on erotica, you're truly missing out on some awesome stories. F.T. Lukens is one of my favorite YA queer authors whose written a few of my favorites like After Ever After and Spell Bound. I was engrossed the entire story, making it almost worth the months it took to come out since it was announced.
  • Knox is a familiar from the Other World who goes on the run after his master is killed. He carries with him a secret, but his biggest wish in this lifetime is to truly be able to experience what it is to be human. Ellery (NB) is a seventeen-year-old non-believer who's moved to the big city in order to support their family's farm because it's been hard times since the five-year long winter doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. These two literally crash into each other's lives and are thrown into a dangerous plot where they have to save each other in order to save everyone else.
• Tales from Verania by T.J. Klune - Goodreads - (Fantasy, romance, magic, humor, dragons, queer)
  • If you're looking for a story where there's action, adventure, magic, and very gay unicorn whose lost his horn, you've come to the right place! I WILL GUSH ABOUT THIS BOOK TIL THE END OF TIME! This series is not properly read unless you do yourself the favor of listening to Michael Lesly narrate a fabulously gay unicorn and horny AF dragon named Kevin. Sam is a wizards apprentice whose best friends Gary (the unicorn) and Tiggy (the half-giant and most precious character ever written) go on an adventure to rescue prince Justin after he is kidnapped by a dragon. Sam's story is told over the course of 4 books, with 2 half books, 1 sequel about prince Justin, and still ongoing!
  • Someone please read these books and gush with me because these live rent free in my head at all times. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

It started fluctuating on an off and I was still groggy but kinda suspicious. Really was kinda fuckes because I'm on disability and I can't afford to get a new phone or loose my google account and if it got access to my bank account I'd be fuck out of luck for groceries the next couple of weeks. Realized it was like a duplicate play store that was drawing over my real play store and any app would be super small in size and basically be malware. So I did a factory reset but it wouldn't give me time to hit the erase all data button before it did a faux reboot to a fake setup screen for fishing. I'm not in any way able to resolve this because it's my only device and means of communication. I had just bought a 515gb SD card and topped up my account so I could keep service. I'm not made of money. I don't have anything to fix this with. I don't have a home or anything fancy like that. So I took out my sim card, threw the ruined phone and stupid Chinese power brick in a bag and tried to get someone to look at it. These people flat out didn't care so I casually told them for the 6th time in the last 2 decades that I guess I gotta take the law into my own hands. Which is something I'm getting more adept at as I study law with more discipline since I realized how expensive my tuition is. Anyway I did the medical assisted dying equivalent of cell phone repair to neutralize the malware and I smashed my device about 30 times with the hammer in my backpack until it was in bits. I went to the nearby pharmacy/electronics/cookware store and bought a new phone with money I couldn't afford and a charging block and cable that at that point I would do it over again and go with no phone if this charger infected my phone again. Anyways I did remove my old sim. But I didn't put it in my new phone and went to my carriers retail shop and got it swapped on a new SIM card for the $10. I'm right not to trust a sim card that was in a phone with such powerful malware right? They can manifest on a physical sim and it'll keep propagating forever basically until somebody in China gets the unibomber treatment in their local news for installing malware on charging bricks at the electronics factory for opening a temu package with a furby in it that wasn't safe to tilt beyond 30 degrees once a switch underneath is depressed when removed from the box. Or am I crazy and sim cards can't be used for malware to spread to a new device?

Imagine if you had a true memecoin whose only effect is to create a community and speculate together. It has no intrinsic value, yet the value can be seen in the dedicated individuals who hold the floor, the consistent work, the non-stop raids, and the joy of being part of and working for the bags you hold.
There's not a lot of safe memecoins in Solana, yet $Kichi is one of those few. This is a sender and i have zero doubts about that. It's growth is organic and we get new members every single day, we are slowly getting attention from bigger influencers and it's done by real effort, big raids with up to 30 comments and shares, where else do you see this kind o commitment from the community?
Lil $Kichi is all about that. It is fully driven by the community and is filled with whales from $Michi who truly believe in the process. They are guiding us through this market full of scammers, providing a space where we can feel safe.
Can you sleep well knowing what you hold? Because I can, and I believe you deserve the same peace of mind.
CA: ErqdGZWP4YDaQmpEMnXLtXUfhZJeM6SC4Ave7w8uNCuw

A common claim in HP fandom is that Harry doesn’t appreciate Hermione enough. A weirder assertion I sometimes see is that Ron compliments or appreciates Hermione more than Harry.
Admittedly, Hermione does a lot for Harry throughout the books, and he doesn’t always express his thoughts directly to her. Nevertheless, there are many passages where Harry directly compliments Hermione (often using words of very high praise), as well as quite a few where he expresses his admiration of her to other people.
This essay will explore those complimentary passages from the books. I won’t include simple expressions of gratitude (though those exist too between Harry and Hermione), nor will I recount here the many passages where Harry merely thinks highly of Hermione or appreciates her without saying anything aloud. Frankly, that would make this essay much too long, and I want to focus on real compliments and praise.
After we’ve explored how Harry compliments Hermione along with her reactions, we’ll take a look at how Ron tends to praise Hermione, as well as the different way she reacts to both boys. Not surprisingly to most readers here, we’ll see that Harry is the boy Hermione truly loves praise from. Unfortunately in Ron’s case, his compliments almost never land well (if they land at all).
I’m going to keep the commentary shorter here on many passages, as this is primarily intended to be a list to demonstrate just how much Harry appreciates Hermione and thinks highly of her. Nevertheless, we’ll see a number of patterns emerge as we go through.

Harry’s direct compliments

Let’s begin with one of the most well-known interactions in the early books between Harry and Hermione (PS16):

Hermione’s lip trembled and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him.
‘Hermione!’
‘Harry – you’re a great wizard, you know.’
‘I’m not as good as you,’ said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him.
‘Me!’ said Hermione. ‘Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery and – oh Harry – be careful!’

There’s not much new to say about this passage—Harry is about to go on alone, putting himself in great danger. Hermione’s lip trembles in emotion, and she embraces Harry for the first time in the books, praising him as a “great wizard.” And yet, Harry claims he’s simply not as good as Hermione.
Still, the two of them go back and forth about it in a cute way, as Hermione then says “Me!” and proceeds to implicitly compliment Harry’s friendship and bravery further.
I mention this latter detail of the back-and-forth because it gets mirrored four years later, except this time with Harry being the one to say, “Me?” See OotP15:

‘Harry, you’re the best in the year at Defence Against the Dark Arts,’ said Hermione.
‘Me?’ said Harry, now grinning more broadly than ever. ‘No I’m not, you’ve beaten me in every test –’
‘Actually, I haven’t,’ said Hermione coolly. ‘You beat me in our third year – the only year we both sat the test and had a teacher who actually knew the subject. But I’m not talking about test results, Harry. Think what you’ve done!’

We know of Harry’s prowess at DADA. Can anyone forget the insanely powerful Patronus Harry conjured at the end of PoA, which Hermione noted was “very, very advanced magic”? It’s again cute that they get into a disagreement, both modestly trying to one-up the praise of the other here while claiming they themselves aren’t the best.
But I already skipped over another moment a few chapters earlier in OotP9:

[Ron] dashed from the room, leaving Harry and Hermione alone.
For some reason, Harry found he did not want to look at Hermione. He turned to his bed, picked up the pile of clean robes Mrs Weasley had laid on it and crossed the room to his trunk.
‘Harry?’ said Hermione tentatively.
‘Well done, Hermione,’ said Harry, so heartily it did not sound like his voice at all, and, still not looking at her, ‘brilliant. Prefect. Great.’
‘Thanks,’ said Hermione. ‘Erm – Harry – could I borrow Hedwig so I can tell Mum and Dad? They’ll be really pleased – I mean prefect is something they can understand.’

The circumstances are complicated here, because Harry’s feeling really conflicted about not getting a prefect’s badge. He doesn’t want to look at Hermione, because I think he feels like she’d be disappointed in him, as she was so enthusiastic about the idea of being prefect with him a few minutes before. I analyzed this whole section in greater depth in another essay, so I won’t get into all of that here.
For the present, let’s just note that Harry is feeling very emotional and is about to launch himself into one of the longest internal monologues in the books, feeling quite down about himself. Yet he still finds the strength to tell Hermione how “brilliant” he thinks she is. Even if he’s hurting and can’t even look at her, he wants her to know he’s proud of her.
This isn’t the only place where Harry spontaneously feels the need to give Hermione compliments even under less-than-ideal circumstances. He seems to place great importance in ensuring that Hermione knows how highly he thinks of her. We particularly see this later in the series. In HBP25, Hermione basically accuses Harry of being mildly sexist because he refuses to take her theory seriously that the “Prince” (the former owner of the potions book) might have been a woman:

‘Listen, Hermione, I can tell it’s not a girl. I can just tell.’
‘The truth is that you don’t think a girl would have been clever enough,’ said Hermione angrily.
‘How can I have hung round with you for five years and not think girls are clever?’ said Harry, stung by this.

Harry’s “stung” that Hermione would think of him as sexist, but he’s specifically disappointed because he knows how brilliant and clever Hermione is. He thinks she’s amazing and incredible and the best in his year at school. I wonder if this passage leads Harry to reflect a bit on how he may not always voice his opinion to Hermione enough, as there’s a marked change in DH, where Harry more frequently tells Hermione directly how highly he thinks of her.
For example, in DH9, in the scene after the trio was attacked by Dolohov and Rowle, Harry calls her “brilliant” for casting a memory charm:

She took a deep, calming breath, then pointed her wand at Dolohov’s forehead and said, ‘Obliviate.’
At once, Dolohov’s eyes became unfocused and dreamy.
‘Brilliant!’ said Harry, clapping her on the back. ‘Take care of the other one and the waitress while Ron and I clear up.’

Later, after Harry and Hermione escape Nagini’s attack at Bathilda Bagshot’s house, Harry calls her “incredible” (DH18):

‘You’re still really angry at me, aren’t you?’ said Hermione; he looked up to see fresh tears leaking out of her eyes, and knew that his anger must have shown in his face.
‘No,’ he said quietly. ‘No, Hermione, I know it was an accident. You were trying to get us out of there alive, and you were incredible. I’d be dead if you hadn’t been there to help me.’
He tried to return her watery smile, then turned his attention to the book.

As in the OotP passage where Harry is feeling depressed about the prefect’s badge, here Harry isn’t really ready to talk. His wand is broken, he was injured by Nagini, and he spent the night having visions of Voldemort killing his parents. It’s not at all an exaggeration to say this is probably the most dire part of Harry’s journey in the books. And yet he still values Hermione enough not only to agree to talk when he’s not ready, but also to immediately forgive her and call her “incredible” for her quick thinking the previous night.
Moreover, we can see how much this means to Hermione at that moment, as she smiles in gratitude at Harry, in contrast to her tear-streaked face.
Later in DH, after Hermione was tortured at Malfoy Manor, we again see Harry expressing his understanding and gratitude for Hermione when he first talks to her (DH24):

Harry had walked up several steps before stopping and looking back.
‘I need you two, as well!’ he called to Ron and Hermione, who had been skulking, half-concealed, in the doorway of the sitting room.
They both moved into the light, looking oddly relieved.
‘How are you?’ Harry asked Hermione. ‘You were amazing – coming up with that story when she was hurting you like that –’
Hermione gave a weak smile as Ron gave her a one-armed squeeze.

Harry calls her “amazing,” and once again Hermione smiles in reply. I should also pause here to note that these superlatives aren’t common for Harry. In fact, they’re unique to Hermione. Harry doesn’t call anyone else “amazing” or “incredible” anywhere in the books.
And these are far from the only times Hermione’s quick thinking saves the day. A few months earlier, she once again apparated Harry (and Ron too) away in mid-air to escape Luna’s father’s house, coming up with a detailed plan in a matter of seconds to hide Ron while exposing Harry during the escape (for strategic reasons). Harry then agrees Hermione is a genius and tells her doesn’t know what they’d do without her (DH22):

‘You’re a genius,’ Ron repeated, looking awed.
‘Yeah, you are, Hermione,’ agreed Harry fervently, ‘I don’t know what we’d do without you.’
She beamed, but became solemn at once.

I’d note another detail here. Ron does compliment Hermione too in this passage, calling her a “genius” multiple times. Yet it’s only once Harry finally tells her how much she means to him that Hermione “beams” in reply. (In a previous essay, I examined how frequently Hermione “beams” at Harry, much more than anyone else.)
This is a pattern we see repeatedly in the books, where Ron’s praise is ignored in favor of Harry’s. Perhaps the clearest example is in HBP9:

[Slughorn:] ‘Oho! “One of my best friends is Muggle-born and she’s the best in our year!” I’m assuming this is the very friend of whom you spoke, Harry?’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Harry.
‘Well, well, take twenty well-earned points for Gryffindor, Miss Granger,’ said Slughorn genially.
Malfoy looked rather as he had done the time Hermione had punched him in the face. Hermione turned to Harry with a radiant expression and whispered, ‘Did you really tell him I’m the best in the year? Oh, Harry!’
‘Well, what’s so impressive about that?’ whispered Ron, who for some reason looked annoyed. ‘You are the best in the year – I’d’ve told him so if he’d asked me!’
Hermione smiled but made a ‘shush’ing gesture, so that they could hear what Slughorn was saying. Ron looked slightly disgruntled.

Harry had already praised Hermione to Slughorn privately (a fact we’ll come back to), but hearing this praise from Harry causes Hermione to turn toward Harry with a “radiant expression,” overwhelmed with joy at the idea that Harry thought of her as the “best in the year.” (The word choice of “radiant” here is rather special for JKR, as I’ve noted in a previous essay.)
Meanwhile, poor Ron is off to the side, looking “slightly disgruntled” when Hermione shushes him in class for a similar remark.

Ron’s compliments to Hermione

Unfortunately for Ron, Hermione’s reaction in the Slughorn scene is typical. We’ve seen Hermione repeatedly smiling and looking radiant at Harry’s compliments, as well as reacting by praising him in return. Ron, on the other hand, is almost exclusively met with tepid if not outright negative reactions from Hermione even when he says nice things about her.
I drew on a list of Ron compliments created by Ron/Hermione shippers here, but the original list only gave Ron’s lines, without Hermione’s reactions, which I’ve restored below. (The reason for the omission of Hermione’s responses will soon become clear.)
Ron first shows genuine admiration for Hermione back in PoA15 when she slaps Draco and then storms out of Divination. However, the first time Ron actually tries to express this appreciation verbally probably happens in OotP12:

[Hermione:] ‘About You-Know-Who. He said his “gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust –”’
‘How do you remember stuff like that?’ asked Ron, looking at her in admiration.
‘I listen, Ron,’ said Hermione, with a touch of asperity.
‘So do I, but I still couldn’t tell you exactly what –’
‘The point,’ Hermione pressed on loudly, ‘is that this sort of thing is exactly what Dumbledore was talking about. You-Know-Who’s only been back two months and we’ve already started fighting among ourselves. And the Sorting Hat’s warning was the same: stand together, be united –’

Although this isn’t a direct compliment, we’re told that Ron is actually looking at Hermione “in admiration.” Unlike his more typical annoyance with her, he’s actually impressed here by her memory. And yet Hermione responds with “asperity,” harshly putting him down for not listening better. When Ron gets defensive and tries to react, Hermione “loudly” talks over him and essentially ignores Ron completely.
This is far from the only time Hermione will ignore Ron’s occasional kind words, because she clearly knows it’s unusual behavior. She tells us this directly (OotP14):

‘OK, write that down,’ Hermione said to Ron, pushing his essay and a sheet covered in her own writing back to Ron, ‘then add this conclusion I’ve written for you.’
‘Hermione, you are honestly the most wonderful person I’ve ever met,’ said Ron weakly, ‘and if I’m ever rude to you again –’
‘– I’ll know you’re back to normal,’ said Hermione.

Ron was trying to thank her for help with his homework, but Hermione recognizes this praise as obviously transactional. She has noticed he’s only nice to her when she does things for him, but otherwise his “normal” behavior toward her is a bit rude. (As a sidenote: we’ve already seen Harry repeatedly refer to Hermione as “brilliant.” Ron, in contrast, does call Hermione sort of “brilliant” twice, both times sarcastically referring to theories or ideas he thinks are ridiculous. See CoS13, DH25.)
Ron’s attempts at recognizing Hermione’s achievements also look very different from Harry’s. In HBP5, when Hermione is worrying about her O.W.L. exam performance, Ron does acknowledge Hermione’s academic performance a couple times, in passages that Ron/Hermione fans will point to as evidence of his supposed admiration.
Yet they don’t come off as compliments. They are aggressive and exasperated and almost making fun of Hermione at the end. And look how Hermione reacts:

‘Hermione, will you shut up, you’re not the only one who’s nervous!’ barked Ron. ‘And when you’ve got your ten “Outstanding” O.W.L.s ...’
‘Don’t, don’t, don’t!’ said Hermione, flapping her hands hysterically. ‘I know I’ve failed everything!’
[…]
‘I – not bad,’ said Hermione in a small voice.
‘Oh, come off it,’ said Ron, striding over to her and whipping her results out of her hand. ‘Yep – nine “Outstandings” and one “Exceeds Expectations” in Defence Against the Dark Arts.’ He looked down at her, half-amused, half-exasperated. ‘You’re actually disappointed, aren’t you?’
Hermione shook her head, but Harry laughed.

So yes, Ron acknowledges her achievements here, but he does so in the process of telling her to “shut up,” barking at her, and then becoming “exasperated” at her personal goals. I think we can all take a step back and acknowledge that Hermione is a fairly extreme perfectionist, and her level of anxiety at potentially “failing everything” comes across as weird and a bit irrational. Still, rather than helping her “calm down” (as many Ron/Hermione fans would say Ron does), Ron exacerbates Hermione’s level of disquiet, causing her to become “hysterical” and then later embarrassed, reacting in a “small voice.”
Harry would have just clapped her on the back and called her “brilliant” or something, to which she’d probably smile in reply. Harry doesn’t share Hermione’s level of academic dedication, but he still appreciates it, rather than trying to shame Hermione for being an overachiever. Yet Ron manages to make her uncomfortable in several different ways in this scene, even as he recognizes how well she would do.
And we’ve only started on the types of negative reactions Hermione has to Ron’s attempts at recognizing her achievements. In HBP21 after apparition practice in Hogsmeade, Ron cuts in to call her performance “perfect”:

‘Good one,’ said Harry. ‘How’d you do, Hermione?’
‘Oh, she was perfect, obviously,’ said Ron, before Hermione could answer. ‘Perfect deliberation, divination and desperation, or whatever the hell it is – we all went for a quick drink in the Three Broomsticks after and you should’ve heard Twycross going on about her – I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t pop the question soon –’
‘And what about you?’ asked Hermione, ignoring Ron.

Ron’s praise is undermined with the dismissive “whatever the hell it is,” once again making it clear that he doesn’t value Hermione’s attention to detail and high standards. Hermione’s response is, reasonably, then to simply ignore Ron.
Admittedly, Ron appears to realize some of his failings and makes an attempt in Deathly Hallows, reading the Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches book and trying to learn how to compliment a girl. It unfortunately doesn’t go quite smoothly for Ron at first (DH7):

Hermione made purple and gold streamers erupt from the end of her wand and drape themselves artistically over the trees and bushes.
‘Nice,’ said Ron, as with one final flourish of her wand, Hermione turned the leaves on the crab-apple tree to gold. ‘You’ve really got an eye for that sort of thing.’
‘Thank you, Ron!’ said Hermione, looking both pleased and a little confused. Harry turned away, smiling to himself. He had a funny notion that he would find a chapter on compliments when he found time to peruse his copy of Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches […].

Ron arguably is trying here, but as we know from OotP, Hermione knows Ron’s more typical reaction toward her is rudeness. Hence we see her a “little confused” yet still somewhat pleased.
This kind of dual reaction from Hermione is usually the best Ron can hope for. Unlike Hermione’s instant smiles and happiness from Harry’s compliments, she views Ron with suspicion. Hermione always appears to keep in mind that Ron’s pleasant reactions are atypical and thus not to be trusted. We see this again as Hermione enters before Bill and Fleur’s wedding, wearing a lovely dress (DH8):

‘[…] wow,’ [Ron] added, blinking rather rapidly as Hermione came hurrying towards them. ‘You look great!’
‘Always the tone of surprise,’ said Hermione, though she smiled.

Note the “though she smiled” qualification here, which is pointing out that Hermione’s reaction is not exactly positive and arguably unkind. Hermione is here making a reference to an earlier conversation after the Seven Potters. When Tonks mentioned how “great” Ron was stunning a Death Eater, Hermione reacted positively with “you did?” Hermione was sincerely proud of Ron at that moment, hugging him, and yet Ron reacted with the phrase “Always the tone of surprise,” rejecting her and breaking off from her embrace.
Admittedly, Ron was a bit right in that scene to acknowledge that Hermione almost never recognizes his achievements. Yet in the wedding scene, we see Hermione throw that verbal dig back at Ron, effectively taking what appears to be a more sincere compliment from Ron and undermining it. She’s telling him (and the reader) that he doesn’t generally find her attractive and wouldn’t typically say such a nice thing to her.
In effect, she’s somewhat begrudgingly smiling while taking a swipe at Ron’s more typical behavior.
There’s really only one time in all of the books that I have found where Hermione actually reacts positively (without qualification) to Ron’s praise. That occurs in DH9 after she reveals how she had packed so much in her beaded bag in preparation for the Horcrux hunt and emergencies:

‘I told you at The Burrow, I’ve had the essentials packed for days, you know, in case we needed to make a quick getaway. I packed your rucksack this morning, Harry, after you changed, and put it in here ... I just had a feeling …’
‘You’re amazing, you are,’ said Ron, handing her his bundled-up robes.
‘Thank you,’ said Hermione, managing a small smile as she pushed the robes into the bag. ‘Please, Harry, get that Cloak on!’

We see her here at least giving Ron a “small smile,” though she quickly turns to Harry, more concerned again about him. Still, it’s a legitimate positive reaction to a compliment from Ron. We shouldn’t have to pause and reflect on that so much, except for the fact that this is a rather unique occurrence. Every other time Ron says something nice about Hermione, she ignores it, gets annoyed, dismisses it, gets suspicious or confused, or has some other negative reaction like we saw.
And even this one pleasant moment between Ron and Hermione is immediately undermined a few pages later:

Ron struggled for a moment before managing to extract his wand from his pocket.
‘It’s no wonder I can’t get it out, Hermione, you packed my old jeans, they’re tight.’
‘Oh, I’m so sorry,’ hissed Hermione, and as she dragged the waitress out of sight of the windows Harry heard her mutter a suggestion as to where Ron could stick his wand instead.

Yes, Ron was happy for a moment and praised Hermione for packing his stuff, but it turns out she did it wrong in Ron’s eyes. She packed the wrong jeans, and Hermione reacts very negatively, telling Ron to shove his wand up his arse. Hermione here must feel like Ron is conforming to the behavior she described back in OotP—he’s only nice until he turns back to his “normal” negative behavior toward her.

Harry complimenting Hermione to other people

We don’t really have space here to investigate the many other times Harry thinks highly of Hermione, is grateful for her, or appreciates some aspect of her in his internal thoughts. But it’s perhaps useful to end this exploration by noting how many other times Harry still manages to praise Hermione verbally, unprompted, to other people.
We can start with the scene that inspired Slughorn in the quotation discussed above, where Ron was disgruntled at Hermione’s ecstatic reaction to Harry’s compliment. See HBP4:

[Slughorn:] ‘Your mother was Muggle-born, of course. Couldn’t believe it when I found out. Thought she must have been pure-blood, she was so good.’
‘One of my best friends is Muggle-born,’ said Harry, ‘and she’s the best in our year.’

Note that there’s really no good reason for Harry to praise Hermione so specifically and highly here. Slughorn was discussing Lily, and Harry could have simply countered with the fact that he had talented Muggle-born friends too. Yet he singles out Hermione to compare to his mother’s talent and goes further—calling her the best student in his year.
Ron never has a comparable passage in the books. Many of his compliments or nice moments are very situational with Hermione, not spontaneous praise. This is probably one reason why Hermione also shushes Ron when he tries to echo Harry later with Slughorn: she knows if Harry said something, he meant it and wasn’t just trying to flatter her or be nice because of the situation.
The best Ron can manage on a couple occasions are vague acknowledgments to Harry about Hermione. Such as CoS14:

“What does she understand?” said Harry distractedly, still looking around, trying to tell where the voice had come from.
“Loads more than I do,” said Ron, shaking his head.

Not exactly a compliment, but this one makes lists of Ron’s compliments sometimes, just because it’s so rare for Ron to say something even this nice about Hermione. Even when Ron is clearly impressed by Hermione slapping Draco and then storming out of Trelawney’s class in PoA15, the most he can manage to say to Harry is:

‘Some day Hermione’s having, eh?’ Ron muttered to Harry, looking awed.

We’re told that Ron’s “looking awed” here, but he still can barely say anything directly praiseworthy about her.
Meanwhile, Harry simply cannot stop himself from saying how amazing Hermione is. As far back as CoS2:

‘Harry Potter asks if he can help Dobby ... Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew ...’
Harry, who was feeling distinctly hot in the face, said, ‘Whatever you’ve heard about my greatness is a load of rubbish. I’m not even top of my year at Hogwarts, that’s Hermione, she –’
But he stopped quickly, because thinking about Hermione was painful.

Remember when we saw that Hermione tried to compliment Harry and tell him he was a great wizard in PS or the best in DADA in OotP? Harry couldn’t help deferring to Hermione, trying to praise her as better. The same thing happens when Dobby speaks of Harry’s “greatness” here—and Harry immediately thinks of the greatest person he knows: Hermione Granger.
Harry can’t even let the Quidditch team think he was smart enough to come up with the Impervius Charm for his glasses (originally during the Quidditch match back in PoA9). When Angelina proposes using the spell again in OotP18, Harry simply has to give Hermione credit:

[Angelina:] ‘[…] Harry, didn’t you do something to your glasses to stop the rain fogging them up when we played Hufflepuff in that storm?’
‘Hermione did it,’ said Harry. He pulled out his wand, tapped his glasses and said, ‘Impervius!’

It’s not exactly a compliment, but it just shows yet again how much he wants everyone to know how amazing Hermione is.
This reflex Harry has to praise Hermione comes up in the strangest places, getting him into arguments with his love interests. When Cho brings up the jinx that resulted in Marietta’s outbreak of pimples, Harry can’t help contradicting her (OotP28):

‘That was a really horrible trick of Hermione Granger’s,’ said Cho fiercely. ‘She should have told us she’d jinxed that list –’
‘I think it was a brilliant idea,’ said Harry coldly. Cho flushed and her eyes grew brighter.
‘Oh yes, I forgot – of course, if it was darling Hermione’s idea –’

Cho is actually quite insightful about the role of Hermione in Harry’s life here. She earlier got jealous when Harry prioritized Hermione on Valentine’s Day, and now she gets annoyed at how “brilliant” Harry considered “darling Hermione’s idea.”
Just as in Quidditch with his glasses, Harry can’t help acknowledging Hermione’s brilliance, even with another girl he likes. He could have been a little more diplomatic with Cho in disagreeing with her, but instead his reflex is to defend Hermione.
Perhaps the most absurd moment of praise for Hermione randomly comes up as Harry’s breaking up with Ginny (HBP30):

‘I never really gave up on you,’ [Ginny] said. ‘Not really. I always hoped ... Hermione told me to get on with life, maybe go out with some other people, relax a bit around you, because I never used to be able to talk if you were in the room, remember? And she thought you might take a bit more notice if I was a bit more – myself.’
‘Smart girl, that Hermione,’ said Harry, trying to smile.

Think about what’s going on in this moment. Ginny just admitted how strong her feelings for Harry are, that she “never really gave up” on him, from when she was a young girl. She’s effectively trying to inform him of her commitment, of his status as her first love. If Harry had deep feelings for Ginny, we might expect him at this point to recognize how long Ginny had cared, how much she had tried to learn to be “herself” around him, to get him to notice her.
And instead the first words from Harry’s lips are to acknowledge how smart Hermione is. He’s breaking up with his girlfriend… and praising another girl’s intelligence? I know Harry can be rather thick sometimes, but this is not the thing to do in the middle of a break-up. It’s no wonder Cho was so jealous of Hermione.

Conclusion

Once again, as in many of my other essays, I think we can see patterns emerging around Harry and Hermione’s unique relationship. We see them repeatedly praising each other spontaneously. And Harry can’t help but blurt out how brilliant Hermione is to other people, even in situations where it’s arguably inappropriate.
Ron’s efforts at compliments are nothing like that, unfortunately. We might even feel a bit bad for him when he does begin to make an effort in DH, as it’s clear Ron is never going to have the impact on Hermione that Harry’s compliments do.
I mentioned at the outset that there are many people who say Harry isn’t appreciative enough toward Hermione. It’s true that we don’t hear him say it aloud all the time, particularly in the early books. Yet it’s very clear even in the first book that Harry thinks Hermione is a better wizard than he is. And he doesn’t hesitate to tell her, or to announce it to Dobby in CoS.
As the series progresses, Harry’s outward appreciation increases, to the point where we see him calling her “amazing” and “incredible” and the “best in our year,” terms that he only ever says about Hermione. Perhaps even more importantly, we see that Hermione knows how special she is to Harry, how sincere his compliments are, as we see her repeatedly responding with emotional smiles and even a “radiant expression” to these words.
I didn’t even explore most of the passages where Hermione praises or compliments Harry in the books (and there are plenty more of those too), but we can see the strength of Harry and Hermione’s friendship and care for each other. They both strive to raise each other up, especially in stressful times when they need it the most.
I’d like to acknowledge members of the HMS Harmony Discord server for their support and suggestions. Specifically, thanks to Jiraffas for suggesting an essay on this topic. Thanks for Dragonfly for convincing me to include a section on Harry complimenting Hermione to other people and for reminding me of the Angelina moment in OotP. In general, I’m grateful for the discussion and commentary from the Harmony community.
If there are any moments you think I missed, please point them out in comments! I’d like this essay to be a resource for those who want to debunk fandom claims concerning Harry’s supposed lack of appreciation toward Hermione.

A bag contains one green disc, r red discs and 2r blue discs, where r > 1
a player draws 2 discs from the bag at random. If he draws a red disc, he scores 5 points, if he draws a blue disc, he scores 2 points and if he draws a green disc he scores 0. The player’s score, denoted by T, is found by taking the difference in the number of points he scores for the two discs.
And I am supposed to find Find P(T= t) = for all possible values of t
The number in the bracket is respective to the difference in point for the given pair
Assuming we pick green first: greenred, greenblue {5, 2} Assuming we pick red first: redgreen, redblue, redred {5, 3, 0} Assuming we pick blue first: bluegreen, blueblue, bluered {2, 0, 3}
P(T = 5) = greenred + redgreen = (1/3r+1)(3r) + (3r+1)(1/3r) = 2/9r+3
Similar workings for P(T = 2) and P(T = 3)
But I am confused when it comes to P(T = 0) because do I have to consider the red+red twice. For example, if I picked red1 first, then red2 second, difference in points = 0, and if I picked red2 first, then red1, it's still 0, so I got 2 cases where I got 0. I am asking this because this is what I am doing for the other cases, greenred + redgreen. But again, somewhere in my mind, I know that the are basically the same things so why do it twice?
Can someone please provide an intuitive answer, or some real life example as to what I should do so that my dumb brain can understand this. Thank you

Okay so I received my first rep bag (a classic flap) sourced from 187 by a TS. I have many auths. The bag smells AWFUL. Like toxic fumes/chemicals. And nothing like genuine leather. I have left it to air out a few days but the smell is unrelenting. I’m pretty sure it’s 187 because the hardware (light gold) is disappointing (huhu) and the seller is well known.
I am almost convinced it’s PU (ha, double entendre) leather. Or is this smell normal? Is it because the bag was just made and then packaged up and I’m just used to purchasing from the boutique or stores and the bags have had time to air out? I know how genuine leather smells, it’s not my favorite, but I’ve never been disgusted by it.
Can anyone weigh in please. Thanks in advance.

2nd best record since the deadline. Up 3-2 on the 1 seed with Luka playing like crap for most of the series and Kai averaging 14 PPG. Also the one thing not being pointed out enough is how elite our defense has been in the playoffs. Best paint defense by far and that's a good thing to have against either potential WCF opponent. By the way I'm not even saying we have this series in the bag, and I'll even say that OKC also is being underrated. Just think it's weird to see all these "MIN-DEN is the REAL WCF" and even "This is the real NBA Finals." I can see us and even OKC beating either other team and it wouldn't surprise me all that much.

I stumbled across this long passage by Lev Sukhanov, Yeltsin's assistant at the time, from his book "3 years with Boris Yeltsin". The events described occurred in September 1989 and I've recited the passages below:

“When we were already returning to the airport, the devil pushed us to take a look at a typical American supermarket.
It was called Randall's Supermarket. From our group, only Boris Nikolaevich and I had never been to this kind of trading establishments.
Moreover, this was not a metropolitan, much less a New York store and, according to our standards, a very “ordinary” provincial one. If, of course, Houston can be considered a province.
Getting off the bus, I began to look for a crowd of people and something similar to our queues. However, there was no queue — neither around nor in the store itself.
It was a one-story building made of light metal structures. Naturally, none of the service personnel knew about our arrival and therefore there could be no talk of any “showing off”. An ordinary day, an “ordinary” assortment, “ordinary” visitors...
I was immediately struck by the abundance of light. And in general, the color scheme of everything was so bright and impressive that it felt like we were descending into the depths of a kaleidoscope.
The abundance of flowers was also mesmerizing - juicy, vibrant, as if just cut from a flower bed. Moreover, the flowers were not for sale, but as a decorative element.
As soon as we entered the supermarket, they called someone from the administration. From somewhere in the belly of the utility rooms appeared a very handsome young man in a snow-white shirt, neatly combed and, of course, smiling. It was the chief administrator. We introduced ourselves and said that we would like to find out about the work of the store.
When we walked along the rows, our eyes didn’t know where to stop. I could guess different things, but what I saw in this supermarket was no less amazing than America itself.
Some of us started counting the types of hams. We lost count.
I remembered our sausage shop on Krasnaya Presnya, where back in 1963 you could buy “Brunswick”, “Stolichnaya”, “Tambov”, “Uglich”, “Krakov” and a few other types of sausages. At that time, I thought this was the top of human dreams and that the first signs of communism hatched. To be fair, over the years, the store’s shelves began to empty and now only memories of its bright past remained. I remembered that Soviet store and compared it with this one in Houston, and realized that the abundance to which Khrushchev promised to lead us had passed us by.
At that moment (in Houston), all 300 Soviet research institutes and departments, whose job was to point to the advantages of socialism over capitalism could be trying to convinced me, but their efforts would be pointless.
The American reality, on the example of this supermarket, looked 100 times more convincing than any Soviet theories. Sure, not by bread alone a man lives... Not by sausage alone, not by cheese alone...
By the way, have you seen red, brown, lemon-orange cheese? How many types of cheese do you think we've seen in Houston? What about ham? All this unimaginable delicacy that everyone can try right in the store and decide — is it worth spending dollars on?
We couldn’t count the names of sweets and cakes, couldn’t grasp their variety of colors and their appetizing attractiveness with our eyes.
And although I am trying to convey my impressions, I understand that this is just a pathetic attempt, because the word is powerless before the reality of what that American store could offer.
Occasionally, I glanced at Yeltsin and noticed that it was a difficult test for him. And when a woman with a trolley caught up with him, on top of which a little boy was sitting, Boris Nikolaevich, apologizing, began to question her.
Does she often go to this store? It turned out, only on Saturdays.
Is your family big? 3 people: she, husband and child.
What is your family income? The woman explained that she was temporarily not working and lived on her husband’s salary, $3,600 a month.
Yeltsin asked how much she usually spends on food? It turned out that this family was spending about $170 on food for a week. From Saturday to Saturday. She still paid rent, insurance...
In the vegetable section, we were literally shocked by the quality of the produce.
A radish the size of a large potato was illuminated by bright light, and water was scattered onto it from small “spirits.”
Radishes were literally dazzling, and next to them were onions, garlic, eggplants, cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumbers.
You want smoked eel — here.
Would you like lamprey? Or is your liver accustomed to sturgeon and oysters? Pineapples, bananas…
And at the confectionery section, one can could stand for hours: it probably surpasses Hollywood in terms of entertainment. A huge cake representing a hockey arena awaited the customer on a stand. The player figures were made of chocolate. A real work of art, and most importantly — accessible, quite accessible.
In general, this was a hypertensive topic. For Boris Nikolaevich and me, visiting the supermarket was a real shock.
As I am writing this book, my wife today (September 1991) went to the store to buy milk at 7 am, but there were queues. Queues are everywhere: you have to stand for 2 days to buy sugar. And this is here — in Moscow, in the second half of the 20th century, 73 years after the Great Revolution. At the time, when, according to Khrushchev’s calculations, we should all already be living under communism. Or maybe what we had built in the USSR is the true communism?
At the exit from the American supermarket, the girl sitting at the cash register didn’t not have to count anything. In her hands, she held a small device that resembled a hair dryer, which she quickly ran over the price code on the packages. After this operation, the price appeared on the computer cash register screen, the customer paid and could freely pass through the electronic turnstile. Well, what else could be simpler and smarter than such a system?
When we left the supermarket, the administrator gave us a present: a huge plastic bag with the packs of food from this store.
I fully believe that it was after Houston (after visiting the supermarket), on the plane, that Yeltsin’s last faith in his Bolshevik way of thinking finally collapsed.
Perhaps, in those moments of spiritual turmoil, the decision to leave the Communist party and join the struggle for supreme power in Russia irrevocably matured in him.”
It was then that Yeltsin realized that all the stories of “international journalists” about American workers who allegedly were dying in hellish poverty and dreamed only about moving to the USSR, all these stories were nothing more than propaganda. Even the party “elites” did not know that.

I know the dissolution of the USSR was much more complicated than one person, but this alcoholic piece of shit destroyed the lives of millions of people and set the history of humanity down a rapidly destructive path just because he was amazed by some brands of ham and tinsel. To Yeltsin being able to chose from a thousand brands of mass-produced highly processed junk food that's all owned by one conglomerate was more important than maintaining his country. Fuck Gorbachev but especially fuck Yeltsin, at least Gorbachev pretended to care about his people and communism while Yeltsin sold his country to a handful of oligarch thugs just because he thought there's no greater tragedy than being able to purchase 10 different brands of processed garbage.

Imperialism would have been able to disintegrate the Soviet Union, had the Soviets not destroyed themselves, had those responsible for the strategies and tactics and for the country's political and government policies not destroyed the country. In other words, socialism did not die from natural causes: it was a suicide, socialism was murdered.

-Fidel Castro, 1992