GOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING SUPERSTONKERS! HAHA. It's me again. Yeah, i slipped past the defenses again to drop this off so you can all refresh yourselves on the state of FUD and disinformation in this protracted fight against the legal larcenists doing their best to try and get you to sell. Please spread this amongst the holders, the more people know the less power they have over us holders. We don't sell until we get a call from marge, and that's always been the play.
TLDR: This is a set of tactics used by the Alphabet Boys(CIA, FBI, DEA) to control and manipulate us into drama to collapse our communities and movements. And should be read in full by anyone willing and wanting to learn how these things work.
I've come to notice recently, people keep asking me to repost this for the sake of keeping the new people abreast on what needs to be done to protect the holders of GME. Beneath here will be a detailed account on what you need to be aware of in your online interactions, to avoid being taken for a fool!
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1. COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum
2. Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation
3. Eight Traits of the Disinformationalist
4. How to Spot a Spy (Cointelpro Agent)
5. Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

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COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum..
There are several techniques for the control and manipulation of a internet forum no matter what, or who is on it. We will go over each technique and demonstrate that only a minimal number of operatives can be used to eventually and effectively gain a control of a 'uncontrolled forum.'
Technique #1 - 'FORUM SLIDING'
If a very sensitive posting of a critical nature has been posted on a forum - it can be quickly removed from public view by 'forum sliding.' In this technique a number of unrelated posts are quietly prepositioned on the forum and allowed to 'age.' Each of these misdirectional forum postings can then be called upon at will to trigger a 'forum slide.' The second requirement is that several fake accounts exist, which can be called upon, to ensure that this technique is not exposed to the public. To trigger a 'forum slide' and 'flush' the critical post out of public view it is simply a matter of logging into each account both real and fake and then 'replying' to prepositioned postings with a simple 1 or 2 line comment. This brings the unrelated postings to the top of the forum list, and the critical posting 'slides' down the front page, and quickly out of public view. Although it is difficult or impossible to censor the posting it is now lost in a sea of unrelated and unuseful postings. By this means it becomes effective to keep the readers of the forum reading unrelated and non-issue items.
Technique #2 - 'CONSENSUS CRACKING'
A second highly effective technique (which you can see in operation all the time at www.abovetopsecret.com
) is 'consensus cracking.' To develop a consensus crack, the following technique is used. Under the guise of a fake account a posting is made which looks legitimate and is towards the truth is made - but the critical point is that it has a VERY WEAK PREMISE without substantive proof to back the posting. Once this is done then under alternative fake accounts a very strong position in your favor is slowly introduced over the life of the posting. It is IMPERATIVE that both sides are initially presented, so the uninformed reader cannot determine which side is the truth. As postings and replies are made the stronger 'evidence' or disinformation in your favor is slowly 'seeded in.' Thus the uninformed reader will most like develop the same position as you, and if their position is against you their opposition to your posting will be most likely dropped. However in some cases where the forum members are highly educated and can counter your disinformation with real facts and linked postings, you can then 'abort' the consensus cracking by initiating a 'forum slide.'
Technique #3 - 'TOPIC DILUTION'
Topic dilution is not only effective in forum sliding it is also very useful in keeping the forum readers on unrelated and non-productive issues. This is a critical and useful technique to cause a 'RESOURCE BURN.' By implementing continual and non-related postings that distract and disrupt (trolling ) the forum readers they are more effectively stopped from anything of any real productivity. If the intensity of gradual dilution is intense enough, the readers will effectively stop researching and simply slip into a 'gossip mode.' In this state they can be more easily misdirected away from facts towards uninformed conjecture and opinion. The less informed they are the more effective and easy it becomes to control the entire group in the direction that you would desire the group to go in. It must be stressed that a proper assessment of the psychological capabilities and levels of education is first determined of the group to determine at what level to 'drive in the wedge.' By being too far off topic too quickly it may trigger censorship by a forum moderator.
Technique #4 - 'INFORMATION COLLECTION'
Information collection is also a very effective method to determine the psychological level of the forum members, and to gather intelligence that can be used against them. In this technique in a light and positive environment a 'show you mine so me yours' posting is initiated. From the number of replies and the answers that are provided much statistical information can be gathered. An example is to post your 'favorite weapon' and then encourage other members of the forum to showcase what they have. In this matter it can be determined by reverse proration what percentage of the forum community owns a firearm, and or a illegal weapon. This same method can be used by posing as one of the form members and posting your favorite 'technique of operation.' From the replies various methods that the group utilizes can be studied and effective methods developed to stop them from their activities.
Technique #5 - 'ANGER TROLLING'
Statistically, there is always a percentage of the forum posters who are more inclined to violence. In order to determine who these individuals are, it is a requirement to present a image to the forum to deliberately incite a strong psychological reaction. From this the most violent in the group can be effectively singled out for reverse IP location and possibly local enforcement tracking. To accomplish this only requires posting a link to a video depicting a local police officer massively abusing his power against a very innocent individual. Statistically of the million or so police officers in America there is always one or two being caught abusing there powers and the taping of the activity can be then used for intelligence gathering purposes - without the requirement to 'stage' a fake abuse video. This method is extremely effective, and the more so the more abusive the video can be made to look. Sometimes it is useful to 'lead' the forum by replying to your own posting with your own statement of violent intent, and that you 'do not care what the authorities think!!' inflammation. By doing this and showing no fear it may be more effective in getting the more silent and self-disciplined violent intent members of the forum to slip and post their real intentions. This can be used later in a court of law during prosecution.
Technique #6 - 'GAINING FULL CONTROL'
It is important to also be harvesting and continually maneuvering for a forum moderator position. Once this position is obtained, the forum can then be effectively and quietly controlled by deleting unfavourable postings - and one can eventually steer the forum into complete failure and lack of interest by the general public. This is the 'ultimate victory' as the forum is no longer participated with by the general public and no longer useful in maintaining their freedoms. Depending on the level of control you can obtain, you can deliberately steer a forum into defeat by censoring postings, deleting memberships, flooding, and or accidentally taking the forum offline. By this method the forum can be quickly killed. However it is not always in the interest to kill a forum as it can be converted into a 'honey pot' gathering center to collect and misdirect newcomers and from this point be completely used for your control for your agenda purposes.
CONCLUSION
Remember these techniques are only effective if the forum participants DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THEM. Once they are aware of these techniques the operation can completely fail, and the forum can become uncontrolled. At this point other avenues must be considered such as initiating a false legal precidence to simply have the forum shut down and taken offline. This is not desirable as it then leaves the enforcement agencies unable to track the percentage of those in the population who always resist attempts for control against them. Many other techniques can be utilized and developed by the individual and as you develop further techniques of infiltration and control it is imperative to share then with HQ.
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Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation
Note: The first rule and last five (or six, depending on situation) rules are generally not directly within the ability of the traditional disinfo artist to apply. These rules are generally used more directly by those at the leadership, key players, or planning level of the criminal conspiracy or conspiracy to cover up.
1. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. Regardless of what you know, don't discuss it -- especially if you are a public figure, news anchor, etc. If it's not reported, it didn't happen, and you never have to deal with the issues.
2. Become incredulous and indignant. Avoid discussing key issues and instead focus on side issues which can be used show the topic as being critical of some otherwise sacrosanct group or theme. This is also known as the 'How dare you!' gambit.
3. Create rumor mongers. Avoid discussing issues by describing all charges, regardless of venue or evidence, as mere rumors and wild accusations. Other derogatory terms mutually exclusive of truth may work as well. This method which works especially well with a silent press, because the only way the public can learn of the facts are through such 'arguable rumors'. If you can associate the material with the Internet, use this fact to certify it a 'wild rumor' from a 'bunch of kids on the Internet' which can have no basis in fact.
4. Use a straw man. Find or create a seeming element of your opponent's argument which you can easily knock down to make yourself look good and the opponent to look bad. Either make up an issue you may safely imply exists based on your interpretation of the opponent/opponent arguments/situation, or select the weakest aspect of the weakest charges. Amplify their significance and destroy them in a way which appears to debunk all the charges, real and fabricated alike, while actually avoiding discussion of the real issues.
5. Sidetrack opponents with name calling and ridicule. This is also known as the primary 'attack the messenger' ploy, though other methods qualify as variants of that approach. Associate opponents with unpopular titles such as 'kooks', 'right-wing', 'liberal', 'left-wing', 'terrorists', 'conspiracy buffs', 'radicals', 'militia', 'racists', 'religious fanatics', 'sexual deviates', and so forth. This makes others shrink from support out of fear of gaining the same label, and you avoid dealing with issues.
6. Hit and Run. In any public forum, make a brief attack of your opponent or the opponent position and then scamper off before an answer can be fielded, or simply ignore any answer. This works extremely well in Internet and letters-to-the-editor environments where a steady stream of new identities can be called upon without having to explain criticism, reasoning -- simply make an accusation or other attack, never discussing issues, and never answering any subsequent response, for that would dignify the opponent's viewpoint.
7. Question motives. Twist or amplify any fact which could be taken to imply that the opponent operates out of a hidden personal agenda or other bias. This avoids discussing issues and forces the accuser on the defensive.
8. Invoke authority. Claim for yourself or associate yourself with authority and present your argument with enough 'jargon' and 'minutia' to illustrate you are 'one who knows', and simply say it isn't so without discussing issues or demonstrating concretely why or citing sources.
9. Play Dumb. No matter what evidence or logical argument is offered, avoid discussing issues except with denials they have any credibility, make any sense, provide any proof, contain or make a point, have logic, or support a conclusion. Mix well for maximum effect.
10. Associate opponent charges with old news. A derivative of the straw man -- usually, in any large-scale matter of high visibility, someone will make charges early on which can be or were already easily dealt with - a kind of investment for the future should the matter not be so easily contained.) Where it can be foreseen, have your own side raise a straw man issue and have it dealt with early on as part of the initial contingency plans. Subsequent charges, regardless of validity or new ground uncovered, can usually then be associated with the original charge and dismissed as simply being a rehash without need to address current issues -- so much the better where the opponent is or was involved with the original source.
11. Establish and rely upon fall-back positions. Using a minor matter or element of the facts, take the 'high road' and 'confess' with candor that some innocent mistake, in hindsight, was made -- but that opponents have seized on the opportunity to blow it all out of proportion and imply greater criminalities which, 'just isn't so.' Others can reinforce this on your behalf, later, and even publicly 'call for an end to the nonsense' because you have already 'done the right thing.' Done properly, this can garner sympathy and respect for 'coming clean' and 'owning up' to your mistakes without addressing more serious issues.
12. Enigmas have no solution. Drawing upon the overall umbrella of events surrounding the crime and the multitude of players and events, paint the entire affair as too complex to solve. This causes those otherwise following the matter to begin to lose interest more quickly without having to address the actual issues.
13. Alice in Wonderland Logic. Avoid discussion of the issues by reasoning backwards or with an apparent deductive logic which forbears any actual material fact.
14. Demand complete solutions. Avoid the issues by requiring opponents to solve the crime at hand completely, a ploy which works best with issues qualifying for rule 10.
15. Fit the facts to alternate conclusions. This requires creative thinking unless the crime was planned with contingency conclusions in place.
16. Vanish evidence and witnesses. If it does not exist, it is not fact, and you won't have to address the issue.
17. Change the subject. Usually in connection with one of the other ploys listed here, find a way to side-track the discussion with abrasive or controversial comments in hopes of turning attention to a new, more manageable topic. This works especially well with companions who can 'argue' with you over the new topic and polarize the discussion arena in order to avoid discussing more key issues.
18. Emotionalize, Antagonize, and Goad Opponents. If you can't do anything else, chide and taunt your opponents and draw them into emotional responses which will tend to make them look foolish and overly motivated, and generally render their material somewhat less coherent. Not only will you avoid discussing the issues in the first instance, but even if their emotional response addresses the issue, you can further avoid the issues by then focusing on how 'sensitive they are to criticism.'
19. Ignore proof presented, demand impossible proofs. This is perhaps a variant of the 'play dumb' rule. Regardless of what material may be presented by an opponent in public forums, claim the material irrelevant and demand proof that is impossible for the opponent to come by (it may exist, but not be at his disposal, or it may be something which is known to be safely destroyed or withheld, such as a murder weapon.) In order to completely avoid discussing issues, it may be required that you to categorically deny and be critical of media or books as valid sources, deny that witnesses are acceptable, or even deny that statements made by government or other authorities have any meaning or relevance.
20. False evidence. Whenever possible, introduce new facts or clues designed and manufactured to conflict with opponent presentations -- as useful tools to neutralize sensitive issues or impede resolution. This works best when the crime was designed with contingencies for the purpose, and the facts cannot be easily separated from the fabrications.
21. Call a Grand Jury, Special Prosecutor, or other empowered investigative body. Subvert the (process) to your benefit and effectively neutralize all sensitive issues without open discussion. Once convened, the evidence and testimony are required to be secret when properly handled. For instance, if you own the prosecuting attorney, it can insure a Grand Jury hears no useful evidence and that the evidence is sealed and unavailable to subsequent investigators. Once a favorable verdict is achieved, the matter can be considered officially closed. Usually, this technique is applied to find the guilty innocent, but it can also be used to obtain charges when seeking to frame a victim.
22. Manufacture a new truth. Create your own expert(s), group(s), author(s), leader(s) or influence existing ones willing to forge new ground via scientific, investigative, or social research or testimony which concludes favorably. In this way, if you must actually address issues, you can do so authoritatively.
23. Create bigger distractions. If the above does not seem to be working to distract from sensitive issues, or to prevent unwanted media coverage of unstoppable events such as trials, create bigger news stories (or treat them as such) to distract the multitudes.
24. Silence critics. If the above methods do not prevail, consider removing opponents from circulation by some definitive solution so that the need to address issues is removed entirely. This can be by their death, arrest and detention, blackmail or destruction of their character by release of blackmail information, or merely by destroying them financially, emotionally, or severely damaging their health.
25. Vanish. If you are a key holder of secrets or otherwise overly illuminated and you think the heat is getting too hot, to avoid the issues, vacate the kitchen.
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Eight Traits of the Disinformationalist
1) Avoidance. They never actually discuss issues head-on or provide constructive input, generally avoiding citation of references or credentials. Rather, they merely imply this, that, and the other. Virtually everything about their presentation implies their authority and expert knowledge in the matter without any further justification for credibility.
2) Selectivity. They tend to pick and choose opponents carefully, either applying the hit-and-run approach against mere commentators supportive of opponents, or focusing heavier attacks on key opponents who are known to directly address issues. Should a commentator become argumentative with any success, the focus will shift to include the commentator as well.
3) Coincidental. They tend to surface suddenly and somewhat coincidentally with a new controversial topic with no clear prior record of participation in general discussions in the particular public arena involved. They likewise tend to vanish once the topic is no longer of general concern. They were likely directed or elected to be there for a reason, and vanish with the reason.
4) Teamwork. They tend to operate in self-congratulatory and complementary packs or teams. Of course, this can happen naturally in any public forum, but there will likely be an ongoing pattern of frequent exchanges of this sort where professionals are involved. Sometimes one of the players will infiltrate the opponent camp to become a source for straw man or other tactics designed to dilute opponent presentation strength.
5) Anti-conspiratorial. They almost always have disdain for 'conspiracy theorists' and, usually, for those who in any way believe JFK was not killed by LHO. Ask yourself why, if they hold such disdain for conspiracy theorists, do they focus on defending a single topic discussed in a NG focusing on conspiracies? One might think they would either be trying to make fools of everyone on every topic, or simply ignore the group they hold in such disdain. Or, one might more rightly conclude they have an ulterior motive for their actions in going out of their way to focus as they do.
6) Artificial Emotions. An odd kind of 'artificial' emotionalism and an unusually thick skin -- an ability to persevere and persist even in the face of overwhelming criticism and unacceptance. This likely stems from intelligence community training that, no matter how condemning the evidence, deny everything, and never become emotionally involved or reactive. The net result for a disinfo artist is that emotions can seem artificial.
Most people, if responding in anger, for instance, will express their animosity throughout their rebuttal. But disinfo types usually have trouble maintaining the 'image' and are hot and cold with respect to pretended emotions and their usually more calm or unemotional communications style. It's just a job, and they often seem unable to 'act their role in character' as well in a communications medium as they might be able in a real face-to-face conversation/confrontation. You might have outright rage and indignation one moment, ho-hum the next, and more anger later -- an emotional yo-yo.
With respect to being thick-skinned, no amount of criticism will deter them from doing their job, and they will generally continue their old disinfo patterns without any adjustments to criticisms of how obvious it is that they play that game -- where a more rational individual who truly cares what others think might seek to improve their communications style, substance, and so forth, or simply give up.
7) Inconsistent. There is also a tendency to make mistakes which betray their true self/motives. This may stem from not really knowing their topic, or it may be somewhat 'freudian', so to speak, in that perhaps they really root for the side of truth deep within.
I have noted that often, they will simply cite contradictory information which neutralizes itself and the author. For instance, one such player claimed to be a Navy pilot, but blamed his poor communicating skills (spelling, grammar, incoherent style) on having only a grade-school education. I'm not aware of too many Navy pilots who don't have a college degree. Another claimed no knowledge of a particular topic/situation but later claimed first-hand knowledge of it.
8) Time Constant. Recently discovered, with respect to News Groups, is the response time factor. There are three ways this can be seen to work, especially when the government or other empowered player is involved in a cover up operation:
a) ANY NG posting by a targeted proponent for truth can result in an IMMEDIATE response. The government and other empowered players can afford to pay people to sit there and watch for an opportunity to do some damage. SINCE DISINFO IN A NG ONLY WORKS IF THE READER SEES IT - FAST RESPONSE IS CALLED FOR, or the visitor may be swayed towards truth.
b) When dealing in more direct ways with a disinformationalist, such as email, DELAY IS CALLED FOR - there will usually be a minimum of a 48-72 hour delay. This allows a sit-down team discussion on response strategy for best effect, and even enough time to 'get permission' or instruction from a formal chain of command.
c) In the NG example 1) above, it will often ALSO be seen that bigger guns are drawn and fired after the same 48-72 hours delay - the team approach in play. This is especially true when the targeted truth seeker or their comments are considered more important with respect to potential to reveal truth. Thus, a serious truth sayer will be attacked twice for the same sin.
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How to Spot a Spy (Cointelpro Agent)
One way to neutralize a potential activist is to get them to be in a group that does all the wrong things. Why?
1) The message doesn't get out.
2) A lot of time is wasted
3) The activist is frustrated and discouraged
4) Nothing good is accomplished.
FBI and Police Informers and Infiltrators will infest any group and they have phoney activist organizations established.
Their purpose is to prevent any real movement for justice or eco-peace from developing in this country.
Agents come in small, medium or large. They can be of any ethnic background. They can be male or female.
The actual size of the group or movement being infiltrated is irrelevant. It is the potential the movement has for becoming large which brings on the spies and saboteurs.
This booklet lists tactics agents use to slow things down, foul things up, destroy the movement and keep tabs on activists.
It is the agent's job to keep the activist from quitting such a group, thus keeping him/her under control.
In some situations, to get control, the agent will tell the activist:

• "You're dividing the movement."

[Here, I have added the psychological reasons as to WHY this maneuver works to control people]
This invites guilty feelings. Many people can be controlled by guilt. The agents begin relationships with activists behind a well-developed mask of "dedication to the cause." Because of their often declared dedication, (and actions designed to prove this), when they criticize the activist, he or she - being truly dedicated to the movement - becomes convinced that somehow, any issues are THEIR fault. This is because a truly dedicated person tends to believe that everyone has a conscience and that nobody would dissimulate and lie like that "on purpose." It's amazing how far agents can go in manipulating an activist because the activist will constantly make excuses for the agent who regularly declares their dedication to the cause. Even if they do, occasionally, suspect the agent, they will pull the wool over their own eyes by rationalizing: "they did that unconsciously... they didn't really mean it... I can help them by being forgiving and accepting " and so on and so forth.
The agent will tell the activist:

• "You're a leader!"

This is designed to enhance the activist's self-esteem. His or her narcissistic admiration of his/her own activist/altruistic intentions increase as he or she identifies with and consciously admires the altruistic declarations of the agent which are deliberately set up to mirror those of the activist.
This is "malignant pseudo identification." It is the process by which the agent consciously imitates or simulates a certain behavior to foster the activist's identification with him/her, thus increasing the activist's vulnerability to exploitation. The agent will simulate the more subtle self-concepts of the activist.
Activists and those who have altruistic self-concepts are most vulnerable to malignant pseudo identification especially during work with the agent when the interaction includes matter relating to their competency, autonomy, or knowledge.
The goal of the agent is to increase the activist's general empathy for the agent through pseudo-identification with the activist's self-concepts.
The most common example of this is the agent who will compliment the activist for his competency or knowledge or value to the movement. On a more subtle level, the agent will simulate affects and mannerisms of the activist which promotes identification via mirroring and feelings of "twinship". It is not unheard of for activists, enamored by the perceived helpfulness and competence of a good agent, to find themselves considering ethical violations and perhaps, even illegal behavior, in the service of their agent/handler.
The activist's "felt quality of perfection" [self-concept] is enhanced, and a strong empathic bond is developed with the agent through his/her imitation and simulation of the victim's own narcissistic investments. [self-concepts] That is, if the activist knows, deep inside, their own dedication to the cause, they will project that onto the agent who is "mirroring" them.
The activist will be deluded into thinking that the agent shares this feeling of identification and bonding. In an activist/social movement setting, the adversarial roles that activists naturally play vis a vis the establishment/government, fosters ongoing processes of intrapsychic splitting so that "twinship alliances" between activist and agent may render whole sectors or reality testing unavailable to the activist. They literally "lose touch with reality."
Activists who deny their own narcissistic investments [do not have a good idea of their own self-concepts and that they ARE concepts] and consciously perceive themselves (accurately, as it were) to be "helpers" endowed with a special amount of altruism are exceedingly vulnerable to the affective (emotional) simulation of the accomplished agent.
Empathy is fostered in the activist through the expression of quite visible affects. The presentation of tearfulness, sadness, longing, fear, remorse, and guilt, may induce in the helper-oriented activist a strong sense of compassion, while unconsciously enhancing the activist's narcissistic investment in self as the embodiment of goodness.
The agent's expresssion of such simulated affects may be quite compelling to the observer and difficult to distinguish from deep emotion.
It can usually be identified by two events, however:
First, the activist who has analyzed his/her own narcissistic roots and is aware of his/her own potential for being "emotionally hooked," will be able to remain cool and unaffected by such emotional outpourings by the agent.
As a result of this unaffected, cool, attitude, the Second event will occur: The agent will recompensate much too quickly following such an affective expression leaving the activist with the impression that "the play has ended, the curtain has fallen," and the imposture, for the moment, has finished. The agent will then move quickly to another activist/victim.
The fact is, the movement doesn't need leaders, it needs MOVERS. "Follow the leader" is a waste of time.
A good agent will want to meet as often as possible. He or she will talk a lot and say little. One can expect an onslaught of long, unresolved discussions.
Some agents take on a pushy, arrogant, or defensive manner:
1) To disrupt the agenda
2) To side-track the discussion
3) To interrupt repeatedly
4) To feign ignorance
5) To make an unfounded accusation against a person.
Calling someone a racist, for example. This tactic is used to discredit a person in the eyes of all other group members.
Saboteurs
Some saboteurs pretend to be activists. She or he will ....
1) Write encyclopedic flyers (in the present day, websites)
2) Print flyers in English only.
3) Have demonstrations in places where no one cares.
4) Solicit funding from rich people instead of grass roots support
5) Display banners with too many words that are confusing.
6) Confuse issues.
7) Make the wrong demands.
8) Compromise the goal.
9) Have endless discussions that waste everyone's time. The agent may accompany the endless discussions with drinking, pot smoking or other amusement to slow down the activist's work.
Provocateurs
1) Want to establish "leaders" to set them up for a fall in order to stop the movement.
2) Suggest doing foolish, illegal things to get the activists in trouble.
3) Encourage militancy.
4) Want to taunt the authorities.
5) Attempt to make the activist compromise their values.
6) Attempt to instigate violence. Activism ought to always be non-violent.
7) Attempt to provoke revolt among people who are ill-prepared to deal with the reaction of the authorities to such violence.
Informants
1) Want everyone to sign up and sing in and sign everything.
2) Ask a lot of questions (gathering data).
3) Want to know what events the activist is planning to attend.
4) Attempt to make the activist defend him or herself to identify his or her beliefs, goals, and level of commitment.
Recruiting
Legitimate activists do not subject people to hours of persuasive dialog. Their actions, beliefs, and goals speak for themselves.
Groups that DO recruit are missionaries, military, and fake political parties or movements set up by agents.
Surveillance
ALWAYS assume that you are under surveillance.
At this point, if you are NOT under surveillance, you are not a very good activist!
Scare Tactics
They use them.
Such tactics include slander, defamation, threats, getting close to disaffected or minimally committed fellow activists to persuade them (via psychological tactics described above) to turn against the movement and give false testimony against their former compatriots. They will plant illegal substances on the activist and set up an arrest; they will plant false information and set up "exposure," they will send incriminating letters [emails] in the name of the activist; and more; they will do whatever society will allow.
This booklet in no way covers all the ways agents use to sabotage the lives of sincere an dedicated activists.
If an agent is "exposed," he or she will be transferred or replaced.
COINTELPRO is still in operation today under a different code name. It is no longer placed on paper where it can be discovered through the freedom of information act.
The FBI counterintelligence program's stated purpose: To expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, and otherwise neutralize individuals who the FBI categorize as opposed to the National Interests. "National Security" means the FBI's security from the people ever finding out the vicious things it does in violation of people's civil liberties.
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Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression
Strong, credible allegations of high-level criminal activity can bring down a government. When the government lacks an effective, fact-based defense, other techniques must be employed. The success of these techniques depends heavily upon a cooperative, compliant press and a mere token opposition party.
1. Dummy up. If it's not reported, if it's not news, it didn't happen.
2. Wax indignant. This is also known as the "How dare you?" gambit.
3. Characterize the charges as "rumors" or, better yet, "wild rumors." If, in spite of the news blackout, the public is still able to learn about the suspicious facts, it can only be through "rumors." (If they tend to believe the "rumors" it must be because they are simply "paranoid" or "hysterical.")
4. Knock down straw men. Deal only with the weakest aspects of the weakest charges. Even better, create your own straw men. Make up wild rumors (or plant false stories) and give them lead play when you appear to debunk all the charges, real and fanciful alike.
5. Call the skeptics names like "conspiracy theorist," "nutcase," "ranter," "kook," "crackpot," and, of course, "rumor monger." Be sure, too, to use heavily loaded verbs and adjectives when characterizing their charges and defending the "more reasonable" government and its defenders. You must then carefully avoid fair and open debate with any of the people you have thus maligned. For insurance, set up your own "skeptics" to shoot down.
6. Impugn motives. Attempt to marginalize the critics by suggesting strongly that they are not really interested in the truth but are simply pursuing a partisan political agenda or are out to make money (compared to over-compensated adherents to the government line who, presumably, are not).
7. Invoke authority. Here the controlled press and the sham opposition can be very useful.
8. Dismiss the charges as "old news."
9. Come half-clean. This is also known as "confession and avoidance" or "taking the limited hangout route." This way, you create the impression of candor and honesty while you admit only to relatively harmless, less-than-criminal "mistakes." This stratagem often requires the embrace of a fall-back position quite different from the one originally taken. With effective damage control, the fall-back position need only be peddled by stooge skeptics to carefully limited markets.
10. Characterize the crimes as impossibly complex and the truth as ultimately unknowable.
11. Reason backward, using the deductive method with a vengeance. With thoroughly rigorous deduction, troublesome evidence is irrelevant. E.g. We have a completely free press. If evidence exists that the Vince Foster "suicide" note was forged, they would have reported it. They haven't reported it so there is no such evidence. Another variation on this theme involves the likelihood of a conspiracy leaker and a press who would report the leak.
12. Require the skeptics to solve the crime completely. E.g. If Foster was murdered, who did it and why?
13. Change the subject. This technique includes creating and/or publicizing distractions.
14. Lightly report incriminating facts, and then make nothing of them. This is sometimes referred to as "bump and run" reporting.
15. Baldly and brazenly lie. A favorite way of doing this is to attribute the "facts" furnished the public to a plausible-sounding, but anonymous, source.
16. Expanding further on numbers 4 and 5, have your own stooges "expose" scandals and champion popular causes. Their job is to pre-empt real opponents and to play 99-yard football. A variation is to pay rich people for the job who will pretend to spend their own money.
17. Flood the Internet with agents. This is the answer to the question, "What could possibly motivate a person to spend hour upon hour on Internet news groups defending the government and/or the press and harassing genuine critics?" Don t the authorities have defenders enough in all the newspapers, magazines, radio, and television? One would think refusing to print critical letters and screening out serious callers or dumping them from radio talk shows would be control enough, but, obviously, it is not.

Hi,
I have my eye on a couple of amazing looking journals to be my Grimoire for a collection of my work and research to be put in, a passion project as I want to make it look really good with calligraphy and drawings.
Anyhow,
I really like the idea (still an idea mind) to use a script, I know it won't be Theban, mainly as it's very well known. But I have others I am contemplating.
(I say it's an idea in mind because as much as I love the idea of the Grimoire being fully in scripts, main, one for spells, runes, and alchemy symbols [I said it was a passion project XD but I also recognise it's going to take time, esp. not to make errors, I understand that no matter how well I memorise, it could take me time to translate what I wrote, reducing the efficiency.)
So to the actual point (professional rambler), I love the ones I've found, but I actually am interested in having at least one that's cursive friendly. Like the Theban alphabet I've failed to join them up, and I get it, practically, they look more like runes/ sigils, but does anyone know of alphabets that can be learnt to be cursive with examples, or how to potentially learn to make any cipher alphabet script to be cursive with a how-to guide & tips? I'd like to continue practicing before I can finally afford my Grimoire, to help be a step ahead skills wise.
I tend to generally write far more with cursive and it feels far more fluid and natural than just putting down each symbol without any linking, and for me it just looks really pleasing, and helps me get in the zone when I'm writing my notes. It feels faster to use cursive too, than writing letters out individually.
Thank you for reading (what surely could have been written more concisely.) ✨

Cover Art <<Previous Start Next >>
GLOSSARY This links to a post on the free section of my Patreon. Note: "Book 1" is chapters 1-59, "Book 2" is chapters 60-133, "Book 3", is 134-193, "Book 4" is CH 194-(ongoing)
When the three teens got up the next morning, they ate quickly before turning their attention back to the instrument.
With the soundboard ready enough, Derek's next task was to collect the string posts and such from some of the scrapped stringed instruments, but to do no more than clean them up if needed and set them aside for later.
While he was doing that, Shizoku was using one of the better instruments in the shop to make sure that Fuyuko had a solid concept of scales and octaves. During this, the luponi couldn't help but ask "Ya should be able ta hear as well as me, why are ya tryin' ta have me figure this out?"
"Well," the kitsune replied, "there's a few things involved. First, I have paid a lot more attention to my magical senses than my physical ones, so while my ears might be able to physically hear as well as yours, my mind isn't as attuned to working with that information. You have been used to pushing yourself to make the most of every sound." She hesitated a moment before adding, "There's something else involved with that, but I think it's best if someone more experienced teaches you, which Mordecai is probably going to do, so I am not going to even tell you what it's about. I just don't want you to think I hid something from you later."
After Fuyuko gave a slightly confused nod, Shizoku continued. "I am also giving you just enough information for you to get certain key concepts down. Once I do that, we can hunt for a fresh set of notes without the bias of the rest of my training. You'll understand when we are done."
Once she was satisfied with the taller girl's understanding, Shizoku began the next stage of the process. "Okay, now this instrument over here has some adjustable positioning with its tuning knobs, and we have some other pieces that were also still being prototyped. Fuyuko, what I want you to do is find a new note. We have a bunch of strings of different types, so you can play with it with different sounds. So you hunt down a note that you like, no, love. Deep or high or somewhere in between, it doesn't matter. Once we have a single note to work with, we can scale up or down as needed to get the matching ones, the only limitation is that it has to be a note Derek can hear. The notes I showed you are the notes I know, but technically a scale can be based on the harmonies of any frequency. Since you don't know all the systems that already exist, and you have really good hearing, you should be able to pick out a clean frequency to start with."
After Fuyuko got a hang of tuning strings, Shizoku had Derek follow her out of the workroom. "I don't want to disturb her concentration, and I don't want our reactions to influence her. I'm sure she's heard plenty of music before, but I doubt she's heard as much well-performed music as you have, so she won't know what sounds are supposedly wrong."
While Fuyuko was occupied, the pair explored the witch's island more, poking their noses into any unlocked buildings other than the main house. Some of them were storage, and some were other types of workshops. Shizoku wasn't certain if the wreck of an alchemy lab was the result of visitors or of Carmilla's own experiments, and decided it was best to not ask. But there were a lot of notes and a few books, so she decided to start browsing them and copying any new information she found. She also wrote on a couple of them to correct anything she saw that was clearly wrong.
Once the fox girl got distracted by her studies, Derek decided to practice channeling his elemental abilities more. The swamp was a fascinating mix of different types of elements and different ways elements could be seen. The concept of 'mud' was complicated enough that he was beginning to see it as its own thing, distinct from earth and water.
And then there was the way in which 'air' could be trapped in the muck, and even the more liquid stuff could prove difficult for air bubbles to escape readily. None of that was good quality air, at least, not if you needed to breathe, but it was air. Sort of.
He walked along the wooden walkways that wound around the island, probing as far as he could with his senses. Holding on to this state was tiring, but it was easier to keep doing this exercise when there was something new and interesting to puzzle out. He wasn't trying to manipulate or adjust anything right now, that seemed like a bad idea to mess with Carmilla's island, but there was enough here that was simply different from what he'd seen before to keep him occupied for a while.
So when Fuyuko had found the note she wanted to work with, she had to spend more time fetching her friends before they could continue. "So, as I was playin' with the notes, I kinda remembered some old songs my ma used ta sing ta me. They didn't sound the same as the songs people liked, and they ain't in common, so I ain't sung them in a long time, but I tried ta remember them as best I can, and then I figured out some strings that sounded like I remembered. I think these can work as part of a scale."
Shizoku was satisfied with the results. "It's not on any of the scales I know. Very good Fuyuko. Um, and maybe when we are done here, we can hear those songs. Now for the hard part. We have to find the harmonies. More specifically, we have to find the harmonies and how to create them with the available strings. This is going to be a lot of work, and most of it is still going to be based on Fuyuko's hearing, so our part is to make sure she has as many available strings and ways of adjusting them as possible."
It took several days in fact, including marking sections on the strings that could be used to change to a different harmonic note. Part of this was to create a lot of options, which they were going to need. Shizoku took a lot of notes during this, and Derek eventually had to go back to town to barter for some more strings. They had a lot more than they were going to use in the final product, but there were so many more possible notes than Derek had realized. And the tiny fox organizing their efforts was being perfectionist about having every possible option available. She'd also added "precise distance measuring tools" to his shopping list.
In the end, Derek had what she wanted, but he was pretty certain that he'd overpaid in at least one barter. At least he'd been able to get some more food supplies. The meals Udup got for them were fine, but a little repetitive and boring, so it was nice to get a change of pace. He also made sure to collect the items they had been storing in their room so that they didn't have to lug them around the swamp, as they had a place to stay on the witch's island.
And during all this Bip was amusing itself by learning to vibrate in tune with the various notes, and even showed off by making waves on its surface that matched the sound. Shizoku looked a little confused when she passed on what her familiar said, but to Derek that felt like an insight he needed to work on with his air attunement.
When their taskmistress was satisfied with their options, it was time to create the layout for their instrument. "We need a piece of wood the same size and shape as our instrument. We're going to figure out the best string order for what we want. This is going to involve a lot of moving things around, so we want to do the work here, and then copy that to the actual instrument when we are done."
This part went a lot faster but it still took most of a day to design their layout, and the next morning was used for their final assembly.
The instrument had a total of twenty-six strings, two octaves of thirteen notes each, with more notes available based on which of the raised ridges one pressed down on while plucking the string. Even with the tools that Derek had bought, measuring with enough precision was hard, but thankfully the tuning posts were all made to be used in experimental instruments so were easy to adjust.
After they had lunch, they got Carmilla to examine their work. "Huh," she murmured as she plucked each string, "yeah, that is a new sound. And this thing is cool, I need to find a name for it. Alright, you guys pass this stage, and with flying colors." She giggled, "Miss Kazoo says you did that the way hard way. It was thorough, but you should have been able to do it with about a third the work or less."
Shizoku scowled and said, "Well, she may have had a lot of music training, but I have had only so much, so I wanted to be sure I didn't miss anything." And then she blinked, "Wait, 'Kazoo'?"
Carmilla coughed. "Oops. I'm getting a scolding now from Mordecai. Um, maybe don't use that? Anyway, you guys did a great job and put a lot of creative and physical effort into this. That adds up, you know? So with this and all the other stuff you guys did before coming here, I only get to ask you for one more task. I want you to put on a performance for me. And I want it to include that instrument. You can practice with this one, Kazue will make a copy that is a bit more stable for the performance and for me to keep."
That elicited groans from the entire group, but Shizoku rebounded quickly. "Wait, I have an idea. Um, I think we need a couple of days of practice, and we need a drum as well."
The plan was pretty straightforward. Fuyuko was going to sing the songs she could remember, and teach them to Shizoku and Derek while also doing her best to play the notes on their new instrument. She wasn't really going to be very proficient at it in only a couple of days, but they were able to work out the simplest arrangement that would go with her songs.
Derek's job was to maintain a steady beat on the drum and sing along with the chorus of the song. Not knowing the language that Fuyuko was singing in made this part harder.
Shizoku's job was to adjust one of the dances she knew to the timing of Fuyuko's song. She even dug into one of her expanded space bags to bring out a very fancy looking kimono and a pair of fans that could be used to create a sharp snapping sound, which could be used to contrast the low sound of the drum that Derek was playing.
The resulting performance was far from professional. Fuyuko only had a small pattern of notes she could reliably reproduce while singing, and they were somewhat spread out as she couldn't play fast at all. Shizoku's fan dance also didn't really match the feel of the song despite the adjustments she tried to make, and Derek's reproduction of the chorus was far from perfect.
But they put sincere effort into it, and Carmilla was satisfied. "Oh, that will be a great start, and I think I am going to like playing this. Thank you, I think you three have put more real effort into this than most of the adults have. Oh, they have a special gift for you Fuyuko, they say you should have it now." A small book appeared in her hands, which she handed over to Fuyuko. "Part of the dungeon magic means they learned that language when you sang it. This is a copy of every song you sang and a translation. The writing for the original is sounded out using the common alphabet, they don't have a writing sample to learn the original script from. Um, they also think you should wait to read it until you guys are settled in for the night. I'll let you three through the swamp tomorrow, and you can collect your big prizes when you get to the end."
The reason for waiting became clear to Fuyuko when she did start reading later that night, and she began crying. "I remembered the words and the sounds, but it's been so long that I didn't really remember the meaning. They were lullabies. They were my clan's lullabies."
Shizoku and Derek did their best to comfort their friend, but her tears were both of pain and of joy. She was very happy to have this small bit of her past restored to her, even if the translations showed she'd forgotten a verse or two. She was going to do her best to remember them all and make sure they were written down.
She was much calmer by morning, and the three collected themselves and set off to make their way to the briar wall that blocked off the exit to the level. The passage through went fine, but the corridor after was not the straight path Fuyuko had expected. It was blocked off, and there was a single stair way splitting off from the corridor. "Um, guys. That's supposed ta be the way we go, it goes ta a big room ta watch the arena from. That's, um, one of the stairs down to the arena."
They didn't know what to make of this and made their way down very cautiously.
Mordecai was waiting for them, along with several bunkins and kobolds. "So, who is up for an optional bonus challenge?" He asked them with a grin.
<<Previous Start Next >>
Also to be found on Royal Road.
My Patreon My Discord Top Web Novels - Romance.io - TVTropes
$3. : 10 Early chapters, lore excerpts $5. : 20 Early chapters, Short Stories $10 : 30+ Early chapters, New stories not published anywhere else (Until after I finish this story at least) . . . . . "A Girl and Her Dungeon", "The Celestine Fox", and AU Core 1: "Coreless"

Inspired by u/HAZARD_LEVEL_SEVEN and his ballsy move of ultimate hate, I too will declare a binding vow of my king returning. I have absolute trust in my GOAT returning far beyond any hate of sukuna glazers.
While there is nothing but respect for hazard's choice, I refuse to let any sukuna glazers be seen in a positive light so consider this a fuck you to your declaration. I refuse to stop glazing my glorious sex eyed king until the day I die. From 236 my GOAT has been whispered to come back, and not for a second will I believe he was a bluff.
WITHOUT FAILURE has my goat had ripple effects from the start. From the beginning there was one goat. The one man to stand alone as the honored one. To kill the notorious sorcerer killer brandishing myriads of weapons at just the high school level. The one man to singlehandedly fight the disaster curses all at once. The man that SAT UPON SUKUNA LIKE THE THRONE HE WAS TO HIM. If it means my goat lives, I shall take any punishment. But even with this risk, I believe just one outcome. Even with the greatest sukuna glazer writing the manga, would we lose? We who have prayed for times like these from the moment our angel broke its wings?
Nah, We'd Win
My binding vow is as follows: IF I am wrong, please ban me from this sub permanently, following a handwritten cursive letter using a fancy pen declaring my stupidity and folly, and why sukuna is the goat, along with the purchase of merchandise regarding sukuna.
IF I am right, I will laugh exorbitantly.

This seems petty compared to some of the other posts in here, but every now and then it drives me CRAZY!
I seem to be the only person I know who understands what “organized” means. It is not a matter of the area looking all nice and fancy like an interior designer has been here. Only interior designers care about “making it pop” and “having a wow factor.” I certainly don’t.
It’s not about having everything neatly lined up in evenly spaced rows like new recruits standing at attention. That doesn’t do any good if you still can’t find the can of mushroom soup amid the cans of green beans and tomato sauce and sweet potatoes and carrots and everything else. Those new recruits are also lined up in alphabetical order by last name, or inspection would still be a fustercluck.
It’s not about impressing anyone with my housekeeping skills, and it’s only us living here, and nobody else ever sees inside of there, so who cares what it looks like? I agree. Who cares about somebody else’s opinion of my pantry or my bathroom cabinet?
It’s about me being able to find what I need right away without having to spend an hour looking for it, and then having to move twenty other unrelated objects to get to it. It’s about not having sixteen jugs of cooking oil because we didn’t see it in the cluttered pantry, thought we were out, and bought more.
My husband thinks as long as something isn’t left out in plain sight, if it’s in a drawer or behind a closet or cabinet door, it’s put away. Doesn’t matter on what shelf or even which drawer or cabinet. I can spend an entire day organizing a cabinet or closet, and he thinks I am doing it ONLY to get rid of expired things and make space. So he comes in with new purchases and just puts it all anywhere there’s room, regardless of what it is, and I’m right back where I started. He has a limited concept of food goes in the kitchen, hygiene supplies go in the bathroom, and clothes go in the bedroom, but he is absolutely incapable of categorizing any deeper than that.
If we were to go to the grocery store, and the merchandise is all picked up off the floor, but the chicken and the hamburger and the hotdogs and the cheese are all lumped in with each other, we’d never get out of there because we’d spend all day looking for what we came for. Why can’t he understand that? Can anyone else?
There. I feel better.

Every year for our anniversary we go to a restaurant that starts with the next letter of the alphabet.
Looking for suggestions for letter J this year! It doesn't have to be fancy, but we prefer non-chains (local chains are OK) and great food. We're on the east side but will drive for somewhere worth it.
You've helped with our previous anniversaries in Pittsburgh: Gaucho, Hidden Harbor, and Independent Brewing Co.
Thanks yinz!

So I was looking through AO3 define a fanfiction cuz I was bored and something that just drives me insane so much is when authors side to use like fancy lettering that are really hard to read in their summaries cuz I'm dyslexic so I already have a hard time reading a lot of stuff but then when you use fonts that are like cursive or Don't know what it's called but this is literally a word directly from the one I saw that made me want to talk about this "𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕠" I don't know what this font is called but it drives me insane It is so hard to read please I am begging you if you are making a summary please put it in regular font

1. Lamy 2000 Brown LE with 18k Broad nib [A2] The pen writes great and looks even better. It has a nice milk chocolate appearance that really sets it apart. It comes with all the goodies completely unused including a book, a Lamy leather notebook and some other fancy items...oh and the pen. photos and timestamp $425 shipped
2. Pelikan M1000 Green 18k Medium Nib [B] This pen is a classic. It is huge but can be used daily and it writes so well. Usually these pens are buttery smooth but this one has a very slight bite to it. The ink flows will and it has a lot of springiness to it. Comes with the original box and sleeve. Photos and Timestamp $475 shipped
3. Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age Skylight 23K two-tone Palladium Nib Medium Cursive Italic [B] This is such a good pen. I wish Visconti would keep making them. It is the best of the Crystal Dream and the standard Bronze Age in that it allows you to see how much ink you have without taking away from the great lava resin barrel. I had the 18k nib replaced with a dream touch because I prefer the look and feel of the palladium. This one writes well with good flow and spring. This one has a bit of a bite to it. Comes with the box Photos and Timestamp $675 Shipped

Here are five pens that I love but don't get used enough. A few are pretty special.

1. ASC Triangolo Arco Verde yellow gold trim 14K Magic Flex nib [A2] Another loverly pen from ASC using old stock Omas Arco rods. It writes well, but it's size is a bit much for me. I have inked it once, cleaned it and now only look at it. It deserves to be used.comes with box and all the paperwork. Photos & Timestamp $825 Shipped
2. Pilot 912 Falcon with Flex Nib Factory 3 slot ebonite feed [A1] Not much to say about this pen. It has been modified for better flow. I never got around to using it. This pen has only been inked for this writing sample. Photos $125 Shipped
3. Leonardo Momento Magico In-House 14k Medium Nib LE Omnia Amethyst Resin [A2]. This pen is absolutely gorgeous. The material is from Jonathon Brooks of the Carolina Pen Company. With that, it has Leonardo's new nib which has a great writing feel. I love it, but don't use it enough. It comes with the box and paperwork. Photos $400 Shipped
4. Nakaya Naka-ai Writer Heki-Tamenuri Custom 14K Two Tone Medium Soft nib with cursive Italic grind from Nibs [A2]. This one is hard to let go of, but I don't have space for it. This is a particularly special pen because the studio added more kanji than usual on the barrel. It reads, "And the word was God." The pen is in great shape. The nib has a bit of tooth to it. It comes with the box and papers. Photos and timestamp. $800 shipped
5. Lamy 2000 Brown LE with 18k Broad nib [A2] The pen writes great and looks even better. It has a nice milk chocolate appearance that really sets it apart. It comes with all the goodies completely unused including a book, a Lamy leather notebook and some other fancy items...oh and the pen. photos and timestamp $450 shipped

Edit: Saw this later from web and it was awful to look at. Cleaned it up. Please read strike through as cheeky side comments.

Premise:

Share my experience getting started on Bookfusion as a mobile first reader on iOS. I am also a dev so I like to give feedback when I see a project with promise and I figured my use case is not so unique.

Background:

I stumbled upon this app after months of being super annoyed searching for a way to away allowed tablet +pen users to write in line on epub files. I know now that this is possible on some of the very new color eink readers and (maybe?) Marginote but nothing accessible on iOS that gives you the full "I wrote in this book" feeling. I don't actually write in my paper books because it crowds the pages. However I use text based annotations all the time and love that I can just hide them away as I continue reading. It seems like a waste to have all this hardware capable of writing on books, but not supporting the most popular book format for published media. My full ebook library is close to 350gbs, and I have read them on many generations and sizes of devices over the years. That's why I don't like to use pdfs, so I will not be converting them.
Alright, off my rant.

History with other ereader applications:

I've been reading from epub files since the original Barnes and Nobles Nook launched in 2009. Things have changed a lot since then (for better and worse). My biggest pet peeve with all these platforms is that they lock you into their version of a book store and never allow you to include your currently library- or if they do allow sideload, it is at a disadvantage. Each of their reading apps are somewhat lacking in functionality too, one way or another.

• Kindle app is organized like social media with feeds and other nonsense I find that extremely annoying clutter to get to my book. The navigation in looking for books has infinite breadcrumbs you can't reset without hitting back a bunch of times. It's ability to do the one thing, is made unpleasant by the other forced features of integrating with Amazon.
• Apple Books lets you side load, but won't organize books by the same author or series together with ones sideloaded. You can't custom categorize books in your library without them being tied in some way to the Apple Books store view of the book.
• I've always found Google Books reader (on the iOS app) to be very ugly, and they are often the recent missing titles that I'm looking for. Man, I miss buying a ebook and getting a file. I can only do that directly supporting authors on their websites these days.

I haven't mentioned my qualm with actually buying books on these platforms either. Needless to say, I have books scattered across all the major platforms, which is why I will never get a kobo, amazon or otherwise platform affiliated e-reader and why I'm super interested in software based app solutions. I stick with iPad/iOS because it's familiar (I've had iPhones since the 3GS, and iPods even before then) and I have access to a lot of other stuff there too, jack of all trades style. Not an apple fanboy, I just hate having to change up something that's working for me already.
I have yet to find an eReader app that does everything I want, though. Besides digitally hand-writing in ebooks (which I understand is a particular challenge due to the format), I always end up trading one important feature for another. If I want an intuitive and simple interface, I have to give up customization options. If I want good organization, I have to give up proper cross device sync. If I want cloud sync I have to pray to the rain gods and light some candles. I rarely read from web since my iPad is a full laptop replacement to me, so this will all be iOS and iPadOS app perspectives.

Baseline for Comparison to BookFusion:

I have and still have to use the usual Apple Books, Kindle, Google Books and Kobo apps since my purchases are locked there for now. My latest and current app of choice was Eboox. It's made by a quiet little dev team. It's a 2 page app basically. Library view or shelf view. Some customization settings, but it has page-level Google drive based sync. Same deal, you can upload epubs super easily. I like that it shows me my most recent book at the top, and I can even download converted-to-epub fic and other comic files to this app sometimes. The big cons are that it's not very well polished: updates are slow, the shelving system is infuriating because there is no user created order enforced and since you can't re-arrange books on a shelf, tag, or otherwise subshelve books to group them you're stuck with alphabetical and recency order. On my "Worth Reading Again" shelf I'd like to have all the books from the same series sequentially. Or better yet, let me rearrange them. Annotating on this app is buggy, sometimes the note you typed won't be saved and will be open in the next note you make. The reading view navigation is glitchy and crowded. I have stuck with it because it does the thing(tm) with no forced frills and it is simple and nice to look at.
When Bookfusion came up on reddit in my search for supporting hand-written annotation it was like candy on Christmas. Plus, page level audio integration (something I never dreamed of having on mobile outside of platform lock) coming soon? Amazing. Now, I'm excited.

Initial Reaction/Onboarding:

I downloaded the app and made a quick account (not too many forced profile details too, great!), It was super easy to get started. Importing books is also quick and painless although that 10 books free limit is really nothing for someone like me *more on that later in criticisms.

What I Loved:

1. I was immediately in love with the amount of customization available for the reading view. Full color spectrum background support is awesome! I'll take an all black dark mode theme but for me, cream text and midnight blue background reign supreme for me. I don't normally mess around with the font options much but there were a lot to choose from! Big points.
2. Ability to tweak the epub files summary and meta data right in app is nuts, and incredible. Absolutely my favorite surprise perk so far, I've never had that available in a mobile app.
3. The sidebar is easy to use. I didn't love there being a store in my reading app (see my complaints about platform tying) but it is unobtrusive and I appreciate that.
4. Navigating my collection is straightforward and awesome. I prefer the info view over the gallery view since have a lot of files with no cover. Currently reading book at the top in the main screen is a feature I grew to love so I'm grateful to see it here!
5. I just about cried when I saw the color coded (And searchable!!!) tag integration. I've never had an iOS app do that. Especially on files with a large number of tags, like epubs exported from AO3. It's usually something I categorize on my own via shelves. Pretty damn awesome!
6. The text search is actually useful, God is real. I cannot explain how heinous text search has been on pretty much every where else. Being able to search/ see highlights across books is also legendary. A common note-taking feature but a very uncommon reading app feature (especially working well!)
7. Annotating the typed way (from my iPhone) is awesome. the context menu isn't too crowded, the highlighting is easy (another fully custom color palette, I'm screaming).
8. Speaking of the note view! I love that you can edit right from there without the book navigating to that page, AND you can jump there by tapping the note. Link navigation in general works well.

Nice-to-Haves that came up during use:

1. It would be nice to have the option to toggle off the book preview screen that shows after selecting a book you aren't currently reading. Most of the time, I already know what I'm reading when I open it. I'd prefer to be able view summaries or get this view via a long press on the book or from a context menu
2. I noticed that the order of tags isn't preserved, and instead tags appear alphabetically. Not a big deal, but it would be a nice to be able to preserve the order that they were imported with, and that you could priority order them. It would also help in the info view, since those top tags would be priority order too rather than whatever was closest to A.
3. I noticed that if I tap on a highlighted area I've already annotated it doesn't do anything? I would love to get an inline view of my note or at least a preview of it when I tap on the highlighted portion without going back to the edit menu to do so. Since, you can view all your notes across the book from the right sidebar menu, I can live without it but it would be a very nice to have.
4. Additionally, I don't always want to highlight AND note. It would be cool if you could have notes indicated with a accent colored underline when the passage is not highlighted. Typically, I highlight when I find the text meaningful and note when I have something to say about the content. For instance, I might highlight a stanza of poetry but not have anything to add. Or I might add a not to a passage that does not make sense to me- in that case, I'm not appreciating the writing but I do have something to say about it. Maybe this could be done by being able to preset a with a separate highlight color as default for when specifically selecting to add a note. In my view, notes that I wouldn't want literal highlighting on could be defaulted to a very gray/muted color, and then highlights remain as they are now.

Conclusion: So far I'm pretty impressed, and I know there's even more to explore with Callibre integration stuff too. Right now my central ebook library is hosted on a NAS that needs to be upgraded so it won't take me 20 minutes to download an audio book lol. I'd be interested in hosting my library on a cloud too. I also haven't tested it on ipadOS fully yet beyond the sync capabilities, but I'm already pleased with what I have seen so far in iOS
That does bring me back to the pricing though.

Criticisms

Some minor nitpicks: When I get a reading app, I'm looking for it to be completely usable offline. I think most people would agree? Why would I need to make an account before I even import a book? It feels like a lot of investment before I have even seen the app enough to decide if I will use it? It is understandable for early access but it did somewhat rub me the wrong way.
The Store. I don't love it. I wish it was out of view or something I had to open specifically rather than be in my main navigation bar. I get it, but it harkens back to platform lock.
The future social media-like features: Please, PLEASE make these optional or hideable. I hate this social-media-fication of everything these days. I don't want to be on yet another social media platform, I try to be on as little as possible of the already existing ones that you can barely escape these days. Goodreads and Storygraph already exist and I hardly want to use those. Storygraph is sticking to Goodread's original purpose which was to track your reading easily, and is the whole reason I use it. When Goodreads turned into Amazon's rendition of Bookface, I left the platform. Now it's cluttered with social media features I never wanted in the first palce. Goodreads became hard to use for it's original purpose. You have to constantly navigate away from a feed made up of people and authors I don't care about (because even if you didn't have people to put posts in your feed, they'd make you one based on recommendations and your reading lists....yay). Then the reviews were being censored, Amazon was making it difficult to remove books that were added to the platform without permission and get indie authors that actually wanted to be on there up. Sorry, I'm off track. As you can see I have a bitter attitude toward forced social media features. If the app becomes more complex to use for it's main purpose (re: Do The Thing TM) due to the social features it would ruin the whole thing for me.
The free tier: 10 books + 2 adds/deletes per day is way too low to get integrated into a new platform. I'm sure I would not have had time to consider whether I want to continue with my whole collection in Bookfusion before I reached frustration with the cap. I have at least 50 books in every eReader app I have right now, bar kindle since you can only download 10(?) at a time... but I can download and trade them as often and whenever I want- and I don't even properly OWN those titles half the time. And all of those are free and direct competition to Bookfusion.
In the free tier (without specifically enabling it), I should not be using up any cloud storage. It feels arbitrary to have this limit on the number books I can view in the app when I'm not using any services to do so. My device, that I own, with it's internal storage already holding my books that I also already own. Why am basically forced to be on a subscription to use the app realistically when the app is supposedly free? I would have rather (and happily) paid 4.99 out right to have no local storage limits, and the basic offline do the thing(tm) features. This app is better than any other e-reader I've found on the market so far so it should have a strategic advantage but it feels like I won't even get to experience that before I have to pay- under the guise that the app is free.
It's giving free trial instead of freemium and that doesn't line up with what is shown on the app store page. As it stands, I would not consider this a free app, as you can't use the basic feature set realistically without the subscription. If I only owned 10 books or would be okay to only view 10 books on rotation, I probably wouldn't be looking for something with such a robust feature set so I also feels this contradicts the goals of the market you're trying to capture. I understand pushing conversion, but this actually just scares away people who might have gotten themselves fully integrated into the platform and eventually more willingly paid for extra things one might expect, like expanded cloud storage, real time cross device sync, access to new features etc etc.
this is a bit of a soap box speech but I'm explaining what I would like to see for a subscription model Discord is a great example of freemium. The basic features that make it competitive are completely free. These features are limited to user in a reasonable manner, so that if they don't care too much about streaming in 4k or being a power user with 100+ servers, they can comfortably use the app in the free tier. When I first got on discord, it was to use servers as big archivable and searchable group chat. Much smaller than what it was capable of at the time, but had the easiest onboarding and the lowest overhead to get started. All you need is an email address, a username and an invite. Today, I've been a nitro subscriber since 2018, which is 2 years after I got started on the platform. No one I knew besides my gaming friends were on discord. Slowly, as I convinced more people to join me on the platform (I'd respond faster since I could use the web app at work), more and more of my total communication was happening on discord. Now, I happily pay monthly to have 50 more emojis to take between servers, customize my profile and push my server cap up. I also get to support the devs making a tool I use all the time and get early access to new features. I was already invested in the platform and that guaranteed I would want to continue with Discord enough to want and enjoy these extra features instead of hopping to a competitor like Telegram to start all over.
Because of the 10 book cap, there's no real incentive for me to invest time into importing all my books, making the shelves and tags I want to use, customizing the reading ui and making sure it synced over to my ipad. A casual user could have this experience: Upload 10 books immediately, be blocked from uploading more without deleting and be stuck. "What? Well that sucks, I really liked it so far." and immediately leave for other, worse apps that at least let me import my whole library. I hope this is coming off as constructive because I'm not trying to gripe about price. As I mentioned earlier, I have no problem paying for something I know I'm going to use. It just doesn't make sense for me (and when I say me, I mean the general consumer) to get on a subscription for the basic offline features of an app that I likely just got and am not sure I'll keep by that time. Only, if I don't subscribe the app at base is not very useful.
The Other Tiers: The two highest tiers are the only ones that would be useful to me, so I'm sharing my perspective on those. $10 a month isn't a lot but in the monthly sub competition space it's on the steep side. KU is $15? and I get Amazon's backlog included. This app is fundamentally and demonstrably better than any of the platform based apps, but it's not promising much recurring value in comparison to other subscription style plans. Maybe something like getting the first month for free would help? But mainly, changing between these apps requires decent front load effort on the user (to export their files from somewhere else, onto your platform) and then on top of that, you have to subscribe to read more than 10 of your own books? For me, I see it as dev support so I'm willing but others might not even try it with a limit that low.
To me, I would want to see features like the following to make $10 a month worth the value add:

• Integration with book tracking platforms like Storygraph (I hate goodreads but right now SoryGraph doesn't have the apis for it yet) and GoodReads
• Fancy Export tools for my annotations (to Excel, Google, OneNote Etc)
• Ability to view/export my reading stats by time (last month, last week etc)
• Hide social media/store/ad from sidebar and context menus. and be able to customize it with shortcuts to my most used shelves or something.
• Receive notifications about my favorite author's new books (rss feed or something)
• Strict interest/genre profiles for recommendations (for example: I'm only reading women authors writing historical fantasy this month, only show me those recs. Only recommended me Java17 manuals. Do not recommend horror novels).
• Complete data transparency. Where is my Bookfusion account data going?

But overall, I think this level of restriction will hinder the app more than it helps conversion. Please consider removing the book # (not the feature limits, only the local library size stuff) restrictions and either making the app cost money for those basic offline features or having those certain features be fully free so that the app is functional @ the free tier (and therefore, properly freemium).
I want to clarify in a quick closing note that I'm sharing this to give my perspective. This is not an official feature request or complaint or anything. I thought my onboarding experience and background with ebooks might make for an interesting take by new user but veteran e-reader.
I'd love to hear how other users feel (especially new ones) about Bookfusion and for you veterans, what keeps you using it?
Thanks!

This question gets asked a lot and I think for some people it's essentially all they want. They're not in actual penmanship and don't want extraordinary expertise in it. It's just the work/job they do that requires them to write sort of neatly/legibly and fast. It's like a survival skill for them.
You cannot write super fast and expect it to be looking perfect. Similarly, you cannot write super neatly and assume that you'd be able to do it quickly. A balance between the two is crucial for sufficiently good and efficient handwriting.
The solution is to stick to the basics. Simple handwriting is fast and it could be neat and clean at the same time. Handwriting doesn't have to be fancy if you are in a time limit. To be efficient, you'll need to focus only on the things that matter.
Cursive is not fast, nor is print. What you're more proficient in makes one fast over the other. It's strange that, for some people, cursive with more loops, long flourishes and more character takes less time to write than simple letter-to-letter printing. For some, print is fast no matter how fast the cursive is for others. Learning cursive is not the solution to writing faster as this advice is thrown around all the time whenever someone asks a similar question.
Another piece of advice people give is to write smaller. You still need to do the same hand movements and efforts to complete a certain letter so it won't help that much. It's not the best thing you can do to be faster.
Picking a font for inspiration isn't necessary if speed is the priority. Making your handwriting look in a certain way similar to a font takes the second place.
If you are supposed to show your written work to someone else, being illegible is something that you don't want at all.
Certain letters don't look how they should (according to the standard letter chart which everyone knows and writes/reads) which creates legibility issues.
Improving your letter formation and making them look how they're supposed to be is a perfect starting point to boost the legibility aspect of your writing.
So one of the best advice that can be given to someone who's looking to improve their fast handwriting or handwriting in general is before making it fancy/eye-pleasing, make it fundamentally perfect. Know how each letter is to be formed up to standard. You can always add a style of your choice afterwards.
Tracing worksheets/workbooks could be a great starting point for studying letter strokes and letter formation. However, you'll need to practice with more than just worksheets on your own to be a better penman.
When writing quickly you already won't have much time to reflect on how you're doing so external help like using lined paper instead of blank would be the best thing to do. Lined paper not only makes you write in a straight line but helps you to be more consistent as you're writing between two parallel lines.

=UPDATE: 05/04/24=
Hello gamers and anthro connoisseurs, welcome to the Beastars Modded Games Mega Thread (self-proclaimed).
Here you will find a list of video games with Beastars mods available (that I can find), so you can enjoy the wonderful world of gaming as your favorite Beastars character (mostly a virgin gray wolf), if the mentioned games fancy you.
How to Navigate:
The games cover a variety of genres and are sorted by categories (in alphabetical order), so take some time to peruse at your leisure.
As these are mods, they are only available to PC games.
Each mod will be hyperlinked to their respective source (all credits to the corresponding modders). Follow the instructions in each mod page.
Use each mod responsibly. Show respect and support to the mods and their modders.
By default, the modded character for each mod will be Legoshi, unless otherwise specified.
If you know of any mods that are missing, or if a new mod is published, feel free to contribute!
And finally, have fun!
//
Action / Horror

• Resident Evil 2 Remake (by Marcos RC)
• Resident Evil 4 Original (by GanbrielGantz)
• Left 4 Dead 2
  • Legoshi / Louis (by CaptainPawn)
  • Juno (by Shine_435)
  • Only Juno (by l4dkk)

Fighter

• Dead or Alive 5: Last Round (by TWolfS3041)
• Dragonball: Xenoverse 2 (by IvoNewmaN)
• Guilty Gear Strive (Louis) (by NotAustin)
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
  • Legoshi (by yukkuri_ender)
  • Louis / Pina (by Ficher)

Music / Sport

• Guitar Hero World Tour
  • Legoshi (by AngelLeyend)
  • Louis (by Cueliton)
  • Haru / Juno (by Fabrizio88)
• Thug Pro (by UEObambam)

RPG / Shooter

• Payday 2 (by THOT_PATROLL)
• Persona 5 Royal (Legoshi+Louis) (by DniweTamp)

Sandbox

• Garry's Mod
  • Legoshi, Louis (by Vesper and D.A.T.D)
  • Louis (by Pacagma)
• GTA San Andreas (Legoshi+Louis) (by Nekoremix)
  • San Andreas Mobile (Legoshi, Louis, Juno, Haru) (by Dany j)
• GTA Vice City (Bill) (by Sebas647)
• Minecraft (by unknown)
  • Legoshi, Haru, Louis, Juno, Jack

Strategy / Survival

• Don't Starve Together (by Snartles and HazelMocha)

I’m 35m and a virgin with the female population. I’ve had 1 sexual experience with a female and she thought I had done this before (had she only known my Teacher at 14 was Talk Sex with Sue on late night TV😂🤣😂) do the alphabet with your tongue in cursive omg 😳 😅😅😅🥹it works!! It works REALLY GOOD hahahaha (alphabet and dik are different…. 😂🤣😂) I can attest to that one.. but this girl got super weird about my virginity and become like so turned on IM GOING TO TAKE YOUR VIRGINITY FROM YOU!! And it was creepy to me, very creepy I’ve never seen anyone behave that way before in my life.. I couldn’t do it with her, emotionally she freaked me out a lot and my dik felt the same way about it.. BUT when I lost my virginity to a guy it was kinda heartbreaking bc he wanted nothing to do with me after that… (oh wells..😢) Some guys just play it like a game going guy to guy (hence HepraGonaSyphilAids existing! 😅) that’s the term that comes to mind when someone wants to BB without protection or proper sexual health testing and then BB.. 😉 Know your partner guys and gals, get tested then love their insides ❤️ lol! 😂 But still being a virgin to the female population at 35 makes me wonder if it’s gunna happen at this point, I’m happy being single but a partner would be great financially to have… (secretly I think having a female pound the shit out of me would be sexually fun, as long as they are sexually pleased as well, any toy ideas out there LMAO!🤣) but finding that kind of SPECIAL person is going to be rare!! (Any takers on Reddit here?! I’m not unattractive btw😂🤣😂) actually I would be curious if any female redditors respond to this post!!
I honestly want honest feedback here. But from Females mostly, I know some males are going to chirp in here.. So for history purposes all of my past lovers have been men but my heart is an open heart and that love is love regardless of gender, it’s what’s on the inside that I care about, your soul and purpose on this earth is all that matters.. It’s also not that I haven’t found love, I’ve found it and didn’t realize it and self sabotaged myself and hindsight is 20/20 when it comes to this topic, I can see clearly now what I did wrong and how I could have done better and made things work long term.. I truly believe my 1st encounter as being a one night date has had long lasting impacting mental health with me sub consciously but now that I’m aware of that I can fix it moving forward!! 😀 I’m ready for something longer term and eager to make it work out and also make it romantic too, I’m kind of a hopeless romantic type guy.. the kinda clawfoot roses in the tub make love kinda guy.. 🥰 if you get my drift.. 😉

I’m 35 and a virgin with the female population. I’ve had 1 sexual experience with a female and she thought I had done this before (had she only known my Teacher at 14 was Talk Sex with Sue on late night TV😂🤣😂) do the alphabet with your tongue in cursive omg 😳 😅😅😅🥹it works!! It works REALLY GOOD hahahaha (alphabet and dik are different…. 😂🤣😂) I can attest to that one.. but this girl got super weird about my virginity and become like so turned on IM GOING TO TAKE YOUR VIRGINITY FROM YOU!! And it was creepy to me, very creepy I’ve never seen anyone behave that way before in my life.. I couldn’t do it with her, emotionally she freaked me out a lot and my dik felt the same way about it.. BUT when I lost my virginity to a guy it was kinda heartbreaking bc he wanted nothing to do with me after that… (oh wells..😢) Some guys just play it like a game going guy to guy (hence HepraGonaSyphilAids existing! 😅) that’s the term that comes to mind when someone wants to BB without protection or proper sexual health testing and then BB.. 😉 Know your partner guys and gals, get tested then love their insides ❤️ lol! 😂 But still being a virgin to the female population at 35 makes me wonder if it’s gunna happen at this point, I’m happy being single but a partner would be great financially to have… (secretly I think having a female pound the shit out of me would be sexually fun, as long as they are sexually pleased as well, any toy ideas out there LMAO!🤣) but finding that kind of SPECIAL person is going to be rare!! (Any takers on Reddit here?! I’m not unattractive btw😂🤣😂) actually I would be curious if any female redditors respond to this post!!
I honestly want honest feedback here. But from Females mostly, I know some males are going to chirp in here.. So for history purposes all of my past lovers have been men but my heart is an open heart and that love is love regardless of gender, it’s what’s on the inside that I care about, your soul and purpose on this earth is all that matters.. It’s also not that I haven’t found love, I’ve found it and didn’t realize it and self sabotaged myself and hindsight is 20/20 when it comes to this topic, I can see clearly now what I did wrong and how I could have done better and made things work long term.. I truly believe my 1st encounter as being a one night date has had long lasting impacting mental health with me sub consciously but now that I’m aware of that I can fix it moving forward!! 😀 I’m ready for something longer term and eager to make it work out and also make it romantic too, I’m kind of a hopeless romantic type guy.. the kinda clawfoot roses in the tub make love kinda guy.. 🥰 if you get my drift.. 😉

Which handy tricks did you pick up that you dont wanna make do without?

Seen a bunch of talk recently about creating a seperate outpost within your village to manage cooking and some such, so that s fancy

I set up a chest next to the fast travel sign at my village with settings to not store anything. You can simply dump all your stuff in it and your workers take care of it.

You might have noticed that only the first of the three slots for consumed foods has a timer.
So you can munch on e.g. a smoked shroom and eat your premium meals after that. As soon as the shroom timer is below half you get to snack on another shroom to refill the timer and keep the premium buffs indefinitely as long as you dont forget to refill or sleep too long.

Being able to put up orders for research, craft, etc. from the map or building list is QoL supreme but the map gets messy and the list easily cluttered.
I rename all my builds with alphabetical priorities. For example, i dubbed my village Cloudy Central. So my builds are called „Cloudy A Research“, „Cloudy C Workbench“ and so on. I want my research at the top hence the „A“, after that it s „C“ for crafting, „G“ for gathering on farms, logging camps and whatnot.
edit: formatting on mobile is chaos