To note, this is a continuation of the sagas I wrote that took place after the Cell Saga. The two sagas were written with inspiration taken from MCU Peter Parker's arcs in Far from Home and No Way Home. The goal was to develop Son Gohan into a proper lead for the show. If you'd like to check them out, here are the links!
Bojack (Far From Home) Saga: https://www.reddit.com/fixingmovies/s/sK5zOnJ0oU
Broly (No Way Home) Saga: https://www.reddit.com/fixingmovies/s/R3sGOqdbIv
There are many things I find wrong in the Buu saga:

1. Goku coming back: This derails the narrative tremendously as he snatches back the torch from Gohan. He's going to play a role, but he will stay dead.
2. Gohan's writing: In canon, we ended up with a rusty, goofy, badly written character who lost all the development from the previous sagas. He became a useless disappointment and did not uphold his role as a protector of the earth. This won't go anywhere near that direction.
3. SSJ3 and fusions: These elements were unnecessary as they did nothing to solve the plot and only provided fluff. This can be introduced in Super, but that's another story.
4. Goten and Trunks SSJ: I wasn't a fan of how they easily transformed, treating it as an easy power-up. Here, it will be earned.

What I want to do here is combine the Buu saga with Fusion Reborn. For that movie, there are tons of elements at play that can be used to make the grand finale of Dragon Ball Z, more grand. The goal here is to increase the stakes, trim all the unnecessary fat, give everyone a chance to shine, and keep the main focus on Gohan. I also want to replace Buu with Janemba, as I find him much more threatening due to his unique abilities which would be perfect to challenge Gohan. It's also here that we avoid the rinse-and-repeat problem that came with Buu and his many forms.

Without further ado, here is the...... Janemba Saga!

Seven years have passed since the climactic battle against Broly. Gohan, now a young adult, has diligently pursued a delicate balance between his studies and training. During this time, he has honed his Super Saiyan 2 form and significantly elevated his combat skills. However, he deliberately restrains his power, refusing to succumb to the depths of his inner rage. Gohan believes that his technical prowess alone will suffice, opting to suppress the primal fury within him. Despite his reservations, Gohan attends a prestigious private school on an academic scholarship, alongside his steadfast companion Videl and their circle of friends. Gohan has embraced the responsibility of preserving peace on Earth as a valiant hero, adopting the mantle of Saiyaman. His suit has undergone a sleek redesign, shedding the theatrical poses in favor of a more streamlined appearance. Functioning as a dynamic duo reminiscent of Superman and Batman, Gohan and Videl tackle the city's crime wave together. Videl, having mastered her ki abilities under the tutelage of Piccolo, has grown stronger over the years. Glimpses of their everyday lives reveal the struggles of Gohan as he endeavors to balance the demands of school, training, and personal relationships. Amidst the challenges, he harbors a subtle resentment towards his duty, as it often encroaches upon his cherished personal time. Nevertheless, Gohan persists, fueled by his unwavering determination to live up to his father's legacy.
However, the tranquil facade is shattered when a harrowing turn of events unfolds. The narrative transitions to an otherworldly realm, distinctly separate from Earth. A mysterious figure cloaked in darkness materializes, none other than the malevolent wizard Babidi. Harnessing the unholy power of dark magic, Babidi establishes a sinister connection with his loyal minion Dabura, the King of the Demon Realm. United in their nefarious purpose, they orchestrate an audacious invasion of Otherworld, intent on freeing the formidable demon Janemba. Ages ago, Janemba had been sealed away in this celestial realm by the Supreme Kais. Babidi's malevolent ambition revolves around shrouding the universe in eternal darkness. To achieve this nightmarish vision, he plans to infect the denizens of Earth using the insidious Majin spell, thereby expanding his dominion across countless planets.
In the midst of this burgeoning chaos, Gohan, disguised as Saiyaman, finds himself investigating a peculiar incident involving the possession of one of his dearest friends. Videl, resolute and fearless, engages in a fierce battle against the malevolent puppeteer controlling Sharpner. With unwavering confidence, she urges Gohan to let her confront the threat alone. Sharpner, his strength unnaturally augmented, puts up a formidable resistance, but Videl's experience enables her to subdue him without resorting to fatal measures. As Sharpner awakens from his trance, Gohan seeks answers regarding the enigmatic force that had seized control of his friend. Sharpner reveals that a voice called Babidi had whispered malevolent commands into his mind. Armed with this critical information, Gohan summons Vegeta and Piccolo to join him in unraveling the unfolding crisis, embarking on a journey towards the epicenter of the ominous power emanating from a series of potent and wicked ki signatures, ultimately leading them to Babidi and Dabura.
Meanwhile, Earth becomes a battleground, besieged by an onslaught of resurrected zombies, soldiers, and former villains who once terrorized its populace. Though the trio finds themselves torn between aiding their beleaguered planet and confronting the imminent threat directly before them, they know their immediate priority lies in thwarting Babidi's scheme. Distracting them with his grandiose monologue, Babidi probes their minds, seeking susceptible individuals to manipulate. Initially targeting Vegeta, Babidi redirects his attention toward Piccolo, sensing his inherent duality as a being born of both good and evil. With a combination of Babidi's insidious spell and the lingering malevolence of Piccolo Daimao, the Namekian warrior struggles to resist the overwhelming influence. His powers surge exponentially beyond their previous limitations, clouding his judgment and driving him to confront his former student, Gohan. Amidst the shock of this unforeseen twist, Gohan assumes the responsibility of awakening Piccolo from his trance-like state, determined to restore his mentor's clarity. As the battle rages on, they sense a tremor that reverberates throughout the planet, an unmistakable ki signature brimming with icy coldness, signifying the presence of a singular entity—Janemba.
Bracing himself for the impending clash with this malevolent force, Gohan prepares to face Janemba head-on, while Piccolo embarks on a personal mission to neutralize Babidi. Meanwhile, Vegeta remains locked in a fierce struggle against Dabura, the Prince of Saiyans confronting the King of the Demon Realm. The confrontation unfolds with brutal intensity, and Vegeta finds himself teetering on the edge of defeat. Sensing his adversary's advantage, Dabura unleashes a legion of demons to tip the scales further in his favor. Pushed to his limits, Vegeta fights valiantly, but the odds appear insurmountable. Dabura, consumed by arrogance, revels in his imminent triumph, announcing his intention to unleash the full might of the demon horde upon Earth. Faced with the dire consequences of such a cataclysm, Vegeta musters every ounce of desperation within him. In a moment of self-sacrifice, he unleashes a devastating attack upon Dabura and his minions. The resulting explosion weakens Babidi's forces, repels the encroaching Demon Realm, and safeguards their dimension from untold chaos and devastation.
(Note: I wanted to keep Vegeta's sacrifice but make it matter and count. In canon, it didn't stop Buu, and he sent himself into cold oblivion on a lie. Here, he makes a difference in the long run and has a definitive redemptive moment. )
Startled by the sudden disappearance of Vegeta's powerful ki, Trunks defies the protests of his comrades on the Lookout and rushes towards the chaotic battleground. His heart pounds with trepidation as he races through the smoke-filled air, only to be confronted with the lifeless body of his father lying motionless on the ground. Overwhelmed by a torrent of despair and seething rage, Trunks' trembling hands reach out to shake his father awake, his desperate pleas echoing through the desolate landscape. But his efforts prove futile, and a profound sense of loss engulfs him.
In the midst of this heart-wrenching moment, a surge of raw energy courses through Trunks' veins, igniting a transformation that surpasses the boundaries of his mortal self. Radiating an aura of vibrant golden light, Trunks ascends to the legendary state of the Super Saiyan. His eyes ablaze with determination and fury, he is now ready to face the battle that lies ahead.The scene shifts, revealing the remaining Z-Fighters locked in a perilous struggle against hordes of relentless zombies. Fatigue weighs heavily upon their weary bodies as they fend off the relentless onslaught. Suddenly, a streak of intense power streaks across the sky, and Trunks descends before his comrades, newly transformed and brimming with indomitable strength. A burst of energy erupts from his fingertips, shattering a ki blast launched by one of the zombies, diverting it harmlessly away. In the eyes of his adversaries, astonishment mingles with mockery as they behold the sight of a mere child standing before them.Unfazed by their taunting laughter, Trunks addresses his comrades with unwavering resolve. He declares that he will shoulder the burden of the battle, vowing that not a single life will be lost on this day. With unparalleled speed and precision, he charges towards the encroaching horde, obliterating each zombie with astonishing ease. Their forces crumble beneath the might of his wrath, and the battlefield is transformed into a graveyard of defeated foes.As the last of the zombies falls, Trunks relinquishes his Super Saiyan form, his energy spent and body drained. Collapsing to the ground, he succumbs to exhaustion, his breathing ragged and labored. In this moment of vulnerability, Yamcha, recognizing the young warrior's valor, rushes to his side and gently lifts him from the battlefield, cradling his battered form with utmost care.
(Note: Kid Trunks' transformation is a direct reference to when Future Trunks found Gohan dead after the battle with the androids, and then he transformed. )
While this tumultuous event unfolded, the responsibility of safeguarding the Lookout fell upon the young shoulders of Goten. As time passed, a sudden intrusion disrupted the tranquility of the platform, as a malevolent henchman, infused with the dark power of King Cold, materialized before him. Though momentarily shaken, Goten summoned his courage and engaged in a valiant struggle against his formidable adversary.Initially, it appeared that Goten held his ground admirably, skillfully countering the attacks launched by the nefarious duo of Salza and Dore. However, their sinister coordination gradually began to overpower the young warrior. In a devastating display of force, Salza executed a malicious kick that sent Goten hurtling towards the precipice of the Lookout, teetering on the brink of unconsciousness.
Witnessing her son's battered and vulnerable state, Chi-Chi, consumed by a mixture of horror and fury, lunged at Salza in a desperate attempt to defend her child. Yet, her efforts proved futile as Salza callously seized her by the throat, mercilessly constricting the life from her. From his weakened position, Goten, wide-eyed and mouth agape, struggled to remain conscious, his mind besieged by the conflicting emotions of impending death and the weight of disappointment.
In that critical moment, he closed his eyes, his teeth sinking into his lip until blood stained his mouth. His trembling hands clenched into tight fists. And then, something within him snapped, unleashing a primal force that lay dormant within.Goten vanished, replaced by an embodiment of unbridled rage. Transformed into a Super Saiyan, his furious aura radiated with an intensity that defied comprehension. With a surge of unrestrained power, he propelled himself towards Salza, obliterating his malevolent foe with a devastating blast that eradicated him from existence. Undeterred by the remaining henchmen who sought to avenge their fallen comrade, Goten engaged them with a newfound ferocity.In a breathtaking display of combat prowess, it took mere moments for Goten to dispatch his adversaries, consigning them to the depths of the afterlife. Unaware of his mother's watchful gaze, Chi-Chi bore witness to the astonishing transformation of her once-innocent son, her heart filled with awe at the unfathomable power he now wielded.
(Note: This is a reference to when Superman had attacked Zod for attacking Martha in Man of Steel. With this, Goten is able to break out of his shell and experience some development. I also did not want Chi-Chi to die, but to have it be close. This way, she can witness firsthand her son fighting to avenge her and realizing that his saiyan blood kicked in to save them all, which would lead to some development towards her accepting that they have the natural power to fight, but also protect. )
Simultaneously, amidst the chaos, Piccolo found himself embroiled in a fierce battle of magic. His objective was to shatter the impenetrable barrier erected by his adversary, Babidi, to halt the relentless proliferation of Majin-infused beings. The odds were stacked against him, but with unwavering determination, Piccolo summoned the strength to rupture the barrier, ultimately delivering a fatal blow to Babidi. In doing so, he succeeded in halting the insidious spread of the Majin curse.Meanwhile, Gohan, driven by an overwhelming surge of power in his Super Saiyan 2 form, charged headlong at the formidable Fat Janemba, intent on swiftly ending the confrontation. Displaying remarkable valor, Gohan engaged his adversary with all his might, momentarily gaining the upper hand in fleeting bursts of fury. However, Janemba's energy continued to surge unabated, gradually overpowering Gohan and relegating him to a defensive stance.With the battle reaching its climax, Janemba unleashed a devastating onslaught aimed at obliterating the planet. In a desperate bid to protect all that he held dear, Gohan fearlessly interposed himself between Janemba's lethal assault and the world, extending his arms wide as he summoned the last vestiges of his ki to create a resolute energy shield. The technique demanded one final act of defiance, compelling Gohan to redirect the unleashed energy back towards Janemba, propelling the malevolent entity backward and teetering on the precipice of annihilation. Yet, the maneuver exacted a heavy toll on Gohan, leaving him grievously injured and drained of consciousness, hurtling through the sky and crashing deep into the untamed wilderness.
(Note: This maneuver is a mix of what Gohan did against Broly in Movie 10, and what Future Gohan did in his last battle against the androids.)
Subsequently, Supreme Kai, recognizing the dire condition of the young warrior, transported Gohan to the realm of the Kais. As Gohan gradually regained consciousness, he found himself surrounded by the presence of Supreme Kai, Kibito, and his father, Son Goku. Unbeknownst to Gohan, while the realms beyond had been engulfed in pandemonium, Goku had valiantly sought to subdue numerous formidable adversaries, most notably Broly. Upon learning of Gohan's presence on that distant planet, Goku implored for the opportunity to visit his son, a request that was granted amidst the bittersweet reunion.During their heartfelt meeting, they shared the weight of overseeing the turmoil ravaging Earth, realizing that Janemba still lingered, amassing the remnants of malevolent ki left unvanquished. Panic washed over Gohan as he urgently expressed his need to return to Earth, but his pleas were met with cautionary words from his loved ones. They acknowledged his unpreparedness to face Janemba anew, warning of the potential consequences should he engage the foe prematurely. Supreme Kai disclosed his true intention in bringing Gohan to this realm—to unlock the dormant power lying dormant within him. However, the process demanded a profound reconciliation of Gohan's dual nature as both human and Saiyan. To initiate this transformative ritual, Gohan would be immersed in a meditative trance within the sacred confines of a cascading waterfall, which would serve as a mirror reflecting his true self. Only then would he embark upon the arduous journey of unlocking his latent potential, fully aware that failure could result in dire consequences, even death.
Nervously, Gohan steeled himself for the imminent trial, drawing strength from the unwavering support of his father. With resolute determination, he approached the cascading waterfall, where Supreme Kai initiated the trance, enveloping Gohan in an ethereal aura of introspection.As the ritual commenced, Gohan's gaze fixated grimly upon vivid recollections of his past battles, struggling to reconcile the moments when he had succumbed to his own wrath. Before long, a projection materialized, representing his suppressed Saiyan essence—a separate entity demanding to be acknowledged. A tumultuous clash ensued between the two facets of Gohan's being, with the young warrior faltering in his attempts to gain the upper hand, for each surge of anger only fueled his other self. Finally, a profound realization washed over Gohan, piercing through the haze of conflict. He ceased resisting and, instead, extended a hand of acceptance and understanding to his Saiyan counterpart, embracing the essence of his true nature. In that transformative instant, the boundaries dissolved, merging into a harmonious unity. Gohan's eyes fluttered open as he awakened from the trance, reborn in his newfound Ultimate Form, his essence finally whole and indomitable.
(Note: Yes, this is a direct reference to Naruto obtaining true mastery of his nine tails form in Shippuden. I did not like Gohan's canon mystic ritual because it did not feel earned. He just sat around for a long time doing nothing and gained nothing from it. I wanted to fix that. So here, he went through a more direct ritual at the risk of death to be able to unlock his true abilities. )
In the midst of these events, Trunks and Goten find themselves under the tutelage of Piccolo within the formidable Hyperbolic Time Chamber. News reaches Piccolo that Gohan is undergoing a transformative process to unlock his latent potential, but the looming return of Janemba threatens to disrupt their plans. Exiting the chamber, Trunks and Goten emerge stronger than ever, having mastered their Super Saiyan forms and honed their teamwork to near perfection, compensating for their inherent power limitations.As Janemba crosses paths with them, the clash erupts in a spectacular display of martial prowess. Individually, they stand little chance against the overwhelming might of Janemba, but when united, a different narrative unfolds. Their combined efforts aim to sustain the battle long enough, providing Gohan with the precious time he needs to complete his ritual. Piccolo assumes leadership, valiantly holding his ground, although it becomes increasingly evident that Janemba possesses a distinct advantage. Piccolo strategically diverts Janemba's attention, creating openings for Goten and Trunks to launch coordinated assaults that vex their adversary, even if their impact is minimal. Nonetheless, every second counts.
In a fateful turn of events, Janemba unleashes an assault that overwhelms Piccolo, incapacitating him and leaving only Goten and Trunks to face the malevolent entity. Swift as a phantom, Janemba materializes in front of Trunks, delivering a devastating blow to his abdomen, leaving Goten as the lone defender. Standing tall, Goten defiantly assumes a battle stance, mustering his courage. However, before Janemba can unleash a devastating attack upon him, an unknown figure delivers a powerful kick to Janemba's head, hurtling him towards the distant mountains.
The camera pans, revealing the figure to be none other than Gohan, resplendent in his newfound form.
(Note: This entrance directly mirrors that of Future Gohan when he was about to begin his final battle against the Androids!)
A wave of elation washes over Goten as he beholds the return of his beloved elder brother, while Trunks and Piccolo visibly exhale with relief. Gohan and Piccolo exchange a brief but meaningful exchange, Gohan acknowledging his newfound strength while Piccolo recognizes that Gohan has ascended to an entirely different echelon. Janemba regains his footing, reemerging before them, demanding their attention and focus. Gohan asserts that he will confront Janemba directly, urging the others to evacuate. Though reluctant, Piccolo and the young warriors comply, dispersing to various parts of the world to address the chaos that plagues their surroundings.
With an air of fury, Janemba charges at Gohan, his fist extended menacingly. Yet Gohan intercepts the attack, seizing Janemba's fist in a vice-like grip, and in a flash of teleportation, they are transported to the dreaded realm of H.F.I.L. (Home For Infinite Losers).
(Note: I have Gohan teleport Janemba because at least this way their battle will not damage Earth. Also we will assume Gohan has figured out some sort of Instant Transmission movement like Goku.)
The eyes of Earth's denizens, the Kais, and the denizens of the Otherworld are fixated on this pivotal moment, the culmination of a battle that will determine the fate of the universe. And so, the clash commences, a cataclysmic struggle that echoes through the very fabric of existence.
In a breathtaking display of power, Gohan initially dominates the battle, effortlessly overpowering Janemba with his newfound might. However, the tables turn when Janemba unveils unexpected abilities: space-time manipulation and a formidable sword. Gohan is caught off guard, unsure of how to counter such unorthodox tactics. Desperation and frustration consume him, causing his control over his own power to slip away.Amidst the chaos, Gohan experiences a moment of revelation, a surge of understanding regarding his opponent's abilities. He realizes that in order to anticipate Janemba's next move, he must heighten his senses by channeling his ki, allowing for precise timing and swift reactions. With this newfound clarity, Gohan regains his composure, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Seizing an opportunity, Janemba materializes before him, poised to strike with his sword. Yet, in a stunning display of strength, Gohan catches the blade with both hands, shattering it into pieces.
The tide of the battle begins to shift, albeit slightly, in Gohan's favor. Frustrated and bewildered, Janemba exclaims, "Just what...are you?!" Gohan responds with unwavering resolve, proclaiming, "I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am the protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to you!"
(Note: I'm taking Goku's dubbed speech against Frieza and repurposing it for Gohan. As he's inherently more the justice-driven hero archetype rather than the fighting maniac that is Goku, it makes more sense. We'll just assume Goku gave Frieza the manga version of his speech. This is also the most pivotal moment of Gohan's journey as he comes to terms with being a protector. Throughout the show, he's been struggling between his desire to be a scholar and his responsibility to be a hero. That dubbed speech is exactly the moment that Gohan's arc comes full circle. Here, he finally embraces what he was always meant to be..... the hero.)
With renewed determination, Gohan launches various assaults in a bid to defeat his formidable adversary. However, his attacks fail to inflict lasting damage, and Gohan himself begins to exhaust his ki. It is then that he realizes the true nature of Janemba's existence—he is an embodiment of pure evil ki, unlike any opponent Gohan has faced before. A desperate plan takes shape in Gohan's mind. Mentally reaching out to his friends and even Videl, he calls upon them to gather their ki, reminiscent of the Spirit Bomb technique. Initially, only the Z-Fighters respond, but their combined energy proves insufficient.As Gohan valiantly defends against Janemba's onslaught, he mentally pleads with the people of Earth to lend their aid. Uncertainty and doubt cast a shadow over the crowd until Hercule steps forward, berating them for refusing to support the man who once saved them during the Cell Games. Revealing the truth of Gohan's identity as the Delivery Boy turned hero, the tide of public opinion shifts. People extend their hands, offering their energy to their savior. Shocked by the sudden turn of events, Gohan is relieved by the surge of ki coursing through him, providing a momentary opening to kick Janemba away. The collective assistance grants Gohan a substantial reservoir of energy, which he then summons forth, infusing it with the very essence of his soul—a daring and perilous maneuver.
Driven to his breaking point, a furious Janemba ascends into the sky, conjuring a colossal sphere of malevolent ki capable of obliterating the entire universe. Gohan remains calm, his gaze fixed upon the impending cataclysm. With unwavering resolve, he declares, "This is the end for you, Janemba." Closing his eyes, Gohan raises his left hand above his head, conjuring a radiant sphere of rainbow light. Seizing the opportunity, Janemba hurls his devastating attack towards Gohan. Sensing the imminent danger, Gohan's eyes snap open as he crushes the ball of energy in his palm. Swiftly pivoting, he hurls the fragmented energy towards the oncoming attack, effortlessly piercing through it, and hurtling towards Janemba, finally eradicating the universe's peril once and for all.
(Note: This is the same technique as Kid Buu's Planet Burst move, the one that destroyed Earth. I also repurposed Gogeta's stardust breaker technique for Gohan as I feel it makes sense for him to have it. It also makes him stand out from Goku even more in this case.)
As the dust settles, Gohan maintains his energy long enough to witness Janemba's demise. A triumphant smirk graces his face as he remarks, "Heh, looks like I finally did it." Exhausted, he collapses to the ground, almost completely drained. The onlookers erupt into joyous cheers, celebrating Gohan's hard-fought victory. Supreme Kai teleports Gohan from the depths of H.F.I.L back to Earth, specifically to the Lookout, where his family and friends eagerly await his return. In a heartwarming scene, Gohan is enveloped in embraces and expressions of relief. It is here, amidst the warmth of their loved ones, that Gohan and Videl share their first kiss—a tender moment of connection and celebration.Meanwhile, the Dragon Balls work their magic, rectifying the chaos caused by Babidi's dark influence. The majority of those who perished are revived, yet there are exceptions, including Vegeta. Accepting his fate and determined to atone for his past deeds, Vegeta expresses his desire to continue growing stronger in the afterlife, entrusting the protection of his family to his son. Tearfully, Trunks vows to make his father proud, with Goten stepping forward to support his friend in this emotional moment. Fond farewells are exchanged as everyone prepares to return to their respective homes.
Gohan and Goten engage in a heartfelt conversation, their bond as brothers strengthening. However, their exchange is interrupted by Chi-Chi, who unexpectedly interrupts their conversation. To their astonishment, she expresses pride in their valiant efforts to safeguard the world, finally relenting and granting them permission to train and protect. The three embrace, their family united and resolute.In a different realm, Vegeta stands before King Yemma, awaiting judgment. To his surprise, he is granted an Otherworldly body, a result of Goku's recommendation and Vegeta's ultimate sacrifice that tipped the scales of justice. With this second chance, Vegeta is granted the opportunity to train ceaselessly and, more importantly, to settle his unfinished business with Goku. The final scene between Goku and Vegeta unfolds, their fists colliding in a charged confrontation, their image freezing .( mirroring the intensity of Rocky and Apollo in Rocky III, leaving their ultimate showdown to the imagination.)
A decade passes, marked by a time skip. Tien and Krillin have established their own martial arts schools, dedicated to passing on their unique styles to the next generation. Goten and Trunks, under the tutelage of Piccolo, diligently train to harness their extraordinary powers. Gohan, now a respected scholar, has married Videl, and together they have a daughter. At home, Videl imparts the basics of combat to their daughter, Pan. Gohan, having just finished delivering a lecture on energy at the university, senses a disturbance reverberating across the planet. Instinctively, he rushes to the rooftop, pressing a button on his wrist. In an instant, he transforms into his iconic Saiyaman costume, soaring into the horizon with a mischievous grin. He breaks through the fourth wall, symbolizing his unwavering resolve to protect and inspire.
The screen fades to black.
The End.
There we have it! My final wrap-up of the MCU Peter ParkeGohan development journey! Honestly, I did have thoughts of just going straight into revising the Buu arc, but I felt there was more to be done before that. Gohan needed to go through the development I gave him in my two written arcs as there were lessons there that shaped him.
I also felt that a trained Gohan, who is naturally intellectual, would be a perfect antagonist in Janemba. He had to learn to outsmart him, and not just have it be a straight-up slugfest.
What do you guys think? Share your thoughts below!
u/fatherandyriley
u/dgenerationmc

I had a very creepy experience when I was 9 and my oldest brother and a friend decided to use me to play the board while they told me what to say and ask.
I remember bits and pieces of it. Nit the whole entire event. Event is exactly what it was. My brothers friend had be studying demonology at university when his professor had raffled a oujia board off. Not a normal board one bought in a market in the middle east it was old made of wood. He had the best grade at the end of the semester and knew my brother would be down to play and so he brought it to our house. For reference my brother is 10 yrs older than me. Anyway when he won it the professor explained that virgins are ideal to handle the board. Blood also helped virgin blood. He at first took it as a joke and then the more he thought he decided to use yours truly. He knew I would not scare easy and would have fun with it. Even at that age I loved tales from the crypt and nightmare on elm street.
So we go into my brother's bedroom a converted garage. They lite candles and sat it up on a card table. I remember them telling me it was make believe and trying to down play it's seriousness. I am sure the it's a game was incase I told my mother. She would be more concerned then normal as our background is a little bizarre, my grandfather a very Irish man was raised in the mountains and raised to practice druidism. Which he did tell he died.
Anyways "game" was set up I remember starting it out slightly and his friend spoke in I think Latin prior to use starting the board the standard way. I can not recall the whole thing but the entity I spoke with was answering it was easy to tell as I was 9 like barely 9 or almost 9. I am Dyslexic. And that would mean I spelled backwards . At least for me the words I could spell correct were backwards. So when she started to respond it was very clearly not me the only one touching the board. My brother and his friend were reading out loud the stuff she was spelling to use since I couldn't read it. She claimed to also be a little girl age 9. Rebecca. Or so she claimed. But she was trapped in hell and was scared. She could get out but needed my help. She needed my body, but I had to agree. At that point my brother stepped in and said the game was over. He had been saying when she claimed to be a little girl he told me remember it's a game but the game can lie to you she's is not really a kid because kids can't go to hell , right. But once she needed well 'me' he knows longer wanted me to play. He went to take the board from under my hands he seemed angry. The board didn't move and oddly I could hear her now. But she didn't sound right. It was a child like voice but n something was wrong. And I told my brother that she was mad he was stopping us playing. She was trying to push the no one here plays with me tell me you want to co.e here and play,you do don't you? I don't remember much but the feeling like dread it was the.most scared I have been in my life. And it came out of nowhere the second she said to tell her I want to go there. I know he and his friend hot the board away and his friend was on out house phone screaming at the professor asking how to.stop what was happening the I felt frozen. I dont recall all the rest and what i do i have a hard time believing so why would you. but I remember the next day and my brother woke me up, I do not remember going to bed at all. He said what did you dream and when I told him I had a bad dream and it had Rebecca he said he didn't know what I was talking about we had not played a game. I felt stupid most of the day. least until I walked into the back yard just outside my brothers room in the old metal oil drum the drum was normally used as a fire pit . But inside was a partial burned wooden oujia board, and I had dreams/ nightmaresshe wanted me to go back she then would scream at me. Eventually it stopped which was the time we moved out of the house so who's know if it was the "game" so you tell me!

Recently, we (I, 27F with 29M) went to a music festival where we each bought our own tickets (which cost $700 including everything) and were in Vegas for the festival.
He was playing poker when a gentleman he was playing with offered 2 free VIP passes to my bf. Having received the VIP passes, he then listed our tickets for sale (and eventually I found the buyer to help sell them for $600 total - he ends up actually meeting the person outside our Airbnb to sell the tickets).
Here’s where we disagree: I think we should be splitting the $600 from the ticket sales — he thinks that he should get the $600 from the ticket sale and gifted me the VIP wristband (to use his words, “at a loss to him” since each VIP wristband would’ve probably earned $1000 each).
My argument is that because we individually paid for tickets, we should split the money from the sale. He disagrees because he won the tickets from poker - and could have sold the tickets.
When I said I would’ve done differently and this is why I’m hurt by his decision (I ultimately don’t care about the money but just want him to see where I’m coming from), he said I said things that were concerning to him and that he was worried I’d go after him for half of any windfall or money he comes into. He also said he was appalled at my entitlement.
AITA for expecting part of the ticket proceeds since I initially also paid for my ticket, or should I be happy with the “free” upgrade?
(Additional context - we are long term boyfriend/girlfriend who live together and essentially split things 50:50.)

So my situation is a little weird. I'm a US citizen of Indian origin studying CIE A-levels in India. I am expecting an overall B-grade (results come 2 days after I am posting this). I have been studying japanese, and passed JLPT N5 on my second attempt (on my first attempt I did the great stupidity of writing a question's answer in the area for the next question's answer in one of the sections). I'm currently studying for N4 and have submitted my application to give it coming July. Are there any good colleges for engineering that teach Electionics (and ideally communications) engineering in english? I wish to start by April 2025 and want to give any entrance exams without having to go to Japan. The reason I ask for Japan although the abundance of great Indian engineering colleges is because my unconventional board puts me at a severe disadvantage for Indian entrance exams. I don't think I need a scholarship, looking at the cost of tuition for most universities, but it would be great to have a private one (I'm ineligible for any government scholarships without having to travel to the US because my country of residence is different from my citizenship). Please let me know if you know about any.

Just had my heart broken a few hours ago; the end of a 4 month, monogamous situationship.
It's incredible how affectionate people can be while having zero desire to pursue something long term. This was the hardest lesson. Apparently, words speak louder than actions when it comes to love, a tough pill to swallow.
The biggest problem was I knew this was going to happen. On our second date, she made it clear she was not looking for something serious, though we never spoke about it again. Four months later, her mind never changed, though I didn't want to tell myself.
Anyway, the lesson moving forward is to not sacrifice my needs and be honest about what I want, which is a committed, long-term, monogamous relationship. If someone I like is not on board with that, then time to move on immediately.

ABYG IF GUSTO KO NA MAKAWALA SA RS KO NGAYON?
My Boyfriend(20) and I (21) are in a relationship for 3 years now. I have met him when I was 18 turning 1st year college and he is turning grade 11 since nakailang stop siya. Simula nung naging kami hindi nako nakakasama sa mga friends ko since lagi nya ko binibigyan ng dahilan bakit hindi sila mabuting impluwensya sakin hanggang sa nasira na ung circle and sobrang tanga ko para mapaniwala nya dahil since highschool pala kasama ko na mga friends ko and sabay sabay kaming nagaaral we even graduated with high honors, sabay sabay nageenroll sa mga universities (sadly di pinalad na magsama sama sa college) my whole college life since 1st year college up until 4th year college wala akong college life with friends, always rekta uwi dahil di na ko marunong makipagsocialize since kami palagi magkasama.
When I was 3rd year college first sem, he is 1st year college, everything went downhill, simula nagkaron siya ng kaibigan sa college binabalewala na nya ko iniiwan ako sakanila para gumala siya with friends, he is even proud na may nagkakagusto sa kanya sa circle nila. Sinasabi nya lagi na gusto nya magenjoy ng college dahil hindi niya naranasan sa highschool yun dahil homeschool siya. Lagi nya ko sinasabihan sumama sa friends ko para di ako mabored pag umaalis siya (lagi siyang naka do not disturb pag kasama friends nya kasama ung nagkakagusto sa kanya) na pakiramdam ko naiwan ako sa ere dahil sinanay nya ko ng kaming dalawa lang nilayo nya ko sa mga kaibigan ko tapos ngayon iniinsist nya ko maghanap bago friends para di siya naiistorbo.
Second sem nagstop siya dahil nagkaproblema at dito din nagkaron ako mga friends since bumalik ung pagiging masayahin ko lagi na din ako nakikisalamuha kaya nakahanap ako mga kaibigan sa college, and sumasama loob nya everytime nagkkwento ako sa kanya tungkol sa friends ko, and everytime din na magpapaalam akonsa kanya to hangout with my friends bigla nyang sasabihin "alis din kami ni ano(ung nagkagusto sa kanya" with lines na "di naman kita pinipigilan may kanya kanya na tayong buhay"
ABYG kung gusto ko na makipaghiwalay and pakiramdam nya ginagantihan ko siya sa ginawa niya? kahit hindi naman dahil lagi naman ako naguupdate sa kanya with pictures pa.

Hello again, friends. My name is Pierce and I am back with another break for you. This time we are doing a full case of 2023 Update hanger boxes to determine once and for all if hangers are truly bangers. That is 64 hangers. Everyone picks one team, first come, first serve. Then I will randomize a draft order for everyone to draft a second team. Orioles, Yankees, and Cardinals are locked for the draft to give everyone a fair shot at them. I also give my past breakers first dibs on spots so we have 9/15 full so far. I will stream the break on my YouTube channel and I'm hoping to run it on Friday. Let me know if you have any questions!

1. Mariners - u/BAMM_Baseball_Cards
   
2. Braves - u/skitwostreet
   
3. Diamondbacks - u/piercebro
   
4. Padres u/0rt3l1us
   
5. Mets - u/someguy5078
   
6. Angels - u/Dry_Statistician_435
   
7. Red Sox - @jcards
   
8. Cubs - u/cheme32
   
9. Blue Jays - u/Hikes83
   

I currently have Dbacks but I could be convinced to give them to someone else if they want them! Also, if your team is taken but you're interested in future breaks, DM me and I can get you on the list. I have some 2023 Topps Chrome Platinum coming in too. Let me know if you have any questions!

I'm currently looking into graduate school programs (either DPT or PA) and all the schools require three letters of recommendation. First of all, I barely even know three people who aren't my family. Secondly, the people I do know, I don't know how to ask them without feeling like I'm bothering them. I know my current manager would happily do it for me, but that's only one person. Finally, the PA programs specifically ask for one of the letters to be from a medical professional (like some doctor, PA, or NP) but like I don't know anyone who works any of those professions? Isn't that a bit presumptuous to assume that everyone just knows a medical professional?
Seriously, letters of recommendation greatly favor outgoing and extroverted people. I got great grades in school, I have clinical experience (I've been a physical therapy assistant for over a year) and I take pride in being a hard worker and my manager can attest to that. Plus, when I'm working, I have good people skills because I'm able to treat it as work and I can follow an internal script. But outside of work, I crumble. That should be more than enough to get me into the program. If colleges wanted to have letters of recommendation be an optional thing to help those who may not have gotten good grades in school but have good people skills get into the programs, I'd be fine with that. But having letters be required for all students just hinders those with social anxiety issues.
Sorry for the rant, I just needed to get my frustrations out.

Popheads recently reached the 2 million subscriber milestone, thanks to your continued participation and support!
We wanted to celebrate, and tried to think of fun things that we could do as a subreddit. A well loved Popheads activity has always been our yearly Top 100 lists, where the community comes together to vote to create a list of our favorite 100 songs of the past year. The list reveal is always fun and one of my personal favorite days of the year, and these lists honestly provide a great representation of our community - a snapshot of our own personal taste, if you will.
Therefore, for this subscriber milestone, we will be doing another Popheads Top 100…but this time, of a throwback year: 2014!!!
2014 was chosen for two reasons: one, the obvious, is that this year is the tenth anniversary of that year. The second is that the annual Popheads Top 100 actually started with the year 2015, so 2014 is the most recent year without “coverage”, so to speak. (If this is a success, we would love to repeat this for other years - 2013, 2012, even earlier!)
Without further ado, the rules for participation are below.

How To Participate

NOTE: Thank you so much to raicicle, whose posts for the annual Popheads Top 100 form the basis of this post!
Like with our normal years, you can also vote in the entirely non-official just-for-fun survey: “What song would you remove a vote from?” You can fill that in optionally here even if you don’t submit an official ballot.

I. How To Send In Your Song Votes

Make a list of your favorite songs released in 2014 (January 1st 2014 - December 31st 2014). This list should have a minimum of 10 songs and a maximum of 25 songs. Please see II. Song Eligibility for more details on what you can and can't submit.

• Do not submit more than 3 songs from any one main artist. Songs where those artists are features do not count towards this 3-song limit on your list.^†
• The list does not have to be ordered/ranked. We are not weighting your votes, just tallying.
• PM your lists to our shared account u/Popheads100Throwback by June 16th, 11:59PM EST (03:59AM GMT).
• Songs should be listed in Artist - Song format with features listed with (feat. ____) after the song title. Try to stylize and capitalize artist and song names as closely to the official listing as you can (for example, Beyoncé should have the accent). The fewer discrepancies, the easier it is for us to sort the list later, so it's very much appreciated.
• You can change your list at any time! Just message us and tell us what you want changed.

^† There are always some weird discrepancies and edge-cases every year, so please DM us if you have any queries or post them in this thread to let people know!
We can be DM'ed here at this account, or at our personal Discord or Reddit accounts (@ bigbigbee a.k.a bigbigbee ; @ trailblazer_l a.k.a prettybirbkotori ; @ haobinist a.k.a MoonlightByWindow ; @ haobinfan a.k.a runaway1312 ).
And here's a few more important guidelines.

• Your songs do not have to be singles. Of course, if you're trying to get a certain song on the list, singles tend to get more votes than random album tracks.
• Your songs do not have to be 'pop' songs, nor do vocal songs have to be in English. Songs from any genre, and international songs, are all welcome. After all, no “best of 2014” list can be complete without Orange Caramel’s Catellena...
• We are not encouraging tactical or strategic voting, but we are not exactly discouraging it either. Obviously, some songs are more likely to make the list than others, and you should keep that in mind when making your list (whether that means you choose to stick to the big hits, or champion some lesser-known songs instead).

II. Song Eligibility

Your song must have been first officially available between the dates of January 1st 2014 and December 31st 2014. What does 'first officially available' mean? In essence, legally available to stream (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, etc.) or buy online.

• If a single was released after January 1st 2014, but was first officially available on a parent album before that date, it is not eligible.
• Similarly, a song on an album released after January 1st 2014 is not eligible if it was released as a pre-album single prior to that date. Sadly, this means Azealia Banks’ 212 is therefore ineligible (probably for the best, we all know it would have won…).
• Official remixes are eligible for the list regardless of the original song's release date, provided that the remix was released between the same dates of January 1st 2014 and December 31st 2014.

If you are unsure on a song's eligibility, please use this thread to clarify or DM us and we’ll be happy to help.
If you would like a reminder of what songs were released in 2014, feel free to have a peruse through these links:

• Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 2014 (be careful, a lot of these songs were released in 2013!)
• Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 2015 (see above addendum)
• List of all albums released in 2014 on website AOTY
• User-rated best albums of 2014 on AOTY
• Pitchfork’s best albums of 2014
• K-pop releases of 2014

III. How We Will Make The Final Top 100 List

To make life easier for everyone involved, as was previously mentioned, you do not have to rank your song choices. Every submission counts as one vote, and the list is simply the 100 songs that got the most submissions in order. There are however caveats to this:
An artist will never have more than 3 songs on the list. Even if after the initial vote an artist manages to have 6 songs numerically in the Top 100, only the top 3 of those will be added. This is an editorial decision, based on the fact that it seems more popular to feature as many different artists as possible and showcase the breadth of the sub's music taste rather than dedicate huge chunks of the list to one artist, or one album (sorry 1989 fans!).
It is inevitable that many songs will get the same number of votes. Songs with the same number of votes will appear alphabetically in the list, but we will make the number of votes that every song received public. There may be some weird stuff happening if the list doesn’t end up being exactly 100 songs long, in which case there may be some discretional tie-breaks.

IV. Writeups

The final list will be presented as a Pitchfork-style Top 100 with small writeups to bring some insight and a bit of a story to the song. If you’ve been around for the yearly top songs lists, then you are likely familiar with the process.
We'll be writing the Top 15 to keep it under wraps. The remaining 85 songs will be given to other guest writers! If you feel like you’re a good writer and you’re interested, just mention it when you send in your list (we will assume that you're interested in writing for one of the tracks that you submitted in your votes).
Write-ups will ideally be 4-6 sentences long, though shorter or longer is completely fine**.** Feel free to talk about anything - its chart performance, its composition, your personal experience with the song, etc. There is no perfect writeup - this list is a collection of our thoughts as a community, not an official list from a music publication!
You can also message any of us on our personal Discord or Reddit accounts as listed above (Discord is slightly preferable) if you’re interested – we will try our best to find a writeup for you if possible!
In choosing to do writeups, you inevitably find out whether a song has made it onto the list to write for it, but to keep the surprise as much as possible, we will not tell you the position of the song if we send you a song to write for.
To get the general gist of what these writeups will be like, feel free to have a look at 2022’s Top 100 list.

V. The List Reveal

The list will be revealed on Sunday, July 7th, 2024 (exact time TBD). The live reveal will be on Queup https://www.queup.net/join/top-100-of-2014, where all 100 songs will be played in order from #100 to #1; as each song goes out, its write-up will be posted to a post on the subreddit.
VI. Other Fun Stuff
Join our discord to discuss this and other music: https://discord.gg/T97SkFNV
Do the currently open rates!

• 90s R&B Princesses Rate: https://redd.it/1bv0rl0 [Due May 24, Reveal May 31-June 2]
• The Popheads Rate Olympics (Mini-Rate): https://redd.it/1cfjmbm [Due May 31, Reveal June 8-9]
• 2023 K-Pop Essentials Rate: https://redd.it/1co3jct [Due June 15, Reveal June 21-23]
• Piano Men Rate: https://redd.it/1co3kcr [Due June 22, Reveal June 28-30]

Hello everyone,
I accidentally forgot to cancel my Paramount+ trial and now want to watch some old seasons I've never watched. This would be between about from seasons 13-30
I'm looking for a nice watch list of seasons where maybe I'd see characters first and second appearances. Please help by listing the season number. So like 13,16,xx,xx,xx.

So I'm the idea gal at work. constantly on the optimization and organization wave. Constantly pitching ideas to my bosses. What I really love (sarcasm) is I've observed at least a dozen times my ideas getting shot down and then brought up by one of my bosses as their crazy revolutionary new ideas and then our whole focus is on that idea and developing it. Example: I brought up to our GM almost a year ago we need to start honing in ops processes and get a standard layout and inventory list for each of our trailers. That idea was met with frustration and him saying no it's not worth the time. tune in today and he brings up the BEST idea ever. Exactly the same idea I brought up for the first time almost a year ago! I'm just really tired of 1) being belittled on the phone by our customers because I'm too stupid to know anything about our business and 2) tired of these tired construction haunchos stealing my ideas and pawning them off as their own. I'm tired of my managers doing it. I stopped giving out ideas. I stopped trying to solve problems that aren't mine. I've found peace but everyone has started to "step up" and begin to do their jobs finally. Our GM is struggling. He can't even keep up with a to do list or let alone use one to document what he needs to do. It's just he'll remember it if it's important and do it when he has the time No one on our team plans things out. When during the day to stop by X place so you don't waste 2 hours in your day so you can get to where you need to go on time. Then I'm left with calling our customers to tell them we're running behind because we forgot a $15 caulk gun and our guys can't plan for shit. Our crew can't keep their space clean. Used gloves litter the truck and warehouse. Unless I stand back there every second and watch them clean it doesn't get done. I've cleaned up the truck and warehouse so many times I'm done. Everyone here is an adult in a profession Im assuming we all want to succeed in because that's how you make more money right? I didn't think this job was going to be like this. I DONT get paid enough to do everyone's job and keep track of everything and do my own job

Hello guys
Nautralistic artistic monosyllabic analytic language with consonant mutation. Is this insane? Obviously totally impractical but I like consonant mutation and I think it's a fun idea.
The idea is that this language in its old form (Old Language) will feature nasal, plosive, fricative, and approximant codas, but for now plosive codas are most important (example words would be like: pʰɔt ("red"), zeik ("horse"), maoq ("sun")). In adjectival pairings (so like, 'pʰɔt maoq' "red sun") and maybe some other scenarios, this language will develop consonant mutation, so the onset of the second word will switch to the place of articulation of the coda of the first word ('pʰɔt maoq' would become 'pʰɔt naoq', the place of articulation changing where the manner does not). Then following this, the language loses plosive codas (maybe tone will develop, I'm unsure, feel like that would maybe happen) so "sun" alone would be 'mao' where "red sun" would be 'pʰɔ nao'. So all words gain a particular grade ('pʰɔ' would be alveolar-grade, as words in an adjectival pairing with it would have their onset become alveolar). Anyway by this point it's translated into the modern form.
This language features six significant places of articulation which would affect consonant mutation: labial, alveolar, post-alveolar, velar, uvular, glottal. Glottal wouldn't matter too much because the only glottal sound (/h/) would occur on onsets, so no words would be glottal-grade. Same for post-alveolar, only post-alveolar sounds would be /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ which would occur only on onsets, so no post-alveolar grades. This leaves labial-, alveolar-, velar-, and uvular-grade. Then there are seven manners of articulation: nasal (m, n, ŋ~ɴ (the velar and uvular nasals would be allophones)); plain voiceless plosive (p, t, k, q); aspirated voiceless plosive (pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, qʰ); plain voiced plosive (b, d, g, ɢ (/ɢ/ would only occur due to mutations)); breathy voiced plosive (bʱ, dʱ, gʱ, ɢʱ (/ɢʱ/ would only occur due to mutations)); voiceless fricative (f, s, x~χ (allophone)), and voiced fricative (v, z, ɣ~ʁ (allophone)).
I wonder if this makes sense . So a labial-grade word (I'll label this word A) in an adjectival pair with a word (B) with an aspirated voiceless plosive onset would cause the /pʰ/ sound on the onset of word B. This would happen for all adjectival pairs.
Do you guys think this could feasibly happen . Total mashup of what I think is Celtic consonant mutation + transition from Classical to Mandarin Chinese. Would speakers let this mess gradually happen or would the loss of plosive codas even happen if there's consonant mutation? Thank you anyone who reads this mess

Brother just got engaged, the weddings in about a year, we’re hosting a party at our house in a few weeks. Just found out a certain someone is on the guest list.
As a child I has frequent “sleepovers” at this man’s house where he made us share a bed. Mom found out about it when I was about 10 and stopped letting me go over. She never confronted him about it, in fact she spent more time blowing up at my molesters girlfriend for “being manipulative” then she did him. She still lets him come into the house, someone’s I come out of my room and he’s talking sports with my brothers. She only told my father but he thinks we’re both overreacting.
I told her I didn’t want him at the party and she said “I’d just have to suck it up.” And “if he actually raped you that would be one thing but he was just inappropriately touching”
I feel so betrayed. She was the only one of my family that even knows the full details, and now this? I don’t even know if my brothers are aware but I doubt they’d care. For some context my molestors girlfriend was our baby sitter as kids. She really loved my bothers (fucking hated me though) and always showered them with a lot of adoration she’s basically a second mother to them, so of course she gets an invite to the engagement party and they don’t want any conflict so they invited him as well.
I’m so fucking tired. I need to get out of this house.

Let me first start by saying that these are just me exploring my ideas on the topic of AGI and the current state of the art. I am not trying to convince you to agree with me, I just want to have a casual conversation and see what others think of my ideas.

First is my definition and thoughts on General Intelligence (GI)

I want to preface this by saying there is not much agreement on the definition of GI and therefore I provide my own. Disagree if you like, but please read the rest knowing what I mean when I use that term.
General intelligence is the ability of a problem solver to engage with completely new problems (to it), and crucially to be able to recognize its own failings, formulate a plan to overcome those failings, implement that plan, and ultimately rinse and repeat until a valid solution is found.
This can be further broken into two major kinds of plans. The first is to check if knowledge of solutions to this kind of problem already exist in the world and to seek out and incorporate that knowledge. The second, and ultimately only important kind is when no existing solutions exist. The GI must attempt to model the problem following a varied field of possible solutions then explore those areas. Usually this occurs in many steps of explore and validation. This kind of exploration of possibilities is the core feature of solving new problems. It fundamentally requires “imagination” which is a loaded word so I will also define it here
Imagination in this context means the ability to predict ways the world might work which are not necessarily real and which may have only a very loose connection to existing understanding. In other words, to solve problems generally we need a way to make “random” leaps into a possible solution space near the border of this far explored and validated solution space, then to check if those leaps land in places which match how the world is known to work (aka. A hypothesis followed by testing).
How do we (humans) make leaps into solution space? Thats an open question.
I do not think the current strategy of train then run AI can actually achieve this. We need AIs which are both training and working at the same time, the AI needs to be able to genuinely modify itself to approach situations differently across many attempts.

Are individual humans capable of GI?

Can humans even really do that? I mean can a singular human really solve different novel problems? It seems that virtually every solution humans have managed was in fact a group effort, building on others.
On reflection I think humans are capable of the above concept of making leaps into the solution space, and this is the core of GI. But I think most humans only make one, or two, leaps on any single problem. Most make an intuitive (aka, completely hidden to our conscience mind) assumption about the solution then spend a lot of time trying to show how it does match a real solution to the problem. Some people may explore a few ideas in this intuitive leaping but often settle on one. It is truly the exception that a human explore dozens or hundreds of jumps into the solution space. In fact, I doubt any human has done more than 10 on one problem. Instead we make progress by more than one human trying to make leaps. This, while individual humans are capable of GI it is only really in the collective that we solve difficult new problems.
What does this mean to AGI? I think it means we may be being unreasonable and unrealistic to expect a single AI entity to be capable of solving problems generally..or it means that an AGI would have to be more inventive or have better imagination (see above definition) than any one human. But I expect this would be hard as I think the variety of imagination in humans is actually a product of their genetics and life, so one AI is not likely to have the variety in parameters needed to make hundreds of different leaps into the solution space and we may in fact need AIs which are not all just clones from the same training to solve problems in a collective manner as we do. Although perhaps we could package many minds into one external interface to give the illusion of an individual.

Are we close to AGI?

I do not think we are as close as others. Definitely GPT4o is not it and I think the entire current method of making these AIs will fail to yield GI as we know it. I cant say how far off we are, but I dont think its in the next 5 years due to "barking up the wrong tree". I do not think the train then run model can work for GI.
However, I don't think GI is needed for AI to disrupt the world.
I believe advancements along our current path of non-general artificial intelligence will still be completely disruptive to our society.
I think AI of the current and near future will be able to do anything we already know how to do, but faster, more reliably, and cheaper. This alone will change the world to one where all “menial” mental tasks are meaningless. This will still cause a singularity, just not a super intelligence singularity.
All value will shift onto new solutions until we solve the last problem we will ever solve, how to make machines with GI.
Thanks for reading.

I posted this in the Kindle sub and received no response, so I'm thinking maybe my question is more relevant here.
I'm an avid reader of nonfiction books that I use for research, teaching, personal development, and leading an organization. I've had every generation of Kindle since the very first one (currently own both a Paperwhite and a Scribe). There is absolutely nothing as convenient as a Kindle when it comes to the convenience of reading. However, I struggle to replicate my system of marginalia and therefore struggle with how to best use Kindle for nonfiction even after all these years of use. This results in a love/hate relationship, as well as numerous attempts to start a book in Kindle only to wind up buying the physical copy a day or two later.
Let me give an example. In a physical book, I typically follow the author's structure by using a pen to put brackets around a sentence like, "Here are three outcomes...." And then I circle the words, "First," "Second," "Third," in the following paragraphs. This allows me to easily flip back later and see structure or the flow of a concept or argument. If the structure follows numerous section headings over multiple pages, I will simply write numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.) next to the section heading so that I can easily see the structure when flipping through the book later. I also like use other symbols such as a star or exclamation points in the margin, and sometimes I draw a line down the page next to a paragraph in order to indicate the whole paragraph is important without underlining every sentence, which allows me to then save underlining for the most important sentences that I want to stick out.
After all these years, I've struggled to really replicate this in a Kindle book. I thought maybe the Scribe would fix this issue, but it provides very little real world value to me in terms of annotation and note taking. It is just as easy to make a note on the keyboard. The Kindle app allows for change of color in highlights as well as for putting a star next to certain highlights (a feature that STILL doesn't exist on the Kindle devices after all these years!). I also am familiar with using Readwise and making heading notes (.h1, .h2, etc.). That is useful to an extent, but still not great.
Maybe I'm asking to much of an ereadeebook. However, I'm also sure it could just be me. I know there are many people here who read lots of nonfiction and likely made a transition at some point from physical books to ereaders and had to adapt in the same way. I value your experience and would appreciate any advice you could give, or insight into your own system for marginalia. Thanks in advance!

So i got this email on sunday, and opened it today, I've seen lots of other posts on it, but there's occasional variations, I just wanna see if anyone has anything else to say on the topic.
Hello pervert, I've sent this message from your iCloud mаil. I want to inform you about a very bad situation for you. However, you can benefit from it, if you will act wisеly. Have you heard of Pegasus? This is a spyware program that installs on computers and smartphones and allows hackers to monitor the activity of device owners. It provides access to your webcam, messengers, emails, call records, etc. It works well on Android, iOS, and Windows. I guess, you already figured out where I’m getting at. It’s been a few months since I installed it on all your dеviсеs because you were not quite choosy about what links to click on the intеrnеt. During this period, I’ve learned about all aspects of your private life, but оnе is of special significance to me. I’ve recorded many videos of you jerking off to highly controversial роrn videos. Given that the “questionable” genre is almost always the same, I can conclude that you have sick реrvеrsiоn. I doubt you’d want your friends, family and co-workers to know about it. However, I can do it in a few clicks. Every number in your contact Iist will suddenly receive these vidеоs – on WhatsApp, on Telegram, on Instagram, on Facebook, on email – everywhere. It is going to be a tsunami that will sweep away everything in its path, and first of all, your fоrmеr life. Don’t think of yourself as an innocent victim. No one knows where your реrvеrsiоn might lead in the future, so consider this a kind of deserved рunishmеnt to stop you. I’m some kind of God who sees everything. However, don’t panic. As we know, God is merciful and forgiving, and so do I. But my mеrсy is not free. Transfer 1500 USD to my Litecoin (LTC) wallet: (not sharing this) Once I receive confirmation of the transaction, I will реrmanently delete all videos compromising you, uninstаll Pegasus from all of your devices, and disappear from your life. You can be sure – my benefit is only money. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be writing to you, but destroy your life without a word in a second. I’ll be notified when you open my email, and from that moment you have exactly 48 hours to send the money. If cryptocurrencies are unchartered waters for you, don’t worry, it’s very simple. Just google “crypto exchange” or "buy Litecoin" and then it will be no harder than buying some useless stuff on Amazon. I strongly warn you against the following: * Do not reply to this email. I've sent it from your iCloud mail.* Do not contact the police. I have access to all your dеviсеs, and as soon as I find out you ran to the cops, videos will be published.* Don’t try to reset or destroy your dеviсеs. As I mentioned above: I’m monitoring all your activity, so you either agree to my terms or the vidеоs are рublished. Also, don’t forget that cryptocurrencies are anonymous, so it’s impossible to identify me using the provided аddrеss. Good luck, my perverted friend. I hope this is the last time we hear from each other.And some friendly advice: from now on, don’t be so careless about your online security.

First_Previous
Again a small lore dump, on magic attributes. Hope you enjoy!
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On the way to the next lesson Mor was asked °Think, I could use your magic?° by the human.
°I don´t know, maybe something to try later today° he answered. °Yeah, let's do that too.° Human agreed.
The next lesson was an interesting one, at least for the visitor from beyond, it was a lesson on the rules of magic, even if Mor and quite a few of his peers were lulled into sleep by the soothing voice of the teacher. The human, never expected, that someone could teach something so interesting in such a boring way.
...
As you all know, magic is divided into types, that are known to us as attributes.
Attributes have a positive effect on magic of the same type and a negative effect on the type opposing it. To give you an example for this a mage with fire affinity, will not be able to use higher forms of water magic. We know of the following attributes, but sometimes new ones are discovered, so this list is ever-expanding. Please pay attention now, as this will be test-relevant. We know of the elemental attributes, Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind, the manipulation attributes, Healing and Illusion and finally the royal attribute, only seen in the royal Diamond family, called Gravity.
Here I have to note, that there are spells, that are not included in any of those attributes and can be used by anyone. These are called Basic-attributed spells. Those spells include for example things like body enhancement, magic bolt, or the widely used message spell.
Now please note that the attribute distinctions are only one part, the second part is the distinction of potency of the spells. Firstly there is the single-class, moving and manipulating existing materials, you can pick fruits or use a small amount of water to water a plant, they can only do what anyone could do with their own hands and basic tools. Next up would be group-class where the material to manipulate will be supplied by the magic power and here your attributes will matter. In this class, the basic martial spells and convenience spells are located, with a strength that a small group estimated at around five people could produce with their tools. Then we get into the village-class magic and as you can surely guess those include things, that would need the manual labor of a small village, and here most of you will find yourself comfortable spellcasting. But then we go into the higher forms, here you either need a soul-bound partner with the same affinity as yourself to supply the energy demands, those are called demographic-class, and finally, there would be world-class magic, but the energy required of those could only be supplied by a whole convent of right attributed mages at least that´s the theory. Nobody was able to use a spell like that, it is purely hypothetical.
...
°Ok, that was really interesting, I would like to see what those high-class spells are capable of.° The human stated and Mor answered °Yes, but with my magic reserves, we will probably be stuck at group-class magic.° °Laaaame!° Human exclaimed. °We really need to find a way to get you more magic... This is just stupid.°
°Well it would help if it is possible for you to also cast spells. Then we could be much faster in using magic.° Mor thought. °Well, only a few more hours and we can test that, at home.°
°You´re right.° the human agreed.
With this, both of them either suffered or excitedly listened through the following lessons, and Mor having a peaceful lunch break. At last as peaceful, as it can be with a human trying to move random body parts and cursing about how hard it was. Mor finally made them stop after he was made to involuntary open his hand, and drop his juice. But without the acute danger of the bullies, it was very nice for a change, if a bit lonely. But still much better than before, the only bad thing about the bonding with the human was, that his body ached after the human moved it so violently, but it would pass, he was sure of that.
Finally, after lessons ended, Mor acquired something for supper and retreated to his room, carefully locking the door and at the insistence of the human enhancing the lock with a simple spell to make the lock and door more sturdy.
After they finally "guarded" their room right, Mor refusing to add some "surprises" for anyone opening the door. They sat down on the bed and began with what they discussed.
°I want to try using magic first.° The human opened. °Moving your body is hella exhausting.°
°Yes, let´s try it. First, just concentrate on the magic inside our body and make it flow.° Mor guided the human. °How do I concentrate on the magic?° The question came and Mor explained further. °You have to feel the potential within and then concentrate on it.°
After a short while the human stated °Is it bad, that I can´t feel any potential or whatever? Maybe just go like this and yes I think I feel something flow!° Mor felt elated, now they could cast two spells even with his meager energy reserves. °Great! Now concentrate on the pillow and imagine it fluffing itself up.° And once again the human tried, but nothing would happen. °Huh? Why is nothing happening? I feel something flowing and all.° They asked. °I don´t know, I´m telling you what I was told when I started with the magic. What my parents taught me.° Mor answered.
°Speaking of your parents, you have magic communication. Why is that message taking so long to reach them? Shouldn´t that be instantaneous?° The human asked.
Mor sighed °Your understanding is screwed up, how would you even think that? Message magic is simple, so you need to have a view on your recipient or it won't work.°
°Well, we have some stories in our world, with magic settings and shit, and there it is always super handy and can do just about anything. While here it is tedious and full of "that´s not how it works".° The human sounded disappointed.
°Well let´s get back on track and let me try some more. Maybe you could watch the flow of your energy, then tell me if I do something right.° Human offered and Mor nodded. Like that, they tried, but Mor could not detect any movement in the energies within him. °This is not working.° Mor stated, and the human had to reluctantly agree.
°So we are left with trying to let me do the body movement... Not ideal, but well let´s try something from my world. Take deep breaths and relax, only concentrate on your breathing.° The human instructed and Mor followed the directions and slowly felt his body moving, doing everything in his power to not intervene and only concentrate on his breathing until finally the human let out a satisfied grunt.
°Yes that is better, it is still hard, but now I´m just moving something I´m not accustomed to, instead of fighting you.° The human sounded pretty happy and Mor was too, but a quick glance at the clock in his room let both of them decide to get some sleep. Being late for class and tired would not be good.
Mor awoke the next morning to a world of pain, his whole body just hurt. °What is this, it hurts!°
°I don´t know! I did nothing while you were asleep!°
°You must have! Why else would it be like this?° Mor scolded the human.
°Don´t get snippy with me! I will slap you! And with your own hand no less!° They countered.
°And why I´m the only one in pain, that is unfair!° Mor complained.
°Why would you think that? I feel the pain too, it´s just not as bad as you say. You are just a little wuss.° The human said.
°I´m no wuss, I never had this kind of pain before!° Mor grumbled.
°Really? If I had to describe it it feels just like a little soreness in the muscles... Ah! Maybe, me moving your body is more stressful, than you moving your own. Even if you are distracted you subconsciously try to fight my control. That would make sense, but we can´t know for sure.° Human theorized.
°Really? And now? If this is what happens this is not acceptable!° Mor was still whining.
°Well easy, we will test your theory, that you can´t train your bodies, because, with this new development, I smell bullshit and laziness. Time to train and limber up!° Mor whinced at that exclamation of the human. °We will do nothing like that!° He exclaimed.
°We will, and I will force you if I need to.° The human stated matter of factly. °I hate you.° Mor grumbled.
°Yes. Yes! Let the hate flow through you!° The human snickered. °Still, I won´t let you just opt out without trying!°