Intended Major: Data Science / Computer Science (changes depending on the school i'm applying to)
GPA: 3.81 UW, 4.92 W out of 6 (includes courses from middle school 😭 )
UC Gpa since I am applying to a lot of them: 3.90 UW, 4.57 W, 4.17 weighted and capped
Class Rank: Outside top 10% because of some high school courses I took during 7th and 8th grade. Got straight Bs and Cs unfortunately.
SAT: 1450 (750M 700 RW, didn't study at all, trying again in august after studying)
Race: Asian
Gender: Male
Background: middle-class immigrant family.
School: Competitive Public High School
State: Texas
19 APs total (12 taken so far) AP Human Geography- 4, AP World - 5, AP Physics 1- 5, failed Spanish Lang 💀, waiting on all others
Senior year course load - AP Stats, AP Physics C (Mech and E&M), AP Gov/Econ, AP Lit, Data Structures And Algorithms (course after AP CSA, gpa is weighted the same as AP), and Calc III / Differential Equations dual enrollment, APES.
Main Extracurriculars:

1. Created an open-source flight board website/app for a Flight Simulator Multiplayer server that displays information on each flight including departure/arrival times and status. Displays busiest airports and flight routes, and predicts future routes and flight recommendations based on historical data such as ATC availability. Website has 400 users and receives approximately 4.5K visits daily, with a maximum of 1022 distinct users in April. I have also created my own API that gives relevant information such as time remaining and specific departure times that are not shown in the original API that I used to create the flight board.
   
2. Interning at State School’s CS lab this summer and will research and create a final project about how businesses use the data they collect to make future decisions to increase profit. This aligns with my goal of becoming a data scientist and going into the machine learning field, so I thought this would be pretty important.
   
3. Active addon creator for Microsoft Flight Simulator - Developed many addons such as aircraft liveries, realistically modeled airports, and the biggest one being a graphics mod to make the sim look more realistic. ~2500 downloads for all mods
   
4. Computer Science Club: Competed in multiple competitive coding competitions such as UTD Battle of the Brains, A&M Codewars, Lockheed Martin Codequest, Computer Science UIL, and many other online ones such as Devpost and CyberPatriots (did this with my friends for fun, unfortunately didnt win anything). I have also demoed my personal projects in this club and have helped members with learning Python and HTML, since our school’s curriculum is only based on Java.
   
5. Personal Computer Science Projects - Just a couple of projects that I made in the past few years that have helped me improve my understanding of coding. My school only offers Java, so these projects were incredibly helpful when it came to understanding R, Python, and JavaScript. My favorite project is a volunteer log tool that breaks down my total hours based on the number of hours that I have volunteered at my local food packing facility and how many boxes each table can pack. Using this information, I can derive how many boxes I have personally helped make and how many children I have fed through my contributions.
   
6. Created a review guide for AP Physics 1 that compiled the most important formulas and concepts from our lessons and resources. I also compiled an entire mock exam’s worth of MCQ and FRQ questions to test the hardest questions from each unit. On exam day, there were 54 people on the doc, so there were at least 50 people I impacted with this. I have also recently started a tutoring service for people who are struggling with physics and people who are taking Physics in the future (doing it on Saturday and Sunday every week).
   
7. Volunteering at a local food packing facility for ~105 hours. Volunteered at every position including pourer, bagger, weigher, and warehouse crew.
   
8. Volunteering at NHS organized events for 15 hours.
   
9. Completed Harvard’s CS50 course back in sophomore year (my website stated above evolved from my final project for CS50, which was a flight board on command prompt lol)
   
10. Part of the National Science Honors Society and Cybersecurity club at my school.
    

Awards (I am cooked 😔):

1. National Merit Commended (probably gonna get this)
   
2. PVSA silver award
   
3. Computer Science UIL awards
   
4. AP Scholar (probably with distinciton in july)
   

LOR: AP Calc - 8 (maybe 9) /10, did really well in her class and asked a lot of questions. she was also impressed by my resume, but I didn't talk to her a lot personally. I've heard that she writes good rec letters tho. AP Physics - 7/10
Schools:
Reach : UT Austin (Statistics / Data Science), UMich (CS lsa), UC Berkeley (Applied Math, my dream school), UCLA (Stats/Data Science), Purdue (CS or AI major), UIUC (Computer Engineering or CS + Stats), UCSD (data science or Math-CS), UCI (CS), UCSB (CE), UW Madison (CS), Georgia Tech (CS, doing this one for fun lol), USC
Target: Texas A&M Engineering (attainable dream school), UT Dallas (CS), Colorado Boulder (CS), UMD College Park (CS), Penn State (CS), NCSU (CS)
Safety (if I get into UTD rolling then i wont apply here): UNT, Texas Tech, ASU
Notes: I want to settle in the bay area after going to college, and want to become a data scientist (seems more interesting to me than becoming a swe, my opinion might change) at a well-respected company, preferably in the aerospace industry since I've had an interest in aviation since my childhood. I might also do grad school.
Thoughts?

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.
_______________________________________________________________________
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.

I need some WISDOM.
25m. Been dating my girl for a year and a half. Living together.
If it matters, I’m attractive, fit, a gentleman. Do not watch porn.
My relationship has been ideal. We are great partners that show love, support, and patience. Our relationship is how any relationship should be… except for the bedroom.
For the last year, we have been struggling with sex. When we first started it, it was everyday or even a couple of times a day. But as of the last year it’s been once MAYBE twice a week.
Early on, I realized that I was the one that initiated anything sexual. All the kissing and sex. She was always down, but never started the act. Which was fine bc I chalked it up as her being the reserved, respectful lady she is in every aspect of her life.
As it went on, I slowed down. Not out of anger or hate, but bc I was giving her opportunities to make a move. (Please do not respond with “maybe she’s submissive”. Submissive has sexual tension. This doesn’t).
I was thrown off bc, last May, she sat me down and asked why sex had slowed to once a week. It almost felt like she was complaining ABOUT me. To which I respectfully let her know that she has the same opportunities as me- if she was wanting to make out or do sex so bad, then she can easily kiss or start with me. Again, we are nice to eachother. This convo was healthy.
Fast forward to today. A year later. And it’s still the same. She has initiated maybe twice. But I explained to her how it felt like a double edged sword. When she didn’t initiate, it bothered me. And now that she did initiate, it felt forced bc she didn’t do so until I said. Even more, she only done it those two times after our convo and then drifted back into it being only me.
Now, today, there is no sexual tension between us. There hasn’t been for months. We have sex. But I’d chalk it up as me having a surge of hormones. Again, once a month we have had conversations on where we are at. We have both agreed that our sex life, although it is not dead, it is not sustainable with the level that it’s at. I’ll also add that we have grown SLIGHTLY irritable towards one another.
Now, I feel my eyes starting to wander. I enjoy all the looks and stares I get from women out in public. I look at girls pictures a little longer on social media. I day dream about previous partners.
Please, Do not read this post as shallow. I have tried, I have been patient, I have been considerate. So has she. We have both given our effort for the last year. Sadly, it has only worsened. She TELLS me she wants me, but her actions don’t. She is an angel to me, but we are both learning that sex plays a bigger role than we anticipated.
It doesn’t help that I also understand that if roles were reversed (if I never touched or initiated with her) I would be dumped. Imagine her saying to her friends, “he doesn’t ever initiate sex”.. it would be seen as me not valuing her or treating her right. Or gay (no hate to my gay men out there❤️). Her leaving would be supported. But I’m the one who feels like I’m not being persued. Yet, if I call it quits then I’m immature.
Our lease is up in July and i feel the pressure rising bc I don’t want to sign a lease with someone if it’s going to be a bigger issue down the road.
I love her, she loves me. But we both have admitted that this weighs on our mind too much for too long. It’s a shot to both our confidences. We have also somehow communicated in a healthy way that we can’t keep doing this. I worry because is the constant contemplation an indirect answer?
Her and I both know life is too short to be stressing as much as we do over our relationship. It’s difficult bc two things are true- our relationship is great, but the level of physical attraction is not sustainable.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Advice? Wisdom?

I've just finished rewatching all of the Planet of the Apes reboot movies in the lead-up to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and I drew some comparisons with the second and third Jurassic World movies.
In "Rise" we see the apes escape and begin their journey towards freedom. I thought it was interesting how quickly the apes were able to defend themselves against the humans trying to stop them. They quickly figured out how to use weapons, strategize, plan, use stealth, and even defend/disarm firearms. Of course, many of the apes died, but in the end they escaped San Francisco and made their way into the Redwoods.
This is science fiction, obviously, and the apes have become human-level intelligent, but it didn't seem like a stretch for this to happen in the world that the movie set up. I thought "okay, yeah, if any animals are going to overthrow humans, this seems right".
The movie concluded: "Hundreds of smart Apes released into San Francisco? Huge massive problem holy shit. Thank god they just want to live in the forest. Oops, we accidentally also created a human killing virus."
Compare that with the dinosaurs being released in Fallen Kingdom and the direct aftermath of that whole situation: "A few dozen dinosaurs released into Northern California? Damn thats crazy, looks like we can't do anything about that."
While yes, dinosaurs are big and dangerous, and even Rexy was released, they can't learn how to throw spears or take your machine gun and shoot you with it.
I've always thought that, in the universe of the JP/JW movies, the dinosaurs being released shouldn't have really been that big of a problem. There were maybe, what, 50 or so dinos released? And only a handful of them were large carnivores. For them to go on and cause an ecological disaster seems like a huge stretch for me. How did the military not just obliterate these dinos? Even if a few managed to get far enough away, hide, or even lay eggs, it wouldn't be enough the cause the massive problems in the movies. I think it's probably easier to shoot a rocket launcher at a T-Rex than it is multiple Gorillas shooting back at you with machine guns.
TLDR: Some dinosaurs in the forest = kinda a problem / Apes with guns = HUGE PROBLEM

A bachelor's degree in Psychology while interesting, only realistically provides you with 2 types of jobs.

• Human resources/sales office jobs/data analyst - people/data corporate jobs
• Special Needs CenteTherapist Assistant - Mental Health field

I will be talking about the second because of the broken system right now. In order for you to be certified as a therapist officially with a license, you need a Master's degree in that particular field. So if you want to be a child psychologist, clinical psychologist, or counselor, a bachelor degree is not enough. You might get a job that is titled ABA Therapist for a special needs center but ultimately, what you are doing is babysitting special needs children for an EXTREME underpaid salary. You won't be a certified therapist and can't diagnose children. You would think the salary would be at least above average given the field is somewhat related to health but no. It is on average RM2.5K and BELOW. (Some are 1.7K). There are several reasons for this.

1. There is no proper training or seminar in Malaysia to help you understand better on how to help these children. The centers usually only give guidance for a bit and leave you on your own.
2. Your job is to come up with tasks that YOU think could work rather than following some form of proven methods.
3. You are handling the kids like a caretakebabysitter. Changing diapers, potty training, etc. If you are unlucky you might even have to become a driver to go to different houses to do sessions.
4. The amount the parent pays for one month of class is unjustifiably expensive to the point of covering 2 employees' one-month salary combined. You are severely underpaid for the amount of physical work that is involved. MAJORITY of your job can be done by SPM holders. You are just a glorified babysitter who have to write a report every weekend. Some centers, do hire SPM holders.

Yes, if you are very passionate about Psychology and love children, this seems like a perfect job. But, in Kuala Lumpur, with less than 2.5K salary per month, some go as low as 1.7K for fresh graduates, and it is impossible to survive. There is also a career growth limit as mentioned before, you can't go anywhere without a Master's degree in this field. That is 40K extra you have to pay and 2 years to study. You won't be able to get salary increments because of how the structure works, you will forever be the "therapist" in the center earning less than 2.5k. I know some of my friends who worked for less than 2k when they went full-time.
My advice. DO NOT pursue the Psychology field if you are poor. Your love for children or mental health studies is great, but it will not cover your expenses and certainly will not help you survive in Kuala Lumpur. And if you have a Psychology degree and changed your mind, go for HR or data analyst jobs that pay 3k above and still utilize skills you learned from your degree. Or pursue a Master's and don't waste time in these centers.

Fellas I need some WISDOM.
25m. Been dating my girl for a year and a half. Living together.
If it matters, I’m attractive, fit, a gentleman. Do not watch porn.
My relationship has been ideal. We are great partners that show love, support, and patience. Our relationship is how any relationship should be… except for the bedroom.
For the last year, we have been struggling with sex. When we first started it, it was everyday or even a couple of times a day. But as of the last year it’s been once MAYBE twice a week.
Early on, I realized that I was the one that initiated anything sexual. All the kissing and sex. She was always down, but never started the act. Which was fine bc I chalked it up as her being the reserved, respectful lady she is in every aspect of her life.
As it went on, I slowed down. Not out of anger or hate, but bc I was giving her opportunities to make a move. (Please do not respond with “maybe she’s submissive”. Submissive has sexual tension. This doesn’t).
I was thrown off bc, last May, she sat me down and asked why sex had slowed to once a week. It almost felt like she was complaining ABOUT me. To which I respectfully let her know that she has the same opportunities as me- if she was wanting to make out or do sex so bad, then she can easily kiss or start with me. Again, we are nice to eachother. This convo was healthy.
Fast forward to today. A year later. And it’s still the same. She has initiated maybe twice. But I explained to her how it felt like a double edged sword. When she didn’t initiate, it bothered me. And now that she did initiate, it felt forced bc she didn’t do so until I said. Even more, she only done it those two times after our convo and then drifted back into it being only me.
Now, today, there is no sexual tension between us. There hasn’t been for months. We have sex. But I’d chalk it up as me having a surge of hormones. Again, once a month we have had conversations on where we are at. We have both agreed that our sex life, although it is not dead, it is not sustainable with the level that it’s at. I’ll also add that we have grown SLIGHTLY irritable towards one another.
Now, I feel my eyes starting to wander. I enjoy all the looks and stares I get from women out in public. I look at girls pictures a little longer on social media. I day dream about previous partners.
Please, Do not read this post as shallow. I have tried, I have been patient, I have been considerate. So has she. We have both given our effort for the last year. Sadly, it has only worsened. She TELLS me she wants me, but her actions don’t. She is an angel to me, but we are both learning that sex plays a bigger role than we anticipated.
It doesn’t help that I also understand that if roles were reversed (if I never touched or initiated with her) I would be dumped. Imagine her saying to her friends, “he doesn’t ever initiate sex”.. it would be seen as me not valuing her or treating her right. Or gay (no hate to my gay men out there❤️). Her leaving would be supported. But I’m the one who feels like I’m not being persued. Yet, if I call it quits then I’m immature.
Our lease is up in July and i feel the pressure rising bc I don’t want to sign a lease with someone if it’s going to be a bigger issue down the road.
I love her, she loves me. But we both have admitted that this weighs on our mind too much for too long. It’s a shot to both our confidences. We have also somehow communicated in a healthy way that we can’t keep doing this. I worry because is the constant contemplation an indirect answer?
Her and I both know life is too short to be stressing as much as we do over our relationship. It’s difficult bc two things are true- our relationship is great, but the level of physical attraction is not sustainable.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Advice? Wisdom?

And I'm tired of pretending it's not. I remember when that video was first released, and you can't convince me that the poisoned, hypocritical discourse surrounding this game didn't originate from him. He was one of the pioneers of the "long-form video game analysis" format that so many have made their careers with, and for whom so many have carried on his tradition of only viewing DS2 through the lens of what he interprets as mistakes and misdirections of what the "souls series" perfected with DeS and DS1. It also wouldn't surprise me if this bizarre sentiment of "DS2 is a bad game but it's still better than most games" also comes from this video, as he expresses a similar sentiment less than 3 minutes in.
He laments that it's a "major problem" that the game doesn't unceremoniously throw you into a character creation menu immediately upon selecting New Game. He calls the opening cutscene, "utterly pointless" with no further exploration of what might be being communicated to him. He also refers to it as "tonally out of place with the Souls series" without acknowleding that DS2 has a distinct tone in itself and doesn't necessarily need to ape whatever he thinks should be mainstays of the "souls series" (which was still in its infancy when this video released mind you). He says that the opening character being male is a mistake, and that his identity is being "poorly hidden" by the developers to maintain the illusion that you're playing as the player character.
I mean, this is clearly not what's being communicated to the player. I think there are multiple valid interpretations of the events of the opening cutscene and arrival in Things Betwixt (that's probably the point of the vague storytelling) - who the man is, why he finds himself in a cursed land, and what it means for him to change into a wholly new person upon being given the human effigy. But rejecting all this as just a collection of mistakes is akin to a toddler throwing away a new toy because they don't immediately understand its function.
Could it be that who this man was before doesn't matter? That perhaps certain forces at play in a land ravaged by an unrelenting curse erodes one's humanity and allows it to be reborn or reshaped like the countless kingdoms that have fell and risen anew? It's not like we don't have multiple other instances of this theme being expressed in the game. From most NPC's forgetting why they came to Drangleic and who they even are, to a coffin that literally allows you change your sex at will. Perhaps personal identity and history being fluid in the land of the everlasting curse is part of the theming and not just stupid developers making mistakes? Again, this is just my interpretation, but I think it's wholly more valuable than just calling the opening pointless. My point is there's a surprising lack of actual analysis in this critique so celebrated by the vocal minority of DS2 haters.
He interprets the old firekeepeers warning you of the fate of the accursed as the developers taunting you with a meaninglessly difficult experience to come. Seeing as you can revisit these ladies and learn more about their place in the world, this is also a surprisingly shallow interpretation of their inclusion.
He claims difficulty being a focus of DS2's design was a "misunderstanding" of Miyazaki's intent in designing DeS and DS1. This is just baffling and utterly baseless. In what other series known for its difficulty, would the inclusion of challenge be widely dismissed as a "misunderstanding"? Personally, I don't find it valuable to speculate why DS2 is difficult anymore than I speculate why Mario can jump. Ultimately it's a video game, and it's level of challenge should be critiqued based on its quality and implementation, not that it's philosophically misguided or some such sophistry.
I'd be here all day if I wanted to dissect all of the bizarre and surface-level analysis he provides, so I'm going to list a few more wild takes of his:
--Royal Rat Authority is somehow a "retread" of Sif with "random enemies" thrown in. His only reasoning here is because RRA resembles a dog, even though their respective fights are different in literally every other way. He claims it's a "crapshoot" if you can take out the small rats if you aren't a pyromancer (like, what?), even though he shows footage of himself doing exactly that with a bow. And that the fight is "practically over" afterwards, even though he shows footage of himself struggling to land a hit on RRA by itself. No further analysis.
--He claims most of the boss fights in DS2 that involve more than one single enemy "feel as lazily designed as the Capra Demon". I'm sure I don't have to explain why this is complete nonsense. Capra Demon's problem wasn't solely that it was more than one enemy. You couldn't even get your bearings before being immediately wailed on in a tight corridor with few means of escape. And absolutely no boss fight in DS2, including Royal Rat, has this problem.
--He claims the "mechanics of the souls series" are built for one-on-one engagement. No analysis of the multitude of tools and resources DS2 provides you to deal with multi-enemy encounters. From a wide variety of weapons with differing movesets, to environmental hazards, to AoE spells, to actually effective throwables and ranged weapons. Nope, the Gods of the "souls series" have decreed to him that if every single encounter wasn't made to cater to a locked-on sword and shield playstyle, that it's a mistake not in keeping with the rest of the series. WHY this game's design needs to be so concerned with these supposed laws of the series also goes unexplained.
--He says attack tracking is "unnecessary" and not an improvement from the previous entries in the series. What goes unspoken and apparently unrecognized is just how dominant circle-strafing and backstabbing is in these previous games. And while still an effective strategy in DS2, is understandably punished in predictable ways that the player can and will absolutely adapt to. It sometimes looks a little goofy, sure. But it's not misguided design that you can't rely on crutch tactics as reliably as in the previous games.
I'm going to stop here, because honestly an experienced player could (and should) rebut every single one of his simplistic "critiques", but a consistent theme of his video is that every single design decision is random, haphazard, misguided, mistaken, poorly thought out, meaningless etc. And he'll provide a counter-example of how DeS or DS1 does things in a way that's apparently better. But he offers no discussion or analysis about how these mechanics fit into the context of DS2's design, only how they are not in keeping with "the souls series". This says far more about how he engages (or rather doesn't engage) with video games as distinct pieces of art and entertainment, than it does about Dark Souls 2.
And if you've been following the long-form game analysis scene like I have, you'll find no shortage of content creators essentially parroting MM's perspective. There's a youtuber called Creetosis that made somewhat of a spiritual successor to MM's DS1 commentary, but with a full playthrough if DS2. And similarly to MM, everything he sees is pointless, annoying, stupid, and mistaken.
Other fandoms don't tolerate stupid critique from tourists and we shouldn't either. I've been a fan of MM and the scene he inspired since his first few videos, but I'm not going to pretend that this stupid trend of being ignorantly critical of DS2 didn't come from him at least in part.

Just hope to find my human
Hi all, I’m David, no staged names here! And yup, 49 and sadly single for a few years now! I’m in Scotland, and would prefer someone on same continent.
I’m a simple lad looking for that connection! That one human I can come home to and talk to, hold hands with and just be!! Or they can come home to me!!
I’m 173cm short, not toned but defo not fat. Middle of the road dad bod!?!? Salt and pepper short hair, glasses and beard. Happy to share pics.
I’m looking for my fem! Not necessarily cis but defo fem!!!!! So you can see I am very open.
I honestly think Vanilla is only good for ice cream!! Very K positive!!
Likes are travel, photography, camping if able, scuba if able, computer, sci-fi, fantasy, books of the digital kind tho and many many more!
I’m passionate about what I do and if you take time to know me then you’ll see what makes me tick!
I am drawn to a small build person, so that does mean hight and chest sizes lol! Hey if women can say they want tall dark and handsome, then I’m sure I can say my preference also! I’d hope that your not a barbie kind of person, IE All make up and glitter lol. Great eye candy and all but not really for me!
So what else do you want to know?
If you’ve made it this far! Whoop well done you, next step is to drop me a message and say something a bit more than “Hi” please!
Look forward to hearing from you, if you are out there!!!

Synopsis:
Carlos was an ordinary software engineer on Earth, up until he died and found himself in a fantasy world of dungeons, magic, and adventure. This new world offers many fascinating possibilities, but it's unfortunate that the skills he spent much of his life developing will be useless because they don't have computers.
Wait, why does this spell incantation read like a computer program's source code? Magic is programming?
___
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"So, in short, the most stuck-up bully of my life is now begging for our help to fulfill his greatest dream, because we've happened to become his only remotely realistic hope of achieving it. Do I have that right?"
Carlos looked up from his plate of succulent roasted meats and vegetables, all covered generously with a rich gravy, and raised an eyebrow at Amber. They were in Mayor Stelras's personal dining room, enjoying the service of his personal chef. "You know you do. You've read the letter yourself, what, a dozen times now?"
Amber set the letter aside yet again and took another bite of her own lunch. "Yeah, I know. It's just…" She shook her head and chuckled. "Out of all the things that happened the last few weeks, this one is somehow the hardest for me to believe is real. It's ridiculous. I know it's ridiculous. I've personally met and spoken with royalty! Kindar should be nothing compared to that! But, somehow… This is hitting me harder than anything."
Carlos nodded calmly. "Makes sense to me. The presence of royalty is completely new to you. It's huge and important, and far beyond anything you ever expected might happen, but the only thing you've experienced before that's different is its absence. You don't have any memories in the back of your mind telling you 'that's not how this is supposed to work.' For Kindar, you have a lifetime of memories telling you that he's more powerful and better supported than you are, and that you're mostly helpless against his bullying. Now that you're the one in power, and he's the one helpless against you, that's not just new, but contradicts a lot of your past experiences. Some part of you in the back of your mind is having difficulty reconciling the contradiction; it's like you have a subconscious voice shouting 'that's wrong; it's not how this is supposed to work!' For meeting Princess Lornera, that voice is only confused and surprised, not feeling like something's wrong."
"Hmm." Amber cocked her head and paused. She looked down and idly speared another forkful of tender steak. She made a few more contemplative sounds as she chewed and swallowed. "That makes some weird kind of sense. I think." She shook her head. "How did you know that? I never would have figured it out."
Carlos chuckled. "Don't feel bad about it. Not many people would ever figure out that kind of thing about how human minds work without being taught. I certainly didn't. My dad's a therapist, and he taught me a lot."
Amber blinked, then blinked again. "I have never heard of that profession before. In fact, I think it doesn't exist here."
Carlos realized on reflection that "therapist" hadn't translated. There was no word for it in Ganler, the native language here. "Huh. … I hadn't thought about it, but I'm not surprised. It took a long time for people where I grew up to realize that kind of thing can be important. Or maybe the hard part was realizing that it takes education and training to do it well."
"Ah."
They ate mostly in silence for a while, occasionally humming in thoughtful consideration while they chewed. Eventually Amber was leaning on her elbow, just watching as Carlos scraped up a few last bits of gravy from his plate. She stared distantly at nothing. "Hmm… You know, I'm tempted to actually accept, just so I can rub his face in how I succeeded better at his own greatest ambition than he ever will."
"Hmm? Oh right, Kindar." Carlos chuckled. "I imagine a few sessions of smugly condescending to him would be rather cathartic revenge for you. Would it be worth the downside of helping him actually achieve his ambition, at least to a minor degree, though? I'm sure that if Darmelkon had any other viable options for helping his son with this, he would have taken care of it years ago. If we refuse, we'll be denying Kindar from achieving his ambition at all. Wouldn't that be better revenge?"
"Logically, yeah, that makes sense. But it just doesn't feel satisfying to me." Amber took a sip of water and pushed her empty plate away. "I want to show him how badly we outclass him now. I want to see his face when he realizes that he will never measure up to the 'annoying stupid girl' he used to tease."
Carlos put his hands together, resting his elbows on the table, and rested his chin on his hands as he looked at Amber. "Not to mention how much money Darmelkon will pay us for doing it." His voice was calm and level.
Amber nodded quickly. "Yes, that too."
"You realize we're already rich now, right? Receiving taxes, and all that."
Amber threw her head back laughed uproariously. When her laughter finally tapered off, she leaned forward and looked Carlos in the eyes. "You may have heard that Darmelkon is rich, but you clearly don't understand how filthy rich he really is. Yes, I was shocked when he offered a hundred gold bounty for finding us back before we became nobles, but that was only because I didn't know why he considered us valuable. For this? For helping his son achieve his otherwise impossible greatest desire? A price in platinum would be cheap! I would bet that he'll pay in mythril and be glad about it."
"Hmm." Carlos quickly did the math in his head. 100 gold was roughly equivalent in value here to a million dollars on Earth, and is also equal to 1 platinum. So 1 million dollars per platinum. 100 platinum is 1 mythril. So each mythril coin is around the same order of magnitude value as 100 million dollars. Just 10 mythril to match a billion dollars. "Okay, that's more than I thought. So he's a major business tycoon? What the hell is he doing living in a backwater in the middle of nowhere like Erlen?"
Amber shrugged. "I have no idea. Ask him."
Carlos stared for a moment and snorted. "I suppose it doesn't matter." He took a deep breath. "Alright, I guess we're at least seriously considering it after all. So, let's break it down, pros and cons. Pros: personal satisfaction for you, Darmelkon loses any basis for claiming we still owe him a favor, and we get a ridiculous amount of money. Cons: Kindar becomes a noble. Also, we have to put up with him being here for a while. Anything else?"
"Another one for pros: Even with the favor and Darmelkon paying so much, Kindar himself will personally owe us, bigtime." Amber grinned. "His house will just about be permanent vassals in service to us."
Carlos hesitated, then frowned. "… Just how much, and how long, do you intend to keep paying him back for how he treated you?"
Amber raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "…Until I get tired of it? I don't know."
"I'm all for giving him a well-deserved comeuppance, turning the tables, and giving him a taste of his own medicine to teach him a lesson. But I will not countenance continuing to humiliate and abuse him long term!" Carlos shook his head emphatically. "If we do that, we would be bullies just as bad as he was. I hate bullies, and I refuse to be one."
Amber slowly lowered her eyes, blushed, and nodded shyly. "I… You're right. That is not the kind of person I want to be. I'm sorry for suggesting it."
Carlos leaned forward and reached out to gently put his right hand on top of her hands. "It's okay. What's important is that you recognize your mistakes, learn from them, and make yourself a better person. My parents taught me that very, very thoroughly."
"Yeah." Amber sighed and shook herself. "Thanks. I'll try to remember that. And… Should we just call off the whole idea?"
"Only if you truly want to." Carlos squeezed her hands gently. "If you can get some satisfaction without taking it too far, then that's completely okay, and you were right that there are serious benefits to it. Even having him as a vassal house, as long as we treat him reasonably. Though… Hmm." He frowned. "There has to be a reason why strong noble houses aren't raising up new vassal nobles all the time, right? It's not all that hard to make a noble soul plan if you know the requirements details."
"I suppose. Lorvan probably knows the reason."
Carlos nodded. "Yeah. I feel like he might just ask if we can figure it out ourselves, like he did about nobles keeping mana wellsprings, though…" He shrugged. "I'm sure Darmelkon knows too, and he wouldn't have asked if the Crown forbids it, or anything like that. He's ambitious and ruthless, not stupid. We should ask, certainly, but I expect any consequences we might have overlooked will be manageable. As I see it, the core question is just…" Carlos reached his other hand forward, firmly clasped and lifted both of Amber's hands, and looked her in the eyes. "Amber, what do you want to do with this?"
Amber stared back for a moment, then averted her gaze. "Don't you have an opinion about this too? Why are you only asking me?"
"Of course I have an opinion, but all he did to me was loan me a sword in a dungeon and then act rude and arrogant when he demanded it back afterward. You are the one who grew up being bullied by him. How to treat him matters far more to you than it possibly could to me." Carlos squeezed Amber's hands reassuringly. "Amber, please, look at me." He waited, and after a few seconds Amber hesitantly turned her head to face him directly again. "My opinion on this is that I want our response to be something that you will be content and happy with. All other relevant considerations that I can think of are less important than that."
Amber stared and slowly nodded. "I… Thank you." She squeezed Carlos's hands back and awkwardly extracted her hands from his grip so she could lean forward and rest her head on them, propped up by her elbows on the table. "I think… I do want to accept, but maybe with some conditions. I still want to show him up in person and see his reaction. Part of me still feels afraid of him, and I want to prove to myself that he doesn't have the power to threaten me anymore. That seems like something your 'therapists' would say something about. Would they say it's a good idea? Do you know?"
Carlos nodded. "Yes, absolutely. Standing up to something you used to fear is a great way to resolve residual fear of it that lingers in your mind."
"Then, yeah. I want to do that, and I do still want to get some payback." Amber hesitated. "But if I start bullying people like he did, I'd start hating myself as soon as I realize it. So, no bullying. And that goes for Kindar too. If he can't learn to stop being a bully, then he doesn't deserve what he wants. Let's give him a chance. Make our conditions clear, and demand partial payment up front, but give him an opportunity to earn our help."
"That sounds fair." Carlos cocked his head and frowned in thought. "Having him with us may require adjusting some of our plans. … Actually, we're overdue for making certain plans in the first place. I got a bit too carried away with my excitement over all the spell keywords we can learn now. Sorry."
Amber grinned. "Have you forgotten that I told you I'm well known for always having a plan? What do you think I've been doing the past two days?"
Carlos raised an eyebrow, then grinned back at her. "Oh really? Let's see what you've got!"
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*tw: dating at early age (for those of you who always get annoyed lmao),, i know we’re young, we make mistakes yadayadayada i know y’all are probably thinking “eh why so young date already ah” but to be fair we’re all curious kids so- can’t stop it from happening if it happens 😃
backstory: alright so in 2022, i (15F) was talking to a guy (15M, aka person A) for at least 2-3 months, seemed nice, and then we had a relationship that lasted around 3-4 months (we broke up on christmas day 😅)..
anyway, so yeah we kind of broke up on “good terms”? (broke up because i told him we’re better off as friends since we couldn’t meet each others’ expectations as a couple? he was emotionally unavailable and was very insecure throughout the relationship, and would often break boundaries that i had already set in place, and i had already let him cross too many — i know that’s on me because i didn’t enforce my boundaries as firm as i should have — but anyway he wasn’t a bad friend to me so i thought, why not go back to being friends?) or so i thought 💀
a few days after we broke up, i found out through HIS friends that he was talking shit about me? (e.g. calling me a slxt, told his friends that i cheated on him with FIVE?? not one, not two, but FIVE guys 😭 my thoughts: wow i didn’t know i had so much time in my life to cheat on you?) but at that point i was already done with him because i honestly couldn’t be bothered? and he wasn’t even my problem anymore! so obviously i proceeded on with my life and focused on my studies.
story: now, it’s 2024 he’s 17, i’m 17. introducing my best friend (17F, person B). person B has been with me since the beginning of 2020, we of course had our fights and drama, but we stayed despite them and learned to love one another with our flaws (platonically obviously).
so person B was around when i was dating person A, and they became friends. however, when i broke up with person A, he still kept contact with person B. (they talk in school sometimes)
as of now, person A and person B are close friends, and when i say close friends, i mean they call each other (one on one) sometimes, he updates her about almost everything in his life, he invites her for outings (just the two of them), and always asks for her thoughts on stuff.. and you may be thinking, “omg how would you know?” ☺️☺️ well person B tells me!
in my opinion, i don’t really care much if you were friends with my ex, because honestly speaking, he’s human too and he needs a community to talk to as well, BUT you do not have to share with my everything about my ex’s current life 😭 (doesn’t matter love life, healthy life, whatever life).. i’ve chosen to move on from him, leaving him as a part of my life in my high school days and i do not need or wish to involve him in my life again? i’m sorry but that’s what i have decided on for my life.
i don’t know, does it make me sound like i have not gotten over my ex? because i swear im over him, i just don’t need to hear about his life that often, and i get really annoyed at it too 😭 and whenever i react to something he does to me after the break up, (e.g. liking my story) she just tells me that im overreacting and that he’s just being friendly..
and also, the thing is person B knows what my other friends (they do not interact with person A at all) think about their friendship (person A + B) and she’ll keep on telling me “yo i feel guilty because people will think I’m such a bad friend for being close with your ex” and i’ve told her countless times “i really do not care if you’re friends with him, it’s your life”
so am i in the wrong to be reacting this way when person B tells me about person A’s life? am i really just overreacting when it’s just a small issue? and what do i do because i obviously don’t want to hear about person A.. but i do want my friendship with person B to continue..

So my daughter is 8. We just moved to a Very Small town last year… She has since been diagnosed with adhd, got eye glasses AND Just found out she has an Auditory Processing Disorder. This school has started talking to me as a child. Treating me as if I have some sort of disability in communication- I do not. And seems they’re upset and frustrated with the needs of my child for learning here, her brother is also adhd and odd diagnosed and is in the high school Section…stating the cost for her headphones is $1000 and I have more meetings to do with them and they want to speak with her doctor about the severity of needing it in class(this was a teachers insight to diagnosis and suggested we get the APD testing done for her…). Now, they’re Wanting me to drive 30 minutes away to get a paper copy of her report because they won’t accept the email. I do have disabilities which prevent me from moving properly and from driving. While they don’t know this about me - I feel telling them would only create more reason for them to treat my entire family like special needs. Maybe a double edged sword ⚔️ sharing my personal issues with them when they are my kids teachers and not my doctors. How should I be handling this? Because I actually got upset this time and it was a bit of an argument over the phone, I’m losing my patience and ability to be polite. Until this phone call I’ve been calm and brushed it off when they’ve tried talking down to me. I’m not trying to create enemies in this school, but I’m wanting the respect I’ve shown to be reciprocated and it’s not happening….my older son has this same issue and struggles with the adult staff members because they talk down to him and treats him like he is either too special needs to get something, or he’s faking it and just wants attention.

Young Pecos Bill and the Legendary Birth of Bitcoin

Young Pecos Bill wasn't your average Texas teenager. Born under a sky as wide as his imagination, Bill had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. He wasn’t roping tornadoes or wrestling with mountain lions just yet. No, Bill had his sights set on something far more elusive: the world of technology. It was the late 20th century, and the digital frontier was as wild and untamed as the Old West had ever been.
Bill had always been a curious kid. While other boys were learning to ride horses and shooting tin cans off fences, he was tinkering with old radios and broken computers he scavenged from the local junkyard. By the time he was sixteen, he could hack into just about anything. But Bill wasn’t looking for trouble; he was looking for a way to change the world.
One hot summer day, as the cicadas droned on outside his makeshift garage-turned-laboratory, Bill had an idea. What if there was a way to create a new kind of currency, one that didn't rely on banks or governments? A currency that was as wild and free as the Texas plains themselves? Bill's eyes sparkled with the kind of mischief that only a young genius can muster.
Bill's parents were as supportive as they could be, though they didn’t quite understand what he was up to. “Bill, why don’t you go outside and get some fresh air?” his mother would say, peering into the dimly lit garage where Bill was surrounded by a sea of wires and screens. But Bill was too engrossed in his latest project to heed her advice.
He dove into his work, fueled by nothing but black coffee and dreams of digital gold. Bill knew he needed a name, a moniker that would disguise his true identity. He couldn't very well go around calling himself Pecos Bill in the world of cryptography. So, he looked around his garage for inspiration. There, amid the piles of circuit boards and soldering irons, he saw names like Nakamichi, Toshiba, and Motorola. They danced before his eyes, forming a strange but harmonious symphony of syllables.
"Satoshi Nakamoto," he whispered to himself, a grin spreading across his face. It was perfect—mysterious, exotic, and entirely fabricated.
Bill got to work. He coded through the night, writing line after line of what would become the Bitcoin protocol. He saw it all in his mind’s eye: a decentralized ledger, secure transactions, and miners who would keep the whole system running. By the time the sun rose, he had created the first cryptocurrency, a digital miracle born from the mind of a teenage cowboy.
Of course, Bill knew he couldn't keep this up forever. Texas wasn't exactly a tech haven, and sooner or later, folks would come asking questions. So, he released his creation into the wild, letting it take on a life of its own. Bitcoin spread across the globe, from tech-savvy circles to the mainstream, each transaction a testament to Bill's genius.
Despite the attention Bitcoin garnered, Bill remained in the shadows. He watched as the world speculated about the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto. Some said he was a lone genius, others claimed he was a group of developers. Bill chuckled at the theories, knowing the truth was stranger than fiction.
As Bitcoin grew, so did the scrutiny. Governments and financial institutions were baffled and intrigued by this new form of money. But Bill stayed one step ahead. He had designed Bitcoin to be resilient, decentralized, and anonymous. Even as experts tried to dissect the code, they found no clues to Satoshi's identity.
Bill's teenage years passed in a blur of code and covert operations. He managed to keep his identity a secret, even as Bitcoin's value soared. He communicated with other developers through encrypted emails, always careful to maintain his alias. His parents, blissfully unaware of their son's double life, continued to support his "hobby," thinking he was just another tech-savvy kid.
As the years went by, Pecos Bill's legend grew. He rode the digital waves just as he once dreamed of riding tornadoes, always one step ahead of those who sought to uncover his true identity. And while the world speculated about the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto, Bill was content to let them wonder.
In the end, young Pecos Bill had done what he always set out to do. He had tamed a new kind of frontier, not with a lasso, but with lines of code. And in true Texas fashion, he did it all with a wink and a smile, leaving behind a legacy as enduring and mysterious as the Lone Star State itself.
One day, long after Bitcoin had become a household name, Bill sat on the porch of his family’s ranch, sipping a cold glass of lemonade. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the dusty landscape. He thought about the journey he had taken, from a curious boy in a garage to the mastermind behind a global financial revolution. He had outgrown the need for recognition, finding satisfaction in the quiet knowledge that he had changed the world.
As the stars began to twinkle in the vast Texas sky, Bill felt a sense of peace. He had woven himself into the fabric of history, not as a mythic cowboy, but as a digital pioneer. And that, he thought with a smile, was a tale worth telling.

I've had about 5 eye tests in the past few months. Each time, the prescription has been different. I've had differences in sphere, cylinder and axis on both left and right eyes. I have worn the glasses that were prescribed for the recommended duration, and each time I've had headaches and eye strain, and that general feeling of "I know these aren't right".
My most recent pair have been the best so far, but I still notice some things that aren't right - like when I flick my eyes between my phone and tv, it takes a second for my eyes to focus.
Anyway, at my last eye test, I asked them to use the auto-refractor and see what that said. It gave the same left eye prescription as the glasses I'm currently wearing, but a slight difference on the right eye. I.e from -1.50s / -2.50c to -1.75s / -2.75c. I had a cheap pair made online to this new prescription and I feel that while my vision is as clear as the current lenses for things like reading up close, I can focus quicker when moving between neafar sight. And they generally just feel "better".
Could it be that after all this time, the auto-refractor results were actually the best prescription for me?
I've asked my current opticians to make up my spare pair to this prescription, but they're a little hesitant to do this, since the results are from a machine and not from an actual human...

I hit 600 hours yesterday and figured I should post about my experience thus far - hopefully it will be helpful for all of you, but also will be fun to look back on myself, later on.
Background: I took a couple semesters of Spanish in high school as well as university over a decade ago, but never gave more effort than just trying to get a decent grade. A year ago, I decided to try and learn Spanish for real. I went down the normal Duolingo track, then found Paul Noble audiobooks and Language Transfer. I became really interested at this point, and eventually came across Dreaming Spanish. At first, I would do like 15 min a day of Dreaming Spanish while “studying” with my other time, until sometime around July 2023 when I realized I was getting more out of DS, and went “all in”. I put 70 hours as my total input up to that point (although since then even though I’ve had other sources, I haven’t added any more “outside hours” along the way, so technically I have 530 hours of pure DS now).
Reasons for learning Spanish: - It’s simply something I’ve always wanted to do, but never really committed to it - My family and I love to travel, and want to be able to communicate much better - We spent 6 weeks in Spain late last year which was partially why I dove in, but even before the trip I realized I would for sure keep going after the trip (I now wish I had started DS way before that trip, of course!) - I have two young daughters, who will be going through the Spanish Immersion program (100% spanish through elementary and then it gradually balances between Spanish and English into middle and high school) in our district! My older gal starts kindergarten in the fall. - There is a hosting program within the immersion program where families can host a teacher assistant (someone completing Uni or just graduated) from a spanish speaking country. It would be a semester of hosting the TA at our house. We’ve talked to others who’ve hosted and they had a great experience. Some have since visited the TA in their home country. We aren’t signed up to do this for the coming year, but my wife and I would love to in the next couple years potentially.
Listening: 90% input from DS. Half the time I go from just the easiest Intermediate/Advanced video remaining (around level 58) and half the time I just pick a video that looks Interesting (BeginneIntermediate/Advanced). Sometimes I’ll speed up the easier videos. In general, I understand anything 60 and below very well, 60-70 is comprehensible and enjoyable but challenging, 70+ varies. I find Pablo, Sandra and Alma, and Agus much easier. I find Tomás and Edwin difficult, for example. But overall I’m still really enjoying DS. Currently half the time Im watching, and half the time I’m listening with headphones. A few times a week I’ll watch some super beginner / beginner videos with my daughter - she loves Calcetín videos and the Michelle cooking videos. Ive seen the “Find Wally” videos about 8 times…haha
I also have listened to a lot of Español Con Juan, which I enjoy too. I mix in YouTube videos sometimes as well. I’ve watched some native Ted Talks and found some of them too hard, but also found some that I’ve almost fully understood, which was encouraging. On the other end of the spectrum I put on the movie Society of the Snow in Spanish without subtitles and I was completely lost haha. No huge surprise. Overall, I’m happy with progress but have days where I’m frustrated too. Loving the journey though.
Reading: I haven’t done a ton of reading but doing more now. I read a handful of Olly Richards books around 300 hours and enjoyed overall. I read Harry Potter book 1 at 400 hours. I really liked it, although it was a bit too difficult, but having read them in English many times it was often still comprehensible. I’m now reading a bunch of the “Diario de Greg” books and they are great haha. Love being mid 30’s guy at the coffee shop posting up with one of those books. Challenging but comprehensible and fun. I also read a bunch of picture books in Spanish to my girls. My older gal is picking up a decent amount of words.
Writing/Speaking: Haven’t done a ton of writing other than occasionally texting a buddy who knows Spanish. But found it to be not too bad.
We were in Spain as a family when I had around 300-350 hours I think. It was super helpful to have that under my belt but also I generally couldn’t follow conversations between native speakers. I had conversations with people at the park or elsewhere if people were patient or spoke slower, and it was super rewarding. I made a lot of mistakes (including mistaking a verb and asking a guy at the beach in front of his family if he wanted “to touch me” instead of me taking a photo for him haha. He silently walked away). But also talked to an old woman about having kids etc and she talked about being envious of my parents as she never had grandkids and was very sad about it. I tried to comfort her. Moments like that make the whole journey worth it.
Also I should note that between 100-300 hours I was doing Baselang speaking lesssons. It is expensive, but I really liked the platform and had some great recurring teachers. I may re-sign up after 1000 hours. I would’ve held off but I also wanted to be able to communicate a bit better in Spain. Maybe it will have end up harming my progress, I’m not sure.
TLDR: hit 600 hours. Have a long way to go but seeing progress and loving the journey. Averaging around 2 hours per day now. Will re-start speaking around 1000-1500 hours. AMA.
Thanks!

Part Two: The Solitude of This Fire
Chapter 6
Location: Hust Forge. Hust Henarald's conference room
POV: Kellaras
After making Kellaras wait some days, Hust Henarald finally grants him an audience and says "One day, I will be a child again". These words seem to be nonsense to Kellaras. While waiting for his audience he noticed the Hust Forge never stops working. Henarald goes on to say we all war with two parts of ourselves and both make weapons from anything at hand. Henarald asks Kellaras if Anomander simply wants a sword or to join the Hust Legion. He doesn't think Urusander's Legion would like that very much. Kellaras says he knows the request of a sword is unusual at this time. Henarald responds by saying others will see it as political. Perhaps even a secret allegiance. Kellaras is put off balance by Henarald's pragmatic responses and then shifting into ending each with "One day I will be a child again." Henarald asks for specs and Kellaras says Anomander wants the sword to be silent. Henarald responds by asking if he would prefer a gagged weapon and if Anomander will hide it's origin. Kellaras tells Henarald that Anomander wants his swords spine to be quenched in the purity of Darkness itself. Henarald muses on power and says those with the most power have the greatest fear and that means power is meaningless and delusional. Kellaras counters that the Forulkan would have enslaved the Tiste with their power had they won, but they lost to the power of the Tiste. Henarald responds, "A triumph in solitude makes a hollow sound, and to every glory proclaimed the heavens make no answer".
Kellaras reiterates that his master requests a sword. Henarald responds "To take the blood of Darkness". Kellaras is surprised by this as Mother Dark is not Azathanai. Henarald asks how she feeds her power and if now that Anomander knows the secret of House Hust if he will use it for political gain. Kellaras says his Lord is the ultimate secret keeper. Henarald agrees to forge Anomander's sword, but requires that he be present at the quenching of it by darkness to witness if it is blood Mother Dark uses. Kellaras tells him he won't be able to see anything and leaves the chamber trembling mostly upset by Henarald's repeated assertions that he will return to childhood.
Kellaras goes to the main hall where there is feast taking place. He pushes aside his doubts and is proud that he got Henarald's agreement to make the sword. He searches out Galar Baras and finds him leaning against a pillar staring at a woman that had just entered. Kellaras sees her see Galar Baras and watches her stiffen. The woman is Toras Redone. Kellaras notes that even grimed from hard travel she is beautiful and makes his way to Galar. Galar asks if Henarald spoke to Kellaras of childhood. Kellaras says yes, but does not understand. Kellaras invites Galar to join a table and Galar accepts though he tells him he can't drink. Galar tells the captain that the childhood thing troubles them all. Kellaras asks him to call him by his name and not rank. Galar says that Henarald claims that he is losing his recent memories, but no one can see any evidence of this. Galar tells Kellaras of a sickness called Loss of Iron that afflicts smiths. Kellaras tells Galar that in his meeting Henarald was sharp and focused. No evidence of a crumbling mind. Galar asks if he will tell Anomander of this. Galar says it has no bearing on the creation of the sword and says his master would likely just say returning to childhood isn't a bad idea.
POV: Galar Baras
Kellaras gets drunk and stumbles off and now Galar has to be alone with his thoughts and heartache at the presence of Toras Redone. She was still holding court at one of the tables and after a while she shuffles over to him. She comments on her husband transferring as far away as he could. She tells Galar that he is a pariah in the citadel. That people think him arrogant and dismissive. She knows that's not him, so is puzzled. She says he should have sex with the priestesses. That celibacy is not for soldiers. He should feed his appetites. Galar responds by asking if she is well fed. The barb slides off of her and she says well enough. She says she is certain that her husband stays true to her and that leads her to infidelity. Galar does not understand this. She changes the subject and says she has missed him. She tells him to go to bed, but he knows he won't be alone for long. He compares himself to Toras Redone's husband, Calat Hustain, knowing that both spend their nights alone, "because it was in their nature to choose it: to remain alone in the absence of love"
Location: Neret Sorr
POV: Kadaspala
With Osserc and Hunn Raal gone, Kadaspala is having a more enjoyable time having dinners with Urusander. The painting however was still irritating to him. He doubts anyone will see below the surface of his painting. He is finished and will leave in the morning. "There is but one god, and its name is beauty. There is but one kind of worship, and that is love. There is for us but one world, and we have scarred it beyond recognition". Kadaspala now truly sees Urusander and is terrified. Urusander asks him why he chose to accept this request. Kadaspala says he's denied hundreds, but if anyone can prevent a civil war, it's the man in the portrait. Although his thoughts imply that that may not be the same man standing before him.
Location: House Enes lands
POV: Cryl Durav
On his short self-imposed exile from the wedding preparations, Kryl finds the antlers of a long dead Eckalla. A symbol of triumph. Cryl thinks the triumph is hollow. Hunting for food was once a necessity, but that necessity bred traditions that resulted in the extinction of this animal. Thinking back on his youth he dreamt of discovering a new world free of Tiste where he could become prey and know the thrill of fear. Enesdia was also present in these fantasies. He thinks, "He had been trained for war just as he had been taught how to hunt and how to slay, and these were deemed necessary skills in preparation for adulthood. How sad was that?".
His horse notices some movement and he sees a troop of Tiste riders approaching. This makes no sense as there is no reason for them to come here on there way to somewhere else. Cryl rides to meet them and sees that they lead a score of Jheleck children. There were no chains. The captain of the company asks why Cryl is out this far and Cryl tells him who he is. The captain breaks in and says Cryl is probably fleeing the frenzy of the coming marriage. The captain introduces himself as Scara Bandaris and says there are two reasons for him being here, one trying to figure out what to do with the Jheleck hostages and two to attend the wedding. Cryl agrees to escort them all to house Enes. Scara perceptively guesses that Cryl is out here because he is in love with Enesdia. He says he will say no more on the subject.
There are 25 Jheleck children. Scara says they will raise wolves in these children. Cryl says he's heard they are more like hounds. Scara says hostage taking may come back to bite them. Scara laughs at his own joke and forces a smile onto Cryl's face. Cryl feels a little better.
Location: House Enes
POV: Enesdia
Enesdia is upset that Cryl has been gone for a few days. She searches out her father and overdramatically asks him why they are shirking their responsibility to their hostage. She says, "For all you know he could be lying at the bottom of a well, legs shattered and dying of thirst" Jaen responds "Dying of thirst in a well?" he tells her he sent him on a search for Eckalla. She says that's a hopeless quest. Jaen says Cryl's familiar with those. Enesdia asks what he means. Jaen responds that his time with House Enes is ending. It has only now struck Enesdia that her companion will not be at her side much longer. Enesdia laments the fact that Cryl's family has only one occupation. He will be a soldier like his only living brother, Spinnock. She muses that she could ask Andarist to offer Cryl a commission in the citadel, far away from fighting. Cryl would never know, but he would be safe.
Location: House Drukorlas
POV: Orfantal
Orfantal is standing near the estate road with Wreneck, a stable boy that used to be his friend. They are also standing near an old nag horse. They have been standing for some time. They are being circled by 3 feral dogs that have smelled the food that Orfantal carries. Orfantal wished he knew why Wreneck stopped being his friend, but it seemed impossible to ask now. Orfantal has all of his possessions in a trunk. They are not much. Orfantal thinks he could fit in there too, ready to be discarded. Wreneck is 10, Orfantal is 5. His grandmother is sending him off somewhere to learn how to grow up. He knows there will be a time when unhappiness comes into his life as it does with every boy. A wagon pulls up. It will be his ride to wherever he is going. Wreneck makes sure they know that he is going to the citadel and that he is nobleborn. Wreneck tells Orfantal that the old horse is blind in her left eye, so don't let anything ride on that side of her. Orfantal says goodbye to Wreneck and Wreneck waves dismissively and leaves.
POV: Wreneck
Wreneck turns from some distance to watch them leave with tears running down his face. He resolves himself to return to the "evil hag" and now he doesn't even have Orfantal to make his life easier. Nerys Drukorlat had forbidden him from playing or even speaking to Orfantal. She would fire him if he did. His mother and father and sisters relied on his income. He wished he could have played with Orfantal this entire morning and hugged him goodbye, but he was afraid of the evil hag.
Location: Toras Keep. On the road to the Citadel
POV: Orfantal
The party makes camp and the scarred old man who loaded Orfantal's trunk says that this is likely his horse's last journey. Orfantal is sad to not even know the horses name and wonders what things she has seen in her life. He decided that she had been a warhorse and saved her rider many times, but not from the betrayal that finally killed him. The leader of the troop introduces himself to Orfantal as Haral and tells him not to call him sir. He tells him he guards merchants and that's all. Orfantal asks about bandits. Haral says there are some Deniers. Haral tells Orfantal that he will be sharing Gripp's tent. The man who took care of his horse. He says that Gripp can be trusted and not some of the other men in the party.
Haral says after this he will be joining House Dracon's houseblades. Orfantal asks if he was a soldier once. Haral says few weren't in his generation. Orfantal introduces himself. Haral asks why she named him that. His name is a Yedan dialect. The holy language of the monks, Shake. Narad, one of the guards, says it means unwanted and laughs. Haral tells him to keep his mouth shut on this journey and tells Orfantal his name doesn't mean unwanted, it means unexpected. Narad laughs again and Haral savagely kicks him in the face then punches him. He then walks away from the unconscious guard. Orfantal is trembling and his heart is beating fast. Gripp comes over and calms him down. He says it's discipline and Narad was pushing for weeks. Orfantal now has a face to put to all the faceless betrayers in his war games. Narad. Gripp shows Orfantal how to raise a tent.
Location: Within sight of Dracon's Hold
POV: Ivis
Ivis and Sandalath are riding towards the hold. Ivis tells her that Draconus will be gone for several weeks still. Her body tells him that she probably had a child, but that's none of his business. She is now a hostage at House Dracon's and she will be treated well. Sandalath asks where Draconus comes from. Ivis says even his servants do not know, but he proved his worth in the war. Ivis is upset at the discipline now presented by his houseblades and resolves to fix it. Sandalath is being led to a warm bath and thanks Ivis. He responds, "My pleasure, milady". Hilith the head of the house maids does not like him calling her a lady as she is only hostage now. She lets him know it. Ivis says, "Old woman, you are no queen to so command me. I will choose the honorific our guest deserves. She rode well and without complaint. If you have complaint, await the pleasure of our lord upon his return. In the meantime, spit out that sour grape you so love to suck on, and be dutiful." Hilith says this isn't over. Ivis responds with a command to leave his courtyard and if he hears of her being miserable to the hostage that it will in fact not be over.
Location: Dracon's Hold
POV: Sandalath
Hilith tells Sandalath to come with her to the bath. Sandalath asks if the water is hot. and asks her if there is wood ready just in case. Sandalath challenges Hilith and says she is to treat her as if she was the lady of the house. Hilith bristles but agrees. Sandalath remembers her first stint as a hostage and the horrible hag that made her life miserable until Andarist found out and got rid of her. If Hilith turns out to be the same, she will tell Draconus. A younger maid escorts her to the correct bath, not the one Hilith had prepared for her. Sandalath says if Hilith is her enemy, then Sandalath should have many allies. The maid smiles and says thousands. Sandalath asks the maid about Ivis and if she finds him handsome. She says he is old, but Sandalath doesn't think so. Sandalath tells the maid she feels welcomed by this house and feels born anew.

I have always struggled with this dilemma and I would love gaybros opinion please.
I find arrogance extremely annoying. On the other hand, I love guys who are confident, even borderline cocky but who at their core remain humble and grounded.
I have immigrated to the US when I was 24. I pretty much had nothing. Lived in an attic, ate peanut butter for 3 meals and treated myself to Chipotle maybe couple times a month! I was working hard 16 hours a day toward achieving my dream. I couldn’t afford a car, so when I finally downloaded Grindr a year after arriving, when I could afford my first smartphone, I felt pretty inferior to peers around my age. I worked all day but still had no money, had a single bed in my attic and shared a bathroom with 4 housemates, so needless to say no one wanted to go out of me. People rejected over and over because I didn’t have a car while living in the Midwest. I had few hook ups, but don’t recall a single guy staying over. I had one ice cream date in 2 years. Hard work paid off. I finally achieved my dream and got a really solid job in my field. My income doubled overnight then quadrupled the following years. I live an upper middle class life now. I can afford to travel the world, have a fulfilling career but I’m not genuinely happy. I want a family and kids and spending the past 11 years working too much makes it all seem impossible at 35.
I have never thought of myself as conventionally handsome but apparently per western standards (I’m middle eastern) I’m quiet handsome. I’m 5’8. Black eyes. Dark skin and thick black hair. None of it is considered anything special back home. Probably as a result of my experience my first few years in the US, I got myself into an amazing shape to make up for low self-esteem. I was ripped but it became too toxic and I developed significant body image issues. I have worked on it the past year and has mostly resolved. When I was jacked, I had never been approached by a guy in person, but did have plenty of interest online, but now that I “let myself’ have more of a natural body look, worry less about my body, stopped going to the gym on weekends, I’ve been hit on by random guys almost weekly, 3 times last week!. I believe that that guys can maybe sense that I’m more confident and comfortable in my bod and who I am or maybe by filling up a little I have more natural look and appear less intimidating. I want to learn how to apply this to other aspects of my life. whenever I went on a date and the guy complimented my look, I felt anxious because I thougt I was shallow and superficial because I think that’s all I have going on for me. If he complements my career and where I am right now in life, I feel self conscious about my looks.. it’s a never ending cycle. I have finally moved on from my body image issues but I need to learn to be more confident about who I am, where I came from and where I got, while remaining humble. I want to be proud of my journey without feeling better than anyone else.
How can I get over my imposter syndrome?

I never thought much about the dark web. To me, it was just a spooky corner of the internet, filled with urban legends and exaggerated tales. But last month, my curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to explore.
I had always been tech-savvy, so accessing the dark web was easier than I expected. I found forums, marketplaces, and bizarre sites that looked like something straight out of a horror movie. But one night, I stumbled upon something that still haunts me: a chat room called "The Abyss."
The description was cryptic: "Talk with those who truly see." Intrigued and a bit naive, I clicked the link and entered the chat. The interface was basic, just a black screen with a list of usernames on the side and a chat window in the center.
The usernames were strange—EbonShade, SoulSeeker, _WhisperingVoid_—and they immediately started messaging me.
EbonShade: Welcome, new traveler. What do you seek?
SoulSeeker: Knowledge? Power? Or perhaps, something darker?
I hesitated before typing, "Just curious. What is this place?"
WhisperingVoid: This is a place where truths are revealed. But beware, not all truths are meant to be known.
I felt a mix of excitement and unease. Before I could respond, a new message appeared.
EbonShade: Would you like to see something truly enlightening?
My heart raced as I typed, "Yes."
A link appeared in the chat, ominously labeled "Enter the Abyss." Against my better judgment, I clicked it. My screen went black, then filled with a montage of disturbing images: old, decaying buildings, people performing strange rituals, faces twisted in terror. It was overwhelming, like a nightmare unfolding before my eyes.
When the images stopped, I found myself back in the chat room, but it was different. The usernames had changed to real names—David, Claire, Michael—and my webcam had turned on, displaying my own horrified face in the corner of the screen. Panic set in as I realized I couldn't close the window or turn off my computer.
David: Now you see. There's no turning back.
I frantically tried to unplug my computer, but the screen remained on, showing my terrified expression and the cold, emotionless faces of the others in the chat.
Claire: We know where you are.
My heart felt like it was going to explode. I grabbed my phone to call for help, but it wouldn't turn on. Suddenly, my screen flickered, and a new video feed appeared—my own apartment, seen from a perspective I didn't recognize. It was as if someone was inside, watching me.
Michael: You invited us in. Now we are everywhere.
In a frenzy, I ran to my front door and threw it open, only to be met with the empty hallway of my apartment building. No one was there. I checked every room, every closet, but I was alone.
When I returned to my computer, the chat room was gone. My screen was back to my desktop, as if nothing had happened. But I knew better. My phone buzzed, and I saw a notification for a new email from an unknown sender.
Subject: Welcome to the Abyss
Body: We are always watching.
I haven't been the same since that night. I moved to a new city, changed my name, even got a new job, but the feeling of being watched never leaves me. Sometimes, I'll catch a glimpse of a shadow in the corner of my eye, or hear a whisper when I'm alone.
One night, about a week after I moved, I woke up to the sound of my computer booting up. I had left it off, but there it was, the screen glowing in the darkness. The chat room was back, but now, the names were different: John, Emily, _Sarah_—all people I had known in my life, all who had passed away.
John: Why did you leave us?
Emily: You can never escape.
Sarah: We are part of you now.
I unplugged the computer, but the screen stayed on, showing their faces, twisted in agony and anger. I screamed and threw the computer out of my window, watching it shatter on the pavement below. The screen finally went dark, but the terror remained.
I replaced my computer, thinking it would end the nightmare. But then, the texts started. Unknown numbers, always the same message: "We are watching."
I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. I see them everywhere now, in reflections, in crowds, in my dreams. If you ever find a chat room on the dark web called "The Abyss," don't enter it. Some doors, once opened, can never be closed.
One evening, as I was walking home from work, I felt someone watching me. I turned around, but no one was there. Quickening my pace, I hurried to my apartment. When I entered, my phone buzzed. Another unknown number.
Text: We are here.
The lights flickered, and the temperature dropped. My breath came out in visible puffs. I grabbed a knife from the kitchen, my hands trembling. As I backed into the living room, the shadows seemed to move, coalesce, forming shapes that were almost human.
I don't know if it was a hallucination or something worse, but I heard their voices, whispering my name, promising I would never be alone again. I dropped the knife and ran to my bedroom, locking the door behind me. The whispers grew louder, more insistent.
Desperation set in. I decided to document my experience, to warn others. I started typing out this story, but the words are running out. The whispers are too loud now. I can't think. They're here, with me, in the room.
If you ever find this post, heed my warning. Do not go looking for "The Abyss." It will find you, and once it does, there is no escape.

I’ve never been a “girlfriend guy”, if you know what I mean. I’ve always had an independent streak, and no problem being alone. My past relationships didn’t exactly blossom. Love and vulnerability are scary. Recently, I’ve discovered something scarier: loneliness.
Also, dating at 30 lol…
So here I am, looking for something real on the internet, and if you’re reading this, so are you. God help us.
A little about me: I’m a musician. I play the drums and some keyboard. Love the outdoors, but I’m not a huge fan of travel. I guess one of the (only) perks of living in PA is that Mother Nature is right at your doorstep! I’d really like to get into bicycling; there’s some great trails around me. You know anything about it?
I’m a huge tv/movie buff, not in an annoying snooty way, but more of in an appreciative way lol isn’t it so cool that we have the oldest human tradition of story telling literally on demand at our fingertips?! I like all genres - I’d love to share favorites with you!
I’m a huge sports fan, particularly soccer and football. Go Union/Go Birds. As far as music goes, I like most everything, from Slipknot to Glasper. And my food, I like it spicy. Very spicy.
Uhh what else? Right - what I look like. 5’11, white, brown hair, well groomed beard, not fat, not skinny. I’ve been told my best feature is my blue eyes. Happy to trade pics or FaceTime or whatever.
What am I looking for in you? Shit idk lol I’d be surprised if this even gets me any messages. But if it does, I’ll guess I’ll see you there!

I’ve never been a “girlfriend guy”, if you know what I mean. I’ve always had an independent streak, and no problem being alone. My past relationships didn’t exactly blossom. Love and vulnerability are scary. Recently, I’ve discovered something scarier: loneliness.
Also, dating at 30 lol…
So here I am, looking for something real on the internet, and if you’re reading this, so are you. God help us.
A little about me: I’m a musician. I play the drums and some keyboard. Love the outdoors, but I’m not a huge fan of travel. I guess one of the (only) perks of living in PA is that Mother Nature is right at your doorstep! I’d really like to get into bicycling; there’s some great trails around me. You know anything about it?
I’m a huge tv/movie buff, not in an annoying snooty way, but more of in an appreciative way lol isn’t it so cool that we have the oldest human tradition of story telling literally on demand at our fingertips?! I like all genres - I’d love to share favorites with you!
I’m a huge sports fan, particularly soccer and football. Go Union/Go Birds. As far as music goes, I like most everything, from Slipknot to Glasper. And my food, I like it spicy. Very spicy.
Uhh what else? Right - what I look like. 5’11, white, brown hair, well groomed beard, not fat, not skinny. I’ve been told my best feature is my blue eyes. Happy to trade pics or FaceTime or whatever.
What am I looking for in you? Shit idk lol I’d be surprised if this even gets me any messages. But if it does, I’ll guess I’ll see you there!

Hey everyone! 👋 I'm RBS, a self-improvement coach, and I've got something special to offer you, absolutely free—no strings attached.
But before I dive into that, let me share a little secret with you. Just a year ago, my life was pretty tough. Every day seemed clouded with negative thoughts, and my relationships, both with myself and others, were strained. Feeling alone and worthless was my norm, and I settled for less because I couldn't believe I deserved any better. It felt like a hopeless cycle.
I was constantly worried that no matter how hard I tried, I'd never measure up. This fear kept me tossing and turning at night. I tried improving myself, but it felt like I was stuck in an uphill battle with no end in sight. I started questioning if all the effort was even worth it. At times, it seemed like my fate was sealed by what I was born with—like success was reserved for the naturally gifted.
But then, something incredible happened about a year ago. Thanks to the grace of Allah (God), my life took a turn. Now, I chase my dreams with an unparalleled drive, exuding confidence and energy like never before! Today, I'm happier and more accomplished than I ever thought possible.
So, what changed in that year? It was surprisingly simple... I stumbled across my mentor.
But why a mentor, you might ask? Having a mentor was a game-changer for me. It wasn't just about getting directions; my mentor provided priceless feedback, drawing from his own life experiences. He has been through it all and knows what worked. When things got tough, he was there to give me that extra push and remind me of my potential...
So, if you're feeling stuck, consider seeking guidance from a mentor. Someone who's been in your shoes and can help you navigate the path ahead.
That's why I'm passionate about mentoring others for free! As a self-improvement coach, I'm dedicated to helping young men transform their lives and become the best versions of themselves. I draw from various sources like books, podcasts, studies, philosophy, and personal research.

What you will unlock 🔓:

1. **Boost your masculinity**: Walk into any room with your head held high, feeling a surge of confidence and strength that makes navigating the world effortless.
   
2. **Achieve your dreams**: Imagine crossing the finish line of your biggest goal, feeling the thrill of turning your aspirations into reality, and living the life you want.
   
3. **Embrace better habits**: Feel happier and healthier as you leave behind what holds you back and step into a brighter, more fulfilling future.
   
4. **Improve your looks**: Imagine people nodding in approval as you walk by, feeling confident and catching everyone's eye with your undeniable charm.
   
5. **Manage stress, overthinking, and other mental problems**: Feel peaceful and strong inside, helping you handle life's ups and downs with ease and calmness.
   
6. **Conquer obstacles**: Develop the strength and determination to overcome challenges and achieve your goals, like a resilient mountain climber scaling peaks in the face of adversity.
   
7. **Achieve more with less effort**: Boost your productivity and efficiency, like a swift arrow hitting its target with precision, allowing you to invest time and energy in what truly brings you joy.
   
8. **Establish routines**: Experience the sense of stability and control that comes from establishing healthy habits and routines that support your well-being and success.
   
9. **Financial ideas and business ideas**: Experience the joy of being in control of your finances and running successful businesses, as you learn to manage your money wisely and explore profitable opportunities.
   
10. **Master communication and social skills**: Take pride in being known as "that guy" among your friends, as they rave about your outgoing personality and the meaningful bonds you create, earning you the reputation of a true friend and a genuine charmer.
    
11. **Finding Your Purpose**: Uncover the deep meaning in life and your core values, where everything falls into place and makes sense for you.
    

I keep it simple. No complex strategies, just straightforward guidance to elevate your life.
In just a month, I've already had 4 people book sessions with me. Testimonials are available on my profile page. It's a month-long commitment, with the option to cancel if you don't see results after 2 weeks. Sessions are 45 minutes, twice a week, or an hour once a week if you prefer. And if you're not satisfied after the initial call, you can cancel with no further obligation. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain—so why not give it a shot?
It's time to take the next step. Just send me a DM, and I'll provide all the details you need.
Imagine sitting at the family dinner table, radiating confidence and success. Your family members might glance at you with envy, noticing how manly and prosperous you've become. Let's schedule a call to begin turning those dreams into reality.
It's easy. Don't let your fear win. Conquer your fear, and take the first step by sending me a DM now!
**Note**: While coaching can be immensely helpful, it's essential to prioritize your health. If you're dealing with severe depression, chronic pain, or any other challenges, don't hesitate to seek medical support.
Note (We will only be able to coach another 3 maximum because we already have 2)