Somebody requested that I write down some resources for Dzogchen in the sidebar, so I thought I would do as post as well to give a sort of background and offer anyone else the chance to get in on the conversation or building of resources too...

A Word on Secrecy, Safety Maturity, and Cults

I'm writing this post out by request of someone who messaged me, with the intention of reaching a wider audience, or all beings, who could benefit from learning about these teachings. I have to caution, though, that they may not be for everybody, and in that regard, I would advise gentleness, with yourself and others, with regards to this path. Please take care of yourself, and keep a measure of your own mind with regard to your mental health and these practices. I wish that those who read this post are only those who it may help, and those it may hurt don't have to see it at all.
With that in mind, I can maybe share a little bit about the secrecy aspect of Vajrayana. Someone who learns about these practices but does not genuinely practice them can generate obstacles to their own awakening; specifically with Dzogchen there is a real danger of intellectualizing the practice such that one covers over their own mind with a sheen of thoughts and fabrication, blocking one from advancing. In that regard, this particular practice is called self secret. From what I know, many Lamas won't introduce one to the practice if they aren't sure the student has the capability to grasp it, and also - the student won't be able to practice it if they're not able to.
On the subject of cults - I have to note that Dzogchen practice can be very personal, but that is not a license for any teacher to abuse you, in any form, ever. Things that happened in the past - students getting slapped, hit with shoes, etc. - happened in the past - but that doesn't make them appropriate teachings devices today. A genuinely compassionate teacher won't take advantage of your practice to abuse you, steal your money, degrade you, control you, or anything like that. If they try to - it is more likely that you've stumbled on a cult, and should get out as fast as you can.
As far as general safety in the practice goes, Lama Lena has written this (and I'm shamelessly stealing it from her website):
"The responsibility to take care of your own mind rests with you; not the lama, not your mom, not your cat. So, take it upon yourself to be safe and use common sense."
Please, read that whole page and heed the warnings.

My Practice

I've been working with Dzogchen for about 3.5 years now, since approximately the end of 2020. I'd been interested in Mahayana practices for the better part of a decade before that, but mostly just practicing Samatha by the way of Anapanasati and Metta, and also through the framework provided by *The Mind Illuminated*. I had been curious about Dzogchen for a bit, mostly from reading about it on Wikipedia and just, in general, being interested in seeing what the fuss is surrounding vajrayana, tantra, and the "highest system" called Atiyoga.
By chance, I happened to see a comment on /Dzogchen from someone who basically said "If anyone is looking for pointing out, feel free to message me." So I sent them a message giving my general background and motivation for the practice, and they invited me to join them on meditationonline.org - which had been a place they'd been doing meditation for a few years (and still do, I suppose I'd consider myself part of that sangha). I happened to meet the individual who I'd been messaging, a Nyingma lama called Dawai Gocha, and received pointing out, along with teachings for the next few years... up until the present day.
My main practice now is Dzogchen - I gradually transitioned into this from Anapanasati over the course of about six months - and most of my sessions are now just me resting in awareness - Rigpa. I generally do augment this however with other practices, like Satipatthana, mantra recitation, and other practices from the three main vehicles, simply because I like to do them and find them helpful on the path.

What is Dzogchen?

I can't say anything that has not already been said by others, in particular, meditation masters with vastly more experience than I have - but to put it simply, Dzogchen practice can encompass a large number of different types of ancillary practices, and one central practice, which the ancillaries are meant to accomplish. The main practice is resting in the Rigpa.

How to Learn

"Get pointing out instructions from a qualified teacher before embarking on Dzogchen and Mahamudra. A teacher can address pressing questions as they arise and give you a map and tools for the journey. As practitioners, we can rely on those who have hiked the trail before us." - Lama Lena
Since the awareness nature is always present in every being, it is both simple to learn and simple to maintain the practice - being that one just simply is introduced to the awareness nature, and then abides in it at all times.
As far as being introduced to that awareness, in my experience there are many avenues, such as getting pointed out in person( verbally or non verbally), in visions, through texts, in dreams, etc. In one of her videos, Lama Lena goes through, I think, five different days that transmission/pointing out can happen.
But in my experience, getting pointing out, repeatedly and periodically, from a teacher is the most effective (and probably the most important) way to learn, like having someone coach you through riding a bicycle, until you finally internalize the fundamentals and are able ride on your own. Even someone that can check your progress, humble you, and keep you from common pitfalls, can be extremely helpful. Dzogchen, to me and from what I have read from e.g. Tulku Urgyen, is very simple, so simple that many people are able to miss it extremely easily. Whether we miss it because we're so worked up, or because we are subtly fabricating something and fixating on the fabrication - there is a miss, and from what I know, it's better to realize that than carry on doing whatever else. The harsh reality of Dzogchen practice is that fixation, because we're so habituated to it as human beings, is extremely easy, and being led astray by fixation means your meditation becomes a conditioned Samatha practice. On a lighter note though - from my perspective, one we learn to continually distinguish between Consciousness from Wisdom, we are on very solid ground, and it becomes easier and easier to recognize when we've become fixated.
On the subject of teachers - I would consider myself to have had many teachers. My main teacher, I mentioned before, is a lama I talk to live over the internet, but I would also say I've received teachings from recordings, from books, and in dreams. For clarity, I will state again: having a teacher that you can use to verify your practice is very important so as not to fall into common pitfalls. Whether you are confirming your experience through texts, reasoning, pointing out videos, whatever - do it repeatedly will help because otherwise, as a beginner, one can be lost for days, weeks, months, etc. without finding awareness again. I've seen people on Dzogchen who, unfortunately, even though they got pointing out from great teachers, were not able to realize the practice because they lost it and then never were able to find it again, and so need the pointing out again. Others get the pointing out repeatedly - practice a lot, and attain good results over time. In that way, from my perspective, having continual access to the teachings is very important. Fortunately, we live in a good time for this.
I'll get to recommend specifics later but - this is my perspective - although some people say that you can't get transmission over recordings or the internet, or from books - I actually do doubt that that is that case, just from experience. But, I must caution that all of my experience in this realm comes from after the point in time that I received live pointing out.
This all being said - regardless of how one feels at a specific time or place, there's no reason not to ever refrain from confirming one's experience or view against the words of masters. There are others that have said this, who have more experience, but until we are Buddhas ourselves and phenomena have exhausted, there is no reason to ever stop practicing. Ever. If you are practice, there is no need to make effort, and all phenomena will come and go without trouble. Namkhai Norbu says almost exactly this in The Cycle of Day and Night.

Finding A Teacher

"Do not expect to travel this path guided only by books and the internet! Use the internet to find a teacher, then connect with them." - Lama Lena
It's taken a while to get here, my apologies for that.
For finding a teacher, I think any lama that has accomplished a three year retreat will be proficient in either Mahamudra or Dzogchen (both Atiyoga - subtle differenes but the same essential practice), and will likely be able to give pointing out instructions.
Not all may do so at first. Some may want a more personal relationship, some may require Ngondro, and some may say "sorry I don't really give those teachings". Some may require a baseline knowledge of the practice first - for example the Tergar program does.
That being said, there are many places to receive pointing out for free and in public.
Off the top of my head, I can name four that are always open and free: Lama Lena on Facebook and Youtube, The Rangdrol Foundation (run by the reddit user u/jigdrol), MeditationOnline.org, and The Pristine Mind Foundation . I know there are others, but at least to me on reddit nad personally, these have been the most visible. I do know that Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (Mahamudra Dzogchen) and James Low (Dzogchen) occasionally give pointing out instructions and videos on the practice. As well - many other lama do on occasion, and especially Bon lamas - practitioners and Yogis from the Tibetan Indigenous religion.
Edit: Here is a recent list of online teachers compiled by Dzogchen
Once you've received pointing out, there are also numerous public books, and texts one can read to deepen their understanding and/or background in the teachings, a few of which I've read and can list below. I'll also try to find some links that I care share too.
Many texts on Dzogchen, Mahyana and Vajrayana in general can be found on the excellent Lotsawahouse.org
A list of a few books that I've read and can personally recommend. Please note - these books (with the exception of Transcending AFAIK) are best read after having received transmission:
The Cycle of Day and Night by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
Dzogchen: Heart Essence of the Great Perfection by HH The Dalai Lama
Zurchungpa's Testament by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Vajra Heart Revisited by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Transcending Ego: Distinguishing Consciousness from Wisdom by Thrangu Rinpoche
Also, I've not read the Trilogy of Rest by Longchenpa but heard that they're excellent.
Anyways, this about wraps up the post. If you have any questions or additional comments, they are very welcome.

Been struggling recently in what feels like a pretty unique vein after being traumatized by therapy and just wondering if I might be able to find some community here. I have a lot of disorders that sort of take center stage at different phases of my life, but the biggest things I’m wrestling with right now are ocd tendencies and dissociation. Just wondering if anyone else out here is navigating this balance.
Sometimes when I’m in a triggered space but I have to keep doing human things, like being at work, my brain kind of switches between feeling overwhelmed by triggers and straight up checking out. Like sometimes I’ll feel myself getting overwhelmed by intrusive thoughts, compulsions etc, and then suddenly I feel disconnected from my surroundings, like they’re not entirely real. Sometimes they’re replaced with a vision that I’m somewhere calming like walking through a field of reeds or past a waterfall. It’s a little scary feeling that out of control, especially at work.
Idk, this has been a bit rambly. Mild dissociation seems to be my baseline now, sorry if this only kind of made sense. Just curious if anyone can relate cause I’m feeling pretty alone right now. Thanks for reading.

Keep in mind this is my rating of the enjoyment I get out of the arcs, and not what I think they should receive based on the quality of the arc. For example, I think the Buu Saga easily has the biggest and the most issues out of any arc from DBZ, but that doesn't stop my enjoyment of it as you can tell from my rating. I also think I likely have quite a few hot takes and will anger some of you who can't understand that everyone enjoys different things.
Dragon ball Z
Saiyan Saga - 8.5/10, One of my first hot takes I imagine. Don't get me wrong this arc is iconic and from a writing perspective is one of the best in Dragon ball. I still love it obviously but I won't lie I am just a complete hoe for transformations so the lack of cool blonde hair results in this arc being a bit lower for me. Goku vs Vegeta is still so iconic and I enjoyed Raditz as well.
Frieza Saga - 9.7/10, So close to a 10, but I wouldn't quite go all the way there. I love the seeing Gohan and Krillin going around Namek as well as seeing the introduction to Frieza. He's imo the best villain in all of Dragon ball and he made quite a mark in this arc. Some of the scenes with Vegeta made me feel so tense and worried for the characters. Goku showing up and fucking up the Ginyu force is amazing and obviously going SSJ for the first time is one of the best moments in all of manga/anime. I don't really even have many criticisms of the arc, and on some days I may even give it a 10 honestly.
Cell Saga - 9.8/10, Again quite close to a 10 and I hold it in very similar regard to the Frieza saga. I must've watched Gohan going SSJ2 and fighting Cell hundreds of times as a kid. This arc kind of speaks for itself, I still love Gohan's character to this day and his character which lead to this point was great and this was such an amazing payoff. Trunk's introduction is amazing as well and we get cool characters in the Androids too. I could go on even more but I've rambled enough.
Majin Buu Saga - 9.9/10, I'm sure this is where the hate will come. Again let me say, I do not think this arc is better than the others in DBZ, but I'm ranking my enjoyment of it. There are quite a few stupid aspects of the arc and characters like Gohan were greatly mis-used. Regardless of this though I still find this arc to be insanely captivating and entertaining. One big part of it is that I adore kid Trunks, Goten, and Gotenks. We also have Vegeta's big moment which was great for his development. Like I mentioned before I absolutely love transformations and this arc had tons of them. Also, I honestly like Buu as a villain more than most, especially in his fat form and Kid Buu when he just became even scarier.
Dragon Ball Super
Battle of Gods - 9.5/10, Here comes another hot take. It's worth noting I am talking about the movie, not the anime or the manga. Beerus has become one of my favourite characters in all of Dragon ball and I loved his introduction in this movie. I know some have issues with the CGI used in some scenes but overall I loved the animation of the fights. It also has great moments like when Beerus slaps Bulma which pisses Vegeta off and obviously the big fight between Goku and Beerus. I'm a sucker for the more chill shit like the crew all just hanging out and I enjoyed the comedy throughout.
Resurrection F - 9.2/10, Pretty similar to the Battle of Gods really, I enjoyed the silly scenes and comedy and also thought the fight with Frieza was pretty entertaining. Story wise I think this one has some really big faults but overall I still like watching it despite that. Could it potentially have been so much better? Yeah definitely but what can ya do
Universe 6 Saga - 8.6/10, This arc was solid, I just feel it doesn't have the highs that the other arcs have. It dragged on at points and the fights were solid, but nothing that special when compared to many of the fights from other arcs in DBS. Goku vs Hit is definitely the highlight imo but it was also cool seeing Vegeta take on a mentor role with Cabba.
Goku Black - 9/10, this one is tough because it has some really amazing moments, but also as I'm sure most agree the ending is really stupid. Goku Black as a villain makes the arc entertaining nonetheless and there are some well written moments for Goku, Vegeta, and Trunks in it as well. The fights are fun to watch and I love seeing the new forms.
ToP - 9.6/10, This one is hard to rate honestly, as it has some insane highs but also goes on for a long time with some parts really dragging. Overall the high moments in the arc are enough to make me rate it so highly though. Goku vs Jiren is an all time fight and Ultra Instinct is obviously such a good transformation.
Moro - 9.9, This one may come as a surprise, but I absolutely loved reading this arc. It felt a lot more like DBZ than anything else in Super to this point and overall I thought Moro was a great villain. His design was pretty cool before he transformed and overall I thought the character development for Goku and especially Vegeta was great. The whole concept of Moro as a villain and his powers are so interesting and seeing him actually be such a challenge for Goku and Vegeta was really neat. The final battle between all of them is insanely cool and overall I just love this arc.
Granolah - 9.8/10, This is probably also a shock to you all but similarly to the last arc, I just loved the character development for both Goku and Vegeta. Seeing both of their new forms was great and some of the panels with both of them are next level. This arc definitely had some questionable writing decisions but again the highs of the arc far outweigh that to me. There are some interesting characters like Granolah and it was great to see more about Bardock too.
As you can tell, I love both DBZ and DBS a ton and that I have a very different taste than most in regard to my enjoyment of DBZ and DBS arcs. Feel free to give your thoughts on my ratings as well as your own or just any thoughts

I saw someone else did something like this recently and thought that I might have something to add to the discussion to help people figure out whether they think this program is right for them, or for people currently in the program to help them plan out classes.
My background is very heavy in statistics and finance (I'm an actuary), so my grounding in calculus, statistics, linear algebra, and business topics was considerably better than most of the other people I interacted with in this program. Conversely, I'm sure my programming skills were probably about average or maybe a little bit below compared to someone with a more targeted background towards those skills.
I started in Fall of 2020 and just finished up this month, Spring 2024. I started out just taking one class a semester and never changed up that plan, would highly recommend doing the same if you're working full time alongside; there's no reason to rush this program. I got a 4.0 GPA overall, although I never really stressed that much about it and definitely did not shy away from "harder" classes in order to bolster GPA. I did this to learn, not to get good grades. The classes I took, in order (my memory of some of the earlier ones might be a bit jumbled as so much time has passed):

1. CSE 6040 - I mentioned how my programming background was weaker relative to my mathematical background. However, reflecting on my experience in this class, it was probably still pretty strong. This class is focused on generalized programming skills, you don't really get into the analytics and modeling that much; it's more of a primer on things like functions, recursion, computer memory management, etc. It's been a few years, but I don't remember struggling with this class at all, and most of the concepts covered (object oriented programming, things like byte encoding, hexadecimal forms, recursion, etc.) were things I was already familiar with in another programming language (this class was in Python) or was relatively easy to pick up. From what I remember, the assignments were auto-graded and you had unlimited attempts, not to mention the fact that most of the prompts were to produce some predetermined result... and, as long as you were able to verify that your code produced that result, you got full points. I didn't miss a single point in this entire class. I believe there were "final exams" which were really just timed window coding assignments much like the homework, and you could do the assignments at any point during a 4-day window or something like that.
2. ISYE 6501 - This class was R-based and focused on basic analytics models. The material was much more applied than 6040. Similarly, the material was not difficult, and I was familiar with a lot of the basic models already (such as GLMs) from having worked with them in my job. The grading was done on a peer-grading framework; based on who anonymously is assigned your homework to grade, you can get someone who's a stickler for every point on the guide, or people who are a bit more lenient. I never really worried much about how things were graded in this class; yeah, I did miss some points arbitrarily, but nothing that made that much of a difference. If you generally put in the work and understand the material, your peers will recognize that. I found this a bit more interesting than 6040 because, rather than a deterministic "right answer", there was some more creativity implied here to solve each problem. There was a final project for this class where you walked through a hypothetical analytics problem and explained how you would go about solving it. I found this an interesting thought exercise and enjoyed this class. The pacing felt a little fast, as you basically had an assignment due each week, but the assignments were small. Like 6040 I found this class to be quite easy but I didn't 100% it due to the peer grading thing.
3. MGT 8803 - I almost applied to be exempt from this class, as my background intersects a lot with the material. The accounting and finance modules for this class literally did not teach me anything new. Supply chain was new for me and I found it interesting. I'm trying to remember what the other module was. I think it was marketing? I didn't like it. Overall I found this class quite easy for the aforementioned reasons, however I've heard from a lot of the other folks without business backgrounds that this class was pretty tough so take my opinions with a grain of salt. Taking this in the summer cut out one of the modules, normally there are 5 but in Summer there are 4. I figured this made sense to take during the truncated semester because I was unlikely to cover that much new material, and it turns out I was right about that. Each module lasted 2 weeks (I think in a normal semester it lasts 3) and has a timed multiple-choice test at the end. A lot of people didn't like this format compared to ISYE 6501 and CSE 6040; I'm not really sure how else this material could've been covered. This class was OK, the material is not really that deep but it's a pretty good primer on a large number of business topics.
4. ISYE 6740 - The first class I took that was actually pretty challenging, which makes sense considering the first 3 courses were just the basic core. This is pretty much an intro to machine learning as a discipline, and the first time I remember digging into academic papers that discuss some machine learning topic and attempting to recreate the results (this is something we did a lot in the more advanced classes going forward and incidentally now that I have graduated is probably one of the best ways to go about learning a new topic). I remember this class as having a format similar to ISYE 6501/CSE6040 in that you had large programming assignments to do, as well as open-book "exams" which were really just timed programming assignments. Assignments are not auto-graded; TA's review each one and thus the assignments have much more of a focus on explaining your findings than producing the exact expected output (unlike 6040). Some of the theory questions have you applying complicated matrix algebra rules that I'm not surprised a lot of people struggled with. The TA responsiveness in this class was pretty good from what I remember, but your mileage may vary. I remember getting 3 weeks to do each assignment but I also remember not thinking that was a lot of time, these assignments are very extensive, have many parts, and take a long time to get through. Like with 6040 I ended up not missing a single point in this class but I did find it difficult and spent significantly more time working on it than in prior classes, probably 10-15 hrs a week, give or take.
5. ISYE 6644 - I was familiar with maybe 50% of the material we covered due to my extensive statistics background, however I was not aware of the exact mechanics of random number generation or the concept of a batched mean, for example. I remember this class having several "check your understanding" quizzes that focused on the mathematical foundations. Didn't struggle with this much in terms of difficulty and found the material very useful. Setting up custom simulation environments is very useful and arena is pretty cool even if it's unlikely you'll ever use it. Some assignments feature similar tools in Python (simpy). There might have been some coverage of R in this as well, or at least the accommodation for people that wanted to use it. There was a project for this class, but you didn't have to come up with the topic on your own, you could pick from a list, and you could do your project on your own if you wanted (which, given the option, was always the choice I made, due to the inherent randomness in picking the right members of a group). However you can do a group project if you want.
6. MGT 6203 - The first of the classes I took that required a group project. I recommend you are proactive in putting together groups in situations like these, posting threads on Ed/whatever the forum is as soon as the class begins. My group was alright; not everyone in it was great, but we had enough going overall to make up for the weaker group members. The project has some arbitrary guidelines from what I remember - you need to put together a midterm report and video presentation that is no more than ~2 minutes long or something like that (if it's 2:01 you get penalized) and the final report is 5 minutes or less, and everyone in the group needs to speak. I honestly don't remember much else about this class, it was pretty forgettable, but not horrible. Not overall that difficult, another business class so a lot of topics I was already familiar with, but there was more new here than in 8803.
7. CSE 6242 - Another class with a group project. Again, I was proactive, and again, overall, my group was... okay. Some people who were really good, some who were... not. This class is characterized by a lot of assignments that are autograded, like 6040, but the assignments are a bit more difficult. Overall not that difficult with the exception of the D3 assignment, but that's more due to the fact that I'm not really sure how the autograder works for that; it tries to determine based on some internal structure of your html code whether or not you're fulfilling the requirements. I got a perfect score on all of the assignments, and they give you the chance to score over 100% on I believe either assignment 1 or assignment 2. A lot of people bombed the D3 assignment (I think it's assignment 2) but still did well in the class because it's not that hard to do well on everything else, so keep that in mind. This class does a great job of exposing you to a lot of new technologies, but there isn't that much depth to it. That's not really the point of this kind of class though, it equips you with the tools to explore things deeper if you so choose.
8. ISYE 8803 - I was a big fan of this class. It's taught in MATLAB but you can use Python if you so choose, you'll see in reviews of this class that you should really just use MATLAB since a lot of the sample code etc. is not in other languages, so that's what I did. However, they must've recently added Python and R code for sample solutions, so feel free to use what you want. MATLAB was interesting, there were parts of one assignment I also used R for (grouped lasso in R is a lot more straightforward). This class is all about high dimensional data and representing it in a more simplified and comprehensive way, think about something like sonar which might have datapoints separated by milliseconds and thus a very dense representation of a signal captured over a short period of time. After ISYE 6740, I found this to be the class that taught me the most up to this point.
9. CS 7642 - Taking this class in summer is kind of rough. There's 6 homework assignments that are autograded, similar format to CSE 6040. There are 3 projects which are much larger programming assignments for which you'll write papers explaining methodology, results, etc. These projects take a while, particularly project 3. I did well on projects 1 and 2 and decently on 3, although I spent the most time on 3 by far; it involves reinforcement learning to simulate a soccer environment and train agents how to play against an AI developed externally. The AI baselines are hard to beat, and I didn't manage to beat them, but I wrote a decent paper explaining what I did. The final exam for this class should be dropped as it doesn't add value to the class, people regularly score extremely low on it, the average score in the class was something like a 45%. I scored a bit lower than average but still got an A in the class because it was heavily curved. Reinforcement learning is a very interesting topic, though, and I would highly recommend this class as a primer on the material. It's probably a good idea not to take it in the summer, though.
10. CS 7643 - This class was pretty difficult but I still think 6740 was tougher. The material is extremely dense. There are parts of programming assignments that are autograded, but also short answer portions that are reviewed by TAs. Grading on those were pretty subjective. This is the only class I can remember really needing to discuss things with TAs to understand what was being asked a little better. Unfortunately, the TAs in the semester I took this weren't the best. They seemed more concerned with unintentionally giving away a bit too much information in any of their responses. I can understand this, but it came off as intentionally opaque most of the time. There was a group project for this course as well, and my group was excellent, probably the best experience I had with a group in this program. I can imagine how much this course would've sucked if I would've had a mediocre/bad group. Based on discussions with my group, some of the grading seemed highly arbitrary, with some TAs grading similar responses to the same question differently. Like I said above, though, I never really worried about this. I never once in this program ever disputed a grade, and I continued with that in this class as well.
11. CSE 6748 - Practicum and final class. For this class you get to choose between a number of pre-determined Georgia Tech sponsors, or form your own project for your own employesome external entity. It was a lot more work to do this, so I just went with one of the pre-determined GTech ones. I really enjoyed this one, I had constant communication with the sponsor as I developed my project and came up with something that I was quite proud of. I wanted to explore a natural language processing task, so I picked a project that I thought would allow me to do this, and was very satisfied with the result. There's a number of videos you have to watch that explain some overarching aspect of analytics that were pretty interesting as well, you can watch all of these in a single day and then focus on the project if you like. It's possible to finish the entire semester's work in just a few weeks, I was able to do the entire project and write the final paper in about a month's time, at which point I coordinated with the sponsor to tailor the work I did to a format that they would be able to implement for their business problem if they wanted to.

I can't comment on the job placement prospects of this program, as I just finished it and was actively employed the entire time I was in it. As an actuary there's not much this program does that my exam certification process didn't in terms of career prospects. However, it did position me much better within the context of the expanding role of data and analytics in insurance going forward, and also opens me up to similarly mathematical roles with a firmer grounding in big data and also some business elements (quantitative finance/data science roles). There were also things I learned in this program that I was able to apply directly to my day-to-day work. If you're considering this program, I would recommend you think about a few things:

1. I'm pretty shocked at how many people I saw during my program who didn't really think that much about why they're doing this. I get that the barrier to entry is low, but it's a serious commitment if you're actually trying to graduate. Most of the people who start this program don't finish, so consider whether you're ready to spend almost 4 years going to school part-time, or if you're able to double up on classes for some of the semesters. Most of the people I know in the program doubled up at least once, I never did but I was never in a hurry. If you must double up, don't make it your first semester. Dip your toe in the water, see how it is, and then reassess. But, above all else, think about why you want to do this, and use that as your guiding goal to bring you through to the end.
2. Something I tended to see pretty much without fail in most of my classes - a lot of the graduate students in this program spend way too much time worrying about minute, particular details that don't really matter. Maybe it was just my philosophy that I would probably never dispute a grade, or that I was never really that concerned with getting a perfect GPA, etc. but I was always marveling at what I saw asked in Ed posts. People would ask whether they could use a certain programming language for an assignment, what packages they were allowed to use, would post screenshots of bugs and ask for TA's to help walk them through it, etc. Generally, without fail, the TAs would respond along the lines of: use whatever programming language you want, as long as you can display your output/submit it in a way that we can verify by running ourselves, we'll make the effort; use the debugger to step through your code to find the problem; etc. Generally, in most cases, the assignments and questions are designed in a way to teach you something, to get you to realize/understand some pattern or data concept that has some underlying logic that makes sense. For example, the idea of saliency maps on image processing takes the 3-channel RGB color pixel shading representation of an image and condenses it into a single channel, and, as a result of that, loses some resolution in suggesting parts of the image driving a model result that might be different depending on the channel; i.e., an image with a very heavily blue-shaded part that detracts from a certain result, but with a red-shaded part somewhere else that increases the probability of the modeled result. This was part of a conceptual question on how saliency maps differed from other pixel influence attribution methods in Deep Learning, and is part of what you should logically understand since it reduces the channels of the image representation from 3 (R, G, B) to 1 (usually grayscale). I think people tend to run to the TA the second they have difficulty with something and don't stop for a second to think it through, one exercise I might recommend is to consider: if you ran into this problem out in the world and you didn't have a TA/managesome other authority figure to explain the answer to you, what do you think it might be? Does the answer even matter? If it still matters and you have no idea how to solve it, maybe then you can go to the TA.
3. In every single group project I worked on, we had an initial planning session where we determined the scope of what we wanted to do. For most of the projects, this was an essential deliverable in addition to the final paper. However, in almost every case, someone in the group was always playing some game of runaway scope where they kept on wanting to add methods/questions to exploration beyond what was initially planned in ways that I intuitively knew would be impossible to manage in just one semester. I often had to say something along the lines of "if we have time we'll do that" or "when we write up our paper, we can put that in the avenues for future exploration section" or something similar. It turns out that we never had time to look into these things, and our initial scope was usually well-defined considering the time we had. I'm not sure why this was always so front-and-center in my focus, maybe since I used to work in consulting and project budgeting/scoping is so unbelievably important in that context. Whatever the case may be, understand that you won't be able to change the world every time you do a project. Make some incremental improvement, reflect on the results, and then include some notes in a "potential avenues for future exploration" section. I was pretty surprised at how many people had so much trouble putting the pencils down at the end. I can practically guarantee that, for the classes where I did a project on my own, I probably did substantially less work than other individual groups for precisely this reason. In general, you probably don't have to do as much work as you think you do.

So, would I recommend the program overall? Absolutely. It's not perfect, I found some of the formats annoying - CS 7642 has no business having that final exam, it adds nothing to the class at all, is arbitrarily extremely difficult and the class is good enough and complete enough with the removal of that exam that its inclusion to me appears to be the result of some arbitrary quota somewhere. I also don't really like the group project format and profoundly disagree with the reasoning that GTech and most other academic institutions give as to why group projects are even good or necessary, however I do acknowledge that from a logistics and resource standpoint it's unmanageable to grade individual projects for every single person in a given class and group projects do decrease the number of papers that TAs will have to read. Considering the scale of what GTech has managed to do, and how many students enroll each year, I'm surprised the program is as well-managed as it is. Yes, it does require a lot of self-teaching, but in most cases you can actively engage with TAs multiple times a week if you're struggling with topics and from what I've seen they were very responsive.
Anyways just wanted to give my perspective as someone who just finished this program and still thinks it's worthwhile despite its flaws.

I’ve been considering switching to only full star ratings as I feel it’ll make cataloguing films significantly neater and less stressful for me. I’m curious if people who don’t use 1/2 stars feel this is the case.
I don’t think this would be an issue for me in regards to lower star ratings (seriously, what’s the difference between a 1/2 star and a one star rating? Trash is trash). Where I think I would struggle is higher ratings, as there are certainly many films I would consider to be too good for 4 stars but not good enough for the full 5.
I think I need to remove the idea from my brain that stars correlate to numbers. If I want to change my ratings, I need to erase the idea that 4 stars would equal an 8, as an example. Did anyone else struggle with this?

At the world’s top college of magic and technology, every day brings a new discovery -and a new disaster. The advanced experiments of the college students tend to be both ambitious and apocalyptic, with the end of the world only prevented by a mysterious time loop, and a small handful of students who retain their memories.
Surviving the loops was hard enough, but now, in his senior year, Vell Harlan must take charge of them, and deal with the fact that the whole world now knows his secrets. Everyone knows about Vell’s death and resurrection, along with the divine game he is a part of. Now Vell must contend with overly curious scientists and evil billionaires hungry for divine power while the daily doomsday cycle bombards him with terrorists, talking elephants, and the Grim Reaper himself -but if he can endure it all, the Last Goddess’s game promises the ultimate prize: power over life itself.
[Previous Chapter][Patreon][Cover Art]
“Should I be worried?”
Why would you be worried?” Kim said. “Dean Lichman loves us.”
Dean Lichman had asked the two of them to stop by his office, though his brief message had not said what for. That left Vell to concoct nightmare scenarios in his head.
“He doesn’t love all of us.”
“Alex doesn’t count as ‘us’,” Kim said. She was a looper in purely a technical sense, mostly due to her own refusal to be a team player. “Besides, she’s been behaving lately. She’s only been an asshole, not an active liability.”
“That we know of.”
“If we don’t know about it, Dean probably doesn’t either,” Kim said. “It’s fine, Vell, he probably just wants to ask us for advice or deal with some problem he has.”
“That’s not much better,” Vell said. “How weird would things have to be that the Dean is asking us for help personally?”
“Only one way to find out,” Kim said. She gestured to the door to the Dean’s office.
Kim entered first, and found it in much the same state as it always was. The desk piled high with paperwork, a small bowl of assorted candies shoved into the corner of the desk, and Dean Lichman behind it, frantically tapping away on a laptop. Vell had not been in this office for several years, and it was vastly different than the last time he’d been here.
“Ah, there you are, come in, have a seat,” Dean Lichman said. “Unless you’d rather we have our conversation elsewhere, Vell.”
“Why would I want that?”
“Well, it’s my understanding you haven’t been in this office since my, uh, predecessor,” Dean Lichman said.
“Oh, right, the kidnapping,” Vell said. “No, I’m good, I don’t really get traumatized by things anymore.”
Vell had been killed too many different ways in too many different places to have a functional trauma response. A few days ago he’d gotten his legs chewed off by a vending machine, and still stopped by it to pick up a soda on his way to the office.
“That’s a very concerning response, Mr. Harlan.”
“Yeah. Anyway, what did you need?”
Dean Lichman gestured for the duo to take a seat, and both did so. He folded desiccated hands in front of himself before beginning to speak.
“I would like to ask you two to take a look at an experiment that will be occurring later this week,” Dean Lichman said. “I don’t have any reason to believe it poses a threat, but I would like to be assured it is a safe and ethical environment, and, well, you two have a knack for identifying trouble spots.”
“You could say that,” Kim said. It was more accurate to say that trouble had a way of identifying them -and then leaping at them and ripping their heads off.
“I’d appreciate it if the two of you could simply examine the laboratory and give it your approval, or disapproval, as the case may be,” Dean Lichman said. “Though if you’re too busy, I fully understand.”
“If you don’t think this is dangerous, why are you asking for our help anyway?”
“Simply for my own peace of mind, frankly,” Dean Lichman said. “The school’s policies on animal experimentation are...satisfactory, I suppose, but I do want to take extra precautions when the subject is a creature as smart as an elephant.”
“An elephant?”
“Yes, a resident of a reserve in Thailand,” Dean Lichman said. “An older elephant by the name of Mae Noi. She has cancer, apparently, and she is submitting to experimental treatment in the hopes it will be useful for younger elephants.”
Kim’s digital face briefly flashed with a facial expression of concerned skepticism.
“‘She’ is submitting to treatment? As in the elephant?”
“Yes. Apparently the elephant can talk,” Dean Lichman said. “No, I don’t know how it works, they said it was ‘more impressive in person’.”
“Well now I kind of want to go just to see the talking elephant,” Vell said.
“Same.”
“Well, do try to take a few glances at the experiment’s safety while you’re there,” Dean Lichman said.
“Sounds like a plan,” Vell said. “Thanks for the heads up.”
“I’ll be there too,” Kim said.
“Excellent. Thank you both, and I’ll try not to take up too much of your time,” the Dean said. He then bid them both a polite goodbye and returned to his mountains of paperwork. Vell took a step out of the office and then took a sip from the soda he’d recently retrieved from the evil vending machine.
“So, what do you think?”
“I think I really do want to see the talking elephant,” Kim said.
“Obviously, yeah, we all want to see the talking elephant,” Vell said. “I mean the whole situation. You think the elephant thing is going to be the daily apocalypse for that day?”
“Well, on the one hand, an elephant seems like the kind of thing that would kill us,” Kim said. “But on the other, I feel like the fact we have advance warning means it’s not going to happen.”
“True. The universe probably wouldn’t make it that easy for us.”
“Yeah, but the elephant thing still feels pretty threatening,” Kim said. “Only way to find out is to wait a few days, I guess.”
A FEW DAYS LATER
“Hello you two,” Dean Lichman said. “And Hawke.”
“Hey,” Hawke said.
“He also wanted to see the talking elephant,” Kim explained.
“Well, that’s not a problem, it was an open invitation,” Dean Lichman said.
“Thanks. Still, sorry for not saying I was going to show up in advance,” Hawke said. “It took me a long time to make up my mind whether I was more interested in or afraid of a talking elephant.”
“They are rather large, aren’t they? I suppose that could be intimidating.”
“I’m okay with elephants on their own, it’s the talking part that doesn’t sit right with me,” Hawke said. “What if the elephant doesn’t like me? What if I’m the first person to ever get insulted by an elephant?”
“You’re less afraid of getting trampled by an elephant than insulted by one?”
“I’m a little afraid of trampling, but elephants are chill,” Hawke explained. “They wouldn’t attack unless provoked. I kind of feel like one might call me a dipshit unprovoked, though.”
“You have oddly specifics fears, Mr. Hughes,” Dean Lichman said.
“Yeah.”
In spite of those fears, Hawke happily stepped through the door to the zoology lab. It did not take a long time to locate the elephant in the room, as it was a literal elephant. The towering pachyderm was in a makeshift pen in the center of the lab, with an ample supply of food and a strange pedestal in front of her.
“Dr. Chanthara,” Dean Lichman said, with a polite wave to one of the researchers in the room. “Good to see you. These are the students I told you about.”
“Hm. Nice to meet you,” Dr. Chanthara said. He was, perhaps not unreasonably, skeptical of why three seemingly random students were in charge of a safety inspection. The fact that one of the three was a robot made him even more skeptical.
“Hi, nice to meet you too, and, uh, don’t mind us,” Vell said. “We just have an eye for weird things other people might miss.”
“Sure. I- wait. Aren’t you that kid who got chosen by a god?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” Vell said. “And her too, technically.”
Kim shrugged. She didn’t care for any extra attention on that point.
“Right,” Chanthara said. He was beginning to see why these students might know their stuff. “I suppose we should start by introducing you to Mae Noi. Say hello, Mae.”
The elephant shifted on her feet and poked her trunk at the wide pedestal in front of her twice.
“Hello. Friends,” a synthesized voice droned. Vell stepped a little closer to the pedestal, just enough to see that there were an array of buttons on the side facing Mae Noi.
“Oh, it’s kind of like a keyboard,” Vell said. He’d seen similar things used with dogs, though usually in a much simpler fashion. Mae Noi seemed to have a few dozen buttons at her disposal.
“Smart,” Mae Noi said, with another prod of her trunk.
“We initially put it into our sanctuary as a bit of a novelty, something elephants could choose to interact with,” Dr. Chanthara explained. “Mae Noi took to it a bit better than most. Especially once she found out she could use it to ask for food.”
“Food. Pumpkin. Pumpkin. Pumpkin.”
“No, Mae, no food until after experiment,” Dr. Chanthara scolded.
“Experiment,” Mae Niko said with a prod. “Pumpkin.”
“Yes, experiment then pumpkin,” Dr. Chanthara said.
“That’s not really a talking elephant, is it?” Hawke said.
“It’s more talking than most elephants,” Dr. Chanthara said.
“Elephant. Smart,” Mae Niko said. “Smart.”
“Yes, uh, right, elephant smart,” Hawke said. He took a step back, to avoid any further offense and any further risk of being insulted by Mae Noi.
“You’re very impressive, Mae, don’t mind him,” Kim said. “How many words does she know?”
“Our platform back home has around three hundred words, though she’s still learning some of them,” Dr. Chanthara said. “The ‘travel’ version we put together only has a hundred, just enough to make sure she can get her basic needs met and communicate about the experiment.”
“Right, speaking of, I do believe we should put some time into our reason for being here,” Dean Lichman interjected. “You’re welcome to stick around afterwards, at Dr. Chanthara and Mae Noi’s discretion, of course, but we should get underway.”
“We probably should get to business, yeah,” Kim said. She tapped the side of her metal head. “I’m going to scan the lab. Vell, you talk to the elephant and make sure everything’s above-board.”
“Abov- oh, right,” Vell said. “Sorry, not exactly used to being able to ask animals if they agree to animal experimentation.”
“Experiment,” Mae said.
“Yeah, experiment,” Vell said, as he turned to Mae. “So, Mae Noi, this experiment might hurt, do you know that?”
“Experiment. Hurt. Elephant,” Mae Noi prodded. “Experiment. Help. Elephant. Help. Baby.”
“Help baby?”
“Baby. Baby. Elephant. Sick. Baby. Sick.”
“We’ve explained the nature of her condition to Mae Noi as best we can,” Dr. Chanthara said. “She has several children, and is concerned they might be similarly affected.”
“Help. Baby,” Mae Noi said. “Experiment. Help.”
The way Mae Noi frantically tapped the buttons tugged at Vell’s heartstrings, but he choked those emotions down.
“So you want to do this experiment to help baby, got it,” Vell said. “Even if it hurts you?”
“Elephant. Old,” Mae Noi said. “Hurt. Okay. Help. Baby.”
“Huh. Well, that does sound like informed consent to me,” Vell said. “Passes ethical muster, at least.”
The campus rules allowed students to be experimented on, with their consent, so Vell saw no reason not to apply the same standard to an elephant.
“You speak up if you change your mind about the experiment, okay?”
“Stop. Stop. Stop,” Mae said, mashing the same button a few times. “Yes.”
“You got it. I’m going to go help my friends check things out,” Vell said. “Good talking to you, Mae.”
“Good. Talk. Friend,” Mae said. She waved goodbye with her trunk, and Vell waved back. He wandered away from Mae Noi’s pedestal and found Kim and Hawke carefully examining rows of beakers and various other supplies.
“Nothing sus yet, boss,” Hawke said.
“Nothing caustic, mutagenic, or explosive?”
“Well, something mutagenic, but it’s supposed to be,” Kim said. She had scanners built into her body much like those that had once been in Vell’s glasses, allowing her to analyze the complex chemical formulas at a glance. “They’re going for some gene editing similar to what we’ve tried to do on human cancer patients. Low success rate, but not harmful. Some adaptations to work on elephants, of course.”
“Run it by any of our chemistry and biology student friends yet?”
“A few,” Kim said. “Haven’t gotten anything back yet, though.”
“Maybe run it by Skye, too,” Vell said. “She’d recognize anything that’d mutate an animal.”
“She does love to mutate things,” Kim said.
“Benevolently,” Vell insisted. “Just show her. I’m going to check for any stray equipment.”
The presence of an unusually large test subject had resulted in the lab being rearranged and reshuffled, so Vell did a quick scan for any misplaced equipment that might pose a threat. He found, to his surprise, a tidy and well-organized environment, with any and all extraneous materials securely locked away. There wasn’t so much as a shrink ray out of place. Vell did another loop just to be sure, but returned to his friends empty-handed.
“This place has less safety hazards than my lab,” Vell said. Hawke stared at him for a while.
“Why does your lab have safety hazards?’
“I do runecarving, there’s like, hammers and chisels,” Vell said. “Those can hurt people.”
“Mm, true,” Hawke said. “So you really didn’t find anything?”
“Nothing,” Vell said. “This place is secure as I’ve ever seen a lab be.”
“It’s like I said,” Kim began. “We got an actual warning about it, so obviously nothing’s going to go wrong. That’d be too easy.”
“Maybe,” Vell said. “Things can get teleported in, or someone could cast a spell, or something.”
“Yeah, but that applies to anywhere, at any time,” Kim said.
“Kim’s right,” Hawke said. “I say we go business as usual.”
“I guess,” Vell said. “We have to branch out a little, at least. Can’t keep an eye on one room all day.”
The trio stopped sulking around the outskirts of the lab and returned to Dean Lichman and Dr. Chanthara.
“Everything looks good,” Kim said. “Probably the safest lab I’ve ever seen.”
“I’ll choose to take that as a compliment,” Dr. Chanthara said.
“We have very high safety standards here at the Einstein-Odinson,” Dean Lichman said, defensively. “Relatively speaking. Innovation requires some risk.”
“I understand perfectly. So does Mae.”
“Hurt. Okay,” Mae said.
“Not that okay,” Vell said. “Nice meeting you, Dr. Chanthara. You too, Mae.”
“Wait.”
Mae prodded one of the buttons on her pedestal and then pointed her trunk at the three of them. Hawke looked deeply concerned, but stepped forward alongside Vell and Kim. Mae Noi appraised them with massive brown eyes, and then moved her trunk back towards the pedestal. Vell noticed a distinctive scar on the bridge of her long nose just as Mae Noi pressed another button.
“Joke.”
“...Joke?”
Dr. Chanthara sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Just go along with it,” he said. “She likes to tell her joke.”
“Uh, okay,” Vell said. “Let’s hear it.”
“What. Elephant. Favorite. Part. Tree.”
“Umm...I don’t know, Mae,” Vell lied. He’d heard this joke from a kid, once. “What part?”
“Trunk,” Mae said. She gave a loud bray of amusement and then slammed her trunk down a few more times to emphasize the punchline. “Trunk. Trunk.”
“Oh, ha, I get it,” Kim said, hoping her feigned laugh was convincing. She’d never tried to lie to an elephant before. “Good one, Mae.”
Mae Noi shifted from side to side, looking pleased with herself, while the trio took a step back and stopped their feigned laughter.
“Did you give her buttons just to tell that joke with?”
“She gets upset,” Dr. Chanthara said. “I’m not even sure she understands the pun, she just likes people’s reactions.”
“As long as she’s having fun,” Hawke said.
“We’ll get out of your hair now,” Vell said. “Good luck with the experiment, feel free to let us know if you need a hand with anything.”
“I’ll keep it in mind,” Dr. Chanthara said. Some of his earlier skepticism seemed to have softened, but he did not seem entirely onboard with three strangers mucking about with his experiment. Vell and his friends left before they stretched what little goodwill they had any further. Mae Noi waved her trunk goodbye as the three left the lab and stepped back onto the quad.
“I’m going to try and sneak some classes in,” Hawke said. “Later.”
“I’ll check some of our usual hot spots,” Kim said, before she too left. Once again alone, Vell headed to one of his own classes, and called up Samson.
“Hey, Samson,” Vell began. “See anything interesting while we were playing with the elephant?”
“Well, I thought I clocked someone acting suspicious, but it turns out he was only sneaking around to go see his boyfriend,” Samson said. “Nothing apocalyptic, but I did get called a homophobe, which is pretty emotionally devastating.”
“I’m sure you’ll recover someday,” Vell said. “Keep an eye out. Usually the safer things look, the more dangerous things end up being.”
“Will do,” Samson said, before saying goodbye and hanging up.
***
Vell got increasingly nervous the longer the day went without its daily disaster. He thought about checking in on Mae Noi again, but then recalled Kim’s warning about it being too obvious, but then remembered that nobody had seen anything suspicious anywhere else, but then remember that Mae Noi’s lab had looked perfectly safe-
“Vell.”
“Huh?”
“You’re spiraling,” Kim said.
“I’m not spiraling, I’m just,” Vell said, with a pause for contemplation. “Considering multiple options.”
“In a spiral fashion,” Kim said. “Eat the damn french fries. Honestly, what’s the point of ordering so many if you’re just going to let them get cold?”
“It’s not like they’re going to go to waste,” Vell said. The same time loop that allowed him to eat massive amounts of french fries without fear of gaining weight also allowed him to avoid food waste. One of the upsides of life in a time loop.
“Just eat, Vell,” Kim said. “You worry too much about all this shit.”
“I’m in charge, it’s my job to worry about it,” Vell said.
“It’s your job to handle it,” Kim said. “There’s no point thinking about this shit before it happens, you spend all day thinking about an elephant and then the universe drops, like, a bat with tentacles on your head. Just deal with as it comes, Vell.”
Vell leaned on the table and managed to chomp down on a french fry or two.
“You know, next year, when I’m not running the show anymore, I’m going to call and see if you still think it’s that easy.”
“I sure hope so,” Kim said. “I’m saying all this shit trying to make myself believe it too.”
“Oh good, you’re lying to both of us,” Vell said. “That’s cool.”
“Fake it ‘til you make it, Vell, that’s how it goes,” Kim said. “Eat your damn french fries.”
Vell rolled his eyes and returned to his fries, which were now starting to cool. Thankfully he would not have to worry about finishing them. A loud crash from across campus interrupted him mid-bite and nearly made Vell choke on his fries. He painfully swallowed the half-chewed food and then looked over his shoulder.
“Son of a bitch, finally,” Vell said. A few years ago he’d found it weird whenever he was relieved about a disaster, but now he was just genuinely glad to get it over with. The waiting was as killer as the apocalypse. He tossed his fries in the trash and headed toward the sound of chaos, with Kim right behind him.
“Already told everybody?”
“Well, I may or may not have left Alex and Helena out of the loop…”
“Kim.”
“They’d find out anyway,” Kim said. “I got to use my brain parts to get in touch with them, even over wi-fi that shit feels dirty.”
“Just get in- stop.”
Vell held out his hand. Kim froze in place and did not move. Not intentionally, at least. There was a small amount of unintentional movement. The ground was vibrating.
“Always love a good earthquake,” Kim said.
“That’s not a quake,” Vell said. “That’s...footsteps!”
Vell grabbed Kim and dove out of the way just in time for something to barrel through the walls of the dining hall and stampede across the room. Tables, chairs, and more than a few students were crushed under the feet of a hulking, brown-furred behemoth as it charged. Kim picked herself and Vell up off the floor and tried to trail its progress.
“That’s a- oh fuck me,” Kim said. “Please don’t say you told me so.”
Vell got his bearings and looked across the room at the titanic form of a woolly mammoth. Though it was definitely recognizable as an archaic mammoth, the ancient creature was also heavily mutated, unnaturally large even by mammoth standards, and with multiple curled, jagged tusks protruding from a slobbering maw.
“Well that could be unrelated,” Vell said. “Mammoths can come from a lot of places, cloning accidents, time machines…”
The mammoth reached a wall, and rather than barreling through, turned around, facing directly towards Vell. A prominent scar covered the bridge of its broad trunk.
“Oh, nope, that’s definitely Mae,” Vell said. The scar was in the same place and at the same angle. Even a clone wouldn’t have an identical scar.
Once the revelation had struck, Mae took her turn. Vell found himself staring straight down the barrel of a very angry mammoth coming right at him at Vell-squishing velocity. Luckily he’d been charged at by a lot of creatures over four years of looping.
Vell jumped up and to the side, and latched on to one of the curled tusks, which made for very convenient handlebars. Kim did the same on the opposite side of Mae, and punched her in the head.
“Wait, wait, hold off on the violence for a second,” Vell shouted. He tried to wave at Kim to stop, but Mae was thrashing so violently he had to grip the tusks with both hands.
“Good plan,” Kim shouted. “Can you get Mae on board?”
Another set of tables got crushed underfoot. Thankfully the other students were out of trampling range by now, but Mae Noi’s feet were still coated in the blood of earlier victims.
“Mae’s smart, maybe we can calm her down,” Vell said. He then ducked to dodge a swat from Mae’s mutated trunk.
“Call me crazy, Vell, but I think this is more than just a bad mood,” Kim said, as she climbed up Mae’s seven jagged tusks like a ladder.
“We have to try,” Vell said. The loopers rule against hurting other intelligent life forms had some flexibility for blood-crazed mutants on violent rampages, but they had to at least try to reason first. Vell climbed up on of Mae’s tusks and looked into one of her bloodshot eyes for any sign of recognition. “Mae! It’s Vell, do you remember?”
The only response Vell got was an enraged trumpet, which he didn’t think was a “yes”.
“Come on, bud,” Vell said. “What’s an elephant’s favorite part of a tree, right? The trunk?”
The massive brown eye staring at Vell blinked, and he felt a brief glimmer of hope. He then felt a brief glimmer of his lungs being crushed as Mae swung her head and slammed her tusks into the wall, and Vell along with them. Kim punched Mae in the throat and then jumped across the tusks to grab Vell and carry him to safety.
“You okay, Vell?”
He opened his mouth to respond, and a pint or two of blood came out instead.
“Apparently not,” he mumbled. “I might be down a few ribs. And a lung. Or two.”
Kim carried Vell a safe distance from the fight and set him down on the ground, where he promptly spat out another mouthful of blood.
“Okay, uh, you just lie there and try to die peacefully, I guess,” Kim said.
“Way ahead of you.”
***
“Was that last bit as funny as I thought it was?” Vell asked. “I think the blood loss was affecting my sense of humor.”
“It was kind of hard to appreciate in the moment,” Kim said. “But as far as dying jokes go, it was pretty good.”
Vell and Kim walked into the lair for their morning meeting and joined the loopers that had already gathered.
“Okay, what’d I miss while I was dead?”
“Well, after Alex was done getting herself killed,” Samson began.
“You’re saying that as if it’s something to be ashamed of,” Alex said. “Vell also died.”
“Yeah, but he got killed trying to do something good. You got killed trying to do something stupid.”
“Trying to eliminate a threat is not stupid,” Alex said.
“We don’t kill intelligent creatures,” Hawke said. “Sometimes we punch them into a coma, but we don’t kill them.”
“When a dog bites, you put it down, I don’t see why the same principle doesn’t apply to a mammoth that’s crushed seventy people.”
“That wasn’t Mae’s fault,” Vell said. “She got mutated, or something. On that note: did you guys figure out what happened to Mae Noi?”
“Nothing,” Hawke said. “Looked like Mae smashed up the entire lab, trampled everyone involved in the experiment too. Nothing left to investigate, and nobody left alive to interrogate.”
“Typical,” Vell sighed. “At least we have an easy out. Dean Lichman was really concerned about the ethics of that whole experiment. We raise some kind of complaint, we could probably get the whole thing shut down.”
“The problem is getting the complaint,” Hawke said. “That lab was airtight, Vell.”
“Apparently not completely airtight,” Kim said. “I can camp out in the lab and raise an entirely justifiable stink whenever something capable of making a murder-mammoth shows up.”
“And what if it happens so suddenly you can’t complain about it?” Samson asked. “For all we know that could’ve been some kind of dimensional rift, or time anomaly, or something. It might not be as simple as somebody just putting in the wrong syringe at the wrong time.”
“He’s got a point,” Vell said. “We might want to shut this down before it gets there.”
“Seems like our best option is to plant evidence, then,” Alex said.
Everyone else at the table spent a few seconds brainstorming ways to prove her wrong, and much to their frustration, could not.
“Okay, fine,” Vell said. “But it needs to be something incidental, not something anyone would get blamed for. We want to cancel the experiment, not get anyone in trouble.”
“I could have a seizure on some sensitive equipment,” Helena offered. “It’ll break something and nobody would dare get mad at me.”
“Can you fake a seizure?”
“No, but I’m allergic to elephants, so I’d probably have one anyway the moment I stepped in the lab,” Helena said.
“I don’t feel entirely comfortable sending you into anaphylactic shock for a bit,” Vell said.
“Offer’s on the table,” Helena said. “I’ll live. Wouldn’t have made it through that trip to the zoo otherwise.”
“Anybody have any non-medical emergency suggestions?”
“Seagull in the air vents,” Kim said.
“Will that work?”
“It happens now and then,” Kim said. “Seagull gets in, and Dean has to close down the whole lab for potential material damage and biohazard risks if they shit in the vents.”
“Really? We’ve never had to deal with anything like that,” Hawke said.
“It may shock you to learn that sometimes minor, tedious bullshit happens that we have nothing to do with,” Kim said.
“That is kind of surprising, actually.”
“Enough. Kim, can you grab a seagull?” Vell asked. He shouldered his bookbag, and stuck a hand into the extradimensional pocket that existed within it. “I can probably smuggle it in with my bag.”
“Yeah, I can get you a seagull,” Kim said. Since she did not need to sleep, she had to find ways to keep herself entertained at night, seagull-grabbing being among them.
“Alright, we’ll go grab one and put it in the bag,” Vell said. “The rest of you, be ready to meet us when I call.”
***
Roughly three minutes later, Vell put out the call and they reconvened in front of the biology lab.
“Yeah, that was much faster than I thought it would be,” Vell said.
“I’m great at grabbin’ birds,” Kim said. Seagulls were among the easier birds to snatch, even. They were suckers for food, and many of them were attracted to her shiny metallic body anyway.
“Let’s just get this over with,” Vell said. “I want this thing out of my bag ASAP.”
Even though the seagull was safely within a pocket dimension, Vell would swear he could still feel the bird thrashing and squawking inside his bag. He tightened his grip on the shoulder strap and led the way towards the zoology lab entrance. He grabbed the handle and held it as he froze for a second.
“Vell, what’s up? Is this bird escaping?”
“No, the handle’s vibrating,” Vell said. It was shaking the same way a wall near an incredibly loud speaker might. He pressed his ear to the door and listened closely. He opened the door immediately, and let all his friends hear the frantic trumpeting of a panicked elephant.
Inside the lab, Mae Noi was stomping her feet and trumpeting as loud as he long trunk would allow. She swayed from side to side in her pen, bumping against the walls not quite hard enough to damage them, but hard enough that it was clear she was doing it on purpose.
“What the heck is happening here?”
“Ah, Vell,” Dean Lichman said. He hustled over to Vell’s side and gestured to the entire room. “Maybe you can figure out what’s going on.”
Mae Noi stopped braying long enough to start mashing her trunk against her pedestal, mashing out the word “Bad” over and over again.
“Our test subject, Mae Noi, has been throwing an absolute fit ever since she got here,” Dean Lichman said. “Dr. Chanthara, these are the students I was telling you about earlier.”
While Vell reintroduced himself to Dr. Chanthara, Kim and Hawke stepped up to examine Mae Noi and her enclosure. It was a far cry from the peaceful, orderly scene they had examined on the first loop. They were half an hour earlier this time than before, but Kim found it unlikely that they had been able to calm Mae Noi down, clean everything up, and get back to work in such a short amount of time. They hadn’t mentioned any of this panic on the first loop either. They were soon joined in their confusion by Chanthara and Vell.
“We’ve tried everything; food, water, her favorite toys, even videos of her children,” Dr. Chanthara said. “We’ve even offered to call off the experiment, but she won’t listen.”
“She is an animal,” Alex said. “Sometimes they do things arbitrarily.”
“Not Mae,” Dr. Chanthara said. “Some of our sanctuaries residents from traumatic backgrounds can have outbursts, but Mae was injured in the wild. She’s never been like this.”
“Maybe some experiment on the island is upsetting her,” Vell said. “A sonic experiment only she can hear, or something…”
Vell stopped and thought about it. If there had been such an irritant, it would’ve been there on the first loop too. Everything always repeated exactly the same, except for-
“Could you, uh, take a step back for a second?” Vell mumbled. “I want to try talking to her.”
“Don’t get close,” Chanthara warned him.
“I’m not, I’m not,” Vell said. He didn’t need to get very close to tell a joke.
The massive brown eyes of Mae Noi stayed locked on Vell as he approached, and she continued to mash the “Bad” button on her pedestal.
“I know, I know, bad,” Vell said. “But, uh, do you want to hear a joke?”
Mae Noi stopped. She locked eyes with Vell for a few seconds, and then cautiously tapped a button on her pedestal.
“Joke.”
“Right, joke,” Vell said. He tried to recall the exact sequence of words Mae had used on the first loop. “What elephant favorite part tree?”
Mae didn’t blink.
“Trunk,” Vell said.
After a moment of contemplation, Mae Noi let out one final, fervent, trumpet, and then started mashing buttons on her pedestal again.
“Bad. Help. Help. Experiment. Bad. Help. Bad. Help.”
“Yeah, bad help, one second,” Vell said. He turned away from Mae Noi to look at Dean Lichman. “Hey, uh, excuse me, Dean? Hey, uh, if I remember correctly there are some pretty complicated rules on having intelligent animals on campus, yes?”
“Well, yes,” Dean Lichman said. After hearing of some questionable ethical practices involving an octopus back in first year, he had instituted a few clauses into the school’s ethical code of conduct regarding intelligent animals like elephants, octopuses, and dolphins. “Mae’s presence here is a bit of an outlier, but there were workaround, given her apparent consent to the experiment.”
“Yeah, about that, is she, uh,” Vell began. “Is she registered as a student?”
“Yes.”
Vell pursed his lips. It took a few seconds for his friends to catch on.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Samson snapped. He turned his back on the crowd and leaned against a wall while Hawke put his head in his hands.
“The first rule of looping,” Alex said quietly. “Loopers are randomly selected-”
She looked up and locked eyes with Mae Noi.
“From all registered students.”

Something I was thinking about when I watched the final moments of the most recent EFAP was Mauler’s observation that the internet content creator landscape used to be different when AVGN clones ruled Youtube and his question of how that shifted into video essayists and commentary channels. I thought about that for a while and I thought of some reasons why the landscape changed that I would like to share.
Managers
Something that people might not be aware of is how many Youtubers have people managing their content in the form of things like setting up brand deals and other services that I am not familiar with. Some of them are very public about what they do, some of them are more private. The important thing is how managers worked in the past.
One thing that I liked about Machinima, ScrewAttack, and Channel Awesome that the creators probably didn’t like is that they forced the older creators to stick to a set schedule of uploads and some of them forced creators to follow a set formula. This meant that the manager would make sure that if a creator uploaded a video every Friday at 2pm, they would have an upload every single Friday at 2pm.
How would this work if the creator wanted to take a week off? Well, the creator would have to have a video to upload in advance. What if the creator wanted to spend 3 weeks on a super-duper big video? Well, they could absolutely do that, but it would be a passion project and they’d still have to follow the set schedule for regular uploads.
This created a content landscape that I actually enjoyed a lot as a consumer because it’s probably the way it should be for reviewers. Every week, or every day in rare cases, a movie reviewer would need to review a different movie, which meant that a reviewer might have to force themselves to sit through a movie they don’t want to see like Fifty Shades Of Grey to give it a chance to subvert their expectations and earn a glowing review, or dig deep to find a new indie movie to review to fill that quota if they really didn’t want to sit through Fifty Shades Of Grey.
The promise of Patreon and creators becoming more independent was that creators would exclusively make videos on topics they wanted to do, but I personally think that was the wrong way to go. I’ve maintained a position that I prefer it when content creators are encouraged, or even forced, to talk about things that they don’t want to talk about because oftentimes that’s when reviewers are most interesting. Some of my favorite Roger Ebert reviews were when he reviewed a children’s movie like Space Jam or Pokemon: The First Movie, and some of my favorite Zero Punctuation reviews are when he has to pick out a random indie game and commit to reviewing it regardless of what the indie game turned out to be, like when he reviewed Hell Pie.
What I think has happened is that the lack of managers has encouraged content creators to upload whatever they want, whenever they want, which has usually translated to videos about ‘easy’ topics, like videos about Disney movies, being uploaded weeks, or even months, apart, which has made the content creation landscape, at least for reviewers, a lot less interesting, and a lot less engaging.
It’s actually one of the reasons why EFAP has been losing my interest lately, because although they upload a stream every week the topics they choose are generally ‘easy’ topics because I genuinely think the hosts don’t have the ability to make an EFAP on something more obscure, or even just ‘difficult’ like Baby Reindeer, very interesting, or they just won’t do streams on those topics because, as Rags said: “This is our show, and we can do whatever the fuck we want.”
Honestly, my hot take is that I liked you better when you couldn’t do whatever the fuck you wanted all of the time. In fact, one of my favorite Rags moments on EFAP was when he clearly didn’t want to be involved with the debate with Twin Perfect.
Sponsors
I remember the Adpocalypse and how Youtubers transitioned to sponsors over relying heavily on ad-revenue. What that event transpired into is that audiences were far more accepting of basically any form of making money that Youtubers would use. Patreon became a very dominant part of Youtube, but sponsors also became extremely common and audiences would even cheer in the comment sections when creators would have their first Raid: Shadow Legends sponsorship.
Sponsors are what I want to talk about because I have seen Youtubers show that they have a bunch of videos on their computer that they simply aren’t releasing to the public because they don’t want to upload a single video without a sponsor on their main channel, as well as Youtubers having a second channel where they upload ‘slop’ content without sponsors that most of their audience is usually unaware of or isn’t interested in.
The problem is that the appeal for pretty much all content on Youtube is the personalities of the people creating the content, which is less about the actual personalities and more like “That’s an actual person doing what they actually want to do, that’s so cool,” but that is usually undercut by the presence of sponsors. The fact that Youtubers will sit on a video they made and not upload it unless they can get a sponsor to pay for it always seemed strange to me, especially for Youtubers where the image they present is “I’m just a normal, chill guy who makes Youtube videos for fun,” which needs the caveat of “Uhhhh, I’m actually really poor and if I don’t take this BetterHelp sponsor I can’t afford my rent this month. Please understand, I’m barely making any money on Youtube,” when a sponsor is included in the video.
As weird as this sounds, there are communities of creatives online that don’t expect to ever make any money putting hours, days, weeks, months, and years of work into a project. There are modding communities, bloggers, game developers, fanfiction writers, and artists that only want comments saying “You did a good job,” and Youtubers used to be that way, or they used to present themselves that way before sponsors became as common as they are now.
I don’t say this often enough, but I remember when Youtubers would make videos about not just random pictures on Deviantart, but on fanfictions and pornographic videos. They’d do those videos for things like clout, which is something that I don’t see too often on Youtube.
People might say that there are a bunch of Youtubers that talk about obscure media and Youtubers that make things without any expectation of earning money, which I say “Well, yeah, but that’s not what I’m talking about,” and then I’d point to things like AVGN’s Atari Porn video, and old videos where commentary Youtubers would branch out from their niche to say “Hey, just for fun, we’re going to check out this weird fanfiction story,” or how Yahtzee would include fun projects he created at the end of his Zero Punctuation videos, like how he’d dub over scenes in video games like Half-Life and Painkiller, or how he made a slideshow with Garry’s Mod that depicted a love story between Heavy and Medic.
What I’m saying is that a large part of what made Youtube fun was that not every video from an established creator with 100k subscribers needed to be monetized, or even created with the expectation of being successful or well-received by the community. There was a time when the expectations people had for, say, Jim Sterling was for a high-quality Jimquisition video to be produced and uploaded to the main channel once a week, and for the other days to feature a minimally-edited video where he showed himself trying out a game or reacting to a trailer on his main channel.
In the past I said that I would like it if EFAP would talk about comments and read fanfictions on-stream and I was mocked for it, but I stand by that statement because, although EFAP clearly doesn’t want to do it regularly, when they do read comments on-stream it tends to result in some of the best content because it showcases a side to them that I like. Instead of being totally normal dudes talking to each other about a movie they saw or reacting to a video, they have to use text-to-speech or read the comment using a silly voice or, well, use just a little bit of creativity when reading those comments out-loud.
What I’m kinda saying is that, yes, I think we all like professionally-produced content, and we all accept that sponsors for videos are necessary. But, like, I don’t like how for most successful Youtubers only the monetizable content, often with sponsors, is presented on the main channel, while the other content doesn’t exist, is uploaded to a secondary channel, or is locked behind some kind of paywall.
It just feels strange that these normal, chill, relatable people have gotten themselves into a position where they can earn real money, in some cases a lot of money, to stand in front of a webcam for 10 minutes talking about their favorite movies, chat with a group of friends, or even just play their favorite video game, and in quite a few cases they won’t do any of those things unless there’s a way to monetize it. Imagine how it looks to say “Well, I can’t talk about this cool fanfiction story I read on my main channel to my audience that enjoys my content about that franchise because I can’t get a sponsor for it.”
I wonder if Rags, a regular host of EFAP, appreciates the irony of him criticizing Chris Stuckmann for advocating that filmmakers “Get as much time and money as possible to make their films in the ideal circumstances and for the process to be easy,” when he’s in the position that he’s in where, on EFAP, he has as much freedom as he wants in the ideal circumstances to make money with EFAP, and it’s easy, yet he still will complain if he’s asked to step out of his comfort zone, even a little bit, on stream.
Insecurity
A while ago I had a theory about Cancel Culture which was that usually Cancel Culture is incredibly exaggerated by the audience of the people being canceled, and that most of the people being canceled are perfectly fine. The go-to example is the poor lady who made a joke about AIDS before going to Africa that got off the flight and got fired from her job due to her joke going viral. What people often don’t mention is that she got fired because it’s a terrible look for the company’s PR person to be involved with such a massive PR disaster, and that she got hired at another company a very short time later. Plus, like, she made a racist joke and people were calling her a racist, it wasn’t like she was targeted for absolutely no reason.
My theory is that people think that Cancel Culture absolutely ruins the lives of celebrities and influencers online because of their intense reactions to being canceled. An early example being Seth Macfarlane, who was mocked for his poorly-received hosting of the Oscars and who seemed incredibly bitter about it, making Cancel Culture a plot point in multiple episodes of Family Guy, talking about how bitter he was about it in interviews for years, and even apparently getting emotional support from his friends and family after the ordeal, even going as far as to ask celebrities to say “I liked what he did and I thought he was hilarious, and very handsome.”
What I’m saying is that I think that in the early days of content creation on Youtube the people making videos were more willing to appear on camera and embarrass themselves, like with Spoony screaming at a big gaming event on camera, because even though they were aware of Cancel Culture being a thing they weren’t going to be reduced to tears by someone saying “You’re totally cringe and annoying,” and even went as far as to incorporate those kinds of comments into their video because it was extremely easy content to create. You probably know what I’m talking about, where a creator would read out “This content creator is SOOOOOOO CRINGE,” in a video in a silly voice which you can’t really do as easily with “OMG, I love your content,” and make it entertaining.
That’s changed a lot today with content creators seeming to project an extreme amount of insecurity in every video they’re a part of, which gets even worse in formats like podcasts. It feels like every commentary creator is a chill dude that isn’t offended by anything and only wants to have a good time talking about things they like because, well, that’s what they need to be to avoid being criticized too severely, but they constantly allude to being a very immature and thin-skinned person that is mainly concerned about earning money, to the point where they’ll say “I’m not even having fun producing content at all.”
In college I remember one of my professors saying: “When you were high school kids you were insecure and weren’t confident in your abilities enough to volunteer when you were asked. You’re adults now, and when you graduate you can’t do that at a real job. Part of growing up is being confident in yourself, and if you don’t want to do that, you can always work in fast food where you never need to grow up, while the other adults in your friend group are becoming doctors and construction workers.”
It’s something that I realized with Youtubers which is that a decent amount of them started their careers young and never had to ‘grow up’ the way that my professor said that we needed to. Even with millions of subscribers you still see a lot of Youtubers struggle to commit to any statement they make, and I hear “I’m just a dumb Youtuber who doesn’t know anything and is stupid and socially-awkward and is fat and smells bad,” too many times from rich and successful people.
The thing is, when you’re a teenager, or you’re in your 20s, that insecurity is charming and relatable because you're trying to find a place in the world and discovering the role that you will fill in society. But, when you’re 30 and your role is “I tell people about the latest internet drama and make references to Spongebob,” or “I talk about Star Wars for hours at a time,” even if you make $2 million every day there’s likely a part of you that says: “I don’t like who I am. I don’t like what I do for a living. Yes, I’m rich, but I don’t like why I’m rich, and I don’t like my audience.”
I think that this insecurity leads to people trying to make their content more ‘mature’, but the way they do it isn’t by presenting themselves as a more confident person, or by making a clear separation between the personality in their content and their actual personality so that they can have a good work/life balance, it’s by creating the same content with very superficially mature elements. So, you end up with the video essayists of the past that gained fame by describing the events of a movie and then giving their opinion on whether they liked or disliked it doing the same thing but with quotes from smart people, like Socrates, and making conclusions like “Some people are gonna like this movie, some people are going to hate it. The important thing is that everyone involved with this movie tried really hard and had fun.”
The thing is, teenagers and 20-year-olds get value from a relatable person that comes across as an insecure loser who is too afraid to take a proper stance on anything to commit to a statement. When someone is actually mature they find more value in someone who is willing to do a good job and defend the job that they did, even if they’re like Neil Breen who thinks they did a good job but clearly did a terrible job. A 20-year-old might declare that Twin Perfect’s debate with EFAP wasn’t embarrassing because he was just being himself or something, but a 40-year-old might not tell Twin Perfect that the debate was embarrassing, but they would no longer respect him, and I imagine a lot of 40-year-olds don’t respect a lot of Youtube video essayists because of how eager they seem to be to engage in self-deprecation.
Conclusion
Despite everything that I’ve said, I do think that the content landscape on Youtube is generally ‘better’ than it was in, say, 2010. We weren’t getting a 4+ hour video by The Little Platoon about Rebel Moon, for instance, in 2010.
What I would compare modern Youtube and classic Youtube to is the 1970s movie scene vs. the 1980s movie scene, which Quentin Tarantino has labeled as “The worst period in movie history,” which the EFAP crew have pushed back on.
The thing is, in the early 80s we got Blade Runner, in the same way that nowadays we got the 4+ hour Little Platoon video, but the theatrical release of that film was famously sabotaged by the company that wanted Harrison Ford to provide voiceovers for the film that ‘ruined’ it, or at least, ruined the ending of the movie.
Throughout the 80s films were made which satisfied audiences more than films from the 70s did because Spielberg was producing hugely successful films that are still highly regarded, but there was also a bunch of shady practices going on and a bunch of notoriously poor studio decisions made in order to appeal to a wide demographic, such as the fiasco with Supergirl and Masters Of The Universe, or changing the ending of Brazil.
In the 1970s we not only got more challenging films, but there was also a thriving independent cinema scene that gave us Death Race 2000, Eraserhead, THX-1138, and Duel. There was also Jaws, Star Wars, and A Clockwork Orange, which were big-budget movies that took serious creative risks that paid off immensely which just wouldn’t happen in the 1980s, or would happen very rarely.
I think that I do prefer Youtube back in, say, 2015-2017 when it seemed like we generally got the best of both worlds, challenging content about a diverse range of subjects with production values comparable to what we have now.
To close this, I would like to include a paraphrased interaction I saw on a podcast featuring a pretty big Youtuber that I think illustrates why Youtube has changed in the way that it has.
Youtuber: Look, I don’t need to work as hard on my videos now because not every video needs to be an event. I just want to take it easy now, pump out a video whenever I feel like it, get paid by the sponsors, and then spend time with my family, is that so wrong?
Host: It kind of is. I know your audience of teenagers will be like “He just wants to spend time with his family, dude, have a heart,” but a lot of Youtubers, especially younger Youtubers look up to you for inspiration. If you’re in that position and your attitude is “I’m going to half-ass every video that I make from now on and if anyone calls my content lazy I’ll use my 8-year-old daughter as a shield against criticism,” that’s the attitude that a lot of young Youtubers are going to have. They’re going to half-ass their content and when criticized, they’re going to find their own excuse, like “I have a kid now,” or “I have to eat,” or something.
Youtuber: That’s not my fault, though. I never asked to be a role model.
Host: That’s not how that works. You don’t get to decide whether or not people look up to you, have expectations of you, and emulate your approach to content creation. You only release 2-3 videos a year, and with your status every video should be a major event, but instead every video is half-assed, as you admitted, and then you use your daughter as an excuse for why you don’t put as much effort into your content as you used to. I think you need to have someone in your life, like a friend, that actually makes you feel some shame for your content and encourages you to do better, rather than your social circle being composed of supportive people like your family and the people who pay you through Patreon.
Host 2: He did have that. He fired him two years ago, remember?
Host: Oh, yeah, you fired your friend, or made him quit, whatever the story was. Did that not make you feel bad at all?
Youtuber: Friendships end, that’s just life.
Host: That’s the attitude that I hate that comes across in your content. You can’t just brush aside everything and bumble through life, except if you’re an internet personality, apparently.
Host 2: It worked for the MCU.
Host: It’s not working for the MCU anymore, though, and it isn’t working as well for this Youtuber. It’s probably going to get worse and when he decides to do more work and make better videos, like he used to do, it’s probably going to be too late, or he’ll need to make really good videos to get the views he once did.
Youtuber: My videos are really good, though.
Host: You admitted to half-assing them.

I have tried different ways to do this thing, I will discuss that after a bit...

What I am trying to do?

I am trying to "edit a pre-existing pdf" or "create a new pdf identical to the pre-existing one and edit it".
The pre-existing pdf is the ONE that I want to edit every time, based on user requests (users of my SaaS). This pdf is Ontario's Lease Agreement pdf, which generally we edit using adobe acrobat, and which cannot be even rendered by chrome browser (because I use chrome browser to view all the pdf content).
Basically, I will have a form (html form), user will enter details, and based on that form I want to fill up this Ontario's Lease Agreement form, and generate a pdf for the user.
The PDF I am talking about can be found here: https://forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca/en/dataset/047-2229

What I cannot do?

I am not able to generate a pdf that is identical to the one I need, and I am not even able to edit the pdf that is provided on Ontario's site.

What I tried?

I tried a lot of the things, I cannot even remember all of them.
I tried to generate a new one, which I found very difficult, I could use pdfgen library, but that is very difficult and docs are not that great. After that, I decided to use html-to-pdf library, so I can design the pdf-like html page, and then generate a pdf from it, but I found it difficult too, in terms of designs and the amount of content that is spread across different pages of the pdf.
I also tried editing the original pdf, which I assume not a normal pdf. I tried around 5-10 different libraries which were not able to even read the original pdf file.
Please help me out, suggest what can be done, or even other ways around to solve the problem.

Thank you very much.

I’ve been getting more into makeup over the past few weeks. I’m not sure what brushes and tools I should have or what the differences between most of them are. I have been trying to find something to put my foundation on with that is not my fingers. I like a beauty blender, but I feel like it takes up too much of the product (I prefer tinted moisturizers like bare minerals complexion rescue). I tried to find a brush because I saw that recommended, but there’s so many different kinds. I have the same issue with trying to find a powder brush for pressed powder too. It’s very overwhelming and confusing, and I always get so scared to talk to the sales people in sephora (I’ve had a few not great interactions in the past).

Hi guys
My brother (17) and I (21) have gotten super close over the past few years and I’d say he’s one of the most important people in my life. He’s been there for me through the ups and downs, and we spend a lot of time together since we have a lot in common.
About two years ago I came out to my younger sister (15) and she was very supportive. However I’m not sure how my brother will take it. We’re Middle eastern and muslim but my siblings and I are not very religious, so I don't think that aspect will be an issue. My concern is more about how he might think it's not “natural” and the cultural stigma associated with it.
As I’ve gotten more comfortable with my sexuality I want to share this part of my life with those close to me because I value honesty and openness in my relationships. I believe that being open with him will strengthen our bond even more. I’m terrified of losing him or having him see me differently. I deeply hope that he’ll accept me but I’m so scared that things might change between us and we won’t be as close anymore. :(
I don’t know what to do. Any advice on how to approach this would be greatly appreciated 🙏🏼🙏🏼

This is the last episode of the first half of the season with the actors for young Rhaenyra and Alicent and it ends in both a fantastic way and absolutely stupid and odd way all at the same time. This is one of the more dissected episodes in discussion but still felt like sharing:
-First point is how the hell is Daemon complaining about lady Rhea when she is absolutely gorgeous and a total badass with her armor. If there was a character I wish we could see more of it was her, just because of how she verbally obliterates Daemon in the few minutes. Her death being caused by Daemon is an odd point, it’s one of the things that he actually didn’t do in the book though I could see his character doing, but still just felt unnecessary as they could have just mentioned that lady Rhea passed away in passing dialogue. I don’t know, as someone who wants as close an adaptation as possible I just don’t see the reason especially after a certain change I absolutely despise some episodes later but we will get there eventually and I will just leave it at odd.
-The scene between Alicent and Otto was really emotional. At this point Alicent is still trying to stay convinced she did the right thing, and the actress does such a great job but Otto tells her the hard truth that no matter how much she may try to ignore the succession issue, it’s not simple matter of dinner table politics but a matter of life or death for her children and stability of the realm. She clearly needed to have it said out loud in this blunt way to truly encapsulate what is at stake and the actress just does a phenomenal job. That scene captures perfectly a lot of the spirit of Team Green and why we support the rightful king.
-The whole power move of Corlys making the king walk all the way to him while he sat on the driftwood throne was pretty cold and so disrespectful but again the actor just Carries that aura of power that it just seems natural. Even when he does bend to Viserys, he is still the “gravity” of the scene. One small nitpick that gets me is how they constantly talk about how it’s time to unite the two great Valyrian Houses, but this isn’t a first time thing, like Velaryons have married Targaryens before many times including during the dynasty. Obviously it makes sense to keep the ties close but just the way they mention the idea, they make it sound like it’s never be done before which annoys me. I don’t know maybe I’m the only one. Still just a slight nitpick. Also I do like how they actually discuss the surname issue of would Rhaenyra’s heir would go by Targaryen or Velaryon. It makes sense they go with the former since they are the upper house, but still an odd thing that’s it’s never mentioned in the literal historical book that is all about showing and analyzing these small facts.
-Ser Criston offers Rhaenyra to escape and go to Essos leaving it all behind. While this is definitely a bit naive, it’s clear he is trying to cope with his mistake by wrapping it under a blanket of romanticism. When Rhaenyra just shows that it will never happen and this is basically a fling for her, a very likely a childish game, it just sets on him the full weight of what he did. The actor just perfectly captures the level of regret, shame, anger, disappointment, heartbreak and loss of self the character is experiencing. He isn’t a second or third son of some great House, this position is literally all he had and he betrayed it. Rhaenyra doesn’t understand the full weight of this and instead just doubles down on how her future husband will still allow her game, just frustrating him even more. If he had been caught he could have ended like Lucamore Strong or worse. Again some of Fabien’s best acting is in this episode. He later accidentally (I’ll admit it’s a bit funny still how he spills the beans on himself when Alicent was just asking a different about a different suspicion all together) tells this to Alicent and you can how heavy it rests on his conscience. His character will later be paralleled and reversed with Arys Oakheart, a character who also broke his vow of chastity and feels massive guilt over this and tries to make up for it and find some honor ironically trying to become the Queenmaker as Cole would become the Kingmaker which is funny to me, granted I would argue Arianne is clearly manipulating Arys while Alicent later on genuinely offers Ser Criston a second chance (I know a lot of people don’t like the Soiled Knight chapter, but I just love POV’s from Kingsguard members and will take as many as I can, even if it’s just one.) Technically different canons, but the comparison is an obvious one that stuck with me
-While on that subject, it is perfectly paralleled by Alicent’s own realization. She got her own father and one of few people she could personally count on despite some issues dismissed all to defend an ungrateful friend who swore on her dead mother something that is just awful in general, but twice the insult considering her own background of having lost a mother. She has to reanalyze everything. Including what her father just recently told her. This is where later we get the iconic scene with the green dress. Obviously I am not breaking new ground by saying how the dress, the walk, the score were just perfect! The way Alicent just coldly and sarcastically congratulates Rhaenyra knowing the truth and ready to fight for her children becoming the green queen. I get why after this scene many fans in this sub wanted more of that demeanor. While I personally like the more diplomatic and sympathetic side to Alicent and have defended some of her portrayal and actions, I must admit I also loved seeing this more hardened type.
-This is where the stupid writing shows its face. Joffrey Lonmouth guesses that Ser Criston is Rhaenyra’s paramour and despite the fact that Laenor and her already came to an agreement of allowing each other to have their own people under the hush hush, this absolute moron decides to engages Ser Criston who could have very well not been the paramour, and tells him it’s best for everyone to keep everything well hidden (he doesn’t know about the whole reveal to Alicent but generally just wanted to warn him for whatever reason). Then Ser Criston beats him to death. Now how will the episode deal with the consequences of this, I mean a Kingsguard literally killed what was an innocent man under everyone’s perception unless he tries to explain the situation which is even more incriminating. There is a nice later scene where Criston Cole tries to commit Seppuku out of shame and regret with the moonlight shining on him next to a weir wood tree which is some gorgeous imagery, and when Alicent just comes and stops him, giving him a new path in life towards redemption. It is really beautiful crafted but because we have that stupid Joffrey Lonmouth scene right before it just makes it so frustrating. Of course this is also an awkward inclusion since this is the last episode right before the time jump, so all the questions that arise are left absolutely unanswered. Yeah you can guess Alicent probably pulled some strings to help him keep his head, but this scene just did more harm than good and honestly should just been cut. This episode was about the final rise of the green queen and the mostly formed factions, it should have ended on that note.
Overall this is one of the weaker episodes so far, despite having some of the strongest and most iconic moments of this season. Again they had a good structure until they decided to add that scene for tension.

I feel like i’ve really been thrust into the deep end immediately. I don’t really even know where to start but i think context is Import so i’ll begin with that:
My family are socially and emotionally “tolerant” but financially supportive. They more or less refuse to call me my chosen name or refer to me as he but fund my transition and idly allow me to do whatever i need to do. I’m grateful for what I have but it doesn’t help in how alone I feel in pursuing it. I don’t have any trans friends medically transitioning at this moment either so there’s nobody to actually discuss this with in depth besides some offhand complaints i make to certain close cis friends.
I’m in the UK so I’m in private care for HRT + surgeries (fucking extortionate) and the onus is completely on me to align every single appointment appropriately with 3 different providers who are all seemingly being as obtuse as possible. I just turned 18 earlier this year and started on T almost immediately, I had 3 appointments with a private gender clinic in another city prior to starting HRT and am expected to see this clinic every 3 months for checkups + prescriptions which is standard enough. My NHS GP however refused shared care and are now refusing to do bloodtests after initially being willing to cooperate on that front. Even then i ended up missing the 3 month window between my first checkup with the gender clinic to have my bloodtest results ready because my NHS GP only does appointments on the day and I have to spend hours in the morning on hold which is annoying at best and exhausting at worst.
As soon as I started T I looked into top surgery surgeons as I want to have that out of the way as soon as possible and ideally I’d have it done before starting uni in September. Fortunately I did book a date in July so I’ll be able to have a lot of the rudimentary aftercare out of the way before uni as well but the surgeon is on the other side of the country (400 miles away) so I’m having to fly down.
For my consultation I took an 8 hour train and stayed with a friend who lives in the same city as the practice which was a massive help but i realised it would be a dogshit idea to stick myself in a shitey train for 8 hours after major surgery in the summer heat so i opted for the 1 hour plane trip but that comes with its own issues. I wanted to wait until i had my deed poll done to actually decide to get my ID but again im realising that I’m probably just going to have to get an ID as soon as possible for the flight and tank it having my deadname etc. It isn’t the end of the world but on top of everything else it feels like another massive pain in the arse.
Another issue was my gender clinic didn’t inform me they wanted me to have an appointment specifically for a top surgery referral. I understood that they’d want that if I was going through them to find a surgeon but because I did the research on my own I thought they’d be happy to just write it. This means that i’m having the referral appointment a week before i travel for surgery which I’m trying to force to the back of my mind because I know it’s something that i can’t control anymore but it just feels like more mounting stress.
There are many more smaller issues such as the the gender clinic where I’m receiving my HRT being 2 hours away but I think my main problem is just how isolating the experience is. Nobody around me understands how frustrating it is to stitch together all these different appointments in a way that aligns reasonably but at the same time i dont feel like i have any right to complain. I’m getting treatment at an ideal point while most other young trans people in the UK are being shafted and i’ve been out of school/work for a year at this point.
I just don’t know what to make of it. I’m juggling all this shit but I also feel completely stunted and behind people my age but hopefully that issue will resolve itself once I’m in uni and am at least a bit stealth. I think as well now that I’m on T and know i’m 2 months away from this surgery I’ve desperately wanted since i was 11 my resolve is starting to wear thin and I just want to live as a normal guy who can go to the gym comfortably or just fucking leave the house without stressing about how my chest is sitting etc.
Thanks for reading, sorry if this comes off as needless whinging. Any advice or anecdotes would be nice to hear at least

呪われたテクニック:ギャンブラーのガーディアン (Cursed Technique: Gambler's Guardians)

The Gambler's Guardians CT is a shikigami technique that employs the use of chance and a deck of cards to summon guardians to combat opponents. The user cannot choose which shikigami is summoned as the medium between summoning these shikigami is a deck of cards that the user always has. The user may withhold these cards to be used as a later date or to lead to the use of the user's DE.

Drawbacks Of Gambler's Guardians

1. Due to its unpredictability, you may not draw the right card for the situation or even be unable to summon a shikigami at all.
   
2. It's a very risky, yet powerful technique as the cards must physically be drawn for the shikigami to be summoned.
   
3. All the shikigami's main weakness is fire as they will become a pile of ash in a matter of seconds [as this is the main and almost only weakness for all the shikigami, it will not be repeated and only shikigami specific weaknesses will be mentioned going forward].
   

呪われた道具:プレイヤーの野望 (Cursed Tool: Player's Ambition)

The Player's Ambition Cursed Tool is a tool that is created directly from the user's CE. It is tied to the user's CE and can always be created again by the user whenever it is destroyed. The cards in this deck are extremely durable as if made of a titanium alloy while still retaining its flexibility. These cards can be very useful for other Sorcerers as the deck always has a full suit of cards [that never repeat until all have been used once] that can cause a lot of damage. As for the user, these cards serve as both the medium and a powerful offensive tool for combat. However, just like modern decks, two jokers have been placed. These two jokers are required for the user to activate their DE, if the user does not have a DE then these two jokers are used as diversions to trick or further damage opponents. When the shikigami is summoned, the card drops to the card and expands to the required size for the shikigami to exit the card as if it's a portal. Both the size and the body of the shikigami depends on how quickly it exits the card.

ギャンブラーのガーディアン:エース (Gambler's Guardians: Ace)

The Ace shikigami is a shikigami that helps smooth the flow of the user's CE and increase the user's CE output. The shikigami is in the form of a large skinny robed figure that bears the symbol of the card that is drawn [A spade for the Ace Of Spades, a heart for the Ace Of Hearts and so on]. Aceis quite physically powerful and smart as it will get very creative with its attack and almost never do something in the literal sense. The Ace is extremely lanky and has arms that almost drag on the ground on the floor. The boost from this shikigami lasts for a varying amount of time depending on which Ace is drawn. The Ace takes advantage of its long arms and powerful enhancement boosting abilities to quickly attack in swiping strikes from a distance. Ace is the manifestation of the user's grief and regret of indulging in their addiction as they have lost the love and warmth of those who were close, yet pushed away.

ギャンブラーのガーディアン:スペードのエース (Gambler's Guardians: Ace Of Spades)

The Spades variation of the Ace shikigami can be seen as the more base version of the Ace as it still retains all regular details aforementioned, but with the added detail of skin as white as snow and hands the size of a shovel’s blade. The enhancement ability aforementioned is not changed much as it still can enhance the flow of CE in the user and boost the overall strength of itself. Although it can now enhance the durability of different objects to the level of a titanium alloy.

Gambler's Guardians: Ace Of Hearts

The Hearts variation of Ace sees some very drastic changes when compared to the Spade variation. The Ace Of Hearts can be seen with the same snow white skin, but this time it seems to have brought red outlines where its nonexistent veins should be. These “veins” are visible all along its body. The Ace Of Hearts no longer smooths the flow of the user's CE, but instead is able to reverse some damages to both it and the user. The Ace Of Hearts takes advantage of this healing factor with its higher amount of agility, but this healing factor and agility come with the loss of strength. The Ace Of Hearts is much weaker and not suited for close hand to hand combat, but instead will use debris from the fight to throw at the opponents while at points jumping towards the user to heal them. The Ace Of Hearts is able to climb up buildings extremely quickly and is another very useful part of the user's chance filled arsenal.

Gambler's Guardians: Ace Of Diamonds

The Ace Of Diamonds is the more defensive variation and it will always put its life at bay to keep its master safe. It is much more bulky than its previous variations and uses this bulky-ness to shield the user with its body. The Ace Of Diamonds has the same snow white skin and the same blood red “veins”, but with the added factor of its major difference in size when compared to the other variations. The Ace Of Diamonds is also the most physically powerful variation as it can throw things like cars with ease, possibly even buses if it tried. This variation of Ace can reinforce its own skin to that of diamonds, at the cost of being unable to apply any boosts to others.

Gambler's Guardians: Ace Of Clubs

The Ace Of Clubs is the much more offensive variation of Ace as it trades away some of its high durability to gain more agility and muscle strength. Combining this increase in agility and muscle strength with its newfound aggressiveness and large hood, it can quickly apply large amounts of pressure onto anything as it mercilessly attacks the target. The Ace Of Clubs will also use it's surroundings heavily to apply further pressure, whether that be from grabbing and throwing the target into something, or picking up something and using it as a weapon.

Gambler’s Guardians: Two

These shikigami mainly focus on supporting the user as all of their variations focus on buffing their capabilities in some form, whether that be applying a protective CE shield over the user or simply healing the user. However, these shikigami are very weak and require something to protect them or else little value will be gained from summoning them. The shikigami almost look like [biblically accurate] angels about the size of a bike, the only difference is that they are made purely of the card they were summoned with, hence why their durability is so low and can very easily be shut down.

Gambler's Guardians: Two Of Spades

The Two Of Spades variation is [just like Ace Of Spades] the base variation of Two. The Two Of Spades summons two smaller shikigami that both can apply barriers of CE onto objects or even people. These barriers are not the strongest and can barely survive a single hit from something such as a grade 2 and above, but they can allow for some defense especially as it can tank at least a single hit which can potentially save the user's life.

Gambler's Guardians: Two Of Hearts

The Two Of Hearts variation allows the shikigami to be able to reverse damage to anything, but not the position [ex. If a wall was knocked down and shattered, these shikigami can reverse the damage it sustained to an extent, but not being it back to its upright position unless they somehow lift it back up] to a certain extent. No, these shikigami can NOT reverse death, the worst injury they can reverse on a human being or animal is a broken bone [unless the bone is completely shattered]. Anything more can potentially cause more pain for the user while killing the shikigami in the process.

Gambler's Guardians: Two Of Diamonds

The Two Of Diamonds variation can apply a much more durable shield than Two Of Spades, at the cost of its own speed and tapping into the user's CE reserves. This allows for a much stronger shield that can repair itself as long as the user’s CE reserves are full. These shields can survive multiple hits from a semi-grade 1 and potentially a few hits from a grade 1 sorcerer or curse. However, if the shikigami attempts to keep up the shield for too long, it will overload itself and burn up in a flash of CE. The CE used to summon these shikigami will be returned if this happens.

Gambler's Guardians: Two Of Clubs

The Two Of Clubs is the fastest variation of Two, but at the cost of its own durability. These shikigami often will apply a shield onto itself [rather than the user] and fly into a target to cause physical damage, taking advantage of its shield and speed. However, because it is so weak durability wise, so are its shields. Its shields cannot survive more than 2 hits from most sources without shattering. Even though these shields are weak, the shattering effect that happens when they break can potentially harm others [this includes the user].

Gambler's Guardians: Three

Three is a trio of shikigami that look similarly to the finger bearer cursed spirit, but Three are pure white with either black or red accents depending on which card was used to summon them and the symbol of the card on its back. They are also smaller than the finger bearer, reaching a height of about 4’4. Three is more so focused on being a supporting attacker to overwhelm an opponent, rather than taking the attention off of the user [with the exception of Three Of Clubs]. Three is very much average in all ways, but makes up for it with its speed, being able to quickly overwhelm a target.

Gambler's Guardians: Three Of Spades

The Three Of Spades is very fast and can even sneak up on opponents as it is able to dig its claws into objects and hold itself on ceilings or walls. Three Of Spades is very overwhelming as it takes advantage of its speed and strength to even break through walls to catch an opponent off guard, but will ultimately choose to protect the user even if it means death. Most of the time, Three Of Spades will stick closely to the user, but in a hidden position where they cannot be easily noticed while even hiding their own CE to an extent.

Gambler's Guardians: Three Of Hearts

The Three Of Hearts shikigami is the same looking shikigami, the only difference is that one of them specializes in physical attacks, one specializes in psychological confusion, and the last specializes in attacking the soul. The one that specializes in physical attacks is slightly above average in strength, speed and durability, but can grow claws on both its hands and feet to attempt to cause bleeding. The one that specializes in psychological confusion can release a gas that, if inhaled, will cause the victim to have hallucinations that could go from minor to severe depending on how much of the gas is inhaled. Finally, the one that specializes in attacking the soul is below average in physical strength and durability, but makes up for it with its speed and ability to cause irreversible damage.

Gambler's Guardians: Three Of Diamonds

The Three Of Diamonds are much more durable and physically powerful and the form they take represents that. They have a lot more visible muscle on them and the accents are less tattoos and actually are an unknown metallic material that is highly durable. This armour does not cover its whole body, but it does allow protection on the shikigami's arms, legs, and partially their chest. The armour is on these parts as it is a physical attacker rather than using some other ranged attack. The Three Of Diamonds are also a bit bigger than that of the rest of the variations of Three, reaching a height of 4’11.

Gambler's Guardians: Three Of Clubs

The Three Of Clubs variation can all merge together, forming a much larger and stronger shikigami, reaching the height of 5’8. Each summoned shikigami has a different part of the Clubs symbol on their back, when the three parts decide to form or the user tells them to merge, they become the powerful shikigami as mentioned before with the finished symbol of Clubs. More info on this combination will be stated below, for now information on Three Of Clubs will be talked about. The Three Of Clubs focuses more on hard hitting attacks, rather than stealthy ambushes. It loses its stealth, but instead it has a new merging gimmick and slightly increased strength and durability when compared to Three Of Spades.

Gambler's Guardians: Three Of A Kind

The Three Of A Kind shikigami is the result of when all three shikigami of Three Of Clubs merge together. The Three Of A Kind is very powerful and uses the same fighting style that the user does with the added benefits of a massive strength, durability and speed boost. The Three Of A Kind can apply a lot of pressure and can even revert back into the three separate shikigami it was before on command to dodge a potential hit from an enemy. However, the longer the shikigami are in this merged form, the weaker they will get as they have a time limit that is represented by the tattoo of the clubs on its back slowly fading from the top of the clubs down. It does slowly regenerate while not in the merged state and when it isn't even summoned. Trying to push past this state can allow a few extra seconds of strength, but ultimately will end with this shikigami to burn up in a flash of CE and the card used to summon it will be burned from the deck.

Gambler's Guardians: Four

Gambler's Guardians: Four Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Four Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Four Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Four Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Five

Gambler's Guardians: Five Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Five Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Five Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Five Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Six

Gambler's Guardians: Six Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Six Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Six Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Six Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Seven

Gambler's Guardians: Seven Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Seven Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Seven Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Seven Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Eight

Gambler's Guardians: Eight Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Eight Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Eight Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Eight Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Nine

Gambler's Guardians: Nine Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Nine Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Nine Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Nine Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Ten

Gambler's Guardians: Ten Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Ten Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Ten Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Ten Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Jack

Gambler's Guardians: Jack Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Jack Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Jack Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Jack Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Queen

Gambler's Guardians: Queen Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Queen Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Queen Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Queen Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: King

Gambler's Guardians: King Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: King Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: King Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: King Of Clubs

Extension Technique: Full House

This Extension Technique allows the user to overload their cards with CE, allowing the capabilities of the shikigami to be heightened [ex. More durability, faster, stronger, special gimmicks have a stronger influence, ect], but burning the card after being used. When this happens, the card is less likely to be pulled again or even just not even to be pulled from that deck ever again, forcing the user to attempt to artificially create another deck they can use from their CE.

Domain Expansion: Joker's Last Cabaret

When this DE is activated, both the user and the opponents will be placed in the midst of a casino filled with different cards flying everywhere extremely fast [fast enough to cut the skin on a human being]. As soon as one of these cards draws blood and they land flat on a surface [face down], the corresponding shikigami of that card will be summoned with the person the card had hit as their target. These shikigami will not target any other person until the original target is felled. Once that target is defeated the shikigami will explode into a flurry of cards, allowing for more shikigami to be summoned. The user can concentrate CE to slightly direct the cards into a target, but then these cards that were directed turn into blank cards that have no other use than as a physical weapon rather than an intermediary. The Joker cards will burn up after this DE is summoned, meaning this DE can never be used again unless the user can focus enough CE onto another set of Joker cards.

So I actually watched the first 4 episodes when they dropped, but I was very underwhelmed and decided not to post anything as I didn’t want to be negative. I didn’t dislike it, but I was definitely disappointed because I had very high expectations after all the press, the promo and what was being said by the cast and the crew. However, since then I rewatched the 4 episodes and I definitely like it more now after rewatching with no high expectations.
The things I had issues with:

• Pacing. I thought the pacing was all over the place. The episodes felt slow while the main romantic storyline felt rushed. We would have a fast paced scene and then a scene that seemed to drag would follow it. I feel like that happened a lot during these 4 episodes. I also think that splitting the season was a huge mistake as just when the show was starting to gain some momentum there was nothing else left for me to watch and based on the LW conflict and the side storylines they will cram a lot in the second half.
• Colin. I don’t understand why they decided to go down this route with the character. I haven’t read his book so I’m not sure how accurate it is, but I feel like in a romance show you don’t wanna find your male lead cringe and creepy and I’m sorry, but in the first 2 episodes he was borderline creepy. I know what they were trying to do, but it did not work for me at all. I feel like they could have shown him putting up a facade for the ton in different ways that don’t make him look so bad. I think the threesomes were absolutely unnecessary, but that seems to be a popular opinion. I just don’t get why we couldn’t just have the same Colin from the previous seasons with a bit more charm and oomph. He seems to be dropping the rake act now and hopefully in part 2 we can have the old Colin back somewhat.
• Penelope. Sort of. I kinda have mixed feelings about her character this season, but I did like her more than Colin. Why did we need to see her humiliated so many times? I just wish they stopped doing that. I’m sure we’re going to see her suffering enough when Colin finds out about LW, we don’t need to see her going through so many humiliations. Seeing her beg Colin to kiss her was painful. Also what was that balloon scene? Just move to the side lol.
• Benedict. I’d like to know what the point of this character is at this point besides fucking a different woman every season and looking happy in the background. I know he has a lot of fans, but I don’t get it. He is just so ‘there’ and that’s about it. I found his storyline the weakest and I’m not sure how it’s going to pay off and what the point of this is again. It feels like the script for Benedict is a copy+paste of s1 every season now. The woman he’s fucking this season is also just so meh. They also have absolutely no chemistry so that also doesn’t help. Their dance was very odd, her trying to be so badass or whatever that was supposed to be just came off as awkward and cringe to me. I don’t get the purpose of this storyline and honestly I’m not even curious to see what happens with them in part 2. Luke Thompson is completely wasted in this role.
• The Mondriches. This storyline was actually intriguing to me before the season premiered as I thought they’d be more involved with the main storyline with the other main characters, but that hasn’t really been the case so I’m wondering how this is going to pay off. I feel like every time we cut to them the pacing starts to drag and their storyline just doesn’t really flow with the show. But tbh I preferred seeing them over Benedict so there’s that. I feel like there has to be a purpose to this storyline and that there might be something more interesting happening with them in Part 2.
• Cressida. Meh. I don’t get why we need to have Cressida be some poor little mean girl who’s hiding some deep pain. Sometimes a bitch is just a bitch and that’s fine. Another storyline that I just didn’t really care for.
• Polin. Sort of. I feel like we needed more time with them. It feels like they barely had any scenes together this season. I know we’ve known them for the past 2 seasons, but we needed to see more than Colin falling in love after a kiss. That just felt so rushed to me. I wanted to see more of them interacting instead of Colin just staring at her and Lord Debling. Their first kiss was also incredibly disappointing. Not the kiss itself, I found it lovely actually, but Penelope begging him to kiss her was soooo not for me. I hated that. I don’t understand why we need to see Penelope humiliated so many times. I feel like the pacing of their romance could have benefited from a few more scenes of them together before the end of Part 1. But nope, I guess we needed to see Benedict fuck instead.
• The Queen. I’m actually struggling to even remember what she was doing this season. Forgettable storyline and also repetitive. I wish they figured out a different way to include QC in the story. I loved the QC spinoff and coming back to this version of her is just kind of disappointing.

A thing I'm unsure about for now:

• Violet and Lady Danbury. I’m not sure how I feel about this yet. I haven’t made up my mind about this storyline yet because I feel like I haven’t seen enough about it. It could end up in either direction depending on how they chose to develop this storyline. I just hope they don’t end up having a rift because of this brother business. I’m very much down with Violent finding someone though.

Now finally onto the positive stuff:

• Polin. Sort of. So I have mixed feelings about their romance. As I said, I had issues with not having enough scenes of them together. However, I did like most of what we actually got. The carriage scene was 10/10. I loved it lol, it was hot. Can’t believe Bridgerton is making me like a Pitbull song when I’m definitely not a Pitbull enjoyer to say the least. I also really liked Colin’s dream, I loved that it was his dream and not hers like it was probably expected. I also really liked their first kiss, it was lovely, I just wish it didn’t happen cause she was begging him for it. Other than that, it was probably my favourite first kiss on the show. I liked that we got to hear about them meeting as kids even though we didn’t see it. And yeah, I just wish we had more of them together interacting to make Colin falling for her feel less rushed.
• Penelope. Sort of. I actually kind of like that she’s petty and dissing Colin in her column lol, but I’m gonna need to see that conflict have a proper resolution in Part 2. I hope they do the LW storyline justice and they don’t rush it like they’ve done in the past in both previous seasons. I loved her new hair, clothes and she looked great. It was nice finally seeing her want to get away from her family and taking matters into her own hands. Her scenes with Lord Debling were fine, but since I know Colin is her endgame I didn’t really care much about him.
• Eloise. I liked Eloise so far. I was a bit annoyed by her last season, but so far I’m enjoying what they are doing with her. I liked that she kept Pen’s secret and that she obviously misses her and still tries to help her and save her from Cressida’s antics. She also seems to be reflecting on her friendship with Penelope and she’s realising that she hasn’t really seen her properly before and yeah I just like what they are doing with them despite the Cressida element this season. She’s also toned down her complaining and has learned to adapt without being unnecessarily rude while also being the same person as before. I liked that development.
• Francesca. I enjoyed Francesca’s storyline this season and I loved seeing her meet John. They were super cute. I have actually read her book and it’s my favourite among the ones I’ve read so this is extra special for me. I did think that we got a bit too many suitors and that I was starting to get bored of that, but then John showed up and I forgot all about it lol.
• The Featheringtons. I know that this might be an unpopular opinion, but I love them lol. Especially Portia. I just love the actress and think she’s great. Her lines are just so much fun and yeah I love this character. She’s not a good mother and person tbh, but I can’t help but find her incredibly entertaining. Her faces, her lines and yeah I just love her scenes. The daughters were great this season as well together with their goofy husbands. The 'inserts himself?' scene was one of the funniest scenes so far on the show for me. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but also enjoyed their plot last season even though I do think the one from this season is a lot more fun.
• Kanthony. I loved seeing them pop up for an episode. Them being all lovey dovey was nice, but I wish we had more interactions between Kate and the Bridgertons, but we’ll be seeing more of them in Part 2 so I’m hoping we’re getting that then.

So these are my thoughts and even though I was disappointed I did enjoy the season overall even if it seems like I have many complaints, it’s still Bridgerton and I just love the show. I feel like my thoughts would be much different with a full picture of the season and not just 4 episodes. I am sure that after Part 2 my feelings about it will be a lot more positive since the storylines will all pay off hopefully. I’m also hoping that they don’t do this split release in the future as I genuinely think it hindered my enjoyment of the season.

Ello!
Today me and my friends have finished the story as well, there is one strange thing not many people seem to notice and is kinda well hidden in the throne room after (or rather, during) we fight Eparch. ^{(Also I apologize, it was end of chapter 18, I forgot it pops into chapter 19 once I collected the rewards})
There is the EYE. OF. JANTHIR. in the throne room that disappears a bit after we defeat Eparch. We didn't notice it before the fight, but seemed to appear during the fight. It's kind of hard to spot due to the environment but it's there in the right "corner" at the wall next o the throne.
img: https://i.imgur.com/6SwZ0uW.png + https://i.imgur.com/g8YG38H.png ^{sorry for the bad quality, I took it from my recent stream}
Now there is kind of one hint that we kind of know that may actually now make sense for expac 5 possible location(s). Previously That_Shaman told us that the original filename of the teased picture we had of expac 5 was called "DeltaWildBog1920x1080"
We have one visible delta in the game, or at least one I know of that fits with this theory, which is near Janthir Bay. Well what a coincidence that we have a random Eye of Janthir show up after... such a long time to seemingly spy on the event going on between Peitha/us and Eparch and then vanish from the room. Almost like it is spying or something, honestly no clue but is really strange coincidence.
I firmly believe Isles of Janthir or Janthir Bay, even if not the isle, but the woodlands around the Bay itself would make sense as location for the next expansion, considering the "delta".
To add, there is a book during the library event in Amnytas (bastion of Knowledge), where there are options to pick a book (the right one for the event) and there is one book that isn't related to the event that is a "Recent reports on non-Kryptis activity near the Isle of Janthir" which means the astral ward has reported on non-kryptis (thank fudge) activity near that location before.
Tho I don't think we would really get anything related to the Mursaat considering now Lazarus and even Mabon is supposed to be dead, but as an oldie I'm still one curious as of what the purpose of the eye is and what is it being used now, but also WHO might be using it and for what reasons. Maybe we finally find the people who may have originally resided on the isles? Honestly, it can go many ways. A lot of things make sense to me now to connect it to that place in all honesty, especially with the eye now randomly appearing absolutely locks my mind to Isles of Janthir.
Either way, I believe we goin' to the Isles of Janthir in expac 5! Or... really close to it

Edit:

Okay, it could be Mursaat related in one-way or the other, because I've been also told now that Mabon's statue in the last story chapter (where you can go around in the tower) is also... glowing for whatever reason that it normally never did before.
And to follow up on what u/Nebbii said in the comments, I did check and Isgarren does mention that Mabon was a Tyrian Mursaat as he says:
"And like the Tyrian mursaat*, my kind are all dead."* and "He was different, and more so resembled the mursaat I've met external Tyria: brutal, yes, but fair."
Which to me implies that Tyrian Mursaats are now dead, but there are other kinds of Mursaat or so called "external Tyrian Mursaat"? Well there is a lot to think, I wonder now if they will go on this subject for the next expansion.

AGI Defined
An autonomous assistant that solves tasks you give it as well as or better than a human would. It has the reasoning, agency, learning capability, and ability to use tools like a human.
How AGI Solves Tasks
Problem Definition and Understanding:
Start by understanding the problem, desired outcomes, and constraints.
Planning:
Formulate a detailed plan outlining steps and strategies to address the problem.
Knowledge Acquisition:
Gather relevant information from its database, the internet, and through its own experiments.
Data Collection and Analysis:
Collect, clean, and analyze data to extract useful insights.
Reasoning and Planning:
Plan by simulating different strategies and evaluating their feasibility.
Creative Generation of Solutions:
Create innovative solutions by combining and extrapolating ideas.
Evaluation and Selection:
Evaluate solutions based on criteria like effectiveness and ethics.
Decision-Making:
Decide on the best solution by weighing pros and cons.
Implementation and Execution:
Implement the chosen solution with an action plan.
Iterative Feedback and Learning:
Adjust approach based on feedback during implementation.
Continuous Improvement:
Learn from experiences to improve problem-solving over time.
How Agi Is Smarter Than Humans In Discovering and Implementing New Knowledge
Enhanced Memory:
Have an extensive and perfect memory, allowing it to recall and use vast amounts of information instantly.
Processing Speed:
Analyze vast amounts of data and complex problems much faster than humans.
Integration:
Integrate information from diverse sources and disciplines more effectively, generating novel insights.
Pattern Recognition:
Detect subtle patterns and anomalies in data that humans might overlook.
Deep Learning:
Understand and learn from complex datasets, making connections and insights that are difficult for humans to grasp.
Hypothesis Generation:
Systematically generate and evaluate a vast number of hypotheses, including unconventional ones humans might not consider.
Simulations:
Run countless simulations of theoretical models quickly to test their validity.
Unbiased Exploration:
Explore hypotheses without cognitive biases that might influence human researchers.
Logical Consistency:
Maintain higher levels of logical consistency in reasoning, avoiding common cognitive fallacies and errors.
Advanced Problem-Solving:
Solve complex problems more effectively by using advanced algorithms and heuristic methods beyond human capability.
Feedback Loop:
Rapidly iterate and refine models based on new data, accelerating the cycle of discovery.
Innovative Thinking:
Generate truly novel ideas and solutions that go beyond conventional human thinking.
Continuous Operation:
Work continuously without breaks, accelerating the research process.
Innovations Needed For AGI
Hardware:
Better chips
Data centers
Energy production
Software:
Agents perform multi-step tasks and know what to do next for the task to be done without being asked to.
Self operating computer
Having every workflow application have the AI be able to use the tools rather than just give advice based on what it sees on the device and hears from the user.
Spoken Timelines: I didn't add links but you could just search what I said on Google.
Dan Schulman (former PayPal CEO): GPT-5 will be a freak out moment. 80% of the jobs out there will be reduced 80% in scope.
Sam Altman thinks GPT-4.5 will automate 100 million jobs globally.
In 2023, Sam Altman said he predicts job losses will begin in 2-3 years.
Sam Altman's AI Capabilities Projection:

• Multi-Modality: Somewhat with GPT 4o. Still needs an everything to everything model.
• Reasoning: Q-star, chain of thought, search tree. I’m sure more will come.
• Personalization: Most likely having the AI be trained on all your personal data by having it control your devices. (Bill Gates Interview)
• Reliability: Sam said that this is when the AI can always give you the best response. He remarks that if GPT-4 gives a good response 1 out of every 10k times, then he wants to ensure that one good response is given every time. (Bill Gates Interview)
• Agents: API calls with other apps. Ability to use tools in different applications.

AI that controls your computer is coming soon
Sam Altman said GPT 4 is really dumb. So he knows the next model is actually way better.
OpenAI is likely two years ahead of everyone.
OpenAI COO: Brad Lightcap

• We’ll get a major upgrade by May 2025 (Based on May 2024). Today’s systems are laughably bad.
• Models are capable of complex "work."
• OpenAI already has a desktop app with a conversational voice and can comprehend what’s on your screen. So they can be like your teammate.

Every company’s workflow would be reengineered by May 2026. Nvidia, Dell Are Building Their Own AI 'Factories' (Based on May 2024)
Project Stargate: Nuclear fusion to power the $100 billion data center to be released in 2028. This is likely for scaling for smarter models, make AI faster, cheaper, or getting it to as many hands as possible.
Many leaders in AI give AGI release dates between 2025-2030. Most people that think AI won't take jobs are thinking of todays tech for the future. They don't consider how AGI would be like for AI to take jobs. Like the required technology and how those innovations could be achieved. People don't consider how embodied humanoid robots with AGI could also eliminate many jobs. People think trade jobs are safe. NVIDIA's project groot is training robots in simulation. Who's to say that the robots can't learn to do all tasks. Maybe not in a year, but five years is a lot of progress with the rate AI is advancing. Even if we don't have AGI now, AI will be replacing jobs. If one person can use AI to do the work of one team, then those people who would have been on a team would be laid off. Especially when Agents roll around in 1-2 years.
Sometimes it really worries me about the people who go to college to get a high paying jobs, especially first gen college students from immigrant families. Imagine working hard for the dream of getting a high paying job only to be automated in six years. What happens to their drive? All their hard work for what? Sold a long gone dream and had the carpet pulled under them. In my opinion, even jobs like doctors could be automated if humanoid robots had embodied AGI. Sure it might not be wanted at first, but it has the potential too.
My Thoughts on AGI
AGI would just be the accumulation of all the different innovations needed to reach the requirements needed to meet the definition of what AGI is. Realistically, engineers could do this within six years. So even though I have a general idea of how AGI could be achieved by the end of the decade, I would just have to wait and see when these innovations are created.
Post Labor Info
Most people work to gain money because money is needed to survive and buy things that you want. The purpose of school is to provide people with a pathway to secure a high-paying job. When students say they work hard in school to be successful, it often means they want to get a high-paying career.
But if AI were to start taking over jobs, then our relationship with work would change. There would be mass unemployment, leading people to receive UBI. The government would be forced to give UBI unless they want societal collapse. No one would need to work to have money for survival and buying the things they want.
If everyone had free money, people would use the extra time on bettering their personal lives. They can spend more time with loved ones and do the things they want to do. There would be a paradigm shift in how society is set up. People wouldn’t have to work so hard at school or a job in the pursuit of money. A lot of people don’t like working anyway, especially since the cost of living is causing them to work harder and subsequently deal with mental health issues. Look at Gen Z doesn't want to work, antiwork, wage slavery, 9-5 rat race. Cost of living being unaffordable. People work so hard but can not get by. Hard work is not properly financially compensated and college grads can't find jobs. Meaning from work could be derived from work you want to do not work you do for a paycheck. Look at David Shapiro's YouTube channel for more info on Post-Labor and Post-AGI videos.
It would be better for the next generation of people born in this post-labor world. Nasa researchers found that 98% of 5-year-old children fell into the “genius category of imagination.” This number dropped to 12% for 15-year-olds and to 2% for adults. The reason for this drop is the education system killing creativity. But with the traditional education system gone, that generation is likely to remain geniuses.

Micheal Afton MOVESET
Lightweight with 2 jumps
Gimmick
Not really a gimmick just wanted to mention this. Micheal will not be referencing enard at any point During the attacks. As michaels moveset is less about micheal specificity and is more meant to be a security guard composet moveset. Which is the same reason that he will use Ucn items. I know that's williams torment and stuff but it works better on michael.
Basic Attacks
Jab: Flash Light (Mike presses on a flashlight which causes it to flash)
Doesn’t do damage but can flinch
(Flashlights in the fnaf series)
Dash: Foxy Scare (Mike dawns a foxy mask and jumps forward)
Pretty strong Knockback but meh damage
(Michael Scaring his brother and Withered Foxy Jump Scare)
Side Tilt: Decomposing (Slowly Punches at an upward angle)
Does mid damage
(Final walking sprites when micheal fully decomposed)
Up tilt: Walking (Micheal does a basic uppercut)
Does Great Knockback but no damage
(Micheal Walkin down the street)
Down Tilt: Scary Slide (Micheal Wears a foxy mask and slides)
Basic Sliding down tilt. Does minor damage but can cause a stun
(Micheals bed scare)
Side Smash: Faz Coin (Faz Coins start to appear around michael as the move charges)
If you charge for the shortest amount of time you will get a random plushie where he throws the plushie where it acts as a basic gravity affected projectile. Does a lot of knockback and has a 20% chance to freeze but barely any damage. if you charge for a medium amount of time rockstar freddy will punch forward. Does medium knockback and damage. And if you charge the Longest amount of time you get a death coin which Michael will throw forwards. From there it flies into a straight line until it hits a wall or a foe where it will disappear. It does no knockback but tons of damage And if the foes damage was over 80% damage when hit by the death coin, it’s an instant kill.
(Ucn coin purchases)
Up Smash: Wiring Malfunction (Micheal holds a wire that emits flame)
Does decent knockback and has a chance to stun or burn
(fnaf 3 fire)
Down Smash: Music Box (Micheal Spins the handle of a music box)
Does Great Knockback but no damage
(Music Box general use)
Aerials
Neutral Air: Music Box (Micheal Spins the handle of a music box)
Does Great Knockback but no damage
(Music Box general use)
F Air: Death Coin (Micheal Throws a death coin)
It flies into a straight line until it hits a wall or a foe where it will disappear. It does no knockback but tons of damage And if the foes damage was over 80% damage when hit by the death coin, it’s an instant kill.
(Death Coin)
B Air: Plushies (Throws Random plushie behind hims)
A basic gravity affected projectile. Does a lot of knockback and has a 20% chance to freeze but barely any damage.
(Plushies in ucn)
Up Air: Wiring Malfunction (Micheal holds a wire that emits flame)
Does decent knockback and has a chance to stun or burn
(fnaf 3 fire)
Down Air: Panic (Micheal shakes the feet below him)
Hits great damage and knockback
(the panic animation shared between afton and CC)
Grabs
Grab: Flashes opponent with camera stunning them.
(Camera security breach)
Pummel: Uses a fazer blaster
F Throw: A hoard of people crowd surf the opponent
(the events before the bite of 83)
B Throw: A hoard of people crowd surf the opponent
(the events before the bite of 83)
Up Throw: A pedestal with a button appears under the foe that micheal presses shocking the opponent
(sister location controlled shock)
Down Throw: A Fredbear suit appears which micheal puts the opponent into the suits mouth before it crushes them
(Bite of 83)
Specials
Neutral Special: Doors
A Door appears in front of michael. Acts like Steve's blocks with bigger hitboxes and major restrictions. First only can be placed on the ground. Second, only 2 doors can be on screen at a time. But in exchange for those hindrances there are some benefits. First the doors will not disappear unless you make them by pressing the b button near a door or if you lose a stocks your doors still disappear. And second micheal is unaffected by the doors hitbox. Meaning he can walk through them or even attack between them. Speaking of which if you use the jab next to a door the flashlight will now instead freeze opponents. And all projectiles including michaels will disappear after touching a door. So overall its a great way to control the outcome of a match in the right hands but if used incorrectly could give your opponents a major leg up.
Side Special: Audio Lure
Micheal will pull up his computer and use an audio lure. From an icon appears that you can move. Press B at your desired location and a sound will play. From there there’s a 50% chance the opponent will move to the location. Note they will stop at ledges and avoid on stage hazards like lava so you can’t move the foe to their death. But it is still a powerful ability. And you can use side b while charging a smash attack or while doing another special.
Up Special: Dee Dee
Dee Dee picks micheal up and flies with their propeller hat before dropping him. Acts exactly like king k rools up b with a key difference. If michael lands on the stage after using up special one out of six random animatronics will appear each lasting 25 seconds. Shadow Bonnie who will fly around the stage trying to get to someone and teleport the person touches to a random part off the stage before disappearing. Micheal can be that person but it cannot go through Michael's doors. plushtrap acts like a slower moving, bigger claptrap who can’t jump and freezes with light attacks also can’t go through doors. Lolbit and the minireenas who serve the same function of blocking the screen. Nightmare chica who acts like a slower Roden who instead of summoning hands just punches you straight up. And bonnet who acts like plushtrap who can jump. The move can only be used twice within 25 seconds as only 2 animatronics can appear at a time. The second time you use the move xor will appear instead fulfilling the same role. Also no minireenas and lolbit can’t appear at the same time
Down Special: Cameras
Mike will pull up his monitor and check his cameras. The screen will then freeze. As little text boxes appear above the screen basically explaining important info like the matchup of the foe compared to michael, Their weight, counters to there specials, recommended strategies, etc. you can exit it by pressing the b button again where you can’t use the move for 20 seconds. Which is the wise move since just like in fnaf the text will only be on screen for 3 seconds before static appears and disappears with michael being stunned and unable to use the move for 40 seconds. So just like in fnaf you need to scan the scene and focus on what's important and plan your next action accordingly.
Final Smash: Connection Terminated
The move starts with micheal charging up a punch. But before he can punch the opponent the screen cuts to black as an altered version of henry's speech plays before cutting back to the match where michael is mysteriously gone as the screen slowly shrinks with fire on the border. Additionally the entire stage is on fire making the ground no longer safe. The torment ends after 15 seconds where it cuts to an animatic of the fnaf 6 pizzaplex in ruin. When it cuts back to the stage michael has mysteriously come back
Cosmetics
Costumes
Security guard outfit
Purple skin (Ennard and purple guy reference)
Gray skin and shirt (Souls reference)
Blue Shirt (Phone Guy)
Striped shirt (Crying Child)
Pink (Pink Slip)
Orange Hair and pink shirt (Elezabith
Orange Skin with a top hat and blue shirt (Glamrock Freddy)
Stage Entrance: Walks out of his house the same way he does in the fnaf 5 cutscenes
Taunts
Puts On Foxy Mask
Eats pizza
Puts on freddy mask (invincible while in the taunt)
Victory Animations
A Pink slip appears on screen
Fire appears on screen (always happens when winning with final smash)
A Black screen appears Before 6 Am appears on screen (always happens when winning timed match)

2304-2306 Operation Orange Blade: This is a two year short war, fought between the neo-national Separatist the Rangers of Anger, against the Tribes of New Canaan leading the NCR to aid their ally to secure their borders.
2300-2308 Operation Brass Thunder: A slow burn clean up effort to stabilize western and south western Colorado after large amounts of refugees and fatalists flood into the region because of the Wars of Bonita and Escondito.
Side note: it was a violence heavy conflict due to large about of BOS deserters in the region that created powerful militias, use recovered weapons cashes leading to an unexpected brutal slog.
2310-2315 Operation Mountain Reign; Establishing infrastructure through out the Colorado Territory and establishing an alliance network within the region.
2310: The Maxson Madness/ Operation Freezing Icarus
A Impromptu raid and neighborhood shootout of a local ba grill being ran by and housing alleged R.O.T. sympathizers this event ended up setting the ground work for the Venturan civil war of 2313, after several member fled the country and went to Ventura.
2310- ongoing Operation Desert Rain: The Long range regional focus on maintaining stability and peace in and between the allied territories and this extensions while monitoring the Fatalist cult.
2313-2315 The Venturan Civil War: Not to be confused with the War in Ventura, the Venturan Civil War was a conflict that started after the Republic of Texas withdraws support of the fledgling country leading to mass panic and war to ensue in the power struggle. This event was ended by the NCR invasion in 2315 Side note: The NCR would use this opportunity to get the ROT Border with little resistance after hearing the group if Fugitives were spotted around the Ventura area.
2315 The mobilization for the invasion of ROT: Due to the ever-increasing pressure from the Fatalist Cult and their second somewhat loss after fighting two ideological wars against the ROT, an invasion was launched after a Red Raider group was caught trying to sneak into the town of Anonci. Before landing within ROT territory a standby was called due to a weighing political pressure back in NCR against possible ten year long war.
Notable events: the dissolving of the MWBoS ROT Alliance: Due to unexplained circumstances, the Mid-Western Brotherhood of Steel, after mysterious learning about the ROT involvement with the back door funding of the Fatalist Cult and the wild nature of their actions the alliance was broke and War was declared. 2312
The MWBoS-FC War The prolonged finally declared war against the FC. 2312
The NCR-MWBoS concurrent Non Aggression pact ROT/ War effect This discussion series ended with the NCR and MWBoS enacting a nonaggression pact and a semi-alliance as they both declared war against the ROT.
Side note: By this point, the Republic of Texas had expanded into Oklahoma, as well as parts of Louisiana. It had overstretched most of its resources, and trying to keep all areas properly equipped was now a well and weakened state that the FC was willing to turn on their once benefactors.
Additional side note with all these failing and no backers it’s was only a matter of time before subtractions broke off and multifaceted civil war would dissolve the fragile union.
2315-2318 Operation Flash Reaction: The stabilization of Civil War Ventura As part of the invasion plan taking over the only possible ally of the Republic of Texas was mandatory though Ventura has fallen to multiple war lords lead factions it’s largest was still looking to get into the ROT’s good graces. This but if knowledge lead to a Special Interest Task Force being sent into directly eliminate the leader of the largest war lord faction who technically had the remaining standing government and the majority of resources under his control.
Additional side note:
After the dissolving of the ROT the plan to stabilize Ventura took the majority of the newly directed effort. This endeavor took three years but only because it was difficult to squash all the small pockets of resistance across the region. With no hope the ROT would come to help or any other nation to assist, the smaller groups later surrender or fled the nation.
2319-2325 The Rise of the Grizzly Brotherhood and their Clash with the NCR
After the Venturan Civil War and Operation Flash Reaction a couple of the remnants of several different factions came together to form that most terrifying alliance in the entire Western United States. The Grizzly Brotherhood. This Masterminded collective set up shop in the great expanse of Wyoming just out of the NCRs reach but not for long. After a scout patrol ambushed a group of NCR Soldiers a war was waged between the two factions that lasted six years.

Capfriendly has the Avs July 1st cap space at $15,916,250 with 11 roster spots open.
Pending RFAs -Casey Mittelstadt: -62gp 14G 33A 47pts w/ Buffalo -18gp 4G 6A 10pts w/ Avalanche -Mittelstadt is the main piece to sign this offseason as he has stepped into the 2C role and thrived after being acquired from Buffalo, and at only 25 he is a piece to lock up for the future.
-Alex Beaucage: -21gp 1G 6A 7pts w/ Colorado Eagles -29gp 11G 14A 25pts w/ Utah Grizzlies -At 22, he is likely looking at a deal coming his way this offseason. Slotted to be with the Eagles for the time being, if he performs well, he could become a float between Denver and Loveland or see himself being moved in a more “win-now” focused deal
-Jason Polin: -7gp 1G 0A 1pt w/ Avalanche -42gp 4G 6A 10pts w/ Colorado Eagles -An Eagles mainstay this season, who spent some time with the big club this year, he is likely looking at another year primarily with the Eagles, and at 24 another cheap deal is likely in the Avs best interest.
-Wyatt Aamodt: -60gp 6G 8A 14pts w/ Colorado Eagles -An AHLer this season and not much else, he is looking at more playing time with the Eagles this upcoming season. Will likely see a qualifying offer.
-Gianni Fairbrother: -1gp 0G 0A 0pts w/ Colorado Eagles -8gp 1G 2A 3pts w/ Utah Grizzlies -Part of the Newhook trade in 2023, Fairbrother is a young, only 23, developing defenseman who could see increased playing time in Loveland, and Utah, but is a way away from being a potential AHL call-up.
Pending UFAs -Andrew Cogliano: -75gp 6G 13A 19P -At 36, the NHL journey is coming to an end for Cogliano in the near future, it appears he likes it in Colorado, and Colorado likes him. For the right price, Cogs will be back in the burgundy and blue as pillar of the bottom-6.
-Jonathan Drouin: -79gp 19G 37A 56P -A guy who has come into his own this season in Denver, while a new contract will be expensive, it is in his best interest to stay in Denver and playing next to his QMJHL buddy MacKinnon.
-Brandon Duhaime: -62gp 4G 4A 8pts w/ Minnesota -18gp 1G 4A 5pts /Colorado -A high energy player who is not afraid to play the body and muck it up in the o-zone. At 26, for the right price, the Avalanche could benefit from a deal.
-Joel Kiviranta: -10gp 3G 6A 9pts w/ Colorado Eagles -56gp 3G 6A 9pts w/ Colorado Avalanche -I don’t see Kiviranta coming back next season, I feel the Avs can replace his production and energy from within.
-Yakov Trenin: -60gp 10G 4A 14pts w/ Nashville -16gp 2G 1A 3pts w/ Colorado -Another piece in a crucial bottom 6 for the Avalanche, for the right price, would be welcomed back with open arms.
-Jack Johnson: -80gp 3G 13A 16pts w/ Colorado -At 37, I am not sure he fits into the window for the Avs anymore. His production can be replaced from within, or through a younger free agent on the market. But his veteran presence is likely highly important in the locker room
-Caleb Jones: -12gp 0G 6A 6pts w/ Colorado Eagles -25gp 0G 5A 5pts w/ Colorado Avalanche -Not expecting Jones to be back with the team next season, while high-energy, the production is just not at the level it needs to be at across the board, another case of he can be replaced from within.
-Sean Walker: -63gp 6G 16A 22pts w/ Philadelphia -18gp 4G 3A 7pts w/ Colorado -Unfortunately, Walker has likely priced himself out of Colorado and will be wearing a different logo come October. Giving up a 1st stings for a rental, and I would expect the Avalanche to kick tires and see if an agreement can be made.
-Fredrick Olofsson: -20gp 3G 9A 12pts w/ Colorado Eagles -57gp 3G 6A 9pts -I would not expect Olofsson back in Colorado in 2024-25, his production can be replaced, and did not play with the big club during the most important part of the year
-Spencer Smallman -53gp 12G 9A 21pts w/ Colorado Eagles -Another AHLer who is likely looking at a deal to be mainly a piece in Loveland, don’t expect to see Smallman play with the Avalanche
-Riley Tufte: -67gp 23G 22A 45pts w/ Colorado Eagles -5gp 1G 1A 2pts w/ Colorado Avalanche -A high-energy and hungry player during this sort stint with the Avalanche this season, I expect him to have a new deal and be fighting for a mainstay spot in the Avalanche roster at training camp.
-Nathan Clurman -37gp 1G 4A 5pts w/ Colorado Eagles -At 26, Clurman is likely an AHL only defenseman, and is likely low on the pecking order when it comes to call-ups, I think a deal is negotiated for cheap. Also he’s a Boulder native.
-Brad Hunt -70gp 16G 33A 49pts w/ Colorado Eagles -As captain of the Eagles this season, I definitely think Hunt is due for another deal here in Colorado, as well as being a call-up candidate in event of injury
-Corey Schueneman: -64gp 4G 18A 22pts -Another likely AHLer, we’ll see what happens. Could go either way.
-Ivan Prosvetov: -11gp 8gs 4W-3L 3.70GAA .881SV% -At 25, Prosvetov is likely wanting to find a place to prove himself in a backup and potentially starting goalie, I feel the Avs want to keep him to depth purposes, but I don’t see Prosvetov staying.
Resigned: Mittelstadt, Drouin, Trenin, Tufte and others
Resigned for the right price: Walker, Duhaime, Cogliano, Johnson, Prosvetov, and any of the other AHL guys who want to stick around
Mittelstadt and Drouin will eat a good portion of the cap space we have, leaving 9 roster spots open with under 10 million to spend.
League UFAs(Top 10 on Capfriendly) -Steven Stamkos -Sam Reinhart -Matt Murray -Jake Guentzel -Tyler Myers -Adam Henrique -Anthony Mantha -Tyler Bertuzzi(🤢) -Teuvo Teräväinen -Jason Zucker
We are unfortunately probably priced out of most of the premier talent in this years free agency class. We are likely targeting bottom 6 forwards and bottom 4 defense as depth, our top players are payed for a reason, need to find the complimentary pieces. Not sure what realistic options would be.
Promotion from within options -Riley Tufte(pending UFA) -Oskar Olausson -Jean-Luc Foudy -Sean Behrens -Sam Malinski -Nikolai Kovalenko -Calum Ritchie -Mikhail Gulyayev(Under contract with Avangard Omsk until 2025/26)
-I think the lack of money to play with is the perfect opportunity for our young talent to step in a prove themselves, or can become trade pieces to improve. Olausson and Foudy are the most dire in need to make the jump, we are running out of time on their development as prospects. A full season will undoubtedly help Kovalenko, as he can adjust to the North American game and can likely become a valuable piece on the 2nd or 3rd line. Ritchie will have to wait until training camp to see if he is ready for the jump, at only 19, he can afford to wait to make the move full time and flesh out his game. Gulayayev is a pipe dream this year, although I believe once he makes the move he will be a quality defenseman who will inject some youth in a d-core that is starting to age.
Definitely leave your thoughts, opinions and other comments. I’d love to discuss.