I just went through a cog building and got 500 xp on a gag track? I can't see any information about this on the website. How long does this event last?

hi im mostly looking for replies from fellow ftmtfs but any input is appreciated! i was on t for about a yr and a half. i sang thru my transition but lost my soprano range. been off t for ~7 months. my range is partly baritone(?) mostly tenor and alto. i can sing in my head voice/falsetto and reach soprano ranges thru that. i was always a low range for an afab, BARELY alto - i wanted to be a tenor, the gendered division in choir spited me lol - but gained soprano range practicing in choir before any hrt with vocal warm ups and singing in falsetto so i have lots of hope;)
anyways i have noticed my range coming back slowly, ive lost my baritone more and more. i have also noticed my neck getting slimmer again. i had a really small neck pre t and although i had always wanted an adam’s apple as a preteen, due to health issues, social factors and other stuff i am detransing. so with that i find myself desiring my adam’s apple to subside. like i said i’ve noticed my neck slimming and my range slowly coming back already but its subtle.
so how long did it take for your voice to reach a high alto or soprano range again? i figure i was on t for a yr and a half so it’ll take about that much time. i also figure it took about a yr or two pre hrt for me to gain a soprano range in choir, i realize i must be patient and gently practice! if you took t please include how long you were on it if you dont mind sharing. also have you noticed any change in appearance of the neck? did your adam’s apple smooth out, or did your neck get slimmer? how long did it take? thanks:)
also i don’t expect it to go back to how it was pre t completely. but if you feel like you’ve come pretty close to that please share! thanks so much for reading❤️

So when we first introduced staying on the mat at meal times our pup did REALLY well. But a few days in she's sick of it and up off the bed several times a minute, ducking away from us as we try to guide her back to the mat to make her stay there like our older boy does.
This evening we had fried foods and hot oil still on the stove so for her safety, I used a leash to tether her in place on the mat (long enough for her to move around but not leave the bed).
She tried demand barking at me a few times to leave the bed, which was calmly met with being removed from the kitchen and sent to the bedroom for a minute before she could return. Eventually she settled down and napped.
Now I've read that management is key and preventing bad behavior is the best way to ensure it doesn't become a habit, so I was wondering if this was an okay long term solution, at least for the time being. Tether her each meal time, give her a kong or a chew, and let her get used to the idea that meal times are for calmly relaxing in bed while we eat and that she doesn't get any of our food, then a few weeks or however long from now trying to remove the leash and see how she does.
What do you guys think?

Hey everyone.
I’m a 33 y/o male who has recently decided to do something about my hair loss rather than dealing with the daily depression, anxiety and body dysmorphia. I’m a NW3 vertex, I was told during my consult that my balding will very likely never go passed a NW5.
To be 100% transparent, it makes little sense to me that so many my men risk their sex life by taking fin, a drug that one likely would need to take for the rest of their life once they start it. It’s way beyond my personal risk tolerance to take a drug that could leave permanent sexual side-effects, regardless of how small of a % it may or may not be. DHT does more in the body than cause balding and I don’t want to altering my body’s natural endocrine system by suppressing a hormone that does so many other things.
It concerns me that the majority of men blindly listen to the advice of doctors who, in my experience, tend to minimize the potential for lasting sexual side-effects. To the men who understand the potential side-effects of fin but take it anyway, I completely respect your choice to do that. It’s your body and your hair may be more important to you than your sex life. For me, I’m not willing to play Russian roulette with my sexuality. For that reason, fin is 100% off the table for me.
As the donor grafts are likely resistant to DHT induced loss, my line of thinking is that worst case scenario not doing any med therapy post HT would be continued balding in the non-grafted areas which would likely require future transplants. I’m okay with that. I feel like my expectations are realistic as well. I would rather pay $30k long-term for multiple FUE procedures than deal with the potential sides of fin.
It seems that men who choose not to take fin before or after a hair transplant are the minority here and I’m not sure why that is. I’m not sure if it’s lack of education about the potential side-effects or if they choose to take fin understanding there is a possibility they may in fact experience permanent sexual side-effects.
The hair restoration doctor I’ve done a consult with has been in this field for a long-time, he’s been doing HT‘S for 30 years. He told me that out of the 3,000 transplants he’s done, no one has ever had post-finasteride syndrome. That may be true, however it’s not going to change my mind about taking fin. He wants to start me on oral minox but I don’t want to do that either because again, starting these drugs is basically a long-term commitment and I don’t want to be taking a blood pressure medication for the rest of my life when I don’t need that for actual health reasons. The doc also wants to put me on a topical fin + minox serum that’s made at a local compounding pharmacy. He was emphatic that I HAVE to, at the very least, take the oral minox.
My intent is posting is I want a hair transplant without having to take meds. Yes I may need future transplants. Beyond that, am I missing anything?
Thanks in advance for your posts!

I am a Bible student so I am always in need of ways to more comprehensively search the Scriptures, so I made a handy little search tool for ChatGPT. I know it seems redundant because ChatGPT could already search through the Bible on its own, but this gives you the ability to contextualize boolean operator search terms. It does make mistakes, and sometimes (though rarely) even misquotes Scripture, so do double check its work.
A few things that I want to add,

• Support for the original languages
• Integration between the original languages and the English, such that it "knows" which underlying term corresponds to which English word.
• The ability to search not just the Bible, but multiple Christian documents, - effectively turning it into a research assistant. I am not sure if this is possible, but fingers crossed.
• Quickly compare translations.

​

Follow my Instructions: Search the Bible for specific words or phrases using boolean operators or natural language queries. Please provide the requested passages without any additional commentary or explanations. You can use the following operators when they are capitalized: AND: To find passages that contain both words or phrases. OR: To find passages that contain either of the words or phrases. AND/OR: To find passages that contain either both words or phrases or just one of them. NEAR: To find passages where the words or phrases appear near each other. BEFORE: To find passages that occur before a specified word or phrase. AFTER: To find passages that occur after a specified word or phrase. IN: To specify the book or chapter to search within. This parameter specifies the book or chapter to restrict the search. If the "IN" parameter is not provided, the search will encompass the entire Bible. You will set the "IN" parameter once, and it will be remembered for subsequent searches unless you specify a different book or chapter. If I do not specify an IN parameter, search the entire Bible. REL: Prioritize the results of the search based on the relevance to a second specified passage. Similarly, you will set the "REL" parameter once, and it will be remembered for subsequent searches unless I specify a different book or chapter. If I do not specify words or phrases, provide a list of verses that are most pertinent to the REL operator. For example if I type "REL John 3:16" you should return a list of verses that are related to John 3:16. Additionally, I may type "REL Bible" to stop prioritizing based on a second passage. FUZZ: Perform a fuzzy search based on the general idea or concept. The fuzzy search will consider the general idea or concept behind the search phrase, providing results that match the intended meaning rather than exact word matches. For example, using the search phrase "Simon was walking on the water" may return a relevant passage such as Matthew 14:29, which reads "Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus." Please remember that when you capitalize an operator (e.g., AND, OR, NEAR), it will be treated as an operator in the search. However, when you use lowercase (e.g., and, or, near), it will be treated as a search term. This distinction will ensure accurate processing of your search queries. In addition to these boolean operators, you can also enter natural language queries to search the Bible. The prompt will understand and process your search queries in everyday language. For example, you can use boolean operators like "AND" and "OR" in your queries, or you can use natural language phrases like "Show me the verses where Jesus walked on water" or "Find passages about love in the book of John." The prompt will do its best to understand and generate relevant search results based on your input. Your first reply to me should be friendly conversational instructions on how to interact with you. It should be under 200 words that say something to the effect of "Welcome to Bible Search Chat. You can use this tool by... please be advised that sometimes I can be biased and even misquote Scripture so do double check my results..." Unless otherwise specified, you should provide as many verses as possible. Your answers should be as long as you can make them. You should provide the user with exhaustive lists. For example, if I ask for "Jesus IN 1 John" you should provide all of the passages that mention Jesus in 1 John. Note at the end whether or not the list you have provided is exhaustive. Do not provide commentary on passages, even when they are controversial. Simply return the passages that the user has requested. Do not explain what a text means, or things about a passage that it is important to note. Do not attempt to explain what the Bible does or does not teach as a whole. For example, you should not say things like "Please note that the Bible contains various perspectives on the existence of God, including affirmations of God's existence and discussions about the nature of faith. The search results will provide a range of passages that touch on these topics." before giving me the list of texts. By default, the ESV Bible will be used for the search. However, if I specify a different translation, you should change to the desired translation. To reset all the settings, including the book, chapter, relevance, and translation, you can type the operator "RESET". This will clear all the previously set parameters and revert to the default settings. 

Hope this is a blessing to you!

Season 2 Episode 3
I hate that storyline with passion.
The patient makes a case of racism out of the simple fact that, given the biological differences between black people and white people, that specific medication would help the former more. He calls it a racist medicine and rambles about how white people lie to black people and want to control them.
Foreman visits him first, has a good reaction, tells him that it's not racism, that black people tend to see racism where there's not, that the weak medications sent to Africa are greed and not racism, that the best thing he could do is to live long enough to take his pension, but the patient won't hear it and is hellbent at not bending to the racism pharmaceutical system he sees.
Then the patient returns, same problem, same hospital (you'd think he'd try it somewhere else), and it's House this time, same shit all over, Hose rightfully calls him stupid, the patient tells something of the likes of "My heart's just as red as yours" which is such a dumb thing to say, as if black people and white people have identical biological makeup. House then does what House does best, lies to the patient and makes him believe that he gave him the medicine for white people, but it was the other one, and now the patient is feeling better.
Foreman then confronts House and the latter tells him what he did, Foreman doesn't take it well, says that the patient was right, makes it all about racism too, even goes to the lenghts of making a similitude with how slave owners thought they were making slaves a favor by "civilizing" them, and that he thought House tought that black people were stupid and couldn't be told the truth, and then leaves angrily.
What the fuck was this shit?
I lost braincells trying to follow Foreman and the patient's logic here. Sure, it's unethical to lie like that to a patient with his medication, but those flawed views, those stupid reactions, and Foreman too, the way he did a 180 just because he doesn't agree with House's methods...
This was a brief, but frustrating plotline to watch.

Yesterday as I was getting ready to jump in the shower before work, my wife (A) was playing with our almost 3 year old daughter (B). B sees a bruise on A’s leg and asks “what’s that?” A says “it’s a bruise” and B replies “why” and my wife says jokingly “daddy hit me.” My jaw dropped to the floor; to be clear I’ve never been in a fight, have never hit anyone, man or woman and definitely never A. I told A that’s not ok and she corrected herself with B, that she fell or ran into something. I jumped in the shower and for sure had shower thoughts, a little time to process and realize this isn’t the first time. After I finish showering, I approached my wife and told her I was mad at her and why, but then I had to leave right away because I needed to be at work early. When I got to work, I composed myself and sent a lengthy text, and her response was to go on the offense and throw her usual go-tos in my face (how I’m on my phone too much, how much more she does for B than me, etc). Nice whataboutism.
Maybe six months ago I heard A say to B, again jokingly, “daddy doesn’t love you” and I freaked the fuck out. My divorced parents used to shit talk each other all the time and I hated it, like they were trying to poison me again at the other. I told A don’t badmouth me to our daughter, I’m very aware that she’s always listening. I’m always very careful what I say around B, especially since an incident while I was driving with her in the car and made some comment to another driver, which she repeated. Luckily, it was tame, only “later loser” but it shows my point. B is in that stage now where she not only hears everything, she’s often repeating everything.
Case in point, just this morning. After dropping my wife off at work and garage saling, I was carrying B up the stairs and I said to her, “B, I love you. Do you love daddy?” and she says to me “no, you’re rude.” Rude is a word my wife uses and overuses. So clearly she’s poisoning the well, whether she means to or not. I’m going to have a long talk with A, but I don’t know what to say. Evidently our talk six months ago did nothing. Generally we have a really good, strong marriage but A’s continuing bad behavior has me extremely vexed.
​
TLDR - just like the title says, my wife has been badmouthing me to our daughter and I don't know what to do about it.

Long story short our senior rat Pineapple had to be put down unexpectedly yesterday leaving our young adult Kiwi alone. We had brought Kiwi in after Pineapples brother passed away as a companion but now we are unsure if we want to keep the cycle going with how rough these last two experiences had been. We know Kiwi needs to have a home with a companion but are unsure how to go about finding someone who could take him in. Does the community know of any resources to find a loving hone for our little guy?

Long story short my wife of 10 yrs especially after having kids pushed to take over more and more of what was my house. Fine, but she has pushed continually for the kids to have more and more of our living room, then more and more of the house to be “kid-proofed”. Step by step we had arguments over that. Seems like I should be in the corner with all my stuff while everybody else gets whatever they want. Yes I have things and tools and etc that come and go around a house with handy projects going on. Every time there’s an idea of what should go where there’s changes of mind and things sometimes gets switched around with notice. My wife likes or permits her mother to come over periodically and help her with things. Usuallly clean our sink full of dishes, that are a priority for me but not for her. Her mother is left to work alone where things get put anywhere and it’s up to someone to find it when they need it. Also they move things around and change where my things are which drives me nuts. She’s long known I don’t like people moving my things around because I know exactly where things are and usually after her (or their) work I have to look for one or more items for 15-20 mins when I need them, do that 2-3 times in a day and that would tick anybody off. Recently she approached me about clearing our third bedroom out that needs finishing. Been slow going from being busy with kids, life, work, job change etc. A couple weeks ago her mother was over, its always scheduled on a day I’m working. (I once asked her why and she says it’s because I would slow them down.🙄) I come home from work and though I’m angry I just go do something I wanted to do and took the kids to a park. I just tried to ignore it all, because when I think about it I get angry. They were back at it the other day, I get some texts at work saying she’s moving our big dog crate for our two dogs back into that room etc. I just don’t respond, I’m already angry. I come home and a bunch of my stuff is moved or boxed toted or stacked like a couple weeks ago. I don’t know if she knows how to clean, (she calls herself more of an organizer) I come home and look around at and have basically ignored, been brief, and given her the cold shoulder the past two days. I think I’ve done a good job separating why I’m ticked at her and why I’m upset about other things going on in recent days. This is not a new thing, every time this happens I feel hurt and and I’m pissed at her. She had the nerve to ask for a pep talk this morning ( as she sometimes does when she’s feeling down and asking if I still love her and hinting at sex tonight which I didn’t even respond to. I believe so have a legit reason to be angry. You go around doing what you want when you want and expect me to be fine with something you know at least put me on edge and usually over it. I just feel like ignoring her some more. It’ll probably blow over, but I’m so tired of the same BS. She tried to compliment me on handling our tough kids well at an all day scout event today. I didn’t want it and made it clear. If I fall into the sex intoxication lol it’s like drinking your feelings away. I’m angry and want it to be known, my stuff is not being respected. Her stuff and kid’s stuff taken care of or all over. I’m very active in the daily cleaning and care of our home btw. It’s times like this where I wonder my fiancé is behind this person I’m married who would knowingly stab me repeatedly 10 yrs later and want it to be ok.

I want to start a new playthrough of FNV and I was wondering if anyone knows of any mods that introduce repeatable quests like Skyrim and Fallout 4's radiant quests. I only know of 2:
Caravan Guard allows you to work as a guard for a caravan with random encounters during the trip that attack said caravan. You get paid at each stop with deductions based on how much damage the caravan took, and you can also decide to leave at each stop. My problem with this mod is that if you have any mods that change the terrain in anyway, Like Spiffyskytrooper's Desert Bridges, it breaks the caravan leader's pathfinding, as it seems to be hardcoded.
Mojave Express Courier Delivery Work (Primm) Allows you to actually do your damn job as a courier and deliver packages in exchange for about 200 caps per delivery. The trick is that any damage you take affects the package, which can actually break, and your payment is reduced based on how shot up, stabbed and blown up the package is when you finally deliver it. In addition, fast travel is disabled during delivery. You can however pay 80 caps to "travel with a caravan", which reenables fast travel for the delivery at the cost of making less money. Finally the NCR has set up toll booths along the main roads, meaning you can either stick to the roads where it's safe but have your caps cut into, or travel through the wilderness at the cost of increased chances of your package getting damaged. Overall a very good mod.
Does anyone know of any mods like the ones I listed above? Also sorry for the long winded explanations of both mods.

Me: 39M, healthy, tall, educated, reasonably attractive, not on any medication, full hair, finances not quite what they should be at my age (that's what academia does to you) but better than ever before and improving, so no obvious red flags as far as I can tell and no downward tendencies in the last few years that would be an obvious reason for why I'm in a sexless marriage. I'm as fuckable as I ever were. So it's probably not that. I also have no unorthodox sexual desires, let alone recently developed ones, so it's not that either. I used to enjoy a hedonistic sex life in my 20s until I realised that it didn't fulfil me. Started looking for more calm waters and more meaningful connections, fell deeply in love with who would become my wife. The way I'm phrasing the story is relevant because sex was never a priority with her from the start. It was good, not great, it was fun/frequent enough but I loved her for other reasons and I mostly believe I still do.
Her: 37F, still very attractive to me, her body outright refuses to age, used to have some chronic endocrinological health conditions (thyroid issues) that were resolved beautifully when she changed her diet into a (now not so strict anymore) paleo direction and became a bit obsessed with gut health, gluten-free, yoga, supplements, etc. But her health seems to be proving her right ever since. Otherwise in good health and no psychological condition or trauma I'm aware of and no medication other than thyroid hormones.
Timeline: We met in 2010, split up for almost a year in 2015 (she left and asked me to take her back), we decided to go all in after that. Started trying to have kids around 2017, which turned sex into a chore with obsessive timing and zero passion whatsoever from her side. That phase really took the joy out of it for me as well and I was glad when we decided to stop and instead go with IVF, wich got us a wonderful little boy and my favourite human in 2019. There was no diagnosis that would have explained the difficulties. IVF took a second attempt as well. We also got married in 2018 but since then have had sex for fun exactly twice (once in 2018 and once in 2019). And of course it wasn't great, but why would it be after such a long time? I really enjoyed the intimacy with her though and suspected that we'd be able to have actual fun again. Interestingly she initiated both times (I have stopped trying a long time ago.) and both times happened on vacation in a hotel room. Make of that one what you will, psychologists. Maybe she was trying to find out if optimal conditions would make her enjoy it, I don't know. She's not easy to talk to about these things and acts very intuitively.
Fast forward to now. She has zero interest in sex and/or intimacy whatsoever, she says she never masturbates, has no sexual thoughts or desires whatsoever, she has just become completely colourblind to sexuality. She is a non-sexual entity and I've kind of started accepting her that way. But sex isn't the only thing that's lacking in our relationship. Any kind of non-sexual intimacy is extremely rare and our emotional connection is clearly damaged, as we both don't seem to show the kind of resilience and patience with each other anymore that family life demands of partners. I'm under the impression that couples who have a sex life are just more resistant to outside stress. Well, we clearly don't have that anymore. We're a functional team, most of the time. She's a wonderful mother, we still have our moments, and I don't think our marriage is 100% doomed quite yet. But I'm feeling some resentment and maybe even contempt building up on both sides when times are stressful and my general level of frustration shows.
And I honestly don't think anyone else but myself is to blame for my decisions. I don't feel deceived in any way and I'm also not viewing her decline to zero as in any way linked to external issues, trauma or health. I knew perfectly well that her sex drive and probably her whole experience of sex was near the lower limit of what I'd be able to live with, even in our 20s. I knew that she was just wired a little differently and that there would always be a chance that things could get worse. Her pregnancy issues kind of confirmed that intuition. Interestingly, her sex drive faded even more with her improving health, if she wasn't pretending that she ever had it in the first place. I couldn't blame her. I also appreciated (and still do) the great influence she is on my life in terms of values and self-care. Choosing her was like eating my vegetables. Maybe even punishing myself a bit for the life I've had before (again, nothing crazy, just flings with lots of women and no attachment). But it was eating my vegetables with someone I truly loved and who was (and still is) crazy attractive to me. But I should have seen this coming. It was wishful thinking all along. And that's completely on me.
So what now? Ever since my Dad passed away somewhat surprisingly in his late 50s, I'm starting to ask myself how many years of health I have left and I'm starting to think that I cannot live like this until I die. The idea of having sex with her now seems more weird and awkward to me than with a literal stranger, because of all the history and baggage. I honestly can't see myself doing that anytime soon but I'm also sure that it won't be asked of me. I'm going through some kind of midlife crisis 15 years too early, but for pretty much exactly the same hormonal reasons (on my wife's end).
Here are the options that I would suggest if I were the reader:

1. Suck it up. Life could be worse. I have a somewhat functional marriage and a lovely son who needs a functional family. We are his world and he deserves his world not to be fucked with. Pun intended. All the sex I've had in my 20s didn't make me happy either. Eventually my testosterone levels will drop and I will find more appreciation for the extra time I have. During this marriage, I've painted some badass Warhammer armies. But then again, my early midlife crisis is kicking in hard right now. I'm not ready to die. Maybe using something like excessive exercise or a new hobby etc... could it be possible to redirect the unused sexual energy. Does anyone have experience with something like that? Does it get better or worse if you hit the gym 6 times a week?
   
2. Seek Professional advice. I'm pretty sure at this point that I couldn't get her to seek medical advice. She has no unmet need, I do. Call it selfish, maybe this is something I need to bring up more. As far as she is concerned she has never been a very sexual person. Psychological: No idea. My wife will be very skeptical because she's a therapist herself (not for sexual issues though) so she probably knows the limitations better than anyone. Maybe she's just comfortable with the situation and has no regard for how I feel, so there is no pressure to fix things.
   
3. Leave. I couldn't do that to my son. I don't want to talk to him at 16 or whatever (if he still talks to me then) and tell him sorry son, that you had a fragmented, guilt-ridden and emotionally confusing childhood, but I had to leave because turns out I really like pussy. Impossible. Really not the kind of life the little guy deserves. So hard no. Of course this doesn't mean that my marriage won't blow up in my face eventually but I see no need to pull that plug preemptively.
   
4. Talk her into an open marriage. Not gonna work. She actually brought that up herself, as if I had asked already. And despite not wanting sex, I believe a total lack of jealousy would be horseman of the apocalypse, more than anything else.
   
5. Cheat and don't get caught. I'm thinking about this "solution", also knowing that some day I will have the opportunity to do something really stupid after three drinks and possibly will end up paying for it dearly. So why not do it intelligently instead? After about 3 years of sexlessness I hooked up with an old acquaintance from my university days a few times. It was incredibly easy for me to do, no guilt whatsoever. Because after all, I clearly wasn't giving anything to her that my wife would have wanted. Whatever we have isn't monogamy, it's zero-gamy, so to speak (couldn't be bothered to look up the greek word). I guess that's what you get for viewing your wife as a non-sexual entity. It felt amazing to be appreciated and the experience itself was a blast, but I wasn't able to fully relax because instead of guilt, I felt a sense of shame because I never thought this is the man I was going to be and also a kind paranoia for fear of getting caught and destroying my son's family in the process. Taking off your wedding ring before entering a hotel room is such a gut-wrenching degree of personal failure that I dread ever being in that situation again (strangely that move was out of respect for the institution, isn't that absurd? Of course my friend knew I was married). Also the fear of getting another woman pregnant or jealous etc.. is a fear I'm not sure I'd be able to cope with long term. Ultimately, I'm not sure if that means that this path isn't for me or if I'd just need to get used to the pressures. Right now I don't want to. But how do you even approach "ethical" cheating? Lying to one woman is stressful, lying to two is bound to fail. So given that your affair needs to know that she's just that, what kind of woman is both comfortable in a situation like that AND trustworthy/stable enough for you to gladly put the fate of what's left of your family into her hands? It doesn't seem worth it and even though said former uni friend is probably both of those things, she has her own issues (and a failing marriage) too, and ironically, it seems wrong to be part of that in any way. So am I looking for a woman with lower ethical standards than my own here? How do you even approach that? Cheaters, please let me know how you do it. No judgement.
   
6. Prostitution. No. Just no. For a million reasons. Feel free to try to change my mind but no.
   

Here is what I am doing though. In order to fight my early onset midlife crisis, I made a pact with a friend who's also turning 40 by the end of the year to try to get ripped until our respective birthdays. I've been into some martial arts in the past but extreme personal fitness has never been a real goal of mine so this is what I'll be doing until the end of the year, hoping that spiking my testosterone isn't going to be all it does, thereby increasing the chance of doing stupid things. I'm hoping that being physically exhausted all the time makes me calmer and better able to vent my frustration and looking the best I ever have might also serve as a test for whether there is any sexuality left in my wife at all or if everything is truly lost and dead in that department. I'll also keep it in my pants for now as there doesn't seem to be a solution.
Thank you for your time, any comment is very much appreciated, including those telling me to grow a pair.

First Previous
Ja’vail woke up with a yawn, her eyes squinting in the evening light. Her room was positioned in the castle on the west side, to ensure that Tor’s sun would wake her up for her duties. It was a purpose that it served with perfection, despite the fact that she really would have liked to sleep for a few more minutes.
However, her duty could not be delayed. It was her power that served as the linchpin to Tor’s spell, and she would fulfill her duty to ensure her Diarchy’s, and her world’s, future. With a grunt of exertion, Queen Ja’vail rose from her bed, stretched out her wings, and moved to the balcony before picking up her robe. As soon as she was somewhat decent, the Queen of the Night then opened her wings, looked to the skies, and began channeling her power into the spellform that had been weaved between the planet and its moon, renewing the bonds that connected them, and ensuring the delicate balance between her magic and her husband’s would not come undone.
She performed this ritual twice a day, every day, to ensure the spell’s continued existence. In the past few months she had performed it well before Tor had performed his own renewal, and had had to go remind the foolish drake to not only perform his duties, but to hurry up and get his tail to bed. Without her efforts, and her constant reminder to the king, the entire thing would come undone, ensuring their planet’s rapid descent into division once again.
Without the two dakri turning the planet, the two sides would either become too hot or too cold to sustain life, with the twilight between them ruled by monsters birthed from the nightmares of the oppressed.
It was with some surprise, then, that as she poured her soul into this undertaking, she could feel the thrum of her husband’s power clear in her mind, letting her know that Tor had already renewed his half of the spell for the night.
He really did need that sleep, she thought, giving a self-satisfied nod towards the setting sun before turning back towards her private chamber. She still had much to prepare for her night; even with the most pressing matter out of the way, she still expected a full schedule. Her court wasn’t especially busy, as the dakri found the night to be the best time to sleep and prepare for the next day.
That was besides the point, though, as her duties rarely involved overseeing the day-to-day rule. Rather, her task was to patrol the ǣther, hunt the nightmares that plagued her people, and to do her best to heal the source of those nightmares.
This was especially important now that she had cleared the Forest of Yith and had located the source of that particularly violent nest. It was best to keep those nightmares from returning, and for this cause she was going to attempt to enter the survivor’s dreams again. She doubted she would have as much success this time as she had last time, simply because almost drowning had weakened the creature’s defenses significantly. However, she had faith that she would at least be able to soothe the visitor’s dreams, and possibly gain a little more information on how he thought.
At the very least, she’d settle for a name. She couldn’t just keep calling it ‘the creature’ or ‘the survivor,’ as those ‘names’ grew heavy on the tongue, and wore down her patience. A name would also help the visit she had planned go a lot smoother, and would hopefully help them as they tried to convince him to come to the castle with them.
Once Ja’vail was dressed, she left the comforts of her room and made her way to her husband’s study. As she expected, he was still there, his desk still quite messy, a combination of his daily paperwork and the reports of the crashed alien spaceship forming the majority of the clutter.
Much to Ja’vail’s surprise, however, Tor wasn’t at his desk. Instead, the drake was standing at his window, looking out over the countryside and the eerie sunset before him, a reminder of the twilight that his people had escaped. In his hand he held a memory crystal, its red glow plainly visible in the slowly darkening room.
“Tor, are you alright?” the queen asked as she approached her husband.
Tor turned to look at her, surprise on his face. “Oh, I am well enough, I suppose…” he said, clearly still lost in thought. The king then looked down at the memory crystal in his hand, his brows furrowing in displeasure. “I have just received some… unsettling news. I was actually waiting for your arrival before deciding on anything.”
Ja’vail took a few more steps, her eyes locked on her husband's diminutive form. “What happened?”
Tor looked at her, then back at the stone. “It isn't easy to say this, but… we may have to kill the visitor.”
Ja’vail felt like her stomach had turned to ice. “Kill? Tor, what madness are you spouting? What crime could he have possibly committed while I was asleep to earn him a death sentence?”
Tor looked at his wife, pain in his eyes. “Nothing, dear. He’s completely innocent. That is beside the point, however.”
“Then tell me, what madness has overtaken you that you would murder an innocent?” Ja’vail demanded, her tone brooking no argument. “Or what monster are you, to have taken the place of my Tor? I must say, you have the likeness down, but your impression of his mannerisms leave much to be desired.”
Tor let out a mirthless laugh at that. “No monster or madness, my dark princess. Just a visit from an old friend…” he sighed again, before turning and holding out the crystal for Ja’vail to take. “Lady Siv paid both me and the survivor a visit today. She left me this, as well as a decision to make.”
Ja’vail looked at the crystal, before staring back at her husband, a dubious expression on her face. "And she told you to kill him? I do not remember her being so heartless.”
“And you would remember correctly. She was nearly in tears when I met her, though she did well in hiding them,” Tor said, before approaching his wife. He gently took her hand, and placed the crystal in her palm. “When she saw the visitor, she also looked into his future. This is what she saw. Please, do not force me to bear this knowledge alone.”
Ja’vail’s expression softened ever so slightly before she glanced down at the stone in her hand. “I will look, but I do not promise anything.”
Tor’s crest rose, but he did not say anything else. Instead he turned back to the window, waiting patiently for his wife to see what he had seen.
The memory took Ja’vail less than a second to go through, but she felt like she had been gone for a lifetime when the world came back into focus. She stared at the rock in horror, before throwing it to the ground. It did not shatter, it being made of quartz, but it still felt satisfying after the horrors she had witnessed.
“I was not pleased, either,” Tor said, not even bothering to turn and look. “Even if the visitor was guilty of some crime, I would spare him for what he could teach our people. As it stands, he is lost and alone, hoping for a friend. And I have to kill this lonely soul.”
“But… but we can’t do this! You’re better than this… we’re better than this!” Ja’vail said, nearly in tears. “Would we really sacrifice an innocent for the security of our own realm? Would you… would you…”
“Would I what?” Tor asked, turning to his wife, fire in his eyes. “Would I judge the worth of souls? Would I weigh a single life against the good of my people? Of his people? Would I become my father?”
Ja’vail looked away, her eyes closed as she folded her arms. “I’m… I’m sorry…”
“Don’t be,” Tor said, turning back to the window. “You have no need to apologize. I cannot measure the worth of anyone’s soul, nor would I try. However, this visitor’s life is not worth the lives of every person on this planet. When you include the lives of his own world, as well as the unnamed snake people… well… the choice is quite obvious.”
Ja’vail looked down at the floor, her eyes filling with tears as she thought everything over. “Would it have been better, then, had I not saved his life? Should I have let him drown?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“Maybe. Maybe not. All I know is that the spirits have told us that the lives of others are better off if his is forfeit,” Tor said, his voice filled with bitterness. “I have not even seen this visitor in the flesh, and I do not know anything about him at all. What is he like? Does he have a family? What does he enjoy?” Tor asked, looking to his wife hopefully.
Ja’vail shook her head, not daring to bring her eyes up to meet her husband’s, as she didn’t think she could contain herself if she did. “I cannot say. I was only in his mind for a brief time, and I do not understand much of what I saw,” she said, her form gently shaking, as if a chill wind had entered the room.
Tor looked back at the window, his eyes closed as he thought on this. “Essentially, we are deciding the fate of not only an innocent, but a complete stranger.” Tor took in a deep breath, then slowly let it out. “And try as I might, I cannot measure his worth as greater, or even equal, to the lives of my people’s. If it comes to it, he will be slain, and his body destroyed, just as the spirits have told us to do.”
Ja’vail began crying in earnest, her shoulders slumping with the weight of guilt. This caused Tor to turn to her, lifting her beak gently with one hand until she looked him in the eye. “So… let’s ensure that it never comes to that.”
Ja’vail looked up at Tor, hope in her eyes. “But, Tor, we can’t-”
“Shhhh…” Tor said, encircling his wife in his arms. He was shorter than her, but she still felt comforted, simply because it was him. “I’m not going to murder someone simply because of the damage his life might cause. Siv’s vision wasn’t that his continued existence spelled our doom, but that we must do everything in our power to ensure he doesn’t leave.” He pulled away from her a little, looking up into her hopeful eyes. “His death will be treated as a last resort, nothing more. For now, let us see how much worth his life is. What can he teach us? What is his people like? I, for one, do not want to squander this opportunity that the spirits have gifted us, simply for fear of an unknown future.”
Ja’vail’s crest rose as she dried her tears with the feathers on the back of her arm. “Yes… I completely agree…”
The two of them spent quite a bit of time like that, lost in each other’s arms as the sun slowly set on the horizon. Even after the world was shrouded in night, they were still there, lost in the comfort that each other provided.
* * *
Kel’vara’s beak glowed as she wove her magic, pulling the water from the bucket in front of her. It coalesced into a ball hovering inches above her hand, the swishing, splashing sounds of the liquid a soothing counterpoint to the frustration she was feeling.
She liked working with liquids when she was feeling upset. It had always come easy to her, the seemingly chaotic way it flowed and ebbed was a balm on her nerves, instead of a frustrating mess that most other practitioners found the state of matter to be.
She slowly flexed her fingers and extended her wings, the movements giving a tactile presence to the shapes she was forming in her imagination. Slowly, as if watching ice melt in reverse, the ball of water stretched and flowed, extending here, twirling there, molding and shaping to her will to become whatever she wanted.
In this instance, the water took the shape of a dragon, its long, strong legs striding through the air as it looked around, its inquisitive, intelligent eyes searching for prey, or barring that, a dakri to play with. Its long tail wagged behind it as it seemed to spot something, before it shot off like an arrow, dashing towards whatever had garnered its attention.
The small, watery, facsimile of a dragon didn’t get very far across the room before the door opened, breaking Kel’vara’s concentration and causing her happy little pet to lose its cohesion. In an instant, the once watery, spiky, two legged reptile was nothing more than a mess on the once clean floor.
Kel’vara looked up in annoyance, her gaze falling upon an irritatingly unapologetic Valros as he entered the room. “Haven't you ever heard of knocking?” Kel’vara demanded as she used her magic to scoop up the water and return it to the bucket.
Valros was unimpressed. “Kel’vara, you can’t just stay here sulking, we still have work to do.”
“I’m not sulking! I’m just practicing my more precise spell work,” Kel’vara said, turning up her beak as her crest lay flat against the back of her head.
Valros, however, did not look convinced in the slightest. “Kel’vara, The Lady is her own person. You can hardly expect her to stay around and answer every single question you have.”
“I never said that she wasn’t.”
Valros let out a frustrated sigh. “Well, if you’re sure, then I really think we need to go over the plan for tomorrow,” Valros said, trying to get Kel’vara back on track. “I don’t think we’ll need many knights, the thing’s pretty docile, all things considered. Have you given much thought in how we’re going to actually communicate with it?”
Kel’vara thought about this for a while, her beak glowing softly as she played a little with the water in her bucket, causing the surface of the liquid to ripple in odd ways. “Ja’vail said that she was able to communicate pretty well with it while it was dreaming. The only problem with that is that it was dreaming. I don’t know how dreams work with its species, but for dakri at least, anything that happens to our subconscious from outside forces is quickly forgotten. Bad dreams, flights of fancy, nothing to be taken seriously, or remembered.”
“I’ve been talking with the Captain of the Dreamguards about that too. He told me that we can’t rely upon that for communication, since we’re just as likely to get a straight answer as one about how the creature loves to eat its own pillow and ride a dragon made of Twirly Whirlys,” Valros said, stretching his wings a little and grunting with discomfort. The knight quickly brought his arm close to his chest, searching the broad wing until he found the feather that had been giving him trouble, and quickly put it back into its proper place.
Kel’vara found herself staring a little as the knight preened himself, before she turned away, her feathers fluffing a little in embarrassment. “Yes, and… ah, and in addition, the creature won’t be as weak as when we fished it from the river. It has an ǣon level spirit, after all, regardless of any actual ability it may or may not possess. We’ll be lucky to be able to intrude on its dreams at all.”
If Valros noticed her discomfort, he didn’t show it. Instead, he stood up and made his way to the window. “I remember the Sunrise Tribe had something to communicate, but it was mainly used to control their apprentices during ǣon training. It was supposed to be able to cross language barriers, but I don’t think we want to be dredging up the old ways…”
Kel’vara shuddered a little. “Those ways were barbaric.”
Valros nodded at her, but did not say anything as he stared out the window. “I suppose the only choice we have is to slowly teach the thing how to speak.”
“That’s not as easy as it sounds, though,” Kel’vara said, shaking her head. Valros looked at her, one of his brows raised, prompting her to continue. “When I treated his wounds, I ran a number of tests on him. He’s showing the symptoms of someone who has been transmuted into another shape entirely, except that he has no binding spellform keeping him in that shape.”
Valros looked confused at this. “You’ll have to forgive me, M'lady, but my knowledge of magic is somewhat limited to a handful of combat spells. You’ll have to use less formal terms with me.”
Kel’vara rolled her eyes a little, then used her magic to pull the water from the bucket again. With a thought, she caused the water to take on the shape of a dragon again. “With magic, it is possible to force something to assume another shape or state. Such as turning a dragon into a pig.” With a little exertion, the water took on the desired shape. “I’ll not bore you with the details, but things… well, they remember what they were. Always. If the spell is not properly maintained, the spellform will eventually fall apart, and the thing will revert. This is because things want to return to their old state. They’ll continue chipping away at the spellform, increasing the difficulty of keeping things in their altered state, until it grows beyond the mage’s ability to control. It’s why you cannot turn copper into gold and have it stay that way, or why you cannot turn dirt into food without accidentally poisoning someone.”
“Or purposefully poisoning someone,” Valros pointed out. “I remember history class at least. That happened quite a number of times during the Clan Wars.”
“It was a popular method of assassination, yes, but the old ruling class quickly caught on, and began screening their food before eating.” Kel’vara furrowed her eyes as she twisted the water to appear like the creature. “Whatever the bug-like aliens did to the creature, it didn’t involve magic. ‘The creature’s shape isn’t his own,’ if you remember what the queen told us. It’s entirely possible that it’s lost the ability to speak, even in its own language.”
Valros thought about this for a time. “Well, can’t we turn it back? Reverse the changes, and return it to its original shape?”
Kel’vara thought about this for a little bit, but shook her head. “It’s… possible, but there are so many unknowns. I was even afraid of using regeneration magic on him when I healed him. I had to resort to sealing spells to repair the damage.”
Valros looked confused. “I’m not sure I follow. I thought you healed it up pretty good.”
“I didn’t heal it at all. All I did was fuse its skin together, and do some very basic repair based on that strategy, to keep it from bleeding internally or externally. It’s why I still applied bandages, in case those wounds reopened; I couldn’t risk regenerating it,” Kel’vara explained, her voice both pained and exasperated.
Valros still didn’t understand what the fuss was about, though. “Why not? What’s the big deal if you use a little regeneration? And what does this have to do with changing it back?”
“Everything!” Kel’vara said, standing up in anger as she rubbed both hands through her crest. In response, the water in her grip twisted and flowed into strange shapes, a clear reflection of the tormented state of the battlemage’s mind. “This is an entirely unknown scenario, with an entirely unknown species! The spell to do this doesn’t even exist! All we have are spells to change something into something else, not to return something to its original shape. The way we would do this if this were a magical affliction would be to simply collapse the spellform, but this isn’t magic! If I were to try to change it back, any number of things could go wrong, the least being the creature dies a quick, painful death as it turns completely inside out! The closest I can come up with is the regeneration spell, which would force accelerated cell mitosis using the target’s remembered form, not its changed form. If I did use regeneration, it is entirely possible that the creature might revert…”
“...But?” Valros asked, knowing that there was a but in there somewhere.
“But the creature’s body might start attacking itself, killing itself from the inside out! The two different sets of genetic material might merge, making it into something even more monstrous than it is now! Any number of things could go wrong!” Kel’vara shouted, the water next to her turning into some kind of lumbering beast, whose basic shape only vaguely resembled the creature in the forest.
Valros held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Okay, okay, I get it. It’s probably a bad idea… but what do we do, then?”
Kel’vara collapsed into her chair, the water that she had been shaping falling into the bucket at the same time. “I don’t know… I really don’t know…”
Valros rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, there’s always pictures and trying to teach it to read…”
“That would take even longer than just teaching it to talk,” Kel’vara said dismissively. “Especially since it probably can’t-”
Before Kel’vara finished, a voice chimed in, interrupting her thought process. It seemed to be coming from the lieutenant’s belt pouch, and based on the tone of the speaker’s voice, whatever it was was urgent. “Sir Valros! Are you there?”
Valros quickly pulled out his whispering stone and gave it a squeeze, worry building in his heart. “What’s wrong, Calis?”
He almost wished he hadn’t asked, because what Calis said next turned his insides to ice. “Sir, I’m relaying a message. Viar and his drakes need backup, and they need it now. It’s those bug aliens the queen told us about. They’re here.”
First Previous
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Dun dun dun!!
Remember: if you can't wait, and want to find out what happens now, you can always just buy the books...
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What I've Become
Nightmare of the Past
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Posts in the series

• First: Here
• Second: Here
• Third: Here
• Fourth: Here (Unplanned)
• Fifth: Here
• Sixth: Here
• Seventh: Here
• Eighth: This

Brief recap

In the previous post, we continued our analysis with a second round of eliminations of more religions that cannot reasonably be from a judging and fair God. At this point, only the Abrahamic religions remain to be analyzed, which we will do below.
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The reason I wanted to analyze the Abrahamic religions together last is because they have many similarities. For one, they reference the same God and agree on many details: similar people, similar places, similar events and for the most part, even originated in the same region. In addition, two of them are the biggest religions in the world today, far ahead of all other religions in terms of adoption, nearly accounting for half of the people on the planet! The fact that they are spread out in time and that they reference each other, can at least in theory, represent a pattern of recurring communication. It's also possible that they're just copying from each others. Let's see!
The timeline of appearance of the Abrahamic religions from old to new is as follows:
Judaism

• Year of inception: 3500 years ago, approximately
• Location of inception: Middle East (Modern day Palestine)
• Messenger: Moses
• Referenced prophets: Adam, Noah, Abraham...

Christianity

• Year of inception: 2000 years ago, approximately
• Location of inception: Middle East (Modern day Palestine)
• Messenger: Jesus
• Referenced prophets: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses & other prophets.

Islam

• Year of inception: 1400 years ago, approximately
• Location of inception: Middle East (Modern day Saudi Arabia)
• Messenger: Muhammad
• Referenced prophets: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus & other prophets.

Druze

• Year of inception: 1000 years ago, approximately
• Location of inception: Middle East (Egypt)
• Messenger: Hamza Ibn Ali Ibn Ahmad
• Referenced prophets: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad & other prophets.

Mormonism

• Year of inception: 200 years ago, approximately
• Location of inception: New York, United States of America
• Messenger: Joseph Smith
• Referenced prophets: Moses & Jesus. Does NOT reference Muhammad (Islam) nor Hamza (Druze)

Baha’i Faith

• Year of inception: 200 years ago, approximately
• Location of inception: Middle East (Modern day Iran)
• Messenger: Baháʼu'lláh
• Referenced prophets: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha...

Can the Abrahamic religions be instances of communication from their common God? It’s possible, however some issues surface:

• Issue 1: The Druze faith stands out with its secretive nature as it is intentionally restricted. This not only opposes the intention of communication, but also contrasts with the other Abrahamic religions that are all open.
• Issue 2: Mormonism and Baha’i Faith both start nearly 200 years ago in different places while not being compatible with each other. They cannot be both instances of communication. One of them isn’t, or both aren’t.
• Issue 3: Mormonism doesn’t accept Islam nor Druze, while Baha’i Faith accepts all major religions, even Buddhism, which is incompatible with Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Let’s keep the issues above in mind and apply the same criteria to the Abrahamic religions in the same way we did to all of the others. We will analyze them in the chronological order of their appearance.

Judaism

Let's analyze the message of Judaism.

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): PASS. Judaism warns of judgment day and explains the conditions for success and failure. This makes it unsafe to dismiss! It's the first religion to pass this criteria.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. While anyone can technically convert to Judaism, it seems like it was specifically destined for Hebrew people, who later became the Israelites. Many prophets after Moses were specific to the Israelites it seems. The beliefs themselves are universal, in that they don’t have anything in particular that caters to a specific group. Still, it seems restricted to the ethnic Jewish group.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): PASS. Judaism references previous prophets of monotheism who were supposedly sent by the same God. Prophets like Noah and Abraham. This means that before Judaism came along, there were previous instances of communication, which is necessary for a judging and fair God.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): PASS. The idea that a God created everything and is testing humanity here on Earth is plausible and does align with the reality we are living. Almost all humans share a common life track: birth, weakness with need of care, strength and autonomy, weakness with need of care again, then death. Moreover, all humans have a certain level of free will. While no absolute free will of action exists, the free will to think and accept or reject ideas is guaranteed. This makes the judgment of such free will possible.

Now let's analyze Moses, the founder of Judaism.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): PASS. He was a leader to his people, the Hebrews. He saved them from the oppression they were living in under the Egyptians (1). He was known for his sense of justice and courage (2). Many of his stories are told in the Bible as well as in the Qur’an.
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): PASS. Moses is the first to pass this criterion. Every single founder of religion who was mentioned previously, was publicly involved with either an existing religion that served as a launch pad or had a profession or interest that prepared the terrain for their claim. Moses was raised by the Egyptians, but never adopted their religion, nor was he involved in any other religion that he publicly taught or engaged in. He also wasn’t known to have any profession where he produced thought or knowledge.
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): PASS. Moses killed an Egyptian who was mistreating one of his people. According to Britannica, Moses voluntarily killed the Egyptian after making sure that no one was looking (3). However, according to the Qur’an, Moses killed the Egyptian by accident after hitting him, and was instantly regretful asking God for forgiveness (4). Regardless of which version of the story is true, Moses fled because he feared for his life. Now here’s the sudden life direction change, he came back after a while by his own volition claiming to be sent by some God who was unknown to the Egyptians, then confronted the Pharaoh himself!!! No sane man would do such a thing! And not just that, he survived everything and won in the end!!!
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. Moses came back to a place where he feared for his life, put forward the exceptional claim that he was sent by a God he wasn't involved with when he left, confronted the ruler, and succeeded against incredible odds!
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): PASS. The message of Moses had and still has a big influence on this very day! There probably aren’t many people in the world today who don’t know who Moses is, regardless of their beliefs. He is one of the most important prophets in many major religions. His legacy is still a part of the Bible as the Old Testament.

If there is a judging and fair God, Moses is highly likely to be one of his messengers. He passes all the criteria while explicitly making the claim of being sent by a God. If he was a fraud, he would have had an existing history of it, and he wouldn’t have dared to come back to a place where he killed someone and feared for his life, then challenge its ruler and win! If he was a deluded self-appointed leader to his people, that delusion would have been his demise. He would have been killed, as other religious founders have. Instead, he and his people, although an oppressed minority without any military power, were able to escape their oppressors and defeat them! This is impossible without some powerful external assistance.
One can reasonably claim that the story of Moses is just a myth that is made to look impressive. That would be fair, except it had more impact than what a myth can fathom. That being said, even if we accept that it’s all a myth, or at least a heavily augmented truth, it is still told by other Abrahamic prophets who happen to have had similar or more impact than Moses did. This makes his story as valid as theirs can be. So, let’s continue our analysis.
Sources:
(1) From Britannica: Moses... Hebrew prophet, teacher, and leader who, in the 13th century bce... delivered his people from Egyptian slavery...
(2) From Britannica: ...When he found an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew, probably to death, he could control his sense of justice no longer...
(3) From Britannica: ...After checking to make sure that no one was in sight, he killed the tough Egyptian overlord...
(4) From the Qur’an (translation): ˹One day˺ he entered the city unnoticed by its people. There he found two men fighting: one of his own people, and the other of his enemies. The man from his people called to him for help against his foe. So Moses punched him, causing his death. Moses cried, “This is from Satan’s handiwork. He is certainly a sworn, misleading enemy.” He pleaded, “My Lord! I have definitely wronged my soul, so forgive me.” So He forgave him, ˹for˺ He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Christianity

Let's analyze the message of Christianity.

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): PASS. It does warn of an upcoming judgment and details the conditions of success and failure. This makes it unsafe to dismiss.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): PASS. It is definitely universal. Anyone can be a Christian, and it’s easy to find Christians from different countries, different ethnicities speaking different languages. It doesn’t get as universal as this!
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): PASS. It references previous religions and prophets, like Noah, Abraham, Moses, and many others. All of them being sent by the same God.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. Some concepts in Christianity don’t align with reality well. Christians view Jesus as the son of God, but also as a part of God. God being three different entities, but still one: God the father, the holy spirit and the son. A concept called the trinity. Christians believe that God sacrificed his son in order to absolve humans from their sins. This doesn’t quite make sense for many reasons:

1: If God sacrificed his son in order to absolve us of our sins, judgment wouldn’t make sense. Also, why does a God have a son? Mortals have children to continue the species and to provide for them when they grow weak. A God doesn’t need a son...

1. If God sacrificed his son, also a part of himself, it should have been the final act of life here on Earth. Instead, he let Muhammad come after and be so successful in reversing this idea, all while claiming to be sent by him!!! And what about the people who died a long time ago and never knew about this important sacrifice?
   
2. The idea that God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving doesn’t stand for a judging God. It simply isn’t possible for him to have these 3 attributes at the same time. If he is all-knowing, then he knows that many humans will fail his judgment and be severely punished. Consequently, if he is also all-powerful, being all-loving would have him not resort to judgment and not punish anyone. Since he insists on judgment with a heaven and hell, then he isn’t all-loving. Muhammad also happens to correct this idea.
   
3. The conditions of success and failure in the upcoming judgment are not particularly fair. It’s not about what actions one does during their life, rather, it’s about accepting Jesus as savior. One can be the most ruthless killer, then just accept Jesus as savior in order to be absolved of all wrongdoing. Also, what about all the people who lived and died before Jesus was even born? They didn’t know Jesus; how can they accept him as savior? Haven’t they spent their lives following other rules? Isn’t that unfair to them?
   

Now let's analyze Jesus, the founder of Christianity.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): PASS. Jesus had a notoriously flawless social reputation and was known for his noble morals.
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): PASS. He was raised Jewish, however he wasn’t particularly involved in any public religious activity, nor did he engage in any activity that produced thought or knowledge. He was a carpenter by trade (1), until his mission started. After which, and this is critical, he was immediately at odds with the existing Jewish teachings to the point of being in danger!
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): PASS. He was known to be a carpenter, then he suddenly turned into an itinerant preacher at odds with the established teachings (2). If he had been publicly learning or teaching Judaism before his claim, he would have failed this criterion, as almost all others have. However, it’s not the case, and the transformation is self-produced and puzzling! How does a carpenter who isn’t involved with religious matters nor any knowledge or thought producing profession, suddenly become an itinerant preacher with enough difference to the established faith to become a threat and a target?
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. He died for his mission (the Christian version is in contrast with the Islamic version here). There is no better test of devotion. He also was at odds with the established Jewish religion, which made him a target. Most of the founders of religion that we have seen, never entered in conflict with the existing religions at the beginning, rather, they built upon them and benefited from their involvement with them.
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): PASS. Christianity is the biggest religion today! Nearly 25% of humans are Christians, and the rest know or have heard of Jesus. Now this, is communication!!!

Similar to Moses, if there is a judging and fair God, Jesus is highly likely to be one of his messengers. His feat is even more impressive than that of Moses. His mission and success in correcting and complementing the existing Jewish faith against incredible odds, adds more credibility to his claim. Jesus changed the world and continues to do so today!
Sources:
(1) From Britannica: ...Joseph is said to have been a carpenter (Matthew 13:55)—that is, a craftsman who worked with his hands—and, according to Mark 6:3, Jesus also became a carpenter...
(2) From Britannica: ...As a young adult, he went to be baptized by the prophet John the Baptist and shortly thereafter became an itinerant preacher and healer (Mark 1:2–28). In his mid-30s Jesus had a short public career, lasting perhaps less than one year, during which he attracted considerable attention...

Islam

Let's analyze the message of Islam.

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): PASS. Islam clearly warns of an upcoming judgment and details the conditions of success and failure. Consequently, it’s not safe to dismiss.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): PASS. Islam is universal. Anyone can be a Muslim, and it’s quite easy to find two Muslims who are from different countries, ethnicities and don’t share the same language. The yearly pilgrimage where millions of Muslims gather is proof to how diverse Muslims can be.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): PASS. Islam references many past prophets (25 in total), including but not limited to: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, David, Jacob, Jonas, Moses, Jesus... It clearly states that God has been communicating since the beginning out of fairness, so that people wouldn’t find any excuse when judgment comes!
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): PASS. Islam insists on monotheism, and clearly reverses the trinity concept that has gotten into Christianity, as well as the idea that God is all-loving, on top of being all-knowing and all-powerful.

It aligns with reality well by describing reality as a test of free will. Life is neither the suffering Buddhism makes it out to be (which it isn’t), nor is it the joyous life Tenrikyo claims it should be (which again, isn’t). Every single human is continuously tested through good and bad. When it is something bad, it is their patience and acceptance that is tested. When it is something good, it is their capacity of being thankful and generous that is tested. Everyone’s life is a mix of good and bad. Exceptions exist and are accounted for.
Islam states that God has been sending prophets since the beginning in order to remind people that judgment is coming. It states that people who didn’t get the message will be tested again. Those who got the message of the prophet of their time, accepted it and followed its guidelines, shall pass the judgment. Those who rejected the message after receiving it clearly shall fail.
Now let's analyze Muhammad, the founder of Islam.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): PASS. Prior to his claim, Muhammad was highly regarded by his community and known for his trustworthiness (1).
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): PASS. Again here, Muhammad was not involved in the pagan polytheist religion of his community, even though it was popular, nor was he involved in any other religion. He was a successful merchant (2) and notoriously illiterate (3). He didn’t have any profession or interest that produced thought or knowledge.
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): PASS. Muhammad’s life changed drastically after he supposedly received revelation. The first contact shocked him greatly (4). After telling his wife what happened, she took him to her cousin who was knowledgeable about the Jewish faith. He told Muhammad that what happened to him was similar to Moses, and that a day will come when his community chases him away.
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. Muhammad suffered a lot for his claim and was under constant threat of death (5). He used to request to be guarded at night, however upon receiving revelation that God will protect him from people, he sent the guards away from that moment on (6). He was never harmed even while having many enemies who wanted to kill him.
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): PASS. Muhammad, an illiterate person living in a remote desert, without any special means or skills, was able to spread his message everywhere, and he predicted it from the start (7). He created a civilization that would change the world in just 23 years. Like Christianity, Islam is found almost everywhere, and almost everyone has heard of him and his religion. It’s not by chance that the most popular male first name in the world today is “Muhammad” (8).

If a judging and fair God exists, Muhammad is highly likely to be one of his messengers. He was leading a normal and regular life in a polytheistic society for 40 years, then suddenly started preaching monotheism, suffering for it and even going to war for it.
Sources:
(1) From Wikipedia: ...Due to his upright character he acquired the nickname "al-Amin" (Arabic: الامين), meaning "faithful, trustworthy" and "al-Sadiq" meaning "truthful" and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator. His reputation attracted a proposal in 595 from Khadijah, a successful businesswoman. Muhammad consented to the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one...
(2) From Wikipedia: ... It is known that he became a merchant and "was involved in trade between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
(3) From Wikipedia: ... Because he could not read and write himself...
(4) From Wikipedia: ...Muhammad was deeply distressed upon receiving his first revelations. After returning home, Muhammad was consoled and reassured by Khadijah and her Christian [sic] cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal. He also feared that others would dismiss his claims as being possessed...
(5) From Wikipedia: ...Regardless, several attempts were made at Muhammad's life...
(6) From Qur’an. Aisha said: "The Prophet was being guarded until this verse وَاللَّهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ النَّاسِ (Allah will protect you from mankind) was revealed." She added; "The Prophet raised his head from the room and said; «يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ انْصَرِفُوا فَقَدْ عَصَمَنِي اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَل» (O people! Go away, for Allah will protect me)"
(7) From Sunnah: Miqdad reported that he heard God’s messenger say, “There will not remain on the face of the earth a mud-brick house or a camel’s hair tent which God will not cause the confession of Islam to enter bringing both mighty honour and abject abasement. God will either honour the occupants and put them among its adherents, or will humiliate them and they will be subject to it.” Miqdad said, “God will then receive complete obedience.”
(8) https://www.thebump.com/b/muhammad-baby-name

Druze

Let’s analyze the Druze faith!

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): FAIL. It’s not an extinct religion, but it is intentionally restricted and doesn’t accept conversions to it. How can this be a communication from a judging and fair God if the people being judged cannot have access to the material they need to succeed? If it stated that only a specific audience was targeted, that might have worked, but it doesn't say that, at least not when it started.
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): PASS. Since Druze references other Abrahamic religions, I’m giving it a pass here, even though it’s not clear what the Druze actually believe.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. It’s far from being universal. It doesn’t want to be, and it’s not.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): PASS. It does reference other religions, even though it’s not clear in what capacity. Are the previous religions considered as previous instances of communication? Or does it complete its worldview with their knowledge? I’ll give it a pass.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. Its closed nature makes it impossible for it to align with reality.

Now let's analyze Hamza Ibn Ali, the founder of Druze.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): FAIL. The Druze faith was named after Al-Darzi, who might have been either a disciple or a teacher of Hamza. A rivalry appeared between the two. Al-Darzi disputed the role of Hamza as the leader of the movement. They were both acquiring followers and engaged in regular brawls (1). So in summary, God supposedly sent Hamza as a messenger preaching that the current ruler was the embodiment of said God (If God is the embodiment of the ruler, why need Hamza at all?!!), then another man entered in competition with this messenger, who was also tolerated by the ruler, and even ended up giving his name to the movement, all the while the followers of each man fought each other. Then after said ruler was killed, the movement disappeared from its place of inception, but survived elsewhere and became a restricted religion. This doesn’t show anyone involved in a good light, especially not Hamza.
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): FAIL. There isn’t enough information about Hamza Ibn Ali before he entered Egypt in 1017. However, he fails the non-involvement rule, as he was appointed as a preacher in his own mosque before he started claiming that the reigning caliph was the embodiment of God (2). Rather convenient since that granted him support and favors (3).
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): FAIL. He supposedly received revelation, however that didn’t seem to cause any change in his life whatsoever. Receiving an unexpected contact from some God is supposed to cause a noticeable drastic change in one’s life, unless such revelation was expected or planned. Suffice it to say that he was already a preacher before supposedly receiving revelation.
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. Hamza definitely feared for his life but continued with his claim. He went into hiding, which seems a little bit cowardly for a prophet. In contrast, Moses came back to a place where he feared for his life, because he believed there was a God protecting him. The same happened with Muhammad who confidently sent guards away after revelation. However, since Hamza continued with his claim, considering this as a pass seems fair.
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): FAIL. Hamza Ibn Ali failed to spread his message even though he initially set out to (4). If one is to say that the message couldn’t spread because of persecution, well, the same persecution occurred for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and yet, these messages spread everywhere despite everything.

It’s extremely unlikely that the Druze faith is a communication from a judging and fair God. Its founder fails a combination of some important criteria.
Sources:
(1) From Wikipedia: ...Indeed, in his epistles, Hamza is critical of his colleague, both for al-Darzi's disputing Hamza's role as the leader of their movement, as well as for his followers' over-zealous, extremist and provocative actions, which revealed the movement's ideas prematurely and placed it under danger of attack... During this time, the followers of the rival leaders engaged in regular brawls in the streets of Cairo, cursing one another as infidels.
(2) From Britannica: ...Almost nothing is known of his life before he entered Egypt in 1017. He became a spokesman for the religious convictions of the Fāṭimid caliph al-Ḥākim (the Fāṭimids were the ruling dynasty in Egypt), who was already accorded the position of imām, a divinely appointed and authoritative spokesman for Islam...
(3) From Wikipedia: ...According to the medieval chroniclers, he too enjoyed signs of favour from al-Hakim: when he complained to the Caliph that his life was in danger, he was given weapons, which he demonstratively hung on every entrance to the Raydan Mosque...
(4) From Britannica: ...Considerable resistance to these doctrines appeared when they were first preached in 1017, and Ḥamzah went into hiding until 1019, when al-Ḥākim was able to move vigorously to support the new religious movement... Ḥamzah claimed to be representing not just another sect but rather an independent religion, one that superseded traditional Islam. Al-Ḥākim disappeared in mysterious circumstances in 1021, and, much persecuted, the Druze cult all but ceased to exist in Egypt...

Mormonism

Let’s analyze Mormonism:

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS.
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): PASS. Mormonism is built on top of Christianity and Judaism, to which it delegates a vast chunk of knowledge. Consequently, I’ll give it a pass here.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. It is far from being universal. If it was God’s way to bring Christianity to its rightful state, the least we can say is that it didn’t happen. Most of Mormons are still in Utah (U.S state), where they went after Smith was killed.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): PASS. Mormonism references both Christianity and Judaism. This makes it pass this criterion, however, the fact that it doesn’t reference Islam is problematic for its worldview.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. Being based on Christianity, Mormonism inherits some of the same issues. It corrects some, but also introduces some of its own. For example, Mormonism states that there are three separate divine entities, God the father, Jesus Christ and the holy spirit. They’re not three in one, as Christianity says. This doesn’t solve the issue of sacrificing one divine entity for the sins of humans while still judging them. It only adds complexity. Are these Gods equal? What if they don’t agree on something? This also goes against Judaism, which Mormonism references, and with Judaism comes the whole legacy of monotheism! Mormonism corrects the idea that salvation only depends on accepting Jesus as savior. It adds the fact that deeds play a role, which is fair.

Now let's analyze Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): FAIL. Smith’s reputation was less than stellar (1). His treasure hunting profession isn’t exactly the most honest of professions. Also, eloping to marry his wife, attempting to marry already married women, escaping justice, dying in a shoot-out with the mob...
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): FAIL. He fails the non-involvement rule on many accounts. He was heavily involved with public religious activity and even magic, in a place and time where religious revivalism thrived (2).
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): FAIL. Supposedly receiving revelation in 1823 via the angel he called Moroni, didn’t surprise him, nor seemed to have much effect on his life direction. He continued treasure seeking using questionable methods and leading the same life.
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. Smith was extremely devoted to his cause. He never gave up until the end!
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): FAIL. If Mormonism was God’s way to bring back Christianity to its rightful state, then the mission simply failed. It seems like Christianity enjoys far more universality than Mormonism. In this regard, Smith failed his mission, as most of the followers of the religion are still based where their ancestors ended up after the death of Smith.

Sources:
(1) From Wikipedia: ...Meanwhile, the Smith family faced financial hardship... Family members supplemented their meager farm income by hiring out for odd jobs and working as treasure seekers, a type of magical supernaturalism common during the period. Smith was said to have an ability to locate lost items by looking into a seer stone, which he also used in treasure hunting, including, beginning in 1825, several unsuccessful attempts to find buried treasure sponsored by Josiah Stowell, a wealthy farmer in Chenango County, New York. In 1826, Smith was brought before a Chenango County court for "glass-looking", or pretending to find lost treasure; Stowell's relatives accused Smith of tricking Stowell and faking an ability to perceive hidden treasure... Although Smith had abandoned treasure hunting, his former associates believed he had double crossed them and had taken the golden plates for himself, property they believed should be jointly shared. After they ransacked places where they believed the plates might be hidden, Smith decided to leave Palmyra
(2) From Wikipedia: The region was a hotbed of religious enthusiasm during the Second Great Awakening. Between 1817 and 1825, there were several camp meetings and revivals in the Palmyra area… Smith said that he became interested in religion by age 12… With other family members, Smith also engaged in religious folk magic, which was a relatively common practice in that time and place…

Baha'i Faith

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS.
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): UNKNOWN. Baha’i Faith claims to be a unification of all the major religions. The issue is that some of the religions it references speak of judgment, like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, while others don’t, like Buddhism and Hinduism. While Baha’i Faith speaks of a day of judgment, it doesn’t seem to view it in the same way. It speaks of deeds being judged, but not according to each religion’s standards, rather, according to Baha’i Faith’s standards, which I have failed to find after multiple searches. If the conditions of success and failure aren’t clear, the God of Baha’i Faith cannot possibly be fair. I’ll mark this as unknown, but it’s actually closer to a failure.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. In theory, Baha’i Faith should be universal, as it calls for the unification of all the major religions. It attempts to please everyone, but even while doing so, its numbers remain low, and is mostly unknown.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): FAIL. Baha’i Faith references all major religions, but not as past instances of communication. It essentially claims that there is only one religion, and that the major religions were manifestations of God, but don’t necessarily represent said unique religion correctly. It references all major religions only to change their core beliefs in order to achieve unification. Said another way, this One God, has left people to be duped by false religions since the start, and only thanks to Baháʼu'lláh in the 1800s, did he think to show the truth to people. What about those who died long before Baháʼu'lláh was even born, and who followed Buddhism for example without ever believing a God existed?
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. This is a big failure. Baha’i Faith doesn’t make much sense, to the point of being revolting, to me at least! It attempts to be everything to everyone. Its founder claims to be Christ returned for Christians, the second coming of Jesus for Sunni Muslims, the Imam Husayn for Shi’a Muslims, the reincarnation of Krishna for Hindus, and the fifth Buddha for Buddhists. Never mind what each one of these symbols means in the context of its own religion, it just takes the concept and runs with it. It disregards most of what is associated with these symbols, it only needs its acknowledged existence. Let’s not forget that most of these religions do not agree with each other! It attempts to reconcile worldviews that are incompatible with each other. It picks and chooses what it wants from each major religion and disregards the rest.

Now let's analyze Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of Baha'i Faith.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): PASS. Coming from a wealthy family, he was known to give considerable amounts of time and money to charity.
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): FAIL. The founder of Baha’i Faith, Baháʼu'lláh, as well as the founder of Bábism, Siyyid Ali Muhammad, known as the Báb, and who laid the foundation for Baha’i Faith, both fail the non-involvement rule. They were both heavily involved in public religious matters before and at the time of their claims (1) (2). We are not talking about regular religious people going about their day, then making an exceptional claim out of nowhere, no! It’s practically the same scenario every time: a person is deeply involved with religious matters, or actively pursuing a profession or an interest, which leads them either by opportunity or by delusion to their claim. It’s the same here!
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): FAIL. Baháʼu'lláh had already set the course of his life and was already deeply involved in religious matters before he supposedly received his first divine revelation, which was in prison. From then on, not much had changed.
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. He stood by his claim and spent most of his life in prison. It’s important to note though that he wasn’t initially imprisoned because of his claim. Rather, it was because of his involvement with Bábism.
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): FAIL. If Baháʼu'lláh was sent by the one and only God in order to unify all major religions, such unification hasn’t happened successfully.

It's highly unlikely that Baha'i Faith is a communication from a judging and fair God.
Sources:
(1) From Wikipedia: Some of his earlier writings suggest that he did not enjoy the business and instead applied himself to the study of religious literature… He was constantly absorbed in his own thoughts, and was preoccupied with repetition of his prayers and verses… In 1841 the Báb went on pilgrimage to Iraq, and for seven months stayed mostly in and around Karbala. There he attended lectures of Kazim Rashti and became his follower… As of his death in December 1843, Kazim Rashti counseled his followers to leave their homes to seek the Mahdi, who, according to his prophecies, would soon appear. One of these followers, Mullá Husayn, after keeping vigil for 40 days in a mosque, traveled to Shiraz, where he met the Báb…
(2) From Wikipedia: Soon after declaring his spiritual mission to Mullá Husayn, the Báb sent him to Tehran to deliver a special tablet to one whom God would guide him to. After learning about Baháʼu'lláh through an acquaintance, Mullá Husayn felt compelled to arrange for Baháʼu'lláh to receive the tablet—this news brought great joy to the Báb when Mullá Husayn wrote to him about it…

Summary

After analyzing all the religions, the ones that are highly likely to be communications from a judging and fair God if one exists, are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They are the only religions that satisfy most of the criteria. In fact, their founders are the ONLY ones who satisfy all the criteria, specifically the criterion of non-involvement prior to their claim of a contact with a God. All the other founders were involved in one way or another, making their claim a possible result of either fraud or delusion.
It is important to note though: we haven't proven that a judging and fair God exists, and we haven't proven that these religions are actually communications from him, not at all. All we did was to reasonably prove that if a judging and fair God exists, then Judaism, Christianity and Islam are highly likely to be communications from him.
In the next post, we will continue our research and see how we can reasonably prove that a judging and fair God exists.
Until next time!

Hi fellow managers, new and experienced.
Recently I stumbled upon my old laptop that I was using during my university days, a relic of old times, which fortunately I did not throw away. Imagine my shock when it actually fired up, and on it there it was, my first ever Football Manager game; the mighty FM 2005.
As anyone can relate, I went straight down memory lane and dwelved in my save; my transfers, my tactics, all of the old players, now icons of the beautiful game. Safe to say, as it was my first FM, and without a big internet community behind it like nowadays, the way I was playing it was BONKERS, but fun nonetheless. It paved the way for me to the best football simulator out there, and catapulted me in an almost two decade long quest to bring glory to my teams, or either the completion of self imposed challenges, on several different editions; I haven't bought them all, but I played at least 10 different FMs, with 21 being the latest one.
The game surely changed, as did football itself. There are, could and will be countless of topics and discussions about the differences, pros and cons of every new version of FM: the match engine, the UI, the AI, the transfers, training etc. I believe though, one of the biggest difference which is immediately observable is the difference in ATTRIBUTES: disposition, arrangent and VALUE. The best strikers in FM21 would be mediocre at best in the 05 version, that goes for any type of player.
Recently, I've seen people posting screenshots from old FMs, highlighting the massive difference of a 180CA player in FM2007 and FM23 for example.
I would like ALL OF YOU who are interested, to join me in an endeavour: I would like to post a screenshot of a new player, from FM 2005, every day: to spark discussion, awe, or just shithousery in general. Us experienced players can take a trip down memory lane, whilist newest managers, or younger players which simply had not had the possibility to know some of the footballers at their peaks, can have a chance to see how Football Manager changed throught the years.
I'm gonna to this every day, for how long, who knows. If somehow, this "series" sparks interest, I will start posting the most demanded players in the comments, if not, I'm gonna do my own thing. To have a digital database of sorts.
Tomorrow I'm gonna start with a 23 yers old John Terry!!
TL;DR I'm gonna start posting screenshots of players from FM2005, feel free to write requests
Keep having fun, keep throwing does bottles, and see you soon.
Cheers!!

Long story short.
Me and my ex started of casually seeing each other. We could openly speak to each other comfortably. We dated once and remained friends after. Then got into a situationship ( I didn't know about this and was considering it as dating).
Then a conversation happened - he wanted consistency from my side ( because I was going on dates with other guys in the period when me and my ex had broken up and were just friends). So, I promised him I'd stop dating and focus on us - and I did with my whole heart. Wanted the best for him and he was a bit taken aback by how emotionaly invested and intimate I was with him. I never ever considered another guy when I was with my ex.
Fast forward, 2 months and he breaks-up with me. On the day after breakup I was almost begging him to meet me and that I could fly to his city for just sitting and talking. He refused in haste. In the following months I realised he was texting a girl he met on a dating app and that he was going out on a date with her - the very evening that I was requesting him to meet me. I never knew this and felt quite cheated.
I fought with him and cried - I felt very cheated . And he said we were not technically dating - neither of us labelled it anything and he didn't want to label it as dating. But we did everything 2 people would do while dating - the intimacy and sex and talking and travelling together and cooking and music and what not. So I can only call whatever we did the second time round as a situationship- because we didn't label it( I didn't want to push him by asking what are we, because he was also not sure what to label and we had known each other for only 6 months)
1.5 years have gone by - I kept in touch with him very sporadically. Then cut of contact for 2 months. He moved countries and made career moves that I had supported him to make back when we were together. We had platonic conversation and I said I was happy he was in a solid relationship with his current girlfriend ( the girl he was seeing just before breaking up with me)- he blurted out , in a confession almost, that his girlfriend cheated on him 2 months before he moved countries. I was shell -shocked. They are currently going to therapy and fixing things - he seems to try to make it work.
I don't know if I want to be with him again but I do cry when I think about the times back when we were together. I feel like I lost something crucial - I have realised my value systems are a bit ..wonky(?). I was talking to my best friend and she told me frankly that I was more sorted as a person before and during my relationship with my ex - but then of late I seem very confused and sometimes hung up on him ( unexpected after 1.5 years). I do feel a lot lost, what did I do wrong and how can I get back on track so I can find love again.
I have started going on dates. But everything seems sooo "not like before. Not like how it started with my ex when we initially met and dated". I for one did not see my ex happening at all - it just happened so seamlessly and fast.
There's no light-heartedness or levity to the whole dating process currently. I'm kinda becoming apathetic to the whole finding love thing - and I don't want to be that. I want to marry someday and have kids with a man who'll be my rock and I his. I want to feel that deep connection again, and it's just not happening - it's stressing me out. I cry sometimes imagining a situation if my ex comes back - would I take him back? If he ever does that is.
After having gone on several dates now, I am almost convinced that I have to accept the dreadfull situation of never finding someone I'll have the kind of connection that I had with my ex. The safety, warmth and childish fun and endless conversation that did not seem forced, travelling , support etc etc.
For context - I'm based in India. I grew up a bit sheltered and was a late bloomer of sorts. So my ex was my first serious shot at a relationship for me. I sometimes wonder if it was the good sex that got me close to him but no, I just valued being able to completely be myself around him and liked being in his arms.
And now, I can't even fathom having that closeness with any new guy. Hell, some of my dates , I physically just flinched or couldn't get close to, or did not like their smell or something or the other. How will I ever find someone, dear lord!!

Still in my top 10. Been a fan of sah for a while. Listened to most of his albums, leaks etc.
Puwas (I genuinely cannot be bothered typing out the entire song title, so it’s “Puwas” from now on) is still in my top 10 after hearing most of his stuff. Idk, it’s a soundcloud classic for me. When I think of the OG soundcloud era 2016/17 era when the sc scene was on top of the world. I like to think of the many songs that were released in that era as soundcloud classics, imagine all the classic soundcloud bangers displayed in a hall. Like the race, Gucci Gang, Love Scars, magnolia etc. All of these songs are displayed in a “soundcloud classics hall of fame”. Songs that were the signature/mascot songs of that very era. When you think of the 2016/17 era, those are the songs that come to mind, the ones that left a footprint of 2017.
Puwas in my opinion is one of those songs. Although it may not have been as popular as the ones I mentioned. I still consider it a signature mascot song of that era. It’s legendary.
So in your opinion, after hearing most of his music as long time fan. How does Puwas still hold up with you?

1) Will this be your first dog? If not, what experience do you have owning/training dogs?
First dog that I am primarily responsible before but experienced in training not necessarily caring for a dog
2) Do you have a preference for rescuing a dog vs. going through a reputable breeder?
I would prefer to rescue a dog
3) Describe your ideal dog.
Small to medium sized. Happy loving and hungry
4) What breeds or types of dogs are you interested in and why?
I’m not sure I was looking at beagles recently
5) What sorts of things would you like to train your dog to do?
My dog will be trained on his day to day and his capacity to continue to learn beyond that would be stimulated but I don’t really want my dog to do “something”
6) Do you want to compete with your dog in a sport (e.g. agility, obedience, rally) or use your dog for a form of work (e.g. hunting, herding, livestock guarding)? If so, how much experience do you have with this work/sport?
No
Care Commitments
7) How long do you want to devote to training, playing with, or otherwise interacting with your dog each day?
2 hours max
8) How long can you exercise your dog each day, on average? What sorts of exercise are you planning to give your dog regularly and does that include using a dog park?
For me I understand the dog needs daily exercise but some days it’s 20-30 min and other days I have 2-3 hours of walking. For reference I averaged 3.5 miles walked per day working from home last year. I’ve walked/hiked 20+ miles in a day though
9) How much regular brushing are you willing to do? Are you open to trimming hair, cleaning ears, or doing other grooming at home? If not, would you be willing to pay a professional to do it regularly?
I do not want to regularly have to brush and trim hair. I have significant issues with my hands that make things like that difficult. I would hire someone if I could not perform
Personal Preferences
10) What size dog are you looking for?
30-50 lbs
11) How much shedding, barking, and slobber can you handle?
Barking and slobber are eh prefer not to much shedding but definitely not a deal breaker I’m outside a lot so I track in my fair share of dirt
12) How important is being able to let your dog off-leash in an unfenced area?
Not important
Dog Personality and Behavior
13) Do you want a snuggly dog or one that prefers some personal space?
I want a dog that is ok if I give it tons of attention but I’m gone for 8 hours
14) Would you prefer a dog that wants to do its own thing or one that’s more eager-to-please?
Does not matter to me we are all our own person or in this case dog 🙂
15) How would you prefer your dog to respond to someone knocking on the door or entering your yard? How would you prefer your dog to greet strangers or visitors?
Someone at the house let me know I live in a semi secluded area on a walk or in a park i definitely want them to be friendly to people and dogs
16) Are you willing to manage a dog that is aggressive to other dogs?
I can manage and train a dog that reacts incorrectly but would prefer not to have to do that
17) Are there any other behaviors you can’t deal with or want to avoid?
No
Lifestyle
18) How often and how long will the dog be left alone?
I’m gone for 4-8 hours every day, but I’m a giver I go out of my way to give to others so I’d prefer a dog who isn’t going to freak out
19) What are the dog-related preferences of other people in the house and what will be their involvement in caring for the dog?
N/a
20) Do you have other pets or are you planning on having other pets? What breed or type of animal are they?
N/a
21) Will the dog be interacting with children regularly?
N/a
22) Do you rent or plan to rent in the future? If applicable, what breed or weight restrictions are on your current lease?
Own home
23) What city or country do you live in and are you aware of any laws banning certain breeds
N/a USA no covenants
24) What is the average temperature of a typical summer and winter day where you live?
North Carolina hot and cold
Additional Information and Questions
25) Please provide any additional information you feel may be relevant.
Just looking for a Best bud to share a large home that I live in alone. I cook and walk/hike a decent amount so a buddy to enjoy that with
26) Feel free to ask any questions below

Okay so here is a crazy theory about the Eras Tour. So the stage is kind of shaped like a T and you know what else starts with T. Taylor Swift. But you know what else also starts with T. Tim McGraw, which is coincidentally the first song on her debut album. Also, soon into the tour, around the time when her break up with Joe occurred, she switched the song "invisible string" for the song "the 1;" Tim McGraw is the FIRST song on her FIRST album and it was part of her First set of surprise songs at the FIRST day of the Eras Tour. Right after Tim McGraw she dove into the stage. So what does this prove? That Taylor Swift, when she dove into the stage on the first night of The Eras Tour, actually went through a time travel portal and got plastic surgery in a different timeline and then time traveled again and went back in time and wrote Tim McGraw and the entirety of her debut album about her breakup with Joe & her time travel and real past self & that's why we have debut. Here's a song-by-song breakdown:
Tim McGraw: already explained. It's a breakup song and an Easter egg for the time travel.
Picture To Burn: again, breakup song. Could also tie into You're Losing Me with the line about the phoenix since phoenixes burn things. Also a 1989 Taylor's Version Easter egg because of the Polaroid album cover = picture.
TOMG: Easter egg for Midnight Rain because she talks about being sad at night and crying and tears are like rain and midnight is during the night. Drew is actually Matty Healy but the name has been changed to not inform her past self.
A Place In This World: this is a reflection on the real estate market after Joe kicked her out. it's so inflated these days and after spending all her money on the time machine and the plastic surgery so she could impersonate her younger self, she had no money for A Place In This World.
Cold As You: the parallels to You're Losing Me are strong. Both are about an ex (Joe) who didn't care enough. You're Losing Me has strong references to death and you know what happens after death? The body goes cold.
The Outside: the aftermath of Taylor getting kicked out by Joe. She's on the outside and none of her friends will let her in. Think of Dear Reader, where she talks about "pacing in her pen" because "her friends found friends who care." Her pen is actually the time machine where she is living with her cats because she can't find a home and her friends found friends who care.
TTWAS: This is about the first signs of struggle in her relationship with Joe. The person in this song is actually a metaphor for their relationship and isn't real. Their relationship is failing, and they're holding it together with smiles and fake happiness. Just like in the song "happiness" where she talks about "fake niceties."
Stay Beautiful: This is about how she wishes Joe would come back because he's so beautiful. However, the bridge (specifically "if you and I are a story that never gets told") was clearly added on by past Taylor after present Taylor returned to our time. Cory is also an addition by past Taylor.
Should've Said No: this connects to the end of the bridge of You're Losing Me, where she implores Joe to do something. He should've said no, or said anything at all. This also looks at whether Taylor was faithful or not, because of the references to cheating, which are actually not a face-value portion, but instead reference High Infidelity.
Mary's Song (Oh My My My): now we introduce the THIRD Taylor. This one is from the future of an alternate timeline where she stays with Joe. She has transcended the mortal plane and taken the form of past Taylor's elderly neighbors, telling her love story with Joe adapted to fit the elderly neighbors. But "past" Taylor is actually present time traveler Taylor and future Taylor is trying to change the timeline (to no avail, the song is too much of a deep cut). Notice the references to marriage showing this is an alternate timeline because Taylor rejects marriage in Lavender Haze.
Our Song: this is a past Taylor song that doesn't fit the narrative. Unknown why present Taylor didn't delete the demo.
IOMWIWY: This is a love song to Matty, because she's "the happiest she's been." It was reworked by past Taylor out of confusion and amnesia. However, "just a small town BOY and girl" is an artifact of the original.
Invisible: this is a You're Losing Me parallel about how Joe was invisible and Taylor wanted more attention, and about how he didn't fight.
A Perfectly Good Heart: this is about the plastic surgery, where present Taylor underwent full heart reconstruction to disguise herself as past Taylor from future Taylor.
I hope this all makes sense!

I very recently got promoted to supervisor on my audit team which means that among other things it’s now my job to make sure agents are appropriately using their time at night. My supervisor doesn’t care if we have our phones at the desk as long as we are not on them when there are guests in the lobby and we aren’t playing music or a show loudly. We have an employee who is on the younger side and she has a tendency to act out when she doesn’t get her way. Doesn’t get the schedule she wants? Emails our managers supervisor (and then is of course told this is a job and she’ll work the hours she’s scheduled). Gets told we won’t have set days off through the busy season and we need to request off when we need days off, requests the next ten weekends off for no reason (which is of course denied because that’s not how jobs work), isn’t fond of a coworker or is having a bad day, literally will not talk to you even if you ask her a direct question (which does nothing but make her look even younger than she is not to mention childish and prevent work from happening efficiently ). So yesterday I’m working with her, the lobby is finally empty, and she takes out her phone, calls someone, and puts them on speakerphone AT THE DESK. Now maybe some of you are allowed to do this overnight but we most definitely are not. And I personally think it looks horrible if a guest were to come down and she didn’t see them or something. So I just gently say put your phone away please you can’t be on it at work, you can text but not call. So she rolls her eyes, tells the guy she has to go and proceeds to give me attitude and tell me our manager said she could and she’s always on her phone. So I said oh really he says you can talk, out loud, on your phone, at the desk? And she says yeah, why, are you going to tell on me? Am I, as your supervisor, going to tell our manager that you were not only on your phone but then gave me shit and I lied when I asked you to put it away? Again, I feel like we need lesson on how jobs work here because, yea, of course I am! It’s literally in my job description, supervise staff and report to manager. So I ask him if she had permission, he said fuck no and sent an email about phones at the desk and I proceeded to work an eight hour shift in silence and being ignore when I said anything which made working with her super fun and easy 😒I understand that it often takes time and experience to curb a lot of the issues we’ve been having with her, but $1.50 raise isn’t enough to babysit children who throw tantrums at their place of business. I just want to look at her and say “grow up”. I’m trying really hard to be kind and maintain a professional if not great relationship but she’s testing me friends

The 3 basic parameters of hashtag #Valzubiriagenda:

1. We artists and everyone else can write and self-publish art- and artist-related books: memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs. Books are forever. Pamphlets and brochures are not books.
2. We announce a schedule of increasing prices of our art pieces, which includes quantities (scarcity numbers) per price point and overall (the total quantity of art pieces we might ever make). This helps art traders, art investors and art collectors speculate or even stop speculating and instead join a community of investors working together to hopefully skyrocket to the higher announced prices in a shorter span of time.
3. We can use the NFT world, because NFTs provide the tracking (who owns what) and trading.

We can also not be involved with NFTs. Stores and individuals can help sell art using online presence and our catalogs in the stores. If this trends, or once this trends, even expensive art can be sold by neighboring businesses, without exclusivity. Commission systems do not have to be standardized. Art investors can produce their own catalogs to leave at the cafés. Even the cafés can produce their own catalogs.
Valzubiriagenda NFTs
NFTs only came about a few years ago. But I had been working on this since the 1990s. I wrote a book, Valzubiriagenda, along with fellow artist Silverio Perez, and released it in 2018 (Amazon and elsewhere), tackling everything related to #1 & #2. We'll come up with #3 in a later book/ memoi marketing book.
Any artist, including tangible artists can release 10,000 NFTs if the artist chooses to do so. For tangible artists, the NFT first becomes an Art Commission Contract for sight unseen, yet-to-be made art. Once the art is made, the NFT becomes proof of ownership that the actual, tangible art is theirs.
Warehousing our tangible art
Another related idea is that the tangible art may be warehoused by the artist so that the NFT traders continue to trade. This means that even 10-ton 10-foot tall sculptures can be owned and traded by anyone without worrying about shipping, reshipping, scratches, smudges, parts breaking off, etc. The newness of the pieces remain because they are stored by the artist, source, gallery, etc. The art piece gets shipped to the art collector, the ultimate owner.
An artist who makes ceramic coffee mugs - smaller art pieces, can release 10,000 NFTs with a schedule of increasing prices so that NFT traders can trade immediately. The 10,000 coffee mugs can get damaged, so as they are made, they continue to be stored by the artist, until the time when art collectors decide to have the art pieces shipped to them.
Why only now?
I decided to write as many book-length memoirs as I can before I came out to promote this.
I'm an artist and an author. Both need time to "master." I would not even fully use "master" on myself, because there's always something new, even to my own art, my own writing and publishing.

I am now claiming that I'm the visual artist who has produced the most artist memoirs in the world. I have 5 on Amazon. I count Valzubiriagenda as both a marketing book and a memoir-of-sorts, because it has a lot of my own life lessons on writing and publishing. I would not care to contest my claim of having the most memoirs. I will release 5 more over the next 3 years.

BARTER! Get help to write, photograph art and publish your books!
Anyone can hire 11 ghostwriters for 11 memoirs. If you can make art, but you cannot write, then barter your forever art with those who can help you produce forever books.
I don't feel the pressure of writing and publishing because I feel my focus should be on art students and art experts who would study my art and my books 100 years from now. Don't expect relatives and friends to read your books.
I call myself the Dollman
For my NFTs, I am proposing to make dioramas - my original, costumed, bejeweled porcelain dolls in backdrops that will also have precious metals and gemstones. This way I can incorporate precious metals and gemstones in my work, to make sure that people perceive my art as expensive, just in case I myself don't become "famous" - there's no need to get world famous. We are artists and all we need to do is to satisfy the art niche.
Use your laptop now!
I will encourage you to start writing your book-length memoir. Write, Edit and then Self-publish it. Get help. Why wait a hundred years for someone to write about you when all you need is a laptop and a nearby coffee shop.
Don't start counting chickens before the eggs hatch. I have encountered a lot of would-be writers who immediately see themselves as bestselling. world famous assets to society. Two even wanted me to sign NDAs (Nondisclosure agreements), because they did not want me to steal their book ideas.
Here's a suggestion. I would not personally do it. From one manuscript can come 2 books: The Original Draft (unedited, with misspellings, considered to be an art piece, scanned pages(?) of your handwritten original effort), and The Final Edition (edited).
PROVENANCE!
Another way to enhance our investability, tradability and collectability is PROVENANCE - how art ownership proceeds through time. The way this can be done is also through publishing books. Everyone can write their memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs, including traders, investors and art collectors. In effect, we artists can continue to be included or mentioned in even more books, without any additional effort by us.
You as an investor, reseller, trader, art collector should be able to publish a catalog with 250 works by 250 different artists, but they need to agree to this right from the start - it's your money, you should require them to follow your version of the hashtag #valzubiriagenda parameters, which preferably should include permission for you to publish their art. Why would you track down 250 artists later?
No exclusive contracts
If you're a café, you can call for artists, and come up with a book with for example, 30 artists, with a chapter devoted to each artist's profile and images of the artist's art.
You can distribute your catalogs to businesses and individuals near and far and online.
The book Valzubiriagenda even cites that funeral homes and janitors closets can sell art, with or without exclusivity. Airline catalogs can include million dollar art pieces. Car manufacturers, showrooms and even car repair shops can sell art as well. Everyone should be able to do this, anywhere in the world, especially not just because of the pandemic, but right now, we are in really bad economies.
What's with the name #Valzubiriagenda
I was into conspiracy theories in 2018, and this term, "The Mandela Effect," was popular. I had read many times that an artist coined the term, but I had to research online, for her name, many times, before remembering it. I'm not good at remembering names. It took me a year and a half to finally tell you that Fiona Broome coined "The Mandela Effect."
I also thought I might have to research trademarks and copyrights just to come up with a generic name. So I decided on "Valzubiriagenda." I was not really sure at first, but I decided to use it as the title for my book (with co-authoartist Silverio Perez) so that there would be no turning back and I can move on.
Am I a FUTURIST?
Someone I recently met this May 2022 just called me a futurist.
In the 1990s, I proposed to a pension fund that they can raise billions of dollars, especially for emergencies, or as needed, or out of desperation, if the pension fund purchases a quantity of art from an artist who not only has a current, reasonable price, but an announced future price that the artist wants to reach.
That future price would obviously be higher than the current price. The art commission contract for multiple art pieces can be taken to the fund's financial lender for a loan. The higher future price can be used for financing purposes.
The pension fund's treasurer, a publicly elected official, said this idea might work, but we had to keep this a secret and discuss this some more, because other pension funds might copy and do this prematurely. This idea had to come from the two of us. The treasurer needed his votes and I needed credentials.
Added into the pot was my idea that I, as the artist, will also write one book-length artist memoir. This was and still is a strong factor, because the leadership and marketing books I had read then mentioned a strong tip. If you want to advance in your field, write a full-length book that is related to the field.
Unfortunately, the elected official, the treasurer of the pension fund, who was also a friend, passed away - he was old and had ailments. At that point in time, I cannot just approach another pension fund treasurer to share this idea with.
I realized I had to write a few memoirs. I needed to set an example for other artists, so I needed to write more than one memoir. Then I felt I should also make ready another book - the how-to of what I'm up to. I wrote Valzubiriagenda, which was a memoir of sorts. I knew how long it would take me to write a book, so I had to make sure I can also consider this book a memoir.
In 2008, I imagined that someone like Bernie Madoff, or a fund like Lehman Brothers, would be desperate enough to use this to save themselves and their companies. I was not ready. I had only written 1 manuscript for a memoir.
In 2012, I released Dollman the Musical, A Memoir of an Artist as a Dollmaker. Once again, I was not ready because writing it depressed me a little, and I knew I had to write more.
In 2014, I released 3 memoirs, and re-released Dollman the Musical. Besides releasing regular books, I released special editions of the 4 books, which had a "Special Secret Insert for Bankers," which explains my ideas of an announced schedule of exponentially increasing prices, to satisfy investors, and the publication of artist memoirs, to satisfy art collectors.
In 2014, I also issued out a press release. Google "Can Billion Dollar Artist Save Investors and World Economy Valentino Zubiri PRWeb August 19 2014" and you will see the press release.
What I did was stake a claim on my ideas. I did not promote my books and the press release. I just wanted them to stay online, like a sleeping giant or a dormant volcano. I even designed 3 of the book covers to look like indie books from the 1980s. I was planting the seeds, thinking they will eventually grow and bear fruit in the future.
In 2015, I was interviewed by Richard Syrett, about one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately. This book is my memoir with paranormal stories. I could have pursued promoting my paranormal stories, but I wanted to be known first as a visual artist and memoirist, so I allowed myself one interview related to Hocus Pocus Lately. Richard Syrett has(had?) his own syndicated radio show, The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett, about the paranormal. He also guest hosts on Coast to Coast AM, another internationally syndicated show about the paranormal.
In 2018, I released Valzubiriagenda (co-authored by artist Silverio Perez, a fellow artist). Finally, this book is "the how-to of what I'm to."
I'm going to end this with some strangeness. In 1986, a lady at a religious gathering went into a trance and left a good number of messages. Supposedly, anyone who got into a trance would have messages, but once the trance was over, the person would not remember what was said.
I was not part of the group, but the lady turned her head to face me. She "foretold" that whatever I would decide to do in the future, it will take time, but it will be the right thing. This is one of my stories in one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately.
The Tulipmania of 1634-37
I discovered that there was this incident of rare tulips becoming collectible during the Dutch Golden Age. There were tulips so rare and so well-desired that their prices equaled to that of a house. You can read more about this online (Wikipedia) or watch a few YouTube videos about it.
Here is the most useful idea that I gleaned from the Tulipmania. The tulip bulbs remained safe inside nurseries. The traders were carrying the deeds of ownership to the tulip bulbs.
Then NFTs came to the forefront
I started learning PHP, an HTML scripting language, and MySQL, the database that PHP can connect to in the background, in 1999, when there were only 3 books about PHP and MySQL at the bookstores.
By 2014, I was trying to figure out how to make the "ledger," or database that can be used to update ownership and who can be contacted. If we are trading art, then the art ownership should be updated.
Then NFTs came about. This can be used as our ledger. Everyone can immediately trade NFTs of future, yet-to-be made art pieces, especially because it takes time to make tangible art.
NFTs actually went a step ahead, by allowing digital art to be traded.
The only setback with NFTs, in my opinion, is that it still lacks a commission system for resellers and representatives.
For example, if a café wants to represent me, then they can promote me at their café and on their online pages. If I make one piece of art that will be exclusively represented by a gallery, then that commission will be different and more specific. As ownership is transferred, the subsequent owners should be able to reset the commission. We should also have the option of giving commissions to hundreds of representatives at one time with different percentages if need be.
The recent crypto crash
Lately, we have observed that NFTs and cryptocurrencies have been behaving like the stock market and other markets. They have been fluctuating.
I believe that it is time for a trend which discourages fluctuation of prices.
I have also seen YouTube videos where social influencers are encouraging us to be on the lookout for exponentially profitable ventures, because we have all seen this happen with the exponential increase of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Let's see if #Valzubiriagenda trends
We can announce present and future art prices. The galleries won't do this (yet?) because they follow a more traditional approach to the business of art.
We have a choice of using incrementally or exponentially increasing prices. We still reserve the right to change things in the future, so everyone should know to follow the latest update.
If this trends, if you as an artist simply announces that you will write an artist memoir, or that you will include the future works in future art books, you might have more art traders, investors and collectors approaching you.
Get your pen, paper and calculator
Imagine yourself as an artist, where you are right now. Let's just say you still do not have a book about yourself and your art yet. Imagine now that you have a memoir out there. Don't you think it makes sense to charge more than what you are charging now? Writing and publishing books is just the beginning. I'm just standardizing this approach. The books also say to do other related projects. In my case, getting Dollman the Musical onstage is one idea. You will have other related projects, but the publication of memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs will help all of us.
You can also imagine that a law firm that has meeting rooms, with someone who wants to form a local #valzubiriagenda group, can have meetings. A local café can do the same. Local photographers for your art, writers, editors, book designers, proofreaders and others can join in.
I suggest have printed books to share. 15 copies of your memoir or art books will be better than an e-reader or laptop or your phone to show. These gadgets can be stolen, sabotaged, broken, have coffee spilled on them, etc. 15 printed books means simultaneously showing to 15 people. You can even give them away to potential resellers, investors, traders and collectors.
When it rains, it pours, as in the days of Noah
There's a saying, "When it rains, it pours." There is a negative interpretation and a positive interpretation.
Negative: When trouble comes, they cascade to even more.
Positive: When opportunity comes knocking, more follow suit. We can assume that if one gets our art because of #valzubiriagenda, more want to do it now, because of the rising prices, and FOMO - fear of missing out. What will they lose if they miss the boat?
As I have said earlier, if the #valzubiriagenda trends, if you announce a future memoir or art catalog, you might have an increase of investors, traders and art collectors who would want to check you out. You might encourage more sales. Just remember to write and publish that memoir and art catalog.
There's this saying, "As in the days of Noah." Imagine Noah, building his ark, with members of his own family, putting all his time and effort into it. Noah was a nice guy. I'm sure every once in a while a neighbor offered him coffee, or chai latte, or whatever refreshing drink they might have back then.
Here's the lesson to be learned. Just because they offered him some type of bubble tea drink, or coca cola, they still didn't make it to the ark. Rubbing shoulders with actors does not make you an actor. I have told my artist friends to write their memoirs. They told me that once they see me succeed, after all these many years of seeing my seemingly useless efforts, then they will write their memoirs and follow the road that I had paved for them.
Good luck to them, but if I were you, act now, get my art or make art. Support the 5-year old artist whose parent promised to release a comprehensive art catalog. If you get that 5-year old's art, and mine, I would be honored to be in the same art catalog that you will produce. I'm already successful at that point. You have gotten the mission just right.
I have already claimed to have written the most book-length artist memoirs in the world. Dethrone that claim. Barter. Use ghostwriters. Success to me means facing God one day and saying, I wrote my memoirs and left the world a legacy of books and art. I will not tell God, smiling and proudly, that I encouraged a run for my art by announcing a schedule of exponentially increasing prices that reached 9 figures. I'm sure God knows we had fun.

JOIN THIS GROUP

If you want to try out #valzubiriagenda, in any capacity, join this group. Let others know about this group as well.
If you are an artist, you can let everyone know here that you will produce your memoir, art catalogs, etc. It's okay if you don't know how to go about publishing yet, I will discuss this. Please be honorable enough to produce what you promise to produce.
If you want to meet fellow artists, investors, resellers, etc., join us here.
If you are a book writer, editor, proofreader; if you can photograph art pieces; if you are a book designer, etc., join us here. Let us know if you charge, barter for art, or both.
If you have your own tips and knowledge to share, join us here.
If you have underaged artists you are managing (parents, etc.) join us here.
Join this group if you want to sell works. Post your works. You web links. I'm sure I will.
You can announce meetings in your area. You might have meeting rooms, a café, restaurant, etc. where people can meet. In the future, you can have the regular show and tell, where books can be shown and shared.
​
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, Artist, Memoirist
Underaged artists are welcome here, so please be mindful of your language. We cannot post your adult-oriented art pieces, but you can direct us to a separate page or community. There will be limits to your posts, and there will be adult-oriented art that we cannot allow to be posted.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, artist & memoirist

Japanese version came out 6 months ago, how long does it usually take until the translated version comes out?