Writer's Block? More Like Writer's Bleh. Here's Your Antidote:

Feeling the creative void stare back? Don't fret, fellow procrastinator extraordinaire! Let's bypass the usual suspects and unleash your inner wordsmith with these ninja-level techniques:
Environment Hacks:

• Shower Epiphany: Brainstorm in the steamy embrace of your shower. Waterproof notepad optional (but hilarious if discovered).
• Nature Nap: Lie under a tree and pretend you're absorbing inspiration through photosynthesis. Bonus points for snoring dramatically.
• People Watching Pro: Turn cafes into character zoos. Invent elaborate backstories for strangers, then write about their secret lives. (Disclaimer: Don't get arrested for stalking).

Creative Catalysts:

• Tarot Terror: Shuffle a deck of cards and interpret their cryptic messages as plot points. Bonus points for dramatic pronouncements like, "The Ace of Spades reveals a shocking betrayal!" (Even if it's just your laundry machine eating a sock).
• Automatic Scribble: Set a timer and write whatever gibberish pops into your head. You'll be surprised what buried gems emerge from the word vomit.
• Daydream Delusion: Close your eyes and imagine your wildest story unfolding. Then, channel your inner Cheech and Chong and narrate it out loud. Record it for maximum absurdity (and potential blackmail material).

Perspective Poisons:

• Character Interview: Imagine your protagonist on a talk show. Grill them with uncomfortable questions and force them to reveal their deepest secrets. (Bonus points for celebrity voices and dramatic music).
• Future Flash: Fast-forward to the end of your story. Write a scene from that point, then work backward to connect the dots. Who knew time travel could be so productive?
• Alternate Ending: Write the worst possible ending imaginable. Then, rewrite it to be even worse. Now, write the actual ending, which will feel like a masterpiece in comparison. (Warning: May cause existential dread).

Bonus Tip: Reward yourself with ridiculous treats for even the smallest writing victories. Think chocolate fountains, wearing your pajamas all day, or interpretive dance breaks. Who says procrastination can't be productive?
Remember, writer's block is just a fancy term for creative constipation. With these unconventional tactics and a healthy dose of humor, you'll be churning out masterpieces faster than a squirrel on caffeine. Now get writing, you magnificent procrastinating wordsmith!

I'm (23F) applying from NYC as I'm from the Philippines and am a permanent resident. I'm going to the Philippines with my bf (US citizen) but we wanted to stop at Japan first. We're traveling for my birthday and to visit family in the Philippines. I submitted my application a week ago, got this email today:
Your application is currently being reviewed, and you are missing/should re-submit the following documents:
-Your modified travel itinerary using our format. *Please review our sample provided in the following link, and kindly indicate at least one tourist destination or area name for each day of your planned visit. Under “accommodation” write the name and address of the hotel. Under “contact” write the phone number of the hotel. *Instead of entering "Tokyo" or "Kyoto", please list the name of tourist destinations such as Sky tree, Roppongi Hills, Kinkaku-ji, Arashiyama, Nijo-jo, and Kiyomizu-temple. *Refer to the detailed travel itinerary #7 at the following link: https://www.ny.us.emb-japan.go.jp/en/d/TemoraryVisitorsforTourism.pdf
-Your entire hotel booking confirmation.
-The statement(s) from other bank account(s) proving your financial stability to cover travel expenses. *If you have any foreign, investment banking or hi-yield saving accounts with a sufficient amount of money which proves your financial stability and covers your travel expenses, please submit those statement(s).
I'm just scared of screwing up showing my financial stability. My bf is paying for the trip as it is my birthday, we already booked flights, hotels, etc. But I still sent over a bank statement that showed I had $4000+ which I got from the bank itself. I can get a new one, I also submitted my boyfriend's bank statement as he is financing the trip as well so I'm not quite sure what to send to them along with US passport + drivers license. He's also in the flight booking. I did submit it literally a day before they emailed me so I'm not sure if they saw it. So I'm not sure what bank statement to send to them - I only have one.
Does anyone have any advice? I'm probably gonna call them on Monday to ask as well

TradingView.com.com is a popular online platform that provides a comprehensive suite of tools and resources for traders, investors, and analysts to analyze and trade financial markets. In this chapter, we will provide an overview of TradingView.com, its features, and its benefits, setting the stage for a deeper dive into the platform's capabilities in subsequent chapters.

What is TradingView.com?

TradingView.com is a cloud-based platform that enables users to analyze and trade financial markets, including stocks, forex, futures, and cryptocurrencies. Founded in 2011, TradingView.com has grown to become one of the largest and most popular trading communities in the world, with over 10 million registered users.

Key Features of TradingView.com

TradingView.com offers a wide range of features that make it an attractive platform for traders and analysts. Some of the key features include:
1. Charting and Technical Analysis: TradingView.com provides a powerful charting platform that allows users to create custom charts with various indicators, drawing tools, and annotations. Users can also access a vast library of pre-built indicators and templates.
2. Backtesting and Paper Trading: TradingView.com allows users to backtest and paper trade their strategies using historical data, enabling them to refine their trading ideas and test their performance.
3. Community and Social Trading: TradingView.com has a large and active community of users who share their ideas, strategies, and insights. Users can follow other traders, participate in discussions, and share their own ideas and insights.
4. Alerts and Notifications: TradingView.com provides a robust alert system that allows users to set custom alerts based on market conditions, technical indicators, and other criteria.
5. Data Feeds: TradingView.com offers a range of data feeds, including real-time and historical data, for various markets and instruments.
6. Scripting and Automation: TradingView.com's PineScript language allows users to create custom indicators, strategies, and automated trading systems.
7. Mobile Apps: TradingView.com offers mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, enabling users to access the platform on-the-go.

Benefits of Using TradingView.com

TradingView.com offers several benefits to its users, including:
1. Improved Trading Decisions: TradingView.com's charting and analysis tools enable users to make more informed trading decisions.
2. Access to a Large Community: TradingView.com's community provides users with access to a vast network of traders, analysts, and experts.
3. Customization and Automation: TradingView.com's scripting and automation capabilities allow users to create custom strategies and automate their trading.
4. Real-time Data and Alerts: TradingView.com's real-time data and alert system enable users to stay up-to-date with market movements and react quickly to market changes.
5. Cost-Effective: TradingView.com offers a range of pricing plans, including a free version, making it an accessible platform for traders and analysts.

Conclusion

In this chapter, we have provided an overview of TradingView.com, its features, and its benefits. TradingView.com is a powerful platform that offers a range of tools and resources for traders, analysts, and investors. Whether you are a seasoned trader or just starting out, TradingView.com provides a comprehensive suite of tools to help you analyze and trade financial markets. In the next chapter, we will delve deeper into the charting and technical analysis capabilities of TradingView.com.

Chapter 2: Creating an Account and Setting Up Your Profile

As a new user, creating an account and setting up your profile is the first step in exploring the world of [Platform/Service]. In this chapter, we will guide you through a step-by-step process to create an account and set up your profile, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable experience.

Section 1: Creating an Account

To create an account, follow these steps:
1. Visit the Sign-up Page: Go to the [Platform/Service] website and click on the "Sign Up" or "Create an Account" button. This will take you to the sign-up page.
2. Enter Your Email Address: Enter a valid email address to serve as your login credentials. Make sure to use a unique and memorable email address, as it will be used to reset your password if needed.
3. Choose a Username: Choose a unique and memorable username that will be used to identify you on the platform. This can be your real name, a nickname, or a combination of letters and numbers.
4. Create a Password: Create a strong and unique password for your account. A strong password should be at least 8 characters long and include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
5. Confirm Your Password: Re-enter your password to confirm it. This ensures that you have entered the correct password.
6. Verify Your Account: Click on the "Create Account" button to create your account. You will receive an email verification link to verify your email address.

Section 2: Setting Up Your Profile

Once you have created your account, it's time to set up your profile. Follow these steps:
1. Fill Out Your Profile Information: Fill out your profile information, including your name, birthday, and location. This information will be used to personalize your experience and connect with other users.
2. Add a Profile Picture: Upload a profile picture that represents you. This can be a photo of yourself, a logo, or an avatar.
3. Add a Bio: Write a brief bio that describes yourself, your interests, or your expertise. This will help others get to know you better and find common ground.
4. Customize Your Profile Settings: Customize your profile settings to control what information is visible to others and what notifications you receive.
5. Connect with Others: Start connecting with other users by sending friend requests or joining groups related to your interests.

Tips and Best Practices

· Use a strong and unique password for your account.
· Keep your profile information up-to-date and accurate.
· Be cautious when sharing personal information or connecting with strangers.
· Use the platform's built-in features to block or report suspicious or inappropriate behavior.
· Respect other users' privacy and boundaries.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully created an account and set up your profile. You are now ready to explore the world of [Platform/Service] and start connecting with others. Remember to keep your account information secure, be respectful of others, and have fun exploring the platform. In the next chapter, we will dive deeper into the features and functionality of [Platform/Service].

Chapter 3: Navigating the TradingView.com

Interface

As a trader or investor, it's essential to understand the TradingView.com interface to get the most out of this powerful platform. In this chapter, we'll take a comprehensive tour of the TradingView.com interface and its various components. By the end of this chapter, you'll be well-versed in navigating the platform and ready to start exploring its features.

Section 1: The TradingView.com

Dashboard

The TradingView.com dashboard is the main hub of the platform, providing an overview of your account, market data, and other essential features. Let's break down the key components of the dashboard:
1. Header Bar: The header bar at the top of the screen displays your username, account balance, and other account information.
2. Navigation Menu: The navigation menu allows you to access various sections of the platform, including your watchlists, charts, and settings.
3. Market Data: The market data section provides real-time quotes for various assets, including stocks, forex, and cryptocurrencies.
4. Alerts: The alerts section allows you to set custom alerts for specific market conditions, such as price movements or news events.
5. Watchlists: The watchlists section enables you to create and manage custom lists of symbols, making it easy to track your favorite assets.

Section 2: Charting and Analysis

TradingView.com is renowned for its powerful charting capabilities, allowing you to create custom charts with various indicators, studies, and drawing tools. Let's explore the key features of the charting interface:
1. Chart Types: TradingView.com offers a range of chart types, including line charts, candlestick charts, and Renko charts.
2. Indicators: The platform comes with a vast library of built-in indicators, including moving averages, RSI, and Bollinger Bands.
3. Drawing Tools: The drawing tools allow you to annotate your charts with lines, shapes, and text.
4. Studies: Studies are custom indicators created by the TradingView.com community, offering a wide range of trading strategies and techniques.
5. PineScript: PineScript is a programming language used to create custom indicators and strategies.

Section 3: Community and Social Trading

TradingView.com is more than just a trading platform – it's a community-driven platform where traders and investors share ideas, strategies, and insights. Let's explore the community features:
1. PineCoders: PineCoders is a community of developers who create custom indicators and strategies using PineScript.
2. TradingView.com Blog: The TradingView.com blog features articles, analysis, and insights from experienced traders and investors.
3. TradingView.com Forum: The forum is a hub for discussion, debate, and learning, where traders and investors share their experiences and ask questions.
4. Watchlists: Watchlists allow you to share your favorite symbols with others, making it easy to collaborate and learn from each other.
5. PineScript Challenges: PineScript challenges are community-driven initiatives where developers create custom indicators and strategies, and the community votes on the best submissions.

Section 4: Customization and Settings

As you become more comfortable with the TradingView.com interface, you'll want to customize your experience to suit your needs. Let's explore the customization options:
1. Theme: TradingView.com offers a range of themes, allowing you to personalize the look and feel of the platform.
2. Layout: The layout options enable you to customize the arrangement of the platform's components, such as the chart, indicators, and alerts.
3. Notifications: The notification settings allow you to customize the types of notifications you receive, including market data updates and alert notifications.
4. Security: The security settings enable you to set up two-factor authentication, password recovery, and other security measures to protect your account.

Conclusion

Navigating the TradingView.com interface is an essential step in unlocking the full potential of this powerful platform. By understanding the various components of the dashboard, charting and analysis tools, community features, and customization options, you'll be well-equipped to start exploring the platform and developing your trading skills. In the next chapter, we'll dive deeper into the world of PineScript, exploring the programming language and its applications in trading and investing.

Chapter 4: Understanding Charts and Time Frames

In this chapter, we will delve into the world of charts and time frames, a fundamental concept in technical analysis. We will explore the different types of charts, time frames, and how to use them effectively on TradingView.com. By the end of this chapter, you will have a solid understanding of how to use charts and time frames to analyze and trade the markets.

What are Charts and Time Frames?

Charts and time frames are the foundation of technical analysis. A chart is a graphical representation of a security's price action over a specific period. Time frames, on the other hand, refer to the duration of the data displayed on the chart. In other words, time frames determine how much data is displayed on the chart and how often the data is updated.

Types of Charts

There are several types of charts, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. The most common types of charts are:
1. Line Chart: A line chart connects the closing prices of a security over a specific period, creating a continuous line. This chart is useful for identifying trends and patterns.
2. Candlestick Chart: A candlestick chart displays the high, low, open, and close prices of a security over a specific period. Each candle represents a specific time period, and the color of the candle indicates whether the price closed higher or lower than the previous day's close.
3. Bar Chart: A bar chart is similar to a candlestick chart but does not display the open and close prices. Instead, it shows the high and low prices, as well as the open and close prices.
4. Renko Chart: A Renko chart is a type of chart that uses a unique algorithm to create a chart that is not based on time. Instead, it uses price movements to create a chart that is more focused on the price action.

Time Frames

Time frames determine the duration of the data displayed on the chart. Common time frames include:
1. 1-minute: A 1-minute chart displays the price action over a 1-minute period.
2. 5-minute: A 5-minute chart displays the price action over a 5-minute period.
3. 15-minute A 15-minute chart displays the price action over a 15-minute period.
4. 30-minute: A 30-minute chart displays the price action over a 30-minute period.
5. 1-hour: A 1-hour chart displays the price action over a 1-hour period.
6. 4-hour: A 4-hour chart displays the price action over a 4-hour period.
7. Daily: A daily chart displays the price action over a 1-day period.
8. Weekly: A weekly chart displays the price action over a 1-week period.
9. Monthly: A monthly chart displays the price action over a 1-month period.

Using Charts and Time Frames on TradingView.com

TradingView.com is a popular platform for charting and analyzing financial markets. Here's how to use charts and time frames on TradingView.com:
1. Creating a Chart: To create a chart on TradingView.com, go to the "Charts" tab and select the security you want to chart. Choose the chart type and time frame you want to use.
2. Customizing the Chart: Once you have created a chart, you can customize it by adding indicators, drawing tools, and other features.
3. Switching Time Frames: To switch time frames on TradingView.com, click on the "Time Frame" dropdown menu and select the desired time frame.
4. Zooming In and Out: To zoom in and out of a chart on TradingView.com, use the mouse wheel or the "Zoom" button.

Conclusion

In this chapter, we have covered the basics of charts and time frames, including the different types of charts and time frames. We have also explored how to use charts and time frames on TradingView.com. By mastering charts and time frames, you will be able to analyze and trade the markets more effectively. In the next chapter, we will explore the importance of indicators and how to use them to make informed trading decisions.

Chapter 5: Technical Indicators and Studies

In this chapter, we will delve into the world of technical indicators and studies available on TradingView.com. As a trader, it is essential to understand the various indicators and studies that can be used to analyze and predict market movements. This chapter will provide an overview of the different types of technical indicators and studies available on TradingView.com, their uses, and how to apply them in your trading strategy.

What are Technical Indicators and Studies?

Technical indicators and studies are mathematical calculations based on historical price data that help traders identify trends, patterns, and potential trading opportunities. These indicators and studies can be used to analyze and predict market movements, making it easier to make informed trading decisions.

Types of Technical Indicators and Studies

There are numerous types of technical indicators and studies available on TradingView.com, including:
1. Trend Indicators: These indicators help identify trends and potential trading opportunities. Examples include the Moving Average, Relative Strength Index (RSI), and Bollinger Bands.
2. Momentum Indicators: These indicators measure the rate of change of an asset's price over a given period. Examples include the RSI, Stochastic Oscillator, and Momentum Indicator.
3. Volatility Indicators: These indicators measure the degree of price movement or volatility. Examples include the Average True Range (ATR) and Bollinger Bands.
4. Pattern Recognition Indicators: These indicators help identify specific chart patterns, such as head and shoulders or triangles. Examples include the Ichimoku Cloud and the Keltner Channel.
5. Statistical Indicators: These indicators use statistical methods to analyze market data. Examples include the Exponential Moving Average (EMA) and the Simple Moving Average (SMA).

Popular Technical Indicators and Studies on TradingView.com

Some of the most popular technical indicators and studies available on TradingView.com include:
1. Moving Average: A simple moving average calculates the average price of an asset over a given period.
2. Relative Strength Index (RSI): The RSI measures the magnitude of recent price changes to determine overbought or oversold conditions.
3. Bollinger Bands: Bollinger Bands consist of a moving average and two standard deviations plotted above and below the average.
4. Stochastic Oscillator: The stochastic oscillator compares the closing price of an asset to its price range over a given period.
5. Ichimoku Cloud: The Ichimoku Cloud is a comprehensive technical analysis system that inclues multiple indicators, including the Tenkan-sen, Kijun-sen, and Senkou Span.
6. Keltner Channel: The Keltner Channel is a volatility-based indicator that plots two lines above and below a moving average.
7. Average True Range (ATR): The ATR measures the average true range of an asset over a given period.
8. Exponential Moving Average (EMA): The EMA is a type of moving average that gives more weight to recent price data.
9. Simple Moving Average (SMA): The SMA is a type of moving average that calculates the average price of an asset over a given period.
10. Stochastic Momentum Index (SMI): The SMI is a momentum indicator that measures the rate of change of an aset's price over a given period.

How to Use Technical Indicators and Studies

To get the most out of technical indicators and studies, it is essential to understand how to use them effectively. Here are some tips:
1. Combine Indicators: Combining multiple indicators can help confirm trading signals and reduce false positives.
2. Use Multiple Time Frames: Analyzing multiple time frames can help identify trends and patterns that may not be visible on a single time frame.
3. Adjust Parameters: Adjusting the parameters of an indicator can help tailor it to your specific trading strategy.
4. Use Indicators in Conjunction with Fundamental Analysis: Combining technical indicators with fundamental analysis can help provide a more comprehensive view of the market.
5. Backtest Indicators: Backtesting indicators can help evaluate their performance and identify potential biases.

Conclusion

Technical indicators and studies are powerful tools that can help traders analyze and predict market movements. By understanding the different types of indicators and studies available on TradingView.com, traders can develop a comprehensive trading strategy that incorporates multiple indicators and studies. Remember to combine indicators, use multiple time frames, adjust parameters, and backtest indicators to get the most out of technical indicators and studies.

Chapter 6: Creating and Customizing Charts

As a trader, having the right tools and information is crucial for making informed decisions. Charts are an essential component of any trading strategy, providing valuable insights into market trends and patterns. In this chapter, we will explore the process of creating and customizing charts on TradingView.com, a popular platform for traders and analysts.

Creating a Chart on TradingView.com

Creating a chart on TradingView.com is a straightforward process that can be completed in a few steps.
1. Log in to Your TradingView.com Account: Start by logging in to your TradingView.com account. If you don't have an account, you can create one by signing up on the TradingView.com website.
2. Select the Symbol: Once logged in, navigate to the "Symbols" tab and select the symbol you want to chart. You can search for symbols by typing in the symbol name or by using the "Search" function.
3. Create a New Chart: Click on the "Create a New Chart" button to create a new chart. You can also create a new chart by clicking on the "New Chart" button in the top-right corner of the TradingView.com window.
4. Select the Chart Type: Choose the type of chart you want to create. TradingView.com offers a variety of chart types, including line charts, candlestick charts, and more.
5. Customize the Chart Settings: Customize the chart settings to suit your needs. You can adjust the chart size, grid lines, and other settings to create a chart that meets your requirements.

Customizing Charts on TradingView.com

Customizing charts on TradingView.com is an essential step in creating a chart that meets your specific needs. Here are some tips for customizing your charts:
1. Add Indicators: Add indicators to your chart to gain insights into market trends and patterns. TradingView.com offers a wide range of indicators, including moving averages, RSI, and more.
2. Add Drawings: Add drawings to your chart to highlight specific patterns or trends. You can add lines, shapes, and other drawings to your chart to create a visual representation of your analysis.
3. Add Alerts: Set up alerts on your chart to notify you of specific market events or price movements. You can set up alerts based on price movements, volume, and other market indicators.
4. Customize the Chart Grid: Customize the chart grid to suit your needs. You can adjust the grid lines, grid spacing, and other settings to create a chart that meets your requirements.
5. Save and Share Your Chart: Save and share your chart with others. You can save your chart as a template or share it with other traders and analysts.

Advanced Chart Customization

In addition to the basic customization options, TradingView.com offers advanced customization options that allow you to create complex charts and indicators. Here are some tips for advanced chart customization:
1. Create Custom Indicators: Create custom indicators using the TradingView.com PineScript programming language. You can create custom indicators that meet your specific needs.
2. Use Custom Drawings: Use custom drawings to create complex patterns and shapes on your chart. You can create custom drawings using the TradingView.com drawing tools.
3. Customize the Chart Layout: Customize the chart layout to suit your needs. You can adjust the chart size, grid lines, and other settings to create a chart that meets your requirements.
4. Use Advanced Chart Settings: Use advanced chart settings to customize your chart further. You can adjust the chart settings to suit your specific needs.

Conclusion

Creating and customizing charts on TradingView.com is a powerful way to gain insights into market trends and patterns. By following the steps outlined in this chapter, you can create complex charts and indicators that meet your specific needs. Whether you're a seasoned trader or a beginner, TradingView.com offers a range of tools and features that can help you create charts that meet your specific needs.
Chapter 7:

Introduction to Trading Strategies

As a trader, having a solid understanding of various trading strategies is crucial for making informed decisions and maximizing profits. In this chapter, we will explore popular trading strategies, their underlying principles, and how to implement them on TradingView.com. By the end of this chapter, you will have a comprehensive understanding of various trading strategies and how to apply them using TradingView.com's powerful platform.

Introduction to Trading Strategies

Trading strategies are pre-defined rules or methods used to make trading decisions. These strategies are designed to help traders navigate the markets, identify profitable opportunities, and minimize losses. Trading strategies can be categorized into several types, including:
· Trend following strategies: These strategies aim to identify and ride the trend, whether it's an uptrend or a downtrend.
· Range trading strategies: These strategies focus on identifying and trading within a specific price range.
· Mean reversion strategies: These strategies rely on the idea that prices will revert to their historical means.
· Statistical arbitrage strategies: These strategies involve identifying mispricings in the market and exploiting them.

Popular Trading Strategies

2.1 Trend Following Strategies
Trend following strategies are designed to identify and ride the trend. These strategies involve identifying the direction of the market and trading in that direction. Some popular trend following strategies include:
· Moving Average Crossover (MAC): This strategy involves identifying the crossover of two moving averages to determine the direction of the trend.
· Relative Strength Index (RSI): This strategy involves identifying overbought or oversold conditions using the RSI indicator.
· Bollinger Bands: This strategy involves identifying breakouts above or below the bands to determine the direction of the trend.
2.2 Range Trading Strategies
Range trading strategies focus on identifying and trading within a specific price range. These strategies involve identifying support and resistance levels and trading within the range. Some popular range trading strategies include:
· Support and Resistance Trading: This strategy involves identifying key support and resistance levels and trading within the range.
· Channel Trading: This strategy involves identifying and trading within a specific price channel.
2.3 Mean Reversion Strategies
Mean reversion strategies rely on the idea that prices will revert to their historical means. These strategies involve identifying overbought or oversold conditions and trading in the opposite direction. Some popular mean reversion strategies include:
· Mean Reversion Trading: This strategy involves identifying overbought or oversold conditions and trading in the opposite direction.
· Statistical Arbitrage: This strategy involves identifying mispricings in the market and exploiting them.
2.4 Statistical Arbitrage Strategies
Statistical arbitrage strategies involve identifying mispricings in the market and exploiting them. These strategies involve analyzing historical data and identifying statistical anomalies. Some popular statistical arbitrage strategies include:
· Statistical Arbitrage: This strategy involves identifying mispricings in the market and exploiting them.
· Event-Driven Trading: This strategy involves identifying and trading on specific events, such as earnings announcements or mergers and acquisitions.

3.

Implementing Trading Strategies on TradingView.com

TradingView.com is a powerful platform that allows traders to implement and backtest various trading strategies. Here are some steps to follow when implementing trading strategies on TradingView.com:
1. Create a new chart: Open a new chart on TradingView.com and select the asset you want to trade.
2. Add indicators: Add the indicators you want to use for your trading strategy. For example, you may want to add a moving average crossover indicator.
3. Set parameters: Set the parameters for your indicators. For example, you may want to set the period for your moving average crossover indicator.
4. Backtest the strategy: Backtest your strategy by running a backtest on TradingView.com. This will allow you to evaluate the performance of your strategy.
5. Refine the strategy: Refine your strategy by adjusting the parameters and testing different scenarios.

Conclusion

In this chapter, we have explored popular trading strategies and how to implement them on TradingView.com. By understanding various trading strategies and how to apply them using TradingView.com, you can make informed trading decisions and maximize your profits. Remember to always backtest and refine your strategies to ensure optimal performance. In the next chapter, we will explore advanced trading strategies and how to use them to improve your trading performance.

Chapter 8:

Backtesting and Evaluating Trading Ideas

As a trader, it's essential to test and refine your trading ideas before implementing them in live markets. Backtesting and evaluating your trading ideas can help you identify potential flaws, optimize your strategy, and increase your chances of success. In this chapter, we'll explore the process of backtesting and evaluating trading ideas using TradingView.com, a popular platform for charting and backtesting trading strategies.

What is Backtesting?

Backtesting is the process of applying a trading strategy to historical market data to evaluate its performance. It allows you to test your trading idea on past data to see how it would have performed in real-time. By backtesting your strategy, you can:
1. Identify potential flaws in your strategy
2. Optimize your strategy for better performance
3. Refine your strategy to improve its accuracy
4. Evaluate the strategy's risk-reward ratio

Why Backtest?

Backtesting is crucial for several reasons:
1. Risk management: Backtesting helps you identify potential risks associated with your trading strategy.
2. Strategy optimization: Backtesting allows you to refine your strategy to improve its performance.
3. Performance evaluation: Backtesting enables you to evaluate the performance of your strategy and make data-driven decisions.
4. Confidence booster: Backtesting gives you confidence in your strategy, reducing the risk of emotional trading decisions.

How to Backtest on TradingView.com

TradingView.com offers a range of tools and features for backtesting trading ideas. Here's a step-by-step guide to get you started:
1. Create a new chart: Open TradingView.com and create a new chart for the asset you want to backtest.
2. Select the data range: Choose the time period for which you want to backtest your strategy. You can select a specific date range or use the default settings.
3. Add the strategy: Click on the "Indicators" tab and add the strategy you want to backtest. You can use built-in indicators or create your own custom indicators.
4. Set the parameters: Configure the strategy's parameters, such as the number of bars to look back, the number of trades to take, and the stop-loss levels.
5. Run the backtest: Click the "Run" button to start the backtest. TradingView.com will apply your strategy to the selected data range and provide performance metrics.
6. Analyze the results: Review the backtest results, including the strategy's profit/loss, drawdown, and other performance metrics.

Evaluating Trading Ideas

Evaluating your trading idea is a crucial step in the backtesting process. Here are some key metrics to consider:
1. Profit/Loss: Calculate the total profit or loss generated by your strategy.
2. Drawdown: Measure the maximum loss experienced by your strategy.
3. Sharpe Ratio: Calculate the Sharpe Ratio to evaluate the strategy's risk-adjusted performance.
4. Sortino Ratio: Use the Sortino Ratio to evaluate the strategy's risk-adjusted performance, focusing on the maximum drawdown.
5. Information Coefficient: Calculate the Information Coefficient to evaluate the strategy's ability to generate profits.

Best Practices for Backtesting

To get the most out of backtesting, follow these best practices:
1. Use a robust data set: Ensure your data is accurate and free from errors.
2. Test multiple scenarios: Test your strategy on different time frames, assets, and market conditions.
3. Monitor performance metrics: Keep track of your strategy's performance metrics and adjust as needed.
4. Refine your strategy: Continuously refine your strategy to improve its performance.
5. Avoid overfitting: Be cautious of overfitting, where your strategy performs well on the training data but poorly on new data.

Conclusion

Backtesting and evaluating trading ideas is a crucial step in the trading process. By using TradingView.com and following best practices, you can refine your trading strategy, optimize its performance, and increase your chances of success. Remember to evaluate your strategy's performance using relevant metrics and refine it continuously to improve its performance. With practice and patience, you'll develop a robust trading strategy that can withstand the challenges of the markets.

Hi I just came across a novel, chosen by the moon novel by izabella W. Its on pay by chapter websites, I've opened and read a few chapters but I can't seem to find any free version or chapter version anywhere. Please help. If anyone has read it I'm willing to take spoilers. Here's the advert I found below of it on Facebook.
Lycanthrope species is a disgusting race. And I, Delan Riley, am nothing more than a human scum in their eyes never expected those species would turn my world upside down. Since when the lycans managed to penetrate our town, like in the early 1900's we have a hierarchy, upper class = the lycans, middle class = mated humans, and lower class = the normal humans, who were basically considered scum. I endured their torment day after day, vowing to run away from them one day, until that day came and everything changed.
Dylan POV "Humans," I scowled at the principal's words from tannoy. "The Alpha twins will be celebrating their birthday tomorrow, as such, festivities are in order." Oh great, the Alphas twin children. Adrian and Arya are the worst lycans alive. I swear just because they are the alphas kids they literally get away with everything. If their birthday is tomorrow, then the wolves are going to be worse than ever. "All students will be present to greet them, two lines will be made, with humans on the left and the lycanthrope on the right. Any mated human will be at the front of the line for their year, you will all also be in order of your school year. That is all." Chat broke out the minute the tannoy was finished. "We haven't had a school gathering since the alpha king visited three years ago, before his sons coronation." Nick was right, the last time we all gathered like that was for the king and queens visit, when he decided to let the world know that he was to renounce his title to his only child, son Josh. "That sick bestard, he wants to make sure everyone is there so those idiot twins can find their mates." Yes I was mad, my fists connected with the table in front of me once more as I thought about how disgusting the situation was. You see the twins will be turning 17, so it's very possible someone in our school could be their mate, finding a mate is sacred to a wolf, the minute they say that one word your fate is sealed. They will turn your mind, morph you into being a lover of their kind, and then you'll give in.

That won't happen to me, I'm growing old to see the world as it once was, and I'm going to choose who I'll be with. No one will take that dream away from me.

Once dinner was finished, I just wanted to sleep. I'd had a very long tiring day, I quickly sat down on a small stool my mother kept in the storage closet and removed my shirt while my brother Freddy sat at the table to do his simple homework. It wasn't long before my mother came in with a large bowl of warm salt water and some cotton, this was going to sting I just knew it. She was here to help me with the wounds caused by wolves yesterday. She slowly began to unwrap the bandage from around my torso and slowed down drastically when it came to the final layer, I felt it peel off every wound and my fists clenched in pain. "Jesus!" I heard my mom exclaim once the dressing was completely removed. The air on my back was nice though and I sighed as my arm covered my once again exposed brests. "This is more than 15!" I began to hear sniffles coming from her and sighed turning round to look at her face, only to notice tears streaming down it. "Mom I'm fine, it's alright." She shook her head. "It's not alright, I'm your mother I shouldn't let these things happen. I'm so sorry. Your father would have..." here she goes again. Every single time something happened she'd always bring up dad, it really annoyed me because no matter how much we all wish he was here, he just isn't. My father was kiled by THEIR kind, almost 5 years ago when they actually managed to take over. When the lycans managed to penetrate our town my father rose up with some people from the neighborhood, to defend our livelihood, it was futile to say the least. We lost many people and I watched as my dad was ripped apart by two fully shifted wolves, I ended up shoting him to stop his suffering before they dragged me to the courtyard, i was the person to receive the first lashing of the town when I was 12! The wolves have been pretty strict with me since that day. "Stop being stvpid!" Was I harsh? Definitely! Did she need to hear it again, absolutely. "Dad is dead, we don't know what he'd do because he never knew this life. He never knew this world." I know what he'd have done, most likely attacked the guy who held the whip and got himself kiled in the process. "The best thing you can do for me, is stop crying and help me, next time don't insist on helping if you can't handle it." She began to wash my open wounds with the warm salt water causing loud winces to leave me, I knew it was necessary to prevent infection, but my god it hurt like a betch. "Some of these are really deep Dylan!" She sniffed again and my eyes rolled in my head. "I told you, I'm fine, just wrap me back up so I can get to bed." My mom was obviously more impacted by my injuries than I was, I suppose that always the case though. When it's happening to you, you've just got to get through it but when it's happening to someone you love, you just want to take their pain away. She quickly placed a fresh bandage around my waist and chest and wrapped it tightly for compression. The bowl of water that was used was now red in color, I guess from the blood my back was dripping with. "Can you keep your head down please? At least just this week. You can't take any more lashings." I simply nodded before standing up away from the stool, I walked over to Freddie and ruffled his hair in affection. "Good night squirt." He giggled and fixed his hair slightly. "Night Dilly." I smiled walking upstairs to my little bedroom, as soon as I was inside i shut the door and flopped down on to my bed on my stomach and I took a minute to cry to myself at the pain in my back, what my mom did was important but it hurt, not that I'd ever tell her. My hand covered my mouth quickly to muffle any noise I might be making. I couldn't tell anyone, I had to be strong because more and more people were crumpling these days, and my mom would break if she knew how much I was suffering. Sleep followed me shortly after, she was right though about me needing to keep my head down for the time being, I could not take another lashing! After a long night and an even longer morning, we were all finally stood in the hallway at school waiting for the twins to arrive. "Mine!" Everyone that was stood in the hallway tensed up, as we were seniors, me and Nick were stood towards the very back of the human line. All the mated people were situated directly opposite their wolf mates in their years. We stayed silent and still as Arya walked down the hall and stopped directly in front of Nick. His eyes widened in fear, unsure of wether to look up or keep his head lowered. "Look me in the eye, mate." He glanced at me slightly as if asking what he should do. "I said, look me in the eye." He slowly moved his eye line up to look at her face. I took a glance myself to see her eyes pitch black with lust. "I... can't... I mean... erm." Before he was able to mutter anything else, two wolves from opposite, grabbed him out of the line and dragged him behind Arya. "Hey!" My head shot up before I could stop myself. My mouth also forgot its place as I jumped out of line. Everyone's head shot to me as my eyes widened in realization at what I'd done. Adrian, the other twin, walked up to me before punching me right in the stomach, I doubled over instantly. Feeling the sting in my slightly healed back. "I know you... You were publicly flogged only two days ago." God I hate this guy. "I also have it on good authority, that you openly spoke out against our rules and regulations in yesterday's class." My head shot down the line slightly to see Erin, looking a little frightened, her mate, the beta to be was looking at her, nodding his head in reassurance. "You traitor, you grassed on your own kind?" I yelled at her before feeling a fist connect with my cheek. My head whipped to the side from the force, while my class members gasped. I'm so done with this treatment, right then, I wasn't in charge of my actions. My fists curled up and my stance became a lot more defensive. My head snapped up to the alpha to be, and I looked him in the eye. "You don't know the meaning of the word disrespect." I suddenly hurled my fist towards his head, which he easily dodged, but my foot came up and kicked him instead. He stumbled backwards from the force with wide eyes. "You... you Actually hit me!" He didn't even sound annoyed, more shocked. Everyone in the hallway was watching, waiting for the alpha to do something but instead he simply stood up straight, regaining his composure. "I think everyone should get back to class." He began to walk away, following his sister when I called him back. "What about Nick?!" "Simple, He's my sisters mate. He now belongs to her." Argh, he's not an object. "He's not her property." A chuckle left his mouth, before turning his back to me again. "All humans are property." A short while later everyone made it to science class, our teacher Mrs Mathews is mated to the lycans pack doctor, she also now has a four and two year old with him. She was one of the first humans to be cohered into a false relationship. "What were you thinking young lady?" I rolled my head at her before looking at the empty seat next to mine. Nick was with that stvpid wolf girl right now. Being changed, I'm so angry it's ridiculous. "I was thinking, this guy is being a prick. Did you hear him? 'All humans are property.' It's bull shet." I looked up and the whole class looked at me like I had three heads. Talking shet about wolves is one thing, but talking about an alpha is punishable by death, attacking an alpha is an even worse offense. There was then a knock at the door and in walked Erin and her band of mated bestards. "Sorry we're late Mrs." "Erin, how are things between you and bata Monroe?" She blushed, the traitor actually blushed at the mention of his name. "He spoke to me last night about trying for a baby. We need a good strong boy to take over as beta." I scoffed looking at her as she took her seat. "You guys are actually pathetic, why can't it be a girl? Those mutts are basically Neanderthals" I voiced my opinion and saw all the shocked faces around me. Calling the lycans mutts, is the same as them calling us scum. After lesson had ended the entire school was called into the hall for assembly. This is where any human who has been found to have broken the rules were punished, usually 10 lashings were goven out or something similar. "Welcome to the school assembly, congratulations to the alpha twins for finding both your mates. Now on to the business at hand, as the 5 year anniversary of the new world is coming up, we have been informed that the alpha king will be visiting our district next week, this is very exciting news. We want you all to look your absolute best, she wolves and mated females will wear exemplary dresses made by seamstress. Male wolves and mated men will wear tailored suits. Anyone who doesn't comply will be reprimanded." The Alpha King?! No one has met him yet, he took over the throne three years ago when he turned 18. He really didn't make any appearances though, great, this month is going to be a nightmare. "As for the humans, you will be given a new uniform to wear for the visit, these are to be neatly ironed and worn to the highest standard. As for the following humans, based on your attitude this past week, you will be coming to the front and facing punishment. Tony summerset?!" Tony's head shot up as he looked around, he was in the year below but he shared my views when it came to the lycans. He slowly walked up to the front of assembly, almost instantly his top was t0rn in two and he received 10 lashings. A girl named Kara was next and she too received 10 lashings. A few more people went up slowly accepting their fate then suddenly my name was called. "Dylan Riley." Inside I was terrified but I simply shrugged my shoulders, I guess I did kind of expect this. Although I'm not sure if my back can take any more damage. "You attacked an alpha, correct!" His eyes bored into mine as I bowed my head submitting to his authority. "Technically, no." Everyone in the school gym looked on in fear, as my head moved to the front row of the wolf side. Adrian sat, with a werewolf girl in the year below, her name was Jana, I guess he found his mate. Nick and Arya were no where to be seen though. Adrian gave me a shrug as if to say he didn't tell, before smirking at my comment. "He hasn't officially taken the alpha title yet, so he's just..." i looked at the principle and noticed his eyes black and his claws out, he was in what lycans call a half shift, triggered when the subject has become angered. He turned to two security wolves and gave them a nod, Almost immediately i was forced onto my knees, my arm was slammed on a table and held in place by one wolf, while my body was held in place by the other. "Ok, I don't think this is needed, I have alpha blood, a stvpid human girl can't hurt me." My head snapped to Adrian who had stood up in front of the school to stop what was happening. "Nevertheless, humans need to know their place." With that the pressure on my arm increased as our principals hand pulled my sleeve up before a long claw punctured my skin. The searing pain shoting from the fresh wound had my eyes scrunched and my fist clenched, I bit the inside of my cheek hard instantly tasting blood, however no sound left my mouth. He continued to write, using my skin as a canvas and his claws as a marker, it went on forever, my vision blurred slightly at one point as I turned my head away. After minutes of torture, he was done and the pressure on my arm eased, instantly I snatched my arm away, hissing through my teeth at the pain. I was about to scurry off stage, when I was roughly grabbed yet again, my arm being held in the air by the principal while my feet were inches off the floor, blood dripped from the wound and the pattern he had made was on show for everyone to see. Loads of people gasped, even the wolves looked slightly horrified at what had happened. "This is what happens when a human decides to speak out. I can promise, anyone who so much as says one word about our way of life, will have the same punishment." My arm was starting to seriously ache from being held in the air for so long, and the lack of blood flow to my suspended arm was causing me pins and needles, still I refused to make a sound. I held the tears back and I bit my cheek harder causing more blood to fill my mouth. "That's enough Bradley!" Adrian growled, he was still stood up and looking at the scene in front of him. His eyes hard as he stared at the principal a low warning growl erupted from his chest which had the head teacher gulping, he quickly let go of my arm causing me to crash to the floor. A small cry left my mouth as I hit the hard floor. Immediately I scrambled away, my foot just missed the high step leading to the stage and I fell, waiting for the impact of the ground, but it never came. Two strong arms wrapped around me catching my weak body causing me to look up, my eyes widened as I noticed Adrian had caught my falling form. "This isn't part of the human punishment program!" Adrian growled causing me to tense in his grip, I pushed him away from me before fixing my uniform top. The room was deadly silent, taking in the scene in front of them, while I stole a glance at my forearm. Carved into my skin by his devastating claws were two words, words that would most definitely scar my body for life. 'Human scum' "Lessons must be learned, she received lashing merely two days ago, and clearly it had no effect on her." Another growl left Adrian's chest as he stepped on to the stage, I wasn't bothered though, you would think I'd be ashamed but I simply smiled slightly. I fixed my sleeve a little so it wouldn't rub on the fresh wound before speaking. "It doesn't matter," the whole room looked at me shocked by my attitude. "I would rather be labeled human scum, than have any resemblance to your kind. I'm proud of what I am, how many of you can say that?" After my amazing little speech, I walked right down the middle between the humans and lycans and out the door. No more compliance, I'm going to get away with as much as I can without getting into too much bother. There will come a day when the lycans power will fizzle out. When it does I'll be ready, I'll be waiting for the day we take our world back. As for the best part about my plan...

No one can stop me.

"Ouch, not so hard." I seethed as the school nurse cleaned my new wound with antiseptic. "If you had of just kept your mouth shut, this wouldn't have happened." I turned to my right looking out the window at the few clouds that were floating in the blue sky. "Like I said, I'm proud to be human, and now everyone knows what I am." I clenched my fist together as the nurse began wrapping a bandage around my forearm. It had been a good few hours since the incident in the hall, and I had been forced to come to the nurces office after I had tried to clean my wound by splashing it with water from the tap, it also refused to stop bleeding. "You are impossible. Can you please just try and stay out of trouble? For one day, that's all I ask." Our school nurse is a wolf, she's one of them. However she hates the way they treat us mere humans, she thinks we should all just live in peace with equal rights. Like that would ever happen. "All I've done is stay out of trouble, but you are just going to humiliate me anyway, so what's the actual point?" "The pack were discussing a public execution, Dylan. You need to walk on egg shells from now on, not just for you but for your family as well." No ones been publicly executed in over 4 months, I'm flattered they're considering it. They only execute people who they believe are the biggest problems to society. "Well then... I'm flattered." I chuckled, before looking at the patch job. 'Huh, not too shabby.' I quickly stood up from the human nursing station and pulled the sleeve of my shirt down covering the evidence of ever being hurt. "This is serious!" I just gave her a blank look before leaving the room. On the way out I heard her call back to me. "Please just think about it." I gave a clipped nod as I walked away wondering how I'm going to tell my mom about this. Later in the evening... "Dilly why you say that?" Freddie looked up at me with a mouth full of bread. "Don't speak with your mouthful!" My mom scolded him as a bashful blush made its way to his cheeks. "Sowwy mommy." His reply was muffled as he swallowed the last chunk of food. "I said it Freddie, because it's the truth. The wolf race are a pathetic excuse for..." my mom cut me off with an extremely stern look. "Dylan! They have ears everywhere, one more word out of you and it's your room." I scowled, my hatred for the Lycan kind growing stronger as each day passes. "What more can they do to me, lash me? Beat me? Brand me? They've ran out of options." I stated slamming my hands down, then severely regretting it as sharp pain shot though my wound. "What was that?" My head shot to regard my mothers worried expression. Her eyebrows were raised and her eyes were dull and judging as she looked at me. "Nothing, it was nothing." I quickly took my plate in my hand and began to walk to the kitchen. "I'm not really hungry, and I have homework to do!" My mom caught hold of my forearm causing me to drop my plate suddenly, I watched it slowly fall before shattering on the floor. I retracted my arm quickly and turned to Freddie. "Stay there and don't move until it's cleaned up ok sport?" He just nodded with wide eyes, I turned back to my mom and noticed her curious stare on my arm. Her grip shifted to the other side as she turned it around before pulling my sleeve up. The bandage was showing and a bit of blood was seeping though after the wound had been disturbed. "What the hel happened?" My moms eyes widened as she began to fumble with the bandage. Before she could unravel any of it I snatched my arm away. "I had an accident at school. No big." I began to gather the large pieces of the broken plate up ready to put them in the bin. "What did you do Dylan?" She looked at me with pure worry and only then did I realize what the wound must look like to someone who didn't know. "For gods sake! I didn't do it to myself! I got publicly punished at the assembly alright? It's no big deal." Her face dropped instantly and she stepped towards me, causing me to step backwards. "Mom, I'm ok. So back off will you." "What did you do? I've never known them to cut someone's arm as a punishment." Her shock and accusation was evident in her voice and I sighed heavily. "I spoke against the alphas son." I may have hit him too, but I wasn't going to divulge that part to her. "It's not one big cut, mom, it's a brand, 'human scum' carved onto my arm." "They've branded you now too?!" My eyes rolled at her hurt tone as I went to get the dustpan and brush. "You're so much like your father." A sigh left her mouth as she spoke, running a hand through her hair, while I quickly swept up the little pieces of the broken plate. "You've had a new uniform delivered. It's laid out on your bed. Dylan, Please just try and stay respectful in the future, I don't want my daughter to be completely mutilated. Although you're not far off." "Gee, Thanks." I then walked over to my little brother Freddy before blowing a kiss into his neck and hearing him giggle. "So sport, how's school going?" "It's ok." He shrugged before going back to coloring a dinosaur picture in. "Well that's good, stay out of trouble, ok little man?" Heading upstairs and into my room, my thoughts wandered to the permanent graffiti scar very slowly healing on my arm. Disgusting beasts. Think they own the world because they're faster, stronger and can shift. Pah. If you ask me they are not all that.

The second I walked into my room my mouth dropped open. On my bed was some grey pants laid out neatly, which wasn't the surprising part, no, what shocked me was the grey high neck no sleeved button down shirt, every single set of uniform had sleeves except this one. They've done this on purpose those, mutts. They want the world to see my arm and know what a disgusting creature I am. They want the world to know that I, Dylan Riley, am nothing more than 'human scum'.

During the last week, I've been horrible, in class I've been loud in voicing my views, I've insulted at least everyone to some degree, I didn't care about the consequences, and I certainly didn't think about them. I haven't seen Nick at all since he was claimed, and to make matters worse today was the royal visit. Oh yes, werewolves and mated humans alike were spending every waking minute preparing themselves to meet his royal majesty, king of the wolves. Unclaimed Humans however would rather stick pins in their eyes. "Dylan, get down now... you're going to be late." She was right, I was dawdling this morning, I really couldn't be bothered today, I gave myself one last look in the small mirror and sighed when my eyes met my newly uncovered brand. It had bad bruising around the letters, and was still extremely tender to touch, it was definitely healing now though. I made my way down the stairs and came face to face with my mother who was seeing to Freddie, she was helping my brother get his coat on when she turned to me. "You ready sport?" Freddie nodded his little head at me and smiled while I quickly slid my shoes on. "Just Remember, the alpha is bad enough, Dylan, please, please don't do anything to anger the king." My mother stopped us from walking out the door to tell me something she had been telling me continuously for the last couple of days, it was almost as if the entire human population of our district was expecting me to do something stvpid. "Try and have a good day." I rolled my eyes but nodded, even I know not to push the king, he could kil me in the hallway like it was nothing. In fact I plan on staying out of his way for the entirety of the day. "We will see you tonight mom." I stated before me and my brother began our walk to school, his little hand clutched my own tightly as we went. Usually Nick would be with us, as he lives next door, well he used to, now he's residing in the main pack house. I quickly dropped Freddie off at his school and watched him get the wolfsbane neutralizer before walking into him building giving me a small wave before he went in. With my new scar on complete show, and my figure being complimented by the skin tight shirt I was wearing, I sauntered down the street to school, I gave my name and year in and took the wolf's bane neutralizer injection with no problems at all. It was finally getting into school that the problem occurred. Walking through the halls I was met by many looks, some of pity some of disgust. You see every single non mated human in the school was wearing a long sleeved version of the uniform I was given. All the Wolves and mated couples were scattered around in fancy floor length dresses or tailored suits. As I turned the corner I noticed a couple, now this couple happened to catch my eye the most out of all of them because it consisted of Arya and Nick, eating each other's faces off. "What the hel!" Nicks head shot to me as his eyes widened. He too was dressed in a tailored suit, a navy blue tie hung on his neck to match Aryas dress. Why was this happening all the time? It's always my friends that get completely brain washed. I shook my head in disbelief before turning my back on him. I heard his fast footsteps behind me as I rounded the corner. "Dylan?!" He ran right in front of me, stopping me in my tracks, making me drop my bag off my shoulder and almost causing me to bump into him. "Let me just explain..." "Has she marked you?" I mean you could almost see it in his eyes, she had marked him, and knowing the way life goes he's probably even mated with her. "Actually... Don't even answer that." I aggressively picked my bag up off of the floor and stormed off down the hall. "Dylan, just listen to me, Erin was right, it's so hard to resist your soulmate, and Arya is actually ok once you get to know her." I just kept walking, he caught up to me walking beside me but it didn't matter, I completely ignored everything and everyone. 'I'm so not in the mood today' getting into class was good though, I said hello to Mr Foley and took my usual seat. Nick sighed then took his bag off ready to sit next to me, but I snapped before he had the chance. "Traitors and mated idiots sit on that side of the room." I didn't look him in the eye as I pointed to a seat right at the front of the classroom on the opposite side. His eyes widened as he turned his attention back to me. "You can't be serious Dylan." I gave him a blank look before grabbing my book out of my backpack, I placed it on the desk then began to write the date on the top line. "I've sat in this seat for as long as I can remember." I ignored him, his voice sounded sad and shocked. "Dylan? Wait! What is that?!" Before I could react Nick had grabbed hold of my branded arm and turned it to see the letters. "Oh my God! What happened?" I snatched my arm away from him and shrugged as I continued to write in my book before grabbing my water bottle out of my bag. "The principal happened, it was my punishment for speaking out against Adrian and Arya. I wear it with pride." He just held a complete look of disbelief. "You spoke out against them?" I shrugged, what did he think I'd do. "It's no secret that I despise this stvpid new world and the mutts that control it. You were my friend, I wasn't going to let them just take you without saying something, although that is exactly what you seem to have done. Enjoy the view from your new seat!" "Don't be like that, Dylan, I'm your best friend, I'm sorry about your arm, but..." my eyes rolled inside my head at my friends words. "Anything with the word 'but' in, isn't an apology, it's a rationalization." I took a drink of water from my bottle and kept my eyes facing forward, ignoring his every attempt to try and talk to me. "Dylan?.. Dylan?... Do you know what? Erin is right, if you push us all away you won't have any friends left." He huffed before walking over to the empty seat and sitting down, I could feel him glancing up at me every now and again but I didn't respond. "Good morning class, please settle down." He looked at me then at Nick and frowned, we've never sat apart, we were friends before the new world even began. I just shook my head telling him to forget it. "So... as you know the king will be arriving in a short while, but until then lessons will go on as normal." Its funny seeing teachers in the same uniform your wearing, mr Foley and his wife are the coolest. Human teachers and doctors only have slightly more respect than we do. Because of Mr Foley's status him and his wife have better access to food and drink, Mrs Foley is cool, sometimes she even makes sure mr Foley brings some in for me. Ya know, coz I'm their favorite student. It's not in a weird way, it's just they were friends of the family before the new wold took effect. Mr Foley and my dad were buddies from high school, so it goes without sayin really. "All the mated humans will be at the front of each years line again, after that you will all be placed in status, Nick, as your mated to Alpha Arya, you'll be at the front of your line. Dylan as you have been branded..." his voice trailed off as he looked at me. "Yeah yeah, I'll be at the back of the line behind everyone. I get it." I huffed, moving my sight towards the window once more. "I am sorry." I turned to face Mr Foley again, he looked genuinely upset and that look of pity wasn't something I wanted to see. I gave him a clipped nod then turned away again. "Anyway, on to the subject matter, 'Of Mice and Men, page 64, Nick why don't you start us off with the reading."

"Of course sir." Nick began reading the book but I switched off, today is going to be a long day. After almost an hour and a half of reading comprehension, the bell chimed signaling lunch. I shot up and out of the classroom before anyone could say anything. Today, I was avoiding drama like the plague.

I wandered the corridors straight to the lunch hall. All the people I would normally hang out with we're all mated so I grabbed my lunch quickly, and sat down at the end of the human table. Let me lay the lunch hall out for you. On one side of the room you have two long rows of tables, with simple benches that make it look like prison, on the other side of the room you have multiple round tables with fancy chairs. Yup you get it. The humans sit at the prison tables and the wolves and traitors sit on the fancy tables, they get fancy food, fancy drink and most importantly they get pudding. what I would give to have some pudding. "Dylan can we just talk?" Nick quickly took the spot next to me as he set his lunch tray down. I looked at his food which had been placed on a ceramic, circular white plate. God that looked good. I sighed knowing he was going to talk anyway. "Fine, you have two minutes." I used my fork to take a bit of pasta off his plate and shoved it into my mouth. God that was good. "After I left school, I was taken to the pack house with Arya, and I really got to know her. It took a few days for me to finally accept being with her, but ever since life has been ok, and the sax... well that's a whole other story." Eww, I didn't need that mental image in my head. "I'm glad your happy." I stated before deciding I had no appetite. His face held shock before he sighed in relief. "That means a lot Dylan, I mean you know that your opinion matters to me." I cut him off before he could say anything else. "I said I was glad your happy. I didn't say I approved of what you've done. You've basically turned into one of THEM, I can't ever forgive you for that." He looked hurt, but I couldn't care less about his feelings. He placed his hand gently on my arm and went to open his mouth when a growl sounded out. All heads whipped to where it came from, Arya was stood holding a glass of soda and a plate, she was looking right at me and Nick and I would totally be dead if looks could kil. Nick quickly retracted his hand, his whole face fell and you could see sorrow flood his irises. "You sit with me now, get away from that, that... scum!" Wow, Nick was such a lucky guy. NOT. "You heard her. Get away from me, go sit with your new friends. I'm happy for you, and I understand where your coming from, but don't come up to me again and pretend you didn't betray your own kind. Don't pretend you didn't betray me." I shoved a little bit of food into my mouth before standing up and walking out of the cafeteria, leaving my tray on the table. I was walking through the hallway to the classroom, you see I decided to spend lunch with Mr Foley in his room, when I happened to hear voices in the corridor. "Is it wise for her to actually be present when the king arrives? Surely she could be placed in the dungeons, it might actually teach her some respect?" My principal was speaking to the alpha of our district, huh, if I stayed and listened do you think they'd notice, maybe they could smell me?! "Everyone is to be present, if the Riley girl does one thing out of line she will be dealt with severely, child or not. That girl has been a blight to the district since day one, she's dangerous, if she puts one hair out of place I will personally break her into submission." Oh shet, they were talking about me specifically, and they mentioned the dungeon, that's not been used in months. Normally I would have listened in more but something about the entire situation didn't sit right with me, all of a sudden, I was on edge, and simply wasn't interested in the slightest in hearing how my misery was to be enhanced. I backed up slightly before turning around and bumping head first into one of the hottest man I had ever seen. I lost my balance immediately and fell straight on to the floor letting out a small grumble in the process. His eyebrows knitted together quickly and his breath hitched in his throat as he looked upon my fallen state and gasped. "Mate!" He whispered, his eyes fixated on mine. Now, I had seen and heard that many times to know what that means, I gasped before taking a step back. 'No, no, no, no, no. This can not be happening.' He growled slightly before stepping towards me. Oh Shet!

My RAoC May 2024 Thank Yous with close ups in the pics goes to:-
u/mildyuzu x2 - This Vase-shaped postcard from China! Stunning! 😍😍 and then this perfect 3d peacock card for my belated birthday! Omigosh, it was so precious.
u/princecowboy - Thanks for the “To London by Jet Clipper” postcard. Sounds like you packed in lots and had a great time!
u/DPClamavi - Thank you for the awesome postcard of Rokuonji Temple. I'd forgotten you'd begoing to Japan. I'd love to hear more details about what you saw and did.
u/HexagonalRainbow - Thank for the fabulous shaped postcard from Kufstein, Tirol!
u/cassius1213 - It took a while to get here (usually 10 days - 2 weeks from your country) but boy was it worth the wait! Thank you for the stunning Year of the Dragon postcard with matching stamp and great cancellation!
u/wabisabi_sf - for the Utah Loupaper postcard, glad you finally got to make your trip. That was a big hike!
u/UncutPrideOfTheBull - Thank you for the basket of flowers card from your new place!
u/PinkPengin x3 - 1-3. Thanks for the Pied Kingfisher, Indian Peafowl and Hyacinth Macaw but I absolutely don't need anymore!
u/ninajyang - Loving the holiday deets on your Max & Oscar San Diego postcard!
u/halfwayoutoftown - Wow, you were in Finland! Love that Europa stamp and I font think I had one so thanks! Hope you'll get chance to sight see more on your next trip!
Yay Meet-Up Cards
u/littlemermaidxx, u/ninajyang and u/wabisabi_sf - Thanks for the Oxen postcard from u our meet up at the Stamp show!

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I just finished my first (and only) Aux year at IES Abastos in Ciudad Valencia and am headed back to the US in a week and at that time I plan on disconnecting from all the Aux groups and moving on with my life, but before I go I wanted to leave a message here for any future Aux who may search for this school name when they get their placement...you are so damn lucky! Congratulations! (and if you want any additional information please respond to this post and I'll try to keep an eye out for notifications this summer).
It's an amazingly beautiful building right in the heart (!!!) of Valencia city, staffed with friendly and talented teachers and staff. It is an IES (high school) and an FP (vocational school--Computer (IT, web design, AI) and Business tracks. The teachers I worked with (in all of the above programs) all spoke excellent English. The administration is easy going but often super busy so if they forget to give you a printing card or computer login or bathroom key, just remind them ;-)and generous re scheduling, etc. They asked my preferred hours and I only worked 3 days (16 hours) a week, Tuesday-Thursday! 4 day weekends! Not promising they can do the same for you, but if they can they will. But the compromise for my compact schedule was that every class was a different group and/or subject, which was a lot to keep track of initially, prep-wise, but I learned you can often reuse/adapt the same lesson across different groups. I came to know the faces but alas not the names of the approx 200 students I saw each week.
The students were never disrespectful (not intentionally anyway--they ARE mostly adolescents though, so not paying attention or acting like, well, hormonal teens, is par for the course). There's a lot of projector use in the classrooms versus board work. Often the teachers will want you to come up with your own lesson plans (based on what they are covering or simply whatever you want) and yes, it can eat up several hours of your off time if you want to have fun with it (but it makes your work week so much more rewarding) but if occasionally you can't, they understand. You can always play pictionary or hangman or 20 questions or some other easily adapted game at a moments notice--I highly recommend building that skill. For example: oh, we are doing past tense vocabulary today and you want me to do something for 15 minutes at the end? I draw a tic tac toe grid on the board, quickly divide the class into teams (competition is popular!) and have one rep from each team come to the board and who ever can write the past tense of a particular word first gets to put their X or 0 in first, before the other team. Repeat until one team wins 3 in a row. Easy peasey.
FYI, I have posted some of the most rewarding lessons I did with my classes on the FB Auxiliary Secondary lesson planning (Madrid) group and I used several that others had posted there too. Check it out. No reason to reinvent the wheel.
This year the Valencia payments were consistently on time (around the 10th of the month, give or take a day, starting in November if you got your bank info submitted asap--I recommend N26 online bank). Housing can be competitive and spendy, expect to spend at LEAST 400 euros for a room (not an entire apartment) if you want to live relatively close to the school and it may take you awhile to find one (I have no personal advice to offer re: that as I used my savings to rent an adorable but expensive apartment to live on my own and host guests from home, I just know what other Auxes told me). Getting your TIE/toma de huellas appt will be a nightmare but just grin and bear it. The metro and bus system in the city is wonderful and I got a valenbici subscription vs purchasing a bike and made ample use of it and the protected bike lanes (there's a protected lane that goes directly to a valenbici bike station in front of the school!). There are several local Valencia Aux Whatsapp groups you should join (for info, Auxiliaries VLC 2022; for fun/meet ups, Valencian Kids) as well as local Whatsapp hiking groups (if you are so inclined to join amazing local hikes on the weekend).
Not gonna give a travel review of Valencia itself but suffice to say it is AMAZING! And Fallas! Oh.My.God. The first two weeks of March are INSANE! Enjoy!

I came in contact with my first typewriter experience and I think I got infected.
I wrote (fire the first time since I was a small child) on a typewriter, a Halda Advitaberg.
I loved that writing experience. Now I want that at home to use for maybe birthday cards (writing it on normal paper and cutting it out) or maybe at gatherings as a guest book or... I don't know, it was just a lovely feeling but a typewriter will not be my main way of corresponding.
As I googled it seems the Haldas are very good but quite expensive (for my usecase)
What typewriter with a good feeling would you recommend for a beginner? Or am I spoiles now with typing on a Halda first?

Hey everyone,
I 27F have been in a relationship with my boyfriend 27M for 6 months now. While he's really sweet and we have great conversations, I feel like he's not putting in enough effort to make me feel special.
For example, this was our first Valentine's Day together, and it was close to my birthday. I was hoping for at least a simple gesture, like a rose or some chocolate, but he did absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, I knitted a scarf for him and made him a bracelet. I always bring him homemade treats when we meet.
I've told him several times that I feel he's not putting in enough effort, but nothing seems to change. It's not that I expect grand gestures, but a little something to show he cares would mean a lot to me.
It's worth mentioning that he always tries to pay whenever we dine out, even when I offer to split the bill, so it's not about financial trouble either.
I do love him and want to make things work. When I told him that he doesn't do anything to make me feel special, he asked what he could do. I suggested things like making a card, writing a letter, or getting a flower, but he dismissed these ideas as "fictional stuff."
I'm starting to feel frustrated because even my friends treat each other better than he treats me. My friends and I take good care of each other, cook for each other, get souvenirs, and spend quality time together. Maybe my friends have raised my standards, but I don't think I'm asking for too much.
It's worth mentioning that this is his first real relationship. I don't know if I'm overexpecting or if this is just how relationships are supposed to be. Am I missing something here? How do I address this without sounding like I'm nagging? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!

My counsellor would say something about childhood trauma and being taught my needs aren't important. But I just don't understand my own reactions, and would really love some insights.
My parents are separated and have been since before I remember. My Dad and his wife are both disabled. My Dad is currently being prosecuted for benefit fraud and has tried his best to implicate me over the years. He's tried asking me to look after cash for him, to write some fake receipts for cleaning so he can claim them back as a benefit, to buy things on my card and to pay me back in cash. Luckily I've made excuses everytime and I've never done anything illegal. I've never come right out and said "no, this makes me uncomfortable" though. I always lie and make an excuse. Once I booked a holiday and just left the country to avoid "helping" him.
My Mum obliterates all my boundaries and pushes every rule I do try to enforce. We went out on a trip for my birthday recently. She brought a dog which wasn't allowed in many of the boutique shops she wanted to visit. She bitched and moaned about how it wasn't fair that she hadn't been able to look at any of the things she wanted to, and made the day uncomfortable and tense enough that me and my husband stepped in and offered to look after the dog in turns so she could go into the shops. (Yes I know, we completely enabled her here).
My husband has had an equally traumatic childhood. His Dad abandoned him at aged 8 and his grandparents on his Dad's side have always blamed my husband for the fact they aren't close with him (not the fact their son walked out). After another passive aggressive letter recently received about how they feel we have "dismissed them from our lives - again", I blew up and sent a big, emotional text telling them the impact their jibes and snipes have on my husband. I opened up about his time of sick with his mental health and how he sobs at the fact his Dad abandoned him... the message was met with a laughing face emoji reaction.
Despite all of this, despite knowing I am in the right: I only stand up to people when I've reached a limit, and I blow up and become hysterical. Afterwards I feel a huge, huge sense of guilt and feel terrible in case I've hurt or upset them (even though I know they deserve it). It envelopes me for days and I feel like I've committed a gravely cruel deed. I know the solution would be to put my boundaries up in the first instance and not let it get to the point that I explode... but I just can't seem to do it! It feels so difficult and I get hugely, hugely emotional and panicked - even just telling a parent I disagree with one of their views.
What the hell is wrong with me? I'm really keen to understand why I'm reacting like this, so that I can work with my counsellor to address it.

What I am about to explain was incredibly traumatizing and stressful for me, the entirety of the call including after the end of the call.
Here is the story: I get a call from a fake or spoofed number (I will call this phone ICE) that claims to be from an ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) office somewhere in Minneapolis. I personally freaked out because it was also named "Prison/ Jail". He asked first if I am speaking to (my real name) and states my real address (I didn't give any identifying information yet). The caller, who claims to be an officer, claims that I was involved in serious criminal activity including money laundering, drugs, and having a fake identity. Obviously, I am legally born in the United States and have never immigrated to the U.S. I was literally shaking during this entire call.
Then, I explicitly state that I haven't committed any of these crimes, and they say that it could be identity theft (which is real thing and happens everywhere). That what I thought it was at first. Either way, they told me to go to the real .gov website to read the documents and what laws I have violated. He also interrogated me with some other questions as if it was almost a real interrogation with actual law enforcement and that there was a real reason he was doing this. Then an hour into the call, another number (I will call this phone number SLPD) called me three times, and the person behind that spoofed number claimed to be the SL Police Department. The person speaking claimed to be the sergeant for the department, and would threaten to arrest me. First off, she was very rude, in which this would not be how a real police officer would act talking to someone for the first time. So I told the ICE person that there was another "agency" involved in the same case and here is where things start to get messy.
The ICE person claimed that she would threaten to arrest me and I was given two choices: either self surrender to fill out an immigration bond containing a certain amount of money (this is where the real purpose of the scam comes through).
I went with the second option since I didn't want to risk getting arrested and being put on records. In order to complete the immigration bond in such a tight time, I was forced to go to a store to purchase a couple gift cards, each worth a lot of money. While the cashiers were making weird looks at me, I was still forced to do the purchase anyway and lie to them I had to celebrate my family's birthday or something. I went to other stores to look around for gift cards (yes, it does seem very dumb, but at this time my adrenaline was very high and I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into). After all the purchasing the SLPD person claimed she would come to my apartment in Santa Cruz, but first off she doesn't even know the address of my place. The ICE person claimed that I was not allowed to use any sort of web browser, to make phone calls, or talk with others about this "investigation". Then this was where I realized where something was off and what real trouble I was getting into until the SLPD person "visited" my place.
They also told me my phone was being tracked, but it wasn't.
Then after I thought about what was going on, then I realized that ICE (nor any of the well known agencies) DOES NOT call you directly about being arrested and ask you for money over phone calls. Then I realized the stupid thing I did over the past few hours of the day. I also browsed over reddit and confirmed that people have had similar calls.
After having some real thoughts, this was my state:

• I have never felt so angry, out-of-place, and frustrated with wasting so much time for this non-sensical scam call and giving out my money for "compliance".
• My entire day was gone as I was initially planning to work on some final projects and work on some homework.
• Nearly half of my bank account was drained (Please don't ask me how much I gave out).
• As mad as I was, my parents were not proud of me at all.
• I am currently having a lot of bad afterthoughts and I cannot seem to focus on my schoolwork. I also need to deal with how to recover from the scam.
• Lastly, I have never felt so stupid falling for such a non-sensical act, where people claiming to be someone else are just trying to trick people into getting money, though a very (I mean very) elaborate process. I must say they did it well and can easily catch victims off guard.
• I don't know if my parents will ever have the same trust with me as they did before.

Some of my learning and what can be the takeaway

• Never Ever transfer money with a random person through a phone call, not even if they threaten you to. If they ask for money, it's an automatic scam.
• The ICE nor the SLPD (or any other police departments) will never call you and immediately threaten you with arrest. They first need to have a probable cause, and they sure would've had started an investigation way earlier in person.
• If you think you have ran into a person threatening you, just nicely tell them that you need to go to the bathroom. Then what you actually do is hang up and completely turn off your phone. Go on your parents' or friend's phone to call the real agency or other people you trust to see what's the real deal. If there's nothing from the real agency, it's a scam.
• I would highly suggest blocking the number the scammers call you through.
• I need to learn to be more skeptical for this situation and look out for any early signs of a scam or malicious intent.

However, one good thing was that my gift cards still had its full values, so I was able to freeze them. While I didn't really lose the money, it definitely costed me the time that it could have not went through.
I haven't fell for any other scams, ones that simply say that you have an arrest warrant or a charge on your bank card, but this one was so elaborately done and this caught me completely off guard.

Spoilers and big mad feels ...
Sometimes you finish a book super quickly because you can't put it down and can't stop turning the pages. Sometimes you finish a book super quickly because you just want it to end as fast as possible so that you can forget about it forever and move on to the next one in the series. ACOFAS is... the latter. I devoured the first three books and adored them, but this fourth book makes me want to cry (in a bad way)
Did SJM get amnesia in between books 3 and 4? The inconsistencies and lack of continuity might break my spirit. This book reads like a cheap knockoff compared to the three that preceded it. It's like it was written by somebody who only had cursory knowledge of the preceding books. I have many questions and cranky venting.
Chapter 1 First of all why is Feyre walking around like a basic b in ugg boots in a cheesy Hallmark movie? We've got every cliche about the holidays all wrapped into one confounding muddle. It's reminding me of how every pop star records a Christmas song to make that holiday cash.
(Side note: When the cauldron broke and was reforged, did Elain and Nesta lose their powers? Do they still have their powers? The vagueness around this seems sketch.)
Chapter 2 In ACOMAF, there's two very different houses near the Illyrian steppes fight camp: the rustic war house that a bunch of them shared in Devlon's training area, and a private warded cabin waaaay up the mountain where the boys used to have hunting trips and the epic mating fuckfest went down. It was a helluva climb up a giant hill. So why in the beginning of ACOFAS is Rhys walking from the sparring areas straight into the war camp house with Cassian and imagining Feyre bent over the kitchen table?... That ain't the same place, Rhys! If it was, it would also have those creepy paintings Feyre left all over the place.
Chapter 3 "Flap" is a laughably wimpy word lmao. Couldn't SJM come up with something tougher to describe how the bat boys get around? Idk like "pumped his powerful wings skyward" or "beat a gust of air towards the soil and soared into the sky"? Saying "a mighty flap" to describe anything that hotboi Cassian does just makes me roll my eyes and giggle.
Chapter 4 If they have blacksmiths, cobblers, fabric weavers, and cauldrons, why do they also have stretch leggings and fleece lined robes? Am I to believe that a full on medieval cobbler is also making modern-day Ugg boots for Lady Fey? I'd sooner believe that Bryaxis is MIA because it's away at a beauty pageant.
Chapter 5 So, fae have all kinds of magic but no one has figured out a way to deal with a period aside from bleeding out all over the place? Huh?
And I have questions about this magic. If Rhys can magic his clothes away instantly, why can't he magically fix up those slums without the tenants having to move out? Why can't he vanish the rubble like he vanished his panties? You're magic ain't mathing, Rhys. I still love ya but it's looking like campaign lies and I don't like it.
And when Feyre went to get food, she was wearing a fleece-lined robe but then when she comes back to hug him, she's suddenly in a cobweb lingerie? What gives? Did SJM get amnesia again between pages 46 and 54(?).
And when we're in the F/R POV chapters, they use I/me mornings, but in Cassian's and Mor's chapters, it's all he/him and she/her pronouns. Huh????? Pick a POV rule and stick with it babes.
Also, Feyre sorta promised Nesta in ACOMAF that they'd invent showers, but they're still filling the tub for every bath. Why? Maybe that's why Nesta is always in such a bad mood. Babes desperately needs a real shower.
Chapter 6 Did Azriel name his favorite knife Truth Teller after Morrigan? Her gift and curse are telling the truth. idk how I didn't notice this before. I just thought it was a torture interrogation reference.
Chapter 7 Do Siphons tamp down power or amplify it? The answer seems to change from page to page and it's getting confusing.
Chapter 11 It pisses me off that TamTam blames Feyre for everything that's ever gone wrong in his life. Hello?? It was your own choice to lash your sentry in front of the rest of the team, fully bringing to life the saying that "beatings will continue until morale improves" — and Ianthe was behind that shitshow anyway! Ianthe was the one who stole the guard's keys and gave them to the Naga to break in. Where's the blame on her for that fuckery? Tamlin could have handled it with more restraint and honor but instead he let Ianthe push him into going apeshit That's not on Feyre. Sorry Tampax, you played yourself.
Chapter 12 There's no way that the shadowsinger would turn red and almost spew wine into a fireplace because Rhys made a not very funny joke. This rom-com scene is murdering me.
Also, now that everybody knows that the power of grayskull was unleashed from Amren at the battle with Hybern, does that mean that the threat that her position in the inner circle held before is dissipated now that she's no longer got otherworldly powers anymore? How does she still exist????? I loved her but that Hybern cauldron battle was her time to die. If they were going to bring her back, they could at least make her a creepy zombie or something.
Chapter 13 Why is Nesta's life ambition to just get worse and worse? I mean, she has every right to be mad about the fact that her sister's boo's enemies kidnapped her and Elain then dunktanked them into being magical immortal beautiful beings forever. But she was like this even before Feyre left the mortal lands. I'm really getting tired of her bitchy bullshit. I don't care if her and Cassian have some kind of future love story. She doesn't deserve him. She doesn't deserve any more air time honestly. She's wearing me down.
Chapter 15 Why is she writing about clothes?! Where is the plot???
Chapter 16 Rhys says on page 146 that he'll winnow Cassian up to the House Of Wind, but on page 152 of ACOMAF, it is made very clear that the House Of Wind is protected by wards and you cannot winnow into it. You can only fly to it. Even Rhys cannot winnow into the House Of Wind, which is why he flies Feyre up there every single time. I'm new to books with this kind of world-building and, i gotta say, continuity breaks like this throw me out of the story. What's happening?
Also, why is Cassian so opposed to having his own apartment in Velaris? Am I supposed to believe that for the last 500+ years he has not had any place to get laid? Or he only gets laid in an extra room in Rhys's house? No wonder he has such awful luck with the ladies! Get your own apartment, Cassie!
Chapter 17 Feyre says that she scowled at the eye on her palm on page 156 but when Hybern broke her UTM bargain with Rhys, that eye her palm disappeared as did everything else with the tattoo from UTM. Her new mating bond tattoo on her other arm didn't have that eye on the palm. Did SJM read her own books?
Cauldron help me, I don't know if I can finish this book. I want to but it's breaking my heart. Can i skip the rest and go straight to Book 5? I hate it. Send help. Please tell me it gets better in ACOSF. 😭

So I’m (18M) in high school, and just need some basic advice. This is probably the most common and generic problem/question that is seen on this sub, but I find myself really hung up on it recently. As dumb as I feel for asking for asking for advice on reddit, I feel like this might be useful anyways so I’ll give it a go. Basically, I feel somewhat overlooked by people in my class and am wondering about advice for how to date.
I’m a pretty popular guy (yes even though I posted on reddit), and I am very well liked by my classmates. I talk to lots of people and am pretty successful in sports and school. I go to parties and do all that stuff too. However, all my friends date people and I struggle to do that. I’m fairly good looking (according to people I’m better than average which I’ll take as a good thing), maintain good hygiene, all of that stuff. But my friends seem to date people and I don’t. It wouldn’t be that big of an issue, if they didn’t clown me for it. They seem to have no issue finding someone to date or hook up with. I’ve had opportunities to hook up with people, but I’ve never actually done it because it’s just not something I’m into. I’d rather know the person and be in a relationship first. However, because of this I don’t have much experience which I get teased for by my friends.
A couple weekends ago, I hosted a party for my birthday and a girl (18F) who was supposedly into me wanted to get with me. I didn’t know her to well, and despite her friends trying to persuade me, I said no. This was partly because we were both not in our right minds at all if you get what I mean, and I knew that I could make regretful choices that way. Also, I already knew that she was into me and I wasn’t really into her, so I’d feel bad if I was leading her on. Long story short, nothing happened and this week her friend told me that she wasn’t into me anymore because of it.
This same situation happened to me a few months ago when I was hanging out with a girl and we made out at a party. We had already been hanging out for a few weeks prior. She didn’t really seem to want to beforehand, so I didn’t try to. I also was really nervous since I had never done that before and I wasn’t thinking straight. But then she got mad and said that I need to “just make a move”. Well I did and afterwards she called me a bunch of stuff to her friends and said that I was a coward for not just kissing her. A week later she dumped me for an older guy.
Am I doing something wrong here? I get that maybe I should be less hesitant, but I also don’t want to give people the wrong idea. Also, I’m not into all of that hooking up stuff. Lots of my friends, actually almost all girls in this case, brag in front of me about how they got with this dude last week but then this dude yesterday, and it quite honestly disgusts me. I don’t want to end up as that guy, but it seems like that’s what happens to most people. I don’t want to be a one night thing, but it seems like I also can’t be anything more. Any advice?
Edit: so I read this over and I kinda go on a bit of a tangent. This isn’t meant to be a sob sorry at all, I’m just writing down my experiences and asking for advice on how to avoid or do better in these situations. Honestly, any advice would help. Thanks!
TLDR: relationship advice, struggling to figure out what to do.

So I’m (18M) in high school, and just need some basic advice. This is probably the most common and generic problem/question that is seen on this sub, but I find myself really hung up on it recently. As dumb as I feel for asking for asking for advice on reddit, I feel like this might be useful anyways so I’ll give it a go. Basically, I feel somewhat overlooked by people in my class and am wondering about advice for how to date.
I’m a pretty popular guy (yes even though I posted on reddit), and I am very well liked by my classmates. I talk to lots of people and am pretty successful in sports and school. I go to parties and do all that stuff too. However, all my friends date people and I struggle to do that. I’m fairly good looking (according to people I’m better than average which I’ll take as a good thing), maintain good hygiene, all of that stuff. But my friends seem to date people and I don’t. It wouldn’t be that big of an issue, if they didn’t clown me for it. They seem to have no issue finding someone to date or hook up with. I’ve had opportunities to hook up with people, but I’ve never actually done it because it’s just not something I’m into. I’d rather know the person and be in a relationship first. However, because of this I don’t have much experience which I get teased for by my friends.
A couple weekends ago, I hosted a party for my birthday and a girl (18F) who was supposedly into me wanted to get with me. I didn’t know her to well, and despite her friends trying to persuade me, I said no. This was partly because we were both not in our right minds at all if you get what I mean, and I knew that I could make regretful choices that way. Also, I already knew that she was into me and I wasn’t really into her, so I’d feel bad if I was leading her on. Long story short, nothing happened and this week her friend told me that she wasn’t into me anymore because of it.
This same situation happened to me a few months ago when I was hanging out with a girl and we made out at a party. We had already been hanging out for a few weeks prior. She didn’t really seem to want to beforehand, so I didn’t try to. I also was really nervous since I had never done that before and I wasn’t thinking straight. But then she got mad and said that I need to “just make a move”. Well I did and afterwards she called me a bunch of stuff to her friends and said that I was a coward for not just kissing her. A week later she dumped me for an older guy.
Am I doing something wrong here? I get that maybe I should be less hesitant, but I also don’t want to give people the wrong idea. Also, I’m not into all of that hooking up stuff. Lots of my friends, actually almost all girls in this case, brag in front of me about how they got with this dude last week but then this dude yesterday, and it quite honestly disgusts me. I don’t want to end up as that guy, but it seems like that’s what happens to most people. I don’t want to be a one night thing, but it seems like I also can’t be anything more. Any advice?
Edit: so I read this over and I kinda go on a bit of a tangent. This isn’t meant to be a sob sorry at all, I’m just writing down my experiences and asking for advice on how to avoid or do better in these situations. Honestly, any advice would help. Thanks!
TLDR: relationship advice, struggling to figure out what to do.

So I’m (18M) in high school, and just need some basic advice. This is probably the most common and generic problem/question that is seen on this sub, but I find myself really hung up on it recently. As dumb as I feel for asking for asking for advice on reddit, I feel like this might be useful anyways so I’ll give it a go. Basically, I feel somewhat overlooked by people in my class and am wondering about advice for how to date.
I’m a pretty popular guy (yes even though I posted on reddit), and I am very well liked by my classmates. I talk to lots of people and am pretty successful in sports and school. I go to parties and do all that stuff too. However, all my friends date people and I struggle to do that. I’m fairly good looking (according to people I’m better than average which I’ll take as a good thing), maintain good hygiene, all of that stuff. But my friends seem to date people and I don’t. It wouldn’t be that big of an issue, if they didn’t clown me for it. They seem to have no issue finding someone to date or hook up with. I’ve had opportunities to hook up with people, but I’ve never actually done it because it’s just not something I’m into. I’d rather know the person and be in a relationship first. However, because of this I don’t have much experience which I get teased for by my friends.
A couple weekends ago, I hosted a party for my birthday and a girl (18F) who was supposedly into me wanted to get with me. I didn’t know her to well, and despite her friends trying to persuade me, I said no. This was partly because we were both not in our right minds at all if you get what I mean, and I knew that I could make regretful choices that way. Also, I already knew that she was into me and I wasn’t really into her, so I’d feel bad if I was leading her on. Long story short, nothing happened and this week her friend told me that she wasn’t into me anymore because of it.
This same situation happened to me a few months ago when I was hanging out with a girl and we made out at a party. We had already been hanging out for a few weeks prior. She didn’t really seem to want to beforehand, so I didn’t try to. I also was really nervous since I had never done that before and I wasn’t thinking straight. But then she got mad and said that I need to “just make a move”. Well I did and afterwards she called me a bunch of stuff to her friends and said that I was a coward for not just kissing her. A week later she dumped me for an older guy.
Am I doing something wrong here? I get that maybe I should be less hesitant, but I also don’t want to give people the wrong idea. Also, I’m not into all of that hooking up stuff. Lots of my friends, actually almost all girls in this case, brag in front of me about how they got with this dude last week but then this dude yesterday, and it quite honestly disgusts me. I don’t want to end up as that guy, but it seems like that’s what happens to most people. I don’t want to be a one night thing, but it seems like I also can’t be anything more. Any advice?
Edit: so I read this over and I kinda go on a bit of a tangent. This isn’t meant to be a sob sorry at all, I’m just writing down my experiences and asking for advice on how to avoid or do better in these situations. Honestly, any advice would help. Thanks!
TLDR: relationship advice, struggling to figure out what to do.

So I’m (18M) in high school, and just need some basic advice. This is probably the most common and generic problem/question that is seen on this sub, but I find myself really hung up on it recently. As dumb as I feel for asking for asking for advice on reddit, I feel like this might be useful anyways so I’ll give it a go. Basically, I feel somewhat overlooked by people in my class and am wondering about advice for how to date.
I’m a pretty popular guy (yes even though I posted on reddit), and I am very well liked by my classmates. I talk to lots of people and am pretty successful in sports and school. I go to parties and do all that stuff too. However, all my friends date people and I struggle to do that. I’m fairly good looking (according to people I’m better than average which I’ll take as a good thing), maintain good hygiene, all of that stuff. But my friends seem to date people and I don’t. It wouldn’t be that big of an issue, if they didn’t clown me for it. They seem to have no issue finding someone to date or hook up with. I’ve had opportunities to hook up with people, but I’ve never actually done it because it’s just not something I’m into. I’d rather know the person and be in a relationship first. However, because of this I don’t have much experience which I get teased for by my friends.
A couple weekends ago, I hosted a party for my birthday and a girl (18F) who was supposedly into me wanted to get with me. I didn’t know her to well, and despite her friends trying to persuade me, I said no. This was partly because we were both not in our right minds at all if you get what I mean, and I knew that I could make regretful choices that way. Also, I already knew that she was into me and I wasn’t really into her, so I’d feel bad if I was leading her on. Long story short, nothing happened and this week her friend told me that she wasn’t into me anymore because of it.
This same situation happened to me a few months ago when I was hanging out with a girl and we made out at a party. We had already been hanging out for a few weeks prior. She didn’t really seem to want to beforehand, so I didn’t try to. I also was really nervous since I had never done that before and I wasn’t thinking straight. But then she got mad and said that I need to “just make a move”. Well I did and afterwards she called me a bunch of stuff to her friends and said that I was a coward for not just kissing her. A week later she dumped me for an older guy.
Am I doing something wrong here? I get that maybe I should be less hesitant, but I also don’t want to give people the wrong idea. Also, I’m not into all of that hooking up stuff. Lots of my friends, actually almost all girls in this case, brag in front of me about how they got with this dude last week but then this dude yesterday, and it quite honestly disgusts me. I don’t want to end up as that guy, but it seems like that’s what happens to most people. I don’t want to be a one night thing, but it seems like I also can’t be anything more. Any advice?
Edit: so I read this over and I kinda go on a bit of a tangent. This isn’t meant to be a sob sorry at all, I’m just writing down my experiences and asking for advice on how to avoid or do better in these situations. Honestly, any advice would help. Thanks!
TLDR: relationship advice, struggling to figure out what to do.

Background: I'm working a double today (3pm + Audit shift) because the auditor called in on my shift and conveniently everyone has plans including the weekend manager (if you count being at a bar "bowling alley" plans lol). I know he's going to a bar because he told me before he left haha so I didn't want to spoil that but I asked him to send me a picture of his score lol good luck with that. Supposedly the managers are supposed to be on call BUT it is payday so I'm not going to push it because I will get OT. Conveniently for me not by request, today was just supposed to be my last day for the week.
Anyway its busy were almost sold out so I turn off the inventory for the night etc. and am going to close up the pool when this story gets me thankful for this subreddit ... people think I'm exaggeration when I tell them what's going on and maybe I am a little bit here and there but WOW. Ya know what I mean.
Our sign reads: Pool hours 10am - 10pm Hot Tub closes at 11pm. That little ambiguity alone makes the maintenance guys think it doesn't have to open at 10am with the pool so sometimes they take their time with the morning chemicals before they open it up. We had a family swimming in the pool on and off throughout the evening and we allow "infants" in a certain area depending on the parents discretion ... I wish that wasn't the case its led to so many issues in itself. We don't allow kids at all into the hot tub that's strictly adults only. Despite our signage that is always an issue too. IF covid was good for anything it was closed pools and a pared down or completely shut down breakfast. Those good? days are over, for us here anyway.
Anyway the family I mentioned was enjoying out pool throughout the day and they took the posted sign about hours to mean the pool was open until 11pm and not 10. So when I came in 15 minutes earlier to get everyone out of the pool the kids started moaning and complaining then the adults started in as well. That's half-expected on any given night so I stood there for a few moments and let them rip then I pointed out our signage and before I finish one of the adults screamed "IT SAYS 11!"
I'm prepared for that too so I say in my loud firm customer service voice "The pool closes at 10pm as posted points to sign and the hot tub is open until 11pm and kids are not allowed in the hot tub points again to sign. I get the normal blowback as the kids start exiting with a few adults and usually the more tipsy adults stick around for the hot tub. I don't mind that it usually calms them down and they get to drink alcohol in cans and surprisingly we get few issues from that in particular. Unless they're with a sports group that's a whole different story.
So the kids leave and a few adults stay behind and a woman with a baby from the same family comes up and asks where our mother's room is. I don't remember the last time someone asked me that question and it takes me a moment to realize what she's asking so I tell her we don't have one and I offer her extra towels if she needs them for her room to nurse there. I honestly don't know if I overstepped a boundary by tacitly suggesting she go to her room to nurse because we don't allow that if asked in our lobby restrooms. Or at least we don't have the facilities for that in our lobby restrooms and we do not suggest that they nurse there. I think people go to their rooms generally to nurse because as I said I can't remember the last time I was asked that.
My response irked her and she began complaining about our pool hours, she doesn't want to be in the pool area if she can't sit in the hot tub with her baby if all the other people (ADULTS keyword) are allowed, etc. I hope she was just being difficult about not being able to take her baby into the hot tub and wouldn't actually do that. The baby starts crying and she said Oh great, now my babies upset and stared at me bug eyed for a few moments. I started to mutter something and she went "tsk tsk" and waved her hand in my face and said "whatever, I'll fix it with your manager tomorrow" and asked me to write my name down on my managers card. I just put an X with a few serifs or something and handed it to her and she took it without looking at it and walked off.
So I was still processing that when the rest of the people left the hot tub. They were pretty cool and relaxed and chatty and said our hot tub and pool were excellent and handed me a sizable tip and left the desk with a few cans of nice IPA. I packed that up quick for later and checked my tips and it was $45 bucks. That lessened the sting a bit of cleaning their mess while I finished shutting down the pool for the night.

Many players are not excited to talk about lands. It’s arguably the most boring part of MTG.
But we should look more closely at them because they account for around 40% of your main deck.
Think about that. 40% of the cards you will see while playing MTG are lands. Yet, we hardly see articles talking about this huge chunk of your deck.
I get it. Lands are boring compared to exciting creatures and spells. However, if you do the work of analyzing the lands of a format, you will gain an advantage over the competition because most players don’t do it.
To help you get started with this process, I’ve written this guide as a basic intro for how to think about the meta by looking at its lands.

Only Basic Lands

Imagine a format where the only lands available are:
Plains\ Island\ Swamp\ Mountain\ Forest
Wut?!
You’re probably wondering, “Why are we doing this?”
Well, it turns out one of the best ways to learn card game theory is to simplify the game by a lot. This helps you to see concepts more clearly.
For example, one of the best poker books is Play Optimal Poker. Poker is a very complex game so the author sets up a toy game with just three cards: Jack, Queen, and King.
The simple toy game has helped many people become better poker players including myself.
MTG is even more complex than poker so we’re going to set up toy metagames to help us understand the theory.
Ok, with that out of the way, in this “basic land only” format, which decks are more likely to succeed?
The best decks will probably be mono-colored.
If you try to play a two-color deck with 12 mountains and 12 forests, it won't be very consistent.
From a meta perspective, to play two colors, the cards in your deck need to be much stronger than the cards in a mono-color deck. This is because consistency is crucial to winning games. If you can't cast your spells due to a poor mana base, you'll lose. To overcome this drawback, you need to be compensated with a much higher power level from your nonland cards.
Historically, we've seen this scenario before. In a format without dual lands, players had to ensure their two-color decks were powerful enough to justify the inconsistent mana base.
Check out the winning deck of Pro Tour Osaka 2002: Simic Madness. Its mana base is an abomination. 🤣
13 Forest\ 9 Island\ 1 Tarnished Citadel
Tarnished Citadel can give either color of mana but it deals 3 damage to you each time!
But the deck did well because the Simic cards were powerful enough to overcome the crappy mana base.
I wouldn’t try this at home though unless you are a very advanced player or the deck has proven itself in competitive tournaments.
We all have our biases. We want to believe the cards we’re playing are more powerful than they really are. This leads many of us into playing suboptimal mana bases that are not worth it.
In a format with only basic lands, just stick to mono-color decks.

Adding Allied Color Pain Lands

Let’s add these five lands to our toy metagame.
Adarkar Wastes (W/U)\ Underground River (U/B)\ Sulfurous Springs (B/R)\ Karplusan Forest (G)\ Brushland (G/W)
What types of decks are going to do well in this format?
Now we can play two colors. We don’t need a huge power discrepancy over mono-color decks because the two-color decks became more consistent.
A two-color deck that used to be Tier 2 could very well become the best deck in the new format. That’s the power of a more consistent mana base. It increases your win rate by a lot.
Also, note that we only added the allied color pain lands. We did not add the enemy color versions like Llanowar Wastes (B/G).
Therefore, if you’re choosing between an aggro Boros or Gruul deck, pick Gruul unless you have clear evidence that the Boros power level is much higher.
This type of meta change, where only certain color pairs get a dual land, has happened in past Standard formats. Sometimes it’s like this example, where only allied colors get a boost. Other times, it’s a hodgepodge of additions like three allied colors and three enemy colors.
What you’ll find in these situations is the Tier 1 two-color decks are usually the ones with a dual land. For the lacking color pairs, the lower consistency is often too hard to overcome.
What about thinking in terms of the three main deck archetypes: aggro, midrange, and combo?
How do the archetypes stack up against each other?
When analyzing the metagame, check if the multi-color lands come into play untapped on turn one. Pain lands do, which benefits aggro. Aggro decks want to win with aggressive creatures on turn one.
On the other hand, control decks want to play longer games and they usually don’t have important cards to cast on turn one.
Also, these are pain lands so they cause pain. Aggro doesn’t mind. They are designed to kill before the life loss matters.
But the lands are a nonbo in control. As a control player, you don’t want to have a pain land while facing an aggro deck. The pain land damages you, making it easier for the aggro deck to kill you.
Midrange decks are also at a disadvantage, though not as much as control decks. The difference between midrange and control is length of games. Control decks will play more turns, which means taking more damage from the lands.
Therefore, if you’re comparing an aggro Gruul deck, a midrange Selesnya deck, and an Azorius control deck with equal power levels, go with aggressive strategy.

Replacing Pain Lands with Scry Lands

What if, instead of allied pain lands, we replaced them with the allied scry lands?
Temple of Enlightenment (W/U)\ Temple of Deceit (U/B)\ Temple of Malice (B/R)\ Temple of Abandon (G)\ Temple of Plenty (G/W)
We’ve actually had Standard formats where these lands were among the best lands.
In this metagame, aggro takes a big hit. Aggro is predicated on having aggressive one-drops. These lands are a hinderance to that strategy because they enter tapped.
Midrange and control have zero to few important plays on turn one. These decks thrive in a meta full of tapped lands like scry lands.

Pain Lands + Scry Lands

Let’s add back the pain lands. In fact, let’s include the enemy-colored versions of both pain lands and scry lands. So now, our meta looks like this:
10 Pain Lands\ 10 Scry Lands
Now we have something that looks like an actual Standard metagame.
How should we think about this format?
I think this is where midrange has the advantage over aggro and control.
Aggro doesn’t want to play scry lands. Control doesn’t want to play pain lands.
But midrange can use both lands effectively. It does not have important turn one plays like control so it does not mind the scry land drawback. And while pain lands are better for aggro decks, midrange are okay with them. Midrange games end faster than control games, so it won't take as much damage from pain lands.
Also, based on recent times, midrange tends to get good lifegain cards, which neutralizes the damage from pain lands. In the current Standard format, we see these midrange lifegain cards doing well in the format:
Deep Cavern Bat\ Sheoldred, the Apocalypse\ Tranquil Frillback\ Gix's Command\ Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal
Control decks can also have good lifegain cards but not as many as midrange, at least based on recent history. The Wandering Emperor is a top card in Standard. It works well in control decks by providing lifegain to survive against aggro.
With all the additional lands, you can now play eight dual lands in a two-color midrange deck. Going from one to two colors generally results in a higher power level. Therefore, if you’ve been playing a mono-color deck, it’s time to ask yourself if it’s worth it to add a color.
You’ll lose some consistency but not much since there are now eight dual lands. Oftentimes, it’s worth it to add a color to your deck when new dual lands enter the format.

Five Tri-Lands Enter the Meta

Let’s add the five shard-colored tri-lands to the mix. So now, our meta is this:
10 Pain Lands\ 10 Scry Lands
Spara's Headquarters (G/W/U)\ Raffine's Tower (WB)\ Xander's Lounge (U/B/R)\ Ziatora's Proving Ground (B/G)\ Jetmir's Garden (G/W)
Hm… this is starting to look like the current Standard format.
We have a lot of options for multi-color. You really have to have a good reason to play just one color.
Also, three-color decks become a real possibility. I would stick with midrange or control decks because the tri-lands enter tapped.
Given that this meta is similar to current Standard, we can make some observations regarding the Tier decks. The top decks with three or more colors have a matching tri- land or they have another land(s) that allows them to consistently play many colors.
Esper Midrange has Raffine's Tower.
Domain is a base Bant deck that uses Spara's Headquarters. The deck only splashes a few late game cards in the fourth and fifth colors. You can often get away with an extra color or two if you’re playing base green because it is the color of mana fixing.
The rest of the top decks with three or more colors include Temur Analyst (Land Combo), Bant Toxic, and Legends.
Temur Analyst is able to play three-colors even without the matching tri land (in this case, matching sac tri-land) because it plays 30 lands.
Bant Toxic has The Seedcore. Even with this land, the deck has the worst mana out of the top decks in Standard. It is a Tier 2 or 3 deck. If it had a better mana base, it might be a Tier 1 deck.
The Legends deck gets away with playing many colors because it plays 29 lands and has the five-color land, Plaza of Heroes. The deck can play 29 lands because it uses legendary lands like Otawara, Soaring City that can act as spells.
Notice there are no aggro decks with three colors or more except for Bant Toxic. The tapped nature of the tri-lands makes it prohibitive to play three-color aggro. Bant Toxic is an exception because it has an untapped colored land that pumps your creatures (The Seedcore).
This quick analysis of the current meta was more advanced than I intended but I hope it demonstrates how much lands affect a metagame.
You don't see Jeskai, Sultai, Abzan, or Mardu doing well because it's tough to play three colors without a tri-land. The exception is Temur because it can play 30 lands.
The analysis above is also important because Standard rotates on August 2, 2024. On that date, the new expansion Bloomburrow will be released and four sets will leave the format.
Many people may want to keep playing a three-color deck like Esper post-rotation. Maybe they found success with Esper in the recent past. Or they like the play patterns of the Esper deck.
However, I would advise against that because all the Esper tri-lands including the sac lands will leave the format. This means Esper will be much weaker unless Bloomburrow has an Esper tri-land.
This seems very unlikely based on current set information. From this wiki, Bloomburrow has “double cycles”, which are two-color combinations, not three.
Let me save you some time. Don’t build three-color decks for post-rotation. You will build bad decks and lose games.
(I'm actually writing this as a warning to myself. I have a weakness for dipping into an additional color when I shouldn't.)
Go with two colors because there are many dual lands. If you really want to play three colors, look at green because it has mana fixing.
Also, since there are many dual lands, I don’t recommend building mono-color decks as a general rule.

Pop Quiz

I hope you found this basic guide helpful. Let's take a quiz to give you some practice for analyzing the format in terms of lands.
For the following toy metagames, ask yourself, “How does it affect aggro, midrange and control?”
Answer the question in your head for each meta. This is very important for learning and self improvement.
Then, click the spoiler section to see my thoughts.
Meta #1: Fast Lands
Example: Razorverge Thicket
This meta has the 10 fast lands. All the two-color pairs are represented. Fast lands enter tapped unless you control two or fewer other lands.
This meta favors aggro. Fast lands are good on turns 1, 2, and 3, which is the sweet spot for aggro. The lands are not good with cards that cost four or more. Midrange and control have more of those cards than aggro.
Meta #2: Slow Lands
Example: Deserted Beach
This meta has the 10 slow lands. All the two-color pairs are represented. Slow lands enter tapped unless you control two or more other lands.
This meta favors midrange and control. Slow lands are bad on turns 1 and 2. They are great afterwards. Midrange and control have more cards that cost three or more than aggro.
Meta #3: Creature Lands
Example: Restless Vents
This meta has 10 creature lands like the one above. All the two-color pairs are represented. The creature lands in this meta all enter tapped.
You may think this helps aggro because the land can attack, but midrange and control also get a land that can block. Having a turn one play is so important for aggro that it gets dinged in this meta.

I think the downfall kinda started from the third season itself. With that being said, season 3 was flawed but great overall, especially the mystery. I'm no expert, but I think the fourth and fifth season would've been better if:

• They made Benjamin a private investigator who's here to play principal while trying to win over his main suspects Samuel, Guzman, and Cayetana.
• They showed Ari's flaws and didn't make her a plot device. Also, her drinking problems and attempted murder were addressed.
• Guzman & Nadia break up on the first episode due to long distance relationship
• Make the mystery in s4 about Armando's death and season 5 about Samu's except it's more defined and has closure or a fire in Las Encinas and a few main characters die
• Nico's a minor recurring character in season 5 instead of Bilal. I know his character writing isn't perfect but it's a million times better compared to Bilal if anything
• This is also a big change in season 3 but Omar's parents will be the conflict from Omander as Omar was still estranged from them. The drama unfolding between Ander and Omar's family would have been too good to see. Omar realizes his self worth and leaves him, and it's up to Ander to fight for him this time. The Omar and Yusef storyline will still be there. Eventually Omar and Ander breaks up in the third episode of season 4 due to the same reason as Nuzman & Ander eventually graduates. Nadia consoles Omar
• The investigation of Polo's murder will continue and Caye is one of the suspects due to her blood in the bottle.
• Rebeka kills Armando

The Samuel-Ari-Guzman Love triangle
Samuel is still heartbroken about Carla and spends a lot of time in the first few episodes of the season checking her Instagram, sending her texts that's unanswered and drawing her, the same way there was a scene back in S1 of Sam drawing Marina. I'd also add a scene of Samuel seeing a blonde girl in Las Encinas from the back and sadly thinking about Carla, just to really emphasize that he really does miss her. Guzman isn't doing so well either. He would be drinking a lot, and concerning Ander, Samuel, and Omar. I'd have Guzman deal with the insecurity and pain of losing not only his sister and his best friend, but the girl that he thought he'd be with forever. Guzman checks Nadia's Instagram too, and noticing that Nadia is starting to post pictures with a new guy. This serves to fuel Guzman's loneliness and desperation to find someone new so he doesn't look pathetic still pining after Nadia while she has seemingly already moved on. Samu is physically attracted to Ari from the moment he sees her, but gets turned off from her classist attitude towards him and Caye and keeps his distance for a few episodes. A while later, after constantly having his texts ignored by Carla and even seeing that she has blocked him, have him realize that he has no choice but to move on. Have him and Ari bond over her mother's death. He notices Ari's bond to Mencia, which makes him think of his relationship with his Nano, and eventually makes him come to the realization that there is a lot more to Ari than meets the eye, and that they actually have some things in common. Everyday, Nadia is posting more and more with this new guy, which eventually pushes Guzman over the edge. He then becomes determined to be with Ari, now convinced that she is the only thing that can distract him from his heartbreak. Guzman notices how classist Ari is, and pretends to be classist as well, particularly to Samuel, Omar & Caye, just to win her over. This is successful, and Ari and Guzman become an item. Guzman immediately makes it Instagram official, mostly just to make Samu & Nadia jealous. Guzman proceeds to be classist towards Samuel, with the belief that that's what Ari wants him to act like. Later he apologize to Samuel in secret and let him know that he hates acting like that, but is only doing so out of fear of losing Ari. Have Guzman confide in Samuel and tell him that being around Ari is a big comfort for him and distracts him from thinking about how he's lost Polo, Marina, and Nadia. Have Samuel sympathize and forgive Guzman, but secretly be jealous as he has also begun to take comfort in Ari after having lost Carla.
Phillipe and Caye

• Season 5 will focus on Cayetana's mental health after her SA rather than Phillipe's redemption
• Caye has Ari and Rebe on her back. Rebeka even beats Phillipe to a pulp for what he did either on beginning of s5 or ending of 4th season.
• Patrick and Phillipe has more scenes together. Show that they're friends, not tell. Same with Cayetana with Rebeka or Ari.
• Isadora eventually apologizes to Cayetana and that's before her rape.
• Phillipe and Ivan reports the perpetrators while also turning himself in. Due to that, Phillipe ends up in a VIP prison or smth similar
• Phillipe calls Isadora out for bullying Cayetana

The show ends on the fifth season with maybe a few short stories. In season 5 there are scenes about the aftermath of Samu's death or the fire incident.

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Peace be to you all.

Introduction:

In this post, I will be answering and refuting the individual who keeps writing posts about me and comments every second he gets trying to "refute" me and "expose" me. I am only doing this because some brothers and sisters have allowed themselves to be fooled by this dude.
I won't resort to personal attacks and baseless claims (much like he does), and I will jump straight ahead to answering his objections.

Response to the introduction:

He begins by discussing my translation of the word "ישוחח," which I interpret as "argue" or "put forth."
Firstly, in Biblical Hebrew, verb forms such as Qal and Piel (often referred to as Polel in some grammatical traditions) are distinguished by their specific diacritic markings (i.e., vowel points and consonantal diacritics). Since I believe that the Masoretes distorted the Old Testament by adding these diacritics to reach a deviant interpretation, I do not consider them at all. I read the Old Testament without any diacritics. This is something he has yet to understand, perhaps because he believes that the Old Testament was revealed with diacritic markings—I don't know.
He later argues that the ancient Christian manuscripts (such as the Codex Sinaiticus, Septuagint, etc.) must agree with my claims and not with the Masoretic renderings of the Hebrew text, a conclusion he bases on thin air. I ask: Why is that so? Can you give us one good reason for this conclusion? You can't! He says this only because he considers these Christian manuscripts as divinely revealed criteria and translations. In contrast, I (and many others) see them as ancient interpretations of the original Hebrew text, which are very erroneous. This is especially true considering that rabbis themselves claim these scholars and translators failed to understand every Hebrew idiom in the book. They took everything literally and thus deviated from the intended meaning throughout their translations. These are the translations he claims must agree with my understanding.
The Masoretes could even have been influenced by Christians and their manuscripts, leading them to render some verses erroneously, whether knowingly or unknowingly—we can't be certain. However, I believe it wasn't unknowingly, and I have very good reasons for holding this opinion.
His arguments in his objections are all flawed and fallacious.

The Original sin being denied in the OT:

Now, the word he is fixated on is "ישוחח." As he mentioned, I used a classical Hebrew dictionary to translate the word. I don't remember the exact dictionary I used, but here is a random one I will use today:

Root: שִׂיחַ (v)
1 - to put forth, mediate, muse, commune, speak, complain, ponder, sing
1 -(Qal)
1 - to complain
2 - to muse, meditate upon, study, ponder
3 - to talk, sing, speak
2 - (Polel) to meditate, consider, put forth thoughts

Source: מקור: Open Scriptures on GitHub, Creator: יוצר: Based on the work of Larry Pierce at the Online Bible
In other words, both Qal and Polel essentially mean the same thing.
This following excerpt is from my original post about this, the post he is "refuting":
Excerpt from the post in question:
_______________________
Isaiah 53:8, traditional translation:
"From imprisonment and from judgment he is taken, and his generation who shall tell? For he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the transgression of my people, a plague befell them."
The original verse (without diacritics):
מעצר וממשפט לקח ואת־דורו מי ישוחח כי נגזר מארץ חיים מפשע עמי נגע למו:
My translation:
"He was taken from arrest and trial, and as for his generation, who will argue that he was cut off from the land of the living [i.e. killed] for the sin of my people, a plague befell them."
_______________________
In this verse, God is explicitly denying the doctrine of the Original Sin, stating that those who argue, speak, put forth, or ponder that Jesus was killed for the sins of His (God's) people are cursed (or afflicted by a plague).
It is crystal clear! He is just in denial because it contradicts his Pauline doctrine. Thus, he has fixated on this specific word, insisting it is (without a shadow of a doubt) in the Polel form (because his Pauline forefathers said so), and claims that Exion has made a grave error. Incredible, indeed. What a rebuttal!
Let's see if the Polel form does anything to save him:
1. Meditate:

"He was taken from arrest and trial, and as for his generation, who will meditate that he was cut off from the land of the living [i.e. killed] for the sin of my people, a plague befell them."

The definition of "Meditate" is:

1. To plan mentally; consider,
   
2. To focus one's mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.
   

I know it isn't the latter, because that is just ludicrous and silly. But guess what? They even tried to claim it is the latter, which is beyond amusing to me and any other sane person reading this.
2. Consider:

"He was taken from arrest and trial, and as for his generation, who will consider that he was cut off from the land of the living [i.e. killed] for the sin of my people, a plague befell them."

It still obliterates the doctrine of the Original sin completely.
3. Put forth thoughts:

"He was taken from arrest and trial, and as for his generation, who will put forth thoughts that he was cut off from the land of the living [i.e. killed] for the sin of my people, a plague befell them."

It still obliterates the doctrine of the Original sin completely.
This is what I have to deal with. He is correcting my interpretation by yet again confirming it and he doesn't even realize it. He refuses to accept that the Old Testament completely refutes this absurd Pauline doctrine that God sent His "son" to the earth to kill him and forgive mankind. He can't understand that the Old Testament aligns with the Quran, calling them cursed. I have explained this to him several times, but to no avail. According to him, the early Christians "meditated" about Jesus' "abode." He raises the same objection in every comment he makes on every future post I do, as if I haven't just refuted him using the Bible, dictionaries, and other sources. In one ear and out the other. The only reason I'm even writing this response is to make you guys realize how unknowledgeable this man really is about the Bible and the Hebrew language. But he is good at making it look like he knows a thing or two by using fancy words and elaborations that make no sense at all.
I believe (if I remember correctly) that he translates it as:

"By oppressive judgment he was taken away, Who could describe his abode?..."

This unusual rendering is achieved by mistranslating a word, done specifically to alter the actual meaning. Some Jewish translators render it the same way, but they at least have the decency to add a footnote saying:

"\Who could describe his abode?* Meaning of Heb. uncertain." (source: Sefaria.org)

As they usually do when they mistranslate stuff.
Who would describe Jesus abode? What?! With all due respect, but that makes no sense at all! It makes no sense contextually nor logically.
This is how another Jewish translation has it:

"From imprisonment and from judgment he is taken, and his generation who shall tell? For he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the transgression of my people, a plague befell them."

Does this look like a coherent sentence to you? Jesus is taken from imprisonment and judgement, and his generation who shall tell? Tell what? This is an incomplete sentence - just to change the actual intended message.
The original phrase is: "ואת־דורו מי ישוחח"
Let me break it down for you:

Word: ואת = "And his"
Word: ־דורו = "Generation"
Word: מי = "Who will"
Word: ישוחח = "Argue/Put forth/Talk/consideetc"

Crystal clear phrase. Even Google translates it accurately (which is very rare by the way):

"And his generation who will talk"

Take a look at some of the English translations of his Christian forefathers:
New Living Translation Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants...
New International Version By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested?...
King James Bible He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation?...
Some others got the first part accurate but still misinterpreted the last part of the verse, as it claims that they are cursed. God forbid, they are the ones who are cursed, for they consider Jesus to be the cursed one:
English Standard Version By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
They applied the "curse/plague" to Jesus (which they translate as "stricken," even though Biblically it is generally understood to be a plague/curse) instead of applying it to those "who considered" (i.e., the Pauline Christians). The Hebrew verse uses a plural word, indicating that it was intended for those people who would put forth this claim. They all refuse to accept the fact that God is explicitly and literally stating that they are affected by a plague for their erroneous claim about Jesus.
Let's quickly refute them too:

• The word for "plague" is "נגע" (nega).
• The word for "to them" is "למו" (lamo).

"Plague" (נגע):

Hebrew classical dictionary:

Heb: נֶגַע (n-m)
1 - stroke, plague, disease, mark, plague spot
stroke, wound
stroke (metaphorical of disease)
mark (of leprosy)

Source: מקור: Open Scriptures on GitHub, Creator: יוצר: Based on the work of Larry Pierce at the Online Bible

"To them" (לָֽמוֹ):

Hebrew classical dictionary:

1 - inflected pers. pron. meaning ‘to them’ (poetically).
2 - [Formed from לְ◌ with ◌מוֹ, a suff. used only in poetry.]

Source: מקור: Klein Dictionary, Creator: יוצר: Ezra Klein
A plague to whom? TO THEM! To the people who put forth this Pauline doctrine, the ones who argued, said, or considered this absurdity. Absolutely not to the one they believed to be cut off for the sin of God's people, namely Jesus, God's prophet, Messiah, His Word, and a spirit from Him.
But this is not surprising to anyone; it is expected, because their savior Paul also considered the blessed Messiah Jesus to be a curse:

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.'" (Galatians 3:13)

It bothers them that God Himself is confirming that they are the cursed ones, and He does it in the book they believe in. I am the one who exposed it, and all praise is due to God alone. It bothers this guy who is "eXpOsInG" me, and I won't mention his name because that is most likely what he wants.
He goes on to say that I quoted from a fictitious source, which is not true at all. I simply didn’t bother looking through my entire library to find a quote I mistakenly mis-referenced, mainly because the quote turned out to be quite irrelevant, and I don’t waste my time like that. Much of what he initiated his "rebuttal" with is equally misunderstood by him, and I have responded to each and every objection in my older posts (in the comment sections where he was "eXpOsInG" me). I picked the first thing and refuted it here for you just to show how ignorant he really is and how he is either living a lie or lying to others.
So, I will not bother to refute every single point of the old stuff that I’ve already conclusively answered. It's a waste of time. Let’s move on to his objections to my latest posts, because that is what this is all about in reality.

My answers to his objections to my latest posts:

Regarding the stone God mentions that was to be placed in the Temple of God, he says that it is saying

"Stone to a stone," or "upon a stone"

My answer:
"Stone to a stone" is not a Hebrew idiom, and neither is the word "upon" there in Hebrew. He doesn't know Hebrew, had he known Hebrew, he would never have "eXpOsEd" this because it just went to show that he doesn't know the language at all.
The Hebrew word "שום" (shum) in this context is derived from the root ש-ו-ם, which means "to place" or "to put." It appears here as an infinitive construct, which is often used to convey the act of doing something, similar to the English "-ing" form. In this sentence, "שום" is functioning as a gerund, which is a verbal noun. It translates to "placing" or "putting" in English. Therefore, "שום־אבן" means "placing a stone" or "putting a stone."
As for the next word, i.e. "stone" (אבן), in Hebrew, nouns have gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). "אבן" is a feminine singular noun. When used in the phrase "שום־אבן" (placing a stone), "אבן" functions as the direct object of the action described by the infinitive construct "שום" (placing).
The next word is אל: This is taken as a preposition according to them, and it generally means "to" or "toward," and never "upon." It is used to indicate direction or movement towards something. While the following word is, again, a stone "אבן."
So if we're going with their interpretation, while being literal, as we should because it is not an idiom, it accurately translates to:
"Before placing a stone to a stone" or "before placing stone to stone"
Which makes very little sense, if any. Why wouldn't God say "Before placing stone upon stone" or "Stones upon stones" or "before placing a stone upon a stone"? Why did He use a singular word for "stone"? Because it is speaking about a one stone, the stone that God placed in Zion:

"So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic." (Isaiah 28:16)

I have proven in countless posts that Zion is the ancient name for Mecca. Just look up Psalm 84, and you will see how it mentions doing the pilgrimage in Zion and also mentions "Bacca," another name for Mecca. I have proven how Harran is located in Mecca and that the oak of Bacca is located there as well, and we know according to Psalm 84 that Zion is located where Bacca is located. With this in mind, it’s easy to see what has been done to cover up this prophecy. They have misinterpreted the word "El" as "Upon" instead of "God." The definition of that word is not "Upon"; it means "To/toward" or "God."
Classical Hebrew dictionary:

Heb: אֵל (n-m)
god, god-like one, mighty one
mighty men, men of rank, mighty heroes
angels
god, false god, (demons, imaginations)
God, the one true God, Jehovah
mighty things in nature
strength, power

Source: מקור: Open Scriptures on GitHub, creator: יוצר: Based on the work of Larry Pierce at the Online Bible
And:

Heb: אֶל (prep.)
denoting motion toward or to, or direction toward, and meaning ‘to, unto, toward, into, at, by’.
[Shortened from אֱלֵי (which is preserved in poetry). cp. עֲלֵי, poetical form of עַל (= on), and עֲדֵי, poetical form of עַד (= as far as, until). Related to Arab. ’ilā (= to, toward, up to).]

Source: מקור: Klein Dictionary, Creator: יוצר: Ezra Klein
Let's see if any of these help him:

Before placing a stone to a stone?
Before placing a stone towards a stone?
Before placing a stone into a stone?
Before placing a stone unto a stone? (archaic term for "to")
Before placing a stone at a stone?
Before placing a stone by a stone?

Does any of this make any sense to you? I believe it certainly does not. Yet they have all chosen to ignore these valid definitions and instead opt for a definition that isn't there, namely: "a stone UPON a stone," just to claim that God was idiomatically saying "Before you build the temple." The temple was already built, as I will prove later below.
To get a more coherent translation, one that makes sense both contextually and linguistically, we need to consider "El" as "God":

ועתה - "And now"
שימו־נא - "consider, please"
לבבכם - "your heart"
מן־היום - "from this day"
הזה - "this"
ומעלה - "and onward"
מטרם - "before"
שום־אבן - "placing a stone"
אל־אבן - "God's stone/stone of God"
בהיכל - "in the Temple"
יהוה - "of YHWH" (YHWH)

Here, "אל־אבן" would translate to "God's stone" or "stone of God." Thus, the phrase "מטרם שום־אבן אל־אבן בהיכל יהוה" would be understood as "before placing a stone as God's stone in the temple of YHWH" or "before placing a stone, God's stone, in the temple of YHWH"
He is just in denial here as well. It is quite obvious that God is talking about placing a stone in the Temple of God, not about placing a stone towards a stone (whatever that means). Biblically, it is known that Jacob placed a stone in the House of God in Harran, which I have also proven to be located in the vicinity of Mecca, using 1st-century CE atlases by giants in geography such as Pomponius Mela, Pliny, and others.
He writes:

"More importantly, Exion ignored that “stone” in the Hebrew occurs twice. If we take אל to be God and take it as the construct state (the ‘s) then it would be “before setting stone’s God’s stone”. That doesn’t make sense hence why Exion dropped the first occurrence of אֶ֛בֶן in their translation."

Or you could simply not take "El" as a construct state. In Hebrew, a noun followed by another noun can indicate possession without needing a construct state (i.e. the equivalent of adding 's in English). This is often called "smikhut" or construct form, but it is not always necessary to explicitly form it.
In the phrase "שום־אבן אל־אבן" (placing a stone as God's stone), the context and the nouns' arrangement provide the possessive meaning without requiring additional grammatical changes. "אל־אבן" can be understood as "God's stone" even though it is not in the formal construct state. This is something he doesn't know because, well, who knows why. I have my speculations, but I will refrain from personal attacks.
He says:

"It makes perfect sense with the rest of the verse “in the temple of Yahweh.” It’s talking about before the building of the temple which involved setting stone upon stone."

Oh really? Is that why the 3rd verse literally talks about the Temple that already was in existence but was viewed as nothing in their eyes (i.e. insignificant):

"Who among you is left, who saw this house in its former glory? And as you see it now, is it not as nothing in your eyes?" (Haggai 2:3)

Explicitly contradicting your claim that it doesn't exist, but you didn't know that because you have probably never even read the entirety of the chapter to begin with. The Temple was already there. A stone was to be placed in it, God's stone, the black stone of the House of God, and not that it was to be built or built anew. This is why I even wrote the article, because the temple of God was already in existence. How you could have missed this, if you've read the chapter in it entirety, is very baffling to me.
This is why Jacob, upon waking from his prophetic dream, never built the House of God. (Yes, Jacob was a prophet, but Christian scholars throughout history didn't recognize this and thought he was merely a patriarch.) Instead, he only placed a stone as its cornerstone and named it "The House of God":

16. When Jacob woke up, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it.” 17. And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!” 18. Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it."

Going back to Haggai 2, the 6th verse states:

"כי כה אמר יהוה צבאות עוד אחת מעט היא ואני מרעיש את־השמים ואת־הארץ ואת־הים ואת־החרבה:"

Which literally translates to:

"For thus says the Lord of Hosts: Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land."

Which they have erroneously translated as:

"For so said the Lord of Hosts: [There will rise] another one, and I will shake up the heaven and the earth and the sea and the dry land [for] a little while." (source)

Lying and adding words to the Word of God to make it look like another House would be raised.
7th verse states:
Haggai 2:7

"והרעשתי את־כל־הגוים ובאו חמדת כל־הגוים ומלאתי את־הבית הזה כבוד אמר יהוה צבאות:"

Transliteration:

"Ve-hir'ashti et kol ha-goyim u-va'u chemdat kol ha-goyim u-milati et ha-bayit ha-zeh kavod amar Adonai Tzva'ot."

Not only does it confirm that the House is already in existence, but it mentioned our prophet Ahmad coming to it by using the cognate of his name, "Chemdat," which they erroneously have translated as:

"and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple."

The preposition "the" is not there before "Chemdat," while it is before "Goyim" (heathens), which makes sense because "Chemdat of all the heathens (will come)" and doesn't translate to "The treasure of all the heathens (will come)," as they have it.
Let me break it down for you:

והרעשתִי (ve-hir'ashti) - "and I will shake"
את (et) - [direct object marker, not translated]
כל (kol) - "all"
הגוים (ha-goyim) - "the heathens"
ובאו (u-va'u) - "and they will come"
חמדת (Chemdat) - "Chemdat" (proper noun)
כל (kol) - "of all"
הגוים (ha-goyim) - "the heathens"
ומלאתי (u-milati) - "and I will fill"
את (et) - [direct object marker, not translated]
הבית (ha-bayit) - "the house"
הזה (ha-zeh) - "this"
כבוד (kavod) - "glory"
אמר (amar) - "says"
יהוה (Adonai) - "Lord"
צבאות (Tzva'ot) - "of Hosts"

Result:

"And I will shake all the heathens, and they will come, Chemdat of all the heathens, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of Hosts."

Explanation:

They have translated it as "the treasures of..." while the phrase "Chemdat" lacks a "The" (Ha), so it would more accurately be rendered as:

"And they will come, treasure of all the heathens, and..."

A very awkward sentence grammatically. And the dictionaries do not define חמדת (Chemdat) as "Treasure," but rather as "Desire" or "Precious." But translating this phrase in this way (if we consider it to mean "desire" or "precious"), we would make the verse even more awkward:

"And they will come, desire of all the heathens" or "And they will come, precious of all the heathens."

Because it is a singular phrase, and not plural, and as I mentioned earlier, lacks a definite preposition.
But if we consider "Chemdat" as a cognate of "Ahmad," as a proper noun referring to Ahmad the prophet (the only heathen prophet known today), it suddenly becomes a very coherent verse that makes much sense. The heathens will be shaken, and they will come. Then, He specifies by saying: Chemdat of all the heathens, and continues with the rest of the verse.
The phrase "הגוים" (ha-goyim) translates as "the heathens," which supports the interpretation that "Chemdat" is a proper noun referring to a significant heathen person anticipated to come. God is going to shake all the heathens, and they will come. Then He specifies who would come: "Chemdat of all the heathens (will come)." He then says He will fill this house, which they saw as nothing, with glory. The house already exists; Chemdat of all nations was just about to come, and God would fill this house with glory again. And, of course, the stone Jacob laid in Genesis 28—the same stone that Jesus referred to in Matthew 21:

1. Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes?'

43. Therefore, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit."

The Kingdom of God was intended to be taken away from the Christians and given to a people who would produce its fruits, and this is what happened when Islam came.
Going back to Haggai 2, the 18th verse also confirms that the Temple already was there:

"Consider, please, your heart from this day and onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the temple of the Lord was founded, consider your heart."

Just because God considers the two Houses (the current one they saw as insignificant and the later one) as "different" does not mean that it does not already exist physically but will be a different House.
Nevertheless, he is right about one thing regarding this chapter: it does not mention the new moon to new moon and the end of the Sabbath—that was in Isaiah 66. My mistake. But the prophecy is still valid. The new moon to new moon would come, and yes, the second phrase can be interpreted as an end (if we interpret "Shabbat" as "End"), but it is Biblically and generally interpreted as "Sabbath." A literal translation of the phrase in the 23rd verse would be:

שבת (shabbat) - "Sabbath"
בשבתו (be-shabbato) - "His Sabbath"
יבוא (yavo) - "it will come"

Let's agree that it means what the traditional translations say it means, and I don't mean hypothetically, but let's actually agree on that. However, the prophecy about the new moons (Ramadan) is still there and valid because God has not canceled the Sabbath in the Quran; it is still ongoing:
The Quran states in 2:40-42:

Verse 40: "O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I have bestowed upon you and fulfill My covenant [upon you] that I will fulfill your covenant [from Me], and fear Me."
Verse 41: "And believe in what I have sent down confirming that which is [already] with you, and be not the first to disbelieve in it. And do not exchange My signs/verses for a small price, and fear Me."
Verse 42: "And do not mix the truth with falsehood or conceal the truth while you know [it]."

The new moon to a new moon is combined with the Sabbath to Sabbath. This is a fulfilled prophecy!
I don't see easter, halloween or Christmas being mentioned here. It's Ramadan and the Sabbath, the two Covenants God has given to his worshipers, the Covenant of the Children of Israel and the Covenant of Peace, unlike the Pauline Christians who literally took all of their holidays from pagan idolaters, which I won't go into because it's not very relevant to our discussion anyways.
This marks the end of my rebuttal to his "part 1."
Thank you for reading,
/Your bro Exion.