Hey all! Long-time lurker, first-time poster inspired by quarantine to read Ramona Singer's 2015 memoir "Life on the Ramona Coaster." It was just as bonkers as I anticipated, so please enjoy the fruits of my experience:
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Life on the Ramona Coaster is billed as "a candid, behind-the-scenes glimpse into the emotional, dynamic, and often entertaining life of Ramona Singer" that readers will find "alternately heart-wrenching and hilarious." As someone who frowned pensively at least once and also did that thing where you kind of laugh but mostly just exhale forcibly out your nose several times during the 57 minutes it took me to read this book cover-to-cover, I feel comfortable wholeheartedly endorsing this assessment.
The cover of the 208-page memoir features a picture of everyone's favorite skincare-and-general-business maven casually lounging on her side, cheekily holding up a golden apple in a way that makes me realize that there is really no non-awkward way to hold an apple. And yes, I did actually go find this weird decorative golden apple I own for some reason and spend an embarrassing amount of time trying out different grasping angles. Ramona has settled for delicately holding the apple as if it were a wine glass with an invisible stem, which is suppose is probably just some kind of muscle memory for her at this point. What I find unforgivable, however, is the fact that Ramona's while silk blouse has gotten bunched up and caught in between her legs like a piece of errant toilet paper. Very elegant and expensive errant toilet paper, but toilet paper nonetheless.
Given the New York housewives' sordid histories with ghostwriters, I wasn't sure whether or not I should expect Ramona's authentic voice to come through the page. But by literally one sentence into the introduction (ominously titled, "A Work in Progress…"), my worries were completely assuaged. In just over four pages, Ramona introduces us to RHONY, (an "equally successful" spinoff to RHOC that she describes as "a truly humbling experience"), to her "successful seven-figure business," and to her dark history of family dysfunction. Luckily, Ramona keeps the mood from becoming too somber by making sure that references to her abusive father are couched inside allusions to hip NYC eateries, her many close friends, and her own accolades. Case in point: "Over lunch at Fig and Olive, a chic Mediterranean restaurant on the Upper East Side, I told my close friend, Joni, and in turn the 1.75 million viewers who tuned in to watch that episode, what it was like to grow up in a fractured household."
Ramona ends the introduction with a really wild paragraph that is more like a bunch of inspirational Pinterest sayings smashed together end-to-end: "We all go through ups and downs in life. I've been through a lot. I have earned everything I have and I take nothing for granted. Nothing can hold you back if you don't want it to. When you wake up in the morning, you have a choice; you can either control your fate and work towards renewing certain aspects of your life or you can hide under the covers and complain about your misfortunes." Part of me is tempted to adopt this passage as a sort of daily mantra to myself, but the other part of me is imagining the face my therapist will make if I tell her I'm getting my self-help advice from Ramona Singer's 2015 memoir.
The first two chapters of the book detail Ramona's early life, as well as her relationship with her parents. And honestly, there's not much to snark on here. True to form, Ramona does a charming job of peppering her painful recollections with brand names ("I stood in front of the Viking free-range."; "I set the table with my antique gold Minton china."; "Mario zipped up my gold Michael Kors dress."). And there are some excerpts that read a bit more like dialogue from an exceptionally shoddy Lifetime movie. For example, in one passage, Ramona's mother entreats her, "Ramona, I pray to God every night that you go to college. I pray that you get an education, so you can have a career and never have to depend on a man. I pray you [sic] that you will be able to support yourself so you can marry for love, not for money or stability. I pray for you to become a strong independent woman, so you will never feel trapped like me." To which our heroine blithely replies, "Okay Mom. I promise. I will go to college and make money and have my own career." Just the kind of absolutely normal response a human being would give and definitely not the phrasing of the beta version of a Stepford Wife animatronic.
There is also a passage where Ramona describes how she apparently cured her mother's cancer with coenzymes and shark cartilage??
Chapter Three, "Fashion Forward," follows Ramona's career from her start in fashion merchandising through the beginnings of RHONY, and it goes more or less exactly how I thought it would. She tells us that she got into FIT ("a very exclusive honors program”) simply by going to see the dean and "convincing him to admit [her]". Which could have been either a very gross casting couch situation or simply Ramona shrieking at a confused man in a grating voice until he agreed to give her what she wanted. Based on the fact that she goes on to tell us that she was good at sales because "I was very aggressive," I'm going to assume the latter.
Ramona regales us with business advice ("Rule #1: Always start high.") and shares some emotional insights (of an ex-fiancé, she reflects that "he was successful, funny, handsome, and smart, but he was emotionally distant -- like my father."). After losing her job, dumping the fiancé, and moving in with a roommate ("that I couldn't stand"), a 29-year-old Ramona Singer decides to spend her last $5000 on "the most magnificent Golden Isle fox fur coat I had ever seen" because it "complemented my long blonde hair perfectly." Don't worry, though. This is definitely not frivolous or impractical but actually a "deliberate decision" to "make an investment in myself." And then Mario calls her the very next day and they start dating, so I'm not really sure what the moral of that story was supposed to be, but we'll just keep trucking along.
We jump to the summer of 2007, with everyone's favorite "prominent plastic surgeon and expert on natural anti-aging procedures," Dr. Sharon Giese (stay tuned -- there is a literal infomercial for Dr. Giese in a few chapters). Dr. Giese connects Ramona with the RHONY producers, who come and film some scenes with her and Avery out shopping. Avery (reminder, a literal twelve-year-old at this point) gets self-conscious that people are staring them, to which Ramona literally rolls her eyes, reflecting that "it's easy for me to block out the cameras, probably because growing up I had to block out all the noise in my family. I shut the cameras out, just like I shut out my father's yelling." I cannot help but picture Ramona as this horse.
Ramona tells us that producers had also seen her at a party "hosted by my friend Pamela Morgan, who owns a culinary business called Flirting with Flavors" (which is explicitly name-dropped in an almost identical sentence in literally the very same chapter). She was just being her "usual animated, outgoing, gregarious self, bopping around and asking questions," leading intrigued producers to try to track her down. This is also where we find the first bit of not-at-all-subtle shade against Jill Zarin -- "Apparently, they tried to track me down, but they couldn’t find me -- even though Jill Zarin, who was also at the party, could have told them how to contact me."
Ramona refuses to sign the show's contract until the producers agree to FedEx her the demo tape, which she decides is "totally adorable" and agrees to do the show. But our ever-pragmatic Ramona has second thoughts: "I don’t need to be famous. I'm already popular with my friends. I already have a successful business…I already have a full life." Also, as she tells producers, "I don't really do all those big charity events anymore…That's not where I'm at anymore." Ramona is mature and sophisticated, so she "prefers to do dinner parties for fifteen, thirty people tops." The producers agree to accommodate her, and Ramona ultimately goes through with filming the show "as a way to showcase Mario's True Faith Jewelry website." Sure, Jan.
The show also gives Ramona a convenient platform to share her skincare line, which she casually mentions "made my skin look fifteen years younger." But actually, she "mostly did it to show Avery how to take a business from beginning to end."
Chapter 4 opens with a less-than-flattering picture of Ramona after what I can only assume is four glasses of Pinot and a Xanax, as well as an anecdote about the first time Ramona met Alex McCord and Simon Van Kempen ("at Townhouse, David Burke's innovate restaurant on the Upper East Side"). You can read this one for yourselves:

Mario and I walk over to the bar and say hello. Jill, who prides herself on connecting people, introduces us to the couple.
"Ramona," she says, "I'd like you to meet Alex McCord -- who will be filming the show with us -- and her lovely husband, Simon." I am taken aback. This is Alex and Simon. The same Alex and Simon with whom I will be spending the next few months filming. Now that I'm seeing them in person, I suspect the reason Bravo wanted us to meet after we started filming was so that they could capture my initial reaction to them on camera. Too late.
"Nice to meet you," I say cordially to Alex as I kiss her on the cheek.
Alex opens her mouth to speak and I hear a grating, Australian accent. Although I may have had one too many cocktails, I know that voice doesn't belong to Alex. Suddenly, Simon is standing up and talking to me. He drones on, and on, and on. I'm not even listening to the words coming out of his mouth. I cannot believe that he won't let his wife get a single word it.
I interject enthusiastically, "So, Alex, are you excited about filming the show?" She opens her mouth to respond, but Simon speaks over her and answers the question himself. Alex doesn’t seem bothered by his interruption. Quite the opposite. To me, she seems like a puppet sitting on her ventriloquist's lap, content to simply sit in the background, smile, and nod her head in agreement. She says nothing.
My head is spinning…and it's not from too many cocktails. I'm annoyed by their seemingly codependent dynamic and I don't even understand why. I try to tell myself to stop judging people I don't even know. How can you jump to conclusions about Alex based on this one encounter? I ask myself. But I can't help it. It bothers me when I perceive a woman is married to a man who doesn't let her talk and directs her every move. Suddenly, I see the connection. Their relationship reminds me of my parents' awful marriage, a one-sided partnership where the woman is completely dependent on the man. The way Alex and Simon interact with one another has hit a huge nerve. Right or wrong, it's personal for me and I'm completely turned off. I do not like them.
"Mario," I say hastily, "we have to go." On the way home, Mario and I discuss the encounter.
"That was awkward," I say, working myself up into a frenzy. "I can't believe that Bravo would cast that woman. She has no personality. She's completely nondescript. She's boring."
Mario tries to calm me down. "Maybe it was just awkward because you ladies weren't supposed to meet yet."
"I don't care if we weren't supposed to meet yet," I snap. "It doesn’t change the fact that she doesn't appear to be a strong, independent housewife like the rest of us." I pause, roll my eyes, and inhale deeply. "This is going to be a long season."

Ramona continues the chapter by once again name dropping "my friend Pamela Morgan of Flirting with Flavors" and telling us about how her newfound celebrity has changed her life, mostly thorough fairly conspicuous humble-brags ("That season I was nominated for Bravos' A-list Drama Queen, which was awarded to the most popular and entertaining female in a reality television series, and I remember one of the producers saying to me, 'Ramona, you're the star of the season.' I just thought, what are you talking about? What does that even mean?"). She describes the Season 2 Reunion as "very abusive" and cryptically says, about Jill yelling at her, that "at that point, I didn't really have the verbal tactics." Apparently, if she could do it again, she would respond by saying "Stop. You're hurting my feelings. What you're saying and how you're treating me isn't right." Which is not a bad thing to say necessarily but also feels like dialogue from an elementary school say-no-to-drugs skit.
Ever our introspective queen, Ramona goes on to explain why she had such a strong reaction to meeting Alex and Simon. I'll give you one guess, and if it's not "my abusive childhood," your guess doesn't count. Yup, it turns out that in addition to her Berkshires trauma, Ramona has trauma for anything related to Brooklyn! As in, she literally says, "Now I can see that a big part of why I reacted so negatively to them was in part because they were from Brooklyn. It had a bad connotation for me." Because apparently once Ramona and her mother stayed with a family member in Brooklyn so they could get away from her father?
We continue our journey into RHONY Season 3, where Ramona wastes no time in telling us that "Jill is the type of person that if you have something she doesn't have, instead of wishing you well she feels slighted that she's not a part of it." Which is…not wrong. Of course, our wise and empathetic maven understands that "That's just her personality. Although it's often riled me up over the years, I've learned to accept her for who she is." This restraint lasts for exactly one chapter, after which Ramona drops this passage:

For the record: I do not have a drinking problem nor have I ever struggled with addiction of any kind. I am an adult, I work hard and play hard, but I know my limits and I am never out of control. You rarely see Jill drinking on the show and I've heard that the reason for this is that she has had problems with substance abuse in the past. I have always respected her privacy, so for her to publicly accuse of [sic] me of having a drinking problem, which is not true, was very upsetting to me.

Side note, out of the three longer quotes I've transcribed so far, this is the second one to just have a random extra word in the middle of a sentence? Ramona, if you're reading this? Please let me proofread your next book. I won't charge and I will also teach you where commas are supposed to go.
We get Ramona's memories of Jill and Bethenny's final fight, which it turns out was obviously mostly LuAnn's fault, of course. "I don't think LuAnn was a positive presence that day…I really feel that she inserted herself into the situation and prevented them from finishing their conversation…I think it's hard for LuAnn to make friends. It's a common mistake we women make; we get possessive and territorial. But women should not feel threatened by other women's friendship. Friends are meant to be shared. There really is enough love to go around." Ramona is truly teetering on the edge of Sister Wives territory -- love should be multiplied, not divided.
And of course, like any self-empowered mogul who supports other women, Ramona goes on to call Bethenny a "scrappy, self-made street urchin." Just like Oliver Twist! Manhattan apartment, Fire Island weekends, and everything! Ramona then hilariously gives her perspective on the Bethenny/Kelly feud: "There was a lot of resentment there because they had met a number of times, but Kelly would always act like she didn’t remember. And probably Kelly didn’t remember because she couldn't have cared less about Bethenny." Honestly, Ramona correctly using 'couldn't have cared less' might be the most impressive part of this book.
We then get a recap of the Scary Island saga, which I think enough people have dug into elsewhere. So suffice it to say, Ramona "[thinks] Kelly has a hard time conversing in intimate situation, especially when the subject of emotions comes up. The way I see it, if you have no feelings and you cannot talk about them or be in touch with them, then you might as well be a robot." In contrast, our girl is "a very emotional person. I'm Ramotional."
Although it's light on the behind-the-scenes gossip, Chapter 5 ("Look Good, Feel Better, Act Your Best") may have been my favorite chunk of the book. We enter on Ramona nervously prepping for an HSN appearance, where she takes "a sip of sparkling water and a handful of unsalted almonds" to calm her nerves. Ah, yes, unsalted almonds -- my favorite comfort food. Ramona explains why television appearances are so difficult for her in a hilariously self-aware line: "I don't have a problem finding things to say, but I do have a hard time taking direction."
We flash back to the genesis of True Faith Jewelry, and Ramona tells the story in the most Ramona way possible: "I researched the latest selling trends in retail and worked with a factory that had on-staff designers to create beautiful pieces inspired by the art deco estate jewelry that I love. Because I had the ambition and courage to pick up the phone and cold call the Vice President of Jewelry Merchandising at HSN, soon I was selling my own jewelry line on live television and through the Internet." I can only hope to develop that kind of bravery and inner strength some day!
The next business venture we follow is none other than Ramona Pinot Grigio. "Like Popeye with spinach," Ramona tells us, "I enjoy a glass of wine at night or with dinner." We hear that everyone had been begging Ramona to start her own wine business for years, but our girl has strongly held principles that she just couldn’t compromise! And those principles are that Pinot Grigio "should be from Italy." But sometimes, you just have to give the people what they want. "I couldn’t get away from it. Ramona and Pinot Grigio just go together."
One of the funniest things about this book to me is the random little bits of business savvy that Ramona sneaks in (or rather, clunkily forces in). Case in point: "When you go into a liquor store, particularly the larger ones in the suburbs, they stack the cartons and it becomes a display, so you can't just package your wine in plain cardboard boxes. I love the way Moët & Chandon is all yellow-gold with black, so my cartons are inspired by Moët."
Because this book is…loosely structured, we start to flip back to Season 4 of RHONY. Did we know that Ramona was the one who brought Cindy Barshop onto the show? I'm not sure how many points should be deducted for that, but I will give Ramona +100 for non-ironically using the word "Jillousy" to describe Jill's behavior during the season.
Ramona gets named 2011's "Mogul of the Year" at the Stevie Awards, but tells us that she was running herself ragged behind the scenes. "I remember carrying around five different plastic folders, in different colors, one for each business to keep everything straight." I like this detail because it makes me think of Ramona as an elementary schooler who has a blue folder for Math and a yellow folder for Language Arts. And also because Ramona has apparently never heard of expandable organizers.
The final straw apparently comes when the HSN jewelry line gets sold at a much higher price point than Ramona originally planned: "Even I wouldn't pay a thousand dollars for my own jewelry and I'm in the top 1% of wealth!" She tells us that she's taken a step back from many of her businesses and doesn’t travel as much anymore, because family is truly what matters. Family, and "AOA Bar and Grill, a 6,000 square-foot, 190-seat restaurant in Tribeca." It's "a lively sports bar that is conducive to meeting and talking. It's a fun, relaxed place where you can hang out with friends, meet people, and network. I personally feel when you go to a restaurant it's more fun in the bar area. Who wants to sit at a table alone in the corner?" I personally feel this book just took a commercial break.
We come back to a scene that seems to have been lifted straight out of a Gossip Girl book (and one of the later, shittier ones, at that), in which Ramona goes to the salon to get her iconic haircut. Roll scene:

I walk past the exposed brick walls and sit in Oscar's swivel chair. I first met Oscar Blandi in 2007. Harper's Bazaar was doing a spread on The Real Housewives of New York City and Oscar was the head hairstylist. I was impressed by how he was able to handle us boisterous and demanding ladies on that long shoot and he has been cutting, coloring, and styling my hair ever since. I figured if he can take on all the Housewives together, he can certainly handle me on my own.
I take a sip of Pellegrino and start talking. "I feel like doing something different today. I want a new look. What do you suggest?"
He looks stunned. "Really? What's going on?” He runs his fingers through my long blonde hair, "I know how much you love your long locks."
"I just feel like it's time for a new look. I'm going through a process of renewal in different aspects of my life. I'm renewing my relationship with my husband, my daughter and my girlfriends. Why not renew my appearance, too? I want to make sure my inner self matches my outer appearance."
He smiles devilishly, "Well, how short are you willing to go?" I laugh. His question reminds me of being on an awkward high school date, where the guy asks if you're willing to go to third base. I look around the salon and spot a stunning picture of the vivacious and lovable Kelly Ripa on the cover of a magazine. I turn to look at myself in the mirror and place one hand on top of each shoulder. "Right to here," I say.
"Ramona, are you sure?" he asks. I nod my head. He continues, "Okay. We won't make it so drastic. I will keep the front of your hair the same -- long layers and the bands -- and just cut and layer the back. I promise I will make it short, sexy and sassy."
"Cut away," I insist.
When the steels [sic] scissors hit my long locks, I start to freak out. I have had long hair since I was sixteen years old. I wonder if I have just made a huge mistake. Maybe I shouldn't have been so bold. I try to calm down. I close my eyes and put complete faith in Oscar. I trust him. I tell myself that I can handle this. After all, it's just hair. It will grow back…eventually. "All finished," Oscar says happily.
I stare into the illuminated mirror. My eyes open wide. I barely recognize the woman looking back at me. I feel like a new person inside and out. The woman getting her hair done a few stations over says, "Wow, I love your hair. You look so much younger. You look fabulous."
"I'll take it," I say, "who doesn’t want to look younger?" I run my hands through my soft, short, sassy hair. I actually feel lighter. I feel free. As I open the salon door and walk out onto Madison Avenue, I want to scream, hey everybody, look at me. This is the new Ramona.

Another important part of 'the new Ramona' is apparently physical fitness. We know this in part thanks to this photo spread, succinctly captioned "My fit body." She goes on to give us her musings on Botox, plastic surgery, and -- of course -- Dr. Sharon Giese. I'm really starting to feel like Ramona wrote this book in a single, stream-of-consciousness sitting and the publishers just immediately starting printing. For example, when discussing IPL facials: "You're in and out in an hour. Youre [sic] face will be red and sometimes your skin will crust over." We also learn that Ramona tried to hide her boob job by telling everyone that she had "been doing push ups." Apparently, Ramona and I were both heavily affected by Are You There God, It's Me Margaret as preteens.
And the chapter closes with an extended infomercial for Dr. Sharon Giese. Just one excerpt:

My good friend, Dr. Sharon Giese, offers a treatment in her office called VASER Shape, which eliminates unwanted fat cells and reduces the appearance of cellulite through the use of ultrasound and massage therapy. Studies on these treatments have shown deep tissue massage can break down fibrous bands of fat, aiding circulation and resulting in an improvement on how the skin appears. I have tried this non-surgical, painless procedure and had excellent results.

Sign me up!
Chapter 6 follows Ramona's "life-changing" volunteer trip to Africa in 2010. It is exactly as tone-deaf and white-savior-y as you'd expect. However, what I was wholly unprepared for were the descriptions of animal genitalia. You heard me. Animal genitalia.

…we encountered a parade of enormous elephants crossing the road ahead of us. We had to pull over and wait for them to pass through. Seeing these enormous creatures in person I finally understood the phase "hung like an elephant" -- it truly looks like a fifth appendage.

Almost as remarkable as the lions, we saw monkeys with large round testicles of the brightest blue you can possibly imagine, which gave new meaning to the term "blue balls."

On the first day of the trip, Ramona apparently shows up late for the introductory meeting because she never got her scheduled wake-up call. Rather than just sneaking in quietly and making apologies, Ramona goes to the concierge and makes him write her an excuse note, like she was late for school because of a doctor's appointment. Also, in peak Ramona fashion, she decides "to host a cocktail party in the camp's wine cellar on our last night there" and has the staff "deliver handwritten letters to each of the women, inviting them to join me that evening."
Soon after Ramona returns from her trip, the group films the RHONY Season 3 reunion, giving her a chance to show off her well-honed conflict resolution skills:

I even did my best to diffuse the tension between Bethenny and Kelly. At one point I got upset because I felt like Kelly wouldn’t stop ranting about Bethenny's PR people attacking her on Page 6, which I don't believe is true. I didn't want to say, "Shut up, Kelly," so instead I stood up and said, "Oh, I'm so hot," and started walking around, flipping the skirt of my dress. They all thought I as [sic] was having a hot flash, but I was actually just trying to interrupt Kelly.

We've gone a full two pages without some sort of thinly veiled humble-brag, but are quickly satiated:

After that Reunion, I remember one of the producers asking me how I would feel about filming with Jill for Season 5. I told her, "Somehow I'll make it work. I don't know how, but I always make it work. I'll figure it out." I remember her saying to me, "Ramona, that's what we like about you, you're a team player."

Which takes us up to Season 5 and the introduction of Heather ("a phony and a fake"), Carole ("a wonderful free spirit" who has encouraged Ramona to "become more edgy") and Aviva ("a snake full of venom"). We also get Ramona's input on Sonja's mythical toaster oven line:

Heather wanted Sonja to put the muscular torso of a man on the box and I thought, who wants to buy a toaster oven from a half-naked man? If I'm a housewife or a grandmother, I'm going to buy a toaster oven because Sonja Morgan is on the box, not some random naked guy. I loved Sonja's idea to have herself, looking glamorous and beautiful, on the box, but I think she didn't speak up because Heather can be very intimidating.

Ramona does her best to remain coy about LuAnn's infamous pirate encounter ("All I know is, LuAnn loves men and men love LuAnn, so I can only begin to imagine what really happened.") and gives us her impressions of Aviva's leg throw ("You almost felt like she had cut her leg off because her prosthetic is so realistic looking.") before moving along to her and Mario's ill-fated vow renewal. After meticulously cataloguing the luxury goods in her vicinity ("my gorgeous Kimberly Towers wedding dress"; "I am wearing six-inch platform, silver metallic Casadei heels"; "her Badgley Mischka sequined heels"), Ramona recalls being momentarily taken aback "when a vision of my younger self appears in the mirror by my side. For a split second, I think I am hallucinating, but then I realize Avery is standing beside me." God bless Ramona and her identical twin daughter.
The final chapters of the book follow the decline of Ramona and Mario's marriage, ultimately culminating in their divorce. And while she'll never win a Pulitzer Prize, it's honestly hard not to feel bad for Ramona when reading this part (like when she confronts Mario about talking to another woman and he responds, "Yes, I was. Do you want to know what else I do with her besides talk?" YIKES). Instead, I'd like to focus on the real scandal that was inadvertently revealed. Take a look at this excerpt:

I remember the three of us sitting down in our finished basement, where we have this long L-shaped couch. Avery and I were sitting next to one another on one end of the couch and Mario was way over on the far end.

Anything jump out at you?

I remember the three of us sitting down in our finished basement

Anything?

our finished basement

Lower level who? Case closed.
There is also this bananas scene where Ramona admits to literally gaslighting her now-adult daughter about her marital issues:

The most convincing lies are steeped in truth, so I very delicately spun a web using threads of what she had heard and what I knew she wanted to believe.
"Avery, you misunderstood what we were saying. There is a woman who is stalking your father. She wants our money. She's the one who published the fake article in the press. When I said, 'Go fuck her,' I didn't mean physically. I meant, 'Screw her. Who cares what she does? She can't hurt us.'"
I looked into my daughters eyes and what I saw there in that moment was pure relief. Avery is not a naïve person. She is a very intelligent and savvy young woman who can smell bullshit from a mile away. She believed my lie because for most of her life, we were the perfect family.

She also includes an incredibly personal six-page letter that Avery apparently wrote to Mario in the wake of his affair. It includes lines like, "No sane husband would ever bring his mistress into his family home," that make me more than a little suspicious that it may have actually been Avery's identical twin/mother who wrote this. Or maybe I'm just hoping that's the case, because otherwise this feels like a super egregious breach of privacy.
Continuing to inappropriately enmesh her daughter in her love life, Ramona says "Avery helped me put up a post on Twitter announcing that I was moving on with my life without Mario." I'm not sure exactly how much technical assistance could possibly be involved in posting a tweet, but thankfully, Avery was there to provide backup.
I find it really charming throughout this chapter how obvious it is that Ramona has spent a lot of time googling "why do men cheat" and reading the WebMD page for "Midlife Crisis." A few examples:

Most men define themselves by success. Even if the man isn't the dominant one in the marriage, I think it must be emasculating if the wife's multiple businesses are successful while the husband's business is falling apart.

Looking back, I think he was in the middle of a midlife crisis. It can happen to anyone, male or female, and it is often triggered by such factors as a child leaving home or a struggling or failing business. These potentially traumatic life events can result in an overall sense of dissatisfaction within oneself, which can last for two to six years.

I believe that when a spouse strays outside a marriage of many years, more often than not, it's not usually about the partner. I think it comes from a place of deep unhappiness and instead of communicating with their partner, the spouse goes looking outside the marriage for something to make him or her feel whole again.

I've read that when one partner has an indiscretion and betrays the other partner -- because sometimes it’s the man and sometimes it's the woman -- it takes a good two years to repair the damage.

And just like that, we come to the final page of Life on the Ramona Coaster, which of course gets explicitly name-dropped -- "Life is a roller coaster, or in my case it's a Ramonacoaster." In her final lines, Ramona leaves us with a bit of parting wisdom -- "Sometimes it's thrilling, sometimes it's terrifying, but you just have to raise your hands in the air, throw your head back, and enjoy the ride.
The very last page of my copy of Life on the Ramona Coaster contains the "About the Author" section, so I'll end this synopsis with an excerpt from Ramona's undoubtedly self-penned description:

In addition to her role as the spunky, unfiltered, Upper East Side housewife on Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City, Ramona Singer is an astute businesswoman and a true aficionado of fashion, who has taken the beauty, accessory, and wine industries by storm…Her entrepreneurial skills have received praise from media industry giants such as Women's Wear Daily, FoxBusiness, and People. She currently resides in New York City with her dog Coco.

[Progress] 3 years of lifting. 6'3'' 180 ->235 -> 210. Lot's of thoughts. Very long.

Apologies, this is going to be incredibly long. It started out as just a simple progress post, but it evolved (devolved?) into something else as the thoughts kept coming. A little backstory, some stuff about lifting and opinions (I'd love to discuss!). It was cathartic for me, so at least one person (me) will get something out of this.
tl/dr: I lifted for 3 years consistently and got bigger, stronger and leaner. Had some learnings along the way. Lots of words… link for transformation- https://imgur.com/a/9OftdcP
When I got serious about gaining muscle 3 years ago at 32, it was the busiest point of my life up to that point. I had two daughters under 3 (now 3 daughters under 6!), a demanding job managing an IT team and my wife also worked full time. In general, I was exhausted. So many responsibilities were now being dictated and freedom was fleeting. Semblance of control was gone and I just felt like a passenger preforming functions on demand. After the girls went down for bed it would be typical to have 4-6 beers to unwind. Couple that with being woke up several times per night by a screaming baby and you have yourself an extreme stress cocktail.
I had been mostly active all my adult life either lifting or playing basketball. I would lift either very infrequently or for spurts of 3 weeks or so at a time. Rarely would I ever be consistent across the span of more than a month and nothing would change in regards to diet. I'd always been thin, but never particularly lean. From a confidence standpoint, I always felt like a boy amongst men which I had really carried with me from high school. I'd always do a pretty good job of faking it, but it was always in the back of my mind.
I looked at myself in the mirror one night and really didn't like what I saw. It was not at all what I had envisioned for myself back when I was younger. I looked like a long twig dipped in butter. As I'd done several times before, I vowed that this time would be the time everything changes. I wanted to see what I could do with my body, get my confidence in check and become a strong man and good example for my family.
I'd love to say that I started the next day and the rest is history, but it took me several weeks before I even started. Once I did start, I just did generic pyramids for each exercise 4-5 times per week. I'm not sure why it stuck this time vs others. In the back of my mind I think I kept telling myself 'It's now or never and this is your last shot and you need to take control of something now.' Obviously this isn't true… You can start at any time and be successful, but the best time is always NOW.
As I learned more and adjusted my lifting plan (thank you Layne Norton) and diet (well uh… eat more), progress really started snowballing both for strength and size. I felt good about myself and my perspective changed a bit. I no longer felt out of control and perspective changed a bit to enjoy the ride a bit more. Things get extremely chaotic and stressful at home, but this outlet definitely helps!
On the transformation- I don't think this is the world's best or even a particularly great one. However, I did put in the work and am proud of what I've done. I didn't achieve every goal I set for myself during the timeframe, but did hit most. My hope and biggest reason for posting is that you takeaway a couple things-

If you are busy, you can still do this!
If you are in your thirties or older, you can still do this!
If you are younger, you should not wait to do this!
If someone tells you that you can't do this, they are wrong!
You are your biggest obstacle. Stop making excuses and get out of your own way.

Pics- https://imgur.com/a/9OftdcP
First pic here is actually a month or so after starting. It is jarring to look back at. (Pic 1)
One year in, I was up to around 205 and as you see below my strength shot up a good deal. (Pic 2)
Year two I focused a lot on strength using 5/3/1 BBB. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics to speak of until about December of 2019… I had bulked to about 225 (fat) and then back down to 210 in the pic you see below. I don't know if you can see a huge visual difference because I'm not doing the weird flexing thing and one is pumped after workout vs cold in December. But- I am for sure leaner and stronger while being about 5 lbs heavier than the year and a half before. (Pic 3)
Immediately after the last pic, I really doubled down on my training volume and frequency and bulked until end of March (large surplus) and have been cutting weight ever since. I got up to just shy of 235 and right now weight 210 again. A good 10 lbs was water weight, no doubt. Pry a 10 lb muscle, 15lb fat split for rest, but who knows. Next to the first 6 months of lifting, this is by far the best progress I have made. The lesson I learned here is that if things seem to be slowing or stalling, you have to do something different. Different usually means more… both volume and intensity.
End of February. Getting bigger, getting fatter. (Pic 4)
End of March. Looking like a waterbed stand-in. All hail the bloat lord. (Pic 5)
Mid April. All the water weight gone. Some fat gone. Would have been around 220 according to MyFitnessPal. (Pic 6)
Pictures from last few weeks. Right around 210. Going to see if I can get an extra 5 lbs and then go on a slight surplus. I tried to pose in front of my Blackshirts flag but am complete ass at it. (Pics 7 -9)
Bonus dead lift of 550 from May (pic 10)
Lift progression
Here is my estimated progression of lifts from the start and then one year after. It's definitely not exact (I only know for sure the start and end numbers), but should give you some picture of how things played out. I had a 5/3/1 log where I tracked progression, but that phone shit the bed and I didn't have it saved to the sdcard or backed-up.
Time: May 2017 -> 2018 -> 2019 -> May 2020
Bench: 150->245->275->335
Squat: -1000->225->265->385
Deadlift: 315->405-455->550
To what end? To be bigger and stronger than I am now. That's the name of the game. Well at least bigger and stronger within one's tolerance of being fat. If you don't immediately get the appeal of why that is inciting, then I'm not going to have any luck in explaining it. I don't think I can ever see myself saying- "I'm good now. Let's just be satisfied with this."
My experience and perspective on 'The Big Three': I don't consider myself an authority in how to do these lifts (see how much I suck at the squat below), but do find benefit in hearing perspective from others on their journey. As well as what did/didn't work. Make of it what you will.
Deadlift
This one comes easy to me versus other lifts. Probably for the same reasons that squat is really difficult. It just seems to work for my leverages. I'm not joking when I say that basically the first time trying to see how much I could lift as a flabby stick figure, I was able to pull for 315, knowing dick all about what I was doing. This was before I got serious about lifting and was in one of those 1-3 week periods where I swore to myself I would make it a thing. I think I had read some fire and brimstone style article that may as well of said "You're not really a man and you'll just shrivel up and die if you don't deadlift." Well no thank you internet article, I am for sure a man and definitely don't want to die. So the first time I loaded up my ez-curl bar with a plate on each side (It's all I had… That and a smith machine I bought off the previous home owner. Have you ever tried to squat in a smith machine? Don't). That seemed pretty easy, so I loaded on another plate. I was sure I'd get injured if I went any higher. Next time, I said what the hell and just kept loading weight until I knew I couldn't anymore. My back felt like someone had taken a few swings with a Louisville slugger to it the next day, but I felt pretty good about it.
Now that doesn't really seem like a big weight, but it was enormous compared to any other lift or anything I had ever moved in my life. In and of itself, this gave me a bit of confidence for what was possible with my gangly self.
This lift is also weird in the sense that it would seem to stagnate for periods of time and then I would make 30-50lb jumps in the span of a month. Last December before the start of my bulk, I pulled 500 at an all-out max effort. In March, around the point I was close to 230lb, I pulled a banded double at 525. In mid-May after cutting down to around 215, I pulled 550 raw for a smooth single. While not going to turn any heads in powerlifting circles, I'm really proud of this lift especially after cutting weight. My goal for the next two years is to pull 700 raw and I'm very confident I'll be able to do it. I'll need to add a good deal of mass and may need to be a bit fluffy, but it will get done.
Things useful to me-
Frequency: As the weights get heavier, this lift seems to take more than it gives for me. Sometimes having a negative spillover to other training. Decreasing the frequency and volume on conventional deadlifts seems to have worked this WinteSpring. I only did conv deads every two weeks and even when I did, it was only 3 working sets max. Instead, I focused a lot more on RDLs and barbell rows at high reps to really build up my back and hams. Also upped the frequency and intensity of squats, but I don't think there was a lot of carryover here. This approach obviously worked this time, but I'm assuming I'll have to switch it up at some point… I'll roll with it until I plateau. I'm not saying this to recommend you personally should deadlift less, but if you are plateauing switching priority to build up your posterior chain may be of benefit.
Form: Being on the tall side, I was convinced my back angle was too flat and my hips were starting too high. Any progress I made doing it the wrong way would cause me to spontaneously combust right after being arrested by the deadlift police. Messing around with this just caused me frustration and halted all progress. It turns out that’s just how I'm built and it's somewhat of an advantage- Being able to setup higher allows me to move bigger weight. It's seems like more than any lift experts come out of the woodwork for with the 'one true way' that all aspiring lifters need to follow to receive true deadlift enlightenment. The reality is you have to find what that works best for you. Short of bending your back like a fishing rod (and even then you'll see very successful deadlifters do this, albeit they are freak of nature exceptions), you are probably fine if it is working for you. In short, stop overthinking it.
Hand and foot placement: I really prefer narrow with my hands on the very inner edge of the knurling and my feet just inside with toes pointed out at just a slight angle. This allows for setup as high as possible and in general just feels more comfortable for me.
Bar: Common advice is for the bar to be over mid-foot. I think this is a good general statement, but again your proportions will dictate what works best. I found that mid foot was still not forward enough. When watching videos lifting heavier, I noticed that after breaking the weight off the ground, things would kind of hitch while the weight swung forward ever so slightly so my arms were perpendicular to the floor and then I would pull the weight up. Moving the bar forward just a little bit more helped this. It wasn't game changing or anything, just helped the movement be a little more efficient.
Pulling slack correctly: Pulling out the slack in a bar is very common advice, so I tried my best to do this. What I found later is I was definitely pulling the slack out with all arms, but my elbows were bending too as if I was doing a row. This was causing all sorts of stuff, but mainly loss of 'tightness'. The fix here is to keep your arms completely straight and pretend they are steel rods, then try and pull the slack out. Now you're pulling the slack out by only contracting your lats! This was game changing, but not in the sense that it helped me pull a bunch more weight. My recovery and ability to do more work afterwards and still chase kids around the house later that day didn't suffer so bad. My back also felt much better the next day.
Pull vs push: Is the deadlift a pull? Is the deadlift a push? Is it a push then pull? Fuck if I know. Please explain if you do… Just get the weight off the ground and stop overanalyzing it. I spent too much time trying to figure out if I was driving it with my legs correctly off the ground or whatever I was supposed to be doing that someone on the internet said. If I have to stop and think about what muscles need to fire during the lift, it's going to be a mess.
Squat
Goddamnit this lift is hard for me. My legs are too long for me to be strong at the squat! This is the excuse I would tell myself constantly. Nevermind that my arms are just about as long proportionally as my legs and it doesn't seem to affect my bench. Never mind that I would squat with about half (being generous) the volume of my other lifts 'because it was tiring'. Newsflash for most normal humans- Squatting sucks. It's uncomfortable. It feels like you are being crushed and someone is trying to fold you in half. Not a military guy, but I think 'embrace the suck' fits nicely here. It's now almost masochistic now for me in the sense that the relief of the next set being over outweighs how much it sucks actually doing it.
I literally started with the bar. As a 180lbs man, I could only 'comfortably' do the bar for 10 reps. 135 came fairly quick, but it felt like hell from there. I mainly just tried to do 5x5s and add 2.5-5lbs to the bar every week in some bastardized starting strength routine where you only squat once per week. I kept wondering when at least plates would feel comfortable. This didn't happen for a very long time (like until able to rep 215 10x). I think I got up to around 205 after about 6-7 months and then things stalled. From there I had moved on to 5/3/1 BBB for everything, but of course I skipped the BBB part of squat because it was hard. Nonetheless, I started making good progress again. Then things plateaued for a long time out around 275… I think you can see where I'm going wrong here. I would repeat the same 5/3/1 cycle. No good. I'd drop the weight down and work back up. Same thing.
After analyzing the lift (because there was no way this was a volume issue) that even when doing high bar, all my working reps were turning into 'squat mornings'. I thought the crippling back pump I would get after done, which in fairness did make it really hard to do any sort of volume work afterwards, was just a normal part of squatting. My body was defaulting to the most efficient way to move the weight, which in this case was with my lower back and hams because they were the strongest muscle groups in the chain.
I did two things- I bought a belt and started doing a lot more volume to grow my quads- High rep Squats, leg press and barbell hacks. Unsurprisingly, my squat max started moving again. This December I squatted around 325 high bar. Once I started my bulk, I re-doubled my efforts to get more volume in and squatted 4 times a week. I'd work in 10x10s, front squats, simple pyramids, leg press and barbell hacks. I didn't really do any low rep work at all. Something weird happened… I started actually looking forward to squatting. Previously, I would dread having to squat all day which probably played into why my approach was so poor.
Prior to ending my bulk, I tested my max at 365 for high bar. It was tough but the weight went up. Not too bad for 3 months. In mid-May, well into my cut, I hit 385 high bar. I've never had a lift go up when cutting. I know some of you have had success with that, but I just try and hold on to what I can. Feels good to get this lift almost out of poverty status and into some semblance of respectability. In the near future I'll probably run a few cycles of Smolov jr. or Deep Water. With as much as this lift has lagged, I see no reason why I couldn't be doing 5 plates in a year's time.
Tips-
Volume: read above
Breathing: I find how you breathe on squat to be more important than any other lift. Not only from a bracing standpoint point, but also work capacity. I found myself getting into a habit of forcefully exhaling about 40% of the way up and then gulping in air. I don't really know the science or reason behind it, but after about 5 sets of high intensity squats an exertion headache would start to set in. Those of you that have gotten this before know there isn't any coming back from it. You're done for the day. It feels like each time your heart beats there is this intense explosion of pressure inside your skull and your brain is going to start leaking out everywhere. Anyway, taking a deep breath, bracing and then holding that breath for as many reps as possible and then taking as long as needed at the top to get my air and bracing right. Lighter weight I can probably go for 4 reps, but then only a single as it gets closer to max. I have no idea why this works, but it does for me.
Hands: I started getting this really weird pain in my tricep and elbow area that would really hurt when I benched. I was pretty convinced that I was doing something while benching or pressing that was causing it. I scoured the interwebs and found some poor soul that had the same problem as me. Turns out that I was taking an absolute he-man grip on the bar when squatted and physically pulling the weight onto my traps when I strained under heavy weight. I never would have guessed as it never resulted in immediate pain. I now use a false grip, usually with only 3 fingers kind of resting on the bar and that pain has vanished. If you are having wrist or elbow issues, just something to look into. This is probably a fringe case at best.
Feet: Being taller, going wider and angling my feet out helped me get to depth and increased my stability. This is pretty common advice.
Front squats: If you are having trouble staying upright, these can really help. Again, this is common advice, but definitely helped me. At first, they suck even more than the normal squat. Just do them. You'll get used to it in time. Most people, like me, have trouble getting it into the rack position initially. There are a ton of tutorials on this… I just use a couple fingers on the bar and it works fine enough. I have a buddy who rigs his straps up and holds on to them which negates any wrist flexibility issues. You can find an excuse to not do it, but none of them are going to be valid.
Bench: Everyone's favorite! Even when reping light weight, everyone feels like Hercules after getting a good chest and shoulder pump (or maybe that's just me). When I lifted off and on in college, I'm pretty sure every single workout started with the bench and would be followed by arms and maybe some lateral raises. Don't do this. You'll look weird and end up with all sorts of imbalances. My lats and legs are still catching up. Plus you've broken like the first three rules of the gym- 1. Never skip leg day; 2. Never skip leg day; 3. If today is your first day in the gym, it must be leg day (yes that is a blatant Fight Club rip-off, but it fits). In one of my streaks of lifting consistently for a month, I think I got up to a max of about 205 lbs which I thought was pretty great at 165 or whatever I weighed at the time.
I can still remember the day I benched two plates in my basement in the Fall of 2017. I think it's the only time I've ever let out a primal scream after finishing a set. I've never felt so good about a single lift and probably never will again. That's ok. I had arrived and was now strong because only strong people bench that much, right? Then you see people much smaller benching much more. It's all relative and you need to define your own success.
The euphoria of benching two plates quickly wore off because then I wanted to hit two plates plus 25s. After that 300 sounded like a good number. Then 3 plates. You might find yourself thinking- If I can just lift 'x' weight, then I'll be satisfied. Hint- you won't be satisfied for more than a few days.
I benched an estimated max of around 295 in December 2019. I had hit as high as 305 when I was bulking up last Summer. Yes, I did a Summer bulk. Yes, my swim trunks barely fit by August and I looked fat. Fast forward to mid-March this year, I was able to hit 335 which I held onto into mid-May. I was shocked that I was able to hold on to my total. I think it's probably decreased by about 5-10 lbs in the last few weeks, but I'm good with that.
This lift has taken a front seat for me for long enough, so I’ll be focusing more on squat. Goals for now are simply just to keep increasing strength as I get bigger. So, if I come back same time next year at 235lbs, I’d expect to be benching around 375.
Tips-
Body weight: It's not a secret that when you get bigger you get stronger. Presses are more affected by body weight than any lift out there (OHP maybe even moreso than bench for me). Yes, I know there are exceptions such as Jen Thompson. She benched like 330 lbs at a body weight of 132 which is one of the most impressive things I've ever seen. Seriously wtf. The easiest way to bust a plateau is simply gain weight. That's pretty much true for all the lifts, but for me every 5 lbs of body weight is like 'leveling up' my bench. Almost like clockwork you can take my increase in weight and take it times somewhere around 1.5 and that will be pretty close to the increase in my bench. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but I've never not increased my bench proportional to weight gain. Holding on to it when cutting weight is the trick.
Grip: Most can benefit from a wider grip (again always exceptions… see the literal best bencher in the world that uses a relatively narrow grip). Almost undoubtedly it will allow you to lift more after just a few sessions of trying it out. You'll have to find the sweet spot. Just experiment. I'm a bit taller, so I'll basically have both my ring and middle fingers straddling the rings. There's conflicting evidence on the amount of chest vs deltoid activation when doing wide grip. Don't worry too much about this and switch up your grips time to time when doing higher rep sets. You should be doing chest / tricep assistance exercises anyway.
Leg drive and slight arch: Once I figured out how to do this, it added 15-20 lbs to my bench overnight. I'm not going to be able to explain how to do it very well. Just watch one of the 100 videos that show it. It could take a bit to get the hang of.
Bar Path: The best groove for me is starting with the bar around clavicle height and then lowering it so it touches just below my nips. Common advice is that the bar should be pushed up at an angle towards your clavicle and up at the same time. Just do a google search on 'bench bar path' and you'll see what I mean.
Back tightness: I'll just leave you with this
Unsolicited opinions
Recovery, listening to your body and consistency
Your body is super whiny. It will complain about everything and it really loves for things to stay the same. Introduce a new stimulus that causes it to do something extra? It's going to try and tell you to stop making it work so hard and go back to the way things used to be. This is purely skerpowa broscience… sadly I will not be linking a double blind peer reviewed study, but homeostasis is definitely a thing. People will with good intention tell you to listen to your body- It knows best after all! I disagree with this advice if it means you're using it as an excuse to skip workouts or take it easy! I'll concede it is awesome advice if you want to stay weak and small.
You can conceivably lift seven days a week if you program intelligently. That said, if you are just starting out, do not try and do this. Just pick a beginner routine and STICK TO IT. When you are beginning, skipping workouts is a sure fire way to completely derail you and fall into your old routine of not doin' shit. Consistency is king. Once you get into it for a long period of time, you can tolerate missing workouts better as the discipline becomes more or less muscle memory and you won't have trouble doubling up or whatever else you need to do. I promise you that if you eat enough (no you aren't a hardgainer), put in the work and don't skip days because of you will see results!
You feel all hurty and sore? Put on the big boy/girl pants and suck it up. There are times when the doms are so bad getting out of bed is legitimately a struggle. After doing some active warmups you will hardly even notice it. I'm not some sort of robot where I just go out and 'crush it' every day. There are days where I just don't have it even after warming up and maybe my effort even sucks, but something is better than nothing. If that happens, I'll probably just superset that compound lift with whatever I was planning for the next day.
Ok so you're injured or maybe you feel an injury coming on (I feel like you get better at knowing the difference)… Instead of focusing on what you can't do, focus on what you still can do. If you lift for long enough, you will get injured in some way. I'm not encouraging you to be reckless, but you need to figure out how to work around it or through it if it is minor (muscle strains, tendonitis, etc)... That may be different lifts that don't stress your injury or lower volume/intensity. I've had some form of injury either with my god awful elbows, shoulder or back strain for the bulk of the last 3 years. For instance, I've been unable to do chins and pullups due to a left bicep injury, but cable work and single arm rows seem to offer minimal pain. No one injury has been serious enough to take me out of the game, which I'm extremely thankful for, but I also haven't been working with the weights some of you neanderthals lift… yet.
Overtraining is way less common than people think. Often people use it as an excuse to not train. Just think- the mere thought of overtraining is so great that it keeps people from training as much as they could and leads to some people spouting bullshit like 'you would have better gains if you lifted less'. If you are overtrained it will look more like that dude that was 100 yards from finishing the triathlon, but his body shut down and less like you laying on the couch with sore hamstrings. Philosophically I'd rather attempt to overtrain and take a short deload every once in a while instead of worrying about the possibility of it happening. Said another way, I'd rather be well past the curve of 'diminishing returns' than before it. That way I don't feel like I'm missing out on progress.
Currently I lift 6-7 days a week and just keep compound lifts in rotation taking bits and pieces from different programs. Sometimes doing more than one a day and other supporting work. Other days it's just one compound lift for 10 sets and that’s a wrap. Again, if you program intelligently you can conceivably do 7 days a week. You can even do a body part 3-4 days a week.
Motivation: You can find motivation from external sources or force yourself to do something for a period of time. That it's not going to work over the long haul. If you have to have a buddy be accountable for you to get you in the gym or check in on you, what happens when they lose the motivation, get busy or just stop caring?
This is why when you ask people that are successful at something how they motivate themselves to keep putting in the work they usually say something like- "I don't know man, I just do it." I remember my wife asking her brother how the heck he woke up so early to work out every morning. We are talking like 4AM early which is just gross (I would much rather work out at midnight if given the option). "It's easy. I set my alarm. I wake up. That's it." It's so engrained within them that it is part of their dna and so very hard to relate to people that 'Just don't do it'.
At some point a switch has to flip where you either enjoy the process or it just becomes part of what you do (discipline). I'm not saying that if you don't love doing your 10x10 session of squats you are some sort of failure, but at some point you know what needs to get done and you do it. I don't know when exactly the switch flipped for me, but anymore working out is one of the things I look forward to most in the day. If you continually have that feeling in the back of your head of "ugh I have to workout today", you're going to quit being consistent and prioritize something else you like more. One other thing- After gaining, the fear of losing what you've built and fear of not capitalizing further can start to manifest in compulsive behavior which can be more 'motivating' than anything… Watch out for it because this can lead to balance issues in the rest of your life.
If someone knows the answer on a sure fire way of how to make the switch flip, I think you've got a multi-million dollar book deal waiting for you. Setting small incremental goals and big picture goals is key, but it can't all be results driven because what happens when results stop coming in the way you are expecting and you get frustrated?
Prioritization: Aka "I just don't have time." Please come up with a better, more valid excuse such as- "I have cancer." Anything that is important enough to you, you'll find time to do it. I get it… There are periods of time in life where you get dealt a bad hand and priorities straight up get dictated to you, but I'm hard pressed to believe that if you really dug deep that you couldn't find a few hours a week to at least keep the fire lit.
The trick here is not necessarily to figure out how to fit working out into your existing schedule, but rather figure out what you are going to eliminate (at least for a time). Do you watch tv? Play video games? Read books? Go partying? Those are just some examples. None of them are bad things and you'll find you can still do them in moderation, but at first you need to take something out to put something else in. Side note- Make big life adjustments one at a time. Committing to a workout schedule is a big adjustment.
For me the aha moment came when we had finally gotten our two small girls down to bed for the night. I was exhausted. I went to grab a beer and was going to play some game on the computer to unwind. I thought to myself, if I do this, there is no way I'll wake up in the morning and lift, but I definitely 'deserve this' as I've had a hard day. Listen to how lame that sounds, but we rationalize like this to ourselves all the time. So a bell went off. Wait a minute… What is more important to me? This video game and a beer or all of these goals I've supposedly set for myself? That really put it in perspective. You can't have it all and you have to choose. At that point, I headed downstairs and got my workout in then and there (not sure why I set myself up for AM workouts in the first place… that didn't last). Eventually I was able to figure things out and still play the occasional video game, but completely eliminated them for a period of time until I got into a groove. So if you are having trouble 'finding time', next time you find yourself on the couch instead, ask yourself if it's more important. If it is, then by all means continue doing it, just don't complain about not having time. And don't complain about doing everything, but none of it worked.
Bodyfat: I don't know my bodyfat in any of the pictures and I don't think it's really relevant. People underestimate this and love to argue about it. You're either good with yourself or not. You don't need a number that's never going to be accurate to validate how you feel about yourself. I only use the scale to know for sure if I'm gaining or losing as it's definitive, but even that can be deceiving. The scale, the mirror and how you are doing with your lifts is all the feedback you should need.
On the topic of the scale- Some say weigh yourself once a week and others every day. I'm in the every day camp. Even weighing myself at the same exact time (in briefs), my weight can fluctuate 5lbs day to day when I'm at my heaviest. There was one night where after eating something really salty, I tipped the scales at 242. In the morning when I woke up, I was back down to around 234 (not coincidentally the end of my bulk). This is an outlier. Because of these fluctuations, weighing every day will give you a better picture. If you do once per week, you might catch yourself on an outlier day and that might cause you to think you are gaining or losing weight and lead you to believe you should adjust your approach. If you do every day, you'll see that it will go up and down, but a trend line will appear. You can take your weight over a 7 day period, average it and then compare to the next week. Or better yet, plug it into an app or spreadsheet and you can visibly see the trend line.
Side note: If you are still dead-set on fixating on your body fat %, do not use one of those electrical impedance devices. They are complete garbage and I don't think they are even directional (unless there is some improvement in technology recently). You are better off just picking a random number between 5 and 25. All methods for measuring have accuracy issues. The only surefire method is by analyzing a cadaver which isn't super helpful to your personal goals. I remember being a teenager and getting a reading of 5%. I had no abs and little muscle tone, so I thought I just didn't have abs. I was pry closer to 25 than 5.
Supplements:
There are no magic pills and most definitely don't want to start a discussion on 'vitamin S' (for my sanity, don't let the discussion devolve into this). Stick to the simple things like creatine and get sufficient protein. Outside of a genuine medical condition, if you are eating a varied diet, you should be getting everything you need (taking a multi is better than nothing). One exception might be Vitamin D in the winter and a few others people can chime in on. Caffeine helps to get you moving for sure or if you are like me, you just need it to function because you are so addicted. Super Rage Pump Testobol Exploder 5000 is probably a waste of money, regardless of the marketing claims of all the sweet gains you’ll make.
If you want to research things, start with examine.com. I love this site and was really glad to see it in the wiki. They do a great job of taking a non-biased look at things and aggregating up data from studies with consideration to how high of quality the study was. In short, all the hard work of actually reading the study (not just the abstract, you arm-chair scientists) is done and they provide the cliff notes with evidence backing- see human effect matrix.
Diet:
Bulking- Eat more than you burn off. Get enough protein. Lift as much as possible.
Cutting fat- Eat less than you burn off. Get enough protein. Lift as much as possible.
It's really that simple and I don't need to go into more detail as there is tons of good advice on the wiki. I’ve never had trouble eating enough (simply adding breakfast was enough for me at first), so it’s hard to identify with people say they have trouble. Track your calories, look at the scale and adjust calories. I feel bad for you if you have trouble and am rooting for you, but it’s hard for me to empathize because I don’t understand it. If you want to do it, you will. The opposite for losing weight. Yes it’s hard, but the mechanism to do it is easy. Stop putting as much stuff in your face as you did before.
One thing I will share which I think goes against conventional wisdom… I fell into the trap of doing less volume / intensity while cutting weight because of advice about recovery. This is a great way to lose strength and muscle and make very marginal gains from when you bulked up. It's really frustrating. If anything you need to go even harder while cutting to preserve what you worked hard to create. Yes it's difficult at first but you will get used to it. I really do envy you if you're able to get away with doing less work during a cut and still keep your strength.
Should I cut or bulk?
Yes.
But seriously, why are you asking internet strangers what you want to do? Pick the one you want and stick with it.
If you want my personal take- I could have cut when I started, but I wanted to get bigger and stronger. Easy choice. Had I cut then I would have been frustrated. I would have not gotten stronger, potentially weaker and even skinnier… but maybe abs? Guaranteed frustration and quitting. If you are obese, then this is a different story altogether. I would cut 100% of the time starting out.
Seeking advice
There are tons of advice out there and reddit can be great to engage in to get pointed in the right direction. The subs tend to do a great job of self-policing 'bad advice' from what I've seen in my short time.
I see so many posts that I can sum up as- "I can't gain weight/muscle. I've tried everything. Nothing works. What should I do?!!?!?!?" To start, it sounds like you've tried literally nothing and you couldn't even be bothered to look at the wiki or do a few google searches. You are just complaining. I'm not sure if looking for sympathy or what, but it makes me question how you function in day to day life if that is how you approach all your problems. No one is going to be able to help you if you don't describe what it is that you have tried and what you are currently doing. A better way of laying this out would be to describe your height/weight, goals, current diet and training plan. From there everyone can help you. I am rooting for you!
Ok that's finally it for all my semi-coherent ramblings. Hopefully you got at least a little something out of it or at the very worst burned 15 minutes when you could have been working instead. I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you agree / disagree with. Feel free to reach out with any questions or share this on other subs. More than happy to help if it's wanted.
GBR!
-Skerpowa

Need help buying a Tormach machine.

how India can successfully ban china?

please correct me if I'm wrong these are my opinions what are yours tell me
a lot of media channels have shown us visuals of people braking tv's and phones but is that enough
no
we might not buy Chinese but they will find some other market as well here is what I feel should be done
below is my opinion on how we can at least become a tough competitor to china and put a hole in his wallet

Role of the government
role of people
role of companies
sectors we should target

Raw materials:-

buying cheaper petroleum from OPEC plus counties and buying petroleum currently or when the price is low petroleum is the most basic necessary material needed to start making anything like a cellphone body or any plastic part it is necessary we get petroleum and not make the payment in petrodollars but in INR as it will help save the expensive foreign dollar
rare earth minerals, partnerships with Australia and African counties to make an agreement where Indian mining companies will open an associate in their country and provide employment there in return for being able to access rare earth minerals and its beneficial both ways,
refining of these raw materials is largely not done in India currently, we would require them to be purified in India or any other country where it is most feasible or where there are already built plants made to process these plants eg, Taiwan South Korea and Japan.

Product manufacturing:-

the most lucrative sector is smartphones and electronics that phrase china is the electronics store in the world holds true.

government has to make it lucrative for foreign brands to open manufacturing plants in India.

most smartphone components that we can make in India or source from friendly countries are
batteries from Samsung and LG & sony can be currently sourced for quality batteries
processors from companies like Exynos from Samsung and MediaTek from Taiwan
texas instruments from America & Broadcom

using the design from ARM a Uk based processor architecture license firm
ARM is the only licenser of processor design which is used in smartphones and other smart devices
the government of India can experiment with funding a department to make processors that are compatible with other makers at least reaching 80% capacity in terms of performance or fund any Indian company who tries to make processer in India in house
Memory
memory manufacturers from countries
using the above list we can choose partners and offer them land that is near a port or away from agricultural land so that a plant can be set up that can make memory modules being both NAND flash and storage memory and controllers
controllers, rectifiers and other smaller electronics components like capacitors clippers should be made in India as China is the only current economical manufacturer of these components
this will require skilled labor, engineers, and people who have had expertise in the industry and manufacturing field as economies of scale play a big factor in these parts hiring people who have had the first-hand experience in other companies should be offered jobs in India

cameras for phones are majorly made by brands

Samsung
sony
OmniVision (Chinese) should be not used
zies (luxury brand)
Panasonic

if these companies cameras are used they can provide good camera experience in the smartphones and tablets

connectivity chips

most connectivities chips are made by Qualcomm or MediaTek using a generation old parts from other manufacturers or a little weaker ones won't break the product tbh
Accessories for electronics
another market that seems appropriate is electronics accessories like:-

cables
chargers
headphones
keyboard
mouses
pen drives
memory cards
powerbanks
cases
covers
dongles

these products are also dominated by Chinese brands globally we should just copy their design in these segments and also export these products as there are sold in big numbers at least for every smartphone we have a couple of pair of earphones and a power bank a lot of these Chinese brands are known for bad service if we can provide better after-sales we can get a good chunk of the market even if the price is 10-20% extra,
and I guess the easiest to target market sector as well as it requires considerably less R&D
the equipment used for manufacturing

most of the manufacturing is done by robots or machines made in china
using these machines we cant justify any product that is made in India but used Chinese tools to make them
either reverse engineering these machines to make them here or using machines from a competitor or non-Chinese brands
having some grants for using non-Chinese equipment has to be provided by the government
Chinese products have been manufactured by state of the art factories having high efficiency and quality control resulting in yields that have fewer failure rates and thus fewer duds
having some quality control team that used to work in China is the most beneficial

branding of the products
most Indian brands are synonymous with

cheap brands
poor build
unreliable components
mediocre performance
poor after-sales service
better alternatives

the image problem can be fixed by gorilla marketing and having a pr team that does advertising in global markets
all the rest can be fixed by jugged and better workmanship
if the markets react positively the services will also improve
products should be targeted towards the starting range or entry-level or mid-tier as peoples expectations from expensive product grows more as the price increases.
we can be white label brands as well but that seems tougher as china is the biggest white label brand hub as well
software

android can be left stock and with very few modifications required for the beginning
we have big IT companies that have good experience building apps for big clients

utility apps are where we need to focus most on
an alternative to these apps are required

tik-tok
Share it
miui share
cam scanner
PicsArt
currency converter
video editors
financial apps as most startups in India are currently funded by foreign brands and some have big investors from China as the Chinese government and other Chinese entities fund applications to flood markets and to get a stake hold in the financial part of most countries examples are
swiggy
paytm

countries we should target

sort in increasing_per_capita) order and take countries_per_capita) from 1500 USD_per_capita) to 5000 USD_per_capita)
exceptions will be there but we should target such counties where there is a growing emerging market that still doesn't have a lot of contenders
usual markets
African developing countries
middle east
Central Asia
and Latin America
other sectors where we can compete with china

automobiles

India has some automobile ingrown manufacturers who can make safe cars that will be able to be sold in Latin America & African market
whose demands are similar to ours so a lot of r&d is already done for it
have simple no-fuss mechanicals efficient engines ,
don't look old or clunky and can handle extreme heat and rain as well
some examples are for commercial and two-wheelers as well

tata
Mahindra
bajaj
TVS
hero
Royal Enfield
eicher
Ashok Leyland

they are economically cheaper than their European counterparts and for daily use
having cars that can be used daily for 5 years will be a good selling point also we have to export more bikes as well bikes are a big seller in the emerging markets

raw chemicals
medicines
software (application, support, utility )
cloths
fruits
vegetables
plastic components

What the government can do

have PSUS in the electronic & telecommunication technologies department so that the brain drain is reduced so that talented individuals can help develop our country and be proud of making something in their own country and be the owner of it
have more innovative ideas as china has not just copied products but is now a leader in modern and sophisticated devices we would need to invent and innovate to be on the cutting edge and be the second option but be the first option everyone considers
have specific trade corridors that are away from residential areas and provide these lands at cheaper rates to lure the companies into states that have lower development or where land is still cheaper
have research hubs where people can innovate on their ideas and propose it to companies
provide funding to companies so that even if the loose money in the first few years they still stay competitive and not end up being owned by some foreign brands
make ease of doing business be increased
focus on exporting more after our internal demand has been fulfilled
investment by big corporates into these startups and fdas by friendly companies or companies from countries that help India should be made easily countries like Japan and Germany and Russia should be allowed to have fdas easily as these countries have always helped us through thick and thin for which I thank them even though Russia has helped both countries as well
skilled labour is the need of the hour if we have the biggest youth population and they can spend their free time on TikTok won't it be better if they took up learning some skill that can provide them with a source of income as well also people who couldn't study due to financial reasons are in their mid-30s and are a bit behind could be helped a lot of the government can start skill training with psus for certain specific employment scenarios

please tell me what I have missed or where I am wrong please repost or upvote as it might end up being heard and someone from the government or big companies that we have can probably hear it
and maybe work on it

Default English word list

Alright so, I took the default database from there https://skribbliohints.github.io/ and with the help of html, I extracted the words to a list separated by commas. It's useful when you want to translate those words into your native language.
Word of advice, when using google translate, do not put all words at once there, it can rapidly worsen the translation.
(And there is a last thing. Their algorithm of picking only custom words is not working really good, at least for me. Meaning that I often get duplicates, despite having a list this big and without duplicates. I'm still trying to find some solution to this, so if somebody is experiencing this as well, share the knowledge please, I will do the same.)
SOLUTION: Thanks for the reply from PepegaWR who identified the cause. I also tested it and there seems to be a custom words limit of 5000 characters. The easiest way in my opinion is to shuffle the words before each session to minimize the impact. Also thanks to the flynger who had the same idea before me :)
Finally, here it is, enjoy the scribbling ^^ :

ABBA, AC/DC, Abraham Lincoln, Adidas, Africa, Aladdin, America, Amsterdam, Android, Angelina Jolie, Angry Birds, Antarctica, Anubis, Apple, Argentina, Asia, Asterix, Atlantis, Audi, Australia, BMW, BMX, Bambi, Band-Aid, Barack Obama, Bart Simpson, Batman, Beethoven, Bible, Big Ben, Bill Gates, Bitcoin, Black Friday, Bomberman, Brazil, Bruce Lee, Bugs Bunny, Canada, Capricorn, Captain America, Cat Woman, Cerberus, Charlie Chaplin, Chewbacca, China, Chinatown, Christmas, Chrome, Chuck Norris, Colosseum, Cookie Monster, Crash Bandicoot, Creeper, Croatia, Cuba, Cupid, DNA, Daffy Duck, Darwin, Darwin Watterson, Deadpool, Dexter, Discord, Donald Duck, Donald Trump, Dora, Doritos, Dracula, Dumbo, Earth, Easter, Easter Bunny, Egypt, Eiffel tower, Einstein, Elmo, Elon Musk, Elsa, Eminem, England, Europe, Excalibur, Facebook, Family Guy, Fanta, Ferrari, Finn, Finn and Jake, Flash, Florida, France, Frankenstein, Fred Flintstone, Gandalf, Gandhi, Garfield, Germany, God, Goofy, Google, Great Wall, Greece, Green Lantern, Grinch, Gru, Gumball, Happy Meal, Harry Potter, Hawaii, Hello Kitty, Hercules, Hollywood, Home Alone, Homer Simpson, Hula Hoop, Hulk, Ikea, India, Intel, Ireland, Iron Giant, Iron Man, Israel, Italy, Jack-o-lantern, Jackie Chan, James Bond, Japan, JayZ, Jenga, Jesus Christ, Jimmy Neutron, John Cena, Johnny Bravo, KFC, Katy Perry, Kermit, Kim Jong-un, King Kong, Kirby, Kung Fu, Lady Gaga, Las Vegas, Lasagna, Lego, Leonardo DiCaprio, Leonardo da Vinci, Lion King, London, London Eye, Luigi, MTV, Madagascar, Mario, Mark Zuckerberg, Mars, McDonalds, Medusa, Mercedes, Mercury, Mexico, Michael Jackson, Mickey Mouse, Microsoft, Milky Way, Minecraft, Miniclip, Minion, Minotaur, Mona Lisa, Monday, Monster, Mont Blanc, Morgan Freeman, Morse code, Morty, Mount Everest, Mount Rushmore, Mozart, Mr. Bean, Mr. Meeseeks, Mr Bean, Mr Meeseeks, Mummy, NASCAR, Nasa, Nemo, Neptune, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nike, Nintendo Switch, North Korea, Northern Lights, Norway, Notch, Nutella, Obelix, Olaf, Oreo, Pac-Man, Paris, Patrick, Paypal, Peppa Pig, Pepsi, Phineas and Ferb, Photoshop, Picasso, Pikachu, Pink Panther, Pinocchio, Playstation, Pluto, Pokemon, Popeye, Popsicle, Porky Pig, Portugal, Poseidon, Pringles, Pumba, Reddit, Rick, Robbie Rotten, Robin Hood, Romania, Rome, Russia, Samsung, Santa, Saturn, Scooby Doo, Scotland, Segway, Sherlock Holmes, Shrek, Singapore, Skittles, Skrillex, Skype, Slinky, Solar System, Sonic, Spain, Spartacus, Spiderman, SpongeBob, Squidward, Star Wars, Statue of Liberty, Steam, Stegosaurus, Steve Jobs, Stone Age, Sudoku, Suez Canal, Superman, Susan Wojcicki, Sydney Opera House, T-rex, Tails, Tarzan, Teletubby, Terminator, Tetris, The Beatles, Thor, Titanic, Tooth Fairy, Tower Bridge, Tower of Pisa, Tweety, Twitter, UFO, USB, Uranus, Usain Bolt, Vatican, Vault boy, Velociraptor, Venus, Vin Diesel, W-LAN, Wall-e, WhatsApp, William Shakespeare, William Wallace, Winnie the Pooh, Wolverine, Wonder Woman, Xbox, Xerox, Yin and Yang, Yoda, Yoshi, Youtube, Zelda, Zeus, Zorro, Zuma, abstract, abyss, accident, accordion, ace, acid, acne, acorn, action, actor, addiction, addition, adorable, adult, advertisement, afro, afterlife, air conditioner, airbag, aircraft, airplane, airport, alarm, albatross, alcohol, alien, allergy, alley, alligator, almond, alpaca, ambulance, anaconda, anchor, angel, anglerfish, angry, animation, anime, ant, anteater, antelope, antenna, anthill, antivirus, anvil, apartment, apocalypse, applause, apple, apple pie, apple seed, apricot, aquarium, arch, archaeologist, archer, architect, aristocrat, arm, armadillo, armor, armpit, arrow, ash, assassin, assault, asteroid, astronaut, asymmetry, athlete, atom, attic, audience, autograph, avocado, axe, baboon, baby, back pain, backbone, backflip, backpack, bacon, bad, badger, bag, bagel, bagpipes, baguette, bait, bakery, baklava, balance, balcony, bald, ball, ballerina, ballet, balloon, bamboo, banana, bandage, bandana, banjo, bank, banker, bar, barbarian, barbecue, barbed wire, barber, barcode, bark, barn, barrel, bartender, base, basement, basket, basketball, bat, bathroom, bathtub, battery, battle, battleship, bayonet, bazooka, beach, beak, bean, bean bag, beanie, beanstalk, bear, bear trap, beatbox, beaver, bed, bed bug, bed sheet, bedtime, bee, beef, beer, beet, beetle, bell, bell pepper, bellow, belly, belly button, below, belt, bench, betray, bicycle, bill, billiards, bingo, binoculars, biology, birch, bird, bird bath, birthday, biscuit, bite, black, black hole, blackberry, blacksmith, blanket, bleach, blender, blimp, blind, blindfold, blizzard, blood, blowfish, blue, blueberry, blush, boar, board, boat, bobsled, bodyguard, boil, bomb, booger, book, bookmark, bookshelf, boomerang, boots, border, bottle, bottle flip, bounce, bouncer, bow, bowl, bowling, box, boy, bracelet, braces, brain, brainwash, branch, brand, bread, breakfast, breath, brick, bricklayer, bride, bridge, broadcast, broccoli, broken heart, bronze, broom, broomstick, brownie, bruise, brunette, brush, bubble, bubble gum, bucket, building, bulge, bull, bulldozer, bullet, bumper, bungee jumping, bunk bed, bunny, burglar, burp, burrito, bus, bus driver, bus stop, butcher, butler, butt cheeks, butter, butterfly, button, cab driver, cabin, cabinet, cactus, cage, cake, calendar, camel, camera, campfire, camping, can, can opener, canary, candle, canister, cannon, canyon, cap, cape, cappuccino, captain, car wash, cardboard, carnival, carnivore, carpenter, carpet, carrot, cartoon, cash, casino, cast, cat, catalog, catapult, caterpillar, catfish, cathedral, cauldron, cauliflower, cave, caveman, caviar, ceiling, ceiling fan, celebrate, celebrity, cell, cell phone, cello, cement, centaur, centipede, chain, chainsaw, chair, chalk, chameleon, champagne, champion, chandelier, charger, cheek, cheeks, cheerleader, cheese, cheeseburger, cheesecake, cheetah, chef, chemical, cherry, cherry blossom, chess, chest, chest hair, chestnut, chestplate, chew, chicken, chihuahua, child, chime, chimney, chimpanzee, chin, chinchilla, chocolate, chopsticks, church, cicada cigarette, cinema, circle, circus, clap, clarinet, classroom, claw, clay, clean, clickbait, cliff, climb, cloak, clock, cloth, clothes hanger, cloud, clover, clown, clownfish, coach, coal, coast, coast guard, coaster, coat, cobra, cockroach, cocktail, coconut, cocoon, coffee, coffee shop, coffin, coin, cola, cold, collapse, collar, color-blind, comb, comedian, comedy, comet, comfortable, comic book, commander, commercial, communism, community, compass, complete, computer, concert, condiment, cone, confused, console, continent, controller, conversation, cookie, cookie jar, copper, copy, coral, coral reef, cord, cork, corkscrew, corn, corn dog, corner, cornfield, corpse, cotton, cotton candy, country, cousin, cow, cowbell, cowboy, coyote, crab, crack, crate, crawl space, crayon, cream, credit, credit card, cricket, cringe, crocodile, croissant, crossbow, crow, crowbar, crucible, cruise, crust, crystal, cube, cuckoo, cucumber, cup, cupboard, cupcake, curry, curtain, cushion, customer, cut, cute, cyborg, cylinder, cymbal, dagger, daisy, dalmatian, dance, dandelion, dandruff, darts, dashboard, daughter, day, dead, deaf, deep, deer, defense, delivery, demon, demonstration, dent, dentist, deodorant, depressed, derp, desert, desk, desperate, dessert, detective, detonate, dew, diagonal, diagram, diamond, diaper, dice, dictionary, die, diet, dig, dinner, dinosaur, diploma, dirty, disaster, disease, dishrag, dispenser, display, diss track, distance, diva, divorce, dizzy, dock, doctor, dog, doghouse, doll, dollar, dollhouse, dolphin, dome, dominoes, donkey, door, doorknob, dots, double, dough, download, dragon, dragonfly, drain, drama, drawer, dream, dress, drink, drip, drive, driver, drool, droplet, drought, drum, drum kit, duck, duct tape, duel, dwarf, dynamite, eagle, ear, earbuds, earthquake, earwax, east, eat, echo, eclipse, eel, egg, eggplant, elbow, elder, election, electric car, electric guitar, electrician, electricity, elephant, elevator, embers, emerald, emoji, employer, emu, end, engine, engineer, equator, eraser, error, eskimo, espresso, evaporate, evening, evolution, exam, excavator, exercise, explosion, eye, eyebrow, eyelash, eye shadow, fabric, fabulous, facade, face, face paint, factory, failure, fairy, fake teeth, fall, family, farm, farmer, fashion designer, fast, fast food, fast forward, father, faucet, feather, fence, fencing, fern, festival, fidget spinner, field, figurine, filmmaker, filter, finger, fingernail, fingertip, fire alarm, fire hydrant, fire truck, fireball, firecracker, firefighter, firefly, firehouse, fireman, fireplace, fireproof, fireside, firework, fish, fish bowl, fisherman, fist fight, fitness trainer, fizz, flag, flagpole, flamethrower, flamingo, flashlight, flask, flea, flight attendant, flock, floodlight, floppy disk, florist, flower, flu, fluid, flush, flute, fly, fly swatter, flying pig, fog, foil, folder, food, forehead, forest, forest fire, fork, fort, fortress, fortune, fossil, fountain, fox, frame, freckles, freezer, fridge, fries, frog, frostbite, frosting, frown, fruit, full, full moon, funeral, funny, fur, furniture, galaxy, gang, gangster, garage, garbage, garden, gardener, garlic, gas, gas mask, gasoline, gasp, gate, gem, gender, generator, genie, gentle, gentleman, geography, germ, geyser, ghost, giant, gift, giraffe, girl, gladiator, glass, glasses, glitter, globe, gloss, glove, glow, glowstick, glue, glue stick, gnome, goal, goat, goatee, goblin, godfather, gold, gold chain, golden apple, golden egg, goldfish, golf, golf cart, good, goose, gorilla, graduation, graffiti, grandmother, grapefruit, grapes, graph, grass, grasshopper, grave, gravedigger, gravel, graveyard, gravity, greed, grenade, grid, grill, grin, groom, grumpy, guillotine, guinea pig, guitar, gumball, gummy, gummy bear, gummy worm, hacker, hair, hair roller, hairbrush, haircut, hairspray, hairy, half, halo, ham, hamburger, hammer, hammock, hamster, hand, handicap, handle, handshake, hanger, happy, harbor, hard, hard hat, harmonica, harp, harpoon, hashtag, hat, hazard, hazelnut, head, headache, headband, headboard, heading, headphones, health, heart, heat, hedgehog, heel, heist, helicopter, hell, helmet, hen, hermit, hero, hexagon, hibernate, hieroglyph, high five, high heels, high score, highway, hilarious, hill, hip hop, hippie, hippo, hitchhiker, hive, hobbit, hockey, holiday, homeless, honey, honeycomb, hoof, hook, hop, hopscotch, horizon, horn, horse, horsewhip, hose, hospital, hot, hot chocolate, hot dog, hot sauce, hotel, hourglass, house, hovercraft, hug, hummingbird, hunger, hunter, hurdle, hurt, husband, hut, hyena, hypnotize, iPad, iPhone, ice, ice cream, ice cream truck, iceberg, icicle, idea, imagination, impact, incognito, industry, infinite, injection, insect, inside, insomnia, internet, intersection, interview, invasion, invention, invisible, iron, island, ivy, jacket, jackhammer, jaguar, jail, jalapeno, janitor, jaw, jazz, jeans, jeep, jello, jelly, jellyfish, jester, jet ski, joker, journalist, journey, judge, juggle, juice, jump rope, jungle, junk food, kangaroo, karaoke, karate, katana, kazoo, kebab, keg, kendama, ketchup, kettle, key, keyboard, kidney, kindergarten, king, kiss, kitchen, kite, kitten, kiwi, knee, kneel, knife, knight, knot, knuckle, koala, kraken, label, laboratory, ladder, lady, ladybug, lake, lamb, lamp, landlord, landscape, lane, language, lantern, lap, laptop, laser, lasso, laundry, lava, lava lamp, lawn mower, lawyer, leader, leaf, leak, leash, leather, leave, leech, legs, lemon, lemonade, lemur, lens, leprechaun, lettuce, levitate, librarian, library, licorice, lid, light bulb, lighter, lighthouse, lightning, lightsaber, lily, lilypad, limbo, lime, limousine, line, link, lion, lips, lipstick, litter box, lizard, llama, loading, loaf, lobster, lock, log, logo, lollipop, loot, loser, lotion, lottery, lounge, love, low, luck, luggage, lumberjack, lung, lynx, lyrics, macaroni, machine, macho, mafia, magazine, magic, magic trick, magic wand, magician, magma, magnet, magnifier, maid, mailbox, mailman, makeup, mall, mammoth, manatee, manhole, manicure, mannequin, mansion, mantis, map, maracas, marathon, marble, margarine, marigold, market, marmalade, marmot, marshmallow, mascot, mask, massage, match, matchbox, mattress, mayonnaise, mayor, maze, meal, meat, meatball, meatloaf, mechanic, meerkat, megaphone, melon, melt, meme, mermaid, message, messy, metal, meteorite, microphone, microscope, microwave, midnight, military, milk, milkman, milkshake, mime, miner, minigolf, minivan, mint, minute, mirror, missile, model, mohawk, mold, mole, money, monk, monkey, monster, moon, moose, mop, morning, mosquito, moss, moth, mothball, mother, motherboard, motorbike, motorcycle, mountain, mouse, mousetrap, mouth, movie, mud, muffin, mug, murderer, muscle, museum, mushroom, musket, mustache, mustard, nachos, nail, nail file, nail polish, napkin, narwhal, nature, navy, neck, needle, neighbor, neighborhood, nerd, nest, network, newspaper, nickel, night, nightclub, nightmare, ninja, noob, noodle, north, nose, nose hair, nose ring, nosebleed, nostrils, notebook, notepad, nothing, notification, novel, nugget, nuke, nun, nurse, nut, nutcracker, nutmeg, nutshell, oar, observatory, ocean, octagon, octopus, office, oil, old, omelet, onion, open, opera, orange, orangutan, orbit, orca, orchestra, orchid, organ, origami, ostrich, otter, outside, oval, overweight, owl, oxygen, oyster, paddle, page, pain, paint, paintball, pajamas, palace, palette, palm, palm tree, pan, pancake, panda, panpipes, panther, pants, papaya, paper, paper bag, parachute, parade, parakeet, parents, park, parking, parrot, party, password, pasta, pastry, path, patient, patio, patriot, pause, pavement, paw, peace, peach, peacock, peanut, pear, peas, peasant, pedal, pelican, pencil, pencil case, pencil sharpener, pendulum, penguin, peninsula, penny, pensioner, pepper, pepperoni, perfume, periscope, person, pet food, pet shop, petal, pharmacist, photo frame, photograph, photographer, piano, pickaxe, pickle, picnic, pie, pig, pigeon, piggy bank, pigsty, pike, pill, pillar, pillow, pillow fight, pilot, pimple, pin, pinball, pine, pine cone, pineapple, pink, pinky, pinwheel, pipe, pirate, pirate ship, pistachio, pistol, pitchfork, pizza, plague, planet, plank, plate, platypus, player, playground, plow, plug, plumber, plunger, pocket, pogo stick, point, poison, poisonous, poke, polar bear, policeman, pollution, polo, pond, pony, ponytail, poodle, poop, poor, popcorn, pope, poppy, popular, porch, porcupine, portal, portrait, positive, postcard, poster, pot, pot of gold, potato, potion, pound, powder, prawn, pray, preach, pregnant, present, president, pretzel, price tag, priest, prince, princess, printer, prism, prison, pro, procrastination, professor, programmer, promotion, protest, provoke, prune, pub, pudding, puddle, puffin, puma, pumpkin, punishment, punk, puppet, purity, purse, puzzle, pyramid, quarter, queen, queue, quicksand, quill, quilt, quokka, raccoon, race, racecar, radar, radiation, radio, radish, raft, rail, rain, rainbow, raincoat, raindrop, rainforest, raisin, rake, ram, ramp, rapper, raspberry, rat, ravioli, razor, razorblade, read, reality, reception, receptionist, record, rectangle, recycling, red, red carpet, reeds, referee, reflection, reindeer, relationship, religion, remote, repeat, reptile, rest, restaurant, retail, revolver, rewind, rhinoceros, rib, ribbon, rice, ring, ringtone, risk, river, roadblock, robber, robin, robot, rock, rocket, rockstar, roll, roof, room, rooster, root, rose, royal, rubber, ruby, rug, ruler, run, rune, sad, saddle, safari, safe, sailboat, salad, sale, saliva, salmon, salt, saltwater, sand, sand castle, sandbox, sandstorm, sandwich, satellite, sauce, sauna, sausage, saxophone, scar, scarecrow, scarf, scary, scent, school, science, scientist, scissors, scoop, score, scream, screen, screw, scribble, scuba, sculpture, scythe, sea, sea lion, seafood, seagull, seahorse, seal, search, seashell, seasick, season, seat belt, seaweed, second, security, seed, seesaw, semicircle, sensei, server, sew, sewing machine, shadow, shake, shallow, shampoo, shape, shark, shaving cream, sheep, shelf, shell, shipwreck, shirt, shock, shoe, shoebox, shoelace, shop, shopping, shopping cart, short, shotgun, shoulder, shout, shovel, shower, shrew, shrub, shy, sick, signature, silence, silo, silver, silverware, sing, sink, sit, six pack, skateboard, skateboarder, skates, skeleton, ski, ski jump, skin, skinny, skribbl.io, skull, skunk, sky, skydiving, skyline, skyscraper, slam, sledge, sledgehammer, sleep, sleeve, slide, slime, slingshot, slippery, slope, sloth, slow, slump, smell, smile, smoke, snail, snake, sneeze, sniper, snow, snowball, snowball fight, snowboard, snowflake, snowman, soap, soccer, social media, socket, socks, soda, soil, soldier, sombrero, son, sound, soup, south, space, space suit, spaceship, spade, spaghetti, spark, sparkles, spatula, speaker, spear, spelunker, sphinx, spider, spin, spinach, spine, spiral, spit, spoiler, sponge, spool, spoon, spore, sports, spray paint, spring, sprinkler, spy, square, squid, squirrel, stab, stadium, stage, stamp, stand, stapler, star, starfish, starfruit, statue, steam, step, stereo, sting, stingray, stomach, stone, stoned, stop sign, stork, storm, stove, straw, strawberry, streamer, street, stress, strong, student, studio, study, stylus, submarine, subway, sugar, suitcase, summer, sun, sunburn, sunflower, sunglasses, sunrise, sunshade, supermarket, superpower, surface, surfboard, surgeon, survivor, sushi, swag, swamp, swan, swarm, sweat, sweater, swimming pool, swimsuit, swing, switch, sword, swordfish, symphony, table, table tennis, tablecloth, tablet, tabletop, taco, tadpole, tail, tailor, take off, talent show, tampon, tangerine, tank, tape, tarantula, target, taser, tattoo, taxi, taxi driver, tea, teacher, teapot, tear, teaspoon, teddy bear, telephone, telescope, television, temperature, tennis, tennis racket, tent, tentacle, text, thermometer, thief, thin, think, thirst, throat, throne, thug, thumb, thunder, thunderstorm, ticket, tickle, tie, tiger, time machine, timpani, tiny, tip, tiramisu, tire, tired, tissue, tissue box, toad, toast, toaster, toe, toenail, toilet, tomato, tomb, tombstone, tongue, toolbox, tooth, toothbrush, toothpaste, toothpick, top hat, torch, tornado, torpedo, tortoise, totem, toucan, touch, tourist, tow truck, towel, tower, toy, tractor, traffic, traffic light, trailer, train, translate, trap, trapdoor, trash can, traveler, treadmill, treasure, tree, treehouse, trend, triangle, trick shot, tricycle, trigger, triplets, tripod, trombone, trophy, tropical, truck, truck driver, trumpet, tuba, tug, tumor, tuna, tunnel, turd, turkey, turnip, turtle, tuxedo, twig, type, udder, ukulele, umbrella, uncle, underground, underweight, undo, unibrow, unicorn, unicycle, uniform, universe, upgrade, vacation, vaccine, vacuum, valley, vampire, vanilla, vanish, vault, vegetable, vegetarian, vein, vent, vertical, veterinarian, victim, victory, video, video game, village, villain, vine, vinegar, viola, violence, violin, virtual reality, virus, vise, vision, vitamin, vlogger, vodka, volcano, volleyball, volume, vomit, voodoo, vortex, vote, vulture, vuvuzela, waffle, waist, waiter, wake up, walk, wall, wallpaper, walnut, walrus, warehouse, warm, wart, wasp, watch, water, water cycle, water gun, waterfall, wave, wax, weak, wealth, weapon, weasel, weather, web, website, wedding, welder, well, werewolf, west, western, whale, wheel, wheelbarrow, whisk, whisper, whistle, white, wife, wig, wiggle, willow, wind, windmill, window, windshield, wine, wine glass, wing, wingnut, winner, winter, wire, wireless, witch, witness, wizard, wolf, wonderland, woodpecker, wool, work, workplace, world, worm, wound, wrapping, wreath, wrench, wrestler, wrestling, wrinkle, wrist, writer, x-ray, xylophone, yacht, yardstick, yawn, yearbook, yellow, yeti, yo-yo, yogurt, yolk, young, youtuber, zebra, zeppelin, zigzag, zipline, zipper, zombie, zoo, zoom,

Jeremy Hammond is a Real Life Hero Vigilante Hacker

Hey guys, hope you all are staying healthy and sane (as possible.)
I thought I would make this post in case people aren't aware of this. Jeremy Hammond is an anarchist hacktivist, and a decade ago during the Occupy Wall Street movement he did a really amazing thing that not many people know about, and people need to know about this stuff, and it's fitting with the culture here.
Jeremy Hammond was an anon (member of anonymous) who was active in the hacktivism culture present within anonymous. He was a member of the offshoot LulzSec, and he hacked a private American Geopolitical Intelligence Corporation called Strategic Forecasting Inc. (Stratfor) that did work for many different US government agencies and different Corporations involved in the Military Industrial Complex.
Hammond was able to retrieve a massive amount of private Stratfor emails and dumped them to Wikileaks. It was discovered that Stratfor was coordinating with the FBI to link Occupy Wall Street Community Organizers with Jihadist Ideology and terrorist organizations, in order to strip them of due process and prosecute them under new anti terrorism laws, putting them at risk of indefinite detention in places like Guantanamo Bay.
The shit that's going on right now in America politically and economically, it's just the continued crushing of the American people by Federal and State Governments and Corporations. A MASSIVE protest movement in this country was happening just a decade ago, and I fear that a lot of young people today do not know about it, and it will be lost to history.
It started in Zucatti Park in New York City. Protests regarding the crippling amount of wealth inequality in this country were happening, and it was being organized in a grass roots, decentralized, Democratic way, which was by necessity. The cops made it illegal to use bullhorns, so organizers started doing "Mic check!" and the entire crowd would respond "Mic check!" that way people far away from the speaker could be heard. So started The General Assembly, which was used to organize Occupy Wall Street protests across the country. It was Direct Democracy in its truest sense.
" General assemblies (GA) were the primary decision making bodies of the global Occupy Movement which arose in 2011. Open to all who wished to take part, general assemblies allowed for an inclusive form of direct democracy. Such assemblies aimed to establish a consensus among all participants.
Assemblies were primarily voice based with different speakers addressing the crowd in turn. The specific forms adopted by the Occupy assemblies vary across the world. Most assemblies had facilitators to keep order and ensure that, if possible, everyone had their say. The larger assemblies often restricted the speakers only to spokespeople who represented smaller working groups, however each individual was still able to provide feedback, if only by means of hand signals.
General assemblies were the de facto decision making body of the Occupy Movement from its inception.[1] [2] Designed to facilitate the formation of consensus, they typically reflected egalitarian principles. They were often organized to ensure everyone had the chance to have their say, to counteract the natural tendency for the most forceful to dominate disorganized discussion. In larger assemblies such as some of the ones in New York, this was done by formal mechanisms such as the progressive stack.[3]
Another organizational feature from many larger general assemblies was to limit speaking mainly just to representatives of smaller working groups.[4] This meant that each individual had a chance to speak and ask questions at work group level, while at assembly level the discussions were kept at a manageable length. In the smaller assemblies, anyone was able to make proposals for discussion. In larger assemblies, the audience got to make brief spoken responses to proposals from working groups. A queuing based system called a stack was sometimes used to manage this, with the facilitators indicating when it was a particular occupier's turn to speak. Even at the largest assemblies, individuals could always feed back to speakers and the crowd by means of hand signals.[5]
Occasionally the hierarchical relationship between general assembly and the working group was reversed – a working group would make decisions for the assembly rather than merely feeding into it. For example, with confidential decisions that the assembly wished to hide from possible government agents or other informants, the assembly sometimes delegated executive function to a direct action committee, which was "empowered" by the assembly to plan actions such as publicity grabbing stunts that were best kept secret from the authorities until they have been executed."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_assembly_%28Occupy_movement%29

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odFygPMwbIM

This is how Democracy was beginning to be done in America. And as you can imagine, the US. Government at both the Federal and State levels, and Corporations, were very afraid of what was going on. More and more people across the Nation were speaking out and organizing over the injustice of wealth inequality in this Country, and people were taking Democracy directly into their hands. This was going to be a Populace Revolution. The world had just witnessed the Egyptian Spring, and this was to be our American Spring.
But the Federal Government under the Obama Administration, the FBI, in coordination with State level Law Enforcement Agencies, and in coordination with large multinational banks and corporations, destroyed the movement with force. Occupy Wall Street was a protest over the 1% getting everything, while everyone else in America got nothing, and the U.S. Government under the Obama Administration destroyed it in defense of the 1%.

" It was more sophisticated than we had imagined: new documents show that the violent crackdown on Occupy last fall – so mystifying at the time – was not just coordinated at the level of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and local police. The crackdown, which involved, as you may recall, violent arrests, group disruption, canister missiles to the skulls of protesters, people held in handcuffs so tight they were injured, people held in bondage till they were forced to wet or soil themselves –was coordinated with the big banks themselves.
The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, in a groundbreaking scoop that should once more shame major US media outlets (why are nonprofits now some of the only entities in America left breaking major civil liberties news?), filed this request. The document – reproduced here in an easily searchable format – shows a terrifying network of coordinated DHS, FBI, police, regional fusion center, and private-sector activity so completely merged into one another that the monstrous whole is, in fact, one entity: in some cases, bearing a single name, the Domestic Security Alliance Council. And it reveals this merged entity to have one centrally planned, locally executed mission. The documents, in short, show the cops and DHS working for and with banks to target, arrest, and politically disable peaceful American citizens."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/29/fbi-coordinated-crackdown-occupy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_xtwbIXfFE

This brings us back to Jeremy Hammond. Hammond had been known in the hacker culture for a while, and had a previous rap sheet. He had taken a lot of hell for a very controversial talk he gave at a Def Con convention, where he encouraged hacktivists to target the upcoming RNC for Bush's reelection. Here's an excellent bio by Rolling Stone on Hammond.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/the-rise-and-fall-of-jeremy-hammond-enemy-of-the-state-183599/

During the LulzSec days when he hacked Stratfor, he was working with a guy who went by the name of Sabu, who was busted by the feds and quickly turned informant. Jeremy Hammond was repeatedly given zero-day exploits by the feds through Sabu, and Sabu was instructing Hammond on targets to hack, which were mostly Government websites of Foreign Nations. In Hammond's sentencing statement, which is censored in the court transcript, he names five Countries that he was directed to hack by Sabu. Sabu was under order of his FBI handlers. But after hacking Stratfor and finding out the Government was falsely trying to link peaceful, non violent Occupy Wall Street Organizers to terrorist organizations, the leaked emails were used as evidence in a lawsuit against the 2011 NDAA. The law was temporarily nullified in a Federal Court, but the Obama Administration appealed and it was overturned, leaving the 2011 NDAA standing in tact.

" Hammond turned the pilfered information over to the website WikiLeaks and Rolling Stone and other publications. The 3 million email exchanges, once made public, exposed the private security firm’s infiltration, monitoring and surveillance of protesters and dissidents, especially in the Occupy movement, on behalf of corporations and the national security state. And, perhaps most important, the information provided chilling evidence that anti-terrorism laws are being routinely used by the federal government to criminalize nonviolent, democratic dissent and falsely link dissidents to international terrorist organizations. Hammond sought no financial gain. He got none.
The email exchanges Hammond made public were entered as evidence in my lawsuit against President Barack Obama over Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Section 1021 permits the military to seize citizens who are deemed by the state to be terrorists, strip them of due process and hold them indefinitely in military facilities. Alexa O’Brien, a content strategist and journalist who co-founded US Day of Rage, an organization created to reform the election process, was one of my co-plaintiffs. Stratfor officials attempted, we know because of the Hammond leaks, to falsely link her and her organization to Islamic radicals and websites as well as to jihadist ideology, putting her at risk of detention under the new law. Judge Katherine B. Forrest ruled, in part because of the leak, that we plaintiffs had a credible fear, and she nullified the law, a decision that an appellate court overturned when the Obama administration appealed it."
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-revolutionaries-in-our-midst/

Anyway, I know it's been a long post, and sorry for increasing the length even further on you guys, but I just wanted to make sure fans of Mr. Robot are aware of both Occupy Wall Street, and Jeremy Hammond, because Elliot Alderson may be partly based on Jeremy Hammond, and Occupy Wall Street and Anonymous are clearly very influential to Mr. Robot. Jeremy Hammond actually got some credit card numbers from Stratfor employees and used them to donate to organizations like the ACLU, while he did not steal any money himself ("I don't give a shit about money - Elliot Alderson). If you guys like Mr. Robot, and ESPECIALLY if you are a young person, and are not aware of these things, I highly highly highly recommend you read up on Occupy Wall Street, the General Assembly that was used to organize via Direct Democracy, and read up on Jeremy Hammond and the Stratfor hack, and 2011 NDAA. I also encourage you to read Jeremy Hammond's full sentencing statement, which I'll end this post with, because you won't find this shit in any history books in any American schools.
<3

"

Good morning.Thank you for this opportunity. My name is Jeremy Hammond and I’m here to be sentenced for hacking activities carried out during my involvement with Anonymous. I have been locked up at MCC for the past 20 months and have had a lot of time to think about how I would explain my actions.

Before I begin, I want to take a moment to recognize the work of the people who have supported me. I want to thank all the lawyers and others who worked on my case: Elizabeth Fink, Susan Kellman, Sarah Kunstler, Emily Kunstler, Margaret Kunstler, and Grainne O’Neill. I also want to thank the National Lawyers Guild, the Jeremy Hammond Defense Committee and Support Network, Free Anons, the Anonymous Solidarity Network, Anarchist Black Cross, and all others who have helped me by writing a letter of support, sending me letters, attending my court dates, and spreading the word about my case. I also want to shout out my brothers and sisters behind bars and those who are still out there fighting the power.
The acts of civil disobedience and direct action that I am being sentenced for today are in line with the principles of community and equality that have guided my life. I hacked into dozens of high profile corporations and government institutions, understanding very clearly that what I was doing was against the law, and that my actions could land me back in federal prison. But I felt that I had an obligation to use my skills to expose and confront injustice—and to bring the truth to light.
Could I have achieved the same goals through legal means? I have tried everything from voting petitions to peaceful protest and have found that those in power do not want the truth to be exposed. When we speak truth to power we are ignored at best and brutally suppressed at worst. We are confronting a power structure that does not respect its own system of checks and balances, never mind the rights of it’s own citizens or the international community.
My introduction to politics was when George W. Bush stole the Presidential election in 2000, then took advantage of the waves of racism and patriotism after 9/11 to launch unprovoked imperialist wars against Iraq and Afghanistan. I took to the streets in protest naively believing our voices would be heard in Washington and we could stop the war. Instead, we were labeled as traitors, beaten, and arrested.
I have been arrested for numerous acts of civil disobedience on the streets of Chicago, but it wasn’t until 2005 that I used my computer skills to break the law in political protest. I was arrested by the FBI for hacking into the computer systems of a right-wing, pro-war group called Protest Warrior, an organization that sold racist t-shirts on their website and harassed anti-war groups. I was charged under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the “intended loss” in my case was arbitrarily calculated by multiplying the 5000 credit cards in Protest Warrior’s database by $500, resulting in a total of $2.5 million.My sentencing guidelines were calculated on the basis of this “loss,” even though not a single credit card was used or distributed – by me or anyone else. I was sentenced to two years in prison.
While in prison I have seen for myself the ugly reality of how the criminal justice system destroys the lives of the millions of people held captive behind bars. The experience solidified my opposition to repressive forms of power and the importance of standing up for what you believe.
When I was released, I was eager to continue my involvement in struggles for social change. I didn’t want to go back to prison, so I focused on above-ground community organizing. But over time, I became frustrated with the limitations, of peaceful protest, seeing it as reformist and ineffective. The Obama administration continued the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, escalated the use of drones, and failed to close Guantanamo Bay.
Around this time, I was following the work of groups like Wikileaks and Anonymous. It was very inspiring to see the ideas of hactivism coming to fruition. I was particularly moved by the heroic actions of Chelsea Manning, who had exposed the atrocities committed by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. She took an enormous personal risk to leak this information – believing that the public had a right to know and hoping that her disclosures would be a positive step to end these abuses. It is heart-wrenching to hear about her cruel treatment in military lockup.
I thought long and hard about choosing this path again. I had to ask myself, if Chelsea Manning fell into the abysmal nightmare of prison fighting for the truth, could I in good conscience do any less, if I was able? I thought the best way to demonstrate solidarity was to continue the work of exposing and confronting corruption.
I was drawn to Anonymous because I believe in autonomous, decentralized direct action. At the time Anonymous was involved in operations in support of the Arab Spring uprisings, against censorship, and in defense of Wikileaks. I had a lot to contribute, including technical skills, and how to better articulate ideas and goals. It was an exciting time – the birth of a digital dissent movement, where the definitions and capabilities of hacktivism were being shaped.
I was especially interested in the work of the hackers of LulzSec who were breaking into some significant targets and becoming increasingly political. Around this time, I first started talking to Sabu, who was very open about the hacks he supposedly committed, and was encouraging hackers to unite and attack major government and corporate systems under the banner of Anti Security. But very early in my involvement, the other Lulzsec hackers were arrested, leaving me to break into systems and write press releases. Later, I would learn that Sabu had been the first one arrested, and that the entire time I was talking to him he was an FBI informant.
Anonymous was also involved in the early stages of Occupy Wall Street. I was regularly participating on the streets as part of Occupy Chicago and was very excited to see a worldwide mass movement against the injustices of capitalism and racism. In several short months, the “Occupations” came to an end, closed by police crackdowns and mass arrests of protestors who were kicked out of their own public parks. The repression of Anonymous and the Occupy Movement set the tone for Antisec in the following months – the majority of our hacks against police targets were in retaliation for the arrests of our comrades.
I targeted law enforcement systems because of the racism and inequality with which the criminal law is enforced. I targeted the manufacturers and distributors of military and police equipment who profit from weaponry used to advance U.S. political and economic interests abroad and to repress people at home. I targeted information security firms because they work in secret to protect government and corporate interests at the expense of individual rights, undermining and discrediting activists, journalists and other truth seekers, and spreading disinformation.
I had never even heard of Stratfor until Sabu brought it to my attention. Sabu was encouraging people to invade systems, and helping to strategize and facilitate attacks. He even provided me with vulnerabilities of targets passed on by other hackers, so it came as a great surprise when I learned that Sabu had been working with the FBI the entire time.
On December 4, 2011, Sabu was approached by another hacker who had already broken into Stratfor’s credit card database. Sabu, under the watchful eye of his government handlers, then brought the hack to Antisec by inviting this hacker to our private chatroom, where he supplied download links to the full credit card database as well as the initial vulnerability access point to Stratfor’s systems.
I spent some time researching Stratfor and reviewing the information we were given, and decided that their activities and client base made them a deserving target. I did find it ironic that Stratfor’s wealthy and powerful customer base had their credit cards used to donate to humanitarian organizations, but my main role in the attack was to retrieve Stratfor’s private email spools which is where all the dirty secrets are typically found.
It took me more than a week to gain further access into Stratfor’s internal systems, but I eventually broke into their mail server. There was so much information, we needed several servers of our own in order to transfer the emails. Sabu, who was involved with the operation at every step, offered a server, which was provided and monitored by the FBI. Over the next weeks, the emails were transferred, the credit cards were used for donations, and Stratfor’s systems were defaced and destroyed. Why the FBI would introduce us to the hacker who found the initial vulnerability and allow this hack to continue remains a mystery.
As a result of the Stratfor hack, some of the dangers of the unregulated private intelligence industry are now known. It has been revealed through Wikileaks and other journalists around the world that Stratfor maintained a worldwide network of informants that they used to engage in intrusive and possibly illegal surveillance activities on behalf of large multinational corporations.
After Stratfor, I continued to break into other targets, using a powerful “zero day exploit” allowing me administrator access to systems running the popular Plesk webhosting platform. Sabu asked me many times for access to this exploit, which I refused to give him. Without his own independent access, Sabu continued to supply me with lists of vulnerable targets. I broke into numerous websites he supplied, uploaded the stolen email accounts and databases onto Sabu’s FBI server, and handed over passwords and backdoors that enabled Sabu (and, by extension, his FBI handlers) to control these targets.
These intrusions, all of which were suggested by Sabu while cooperating with the FBI, affected thousands of domain names and consisted largely of foreign government websites, including those of XXXXXX, XXXXXX, XXXX, XXXXXX, XXXXX, XXXXXXXX, XXXXXXX and the XXXXXX XXXXXXX. In one instance, Sabu and I provided access information to hackers who went on to deface and destroy many government websites in XXXXXX. I don’t know how other information I provided to him may have been used, but I think the government’s collection and use of this data needs to be investigated.
The government celebrates my conviction and imprisonment, hoping that it will close the door on the full story. I took responsibility for my actions, by pleading guilty, but when will the government be made to answer for its crimes?
The U.S. hypes the threat of hackers in order to justify the multi billion dollar cyber security industrial complex, but it is also responsible for the same conduct it aggressively prosecutes and claims to work to prevent. The hypocrisy of “law and order” and the injustices caused by capitalism cannot be cured by institutional reform but through civil disobedience and direct action. Yes I broke the law, but I believe that sometimes laws must be broken in order to make room for change.
In the immortal word of Frederick Douglas, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
This is not to say that I do not have any regrets. I realize that I released the personal information of innocent people who had nothing to do with the operations of the institutions I targeted. I apologize for the release of data that was harmful to individuals and irrelevant to my goals. I believe in the individual right to privacy – from government surveillance, and from actors like myself, and I appreciate the irony of my own involvement in the trampling of these rights. I am committed to working to make this world a better place for all of us. I still believe in the importance of hactivism as a form of civil disobedience, but it is time for me to move on to other ways of seeking change. My time in prison has taken a toll on my family, friends, and community. I know I am needed at home. I recognize that 7 years ago I stood before a different federal judge, facing similar charges, but this does not lessen the sincerity of what I say to you today.
It has taken a lot for me to write this, to explain my actions, knowing that doing so — honestly — could cost me more years of my life in prison. I am aware that I could get as many as 10 years, but I hope that I do not, as I believe there is so much work to be done.
STAY STRONG AND KEEP STRUGGLING!"

https://www.sparrowmedia.net/2013/11/jeremy-hammond-sentence/

How I used my keyboard to destroy 10,000+ jobs.

Pre 5.1 interviews with Yoshida by Famitsu,Dengeki,Game watch and gamer. (Summary translation)

The 4 JP media sites released their interviews with Yoshi-p, discussing what to expect in 5.1. Warning: 5.0 story spoilers included. Edit: The translations for the actual interviews are also done now. Sorry for the spelling and grammar mistakes. Had so much to translate.
[MSQ]

Light and darkness will be the shared theme across not only the msq, but for the contents in this patch.
Some people might think the start of the 5.1 story is slow compared to 5.0, but the hype will accelerate near the later half.
The outcome of the story for the 5.x series and beyond have almost been decided already.
Each patch will have a focus on different regions.
Yoshida: When the patches approach the second half (probably meaning 5.3~), players might end up jumping over the border of "shadowbringers" and going to the void? Maybe not (laughs).
Emet Selch being gone does not mean all the ambitions of the Ascians are gone, so players should look forward to what Elidibus does from here on.

[Content in the future]

The devs do not want to be obsessed with "what worked/succeeded" and their past glory. They will continue to try to deliver content by gathering all the good parts of previous contents.
Players probably have a rough idea of "The sequal to that content in the past should arrive in 5.x", but there's quite a lot of content where that assumption doesn't apply/won't be right.

[Alexander Ultimate]

Like the title talks on its own, Probably everything is in it so how many times are they going to transform and how many times are they going to combine with each other?
The devs' passion for robots are stuffed in it.
The fight will be longer than Ultima weapon ultimate.
They are shaving off and adjusting the content right now (during the interview, which took place in the past) and they are going forward and back with removing mechanics and adding mechanics.
The devs' intention and goal when creating this content is "As long as one party can clear it, we'll be fine".
A lot of players are nice enough to stream the content, so Yoshida wants the actual challengers and viewers to scream together as they progress.
The direction they went with is closer to Bahamut Ultimate (Ucob).
The Alexander fight was designed by someone who watched Sudo and Yokozawa create the previous 2 ultimate fights.
The rewards will be weapons that will stand out instantly with a different effect/animation to it. They also have a title as a reward.

[Yorha: Dark apocalypse]

The copied factory exists on the first and the reason why it is located there will be revealed in the 2nd set (5.3 or 5.5) and beyond.
The Yorha raid should leave a scratch mark that is a little different to "Nier".
It should be easier than the "Return to Ivalice" raids, but a lot of people died during the tests. It's definitely easier than Orbonne (final raid of Ivalice) and the Nier raids will end up being about the same difficulty as Rabanastre (First Ivalice raid).
Thie is the introduction to the Nier raid, so they nerfed some of the debuffs after some testing and thought it would be too hard. However, they will throw consecutive mechanics at the players they have never seen before and players might be overwhelmed.
All Yoshida can say is "Look around you and watch out".
The rewards will include what players expect from the Nier raid and both genders can wear it, so it'll look pretty "powerful" when a male wears it...........
[Big news] The waist gear has been removed from the rewards.

[Job adjustments]
[Samurai]

Since you can get meditate stacks from other actions, Shoha will be in your normal rotation.
The meditate stacks have been renamed to "Ken atsu stacks" (roughly translates to blade pressure, but check the patch notes for the english name). If they released it without adjustments, Samurais would be too strong so they rebalanced it.

[Ninja]

The core of the job hasn't changed and they left the system where "you activate a Ninjutsu by pressing the right Mudras".
The speed and frequency you can press your mudras haven't changed, so you should be able to have a smooth time with no stress.

[Summoner]

The current summoner makes it hard to feel accomplished, so they improved on the "play feel" and made it easier to understand. They will try to continue to adjust what they can do during a patch cycle, instead of an expansion where they can totally rebuild it.

[Bard]

The synergy the bards can provide with their songs are "so so".
The players' opinion on bards having party synergy or not is divided, but Yoshida personally thinks the 5.1 bard landed on a balanced spot.
If players want even more synergy for bard like in the 4.x series, they would have to nerf bard's personal damage to a dancer's level.

[ETC]

The DPS role as a whole got damage adjustments.
Various jobs will get their potency/numbers adjusted.
Astrologian's nocturnal sect will be buffed.

[Hades Extreme]

As a whole fight, it's almost the same difficulty as Shinryu Extreme.
Those players who aren't really good with "do A during B" should find this fight easy. Instead, this time they organized some mechanics with a different style and players who aren't good with those types of mechanics might have trouble beating the fight.
Yoshida was able to clear it on his 2nd try after hearing all the explanations from the devs. He did want to have a word with the devs as a black mage though.
The reward will be weapons, but the item level will not be higher than the Eden savage weapon. This fight is longer than the usual extreme fights, so you will be given 2 totems when you clear.
There is also one housing related item, but those who are "blessed by the light" might feel awkward placing it in their house (Zodiark statue?) .

[Blue mage]

The "blue mage log" is extremely fun and has various objectives such as "clear Thordan extreme with 8 blue mages" and you get to play old content from different perspectives.
Figuring out and researching which combination of Blue magic you want for each task is fun. There are rewards for the blue mage logs and they want to provide a variety of rewards in the future.
They will be adding new magic that "changes your stance". He wants you to imagine finding a tank and healer and "copying their ablities/capablities (the term he used here isn't the ablity as in ablities each job has, but more along the lines of capabilities)"
"Level 5 death" will finally be added and you can kill bosses as soon as you enter the boss arena (didn't say all bosses).
The learning system itself has been adjusted and you almost have an 100% chance of learning a spell if you do the content synced.

[Beast tribe quests]

The beast tribe quests in the 5.x series will be basically the same as the previous ones, but they will probably only have one beast tribe for battle classes.
Since they received player feed back from a certain someone, they want to add the craftegatherer beast tribe quest a little earlier this time.

[Trusts in the new instanced dungeon]

You can enter the grand cosmos dungeon with your trusts.
When you enter for you first time via the MSQ, you can enter with the trusts regardless of their current level, but you will actually need to have them at the right level after your 1st clear.
They won't be adding any new trust this time. (Graha isn't a new trust, because you had him on your first run for the 71 dungeon)

[New frontlines: The Onsal Hakair]

The devs had a lot of fun testing the new frontlines. They think the players who enjoyed "Seal rock" will have an easy time getting into this mode.
This new map will be released in patch 5.15.

[Ishgard restoration]

They will be adding the "Firmament district" (The azure skies district in JP, which comes from the expansion name) as a new area. Players will join the restoration lead by "House Haillenarte".
The flow of the content starts by checking the restoration board, which shows what you have to do in the current phase. You will personally gather collectables and hand them in.
Each world/server has their own and different progression, so the more people that join, the faster Ishgard will be restored on that world/server.
Patch 5.1 alone has several stages to the restoration and when you reach the limit to one of those stages, a "F.A.T.E-ish event for gatherers and crafters" will occur. This F.A.T.E will occur multipe times, as long as you meet the conditions everytime, but it is balanced to where you need quite a lot of participants to clear it. They do have a just in case "bail out" ready for when the F.A.T.E continues to fail over and over again.
Patch 5.1's Ishgard restoration focuses on creating the base camp for future stages.
You get tickets as a reward for your turn ins and there are items you can obtain by trading them in. The experience you can gain from these turn ins are very juicy too.
You can visit other servers to help them out.
The ranking system, Diadem reborn and the propeactual restoration/rebuilding of Isghard will begin in patch 5.2.
After the Doh/DoL rework is done, they are planning to add highly difficult recipes which you can also turn in and helps you to be in the top (insert number) on the ranking board.

[PS5 version]
They are positively considering releasing a ps5 version of FFXIV, but it doesn't mean PS4 players will suddenly be able to adjust everything just like the PC version from the start.

Even if they do release a PS5 version, the first release will be a normal playable edition and then they will add PS5 specific features and functions that live up to its graphics and other capabilities in the future patches.

Actual conversations with additional info from the interviews below.
[Questions in the Famitsu interview]
[The 5.x series focuses on "not being too predictable?"]
Q.The first update to what you can call the 5th season of FFXIV is about to arrive, but can we hear the overall concept first?
Yoshida (Y from here on): I'm sure players who played shadowbringers felt the same way, but i'm confident that the FFXIV team as a whole has grown and improved. Using what the devs experienced in the 4.x series to provide enjoyment to the players is the overall concept.
Y: By still maintaining the consistent release schedule, we want to pick out and collect the good parts from the challanges we tried in the past and mash it together to provide an experience, so the 5.x series might feel a little different to the 4.x series.
Q. We would like to ask about what's in patch 5.1. Vows of Virtue, Deeds of cruelty (Direct translation of the jp name:White virtue, black agreement/secret black promise) sounds Nier related. Tell us why you chose this title.
Y: Ardbert, the Crystal exarch and Emet are 3 people that players got obsesed with and trapped their hearts and are called the "3 great swamps" by some people, but thanks to them, the Shadowbringers excitement has reached the climax and calmed down a little. Now that the night has been brought back to the first, the Eden story touched on brining back the elements to the empty land. On the other hand, the warrior of darkness and the scions are only "guests" on the first after all.
The current situation allows us to presume a few paths. The people on the first starting their new history on their own. The first step they need to take in Eulmore is solving the aftermath of losing the head of their nation. The other path is solving the problem of the scions on the source still being unconcious over there.
Q. I'm personally interested in that too.
Y: Players can just teleport back and forth so they might not feel the threat and danger, but the scions' souls need to return to their bodies and is one of the mysteries that hasn't been solved yet.
The next path is, even though the warrior of darkness carries and inherited a portion of it now, Emet Selch's ambition and dreams have been crushed. That doesn't mean the goal of the ascians as a whole has been anihilated. One of the original Ascians is still present and "what is he going to do now?" is something we can't miss and something that will gradually build up and start moving the whole plot. There's also the Yorha raid that you mentioned. 2P's white color and shadowbringers' darkness that represents black lining up together is the meaning behind the patch title (White vows and black agreement/secret black promise in JP). We wanted to keep the title simple and easy to understand this time.
Q. So Light and Darkness is the theme of the patch?.
Y: Yes. I'm not just talking about the elements of light and darkness, but also the light and darkness that toys with a human's heart. There's also the "meanwhile on the source" events that were on the side during the MSQ and finding out what happened there. Players might feel "It's a slow and quiet start" at first glance compared to the excitement in 5.0, but the hype rush starts in the later half of the 5.1 story, so we'd like players to witness it themselve.
Q. After finding out about Emet Selch, i wondered what light and darkness really is. Are we going to find out anything about this in the story?
Y: That's certainly one of the themes, so it should be told.
Q. I'm concerned about how the story will be split between the first and the source and its volume. Can i assume the 5.x series wlll mostly take place on the first?
Y: Players seem to be interested on where the story takes place, but i don't think you have to be dead set on the stage. I understand that players are currently in love with the first after shadowbringers, but my answer to your question will be "We'll be going to various places".
Q. I was thinking that would be the key to guess where we move towards in the future.
Y: Talking about that may lead to binding the development of the game, so let us leave that as a secret (laughs). Totally dividing the first and the source seems meaningless. The Ghimlyt dark battlefield is still left out there, so of course there will be times where you need to travel between the first and the source.
Q. I'm wondering how F'lahminn feels after finding out Minphilia's fate.
Y: Those questions should be answered as well.
Q. People around the world praised the MSQ this time, but did you think about changing the story in anyway after those reactions?
Y: Most of the decisions are already made during the scenario camps we have, so it didn't have much of an influence on the future story. However, we usually only have one scenario camp between each expansion, but we decided to have 2 for the next one so we can perfectly conclude the Hydaelyn and Zodiark saga. We already had the first camp, so the story for the 5.x series and a little beyond have already been almost 100% decided.
I also think Ascian Emet Selch was a good character and i'm sure the warrior of light/the player has inherited his long and lonely story and that should have made the warrior of light stronger. Walking the next path with everything Emet Selch gave us and overcoming the troubles and conflicts in the future should change how players receive and think about the story.
I'm personally happy that shadowbringers was so well received and i think it ended up so well because the story we piled up for 6 years and the players who went through all of that crossed paths at one point in the story. Having that previous experience and emotions changes how you receive the story. Just like what happened in the story in 4.x was why we could enjoy 5.x so much, experiencing the new story will make the following one taste even better. That's why i previously said that splitting up shadowbringers and the rest is meaningless. I'm not really worried about the latest story letting people down, because it always leads to the next.
Let's say we did another copy and paste of the shadowbringers story. Then players would just feel "just the same pattern again". It was impactful because it was the first time but just trying something new doesn't always end up well. That can also be said about what didn't end up well, because those factors can turn into something good in the future. I'm sure movie directors go through the same process.
Alexander Ultimate and the first opponent
Q. The latest ultimate series fight is releasing soon, but what is the theme this time?
Y: I'd like to ask you that in return. What do you think it's going to be?
Q. The knights of the round or Alexander. Maybe the warring triad.
Y: We did talk about the warring triad as one of the candidates.
Q. Fighting Sophia, Sephirot Zurvan and then Kefka (laughs).
Y: We did have those ideas during the discussions, but that was too similar to how Ultima weapon played out, so we chose Alexander as the next ultimate.
Q. He's finally here! Alexander symbolizes difficult content. Which bosses are showing up?
Y: Like the title suggests, probably everything?
Q. Which direction did you go with this time? The classic "high end difficulty" that Bahamut was, or "the puzzle solving" Ultima weapon route?
Y: I think it's closer to Bahamut. With that being said, Alexander was created by someone who was right by the side and watched those 2 being created, so who knows how it will be like.
Q. There's a possibility that he took all the good parts from the previous two ultimates?
Y: Yes. Ultimate Bahamut was created by Sudo (Battle content designer) and Ultimate Ultima weapon was created by Yokozawa (Lead battle system designer) and they were both created by geniuses. The one in charge this time is someone different who is another member who has pulled the raid team and he hates to lose, so please look forward to it (laughs).
Q. Is the reward going to be a shiny Alexander weapon?
Y: The weapon will be something that will instantly stand out. The VFX team came up with a different effect this time and a lot of effort went into it. I personally wanted the weapon after looking at it, so i'd like players to obtain it and show it off.
You will be able to enjoy Yoko Taro's character in the Yorha raid.
Q. The Yorha raid is based on Nier, which had quite some disturbing scenes for some players. Did you give any advice (to Yoko) to bring over that unique atmosphere over to FFXIV?
Y: Yoko Taro is a geinus who can create things under restrictions. If there are no restrictions when creating what he wants, he'll surprise us by using something nobody else would. Yoko Taro isn't a creator who always needs to make you feel "that's terrible".
Q. I see.
Y: I understood that very well after working with him. When bringing the "Nier essence" into FFXIV, he made it fit into the FFXIV world without me telling him. He was actually the one who came and asked "I'm thinking about restraining it to this level, but how do you feel?"
Q. Is that so.
Y: Then i would say "I think you can go futher with it". He is not all about how shocking it is or how terrible the experience is, but someone who take care of the lore. I think Yoko Taro is all about "leaving a scratch mark", so if the title allows cruel expressions, he would go to the extremes to express that and if the title has restrictions, he would use one map, object, character and make different routes so you can enjoy it over and over again. Even if he had to reuse the same elements, he would use the scenario to hide that and keep players motivated to play the game multiple times. After doing so, the players feel like they experienced a game with a lot of volume and that's Yoko Taro's magic. Players should expect content that allows them to enjoy Yoko Taro's art, rather than "Yoko from Nier or Drakengard".
Job adjustments players are interested in.
Most of the job adjustments are in the summary above, so i will only pick up what wasn't in the summary. [Ninja]
Y: If we left the current system and barely got through this expansion, we would run into problems when we add new ninja actions in the future. For example, let's say we add another ninjutsu that requires 3 mudras. Then you are guaranteed to triple weave/clip in between GCDs, which causes stress to the player. We changed mudras and ninjutsu into a short GCD, so there is no more weaving for mudras.
Q. Is it going to be like Paladin's requiescat and holy spirit?
Y: Even if i continue talking about this topic, some words might be cut out after editing and cause misinterpretations, so i'd like players to actually touch it and try it out. Whichever way, this isn't the final adjustment and we will continue to balance Ninja after hearing feed back after the changes to Ninja.
[Summoner]
Q. How about summoner?
Y: The problem with Summoner is, it was difficult for players to grasp "what the right rotation is". Which is a common problem shared by new players and veteran players.
Q. What specifically?
Y: When you play summoner, you never think "i see" when you look at a rotation. Players get confused with what action to use first. For example with Egi assault, players are thining "Am i supposed to use this asap or do i prioritize other actions?" and it's hard to understand the rotation. We wanted to improve the "play feel" by making it easier to understand. We'd like to start by doing what we can currently do now and continue adjusting it after hearing feed back from the players.
[Bard]
Q. Next we'd like to hear about bard. I remember you looked like you were having a hard time talking about balancing bard in one of the past broadcasts. Where will bard land?
Y: This is of course "the current direction" we are talking about, but we all had trouble coming to a conclusion until the very end. We had discussions between the battle system team and job balanc team and precisely checked the feed back reports from the community team and ended up adjusting the syngergy from the songs to be "so so" at the last minute.
Q. Why did you decide to do so?
Y: If we were to add party synergy to the songs to the current bard, we would need to nerf bard's personal damage. Then players are going to say "Oh no, it's a nerf". We adjust DPS with party buffs in mind, but some players just want their personal damage and don't care about party buffs. The 4.x bard always had one of the songs up and provided the party buffs throughout the fight, which meant having a bard automatically meant a few percent to everyone's damage. On the other hand, bard had to manage other factors outside of songs and there was a large amount of players who said that was too busy and annoying.
Q. DoTs too.
Y: We wanted to reduce that pain when shadowbringers launched..We do understand that "wanting to support" doesn't always equal "i want strong party synergy buffs", but we cannot adjust jobs without "numbers" in mind.
If we reverted bard's support from songs to what it had in 4.x, bards will need to be nerfed to the point they are equal to dancers or reduce the party synergy to something even weaker, or else it won't go well with the current concept of "make bard's synergy lightethinner". Buffing the party syngergy is easy on paper, but if we reduced their personal damage out put, there will be opinions like "that's not what i wanted!".
Q. Sounds difficult.
Y: We can't forget the fact that bards don't receive the piercing down synergy from dragoons anymore. As a result, some bards feel like they aren't contributing with damage compared to before. If we brought back the 4.x synergy to bards, i feel like nobody will be happy. We are trying to somehow keep bards damage without nerfing it as much and try to let it have support via songs.
[Hades]
Q. Is the weapon reward going to be Ilv465?
Y: I will avoid saying actual numbers, but those players who have cleared E4s don't need to force themselves to go and achieve these weapons for the item level. However, the rewards are "his weapons", so i think a lot of players will want to obtain them.
Q. You said the fight is longer than a typical extreme trial, but does that mean Emet Selch fans will be happy with the cutscenes/animations?
Y: Who knows (laughs).
[Blue mage]
Q. The level cap on blue mage is going up to 60, but what should we look out for?
Y: This will be content after you reach the level cap, but i'd like players to focus on the blue mage log. You will be challenging all sorts of content and the ones that are especially fun are the past high level difficulty content. There's a task that will say "Beat Knights of the round extreme with 8 blue mages". In order to survive the holy shield bash into spear of Halone, all 8 blue mages will need to cast diamond back at the same time (the MT needs to cast it for heavenly heel) and that picture itself is worth a glance. Bringing back your memories of each mechanic and working around with blue spells is fun.
I was surprised that past content felt totally different and fun by just changing the players' perspective like this. The blue mage log has a lot of potential that we can expand on and so more people can enjoy it, we'd like to use our resources on adding a variety of rewards to it.
[Dengeki interview conversations]
Q. Before we talk about 5.1, i'd like to ask about the orchestra concert. Good work and how did you feel about how passionate players were?
Y: 2 years ago, we decided to have an orchestra concert because the players wanted it, but i had no idea about concerts and the only data we had was "Warrior of light are powerful" (laughs). So we set a rough estimate and decided to have 4 concerts with 5000 seats, but i heard later that the people from the orchestra thought "Is he out of his mind to fill 20000 seats at an orchestra concert?". It seems 20000 was a crazy number to go for. Somehow we managed to sell all the tickets and the people from the orchestra said they had fun in front of the players.
Still, i learned my lesson after barely selling all the tickets and made the plan for the next concert and it was 3 days and no additional concerts, but a trouble occured with the ticket sales (So many people wanted to go to the concert after 5.0's success and people were trying to resell their tickets for 5 to 10 times the original price) and i went to everybody involved and begged them to do another day.
We were able to please the warriors of light in the end, but there was plenty to regret after that incident. Us devs usually run with passion and on the fly reactions to problems, but as FFXIV grows and expand to other industries, we learned that we need to adapt our way of thinking or else we'll destroy ourselves one day. However, aiming for the very limit was very FFXIV-ish in a way. Playing a 5.0 soundtrack at the end surprised everyone and was well received, so we'd like to continue trying to organize surprises like that in the future. Last time we tried to play a 4.0 song during the 3.0 concert, but we couldn't so we moved early this time to fit it in. I will never forget the roars and screams i heard after we showed the 5.0 shadowbringers logo during the concert. I asked players to keep that surprise 5.0 song a secret until all the concerts were over and nobody spoiled it on the internet and i was proud and thought we have the best customers.
Screenshot from the concert: https://dengekionline.com/images/pKGT/O51j/DzMz/ZKdN/0aC7nOiByBiQGvDv8Xlj5XwNo2Md0h8ys2rWChYBRQtqV7RWVEPhfKFBLLMtgGu7POdZm5QWJS41K2Dg.jpg
[The grand cosmos]
Q. Please tell us the concept of the new dungeon we will be visiting during the MSQ, the grand cosmos.
Y: The content included in patch 5.1 needed to be decided and ordered before patch 5.0 was even out, or else it wouldn't make it in time. Back in the planning stages, we weren't sure if we were using this dungeon in the MSQ or one of the side quests and we decided as we were building the dungeon. During the 5.0 development, we already had plans such as "We should be able to go to here" or "This place seems like a place you can enter" and had candidates for "new dungeon locations" and the grand cosmos was one of them.
Lakeland used to have a nation lead by the Elves and there are still ruins that remain. The grand cosmos is one of those places with the concept of "old civilization" and "fantasy feel".
Q. A different fantasy compared to Il meg?
Y: A different fantasy that isn't the same as Ishgard and Il meg. It has its own Elf fantasy feel that belongs on the first.
Q. What is the difficulty of Hade extreme like compared to Eden savage?
Y: Between E1s and E2s.
[Alexander ultimate]
Q. Is Brute justice going to merge with Alexander!?
Y: Our passion for robots is stuffed inside so i'll leave the rest to your imagination (laughs).
Q. Will it come out a little after 5.1?
Y: Ultimate will be released with patch 5.11, which is 2 weeks after patch 5.1.
Q. I'm not expecting specifics, so at least let me ask you how long the battle is.
Y: It should be longer than Ultima weapon, but we are adjusting it daily and changing mechanics and how to solve them each and everyday and it's already extremely long, so we are trying to cut down as we adjust the fight.
Q. I'm assuming longer than Ultima weapon but shorter than Bahamut?
Y: The adjustments to the mechanics themselves are still work in progress and we are having a rough time making it "moderate". When it comes to ultimate fights, we never think about "this % of players should be able to clear" and i tell them they don't have to hold back on the difficulty, so i'd like hardcore players around the world to enjoy it. We are making final adjustments so even those who cleared the previous 2 ultimates can have a challenge.
[Nier]
Q. How involved was the nier team with the creation of the "Yorha: dark apocalypse?" How are the other scenario writers working and how is the work flow during development?
Y: Yoko taro wrote all the plots and the text was mainly written by Yoko and a portion was done by the other Nier scenario writers. There's tons of text and the main plot was all written by Yoko and co and the in game texts are also checked and additions are made by him when neccesary.
With the art work, the artist from the FFXIV team designs the game models for the machine life forms and i check and review it until it's worthy of the submitting it to Yoko Taro. Then Yoko taro checks it and says "The nier machines have this formula to their design, so please fix it".
With the mechanics, Yoko wanted us to add mechanics that we haven't used yet in FFXIV and sometimes he gave us ideas for those mechanics. We had discussions and meetings from the plotting stages and built up from there. We teamed up and worked on it.
Q. Did you just copy and paste the graphic data from Nier?
Y: We got the data for the characters and the maps from the nier team, but we modified it to fit the FFXIV format. The current gen games have a problem where, even if you use the exact same data, shader and bones, it won't look the same on another engine. After all the adjustments, i compare it with the original game and check if it's proper, such as "her eye lids are thinner than the original so we need to fix it".
Q. What's your impression on the 5.1 (nier) story?
Y: It's only the introduction, so we couldn't have 8 hours of scenario to read which is full of lore. Just mysteries all over the place and "Is this where it ends?". Also, there are some features after you clear the raid. We'd like players to share their opinions on where the story will head towards.
Q. Okabe (sound composer for Nier) revealed a new track for the raid at tokyo game show, but are all the songs in the raid going to be new?
Y: No. That is the only new song and the others will be from the Nier series. Yoko did say he wanted Okabe to write a new song for each raid, so maybe if Okabe can give us a new song for 300 dollars (laughs).
[Ishgard restoration]
Q. What is the ranking system for the restoration going to be like?
Y: The ranking will start in 5.2 and it announces who the top contribuers are and just like how the deep dungeon ranking system has "dot pictures for each job", the artits drew the gatherers and crafters with dots. There are also ranking rewards, so i'd like those who are proud to be crafters and gatherers to aim for the top.
Q. You said the Ishgard restoration begins in patch 5.11, but is the crafter and gatherer rework in 5.1?
Y: The rework is split into 2. One will be in patch 5.1 and the other will be in patch 5.2. 5.1 will introduce some UI improvements but some of the features will only work after 5.2. Most of the current actions are no longer usable and crossed out, so it has quite an impact. The actions with tier 2~3 will be merged and Biergot's action will have an 100% success rate.
Q. From what i've heard so far, it seems like the "high end recipes" won't be craftable with macros
Y: The normal recipes will be craftable if you set them up properly, but the difficult recipes will require you to use the actions with procs properly when they show up and we'd like to design it where you have to observe the current situation and react to it.
Q. The current crafting system allows you to ignore HQ mats and use macros to craft HQ items.
Y: I thought that part was broken, so DoL/DoH will have overall adjustments. It will change entirely and new crafters and gatherers can instantly understand what to do and what does what.
[Game watch questions]
[The despair returns]
Q. Alexander reminds me of the nightmare Midas was. Is Alexander ultimate harder than Bahamut? Harder than Midas too? (the answer to the first question overlaps with other interviews, so it has been removed)
Y: Well, Midas was just savage and this time it's Ultimate...There are some people who say Midas with a low item level was as hard as ultimate, so it's hard to compare those fights (because everyone is max ilv from the start for ultimate).
Q. If it really is harder than Midas, only those who cleared midas back then can clear it?
Y: The difficulty back then was determined with required damage and incoming damage in mind, but Alexander ultimate also has a huge weight on how difficult the mechanics are, so the knowledge and experience you have gained so far will be important when challenging the fight. It's not something you can just simply compare.
Q. Just hearing the word "Alex" gives me the shivers.
Y: Thanks to that, we had plenty of ideas to pull out of the bag and i think we used all, if not most of those ideas. All the mechas (robots) will be showing up at least.
Q. They were in one place, but does it mean you'll be fighting them all at the same time?
Y: Who knows...I won't say anymore because it might help solve some mechanics. With regards to ultimate, people around the world are looking forward to watch the world first race. There are those who can't try it themselves because of certain reasons who still watch the progression live until midnight and wake up and ask if anybody cleared, so rather than me revealing any secrets, i'd like players to enjoy the live feel. We're also looking forward.
Y: It's designed so you can either play or watch it to enjoy it.
[The reason why Ninja adjustments are in 5.1 and not at 5.0 launch]
Q. May i ask the difficulty of adjusting jobs in general? Using Ninja as an example, why did you decide to adjust ninja in 5.1 and not 5.0
[Historical moment] Y: With Ninja, we didn't only test it on the dev servers, but also with typical internet available in public. But the internet was still extremely fast and we found out we still weren't affected by bad internet during peak times.
Q. So you're saying your mudras never had clipping issues when you weaved them between GCDs in the dev environment?
Y: The network in Tokyo is fast, so there's almost never any lag, but when you go to a "normal house" during peak times or when the bandwidth is limited for some internet providers, a zero point however seconds of lag can affect the game. We thought that level of lag was somewhat forgivable, but this was where the problem was.
The next problem was, our long-wished task was "reducing the synergy between jobs" and thinking about changing or leaving trick attack until the very end was a huge problem. Trick attack affects your own damage but also raises the whole party's damage. We wanted to nerf this affect at launch (5.0), but we were scared the "nerf" image would be too strong and negatively impact ninjas. If we left trick attack's synergy and allowed ninjas high personal damage, it would be a broken job so we released it with low personal damage and the problem was, that personal damage was way too low.
On top of that, the ninja's rotation is complicated and busier than other jobs and that wasn't rewarded with a high return. Trick attack is strong, but it's also the reason Ninja's personal damage needs to be low and plus that, the internet environment affected their mudras and ninjutsu output.
To solve these issues, we had to change the core of the mudra and ninjutsu or else the problem would drag on. To fix it asap, we decided to have a huge improvement to the system in 5.1.
Link to the rest of the Q&A translation in the comments below: https://old.reddit.com/ffxiv/comments/dmvrhj/pre_51_interviews_with_yoshida_by/f56mzr2/?context=3
Source: http://ff14net.2chblog.jp/archives/56004349.html Sources for each interview are included in the link above.

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