Legendary lost sector today destiny 2

Find the full blog post with all the tables here.
Welcome to your monthly no-shill data dump: Here's the 61st monthly report for the 2018 Top Ten Experiment featuring BTC, XRP, ETH, BCH, ADA, LTC, NEM, DASH, IOTA, and Stellar.
tl;dr
What's this all about? I purchased $100 of each of Top 10 Cryptos in Jan. 2018, haven't sold or traded, reporting monthly for almost 5 years. Did the same in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. Learn more about the history and rules of the Experiments here.
Snapshots taken on the 1st of each month (snapshot below taken 1 Feb)
January Highlights: First all green month since July 2022, ADA has a very good January. ETH maintains overall lead, followed by second place BTC (the only two cryptos in the green since January 2018). Combined Top Ten Portfolios still well up vs S&P500.
Month Sixty-One – Down -44% CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) The 2018 Top Ten Crypto Index Fund Portfolio is BTC, XRP, ETH, BCH, ADA, LTC, IOTA, NEM, Dash, and Stellar.
January highlights for the 2018 Top Ten Portfolio:
The first all green month since July 2022.
ADA (+55%) has a very good January.
ETH maintains the overall lead, followed by second place BTC in second place, the only two cryptos in the green since January 2018.
January Ranking and Dropouts Here’s a look at the movement in the ranks since January 2018:
CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) Top Ten dropouts since January 2018: sixty-one months into the 2018 Top Ten Experiment, only 40% of the cryptos that started in the 2018 Top Ten have remained. NEM, Dash, Stellar, Bitcoin Cash, IOTA, and Litecoin have been replaced by Tether, BNB, MATIC, USDC, BUSD, and DOGE.
NEM is the first of the 2018 Top Ten to drop out of the Top 100 and has the distinction of being the lowest ranked crypto of any of the six Experiments.
January Winners and Losers January Winners – ADA easily won the month (+55%) followed by DASH (+43%).
January Losers – XRP and Stellar had the “worst” month, +24% and +25% respectively.
Overall Update – ETH maintains first place, followed by BTC. NEM in last place, slipping out of the Top 100. After over five years of holding these cryptos, only 2 out of the 10 cryptos are in the green: BTC and ETH.
Overall, first place ETH (+119%) is ahead of the pack, followed by second place BTC (+75%).
The initial $100 invested in first place ETH five years ago? It’s worth $220 today.
NEM is at the bottom, down -96% since January 2018. The initial $100 invested in Dash sixty-one months ago is worth $4 today.
Total Market Cap for the entire cryptocurrency sector: CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) End of January 2023 market cap: $1,048,821,167,396
In contrast to the performance of the 2018 Top Ten Portfolio, Crypto as a sector is up +82% since January 2018. There was no easy way to achieve this at the time, but if you were able to capture the entire crypto market since New Year’s Day 2018, you’d be doing much, much better than the Experiment’s Top Ten approach (-44%). You would also be significantly outperforming the return of the S&P (+50%) over the same period of time, and nine of the individual cryptos within the 2018 Top Ten (except for Ethereum).
Crypto Market Cap Low Point in the 2018 Top Ten Crypto Index Experiment: $114B in January 2019.
Crypto Market Cap High Point in the 2018 Top Ten Crypto Index Experiment: $2.65T in October 2021.
Bitcoin dominance: CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) BitDom ended January at 42.5%. When considering the more than five year 2018 Experiment time frame, BTC dominance is near the low end. For context:
Low Point in the 2018 Top Ten Crypto Index Experiment: 33% in January 2018.
High Point in the 2018 Top Ten Crypto Index Experiment: 70.5% in August 2019.
Overall return on $1,000 investment since January 1st, 2018: CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) If I decided to cash out the 2018 Top Ten Experiment today, the $1000 initial investment would be worth $562, -44% from January 2018.
For context, in sixty-one months since the start of the 2018 Index Fund Experiment, forty-eight months have been in the red, with only thirteen months of green (all which occurred in 2021/22).
Here’s a look at the ROI over the life of the experiment, month by month, since the beginning of the 2018 Experiment over 5 years ago:
CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) The all time high for this portfolio is October 2021 (+72%). The lowest point was in January 2019 when the 2018 Top Ten Portfolio was down -88%.
A reminder: no one can predict the value of any crypto tomorrow, let alone next month or next year. The 2018 Top Ten Crypto Portfolio was down -88% after one year, -80% after two years, -25% after three years.
Combining the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 Top Ten Crypto Portfolios Alright, that’s that for the 2018 Top Ten Crypto Index Fund Experiment recap.
But I didn’t stop the Experiment in 2018: I invested another $1000 into each of the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 Top Tens as well. How are the other Crypto Index Fund Experiments doing?
2018 Top Ten Experiment: down -44% (total value $562)
2019 Top Ten Experiment: up +192% (total value $2,915)
2020 Top Ten Experiment: up +354% (total value $4,541) (best performing portfolio)
2021 Top Ten Experiment: up +82% (total value $1,822)
2022 Top Ten Experiment: down -72% (total value $284) (worst performing portfolio)
2023 Top Ten Experiment: up +33% (total value $1,329)
So overall? Taking the six portfolios together, here’s the bottom bottom bottom bottom bottom bottom line:
After a $6,000 total investment in the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 Top Ten Cryptocurrencies, the combined portfolios are worth $11,453.
That’s up +92% on the combined portfolios, down from November’s all time high of +553%. Here’s the combined monthly ROI since I started tracking the metric in January 2020:
CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) That’s a +92% gain by investing $1k in whichever cryptos happened to be in the Top Ten on January 1st (including stablecoins) for six years in a row.
Comparison to S&P 500: I’m also tracking the S&P 500 as part of the Experiment to have a comparison point with other popular investments options.
CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) The S&P 500 is up +50% since January 2018, so the initial $1k investment into crypto on January 1st, 2018 would be worth $1,500 had it been redirected to the S&P.
Taking the same invest-$1,000-on-January-1st-of-each-year approach with the S&P 500 that I’ve been documenting through the Top Ten Crypto Experiments, the yields are the following:
$1000 investment in S&P 500 on January 1st, 2018 = $1,500 today
$1000 investment in S&P 500 on January 1st, 2019 = $1,600 today
$1000 investment in S&P 500 on January 1st, 2020 = $1,240 today
$1000 investment in S&P 500 on January 1st, 2021 = $1,070 today
$1000 investment in S&P 500 on January 1st, 2022 = $840 today
$1000 investment in S&P 500 on January 1st, 2023 = $1,050 today
Taken together, here’s the bottom bottom bottom bottom bottom bottom line for a similar approach with the S&P:
After six $1,000 investments into an S&P 500 index fund in January 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 my portfolio would be worth $7,300.
That is up +22% since January 2018 compared to a +92% gain of the combined Top Ten Crypto Experiment Portfolios.
The chart below shows the six year ROI comparison between a Top Ten Crypto approach and the S&P as per the rules of the Top Ten Experiments:
CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) Conclusion: Many thanks to the long-time Experiment followers, appreciate you taking the time to follow along over the years. For those just getting into crypto, welcome! I hope these reports can somehow give you a taste of what you may be in for as you begin your crypto adventures. Buckle up, think long term, don’t invest what you can’t afford to lose, and try to enjoy the ride!
A reporting note: I’ll focus on 2023 Top Ten Portfolio reports + one other portfolio on a rotating basis this year, so expect two reports per month. January’s extended report is on the 2018 Top Ten Portfolio (the OG Experiment), which you’re reading now. You can check out the latest 2019 Top Ten, 2020 Top Ten, 2021 Top Ten, and 2022 Top Ten reports as well.

Male,30,UK
Been doing to rheumatology for the past 15 year on and off and medication list is too long to list... Lost count on how many cortisone injections and fluid drians iv had throughout the years, this disease is absolutely breaking me I haven't been to rheum is over a year until today to get my knee drianed I have lost 20kg regularly going to the gym and my diet has been good, I thought It was too good to be true until it decided to make an appearance! I'm sick to death of it, I work 12 hour shifts and I'm on my feet and I have 2 kids at home with my partner ! The NHS just palm you off when you eventually get an appointment, I understand they are under funded but it's a fucking joke! My doctor couldn't give me know answers today and was so frustrating! I'm worried about what the future entails with my career and my kids, fuck this disease 😩

Hey It's BlackStarKami here, I do gameplays and Live Streams on YouTube and Twitch so let's hang out. Here's my latest video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdHV9LIrP4k

Im all for the Guardian Ranks being hard. I did the flawless lost sectors already and today they went and moved them to a higher rank.
What I don’t like is that I can’t even control if people give me commendations or not. The commendation part is holding my rank back big time. I’m currently sitting at 477.
I’m 13,340 Active Triumph score. I’ve got the Lightfall Seal. I’m at the pinnacle cap but I’m still at 477.
I’ve done all the stuff needed this season to have unlocked Rank 9 but I’m stuck at 7 until I grind commendations that I have no control over by “getting good”.

WARNING LONG MESSAGE INCOMING
Hello there... Cough adventures. Take a sit, grab a beer and let me tell you why we are gathering here today. Chugs some of beer swiftly and hits the table with mug creating loud cling sound In loud voice We! Are! Here! To create! To be part of something great that is called DnD ! Imagine... Imagine the outside world seen by eyes. Seen through eyes of so many, seen differently by each of us yet connecting, twisting through similarities. What if all these we can see with eyes of imagination would be gathered? Inhales deeply and combined! Into one great story! Into world touched by many? Into one common living creation. Our story would be legendary! Sing by many, wrote down by some, but spoken by them alll! Raises his fist in the air while awkward silence gets "louder" coughs soo... Here i stand and I'm inviting you all to join this creation. Make it our, made by all together Shaped by some! Or hundreds! Noo! Thousands! Yeeeees! Listen... Sits down, put one of his legs on top of another dont you think there is not enough and we need more of magical world of DnD? Then join! Mugs hits a table and shatters into pieces Fck...
Anyhow! Hey, I'm Pheoxin and I want to be DM. I'm starting to work on my own campaign when meantime I'm reading DnD books, preparing to run some premade campaigns and get used to more and more to my role. I played DnD for years and I really love it! But yes yes, the idea and why we are here. I was thinking of creation of campaign, talking with friends about it, reading some posts... And it just hit me. There is so many people with great ideas and imagination. So many of you can create incredible items, storiea, characters and mamy other things. So why not do it together? Why not meet from time to time and talk about it? Create things together? "Oh why not everyone just do it on their own? Bla bla"... Because a lot of people cant create entire world. Yet they are still creative and able to make amazing smaller things. I would like to make it as project for everyone who loves DnD, wants to just be part of something, enjoy common likes, have good time and do more around world of DnD :) place where everyone can be listened, share their crazy, funny, overpowered ideas and see something becomes out of it :)) i want to do it over stream on twitch (yeah yeah small promo im sorry i dont like it honestly... ) https://www.twitch.tv/pheoxin/ I want to use AI fpr imagine creation, write stories, characters, map etc live, together with you. Sometimes you just miss doing something DnD related, right? Or am i only one? Imagine seeing that your idea coming to live, becoming part of something. Wouldn't it be amazing? :) Well its already a lot of gibberish from me so, if you are interested just watch over this thread, I'll post updates here. Ill schedule 1 or 2 days a week with Stream just about it and lets see what happens? Comment and let me know what you think :) are interested or no? Why if so? And have a great day :) Keep rolling that die! I wish you all nat20 <3

Wild story so bear with me. Me (32M) and now ex (36F) just broke up after a little under 2 years. It's very tough. She said she didn't feel a spark with me, she said I was 80% perfect. I said obviously that's not the case though because the other 20% is more important. She is mad at herself and so badly wishes she could change whatever she thinks it is because I'm the best guy she's ever met. My family sucks and she doesn't have much of her own left. We were each other's family.
We work together. We started as very close friends. I have battled cancer, and she lost her mom to cancer. Right when we got together I was diagnosed a second time. We moved in together shortly before the end of my treatment, which was like 3 months into dating and admittedly very impulsive. Radiation effects wore off about 2 weeks after being done and I was no longer sick to my stomach all the time.
Life continued for us. We went on trips. We loved each other. We intertwined our friend group. We were respectful and for the most part a good team. We understood each other on different levels we hadn't encountered with the cancer. I couldn't have kids (I lost one of my nuts to cancer and radiation killed the rest of the swimmers in the other lol) and she didn't want them. It was going to be us forever.
I guess we both got complacent. Things got boring for her as an extrovert and my introverted nature took over and we just fell into the zone. I felt okay because she was my social being. I liked being in her space and that fulfilled a lot of my social requirements. She started nagging me (what I wear, how I drive, leaving my coat on the chair when we get home meanwhile she would dump her lunch kit on the counter for me to clean up - I make her breakfast and lunch and her coffee for work everyday as a show of my love for her and to make things easier. I would cook us dinner most nights too) it began to impact my self confidence which I had already been struggling with after cancer.
I got kind of shattered by her words sometimes and I'm not sure I knew how to articulate, also I realize she has a strong personality and sometimes her nagging was just in her nature, while annoying, I accepted it as something she just does sometimes as she is kind of anal. That said, it didn't feel good and made me feel like she didn't like me very much sometimes. I'd get mad at her occasionally when it got obnoxious, but a lot of the time she needed to blow out the lines.
She didn't make me feel desired. We started as friends so that raw sex appeal for her didn't exist (even though she says I have the best shoulders she has ever seen and am very handsome) because of that. While I do go to the gym and take care of myself, cancer has left me looking not quite what I did previously, which has obviously impacted my self confidence despite my attempts to still look like I workout (difficult now, it's not the same... This will take time to adjust for my brain... I was a skinny dweeb that started lifting to build my confidence. It's difficult to lose that foundational core that molded you as a person). She thinks I never have fun in social settings. I do, but I'm just not screaming and yelling about it. We all went out to the driving range for a friend's birthday on Friday and I immediately went into the zone. I used to be a golf pro and everyone was asking me for advice to help them lol. It was super fun, but I guess I was more invested in making sure people were hitting the ball to enhance their own experience! She and her friend whose bday it was said I looked miserable the whole time. Before the driving range the ex also was berating me because I spilled something accidentally on a really nice shirt she bought me and I felt horrible about it. Her adding the guilt about it made me feel even worse. Now that said, I'm not going to engage in her shitty behavior in front of people if she is doing it, but I certainly didn't feel good about the rest of the day after that. I did say later though that her behaviour about that was fucking embarrassing and not okay to berate me like that about a shirt in front of people. I'm pretty clumsy inherently and she knows that so, I typically buy clothes that are more reasonably priced (not that I dress like shit either, I usually wear a nice collared shirt and some Levi's, but I often will wear a half zip or unzipped sweater on top due to my unhappiness with how cancer has left my body) but then she says she wants me to wear nicer shirts and then gives me shit when I spill on them lol.
At the end of the night I was asked to drive some people home (I purposely didn't drink because I figured I was going to be asked about this as I saw everyone else slamming them back and the ex drove me, and a couple we just went to Mexico with to the place so we had her car. I said that was more then fine, and then two more people asked for a ride, bday girl and one of her friends. The ex has a car that didn't necessarily fit everyone and bday girl opened the back of the SUV and hopped in the trunk and said okay let's go. While it was only 15 minutes, I drew a line there. I was not going to be driving while someone was rolling around in the trunk, I'm not 17 years old anymore. I'm also currently in the process of trying to join a local fire department and I already having cancer going against me (a lot of fire departments will call this an automatic disqualifier. I've had to get a lot of documentation from my oncology team to make a case) and the last thing I need to top this off was like a careless driving charge. The couple we went to Mexico with completely understood, but the ex almost used it is ammo to say that I'm boring and always stay in bounds (which is true, I did some really dumb shit growing up and learned a lot. But we also a month ago spent 10 days drunk as shit on a boat in Mexico so it's not like when the circumstances fit I can let loose. Her and I have also gone on about 6 trips since we've been together - RIP bank account lol).
She finally said on Sunday she didn't know anymore about us. She said she was seriously missing something from our relationship, and she can't help how she feels. I conceded. I told her neither one of us can control how she feels. I get where is at. She says she wishes she could do something to fix it because for all intents and purposes she has never dated a guy like me and I'm the best guy she has ever met. She cherished that I was respectful and loving and take care of her. She loves that I'm always consistent. But she doesn't desire me (which I felt and acknowledged during these chats). I think a lot of her behavioral tendencies toward me are a direct result of her lack of feelings, and she might lash out a bit.
She has a history of dating an alcoholic and a narcissist previous to me (2 different dudes lol) and she said she never had the respect or the love she gets with me with them. But she also admits she doesn't have the excitement with me, which is fair also. I understand from a psychology point of view why it would be exciting for her because of the emotional rollercoaster, and now compared to that, yeah arguably I'd be the most boring guy on the planet to date.
I'm not sure if what she feels she is missing is a toxic chemistry or what is going on. I'm a bit boring in my day to day that I stay in bounds and don't treat people like shit... I grew up in a very traumatic household which I used as a catalyst to be the man I am today.
I am struggling. I can't do anything about it. I wish I could be what she needed me to be. I truly loved our life together. I suggested we try therapy as we do have a very solid foundation of love and respect, but she said nothing would change her mind.
I moved out and am now homeless for the first time ever (I left home at 18 and she is the first girl I have ever lived with). Feel like I lost my whole life. I had to open up lines of communication with my mom and ask her for help, she is allowing me to stay with her and my step dad for awhile, which is very generous of them but it's not good for my mental health considering their alcoholism.
Just not doing well. I miss her. A lot. I wish I could fix this. I wish I could be what she needs me to be, but I can't.

Shorter post than usual, and probably a needless one, or at least out of date, but I figured it would be good to get down, “just in case”.
A (thankfully not as common now) misconception is that Spartan III Alpha Company’s destruction was avoidable, that if they had been trained better, equipped better, they might have survived PROMETHEUS. This is refutably false, and this post is intended to demonstrate that their demise was almost completely out of their control, and, primarily, to show that Kurt couldn’t have done anything better to save them.
(Admittedly, there is a bit of theory crafting coming near the end of this post, and I’m not sure if it’s warranted, I wouldn’t mind Haruspis’ comments, if you do see this post, as it seems to be something brought up initially in MJOLNIR and now with SPI. I doubt I’ll get a response though, and I admit I may be making this a bigger issue than it needs to be or is intended to be with its inclusion, but I’m adding it in as another (potential) factor. That’ll be Point III, and clearly labeled as theory crafting.)
With that said, let’s begin with a deep dive into Operation PROMETHEUS:^[1]
PART I: Sent from the sky
The Spartan III program has had more than a few threads made about it to deal with general misconceptions (I think we’re at like, 4 and counting now) so I’ll let those stand.
Alpha Company in general though hasn’t been delved into with much detail. Admittedly we know the least amount of their training, and etc, but we know it was both harder than their predecessors and an improvement of the Spartan II training, or at least, as mentioned by the Encyclopedia, it mirrored it in many ways:

Secretly based on the hidden world of Onyx, the SPARTAN-Ill program was operated and facilitated at Camp Currahee. a military site hidden deep within the planet's dense jungles. Much of the training regimen conducted at Currahee mirrored that of SPARTAN-II training, with intense physical and team-based exercises, as well as an advanced education conducted by an onsite Al.

• Halo Encyclopedia 2022 edition

We know the first night of their training was drastically different from the II’s. The first night of the II’s training is detailed in chapter 3 of The Fall of Reach, the chapter notes the date and time as 2300 hours, September 23rd 2517.
In this chapter Doctor Halsey gives the II’s a speech about why they’re at Reach, why they’ve been chosen, and etc….and then they go to bed.
Chapter 4 begins at 0530 hours, September 24th, 2517, around 6 hours later. The trainees are woken up by stun baton if they didn’t wake by voice alone:

”Wake up, trainee!”
John rolled over in his cot and went back to sleep. He was dimly aware that this wasn’t his room, and that there were other people here.
A shock jolted him—from his bare feet to the base of his spine. He yelled in surprise and fell off the cot. He shook off the disorientation from being nearly asleep and got up.
“I said up, boot! You know which way up is?”
A man in a camouflage uniform stood over John. His hair was shorn and gray at his temples. His dark eyes didn’t look human—too big and black and they didn’t blink. He held a silver baton in one hand; he flicked it toward John and it sparked.
John backed away. He wasn’t afraid of anything. Only little kids were afraid . . . but his body instinctively moved as far away from the instrument as possible.
Dozens of other men roused the rest of the children. Seventy-four boys and girls screamed and jumped out of their cots.

• The Fall of Reach, chapter 4

Comparatively, this is the first thing the III’s of Alpha Company do after their speech by Kurt:

”We cannot accept everyone, though," Kurt continued. "There are five hundred of you. We have three hundred training slots. So tonight. Senior Chief Petty Officer Mendez"—he nodded to the Chief—"has devised a way to separate those who truly want this opportunity from those who do not."
Kurt handed him a tablet reader. "Chief?" To his credit Mendez registered shock for only a split second. He scanned the tablet, frowned, but nodded.
"Yes, sir," he whispered.
Mendez yelled at the children, "You want to be Spartans? Then get back on those ships." They stood shocked, staring at him.
*"No? I guess we found a few washouts. You." He pointed to one child at random. "You. And you." The chosen kids looked at each other, at the ground, and then shook their heads. "No?" Mendez said. "Then get on those Pelicans."
They did so, and so did the others, a slow shuffling procession.
"Drill instructors," Mendez said.
Three dozen NCOs snapped to attention.*
"You will find Falcon Wing aerial descent units on the field. Load them ASAP and make sure your trainees are properly fit-led. Their safe deployment is now your responsibility."
The DIs nodded and ran toward the bundled Falcon Wing backpacks.
The Chief turned back to Kurt. "You're going to make them drop?" He raised both eyebrows in surprise. "At night?"
"The Falcons are the safest drop units," Kurt replied.
"With respect, sir, some of them are only four years old."
"Motivation, Chief. If they can do this, they'll be ready for what we have to put them through.”

• Halo Ghosts of Onyx, chapter 6

Anyone who didn’t jump was disqualified from the program immediately:

A girl with pigtails and missing her front teeth stepped forward. "I'll go first, sir," she yelled.
"Good girl," he said. "Go right to the edge; hang on to the guide line."
She took the tiniest baby steps to the edge of the Pelican, then froze. She took three deep breaths and then with a squeak, she jumped. The wind caught her.
She vanished into the dark.
"Next!" the old Navy man said.
All the kids, Shane included, slowly formed a line. He couldn't believe they were doing this. It was nuts.
The next boy got to the edge, looked down, and screamed. He fell backward, and scrambled away. "No!" he said. "No way!"
"Next!" the man called, and didn't give the kid cowering on the deck another glance.
The next boy jumped without even looking. And the next.

• Halo Ghosts of Onyx, chapter 6

Now, admittedly we don’t know what happened during their first morning, but I’d wager it would have been classroom instruction or some “light” activities. Even so, their first real activity was much more intense than their predecessors.
Their first test, in many respects, mirrored their deployment: dropped into unfamiliar terrain, forced to rely on their equipment and comrades above all else. They rely on each other, on the knowledge that they would not be alone when they reached the ground.
In later, proper, missions, sealed in armour, with the knowledge that their operations had to succeed, the knowledge that they had completed that first jump might have provided some small bit of comfort. If they could do that, maybe they could do anything.
This would be their main method of deployment, using droppods to get deep behind enemy lines, Strike targets of critical opportunity in places others couldn’t reach.
This is presumably how Operation FIREBRAND, IRON GREAVE, and the majority of their other operations were carried out. The standout and exception seems to be Operation HWACHA, which saw Alpha Company operating as boarding and counterboarding teams against Covenant fleet elements in zero-gee.
Whatever the case, the hallmark of a Spartan III deployment in future seemed to be a sudden, abrupt storm of drop pods appearing without warning to those on the ground.
PART II: Nightmares
A big element to why the Alphas seemed to be killed en-masse was, as Kurt puts it, “a loss of unit cohesion”. He notes that, as the battle continued on, Spartan III’s began to drastically deviate from standard formations and understood tactical doctrines. They would go at things alone, or neglect to cover their teammates, or be caught in a bad position that they should have seen and avoided:

The video from a helmet camera showed a dozen SPARTAN-IIIs limping and falling on a smoldering landscape of twisted metal. There was no unit cohesion. No two-man teams covering one another. In the heat-blurred background, Elites took up superior positions with good cover.
This was his fault. He had failed them. His training hadn't prepared them. He should have rectified the flaws in their Mark-I PR suits and fixed them faster.

• Halo Ghosts of Onyx chapter 8

Kurt puts this down to poor training and a lack of upgrades and rectified fixes to their armour (more on this latter point in Part III), and while this is his motivation to push Beta and Gamma harder, I’m not sure it was their training, truncated as it was, that was the cause.
Instead, Halo Oblivion, either intentionally or unintentionally, might give us a reason for why this situation happened:

Altered mental states were a symptom of combat fatigue, especially in exhausted soldiers who were using too many stim-packs in an effort to maintain alertness.
John knew from his combat psychology training back on Reach that too much combat stress could sometimes result in mindless, murderous rages. But such episodes were heat-of-the-moment events that erupted without warning—not carefully prepared actions like the commanders were suggesting now. He turned to Bah’d. “What kind of combat stimulants are you using?”
“Stimulants?” Bah’d narrowed her eyes. “Be careful what you imply, John.”
“Major, I never imply.” John was puzzled by Bah’d’s testy reaction. Stim-packs were standard issue for UNSC special operations troops—who often had to fight for days at a time without sleep—but they were easy to overuse in the heat of a long battle. “Your commanders are focus-locked on a pointless goal. That’s a classic sign of stim-pack overdose.”
The human brain needed sleep to flush out the toxins that accumulated during periods of wakeful activity, and John knew that going even twenty-four hours without rest could lead to concentration and memory problems. After forty-eight hours, the brain started to shut down for microsleeps, which lasted anywhere from half a second to half a minute—all followed by short periods of confusion and disorientation that could prove disastrous in a combat situation. By seventy-two hours, the brain’s toxin load grew so acute that severe lapses in concentration, motivation, and memory were inevitable—and hallucinatory episodes were common.
The only way to counteract the effects of sleep deprivation was to temporarily increase the signal-carrying capacity of the brain’s synapses.
That was how stim-packs worked—and why they were sometimes necessary in combat. If there were natural methods for accomplishing the same thing, John had never heard of them.

• Halo Oblivion, chapter 1

To reiterate, Operation PROMETHEUS occurred from 0700 July 27th to an unspecified hour on August 2nd, or, in short, 7 days, though it was likely much longer, as Alpha Company would have spent hours in Slipspace and free fall before the first Spartan hit the ground.
In terms of hours, that’s 168 hours minimum.
Because of the operation’s location and lack of other UNSC assets in the area, Alpha Company had no safe spaces to hide, or to rest. While it’s possible fireteams took up sentry in “secure” positions, only some of the teams could sleep, and if those members not sleeping were using stim-packs, they might not have been able to sleep once it was their turn. This would undoubtedly cause a rolling, cascading issue as teams were forced to abuse their stims in order to stay awake and functional, but it had the debilitating issue of impacting their higher brain functions.
In the end, the last ones standing were probably so hopped up on stimulants they’d have probably died from cardiac arrest even if they could be extracted.
Comparatively, Covenant forces were constantly rotating in fresh troops as reinforcements were brought in from existing ground units, and then troops stationed in orbit:

"After two days," the Admiral said, "seven rectors were rendered inoperative and a counterforce was finally organized by existing Covenant units."
”The Covenant counterresponse was neutralized," the Rear Admiral continued, "and over the next three days. Alpha Company destroyed thirteen more reactors."
”But," the Rear Admiral said, "a massive counterforce appeared in orbit and descended to the surface."

• Halo Ghosts of Onyx chapter 8

This is, also, not taking into account that the final extraction craft were destroyed by the final day,if not earlier, trapping the Spartans on the asteroid. There was no escape, nowhere to run to, nowhere to go.^[2]
Which is where part III comes in.
Part III: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should
THIS IS HIGHLY CONJECTURE AND THEORY-CRAFTING, PLEASE NOTE THAT WHEN REFERRING BACK TO THIS SECTION
I’ve been a pretty big proponent of SPI armour over the years, one of the most notable (if not the most notable) on the subreddit, I think (and I don’t make that claim lightly). Admittedly, a lot of that has been via a steady increase of information gathered piece-meal from various sources. If you search up SPI in Halostory’s search bar, a lot of posts with comments will have me in there, defending or clarifying something based off of tthe information we have.
But I might have been misinformed, or at least, misjudged some of the information.
How does this relate to Alpha Company and their deaths? Well, I’ve sort of touched on it above, but this recent canon fodder has sort of cemented the idea in my mind:
SPI has lost its purpose and become the antithesis of what it was meant to be, and in an attempt to make it more interesting, it’s actually been made worse.
That is to say, over the years, we’ve learned that SPI isn’t an individual armour, but a program, a suite, of different armours all under the same umbrella of “Semi-Power-Infiltration”.
It’s noted in a few places (Encyclopedia, Mythos, various Canon Fodders) as being a stable of armour with different variants optimized for different needs. The most recent canon fodder took a look at some of those variants…kind of.
Initially, this might seem like a good thing, giving the armour more variants broadens it’s potential as a warfighting platform, increasing individual operators capabilities and providing synergy amongst team members’ individual specialities, and allows characters who wear it to stand out from one another in visual media (which I personally find rather humorous, considering the Armour’s intended purpose.)
But while it might be a good idea from an artistic standpoint, it’s a very bad idea from a logistical/in-universe one.
The newest canon fodder describes SPI as:

Though not as robust as mainline Mjolnir suits, SPI armor has proven to be an excellent platform for testing a variety of field attachments and upgrades that would be far more costly (and at greater risk of destruction) applied to Spartan-exclusive missions.

• Canon Fodder: New Year, New Lore

It also goes into description of the different appearances we’ve seen over the years. Of particular note is this depiction from Mythos describing Operation PROMETHEUS. (I know, it’s long winded, but we’re finally back on topic).
The canon fodder goes on to say this about the image:

The top-right depiction of Operation: PROMETHEUS—the mission that saw the annihilation of Alpha Company (the first batch of three-hundred Spartan-IIIs)—seen in Halo Mythos likewise showcases two different variants. The central Spartan’s armor is notably more angular, lacking the traditional curves of the “baseline” Mark-I SPI, while the dead Spartan on the ground has a design which conforms more to baseline but has a much thinner “jaw” and lacks defogging vents.

• Canon Fodder: Nee Year, New Lore

Here’s where this is a problem, jotted out for ease of reading:
You have 300 people sent very far away from any logistics and resupply points, sent to an area surrounded by enemies on all sides.
You have limited space in the drop pods that these 300 people are deployed in. Likely this is filled with weapons, ammunition. Stuff they can carry on their person.
You can send…some number of supply pods (as seen in The Cole Protocol). Larger pods, likely carrying additional explosives, heavy weapons, and, most likely, extra armour to replace damaged ones in the field.
You have these 300 people wearing unique special armour that - to work effectively - must have the plating overlap * perfectly* to achieve proper camouflage. They may all need replacement parts and pieces.
You’ve given some of them unique variants that do not conform to baseline and require different armour plating to work effectively.
I think where I’m going with this is obvious.
Their own specializations and uniqueness (seem to have) killed them….or at least could have contributed to their deaths.
If you’ve just been fighting for a day or two, and your team (or several) makes their way to a supply pod full of armour, and you crack it open to find armour pieces for “SPI Mark I Type B” suits…what do you do if you’ve got Type A? The Type B plating won’t work with your armour. Sure, it might “connect” and have the panels activate, but the plating won’t properly fit, it will give you a bad “seal”, and your camouflage capabilities will be compromised. What does this mean? In short, you must isolate yourself from your comrades in order to not give their positions away, but it leaves you vulnerable.
This isn’t like traditional paradrops of today or the past, this armour is fully sealed, it needs to be to function. It is the only thing keeping you alive. The more variation, the harder it is to supply, the harder it is to supply, the more people die.
It’s especially egregious when the differences seem so….minor. It seems almost needless, at least with what we see in Mythos. What benefit did that one more angular variant provide over the usual baseline? What benefit does it give that a supplemental attachment didn’t? Was it worth the trade off for added logistical woes?^[3]
Additionally, though likely not intended (despite actually being noted in several points in the books) any particular variation based off specialty or designation would be a hinderance because it enables enemy commanders and intelligence teams to paint a picture of your capabilities.
If you can figure out that Squad leaders are wearing a particular type of armour, say, CENTURION, all you need to do is (generally speaking) target them, kill them, then kill their second in commands, then in the words of a damn fine soldier, “you can kill any poor bastard you like”.
Anything that makes you look like a more important target makes you a dead target - and for an armour based off stealth and invisibility, that’s a terrible idea.
You would think Kurt noticed this and immediately put a stop to it, because it’s getting his men and women killed…but we can see that it continues to happen in various forms
Admittedly, and to reiterate, this is likely just something we kind of need to accept as necessary for Halo’s visual media and how they’ve decided to design characters, but it still feels noteworthy to mention, especially because characters in universe mention it;^[4]

The second companion made a beeline for Hamm. There was no rank insignia on his armor— it was never smart to help snipers identify high-value targets —but the name stenciled on his breast was CUVIER.
The company captain.
Cuvier stopped halfway between John and Hamm. Nobody saluted, but Hamm stood slightly more erect. Had one of John’s Spartan snipers been an enemy watching through a scope, even the subtle shift of posture would have been enough to get the captain’s helmet blown off.

• Halo Silent Storm 8

.

Jones was only halfway up the side of the hill, but that was high enough to see the top of theopposite hill, and the tiny figures who stood there. Not the Grunts who were running this way and that, not the Jackals who lined the edge of the summit, but the shiny armor of the Elites. Those were the targets he wanted, and they seemed to leap forward as the Marine increased the magnification on his scope, and let the barrel drift slightly. Which life should he take? The one on the left with the blue armor? Or the one on the right, the shiny gold bastard? At that moment in time, in that particular place, Lance Corporal Jones was God.
He clicked the sniper rifle’s safety catch, and lightly rested his finger on the trigger.

• Halo The Flood, chapter 6

PART IV: THERE’ll BE ANOTHER TIME
New information that’s come to light regarding the operation comes from recent Halo Infinite Intel, about how Deep Winter had select Spartans pulled in secret ahead of PROMETHEUS.
Admittedly, this likely wouldn’t have drastically changed anything, but as John notes in Silent Storm, Spartan effectiveness is dramatically increased and heightened when at optimal team strength, and it seems Deep Winter pulled Spartans to make use of their individual skill sets, a cascading ripple occurs as teams would need to reshuffle and reorganize to fill in and make up to the gaps. The more Spartans removed, the less effective the Company will be, the less ground they can cover, and the greater chance of failure and death, noted here by John:

If the Spartans were attacking separate targets, they wouldn’t be able to support each other—and the efficiency of a Spartan team decreased exponentially each time a member was removed. Dr. Halsey estimated that a Spartan operating alone was only one-sixteenth as effective as a four-member team . . . and sixteen times as likely to get killed.

• Halo Silent Storm, chapter 5

As Kurt himself notes, Deep Winter often operated from a perspective of basic morality functions, which Kurt considered inadequate and a sort of weakness:

What could an AI possibly know what it was like on a real mission? Bullets zinging so close over your head that you didn't so much as hear them hut felt them pass. Or what it was like to get hit, but still have to keep going, bleeding, because if you didn't everyone on your team would die?

• Halo Ghosts of Onyx, chapter 9

Again, little likely changed, but the organizational hurdles and missing members might have effected how Alpha went about their mission, and how quickly they could have completed it.
Which leads us to our conclusion.
CONCLUSION
TLDR: Alpha Company faced a number of factors that led to their demise during Operation PROMETHEUS, and it wasn’t really due to a lack of training, or any sort of deficiency with the Spartans themselves, at least, not that we can see.
Instead, their deaths occurred due to stim-pack overdose, overwhelming enemy reinforcements, and difficult to maintain logistics hampered by additional, and unnecessary issues. While not technically a reason, the loss of select members saved by Deep Winter also probably had an effect on the Company’s overall performance,
In the end, the situation was doomed once the extraction craft were destroyed, and that only hastened Alpha Company’s demise. Kurt, despite his guilt, had nothing to be ashamed of, and their deaths couldn’t be placed on him or the others in the program. At the end of the day, Alpha Company died to factors outside their control and through no obvious faults of their own.
They may have died, cut off and alone, but they did what any Spartan would do, what any Spartan could do;
The impossible.
SUPPLEMENTAL/ADDITIONAL NOTES

• [1]: PROMETHEUS references the Greek God of the same name. A Titan who stole the fire of the gods and gave hope to humanity. In much the same way that Alpha Company gave hope to humanity by delaying the Covenant advance. Of course, this sacrifice went unknown by everyone. Interestingly, Alpha Company’s operations all involve fire in some way. PROMETHEUS has been explained. HWACHA refers to a Korean siege weapon from the 15th century, a cart with dozens of arrows/rockets that would be shot at a target, usually causing mass confusion and panic. Akin to a canister or grapeshot from a cannon. FIREBRAND doesn’t really need an explanation (but seeing as it was their most notable Anti-Insurrectionist operation…yikes, lol). While IRON GRAVE might seem out of place, it harkens back to Prometheus(the deity, not the operation) and his role as a smith. Iron needs to be forged into armour or tools, and based off the timeline, IRON GREAVE might have been Alpha’s first foray against the Covenant proper, hence, its akin to a baptismal experience, or a case of the Company being forged under fire.
  
• [2]: The Mythos artwork depicts a battlefield covered in smoke and ash, but from what I can see, the ground is more or less completely flat with very little deviation on terrain, this means Alpha would need to belly crawl until they arrived at one of the reactors to make best use of their PR systems, slowing them down significantly and, at the same time, meant that once combat was initiated, moving from Reactor Complex to Reactor Complex would have been both incredibly exposed and provided no cover.
  
• [3]: Mirage’s introduction to Infinte also introduces us to the AAP/K-ROC Ordinance Pack, an up-armoured cuirass noted to be cheap and easily available and intended to be worn by Mark I and II SPI. The overall shape makes it seem like it would have fit both Mythos depictions of SPI, and it’s almost certain everyone would have been wearing it, which would have mitigated some of the logistical issues. Assuming a Spartan needed only to replace this aspect of their armour, or their shoulder pauldrons were removed without compromising the rest of the suit’s stealth integrity, logistics issues might have been less of an issue. Other supplemental attachments, like RS/MOONGLOW, rather than entirely different helmets, would have also helped.
  
• [4]: I go into further detail of Spartan appearances and their differing looks (sort of) in this post
  

With that, we conclude another “essay”. Next up (timeline permitted) a character study and a look at love.
~ EternalCanadian

I (20M, 250>230lbs, 5'8) walked into the bathroom today and I barely recognised myself. I mean I've been lifting for about 2 and a bit years now, but I didn't realise how much muscle I had underneath the fat. I did a triple take and thought, "wow, that's me huh?" oath cunt, it is.
I took the advice from you guys since last time (about a 6 weeks ago), cut my calories to a range of 1200-1500 daily, lost an additional 4 kilos of fat, and kept my strength training routine. I even started boxing and kickboxing twice a week. I'm still cycling 11 km daily and getting my 10k steps in.
My overall quality of life has improved so much. I have more clarity when I study, I'm more disciplined when I train and I'm getting "luckier" with girls :)
So, what's your "wow, that's really me?" story??

Friend in question is 29 and his gf is 26. They have two kids together. He pays most of the bills and is there 100% of the time for his family. School, dinner, events, you name it. He's a really good dude. I met him through video games. Never met the guy in person but I consider him my best friend. I always thought he was a nicer guy and his gf was more aggressive. With that said I don't know much about his woman. I had an idea but always kept it to myself
He let me know about two weeks ago his bank account was overdrawn after birthdays, holidays, and other normal life stuff. He let me know his gf had filed her taxes and got about 10k back. I'm like okay why doesn't she give you something to help and he said she would.
Fast forward two weeks to last night. I guess he got paid. We were playing destiny 2 and he bought the recent expansion. He told me that he his taxes would also be coming soon. He brought up having to wait and not having no money that entire time. I completely forgot about the situation and he told me she just kept blowing him off or turn it into an argument whenever he would ask. (Side note she bought their 8 year old son a Playstation 5 in between there and has been splurging on food)
I asked him why he didn't claim one of kids and he said that he owed some money to the state and that they would take it. I asked how was he getting his federal return then and we eventually got to the subject of him NEVER claiming his kids. Infact his gf always claimed them but they've never split the money. Whenever he asks or brings it up she deflects or turns it into an argument so he doesn't want to talk to her about it now.
I think there's a big problem with that but I'm not really sure what to tell him or what he should do.
I text him today asking how he was doing and he said he wasn't good mentally. Hopefully someone has some advice. I plan on sending him this at some point.

I just had a very upsetting viva/PhD thesis defence which was very unexpected to me. To give a brief background: I’m a quantitative biology PhD student based in the UK. Today, I had my viva over Zoom after 4.5 years of working on my PhD. There was one internal examiner (from my university) and one external. The internal examiner have examined me before on the my first and third years qualifying exams. (I must also add that the viva was supposed to be three months ago however I had to reschedule it last minute for an ankle injury, so not sure whether that might have affected the examiner's attitude toward me).
Unfortunately, from the start of the viva (on Zoom), I did notice that my internal examiner had a passive/hostile attitude towards me. When I gave a brief presentation at the beginning, he was not at the camera and was standing up and doing random things like moving files/papers from his desk, clearly not paying attention to my presentation which I found disrespectful. He was the one who asked me several weeks before the viva if I could ask a presentation. Then, he started asking me difficult conceptual equations about my topic, which I didn’t mind at first. However, he kept asking more and more questions that were theoretical and had no right and wrong answer, and when I tried my best to answer and explain to him the concepts/models, he would say “I’m still not convinced by your answers” in a irritable tone.
He kept grilling me more on questions that do not necessarily have a right or wrong answer. These questions were like “how can we ever tell that a dog is a dog and a cat is a cat and they are not the same?” (Just as an example). It felt like he really just wanted me to struggle and I was sick of it. The interrogation on these theoretical concepts lasted over one hour, and it really upset me as I believe it’s reasonable to ask difficult questions but to ask many excessive questions to that extent was just too much. I did not understand why he was trying to be that hard on me, or whether he had a thing against me. It was ridiculous.
We then finally moved to my thesis chapters and being asked about each chapter one by one. Again, there were some times where I believe the way he was asking the questions were hostile or rude or as if he was pissed off at something (i.e. the way I have written a certain statement). We did reach a section in which we had differences of opinion on. I had a general statement saying that “There are no cures for disease X” and he was saying “oh you can’t say something like that as that’s not scientifically accurate. There are cures for the early stages of disease X” but then I said yes but the late stage patients of disease X has 30% survival and 70% of them die over 5 years. He said “yeah but 30% still survive and we cannot say that we have to deny giving them the treatment etc”.
The grilling on my chapters went on for another two hours. I didn’t mind being criticised. In fact, it was great pointing out some things that I overlooked. However, I do know that it shouldn’t be done in a negative hostile manner, and this was the attitude that he carried on during the four hour viva.
By laws of my university, the viva shouldn’t last more than 3 hours but mine lasted for 4 hours and 10 minutes. I was exhausted and starving at the fourth hour and I wasn’t able to focus on their comments or on the outcome of my viva. I am still confused on whether I passed or not as he did not say congratulations or you passed or anything nice like that. In the end it felt rushed and he said “so we think you need to do a lot of corrections on your thesis” (i.e. editing the main text of most chapters). I didn’t mind that however I was confused on why he mentioned the possibility of doing a viva if they were still not happy with the second thesis version. Given all these things I have dealt with in my viva (including his attitude and excessive no-real-answer questions), I do believe I dealt with it as best as I could.
I logged off Zoom feeling very confused, heartbroken and upset. Many of my friends had great vivas and nice celebrations. Instead, mine was a nightmare. I have been through a lot of my PhD and given the amount of work that I accomplished (and they did not deny that because they did comment on the novelty of my work), I was disappointed that he was not considerate of my situation. During my PhD, I lost a parent, sibling, and had an ankle fracture just months ago (which I was still recovering from). He knew about that.
Instead of spending the day feeling relieved and celebrating, I was completely heartbroken and spent the whole afternoon sobbing alone in my room (including having three phone calls with friends to console me on how it went). I promised my supervisors I’d email them an update on how it goes but I’m still not sure what to tell them. Under the laws of my university, the examiners are expected to send a formal report of the viva, decision they made and corrections they request 1-2 weeks after the viva. I'm not sure whether I should tell my supervisors how I felt about the viva now or whether I should wait and see what the examiners have written in the report first.

Hey everybody,
So, unfortunately, I’ve found myself in a spot I’ve grown all too familiar with, relapse.
I decided a few weeks back that I would give up my lustful habits, that my life I’ve without question dedicated to Christ will finally be shown and that I will put this terrible terrible addiction behind me, and I went 14 days, and failed.
As I posted, once again determined, I went another 11 days, and today, I’ve failed yet again.
You see, I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I was feeling like this time was it, and I was going to stop this habit for good, and I felt myself talking to God, I almost gave in today, but stopped myself only to give in again later. I even got rid of every drop of p*rn and pictures I had saved which was a massive step for me. Today was just so much harder than other days, and I struggled so mightily.
There is not a question whether or not I’m able to do it, I know in my heart of hearts I can. I know I will. I just keep climbing the mountain only to fall over and over again.
I’m repenting so heavily, this is not who I want to be or have always been. This is a complete shell of that man. This addiction has taken over my life and I am trying with all my power and all my hope not to let it win.
I’ve lost this battle yet again, but I know that the war is not over. The Lord will keep me on this path of pushing towards becoming who I know I can be.
It’s so extremely difficult when you’ve lived your life in sin to just completely change, to change who you are and to just decide it’s time to move on from all of that, I’ve spent years lying to myself that even though I do these things, overall I’m “good” because I believe.
Belief is a great thing, but self-discipline and righteousness is what I want. To focus on God with all my heart, all my mind and every ounce of my soul.
My friends, please pray for me. I’m doing all I can to beat this addiction, and I never thought addiction was so crippling until I tried to change it, these days, I know I have a problem and I’m going to keep asking God and praying without ceasing that I can beat this. I pray all of you can too. I know you can. Be strong minded. I need to learn that, but I’m in that process.
May God bless you all and your families!!
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” - 2 Corinthians 4:16

I played lots of destiny 1 when it came out (even had the collectors edition) but bounced off the series because the grind got boring and enemies started to feel like bullet sponges. I’ve tried to get into the free version of destiny 2 but felt a bit lost. How do I get started and why is it worth it? I love halo + borderlands etc so should in theory love the DNA of this series.

For over 20 years, audiences watched the adventures of a boy named Timmy Turner and his fairy godparents, Cosmo and Wanda. Fast paced and funny, The Fairly OddParents asked the question, “What if a kid had an unlimited number of wishes at his disposal?” and answered that question with, “He’d get into trouble, constantly.”
Now who would we get if the same fairy godparents took a new kid under their wing? A kid whose last name isn’t Turner? More hijinx and comedy, of course!
You might be wondering, why make yet another Fairly OddParents? Aren’t a series of shorts, 10 seasons, a live-action series and 3 live-action films enough? Well, my friend, the answer is no. Absolutely not. You can never have too much magic!
An 11-minute comedy just like its predecessor, the new Fairly OddParents is going to retain the retro, absurdist, irreverent sitcom feel the original had, with some added poignancy, serialization, and a tighter focus on character. Gags will still abound but will also have a bit more of an emotional core.
Timmy’s problems were external: evil babysitter and checked-out parents. Hazel’s challenges are more internal: life changes and becoming more comfortable in her identity. Teaming up with Cosmo and Wanda will give Hazel an opportunity to stand out and become the big, bold, hero she longs to be! And it’ll all begins… with a wish.
Hazel’s story and wishes will go further into what makes her tick, connecting to audiences with both humor and heart. Hazel’s journey will be one of self-acceptance and confidence. She starts the beginning of the series daunted by her new circumstances, but thanks to Cosmo and Wanda’s magical guardianship, and the new experiences and adventures she goes on via her wishes, she soon learns to put herself out there and just live life.
For Cosmo and Wanda, it’s about finding a new groove. They’re coming out of retirement and have decided to take on a monumental task in godparenting again! But why? In short, because they love it.
Godparenting is their calling, and they’re good at it. (At least Cosmo thinks so – though that ain’t saying much!) But the world is different, and kids today are more self-aware than ever before. They’re encouraged to vocalize their emotions, inspire, create change, and question tradition.
Because of this, fairy godparenting looks different, wishes aren’t wishing like they used to, and they’re trying their best to adapt!
We’re setting out to tell a new story in a new town, to introduce the amazing Fairly OddParents world to a new audience, while keeping the wide-ranging, ageless humor that will appeal to everyone, regardless of whether they grew up on the original, for some hilarious family co-viewing goodness. So yeah, we’re making another Fairly OddParents. To quote Timmy Turner, “What could possibly go wrong?!

The Story

Ten-year-old Hazel Wells has just moved to the big city of Dimmadelphia with her parents, so her dad could start a new job. On top of being in a new city, it’s the first time she’s been without her brother, who’s just started his first year of college. A bright, fun, creative kid, Hazel’s new situation suddenly has her feeling unsure of herself. But all that changes when the pink-and-green-haired couple next door reveals they’re no ordinary neighbors, they’re Cosmo and Wanda, fairy godparents! And they’re coming out of retirement to make all of Hazel’s wishes come true!
When we last saw our beloved pink-and-green-headed fairy godparents, in The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder, they were godparenting their second generation of Turner children, but after so long with just one family, they made the decision to hang up their fairy crowns and retire. Surely no new child could rival the Turners in their hearts, so why even try?! Jump to 10,000 years of vacationing through time and space! Exploring the wonders of Ancient Rome before it collapsed! Hobnobbing with aristocracy in 18th century France! Journeying to the moons of Jupiter in the year 26,000 P.G., whatever P.G. stands for!
Now they’ve settled down – no longer in some kid’s fishbowl but posing as humans in the bustling city of Dimmadelphia, assuming the form of endearing, across-the-hall neighbors to the Wells. Mimicking human life, Cosmo and Wanda set their sights on a peaceful retirement, ready to live out the remainder of their fairy days in an apartment that secretly offers direct access to Fairy World! That is, until they meet Hazel and are reminded why they loved their old job so much in the first place. Not since Timmy has a kid so tugged on their heart strings, and the instinct to fairy godparent quickly consumes them. Soon, they find themselves as fidget toys on Hazel’s backpack, ooey gooey blobs in her lava lamp, and even assuming the form of human bellhop and concierge at a hotel Hazel wished for. But after 10,000 years of using their magic only on themselves, are they really ready to get back in the game?
(Spoiler: they’re not, but they’re going to do it anyway!)

Hazel Wells

Black 10 years old
Spunky, fun, curious, and hugely imaginative, Hazel Wells is a small fry in a big world! Like, literally, she’s small. A petite cutie pie. A li’l nugget. She’s our tiny hero with a huge heart!
Think for a moment… Have you ever been the smallest kid in class? You have to ask for help to reach things, every year you get paraded to the front line for the class picture, and you get a patronizing pat on the head every time you do a great job at something – and that’s if they even notice you! Just about every kid can relate to the frustration of feeling, well, small. So when Hazel Wells moves to the BIG city of Dimmadelphia on account of her dad taking on a new job and is forced to leave behind everything she once knew – her friends, her home, and her big brother, Antony – she’s left feeling smaller than ever before.
But that’s not about to stop her! In spite of her miniature stature, Hazel is bold! She’s enthusiastic about life and all its wonders, and is an adventurer who loves to explore and ask questions! It’s what makes her such a great wisher – she’s curious about people, and the world, and hungry to learn more about her place in it.
At the very start of the series, she’s feeling a little more on the introverted than extroverted side. She’s in a new town and trying her best to be happy about it, but she always felt her brother Antony was like her secret superpower. He was smart, kind, confident, and most importantly, BIG. Having Antony around was an instant “in'' with people at school. All her teachers already knew and loved him, mean kids knew she had a protector, and cool kids thought she was cool just by association. Without him, she’s like Linus without his blanket… Dumbo without his feather. Without him, she’s just… Hazel. And just in this moment at least, she doesn’t feel like that’s enough.
Being chosen by Cosmo and Wanda as their fairy godkid is just the push Hazel needs to bust out of her shell and blossom! Where Timmy’s wishes were often self-serving, Hazel, at times, cares too much about other people. A little empathy is great. An over-abundance of it can lead to mental fatigue and well, chaos. Making wishes (and mistakes) and learning from them will teach her to love and put herself first, and share that love with the rest of the world.
And once the wishing begins, look out, because just like with Timmy, Hazel’s wishes are driven by who she is… and by the fact that she is a CHILD. And children are nothing if not passionate and unpredictable! Hazel’s wishes (and their undoing) will come mainly from the following personality traits…
She’s smart!
Hazel has a bit of an intellectual edge and tends to overthink things, thanks to her brainy mom and dad, so her wishes will have an extra layer of smarts to them. However, the bit of knowledge behind the wish won’t necessarily make it a wise wish. Children are charmingly lacking in critical thinking skills! Apologies to any children reading this. It’s not your fault. Your brains just aren’t at that developmental stage yet. It’s okay, you’ll get there. Also, who sent you this bible? This bible is property of Nickelodeon Animation Studio and its parent company.
She’s caring!
Hazel cares deeply about other people and fairness (so help you if Hazel sees you cut in line or litter…), so a lot of her wishes come from her compassion and her sense of right and wrong. Unfortunately, 10-year-olds don’t have a great grasp on nuance and tend to think of justice in black-and-white, and that is gonna lead Hazel into some sticky wishes.
She’s quirky!
Hazel’s an oddball with unusual interests and instincts. Timmy’s whole thing was that he was an average boy with average boy wishes. Hazel is… different, partly from being around her dad’s studies of freaky happenings in human history, partly from being around her mom’s studies into the human mind (also freaky), but also… it’s just who she is! She’s a feeler, adaptable, and full of imagination. This manifests in myriad ways, from turning her thoughts into songs and singing them aloud; to having niche obsessions with nature; to collecting a bunch of twigs, putting googly eyes on the twigs, and naming all the twigs.
In conclusion, Hazel’s wishes and adventures will inevitably result in making a lot of beautiful, messy mistakes. Hazel will learn and grow from each of these mistakes, just as all kids do! But Hazel’s learning and growing is gonna be full of magic, making it a heck of a lot more fun than the slow, boring growth the rest of us had to put up with.

Cosmo and Wanda (Returning Characters… obviously)

White, ageless
Green-haired, daffy, and childlike, Cosmo is the same whirlwind of fun we already know and love, but a little wiser for his additional 10,000 years. He didn’t do it on purpose, but it’s hard not to pick up a thing or two about human nature when you’ve lived this long. Cosmo is still quite dimwitted and will muck up a wish five ways from Sunday, but he’ll accidentally give you an epiphany here and there too. This is a Cosmo that’s gotten a little zen.
Sassy and silly, yet pragmatic, Wanda has always been the brains of the godparenting operation, and that dynamic remains the same. Problem is, these brains have been out of the game for a loooooong time, so while she might once have seen the dangers in making Timmy a giant pair of cheese pants, now it’s not as clear to Wanda what might go wrong with a wish. Consequently, go wrong, it will!
Cosmo and Wanda have a very loving, supportive dynamic. They both have their flaws and are very different from one another, but they’re also each other’s biggest fans.
Cosmo and Wanda both provide aspects of what Hazel lost when Antony went away to college. In Cosmo, she has a silly playmate. Cosmo is drawn to Hazel because he immediately connects to her oddball nature. Someone who’s down to put googly eyes on twigs? That’s his kind of kid. Cosmo will help Hazel approach the world with more openness. In Wanda, she has a nurturing, non-parental guardian again. Wanda is drawn to Hazel because she’s a good-hearted mess. Cosmo sees Hazel putting googly eyes on twigs and thinks, “Fun!” But Wanda sees the emotional need behind Hazel giving those twigs rich emotional backstories and relationships. Wanda sees a sweet kid in need of companionship and guidance and helps Hazel work out her problems through play and fun.
Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda had a particular kind of friendship. Timmy and Cosmo were like a pair of unruly, id-driven goofballs with Wanda as the put-upon Mom. When a wish got out of control, Timmy needed heaps of pushing and prodding to clean up his messes. With Hazel, Cosmo, and Wanda, it will play out as a more evenly matched trio, with the comedy and dynamics shifting to fit the story and emotional core.
In a way, they’re all in need of help – Hazel because she’s new to making wishes, and Cosmo and Wanda because they’ve been on a 10,000-year break. Their dynamic will be about growing and getting better at magic together. Sometimes, a wish goes out of control because of Hazel, and Cosmo and Wanda must save the day. Sometimes, a wish goes out of control because of Cosmo, and Hazel and Wanda must save the day. And sometimes… well, you get it. All three will be the crisis and the solutions in a more equal measure

Angela Wells

Black, early 50s
Hazel’s mother Angela is an intelligent, poised therapist who’s accomplished all her life goals and continues to achieve. She has her own private practice and created a self-help therapy program, the “Be Wells Method.” Her “Be Wells” books and “Be Wells” therapy app are big hits with celebrities and on social media. Angela’s always taking inspiration from Hazel by osmosis. She’s constantly planning, strategizing, and developing her program, with plans to offer the “Wee Wells Method” for kids and “Deep Wells Method” for seniors.
Angela loves her daughter, but is such an expert in helping adults, she often forgets that Hazel isn’t one, and tries to tackle Hazel’s issues the same way she would help a grown woman in her 30s formulate a business plan. Sit down > offer coffee or tea > identify problem > offer solution. As a result, Hazel can spout a lot of therapy speak, but still has no idea how to deal with the basic kid things troubling her.
When Angela unknowingly gets caught up in the magic of Hazel’s wishes, she will always try to find a way to make it a “value add” to their home or her work. There are no problems in Angela’s world, only opportunities! Angela is a roll-with-the-punches kind of lady, so if Cosmo and Wanda suddenly fill the house with squid in a wish gone wrong, well then darn it, she’s gonna find a way to make calamari. She is often distracted and on the phone with her trusted assistant Beatrish via bluetooth earpiece. Which is great for Hazel, because keeping fairies a secret is a must!
Like Cosmo and Wanda, Angela and her husband, Marcus, are head over heels in love, despite having near opposite personalities. Their differences are often a point of hilarious conflict - Angela is minimalist, tidy, and thrives on structure, while Marcus is reckless and thrives in organized chaos. Both extroverts, their life has caused them to laugh, laugh, laugh through their challenges, always bringing them closer together.

Marcus Wells

Black, early 50s
Hazel’s father, Marcus, is a scatterbrained, but brilliant scholar, professor, and author who studies the intersection of human history, and the paranormal. He’s a guy who fully believes in every kind of magical/ mystical/inexplicable occurrence (witches, werewolves, ghosts, alien encounters, etc.), but will talk your ear off with the scientific explanation for each.
The Wellses have moved to Dimmadelphia so Marcus could take a teaching position at the Galax Institute, a small (unaccredited) institution of higher learning that focuses its curriculum on the “pseudosciences” (though, of course, that’s not how they refer to their subjects). What Marcus doesn’t know is all the evidence he’s chronicled over his career about paranormal events throughout history, has actually been fairy events throughout history.
His work will sometimes bring him dangerously close to finding out the truth about fairies and Hazel will have to scramble to throw him off Cosmo and Wanda’s sparkly trail. Unlike Mr. Crocker of the original series, however, Marcus’ continual near misses on finding out about the existence of fairies doesn’t come from a nefarious or selfish place, but an altruistic love of history and the truth. Marcus isn’t trying to steal anyone’s fairies; he’s just devoted to learning. Doesn’t mean we can have him in on the secret though! There are still Da Rules after all!
Marcus sees his daughter as being very special and even important to the world. While. Angela tries to analyze Hazel as an adult, Marcus hopes Hazel will become a leader in his field, often sharing newspaper clippings with her featuring unusual sightings and unexplained phenomena. He even sometimes does activities and exercises with her he hopes might encourage any possible latent supernatural talents within her, like telekinesis or mind-reading.

Antony Wells

Black, 18 years old
Hazel’s brother, Antony, is a smart, cool kid who’s going places. He’s an All-American, 4.0 track star. He also plays the oboe and rides a dirt bike. What doesn’t he do?! Antony is beyond smart and carries a quiet confidence – truly the mellowest of his family members. He can hold court on any topic from politics, to anime, to music theory. He is very protective of his younger sister and would do absolutely anything for her. He’s always been like a combination best friend/third parent to Hazel, but now that he’s off to college, he’s finding his way and making a new life separate from his oddball family.
We won’t meet Antony for a while – since his absence was the catalyst to Hazel needing Cosmo and Wanda, we can’t just bring the kid home for visits all the time. At the beginning of the series, he will only be present as an unseen living legend, which we’ll have some fun with by teasing the audience with only tiny glimpses – always out of frame, out of focus, present only in stories Hazel tells friends or in Angela and Marcus bragging about his college progress. Antony is a dream-come-true big brother, and he is sorely missed by Hazel. We all wish we had an Antony. We’ll meet him someday, but until then, the legend of Antony’s greatness will grow and grow.

Dale Dimmadome (Returning Character)

White, 40s
Dale is the long-lost son of Doug Dimmadome– billionaire, real estate tycoon, and owner of the Dimmsdale Dimmadome. When we last saw Dale, he was barefoot, in tattered clothes, and working in a sweatshop underneath Vicky’s lemonade stand.
Dale is now the tall, brooding heir to the Dimmadome fortune, and CEO of Dimmadome Gl0bal, the largest tech company in the world. Whereas his father was a haughty businessman clad in all white and a 10-gallon hat, Dale is a socially awkward genius, with slicked hair and a thirst for the next revolutionary tech breakthrough. The only thing bigger than Dale’s staunch demeanor is the chip on his shoulder – which is somewhat understandable, after being abandoned by his wealthy father for so many years.
Bit by bit, Dale will factor in as an adult antagonist to Hazel, Cosmo, and Wanda. Hazel’s wishes will sometimes leave a mark on the world, and Dale’s obsession with breaking new tech ground will have him take notice of some of these things, eventually making him a threat to Fairy World. But for now, he’s just an emotionally distant dad setting a bad example for his son, who will be Hazel’s first main antagonist.

Devin “Dev” Dimmadome

White, 10 years old
Dale Dimmadome’s son and frequent antagonist to Hazel (as stated above). Dev is in the same class as Hazel, giving her a front row seat to Dev’s raging sense of entitlement. Coming from money and seeing how his dad often operates “above the rules” as founder and CEO of his corporation, Dimmadome Gl0bal, Dev mimics that behavior at school – even going as far as having lunch delivered to class so he doesn’t have to walk to the cafeteria where the “peasants” eat.
Dev is smart as a whip and has fully embraced the need for technology, just like his father. His two drone babysitters, Au Pair 1 and Au Pair 2 accompany him wherever he goes and cater to his every beck and call (almost like a Siri or Alexa, but on the go!). On the inside though, he’s a lonely child yearning for his father’s attention. Somewhat like the wealthy Remy Buxaplenty of the original series, but with layers.
Hazel and Dev Dimmadome start as antagonists, but as he gets lonelier over the course of the season, he softens and grows

Season One Arc: Part 1 - Episodes 1-10

Most of Season One will focus on Hazel’s growth and her episodic adventures with Cosmo and Wanda. Some serialization will come into play with her antagonist Dev, as the two go from enemies to friends. The Season One, Part One finale, however, will introduce Dev’s dad, Dale Dimmadome, as a more serious antagonist, when Hazel appears in his data as a consumer anomaly, the only kid who isn’t addicted to his new app because she doesn’t need to buy things, she has fairy godparents granting her every wish! And Dale’s bad behavior in the finale will finally tip Dev into full needy child mode, one who is granted his very own godparent: a fully grown POOF (now Periwinkle a.k.a. Peri), Cosmo and Wanda’s son!

Season One Arc: Part 2 - Episodes 11-20

Hazel’s fun, episodic adventures with Cosmo and Wanda continue. Meanwhile, Peri struggles with how to be a good godparent to Dev, and Dale continues to research Hazel, eventually coming to learn about magic and fairies. Convinced it would make him the richest person who ever lived (imagine being able to use magic to sell people things!), he sets his sights on conquering Fairy World, with the help of classic FOP villains, the Pixies! In our Season One, Part Two finale, it’ll be up to Hazel, Cosmo, and Wanda to save the day!

Honestly I am so dejected and depressed. 21 days ago I was 100kg and today and I am 100.5kg. At times my body weight fell to 99kg but as soon as I eat food, even the smallest amount the weight comes back.
Last four days I was on a strict water fast and lost 0. My body just refuses to go below 99kg. I drank water during the day, gained the weight and basically in sleep just lost that.
That literally has been the cycle for 21 days.
I am 6ft3 was 106kg last sept. Through fasting I got myself to around 99 by Dec snd then took a break
Got back on it as my target weight is 90kg but god my body just refuses to go below 99. After being stuck for 17 days I decided to do 4 straight days water fast, no nothing Nata. Not gonna go below 99. And as soon as I had one meal I am back and holding over 100 and feeling super bloated.
I am taking my salts and every thing. I am usually under 1000 calories on days that I eat.
I am not sure what is going wrong
Has my metabolism just crashed and hence no weight loss. Is keto not for me. Should I just do regular 16-8. I am just so down right now. Honestly I thought I would have lost 2-3kgs by now.
Over 21 days my body would need around 40,000 calories and I have not given it anymore than 10-12k, so how come the weight is not coming off.
Weird things is that in the last 48 hours I drank nothing but water snd my weight went up, at which point I had a big meal (keto) cause I was like what's the point and since then despite drinking lots of water, no peeing. Seems like my body is loving just holding on the water.
At this point I am ready to just throw in the towel and say my body has just told me, no matter what I am not doing below 99kg, so you might as well do what you want.
Has this happened to anyone? How to break the rut.

Hey there everyone! Good to meet uuuu, I’m Laurie, I’m 20 and I’m on a hunt for friends, lost a lot of friends this year, pretty much just faded away and am left with just myself really, it’s just nice to talk to someone you know? So here’s a bit about me:
NATIONALITY: I’m British! Don’t mind whatever your nationality is, love worldwide!
Music: I love music dude, great stuff what can I say, some of my favourite artists include: yung lean, RHCP, the smiths, the cure, bladee, gorillaz, Mac miller, Kreayshawn, nujabes, John frusciante, crywank, and much more, music addict so would love people to add me on Spotify for sure.
Gaming:
I’ve gotten pretty into gaming recently, been playing a little bit of destiny 2, I’ve been enjoying lightfall albeit it has many flaws, I play alot of my steam deck in bed as my main way of playing these days, it’s just such an incredible powerful little console. Been playing through the two South Park games too and have been loving them big time.
Movies/tv
I don’t really watch stuff to be honest, always liked Star Wars and am pretty excited about the Mandalorian s3, my favourite show every is a show called Chuck, which I love but is sadly not very popular.
Other things:
man what else to add, I love Pokemon and have my whole life, so if you wanna chat Pokémon cards you know who to come to, LEGO is great too, but yea that’s me man, hopefully I can meet some cool people who wanna vibe, thanks! OH AND ONE MORE THING, I’m a guy so if you came into this looking to get laid sorry bro :)

Hey all,
I made a post the other day about an appointment with a Psychiatrist(here). They ended up saying I didn't have ADHD, but depression and forwarded me over to another specialist. This other Psychiatrist prescribed me Wellbutrin XL as it should help with depression and possibly ADHD. I started on 150mg, but after noticing no change for 6 weeks I was told to bump it up to 300mg which I've been on for 2 weeks.
In addition to no changes yet, I actually feel worse overall. Instead of ups and downs, I've only felt down. Additionally, my attention span feels worse(probably because my mood is worse). I spoke with one of the nurses today who said to wait 4 weeks and schedule an appointment again. So I'm going to give the medication more time even though it's been really rough these last 2 months.
I have Kaiser and they rejected me getting a second opinion through them, but does anyone else recommend an outside of coverage option to test for ADHD that isn't crazy expensive(I live in CA)? I feel deflated cause I lost my job of 8years and have been unable to find a new one. I feel like I need to buckle down and get a new one, but my motivation and focus is at an all time low. I've also considered switching careers, but I've been struggling to decide on what and worry about not being able to focus and learn the material. I guess any general advice would be appreciated.
Appreciate any advice in advance.

Sorry if these posts are quite common. I’ve been reading the series fully caught up for about a year now but haven’t had anyone to talk about it with because I only discovered this sub today
If you want me to be more specific with certain rounds, please ask in the comments as this is the second draft of this post and it was way too long for someone to want to read
Round 8- a tie. It makes sense as a possible situation Tesla calculated at the beginning, plus so far in the round both sides have been GOATed. If Beelzebub releases Satan next chapter, Tesla could wipe him out along with himself if that’s what it takes
Round 9- Rasputin vs Anubis - Unkillable vs Keeper of the Dead. I believe RoR likes to work in trilogies. I’ll go over the first 2 in the comments if you want or make it it’s own post as it’s a lot to explain. I believe this is the Hellhiem trilogy. We’ve had two guys from Hellhiem in 7 and 8 and having Anubis in 9 would have this trilogy end perfectly. I believe Anubis will win, making Humanity only have a lead of 1, and having the theme of “you can’t escape death”.
Round 10- Simo Häyhä vs Apollo. Humanity’s perfect eye vs the God’s perfect aim. I believe this will be the start of a sorta finale trilogy. This trilogy will put an end to most characters and events teased in the past, and setting things up for the end of the tournament. With this round, every Greek God will have been defeated, and will make each of the Greek pantheon very mad. I believe Apollo will loose, because Simo is the most recent historical figure to die, being 2002. Being one of the only people who still have real life relatives, I can’t imagine them killing him off out of pure respect to his family. The point of the fight will be “what’s the purpose of fighting”, with Apollo doing it more for the attack, whilst Simo did it for protecting others.
Round 11- Nostradamus vs Loki. Humanity’s joker vs the God’s joker. I think the round will be set up as Soji vs Loki, just for Soji to take off his outfit to reveal Nostradamus has snuck his way into round 11. It will be a round of tricks, to see who can out trick the other. Nostradamus ends up winning as he tricks for a reason, whilst Loki tricks out of mere want. This makes Odin very angry.
Round 12- Soji vs Susanoo. The Shogun of the rising sun vs the monster of the seas. There are many interpretations of Susanoo, but I think RoR will adapt the more chaotic one (wild sea and storm guy). I think this would match perfectly with Soji, as he so far seems a bit crazy + eager to fight. I think the round will ask the question “who is more savage? The one who kills as a means to punish, or the one who kills to be part of nature”. Susanoo will win, as everyone would expect Soji to. This is a good way to end this trilogy of fights as now most things hyped up have been concluded
Round 13- Leonidas vs Odin. King of the Spartans vs King of Asgard. I can’t guess that much about this fight, but I think Leo will loose after an amazing battle. I can imagine a moment where everyone thinks Odin one shorted Leo, just for Leo to treat the attack like it was nothing and all the crowd goes wild. This ends with humanity and the gods in a tie, meaning an extra round is in order
Round 14- Kintoki vs Siegfried. Humanity’s final hope vs humanity’s traitor. In this round, everything goes down. Old fighters are fighting outside of the tournament, the stage is getting destroyed, and humanity has finally proven themselves to be just as legendary as the Gods
This post is long enough, so I’ll end things here. What today you guys think will be the next fight?

Find the full blog post with all the tables here.
Welcome to your monthly no-shill data dump: Here's the 61st monthly report for the 2018 Top Ten Experiment featuring BTC, XRP, ETH, BCH, ADA, LTC, NEM, DASH, IOTA, and Stellar.
tl;dr
What's this all about? I purchased $100 of each of Top 10 Cryptos in Jan. 2018, haven't sold or traded, reporting monthly for almost 5 years. Did the same in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. Learn more about the history and rules of the Experiments here.
Snapshots taken on the 1st of each month (snapshot below taken 1 Feb)
January Highlights: First all green month since July 2022, ADA has a very good January. ETH maintains overall lead, followed by second place BTC (the only two cryptos in the green since January 2018). Combined Top Ten Portfolios still well up vs S&P500.
Month Sixty-One – Down -44% CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) The 2018 Top Ten Crypto Index Fund Portfolio is BTC, XRP, ETH, BCH, ADA, LTC, IOTA, NEM, Dash, and Stellar.
January highlights for the 2018 Top Ten Portfolio:
The first all green month since July 2022.
ADA (+55%) has a very good January.
ETH maintains the overall lead, followed by second place BTC in second place, the only two cryptos in the green since January 2018.
January Ranking and Dropouts Here’s a look at the movement in the ranks since January 2018:
CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) Top Ten dropouts since January 2018: sixty-one months into the 2018 Top Ten Experiment, only 40% of the cryptos that started in the 2018 Top Ten have remained. NEM, Dash, Stellar, Bitcoin Cash, IOTA, and Litecoin have been replaced by Tether, BNB, MATIC, USDC, BUSD, and DOGE.
NEM is the first of the 2018 Top Ten to drop out of the Top 100 and has the distinction of being the lowest ranked crypto of any of the six Experiments.
January Winners and Losers January Winners – ADA easily won the month (+55%) followed by DASH (+43%).
January Losers – XRP and Stellar had the “worst” month, +24% and +25% respectively.
Overall Update – ETH maintains first place, followed by BTC. NEM in last place, slipping out of the Top 100. After over five years of holding these cryptos, only 2 out of the 10 cryptos are in the green: BTC and ETH.
Overall, first place ETH (+119%) is ahead of the pack, followed by second place BTC (+75%).
The initial $100 invested in first place ETH five years ago? It’s worth $220 today.
NEM is at the bottom, down -96% since January 2018. The initial $100 invested in Dash sixty-one months ago is worth $4 today.
Total Market Cap for the entire cryptocurrency sector: CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) End of January 2023 market cap: $1,048,821,167,396
In contrast to the performance of the 2018 Top Ten Portfolio, Crypto as a sector is up +82% since January 2018. There was no easy way to achieve this at the time, but if you were able to capture the entire crypto market since New Year’s Day 2018, you’d be doing much, much better than the Experiment’s Top Ten approach (-44%). You would also be significantly outperforming the return of the S&P (+50%) over the same period of time, and nine of the individual cryptos within the 2018 Top Ten (except for Ethereum).
Crypto Market Cap Low Point in the 2018 Top Ten Crypto Index Experiment: $114B in January 2019.
Crypto Market Cap High Point in the 2018 Top Ten Crypto Index Experiment: $2.65T in October 2021.
Bitcoin dominance: CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) BitDom ended January at 42.5%. When considering the more than five year 2018 Experiment time frame, BTC dominance is near the low end. For context:
Low Point in the 2018 Top Ten Crypto Index Experiment: 33% in January 2018.
High Point in the 2018 Top Ten Crypto Index Experiment: 70.5% in August 2019.
Overall return on $1,000 investment since January 1st, 2018: CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) If I decided to cash out the 2018 Top Ten Experiment today, the $1000 initial investment would be worth $562, -44% from January 2018.
For context, in sixty-one months since the start of the 2018 Index Fund Experiment, forty-eight months have been in the red, with only thirteen months of green (all which occurred in 2021/22).
Here’s a look at the ROI over the life of the experiment, month by month, since the beginning of the 2018 Experiment over 5 years ago:
CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) The all time high for this portfolio is October 2021 (+72%). The lowest point was in January 2019 when the 2018 Top Ten Portfolio was down -88%.
A reminder: no one can predict the value of any crypto tomorrow, let alone next month or next year. The 2018 Top Ten Crypto Portfolio was down -88% after one year, -80% after two years, -25% after three years.
Combining the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 Top Ten Crypto Portfolios Alright, that’s that for the 2018 Top Ten Crypto Index Fund Experiment recap.
But I didn’t stop the Experiment in 2018: I invested another $1000 into each of the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 Top Tens as well. How are the other Crypto Index Fund Experiments doing?
2018 Top Ten Experiment: down -44% (total value $562)
2019 Top Ten Experiment: up +192% (total value $2,915)
2020 Top Ten Experiment: up +354% (total value $4,541) (best performing portfolio)
2021 Top Ten Experiment: up +82% (total value $1,822)
2022 Top Ten Experiment: down -72% (total value $284) (worst performing portfolio)
2023 Top Ten Experiment: up +33% (total value $1,329)
So overall? Taking the six portfolios together, here’s the bottom bottom bottom bottom bottom bottom line:
After a $6,000 total investment in the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 Top Ten Cryptocurrencies, the combined portfolios are worth $11,453.
That’s up +92% on the combined portfolios, down from November’s all time high of +553%. Here’s the combined monthly ROI since I started tracking the metric in January 2020:
CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) That’s a +92% gain by investing $1k in whichever cryptos happened to be in the Top Ten on January 1st (including stablecoins) for six years in a row.
Comparison to S&P 500: I’m also tracking the S&P 500 as part of the Experiment to have a comparison point with other popular investments options.
CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) The S&P 500 is up +50% since January 2018, so the initial $1k investment into crypto on January 1st, 2018 would be worth $1,500 had it been redirected to the S&P.
Taking the same invest-$1,000-on-January-1st-of-each-year approach with the S&P 500 that I’ve been documenting through the Top Ten Crypto Experiments, the yields are the following:
$1000 investment in S&P 500 on January 1st, 2018 = $1,500 today
$1000 investment in S&P 500 on January 1st, 2019 = $1,600 today
$1000 investment in S&P 500 on January 1st, 2020 = $1,240 today
$1000 investment in S&P 500 on January 1st, 2021 = $1,070 today
$1000 investment in S&P 500 on January 1st, 2022 = $840 today
$1000 investment in S&P 500 on January 1st, 2023 = $1,050 today
Taken together, here’s the bottom bottom bottom bottom bottom bottom line for a similar approach with the S&P:
After six $1,000 investments into an S&P 500 index fund in January 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 my portfolio would be worth $7,300.
That is up +22% since January 2018 compared to a +92% gain of the combined Top Ten Crypto Experiment Portfolios.
The chart below shows the six year ROI comparison between a Top Ten Crypto approach and the S&P as per the rules of the Top Ten Experiments:
CryptoCurrency - I bought $1k of the Top 10 Cryptos on January 1st, 2018 (JANUARY Update/Month 61 -44%) Conclusion: Many thanks to the long-time Experiment followers, appreciate you taking the time to follow along over the years. For those just getting into crypto, welcome! I hope these reports can somehow give you a taste of what you may be in for as you begin your crypto adventures. Buckle up, think long term, don’t invest what you can’t afford to lose, and try to enjoy the ride!
A reporting note: I’ll focus on 2023 Top Ten Portfolio reports + one other portfolio on a rotating basis this year, so expect two reports per month. January’s extended report is on the 2018 Top Ten Portfolio (the OG Experiment), which you’re reading now. You can check out the latest 2019 Top Ten, 2020 Top Ten, 2021 Top Ten, and 2022 Top Ten reports as well.

On mobile & English is 2nd language, sorry
GF and I (18F both) are on our last school year before university. We started dating 2.5y ago, at the start of the equivalent of high school, where I am from.
She (since birth) is blind from one eye and suffers from others things such as migraines, blurry vision and nausea, while I am hyper sensitive and emotional. It is of course no where near comparable !!
We had our fair share of ups and downs, given it was my first relationship and she had just left a toxic one. In short, communication is something we had and have to work on.
In January, we broke up for a while, since she had 3 rightful complains:
- We rarely spend time together outside school
- I easily raise my voice (not insults, but the subject of discussion don't matter, I shouldn't do that under any circumstances)
- and the focus point: I keep treating her like a child
Which are all red flags and I am deeply ashamed by my actions. Nonetheless, she decides after weeks of reflexions (which included changing her mind two time after an "it's over" from her) which should give it another try, of course on the condition I had to better myself
Which bring us to today. She forgot/lost her glasses at home and I was insufferable.
Asking her if she needed anything a dozen time, repeating I could go at her place and bring them to her, remaking, MULTIPLE TIME she should bring her own sketch book while one of our teacher was looking at our mutual friend's artwork, and being surprised when she brought her money to pay for a school trip, since she didn't tell me before she remembered to bring it. (I am aware it's a shitty logic, it sucks, I suck, it's why I am asking help)
And those are the things I can think at the top of my head, I'm sure I said/did more-
We went to her place after school hours, and only when I left I told myself "She's acting cold, I probably did something wrong.... Oh shit" and texted her and apology (It's is not enough, a proper apology should be to change, not empty words !!)
She told me she didn't care as she was accustomed to it (It makes me so mad at myself, she shouldn't be) but she was hurt and hesitated to broke up or not, but did not feel to discuss it by messages
I am aware I am a shitty girlfriend, and for her own good we should break up. I never wished to harm her. It all come to genuine worry for her, as I want to make her life as easy as possible. Yet, I only make it harder
I do not see her as less or incapable, in fact, she is better at everything else I'll ever be: she's an artist, very mature, funny, gifted in literature and philosophy. My only archivment are above average grades that give me my only worth. Another unhealthy thing about me
So. How do I change ? Should I seek professional help ? I know some will tell me "you are young and it's unhealthy, break up" but It is my first relationship, and the only problem is me. I want to salvage my relationship, and if I do not, at least better myself. My girlfriend deserves the world, not to be constantly annoyed by me. I should lift her up, not bring her down.
I am aware I am the problem. I can only blame myself.
But please, if you could give me any advice, I would be eternally grateful. I want to do things right.
TLDR: I am a bad girlfriend, risk of break up is high and I need advice how to change and think before I speak, stop repeating the same question and overall, stop being overbearing.

I know by the title it probably isn’t that hard to come to a conclusion but I need help heading the right direction ig. Last March (2022) I went no contact with my mother, whom is a huge narcissist in every sense of the word, I’m the 2nd child to go nc out of 4, but with that I lost access to my father and 2 brothers. While over the last year i have done a lot of healing and even amended my relationship with my older sister (the first child to go no contact) and in this past 2 weeks amended the relationship with older brother and his new wife after they went no contact with my mother, I’m feeling really down today. It’s his birthday and at the end of the day my father was my best friend and losing him because I wanted to cut off my mothers abuse still hurts. It hurt that he chose his wife over now 3 of his 4 kids. I get that they’ve been married for 25+ years but ig I wish things would be different and now that he has lost 3 of his kids I just feel bad that I can’t tell him happy birthday without somehow breaking no contact.
Anyways I trust this Reddit and ig I’m just a 21 year old looking from advice. Any is appreciated.

I've made it to 2.17 concurrent viewers, and don't have much further to go. I'll be playing Destiny 2 again today.
Will do F4F, but need viewers/lurkers more than anything. If you follow/lurk, I will follow/lurk back, and I do not unfollow.
Thank you, in advance, to anyone/everyone who helps out. I truly appreciate it.
https://twitch.tv/Lokhi_D