#like man that's a HUGE oversight. Did you want him around as extras for your eye arm? Well THAT backfired motherfucker lmao

[obessivedork]

Man Naruto and Sakura and Kakashi being dramatic about Sasuke's "I'm going to DESTROY KONOHA!" arc is so funny like girl he was ALWAYS one single minor inconvenience away from the deep end- you guys just actively ignored that. "Oh no he attacked with intent to kill, he's no longer the Sasuke we once knew!!!"

G U Y S ???!!!!!

Hello?

[woolishlygrim]

Winter Weebwatch #1

So, because it is Good when I get to have opinions about things, I figured I’d try out doing a bunch of mini-reviews for the current season of anime, doing a new batch of reviews with each episode and seeing how they evolve and change over time, whether some do better, or some fall behind, or if I end up dropping any of them (and by any of them, I mean Plunderer).

The winter anime season is kind of a dead zone: Since it starts in January when everybody’s starting to get busy again and Christmas has screwed over their sense of work-life balance, it’s the season with the lowest amount of viewers, and so it’s the season where the shows tend to be noticeably low effort and low budget. It’s telling that, despite having huge franchises with a lot of brand recognition, Sunrise and A-1 Pictures put Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise and Sword Art Online on hiatus for the entirety of the winter season, choosing to take the hit that comes from a three month hiatus instead of wasting twelve or thirteen episodes on the Death Season, The Season Where Shows Go To Die.

So by and large, what we’re reviewing here are either the shows distribution companies didn’t care about, or the shows distribution companies did care about but couldn’t get a channel to pick up in any other season. We’re also not reviewing all of them, because there’s like ninety and my store of time and opinions is finite, so we’re reviewing seven.

While the intention is to follow these seven shows through to the end, what will probably happen is I might drop a couple that aren’t keeping my interest, and pick up a couple that catch my eye. If I pick up new ones, then whatever I pick up will get some kind of bumper review covering several episodes.

Also, I really dragged my heels getting this done, so most of these shows have already aired their second episodes. I’ll be trying to put out the second episode reviews a lot quicker, so that I can be relatively current by the time the third episodes roll around.

Anyway! Week 1, first episodes.

Infinite Dendrogram.

★★★☆☆

Infinite Dendrogram has a terrible and ridiculous premise that crumbles into dust if you examine it for more than 0.2 seconds, and I kind of don’t mind that at all.

The show follows Ray Starling, a player in the titular Virtual Reality MMO, which promises infinite possibilities owing to its two unique selling points: The first, that all the NPCs are fully-fledged AIs, meaning the world ‘exists’ distinct from its players or any manned oversight, with quests emerging naturally from the NPCs’ wants and needs, and with NPCs able to permanently die; and the second, that each player character has an Embryo, a superpower generated using their personality as a model, with infinite possibilities.

This is an inconceivably dumb premise. Leaving aside the obvious game balance issues with the Embryos, it’s clarified early on that this AI technology is unique to the game, which means that some game company discovered the technology to create fully conscious, sapient life, and decided to use that technology to create a video game (and in doing so, directly led to the deaths of thousands of those sapient lives).

But I … kinda don’t care? Infinite Dendrogram’s episode was fun, lively, not terribly original but consistently engaging, and managed to introduce five characters who I actually kind of like while telling a self-contained episodic story with good stakes and nice pacing. It feels like Sword Art Online if Sword Art Online was written by a competent writer and also not just a delivery system for creepy, irritating fanservice, and that’s pretty nice.

Also, bonus points for actually making the in-universe game look fun? We’ll call that one another advantage it has over SAO.

ID: Invaded.

★★★★☆

ID: Invaded has indisputably the strongest first episode of this season of anime (really first two, as it aired both episodes one and two back to back), by a gigantic margin. A video called ‘Defending ID: Invaded’ floated by my youtube dash a few days back, so clearly some people don’t agree with me on that, but that’s fine. It’s okay for them to be wrong.

When ID: Invaded picks up, a young man awakens in an empty white void full of floating chunks of a city, with his own body in pieces and no memories. Pulling himself back together, he realises, upon seeing a dead body of a young woman, that his name is Sakaido, and he’s a detective here to solve the woman’s murder.

Sakaido, it quickly turns out, is exploring a cognitive world formed out of a telepathic link with the killer, with a team of investigators in the real world watching through his eyes and picking out evidence to find the murderer with. When the murderer, a serial killer called the Perforator, kidnaps a member of the investigation team, the race is on to find him before he can kill again.

So, ID: Invaded has kind of mastered the art of dripfeeding information in a way that gets a viewer hooked very quickly while steadily delivering a series of twists and turns, and recontextualising the story and the mystery (which, it rapidly emerges, is not the mystery of the Perforator, but rather the mystery of Sakaido himself). It’s gripping and inventive, with a strong if slightly convoluted premise and a lot of interesting material to set up going forward in the series.

In a nice touch, director Ei Aoki turns the mental worlds Sakaido visits (two in the first two episodes) into homages to other surrealist anime directors, mimicking both their compositions and their cinematography. The world of the Perforator draws marked influence from the works of Mamoru Hosoda, an apprentice of Hayao Miyazaki and one of the original creators of Digimon Adventure; while the second world visited pays homage to the works of Akiyuki Shinbo, best known for the unsettling surrealist landscapes and equally unsettling cinematography of Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Fate/Extra Last Encore.

Pet.

★☆☆☆☆

Pet looks like a cheap OVA from 2004. Let’s just get that out of the way, it looks bad, but in a really inoffensive way where it just kind of looks cheap and outdated.

It’s … fine. It’s okay. If you’ve ever had a Burger King bacon and cheese burger, you basically know what Pet is like. If you haven’t ever had a Burger King bacon and cheese burger, go and have a Burger King bacon and cheese burger, and then you’ll know what Pet is like.

The first episode doesn’t really give away anything about the premise of the series, save that it involves psychic criminals, but it tells a decent self-contained little story about a guy who learns something he shouldn’t and is then psychic-ly tormented before his memory is eventually wiped.

There’s also just not a lot to say about Pet, though. It fulfills its function as a work of storytelling, and it doesn’t really ever do much more than that, at least in its first episode. It finds its comfortable niche in just being very average and unremarkable, and sticks there, being average and unremarkable.

Of all the first episodes I’m reviewing, Pet seems the most passionless. It’s such a middle of the road piece of art that I struggle to imagine why it was even made. It doesn’t seem like it’s trying to sell merchandise, it doesn’t seem like a passion project, it doesn’t really seem like much of anything. It feels like someone asked a creative writing class to write a short story about psychic criminals, and then one of those stories was turned into an anime episode.

Plunderer.

☆☆☆☆☆

Plunderer offers a moderately interesting premise that literally nobody watching the first episode will even remember because oh good god, from the second scene onwards the entire episode is just non-stop sexual harassment and assault, first from the protagonist to the deuteragonist and then from the antagonist to the deuteragonist, and I hated it. I hated it so much.

In a bizarre turn, when the protagonist sexually harasses and attempts to sexually assault the deuteragonist, it’s played as wacky comedy, but when the antagonist does basically the exact same thing, it’s played with all the sense of horror that those actions warrant.

I just … don’t really get how I’m meant to ever sympathise with the protagonist after this. I don’t know how you rehabilitate a character in the audience’s minds when our very first introduction to him tells us that he’s a sex pest.

Also something something numbers something something die if your number reaches zero something something magical items who even cares what the premise is, my patience for this show ran dry thirty seconds into the second scene.

If I had a way of representing it, I would give this first episode a negative number of stars.

Sorcerous Stabber Orphen.

★★★☆☆

Let it just be noted that ‘Sorcerous Stabber Orphen’ is the most unintentionally hilarious anime title of the season, so there’s that.

A remake of a 1999 series of the same name, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen follows Orphen, a disgraced former sorcerer turned small-time crook and moneylender whose ill-advised attempt to commit marriage fraud is abruptly interrupted by the appearance of a dragon crashing through the roof of his potential bride/mark’s house. This isn’t just any dragon, however, but Orphen’s sister, Azalie, magically transformed after a spell gone wrong, leading Orphen on a quest to turn her back into a human before the sorcerers of the Tower of Fang can kill her.

Side note: While he names himself ‘Orphen’ because he is an orphan, I’m not misspelling the name, that’s how it’s spelled in-show. This is everybody’s fault except mine.

So, this first episode rather shows the age of its source material. It looks very much like a spruced up late 90s anime made with current day animation techniques, and that’s actually not a bad look for it. It’s also not really a good look -- Megalo Box this ain’t -- it’s just kind of a … look. Which is there. It exists in a state of Neutral Retro.

As first episodes go, though, this is probably one of the emptier and slower ones, somehow managing to cover less of its plot than even Plunderer (although it wins out on a massive margin the basis of that plot not being 90% sex crimes), because seemingly not only is its animation style cribbed from late 90s action anime, but so is its pacing.

What’s there, though, is pretty fun. None of it is dazzlingly original, it probably wasn’t that original even in the 90s, but we get introduced to a likeable cast of characters, we get a decent central conflict set up, and the worldbuilding is, while bare bones at present, at least interesting enough to hook a viewer who likes fantasy.

Also, it’s called ‘Sorcerous Stabber Orphen,’ so, you know. Extra star just for that, man.

In/Spectre.

★★☆☆☆

I’m not sure what In/Spectre is trying to be, and it doesn’t seem to be sure either.

The marketing set it up as an atmospheric, brooding supernatural mystery. The first third of the episode frames it as a romantic comedy with emphasis on the comedy. The second third of the episode switches back to atmospheric, brooding supernatural mystery, only for the third third of the episode to switch tracks yet again, this time to an action comedy with an emphasis on the action.

I don’t know whether I’m coming or going with this show. I get mood whiplash constantly, as it veers from genre to genre like a drunk driver on the freeway. By the time the last third of the episode hit, I felt completely unmoored not just from the plot, but from how I was even meant to interpret the characters.

It’s not bad at any of those genres, either. The romantic comedy section was actually pretty funny, the supernatural mystery section was suitably ominous, the action comedy section established stakes and followed through on them pretty well. None of it was blow-me-away-amazing, but it was all competent, it’s just that there’s no coherent sense of tone to any of it.

Darwin’s Game.

★☆☆☆☆

Full disclosure, I completely forgot I was watching Darwin’s Game. I finished these reviews, thought ‘haha, well done, I’ve reviewed all six shows I wanted to review’ and didn’t remember that there was a seventh on my list until I saw its name come up on a streaming website.

That’s a large part of why I’m scoring it so low. It’s better than In/Spectre, Pet, or Plunderer, it’s probably at least as good as Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, but at least those shows actually made some kind of impression on me. Darwin’s Game is good, but I can’t exactly justify giving two or three stars to a show that had such little impact that it vanished from my memory as soon as I stopped actively watching it with my eyes, like some kind of middling Doctor Who monster.

So, Darwin’s Game follows, um. It follows … a guy … with a name that I can’t recall … who is unwittingly dragged into a death game played in the streets of Tokyo. With each player given Sigils, seemingly magical abilities that they can use to gain advantages in the game, and with points exchangeable for vast sums of real money, the players of Darwin’s Game are set to the task of hunting down and murdering other players. Unable to back out of the game, Some Guy finds help with, er … with … a person … whose name I also don’t recall … and …

God, trying to recall the details of this show is like trying to recall what you had for dinner last week just after a severe head injury. You know, but the details just aren’t there.

I’m kind of at a loss as far as opinions go, because I don’t … know? If I think hard, I can remember the order of events that happened in the first episode, but I can’t remember what, if any, emotional response I had to them. All of my memories of this show are a blank, emotionless void, this is like asking me to review Solitaire. Like, I guess it was fine? I guess? 

I can’t remember the main character’s face or voice.

Note to self, write all Darwin’s Game reviews from now on immediately after watching the episode, otherwise all recollection of it will melt like ice cream in a heat wave.

I’m still giving it one star, though, because I refuse to put it on the same level as Plunderer. For a start, the main character doesn’t belong on some kind of registry.

[samuelfields]

It’s Time To Boycott The SAT And The College Board

When I was 16, I took the SAT test for the first time. My idea of test preparation was going to the library and flipping through a $20 test prep book.

The result? A mediocre 1,040 out of 1,600.

My parents were disappointed so they encouraged me to actually buy a test prep book and this time take all the practice exams since I couldn’t write in the library book. After a couple of months studying I took the test again.

The end result? A better-than-average 1,160. However, my goal at the time had been to get a 1,200 or higher because that was the cut off level to be eligible for the best schools according to the data and the recommendation by my college counselor.

When I asked my parents whether I should take the exam again they said it was up to me. The test was three hours long and cost about $50 in today’s dollars to take the exam each time.

When I asked my parents whether I could take one of those private Princeton Review Courses that cost $500, they were not enthusiastic about the idea.

At the time, I couldn’t understand why they weren’t willing to pay to help me score better. I remember a rich Lebanese classmate telling me his parents paid $1,500 for SAT tutoring, so I thought $500 was a bargain.

What I now realize as an adult is that money doesn’t grow on trees. When you don’t have an endless amount of money you’ve got to find a level where you must accept “good enough.”

The more time and money you can throw at the SAT, logically, the higher your SAT test score. I’m absolutely sure if my parents had spent $500 – $1,500 on SAT tutoring I would have gotten at least a 1,200 on my SAT.

I’m also sure that if I spent $1,500 and took the SAT exam 30 times, at least one of the top six scores accepted would have been higher than 1,200 as well. Heck, I might have even gotten a 1,400+ and gotten into Harvard to only get rejected by the investment bank I ended up working at!

But due to our financial circumstances, we decided a 1,160 SAT score was good enough. I was already aware we didn’t have much money given we drove around in a seven-year-old Toyota Camry and lived in a small townhouse.

It’s not like I was going to attend a prestigious private university and pay $25,000 a year in tuition, equivalent to $50,000 a year in today’s dollars. Instead, I applied to in-state schools: Mary Washington, UVA, and William & Mary. For $2,800 a year, tuition at William & Mary was a bargain based on its ranking, so I went.

The College Board Profit Machine

Despite calling itself a “not-for-profit,” the College Board is one big money-making machine thanks to its monopoly position of administering the PSAT, SAT, and AP exams.

As of 2019, the SAT Reasoning Test plus the essay costs $64.50 ($93.50 if registering late) and the AP exams cost US $94 each. The SAT Subject Tests cost a baseline of $26 with a $22 fee for each test. Further, there are numerous other services available that can be added to the basic costs, including late registration, score verification services, and various answering services that are available.

SAT score reports cost $12 per college for 1–2-week electronic delivery, or 2–4-week paper or disk delivery, depending on what method the school requires ($31 extra for two-day processing).

Even College Board’s College Scholarship Service Profile (CSS), a college financial aid application meant to help students pay for college, requires a fee. For the 2019-2020 school year, the price is $25 for the first report sent and an additional $16 for each additional college receiving the information.

Take a look at the College Board’s historical profit and loss statements below according to TotalRegistration.net. With $1.1 billion in cash and investments, the College Board is one rich non-profit!

Thanks to hefty profits, the President of the College Board makes over a million dollars a year while several of its executives make over $300,000 a year in salary and benefits.

Maybe if non-profits stopped paying their executives so much money, they’d be more profitable. Or maybe, that’s the point of registering as a non-profit – to get favorable tax breaks and pay management big bucks. Cash cows are highly valuable in a low-interest rate environment.

Unfortunately for students, there are no other competitors for the SAT Subject, AP, and PSAT Tests. ACT still is far behind when competing against the main SAT test. When you have a monopoly, you can make excess profits.

The SAT Adversity Score

Conceptually, we know the more time and money you have to dedicate to studying for and taking the SAT test, the higher your test will be.

Now we know for sure there is a correlation with test scores and household income thanks to the College Board’s own data of millions of test takers. See the graphic below.

Nobody is going to argue against trying to even the SAT playing field for poorer households. Having parents who attended college or received a graduate degree is a huge competitive advantage because attending college is an expected part of the child’s upbringing. For these college-educated families, all decisions made throughout their child’s grade school years are made with an eye on college admission.

The College Board, in all its social engineering wisdom, has decided to create an Adversity Index to help the less fortunate. Check out the multiple variables used to come up with a secret Adversity Index score that will only be reported to colleges and nobody else.

I applaud the College Board for trying to create more fairness in its test scores. The variables seem reasonable. But what about one of the biggest variables of all? Having some type of mental, visual, physical, or cognitive disability that may prevent a student from reading as quickly or as clearly?

Having a disability is one of the most important variables that will make life a little to a lot harder. To not include disability as one of the variables in the Adversity Index is a huge oversight, especially since more than 15% of the world’s population has some type of disability.

Further, why keep the Adversity Index score of between 0 – 100 a secret? Secrecy it what creates consternation that the system is rigged.

It would have been much better if the College Board just stuck to household income and the highest level of parental education when highlighting their data to push for the Adversity Index.

Finally, why did the College Board have to include race?

By factoring race into SAT results, the College Board implies Black and Hispanic people are less intelligent than White and Asian people. As a result, unfair racial stereotypes will become sanctioned and spread.

The College Board’s implication is infuriating.

We all know the biggest factors in scoring well on the SAT are time and money. To include race as a factor is racist.

It is not your race that allows you to score better or worse on the SAT. It is your circumstance and the environment you’ve been brought up in over your first 16-17 years leading up to you taking your SAT test that determines your score.

Please do not let the College Board make you believe race determines your SAT test-taking skills.

I truly do not believe my SAT score would have been any lower if I were White, Black, or Hispanic. And if you are White, Black, or Hispanic, do not believe your SAT score would be higher if you were Asian.

The College Board Is Dumb Smart

The College Board is all about making money. By creating these statistics and highlighting its secret Adversity Index, not only does it get a lot of publicity, but it creates a lot of ANXIETY.

One of the reasons why I’m writing this post is because I thought after seeing the first graphic, “Well now. I guess my son is going to have an even tougher time getting into college if I am reading between the lines.”

I started questioning why I decided to get an MBA part-time while already working 60-70 hours a week. Those three years were a killer. I’ve also started to wonder why the hell am I working, saving, and investing so aggressively to try and generate over $200,000 a year in passive income?

Spending an extra 20 hours a week for three years to get an MBA part-time and another 25 hours a week writing on Financial Samurai to generate active income to reinvest to generate more passive income were two things I could control.

But something I cannot control is being born a certain race and neither can my son. So why should my son be penalized for being Asian on the SAT and in college admissions? That’s not right.

Don’t forget. His old man got a mediocre SAT score.

I have no problem if the College Board and Universities want to penalize children of affluent families who have parents with graduate degrees. I draw the line at kids getting penalized for their race.

Organizations making life harder for my son is a huge motivating force to keep my business going forever. I want him to have the option of bypassing such institutions altogether.

Now consider all the other Asian and White families who may not have their own businesses and are thinking they need to spend even more money on SAT tutoring and materials to run in place.

Now think about all the Black and Hispanic families who can now either believe the College Board’s pontification that race is a factor in their SAT test results or think they should perhaps spend more money on SAT tutoring and testing because they then might have a better chance at attending college.

What makes me particularly annoyed about the College Board’s decision to highlight race in their propaganda is that it may create self-doubt. Succeeding at whatever you want has a lot to do with self-confidence and vanquishing FOPA.

For 10 years, I’ve tried to instill in readers that you deserve to be rich and successful if you put in the effort, no matter your race. The College board is doing the opposite and undermining my efforts.

The College Board is simply race-baiting families into spending more time and money on the test to ameliorate the anxiety they manufactured.

Unfortunately for the College Board, their attempt to boost its revenue from nervous parents of all socioeconomic classes and races will prove temporary.

The Long Term Trend Is Negative

Students and parents aren’t going to be uninformed forever. As the value of a college degree depreciates due to the lower returns, higher costs, higher student debt, free internet, and an increasingly exposed rigged system, more people will begin to opt out of going to a traditional four-year college. As more people opt out of a four-year college, fewer people will be taking the SAT.

If there is a way to short the College Board in 2020 and beyond, please let me know! I think we could make a lot of money once parents know the gig is up.

At the very least, we could pressure the non-profit to share some of its massive profits by lowering the cost of test-taking and test preparation to allow for more underprivileged kids to score higher.

But when your main purpose as a non-profit is to make lots of profits as a monopoly to pay yourself boatloads of money, it’s hard to really make a change for the greater good.

Readers, what are your thoughts on the College Board’s decision to use race to push its new Adversity Index score? Why do you think the College Board has decided to keep the Adversity Index score secret? Why doesn’t the College Board include Disability as one of the variables? Do you think being an extremely profitable non-profit is wrong? Anybody know of other non-profits making similarly massive profits and paying their management millions? What am I missing about my criticism of the SAT, the College Board, and the Adversity Index?

Related posts:

The Wide Implications Of The College Admissions Scandal

Are You Willing To Accept $1,000,000 To Go To Public School Instead Of Private School?

The post It’s Time To Boycott The SAT And The College Board appeared first on Financial Samurai.

from Finance https://www.financialsamurai.com/its-time-to-ban-the-sat-and-the-college-board/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[aaronsniderus]

How This Millennial Paid Off More Than $37,000 in Student Loans in 10 Months

Photo Credit: Devon Horace

When Devon Horace graduated from St. Joseph’s College New York in 2015, he left with his degree of psychology — and more than $37,000 in student loans.

“I felt it was impossible for me to pay this much debt back,” said Horace. “When student loan repayment started, I felt like it happened so fast.”

Despite feeling overwhelmed by all his debt, Horace decided to aim for the impossible and pay off his debt as quickly as possible.

While the standard student loan repayment plan spans 10 years, Horace retired his debt in just 10 months. Here are the strategies he used to pay off his loans in record time:

Learning from the experts

After facing his mountain of debt, Horace knew he needed expert help. So he turned to podcasts, YouTube videos and debt-free online communities to learn from finance gurus and people who’d been in his shoes.

“I listen to a lot of podcasts and listen to a lot of interviews where millionaires express how important it is to get out of debt to accumulate wealth,” said Horace. “Who doesn’t want to be a millionaire? So I listened and started to apply the methods that were presented to me.”

Some of his favorite experts and motivational speakers were Dave Ramsey, Mark Cuban, Les Brown and Eric Thomas.

“These were the voices that kept me motivated and focused on the big picture,” said Horace. “I also read a ton of books, but the one that affected me the most was ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’ by George S. Clason. It taught me the very basics that I share today to accumulate wealth.”

Taking inventory of his debts

The first lesson Horace learned was the importance of taking inventory of his debts so he could have a clear picture of exactly how much he owed and to whom.

“I wrote out all my student loans in a notebook,” said Horace. “I listed each loan amount from the largest dollar amount with the highest interest rate to smallest.”

According to Horace, getting this bird’s-eye view of his loans was an easy but crucial step in tackling his student debt.

“The most effective step was writing my loans down, taking inventory,” he said. “Once I wrote out the loans and actually wrapped my mind around the amount, I was able to start thinking of strategic approaches I can take to start paying this debt down.”

Celebrating small victories

Once Horace had his loans written down, he decided to tackle them one at a time. While still paying the minimum amount on all his debts, he made extra payments on one loan until the balance was completely paid down. Then, he’d move on to the next.

“I tackled my debt one loan at a time,” said Horace. “Once you pay off one debt, you become more motivated and determined to pay off the others.”

This approach is known as the debt snowball method, where you tackle the loans with the smallest balances first. You still keep up the minimum payments on all your loans, but you make extra payments to close out the targeted loan faster.

The debt avalanche method is another approach, which involves focusing on the loans with the highest interest rates first. While this method could save you more on interest overall, you might not get the satisfaction of closing out a loan as quickly. You may consider experimenting with both approaches to see which one is more effective and motivating for you.

Making extra income with side gigs

Wanting to pay off his debt ASAP, Horace searched for ways to increase his income. Along with working his full-time job at Nike, he found side gigs to make extra cash.

“[I was] freelancing, selling unwanted items on apps like Letgo, Amazon and Facebook Marketplace, [and] taking the garbage out for the elderly,” said Horace. “I was determined to pay off my debt, and I took on any gig I could find to make extra money.”

If you have time to drive for Lyft, freelance online or work another side hustle, you could use the extra money you earn to pay down your student loan balance.

Keeping expenses low

Along with increasing his income, Horace also tried to keep his spending down. He didn’t have a TV in his apartment, wore the same few outfits, and “ate pasta with tomato sauce for a year straight.”

“I cut my expenses down so much that I could pay all my bills on half of one paycheck,” said Horace. “I went extremely basic because I really wanted to get rid of my debts.”

It’s tempting to spend more once you start making a salary, but keeping living costs low could help you slash your student loan balance.

If you can keep living like a college student a few years longer, you could move up the timeline on your journey toward a debt-free life.

Finding support online

All this hard work and self-control wasn’t easy, so Horace looked for support along the way. His friends weren’t eager to talk about debt, so instead, he found fellow borrowers online.

“The ‘debt-free journey’ community on Instagram was a huge motivator for me,” said Horace. “Following like-minded people all over the world, facing the same issues, was like having a support system cheering you on and providing tips and tools they used themselves.”

He also started recording himself on Instagram and YouTube to show his progress. The feedback he got motivated him further, while also serving as an accountability system.

After building a presence on social media, Horace kept up his momentum by consulting others on paying off debt and improving their financial literacy.

“Hundreds of people ask me questions today on how I was able to pay it off, and it motivates me to know that I am helping solve a crisis in our community,” said Horace.

Don’t wait to pay off your loans

When asked for his advice to new graduates dealing with student loans, Horace encourages borrowers to think long-term.

“Find a coach, read books and come up with a plan to pay off your debt,” he advised. “It doesn’t have to be as fast as I did, nor do you have to sacrifice everything I did, but be willing to sacrifice something for the freedom and financial stability. Think bigger picture.”

For Horace, that big picture involved returning to school for an MBA in Leadership and Management and growing his business relations consulting agency, Horace Consulting. Plus, his debt payoff had another life-changing light at the end of the tunnel.

“When I paid it off, I celebrated by proposing to my now wife,” said Horace.

Whether you use Horace’s approach, or try other tactics for speedy repayment (such as refinancing to a lower interest rate or accessing LRAPs), know that keeping motivated — as Horace was — can help greatly in getting to the finish line.

Interested in refinancing student loans? Here are the top 6 lenders of 2019!

LenderVariable APREligible Degrees  Check out the testimonials and our in-depth reviews! 1 Important Disclosures for SoFi. SoFi Disclosures Student loan Refinance:

Fixed rates from 3.890% APR to 8.074% APR (with AutoPay). Variable rates from 2.500% APR to 7.115% APR (with AutoPay). Interest rates on variable rate loans are capped at either 8.95% or 9.95% depending on term of loan. See APR examples and terms. Lowest variable rate of 2.500% APR assumes current 1 month LIBOR rate of 2.50% plus 0.00% margin minus 0.25% ACH discount. Not all borrowers receive the lowest rate. If approved for a loan, the fixed or variable interest rate offered will depend on your creditworthiness, and the term of the loan and other factors, and will be within the ranges of rates listed above. For the SoFi variable rate loan, the 1-month LIBOR index will adjust monthly and the loan payment will be re-amortized and may change monthly. APRs for variable rate loans may increase after origination if the LIBOR index increases. See eligibility details. The SoFi 0.25% AutoPay interest rate reduction requires you to agree to make monthly principal and interest payments by an automatic monthly deduction from a savings or checking account. The benefit will discontinue and be lost for periods in which you do not pay by automatic deduction from a savings or checking account. *To check the rates and terms you qualify for, SoFi conducts a soft credit inquiry. Unlike hard credit inquiries, soft credit inquiries (or soft credit pulls) do not impact your credit score. Soft credit inquiries allow SoFi to show you what rates and terms SoFi can offer you up front. After seeing your rates, if you choose a product and continue your application, we will request your full credit report from one or more consumer reporting agencies, which is considered a hard credit inquiry. Hard credit inquiries (or hard credit pulls) are required for SoFi to be able to issue you a loan. In addition to requiring your explicit permission, these credit pulls may impact your credit score.

Terms and Conditions Apply. SOFI RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE PRODUCTS AND BENEFITS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. To qualify, a borrower must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident in an eligible state and meet SoFi’s underwriting requirements. Not all borrowers receive the lowest rate. To qualify for the lowest rate, you must have a responsible financial history and meet other conditions. If approved, your actual rate will be within the range of rates listed above and will depend on a variety of factors, including term of loan, a responsible financial history, years of experience, income and other factors. Rates and Terms are subject to change at anytime without notice and are subject to state restrictions. SoFi refinance loans are private loans and do not have the same repayment options that the federal loan program offers such as Income Based Repayment or Income Contingent Repayment or PAYE. Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the California Financing Law License No. 6054612. SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Lending Corp., NMLS # 1121636. (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org) 2 Important Disclosures for Earnest. Earnest Disclosures

To qualify, you must be a U.S. citizen or possess a 10-year (non-conditional) Permanent Resident Card, reside in a state Earnest lends in, and satisfy our minimum eligibility criteria. You may find more information on loan eligibility here: https://www.earnest.com/eligibility. Not all applicants will be approved for a loan, and not all applicants will qualify for the lowest rate. Approval and interest rate depend on the review of a complete application.

Earnest fixed rate loan rates range from 3.89% APR (with Auto Pay) to 7.89% APR (with Auto Pay). Variable rate loan rates range from 2.50% APR (with Auto Pay) to 7.27% APR (with Auto Pay). For variable rate loans, although the interest rate will vary after you are approved, the interest rate will never exceed 8.95% for loan terms 10 years or less. For loan terms of 10 years to 15 years, the interest rate will never exceed 9.95%. For loan terms over 15 years, the interest rate will never exceed 11.95% (the maximum rates for these loans). Earnest variable interest rate loans are based on a publicly available index, the one month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). Your rate will be calculated each month by adding a margin between 1.82% and 5.50% to the one month LIBOR. The rate will not increase more than once per month. Earnest rate ranges are current as of April 17, 2019, and are subject to change based on market conditions and borrower eligibility.

Auto Pay discount: If you make monthly principal and interest payments by an automatic, monthly deduction from a savings or checking account, your rate will be reduced by one quarter of one percent (0.25%) for so long as you continue to make automatic, electronic monthly payments. This benefit is suspended during periods of deferment and forbearance.

The information provided on this page is updated as of 04/17/2019. Earnest reserves the right to change, pause, or terminate product offerings at any time without notice. Earnest loans are originated by Earnest Operations LLC. California Finance Lender License 6054788. NMLS # 1204917. Earnest Operations LLC is located at 302 2nd Street, Suite 401N, San Francisco, CA 94107. Terms and Conditions apply. Visit https://www.earnest.com/terms-of-service, email us at hello@earnest.com, or call 888-601-2801 for more information on our student loan refinance product.

© 2018 Earnest LLC. All rights reserved. Earnest LLC and its subsidiaries, including Earnest Operations LLC, are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.

3 Important Disclosures for Laurel Road. Laurel Road Disclosures

FIXED APR Fixed rate options consist of a range from 3.75% per year to 5.80% per year for a 5-year term, 4.25% per year to 6.25% per year for a 7-year term, 4.55% per year to 6.65% per year for a 10-year term, 4.85% per year to 7.05% per year for a 15-year term, or 5.30% per year to 7.27% per year for a 20-year term, with no origination fees. The fixed interest rate will apply until the loan is paid in full (whether before or after default, and whether before or after the scheduled maturity date of the loan). The monthly payment for a sample $10,000 loan at a range of 3.75% per year to 5.80% per year for a 5-year term would be from $183.04 to $192.40. The monthly payment for a sample $10,000 loan at a range of 4.25% per year to 6.25% per year for a 7-year term would be from $137.84 to $147.29. The monthly payment for a sample $10,000 loan at a range of 4.55% per year to 6.65% per year for a 10-year term would be from $103.88 to $114.31. The monthly payment for a sample $10,000 loan at a range of 4.85% per year to 7.05% per year for a 15-year term would be from $78.30 to $90.16. The monthly payment for a sample $10,000 loan at a range of 5.30% per year to 7.27% per year for a 20-year term would be from $67.66 to $79.16.

However, if the borrower chooses to make monthly payments automatically by electronic funds transfer (EFT) from a bank account, the fixed rate will decrease by 0.25%, and will increase back up to the regular fixed interest rate described in the preceding paragraph if the borrower stops making (or we stop accepting) monthly payments automatically by EFT from the designated borrower’s bank account.

VARIABLE APR Variable rate options consist of a range from 2.75% per year to 6.30% per year for a 5-year term, 4.00% per year to 6.35% per year for a 7-year term, 4.25% per year to 6.40% per year for a 10-year term, 4.50% per year to 6.65% per year for a 15-year term, or 4.75% per year to 6.90% per year for a 20-year term, with no origination fees. APR is subject to increase after consummation. The variable interest rate will change on the first day of every month (“Change Date”) if the Current Index changes. The variable interest rates are based on a Current Index, which is the 1-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) (currency in US dollars), as published on The Wall Street Journal’s website. The variable interest rates and Annual Percentage Rate (APR) will increase or decrease when the 1-month LIBOR index changes. The variable interest rates are calculated by adding a margin ranging from 0.25% to 3.80% for the 5-year term loan, 1.50% to 3.85% for the 7-year term loan, 1.75% to 3.90% for the 10-year term loan, 2.00% to 4.15% for the 15-year term loan, and 2.25% to 4.40% for the 20-year term loan, respectively, to the 1-month LIBOR index published on the 25th day of each month immediately preceding each “Change Date,” as defined above, rounded to two decimal places, with no origination fees. If the 25th day of the month is not a business day or is a US federal holiday, the reference date will be the most recent date preceding the 25th day of the month that is a business day. The monthly payment for a sample $10,000 loan at a range of 2.75% per year to 6.30% per year for a 5-year term would be from $178.58 to $194.73. The monthly payment for a sample $10,000 loan at a range of 4.00% per year to 6.35% per year for a 7-year term would be from $136.69 to $147.77. The monthly payment for a sample $10,000 loan at a range of 4.25% per year to 6.40% per year for a 10-year term would be from $102.44 to $113.04. The monthly payment for a sample $10,000 loan at a range of 4.50% per year to 6.65% per year for a 15-year term would be from $76.50 to $87.94. The monthly payment for a sample $10,000 loan at a range of 4.75% per year to 6.90% per year for a 20-year term would be from $64.62 to $76.93.

However, if the borrower chooses to make monthly payments automatically by electronic funds transfer (EFT) from a bank account, the variable rate will decrease by 0.25%, and will increase back up to the regular variable interest rate described in the preceding paragraph if the borrower stops making (or we stop accepting) monthly payments automatically by EFT from the designated borrower’s bank account.

All credit products are subject to credit approval.

Laurel Road began originating student loans in 2013 and has since helped thousands of professionals with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees consolidate and refinance more than $4 billion in federal and private school loans. Laurel Road also offers a suite of online graduate school loan products and personal loans that help simplify lending through customized technology and personalized service. In April 2019, Laurel Road was acquired by KeyBank, one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies. Laurel Road is a brand of KeyBank National Association offering online lending products in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. All loans are provided by KeyBank National Association, a nationally chartered bank. Member FDIC. For more information, visit www.laurelroad.com.

4 Important Disclosures for LendKey. LendKey Disclosures

Refinancing via LendKey.com is only available for applicants with qualified private education loans from an eligible institution. Loans that were used for exam preparation classes, including, but not limited to, loans for LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, and GRE preparation, are not eligible for refinancing with a lender via LendKey.com. If you currently have any of these exam preparation loans, you should not include them in an application to refinance your student loans on this website. Applicants must be either U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents in an eligible state to qualify for a loan. Certain membership requirements (including the opening of a share account and any applicable association fees in connection with membership) may apply in the event that an applicant wishes to accept a loan offer from a credit union lender. Lenders participating on LendKey.com reserve the right to modify or discontinue the products, terms, and benefits offered on this website at any time without notice. LendKey Technologies, Inc. is not affiliated with, nor does it endorse, any educational institution.

5 Important Disclosures for CommonBond. CommonBond Disclosures

Offered terms are subject to change. Loans are offered by CommonBond Lending, LLC (NMLS # 1175900). If you are approved for a loan, the interest rate offered will depend on your credit profile, your application, the loan term selected and will be within the ranges of rates shown.

All Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) displayed assume borrowers enroll in auto pay and account for the 0.25% reduction in interest rate. All variable rates are based on a 1-month LIBOR assumption of 2.49% effective March 10, 2019.

6 Important Disclosures for Citizens Bank. Citizens Bank Disclosures Education Refinance Loan Rate Disclosure: Variable rate, based on the one-month London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) published in The Wall Street Journal on the twenty-fifth day, or the next business day, of the preceding calendar month. As of April 1, 2019, the one-month LIBOR rate is 2.50%. Variable interest rates range from 3.00% – 9.74% (3.00% – 9.74% APR) and will fluctuate over the term of the borrower’s loan with changes in the LIBOR rate, and will vary based on applicable terms, level of degree earned and presence of a co-signer. Fixed interest rates range from 3.89% – 9.99% (3.89% – 9.99% APR) based on applicable terms, level of degree earned and presence of a co-signer. Lowest rates shown are for eligible, creditworthy applicants with a graduate level degree, require a 5-year repayment term and include our Loyalty discount and Automatic Payment discounts of 0.25 percentage points each, as outlined in the Loyalty and Automatic Payment Discount disclosures. The maximum variable rate on the Education Refinance Loan is the greater of 21.00% or Prime Rate plus 9.00%. Subject to additional terms and conditions, and rates are subject to change at any time without notice. Such changes will only apply to applications taken after the effective date of change. Please note: Due to federal regulations, Citizens Bank is required to provide every potential borrower with disclosure information before they apply for a private student loan. The borrower will be presented with an Application Disclosure and an Approval Disclosure within the application process before they accept the terms and conditions of their loan. Federal Loan vs. Private Loan Benefits: Some federal student loans include unique benefits that the borrower may not receive with a private student loan, some of which we do not offer with the Education Refinance Loan. Borrowers should carefully review their current benefits, especially if they work in public service, are in the military, are currently on or considering income based repayment options or are concerned about a steady source of future income and would want to lower their payments at some time in the future. When the borrower refinances, they waive any current and potential future benefits of their federal loans and replace those with the benefits of the Education Refinance Loan. For more information about federal student loan benefits and federal loan consolidation, visit http://studentaid.ed.gov/. We also have several resources available to help the borrower make a decision at http://www.citizensbank.com/EdRefinance, including Should I Refinance My Student Loans? and our FAQs. Should I Refinance My Student Loans? includes a comparison of federal and private student loan benefits that we encourage the borrower to review. Citizens Bank Education Refinance Loan Eligibility: Eligible applicants may not be currently enrolled. Applicants with an Associate’s degree or with no degree must have made at least 12 qualifying payments after leaving school. Qualifying payments are the most recent on time and consecutive payments of principal and interest on the loans being refinanced. Primary borrowers must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or resident alien with a valid U.S. Social Security Number residing in the United States. Resident aliens must apply with a co-signer who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. The co-signer (if applicable) must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident with a valid U.S. Social Security Number residing in the United States. For applicants who have not attained the age of majority in their state of residence, a co-signer will be required. Citizens Bank reserves the right to modify eligibility criteria at anytime. Interest rate ranges subject to change. Education Refinance Loans are subject to credit qualification, completion of a loan application/consumer credit agreement, verification of application information, certification of borrower’s student loan amount(s) and highest degree earned. Loyalty Discount Disclosure: The borrower will be eligible for a 0.25 percentage point interest rate reduction on their loan if the borrower or their co-signer (if applicable) has a qualifying account in existence with us at the time the borrower and their co-signer (if applicable) have submitted a completed application authorizing us to review their credit request for the loan. The following are qualifying accounts: any checking account, savings account, money market account, certificate of deposit, automobile loan, home equity loan, home equity line of credit, mortgage, credit card account, or other student loans owned by Citizens Bank, N.A. Please note, our checking and savings account options are only available in the following states: CT, DE, MA, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, and VT and some products may have an associated cost. This discount will be reflected in the interest rate disclosed in the Loan Approval Disclosure that will be provided to the borrower once the loan is approved. Limit of one Loyalty Discount per loan and discount will not be applied to prior loans. The Loyalty Discount will remain in effect for the life of the loan. Automatic Payment Discount Disclosure: Borrowers will be eligible to receive a 0.25 percentage point interest rate reduction on their student loans owned by Citizens Bank, N.A. during such time as payments are required to be made and our loan servicer is authorized to automatically deduct payments each month from any bank account the borrower designates. Discount is not available when payments are not due, such as during forbearance. If our loan servicer is unable to successfully withdraw the automatic deductions from the designated account three or more times within any 12-month period, the borrower will no longer be eligible for this discount. Co-signer Release: Borrowers may apply for co-signer release after making 36 consecutive on-time payments of principal and interest. For the purpose of the application for co-signer release, on-time payments are defined as payments received within 15 days of the due date. Interest only payments do not qualify. The borrower must meet certain credit and eligibility guidelines when applying for the co-signer release. Borrowers must complete an application for release and provide income verification documents as part of the review. Borrowers who use deferment or forbearance will need to make 36 consecutive on-time payments after reentering repayment to qualify for release. The borrower applying for co-signer release must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. If an application for co-signer release is denied, the borrower may not reapply for co-signer release until at least one year from the date the application for co-signer release was received. Terms and conditions apply. Borrowers whose loans were funded prior to reaching the age of majority may not be eligible for co-signer release. Note: co-signer release is not available on the Student Loan for Parents or Education Refinance Loan for Parents. 2.50% – 7.27%1Undergrad & Graduate

Visit Earnest

2.50% – 7.12%3Undergrad & Graduate

Visit SoFi

2.53% – 8.79%4Undergrad & Graduate

Visit Lendkey

2.50% – 6.65%2Undergrad & Graduate

Visit Laurel Road

2.55% – 7.12%5Undergrad & Graduate

Visit CommonBond

3.00% – 9.74%6Undergrad & Graduate

Visit Citizens

Our team at Student Loan Hero works hard to find and recommend products and services that we believe are of high quality. We sometimes earn a sales commission or advertising fee when recommending various products and services to you. Similar to when you are being sold any product or service, be sure to read the fine print to help you understand what you are buying. Be sure to consult with a licensed professional if you have any concerns. Student Loan Hero is not a lender or investment advisor. We are not involved in the loan approval or investment process, nor do we make credit or investment related decisions. The rates and terms listed on our website are estimates and are subject to change at any time.

The post How This Millennial Paid Off More Than $37,000 in Student Loans in 10 Months appeared first on Student Loan Hero.

from Updates About Loans https://studentloanhero.com/featured/millennial-paid-off-student-loans-months/

[humanoid-lovers]

Great Recipes; Hilarious; Half-Naked Men My brother-in-law has been doing a lot of cooking lately, and my sister suggested I get him cooking related gifts for Christmas this year. I got him several cookbooks, this being one of them. This was a huge oversight on my part however, because I knew this book was bound to be funny (I mean come on, it's called "Fifty Shades of Chicken" and has a chicken all tied up on the front), but I did not realize how dirty most of the jokes would be/definitely geared more towards women. But my brother-in-law loved it, including how there were half-naked men modeling with the food in the book! All of the dishes have racy names and he went through every single page laughing and saying how much he loved it. Everyone also thought that my red and embarrassed face was perfect to go along with the gift! Go to Amazon

A delicate mix of the sexual and the culinary This was my purchase for the yearly White Elephant gift exchange with my fiance's family. They are a little more conservative than I am and this was the perfect amount of risque' and made for a great gag. The book is well put together, the images and recipes are great and it is cleverly written. It does a remarkable job of poking fun at both the flabby porn of Fifty Shades and the silly language of food porn. Go to Amazon

Great buy!!! Beautiful book. Pictures and quality of this book is gorgeous and the recipes are also unique. I almost want to buy one for myself (I got it for someone as a gift). I'm not a fifty shades gal but this is still awesome. Definitely a high quality yet fully functional gag gift. I mean I'm sure some middle aged ladies may take this very very seriously but this got quite a laugh as a birthday gift because it's just so wild! Lots of risque pictures like on the cover, many with a posed chicken and suggestive scantily clad man behind the counter in the background, various photos with twine and knives, and suggestive/outright sexual recipe names. I love that it isn't tacky and they didn't do a ton of basic/unnecessary recipes since quality time was spent on photos and names. Definitely several I wanted to page mark that sounded unique and delicious. Go to Amazon

REALLY GREAT GIFT! I bought this for one of my BFFs who was newly divorced and having a housewarming at her new digs. She LOVES to cook and I figured she probably already had this but I was in luck, she didn't and hadn't even seen it before. It was a HUGE HIT with her and all of our other friends who took turns giggling at all the naughty references. And the recipes are pretty decent, too! Go to Amazon

My mother-in-law loved this book My mother-in-law loved this book. She eats chicken all the time and does not deal with red meat often at all. This is a great book of interesting and tasty recipes. Great gift for someone with a sense of humor. Go to Amazon

Fifty Shakes of Chicken Great Yankee swap gift for work! Granted it all depends on what your coworkers are like, but the group I work with all have a great sense of humor and found it hysterical. Don't buy this book for the actual recipes in it, although you can make the recipes and eat them -rather buy the book for the humor and all of the word-play and have fun with it. Go to Amazon

Dripping Thighs?!? Extra Virgin Breasts?!? Yes Please!!! What can be said about this book?!? I picked up a copy for my Mother, my sister, and my aunt as a Christmas present. I believe all of them have read 50 Shades of Grey. Regardless if they have or haven't it should be worth a laugh at Christmas time, right?!? When the book arrived I just had to open it. Being a guy, I have not read the original book (not enough pictures for me) but my wife had (thank God) so I knew what the premise was. Boy did it have me rolling on the ground laughing. It is VERY well written. I read it to my wife, out loud, in the best Patrick Stewart voice I could muster. While I might not get all the "inside" jokes that people who followed the original picked up on, I can recognize good writing when I see it. This was VERY well done! The book is beautiful. Nice print, nice pictures, nice feeling to the pages and the binding. Just all around well printed book. I am the cook of our household being a former Sous chef. I have not made anything out if this book yet since the only copies I have are going to other people. But, yes I will admit, I have ordered a copy for myself to read, alone, by the fire for some "inspiration". It truly is food porn in the greatest way! Can I get one in the 50 Shades of Pork?!? This are some bad things that I want to do to some ham hocks!!! (I have seen the 50 shades of bacon but I don't think it is done to the same quality or by the same people based on the amazon preview I can look at) Go to Amazon

Hilarious Hilarious - great gift for those with a sense of humor. Written in the same style as the books but from the perspective of the chicken...seriously who comes up with this? Would love to have been a part of that brainstorming session as I would imagine it involved a great deal of wine and laughter. Go to Amazon

Birthday gift Book was a hit! Love this cookbook Sultry hens Not bad... Yummy ;) You need to get this book!! Tried a couple of the recipes they worked all right Tied up? Worth it

[junker-town]

‘Bachelorette’ Episode 3 recap: Shirts come off for Ellen Degeneres, the guys mud wrestle, Lee is truly awful

There were some lovely moments and some very troubling ones.

Hello, Sports Bachelor Nation, and thank you for joining me on this Monday night as we watch Rachel Lindsay search for love. Last week, after Rachel and DeMario had a fair amount of chemistry at the basketball date, DeMario’s girlfriend, or maybe ex-girlfriend, or maybe not ex-girlfriend, showed up and claimed she was still his girlfriend. DeMario pretended not to know who she was. He literally said, “Who is this?” Which is not a smart thing to say when it quickly becomes clear that you actually know who someone is.

Rachel sent DeMario home. But because this is The Bachelorette, DeMario did not go home. No, DeMario showed up at the cocktail party.

Which is where OUR party begins this week.

RACHEL SHUTS DEMARIO ALL THE WAY DOWN

Rachel agrees to hear DeMario out. DeMario proceeds to beg Rachel to take him back, as men who realize they have made mistakes with women are wont to do. Over the course of his speech, he says his Uber driver told him, “In order to experience joy, you need pain.” Rachel nods. Then she proceeds to deliver the most fire breakup speech I have ever heard.

“What I saw what you did in the gym yesterday? That was a boy. I’m looking for a man...I’m glad this has been a life lesson. I’m glad you gave me the quote about the joy and the pain. I hope the pain you’ve gotten from this gives you joy somewhere else, it’s just not here right now. Thank you.”

THANK YOU. She ends it with “THANK YOU.”

When Rachel comes back through the gates without DeMario, the other men, who’ve all been watching, look gleeful, like a large gaggle of car salesmen who each sold a brand new Chrysler with extra bells and whistles for at least $5,000 more than the asking price.

“He’s not coming back is he?” asks one of the guys.

“Fuck no,” says Rachel.

A few other things that happen at the cocktail party:

Jonathan, who lists his profession as a Tickle Monster, shows up with gigantic, stuffed hands. They have creepy, long fingers and look like something from a cartoon horror movie, except they’re real. Rachel laughs. I shudder.

All the guys are like, “I don’t think Rachel is one to be messed with.”

Let's give Rachel a big hand for standing her ground! #TheBachelorette http://pic.twitter.com/u7Nhv1Wdps

— The Bachelorette (@BacheloretteABC) June 6, 2017

BLAKE AND LUCAS ARE REALLY SOMETHING, ALRIGHT

Before the rose ceremony, Lucas, the Whaboom Guy, tells Rachel he thinks Blake has a crush on him, because he says Blake stood over his head while he was sleeping and licked a banana. Blake tells Rachel there’s no way he could’ve done this, because he doesn’t eat carbs, because he’s on a ketogenic diet. And bananas are carbs.

I’m assuming that at least one of these two asshats make it through to the next round, because that’s what always happens.

AND THEN RACHEL KICKS THEM BOTH OFF

Rachel seriously dunks on the producers by getting rid of the two guys who ham it up most for the camera. Listen, the Bachelor or Bachelorette never does this. JoJo kept Chad, his protein powder, and his meat sticks around for way too long, and Nick met Corinne’s goddamn family.

But Rachel is like, mmm, let me think about this... NOPE. And gives them the boot.

Afterwards, Lucas is talking to the camera, and if his slurred speech and half-mast eyes are any indication, he’s beyond hammered. He reminds me of guys I went to college with who’d get wasted and be like, “So, dya like t’make outwith lacrosh playrs? I played in highshhool.”

Wha-Bananas?!? #TheBachelorette http://pic.twitter.com/oGRTCSuW3g

— The Bachelorette (@BacheloretteABC) June 6, 2017

As Lucas is talking to the camera, Blake goes over to him.

“Sup bro,” says Blake.

“Sup,” says Lucas.

"I just wanna say ... fuck you, you're a piece of shit,” says Blake.

“Go back to your protein shakes,” Lucas says. “Go back to your steroids. Just go back to your fucking garbage clown life, dude.”

Incredible dialogue. I wish I could write shit like this. Blake and Lucas, who are clearly acting, will go on Bachelor in Paradise, which was definitely their end game. They’re probably best friends in real life. I almost respect how Wrong their Reasons were.

THE MEN GET NAKED ON THE ELLEN SHOW AND FRED GETS SAD

Rachel takes her big boys to the Ellen Show, where they all get naked (just kidding, they keep their pants on) and dance up on giddy audience members, including someone’s grandmother. They have nice abs. I respect Rachel for finding ways to view these men without their shirts on before the first pool party. She’s a real innovator.

Ellen Degeneres then asks the men a series of questions, which includes, “Have you imagined having sex with Rachel?” That first question feels a little obvious; I operate under the assumption that most straight men imagine having sex with most women they meet, let alone one they are actively trying to eventually have sex with, if all goes well.

During this course of questioning we also learn that Alex already peed in the Bachelor pool, and that Fred had sex with a forty-year-old when he was 21. Respect.

Speaking of Fred: Rachel was his camp counselor when he was little, and he’s clearly been in love with her since then in that soul-crushing, you’re-the-first-person-I-ever-realized-could-make-me-feel-this-way way. He asks her if he can kiss her, which is awkward. She tells him it’s awkward, he kisses her anyway, and I cringe. Then she says to the camera: “It was like a little boy was kissing me.”

Oof. Not great, Bob. Rachel very graciously sends Fred home when it becomes clear she cannot reciprocate his feelings. Fred, if you’re out there: I hope you’re doing okay, buddy.

ANTHONY’S HORSE DATE

YES! ANTHONY FINALLY GETS A DATE!

We haven’t seen enough of Anthony, but he’s a very handsome Fullbright scholar, so I have high hopes for him. He’s never ridden a horse before, which is too bad, because he’s about to have to: He and Rachel mount majestic beasts and parade down Rodeo Drive in front of a school bus full of people shouting “OH MY GOD, IT’S RACHEL!!!”

Just another day on Rodeo Drive! #TheBachelorette http://pic.twitter.com/JN3H0hwKGK

— The Bachelorette (@BacheloretteABC) June 6, 2017

Why horses? I don’t know, but I fear its a play on Rodeo Drive. Rachel and Anthony ride their horses into a cowboy boot store. I’ve never been to L.A., so I’m not sure if this is an L.A. thing or a We’re The Bachelorette and Can Do Whatever We Want thing. They each purchase a red pair of cowboy boots.

There doesn’t seem to be a ton of chemistry between Rachel and Anthony, but I’m hoping the night date proves me wrong. Peter really screwed everyone over with that dog date.

NIGHT DATE

After a nice dinner on a hill overlooking the city, Anthony and Rachel dance together in front of a quartet. They both seem to have a nice time, and there’s definitely more chemistry than there was during the day date. I’m not sure the fireworks are there they way they were with Peter, but who knows — maybe this love will blossom more slowly. Speaking of blossoms, Rachel gives Anthony a rose.

LEE IS TERRIBLE

Back at the house, the night before the next group date, Eric says he’s invested in Rachel, but he’s not sure she’s invested in him. Iggy says he’s been listening to Eric’s insecurities all day, so he goes over to where Eric is sitting. He’s like, so you’re worried Rachel isn’t here for the right reasons? And Eric is like, no, I’m not saying that. I’m saying that she’s doing what she has to do to get what she wants. Iggy swears at Eric, but it’s so bleeped out that I can’t understand what it was.

Then Eric says this, which I think is a reasonable thing to ask someone you’re trying to marry:

“You’re not going to give a girl you’re not going to marry your all. It’s like, do you like me, yes or no?”

Iggy asks Eric if he’s going to ask Rachel that specifically, and Eric says “[bleep] yeah.” Iggy’s like, then what’s the point of this conversation? And Eric’s like, I don’t know, dude, you’re the one who came over here. Both men raise their voices. Then Lee comes over and starts trying to goad Eric.

We have to talk about Lee.

Last week, Lee’s alleged tweets surfaced.

Gotta love how @BacheloretteABC casts Lee...wonder how @TheRachLindsay feels about it? #TheBachelorette http://pic.twitter.com/RX6lkGpgyB

— Erika (@emesola) May 31, 2017

Lee’s account is private. His bio says “pleasantly offensive.” ABC declined to comment on the veracity of the tweets to Variety, but in them, Lee says he hates Islam, supports the “inhumane torture of terrorists,” doesn’t trust female liberals or men who own cats, and endorses a video that “destroys the liberal narrative on the Alton Sterling shooting.” One reads: “What’s the difference between the NAACP and the KKK? Wait for it…One has the sense of shame to cover their racist a– faces.”

An insider told Variety that ABC didn’t know about the tweets. If they didn’t, that’s a huge oversight in the vetting process. If they did know and let him on anyway, this is straight-up unconscionable. A guy like this doesn’t set the stage for fun reality show drama, like Chad, who merely ate all the deli meat last season. It’s setting the stage real, ugly and dangerous interaction.

RACHEL’S FRIENDS FROM NICK’S SEASON SHOW UP AND THEY GO MUD WRESTLING

Raven, Corinne, Jasmine and Alexis show up from Nick’s season to tag along on the next group date. I’m embarrassingly thrilled to see them (side note: you know it’s time to reevaluate some things when the contestants of this godforsaken franchise start to feel like friends).

Could it be Cheese Pasta Wrestling? #TheBachelorette http://pic.twitter.com/mMOThXGT7b

— The Bachelorette (@BacheloretteABC) June 6, 2017

It must be so nice for Rachel to have some friends along at this mud wrestling bar. The part of The Bachelorette that always seems the worst to me is when you have to go on a group date with, like, eight dudes and none of your girlfriends to whisper to when the guys inevitably start being creepy or boring. Also, ten bucks that the majority of these dudes immediately started trying to date the ex-Bachelor girls after they got kicked off. I bet Raven and Brady are, like, married now.

Kenny is very excited about the wrestling, given that he’s a professional wrestler. He yells, “TIME FOR THE PRETTY BOY PITT BULL TO GET BUSY!” And then he barks. I love Kenny.

Bryce says he considers himself the most athletic guy in the house. Meanwhile, Brady reminds me of Toad from Mario Kart — it’s not specifically looks, it’s more essence:

See what I mean?

Anyway, Bryce beats Kenny at mud wrestling, which seems like a real hit to Kenny’s pro-wrestling brand, but I’m going to just chalk it up to an off day. I’m mostly impressed by Rachel’s continued ability to find ways to get these guys to take off their shirts.

KENNY!!!!

Kenny is a bright spot this season. During the night portion of the group date, he tells Rachel he used to be a Chippendale dancer, rips his tank top off, and starts dancing up on her. She’s laughing. I’m laughing. Kenny won’t win, but Kenny is my dude so far. What a world!

Kenny, a man with layers! #TheBachelorette http://pic.twitter.com/qnIi79m0WV

— The Bachelorette (@BacheloretteABC) June 6, 2017

ERIC TELLS RACHEL HE’S VULNERABLE

Eric tells Rachel in a one-on-one conversation that he’s “been running from my feelings my whole life.” She says, “I see you, and I’m happy you’re here, and I’m feeling that.” She gives him the rose for the group date.

AND THEN EVERYTHING IS BAD

So it turns out that on the bus on the way to the wrestling bar, one of Rachel’s friends started asking the guys who they think might not be there for the Right Reasons. Two of the guys said Eric wasn’t.

Well, whaddaya know, the two guys who said that were Bryce and Lee. Rachel tells Eric she’s worried that if two guys said this, maybe it’s true, and that her antenna will be up.

Eric asks Lee why he said that. Lee smiles this evil smile and launches into this cruel back-and-forth where he tells Eric that Eric isn’t ready for love, and shames him for not having had a serious girlfriend. Eric is like, “Why are you doing this?” and Lee, between mean comments, is like, “I love you to death, and think you’re an amazing individual.” It’s the creepiest, most two-faced thing I’ve seen on this show before. You can tell Eric knows what’s going on, too. At one point he asks Lee, “Are you afraid of me?”

What’s also deeply troubling is that unless viewers read an article about Lee’s alleged self-proclaimed bigotry — which ABC has not confirmed, but has not denied — before tonight, most of America probably doesn’t know about it as they watch. From what we’ve seen so far in the show, Rachel doesn’t know at this point either.

To the camera, Lee says that Eric is “One kid with a bad issue. I think there are better guys for [Rachel]. Her best friends gave her information and she goes against them.”

He also says, in an aside, that the shit-talking is fun.

UGH

One of my friends texted me during the show to ask if the season was fun. It was for the first two episodes, I said. But Lee is a huge downer — it’s impossible to watch him as the standard Bachelor villain when he’s a real one of the worst variety.

I wish Lee hadn’t been put on TV, and I hope he’s gone very soon. Rachel is doing this show with as much integrity as you possibly can, and it’s a shame that Lee casts such a shadow over it.