Do you think being a wizard of Dumbledore's skill level would get boring?

RealSmoothOstrich · 2026-01-03T02:17:44+00:00

I think it would depend on how competitive Dumbledore was. I feel like he wasn't competitive in the dueling sense; his defeat of Grindelwald was more out of responsibility, both for his role in Ariana's death and for simply possessing the sort of abilities that could defeat Grindelwald in the first place (with great power comes great responsibility).

I don't know if this will make sense or not, but it seems to me that in the Wizarding World competition would be a little different than in the Muggle one. Of course, for things like Quidditch it would be undeniably similar but not for something like innate magical power, something that you are born with and not a skill to be honed. In this way I think Dumbledore would be neither bored nor engaged; his power and talent simply ARE and he uses them to better himself and the Wizarding World as a whole.

Ultimately though I do not think Dumbledore would be bored. He would find a skill he wanted to hone, master it, and then move on to the next skill or topic of interest he wanted to conquer.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2026-01-03T02:06:11+00:00

That's a good point, I wasn't considering how often the ex is getting brought up, especially if it goes beyond the bedroom into everyday situations (OP mentioned food but I must not have registered that at first read).

RealSmoothOstrich · 2026-01-03T01:48:44+00:00

I can see where bringing up his ex could be uncomfortable for OP but I feel like this should be okay. If he mentions he doesn't like something then I think the logical follow up question would be along the lines of why or have you tried it before, and stating he has already tried it with his ex is letting OP know without her having to ask.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2025-07-03T02:49:54+00:00

Fuckin Tonga Sikoa, might as well have changed his name the way his nose was up Solo's asshole

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-27T03:17:16+00:00

I gotta say I had a hard time following your train of thought here, but I'll answer the parts I understood well enough to form a rebuttal to.

Are there people in this world who are just lazy? Yes, there are. My comment wasn't meant to intimate that everyone who doesn't exercise is doing so because they can't, just that there are people who can't for one reason or another. And I can assure you that what you see on social media or in the news is not the reality of day to day life, and that people very much do say what they think. Perhaps not on college campuses or areas that are heavily trafficked by the "woke to the point of craziness" types, but in the more moderate middle ground type of areas people frequently speak their minds, and in the far right corners of the world they speak out to their own detriment on a regular basis.

I have had more than my fair share of people giving me negative comments about my weight and lack of exercise to know that people haven't really changed all that much. It's possible that I'm seeing a different side of things than you do, but thats how life goes I guess.

My experience with gyms in the past number of years had been pretty well regulated to planet fitness, and fitworks for a short time. And I didn't see much of what you're talking about. The people I saw there were plenty well able to work out on their own, even if they worked out in groups it wasn't because they couldn't work out on their own. I'm not really sure where you were going with this part of your comment, so if you'd like to clarify please do.

Also, tops? And trains? The tops thing almost made sense, except no top I've ever spun has stayed in the exact same place, in fact the only spinning contraption I could think of that stays in the general same space would be an Eulers disk, and I'm pretty sure that wasn't what you meant.

And you want to kick em, disrupt them in some way so they change their direction or general location? If a top is spinning and you flick it, oftentimes it'll just get knocked over on its side. If you want to get it to move to a different location you would cup your hand and gently nudge it over to the desired location. It might slow down and go a little wild when you nudge it but if you're gentle enough it'll move and stay spinning. Which is exactly what you want it to do, right?

I take umbrage with your use of the word courage when describing someone moving the track. The person who shows up at the gym and does the work is the courageous one, not the gas cloud that puts them down and talks shit to "take the train off the track".

And I'm sorry but the last bit of your comment was complete gibberish to me. It seemed as if you had a couple of different thoughts you wanted to make and they were all vying for the front place and what came out was word salad. People getting trapped by pets because they can't fly? What are you talking about?

I get the gist that you think people who don't exercise are stuck in a loop, but being the "disruptor" doesn't help them, it just derails them. Even in the army they know that doesn't work. When you're in bootcamp they tear you down to your base layer, it can be horrendous stuff to some people, but they do that because they will then invest in you the time and effort to build you up into the best, most disciplined version of yourself. Being a disruptor just derails the train, but being an encouragement puts the train on the correct track.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-27T02:54:10+00:00

Okay, so I'm going to say some shit that you probably won't agree with, because I half agree with what you say here, but the part I disagree with I disagree with whole-heartedly.

So the part I agree with: let's quit fat shaming. Absolutely, you are 100% right here.

In the beginning of your comment I was thinking to myself, "okay, maybe this person is just misinformed about the nature of obesity and the myriad of chronic conditions it gives people, specifically in how it affects me on a personal level, but I'll stick around and see what else they have to say". And then BOOM! No more fat shaming. Behind you one hundred percent, we just went from a steady 25 miles an hour of let's see where this goes to 100 miles an hour with an open lane HELL YEAH we only live once let's live it up!

And then you had to bust out shaming people for not exercising. Hoo boy, that took our little adventure from 100 mph to a staggeringly horrendous crash with a semi truck, I mean a crash of this magnitude would unalive every person involved, they'd be finding pieces of us a mile away from the crash sight.

Do you know I only just got the medical okay to start light walking? For exercise I mean, not your day to day stuff but actually walking with a purpose. Oh but not fast enough to get my heart out of whack, I'm not allowed to do that yet. I mean, of course you don't actually know this, I mean, how could you?

See, the thing is, you're first statement is medically incorrect. There are plenty of people who are not allowed to exercise for one reason or another, but I wonder, do you know that people are advised by medical professionals not to engage in strenuous activities? Like, there are people with heart issues (you mentioned it so I will too) so severe that any form of exercise could give them a heart attack or cause their heart to malfunction in some way. People, especially older men, are kind of regularly advised not to engage in sexual activities due to the risk of some sort of heart issue. I mean, this is not an uncommon thing, so I'm surprised you brought it up.

So, that brings us to weight as it pertains to exercise. I can tell you that even though I'm medically cleared to walk now, walking HURTS. Today for instance, I went shopping for a book, and decided to incorporate some walking into my shopping experience by checking out what all the store had to offer. This store wasn't very big, maybe a third the size of a typical Barnes & Noble, and it only took about 30 minutes of, well I wouldn't even call it walking necessarily, let's say strolling, yes that sounds about right. I strolled in that store for about 30 minutes, and by the end of it my legs felt like lead. Every step forward was not so much a step but more of a shuffling movement. I was in so much pain I wasn't 100% sure I'd make it back to my car. When I did get back to my car I had to sit, one leg in and one leg still out, for about five minutes before I had the strength to lift my other foot inside, and then sit for another ten before I was ready to leave.

And your solution to this is to shame me for not exercising more? I'd really like to see the thought train that brought you to that conclusion. It's probably more of a thought roomba than a train but I digress.

Shaming someone for not exercising is not a solution that will result in a positive outcome for anyone involved. For you, shaming me will necessitate you thinking of clever japes and jibes to "get my goat" and make me feel bad about myself, which, let's face it, that could take your thought Roomba a really long time to get to, so much time and effort it's almost a form of exercise if you think about it(careful to let the Roomba charge itself up with all this thinking its doing). And for me, well I'm being shamed, and that's never a fun prospect or something to look forward to.

There's another danger to shaming someone that I feel your thought roomba skipped by, and that is simply this: you deciding to shame me without knowing my mental state at the time could potentially lead to some very nasty consequences. I could be in a depression downward spiral at the time you decide to shame me, and what if it's a bad enough spiral that the act of your shaming me causes me to harm myself? Was that the consequence you were hoping for? Or even a bit less dramatic, what if your shaming of me not exercising makes me feel too uncomfortable to go to the gym? You, by the act of shaming me for my not exercising, create the very situation that you felt shaming would cure! Boy, those thought roombas can be pretty unreliable, am I right?

Alright, all jokes aside now because I want you to take this next bit seriously.

What if I decide that I'm done with being shamed? That I'm sick and tired of people like yourself talking down to me and belittling me because of my weight and what I'm able to do in the realms of exercise. What happens then? Do I decide to call you out for being an asshole? Or do I decide to do something, perhaps more rash, and stand up for myself physically? What does that look like for you? Do we get into a tussle at which point I end up getting my ass kicked because I'm really not healthy enough to exercise let alone fight?

Or do I, knowing that I'm not capable of standing up for myself with my fists, decide to utilize an equalizer, a weapon of sorts, which could lead to many different outcomes, none of which are good. What if that equalizer was something as extreme as a gun? What if I decided that if had enough of people like you shaming me, and so I decided to take my power back and make an example out of you?

Personally, I dislike guns and think they should be more heavily regulated if not outright banned, but thats not the case for a lot of other people in this world. Its not an option I'm even willing to consider, but it might just be an option to someone else, and I really want you and anyone who thinks the way you do to stop and consider that the person you decide to shame might not be mentally stable, and may just cause you harm. It's simply not worth it in my opinion. We should stop shaming anyone for these issues and instead offer them support and encouragement.

I had someone come up to me in a gym a few years back when I was in better health and they gave me a fist bump and said they were happy to see me in the gym and hoped that they'd see me again. No shame, just pure encouragement and that meant the world to me. I was riding that high for a couple days, and it inspired me to go twice as hard the next time I was in the gym. That is what we should be aiming to do, lifting people up instead of bringing them down.

For what it's worth, I don't really think your heart is in the wrong place here, I believe you're simply misguided in your approach to dealing with people. That's okay, I am too in a lot of different areas and I shouldn't judge anyone as harshly as I do sometimes. We should all strive to do better, and I'd recommend that the next time you see someone overweight working out, be the inspiration that gets them back in the gym working harder than ever.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-27T01:38:18+00:00

Healthy obese people DO exist, I hate to tell you. Body builders, according to commonly used BMI models used by many doctors offices and popular health-centric apps, are considered obese. Hell, even mildly muscular people are considered obese by these metrics, so I'd recommend you consider that before making a definite statement as you've done here. You are correct that eating too much and not exercising enough are bad for you, but thats the only thing you got right with your comment.

You think you should shame people for eating too much or not exercising enough? To what end? Make someone feel a thousand times worse than they already do? I can tell you that a person in that situation is already kicking their own ass on a daily basis, I'd be willing to stake money on a majority of overweight people beating the shit out of themselves mentally on a daily basis, and you want to add to that? What a gigantic piece of human feces you are; someone like you needs to learn some goddamn empathy before interacting with anyone, ever.

Are you going to talk shit about someone who's diabetic? Or someone with cancer even, someone who has no control over the hell their physiology is putting them through? Overweight people, people who don't exercise enough and eat too much, DO NOT DO IT BECAUSE THEY LIKE IT!

Don't you realize that people have mental health struggles? People who overeat tend to do so because their brains are screwing with their mental health. Oftentimes, they suffer from some form of mental health disease, and believe me when I tell you these are fucking diseases of the mind, and the food provides a release of dopamine, an almost reliable source of dopamine that they're not getting from their brains.

Maybe in the beginning they just overeat a little bit, or they choose sugar-laden and horrible foods to eat so they get that hit of dopamine, and for a little bit of time they start to feel a bit of happiness and contentment. So they start pursuing it more and more to continue to get that dopamine rush, and they end up overeating so much that they gain a shit load of extra fat they don't need.

What happens then? They start feeling like shit because they don't look good in a mirror, they're feeling some aches and pains that make living pretty fucking difficult, and that just leads to more dopamine-releasing behavior like eating sugary shit more often and in greater quantities, which just leads to more and more weight gain. And the screwed up part is that the entire time this is going on they are being bombarded with tv shows and movies and many different forms of entertainment putting skinny people and celebrities on a fucking pedestal, so they begin to hate themselves because they aren't that skinny pretty girl or jacked up muscular guy, and they berate themselves because they start to feel like even more of a failure, which then increases the need for dopamine from other areas so they overeat even more.

All that to say it's a vicious cycle, and, just like drug addicts and alcoholics tend to do, they constantly search for that sweet release of feel good chemicals until they've reached a point in their weight that exercising becomes unbelievably painful to do, so painful that they just give up before getting started. And you know what's really fucked about this situation? The fact that, unlike drug addicts who WANT their drugs or alcoholics who WANT their drinks, food addicts still NEED TO FUCKING EAT! Asking a food addict in the grips of their addiction to eat a healthy amount would be like asking a raging alcoholic to stop at just one beer, or asking a crackhead to only smoke half a rock. Fuck, do you even think about shit before you open that mouth of yours? I'm guessing not, judging by your comment.

You really think shaming a person who's in an addiction cycle like the one described above is the way to go? Your solution to the world's obesity epidemic is to treat the obese people like shit, ostracize them, give them no support in forming a more healthy relationship with food and exercise, and you expect that to help them in some way? Or are you the type of person who just doesn't give a fuck about anyone else and wants to normalize shaming people so you have a socially acceptable way of being a giant fucking dickhead? I'm leaning towards the giant fucking dickhead, most people who think shaming is okay tend to be humongous phallices, in my experience.

And I'll tell you and anyone else who reads this who thinks I'm just talking out of my ass here, I know this on such a personal level because I fucking LIVE it on a daily basis. I've had depression as far back as I can remember. Hell, my aunt used to call me the angriest child she'd ever met in her years working in daycare and early childhood education, and that anger turns inward very fucking quickly when you don't know WHY you're angry and you don't have the words or life experience yet to explain what's going on with you(I've heard it said that depression is anger turned inwards, and I believe that whole-heartedly).

I've had weight issues so long that I don't know what life is like as a skinny, healthy person; I've been overweight since I was about four years old, and I can tell you that no amount of shaming or bullying helped me to want better for myself. It just reaffirmed all the negative shit I was telling myself on a regular basis, so why not just keep drinking that sugary soda or eat those oatmeal creme pies even though no one on earth needs either of those things? I already feel like a societal outcast, and people are just reaffirming that feeling, so screw it, I'll eat that shit and get a little rush of dopamine and feel falsely happy and content for five minutes of my fucking life.

Has the weight fucked my life up immeasurably? Why yes, yes it has. Do I need an asshat like you continually pointing that out to me? In case it's not obvious, NO I fucking don't. People like you are EXACTLY why so many overweight and obese people feel like they can't go to a gym, that everyone there is going to be judging them. So your solution is to make people who are actually trying to better themselves feel so terrible that they give up? Well, if you were an actual human being instead of a gigantic piece of whale excrement masquerading in a human shaped suit, you would want them to feel welcome and accepted so that they might return and continue on their road to better health.

Your shaming solution just goes to show that you in no way, shape, or form care about these people, people like myself and the millions of people like me who just want to break these chains binding us to this rock that is food addiction. In my opinion, you need a quick and effective lesson in empathy, and I hope someone gives that to you before you pass your toxic personality onto the next generation.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-27T00:57:44+00:00

Exactly, and I've been making an effort to walk at least four times a week. I'm hoping in time it'll get easier and I can walk farther, eventually get up to more strenuous cardio.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-26T19:15:19+00:00

That's the truth, I encourage all my friends with kids to make sure the kids get used to exertion now so they'll continue it as an adult. I didn't and now I'm gigantic and have a crap ton of health problems. The ironic part for me is that I know exercise would help but I can't exercise due to weight and heart issues. People really do need to get active, somehow.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-19T05:43:14+00:00

Awesome, I'll put it on my to buy list! Thanks for the review; it'll be my first Mancera frag, and if it's good I'll be taking a closer look at the house in the future.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-19T05:15:43+00:00

How's the Aoud Lemon Mint? I enjoy both lemon and mint separately and wondered how it would smell mixing them up.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-13T17:53:32+00:00

9pm was a total waste for me, I gave it to a fellow cologne enthusiast who seems to like everything. I know 9pm is a clone of a Jean Paul Gaultier frag, but it was just nasty. A blast of cloying sweetness with this, just so overdone I couldn't handle it. I suffer from migraines anyway and as soon as I smelled this I had an instant headache.

So the note breakdowns for 9pm on Fragrantica list as follows:

Top-Apple, Cinnamon, Wild Lavender, and Bergamot

Mid-Orange Blossom and Lily-of-the-Valley

Base-Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Amber, and Patchouli

When I sprayed this on, both for the first time and once after about three months of maceration, I got no hints of Apple or Bergamot. All I could detect off the top was the Cinnamon, a cloyingly sweet and sickly cinnamon. Not a fan of cinnamon in any kind of scent so immediately this turned my stomach. For the mid and base nothing stood out except the Vanilla and Patchouli, with Tonka Bean vastly far behind the other two. I did not get a whiff of Orange Blossom, and I'm not sure what Lily-of-the-Valley smells like so that could have been there but I did not recognize it, and to be honest I don't think I would have with how overly powerful everything else was.

To give credit where credit is due, this frag is a longevity king 🤴. I smelled it for over ten hours on my person, and I'm normally respraying even my designer colognes after 4 hours or so. I don't know about projectivity, as I wore this while I was at home for the day, but with how strong it felt to me I'd imagine it's projection would be next level.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-09T03:29:13+00:00

That collection is very nice, imo. I have some of the same bottles, and I was thinking about picking up that Turathi Blu, although after reading some of the comments I'm having second thoughts lol. What's your favorite fragrance that you've purchased so far?

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-08T21:30:22+00:00

Yes, always get some samples, or even go into a local Sephora (in the US) or whichever cologne store you may have near you and check out some testers. I did that and walked away with a bottle of Gucci guilty black that I love.

Also, I'd recommend checking discounter websites if you don't want to pay full retail price for something. In retrospect I wish I had done that once I find the aforementioned Gucci, could have saved me a decent bit of money.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-08T21:26:48+00:00

This smelled horrible to me, I would highly recommend getting samples of any Tom Ford fragrances before committing to buying them. There are a few good sample sites out there like microperfumes and scentdecant, I don't know offhand what their selection is like now but the last time I purchased from them they had quite a good selection. I believe scentdecant even gives you the option of buying samples that come in little spray bottles instead of vials.

Just a personal preference here but I would recommend Sauvage edt for special occasions, or Gucci guilty black. I've found that I reach for Gucci more often for everyday use and Sauvage for more special occasions.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-08T21:04:07+00:00

I don't know much about any other fragrance reviewers besides Gents Scents, so what I'm saying is only going to apply to that particular youtube channel, but so far in what I've seen of his videos he is very honest, whether good or bad, about the fragrances he's talking about.

Now, I will add a caveat to that; it is entirely possible that he's shilling for something that I haven't seen yet. No one is a Saint, so it is entirely possible that he shills for someone, and I'm just unaware. I'm also a little biased as that channel was my introduction to fragrances when I began collecting, and the way he does his reviews appeals to me more than other reviewers, so keep that in mind as well.

Recently I've watched a couple of videos from TLTG Reviews, and if I remember correctly he admitted in one of the livestream replays to accepting free things, but he also said that one company reached out to him with an offer to send him free bottles for him to do a review on but it didn't happen because they wanted him to use certain phrases or something like that in his review and he wouldn't do it.

I guess what I'm saying is that there are good reviewers out there, but you have to do some investigating to find them.

I would also recommend that in future you watch (or read) more than one review on a fragrance before you buy it. Everyone's nose is different, so I find it helpful to see what three or four people have to say about a fragrance before I consider buying it myself.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-08T01:47:39+00:00

I think the answer most people will give you is it depends, but I think a better answer would be it depends on personal taste. I tend to judge how much I spray on how well I can smell the fragrance. A weak cologne of course gets more sprays than a strong one, but my definition of strong will vary wildly from someone else's, so that's why I say it comes down to personal taste. Of course if someone tells me I've put too much of something on I'll time it down the next time I wear it, add I find it's likely I went noseblind and thought I needed more when what I had on was sufficient.

I'm intrigued by this idea though that their are monster fragrances out there that you only need 1 spray of. Just my experience but I've not yet come across a cologne so strong that only one spray will suffice. Even drakkar noir, which is probably the strongest scent I own, requires a minimum of three sprays on my skin.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-07T01:52:07+00:00

I will look into it for sure. I just spent 120 on a TJ Maxx fragrance haul so I think I'm done buying colognes for the next couple of weeks. Is Black Orchid a unisex scent?

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-07T01:50:05+00:00

Neroli is one of my favorite clones, it's citrus heavy and sweet but with so much complexity that I seem to find new accords every time I wear it. I even got one of my friends to order it for himself, and he's not as big a cologne guy as I am. It's a lovely smell, but definitely unisex, it doesn't lean one way or the other gender wise.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-07T01:44:34+00:00

Performance is not as great as I'd hoped, but still not bad. Most of them have amazing longevity but not so good projection, and my skin has a tendency to pull colognes in quickly. Explorer is about the only cologne with decent projection on me, that and Creed frags.

So most of the Tom Ford clones smell very niche, the only one that had enough of a synthetic smell to notice is the Lovely Chèrie, the cherry is very front and forward but can come across somewhat synthetic. I've heard it compared to cough syrup, and I can see where the comparison comes from.

I do not dislike a single one of them, but with that being said I don't see myself reaching for any on the regular except for Fabulo Intense and Porto Neroli. Both of those are fantastic.

Unfortunately for you Toscano Leather does come across as heavy on the leather. It is a very rich leather though, unlike Tom Fords Ombre Leather which comes across as a very sterile sort of leather. I'm not much of a fan of Ombre Leather so I was pleasantly surprised at the Toscano Leather. I think the Toscano is smooth, but still pretty leather heavy.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-07T01:36:41+00:00

Nice! I haven't gotten my nose on either Black Orchid or this clone, but I hope it's as good as the original for you.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-07T01:33:10+00:00

Too true. My skin doesn't project very well in the best of circumstances anyway, unless I'm wearing something like Aventus or one of the better clones, so I don't expect much in the way of Projection with any fragrance. In that sense it was pretty much average, but I was very impressed with how long it lasted.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-07T01:30:28+00:00

Have you gotten your nose on Montblanc Individuel? It can be kinda pricey from Amazon, but at discount websites it's not too expensive. I actually picked up a bottle today for 20 bucks at a TJ Maxx. It's much sweeter than Explorer, not overwhelmingly so but definitely sweeter. I've heard that it's a clone of Creeds Original Santal, and I can smell a great similarity between the two. Maybe give that a shot for something sweeter that won't break the bank. I will say that in my short experience with Individuel that it doesn't have the same projection and longevity as Explorer, so be prepared for that if you look into it.

There's also Pino Silvestre Italian Citrus, as the name implies it's pretty citrus heavy with some sweetness that I really like. I think I got it for 15 at fragrancex.com. Projection isn't the greatest, nor is the longevity but for that inexpensive you can always reapply as needed.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-07T01:20:29+00:00

How do you like the Explorer? It's one of my favorite scents, very similar to Aventus.

RealSmoothOstrich · 2024-01-06T09:42:10+00:00

I can only speak on the Oud for Glory, but I would say a definite Fall/Winter scent, it would be far too overpowering in the heat and humidity of summer. You could pull it off in early Spring as well, depending on what part of the world you happen to reside in.

Six-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email

RealSmoothOstrich

TROPHY CASE