I've browsed this subreddit for a while, gotten some great information, and seen my fair share of puerile bullshit. I don't know everything, I don't 'study' seduction at all, but I've had some amazing experiences and extraordinary failures and we're all in this together - I'd like to share what I would want to read if I was new to this subreddit.

1) Start with yourself. If there's something you don't like about yourself, fix it. Do you want to date a girl that lacks confidence, is insecure, hides her shortcomings, or anything of the sort? No one does. Go to the gym, eat well, pursue your interests (I don't care what they are, fucking be passionate), don't fake a god damn thing, dress well but dress how you want (I don't own a single pair of jeans that aren't torn up from skateboarding, but that's who I am so I make it work. Guess what... it works), and take care of your space - clean your room, make your bed, fold your clothes, do your dishes, clean out your fridge, take your trash to the dumpster. Be a fucking adult - if you didn't like doing it when you were a kid, you should probably be doing it as an adult. Nobody wants someone who can't take care of him or herself, and it speaks volumes about you. You don't have to pussy proof your house every weekend in hopes of getting laid. In fact, you shouldn't. I don't do anything extra for a woman - this shit is for YOU. If you were a girl and you wouldn't drop your panties in a second for the awesome man you see in the mirror, fix yourself. Be the you that YOU want to be, have the life that YOU want. If you're doing it because you think girls will like it, you need to work on growing up before you start chasing tail.

2) Be yourself. I covered some of this above, but I can't emphasize this enough... Don't 'fake it 'til you make it', don't be a poseur, don't feign interest in a girl, her friends, whatever she thinks is cool. Be real. Don't do something because it's popular. The corollary to this is don't waste your time - if you feel like you have nothing in common with a girl and she's not into you, pick up and move out. I guarantee there's a girl that will eat you up instead of feigning an obnoxious horse laugh to keep you around long enough to make her feel good about herself. Fuck that. Second corollary... Don't play games. If a girl wants to involve you in something for her entertainment (come out with my and my friends, text a bunch and never make plans, be flaky and expect you to remake plans, etc) drop it like it's hot. If you're not having a good time, you're not being yourself. Because you're the kind of guy who's time is valuable and who wants to have fun, right?

Also on this one, do things your way. Yeah I get it, this is a 'game' and there are 'rules'... bullshit. This is life, there are no rules (that you don't make for yourself). You're a big boy, right? Little boys and little bitches (ie the guys that don't get laid and the girls they pursue that never put out) play games, men and women don't. As an aside to this, if you want something you do it, right? You make it happen. You pursue what you want. So do women. If a girl is leading you on in any way, cut her loose. Lastly, all the 'text game' and 'what do I say to girls lol' is mostly crap for people who don't know who they are and ergo don't know how to be themselves. Figure out who you are and what is genuine for you, and do that. I have a friend who's first words when approaching a girl are "I'd lick you from your ears to your asshole.", and it works for him because THAT'S WHO HE IS. Me? I can't pick up dumb girls to save my life because I can't relate to them, I'm not interested in them, and because I hook girls by being interesting and intelligent.

3) Leave girls better than you found them. Everybody wants to get laid, I get it. So do I, so do women. But women are 100% our human equals, and if you think their sole purpose is to be a hole where you get your dick wet, fuck off. I can't emphasize this enough... Multiple times I've pursued girls who have been hurt in their past (abusive relationship, raped, treated like shit by hookups) and simply gentlemanly qualities such as respect and patience have allowed me to completely win them over - and those women were absolutely worth it. If you have a doubt in your mind whether or not your actions will hurt a girl, then do not pass go and do not collect $200. You might be wrong, but you'll have a clear conscience and it will make you a better and more desirable person in the long run.

4) And when you can't help but hurt a girl... (break up with her, tell her you're just interested in something casual, whatever the case may be) my GO TO line is "I don't want to be a bad guy, but I'm not here to be a good guy." For better or for worse, we pursue our own self interest. When a girl isn't right for you, break it off in the most mature and fair way possible, but don't sacrifice your integrity by faking something, lying, or playing games. Sometimes you can't avoid causing some tears, but you can save your dignity by handling things like a man.

5) Poison in, poison out. We all choose our friends, and the easiest way to gather everything you need to know about a girl is by seeing who her friends are. I went out with one girl and met her friends - weed and talking about Dallas or Houston, that's all they were about. At first I thought this girl was gonna be cool - poli sci and history majory, very pretty, but if she was a puddle of water I couldn't have seen my own reflection she was so god damn shallow. I got up and left in the middle of that date and never had a second thought. The next night I had a Rachael McAdams look alike with a ghetto booty in my bed. Also, and this is part of 1 and 2, don't keep shitty friends. Just don't. You'll pick up all of their bad habits, they'll make you look bad, they'll stab you in the back for pussy, and when they crash and burn you'll go down with them. I know because it's happened to me and I've seen it happen.

6) Glue your feathers down. This comes from a saying from when I grew up about dealing with problems is to let them be "like water off a duck's ass". Let that shit roll off your back. Secondly, don't let anything "ruffle your feathers." Shit test? Cool. She bumps into her ex while y'all are out? Cool, introduce yourself. She doesn't like your test in beer? Cool, you don't like the way her breath smells. Take your bag of fucks and shits and empty them out - don't carry any around with you to give. Be confident, don't let yourself get nervous, and don't you dare second guess yourself. This isn't the movies where you're cutting the wire on some time bomb and the last second where you change your mind leads to some bullshit happy ending. Know yourself, and don't ever let silly external bullshit change your mind.

I know I'm repeating myself here, but I can't emphasize this enough... Be your own person - be who you want to be. I don't memorize routines or openers. I don't adhere to any strict rules. I don't go to clubs (I hate dance music with a fucking passion), and I damn sure never put forth an effort to learn how to dance. I didn't start going to the gym just to get girls. I don't eat well just so I don't have to hold in a fart while I'm railing a girl. Because fuck all of that, this is my life and I'm the hero of this story. I don't do anything solely for the sake of impressing someone else or getting laid. So what do I do? I go out in torn up jeans and a t-shirt, sometimes a wife beater. I listen to punk music. I call girls out on stupid political beliefs and ruin my chances. I reject booty calls at 4am because I'm tired. I smoke cigarettes even when the people around me can't stand it. I give a girl the patience and respect she deserves when I'm about to stick it in after our first date and she looks nervous as shit. All because THAT'S ME. I'm not trying to be a cool guy, or puff myself up, or any of that crap. I have some epic failures, trust me! And I CERTAINLY don't have 'natural' game...

What I hope you take away from this is be who you want to be first and foremost, and let everything else be subjugated to that.

It's not my intention to step on any toes or piss anybody off, but frankly I'm not looking for any input, either. I'm madly in love with a girl right now and I wanted to share all of this retrospectively. I hope it helps someone.