Read a forum thread where a guy tested both and the cheap one died after three rooms.

A girl I knew from high school spent $800 on a "mentorship program" and the guy literally just sent her links to free blogs and told her to "manifest abundance." lmao. The whole thing is a pyramid of people convincing the next person down they're about to crack the code.

The real trick is how some brands bank on people feeling too lazy to return a $12 item, so they pocket the profit on the stuff nobody sends back. That PO box makes it real easy to ghost any customer complaints.

Any advice on picking a good fan theory to latch onto?

Oh wow, a snapped awl?! That's rough, I've never broken one before. And mold on top of crumbling paper sounds like a total nightmare.