Just curious, what are his reasons for not wanting to upgrade?

In the US there’s the saying “you can’t squeeze water from a stone”

Belt loops would have been for Cub Scouts. Merit badges are for Boy Scouts. There’s definitely plenty you can do at home for both, but with merit badges you need a merit badge counselor, who may or may not be your leader

Sensei of my domain

Arcane. Hands down 10/10 on practically every possible metric, but the thing that really got me was the way they portray trauma and the subsequent impact on mental health. I work with folks who have experienced trauma and I thought this was one of the best depictions of the aftermath I had ever seen in media.

Also, this is a perfect depiction of a Greek tragedy, in the sense that everything ends in tragedy not despite, but because of everyone’s best intentions. As the story unfolds you understand everyone’s motivations and they all make sense. There’s no perfectly good or bad characters, just a lot of people doing the best they can with the cards they were dealt.

Seymour! Gaza’s on fire!

That’s why I always go alone…

Here’s a good discussion on why you should vary your news sources along with some charts to show how sources vary and specific examples given. Maybe you can find what you’re looking for in there.