Thanks man. Need to dust myself off. I f**** HATE losing, and that is precisely what I am doing right now with these women. Losing to THEM and to the DUDES who are getting them.

I need to get over it and start talking to randoms again, and then I will surely post back... my main sticking point right now is just ridding myself of the stink of colossal failure... and getting on with it.

No prob. You also mentioned needing "the ability to sustain and enhance attraction over several meetings."

You were getting the LJBF texts. Maybe try to reframe in your mind where you want the dates to go. Kino/eye contact/mad flirting/makeouts/etc. You aren't out to have food with a girl. You're out to connect with her in a sensual manner. That's what she's hoping for, anyway.

So rather than trying to hold attraction over several meetings which would be hard for anyone on the planet to pull off without steady escalation, a reframe of going for the f-close sooner than later may help you.