THAT'S AWESOME I LOVE THAT EXPERIENCE FOR YOU
I do think "admitted" and "conceded" work just fine in this ⬆️ sentence, but it wouldn't be served by excessively florid language like "declared" or "concurred". The specific verb probably won't help a lot, but it might hurt.
Don't take my word for it, because I'm the worst, but I think the point is that if you're trying to get into the character's head, you can just do that. "Aaron was silent for a moment. As much as he loathed to admit it, Bailey's suggestion was right. At last, he said...."
He's just a smol, tasteless, frequently oversalty boy
If it's specifically Evangelical Christianity, there are a couple that just dropped that I'm quite excited about. Matthew Taylor wrote The Violent Take It by Force, which dropped this month, while @swordsjew.bsky.social's Wild Faith releases in about two weeks.
What flavor of charlatan are you interested in? Specifically political, like Bean Shapiro? Religious, like Jim Bakker? Conspiratorial, like Alex Jones? Failed comedian, like, well, pretty much all of them? They come in so many varieties, it's hard to nail them all down in a single work.
Not the point, but your nails are lovely.
Common hippos are larger than pygmy hippos; this one is smaller.
