too lazy to read thread, so i'm just gonna say something.
HT lowers accuracy required to hit notes, so that would be a big no-no in terms of trying to get better, since most people feel accomplished by accuracy, not realizing the OD. Also, HT is similar to Easy in that it feels different than nomod (yes, i know it's faster/slower and it's a different mod, and that's not what i'm talking about you little shitboxes), and getting used to it basically requires you to adapt to something else that isn't really relevant in the game. If you want to play it, feel free to do it, but there really is not point in doing so in terms of improving and getting pp.
Nofail is a godsend, and you should pretty much always be using it as a tool to improve. What you play with nofail is up to you to decide if it's good for improving or not, but honestly nofail is an invaluable tool. Like all tools, it's for specific things, and it's not a solve all kind of solution, but you should know what kinds of map is even worth playing with Nofail. Playing something you can't even read with nofail is a waste of time.
But, the girl is still ugly, 3/10