TAPOLOGY RECORD: 67-47
LAST WEEK'S PICKS: 10-3
LAST WEEK'S BETS: -4.5U
PRELIMS
FlyW W Bout: JJ Aldrich v. Veronica Hardy
Records: 13-6 v. 8-4-1
Last 5 Fights: WWLLW v. WWLWL

• Hardy took a 3 year layoff from 2020 to 2023 to retool and she has looked good since
• Hardy was 1-4 in her last 5 prior to the layoff
• Hardy has had a reach disadvantage in nearly every UFC fight she has been in, but she is very good at closing the distance and entering the pocket with flurries of strikes
• I see shades of Julianna Pena when she moves forward - she is quite wreckless when she feels pressure and will shoot a lazy takedown if she feels like she can’t land a good shot - however, this is from dissecting tape prior to her layoff
• I am noticing a pattern - Hardy almost always wins RD1 but she starts to tail off in later stages, going for takedown after takedown in hopes of securing a 2nd round for the judges
• She employed this strat in her last 3 fights, but had minimal success against Malecki who prevented 9 of her takedowns
• Aldrich is flat-footed in the octagon, but if pressured she will look to counter-strike hard, which is something Hardy isn’t used to in her recent fights
• Aldrich is good at slipping her opponent’s strikes and is good at turning these slips into advantageous clinch situations
• Aldrich has the exact style to defeat someone like Hardy - Hardy needs to close distance since she has a 3 inch reach disadvantage and Aldrich excels at timing flurries and countering up close, and has good wrestling and takedown defense to counteract Hardy’s late round attempts
• I think both ladies are durable enough to not get finished, so I will lean with decision here

PICK: JJ Aldrich by Unanimous Decision
WW Bout: Jared Gooden v. Kevin Jousset
Records: 23-9 v. 10-2
Last 5 Fights: WLWWL v. WWWWW

• Gooden entered the UFC in 2020 and was 1-3 with 3 decision losses - he then went 4-1 on regionals (losing to Impa Kasagany by KO) and since rejoining the UFC, he has gone 1-1 with a sneaky RNC finish in his last performance
• Gooden has heavy hands but he has sub optimal striking defense - he gets clipped almost every time he enters the pocket and leaves himself open to counter hooks
• Gooden was rocked a few times in his most recent win over Turman before connecting with his hook and finishing the fight
• Gooden has a puncher’s chance here and I don’t think that will go well against a guy like Jousset - Jousset is coming off back to back wins against fighters with a similar ilk to Gooden
• Jousset is the much more active and accurate striker although he has had only 2 UFC fights
• Jousset throws approximately 8 strikes per minute and Gooden absorbs approximately 7 strikes per minute - this is a concoction of dangerous sniper vs wreckless opponent
• Jousset excels at leg kicks and is an excellent defensive striker as well to go with his black belt in judo
• HOWEVER - this is the first fight in the UFC where Jousset has a reach disadvantage - he is almost always the bigger fighter with a minimum of 3 inch reach advantage
• I expect Jousset to pick apart Gooden here and eventually get a decision victory - Jousset could get a late round finish if Gooden decides to go ALL IN in an attempt to KO Jousset - I think I lean the latter
• The reach is too much of a question mark for me to actually bet here, though

PICK: Kevin Jousset by RD3 KO
WW Bout: Jake Hadley v. Charles Johnson
Records: 10-2 v. 14-6
Last 5 Fights: LWWLW v. WLLLW

• Hadley is a submission artist but he does not shoot for takedowns as often as you’d think - more often than not, he is the one being taking down but he has a very active guard and constantly hunts for subs - he averages nearly 2 sub attempts per fight
• Hadley has a nasty jab and loves to attack the body - he does leave openings when he fires leg kicks
• His striking defense is similar to Dustin Porier’s with the way he defends strikes with his elbows, but he leaves his body open for jabs and kicks too often for my liking
• He doesn’t do well if he gets pressured - he leaves himself open for too many strikes and doesn’t have the best lateral movement - he excels when he moves forward
• Hadley does have a well rounded striking game - he mixes in body and head shots super well
• Hadley does leave himself open to overhands if you get him thinking about the body too much as well - his main weakness is that is more than ok with staying on the ground since his submission game is so elite
• Johnson is 3-4 in the UFC and prior to his decision victory over Maksum, he was riding a 3 fight losing streak and was basically fighting for his career
• Johnson has since signed a new UFC deal, so he might be less inclined to go balls to the wall for a victory like he was in his last bout
• Looking strictly at numbers, Johnson lands at higher clip than Hadley, absorbs about an even amount of strikes, and throws slightly more
• In Johson’s 4 losses, he was taken down 3 or more times - Mokaev got 12 and Durden secured 11
• He outlander Rafael Estevem by nearly 60 significant strikes but still took the loss because he was taken down 3 times out of 22 attempts, suffering nearly 8 minutes of being controlled
• Hadley may shoot for takedowns, but he is not on the same level as some of the wrestlers Johnson has already faced
• I am slightly concerned with Johnson’s chin - he was rocked a few times in the opening stages of his fight with Maksum
• He doesn’t do anything spectacular but he does have a well rounded striking/grappling skillset similar to Hadley’s
• In a standing affair, I lean Hadley to win the early parts of it but Johnson has a much better gas tank and will likely win the striking exchanges in the later parts
• My main issue is Hadley has KO power and we have seen Johnson wobbled by fighters with less
• If this fight hits the ground it ought to be interesting since both possess good sub games
• I lean ever so slightly on the side of Jake Hadley here - I expect him to get an early finish based on the openings Johnson leaves early on in fights

PICK: Jake Hadley By RD1 KO
WW Bout: Trey Waters v. Billy Goff
Records: 8-1 v. 9-2
Last 5 Fights: WWLWW v. WWWWW

• Going strictly off of stats, this fight has all the makings to be an absolute banger
• Goff lands over 10 strikes per minute while Waters lands nearly 7
• Across their combined 21 fights, they have only seen the scorecards a combined 5 times
• Interesting to see that both fighters were underdogs in both of their 2 UFC bouts
• The main issue with Goff is he is extremely chinny although he has yet to record a KO loss - he gets dropped early in fights very often but unleashes his dawg just as often
• If Goff senses weakness, he will unleash a flurry of strikes and sometimes parlay that into a takedown
• Goff throws too many blind leg kicks that lead to him getting absolutely crushed by counter crosses
• He does mix his striking up well, especially with his big hooks to the body
• I do fear he will get KO’d against a top tier striker simply because of how often he leaves his chin in the air and how often he gets cracked
• If we look at the level of competition, I’d argue Goff has faced much superior competition
• Waters is an excellent counter striker and I believe he will have tremendous success against a guy like Goff who is going to constantly try to move forward
• Waters has a wicked left overhand although he has yet to really KO anyone at a high level with it
• I am concerned slightly with the takedown defense of Waters - as a counter striker, he is more looking to strike when an opponent dives in on him than he is to defend the takedown itself
• I ultimately think Waters will be able to catch Goff coming in eventually and put him out - if not, he is primed for a decision victory
• Goff RD1 KO is a decent hedge if he snipes Waters’ body, though

PICK: Trey Waters by RD2 KO
SW Bout: Tabitha Ricci v. Tecia Torres
Records: 9-2 v. 13-6
Last 5 Fights: LWWWW v. LWWWL

• First glance - I think this fight is a complete mismatch - I think Ricci clears Tecia by a mile - but I shall look further
• Torres is coming off of a 2 year layoff in which she had a whole baby - her recent fights before then have not really impressed me, either
• Torres does have good counter striking - she throws nearly the same volume as Ricci
• Torres does possess excellent takedown defense which is one of Ricci’s main paths to victory - however, Torres has been taken down at least once in a majority of her 15 UFC fights
• I do not enjoy the fact that Torres actually made Mackenzie Dern look good on the feet, though
• Ricci has two losses in the UFC, both to elite level competition - she has a standing TKO loss to Manon in her UFC debut, and a split decision loss to Loopy Godinez in her most recent bout
• When Ricci is not able to mix in takedowns, she starts to fade as the fight elongates - her only 2 UFC losses were fights in which she secured 0 takedowns, and her wins have included a minimum of 3 secured takedowns
• Torres hasn’t fought many elite grapplers, but when she has, she has let up some takedowns - gave up 2 to weili zhang in a decision loss, and gave up 10 to jessica andrade
• I ultimately think Ricci can edge this one out by mixing in takedowns and secure a very close decision victory

PICK: Tabatha Ricci by Split Decision
LW Bout: Terrance McKinney v. Esteban Ribovics
Records: 15-6 v. 12-1
Last 5 Fights: WWLLW v. WLWWW

• McKinney is the definition of kill or be killed - he has had 9 UFC bouts, and none have hit a round 2
• He has been cleanly KO’d three times, all by high level strikers
• It’s hard to give an exact breakdown on McKinney since his fights are so short - he is the king of winning the first minute of a fight regardless if he wins or loses the rest
• Ribovic, on the other side, has had 3 UFC bouts and has yet to be chinned in his professional career
• Ribovic’s one UFC loss came against Loik Radzibov, but that’s simply because Loik was able to take him down 11 times
• Although Ribovic’s takedown defense ain’t the best, he does possess world class boxing and has finished 11 of his 12 wins inside the distance, half Ko and half sub
• My main concern is Esteban’s level of competition -
• Prior to the UFC and even including the DWCS, Ribovic has fought nothing but cans with can records - in his 2 ufc fights, he has been unable to secure a finish and even has a loss
• Looking at Esteban’s one UFC win, he went up against a chinny Kamuela Kirk, threw over 100 strikes, and still was unable to get him out inside the distance
• Although he defeated Kirk, he definitely lost Round 1 since Kirk was constantly fishing for subs and held his back for a good portion of it
• Although Terrence is mainly a striker, I think he knows the path to victory is to chase takedowns, which he is more than capable of
• I suspect McKinney is going to avoid the heavy shots of Ribovic, although if you look at tape, it seems like that’s McKinney’s gameplan most of the time lol
• Ribovic does throw great combinations as well and has a great gas tank even after being wrestled
• Considering the odds, I am definitely placing a unit on McKinney and a smaller one on the prop I am taking him in
• I am also taking into account that McKinney has a RD1 sub finish over Fares Ziam, who is better on the ground than Ribovic is (in theory)

PICK: Terrence McKinney by RD1 Submission
LW Bout: Chase Hooper v. Viacheslav Borschev
Records: 13-3-1 v. 7-3-1
Last 5 Fights: WWLWL v. DWLLW

• This fight is the definition of striker v grappler
• Chase Hooper has had 8 fights in the UFC and looks to be improving in each one
• For someone with that many fights in the promotion, it’s interesting to note that he is only 24 years old
• The main concern with Hooper is his striking - he has looked good recently in that department, but only against sub-par strikers: he landed over 100 strikes on Nick Fiore who lands at a very low clip to begin with
• He was TKO’d in RD1 by Steve Garcia, although Garcia possesses elite power for the LW division with 5 KOs in the UFC across 7 fights
• Hooper is not going to have much success on the feet so I suspect he is going to relentlessly dive for takedowns
• Against a guy like Slava Claus, I am not sure if he will have much success
• Slava has had 5 UFC bouts, and his 2 losses came in fights he was taken down 9 times (Mike Davis) and 11 times (Mark Diakese)
• He was taken down another 4 times by Nadim Sadykov, but he managed to sneak a draw since he was able to make a comeback and hit Nadim with some wicked combinations in the later rounds
• My main concern for Slava is Hooper’s 5 inch reach advantage - Slava hasn’t had much success against longer, rangier fighters thus far
• Ultimately, I think Slava has improved his TD defense and ground game to the point where he will be able to avoid Hooper’s sub attempts, and I think Slava will simply outclass Hooper on the feet, leading to an eventual TKO victory

PICK: Viacheslav Borschev by RD2 KO
MAIN CARD
HW Bout: Waldo Cortes-Acosta v. Robellis Despaigne
Records: 11-1 v. 5-0
Last 5 Fights: WWLWW v. WWWWW

• Not much to cover on Despaigne besides the fact that he has knocked out his 5 MMA opponents all in the first round
• Despaigne’s last four fights have a combined time in the octagon of 37 seconds
• His right hook looks to be the punch of death similar to Alex Pereira’s left hook
• Cortes-Acosta is powerful and has proven that he can go the distance in a fight, something that we have not seen out of his opponent
• Acosta has yet to be chinned in the UFC, but his one UFC loss came when he was taken down 3 times by Rogerio De Lima
• This is going to be a standing affair for as long as it lasts
• As for Acosta, we know he has good volume striking and he can turn up the pace as the fight goes on, but honestly who knows what happens here
• Neither has ever been KO’d to sleep, neither are willing to take the fight to the ground, and neither has looked bad in the cage thus far
• Hard not to pick the guy that has 5 first round finishes in his 5 professional fights

PICK: Robelis Despaigne by RD1 KO
FeatherW Bout: Alex Caceres v. Sean Woodson
Records: 21-14 v. 11-1-1
Last 5 Fights: LWWLW v. WWDWW

• Sean Woodson comes into this fight with an obvious advantage in height and reach
• Woodson has the ability to end the fight early, with a round one finish against Collin Anglin and a second round flying knee knockout over Terrance McKinney and can also go the distance, his previous three fights all ending by decision
• Caceres knows to mix up his striking very well which could be an issue for Woodson
• Caceres can chop Woodson’s long legs and also focus on the body to control the distance and stay away from Woodson’s long reach
• Woodson has 3 KO wins on his record, which is low considering he comes from a boxing background
• Woodson’s takedown defense ranks amongst the best in the featherweight division, so I don’t see this fight getting the ground unless Woodson chooses to do so, considering he averages nearly 1 takedown per fight
• Woodson ever so slightly has outvolumed Caceras on a per minute basis, landing over 1 strike over Caceras
• Crazy to see that Caceres is now 35 considering we have been watching him advance throughout his MMA career in the UFC since he was 25
• If the Sodiq and Giga decisions had gone in his favor, he would be riding a 9 fight winning streak
• He landed very similar strkes to both of those men, but the main issue is the power: although he has been in the UFC for 10 years, he has only recorded ONE KO across 30 UFC fights
• I believe Woodson will have the power advantage and the overall striking technique to cruise to a decision victory here
• Caceres may find some hope in securing Woodson’s back from a standing position, but I doubt it considering just how long Woodson is
• Woodson also has a knack for winning decisions - the closer, the better

PICK: Sean Woodson by Unanimous Decision
LW Bout: Diego Ferreira vs. Mateusz Rebecki
Records: 18-5 v. 19-1
Last 5 Fights: WLLLW v. WWWWW

• Rebecki is one of the more touted prospects of the LW division considering he can mix in takedowns with his high level striking
• Rebecki hasn’t faced elite competition just yet - he did KO Loik Radzhabov, but his 2 canceled bouts could have told us a lot of information (Nurlston Alliev and Joel Alvarez)
• Going off stats, Rebecki lands at a higher clip on a per minute basis compared to Diego, and he averages over 4 takedowns per fight
• Rebecki is a classic case of a wrestler who gets his opponents fearing the takedown to the point that they drop their hands and leave openings on the feet
• Rebecki does have one KO loss, which occurred in his 4th professional fight, but I am not too concerned with him being chinny
• Looking over Ferreria’s career, he has really only lost to elite LWs: Porier, Dariush, Gamrot, and Gillespie
• Besides Porier, the common theme amongst those losses was the takedown - he was taken down a minimum 4 times in each of those bouts
• Diego is coming off of a highlight KO over Michael Johnson, but prior to that, he hadn’t fought since 2019
• I do think Diego is a live dog due to his experience and Rebecki’s lack of it and the fact that Diego is coming off of a KO win, but I ultimately have to side with the ever growing -400 favorite
• Rebecki simply has way more paths to victory than Diego, and I think he is able to control him for most of the bout
• Although he has faced elite grapplers, Diego has been tapped out a total of ZERO times, so I think a finish is going to be harder for Rebecki to find than expected

PICK: Mateusz Rebecki by Unanimous Decision
LHW Bout: Alonzo Menifield v. Carlos Ulberg
Records: 15-3-1 v. 9-1
Last 5 Fights: WWDWW v. WWWWW

• Both fighters are entering this bout in their apparent career primes
• Menifield was having trouble early in his UFC career, but recently has been putting it all together, amassing a 4 fight win streak (one draw in between) with 3 finishes in that span
• Ulberg very similar - he started his UFC career with a KO loss to Kennedy Nzechukwu and has won 5 fights since, with 4 finishes to boot
• Ulberg lands nearly double the strikes Menifield does over a 1 minute basis, which is pretty nuts considering this is the LHW division and we don't’ normally see someone landing over 7 strikes per minute
• Although, according to the stats, Ulberg technically lands more takedowns per fight, I’d argue that Menifield possesses the grappling/wrestling advantage here - we have some glimpses of his takedowns and they aren’t the worst/aren’t the best
• I suspect this is going to be a standing affair as long as it lasts
• Menifield’s most strikes landed in a fight was 56, compared to Ulberg who (in way less fights) eclipsed that number twice (81 and 146)
• Menifield’s usual main path to victory is KO since he relies on his power over his volume to win fights (he was nearly outstruck by double against Dustin Jacoby but secured a decision victory due to his knockdowns)
• Ulberg only struggles against wrestlegrappler types, and if this fight stays standing (which I think it will), I believe Ulberg has all the tools to outclass Menifield on the feet
• Menifield by KO is super live since we’ve seen Ulberg chinned before, but so too have we seen Menifield
• I think Menifield is going to get outstruck for two rounds and start to try to lunge at Ulberg to connect, which will lead to a KO victory - very similar to Menifield’s KO loss against OSP
• I see this fight being similar to Hill v Pereira - never bet against the world class kickboxer in a fight you know will stay on the feet

PICK: Carlos Ulberg by RD3 KO
WW Bout: Joaquin Buckley v. Nursulton Ruziboev
Records: 18-6 v. 34-8-2
Last 5 Fights: WWWLL v. WWWWW

• Joaquin Buckley has seen success since his weight switch from Middleweight to Welterweight with three consecutive victories in the division
• In order to successfully handicap this fight, we would need to look at how Buckley has done at his newer weight class
• He was taken down by Alex Morono once, but that was a super close fight that Buckley was able to secure with a third round flurry landing over 40 strikes in the round
• Buckley showed in his last fight that he can fight with the best as he displayed great distance control and did an amazing job at avoiding Vicente Luque’s kicks and even getting in close and showing off his combinations and ultimately getting the TKO victory
• If we try to seek Buckley’s main path to victory, we’d have to look at his opponent and how he has lost, considering he has 8 losses, 7 of which were at weltwerweight
• The last and only time Nursulton has been chinned was in his 3rd fight 10 years ago, so I am not too worried about a Buckley KO
• The one and only time Nursulton lost by sub was a lucky kimura his opponent landed off of his takedown
• His losses mainly come by way of decision, but he seems to know how to win fights nowadays since he is on a 10 fight winning streak since 2019
• Ruziboev began his UFC career at Middleweight where he had two KO finishes, both coming in the first round - weird considering he has 20 wins by submission and has yet to even attempt one
• I think Nursulton possesses more paths to victory here - he has the slight takedown edge, the slight grappling edge, and the power is almost equal
• So with that being said, I think Ruziboev can edge out a decision or get a late round finish over Buckley, a Buckley we have seen chinned multiple times against lesser competition
• We have also seen Buckley get controlled a lot against grapplers like Imavov, and we have seen Buckley get KO’d by way lesser competition like Alessi Di Chirico
• Exact prediction: Buckley edges RD1, Nursulton comes out firing for takedowns in RD2 and wins by RNC

PICK: Nursulton Ruziboev by RD2 Submission
HW Bout: Derrick Lewis v. Rodrigo Nascimento
Records: 27-12 v. 11-1 (1 NC)
Last 5 Fights: LWLLL v. WWW(NC)L

• Derrick Lewis is well-known for being one of the most powerful people that the UFC has ever seen, holding the record for most UFC KO’s
• Lewis, being a striker, has seen some struggles against wrestlers, as we saw against Jailton Almeida, who controlled him over 21 minutes in a 25 minute fight in what most consider to be a “snoozefest”
• Nascimento has had glimpses of showing off his ground game, with a submission win over Don’Tale Mayes in the second round of their fight
• In his fight against Tanner Boser, Nascimento had 3 takedowns with 8 minutes of control
• Nascimento’s main path to victory is going to try to get this fight to the ground, considering Lewis has struggled against high level wrestlers and was even submitted fairly early by Sergei Spivak after relinquishing 6 takedowns in one round
• Rodrigo has been knocked out in his UFC career by Chris Daukaus in the first minute of their fight which brings concern to his current bout with Lewis - also consider Lewis KO’d Daukus in RD1 himself
• Derrick Lewis has shown that he possesses explosive power that he displayed in multiple fights, most recently, we saw against Marcos Rogerio de Lima where he came right out of the gates with a flying knee
• Ultimately, I think Lewis can find the chin of Nascimento, and considering this is 5 rounds, he has plenty of time to do it
• In his most recent 5 round fight against Almeida, Lewis found success in the striking on occasion and nearly KO’d Almeida with vicious ground and pound (I understand he got controlled for 21 minutes but there were slivers of success)
• I think Lewis can gas Nascimento to the point he will find a later round finish - Nascimento might go all in on takedowns and pay the price later in the bout

PICK: Derrick Lewis by RD3 KO

My primary concerns are a complete loss of sensation in my genitals and accompanying erectile dysfunction. I also constantly feel like I have to pee and have trouble holding it. That and chronic constipation. I don't notice any genital-specific pain. The most would be a pressure/tightness in the perineum. I do get periodic tingling in my left side, mainly arm and leg - but, I've been told that's a B vitamin deficiency and taking B vitamins clears it up, mostly.
I've been having these issues for, at least, 12 years, now... and I'm 30. I've also only recently gotten doctors to take me seriously, at all - though, only to a limited degree.
Most recently, my current PCP has said that the only explanation for my symptoms is Sciatica - explicitly due to my current weight problem. I've been in PT for over a month and noticed no real improvement, even with respect to my general chronic pain disorder. I'm not expected to be fully cured in a short time - but, I figured I'd notice something.
The thing is, though - I've had the same problem at every weight I've been at for 12 years. Including when I was thin. I tried to posit that it might be related to having been on/off SSRIs since I was a 15 - but, she shut that down hard and fast. Swore up and down that it shouldn't and couldn't persist even after I've been officially off of them for years. The psych meds I've switched to are suppose to help improve things, too - but, they don't. I'm still numb.
Currently, I'm taking:

• Esketamine intranasal (Spravato)
• buPROPion XL (Wellbutrin)
• L-Methylfolate
• Fexofenadine HCL (Allegra)
• and various OTC vitamins/supplements, including cranberry pills and a twice-daily stool softener
• like, Vitamin D and B6/B12/B-complex
• I was taking Fiber supplements - but, after a particularly worsening period of constipation (that I feared was caused by taking too much), I stopped

None of my current my medications should be causing problems, to the best of my knowledge - in fact, they should be helping: but, I figured it'd be best to make that clear, just to be safe.
I've read there's some connection to the pelvic floor through the sciatic and pudenal nerves - but, I don't pretend to be an expert.
I'm just at the end of my fucking rope and trying to figure out what the Hell to do about this. It'd be one thing if I had no libido - but, I still think about, desire, and remember sex and sexuality. So, if anyone has any feedback: I'd appreciate it.

Let's Decode What Depression Is And More

Today I will be going in depth about depression and decoding the word and reasoning with Numerology. We can already see that depression has a lot of repeated letters which shows there is too much of a focus on one thing and too much of something can usually hinder it or cause imbalance.
Let's break down the word DEPRESSION:
The word has E 2 times, S 2 times
D=4
E=5
P=7(16)
R=9(18)
E=5
S=1(19)
S=1(19)
I=9
O=6(15)
N=5(14)
Let's first focus on the obvious! This word has karmic debt numbers for the letters N, P, and S. Let's grab some context from a site that I will link below that explain what these karmic debt numbers mean in detail.
"The 14 Karmic Debt arises from previous actions where human freedom has been abused. Those with a 14 Karmic Debt are forced to adapt to ever-changing circumstances and unexpected occurrences. There is an acute danger of falling victim to drug abuse, alcohol, or overindulgence in sensual pleasures, such as food and sex. Moderation in all affairs is crucial to overcome this Karmic Debt." - credit goes to Karmic Debt Numbers in Numerology World Numerology
"The 16 Karmic Debt – in any area it appears in a chart - means destruction of the old and birth of the new. It is about the fall of the ego and all it has built for itself. It is a watershed, a cleansing. Things the ego has constructed to separate a person from the source of life, are destroyed.
Through the 16, reunion with higher consciousness may be achieved. This can be a painful process because it usually comes after much ego inflation, resulting in a struggle between the ego and higher ideals. Life will present challenges to your grand plans which you may resent and struggle against. It is a losing battle… and you will likely feel humbled in the face of the collapse that follows. However, humility is the key to later success, as you learn to follow the intimations of a deeper reality."
"A person with the 19 Karmic Debt will learn independence and the proper use of power. You will be placed in situations where you are forced to stand up for yourself (and often be left standing alone). One of the central lessons for people with the 19 Karmic Debt revolves around stubbornly resisting help from others. Much of your independence is self-imposed - you simply want to do it your own way.The 19 Karmic Debt can become a self-imposed prison if you don’t recognize the need for interdependence and the mutual need for love.Although you seek to stand on your own feet, you are inextricably connected to others and in need of the support and understanding that all people need - this is the most important lesson for the 19 Karmic Debt." And being personally connected to a lot of 19 energy, this is very true! There is one 19 person I watch on Youtube and he is using this energy pretty well.

DECODING DEPRESSION

Let's take a look at the word. You see it starts with the letter D which is ruled by the number 4 as the 4th letter in the alphabet. 4 energy is connected to privacy, home, family, discontent, restriction, and nonchalant energy. There is many more terms, but you can see where this is going. If you call certain companies toll free, listen to what they say you need to press number 4 for.
What just hit me as I looked at the word is the rest of the word after DE...PRESSION. Maybe there is something needing to be expressed(expression!) that isn't being expressed. All depression is, is suppression of something. D/4 can be suppression and withholding. That's why some jobs want you to fill out the W4 which is a withholding form! Depression comes when someone is choosing to withhold expression of emotions and genuine communication that can help. Taking caution to a whole new level and it ends up being destructive. 4 can point to dissipation which makes sense for destruction to mean what it means.
The word starts with the energy of 4 which is about withholding and suppression and end with the energy of 5 which can be conflicting.
All those letters and we only get to the number 5?!. This word is embedded with the energy of 1 and 9 which means that people who claim or feel depression CAN utilize their personal power to get themselves out of said depression. You have the right to process your emotions and once you do, you can start using your strength and power to overcome. Sometimes it starts with the mind.
Now, based on the letters and numbers with the word, let's see what numbers are missing!
We are missing 2,3,and 8! 2 gives a person a natural comfort within self. It can also make them loveable or easily cooperative with others. The energy of 3 gives a person natural optimism and majestic mental capacity. 8 gives a person a steadfast embedded powerful strength. This 8 energy gives a person unstoppable capability.
Getting over depression is about rising above a situation and having the capability of strengthening your perspective. Your confidence levels are something you have to personally master. Notice how depression ends with O and N which is 6 and 5. That's a backtrack. We're counting forwards, not backwards. 6 is about overcoming problems while 5 is the problems or insecurities. Depression ending with the energy of 5 is a thinkpiece. 5 deals with the uniqueness of a situation or action. You will have to do something different or new to wake up out of whatever this depression was about and understand that everyone's depression won't be the same!
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Ladies... Where to begin. Forgive the length.
My in-laws. Pretty normal marriage with normal ups and downs for 40 ish years. The last 20ish years, however, were different (so together 60 years). He had always been a bit of a controlling asshole, as most men of the boomer generation were. Never hit her or anything (which he is proud of), but was always very much "my way or the highway", never compromised, and everyone lived at the mercy of his decisions.
He made bad decisions.
Bad business deals, bad with money, gambling, etc.
Through it all, my MIL worked a steady job and kept the family afloat while he spent (or lost) every penny he made.
When the kids grew and left, and he "retired", he started gambling more and more. The casino was his only "fun". He burned through his entire savings, including retirement savings. He started burning through her savings. He couldn't get to her retirement account because that was the only thing that was in her name only, but he would have if he could have.
He never told her about the losses. She had no idea how much money they had, what he had taken. He controlled all of the accounts.
As he lost more and more money, naturally he became more and more bitter. He would get in moods where he simply wouldn't speak to her, at all, for months on end. Absolutely cruel emotional torture. She never knew what she did wrong, what he was mad about. He just pretended that she wasn't there.
When he did talk, he was angry and petty. She would ask him to do something with her, go somewhere, visit a friend, and he'd get mad. He wouldn't go anywhere but the casino.
And yet, he denied ever going to the casino. He'd say that he was going grocery shopping. He always came home with groceries, and then would cook them dinner in silence. But he'd be gone for hours, and this was every day.
She became suspicious when we had all been talking for months about going on a summer vacation together. My husband and I were happy to pay, since we knew they were on a fixed income. But they insisted that they would pay their fair share. We relented and agreed to let them pay. When it came time for them to pony up and buy their flights, he suddenly thought it was all "too expensive" and they couldn't go anymore. When we pressed, he claimed that they had some "unexpected bills" and could no longer afford to go. When MIL asked him "what unexpected bills?! We haven't had any unexpected bills", he went silent, and didn't speak to anyone for weeks.
MIL eventually figured out how to access the bank statements. Saw what he'd done, and it broke her heart.
Around this time, she had an aunt that passed away, and left her $20,000. Naturally, since all their other savings was now gone, she wanted to hold on to this $20,000. When he demanded she give it to him for him to "take care of", she refused. She opened her own account and didn't give him access. This infuriated him, and they lived like hostile roommates for months.
Finally, she had had enough and decided to email him (since he wouldn't speak to her). The email was heartbreaking, detailing her thoughts and feelings, how she felt she had been mistreated all these years, and how it's all just gotten worse and worse, and how she was finally going to take charge of her life. This was the ultimatum - stop going to the casino, start talking to her, start doing things with her and being a normal couple - or they would have to go their separate ways. She wasn't going to spend the few years she had left being miserable.
He finally spoke to her after months of not. "Let's just go our separate ways."
This was not the answer she was hoping for, after 60 years of marriage. So, naturally, she got a little angry and said some shit. Thoughts that she had never shared with him. Things he didn't know. What she "really" thought of him and the many horrific choices he'd made over the years that had devastated her over and over again.
He found these words unforgiveable.
She moved out. She moved to a retirement community where a friend lived. She LOVED it. LOVED IT!! She made a group of friends. They went shopping, they went to restaurants, they played cards and worked on puzzles, they did exercise classes and had social dances and played bingo and read books and talked and laughed and flirted with the single men and she told us that she was the happiest she had EVER been. I was SO FUCKING PROUD OF HER.
He, on the other hand, could no longer afford to live. His social security was not enough to pay his rent and bills and still eat. So he was forced to get a job - at 78. He got even worse, even more miserable, and every time we spoke to him, the rage would cut through the phone. He would talk to his son about his mother like she was the most evil person who had ever lived. He HATED her. He wished her dead. He wished her cancer.
He got his wish.
A few months ago, she started to feel pain. Health systems being what they are, it took her months to get a diagnosis. The pain got worse and worse, debilitating. We just got the official word last week. Very aggressive, terminal, very painful, no treatment, no cure.
She has chosen palliative care, and assisted suicide. (Canadian - they have that there). The process to get that procedure is a long one, but she has started it.
My husband and his brother avoided telling their dad she was sick until they had the offical diagnosis. So they called to tell him the news last week. He broke down, he said he still hated her. He said some awful things to his sons about their mother.
After getting the offical diagnosis, we got another call that she had taken another turn for the worse. So, my husband and I and our son packed up the car and drove 13 hours to see her. We drive right to the hospital and... FIL is lying in bed with MIL.
He showed up, he came back. This was shocking, surprising, happy, sad, and weird, and just a giant ball of awkward and confusion and fucked up.
She's on morphine and fentanyl, so... of course she's "ok" with him being there. She'd be OK with just about anything right now.
At first, we thought it was positive, that he had decided to forgive, put the petty shit aside, etc. He did genuinely seem caring, the way he'd help her move around. He even helped her go into the bathroom and held her up at her most vulnerable. Helped her back to bed. When he kissed her I wanted to throw up. It was such a confusing mess.
As the next day or so went on, we saw, though... he hasn't changed. Not one bit.
She had requested rotisserie chicken for dinner. She wanted us all to have dinner together in the "party room" at the hospice. He was tasked with picking up the chicken. She has her favorite chicken place. He agreed. He shows up with the chicken. It's the wrong chicken. Not the one she wanted. "If I had gone there, I would have to wait 20 minutes for them to cook it. This is fine."
It was not fine. Who knows how many meals this woman has left?! Get her the right fucking chicken!
She asked for water. He gets up and puts a cup under the tap.
MIL: "No, I want bottled water."
FIL: "There's nothing wrong with the tap water."
MIL: "I don't like the taste. The bottled water tastes better."
FIL: "I'm not paying for bottled water."
And then. And THEN. He says, "when was the last time we were all together like this?" No one says a word. Don't do this now, man. He says it again. Louder. "It was over a year ago! Can you believe it?! And whose fault is that?! YOURS." He says to her.
It took every fiber of my being to not leap across that table and bash his head on the ground. Fucking fuck.
This man has ZERO accountability. He told my husband that he thinks the reason she left him is because she was "greedy". She didn't want to share her $20,000. That's THE ONLY reason she left. He was SUCH a good husband, and only her greed could have made her do something so awful. He keeps saying, "money is the root of all evil. Look at what it did to us." He's right about that... but somehow he's still got it so wrong.
He thinks he's the "bigger man" for coming back and "helping her" now. HE'S the hero. HE'S the good guy. HE'S the one who's putting the petty differences aside and swooping in at her hour of need.
I could go on about the delusion.
But to save time... my point is... don't let this happen to you. Don't accept this kind of treatment. Get out. If you're in your 20s (or any age) and your BF is already controlling and talks down to you... GET OUT NOW. It does NOT get BETTER with age.
Take control of your own fucking life. This woman had ONE year. ONE year of peace and happiness. ONE year in her ENTIRE life where she was actually in control of her own destiny. ONE year where she could go where she wanted to go, eat what she wanted to eat, be with who she wanted to be with. And now she's choosing how she's going to die. That's empowering and incredible, but also so fucking heartbreaking.
Go do the things. Take that trip. Learn that language. Hone that craft. Go to that concert (buy the good seats). Jump out of that plane or climb that mountain or whatever the fuck it is that you want to do. GO DO IT. If your partner isn't supportive, kick him the fuck out. Don't spend 60 years with someone who never lets you have the chicken you want. Don't spend 60 years with a liar, a cheater, a gambler, an emotionally stunted fucker.
(And when you have a pain, get it checked out and don't you dare quit until a doctor actually hears you and listens and orders ALL the tests).
There are good men out there (my husband knew his dad was shit and spent his entire life trying to be NOTHING like him. He succeeded). I'm not saying to not partner up, to not get married. I love being married. Men can be absolutely wonderful. But please, for the love of all that is holy, don't settle! Don't settle for shit like this!!
And any men reading this... why? Why are so many of you like my FIL? If you claim that you love her, why do you view her as your adversary? Someone to correct, to control. Someone to order around like a servant. That's not love. If you actually LOVE her... why treat her like this? Why can't she do what she wants to do? Why can't you just buy her the right fucking chicken? Would it kill you? Can you just LISTEN? Can you put yourself in her shoes and try to imagine what she must feel like? Why can't you just be kind? What's WRONG with so many of you?! I will never understand.
That's all. I just... you know. I'm so sad. Fuck.
EDIT: To answer some of your questions... we did ask her, several times, if she wanted him to leave. She said no. She said it was OK. We told her, in no uncertain terms, that whatever she wanted, we would do. Even if she just wanted a break from him, but not to ban him completely. Whatever she wanted. She said she didn't want anything. She was fine. She was at peace with everything, at peace with him. She doesn't want to fight, doesn't want us to fight.
We even told the nurses and the doctor in charge the whole story - that FIL was newly back in the picture, but that for the last year, they hadn't seen each other, and things had been very contentious. FIL was allowed in, FOR NOW, but to please check on her regularly and make sure that she's OK. They agreed to check regularly, kick him out of the room and talk to her independently and make sure she wanted him around, and would take action if she ever said so. They also arranged for a social worker to come and talk to her about it.
About the will... they had not finalized the divorce by the time she got her diagnosis. She was in the process of changing her will, but those changes hadn't been official. They are still technically married, so the money is still technically his. BUT, she transferred a large sum to my BIL and told him who to write checks to. And she told FIL, in front of all of us, who she wanted money to go to. He agreed, in front of all of us, that he wouldn't interfere with her wishes.
Legally, if he wanted to fight that decision, he probably could, but I don't think he'd dare. She specified a sum for my son, and honestly, the only person I think FIL cares about, other than himself, is my son - his only grandchild. I don't THINK he's going to fight the money going to others. He's still getting a decent sum. And the last thing he'd want is to "look bad" so I don't think he'd go back on his word. If he did, that would certainly be the end of it for my husband and his brother.
On that note, my husband and his brother (the only kids) are FURIOUS with their father. They think he is scum and the only reason they aren't physically fighting him is because they don't want to cause their mother any further stress. They can't stand him.
He doesn't deserve a penny, but I can hope that he'll just drop dead soon, before he has a chance to lose it all.
What's so weird is that he REALLY does NOT understand what he did wrong. You know how you can tell when someone's embarrassed but trying to save face? Yeah... that's not him. He's not embarrassed. He genuinely has no idea that he did anything wrong. This is 100% HER fault. SHE is the crazy one who lost her mind and left him (even after HE told HER that they should go their separate ways). She TOLD him WHY she left him... he insisted that no, she's wrong. She REALLY left over something else. I'd call it gaslighting, but he's not that smart. He isn't trying to be manipulative. He is just really that delusional.

In 1776, as British colonists in North America were contemplating how to construct a new nation, Massachusetts lawyer John Adams famously wrote to friends about the relationship between government and the law. A republic, he wrote, “is an Empire of Laws and not of Men: and therefore…that particular Arrangement…which is best calculated to Secure an exact and impartial Execution of the Laws, is the best Republic.”
In 1787 the framers of the Constitution set out to create a nation built on the rule of law. The next year, the states ratified their new framework, and in 1789, the Constitution went into effect. One of the first acts of the newly seated Congress was to establish a federal court system. The Judiciary Act of 1789 set out the different courts and their jurisdictions. And in 1868, with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, Americans explicitly wrote into the Constitution the principle that all U.S. citizens must be equal before the law. Two years later, they established the Department of Justice to make sure that principle would be honored across the country.
In the past three years, the Biden administration has worked to confirm that the U.S. is a nation of laws. That work has borne fruit. In the past few days, several cases have jumped out in which the administration has used the law to protect ordinary Americans.
On Tuesday, April 30, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) challenged more than 300 junk patent listings for drugs that treat diabetes, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and that help people lose weight, including Ozempic. Bogus patent listings prevent generic drugs from entering the market, keeping brand-name drug prices high. The FTC gives the manufacturer 20 days to withdraw or amend the listing or certify, under penalty of perjury, that they are correct. In November the FTC successfully challenged junk patents on asthma inhalers, reducing their price to $35.
FTC chair Lina Khan said: “By challenging junk patent filings, the FTC is fighting these illegal tactics and making sure that Americans can get timely access to innovative and affordable versions of the medicines they need.”
On Thursday, May 2, Yvette Wang, the chief of staff to Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire businessman who works with Trump associate Steve Bannon (in 2020, law enforcement officers arrested Bannon on Guo’s yacht on charges of fraud), pleaded guilty to conspiring with Guo in a massive fraud scheme that involved wire fraud and money laundering and netted more than $1 billion. Wang personally will forfeit $1.4 billion to the United States and faces up to ten years in prison. The trial for Wang and Guo is scheduled to start on May 20. Guo has pleaded not guilty.
On Friday the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the auditing firm for Trump’s social media company and its owner with “massive fraud.” The SEC called BF Borgers a “sham audit mill” and said it “deliberately systemically failed to conduct” audits and reviews that were filed with the SEC between January 2021 and June 2023. Those reports are supposed to inform investors about the value of companies. The SEC fined the company $14 million and banned it from practicing accounting. Its owner, Benjamin Borgers, did not admit wrongdoing but accepted the judgment.
Also on Friday, the Department of Justice released a grand jury’s indictment of Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and his wife, Imelda, alleging that beginning no later than 2014 and until at least November 2021, they accepted close to $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani oil and gas company and a Mexican bank and then laundered the payments through Imelda’s company. In exchange, the indictment says, Cuellar agreed to adjust U.S. policy toward Azerbaijan, especially its oil industry, and to oppose laws that would curb money laundering and regulate the payday lending industry.
On Friday, at former president Trump’s fraud trial for interfering in the 2016 election by paying $130,000 to buy the silence of adult film actress Stormy Daniels and falsifying business records to hide the payment, former White House aide Hope Hicks established that Trump had indeed intended to silence Daniels in order to stop voters from hearing her information before the election. Appearing reluctant to testify against Trump, Hicks nonetheless described a conversation with Trump in 2018, after Daniels’s story became public. Trump told her that “it was better to be dealing with it now, and it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election.”
The rule of law protects ordinary Americans and defends their right to elect a government of their choice. But in 2024, it is under attack.
Trump continues to insist that the stories about his extramarital affairs are false, but his main strategy for addressing his many legal troubles is to insist that the justice system is rigged against him. This continues a pattern he began as soon as he took office, when he unsuccessfully pressured FBI director James Comey to drop the investigation into his 2016 campaign’s interaction with Russian operatives. Although FBI directors are supposed to be virtually untouchable during their ten-year term, Trump fired Comey and then spent the rest of his term accusing the FBI of persecuting him.
That attack on our judicial system expanded to sweep in all the judges who ruled against his campaign operatives and his extremist policies on immigration. He called the courts a “joke” and a “laughingstock” and attacked the Justice Department as a whole and judges personally.
Those attacks increased after Trump left office and was indicted for his efforts to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election. An analysis by NBC News of more than 14,000 Trump posts and reposts from April 2022 to January 6, 2024, showed that in some periods he attacked the judicial system more than he promoted his campaign. He aimed his attacks most often at special counsel Jack Smith, as well as New York attorney general Letitia James; Judge Arthur Engoron, who presided over Trump’s Manhattan fraud trial; Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg; and Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney Fani Willis—all of whom are in charge of cases against Trump.
Reporters Dareh Gregorian and Jasmine Cui wrote: “The posts generally portray Trump as the victim of a Democratic scheme designed to derail his presidential bid, with an array of judges and prosecutors working against him at the behest of President Joe Biden, and all part of a partisan ‘witch hunt,’ a term he used about 250 times during that time period.”
At a meeting for donors at Mar-a-Lago Saturday, Trump complained about the criminal charges against him, calling Jack Smith a “f**king a**hole,” and accused President Joe Biden of running a “Gestapo administration,” a reference to the German secret police that crushed opposition and rounded up Jews, Roma, LGBT individuals, and other targeted groups during World War II.
Trump has vowed to take control of the Justice Department and make it serve his interests. Chris Geidner of Law Dork noted today that the federal courts already favor Republicans, and a second Trump presidency would allow him to fill multiple court vacancies, probably including some on the Supreme Court, with his extremists. They would cement the ideology of MAGA Republicans into our laws for the foreseeable future.
Trump’s war on the Department of Justice over his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election has already progressed into an attempt to delegitimize the results of the 2024 election, suggesting he does not believe he will win in a free and fair election.
Yesterday, Charlie Spies, the Republican Party’s top lawyer, resigned after Trump turned on him for his public statements that the 2020 election was not stolen. Spies was one of three lawyers the Trump team hired in March after it took over the Republican National Committee (RNC). An establishment Republican lawyer, Spies was paired with MAGA lawyer and former right-wing One America News Network anchor Christina Bobb to oversee the RNC’s so-called election integrity unit. Now Spies is out and Bobb, who has been indicted for election fraud for her participation in the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election, remains.
In an astonishing exchange on Meet the Press this morning, Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), who is angling to become Trump’s vice presidential pick, refused six times to say he would accept the results of the 2024 election if Trump didn’t win. Host Kristen Welker asked: “Will you commit to accepting the election results of 2024?” Scott responded: “At the end of the day, the 47th president of the United States will be President Donald Trump.” Welker followed up: “Yes or no, will you accept the election results of 2024 no matter who wins?” Scott answered: “That is my statement.”
When Welker continued to push the question, Scott accused NBC of working for the “Democrat Party” but refused ever to agree to the peaceful transition of power, which, as Welker noted, is the hallmark of the democratic republic people like John Adams established in 1789.
—
Notes:
https://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/PJA04dg2
https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/federal-judiciary-act
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/03/trump-media-auditor-charged-by-sec-with-massive-fraud-permanently-barred-from-public-company-audits.html
https://time.com/6974644/bf-borgers-charged-fraud-trump-media/
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/who-chinese-mogul-who-owns-boat-steve-bannon-was-busted-n1237511
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exiled-chinese-businessmans-chief-of-staff-pleads-guilty-us-fraud-2024-05-03/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/exiled-chinese-businessman-guo-wengui-must-face-us-fraud-indictment-2024-04-02/
https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/gkpldnoolpb/05032024wang_plea.pdf
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/04/trump-rnc-spies-election-fraud/
https://www.democracydocket.com/opinion/republicans-prepare-a-new-wave-of-legal-attacks-on-voting/
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/ftc-expands-patent-listing-challenges-targeting-more-300-junk-listings-diabetes-weight-loss-asthma
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24636508-cuellar-indictment
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/doj-expected-announce-indictment-texas-democratic-rep-henry-cuellar-so-rcna150567
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/hope-hicks-breaks-down-on-stand-after-giving-damaging-testimony-against-trump
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/03/trump-hush-money-trial-hope-hicks-testimony/
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/his-own-words-presidents-attacks-courts
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-trials-attacks-judges-rcna131916
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/04/trump-indictments-attacks-democrats-gestapo/
📷Law DorkSix months out: The dangers to — and from — the courts in a second Trump administrationElection Day is six months away. Donald Trump’s election to a second term would, at its least harmful, lead to the appointment of scores of more, younger, and potentially even more extreme judges. It would lead to the end of his federal prosecutions and arguments that remaining state prosecutions cannot proceed while he is president. And, Trump would, yet again, wield the powers of the executive branch…Read more14 hours ago · 42 likes · 4 comments · Chris Geidner
Twitter (X):
RpsAgainstTrump/status/1787167295288008745
kylegriffin1/status/1787137740900913154
Timodc/status/1787123517546226014
​
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-5-2024

First off I just want to say thank you to this community for all of the valuable information I've taken in over the past few years. I've learned so much from this subreddit.
I'm feeling talkative and would like to share my story with you guys if that's OK. And then I will circle back to where I am now on my journey.
In 2018 I had a very traumatic year and realized one day that I became overweight and unhealthy. Like it literally crept up on me, and I had no idea I weighed that much.
I tried keto and all my old usual weight loss tactics (eating less, going to gym more), but it wouldn't do anything. Looking back, I was severely stressed out by my living situation, recent trauma, and the abusive relationship I was in. My face was so bloated and puffy, and my body didn't even look like the body I've known.
In 2020 I was able to move and escape the living situation and the terrible relationship I was in. This took time and strategy and it wasn't as easy as "Just break up and move on!", he had his claws sunken into my life and I had to create and follow a plan to leave, and become boring to him so he lost interest and moved onto someone else to suck the life from.
In 2021 I also started therapy and began unraveling my internal world. I realized I had been turning to food and sweets as a coping mechanism and it was so deeply ingrained in me, even from childhood. I used to eat a whole sleeve of Oreo's after a stressful school day and my parents enabled it. Never taught me otherwise, commented on it, or did anything other than keep buying the stuff I loved. Not to say they are fully to blame, but the patterns started then.
I did a "juice cleanse" in 2021 that I feel was my pivotal moment. I put it in quotations because I don't consider it a juice cleanse; basically I would blend up any kind of veggies into daily smoothies and I only did that for a week. I finally saw some weight loss and felt much better overall.
In between then and this past year, I didn't do much other than focus on gut health (my stomach was wrecked from years of antibiotic use), figuring out how to help my anxiety issues, and found an exercise routine I loved (mountain biking). I was eating healthier and felt good but I was still overweight and had symptoms that resembled PCOS - extremely painful, heavy periods and an irregular cycle. My doctor pushed birth control as a cure-all and I refused.
I also had possible symptoms of IR - feeling really tired after meals, always hungry no matter what, extreme sugar cravings, and I would feel terrible after eating a lot of sugar (fast heart rate, stomachache, just feeling like garbage).
I tried very low carb for a while and I had barely any energy. It felt terrible but I lost a bit of weight doing that which would obviously come right back after I went back to a normal amount of carbs.
I had blood work done and I was told I had severely low vitamin D and high ldl cholesterol (136), everything else was normal. I started looking into how vitamin D levels, cholesterol, and hormones are all related. I don't know which came first, but my problems all seemed related.
After researching the internet (mainly Reddit...) I began taking inositol which helped me feel better but on it's own I think is less useful. I began berberine which has been a roller-coaster due to the stomach issues it gave me. I added a vitamin d supplement, multivitamin with iodine, magnesium, and chromium picolinate.
I started following the tips from Glucose Goddess (I purchased her book but didn't get all the way through it, and mostly took some pointers from her Instagram): savory breakfasts, eating veggies before anything else, vinegar before meals, a brisk walk after heavy meals, etc.
I started walking as my main exercise and would do 1-3 miles on the treadmill after work for most days. The days I felt like doing nothing, I told myself I would do 10 mins and if I still felt lazy I would get off. Most times, after the 10 mins are up I just felt like continuing to walk, lol. I felt like I was reverse-engineering my natural human laziness.
Anyway, in that time-frame, I went from 154 pounds to 136! And continuing to lose slowly but surely. I just love that I'm no longer constantly gaining, or going up and down. My periods are so much better. I had one the other day, and I didn't even know I was bleeding. No pain. Incredible. My periods are like clockwork now, and I happened to notice they follow the moon cycles. Anyone else?
Here's a breakdown of my daily routine/supplements:

• Lots of water upon waking up and nothing else until breakfast (coffee and tea both made me feel worse)
• Savory breakfast while still being healthy (eggs, omelets, a healthy home-made wrap)
• 1000mcg chromium with breakfast (Walgreens brand)
• Multivitamin with iodine with breakfast (endurance brand)
• Magnesium and vitamin d supplement with breakfast (endurance brand)
• A large salad with chicken and veggies for lunch
• If work had pizza I would have a slice and then walk to the furthest breakroom and back
• Fish oil with lunch (can't remember the brand)
• Berberine a little bit before dinner time (Now brand, 400mg berberine)
• Meat and veggies, maybe a bit of rice for dinner but eat veggies first, then protein, then carbs
• Sugar free cookies or fruit if craving sweets after dinner
• A walk on the treadmill or around the block after dinner
• Sleep as much as possible, go to bed mega early when needed, get on a set schedule
• Taking a warm shower and then stretching my legs/arms before bed helped me get really good sleep

I think it also helps so much to journal and take note on what makes you feel good or bad. For example, I realized my worst mental health days came right after a sugar binge, bad night of sleep, stress, or deviating from my routine in a big way. I figured out ways to keep my routine even when traveling or visiting people. I found my triggers for things I never noticed before (like carrots giving me stomach cramps) just by journaling.
Also, steeping a strong cup of ginger lemon tea with honey right before I expect my period is a noteworthy way to lessen the cramps and severity.
Since doing these routines, my anxiety levels are at an all-time low, I feel good. I still want to lose about 10 more pounds, but I really feel like I'm just giving myself love and care and it's made all the difference. I am still in therapy, much less frequently, but still focusing on bettering myself. I've also nearly quit drinking entirely other than the occasional glass of red wine. That's my personal preference because I felt like it made my body get inflamed and my stomach got upset.
I think stress and trauma can trigger PCOS, insulin levels, hormones, etc. either directly or indirectly. I think our society pushes us to turn to food and alcohol to cope with things (because it makes them money), and when we get sick from those coping strategies they push meds on us and don't help us get to the root of it. There is also just so much freaking sugar in everything. Avoiding sugar has been one of the hardest things about my journey. Luckily, I found a local grocery store that sells sugar free sodas, juices, candy, and cookies for when I want to indulge. I still don't think those things are the best for us, so I only do a bit, but I have been able to still lose weight while indulging them.
For my stoner girls, I get major cravings when stoned so beforehand I always make sure I have some tasty ripe fruit (melon, mango, strawberries, etc.) on hand. Also, for the salty snacks, I get veggie straws which seem to be pretty low calorie and haven't triggered more cravings for me. YMMV. Just a tip to help remain healthy and not ruin progress when stoned, lol.
Walking I think is the best thing for us. Humans are meant to walk. For me it helped to find a reason to walk. I almost bought a dog... But ended up getting an RC car to take on paved trails and parking lots. Also, I found a trail with bald eagles and I naturally want to go there with my camera and try to spot them. I entered a walking challenge at work too. Anything to get you moving helps.
Finally, it's so important to have a good support system. Tell loved ones ahead of time that you aren't doing sugar, prefer not to go out to fast food places, etc. when you plan on visiting. I noticed on "my 600lb life", many of them had enabling partners and family. The people on that show are the extreme cases, but it still can teach us about patterns and how the people around us help or harm.
Good luck to everyone, you're all doing amazing and I have faith you will reach your goals. I'm always open to feedback and discussion; my inbox is open for anyone who even just needs a listening ear!
Edit: forgot to mention I would also not eat past 4:30pm so I was intermittent fasting between dinner and breakfast. I think this helps lower insulin levels and help things reset!

Lungs cancer occurs in tissue of lungs mostly in people who smokes. There are two types of lungs cancer one is small cell lung cancer and other is non-small cell lung cancer. People who are exposed to some kind of toxins or people with family history of cancer are more prone to get effected there are certain symptoms that include coughing with blood, a cough that doesn’t go and gets worse, unexplained weight loss and chest pain shouldn’t be avoided. Treatments for lung caner vary depending upon the type and stage of cancer. It includes chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy. If left untreated it can spread across the body, it can be dangerous and can cause death. Treatments like chemotherapy and radiation may give relief from symptoms. However immunotherapy works great for lung cancer as it help activate and strengthen immune system and kill cancer cells. Immunotherapy is the most effective and promising treatment to cure lung cancer and has a good success rate. In today’s time medication and treatment has become advance with modern machineries and techniques help detect cancer on time and give effective treatment.
Lung Cancer Treatment Cost in India: Cost of surgery depends upon factors like type of cancer and its stage, hospital stay there may be investigation test required like PET scan pre and post surgery, chemotherapy, Radiation therapy and immunotherapy
Lung Cancer Treatment Rs 354200 to Rs 472600
Chemotherapy Rs 44200 to Rs 58100
Lung Transplant Rs 1775000 to Rs 2364000
Pulmonary Fibrosis Treatment Rs 88700 to Rs 118300
Bronchoscopy Rs 44200 to Rs 58100
Adenocarcinoma – Glandular Cancer Treatment Rs 501600 to Rs 680200
Top Lung Cancer treatment hospitals in India: Well equipped hospitals with latest technologies and machinery makes hospitals of India famous for its treatment across the globe. Hospitals here are known for the best of chemotherapy, radio therapy and immunotherapy as the oncologist available here are well trained and highly certified in the treatments. Hospitals in India have the best of the immunotherapy to treat cancer which has the most effective result for lung cancer.
Top Doctors for Lungs Cancer Treatment: Lungs Cancer Surgery is carried by specialist lung surgeons lobectomy is the most common and effective surgery for lung cancer another form is bilobectomy which means removal of two lobes. Best skilled doctors make it possible to ease the difficulties of the patients suffering from lungs cancer. Surgeons, doctors are expert and trained with new and advanced type of treatment to give best result to the patients.
Al AfiyaMedi Tour is a leading medical tourism company in India. We offer medical tourism services such as finding the right doctor, the right hospital, and cost estimation etc. Some of the main countries are Bangladesh, South Africa, Egypt, Uganda, Zambia, Sudan, Dubai, Namibia, Iraq, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and so on. We provide free medical assistance for TURP surgery cost, lung cancer treatment, bone marrow transplant cost, best liver transplant hospital, cosmetic and plastic surgery, heart surgery, kidney transplant cost, spine tumor surgery, top shoulder replacement surgeons, hip replacement surgery, leukemia treatment cost, best bone marrow hospital, etc.
Source: https://alafiyameditour1.blogspot.com/2024/05/lungs-cancer-treatment-in-india-for.html

I have the most bizarre issue that I must overcome.if ever there was a personification of 'reverse self prophecy/ automatic pilot' it is me.
it has really become apparent to me owing to several tangible events.

1. I wanted to lose 10 kg.i put post its, affirmations and even changed my screen saver to 10kg.instead of losing 10 kg I actually GAINED 10 kg and felt utterly powerless as it was happening
2. I have re-started working in sales for the past few months. I never had any issues with reaching targets before. Now I give myself a target of 3-6 closed sales and I actually end up with excess of 6 customers leaving.i cannot make this up.

I feel utterly jinxed. At first I put it down to starting off, beginners losses etc but it has become a pattern that I must break as I will end up obese and bankrupt!
I know that I have had several sabataguers with both weight and my work. I would probably need to delete whatever programming they installed in me and wonder what technique I could use for this. I am always taken back by vulnerable I am to negative influences.
I also need to install better programs for myself. At first I thought that I may have a fear of success but I don't. I really want the success. But I feel powerless in the face of a rising body weight and failing sales account.
It is almost like I have been hypnotised to fail and I note that I had been seeing a hypnotist the past few months about my failing sales account and prior to that a hypnotist to do with my weight. Neither of them worked and I am now wondering if there was indeed something sinister.
I mention time and time again I feel like I am sleepwalking to destruction. I do not feel like I have control over the car crash that is my current state of weight and sales account. it is almost like I am driving and I am intentionally trying to crash the car.( Interestingly I note that when I first started driving I actually wrote off 3 cars in quick succession and I wonder if this may be related).
in instances like this I would seek professional help, however it seems like the professional help may be a contributing cause and I am unwilling to take further risk.
Please recommend some techniques to help get me out of this web of tangled mess of loss and gain I am in. I am sleep walking to commands and I need to give myself a metaphorical electric shock to wake up and start thinking for myself.
I tried the phobia cure but it did not do anything. I think I need to do some sort of a pattern interrupt but dont know how?
I hope all this makes sense and I would really appreciate your input

Lifetime - Staked: 876.65u, Profit/Loss: +27.79u, ROI: 3.17%, Parlay Suggestions: 168-64 Dog of the Week: 13-15
2024 - Staked: 229.55u, Profit/Loss: -5.57u
As always, scroll down for UFC St. Louis Breakdowns. The following is just a recap of last event’s results.
~UFC 301 (PREVIOUS CARD)~
Staked: 10.75u
Profit/Loss: -0.29u
Parlay Suggestions: 4-1
It may be chalked up as the slightest loss, but the Pereira/Rebecki parlay rolling on means this one could end up in the green in hindsight, so I’m happy with how things went really. Shoutout to Joanderson Brito for a great gameplan, he never let Shore into that fight and I don’t think it really mattered that it ended under strange circumstances. Borralho dominated as expected. Lucindo could have been more live for a submission if she’d had more time in round 1, but her striking was too superior. Drakkar Klose did what he does best. On to the next one.
✅ 5u Caio Borralho to Win at -275 (won +1.8u)
✅ 2u Michel Pereira + Mateusz Rebecki to Win at -105 (rolls on to upcoming event)
✅ 2u Drakkar Klose to Win at -137 (won +1.46u)
❌ 2u Jack Shore to Win at +140
❌ 1u Iasmin Lucindo to Win by Submission at +350
✅ Arb on Martinez/Aldo (won +0.2u)
❌ 0.25u Parlay Pieces
❌ 0.5u Trixie

~UFC St. Louis~
From a fan perspective this card is a bit dry, but from a betting perspective I think it’s got a lot of opportunities and it’s one I’m really looking forward to. At the time of writing, the event is in nine days and I’ve already placed five moneyline bets! It’s nice that there will be a crowd too, the Apex is boring.
Lots to say, so let’s get into it!

~Derrick Lewis vs Rodrigo Nascimento~
Very surprised by the betting line here. Derrick Lewis cannot be trusted to defend a takedown at this stage in his career, and that really isn’t a secret at all.
In my opinion, unless Derrick Lewis is facing a pure striker with equally low output, or a massively inferior level of competition, he shouldn’t be the betting favourite against anyone in the UFC. Of course he’s the most prolific knockout artist the UFC has ever seen so he cannot be too much of a dog either, but he’s literally KO or bust in every single fight. Betting is a game of probabilities, and I think it’s difficult to really argue that Lewis should be favoured to find the KO 50% of the time in a five-round fight. Especially when he faces an opponent that has the capabilities to put him on his back. look how easily Serghei Spivac justified a -225 pricetag against Derrick Lewis! No significant strikes absorbed, and a submission win inside three minutes. How Jailton Almeida didn’t manage to do the same, I’ll never know…but it still was very dominant.
Rodrigo Nascimento may not come to the Octagon with a singlet on, but he’s quite reliable to shoot takedowns when necessary – Such as against Tanner Boser, another heavyweight with notoriously bad takedown defence. Another important facet to his style is his BJJ. It’s been some time since we’ve seen him win by submission, but a heavyweight that looks to finish the fight on the mat will always be better than one who just lays and prays once they set up a dominant position (such as a Curtis Blaydes or a Carl Williams). Lewis is surprisingly durable on the mat, which gives him the opportunity to have another crack at the KO when the next round starts, but a submission threat like a Spivac or perhaps a Nascimento can look to get the fight stopped before that happens.
Nascimento isn’t a bad striker either, and whilst I certainly don’t recommend it, I don’t think it’s super crazy to imagine him possibly winning a striking battle here by playing the range game and out-voluming Lewis – at the very least he will keep it competitive whilst he’s conscious. This isn’t going even going to be as binary as the Spivac fight, where extended periods on the feet are so clearly in favour of Lewis.
Lewis has faced a lot of grapplers recently. He was +370 against Jailton, +180 against De Lima, +190 against Spivac, +300 against Blaydes…so why is he a favourite against an opponent that can also land takedowns against him? And also one who is probably the second best striker amongst those aforementioned names!? I know that Nascimento isn’t a pure grappler like some of them…but surely it would take about 30 seconds of gameplanning to realise that grappling is definitely the route to take here? We’ve seen him go 15 minutes and have control time for more than half a fight before. I also know that Nascimento hasn’t fought a level of opposition anywhere near this experienced or ‘high level’, but given the gap in skills I think there are regional
I’m not saying Nascimento is a vastly superior UFC fighter or someone destined for great things, but he’s well-rounded and capable of executing a very obvious gameplan. I will therefore be playing him for 2u at +140 or better. This is purely a bet based on number I’m getting on Nascimento, and I think everyone should be on it. Perhaps I am putting too much stock into the intelligence of a fighter (something I never like to do), but this really is a must bet. I do not believe you can mathematically justify Derrick Lewis being expected to win more than 50% of the time against an opponent that is better than him at everything except pure power.
I decided to pull the trigger as the more I think about this, the more I think this betting angle is obvious. There’s a risk in going early as Lewis is obviously a popular name, but I think the +137 is clear value, so I took it for 2u.
How I line this fight: Derrick Lewis +125 (45%), Rodrigo Nascimento -125 (55%)
Bet or pass: 2u Rodrigo Nascimento to Win (+137)
Prop leans: None, though Nascimento Submission is the very obvious lean

~Joaquin Buckley v Nursulton Ruziboev~
Late notice fight announcement but glad to see Buckley got himself a co-main spot on a home card. Buckley’s slowly growing into a decent fighter, and has proven to be much more than just the hard-hitting muscle-man that he was originally thought to be. Seeing him get a win over Vicente Luque is pretty mad, I even thought he’d struggle with Alex Morono.
Nursulton Ruziboev’s brief UFC career has seen him win by KO early in round one both times. Yeah, he hits hard. What else? I don’t really know. Buckley can live and die by the sword if you want to go full rabies with him (plenty of KO wins but also KO losses to Di Chirico, Holland and Curtis).
I’m sure this one will be fireworks, but I don’t really know how you could approach betting this one, other than targeting the clearly juiced FDGTD. We got Guskov/Spann at -20000 a few weeks ago, so I wouldn’t hold your breath. Onto the next one. Excited to see the fireworks though.
How I line this fight: No idea
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None

~Terrance McKinney vs Esteban Ribovics~
Terrance McKinney is always an interesting fighter to look at from a betting perspective, because he’s got that unique 5 minutes of danger before falling off a cliff. It’s kind of funny to me how the UFC had to clearly cut back on the level of competition they’d been feeding McKinney, because he hit his ceiling pretty hard in the Sadykhov and Bonfim fights.
The front-runner style therefore makes his fights easy to get creative with, props wise. Basically, you go McKinney R1, or Ribovics R2/3. So which one do you go for? Well, that’s unfortunately where the confident opinions start to run out. McKinney should definitely be live for that R1 finish though, because I think Ribovics will struggle to contend with his power and physicality whilst they’re both fresh. His takedown defence against Radzhabov was not up to par either, and the scrambles could see him get caught in a submission against the opportunistic McKinney all the same.
However, if the fight does make it past that opening round, Ribovics certainly looks spirited and gritty enough to turn up the heat and force McKinney to capitulate like he usually does. It’s one of those weird capitulations where he doesn’t seem gassed or mentally checked out – it feels like he swaps places with his twin brother that’s not a fighter whilst on the stool. Kind of like Alex Hernandez.
So yeah, I’ll do what I usually do in these spots and see what kind of price I can get by building a McKinney R1 or Ribovics R2/3 prop for myself…but other than that I don’t think we’ll be finding any sort of value anywhere here. The McKinney prop narrative is pretty well documented at this stage. Though the live-betting angle will always exist because the 3^rd party people have no idea what they’re watching.
In terms of a moneyline, Esteban obviously has to be favoured due to the higher finishing potential across the available 15 minutes (he could win in R1,2, or 3). Definitely not interested in playing anything than that McKinney 1 or Ribovics 2/3 combination.
How I line this fight: Terrance McKinney +175 (36%), Esteban Ribovics -175 (64%)
Bet or pass: Potential single bet on McKinney R1 or Ribovics R2/3
Prop leans: See above

~Alonzo Menifield vs Carlos Ulberg~
Zo Menifield is a better fighter than many give him credit for, but I think this might be a terrible stylistic fight for him. He’s going up against the much more technical and quick striker, who can also hit pretty hard. For Zo to do the work he wants to do on the feet, he’s going to need to get inside, and for every moment he’s not there he’s going to be on the end of Ulberg’s superior straight shots. He’s basically going to have to get hit twice, to land one himself.
Before I started looking into this fight I was intrigued by Menifield’s potential path to victory via wrestling, but the stats he’s currently averaging 0.67 takedowns per 15 minutes, and just beat a kickboxer across 15 minutes in Dustin Jacoby without landing one. Not sure why I had it in my head that he looks to grapple.
That Jacoby fight does give some credit to Alonzo and indicate that he’s not as outmatched as you’d expect a less technical tank to be. The same logic I used in the opening paragraph really should also have applied to Dustin Jacoby, but DJ’s not a particularly reliable striker and is prone to some moments of stupidity.
So yeah…I think Zo’s got a chance, but it’s going to be an uphill battle that he loses more often than not. The line’s a bit too wide for my liking as Ulberg is flavour of the month at LHW, but either way I see no value to bet either guy here.
How I line this fight: Alonzo Menifield +200 (33%), Carlos Ulberg -200 (67%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None

~Tabatha Ricci v Tecia Torres-Pennington~
Another fight where I am very confused by the betting line. Yes, Tecia Torres has been out of competition whilst having a baby with Raquel Pennington, but it looks like she’s already back in ridiculous shape and I think the narrative of doubting/fading mothers is pretty overblown. Enough WMMA fighters have come back having given birth and looked fine. I asked a few mothers I know who work out and they didn’t think they suffered much of a set back once they shifted the initial weight. I take my research very seriously, you see, and if this bet loses it’s all their fault.
So I’m going to (perhaps foolishly) assume that the Tecia Torres we get for this fight is the same as the one from tape…and that woman absolutely should not be the underdog to Tabatha Ricci. She’s got a great mixture of speed and volume on the feet, and is more than capable of keeping herself safe in the grappling department. There are very few fighters outside the top five that I’d think should be a favourite against Tecia. And that’s even before considering that this fight is a decent matchup for her.
Comparatively, Tabatha Ricci has struggled whenever she’s faced an opponent that she can’t out-grapple. She put together a great run against Gillian Robertson, Jessica Penne, Polyana Viana and Maria Oliveira, but landed between 3-5 takedowns in all of those fights and either had a significant amount of subsequent top control time, or was the superior striker anyway. After that run, she faced Loopy Godinez in her most recent fight, where her takedowns were shut down and she was forced to strike against an okay-ish striker. It went to a split, but the majority of media scorecards were were in favour of Godinez for her superior striking. Not being able to differentiate yourself in the striking department against Godinez isn’t a very good sign really.
When it comes to decision heavy WMMA fighters, I think the statistics are at their most reliable (and I’m not much of a statistics guy usually). The stats here clearly paint the picture that Tecia Torres is the superior martial artist on the feet. She lands more, she gets hit way less. She has much better accuracy, and she defends more. And she got all of those superior stats from going 15 minutes against Marina, Namajunas (x2) Andrade, Joanna and Weili, whereas Ricci has padded hers by teeing off on Gillian Robertson and Jessica Penne.
If Torres-Pennington is able to get back to anywhere near the same level as she was before the pregnancy, I think the betting line is massively wrong here. God bless Alayah Torres-Pennington for this betting line! 2u on Torres-Pennington. I moved in when it was +137, but the line has shifted since. It’s always a good idea to consider playing WMMA underdogs, so this one was a no brainer to me.
How I line this fight: Tecia Torres-Pennington -150 (60%), Tabatha Ricci +150 (40%)
Bet or pass: 2u Tecia Torres-Pennington to Win (+137), perhaps an extra 0.5u on Torres Decision
Prop leans: Torres by Decision is a very reliable MoV

~Sean Woodson vs Alex Caceres~
Alex Caceres is a really tricky one. He has improved so, so much in the last few years, and I’d never have believed he’d make it this far. He was a contestant on TUF 12, the show most recent to when I started watching MMA (which also brought us Michael Johnson). Those who have been watching prelims for many years will remember when Alex was nothing more than a veteran that couldn’t wrestle for shit, and was constantly being used to further the careers of submission based fighters (Kron Gracie, for example). Somehow, during the lockdown break, he managed to sharpen the takedown defence and completely re-invented himself as a fighter. He’s 7-2 in his last nine, and the losses have come against Sodiq Yusuff and Giga Chikadze. A very respectable body of work.
Sean Woodson’s career has also had its ups and downs. He was touted as a prospect to look out for back in the day of Glory MMA & Fitness and everyone’s favourite UFC gambler, James Krause. Unfortunately for the gangly and unorthodox Woodson, he couldn’t handle the pressure and ended up having all of his hype destroyed by Julian Erosa. He won a few more fights, but then drew with Luis Saldana, and by that point everyone thought he was a busted prospect that couldn’t be trusted to win against anyone. Then he pulled off an upset against Charles Jourdain recently, and now we don’t know what to think.
So this is basically a bout between two guys who have blown hot and cold in different stages of their career, and they’re therefore guys I often look to gloss over when I see that they’re fighting because I know they can easily oveunder perform in relation to expectations. Woodson should be the more diverse and unorthodox fighter of the two to be able to win minutes against Bruce Leroy, but the power that Caceres has on the return very much could turn the tide in an instant. Woodson isn’t defensively sound and relies on his length too much, and we have seen him fumble winnable fights before.
I don’t have much confidence in this one at all, but I understand why Woodson’s the slight favourite, given his tricky style and frame, and the fact he’s a bit younger. The books have lined this one correctly though, using their vig to price either side out of being an appealing price. I’m not really sure how someone has a strong opinion on this one really.
How I line this fight: Sean Woodson -137 (58%), Alex Caceres +137 (42%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None

~Jake Hadley vs Charles Johnson~
Another Charles Johnson fight, another anti-grappling gameplan. I’m getting a bit bored of seeing the exact same fight really, it would be cool to see Johnson stand and trade with someone for 15 minutes.
In fairness to Hadley he’s hardly one-dimensional, but he’s definitely best as a grappler that uses striking as a means to an end. We have seen what he looks like when he can’t have significant top control time, or when he goes up against a guy that can put him on his back. And it shows him to be a great hammer but a bad nail.
Charles Johnson’s resurgence has been a very interesting turn of events! If you’re a regular UFC bettor, you’ll know Johnson as one of the most untrustworthy guys on the roster, who fails to put his stamp on rounds and only seems to be able to produce a maximum of 55% of superiority per round. That was, until he fought Azat Maksum last time, where his tenacity was enough for him to turn the fight on its head in the latter half, finally providing a Charles Johnson fight where we had confidence on what the judges’ scorecards were going to look like!
Johnson is a very hard guy to finish though, because he doesn’t have any actual major weaknesses that aren’t based on self-sabotage. That is going to turn into his biggest strength here against Hadley, whose 2-2 decision record paints a clear picture. In a fight where a finish is going to be hard to come by, I think this one is going to run very close, in typical Charles Johnson fashion. In short, Johnson’s skills nullify Hadley’s greatest skill, so this one should run closer than it might look on the wikicap.
Therefore, your only options are probably to hold your breath and bet Johnson as the +130 underdog for a bit of value, or pass completely. A bet on Hadley is definitely not adviseable at – money.
I was lining up to play the overs/FGTD, but I’ve seen that the Over 2.5 Rounds sits at -250…which is far too steep for me to entertain. Those bookies are sharp!
How I line this fight: Jake Hadley +100 (50%), Charles Johnson +100 (50%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: Either man’s decision prop could be an interesting way to bet this one.

~Jared Gooden vs Kevin Jousset~
Kevin Jousset makes his third appearance for the UFC, having impressed in two victories against Kiefer Crosbie (can) and Song Kenan (decent enough fighter). His output and diversity in the latter fight was really what caught my attention, as I was personally unsure he would be able to hang with UFC calibre opposition. I did bet him in his debut against Crosbie because his opponent that day has no business being in the UFC, but even the way he looked in that one had me questioning if he was up to the challenge.
On the subject of having ‘no business being in the UFC’, Jousset faces Jared Gooden. I know Gooden is a long time friend and associate of Dan Levy (HalfTheBattle) so I’m always hoping he does well, but honestly he’s proven countless times that he’s not good enough to be here. Of course, he’s a powerful guy, and in a cagefight that attribute is going to result in a couple of upsets…but Gooden has been competently outgrappled and outstruck on too many occasions for me to believe in him. Plus, he finally hit that KO path to victory against Wellington Turman, who is notoriously untrustworthy and shocking on the feet. If I remember correctly I was very adamant that people shouldn’t bet him there.
Jousset is a well-rounded guy as well. He’s not the most devastating striker but he does good defensive work (which is key here). He’s also more than happy to mix in takedowns and grappling when he deems it necessary, which is another advantageous asset here.
In short, whilst I’m still kind of suspicious of Jousset’s overally capabilities and whether or not he’s going to make anything of himself in the UFC, I can definitely see this one being an advantageous stylistic fight for him as the more well-rounded man. If Jousset can stay safe from Gooden’s power, he should have an easy enough victory on his hands.
In terms of the betting line, I would have put Jousset anywhere from the -200 to -250 range, which is pretty much where he’s landed. Makes sense to me. I’m glad I don’t have to consider betting this fight, because trusting either man with my money doesn’t feel good.
How I line this fight: Jared Gooden +225 (31%), Kevin Jousset -225 (69%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None

~Chase Hooper vs Viacheslav Borshchev~
Probably the most binary and therefore divisive fight on the card, which makes it possibly the most exciting one. Hooper’s a great grappler that can’t strike. Borshchev is a great striker that can’t defend takedowns.
I always land on the same conclusion when it comes to this kind of conundrum, and it’s because of our good friend Mackenzie Dern. Your BJJ doesn’t really mean shit if you have no wrestling (aside from pulling guard or catching submissions whilst standing, both of which don’t really happen often at all), and Chase Hooper doesn’t really have much wrestling. Of course, Slava Claus has bad wrestling defence…but I’d rate Hooper’s wrestling as clearly inferior to that of Mike Davis, Marc Diakiese or Nazim Sadykhov, so there aren’t actually strong guarantees that Chase can even consistently land takedowns here.
Obviously I think you have to make Borshchev the favourite here, as all fights start standing and his grappling defence seems solid enough that he shouldn’t get instantly submitted if he does get forced to the floor anyway. If that’s the case, I think he can clearly do damage and win fights off the scoring criteria. Hooper’s a tough kid, but when he eats shots they all look like fight enders with the amount his head snaps back. I genuinely think cutting his hair was a good strategic move for him. Also, this fight will have a live audience, and that plays ever so slightly into the metrics of the KO threat, not the grappler (because people still boo takedowns sometimes).
The books have it lined pretty where I would expect, with a small to moderate lean in Slava’s favour, so I don’t really think there’s any point in forcing a bet here. Both men have legitimate paths, it’s just that the Russian’s is slightly easier to land and will be more definitive. A win for Hooper likely sees him outgrapple his opponent for 15, whereas Borshchev can do it with one punch. Betting Slava KO would probably be the smartest play available, because that’s most of his win condition, whereas Hooper could win by all three methods.
I have noticed since writing that Slava may be moving down to -150, which is where I grade him without vig. If that price does solidify market wide, I may be interested in playing him to win by KO, or perhaps KO/DEC Double Chance. It would only be a 1u thing, but watch this space.
How I line this fight: Chase Hooper +150 (40%), Viacheslav Borshchev -150 (60%)
Bet or pass: 1u Slava KO or Slava KO/Dec…we will see.
Prop leans: None

~Trey Waters vs Billy Goff~
I honestly can’t remember a thing about either guy, I was surprised to see this wasn’t a double debut. From looking at Tapology I vaguely remember their last fights, with Goff steamrolling that Japanese guy on the South Korea card and Waters styling on Josh Quinlan.
I need a lot more info than that to be able to decipher this one. Info I honestly cannot be bothered to go and find, considering the most I could get would be a low-confidence opinion. I’mma pass on this one and admit I just couldn’t be arsed. I’m quite confident I wouldn’t have felt comfortable betting it anyway, so that’s probably some time saved. Check out Slayer’s breakdown on Wednesday/Thursday, he’ll have the goods.
How I line this fight: Didn’t do tape
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None

~Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs Robelis Despaigne~
I’ve been a consistent Waldo hater since he came to the UFC. He’s a fat guy who strikes, but his power actually looks to be severely lacking. In fact, the only thing he actually does well is a leg kick. Seriously, how can you be that size, that young, and still not KO 2024 Andrei Arlovski? Don’Tale Mayes did it. Waldo also lost a round to Chase Sherman and Jared Vanderaa ffs. I have every reason not to understand why he’s looked at favorably.
Robelis Despaigne’s UFC debut was short lived but impressive all the same. That stuff doesn’t tell us much at all, but he’s a very credentialed combat sports athlete (Lonon 2012 Olympic Bronze Medalist). I can’t really say it with super confidence, but this does feel like it should be a very winnable fight for him.
A lot of people are immediately quoting Despaigne’s MMA record and highlighting his inexperience, but my counter to that would be to consider what experience and tools he is actually going to need here?
I don’t think Cortes-Acosta will have any interest in grappling or attempting takedowns, and I also think he’s the inferior fighter from a power perspective. In a fight like this, what more do you really need?
I’m surprised Despaigne is only around -170 here. I get that he’s inexperienced in MMA but he’s far more experienced than Waldo in professional competition. Maybe I’m being too basic with my analysis here and Waldo actually has something for him, but I was expecting -250 at least. I did initially hesitate on whether or not I wanted to play Despaigne here, given I’ve not got a whole lot to offer in my analysis other than Olympian vs fat boi….but I don’t think Waldo brings anything uniquely MMA to the table that Despaigne is going to struggle with?
I scoffed at that Jhonata Diniz guy making his debut -250 to Austen Lane few weeks ago because I saw a clear angle for an MMA based opponent to capitalise on a skillset that the vastly more credentialed striker wouldn’t be well versed in dealing with. Given what we saw there, I’d say I was absolutely right. Diniz still got the job done, but Lane was able to weaponise MMA experience. Waldo probably won’t. Honestly it wouldn’t even surprise me to see Robelis try and show off some of his MMA improvements and shoot a takedown on fat boi.
2u Robelis Despaigne to win at -163. This could age terribly because I know I’m going against my principles here…but this betting line could look like an absolute gift in hindsight.
How I line this fight: Waldo Cortes-Acosta +250 (29%), Robelis Despaigne -250 (71%)
Bet or pass: 2u Robelis Despaigne to Win (-163)
Prop leans: None

~Carlos Diego Ferreira vs Mateusz Rebecki~
Very simple fight to break down, I think. Rebecki’s a very dominant wrestler with the topside grappling ability to keep you there once he grounds you. We haven’t seen him fight a super high level of competition yet, but I think we’ve seen enough to be excited by him as a prospect.
The above description of Rebecki’s style sounds a lot like a fella called Gregor Gillespie. We saw him face Carlos Diego Ferreira back in 2021 and ultimately force a stoppage by using his style to overwhelm CDF until the ref showed mercy. Mateusz Gamrot, an equally impressive grappler (but with worse top control time than Rebecki and Gillespie) also managed to get CDF to tap to strikes (which is a big, big red flag). Beneil Dariush, though not a pressure wrestler or big ground striker, was able to ground CDF and ride out top position to win comfortably against the Brazilian on two separate occasions. In short, CDF is a prime victim for Rebecki’s style.
And to make matters worse, all of those three aforementioned fights of CDFs happened three years ago. The Brazilian is now 39 years old, and we’ve only seen him compete once since the trio of losses. That was against Michael Johnson, in a fight he was quite clearly losing and was looking terrible in before his power and Johnson’s A+ capitulation managed to gift him a win. Sad for me as I was on the underdog there and felt it was a great bet, but really anyone who bets on a flake like Michael Johnson gets what they pay for.
I felt that -250 was just not a steep enough price tag for Rebecki here, so I bet him heavy a week ago. I fully believe in the guy’s abilities as a grappler, and CDF is ripe for the picking when looking to execute that kind of style. That’s not to mention CDF looks fucking old and clearly on his way out, and is being fed to a 19-1, 31-year-old beast that can get another dominant win on his record against a veteran with a recognisable name (if you don’t recognise CDF’s name, you a casual). I played Rebecki for 3u at -250, then parlay’d him for 2u more with Michel Pereira against Ihor Poteiria last week. That’s 5u in total riding on Rebecki.
I’ve noticed that the betting line has now moved into the -300s since then. I’m a bit sick of harping on about how much of an edge you get by working ahead, but there’s yet another example.
How I line this fight: Carlos Diego Ferreira +400 (20%), Mateusz Rebecki -400 (80%)
Bet or pass: 3u Mateusz Rebecki to Win (-250), 2u Mateusz Rebecki to Win (-105, parlay’d with Michel Pereira last week)
Prop leans: None, but CDF’s ability to wilt on bottom would make me believe Rebecki can finish him here, most likely via KO

~JJ Aldrich vs Veronica Hardy~
JJ Aldrich has historically been a bit of a money train for me, because she doesn’t get the respect she deserves for her skillset. I arb’d out of a bet on Aldrich when I confidently bet her at the opener against Montana De La Rosa (admittedly I got spooked by the line movement and the face I was on an island with that one). I also bet her against Na Liang (she underperformed there, in fairness), Gillian Robertson and Vanessa Demopoulos too.
Her style ain’t pretty, and it doesn’t blow your hair back…but Aldrich is a very competent striker that also has very good takedown defence. If you aren’t an above average striker, you’re therefore likely to struggle against her. Look what she did against Erin Blanchfield – she competently won most of the minutes in that fight and could have easily gone on to beat Erin were it not for that very lucky guillotine (not to discredit a good win from Erin, but it was fortuitous). Yes it’s easy to say that in hindsight, but it’s a testament to the skills Aldrich has, and the fact she’s not really faced too many steps up in competition over the years actually makes her quite underrated.
Veronica Hardy has been a bit of a strange one since she came back to competition. Everyone faded her (myself included) against Juliana Miller, which was possibly the squarest bet I have ever placed in my life. She looked good there, but I think her performance that day was flattered by how awful her opponent was and how much she overcame the betting odds and the lay-off. It felt like the perfect storm for Veronica, so the fact she overcame it kind of bolsters that win when in reality she beat a non-UFC calibre fighter. Miller is also purely a grappler and couldn’t get her takedowns going, so there isn’t really a whole lot of comparison to make for that fight anyway because that’s not JJ’s style.
Hardy’s last appearance came against Jamey-Lyn Horth, a then 6-0 Canadian fighter who hadn’t done anything remarkable in her career, other than beat the equally average and non-UFC calibre Hailey Cowan. The fight was razor close, with both women incidentally landing the exact same number of significant strikes and takedowns. A split decision was understandable there, it was a hard one to score. Wasn’t impressive.
Back to this fight, and I am once again very confused by the betting line, because I think the market is massively underrating JJ Aldrich, as always. She’s faced the much better level of competition in recent years, and the only fighter that’s gotten the better of her in the striking is Ariane Lipski.
Even if you’re just wiki-capping this fight, you should conclude that Aldrich deserves to be favoured. So what does Veronica Hardy have that bridges that gap and pushes her to be the slight favourite? Is it popularity? The fact that she’s hot? Her affiliations to Dan Hardy? The fact she’s a personality outside of MMA? I don’t know but I genuinely think it’s more likely to be any of those things than anything we see on tape! Because I didn’t see anything.
Honestly I think it’s quite likely that those are the factors. A fight like this isn’t going to get a lot of action, and any casual making a 12-fold parlay is more likely to recognise Hardy’s name? Idk, it’s a weird one but either way I’m betting Aldrich for 2u here at +125. I think she should be -150 at least.
How I line this fight: JJ Aldrich -150 (60%), Veronica Hardy +150 (36%)
Bet or pass: 2u JJ Aldrich to Win (+125), 0.5u JJ Aldrich to Win by Decision (+175 or better)
Prop leans: Likely an Aldrich decision

Bets (Bold = been placed)
2u Rodrigo Nascimento to Win (+137)
2u Tecia Torres to Win (+137)
1u Terrance McKinney to Win in Round 1 or Esteban Ribovics to Win in Round 2 or 3 (price dependent)
1u Viacheslav Borshchev to Win by KO or KO/Decision (I’ll need to evaluate prop prices)
3u Mateusz Rebecki to Win (-250)
2u Mateusz Rebecki to Win (-105) (parlay with Michel Pereira from last week)
2u JJ Aldrich to Win (+125)
2u Robelis Despaigne to Win (-163)
0.25u Parlay Pieces (won’t know price yet)

Parlay Pieces: McKinney/Ribovics FDGTD, Viacheslav Borshchev, Mateusz Rebecki, Robelis Despaigne
Dog of the Week: JJ Aldrich
FUTURE BETS
2u Piera Rodrihuez to Win (-120)

A Pler commenter pushed back on the idea that it's about increasing the number of babies. I beg to differ. There's been a huge stink by various factions of the right that "Oh noooooooooooo, we have a baby crisis" despite our number of people being around 8 billion and increasing. Notice the last sentence of the second segment where their "solutions" include "limiting access to contraceptives, banning no-fault divorce and ending policies that subsidize “single-motherhood.” Also, many of the same groups behind this natalism movement are the very same groups that were behind abortion bans.
They basically want to force women that marry to have a higher chance of getting pregnant, AND be unable to leave unsuitable partners no matter how shit they are. And again, there's no talk about making women's labor regarding the increased number of babies easier, which is not a surprise considering the conference is dominated by men. They're not the ones who actually change the diapers or gestating.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/28/natalism-conference-austin-00150338
"The threat, we are told here this weekend, is existential, biological, epoch-defining. Economies will fail, civilizations will fall, and it will all happen because people aren’t having enough babies.
“The entire global financial system, the value of your money, and every asset you might buy with money is defined by leverage, which means its value depends on growth,” Kevin Dolan, a 37-year-old father of six from Virginia, tells the crowd that has gathered to hear him speak. “Every country in the developed world and most countries in the developing world face long-term population decline at a level that makes growth impossible to maintain,” Dolan says, “which means we are sitting on the bubble of all bubbles.”
Despite this grim prognosis, the mood is optimistic. It’s early December, a few weeks before Christmas, and the hundred-odd people who have flocked to Austin for the first Natal Conference are here to come up with solutions. Though relatively small, as conferences go, NatalCon has attracted attendees who are almost intensely dedicated to the cause of raising the U.S. birth rate. The broader natalist movement has been gaining momentum lately in conservative circles — where anxieties over falling birth rates have converged with fears of rising immigration — and counts Elon Musk, who has nearly a dozen children, and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán among its proponents. Natalism is often about more than raising birth rates, though that is certainly one of its aims; for many in the room, the ultimate goal is a total social overhaul, a culture in which child-rearing is paramount.
NatalCon’s emphasis on childbirth notwithstanding, there are very few women in the cavernous conference room of the LINE Hotel. The mostly male audience includes people of all ages, many of whom are childless themselves. Some of the women in attendance, however, have come to Austin with their children in tow — a visual representation of the desired outcome of this weekend. As if to emphasize the reason we’re all gathered here today, a baby babbles in the background while Dolan delivers his opening remarks."
Later in the article
In recent years, various factions of the old and the new right have coalesced around the idea that babies might be the cure for everything that’s wrong with society, in the United States and other parts of the developed West.
It’s not a new argument. Natalists made similar claims in the early 20th century, when urbanization drove birth rates down and European immigration kept the U.S. population afloat. Then, too, people attributed the drop in fertility rates to endemic selfishness among young people.
Throughout it all, some religious conservative cultures have continued to see raising large broods as a divine mandate. White supremacists, meanwhile, have framed their project as a way of ensuring “a future for white children,” as declared by David Lane, a founding member of the white nationalist group The Order.
More recently, natalist thinking has emerged among tech types interested in funding and using experimental reproductive technologies, and conservatives concerned about falling fertility rates and what they might mean for the future labor force of the United States and elsewhere in the developed world. The conservative think tanks the Center for Renewing America and the Heritage Foundation — the latter of which was represented at NatalCon — have proposed policies for a potential second Trump administration that would promote having children and raising them in nuclear families, including limiting access to contraceptives, banning no-fault divorce and ending policies that subsidize “single-motherhood.”

Good morning,
Cross & Long post. I am new here. Please don’t attack me for being transparent. I need help, not criticism. I have had sleep apnea for a while. I was never consistent with using my CPAP machine before, but feel I have to now because I am so tired during the day. By 1 pm every day I am exhausted. However, I am not sleeping at all when I use the machine . I have a Resmed airsense 11. I tried Calm with cherry juice and Kava Kava last night. Still no sleep. I emptied the humidifier because the water started boiling. But nope, no sleep. I lost 50+ pounds on Ozempic, but my weight loss has now stalled. I am determined to lose 100+ pounds, but also determined to be consistent with CPAP use. Hopefully, weight loss will cure my sleep apnea. With or without CPAP use, I am drinking tons of coffee a day to stay woke. I want to give up drinking so much coffee, but I need my job. The coffee makes my blood pressure go up, so I really want my CPAP to help me become well rested & not need stimulants. I am open to advice and suggestions. Happy Sunday!!

Hello, everyone! I just typed this all out and put quite a bit of work into it when responding to someone else asking for a short version of what Ashley has been up to since they haven't been around for a few years. I know there are often questions just like it asking for a cliff note version of who Ashley is.
So, I figured since I got carried away that I should maybe make an actual post with all of it as I know we have gained many new lovlies in here recently. Anyway, I hope this may help put some pieces together for newbies or anyone else, really. I love to help others, and I love to spread the word. Please feel free to add your own details for others to read as well. Be well and stay safe from users like Ashley! Lol.
Here is my post with a list of details about Ashley. This is not an exhaustive list.
She is a giant mess of narcissism where she uses a bunch of drugs, uses people, snaps at people, and thinks her shit doesn't stink. She is racist and albeist. There are many examples showing this. She has absolutely no self-awareness or sympathy. She is a grifter who thinks she works a full-time job. 🤣 Said job is doing simple makeup looks, tweak surface level cleaning at best, tweak tanning, shopping and bitching on lives daily for hours.
She goes on live at all hours both at home and on vacations that her followers/her mom pays for. She comes up with stories or blows situations way out of proportion in hopes she will get more gifts or people will offer to buy things for her. She thinks she is providing a service being on Tiktok, lol.
People with the number of followers she still has have tons of PR and brand deals. She doesn't even have ONE. She claims she doesn't care, but those with a brain know that no company wants anything to do with her and her level of "content." She just doesn't get that her behavior has consequences.
Speaking of vacations, she goes on SO MANY. Far more than most responsible adults. It's strange. She claims she just needs to get away from it all... but she honestly hardly does anything she doesn't want to do in her daily life. Truly. She hardly has one responsibility. Anyway, there are many examples of how she uses the people she is visiting. She begs or guilts people to pay for things because shocker... she always runs into issues that need money she claims to be low on. She stays on live for most of each trip, despite the feelings or needs of others she's with. She also tends to leave things in ruins. She has caused damage to multiple properties, and as I will mention in a minute, she got her mom fired on her last trip. She also lost her wallet on her last vacation, but that story didn't really line up. If anything on that one, it just shows her complete inability to be responsible with her things.
She airs out EVERYONE'S dirty laundry, over shares personal details including SHOWING her brother's medical records, and doxxes people as if it's her business to put out there. Case in point, her going live and doxing her mom's place of work led her mom to being fired. If she can throw someone under the bus to get attention, to prove a point, to get more money, to get more content, or to increase her relevance... she WILL. She doesn't give it a second thought, and she certainly doesn't see the error of her ways. People point shit out to her, and she always tries to prove them wrong. Lying is a constant problem. She will mold the truth to her gain.
She is cocky AF and even makes cat call noises when she shows how hot she thinks she is. She is CONSTANTLY complimenting her own self and thinks she is the shit. She's not. She thinks her skin is gorgeous or her makeup is flawless. It's not. Her followers tend to kiss her ass and say it is, but they are lost.
She still lives in Jamestown, and her husband (I use that term loosely) is still a drug dealer out of her home. They hardly spend time together as he rots in bed. He doesn't seem to do anything but tends to his customers just about. Well, actually, he does do something else. He cheats because she couldn't care less about their marriage. He's also gross and lacks ethics. He has been caught many, many times, talking to other women sexually. She seemed to care at first, but apparently, not anymore. Their marriage is a complete joke. He has pleaded that she change and act like she did in the beginning. She couldn't care less. She'd much rather stay in her makeup room and leave him hanging.
She has no friends, and so many have been chased away by how she has acted. This includes family members, Erik's kids, old mods, followers, PGH (who put her on the map on TT ), etc. She only seems to talk to her brother Max and her mother. She may talk to her brother Anthony, but it seems super rare. Her other siblings, including her stepsisters, don't want to deal with her.
She got into an abusive altercation last summer with one of her stepdaughters. She ended up flicking one of her cigarettes in her minor stepdaughter's face. This child and Ashley's stepson's fiance jumped Ashley as a result. Ashley lost and ran crying to her followers. Oh boy, can she play victim without taking ANY accountability. It's her M.O. This is a time when she claimed she was leaving Erik. Wouldn't you know it? A week or so later, she claimed they were fixing things. This is after the fact that her followers sent a ton of money in her time of "need." Once she got what she needed, she did an about face. She also basically refused to answer any further questions. She would even snap at anyone who tried to be genuinely concerned or curious, saying they should mind their own business. She does this a lot. She puts all her shit out there and thinks people are crazy for asking questions. She also clearly sees she doesn't have to answer to ANYONE. She just uses people and then throws them away.
Her health is rapidly deteriorating when it comes to her weight, hair, skin, teeth, and even the sound of her voice. Erik has said she abuses suboxone and other drugs. She denies this adamantly. She claims she's only smokes weed, but her nodding out, pupils, and a million flutters a second hummingbird behavior says otherwise. There are a ton more telling signs that she is in active addiction.
She does not use her money wisely at all. Sometimes, she spends like she is a Kartrashian, and some days, she claims she needs money. It does not appear that she has a driver's license (only a permit). She drives high a ton while being super distracted. She clearly does not drive legally, but she doesn't care. She is invincible. She almost never is out by herself. She uses all sorts of backup accounts to make sure she can stay on TT live or IG live. She can't seem to do anything on her own, and she always is asking her followers for what they think. She lacks the ability and awareness of how to be an adult. She also clearly can't handle being alone with her own thoughts. Classic narc behavior. She always needs a constant source of supply.
She gets banned a fair amount based on her behavior, what she talks about, or there are reports from people who are just sick and tired of her shit. She just pops up on one of her many other accounts.
She is an entitled little girl. It's honestly really concerning. She claims she is all about positivity, but her platform is anything but. She's constantly complaining, talking about things that show her entitlement, and boy does she constantly bring up this page. She would hardly have any other content if she didn't. Her mods fully support this idiotic way of thinking. They defend her at the loss of their good name.
Again, this is just a snippet of everything that has transpired, but you get the gist. Her follower count is dwindling while this page is growing. Welcome to the right side of the tracks on this whole saga of fuckery. ❤️ We are badasses and we see the truth! 💋

EDIT: thank you everyone for your helpful comments!! much appreciated.
hi everyone! not sure where to post this besides gardening, so putting it here too.
i'm new to this sub and pretty new to gardening in general. looking for a bit of advice. the problems are of my own making and i'm not sure how to solve 'em.
OVERLY DETAILED BACKGROUND: i have two small balconies in my apartment, one in the front, one in the back. last summer i decided to try and do some container gardening. i'm a student in a big city and materials are quite expensive, so i ended up investing quite a lot into potting soil + raw materials to mix my own (the latter was somewhat successful but honestly not very economical in the end). because i was super anxious about balcony weight and also, again, trying to be as thrifty as possible, i used those "reusable cloth" bags you get from the grocery store (i'm in an area where single-use plastic bags are now banned) in place of fancy grow bags. after planting my starters i used a wood mulch to cover the soil. i used some rocks and a bit of cardboard at the the base of some bags to bulk them up.
ANYWAY i was a total newbie and made a ton of mistakes for every one success. SPECIFICALLY, i think i fumbled the landing. the first frost comes early where i am and i got overwhelmed, busy, etc, and as such didn't really pack anything up properly. all my grow bags are where they were in the fall. i left the plants (mostly annuals) in the bags, and some have rotted, while others dried out completely. this isn't bad necessarily; i left them out deliberately because i know insects can use the husks to overwinter...but i'm at a loss.
now that the insane academic year is over i feel capable of putting energy into the garden, but i feel so lost every time i look out the windows and see everything in disarray, and dread having to buy new soil. it was labour-intensive to acquire last year (i don't have a car and can't drive, so had to strap it to my bike. over many trips. and pray.) and cost a pretty penny, which isn't in the cards for me right now. the last frost was a few weeks ago and i haven't started anything. i have a few native perennials that seem to be sprouting again and that's exciting. i have some seeds from last year and from my school's seed library that i want to start ASAP too. yet i've heard conflicting reports on what to do. my usual gardening mentor packs up her container garden soil for the winter, which i obviously haven't. others told me that the soil will have been pretty much useless as it's been depleted. i know quite a bit about soil from an academic perspective (i've taken a class or two) but i just can't seem to apply any of it! the soil i bought was specifically for container gardening. the soil i mixed myself was pretty much a hack job but i used a lot of coconut coir to try and control moisture. it seemed to work fine.
now what? i'm not in a position to buy more soil. i'm really passionate about composting but the city collects ours and i don't have a home set up. i'm also not really in the position to start vermicomposting in my apartment. i have a liquid fertilizer (this one: "HydraGreen Plant Food." idk how to put links in reddit posts). i haven't used it on anything outside and i'm not sure if it would suffice to help make my soil healthy again. ideally i would have a real plot outside and could use the knowledge i do have (i love gardening youtube) to really love the soil long-term, with compost, vermicomposting, crop switching, etc.
right now i only have the consequences of my inaction. i should probably take out the old annuals, i know, but do i plant a cover crop? does that make sense considering my silly grow bags and all the mulch still there? i have three big perennials: lavender, yarrow, and butterfly weed. i also have a few much shallower planters i used for beans and radishes. i also have a lot of tiny pots of basil as well as four large coffee cans i punched drainage holes in and used for basil. i have the (rotted/dried) remains of two cabbages, three kales, one caulifower, one broccoli, and two bell pepper plants, each in separate bags. (i know this was a really dumb selection for container gardening....forgive me, lol). nothing really seems mouldy except one head of cabbage i was really stupid to leave and then never harvested. the bags themselves do not make direct contact with the wood of the balcony and the bags are intact (i cut drainage holes). i also have one big terracotta pot i planted sunflowers in with lettuce as cover. i know the bean soil is probably fine because it's nitrogen-fixing. the radish soil i also probably okay (?) as slugs got to it so there was very little actual growth. but what of the basil? it's dried out completely. and should i try and repot the perennials? i made a specific mix for the lavender, and the butterfly weed and yarrow seem to have some sprouts, so i've hesitated. i know the kale and cabbage are probably biannual... should i just leave them as-is?
ALSO, CRITICALLY: i tried to also grow cucumbers and tomatoes (definitely not going to repeat as i learned i do not get enough sun for them) but killed them accidentally as i think i sprayed too much of a homemade saline solution i was using to treat some mildew. is the cucumber and tomato soil ruined because of that? i tried to wash the leaves as best i could as soon as i saw signs of drying/wilt but i'm afraid i may have washed the salt into the soil. would test the pH but i'm not even sure if the salinity would really alter the pH because i don't think the concentration was THAT high... do i risk just planting again and seeing what happens? but also, the soil's already pretty depleted, right? should i just toss it all? :(
wow, this feels like a novel. any and all advice and ideas are welcomed. i can also go into even more detail if needed, haha. thank you so much in advance! :)
TL;DR: i left my container balcony gardens untouched after harvest. what do i do with the soil? i want to start it up again for the spring and summer but not sure how to prep it. i'm not really in the position to buy fresh container potting soil. i've struggled in the past to find accessible compost as well. also, some containers might have non-negligible salt content.
main questions:
-some containers have a possible salt content...can i save the soil? any way to test?
-do i use liquid fertilizer to replenish my perennials? (does it depend on the perennial?)
-do i leave the rotted cabbage and kale and hope they flower?
-what do i do with the rest of the containers with annuals and soil?
THANK YOU!

hi everyone! i'm new to this sub and pretty new to gardening in general. looking for a bit of advice. the problems are of my own making and i'm not sure how to solve 'em.
OVERLY DETAILED BACKGROUND: i have two small balconies in my apartment, one in the front, one in the back. last summer i decided to try and do some container gardening. i'm a student in a big city and materials are quite expensive, so i ended up investing quite a lot into potting soil + raw materials to mix my own (the latter was somewhat successful but honestly not very economical in the end). because i was super anxious about balcony weight and also, again, trying to be as thrifty as possible, i used those "reusable cloth" bags you get from the grocery store (i'm in an area where single-use plastic bags are now banned) in place of fancy grow bags. after planting my starters i used a wood mulch to cover the soil. i used some rocks and a bit of cardboard at the the base of some bags to bulk them up.
ANYWAY i was a total newbie and made a ton of mistakes for every one success. SPECIFICALLY, i think i fumbled the landing. the first frost comes early where i am and i got overwhelmed, busy, etc, and as such didn't really pack anything up properly. all my grow bags are where they were in the fall. i left the plants (mostly annuals) in the bags, and some have rotted, while others dried out completely. this isn't bad necessarily; i left them out deliberately because i know insects can use the husks to overwinter...but i'm at a loss.
now that the insane academic year is over i feel capable of putting energy into the garden, but i feel so lost every time i look out the windows and see everything in disarray, and dread having to buy new soil. it was labour-intensive to acquire last year (i don't have a car and can't drive, so had to strap it to my bike. over many trips. and pray.) and cost a pretty penny, which isn't in the cards for me right now. the last frost was a few weeks ago and i haven't started anything. i have a few native perennials that seem to be sprouting again and that's exciting. i have some seeds from last year and from my school's seed library that i want to start ASAP too. yet i've heard conflicting reports on what to do. my usual gardening mentor packs up her container garden soil for the winter, which i obviously haven't. others told me that the soil will have been pretty much useless as it's been depleted. i know quite a bit about soil from an academic perspective (i've taken a class or two) but i just can't seem to apply any of it! the soil i bought was specifically for container gardening. the soil i mixed myself was pretty much a hack job but i used a lot of coconut coir to try and control moisture. it seemed to work fine.
now what? i'm not in a position to buy more soil. i'm really passionate about composting but the city collects ours and i don't have a home set up. i'm also not really in the position to start vermicomposting in my apartment. i have a liquid fertilizer (this one: "HydraGreen Plant Food." idk how to put links in reddit posts). i haven't used it on anything outside and i'm not sure if it would suffice to help make my soil healthy again. ideally i would have a real plot outside and could use the knowledge i do have (i love gardening youtube) to really love the soil long-term, with compost, vermicomposting, crop switching, etc.
right now i only have the consequences of my inaction. i should probably take out the old annuals, i know, but do i plant a cover crop? does that make sense considering my silly grow bags and all the mulch still there? i have three big perennials: lavender, yarrow, and butterfly weed. i also have a few much shallower planters i used for beans and radishes. i also have a lot of tiny pots of basil as well as four large coffee cans i punched drainage holes in and used for basil. i have the (rotted/dried) remains of two cabbages, three kales, one caulifower, one broccoli, and two bell pepper plants, each in separate bags. (i know this was a really dumb selection for container gardening....forgive me). nothing really seems mouldy except one head of cabbage i was really stupid to leave and then never harvested. the bags themselves do not make direct contact with the wood of the balcony and the bags are intact (i cut drainage holes). i also have one big terracotta pot i planted sunflowers in with lettuce as cover. i know the bean soil is probably fine because it's nitrogen-fixing. the radish soil i also probably okay (?) as slugs got to it so there was very little actual growth. but what of the basil? it's dried out completely. and should i try and repot the perennials? i made a specific mix for the lavender, and the butterfly weed and yarrow seem to have some sprouts, so i've hesitated. i know the kale and cabbage are probably biannual... should i just leave them as-is?
ALSO, CRITICALLY: i tried to also grow cucumbers and tomatoes (definitely not going to repeat) but killed them accidentally as i think i sprayed too much of a homemade saline solution i was using to treat some mildew. is the cucumber and tomato soil ruined because of that? i tried to wash the leaves as best i could as soon as i saw signs of drying/wilt but i'm afraid i may have washed the salt into the soil. would test the pH but i'm not even sure if the salinity would really alter the pH because i don't think the concentration was THAT high... do i risk just planting again and seeing what happens? but also, the soil's already pretty depleted, right? should i just toss it all? :(
wow, this feels like a novel. any and all advice and ideas are welcomed. i can also go into even more detail if needed, haha. thank you so much in advance! :)
TL;DR: i left my container balcony gardens untouched after harvest. what do i do with the soil? i want to start it up again for the spring and summer but not sure how to prep it. i'm not really in the position to buy fresh container potting soil. i've struggled in the past to find accessible compost as well. also, some containers might have non-negligible salt content.
main questions:
-some containers have a possible salt content...can i save the soil? any way to test?
-do i use liquid fertilizer to replenish my perennials? (does it depend on the perennial?)
-do i leave the rotted cabbage and kale and hope they flower?
-what do i do with the rest of the containers with annuals and soil?

Happy May the 4th! In the spirit of celebrating grand space epics, I put together a list of 28 comics that aren't the galaxy far, far away that have awesome space stories.
This list features both indie and publisher content, including Image Comics, BOOM! Studios, Oni Press, Humanoids, Vault Comics, and more.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
1. Wasted Space, 1273 pages - Published by Vault Comics
The galaxy is wrecked—a cocktail of warlords, pirates, and tinpot dictators, stirred to a frenzy by an alcoholic former prophet. Take a sip and get wasted. Billy used to hear the voice of the Creator, and that didn't work out so great. OK. If we're being honest, he led the galaxy to total ruin. When a new prophet comes calling, Billy and his Fuq Bot pal Dust, set out to save what's left of the galaxy.
Billy Bane is a prophet who got it all wrong, and the galaxy has been burning ever since. All he wants is to waste away in the darkest corner of space with his best pal Dust, a supercharged Fuq bot. But when a new prophet comes calling, Billy is summoned to save the galaxy he's at least partially responsible for destroying.
Too bad he couldn't care less.
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Hayden Sherman, Jason Wordie, Jim Campbell, Michael Moreci
2. Sentient, 178 pages - Published by TKO Studios
WELCOME TO THE U.S.S. MONTGOMERY. When a separatist attack kills every adult on board a colony ship in deep space, it is up to VALARIE, the on-board A.I., to help the ship's children survive. But as they are pursued by dangerous forces, can Valarie become more than what she was programmed to be - a savior to these children?
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Gabriel Walta and Jeff Lemire
3. Critical Mass, 25 pages - Published by Odyssey Comics
Welcome to the thrilling world of Critical Mass, an awe-inspiring science fiction anthology magazine that will take you on a mind-bending journey through the cosmos. This magazine brings together a collection of captivating stories, each accompanied by stunning illustrations, from the brightest talents in the genre.
^{This title is 100% free to read.}
Story and Art by Odyssey Comics
4. Stable, 124 pages - Published by Heavy Metal
Three arks. Two worlds. One chance at survival. On an Earth with a dying Sun, there are two kinds of people. The Chosen. And the left behind. We thought it was over. We thought our days as a species were numbered. But then, then a miracle happened. We received a transmission from an alien civilization that knew we needed help. So they threw us a life raft in the form of designs for Space Arks, we
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
*Story and Art by Francesco Pisa, Matthew Medney, Morgan Rosenblum *
5. Destroy All Galaxies, 48 pages - Published by Wesley Griffith Comics
A sci-fi fantasy epic of love and revenge within the same universe as Radio Jupiter. This tale follows the adventures of the fearless, un-killable warrior Van Starlock.
^{This title is 100% free to read.}
Story and Art by Wesley Griffith Comics
6. Saga (Deluxe Edition), 1441 pages - Published by Image Comics
At long last, a deluxe edition of the Eisner and Hugo Award-winning SAGA is finally here! SAGA is the story of Hazel, a child born to star-crossed parents from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war. Now, Hazel's fugitive family must risk everything to find a peaceful future in a harsh universe that values destruction over creation. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in a sexy, subversive drama for adults that Entertainment Weekly called, "The kind of comic you get when truly talented superstar creators are given the freedom to produce their dream book."
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
7. Joyride (Volume), 346 pages - Published by BOOM! Studios
In the future, Earth sucks. The stars have been blocked out for so long that people have forgotten there was anything else besides the dumb World Government Alliance watching over them, training children to join the militarized Allied Youth and eliminating all resistance with a giant ray gun. Uma Akkolyte is a girl who shoots first and leaps before she looks, and when she gets a strange message from outside the barricades of SafeSky, she jacks a spaceship and punches through the stratosphere with an unlikely crew of teens who are totally not ready for what they’re about to find.
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Collin Kelly, Irma Kniivila, Jackson Lanzing, Marcus To
8. Retroworld, 112 pages - Published by Humanoids
A rich Sci-Fi saga adapted from the work of Julia Verlanger, one of the most celebrated authors of the French science fiction movement of the 1970s.. PUBLICATION IN 2 VOLUMES - COMPLETED SERIES. Humans have scattered and occupied the known universe for so long that many worlds have forgotten their true, Earthly origins. The planets which retain the memory of…
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Bazal, Cédric Peyravernay, Patrick Galliano
9. Prophet, 875 pages - Published by Image Comics
On distant future Earth, changed by time and alien influence, John Prophet awakes from cryosleep. His mission: to climb the the towers of Thauili Van and restart the Earth empire. News of the Empire's return brings old foes and allies out of the recesses of the vast cosmos.
Collects PROPHET #21-26
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Brandon Graham, Farel Dalrymple, Giannis Milonogiannis, Marian Churchland, Simon Roy
10. Black Science, 1252 pages - Published by Image Comics
Grant McKay attempts to rescue his team from the evil of the Withering Woods, but his presence threatens to unravel a peace treaty between the world's gods and cost his daughter a hard earned happiness. The Dimensionauts long jaunt through alternative realities is finally leading them back home, but what will it take to get there? More importantly, what has happened while they were gone?
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Dean White, Matteo Scalera, Moreno Dinisio, Rick Remender
11. Planetary Expansion, 162 pages - Published by Critical Entertainment
Abandoning their average lives on Earth, one thousand hand-selected passengers board a starship headed to a new habitable planet. They will brave the dangers of space and push themselves past the limit in order to reach their destination.
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Alonso Molina Gonzales, Christopher Reda, Paulo Rivas, Travis Lanham
12. Firefly - Legacy Edition, 632 pages - Published by BOOM! Studios
From the heart of the Whedonverse comes the next chapter of Firefly! Picking up where the critically acclaimed film Serenity left off, the ‘Verse is on the brink of war, and Captain Mal and his crew are on the run from the Alliance and an old, unstoppable foe. Babies are born, friends are lost, and there’s a new sheriff in town to lead the Browncoats into battle. With the crew scattered to the far ends of the ‘Verse, it’ll take quite a gamble to pull them back together . . . but whe...
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Brett Matthews, Chris Samnee, Dan McDaid, Fabio Moon, Greg Pak, Jim Krueger, Joss Whedon, Marcelo Costa, Patric Reynolds, Patton Oswalt, Will Conrad, Zack Whedon
13. Lifeboat, 20 pages - Published by Critical Entertainment
In the Dark Era of spacetime, year 1.7x10^106, moments before particle decay unwinds the atomic fabric of the universe as we know it, Mae, Jacob, and Dove carry the faint, flickering torch of life through an endless void. This comic book short story is about loss, fate, and the hope that we must hold dearly on our journey toward the ultimate unknown.
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Kathryn S. Renta, Leandro Rizzo, Mason Mendoza
14. Farscape, 691 pages - Published by Archaia Entertainment
Experience Farscape like never before with this brand-new omnibus edition. With over 600 pages of story collecting the first four volumes of the critically acclaimed Farscape comic book series and the complete spinoff trilogy chronicling the formative adventures of fan-favorite character D’Argo.
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Rockne S. O'Bannon
15. The Expanse: Origins, 118 pages - Published by BOOM! Studios
Based on the bestselling books and tying into the hit television series, THE EXPANSE ORIGINS reveals the untold origins of the crew members of The Rocinante. As interplanetary tensions reach an all-time high, the crew of The Rocinante finds themselves at the center of a conflict that threatens to destroy all of human civilization. But before they were heroes, each member of the crew faced moments that would come to define them and brought them one step closer to the ship they now call home....
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by James S.A. Corey
16. Dune: House Atreides (Volume), 346 pages - Published by BOOM! Studios
THE OFFICIAL PREQUEL TO THE GROUNDBREAKING DUNE.
Welcome to the far future on the desert planet Arrakis where Pardot Kynes seeks its secrets. Meanwhile, a violent coup is planned by the son of Emperor Elrood; an eight-year-old slave Duncan Idaho seeks to escape his cruel masters; and a young man named Leto Atreides begins a fateful journey.
These unlikely souls will come together as renegades and soon discover that fate has decreed they will change the very shape of history.
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Brian Herbert, Dev Pramanik, Kevin J Anderson, Kevin J Anderson (Anderson J, Kevin) [A01] Dev Pramanik, Kevin J. Anderson
17. Traveling To Mars, 216 pages - Published by ABLAZE
Traveling to Mars tells the story of former pet store manager Roy Livingston, the first human to ever set foot on Mars.
A riveting story of planetary exploration and of finding meaning in your final days.
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by ABLAZE
18. Alien Bounty Hunter, 163 pages - Published by Vault Comics
Ben Madsen is a bounty hunter. No, he's not ashamed to admit it. He likes his job. Mostly. When a big payday turns out to be stranger than he could have imagined, Madsen is swept up into an otherworldly conspiracy right here on Earth.
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Adrian Wassel, Andworld Design, David M. Booher, Nick Robles
19. Falling awake, 274 pages - Published by JAN DITLEV
After awakening from cryosleep on a remote and hostile planet, John finds himself stranded with a young girl and a looming threat that isn't human. As they struggle to survive and unravel the mystery of their predicament, John must confront the demons of his past and his place in the universe, forced to reflect on his life's choices and reconcile with a past that has haunted him. In the face of a harsh and unforgiving landscape, John must find the strength to overcome his own fears and forge a new path forward, before it's too late to escape the planet and start anew.
^{This title is 100% free to read.}
Story and Art by JAN DITLEV
20. Rogue Planet, 134 pages - Published by Oni Press
The salvage vessel Cortes tracks the Lonely Orphan, a planet with no star system to call its own. Somewhere on this hostile rock is a payload fit for a king. To attain it, though, the crew of the Cortes must brave razor rock, poisonous vapors, treacherous footing, and...the most mind-numbing horrors imaginable. Struggling to stay alive, they are beset at every turn by horrors from their own nightmares. Now, they have discovered that they are not alone on the planet, and the other inhabitants welcome them...as sacrifices to an elder god.
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Andy MacDonald, Cullen Bunn, Nick Filardi
21. Sacrament, 227 pages - Published by AWA Studios
The Exorcist meets Alien in this sci-fi/horror story. In the year 3000, Mankind abandoned Earth and fled into outer space. Now, a disgraced priest, called into action to perform an exorcism on a remote space colony, is about to discover that no matter how far you run, you can’t escape your demons, and the Devil is, in fact, real.
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by AWA Studios
22. Stagnant Waters, 36 pages - Published by A Gift Tomorrow Publishing
Foreboding and sinister secrets creep quietly into the now as consequences of actions millennia old unfurl. Meanwhile, the troubles of the future weigh so heavily that they threaten to crush everything beneath them. A wave of change rides through the universe that will touch all of space and time. A new era this way comes and with it; untold mystery and danger.
In one night the world will be changed forever as plans are made behind closed doors, visitors arrive from places unknown and two young men are set on a path toward a destiny far greater than either of them could ever imagine.
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by A Gift Tomorrow Publishing
23. The Kármán Line, 87 pages - Published by Mad Cave Studios
It’s all sex, lies and betrayal on a reality show streaming from space until the crew receives a message reading “ABORT MISSION AND GET HOME NOW”. Things unravel quickly as they find their shuttle damaged and a crew member dead. They’ll have to fight to survive and escape… With cameras recording everything.
Harvey and GLAAD Award winning writer Dennis Hopeless (All New X-Men, Love STRUCK, Sea of Stars), Artist Piotr Kowalski (Bloodborne, God of Tremors), and Colorist Brad Simpson (Stray Dogs, Coffin Bound) team up to launch Mad Cave’s first all-original graphic novel.
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Mad Cave Studios
24. Bellatrix Rising, 61 pages - Published by Foxtail Comics
it's been 500 years since a devastating galactic war came to a horrifying end.
For the galaxy, 500 years is but a blink of an eye.
For a Civilization, 500 years is a renaissance.
for one young girl, 500 years was yesterday
^{This title is 100% free to read.}
Story and Art by Foxtail Comics
25. The Fourth Planet, 159 pages - Published by New Friday - A Lev Gleason Imprint
The first volume in the acclaimed series from Fred Kennedy and Miko Maciaszek! A stolen warship loaded with runaway human slaves, Lightstorm, has crashed on an alien planet with three warring races, the most advanced of which has only just begun using gunpowder weaponry. Vastly outnumbered, will the humans become the very thing they were running away from?
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Fred Kennedy and Miko Maciaszek
26. ET-ER, 74 pages - Published by AWA Studios
Intergalactic virus liquefy one of your heads? Feeling a bit “off” ever since you drove through that black hole? Then visit the ET-ER, the galaxy’s leading medical facility. This interplanetary crew of doctors, nurses, paramedics, and technicians is uniquely qualified to cure what ails you. This super-sized debut special includes two stories of medical madness that are out of this world.
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by AWA Studios
27. Salvagers, 222 pages - Published by Source Point Press
In the distant future, the habitable planets are connected through the trade of natural and artificial resources. The import and export business is flourishing for some systems, while leaving others at the mercy of major trade corporations. After the end of the Galactic War, peace blanketed the galaxy; however, planets with little shipping resources turned to piracy or developed small guerilla...
^{This title is 100% free to read.}
Story and Art by Bob Salley, DeSiKa, George Acevedo, HdE Ponsonby-Jones, Joshua Werner
28. All We Ever Wanted, 177 pages - Published by A Wave Blue World
An exciting new anthology filled with stories that present a brighter vision of the future featuring today's top-level talent. No doom-and-gloom here! These sci-fi tales are meant to inspire hope and restore the belief that a better world is possible. The perfect gift to lift spirits this holiday season!
Ringo Award Nominee for Best Anthology
^{This title contains a paywall beyond the initial free preview.}
Story and Art by Eric Palicki, Josh Gorfain, Lucia Fasano, Matt Miner, Rich Douek, Tyler Chin-Tanner, Wendy Chin-Tanner

Source: https://youtu.be/2wqlVQP99I8?si=AKxN1WXsJ73nlEL0

The following is a selection of CloudTemplar’s (LCK commentator) discussion of the Day 3 matches for this MSI, namely FlyQuest vs T1 and Fnatic vs Top Esports (posted on YouTube on May 3). Please note that this post only focuses on the retrospectives of the matches for the day.
All credits to CloudTemplar (https://www.youtube.com/@CloudTemplar_official) and the production crew of CloudTemplar's channel. All emphases are added by the translator.

FlyQuest vs. T1

• CT talks about why you can’t give Senna and Kalista to T1, because these picks allow Keria to do stuff across the map -

If I am to commend another player, as a continuation of the previous point, the meta right now features a lot of lane swaps, and as mentioned multiple times when we were discussing this in earlier videos or commentary, sword champs¹, specialists, and other risky picks can’t really show up in top lane. So you see tanks getting a lot of love and their value rising in compositions, as a measure against lane swaps. In that sense, these tanks allow the team to prepare for potential lane swaps and round out the balance in the composition.
1 “Sword” champs in Korean LoL lingo refer to champs that are not really tanky but have significant damage potential, as opposed to tanks. Best known example would be Fiora, perhaps.

So generally speaking, in comparison to matches where we get top TF or “sword” v “sword” matches, we expect tanks at top lane to have much higher floor when it comes to tank v tank matchups. That is true, yes, but ironically, as an expert in tank v tank matchups myself, I can say that especially in lower levels, you see much tighter trades² than you expect. You know, tanks aren’t tanky from level 1, after all. Furthermore, when it comes to tank v tank matchups, they often are in close quarters. Both of these champs are most likely to be melee champs. So in that close quarter combat and laning, there’s plenty of variables to be found, and you sometimes find instances where the balance of the lane collapses.
2 “Tight” plays refer to plays where there is much less room for error.

So in that sense, in tank v tank matchups, the skill and the weight class³ in laning seem to take on much greater importance. That’s the impression I get from the matches so far. Why is that? To begin with, top is a 1v1 lane, and though the topic of top carry and potential was a recurring one throughout the split, the ability that is most demanded of among the top laners right now is the ability to respond to a much broader range of variables that can come in with lane swaps. You know, sometimes you get the bot lane topside, get dove with three or more players, et cetera. Skills like defense, responding to contingencies, stability, judgment, these things became much more important.
3 Another Korean LoL lingo that is difficult to translate (not only because it is used in different circumstances with slightly different meanings), but it would be something like a holistic view of a player’s skills, from hands (“physicals”, as Koreans call it) to game knowledge and decision-making. In this case, I think CT is referring to the player’s prowess and ability in the laning phase.

If there was no lane swap happening, for instance, the favored skill would be to play the 1v1 lane better and get priority there. “How should I beat the other side down in 1v1? How do I respond to this 1v1 matchup, and how do I widen the gap?” But now, you have to contend with so much more in terms of likely scenarios. Furthermore, these things become even more important in tank v tank matchups. Simply put, you don’t expect the tank to play aggressively and carry the game, right?
We’ve talked about this topic at length, but in the end, we return to the conclusion that Zeus played the matchup really well. Zeus widened the top gap, so to speak. One could describe T1’s snowballing game plan as thusly: Bot lane, the core lane of this plan, gets ahead. Top lane is left in auto-hunt mode but wins lane by itself. Mid and jungle intervene and make plays. These things feed into each other, and we saw that come into life quite well in this game. T1 showed a rather dominant performance, and in the draft phase they got all they wanted too.
The thing that was most impressive for me, maybe because I am a trash tank player⁴, was the Ornn v Zac matchup. Zeus started off the game on a back foot, but he turned it around and busted the lane open. That was quite impressive. In soloq, I played this matchup like a hundred times, and I can say that this matchup isn’t so easy for Ornn, if you want to get into nitty-gritty comparisons. It is easier for Zac, both psychologically and in terms of matchup, if only a little. But as I said multiple times in the match, Bwipo made a significant mistake after the first kill, and T1 punished that mistake again and again, applying more and more pressure. If I am to speak candidly, Zeus showed significant difference in skill at top lane.
4 CT uses a somewhat self-deprecatory term for this (~충, or insect).

(Chat: I feel like Zeus would have won the matchup if it was the other way round) Yes, it isn’t about the champ per se. But you know, I mentioned this multiple times in the past: Theoretically speaking, the greatest of the value to be found in the game is to blow open the lane with a tank champ. Let’s think about this in a simple manner. You get a “sword” champ and blow open the lane, that’s great. Blowing open the lane is always good, but if you do that with a tank champ, your value skyrockets. Let’s say that you blow open the lane with a “sword” champ. You still die if you get hit. Simple. But for tanks, if you get decent growth, you don’t die so easily. Bruisers and tanks also can deal quite a lot of damage, at least until the midgame. So for the former, there’s always the risk that you can die, even if you had won so much resource, but for the tanks, you don’t die and deal decent damage.
League is a team game, and when it comes to plays as a team, a tank that has blown open the lane has a wider range of roles that it could play. It depends on the meta, of course, but in top lane, jungle, and support, the lanes that usually play tanks, tanks in most cases are weaker in lane priority. After all, how OP would a tank who can dominate lane be? That’s why you get so many tank picks when the meta favors tanks, and that’s why if you overcome that disadvantage, you become that much stronger.
As we go forward, we will most likely see more tanks. Ornn, Zac, Sion, whatever. In this situation, in top lane tank matchups at close quarters or in lane swaps, it will be a good opportunity for you to see players’ stability.

• Talks about potential top tanks, Udyr, Nasus, Shen etc. -

Fnatic vs. Top Esports

Alright, TES v Fnatic. I personally think that Fnatic getting a match was an upset in itself. Others may disagree, but I personally think so. I want to say that winning a match is that much more difficult. Of course, it is something that can be done, but still.
Fnatic’s match, well, Humanoid really played well. He is quite famous for performing quite well in internationals, after all. But he played even better than I expected, so I found that to be quite impressive. The topside of Fnatic built their synergy and blew the game open. That was quite a show.
For TES, losses could feel bad, of course, but if one thinks about this positively, losses can be of benefit as well. You can’t go lossless through the entire tourney, of course, and in some cases, going lossless can be bad as well. It’s good for others to look at, of course, but generally speaking, going lossless isn’t a positive thing. In this matchup between the top teams, it is better to have the chance to build upon the losses and become stronger. For strong teams, of course. For weaker teams, winning trumps losing every time, but for strong teams, especially contenders, losing a match is not a bad thing. It’s mentally difficult, of course, and people kick up a ruckus because the expectations are so high, of course. You hear people going “TES is so washed”, “TES is weak”, whatever. But as long as you don’t get swept up in that, as long as you focus on the things you could do better and build upon the loss, that’s not a bad thing.
The issues that we could see with TES? Well, it’s something that overlaps with Humanoid’s performance, (mistakenly types) CloudTemplar’s, oh wait, Creme's performance⁵ (snickers) and Tian’s. I do think that there was some issue in the pair’s performance in the game. I personally think that they were taken aback by the opponent. I think that is the most likely explanation. “Are they this good?” Leblanc can be picked, of course, but to play Leblanc like that?
5 At the risk of explaining the joke, CT’s Korean short form, Keul-tem (클템), is somewhat similar to Creme (Keu-rem, 크렘).

When it comes to Tian, I could say that Tian fell into a familiar rhythm. This can be an issue with junglers, especially the ones playing for teams that lose most of the matches and the ones playing for teams that win most of the matches. In both of these situations, you sometimes fall into a kind of a rhythm. For the former, let’s say that the team starts winning by some chance. Maybe luck, maybe other factors. But in that situation, the jungler may still play as if the team is losing. They don’t know how to snowball the game. “Oh right, our team loses most of the time. I have to be sneaky, don’t go out to the river, have to play this safe.” Something like this, for example. For junglers in teams that win most of the time, because the solo laners mostly win the lane, their movements often are filled with confidence. You know, because the team wins most of the time and the solo lanes are quicker on their feet than the opponent. I think that this was the case for Tian in Game 2, in instances where he died without doing much. “Our guys should be faster than them”, “I shouldn’t be dying like this if I go in”, and so on. Maybe because he was in a hurry, maybe because he was somewhat tilted, there were throws as well.
Perhaps this is one of the factors why Tian is rated so lowly. Once you are stuck with a frame, it is hard to discard that. Let’s say you play 10 games really well but mess up one, “washed”, “choker”, whatever. Tian plays really well, but in these moments, it can’t be helped. Though, this is a matter that he has to overcome himself. Creme is an up-and-coming player who is still expected to grow further. I think it is really positive that he is so proactive and daring. If one gets, well, gapped, so to speak, in first and second matches, one would expect him to play a bit safer, but him jumping around as Tristana in the third match? He has a winning mentality and a sense of confidence. These things can help him develop as a player much further. Another positive thing is that TES banned Leblanc without being too proud to do so.

One could say that TES looks weak, that they lost a match to Fnatic, their topside showed that they could collapse, and that TES is just weak. That’s not wrong per se, but the thought that came to my mind instead was, “wow, TES botlane is really, really strong.” Look, TES topside collapsing is something that you could say, “welp, that happens”, but the botlane was a constant, ripping apart the opposition three straight matches. It even seemed like they would continue to rip apart the opposition even if they play against them in the future. They had this aura. That’s the conclusion I came to. “TES is strong, especially the botlane.”
Let’s talk about theory for a bit. You could memorize this, if you want. What is the most important lane in League? Bot, because there’s two players. What is the most important player in League? Mid, the royalty⁶, the highest paid laner, you know. Topside versus botside? Topside, because there’s three players. This is the basic. In soloq or in pro, botlane being destroyed means you will lose. Botlane’s presence is that big. If the botlane is destroyed, it is really, really hard to make up for that. How do you win if the botlane is destroyed? Destroy the topside of the enemy team, or close the gap through skillful engagements or macro. But these are already difficult tasks. You just need to think back to the soloq games to see this.
6 Korean League lingo, where mid is the royalty, jungle is the butcher (historically the lowest class), and support is a tool.

(…)

One may ask, why do the botlanes get destroyed so easily? Even in the pro scene, botlanes get destroyed rather easily. Why? That’s because botlane is the lane with the largest number of variables. If you think about it in terms of how complex these variables can be, I think one could say that it is the most difficult lane to play, the lane where the differences in skill will be most evident. Simply speaking, it’s a 2:2 lane, but there are so many more ways in which things could go wrong. Even the pro players and teams find it difficult to figure out the matchups in bot. Think about the top, jungle, or mid matchups. They are more intuitive, even counting for the differences in piloting. But in terms of botlane, there’s so much more to consider, and each false move could set you on a downward spiral. What’s more, it is so much more difficult to come back from a deficit once you are pushed back.
Of course, I feel closer to Korean players and want to compliment Noah and Jun if I can. It is just that the TES bot pair played the game so well. Look, if I may be realistic, that cannot be helped in some sense as well. There’s plenty of reasons behind that. Firstly, in LEC, there’s no strong botlane pair at the level we are looking at right now. G2’s Hans sama? There were too many scenes where his performance was lacking. There is difficulty in competition within the LEC botlanes and the environment to improve is also not really there. Noah and Jun played well within that, but there is still a difference in skill level. Plus, Noah and Jun played well in LEC, they did show good performances in difficult situations in the present tournament, and they have potential to become even better. But simply put, JackeyLove and Meiko are S-rank players. They’re like an S+ pair. Crudely put, how are you supposed to win against them?
Of course, it was difficult to imagine that they would have this much difficulty against them, but one could say that it can’t be helped, that JKL and Meiko are simply monstrous in their performance. That’s also the reason why Elk-ON pair is so highly rated right now. JKL and Meiko downed JDG with Ruler in it and played really well in that process, they are already superstars recognized for their skills. But Elk-ON showed such strong performance against them, hence the assessment that Elk-ON is the strongest botlane pair in the world that some have. What I wanted to say was, it was always going to be difficult for Noah-Jun.
One thing that I personally found to be regrettable was, perhaps because they recognized how strong the opposition was, is that even though the draft considered the botlane bans and things, it does feel like that the draft let through some really obviously strong picks for TES. JackeyLove and Meiko are already powerful, and they get powerful tools to pummel the opponents with. It compounds the difficulty even more. Game 3, Xayah-Rakan, for instance, they are picks that you can use against teams with lower weight class. Xayah-Rakan can hold onto the game in difficult situations and have the potential to flip the match if given a chance. But against teams that play botlane well, if you don’t play really well, you just get pummeled all day long until the nexus falls, especially against teams that maximize the snowballing from the botlane.
If we speak of the contender teams, T1, BLG, TES all play excellent botlane games. Strictly speaking, GENG isn’t as strong in that area in this comparison. The point is, if you come with half-baked strategies at botlane, the game is over for you. You see that in all three games Fnatic’s botlane had difficulties. That’s why I think that winning Game 2 was such an upset. It was a rare case of a team facing a severe challenge managing to overcome that. A one-in-a-hundred case.

• Afterwards, CT discusses what picks one could see in the future, like Galio -