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Season 5 “Exotic Pets”
Episode 2 “Night’s Touch”
He stares at her as Keya’s voice starts to slowly grow louder “I know you have people who can deal with this. This is supposed to be a priority line, as well!” her tone was still flatter than it should be, it was loud but lacked inflection giving it a false impression of cold anger.
“We have arranged previous protocols for similar situations”
“You can’t possibly be so unwise as to not be ready for nonstandard behavior”
“Please find someone with authority or at least knowledge of the situation”
“Yes I am the-”
“I am very much aware of the limitations of our deal, I am asking about a similar but new situation”
“The chief of an exterminator precinct is calling you because an endangered exotic animal requires some form of acceptable solution. I am calling you despite a clear lack of protocols in this specific situation. I am calling you because I have no real solutions and if there’s one species, one government left in this brahking galaxy that CARES it’s you so please, please give me something, ANYTHING” it was disturbing, incredibly so, to watch her inflection just waver and shift like that.
“Very well, I will put you on speakers” finally a reprieve from hearing a one-sided conversation, Keya sets down her holopad in the table at the center of the couches. Santos comes closer, still with one of the hensa snugly stuck inside his shirt while Orran slowly walks over to look, but he doesn’t sit, still holding the female protectively.
In the screen is another human, she is dressed in a very plain black suit with a necktie that’s been loosened and her short hair is disheveled. Clearly, Keya’s conversation had managed to stress her out. The dark-skinned woman scans her light blue eyes through the three visible people across from the call, her direct sight quickly stopping on the small beast in Orran’s grasp “They’re like tiny panthers” she says, softly
After a few more moments she continues “Alright, call me Janice. As I’ve told your boss” she says, presumably trying to aim her gaze at Santos, which isn’t quite possible through a video call “We might have a good solution. But that’s a maybe on the good solution, depends on if I can call on people here. And we have an okay solution, but that depends on what you’re willing to do, Mister…”
At that, the yotul recognizes it’s his turn to speak “Orran, my name is Orran”
“Mister Orran. So, here are the two possible solutions. The worst of them is to simply arrange a transfer for them to Leirn, but that is not an optimal solution. Not only would it take time, as we don’t currently have the logistic means to expedite transport in official vessels and we do not have the funds to find a quick and safe civilian willing to make the trip, we currently have no ongoing deals with the planetary government regarding fauna returns”
“I’m sure I could find a good transport to get there, ma’am.” Orran interrupts “I got them here, I can get them back if I need to”
“That might be true” the woman on the video continues, waving dismissively as she visibly slumps down on the seat “But we still have no official deals with their government regarding wildlife rescues. We have ongoing negotiations but nothing concrete, so in order to get your little fuzzballs over there we’d need to divert personnel we do not have available at the moment to secure a proper location, hopefully a wildlife shelter or similar”
“I could-” Orran tries but he’s interrupted
“Yes, you could go and uproot the entirety of your life again for the sake of those. Which is what we’d ask of you in this case, the best we could do for this worst-case scenario is some bureaucratic facilitation for your travel.” then she moves closer to the camera and puts her elbows on, presumably, the desk and rests her chin on her hands “But we might have a better solution”
“You better not be about to rope this man into some weird quasi-legal scheme” Santos interrupts “Your track record has been real spotty when dealing with anything at this scale”
Janice sighs, rubbing her eyes as she pulls a holopad off from the side “Yes, yes I know. You would fucking know wouldn’t you, Mr. Exterminator. But no, no, the plan is to take advantage of an ongoing research project to find far safer shelter right here on Venlil Prime.” she returns to her slacked pose as she brings her pad up with her, sharing her attention between the two “There’s a variety of projects researching the possible introduction of new species to this planet to increase the resilience of the biomes near the core of the habitable zone, an offshoot of the Cradle restoration research, as well as a bit of a hare-brained little project researching the feasibility of shipboard pets to increase soldier morale” she offers a hand to the camera “We can have your hensa housed in the facilities of any of such projects. This way we don’t need to redirect any voidborne assets, which as you know are all completely committed to the ongoing war, and you don’t need to give up your life here, Mr. Orran”
Santos turns to watch the yotul, who now has a contemplative look. It was always weird when he realized he could read alien expressions that well, a closed eye with the head slightly tilted the same direction and both ears flat towards the same direction read the exact same way as a human looking upwards in thought, apparently he’d grown accustomed to them very much. “And what would being housed here require, and how would they be treated”
Janice takes a deep breath, and can be seen pulling a second holopad from somewhere offscreen “IF I can make this work, and this is an if because it depends on finding a receptive project lead, for now they’d just be housed in the animal shelters those projects have for their studies. Currently the studies are only observational in how they relate to local species, with periodic medical checkups, being held in a few biome-isolation facilities. Should they prove suitable for the goals, and hell that depends on the projects being feasible to begin with, then they’ll be added to acclimated breeding programs.”
Orran looks down at the heavy female on his arms, then looks back at the screen “And should they not be?”
Janice grins “That’s the trick. At that point the UN will have taken over responsibility for them, and now they have an endangered species on hand and a million and one laws on how to treat them. So they’ll be forced to keep them in a wildlife shelter until they can be safely relocated to their natural environment. Which is something that will likely only happen after the end of the war given how bureaucracy works” then she looks down at the holopads and types something down in one of them “And if the war takes longer than that to end, I don’t think any of us will be around to worry anymore, so”
“Isn’t that a bit pessimistic” Santos adds with a raised eyebrow
“You would be, sitting here in this chair” she retorts
He looks at Orran, ultimately the choice is his, given it’s both his little creatures and his life in the line. The yotul spends a few moments thinking “Then please see what you can do. How long until we have an answer?”
“Hah!” Janice exclaims triumphantly, startling all three “I wouldn’t be in this job if I couldn’t multitask this well. I already have an answer, seems like the local fauna reintroduction project has shown interest. Can’t have only one pestkiller species in the same niche, it seems they want to have some competition to keep populations controlled or something” she still has a wide smile when she directly addresses Orran “If that project pans out, your kitties’ descendants will wind up in a competitive space with ours. But that’s for multiple generations from now, it seems. Currently, those two would wind up in an observation shelter to see how they interact with a population of voidpins as well as how they interact with terran cats. Is that acceptable or should I try to find another project?”
At that Orran laughs lightly “Ooh, nightside? That’d be perfect, most hensa are twilight creatures but nightweavers are nocturnal, that’d be the best for them” he gently caresses the feline in his arms “Hear that Lodestar? You get to have some darkness again”
Janice nods on the screen “Alright, then… Let’s see… Oh, oooh that’s convenient” she is tapping at the holopad “How much time do you need to prepare them for a trip? Would you like to come along for the handoff? CnT Freight -that’s an unfortunate name- seems to have a pickup of carbon in the next town over for us, we can have someone take advantage of the trip and come pick your kitties up”
Santos tilts his head to the side “Carbon? That might be over in Long Cliff if I remember the surrounding towns correctly. That’s almost a two hour trip”
Janice nods “Yep. I’ve sent a message to that project’s lead, they’ll get someone in our already-scheduled resource pickup trip and they’ll meet up with you. But we’re working with already existing schedules so… They should be over there in, let’s see… Fifteen hours or so” she takes a deep breath “So if that’ll be all? I got more calls in the queue”
“This will be enough” Keya’s voice is still weird
And with that the other human unceremoniously ends the call “That’ll be around three claws, Orran” Santos offers “I hope you don’t mind if we wait over here?”
The yotul is surprised, taking a step back “W-wait here? Why?”
Santos sighs “Three things. You already panicked once, and fled an entire planet over it” he gives Orran a side glance, which now that he thinks about it wouldn’t read the same for an alien would it? “Don’t want to risk you panicking again and messing yourself up”
Orran looks sheepish for a moment “Second, I want to have a look outside for some things. This place was the location of something very suspicious a few paws ago and this is the only chance I have to properly look for evidence around here” he gives the yotul a shrug “None of it is your fault, to clarify. I just want to figure out where that nixa came from”
And finally, he stands up and grabs Keya by the shoulders “And third, this woman did not sleep and is five seconds away from a mental breakdown” he lifts her off the ground with great effort, takes a couple of steps to the side and forcibly shoves her into the largest couch “And I want her to try to get a full rest before we need to deal with the delivery, because we will invariably be involved”
Despite the annoyed position of her ears and thrashing tail, Keya doesn’t move from the position she’s been put into “Santos, I’m fine”
“No you’re not, you started screaming an hour into your sleep cycle and never went back to bed. Try to get some sleep, I’ll be here” he turns over to Orran “Yes, I’m taking a bit of advantage of your situation, I’m sorry.”
If the yotul had eyebrows, he’d be raising one of them right now “I take it this isn’t a normal situation. If that’s why you need to stay around it’s fine.” he takes a deep breath “Turns out I owe her, apparently, so consider yourselves guests”
And so they waited. It did not take long for Keya to fall asleep, meanwhile Santos sat down on the couch and started fiddling with his holopad. It wasn't a random distraction, however, as he was reviewing the calls on Orran’s little project. Maybe it was just human pareidolia speaking, but something about the calls had been nagging him. It did eat at him doing this to Orran, however. The man was already stressed out enough as it was, and here he was taking complete advantage of what is essentially a hostage situation so his boss could sneak some sleep during a work shift.
As the hours passed he'd periodically get pulled out of his work as he watched Orran come and go, doing whatever his job was. Turns out an agriculturalist’s job also involves a lot of paperwork, it seems, for the man at some point had three holopads out doing who knows what, presumably data comparison. Himself, he eventually found what his instinct had been nagging him about. All of the calls on those little beasts, aside from the very first, were not made from within Blackriver. If his understanding of comms-codes in this planet was right, and if he wasn’t just seeing patterns where they did not exist, those anonymous calls were all from a number in a nearby town. But before he could start making more connections he heard something he was hoping not to hear. He hears Keya’s breath quickening.
He quickly sets down his pad and, after a bit of effort, manages to dislodge the two alien felines that had decided his lap was the correct place for a nap. Then he heads over to Keya and kneels down beside her, causing Orran to focus on him. “Don’t do anything, Orran” he instructs
“What? What’s going on?” he sounds worried, as he should be
“I was hoping she’d wake up to a normal nightmare but it seems like it’s a bad one again” he stares at his boss, whose breathing is getting faster and faster. She opens her mouth and starts making a noise.
Orran steps closer “Shouldn’t you wake her up?”
It’s now that Keya starts screaming, familiar screams of fear “No, not yet. Wake her up too early and she’s going to be in a state of panic for multiple claws.” Keya’s screams start getting worse as she grabs at the couch and digs her claws in, her legs and tail thrashing wildly as if she were running. And suddenly her creaming stops with a choked noise as she brings her hands up to her chest.
Orran takes a step back as the next stage of Keya’s nightmare makes itself manifest in her noises, a choked scream that brought a chill down his spine, a scream that was eerily reminiscent of the sounds he’d heard in an ‘instructional’ video about the greys a long time ago. “Wake her up too late and she’s not going to have any of her emotions left” the human comments, as the venlil frantically claws at her own chest.
She screams for just a little while longer, until Santos forcibly puts his hand over her chest “Boss, I’m here” he says with an authoritative voice “The only predator in this room is me, listen to my voice” he puts pressure in her chest “You’re alive, listen to me” he lowers his body closer to her “Wake up and listen”
The distressed hensa had been staring up at the venlil from the ground, emitting a low, bassy growl all this time in a sign of worry. But when Keya sits up suddenly they both run back behind Orran “I… Am awake” she says mechanically.
Santos sighs, stares at her for a while, then stands up and offers his hand. Keya ignores him and stands up, looking around the house “Cold bastard woke up this time, eh?”
Santos and Orran watch as Keya ignores the question as she looks around, eyes seemingly staring off into the distance. She finally stops “Yes” and then turns her entire body towards a small desk near the front door, and turns her head to face it.
Santos raises an eyebrow at her motion, and he notices Orran’s tail started lightly thumping on the floor and his body was shaking slightly. He’d seen people getting unnerved at the cold bastard, but he had the feeling that if he were a human right now he’d be sweating bullets. He follows the direction Keya is facing, that was such a blatantly human motion she had performed it was obvious what she intended, and sees something.
“Haven’t seen a proper paper letter in a long, long time” he comments a technical lie, a few seconds after Orran had moved to pick up said letter from the desk and shove it into a drawer. But he had already seen what Keya wanted him to.
“Y-yeah I’m… Still fond of some traditional things” the man says, still looking nervous.
He takes a deep breath. He’d already seen it, in the letter, the mark of three crossed leaves. “Alright… Me and Keya are going to go outside to check something. And when we come back, you’re going to tell me the truth, right?” he stares directly at Orran
“What do you-”
“AFTER we’re back” he interrupts “Because this is either nothing worth worrying about, or you were saved from death by the power of ignorance” but he doesn’t let Orran answer as he and Keya step out into the yard.
He looks around at the yard, already predicting this would be a difficult mission. A physical letter with a familiar symbol, Orran mentioned he had a way to bring his felines to this planet and could use it as a way out, those were carnivores as far as he knew so he had to get food somewhere, and the man had those kept in here since before humanity’s first contact so it wasn’t some cloned meat he was using.
Keya grabs his shoulder and turns him towards the shed, every house in this place has the same general structure, including the shed in the backyard. The two of them start heading over there and study it. Those are wooden windows, closed, barring any sight from the inside and the front door had a lock in it, but it was slightly ajar. He looks at Keya, who seems to not notice his stare, and then gently opens the door.
The light from the outside streams in, and the sight is somewhat heart wrenching. This was, at some point, pretty much a cat house. There were shelves along the walls with nothing in them for them animals to walk about, wooden towers and other acrobatic toys, there were plastic toys scattered around and most tellingly some bowls on the ground. He kneels beside the bowls, there’s a tiny scattering of kibble indicating which ones were likely kibble and which ones were likely water, but they were marked with the same signs as the rest of the toys and furniture, deep marks of a nixa’s claws.
“Here” Keya’s toneless voice calls him out, and as he arrives he finds the proof of what he expected. There’s a rather crude metal box sitting there, full of scratch marks and bloodstains, inspecting it closer he finds tufts of dark fur and… Fabric.
Before he can inspect closer Keya hands him something- A plastic bag “Always prepared aren’t you?” he kneels closer to look at it, it’s definitely fabric, torn fabric in fact, with a fragment of the nixa’s claw attached to it. Gingerly he puts it in the plastic bag, looking at it.
“It is not good for my mental health, but it is useful in situations like those” Keya offers, before turning to the door to leave.
Santos stands up and takes a deep breath. Those calls all came from outside, and everything’s starting to make sense. He speeds up to move ahead of Keya as they enter Orran’s house, to find the yotul sitting on a couch, seemingly staring at something but in truth his eyes were distant in thought. “Alright, Orran. The first question, where did you get food for your hensa?”
Orran nearly jumps out of his skin, before turning an eye to Santos “I… I have an offworld contact. They, uhm… They can get some stuff shipped from Leirn for me”
Santos nods, and sits beside the man. Keya, on the other hand, walks behind him and simply looms over, causing the agriculturalist to shrink “Next question. Who brought you here?”
“It… It was the same people”
He crosses his arms “I’m going to take a wild guess and say that your hensa have suddenly decided that they don’t want to leave the house anymore since a few days, I mean, paws ago, right?”
At that Orran gasps “How did you know?”
He leans back on the couch “Your little ones saved your life, just so you know. Whoever it is you’ve got your trip, and the food from… You still owe them, right? And they’re the kind that comes collect” he’s looking at the ceiling right now
“C-collect? What do you mean?” he can see Orran trembling in his periphery
“Fifty seven of the calls on your hensa were from outside town” he turns his head slightly to give Orran a side-eyed stare “And we figured out where whoever it was dropped a very angry and very hungry nightside predator a few paws ago. You know, at the same point in time where I can only imagine your little friends stopped going to their playground out back”
“Wait” Orran seems frozen “That… That was because…”
Santos shrugs “I don’t know who they are. I doubt they’d like it if you talked, so i’m not asking. I’m just going to ask, how much do you owe them?”
The yotul looks down “Five hundred and twelve thousand credits… But I’ve been paying, I swear-” he grabs at Santos’ arm
“Chill out” he takes a deep breath “None of us are related to them in any way, before you get the wrong impression”
“It should be doable” Keya has brought up her datapad, causing the other two to look up at her “It is possible that I can organize a donation drive able to reach the nearby towns. Coupled with a secondary source I have available it is plausible acquire the amount of credits to clear his debt”
Orran stands up quickly in surprise “Y-you’d do that for-”
“Those people have shown themselves capable of causing serious collateral in their attempts at punishment and have shown to be a threat to the safety of the town.” she continues with a toneless voice “You, also, are part of this town. A group capable of smuggling contraband across planets is not a group we are capable of protecting the town from, therefore, the only measure left is appeasement.” she explains like it was a lecture, causing Orran’s ears to droop.
“The condition of this aid is as follows. You will hand over that letter, as I recognize it is their method of contacting you. You will, also, follow the humans to wherever the delivery will take place and you will only return to this town once I have contacted you to do so and you have paid your debts.” she turns her head sideways to direct one of her eyes at the yotul, he takes a step back cowering from the icy stare in a way Santos could never cause “If they make any further attempts at you, they will not endanger this town”
Santos sighs “Yeah, that looks like a wise choice” he pats Orran gently on the shoulder “I know the cold bastard is a lot but that’s a good plan. We’ll help you out, get your kitties a safe new home and nobody gets hurt”
To say the mood in the residence was soured by the experience was an understatement. And yet they were forced to wait even further in the collective company, Santos gently trying to coax some unrelated small talk out of Orran for the sake of the man’s sanity while he could not keep himself from continually building up more and more stress as he watched Keya silently stare down at her datapad nearly motionless.
Ultimately, Santos breaks the stress spiral by convincing the yotul to prepare for the trip. The lack of clothing articles, he noticed, made packing very much easier than it would be for a human. But a few cleaning articles, the remaining kibble for the hensa, a carrier cage that was uncleverly hidden under the bed and a few more moments spent preparing some travel snacks and there’s a knock on the front door.
Who’s behind the door is a distressingly short little Nevok, sent as the person to pick up the hensa. It took a bit of convincing, but under the cold gaze of Keya the woman eventually relents to allow Orran to accompany his animals, just to facilitate the handoff and to ensure the team’s knowledge of them is correct.
Santos and Keya see the two off, but as they return to the car that had been waiting for them for hours, she stops him. She opens the driver’s seat and points him there, takes the back seat herself and immediately brings out her datapad. Santos looks at the strange car, bites down his lower lip in thought and sighs. There’s no use discussing with the cold bastard.
-^-
[Excerpt from the social site Bleat]
#BadParents - A thread for bad parents with unruly pups
[email protected] - Hey guys, I need some help. The guests’ kids brought some weird candy home, what do I do
[email protected] - What kinna candy, is it tasty?
[email protected] - Does it smell funny?
[email protected] - Try it, it’s real good. I think I know what it is. Your kids are gunna get real loud about it.
[email protected] - hay guys, one of the neighbors broke some of the other guys’ toys and now he has to pay it back. But i’m kinda broke, you know how dad is, so I can’t help out. Can we get a pot rolling here?
[email protected] - Oh dear, think I can just give one of my toys up to make up for it? It wouldn’t be a bother.
[email protected] - I can help out, i’d ask my pups to help out too but they haven’t been listening to me for a while.
[email protected] - Same deal but at least I can get something going, I think the guests here would be up to help.
[email protected] - Oh, oh, I think I can get my pups to help, i’ll help out too. They’ve been trying to do good!
[email protected] - Me and the pups can help out too, they’ve been behaving a lot since last time.
[email protected] - Sorry guys, gotta sit out of this one. You know why.
[email protected] - It’s fine, it’s fine. Only help if you can. And no need, [email protected], just help out with the pot.
---
What? Did you thinking smuggling a pair of little predators off a planet currently ongoing purge across the stars and keeping carnivores fed in a planet where the mere mention of that kind of food could get you killed was possible without the aid of people you don't want to cross?
Sometimes you do what you have to do.
This is the end (mostly) of the "Exotic Pets" season! Thankfully our little hensa get a proper home, and maybe their descendants might help save a planet. This isn't the last adventure involving a pet, however, but the next season "Fighting Fire" might not end quite as peacefully.
Also I know I got zero schedule, never pretended i'd ever have I know myself. But don't expect anything next week, life sure is hard.

Background:
As the title said, I’m finishing up a master’s in publishing studies with a bachelor’s in creative writing.
I’m also working on the content team of a marketing agency as part of an unpaid internship, mostly writing social media and blog posts.
Additionally, I have a GA position as an editorial assistant for a literature journal where most of my money/tuition payment comes from. Then, I work at a coffee shop 3-4 times a week for pocket money, but I mostly live paycheck to paycheck.
Current state of mind:
Lately, I’ve been feeling anxious that I really don’t know what I’m gonna do with my life. I’m also getting tired of being broke and doing the same thing every day because I’m broke.
I got my bachelor’s in creative writing because I loved reading and writing and thought I’d find a living in that somehow. Then I thought I’d be a professor for a while, but quickly found out that I don’t really want to be a professor.
When I got my master’s, I thought I’d pick up more hard skills. Editing and publishing seemed like strong skills but obviously print is dead/dying and editors are a dime a dozen.
I thought I would pivot somehow, so I got an internship at an ad agency writing ad copy. I had some hope that it could lead to a job, but since I’ve started no one’s been particularly welcoming and the vibe is very “you’ll help us out, get some experience/class credit, then you can be on your way.”
I’ve thought about teaching high school English, and I think I would find fulfillment in that. But, both of my parents are teachers so I worry that part of me would feel like I’m taking the easy route and that I would grow restless later in life. Also, from being around teaching all my life and seeing the current state of the world—being a teacher seems like a tough gig.
[insert boiler plate paragraph about how going into IT sounds cool]
So yeah. At the moment I feel kinda stuck until I finish school/my internship, and I’m really worried that i don’t know where I want to go/if there’s anywhere I can go once I finish.
Part of me feels like I’ve already lost the war, but I’m probably just being hard on myself.
Do y’all have any insight for where I could go from here? I hope I’m doing a good job but I also feel like I’m not doing enough

Hello, it makes me so shit how people think that psych meds are the answer to mental illnesses (for the case you believe in them).
I, 19F ended up in a psych ward at the beginning of February after years of suffering and countless of suicide attempts that luckily no one knows about.
My first conversation with a psychiatrist in there was probably not even 10 minutes long. I don't remember everything they asked, but one of the questions was if I self harm. I said yes. I then had to show my scars and injuries. I can't forget the way she looked at them. She then asked why I'm doing it and sounded full of judgement. This is still stuck in my head and I still can hear her saying it with that tone of voice and how exactly she worded it. Questions about suicide followed. I admitted that I thought about killing myself but lied about every other question, about having a plan, about having tried to commit suicide before and such. For some reason she didn't want to believe that I don't do drugs and she also asked if Ihabe a borderline diagnosis after 3 sentences that I said. I don't really remember more, just that she put me on two antidepressants, Sertralin in the morning and Mirtazapin at night time.
I started with 25mg Sertralin and 7.5 mg Mirtazapin. On day three Sertrali got upped to 50 mg. I'm a sh addict and on day 4 I really struggled extremely with it, fighting it, but obviously not being fine. I had a conversation with her on that day, maybe 5 minutes. She figured something was wrong and I admitted that I struggled with a sh urge. I got 25mg of Seroque (one time thing at that point)l and another 50mg of Sertralin that day. My dose of Sertralin got upped to 100mg on day 4 of starting it and Mirtazapin got upped to 15mg as I still was eavily strugglin to fall asleep. I always struggled with sleep but couldn't sleep the next night at all and a nurse gave me Lorazepam, idk what the dose was. The dsy after that night Seroquel 25mg got added along the 15mg of Mirtazapin at night time. Nothing changed onmy medicatios or dosis, I got out after 3 weeks of being in there. Got diagnosed with Borderline and chronic depression.
I took the meds after being out. I was a zombie, not being able to think or anything, just doing what I got told to do. It was crazy. I gained 15 kilos in 6 weeks on the meds and decided to quit Seroquel and Mirtazapin after 6 weeks of taking them in total. I quit cold turkey, but had a week between stopping then. I feel like, I have damage from that short time. I can remember even less than before starting the meds and I can't really make any memories anymore. I can't concentrate and I can't memlmorize shit. Also, I find myself not bring able to think in a lot of situations. I'm ill since a week now and since I was throwing up I stopped taking the Sertralin. Also cold turkey, but also zero withdrawal.
What is disturbing me however is that for example I wasn't doing that good last week due to a heartbreak and my mum was just telling me to start the other two meds again, which I didn't and also a friend of mine told me to go to a psychiatrist again if I'm not doing so well to get put on other meds a week or two ago due to me being a bit down. It's like for them meds are the cure. Or they just don't want to deal with you and it's an easy way out of it for them in that way because they told you to get help which .... let's be honest isn't real help.

Been a while since I stopped by here, but I absolutely need to vent this out.
I wanted to visit this girl I've known for a long time. We've been friends for a while, and our last meet-up didn't end too well because she had a mental illness. We're not here for that. Recently, we've patched things up and we want a redo of our trip.
My APs think she is a bad person for leaving me out to dry back then, my AD especially. He tells me he's worried it will happen again, he doesn't trust this girl, I should never trust "the white man" for anything because "We are Asian-American, Vietnamese, they will exploit us in any way they can", and tells me if she wants to meet me, she meets me in my home state instead of me going there. I'm "allowed" to go, they won't stop me, but it will "hurt" them if I do. They'll pay for all of her expenses, they tell me, - and I know this is just a joke and empty promises.
My APs always complain I never go anywhere. Never leave the house. They turn around and spit this back to me, insisting she comes over here and act like this is the correct thing, disregarding everybody else's plans that would make it easier.
We're due to see my uncle in California for his 70th birthday - and I've sort of been roped into it because my work has now been insistent I go over there, too, just to prospect clientele. I know they will spend about 3x what I'm about to tell you, because it's always happened over there.
I did the simple math. If she were to come down here she would have to find some pet caretakers for her cats, she'd be bringing her shiba inu dog with her, and would need to somehow request time off from a fresh new part-time job she's taken to refocus on herself. This would total out to $1,857 Day 0 for her to see me, and this doesn't even count for the food, entertainment, or anything else she desires. $162 + $600 plane ticket and pet onboarding, $918 + $75 for a week at a good and safe hotel with a pet policy deposit, $102 for Denver International parking for 6 days. She cannot stay with us because my parents think every white person is a burglar.
Then comparatively, I would just need $162 for a plane ticket. She would pick me up from the airport and staying in her house is free. At best, I'd likely spend $500 - $600, maximum $700, over the course of a week.
But sure, we're not gonna let the white man exploit us. You get the bad end of a deal because you won't let me go, but we're clearly not gonna let us Viets get taken advantage of.
I throw that to them but logic doesn't apply in their little world. "You need to stay at home for papa after that week because I have work, I cannot take time off work again" my AM says to me. Her work also includes an FMLA clause - meaning that no matter what, she can take time off for any undisclosed reasoning whatsoever in order to take care of herself. She's even taken off time just because she didn't want to deal with a boss that keeps constantly yelling at her, and that was no issue.
AD has been blind since 2022 due to failed surgeries, yet in recent times he's been becoming independent, getting used to his new life as a blind man. He can manage his own eyedrops, very slowly microwave food, read the clock, take a shower, go to the bathroom, etc etc. He does not need me to be around.
Bunch of hypocrites and their excuses.
I am not bending my knee to this. I am going to keep hounding them over this until they agree to let me go. No matter what.

I currently use the D-patch to cover my libre 2, normally its been fine and lasts over a week, however the past couple I have used are lasting only a day before peeling off. I lost a libre after 2 days as the patch fell off and so the libre just fell off. I'm based in the UK so looking for suppliers to there. I'm using them on dry, unmoisturised skin. Can any recommend a supplier?
Edit: added info

Staked: 193.15u, Profit/Loss: +8.41u, ROI: 4.36%, Parlay Suggestions: 51-21
Scroll down for UFC 289 Breakdowns. Below is just a review of last week’s bets.
UFC Vegas 74
Staked: 18.70u
Profit/Loss: -3.31u
Parlay Suggestions: 3-2
✅ 2u Alex Caceres to Win & Arlovski/Mayes Over 1.5 Rounds (+100)
❌ 2u Jim Miller & Jamie Mullarkey to Win (-125)
✅ 2.5u Jim Miller ITD (-105)
✅ 0.5u Jim Miller in Round 1 (+235)
❌ 2u Abubakar Nurmagomedov to Win (-105)
❌ 1.5u Andrei Arlovski to Win by Decision (+200)
❌ 2u Muin Gafarov to Win (-125)
❌ 3u Luan Lacerda to Win (-125)❌ 1u Luan Lacerda to Win by Submission or Decision (+100)
✅ 2u Philipe Lins to Win (+140)
Once again I was my own worst enemy, making some good reads once I initially dropped the preview (Lins, Caceres, Elliott) but consistently made tweaks in the build-up that sent things south. I really need to be more disciplined and block out the noise once I’ve made my initial conclusions. I remember when I started posting here I was tipping about four bets maximum…now I apparently have action across almost every fight.
Going forward I think I’ll stop analysing each bet in this section, as no-one seems to really comment on that stuff and it just eats into the overall character count.
So let’s get into the PPV.
UFC 289
This is a weird, weird PPV card. I guess they kind of have to have a title fight at the top of the billing over a number-one contender bout as co-main, but to see Mike Malott, Nate Landwehr and Eryk Anders perform before Charles Oliveira…and then Amanda Nunes as the main event, is quite funny. Canadian MMA has been in ruins since GSP and Rory MacDonald left the UFC, and none of the guys on this card are not the one to restore its glory.
I know I say it every time the PPV event rolls around, but MMA oddsmakers are very sharp for these higher profile events. Once again I find myself coming to very similar conclusions for a lot of the fights here, so I very much expect this one to be a much smaller slate for me. Definitely a good idea given what I said in the review of last week.
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Amanda Nunes v Irene Aldana
There’s a very loud narrative surrounding Amanda Nunes these days, and it’s a hard one to ignore. Having been in the UFC for a decade and holding a title for 7 years, there’s literally nothing left for her to do. She’s had the big money fights that Women’s MMA can offer (Rousey, Cyborg & the “redemption” sequel with Pena), and she doesn’t seem interested in setting up another fight with Shevchenko (who, to be fair, she’s beaten twice). What else is there for Nunes to be motivated for?
Outside the cage, She’s started a family with Nina Ansaroff, who also retired very recently and has spoken about wanting a second child with Nunes. The Brazilian has spoken quite candidly about her aspirations to retire very soon as well, and I believe that she would have laid her gloves in the centre of the Octagon if she’d beaten Pena in their initial meeting. She had to right the wrongs in the sequel, but a victory over Pena at UFC 289 to make it 2-1 in the series was probably enough of a narrative for Nunes to put her career to bed then and there. It’s a bold prediction, but I have a hunch that Nunes has done this whole training camp knowing it’s going to be her last.
Unfortunately, Pena was forced to withdraw and Irene Aldana steps in to challenge for the belt instead. Mexican MMA is absolutely booming right now, with three champions in the last few months, and the stage really feels set for Aldana. She’s always had very impressive boxing, as well as some opportunistic submissions…but her inability to stuff takedowns has often been her undoing in her career. Given that Nunes has relied heavily on her wrestling in recent years (20 takedowns in her last 4 wins), I think it’s fair to say Nunes should once again be favoured here.
Women’s Bantamweight and Featherweight have been underdeveloped weight classes for some time now, where the same names that were competing for the belt in like 2019 are still in the top 5 (looking at you Holly Holm!). The next generation seems to have broken through at Flyweight, with Valentina losing her last two title defences (not officially, but I scored the first one quite confidently for Santos). Nunes has been fortunate enough to govern over a division that doesn’t have many of those up-and-coming prospects yet, but those on the rise are still training and competing in a modern MMA context more frequently than the champion – which makes me think the changing of the guard could happen sometime soon. (For more on this, I asked a hypothetical question in the comment section).
So, overall, I think there are a lot of valid asterisks on Nunes’ name at the moment, and I think her career is coming to an end sometime soon, if not after this fight. However, if she’s fighting at her optimum then Aldana’s weaknesses can certainly be exploited, and are enough to deem her the Champion as favourite. With that said, I actually think Aldana could more than hold her own in the striking, so I would already be lining this one closer than Nunes normally is…and after adding in the narrative that surrounds the fight I think it gets even closer.
Therefore, I’ll be playing a 0.5u “value bet” on Aldana. It’s not something I expect to win, but I think her chances of winning are much greater than the odds available.
How I line this fight: Amanda Nunes -175 (64%), Irene Aldana +175 (36%)
Bet or Pass: 0.5u Irene Aldana to Win (+300)
Notable Props: I'd encourage you to play Nunes by Submission or Decision if you wanted to play her.
​
Charles Oliveira v Beneil Dariush
Oh this is a spicy one. Charles Oliveira holds a special place in my heart as being my favourite fighter of all time, and he’s the fighter I’ve definitely made the most money on in my time betting on MMA. At the start of that massive win streak he went on, you could get a decent price on Oliveira ITD against so many prelim guys, and the underdog prices available against Kevin Lee, Tony Ferguson, Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier were even better.
But, as we know, Islam Makhachev exists and did a sensational job against Oliveira. Such a good job in fact, that I expect it to be footage that Beneil Dariush and his camp have dissected in great detail.
Dariush is an equally exciting fighter to watch. He’s got a brilliant skillset, but he’s not particularly athletic which makes him a very unassuming fighter. He looks like some bloke that works in HR in your office…not an elite Lightweight UFC fighter.
I think Dariush’s BJJ abilities are going to be the key to this fight, as we’ve seen many times in his career already. High level BJJ is a brilliant quality because not only does it make you dangerous at finishing fights, it also improves your defence and provides the platform for a wrestling based offence. We saw Dariush make full use of this in his wins over Tony Ferguson, Carlos Diego Ferreira (x2) and Thiago Moises, as well as his takedown defence on display against Gamrot. I feel like he’s going to be able to dictate where the fight takes place here.
What interests me is the competitiveness of the striking. If you’ve been watching this sport religiously for over seven years, you’ll still remember when Dariush was thought to have a glass jaw, where the likes of Alex Hernandez, Drew Dober and Drakkar Klose hurt him badly with strikes. I feel like Dariush has had quite favourable matchmaking against that weakness on his recent streak, and Oliveira is potentially one of the biggest threats he’s faced on the feet in recent years in terms of power.
On the flipside, Oliveira is still as reckless as ever, and has been knocked down or hurt in each of his last four title fights. Only Makhachev came away with a win in those fights, because his grappling was at a good enough level that he was happy to follow Charles down to the mat when he knocked him down, and capitalised fully to secure the submission soon after. Dariush has sneaky power himself, and if he is able to land a knockdown on Oliveira then I think we see him capitalise too.
The volatility is going to be massive in this fight, as both men are hard hitters with durability concerns (maybe not in a fight ending sense, but they frequently get rocked). With that in mind, I think any sort of finish is going to be very live in this fight. If not, I think you have to give Dariush the decision winning potential, as I think his ability to find top position is greater than Oliveira’s. It’s enough to make Benny the favourite, but not by a whole lot. I think the books have got this one priced spot on, actually.
How I line this fight: Charles Oliveira +110 (48%), Beneil Dariush -110 (52%)
Bet or Pass: Pass
Notable Props: FDGTD is probably a decent parlay piece at -200 or better
Live Betting Lean: I think the longer this fight goes, the more it favours Dariush due to his round winning superiority.
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Mike Malott v Adam Fugitt
Honestly the fact that I’m breaking down this fight straight after Oliveira v Dariush is hilarious. I wouldn’t even question it if this was on the prelims of an Apex card.
I underestimated Mike Malott in his last fight against Yohan Lainesse, and my take was so bad that I looked like an idiot. He impressed me a lot, and I think he impressed the UFC too for them to give him this spot on the main card.
Malott looks to have really good submission ability, but I’m still a bit concerned that his striking might be a few too many steps behind. People will say things looked improved in the Lainesse fight, but I think that was more a case of Lainesse having no real interest in engaging or committing to his strikes in the early goings (he has become gunshy as to manage cardio). The fight against Mickey Gall was a massive, massive red flag for Malott…no one in the UFC should really be getting outstruck by Gall. That footage was from a year ago though, so there’s a chance he has improved things since then…but I don’t think you can really use the Lainesse fight as evidence of that.
Malott faces Adam Fugitt, who took the ‘sacrificial lamb’ approach to entering the UFC when he was paired up with Michael Morales – who is lowkey a very bright young prospect. It’s important not to judge a fighter by their performance in that type of fight, it’s best to instead treat their sophomore fight as their ‘real’ debut. We saw that with Fugitt, as he dominated Yusaku Kinoshita as a +260 underdog earlier this year.
I was quite impressed with Fugitt in his loss to Morales. His striking clearly wasn’t on Morales’ level, and he’ll have to be careful of Malott’s powerful hands, but he showed decent defensive awareness and had a couple of moments of his own. Fugitt’s a bit too kick heavy for my liking, but it looks like it confuses opponents and actually works well at establishing range. It did exactly that in his Solomon Renfro win.
Malott’s fight against Renfro however, despite only being 90 seconds long, really sums up his abilities as a fighter. He was getting tagged on the feet, but managed to find one moment to land a powerful shot and sinked in a choke in the blink of an eye. He was losing 98% of that fight convincingly.
The big question for this fight revolves around Fugitt’s grappling ability on bottom, and initial takedown defence, as that’s where most of Malott’s win equity is going to be. Unfortunately we have not actually seen him defensive grapple, so honestly it’s impossible to accurately line this fight given how integral it should be. The only inclination I have is that Fugitt’s takedowns have looked really good in his two fights. DC was very impressed with how he got Morales down, and his trips were also looking on point against Kinoshita. He did great work on top as well when he did establish position, and worked his way to a finish efficiently.
However, there can sometimes be a big disparity between a wrestler’s grappling ability on top vs on bottom, which is why BJJ is so important to MMA (see the breakdown of Dariush!). Therefore, complimenting Fugitt’s top position grappling doesn’t mean a whole lot, as he could be atrocious on bottom, and even if he does use wrestling himself he’s going to dive headfirst into Malott’s nasty guillotine.
So in conclusion, you can’t have super strong opinions on this fight, but you can deduce that Malott has more ways to win. If Fugitt isn’t winning via striking, it’s likely he’s not winning at all. Malott, on the other hand, could win with a big shot on the feet, through takedowns and top control of his own, or even from a guard submission on bottom.
Therefore, with Malott being the hometown hero and likely taking all the betting action on the moneyline, I think the books have the liberty to juice his odds a fair bit. -200 is probably an example of that, but it’s not too far off where I’d line this fight. There are still enough unknowns about both men that I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Fugitt pull off the upset, but I think the +170 available on him in return isn’t providing a whole lot of value. Smart work by the oddsmakers.
How I line this fight: Mike Malott -175 (64%), Adam Fugitt +175 (36%)
Bet or Pass: Pass
Notable Props: Malott by Submission would be the bet I’d make at +200 or better if someone told me I had to. Won’t be playing it though.
​
Dan Ige v Nate Landwehr
Well it seems the UFC matchmakers have confirmed their position on Dan Ige. He’s a top 15 gatekeeper now! His string of losses to Evloev, Emmett, Korean Zombie and Kattar did put one too many nails in his title aspiration coffin, but those bounce-back performances against Gavin Tucker and Damon Jackson were pretty impressive to me.
Ige is still a very, very tricky fighter to beat because he’s so well rounded, as most of the top 15 at Featherweight are. Ige faces Nate Landwehr, who has been on an entertaining run of form in the UFC – beating the likes of Ludovit Klein, David Onama and Austin Lingo. Whilst running through his record, it is important to note he went to a close decision in a striking bout against Darren Elkins, and also lost to Herbert Burns and Julian Erosa.
As I say quite often in higher level FeatheBantam/Fly-Weight breakdowns, they’re very tricky divisions to identify skill gaps in. The elite in the division are all very well-rounded offensively and defensively, so it often feels like you’re splitting hairs when you’re trying to find attributes that favour one fighter over the other.
The same can kind of be said here, except Dan Ige has the much better record in terms of actual wins and overall experience. If I imagine Nate Landwehr competing against Ige’s last eight opponents, I genuinely think he might win 1 or 2 of them…whilst Ige has won 4, not been finished in any of the losses and given a good account of himself on each scorecard (except the Evloev loss).
So honestly, the only real thing I feel I can reference here in terms of differentiating between both men is ‘levels’…but I genuinely think that’s enough for Ige to be about -200 here. You can’t go any further than that because this fight should still be reasonably competitive, but given what Ige has done to the opponents he’s stepped down in competition for (Damon Jackson, Gavin Tucker), I think you can have a certain degree of confidence that he should find that extra 10% to clearly win this fight. That equates to around -175 in my mind.
How I line this fight: Dan Ige -175 (64%), Nate Landwehr +175 (36%)
Bet or Pass: Pass
Notable Props: Ige ITD could be of some interest, as he’s started showing real power in his hands, and Landwehr is quite finish-able in his losses.
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Marc-Andre Barriault v Eryk Anders
Eryk Anders is one of the most frustrating guys to watch. He had so much athleticism and decent skills, but just doesn’t put his best foot forward. Barely any evolution to his game, poor fight IQ…but the occasional glimmers of potential – enough to stop you from writing him off despite his constant underdelivering.
Marc-Andre Barriault is kind of the opposite really. He’s a jack-of-all-trades, master of none…but he will do everything in his power to maximise his advantages to turn the fight in his favour. He isn’t a physical specimen and doesn’t really have much power…but he can hustle hard for 15 minutes and use a mixture of striking, takedowns and clinch work to win rounds.
Anders has actually had some of his better performances in recent fights, looking in great shape and form against Kyle Daukaus, arguably beating Jun Yong Park by decision, and outpoint + KO’ing Darren Stewart (x2) beforehand.
If this fight was happening two years ago, MAB would be like -200 here due to his reliability to out-hustle Anders, but his recent performances have been a little bit lacklustre (Hernandez ragdolled him and Chidi Njokuani folded him like a deckchair). Couple that with the fact that Anders FINALLY looks to be growing into the potential he’s always been on the cusp of with a recent change in training camp…I think you’re looking at a closely lined fight here.
I predict this one ends up being a 29-28, possibly split decision type of fight. One man has activity whilst the other has power. The subjectivity of judging will be in full effect and everyone will call this one a robbery, depending on who they bet on.
How I line this fight: Marc-Andre Barriault +100 (50%), Eryk Anders +100 (50%)
Bet or Pass: Pass
Notable Props: Barriault by Decision would probably be my preferred choice.
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Jasmine Jasudavicius v Miranda Maverick
Miranda Maverick is a Women’s MMA fighter that I hold in very high regard. The back-to-back losses put a real halt to her hype train, but I think she’s easily got Top 10 potential and got robbed against Maycee Barber anyway. I think her style is one that can very easily exploit a lot of opponents in her division. Her striking’s okay, but her wrestling and top pressure are very dominant tools.
She takes on Jasmine Jasudavicius, who has also used her wrestling ability to good effect in the UFC/DWCS so far. Neither woman is a particularly good striker, and I expect this one to turn into a bit of a scramble fest pretty quickly.
Their statures have been very important factors in their grappling successes so far, but for different reasons. JJ is basically a size bully at 5’7 and will have a 4 inch height advantage once again. Maverick, on the other hand, is going to be the stronger of the two during those close quarter engagements, because she’s pretty damn jacked.
I think Maverick should be favoured overall as I think her wrestling is the superior of the two and should lead to more time in top position, but I’m definitely not keen to play her at -275. Miranda’s strengths are also her opponent’s strengths, and facing the lanky size of Jasudavicius could cause her problems when it comes to securing the initial takedowns against those long legs, or keeping safe from guard submissions or maintaining that dominant position in the first place. Also, if they do somehow end up choosing to strike for significant portions, I can’t actually guarantee that Maverick is the better on the feet (reach disadvantage plays a part too).
I do however like Maverick to win this one, but not by the confidence of the current odds. I’m expecting this one to go the distance, but I highly doubt we get a good line on it as Maverick couldn’t even finish Shanna Young last time out.
How I line this fight: Jasmine Jasudavicius +188 (35%), Miranda Maverick -188 (65%)
Bet or Pass: Pass.
Notable Props: Fight goes to decision. It's probably like -400.
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Blake Bilder v Kyle Nelson
There are a couple of fights on this card where one guy is clearly more populasuccessful/in-form than their opponent, but they’re still only around -200 (Dan Ige & Mike Malott are the best examples). Blake Bilder is the third. Before I jumped into research for all three of these bouts, I was instinctively thinking that I could easily want to bet all three at -200, as that didn’t seem short enough by my initial perception of their names. I came away from Ige and Malott agreeing with the line and feeling grateful that I looked into it…but I still think Blake Bilder’s odds are providing a bit of value.
Kyle Nelson is one of those fodder guys. The UFC are keeping him around to give to prospects and home-town fighters in the hope that they can invest in the future or the event itself. Jai Herbert notched a win for Team UK against Nelson on a UFC London card, Doo Ho Choi got given a softball to get him back on track for a card that was supposed to be in South Korea. Billy Quarantillo got given Nelson to put his name on the map with a highlight reel finish..and now Blake Bilder is being presented the chance to extend his UFC record to 2-0.
Bilder’s already fought a better opponent in the UFC when he beat Shane Young in February. We saw a very high pace being set in the third round of that fight, with both men landing 100+ significant strikes across the fight and Bilder also attempting 7 takedowns. His cardio is clearly quite decent, which will immediately give him the advantage over Nelson – who has often wilted in the latter half of a fight when the pace has been hectic.
Bilder’s a very well-rounded combatant, and has great BJJ once he gets established time on top. He’s a bit of a concern defensively though, where he can be taken down and can also get caught with strikes.
Kyle Nelson, on the other hand, doesn’t really seem to know what kind of fighter he is. He’s been a brawler for all of his UFC career, but comes out to land five takedowns and is seemingly not interested in striking with a Doo Ho Choi who has questionable durability. He didn’t do much at all with those takedowns either and actually put himself in danger in R1 by insisting on grappling.
If Nelson comes out looking to wrestle Bilder, I think they’re at different levels in the grappling and Blake should be able to turn things around in his favour. If they’re striking, I am aware that Nelson’s got fight ending power, but Bilder’s been much more patient and cerebral in his last couple of fights, so I trust him to stay safe and look for his openings. We saw him reactively find a takedown off of Shane Young’s kick, and Nelson’s offense is very body kick heavy.
Overall, I just think Bilder is the better fighter in pretty much every facet of MMA except one-punch power and, as long as he doesn’t get flash KO’d, I think he rolls here. -200 isn’t quite short enough, and I expect money to come in on him between now and fight night. I’ve already got my money down, just in case.
How I line this fight: Blake Bilder -300 (75%), Kyle Nelson +300 (25%)
Bet or Pass: 5u Blake Bilder to Win (-200)
Notable Props: Bilder ITD or R3 could be interesting. I'd probably be interested in that if I didn't have a lot of exposure already.
Aiemann Zahabi v Aoriqileng
There was a time where Aiemann Zahabi was considered one of the worst guys on the roster. Crazy that the standard of UFC fighter has gotten so much worse that that statement seems ridiculous now. To be fair, Zahabi did pull off a respectable upset in beating Ricky Turcios in his last fight..but it seems to be unanimously agreed that Ricky fought like an idiot in that fight and actually beat himself.
Aoriqileng is quite explosive and clearly hits hard, but he’s a bit too keen to hunt for the KO and it hurts his minute-winning ability. Against someone like Zahabi, who is quite composed and process driven (how could you not be when Firas is your family and coach), and I see that being a pretty key part to this fight. The big moments will side with the Mongolian, but Aiemann could just put together the more cohesive performance if he doesn’t get troubled by that explosiveness.
Overall this is just a pretty low level fight between guys who don’t compete very often. I didn’t have a whole lot to say prior to watching tape, and I’ve come away feeling equally uncertain of how this one’s going to end. An easy pass when there are more active and popular fighters for us to form a stronger opinion on.
How I line this fight: I don’t really know.
Bet or Pass: Pass
Notable Props: None
​
Nassourdine Imavov v Chris Curtis
This one instantly feels like a pretty close fight, solely based off both men’s most recent losses. Imavov getting outstruck by Sean Strickland across 25 minutes was a bit of a shock to everyone, myself included. I expected him to lose via cardio dump, but it was actually just lesser volume, a lack of takedowns being attempted and obviously not landing anything of significance on Strickland.
It’s widely known that Chris Curtis and Sean Strickland are close training partners at Xtreme Couture, which I think makes for an added element to this fight. On six days notice, Strickland and the team managed to devise a pretty genius striking gameplan with disruptive rhythm that completely threw Imavov of. Can Chris Curtis do the same? Probably.
Curtis himself has problems of his own in the striking though, namely that his volume and output just aren’t where they often need to be. I’m not sure whether it’s the managing of his gas tank or what, but he just doesn’t seem able to commit to matching his opponent’s tempo across 15 minutes. He threw the first round away against Gastelum, and it cost him the fight. He bitched and moaned about it on Twitter, but social media’s been telling the guy what his problem is for as long as he’s been in the UFC haha.
I do suspect that there’s a little bit of recency bias on Imavov here, as the guy was a pretty well-respected prospect prior to the loss to Strickland. Some will tell you it was misplaced faith, but he certainly doesn’t have tempo issues in the latter half of fights and should probably have the higher volume across 15 minutes. I don’t see him taking Curtis down either, given the 100% takedown defence and the fact Imavov seemingly abandoned it in his last fight. It would be great if he did though!
So yeah, it’s a bit of a close one this. Off pure skillset I lean towards Imavov at like -150, but the asterisk of Curtis’ team being able to easily design a gameplan against the Frenchman gives me enough pause to not want to pick a side here. I’d be more interested in betting overs, if a decent price is available.
How I line this fight: Nassourdine Imavov -137 (58%), Chris Curtis +137 (42%)
Bet or Pass: 1.5u Fight Goes to Decision (-137 or better)
Notable Props: I think this one goes to decision at a pretty high clip.
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Diana Belbita v Maria Oliveira
My initial thought was “What would compel someone to bet on this fight?”, then I remember I placed 100 quid on Chase Hooper a few weeks ago…and it was a great bet haha! Given how most of my handicapping for this card has seen me in complete agreement with the books, perhaps looking into a lower level fight with significantly less interest could be the place to a strong opinion!?
Nope. I can’t do it. One quick glance at their records was enough for me. Belbita got 30-25’d by a wrestling Molly McCann and submitted by Liana Jojua, whilst Maria Oliveira got soundly beaten on the scorecards by Vanesa Demopoulos and voluntarily asked to stop fighting after 3 minutes against Marina Rodriguez.
This one isn’t good enough to open an Apex card, let alone sit on a PPV. I usually really dislike all the WMMA bashing on this sub, but this one isn’t worth the time.
How I line this fight: No.
Bet or Pass: No.
Notable Props: No.
Live Betting Lean: You could do something productive with that 15 minutes. Lift some weights, make some food, rewatch Ngannou v Lewis instead?
​
Bets
0.5u Irene Aldana to Win (+300)
5u Blake Bilder to Win (-200)
1.5u Imavov v Curtis Goes to Decision (-137 or better) (Might not get this kind of price).
Parlay Do’s: Dan Ige, Blake Bilder, Imavov/Curtis GTD, Maverick/Jasudavicius GTD
Parlay Don’ts: Amanda Nunes, Mike Malott, Miranda Maverick

Hi All, I (31M) am analyzing various events from my last short term relationship. I am not sure if should call it relationship as we were not official, but we were exclusively dating, having sex and meeting for over 3 months. I am now reading a lot about attachment types plus other stuff and thinking if that girl (28F) was a narc or having at least those traits. If what I am describing below constitutes triangulation or not?
I am not going here to list all the major red flags, as that would be a longer post I will maybe write some day later. Also myself I was not crystal, I also made errors (lied to her about my body count as I was afraid of losing her - I was a virgin), ignored red flags etc. In short, we met 2 weeks after she broke up with her boyfriend. They spent 2 and half year together.
After 3 and half month of spending together every other weekend, I had a bachelor party of my friend so I could not visit her on that weekend (it was long distance, so it was either me visiting her or vice versa) Anyway, I went for the party with my friends. Before the party she asked for photos, and asked again how are we doing, during the night. I sent her few photos of me and my friends, having good time, to which she replied with heart emojis and few texts. Next day I woke up early (I was on party till 3am only) as I needed to go to a conference in different city. While there, she called me and asked me "if I would like her to come to my city" mid next week as her friend needs to come to my city, so she could go with her. I asked why she says it like that, in that manner. It was second occasion during that relationship, where instead of saying "are we meeting" "I would like to meet" or "what about meeting" she was saying it in this strange way. For me it is normal that if we are dating and treating this seriously, we want to meet each other. So no reason to put it like that. I told her about this to which she replied in (for me) joking sweet tone "because I would like more attention from you..." I told her I think she got the attention from me. I think I was investing much more in this relationship than her (yes, now I know it was wrong), so I knew that she joked. She mentioned that her female friend has already booked a hotel and she could stay with her so that other girls is not alone. I was in a hurry (to a conference) and told her that we will talk in detail about our meeting in the evening, that I will call her so we can discuss. She said ok. I wanted to spend another night with her, so wanted to discuss if maybe she could leave her friend alone (for the night)
Anyway, few hours went by, I went back home and tried to call her. No signal (in my country it is a sign of a phone being turned off), but then after 30 minutes I tried twice more and the signal was indicating that phone is turned on, and that she is currently talking). She did not pick up for an hour and finally when she did, she told me the battery was dead. I told her it was not, because for last 20 or 30 minutes the signal was indicating that she is talking with someone else over the phone. And then she struck me with "Ok Ok, I did talk with someone" to which I asked "with whom" and she said that it was her ex. And it was not over the phone. She was in his car with him. He had messaged her few hours earlier, that he has 2 last questions for her. I asked her why she met with him to which she started a tantrum of words, like "it was only my decision" "do you think it would help something if I picked the phone call from you when talking with him" I told her she knew I wouldn't like her to talk with him. I was a bit in shock. We never had a conversation about our boundaries when it comes to her meeting ex*
I asked then what he wanted from her. He asked her if she is meeting someone, to which she said yes. And after telling me that, she started telling me how she was upset by this, that he started to tell her she has no heart, that he cant look at other girls since he broke up with her, and how could she be meeting with someone else already. I told her that he is a toxic guy, and that he has no right to say such things, that it is her life and not his. But she was not hearing this. She was shouting things like "I am a bad person" " I am hurting people" "I don't know who am I" "If you could see his eyes, he hates me..."
Well, it certainly isn't easy to write about this as I can not understand why I started to tell her why he is toxic and why she is not harming anyone. I was basically defending her, I guess doing that in order not to lose her. I can not to this day understand, why I was such a doormat in that moment, instead of just telling her that the only person she is hurting with those comments, is me, and leaving her in that moment. It really left me shocked. Next week I called her few times, saying that I don't understand what she is doing, why she suddenly needs time to analyze things, why she feels like she hurt him.... She mentioned she is not planning to go back to her ex, I don't remember if it was because she just doesn't want him or is because the ex hates her now anyway.
In those 2 subsequent weeks I told her that she disrespected my feelings by meeting him, that it was not fair joking about lack of attention and plans for our meeting at one time, and few hours later telling me she met with ex and she doesn't know if she can meet with anyone now... She only said "I am sorry if that is how you felt it" But at same time, every hour without contact was difficult for me, so next few days, I was sending her some funny pictures of us together, trying to raise her mood, so maybe she can forget about the toxic things her ex had told her. Finally I told her that I am not able to let this go, so if she wants to end things between us, she can do it now. Now after some time, I realize I was in between two feeling, one was feeling disrespected, but at same time feeling fear of losing her...She asked me for few days, said she will call me next weekend, but she did not. After 5 days of no contact I texted her some nice things as a final message , also adding that I don't understand why she cant just call and break things, as that's what normal people do for me...that I would understand if she want to come back to ex or just doesn't want to continue with me. I called her, she did not reply and then I just texted "ok, if that's how you want to end this, then be it" After that msg, she called me, told me she had not called past couple of days as she was busy at work etc. and she told me she likes me but can't meet anyone now. That it was her decision and I shouldn't blame her ex, and that she knows I am disappointed. That was how it ended pretty much.
I am writing about this, because as stated in beginning, I am reading a lot about relationships, also about narcissist traits. I am thinking if she was a narc or it is just my mind that is looking for answer and putting her in that bracket, in order to have some answers...I read about triangulation and thought if that emotional cheating from her, was not some sort of triangulation? Although if it was, it was a single event as her ex was pretty much out of the picture and she didn't bring him up other than some usual stories of her past. Only Once she stated she doesn't want us to walk through a certain corner in her city, as her ex works there and she wouldn't like to start some fights or talks, etc... Another red flag, to which I only stated this is the last time she brings her ex topic, that she ended things with him so I do not want to hear about him in such context. Still, I think I agreed that if she doesn't want to walk so close to his workplace, I can accept that for now. Also asked her in anger if maybe she would like to have another talk with him, to which she stated "I don't want to talk with him" It was 2 and half month into this relationship.
I blame myself a lot, that I did not set the boundaries early on and fully trusted her. But I also think that she was not allowed to meet with him again, without asking me if I am alright with this. I feel that she hurt me, and not by breaking this with me, as everyone can do what they want. But the way she treated me, that is where I think she was cruel. After spending many nice moments together, suddenly one night screaming at me that she is bad person, that I have no empathy for that guy, that she hurt him, "if you could see his eyes, he hates me" (and calling me rude, when in anger, I told her that maybe I should send him flowers with apologies, if her dating me hurt him that much)
*important info: After one month of knowing her (2-3 days spent together in total back then), she met with him as he expected closure. During that he mentioned to her that he cant live without her, but she told me that for her it is over, that she told me about that request from him (for closure talk) before meeting him, because she treats me seriously and wants to be honest. I said back then that if it is for closure, then I am fine with it, knowing that in the end I have no power whether she is going to cheat me or go back with him. Anyway, after that closure meeting she said that for her nothing changed (meaning that relationship is over), that she is a a bit drained emotionally as she had not expected that he was in such a bad state. I was irritated by her mood back then, as during our pre 1st date texting, and also during the date, she told me that this relationship was in agony already for last couple of months, that they broke up together (no dumper and dumpee), so for me now hearing her obviously impacted by his feelings, was a bit of surprise. Then she told me I must understand she was with him for nearly 3 years, that I should have an empathy for her as she would not like some guy to kill himself because of her. I just told her to go to sleep, rest and next day we started communicating again like nothing happened. I remember my thoughts to myself were "ok, she has right to be affected if she really had not expected his emotions etc..." "they just broke up so it is normal" "hope I am not being used and she won't ever see him again" Those were my thoughts.
TL;DR! Long distance short term relationship (Me-31, Her-28). Met her right after she broke up with another guy. She ended our short relationship after she met with an ex (not telling me about him wanting to see her), and broke down emotionally, saying things that were hurtful to me. Now I am analyzing if she was narcissist, or it was just an expected outcome of someone jumping into relationship too early after breakup, and the other one (me) wanting to be in relationship too much, and ignoring red flags. Was her behavior at the end, a narc triangulation or am I analyzing too much?

Good evening all,
I have been cycling a 15G Peninsula tank for the past 3 weeks... Parameters are all pretty much where they should be, and I intended to start populating the tank this week.
However, I somewhat unexpectedly bought a house today and should be moving in sometime in SeptembeOctober. Do you think I should just break down the tank and startover after moving, or would it be beneficial to just keep everything running without adding any livestock until after the move?
TIA

Welcome to Paws and Claws, a PvE ARK cluster on PC!
We are a small, but active community looking for more players like you! So here’s the quick TLDR I know you’re wanting to know about before we get into the detailed stuff: https://discord.gg/JyTU4V2R
Overview:

• Beginner Friendly
• Maps: Fjordur, Gen 2, Ragnarok (With Primal Fear!) + Varying Rotating Servers
• Active Discord Server! (I'd recommend joining this to keep up with updates!)
• No Wipes!
• Active and Friendly Admins!
• Steam Only PC
• Admin sponsored events with prizing!

Rates
TamingHarvesting 5x
FarmingXP 5x
Egg Hatch 25x
Baby GrowthRate 25x
Other Stuff

• Loot Quality: 10
• Fishing Loot Quality: 10
• Max Wild Dino level: 150
• Tribe Tame Limit : Unlimited (We do however recommend that you ball up most of your dinos that are not in use to reduce server lag!)

Mod List

• Structure Plus (S+)
• Dino Storage v2
• HazeStacks
• Dino Tracker
• Awesome spyglass
• MarniiMods: Wildlife
• Extra QoL Items
• Peachy Decor
• Peachy Furniture
• Castles, Keeps, and Forts Remastered
• Peachy Vikings Decor
• TC Auto Rewards Vault v1.12.16
• (Other mods may be added by community vote or on rotating servers for various events!)

Short Rule List

• No harassment
• No PvP behavior (Insiding, dropping dinos in bases, drowning players, stealing items etc)
• Loot beacons are claimed by whoever landed first
• No cave/obelisk building or resource blocking
• Build out of render distance of other bases
• 1 Land Base - 1 Water base (Exceptions may be made but we’re aiming for longevity and avoiding server lag)
• No Littering (Pick up your taming traps please!)

Community
We are a laid back, active community that is also very active in the Discord! If you ever have any questions or concerns we’re there to help! And its a great place to ask for a little assistance when you’ve found yourself in a sticky situation. We have a variety of new and veteran players so wherever you fall on that scale, we’d love to have you! We also have two Conan Exiles servers as well if that interests you! We also have people playing a variety of other games as well if that interests you!
Maps
In our cluster we have two main maps, Fjordur and Gen 2. These maps do not wipe, and the only changes made to them are event based, or adding mods by community vote. We have a 3rd map that rotates every week, giving players a chance to do bosses and obtain tames not available on any of the ‘home’ servers. (Extended for tough maps like Extinction by community vote).
Our 4th server is set up with Primal Fear! Transfers are open so feel free to take dinos and items over but remember, Primal Fear dinos cannot be transferred to a non PF server.
Starter Packs
Starting on a new ARK server can be fun but the early game grind can really be a chore. If you’d like a little boost to get you started, we have a free starter pack in the TC Auto Rewards Vault! Just head on over to our Welcome Center and use the one located inside the doors. If you are unable to locate the welcome center you can teleport there with an Omni Tool! Just make one with 1 thatch. There are also other items in the community center you can take, graciously donated by other players on the map.
TC Auto Rewards Vault
One of the mods that we utilize is the TC Auto Rewards Vault. This allows us to give you a currency to purchase different items in the store! We have rotating dino packs with various dinos and one specifically for modded dinos (They can be tough or impossible to get on some servers). We also have hard to get items like honey and milk(mod)!You will receive 10 ARc for every 15 minutes of gameplay, along with 100 per week that trickles in daily.
Events
We host a whole slew of events like hide-and-seek, geocaching, various races and other unique challenges! These events come with prizing that can range anywhere from sets of breeding dinos to dino recolors, or element and other resources/items!
We also tend to run bosses together on the rotating maps and there is always someone providing armor and resources so you can join in on the fun even if you yourself aren’t prepared to run bosses yet!
We also rotate out events based on community interest such as the Easter event, Halloween etc. We know this doesn’t give all of the benefits of the event when its the wrong time of the year, however it does allow different dino colors to spawn! Giving a little variation to your tames.

Available all day and night. Instant Delivery, no ea tax, no risk of bans. PM if interested
Cash App, Venmo, Btc/eth, Apple Pay, Zelle, Paypal, and Amazon Gift Cards for payments.
2 Methods Available:

1. Okie Doke 2.3 --- see below for complete details. I will need access to your ea/sony/or xbox account for 10-15 minutes to complete the deal, you can be online simultaneously and change your password right after if it makes you feel better. This is 100% safe
   
2. Bid Method: Post 12 91-92 overalls for 100 bid, 1 hour, for every 1 million purchased. This method is NOT guaranteed against bans. The only reason I am offering this is that certain buyers seem to think they can't be banned and aren't willing to do it the right way, even though it is 100% safe, so figured I would add this as an option
   

The bad news: Ea took away the trade block.
The GOOD news: delivering safe and fast coins is still doable
How so?

• I’m a professional / specialist in the ART of coin trading workarounds. I was safely trading coins years before the trade block was the most common method used
  
• EA will never hold me back . Where there is a will there's a way and I got a lot of will
  
• My partners and I invested in proprietary software / techniques years ago for a day like this to come. We can easily handle 100+ million in daily transfers with just as much efficiency and safety as ever before
  
• You don’t need to post any cards to auction . You don’t need to gather or find any cards to trade. Just pay and relax while we work
  
• You can actually watch me conduct the trade in real time if it makes you feel safer
  

Ban Free Guaranteed Coins: if you are unhappy or get banned for using my service I will refund your money. Customer satisfaction and safety of delivery are my main priorities.
Exciting, right ?
So what’s the method?

• We call it the Okie Doke 2.3 Full details I can’t disclose because it’s a trade secret. Just know , It’s some voodoo that the average, inexperienced and even some higher ranked coin sellers can’t do or offer

Why won’t you explain all the details?

• Because we spent hundreds of hourssss and thousands of dollars researching and developing an automated trading process knowing a day like this would come. You can WATCH the trade happening in real time if you would like

What details can you give?

• it’s a form of comfort trading. I just need your ea account email and password (not your Xbox , not your PlayStation , although these are ok as well) and about 10-15 minutes for me to complete the work and you are all set ! You can watch this happening real time if you prefer or you can be be playing a game , my process will not interfere.

Is there any chance of being banned ?

• NO, 0% chance.

Why do you need my account details?

• Accessing your madden account allows me to use my automation software to complete the trade fast , safely and efficiently

Can’t I just post cards to the auction house?

• Of course , but it will be like playing Russian roulette with EA.
  I’m sure some sellers will try to entice people by offering low prices or say they have a method that works but I’d be very careful . If they don’t have dozens of accounts, some kind of automation software, and proper networking their method can’t be trusted.
  

Can’t you steal my coins , players ?
1st- Coins, technically yes, but Why would I want to do this ? I’m Trying to sell you coins and get referrals , why would I steal from you ? I have 1000s of completed transactions and worked hard to earn my rep , I’m not risking that over any amount of money . If you think I’m in the business of stealing or don’t care about your accounts safety , we aren’t a good match to do business
2nd- players / cards , Nooooooo. Your players are locked and can’t be sold on app if you have any ability or added any Training to the card. There is also a lock feature you can use in the game if you are nervous.
3rd- you can change your password right after the trade is complete if it makes you feel better
4th- you can watch me complete the trade if you are on the game
This is a 100% risk free transaction
I understand giving me your account details can sound strange but it’s the safest , fastest and most efficient method of transferring coins. For added assurance, I’m guaranteeing your experience and account safety or I will promptly refund your money.
Final notes/ comments :
Moving forward it will be difficult for new , inexperienced and non trusted coin sellers to conduct business without a middle man or selling directly to a more experienced, reputable seller. Without software / bots and some serious research and testing they can’t offer the same service. Allowing them to practice on your account would be ill-advised.
I have already seen posts stating users are testing a method(s) since ‘Sunday or last week’ with no ban. This is comical , our methods were tested in Madden 15 and every year since . Taking their advice could prove detrimental and I would highly advise against listening to them. We are professionals, don’t waste your time with amateurs practicing on your account.
I have also seen users posting about selling ltds even though it wasn’t possible at the time . This is something else that shouldn’t taken serious. If the seller isn’t aware of what’s going on in the game , how can you trust that the information they are giving you is true ? Don’t be naïve , deal only with professionals at this point.
I look forward to being your coin provider and was able to provide some insight. Thanks for the reading and enjoy your day
Deal With a trusted Seller. Over 650 confirmed trades.

• Current Rep Thread https://old.reddit.com/MCSRep/comments/sy00ps/ufragmut_mcs_rep_profile/?
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Hi I am excited to create my first Roth IRA at 25 and start contributing! I tried to use the code FIDELITY100 at the initial start up for the bonus but I’m not sure if it went through. Is there any way I can tell if I done that right? I just added $50.
Fund recommendations to get started? I’m a big fan of SCHD and QQQ but I’m not sure how I’ll end up long term with these. I plan on adding around $100 or so per week.
Any advice appreciated.

Cats, about 1 year old, male, neutered.
This is only happening with Hammy. Harold is fine. Hammy has been having really soft poops. Not liquid, just really soft. I'm not sure if it's just because he likes to poop while I'm cleaning the boxes so I just scoop it right then, it doesn't have time to harden.
I started feeding them 1/2 can wet cat food a day about a week ago and just switched them to a new dry food yesterday.
Feeding is like this
8a, 1p, 6p, 11p
2 meals are dry food mixed with water (about 15 grams dry food with enough water to just cover it in their bowls)
1 is just dry food without anything added.
The 4th meal is wet food and I add a little tiny bit of water and a little bit of dry food.
They have water available all the time and they do drink it, especially after the just dry food meal. They get a couple of crunchy treats daily also.
Edit. Forgot to put their weights. Hammy is 10 lbs Harold is 11lbs. Hammy is just generally smaller (small frame?)

This is a guide to safely using datura be it for recreational or spiritual purposes.
I will first clear some misconceptions before going into the actual guide.
1 Datura is not dangerous (to the extent that hospitalization would be required or death could occur) so long as it is properly dosed as will be described in this post.
2 The physical effects of datura cannot last for weeks, they may at most last for 3-4 days if you overdose. It’s unlikely that datura will cause permanent damage (noticeable at least) unless you take lethal doses or you take hallucinogenic doses too often.
3 Technically you can get high from seeds that you bought but practically >not really<. The seeds you buy have been usually left sitting for years causing them to lose all their potency. Furthermore to properly dose with datura, hundreds if not thousands of seeds will have to be sacrificed in the testing process to find the appropriate dose with the desired effects so unless you can buy in bulk thousands of seeds, ingesting them is a waste of money.
4 Effects from datura intoxication can’t randomly hit 12 hours after initial consumption.
5 The majority of negative trip reports come from individuals who had false expectations of datura in other words they expected a psychedelic or other experience instead of a deliriant one and from people who did not follow the basic principles of harm reduction for datura.
Now onto the actual guide.
Symptoms of datura intoxication
It is essential to know what you’re getting when going into datura. It’s surprising how so many people have written stories about their hallucinations but haven’t bothered to inform their readers of the extreme poisoning they experienced to reach that delirium. In my list of symptoms I will separate them on categories according to how high your dose of datura needs to be consumed to experience them. You will see that delirium is reached only when you are suffering a very severe case of poisoning.
1 In microdoses datura can help enhance your mood and it reportedly also enhances your dreams. Microdoses are also useful in combination with other drugs that cause nausea.
2 In low doses dehydration begins to set in causing you to experience dry mouth, your saliva turns to foam and then it stops being produced entirely making it difficult and eventually impossible to swallow food. You will generally experience a pleasant high at this stage, similar in many ways to alcohol but with nausea replaced by dry mouth.
3 Medium doses. At such doses, you will experience extreme dizziness, dehydration will worsen, the dryness reaching all the way into the esophagus, making breathing and speaking incredibly painful. Pupils will begin to dilate, your skin will become dry and irritable, body temperature will rise causing fever and heart rates will increase. Water will also begin to taste like chemical waste, making the only relief to the dehydration feel like a form of torture. You may experience urinary retention and difficulty walking at this point.
4 High doses. At this point (if you’ve consumed sedating datura species) you will likely become paralyzed and will pass out. You may at times feel freezing and at times feel like you’re boiling (which you will actually be boiling). The pain you will be physically experiencing might be greater than any of those you have experienced throughout your life yet you will find no difficulty in sleeping even at that state. You may also experience some anxiety (for example feeling like you’re dying). Convulsions may occur and if you’re awake your mind will be in complete disarray, it will feel as if it’s a radio station and you’re scrolling through all the stations as fast as possible.
5 Hallucinogenic doses. Congratulations if you didn’t reach this point by accident. At such doses, you will no longer be able to tell apart dream from reality. You may witness the most impossible scenarios unfold before you without being able to tell they’re hallucinations. Depending on your luck and preparation you will be apathetic to them, meaning that you will treat them like you would in a dream. If it doesn’t go like that, then there is a chance the hallucinations will be scary. The greatest threat of datura intoxication is losing almost complete control over your body and consciousness. This unique experience to some might be forgotten to a great extent due to the amnesia you will experience once you regain consciousness. If you consumed sedating datura species, then you might not even experience this stage as you will be sleeping through it.
Sum up of the positive effects you can get: a unique experience, some of the most interesting and intense hallucinations, (extreme sedation depending on species), heavy intoxication, potent anxiety relief and anti emetic effects.
Now that you are aware of all the symptoms datura can cause you, an important question must be asked:
“Why do you want to take datura?”
Do you want to take datura recreationally, or do you want to get a unique experience?
If you want to take datura recreationally then your best bet is smoking it or using it topically, not consuming it by any of the other means.
If you want to trip on datura, then the only viable way is through ingestion.
A word of warning: datura is a deliriant, it’s a drug that will not appeal to most people. It has little recreational value because trips involve physical discomfort and depressant properties. Even when administered in its milder forms such as smoking and ointment, it’s still not a party drug or at least, it’s a poor choice for a party drug. The reason someone would come back to datura having already obtained the unique experience of delirium, is for the peace of mind that datura offers in high doses, for a lot of people getting severely poisoned isn’t worth it to obtain that, for some it is.
Onto the guide to dosing then
How to dose on datura
First off some general information on datura that should be taken into consideration when it comes to dosing.
1 Different species of datura vary in potency and they may also differ in their effects to some extent. Generally speaking innoxia and wrigtii are thought to have a higher scopolamine to atropine ratio making them more mellow (less toxic) while stramonium is thought to have a lower ratio making it more toxic and more stimulant than the others. All species of datura and brugmansia are predominantly depressants but they have some stimulant properties (such as tachycardia). Stramonium should be avoided as a first time species because it increases the chance of the user being energetic while on it and wreaking havoc. There are contradicting reports about brugmansia some stating that it’s more mellow while others stating that it’s more aggressive than datura, I would place brugmansia species between innoxia and stramonium.
2 The different parts of datura have different potencies. Generally, the seeds are considered to be the most potent, then follow the roots, then the flowers and then the leaves.
3 Each plant differs in potency. No, you won’t have to learn to dose with each plant or species differently (except maybe for the accursed stramonium) but when you start dosing, until you become accustomed enough to datura, it’s best to only use a single plant. When you’re familiar enough with datura then you’ll be fine using and blending different plants; you may occasionally be caught off guard by weaker or stronger doses but this isn’t cause for concern, datura allows plenty room for mistakes, it’s only those that are blatantly careless who get punished (usually).
4 Tolerance to the mental effects of datura builds extremely fast even if you don’t experience said effects. If you consume datura more often than once per week, then you will slowly begin to become immune to its deliriant properties, even if your doses aren’t strong.
5 If you’re consuming medium+ doses, then you will need to make sure you have the day after the trip off. If you consume a delirious dose, the delirium itself will usually last for ~12hours, you will remain poisoned for 2 days and your sight may be blurry for up to 3 days. The effects of non hallucinogenic doses should be resolved within a day.
Seed ingestion
This is the one and only method everyone wanting to hallucinate with datura should start with. Dosages are easy to calculate with seeds and you don’t need to consume a lot of plant matter to get effects.
I should note that brugmansia seeds are not worth using with this method: it takes too much effort to remove their shell and eating them with it is impractical. (Swallowing them whole will probably cause them to not even be digested, they are basically chunks of wood.)
With seed ingestion you can easily and safely find your hallucinogenic dose with the following method:
1 You start from a dose of 1-10 seeds
2 Chew the seeds or grind them so that they’re easier to digest and absorb the alkaloids
2 Each time increase your dose by 2-5 seeds until you get the desired effects
3 Between each dose of less than 30 seeds you will wait at least 3 days
4 Between doses of over 30 seeds, you will wait at least a week
This process will probably take you over 2 months but by the time you find your hallucinogenic dose (or quit) you will be accustomed to the symptoms of datura. There will be nothing to catch you off guard and you’ll avoid having a bad trip (well, all datura trips with high doses could be considered unpleasant but the experience and the aftereffects are what determine whether a datura trip was good or bad.)
Now onto a less safe but much faster way of dose testing with seeds:
1 You start from a dose of 10-30 seeds (No, 30 seeds can’t kill you or cause you permanent damage even if they’re the most potent seeds in the world.)
2 If you experience no symptoms then you are free to double your dose
3 If you experience dry mouth then you may increase your dose by 20-40% at a time
4 Between each dose which causes dry mouth you will need to wait at least a week for your tolerance to reset
In all instances, symptoms should kick in within 1 hour of consumption and they should peak within 6 hours.
Tea consumption
The beauty of making datura tea is that it is easy to consume and it can be made extremely potent. It is also not limited to seeds but can make use of the entire plant, giving anyone who has access to a decent sized plant an endless supply of plant matter to trip on.
Its downside? It can only vaguely be dosed. For that reason, you should only begin using tea once you’re confident enough to say “fuck it” when it comes to dosing (in other words when you’re already too far gone).
When making tea, the best parts of the plant to use are its flowers, they give it a pleasant fragrance and do not have an unpleasant flavor. Flowers generally have consistent sizes so they can be dosed with.
Leaves may be used but I suggest you do so when they are dried. Making tea out of fresh leaves will give it an extremely unpleasant smell and taste. Leaf sizes are completely inconsistent so they’re difficult to dose with.
Seeds can be used in tea form; they should be grinded before being added. Seeds will add a chemical flavor to the tea, it’s quite unpleasant. Brugmansia seeds can practically only be used for tea making like this (Literally, brugmansia seeds have no other use, even in gardening, you’re much better off with cuttings).
To make the tea, you simply put the ingredients in the water and let it boil for a bit. You can add some honey or sugar to help with the flavor.
Effects should kick in within 1 hour after initial consumption (in fact, in my experience they hit a bit faster than when ingesting seeds).
Consuming datura raw
I don’t understand why anyone would make themselves go through the pain of eating datura leaves or flowers raw. It’s an impractical way to consume them and in my little experience with this method, it almost always caused me some gut pain the following day. The taste of the flowers is bearable, not so much of the leaves.
Making datura wine
If you’re bold enough, you can mix in alcohol with datura by putting dried leaves and flowers inside bottles of alcohol. The alcohol makes a surprisingly good job of absorbing the alkaloids and its potency is on part with its tea equivalent. I’d advise against using alcohol stronger than wine for this purpose. Datura has on its own certain depressant properties and so adding more depressants into the mix might be a dangerous choice to make.
The properties of the wine will not be lost even after months.
Effects will set in within an hour of consumption.
Smoking datura
This is the best method of consuming datura if you’re doing it for recreational purposes though don’t get your hopes high. Smoking destroys most of the alkaloids in datura making it extremely weak in comparison to other routes of administration while at the same time allowing the user to instantly feel the effects and gauge whether they can or cannot take more, in other words it is almost completely harmless for everyone. Smoking will get you high while only giving you slight effects of dehydration. The high produced from smoking is similar to weed but much more subtle and drowsier.
Because a big chunk of datura’s toxins are burnt with this method, it is not possible to experience delirium with it.
You may grind dried leaves and flowers and smoke them on their own or along with weed for a pleasant high.
The effects will set in very fast ~5 minutes should be more than enough, making it a lot easier to dose with this method (not that you really need to).
Making ointment
It is possible to make datura ointment/extract which can be used transdermally (or orally if you’re insane). This is a relatively safe way of using datura as only scopolamine can cross the skin.
The effects caused by the ointment are pain relief, numbness, elevated body temperature and mild intoxication depending on the potency of the ointment. (It should be able to become potent enough to create the sensation of literally flying, though to get such a potent ointment would probably require a lot of care and skill).
Ointment can be made by mixing the grinded parts of the plant with oil and leaving them to sit for days, then straining the liquid and repeatedly performing this process. This can be done with water too but it is way easier for bacteria to grow in it than it is in oil. For maximum potency use enough grinded plant matter to absorb the entire volume of the oil.
The oil may then be applied over blood vessels or wherever you feel pain, it may take over an hour for any serious effects to hit and large quantities will usually be required. This is an arduous process which is not worth if you’re trying to get high or hallucinate.
It is also possible to chemically extract the alkaloids off of datura but by that point, you’re no longer consuming datura.
What to do before/while/after tripping
You can take certain steps to make sure or at least try to make your trip more comfortable.
First off, I am not in favor of the idea of trip sitters because it is very easy for them to mess up your hallucinations/taint your first experience. That said, a trip sitter is the only guarantee that you won’t piss your neighbor’s window in the middle of the night.
Preparation
Before any effects set in, make sure you have water at close vicinity from any place you might sit or lay down at. It may prove at times too difficult to even extend your arm to reach a glass of water.
It is also crucial that you have a full stomach before consuming datura. Attempting to eat solid food during a trip will result in you choking. Furthermore, the day after the trip, you will likely have lost your appetite so you must be prepared to not eat any food for up to 2 days.
Wear comfortable clothes, you may not even realize how quickly the effects have set in before you can barely stand. If you are sitting down, especially if you’re fixed on screen, you won’t know how severely intoxicated you are until you stand up. You may be unable to take off or change your clothes at that point.
Treating symptoms
It is very difficult to treat datura intoxication as it has both symptoms of depressant and stimulant drugs. For example, if you attempt to treat the sedation and paralysis with coffee, your heart rate which is already high will skyrocket and potentially cause heart failure. If you on the other hand take painkillers to treat your fever and pain, you might die from respiratory depression. There is little to be done to treat the symptoms of the poisoning, if they are unbearable, you are better off sleeping them away. For the dry mouth and sore throat, juice from citrus fruits might be of some help. For the fever, your best bet is wet towels on your forehead; it is especially important to treat the fever as your body can reach temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius and cause brain damage. If you desperately need food to calm your stomach, you might be able to drink a smoothie. You can at least find some comfort in the fact that it’s difficult to die from datura -if- you followed the previous instructions on dosing. It is easy to suffer poisoning from datura but much more difficult to die from it. The underlying threat of the experience adds a sort of beauty to it.
Delirium
Now if you’re going through all this pain for the hallucinations, you might need to set up an alarm in the middle of your trip. If you’ve been using sedating species of datura, then chances are that you pass out at the peak of your trips. You can attempt to wake yourself up using an alarm or a friend at that point so that you can experience hallucinations. (I must note here that a friend of mine had someone clapping their hands above her face to no avail, so whether you succeed in waking yourself up or not is uncertain.)
Whether you’ll remember or not your hallucinations is yet another issue. Treating this one is difficult, if you had success have good dream recall, then this might be easier for you(seeing as dreams and delirium are much alike). Practicing recalling dreams may be the only way to treat this issue. Practice makes perfect but in this case, regular practice with the actual substance will prove detrimental to the user’s health.
Despite popular belief, you can make away just fine on your own even in delirium, that is if you can outsmart your deliriant self. You might literally be required to troll yourself to prevent your deliriant self from pissing that neighbor’s window. Locking your door and hiding the keys is important but don’t underestimate your deliriant self. You can leave notes and marks on your door which will help yourself realize what you’re about to do. Sharp objects are best hidden away though I have to say that the deliriant self does not act out of character so if you don’t mess around with knives, then such precautions are not necessary, if on the other hand for some reason you have self harming tendencies, then god forbid you try this plant in the first place. Also make sure your car keys are well hidden as well. If you want to be extra cautious, you can turn off the power for kitchen appliances in case you get really hungry during delirium and burn your place.
Now with all these said, don’t go tripping on entire seedpods for your first time and then writing about how you had a terrible experience on datura. This is a safe plant for those who are patient and cautious and it can give you some unique experiences.

Hi Guys, so my betta George has swim bladder and the basic fixes don’t seem to be working. I checked water parameters and everything looks good, I currently have him in a hospital tank and I’m making sure I keep the temperature up. He was fasted for 3 days, then I gave daphnia (freeze dried; I wasn’t able to get my hands on fresh or frozen but I made sure to soak it first). Still not seeing any improvement. I also tried salt baths after the first couple of methods didn’t work out, no improvement there either. His water changes are regular and I can’t think of anything in his tank that would be giving him issues. My first thought was constipation; I had to leave home for a few days last week because of an emergency and had no choice but to give him a vacation feeder I had on hand, I was originally thinking maybe that food change has something to do with it. I don’t believe we have parasites and I keep his tank clean; I know the next step would be to consider bacterial or parasitic infections, but I don’t want to start adding medications that may do more harm than good until I’m sure I’ve tried everything to rule out the basics like constipation. Any advice? Should I just skip to infection and try to treat with something like Melafix? HELP!!