I'm planning to head to Leh for 7-10 days in June as part of a broader India trip. I'm currently in the beginning stages of planning this leg but was hoping to source some ideas as I explore my options.
When traveling I like hiking, nature, temples, and food and am excited for the Himalayan landscapes. Normally I'd be interested in some more involved trekking but I may unfortunately have to work remotely for part of my time there, so I'll generally have to keep it to day trips or shorter excursions.
So far my ideas for what to do/see (feel free to comment on these):

• A couple days at the beginning to acclimatize, tour Leh - markets, stupa, palace, etc
• Nubra Valley and Pangong Lake seem to be the most popular excursions, wondering if I can do each of these as a day trip, or perhaps a 2-day trip. I understand these will require acquiring a permit in Leh beforehand, from what I hear this sounds fairly simple.
• Nearby monasteries like Thiksey, Hemis
• Indus/Zanskar Sangam

So a couple questions: * Any other ideas for a 2-day or weekend trip from Leh? Interested in both road trip options as well as more hiking-forward options

• Good hikes nearby, ideally doable in a day? (But open to 2-3 day hikes as well)
  
• It seems popular to ride around on motorbikes. I've never driven one, and have never driven in India, so how safe would this be? I'm not currently planning on doing this but if it's something that's easy to pick up I might be interested.
  
• Would it be worth it to take a brief trip to Srinagar? I have the classic romanticized image in my head of the lake with the houseboats and the morning mist, wondering if it's actually worth it to go out of my way and check out since I don't know when I'll be able to go to Kashmir in the future.
  

  * Also, fave affordable souvenirs from Ladakh? Would love to get a wool item or something decorative.

6th Moon, 200 AC Gulltown
"Oh it was you who dealt the final blow, was it?" Edmure's voice carried even in the cramped tavern that Rhea and her companions had settled in for the evening. The table they'd found was pushed into a corner, and just about had enough room for the five of them to gather around. Edmure, of course, had taken the seat nearest the rest of the room, free to get up and fetch more drinks whenever he liked.
"It was!" Rhea laughed from opposite him, sat back on the bench she shared with Roslin, her arm draped over the back of it, almost about the Stormlander's shoulders though far enough from her not to be outrageous. "You were busy picking yourself up out of the dust."
"That's bullshit, right there. You know me better than thinking some bear could put me in the dirt for long," he grinned, only prompting Rhea to chuckle and shake her head.
"Well if you're that sure, maybe we should ask the resident expert?" She turned to Roslin, raising an eyebrow. "You did have that vantage point, right Rose?"
"Hold on now, there's no way it'll be a fair judgement when only one of us is sleeping with the resident expert," he interrupted.
Rhea went to kick him jokingly under the table, but before she could say anything, Rose chimed into their friendly disagreement. "Well I was going to say I saw you get the kill, but since you said that maybe it was Rhea after all."
"I take it all back, you're the most impartial one among us all," he said, changing his tune to the sound of Rhea's laughter.
"Hmm, too late, you'll get the next one I'm sure!" The two of them both joined in laughing at the situation.
"Alright, I'm fetching some more drinks, it's my turn," Rhea announced, standing from where she sat and turning to the others to check if they needed anything before heading off into the tavern proper, still chuckling at the conversation.

Hi guys I hope you're all doing great I've only just stumbled across this Reddit today and I'm really enjoying the posts.
I'm sure we've all been here but it's always nice to hear different people's thoughts on the matter so yes procrastination & losing runs how do you all deal with it ? And please don't think this is coming from a place of "I hate losing and I'm losing my money l" because obviously the answer is - Don't Gamble!! I'm coming at it from more of a Do you change your strategy? Do you start looking at things differently ? For me it's the procrastination I'll whittle through the card let's take today's Clonmel on Heavy in Ireland so I know with such a steep hill I should be looking for a Mudlark that has a liking to this track or similar (Down royal, Gowran Park etc) I find one that looks well treated (I like handicap races) and looks a bit of value (as favourite might be too short) AND I convince myself that another selection MIGHT do it and low and behold the horse you moved off goes on to win ..then you're left saying "I was going to pick that one" ( to which nobody believes haha) do any of your guys do this ? I've got no problem losing ..we lose more than we win but God this gets to me ..or to be precise I get to me haha!! Damn Procrastination haha!!
I should stick to the "don't expect a horse to do something it hasnt before" analogy haha!!
Anyways I want this post to be light hearted and just wanted to air my thoughts and maybe get a few thoughts.
Thanks guys

I am and always will be a huge crystal lover. I have been collecting for a long time. I am also a lover of mystery boxes and monthly subscription boxes. Well holy Sh*t did I just stumble into the greatest idea ever... Okay ready for it...... It's called "Crystal Mess".... no joke A MONTHLY MYSTERY CRYSTAL SUBSCRIPTION BOX!!! I stumbled on www.crystalmess.ca and I had seen the pictures on their website and needless to say I was quite skeptical, but they absolutely proved me wrong. The monthly box I picked is called the "Quarts Mess" and that basically is the middle package, what I got was amazing for the price, I got a huuuge pink quarts sphere, two towers, a obsidian heart and other things. The stuff they call "Crystal Confetti" is literally just random free form stones added into the box for extra awesomeness. I would highly suggest you check this website and company out if you're into crystals because it is the greatest idea ever, and the amount you get kind of blew my mind. I am so excited to get next months box! Let me know what you guys think!

Chill fun inshape cauc dude loves to massage and offers free one to inshape person, 20-35. Must have face and full bod pics for reply. Serious only, no flakes please.

Hey, first post here but second post ever on this website. My partner and I are experiencing what I think is potentially a toxic situation and potentially a dangerous one physically as well. About a year ago my partner and I, who were dating long distance decided to make the jump and move in with each other. My partners former lease was up in September of the year we moved in together and I moved in May from the United States to Canada to live with him. This was such a big move for me and for him but we also had a mutual friend (since we all game together and this is how we met) who was in need of a change and we all decided to go in on a place together. Big crazy plan but my partner and this roommate have also been friends since they were eight. Our hope was that after spending two years together gaming and talking everyday that we knew enough about each other and we’re close enough friends to make it work. On September 1 of 2022 my partner, his child hood best friend and myself moved into this apartment together and at first the red flags weren’t really red flags with this guy. He seemed a little absent minded and would do things like leave the oven on or the balcony door open (we’re on the fifth floor and have two cats) as well as leave a mess after making food, not cleaning up his dishes after eating, always ordering out, never remembering to pay anyone for something they purchased(We often have one person pay for dinner and everyone e-transfers that person) this guy never sends the money. None of these things plus more to come seemed like anything to worry about because this guy drove a crossed Canada from London, Ontario to Victoria, British Columbia. He also had his parents going through a divorce at the time of his move, which was a big reason he decided to come here. I wrote off all of these behaviours as someone just being overwhelmed from moving a big distance and having such a life altering experience. A little bit more background on this guy is that he does have some mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD. I have my own mess of Bipolar II etc and my partner has his own anxiety and depress he struggles with. We’re very aware of how much your mental health can affect your day and actions and I think pretty empathetic towards someone having a bad or off day.
With all of those red flags being ignored were now into March and nothing has changed. In fact gotten worse given his constant resistance to being asked to clean up after himself. I understand there is a level of discomfort there when someone asks you to clean up after yourself and this dude gives such bad energy and so many awful vibes and becomes unpleasant, quiet and moody shifting the entire energy of the apartment. After being up all night and eating/making food it will be everywhere. If he makes ramen his package is in one counter, the powder and sauce another (left with sauce and powder everywhere), his dish he used sometimes has the utensil with it but sometimes the bowl is in one area and the utensil another. If he orders out his dinner / containers will be left all over the couch/living room area along with any clothes he discarded. Mostly socks, tuks and jackets. I will voluntarily move these things and place them in front of his door on on his computer chair or in a space near his things so that I can finish cleaning. I don't roughly throw them or treat his things poorly I just place them somewhere new.
The cleaning is a huge thing for me personally. I enjoy things to be much more tidy than usual and I’m aware and willing to put in the extra effort. I can’t keep up with this guy. I’ll spend hours cleaning surfaces, dusting, reorganizing, floors, garbage, recycle, dishes… you get the point. If I’m done cleaning at 3PM and I go do something’s and homie is left with the apartment to himself by the time morning comes it will look like I did nothing. Food stains some how I kid you not, everywhere. Crumbs, dirty dishes, half empty Gatorade bottles strewn wherever, alcoholic beverages thrown wherever, food containers thrown wherever. I also wrote it off because I do like things to always be tidy and thought I was being a bit OCD about the whole thing and I understand that not everyone is like that. I've been keeping this in mind lately and giving them a chance to come back to their mess and clean it up, but it will sit there for days. Literal days. It’s so disheartening to spend hours on our apartment and have this guy just tornado through with zero intention of ever doing a chore.
He has never swept or mopped or vacuumed. Never dusted or done the dishes. If he takes out the garbage he never replaces the bag and the few times he’s attempted the dishes he opens the dishwasher and then sits on the couch to watch TV and puts aWay maybe four dishes. I’ll walk by a few times over the next few hours and he just sits there staring at the Tv or texting on his phone and he seems catatonic while doing this. He will also do these things while operating the stove and oven. I only bring this up because he will be completely zoned into his phone for an hour while boiling water he wants for mac and cheese. He'll be standing next to the stove with the steam going crazy and it will be at least 10 minutes before he'll move to do anything even after my partner and I say something to him. And it's so hard to say something because you're watching a literal human stand next to a stove with water boiling and steam going(We have sensitive fire alarms that he has set off multiple times from heating pizza in the oven without a tray and having toppings and cheese drip to cause smoke.) It's crazy to me that after the first time the fire alarm was set off like this he did not think to clean the oven before doing it the next time. He is the only one in the apartment who uses the oven really since a lot of the food my partner and I cook can be done on the stove-top. So when we ask who left the oven on (we know it's him) but he will flat out deny ever having used the oven or say he did shut it off. He also seems angry that we keep reminding him that the stove or oven is on. I guess I can see that it can be annoying or you could feel like a child but.... hello?
This morning my partner and I got up with the oven still being on and plates all over the couch from roommate reheating some pizza. We literally ask him and have conversations about turning the oven off everytime it gets left on. It's probably a conversation that we have once or twice a week. This is a huge trigger because we are in the mindset of saving as much as we can because we want a house together and we split all the bills three ways. It's really unfair that our electricity bill in an apartment reaches over $300 for a month because we live with someone who does not shut off the TV. Does not shut off his Computer. Leaves the oven on all night multiple nights. He even turns our heating unit on to 80+ and will leave it on all night long. My boyfriend and I go to bed at 9PM ish and I won't even realize the heat is on until probably 11 or 12 the next day on my lunch break. I put something in his room once while I was cleaning and happened to glance at his floor heater thermostat which was turned all the way up and probably has been since winter here in Victoria has started. My partner will tell me how much the electricity bill is every month and it blows my mind. FOR REAL. LIKE HOW
We are all gamers and Dragon flight just released a bit ago. This was a huge turning point for me. I had just started a new job as well and did not have as much time to clean things or to lay the new expansion. I would say we’re decent gamers in that content gets released and we’ll clear heroic plus do high keys in M+ but we also enjoy other games. My partner is an elevator mechanic and works long days too so the two of us just could not dedicate as much time to gaming as our roommate could. This lead to him and my partners identical twin brother being relentlessly mean and toxic over the two of us making mistakes during content. Making mistakes in this context being missing a mechanic that caused our death in a fight during raid and M+. What I mean by being relentlessly mean is that when a death occurs you hear only the sound of screams. Someone saying "Come on guys what the fuck. WHAT THE FUCk. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU. WERE TRYING TO CLEAR CONTENT YOU CAN'T JUST MAKE A MISTAKE." I'm really not kidding here. As well as being spoken down to and so much of it was passive aggressive. Just also insinuating that my partner and I are complete retards (excuse my use of this word but really that's how they were framing it) because we can't play for that long and while we did watch videos on the fights both for dungeons and raid it's different when you're playing. Especially for me since I heal. It's one thing to know the mechanics and another to figure out where best to use things. THis requires pulls and pulls and errors and corrections. I've been a raider for awhile and progression is sort of the point. You review the fight you do a few pulls you figure out the error you fix that another one comes up and you're on repeat. These two made it such an unenjoyable experience! The worst part is we could understand why they were frustrated. They had more time to play and pugged the raid a few times before we ever did it together as a group. I guess they expected the same of my partner and I, but the reason we had not done content together is well.. we had to work and when we aren't working we're cleaning and World of Warcraft is a huge time commitment. We just did not have the same amount of time but for whatever reason we're being held to the same standards.
My partner and I basically stopped playing with the two of them. I would make myself completely busy inside the apartment on our roommates day off or I would play another game entirely until my partner got home and then we we do some content together but it only lasted maybe an hour before things just go bad for no reason. This was one day we were doing a +19 CoS, arguably one of the easier dungeons to time on high keys but it was my first 19 and my partners first 19. Like his first ever because he only got into doing keys because of me. It's a form of content I really enjoy especially as a healer. We're doing this +19 CoS and for the sixth time our room mate who plays the tank DH, says, I have this silence for the group of imps that all spam cast fireball and will kill you if not interrupted, and he did not have silence therefore I died and so did one of our guildies. This is not putting anything on a guildmate but we released and are running back and I had gone the wrong way and the guildie was just following me. Our roommate lost it on me. Asking me what was wrong with me and how could I do that during a 19 and I mean really screaming at me. I just stopped and said "Why are you speaking to me like that?" and he screams "BECAUSE IT'S A 19" to which my reply was, so? To be fair he did come up to me a few minutes after the dungeon and said sorry for being an asshole, but really he was like that anytime anything went wrong in a raid or dungeon from the release of the expansion. It wasn't only him either it was my partners identical twin brother as well. Just being toxic is the only word I have to explain it.
EDIT: My phone would not let me type out everything I needed to say without getting really bogged down so I'm doing that from my PC now. More information to come. I didn't realize I could just save as a draft.
I saw a lot of red flags other than him just being very unpleasant towards us in the apartment after a key or raid did not go his way. He works three days a week every other day. So for example his schedule will be Monday, Wednesday, Friday leaving him four days for whatever he wants. This time was spent doing absolutely nothing but playing World of Warcraft for 16 hours a day. I joke you not. I wake up at 5AM with my partner to get ready for the work day and our room mate would wake up an hour or two later, get on his pc, and stay there for the rest of the day. He would do this and neglect everything else including school work (I found out he dropped out because he could not keep up with working and going to school, I mostly think he stopped because all he did was play wow.) He would come home from his 8 hour shift, walk into his bedroom, change, sit on his PC and not move until the following early morning. This happened every day including days off for the next few months.
We have made quite a few friends playing games online and not being absolutely terrible at them. A friend of ours that we met two years ago who lives in Arizona just had a really bad break up and wanted to come to Victoria to get away and just have a good time. He was with us for 5 or 6 days and it was a really awesome experience. It made me realize a lot of things about this room mate though. I will admit in my mind I don't really consider him to be my friend anymore after the way he's spoken to me over a video game(I'm not being sensitive here I would describe his level of toxicity to be on par with those that play league of legends or people who just don't leave the basement) and how he leaves spaces once he is done with them. He is also incredibly condescending and always has something negative to say about whatever is going on in his the conversation. For example my partner downloaded a constellation ap on his phone since we're on the fifth floor and we've been watching the stars move around since early winter. Our roommate feels the need to aggressively state that constellations are just made up. It's okay to feel that way but to have that weird level of anger about it and to make anyone who looks at the stars or who recognizes a constellation as an idiot is really off putting. It also had nothing to do really with our interest in watching them move around. It was more of a navigation tool and the lore was interesting to us because every constellation is basically a dude or girl who had it so rough that becoming a constellation was the only resolution.
This friend came from Arizona to visit us during a very tense time in the apartment because my partner and I had just about had enough of the way we were being treated and spoken to over a video game/any disagreement within our topics of conversation.Our friend from Arizona cooked us dinner, cleaned up his mess when he was done, ran the dishwasher and put the dishes away the following morning. He also kept the place where he slept pretty organized and tidy. This friend also has ADHD and is suffering from depression due to things that were going on his life / this huge break up but was pleasant to speak to even if there was a difference of opinion. I don't think I've been around a lot of people who have ADHD and I realize that mental health presents differently in everyone. What I could tell was that this friend would get distracted easily and would have to keep reminding himself what he doing. It seemed almost like a ritual sometimes when he would go in a circle or loop of behaviors. He would go back or start at a certain point and almost re follow his train of thought which was interesting to watch. I'm sorry I'm trying to recount this experience and not be rude in anyway. It's really easy to see how our roommate could struggle with what he struggles with but ... we also see zero effort on his part to get better about those things. I brought up a lot of what goes on around the apartment to the friend who came to visit and expressed that this roommate does also have ADHD where in this person said okay that's valid but you have to put in the work. We then had a conversation about what he struggles with and how he combats it. Which I loved because it gave me so much insight into our roommate.
I'm getting pretty nervous and scared about living with this third person because I don't want to wake up to the apartment having been set on fire by his absent mindedness. I don't want to find out that I'm now very sick because he sucks at cleaning up after himself and I don't eat but the two of them do. I'm scared my partner is going to say something to him about his bathroom and our roommates emotional dysregulation is going to turn a simple request to keep his space clean into something more. I'm scared that we won't be able to have the nice things that we want to have because we pay for everything for this person. I know I stated above and earlier that he only works three days a week but I did not mention that his mom supplements his income by sending him $2,300 a month. $1,000 for rent and $1,300 for fun on top of the job he already works. He talks about how he has so much in savings right now and I think about how my partner has been covering his phone/internet/grocery/and weed bills since September and is running out of savings. I know this is his fault but it 's uncomfortable to ask someone for money multiple times. How many times is he supposed to ask for rent before it gets sent?
Everyone in the apartment smokes weed and of course we will smoke together thus making us smoke a bit more. The way we handle that is just splitting on ounces of weed after we go to the weed store. This guy never sends his half for the weed and smokes a huge portion of it. While playing World of Warcraft for his entire day he would hit the bong after every dungeon and dude was doing 100s of dungeons. He never once paid for an ounce of weed in that time or really since he's been here in September. This was because it's hard to ask him to send money for it over and over. Especially given that we have to speak to him almost daily about cleaning up after himself. THe last time my partner went to buy weed he asked if our roommate could be the one to pay for it. He seemed really offended and said he paid for half of the previous ounce and that they should just buy their own ounces from now one, but did not hesitate to smoke the ounce that my boyfriend had bought in the meantime and did not send/offer to send any money. This happens with things like dinner and grocery as well. He does not go to the store by himself to grab anything he could need he just eats food that my partner and I put into the house. We don't buy anything for him specifically we just buy food we like to eat and offer him some under the condition that he pays for food if he's eating it. He will send 1/3rd sometimes but wind up eating the majority of the food eaten. Given my partner is at work all day and only really snacks and eats a lot on the weekends. I don't eat meat and don't share a lot of similar foods with him so I eat my own things. When we do go to the grocery store together the only thing he grabs are snacks and when we get the total and split the cost three ways (me paying more than I have to since I don't like the snacks they get and really only get a few things- sorry I'm pretty mad about this point) he doesn't even send the money I found out. The last two/three times we went with a $300 grocery bill he has not contributed anything.
I don't really know what to do or what to say so I'm putting it out here on reddit. Please feel free to ask any other questions and I'll do my best to answer them because we need a resolution to this. The apartment doesn't feel like a positive and safe place anymore. It's just filled with frustration and confusion and those things cumulate and anyone would have a hard time functioning in this environment. My mental health needs this to improve because I can't waste my time cleaning and looking for a peaceful place only to have it taken from me not even 6 hours later. Thanks in advance and sorry if things are all over the place. I'm nervous about the post and feel like there is a lot of information and situations that lead us to where we are right now.

Was sitting in the dark and staring at my wall till this idea popped up
I was thinking of a concept to bring more variety to picking gears. Typically people pick speed and damage and not many pick vision or health. With Gear Synergies, adding more powerful buffs to lesser used gears could shift the meta for certain brawlers and better gear balancing.
For example; Damage+Vision can make the vision gear last for 6 seconds when the damage gear is active. Or Health+Shield can allow for the shield to regenerate in 5 seconds if the health gear is active.
Mainly, I think mythic gears could be great with this concept. Tick's gear could synergize with the health gear for more health. But to balance these synergys, each mythic gears could synergize with another gear that is not very good with a certain brawlers. Typically Tick does not need the health gear, but with a gear synergy, players could use a gear that wouldn't be ever be used on some brawlers.
I wouldn't see this coming to the game, but it's just a concept for more uses of certain gears that get overwhelmed by the more popular and stronger gears. If anyone has any thoughts or revisions feel free to criticize.

Hello there! My name is Kyle, and I'm searching for a close friend who might just become something more. I'm a 39-year-old, 5'8" white male living in Phoenix, Arizona. While I may be overweight, I've been actively losing weight through diet and exercise. I'm also disabled, which can be challenging at times, but I'm fiercely independent and work hard to minimize my limitations.
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When it comes to politics, I lean left, and I believe in treating everyone fairly. I don't have any kids, but I enjoy working with teens whenever I get the chance. I'm a straight-edge kind of guy - I don't smoke, drink, or do drugs, but I don't mind if others do.
In my free time, I enjoy reading audiobooks, with a particular love for sci-fi and fantasy genres. I'm also a fan of Marvel and Star Wars movies and television shows, but I'm happy to watch anything that catches my interest. I always have music playing, and my preferred genres are rock, punk, alternative, and electronic.
Recently, I've been rediscovering my passion for music and have been relearning how to play the bass. I hope to pick up the guitar next once I've improved my skills. I'm also an avid gamer and enjoy playing Minecraft on the PC.
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Before the pandemic, I enjoyed volunteering and advocating for those with disabilities. Once things calm down, I plan to get back to it. I enjoy finding resources for people with disabilities and teaching them how to use technology. I also love answering questions and speaking to medical facilities, businesses, and schools about my disability.
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If you share any of my interests and are looking for a close friend, I'd love to chat with you. I'm open to a variety of relationships and activities, including voice and video calls, just hanging out on Discord, and working towards a healthy weight together. Let's get to know each other and see where this could lead.

Bet record: 17-31, Staked: 53.75u, Profit/Loss: +4.96u, ROI: 9.24%, Parlay Suggestions: 21-6
If you’re not bothered about my ramblings on last week’s opinions, scroll down for UFC San Antonio Breakdowns
(For context, my UFC 286 Preview for that event can be found here: https://www.reddit.com/MMAbetting/comments/11qh6nn/ufc_286_betting_preview_ufc_las_vegas_review/)
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UFC 286
Bets: 4-3, +5.74u, Parlay Suggestions: 3-1
✅ 3u Gunnar Nelson & Marvin Vettori both to Win (-115)
✅ 2u Jack Shore & Impa Kasangany to Win (-180)
✅ 1u Jack Shore to Win in Round 2 or 3 (+241)
❌ 1.5u Omar Morales to Win (-110)
✅ 1u Leon Edwards to Win (+250)
❌ 1u Juliana Miller & Omran Chaaban to Win (-125)
❌ 0.25u Marvin Vettori, Gunnar Nelson, Jack Shore & Juliana Miller all to Win (+205)
As I said in my initial comments about UFC 286, I think it really under delivered from a fan perspective because of the lack of high level UK prospects. Without a Molly McCann, Darren Till, Paddy Pimblett or a Tom Aspinall, the fans just weren’t as excited or vocal throughout the card.
With that said, I’m always having fun if I’m making money! This was my third winning event in a row, a streak of over 10u profit in March. It was obviously a card of strong favourites but I’m mostly happy with the spots I chose to pull the trigger on. The Nelson/Vettori parlay was nice as both men delivered exactly what I expected them to, and Jack Shore also came through to cash a bigger priced prop bet. It’s really satisfying when your reads on fights turn out to be spot on, and your bets cash with relative ease as a result. Here's some live thoughts on the card + my breakdowns:
- So proud of Leon Edwards man, that was one hell of a performance. The way he levelled up that takedown defence and made his shots count in the clinch. It was one of those complicated fights to score in that he was moving backwards and fighting defensively for the most part, but he certainly landed more shots and had the better moments. Really happy to have gotten 2/1 and 3/1 (boosted) on the dog there.
- Jesus Christ Rafael Fiziev is quick. The combinations he was throwing in the first minute of round three were some of the most terrifying spurts of offence I’ve seen in some time. And then just a minute or so later Justin Gaethje starts winging massive uppercuts and cannot miss with them. That was such a good fight, real back and forth stuff. I feel like Gaethje was lowkey a really good underdog spot all week but it’s hard to give those opinions credence sometimes when the masses are all hyping up Fiziev. At least I identified Fiziev was not a good bet.
- Massive shoutout to Gunnar Nelson for performing exactly like a -400 should, as I expected him to! He got in, landed a takedown, and found the sub soon after. I still wish he would have done that against Takashi Sato, bur he rounded out the parlay with Vettori and made it a winning night for me! Along with Hadley, he was the best parlay option on the card (as I suggested).
- Casey O’Neill didn’t shoot for a takedown. Not the fight anyone was expecting. It’s disappointing when that happens but there’s not really a whole lot you can do. Jennifer Maia is a really underrated striker so god knows why Casey chose that path. When you consider the way Jake Hadley approached his fight and compare it with O’Neill…that’s the difference between good fight IQ and bad. I actually said in my analysis “I trust O’Neill’s dedication to her gameplan here” which is hilarious. Don’t think I can be blamed for not seeing it coming though haha.
- All week I was a little bit confused by all the love for Roman Dolidze, as I got on Marvin Vettori pretty early and didn’t really see a whole lot of reasoning that I understood. To be perfectly honest, Dolidze had more success than I expected him to, and any fighter other than Vettori would probably have wilted and got stopped. With that said, that’s exactly why I bet Marvin, so I don’t necessarily think it was a bad read at all. A solid parlay leg.
- Jack Shore vs Makwan Amirkhani played out exactly as I expected it to. Amirkhani’s a good grappler, so I wasn’t surprised nor worried when he clearly won round 1. In fact, I was more confident in winning my bets as soon as the horn sounded, and it showed. I don’t really understand how a professional fighter can have such a glaring cardio issue and not address it or adjust his style. I hope they keep Makwan around, those Round 2/3 props will always be good. Happy to finally win one of those bigger priced prop bets. I’ve historically been pretty good with props but somehow been on a dry patch since I started posting here.
- Chris Duncan v Morales was a frustrating one. Morales will look back on that one and be pissed off at himself, because he should absolutely be winning that. Chris Duncan really isn’t very good and I am already looking forward to fading him in the future. Hope they try and build him up because there’ll be a good fade waiting to happen. Annoying fight to lose but fair play to Duncan for identifying the path to victory. Glad I went with a smaller stake for a volatile fight.
- A shame what happened to Dusko Todorovic. Christian Leroy Duncan is a really exciting striker so I was looking forward to seeing more of him, but you never want to see that happen. I hope we don’t have to wait until the next England card for C L Duncan’s next fight, but I also hope they give him a bit of a lay-up for to allow for a proper “debut”.
- Nicely done from Jake Hadley, making use of his striking advantage and not getting sucked into a grappling affair. Always annoys me when someone has a distinct advantage but doesn’t use it because it’s not their plan A. He was the best parlay piece of the card. Good for Hadley and I’m excited to see what else he has to offer. Wish I’d gone with him instead of backing Juliana Miller.
- I was keeping half an eye on Herbert/Klein and Wood/Carolina whilst at work. Doesn’t look like I missed a whole lot and haven't bothered to rewatch.
- Juliana Miller with an awful performance. Veronica Macedo looked much improved but it didn’t take a whole lot to defeat an opponent with no plan B. I didn’t anticipate Macedo being the stronger fighter of the two, which changed a whole lot. Poor decision from me to back an inexperienced fighter at -400 like that. Grim. Inexperience really showed.
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UFC San Antonio
I'm really excited for the main event of this one, very glad they put this fight together. Unfortunately the headliner is a massive cut above the rest of the card in terms of popularity and calibre, but we’ve had worse cards this year, I don’t mind it. Usually I’d rejoice over the fact we aren’t in the Apex…but we are in Texas, where judging has been historically AWFUL. There isn’t a whole lot we can really do with that information though, except consider how much of a fighter’s win probability is based around them finding a finish. Fighters who are likely to win without the judges getting involved will be the less volatile spots this week.
From a betting perspective, it’s a very weak card. The bookies have done a really good job of pricing the punters out of any value, as my conclusions to most fights see me lining it pretty close to the books, where there ends up being no real numerical edge on either side! Nonetheless, I’ve broken down most of the bouts on the card below:
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Cory Sandhagen v Marlon Vera
Marlon Vera has always been one of my favourite fighters. Backing him to win inside the distance when he was a prelim fighter was a spot I always looked out for back in the day, so it’s great to see him climb so high in the rankings. I always support and ride with the fighters that make me money over the years, and Vera has been one of the best of them.
Unfortunately, Vera’s always relied on his power and finishing ability to really carry him through fights, as there are a lot of instances where he’s down on the overall scorecards, before finding a finish. His wins over Dominic Cruz and Frankie Edgar are the two best examples recently, but his issue of being a slow starter also made this applicable in wins over Davey Grant, Nohelin Hernandez and Guido Cannetti. Also similarly, he was being thoroughly outboxed by Rob Font in their main event encounter last year, but the Ecuadorian was stealing rounds with knockdowns in a very similar way.
Considering I expect this fight against Cory Sandhagen to be a closely contested one, Vera’s inability to win minutes and start strong could end up becoming a problem here. The pivotal question in this fight is whether or not Vera can hurt or finish Sandhagen, as I certainly lean towards favouring Cory if this fight goes the distance and Vera hasn’t scored multiple knockdowns.
Vera is one of the most dangerous guys P4P on the roster, with KO and Submission potential across all five rounds – but Sandhagen has been pretty damn durable in his MMA career. Aljamain Sterling was the only man of 19 able to finish Cory, and it came in under 90 seconds. Sandhagen’s performance there was such a disappointment that I’m convinced there was something else going on that hindered him that night. Petr Yan also dropped Sandhagen with a spinning back fist combo, but that seemed very much like Cory getting caught unaware – and he looked like he recover instantly.
Given the calibre that Sandhagen has fought against in the last four years – I think we have to give him the benefit of the doubt in assuming he can stay safe here. If that is the case I expect him to win rounds with superior output and a faster pace – especially considering he’s got a high likelihood of being one round up after five minutes.
I’m not super confident in that take though as it’s hardly on the level of Garbrandt vs Jones or something! So it’s a fight I’m definitely lining as quite close. Sandhagen deserves to be deemed the favourite for the above reasons, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if Vera’s dangerousness was enough to tip the balance in his favour, or if he was able to win a round by just point striking anyway.
I saw a stat this week that said there have been 10 rounds in 2023 where a knockdown is landed but the round still ended and was scored. Of those scorecards, the fighter landing the knockdown won 8 of 10 times. Whilst it’s highly implied that a knockdown means you’re more likely to win the round based off how the following minutes take place, that does still imply the judges are leaning towards awarding damage over minute winning (I personally hate the way MMA judging has gone these days but it is what it is). Just something to consider when you think about Chito’s path to victory.
At the end of the day, it’s an intriguing fight, and not one I think anyone should be rushing to the betting window for due to the small margins in the various skill discrepancies.
How I line this fight: Cory Sandhagen -150 (60%), Marlon Vera +150 (40%)
Bet or Pass: Pass
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Holly Holm v Yana Santos
Holly Holm is one of those fighters who makes your memory play tricks on you. I instinctively feel like I have a good read on her style and overall calibre, but then when I watch tape she’s always a much more underwhelming version of that fighter I have in my head. She just doesn’t really put her stamp on rounds – spending too much time in the clinch and does not have high enough volume. 3.24 significant strikes landed per 15 minutes is a shockingly low number, especially considering it’s Women’s MMA and Holm has a lot of in cage time. To make matters worse, Holm averages 0.72 takedowns per 15 minutes and is now 41 years old.
Whilst there’s a lot of data to crunch on Holm, there’s actually a surprisingly smaller sample size on Yana Santos. Considering Kunitskaya (previous surname) has been a known name in Women’s MMA for some time, it’s pretty crazy to think she only has 7 UFC appearances to her name – most of which are against a lesser calibre than Holly Holm. She’s also coming off a two year lay-off having had a child with Thiago Santos, which adds further uncertainty to an already tepid read.
As I’m sure you may have noticed by now, this breakdown is much more stat-based than I typically offer (though Women’s MMA is a lot more accessible for stats), because I honestly cannot bring myself to re-watch Holly Holm’s career and I’m instead relying on what the numbers are telling me. Perhaps that’s a bit lazy, but this is the 8th week of UFC cards in a row and I am feeling very burnt out! I just don’t think either woman has a particularly commanding style, and there’s a hell of a lot of intangibles floating around this fight (old age, post-child birth, lay-offs, levels of competition, Texas judging etc), so it’s a very easy pass.
How I line this fight: I won’t line a fight I haven’t taped, but I do not recommend Holm at this price.
Bet or Pass: Pass
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Nate Landwehr v Austin Lingo
It’s a shame Alex Caceres had to pull out of the originally scheduled bout against Nate Landwehr, but good to see they managed to find Austin Lingo a fight so soon after the Ricardo Ramos one fell through a couple of weeks ago (still annoyed I didn’t get to cash some easy money there). From a fan perspective, this bout is probably the most entertaining of the three available!
Both dudes are hardnosed strikers that like to fight gritty and wear out their opponents. Neither are particularly gifted from a technique perspective, but you’d be hard pressed to find fighters that can out work these two. Pitting them against one another is going to lead to an exhausting fight.
Landwehr is the much more experienced of the two and has clearly had more career success implementing the brawling style, but I think this is just one of those matchups that’s going to be fought quite closely, given how it should play out. Landwehr relies on sheer busyness and drowning his opponents to win rounds but, if he can’t necessarily do that to Lingo, do you really have a whole lot of confidence that he’s going to be the clear round winner? The guy gets hit by 5.56 significant strikes per minute. Considering we are in Texas and there is added volatility to the judging, any fighter that can land 5.56 S.Strikes is live to win a round or two!
Landwehr’s key to winning this fight is going to be in his wrestling, as that’s where he will clearly assert himself. But can he even get it there though? Lingo’s debut performance against Youseff Zalal was a big red flag in terms of his takedown defence, but he looks to have improved it in his following two bouts. However, those came against a lower level of competition so could well be flattering Lingo’s overall ability. His takedown defence stats are quite skewed, and he’s coming off an 18 month layoff which muddies the water even more.
I think the edge in experience and overall competence at the hard-nosed styles means that Landwehr deserves to be favoured here, but I think the pricetag is a bit ridiculous. He should get the win, but I would be very surprised if he does it with the dominance of a -275. The lay off for Lingo means that he can have anywhere from a very low floor to a reasonably high ceiling. Both men are durable and will have moments in this fight, so this is one of the fights where I’m expecting some wild shit from Texas judges. If you’re convinced about betting Landwehr at -300 here, you’re crazy. Lingo the value side, but mostly based off intangibles and hypotheticals, which doesn’t fill me with enough confidence to pull the trigger.
How I line this fight: Nate Landwehr -200 (67%), Austin Lingo +200 (34%)
Bet or Pass: Pass
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Andrea Lee v Maycee Barber
This one should be pretty fun! It’s speed and agility vs power and force.
Andrea Lee is a complicated fighter to get a full read on, as her performances have really varied throughout her career. She’s well rounded enough to outstrike most equally levelled opponents on the feet, and her grappling isn’t too bad either. Takedown defence needs a bit of work though.
The biggest issue with Lee is those back-to-back losses to Lauren Murphy and Roxanne Modafferi. It’s just inexcusable to lose both of those of those fights when you’re the calibre that Andrea Lee is. I know you can argue she got robbed against Murphy (it’s probably the key example of Texas judging being so bad), but she let the fight become quite close. And yes, Barber lost to Modafferi, but that was all determined by an injury and anyone who tells you otherwise is a hater or hasn’t watched it.
I’ve always thought Barber was overrated in terms of skills, but her physicality and strength are a bit of a gamechanger in the Women’s divisions. She’s well-rounded, but statistically has lesser output than Andrea Lee…which is always concerning. I expect this one to be quite competitive, where Andrea Lee could easily stay safe on the outside and jab her way to a win, as long as she gets on her bike and utilises good footwork. Maycee will plod forward and look to land the power shot, but that’s not a particularly high percentage outcome to rely on in Women’s MMA. If she can get her hands on her and utilise the clinch, I think it’s all one way traffic from there though. Maycee is reliable to do that, at least.
I can understand Barber being the favourite based off the finishing upside, imposing striking with good metrics and ability to land takedowns…but I’m just still not wholly convinced by her ability as a mixed martial artist outside of the way she implements brute force. It might be enough here, but I just don’t like her at this short of a price. Lee has a clear path to victory that, whilst I’m not convinced she can execute it, should be taken seriously.
How I line this fight: Andrea Lee +163 (38%), Maycee Barber -163 (62%)
Bet or Pass: Pass
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Alex Perez v Manel Kape
It’s just impossible to know what we’re getting from Alex Perez at this stage, isn’t it? I like Manel Kape and rate him relatively highly, but I have always maintained that Perez on his best day could well be a champion at Flyweight. I bet him in most of his fights in the buildup to the title bout against Figgy – and I bet him there as well. Unfortunately Figgy was still in his explosive prime so it didn’t work out, but I expected Perez to become somewhat of a title eliminator gatekeeper from then on. Since that loss two and a half years ago his career has taken a peculiar turn – eight fight cancellations and a 91 second loss to Alexandre Pantoja.
There are just so many question marks surrounding Alex Perez at the moment, and that makes it impossible to know what to expect in this fight. If he was at his best, I’d consider him a slight favourite here, but who knows. Kape’s weakness is clearly defensive wrestling, and he can sometimes be low volume enough on the feet that he makes fights closer than they need to be. Perez has a good enough style to make that work and win here…providing we get him at his best.
I didn’t dive into much tape for this one as I knew I wasn’t going to bet it at all. If you think Kape beats Perez based off the footage available then you’re getting a decent price!
How I line this fight: Didn’t tape, won’t line it.
Bet or Pass: Pass
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Chidi Njokuani v Albert Duraev
It’s crazy how much Albert Duraev’s stock has fallen, all in one loss to Joaquin Buckley. Before that bout he looked sensational on the Contender Series, and followed it up with a dominant win over Roman Kopylov as a -450 favourite. He absolutely does his best work in the grappling and showed that he doesn’t have much of a plan B if he can’t land takedowns or settle his opponent on their back. I’m also not too convinced by his cardio, and any opponent that will make him work hard to secure top position can weaponise his questionable endurance in the later rounds.
Buckley’s such a physical and stocky guy though, I think he’s naturally going to be a tough opponent to take down when you’ve got a bit more of a wirey frame like Duraev does. Chidi Njokuani isn’t so muscular and stocky, so I think it’s fair to assume that Duraev’s going to be more of a threat with the takedowns than he was against Buckley.
The problem is, Chidi showed some really impressive get ups after the initial takedown and doesn’t usually settle on the bottom whilst he’s fresh. Dusko Todorovic isn’t the best grappler in the world by any stretch, but Chidi was doing all the right things to prevent hit back from lying flat on the mat, and if he has similar success against Duraev he’s cruising.
The finish to the Robocop fight was a bit of a concern, but that fight heated up to a ridiculously fast pace in round 1 that I think Chidi cardio dumped, got rocked, and kind of quit on the bottom against Rodrigues. The same could happen again, but it would rely on Duraev pushing the pace aggressively with his striking, which isn’t something he often does.
Overall, I think Njokuani definitely deserves to be a favourite here as he is much more dangerous on the feet and has shown us already that he can successfully answer the questions that Duraev will ask. The Russian also does not have much of a plan B and doesn’t always do a whole lot with his top control except set up submissions. Considering Njokuani is a BJJ Black Belt, and the judges probably won’t appreciate those kind of optics from Duraev, I’m not massively convinced by his chances here.
I’m interested to see what kind of price they’re giving for Njokuani ITD in this fight, as I’m quite convinced by his finishing ability since he moved up to Middleweight, and Duraev is very hittable if he gets stuck on the feet. If I can get + money on it I think I’d have a small wager.
How I line this fight: Chidi Njokuani -175 (64%), Albert Duraev +175 (36%)
Bet or Pass: 1.5u Chidi Njokuani & CJ Vergara Both to Win (+122)
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Steven Peterson v Lucas Alexander
I complain pretty much every week about the UFC’s current fighter calibre having massively declined recently, and nothing proves my point like Steven Peterson finally becoming a betting favourite for the first time in 8 UFC bouts. The guy has been the perfect litmus test to determine whether any fighter is UFC level, and those he has beaten were notoriously bad at the time and didn’t last long at the top level (Chase Hooper excluded because he had some “name value”).
He’s got some similarities to Austin Lingo in that he is some generic white guy with bad tattoos, that doesn’t have any real skill but is gritty and dedicated to the fight. If you can’t put him away, you’re going to have keep your shit together or he might surprise you by sheer output and ruggedness. No fighter that is credited mostly for their ability to take a punch and walk forward deserves to be a -175 favourite, but they also don’t always deserve to be massive underdogs either (see breakdown of Landwehr vs Lingo). The thing that baffles me the most though is that Peterson isn’t much of a finisher (6 of his last 7 went the distance), meaning the books are putting a fair bit of stock into his ability to win a decision.
So…Lucas Alexander. His UFC debut was a quick loss via RNC, but it came off a slip from a kick and the rest was kind of a formality at that point once Brito got the back as a result. Personally I don’t really put much/any stock into that loss as I don’t think it showed us anything about him apart from his defensive grappling isn’t elite? Ask yourself this…if this was Lucas Alexander’s UFC debut, would the line still be the same? It depends on what the regional tape looks like, but I’m quite sure it wouldn’t!
Therefore, we have to go back to the regional scene to actually get a glimpse of Alexander…and there is a lot more to be intrigued by than you might think. He’s a better technical striker than Peterson! He’s got great fluidity and movement, throws a varied arsenal of kicks and combos (lots of leg kicks, which will halt that forward pressure), and switches stances quite often. I’m not too sure how he’ll deal with being crowded by Peterson and his intense style, but I fully expect him to get the better of the majority of the striking exchanges whilst they’re at distance.
To win this fight cleanly, the grappling is the answer for Peterson…but Alexander’s defensive wrestling and get ups aren’t bad at all from what I’ve seen! I’ve seen evidence of him using the cage to get back to his feet and reversing position in the clinch, as well as maintaining position in top control. Apparently he’s a black belt as well, but I try not to immediately assume that makes you a good grappler (he does have 3 submission losses tbf). I did see a few submission attempts and successful reversals from bottom against Jeremias Fernandez, and was impressed with how he handled being on the bottom. The two regional scene submission losses both came in 2018, and honestly he looks like he’s improved his wrestling/grappling a lot since then so I’m not massively concerned by them.
Peterson has averaged just 1.61 TDs landed per 15 minutes, which isn’t a massively high number and doesn’t really fill you with a whole lot of confidence that he’s going to stick to a grappling based gameplan in this fight, especially when we know how much he enjoys brawling. If he does come with that kind of gameplan then I guess I expect him to be favoured (still hard to say how good/bad Alexander’s grappling is), but if he opts to strike I think he’s at a disadvantage.
For me, this fight is clearly a pick’em, or at least leans slightly towards Peterson as the favourite. I do expect Alexander to perform better than his +150 price tag suggests, as I think he’s got the potential to keep out of danger with the grappling and actually outscore Peterson on the feet. This fight probably goes the distance and, given the hesitance I have about Texas judges, I’d much rather be on the + money side there as well. Alexander is still being regarded as a “UFC debut” fighter in my eyes so I won’t be staking much here…but if you’re betting Peterson at -180 I think you’re crazy.
How I line this fight: Steven Peterson -120 (54%), Lucas Alexander +120 (46%)
Bet or Pass: 1u Lucas Alexander to Win (+150 or better…waiting to see if the juice continues)
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Trevin Giles v Preston Parsons
Preston Parsons looked really good in his win over Evan Elder last year, with the latter going on to impress everyone with his latest performance against Nazim Sadykhov a few weeks ago. Parsons has a really suffocating wrestling/grappling style, forcing his opponents to work and threatening with a variety of submissions. He can be a little “submission over position” but he’s got an arsenal of really good sweeps from bottom. His striking also looked decent in the loss to Daniel Rodriguez, throwing shots at angles and landing pretty cleanly on D-Rod a few times.
He faces Trevin Giles, who has had a pretty eventful UFC career so far. Giles suffered back to back R3 losses to Zak Cummings and Gerald Meerschaert in fights he was clearly winning, where lapses in concentration saw him snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. He then went on to be the benefactor of one of the worst decisions in MMA history when he beat James Krause by decision. Giles hasn’t really gone on to do a whole lot in his UFC career since, but a well-aged win over Roman Dolidze stands out as the highlight.
Giles has decent striking himself, but he is such a low volume fighter that I think he’s going to struggle to win rounds against Preston ‘Pressure’ Parsons if he doesn’t do damage. The younger fighter will be happy to push the pace in this one, varying up his striking with a few takedown entries and just overwhelming Giles, who likes to fight patiently and methodically on the feet. Giles looks clean when he’s involved in a staring match on the feet, but when the tempo turns up and things get a bit wild he kind of loses all composure and technique (see losses to Morales and Du Plessis recently). Giles is also a decent enough grappler, but he’s prone to reversals on the mat (which Parsons will definitely try to execute), and can accept bottom position if his initial guard sub or two get shut down.
I’m struggling to really see why this one is being lined as a pick’em here, as Giles doesn’t hold a whole lot of advantages that I think he’ll be able to implement. He’s clearly a good striker, but the low volume should prevent him from really being able to show that off properly, and he won’t be the fighter looking to put his stamp on rounds when he’s fighting at a tempo way higher than he wants. He’s more experienced, but we’ve also seen lots of examples of poor fight IQ consistently creeping into Giles’ game and he hasn’t addressed the flaws of his style.
I’d line Parsons as a small to moderate favourite in this fight, and I’ll be betting him for a couple of units as a result.
How I line this fight: Trevin Giles +150 (40%), Preston Parsons -150 (60%)
Bet or Pass: 3u Preston Parsons to Win (+100)
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CJ Vergara v Daniel Da Silva
To me, this seems like one of those fights where the UFC are acknowledging Vergara has paid his dues, and are giving him a bit of a softball as a result.
No one really knew what to make of Vergara when he got to the UFC – a KO win on the Contender Series in 41 seconds is usually a red flag more than anything! They lined him up with Ode Osbourne for his debut, where he was a +170 underdog. He put a really impressive display in that fight, with many thinking he actually won against a guy that is quite well respected at Flyweight.
Next, he was a +270 underdog to Kleydson Rodrigues, who was making his debut as a highly, highly touted prospect. Everyone and their mothers was on Rodrigues in that fight, yet Vergara fought a really smart and dedicated gameplan and won a close split decision. I had a big bet on Kleydson in his fight a few weeks ago, and rewatching the Vergara fight had me respecting him all over again. Given what we saw Kleydson do to Shannon Ross (not that the latter is a world beater) did nothing but improve Vergara’s stock.
Then, for his third UFC bout, he gets Tatsuro Taira! Probably one of the top 5 hottest unranked prospects in the sport right now. That was the first time we saw Vergara actually look like the +220 underdog that the books had him as, but given the hype around Taira that’s actually a respectable number to be graded at! There really isn’t a long list of fighters who are willing to fight Taira at the moment, so the matchmakers have probably scheduled this fight as a thank you for Vergara being a company man.
They’ve given him Daniel da Silva (Lacerda) as a reward. DdS is a pretty wild fighter, with 15 bouts all ending inside the distance (and none even reaching round 3). That kind of kill-or-be-killed style is certainly fun to watch, but it doesn’t really work out as well as you’d think when you hit the big shows. Don’t get me wrong, he looks pretty decent in round 1, but Vergara is a durable guy that has shown good IQ in the cage so far. He should find a way to stay safe in that opening round, probably by landing a takedown and coasting in top control like Jeff Molina did (also, shoutout Jeff Molina for handling the social media chaos with grace last week!), or by pushing that ferocious striking pace and keeping da Silva on the backfoot.
Even so, da Silva is a liability to himself in Round 1 as well, as we saw in losses to Francisco Figueiredo and Victor Altamirano. Getting kneebar’d by Figgy’s subpar brother is a pretty bad look, and he had absolutely no answer for Altamirano’s ground striking as soon as he was on his back. His commitment to the guard sub is insane, and it’s probably going to be responsible for yet another loss here against Vergara.
I think we’re getting a decent price on Vergara here. The blueprint has been written on Da Silva and, whilst Vergara will have to be careful for the opening few minutes, I think CJ’s got him covered here. I jumped in on the -275 as a parlay piece, as I think there’s an argument Vergara should probably be a bigger favourite here?
Also, as a side note from watching Molina vs Da Silva – Damn James Krause was a good coach. What a waste!
How I line this fight: CJ Vergara -300 (75%), Daniel Da Silva +300 (25%)
Bet or Pass: 1.5u CJ Vergara & Chidi Njokuani Both to Win (+122)
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Vinicius Salvador v Victor Altamirano
I loved Vinicius Salvador’s DWCS performance against Shannon Ross and I’m really excited to see him make his debut, but I’m not massively sure about how good he is as an overall fighter. His style instantly makes him a fan favourite, but using nothing but head movement to defend, and having that cocky style that throws ridiculous highlight reel kicks isn’t really a positive trait when you’re looking to put your hard earned money on a fighter. It looks cool and can sometimes impress the judges…but it’s a risky game and can easily see you getting caught clean or making mistakes. There’s a reason Michel Pereira doesn’t fight like a lunatic anymore.
Salvador hits hard and absolutely has knockout power, having finished 13 of his 14 wins by KO (the other was a submission). He’s also lost inside the distance in three of his 4 losses, and Shannon Ross did have him hurt for a second or two in the DWCS fight. He’s a chaotic fighter, and I’m really annoyed we got robbed of the chance to see him fight Daniel Da Silva a few months ago. It would have been fireworks.
This might sound stupid as a genuine piece of logic and reasoning, but I have always fully believed the notion that Mexican fighters have the best chins and next level toughness. It’s kind of a dumb narrative for me to hang my hat on, but I am always hesitant to side with a knockout-based fighter if it’s a Mexican opponent they’re trying to put to sleep. We saw Altamirano eat a few clean and heavy shots from Daniel Da Silva in his last bout, which makes me think I might have to side with my illogical narrative once again.
With that said, I still think Salvador deserves to be favoured by a small margin here. Victor Altamirano just isn’t very good. His win over DdS was kind of a high variance random knee, and he was clearly losing that fight up to that point. He was competitive in the win against Carlos Hernandez, but I feel like that fight didn’t do much to show off the skills of either guy and it really solidified that they are equally matched as entry level UFC fighters. It was like an intense sparring session, where neither guy had any real sting on their shots and only looked to point score, with a bit of cage pushing thrown in for good measure.
The power discrepancy between Altamirano and Salvador is too big to ignore here. Salvador is going to come out hot and look to take Victor’s head off, and I just don’t think Altamirano is going to be able to earn back the respect of Salvador here. The striking should be one-way traffic whilst they’re fresh, simply because Salvador’s going be doing damage with almost every shot that he lands. As the fight wears on though, I expect Altamirano have a lot more success in the later minutes, as he settles into the fight and has grown confident he can withstand the power (as well as some of the sting coming off Salvador’s shots).
Altamirano doesn’t look like wrestling/grappling is his preferred skillset, but I think he would do well to lean on it a bit here. I haven’t been able to really find any tape on Salvador’s defensive wrestling/grappling, but I have to assume that a fighter with as little technical discipline as him is probably not the greatest grappler in the world.
I see Vinicius Salvador as something similar to the Brazilian equivalent of Trevor Peak. It's easy to get ahead of yourself and try to fade a guy with brute force and no technique, but it’s important to realise that the judges don’t score technique and as long as Salvador is landing something, he’ll earning favour with the judges and threatening to score a finish too.
I don’t think Altamirano is the guy to capitalise on those defensive lapses of Salvador, so I think the Brazilian is the rightful favourite. However, there’s not enough value on the line to justify a bet here, and Salvador could easily be the maker of his own downfall with his reckless style, and that’s not the kind of guy I like to back.
Very excited to see this one play out. I will probably throw Salvador into a couple of my untracked degenerate parlays, but officially it’s a no-bet for me.
How I line this fight: Vinicius Salvador -120 (54%), Victor Altamirano +120 (46%)
Bet or Pass: Pass
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Tamires Vidal v Hailey Cowan
The UFC are being very generous to Hailey Cowan, aren’t they!? After trying and failing to set her up with one of the worst fighters on the roster, Ailin Perez, they’re trying again to offer her a bit of a soft entry into the UFC.
The problem is that Cowan is just simply not very good, so I think she’s going to struggle against anyone that’s borderline UFC calibre. Tamires Vidal sits on the fringe, and she seems to be the much more dangerous of the two and actually has some process to her striking, so I think Cowan deserves to be the underdog once again.
The betting line here has been on a real journey already. Books opened Cowan as a +200 underdog, and it looks to have been jumped on by some opportunistic value bettors – and rightly so! I just hope the steam has come in because they think the line was wide, not because they have any real faith in Cowan!
I’m intrigued to see how far the overcorrection goes, as this one really should land around a pick’em. The books won’t mind tipping the balance towards Cowan if it means they’ve got equal money on each side, as this isn’t going to be a high stakes fight so they’ll prioritise keeping the book green.
I have to remind myself of the calibre I’m dealing with here though…both women are low level and high variance is at play! If all the money on Cowan continues to come and Vidal’s price gets bigger, then a true value bettor should pounce on any decent size + money…but you really do have to accept that you’re getting into bed with variance here.
How I line this fight: Tamires Vidal -110 (52%), Hailey Cowan +110 (48%)
Bet or Pass: Pass
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Bets (Placed bets in bold, others are pending as line may improve)
3u Preston Parsons to Win (+100)
1.5u CJ Vergara & Chidi Njokuani Both to Win (+122)
0.25u Njokuani, Parsons & Vergara All to Win (+330)
1u Lucas Alexander to Win (+150 or better)
Parlay Do’s: Njokuani, Parsons, Vergara
Parlay Don’ts: Sandhagen, Holm, Landwehr, Barber, Peterson, Cowan
​
UFC 287 (Breakdown next week but don’t expect line to hold)
2u Michael Chiesa to Win (-150)
Best of luck with your bets!

Just picked up a last year's model 508 GT Max (1.6 turbo petrol) but it hasn't come with an English language owners manual. Does anyone have a good resource, I find many of these 'free manuals' websites that appear on the Google search to be unreliable

Hello there! My name is Kyle, and I'm searching for a close friend who might just become something more. I'm a 39-year-old, 5'8" white male living in Phoenix, Arizona. While I may be overweight, I've been actively losing weight through diet and exercise. I'm also disabled, which can be challenging at times, but I'm fiercely independent and work hard to minimize my limitations.
​
When it comes to politics, I lean left, and I believe in treating everyone fairly. I don't have any kids, but I enjoy working with teens whenever I get the chance. I'm a straight-edge kind of guy - I don't smoke, drink, or do drugs, but I don't mind if others do.
In my free time, I enjoy reading audiobooks, with a particular love for sci-fi and fantasy genres. I'm also a fan of Marvel and Star Wars movies and television shows, but I'm happy to watch anything that catches my interest. I always have music playing, and my preferred genres are rock, punk, alternative, and electronic.
Recently, I've been rediscovering my passion for music and have been relearning how to play the bass. I hope to pick up the guitar next once I've improved my skills. I'm also an avid gamer and enjoy playing Minecraft on the PC.
​
Before the pandemic, I enjoyed volunteering and advocating for those with disabilities. Once things calm down, I plan to get back to it. I enjoy finding resources for people with disabilities and teaching them how to use technology. I also love answering questions and speaking to medical facilities, businesses, and schools about my disability.
​
If you share any of my interests and are looking for a close friend, I'd love to chat with you. I'm open to a variety of relationships and activities, including voice and video calls, just hanging out on Discord, and working towards a healthy weight together. Let's get to know each other and see where this could lead.

FYI, this is a story COLLECTION. Lots of standalones technically. So, you can basically start to read at any chapter, no pre-read of the other chapters needed technically (other than maybe getting better descriptions of characters than: Adam Vir=human, Krill=antlike alien, Sunny=tall alien, Conn=telepathic alien). The numbers are (mostly) only for organization of posts and continuity.
OC Written by Charlie Stastarrfallknightrise,
Typed up and then posted here by me.
Proofreading and language check for some chapters by u/Finbar9800
Future Lore and fact check done by me.
Another new alien race! WOOOOO
Also to all arachnophobes: I am sorry…I guess just imagine eight legged dogs the size of horses if that helps…
Previous First [Next](link)
"So, you're telling me we found another sapient omnivore species?"
The commander grunted, ripping his boot from a watery patch of mud and nearly crashing into the swampy water between two twisted tree roots.
Sunny reached out with one of her four armored arms and caught him by the back of his pack, pulling him upright.
He nodded a thanks to her and adjusted his gear.
Behind her Ramirez ducked under a low hanging branch, slogging through a pool of knee-high water, adjusting the containment pod, holding Krill more comfortably over both shoulders.
Krill, comfortable and warm inside his containment pod, watched the marines, scientists, and a linguist struggle through the mud under a covering of impossibly tall, twisted trees, their canopy blocking out all light that might have dared cut downwards towards the watery floor below.
"Not entirely sapient, I suppose."
Krill answered,
"Unfortunately the way in which they communicate is going to drastically reduce their ability to create complex structures and perform mathematical equations."
Together they maneuvered themselves over a root, which at some point in the distant past, had decided to grow upwards instead of down. At about four feet high, it had changed its mind and arched back down into the water. Perhaps it had been smaller then, but at four feet wide, the root was an absolute monstrosity now.
The trees themselves were massive, challenging, and sometimes outgrowing the legendary redwood forests of the western Americas, but unlike the redwoods, these trees didn't stand tall and proud. Instead, they chose a twisted path much like the branching veins which made up a human vascular system. They twisted and undulated, interlocking past each other with branches that were well over two feet wide in many cases, and stretching to over four feet wide in others.
No one direction was good enough, and the trees twisted, ducked swirled and reached, grasping for any sort of light to be found.
On top of the darkness cast by the trees and the soggy nature of the forest floor, it was also horribly hot and humid, giving the impression of a microwaved wet blanket thrown over the world. Where heat from the upper canopy met the cooler air of deep forest pools, it created a perpetually thick mist which writhed and undulated through the trees, leaving only the shadowy impressions of twisted trunks and clawing branches past distances greater than 50 feet (15m).
"They communicate primarily through pheromones and heat modulation. From what I understand, the language in itself isn't precise, and really only works in generalities and feelings than it does in absolutes."
Commander Vir kicked a rotting log out of the way, ducking as a massive green bug buzzed over his head and into the fog.
Turns out the hotter and more humid a planet gets, the bigger the bugs get,
"But we were still able to communicate with them?”
Krill nodded from inside his case,
"Yes, generally speaking. For a species that cannot communicate in absolutes, I hear they are quite reasonable. They seem willing to accept our friendship, and have..... invited, I guess, us to participate in some sort of primitive ritual."
Vir perked up, flashing a bright smile.
“Reasonable? Peaceful? Rituals? And definitely CANNOT communicate in ABSOLUTES!? Am I the only one who thinks that sounds familiar?”
Sunny sighed,
“No Adam I am reasonably sure that they are not Jedis…”
“C’mon, that would be so cool! Like lightsabers, the force and stuff… maybe they look like tiny Yodas? I mean it fits, with the swamp, the speech impairment and all…”
He nearly fell over another root.
“Adam, focus. We have a mission here.”
The commander nodded, scrambling over another tree branch,
"Alright, so... where are these things anyway? How do they look?"
His boots hit solid ground, covered in some sort of wet spongy fungus and he glanced down at his GPS.
“Considering they talk by smell, my bet is on Elephants with giant human noses. What do you think Mav?”
Ramirez turned around to look at Maverick, who had stopped walking.
“…”
“Mav?”
“Giant… fucking spiders…”
“…”
Commander Vir was still looking at his GPS and no one else answered, so without looking up he broke the silence and said:
“Wow you are always so negative; it better not be, I want my space Yodas…”
“…”
“…”
More silence.
This time it was broken by Ramirez.
“Giant fucking spiders… with… Wolfheads!?”
The commander was still diddling around with the GPS in his hands.
“Oh not you too Ramirez, also that’s oddly specific, you always had a pretty cruel imagination. Ah there we go I think it’s that way.”
He said, looking up from his GPS to keep moving.
“…”
“…”
After some steps he realized no one was following him, so he stopped and turned around.
Behind him the other marines were dead silent, heads lifted towards the sky in shock.
"FUCK ME."
One of the marines whispered, scrambling back behind a tree root.
Commander Vir turned and nearly fell into the water again, eyes locked onto the creatures descending from high above.
They were huge, about the size of large horses, and horrifically spider like in their construction, or perhaps an ant. They had large-scale abdomens connected to a thinner thorax. All together they had ten appendages, three pairs of spider-like legs on the abdomen which, instead of ending in a pod or foot, ended in a sharp pointed spike. On the abdomen, they had two arm-like appendages, with too many joints and strange wavy tentacles instead of fingers.
The head was just as disconcerting.
It seemed too large for the body, grossly out of proportion and strangely out of place, like some cosmic sentience had used a random animal generator to assign parts to its body.
The head was wolflike, if you were to strip the skin and fur away, leaving only the muscle underneath. You could see the line of teeth running up either side of the muzzle, while the large red-pink ears rotated continuously.
Commander Vir had backed himself into the bowl of a tree eyes wide. Sunny slogged herself up from the water, placing herself between the strange spidery creatures and the human.
They didn't descend like a spider might, on threads of silk, but they used their back six feet, and the spikes on the end to dig into the bark of the trees with a disconcerting thud thud thud thud.
Finally the largest of the creatures reached the ground, surprisingly silent for its massive bulk.
Glancing around Sunnys tensed body, he noticed something he hadn't before, and that was a strange small mass gripping onto the spidery creature's underbelly. Upon closer inspection he counted ten legs and a surprisingly spidery head buried against its underside... a completely separate creature holding on to its companion.
Behind the largest creature, he noted ANOTHER type of creature. It boasted the same sort of structure as the large creature, but its abdomen was devoid of scales, and covered in strange black bulbs suctioned onto its body by way of a strange, sticky black-green webbing. Its head was also constructed differently more like a lizard than a wolf, with large bulbous eyes that could rotate behind its own head to look in all directions.
Commander Vir fiddled nervously with the advanced translation headset he wore, strapped to his helmet, supposedly it was supposed to be able to understand what these things were saying.
"Sky... friends."
The translation was somewhat garbled, but he understood it was the large wolf-head who spoke.
He walked forward, pushing Sunny gently to the side despite her clear reluctance,
"Yes, we are friends, and we are here to offer peace to you, and the assistance of the Galactic Assembly."
He wasn't entirely sure how that was going to translate over in smell, but the creature seemed happy lifting its head and gnashing its large canine teeth.
"Agreement... for a favor."
Commander Vir grew unsure then, letting off a reluctant,
"What favor?”
The spidery shape moved closer sniffing at him with its large wolffish nose. Sunny stiffened at his side, and he put a hand on her arm to calm her.
"Ritual... you watch and help."
"None of us will get hurt... will we?"
The creature stopped and pondered the question for a long moment,
"No danger... live... healthy... happy."
Commander Vir nodded slowly,
"Alright, what do we have to do?"
The creature hefted its large bulk, and turned in the opposite direction,
"Follow."
It commanded, scuttling off into the trees.
[…]
"This is very interesting."
Krill was saying to one of the accompanying scientists, who nodded vigorously in agreement.
"What's so interesting?”
Commander Vir whispered, from where he stood at the edge of yet another, but larger fungus covered clearing, watching as the creatures scuttled back and forth.
The scientist learned in in excitement,
"It seems that these creatures have a ternary gender system."
Before the commander could ask, the scientist continued,
"For ease of speech, the large ones are the females, and those things on their bellies are probably the males. The medium ones are the third gender, the 'they' if you will. It looks like the male impregnates the female who then attaches the eggs to the third party. Dr. Krill tells me that the third party have a very high heat signature, probably to incubate the young. Those attachments probably provide nutrients into the egg and may even transfer DNA over as well."
"Wow... freaky."
The commander muttered in fascination.
"Kind of gross if you ask me."
Sunny muttered.
"I'm with her. Its kinky, but too kinky for me…"
Ramirez muttered, receiving a few nods from the other marines.
"Oh please."
Krill whispered,
"I know what human reproduction is like, and it's arguable way worse."
The scientist waved them all off,
"The big one there, the one that's been talking to us. I think she's the queen, and judging from those egg sacks, this is probably mating season, if they have one."
"Creepy, but cool, I guess."
The captain muttered. They watched for a little longer as the queen scuttled around the clearing and then returned to look at them, lowering her meaty wolffish head to the commander's eye level.
"Ritual... find... eggkeeper."
She scuttled away.
"Oh... this is some sort of… Mating ritual maybe? To choose that third party you were talking about?”
"This isn't exactly the kind of "Mating ritual" I wanted to see."
Ramirez muttered. The other marines turned to look at him with raised eyebrows. Sunny stuck her tongue out in disgust.
Off in the clearing, some of the smaller females had moved themselves onto the high branches scuttling through the trees to examine the "they" who waited patiently. It appeared that side was very important in the ritual, as they all fought for the largest counterpart. Once found, the wolffish head would lower, and open up to reveal a tube under the tongue. From there she would... disgorge the egg onto the abdomen of the 'they' and the mucus would solidify to hold them on.
"It has to do with size."
Krill hissed,
"But it seems that it has more to do with heat. The big ones only get chosen more because they also happen to be warmer than the smaller ones. I'd say they incubate at an average of 90 degrees Fahrenheit, so 32 degrees Celsius."
They watched this for a while, the scientists taking notes and the marines making inappropriate jokes.
Eventually most of the creatures had finished, leaving only the queen left over.
Everything went still when she began to move, and she scuttled around the clearing, looking over all the available 'theys' she could find, but she just didn't seem satisfied.
Commander Vir tugged at the collar of his jacket, a line of sweat dripping down his face.
She continued her circuit once and then twice; at some point she turned her head, large eyes locking on the humans.
She sniffed at them.
The human laughter died as she advanced.
"What is she doing?"
The commander muttered under his breath.
The scientist that stood next to him, hidden partially behind Sunny, answered
"I... I'm not sure."
She scuttled even closer, and the humans backed away.
"Hey doc... didn't you say something about... them being attracted to heat? And like the “they’s” being around 90 F/32 Celsius?”
Ramirez wondered, hiding himself behind a root.
"Yeah... I did, why?”
"Not to freak anyone out or anything but... isn't average human heat about 98.6 Fahrenheit… so 37 degrees Celsius?"
”FUCK!”
”OH NONONONONO!”
”HIIIIDE!”
”RUUUN!”
What followed was a rather violent game of nose goes, but instead of involving touching one’s nose to see who was the last person standing, it involved a mad rush to reduce body heat.
The smartest marines took the initiative and dove into the water beside the clearing, completely submerging themselves under the surface.
Others chose to cover whatever exposed skin they might have had in mud, as if to mask the heat.
Still others chose to cut and run.
Unfortunately, with his position at the head of the group, commander Vir wasn't fast enough.
She came at him in a scuttling rush, and in a frantic leap to get away, his boot caught on a root and he hit the ground hard.
Sunny tried to leap in front of him, but was bowled over by the mad rushing form.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!"
Commander Vir repeated, scuttling backwards across the ground, as the large spidery shape loomed over him.
He stopped dead in his tracks, backed against a tree root.
She leaned closer.
He raised his hands above his head blocking his face,
"Please don't lay your eggs in me. Please don't lay your eggs in me."
She reached out one of her forward hands, surprisingly delicate, as she cut through the first layers of his jacket, and shirt.
They fell away in slices revealing the pale human skin underneath red and sticky with the tropical heat.
His chest and abdomen heaved with his breath as he tried to scramble away, but she caught him with the prong of one of her back legs pinning him in place.
"Fuck... Help... HELP."
Sunny wasn't fast enough, having been tipped head over heels into the water, with the rest of the marines in similar positions, Krill contained inside his tube unable to help but also unable to look away.
She lowered her head, and the man screamed. It was cold, gelatinous and slimy at first, but even as it touched open air, he could feel it fusing against his skin solidifying. He thrashed and wriggled, but she was far too strong holding him in place.
Finally though, she backed away, leaving him panting on the ground shaking and trembling leg throbbing where he had been pinned.
She leaned her head down to examine him,
"Warm."
They locked eyes,
"Friends... now... Keep them... warm."
She retreated, and he struggled to his knees, turning to look down at his body which was now partially obscured by a sticky pod of six black eggs, pulled tight against his skin. His hands were shaking, as he reached down to touch them, cold and smooth.
He tried tugging on one, but nearly fainted at the pain it caused against his skin.
The creatures were withdrawing back into the trees, leaving him kneeling on the fungus, hands trembling as looked downwards.
Sunny was the first to recover, scrambling out of the water and over to him, placing a hand on his back as she examined the strange eggs attached to his skin,
"Mother of-"
The marines cut her off as they came wriggling from the trees,
"Commander, commander are you ok..."
One of the marines cut around front, frozen in his tracks, eyes wide once he saw,
"WHAT THE HELL!"
Sunny reached out as if to tug on one of them,
"NO!"
He snapped, jerking away from her.
The others gathered around to look with exclamations of shock and disgust.
The commander looked up at Sunny pleadingly.
She decided to take charge, helping him to his feet and then pulling him into her arms,
"We have to get him back to the ship, let's move, NOW!"
"What do you think, Dr."
Dr. Katie examined the scan with a frown,
"It's very, very strange, that's for sure."
Commander Vir lifted his head to look down at them,
"Well what the HELL does that mean?”
Krill shoved his head back onto the table,
"Stay still."
Dr. Katie hummed softly as she continued to examine the scans,
"It looks like these little filaments have breached the skin ... and.... well at least one of them has made it to your liver, this one here has made it to your lungs."
"What about white blood count?"
Krill wondered,
"The body must have noticed something by now?"
Dr Katie shook her head,
"Nothing, the body seems to have accepted it. I took some samples and... well I think I might know why."
She rolled herself to the side in her chair and over to one of the adjoining computers,
"See this, this is HIS DNA ...and this is the DNA of the strands."
Krill pearled over her shoulder,
"What the... they look almost identical."
"Yes... I don't think the body knows anything is wrong."
She turned her chair back around to look at the commander,
"Congratulations commander, you are perhaps, in the weirdest way possible, the only man in the history of existence who might just experience the miracle of life. You are going to be a dad!"
The look on his face made it clear he wasn't interested in being congratulated,
"What the actual fuck does that mean?"
He snapped, Dr. Katie rolled closer,
"Well, to explain in terms you may understand. You are doing more than keeping them warm. Those filaments that you saw are acting like umbilical cords. The one at your liver is using it as a filter, and to take in nutrients as it seems to have branching filaments to the stomach and intestines. The one going to your lungs is taking in carbon... not sure what that's going to do to your breathing if anything. But at this point I don't think that even Dr. Krill, as good as he is, can remove them. We would have to remove too much of your internal structure to it to be viable, plus they don't seem to be hurting you."
"Not hurting me! NOT HURTING ME! You said it yourself they are SUCKING OUT MY VITAL JUICES."
Dr. Katie shrugged,
"Welcome to pregnancy... sort of.”**
”Look we will monitor you, make sure they aren't sucking away to many nutrients. Look on the bright side, you can probably eat more, and judging from an analysis of the egg sacks, the average gestational period is only around two months."
"TWO MONTHS!?"
Sunny, who had been standing next to the man at the head of the exam table, couldn't suppress a short chirp of laughter.
He glowered at her,
"What's so funny!?"
She chirped again placing a hand on his arm,
"You're gonna be a mom."
If looks could kill, shed be reduced to a singularity,
"Get your hand off me or ill break it in half!"
She continued chirping but removed her hand just in case.
This was going to be a very awkward call to the UNSC and the GA.
For that matter, it was going to be a very awkward call home.
Previous First [Next](link)
Intro post by me
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author
Thanks for reading! As you saw in the title, this is a cross posted story written by starrfallknightrise and I'll just upload some of it here for you guys, if you are interested and want to read ahead, the original story-collection can be found on tumblr or wattpad to read for free. (link above this text under "OC:..." ) It is the Empyrean Iris story collection by starfallknightrise. Also, if you want to know more about the story collection i made an intro post about it, so feel free to check that out to see what other great characters to look forward to! (Link also above this text). I have no affiliations to the author; just thought I’d share some of the great stories you might enjoy a lot!
Obviously, I have Charlie’s permission to post this and for the people already knowing the stories, or starting to read them: If you follow the link and check out the story you will see some differences. I made some small (non-artistic) changes, mainly correcting writing mistakes, pronoun correction and some small additional info here and there of things which were not thought of/forgotten or even were added/changed in later stories (like the “USS->UNSC” prefix of Stabby, Chalar=/->Sunny etc). As well as some "biggemajor" changes in descriptions and info’s for the same stringency/continuity reason. That can be explained by the story collection being, well a story collection at the start with many standalone-stories just starring the same people, but later on it gets more to a stringent storyline with backstories and throwbacks. (For example Adam Vir has some HEAVY scars over his body, following his bones, which were not really talked about up till half the collection, where it says it covers his whole body and you find out via backflash that he had them the whole time and how he got them, they just weren't mentioned before. However, I would think a doctor would at least see these scars before that, especially since he gets analyzed, treated and goes shirtless/in T-shirts in some stories). So TLDR: Writing and some descriptions are slightly changed, with full OK from the author, since he himself did not bother to correct these things before.

Hello there! My name is Kyle, and I'm searching for a close friend who might just become something more. I'm a 39-year-old, 5'8" white male living in Phoenix, Arizona. While I may be overweight, I've been actively losing weight through diet and exercise. I'm also disabled, which can be challenging at times, but I'm fiercely independent and work hard to minimize my limitations.
​
When it comes to politics, I lean left, and I believe in treating everyone fairly. I don't have any kids, but I enjoy working with teens whenever I get the chance. I'm a straight-edge kind of guy - I don't smoke, drink, or do drugs, but I don't mind if others do.
In my free time, I enjoy reading audiobooks, with a particular love for sci-fi and fantasy genres. I'm also a fan of Marvel and Star Wars movies and television shows, but I'm happy to watch anything that catches my interest. I always have music playing, and my preferred genres are rock, punk, alternative, and electronic.
Recently, I've been rediscovering my passion for music and have been relearning how to play the bass. I hope to pick up the guitar next once I've improved my skills. I'm also an avid gamer and enjoy playing Minecraft on the PC.
​
Before the pandemic, I enjoyed volunteering and advocating for those with disabilities. Once things calm down, I plan to get back to it. I enjoy finding resources for people with disabilities and teaching them how to use technology. I also love answering questions and speaking to medical facilities, businesses, and schools about my disability.
​
If you share any of my interests and are looking for a close friend, I'd love to chat with you. I'm open to a variety of relationships and activities, including voice and video calls, just hanging out on Discord, and working towards a healthy weight together. Let's get to know each other and see where this could lead.

Requested a Bolt boda from Dennis Pritt Rd to Marsabit Plaza Ngong Rd, bro comes and tries to bargain the price upward, I remain adamant and bro tells me to cancel.
Coincidentally, soon as I cancel, a babe friend who was going even further along the same direction orders,Niko tu hapo bado nimesimama,same dude bro picks her up.
"unaenda wapi"..."junction"..."amekucharge how much?"... "200"...Da fork?? an even lower price than what I was offering initially.What an incorrigible incel😂 Hawa wasee hukua aje?🤬😁

How the Paris-Dakar Rally Led to an Adventure Motorcycling Movement
Lost in the Ténéré Desert
When French motorcycle racer Thierry Sabine found himself lost in the Teneré Desert for two days and three nights, he nearly died. The experience left an indelible mark on Sabine but perhaps not in the way you would imagine. He was so taken with the African desert landscape that he wanted to build a race that would return him there.
When he got back to France, he began to organize a rally that spanned two continents, six countries, and one desert. From Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal. One year later, in December 1978, 182 vehicles left Paris with only 74 surviving to the finish line in Dakar.
Thierry Sabine would later tragically lose his life in a helicopter crash while attempting to rescue pilots during the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally but his idea of adventure endures. His race opened the minds of onlookers and suggested that they too could buy a bike and have an adventure of their own.
The Paris Dakar was an immediate public sensation and led to a surge in sales of early enduro/adventure motorcycles like Yamaha’s XT500 and Honda’s XR500R. And it spawned an entirely new competitor out of Germany - the BMW G/S.
We write quick stories like this once per week in our quick, always free newsletter. All goods, no spam.
thefarkle.co

How the Paris-Dakar Rally Led to an Adventure Motorcycling Movement
Lost in the Ténéré Desert
When French motorcycle racer Thierry Sabine found himself lost in the Teneré Desert for two days and three nights, he nearly died. The experience left an indelible mark on Sabine but perhaps not in the way you would imagine. He was so taken with the African desert landscape that he wanted to build a race that would return him there.
When he got back to France, he began to organize a rally that spanned two continents, six countries, and one desert. From Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal. One year later, in December 1978, 182 vehicles left Paris with only 74 surviving to the finish line in Dakar.
Thierry Sabine would later tragically lose his life in a helicopter crash while attempting to rescue pilots during the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally but his idea of adventure endures. His race opened the minds of onlookers and suggested that they too could buy a bike and have an adventure of their own.
The Paris Dakar was an immediate public sensation and led to a surge in sales of early enduro/adventure motorcycles like Yamaha’s XT500 and Honda’s XR500R. And it spawned an entirely new competitor out of Germany - the BMW G/S.
We write quick stories like this once per week in our quick, always free newsletter. All goods, no spam.
thefarkle.co

How the Paris-Dakar Rally Led to an Adventure Motorcycling Movement
Lost in the Ténéré Desert
When French motorcycle racer Thierry Sabine found himself lost in the Teneré Desert for two days and three nights, he nearly died. The experience left an indelible mark on Sabine but perhaps not in the way you would imagine. He was so taken with the African desert landscape that he wanted to build a race that would return him there.
When he got back to France, he began to organize a rally that spanned two continents, six countries, and one desert. From Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal. One year later, in December 1978, 182 vehicles left Paris with only 74 surviving to the finish line in Dakar.
Thierry Sabine would later tragically lose his life in a helicopter crash while attempting to rescue pilots during the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally but his idea of adventure endures. His race opened the minds of onlookers and suggested that they too could buy a bike and have an adventure of their own.
The Paris Dakar was an immediate public sensation and led to a surge in sales of early enduro/adventure motorcycles like Yamaha’s XT500 and Honda’s XR500R. And it spawned an entirely new competitor out of Germany - the BMW G/S.
We write quick stories like this once per week in our quick, always free newsletter. All goods, no spam.
thefarkle.co

How the Paris-Dakar Rally Led to an Adventure Motorcycling Movement

Lost in the Ténéré Desert
When French motorcycle racer Thierry Sabine found himself lost in the Teneré Desert for two days and three nights, he nearly died. The experience left an indelible mark on Sabine but perhaps not in the way you would imagine. He was so taken with the African desert landscape that he wanted to build a race that would return him there.
When he got back to France, he began to organize a rally that spanned two continents, six countries, and one desert. From Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal. One year later, in December 1978, 182 vehicles left Paris with only 74 surviving to the finish line in Dakar.
Thierry Sabine would later tragically lose his life in a helicopter crash while attempting to rescue pilots during the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally but his idea of adventure endures. His race opened the minds of onlookers and suggested that they too could buy a bike and have an adventure of their own.
The Paris Dakar was an immediate public sensation and led to a surge in sales of early enduro/adventure motorcycles like Yamaha’s XT500 and Honda’s XR500R. And it spawned an entirely new competitor out of Germany - the BMW G/S.
We write quick stories like this once per week in our quick, always free newsletter. All goods, no spam.
​
thefarkle.co