BoxOfficeTheory Presale Tracking
USA Showtimes As of May 17

• katnisscinnaplex showtimes (I've been meaning to look at shows since I wasn't able to run it last week. It looks like all of the releases this week are fairly limited. Here's what I am seeing listed so far, which is probably ~90% of final (I think...I don't usually run on Wednesday): In a Violent Nature - 440 TC (plus ~200 early shows), Summer Camp - 653 TC, Ezra - 617 TC and Haikyu - 816 TC (May 28).)

Presales Data (Google Sheets Link)
BoxOfficeReport Previews
DOMESTIC PRESALES
Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle Average THU Comp: $0.91M

• abracadabra1998 ($1.00M THU comp. No movement, probs looking at around $1 Million previews (May 28). Not bad, not bad (May 27).)
  
• Flip (Looking at some theaters near me, Haikyu is outselling Spy x Family (May 20).)
  
• katnisscinnaplex ($0.81M THU comp.)
  
• Rorschach (These numbers seem pretty damn good. Will echo @abracadabra1998's $1 mil previews prediction (May 28).)
  

In a Violent Nature

• el sid (Had also only showtimes in 4 of the 7 theaters but already 123 sold tickets. So where it gets shows, it does fine. Loose comps, all counted on Monday of the release week for Thursday: Tarot (715k from previews) had 97 sold tickets in 5 theaters, The Invitation (775k from previews) had 96 in 7 theaters, Pearl (1.3M OD) had 102 sold tickets in 6 theaters and The Strangers: Chapter One (1.2M from previews) had 215 sold tickets in 6 theaters (May 28).)
  
• katnisscinnaplex ($0.57M EA+THU comp.)
  
• Rorschach ($0.91M THU+FRI comp.
  

Summer Camp

• el sid (Has shows in 3 of my 7 theaters and had not more than 7 sold tickets. So so far completely under the radar. Comp: Book Club 2 (6.7M OW) had also on Monday for Thursday 25 sold tickets in 5 theaters (May 28).)

Young Woman and the Sea

• JonathanMB (I just checked showtimes near me, and in the entire Chicago suburbs it looks like it's only in 5-7 theaters for Friday. Also randomly enough it has a couple of showtimes today at 3pm at some random AMCs? Looks like they're 30-50% full (May 27).)

Bad Boys: Ride or Die Average Thursday / EA+Thursday comp: $3.47M/$5.34M

• abracadabra1998 (Comp: $2.61M THU. All these comps had been on sale for longer, so those will go up, with the exception of Civil War, which went on sale at T-18 so that'll go down. Feels like a walk-up movie so it's hard to find good comps (May 19). Numbers are from last THU, as per my post this morning. This is a more walk-up movie a la Aquaman or Apes so I think it's a pretty good start (May 18). Pretty good start for it honestly (May 16).)
  
• el sid (Counted yesterday for Thursday had 395 sold tickets with shows in 6 theaters (the small AMC Lakeline in Texas is still missing). 10 days left. Bad Boys for Life (6.36M from previews) had on Monday of the release week 915 sold tickets = 43% at the moment for Bad Boys 4 with 7 days left to come closer or maybe overtake. My guess is that BB4 could have 800-1000k tickets by next Monday, so it could be pretty much on par with BBfL. Similar to other reports here: BB4 does not have stellar presales and after several disappointments I shouldn't exaggerate but compared to the best comps it looks quite good for BB4 as you can see (May 28).)
  
• Flip (Decided to add one more theater but there was good growth in both of the original two (May 27).)
  
• katnisscinnaplex (Comp: $5.34M EA+THU.)
  
• keysersoze123 (Presales are again not that much at this point. I think its not going to hit the heights of last movie (May 28). It should start to amp up sometime this week (May 27). This wont be fan driven. Even the last one initially trailed Dr Do little in presales but amped up big time close to release. This will be a late bloomer. I am still expecting 50m+ OW (May 23).)
  
• TheFlatLannister (Comp: $5.11M THU. Steady pace, no acceleration yet. Switch to G x K since that had super strong walkups ($6.12M THU comp) and Bad Boys 4 will likely replicate this (May 27). Comps ($4.11M) would mean $40M+ Opening Weekend (May 24). Well, this is a pretty good start (May 17).)
  
• TwoMisfits (Aging male-skewing franchises tend to get the biggest bump from this deal. Folks are on the fence but know what they are getting. Female skewing non-sequel ones tend to get zero help. You need baseline interest to get people willing to pay anything, b/c these still are $5. The other effect of the deal is that movies releasing around the $5 hits sometimes get hurt. June TMobile $5 Atom movie. This could help it go huge, like last year's Spider-Verse (May 22).)
  
• vafrow (Comp: $2.7M THU. It's staying pretty flat (May 28). Zero sales day when all comps seemed to have done well. Not a great result. Note: This isn't a holiday weekend in Canada, so that doesn't explain the slow sales. Hopefully it's just an anomaly. This has been very steady to date (May 27). Ghostbusters and Apes both went up in comps, but I didn't have Hunger Games included, so it's brought the average down. Still, its growing at a steady pace (May 26). I still expect this to be more walk up friendly than the comps being used, and should see a gradual rise as the date gets closer (May 25). Nothing of note here. Staying steady. Will probably pick up only in the final week (May 20). Comps are not the greatest. One, surprisingly hard to find a comparable film with similar start on sales. Plus, I think ticket buying patterns have changed pretty drastically in my market over the last few months. Very little up front sales compared to late 2023. Dune was the exception (May 17).)
  
• YM! (Like IO2 the pace for Bad Boys is small but mighty. EA is only available at Majestic much like Garfield. With EA, it’s a few tickets shy of Furiosa’s T-6 but without them it’s only a bit over half. Either way both is really good. I think we’ll continue to see the gap grow over the week but as of rn, I am thinking around $6-7m previews without EA solely on vibes to an OW north of $55m (May 25). Same thing as IO2 for Bad Boys (see May 23 IO2 comment), I expect this to not only skew more GA friendly and should bulk up ticket sales as we get closer to release. It’s almost at half of Furiosa’s T-6 which is a pretty great thing. Should easily outdo it by T-6 imho (May 23). Again, another solid start-ish. I expect Bad Boys to have the most diverse audience. Can't really predict much on previews but I am feeling confident in the 55-60m OW range for the past few weeks (May 17).)
  

The Watchers Average Thursday Comp: $1.00M

• filmlover (Hasn't sold anything near me (May 26).)
  
• Flip (These are good numbers considering it’s only playing in 2/3 theaters I track (May 28).)
  
• katnisscinnaplex ($1.00M THU Comp.)
  

The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Re-Releases (June 8-10)

• BoxOfficePro (Fathom Events has also announced that select Regal Cinemas will present the films in 4DX on June 22/23/24 for Fellowship/Towers/Return respectively (May 14).)
  
• AnthonyJPHer (Fellowship of the Ring (269 tickets, 6 showtimes, 4 theaters) on Saturday, June 8, 2024 and Saturday, June 15, 2024 (21 tickets, 4 showings, 4 theaters). The Two Towers (243 tickets, 4 theaters) Saturday, June 9, 2024 and Saturday, June 16, 2024 (22 tickets, 4 showings, 4 theaters). Return of the King (281 tickets, 4 theaters) for Saturday, June 10, 2024 and Saturday, June 17, 2024 (16 tickets, 4 showings, 4 theaters). 852 tickets sold in total. 793 tickets sold for the first week. 59 tickets sold for the second week (May 28).)
  
• katnisscinnaplex (Up to ~1,400 shows now with new locations picking it up and others adding a second showing. LotR1 has sold 831 seats OD, LotR2 sold 715 seats OD, and LotR3 sold 735 seats OD. For comparison, Phantom Menace didn't break 800 tickets until T-3 and we're still over a month out. JW3 comp is currently around 9m (it was at 1,670 tickets sold at this point!) (May 6).)
  

Inside Out 2 Average Thursday Comp: $7.63M

• abracadabra1998 (Comp: $3.98M THU. Good update, hopefully this keeps on rising (May 23). Not impressed at all so far here sadly (May 19). Holy numbers of shows and seats! Multiplexes are really expecting a lot here. Sales off the bat not amazing here (May 15).)
  
• AniNate (Finally a little movement here. 23 Thursday, 52 Fri-Sun (compared to 18 THU and 23 FRI-SUN on May 17) (May 22). Safe to say the fan rush has ended, and it might not be immediately on casual family and radar when they're making memorial Day plans and there are two other kids movies out or about to be out (May 19).It is encouraging that Canton is already giving me something to work with with 12 THU preview sales. Same number for Fri-Sun. I do see nine sales for first THU at Canton now and I think that's a pretty solid start (May 15).)
  
• AnthonyJPHer (Some growth for THU, not bad but I expect sales to increase steadily as we get closer to release day. The presales are good enough to not be a disaster like Garfield, but not big enough to guarantee a 100m opening. I still like what I’m seeing though. As my local theater has finally shown some signs of life with this film. 5 tickets sold. Way better than Garfield at the same point. The numbers might not be completely accurate, but it’s looking extremely strong for Friday. 900 tickets for the five theaters I track. Maybe even 1,286 tickets if my numbers are accurate. That tells me this is not front loaded whatsoever. Or at the very least not preview heavy (May 27). Out of the 4 tracked theaters, there is at least 774 tickets sold out of 1000+ seats. Blown Garfield out of the water (~200 tickets from the theaters I tracked). At least 3 sold out (or close to sold out) showings for Inside Out 2. Looking good for Inside Out 2. Of course this might just be fan surge and all. I was looking at the THU previews in a theater near me. There is an almost completely sold out showing. Out of 195 seats, 175 were sold. Where I live there seems to be real interest. I counted about more than 400 tickets sold on THU for theaters near me, kind of shocked me (May 19).)
  
• charlie Jatinder (Comp: $12.33M THU at MTC2. Moving along nicely (May 21).)
  
• Flip (Decided to add one more theater but there was good growth in both of the original two (May 27). Fan event on the 16th has 43 tickets sold from 2 showtimes (compared to 8 showtimes and 73 tickets sold for previews), so that might be depressing previews a bit.)
  
• katnisscinnaplex (Comp: $6.37M THU. Early sales haven't been there lately except for the extreme fans. $12.27M Mario comp (May 18). At 180 shows for previews in my areas and still has a few theaters left to post. Godzilla x Kong finished with 197, Kingdom of Apes 190, and Kung Fu Panda 205 (May 14).)
  
• keysersoze123 (If you compare this to any animation movies seen recently including Minions, its doing very well. Really good this far out for sure (May 25). Chugging along at this point (May 19). Show counts show Plexes are expecting a big OW. I dont remember when we last had a animation movie start with so many shows. I wont count Mario as that was a fan driven movie. Definitely not great presales but this is not a fan driven movie. Let us see where things are in the final week (May 15). Families dont book tickets on weekday mornings. Wait until evening today to judge it. From a release perspective, easily the biggest for any animated movie in a long time. Only movie which is not comparable is Mario but that was not just a family flick (May 14).)
  
• Porthos (BAD COMPS: $8.96M THU. I don't agree with the undertone of concern when it comes to ticket sales for IO2. They seem perfectly fine to me, maybe even somewhat strong. It just isn't selling like a frontloaded CBM/fan driven franchise (even when adjusting for animation). So I suppose it really comes down to how much we think this will still act like a traditional kids animation film when it comes to buying pattern, how much demand has been burnt off, and how many people are still going to buy tickets but see no particular need to buy them early. Which I suppose really can't be answered until we get close to the time when kids animation films typically accelerate. But, I keep looking at the sales in Sacramento and not seeing much cause for concern. Yet, at any rate (May 25). Decided to add Nope ($12.62M) to the comp block. Not because I think it's a particularly good one (the ATP differences alone are a major red flag), but more for pace considerations considering how similar horror and kids animation are when it comes to being backloaded. The other consideration with Nope is that it was on sale for nearly two weeks longer, so it did have a small amount of extra time to pad some seats sold. But maybe the errors (ATP vs length of pre-sale) will cancel each other out. PROBABLY NOT! But the pace at the very least should be interesting (May 25). 10.0% Matinee sales, 5.3% 3D sales and 42.2% PLF sales. (May 19). Strange pre-sale pattern. Was there some sort of promo that dropped today? Either way, just a great day (for this type of movie at this point in pre-sales) (May 17). Fairly strong day. Was concentrated at a couple of theaters (May 16). I do not have good comps, especially for D1. 5.45946x Elemental on D1 [13.10m]. Will it be as backloaded as Elemental? It's tough to sell 5.5x times the amount of tickets on the final couple of days, so perhaps not. But it does show how backloaded purely kids animation is. Sonic 2 comp is perhaps a little concerning. On the other hand, nearly a weeks more of pre-sales. Of presales, 3.5% are 3D and 40.1% are PLF (May 15). On the SAT of release weekend (NOT EA) there is a special event screening for IO2: INSIDE OUT 2: FUNKO FAMILY EVENT! (2024) Sat June 15th. Might boost OW slightly depending on how wide this event is and how much more these tickets will presumably cost (May 11).)
  
• TheFlatLannister (Comp: $8.52M THU Florida and $7.57M THU Orlando Comp.)Excellent pace this far out. Does feel like something big is around the corner (May 27). Definitely the biggest rollout in showings since I've started tracking Florida. Bigger than even Dune 2 and it's only T-26 (May 18). This is a super super strong day 2. Probably just Orlando overindexing, but yeah starting to lean towards something big brewing. Florida presales are somehow even crazier. Sold 2357 seats and is getting a blockbuster rollout in terms of showing allocations. Kung Fu panda comp day 2: gives me $8.50M (May 15). Well, I can't really tell if this is a breakout or not yet. Looks very good especially in the first few hours. These are probably terrible comps, but might as well try something (May 14).)
  
• TwoMisfits (I'm kinda shocked at the opening set from my Cinemarks... 2 screens (1 PLF, 1 not) and 6 showings at my PLF 14 for THU (and 11 showings on the same screens once it runs full day - 7 PLF b/c 1 is 3d on the reg screen, 4 not)... 3 screens (.75 3d, 2.25 not) and 9 showings at the non-PLF 12 for THU (and 12 showings on 2.25 screens once it runs full day)... So, 2 and 2.25 screens for the weekend presale sets... Disney must be charging a huge % for themselves b/c this is an Elemental opening set at my PLF...a little more generous for THU at my non-PLF, but then they too drop to an Elemental opening set after the adult Disney base THU rush... (May 14).)
  
• vafrow (Comp: $5.6M THU. It's starting to grow (May 25). I'm surprised this hasn't been stronger. At this stage, I don't expect we'll see much activity until final week (May 19). No new sales. Whatever glitches in the system on day 1 didn't push sales to day 2. I still think the lack of base ticket options will push families to wait. Cineplex has jacked up the cost of PLFs, plus they're throwing in an increase for opening weekend of major releases. It adds up quickly for families (May 16). With the site glitching yesterday, it might account for the slow start. But, what's interesting is the format breakdown. Nothing is being made available in anything close to a regular showtime. The one non 3D showing in Dolby is a matinee showing. Everything else is carrying a hefty premium. They'll likely release regular showtimes closer to release, but right now, it's priced to get eager fans to pay the PLFs (May 15).)
  
• YM! (Did a bit of quick math in following some comparisons for IO2 using Keysersoze123's earlier MTC1 data out of boredom again and pace is pretty good, 6.74M average THU comp. The same caveats apply (IO2 should have higher ATP than the other animations due to skew somewhat older and having PLFs but having lower ATP than TLM as that skews older and likely has more of audience to buy upfront, and Wish being on Discount Tuesday muddies things up) but the important thing is that pace healthy and gainer ground against its comparisons. Feel like tracking is right on the money of 75-85m OW but could grow stronger if pace continues strong and reviews are strong (May 26). The pace is moving nicely as we have about two and a half weeks left. Think there’s potential for ticket count pace to grow strongly. I have no comparisons but it is at Garfield’s EA-less T-3 ticket sales. Going to probably not say much on preview predictions but my thoughts of an OW in between 75m-100m still stand. Not much to make of things until we get to around 2 weeks for rudimentary guessing and opening week for figuring things out (May 25). Little has changed as IO2 keeps on trucking along. I do theorize at least from the 250 ticket selling Funko Event, it’s plausible families and fans went for that date instead of Thursday night previews. Not much to make of things until we get to around 2 weeks for rudimentary guessing and opening week for figuring things out. At the very least, I like that it doubled its previous sales a week ago as it shows pace and outdid Garfield’s T-6 (May 23). Did some snooping around for the Funko Event as I was curious if perhaps families getting presales for the opening Saturday vs opening Thursday as those sales are kind of weak Thursday and uhm it’s at 250 tickets. Which is like 5 times Garfield’s EA showing of 50 tickets all at PLF prices despite normal theaters. Most of which at 9:30 AM with only one theater having it at 11:00 AM (May 22). Based on keysoze123's Elemental, Wish, Little Mermaid, and Kung Fu Panda 4 preview data, $5.66M THU comp and $22.2M FRI comp. Not a fan of the average comp (Disney has underperformed at MTC2 so not within history to rely on it overperforming like KFP4 and IF) but really like the True FRI although it is very inconsistent. Not sure if IO2 would jump that high from the THU average. However, there’s a lot of variable since: 1. TLM should skew more towards young adults than families by nature which should make ATP higher. 2. IO2 should and does have a higher ATP than either Wish, KFP4 or Elemental due to total PLF control and presumably skews a bit older. 3. Wish was on Discount TUES so that should muddy up the comparisons. 4. The comparisons apart from Elemental are either days before or days behind. 5. Both Wish and KFP4 opened outside the summer season so internal multiplier will be different (especially with Wish’s five day) due to how summer and fall have entirely different natures in walkups which leaves just TLM/Elemental as viable comparisons. It does show that IO2 should at least open above 65m? (May 20). Seems IO2 is playing more like a kid's animation than a family event. Pretty solid for what it is. Majestic is healthy and about 66% of Garfield T-6. Thinking anywhere from 75m-100m OW rn (May 17). Only been an hour but yeah sales are softer than I expected. However, it is a month out and will largely skew more towards kids than say TLM/Across so wasn't expecting a blitz like them. Here at Marcus theaters are going all out for IO2 with it having the lion share of PLFs with it getting both screens when there is two PLFs with tentpole like levels of screens (May 14).)
  

The Bikeriders

• Pinacolada (Actually sold some around me. It does seem like Focus is giving it kind of a shitty release though. Small screens. Definitely no PLFs, which 20th Century Studios was gonna get it Dolby back when they had it. There's 3 theaters really near me. Only 1 of them has this on sale as of now, though the other 2 theaters may come later? (May 26).)

Deadpool and Wolverine Average Thursday Comp using TheFlatLannister's Dune2+GOTG3 comp: $30.46M

• AMC ("Some 200,000 movie fans have bought their AMC tickets already. This is more Day 1 ticket sales at AMC than for any other R-rated movie ever." Insiders tell The Hollywood Reporter that first-day sales are likely around $8 million to $9 million if extrapolating the 200,000 stat cited by Aron (May 22).)
  
• DEADLINE (Already heating up eight weeks before its debut, having already collected some $8M in first day ticket sales. $8M is pretty remarkable for an R-rated movie two months before release. While there are no direct comps on Deadpool & Wolverine ticket sales in post-Covid history, its current cash bests the 24-hour advance ticket sales of The Batman ($6.5M), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($6M) and John Wick: Chapter 4 ($1.4M). The Batman and GOTG3 opened to respective 3-day weekends of $134M and $118.4M (May 22).)
  
• FANDANGO (Broke Fandango’s best first-day ticket sales record for 2024. Best first-day pre-seller from the Deadpool franchise (May 21).)
  
• abracadabra1998 (Day 1/2 Comps (not serious ones): $25.82M/$28.14M THU. Pretty damn great day 2!(May 21).)
  
• AniNate (THU sales still largely biased towards primetime evening showings. There may be FOMO but not enough for people to take off work early. Good lord already 80+ THU previews sold for Deadpool at Canton (May 20).)
  
• AnthonyJPHer (Extremely strong growth from OD for Thursday. We have a monster on our hands here people. Buuut. Let me temper the excitement somewhat. The Friday numbers are good, stronger than Inside Out 2 by a considerable margin. However Inside Out 2 is looking very backloaded. This is looking extremely presales heavy right now. Much more than IO2’s 1,200 tickets for Friday. But here lies the problem. There is only 122 tickets separating Thursday and Friday for Deadpool and Wolverine, and for IO2, there is 500 tickets between the two days for that movie. This far out I’m not freaking out. I think the gap will increase. It just alarmed me a little. I still think it’s going to be massive though. Just a word of caution (May 28). Off to a hot start! At my theater in my town, there has been 8 tickets sold. That sounds low but it’s actually a lot, especially this far out and because Inside Out 2 hasn’t sold any tickets at my theater yet. Looking more broadly at 4 theaters I track other than my own, there is a mind- boggling 1,029 tickets sold! Already more than Inside Out 2 (May 20).)
  
• Charlie Jatinder (Comp: $28.9M THU. Moving along well (May 27). Nearly 300 sales day vs ~260 by Black Panther & ~200 of GOTG3. Another brilliant day. Given the length of sales window, comps be falling off but they have remained steady for first 4 days (May 24). Looking at keysersoze123's MTC1 data: These are incredible (May 22). $40.22M THU (MCU first day sales). Amazing day two at MiniTC2. Well ahead of BP2, GOTG3 and AM3. Not too far off from Thor 4. This is more impressive considering they all were ~25-35 days out while this is 65 days out. MTC2 has lower ATP generally due to smaller screens, less PLF, and more family friendly chain. Does much better PTA than MTC1 (May 21). MCU MTC 1 24 Hours: Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness ~ 210K (T-29), Thor 4 ~ 137K (T-24), DP&W ~ 120K+ (T-66), BP 2 ~ 110K (T-38), AM3 ~ 88K (T-30), and GoTG3 ~ 76K (T-30). At T-30 guess DP&W would have been around 160-170K type. Will mostly be above BP2 and below Thor 4. 3.6k so far. BP2 final was 4.6k. It’s done (crossed GOTG3 day one sales). Almost crossed GoTG3 day one sales at MiniTC2 (May 20).)
  
• Inceptionzq (Denver Comp: $25.69M THU. Drafthouse THU/FRI/SAT/SUN comp: $31.04M/$38.62M/$40.21M/$22.35M (May 21). Drafthouse THU/FRI/SAT/SUN comps with L&T 24 hours and MoM 11 hours: (1.03x0.968x) / (0.884x0.945x) / (0.912x1.01x) / (0.561x1.004x). Denver THU: In like for like theaters: (0.828x Thor L&T First 24 hours) and (0.628x Doctor Strange MoM first 11.5 hours) (May 20).)
  
• keysersoze123 (Previews was taken late yesterday and Friday data was just now. Still going quite strong. very impressive after huge OD (May 28). Still really strong 3 days later (May 25). 1st few days of PS is all about fanboys so T-x does not matter. By this FRI it will be in steady state mode. With this long a cycle that would be at very low levels. Looking at FRI sales, its IM will be closer to Thor 4 than BP2. So we can do the projections based on how the previews will go. However Its really early. Let us wait until we have T-x comps. Probably will have to wait until July to get credible comps. MTC2 early sales tend to be way weaker for all movies. The disparity for big movies is even higher. Nothing out of ordinary in day 2 pace for MTC1 (May 22). Obvious skew on previews (compared to FRI) as its 9+ weeks from release. Excellent growth even past 2:15 PM. Finished ahead of BP2 and ~20K below Thor 4 (116k for DxW and FINAL The Marvels previews at 133k). It has the longer cycle. This includes fan shows which sold 18K+ in initial check around noon PST. Fan event is just MTC1. I dont see anything for any other MTC so far or smaller chains. I think at this point we need to comp with 2022 MCU movies if OD presales are on par. Until we are within T-x cycle for this movie, we cannot comp after 1st 2-3 days. Fan shows are yuge. Adding FanShows and Previews should put it between BP2 and Thor 4 for now. Terrific OD. Over time, GotG3 should provide great comps. I can say for sure, its no where in the ballpark of DS2 which did 36m previews. Really good start. Should finish the day ahead of Ant 3 I think. Sales will taper off after fanboy rush. This does not include fan shows. No full data yet but show counts for previews (MTC1 - 7427 and MTC2 - 2914). MTC1 shows they are ready for big numbers. MTC2 is more conservative and numbers will go up close to release. If I have to guess based on really early indications, its OD between Guardians 3 and Ant 3 at MTC1. MTC2 I unfortunately cannot get data (May 20). Thor 4 is the most logical comp but that had meh WOM so IM was terrible. Previews were excellent though. Since its previews was 3 days after July 4, its final surge was stronger than even DS2. I dont think there is any difference between early and late July. All schools/colleges will still be off (May 19). Only number that matters is OD presales. after few days it will hit a trough and then it will plod along until social media reactions and reviews hit close to release. I think we can kind of predict its OW after its OD presales (May 18). RESPONSE TO PORTHOS: Captain Marvel had very strong sales on its OD despite early start. So OD is all about fans. It does not matter if you start 2 weeks before or 9 weeks. They will still book. So it would be interesting to compare OD sales not only with CM for @Porthos but also the big openers in 2022/23 period from MTC perspective. 1) DS2 - 230k ish. 2) Thor 4 - 136k ish. 3) Wakanda - 110k. 4) Ant 3 - 88K. 5) Guardians 3 - 70k ish. I wonder where Deadpool 3 will land. Anything is fine as long as it does pull in a Marvels (May 17).)
  
• Legion Again (Previews this early in summer are almost a THU opening, so Fri soemthing like +35-55% from Th is IM ~4.9-5.5. If we get some strong Fri sales when we’re close maybe I’ll drag it up to 5.6 or something but it will be really really tough to beat that. Expecting an IM close to Thor 4. Better reception (in avg case, just by regression to the mean) but bigger previews/more fanrush element, ~cancelling. T-65 Projection Matrix ($166M-$186M OW) (May 22).)
  
• Porthos (Comp: $20.87M THU. $6.72M earned so far in Sacramento (May 28). For long releases of MCU/SW Saga caliber, it usually takes about 6 to 8 days for the initial wave to stop. The Rise of Skywalker didn't really "bottom out" until D9 or so (T-51). Then at T-21, more or less, it started up its acceleration again. Can see similar patterns for MCU long runners (May 24). MCU/SW films tend to have a bit longer of a slope-down on the decent of the "u-curve" so I think I'll keep posting "Day x" comps for at least a couple more days (May 23). Pretty standard Day 2, really. Best sign, I think, is it nearly matching BP2 (that also had a long pre-sale window starting at T-38) (May 22). $22.09M THU Day 1 Comps (8.4% 3D and 58.5% PLF) (May 21). Pretty good, all things considered. BP2 and onward tell a pretty consistent picture. Do think the extra month of pre-sales is gonna mess with these comps at least a little (May 21). Since setup took 60-75 min longer, take the following with a slight grain of salt: 1:45 PM with 2,105 tickets sold. (NWH 2am: 6515), (NWH 2pm: 10685), (Batman 12:45 pm: 1693), (MoM 1:00 pm: 5030), (L&T 12:15pm: 2519), (BP2 2:15pm: 2197) and (GOTG3 12:40pm: 1317). Two theaters have not yet checked in. Seems to be broadly in line with other markets that have reported in (May 20). No comparison for a movie starting presales this early (60+ days before release). Only MCU entry which comes close is Captain Marvel (T-58) and only other Disney release is TROS (T-59). Longest pre-sale window for a major Disney release since The Last Jedi (~70 days). Longest major release since Fast X's 99 days. Probably the most on-point recent comparison will be Jurassic World 3's 43 days. Length of the pre-sale window will very likely depress D1/D2/D3 sales somewhat. It's a matter of smaller degrees when comparing something like a BP2 (starting at T-38), but that extra month is probably gonna slice some numbers off the top of the pile, especially after the first day (May 17).)
  
• TalismanRing (NYC Regal Local. 17 shows (3 3D, 3 RPX, 11 Reg 2): 102 tickets sold for first hour - almost half for the 7pm RPX showing. COMPS MON opening week: Marvels: 91 (11pm), Eternals: 266 (7pm), Black Widow: 239 (5pm), and Venom 2: 131 (6pm) (May 20).)
  
• TheFlatLannister ($150M locked imo. Don’t really see under $30M for previews and a 6x multi gets it to $180M OW. With GOTG 3 early reception I think $200M becomes a real discussion (May 22). $44.36M Dune 2 Day 2 comp. Pretty ridiculously strong day 2. Sold more tickets on T-65 than Dune 2 did in its final day of presales. $22.42M THU GOTG3 Comp. Considering this thing is 60+ days out, I'd say day 2 was amazing (May 21). Sold around 1k tickets in the last 8 hours. Keep in mind this is not T-X so once I switch to T-X 30+ days from now, comp will probably be well over $30M for GOTG. Thinking ~8k seats sold by T-30 for ~$37M comp with GOTG vol 3. DON'T TAKE THESE THU COMPS (Dune+APES+GxK) SERIOUSLY: $46.33M. Rollout is pretty insane. Has almost 200 more showings than Inside Out 2. Sold more tickets than Dune 2 did as of T-1 (Dune 2 finished with 13.6k on T-0). Also surpassed Godzilla tickets sold as of T-0. Half way finished collecting data on Deadpool for Florida and it's nearly tripled Dune 2 first 24 hours of sales and data is still flowing in. Passed GOTG3, ATSV, Dune 2 (First 24 hours) in about 3 hours. I think we can put the under $100M OW discussion to bed. To the shock of no one, this is blowing up. First 24 hours update should have average comps near $35M (May 20).)
  
• Tinalera (Toronto having an especially good run on pre sales- overall sales looking healthy (May 27). For a movie this far out, yea presales are doing well in Vancouver and Calgary. Its hard as very few movies open this early, but its healthy when we are getting between 5-10 percent sales for a movie not due out for 2 months (May 24).)
  
• TwoMisfits (Local Cinemark presale sets for DP3... 3 screens and 15 showings each - the PLF is giving 1 of 2 PLF screens and the non-PLF is doing some 3d showings. Not the set that a normal "big" Marvel movie gets, but it seems my 2 locals have taken a "put up or shut up" strategy for almost all blockbusters lately. This IS equal or more than most everything lately (although Bad Boys 4 is getting 3 screens and 14 showings at my PLF, so...). But, compared to 2019 Marvel, or even 2021 or EVEN 2023 Marvel...this is a low set (May 19).)
  
• vafrow (Comp: $45.2M THU. 12% over two days is pretty strong once the rush passes. We're not at the bottom of the curve yet it seems (May 24). 8% growth at this stage is very positive. I expect another drop tomorrow, but I'm probably not going to touch this until the weekend at this stage. I'm comping high, and without a proper MCU comparison (Marvels doesn't count), it's hard to gauge, but I feel this is just doing really well here (May 22). 20% growth on day 2 when it had a really strong first day is impressive. Ahead of T-1 for Dune Previews to officially be the highest selling film I've tracked since I switched to the 5 theatre radius (May 21). MTC4 has really jacked up plf prices in the last year or so, and D&W is skewed heavily towards PLFs in my track. I'm not sure how many trackers are doing price adjustments, but lack of good MCU comps in the last year could see a big price impact. Watching L&T comps in particular because being a rare adult skewing July MCU film seems to be the most ideal (May 21). Solid jump over the course of the day. Dolby sales jumped up the most, potentially as good IMAX screens got taken. Not sure what happened for the East coast this morning, but sales seemed to have rebounded. A little hit and miss in different markets, but that's what I'd assume for that region. There's some small communities. Not sure why it took so long for sales to hit when southern Ontario was hot off the mark. People may have assumed 9:00 am eastern time. Numbers pulled around 11:00 am, so two hours worth of data. Chain is pushing 3D for the ticket premium. Exception is IMAX showings, where I think they know people just want the 2D experience. 60% of sales being those four IMAX showings. 40 minutes into presales for my area. Almost triple Dune 2 on my first measurement for that, which was Day 2. Bit ahead of my first measurement for The Marvels, which was T-21, and I think about a week into sales. They're really leaning into 3D showings. I get the desire for theatres to get the extra premium, but I can't see a lot of people wanting to see this in 3D. Has been up for sale on the Canadian East coast, presumably from 9:00 local time. I did a sweep of all showtimes on MTC4, but there's been zero sales so far (May 20).)
  
• YM! (Sold ~10.6x Furiosa's T-6. One theater makes up a sizeable percentage of most mid-sized Marvel's T-2 in a span of hours. Such a strong start. Definitely feels like we got a potential 25m previews/150m+ opener. Still don't buy 200m OW but am starting to see 30m previews/175m+ OW as a strong possibility. On its first day has sold over 10x Furiosa T-6 here in SE Wisconsin. At North Shore, 70% of Shang-Chi’s and Venom 2’s T-2, 47% of Homecoming’s T-2, and 41.25% of Thor: Ragnarök’s T-2 - just using DP&W’s T-66! At half of Furiosa’s T-4 sales here in the past ten minutes in just two of the theaters PLF shows (May 20). 42 showings for previews across four SE Wisconsin theaters I track. ~20% more showings than IO2 and about the same amount of PLFs spread. Likely 3-4 screens a theater for THU previews, but has SuperScreen + 2 UltraScreen screens in Majestic Cinema. Seems to be a 3D push with North Shore having primetime showings in 3D UltraScreen (May 19).)
  

Domestic Calendar Dates (last updated May 23):
MAY

• (May 28) Presales Start [The Forge]
  
• (May 29) Presales Start [A Quiet Place: Day One]
  
• (May 30) THU Previews [Ezra + Haikyu!! + In a Violent Nature + Summer Camp + Robot Dreams + Young Woman and the Sea]
  
• (May 31) Presales Start [Daddio]
  

JUNE

• (June 3) Opening Day [MON: Spider-Man No Way Home Re-Release]
  
• (June 5) Presales Start [Despicable Me 4]
  
• (June 6) Presales Start [Twisters]
  
• (June 6) THU Previews [Bad Boys: Ride or Die + Watchers]
  
• (June 8) 1-SAT Re-Release (1st day) [LotR: Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition]
  
• (June 9) 1-SUN Re-Release (1st day) [LotR: Two Towers Extended Edition]
  
• (June 10) 1-MON Re-Release (1st day) [LotR: Return of the King Extended Edition]
  
• (June 13) THU Previews [Inside Out 2]
  
• (June 15) 1-SAT Re-Release (2nd day) [LotR: Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition]
  
• (June 16) 1-SUN Re-Release (2nd day) [LotR: Two Towers Extended Edition]
  
• (June 17) 1-MON Re-Release (2nd day) [LotR: Return of the King Extended Edition]
  
• (June 20) THU Previews [Bikeriders + Janet Planet]
  
• (June 22) 1-SAT Re-Release (3rd day) [LotR: Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition]
  
• (June 23) 1-SUN Re-Release (3rd day) [LotR: Two Towers Extended Edition]
  
• (June 24) 1-MON Re-Release (3rd day) [LotR: Return of the King Extended Edition]
  
• (June 27) THU Previews [Blue Lock + Daddio + Horizon: Chapter 1 + A Quiet Place: Day One]
  

JULY

• (July 1) Presales Start [Fly Me to the Moon + Longlegs]
  
• (July 2) Opening Day [WED: Despicable Me 4]
  
• (July 4) Opening Day [THU: Possum Trot]
  
• (July 4) THU Previews [MaXXXine]
  
• (July 11) THU Previews [Fly Me to the Moon + Untitled New Line Horror movie]
  
• (July 17) EA [Twisters]
  
• (July 18) THU Previews [Twisters]
  
• (July 25) THU Previews [Deadpool and Wolverine (including 1 PLF fan show at 3 PM) + Didi + Fabulous Four]
  
• (July 29) Presales Start [Alien: Romulus + It Ends With Us]
  

AUGUST

• (August 1) THU Previews [Harold and the Purple Crayon]
  
• (August 5) Presales Start [Borderlands]
  
• (August 8) THU Previews [Borderlands + It Ends With Us + Cuckoo + The Fire Inside + Trap]
  
• (August 12) Presales Start [Alien: Romulus]
  
• (August 15) THU Previews [Alien: Romulus + Horizon: Chapter 2 + Ryan’s World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure]
  
• (August 22) THU Previews [Blink Twice + The Crow + The Forge + Slingshot]
  
• (August 29) THU Previews [City of Dreams + Reagan + They Listen]
  

Presale Tracking Posts:
May 11
May 14
May 16
May 18
May 21
May 23
May 25
Note: I have removed most tracking data that has not been updated for 2 weeks. I think there is value in keeping data for a week or two but at a certain point they start to lose their value and should not be treated the same as more recent tracking data.

Ok so our relationship has been rocky for awhile now but I’ve always kept trying to fix it. We went on holiday recently and when we came home it would be an understatement to say that I have felt totally disconnected and upset most of the time. Turn to this weekend it has been amazing, we’ve had lots of fun, laughed etc so much so that he said I feel hopeful about the future. (I even did his uni assignment for him) However, yesterday it all went wrong. He has a daughter (12) who I have admitted to him I’ve found hard to be around recently due to our relationship (I’ve made it clear it isn’t her or that she’s doing anything wrong just that when the relationships bad it makes it hard for me). So he said she was coming at the weekend (she usually comes mon- Fri) her mums recently moved some distance away and her mum isn’t the best and makes her get the bus home herself from school on a Friday, I said to him how is she going to know how to get home after school the following Friday, its a 35 minute drive from us and atleast 2 buses and she has done it before about 2 years ago but I said how will she remember that and I ultimately ended up saying as if you’re not going to make sure her mum shows her. He responded by saying you’re not marriage material. Which really upset me because as he knows it’s something I really want to do at some point. I left but went back in and said that what he said was unnecessary and uncalled for and he said it wasn’t because it was how he felt. I was honestly devastated that after this really nice weekend all of a sudden there’s an issue and a big one at that. He was working from home and I was off work. I went to the gym he blocked me on WhatsApp and I text him saying I was sorry (even tho I wasn’t really sure what for) and he asked me to get him something from the shop on the way home which I did. When I came home I pottered around a bit before going in and saying are we just going to have a bad day and he said yes probably. Well this is where I get in the wrong because I just couldn’t let it lie I was so upset I wanted to fix it so badly but he wouldn’t listen or try fix it back, he kept asking me to leave but I just felt like I couldn’t, I just wanted to fix it and clearly my emotional brain was messing with the rational one. I think I have an anxious attachment style so I don’t like conflict lasting and fear being left at the drop of a hat. I obviously wish in hindsight I had just left him alone because he kept saying hurtful things which made me more emotional and more desperate in a way to fix it. I did eventually go out but I guess the damage was done and he ended up doing little work all day. He said I drained the life out of him that he couldn’t face doing anything. I don’t understand why he couldn’t offer the reassurance or kindness or compassion to say we’d sort it out later or something when I came in I feel like he had the position of power to make it a bit ok, he knows I had no malicious intention of not leaving him alone I purely wanted to fix it. It came out eventually that the reason why what I said was an issue is because he feels like I have an issue with his daughter which as mentioned I have tried to explain and be honest about it but no matter how much I said that wasn’t the case etc he wouldn’t listen. I even offered to go pick her up today and take her out with our other children in the hope of trying to make things better. He said he was leaving but didn’t leave and said he’d leave today. I slept on the couch. He said he isn’t coming home. I know I should have left him alone and wish I had but I think this is perhaps a case of one person caring and another not, because surely there was no reason for us to have a full day of hell over what was said. He says he isn’t sorry for anything he said and I’m not normal and should be able to control my emotions. He says I need to grow up. I’ve had long term relationships before and never had any issues like this he hasn’t had long term relationships. I feel totally lost. I love him but I feel at rock bottom from this relationship. I feel like I am being punished like a child. He says that I effectively was blackmailing him by not leaving him alone, all I wanted was some reassurance that even if we didn’t fix it now we would later. I poured my eyes out pretty much all day I even begged (pathetic I know) and he wouldn’t give on anything. I’m scared about him not coming home, I feel like if he doesn’t I have to end it, we have a child together and I don’t have the luxury of just not coming home. I don’t know how to navigate the day now. He doesn’t care that I’m upset or riddled with anxiety and didn’t any point. I suppose the flip side is I was probably selfish not leaving him alone 😔 it’s just a mess Help!

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Are you looking to level up your marksmanship? Look no further than our roundup of the 45 Degree Iron Sights. This article takes a closer look at these top-of-the-line sights, perfect for avid hunters and shooting enthusiasts alike. Let's dive in, discover the features, and find out which one might be the best fit for your needs. Game on!

The Top 19 Best 45 Degree Iron Sights

1. TRUGLO Range Rover Single Pin Archery Sight - The Truglo AC Range Rover .019 Black Sight with Light is a top-tier archery accessory, offering 40 pre-marked yardage tapes, a versatile bracket, and a ZERO-IN Adjustment Dial for unmatched precision in the field.
2. HHA Optimizer Lite x Sight 5519 .019 - Infinite Adjust Slotted Side Bracket for 20-80 Yard Accuracy and Smooth Lever Action - The HHA Optimizer Lite X 5519 offers advanced features such as an infinite adjust slotted side bracket, water-resistant tapes, and a leveling bubble, providing 20-80 yard accuracy and smooth lever action for precise aiming in various lighting conditions.
3. Top-Rated Daniel Defense Ascent Verdict Archery Sight: Perfect for Hunting Enthusiasts - The Black Gold Ascent Verdict Arrow Sight offers a moveable, customizable design with a 4-inch dovetail mount, 1-pin configuration and the ability to accept a Black Gold lens kit for optimal bow accuracy.
4. Premium Green Dot Pistol Sights - The Axcel AccuHunter Picatinny Sight offers a precision-engineered slider sight with rapid adjust knob, quick release, and whisper-quiet gear teeth for fine-tuned yardage settings, making it a versatile and durable option for bow users.
5. Picatinny Sight with Green Accents for Precision Yardage Adjustments - The Axcel AccuHunter Picatinny sight features whisper-quiet gear teeth, adjustable yardage settings, a 20-yard dead stop, and 45-degree rear-facing sight tape for accuracy and functionality.
6. Truglo Range Rover AC Micro Sight - Circular Sight Picture and Multiple Features - The Truglo Range Rover AC Micro Sight offers a clean, circular sight picture with an all-metal pin, adjustable yardage-stop, ultra-smooth bracket movement with a tool-less yardage lock, and over 40 pre-marked yardage tapes for simplified setup.
7. Trophy Ridge React One Pro Dovetail RH Sight - Precision Reaction for Hunters - Experience unmatched accuracy and efficiency in the field with Trophy Ridge's React One Pro Dovetail RH .019 Sight, featuring React Technology, micro-click adjustments, and a versatile dovetail mounting bracket for seamless performance.
8. Quality Multi-Function Sleeper Chair for Comfort and Style - The Axcel Landslyde Plus Picatinny Sight AV-31 is a precision slider sight with rapid adjust knobs, quick release, and dead stop features for precise adjustments, while also featuring an adjustable scope, CCT technology, and a super-rugged design.
9. 45-Degree Offset Rail Mount for Tactical Accessories - Versatile 45-degree off-set rail mount by NcSTAR eliminates interference, offering easy access to accessories and a perfect fit for CQB situations.
10. Pro Series Sight Black 1-Pin .019 Iron Sight Adjustable for Right and Left Hand Use - Discover the precision and convenience of the Apex Aegis Pro Series Sight Black 1-Pin .019, perfect for long shots in open country and with enhanced low-light performance.
11. Dovetail Micro-Tune Low Profile Red Dot Sight with 2nd/3rd Axis Adjustments - The Viper Driver Q-1 Dovetail Sight offers a precise, low profile red dot sight experience with micro-click windage adjustments and 2nd/3rd axis controls, making it an ideal choice for shooters seeking accuracy and reliability.
12. CNC Machined Low Profile Red Dot Sight with Adjustable Pin Brightness - Experience ultimate precision and versatility with the HHA Optimizer Lite 5519 Sight, featuring a tool-free micro adjust windage, lens and light compatibility, and a mechanical rheostat for pin brightness adjustment.
13. New Hogg Father Archery Sight with QD Windage and Double Pin Design - Experience unmatched accuracy and durability with the Spot-Hogg Archery Products Hogg Father Wrapped Sight, featuring HRD technology for seamless adjustment and unrivaled performance, perfect for 45-degree iron sights enthusiasts!
14. Lightweight 45 Degree Hooded Peep Sight for Archery - Experience unmatched accuracy and speed with the Specialty Archery Pro Series 45 Degree Hooded Peep, a lightweight and versatile peep sight that meets all your archery needs.
15. Durable 45-Degree Iron Sight for Smooth Shooting Experience - Experience unmatched precision and durability with the Spot-Hogg Father Double Pin, featuring 45-degree iron sights for unmatched accuracy.
16. Black Gold Ascent Verdict: Advanced Single Pin Sight with Unique Featured Controls - Improved precision and durability in a streamlined package - the Black Gold Ascent Verdict Sight is your ultimate hunting companion!
17. Black Gold Dual Trac: Precision Sight with Micro-Adjustments and High-Performance PhotoChromatic System for Aiming - The Black Gold Dual Trac 4" Wing Truss Mount Sight is a high-performance option featuring single pin visibility with a second independently adjustable pin, PhotoChromatic shell for optimal brightness, and micro-adjustable axes for precise targeting.
18. Apex Aegis Sight - Green 45 Light Detachable Iron Archery Sight - Apex Aegis Sight Black Dovetail 1-Pin .019 Green provides optimal precision and convenience in archery with adjustable left and right-handed settings, micro-adjustable windage, and dual travel stops.
19. Allen Intruder Reversible Compound Bow Sight with 45-Degree Iron Sights - Black Finish - Allen Intruder It Bow Sight: A versatile and durable 45-degree iron sight option designed for precision and ease of use, featuring a machined aluminum bracket, post, and sight rack, molded smoke sight pin guard, and 3 metal body fiber optic pins.

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Reviews

🔗TRUGLO Range Rover Single Pin Archery Sight

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The Truglo Range Rover is a top-quality single-pin archery sight known for its groundbreaking features and precision. It features a ZERO-IN Adjustment Dial, enabling hunters to effortlessly make minor elevation adjustments, and a Quiver can be mounted directly to the bracket, making setup incredibly convenient. The sight also comes with an extra-long, fully protected wrapped fiber, ensuring durability and reliability.
Other notable features include the tool-less yardage lock, which allows for quick and smooth adjustments, the ultra-smooth bracket, and the extra-long, fully-protected wrapped fiber. The Range Rover is designed for left and right-handed shooters alike, making it a versatile choice for all archers. Overall, the Truglo Range Rover is a fantastic sight with a lot to offer, making it a top choice for single-pin archery sights.

🔗HHA Optimizer Lite x Sight 5519 .019 - Infinite Adjust Slotted Side Bracket for 20-80 Yard Accuracy and Smooth Lever Action

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HHA Optimizer Lite x Sight 5519.019 is designed to provide an accurate, long-range shooting experience for archers. Featuring a new infinite Adjust Slotted Slide Bracket, it allows the shooter to make 2nd axis and vertical adjustments with ease, enhancing accuracy and precision. The 20-80 yard accuracy and smooth lever action of the sight contribute to its popularity among archers. In addition, the water-resistant tapes and leveling bubble help in better alignment and accuracy.
The Optimizer Lite x Sight also features a machined aluminum pin carrier for improved durability and performance. Optional mechanical rheostat to adjust pin brightness and compatibility with Blue Burst light and Lens Kit are added benefits that contribute to the overall versatility of the sight. Archers will appreciate the lightweight construction, making it easy to carry and use during hunting sessions.
A unique feature of this sight is the optional mechanical rheostat that allows the user to adjust the pin brightness, ensuring better visibility in low light conditions. This sight is compatible with Blue Burst light and Lens Kit as well, enhancing its capabilities even further. With all these features, the HHA Optimizer Lite x Sight 5519.019 is a top choice for bow hunters looking for a reliable, versatile sight for both short and long-distance shots.

🔗Top-Rated Daniel Defense Ascent Verdict Archery Sight: Perfect for Hunting Enthusiasts

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The Black Gold Ascent Verdict Archery Sight is an impressive, moveable slider sight designed for use with right-handed archers, providing a reliable sighting solution. This 4" dovetail mount features adjustable 1st, 2nd, and 3rd axis for easy and precise targeting, making it ideal for both hunting and target practice. Its angled sight tape and photochromatic shell adjustments create optimized pin brightness in any conditions. The yardage adjustments are smooth, quick, and quiet, while working well with one-piece quivers.
The sight comes with 54 pre-printed sight tapes and includes a Black Gold lens kit (sold separately). Its compact design allows for easy integration with accessories such as lights or quivers. Overall, the Black Gold Ascent Verdict Archery Sight is an excellent choice for those in search of a long-lasting, high-quality, and versatile sight.

🔗Premium Green Dot Pistol Sights

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The Axcel AccuHunter Picatinny Sight 41mm 1 Pin. 019 Green sight is a versatile and precision-engineered slider sight with rapid adjustment capabilities. This sight features whisper-quiet gear teeth for precise fine-tuned yardage settings, an adjustable 20-yard dead stop for accurate distance adjustments, and a 45-degree rear-facing sight tape for minimal movement.
The sight also comes with true first, second, and third axis adjustments and a push-button windage lock for extra security. Its green accents, such as the elevation lock lever, pointer, and windage lock, help to enhance visibility.
The PAT-411041 AV Hunter scope provides a 1 3/4" or 41MM inside diameter, and the accompanying Fire pin equipped with tough CNC machined pins and a new method of fiber wrapping technology create one of the brightest fiber optic pins available. Plus, the Picatinny in-line sight mounts your sight to the front of your bow for better balance and to create a strong and durable connection. Overall, this sight has received high praise from users - a testament to its exceptional quality and functionality.

🔗Picatinny Sight with Green Accents for Precision Yardage Adjustments

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The Axcel AccuHunter Picatinny Sight, a 41mm slider sight, stands out for its rapid adjust knob and quick release feature. This sight allows for precise fine-tuning of yardage settings while maintaining a quiet operation. The 20-yard dead stop and 45-degree rear-facing sight tape aid in maintaining a stable aim and minimizing bow arm movement. Additionally, the sight offers top-quality true first, second, and third axis adjustments.
The green accents on the sight encompass the elevation lock lever, the pointer, and the windage lock, providing improved visibility during low-light conditions. This sight features fire pin equipped, CNC machined pins and the innovative fiber wrapping technology, resulting in one of the brightest fiber optic pins. The Picatinny mount design ensures a secure and durable connection between the sight and the bow, allowing for easy adjustment in either direction to match the peep sight.
Overall, the AccuHunter Picatinny Sight showcases exceptional quality, user-friendly adjustment features, and an attractive design, all combined to make it a worthwhile investment for avid bowhunters.

🔗Truglo Range Rover AC Micro Sight - Circular Sight Picture and Multiple Features

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The Truglo Range Rover AC Micro Sight is a reliable archery sight with high ratings from its users. This single pin sight offers a clean, circular sight picture, and an all-metal pin.
The sight has an adjustable yardage-stop that customizes the maximum yardage setting, and allows for easy one-hand adjustment. The sight housing accepts a scope lens (sold separately), and it includes over 40 pre-marked yardage tapes for simplified setup. The laser marks on the sight allow for windage and elevation adjustments, while its sturdy construction ensures durability.
Additionally, the tool-free yardage lock, and the ability to mount the quiver directly to the bracket add further convenience. Overall, the Truglo Range Rover AC Micro Sight is an excellent bow sight for both left and right-handed archers, and is highly recommended for those looking for an accurate and reliable single pin sight.

🔗Trophy Ridge React One Pro Dovetail RH Sight - Precision Reaction for Hunters

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When I first used the Trophy Ridge React One Pro Dovetail sight, I was blown away by its ease of use. The React Technology predicts pin gaps based on the distance between your 20-yard pin and any other yardage, making set up a breeze. It only took me 10 minutes to sight in from 20 to 100 yards. I love how precise and accurate the one-pin slider sight is, and the fiber-optic indicators make it easy to see my distance markers even in low light conditions.
While using the React One Pro Dovetail sight, I also appreciated the second and third axis leveling, which is perfect for downhill shots in steep country or out of a treestand. The machined aluminum construction felt solid and durable, and the micro-click windage and elevation adjustments allowed me to fine-tune my aim effortlessly.
However, one downside I encountered was the sight light included. It seemed to stay on, draining the batteries, or come on even when I knew I had turned it off. I had to replace the batteries frequently, which was quite inconvenient.
Overall, I highly recommend the Trophy Ridge React One Pro Dovetail sight for its easy set up, versatile mounting, and accuracy. Despite the issue with the sight light, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

🔗Quality Multi-Function Sleeper Chair for Comfort and Style

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As an avid hunter, I've frequently found myself in situations where precision and accuracy are of the utmost importance. That's why I decided to give the Axcel Landslyde Plus a try, and I'm glad I did. Its rapid adjustment knob and quick release mechanism allow me to adjust the yardage settings with ease, even when I'm in the field.
One of the standout features of this sight is the adjustable dead stop. It enables me to access my preferred yardage setting almost instantly, which is crucial during those heart-stopping moments when a shot presents itself. Additionally, the sight's adjustable pointers provide an extra layer of customization that allows me to fine-tune my aim to suit my preferences.
However, I did encounter a slight issue with the sight's adjustability. While the first, second, and third axis adjustments are easy to access, they don't always provide the smoothest experience. This can be a minor inconvenience, but it doesn't detract from the overall effectiveness of the sight.
Another aspect of this sight that I truly appreciate is its compatibility with various bows. The Picatinny in-line sight mount allows me to securely attach the sight to different bow models, making it a versatile choice for hunters with a variety of equipment preferences.
In conclusion, the Axcel Landslyde Plus is a reliable and efficient sight that has greatly enhanced my hunting capabilities. Its rapid adjustment feature and adjustable dead stop make it a must-have for hunters seeking a precise and customizable shooting experience. While it may have a few minor drawbacks, its overall performance more than makes up for it.

🔗45-Degree Offset Rail Mount for Tactical Accessories

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Imagine you're in the heat of the moment, aiming down the sights of your rifle, trying to take out a target from around the corner. This is where the NcSTAR Mount shines. Its 45-degree offset angle allows you to mount your lasers, flashlights, or red dot sights at just the right angle for a clear view down the barrel.
The offset canted design of the mount adds a level of versatility that's not often found in other mounts. It eliminates interference with vertical grips, hand guards, optics, and other accessories, making it perfect for a wide range of uses. Plus, the ergonomic design gives easy access to on/off switches for your accessories, which is a game-changer when you're in the thick of it.
But let's not forget the solid construction. The NcSTAR Mount is made from hard-anodized aluminum, which not only adds strength to the mount but also makes it resistant to corrosion. And the single-slotted thumb nut secures the mount to Weaver Style or Picatinny rails quickly and easily.
The NcSTAR Mount isn't just a device, it's a tool that could give you the edge you need in tense situations. It's a reliable, solid piece of equipment that's easy to use and a pleasure to work with. And the reviews from other users certainly back this up - they've praised its quality, price, and performance. So, if you're looking for a reliable, dependable, and versatile mount, the NcSTAR Mount is definitely worth considering.

🔗Pro Series Sight Black 1-Pin .019 Iron Sight Adjustable for Right and Left Hand Use

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I recently had the opportunity to use the Pro Single-Pin Slider Direct-Mount Sight Black 1-Pin 0.19, and I must say it exceeded my expectations. The sight's single 0.19 inch vertical pin and 1.8 inch aperture provide a clear and clean sight picture, which became particularly valuable when taking longer shots in open country.
One of the most impressive features was the integrated glow ring and the REVOLVE rotary sight light, ensuring low-light conditions never posed an issue. Additionally, the sight's dual yardage pointers, end-of-travel elevation stops, and fixed bracket with 3 potential mounting positions allowed for seamless adjustments even while moving.
I also appreciated the sight's ease of use and convenience, such as the second- and third-axis aperture adjustments and the left- and right-handed configuration options. Moreover, with 120 pre-marked sight tapes included, I felt that I had a solid setup for lethal, accurate shots throughout the season.
While I enjoyed the sight's features, there was one downside: the direct-drive elevation wheel's one-handed operation wasn't entirely smooth and silent as advertised, making it slightly challenging to use on the move. Nevertheless, the Pro Single-Pin Slider Direct-Mount Sight Black 1-Pin 0.19 has undeniably made a difference in my archery experience.

🔗Dovetail Micro-Tune Low Profile Red Dot Sight with 2nd/3rd Axis Adjustments

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I recently got my hands on the Viper Driver Q-1 Microtune Dovetail Sight 1Pin, and let me tell you, it's been a game-changer in my shooting experiences. This little beauty is the perfect companion to my firearm, allowing for pinpoint accuracy and ease of use, whether you're a right-handed or left-handed shooter.
One thing I absolutely love about this microtune sight is its knurled elevation adjustment knob. It's sturdy and easy to grip, making it a breeze to fine-tune my aim. Plus, the 2" sight housing is just the right size to make sure I've got a clear, unobstructed view of my target.
However, don't get me wrong; this isn't a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. The Q-1 Microtune Dovetail Sight is designed specifically for those who appreciate a low profile when aiming. If you're someone who prefers a more traditional scope with a bulky design, this might not be the sight for you.
Overall, I'm super happy with my purchase of the Viper Driver Q-1 Microtune Dovetail Sight. It's made my shooting experiences much more enjoyable and accurate, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a high-quality, reliable dovetail sight.

🔗CNC Machined Low Profile Red Dot Sight with Adjustable Pin Brightness

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I recently had the chance to give the HHA Optimizer Lite sight. 019 a try, and let me just say, I was very impressed. The micro-adjust windage system made sighting in a breeze, and I appreciated the included yardage dial.
One feature that really stood out to me was the mechanical rheostat for pin brightness adjustment. It allowed me to easily fine-tune the pin brightness, which is a game-changer for those shooting in low-light conditions.
As for the cons, I did find the mounting process a bit challenging and the detachable bracket was not included. Additionally, while the sight is well-built, it is a bit on the heavier side, which I noticed when shooting for extended periods.
Overall, the HHA Optimizer Lite. 019 sight is a solid choice for those looking for a reliable, easy-to-use sight for their bow. Just make sure you're prepared for a bit of a learning curve when it comes to mounting it onto your bow.

🔗New Hogg Father Archery Sight with QD Windage and Double Pin Design

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I recently gave the Hogg Father Wrapped Sight Double Pin 0.029 from Spot-Hogg Archery Products a try, and let me tell you, it's a game-changer! As an avid bow hunter, the ruggedness and durability of this adjustable sight stood out to me right away. The HRD technology ensures zero slop, buzz, or unnecessary maintenance, making it incredibly reliable and well-engineered for all conditions.
One feature that really caught my attention was the adjustability and accuracy capabilities that Spot-Hogg is known for. These sights are some of the tightest I've ever had the pleasure of using, and it's easy to see that the company has put in the time and effort to produce a sight that performs to the highest standards. The new QD windage feature is also a welcome addition for 2022, offering even more precision and flexibility on the field.
While there aren't many cons to point out, one potential drawback is that the Hogg Father Wrapped Sight Double Pin 0.029 may be a bit more expensive than other options on the market. However, in my opinion, the superior quality, functionality, and dependability of this sight make it well worth the investment. Overall, I highly recommend giving the Hogg Father a try when you're searching for a reliable and top-of-the-line sight for your next hunting expedition.

🔗Lightweight 45 Degree Hooded Peep Sight for Archery

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I recently had the chance to try out the Specialty Archery Pro Series 45 Degree Hooded Peep Black, and let me tell you, I'm hooked. With its lightweight aluminum construction, this peep sight makes a significant improvement to arrow speed, allowing me to hit my mark more accurately than ever before. The peep accepts all Specialty Archery 1/8" apertures, clarifiers, and verifiers, which is a nice touch for those who prefer customized options.
One thing that stood out to me was the convenient hooded design, which effectively reduces glare for a clearer sight picture. This feature comes in handy, especially when shooting in bright sunlight or under harsh conditions. However, it's essential to note that the Pro Series 45-degree sight should only be used in bows with an axle-to-axle length of over 40 inches, so make sure to check this before attaching it to your bow.
Overall, my experience with the Specialty Archery Pro Series 45 Degree Hooded Peep Black has been nothing short of impressive. Its durable construction and impressive performance make it a true standout among other peep sights, and I highly recommend it to any avid archer looking to up their game.

🔗Durable 45-Degree Iron Sight for Smooth Shooting Experience

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I recently got my hands on the Spot Hogg Father Double Pin sight and let me tell you, it's a game changer. The first thing I noticed was the sturdy design, which gave me confidence in its durability. It's a sight that's been around for a while now, and I can see why it's loved by many.
One feature that stood out to me was the easy adjustment. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd axis leveling made it a breeze to set up and get my shot just right. However, the best part about this sight is the HRD technology. No more slop or buzz – this sight is rock solid.
But, don't just take my word for it. This sight is covered by a Limited Lifetime warranty, so you can rest easy knowing it's built to last. The 45-degree Iron Sights might be a bit different from what you're used to, but they're worth giving a shot.
Now, let's talk about the minor drawbacks. The sight is a 6-inch dovetail, so it might not work with all setups. But overall, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. The Father Double Pin sight is a reliable choice for anyone who's in the market for a durable, rugged, and efficient sight.

Buyer's Guide

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None

FAQ

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What are 45-degree iron sights?

45-degree iron sights refer to the angle at which the sights are positioned on firearms. Contrary to traditional iron sights with a more vertical angle of 90 degrees, 45-degree sights offer a different shooting experience by presenting a lower sight picture.

What are the benefits of using 45-degree iron sights?

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There are several advantages to using 45-degree iron sights:

• Faster target acquisition and smoother follow-up shots due to the lower sight picture
• Improved cheek weld and stability on the stock, leading to better accuracy and control
• The reduced weight on the user's face, which can alleviate discomfort during sustained shooting

Are 45-degree iron sights suitable for all types of firearms?

While 45-degree iron sights are popular among pistol shooters and some rifle enthusiasts, they may not be suitable for every type of firearm or shooting application. For example, some firearms may require after-market mounting solutions or adjustments to accommodate these sights.
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What are the main manufacturers of 45-degree iron sights?

Some of the prominent manufacturers include:

• Trijicon
• Nightforce Optics
• Leupold Optics
• SIG SAUER
• Warne Sightmounts

What are the differences between 45-degree and traditional iron sights?

The most striking difference between the two types of sights is their angle. While traditional iron sights have a vertical angle of 90 degrees, 45-degree sights feature a lower angle that sits closer to the cheek, offering a different shooting experience. This lower angle helps shooters acquire targets quicker and stabilize the firearm on their face more effectively.

How do I install 45-degree iron sights on my firearm?

The installation process for 45-degree iron sights can vary depending on the specific model and make of your firearm. It is generally recommended to consult your firearm's manual or seek assistance from a professional gunsmith to ensure that the installation is performed correctly and safely.

Are 45-degree iron sights interchangeable between different brands or models?

While some 45-degree iron sights may have similar dimensions or characteristics, it is essential to confirm compatibility before purchasing or attempting to use sights from a different brand or model. Be sure to consult the manufacturer's specifications and, if necessary, contact the manufacturer or a knowledgeable gunsmith for guidance.

Are there any maintenance requirements for 45-degree iron sights?

Regular cleaning and maintenance of your firearm are crucial, regardless of the type of sights you use. For 45-degree iron sights, it is essential to keep the sights free of dirt, debris, or corrosion-causing substances to ensure optimal performance and longevity.
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THESE three words have often been mentioned in My
messages and you have already a general notion of the
meaning of “body”, “spirit” and “soul”, as well as what they
mean in a special, spiritual sense.
Since in all My words there lies something infinite, and always
something new and spiritual can be drawn from them, we will try to
extract from these same words another meaning, which may perhaps be
just as important as the former, or even higher and more sublime.
Since My instructions are always given step by step, the
explanation of body or matter as imprisoned spirits in the same, or as
My thoughts and ideas fixed in matter, is in keeping with your former
power of comprehension. Now that you have become more mature and
have cast deeper glances into the secrets of My creation, I will illumine
for you this word body” from a different aspect, thus informing you of
a new field for the enlightenment of your soul and the preservation of
your spirit. From this you can see that, although I repeat words
previously used and explained, I can always find other aspects of it
apart from the earlier given explanations so that you can discover in the
subject new wonders and new proofs of My love and wisdom. Indeed,
if I wanted to try, turning around this word a thousand more times, I
would keep showing new aspects to your surprised eyes. But to the
point.
As I have explained to you in earlier messages, “body” was always
identical with “matter”, and I showed you that also in matter there is
really nothing material, but only bound Spiritual. Or I told you that
matter constitutes My fixed thoughts and ideas which remain matter or
body as long as I do not withdraw My thoughts and ideas enclosed and
embodied in the same.
All these explanations are correct, firstly, because they designate
what is true and, secondly, because it was I who gave them to you.
However, if we want to understand this concept of “matter” or
“body” from a different aspect, I first ask you: What does the word “body” actually signify?
Look, in order to be thorough and then move upward step by step
on the great gamut of My creations and of My Being itself, we must
first establish the concept of a word and not thoughtlessly stop with the
utterance of the word “body” without a closer description of its nature.
Well then, let us begin like the pupils as they learn how to read, with
the alphabet.
The word “body” actually denotes a separate thing with
dimensions according to width, length and depth, which is a complete
and separate, self-contained thing amidst the limitless infinity.
Thus the body is a something that occupies a space and has an
envelopment whereby its individual being is separated from the entire
universal All-Being.
Notwithstanding all this, a body can experience all degrees of
density and weight, it can be infinitesimally fine, imponderable for
you, but on the other hand be found compressed to the most solid rock
like granite, called original substance of the terrestrial body’. It always
remains a body, a separate something, which can assume dimensions
which in the volatile state are immensely great but in the solidified
state extraordinarily small; they can then through the urge of attraction
and annexation of similar bodies form rocks, earths, worlds, solar
regions etc.
Therefore, body as a word is the expression for something that
physically exists on its own and has become, separated from the All-
Being, an entity existing independently.
The body is divisible ad infinitum, where your eyes and
instruments fail to serve you. However, it still exists with its
dimensions on all three sides, albeit no longer comprehensible for you,
just like the borderline where its divisibility ceases and the Spiritual
imprisoned in it has its beginning.
Without bodies there would not exist a visible creation!
There are bodies or substances that are transparent and
imponderable, such as light and electricity; however, they are so only for your eyes, but not for the eyes of the spirits.
For your eyes everything that transmits the light-ray, not reflecting
the same from its surface, is invisible. But consider, you do not see the
objects or the light falling on them, but you see them only through the
light-ray reflected from them.
You cannot see a light-ray fleeing out into infinity.
Therefore, when something has a body of very little density, it is
nonexistent for your eye. And if it were not for chemistry, which shows
you several “elements”, you would believe to be dealing only with one,
as for instance with the air in which you live, which you breathe,
chemically breaking it up in the lungs and extracting the vital substance
contained there, then exhaling what is used up or carbonized.
All these components are non-existent for your eyes whereas for
your body they are perceptible. For, if “the salt of the air” or, as you
say, oxygen is lacking and only carbon is present, life ceases for you
and every living being that only inhales the latter falls prey to death.
The same applies to the third main element of air, nitrogen.
But in the air are contained still a great many other substances all
of which have bodies but are imperceptible to your senses.
That which in the air is already denser, is found in the ether in a
more refined form and the closer the air to the earths surrounded by it,
the coarser and denser the particles it contains. In the water it solidifies
to liquid and even to ice, since thus condensed air without warmth has
become a dense, compact body.
Beginning with water, the stages of solidification progress to the
most solid and heavy metals and rocks contained in the earth.
These things, extracted and separated from the All-Being and
called “bodies”, represent on an orderly scale the entire creation of My
fixed thoughts, where, beginning with the first imponderable yet
physical atom, I constructed the whole gamut of things, one more
perfect then another, up to Myself, throughout all the solar regions and
shell globes up to My highest heaven, where even the finest
envelopments of My creational thoughts have still some corporeality which, however, measured with your senses, would be something
utterly spiritual!
The existence of this entire physical world is affected in the
following way:
As like spirits prefer to associate, so all the elemental substances
or bodies of like nature cannot resist the great urge of the force of
attraction and in accordance with My indwelling creational thought
join together in a certain measure, sometimes assuming definite forms
thought by Me, and again sometimes showing themselves to the
physical eye in irregular shapes.
Thus this whole world of bodies is united through the same bond
of love though each one is separate from the other, and is the visible
and invisible carrier of My thoughts, or, the spark of My Spirit laid into
them is more or less bound within them.
That which impels these bodies to attract or repel each other in
accordance with certain laws, to assume this or that form is the
indwelling urge received from Me, and is actually the spirit imprisoned
in matter. For “spirit” (here nature spirit) or “natural force”, as you call
it, are the same thing.
Spirit is the essential urge inherent in every body to preserve its
form, which it has shaped according to its intelligence, for as long as
the existence of the physical envelopment corresponds to the
indwelling spirit.
It is the encased spirit that, beyond all transience such as your
natural force, makes the body what it really is.
If the body suffers a change, the nature spirit indwelling it escapes,
breaking up into spirit particles or uniting with other like (nature)
spirits to form a higher spirit on the gamut of My creation, and in
keeping with its intelligence clothes itself with a different body.
The formerly cohesive matter or body in changing then partly
ascends and partly descends a step.
The Spiritual in the body incites it to change and the spirit,
following its urge, again complies with another creational thought by eading back the matter purified to substance (soul substance) to its
origin, or, uniting it with other bodies which are on a higher level, as
the abode of intelligent spirits brings it closer to perfection in My great
Universe.
What actually is spirit?
Apart from the above-mentioned, by this word one really
understands something incorporeal.
Also certain liquids when highly refined and broken up develop an
ætheric fluid, either in a natural or chemical way, which can no longer
be perceived by way of the coarser senses, only sometimes through the
olfactory nerves.
But it is not this kind of “spirit” which I want to explain to you, for
this is still a body, although of a refined kind.
What I mean by spirit is an efflux out of Me, an offshoot of My
divine strength which, however limited in its sphere of action, is
nevertheless something indestructible, never-to-be annihilated.
It is these “nature spirits” that hold together the entire creation,
securing its actual existence and eternal permanency, for, being
emanations from Me, they must be immortal as I Myself am.
Spirits bound in matter or in bodies are the bottom layer of
creation, its foundation-pillars, without them there would not exist a
body and the light of the sun would lose itself in infinity. For only by
preserving the bodies” existence and enabling them to present compact
surfaces to the light in every possible form, do they effect by means of
the partly absorbed and partly reflected light the thousands upon
thousands of splendors of so-called mute nature, in contrast to the
enlivened, great spiritual one.
The body exists through its indwelling spirit; the spirit, as a spark
of Myself, then manifests on the higher levels of the living organism as
a higher potency of more or less self-awareness, namely, as a “soul”.
The spirit animates the body, imparting to it the great life
principle, from the lowest imprisoned spirit gradually to rise higher and
with the help of an animating soul, in more highly evolved bodies to become more and more aware of its existence and able to share the joy
of life also with other beings.
This is the third step in the gamut of creation, the rank of the soulendowed
beings where the spirit, already more liberated, has built for
itself another intelligent abode in the matter serving as body with the
help of which it can express itself better, as well as use its material
abode more to its own liking.
This soul life begins with the most primitive animals, most of
which, apart from the ingeniously arranged body, in accordance with
their individuality have also the advantage of enjoying the freedom of
movement.
Here the body appears already as servant, and not as lord, as in the
mineral kingdom.
The soul uses the same for its preservation and its vital needs, of
course still guided by the spirit as “instinct” or leading-string of nature
whereby the spirit urges the soul now to do this and now that.
Free movement always implies a higher degree of intelligence; for,
if I allow a soul to move its body more freely, I must certainly endow it
with the impulse as to how, when and for what purpose it is meant to
move the same.
In this gamut of freely moving corporeal beings it is now an
upward movement, an attempt to reach that level where the spirit offers
to the machine or the body the most sublime gift the Creator could
make, namely, the greatest possible spiritual intelligence. And, finally,
the soul, aware of its place in creation, recognizes its origin and,
having elevated the tiny spiritual, divine spark encased in the last atom
to a power in full self-awareness, now gazes upward and only then
begins to understand its origin and descent from the Most High.
This keystone of the entire world of bodies, spirits and souls is
man, whom I created in My image and placed as a compendium of
everything else between two worlds, the physical and the spiritual, with
the urge by means of his soul to spiritualize his physical world, to open
to his spirit endowed with all divine attributes the door to the Most
High. And so, through the influence of the spirit, the soul may one day become a spirit and the body, instead of being its material
envelopment, its spiritual one which then would represent all that the
body possessed physically, thus spiritualized becoming a physical
vehicle of the most sublime substance and the most glorious garment
for the most noble human spirit!
Here, My dear children, you have the great gamut of My creation,
beginning with the first nascent atom and the most minute monad and
ending with My last work, man, where the same process begins
spiritually, up to My highest heavens, where the purest spirits with the
finest light-bodies use what they can of your physical substance from
the space of creation, purified to the highest possible degree, as an
outer envelopment of their God-souls, in the same way as you use your
body which is composed of coarse substances.
The road there is a long but not impossible one.
Endeavor, My children, to become that for which I destined you on
this gamut, that means to rise to the limit of the physical-material, to
the first beginning of the spirit-world where the door to light and
cognition will open spontaneously and where you will behold before
you the limitless spiritual world and behind you the never-ending
physical world, or “world of senses” and in the midst of all this – Him,
who created everything and whose only joy is when His created beings
have learnt to call Him, whom they call “Lord” and “God” – “Father”.
Once you will be able to take in all this at a glance, He is no longer
far from you, He who will prove to you despite your past sufferings
and battles that without all those earthly tribulations you would not be
where you really enjoy the quintessence of the world of body, spirit and
soul; a fatherly love which only He can let you feel who again here
with these three words wants to give you a small proof of how much
He wishes, that you, following His precepts, may let go of everything
worldly-physical and only strive after His heavenly bliss! Amen.

I'll start from the beginning. 30, Male, Living in Australia. Smoked 15 cigarettes per day for the last 15 years but otherwise have always been quite fit. 5'11 and 80kg.
In 2016 we had a an event called 'thunderstorm ashtma', which was basically a huge storm that flung high amounts of pollen and othwr allergens all around the place, it was all over the news and heaps of asthma sufferers had really bad attacks and flare ups. That night i woke up in the middle of the night with sleep paralysis. I couldn't move, talk or breath. Was extremely scary.
Ever since that day my lungs have never been the same. For the next few years I'd always get extremely out of breath on exertion, especially with sex or intense cardio (i could always lift weights no issues). I thought that maybe i was just unfit seeing as i smoked and drank every weekend at that point in time.
Fast forward to Covid, i caught the delta variant and got so sick i swear i nearly died. I was so out of breath that i passed out, multiple times. I'd remember waking up in random rooms of my house or on the kitchen floor etc.
That was a long recovery. I couldn't smell anything for 5+ months, and my lungs were just fucked daily. I was short of breath at rest, 24/7 for months.
This was 2022. I got a bunch of scans and tests done. CT scan said mild airway inflammation but nothing else concerning. Spiro test showed fev1/fvc 83%. Xray showed 'hyperinflated lung'. Yet after all these tests and seeing a lung specialist and multiple GP's, they all told me i need to quit smoking and try getting fit, and completely dismissed me, acting as if there was no issue at hand.
About a year later my breathing was kind of better. I was still short of breath 24/7 but I'd got used to it, it wasn't debilitating, but definitely far from comfortable. I just accepted that this was my life forever.
I recently ended up in hospital because my shortness of breath got so bad one day out of nowhere, it was extremely laboured breathing, i had to focus all my energy on each and every breathe. They gave me another CT scan
I decided to take the results to a private specialist rather than a bulk billed public one (I've had nothing but bad experiences with public specialist now) and this new specialist bless his soul, looked at me and said 'you have asthma, lets fix you up'.
He prescribed me with budesonide & Formoterol inhalers on Monday (now Wednesday, 2 days later) and WOW. I can fucking breath again. What the hell!! He told me it may take up to a month to start making a difference but only 2 days in i feel like a new person. I ran a kilometre on the treadmill today WITH EASE, when typically I'd get about 300 meters and have to stop for a minute to catch up. I could have kept running too but i didn't want to overdo it.
Even so i am so grateful that i finally have a diagnosis and treatment for 8 years of shortness of breathe, i am super fucking with the other 6 or 7 health 'professionals' i saw earlier. I feel like the system failed me untill now. As simple as a inhaler and I'm back feeling better than ever.
I'm booked in for another consultation, spiro test and CT scan in 3 months to see how my lungs are going. I am super grateful for this medication, i can't remember breathing this well since i was in my early 20s! I'm just going about my day without shortness of breath, is this how all normal people live? Lmao
Sorry for the long post. I am just super excited to see what the future brings now. I thought i was gonna be short of breath 24/7 forever.
Hopefully this post helps even 1 person
TLDR; have had shortness of breath at rest for years, all better after 2 days of budesonide & formoterol

Hello!
I hope you're all doing well!
Gonna try to keep this under 40k characters... so, the main event is going to be a bit shorter than usual, so if you have questions about that particular fight (or any, really), let me know and i can expand on thoughts and answer those questions!
Also, if you have feedback about the slightly new format, let me know!
(c) - Champ
D/DWCS - Debut/Dana Whites' Contender Series
FLS - Fight Lose Streak
FWS - Fight Win Streak
NS - No Streak
(#x) - Rank in division
x/3 - Confidence Levels
Lets go!
Prelims
Flyweight
Andre Lima (8-0-0, 8 FWS) v Mitch Raposo (D) (9-1-0, 4 FWS) - I feel for Lima here, three changes in opponent during this entire camp, that can’t be easy for the mental stress, but I do think that this last minute change gives Lima that advantage in preparation and cardio and such.
Lima is coming off quite an interesting debut result, in which his opponent straight up chomped on Lima’s arm. For the most part prior to that unique moment, Lima was doing relatively well on the feet, his boxing was crisp and whilst Severino was being pretty effective with his wrestling and pressure, you can almost see Lima settle in the longer the fight went on, and in the second round, he was finding his punches fairly easily, landing at a 66% rate in that second round. That has always been Lima’s main attribute as a boxer, his accuracy is oftentimes high when he fights, never wasting many shots as he sets his own pace and finds his timing, and it’s going to be relatively effective against Raposo who has a slight disadvantage in reach, and has a rather funky style himself, and sometimes funk is fun, but not when you have a sharp boxer opposite you.
Raposo is someone who tried to get into the UFC a while ago via Dana Whites’ Contender Series, but didn’t quite succeed due to a loss against Jake Hadley. Raposo is a fairly well rounded fighter but from the footage that I have seen, he is mostly a stand up fighter who utilises variations of a two to three punch combination, with a bit of an emphasis on his wide right that he tends to swing from a somewhat loaded up position. Now, I do want to point out in a positive light that he does come from the New England Cartel, and that gym generally produces outstanding strikers, but I just think Raposo is a few steps (or leaps) behind the stars of the gym in Kattar and Font. Now, there are positives for Raposo, he shells up relatively well and he doesn’t stay in firing range the whole time, especially when shelling up, he circles away whilst keeping his guard up. The one thing I cannot help but notice though is how exposed his body is to attacks, he isn’t that adaptable when it comes to his defences, and whilst he has a very typical high shell, I can just see Lima exposing the body with strong punches, and given that Raposo isn’t quite prepared properly for a fight against Lima, those body punches could shut him down. Now, Raposo does have a strong right hand, the one he tends to wind up and throw from the same angle at the same speed and such, but once it lands it could certainly cause trouble for Lima.
Lima has incredible potential in the UFC, his boxing is very sharp and I do think that the fact he has been preparing for a fight for quite some time now shows that he has the cardio and the durability to perhaps outlast Raposo, especially if those body shots that I predict will be there, land effectively. I almost want to make him a 2/3 confidence pick, but since he’s new to the UFC, and Raposo does have a bit of danger himself, I don’t feel comfortable putting him that high of a confidence pick. This is a fun first fight of the night.
Lima via KO R2 - (1/3)
Women’s Bantamweight
Joselyne Edwards (+210) (13-5-0, NS) v Ailin Perez (-265) (9-2-0, 2 FWS)
Edwards has had an interesting time in the UFC, she has had rather lacklustre performances against some of the more lower skilled fighters in the division. Edwards was introduced to us fans as a kickboxer from Panama, and for the most part her performances have echoed that style of kickboxing, but she walks into two metaphorical brick walls which hinder her performances. First, her cardio tends to fall apart relatively quickly, she does look fatigued after the second round, heck, even during it, and I do think considering Perez’s skillset is heavily wrestling based, that the fatigue problems will be a bit more prevalent, but that also tends to lead to a different issue that Edwards walks into, and that’s her weight. See, Edwards missed weight a few times in the UFC so far, and whilst those issues on the scales are perhaps anomalous to those two incidences, it does somewhat connect with her fatigue problems, she carries a lot of weight on fight day and that’s all a major contributor to exhaustion and fatigue. As for her record, it’s been stated many times, but she’s been gifted quite a few scorecards… She arguably lost to Pascual, Pudilova and even went to a split decision against Kim Ji-yeon. To say her record is pretty sketchy is putting it lightly. Her style is pretty standard for a boxer or kickboxer, she often strings together decent combinations with a fair bit of power given her size, but her major weakness is defending takedowns, and given that Perez is perhaps the first major wrestler that she is going to face, I suspect she’s going to be struggling to defend those takedowns, especially the longer the fight goes on, when that fatigue problem kicks in (if it kicks in).
Perez on the other hand is slightly more newer to the UFC, having had her debut at 145 against Egger before moving back down to 135 to take on Ashlee Evans-Smith and Pudilova, and it was in those two fights that we truly saw what Perez is capable of. Perez is very dependent on her takedowns, she does not strike a whole lot on her feet, she often uses some strikes to close the distance then level changes for a takedown or a judo throw, in which she then unleashes a lot of ground strikes, and it’s a bit obvious to me that she is going to utilise that exact style against the much taller and longer Edwards. Now, the longer this fight remains on the feet, the more chance Edwards has of pulling away with a win, but I only say that because I know that Edwards is going to have a striking advantage, but her kicks perhaps would be shut down by the wrestling threat of Perez.
This is very much a wrestler versus striker bout, and whilst you might argue that Edwards has shown some wrestling in her last fight against Cornolle, it’s important to know that Cornolle most definitely was not a wrestler so those takedowns would have been relatively easy, and there’s no doubt that Edwards has worked on her wrestling just so she is a more well rounded individual. I still firmly believe that Perez is going to get a win here through her wrestling, and the longer the fight goes on, the more Edwards is most likely to feel that fatigue. I am predicting a KO here, but it is going to be one of those ground and pound TKO’s. It’s also very possible this fight goes the distance so if you want to place a bet, either double chance this one or just have it go o2.5 or something.
Perez via KO R3 - (2/3)
Welterweight
Mickey Gall (+225) (7-5-0, 2 FLS) v Bassil Hafez (-290) (8-4-1, NS) - There is honestly not a lot to say about this one, Gall is severely overrated and a bit of a failed product of the Lookin’ for a fight show, and Hafez still has quite a lot to show us given he went three rounds against future contender Jack Della Maddalena.
Gall is coming off back to back losses over two years ago, so not only is he coming into this fight with a tough losing streak on his record, but those two years away are certainly muddying the waters a bit here. Anyway, Gall is mostly a submission artist, he somewhat thrives on the ground, although that would be a major gamble given the fact that Hafez is very wrestling oriented, and I mean, let's be honest, as long as a wrestler is in top control, it’s very rarely that they get submitted, and it’s not like Gall is some high level BJJ fighter with an impeccable record, he is just someone who has been given somewhat name-worthy opponents and that’s practically it. Gall's best chance to win this fight is on the ground, he needs to stick to his guns in this fight and be incredibly active on the ground or Hafez is going to shut down all of the submission attempts and just smother Gall in pressure. There is a possibility of Gall being somewhat effective on the feet, but a lot of his striking is fairly standard, often really using his grappling over anything else to get a win. One thing I don’t particularly like seeing when it comes to Gall’s striking is he is very still and perhaps too calm when he’s standing in front of someone, he doesn’t move his head a lot and his lead leg is often very out there and exposed, and whilst he does have quite a bit of power in his hands, I just don’t think he’s that capable of being a strong striker, his best skillset really is his BJJ. He is often quick to tie up his opponent or at least grab for a guillotine, and that guillotine will be there for him the more Hafez looks for takedowns, that will probably be the main threat coming from Gall for Hafez in my opinion.
Hafez has only one fight in the UFC but it was against one of the toughest opponents one can possibly debut against in Jack Della Maddalena, and whilst Hafez was simply outmatched on the feet, he persevered and still looked for those takedowns that he very much needed. It is the style of Hafez that will test Gall in this fight, because if Hafez attempted 20 takedowns against JDM who has exceptional takedown defence, I just think Hafez is going to have a bit of an easier time against Gall who is mostly a BJJ fighter who typically has terrible takedown defence, and I mean, this is something i’ve gone on and on about many times before, a good wrestler is a lot better than a good BJJ fighter, and whilst this is not exactly a case of Gall being a good BJJ fighter and Hafez being a good wrestler, that style clash is basically the same. Even if Gall does put up a good defence/offence on the ground, I do think Hafez and his grappling skillset is more than enough to deal with it. Hafez has gorgeous double leg takedowns, I mean, look at this beautiful takedown he used just seconds into his debut against JDM, he can do this over and over again, and realistically, he just needs to do this for the first two rounds, then he pretty much gets a win, but I think it’s going to be a relatively one sided wrestling attack by Hafez, and a few defensive submission attempts by Gall like guillotines or arm triangles off his back.
This is a great fight to be honest, I was rather impressed by the grit and determination of Hafez, he was getting torn up on the feet by JDM but still was willing to try and wrestle, resulting in a split decision loss, but an immeasurable amount of experience gained. I think Hafez gets a win here, but I only say that because I just don’t know how Gall is going to look coming off of a two year hiatus. We have sometimes seen insane improvements from fighters who take a few years off, so it’s possible Gall could look incredibly good, but based on what I know for “certain”, I think Hafez has this one.
Hafez via UD - (1/3)
Welterweight
Niko Price (+210) (15-7-0, 2 FLS) v Alex Morono (-260) (24-9-0, NS)
Morono is coming off a fairly competitive back and forth fight against McGee, and whilst he got the win, he didn’t look too great in there in all honesty. Morono does quite a few things with his striking that looks very funky and silly, he plods around a lot, his open elbow stance leaves him very open to being attacked, which often plays into his speed advantage in his fights as he can easily retaliate very quickly and land some thunderous punches. Morono is a very powerful boxer and he often uses a very quick left body or inside/outside leg kick with his boxing combinations just to add more sting to the sequence. However, as much as I find his striking style to be very unorthodox, what I do love about him is his grappling. Morono has ridiculously good BJJ, and whilst he doesn’t have the best takedown defence to take full control of his grappling ability, he is very, very good off his back. During his fight against Court McGee, he jumped the Guillotine, and whilst he didn’t successfully submit McGee, he was proactive in chasing an armbar off his back instead… It is the activity off the bottom that makes him a dangerous grappler and it’s always great to see. Now, Morono most likely has a fairly big power advantage here, and given that Price is coming off back to back KO losses, there is some question about whether or not his chin is durable enough to handle the right hand of Morono, and boy that right hand is a tough one to deal with.
Price is indeed coming off a KO loss against Robbie Lawler, and whilst it’s a tough loss for anyone, I do think that he still offers a great deal of threat for Morono, and whilst one might imagine the threat is going to be mostly his punching power, volume and other delicious words, I firmly believe that Price is going to chew up the legs of Morono very early and very often. Price is a fantastic leg kicker, he lands about one third of his strikes to the legs most of the time, and given that Morono is a very “plodding” stance fighter, I just cannot help but imagine that Price is going to land phenomenal leg kicks throughout this fight. However, the counter for leg kicks is, as we all should know by now, a power side attack, and if Price gets hit by that right hand, the momentum could shift very quickly. Now, if the fight ends up on the ground, I do think that Morono is going to swarm Price with overwhelming pressure and activity, given that Morono has excellent BJJ, and Price isn’t exactly that well versed on the ground.
As long as Price avoids the grappling and wrestling of Morono, he has a solid chance to win this fight, but I do think if he attacks the legs early and slows down the forward aggression of Morono, he could pull out an upset here, but that’s a bit of a big order given the threat of Morono’s quick one-two and his ability to utilise a wide range of attacks throughout all three rounds. This is very much a 50/50 fight though, I don’t feel confident at all in either fighter to win, and whilst I think Morono has more tools and more pathways to victory, Price could indeed surprise us this weekend.
Morono via UD - (1/3)
Welterweight
Phil Rowe (+135) (10-4-0, NS) v Jake Matthews (-165) (19-7-0, NS) - This is certainly a fascinating fight, but the first thing that screams at me is the size difference between Rowe and Matthews.
Rowe is coming off a back and forth, relatively slow and unimpressive fight against Magny, and whilst the fight took place in the clinch for the large majority of the fight, I did enjoy watching him use his reach by throwing that quick one-two down the pipe, and its that one-two that is going to be fairly problematic for Matthews given the fact that Rowe has an 8 inch reach advantage. I do believe that if Rowe keeps this fight clean, he has a major advantage here, but there is a glaring problem that I can see Matthews expose, and that’s the lack of defence that Rowe has. Whilst his ranged attacks are relatively effective, I do not like how hittable he is because he does not use footwork a lot, he just stands in front of his opponents target zone, kind of eating punches whilst trying to maintain his range. This is a problem for Rowe in this fight because Matthews is the type to push forward at a strong pace and let his own hands go effectively. Rowe has a phenomenal right hand, it is very accurate and thanks to the reach advantage, I don’t think he needs to show it off too much for it to be effective, he would just need to pop it out there in order to have it land. Now, Magny did make the fight gritty in the third round when they fought, and I did notice that whenever a pocket exchange is initiated, Rowe is on the receiving end of the harder shots, and that is primarily due to his lack of footwork and evasive movement in that particular bout, and whilst he did underperform during his fight against Magny, I do think he has the sharper, straighter punches that could be problematic for Matthews if Matthews is unable to close the distance and enter the pocket effectively.
Matthews is coming off a tough loss against Michael Morales, and it was in that fight that we saw Matthews get hit the most in his UFC career, receiving 84 significant strikes, although I think it’s fair to say that Matthews’ incredible defence allowed him to absorb those significant strikes without much serious damage. Matthews’ defence is actually one of the most impressive things I have seen, he shells up so effectively whilst leaving his stance open enough for aggressive retaliation. Everything Matthews throws comes with him immediately shelling up and moving off the centre line, he is impeccable with his defensive timing, and whilst he has been stumbled and rocked before, he has never really been in dire trouble. I do see Matthews using his overhand left followed by a quick duck followed by a straight right, that is his best entrance for the pocket and it is something he has used incredibly well against Morales. It is this exact style which makes his fight against Rowe a phenomenal match up because we have seen Rowe struggle when an opponent enters range, and I think Matthews is a lot more quick and explosive with forward momentum than Magny is. Plus, it helps that Matthews is such a gritty fighter, constantly moving forward and putting on strong pressure even if he gets hit, and that’s mostly due to his defence, he is just so good at absorbing and blocking damage whilst moving forward.
It honestly is a bit of a story between who can initiate their gameplan a bit better. For Rowe, he needs to be active at range, on the feet, he needs to use that quick one-two to freeze up Matthews and just eventually find the chin, because the chin is there, especially if feints are involved because Matthews does instinctively shell up a lot when something is coming his way, feint or otherwise. However, I do see Matthews making this a chaotic fight, especially since he loves to enter the range by weaving into the pocket, where Rowe is perhaps at his most uncomfortable. I got Matthews winning this one, I think his experience is going to shine here, as well as the fact that his defensive habits are going to be pivotal in mitigating a lot of the dangerous shots coming his way. I am not very confident in Matthews, I do see Rowe being dangerous at range still, but I just think Matthews ability to enter the pocket here is going to be the main story here.
Matthews via UD - (1/3)
Lightweight
Grant Dawson (#15) (-320) (20-2-1, NS) v Joe Solecki (+250) (13-4-0, NS)
Dawson is coming off a rough KO loss against Bobby Green, and that was always going to be one of the main outcomes for that fight since Green has excellent boxing, and thankfully for Dawson, that boxing or striking threat will be mostly gone here since Solecki isn’t at all a striker. Dawson is a very well rounded fighter who is incredibly effective on the ground, he is someone who is able to keep up a high pace of activity and still have enough cardio to be explosive, and I do think that the UFC is kind of making this fight a “comeback” fight for Dawson because I honestly don’t think Solecki has enough of an all round threat to make this interesting for Dawson. Dawson is going to employ the same strategy he has done in almost all of his fights, and that’s wrestle and control, he is so good at maintaining advantageous positions on the ground and the longer he is in top control, the worse it is for Solecki whose only chance to win this fight is to find a submission off his back, but since Dawson has ridiculously good wrestling and grappling himself, I think he can see any set up that Solecki attempts coming. On the feet I could say Dawson has the advantage here, but I don’t think a lot of the fight is going to take place on the feet, I think there’s going to be a lot of wrestling involved with Dawson being in the better positions.
Solecki is a sneaky fighter though, and whilst he has had some underwhelming fights, I do think the threat of his submissions are going to be fairly prevalent. I don’t think those submissions are going to land. Now, I will put a major disclaimer here saying I have struggled to find a lot of “working” tape for Solecki, and I have been unable to find what submission attempts he used against Alex Da Silva when they fought two years ago, I only bring this up because I believe Solecki is active off his back and if he is lucky he could at least make Dawson’s control time a bit more difficult, but I still don’t think Solecki has that kind of threat to catch Dawson in anything, so whilst he might be active off his back and in the guard, it’s going to be the kind of activity that results in Dawson just adjusting over and over.
I don’t really have much else to say about this one, Dawson is the better all round fighter and a much better wrestler, and I do think that whilst both fighters have outstanding BJJ, Solecki’s submission output could make it a bit gritty for Dawson, but this isn’t new for Dawson, Dawsons faced excellent grapplers before (Ismagulov, Madsen and Gordon to name his recent wins). Dawson should win this one in my opinion.
Dawson via UD - (2/3)
Middleweight
Roman Kopylov (-135) (12-3-0, NS) v Cesar Almeida (+115) (5-0-0, 5 FWS)
Kopylov is coming off a tough submission loss against Alexander Hernandez, and it was a competitive fight up until that point. One thing that I like about Kopylov is his diversity with striking, he is ridiculously quick on the feet for a Middleweight and that allows him to simply flick out anything and there’s some certainty that it’s going to land. He has a very quick and sneaky lead leg kick that he often uses to change target very quickly, usually kicking the leg then following up with a left straight, instead of what we see in typical combinations where the leg kick is the final attack in a sequence. Kopylov does get hit a lot, and he does leave his right hand a bit far from his face, which makes me think that Almeida and his fantastic left hook is going to be a major problem for Kopylov. However, Kopylov does have some grappling in his arsenal, although we have yet to see it in the UFC, but since he is a multiple time sambo champion, I can’t help but think that he is going to be using his wrestling a fair bit in this fight, especially since he is facing one hell of a dangerous kickboxer, it would only make some sense, right? Now, on the feet, there are two attacks that Kopylov is going to put a major emphasis on, that is the liver body kick (left roundhouse) and the left straight, those two attacks are going to be his most damaging and I do wonder how effective it will be in slowing down Almeida.
Almeida is coming off a strong debut win against Budka, and whilst Budka isn’t exactly a tough debut, he still managed to test Almeida a little bit on the ground. However, as I highlighted in my last write up about Almeida, his defensive grappling is very, very good, he has adapted exceptionally well to MMA. Now, Almeida is one hell of a dangerous kickboxer, he is stupendously sharp on the feet and he is tight with his combinations, and it is for that reason alone that I think Kopylov needs to wrestle in this fight, use his Sambo to mix it up and make it frustrating for Almeida. Now, Almeida is outstanding at all ranges, but I think he excels in the pocket where he can land his tight left hook, a left hook that’s eerily similar to Pereira, it’s just a clean left hook that has no read and a lot of power behind it, and I think Kopylov is going to have to be the first one to start the action in order to not let Almeida settle in to throw that hook.
This is going to be a fantastic fight though, and honestly a fascinating match up for Kopylov who, up until this moment, only faced standard MMA strikers who throw big power with not that much technique, so this is going to be fascinating. Going with the underdog here, but it will absolutely not be a high confidence pick.
Almeida via KO R2 - (1/3)
Main Card
Welterweight
Randy Brown (-155) (18-5-0, 2 FWS) v Elizeu Zaleski (+130) (24-7-1, 1D/2FWS) - This is going to be absolutely awesome.
Brown is coming off a fantastic KO over highly touted kickboxing veteran Muslim Salikhov, and despite the fact that Brown did defeat Salikhov, it did not come without a lot of damage coming his way. Brown suffers a little bit from what a lot of longer and taller fighters suffer from, and that's a lack of fundamental striking defence, his range and reach is his defence, if someone can penetrate that reach difference and enter the pocket, then Brown is a vulnerable target in that moment. However, when Brown is at range and he’s in the zone, he is incredible. His long jab is his best weapon, he uses it to both damage his opponent and to set up subsequent punches, and these shots aren’t always the same, there are so many permutations of that same set up, as soon as you see Brown throw more than one jab, you know he is setting up a clean combination. However, he has shown a bit of a weakness and that’s his legs, he is so easy to leg kick due to his height and size, his lead leg is ripe for the taking and there is little doubt in my mind that Zaleski is going to chew up those legs early, as that was the game plan for Salikhov before that one-one-two combination came his way at ridiculous speeds.
Zaleski is coming off a draw against Rinat Fakhretdinov, and very early on we saw Zaleski struggle with the pressure and power of Fakhretdinov. That pressure and power is not exactly the style of fighting that Brown utilises, Brown is a lot more patient and systematic with his approach, never pressuring his opponent but keeping a constant pace of a wide sort of attacks. Zaleski has ridiculous power in his hands though and he has the speed and explosiveness to enter the pocket and land those dangerous punches that are going to land whenever he is going to enter the pocket during this bout. However, Zaleski does not have the best defence, he often leaves his hands a bit low, and whilst that’s great for an explosive overhand or a quick burst of action that’s hard to read, I don’t think that’s a good kind of defence when you’re fighting someone who has a 5 inch reach advantage and a 4 inch height advantage. Zaleski is not a safe fighter, he is here to perform and look for highlights, he is an incredible finisher, but he is also reckless, he is also susceptible to getting hurt, and whilst he did exceptionally well against Fakhretdinov, that was mostly due to Fakhretdinov’s predictable attacks. Now, Fakhretdinov threw the same attacks over and over, and since that same attack was the one that dropped Zaleski, he kept using that same thing. In order to be effective in any combat sport, especially against a veteran, you need to have different combinations, and that’s exactly what Brown has, he has such a wide range of attacks, including his very snappy front and head kicks, so there is little doubt that Zaleski is going to be somewhat overwhelmed on the feet if Brown finds his groove early on.
This is a fantastic fight, perhaps one of the best fights on this card, I expect there to be fireworks and a lot of adjustments as the rounds go on, but I do think that Brown is going to get a win here, his reach and height advantage gives him a lot of additional set ups and effective strikes, those front kicks up the middle could be effective given the loose shell of Zaleski, and those long one-two punches that Brown uses are just beautiful to watch. This is going to be awesome. Now, before I get to the prediction… Zaleski has the right tools to make this messy enough to get a win here, so there will be an alt bet here for a Zaleski Points/KO Double Chance.
Brown via UD - (1/3)
Heavyweight
Jailton Almeida (#6) (-300) (20-3-0, NS) v Alexandr Romanov (#14) (+240) (17-2-0, NS)
Almeida is coming off a KO loss against Blaydes just a few months ago, and I mean, losing to someone like Blaydes isn’t too big of a deal since Blaydes is a genuine talent in the division, but I do wonder how Almeida has improved since that loss. Almeida is a very grapple heavy fighter who has torn through a division full of unathletic brawlers, and now he is facing fighters who have a very similar style and skill set that he has, which makes this fight all that more interesting because I have been very high on Romanov in recent years, mostly due to his style being unique in the heavyweight division. Almeida has ridiculous cardio for someone at heavyweight, and whilst you could argue that his lay and pray style does not really reflect great cardio… how often are we going to see Blaydes get taken down 9 of 13 times. 13 fucking attempts against someone who has one of the best wrestling backgrounds in the UFC at heavyweight? Almeida’s wrestling is going to be a problem for a lot of people, even as we move up the division, but it comes at a cost. Almeida is very one dimensional, he has a heavy reliance on those takedowns, and if he doesn’t get them, you get a repeat of what Blaydes did to him. On the feet I don’t see a lot happening, Almeida has shown to be a bit more free with his boxing, only to open up his opponent to takedowns, and that could very well be the gameplan for Almeida this weekend, box a little then shoot for a takedown, and it could be effective against Romanov who is a bit more one dimensional than Almeida.
Romanov has somewhat stagnated a tiny bit in his career, with a not-very-recent win over Blagoy Ivanov, and for the most part it was a strong showing of his wrestling ability and strength, however I do question the quality of opponent that Romanov has defeated in comparison to Almeida’s… It seems that Almeida has been given the more star-power names whereas Romanov has been climbing the ranks in a more natural way. Anyway, I like Romanov, but I genuinely don’t think he is going to fare well against someone like Almeida. If an old 40+ year old in Espino can out wrestle Romanov, there is no doubt that a younger and perhaps more athletic fighter in Almeida can replicate that same kind of style and just overwhelm Romanov. Romanov is a strong competitor though so I think there might be enough resistance in the wrestling department to make this fight a long, gruelling one.
A very fun clash of similar styles here, which I find pretty important since Almeida is a very impressive fighter, and I think the more we see him take on opponents with a similar style to himself, the more we get to see what he is truly capable of. I got Almeida winning this one, it should be a fun fight!
Almeida via UD - (2/3)
Middleweight
Kevin Holland (-250) (25-11-0, 2 FLS) v Michal Oleksiejczuk (+200) (19-7-0, NS) - Oh man do I love this fight.
Holland is coming off back to back losses against JDM and MVP (Jack Della Maddalena and Michael “Venom” Page”), and whilst back to back losses could easily make people dismiss Holland, I do want to bring up how competitive his fight against JDM was, and how durable and tough he was when MVP was taking his soul in what was such a brilliant display of unorthodox kickboxing. Holland has always been a game fighter, he has a chin that allows him to hang in there with the hardest hitters, and he is genuinely a very skilled fighter who has outstanding boxing and such an expert at range and luring his opponent into an angle that gives him an advantage. Holland is coming back up to 185 after a fun stint at 170, and since Oleksiejczuk has very little wrestling threat, I am excited to see if we witness Holland be himself once again, because prior to his losses against Brunson and Vettori at 185, he was a dangerous fighter. Holland has a substantial reach advantage coming into this fight which is only going to shine even more when Oleksiejczuk tries to box him in a typical boxing range. Holland is also a fairly experienced grappler, he has quite a few submissions on his record and I do think that if he wants the path of least resistance when fighting Oleksiejczuk, he is going to look for that takedown and find a submission. However, that’s not how Holland fights, he is a crowd pleaser and is most likely going to want to keep this fight standing so he can land his quick combinations at range and just put away Oleksiejczuk that way.
Oleksiejczuk is coming off a tough sub loss against Pereira, and I honestly learnt nothing else about him during that fight, he was still looking for those heavy punches, and he still had somewhat bad takedown defence. I do think that Oleksiejczuk’s best chance to win this fight is to put Holland away, but it’s just a bit of a tall order because if Holland couldn’t get knocked out by the ridiculous power of MVP, I don’t think Oleksiejczuk is going to achieve that success that MVP tried to chase. The reach disadvantage is going to be fairly prominent here too, it’s going to make Oleksiejczuk rush in a little bit with some explosive forward movement in order to cover the distance, but Holland is so good at crowding punches and being hard to hit that I just don’t think Oleksiejczuk is going to land too cleanly on Holland.
With that said, I’ve always been a fan of Holland so maybe there is a bit of bias here, but I think Holland wins this one, i’m just mostly curious to see how he looks when he returns to 185 this weekend.
Holland via KO R2 - (2/3)
Co-Main Event
Middleweight
Sean Strickland (#2) (-205) (28-6-0, NS) v Paulo Costa (#8) (+170) (14-3-0, NS)
Strickland is coming off a very competitive fight against Dricus Du Plessis, and whilst he arguably won that fight, what I was most impressed with was the little amount of damage he absorbed, even by one of the most powerful punchers in DDP, and if Strickland could absorb that little amount of damage from DDP, I can only think that he is going to be relatively fine against Costa. Strickland does struggle a little bit in turning up the pressure when pressure is needed, he does have a bit of a predictable style which has been talked about for ages, but it’s a style that works, and if he sets a high pace of steady volume and walks Costa back throughout the fight, he can easily win this fight. The only thing that Strickland needs to be careful of is the power of Costa coming back his way.
Costa is coming off a tough loss against Whittaker, and whilst he did display that power late into the first round, he struggled to keep up with the speed and footwork of Whittaker. Now, the good news for Costa is that Stricklands footwork only involves walking forward, and occasionally taking a step back, there is no tricky blitzes or anything, so the striking success rate for Costa should be at least more stable numerically in the second and third if he doesn’t succumb to the pressure and slow down in those two rounds. However, I don’t trust Costa’s gas tank that much, he may be a physical specimen but the power he throws with is unsustainable for a three round back and forth, and it’s certainly not the first time Strickland has fought a powerhouse. My main concern however is the judges scorecards, and I know its a bit weird to talk about judging, but when you have big action fighters throwing things that aren’t super effective, the visuals reflect effectiveness, regardless of the supposed damage received, will the judges this fight see Costa throw heavy, despite not landing cleanly (which is hard to do against Strickland) and give the rounds to Costa? If that is the case, then a Costa Decision certainly should be in your books, but I just think that Strickland and his 4 inch reach advantage is going to be too effective in stifling the aggression of Costa.
I ultimately have Strickland winning this fight, I never really have been big on Costa, he’s a fun fighter to watch, but when you have Strickland taking away a lot of that fun by marching down a lot of his opponents, you get a Costa that struggles to keep up a bit. This is going to be a low confidence pick due to the judging factor, I have a weird feeling about this one lol.
Strickland via UD - (1/3)
Main Event
Lightweight Championship Bout
Islam Makhachev (c) (-480) (25-1-0, 13 FWS) v Dustin Poirier (#5) (+360) (30-8-0, NS)
Makhachev is one of the most well rounded fighters in the UFC at the moment. Everything he does is with clean technique and outstanding timing, and he has the cardio to keep up a ridiculously high pace for 5 rounds. There is no doubt in my mind that he is going to be using his brilliant wrestling and grappling to slowly dismantle Poirier, because Poirier’s grappling is rudimentary at best, it does not hold a candle to Makhachevs wrestling. There is a lot of discussion about Poirier landing a guillotine on Makhachev, but it’s all hype and hope at this rate because if he could not land a guillotine on BSD, he probably isn’t going to land one against a high level wrestler in Makhachev. Makhachev is a few steps behind when it comes to boxing though, I do not see him being successful against Poirier on the feet, Poirier’s striking is sublime, it is the most brilliant close range striking that you’ll probably ever see in the LW division, those tight hooks he uses is something nasty.
Poirier is on his last legs career wise, there is quite a lot weighing on him for this one as it is his final chance to get a belt, so that’s already a lot of pressure, but I guess he thrives in this kind of environment. Poirier is going to have to contend with the almost instant wrestling pressure and pace of Makhachev, and given that Poirier is not at all a wrestler, he is going to get taken down, he got taken down quite a few times when he fought a very depleted BSD, and now he’s coming up against a very physically ready Makhachev, I just don’t see Poirier doing too well in the wrestling department against Makhachev. However, when it comes to the striking, Poirier holds all the cards here, he has incredible timing with his lead hook and if he times it right, that uppercut could be disastrous for Makhachev. It’s going to be the hook and the uppercut that catch Makhachev, but if Makhachev can survive those attacks and get his hands wrapped around Poirier, it’s not going to matter if Poirier rocks Makhachev in the process, Makhachev is insane in top position.
That’s the story here, Poirier’s boxing versus Makhachevs wrestling and grappling. I got Makhachev winning this one, but it is always a good idea to sprinkle a bit of money on a Poirier KO, especially since he’s such a big underdog here.
Makhachev via Sub R2 - (2/3)
And that's it!
Primary Parlay - Price/Morono o2.5 or GTD + Dawson/Solecki o2.5 or GTD + Almeida/Kopylov ITD + Makhachev/Poirier ITD
Secondary Parlay - Price/Morono o2.5 or GTD + Almeida/Romanov R3 Starts Yes + Strickland/Costa o2.5 + Makhachev/Poirier u3.5 or ITD
Locks: Perez (optional), Dawson, Almeida, Holland and Makhachev.
Prediction Accuracy for 2024: 64.3%
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I'm pretty new to cooking and just got an air fryer. I'm excited to start using it, but I'm a bit confused about how long I should be cooking different foods. I know that air fryers are supposed to be faster than traditional ovens, but I don’t have any experience with them yet. Can anyone help me out with some basic guidelines? Here's what I want to know:

1. How long do common foods take to cook in an air fryer?
2. Do different foods need different temperatures and times?
3. Any tips for adjusting cooking times from traditional recipes?
4. How do I avoid undercooking or overcooking my food?

Thanks in advance for any advice! Here's a list of some specific foods I'm planning to try:

1. French Fries: I’ve heard air fryers make great fries, but I’m not sure how long to cook them or at what temperature.
2. Chicken Wings: I love crispy wings but don’t want to dry them out.
3. Vegetables: Things like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and carrots.
4. Steak: Is it even possible to cook a good steak in an air fryer?
5. Frozen Foods: Like frozen chicken nuggets or fish sticks – do these need different times?

Any detailed cooking times, temperatures, and tips would be super helpful. I’m really looking forward to trying out my new air fryer and making some delicious meals. Thanks so much!

Responses from Forum Members

Response 1:
Hi there! Welcome to the air frying world – you’re going to love it! Here’s a quick guide to get you started:

1. French Fries: Cut them evenly, toss in a bit of oil, and cook at 400°F (200°C) for 15-20 minutes. Shake the basket halfway through.
2. Chicken Wings: Preheat the air fryer to 375°F (190°C) and cook for about 25-30 minutes, flipping them halfway through. They should come out crispy and delicious!
3. Vegetables: For broccoli or Brussels sprouts, toss them in a little oil and seasoning, and cook at 375°F (190°C) for 10-15 minutes. Carrots might take a bit longer, around 15-20 minutes at the same temperature.
4. Steak: Yes, you can cook steak! Preheat to 400°F (200°C) and cook for about 7-12 minutes, depending on thickness and desired doneness. Flip halfway through.
5. Frozen Foods: These are super easy. For chicken nuggets, cook at 400°F (200°C) for 10-12 minutes. Fish sticks can go for 8-10 minutes at the same temperature.

A general tip: If you’re converting from a traditional oven recipe, reduce the cooking temperature by about 25°F (15°C) and check the food a bit earlier than the recipe suggests. Always make sure to shake or flip foods halfway through cooking to ensure even cooking.
Happy air frying!
Response 2:
Hey! Congrats on your new air fryer. It’s a game-changer. Here are some more tips:

• Use a thermometer: For meats like chicken and steak, a meat thermometer can help ensure you get the right doneness.
• Preheat your air fryer: Just like an oven, preheating can help ensure more even cooking.
• Don’t overcrowd: Make sure there’s space around the food so the hot air can circulate properly. This helps with even cooking and getting that crispy texture.
• Experiment with times: Start with the lower end of cooking times and check your food. You can always cook it longer if needed, but you can’t undo overcooking!

Enjoy your cooking adventure!
I hope this helps! If anyone has more tips or corrections, please chime in. I'm all ears for learning the best ways to use my new kitchen gadget. Thanks!
4oHow Long Does It Take to Cook in an Air Fryer?
Hey everyone!
I'm pretty new to cooking and just got an air fryer. I'm excited to start using it, but I'm a bit confused about how long I should be cooking different foods. I know that air fryers are supposed to be faster than traditional ovens, but I don’t have any experience with them yet. Can anyone help me out with some basic guidelines? Here's what I want to know:

1. How long do common foods take to cook in an air fryer?
2. Do different foods need different temperatures and times?
3. Any tips for adjusting cooking times from traditional recipes?
4. How do I avoid undercooking or overcooking my food?

Thanks in advance for any advice! Here's a list of some specific foods I'm planning to try:

1. French Fries: I’ve heard air fryers make great fries, but I’m not sure how long to cook them or at what temperature.
2. Chicken Wings: I love crispy wings but don’t want to dry them out.
3. Vegetables: Things like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and carrots.
4. Steak: Is it even possible to cook a good steak in an air fryer?
5. Frozen Foods: Like frozen chicken nuggets or fish sticks – do these need different times?

Any detailed cooking times, temperatures, and tips would be super helpful. I’m really looking forward to trying out my new air fryer and making some delicious meals. Thanks so much!

Responses from Forum Members

Response 1:
Hi there! Welcome to the air frying world – you’re going to love it! Here’s a quick guide to get you started:

1. French Fries: Cut them evenly, toss in a bit of oil, and cook at 400°F (200°C) for 15-20 minutes. Shake the basket halfway through.
2. Chicken Wings: Preheat the air fryer to 375°F (190°C) and cook for about 25-30 minutes, flipping them halfway through. They should come out crispy and delicious!
3. Vegetables: For broccoli or Brussels sprouts, toss them in a little oil and seasoning, and cook at 375°F (190°C) for 10-15 minutes. Carrots might take a bit longer, around 15-20 minutes at the same temperature.
4. Steak: Yes, you can cook steak! Preheat to 400°F (200°C) and cook for about 7-12 minutes, depending on thickness and desired doneness. Flip halfway through.
5. Frozen Foods: These are super easy. For chicken nuggets, cook at 400°F (200°C) for 10-12 minutes. Fish sticks can go for 8-10 minutes at the same temperature.

A general tip: If you’re converting from a traditional oven recipe, reduce the cooking temperature by about 25°F (15°C) and check the food a bit earlier than the recipe suggests. Always make sure to shake or flip foods halfway through cooking to ensure even cooking.
Happy air frying!
Response 2:
Hey! Congrats on your new air fryer. It’s a game-changer. Here are some more tips:

• Use a thermometer: For meats like chicken and steak, a meat thermometer can help ensure you get the right doneness.
• Preheat your air fryer: Just like an oven, preheating can help ensure more even cooking.
• Don’t overcrowd: Make sure there’s space around the food so the hot air can circulate properly. This helps with even cooking and getting that crispy texture.
• Experiment with times: Start with the lower end of cooking times and check your food. You can always cook it longer if needed, but you can’t undo overcooking!

So, there is a mini-community of people who deny the existence of an og timeline. Let's consider what their arguments are.

1. If there was an og timeline, Eobard should have never appeared in 2016. Thawne is from an alternate timeline. Why and how would his origin end up tying into the new timeline that S1 Thawne created? It's also hinted that Eobard gets the idea of stealing Harrison Wells' face in Season 1 when he sees Harry Wells in Season 2. But this doesn't really make sense since the Thawne from Season 1 was from an alternate timeline therefore, he couldn't have met Harry Wells because the timeline he meets him in wouldn't have been created yet. First we have to acknowledge the fact that thawne's knowledge of the past is flawed and maybe he believes things have happened differently than they did. Why was Cisco and the timeline about to be ruptured in Episode 2x11 when Thawne was imprisoned. If this Thawne is not the same thawne from season 1, then that doesn't make any sense. It's simple, because this timeline is his true origin, and keeping him there in the pipeline would prevent the season 1 events from happening. Cause AND effect, period. Plus, if Eobard from 2x11 was a time remnant, then locking him up would NOT almost kill Cisco or erase him from the timeline as Eobard is a time REMNANT meaning he's from a timeline that no longer exists, but the fact that it affected Cisco in the show's timeline when they locked Thawne up, proves he is from THIS timeline not an "OG" timeline. They were wrong when they said Thawne was a time remnant. Harry said this, "This is how he learns about STAR labs, This is how he learns about me, how he learns about you, the harrison wells from this earth, this is his origin story." Notice that Thawne said, "this ability to travel through time revealed the truth was to become your greatest enemy" That means he existed LONG before making his time jump in 2x11 of The Flash. Note, he actually said that it was his origin story. That proves that it had always been like this, not the 2020 crap that so many people keep saying. Thawne simply confused Earth 2 Wells as Earth 1 Wells. Hence Harry saying, "this is where he learns about me."
   
2. The fact that killing Nora Allen herself didn't make "original timeline" RF vanish from existence, even when he's from a timeline where the Flash gets his powers in 2020 and his existence wasn't bound to the Nsf. If the Flash who got his powers in 2020 vanished, since he was the one who "bedazzled the crowd" and not the one who got his powers in 2016, an entirely different Flash, then the "original timeline" Reverse Flash should've vanished along with him. The only way for the Reverse Flash to still be alive is the fact that our Flash in this timeline was indeed the one that stole Thawne's glory in the future. Because as the theory proved, his existence was entirely time-bound (before someone comes and says "the NSF prevented him from fading out of existence"...
   
3. He showed to have problems with his speed throughout season 1
   
4. Rewatch Armageddon. That precious NSF didn't save him there, did it?) If Future Flash truly disappeared, then that "original timeline" Reverse Flash should've joined him in disappearing. If that timeline didn't come to exist anymore, neither would that version of RF exist anymore. Instead, the "original timeline" RF stays in 2000 and plays out the events of the show to create the Flash, not at an earlier time, JUST HOW IT WAS MEANT TO HAPPEN. If an "OG RF" sits and creates the Flash earlier, and if "OG RF" can exist in an entirely new timeline where "OG Flash" vanishes??
   
5. "In the year 2020, you and your wife, Tess Morgan, SUCCESFULLY launched a Particle Accelerator that changed the course of history. I need it to happen a bit sooner if I'm going to get back. Much sooner." Keywords: succesfully. Thawne says it was a "successful" launch which negates the possibility of an explosion.What Eobard meant by "a lot sooner" was the construction of the particle accelerator(S.T.A.R. Labs). We know from the pilot episode its true purpose is to bring advancements to science and medicine which would negate the possibility of an explosion Building and exploding the PA is the best way for him to be 100% sure Flash is created. "Maybe that's why Wells LET the particle accelerator explode, so that you could become The Flash." Keywords: let. Also in the 1x23 scene where Wellsobard talks to Barry about the particle accelerator. "The last time that happened, you caused an EXPLOSION that hurt a lot of people." "This time, the accelerator will operate EXACTLY THE WAY IT WAS DESIGNED TO." Keywords: explosion, exactly the way it was designed to. So: Whatever Eobard said to E1-Wells when he killed him. It's more likely falsified information from Gideon. Not to mention he said it was a successful launch. A successful launch negates the possibility of Barry gaining his powers in the year 2020. He also never added the word "explosion" to the "particle accelerator" words. DeVoe's wife knew it blows off; Thawne made it blow off, Harry knew his blows off; that's why he tried to contain the dark matter explosion, but still failed despite being so technologically advanced. I find it stupid that E1 Wells couldn't know it blows off(he was a scientist after all) Also he would have never turned it on if he knew it spreads dark matter around Central City. After all that guy cared for humanity. I find it also stupid that he could successfully launch it without it to explode: Someone who is technologically limited in comparision to Harry. I think that's why Gideon didn't tell Barry who Thawne was in the Time Vault because the s1 outcome would have played differently.
   
6. When we see the 15 years ago scene from Harribard's pov(1x17); Barry saves himself(looks like when he is running) and leaves his family. But when we see it from Barry's perspective in 1x01 and 1x23; to him it seems that he just vanished. So, that, means Harribard knew that killing Nora won't traumatise his future self.
   
7. His speed wasn't gone like many people assumed, it was just fluctuating due to his massive fight with the flash in 2024. He managed to hide wells’ body extremely fast right before the cops arrived. Gideon mentions the fact that it is the latest time travel against The Flash that made him "lose" his speed and not that he killed Nora Allen. If Original Timeline Flash's disappearance was what caused Thawne's loss of speed, then he would have gotten it back the moment The Flash was created again. But instead Eobard still has problems with his speed. And Eobard never lost his memories either like what happened to Barry in Flashpoint.
   
8. He just said a bunch of lies to Barry in 1x23 making it seem he is from another timeline when he really wasn't. He knew that if he makes Nora's death an "accident"; Barry's gonna try to change it. The reason Eobard says "in a" instead of "the" is because to him everything has already happened, so it won't be "the future" for him anymore. Observe that he does not specify the reason behind their rivalry. If it was a time loop it would make sense, then - because Barry would know that he should not help Thawne and go back in time to save his mother. Observe how Thawne twist the actual story to make it seem that Nora's death was an actual "accident" (Yes, he never meant to kill her. But once Barry got himself out, he did what was always supposed to do - which is to kill Nora out of anger). Because we know he already said at the stadium that his mother was destined to die that night - HE JUST LIES HERE ABOUT THAT! Notice he uses the word "create" instead of "recreate" - therefore it's implied he is the one who turned Barry into The Flash with the particle accelerator. If it was real Wells and Tess with their particle accelerator, Eobard should have said "recreate" instead. Observe Eobard's gestures and how he looks at Barry's reactions – he really wants Barry to believe that he really had a life where his parents were fine.
   
9. He even talks to Barry while he was in a coma telling him "nothing is forgiven, there will be a reckoning.. you will die" almost like it foreshadows to the conversation they recently had. Eobard mentions the context of fate here. Eobard only tells that if there were things his future self did.
   
10. Eobard tells Barry that it was his mom's destiny to die that night(1х09). 9х10 - Killing your mother is fixed point. The moment Thawne realized Barry's mother's death is destiny SPEAKING OF DESTINY.
    
11. Why would the 2024 newspaper be effected the moment season 1 Barry lost his speed if Thawne is from the "Original Timeline'? (After Farooq takes Barry's speed, the future changes). Many fans believe for some reason that the newspaper is from the og timeline. If Barry didn't originally become the Flash until later, him losing his powers in season 1 should not have significantly affected the timeline. WHY would The Future" remain intact if "The FUTURE" Thawne came from was erased from existence? So: If OG Barry and Our Barry we're completely different people then the newspaper shouldn't have changed when Farooq took his speed back in season 1 let alone the future wouldn't remain "intact" if that specific future was already gone.
    
12. Eobard knows about Savitar (even though he should not if he is from a timeline where Barry's parents lived, и "loves" the work of Zoom, as he said in 9x13.
    
13. Reverse Flash knew Zoom would kill off his father anyway. Eobard knows that the confession will get to nowhere because he knows, through unknown means, that Zoom will kill Barry's dad at some point – that's why he even makes the confession after his plans fail - to make sure Barry suffers even after his absence.
    
14. If the OG timeline ever existed before the arrowerse timeline the one where Barry's mom was alive, then why when season 2 Barry went back and saved his mother he created a "new reality" like mentioned here instead of time correcting itself back to the way it was? The only reason Eobard says it will be cemented - he means that Barry will lose his powers, and neither can change it back to the way it was - not that it would not be changeable at all (The reality you and I know will just fade away). "The you I know from the future, he's not this stupid" - "You were always smart"
    
15. Future Barry knocks out Thawne and warns himself not to save Nora(why would he do that if there was an original timeline?) The original timeline flash doesn't know Thawne would kill Nora instead. He might not know the ripple effects of changing the past as he hasn't done anything of this magnitude. Even if he caught the S1 flash accidentally looking out of that room, why did he just leave after saving the kid Barry. If there is a version of Flash back in the past other than OG(who followed thawne), then doesn't it mean something else goes very bad. Coz if kid Barry is dead then there wouldn't be another flash hiding in the room and waiting. So either of his parents or both are going to die. Shouldn't the OG flash comeback to save his parents or just get them medical help so they can be rescued ?? He didn't come back and that means he knows what is going to happen and he knows he shouldn't stop what is going to happen. I do know OG flash's mom was not killed. So there is no reason for him to look at the room where his younger version of flash will be waiting or even if he caught him accidentally he would be surprised rather than not ask him to interfere because he doesn't know what happens after. Even if we think OG flash saw the younger flash waiting and realized something else went very wrong in the year 2000 and he had to travel back to this date again to correct it, why would the OG flash stop him. According to the OG flash, if his younger version is back on the same day it means either or both of his parents are dead. OG flash grew with both of his parents. The moment Henry says "Run!" - that's Future Barry's signal. He had enough time to save all - but he did not because he knew his mother was always meant to die that night. The presence of season 1 Barry nulls OG Barry being there. Because in order for season 1 Barry to exist and go back in time by Thawne’s order, OG Barry CANNOT. It makes sense for season 1 Barry to travel back in time to an event that happens on HIS timeline. It does not make sense for OG Barry to travel to a timeline event that NEVER happens for him on HIS timeline. OG Barry would have had to time travel to an alternate reality’s 2000.
    

Again, Nora’s death is a fixed event for the flash who gets his powers in 2014, not the one who gets them later on.
Final point of evidence. Everytime future flash stops season 1 flash, he KNOWS season 1 flash is there AND knows WHY he’s there. He doesn’t question him, he doesn’t ponder, he knows why he’s there. Because future flash was season 1 Barry at a point in time. Why would OG flash expect to see a younger flash there that night in 2000, let alone know why he’s there. Unless all of a sudden flash can time travel through alternate worlds too. Oh, and for those who are gonna say "S9 Barry's only job was to warn his past self not to save Nora since OG Flash was still fighting Thawne"... when OG Flash knocked Thawne out, there was still lightning heard. If OG Flash was truly there... why wasn't past Barry warned twice? One warning from "S9 Barry" and another warning from "OG Barry". Except, we never see both versions of the Flash warn his past self.

1. Just because in season 1 we saw Eobard and Barry coming out of a portal originally with a different suit proves absolute nothing that whole fight scene was cgi and it was the first season they didn't know what suit they were gonna use for the full circle moment.
   
2. Guess now we know why when season 1 Barry revealed to be her son from the future the timeline didnt change. Because she's already encountered Season 9 Barry Allen earlier.
   
3. Nora's name being Dawn originally simply indicates that the future may have changed many times, not that there was once a timeline where Barry's mom wasn't killed (or the screenwriters just decided to make a reference to the comics).
   
4. Eddie killing himself and erasing Eobard from existence even though the OG timeline Eobard shouldn't be connected to the S1 timeline Eddie.
   

Boostrap paradox before the crisis.
2014: Thawne creates The Flash from the Particle Accelerator explosion. 2015: Thawne gets "erased" from existence 2016: Thawne in 2x11 arrives from the future, and this is the important part in the timeline, because as they imprisoned Thawne here, Cisco was about to die from the timeline changes, which doesn't make sense if the thawne from season 1 is NOT the same. Season 2 Thawne = season 1 Thawne. This is the moment he learns about Harrison Wells of earth 2, and then gets confused with Earth 1 wells, which prompted thawne to kill Earth 1 Wells. He learns Cisco and the rest of Team Flash. 2024: Flash fights Reverse Flash, hence the newspaper. They have a massive fight before vanishing in a crisis, but in reality they travelled back to year 2000 to fight around Nora Allen. 2000: the year Nora Allen dies. Reverse Flash fights the Flash around Nora Allen, and then Future Flash sees his younger self from the season 1 finale.
Boostrap paradox after the crisis of 2019, not 2024.
Almost everything is the same, but now the Future Flash is Barry S9, who was placed in 2000 by a negative speedforce, and Thawne spends all day with Barry.

My step daughter is 7 years old. Her mother and I work quite often, I own a business that takes me away from home anywhere from 8am to 10pm and her mother works from 4 to 9 (which is about the time she gets out of school) so she spends a majority of time at her grandparents.
The problem is, she's never disciplined over there at all, her biological father has only seen her twice, once when she was born and the second time on her 1st birthday; other than that I've raised her since she was 2. I completely blame the grandmother for the childs lack of respect for people. She says blatantly racist things, cusses, throws tantrums, cries until she gets her way, treats my other children horribly, as well as her own mother and I.
My biological daughter is an absolute sweetheart and when she comes over all she wants to do is go play with her little sister (they are 1 year apart), she constantly ask if she's gonna see her but anytime my step daughter comes over she bullies my daughter and treats her like crap. Calling her names and saying she doesn't like her. I fear that my daughter will begin to mimick this behavior and honestly, she's an angel (no exaggeration, I've never heard anyone complain about her, she's well mannered, polite, loving, and respectful. A polar opposite of her step-sibling).
The maternal grandfather works just as much as I do, but the grandmother stays at home and drinks pretty heavily. Talking bad about people (even about her own daughter in front of the child). When my step daughter is here, no lie, she literally sounds like her grandmother, mimicking her behavior and mannerisms. Honestly, there's nothing I can do. I'm in no position to discipline her because she's not my child and when I leave it up to her mother she completely agrees with me but nothing is ever done because she only gets to see her daughter so much and doesn't want to be the bad guy.
I just don't know what to do anymore, of course I tell her things like (don't talk to your mother that way, you only get one), (stop cussing, that's not very lady like), (cross your legs), (put some clothes on), (don't burp/fart at the table, go excuse yourself), (cover your mouth when you cough), (don't hit your brother), (don't say that its rude), (you shouldn't point at people), (that wasn't very nice, you need to apologize). The same way I speak to my other children but she just tells me to shut up or continues to do it anyway. The things this 7 year old says just completely baffles me and now our child that we have together, our 4 year old son, is beginning to act the same way and I won't have that. I have 3 older children that are all well behaved and it's because I made sure they were raised to be respectful and empathetic. This child just doesn't get it and I really don't want my youngest or even my daughter thinking that her behavior is acceptable or tolerated. I won't condone it or give that type of behavior a safe haven.
Something has to be done but I'm lost on what to do. Everything I've read on this topic has to deal with older children in their teens, she's only 7 and I feel like she doesn't understand what she's saying or the hurtful impact it has on other people. She's literally in the other room telling my 4 year old he's going to get an "ass whooping" and I've already told her multiple times to stop talking like that.
It's like my lady just gave up on trying to correct her and when it comes to my youngest child, her entire family encourages his bad behavior because they find it amusing not understanding the repercussions it will have later in his life.
My step daughter also eats a ridiculous amount of food, she's twice the size of a child her age, her mom even has her wearing sports bras, and she constantly plays roblox and is always role playing on there talking about things no 7 year old should talk about. "Boyfriends, Girlfriends, being gay, having sex, being retarded, being colored, cussing", she literally acts like an undisciplined spoiled 16 year old girl.
Now mind you, she hangs around a lot with her older cousins who live a couple houses down (my ladies entire family lives within a 3 minute walk), they're between the ages of 13 and 16, (3 girls) and she acts just like them. I've tried explaining to her that she shouldn't be talking about those things or even thinking about them at her age, she clearly ignores me though and anytime I try to put my foot down her mother just shrugs it off like it's no big deal.
I feel like giving up, honestly, at this point her behavior is accepted by everyone and there's no way I can punish her without negative reactions from her family. She runs back and tells her grandparents everything.
Like I said, my son is beginning to do the same thing and what's worse is my lady doesn't see it. Now, my youngest son was a little slower on learning to communicate with words but now that he talks he says things like (shut up, die shit, and bitch) and her family thinks it's hilarious. It's disgusting to watch because I was in no way raised like that, I'd be eating soap. He flips people off, hits them, screams, throws tantrums. It's like what the f*** do I do at this point. When I discipline him, my lady protects his every action. Saying he doesn't understand. Anytime I say something, she rebuttals telling me what his behavior is going to be and he acts it out instantly. Say for instance, when we are alone, he's very well behaved, he doesn't act all crazy running around babbling, he listens when I talk. But the second his mom is there his personality changes and he turns into Donny from the "Wild Thornberries". Example: If we're alone I encourage him to eat his food by pretending to take something off his plate and eat it, he protects his food and begins to eat. If mom is around and I do it, she says something like "you're gonna make him scream and throw a fit, why are you irritating him?" And almost instantly he begins to do exactly what she said. He listens to his mother and waits for her response and then acts it out. He literally stares at her until she says what he's going to do then he does it. I watch it constantly and when I point it out she says "I just know how he's going to respond". Like it's a permanent behavior.
Then there's things my lady says that really irks me, like asking our child who he loves more, mommy or daddy and if he says me, my lady makes a crying sound and he goes "mommy, mommy". She's slowly programming and conditioning him to not acknowledge or respect me and to choose favorites.
I will summarize quickly my ladies relationship to our children. Her biological daughter (from a previous relationship) has spent a majority of her childhood being raised by her grandmother so our son (4) which we have together, is the first child she has raised continously (noted: she definitely didn't read the baby books) and the way she parents is so off the charts I can't even begin to explain it all. She spoils him like an only child, treats my other biological children (17, 13, & 8 years old) as alien and indifferent, she's very jealous of their presence and my strong relationship to them, she gets mad when I do things for them, buying them things they need/ want, or I put them first (emotionally and financially). For instance my oldest turns 18 soon and I'm buying him a car, she's upset that I'm doing that for him and not buying her one, she has already taken me for child support even though we live together and I pay for everything in the house already. We have an agreement she pays gas, electric, water, and trash I pay the mortgage and everything else. (Roughly 8-10k a month).
I do make 300k+ a year and she might only bring home 20k, but I've worked really hard to get us to where we are from where we've been.
Enough rambling, my concern right now is the behavior of my step daughter and what actions I need to take to get her to start behaving like a well respected and empathetic human being and prevent my youngest son from growing up thinking the way his older sister acts is normal. I'm at a loss. I can't punish her because 1.) Physical punishment is unethical and frowned upon, 2.) Timeouts aren't heeded or respected, 3.) I can't take away her devices because she just leaves and walks down to her grandmother's house, 4.) I was told it isn't my responsibility, 5.) She's not my biological child.
Anything I do say is completely ignored and she goes right back to doing the same off the wall thing. Saying blatantly disrespectful things like "black people are disgusting", "You're stupid and lazy", "you're retarded", "I don't care", "you're not my dad", "why don't you just leave, this isn't your house", "my mom doesn't even like you", "you're not the boss of me", "I'm going to tell my grandma", "I don't even like you", "you don't even care about your son", "why are you here", "my mom loves my brother more than me", "I hope you die", "That girl is ugly", "that guy is a fatass", "why do they look like that", "you're annoying / you're stupid / you're ugly / you're dumb", "nobody cares".
These things were ingrained into my mind from a young age to be inappropriate and disrespectful and I've passed this empathetic understanding onto my other children. She just doesn't seem to get it and doesn't respect me at all even though I've treated her like my own daughter for a majority of her life. She even calls me dad. The only thing I haven't done is physically punished her but my God, some days I want to put her through a wall. Especially when she disrespects her mother or me.
Now before anyone goes on about how she doesn't get attention or she's seeking it, this child is spoiled. Not only by her mother but her grandparents also. They buy her whatever she wants, she's goes to so many different events, theme parks, movies, the store. Always has to get something. Her birthdays are massive, she gets hundreds of presents and she's always accompanied by someone who gives their undivided attention. It's not a lack of attention that is the cause of her ill behavior. If anything it's her grandmother's drinking and talking disrespectfully about other people in front of her that she picks up and is reiterated.
I've explained to my lady that her mother is a horrible influence on the child's young, susceptible, and maleable mind. That her behavior is mimicked, learned, and then projected onto others all while being condoned by people with an authoritive position to inact necessary discipline.
To counteract this and on a positive note, it's summer... school is out and the child will be spending less time over there, especially on nights she's been drinking. But the true question is this, is the learned behavior reversible after being accepted for so long? and what can I do (as a step father), to direct and coerce her perception to not only become more analytical but create a thought process that is more empathetic and understanding?
I'm sure there is not a one size fits all answer but if you have the time and the patience to share your opinions, I'm all ears.
Thanks, (Concerned Step-Father)

I already posted this on fantasy but posting here again because TIGS is on the way to being my FAVORITE fantasy series- help me out with recommendations
Hi Everybody!
I have almost exclusively read fantasy for the past 8-9 years, ever since I was 12. I'm here to get recommendations for a new and COMPLETE fantasy series. I am detailing below what I've read and what I am looking for.
Like every other teenager, I started my fantasy journey by reading Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. My first series was the Inheritance Cycle by Paolini. I started reading all the popular and acclaimed fantasy series a few years back. This included LoTR, WoT, Stormlight Archive, and the Mistborn Saga. While I enjoyed all of these my favorite is WoT, followed by Stormlight Archive, then LoTR(been a long time).
In the past year, I started reading The Immortal Great Souls by Phil Tucker. I must say this is an EXCELLENT series so far. If anybody has not read this, they should do so. I also read the Empyrean this past week and enjoyed it.
Now for what I'm looking for-
First and foremost, I want a complete series. I am already reading 3 incomplete ones and the suspense of another will kill me. I have realized that I like the progression fantasy genre(when done well), however, this isn't that important. I want a series with an established and interesting magic system(WoT magic system is my favorite followed closely by the Immortal Great Souls and Stormlight archive). After the series is complete this is the most important. Lastly, some sort of beast(dragon, etc.) being included and playing crucial parts in the series is also a big plus like in the Empyrean and Immortal Great Souls.
I know this is a long post, but I am really only looking for a good almost epic-style fantasy
Thank you to those who respond!

Hi Everybody!
I have almost exclusively read fantasy for the past 8-9 years, ever since I was 12. I'm here to get recommendations for a new and COMPLETE fantasy series. I am detailing below what I've read and what I am looking for.
Like every other teenager, I started my fantasy journey by reading Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. My first series was the Inheritance Cycle by Paolini. I started reading all the popular and acclaimed fantasy series a few years back. This included LoTR, WoT, Stormlight Archive, and the Mistborn Saga. While I enjoyed all of these my favorite is WoT, followed by Stormlight Archive, then LoTR(been a long time).
In the past year, I started reading The Immortal Great Souls by Phil Tucker. I must say this is an EXCELLENT series so far. If anybody has not read this, they should do so. I also read the Empyrean this past week and enjoyed it.
Now for what I'm looking for-
First and foremost, I want a complete series. I am already reading 3 incomplete ones and the suspense of another will kill me. I have realized that I like the progression fantasy genre(when done well), however, this isn't that important. I want a series with an established and interesting magic system(WoT magic system is my favorite followed closely by the Immortal Great Souls and Stormlight archive). After the series is complete this is the most important. Lastly, some sort of beast(dragon, etc.) being included and playing crucial parts in the series is also a big plus like in the Empyrean and Immortal Great Souls.
I know this is a long post, but I am really only looking for a good almost epic-style fantasy
Thank you to those who respond!

Hi Everybody!
I have almost exclusively read fantasy for the past 8-9 years, ever since I was 12. I'm here to get recommendations for a new and COMPLETE fantasy series. I am detailing below what I've read and what I am looking for.
Like every other teenager, I started my fantasy journey by reading Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. My first series was the Inheritance Cycle by Paolini. I started reading all the popular and acclaimed fantasy series a few years back. This included LoTR, WoT, Stormlight Archive, and the Mistborn Saga. While I enjoyed all of these my favorite is WoT, followed by Stormlight Archive, then LoTR(been a long time).
In the past year, I started reading The Immortal Great Souls by Phil Tucker. I must say this is an EXCELLENT series so far. If anybody has not read this, they should do so. I also read the Empyrean this past week and enjoyed it.
Now for what I'm looking for-
First and foremost, I want a complete series. I am already reading 3 incomplete ones and the suspense of another will kill me. I have realized that I like the progression fantasy genre(when done well), however, this isn't that important. I want a series with an established and interesting magic system(WoT magic system is my favorite followed closely by the Immortal Great Souls and Stormlight archive). After the series is complete this is the most important. Lastly, some sort of beast(dragon, etc.) being included and playing crucial parts in the series is also a big plus like in the Empyrean and Immortal Great Souls.
I know this is a long post, but I am really only looking for a good almost epic-style fantasy
Thank you to those who respond!

Hi everyone, a bit of a long post here.
I feel like I am facing somewhat of a dream scenario, and I don't want to squander it. I will summarize my situation and my priorities, and I'm hoping you can help me sort out a way to use my time wisely.
Summary: I am a single American high school teacher in Korea (international school). My summer break is starting next week, and it will last for about 10 weeks. I have almost zero responsibility during this time. I am financially stable and have a good amount of disposable income.
I was originally planning to stay in Korea over the summer with my girlfriend, but we recently broke up. I have no travel plans for the summer as of now. I am open to making some. I am well traveled already. I enjoy the city where I live (especially in the warmer months).
The relationship was pretty toxic, and I need some space and time to heal before I jump back into the pool. I am open to casually dating. I'm not super enthusiastic about that right now but could be in a month or so. I am also exploring options for some therapy. Some travel may be helpful here as well.
I am taking a master's course (American university, asynchronous online) this summer. It will last for 8 weeks. It will take approximately 4 hours per week. I also need to work on a few things for my teaching job. I estimate that will take about 2-3 hours per week.
I highly value my fitness and love to lift weights. I have a gym membership.
I want to continue studying Korean -- unfortunately the class I signed up for was cancelled. Self study is difficult for me, but I am willing to give it another go in this situation. I speak decently already and am open to new ideas.
There are some books that I'm planning to read.
There are a few video games that I want to get through.
I do enjoy nights out with my friends, some of whom will be in town this summer.
Priorities in order: This is a loose order that I thought of in a few minutes. I want to make time to accomplish all of these things.

1. Fitness and sleep.
2. Master's // Working on things for my job.
3. Language study // Reading
4. Healing from relationship
5. Social life (dating and nights out)
6. Travel
7. Hobbies like video games/photography

Concluding thoughts: I understand my priorities may be fallible, so please provide constructive feedback if you think they should be in a different order. Most of my past summers have involved pretty elaborate traveling. During those summers, I have gotten off track in fitness goals and sleep schedules throughout, which was fine for that time. This summer, I am suddenly very flexible, and don't want to get overwhelmed with the amount of free time.
Question that needs answering: If you were in my situation, how would you structure your days/weeks in order to be as productive and wholistic as possible? If you can only speak to one part of my priority list or situation, that's totally fine as well.
Thanks for reading. Looking forward to the responses.

Hi! I'm gonna start this right off the bat saying I'm a huuuuge nerd and I love most nerdy stuff. Anime, Star Wars, LOTR, Harry Potter, etc etc. I also absolutely adore video games. Honestly if I didn't have World of Warcraft in my life at the time I did I don't really know where I'd be today. I feel like that game really gave me some kind of hope and made me realize that there are things out there that are worth it to keep going and keep exploring life. Speaking of which, I'd love to find someone who's also nerdy and who also wants to explore life together! I honestly just really want a partner so I can share my life with someone and enjoy things together. Anyway, I know this isn't exactly a long intro but get to know me in chat! I hope to hear from people soon!

Hi! I'm gonna start this right off the bat saying I'm a huuuuge nerd and I love most nerdy stuff. Anime, Star Wars, LOTR, Harry Potter, etc etc. I also absolutely adore video games. Honestly if I didn't have World of Warcraft in my life at the time I did I don't really know where I'd be today. I feel like that game really gave me some kind of hope and made me realize that there are things out there that are worth it to keep going and keep exploring life. Speaking of which, I'd love to find someone who's also nerdy and who also wants to explore life together! I honestly just really want a partner so I can share my life with someone and enjoy things together. Anyway, I know this isn't exactly a long intro but get to know me in chat! I hope to hear from people soon!

I have been reading about something called complex trauma, or complex ptsd. There has been a lot of good material about this out there nowadays, in the past I think this topic was not so well understood.
After learning about this, I realised how starkly ignorant I was of it before. For example, imagine being on fire but not having a concept of fire.
Trauma is something that, it seems, affects everybody or almost everybody. It does not only take war to cause trauma.
In my own life, I was totally shattered by the effects of trauma without really realising what that means. I wasn’t taught about this, I had no concept of it. I just knew the pain it entailed.
One day I became aware of mindfulness, thank you dr. hoffman. I learned about the basics of breath meditation.
I watched Sam Harris talk about how we have no self.
Then I got into Thai Forest Buddhism, then into Tibetan Buddhism.
Over the course I started having some spiritual experiences. Some of them related to seeing negative spirits. But I also had other long term issues in my life, related to illness, pain, conflict, and etc. I dove into spiritual practice as a tool for dealing with these protracted issues.
Eventually it worked but then it revealed a level that I had to learn about trauma. It wasn’t enough to learn about Buddhist texts or practices only. Sometimes Buddhists will talk about trauma but not only.
A lot of Vajrayana books have a warning in the intro that, a guru is not their job to fix your mental health problems, or your parental issues, etc. That you should see a therapist for this. And sometimes it is an issue at Buddhist centers being flooded by people in need of mental health assistance but this is not the niche of a temple environment.
In my own case, I have something called insecure attachment style. This is something I’ve been learning about only recently. I think it is really indispensable for my Buddhist practice but i’m not sure this is necessarily spelled out in Buddhism the way it is spelled out in psychology.
An insecure attachment style means not having a healthy emotional bond with your caretakers as a child. That was me. I didn’t have any healthy bonds with anyone as a child. Not any person. Also I was molested. My mother’s family has a history of pedophilia.
My mother might be armchair diagnosed as narcissistic, or borderline, or histrionic, or… psychopathic... But almost definitely also with complex trauma of her own. Especially given her own parents predelictions.
Tim Fletcher talks about how 97% of people with addictive tendencies have complex trauma. I think it was also him who said that if complex trauma were given its due (something like 70%) of the dsm would be removed.
In my own life, i’m a relatively functioning person. I am a teacher. I am a parent. I’m a loving husband. But in some way, inside I am totally and irreparably broken in a way that is unbearably excruciating. What is broken? Where is this pain coming from?
I ran into some issues before that seemed straight up karmic and I could straight up deal with them with Buddhist methods like karmic purification. I used to constantly hurt my back, i had repeat herniated discs, and I’d get poisoned a lot , i’d meet a lot of enemies, have insecure conditions. This is a karmic issue, and when i started doing dharma practice with the protections of lineage these symptoms eased up, the evil spirits went away, the back injury healed, i dont get poisoned or sick as much.
But then under this I discovered this emotional trauma related to childhood. Teal Swan talks about spiritual bypassing with regards to trama. I think I wanted to do this previously, before I discovered what is trauma. That if I could do the mantra enough times, then, I wouldn’t have to face the pain or do the work psychologically to reconnect with the shattered parts of myself.
But I didn’t know it’s possible to do it. Buddhism, especially vajrayana methods, gave me the tools to access the broken and fearful parts of my psyche. And then an understanding of trama and the relevant psychology helped me to hone my tools to deal with it more effectively.
There is something called Internal Families Systems, or “parts.” the parts of the psyche are not like one person. They are like many people, and that have different roles. Your psyche also has in it versions of your self as a child, as etc. etc. It’s all in your psyche.
At some points this becomes magical and like a shamanic journeying. You are enting the void to retrieve the broken parts of yourself and you must over come the fear of deaht to do it. Like physical therapy it is fucking painful.
In the “parts” system, there is a role called “protector.” In Tibetan Buddhism there is also something called a “protector,” or dharmapala.
Some Buddhist practices don’t consider deities to be external to us but parts of our own psyche. This is an exact fit with the relevant psychology. As I understand, Jung had some things to say about this but I never studied Jung.
Something i’m working with nowadays also is to recognise triggers. I think that this word was poisoned by memes. Triggered has come to mean “asshole.” I am a high school teacher and for so many years, “I am triggered” was the punchline for every joke. They were making fun of the people who had misused the word.
But this word needs to be dusted off, this is a real thing. I thought before that I had ptsd but i didn’t really contemplate what that meant. If you have ptsd, triggers are going to fuck you up. Learning to manage them is part of shamanic journeying. Sometimes, even now, when I hear a door opening or closing my stomach wrenches and my cortisol spikes and my heart races. I have to try to explain to my wife, what is this , why is it happening, how can she help. And it's hard to do because if something is your trigger, trying to talk about it can cause you to dissociate. But not recognising your triggers can cause you to dissociate too. And you are living like a zombie emotionally.
I didn't even understand that I was dissociating as a tactic to deal with unmanageable pain.
In my opinion the part that Buddhist practices brings to thet able that mere psychology does not is protection from karmic problems that you can’t solve with ordinary means. For example - let’s say that you’ve got some especially sticky negative karma caused by something very bad you did, and every time you try to approach healing your trauma, something gets in the way. Let’s say there are some demons feeding on your suffering and every time you approach improvement, they throw obstacles at you or press your pain so you don’t have the strength to do it.
It’s a lot more difficult to beat those types of demons without lineage protection. If you’ve figured out how to get to a level of Buddhist practice where you’ve actually got real lineage protection, you aren’t concerned about any of this kind of obstacle. Demons can’t hurt you. Negative spirits aren’t a real threat anymore. So then you can face the real darkness in your heart and you know you’re safe. It can’t really destroy you. Because the really truly fearsome things in the world, they can’t hurt you because you are under that lineage umbrella.
There is also a fact that karma can get stuck in your body like a poison. In some traditions, when you engage in karmic purification, you can see it happening. There are clear indications. For me, I often see negative karma "shed" as small insects. I've also had dreams of vomiting some foul thing (sometimes presenting as black liquid), which is a classical indication of karmic purification in some practices. There are indications - you can see the negative karma being ejected out. IF somebody has really pristine karma, then maybe they don't need to do this. But for those of us with mixed pasts I think it is indispensible. It is much more difficult to purify the karma of our past crimes and wrongdoings with just psychology than with the magic of buddhas.
This kind of Buddha magic can magically frame symptoms of bad karma - such as sickness appearing - as something redeeming. Like - you're getting sick because the burden is being released. It is a movement towards freedom. Just like vomiting means getting out poison that makes you sick. This framing helps a lot. In my own life, I had some dark visions or saw evil things in my mind. Before, it seemed like something bad was happening to me. But now if I see such a thing, in the context of such practice and lineage protection, I feel it is fortunate. "Thank goodness that energy can release." Like a deep fart after gas pains - it's the sign of pressure being released. Of course want that. This framing is part of the power of Buddha magic.
One of the fun things about the story of Guru Rinpoche is that he’s quite badass. This is very appealing for people who have encountered strong evils in the world. When Guru Rinpoche went about the world, terrible demons confronted him everywhere and he kicked their fucking ass every time. Knowing that he is willing and able to beat the shit out of demons is definitely relevant to spiritual practice where confronting your karmic chains is actually and in fact going to cause demonics spirits who don’t want you getting free to come around and start fucking with you. And if you’ve been fucked with by spirits, sometimes magicians and these people can talk about this, but having looked at all that I think it’s better not to play harry potter to deal with harmful spirits and instead to rely on the protection of Buddhist lineage.
Arya Tara is sometimes called “the one who protects from fears” and I once heard this explained that in Tibetan, “fears” means both the emotion of fear and the thing that you are afraid of, the dangerous thing.
Mantras have magical powers and this is an easy way to connect to lineage. In some cases I had to use buddhist mantras do deal with the physical consequences of trauma. For example perpetual fear, that kind of wrenches the heart and causes pain in the chest. Chanting the Vajra Guru Mantra I found actually dissipates this fear. And if you have these symptoms of trauma you are sick, all the time, so if there is some kind of relief to the pain you will take it.
That is enough for now
Om ah hung benza guru pema siddhi hung
Om tare tuttare ture soha