#and after 3rd movie Floyd also moved in

[ninja-troll-lover]

*at 3am* Hazel: *runs into Branch’s room and turns on the light* Wake up sleepyhead! Branch: *wakes up* Dude! Hazel: *cackles* Poppy: *sits up from where they were sleeping behind Branch* What the fuck, Hazel? Hazel: *jaw drops* Wait WHAT-

[jessoloslemons]

Been thinking...

So, because of the absence of brozone's parents in the 3rd movie, we assume that they either were killed or terrible parents, so comes in John having to raise his siblings (presumably) by himself. Their grandma probably not being much help.

We usually talk about the stress and impact it probably had on John, suddenly having to step us as the leader of the household at such a young age, but what about Bruce - the second oldest?

Bruce probably witnessed the change of character of John, watching his brother force himself to mature. From being a goofy and playful older brother who loved to sleep in, to someone who'd already be busy in the morning and somehow always tired, a sad look evident in his eyes. Especially when their younger brothers started to enter the picture.

He would notice how there would already be breakfast on the table once he awakes, how JD would immediately take action whenever either Clay or Floyd would start to cry or throw a tantrum, immediately running to their side cheering them up, and how the eldest would always be the last to sleep and the first to wake up the next day.

He'd also witnessed John start Brozone, and he'd do his best to help, just wanting to see his brother genuinely smile again. All he wanted was to see the brother who would give him piggyback rides every morning as their mom would make breakfast, the brother who'd easily laugh at his jokes and make funny faces all the time, the brother who'd chase him around the pod then proceeding to tickle him relentlessly once he caught him. He just wants his older brother back. To see him again.

But after years passed, and his younger brothers started to get involved in the boyband and a new baby arrives (Branch), that hope started to feel impossible. John was now annoying, controlling, and obsessed with being perfect. Barely thinking about the well-being of others at this point, his only goal is to please the fans and make sure Brozone is in top shape.

Bruce hated this. He hated the toxicity weighing down their relationship as brothers. He hated always being told to do better because it's always never enough. He hated John, and it hurts him to feel that way towards his first friend, and now first enemy.

And so you bet it broke his heart immensely when the boyband broke up, and that John was the first to leave. Not even leaving with a proper goodbye or a guarantee that he's coming back. Not even bothering to look back at any of his brothers, not even to him.

But even if he was so angry and tired of his shit that night, a distant part of his heart sobbed when John left the pod. If he didn't have self-control and pride, he'd probably just break down there and then. But instead, he also walked out, desperate to leave and finally be able to breathe again.

Fast forward to 20 years later, you bet it took every bit of Bruce's willpower not to tackle John in a tight hug once he laid his eyes on him again. Despite the heartaches and tears JD had caused in the past, he was still his brother, and he may not admit it out loud, but he still loves John, so much, and he missed him, so so badly.

--

Hi! So i just had an idea and knew I had to write about it right away!

John and Bruce's dynamic as siblings is totally underrated and smth we need to talk about more often ^ i love them both sm and i'd love to see them together more often and know of their relationship with one another <3

[Also i headcanon that Bruce called John Johnny as a kid, and when he calls him that now that they're older, JD is smitten and moved to tears]

Thxs for reading! Thoughts?

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this week (#168):

First watch: Hitchcock’s third feature, the 1927 silent The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, which established him as a 'thriller master'. It shows an early fascination with themes that will occupy him for decades: An innocent man falsely accused, association between sex and murder, his obsession with blondes, the fear of authority. 9/10.

🍿  

5 Classic re-watches:

🍿 "The worst thing that can happen in sports was 4th-place at the Olympics.”

My 3rd or 4th visit with Aaron Sorkin's masterful debut, Molly's Game [His two follow-up features 'The Trial of the Chicago 7' and 'Being the Ricardos' were forgettable]. Why is it so engaging? Mostly for the impeccable script which should be read simultaneously. But also, for the sharp dialogue, crisp editing, and spectacular performances from Jessica Chastain. A real-life champion superhero, who excels in anything she sets her mind to, a mesmerizing strong women, with a vulnerable father-daughter hole in her heart.

It also featured powerhouse acting from everybody else in the cast, the male pigs (Kevin Costner, Jeremy Strong, Michael Cera, Brian d'Arcy James, Bill Camp, Chris O'Dowd) and the two 'Mensches' (lawyer Idris Elba and judge Graham Greene). I loved that the move from LA to NYC happened at exactly 1:08, the precise mid-point of the movie, but then you wouldn't expect anything else from the play-writer, would you? 10/10. ♻️

🍿 There are movies that most people will only watch once, and Schindler's List is on top of the list. But after 'The Zone of Interest' I had to re-visit it, feeling that it probably did not age well, and wouldn't compare to ‘Zone’, (which I consider the Best movie of 2024, so far). I was mostly wrong: It was 'Auschwitz given the exaggerated Spielberg treatment', with atrocious accents and manipulative sentimentality, but it's still better than most holocaust films. Schindler was converted from being a war profiteer into a saint, and Amon Göth stayed a mad monster in and out. 'Night and fog' and 'Shoah' are still better introductions to the subject, without the usual Hollywood simplified glorification. ♻️

🍿 The Dark Side of the Rainbow is the pairing of the Pink Floyd album 'The Dark Side of the Moon' with the film 'The Wizard of Oz'. This produces numerous moments of apparent synchronicity where the film and the album appear to correspond. It does work, but the record has to be played 2.5 times, which raises the possibility that you could tack it on most anything. Two psychedelic classics. Flying monkeys, pink horses and the man behind the curtain. Available on 'Internet Archive'. ♻️

🍿  "Let's invent surrealism!" said Buñuel to his creative buddy Salvador Dalí, probably while on ether – or absinthe. And so they did. First with 'Un Chien Andalou' and the following year with L'Age d'Or. It must have been so heady to create so much outrage and be so misunderstood. Everything that was holy, acceptable, and "normal" was trampled down and pissed on. And the scandals which followed were disruptive, the shocks sweet. Subversive, anti-bourgeois, Wagnerian. ♻️

🍿 "How do you know so much about swallows?" Monty Python and the Holy Grail, (or as it was called in Japanese "Holy Sake Cup"), one of the greatest comedies of all times, and containing 527 jokes. I didn't remember that the "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords" concept originated here, at the 'self-perpetuating autocracy' scene. So quotable! 9/10. ♻️

🍿  

"I bid you good night..."

J-P Melville's minimalist directorial debut, The silence of the sea. During the occupation, an elderly man and his niece are forced to give shelter to a Nazi officer at their home in the country. The conscientious German tries to engage them with respectful dialogue every night, but their only response to him, their only way of resistance, is with total silence. 💯 score on Rotten Tomatoes. (Photo Above).

🍿  

My Favorite Wife, another Cary Grant vehicle, belonging to the 'Comedy of re-marriage' sub-genre, which was popular in the 30's and 40's ('The Philadelphia Story', etc.). He's marrying a second wife, but gets back with first wife Irene Dunne who was presumed dead. But mostly, it's notable for the visibly bisexual vibes between him and real-life boyfriend Randolph Scott.

🍿  

2 more from Paweł Pawlikowski:

🍿 "My mum loves men who make her cry..."

Last resort (2000), my 6th soulful film by favorite Polish director, his first in English. A young Russian woman comes to England with her 10-year-old son, but the man she thinks of as her fiance, never shows up at the airport. She gets desperately stuck in a bureaucratic limbo while waiting for a political asylum she had asked for by mistake, until she meets decent guy Paddy Considine, another lonely "fucked up" soul. The run-down seaside town of Margate looks grim and unpleasant. 7/10.

🍿 Before venturing into fiction, Pawlikowski was known for his documentaries. Dostoevsky’s Travels was an early 1991 one. It's a strangely-staged story not about Fyodor Dostoevsky the novelist, but about Dimitri Dostoevsky, his tram-driver great-grandson and only descendant. Dimitri leaves St. Petersburg for Berlin, Luxembourg and London, trying to cash in on his ancestor's good name among literary fans in the west, so that he can buy a used Mercedes Benz, and bring it back to Mother Russia. It sounds like fiction made by Borat, and maybe it is.

🍿  

My first Kaiju film ever, the original Godzilla (1954), the giant monster. A collective Japanese reaction to the destruction caused by the Atomic bombing, with identical shots of incineration and devastation. With 'Ikiru's Takashi Shimura. With the exception of 'Jaws', I don't think I ever had any interest in disaster movies like this. 2/10.

Extra: Fire! (1901), one of the first 'Disaster films' ever, and my third short by Scottish pioneer James Williamson. Showing firefighters rescuing victims from a house fire.

🍿  

Allied (2016), a glossy historical drama a-la 'Casablanca', also taking place in Morocco during the WW2 and also dealing with spies and romance. With Brad Pitt as Bogart, and Marion Cotillard as Bergman having steamy sex during a sandstorm. Any movie that uses Django Reinhardt in the score is OK with me.

🍿  

Arthur Penn's disappointing adaptation of Arlo Guthrie's 18-minute blues anthem Alice's Restaurant. While the song is a perennial Thanksgiving classic, and the voices of Guthrie (and Pete Seeger) are distinct and beloved, the movie is a weak attempt to capture the Hippy spirit of the late 1960's. Counter-culture at its worst.

The acting was also terrible all around, with two exceptions: Tina Chen, who played Janice for 2 minutes in 'Three days of the condor', was lovely here too, and M. Emmet Walsh stood out as 'Group W Sergeant', in his first ever small film role. Roger Ebert created the “Stanton-Walsh Rule,” which held that (nearly) no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad. This is one of the exceptions.

RIP, M. Emmet Walsh!

🍿  

Breaking news, my first (and last) inane action story from Hong Kong director Johnnie To. The only different detail from hundreds of other like this is the elder policeman who buys a hot sweet potato from a street vendor, and farts loudly the rest of the movie. 1/10.

🍿  

Lammbock, another lousy German stoner comedy from 2001. Might as well be called 'Toking and driving'. Unfunny, low-budget and dirty feeling. 1/10.

🍿  

3 Shorts:

🍿 Tribute to the teachers, a 1977 Iranian short film directed by Abbas Kiarostami. A time capsule of social idealism just before the revolution.

🍿 Good Night, Nurse (1918), my second silent two-reeler with "Fatty" Arbuckle & Buster Keaton, about a drunk who's admitted to a sanitarium in order to cure him for alcoholism

🍿 Pusling ("Crybaby"), a 2008 Danish film about a 3rd grade girl who's being bullied by a class mate. Typically Danish, but not that great.

/ Female Director

🍿

Throw-back to the "Art project”:  

Hitchcock Adora.

🍿  

(My complete movie list is here)

[sohoharlem]

[I included the blinds in this one if you want to post this one instead.]


I’d just like to add as a side note that before this, in early 2020, Sebastian had become more active again for the first time since around 2018, after drama went down with his ex. It had appeared that he was making a turn around for the fandom and becoming himself again, or at least attempting to.


Late March - June of 2020 


TFATWS stops filming. Sebastian starts looking rough through quarantine. 


March 25th he does a podcast with Don Saladino where he critiques people who travel during the pandemic, calling them dumb fucks and that it pisses him off.


April 29th Seb does solo pap walk with latex gloves.


May 3rd Seb does solo pap walk with mask and latex gloves, he even waterfalls his water bottle.


May 13 he posts a picture of NYC saying “Happy Days will come again” and puts a praying emoji.


May 15th he posts beautiful pictures he took of his city NYC during the pandemic and tags it “I love New York. We’ll be back.” (talking about pandemic being over.)


He appears in his friend’s Aaron’s video wearing a mask and looking at people without a mask and looking disappointed in them for not wearing one.
He does a few other interviews, including one with Variety, where he talks passionately about thanking healthcare workers and how he claps everyday at 7PM out his window to thank them.

 
It is evident he takes the quarantine and COVID very seriously.


Mid-Late May


He starts looking rough and it becomes evident to his fans that the quarantine is not doing him well. 


After his May 15th posts he stops posting.


May 22nd 2020 Sebastian Stan is signed with CAA.


*where things get weird*


Fans start wondering if he is doing okay and begin to grow concerned, especially after his most recent story showing him singing that he can’t wait for this year to end.
 

He is MIA during the George Floyd and BLM movement and fans begin leaving comments on his instagram interrogating him for not speaking about BLM and for his silence.


Fans begin leaving comments such as “Silence is an answer” on his Instagram and talk about his past start to arise on Twitter. (About his ex who used the N-word, and his assistant that he fired because she was Islamophobic. 


Other fans are still worried for his sudden silence during a time where most celebrities are being extremely vocal about BLM. 

While they are upset, they are still concerned.
On the news, his neighborhood is one of the areas in NYC shown on TV for being looted and attacked by vandalism. 

He is still silent.


May 31st he posts a NYTOpinion video about race, hash tagging it #justiceforGeorgeFloyd .


In the screen record for his video the names of his assistants come up on his phone. 
Sebastian does not say anything else for about three weeks when he then posts another charity on June 12th, one supporting Anthony Mackie.


JUNE 2020 


June 15th he posts another charity: one for conscious kid and one for Rayshard Brooks. He uses tag #blacklivesmatter .


Sebastian goes silent again. We don’t hear from him all month and fans grow even more worried now. 


He is silent for the rest of the month.


July


July 2nd/3rd He is seen on his friend’s Luke’s instagram in IBIZA for his manager’s birthday. Camera pans to Seb briefly and he looks unamused, almost trying to hide his face.


Fandom is in hysteria, and mostly confusion, because him being across the ocean during the pandemic went against everything he spoke about. 


Fandom is very upset with him. Especially since he is unmasked.


July 2nd/3rd, paparazzi pictures are released of him on a yacht laughing and kissing AO. Fandom is a mixture of confused, upset, but also happy for him because he looks like he is having a good time.


Fans on twitter start to aim ‘cancel culture’ and Sebastian Stan is Over trends for a few hours.


Paul H makes tweet defending his friend.


After July 4th and that week, fans uncover AO’s cultural ap. photos.

 
Some fans began interrogating her on her instagram. During this time we hear nothing directly from Seb.


He is silent on IG. 


July 3rd She posts Jet-ski picture without tagging him. 


Sometime this week they go to a very crowded strip/dance club of some sort. A friend records them and AO is seen sitting next to Seb and dancing against him.


July 7th AO does photoshoot in Madrid. New pap photo. Seb looks strikingly unhappy compared to pictures from July 3rd on the Yacht.


July 7th 2020 blind item, blind Item #11: “He might live in the US full time and be a naturalized US citizen, but this alliterate foreign born A list most movie actor used the passport he has from his birth country to take a vacation in Europe.”


Mid July to late July


Jul 8th - 12th silence. We assume they are still in Spain together, but we are not sure. We know she is.


July 12th, Ale posts first picture that we catch for being a throwback. It’s her on a beach, but we find out it’s old. We still don’t know where Seb is confirmed to be.


Silence again until the 14th when both Seb and Ale are called out for blocking fans on instagram that are attacking them. 


July 27th, Ale posts picture of the Netflix show she was on.


August


Nothing until August 11 when she tags her friend in a post saying she misses her. 


August 13th Seb posts his mother on his Birthday and also a The Devil All The Time clip.


LOOPHOLE TO USA.


August 14th she posts from Bermuda.


We soon make the connection that she uses this as loophole to get into the United States during Corona Virus. 


She posts several stories from there, including a boomerang of her throwing a towel at the camera. 


August 16th Seb posts another charity event that he did in Spain for a children’s hospital and school. 

His teams says it was planned many months in advance after fans question his reckless action.


We still don’t know where Seb is. 
There are no pap pictures during this time.
August 20th she posts Bermuda again.


August 21st their 3rd pap walk in the United States in NYC. Both masked and holding hands.


August 23rd he posts another Charity.


August 25th AO posts Bermuda again. Assumed throwback. 


August 25th another Pap walk outside his front door. Fans are shocked since he is so private. They both look very off guard even though it’s labeled Backgrid, meaning paps were called. This could’ve been taken the 24th but I don’t have access to byline to confirm.


It is assumed by many fans that around this time is when they see private information about his loft being rented. let me know if you would like me to leave this part out, but I feel it might be important.


August 27th he posts a Bucky throwback.


I don’t remember the exact date, but sometime between August 28th and 31st, Seb is supposedly spotted by a random fan at LAX.


August 31st AO post’s a video from Jersey City, NJ.


At this point in time we are aware that The Falcon and Winter Soldier will resume filming in Atlanta in mid September. Article states that crew and cast are to mandatory quarantine prior.


We don’t know where they both are at this point.


September


September 4th, AO posts another picture from the Netflix show she was on.


September 11th Seb posts a 9/11 picture that he took of the city and labels it “Thinking of NYC today”
September 11th, Ale posts a photoshoot picture of herself.


September 12th, Margarita unfollows Seb.


I don’t remember exactly when, but at a certain point, Ale starts posting videos and pictures of herself in what appears to be maybe Atlanta. Before this, she posts a picture of Sushi. 
She baits with picture of a script and also a book that she could possibly audition for.


September 14th Seb posts another Bucky picture.


September 15th, Seb posts another charity.
TFATWS commences shooting around this time.


September 15th 2020, Blind Item #11: “This studio really wanted to film their new streaming show for their own stream. They want nothing to shut it down so are covering up positive COVID tests of the cast and crew. Not Netflix. Not amazon. Revealed: Falcon and The Winter Soldier”


AO continues to bait fans with pictures and videos of food and a TV watching movies.


September 18th AO posts a hiking picture that fans quickly find out is a (very very plausible) throwback from Costa Rica.


September 19th Seb posts a very strange video of himself watching gossip girl in an apartment that fans see looks very different from where Ale was “baiting”. 

Some fans claim maybe he’s just in a different room. In the video he is drinking wine and even pans the camera to his ex girlfriend on tv and then back to himself when he swallows huge gulps of wine.


September 22nd he posts a VOTE picture with Mackie. Another “Link in my Bio”. 5th one in the last few months?


September 25th she posts from what we later find out is an Inn in Atlanta where they stayed before going to Prague.


September 30th 2020, Blind Item #9: “This foreign born alliterate A/A- list mostly movie actor has brought a new escort stripper on set everyday he has been shooting. Revealed: Sebastian Stan.“


October 

*this is when Seb’s health starts to worry us


October 5th she posts a picture of Seb and her jumping in front of a bonfire at the Inn. Seb’s face is blurred out and she does not tag him.


October 6th, Seb posts video promoting his move 355. 


October 8th Seb posts the Charity water video from Atlanta.
A little after this time, AO’s location changes over to Spain. 

We are unaware of how long she is there for.


Her baiting stops for a bit.

October 14th 2020, Blind Item #7: ”This alliterate foreign born A list mostly movie actor brought in an Easter European porn star to have sex with he saw online. The whole fake girlfriend thing is not believed by anyone, so just give up.“


October 16th and 18th AO posts old photoshoot photos and tags her team

.
** Fans grow concern as AO continues to post work related content and we hear nothing about Seb.


** Seb is rumored to be in Prague, but no sighting or baiting is every mentioned. It is not confirmed they ever interacted while in Prague. 


** AO’s location finally changes to Prague and she posts pictures with someone that shocks fans - her manager. 


** AO posts fake pictures of what looks like a play she might audition for and we realize is just printed out photos. Videos of her holding fake play is recorded in a hotel lobby with her manager.


** A foreign online article that follows shooting in Prague follows AO and mentions her in their story as Seb’s GF.


October 21st,  AO posts picture of Prague with her mother

.
** Seb is still MIA and fans are still confused as to where he is and why he is suddenly so quiet.


** Rumors of that there might be covering something happening behind the scenes start to come out. Fans are worried it might be his health or something worst.


I think after this her Location changed back to Spain. 


October 24th AO posts old photoshoot photo.


October 26th 2020, Blind item #2: ”Not to be outdone by his alliterate foreign born co-star, this A/A- list actor has several women each day visit him on set. That was the same reason why he got divorced a few years back. Revealed: Anthony Mackie/Sebastian Stan“


October 27th we finally hear from Seb and it’s a picture from a bridge in Prague.


LOOPHOLE TO USA.


Ale posts that she’s jet lagged on her story with her Macbook Pro. Bait.


Silence. (I think. Someone fill me in if I missed something here.)
October 30th, Seb posts a video of an alien documentary. We later find out this is from a hotel in Mexico. Tulum.


October 31st Seb posts fans Halloween costumes of Bucky.


November


November 1st, Deuxmoi posts that he was spotted in Tulum reading a script. 


AO posts video from similar hotel room where his Alien video was. Bait.


November 7th a very suspicious influencer (who we later find out works for PR) takes a video of Seb and Ale walking on the beach in Mexico. Seb is walking about 30 feet way from her and she looks awkward following behind. Another video where she appears topless and he almost looks like he’s looking directly at the influencer’s camera.
We hear of (another?) influence who is recording them. She takes pictures of them laying in a bungalow. There is a video she records of them kissing but video is never seen by the public.


November 7th Seb posts his congrats to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. 

AO does the same on a story.
November 9th 2020, Blind Item #7: ”The foreign born alliterate A list actor who likes to often cheat on his sketchy girlfriend is being called out for yet again traveling to a foreign country for a vacation. Third or fourth one in the past few months. Besides realizing he was busted on video for not following the same rules he advocates, he is also vacationing in countries from which his girlfriend is allowed to get back into the US.“


November 9th we get the pap pics of them in Mexico and they appear very planned. Seb also appears skinny. Seb is talking on the phone, strips just his shirt as AO waits for him in water. They kiss briefly in awkward embraces, only once on lips, she gets hit by wave and he leaves her in water.


*** Around here is when Seb starts posting throwbacks and he starts looking sick 


November 12th, Seb posts a throwback to when he was on set on Endings Beginings.


November 15th he posts a throwback video for Charity on set of TFATWS with Anthony.

He makes a post for another Charity (same is bulletin prior) and he looks sick and tired. His hair is also very thin but some fans say it’s just sea water. Others are still worried about his health and think something is wrong. His left eyelid is a little swollen.


LOOPHOLE TO USA


Around this time is when AO starts posting the same sushi from around September. (possibly same.)
We make conclusion she is in LA when she then posts story with LA in background. 


November 18th she posts pictures in LA.


November 19th Seb posts a Bucky picture.


December 6th 2020, Blind Item #5: ”This foreign born alliterate A- list superhero did a video supporting a charity, Great. The thing is though, he used the opportunity to call out everyone who has called him out and said that he is great because he is taking the time to make a charity video. Probably not the video the charity had in mind. Revealed: Sebastian Stan.“


We assume he is in LA with AO. 

Rumors of them moving in together start to come up as she later continues to post pictures of a Christmas tree in a house.
Seb’s friends are in LA for thanksgiving. This is when drama with Toby happens and he changes his picture of where he posted Seb to say “throwback.”


AO continues to prove she is in LA. Bait.


November 30th/31st AO posts a picture tagging Chanel. *sorry I had to laugh at this one*
December
He does another charity which he forgets to promote this time on his IG. 


December 7th AO posts a shadow picture in LA tagging Seb. He does not approve this original photo into his tags.


December 7th Seb posts a quarantine video from his NYC apartment “Thank you for the love, thank you for the hate. Be safe.”


After fans start to speculate that he is in NYC again, on December 8th, Seb posts a Christmas tree and says “First tree in 20 years…” it’s a selfie and second picture is same tree Ale posted but cropped to find entire IG post. Background is blurred out.
AO continues to show LA house. Bait.


December 10th new pap walk admits rumors of TFATWS trailer dropping soon.


Seb is holding keys for car place that rents cars for PR purposes and there is a lot of distance between him and AO.


December 10th, Seb posts TFATWS trailer that drops and the poster later that night.
AO continues to post things about herself.


Seb continues to allow memes making fun of her and their rs to come through his tag.


She posts a video of a dog.


December 13th Seb posts a video of himself and a cat, but house looks different than LA house. He also looks very different from that pap walk, with a full beard. It is speculated his video is old but unconfirmed. 


AO posts TIFF movies and Seb does the same.


December 16th, Lily James and Seb project is announced. 


December 16th AO posts LA picture.


December 17th AO posts picture in grains yard of LA house.


December 18th AO posts another script in English and Italian.


December 18th Seb posts Charity post.
this is up to today’s date. 

If I missed anything let me know.

Mod: I haven't had the chance to read through it all, but it looks fine, doesn’t look like opinions but more fact type of thing so I'll keep it up. Thanks for taking time do that, this is crazy lol

[halloweenismyfav]

Here's another fandorm OC, one more is coming after this before Ashe, Marius, and Giselle. I have an OC creating addiction, but y'all already know that! This is a fandorm created by @by-inky.

And I tried my best with the outfit, hope it's ok!

On a piece of paper is written, "I may not talk, but I still can write my thoughts. I hope you'll enjoy your stay at Zipangu..."

Kaede Nishimiya

楓 • 西宮

Nicknames:

Miya

Mademoiselle Mutette (Miss Mute) - Rook

Kurage-chan (Jellyfish) - Floyd

Gender: Genderfluid; leans more towards female

Species: Human/Robot

Homeland: ???

Age: Unknown (Appears 18)

Birthday: October 13th

Zodiac Sign: Libra

Sexuality: Pansexual

Bloodtype: ???

----🔇---

Unique Magic: Expressed Thoughts

Kaede's magic allows her to speak through her thoughts. Her mouth doesn't move, but she's still speaking. The magic does nothing in battle besides distraction.

----🔇---

Haircolor: White

Eyecolor: Pale blue

Height: 170 | 5'7

Weight: ???

Bodytype: Tall, slight pear

Scars/Birthmarks ect...: Small yellow star under left eye

Expression: Emotionless, closed eye, neutral

Voice | VA: Saki Fujita (Ritsu - Assassination Classroom)

----🔇---

Dorm: Zipangu

Year: 3rd

Class: 3-A

Occupation: Student

Club: Light Music

Best Subject: PE

----🔇---

Favorite Food: Almost anything

Least Favorite Food: Flan

Likes: Playing acoustic guitar, watching horror movies, her dormmates

Dislikes: Overly excited people, naive people, children

Hobbies: Playing acoustic guitar

Talents: Scaring people

MBTI: INFP

Alignment: Lawful Good

Personality:

Being part robot, she doesn't express a lot of emotion, unlike Ortho. When she does, she can be nice yet blunt. She tends to get overlooked since she's mute and as a result stayed in the shadows without ever trying to make friends. Kaede's also very shy, which doesn't help her getting overlooked...Zipangu is her escape.

Backstory:

Not much is known, even to her. All she remembers is waking up a robot, nothing more nothing less. She actually was close to dying, but she was saved by someone unknown...

Fun Facts:

• Kaede is very loosely twisted from Abigail.

• She's mute and tends to speak through writing.

• She's Leia's sister and has met Libi on many occasions.

• The name "Kaede" means "maple leaf" while "Nishimiya" means "shrine" or "palace".

• Kaede is genderfluid, but she tends to lean to female fashion and pronouns.

• Since she's part robot and doesn't remember much, she doesn't know her age.

• Kaede has purple blood, a mix of human blood and robot blood.

[inwintersolitude]

- July 23rd 2021 -

::: 10 years ago ::: How old were you? I was 21.

What did you do? work/school? I was going into my 3rd year towards my aeronautics degree, training to be a flight instructor, and working in airport operations.

Did you have a significant other? Yep, my husband (dating at the time).

What did your hair look like? Light golden brown, a bit past my shoulders, slightly wavy. Pretty much the same as it looks now.

Any tattoos or piercings? Pierced ears, no tattoos.

Who were your best friends? My husband, and also Matt who had been my best friend since we were in high school.

Fav band? I liked classic rock and hard rock, but I don't remember having a favorite band.

Fav movie? I don't remember what it was at the time.

Fav TV show? Maybe Battlestar Galactica? Or The X-Files?

Were you happy? Very happy.

Anything else about this time? I'll always miss this time in my life. I was busy and a little stressed from my studies and flight training and flying competitions, but I led a very exciting life. I had so many unique experiences and a great group of friends.

::: 5 years ago ::: How old were you? 26.

What did you do? work/school? I was working in charter jet operations, but had to quit because of an injury and chronic illness.

Did you have a significant other? Yep, my husband.

What did your hair look like? Same as before.

Any tattoos or piercings? Same.

Who were your best friends? My husband.

Fav band? Pink Floyd.

Fav movie? Probably the original Star Wars trilogy. Or Interstellar.

Fav TV show? Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Were you happy? The first 5-6 months of the year were hell, with April-May being downright traumatic. But the rest of the year was okay, I slowly got better as time went on. My husband and I went on two vacations, and we also moved into our current house.

Anything else about this time? 2016 was the worst fucking year of my life. The accident/injury changed my life forever, and I think I might have mild PTSD from it.

::: 1 year ago ::: How old were you? 30.

What did you do? work/school? It was pretty much exactly one year ago that I started working as a self-employed stock trader. It's just super casual part-time work, though.

What did your hair look like? Same.

Any tattoos or piercings? Same.

Who were your best friends? Same. My husband.

Fav band? Still Pink Floyd.

Fav movie? Still the original Star Wars trilogy, Interstellar, and maybe a few others.

Fav TV show? Downton Abbey, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Grantchester.

Were you happy? Yes.

Anything else about this time? This was peak pandemic times, but life was still good. My husband was on long-term paid leave from flying due to Covid, and we were spending our days relaxing at home together, watching our favorite movies/shows, having game nights, cooking, working on hobbies, chilling with our pet birds, etc. I felt so protected from the chaos of the outside world and Covid. We were incredibly fortunate that we could stay home and stay safe while still retaining our pre-pandemic income, due to my husband's leave-of-absence being with full pay.

::: Today ::: How old are you? 31.

What do you do? work/school? Still stock trading. I also recently started cryptocurrency mining, but I have a hard time calling that a "job" lol. It doesn't bring in much income, I do it as more of a hobby.

What does your hair look like? Same as before, just a bit longer now.

Any tattoos or piercings? Same.

Who are your best friends? Same.

Fav band? Same.

Fav movie? Same.

Fav TV show? Pretty much the same favorites as before, with the addition of Supernatural and Twin Peaks.

Are you happy? Yes.

Anything else you want to add about today? Life has been good. My husband just returned to flying after his 16 months of paid leave, and we've both been fully vaccinated for a few months now, so life is pretty much back to normal. I'm also looking forward to a second vacation to the beach villa in early September, and moving back to Ohio either late this year or early next year.

[stormhavenmedia]

It is hard now for some to remember that short months ago we were free peoples living in Democratic countries. We have been locked in our houses and muzzled over a Virus with an Actual morbidity rate possibly less than the seasonal flu once the deceptive accounting is removed. Lets take a non exhaustive look at how we got here because in that understanding lies Key to our freedom.

Before we dive into the opening act of our global paranoia play, let us set the stage with a series of simple facts.

At 8 p.m. on Sunday, October 30, 1938 an enterprising young radio jockey named Orson Welles managed to convince a huge segment of the population that Martians were landing at Grovers Mill New Jersey. He accomplished this with a single broadcast on one radio station of a the adaptation of a book that had been in print for 40 years. Our entertainment media has churned out a literally endless series of movies and TV based on Viral outbreaks, the sheer volume of the zombie genre alone is stupefying. One random example example of the type;

In the film a Virus emanating from China and threatening the world is confronted by a heroic team from the World Health Organization led by Lawrence Fishburn.  he almost looks familiar..but I digress.

(L-r) LAURENCE FISHBURNE as Dr. Ellis Cheever and SANJAY GUPTA, MD as himself in the thriller CONTAGION a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

      Our education system has replaced critical thinking with critical race theory. A basic understanding of science is pushed aside in favor of an ideological program broadly refereed to as Identity Politics. Gender Theory  advances the idea that government approved “human health” dogma should take precedence at all times over objective reality. And that to fail to strictly adhere to the ideological norms in any way “endangers marginalized people” and is indeed a form of”violence”. Privilege theory advances the idea that the basic rights we have fought for generations are a unearned “privilege” that we should be prepared to surrender for what our technocratic betters tell us is the greater good.

When coupled with the new electronic public square these concepts were used to advance the idea that anyone who disagrees or questions should be demonized and “cancelled”. Any group or individual that questions is “alt right” Nazi” “racist” “something phobic”. Speakers are banned from public venues if their ideas are deemed “problematic”. Only certain facts are permissible. Any deviation from the accepted ideology can result in loss of everything, job social standing. A University of Alberta was recently fired for stating that “People should be able to express their gender in whatever manner they wish (but) I don’t agree with biological sex being irrelevant,” she said. “I think treating biological sex as irrelevant has some really serious policy implications. As an example, housing trans-identified men in women’s prisons is not fair to women prisoners and I think it puts women at risk.” 

A UBC Board member was forced to resign for simply “liking” a tweet condemning massive random violence and murder being committed by the self designated Antifa

https://twitter.com/ubc_students/status/1273663974735675393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1273663977021562880%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ubyssey.ca%2Fnews%2Fubc-board-chair-backlash-tweets%2F

Objective reality no longer exists , everything is partisan narrative relative to the position of the observer. This has all been completely normalized in the last decade and by design or happy accident it made whats happening around you now now possible.

Scene one, China

The First rumors and fragmentary reports of a Virus outbreak in China surfaced in the first days of January. We were told a seafood market had been closed. The messaging at that time in the West and from the WHO was, Don’t worry, and if you are worried your probably a racist. 

Within days a WECHAT video message from a Chinese doctor, Li Wenliang reportedly an Ophthalmologist working in Wuhan Central Hospital surfaced in the West. The message discuses a dangerous SARS type Virus that was capable of human to human transmission. Reports then circulated through the West that the Doctor had been punished by the draconian CCP for being the worlds “whistle-blower”. These reports were strangely detailed given the absolute control of information exercised by the CCP.  Li Wenliang is reported to have died, variously on either the 5th 6th or 7th of February 2020 bravely fighting the SARS-Cov2 Virus, he thoughtfully gave us one last picture helpfully confirming his identity.

It is alleged that 5 of his colleagues died as well. Now this in itself is strange. Li is reported to have been 34 and in excellent health. So he would be a massive statistical anomaly. Why 5 of his colleagues would also die given that their are few credible reports of health care workers dying in other jurisdictions.It is also strange that all of this would be know in the West given that posting the wrong comment on the CCP controlled version of Facebook can land you in Jail or restrict your ability to work or travel.

What this act did was loose the idea that there was a highly contagious Virus and that the Chinese Government was lying about it.

At around the same time videos started surfacing all over social media purporting to show the swift and deadly action of this mystery Virus. People dropping in their tracks was a popular theme. This is of course not at all what happens to those afflicted with SARS-COV2, but it was brilliant at nurturing the Viral dread spreading in the West.

Next we were treated to film of the Chinese regime building huge emergency hospitals working day and night desperately trying to beat the massive outbreak we were told was inevitably coming. It is unclear weather these buildings were actually completed after they had fulfilled there propaganda purpose there is no evidence that they were used.

Scene 2 Iran

  At this point Iran had recorded 429 deaths from Covid. Mass graves for 429 people in a country with daily mortality in the country in the thousands. Mass graves in a country that 4 decades ago managed to individually bury thousands of soldiers killed in a single day on the battle field during its brutal war with Iraq. But do put a pin in this , mass graves will pop up later in our play, in the context of Iran they were never mentioned again, the purpose having been served.

Strangely there exists online a report from a website called Iran News dated December 3rd 2019, one month before the supposed patient zero in China “A senior Iranian Health Ministry official said that an ongoing flu epidemic has claimed the lives of 56 people since its outbreak more than a couple of months ago….Due to influenza, 273 individuals have been hospitalized and 19 have lost their lives” in the past week alone, said Alireza Raisi, the deputy health minister as reported by Press TV.”..

https://irannewsdaily.com/2019/12/flu-epidemic-claims-lives-in-iran/

According to the CDC itself with an average annual Influenza mortality rate of 17.23 for every 100k Iran has about 14 000 influenza deaths at time of posting the total deaths from corona stand at 18 000. Like many jurisdictions Iran has recorded a record low number of deaths from Tuberculosis and all other respiratory diseases this year.

  Scene 3 Europe

Next up was the outbreaks in the West.  Italy and Spain were the main protagonists. We were treated to tales of overflowing hospitals with bodies in the corridors

Hundreds of matching headlines appeared daily across the MSM spectrum. Repeated 10 times a day on the cable news channels.

The message was reinforced on social media by a Viral Facebook Post from an account purportedly of an American woman living in Bergamo Italy, epicenter of the apocalypse

This post was then used to spin of a hundred msm articles

  So lets pause and have a look at Ms Christina Higgins. Despite her happy family photo  banner and profile pics you will find not one candid family photo, no photos of her apparent children not one photo of work, or dinner, or jokes or any of the other things most FB profiles contain. After the viral post of March 10th the profile posts again regularly about the apocalypse until the 23rd of March when it shares one more dire prediction about Bergamo. The account then goes completely silent until June 3rd, right after career criminal George Floyd is killed by apparent police misconduct in Minneapolis with a rambling post about Anti Black racism being the new pandemic, sound familiar. Since then it has posted BLM agit-prop.

None of the dire warning from Italy and Spain was ever true. Not the overflowing hospitals with patients left to die

“The system is holding up, I absolutely deny a selection of patients to be treated», says the regional health councilor Giulio Gallera interviewed by Radio 24 answering the question about a possible choice of patients to be treated during triage .

“We have many hospitals in situations of extraordinary pressure – he explains – but the system is holding up”. “If in some hospitals there are no places available – the Councilor underlines – the regional system intervenes and the choice is made on who to intubate first and who to move and intubate in another hospital”. «Ours is a race against daily time – he adds – which so far fortunately we are winning. The number of places we make available manages to be greater than needs, but it is increasingly difficult ».

Giulio Gallera Regional Health Director

Not the staggering death count

“The way Italy registers deaths explains their increased coronavirus case/fatality ratio, according to one expert and a report from Italy’s National Institute of Health (ISS).

Citing this report (in English here), Professor Walter Ricciardi, scientific adviser to Italy’s minister of health said:

“The way in which we code deaths in our country is very generous in the sense that all the people who die in hospitals with the coronavirus are deemed to be dying of the coronavirus […] On re-evaluation by the National Institute of Health, only 12 per cent of death certificates have shown a direct causality from coronavirus, while 88 per cent of patients who have died have at least one pre-morbidity – many had two or three,”

https://off-guardian.org/2020/03/23/italy-only-12-of-covid19-deaths-list-covid19-as-cause/?fbclid=IwAR34LheKR8UYx7PTNFCdO0bAk3Q1QvlEziLMK_lkaIwL-X6ex-iNym8-Xg8

The other fact the media went out of its way not to cover was the massive physical connection of these countries and Iran to China through the Belt and Road

What is notable from this exact time period in March is the fact that we were already being sold the “Great Reset”

Scene 3 North America

So we had a replay of our Iranian Mass Graves in New York

“The city has used the location as a public cemetery for over 150 years, burying unclaimed people and those whose loved ones can’t afford private burials. ”

Politifact

Then we had some more Hospital scenes,

It was actually reused footage from Italy, now that’s environmentally conscious

We had more sweaty videos of serious faced medical personal talking about swamped hospitals and the doom to come

“Some hospitals in the biggest city in New York state have been so overrun with dying patients that they’ve brought in refrigerated trucks to handle the bodies.”

Well that is worrying so RT set up live feeds outside these devastated Hospitals, prepare yourself for the worlds most stunningly boring disaster movies ever made

The deception is ongoing.

Many “Public Health” agencies have already admitted to grossly inflating the actual numbers of people that have died from Covid by using what could euphemistically be called creative accounting

Scientists raised the alarm after discovering anyone who tests positive and later dies is currently included in the Public Health England numbers – even if they are hit by a bus months later.

   Every time you hear of a the rise in New Cases of Covid19 you are being deceived. The number you are being given is the number of people who have tested positive, using questionable tests, for the presence of the Virus, this is not a Case of anything. You can have the Virus without having the disease. All of us would test positive for the presence of many and varied Viruses, we would not be said to have a case of the diseases associated with them

Case Epidemiology; A countable instance in the population or study group of a particular disease Disease [dĭ-zēz´] a definite pathological process having a characteristic set of signs and symptoms.

Asymptomatic people are not Cases.

Resistance to the draconian lockdowns is demonized and minimized, although they cant even seem to agree with themselves any more

actual number +50k

  They will not stop until we stop them. This is an information war so lets inform our fellow citizens in a calm rational matter. Many of the patently unreasonable and unconstitutional and unscientific restrictions they have placed on us cannot be legally upheld so get into the courts and defeat them. REFUSE to wear a mask, boycott any merchant that enforces their own mask policy and support all who refuse to comply with the government mandated ones.

Free your mind and your ass will follow

William Ray

  Manufacturing COVID-19, How Fear Conquered the West It is hard now for some to remember that short months ago we were free peoples living in Democratic countries.

[laurenh-art]

There’s No Place Like ... Knowing Yourself

Alien: “differing in nature or character typically to the point of incompatibility.”

Since the solar eclipse a few weeks ago, I have felt a huge drain of my energy. Perhaps a combination of intense cosmic activity and extreme heat, like an alien laser gun, my energy level the past couple weeks seemed to have been completely zapped to the point that anything beyond the basic necessities of living day to day have felt exhausting. 

The full moon this past week began to recharge my energy a bit, enough to get back in the kitchen and back some cookies - chocolate chip oatmeal cookies that it. 

Click Your Heals 3 Times and Repeat: 

There’s Nothing Like Homemade Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cups old fashion oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

1 cup coconut oil (melted)

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 flax eggs (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tablespoons water = 1 flax egg)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup dairy free chocolate chips

Optional: 1/2 cup walnuts or 1/2 cup shredded coconut

Directions

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl or cup, mix ground flax with water. Let set for a least 5 minutes. You want the flax to have absorbed most of the water and be kind of a jelly consistency. (see below)

In one bowl, mix together flour, oats baking soda, and optional salt.

In a small sauce pan, melt coconut oil on low. 

In a second bowl, or mixer (however this recipe is easy to mix the old fashion way with a spoon or your hand), mix together sugars with melted coconut oil. Then add flax eggs and vanilla. 

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir dry and wet ingredients together in a mixer, using a large spoon, or get your (clean) hand in there. 

Add chocolate chips and any other optional add ins, nuts and/or shredded coconut. If using a mixer, I recommend just using a spoon or your hand for this part.

If at this point, the mixture is too dry, add a little more oil, or if it feels too wet, add a little more flour. It should stick together pretty easily, but still have a little crumbly feel to it. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Now I really hate using parchment paper because it seems so wasteful, however I have yet to find a replacement that works as well for keeping perfectly good cookies from sticking to the baking sheet. I do reuse the parchment paper 2-3 times when making the same cookies. I just label a corner of the paper so I know which sheet is for which flavor. 

Form the dough mixture into 1″ balls, and place in oven once sheet is filled (see below)

Bake for 10 minutes, then open oven and slightly (very gently) press cookies down using a spoon or folk, close oven and let cookies finish baking for another 2-3 minutes. 

Remove cookies from oven and let cookies cool for 20 minutes. Yeilds about 20 cookies. 

Side note: because these cookies are made with coconut oil and not butter, they will not be big and flat, they will more so hold the ball shape and be super dense and bursting with flavor!

Step by Step (in photos)

Flax egg ready to be added to other wet ingredients. 

Dry ingredients mixed together.

Wet ingredients mixed together. 

Mixing all ingredients together.

Before going into the oven.

Don’t forget to set your timer!

And just as quick as Dorothy returned back to Kansas, your cookies are done!

“Food which entails cooking in its preparation should only be eaten when it has been cooked with mantra and/love.” - Ram Dass

…………………………………

There are many things that I associate with home, and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are certainly one of those things. Good food, feeling safe, comfortable, and loved are also things that remind me of home.

Where The Dark Side of the Moon ends, the yellow brick road begins, a phrase that popped into my mind not too long after moving to LA. Perhaps because The Wizard of Oz was my favor movie as a child, and I just so happened to move across the country for the first time, right down the street from where that movie was filmed. Right down the street from that film studio, is now where I call home.  And while it was a long, painful and fearful journey to get here, there are times when I stare out at the pacific ocean and it almost seems as though I just clicked my heels 3 times, repeat the mantra, and here I am, home. 

Home doesn’t necessarily need to be a single place though. It could actually be a couple places, or no place at all. Ultimately, home is a feeling, or things we remember that remind us of a feeling we once had. Going inward, feeling safe, comfortable, and loved within ones self without external factors is really the true home. 

If you start the record Dark Side of the Moon on the lions 3rd roar at the beginning of the Wizard of Oz, the record syncs with the movie so well, it almost seem intentional. It is what Carl Jung called, synchronicity, “a phenomenon in which coincidental events seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality." 

Maybe it was intentional. Maybe not. However, what I find even more interesting is where the record ends. It ends not too long after Dorothy meets the scarecrow and they begin their journey down the yellow brick road together with the track entitled Eclipse playing. 

Perhaps though, oh just perhaps, an Eclipse was exactly what I need to just get on with it, so get me, to get the world for that matter back on the path. 

“With, without. And who’ll deny it’s what the fighting’s all about?” - Us and Them by Pink Floyd 

Embrace the ebbs and flows of the universe with grace. During the times when the tide is high, and the endless waves of life seem to be relentless against the vibrations of your being, don’t fight a battle you can’t win. Embrace the ebbs and flows of the universe with grace. Go inward and find your home. 

Eventually, the seas will once again calm, and clarity will slowly beginning to reappear through the fog of worry and doubt. 

This is all a set up, setting up your own base that is. Building a strong set of roots, so that the tree which is your life can grow to its fullest potential. 

"Eclipse" All that you touch And all that you see All that you taste All you feel And all that you love And all that you hate All you distrust All you save And all that you give And all that you deal And all that you buy, Beg, borrow or steal And all you create And all you destroy And all that you do And all that you say And all that you eat And everyone you meet And all that you slight And everyone you fight And all that is now And all that is gone And all that's to come And everything under the sun is in tune But the sun is eclipsed by the moon. (There is no dark side of the moon, really. Matter of fact, it's all dark.)

…………………………………

Reading - The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Listening - A Deeper Understanding by The War on Drugs

Watching - Your favorite childhood movie

[junker-town]

12 must-read stories on the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight

Floyd Mayweather is fighting Conor McGregor so we can talk about it. Born out of that comes every other reason that the two fighters — a 49-0 boxer known as one of the greatest ever, and a MMA fighter whose grandiose facade may come crashing down over 12 rounds — are inflicting bodily harm upon each other, for sport, in front of an audience of millions, on Saturday. Without us talking about it, there would be no fight. They don’t care about this unless we did first.

Talk about it we have, in bars and on radio shows and to friends and with strangers. There’s so much to talk about! The actual substance of the fight and whether there’s actually anything to it. The morality of these two objectively bad people. The reasons why they’re fighting. Why we should or should not care. Where they came from. We’ve even talked about the people talking about them, and why they did or didn’t talk about them in the right way, and how the act of talking about them is bad, or maybe it’s fine.

Saturday night, we can finally stop talking them. They’ll fight, one will win, and we’ll move on. Until then, with so many people talking about it, you should consume the very best of it.

We curated 12 rounds of stories — boxing term! — and tacked a few equally worthy ones to the end. If you read anything between now and Saturday night, and you haven’t read any of these, allow this to be your one-stop Mayweather vs. McGregor guide.

1st round: Mayweather-McGregor and the death spiral of American sports

(Spencer Hall | SB Nation)

Boxing is American sports’ prized zombie. When it shows up, everyone freaks the hell out and pays attention. It’s horrifying, arresting, contagious, and probably a bad thing for anyone concerned with human life. Hang out around it too much, and it will eventually eat you. Boxing, as a major sport, isn’t exactly alive—but it’s certainly not dead, and when there’s an outbreak people can’t pay attention to anything else.

It’s also one of those sports that can easily break quarantine as a discipline. They can crash all the way over into something else entirely. That something ends up being less like a sport, and more like pure, horrific, and inevitably absurd spectacle.

2nd round: Mayweather vs. McGregor: The complete beef history timeline

(James Dator | SB Nation)

This is where things get silly.

Both Mayweather and McGregor post fake flyers for the fight, which puts gas on the fire. From here the two jab back-and-forth over the possibility of the fight, with the impasse routinely being how much money they would both be paid.

McGregor kept contending that he deserved more money than the fight as offering, while Mayweather poked fun at Conor’s net worth — saying he didn’t deserve being paid more than $2.5 million.

3rd round: You Don't Have To Pick A Side Between Floyd Mayweather And Conor McGregor

(Diana Moskovitz | Deadspin)

And so even though Floyd Mayweather Jr. sucks, and even though he has signed up to spar against horrible people for the two most recent fights of his anyone cares about—Manny Pacquiao, then Conor McGregor—the urge remains. One of them has to be good, right? Or at least less bad? Someone has to be worth rooting for?

No. Not even close. In this case, like before, they both suck.

4th round: Floyd Mayweather's fight-week prep? Hanging at his strip club until the wee hours

(Dan Wetzel | Yahoo Sports)

Some would wonder if hanging out in a gentlemen’s club into the wee hours of the morning is the best way to prepare for a fast approaching fight, but Mayweather laughs that off. He is, as a matter of point, 49-0 in his career heading into Saturday’s bout with Conor McGregor.

There is no one else on earth who knows more about not just what it takes to win, but to never lose.

“Nobody can beat me,” Mayweather says over the din of the club. “Nobody can beat me.”

5th round: True stories of the incredible, unbelievable, unstoppable Conor McGregor!

(Flinder Boyd | Bleacher Report)

Once, before he had a driver's license, (McGregor) persuaded Egan to let him take the wheel of Egan's parents' car. He drove in perfect circles around an industrial park. He flashed his blinker at the optimal time and turned with precision. As long as he was in motion, he was in control. When it came time to park, McGregor hit the gas and made a beeline toward the spot. The car crashed into the wall and smoke billowed into the sky. He had forgotten to hit the brakes.

6th round: Why Floyd Mayweather can still box after beating women

(Soraya Nadia McDonald and Lonnae O’Neal | The Undefeated)

Why does Mayweather remain such a compelling figure despite his repeated and documented instances of domestic abuse? Let us count the ways: There are no publicly available photos showing the evidence of his crimes; there’s no central organization to hold Mayweather and other abusive boxers to account; and there’s an understanding, however contentious, that some boxers are inherently violent, their rage uncontrollable. Furthermore, there’s a long-standing pattern of victims, especially black women, holding their tongues to protect the black men who hit them.

All of those factors leave some fans torn, some indifferent and some completely disgusted. Despite the moral split decision, many boxing fans remain reliable spectators who continue to reward Mayweather with cultural cachet, fame and money, money, money.

7th round: Conor McGregor is still shaped by his Dublin roots as he prepares for his fight against Floyd Mayweather

(Wright Thompson | ESPN The Magazine)

McGregor hit the throttle and roared down the street. Drug dealers scrambled to whatever safety they could find as he sped through the intersection. A wise move in practice for a Crumlin native, but McGregor had underestimated the mania sweeping the projects and the lower-class quarters of Dublin. The dealers didn't want to confront him.

They all had a phone in their hands.

They wanted to take his picture.

8th round: Ballad of an Irish Son

(Shaun Al-Shatti | MMA Fighting)

Owen Roddy shakes his head. This feels like a dream, he says, like none of this is real. He may be the superstar’s striking coach now — or rather, his boxing coach; these are strange times — but that was never the plan. Because when he started, none of this was possible in Ireland. The dream didn’t exist. Mixed martial arts in the country was fiction and the notion of an Irishman vying for the world’s respect was ludicrous. The Irish hadn’t won a single fight in the UFC, much less achieved any measure of genuine success.

But Roddy was the one. He was always the one. He was the one who was going to break through.

9th round: Conor McGregor Is Not A Pioneer

(Oliver Roeder and Brin-Jonathan Butler | FiveThirtyEight)

McGregor isn’t the first superstar to move from the octagon to the boxing ring. One of MMA’s greatest fighters, Anderson “The Spider” Silva, tried the same thing back in 1998. He faced the not-exactly-household-name Osmar “Animal” Luiz Teixeira and after all of six minutes, Teixeira’s pugilistic skills proved too much for fellow Brazilian Silva. To protect him, Silva’s corner threw in the towel in the second round. Silva’s unparalleled genius in the octagon translated into his losing to someone even charitably described as a journeyman boxer; if this is any litmus test of what to expect from McGregor squaring off against Mayweather — one of boxing’s all-time greatest fighters— the current +400 money line somehow doesn’t reflect it.

10th round: Mayweather-McGregor Is the Feel-Bad Fight of the Century

(Bryan Curtis | The Ringer)

Mayweather-McGregor is often compared to Muhammad Ali’s bout with Japanese pro wrestler Antonio Inoki. In terms of horrible watchability, a better analogue is the 1982 title bout between Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney, which was peddled in the crudest racial terms imaginable. Time magazine paired Cooney and Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky on the cover as boxing’s great white hopes; Cooney spoke of his fondness for the movie Death Wish, in which a white vigilante rubs out the black bad guys. When Holmes, who was the reigning heavyweight champ, complained he was getting the same purse as the challenger, he was called a racist.

Mayweather-McGregor hasn’t yet scraped bottom in quite the same way. But the months of hype have felt equally dismal. George Vecsey’s 1982 column about Holmes-Cooney could run this week with only minor edits. The column was titled “Get It Over With.”

11th round: The Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight is about the green, but also about black and white

(Khaled A. Beydoun | The Undefeated)

With no great white American hope in the ring, and no promising contender on the horizon, boxing is still without what it needs to capture the attention of the coveted white male fan base. McGregor, far more the mixed martial artist than boxer, offers what the sport has long fantasized about: a brash, charismatic showman outside of the ring who not only talks a good game, but delivers by way of victories and the brutal knockouts fans crave. Especially the legions of white male fans who have come to adore him and flock to the UFC en masse to see his fights.

12th round: Conor McGregor's 'movement' training is just another part of the circus

(Spencer Hall | SB Nation)

Maybe most importantly, the advantage McGregor has in using movement training in MMA fights is a psychological one — both for his own psyche and to use against his opponent. Fighters all train, but not all of them have a good handle on tuning their psychological wiring to the exact right frequency before a fight. Some rely on superstition, some rely on habit and routine, but all of them — at least those who aren’t complete head cases in the ring — have something they lean on to tolerate the absurd pressure of what is an inherently absurd situation.

The Decision: A few more things you should read

Why I won’t be watching Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight (Nancy Armour | USA Today)

Floyd Mayweather can trademark 50-0 but never knock out Rocky Marciano's record (James Brady | SB Nation)

A Theory on How Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather Will Play Out (Mick Rouse | GQ)

Four Ways of Looking at Mayweather vs. McGregor (Nancy Kidder | The Atlantic)

The myth of Floyd Mayweather's southpaw struggles (Mike Chiappetta | MMA Fighting)

7 experts who actually predict Conor McGregor can beat Floyd Mayweather (Kurt Mensching | SB Nation)

All of SB Nation’s Mayweather-McGregor coverage can be found here