#golm the differ

[pengtheplush]

Miscellaneous Talion Headcanons-

He takes hygiene very seriously. He grew up learning how to make his own soap from animal fat, plant oils, and natural fragrances. He doesn’t bathe out in the open if he can help it (not that he’s as prudish as most Gondorians, but mostly because it leaves him vulnerable to ambushes). He cleans with a washcloth, soap, and filtered water he keeps stocked in the relative privacy of the either the barrows or wraith towers. His soap fragrances consist of whatever’s readily available, but also what can best mask his scent from trackers (commonly pine).

Talion is an excellent swimmer. Whenever he had the motivation and Celebrimbor permitted it, Talion would go spelunking to find underground hotsprings in Cirith Ungol. It was awkward the one time Golm the Digger interrupted his bath on accident, but afterwards they were able to set up guards to prevent unwanted visitors.

Even though he doesn’t wear them in-game, he has snow goggles he carved by hand. I imagine them being very practical when scouting an orc camp from afar in Seregost. He’s the sentimental type to carve little decorations in the interior, perhaps with the flower he gifted to his wife.

Unpopular Talion Headcanons ?

👀

W-

How do you know?!

I'm working on it.

[scrion7]

MH Wilds Trailer analysis part 2: Movesets

Go read part 1 here for more story and character stuff, and here for the official website. Anyway, now for the FUN part.

The Doshaguma rears up for a big, delayed, probably tracking slam with its forearms. This slam in particular is practically begging to be countered by just about anything.

The hunter draw slashes with his greatsword, backrolls, turns around, then front rolls. The hunter is then hit, resulting in what might be a new falling over animation.

also it looks like hunter expressions got an upgrade. lol.

The Doshaguma bodily throws the corpse of a Ceratonoth at the hunter, Deviljho style, and then Jojo poses. This move was actually in the previous trailer as well, making it seem like something that happens fairly often. It would not surprise me if a charged Ceratonoth inflicts thunderblight if it hits you.

The hunter successfully superman dives the throw. In the background, a Ceratonoth with "big spikes on its back" (Alma the Handler's words, not mine) absorbs a lightning strike, getting staggered in the process.

Next, what is almost assuredly the intro cutscene for the Chatacabra plays. Moving on to the gameplay part:

The Chatacabra rears back, tongue flailing, for a 270 degree attack. This attack has rather short range and could be avoided with smart spacing. It also leaves a trail of saliva on the ground, possibly implying it's a waterblight attack.

The hunter wide sweeps with the greatsword, and gets tripped by the tongue without getting knocked back. The fact that it's a trip attack means certain weapons can just tank through it and keep attacking.

This is almost assuredly the enrage roar of the Chatacabra. The amphibian scrapes its forearms into the ground during this, leaving them covered in Garangolm style rock fists. It probably also works like Golm's enrage, in that knocking off the rock fists causes a special flinch/down.

The hunter is charging up a slash from neutral, and notably doesn't get flinched from the roar. Judging from the Chatacabra's size and place in progression, it probably doesn't need earplugs to block.

The hunter gets hit with a classic charge attack from the frog. This attack probably only occurs when the Chatacabra has its rock gauntlets.

During the time when the hunter is ragdolling (NOT AFTER), the hunter whistles, then is bodily picked up by the Seikret mount. The fact that the whistle occurs after the hunter is hit but before he lays on the ground, this might be a Wirefall-esque quick get up option. It is very possible some harder monsters might have Rise/Sunbreak style juggles require this technique to escape, and I for one can't wait for that.

Meanwhile, froggy boi ends his charge attack, shakes his head, and then launches immediately into an advancing double tongue sweep that kinda reminds me of Magnamalo's double bite. Maybe roll away from the first sweep, then roll forwards to get past the second? Anyway, this move may or may not require rock gauntlets/enrage to come out.

Next, frog man gets jumped on by the resident raptors, which have INCREDIBLY cool jaws that they use to latch on to large monsters to get a unique stun. The hunter here just watches, but this is a prime damage opportunity.

Going back to the bear gang, the pack alpha goes for a jumping bite (that I'm pretty sure is different from the one at the beginning of this post, then does a silent roar. Side note, one of the smaller Doshagumas does this same exact roar in the above image.

The hunter calls his mount, circles around, and then switches weapons from greatsword to heavy bowgun and starts blasting rapid fire ammo, which I thought was a light bowgun exclusive. Side note, firing heavy bowgun while on the Seikret is awesome.

Meanwhile the alpha Doshaguma CANCELS his silent roar into a shoulder charge, without going into an idle stance. Note that the smaller Doshaguma couldn't combo out of the fake roar, and instead went straight to running after the hunter. It's unknown whether this is an alpha exclusive combo, or if the hunter just got too far away from the smaller bear.

Next, the hunter dismounts the Seikret with a cool jumping attack in which he twirls around in the air to land in what looks like a neutral stance. Cool, but the hunter is in the wrong stance to go into a charged attack. You might be able to do a leaping slash (wide sweep after charged attack 2) like after an aerial charged slash in Rise, but I'm not sure.

Meanwhile, the monster kinda just walks forward, then looks back annoyed. Something's up there, as there is no way a regular monster would just. you know. walk past the hunter without doing anything.

And then, the main theme starts blasting, the cool shit starts happening, all with the introduction of what the website calls Focus Mode. Part 3 Here.

[fioras-resolve]

I started Zero Time Dilemma! Here are my notes.

-So like, up front, this is a very different game from VLR or 999. Its intro starts not with an escape sequence, but with a choice. This sets the stage for what this game is Really about, and it's definitely a shift. It might turn out to be a lot for me, as someone who's not used to decisions as core gameplay

-The fact it's all an autoplaying cutscene gives ZTD a very different vibe from previous Zero Escape games. Not sure if I like it, but I might like it soon.

-So like, okay. After doing some cursory research, this game was inspired by Telltale's "The Walking Dead." It's a more cinematic experience, to appeal to the West. The thing is that Telltale had been doing games like this for a decade, and also clearly had more of a budget. So while Zero Time Dilemma being able to have actual shot composition is cool, the characters animate less than characters animate in a Telltale game, or in previous Zero Escape games for that matter.

-SHE SAID AMONG US, SHE SAID ZERO IS AMONG US LET'S FUCKING GO

-God the redesigns of pre-existing characters for this game are so fucking funny. ZTD!Phi feels fucking engineered to be hot, her design shows less skin than Alice or Lotus but manages to feel so much more horny. Although maybe that's just my tastes.

-Oh my god the choice to remix songs from 999 as well as VLR is inspired. VLR already straight-up reused songs from 999, but there's some songs remixed from 999 that didn't show up in VLR. Love that! Genuinely, it's cool.

-Wait so is Diana actually American? Or is she just a redhead with blue eyes for aesthetic reasons?

-Oh my god Carlos is the most Nathan Drake-ass White Guy to ever be put into a Japanese game. He's got the face, jacket, the voice, the Blonde White Dude Haircut. I love that Zero Time Dilemma's new wacky creatures after VLR's GOLM and Zero III are just white people. (Please ignore this if being a Latino turns out to actually be part of Carlos's character)

-So the big thing is that even though this is cribbing from The Walking Dead, its time travel mechanic means that I'm exploring possibilities more than living with my decisions. Although I am VERY early on still, I haven't even gotten to an escape room yet! Speaking of,

-I have not gotten to an escape room yet. What the fuck? That's usually the start of the game! Instead the game starts me off with the decision mechanic and the fragment of time stuff.

-Oh my fucking god, titty physics? In a game where the characters are animated this little? Mira is this game's scantily clad big-breasted woman, and this game immediately services the fans.

-I mentioned Phi's design earlier, and I've gotta say it feels like these character designs were all intended to be either relatable or titilating to a western audience. Like yes, Mira, Akane, and Phi are all different brands of hottie, but there's also Carlos, aka the most Video Game Guy ever, there's Eric, who's just some dude, and also Sigma is also looking incredibly Mid-2010s Western Game Protagonist too. And Diana is the first playable female character in Zero Escape so I feel like she is designed to be at least a bit relatable to femme audiences.

-I love how this is literally just Saw. "Each of your rooms has a small yellow button. Pushing it will let you escape, but send a shower of hydrogen flouride to the other rooms, killing them. The early bird gets the worm." This rules.

-I remember playing 999 and VLR and feeling like they were kind of bloodless, despite all the blood and death. The thing is that in those games, I almost never had to live with the consequences of causing someone else's death, in a way that wouldn't also be causing the death of the entire group. You know, a Game Over. But here, living with the consequences of causing someone else's death is the entire gimmick of the narrative. It's horrifying! I love it. Since this is Zero Escape there's prooooobably gonna be a relatively bloodless True Ending, but the fact that I don't know if that's true here is definitely worth commending.

-I also love how extremely straightforward the gimmick is here, there's no Ambidex Game or Digital Root to deal with here, you just decide who to kill and when.

-Okay I know that fact-checking is anathema to Zero Escape's mystique but I refused to believe that the Sleeping Beauty Problem wouldn't be solved at this point, that's a mathematics thing, there's no way they just don't have an answer yet. So I check on Wikipedia, and apparently yeah, it's still open for debate! Shit! Wonder if this'll still be true in 2028 when the game takes place!

-…Yeah, this is definitely a game I'm gonna have to play in spurts. I'm kinda surprised, for a series that's always been about deadly games, just how much darker this one is. I kinda like it a lot, but it's definitely a lot to have to go through.

[spiritboardv3]

Damien's current Special Interest

Hey all I just want to talk about Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak!!!

I have been playing since November December of 2022!!

I beat All Mother Narwa in April 2023 and reached Sunbreak in may or June of 2023

Currently i am stuck on

Gore Magala

(Gore Magala)

Gore is a really neat monster and is now on my list of favorites!! (Let me know if you would like to see a post of my favorite monsters or i might make it anyway and post later)

Gore made me realise that i need to probably up my defence. But that sucks because I like my skills i have in my build! Useing different armor parts means not haveing the skills i want!! Like yes you can do your best to use decos but if i want part breaker with stamina thief with others i find important that i cant remember I use certain peises!

My current build is

Remobra headgear X

Golm Mail

Mizutsune Braces X

Golm Faulds

Ingot Grieves X (Probably soon to change)

These are filled with decos and if you want to know my skill set on this let me know in the comments or something.

Idk thank you for reading my little talk on Monster Hunter and my armor!!

-Damien

[silent-era-of-cinema]

Hans Walter Conrad Veidt (22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German actor best remembered for his roles in the films Different from the Others (1919), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), and The Man Who Laughs (1928). After a successful career in German silent films, where he was one of the best-paid stars of UFA, he and his new Jewish wife Ilona Prager were forced to leave Germany in 1933 after the Nazis came to power. The couple settled in Britain, where he took British citizenship in 1939. He appeared in many British films, including The Thief of Bagdad (1940), before emigrating to the United States around 1941, which led to his being cast as Major Strasser in Casablanca (1942).

Hans Walter Conrad Veidt was born in his parents' home at Tieckstraße 39 in Berlin to Amalie Marie (née Gohtz) and Philipp Heinrich Veidt, a former military man turned civil servant. Veidt would later recall, “Like many fathers, he was affectionately autocratic in his home life, strict, idealistic. He was almost fanatically conservative.” By contrast, Amalie was sensitive and nurturing. Veidt was nicknamed 'Connie' by his family and friends. His family was Lutheran, and Veidt was confirmed in a ceremony at the Protestant Evangelical Church in Alt-Schöneberg, Berlin on 5 March 1908. Veidt's only sibling, an older brother named Karl, died in 1900 of scarlet fever at the age of 9. The family spent their summers in Potsdam.

Two years after Karl's death, Veidt's father fell ill and required heart surgery. Knowing that the family could not afford to pay the lofty fee that accompanied the surgery, the doctor charged only what the family could comfortably pay. Impressed by the surgeon's skill and kindness, Veidt vowed to "model my life on the man that saved my father's life" and he wished to become a surgeon. His hopes for a medical career were thwarted, though, when in 1912 he graduated without a diploma and ranked 13th out of 13 pupils and became discouraged over the amount of study necessary for him to qualify for medical school.

A new career path for Veidt opened up in 1911 during a school Christmas play in which he delivered a long prologue before the curtain rose. The play was badly received, and the audience was heard to mutter, "Too bad the others didn't do as well as Veidt." Veidt began to study all of the actors he could and wanted to pursue a career in acting, much to the disappointment of his father, who called actors 'gypsys' and 'outcasts'.

With the money he raised from odd jobs and the allowance his mother gave him, Veidt began attending Berlin's many theaters. He loitered outside of the Deutsches Theater after every performance, waiting for the actors and hoping to be mistaken for one. In the late summer of 1912 he met a theater porter who introduced him to actor Albert Blumenreich, who agreed to give Veidt acting lessons for six marks. He took ten lessons from him before auditioning for Max Reinhardt, reciting Goethe's Faust. During Veidt's audition, Reinhardt looked out of the window the entire time. He offered Veidt a contract as an extra for one season's work, from September 1913 to August 1914 with a pay of 50 marks a month. During this time, he played bit parts as spear carriers and soldiers. His mother attended almost every performance. His contract with the Deutsches Theater was renewed for a second season, but by this time World War I had begun, and on 28 December 1914, Veidt enlisted in the army.

In 1915, he was sent to the Eastern Front as a non-commissioned officer and took part in the Battle of Warsaw. He contracted jaundice and pneumonia, and had to be evacuated to a hospital on the Baltic Sea. While recuperating, he received a letter from his girlfriend Lucie Mannheim, telling him that she had found work at the Front Theatre in Libau. Intrigued, Veidt applied for the theatre as well. As his condition had not improved, the army allowed him to join the theatre so that he could entertain the troops. While performing at the theatre, his relationship with Mannheim ended. In late 1916, he was re-examined by the Army and deemed unfit for service; he was given a full discharge on 10 January 1917. Veidt returned to Berlin where he was readmitted to the Deutsches Theater. There, he played a small part as a priest that got him his first rave review, the reviewer hoping that "God would keep Veidt from the films." or "God save him from the cinema!"

From 1917 until his death, Veidt appeared in more than 100 films. One of his earliest performances was as the murderous somnambulist Cesare in director Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), a classic of German Expressionist cinema, with Werner Krauss and Lil Dagover. His starring role in The Man Who Laughs (1928), as a disfigured circus performer whose face is cut into a permanent grin, provided the (visual) inspiration for the Batman villain the Joker. Veidt starred in other silent horror films such as The Hands of Orlac (1924), also directed by Robert Wiene, The Student of Prague (1926) and Waxworks (1924), in which he played Ivan the Terrible. Veidt also appeared in Magnus Hirschfeld's film Anders als die Andern (Different from the Others, 1919), one of the earliest films to sympathetically portray homosexuality, although the characters in it do not end up happily. He had a leading role in Germany's first talking picture, Das Land ohne Frauen (Land Without Women, 1929).

He moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s and made a few films there, but the advent of talking pictures and his difficulty with speaking English led him to return to Germany. During this period, he lent his expertise to tutoring aspiring performers, one of whom was the later American character actress Lisa Golm.

Veidt fervently opposed the Nazi regime and later donated a major portion of his personal fortune to Britain to assist in the war effort. Soon after the Nazi Party took power in Germany, by March 1933, Joseph Goebbels was purging the film industry of anti-Nazi sympathizers and Jews, and so in April 1933, a week after Veidt's marriage to Ilona Prager, a Jewish woman, the couple emigrated to Britain before any action could be taken against either of them.

Goebbels had imposed a "racial questionnaire" in which everyone employed in the German film industry had to declare their "race" to continue to work. When Veidt was filling in the questionnaire, he answered the question about what his Rasse (race) was by writing that he was a Jude (Jew). Veidt was not Jewish, but his wife was Jewish, and Veidt would not renounce the woman he loved. Additionally, Veidt, who was opposed to antisemitism, wanted to show solidarity with the German Jewish community, who were in the process of being stripped of their rights as German citizens in the spring of 1933. As one of Germany's most prominent actors, Veidt had been informed that if he were prepared to divorce his wife and declare his support for the new regime, he could continue to act in Germany. Several other leading actors who had been opposed to the Nazis before 1933 switched allegiances. In answering the questionnaire by stating he was a Jew, Veidt rendered himself unemployable in Germany, but stated this sacrifice was worth it as there was nothing in the world that would compel him to break with his wife. Upon hearing about what Veidt had done, Goebbels remarked that he would never act in Germany again.

After arriving in Britain, Veidt perfected his English and starred in the title roles of the original anti-Nazi versions of The Wandering Jew (1933) and Jew Süss (1934), the latter film was directed by the exiled German-born director Lothar Mendes and produced by Michael Balcon for Gaumont-British. He naturalised as a British subject on 25 February 1939. By this point multi-lingual, Veidt made films both in French with expatriate French directors and in English, including three of his best-known roles for British director Michael Powell in The Spy in Black (1939), Contraband (1940) and The Thief of Bagdad (1940).

By 1941, he and Ilona had settled in Hollywood to assist in the British effort in making American films that might persuade the then-neutral and still isolationist US to join the war against the Nazis, who at that time controlled all of continental Europe and were bombing the United Kingdom. Before leaving the United Kingdom, Veidt gave his life savings to the British government to help finance the war effort. Realizing that Hollywood would most likely typecast him in Nazi roles, he had his contract mandate that they must always be villains.

He starred in a few films, such as George Cukor's A Woman's Face (1941) where he received billing under Joan Crawford's and Nazi Agent (1942), in which he had a dual role as both an aristocratic German Nazi spy and the man's twin brother, an anti-Nazi American. His best-known Hollywood role was as the sinister Major Heinrich Strasser in Casablanca (1942), a film which began pre-production before the United States entered World War II. Commenting about this well-received role, Veidt noted that it was an ironical twist of that that he was praised "for portraying the kind of character who had forced him to leave his homeland".

Veidt enjoyed sports, gardening, swimming, golfing, classical music, and reading fiction and nonfiction (including occultism; Veidt once considered himself a powerful medium). He was afraid of heights and flying, and disliked interviews and wearing ties.

In a September 1941 interview with Silver Screen, Veidt said,

I see a man who was once for years studying occult things. The science of occult things. I had the feeling there must be – something else. There are things in our world we cannot trace. I wanted to trace them. The power we have to think, to move, to speak, to feel – is it electricity, I wanted to know? Is it magnetism? Is it the heart? Is it the blood? When the body dies, where is all that? Where is the power that made the body live? No one can tell me it is not somewhere. If you believe in waves, which you must believe after you have the radio, why couldn't human beings contact the wave lengths of someone who is dead? ... this is the kind of thing with which I was, for many years, preoccupied. This is what I tried to find, the answer. I did not find it. But in looking for it there was etched, perhaps, on my face, some hint of the strange cabals I kept with unseen and unknown powers. I did not find it, I say. But I found something else. Something better. I found –faith. I found the ability, very peaceful, to accept that which I could neither see, nor hear nor touch. I am a religious man. My belief is that if we could help to make all people a little more religious, we would do a great lot. If we would pray more ... we forget to pray except when we are in a mess. That is too bad. I believe in prayer. Because when we pray, we always pray for something good.

He went on:

I must tell you something that will disappoint you ... far from being one engaged in strangle rituals of thought or action, what I like best to do is sit in this small garden, on this terrace, and – just sit. Sometimes, I confess, I think a lot; about my past. About my parents who are dead. I like to dream, to go away ... At other times, I sit and read. I read, often, a whole day through. I play golf. I used to be a golf fiend. Now I am not a fiend even on the links. Now I play because it is relaxation. I like the beach very much, the sea. I go to the films often, to the neighborhood theater, my wife and I. Sometimes we go to the Palladium, where there is dancing. It is an amazing sight to me to see young people, how they are like they were thirty years ago, how they hold hands, how they enjoy their lives. To me, the most beautiful thing in California is the Hollywood Bowl, the Concerts Under the Stars. For me, it is a terrific experience. I have never seen an audience in my life like that. 30,000 people, simple people, most of them, listening to music under the stars. I have never seen 30,000 people, simple people, so quiet. I like to think of them as a symbol that one day there may be that oneness for all mankind....

On 18 June 1918, Veidt married Gussy Holl, a cabaret entertainer. They had first met at a party in March 1918, and Conrad described her to friends as "very lovely, tall, dignified and somewhat aloof". They separated in 1919 but attempted to reconcile multiple times. Holl and Veidt divorced in 1922.

Veidt said of Holl, "She was as perfect as any wife could be. But I had not learnt how to be a proper husband." and, "I was elated by my success in my work, but shattered over my mother's death, and miserable about the way my marriage seemed to be foundering. And one day when my wife was away, I walked out of the house, and out of her life, trying to escape from something I could put no name to."

After his separation and eventual divorce from Holl, Veidt allegedly dated his co-star Anita Berber.

Veidt's second wife Felizitas Radke was from an aristocratic Austrian family. They met at a party in December 1922 or at a Charleston dance competition in 1923. Radke divorced her husband for him, and they married in April 1923. Their daughter, Vera Viola Maria, nicknamed "Kiki", was born on 10 August 1925. He was not present at her birth due to being in Italy working on The Fiddler of Florence, but upon hearing of her birth, he took the first train to Berlin and flailed and wept as he first met mother and child at the hospital; he was so hysterical from joy they had to sedate him and keep him in the hospital overnight.

Emil Jannings was Viola's godfather and Elisabeth Bergner was her godmother. She was named after one of Bergner's signature characters, Shakespeare's Viola. The birth of his daughter helped Veidt move on from the death of his dearly loved mother, who had died of a heart condition in January 1922.

From September 1926 to 1929 Veidt lived with his wife and daughter in a Spanish-style house in Beverly Hills.

Veidt enjoyed relaxing and playing with his daughter in their home, and enjoyed the company of the immigrant community, including F. W. Murnau, Carl Laemmle, and Greta Garbo, as well as the American Gary Cooper. The family returned to Germany in 1929, and moved several times afterwards, including a temporary relocation to Vienna, Austria, while Veidt participated in a theatrical tour of the continent.

Radke and Veidt divorced in 1932, with Radke citing that the frequent relocations and the separations necessitated by Veidt's acting schedule frayed their marriage. Radke at first granted custody of their daughter to Veidt, but after further consideration he decided that their daughter needed the full-time parent that his work would not allow him to be. Conrad received generous visitation rights, and Viola called her summer vacations with her father "The Happy Times". She stayed with him three or four months of the year until the outbreak of World War II.

He last married Ilona "Lilli" Barta Prager (or Preger), a Hungarian Jew, in Berlin on 30 March 1933; they remained together until his death. The two had met at a club in Berlin. Veidt said of Lilli in an October 1934 interview with The Sunday Dispatch,

Lilli was the woman I had been seeking all my life. For her I was the man. In Lilli I found the miracle of a woman who had all to give that I sought, the perfect crystallisation in one lovely human being, of all my years of searching. Lilli had the mother complex too. But in the reverse ratio to mine. In her, the mother instinct was so powerful that she poured it out, indiscriminately almost, on everyone she knew. She mothers her own mother. Meeting Lilli was like coming home to an enchanted place one had always dreamed of, but never thought to reach. For her it was the same. Our marriage is not only flawless, it is a complete and logical union, as inevitable as daybreak after night, as harmonious and right as the words that exactly fit the music. My search is finished. The picture in my mind of my mother is of a woman great and holy. But it is a picture clear and. distinct, a deep and humble memory of a woman no one could replace; but now it is not blurred by the complex which before had harassed my mind.

Veidt and Lilli arrived from London at Los Angeles on 13 June 1940 and resided in Beverly Hills, where they lived at 617 North Camden Drive.

Even after leaving England, Veidt was concerned over the plight of children cooped up in London air raid shelters, and he decided to try to cheer up their holiday. Through his attorneys in London, Veidt donated enough money to purchase 2,000 one-pound tins of candy, 2,000 large packets of chocolate, and 1,000 wrapped envelopes containing presents of British currency. The gifts went to children of needy families in various air raid shelters in the London area during Christmas 1940. The air raid shelter marshal wrote back to Veidt thanking him for the gifts. Noting Veidt's unusual kindness, he stated in his letter to him, "It is significant to note that, as far as is known to me, you are the only member of the Theatrical Profession who had the thought to send Christmas presents to the London children."

Veidt smuggled his parents-in-law from Austria to neutral Switzerland, and in 1935 he managed to get the Nazi government to let his ex-wife Radke and their daughter move to Switzerland. He also offered to help Felizita's mother, Frau Radke, of whom he was fond, leave Germany. However, she declined. A proud, strong-willed woman who was attached to her home country, she declared that "no damned little Austrian Nazi corporal" was going to make her leave her home. She reportedly survived the war, but none of the Veidts ever saw her again.

Veidt was bisexual and a feminist. In a 1941 interview he said,

There are two different kinds of men. There are the men men, what do you call them, the man's man, who likes men around, who prefers to talk with men, who says the female can never be impersonal, who takes the female lightly, as playthings. I do not see a man like that in my mirror. Perhaps, it is because I think the female and the male attract better than two men, that I prefer to talk with females. I do. I find it quite as stimulating and distinctly more comfortable. I have a theory about this – it all goes back to the mother complex. In every woman, the man who looks may find – his mother. The primary source of all his comfort. I think also that females have become too important just to play with. When men say the female cannot discuss impersonally, that is no longer so. When it is said that females cannot be geniuses, that is no longer so, either. The female is different from the male. Because she was born to be a mother. There is no doubt about that. But that does not mean that, in some cases, she is not also born a genius. Not all males are geniuses either. And among females today there are some very fine actresses, very fine; fine doctors, lawyers, even scientists and industrialists. I see no fault in any female when she wears slacks, smokes (unless it is on the street, one thing, the only thing, which I don't like), when she drives a car ... when men say things like "I bet it is a woman driving" if something is wrong with the car ahead – no, no. These are old, worn out prejudices, they do not belong in today.

In the 1930s, Veidt discovered that he had the same heart condition that his mother had died from. The condition was further aggravated by chain smoking, and Veidt took nitroglycerin tablets.

Veidt died of a massive heart attack on 3 April 1943 while playing golf at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles with singer Arthur Fields and his personal physician, Dr. Bergman, who pronounced him dead at the scene. He had suddenly gasped and fallen over after getting to the eighth hole. He was 50 years old. His ex-wife Felizitas and his daughter Viola found out about his death via a radio broadcast in Switzerland.

In 1998, his ashes, along with his wife Lilli's, were placed in a niche of the columbarium at the Golders Green Crematorium in north London.

[sanhatipal]

Meet my OCs! Yes I finally drew them. Of course there are more characters in the story(Hellroots),and I'll draw them later,but these 5 are the main ones. Sorta..

Flameheart Dryad (19,Fire magic user and Hawthorn manipulator)

Soverissa Yualë (20,Magic of the void, Willow manipulator)

Loreil Golmes(19,Wind magic user)

Teresa James(18,new magic user, leaning towards the void and the moonlight)

Tangerine Ray(19, not a magic user, regular girl.)

I'd first drawn them properly in 2016,I think. Now,I slightly modified Teresa's design,and redrew them in my current style, which is really different from back then...

I'm sorry none of it makes much sense, probably. I've actually written down everything about them,but I haven't posted on Tumblr (I posted it on g+ months ago,and now it's dying ;-;)

I'm still writing the story,but the backdrop and setting is done,I can link it up here:

More on Celtic plant manipuation,a type of magic:

[architectnews]

Zalando BHQ-Z Building, Berlin

Zalando BHQ-Z Building, Berlin Modern Office Building Photos, German Interior Architecture

Zalando BHQ-Z Building in Berlin

28 Mar 2022

Architects: HENN

Location: Berlin, Germany

Renderings by HENN

Zalando BHQ-Z Building, Germany

HENN’s Zalando BHQ-Z Building is currently under construction in Berlin. BHQ-Z will complete HENN’s three-building headquarter complex for Zalando, one of Europe’s leading online platforms for fashion and lifestyle. The BHQ-X and O buildings were completed in 2019 and the BHQ-Z is scheduled for completion in 2023. The design declares the city’s identity as a global tech hub, while staying true to its Berlin roots.

The building’s z-shaped plan is a contemporary twist on the traditional Berliner block. The interior courtyard, normally a private space, playfully shifts to the perimeter of the site to create an inviting and dynamic street-frontage. The building’s courtyards appear as excavations from the building’s massing. Wrapped in highly-transparent glass, the building’s distinctive voids enter into a dialogue with the neighboring buildings and urban context.

Martin Henn, HENN Managing Director and Head of Design: “The BHQ-Z Building is a next-generation work environment whose architecture completely dissolves the boundaries between fixed and collaborative workspaces, public and private, digital and physical. The office has become a true place of exchange.”

The two spiraling atriums organize the office physically and conceptually. The full-height atrium, located directly across from BHQ-X, is open and accessible to the public; the second atrium, which is open from the third floor to the top floor, will be used primarily by employees and collaborators. Together, they create an open and communicative space with a high-degree of visual and physical connection between the floors.

Occupants circulate through the center of the building, at the pinch point between the two voids. This area is the social heart of the building, while quieter, more secluded spaces are located along the periphery of the floors. The facade reflects the interior organization with a gradient from more traditional windows at the workstations to full transparency at the atriums.

The BHQ-Z Building relies on three-dimensional space, rather than interior partitions, to create different zones of use and organize workspaces. The architecture translates the digital commons of the internet into a physical workplace, allowing for the effortless flow of information and exchange of ideas. The design is the result of HENN’s decades of expertise designing future-oriented work environments and the firm’s concept of Office Urbanism.

Office Urbanism understands the office as a kind of micro-city; a flexible setting for a wide range of activities, with a gradient from private spaces to more public ones, enabling workers to participate in the urban life all around them.

Zalando BHQ-Z Building in Berlin, Germany – Building Information

Architects: http://www.henn.com/en#design Year: 2022 Typology: Office Client: Zalando Location: Berlin, Germany Area GFA: 17, 134 m² Status: Under Construction Consultants: MuP Braunschweig (TGA), Lumen³ (Lighting design), Werner Sobek (Building physics), Werner Sobek (Structural engineering), Werner Sobek (Facade planning)

Team Team: Daniel Festag, Reiner Beelitz, Martina Fabre, Michael Sadomskyj, Emiliano Lupo, Klaus Ransmayr, Dirk Breuer, Ralph Hempel, Anne Henkel, Daniel Recklingloh, Silvia Forster-Golm, Peter Lee, Anatolii Romanov, Andre Serpa, Denise Gellinger, Nora Graw, Martin Erdinger, Oliver Koch, Matthias Palloch, Georg Pichle

photograph of the ceremony: HIH Invest Real Estate

Zalando BHQ-Z Building in Berlin images / information received 280322 from HENN

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Renders: HENN

Address: Berlin, Germany, western Europe

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Public Baths, Karl-Thon-Straße, Nauen, 30 km west of Berlin Architects: TCHOBAN VOSS photography © Lev Chestakov Public Baths Nauen City

50Hertz Berlin Headquarters Building Design: Love architecture and urbanism photograph : Werner Huthmacher Photography 50Hertz Berlin Building

Arcs and Squares Housing, Mitte Design: TCHOBAN VOSS Architekten photo © Nils Koenning Arcs and Squares Housing

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Comments / photos for the Zalando BHQ-Z Building, Berlin design by HENN page welcome

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[thesportssoundoff]

“Canada, UFC, October filler” The UFC Fight Night From Moncton Preview

Joey

October 21st, 2018

If you remove the prelim slates (which aren't necessarily fight nights) and throw in the FOX card in December, we're officially at JUST five shows remaining for the UFC on Fox Sports. One day we'll all have a chit chat about how that relationship changed the sport (for the better or the worse) but in the meantime and in between time, let's look at what is by far the weakest of the five cards with a UFC trip into Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.  It's a bit of a bummer the UFC canned Tom Wright long before we got to this point because he was pushing for New Brunswick to get a show for a long time. They finally got there and the card---is a card. The UFC's problem is that they basically have zero big time Canadians available and they booked TWO Canadian cards in close proximity SO what do you think happens there? The good Canadians go to the PPV and the other ones wind up here. What's more, what IS a fair card for a place like Moncton anyways? With Colorado, New York, Toronto, Las Vegas, Australia, China, Argentina and Milwaukee all on the docket, I think it's fair to suggest that New Brunswick is the weakest of the markets presented and as such, they kind of got the short end. At least Argentina got what should be a tremendous main event with hometown dude Santiago Ponzinibbio getting the headline spot. Moncton gets a really good LHW fight, some pretty solid undercard stuff here or there but overall, this is the sort of card I'd be giving Fox if I was dipping out in a year. Then again I'm petty like that. Despite the somewhat lukewarm lead in, I've got plenty to chit chat about here so get up on here and have a good old time!

Fights: 13

Debuts:  Johnathan Martinez, Te Edwards, Don Madge, Chris Fishgold

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 2 (Zubaira Tukhogov OUT, Michael Johnson IN vs Artem Lobov/Gavin Tucker OUT, Jonathan Martinez IN vs Andre Soukhamthath)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 8 (Volkan Oezdemir, Anthony Smith, Michael Johnson, Artem Lobov, Misha Cirkunov, Patrick Cummins, Gian Villante, Stevie Ray)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: (Misha Cirkunov, Artem Lobov,  Ed Herman, Court McGee, Talita Bernado, Stevie Ray)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: (Anthony Smith)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2016 (in the UFC): 25-28 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!, This is the first one of these I've done where the main card record is OFFICIALLY below .500. I guess we can blame Court McGee and Gian Villante for that.)

Volkan Oezdemir- 3-1 Anthony Smith- 6-2 Michael Johnson- 2-3 Artem Lobov- 2-3 Misha Cirkunov- 3-2 Pat Cummins- 2-2 Jonathan Martinez- 0-0 Andre  Soukhamthat- 1-3 Gian Villante- 2-4 Ed Herman- 1-2 Alex Garcia- 2-3 Court McGee- 1-3

Divisional Breakdown:

Light Heavyweight- 3

Lightweight- 3

Welterweight- 2

Featherweight- 2

Heavyweight- 1

Bantamweight- 1

Women's Bantmweight- 1

Too Low- Marcelo Golm vs Arjan Bhullar

Take your pick actually. With Gian Villante/Ed Herman, Alex Garcia/Court McGee and even Johnathan Martinez/Andre Soukhamthath, there's plenty to move off the main card. The FS1 prelims have a few fights that are better; namely the likes of Chris Fishgold vs Calvin Kattar and "This should be on a Euro Fight Pass card" in Thibault Gouti vs Nasrat Haqparast. Either way be that as it may or may not, I'm actually rolling with Fight Pass HW bout Arjan Bhullar vs Marcelo Golm. Bhullar being on Fight Pass is a consistently weird deal BUT him vs Golm is actually a pretty intriguing fight between HW prospects. That's more important to me than Ed Herman vs Gian Villante or the McGee fight. Besides with three LHW fights on the main card, they already decided this was going to be a "big" card with size as the impetus. Might as well give your audience the big boys and go whole hog am I right?

Too High Up- Alex Garcia vs Court McGee

Again half of this main card is just sort of kind of wasteful filler so you could pick just about anything here outside of the main, the co-main and Cummins/Cirkunov. I just don't see the reason why  this fight is on the main card. McGee is on a losing streak and BARELY holding onto his spot in the organization while Alex Garcia fights more often than not tend to be drab affairs. This fight isn't relevant at 170 lbs, it's probably not going to be exciting and it feels like a very transparent loser leaves town type gimmick. Just don't see why this is here.

Stat Monitor for 2018:

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 27-33-1):  Chris Fishgold, Jonathan Martinez, Te Edwards, Dan Madge

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 26-19):  Jonathan Martinez, Michael Johnson

Second Fight (Current number: 35-27):

Cage Corrosion (Current number: 19-31):  Artem Lobov, Ed Herman, Jessin Ayari

Undefeated Fighters (Current number: 29-21-1):

Keeping An Eye On But Not Really:

The UFC Win Check Test The records of fighters who have 4 or more UFC fights (or three full calendar years in the organization) but 0 wins against people still in the UFC:  Artem Lobov, Thibault Gouti

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- Has Dominick Reyes made fights like these borderline irrelevant? Some would argue that this was irrelevant to begin with but that sort of no sells the chaotic and frenzied stupidity of 205 lbs. We're talking about a division that has had two dudes as champion since 2014 but about 6 different interim/vacated title fights in the process. There's always a desire for newness at 205 lbs and the fact that Jones and DC run through most of the guys either in the top 10 or previously occupying spots in the top 10 opens up the door for a fast ascending LHW to sneak his way into title talk. With Dominick Reyes on the scene, you can't help but feel like he's the guy one way or another to put himself into that position. For better or for worse, Reyes is the guy who will face Jones or DC or just take the title when both dudes disappear from fighting forever. As such, even the normally somewhat solid cry of "This COULD be a #1 contender fight!" falls flat here. It's just a good LHW fight that's being asked to become relevant enough for people to go out of their way to see it.

2- Anthony Smith has had a long fighting career (and could be one of those Ellenberger/Mein guys who eventually hits the wall a lot sooner than his contemporaries will) but his run in the UFC at 205 lbs is actually pretty flimsy. The best LHW he fought was Thiago Santos when they were both middleweights in a fight that Santos won in violent and emphatic fashion. His wins at 205 lbs are over Rashad Evans and Shogun Rua; two names that saw their best days at least 5-10 years ago. Both fights ended in the first round and showcased what Smith does well but hid his weaknesses pretty comfortably. In a weird way, Smith and Volkan Oezdemir are similar stories. Both came from weight classes other than 205 lbs (Oezdemir was training for a HW title fight when he got the call to face OSP on short notice) and their run to the top of the division always had a weird sense of smoke and mirrors to it. Oezdemir's Cinderella Man style run came to an end vs Daniel Cormier in a fight where the element of danger for Volkan was gone early and Cormier's pressure and all around skill level just wore him out. It'll be interesting to see if Smith, not exactly known as a cardio terror at 185 lbs, can handle a guy like Volkan leaning on him if this fight gets a bit long in the tooth.

3- Is the winner of this fight on a nudge nudge wink wink short list IF Gus or Jones is hurt?

4- This sure feels like the sort of fight Michael Johnson finds a way to lose and I find that unsettling.

5- A year ago around this time, Misha Cirkunov was coming off his first UFC loss in stunning shocking fashion BUT conversely the Volkan Oezdemir buzz was sky high so in theory, it all evened out. Now Volkan has basically disappeared from the radar (through factors not entirely in his control) and Misha is coming off his second straight loss in a blow out vs Glover Teixeira. I don't know if it's fair to sound the bust alarm yet but Cirkunov is getting the sort of soft touch that suggests they're attempting a market correction.Pat Cummins isn't going to give Cirkunov problems on the feet and he probably (?) can't take him down either BUT he can at the very least stick around long enough to give Cirkunov some problems. A loss here and you can sound the alarm.

6- Calvin Kattar started the year in a premier spot for a UFC PPV, taking on Shane Burgos in an upset win. He followed that up in April with a "No shame in that" loss to Renato Moicano and returns on the PRELIMS here vs Chris Fishgold. It's actually a really good fight and far better than at least half of the stuff on the main card. Somehow it's here on the prelims and the only guess I can make is that Kattar has an expiring contract and the UFC's not running the risk of him winning on the main card without some comfort for him re-signing. Very excited for Chris Fishgold as well as he's one of the better Cage Warriors signings the UFC has made. It's of course fair to point out that some Cage Warriors champs have gone bust recently but I don't think Fishgold is going to follow in that pattern.

7- Where does Alex Garcia rank among the all time hyped signings to never pan out? Think plenty of us got drawn offsides there.

8- Speaking of weird prelim fights, Nasrat Haqparast vs Thibault Gouti should probably be higher up. Gouti gave Sage Northcutt all he could handle in a "showcase the star" fight but like most guys set up on the other side of those, Gouti found a way to lose. Nasrat Haqparast as a lot of Kelvin Gastelum qualities (even looks like him) and was absolutely dynamic in running through Marc Diakiese in his sophomore outing for the UFC. I'd rather watch Haqparast ice Gouti in a round than see Alex Garcia vs Court McGee.

9- Let's just be fair to Court McGee here. McGee overcame an addiction to heroin and a lack of natural talent (let's be fair) to have a long career in the UFC. He won TUF over dudes like Brad Tavares, Nick Ring, Chris Camozzi and Kyle Noke and has won fights in the UFC plus he got to be a part of a show in his hometown. He's more than overachieved and deserves a ton of credit. I just don't have a lot of interest in this fight.  He also has a win (disputed as it may be) over Robert Whittaker.

10- Stevie Ray is also on the Fight Pass prelims which is weird I guess. The UFC's love of Scotland has come and gone seemingly but Ray is a quality 155er who is better than "guy who kicks off the Fight Pass slate on the card." What weird slotting.

11- Nordine Taleb vs Sean Strickland sounds like a miserable viewing experience.

12-How many guys on this main card are still with the UFC a year from now?

[chainsxwsmile]

wanderingarcherviola​:

“I know better than to do that, my Warchiefs blood-brother went mad with grief after his death. I wouldn’t wish that on someone whos done me no wrong, losing someone you love is the worst sort of pain.” Viola would be careful in who she chose, she’d have to be careful every step of the way if she wanted to achieve anything other than an untimely death.

She had her eye on two in particular, they had no blood-brother, weren’t well liked by their subordinates, and no one would really question if an accident befell them. But, Viola had to be capable of getting close enough to be a good replacement “I’ve got two in mind, Ar-Benu, and Golm, neither are liked, both are bordering incompetent.” Wouldn’t be hard for her to cozy up to one and win a little trust.

Trusting Bruce with this information was necessary, if anything happened to her she wanted to know at least one person understood why she’d done it.

“Golm the Firebrand or Golm the Driver?” Bruce asked. Similarly in other societies— though unbeknownst to Bruce— quite a few Uruk-hai also shared the same name, and only differed by title, rather than by surname or the name of one’s parents. Golm was a slightly common name, and the Firebrand was increasingly unpredictable at times, especially with his recent infection received during the pit fights. Not Bruce’s doing, but someone else’s.

“And Ar-Benu isn’t an Olog, is he? Ye might have a harder time bringin’ down a Troll than an Uruk.” Even if the latter was also a decidedly difficult, considering how many individuals managed to cheat death. Unless decapitated outright. Still, the Dark Tribe had some methods of bringing Orcs back with even those injuries. Bruce shivered just thinking about it. Thankfully the Warmonger Tribe rarely dabbled in such dark arts. As much as Bruce despised his own regiment, he’d at least give them that. When he died, at least he would stay dead.

[eurogecko-blog]

Adrenaline Alpine Coaster in Austria! 奥地利森林里的一条肾上腺素云霄飞车！

  如果您想为您的假期添加乐趣和独特的体验，或者只是花费不同的城外周末，您会来到正确的页面！ 如果您在奥地利，您可以选择这三个地方之一来冒险参加高山过山车： Imst – 欧洲最长的高山过山车！ 成人12欧元 Mieders – 仅在夏季至9月初才开放 Golm – 2.600米长！

You have come to the right page if you want to add fun and a unique experience to your vacation, or just spend a different out-of-town weekend! If you are in Austria, you can choose one of these…

[hopechiong]

How I Reach 100,000 Impressions In A Week on Instagram Try this one ☝🏻 SHOUTOUT FOR SHOUTOUT Also known as #sfs [shoutout for shoutout] is the backbone of growing organically on Instagram. SFS means you repost someones picture to your profile telling your followers to follow them, and the other person does the same telling their followers to follow you. There is an etiquette to help with getting people to do this for you for free.  To get around PAYING for shoutouts you have to only approach people the same “size” as you. Example: If you have 50k followers you can only ask others with 50k followers for a shoutout. This is why school kids (teenagers) are so good at growing social media. They shout each other out all day long transferring followers to each other. * FOLLOW @fashionfruitdaiquiri #instawithhope #instagramer #instagood #instafamous #latergram #inspired #happy #life #success #motivation #lifehacks #travel #travelgram #instapics #different #level #travelblogger #instatravel #travelogue #blogger_de #germanblogger #instagram #whpmyeveryday #nature #voralberg #europe #journey #montafon #lake #europa (at Bewegungsberg Golm Montafon)

[thesportssoundoff]

“A great night of fights with two potentially so-so headliners” UFC Fight Night From Brazil Preview

Joey

October 25th

After a very solid afternoon tilt, the UFC is back on the road and back in international waters with a show from Brazil! The wonderful 2nd home of the UFC has seen quite a fall from grace in recent memory as there is ONE current Brazilian champion after running the sport from 2012 to 2014 and for once, there doesn't seem to be a wealth of options out on the bench ready to step up and hit a home run. Now having said that, this card is VERY good with a collection of established names you're familiar with, newbies with high promise, some under 30 or so fighters who have been honing their crafts on undercards and best of all some absolutely perfect matchmaking to back it all up. It's gonna be worth your time so let's see what a Brazilian Fight Night brings to the table on a very busy Saturday slate of action.

Fights: 12

Debuts: 1 (Marcelo Golm)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 4 (Carlos Felipe OUT, Marcelo Golm IN vs Christian Colombo/Augsto Mendes OUT, Raoni Barcelos IN vs Boston Salmon/Boston Salmon vs Raoni Barcelos CANCELLED/Luan Chagas OUT, Vicente Luque IN vs Niko Price)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 5 (Lyoto Machida, Derek Brunson, John Lineker, Demian Maia, Jim Miller)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 3 (Jim Miller, Lyoto Machida, Hacran Dias)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC:  9 (Colby Covington, Marlon Vera, Rob Font, Pedro Munoz, Jack Hermansson, Thiago Marreta Santos, Niko Price, Antonio Carlos Junior, Elizeu Zaleski)

Stat Monitor for 2017:

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 32-29)- Marcelo Golm

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 17-31-1)- Marclo Golm, Vicente Luque

Second Fight (Current number: 23-33)-  Jarrod Brooks, Devieson Figuerido

Cage Corrosion (16-9-1)- Lyoto Machida, Hacran Dias

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- So what does Lyoto Machida even have left at this point? Machida's run at 185 lbs has been interesting to say the least. His resume at 205 lbs is tremendous with wins over Rashad Evans, Dan Henderson, Tito Ortiz, Rich Franklin (forgive me if that was at 185 lbs), Ryan Bader, Randy Couture and Shogun Rua all when those meant a whole hell of a lot. His losses are to Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson and Jon Jones. He made the decision to dwell at 185 lbs in 2014 and thus far the results haven't been as sparkling. Obviously nobody should shun wins over guys like Gegard Mousasi and CB Dollaway but his losses at the weight class have been pretty burtal to bear witness to. He made a valiant effort with a late rally vs Chris Weidman but against Yoel Romero, he was absolutely run over and against Luke Rockhold he was outpowered and overwhelmed. He's approaching 40, coming off a hell of a layoff and his last two fights do little to inspire confidence in him. He is, for all intents and purposes, a guy who seems washed up.

Machida will be the first real case study in how a style like his ages. You always hear that the chin and the reflexes are the first things to go and the power is the last thing. Machida is reliant, almost to an absurd degree on his timing and reflexes. Against Rockhold I can't think of a single thing he could've done differently but he always looked slow vs Yoel Romero. He seemed pensive and once a guy at his age has a tough time pulling the trigger, that's it. That's NOT something that comes back. If you lose the ability to fire, you're done. In his prime, Brunson would've been a style that Machida would crunch up on. A big power so-so cardio wrestler who isn't going to give you a lot to worry about. Machida used to LIVE for those "tough in the first round" types because he'd just pick them off from the outside, wait until they slow down and then blitz and finish them. If Brunson gets him then I have no idea what to say anymore.

2- Who will have the cardio edge in the championship rounds? Machida's never been cardio deficient but he IS going to be 40. Brunson is good early, rougher late and has a style that's not conducive to long fights. A lot of quick hitter explosion on the feet and grinding wrestling late. Might not be a great matchup.

3- The Tough Dad's Division is up in the air but I think I've figured out the key to succeeding as a Tough Dad: Be Available.

From Derek Brunson's fight vs Uriah Hall in September of 2016 to now, this will be his 4th fight. So if you include the Uriah Hall fight, he's fought five times in 13 months. Let's comp that with "the elites" of the division:

September 16 to October 2017 you have Yoel Romero fighting twice,  Robert Whittaker fighting a remarkable three times, Jacare twice, Luke Rochold gracing us with his presence ONCE, Michael Bisping also has just ONE appearance and Chris Weidman has fought three times. Your ability as a middleweight and light heavyweight is your availability I suppose. It's why Tim Boetsch survives in MMA, it's why Sam Alvey will forever have a gig and why Uriah Hall never slumps TOO much. Guys who fight often can eliminate wins and losses a lot quicker. There's a skill and strength to being active so kudos to Brunson for figuring this thing out.

4- Is Demian Maia vs Colby Covington the UFC's way of just taking two problems and hoping they cancel each other out? Like I can't see this fight being exciting in any way really.

5- It's somewhat hidden on a very good card BUT gimme that fight with Jim Miller and Francisco Trinaldo. Massaranduba built up a really great 155 lb streak and it came to a screeching halt when Kevin Lee outlasted him after a hectic first and subbed him in the second round. Jim Miller is sort of in the midst of a career renaissance or at the very least, he's taken great strides in re-establishing himself as a total all action psychopath in the cage. Even when he's athletically outmatched, he seems to always make those fights his own.

6- Pedro Munhoz vs Rob Font is SUCH an impressive fight on paper primarily because it returns Font to the scene of his greatest disappointment. Against John Lineker, Font looked SO overwhelmed from the size of the crowd to the volume to the actual opponent. He didn't fight up to the situation and even if you don't beat a guy like John Lineker, there are ways to impress in a loss. He didn't impress and while Lineker and Munhoz are not even on the same universe in terms of styles and reputation, Munoz is a fantastic 135 lber. This is a very cool fight with a shot at redemption for Rob Font.

7- They have different ways of going about it but both Marlon "Chito" Vera and John Lineker share a common trait for success; they are never ever out of a fight. Lineker's power and his march ahead brawler style make him a threat to anybody. Chito Vera's grappling, length and power in his own right makes him a scary fighter for any opponent. He's long, freakishly athletic and fights like he doesn't know any better. This is another great fight at 135 lbs.

8- If you have FS2 then you're in for a Jim Dandy because the FS2 prelim slate is really, really good. From a battle of good MWs with two clashing styles in Antonio Carlos Jr and all action Jack Marshmann to Elizeu Zaleski vs Max Griffin in what should be a "let 'em fly" slugfest to the return of Niko Price vs competent WW Vicente Luque, you got plenty to dig in and digest.

9- Speaking of Zaleski, I feel like his upside is muted by fans sometimes. Why can't this guy fight in the top 10 of the division? His wins are over Keita Nakamura, Omari Akhmedov and Lyman Good. If you follow beyond the main cards, that's really solid competition and his one loss was to Nicholas Dalby in a fight I was SURE he won. He's all action, he has tremendous cardio, fights at an unrelenting pace and MELTS people with his power and his cardio. If his wrestling improves a smidge, he can beat guys in the top 10.

11- Thiago Santos is all action all of the time....but I have questions about his ability to deal with aggressive wrestlers. There are some things that Jack Marshmann does very well and one of those is pressure and rely on his ground and pound. I don't know if that's a good style for Marreta BUT we shall see if he cracks him first.

12- The UFC's problem in the United State is that fight fans want to see their old guys and dont care about new names. In Brazil, the problem is that the old guys keep losing but they have zero young guys to replace them. The youngest Brazilians on this card? 27 year old John Lineker, 27 year old Antonio Carlos Junior and 25 year old Vicente Luque. Good fighters but almost all have ceilings which will limit their growth going forward. Not overly exciting.

Must wins

1- Derek Brunson

Lyoto Machida is in a very specific group of people who will leave the UFC under their own terms. He's got a job quite possibly for life as a former champion who fights at two weight classes of need PLUS he's Brazilian. He'll be here until he decides he doesn't wanna be here. For Derek Brunson, he's approaching 35 and every big fight he's taken he's lost. Now granted, he made a great showing vs Yoel Romero, probably beat Anderson Silva and had Robert Whittaker hurting. Ifs and buts as they say. He's facing a near 40 Lyoto Machida coming off a long layoff. He HAS to win this or else his availability will only guarantee an existence outside the top 10.

2- Colby Covington

I mean....duh? Covington is trying to be the guy who uses social media to build his profile and get people excited about him. That's AWESOME except his social media ramblings are quite weird. He's an acquired taste and the same can go for his more boring meat and potatoes style which is a throwback to the Matt Hughes era of wrestling and ground and pound above all else. He vs Maia is a case of two negatives being asked to produce a positive and if he does that AND if he wins then the sky may be the limit for him.

3- Antonio Carlos Jr

Antonio Carlos Jr is high upside and an amusing fun style of grappling combined with youth and desperation. The UFC needs a new Brazilian face and Shoeface, ironically enough, could just be that guy. He's a name to keep an eye on even if his hype is just desperation. The HW turned LHW turned MW draws a winnable fight in Jack Marshmann; a sophisicated brawler type who feasts on pressure but is hittable and beatable in any facet of the game. He's a sum of his parts kind of guy. Shoeface needs to win this one because it's a stylistic giftwrapped type opponent at home no less.

[theanticool]

The main difference with HW/LHW was hope.

There was an entire roster of top ten dudes who hadn’t jumped (Reem, Werdum, Big Foot, Barnett, DC, etc.) divisions weren’t seen as dead so much as they were in limbo. Also Cain and JDS were healthy.

With LHW, there were guys in Strikeforce (Mousasi, Feijao, King Mo, OSP, etc.) and young up and comers in the UFC (Davis, Gus) who people thought were going to be Jones’ future challengers. If you were into deep cuts, Glover was a mystery figure floating around the regional scene that hardcores wanted to see in the ufc. Hell, Hendo was a legit LHW contender in some people’s eyes (thank god that didn’t happen). People still had hope for Shogun and Machida hadn’t been knocked out 3 times in a row.

I can’t think of anyone besides Gus who I want to see DC fight in he next 12 months at LHW. Same with Miocic at HW.

And that the decline of talent at LHW/HW hasn’t turned into proper tv minutes for the ladies and the smaller men. Figueiredo, Nguyen, and company still giving up the “important fights” time for Pedro, Golm, Johnson, Asker, and Sharipov.

I think people don’t realize MMA is the same as it ever was, to quote David Byrne.

Like the first ever attempt at MMA coverage (from this place) was in 2012. That year alone the UFC had:

-questions about TUF as a long term viability.

-Cancelled a PPV and cancelled a series of live events for a product it just bought in Strikeforce.

-Introduced flyweights and were in the process of securing a deal to bring in WMMA with concerns about whether or not they could draw.

-They were trying to finagle big money title fights with guys coming off losses like Frankie Edgar vs Jose Aldo and Chael Sonnen vs Jon Jones.

-They had two title contenders suspended for PED-drug related problems. Had three active interim titles.

-Publicly feuded with Benson Henderson, Jon Jones and Anderson Silva.

-HW prospects like Stipe Miocic, Travis Browne, Shawn Jordan, Matt Mitrione and others come up short in “Step up” fights.

-Concerns about the PPV market eventually bursting on the backs of some bad shows.

All of this is to say that people who think MMA is all that different NOW than it was then have been sleepwalking through this whole game. MMA is like time; a flat circle full of stupid.