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#Frankie x IQ
yumeka-sxf · 9 months
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Spy x Family Exhibition Pamphlet
I got my copy of the Spy x Family exhibition pamphlet! I wanted to make HD scans of some of the notable pages and try to translate if I can.
First off is this great "Main Character Correlation Chart" (sorry for my amateur editing, all I have is MS Paint!)
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I love how Bond has a different "bofu" (woof) for Loid and Yor!
Several of the pages show the creation process of the manga, starting with rough sketches to final drafts, using chapter 1 as an example. There were a lot of pages for this, so I just scanned the ones that showed the end of the chapter.
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Probably the most interesting pages of the pamphlet are the early character designs/concept sketches. Most of these have already been shared by @sy-on-boy on her post here, but I thought it'd be cool to have them in HD! Unfortunately, even with higher quality images it's very difficult to decipher Endo's handwriting. I could make out just a few words here and there, and Google Lens is very unreliable when the writing isn't clear.
The first page has early concepts for the Forger family, Loid, Anya, the WISE logo, and the Eden uniform.
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Things to note are that "Oscar" was a working name for Loid, as was "Yolanda" for Yor. What's also interesting is that a beta version of Franky is shown along with the Forgers. Unfortunately I can't make out the notes about him, but I think this has significance because of a sketch on the next page...
Most of the next page shows concept designs for Yor, with a section for Bond and Yor's coworkers on the bottom.
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However, what's really intriguing is the sketch in the upper right of the whole family, titled 疑似家族 (pseudo family).
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Once again, a Franky-looking character is with them, and he has the title "Uncle" (叔父) Was an uncle originally going to be part of the main Forgers? Was he actually related to Loid or Yor, or if that character did eventually become Franky, maybe he would just pretend to be Loid's brother? I can also make out the word "otaku" (オタク) in the notes for this character as well as "enjoying life" (人生を楽しんでる) Also in the notes for beta Yor it looks like 最強 (the best/strongest) and バカ (idiot/dummy) All I can make out for Loid's notes are 孤独 (loneliness) I think? And what's up with the older and more sinister looking Anya? She really looks like Ashe there. But these are all just early concept designs/notes so I wouldn't take them too seriously.
The next page titled "East and West During the Cold War" has concept designs for Franky, Yuri, Fiona (referred to as a female WISE spy), a male WISE spy, Melinda, and various assassins from the cruise arc.
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The first interesting thing to point out is the notes next to the very crudely drawn woman at the bottom of Yuri's concept designs. It says "Yuri's girlfriend?"(ユーリの 彼女?) though I can't make out clearly what the rest of it says. For the Franky designs, I could make out "tsukkomi or boke". So it looks like at some point Endo was deciding whether to make him more of a tsukkomi (straight man) or boke (wise guy) personality. There's also mention of giving him a high IQ (IQ高い). Also, the fact that the sketches include Melinda and the cruise arc assassins gives the impression that Endo had ideas for these story elements very early on.
But the character relationship chart in the lower left is really intriguing.
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I'm not sure how accurate these translations are so take them with a grain of salt, but they do make sense to me. But I have to wonder why Anya and Becky are connected to Desmond. For Becky, it could be because her family has ties to the Desmonds, but why Anya? Could the "mysterious institute/lab" she comes from have ties to Desmond too? Again, these could just be early concepts from ideas that Endo is no longer using, so best not to take them literally. Also, the lack of Shopkeeper/Garden in the character relationship charts, the concept art, and the exhibition overall, really does portray them as a "mysterious organization" that Endo perhaps didn't plan out until later in the series' development and is still trying to figure out. But as far as this sketch, I have to say that despite how terribly crudely drawn all their little heads are, it's easy to identify every character...proof of Endo's top notch character design skills!
Another sketch that stands out is on the same page...
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It's a very rough drawing of what appears to be either Loid holding Yor or Yor holding Loid with Anya next to them. But honestly it's such a rough drawing it could be any other parents+child. All I can make out of the text directly above is "My wife is stressed!? At this rate..." And the drawing next to it also appears to be two parents and maybe two children? I also have no clue what the "WJ4C 9/20, etc" at the top means. Very mysterious sketch, lol.
The next page has Eden related concepts, including Becky, Damian, George, and various teachers. The drawings in the bottom section appear to be an alternate/abbreviated version of how the Forgers met.
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Pretty funny that an image of Franky is covering what's supposed to be a sketch of Demetrius. The text from Franky says "I can't show you this information yet" which is pretty solid proof that Demetrius will make an appearance in the series eventually. There's also nicknames for Damian and Demetrius in the notes - "Dami" and "Demi."
Some notes on the Eden page says there's 2,000 students in the school, with 13 grades divided into 8 classes/houses. The chart on the left is a list of teacher names and their classes, all of which are given names of colors. None of the teacher names have been used so far in the series.
And all that's on the last page of sketches is a continuation of the previous page with the early concept of how the Forgers started (it honestly looks pretty cute, wish it wasn't just rough sketches). And the following section looks like drafts Endo did for promotional material.
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The final pages of the pamphlet are the new extra mission chapter which I already fully translated here.
And that's all I'm going to share for now from the pamphlet! I could spend more time trying to decipher the concept art notes but it was giving me a headache after a while, lol. But if anyone wants to try translating them, go ahead (I have higher quality png files of all the scans if needed...they were too big for Tumblr). And again, these sketches are just trial and error pre-serialization ideas that don't necessarily reflect Endo's final vision for the series, so I wouldn't dwell on them much other than for fun theorizing.
The pamphlet does have other interesting information, including an interview with Endo, a timeline of his work on Spy x Family and other manga, and his notes about random things from the series. So I might return to translating the pamphlet at a later date when I have time/motivation.
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usopps-devotee · 1 year
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strawhat crew blunt rotation x reader 😌
Tags: fluff, drug use, the crew being goofies at sea, not proofread
wc 0.6k
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You ever see a ship full of grown ass humans need an adult ?
Because yall defo need one now
Well actually you, Franky, and sanji are fine
Franky is rolling another one as we speak.
Sanji's making edies for later as well as dinner.
please no one forget he's in rotation because he won't say much but he will he highly upset.
You're laughing at all the semantics of yout crew and waiting on the blunt.
Robin is desperately trying to stay awake, you want to tell her she can rest her head on your lap but you know it's likely you'll join the shenanigans
SOMEONE PLEASE GET ZORO AWAY FROM USOPPP IM BEGGING
Those two are absolute idiots.
Usopp is THRIVING at the fact that zoro can't hold his smoke for NOTHING
Someone please save usopp before he gets too cocky and challenged zoro to a sword fight, he can't even hold a sword.
Zoro is loosening what little IQ he has left as his brain tried to wrap around usopps exaggerations and lies.
luffy is the one in charge of bringing the blunt to sanji and honestly he does a good job, if only to make sure sanji feeds him every time he goes to the kitchen.
Nami IS asleep for now but it's only a matter of time before she wakes up.
When she does it's because Franky lit up and the smell woke her up
She's cute and very incoherent.
Responds to everything with "hmm?"
Puppy dog eyes as well but she can't help it, she isn't even aware that's she's doing it
Take your time with her, she's fragile like this, softest you will ever see Nami is when she's high.
Once Franky gets the rotation going again, it's just in time for sanji to bring out different pastries for each member of the crew
Yall gonna get fucked up frfr
Franky passes to you while you're half focused in the treat in front of you.
It's puff puff much then pass at this point
Robin skipped this go round knowing it will take 2 or 3 cycles fot it go out
Again in favor of the edible
Also her conversation with Franky now that some of her tiredness wore off
Sanji cuts in while he can, taking the time out of the kitchen to get the full inhale he wants
He's so fucking pretty like this
Still he's smoke comes off in the shape of hearts
Maybe more so now then with tobacco
Usopp is next, thankfully the blunt in his hand will distract him from making the swordsman into a bigger fool
This effect only works while the blunt is on his hand
Scratch that
Now that zoro has the blunt usopp plans to make BIGGER fool out of him
Zoro is helpless and you're tempted to join usopp
Actually you do so now your both clowning on this man
It takes luffy to be his saving grace, of only to get the blunt out of his hand
To save IT not the swordsman from the chaos
He's laughing at everything that goes down while sitting next to Nami now that she's also awake.
Shew laughing at the whole thing and the entire crew swears they never heard her laugh so care free
Even says thank you when luffy passes the blunt to her ??,?
She's so sweet
Yall hearts can't take it
Smoking till dusk?? Exactly what yall do
You're sure ships miles out can hear the laughter and yelling
All and all it was another great day at sea on the sunny
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What do y'all want to see released next?
Framing Escobar [Javi P x F!Reader]
You can call me Din [Din Djarin x Sex Worker!AFAB!Reader]
Halloween Housewarming [Miguel O'Hara x nbi/enby!Reader]
The Princess and The Duke [Stepdad!Dave York x Reader]
Catch me if you Can [Din Djarin x Fugitive!AFAB!Reader]
SNAFU [Frankie Morales x F!Reader(IQ) - shifter fiction x Seal Team]
Rendezvous in Reno [Dieter x Erotica Writer!Reader]
Don't Read Lines with Dieter [Dieter x PA!Reader]
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beefrobeefcal · 4 months
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Friendos, it is time for the first installment of...
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Theywhowriteandknowthings aka Knowy
@theywhowriteandknowthings was one of the first e-friendos I made on this site and has been a champion for me while I found my groove in my fic writing shoes. They were one of my first beta'ers for my works and offered super insightful & valuable input as well as their friendship. Their writing inspires me to keep pushing myself outside of the box and their encouragement makes it easy to do so!
Thank you, Knowy!
I-will-not-ask-you-where-you-came-from regards,
Beefro 👌🥩💜
Here's my Top 5 of @theywhowriteandknowthings work:
First Time's the Charm - Javi Gutierrez
This is the first fic I read of Knowy's and It came at me right before the Birth of Beefro. I was still loitering under my original tumblr account at the time and I wasn't even remotely looking at writing. But this fic led me into a deep dive into the Peepaw FF world and I never looked back - I have a massive soft spot for this fic, as well as it is very saucy!
Rendezvous in Reno - Dieter Bravo
NOW THIS IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. I have read this fic many a time and I enjoy it more and more each time [I got to beta it and MY FUCK! i felt truly blessed and highly favoured]. Jus everything - the reader is an erotica writer and Dieter is a fan, his fabulous underwear, his dirty mouth, and his ego... MY GOD HIS EGO! This one is fun and should NOT be read while you sit in the same room as your in-laws FYI.
Creep - CreepyNeighbour!Joel Miller
This right here is a work of art. I got to beta this work again and I was a naughty pigeon and did it at work. LET ME TELL Y'ALL - I WAS LEFT UNABLE TO PERFORM MY DUTIES AS REQUIRED AFTER READING THIS. I should have taken the rest of the day to lay down and think on my sins because GOD DAMN. 10 out of 10 beefs for Creep. 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩
The Princess & The Duke - StepDad!Dave York
Okay, okay, okay... this is the oom papa mow mow of Dave York is your stepdad fics and I will fight anyone who opposes it. I love this series and the way Knowy has written Dave THE WAY HE DESERVED TO BEGIN WITH. I love the gentle badass he is in this and I hope reader's mom chokes on a carrot as she gives a 'Deep Throating 101' class at the local community collage.
SNAFU - Shifter!Frankie Morales
And my fav (even though I'm not ranking)! The one that started it all. This fic is not how I found them, but it is what made me want to get to know them and pick their delicious brain. It's a Frankie Fiend's wet dream and I had no idea how enraptured I could be with a Shifter Universe! I screamed into my pillow like a teenager and kicked my legs gleefully thinking about how Frankie shared his chicken wings with IQ. I will die on the hill that is marked: KNOWY'S SNAFU IS BEST USE OF SHIFTER AU This is an ongoing series and whether we get a new chapter soon or not, we will always have Bear!Pope memes. 🐻💜
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Murder Daddy Kinktober 2023 - Sex Pollen/Pheromones Joel Miller x afab!Reader
Any & All Knowy's Miguel O'Hara fics Miguel O'Hara x afab!Reader
Whole Frankie Morales x afab!Reader x Santiago Garcia
Shore Leave Frankie Morales x afab!Reader x Santiago Garcia
Taungsdays, Am I Right? Din Djarin x afab!Reader
Hazy Days Din Djarin x afab!Reader
Breaking the Rules DBF!Joel Miller x afab!Reader
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cadriona · 2 years
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The funniest thing about the most recent episode of spy x family, I think, is that nobody was actually truly equipped to understand that Yor was doing something extraordinary when she fought Loid drunk.
-Loid: emotionally compromised, ya boi’s just gonna think its learned self defense he has the iq of einstein until he’s confronted with his family then the braincell gets bonked out and handed to Anya
-the other westalis agents: They’re getting to watch Twilight fight!! Twilight!! The man, the legend, the spy that’s the pinicle of spies! If he’s going to do an undercover mission that requires a fabricated family, of course he’s going to find the most compatible person to pose as a wife and daughter! and if it seemed like Yor was winning, well, this must all be part of Twilight’s plan!
-Anya: she’s like, five and a telepath
-Franky: the dude is like black-out drunk near the end. The literal only other person present that knows of Yor’s “real” identity as a “normal” lady because he was the one that acquired the files and looked over them with Twilight, but he was literally too drunk to parse that Yor was definitely Not demonstrating Normal Lady behaviour
To summarize: Anya is literally the only one with a braincell here and she used it the same way any young child would- and gotten us a fantastically wholesome/funny episode in the process
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royalarmyofoz · 6 years
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grace & frankie - incorrect quotes [1/?]
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monstersandmaw · 4 years
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Embers - male dragon shifter x reader) Part Two (sfw)
(this is supposed to be going up every Friday, but I was a dumbo yesterday and forgot, so here it is, a day late and with my apologies!)
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Here's Chapter Two for you, in which we find out our dragon shifter’s name (pronunciation at the end if you’re curious). And Frankie speaks with a heavy Welsh accent.
I was trying to keep each chapter to under 1000 words, but that didn't work out so well for this one. It's nearly 2000 words. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!!
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A phone call from a number you didn’t recognise interrupted your quiet Friday evening, and you answered with some trepidation. Usually it was marketing calls at this hour, and nothing was guaranteed to make you lose your shit quicker than someone phoning up to sell you double glazing or, even worse, to try and scam you out of your life savings.
This time, however, a bright and bubbly voice with a lilting accent asked, “Hiya, I hope I’m not calling at a bad time, but you gave my friend your number in the hopes of finding a flute teacher?”
“Oh my god!” you blurted, nearly dropping the phone. “Yes! I didn’t think he’d actually pass it on. Thanks for calling.”
The laugh that trilled out of the person on the other end was more like a bleating giggle, and it was then that you remembered that the teacher was a faun. “No problem! My name is Frankie, by the way, and I’ve actually got space to take on a new pupil at the moment. If I got it straight it’s your niece?”
“Yeah, she’s six.”
“Ok, if you could maybe tell me a bit about her and what level she’s at, that might help me plan a bit, but we could set up a trial lesson - free of charge - and go from there?”
“Perfect. As for her level, she’s brand new. She’s wanted to play the flute for a long time, but she’s only six and my brother couldn’t really afford lessons until now.” As a single father, a widower, your brother did his absolute best for his little girl, and with no kids of your own, you stepped in to help quite a lot. “She’s bright and a quick learner, though she’s not particularly verbal. She’s always been drawn to music though; I think it’s a half-siren thing…”
“Yeah, that’ll be it!” he chuckled. “As long as she’s going to listen to me, that’s a good place to start from; I don’t need her to recite the Trollbridge Common Dictionary as well. I teach up at Mikaeïl’s house - he lets me use the music room free of charge.”
You frowned in confusion. “Mikaeïl?”
“The red-headed, starched-shirt-wearing, giant nerd-bag you met in the coffee shop,” he grinned and you snorted your tea nearly out of your nose.
“Oh my god.”
“Right? I mean, Kaeïl is an absolute marshmallow on the inside, I promise, but he comes across as a complete arsehole, doesn’t he? Anyway, back to the flute lessons. You let me know some dates when she’ll be free to come over, I’ll give you the address, and we can see how we get along. Texting is better for me as I’m usually teaching during the day.”
“Sounds good,” you said, and began to arrange the rest with Frankie.
Afterwards you did a quick internet search and found him easily enough. He was apparently well known, both as a teacher and a soloist, and he and the quintet did a number of local concerts too. You couldn’t resist zooming in on a few photos which also had Mikaeïl in. God, he had amazing bone structure, but he definitely had one severe case of resting bitch-face for sure. He wasn’t smiling in any of the photos and he looked severe, and untouchable as a hot coal.
Satisfied that Frankie was the genuine article, you called your brother and fixed a date to take her to the address Frankie had given you.
The next Friday, you picked Celia up from school while her dad took the night shift at work. The hours weren’t great, but it meant he got slightly better pay. Plus it meant that you got to have Celia for the night, and that was always fun. She was intelligent and creative, if quiet, and after dinner the two of you usually watched a film together or read if she didn’t feel like watching anything. You knew she missed her siren mother dearly, and her death had almost destroyed your brother. You and he were all the family she had now; her own grandparents had wanted nothing to do with a half-breed human.
You found Mikaeïl’s place easily enough, and as the enormous gates swung open for you, drove your rather shoddy car along the mile-long gravel driveway through gorgeous parkland and up to a frankly ridiculous mansion on the outskirts of Old Trollbridge. You barely restrained yourself from cursing out loud. The place was insanely beautiful.
Celia had her hands pressed up against the car windows, mouth open. “My teacher lives here?” she asked.
“It’s the house of his friend,” you said, trying to sound unfazed and unaffected by the grandeur. Mikaeïl must be a very wealthy person indeed.
You parked up outside and Celia hopped out, piercing eyes gazing up at the warm, sandstone facade of the building with its many sash windows and ornate architectural details. Her dusky brown wings - small for a siren her age, but then again she was only half-siren - were flexed slightly, as though she planned on flapping up to get a closer look at the carvings above the door, but you took her hand before the thought got any further, and led her to the front door, her brand new flute in your other hand.
It took a while for someone to come to the door, but when it was answered, you were surprised to find that it wasn’t some servant or butler in fancy livery, but it was Mikaeïl himself. You recognised him instantly, and he looked at you from behind his circular, gold-rimmed glasses with the same, piercing gold eyes. Despite the colour, they were cold and unsmiling. Beside him, in complete contrast in every way, stood a very short, slightly stocky figure with the white, woolly lower half of a satyr. He wore a thick, dark green, knitted jumper despite the warmth of the day, and he had massively thick, curling horns that coiled around his ovine ears. His curly hair was cut relatively short, and matched his white legs in colour.
He extended a hand to you as Mikaeïl stepped back silently and disappeared into the shadows, and he bleated, “Hi! I’m Frankie. And you must be Celia,” he added, turning his dark eyes to her. “Nice to meet you. Would you like to come in?”
She nodded shyly, and you ushered her inside in front of you. Frankie’s big cloven hooves clopped loudly on the marble entrance hall, and Celia gasped as she took in the beautiful, sweeping staircase that curled up the cylindrical walls of the drum-like entrance hall that was capped with a coffered dome.
“It’s quite something, isn't it?” Frankie said conspiratorially to her, and she nodded again. “Come on, let me show you guys the music room. It’s got the loveliest piano. This way.”
Mikaeïl had all but vanished.
Nattering constantly, Frankie led you away down a light, airy corridor with gold and cream silk wall hangings and 18th century landscape paintings on one side and a gallery of windows overlooking the gravel driveway on the other, and into an equally beautiful space. Somehow, despite the obvious wealth, the music room was tasteful and bizarrely modest. Yes, that was an original Steinway, and yes, there was a crystal chandelier - relatively small, but still - in the centre of the moulded-plaster ceiling, but the huge windows looked out onto a private terrace and parkland beyond, and it had the feeling of a well-used, well-loved, functional room.
Celia was utterly entranced. Her wide eyes took it all in and you stood there dumbstruck as well.
Eventually, however, you both got over it, and Frankie brought over a very ordinary, metal music stand and parked his behind on the piano stool with a grunt. “Right,” he grinned and she giggled slightly. “Let’s see what we’ve got here.” He pulled out his own flute from its case and showed her how to align the sections of her own correctly.
You sat at one side of the room, but you realised quickly that Celia kept looking over to you before she spoke, so you said, “Celia, I think you might learn better if I wait outside. How would that be?”
She nodded and you knew her well enough to see that she wasn’t worried, and Frankie shot you a smile and a nod. “We’ll be about another half an hour,” he said quietly.
With that, you left, and wandered up the corridor and back into the entrance hall.
You took your time in the corridor, admiring the paintings, and you were just looking up at the ceiling of the entrance hall again, marvelling at the artistry of the whole thing, when someone cleared their throat pointedly from the doorway to your left and you jumped.
“Can I help you?”
It was Mikaeïl. He was dressed in a smart shirt, with a black waistcoat and black trousers today, and his long red hair was tied back in a smooth ponytail that fell halfway down his back. His horns glinted in the low light, looking more like strangely-carved precious gems, flecked with gold, than keratin, and his eyes reflected oddly, like cat’s eyes in the dark.
“I…” you faltered. “I thought it best if I left them to it…” you said stupidly. He seemed to have the effect of draining your IQ to zero with just one look.
“So you took the liberty of roaming the halls of my home instead?” he said in a cold drawl.
“I… I’m not poking around,” you countered hotly, finding your words coming back to you. “I’ve only walked along the corridor!”
A tiny smile twitched at the corner of his lips. “Would you like something to drink?”
His polite question caught you off guard, and you gave him a blank look. “I thought you were going to have your gamekeeper shoot me for trespassing…” you said dryly.
Mikaeïl barked a harsh but amused laugh, the rigid lines of his body softening just a fraction. “Not yet at least,” he said and turned his back on you.
Assuming you were meant to follow, you did. 
Part Three
I really hope you folks enjoyed this one! Don’t forget to let me know if you did enjoy it by leaving a like and/or reblogging it!
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It’s pronounced ‘mick-eye-ill’ :)
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thesportssoundoff · 5 years
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“A tremendous title fight, a buncha old dudes and moral dilemmas” UFC 237 preview
Joey
May 8th, 2019
In many ways, UFC 237 is a unique card and yet it is, in many ways, a throwback card. This is the sort of show the UFC tries to pull off when it knows what the main event is and it knows that it needs some serious protection. In the old PPV era, this would be the kind of card where your mileage would vary depending upon how hooked up to a nostalgia drip you are. Nowadays with them getting a guaranteed payout before a PPV even sees the air, this kind of card feels retro. It's got a competent title fight with a bevy of names you'd recognize who fall on the spoiled side of their MMA expiration dates. It's like a Mighty Mouse card (albeit with a far more compelling main event) in a market that still has pings and feels for a show like this. Brazilians want to see their heroes and so the company is trotting out the likes of Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo, Lil Nog, Thiago Alves and a whole host of familiar names and faces potentially for the last time. It's Brazil vs the world (for the most part) with just enough good vibes and fair matchmaking to give the fans potentially one big feel good moment. I just also know that this card is for a very niche audience which you might not be in there.
Fights: 13
Debuts: Viviane Araujo, Carlos QuirLoz, Luana Carolina
Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 4 (Wu Yanan OUT, Priscila Cachoeira IN vs Luana Carolina/Jessica Rose Clark OUT, Melissa Gatto IN vs Talita Bernado/Said Nurmagomedov OUT, Carlos Quiroz IN vs Raoni Barcelos/Melissa Gattoo OUT, Viviane Araujo IN vs Talita Bernardo)
Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 11 (Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo, Rose Namajunas, Jessica Andrade, Thiago Alves, Francisco Trinaldo, BJ Penn, Clay Guida, Big Nog, Bethe Correia,Priscila Cachoeira )
Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 2 (BJ Penn, Priscila Cachoeira)
Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 7 (Jessica Andrade, Rose Namajunas, Alexander Volkanovski, Jose Aldo, Carlos Diego Ferreira, Irene Aldana, Raoni Barcelos)
Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2017 (in the UFC): 25-11
Rose Namajunas- 3-0 Jessica Andrade- 4-1 Anderson Silva- 1-1 Jared Cannonier- 2-3 Jose Aldo- 2-2 Alexander Volkanovski- 5-0 Thiago Alves- 2-2 Laureano Staropoli- 1-0 Francisco Trinaldo- 2-2 Diego Ferreira- 3-0
Fights By Weight Class (yearly number here):
Lightweight-  3 (30) Women’s Bantamweight- 2 (5) Welterweight- 2 (29) Women’s Strawweight- 1 (12) Women’s Flyweight-  1 (14) Light Heavyweight- 1 (17) Featherweight-  1( 21) Middleweight- 1 (15) Bantamweight- 1 (24)
Heavyweight- (15) Flyweight- (7)
2019’s Records We Keepin’ Track Of:
Debuting Fighters (11-30):  Carlos Quiroz, Melissa Gatto, Luana Carolina
Short Notice Fighters (13-15): Melissa Gatto, Carlos Quiroz, Priscila Cachoeira
Second Fight (30-7): Ryan Spann, Laureano Staropoli, Thiago Moises
Cage Corrosion (Fighters who have not fought within a year of the date of the fight) (10-18): Bethe Correia, Rose Namajunas
Undefeated Fighters (16-22): Melissa Gatto
Fighters with at least four fights in the UFC with 0 wins over competition still in the organization (6-6): BJ Penn
Weight Class Jumpers (Fighters competing outside of the weight class of their last fight even if they’re returning BACK to their “normal weight class”) (14-9): Kurt Holobaugh
Twelve Precarious Ponderings
1- If this show was on traditional PPV, how many buys would it get? Is 125K satisfactory given the conditions?
2- Rose Namajunas vs Jessica Andrade IS in all honesty a compelling title fight. It pits pretty much the division's top finisher (Rose Namajunas) against the division's top pressure fighter (Andrade) with the champion opting to face the champion on HER home turf, creating for a pretty compelling narrative to be told. They have more similarities offensively than people give them credit for; both Rose Namajunas and Andrade do their best work coming forward, pressuring albeit in different ways. They're cardio machines, cutting a pace early and dictating both the range and the tempo of the fight. For Rose, she's long enough and creative enough that its a pick your poison type affair. You can fight her at range, get picked apart from a distance with kicks and her really good straight shots OR you can blitz her, clinch with her and hope you're strong enough to win inside consistently. Andrade offers you no choice but to fight her fight for however long it goes. She cuts a relentless pace, has Mr. X level pursuit and while I think her power shouting vs Karolina was more of a perfect shot, she hits hard enough to break just about anybody. Even against Joanna, she still did her thing (pressure, come forward, blitz like a mad woman) which Joanna having the ability to win behind a tremendous jab and superior footwork. Rose CAN follow Joanna's gameplan of kicks + jab + circling for twenty five minutes, flustering Andrade from a distance but I'm not sure if she can do that while dealing with the pressure of Jessica Andrade for 25 minutes. Even against the likes of Tecia Torres and Joanna, Rose had those lapses in concentration where it felt like she stopped fighting her fight and needed to be reminded by her corner to mentally check back in. You have to be there every single second of an Andrade fight because she is a momentum creature.
3- Given how hard Andrade pressures and how long Rose is, I wonder if takedowns are going to be apart of the gameplan for Namajunas. Andrade's build and her wrestling normally prevent attempts but Rose is the better grappler by far who can probably score a finish in a variety of spots on the ground. Being underneath Andrade's ground and pound is a miserable endeavor BUT she's also reckless enough that limbs and necks get left out there for experienced enough submission artists. Could/Would Rose pull guard?
4- If Max Holloway is going to fight in Anaheim as he's suggested (Late August for those curious),  you have to assume that Volkanovski vs Aldo is a pseudo #1 contender fight. So what happens if Aldo wins? Is that where the UFC blows the dust off of Frankie Edgar?
5- Does anyone truly believe Anderson retires after this fight with Jared Cannonier?
6- Looking at this card on paper with its host of "legends" bound to generate some buzz in Brazil, it's a bummer they couldn't of found a way to get Johnny Walker on the card. Would've been a great rub for him with guys like Aldo and Silva on the show.
7- At some point Francisco Trinaldo is going to buck the conventional wisdom and fight like his age, right?
8- I don't know if it's the fact that they're both elder statesmen who fight younger than they are but look older than their birth certificates claim or the fact that both basically cut their teeth carving up mid tier dudes in their respective divisions but Francisco Trinaldo and Cowboy Oliveira sure seem to have a lot in common. Both are really aggressive somewhat limited guys whose limitations show up when they attempt to make the long march to the top of their division. Both Oliveira and Trinaldo rely on brute force strength with so-so fight IQ but a surprising wealth of ways to be violent if they so choose them. Trinaldo faces Carlos Diego Ferreira who burst onto the scene with the UFC and then just kinda stalled out in no small part due to injuries and one of those supplement suspensions. Carlos is coming into his own based off back to back wins vs top competition and while I don't know if he'll ever be a consistent top 10-15 lightweight, there's light at the end of the tunnel for him. This fight should be insanely violent in spurts.
9- Worth noting that if she beats Bethe Correia, Irene Aldana will be on a three fight winning streak which should put her on the short list for women to potentially challenge Amanda Nunes. Especially since beating Bethe seems to be one of those secret passageways to a title shot.
10- I've never seen a more desperate attempt to milk out a win for a guy than Lil Nog vs Ryan Spann. Even in his faded borderline decrepit form, Lil Nog should have very little issue taking a W here.
11- Thiago Alves vs Laureano Staropoli has some sneaky FOTN potential. Laureano is an all action pressure forward fighter who like most guys out of non-Brazil South America has no idea what he's not supposed to do. As such, anything is on the table and AS such he fights like a guy who has a penchant disregard for his well being. Thiago Alves is no longer the kind of guy who can casually eat up the Staropoli types of the world and his last few fights have basically been him trying to be a sharpshooting counter striker who throws power shots at will. It should be a fun fight at the very least.
12- And I guess we gotta end negatively with BJ Penn. There's no reason for this fight to be happening from a pure actual fighting standpoint. I read someone elsewhere mention how "frail" BJ Penn looks as a fighter and I truly lack an actual better description for it besides that. He looks weathered. He looks old. He looks like a guy who knows how to only do one thing and he can physically no longer do it at any rate of success. Whatever you think of the legacy of BJ Penn or however you feel about his right to compete, it shouldn't be happening anymore and at the very least not at this level. This doesn't even account for the fact that he has so much turmoil in his life and while allegations can sometimes be just that, we've got a whole forrest fire worth of smoke telling us something is wrong. We all just recently read Babalu discuss the problems he's facing currently in his life after a long career of fighting. It should make us all stop and reconsider whether there needs to be such arbitrary lines of when enough is enough and how we can find the bridge for these guys when the time has come. BJ Penn isn't fighting because the UFC thinks he can do it; he's fighting because if not here then somewhere else and because there's always going to be a market for seeing your "heroes" compete. There are BJ Penn fans who watched the third Edgar fight thinking he could pull it off, there are BJ Penn fans who watched thinking he'd turn back the clock vs Dennis Siver. The UFC gave him the SAFEST possible match up in a guy they didn't think would hurt him and it still ended in disaster.
And yet on the same card, we have Anderson Silva who is 44 years old coming ooff of multiple surgeries, a career that includes some truly violent spectacle fights in his earlier days who has been rocked or KO'd in four of his last six fights. He was apart of one of the more violent gym cultures in the history of MMA. His family apparently asks him to retire after every fight, now running on what feels like four years worth of it. So if Penn's gotta go then shouldn't Anderson go? Even if my eyes tell me that he's got more in the tank, we're still comparing two guys who are clearly either firmly out of gas or running on E. Is it the fact that Anderson Silva by all accounts is a well adjusted guy who isn't in trouble? I mean wouldn't that make you more likely to want him to hang it up so he can preserve the way he is? I don't have all of the answers and so much of this is just emotion. All I know is I hope that this card is very much the last of its kind; a farewell to a lot of guys who made a special time in MMA with also a promise to do better by them in the future.
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