#love it when literally every single object on earth has more value than me <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[378262]

officially so fucking done. tw for the tags dont read

[shattered-catalyst]

Intro to OCD for the RPC part 1/?

This is a balmy 6 page document on the VERY BASICS of OCD by a person who has had OCD for over 15 years and knows their shit.

If you want to write a character who has OCD this series is going to be a good starting point. If you dont know much about OCD I encourage you to read it so you can be an ally to those of us who have the disorder.

OCD is made into a cultural joke and when there isnt the ‘Obsessive Cat disorder’ bullshit its an angst off with other people and their non-ocd intrusive thoughts. Its different. Do your research and be an ally.

This will cover the very very basics. The next post will look into subtypes of OCD and how those are experienced.

 Whomst can write it? 

Literally anyone as long as you 

● Do so respectfully and not make a mockery of the disorder and the harm it causes in peoples lives 

● Dont make OCD the characters single thing or boil them down to it entirely ● Do respect the experiences and opinions of muns who have the disorder if they have concerns about your portrayal.

● Dont milk it for angst - unless you have OCD in which case release some of your angst.

● Dont try and say you know what intrusive thoughts are because they have *insert any other neuro a-typical thing here* 

● Dont police how Muns who have OCD choose to portray it. Its our experience not yours. I like to write out my characters OCD as I experience OCD so my experiences are different from other muns. OCD is very diverse in its effects but always ask if you arent sure.

. What isnt OCD? 

● Cleanliness or organization- OCD is NEVER an adjective. 

● Planning/ Hypervigilance/Organized/Methodical 

● Turning light switches on and off, unplugging things (find out more on later time)

 ● “I have to organize my pencils otherwise it bothers me” “ I have to make sure my mattress is straight” “ my nails have to be the same length” are all typical responses from people WHO DO NOT have OCD. 

● Making sure objects are lined up neatly 

● Having things go in a particular order like the letters CDO as the joke goes

● Really loving Cats, Corgis, or Christmas; if you own any of these items i urge you to reflect and also send me 10$ (jk but do reflect)

The Barest minimum 

Google OCD this will be an advanced version of OCD. This will be long but if you want to be aware of others or want to write the character you will read it. 

OCD is made of Obsessions. Triggers. Anxiety, Compulsions/Rituals.

1. Obsessions are the thoughts 

2. Triggers are the object/person/image/situation/smell ETC 

3. The Anxiety occurs is at uncomfortable levels to the point of panic or anxiety attacks

 4. Compulsions or Rituals are performed 

*There is a variant of OCD called Pure O. In this individuals have the obsessions triggers and anxiety but there is NO compulsion or ritual. This is still valid OCD. 

Obsessions are the precursors to the flawed unwanted and harmful intrusive thoughts: 

Im going to use you so you really understand this because its important.If you misunderstand this you are basically encouraging a mental health condition and dont get a sticker for reading this far. 

First check out this link as it has ALL the subtypes and examples. 

Obsessions can be hidden by the intrusive thought and teasing them out can be difficult to do if you have the disorder because well its a disorder okay thats why. It boils down to ‘i could harm someone’ ‘i could cause harm’ ‘ i may have accidentally harmed ___’ ‘ i may accidentally harm’ etc 

This is the flawed powerful belief that predate the Intrusive Thought. 

Intrusive thoughts appear in every brain on earth. They are not special or unusual however intrusive thoughts with OCD get stuck in the brain- meaning they stay there no matter what you do. So yes , they are different from intrusive thoughts in other conditions. 

The thing about OCD is that it latches on to what you hold dear; it may be you are a caring person and love children and animals- your OCD would give you intrusive violent or sexual thoughts or images. These are horrible to experience. They are not welcome nor appreciated and there is no benefit or positive side to having them. 

If say social justice is something you hold dear your ocd may take the form of intrusive thoughts of slurs, jokes, visuals etc. These are horrible to experience and lead to high levels of anxiety and are not positive nor beneficial to have in any way shape or form. 

Maybe you would not harm someone or you value others; your OCD may present as graphic intrusive images or thoughts around poisoning, stabbing,accidental..ly murdering (yeah you read that right), hitting, insulting etc someone else 

I must emphasize this because it is critical that people understand POCD: for the sake of those of us who have OCD read this until its burned into your brain. 

This is the fucked up awful Obsessive thought that you are/were/ or could be sexually attracted to children. This is NOT pedophilia. People kill themselves over this because they are afraid that these intrusive thoughts are true. People isolate themselves and dont have families out of fear of harming a child. People take work in different fields or avoid areas with children out of the absolute terror their obsessive thoughts could be true. This is NOT pedophilia. There is NO attraction present.

Most people who experience POCD intrusive thoughts would rather punch a sharknado than even THINK of hurting a kid in any way shape or form. That is why the OCD does its thing it is like having an abusive brain. 

Again for clarity's sake 

If you value social justice -> the intrusive thoughts violate social justice stuff 

If you value animals -> intrusive thoughts come up with harming animals 

If you care about the protection and safety of children -> POCD 

Triggers would be the situation, scenario, object, person,creature, context etc that is related to the Obsession. It can be literally anything. 

What follows is a hell of a lot of anxiety that can range anywhere from discomfort to full on panic attacks. 

Everyone has different intrusive thoughts and everyone experiences different amounts of distress upon being triggered. 

● As a side bar. Do not ever try and expose someone to their triggers or write about a character being exposed to their triggers as a way to help ‘cure them’ or ‘expose them’ to ANYTHING. What you are doing is literally taking someone with a mental illness and shoving them into a breakdown and thats a piece of shit move. Exposure therapy does exist and is done by professionals TRAINED in ERP. My parents did this a lot and I am positive I am not alone in that experience. 

Compulsions or Rituals: Now you may be saying ‘hey i know what those are’ yeah dude me too and I have had ocd for over 15 years and trained in mental health for 7 and guess what. They teach ya wrong. 

Compulsions or ‘rituals’ are any behavior done to alleviate the anxiety from the intrusive thought and trigger object. 

This can be as passive as ‘i am leaving the room’ ‘ i am checking my body sensations’ ‘ i am trying SO HARD TO HEAR MY HEARTBEAT’ .

 It can also be repeating the same thing over and over. To illustrate this I once mentally chanted the same song lyric line on a 3 hour plane ride because otherwise we were all going to die. I took one for the whole team.

It can be somatic things like counting your heart beats, focusing on your breathing, swallowing, staring and not blinking for so many seconds. 

It can be readjusting clothing until the seams fit. It can be checking god yes checking IK its a common trope but it IS a compulsion that has ruined my life and can be as passive as checking my reality or texting for proof my cat is still alive. It can also be checking yourself for assurance you wouldnt do the intrusive thought or that the intrusive thought isnt going to happen.

Compulsions are mentally painful and sometimes physically painful; 

● Washing your hands with scalding water for 5+ minutes can lead to horribly dry and cracking skin to down right BURNS.

● If you do the same movement you can mess up joints and ligaments. So if you pray constantly you may have knee issues from standing and kneeling.

● If your compulsion has you doing movement against an object ie say gripping and regripping something you get callouses. 

● If you compulsively exercise you may get trapped doing something above a healthy amount or say going from not working out to running a five minute mile and wiping out on a treadmill because your brain demanded it. Totally didnt do that... 

● If your compulsions make you rub against any object you can get friction burns and scars. 

To put this in perspective 15 years of compulsions have left my hands and finger joints a complete mess, damaged my arm tendons, friction scars on my arms that only now faded, and scars on my legs from doing too much of an activity. 

Its not lmao I gotta fix these pencils its real agony and real torture. 

In short compulsions and rituals are not fun they are absolutely not logical, and we know they are not logical but we are forced to do them. Thats why its a disorder. 

OCD disrupts relationships with social components such as ; 

Obsessively checking in with partner/friend if things are ‘okay’ (this feels horrible to do too fyi like you KNOW things are fine but you cant NOT because the anxiety is SO BAD), 

Relationship OCD is a WHOLE category itself! this ties into sexuality OCD where your obsessive thoughts prey on your sexuality (regardless of your orientation), your relationship, cheating or being disloyal etc.

OCD causes significant withdrawal from others, fears of being a monster, intense guilt over intrusive thoughts, disgust with yourself over the intrusive thoughts sometimes leading to self punishment. 

OCD leads to strange behavior which more often than not leads to bullying and ostracization. To exemplify this I have an intrusive thought that I have stolen something when I am inside stores, my check-check-check-check-check-recheck! of my pockets gets me store security called so often its criminal.

OCD limits activities that may expose them to triggers or influenced by intrusive thoughts ie: not being able to take the train to work or only getting off at bus stops with even numbers.

OCD impacts where they spend time, who they associate with, what jobs they take or even if they have a family or not

OCD leads to overwhelming feelings of guilt, shame, and fear over having intrusive thoughts or images that they experience which causes them to socially isolate or have difficulty in social situations. 

OCD leads to Hyperfixation: like a lot of other things but thankfully it is just hyperfixation and not different from other diagnoses. 

OCD leads to rigidity or structured routines: I have listened to the same CD in my car for 5 years now. Every single day. 5 Years.And Im not okay with that. 

OCD impacts standards we hold ourselves to and others: its like regular perfectionism but like add on 5 extra layers of anxiety! 

OCD according to NIMH statistics 

1.2% Occurrence among US adults 

2.3% Lifetime Prevalence among US adults 

34.8% Of Adults who have OCD suffer moderate impairment to daily functioning 50.6% of Adults who have OCD suffer serious impairment to daily functioning

OCD has strong co-morbidity with the following:

Tourettes Syndrome- is a genetic friend of OCD and if you have tourettes or OCD your chances of having someone else in the family is high

ADHD

Autism 

GAD

Eating Disorders

Depression - this is a big one along with low self esteem because of the intrusive thoughts

Writers like to make jokes about characters “being OCD” well now they have clinical OCD and you should consider fleshing out your character with this information just as you would any other disorder.

Batman (DC)

Riddler (?)(DC)

Domino (Marvel)

 Cyclops (Marvel)

[im-the-king-of-the-ocean]

3BP2 Episode 4: Mother’s Day Liveblog

...and we’re back with Whirl Does a 3Below Liveblog Thing!  My apologies that this one took so long.  I’ve had a lot of life stuff going on.  But I will try to get through the entire second season of 3Below :)

I do 2 watches of favorite shows when they first come out.  The first, a single binge-watching session through all new episodes, so I can feel all the emotions I’m gonna feel.  The second is slower, to fully take in the new material and sort out my thoughts.  This time, with 3Below, I’ve decided to liveblog my second watch through.

Episode 1.  Episode 2.  Episode 3.

Beneath the cut, thoughts on 3Below Part 2 Episode 4: Mother’s Day

>I tend to like episodes like this that are framed from the perspective of a side character who usually doesn’t get too much attention.  It makes the world feel more developed past the main characters, like the writers have given thought to their entire cast instead of just the protagonists.

>That’s not to say I like every narrative choice in this episode, but the framing is something I’m ultimately glad they decided to do.

>holy crap is this show beautiful.  Since my last liveblog I’ve gotten a new computer with better graphics and man is everything absolutely stunning.

>Mother checking in on her family as they sleep is so very cute 👌

>tbh, I feel like this episode would have been a better introduction for Toby this season.  Right off the bat, we have him in a familiar setting, the dentist’s office, as a callback to Trollhunters.

Toby becomes aware of a potential threat (Tronos), later meets up with Arrrgh!!!, and then goes to confront the threat.

Starting with Toby here would have re-established him as a competent Trollhunter/reminded the audience of his involvement with Trollhunters already.  Instead of appearing to just go along with Eli in ep. 1, Toby would have been shown to have a more active role.  He hasn’t just been sitting around like ep. 3 seemed to imply and he does take threats to Arcadia seriously.

Also, not introducing him until a couple episodes in would have heightened anticipation for his return.  Instead of just giving the audience him immediately, the writers could have gotten us excited to see him again by making us wait until a very exciting moment, which the beginning of this episode is.

>Tronos’s introduction here is great.  Mother’s narration over him going through the power lines and then appearing in the dentist’s office is fantastic, suspenseful and gets the viewer hyped for the episode.

>Have I ever mentioned that I love Tronos’s voice? cause I love Tronos’s voice 😻 

>Mother’s development is so so good 😊 it hurts my heart to know where things are going with her this season 😢 but I love her comments to Krel as he’s trying to do repairs.

>I like that Zadra distrusting Vex is a plot line.  It shows that past events have lasting effects.

>If this were Toby’s introduction episode, then he and the Tarrons wouldn’t know each other as well as they do, and Toby wouldn’t call them about Tronos.  This would circumvent the awkward phone call moment.  Plus, the Akiridions could have easily found out about Tronos some other way (like him appearing on their censors like he did on Area 49B’s).

>First mention of Gaylen’s core.  Interesting.  I’m looking forward to exploring this more in later episodes.  Also, I love the music here, it’s wonderful.

>Man, I love the interrogation of everyone in Arcadia.  Just 👌stuff right there.

>Zadra training Aja is a nice scene.  I like the little sound effect when she ever so gently taps her boot against the building and her smirk when she says “advanced tactics”.  Give me more Zadra pls.

>Zadra’s line about compatriots betraying a warrior and having to fight alone read as emotional to me.  Like she’s recalling how she had to fight alone at the beginning of Part 1 to prevent Morando’s forces from stopping Aja, Krel, and Vex’s escape.  That was an experience she endured and overcame, but it did lead to her capture.  This strikes me as Zadra not being unaffected by the experience and that fuels her anger at Vex.  Even more so because he was someone I think she mentioned trained her and she trusted in the past.  His betrayal hurt her because she trusted him and because of the experiences she had to go through because of it.

Just, I’m reading a lot of depth in Zadra here.  Whether it was intentional or not, I cannot say.  But it makes me love her character.

>I love love love Aja’s introduction to Arrrgh!!!, that entire scene, and the fact it happened in the museum (another TH callback!)

>I so want to see more of an Aja & Arrrgh!!! friendship, just that friendship.  I have been sold on that friendship in less than a minute.

>Bonus points for the Arrrgh!!! vs. Tronos fight.

>See the call back to lightning in a bottle just convinces me more that this should have been Toby’s introductory episode, since we’re reminded of Trollhunters yet again.

>I haven’t mentioned this so far, but this was a really good episode to bring Kubritz and her Area 49B guys to Arcadia in.  Also this introduction of Costas, nice to see him before he’ll get a little more significance later.

>The beginning of Morando’s snap commands to the OMENS.  I don’t know why I like this, but I do.

>Kubritz’s later working with Morando is foreshadowed here by how she strikes a deal with Tronos.  I don’t think that comes out of the blue.  Kubritz has set her objective at protecting Earth.  She’s found out extraterrestrials have more advanced tech than mankind, so she’s focused on acquiring that tech because without it, she can’t complete her protection objective.

Her goal and the way she goes about it are contradictory (she wants to protect Earth from extraterrestrials, yet she works with extraterrestrials).  I don’t think she, as a character, has realized this yet.  She’s gotten so caught up in her objective that I don’t think it’s occurred to her that her actions betray her values.  At least not until the very end of the season.

We the audience can see her contradiction for what it is because we’re not her, and we have an outside perspective.  We also have an emotional connection to Aja and Krel and, because Kubritz is antagonistic to them, we won’t agree with her.

Kubritz only has her own perspective.  She doesn’t have to listen to her subordinates if she doesn’t want to (I believe, later, she doesn’t really listen to Costas when he begins to point things out).  Until the final battle, where Arcadia is literally being destroyed and she has the evidence that she’s wrong in front of her, Kubritz doesn’t manage to get out of her own head.

I don’t think this makes her a bad character, but a character with flaws.  To me, that makes her fascinating.

>“Dinner Family” is great.

>I like the ending conversation between Vex and Zadra.  It works really well.

[kinetic-elaboration]

September 10: The 100 1x06 Fog of War

Mmmm watching another ep and it’s been less than six months since the last one?! * jinxes self *

Bellarke date at the outside cafe. (WHY IS THIS OUTSIDE CAFE NOT IN MORE FICS? WHY IS IT NOT IN MY FICS?)

I don’t always love Clarke’s art tbh but I do love her Mount Weather sketch.

“You won’t be by yourself.” They are canonically Soft with each other.

I have a hard time believing they would wait two days just sitting on their hands, Abby or no Abby. YOU GUYS WERE THE LEADERS. JUST LEAD STUFF.

“We’re at war. We’ve all done things,” is, like, first, beyond the point, because even in war, one doesn’t usually attack civilian villages. (Unless one is a terrorist.) And second, it’s weird that Bellamy would be defending Finn? Not really sure how to read that. Unless his hatred of Grounders is truly that intense, which is possible. And third, are they really still at war? Because after attacking the dropship, the Grounders have done... literally nothing? Like it’s a semi-war scenario.

“Next round’s on me.” Do they have to.... pay for things...? With what lol?

“Salvaged Monty’s still. Now if we could only salvage Monty.” Someone here has a sense of humor. Also lol @ everyone at Camp Jaha using a teenager’s illegal still.

Really, the “pardon for surviving” should not include time on the ground, because pardons aren’t forward looking. Also they bring back the idea of trying Finn later. They just don’t want to deal with Murphy and Finn, and don’t really see the massacre of Grounders as a big deal, which, I am a Sky Person partisan to the last, does not reflect well on them. I think also they still haven’t figured out what tf their judicial system on the ground is, and just don’t want to deal with that yet either. Which isn’t a great excuse but it’s of a piece with how this show deals with society-building questions in general. (By... not.)

And Finn still doesn’t even feel bad.

And Murphy thinks Clarke and Finn are still together...? I guess that makes sense given how long he was away. He’s ALWAYS behind on delinquent gossip.

Clarke to Murphy: “Just because they pardoned you doesn’t mean I have.” Another line that should be iconic.

If Mount Weather is the reason they never heard from any other Ark Stations then they should have heard from more of them after S2 just putting that out there.

Raven is so beautiful.

And I’m sorry but she’s completely in love with Clarke here.

“You and your friends are not soldiers...” Hmmmm except in a certain sense they kind of are. Love this s2 adults versus delinquents conflict though.

Anyway I realize this is just to get them going back to Mount Weather but they were apparently doing this radio mission to get more Guards from other stations, which never happened, which sort of reminds me of Day Trip and the ‘winter supplies’ excursion when apparently winter doesn’t exist in the future anyway.

Literally only now at the credits.... Why am I like this?

So Maya couldn’t survive on the ground, obviously, because blood isn’t good enough, it has to be bone marrow, which, fine, for plot purposes--but what if she could???

“I know the plan was to assimilate them into the gene pool.” COMPLETELY forgot about that. So they did have a reason for being so nice to them. That is a rather long term plan though...

With the delinquent blood, they’ll “live longer and feel better.” I wonder what the sickness rate is, then. What the quality of life is, low vitamin d aside.

“If I agree to harvest those kids, then I won’t deserve to see [the outside] again.”

That Finn is a good tracker is, like, not a retcon in the sense that this was true in season 1, but still a semi retcon in the sense that nothing in the very early episodes implies he’s Mr. Earth Skills. (Unlike, say... Wells.)

Privileged Ark people really do just throw rules around and up and down however they like. Like, Abby clearing her daughter’s friend because “he was trying to save his friends” even though what he did was objectively much worse than pretty much anything the 100 were imprisoned for? Or other people killed for? Hmmm,, yeah, okay.

Jaha’s death wish transformed into a lazy acceptance that he is invincible is truly one of the best character arcs on this show imo. Infuriating but amazing.

“How many times on the Ark did we go two days without water?”

He recognizes the prison as a train station, which is not objectively surprising but I bet the Grounders don’t know what it is. Somehow. Since memory isn’t a thing in the future either.

On the one hand, it’s reasonable to think that Finn’s attack was coordinated from above but on the other hand, these two prisoners literally could not have ordered it, because they have been... imprisoned... the entire time. And I mean truly putting two Sky People who could not themselves have been involved in another Sky Person’s murder spree into some sort of Saw scenario in response to that murder spree really isn’t “justice” in any sense of the word. Like truly the JD in me is just SCREAMING. There is no nexus between the people you have and the person you’re angry at, other than “Sky Person” but the thread is so tangled you’re just.... throwing around bloodshed for lolz. (I know it’s a test and that part isn’t dumb but the scaffolding of the test is DUMB.)

I am still not over that someone gave Jasper a stuffed toy bear as a thank you for giving Maya blood. Also, it looks like... an alarm clock?

I like Dante but every time he says “Jasper” it just creeps me out. Maybe it’s the way he’s, uh, playing him.

It is 100% true that Mount Weather was not meant to last that long. At least not in the sense of ‘as a closed facility.’

Ridiculous as it is to pardon Finn AND take him adventuring AND give him a gun, I like the tension between him and the others, that they have officially forgiven him, and want to still love him, but are wary of him, scared of him, for good reason. For all that people are constantly ‘doing bad things’ and yelling at each other about it, this scenario doesn’t really have a parallel anywhere else in the canon.

“According to Clarke, before the bombs, there were buildings everywhere here. I’m guessing some of the had access to the bunker. So we’re looking for ruins. Anything man-made.”

Bellamy says he and O aren’t under the Guard command. But in a way, aren’t they? Like aren’t the Guard basically in authority over all Arkers? I know I’m overthinking but does he see himself as more delinquent than Arker? Especially with the “our people” are in Mount Weather.

All those mice.... Or rodents....

What a scenario: Clarke and Finn hiding from the acid fog in a weird little personal bunker where they once fucked, and now there’s a dead body in it, and Finn put it there. Not even Olav can top this.

Raven playing with the radio is my kink.

Parking garage as tomb. Who would protect a parking garage with a big-ass steal door that protects cars from radiation? If it does lead to Mount Weather (no recollection if it does) I guess it could be... part of it? Idk. Nice aesthetic though.

Bellamy is very comfortable calling people Sir. Polite young man.

So Clarke’s Dad’s watch returns to Clarke. I can’t remember what ultimately happened to it. Is it basically tainted now?

Monty’s obscene jealousy of Maya just gets me every single time. Makes up for the horrendous second hand embarrassment I’m getting from the rest of this scene.

“Hey, it’s pizza day! Who’s hungry?” uhhhhhhhhhhmmmmm So natural. Cute dress though.

How did she figure out the breach wasn’t an accident? Or that there is surveillance? Anyway now that she knows she was experimented on, and that Jasper was experimented on, one would assume she is pissed. One would assume that’s part of why she shows them the Grounders. Also to stop Jasper perhaps from embroiling his people even more with (her own) untrustworthy people. Because truly it is in part to save them, but it’s also a real risk to herself, admitting this terrible thing she’s been a part of.

“To get you to agree to be her blood brother.” He’s not wrong but that language is sooooo jealous--both revealing the threat he feels (because Jasper is his ‘brother’) and diminishing the JasperMaya relationship (which he knows to be romantic, and is turning familiar.)

Why did the show ever try to top the pure horror of the Grounder Torture Prison?

“What are we supposed to do?” / “Die.” Another Iconic Exchange. This is Monty’s morality: uncompromising. Are the standards he sets for himself hypocritical or consistent? Also, some foreshadowing lol.

I wonder what Monty’s allegiance is to the other kids... Would he have irradiated the Mountain for them if Jasper were safe? Legit question because he defects to his mom’s side pretty fast in S3, and he would 100% leave Mount Weather through the side door just like Clarke, at this point, which Jasper refuses to do even if it were possible. I am intrigued by this scene and the switching of plans/different points of view.

So this is the revelation that the acid fog is a Mount Weather weapon. I always really liked that twist.

Okay so this explains why they didn’t get to the other stations, because they choose to keep the tower up to listen to Mount Weather, but it’s actually not a tough call bc if you defeat Mount Weather and take your people back, then you can get rid of the blocking signal, and then find your other people, so win-win, you just have to go in order and on that note, why did it take 3 months to find only one station??

Is that a....hand crank mp3?? Got a lot of juice from just a little bit of cranking.

There are a hella lot of storylines in this episode. I completely forgot about Jaha and Kane and Lexa.

Kane’s continuing death wish makes him utterly unreasonable. What in a million years makes you think that the Grounders value sacrifice as opposed to just being sadists? I mean, you don’t know. You’re imposing your value system and also your thought processes on them. You’re also assuming that if one of you killed the other, the survivor would actually get something, like a chance to negotiate, which is probably not true--in fact, Gustus basically told you as much with “We’ll hear the terms of your surrender form the survivor.” Winning means nothing except you get to surrender!! And probably die!! They are not coming to you in good faith is what I’m trying to say and having watched the whole season I know I am Right.

“You didn’t order the massacre.” / “Not that one.” Honestly dude get over it lol. Interesting that Jaha, although he has transformed in some ways, keeps to the old lines, about survival, the human race--and our people, if the human race is broader than just the Ark, which it is, and no big deal. So in some ways his morality has not changed at all, at its core.

Look, I’m sorry, not to be that person, but he probably would have been better off killing Lexa there. I mean, I know he’s choosing ‘an innocent’ in his mind but... what a power move to behead the Commander WHILE you’re her prisoner. Good old Jaha, smart and quick and sure of himself.

Just uh not quick enough at murdering I guess.

I’m no Lexa fan but that was an excellent entrance and it remains an excellent entrance. Also while I never thought she was as smart as people said, because name me another tactical decision she made that was actually good, this was a smart ploy. And probably the most subtle thing any Grounder character ever did, even if it does end with her basically beating Jaha up ‘as a message’ as if she were a gangster.

Is this the episode that introduces Blood Must Have Blood? Already Tired of it tbh.

This Clarke and Finn scene is so sad. I realize that they  purposefully made him unredeemable at this point, that this story line was always intended to be the method by which he was written off, and that there’s only so much awkwardness you can write around this scenario, but nevertheless it would have been interesting to see Finn in the long term, in a way. Not redeemed.. I don’t know. Whatever I’m thinking it’s not in the range of this show, though, for sure.

Did Jasper and Monty tell all of the 47 everything? To get them to volunteer? (Answer: No, but they told at least Harper and Miller, maybe a few more.)

“How high are you right now?” We were SO robbed of more intoxicated!Monty scenes.

Jasper and Dante: creepy creepy creepy.

“There’s been a Wallace in this office since the bombs.” So glad to know we immediately reverted to some sort of pseud-monarchy post-nuclear war. That said it’s only been 97 years so that’s like 3 Wallaces tops.

Prioritizing the radio also means of course admitting that getting the 47 out of MW is a priority for Abby/Ark PTB, which wasn’t exactly clear before.

I’ve never been a fan of the “Build a brace for yours” line and I’m still not, because I think conflating physical and mental injuries is not exactly helpful, but I guess I appreciate it as a look into Raven’s mind--Raven, who has never really understood mental scars and never really does--and the soft way she says it is a sort of forgiveness. Not really forgiveness she has the right to offer, and in a way a very brash thing to do, because this was literally a war crime that her best friend committed, but nevertheless.

Jaha: appears. Everyone else: what the absolute fuck.

So on that mission they accomplished... literally nothing they set out to do lol.

What is that random shot of Camp Jaha doing there? They’re not within sight of it. They’re still where they set up tents.

I want to point out that this is the FIRST time the Grounders have demanded that the Sky People “leave” or implied in any way that they consider the Sky People to be on “their” land, and that this was never an issue in Season 1, when their beef seemed to be for things like crossing the river at Mount Weather, accidentally dropping their flares on a Grounder village, and torturing a Grounder spy. But I guess at this point the narrative needed to focus on something because the actual reason for the feud, which is roughly, we accidentally pissed each other off and then kept on retaliating, doesn’t play very well or make the Grounders, who were rehabilitated this season, very sympathetic. (Guess who still has zero sympathy lololol?)

[svtfoefan1976-blog]

Star vs the Forces of Evil - Poker Arc. It’s gonna get a little wild.

The episodes from The Battle for Mewni were a game changer.

For my point of view, literally.

The card game was already set since start, Star goes to Earth, when we see that Queen Moon and Star have card suits on their cheeks. Diamonds and hearts, respectively.

As stated in the first post of this series, we see on St. Olga's reform school for wayward princesses episode that Heinous has the clubs suits. But she keeps them always hidden from everyone. She doesn’t want anyone to see that cheek marks, except for Rasticore, as we see on Heinous episode when she sees pretty confortable to take her make up off with its arm. Well, he doesn’t have eyes at that moment but she loves so much that little arm...

And, as it happens just after Sleepover, and the shock and awe for the shippers, people may not pay attention on what happens in the beggining of Gift of the Card episode and get back only when Star and Marco wanted to hug like so everyone sees they died as - humm... cough! cough! Sorry, something in my throat - friends.

But we have this interesting dialogue in the very beginning:

Heinous: Thank you for meeting us today, Rasticore. We have a problem about some rogue princesses, which I hope you can help us with.

(Rasticore grunts and approaches)

Heinous: Destroy the blond one, but bring the dark hair one to me.

We trully understand the hatred on “Princess Marco” as the leader of St. Olga’s rebellion and Star as his/her sidekick. But why to “destroy” Princess Butterfly, while she knew her origin as Mewni Princess and keep alive “Princess Marco” unless both movements would give some advantage to her? In this case, I don’t believe in a simple revenge, like the one tried on Heinous episode.

And in episode Into the Wand, we see Queen Eclipsa’s tapestry and that she’s known as Queen of the Darkness. Pointless to show, she has the spades suit on her cheeks. Star’s reaction after reading her history?

Star: Huhuhuh. Bad girl.

And a face like “I loved that attitude. Inspiring.”.

Yes, the Poker arc intertwines with the Chess arc, but was not the main arc or the main game throughout the show. Until Queen Eclipsa arises from now on, because of the deal shown on episode Moon the Undaunted.

And even on this episode Moon couldn’t see Eclipsa as evil.

Moon: She didn’t seem so evil.

What about poker? Well, poker is not a game where luck takes the most importance, when well played. Intelligence, mathematics, odds and psychology to end the hand before the cards are shown down are way more important than luck. But it is also there. The most common poker game is Texas Hold’em, the modality in which the Main Event of the WSOP (World Series Of Poker) is played.

Remeber when Einstein said that “God doesn’t play dices with the universe”. Well, I feel he was partly right. If there is a God playing something with the universe, He would not be playing dices, but surely poker. And we would be His chips.

Eclipsa and Heinous might be doing a tactic plan that sometimes is common at a poker table: to look like something they aren’t. A tight player (who usually plays only with the most important combinations in a table) would act as a loose player (who may play with hands that some people believe that doesn’t have initial big value or bluffing, with cards which are not good to play as starting hands). An aggressive player (which is always raising hands in which he comes in) may become a passive player (which only calls, keeping the pot low and waiting what is going to happen in the other steps). Of course, the opposite may happen.

The chips (yes, ships sound alike, don’t ya?, nice choice of gaming from the show...) are the measure to see which player is more powerful at the table. But every player will play according to their interests. Everyone against everyone, until the player is kicked out from the table or changes table.

Even the poker language was used sometimes within the show, for example, in Starcrushed, Princess PonyHead (or Miss Lilacia, to the most intimate ones) first makes her bet during the emergency friends meeting while Star tried to bluff (decieve) them all:

Star: Uuuugh! So now, Marco and I can barely make eye contact because of Ruberiot’s dawn song! I mean... Marco actually thinks I have a crush on him. (Laughs nervously)

PonyHead: Yeah, but like, don’t you though?

Originally from here

In this scene, Star gives a huge tell, a reaction showing what she wanted to hide (in poker, would be the cards or the kind of the game she has, in this case, her crush on Marco) the nervous laugh, that she was lying about what she spoke before, to which PonyHead - as she knew more Star than any of the others there - answers with a question and a “poker face” trying to put her into telling the truth, “calling the bet”. Star denies - doubtfully - at first, but after her confession in the end of the episode, PonyHead couldn’t resist to show she “had won the hand”.

PonyHead: Who called it?! I called it! BOOM! (StarFan13 faints) I called it.

Bet, call, raise, bluff (deceiving) are traditionally used at a poker table. And it is like this the action plot will be structured from now on. We will have lots of characters (or groups of characters) moving according to their own interests.

We know that probably Heinous is not only seeking for revenge against Star and Marco. Some interesting questions on her:

1. Why she didn’t try anything to Star on the Diazes home, but wanted to kill Star at Quest Buy? Not to draw any attention from the Butterflies?

2. It looks like that Rasticore was in Toffee’s army when Queen Moon fought him. Did they still keep close relationship after Moon’s incident? Is Heinous a third insterested behind another war between Monsters and Mewmen?

3. The princesses’ brainwashing was intended only for princesses posture training or to control their minds in some way? For Heinous worked as a way to herself to get calm down also not to panic but also to remind what was her objective?

Of course, all what was spoken would be too clever for what she has shown us until now, I must admit, but anyway, she still has her own interests on the Butterfly family. Let’s put her in the game, but with a short stack. This way, she plays, but as an underdog.

Queen Moon, by now, has the most chips. She is the one that has everything to lose. The kingdom - to her enemies -, her credibility - when Queen Eclipsa is seen alive, because of her deal - and even the Magical High Comission support - assuming that even when Rhombulus unfroze Eclipsa, the Magic High Commission never knew what were the terms of the deal. If Queen Eclipsa is seen as not evil, even Star may get attracted to learn from her... And if everyone comes to see the effects of what the use of dark magic does on Moon’s arms? That is a lot to lose. She will play passive and try to bluff whenever needed, after all “the truth is dangerous”. But she has a card to use: Lekhmet.

Remember that besides being turn into ashes in Starcrushed, he was being carried in the magical carriage to the sanctuary in Return to Mewni. But he was not put to be healed immediately. Why? She lost him? Only three at a time? Or because she wanted to keep the healer under her hands to control the possibility of a Magical High Comission rebellion as she would be the only one to be able to heal them and keep things in an agreement? That is a question.

Queen Eclipsa is the most unknown and mysterious character in the show and how she will play at the table is a complete mystery. What we know for sure is she is a fan of dark magic, has the guts to unmarry a Mewman, being Queen, to marry a Monster, even it was forbidden and, if evil, she has the greatest poker face of all, being able to cry, faking empathy only to reach her objectives. She is trully a remarkable opponent as everyone compares magic powers to her, as she used as comparison to Star’s habilities in Baby episode. 

We know also that Mewni’s tapestry is good propaganda, but doesn’t represent fully the true reality. What will be the other characters reaction to Eclipsa’s arrival to the game? What is her true self, good, evil or neutral? And with how many chips she’ll arrive and will she play for fun or for real? Wouldn’t bet a single chip on what path she’ll take. Only that she’ll do whatever she pleases.

This said, how the Magic High Comission will react with Glossarick’s and Lekhmet’s loss? Will they turn against Star and Moon? Or, maybe put daughter against mother because of other reasons, for example, Eclipsa? Well, assuming that Glossaryck and the Magical High Comission were always there with every queen of Mewni, how the loss of members may affect them? And relations were quite electrical with Moon during Face the Music. And we have seen that their own members do not agree among themselves in Page Turner and Moon the Undaunted. They may not behave as a group themselves throughout the game.

Star, poor Star, must know what she wants. She wants Marco? She wants to be queen somewhere in the future? Who she will need to face for that? What are her actual threats? What does she needs to achieve her plans, if she has any plan?

Looks like she’s playing randomly in the game. In poker that’s dangerous. Because such random player can go winning or losing hands by pure chance. And be decisive for the game. By now, she is winning. But from now on, what will happen? She may put all her stakes to lose in a few hands.

And who else more could join this game? Toffee seems to be out, playing at the Lizard’s farm, but we don’t know who are the ones in other tables or outside the game but might come into it. An example: what was wacky Mina Loveberry doing inside the Monster Table (oops!) - sorry - Temple? As we have seen B4 -couldn’t resist - Eclipsa wasn’t put as an Easter Egg in Rhombulus dimension in Cristal Clear. Because of this, I simply can’t believe Mina will be only an Easter Egg from episode Book be gone. She might be playing for something.

Originally from here

This is an example on how other players may be moving up to the main table. Multi-way play leading into multi-way pots. Poker is such a simple game after explained, but its final results and actions are rather underteministic. Can’t count that all information you have in the game is true, just in terms of odds and of what hands you might be winning or losing.

And straight flushs and royal straight flushes - the maximum results on cards arrangements - are extremely rare. You can’t wait them to do a move. Anyway, out the show, the fandom loves to bet on their favorite ships. Even the weirdest ones...

The true moves begin November... Shuffle up and deal!

[samraclaus]

Do em all boredom sucks

Thank u lets get personal: send me a number 
1: 6 of the songs you listen to most? - Bloom by the paper kites, somebody else by the 1975, beautiful sea from sing street, amnesia by 5sos, tarot by alt-j, and coming up roses from begin again 
2: If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be? - either lily Collins, calum hood or Ezra Miller
3: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17. - “…men have integrated feminist values into their lives, whether or not they use the label, and this is also an important barometer of the impact of feminism."
4: What do you think about most? - certain people in my life or sometimes death tbh 
5: What does your latest text message from someone else say?- "me too omg” from Nichole 
6: Do you sleep with or without clothes on? - with 
7: What’s your strangest talent? - I can imitate people and characters really well but they’re always weird voices 
8: Girls… (finish the sentence); Boys… (finish the sentence) - girls are beautiful. Boys are confusing but also beautiful. 
9: Ever had a poem or song written about you? - no :/
10: When is the last time you played the air guitar? - literally like an hour ago I do it so often lmao 
11: Do you have any strange phobias? - uhhhh I’m afraid of everything 
12: Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose? - the only thing that’s been in my nose is a really long qtip at the doctor and never again no thanks that’s scary 
13: What’s your religion? - Islam (not religious tho)
14: If you are outside, what are you most likely doing? - probably taking a walk or going to the park 
15: Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it? - behind but good candids are the best 
16: Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band? - either sir sly 
17: What was the last lie you told? - that I was okay and not to worry lmao 
18: Do you believe in karma? - kinda yeah 
19: What does your URL mean? - my name is samra but it gets autocorrected to Santa so it became a meme in my friend group 
20: What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength? - weakness: I guess my anxiety. Strength: staying positive outwardly 
21: Who is your celebrity crush? - Ezra Miller and calum hood 💕😭
22: Have you ever gone skinny dipping? - no
23: How do you vent your anger? - I either punch things or just yell at everyone 
24: Do you have a collection of anything? - a small collection of mugs!
25: Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online? - hmm both are kinda stressful but I’d probably like video chatting more 
26: Are you happy with the person you’ve become? - not at all 
27: What’s a sound you hate; sound you love? - I hate the sound of people chewing. I love the sound of hairdryers and vacuums. They make me sleepy 
28: What’s your biggest “what if”? - what if I died? Or. What if I actually told people how I feel?
29: Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens? - yes to both!!! - 
30: Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm. - right arm: basket. Left: pillow
31: Smell the air. What do you smell? - nothing really tbh 
32: What’s the worst place you have ever been to? - louder than life 
33: Choose: East Coast or West Coast? - east!
34: Most attractive singer of your opposite gender? - Calum lmao 
35: To you, what is the meaning of life? - making the most of the time you have even if you mess up along the way. But for a depressing version: you live and then you die. That’s it
36: Define Art. - anything that you make that represents something and you think is beautiful 
37: Do you believe in luck? - kinda
38: What’s the weather like right now? - warm 
39: What time is it? - 11:39 pm
40: Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed? - not yet 
41: What was the last book you read? - cellist of Sarajevo 
42: Do you like the smell of gasoline? - love it
43: Do you have any nicknames? - my dad calls me samronis and some people call me sam 
44: What was the last film you saw? - uhhhh I think holes (what a night lmao) 
45: What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had? - I broke my arm on my scooter 
46: Have you ever caught a butterfly? - no, I used to think they were kinda scary. I don’t now but still no 
47: Do you have any obsessions right now? - flowers probably 
48: What’s your sexual orientation? - bisexual 
49: Ever had a rumour spread about you? - I think once in middle school, it was really dumb, someone just said that I said something mean about my friend 
50: Do you believe in magic? - not really 
51: Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong? - sometimes, but I usually just let it go cause I feel bad lol 
52: What is your astrological sign? - taurus 
53: Do you save money or spend it? - usually spend :/ 
54: What’s the last thing you purchased?- sour patch kids 
55: Love or lust? - either but love is better 
56: In a relationship? - not right now 
57: How many relationships have you had? - only a couple 
58: Can you touch your nose with your tongue? - no :/
59: Where were you yesterday? - moving back and forth from my old house to my new house
60: Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? - literally my entire room lmao 
61: Are you wearing socks right now? - always 
62: What’s your favourite animal? - guineas 🐹
63: What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you? - I actually don’t have one, I just live my life 
64: Where is your best friend? - I have no idea tbh but probably at home 
65: Give me your top 5 favourite blogs on Tumblr. - imsograntired (my sister), blushedaesthetic (erin), granterin (other erin), and basically all of my friends tbh 
66: What is your heritage? - Turkish??
67: What were you doing last night at 12AM? - taking a shower and texting sam 
68: What do you think is Satan’s last name? - trump 
69: Biggest turn ons? - personality: humor, sarcasm, if you're a good person, cocky but not too much ya know. Physically: tall, nice hands(hands are so important wow 👀)
70: Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend? - eh I guess, I try my best to be a good friend 
71: You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do? - SAVE THE DOG WTF ILL LIVE ON THE STREETS WITH HIM 
72: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? - id probably tell people but make sure they don’t freak out too much and have them so funny things with me b) What do you do with your remaining days? Id do things with my family and friends all day every day and travel a bit if I can. Id tell people what I’ve always wanted to tell them without being scared. c) Would you be afraid? - I’m afraid of what happens after death, if it’s simply nothing, that’s what scares me. It’s impossible for someone to think of what it’s like to be absolutely nothing. I won’t even know I’m nothing because I’ll just be gone. But a big fear is how upset my family would be. I would hate to hurt them like that 
73: You can only have one of these things; trust or love. - love 
74: What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it? - a beautiful sea from sing street 
75: What are the last four digits in your cell phone number? - 9203
76: In your opinion, what makes a great relationship? - trust, compatibility, not taking everything seriously 
77: How can I win your heart? - be there for me, give me space if I ask for it, talk to me all the time tbh and watch movies with me 
78: Can insanity bring on more creativity?- probably 
79: What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far? - i haven’t made many good ones so I honestly can’t think of any rn 
80: What size shoes do you wear? - 8-9
81: What would you want to be written on your tombstone? - “life is hard when you’re an idiot"
82: What is your favourite word? - UGH I LITERALLY TOLD SULTANA MY FAVORITE WORD YESTERDAY AND I CANT REMEMBER NOW
83: Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart. - love 
84: What is a saying you say a lot? - what do I even say ever these are so hard 
85: What’s the last song you listened to? - a.m. By 1D 
86: Basic question; what’s your favourite colour/colours? - dark green and pastel pink
87: What is your current desktop picture? - a picture of me and my friends 
88: If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be? - Donald trump 
89: What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on? - "do you like ___” I’m weird with this question because even when I do like someone a lot, I just get really scared and end up lying and I hate that about myself. I need to be pushed 
90: Turn offs? - not caring about my problems, ignoring me
91: You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power? - reading minds or flying 
92: where are your parents from? - Bosnia! 
93: You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? - while my aunt was in the hospital 
94: You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be? - definitely calum 
95: You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go? - Italy!!
96: Do you have any relatives in jail? - not that I know of 
97: Have you ever thrown up in the car? - yes, and right on my sister too. I had too much mayonnaise :/
98: Ever been on a plane? - yes ugh I hate planes 
99: If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say - i would be too stressed to talk to the whole world so I have no idea

[prayforbrains-blog]

I HEARD YOU LIKE NEW FEATURES

SO I’M GONNA GIVE YOU SOME NEW FEATURES.

And when it rains it fucking pours. 

I am c r y i n g over Twitter’s vehement division on this new Twitch ‘affiliate’ program. So far these have been my favorites:

“Whelp no one’s gonna care about getting partnered now.”

“Well so much for partnerships being exclusive. My sub button doesn’t make me special anymore RIP my streaming career.” 

“OMG THIS IS GONNA HELP SO-AND-SO SO MUCH.” *same person 180s 20 minutes later* “I think the requirements for concurrent viewers should be raised to 50.” *immediately disqualifying the so-and-so originally mentioned*

“TWITCH JUST WANTS MORE MONEY. FUCK TWITCH.”

OH BOY WHERE DO WE START. 

Let’s just get down with the facts. 

What is the Twitch Affiliate Program?

The Twitch Affiliate program is simply a way for non-partnered streamers to obtain sought after features like bits, AN emote (note: singular), and that elusive purple sub button. Here’s a breakdown of existing features and how they apply to the three subsets of broadcasters:

Looks cool? Looks weird? Looks confusing?  All of the above? Honestly it doesn’t concern you that much UNLESS you are a broadcaster, however you might be concerned how your favorite channel may change if the broadcaster decides he/she desires to opt into these features (once they are accepted that is). So let’s dive right into this shit fest and start with my favorite topic that’s come into question:

#1  G R O W T H  

People who want to hustle and network and ACTUALLY have potential (i.e. personality/talent) to succeed on Twitch will succeed. Bacon Donut wrote a phenomenal article a few months ago (which I highly recommend reading) on why YOU might be the reason you’re not successful on Twitch.

“Every single excuse that you dream up that doesn’t focus inward to your own content is either wrong, or is the same obstacle that someone else managed to leap over to become successful.” - Bacon Donut

He goes on to discuss the multitude of reasons why people fail to grow and achieve their goals on the platform. I’ve been around Twitch long enough to know that every one of the topics he touches on is spot the FUCK on. Most people spend more time bitching about how ‘over-saturated’ the directory is. Let me enlighten you kiddos: EVERY INDUSTRY CAN BE OVERSATURATED AS FUCK. You have to fucking put yourself out there. You have to be entertaining or talented or have a gimmick. No amount of sleek new (formerly) exclusive features and a (singular) emote will help you if you aren’t producing consistent engaging content.

“BUT PRAY YOU DUMB BITCH YOU AREN’T PARTNERED AND YOUR STREAM ISN’T GROWING AT ALL SO YOUR OPINION IS IRRELEVANT.’

The fuck it is punk. I don’t stream because I wanna be a Twitch partner. I stream because I love video games and I enjoy interacting with people. I also have an opinion because I (along with damn near every other Tom, Dick, and Shithead on the block) am eligible for this program. I also don’t need to be a partner to give advice on how to get partnered. I’ve watched 20+ friends grow from NOTHING on Twitch to quality partnered casters. I’ve even helped some of them. Ask around, people will tell you I’m all about spreading the love, helping those I am able to help, and introducing people to new like minded individuals. 

Let’s continue...

#2  M O N E Y 

Let’s start off with the only thing you really need to know about Twitch. TWITCH IS A BUSINESS. I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING, ‘WOAH PRAY FUCKING EARTH SHATTERING INFORMATION.’ but you’d be surprised how many people don’t understand this. Twitch is not here to hold your hand and walk you down the purple brick road to that shiny purple button. Twitch is here to make money just like any other business in the universe. Lemme give you a breakdown on some numbers kiddos:

1. Amazon reportedly acquired Twitch for a cool $970 million 

2. It has been suggested that the vast majority of Twitch streamers average less than 10 viewers. (Though I’m sure Twitch is highly aware of the actual number and percentage)

Let’s start with that first bit and the most glaringly-can-be-seen-from-fucking-space obvious: Amazon wants both return on investment and solid plans for future growth. They wouldn’t have acquired Twitch if they weren’t looking for more money fam. That’s just business and regardless of how much you bitch and moan about corporate greed on Twitter that won’t change. 

Second: all those (including myself) down in the bottom of the directories with less than 10 viewers all take up resources on Twitch’s end. Those broadcasters get those resources for exactly zero dollars and zero cents and let me tell you that is a fucking steal. It would be completely ridiculous for Twitch not to take a little bit of advantage from those people at all. The affiliate program will surely not hurt any of those streamers. They’ll get a cool global emote and their viewers can toss a few bits their way. C O O L . You know what Twitch gets? A few extra $$$ to keep the servers up and the lights on. 

Are you feeding some corporate fat-cat’s wallet in the process of subbing to your favorite streamer? Sure, but you already do that every time you buy a box of cereal, TK Broha. So unless you’re planning to completely remove yourself from society and live off the land (which you’ll still have to pay $$$ to the government for, effectively feeding rich+corrupt politicians) YOU CAN’T REALLY AVOID IT GOOD CHUM. Sure your intentions might be fantastic: CONGRATULATIONS Robin Hood: you’re a decent human being. but at the end of the day I know for a fact you’re still gonna go buy your fucking Honey Nut Cheerios™ and your car’s still gonna need gas because you forgot to fill it up on your way home from work yesterday broskiski. Unless you’re actually an adolescent or just have absolutely no idea how business and the economy works (in which case go take a fucking basic economics class jfc) all of this information should be understandable and acceptable in 2017.  

#3  N U M B E R S

So the most compelling commentary about the affiliate program is about the requirement numbers. According to Twitch’s press release broadcasters simply need to meet these simple requirements to be invited to the affiliate program: 

At least 500 total minutes broadcast in the last 30 days

At least 7 unique broadcast days in the last 30 days

An average of 3 concurrent viewers or more over the last 30 days

At least 50 Followers

K. Sounds legit. The biggest concern people have voiced is that the requirements are TOO LOW, more specifically the follower and concurrent viewer count. Some have stated it should be as high as 50+ concurrent viewers with 500-1000+ followers.  K. That makes total sense when the majority of new partners I’ve seen have been average between 50-100 concurrent viewers. [LET ME BE CLEAR. THIS IS NOT A DISS FOR THOSE NEW PARTNERS WHO PULL THOSE NUMBERS. THOSE NUMBERS ARE FUCKING RAD. PLEASE KEEP KICKING AS MUCH ASS AS POSSIBLE AND CREATING CONSISTENT CONTENT. I APPRECIATE THE FUCK OUT OF YOU.] I’m saying it’s pretty fucking ridiculous for that to even be considered to be the threshold for this program. Twitch is seeking to capitalize off of EVERY POSSIBLE STREAM IT CAN. Twitch doesn’t care that you feel threatened or like your ‘cool kids club’ is less cool; they just want that spicy revenue. 

‘Yeah, but how many subs is a person with 3 viewers gonna have Pray?’ 

A M A Z I N G L O G I C. Hold on to those Cheerios™ you bought TK Broha cause I’m about to rock your honey nuts to the moon and back. They could have anywhere from 0-(insert number here). Now hypothetically let’s say ALL of those 3 concurrent viewers decide to invest and subscribe/throw bits at that caster, Twitch gets it’s normal % cut. Not a lot you say? Now multiply that by every. single. streamer with that many viewers. THAT’S A LOT OF FUCKING MONEY. Or rather, that’s a lot of potential money that up until this point in time had been squandered/lost to companies like GameWisp and Streamtip.

Twitch isn’t trying to put those people out of business necessarily, but it does want to maximize profits. It makes sense that they would offer this program to as many people as possible. So keep bitching on Twitter (cause honestly it’s entertaining af), but I HIGHLY doubt those numbers will change. Sorry not sorry. 

#4  E X C L U S I V I T Y 

So that thing on the right? It’s called a cubic zirconia and it’s man made stone that resembles a diamond. It’s significantly cheaper to buy. I can walk into any Target and buy a pair of those bad boys to wear in my earholes for less than 20 bucks. Pretty neat right?  That thing on the left on the other hand is the real deal. That’s a certified diamond boiz. The price of diamonds? Start in the hundreds and start climbing faster than The Flash can run around the globe. You can tell the difference between the two pretty easily once you notice the little things right? Diamonds can cut fucking glass, CZs can’t. They’re both timeless and incredibly beautiful stones, but one outshines the other. It’s rarity makes it worth more, but they’re both used in jewelry that can be treasured forever and sometimes passed down from generation to generation. IN CASE YOU’RE CONFUSED THIS IS A METAPHOR KIDS. [met·a·phorˈmedəˌfôr,ˈmedəˌfər/nouna figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.]  My point is fairly simple. Partners will always have access to new features and cool parties before affiliates. Partners will have an easier time networking with sponsors and game devs. Partnership will still be a goal for those individuals who are passionate and want to build relationships with other brands. Just like a diamond is a status symbol in society, partnership will still be a status symbol on Twitch.  Another really important component here is: these things are only worth the value you see in them personally. You may be enamored with the idea of being a partner because you want to be a part of that cool kid’s club. That’s 100% okay. Some people aren’t interested in the status symbol. I’m sure there are more people like me out there who could fucking care less about the little checkmarks next to people’s names on social media, but for others that’s the epitome of internet fame and the ultimate goal. 

You know what this program is really going to do? It’s gonna RUDELY awaken some folks who have delusions of grandeur.   A sub button is not going to make you successful. A sub button is not going to make you famous. A sub button is not going to make you rich.  A sub button is not going to bring new users to your channel.

A sub button is just a button that the people who are already in your channel are going to choose whether or not to press. 

This is going to be a hard pill for a lot of small and medium sized casters to swallow. People are excited now, but when they don’t wake up with 1000 subs they’re gonna have to take stock of what’s really going on and why they aren’t growing. A lot of dreams are about to be brutally shattered. 

[sarah--writes-blog]

Big-Ass Character Sheet

So I just dug up this character sheet that a friend in my creative writing class gave me a few years back. I’m not sure where she got it, but I use it for all my OCs. It covers a lot of things from multiple genres so this works for humans and mythical creatures and other beings alike!

I’ll keep most of it under the cut (it is LONG), but here are some interesting ones to show you how all-encompassing this is.

The Anima/Animus (The part of the character of a different gender)

Gait (The speed and style which how your character moves.)

Type of lover (Eros/pragma/banquet/mania/ludus/storge)

Intelligence (Linguistic/logical/spatial/kinesthetic/musical/interpersonal/intrapersonal/naturalist)

Influences (Who or what inspires your character to change? Do they influence anyone else?)

Savvy (What is your character particularly well-informed of?)

Weaknesses (make it something that your character exclusively is weak to, and keep it credible)

Immunities (Be very careful with this one)

Restrictions (An absolute necessity for those with supernatural powers. Ex. Can only breathe fire when angry or can only cast darkness spells two times a day)

Tagline (Something your character says a lot in everyday sentences. Can often be filled with a sound or vocalization.)

Signature Quote: (Something significant your character says. Doesn’t have to be meaningful, just make it memorable.)

I hope this is useful to people!

Full Name

Pronunciation

Nickname/Alias

Meaning

Origin of Name

Title

Pet Name

ID Number (tournaments, prison, school, etc.)

Gender

Gender Role (Does your character generally act more feminine or masculine?)

Orientation

Real Age

Age Appearance

Birthday

Deathday

Astrological Sign (Western)

Zodiac Sign (Eastern)

Immediate Family (Who was your character raised by?)

Distant Family (The ones they don’t see every day)

Parenting (Were parents strict or fun-loving?)

Upbringing (What morals and ideals were your characters raised with?)

Infancy (What was it like when your character was a baby? Were they nurtured or dropped at birth?)

Childhood (3-12) (What was it like for your character growing up as a kid?)

Adolescence (13-17, Teen Years)

Adulthood (18+, When your character has fully matured. If your character isn’t yet an adult, plan what would happen to them in the future.)

Coming of Age (When and how did your character “Grow up”?)

Evolution (How has your character changed since they were younger?)

Species

Ethnicity

Blood Type

Preferred Hand

Facial Type (Oval, heart, square, round)

Eye Color

Hair Color

Hairstyle

Skin Tone

Complexion

Makeup

Body type (Endomorph, ectomorph, mesomorph, somewhere in between?)

Build (Long legs, chubby cheeks, muscular arms?)

Height 

Weight 

Cup Size

Facial Hair

Shoe Size

Birthmarks/scars

Distinguishing feature (Something unique that stands out)

Health (How healthy is your character?)

Energy (How much energy does your character have on a daily basis?)

Memory (How well does your character remember things, and what do they remember?)

Senses (Are any of your character’s senses better or worse than others?)

Allergies

Handicaps (Ex. A limp, deafness, missing an eye?)

Medication (What meds do your character take, if any?)

Phobias (Things that simply terrify your character. May be trivial or debilitating. Try to have at least one.)

Addictions (Drugs, alcohol, gambling or bad teen romance)

Mental Disorders (Ex. Depression, Bipolar, Paranoia, optional)

Style (The overall style your character shows, not just limited to clothing)

Mode of Dress (Don’t describe their clothes here. Describe how they wear their clothes. Two people can wear a suit, but each will wear it differently. Ex, is the shirt tucked in?)

Grooming (Well kept or messy?)

Posture (How does your character present themselves? Ex. Stiff, slouchy, suggestive)

Gait (The speed and style which how your character moves.)

Coordination (How physically fit is your character? Also add things like reflexes, etc.)

Habits and Mannerisms (Any nervous ticks or unconscious habits your character might have. Ex nail biting, crosses arms, twirling hair)

Scent (What does your character smell like? Good or bad? How strong?)

Mood (What mood are you most likely to catch your character in?)

Attitude (How does your character interact with others?)

Stability (How emotionally consistent are they?)

Expressiveness (Do they hide emotion or let it out openly?)

When Happy (Ie whistles, sings, skips)

When Depressed (Ex. Lock themself in their room, hugs a stuffed animal)

When Angry (Ex. Punches a wall, screams at people)

Current Residence: (Where does your character live right now?)

Community: (What does the general population act like where your character lives?)

Family: (Include stepfamilies if it applies and label as such)

Friends: (Who does your character hang out with?)

Enemies: (Who does your character despise?)

Bosses: (Who does your character answer to?)

Followers: (Who answers to your character?)

Heroes: (Who does your character look up to?)

Rivals: (Who are they competing with?)

Relates to: (Who is similar to your character?)

Pets/Familiars: (Describe a pet your character owns, real or fantasy and give it a name.)

Wardrobe: (Describe your character’s closet. What is their formal, casual or other kind of wear?)

Equipment: (Refers to tools or weapons your character may use.)

Accessories: (Tattoos, piercings, jewelry, glasses, etc.)

Trinkets: (Applies to but not limited to luck charms, purses, watches or other items they carry with them almost all the time.)

Funds: (How much cash does your character have on hand, and how much at home/in the bank?)

Home: (What is your character’s house like? Describe its overall appearance, and describe such things as the yard, wallpaper, or any other info.)

Neighborhood: (What are the people and places near your character like?)

Transportation: (How does your character get around?)

License Plate Number:

Collections: (Does your character like to hoard or collect anything?)

Most Valuable Possession: (In money)

Prized Possession: (What object does your character value above all else?)

Lovers: (From childhood crushes to exes to a married partner, who does your character love?)

Marital Status: (Ex. single, taken, dating, available)

Sex Life:

Type (of lover): (Eros/pragma/banquet/mania/ludus/storge)

Turn-Ons: (What does your character want to see in their ideal mate?)

Turn-Offs: (What tends to make them back off?)

Position: (Dom/Sub)

Plays:

Fetishes:

Virginity:

Element: (Water/air/fire/earth)

Occupation:

Work Ethic: (How hard does your character work? How do they feel about their job?)

Rank: (How high up are they in the corporate ladder?)

Income: (How much money do they make?)

Wealth Status: (How well financed is your character?)

Experience: (Include things like past jobs or things that contributed to current occupation)

Organizations/Affiliations: (Who does your character side with?)

IQ:

Education: (How good is their education?)

School: (What was their school like?)

Grade: (What grades would they get?)

Special Education: (Did they ever get held back or get honor role?)

Social stereotype: (Ex. Nerd, jock, goth)

Degrees: (What degrees did/would they earn in school?)

Intelligence: (Linguistic/logical/spatial/kinesthetic/musical/interpersonal/intrapersonal/naturalist)

Extracurricular Activities: (Such as PE or Art)

Religion:

Morals: (What does your character find morally right or wrong?)

Crime Record: (Relationship with authority, laws broken, and crimes committed)

Motivation: (What moves your character? Ex. Power, money, love)

Priorities: (What does your character place first, second and third?)

Philosophy: (Your character’s outlook on life)

Political Party:

Etiquette: (How good are your character’s manners? Do they bow or chew with their mouth open?)

Culture: (Any things your character may do specific to a certain culture. Do your research on this one or you could offend people.)

Influences: (Who or what inspires your character to change? Do they influence anyone else?)

Relates to: (Who can your character relate to?)

Traditions: (Does your character sit around the table with family? What holidays do they celebrate?)

Suspersitions: (Spilling salt, knocking on wood?)

Main Goal: (Driving force in the story. May be subject to change)

Minor Goals/Ambitions: (What is your character trying to accomplish)

Career: (What would be your character’s dream job?)

Desires: (What does your character want?)

Wishlist: (What material items does your character want?)

Accomplishments: (Did they succeed in any goals?)

Greatest Achievement:

Greatest Failure:

Secrets: (Everyone has at least one)

Regrets:

Worries: (What do they worry about?)

Best Dream: (What would be the best thing that could possibly happen to your character?)

Worst Nightmare: (The worst thing?)

Best Memories: (A few stand out memories from the past. Keep it short and sweet)

Worst Memories:

Hobbies/Interests: (What does your character like to do for fun?)

Skills/Talents: (Similar to hobbies, but refers to the level of skill a character has. For example, a character could like playing violin but isn’t very good at it or vice versa.)

Likes:

Dislikes: (What can’t they stand?)

Sense of Humor: (Dark/dry/witty/sarcastic/dirty/childish/sophisticated/ironic)

Pet Peeves: (Similar to dislikes, but relates more to human behavior. Ex. When people tap on things)

Superstitions/Beliefs: (Does your character believe in conspiracy theories or aliens? Do they throw salt over their shoulder?)

Dreams/Nightmares: (What do they dream about at night?)

Quirks: (The strange little things that your character does that makes them unique. Ex. Sleeps with feet on the pillow or runs their hand along a pole as they walk beside it)

Savvy: (What is your character particularly well-informed of?)

Can’t Understand: (Something they just can’t get into, such as English literate or sports)

Closet Hobby: (Something that your character likes but isn’t too obvious)

Guilty Pleasure:

Strengths: (What makes them stand a bit above the crowd? (Courageous, listening, calm under pressure. No supernatural abilities here)

Flaws: (Refers to negative personality traits, not a weakness. Make sure it’s a deep flaw that could actually affect your character, not something trivial like ��She can’t dance” Ex. Lies constantly, socially backwards, hot-tempered)

Perception: (How does your character generally see the world?)

Conflicts: (What issues make your character want two things, but they can’t have both?)

Instincts: (What are they unconsciously driven to do)

Lures: (What are they inexplicably drawn to be near? Ex. Power, money, the helpless)

Soft Spot: (their vulnerability, what they feel sorry for or have particularly good feelings for.)

Cruel Steak: (What makes a character act against their usual morals, and act especially mean? Everyone has something that can do this to them.

Powers/Abilities: (Here is where to put any superhuman powers and other abilities. Be sure to balance them out with weaknesses, or your character loses credibility.)

Origin: (How did they get their powers?)

Source: (How do they use their powers?)

Ability: (How adept are they at using said powers?)

Weaknesses: (make it something that your character exclusively is weak to, and keep it credible)

Immunities: (Be very careful with this one)

Restrictions: (An absolute necessity for those with supernatural powers. Ex. Can only breathe fire when angry or can only cast darkness spells two times a day)

Alternate Forms: (Transformations, shapeshifting, etc.)

Extra Anatomy: (Such as wings or a third eye)

(Least) Favorite Colors

(Least) Favorite Animals

(Least) Favorite Mythological Creature

(Least) Favorite Places

(Least) Favorite Landmarks

(Least) Favorite Flavors

(Least) Favorite Foods

(Least) Favorite Drinks

(Least) Favorite Characters (Not one of yours)

(Least) Favorite Genre

(Least) Favorite Books

(Least) Favorite Movies

(Least) Favorite Games

(Least) Favorite Shows

(Least) Favorite Music

(Least) Favorite Bands

(Least) Favorite Songs

(Least) Favorite Sports

(Least) Favorite Stores

(Least) Favorite Subjects

(Least) Favorite Numbers

(Least) Favorite Websites

(Least) Favorite Words

(Least) Favorite Quotations

Languages (What languages does your character speak and how fluently?)

Accent

Voice (High/low pitched)

Speech Impediments

Greeting and Farewells (How does your character say hello and goodbye?)

State of Mind: (Ask your character “How are you” and see how they respond)

Compliment: (Have your character say something nice)

Insult: (Have your character insult someone)

Expletive:

Laughter:

Tagline: (Something your character says a lot in everyday sentences. Can often be filled with a sound or vocalization.)

Signature Quote: (Something significant your character says. Doesn’t have to be meaningful, just make it memorable.)

MBTI Personality Type

Temperament

Enneagram

Ego/Superego/ID (Which is your character most driven by?)

The Self

The Shadow (The opposite qualities your character themselves does not believe they possess but do subconsciously)

The Anima/Animus (The part of the character of the opposite gender)

Persona/Mask (What they present to the world, or the side they use to protect themselves)

[t-shrt]

100 q tag

no one wud read it but ima do it anyways cos fun tag by @dubblebubble

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk? more cereal than milk cos i love tht crunchy crunch

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day? LOVE

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books? receipts, pen lol

4: how do you take your coffee/tea? coffee=basic latte/hot tea, no sugar

5: are you self-conscious of your smile? sometimes, not too often tho

6: do you keep plants? no but i want to but ill be terrible at it so no

7: do you name your plants?

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings? digital art

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself? yes very it keeps me sane

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach? side/back, back esp nowadays

11: what’s an inner joke you have with your friends? lots lol

12: what’s your favorite planet? earth? hahahah it used to be jupiter cos i loved sailor jupiter as a child

13: what’s something that made you smile today? friend + nct + fics

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like? two separate bedrooms, a balcony, good amount of plants, separate fridge for alcohol, sizeable kitchen

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is! it rains diamonds in jupiter and saturn $$$$

16: what’s your favorite pasta dish? bolognese hahahaha im boring

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair? i just dyed my hair a darker ash brown n i quite like it ive been light for awhile

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up. one came 2 mind cos we both recently talked ab it, a longtime close friend of mine n i used to have the biggest fight where he threw me a pair of scissors n i threw him a basketball in retaliation lmfaooo it still became a running joke more than a decade later...

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it? not really...prolly shud

20: what’s your favorite eye color? i actually like brown hahah, maybe a slightly lighter shade of brown

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces. it was a gift from my parents, a simple small messenger bag with a lot of slots, brought it with me literally everywhere, during my hookups, my night outs, been stained with questionable things (its been cleaned lol!).... almost lost it in a club only to be found by a friend... it has foundation stains tho lol

22: are you a morning person? n o

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations? sleep, listen to music, watch stuff, not reply to messages

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets? no

25: what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into? nothing rly comes to mind but im p sure ive been somewhere like tht lol

26: what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit? LOL my adidas superstars

27: what’s your favorite bubblegum flavor? ermm the red colored ones?

28: sunrise or sunset? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm very good question

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing? hmm what comes to mind is the way both of us sometimes exchange goodnight msgs w nct farm emojis heheeh

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared? lol ofc....

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks. unfortunately im rly basic on socks, u wud most likely find me wearing black ankle socks or black ballet(?) socks nothing more nothing less.......

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends. a lot has happened usually during that time lol. duno which story to pick honestly hahahah. i think a memorable one might be when we were drinking n played games and we talked and talked and joked n nek min one by one we fell asleep in the same room hahah... im sure there are other stories tht might be more eventful but fr the life of me my memorys fuzzy rn lol

33: what’s your fave pastry? i love strawberry shortcakes! or mille crepes

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it? i kept a LOT hahah. prolly named a few, but nothing was too special. i think it rly reflected how i managed my relationships then, n evn yrs aftwds, like i ws always lonely n my instincts were to gain quantity cos deep down i cudnt trust ppl n cudnt get too committed lololol

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often? i wish i was cos sometimes ppl wud make pretty colorful notes, but i usually just buy ones tht i wud use cos practicality.

36: which band’s sound would fit your mood right now? mmmmm is it cheating if i say nct cos they cover a range of genres lmao. but their ballads i guess yeah.

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean? i mean i prefer to keep it clean, but its always really messy HAHAHA ;_;

38: tell us about your pet peeves! 1. someone rude 2. someone who doesnt know how to respect others’ boundaries 3. someone self-entitled n takes themselves 2 seriously

39: what color do you wear the most? black on black on black on black baby

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you? an evangelion ring, its the black (lilith) moon with lcl gem in it, to me i guess symbolizes my struggle with human relations, n how eva as an anime illustrated tht n the fantasy of having everyone’s consciousness merged into one--n the fact that lilith in itself (in astrology) signifies the darker side of a human being? i guess n the fact that evn if u acknowledge ur darker side u cud still use it to further urself

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving? hmmmm i guess last was a self help book, unfuck your boundaries, helped me support my need to strengthen my boundaries

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it! little rogue :) its in a small alleyway, a little quaint shop, easy to miss... small potted plants, with an amaaazing matcha latte

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with? siiigh a guy i was involved with lmfao i cut him off tho

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything? hmmmmm good question i guess lately ive been very thankful tht i could feel comfortable taking my own time and space, n accepting the positive energy others wn give 2 me. being single really, really does help evn tho id feel lonely sometimes, bc the only weight i carry is the weight of my own soul n i wn learn how to nourish that

45: do you trust your instincts a lot? very i think

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of. i have a lot HAHAHA if u were a friend of mine ud prolly get tired of them. a genuinely bad one wud be haha youre so punny lmfao

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe? nothing rly lmao if theyre healthy n someone derives happiness frm it i wudnt want it to be banned

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today? probably not lol, i mean i think i retained similar fears since i ws a kid but now obviously my biggest fear(s) would be more...specific to me

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought? its the digital age baby spotify ftw (in all srsness i wish i collected vinyls tho hh)

50: what’s an odd thing you collect? i used to collect ramune bottles lmaoooo

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them? hmmmm nah lets not do this right now lol

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far? LOL too many but i love shitpost quality memes tbh

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them? pulp fiction. i actually loved it, i think i still do, its entertainment value is kickass, havent taken the time to dissect it in any other way

54: who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face? oh man i think it ws the dude i ws seeing lmao fk him

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point? a lot, n most of them im not proud of, cos some involves self harm

56: what are some things you find endearing in people? kindness n genuineness, someone’s courage in being vulnerable

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics? dont feel like it rn but everytime i do 10/10 will dramatically reenact the lyrics right to the guitar riffs

58: who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why? im definitely the wine (aunt) lmfaooo im already one tbh 

59: what’s your favorite myth? Eros + Psyche, Icarus and the sun

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves? i love poetry hahah...cant think of any rn

61: what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received? id love any gift given 2 me as long as they wont harm me or anything lmao n i dont think ive evr given anything too stupid. well.. idk if this is stupid tho like i sent flowers thanking my ex for ‘helping me live’ well aft we’ve blocked each other off cos the end to the relo was js daaamn toxic lmao

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind? nope

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be? music i do spotify n im pretty particular ab organizing my playlists i guess. my books im alright with as long as theyre just stacked properly no problem

64: what color is the sky where you are right now? prolly rly dark blue cos its 12 am

65: is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with? a lot tbh cos ive rly been focusing on stuff internally

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like? daisies, sunflowers, n baby breath here n there

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel? somber i guess maybe a tad bit nostalgic?

68: what’s winter like where you live? heeella cold not cos of the temperature itself but the winds thooo, if it drizzles evn in the slightest it feels like needles piercing through ur bones literally

69: what are your favorite board games? i like the game of life, ummm cards against humanity?

70: have you ever used a ouija board? no n never will lol

71: what’s your favorite kind of tea? the fruity kinds

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it? yea def lol

73: what are some of your worst habits? disappearing from people when i feel strong emotions

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns. they’re small but they’re so full of love, full of life, full of strength, and full of care for others, they’re the type of person who will seek their goals till the end despite obstacles and still be able to not lose their warm heart on the way. they put so much thought and care to every aspect of their life even when in the past they have been handed some bad things, and i adore them for that.

75: tell us about your pets! none :( wish i have a cat though

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t? hahahhaah

77: pink or yellow lemonade? pink!

78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub? neither sometimes i think theyre weird sometimes cute sometimes weirdly cute lmao

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you? write up 24 things they love about me to stop me from hating myself

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why? white. no but if i had to id say white anyways lol cos its a blank canvas

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of. i dunno uhhhh her rounded eyes which seemed to at first glance, harbor plenty of wonder seemed to be weighted by many untold secrets, the traces of which could be found when she erupts into laughter where the wonder would manifest itself in the form of small stars in the dark of her eyes.

82: are/were you good in school? meh. i try

83: what’s some of your favorite album art? weirdly i like cigarette after sex’s one cos its so simple yet telling

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones? planning on getting an evangelion one, another heart one, a sunflower one, and prolly a ghibli related one

85: do you read comics? what are your faves? manga? naruto 4evr LOL

86: do you like concept albums? which ones? hmmm thinkin of dpr live’s IAOT

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives? lord of the rings, harry potter, one of ghibli movies lol

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy? i think impressionism is very cool evn tho i dont do it myself

89: are you close to your parents? eeeeee

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities. Melbourne is a wonderful city where many things could coexist in one--happiness and sadness, camaraderie and loneliness, hot and cold, quiet and full of life, productive and relaxed, bursting with unfocused energy yet incredibly organized, and for many reasons it’s become one of my favorite cities, and definitely my favorite to live in.

91: where do you plan on traveling this year? no plans tbh lol maybe home?.......japan? heheheh nahhh

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch? it depends lol mostly i guess drowns my pasta in cheese

93: what’s the hairstyle you wear the most? i always wear it down, either straight or wavy

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday? a friend of mine

95: what are your plans for this weekend? stay in most likely, do stuff

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot? 100% procrastinate lmaoooo

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house? ISTG, jkjk INFP, leo sun aquarius moon cancer rising, ravenclaw

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it? im alws meh ab hiking tbh lmao 

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them. Long Slow Distance - NCT 127, Four - Sleeping At Last, idontwannabeyouanymore - Billie Eilish, Stop This Train - John Mayer, Digital Lover - Crush

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why? 5 years into the past so she’d stop focusing her life around anybody else but herself

[multipandadom-blog]

five Strategies No one Tells You About Winning His Heart Permanently

In the case of getting a man to commit to a romantic relationship, many females cannot appear to crack the code.

As many of us have noticed, you'll find two sorts of men: Behind curtain #1 is the kind of guy who's definitely smitten with his girlfriend - he puts her on the pedestal, treats her like a queen, and areas her happiness over his personal. And behind curtain #2 certainly is the form who's labeled as a "commitment-phobe" - he doesn't seem to delight in getting within a romantic relationship, acting as if his commitment is on the involuntary type.

The reality is, a research by Match.com located that 95 percent of males openly admit to seeing marriage as one of their ultimate life objectives.

So if this really is what 95 percent of them appear to want, how can you obtain a guy to commit and in fact fall in really like with you?

All of it comes down to how a man views dedication. To a guy, it truly is like cracking a combination lock; in the event the numbers do not line up, he'll be emotionally distant and unavailable, rather then all in. He may well even come up with a variety of one-liner excuses that girls undoubtedly get irritating: "I need to concentrate on my job," "I just have area," or, "I'm just not prepared for a romantic relationship right now."

But these one-liners are not lies. He genuinely believes what he is saying considering that the "numbers" of his commitment code aren't lining up.

Quite simply, when he says, "I'm just not prepared for any romantic relationship best now," what he honestly means is, "I'm just not ready to get a connection with you."

Although it hurts to hear this, knowing how you can obtain a man to commit - and why and just how he chooses to ultimately take the plunge - can save you heartache and make it easier to have an understanding of males.

The truth is, when he eventually comes across that a single lady who creates the proper sequence of "numbers" to unlock his dedication mixture, he'll feel compelled to hang onto her. He'll commit to a connection since he isn't going to need to chance dropping her.

So, now we know dedication is not some kind of man allergy. Everything you really need to do is master easy methods to crack his dedication code and get your man to commit - and gradually fall in adore with you.

Simpler explained than finished, naturally, looking at the common guy is not amazing at communicating his emotional desires. That's the place I come in! 

Here are 5 factors guys (won't tell you they) require prior to they will commit to a relationship and begin to fall in enjoy with you.

one. He requires you to desire him.

Considered one of the keys to finding out tips on how to make your guy happy is standard, animalistic wish. Inside the pit of his stomach, he has to want you, lengthy to suit your needs, yearn for you. He needs to miss you when you're not all around and he has to really feel a pang of lust when he has not seen you for some time. 

This wish is produced through the perform of opposites. He'll crave you then he catches you; he'll miss you and after that falls into you; he'll lust for you and then you will surrender to him. It is the making plus the release of stress above and above yet again.

The way you make this tension is by means of your sexuality - tease him and after that give in, playfully run from him and then allow him to capture you, add levity and spontaneity to his existence, give him lustful stares then depart the room, send him sexy notes during the day, grab him and kiss him unexpectedly. In summation, use your powerful feminine qualities to contrast his major and calculated masculine nature.

two. He requirements your respect.

Respect is often a cardinal virtue; it is the foundation of any relationship that endures and stands the check of time. Respect will help re-ignite a connection long following the flame of really enjoy and lust has sputtered. Many guys marry the lady who respects him, even in excess of the female who loves him.

Guys might rest with, speak to, and care regarding the lady they really enjoy (and lust), but quite often really like only isn't all they need.

Loads of this needs to do using the term "I appreciate you." To a man and also a lady, this phrase can have unique meanings. A guy might possibly interpret it as "don't hurt me" as well as "you're trapped." Males see the really like from a lady as much more of a commodity than a thing novel.

Naturally, the phrases make him really feel really good when he hears them, nevertheless they will not sing to his soul. Men have crippling inadequacies they silently battle their complete lives.

So, find out why you respect your man. What are you proud of him for? What is it possible to acknowledge him for? How will you make him come to feel superior about himself? Then, inform him. Never tell him just that you just appreciate him, inform him why you really enjoy him.

Yet another way to express your respect is always to apologize when you've made a blunder or explained anything incorrect. You (and he) need to make the partnership even more essential than individual egos. When he knows you respect his character, he will allow you in deeper, exposing other tender components of his soul in which he requires healing and assistance.

3. He must truly feel emotionally risk-free.

The third point to keep in mind when discovering ways to continue to keep your man completely happy is his emotional well being. By surrendering your anger, bitterness, or any resentment you might have toward him, you give him safe and sound passage to become vulnerable.

This takes place by you putting your trust in him. And then, he can trust you. You the two let on your own to become vulnerable and that helps a connection operate. But for this vulnerability to take off, females normally ought to be the initiators. Men are trying to find someone to lead them to the vulnerable abyss.

Its a woman's courage to open up and let down her guard that inspires men to lay down their psychological shields and take it easy.

So how can you do that? Effectively, it aids by understanding how males feel. He needs to know that you will not judge or criticize him. He has to come to feel supported, accepted, and encouraged that you are on his side. He must understand that you won't inform your pals or (worse) your mom about any problems he can make. He has to are aware that you will stand up for him when others say lousy factors about him. He needs to know that you will confront any injustices or troubles head-on.

four. He wants you to challenge him.

In the core of every man is challenge. Men increase via challenge. Challenge speaks on the aspect of their masculinity that innately makes them like to conquer and win. Challenge could be the path guys take to achieve results, which ultimately makes them come to feel respected.

Within a nutshell, it definitely comes down to having a powerful sense of the very own values - recognizing what on earth is important to you and standing by it. This produces the challenge that strengthens the romance. A further element of this challenge is being able to confront a man when you really feel like individuals values are compromised.

This may require you confronting him while you believe he owes you an apology, as opposed to letting it fall from the wayside. While you can confront him, he'll find you amazingly appealing. Even if his to begin with response is anger, the fact that you can actually stand as much as him will change the way he seems at you. It can challenge him for being a much better man.

five. He has to feel awe and wonder. 

The last phase in mastering the way to hold your man content is beneficial, old-fashioned excitement. Even acting a bit crazy is known as a good issue; crazy, not insane - skinny-dipping while in the ocean is good, but faking your own personal kidnapping given that he's been operating as well late is simply not.

All as well normally, girls are taught to truly feel awful about getting emotional, feeling 'crazy,' and acting unpredictably. But these feminine attributes are literally interesting to males. As a result, embrace your femininity and make it possible for it to enliven your romantic relationship. This can enable a man fall deeper and deeper in love with you.

After you embody your instinctual feminine nature, you produce the room for him to say points like, "There is just one thing about her that I really enjoy."

Study even more about this right here - 

https://greetingstoeveryone.tumblr.com/post/176705999189/five-secrets-nobody-tells-you-about-winning-his

[godsizemylife-blog]

  Today is a replay. Given all the shaking and winds and waves not only in the physical world, but in governments and the political sphere, I  think I need to reiterate this thought. Thank you, Francis Chan,  for nudging me to agree with your message today! First, Francis:

  I strongly suspect we take God’s mercy lightly. Evidently we think God sent Jesus because we deserved it. Nothing could be further from the truth. We deserved God’s wrath. He sent Jesus because HE is worth/deserved it: God deserves a people who walk in holiness and purity, fully aware of his glory, majesty, holiness, purity, splendor, reality, presence, being, and fully aware of what GRACE means, the price paid for us to come into relationship with him,with his love, BUT aligned with his righteousness. The Blood that HE shed for us is the costliest fluid in the universe, and I need, speaking for myself, to be aware of the value of that Blood.

I picked myself up off the floor this morning long enough to share this with you. I pray God’s manifest presence enters and covers your life, your day, our nation, and the world today, and yes, I have a tiny idea of what that really means and the consequences of what I’m asking: reverential fear, awe and awareness of and reverence for WHO we’ve been “messing and trifling with” to flood our lives, and our personal and corporate realignment and recalibration with HIS Word, HIS will, HIS worship.

Back to the floor ……

The check box “OTHER” has often been my answer of choice on surveys and sometimes on standardized tests when none of the choices or answers seems to fit quite rightly. When I did analogies on IQ tests in school, I could often see relationships between more than one of the answers, and I always wished those tests had a “free response” section so I could elaborate on connections I saw in multiple choices.

“For He is like ….” In writing about the passage in Malachi 2: 17-3:6, John Piper writes:

“He is a refiner’s fire, and that makes all the difference. A refiner’s fire does not destroy indiscriminately like a forest fire. A refiner’s fire does not consume completely like the fire of an incinerator. A refiner’s fire refines. It purifies. It melts down the bar of silver or gold, separates out the impurities that ruin its value, burns them up, and leaves the silver and gold intact. He is like a refiner’s fire.”

“God is like …” – I read analogies about God all through the Bible, yet still I sense the need for a check box of “OTHER” when I try to grasp all of the Being of God. Sometimes in frustration I’ve wished I could step out of the skin of my humanity with all the physical limitations of my cells, amino acids and proteins, to truly behold God in all of His Glory and Presence. So far, all I’ve experienced are flashes of God’s Presence that literally made my heart skip beats, shut my mouth to any possible conversation or exclamation, and sometimes dropped me to my face on the floor.

And all those experiences did was make me hunger and long for more of them.

Somehow I sense that I the modern-day American evangelical church we have focused so single-mindedly on God’s grace, mercy and love that we have completely overlooked His Holiness, His “OTHER”-ness.

Deity is not an easy concept to grasp. We know nothing of it in our everyday lives, in the realm of the natural, and until and unless we come into a true relationship with God through receiving his Son Jesus as Savior, the only receptors/detectors we’re equipped with are our five senses, totally inadequate for grasping the HOLY.

Some religions reduce God’s Deity to human terms by claiming God “came down” physically and was sexually intimate with Mary to conceive Jesus. How we try, in our finite understanding, to bring God down to human terms we can grapple with or, worse, elevate our status to godhood! God alone is Deity, God alone is Holy, and it is nothing less than truly supernaturally miraculous that through Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection, God sanctifies our humanity. He does not make us smaller versions of Himself. God’s Holy Spirit comes into us to make us figuratively sanctified, cleansed and honored just as the cups and utensils in the Tempe were. In effect, God’s Spirit connected with our spirit by a means undetectable to our five senses, but very much felt within us, means God chooses to reside within our hearts and spirits as He did in the Holy of Holies in the Tempe in Jerusalem.

Do I “get it”? No. Do I believe it? Yes. Not me, not by my effort or merit. “OTHER.”

God is not in every tree, but every tree is OF God’s creative power. God is not contained (limited) in me. I am an image-bearer, but the image I carry within me because of my relationship with Jesus is a partial reflection of the character and nature of God, a reflection only of someone outside of myself.

One day, quite innocently and unaware of what an answer would do within me, I asked God to give me his heart for a person I was having trouble “loving.” I cannot humanly explain what happened, but I came into contact somehow with a love deeper, more passionate, more understanding and enduring than I had ever before experienced for another human being. “OTHER” is the only way I can describe the encounter.

Since that day I often see a beauty within people that I know I missed before. This ability did not come from me, generate from some goodness within me. I can only describe it as Holy.

I long to give this experience to others, but I can’t. Only God himself can transform so profoundly. I long for others, for you, to know God’s Presence, his Holiness. Periodically I have to take myself out of the “God is my friend” mentality that is true, but isn’t wide or deep enough to accommodate Deity in my perception., and restore God in my thinking to his Holy, Divine, Majestic place as Deity and the sole right focus of my worship and obedient surrender. I am compelled to not give in to those people who demand or expect me worship them. I can love them, but I can’t worship anyone but God Almighty.

Worship is defined as reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred; adoring reverence or regard. It is both an act and, more importantly, an attitude toward.

Perhaps today it’s time in your life to try to take in, apprehend, or at least acknowledge God’s Holiness, Majesty, Splendor, worth, Divinity, OTHER-ness.

I am the LORD your God. You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20: 3

Which of these titles belongs to you, my fellow human being all too often ensnared by narcissistic, selfish tendencies, desires, and expectations of others?

God is an all-consuming fire, A Refiner’s Fire. A crown of beauty. A Great High Priest. A Jealous God. A Hiding Place.. A Scepter. A Strong Tower. Alpha and Omega. Creator. King of kings. Lord of lords.

Adonai-Jehovah — The Lord our Sovereign

El-Elyon — The Lord Most High

El-Olam — The Everlasting God

El-Shaddai — The God Who is Sufficient for the Needs of His People

Jehovah-Elohim — The Eternal Creator

Jehovah-Jireh — The Lord our Provider

Jehovah-Nissi — The Lord our Banner

Jehovah-Ropheka — The Lord our Healer

Jehovah-Shalom — The Lord our Peace

Jehovah-Tsidkenu — The Lord our Righteousness

Jehovah-Mekaddishkem — The Lord our Sanctifier

Jehovah-Sabaoth — The Lord of Hosts

Jehovah-Shammah — The Lord is Present

Jehovah-Rohi — The Lord our Shepherd

Jehovah-Hoseenu — The Lord our Maker

Jehovah-Eloheenu — The Lord our God

In my emphasis on God’s love and mercy, do I forget God’s Holiness?

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes…. Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Deuteronomy 10: 12-20 NIV

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Psalms 8:1

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness. Psalms 29:2

Psalm 93:1 The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and armed with strength; indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! Psalms 95:6

Exalt the LORD our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he! Psalms 99:5

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4: 21-24 NIV

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. Isaiah 6: 1-4 NIV

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.

the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. Revelation 4:10-11

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1: 15-16

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. Heaven and Earth are filled with Your Glory. Hosanna, hosanna in the highest!

Pray a “…BUT…” to God: Lord God Almighty, I bow before You and I confess and gladly say that You are __________________________________________________ and I am not, BUT because I belong to you and Your Holy Spirit lives in me, I am ____________________________________________________________. I want to experience You more as__________________________________________ and please, God Almighty, make me aware of __________________________________ Help me to live in greater recognition and wonder of _______________________ every day and help me to see You in __________________________________________. Help me to bear your image in this situation where I struggle to live as I know you want me to live __________________________________________________________ You ARE Holy and wholly OTHER, and I ____________________________________. I rejoice in You and Worship You! In Jesus’ name, Amen! Holy Spirit, I’m listening _________________________________________________________God is NOT Just a Good Idea

God is NOT Just a Good Idea! Take Two Today is a replay. Given all the shaking and winds and waves not only in the physical world, but in governments and the political sphere, I  think I need to reiterate this thought.

[polinathinkstoomuch-blog]

Day 2/3 - Hallucinations & Realizations

I’m rehashing both days today because I had Tumblr issues (and some dedication to this issues), so I apologize in advance for the length, but you know what, I think the cumulative recap will actually help tie some things together so I'm not really that sorry about it you're welcome.

If you read Day 1, good news, I did resolve to hiking yesterday. Bad news, mistake. Still harboring some insecurities about going out there alone, I walked toward the hiking trail sign and then proceeded to out loud talk myself through it - like cute, bunnies! And where am I going, and I guess this is a trail if I follow the signs and then, completely causally, that’s a coyote. At which point I immediately booked it right back the way I came, looking behind me the entire time to make sure that a DESERT WOLF (spelling is very key here for maximum dramatic effect - a dessert wolf wouldn’t garner nearly as much concern) wasn’t following me. This makes the people I saw night hiking yesterday even crazier. A blind wild mountain pig is one thing - you can probably drop kick it out of your path - but I don’t know what kind of white privilege lets you fuck with coyotes in the dark. I don’t have it. The best part is that everyone else was so nonchalant about it - my mom advised me to just walk behind the other woman hiking; the barista the next day - upon hearing that I saw a coyote - laughed. Like that was the local coyote. Oh Tom, you trouble-maker, when will you learn - that sort of thing. Arizona makes you numb to face-eating wolves apparently.

Instead, I decided to hike the property which is miles upon miles of desert, cactus, prickly tress and walls of khaki and beige. I expected to have a lot of thoughts and emotions hiking, of having the earth unveil itself under your feet - and maybe if I was going up the mountain instead of horizontally - I would have, but I had no thoughts - until about 45 minutes in - at which point I started thinking how do people do 8 miles of this?!?! At two miles in I started hallucinating. Not in the way of seeing bunny rabbits everywhere - although there were rabbits everywhere this is apparently a luxury rabbit farm - but in the way of being completely devoid of anything. It may be the 98 degree heat that literally fogs everything around you to make it seem like time isn’t moving, but also, I think for me particularly, the fact that I’m in a desert. There is something about that land that makes me feel lost; like my car broke down in the middle of nowhere and I’m hiking to what I hope is the nearest gas station and not a the hills have eyes community. It was not for me. So I chose not to hike again during this trip, but instead have committed myself to doing something I surprisingly found way more enjoyable - tanning to music and swimming. 

Swimming the first day was interesting because it still brought up some solo guilt. The first time I went into the water it was just me on the right side of the pool, and I enjoyed it some much - more so than I expected since I truly detest the smell and feel of chlorinated water - what I don’t detest is the all over body chill when you glide through the water. When I wanted to go back in after baking in the sun, I noticed a couple in the water and had a moment where I didn’t want to disturb their space - be this object swimming in the parallel lane. That lasted about 3 minutes, but it’s an insecurity that I have in the back of my head - the need to have to explain or apologize for my presence as a “permanently single.” The idea that my body takes up space in an unnatural way. But I slid into that water regardless because I remembered how much I loved it and nothing stops me from reliving the small loves in my life.

On my Day 3 swims (first at the pool then at the spa pool this SPA man, I could move in and live there, more below), I harkened back to a thought I had on Day 2 - which I may have written about and then had promptly deleted in front of my eyes by this website or my laptop or both - that age - for me - is really about sitting into my personality but that doesn’t mean hard headedness to change - but instead a more narrowed focus on what I want my life to look like and who I want to live it as without compromise for expectations. It came from how much easier swimming was today than yesterday’s heavy breathing nonsense, and the difference being focus - of following my hands, watching my palms switch positons, eliminating everything that wasn’t directly in front of me.

Speaking of the spa, man, listen. It was amazing. It was expensive, but it was truly gold. Now I have never had a message before so a full body scrub and hot oil was already going to be a boundary crossing moment for me, but the moment that salt hit my skin and the pressure pushed into my back it was like having everything pushed out of me, without me knowing how much I needed that - even if symbolically. I tend to absorb everything that happens to me - I’m super sensitive sue me; everything good and bad, and just let it sit in my body like a mass and then continue moving with all of it inside me and then just bring it up like leftovers when I can’t find the silence. I call it experience or a reference bank or coping whatever it needs to be for the purpose of explaining it to people, but it’s there, for a lifetime of forgiving but not forgetting and it gets heavy. So to be in a room where everything is designed (both audibly and visually) to remove you from your physical presence there - was such a relief. I felt so clean and warm and comfortable that I felt like I was falling down slowly into a bottomless end - on both the facial and body scrub days. I spent hours HOURS in that spa, reading under the low lights, smelling the incense, listening to the Japanese flutes, drinking crystal water, taking over a cabana, gliding around in mineral enhanced water or whatever they drop into that pool (hopefully not acid), but it’s glorious. And the sheer feeling of being there entirely alone (no exaggeration - I was by myself at the spa pool and the main pool for hours at a time) and feeling settled in my skin to dance, sing along, read a book, swim, all at my own pace and schedule was really freeing and easy.

And that’s how I would describe this entire vacation - easy. It is the easiest vacation I have ever been on. There has been no pressure to do or not do anything. No topics of conversation planned, no responses required, no responsibility for another person’s good time, feelings, thoughts. I was at my own disposal; everything was on my time, when and for how long I wanted to do it and no one made me feel uncomfortable about it and I didn’t feel guilty or obligated back. There were spurts - because phones exist - but for the most part I felt like I didn't have to be accountable to anyone else and that in and of itself was such a break from my everyday life where I don’t want the people I care about to forget. The spa also brought me full confirmation - in the form of an aesthetician - that the natural color of my skin is pale (color you shocked) - so fair, that it reacts to every touch by turning pink. She asked if I blushed when I’m embarrassed. I said I had no idea, I have no shame.

My dad sent me flowers today for my birthday - thanks Dad! Everybody asked who they were from and I’m all my Dad, you know my taste in men, which one of them would have the consideration, the character, the moral and ethical  dedication to reciprocity of treatment, would ever send me flowers - especially to a different state, girl please, it’s my Dad. And that’s fine. At least my Dad means it. I remember when a co-worker of mine and I were sitting in my kitchen trying to warm up after we got flooded out of Lolla and he noticed a card I have on my fridge that says happy birthday. He asked me if it was, and I responded that it was from last year’s flowers - I kept it on the refrigerator to remind myself that my parents love me. He laughed because of course your parents love you. But Billy, it’s the only love I value because it’s the only one I can rely on. My parents - suffocatingly so - love me. Care about my well being and my safety and I’m getting a little emotional even typing this - I can’t say the same about anybody else and this is not meant to be insulting or discount the friendships I have in any way, all of which I truly appreciate and put my energy into reciprocating and rewarding as much as and every chance I get, but people have their own lives - they change, they move, they develop different inner circles, their priorities changes, their partner’s priorities change and they leave first in body then in spirit or vice versa. It’s an unreliable moment - that trap door floor is what keeps me independent - its what keep me focused on relying on myself more than anyone else. Other than my parents. I unabashedly need my parents. I need their presence, and their dumb jokes and their uncomfortable friendship with my dog - and I loved seeing those flowers. I love seeing that card every day, and I worry only about being a person that loses their respect and their presence - but truly not much else. So yes, I like the reminder Billy. It pushes me when people live their own lives around me and despite me. I’m going to try to think of a way to get these flowers on board. I’m thinking Ziploc with water - vase in bag - I don’t know. Stay on your toes TSA.

Ugh, and now I have to go back to work in my aggressively air conditioned cubicle including to people that I have let disrespect me in the past from a place where I respect myself. Annoying. Oh well, at least I’ve removed them from my life - even if not from my eyesight - and that’s a big enough step for now. Thanks AZ.

[totallymotorbikes]

2017 Honda CBR1000RR and CBR1000RR SP Review 2017 Honda CBR1000RR Editor Score: 87.0% Engine 18.5/20 Suspension/Handling 14.0/15 Transmission/Clutch 10.0/10 Brakes 7.0/10 Instruments/Controls 5.0/5 Ergonomics/Comfort 8.0/10 Appearance/Quality 9.0/10 Desirability 9.0/10 Value 6.5/10 Overall Score 87/100 Cresting the top of the steep incline leading onto Portimao’s main straight, I’m committed to keeping the throttle on the new 2017 Honda CBR1000RR to the stop. With fifth gear clicked, the front wheel starts to reach for the sky. Unfazed, the throttle stays pinned, ready for the wheel to eventually come back to earth. The wait feels like forever, and my view is increasingly filled with sky instead of tarmac. I can’t wait for the Honda’s wheelie control any longer, so a click to sixth gently brings the front Bridgestone back to the ground. The Fireblade flexes its muscles, tickling 180 mph down the straight. Then it’s time to scrub speed down the hill before hitting the dip signaling the apex of turn 1. The short chute to reach turn 2 is quickly gobbled up before a moderate amount of brakes are applied to navigate through the hairpin. From there, it’s another flick to the left, and we’re driving uphill towards the crest of turn 3, knee on the ground, rear tire spinning ever so slightly. And so describes one of the many exciting sequences at the Algarve International Circuit, better known as Portimão. Due to its extreme elevation changes and blind-crest corners, it’s the closest track to a rollercoaster I’ve ever experienced. And it’s an ideal testing ground to put the new Fireblade through its paces. Here, in this extreme environment, the new Fireblade definitely displays some of the traits we’ve loved about the CBR lineage – particularly the engine and chassis – but as first-timers (and late bloomers) to the sportbike electronics game, the 1000RR is a bit unpolished. Twenty-five years on and the 2017 CBR1000RR is a quantum leap from the original 1993 CBR900RR. Nonetheless, the concept of Total Control surrounding the design of the 900RR has carried over a quarter-century on. Wait, what? Trust me: for a company like Honda, that’s as unbelievable for me to write as I’m sure it is for you to read. But more on that in a bit. First, let’s shift our mindset slightly. To better understand the CBR, we need to understand where the engineers designing it were coming from. Unlike the other players in this highly competitive liter-class sportbike category, Honda’s objective wasn’t to chase that elusive 200-hp mark. Yes, the new ’Blade is claimed to make more than 10 hp over the outgoing model, but the overall design focus has gone back to its roots, the CBR900RR, and centers on the concept of Total Control. Putting control back to the hands of the rider means pairing modest power gains with significant weight loss, revised suspension, and chassis tuning to create a motorcycle that’s easy to ride while providing excellent feedback. The finishing touch, of course, is a sophisticated electronics package – centered around a Bosch IMU – to help you stay upright and as safe as possible, whether you’re track riding or blasting in the canyons. What was strange, however, was that throughout our time with Honda’s staff and engineering personnel, Honda’s Total Control ethos was never mentioned in relation to achieving outright lap times. But does that mean the new CBR isn’t a track weapon? No way. We, the motorcycling public, have been clamoring for a new ’Blade with more power and an electronics suite just like its competitors. And for the most part Honda’s latest version of the CBR1000RR delivers. Making More With Less With motorcycles as it generally is with humans, when the goal is to lose some weight, having a target to meet helps bring focus to the task at hand. In Honda’s case the magic number laid forth for the new ’Blade was 195kg, or 429 lbs. To achieve the weight drop, every single piece of the motorcycle had to be looked over with a fine-tooth comb, including small items like nuts and bolts. Meanwhile, solutions to bring down weight for big items like fuel tank, exhaust, and chassis involved employing some creative thinking. In the end, items like shorter and lighter bolts were used where possible, along with a titanium exhaust, titanium fuel tank (for SP models), magnesium engine covers, aluminum subframe, smaller radiator, and thinner frame walls are just a few of the techniques Honda engineers used to meet that ambitious weight target. But here’s just one more example of Honda rethinking every component: the fairings on the new CBR are now just 1.8mm thick, versus the 2.0mm plastics seen on the predecessor. All in an effort to shave precious grams. About the only exotic materials you can see in this picture of the SP are the titanium exhaust canister and magnesium crankcase cover. But the quest for weight savings go far greater. Don’t forget the titanium fuel tank (steel on the standard model), aluminum subframe (which, granted, is partially visible), hollow transmission shafts, and even thinner fairings compared to the old bike. Engine-wise, the CBR’s Four is 4.4 lbs lighter than before, thanks in part to magnesium covers and hollowed-out transmission gears and shafts. There’s a jump in power over the old bike via new pistons, higher compression ratio (13.0:1 vs. 12.3:1), a new crankshaft, new valves, a re-worked cylinder head and revised camshafts with increased lift. Valve timing is also revised to suit the engine’s new 13,000-rpm redline, 750 rpm higher than before. The ’Blade becomes the first inline-Four from Honda to receive ride-by-wire technology. Conveniently for us, we don’t have to wait until we get a unit home to put it on the scales because Honda had a set of scales available for us to measure the pair of new CBRs. Ready-to-ride and with a full tank of gas the base model, fitted with the standard Bridgestone S21 tires, came in at 425 lbs; while the SP model, fitted with Bridgestone V02 racing slick tires specially for this test, weighed 427 lbs. The cockpit of the standard 1000RR greets you with an informative and clear TFT display. In front of that is the familiar sight of Showa’s Big Piston Fork. To the right sits the starter, encased in the housing for the throttle position sensor. Lastly, to the left lie the buttons to toggle through the menu settings to make changes. According to Bridgestone staff on hand, the V02 tires weigh a combined 24.6 lbs, while the RS10 that would normally be fitted on SP models weigh a combined 23.0 lbs. Take the weight of the tires into consideration and the standard and SP models weigh the same and are both under the original target weight of 429 lbs. Remember, too, that the measured weight for the SP model includes the Ohlins electronic suspension and the associated hardware it carries, making its identical weight measurement to the Showa-suspended standard model rather impressive. MO historians might be scratching their heads because, as we noted in our street portion of the 2015 Six-Way Superbike Shootout, the CBR1000RR tipped our scales at 444 lbs, making the 19-pound weight loss for the new model slightly less spectacular than the claimed 33. Before you get too disappointed, remember the standard and SP models I personally put on the scales were both Euro-spec models, and the 33-pound weight difference cited by Honda is compared to the Euro-spec 2012 C-ABS model the manufacturer itself claimed to be 465 lbs. Nonetheless, Honda says the new Blade improves its power-to-weight ratio over its predecessor by 14%, while jumping a huge 65% in the power-to-weight department compared to the original 1993 CBR900RR. Whiz-Bang Electronics There’s a lot to cover with the 2017 Fireblade, so to help get you up to speed, click these links to get a run down of the changes applied to the standard and SP versions of the CBR1000RR. After reading both those stories, it’s worth delving more into Honda’s electronics package for the CBR, as the concept of Total Control, while simple in theory, is quite complex in application. Honda has long made inspiring chassis, and the new CBR1000RR carries on that tradition. It made refamiliarizing myself with a track I hadn’t seen in several years that much easier. At the heart of it all is a Bosch IMU sending signals from five axes to the bike’s Honda Selectable Torque Control (Honda parlance for traction control), ABS, and on SP models, the Ohlins Smart-EC semi-active suspension system. Calculations are happening 100 times per second, using algorithms and software settings developed in-house by Honda. Based on the system used on the RC213V-S MotoGP bike for the street, the HSTC processes inputs from the IMU, wheel-speed sensors, and throttle-position sensor to determine and manage rear-wheel slippage depending on the level chosen from the rider. The levels range from 1-9, with 1 providing least intervention and 9 the most. The system can also be turned off altogether. Wheelie control is tied to the traction-control system, with its three levels directly linked to the HSTC setting – least intervention in the lower three TC levels, moderate intervention from levels 4-6, and maximum intervention from levels 7-9. To make matters slightly frustrating, traction and wheelie controls cannot be adjusted independently other than turning the HSTC system off entirely. Don’t mistake the Honda Selectable Torque Control (a.k.a. Traction Control) as a highside-proof rider aid in the lower settings; you can still get the rear to slide if you get greedy on the throttle. Toggle up to the higher settings and the ’Blade is nearly idiot proof. Nearly. Oddly, despite the CBR coming equipped with an IMU, none of the information it receives is used to detect a wheelie. Instead, the CBR relies solely on wheel-speed sensors to detect lift, determining that the front is off the ground once it spins slower than the rear wheel by a certain predetermined rate – a rather draconian way of going about things considering many of Honda’s competitors employ more sophisticated methods using very similar hardware, mainly by incorporating data received from the IMU to manage the wheelie while maintaining optimum drive. Honda’s electronic control engineer, Satoru Okoshi, genuinely looked confused when asked why the new 1000RR only uses wheel-speed sensors to manage wheelies, noting the CBR is still a road-going motorcycle and not a racing machine. The confused look wasn’t an act, as I asked several different ways why IMU data isn’t used before Okoshi-san finally responded by mentioning the HRC race kit ECU. Still, the language barrier proved too much to overcome in this case, as he noted the obvious in that it would employ different algorithms dedicated to racing, though he did suggest that IMU data would have a greater role in those strategies, including with wheelies. Of course, the HRC ECU is not an item one can simply buy, as it’ll be distributed by Honda directly to race teams it deems worthy to have the unit. But that’s another story… The Portimão track is a wheelie-lover’s dream, as its extreme undulations are perfect for hoisting the front in the air. That is, unless you’ve got the Honda’s wheelie control. Sometimes the front will crawl upwards controllably, other times it would shoot up faster than you’d expect before abruptly cutting power. Other times it won’t come up at all. What the IMU does supply input for is Honda’s ABS, which sends IMU information to the Nissin control unit to identify whether the motorcycle is upright or leaned over, and then, depending on how much braking pressure is applied, it can adjust accordingly. This means that, yes, the CBR1000RR does feature lean-angle-sensitive ABS, allowing the rider to apply the brake mid-corner and, instead of the bike tucking the front, will instead help the rider maintain control. Honda has also employed rear-lift control on the ’Blade, which uses the IMU to send information on the rate the rear is rising, as well as the rate of acceleration in the direction perpendicular to lift. With those two variables, the system operates ABS intervention accordingly. ABS and rear-lift control are integrated with each other and can’t be adjusted independently other than turning the ABS off entirely, which also disables rear-lift control. Because the new ’Blade gets ride-by-wire throttle for the first time, the CBR now is able to employ distinct power modes – five in this case. All five levels give the same initial response on throttle opening, but level 1 gives full power, level 2 slightly reduces power in the first three gears, with levels 3-5 reducing power in the first four gears, while also limiting peak power. Selectable engine braking is also a new feature, with three different settings available: 3 providing the least engine braking effect, 1 the most. No surprise the Brembo calipers on SP models (seen here) are quite good, but equally impressive are the new Tokico squeezers. Both provide good stomp and feel at the lever, making it easy to trailbrake into corners. Just when you thought that wasn’t enough to talk about in regards to electrons, we haven’t even begun to discuss suspension. Standard models receive a completely analog 43mm Showa Big Piston Fork, while the rear sees the Balance Free Rear Cushion shock, also from Showa. Both ends get full adjustability, but you have to adjust the clickers the old-fashioned way – with tools. SP models get the latest in semi-active electronic suspension, called the Ohlins Smart-EC (Electronically Controlled) System, using a 43mm NIX30 fork and TTX36 shock. At the heart of the matter is the Suspension Control Unit (SCU) which processes readings from several sources including the IMU, but also works in conjunction with both wheel-speed sensors, throttle-position sensor, ABS modulator, and the suspension pieces themselves to adjust the attitude of the bike in real time. Squeeze the brake lever too hard and the ABS/rear lift control will kick in to keep the rear from getting too high off the ground. It’s an annoying trait, but at least the slipper clutch and excellent quickshifter help you focus on getting the bike slowed. Now here’s where things get a little complicated. Encapsulating the Total Control ethos, the electronic suspension has two user-selectable modes: Manual and Automatic. Within each mode are three more user-selectable sub-modes: M1, M2, M3 and A1, A2, and A3. Manual mode and its three sub-modes feature pre-defined suspension settings depending on whether you’re track riding (M1), canyon riding (M2), or simply street riding (M3), with a bias towards handling or comfort depending on which direction you choose. Further fine tuning of the rebound or compression damping in either of the three modes apart from the factory presets is possible by the rider with a few button presses on the dash. However, since suspension tuning is considered a black art by many, Honda and Ohlins together set out to create a new way of thinking about motorcycle suspension without needing to know the vocabulary associated with it. Under this new paradigm, suspension tuning is thought of under three objectives: acceleration, braking, and cornering. Different things are required in each condition and sometimes analog suspension tuning compromises one area for the other. With the S-EC, Ohlins is claiming to offer a suspension setup with no compromises: the support you need under braking, the optimal turn-in geometry, stability at max lean, controlled weight transfer at the start of corner exit, and maximum grip as power is applied while finishing a corner. SP models get the upgraded Ohlins S-EC suspension and Brembo caliper over the standard bike’s Showa BPF and Tokico caliper. Wheels are the same cast units between the two, except standard gets black, SP gold. Forged wheels are saved for the limited-edition, SP2 race homologation version. Note also the Bridgestone V02 slick tire seen here. Pay no attention to it as the SP will be sold with B-Stone’s RS10 tire instead. Like the Manual suspension modes, the Automatic mode also has three sub-modes, each with their own default settings for track riding (A1), canyons (A2), and street (A3). The difference is that you can change the settings for each mode based on the bike’s overall attitude instead of just adding or subtracting rebound or compression damping. There are four areas of tuning the user can toggle through for adjustment: General (overall firmness character), Brake (nose dive character), Cornering (turning character), and Acceleration (pitching character). A1 mode allows the user to adjust all four parameters in individual increments numerically. For example, +5 (firmer) and -5 (softer) are the furthest deviations you can make from the standard default settings. A2 and A3 settings only allow General and Brake parameters to be changed. Unlike Manual mode, adding or subtracting from any of the four categories doesn’t change one thing, like compression or rebound. Changes are electronically made at both ends depending on the selection(s) you’ve requested. All changes are navigated through from the full-color TFT display. With so many options and sub-options to choose from, ironically the idea of Total Control seems anything but. Quickshifter comes as standard equipment on the SP (optional on the base model) and works flawlessly, especially during downshifts. With it, the only need for the clutch is at a stop. Honda says wall thickness of the frame has been reduced not only to save weight, but also to provide optimal chassis flex characteristics. From where I was sitting, all I could tell was the new chassis felt as agile as ever. What’s It Like In Anger? During the track portion of our 2015 Six-Way Superbike Shootout, the Honda was admired for its sublime chassis, but it was ultimately roasted for having the least power by a significant margin. A couple years on and we have a new year, a new administration, and now a new and heavily updated CBR. Horsepower is up by more than 10, according to Honda, while weight has also gone down. Both are ingredients that make for a good sportbike, and in that regard, the Fireblade is worlds better than before. Granted, it’s been some time since I rode the previous CBR, but the new bike hasn’t lost a bit of the old bike’s midrange, while it definitely pulls harder up top with very nice over-rev. For the first two sessions of our day at Portimao, we were sent off on the base CBR fitted with the standard Bridgestone S21 tires. A street-oriented tire more so than a track tire, its profile helped highlight the light and flickable nature of the 1000RR chassis; it almost felt as easy to toss around as the 600RR. It’s a comparison made often when comparing sportbikes, but in this case, the distinction between the two is getting as close as it’s ever been. Even with the standard Bridgestone S21 tires, as fitted to the standard CBR seen here, the ’Blade is able to lap a racetrack very quickly. In fact, I’d estimate it’s a perfectly suitable track tire for all but the fastest track riders out there. The V02 slick tires fitted to the SP models have a different rear profile than the RS10 tires normally fitted to the SP, so its turning characteristics don’t exactly apply here. However, its slightly heavier steering feel was more than made up for by the grip the slicks provided. The factory quickshifter is, without doubt, the best unit I’ve sampled so far. An option for the base model (which the bikes at the launch were fitted with) and standard on the SP, it’s adjustable on three levels depending on the amount of load you prefer to place on the lever, and it operates both up and down changes, rev matching quickly and perfectly every time you ask it – which is not something I can say for some of the Honda’s competitors. A redesigned slip-assist clutch is 10% lighter than before and also works well, keeping the rear wheel under control and allowing little mini supermoto slides the few times I accidentally backshifted to first while setting up for Portimao’s downhill turn 3. Ergonomically, the new CBR is noticeably slimmer than before – especially between the knees. There’s plenty of room front-to-back as well. For my 5-foot, 8-inch stature, the bars felt a little too far forward for my taste, but the taller riders on the launch seemed to like it. Another minor quibble: the windscreen forms a V shape at its apex, and in a tuck I noticed an unusual amount of wind buffeting atop my helmet. Were it mine, a broader, or double-bubble screen would be one of my first modifications. So far, anyway, the CBR has been what I expected from the updated machine – lighter, faster, more powerful, without any lost handling abilities. The road block comes once the electronics are called into action. Earlier, I mentioned how the CBR1000RR and CBR1000RR SP felt a bit unpolished. Now that you have a better understanding for the machine’s electronic components, I can better explain what I mean. The scenario explained at the opening of this review, about the wheelie floating before shifting to sixth and bringing it back down, was a one-time occurrence. The wheelie itself happened lap after lap, but the motorcycle reacted inconsistently in its attempts to tame it. Once the wheel sensors detect a wheelie is occurring, it’ll drastically close throttle butterflies to bring the tire back to the ground, and it’s far from a smooth retardation of power. Instead it’s almost as if you’ve run out of fuel for a moment. It seemed odd that Honda would opt not to incorporate IMU data when factoring wheelie control, and the result on track proved it. Sometimes big wheelies were allowed, other times the front hardly lifted. As far as controlling rear tire slides go, the HSTC seemed to operate as advertised. With the traction control in its lowest setting, I was able to get the standard bike’s S21 rear to slide a little with too much throttle coming out of a tight hairpin. It was to the point where a highside would have occurred had I not backed off the gas. Conversely, experimenting in setting 8 of 9, whacking the throttle open in any turn while leaned over meant you weren’t getting any power until the bike was upright. On the SP fitted with soft-compound slicks, slides weren’t an issue, so TC didn’t get much of a workout except when wheelies were involved. I got caught up behind some old guy with “Spencer” written across his Honda-branded leathers. They tell me he was pretty good back in the day. Electronic frustrations continue when it comes to braking, as the Tokico calipers on the base model and Brembo units on the SP provide excellent stopping power. However, in the confines of a racetrack, where hard braking is a regular event, the rear lift control feature intervenes far too often. The result is a pulsing brake lever similar to ABS activation at points where it wasn’t warranted. This isn’t just my own opinion, as nearly all the other journos within earshot were commenting about the same thing. More than one tester, myself included, blew a corner while braking because the pulsing ABS activation to control rear lift meant there were moments where the pads weren’t squeezing the disc even though fingers were firm on the lever. The answer would be to simply turn off ABS, but that wasn’t something we had time to test. We were short on time because Honda really wanted everyone to sample the Ohlins S-EC on the SP models to get a feel for the differences each A1 change can make. In reality, there were far too many setting changes available for the time we had allotted, so the plan instead was to experience extremes. After riding a few laps in the default settings, the General A1 settings were changed to +5, the firmest setting. The result was a bike that felt stiff as a board, diving what felt like a minimal amount under braking and squatting a minimal amount on corner exit drive, too. Ohlins S-EC gives the SP rider a multitude of options to adjust their bike to their liking, but we might have reached a point where we’ve got too many choices. Conversely, switching to the opposite extreme, General -5, gave predictable results. The CBR suddenly felt like a Cadillac in comparison. Both ends were too soggy; the front providing zero confidence while leaned over and the rear squatting quite a bit under acceleration. So much so I had to give less throttle than I normally would have exiting certain turns. From there, none other than 500cc Grand Prix legend Freddie Spencer dialed in the A1 settings he liked on his bike over to mine. It involved some slight deviations from the default settings in the various categories, but the resulting feel from the bike was noticeably better than even just the default settings. All with just a few toggles and button presses. No more bloody knuckles. In the end, the suspension tuning experiment was an eye-opener to the systems capabilities, but we hardly scratched the surface of the system’s functions. We simply ran out of time. 2017 Honda CBR1000RR + Highs Much improved engine power Light and nimble chassis All the ingredients for a real contender – Sighs Draconian wheelie control Annoying ABS/rear lift control The ingredients are there, but the recipe isn’t perfect Two Steps Forward, One Step Back Coming into this First Ride review of the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR I had really high hopes. The premise of the CBR we know and love, now rid of the power deficit it had before, was drool-worthy. Add some IMU-based electronics and the might of Honda developing it, and it was sure to please. The reality was that, while certain areas of the CBR are much better than before, its electronics aren’t at the same level as the rest of the motorcycle. That said, I’m a fan of the new bike’s engine and chassis – both are really good – and aesthetically I think the new ’Blade is one of the best looking sportbikes out there. Who knows, if an aftermarket tuning company can reprogram the ECU to incorporate software that uses the full might of the IMU, I think the CBR could be completely transformed. As it stands, however, I’m perplexed by the ’Blades few shortcomings, as it detracts from an otherwise solid track missile. A short summary of the CBR1000RR and CBR1000RR SP: they are great motorcycles with a few glaring flaws. Thankfully, those flaws come down to software and not hardware. Meaning some rearranging of the ones and zeros has the potential to transform Honda’s flagship production sportbike. Pricing for the 2017 CBR will start at $16,499 for the base model sans ABS. Adding ABS, the total comes to $16,799, while the SP model can be yours for $19,999. Now that the new CBR1000RR is here, and the new Suzuki GSXR-1000 (and GSXR-1000R) will be ridden by the world’s press next week, it seems to me like another literbike shootout is in order – and we’ll be sure to bring it to you as soon as we can. Stay tuned. 2017 Honda CBR1000RR and CBR1000RR SP Review appeared first on Motorcycle.com.