#ok to rb just don’t add anything weird or stupid

[formulazero]

Sorry, excuse my ignorance but what significance does the number 18 have in Judaism?

OH BABY TIME FOR ME TO TALK ABT ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!!!

so!! every letter of the hebrew alphabet (which, sidenote, is probably where the word alphabet came from before its greek roots seeing as the first two letters are aleph (א) and bet (ב)) has a numerical value associated with it. the system is called gematria (גימטריה) which literally means numerology.

(another brief sidenote: the numbers don’t just go up by one the further you go into the alphabet!! once you hit ten, it starts going up by tens, and then once you hit 100 it starts going up by 100s! so the last letter of the alphabet, tav (ת) is actually worth 400 instead of 22!)

the hebrew word for life, chai (not like the tea, it’s a hard ch/hard h sound aka that wonderful horrible back of the throat noise) (spelled חי) is made up of chet (again, hard ch) (ח) which is worth 8 and yud (י) which is worth 10. 10 + 8 = 18.

as it’s the number of life, it’s important in some practices & traditions!! some people, when donating money or giving monetary gifts, will do it in multiples of 18, to essentially “give life” to things. it’s a lucky number, and a good number.

so, in short: jewish king lance stroll lives on

[racingtoaredlight]

WAY TOO SOON!™ post all-star games, pre-combine 2019 NFL 1st round mock draft

You can see the existential disappointment on Nick Bosa’s face and he’s not wrong.

Mock drafts are the worst. The earlier they are, the dumber they are.

The way things currently stack up all of the online pundits and such are posting mock drafts featuring a bunch of players they don’t even like and working with the worthless rule that they can’t propose trades. Why bother with that? It’s all such a flight of fancy, anyway. Just go all in.

From where we are right now, Nick Bosa is the obvious #1 pick and nobody really loves any of the QBs. I’d still put money on a QB going #1 overall after somebody makes a terrible seeming trade with Arizona.

1. OAKLAND RAIDERS - Drew Lock, QB, Missouri

My going theory here is that the Raiders are insanely stupid. Drew Lock is not the top QB on a lot of draft boards right now and he’s definitely not the top player. Also the Raiders have the third highest paid QB in the league on their current roster. Might as well swing for the fences on a zero-win season heading into Las Vegas. The presumption here is that Derek Carr gets jettisoned and they trade all three of their first-round picks for Lock.

2. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS - Nick Bosa, EDGE, Ohio State

If Bosa is there at #2 the 49ers have to pull the trigger. I think he’s a little over-valued, especially given the depth at the position but I also thought his brother was going to suck so don’t get the idea I know what I’m talking about.

3. NEW YORK JETS - Jawaan Taylor, OT, Florida

This is counting on Taylor doing extremely well at the Combine. And the Jets continuing a long and storied history of making weird draft picks.

4. NEW YORK GIANTS - Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio State

No clue what to expect from Haskins after he gets drafted. His arm is OK, his athleticism is OK, his decision-making is pretty good, his accuracy/placement is good. There just isn’t enough body of work to really project anything for him but I want the Cardinals to keep moving down and the mock drafts with like 8 defensive line/edge guys going in the top 10 look insane to me.

5. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS - Josh Allen, EDGE, Kentucky

IDEAL FIT! Really, this would be pretty great for the Bucs but who knows with Bruce Arians in place.

6. ARIZONA CARDINALS - DK Metcalf, WR, Mississippi

Metcalf’s athletic comps are gonna be ridiculous. Get ready for a bunch of people to compare him to Calvin Johnson. Maybe he’s really that good but the odds aren’t in favor of producing at that level for anybody.

7. DENVER BRONCOS - Daniel Jones, QB, Duke

This makes sense because the Jaguars are incapable of actually moving on from Blake Bortles no matter how obvious it is that they need to and the Broncos love having bad quarterbacks.

8. DETROIT LIONS - Quinnen Williams, DT, Alabama

The RTARLsman finally comes off the board! I don’t know what the Lions need or want. I know Matt Patricia sucks as a person and as a coach.

9. BUFFALO BILLS - Ed Oliver, DT, Houston

Don’t let Ian Zeirlein gaslight you, he absolutely said there are teams that would move Oliver to linebacker. That’s idiotic. Oliver is going to be undersized for an interior DL but he’s got enough strength and quickness to make up for the 15 or so lbs he would need to be optimal. Interior rush is going to win the Rams a Super Bowl tomorrow and Oliver is a killer in the passing game. The Bills roster kind of sucks so they can go a million directions sensibly but in my heart I still think Oliver is the best player in this draft.

10. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS - Greedy Williams, CB, LSU

A really dumb thing that’s almost sure to happen this offseason is the Jags trading away Jalen Ramsey. Williams reminds me more of fellow LSU alum Marcus Peters as a player but that’s not necessarily terrible.

11. CINCINNATI BENGALS - Jonah Williams, OT, Alabama

The Bengals really sucked on the interior of the line in 2018 but it’s pretty early to cut bait on Billy Price and #11. They also suck out loud at QB and LB but need/supply make a tackle seem like a better pick.

12. GREEN BAY PACKERS - Jachai Polite, EDGE, Florida

Clelin Ferrell and Brian Burns are rated higher by most draft media right now but Polite is going to test out of this world and Brian Burns is going to weigh like 208 lbs. Ferrell is probably going to make a more immediate impact than Polite but tremendous upside is always an enticement.

13. MIAMI DOLPHINS - Clelin Ferrell, EDGE, Clemson

Last year at this time the Dolphins pass rush group looked pretty good and now they’re talking about cutting all of those guys. Ferrell isn’t insanely athletic but he’s not a stiff, either. He got better every year at Clemson and getting him at #13 seems like a pretty good deal.

14. ATLANTA FALCONS - Christian Wilkins, DL, Clemson

The dream for the Falcons is to have Ed Oliver fall this far but Christian Wilkins might actually fit their team better, anyway.

15. WASHINGTON - Jeffrey Simmons, DL, Mississippi State

Not the biggest area of need for Washington but a perfect culture fit.

16. CAROLINA PANTHERS - Mack Wilson, LB, Alabama

On the one hand this seems like a good trade target for a team that wants to move up but on the other hand there are only 4 good players in this draft and once the QBs are gone, who’s trading up?

17. CLEVELAND BROWNS - Byron Murphy, CB, Washington

The Browns are shockingly low on glaring needs. Another CB opposite Denzel Ward makes sense to me but Murphy might actually be too similar to last year’s #4 overall pick. I love DeAndre Baker but the buzz is that he’s a lot smaller than listed and also going to run somewhere close to a 4.6. Bryce Hall really fucked up returning to school.

18. MINNESOTA VIKINGS - Cody Ford, OT, Oklahoma

Ford may very well fall victim to poor testing like his former teammate Orlando Brown, Jr., but Brown looked pretty good as a NFL rookie and Ford won’t be that bad at the Combine. There are probably 15 good players in this draft but most of them are boring. Ford is in that camp.

19. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS - Chris Lindstrom, OL, Boston College

The Seahawks are dutybound to make things weird at the draft. Lindstrom seems like the kind of bad OL that the Seahawks love and nobody else is going to take him in the first round so I’m projecting them to move up to take him.

20. PITTSBURGH STEELERS - Brian Burns, EDGE, Florida State

Also deadset on fucking things up for no reason in the draft, this would actually count as a safe pick for the Steelers. It doesn’t address an area of need and Burns is a really weird player because of his weight but he’s athletic and tall and nobody else will have him rated higher than the second round.

21. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES - Dalton Risner, OT, Kansas State

Other players I considered: Montez Sweat, Nasir Adderley, Rashan Gary. Risner is possibly the best OL in the draft and might be long gone by #21 but if he’s there he’s the best player at a position of relative need.

22. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS - Joshua Jacobs, RB, Alabama

This is not at all a need pick and it’s probably not at all realistic but I think Jacobs gives the offense so much more dimension than anybody else available can give them. He’s like Marlon Mack but actually good (sorry, GG) and he honestly can add as much to the passing game as any of the WRs. At least for the Colts.

23. TENNESSEE TITANS - Montez Sweat, EDGE, Mississippi State

Sweat is going to be a really boring NFL player. That’s perfect for the league’s most forgettable franchise.

24. BALTIMORE RAVENS - Nasir Adderley, S, Delaware

The Ravens need some youth in the defensive backfield and Adderley could be an off-brand version of Derwin James. Admittedly, at this time last year I thought James was going to suck but in my defense I’d watched how FSU used him and figured that was related to his abilities.

25. ARIZONA CARDINALS - Yodney Cajuste, OT, West Virginia

There is no shortage of needs on the Cardinals roster but they need to have at least a few offensive linemen that could start for a really good high school team.

26. HOUSTON TEXANS - David Edwards, OT, Wisconsin

A lot of NFL teams have bad offensive line situations and there are a bunch of decent OL prospects this year. But not so many that you can wait on them. WR is absolutely loaded this year but there are so many of them that teams can wait for them. The Texans don’t particularly need WRs. I’m not sure why this is where I chose to write about this.

27. ARIZONA CARDINALS - Dexter Lawrence, DL, Clemson

Again, the Cardinals need everything. Lawrence has his detractors and he kind of needs a great Combine but the potential is sky high.

28. SAN DIEGO CHARGERS - Kyler Murray, QB, Oklahoma

The odds of making a bunch of money is better for Murray in the NFL than in MLB but the odds that he’s about as good in the NFL as Johnny Manziel are still pretty high. The only reason to risk a first round pick on him rather than a second or third is that you’ll need at least 5 seasons before you stop worrying that he’ll actually die from being hit. Murray is tiny. He would be the smallest QB in the league in about 50 years. For all his arm talent and poise he was getting about 9 seconds per play at Oklahoma before he faced pressure. He won’t get 3 seconds on an average NFL play. But the Chargers need to start planning for a post-Rivers world and their head coach’s natural proclivities are more towards a run-based scheme. Worth a shot, maybe?

29. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS - Darrell Henderson, RB, Memphis

This is a dream pick for me more than an honest guess. To be honest, they could probably get Henderson towards the end of the second round. I just love the fit of Henderson in Andy Reid’s offense too much to not mention it.

30. GREEN BAY PACKERS - Kelvin Harmon, WR, North Carolina State

I thought of going ahead with a second EDGE defender and giving them Zach Allen and the Packers have shown a willingness to double up on positions in the draft but then I thought about how good this group of WRs is and how weird it would be to go through the whole first round with only one going off the board.

31. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS - Zach Allen, EDGE, Boston College

I don’t know if this makes sense for the Pats or not but Allen is built like Chris Jones and could be a fun weapon for Belichick.

32. LOS ANGELES RAMS - Sheldrick Redwine, S, Miami

Redwine mostly played safety at The U but his athletic profile might have him playing more CB at the next level. The Rams high priced defensive backfield mostly sucks and they could use help all over back there so I’m making the home pick to end the first round and giving them one of the more versatile backs in the draft.

[carnelianfoxx]

just talking out loud about RB stuff, regarding plot and taking itself too seriously. feedback welcome honestly, let me know if you agree or disagree (it’s 3 am when i post this so ill probably regret this and delete it in the morning lmao. it’s a giant wall of text, sorry mobile people)

Been reading some people say that they didn’t like when RB takes itself too seriously and turns philosophical. Just wanted to talk about it a little.

I feel like that’s a fear that I’ve always had with the series. The deeper I take it, the less people will like it. I can add lots of jokes, but the plot definitely takes itself seriously. I take it seriously, tbh. The entire series is built upon my feelings for bionicle and life in general. There are two ways it takes itself seriously though: Community-wise, and plot-wise. I’ll start with community first.

The reason RB (specifically "Therapy”) went in the direction it did was because it was essentially a PSA to the community. People were worried about the direction gen 2 was heading, and there was a lot of “panic” (communities in general don’t handle bad news well tbh). So that’s the point- it was telling everyone there’s no need for panic, we’ve been through this. Yeah, it went to philosophical mush. But it was so worth it, because I got many comments and messages from people telling me that it helped them. It helped me, too. It was a message to myself.

“Anonymous” goes even deeper. I think it has way more jokes, but the community needs something positive. It’s a little late, but it has words I think people need to hear. If bionicle was continuing, “Anonymous” would be completely different and probably 100% joke centered.

NOW, here’s plot-wise. This gets difficult.

RB’s overarching plot (RB 4) is going to go “there”. “There”, meaning it is going to take itself seriously. It is going to deal with themes and other shit. There’s more to it now. It has a plot that can thrive on it’s own without bionicle cancelling or rebooting. (only RB 4��s plot tho)

I agree, the series is weird for me because it’s bionicle sets with text to speech characters. It’s not fundamentally serious. In fact, it’s stupid. It’s stupid as hell. And I often look at what I’m writing and go “I don’t know if people will like this”. But here’s why I'm still doing it:

Reviving Bionicle exists because it’s therapeutic for me. RB 1 was because of depressed feelings I couldn’t shake, not even about bionicle. I was working at a production company where I felt incredibly inferior, and treated like shit. I wanted to create something that maybe, just maybe, looked like a real film. I had no friends. I had bionicle sets, speakonia, my camcorder, and my feelings. Thus, RB 1 was born.

RB 2 was different. RB 2 was because I got a new camera and bionicle was returning. It wasn’t so much anything personal, as much I wanted to test my writing and camera chops.

When I began writing RB 3 my life really wasn’t ok. I won’t go into detail but I had feelings to write off of. Thus denmark, thus some sad scenes, thus taking it a little more seriously. Look at the denmark ARG. That’s some edgy shit, but it was therapeutic. For me.

RB 4′s plot now exists for one reason. I need it. I need it. I have cried multiple times over just writing it out. This is so personal to me now. I am taking this seriously, because it is helping me cope through some awful shit.

Reviving Bionicle helps me. It’s helped other people, but now it’s here to help me. That’s why it takes itself seriously. Because I’m not ok.

@ those who don’t like it when it’s serious, I’m sorry. I will try to curb it a little. Anonymous has already been through a billion re-writes, and I guess I’ll re-write it some more for y’all. But RB 4 will be difficult, because now it’s personal.

RB’s largest demographic are people ages 18-25. That is an age group filled with scared people. I’m in that age group. I’m scared. Maybe they’ll watch text-to-speech bionicle sets tell them a postitive message, going through the things they’re going through.

Maybe they’ll listen.

(and if you want to see how edgy a series with action figures and text-to-speech voices can get, go watch arby n the chief)