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(Because I figured "Why wait?" Anywho, I hope to develop this scene a bit more by the time it works its way into the story. First things first, some reminders: -Dragon-Lord Aile is a little short, has long tan hair, tan eyes, wears a black t-shirt, khakis, a dragon scale jacket, and a bracelet (specifics still being brainstormed) -Thunder-Lord Zempyst has extremely light blonde hair pulled up in a ponytail, yellow eyes, wears silver pants, a pale yellow belt, a silver button-down long sleeved shirt, scratched up silver bracers on her arms, and lightning bolt earrings -"Tsundere" is a Japanese term used for a pattern of behavoir where a character switches between "tsuntsun"--being mean towards a specific individual--and "deredere"--being kind and caring towards that individual. May cut it out of the final version, but it seemed to appropriate I had to at least use it here. Now then, the preview begins:) Zempyst strode across the arena, saying, “You’ve got that look again. What are you telling her?” “It’s a secret,” Aile playfully replied. “I’ll tell you if you come closer.” “I’m not falling for that one again,” Zempyst stated. “You’re just going to latch on once I get close.” Aile sighed, “And there’s the downside of you knowing me so well. Why are you afraid of loving me?” Zempyst was started to get visibly flustered. “I just don’t like having the life squeezed out of me by those vice-like arms of yours!” “Come on, I know you’re not that fragile.” “I’m not fragile at all!” “Then prove it!” Aile lunged at Zempyst and locked her arms around the Thunder-Lord. Xyla took a few steps back as Zempyst attempted in vain to wriggle her way to freedom. “H-Hey! I didn’t agree to this!” “Well if I waited for you to stop being so tsundere, I’d never get to hug you!” “Stop calling me tsundere! It starts rumors!” “You know I don’t care what other people think.” Zempyst gave a desperate look to Xyla. “Are you just going to stand there or help me?!” Hesitantly, Xyla answered, “I, uh…I don’t think I understand this relationship enough to get involved.” “You’re kidding!!” Zempyst exclaimed. “Ugh…” “You know how to make me stop, Sparky,” Aile said. “Fine,” Zempyst growled. Aile loosened her grip just enough for Zempyst to slip her arms free. The Thunder-Lord half-heartedly returned the embrace, and a few moments later Aile released her. “You really need to cut that out,” Zempyst muttered. “And wipe that stupid grin off your face!” “I have no intention of doing either,” Aile adamantly responded. As Zempyst stormed off, Xyla gave Aile a puzzled look. “I don’t get it,” she asked. “Why do you hang out with Zempyst all the time if she’s so irritable?” Aile smiled. “You mean besides her good looks, dependability, compassion, sense of humor, intelligence, perseverance, responsibility, and ability to not let her emotions mess with her judgment?” From the other side of the arena, Aile and Xyla could hear Zempyst yelling angrily and one of her Apprentices. Quickly, Aile added, “Well, her judgment on major issues.” Xyla had yet to see Zempyst display any of these qualities, but she thought it best not to say so. “Yeah, besides all that.” “Let me tell you a story,” Aile began. “Once upon a time, a group of fourteen awesome kids were gathered up and named the Original Element-Lords. The Dragon-Lord quickly proved herself to be the most awesome, but, unfortunately, all that power went to her head and she became totally unbearable to be around. For whatever reason, the Thunder-Lord was more irritated by the Dragon-Lord’s attitude than the others were, and the two of them formed a hostile rivalry. Islands shook when they battled, and they battled a lot, even though it never really solved anything. After a while, the Element-Lords decided they needed to pick a leader, something that the Dragon-Lord was sure she’d be great for. When the Rahaga-Lord was chosen to lead, the Dragon-Lord was furious and challenged him to a battle.” Aile took on a more solemn air at this point. “In her blind fury, the Dragon-Lord lost control of her power…and she nearly killed the Rahaga-Lord. Really, it’s a miracle he survived, but he did, and he was even willing to forgive and forget. But the Dragon-Lord was ashamed of what she had done, and became horrified of her own power. She fell into a deep, dark depression the likes of which none of the other Element-Lords had ever seen. Some of them tried to help her, but there was nothing they could do, and she came dangerously close to the point of no return. But when all hope seemed lost, the Thunder-Lord—the last person the Dragon-Lord expected to see—came to visit. The Dragon-Lord was so surprised that she actually listened when the Thunder-Lord told her the things she needed to hear. The Thunder-Lord practically dove into the darkness and pulled the Dragon-Lord back out…she stayed with her, forced her to move on, and helped her forgive herself. All this from someone the Dragon-Lord thought hated her…” Aile inhaled sharply, smiled, and turned to Xyla. “So, the Dragon-Lord got her fight back, with a much more bearable if somewhat zany new personality to boot, and she and the Thunder-Lord became best friends with just a little remaining hint of rivalry. And, you know…they lived happily ever after and whatnot. And I do mean ‘ever after’, what with the eternal youth thing. Does that answer your question?” Stunned, Xyla stammered, “Uh…I…” Zempyst was sending her Apprentice away now. She put her hands on her hips, sighed, and looked back at Aile. Waving, Aile whispered, “I know she’s rough around the edges, but she cares a lot more than she lets on. If she weren’t here, then I wouldn’t be either.” Zempyst shook her head and left the Battlefield. Xyla turned to Aile again, saying, “So…you just ignore it when she’s difficult?” Aile shrugged and replied, “When you care about someone, you won’t let them push you away no matter how hard they try. Especially when you know that, deep down, they care about you too.” Xyla suddenly found herself thinking about Genakex. She shook her head, saying, “Uh, I see.” A sly smile crossed Aile’s face. “So, is Genakex on to your tsundere act yet?” “What?!” Xyla asked. “I-I-I’m not tsundere!!” “Xyla, I know tsundere when I see it. After spending so much time with Sparky, I can practically smell it. So how about we cut to the chase and you just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’?” A few other words crossed Xyla’s mind first. After setting them aside, she mumbled, “…Yeah. I think he is.” “Then he’s not gonna give up. He may not be as enthusiastic about it as I am, but the persistence will definitely be there. And, as someone who has spent decades being on the ‘tsuntsun’ end of tsundere, I’d like to encourage you to try and shift towards the ‘deredere’ side. No…no not encourage—beg is probably better. Being targeted by all that tsuntsun is no fun…” Xyla looked away, grumbling, “Sure, I’ll consider that.” “That’s all I ask,” Aile said. “Anyway, I’m hungry. I’ll see you later.” Aile left the Battlefield next. Xyla, left to herself now, sighed, “Why are so many of the Original Element-Lord insane?”
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Chapter One: A New Life is RevealedIn this world, there are many types of people, but there are only a few that most take note of - those that follow their destiny, whatever that may be, and those that grip their destiny and write it themselves. However, the person of interest in this story is part of a third group, one where they help those that create their own, no matter the cost. We look now at the beginning of that child's life, in a hospital on Shade-Isle...Fluorescent lights lined the hallway, bringing the muted, light grey walls to a peculiar shine that made everything almost dreamlike, especially in the abandoned ward. A lone man sat hunched, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped, in the end seat of a row of chairs, the only sign of life being the steady rise and fall of his back as he breathed, waiting. Waiting.Suddenly, a hoarse, agonising scream rent the quiet of the hospital, seeming to echo for an eternity down the vacant hall. The man's head snapped up, his eyes bursting with frustration and concern as he stared intently at the door in front of him, willing himself to stay seated and allow the doctor to do her work. A muscle jumped in his neck as though he were physically fighting himself not to barge in like a Kikanalo. Then the sound he had been waiting, straining to hear, came.The crying of a newborn.The man relaxed with a sigh of relief, rolling his shoulders to work out the kink in his neck that had been there for what felt like an hour. Then he stood up, breathed deeply, strode to the door and, without knocking, let himself in. In the first bed on the right, surrounded by the doctor and two nurses, was without a doubt the most beautiful woman he had ever known. Ielarae Ahkotsku, her deep azure hair haloing her head and neck in a stringy, knotted mess, her hazelnut brown skin glistening with sweat that reflected the cold, hard fluorescent light into almost an aurora around her, her half lidded eyelids failing to hide her rich amber eyes, usually full of excitement and mischief, now empty with effort but yet lit with love and compassion as she stared down.Within her arms lay a bundle of cloth almost like a pillow, the babe nestled inside no longer crying but sleeping contentedly, occasionally waving a tiny hand in front like it was trying to catch a dream. His skin was a healthy pinkish-peach, and his hair was a veritable mess of black. Neiphelm Ahkotsku looked down at his wife and newborn son with love and fatherly tenderness. As he stared down onto his son, oblivious to the congratulations that were lavished upon him by the staff, the boy opened his eyes and stared back at him, his eyes the colour of the clouds of a fine day, flecks of golden-amber spread haphazardly within the blank stare that rapidly grew into what could only be described as warmth and love.As Neiphelm and Ielarae stared with wonder, the young Ahkotsku's little mouth broke into a wide, open smile as he gurgled happily before returning to his slumber."Neiph?" Her voice, husky though it was from the exertion, still held the melodious tone that had captivated him so long ago."Yes, Iela?" His voice, though rough from disuse for such a long time, carried with it the strength and confidence that had won her heart."What shall we name him?""How about... Phaenyx." Almost as though he had heard them, the babe stirred and stared sleepily up at his parents before dozing off again. Neiphelm and Ielarae smiled as they saw his reaction, and without needing to consult any further, decided upon the name.Sitting carefully on the side of the bed so as to not disturb the peaceful scene, Neiphelm wrapped an arm around his beloveds shoulders and gently pulled her close, placing his other hand on top of his wife's where it held together the blankets around his naked son, as they bent their heads in unison and whispered gently,"Welcome to the world, Phaenyx Ahkotsku."As the new parents embraced each other and their newborn baby, the hospital fades as time blurs and shifts forwards...Review topic
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(Otherwise known as "An Abridged History of the Bioni-Lords Saga." This was originally done for a school paper, but I've made some edits to it since then. It's still probably not very good. Anywho, here we go...) I’m not original—never was. That’s why fanfiction has always appealed to me: you already have an idea to start with, you just need to take it and work with it. When I’m in a particularly good mood, I say that my creativity lies in combining and twisting pre-existing ideas rather than creating my own original ones. The rest of the time, I say I have no creativity. I don’t stick with a whole lot of my ideas—most of them end up being abandoned a few chapters in—but there is one major exception: a “saga” of stories that are almost original while at the same time borrowing from dozens of series. It will take a while to explain, but should you have the time, I would be honored to share with you the story of my story. As you may have guessed, all throughout my childhood one of my most key interests has been the Bionicle series. I have spent a lot of time thinking about things I could do with the Bionicle story or the concept of it, and one was to combine it with the ever-popular Pokémon series. (Please understand, I was 12 at the time this idea occurred to me.) The concept was simple: it was Pokémon, but the Pokémon were replaced with Bionicles. I made a text-based game based on this idea and posted it here on BZP; people could join, collect Bionicles, and have them fight each other. Since I was not a Premier Member, I needed to get someone else to start this up for me…and soon afterward, that person said he couldn’t keep up and had the game shut down. At the time, I was furious. In truth, this was a wonderful blessing. I could have just restarted the game, but for some reason I thought I had to rework it into something new before doing so, or else I would get in trouble. After some thought, I did what (to me) was the logical evolution of the concept: the player would still fight and collect Bionicle Pokémon (or would Pokémon Bionicles be more accurate…?), but rather than sending these creatures to fight each other, one would fuse with the creature to obtain its armor and abilities in order to fight. (Again, please keep in mind that I was 12.) I decided to name these creatures “Bioni-Spirits” for some reason, and the humans who fused with these Spirits were dubbed “Bioni-Lords.” (“Bioni” for “Bionicle” and “Lord” as in “master.” Essentially, a “master of Bionicles.”) I reformatted the text-based game and prepared to restart it, this time able to do so myself…and that’s when I got the idea to turn this concept into a story. Since I was 12, the story was set to be very simple. I would just call it “Bioni-Lords: The Epic,” and a Bioni-Lord based on me would go on a quest mirroring the events of the game and end up fighting some cliché villain because he was, in fact, “The Chosen One.” (I. Was. 12. It may seem like I’m overemphasizing this, but I feel the need to do so because of how ridiculous these ideas are.) I didn’t know how long it would take to write this story, so I decided to serialize the chapters one-by-one in the Epics Forum, and since I had seen several other stories who had allowed readers to submit their own “guest star” characters, I said I was open to this as well. So, I began writing Bioni-Lords Book 1. Oh, what a literary atrocity those early chapters were! Terrible grammar, overly simplistic, poor characterization, virtually no setting at all! I’m amazed that even one single person committed to wading through just one of those chapters! Yet someone did! People came and people went—I’ve never had a particularly large group of readers at any point in time, but there have always been at least a few, and I encouraged them to submit characters, design their own Bioni-Spirits, and even send plot ideas. The thing is, though, I have a tendency to procrastinate, and I suffer from a severe case of writer’s block. Bioni-Lords Book 1 began in June of 2005. Its first version wasn’t completed until August of 2008. As you can imagine, I developed greatly as a writer over those three years, and made massive adjustments to the story as I went on. I also took some time to go back and rewrite the story, although it wasn’t my main focus (since I was working on serializing Book 2 at the time), and I’m sure it still requires a lot of work. Also during that time frame, I expanded the scope of Bioni-Lords: rather than having Bioni-Spirits based solely on Bionicles, I started to design Spirits based on characters from a variety of other fictional series, and my readers did the same. In a sense, Bioni-Lords has become a “fanfiction of everything”—something that you can throw things from all manner of sources into (although they’re not all used in the story itself). The plot was also influenced in this way—I became a huge fan of the Kingdom Hearts video games, and through that came to like the Final Fantasy series, both of which have fairly convoluted plots that I have attempted to emulate. (Usually, however, it only ends up making things confusing.) The “Book 2” I mentioned earlier was started in March 2009, and I just put the Epilogue online during November 2011. It might have taken only two years rather than three, but it was actually longer than the first one. (Maybe this means I’m improving!) The second book still mirrored the general course of that game (which I had abandoned by this point), but I extended the primary plot and added a second one, alternating between the two. (It may seem repetitive, but the reason is based in the society of the world—all Bioni-Lords are expected to journey across a string of islands, and Book 2 focuses on the son of Book 1’s main character taking this journey.) Right before I started serializing Book 2, I decided that I needed to add some flavor to the titles, and since I had developed a thing for Japanese media, I decided to use Japanese words as titles for future Bioni-Lords Books. For example, the second book ended up being called “Bioni-Lords Book 2: Sekai”; “sekai” is the Japanese word for “world”, and Book 2 expands the world of Bioni-Lords (mainly by introducing a new Atlantis-style continent). I had matured by this point, so I’m in no hurry to rewrite Sekai like I was with Book 1, but Sekai still has its problems… This is where my openness to reader input exceeded my skill level. There was so much stuff that I had to try to fit into Sekai! It became a real problem later on, when I was asked to include some new characters who were (supposed to be) very powerful and important…that didn’t exactly happen. In addition, I didn’t do the best job at spacing the secondary plot, and I probably should’ve tried integrating both plots a little better. Also, the son of Book 1’s main character ended up a little…lackluster. He needs more character development. Not his girlfriend, though—I really enjoyed using her as a character, and I think she was well-received. I also introduced a new character who is (supposedly) the strongest person in the world…but she’s so goofy that you can never take her seriously, and she never seems all that interested in helping out. (She easily could have defeated the final villain of Sekai all on her own. Instead, she waits until he effortlessly knocks out almost every other character in the entire book before finishing him off.) But forgetting all that, I love something else born of this book that I feel deserves its own paragraph. This requires some in-depth info. To enable the fusion that creates a Bioni-Lord, when a Bioni-Spirit is defeated it transforms into a glass Orb filled with a spark of energy. Humans usually use these Orbs to fuse with Spirits, but there is a technology in the timeframe of Sekai that lets people pull the Spirit out of the Orb, convert it to data, and store it in a watch-like device. (For the record, this idea was submitted by a reader. I can’t take credit.) While thinking about this, I began contemplating the uses of these empty glass orbs…what if they still contained some residual power from the Spirit? What if a maniacal glass-maker collected thousands of such orbs? If he were to melt them down into shards, and then place these shards on a robot skeleton, would that robot have the powers of all those Spirits? An android with a nearly unlimited range of powers, powers that came from a unique source, thus making it almost invulnerable to conventional means of attack…the uber-powerful, fan-favorite mechanical menace that I affectionately refer to as “Project Stained Glass.” Stained Glass has seen a few variations, each one granting it an even wider range of powers, and while it has been incapacitated a few times, it has never really been “defeated”…and probably never will. I fully intend to somehow incorporate Stained Glass in the original stories I plan to eventually write and, hopefully, sell, as it is perhaps the only (more or less) original entity in the Bioni-Lords Saga. I’m sure we all remember the server crash that made BZPower inaccessible for a portion of 2011, something that obviously delayed the conclusion of Sekai. But, thankfully, BZP did come back, so I wrapped up Sekai and began prepping my readers for Bioni-Lords Book 3: Kako, a process which began in the last chapter and epilogue of Sekai. The villain who was defeated in Book 1 showed up, said he was sorry and all, and revealed that he is the uncle of Book 1 (and the saga’s) main character. Book 3: Kako (“kako” being the Japanese word for “past”) is a flashback to 20 years before Book 1, the timeframe where this villain/uncle and his brother were on their standard journey, so that we can see how a polite teenager turned into the world’s most hated villain. Plus, I figure this will give new readers and excellent place to jump in. I was very eager to begin writing it, and it’s been a fun experience thus far. I started serializing Kako in April, and it seems to be doing about as well as Books 1 and 2. Unfortunately, I have not been able to acquire any new readers as of yet, but my returning readers continue to provide me with helpful feedback, and I am very grateful to them. While I did try to keep out a flood of reader-submitted content (like what happened in Sekai), I did commit to collaborating with a few choice comrades, and I’ve gotten just about all I need out of them. To be honest, I have no idea how long it will take to write and serialize Kako, but I’m uncharacteristically optimistic that I can make it one of my best (and perhaps most original) stories yet. (More so than its predecessors, at least.) I’ve also given thought to what will happen after Kako, God-willing—but I’m cutting this part out since I don’t want to reveal my plans to my readers just yet. Sorry guys, but I have to try my very best to surprise you! How else will I gain your respect? Bioni-Lords has come a long way, due in no small part to the input of readers, and I’m rather proud of it…though, at the same time I’m embarrassed for putting so much time and effort into mere fanfiction. As of the update to this piece, there are over 1500 Bioni-Spirits, two websites I’ve made (using free, simple site builders) to serve for reference, over one and a half thousand notebook pages that record the Books and some short stories, and around 4 and a half megabytes of data on my computer used for storing Bioni-Lords data. It probably goes without saying, but if you have not seen the Bioni-Lords Saga thus far, I would like to ask you to take a look at Kako and provide me with some feedback—even if it is negative. I know that my stories need a lot of work, but if no one tells me what is wrong with them, how will I ever improve? Kako is still far, far from over, and I believe that provides me with plenty of time to fix it before it ends, so long as people are willing to share with me how they think I should best proceed. I know that I won’t actually get to do much with this story due to its nature, but I believe it to be a sort of warm-up that will allow me to hone my skills for the day I do, hopefully, develop a degree of originality. If nothing else, I feel obligated to bring this story to a complete close, as it has come to mean a lot to me over the years. There is no way I can forget about Bioni-Lords, and no way I can completely move on until I complete the eventual Book 5 I have planned, and I deeply, truly hope that I am able to learn something along the way. Is there a moral to this story? Do you mean Bioni-Lords or this memoir thing? Either way…I don’t really know. Honestly, I just hope I did a decent job of explaining the whole thing—exposition has never been my strong suit (something else that causes many, many problems). If you take something from this, then I’m glad; either way, I thank you for your time. We all know that it takes time and effort to become a writer of great skill—I’ve been working for years and I’m still not there. Of course, I was 12 when I started and I’m only 19 now, so…there’s that. On the other hand, I’d like to think that starting early will have benefits later on. It’s too soon to tell, but I hope and pray that I’ll get the chance to find out. Until then, you know where to find me: sitting in the Epics Forum piecing together words and references, trying my best to craft an endearing tale about a land where all of our fantasies can gather.
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What? This is my 50th blog entry? Well woo-hoo. Actually, I do have some semi-interesting stuff to post about. First of all, I can't believe I forgot to wish everyone a Happy Easter last week!! Related to forgetfulness, BIONICLE: The Forgotten Bond is officially over. I was considering turning it into a trilogy, but since so few people like it, I'm probably just going to drop it. Oh, and while The Legend of Korra already has two episodes online, the first two episodes air on TV tomorrow at...10 AM, I think? I'll be more excited next week when they air an episode I haven't seen yet. And for those of you interested in Pokemon, we FINALLY have info on Black and White 2!! It took them long enough...I have things to say about this, but I think they deserve their own blog entry. Might do a special entry tomorrow. Tying into that--I think I'm going to go ahead and make the Kyurem Spirit. I can always edit it later...oh, and I was able to complete the Spirits of the summer Hero Factory sets! Due to this, I think I'm going to start on HERO Model 2012...yes, I know it's early, but if the hour-long special is all the story we're getting for this year, why not? HOWEVER, I don't think I'll have time to put all these Spirits online for a while. It's final project season, so I'll be busy until, oh...the second week of May. And don't forget: I'm planning to post Kako next Thursday and Friday!! Since I've only typed up to Chapter 4, I think I'm going to try posting one chapter every Friday for now...that should get us up to finals week, and after that I can probably get more typing done. Although I will need to spend time finalizing VRHS for its June release... Speaking of VRHS, I have updates! First, I finally thought up specific restrictions for those 'special' Spirits: Exo-Kohrak Kal Abomination, Undead Cicada, Nikila will be treated as 180 FE Spirits, meaning you can't Track them until you're Level 5. Trynahk will be treated as a 200 FE Spirit. Exo-Barraki, Seeker of Darkness, Obscura: Angelic Paladin, Freeshooter, Silent Hero, Fading Memory, Luna Diviner, Graceful Assassin, Destined Key, Savage Thunderbolt, Shadow Toa Kopaka, and Locutus cannot be used alongside other Spirits or have their effect activated until you are Level 7. Also, I came up with some preliminary rosters for the Element-Lords in VRHS, and I wanted to run them by you guys. I should first note that since VR players can fight Fire, Stone, and Earth in any order, and HS can fight Ice, Air, and Water in any order, their rosters are somewhat variable. When dealing with these Element-Lords, whoever you fight first will only use the first Spirit in the roster below; if you fight them second, they'll use the first two; and if you fight them third, they'll use all three. Otherwise, order is not important. Numbers included in case you want to look them up in the Spirit Index. Fire: #1. Tahu, #1390. Splitface, #1320. Sir Adric Stone: #3. Pohatu, #1169. Evo 2.0, #1445. Tyranitar Earth: #5. Onua, #1453. Toa Onepu, #1443. Garchomp Ice: #7. Kopaka, #28. Toa Nuju, #1298. Nepol Air: #9. Lewa, #1388. Thornraxx, #178. Zaktan Water: #11. Gali, #942. Vapor, #860. Blastoise Jungle: #840. Venusar, #760. Gresh, #799. Vastus, #1458. Petrified Forest, #1268. Frost Lion Light: HERO Model 2012 (unfinished), #1280. Son Goku, #1243. Melding Teridax, #923. Water Apprentice, #953. RoboRider Nui Shadow: #1240. Heartless Composer, #1387. Black Phantom, #1270. Toa Akhmou, #648. Makuta Miserix, #618. Mu Warrior Psionics*: #1441. Shiki, #485. Suletu, #955. Orde, #710. Noise Fox, #1311. Danju Steel: #1401. Mountain Warrior, #956. Zaria, #1325. Lunar Convoy, #1377. Frenzied Swordsman, #1379. Omega Thunder: #1385. Surge 4.0, #1442. Thunder Lion, #954. Chiara, #1214. Fleeting Flash, #1278. Zekrom Rahaga: Stringer 4.0 (not on the list yet), #378. Zodiakai, #1001. Ikhav Warrior, #742. Chronicler 08, #229. Jovan, #1253. Perfect Program, #1302. Avatar Roku Dragon: #500. Ryurei, #1378. Shinryu, #1460. Singing Dragon (with a 180 FE host Spirit), #744. Crimson Dragon, #240. Kardas Dragon, Kyurem (unfinished), #682. Lance Dragon *Because of how Shiki works, I'm not sure if I should just have the Psionics-Lord summon the other Spirits in her roster, or give her several other Spirits to use for this purpose. Any preferences? On a side note...I was thinking that the Dragon-Lord may just start with Crimson Dragon and keep using Noise Change on each of her Spirits until they were all transformed into Parasite types. Of course, that could be unfair...any thoughts on that? Oh, and in case anyone's wondering about the Petrified Forest Spirit, I didn't like the Hero Factory combiners this year and decided to make my own. ZMoC-15 Petrified Forest is a combination of Evo 4.0 and Rocka 4.0. He has a crossbow, a plasma shooter, a tank arm, toxic resistant armor, Hex Shield technology, and projectile Hero Cuffs that can extend from his arm, lock onto the target, and pull them in so Forest can kick, punch, or throw them. I think that about covers it. I probably will make that Pokemon Black and White 2 post tomorrow...
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How do you suppose a wedding planner would react if I asked him/her to plan a fictional wedding? ...Cause...I got the idea in my head to actually write out Khadaz and Amy's wedding someday, but I know nothing about weddings... ... ...Anyway, the Spirit Index has been updated. Exo's Desk will get an Elemental Rarity update soon-ish (maybe, see below). Currently tossing around a few more Spirit ideas...think I might skip making a Chronicler 11 since not a whole lot happened in the Bionicle story last year. Oh, and I'm in talks to finalize the last King Bohrok! Oh, and, uh...Final Fantasy XIII-2 was released, so...I probably won't get a whole lot of extra work done anytime time soon. Eheheh... Like I said, I've been writing some Bioni-Lords-related stuff for one of my classes this semester, and since you guys went all of January with no Kako material, I thought you might be interested to see some of this stuff. Below is my attempt at an exercise in scenery, though it turned into a dialogue with some character development...hope to include it in Kako, but we'll have to see. Tahra turned her back on the ocean and shrugged, saying, "Eh, it's not so great." "You think so?" Kytan replied. "I don't know...I kind of like it." "You need to see some more scenery." "Such as?" "Such as the finer sights on my island." Kytan paused, eventually asking, "Could you be more specific?" Tahra gave him a sideways glance and asked, "Is it that important to you...?" "You don't have to share if you don't want to, but...I'm curious." "Alright," Tahra said dismissively, turning back around. "Well, one of my favorites is the charred forest." Kytan immediately remembered the vast cluster of dead, black-shelled trees that rose out of the red dirt on Ta-Isle. "Really?" Tahra gave him an impatient look, but very calmly said, "I'm not finished yet." Now that Kytan knew not to interrupt her, she continued, "It might not be much normally, but it's gorgeous when the sun breaks through the clouds after a heavy rain, when the magmist is still dispersing." A confused look crossed Kytan's face, and when Tahra noticed it she said, "Magmist? Volcano fog? You don't know about that? Huh, thought you would. I trust you remember the giant volcano on the island, at least? Well, when there's a lot of tain over the volcano, the water hitting the lava creates a whole bunch of steam that rolls over the top, down the slopes, and out into the charred forest. Not really sure why it stays so low--might have to do with the winds or the atmosphere or something. But anyway, it's called volcano fog, or magmist if you're lazy or like slang. It's from 'magma' and 'mist', by the way. When you're on the slopes of the volcano looking down, and the rain has stopped, and some sunlight punches through the clouds, it's a real nice scene." As she went on, both her tone and expression began to gradually soften: "The light's gentle, and it makes your view just clear enough to see the magmist swirling slowly, like its crawling steadily along the ground. Soon you lose it in the trees, but the branches intertwine to form a quilt that adds an extra layer to the scene, and they also cast this intricate shadow that keeps changing as the mist it falls on changes. That's when it starts to rise--it's quick but not too quick, and it seems to slow down when it twists around the branches...it kind of looks like the trees are alive again, with white leaves that look sorta...mystical agaisnt the black bark and the red ground. By then there's more sun, which makes the whole place light up, and as you see the mist make the last stretch of its trip upwards, you think back and realize it was like seeing snow fall in reverse, especially with how it thins out. And when it's over, even though you're just looking at a bunch of dead trees...the sunlight has come such a long way from where it started that the forest looks more hopeful than it's ever been. Maybe you expect the reversal of the seasons to keep going--leaves to jump up on the trees and turn green..." For the first time, Kytan saw Tahra smile; not a sarcastic smile, or amused, or teasing, but a soft smile that could only be generated by a genuine happiness that Tahra usually didn't seem to possess. "...Dad would always go to check on the volcano after a really bad rainstorm, and eventually I convinced him to take me with him. After seeing that view just once, there was never a single time I let him go without me..." Tahra suddenly jolted, as if she had just now realized that Kytan was there, and she immediately turned her head so that he wouldn't see the blush rising in her cheeks. "So, uh...yeah, that's it. You should see it sometime. It's way better than this lame ocean. Seriously, who cares? It's just water. I hate water..."
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No, I'm not going to give the history behind every name used in Bioni-Lords. Some of them were submitted by other people, so I don't know where they came from. But I thought I may as well publish the name origins I remember. Khadaz: It's "Zadakh" backwards, but with the K and H flipped Amy: I asked people to submit some ideas for female names, and this was the one that I thought seemed best Kharuun: "Nuurahk" backwards, but with the K and H flipped Hyohana: I looked up "ice" (hyo) and "flower" (hana) in Japanese, and then combined them Azara: She, and the other members of the Devil Squad, are all named after flowers. The characters they're based on have the same naming theme, although the names are a bit different. Zenrei Zokuhen: "zenrei"-precedent, "zokuhen"-sequel; both in Japanese. I think I liked the contrast... Vakahu: Vakama and Tahu Lhikahu: Lhikan and Tahu Onatewka: A mix of Onewa and Hewkii Hewtu: Hewkii and Pohatu Onupara: A mix of Onua and Nuparu Nupenua: Nuparu and Whenua Kopuju: Kopaka and Nuju Mataka: I think it's a corruption of Matatu, Nuju's Kanohi Leanga: I think it's a mix of Lewa and Kongu Phantau: Phantoka and Matau Cindy, Jerry, and Kate: Random names picked to continue the theme of using real-world names for Amy's family Nokali: Nokama and Gali Avanada: Av and Amanda Takon: A corruption of Takua/Takanuva Solenma: Solek and Tanma Norscu: A corruption of Norse (no clue why I picked that...) Rien: French for "nothing". I thought it sounded like a good character name...now I realize how cruel it is... Artakhall: A corruption of Artakha Tonnira: A corruption of "tonnerre"-thunder (in French) Zempyst: A mix of Zephyr and tempest Aile: French for "wing," a play on a dragon's wing Daxam: A pseudonym used by a friend of mine Nikari: I'm...really not sure... Gaizenji: Originally created for a mutant Suukorak who was a master of illusions. It's a corruption of Aizen, the name of a villain in Bleach who uses illusions. Verasu: "verre" (French) and "garasu" (Japanese), both of which mean glass. Although, I believe verre means glass as in a cup, and garasu is just "glass" with a Japanese accent... Nigala: I think it's a corruption of "Nile" Yume: Japanese for "dream"; I believe she has stated this in the story Stained Glass: Sadly, it doesn't look like stained glass. I picked it because stained glass has multiple colors, and Stained Glass is made up of Orbs of all types, including all Elements, which each have representative colors. And...it sounded cool. Kytan (whoever he is lol): Not sure...it makes me think "katana," but I may have just pulled it out of thin air Genakex: A pseudonym I use at times Xyla: No, not based on "xylophone"--she gets really mad if you call her that. I think I just wanted a name including X and pulled it out of thin air. Black Tide: All their names are corruptions of the names of the Barraki they use, except Nocturn--I named him "Red" as a pun on the "Red Nocturne" enemy from Kingdom Hearts
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Bioni - Lords Lecture: Les Quatre Freres De Lame
Pahrak Model ZX posted a blog entry in Mount Coronet
...Or sometimes "Les Quatre Freres des Lames," or sometimes with accent marks, or both... Les Quatre Freres de Lame were the first important group of sentient Spirits shown in the Bioni-Lords story--Obscura, BionicleKeyblade, Language, and Zodiakai. When each one seeks out a human ally and come into contact with each other, a great disaster is on the horizon, and more often than not they make the difference between victory and defeat but don't live through it. And the truth is...they're just something I made up as I went along. If you've read the lecture on the Origins of Bioni-Lords, you're familiar with Obscura's origins. Since he was the first Orb/Spirit/Bionimon/etc made by someone other than me, I thought he deserved an appearance in the story, so when I was coming up with Nikari I decided to give him Obscura. Ironically, due to Nikari's nature and sacrifice, that Obscura's voice was never heard and Obscura has had the least presence of any of Les Quatre Freres de Lame, to the point where he's the only one without a Super Spirit form. With another Gathering taking place in Book 3, I hope to give Obscura a bit more spotlight, which I feel he deserves. And yes, there will be a Super Spirit form eventually, but even that involves another Spirit as well... BionicleKeyblade started as a MoC I made in my intial Kingdom Hearts craze and was converted into a Spirit when, after a Spirit Design contest (in the days where there had to be a contest for designs to be sent in), I decided to put in all 3 entries but wanted to keep the final number of Spirits even. It was the first Spirit I had made that wasn't based on a Bionicle, so I wanted to feature it, and BionicleKeyblade was thrown into the story and somehow ended up becoming Khadaz's signature Orb. I was a bit unsure about giving him a name--I thought it might be inconsistent if, right near the end of the Book, we change "BionicleKeyblade" to "Vinxeng" (which was originally meant to be a Makuta name). I decided to go ahead and give him a name, and then I decided to give names to each of the individual Freres. I can't completely remember where I got the idea to make Twilight Sage, but it may have just been an attempt to make battles more over-the-top. Or it could have something to do with a feeling that robes were somehow more appropriate for Khadaz's older self as opposed to BionicleKeyblade's hastily thrown together armor...*shrug*. The abilities of Twilight Sage were intended to be an advanced state of Elemental Powers, but now I realize it's a bit too Mage-like for Khadaz's Warrior style...if only Neya had sent me the Dread Paladin idea sooner! When I started introducing Spirits based on Anime characters, I got the idea to turn to Pokemon, Unown specifically. Unown is a Pokemon I've always been interested in since they form their own alphabet (which, I will admit, I went to the trouble of learning and using), but they ARE among the weakest of Pokemon...they can only learn one move. Just one. I wanted them to have a presence in Bioni-Lords, but because I wanted them to be more buffed up the result is pretty much unrecognizable--a Toa-sized warrior with a sword who wears Krana. I decided to call it "Language" since it had forms based on the alphabet, and each one has an alphabetical attack because I wanted to expand that feature--Unown had little if any difference between forms aside from their shape. Language was a last-minute addition to the Freres, and I think the only reason he became a candidate was because I gave one to Norscu in my late desire to feature the Spirit. Language also has had fairly little spotlight, with Language X appearing once in Book 1 and Language Supreme not appearing until very late in Book 2, but he'll be rather important in the Gathering that takes place in Book 3. As for Kotoba, I'm not really sure what made be decide to make his ally female...maybe an attempt to balance the gender ratio and earn at least one female reader. This is a bit of a spoiler, but Zenrei and Kotoba display a technique in an upcoming chapter that's based on the crystal effect the Unown produce in the third Pokemon movie--you'll know it when you see it, but if you'd read it without knowing what it's based on it might've seemed kind of random. A lot of my friends are into Anime as well, and they have introduced me to some new series. One of which is "Fruits Basket"...which I'm almost embarrassed to admit since it is in fact a shojo manga (aimed toward girls). Don't judge me. I enjoyed the characters and the magic component. That magic component involves the Chinese Zodiac, and since I tend to obsess over a series once I start reading/watching/playing it, I became very interested in the Chinese Zodiac, to the point where I developed a set of techniques based on the animal signs involved. I also inlcuded the Cat, which is not a part of the Chinese Zodiac, but, as I learned from reading Fruits Basket, there are legends to explain why the cat isn't a part of the Zodiac. I needed to do something with these techniques, and since Bioni-Lords is always on my mind I decided to give them to a Spirit. Zodiakai's name is an obvious corruption of "Zodiac", his armor colors (black and gold) just seemed a good fit (maybe because they're the color of space and stars?), the Kanohi Arthron is one of the most epic-looking masks ever (in my opnion), the cape was added to give him more epicness, and Jaller Mahri's sword...*shrug*. I also gave him the Rasengan, which is a technique from Naruto that I wanted to try and make a fairly standard Rahaga-type attack, but the bulk of his moveset is comprised of Zodiac Style attacks, and I decided it would (somehow) make sense for him to be a "Toa of the Chinese Zodiac". Since I had already established the habit of giving Toatoa only Toa Spirits and was giving new Spirits to the main characters again, I decided to give Zodiakai a chance to be featured, and since he came in right when I was considering Les Quatre Freres de Lame he got the job. I still feel it was a little...awkward to just suddenly give him a voice and name (but no spotlight) right at the end of Book 1, but it's not something I can easily change. The Ju-San Seishin were thought up because I was a little obsessed with the idea of Super Spirits after designing Twilight Sage, and Sohma Xotaku was thought up when I realized I prefer writing one-on-one duels. "Sohma" is the name of the family in Fruits Basket under the Zodiac curse, and his technique "Yume no Enkai" (Banquet of Dreams) is a reference to the legend that the Zodiac animals were all called to a banquet, and the order in which they arrived is the order in which they appear in the Zodiac. With Khadaz using BionicleKeyblade, Nikari and his Obscura fresh in our memory, Toatoa getting Zodiakai, and Language X showing up in Norscu's roster, I realized that I had four Rahaga-type, sword-wielding Orbs in close proximity to each other, and I decided to capitalize on that by giving them some sort of great importance. Thus, "Les Quatre Freres de Lame" was created. Why is the name in French, you ask? Because I was coming up with this during my first year of French class. If there are any further questions about Les Quatre Freres de Lame, or requests for future Bioni-Lords Lecture topics, please leave a comment! -
Here's the first of my lectures, the origins of Bioni-Lords. Even though parts of it are a little embarrassing, and it's not exactly epic or anything, I thought you might still want to know...ahem: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... Actually it was the early 2000s, somewhere in the US I won't disclose due to paranoia. I was a kid in the age where Pokemon and Digimon were the big thing, but because my parents thought said shows were too violent my sisters and I weren't allowed to watch them, so...well, in my mind I had to come up with something to counter them. I came up with weird stuff like Claymon, Transformermon, Monstermon (before I realized that the "mon" in those titles was short for "monster"...), and, of course, Bionimon. Through the years the only one that really, really stuck was Bionimon, which saw several different incarnations which were all just kind of...there. Eventually, after I was finally allowed to watch and play Pokemon (Gold version was the first I really got into...loved my Typhlosion...), I decided to make the next incarnation of Bionimon more defined--I gave each Bionimon types and stats, and a few got special effects (Tahu, Kopaka, and Makuta)--and put it on BZPower as a game. Said game was, of course, a complete rip-off of Pokemon: you would take your starter Bionimon, a Bionidex, and several Bioniballs, and have the option of entering grass to encounter wild Bionimon on your way to cities where you would take on the Gym Leader and win masks. I even thought up different types of Bioniballs, Nui Machines (think Technical Machines), and a bunch of sidequests, including one later on where you entered a different world and actually became the Bionimon. Several members joined the game and seemed to enjoy it, and I also held a contest--the original list had only 119 Bionimon, and I wanted an even number. So, some members sent in designs for the 120th Bionimon, and in the end I chose one that towered over all others--Mairi, with an attack that could slay most Bionimon in one hit and an effect that gave it, effectively, twice the maximum HP. The game was rather short-lived, though; the Premier who opened the topic said he couldn't keep up and had the topic closed. Since I was younger at the time I was pretty angry, but I've since outgrown that--the closing of Bionimon is actually one of the greatest things that's ever happened to me. I wanted to reopen Bionimon, but for some reason I thought that if I made another game exactly the same it would just get shut down again because the original one was. So I completely changed it. I took the idea of becoming Bionimon and expanded upon that, changing "Bionimon" to "Bioni-Spirits." I took away the need for Bioniballs as well, for these Bioni-Spirits would turn into glass Orbs filled with sparks of energy when defeated, and humans could then use these Orbs to merge with the Spirit and gain armor that carried the abilities and powers of said Spirit. I used islands instead of cities, "Element-Lords" instead of Gym Leaders, "Battlefields" instead of Gyms, and in place of masks I used "Ultima-Orbs," orbs that were entirely one color that activated the special effects of those select few Bioni-Spirits who had them and let humans use more than one Spirit in each battle. The idea of encountering Bionimon/Bioni-Spirits in the grass was taken out--Spirits would randomly appear on the bridges between islands and in the areas of the islands that were unpopulated. I even doubled each Spirit's HP and changed it to "Fusion Energy." A new name was needed, of course, and I came up with "Bioni-Lords": "Bioni" for "Bionicle", "Lord" as in "Master," so the term roughly translates to "Master of Bionicles." That wasn't enough, however--I felt the need to protect Mairi, the first and, at the time, only Bioni-Spirit who was not designed by me. Mairi's creator bestowed the new name "Obscura" upon his Spirit, and one Premier Application later I opened Bioni-Lords: The Game here on BZPower. More contests were held and eventually I actually held a tournament or two, and I added in healing items and a few other tweaks to the system. Other members contributed more and more, sending in Orbs outside of the contests and, at one point, new Elements were even suggested. It lasted a while, but eventually I gave up on the game and it died...though I have been searching for a Phoenix Down to use on it as of late... Early on during all this I decided to write a story to go along with Bioni-Lords, which was actually put on BZP before the game. Bioni-Lords: The Epic was originally very simple: a kid based on me, "Khadaz" (which is "Zadakh" beckwards, more or less; I was 12 at the time, so he was also 12), would go from island to island and gather the Ultima-Orbs, and since I needed something after that I made him the "Chosen One" (generic...), destined to defeat...hm, what could a generic final boss be called...how about "the 10th Level Bioni-Lord," since there are only 9 Elements? And his lackeys, the Team Rocket of this world, can be called..."the Shade-Gang"...yeah...I'll put up guest star forms just in case people get interested. Quite obviously, the story underwent huge revision, since it went on for, oh...three years. I procrastinate, and then you throw in writer's block and...three years. Some story points were dropped, guest stars came in, my writing improved, characters got developed...you know, stuff like that. A lot of contributions were made by other people, and in the end Bioni-Lords became what I like to call my definitive work. Since I'm impatient, I planned out a whole eight book saga, but then with a litte encouragement and thought I cut three books out and came out with a five book saga. Right now, I'm on Book 2...but I don't think this one will take quite as long as the first, even with more islands and a frequently revesited Lost Continent. There are a few points that can be expanded upon, but I'll save them for their own lectures. I think that about covers the origin of Bioni-Lords, so...thanks for your time; I don't want to keep you any longer, so off you go! Have a nice day!
