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If you read What If?, you've probably noticed that my update schedule is grievously slipping. While I promise weekly updates, it's been more like monthly updates. This is because I bit off more than I could chew and started What If? during the summer, thinking I could keep up a chapter a week. As soon as I went back to school the September after the book started (I'm homeschooled, as I've mentioned before in this blog, but I'm taking classes at the local community college), it slowed down. By December the semester was over and I sped up a bit, but now the next semester has begun. In addition, I've recently been having a series of minor family crises, along with extracurricular things, and of course, sometimes even when I can be writing, I'm too stressed or uninspired to put any words on the page. I try not to force myself to write if I'm not feeling up to it, because I've noticed that when I didn't feel like writing at the time I wrote some scene, it's evident in the bland narration and dialogue and lack of anything interesting happening. Still, Book 7 is a 20-chapter book like most of the others in the series, and it started in late July, so it should have been finished by the start of December. It's inexcusable to only be on Chapter Fourteen when the book started 37 weeks ago. It's already gotten to the point where I will have to delay the start of Book 8. And like I mentioned in my last blog entry, I want the series to be finished by the end of next year. As of this writing, there are 90 weeks until the end of next year, and 60 of them must be used on Book 8, 9 and 10. The remaining 30 are obviously for the intermissions between books. Normally I give myself 8 weeks between books, so if we assume 8 weeks between Book 8 and 9 and 8 weeks between Book 9 and 10, that means I have 14 weeks to work with before I start Book 8. I could safely drag Book 7 out to mid-July and still finish on time. Obviously, I don't want to do that. However, expecting myself to write the remaining 6 chapters in 6 weeks is too much right now. Being realistic, I expect it to take at least 10 weeks. During school, it can take me almost 3 weeks to write a chapter (obviously depending on the length of the chapter, which varies from around 3000-8000 words), but when I'm off school I can occasionally manage one chapter a week. I seriously doubt that the rest of the book will take more than 14 weeks, especially considering there are only 5 weeks left in the semester, but if it does, I will simply have to shorten the other intermissions. Either way, there will be no intermission between Book 7 and 8. Because of these severe delays, Book 8 will start after Book 7 with no more than a single week of a break. This is well enough, because Book 8 picks up directly after Book 7 ends (I obviously haven't written Book 7's epilogue yet, but depending on if I can make it work as an ending, Book 8's first chapter might literally begin only seconds after the ending of Book 7). This segues into the next part of my plan: writing ahead. When I started this series, I was updating three times a week. This was because I had written all of Book 1 before I began to post it. If I had done this with subsequent books, we might be seeing nearly year-long breaks between books. Because the books were so short at first (Book 1 was only about 70,000 words - for comparison, Book 7 had hit that mark by Chapter Eleven), I decided I would write them as I posted them. With Book 2, it worked out okay - I stayed ahead of my update schedule until almost the end. As I got more busy though, that became increasingly difficult and with Book 7 I was practically behind the update schedule before the end of the first month of the book. To mitigate this effect, I'm writing Book 8 before I even finish Book 7. I'm already behind my intended schedule (I wanted to be finished Chapter 5 by now, but I'm only on Chapter 3), but since this is my final year of high school and I shouldn't have a very busy summer, I am hopeful (though not at all making any guarantees) to finish writing Book 8 by September, when I will start college full-time (as opposed to part-time as it is now). Whenever it finishes being posted really depends on when I finish Book 7, but I'm more concerned about staying ahead of my update schedule than I am about the update schedule itself. It may seem counter-intuitive to be writing two books at the same time. Wouldn't that just make both of them go more slowly? Yes, really, it does, but I've already basically given up on finishing Book 7 with any amount of regularity to my update schedule by now. Please just bear with me until I finish Book 7. As long as I finish it within the next 14 weeks, I'm still on schedule. I am really hoping to finish it before then, so I can have Book 8 written by the end of summer, but I can only write as fast as my circumstances will allow. By no means have I given up on the series - I will finish it out as long as I'm physically able to do so. Whether I will finish it by the end of 2012, and whether I will manage to provide any regularity to my updates from here on out, I can only make promises, but with this much work put into it, my own death (or losing my arms or something like that ) is all that's going to stop me from finishing. Again, I'm really sorry that I've been unable to hold to my promises regarding the update schedule. I've always prided myself on having a story where you could count on there being an update, even if it might be a few days late - not like the multitude of excellent fan fiction I've read only to find that the author has given up or isn't serious about updating regularly. But I've fallen into that myself now. Serves me right to make such steep promises, I suppose. But rest assured, any readers I still have - I am still here, still writing, and doing the best I can to keep putting out updates.
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As you probably know, all of BZPower's posts from September 2008 and onwards are gone. That means that all that's left of the Dairuno Toa series on BZPower is Book 1, Book 2, and the first 18 chapters of Book 3. The ending of Book 3 is gone, and so is all of Book 4. Thankfully, I have almost all of it backed up, and only minimal rewriting will have to be done. But the thing is, there are 24 chapters of my work gone, and because of the whole "one chapter a day" rule, that will take nearly a month to put back. So I'm currently debating whether or not to waste the next month reposting Book 3 and 4, or to just give up on my fan fiction series here and move it elsewhere. Like I mentioned a few blog entries ago, I'm doing several other projects in other places, including a rewritten version of Book 1. I'm considering just doing my series over there now, where at least I'll be writing a new version of the series rather than wasting time copying and pasting chapters I've already written. I realize that it would be pretty cruel to just get up and leave the (albeit few) fans I have here, but they could always follow me over to the other site. That, or they're going to have to wait a month for anything new, since I refuse to start SOTD at Chapter 21. Either way, this is a bad thing for my series. Personally, I'm leaning towards aborting it on BZP and moving it over to the other site. I know you're probably thinking "How could you possibly think it would be worth it to start over from the beginning compared to starting over from six months ago, when it would only take a month to recover the latter and over a year to do the former?" The difference is that in the past, my writing was simply not that good. Book 1 and 2 were mostly awful, Book 3 started off and ended better but slid backwards in the middle, and Book 4 is still only approaching a satisfying level to me. I find it much preferable to start over from the very beginning and dismiss BZP as a practice round. If enough of my fans really, really, don't want this to happen, I'll continue to post here. But I want to focus my attention on that other site, which I currently co-manage and have been an active member on for three years. I honestly feel like my allegiance should be there and not to BZP anyway. I do have The Comedy-Makers to finish here, so I'm not leaving either way just yet, but I will be drastically less active from here on out. EDIT: I was really upset when I posted this. Now that I've calmed down a bit, here's how I'm seeing things: I really don't feel like reposting anything, but if I don't have to worry about only being able to post one chapter a day, then I suppose I might as well. No matter what, I plan to be less active here; I'll probably be only online to deal with matters related to my epics (including C.I.R.C.L.E., which I recently became an associate of). I will be starting from the beginning on that other site as well but will also continue on BZPower, at least until the series on that other site catches up (which will probably take at least a year). Since my writing time will primarily go towards the rewritten series, new BZPower chapters will probably be up on an "as I finish them" basis instead of holding myself to two chapters a week. And because I really need a break from this, I think I'm still going to hold off the reconstruction until April, and thus Story of the Dead is on hiatus until then.
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It's been over two weeks since I've made a blog entry. >_> Story of the Dead's writing has caught up to its posting. In other words, I now have to pump out two chapters (around 4000 words) a week. I also have at least six (usually more) hours a day spent on schoolwork and several more hours spent on other responsibilities that keep me from writing as often as I can, meaning my writing time is usually limited to about 4 hours a day at the very most. That's 1680 minutes a week for writing, and 4000 words to be written in those minutes, meaning I have to write about 3 words a minute to make the time. Which isn't really too bad, but I usually don't use all 4 of those hours for writing (see the tip of the week below), and a lot of the time I don't actually get 4 hours. So it's challenging. I write whenever I can and hope for the best. In case anyone was wondering, I am entering SSC5 with a Dairuno Toa series bonus short story. It involves Auserv and Eilaiki. I chose Auserv because he allows me to write without filtering things through another character's viewpoint: his viewpoint is my viewpoint, since he is me. And Eilaiki was chosen because her entire purpose in the story is as Auserv's romantic interest. Anyway, the story beings directly before the Great Cataclysm and ends in the immediate aftermath of it, making it (aside from the temporarily discontinued Tyaseri's Blog) the most recent entry in the Dairuno Toa series. Auserv, Eilaiki, and their team (who actually get names in the story ) have made it their goal to make a map of the entire universe. In this story, called Honey (dual-meaning title there), the team arrives at a southern island that seems to be uninhabited. Of course, you know how it goes with seemingly uninhabited islands in my universe. The Matoro story that I mentioned in the last blog entry is indeed going to be posted soon. It's finished (final title is Smile, another dual-meaning title) and I'm going to post it as my 1111th post special, so just hang on until I get there and you'll see the story. To tide you over until then, here's an excerpt from it: But Matoro should know that I never let my characters get off that easy. XD In other news, I'm taking a college course now. It's called Academic Affairs and essentially tries to get you to learn how to be a "master student" (someone who has gotten so good at learning that they can do it without consciously using techniques). We meet once a week at my local community college on Tuesdays; I'm the only one in the class who hasn't graduated high school yet. (Actually, one other guy hasn't graduated yet, but he's a senior while I'm technically a sophomore, so I'm still the youngest.) It was nice: yesterday, our professor had the flu so instead of hiring a sub, she got some lady to come in, write down who came on a piece of paper, collect homework, and send us off after 10 minutes from what was supposed to be an hour-long class. On top of that, she told us that everyone who turned in the homework got extra credit and everyone who didn't could still turn it in next week for full credit. So now I have more than 100% in the class. Writing Tip Of The Week (And Last Week And The Week Before) Since I've been doing a lot of writing lately, I wanted to share some tips about how to write really fast and get a lot accomplished quickly. I call this "The Crash Course On How To Just Sit Down And Pound Out A Story". First off, decide how much time you have or want to spend. Don't worry if you have a short attention span (I know I do XD); this plan never makes you do anything for more than half an hour at a time. Of course, you can adjust it to your attention span, but I usually need a break from something after half an hour, and this plan was originally designed for me. Anyway, pick as much time as you think you'll need. I usually do this when I have 3-6 free hours. Next, schedule your time in 15-minute blocks. Here's an example of my schedule from last night: 4:00-4:15: Writing 4:15-4:30: Writing 4:30-4:45: Break 4:45-5:00: Writing 5:00-5:15: More planning time 5:15-5:30: Writing 5:30-5:45: Writing 5:45-6:00: Break 6:00-6:15: Dinner 6:15-6:30: Break 6:30-6:45: Writing 6:45-7:00: Writing 7:00-7:15: Break 7:15-7:30: Writing 7:30-7:45: Writing 7:45-8:00: Post Chapter I only had the first hour planned out by 4:00; after 5:00 (designated as "more planning time" on the schedule), I had planned to 8:00. As you can see here, I spent half an hour writing, then 15 minutes on break (which in my case was playing my DS - since you can fold it up, automatically pausing it no matter where in the game you are, it's a good device to use when you only have a short time to play). Then I spent 15 more minutes writing, followed by a 15 minute break (to plan more). Then I wrote another half hour. Then I spent the next forty-five minutes on break, essentially (15 minutes were spent eating). I came back and wrote another half hour, took another break, and then spent one last half hour writing and revising. Then I posted the chapter. Indeed, in this 4-hour period I wrote nearly all of Chapter 16, and I was only actually writing for a total of 2.25 hours. The writing just constantly flowed out until I was done. That should give you a good idea of how to keep your mind fresh and focused at all times, so during the brief spurts of writing, you don't get bored or tired of it. It works great for me, but I've never suggested it to anyone else before, so I can't attest to if other people find that the frequent breaks keep them from getting writer's block. If you do feel your thoughts starting to drift to other things - your next break, perhaps - gently lead them back on track. My Academic Affairs textbook put it nicely: (I'm paraphrasing here) "Accept the distractions, and then go back to the task at hand." Don't mentally scream "No! I can't think about that! I HAVE TO WRITE!!!" Just accept that in a few minutes you will be able to do whatever you want, and then turn back to the blinking cursor against the white background of your word processor, put your fingers to the keys, and keep typing. If necessary, allow yourself as much time as you need for things that don't count as breaks or writing time. For example, if you promised your friends you'd see a movie with them from 6:00 to 8:00, and you're writing from 4:00 to 10:00, simply classify those 8 blocks as "obligations" and leave it at that. Immediately schedule half an hour of writing after the long break though - you'll have a clear head and your brain will be ready to get back to work. Really, this type of technique can apply to not only stories, but any writing at all, including assigned school writing. But I've only ever used it for fan fiction. In any case, I plan to continue to use this technique to get further in Story of the Dead. Perhaps I can get significantly ahead of the posting again and have a few minutes to breathe!
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Somehow I completely forgot to update my blog last week. I apologize for that, guys. D= Anyway, quick update on what I've been doing with Story of the Dead since my last update. I finished Chapter 13 but haven't moved on much since, and I'm currently writing Chapter 14. I'm maybe a third of the way through it, having just begun the second scene. Unfortunately, this probably means that unless I pick up the pace soon, the posting of the story will catch up to me and I'll be playing catch-up the rest of the book like I was for almost all of Book 3. At the point in the story I've just reached, all of our lead characters have finally been introduced. The last 3 characters we'll meet in the story are none other than Lariska, Triglax, and Mimic, characters that exist in the canon but who haven't been very far explored. I plan to explore them, especially Mimic, who has always been my favorite Dark Hunter. Also introduced a totally new but minor character called Aciteth, an Onu-Matoran. Basically, Aciteth is to Gyotaren as Xironu is to Onathei - a right-hand, a confidante, and as you'll see in Chapter 14, a succesor (since Xironu and Aciteth become kings to replace Onathei and Gyotaren, who spend too much time away from the village training). For those who read Tyaseri's Blog, Aciteth was briefly mentioned there as a Toa on Tolliwam and part of the team of Hibuthil, Nejodis, and Mehikir. He becomes a Toa not too long after the telling of Onathei's Story of the Dead, and in the bonus story that I've talked about writing, he'll be a main character and most likely will be shown becoming a Toa. This is a random thing that I thought might be worth noting: frankly, out of all the teams I've written about so far (the Toa-Kal, the Barraki/League of Six Kingdoms, the Krandorn/Barnoka/Zirralo team, the Lenurin/Qedono/Tyaseri team, the Sihnozu/Geoku/Tekarou team, the team from Rode Nui, the guest star team led by Lepaka, the Hibuthil/Nejodis/Mehikir team, the Guutana/Roqini/Desurk team, and more recently, the Onathei/Gyotaren/Feyain team, the Rai, the Shuuno, and now the Mimic/Triglax/Lariska team), I find Onathei's team to be the most compelling to write about. They're the classic three-man team: the hero/leader Onathei, the sidekick/best friend Gyotaren, and the peacekeeper/girl Feyain. The chemistry between the three is very interesting to explore, and even though I've only been writing about them for a couple months, I already feel closer to them then I ever was to the Toa-Kal or any of the other teams. This is going to make it all the more tragic for me to see the team falling apart towards the end of Book 4. Anyway, onto the much delayed tip on settings for my weekly... Writing Tip Of the Week I've put it off long enough now, I'll finally give you my tip on settings now. There actually isn't as much here as I expected there to be, so I'll try to stretch out as much as I can. The setting of your story in my opinion should be one (not both) of the following: a) totally unobtrusive and forgettable, like Ayomeii, or B) dangerous and providing problems for the hero as much as if not more than the villain does, like Dyteeli. As you can see, the setting has to be at one of the extremes. A "lukewarm" setting will likely just get in the way of your story or seem gimmicky. Of course, like anything else I tell you not to do in this blog, it can be done right. In fact, Book 4 is (hopefully) an example of how you can have a lukewarm setting - the main conflict is with the villains, but the setting (a living island) plays a large role in the plot as well. An unobtrusive setting doesn't bring attention to itself and allows the plot and the characters to do their business with little intrusion; it simply sets the stage for a paragraph or so in each scene and then is mostly forgotten until the characters briefly interact with their environment again as opposed to each other. This kind of setting is generally the best, the kind of setting that could easily be changed to something else with only the most minuscule changes to the plot. A dangerous setting does bring attention to itself, constantly. In a character-vs.-nature story, you'll need the setting to be like this. In other stories, it could be nice to have this kind of setting, since it provides an added feeling of danger when even the environment is turned against you. Usually to tell if you've done this right, see what would happen to the plot if you changed the setting to a type A setting. If you lose huge chunks of plot and the story basically couldn't survive, then you probably have a good type B setting. Aside from that, you can basically do whatever you want with the setting and no one will complain. Just make sure it isn't too stupid or too nonsensical, and make sure that you can explain all the weirdness of your setting before you write it. (For example, if I had decided that the island in Book 4 was alive before I decided why, I'd be in big trouble later on. XD) That's about all I have to say for settings, so I guess next week I'll finish this little mini-series of tips with a tip on plot. Also, guess what guys? Comedy-Makers is making a comeback! I'm writing a new chapter alongside my friend Panakalego, who is probably going to be co-writing it with me (because he's the only one so far able to get me to write it XD) from now on. I don't know when the next chapter will be up, though. Soon. And I mean that this time.
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I'm doing Story of the Dead on BZPower, an exclusive Dairuno Toa series blog from Tyaseri's point of view (called simply Tyaseri's Blog) on another website, and a remake of The Tables Have Turned on yet another website (the latter two websites, although I disagree with this rule, are not allowed to be mentioned here; if you're really interested in reading these, they shouldn't be too hard to find though). Between the three of them I think my brain may soon run out of RAM and I'll need to get a more powerful processor. XD The fun thing is that Tyaseri's Blog will end in a way that will, believe it or not, lead right into Story of the Dead, even though it takes place during Teridax's reign! How, you ask? You'll see in Chapter 13 of Story of the Dead, which I am now writing (alongside what will be the January 31st update of Tyaseri's Blog and the first chapter of the remade The Tables Have Turned, all more or less simultaneously). Speaking of Chapter 13, which will be posted on a Friday the 13th and is called "Chapter 13" (no, seriously, it'll be "Chapter 13: Chapter 13"), I just revealed something very very interesting which was completely made up as I went along. XD That's so far away that I can't say much, though. You'll find out in about a month when I post the chapter. A while back I said that Book 4 didn't do much to advance the mythology/backstory of the series... Well, a lot has changed since I said that and now it advances it the second-most of any book so far (second to Book 3, superior to Book 2 and Book 1 in that order) Anyway, onto the... Writing Tip of the Week I'm really having trouble writing a tip right now, for some reason... So, this week's writing tip is going to be short sweet and to the point, and I'll do a nice long one about settings next week: If you want to write well, you need to read well. Read a lot, and maybe eventually you'll start to write better. That's it for today. XD
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Story topic here, review topic here. Now to PM the people who asked to be told when Book 4 started, and edit a link into my signature, and maybe create a library... No rest for a writer!
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Yes, the prologue of Book 4 will be posted in 2 short days, on the second-to-penultimate day of the eighth year after the beginning of the second millennium of the common era. I didn't make it to Chapter 13, but I might be at least close to finishing Chapter 12. "Might be?" you ask. "Don't you know how far you are in the writing of your own epic?" "Shut up, imaginary example reader," I snap, "I was getting to that." After Chapter 10, the story skips ahead nine years. However, some important stuff is happening to Gyotaren during these nine years which I will show in the course of three "flashback-within-a-flashback" scenes. In the story, Gyotaren was just knocked unconscious as he begins to have these flashbacks. The plan is to have them all together, but I realized that an entire chapter of flashbacks might get boring. So I'm leaving this up to whoever reads my epic series. You have 3 options here: A. I go with the original plan and have Chapter 12 be a flashback chapter. B. I have Gyotaren randomly remember these things over several chapters, and stick one of the already-written flashback scenes in every few chapters. (I'm leaning towards this one after I've written the scenes, because I revealed a lot that I might want to stay secret longer.) C. I don't do any flashback scenes. (I'm secretly hoping no one chooses this--two full pages of perfectly fine writing would have to be done away with this. But don't let that effect your decision. ) To everyone who reads my epics and this blog, please specify which you'd personally like to see. By next week, whichever option got the most votes will be what I do. Until then, I'll take a break from writing and work on revising the earlier chapters, which will soon start to be posted. Here is an excerpt from the prologue. That is the entire second half of the prologue. To read the first half, you'll have to wait until Monday. Writing Tip of the Week There were so many tips I wanted to do for this week. I couldn't decide on what one I wanted to do, so eventually I just decided to do one that I hadn't wanted to do so I didn't have to choose. The tip is on how to create a good believable main character (and by this I mean the main character, not just major characters). For the purposes of this tip, we'll assume you're creating the hero character. In Bionicle, there are many hero characters. So many that it's hard to pick out a "main" one. But in my series, the main character is Guutana--he is the sole most important character in the series. All the other characters and events exist to, in some way or another, contribute to a story about what happens to Guutana. Even if you have 6 main characters (a Toa team, for example), you should generally have one that stands out. Perhaps this could be the leader of the team, or perhaps not. The first thing you need to decide is who your main character is going to be. Done with that? From here there are three steps: Define who the character is. Define what the character is. And define where the character is. (When the character is, why the character is, and how the character is don't really apply, lol.) To define who, you have to turn the character from a name with perhaps a vague description attached into a person. This can be the hardest part. You need to firstly develop the character's personality. A personality, according to the dictionary, is a set of characteristics that make a person distinct from another. I like to refer to personality as a set of rules for a character's actions and reactions. The easiest way I've found to create a character's personality is to write about him or her. Do a freewrite for 5-10 straight minutes with your character of choice in any environment with any other character (preferably one with an already established personality) or alone. As you write, concentrate specifically on what the character thinks, feels, says, and does. Since most of us don't have characters floating around in our heads waiting to burst onto the written page (and if you do, you may want to see a therapist about your schizophrenia XD), you'll probably subconsciously model the character after an existing character you've read about or a real person you know. Avoid making this too obvious--if you have a character who goes around saying "Believe it", people who have watched the English Naruto dub will suspect that your story is a lame rip-off of it, even if it isn't. Once you've got a feel for the character's personality, make sure you never betray it. Ever. If a character acts out of character, there must have been a life-changing, earth-shattering event, and he can't go back to his old personality afterwards. As a final note, it is vital that no matter how messed up your character is, he has a redeeming quality that lets readers sympathize with him. Readers do not read a story where the main character is so messed up that they don't care whether or not he overcomes his conflicts. Next you have to define what the character is. In other words, what are his physical traits and abilities? Do not go overboard with what you character can do unless, like Guutana, they have a strong story-based reason to be omnipotent. And even if you have an omnipotent (or omnipresent or omni-anything) character, give them a weakness or someone as powerful as them as an enemy, because otherwise god characters are no fun. If you're not doing a god character, try to limit the amount of powers to three--beyond that you get into a territory where the powers don't get equal screentime and one is favored over all the others. Make the powers believable and with limits. Also limit weapons to simple things like an axe, crossbow, sword, spear, club, and so on, but only one of each. Lastly, you need to define where your character is. This isn't just referring to "on Bara Magna" or "under the Coliseum"; this refers to the character's entire world, and the people in it. Sure, the literal location of your character is important, but we can actually decide that later, assuming you haven't already. Generally, any character has a few characters directly connected to him: the best friend, the love interest, the mentor, the rival. Continuing with my character Guutana, our examples would be, respectively, Desurk, Roqini, Dairuno, and a character whose identity I can't currently tell you about but who will star in Book 7. You can use any or all of those types of characters, or other types of your own. But make sure that these characters are the most important characters aside from your hero--they relate to him the closest and anyone else is just a medium between the character and his world. I could have a lot more to say about this, but I'm tired and I've already covered all the major points. Follow this and you should have a believable hero character. Next tip will probably be on making a believable villain.
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...week to Book 4 of my series. Yes, we are drawing near the end of the two-month break between books, which I've tried to make as interesting as possible for my readers. In the past two months, I've written 10 chapters. Assuming I can keep up this rate through the entire story, I should be done writing by early March, while the book will finish being posted by mid-April. There should be none of the delays between chapters or the scramble to write a chapter from scratch the day or day before it's supposed to be posted that became characteristic of Book 3, which made the ending of it nightmarish, for me at least. So that's a big load off my back. Here's the schedule of Book 4, if all goes according to plan: Prologue: Monday, December 29th Chapter 1: Friday, January 2nd Chapter 2: Monday, January 5th Chapter 3: Friday, January 9th Chapter 4: Monday, January 12th Chapter 5: Friday, January 16th Chapter 6: Monday, January 19th Chapter 7: Friday, January 23rd Chapter 8: Monday, January 26th Chapter 9: Wednesday, January 28th (posted on a Wednesday because Chapters 8-10 are three parts of a whole, and as such would do well to go all together in one week) Chapter 10: Friday, January 30th Chapter 11: Friday, February 6th (a week-long break after the conclusion of Part 1 seems appropriate to me) Chapter 12: Monday, February 9th Chapter 13: Friday, February 13th (Just happened that the 13th chapter fell on a Friday the 13th... 0_o) Chapter 14: Monday, February 16th Chapter 15: Friday, February 20th Chapter 16: Monday, February 23rd Chapter 17: Friday, February 27th Chapter 18: Monday, March 2nd Chapter 19: Friday, March 6th Chapter 20: Monday, March 9th Chapter 21: Friday, March 13th (Second chapter to fall on a Friday the 13th, and also the first "Chapter 21" in the series) Chapter 22: Monday, March 16th Chapter 23: Friday, March 20th Chapter 24: Monday, March 23rd Chapter 25: Friday, March 27th Chapter 26: Monday, March 30th Chapter 27: Wednesday, April 1st (Chapter 26-28 are another 3-part story, according to my vague plans, and also I wanted to post a chapter on April Fool's Day XD) Chapter 28: Friday, April 3th Chapter 29: Monday, April 6th Chapter 30: Friday, April 10th Epilogue: Saturday, April 11th (I always like to put Epilogues very close to the last chapter) So in total the posting will take 18 days short of 4 months. By June or July I'll start posting Book 5. I'll work out exact dates come April Aside from that, there isn't much in the way of Book 4 news. Writing Tip of the Week I actually don't have a writing tip this week, because I couldn't think of one. :annoyed2: But you can have links to all the writing tips I've given in the identically-named topic in the Epics forum, Writing Tips. *Tip #1: Use a Word Processor; Tip #2: Make Everything Happen For A Reason; Tip #3: Review Etiquette These tips are a year old, before Book 2 had even started to be posted, but they still apply. *Tip #4: A Word On Death This is much like the tip I did in this blog recently, but it might have something interesting for you. It was posted in late 2007 as well. *Tip #5: More Review Etiquette Posted in early 2008, this tip was in reply to someone concerned they weren't getting enough reviews. Maybe you can get something out of it too. *Tip #6: Learn to Type Correctly Another tip from early 2008. This is my theory on why the average fan fiction chapter seems to be very short, and the solution to that problem. *Tip #7: Do Not Narrate A tip from mid-2008, this is a very important one that I urge you to read. *Tip #8: The Chord Patterns of Writing...If You Do It Right This tip is from last month, and I think you'll find it fairly interesting. Hopefully I'll have an actual writing tip next week, but if I don't, I'll probably go through the writing tips for extremely good tips from other people. Also, if you have an hour (=P) read The Arena Method of Writing by bonesiii. It's great. And it's also the way I've been writing for years, so if you're a fan of me and want to write the way I do, this is a must-read.
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2 weeks to Book 4! I don't have much to say about Book 4 this week so I'll give you the update on that and then move on to the other stuff. At the moment, I'm working on Chapter 8--part 1 of the 3-part finale of Part 1 of the story. It's called "Originals", while Chapter 9 will be called "Modifieds" and Chapter 10 will be called "In the End". Chapter 11, which will kick in the second part of the story, doesn't have a final name yet, but I'm considering calling it "The Wounds That Time Didn't Heal" (I've been planning ahead a lot with Book 4, whereas generally I wouldn't name a chapter until the day I posted it). Onto other news--after I finished Chapter 7, on Wednesday, I decided to skip ahead and write some random scene later in the series... Eventually I decided to write the Epilogue of Book 15--in other words, the last chapter of the series. I thought it was a great ending to the series, plus now I have something to ultimately work towards. I can't say much about it now, but I can tell you a little... Remember this quote? This mystery (of why Guutana and Roqini were special) will remain a mystery until the very last minute. In the last scene of the last chapter of the last book, you'll find out why. Hint: Dairuno's theory about Desurk was wrong--he was just as special as Guutana and Roqini, but his "specialness" was dormant while something that happened only to Guutana and Roqini awakened theirs, allowing them to awaken Desurk's. The real reason that Guutana and Roqini reviving other Dairuno Toa caused "glitches" wasn't because of lacking a pure heart--it was because those Dairuno Toa weren't dormantly special while Desurk was. Also, I'm tossing around the idea of doing a bonus epic that tells the story of Dairuno, Koenori, and their friends, and the entire story of these "gods" from the creation of all existence to the events described in the following quote: This bonus epic would also explain how Koenori wound up in a staff and how the staff wound up with Auserv. And it would also answer a mystery that will be introduced in Book 4 and expanded on in the supplementary short story that I talked about a couple weeks ago. Without the epic, you would still get the answers to these mysteries, but only short explanations rather than a full-fledged detailed account of the events. Now, also, this epic would probably be posted alongside Book 10 (the earliest that the events it talks about can be revealed without spoiling future events in the story), so it's a couple years away in any case. And also, just for variety, I might do the epic in the form of a series of sound recordings posted in this blog as I finish them, like Into the Darkness, Dark Mirror, and Destiny War. Is anyone interested in this potential epic or should I stick to revealing the answers through the other books? One last little thing that I thought might be of minor interest... Dairuno was been described as wearing "a Kanohi that Barnoka had never seen before". This Kanohi, as it turns out, is a (not the, a) Vahi. And Koenori wears an Ignika. Make of that what you will Writing Tip of the Week Lhilertoro asked tips for how to make a story slow or fast paced. This thing is kind of subjective, but I'll try my hand at it. The thing that defines whether or not a story is slow or fast is mainly the language you use. I'll take a clip from Book 4: That is a fairly fast-paced paragraph, right? It doesn't mince words and tells you as quickly as possible what has been going on with Gyotaren since the scene change (Gyotaren is separated from Onathei and Feyain at this point, in a fight, and the scene briefly changed to Onathei and Feyain and this is the first paragraph of the scene returning attention to Gyotaren's battle). Now say I wrote it like this: That is slow-paced, focusing on detail and flowery language. It is a bit clumsy but gives you a lot more information (Gyotaren's armor is jet black, the needles were "furious", Suhirai is the Rai of Ice, Gyotaren is fighting 6 opponents of which Suhirai is one, and it goes into detail about what a "Kakama-powered kick" is). Both of these are perfectly acceptable--each one has its own pros and cons and each one also has its place. You wouldn't use a slow pace for an action scene--slow paces aren't exciting. Fast paces build suspense and excitement in the reader, so they are good for battles or horrific situations. Slow paces have their place too. In quiet peaceful moments, or sad moments, you don't want to rush through. Slow paces let readers hang on to the moment, whether or not they want to. Slow paces can also be appropriate for scary moments, to build up tension, and then quickly switch to a fast pace to release the tension with sudden surprise...kind of like sneaking around slowly out of fear and then breaking into a run. You can think of the pace like background music if your story was a movie. Would you want a slow, sad song for this moment in your story, or would you prefer a fast, loud song? You do the pace accordingly. So to recap: For sad, peaceful, or to build up suspense in a slow and creepy way, use a slow pace by giving a lot of details and using more words than you need to state the idea. For scary moments or action scenes, use a fast pace by cutting out unnecessary words and details and telling your reader just enough to know what's happening. Pace is a really good way to improve the feel of your story, and it isn't too hard to master, so I recommend you use it wisely in your writing.
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I thought it might be interesting to note that a lot of important plot twists through my series probably didn't exist until the chapter they occurred. I'm very curious to see how you guys (my, like, 3 readers =P) would've liked the series if it had gone the way I originally planned. I'll do this in the form of an outline... The Tables Have Turned *Book 1 stayed true to the original plans, for the most part. The betrayal of Xironu and the deaths of Onathei and Desurk were planned for at the very beginning. *Auserv's appearance in Book 1 was completely done on a whim. Originally, Auserv was not supposed to have any part in this series at all. But he found his way in and ended up becoming a main character--completely by accident. *Desurk's revival wasn't the original plan; Desurk was going to stay dead, but then as I wrote Chapter 15, I started feeling bad for Xironu and decided to have Desurk come back and use this to set up the story of Book 2. *What there was of Auserv's backstory in Book 1 was made up as I went along. Interestingly, the events he describes become key to the entire series, and are continually referenced throughout the rest of the series. To Be A Hero *Barnoka's death was at my brother's own suggestion, because I was at a loss as to how to get Dyteeli back to normal. My brother suggested a sacrifice, and went on to suggest Qedono, because he hates the name. (Speaking of which, Qedono was originally going to be Krandorn's name, but my brother hated the name so much that I changed it to Krandorn. Eventually, I created a character with that name anyway, but Qedono--and Lenurin and Tyaseri--were not originally planned for.) I decided that it would be better for Barnoka to do the sacrifice. Also, the way Barnoka managed to hang around until the second-to-last chapter (by his energy remaining alive but divided among the Dairuno Stones) was not planned for. Originally Barnoka was gone for good. *The scenes of Book 2 that checked up on Ayomeii were not planned for, but I had already decided on Sihnozu, Tekarou, and Geoku being the main villains of Book 3 and wanted to introduce them early. *The character of Dairuno was never supposed to appear more than in the power plant (and the legend later in the story that explained him). *Originally, after Zirralo smashed Grunekt's mask, he was supposed to go into a coma and stay that way for the remainder of the book (until the chapter right before the Dairuno Stones of Black and White). I decided against it because it got too confusing and I noticed that even though Grunekt was supposedly in a coma, he managed to somehow wind up with some speaking lines anyway XD There are still references to a "Dairuno Stone of Awakening", probably, that was originally used to awaken Grunekt. *Roqini's death and Auserv's drifting away from the island were made up pretty early in the writing of the story. Roqini getting sacrificed into the Dairuno Stones, and Auserv washing up on Rode Nui, however, were not part of the original plan... Both of them were originally going to be out of the series from then on. (I apparently have a lot of trouble killing off my favorite characters, lol.) *Guutana's depression was made-up on the spot, and worked quite well to lead into Book 3. In The Dying Breath *Mehikir and Hibuthil and Nejodis were originally not supposed to have as big roles in the story as they did. Mehikir was supposed to only appear in that one scene, but I grew to like him and I invented the characters of Hibuthil and Nejodis to go with him. *The Negative Toa were not in the original plans for the story and were made up at the last second because I realized that 3 villains against almost 30 Toa was ridiculous, and decided to even it out a little bit. *Auserv was never actually supposed to be revealed (as you can see, I have problems with this character finding a way into every book against my will =P). There were supposed to be hints that Auserv was on Ayomeii, but he wasn't really supposed to appear in my original plans. Tahkeh originally wasn't going to become a Toa on Ayomeii either. *Koenori was made up no sooner than the day I posted that chapter, but he's going to end up being a key player in the series. *Perhaps the biggest change in the course of the series: At the end of the book, Qedono, Lenurin, and Tuitru were all going to die. Qedono and Lenurin would be killed in the way that Guutana ended up dying (crushed by rubble in evacuating the Matoran from the island), and Tuitru was going to die in a final duel with Sihnozu in which they would both kill each other at the same moment. Tyaseri went to Tolliwam and became the Toa there, while Zirralo became the lone Toa of Dyteeli. *The Dying Breath was made up shortly after I began posting Book 3. It was a random idea I'd had that wasn't originally related to Bionicle, but I got obsessed with the idea and shoved it into the story. It fits pretty well, doesn't it? Beyond *Had it not been for the Dying Breath idea, the series would've ended after the flashback trilogy. I might have later done a supplementary epic to talk about the very early history of the Ayomeii dome that would have explained all the mysteries of the series, but the third, fourth, and fifth trilogies all hinge on the existence of the Dying Breath. *There was a planned short story in which the Toa-Kal's death was gone into detail about. Dark Hunters invaded and killed the five Turaga of Tolliwam, and Tyaseri sacrificed them all into the Dairuno Stones, which were later stolen by the Dark Hunters. Somehow, none of them are overwritten, so all the Toa-Kal spend the rest of eternity stuck together in the Dairuno Stones, which sat in a sack among the Shadowed One's treasures. This story, which I began writing shortly before the Dying Breath was invented, referenced Qedono and Lenurin's death. Looking over it the other day, it inspired me to make this entry. You know, I'm thinking that for a chapter in Book 7, I'll make a divergent universe where things turned out the way they originally would have... That would certainly be interesting to write.
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Another one of the entries I said I would be doing two entries ago is a sneek peak of plans for my fan fiction career on BZPower. So far, I've only been working on one series, which I would like to call the Toa-Kal series, though really the whole series focuses more on Guutana than anyone. Like the actual Bionicle story, you can think of this series as being divided into various story arcs, and we're coming up on the end of the first one. If everything goes according to plan, there will be five of these, and the entire series will encompass 15 epics and an unknown amount of short stories, if any. Here's a basic overview, with a one-sentence summary of each book (only the first three are named; generally I don't name a book until I finish writing it). Story Arc 1: The Kal Virus and the Dairuno Stones Book 1: The Tables Have Turned The Toa of Ayomeii become Toa-Kal just in time to fight off the League of Six Kingdoms. Book 2: To Be A Hero The Toa-Kal travel to a new island called Dyteeli to find the twelve Dairuno Stones, but they run into several complications. Book 3: In the Dying Breath The Toa-Kal return home to find that Ayomeii has been invaded by a nearly-immortal being named Sihnozu. Story Arc 2: The Flashback Saga Book 4 Turaga Onathei, who was murdered in the events of Book 1, has had a difficult past, retold by the Turaga-Kal to their Matoran on an island far from Ayomeii. Book 5 Auserv's past is revealed when he experiences head trauma shortly before the events of Book 3. Book 6 Guutana remembers the origin of the Toa-Kal. Story Arc 3: The Harmonization Book 7 Guutana and his allies find themselves with the power to travel between dimensions and through time; now they must travel to alternate timelines and set things straight. Book 8 Guutana arrives at a pocket dimension where things have changed radically from the real dimension. He thinks this will be an easy task, but to his surprise, he cannot find the point of divergence in this timeline. Book 9 With one last pocket dimension to Harmonize, Guutana finds that the point of divergence in this timeline is one very familiar to him: in this universe, the Toa-Kal never became Toa-Kal. Guutana must relive his past in a new way to complete his destiny. Story Arc 4: The Final Battle Books 10, 11, and 12 Guutana's destiny complete, there is only one battle left to be fought. (Not going to go into detail because 1. I haven't planned that far and 2. anything I have planned would answer a mystery that my readers haven't even been introduced to yet.) Story Arc 5: The Redemption Saga Books 13, 14, and 15 Thousands of years after Story Arc 4, the remaining heroes must band together and take back their world. Book 15 will end the series, and quite probably my career as a fan fiction writer on BZP. At the rate I'm currently going at, about a year per trilogy, I'll be going until fall 2012. By then I'll be 18 years old and Bionicle will be wrapping up its 12th year, and if I've decided by then that writing is my thing, you can look for my next book in a bookstore near you.
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The guest star entry period for my third Toa-Kal epic has ended (actually a little late, since I was waiting to get a little further in the writing of Book 3 before I ended it ), and now I bring you an entry on the final 30 main characters in the book, all in the format as the guest star sheet I provided several entries back. This'll serve as much as a teaser to my readers as reference to me...thirty is more than enough to keep track of. :annoyed2: ---- Toa-Kal and other Ayomeii Characters Name: Krakana Element: Formerly Earth, now controls the concept of Speed Mask: Kakama, Mask of Speed Toa Tool: Bident (two-pronged trident) Personality: Krakana is a quick thinker and is good at forming battle plans in desperate times, hence his becoming the leader of the Toa-Kal. He is fun to be around, and is well-known for his witty jokes in battle to throw off opponents. Home Island: Batarknokk, later moved to Ayomeii after the destruction of that island Name: Guutana Element: Formerly Ice, now controls the concept of Courage Mask: Hau, Mask of Shielding Toa Tool: Sword Personality: Guutana is very defensive of his island and his people, despite not being a native to Ayomeii. He was usually the most emotionless of the team, until the death of his close friend Roqini on the Toa-Kal's last mission to Dyteeli. This resulted in him becoming bitter and silent for a long period of time, and his personality was permanently changed for the worse by this tragedy. Home Island: Batarknokk, later moved to Ayomeii after the destruction of that island Name: Xironu Element: Formerly Plantlife, now controls the concept of Speech Mask: Kakama, Mask of Speed (after his Rau, Mask of Translation was broken in battle a few weeks ago) Toa Tool: Spear Personality: Xironu is the most playful of the group, seeing life as a game that he cannot lose by virtue of being a hero. He sobered up a bit after being forced to betray his friends when Ayomeii was invaded by the League of Six Kingdoms, and even moreso after witnessing the death of Roqini, but this hasn't changed his personality enough to keep him from being too serious. Home Island: Dyteeli; exiled after the civil war there and became a Toa on Ayomeii Name: Desurk Element: Formerly Plasma, now controls the concept of Thought Mask: Komau, Mask of Mind Control Toa Tool: Protodermic Club Personality: Desurk is loyal and always willing to help his teammates. After being killed by a misled Xironu and brought back at the temporary sacrifice of the Toa-Kal's powers, Desurk seemed to realize life can end at any second, and became more outgoing and brighter as a person. Still, though, his last memories before being resurrected haunt him to no end. Home Island: Dyteeli; exiled after the civil war there and became a Toa on Ayomeii Name: Grunekt Element: Formerly Fire, now controls the concept of Vision Mask: Kadin, Mask of Flight (formerly Akaku, Mask of Vision) Toa Tool: Torch Blade Personality: Unlike most (former) Toa of Fire, Grunekt is generally calm and collected. However, he does not get along well with Qedono and especially hates being called "Big Red". When aggravated past his breaking point, he has a fierce, potentially deadly, temper. Home Island: Dyteeli; exiled after the cival war there and became a Toa on Ayomeii Name: Tuitru Element: N/A Mask: N/A Toa Tool: Staff Personality: Tuitru is not one of the Toa-Kal, but he is a former soldier of the League of Six Kingdoms that betrayed them and is now a guardian of Ayomeii. He is amphibious and loves animals. He is kind, but like Grunekt, has a fierce temper when his pets are in harm's way. He has no reluctance to kill those who he sees as evil or undeserving to live, especially if such beings feel the same way as he does to them. Home Island: Unknown; he is now the last of his race of the League crushed the species for refusing to be enslaved Name: Mehikir Element: Plasma Mask: Powerless Calix, Mask of Fate Toa Tool: N/A Personality: Mehikir was once a simple Pa-Matoran of Ayomeii, but after Sihnozu killed one of his closest friends, he became bitter and generally unpleasant to be around. He cannot stand a mention of Mata Nui, who he does believe in but does not believe that Mata Nui cares about his or anyone else's individual life. Home Island: Dyteeli; exiled to Ayomeii after the civil war there Name: Nejodis Element: Plantlife Mask: Powerless, Great-shaped Matatu, Mask of Telekinesis Toa Tool: N/A Personality: Nejodis is the exact opposite of his acquaintance, Mehikir--where Mehikir is cold and bitter, Nejodis is welcoming and uncannily friendly. He sees the bright side of every situation, even if it isn't there, and this has led many to be annoyed by him. However, many more have become great friends with him. Home Island: Dyteeli; exiled to Ayomeii after the civil war there Name: Hibuthil Element: Fire Mask: Powerless, Noble-shaped Mahiki, Mask of Illusions Toa Tool: N/A Personality: Hibuthil is a natural leader, which has led to him becoming a bit bossy. He is generally optimistic and pleasant to be around aside from this, however. He has every expectation to become a Toa someday, and become the leader of his team. Home Island: Dyteeli; exiled to Ayomeii after the civil war there Name: Auserv Element: Fire, later Lightning, and most recently the concept of Emotion Mask: Mask of Lightning in the shape of a Huna, Mask of Invisibility Toa Tool: Thunder Staff Personality: Auserv makes friends easily, something that has been very convenient in his life--he has been faced with amnesia multiple times, and thus has found himself in strange situations where he knows no one quite often. When last seen by the other Toa-Kal, Auserv was swept away from them in the aftermath of a hurricane, but he appears on Ayomeii again in an unexpected manner... Home Island: Unknown; likely far away from the dome he now calls home Dyteeli Characters Name: Krandorn Element: Radiation Mask: Sanok, Mask of Accuracy (now in Noble form after he became a Turaga) Toa Tool: Trident Personality: Until the Toa-Kal used the Dairuno Stones hidden on Dyteeli to bring the island back to a period before the civil war, Krandorn was the leader of the island, and he did the job well. He loved all of the Matoran and became a father figure to them. However, he is skeptical of anything he cannot see. Home Island: Dyteeli Name: Zirralo Element: Water Mask: Mask of Hearing Toa Tool: Tidal Staff (also carries a Cordak Blaster) Personality: Zirralo was once mutated into a monstrous form, and after being able to become a Toa again, she has become much more cautious of a person. Formerly she was reckless and took a "what do I have to lose?" attitude to most situations, and while she has become more responsible, the old Zirralo can still be seen to shine through at times. Home Island: Dyteeli Name: Qedono Element: Rahi Control Mask: Huna, Mask of Invisiblity Toa Tool: Wildcard (more of a musical instrument then a tool, it is a device that allows him to summon a random Rahi at will, as well as allowing him to channel his elemental energies through it) Personality: Qedono is rude and sarcastic, but knowlegable about many subjects. For some, having him on an adventure with you forms a "can't live with him, can't live without him" situation, especially for Grunekt, who hates Qedono's nickname for him, "Big Red". After becoming a Toa, Qedono tried to become less rude, but all of the Toa-Kal will agree he could have tried harder. Home Island: Dyteeli Name: Lenurin Element: Radiation Mask: Komau, Mask of Mind Control Toa Tool: Gamma Blade Personality: Lenurin was once a simple and hard-working Matoran, and this has not changed much after he became a Toa. He still has a simple view of what the rest of his life will entail: beat the bad guys, save the good guys, complete your destiny, and retire to the life of a Turaga. However, he previously had a bit of a self-esteem issue, which has been resolved by becoming a Toa, now that he knows lives depend on him. Home Island: Dyteeli Name: Tyaseri Element: Water Mask: Ruru, Mask of Night Vision Toa Tool: Trident Personality: Tyaseri comes off to some as having her nose in the air, but really she is just a teacher at heart and becoming a Toa has not changed this. She has a close friendship with Grunekt, suggesting that they had previously known each other before the Dyteeli Civil War. Home Island: Dyteeli Rode Nui Characters Name: Seer Element: Ice Mask: Pakari, Mask of Strength Toa Tool: Staff Personality: Seer lacks wit, but he makes up for it with his strength, courage, and perseverence. He made a strong friendship with Konaru and Beka ever since he first met them, shortly before becoming a Toa. He is a natural leader, but he's fine with following orders too. Home Island: Rode Nui Name: Beka Element: Water Mask: Huna, Mask of Invisibility Toa Tool: Water Sword, made purely of her element, water. Personality: Beka was something of a scholar in her Matoran days on Rode Nui, constantly reading books and always ready to learn. She does have a bit of a temper, and is not the bravest Toa there is, but she is not hard to get along with. Home Island: Rode Nui Name: Konaru Element: Air Mask: Kakama, Mask of Speed Toa Tool: N/A (Uses hand-to-hand combat) Personality: Usually looking for another adventure, and is always making a joke out of something. Konaru is rarely serious about things, but when dealing with bigger threats, he will stop at nothing to save his friends. Home Island: Rode Nui Name: Drite Element: Fire Mask: Kaukau, Mask of Water Breathing Toa Tool: Double-edged Firesword Personality: Drite is a serious fellow, not one for jokes or witty replies in the midst of an intense battle. He is the kind of person who makes friends with one person and isn't interested in meeting anyone new unless he has to. Being a former detective, Drite can see many hidden clues as if they are in plain sight, and actually enjoys a good mystery. Home Island: Rode Nui Name: Renre Element: Earth Mask: Hau, Mask of Shielding Toa Tool: Twin drills Personality: Renre is loyal and hard-working, willing to do whatever it takes to save his friends. Renre is always up-to-date on rumors and prefers to call himself an "explorer"; he is always the first one to find a shortcut or a hidden area. However, he tends to be a little naive and is a bit dim. Home Island: Rode Nui Name: Pleko Element: Stone Mask: Miru, Mask of Levitation Toa Tool: Pitchfork Personality: Pleko is shamelessly lazy, despite having an abnormal amount of physical strength. When he isn't saving Rode Nui, Pleko can probably be found asleep, in which case it is near impossible to awaken him. Pleko is well-known on Rode Nui for his catchphrase--a subdued "whoa" is sufficient to describe almost any situation Pleko runs in to. Home Island: Rode Nui Name: Tahkeh Element: Fire Mask: Great Pakari, Mask of Strength (with an invention of his, Tahkeh can use his mask power despite only being a Matoran) Toa Tool: N/A Personality: Tahkeh is a Matoran inventor and Chronicler from Rode Nui, very intelligent and very friendly. He is Drite's best (and quite possibly only) friend and has created an invention on more than one occasion which helped Drite, Seer, and the others through a tough spot. Home Island: Rode Nui Guest Stars Name: Lepaka Element: Air Mask: Hau, Mask of Shielding Toa Tool: Sword Personality: Serious. Home Island: A southern island Name: Lhilertoro Element: Ice Mask: Kualsi, Mask of Quick-Travel Toa Tool: A thin sword with a shield in the middle Personality: Doubtful but brave. Careful and patient. After meeting Sihnozu, Lhilertoro develops an extreme hatred for him. Home Island: Sarra Nui Name: Tri Element: Power (basically allows the user to launch energy beams, much like Samus's Power Beam in the Metroid series) Mask: Mask of Plantlife (allows the user to create mini-Morbuzakhs and other plants) Toa Tool: Energy Sword Personality: Friendly; at night depressed Home Island: Unknown Name: Ravnos Element: Cosmic Energy (allows the user to heat something to the temperature of a star, or cool it to the freezing temperature of space, however the element itself is far more limited than Fire or Ice in all but the extremes of temperature it can generate) Mask: Kakama, Mask of Speed, in the shape of a Kiril, Mask of Regeneration Toa Tool: Shape-shifting Laser Axe (axe will change to whatever weapon he pleases if Ravnos changes shape) Personality: Serious; tends to 'dull' a lively conversation with bad news Home Island: Gravitos Nui Name: Noxus Element: Iron Mask: Huna-shaped Calix, Mask of Fate Toa Tool: Sword and launcher (shoots molten iron bolts) Personality: Slightly humorous, but serious when he is needed. Home Island: Metru Nui Villains Name: Sihnozu Element: N/A; has practically infinite powers and can come back in a stronger form after being killed Mask: Powerless Miru Nuva-shaped mask Toa Tool: N/A Personality: Sihnozu is bitter at the world after the Brotherhood of Makuta experimented on his species and turned them into creatures who could never die. When they became too intelligent, the Brotherhood abandoned them, and Sihnozu seeks only to kill enough Matoran to make himself a problem to the Brotherhood, and from there to wipe out all of them when they try to attack him. However, in all this, he maintains a playful, almost charming, attitude. Home Island: Unknown; he is now the last of his race Name: Geoku Element: N/A Mask: Powerless Kualsi-shaped mask Toa Tool: Carries a Size Staff (allows the user to shrink objects with one tip and enlarge them with the other) and a Temperature Staff (allows the user to heat things up with one tip and cool them down with the other) Personality: Geoku is confident, perhaps overly so considering that he is much physically weaker and less intelligent than he seems to believe he is. He plans with his three-man army of Sihnozu, Tekarou and himself, to conquer all of Ayomeii, hopefully becoming a threat to the League of Six Kingdoms. Home Island: A small archipelago south of Ayomeii Name: Tekarou Element: N/A Mask: N/A Toa Tool: Carries a sword and has small wings for gliding in powerful wind storms. Personality: Tekarou is a mysterious character, apparently picked up by Geoku after he conquered the already-broken government of Tekarou's home, Tolliwam. While Skakdi inhabit that island, Tekarou is a native Tirrakir, and was formerly something of a vice president on Tolliwam. It is unknown what caused him to leave and begin a life of a crime, but it is almost certain that he plans to betray Geoku as soon as possible. However, what he plans to do after this is unknown. Home Island: Tolliwam ---- And that's it. Took forever to write, LOL. But like I said, I'll be checking here myself for reference while writing. Any questions or comments?
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For the past few months, I've been working on my own atlas, made in a little notebook, that details a lot of info about the islands in my epics. I've even drawn maps of some of them. Maybe I can share some of that confidential information with you guys? Here... I'll give you all a shortened version of these entires. Ayomeii: Ayomeii is home to Pa-Matoran (Matoran of Plasma), Palif-Matoran (Matoran of Plantlife), and Ta-Matoran (Matoran of Fire). They were exiles from Dyteeli after a large civil war on that island. After trouble with native creatures, they summoned help from Dyteeli and they sent their Onu-Matoran population as well. The natives were driven back, but another civil war threatened to start, so the Palif-Matoran and Onu-Matoran were sent to an uninhabited island in the south of the dome to cool off. Eventually, the Palif-Matoarn returned alone, with a novice Toa named Onathei. Onathei defended the island for a time before passing on his power to Desurk, Xironu and Grunekt. Krakana, Roqini and Guutana came from the dead island of Batarknokk with Toa stones of their own, and the team of six eventually became Toa-Kal. Dyteeli: Dyteeli was originally home to seven types of Matoran, but now only houses Ga-Matoran, Ce-Matoran (Matoran of Radiation), and Ra-Matoran (Matoran of Rahi Control). It was one of the first islands in the dome to be colonized, and broke into civil war before long. The Turaga was killed in the battle, so the Ce-Matoran took over as government and banished the Pa-Matoran and Palif-Matoran for starting the war and the Ta-Matoran because of their general, who assassinated the Turaga. Each element on Dyteeli had a temple dedicated to it, but the Fire Temple, Plasma Temple and Plant Temple were destroyed after the exile of those Matoran. According to legend, the twelve Dairuno Stones were hidden in these temples. It's unknown what became of them when the temples were destroyed. A wandering Toa team visited the island one day and gave birth to nine Toa, among them Auserv, Barnoka, Krandorn and Zirralo. Auserv had come with five others--those five were killed in battle by the League of Six Kingdoms and Auserv was captured. Batarknokk: Batarknokk was a very dangerous island, filled with corrosive water and deadly Rahi. A toxin inside the island was apparently polluting the island. A group of mysterious beings one day invaded the island, trying to destroy it for "the good of the universe". They did not realize that there were Matoran on the island until it was too late. One of each of the types there--Ga-Matoran, Ko-Matoran, and Onu-Matoran--escaped to Ayomeii and became Toa. But the rest of the Matoran were eventually killed when the island was destroyed. Rode Nui: Rode Nui is a paradise, home to Ta-Matoran, Ga-Matoran, Ko-Matoran, Onu-Matoran and the only Le-Matoran and Po-Matoran in the entire dome. Like the island of Metru Nui, it had six different climates suited to the elements of the Matoran inhabiting it. Long ago, it was betrayed by an amnesiac Dark Hunter to the Brotherhood and ended up being a Brotherood breeding ground for Visorak. The Toa who have defended it--starting with Onan's team and currently Rillakop's team--have learned to live in peace with the Visorak, although they still attack them and send them off of the island whenever possible. Recently a group of Matoran led by the Ko-Matoran named Seer have begun looking for a legendary Mask of Energy called the Kanohi Kamika and reports indicate that a monster is stalking the island. Deserted Island: The Order of Mata Nui, secretly operating in the region around the time Destral was reported to be seen in the dome, found an island with traces of civilization once there. There are deserted Matoran villages, a mass grave, and a huge underground tunnel system with signs of security systems that might indicate well-protected civilizations deep underneath the island. Wandering in these tunnels and the wide plains of the overworld, many Order members have reported hallucinations of large, winged beasts or a being with a mask like Karzahni peering at them cautiously from behind a tree. Many more Order members have reported that... and never returned. Small Archipelago: A small group of islands south of Ayomeii is home to many non-Matoran species, including the Viduryea, a dull humanoid race that is as territorial as an animal. A scholar, leader, and "conquerer" of there people, Geoku, has attempted to control every island in the area. When he succeeds, he plans to move on to Ayomeii, and eventually expand his territory so much that he becomes a threat to the League of Six Kingdoms. Tolliwam: Home to the Tirrakir, a humanoid winged species. The Tirrakir defend their tropical home from the Skakdi that moved there from Zakaz around the time that the Brotherhood began experimenting on the species, wielding archaic weapons such as swords and shields. While they don't have "elements" like Matoran, they do have two separate races: the red Tirrakir keep their wings from childhood and are usually more agressive while the blue, docile Tirrakir shed their wings but retain the power of flight. They are led by a blue Tirrakir named Zeaku, and his advisor, a red Tirrakir named Tekarou. And so there you go. Let me give you a hint: I've just revealed the location of nearly every island any of my epics will ever take place on, and within these many words are a few references to future happenings in my stories. For now, just know that the Tirrakir and Geoku the Viduryea will play large parts in my third epic, and that Batarknokk and the deserted island will be locations in the flashback trilogy I'm going to write after completing this one.
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I really need to finish my second epic, but I've been stuck for the past few days. At the moment, a Matoran of Radiation named Lenurin who is accompanying the heroes is crawling through an air vent (something about air vents is just so epic) looking for one of twelve artifacts. Somehow he's going to have to find one, but it can't be too easy nor can it be too hard, because I don't want the chapter to be too unrealistic or long, respectively. But I don't know how he's going to do it. This is a serious problem, because I have major writer's block, and I can't write more than a few words every day. I'm looking for inspiration from anywhere it will come. I can't have a monster or anything since he's just a Matoran and realistically won't be able to fight it off. Unless... unless I have him pull off a creative maneuver involving the ceiling collapsing on the Rahi and immobilzing it, and then he finds that the thing he's looking for is in the rubble on top of the Rahi... Yes, that's a great idea. Now I have to go write it. I can finally continue! I was going to spend this entry complaining about writer's block, but instead I ended up bringing you an exclusive glimpse of the writer's block being smashed into a million pieces by the hammer of inspiration. Or something. Anyway, I finally have a way to continue my story and finish Chapter 17. Of course, I'll probably run out of inspiratory (is that a word?) fuel after I finish the chapter, but I think now I can finish before I start posting. Hopefully. In other news, I got a flu shot today, much to my displeasure (I'm pretty sure that's a word), and to compensate my parents took me to Gamestop and Borders (I got nothing from either store, unfortunately), and we ate lunch at Wendy's. I've always hated flu shots. They only hurt for a few seconds, but there's a dull pain in your shoulder for the rest of the day. But I do appreciate the irony of it--someone stabs you with a needle, and then puts a bandage on the wound, and offers you a lollipop. (I got a lemon-flavored one, in case you were wondering.) In other other news, I got past the boss I was on last night in Metroid Fusion, and now I'm stuck on Ridley-X. In MP3 Veteran Mode, I'm stuck on Rundas, though I haven't tried much because my hands are in pain from near constant DS Lite/Wiimote handling. My dad has my old DS, and he's been playing multiplayer with my brother and I on Mario Kart DS and Super Mario 64 DS. I'm trying to convince him to play Super Smash Bros. Melee or Metroid Prime Hunters with me, but he feels like learning the controls for too many games will overload his brain or something. My hands and shoulders are hurting, but I still have to type on and finish Chapter 17. Wish me luck!
