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An adorable new acquisition
I've been wanting to get a copy of the original WALL-E set for a while now. This morning a local independent Lego store got one in and I couldn't resist!
The box is in absolutely mint condition, like it just came off the shelf - and it's staying that way! Won't be building him anytime soon, if ever. He was a bit pricey, but I traded in a few sealed sets that I had duplicates of to make the purchase more palatable.
Now I need to get the new Brickheadz version!
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Latest Entry
Hello
Dropping in again for no reason, seeing who's about. Still a few folk I remember doing similar now and again, kind of nice.
Been doing some self-reflecting recently, bit of therapy and that, you know how it is. Probably should've been doing that as a teenager but eh, better late than never. Actually brought up this place during a few sessions, was very much a place I turned to to be 'validated' when I wasn't getting that elsewhere in my life. Growing up I had nobody around who shared my interests and a lot of folk who just thought I was dumb - so BZP gave me a place to have shared interests, and be seen as 'smart' for knowing a lot of Bionicle lore. And then the 'popularity' and 'fame' I'd get leaking set pictures or kicking off for gay rights or whatever was giving me the attention I wasn't getting elsewhere. And there'd be a bit of a 'fight' mentality in all of that because of dissatisfaction elsewhere in life. A lot of the motivations and brain loops involved back then have persisted over the years - getting quieter, but when I step back and look I can still see that stuff is cycling around in my head a lot. People's opinion of me informs a lot, I do a lot to be valued by people and react badly when I even get the WHIFF that people think I might be dumb or not understand something - it's like I have to 'prove' myself in those situations. It's all able to be traced back, and seeing this stuff laid out like that and mapping it all back just makes it all a lot easier. I can see how my brain naturally functions, and why.
Wiped this blog because I mentioned it to a few people IRL and they tracked it down, them seeing how I used to be was not a comfortable thing so I panic deleted as they started reading. Bad times. It's tricky with new people, you get the fresh start with them, but having a previous version of yourself 'preserved' online for them to also see is....yeah it's weird innit.
Anyway, things are good overall. It's cool analyzing myself a bit more - always growth to be had, just trying to actively dig for it a little bit more at the minute. Pretty fun and cool.
Also, you know what I'm desperate for? A run-down of like, what happened with every BIG NAME person from BZP back in the day. I wanna know where everyone is and when they dropped off the site and why etc. I live for the GOSSIP.
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A Professional
Well, after a brief Invision Board-based hiatus, we're back!
Did you like that video review of Tahu and Takua? I haven't done one in a while and it was fun to dive back in, especially since, over the past year, I've moved to doing video post-production full time. I was freelancing for around a year at a couple of documentary houses until last month when I started as a staff Assistant Editor a trailer house. If you saw the trailer for Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, that was us. I had nothing to do with that Indy trailer, but I did see a TV Spot I helped out with on TV on New Year's Eve, so that was pretty dope. There are a lot of projects in the pipe that I can't talk about (I'm NDA'd within an inch of my life) but it's super cool to, y'know, be doing this professionally.
Part of the fun of the gig is getting to see how those trailers are made and see all the ways the Editors make them work. And then learn from them and use them when cutting something else.
Like a video review for a Bionicle site.
I put more effort into this than the other reviews I did, part because it's Bionicle and part because, well, I wanted to take stuff I've learnt out on a semi-dry run. There was an AfterEffects project too to enhance the glow in the opening too, plus some foley and externally-recorded sound. Then some funky sound design too 'cuz this stuff is fun.
Because hey, I am a proper professional.
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Bright Young Mind Discovers Toa Nuva
Just want to share this pic of my son playing with some Bionicle sets for the first time. It melted my heart, if anyone else will get it it's got to be you guys!
My plans to indoctrinate the babies are finally coming to fruition. 🤨
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This is a strange, strange place now.
I come here every few years just to see what happened. It is like returning to a hometown that never existed, and all the people were fictional characters you made up as imaginary friends, and only a few straggling ghosts roam the grounds as though nothing changed.
I post this just to see if the ghosts can hear. The sensation of wandering in here ever since 2013, when I left the staff, has been haunting.
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this site makes me feel old
almost 16 years since I joined this site as a kid. it was a major part of my life for so long. to say that my time and the people I met here was instrumental to my development would be an understatement.
so many friendships came and went, even a relationship started and ended here, and the drama - so much drama. all the arguments, bullying right-wing bigots, carving out an identity and (infamous) reputation through so many different phases and identity crises. Laughin'Man, Scythey, Ryuujin, Serein, Heck - I changed so much from the time I started here till I faded away that it feels like I was five different people, and there's a little bit of every one that's made me who I am today.
shout out to the 3 people who might see this and think, "hey, I remember him". and to the handful of people who joined after I left who are reading this and thinking "who's this weird old guy?" just remember when you're pushing 30 the people, places, and things that got you there.
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where are they now?
hey everybody! I decided to visit bzp last night and was really happy to see a lot of familiar usernames. I joined here back when I was only 15 years old... I'm nearly 30 now, and looking at my post history on this account it looks like I haven't regularly posted here since bionicle gen 2 was coming out. I think the best part of checking around sites I used to frequent is seeing the familiar users getting into careers they enjoy, getting really into a new hobby, or otherwise just doing new things in life.
So here's my question for everybody, whether you've been here a long time or not. What have you been up to since Bionicle ended?
As for me, I became a game developer. Not my full time gig yet, I'm working as a cook full time now too. Back during my teenage bzpower days, I always thought I would be a visual artist or novelist, but nowadays I'm way more into game dev and producing music. I can't link my project since it's fairly M-rated, but I have one game on Steam! My goal right now is to make a lot of little arcade projects in my signature garish grossout style.
Anyway, this is me procrastinating. I should be programming right now, lol. Let me know what you've been up to! See you all around! ❤️
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Some news
Maddison and I got married on October 2nd, 2021 in a very lovely elopement in the same city we live in, at sunset.
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Was I Too Optimistic?
As something of a realist, I knew going into this year that fangirl and fanboy pipe dreams of "The Return of BIONICLE" for the 20th anniversary was crazy talk. As much as I love the original run of BIONICLE from 2001 to 2010, there was no way in Karzahni that LEGO was going to revive the theme just for an anniversary year. It's a major one, but still. BIONICLE is done. No need to "continue" the story or reboot it (2015 and 2016 showed how poorly the latter went).
My prognostication was we'd likely get something like a GWP or one-off trinket by the summer to commemorate the worldwide release of BIONICLE (Europe had the Toa and Turaga from the start of 2001, but the US and Canadian markets didn't see BIONICLE sets on shelves until July). On the lower end, I figured we might be lucky to see prints of, say, Kanohi masks on minifigure torsos scattered throughout CITY sets or sets from another theme.
Then I found out about this "20 Years of LEGO Harry Potter" nonsense. Wow, I mean, I know LEGO loves money (and I write that realistically, with no chagrin or sarcasm), but Harry Potter is beyond a cash grab at this point. Especially considering several years went by when LEGO didn't produce a single Harry Potter anything. Why celebrate that, of all LEGO themes?
But that's not even why I'm mad. It was the sight of a sticker on a piece in one of these anniversary sets that really spelled it out for me. In what looks like a star chart of constellations in whatever weird, transphobic, "magic" universe Harry Potter is set in, one of the designers snuck in a constellation that forms the shape of the Kanohi Hau, a symbol of BIONICLE as a whole.
Great. Bravo. Slow clap. See that BIONICLE fans???? BIONICLE LIVES!!! Happy 20th anniversary! Watch my YouTube video to see how LEGO CELEBRATES BIONICLE - SECRET COMEBACK?!?!?
Blood from a (Makoki) stone, people. I kept my expectations in check, but now, after seeing this "tribute" in one of the new Harry Potter sets, I'm beginning to wonder if I was the foolish BIONICLE fan too optimistic for LEGO to pay respects to one of the greatest themes they ever produced? Is this all we're getting for acknowledgment of BIONICLE's 20th anniversary? Or is there a leak to come of something just a tad more substantial?
We can only hope. If this is it, though, it will be a very sad footnote to one of the best original stories I've ever heard and participated in. Reduced to a single image in a set celebrating the 20th anniversary of another, non-LEGO, IP.
Well, there's always the 50th anniversary...
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Can't believe my luck
Found these lil dudes on facebook marketplace, all sealed! Had to drive an hour to pick them up but I couldn't pass on them. I have probably quadruples of each by now I think? But having some sealed ones is pretty amazing
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It's a Tuesday Night
Tuesdays seem more tiring than Mondays in my opinion.
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Stellar Phenomena
Once something is close enough to pass through the skin, it enters the black hole in your chest that formed from the self-destructive weight of the questions that are at the end of their lives, as old as anyone has ever been, but also just as young as you. "Who am I?" "What is the meaning of life?" which invariably means, "what is the meaning of my life?" It is said to teach is to learn. How can you teach something only you will ever truly understand? With that in mind, how can you ever truly learn what you know?
Suppose you are trying to describe a friend to someone else. You can use the words most of us would use; loyal, kind, funny (for some of them). You could very well go far, far beyond that. But what that friend is to you is something that can never be articulated fully because no one else is you. To anyone else that friend is just another person, or perhaps their friend, not yours. Once something is a part of you, you can only be and feel it, never know it, because the black hole questions will never stop sucking you in.
I can describe my childhood home to you, can draw a blueprint for you. I can tell you that my room was blue and had a window looking out on the street, and right outside was the staircase that led down to the front door. I can even tell you how that scared me as a child because on nights when I couldn't get to sleep and heard things going bump I'd imagine some axe-wielding madman would kick in the door and come right up and chop me to bits first. But I can never make you understand what it was to me, what it was to live there. It's in my bones, not my head. If I break off a piece of me and give it to you, it will wither and die.
I could, however, tell you in no uncertain terms what the home of someone I know is. I might not remember how many chairs are around the kitchen table or what color the walls are, but I could tell you what it's like to be there, what's on the air. How it feels in that house. That place is nowhere near the event horizon.
This trick works for people, too, and the further they are from you the sharper the image is. I can tell you more about a stranger passing on the street from the way they walk, how they carry themselves. What they wear and how they speak, what's in their eyes. Do they grimace or just roll their eyes when they step in that puddle? When I look at my dearest friends the lens is blurry with love and years of memory. The woman opposite me in the waiting room is a neon sign.
We grasp and flail through our lives and anything we manage to grab ahold of is brought in close, too close, lost and kept forever. You will never stop asking who you are, but people on distant and lonely planets of their own are putting together the puzzle of you. The further from your reach they are, the bigger the piece they've got.
You may stumble through darkness, but know that in the telescopes of unseen strangers, in untarnished clarity, the real you burns.
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California Fires Update 2
The fire that was threatening my local area is mostly contained. Actually it has been for two weeks or so. Evacuation orders are probably almost entirely lifted by now except for some small area. So that's mostly good. It did not come without losses for many people, though.
But it's California, and we're a box of matches when it comes down to it. Hotspot detection satellites are lighting up the state like a Christmas tree. That's why even though we (folks in my area) aren't being immediately threatened by fires, we're still breathing near toxic air, ash is falling down like a light sprinkle of snow, and everything looks like Las Vegas from Blade Runner 2049 (which, not fun fact, the look was inspired by this very phenomenon). And many, many people are still being threatened by fires.
And we aren't even in fire season yet. October is when we start to see stronger winds, when things can get really bad. But, then, at this rate, what will be left to burn?
What a miserable end of summer.
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new background (2020)
Lo, a rare iaredius! Fond of nebulae and Roman art, I have fused them. First made a glowing blue edged edit of dynastic emblem of the Comnenus dynasty, then made my own personal monogram. Tired of a plain black background with only this blue bird, I made the creature somewhat holographic and placed a befitting nebula as its background. Behold!
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Yikes, Was I a Piece of... Something
So, I haven't been on this website in YEARS, but something I specifically regret forever is posting some very blatant anti-LGBTQ+ bull on here. At the time I had zero (0) socialization with anyone other than those who my conservative parents exposed me to, and HOO BOY have things changed. For one thing, I myself have come to realize my own bisexual identity. I feel like MOST of my friends now aren't straight, amazing what getting a theatre degree does to you.
So, for those I hurt way back when, if you're even still around here? I'm so sorry for the hateful identity-defying rhetoric I spouted back then. A term I've come to appreciate is "hate parroting," and at the time I really was a hate parrot against the LGBTQ+ community. I regret hurting people by inserting my own dumb, sheltered child opinion, and my adult self is at least offering this apology to the void that will probably not even be read by anyone (and that, afterwards, I probably won't visit this site ever again, or at least not for another few years). I can only hope that this provides some mental closure for me after agonizing over things I said on a children's website years ago, and that somehow someone directly affected back then might see it and feel validated that their attempts to tell me I was wrong weren't completely in vain.I love the memories I have otherwise of BZPower, and do miss everything I've done here long ago. Thanks for everything, and one more time, I'm so sorry for hurtful things I once said and hope this olive branch provides... something? Anyways, peace and love, **** Trump, I hope everyone's living life to its fullest despite the world crumbling right now. -Benjamin
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Wind at Your Back, Lads, Wherever You Go
My elementary-school self is jumping with joy.
One of the ways I've occupied myself this summer was by trying to reconstruct one of the old LEGO Pirate ships, the Black Seas Barracuda. However, I wanted to do it with a twist. I've always loved the sails of the Skull's Eye Schooner, but the yellow/black/white motif of the Barracuda was always my preferred color scheme. Therefore I opted for a mixture of the two.
The sails are, alas, not genuine, but printed sheets of paper cut appropriately. Surprisingly it looks really good in person, but I do want to try printing actual cloth sails in the future.
A keen eye will notice that the bow is modified to be more like that of the Skull's Eye Schooner, and there are still some minor decorative pieces that need to be obtained, but otherwise it looks quite impressive.
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Latest Entry
hmm
it's been a few years huh. i miss how things used to be the last time i posted but then again i don't miss all of it. lotsa stuff happens but i gotta remember me is me
one thing i miss is how the old blog system looked lol, that modular layout was
also holy cow i forgot ALL ABOUT THESE FORUM EMOTES I JUST THOUGHT THEY WERE GONNA BE EMOJIS BUT I GOT A BLAST FROM THE FRICKIN PAST
idk yall ive just been nostalgic recently and wanted to drop by and say hello to whoever is reading
i hope life is treating you fair, and if not then i know you can take this bull by the horns and make the best of it. i've just been down recently considering im now living 2500 miles away from where i was when i made the last blog post. but im in good company and making the best of it all, just homesick and nostalgic.
in happier, and older, news, i got engaged in 2017! sorry for telling you all so late lmao
we got a puppy recently, we're living in a nice house, and we have a videos game in production!!
sorry im just
LOVING
these emotes
what's going on with everyone here??
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Latest Entry
Bfahome
I chose the name "Bfahome" in a desperate fit of non-creativity as I was signing up for the Kanoka Club on bionicle.com in 2004. Maybe I should've thought about it a bit more, because in the following 16 years it remained my primary handle on pretty much any site or service that anyone here would find relevant.
(It stands for "BIONICLE fan at home", loosely inspired by the "Adam@Home" comic strip I remembered seeing in the newspaper. I was told not to use the @ symbol because it tended to not play well with systems, and "Bfathome" might be interpreted as using the word "fat" derisively. So I went with "Bfahome". I don't think I've ever mentioned the handle's full origin story but now seemed as good a time as ever.)
So if you're wondering what becomes of me, you can find me on Twitter, YouTube, Steam, Twitch, Discord, Battle.net, and a slew of others I've forgotten about because I stopped using them or something. Follow me if you want; occasionally I share cool things I've made, though most of the time it's just weird thoughts that pop into my head that I used to use this blog as an outlet for.
With that, I'll be "officially" logging off of BZPower for probably the first time in the twelve and a half years I've been a member. Right now I consider it a hiatus, however extended it may be, because I still want to believe that there'll be a site for me to come back to that I can feel good about associating with, promoting, and contributing to. As it stands now, though, there isn't. And maybe there won't ever be. Can't tell, and it won't be just my judgement on the matter.
I've certainly had my own shortcomings and I'm sure there have been things I've done that have contributed to the general climate of negativity that I've been ignorant of, and for those things I am sorry. I've tried to become a better person over the years, and still have a long way to go in that regard.
Anyway, it's been fun, mostly. I definitely got my 35 dollars' worth at least. But this is it, I guess.
See you all on the other side.
- Gabe
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One last look
I think I've been on this site for almost seventeen years. In that time I've made a terrible comic series, had some fun in General Art, added a handful of unfinished stories to the library and made a few friends and acquaintances along the way. If any of you here want to keep in contact, my twitter handle is attached to my profile. It's goofy and weird and a bit of a mess, just like my time on this site.
The more time has passed, the more I recognize that the only thing keeping me coming back to this site is my blog. And really all I've used it for lately is to complain about life's frustrations.
I'm tired of being someone who only complains. I know my content used to be goofy and silly and full of... well, more than what it is now.
I've been lucky during my time here. I can't say I've been a victim of any sort of prejudice or attacks. But due to more recent statements, it appears I was ignorant to the other members that had been victims of such actions.
I also feel I haven't always been the most supportive member of the LGBT+ community on here to my fellow LGBT+ peers. I feel I remained silent when I should have spoken out. I feel I was inconsiderate during one or more occasions. If I ever caused any grief, I apologize. Being gay myself is no excuse for instances of lashing out due to internalized homophobia.
This website held a lot of personal milestones for me. When I was nervous about coming out to my family, I sought advice from an openly gay staff member of the site. I came out publicly here before I did to the rest of my family and friends and was mostly met with support. That meant the world to me. I like to think the person I am today was molded in part by the experiences I've had on this site.
However, it would appear bzpower is no longer a place where I feel comfortable or safe. And so I shall be logging off. I hope one day things will be better and I can feel comfortable logging back in again. But I kinda doubt that will happen.
So, for what is perhaps the final time...
GET OFF MY LAWN!
~Tekulo <3
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The End
To all the great friends that I've met here, you've made my time on BZPower unforgettable and I will always cherish that. But, most of you have long since left this website and will likely never read this message... and I feel it might be time for me to finally move on as well.
I had always trusted BZPower to be a safe haven of my childhood. No matter what, even if I didn't post in years, I could always come back here and remember the good old days. But now, I fear that might no longer be the case. If the appalling recent allegations are true, then I don't think I can rightfully think of BZPower as a haven anymore. I may be a cisgendered heterosexual man, but if women and LGBTQ+ people cannot feel safe here, then no one can.
Currently, I am posting the Dino Attack RPG: Director's Cut on BZPower, and I had started doing so "for old time's sake", since this website is where the RPG began fifteen years ago, it has been my most cherished memory of BZPower, and I wanted to bring it full circle. Despite it all, I still want to leave BZPower on a positive note, so I shall continue to post the Director's Cut until it is complete. I've made my commitment, and I won't stop until my mission is accomplished. But aside from that, I doubt that I will be posting much else or continuing to engage with this community. There is a very real chance that the Director's Cut shall be my BZPower swan song.
There is other unfinished business that I had wished to attend to, such as posting The Story of Rosamu (a rewrite of an old BIONICLE fanfic from my early days on BZPower, which I had previously been hyping up on the Blaaahhhg whenever I remembered that I had a Blaaahhhg) whenever it was finished. When the time comes, I will decide whether I shall do so on BZPower, again "for old time's sake"... but what I had once treated as a certainty is now merely a possibility. To be honest, with the once-thriving library forums now silent as a graveyard, there may be no one left to share my stories with.
I have my notification settings set so that I am emailed when I receive a personal message, so I can still check and read any PMs sent to me in the future if needed. That way, you can still reach me through BZPower even after I am gone.
I can only hope that one day, BZPower can prove that it can change for the better. Maybe there's a chance that we'll see a thriving, healthy, welcoming community whenever BIONICLE Gen 3 comes around. But until then...
"It's all right, children. Life is made up of meetings and partings. That is the way of it."
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Goodbye, BZPower
As of July 26th, 2020, I am resigning from BZPower staff and voluntarily requesting to be banned. I can no longer trust or vouch for this site as a safe place for users in light of the admins' failure to meaningfully condemn or punish multiple instances of abuse or harassment perpetrated by staff members against fellow BZPower members.
I will not elaborate at present, seeing as these are not my stories to tell and I do not want to give staff members who disagree with my decision any motivation to censor this message. But rest assured that this is a decision I've been contemplating for weeks, even as I naively held out hope that matters like this might finally be taken seriously.
I would like to extend my condolences to those who have been victims of abuse or harassment by members of this site, and forced to endure the trauma of seeing them maintain good standing within the community, even among those who knew of their actions.
Goodbye, BZPower. I'm grateful for the experiences I've had here, but it's clear to me that my continued involvement in the community will never be enough to make it the kind of safe, healthy, and supportive community that I used to believe it was.
~Skye (Aanchir)- Read more...
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Storm Incoming
So what will probably be a tropical storm by this coming Friday night is going hit where I live in a couple of days. It won't get a direct hit, but my area will be on the east side of the storm. AKA the dirty side of it. And that means lots of rain and thunderstorms. Yay.
Now as I have been few a couple tropical storms and hurricanes, I'm not too worried about these storms. But I am a little frustrated because I bought a ticket for Pokemon Go Fest and I'll probably have to do half of it sitting in my house. (Which is what many people are doing anyways, so I shouldn't be one to complain)
If anything, I'll probably get at least half the weekend off from work. So I have that to look forward to. I just hope the storms don't get too bad.
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Hmm
When I was young I was very paranoid about a lot of things. In some ways I still am.
I used to imagine myself putting on a protective piece of headgear to... prevent people from reading my thoughts... at school. If I didn't I would be so afraid that people could read my thoughts. I don't know why I thought this other than just basic paranoia. Probably should have just tried to relax, which is difficult sometimes and is still now.
Similarly, I used to stare into nothingness, and when I made sure nobody else was around, I would talk into this nothingness as if the world was a television show. I don't know why I did this. Still, it's something I just thought about for the first time in a long, long while. It would be nice, maybe, if we would stop being tools of humour in a televised sitcom. Hmm, maybe not, maybe one should be careful about what they want and wish.
This year hasn't been great, has it? It's like we all fell down some stairs and we keep falling down the next step hoping we regain ourselves but we seem unable to for some reason. I hope, therefore, that we right ourselves. Metaphorically, I fell down some stairs and managed to right myself very recently.
Of course I think I probably might have messed something up or a few. Threw myself out of the BZP Realms Discord after being there for quite a while in a rude manner. I'm sorry about that, for all those that applies to (a fair number of people if I recall).
Well, here's hoping things go better from now on.
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