Aderia

I also agree, and I do find this to be a refreshing post here. Like, if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it until it is. Let a good thing be, so we can experience our nostalgia in peace, without various reboot attempts to inevitably disappoint us for one reason or another ( like either by ending again or it doesn't live up to overinflated expectation, etc).

Ooh, I enjoy this question, and as amusing as a Toa high school would be (and what, a Matoran kindergarten?), the concept doesn't jive with the overall feel of what Bionicle is in my head. Anyways, my headcanon was always that there were multiple Toa fortresses, similar to the one where that Makoki stone was kept, and they were the hub for Toa from a region to go and train, that's how they heard about and were assigned to teams to handle larger threats from time to time, and how they were organized in times of war. They could receive mentoring from another Toa with a same or similar element, study things like Kanohi and Elemental theory, history of the MU, tactics and strategy, etc. Nothing formal with curriculum or assignments, but definitely a dissemination of knowledge and resources.

Yes, I am the same way. When bored, I occasionally think about trying the Journey to One on Netflix, but I always say 'meh' and find something else to do. Best of luck with your storyline, I always enjoy well thought-out G1 expansions. That's one thing I enjoy - how much creative fuel G1 gave us to keep going, even approaching 2022. I'll keep an eye out, and go check out your Vakama model in the meantime

This is definitely an alternate timeline I'd follow. I get the impression Vakama's character is criticized often for the flip-flopping between sides (which is fair), so I like that your premise here has more drastic actions and living out the consequences, both the survivors/victims and the antagonizer. I'm sure awakened Teridax and disgraced Vakama would have an interesting dynamic as rulers. I'd be curious to see your Vakama model for the timeline. If I knew more about sets and 3D modeling, I'd also try and complement more competently in that arena, but they look great. I've not followed every one of your topics here (apologies), so maybe you've stated this elsewhere, but is it kind of like a revamp of G1 with G2 elements mixed in? The masks especially remind me of G2.

From 'Aderyn', a name that means 'bird', because flying would be super cool. I think my very first username was Rusty Red Raptor because I was going through a phoenix phase from reading Harry Potter at the time (also it was a more androgynous username, which seemed advantageous), so the bird motif carried over.

Sounds cooler. Marketing and whatnot. Alternatively - Lance is the weapon's given name, as opposed to Phil or Derek? But same reasoning, it has a nice ring to it.

Actually, this reminds me of that interesting thing where the Turaga of Metru Nui can create more Matoran using machinery in Metru Nui somewhere. Maybe the Turaga has a 'Matoran Blueprint'? Which doesn't answer the question at hand, but I'd guess if you found mint Matoran anywhere, it would definitely have been there.

The Great Beings based Matoran off of Agori, for one. If memory serves, Av-Matoran were the first type of Matoran created, so perhaps the Karda Nui Matoran would be what you're looking for? But then BS01 says that the following Matoran created after the Av-Matoran were smaller in stature. So, the Metru Nui Matoran, pre-Cataclysm would be a good bet, I think.

Aren't you the BZPower member who posted that topic asking why some Bionicle fans are toxic? And here you are trying to call out a collaborative creative work in our library for not being 'trendy' enough? In a topic that the author created specifically to get help for the problem you yourself decided to point out? He posted this trying to accommodate your grievance, and was kind enough to not mention you by username, even though you posted directly in the story topic, which isn't allowed? I can't tell if you're joking, because internet, but like, wasn't Bionicle discontinued twice because it wasn't 'trendy'? Yours seems like a null criticism, at that point. As someone who's spent a lot of time in the BZP library, I'll pass you this advice - if you don't like it, don't read it.

I'll start off saying that I quite enjoyed this post, for a variety of reasons - 1) Love the Toa Metru, 2) Enjoy discussion of leadership and leadership principles 3) appreciate diving deeper into established characters and lore, 4) Taking a long-standing controversy within the franchise (female representation) and choosing a specific angle to tackle it from (that is, the movies and nothing else, more on that later), 5) the specific points you made, timestamped, and used to support your argument, and 6) I want to acknowledge and say that I appreciate the perseverance put into this whole endeavor, and congratulations and thank you for posting it at long last. You mentioned a few places that you have more essays like such in the works, and I'd definitely keep my eye out for them. This line, specifically, did get a bona fide 'laugh out loud', and I wanted to let you know. Now, at first, I wasn't totally on board with your decision to tackle movie-version Nokama, and nothing else. I do see a point in your reasoning - particularly that you had to narrow your scope and that the movies were directed at a larger audience. That being said, I was slightly annoyed with myself throughout the read, as I was having trouble remembering what Nokama parts were from books and what was exclusively in the movie. I say this as a disclaimer, some of the points I want to add or bring up may or may not be from the movies. Anyways - I do believe she was portrayed in the film (LoMN) as being a teacher. Lhikan gives her her Toa Stone as she's teaching a class (although this isn't explicitly shown or stated as it happens), but Onewa has a line something along the lines 'Save the lesson for your class, teacher'. Unless someone has a convincing argument otherwise, I consider being a teacher (occupationally) a leadership role. I say this to add another point how she was set up as a leader (having prior experience) and was under-utilised. This is something I know for a fact is not in the movie, but want to bring up as a leadership quality. These interactions are found in Bionicle Adventures 3:The Darkness Below (basically the book about Nokama's leadership, and it's probably my favorite). Screenshots courtesy of the Biological Chronicle project, taken from pp.84-85 of Book 4: Legends, as listed in the directory. This is right at the beginning of the book, after their first major victory as a whole team, defeating the Morbuzakh in Ta-Metru, and they're on their way to present their Great Disks to Turaga Dume to prove themselves heroes. (because obviously that's how you prove heroism.) The line about Whenua always amuses me. I see this bit as her ability to read a room, being aware of and anticipating her teammates' attitudes. (granted this could also just be the style of narration - it was most convenient for Greg to tell us what everyone was feeling in this scene through Nokama's eyes. I don't think that detracts from the point that she is exercising a leadership skill, though) And second, after that Onu-Matoran gives them a task of saving the endangered Archives, and there's some squabbling amongst the Toa about course of action this and that. So, I guess it's not obvious from these snippets, but the dialogue between Vakama and Nokama, she's telling him to step up and lead, essentially. This happens again in the next chapter, but for brevity's sake, you'll have to take my word for it. Whether or not Vakama was actually an effective leader is a whole different discussion. But recognizing potential in others and encouraging them to step into that potential is also a leadership principle I've seen demonstrated and admired, as the team as a whole has been made stronger for it. I also think it speaks volumes about character, that you are okay with, and even want others to be successful, sometimes moreso than yourself. Next up: Yes. I agree. Two things here. 1) I've always been told that good leaders are also good followers. And a good follower enables the leader to do well (whether that is actively doing their best in their assigned role, or just not being deliberately obtuse, like Matau and Onewa, haha) , so in turn, everyone does well. 2) A good leader, who knows the strengths and weaknesses of each team member, knows how to delegate and knows when to step back and tell or let a team member with more expertise or a more suited skill set for the situation step up and take the lead. Example from LoMN (ignoring your well-put argument that Vakama wasn't named or acting like a leader in the film): Nokama taking lead when dealing with the Kikanalo, as she was the only one who could communicate with them. I'm gonna bow out now, as I have even less remembrance of the Web of Shadows movie. You raise a great question - why, when Vakama comes back to the team after betraying them, does he go right back to 'leader'? At that point, I'd chalk it up to Nokama not putting stock in the 'title' of leader, as she's already proven herself capable in such role time and time again. But the title would have been nice, in only for egalitarian purposes. (side point: the only thing that really happens, canonically, after WoS is they fly to Mata Nui with the Matoran Spheres, except Vakama literally abandons ship to have an adventure with the Makuta, then they all turn into Turaga and go on to lead their own villages. So, Vakama coming back from the dark side as 'the leader' kind of was fruitless anyhow) I wish I was less free with my upvotes, because I really mean it when I give you this one. Great topic in terms of depth, content, and effort. I'd love to see more like this.

These are amazing and adorable and I love them! I agree about the hoodies, I'd totally buy one. There was some topic a few months ago (unfortunately probably dead now) about designing a Bionicle theme park, and I'd definitely put you in charge of designing a clothing line for the gift shops based on these. I quite enjoy Takua's and Onepu's tiny Ussals, Hafu's mini-me sculpture. It took me a minute, but Kapura takes the cake. Although I've never played MNOG, it's a reference to his... um, quirks in there, right? Got a hearty chuckle out of me. Great work all around!

Awww! Thanks so much, guys! This is so nice! Haha, the big two-five for me, this year! Bring on the quarter life crisis! XD @Mushy the Mushroom, absolutely LOVE the puffin - you're so talented! It's adorable! Thanks again!

Sorry it's been a hot sec - real life, ya know? But I finally got around to reading your updates. Always an adventure :) From Ch. 10 This was heartbreaking to read, definitely. I really feel for all of them in this scenario. I think the way you set up and portrayed the long term effects of a long term, abusive, toxic relationship between the two Turaga was well handled. This is genius, the Po-Metru heritage behind his weapons. Love it. OOOOOOH!! Canonical context!! Yes! Been looking forward to this forEVER! I love the Metru Nui era, so, even better! Totally worth the wait ^_^ Also, I feel like you built up the reveal for the sinister Makuta Vortidax very well. As others have noted and commented, it harkens back to the old Bionicle days when THE Makuta was the big bad, shrouded in mystery. The Makuta being revealed as a species almost felt like it cheapened Teridax's menace from the early days. Your gradual revelation of Vortidax was well-paced and established a clear good/evil dichotomy, with definitive motives and multi-faceted conflict between the two forces. Ch. 11 Love the new map. Very stylized indeed. Always a fan of Matoran font. This was a fascinating passage. Like, it makes you wonder about the sociological aspects of Matoran culture and how they view heroes, and the general culture of Toa in the early days of the universe. Really great, self-consistent and canonically plausible worldbuilding detail. Ch 12 Another cool societal aspect you took on here - the title of Turaga more as a mantle of leadership, as opposed to the station of life simply coming after 'Toa' in a chosen Matoran's lifecycle. I also noticed the different leadership styles distinct to each Koro. Describing Oren's audience chamber with a 'throne', specifically, drew my attention. And contrast that with the leadership we see in Ta/Su Koro, etc. It helps set up a feel of real diversity on the island. I forget exactly which chapter this was, since I read a bunch in one go, but the scene where the two new Toa Volara are created definitely gave me Legends of Metru Nui flashbacks. The Kra-Matoran society and the Makuta's army is interesting. It did seem to come a bit out of nowhere, but perhaps that was me not reading carefully/consistently enough? Just like, boom, we suddenly have the point of view passages from Vortidax's underlings, not just Kulu (congrats to him, as well, getting Toa-zapped). Also, and this may be too much and that's fine, but would you consider adding a list of characters and their elemental affiliation in the review topic? My life outside the internet has become less conducive to consistent involvement with online communities, so having a quick reference for characters that have regrettably slipped my memory would be useful. Either way and as always, keep up the great work!

I agree that the Visorak would be harder to survive than the doompods (Dume-pods?) and the subsequent Cataclysm. However, given the totality of desolation of Metru Nui, especially after the Toa Metru took the rest of the population to the island above, I'm not sure a life of crime in the ruined city would be viable. Because, 1) who's left to brand you a criminal? (counterpoint, leftover Vahki, possibly). What crime would there be left to perpetrate if society itself is taken out of the equation? Very little, if any, I'd think. 2) if Dume, the real Dume, the Rahaga, and Keetongu were out and about, I think they'd eventually bring any recalcitrant, leftover Matoran back into the fold, so to speak. If not total rehabilitation (alignment with the three virtues, for sake of the hypothetical), then at least a mutual understanding that working to rebuild the ruined city is in everybody's best interest. As for the question of physiological survival, I'd guess they'd have to resort to hunting/gathering? Unless they could get the power back up to run the Matoran feeding point? Were I one of these theoretical Matoran, I would have either tried to stow away on the airships to Mata Nui, or tried to emigrate, one way or another, to other lands. Probably the Northern or Southern Continent. Really great hypothetical!

That the Destral Cycle was a cool spinoff comic or serial about the Makuta.

Yeah, I totally get the pandemic throwing a wrench in your academic plans. I think I'm in a similar boat, my school I was going to start at went online, which was a bummer, but I'd personally rather have it that way than the whole become a petri dish. But yeah, sad solidarity.

Yes, ahh, I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of the painting pre-droid-ified, but alas.

Oooooh! I just started the Thrawn trilogy (technically, started Heir to the Empire) for the first time, after liking the Republic Commando series more than I ever thought I would, and then buying way to many used books from the internet and feeling like I'm saving money by buying them used haha

Chapter 18: Recompense “Tell me what’s going on!” Turaga Arrakio demanded, releasing the intercom switch. The indicator light on the control panel blinked off - a dead link. And despite the muffled blaring of alarms and pulsing red light above the entrance to the audience chamber, the security monitor feeds remained still. “Kybrek! Respond!” The only answer was yet another emergency light flaring to life on the panel. The electro-lift warning light. Punching the intercom switch again, Arrakio ordered his officer to report again. And again, nothing. The large reinforced double doors that led from the main corridor to the audience chamber were sealed. Who or whatever had tripped the intruder alert wouldn’t be getting through those doors any time soon. At least, not before the reinforcements would arrive in force. “Lusco! Report!” Arrakio toggled the dial for the tele-con channel for immediate short-range. Lusco and Jaa were posted directly outside the audience chamber, and were he to stand right on the other side and shout, they would probably be able to hear him. But that would hardly be a wise choice, given all the alarms being tripped. “Sir, the electro-lift has been completely obliterated,” the Optimacy officer’s voice came through in static-laden patches, and he sounded out of breath. “No one is hurt, but the entire lift crashed from mid-level to the basement storage units. Jaa is in contact with the ground patrol.” Arrakio heard indistinct shouting of his officers. “We don’t know what it is. Our sensors are going crazy, but our Matoran can’t find anything.” “Get in contact with the power mechanics, and check for any tampering in the security HQ chamber,” he ordered. If Kybrek, his captain, was worth his protodermis, he’d already have his best Matoran on it. The good thing about the Coliseum was that it had the highest technology available in the city to keep it operational and secure. The bad thing was that when that tech was compromised, which up until this point, had never been an issue, the guards lacked the technical experience to get even the most basic functions of the building back up and running. And if the long-range tele-cons were out, there wasn’t even a guarantee that the policing forces would be sending response teams. “Keep me updated on the situation. I’m working on things on my end,” Arrakio released the intercom switch again, glancing over the control panel one last time before sweeping out of the chamber to secure his private chambers. The only lighting, besides the alarm pulsing on the wall and lights warning on the panel, came from the backlighting on the orator’s dais, interrupted by the imposing silhouette of his old valor statue, reminiscent of his days as a Toa. He’d have to see about getting emergency lightsstones for times like this, when the newer, more versatile and more powerful, but less reliable and less efficient electrical lighting was more of a hindrance than a help. But, nowadays, even the Turaga himself would have a hard time getting his hands on a shipment of lightstones. Arrakio grabbed his Rua Staff from his chamber, sure to lock the door on his way out. It was a prototype from one of the more eccentric Onu-Matoran who called it a Verity Actualization Hypno-Komau Idealization staff, after it's Kanohi-based power of rendering the target extremely suggestible - V.A.H.K.I staff, in short, but Arrakio had taken to calling it his Rua staff. Slamming one end of the staff against the doorframe to activate it. The figurehead on the top of the staff glowed to life, and only he could feel the subtle hum of power as it charged up. Just in case. He moved on to the adjacent Great Sundial chamber, first double checking the balcony doors, then returning to the main audience chamber that made up most of the top level of the Coliseum, and where he passed most of his days with his advisors and councilors and concerned citizens. And he saw he now had an audience. He mentally primed his Kanohi, and leveled his staff at the intruder stooping over the control panel along the side of the room. “Step away from the panel,” he ordered in his most authoritative voice. He was having trouble keeping a steady aim, and he realized it was because whatever this intruder was doing, they were slipping in and out of the visible range. “I said-“ “You have no idea what you have there,” the intruder interrupted. She flung an arm toward the orator’s dais, throwing switch after useless switch. Finally, she looked at him, and stopped shimmering through the shadows, with bright green eyes and heartlight flaring to life. She regarded him without fear. In fact, he recognized what burned in her eyes - barely checked rage. “And you have no idea how broken your city is.” "Enlighten me," he invited in a carefully neutral tone. If his homestead and possibly his life weren't compromised, he would have been indignant - the audacity of this interloper, coming into his city, his headquarters, and his home, and tell him how to do his duty. But then again, isn't that what most of the Matoran who came to his audience chamber did, anyways? "Do you have any idea what you have?" the intruder's voice rose in pitch, and she whirled on him accusingly. "Where are the stasis controls?" she demanded. "You're not in any position to be making demands," Arrakio snapped, taking aim with his staff. He'd never had cause to use it before, although he'd come close in some of his council sessions with the more belligerent Ta-Matoran. He fired the staff. The intruder leapt away, impossibly fast, shimmering back into the shadows, but not completely. A shower of sparks temporarily blinded him, and he stumbled back. Three large, gaping, slag-edged slashes had ruined the control panel. He could only track her by the flickering silhouette. Backing toward his personal chambers, he caught movement on the dais. "Show yourself!" He fired another blast from the staff, but it met nothing, the bright energy dissipating against the wall. He could also hear his two guards frantically trying to breach the chamber doors to get to him, now. The stasis cylinder was shifting. No, he realized, being toppled. Focusing his Kanohi Garai, he erased its gravity, ripping it free of its tubing and display wiring. He took a deep breath as stun gas began leaking into the room. A solid kick knocked him flat and drove the air from his lungs, just managing a cry of pain and shock. The stasis cylinder crashed to the floor, sending shards of the outer crystalline casing spinning across the chamber. The intruder reappeared frighteningly close, crouching above him, face twisted in a snarl. "I'll be taking these." And his mask was ripped from his face, and the staff wrenched out of his grip. Arrakio became suddenly, gut-wrenchingly aware of his age and frailty. "Stay down, Turaga. I'm not here for you." And he was roughly shunted back, thumping against the ruined control panel. "I'm here for your captive." "My..." he struggled to a sitting position, fighting the wave of dizziness and nausea that flooded over him in absence of his Kanohi. "What?" "Come on," Erylist whispered, frantically sweeping aside the remains of the stasis cylinder. "Come on!" She cast one more glance at the Turaga, who was struggling to keep himself upright. She'd thrown his mask and staff to the far opposite edge of the chamber, where they'd be safe. Well, safe enough. She'd have to do something about the stun gas leaking into the chamber, thickening the air. "Stop!" the Turaga cried, but his voice was noticeably weakening, shaking. She ignored him, just as he'd clearly been ignoring the real problems in his city. No. Her attention was now on the prone figure lying in the remains of the stasis cylinder. "Seja," Erylist breathed, her voice also shaking. After all these years. The Midnighter knelt at her sister's side, quickly checking her vitals while keeping the Turaga in view. Seja's was breathing slow and shallow, but she was breathing. Checking the fit of Seja's Kanohi, she rolled her sister onto her side, trying to work one of her magnificent, metallic wings out from under the debris of her prison. "Seja, wake up," Erylist begged. Nothing. "I don't believe it," the Turaga was murmuring. He half-stumbled, half-fell a partial step in their direction. "I said stay down," Erylist growled, feinting a lunge toward him. He fell back, and she sunk to a protective crouch between him and her fallen sister. "Tell me where the gasline shut off is." Arrakio laughed, a few cold syllables. "Not here." With a frustrated growl, bordering on desperation, Erylist dragged Seja a few bodylengths to half-prop her up against the edge of the dais. She didn't have the first clue how to stopper the leaking stun gas, flowing freely from both ripped halves of the tubing now hanging out of the wall. "You're out of time," the Turaga chuckled from the control panel. He nodded feebly in the direction of the double doors, whose hinges were now glowing red-hot. "No!" Erylist snarled, leaping up. She fired two exploding darts in rapid succession - one, two, and the door to the Great Sundial room was blasted inward and into oblivion. At almost the same time, the Matoran response team battered the double doors to the audience chamber in, and a dozen Matoran rushed into the room, setting up a perimeter, shouting and responding to commands. "Halt!" a Ta-Matoran commanded her. A Cobalt knelt by the Turaga's side, and one of his Optimacy operatives carefully fitted his Kanohi back on to his face. "Careful," he wheezed, getting to his feet and leaning heavily on the Matoran for support. The combination of getting his mask back and the stun gas escaping the room seemed to do him wonders. "She's a shadow-crawler. Don't let her out of your sights." And they collectively leveled their weapons at her. Erylist didn't recognize the weapons, but they looked higher-caliber than concussive Crast blasters. She crouched low, taking as much in as she could at once. She ignored the commands to surrender and drop her weapons, eyes flickering to the high windows ringing the chamber, the arched ceiling struts, and ever so briefly out through the sundial room. As long as their attention was on her, they seemed content to ignore her sister. And she was going to keep it that way. "I know you won't take my word for it," she spoke slowly, gathering her concentration, and looking each of them in the eye as she turned slowly. "But I'm not your enemy." "That's rich!" another Fire Brand snapped. "What about that Le-Matoran accomplice of yours that was seen fleeing the Coliseum right before the alarms went off? Would he say the same?" "I don't know what you're talking about," she told him in as even of a tone as she could muster. Before any of them could respond, she leapt up with a shout, pulling up her shadow cloak, swinging up into the vaulted ceiling struts. Pandemonium spread below as she rained shattered glass down on them, taking out multiple windows with her stolen Crast blaster from the Kuma-Kava hunt. Airflow and exit points - her two priorities. A few of their own shots sizzled past her, and she dumped more concentration to maintaining her shadow cloak as she saw one of the energy bolts sizzle through the reinforced ceiling strut effortlessly. All the Matoran were shouting at once. "Where is she?" "Don't! You'll bring down the ceiling on us!" "We can't just stand here!" "Look for her shadow!" the Turaga's command rose above their confusion. She'd already made it past them, into the Great Sundial room. "There! There! The balcony!" The shouts followed her there, but she'd already managed to deeply score the glass door leading to the balcony by the time they'd spotted her. Unable to hold her concentration any more, she gave up her cloak. She stowed her plasma-edged knife, and again drew the blaster, charging straight back at the Matoran, swinging the muzzle of her blaster wide, forcing them to duck. Vaulting over them, she fired her very last dart, and the balcony door shattered sending glass flying everywhere. Erylist stood up slowly from where she'd taken cover, behind the great gnomon, the fin of the Sundial. But she found she was rooted to the spot. "Was it worth it?" Turaga Arrakio stood in the ruined doorway between the audience chamber and the sundial room and locked eyes with her, his Kanohi Garai alight. His tone was flat and chilling. He pointed his Rua staff at her, his guard Matoran still keeping their weapons trained on her, but standing clear. They all knew what it could do. "Was this all worth it?" he repeated, advancing toward her. She regarded him in silence, meeting his unrelenting gaze with her own, still unflinching. Behind him, she saw her success beginning stir. The faintest edge of a smile crept onto her face, despite herself. "Duck," she whispered, and she hit the floor. A scream that had been trapped for thousands of years and a searing, vengeful psionic lances ripped through the air and drove the Matoran and Turaga to their knees. With fierce, avian Suletu glowing, Seja, the vindictive seraph of the southern isles, rose from the remnants of her prison. She flexed her two pinions, testing the air, then crouched and stretched tall once, twice, as though she couldn't quite believe she could move, finally. Erylist began to rise, slowly. "Seja..." she whispered, reaching out to her sister. Seja's blood-violet gaze locked onto Erylist's, and the Midnighter cried out, breaking eye contact and clutching her head. Seja's unrelenting Suletu attack battered at her mind-shield. "Seja! Stop!" Erylist pleaded, squeezing her eyes shut. "It's me!" The harsh scraping of Seja's talons on the flagstones, and whistling rustle of her razor-edged wings through the air was the only warning Erylist had, as Seja broke into a sprint, straight toward her. Erylist dove aside just in time, and scrambled to the balcony, staring hopelessly after the dark winged silhouette fleeing into the night sky. Review Topic

This makes me believe that Bionicle could do well as a TV series and that I'd love it (coming from someone who hasn't gotten around to those netflix G2 episodes yet/may not ever). Amazing work (as usual), and I wish I knew more about 3D animation so I could compliment you more in depth. The music also really stuck out to me, even in such a short piece - from the heroic theme to the foreboding theme at the end, really good choice there. Haha, and I'd forgotten about Kongu referencing Matau's left/right dilemma, an old favorite. Love seeing your stuff here!

So I saw this post elsewhere on the internet about a dude who bought so-so paintings from thrift shops and added Star Wars elements to them. My best friend (who sent me this mug from previous blog entry) came to surprise me right before COVID hit, and we went thrift shopping, and I got a painting (pictured above, but without the star wars stuff). Said friend was an art major in college, and now I have an awesome star wars painting hanging up!! Definitely going to treasure it forever. I love that the droid is picking the flower Update on the Ko-Koro Express - gift went over well, my folks loved it, but the pup, Dakota (sometimes goes by Dog-kota) felt insecure. But fear not, he was promptly and repeatedly assured that he is still a good boy, just sometimes a noisy boy.

So this has been an ongoing side project for a friend at work, as aforementioned. It was pretty time consuming to transfer the information to blog format, so for those interested, I have a dropbox link to where I've uploaded lessons II through VI, for your convenience. Also I attached the combined PDF to the blog entry, but I'm not sure what that actually does? Hopefully, I'll be able to keep making these, as I've rather enjoyed it! Overview of the lessons (again, I must reiterate the disclaimer that this is not by any means pedagogically sound, just meant to be informative and hopefully interesting) Lesson 1 - (also found here, previous blog entry) basic syllable structure, introduction to tonal system and what Pinyin is. Lays out different types of Chinese characters and how to begin making sense of them. Lesson 1.5 - Explanation of Radicals, collected from around the internet and various textbooks, and includes a list of the most common radicals and their forms as they show up in different characters. Can help one feel more comfortable looking at characters, hopefully being able to recognize different parts of otherwise unfamiliar symbols. Bonus: small section on Chinese words in Avatar: the Last Airbender, from off the top of my head. Favorite is the Dai Li agents, which I actually didn't realize was a play on words at first. 带dài means to wear, as in, an article of clothing, and 笠lì is one of those pointed bamboo hats. Alternatively, 代理dàilǐ means 'to act on behalf of, serve as agent or proxy'. Lesson 2 - Goes over character stroke order basics (there is a proper stroke order, and while it's impossible to enforce one follow it, Chinese people will definitely judge you if you have bad stroke order XD source: was judged). Basic dialogue introduction and vocabulary to go with. Introductions, nationalities. Basic verb introduction and classifier introduction. Also introduction to numbers and saying when your birthday is, as numbers open up basically the entire calendar to you. This is the longest lesson. Lesson 3 - prepositions, more basic dialogues (greetings) that would be useful for small talk, like "good morning", "How is work" , "I'm tired" etc. Simple question formation. Lesson 4 - family words, and there are a TON, and not all covered in the lesson. Family based dialogues and sentences, like "this is my mom/dad, this is my younger/older brother/sister." Also some holiday vocabulary. Lesson 5 - More verb stuff. There's a review of how verbs in English work, and a comparison to how they work in Chinese. Kind of a more detailed repeat of the verb section from Lesson 2. Also affirmation/negation basics. (because there's not really one way to say 'yes' or 'no', it depends on the verb used) Lesson 6 - a big list of the common verbs and question words, and example sentences and their translations to look over. The largest influx of new vocabulary is here, without huge explanations about that vocabulary (probably will expand on this in later lessons), but for the diligent, I hoped to provide some new words to pour over on their own initiative. As a bonus here, this is the most complicated Chinese character - their version of 'antidisestablishmentarianism', so to speak - not used in everyday life and more of a fun language factoid than anything else. (source: Helpful wikipedia) This is biáng, and it's a type of noodle. 'biángbiáng' noodle, is what I'm pretty sure they're called. So you'd have to write this baby twice XD From various internet sources (also Chinese teacher blogs) , it's that broad flat type of noodle, and the character is an onomatopoeia for the sound made by stretching/smacking the noodles, but also a visual pun because it's so tangled. The simplified version of the character has 42 strokes, the traditional version has 58. I have no desire to learn how to write this character. But, if you want to learn it, the good news is that you'll master a good chunk of other characters that biáng contains while you're at it. How To Impress Your Sister with Chinese Parts 1-6.pdf

Seems like Su-Matoran have built in sun glasses, so that automatically makes them cooler (but not literally, because heat?) Counterpoint: canonically, and I believe BS01 mentions this - Ta-Matoran are known for their tactical and mathematical abilities. The only thing we know from the canon about Su-folk is that Zaktan eats them. Sooo... yeah.

I hope you don't mind, I'll reply to both of these at once because I feel kinda weird replying to my own topics haha. Thanks so much for not only reading, but also taking time to reply!! So happy! For this story: Yeah!! I love Krahka and her abilities, although I think she definitely has the potential to be completely overpowered. I had a good time re-reading The Darkness Below recently, and there was this little part at the end/epilogue when Turaga Vakama explained that he and his team went back to their own Metrus briefly after defeating Krahka before going to the Coliseum to present the Great Discs to Turaga Dume. I love finding those little niches in the canon to fill in the blanks, even though writing canon characters hasn't been my forte. I'm really glad you enjoyed! Haha, and yes, I had a good time throwing Takua in there. I originally had them actually go chute-diving, but how chutes actually worked was tripping me up, so that got cut XD Also, there was originally a third section with her and Pouks and Hordika Onewa, and he tells her about the island they found above (another wistful place above), but it started focusing too much away from Krahka. I think there was a topic at one point asking something along the lines of 'what was Turaga Dume actually like?', and I was like, "wow, good point, I guess we don't really know." So, voilà. And I'm really glad you picked up on the change in tone. I was worried, because it was definitely supposed to be sudden, because that's how a lot of scary things happen (or, I picture them happening), but it's always a trick to convey that over writing. Eheh, and I also had qualms about that first/last line, because canonically, I'm pretty sure they don't actually take off masks to sleep, but a few articles I read on building suspense is to start with a sense of routine/familiar and then jolt out of it. Again, really glad you enjoyed it, and thanks again for the feedback!

Although I'm not familiar with G2, what you have looks great so far! Solid character bios and setting. It'll be cool to read about them and how it all fits together into your worldbuilding! Keep up the great work!