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JAG18

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  1. JAG18

    5 Years on BZPower

    By JAG18,

    Yep, today is my five year anniversary on BZPower. Not as impressive as it used to be either when I first joined or when I was a lurker, but whatever.
     
    This has gotten me thinking a bit, about how much my life has changed since I first joined and if you read through my profile feed (please don't) you can see me chronicling some of those changes. Me being me, I'm most interested in how much my music hobby has changed since then; back when I first joined my primary means of music consumption were youtube and radio, which just strikes me as kind of funny now. And that's not even mention how much my music taste have changed since then.
     
    But mostly my anniversary has gotten me thinking about what the site was like back then; all the members I used to hang out with (most of whom have left the site or hardly visit), the sub-forums I used to be super active in like S&T (where discussion has almost completely died). I remember how I used to post in almost every topic made in BBC, including every entry for that BBCC about video games. I remember that time I tried to join an RPG, how I used to be as active in the CoT games as the G&T ones (not sure why I stopped though), playing Mafia and always being the villager, hosting Hitman. It's all coming back to me.
     
    Well, times changed, people grow old, and all good things come to end. Even though you'd think that all BZPower is now to me is a place for nostalgia, I actually am thinking a lot about my future on this place. For some weird reason I just now started my career as a mocist and ain't done yet; plus I still have some ambition to host one more game of Bionicle RISK if I can get enough players. In the mean time I still plan to keep the caption contest going (by the way, is that the most active topic on the site now or am I just being delusional?)
     
    Alright, that's all I got, now I'm going to use my new Olmak to transport myself to some random pocket dimension or something.
  2. JAG18
    Get it On:




    - Spotify

     
    Another year come and gone, which means it's time to roll out my list of my favorite songs of the year!
    This was my fourth year doing a favorite songs list and like always since January first I've been compiling my "nominees" into a word document as I find them; unlike previous years though I started work on this list a little bit early than normal (early October). Sorry, couldn't help myself.
     
    Anyway on the list itself, if you know my taste in music then you know what to expect, various forms of pop music with a few sprinkles of other genres like EDM. CHVRCHES, K.I.D, Clean Bandit, Princess Chelsea, Alice Glass, Cyn, Meg Myers, Pale Waves, Lila Gold, and Allie X are just a few of the artists represented on the list.
     
    So, check out the list if any of that interests you and be sure to share the songs you loved most from 2018 in the comments below.
  3. JAG18

    A Report From Texas

    By JAG18,

    It's cold. 
    In all seriousness, yeah the past few days have been hard.  My family lost power early Monday morning and we just got it back this morning.  It was a challenge, especially staying (sort of) warm and we're not out of it left (I need to keep this short 'cause we still need to conserve whatever power we can).  My last few days consisted of reading by day light, listening to music at night (had to save battery life), and whatever me and my sister could do to stay somewhat entertained.  I tried my best to be grateful during the whole experience for whatever I could and I'm so grateful now that the power's back. 
    OK, I need to get going, please send any prayers and good wishes this way, both for me and my family and for the other people here who had it worse and still have it worse than us; they're very appreciated.
    One last thing, you know what music gave me the most comfort through this?  Digital Pacific, the new album from Luna Shadows, which I thankfully bought when it dropped last Friday.  It's been one great bright spot in an otherwise dark (literal and figurative) time. 
     
     
  4. JAG18

    About My Writing

    By JAG18,


    Writing
    Happy Law Bringer Day!  Admittedly, I've never celebrated it before today, but you know every tradition has to start somewhere.  
    Today marks the six year anniversary of when (after several mouths of brainstorming and nearly three years of not writing any fiction) I started writing the first story in what would become "Law Bringer".  I thought about honoring the occasion by posting a teaser or snippet of an actual story, but instead I decided to write about my writing.   
    Recently, I collected the info below by pouring through my old word documents and obviously this isn't one-hundred percent accurate either because of poor record keeping or stories lost to computer crashes, but it should give you a good idea of my writing output over the years.  
    Words written per year:
    2004-07: less than 1,000 words
    2008-10: 14,000 words
    2011: 11,000 words
    2012-13: 6,000 words
    2016-17: 2,200 words
    2018-21: 1000 words
    I don't know why I started writing I just did, although, I should point out that of the 35,000 words I wrote from 2004-2021 all I have to show for it is:
    2 short stories (including a Hero Factory story I posted here)
    A lot of flash fiction most of which is either BIONICLE or Hero Factory fan fiction or not very good (or both).
    For some reason during this time period my go-to writing format was like the appendices from LOTR even before I knew what those were.  No idea why.  
     
    Something else I want to mention; I rarely finished most of my work from this time.  This is definitely something I've improved this year because now I can actually write a short story from beginning to end.  The idea popped into my head to try and finish some of my old stuff, but after actually reading some of it I figure most of it is best left where it is.  
    This trip down memory lane confirms the narrative I've always assumed that writing was something I did in junior high up to the summer after my freshman year, but in my sophomore year I stopped and no matter how hard I tried or wanted to I just couldn't write fiction again.  I kept writing notes and world building, but another piece of prose never came.  I cannot explain why.    
    Bringing this back to "Law Bringer", like I said I wrote the first bits of the story in late 2016 and early 2017, but then the block returned.  I spent a long time working on my world building on-and-off until 2019/2020 when I got really serious about it and by this point I really wanted to make an attempt to write again hence my little bits of writing during this time period.  
    Then last November I started watching videos about writing on Youtube.  Before this, everything I knew about writing I learned from BZPower or what writers have said so just random sources.  I don't think that's the only thing I needed, but I'm sure it helped and on Christmas Eve of 2021 I began to write and write, then run out of steam in the spring, but picked it back up in May and eventually managed to create some good writing habits.  
    The long and short of it is this past year I've written 105,000 words resulting in:  
    22 short stories (18 "Law Bringer" 4 non-"Law Bringer")
    A fourth of a novel
    Half of a novella
    2 pieces of flash fiction (both much better than anything I wrote several years ago)
    You know, after writing this out, I think December 24th sounds like a better date for Law Bringer Day, but since no one would celebrate it then because of conflicts with other holidays, I think I'll stick to November 30th. 
    That's the story I wanted to tell and also why I'm optimistic about the future of my writing and "Law Bringer" and I'm hopeful I'll be able to share more of both with the world soon.
     
  5. JAG18
    Alternate Title: The Tommy Westphall of Sci-Fi
    Alternate Title #2: Take It Off Predey Boy!
     
    A while ago I was watching the kill count video for "Alien Vs. Predator" and after doing some reading on the AVP wiki I got the idea for this entry, but decided to wait until I had watched all the AVP movies at least once. That meant had 5 or 6 movies to watch; well, last Monday I watched "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" so here we are.
     
    Note: I will not be spoiling any movies worth seeing, but if for some reason you want to watch all the AVP movies then in that case spoilers below for "The Predator" (2018), "Alien Vs. Predator", "Alien Vs Predator: Requiem", "Alien 3", "Alien: Resurrection", and "Alien: Covenant". Although honestly, if you haven't seen most of these movies then this won't make any sense.
     
    Main Movies:
     
    "Predator" (1987) - 1987
    Bunch of muscular special forces dudes in the jungles sprout off action one liners while being hunted something that ain't no man.
     
    Predator 2 - 1990
    The Predator moves to the city and some weird stuff goes down; stuff a BZP Lovers organization would rather not anyone know about. Please note, Aliens and Predators had already crossed over before a Xenomorph skull appeared in this movie.
     
    AVP and AVP Requiem - 2004
    The CEO of a company called Weyland enterprises, Charles Bishop Weyland, leads a team to Antarctica to investigate some strange happenings and get caught in the hunt of three Predator young bloods (Celtic, Chopper, and Scar). In flashbacks, we learn that the Predators taught humans how to build pyramids and used them as hosts for the ultimate sport, xenomorphs. After the battle, an alien/predator (Predalien) hybrid bursts out of the chest of the last surviving Predator of the last film (Scar) causing the ship to crash in a small town on earth. Another Predator (Wolf) now has to go to Earth and preform one of the worst cover ups in history and this three way war ends with the secret government agency nuking a Colorado town. Ms. Yutani appears in the last scene.
     
    Predators - 2010
    A bunch of killers and warriors get kidnapped and dropped on a Predator game preserve. Doesn't establish anything new except maybe that they're super Predators, but whatever just get to the choppa.
     
    The Predator - 2018
    So many stupid things happen, but the stupidest might be the "revelation" that Predators hunt in order to collect the DNA of the best warriors as opposed to, you know, cause of the fact that they're sport hunters. Also, this is why Predators have an obsession with ripping people's spines out (what's Sub-Zero's excuse?) Also that BZP Lovers organization is back with the actually props from all the previous movies. Finally, the humans get a secret weapon--an Iron Man suit, which might help explain...
     
    Blade Runner - 2019
    Yes, tenuous evidence suggests that "Blade Runner" and "Alien" share the same universe; the only important thing established is that androids exist although they're not on the best terms with humans right now. Also, this creates the biggest plot in this whole thing, which is trying to explain the biggest tech jump in all of human history.
     
    Soldier and Blade Runner 2049 - 2036 and when the heck do you think?
    These both exist in this timeline, but I don't have anything to say about them because I haven't seen either so we are leaving.
     
    Promethes - 2092
    First, I'll say up front that I think this never should have been an alien movie, but that being said this does give us a lot of back story.
    In flashbacks we see a new Weyland was running the company in the early 2000s (probably the son of Bishop Weylind who died in AVP) and we learn that another race of aliens The Engineers created humans (and maybe Predators and Xenomorphs?) And fun fact, Elien Ripley was 1 year old during the event of this film.
     
    Alien: Covenant: 2104
    Um, android David recreated Xenomorphs (but we are trying to keep things consistent, then Engineers, Predators, and David all re-created the Xenomorphs from the same black goo) and before this movie he used The Engineer's ship to destroy a world of aliens created by The Engineers. I want to say that Ridley Scott will fix the timeline with the next Alien prequel, but if this movie is anything to go off of then probably it will only mess the timeline up more and suck at the same time.
     
    Alien: 2122
    A bunch of space truckers find an old Engineer ship with a xenomorph on it.
     
    Aliens: 2179
    Ripley and a team of Colonial Marines fight xenomorphs and Bishop shows how far androids have come since "Blade Runner".
     
    Alien 3: 2179
    You know, Ripley killing the last of the aliens isn't all that important if it's true that xenomorphs exist elsewhere in the universe. Also, we meet a scientist named Bishop who, no joke, is theorized to just look a lot like the Weyland from AVP; yeah assuming this guy is who he says he is.
     
    Alien: Resurrection - 2379 (ish)
    I can't believe that in the two centuries that have pasted since the last film that humanity hasn't found any xenomorphs on other planets OR the Predators. But this is the end of the timeline so that's that.
     
    Here's the whole thing in
    (make sure to watch that video on 1.25 speed; trust me you'll need it).  
    But we're not done yet.
     
    Crazy Comic Crossovers:
    Batman vs Predator: see
    for an epic animated version of this comic in which Batman defeats a Predator with his greatest gadget...the bat. Yep, Batman beats up an alien with a wooden baseball bat. This combined with "Batman vs. Aliens", "Superman vs. Aliens" and "Superman vs. Predator" (and others) means the DC universe is connected to the AVPverse (somehow).  
    Judge Dredd vs. Alien: Incubus: see
    for how awesome this story actually is. Also, since multidimensional travel is a thing in 2000 A.D. this means that most of these shared universe can be explained as taking place in different dimensions that the Predators and Aliens keep stumbling into.  
    Archie vs. Predator: Yep this is a thing and since "Archie vs. The Punisher" is also a thing that means that technically the DC and Marvel universes are connected.
     
    Alien vs. Predator vs. Terminator: alright I'm done (although this is obviously non-canon). This comic does include a hilarious bit where the writers try and sell the idea that Dutch was the inspiration for the Terminators.
     
    See here for even more crazy comic crossovers.
     
    Mortal Kombat:
    So, Jason Voorhees, Alien, Predator, Freddy, Kratos have all been guest characters in MK over the years, but I'll yet you figure out the implications of that. Plus, don't forget the DC universe crossover. Mortal Kombat (like Dredd) can make sense of all these connected universe using the idea of realms, but that is probably unnecessary because...
     
    In Conclusion: A Few Take Aways
    1) I think Warner Bros and Dark Horses may have too many licenses on their hands.
     
    2) I don't (and would encourage everyone) not to take all this too seriously. Like the Tommy Westphall theory, this all shows how ridiculous it is to assume that universes are connected just because of one guest appearance. Heck, it's an argument against making overly connected universes in general. But, whats more...
     
    3) Making good art is more important than canon.
    Crossovers can be fun (and like some of the above realy good), but valuing canon over art can sometime be really dumb. Ultimately, Disney did the right thing with the Star Wars EU.
     
    And I think that's all that needs to be said about that. I hope you learned something important from this or at least got a good laugh out of some of those hilarious attempts to maintain continuity.
  6. JAG18
    [
    ] 
    Apparently, this was the idea for Jurassic Park IV as envisioned in a script written by John Sayles, years before Jurassic World was a thing.
     
    Now, despite being someone who rolls their eyes every time someone in the "Jurassic World" movies brings up the idea that dinosaurs have any military value what so ever I just love the idea of a scene where an Ankylosaurus is sitting inside the hold of a C-130 Hercules, the door opens and an army guy shouts, "GO, GO GO, GO!" Prompting the dinosaur to jump out the aircraft and three big ol' parachutes deploy causing it to fall safely to earth.
     
    And don't forget the priceless reactions of the poor guys on the ground looking up as an eight ton dinosaur gets dropped on their heads.
     
    I just thought everyone's life would better with that imagery in their brains.
  7. JAG18

    And We're Back Baby!

    By JAG18,

    Thanks to the great generosity of Bfahome this blog has returned from the ashes (for a little while anyway).
     
    Expect entries about the same inane things I used to blog about (mostly music and uh...stuff) shortly!
     
    Until then, bye!
  8. JAG18

    Ask Me Anything

    By JAG18,


    AMA
    It's been almost five years since I did one of these and the last time I did one I opened it with a cringey joke.  Either way, I want to post here (before my ten year anniversary next month) and this is all I could come up with so ask away.  
    Or don't, it's a free website. 
    But I hope you do because it's kind of the point.
     
  9. JAG18

    Ask Me Anything

    By JAG18,

    Or considering the activity around here maybe I should call it an "Ask me nothing." Imma rite?
     
    Anyway, my premier membership is almost up so I thought I should do at least one of these in my time on BZPower before it finally runs out.
     
    So go ahead and ask me any questions you might have in the comments and I'll answer them when I can.
  10. JAG18

    Beowulf Translations

    By JAG18,

    A few days ago, I finished reading "Beowulf", while I was reading I kept anticipating specific cool moments I've heard of over the years; like when Beowulf pulls Grendel's arm out of it's socket like a wookiee, but one moment I was really waiting for was when Beowulf kills the Frankish standard bearer.
     
    Now, here is how Tom Shippey described the moment, in the special features for "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug",
     
    ...and here is how Marc Hudson put it in the "Wordsworth Classics of World Literature" edition I read,
    (lines 2505-2508)
     
    Maybe a slight difference to some, but clearly not as exciting or epic IMO; no offense to Hudson and his publisher, but now I think I really should have read whatever translation Shippey is quoting.
     
     
    Anyway, I now need to find something new to read.
  11. JAG18
    OK, I know I'm getting this up a little later than I wanted to, but regardless here are the rest of my year-end lists for the year of 2016 for your reading pleasure and because I really like making top lists. So, let's start with...
     
     
    Best Movie of 2016: "10 Cloverfield Lane"

     
    You know, I don’t know I make these best movies lists when I do. And the reason I say this is because I watched some of my favorite movies of 2015 (“Mad Max: Fury Road” and “Krampus”) for the first time in 2016 and more than likely I’ll discover my favorite movies of 2016 this year.
    OK setting all that aside, I did really like this movie. Put simply, it’s almost like a two hour episode of one of my favorite TV shows “The Twilight Zone” heck it’s even got a classic Twilight Zone ending. Yeah, I really liked this one.
     
    Honorable Mentions: “I’m Not Ashamed”, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
     
     
    Best Album of 2016: “Royal Blues” – Dragonette

     
    You know what, I could start this by complaining for the millionth time that not one, or two or three, but five albums that I was really looking forward to coming out in 2016 and I thought would be the top half of a decent top 10 list, all got delay until this year, but I'm not going to.
    So, I’ve known who electropop act Dragonette is since early 2015, but this is when I really became a fan after hearing their amazing song “Lonely Heart” a couple of months before they dropped this album. Anyway, this is a really cool album, that I did like a lot (especially songs like "Body 2 Body", "Darth Vader", and "Your Love Can't Touch Me Now") even if at the end of the day there was no competition this year.
     
    Honorable Mentions: “Britt Nicole” – Britt Nicole, “You Can’t Kill Us” – Icon For Hire
     
    Top 10 Songs of 2016:
     
    First things first, the criteria were that the song need to be released between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016 or needed to become popular in that same time period (without having appeared on a previous year-end before). Anyway, this was by far the list I spent the most time on and poured the most effort into. Since last January I’ve kept a list in a word document of every song I might want to put on this list resulting in almost 125 nominees. Now, I could list all 50 songs that I ranked and even add my short list to create a Top 75, but I’ll just stick to a top ten. And the winner is…
     

     
    I really like this song (obviously), although it was really, really hard deciding this one over “Chewing Gum” and I’m not entirely sure what puts this song slightly above that one, but whatever this is a great song.
     
    2. “Chewing Gum” – Nina Nesbitt
    3. “Real Love” – Florrie
    4. “Hotter than [karzahni]” – Dua Lipa
    5. “Rockabye” – Clean Bandit; Anne-Marie, Sean Paul
    6. “My Heartache” – Olivia Lane
    7. “The Magic” – Lola Blanc
    8. “Blow Your Mind” (Mwah)” – Dua Lipa
    9. “Play House” – Colette Carr
    10. “That’s So Us” – Allie X
     
    Best Music Video of 2016: “False Alarm” – The Weeknd
    Ok, first off I know that this director has made two music videos and even a full length movie around this concept and I don’t really care, because this music video is really cool and made me not only like "False Alarm" more than I probably would have, but also convinced me that there's a better song to play during an action scene than the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" (well, almost better).
    Of course, now is a good time to mention that I realized something last year and that is the fact that I really don’t watch music video anymore. Not sure why.
     
     
    And that completes all my "best of" lists for 2016, it was a fine year I guess aside from a lot of album delays, but hey that at least means that I have a lot to look forward to this year, right? Actually in point of fact, this week I discovered The Katherines' debut album, "To Bring You My Heart" that would have given Dragonette a run for their money if had come out this year, so hey that's a good start.
  12. JAG18

    Best Songs of 2020

    By JAG18,

    Another year has come and gone, which means it is time to share my annual year-end songs list.  For obvious reasons things were different for music this year, but there were still plenty of great songs that were released and if you know anything about my taste in music then you can probably guess that none of those great songs made my list...but regardless these are my favorite songs from 2020 (links to the playlist on Spotify and Youtube at the end of post).
     
     
     
     
    #2. Confessional - Janet Devlin.  Since, number one isn't SFBZP, here my second favorite song of 2020.
     
    #11. The Baddest - K/DA; (G)I-DLE, Bea Miller Wolftyla.  No joke, in a year where I found myself drawn to a lot of dark and depressing music, K/DA provided the one bright spot of nothing, but fun and upbeat music. 
     
    #15. Knife Under My Pillow - Maggie Lindemann.  It only took four years, but Maggie Lindemann finally made I song I like; probably the biggest musical surprise of 2020 for me. 
     
    #29. Really Don't Know - Angie & Jenny.  A brand new pop duo from France are (along with Babyqueen) my pick for new artist to watch out for in the future.
     
    #33. No Rules - Meredith Bull.  Like I said, in a year full of dark, brooding, angsty, downer, and depressing songs this is one of the few happy and fun ones that made my list. 
     
    #54. Skindeepskyhighheartwide - Lawrence Rothman feat. Pale Waves.  I only saw two movies that came out in 2020 and one of them was "The Turning" and I hated it, but two songs off the soundtrack made this list.
     
    #75. Millennia - Luna Shadows.  Luna Shadows, Magdalena Bay and especially Ava Max, were the artists I've listened to before that I come to appreciate and enjoy even more this year. 
     
    #99. Adrenaline - PRXZM.  For whatever reason, EDM didn't do as well on my list compared to years past, by here a song I enjoyed a lot.
     
    JAG's Favorite Songs of 2020 Playlist:
    Spotify - Youtube
  13. JAG18

    Coming Soon

    By JAG18,


    Real Life
    Notes:
    By "coming soon" I'm speaking in relative terms.
    Yes, I know that's a Mass Effect skin by Todd McFarlane, but until "soon" gets closer I don't need to hire someone to make art for this yet.  In the meantime, I do need to say this out loud.  Or I guess write it out loud...you know what I mean.
    I'm pretty sure this site gave me my love of comic sans and some people I hang around now enable the habit so that's my reasoning behind the font choice. 
    Get ready. 
  14. JAG18

    Exo-Force Spin-Off Idea

    By JAG18,

    For whatever reason, watching "Star Trek: Beyond" as sent me into a Sci-Fi craze (note: I do mean "Sci-Fi" not "science fiction" because the only thing I've been reading/watching recently that has anything to do with actual science is "War of the Worlds") and this, somehow, has made me think of an old LEGO theme I've always liked: Exo-Force.
     
    Now, I really like Exo-Force to the point that it might be my second of third favorite LEGO theme overall after "Hero Factory" and, of course, "BIONICLE", but rather than talk about the actual theme I want to talk about something I've dreamed of doing if I was in a position to do it namely an Exo-Force movie. If you like Exo-Force or mecha in general I'm sure you can imagine how awesome a live-action (or pure CG because, let's be honest, it would probably work just as well if not better) Exo-Force would be and I for one have spent lots of time thinking up spectacular and exciting action pieces that a movie about human and robots battling it out could have.
     
    Although, thinking about it now the movie I'd really like to see would probably be "Starship Troopers" meets "Terminator" with some more Sci-Fi military action thrown in, but that wouldn't really be Exo-Force, which gave me the idea for a movie that distills the theme of Exo-Force to it's essence: humans making an Alamo last stand against overwhelming robotic forces.
     
     
    And now, some incoherent thoughts from the brainstorming I had last night:
    1) It's really, really hard to come up with a logical explanation as to why the robots don't just go around Sentai Mountain and I'm not talking about going around the mountain to strike the village, but why not just surround the humans and attack them from all sides?
    2) Thus, the "plot" of the movie would be a single battalion of division of a human military defending a mountain, or other easily defended nature position, against the robots as a kind of delaying tactic. The humans are preparing a massive counterattack that could turn the war in their favor, but they can't go through with their plan if the robots are allowed to take this mountain.
    3) Even though, it would be hinted that their is a large conflict going on, for the sake of focus the movie would center exclusively on this one front of that conflict; one human battalion defend one mountain against overwhelming numbers.
    4) The robots would be an utter ruthless and merciless enemy looking gritty and terrifying like the Terminators who want one thing and one thing only; to destroy all humans (or "Blast some meatbags" to quote a certain fictional killer robot). They have grunts they rush forward in suicide charge to set off land mines so their superior soldiers can advance, they field jetpack wielding paratroopers in the vein of the Fire Vulture and massive attack helicopters.
    5) I love the idea that the humans fight the robot paratroopers by just knocking them out of the sky with a massive jet; no really they just fly it right through a swarm of them and just watch them shatter on their wings.
    6) The humans are, of course, a small band of space marines who have a very modern military feel...you know if the military had advance Sci-Fi technology.
    7) The humans have craved out helicopter pads into the mountain and I have a great idea for a scene where the robots scale the mountain on grappling hooks and force their way onto one of these pads forcing engineers and pilots to fight robots in brutal hand-to-hand combat.
     
     
    Alright, that's enough rambling, my point is I came up with a lot of action shots and world-building gimmicks for this idea. Will anything actually came of this? Probably not. Other than maybe another story treatment/script draft that will end up stored somewhere deep in my computer or maybe a short story I would post in OTC, I don't know. Either way, it was a cool daydream.
  15. JAG18

    Goodbye Blog

    By JAG18,

    For now?
     
    Yeah, my premier membership is up in a day or two and I've decided to not renew it. I'll admit it's been fun; having a blog (that I'll be the first to admit I didn't update enough) and neat images under my member title, but I don't really get enough out of it to justify buying another year or even lifetime membership. Still, like I said I had fun and I got to help support a site I love a lot so it's all good.
     
    And hey, never say never right? Maybe, I'll change my mind some day, but until then it's goodbye blog.
  17. JAG18

    I Need to Get Me a Cig

    By JAG18,

    Yeah, I just realized the other week that I don't have a signature below my posts; I'm sure I had a good reason for doing that, but still I...wait. Did I put a "C" instead of an "S" in the title? Oh well, might as well just roll with it.
     
    So, I did some browsing around the forums and noticed that, for one, a surprising number of people don't have a sig at all, but also that everything in sigs fell into a few categories: links, quotes, and occasionally a moc image or banner. And when I think back to what my sig has looked like over the years I realized that has used fallen into the same categories. First it was nothing, but links (there was a lot of stuff I wanted to link to back in the day!) then I got a banner with a model in it, heck I know I've even put silly quotes in my sig before.
    I'm pretty sure the last links I had right before I got rid of it were of this blog, my wordpress blog that I abandoned, the caption contest, and I think that's it.
     
    I'm open to any and all ideas as to what I should put down there; my only ideas right now are...you guessed it links (this blog, my flickr) or maybe a banner featuring the three most beautiful women alive (assuming I feel like putting in the work necessary). Or I could just get with the times and leave it empty.
     
    Any thoughts?
  18. JAG18
    So, this past Sunday night I got to see CHVRCHES, one of my favorite bands of all time, play and Karzahni yeah it was great! This was my first time seeing them in concert and also my second concert ever since really getting to music (my first was Haim around this time last year) so that made this a little extra special.
     
    The Build Up:
    My night, of course, started with a lot of waiting. I was in line a half-an-hour before the doors opened, although in hindsight that might have been a little unnecessary considering I had an assigned seat in the baloney and it was pretty empty up there for a while, but c'est la vie. At eight, the opener Cherry Glazerr came on. Now, I'll be honest and say that I didn't know who the opener was in advance although I had been seeing on Facebook the kinds of bands CHVRCHES has had opening for them this tour and they have been some really good ones (Pale Waves, Sasha Sloan, Let's Eat Grandma).
    I didn't know who Cherry Glazerr was at the time, but I will say I enjoyed their set well enough (I thought their drummer especially was real good). They played for about forty minutes, then there was another half-an-hour or so of more waiting and then...
     
    The Track List (I wasn't taking notes, but I think this is pretty close to what it was):
    Get Out
    Bury It
    We Sink
    Graffiti
    Under the Tide
    Graves
    Science/Visions
    Deliverance
    Forever
    Recover
    Leave a Trace
    Miracle
    Clearest Blue
    The Mother We Share
    Never Say Die
     
    Thoughts on the set:
    -Again, I'm a huge CHVRCHES fan and I love all their songs, but if you check out my
    on Youtube ranking of all their songs (and you totally should) you can tell that a lot of songs they played were more towards the bottom of the list. I mean, I knew they weren't going to play, "Playing Dead" or something like that, but it's just an observation. -The high point of the whole night, for me, was the middle part of their set when they played my two favorite songs off their last album ("Deliverance" and "Forever") back-to-back and then followed it up with 2 more really great songs.
    -They ended their initial set with my least favorite song off album two ("Clearest Blue") and while "The Mother We Share" is good enough to make the whole night they also finished with a more "meh" song off album three.
    -You know, when Martin came out from behind the synths I thought they he might start singing "High Enough To Carry You Over" (one of my favorite songs of theirs) and instead they played "Under The Tide" (one of my least favorites), but dang it if Martin still didn't give a great performance.
     
    Other Random Thoughts:
    -It's true what they say: CHVRCHES do put on a killing light show.
    -It was cool seeing Ian show off his guitar god skills many times through out the night.
    -The show banter mostly revolved around "Game of Thrones", how Lauren was surprised not only that people showed up, but also that Ian and Martin showed up (the two have a lottery going on how the show will end). Lauren herself admitted to not being a fan. The subject of cheese was also discussed. Considering what she talked about at the very last show they put on I'm kind of glad that nothing super serious was brought up.
    -I think I'm going to take to heart something Lauren said while putting in her earplugs before starting the encore ("Safety first.") Both because she said that and because of the aching in my left ear that I had for a few hours afterwards.
    -I just love how before playing, "Deliverance" Lauren said it's one of the songs that might upset people because I'm one of the people who should be upset by it, but instead it's my favorite song off their last album and one of my favorite songs of last year.
     
    And that's all I have to say. I had a great time, again it was awesome seeing one of my favorite bands live and I'll probably have their music on non-stop for the rest of the week.
  19. JAG18
    Although I did consider calling this entry "The Slender Man of Bionicle" I think Blaze from Mortal Kombat is a better fit here, but if anyone thinks they know what the character I'm looking for is then go right ahead and tell me in the comments.
     
    So, this is a promo picture of Iconox as seen on Strakk's canister:

     
    If you know me you know I had the closer Glatorian in the foreground (who I've dubbed "Snow N. Ice Oakenshield") as my avatar for years and considered it my calling card. In fact, I have a whole block dedicated to this guy in my blog here.
     
    I wish I could say that I came up with this idea all by myself, but I remember seeing someone with this image as a banner back in '09, although I don't think I remember seeing anyone use it as an avatar. I don't now why I was drawn to Mr. Oakenshield, but when I become a member and was trying to think of a cool avatar I thought back to that banner I saw once and the rest is history.
     
    Now, here are the instructions that came with Malum:

     
    Yep, nothing out of the ordinary. Wait, what's that in the background? Let's zoom in a little.

     
    I found this today while looking for images for the Bionicle Caption Contest. Now, these instructions are from 2009 and this image was uploaded in 2016, but I've never ever seen this guy before in my entire life...If I wasn't so attached to my coat of arms, I'd considered making this guy my new avatar both as a throwback to my old avatar and because I think he also looks pretty cool.
     
    And that is all. I hope I was the first one to point this guy out to you and that now your life is a bit better for having spotted him. Now excuse me while I try and think up a way to honor these guys probably either in moc form or in a short story where these guys fought each other in the Core War or something.
  20. JAG18

    I Think I'm a Hummingbird

    By JAG18,

    Recently I was reading "The Hedge Knight" graphic novel, which is based on a "A Game of Thrones" prequel and there is one bit where two characters are discussing a particularly mean and nasty prince (Aerion the Monstrous) who, being a Targaryen and all, believes himself to be a dragon (the Targaryen sigil). One of the two characters then comments that he wishes that the prince were a Fossoway (whose sigil is an apple) so that he would believe that he were, well, an apple.
    Now I of course got a good laugh out of this at the time, but it's also made me think of my own armorial achievement which if you want to see for reference you look either at my avatar or below.
     

    Actually this version is missing both my motto ("Truth is truth") and battle cry ("To hope's end and heart's breaking!); of course the "complete" version on my computer is also missing my supporters (hedgehogs) so c'est la vie.
     
    Anyway back on topic, what I'm saying is since my charge is a hummingbird does that mean if I were that prince I would believe myself to be a hummingbird? Well, I suppose that's better then being an apple right? At least I don't have to worry about someone touching me and making me lose my apple juice.
    Plus they are lots of cool facts about hummingbirds right? [see here]
     
    Speaking of my armorial achievement, remember if you ever see anyone on any website with it as their avatar then odds are pretty good that it's me (especially if the username is some variation of JAG18). It's not technically official because in order to make a coat of arms official (to my knowledge) is you need to be either a member of the British realm or a direct descendant of a British subject (which I am) and then pay a few thousand pounds. So, if I ever have several thousand pounds laying around that I'm not using then I know what I'll be spending them on.
  22. JAG18
    In my "Best Everything of 2016" list entry, I lamented the fact that I only watched 10 new movies last year and that I was going to try harder to watch more movies this year.
    Well, so far this year I've watch 13 new movies and I regret nothing...well, actually I do kind of regret seeing "Beauty and The Beast" and "Aftermath", but whatever.
     
    So what were these movies and what did I think of them?
     
    "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" is one of my favorites of the year so far and I love it. Oddly enough, I just watched the first "Guardians" this past January and I watch the second on a late Thursday night showing.
     
    "Life" is a pretty good sci-fi horror movie and while I noticed the similarities at the time after re-watching all the Alien movies this past month I really noticed how similar "Alien" and "Life" are.
     
    "The Lego Batman Movie" is a lot of fun.
     
    "Kong: Skull Island" and "Power Rangers" are fine summer blockbusters.
     
    "The Great Wall", "Alien: Covenant", and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" are all OK films.
     
    "Silence" is better made and "smarter" than all the above films, but I don't prefer it to any of the above.
     
    While, I thought it was good the first time around I really think I need to re-watch "Split" to form a solid opinion on it.
     
    It's not a great movie, but I enjoyed "Megan Leavey" a lot. Definitely more than I thought I would.
     
     
    And after all that I still need to watch "Logan" and "Wonder Woman", and there are still some movies coming up that I'm really looking forward to ("Dunkirk", "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets", "The Last Jedi"). We'll see what happens.
  23. JAG18

    In America

    By JAG18,

    In America, you scare your daughter's boyfriend:
     
    Man throws bullet at daughter's boyfriend,
     
    "It gets a lot faster after 10 pm."
     
    In Soviet Russia, your daughter's boyfriend scares you!
     
    FPSrussia drives up to girlfriend's house in T-14 Armata tank and emerges from turret draped in machine gun belts,
     
    "I'll bring her home when I feel like it."
     
     
     
    Thank you, I'm here all week.
  24. JAG18

    Law Bringer Day 2

    By JAG18,


    Law Bringer
    Feature photo is the art for "Meet The Commander".  Above is art for "Meet V Squad".  
    When I sat down to write the first draft of this post a couple of weeks ago I wanted to write something ten times more depressing, angry, bitter, and cynical, but I decided I wanted this to be a happy day since I'm supposed to be celebrating so here's a happier post instead.
    Seven years ago today, I wrote a little story about four stereotypes (cowboy, ninja, killer robot, and ex-military guy) saving a (not very competent) vampire hunter from a horde of vampires.  The little piece grew into something much larger than I could have imagined and lead me down roads I also couldn't have imagined.  
    When I wrote last year's Law Bringer Day post I wrote that I'd be sharing "Law Bringer" with the world soon.  I didn't mean for "soon" to mean nine months, although technically I shared "Meet The Deserter" here in February.  Either way, I had further to go after that, but I reached the midpoint a couple of days ago when I posted "Meet The Commander".
    Now is the hardest part to remain positive with.  The part where I have to admit my greatest accomplishment after all this effort is a feeling of, "At least I did it."
    As for any future plans.  I'm set to finish posting Season 1 at the end of March (taking a couple of breaks to post spin-offs I've posted elsewhere, but not on the substack), which means I'll publish the entire thing together as my first book a month or two after.  
    I need to spit out the weird spin-off "Mors" next spring.  Like write it in a month and revise in another one level speed.  Then the fun begins.  I can work on my prequel, which needs to be ten times more depressing, angry, bitter, and cynical than anything I've ever written before.  As a bonus the social media content will create itself (wish I could say the same for Season 1), which might allow me to actually get an audience.  
    Hopefully, I'll be done with that in late 2024, then the real challenge comes.  I need to write the book that will decide the fate of all of "Law Bringer" forever, but I should stop planning past next year's Law Bringer Day.   
    I'll send off with a quote from Mr. Nightmare, "You'll never know how far you'll get unless you try." 
  25. JAG18

    Law Bringer Teaser #2

    By JAG18,


    Real Life
    I know it has only been a week since I posted a teaser here and a 1,500 word lore dump isn't the best way to drum up interest in a new Sci-Fi IP, but I felt compelled to write this yesterday and while I've shared pieces of the following on other sites I haven't done so here yet.  Like all my creative works, make of this what you will. 
     
    In the mid-40th century, humanity had achieved what many informed observers considered the highest level of civilization ever seen.  Hundreds of worlds in dozens of galaxies were colonized, new technologies were easing the hardships of existence, and for most people times were good.  Obviously, times were better for some like the industrialists of Wakile or the elite of Oyoheri Prime especially when compared to the rough living of the farmers of Mye-Othol or the inhabitants of war torn Iterlop.  Potential troubles and problems still abound from renegade asteroids threatening to wipe out all life on entire planets, to widespread crime in the faraway parts of the universe, to the plight of the explorers pushing the edges of the map and encountering terrors beyond civilized space.  Regardless of such inequalities and problems, overall the spirit of the age was optimistic.  And this prosperity was due in no small part to one group: The Order of The Law Bringers.
    Founded in 3,455 A.D. by the greatest heroes of that century brought together by the legendary vigilante hero Ionnes Acanthio, for centuries The Law Bringers maintained peace and carried out justice across the known universe serving as security for rich and poor alike and never turning their backs on those in need.
    Unfortunately by this time, prestige, power, and complacency transformed The Law Bringers into something else.  Agents prioritized helping people who would increase their fame and wealth over the needs of the average citizen and several officers abused their positions and acted as vile as the criminals they swore to oppose.  By the 3,940’s, the people of the universe had come to hate and despise their protectors, although The Law Bringer’s leaders chose to downplay and ignore this change.  The Order could have fallen on hard times even if it hadn’t been for the single-minded crusade of one man: Nicholas Caldwell. 
    A middle-aged business man whose insane wealth had sketchy origins, around this time Caldwell put his massive resources towards the destruction of The Law Bringers.  He funded media that attacked The Order at every turn and spewed a steady stream of anti-Law Bringer rhetoric to anyone listening.  True, much of it consisted of lies and blatant propaganda, but legitimate misbehavior on the part of agents such as Captain Gripus made it possible for the average person to believe the universe would be better off without The Law Bringers.  He also lobbied the governments of the universe to pass laws limiting or outright banning The Order from operating in their territories.  At the time, the officers of Law Bringer High Command laughed at the idea of a “petty demagogue” tearing down an organization that had stood for five centuries.  What they couldn’t so easily dismiss however were their so-called replacements.  Most planet leaders were unwilling to risk calling up their militias to remove The Order from their lands and thus as an alternative Caldwell built the largest private army in existence The Justice Brigade.  All he asked for was the approval of states and his army would disband The Law Bringers and take up their duties.  By whatever means necessary. 
    In 3,951, this finally happened when the president of Oyoheri (the greatest and most powerful of all human nations) signed The Official Security Act, effectively outlawing the Law Bringers and enshrining The Justice Brigade as the nation’s new primary policing organization.  The Order declared they would resist the act and their defiance gave Caldwell the opportunity for violence he wanted.  So it was that October 13 would be remembered as the darkest day in The Order’s history the day of The Sacking of Tobe.   
    On the planet of Tobe rested The Law Bringers’ largest academy from where the training of thousands of agents including future officers was overseen.  With the help of the disillusioned Law Bringer Brutus Eskarus, The Justice Brigade sacked the academy, killing thousands of agents and cadets and burning their magnificent buildings to the ground.  Caldwell hoped this would be the first of many massacres of Law Bringers, but he couldn’t have imagined the tenacity of journalist Suzi Vi who was present for and survived the sacking.  The official narrative pushed by Caldwell’s lackeys accused The Order of stockpiling weapons to stage a coup against the Oyoheri government, but Suzi’s footage destroyed this idea.  Her reporting and especially the images of supposedly noble Justice Brigadiers, slaughtering thousands of cadets ages fifteen-nineteen, as well as hundreds of unarmed agents after they surrendered, and desecrating the academy grounds turned the tide of public opinion against Caldwell.  Even though more massacres followed the sacking, it was clear to anyone watching that no one wanted The Justice Brigade to replace The Law Bringers.  In response, the government hastily passed a series of acts, which established an official Security Corps and The Justice Brigade would disband a few years later. 
    The Order had suffered a serious blow, but not one they couldn’t recover from, but Caldwell wanted to be sure they would not and he set in motion the next phase of his war on The Law Bringers.  Unable to use his private army to kill agents, Caldwell instead outsourced the task by placing huge bounties on the heads of any Law Bringer foolish enough to step foot on an Oyoheri planet.  Thousands of bounty hunters rose up to meet the demand including long time veterans (some of whom in the past worked alongside Law Bringers) as well as newer daring rookies hoping to buy their own planet by the age of twenty-five.  The resulting violence is remembered as The Shadow War and the results were brutal.  Order agents daring to operate in Oyoheri risked walking into deadly ambushes, although not doing so would mean abandoning their mission to protect the innocent.  Combined with the loss of much of their funding (most of The Law Bringer’s financiers abandoned The Order in the face of bans or died under mysterious circumstances) these agents operated with limited resources, poor leadership, and in the face of hostility from locals.  The Order organized teams to avenge their fallen brethren by tracking down their murderers and bringing them to justice, but soon enough, some Law Bringers acted more out of a desire for revenge than true justice.  The most extreme example being Major Bitucus Bassus who formed a squad of like-minded agents and even non-Law Bringers to take the fight to the hunters.  Eventually, it devolved into a band of marauders and The Order was forced to send a special task force to stop him. 
    By this point, the universe had had enough of the constant fighting between Law Bringers and bounty hunters, as it often led to bystanders being harmed or even killed.  This problem was exasperated by the fact certain hunters committing outrageous crimes and atrocities to draw Law Bringers out of hiding.  Thus, with his bloodlust finally sated, Caldwell lifted the bounties and ten years after The Sacking of Tobe, was content to believe his blow to The Order was fatal. 
    On some planets Law Bringers were allowed to continue their work, such as on Riqura, which was ruled by Queen Izebel Ezkira who as a young girl lost her family to anarchists and had it not been for the intervention of The Law Bringers she would have been killed as well and her country left in ruins.  Out of gratitude, she refused to comply with The Act and instead turned her planet into a safe haven for agents.  Other localities behaved similarly and despite Caldwell’s insistence, the government refused to crack down on local rule what with The Secession Crisis of ’44 being too recent a memory.  Despite these signs of hope the situation for The Order looked bleak.  Gendarmes, The Order’s battle-hardened elite force, swore to fight for was right to the end and many fought and died this way during this time, but most agents had families to support and a mass exodus occurred of lower ranking Law Bringers.  Some retired early while others joined The Security Corps, or migrated outside of Oyoheri to serve The Order on planets less hostile to them.  Their numbers dwindling, their image destroyed, and recruiting efforts stifled, the end of The Order in Oyoheri would certainly come sooner rather than later. 
    But the time for change is now and destiny is calling.  On the small planet of Aheju, in The Borderlands (the crossroads of the major nations of the universe) a young man has been given the chance to rekindle his lost dream and change history forever.  As a boy growing up in the shadow of a Law Bringer base, this young man idolized the heroes and wanted to be just like them, but events beyond his control prevented this and he remembers the day The Order left his town as the worst of his life.  Twenty years after The Sacking of Tobe, after spending years working for Law Bringer knock-offs created to fill the void left by the incompetent Security Corps, he has been given the opportunity to take up the mantle of Law Bringer and finally fulfill his dream by resurrecting The Law Bringers. 
     
    To be continued in Law Bringer: The Return. 
     
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