Danska: Shadow Master

Tahu. Lewa was my favourite, so it kept annoying me that Tahu always got the spotlight, which led to an irrational longstanding dislike of the red sets/characters. I mean, how dare they focus on the most popular, bestselling one and not the one I like? Ridiculous!

Like many others, it seems, I'll be reliving 2001 and getting the sets I had first - Tahu, Kopaka and Lewa!

 

Originally bought those three because they had the coolest weapons. With the new ones, all their weapons are rather shiny! Not convinced by the gold on Kopaka or Onua, though. Oh well.

Someone mind telling me why everyone seems to hate the name Teridax? What's wrong with it, I think it's cool that Makuta was a species. they always used to call him THE Makuta, so it wasn't just his name.

 

It is in this new universe, but I'm just confused as to why people are so happy he's not called Teridax.

Because it's not as good as 'Makuta', because he doesn't need another name, it ruins the mystery, cheapens the character etc etc.

 

Never had a problem with it myself. Or at least, I got used to it quickly.

 

I'm also ok with him being called Makuta again. When his name was revealed, Bionicle had started explaining its mysteries. We're now back in mystery mode in what appears to be a reboot, so anything goes really!

Iiiiiinterersting. Nice that they all have character flaws, I suppose (Gali can't tell jokes, Onua sleeping), but I kind of wish they weren't so comical? Looks like they're going to be used as a "oh, isn't s/he funny!" rather than as something which contributes to their character in any way. I guess I am a little out of their target audience though, so probably shouldn't complain too much!

 

No mention of mask powers and only a couple of them seem explicitly able to control an element (rather than just, say, cause an earthquake)? Also interesting. Hoping they will still have their mask/elemental powers!

 

Also not sure what I think of the character designs. They look like they've stepped out of a cartoon. Still probably going to buy them and decide first hand, though!

I...like it. Was a bit of a shock at first. The instant "noooo, it's different!" reaction tried to weigh in but, looking past that, it actually seems kind of cool. Reminds me a lot of 2001. Mysterious island, powerful sleeping figures, masks of power - yup. Seems cool.

This seems to have been inactive for a bit, but on the off chance it's still alive, I'm interested in Tahu Stars?

 

One quick question. Does it come with the gold mask?

 

Nothing to trade, unfortunately, but I have PayPal and live in the UK, so if you're willing to sell, how much would you want for it?

So I seem to have found the problem. I've been trying to play them using a standalone Flash player, which clearly doesn't like how they've been put together and won't display text properly. Playing them through my browser, however, works fine.

 

Thanks guys!

So I've recently been trying to build up my collection of Bionicle story pieces. I have offline MNOG (didn't care for MNOG 2, so I'm ignoring that), pdf comics, the films, the books, the 2002 Bohrok animations, the online serials...have I missed anything?

 

The one thing I don't have is the 2003 Bohrok Kal animations with working text. I know you can watch them online here, along with just about all the online content from Bionicle, but the downloadable versions are missing the subtitles. I understand this was a problem with the way those animations were coded, but I was wondering if anyone's managed to fix them and make them downloadable?

 

In short, Am I missing any vital story materials that I haven't listed in the first paragraph, and is it possible to download the 2003 Bohrok Kal animations with working subtitles?

 

Thanks!

Well, better late than never I suppose.

That was my favourite episode for a good while. It reminded me a lot of Alien. Confined space, alien creature lurking in the shadows killing the crew one by one etc. And the episode does not suffer for the comparison. I was especially glad that they never showed the monster in full. That would have ruined it. The imagination is always scarier than the reality.

 

I'm continuing to be impressed with Clara. She actually reacts to, and is affected by, the terrible things she sees. She's definitely moving up my list of companions.

Personally, I really hope McGann shows up. He needs a decent on-screen appearance, since he was the only redeeming thing about the movie (which I'm going to watch today. Yay). He's also amazing in the Big Finish audio plays (which are some of the best Who I've encountered. Go listen).

 

I want Eccleston to come back, too. One series is too short a time, and he was definitely fantastic!

 

I suppose Tennant was an inevitability. Shame, as he is by far one of my least favourite Doctors. And Rose? I had so hoped she was gone for good. Ah well.

 

So, The Bells of St John. That was quite good, right? I thought Clara felt more like a person in this story, rather than just TARDIS bait. Until now I'd been rather sceptical about her, since her entire character seemed to be "look at me! I'm really smart and quirky and can do everything because I'm amazing!" That seemed less of an issue this episode, so there's hope for her yet!

 

Now I must go and prepare myself for watching that accursed movie by thinking about how awesome the rest of the series is going to be.

There is, after all, not much clever can do against a Dalek when it's taking aim.

Then how has The Doctor survived this long?

 

Has everyone seen the new TARDIS interior? If you haven't and want to, http://www.majhost.com/gallery/crazyboy/Random-stuff/new-tardis-2012-wide.jpg]here it is![/url]

 

I really like it. I mean, I'll have to wait for it to appear in the series to make a full judgement, but from what I can see, it is awesome.

Extremely strong magnets may wipe hard drives. Weaker magnets generally won't do anything, and no type of magnet will wipe a CD (or similar). They don't work in the same way, so there's no danger of that.I think that idea would have been awesome. But then, I think magnets are pretty neat and would like to see more of them in general.

Decided to watch The Three Doctors again yesterday. It's a great story, but it does have some truly awful special effects and monsters (and yes, I am judging by the standards of classic Who). Definite points for creativity, but shuffling blob monsters? It's also from the era where they decided bleeps = music. The acting's pretty hilarious at times, too - most noteably Omega's extreme over-the-top evilness and whoever the head Time Lord dude is. But still, it's a fantastic story with wonderful interactions between Pertwee, Troughton and the Brigadier that make it all worth it. Oh, and Hartnell's in there a bit too."So you're my replacements eh? A dandy and a clown!"

It's a very interesting idea...the Red Star crashing into Metru Nui...and you developed it well, telling it through the eyes of Tahu's perspective and letting us fill in the gaps. I definitely liked the connection between Vakama and Tahu here. Reminds me of 2001 story.One thing that caught my eye:

It looked hopeless, until the day the lightstones went out. In every land, they simply stopped. And the void, it too stopped. A shimmering layer of energy lay between us and the stars. We could move and work and fortify. We could begin to rebuild, and to repair the hole in the sky.

There are generators in the MU that generated a forcefield that big using power normally used for lighting? If it was an automatic defense system, I doubt it would activate that late. Also, a lack of it would probably suck everything out to space and freeze any being in the city, including the repair crews. Probably also cause the universe to warp and fold on itself as the interior was sucked into the vaccum. So that's a little hard to suspend disbelief on.

I have a few ideas about exactly why that happened, which I deliberately didn't expand on in order to make the story fit with the perspective of the character (and it's fun to leave a few mysteries). It might have been an automatic system in case of damage to Mata Nui's outer form that simply kicked in late due to the sheer amount of damage that was done to what is essentially his brain, it may have been something Mata Nui did consciously either as a last-ditch effort (if he was dying - he's certainly unlikely to be in good shape) or simply once he'd regained his senses from having a massive rock crash into his head. Or, possibly, someone else found a way to do it. The Brotherhood, Artakha, The Order, maybe all three. Or someone else. I think I've either thought about this too much or not enough...anyway, I'm working on the basic assumption that in the Bionicle universe, creating a big forcefield is a perfectly attainable goal (if difficult under the circumstances).As for the space thing, I admit I didn't do my homework on exactly how horrifying and deadly space can be. Am I allowed to use the 'Bionicle physics work differently' argument?

One question: Is Mata Nui dead?

Well, he's definitely not in a good way, but not quite dead yet I don't think. If he is, then all the work they're doing is rendered meaningless which makes for a very depressing story. Then again, not all stories have happy endings.Thanks for reading guys!

When it comes to naming characters, I generally just pick whatever name comes to me first. I've never been good at the meaningful or inventive names thing (though I do try and avoid repeating names between stories).I would have liked to put in some sort of twist in as well (or just somewhere for the story to go) and I definitely feel the story could benefit from having a bit more to it, but that just didn't quite happen. Same with the relationship between the two characters. If I'd started earlier/had more time, I could have hammered out better what they meant to each other and incorporated that into the story. As it is, I'm not too sure either. I never did make my mind up. :PDefinitely valid criticisms, all of which I did consider at one point or another that I probably should have tried harder to overcome. I'm definitely not standing by this as one of my better stories, but hey, I managed to write something and hopefully learnt a thing or two from it. My hopes are that future stories will be better.Gormless is essentially another way or saying stupid or dull-witted. So to wander gormlessly would be to signify firstly moving around with no real intent or purpose, and to be doing so in a rather stupid or un-energetic manner. Someone who's just there with no real purpose or interest in being there, no enthusiasm and in a dull and uninteresting manner.Thanks very much for reading!

So I finally managed to finish my entry. Well, it would be more accurate to say that I finally managed to start my entry. The finishing merely proceeded from that. Either way, one week of little to no inspiration and a rushed afternoon's writing later, I have a story! With words and everything! It's even loosely inspired by real events! What more could anyone want?Member Name: Danska: Shadow MasterTheme: PathfindingWord Count: 922Link to Story and Title: A Jaunt in the Woods

A rather rushed entry (for the Ambage Flash Fiction Contest) due to a horrendous lack of motivation this past week, which I eventually got round by basing it very loosely on a real experience I had. "Inspired by real events" rather than "based on a true story".

“Just admit it! We are completely lost!” Jack shouted angrily, adjusting his hood.“Look, we’re a bit off track, but that doesn’t mean we’re lost! Just- give me a minute, ok?” Liz responded, hunched over in an attempt to keep the map out of the rain.“Yeah, well. I’ve heard that before,” Jack grunted, slumping down on a partially dry log.Liz shuffled over to him. “I’ve worked it out, see? If we take the next path northeast, we’ll get to the first checkpoint and from there it’s a straight walk down the open road.”“Oh, and I’m supposed to believe you this time over the last three times because...” growled Jack irritably. “You can’t even work out where we are! How can you decide which direction- in fact, give me that-“ he said, making a grab for the map.Liz pulled back. “Hey! You don’t even know how to read this thing properly-““And you do?”“-we agreed, I do the map work. Now look! We are definitely around here somewhere. Got to be!” She said, indicating an area a few miles across. “Now I know it’s not precise-““You don’t say.”“-but the point is, wherever we are, we keep going northeast, we hit the road and from there it’s easy! Or would you rather sit around complaining all day?”“Fine!” Jack shouted. “Let’s go! Maybe this time we’ll get somewhere rather than turning aimlessly through the middle of nowhere! Wouldn’t that be nice!”“If you’re not going to be helpful then at least stop shouting!” Liz exclaimed. “This isn’t exactly easy for me either, you know!”“Fine. If that’s how you want it,” Jack grunted, dragging his feet as he followed Liz.From their small clearing they descended down a narrow path, thick with branches and roots that lay in wait for the first sign of a false step or careless move. The trees that lined each side were tall and thick with dozens of branches that wormed their way across and over and all around the path, interlocking into a wall as thick and impenetrable as concrete. It seemed only an accident that the path could be traversed at all. An accident the woods seemed determined to rectify.Though the tree cover was thick, it provided no relief from the endless downpour the skies had unleashed upon them. The rain caught on the branches and the leaves and slid, showering the path not in an even downpour, but in heavy cascades that soaked travellers to the skin.The path widened, and forked. Liz scurried to check the map, hoping this might help them pinpoint their location, but found her efforts unrewarding. She shrugged, took a quick compass bearing, and directed them along the right fork.“Just what are we doing here anyway?” Jack burst out.“It’s called hiking! And it’s fun!” Liz barked back.“Fun? Yes! Of course! Walking for hours through the middle of nowhere with no idea where we are, where we’re going, getting completely soaked – that’s exactly my idea of fun!” Jack growled.“And what would you rather be doing? Sitting around watching repeats of trash on TV?”“There isn’t a TV...” Jack interrupted, but Liz didn’t break stride for a moment.“-wander gormlessly down some noisy beach filled with dumb tourists and screaming kids? Well I’m sorry if you want your life to be that dull and monotonous, but I happen-““Hey, shut up a second.”“What did you say?” Liz screamed.“No, seriously, just be quiet a moment and listen.”Her gaze seemed ready to disembowel him at a second’s notice, but she stopped and listened. It was faint, but she thought she heard“Traffic. That’s traffic, right?” Jack said excitedly.Liz had to admit he was right. It did not sound like there was much of it, but the sound was unmistakable.“Which way?” Jack asked.“This way of course, come on!” Liz said, bright eyed, dragging him down the path. “We’ll be back in no time!”A short walk through some brambles, two careful navigations around large, muddy puddles and a hop over a fallen tree later, they came out onto a small, dimly lit but obviously well used road.“So, where are we? You said you could figure it out,” Jack asked, relief showing plainly on his face.“Yes yes, just a moment,” Liz said, orienting the map. She had noticed a sign just across the road, which gave her an easy reference for their location. She placed her finger on where they should be on the map and scanned the area. Seeing nothing, she scanned areas slightly farther afield. Still nothing. After double checking those areas, she turned her attention to the rest of the page.“Well? Have you found it?” Jack asked again.“Yes, I have,” Liz said tentatively.“What is it?” Jack asked apprehensively.Liz showed him the map. “Well, you see here,” she pointed to where they were meant to be. “We’re um, here,” she finished, pointing to somewhere that was very definitely not where they were meant to be.For a few seconds, Jack just stared. He began to open his mouth, but quickly closed it again. He got to his feet and shouldered his pack, ready to leave.Liz stowed the map away in her bag and they were silent for a moment.“So, did you want to say something?” Asked Liz.“No. You?”“No.”They glanced at each other for a moment. Jack shrugged, and they began their long journey down the road.

I quite liked The Celestial Toymaker. Well, I liked the novelisation of it. Never actually seen the story, so maybe that would change my mind. It's definitely an interesting concept and it didn't seem like it was badly executed.Singing narrator, you say? I confess, I am intrigued.

Hey GG, good to see you around again. Very well done on publishing your book - 'tis an impressive feat!Looks like I'll have to go read through JitL again if I'm to catch up with the latest chapter. It's been years since I last did, and alas my memory is less than perfect. I'm sure I'll survive the experience somehow. :rolleyes:Anyhow, I should really scoot off before I fall asleep on my keyboard. It's gone 3am and I'm meant to be a responsible adult now! Pah. Like that'll ever happen!

My entry is complete! It is good to be writing again.Member Name: Danska: Shadow MasterTheme: The Red StarWord Count: 804Link to Story and Title: The Hole in the Sky

This is my entry for the first Ambage Flash Fiction contest. Theme: The Red Star.

I, Tahu, stood side by side with Makuta Teridax, our powers working in tandem for the first time in recorded history. Toa of Magnetism, Iron and another Makuta had lifted the sheets of protodermis. Teridax employed his powers of gravity to keep us stable while a half dozen Toa of Air did their best to keep us breathing. I, with my fire powers, attempted to weld the sheets together. The sheer magnitude of the task we were undertaking was beyond our wildest imaginations. Almost every species from every land had contributed members to assist us.But would it be enough? We worked in rotating shifts, ensuring that the powers we needed were always present. The Nynrah had provided blueprints for powerful devices to aid us, which even now the Vortixx were producing at a breakneck rate. It was even rumoured Artakha himself had been seen. Such was the importance of our undertaking.I focused my powers into a narrow stream, trying desperately to fuse the metal before it was too late. We were all exhausted. Even Teridax seemed bowed by the constant effort needed to maintain the gravity field, but the work must continue. We would work until we could work no more, in honour of those who had already given their lives.It took all my willpower to complete the weld. My task complete, I staggered backwards and would have fallen, were it not for the Makuta’s stabilising grasp. Before I could say a word, in protest or otherwise, he had teleported me back to Karzhani so I could rest. I collapsed to the floor, mask buried in my hands. Through a tiny sliver of vision I saw Toa Norik and Makuta Icarax vanish. It was their turn now.“How does it go?” A familiar voice asked.“Slowly,” I replied gruffly.“You’ll manage. I know you will. Toa always do,” Vakama reassured me. This Matoran, a mask maker, was one of the few survivors of Metru Nui. He had lost everything. His friends, his work, his home, and yet he remained resolute that somehow, everything would work out. I wish I could share his optimism.They said it had been terrible. The ground shook and tore, rock and metal rained down from the sky and the whole world trembled as the cataclysm struck. For days, the sky of Metru Nui shone crimson. A huge object, larger than any structure known to Matoran kind, radiating heat and fire, had burst through the sky. Through the sky! The very idea was hard to comprehend. Those Matoran who had survived were evacuated, and Toa from across the universe were sent to investigate.Slowly, inch by inch, the structure began to move. We had hoped to find the sky once more. What we found instead was infinitely more terrible. An empty void of stars and blackness. A void that ate and ate, sucking in everything and everyone. That was when my team and I were awakened. They said we, and every being of power in this universe, was needed. And so it was that the reconstruction effort began.By the time we arrived the red structure was gone, leaving only the emptiness. What remained of Metru Nui was itself becoming part of the nothing, devoid of air or light or substance. We tried everything to restore the air, the gravity, to seal the hole with anything and everything we had. There were deaths by the score. Members of my own team, Kopaka and Onua, were among those who gave their lives for the universe.It looked hopeless, until the day the lightstones went out. In every land, they simply stopped. And the void, it too stopped. A shimmering layer of energy lay between us and the stars. We could move and work and fortify. We could begin to rebuild, and to repair the hole in the sky.It did not last long, but it was enough. The void began to eat once more, but we have a foothold and a chance. Piece by piece, we begin to patch the sky with stone and metal, ice and glass, whatever we can use. It is slow, agonising work, but while there is life there is hope.Something worries the Makuta. Something beyond the hole. They talk in secret and seem scared of something...greater. I heard a whisper that the Great Spirit himself is dead, but I do not believe it. I only hope that, whatever it is, they have a plan.I, though I fear we fight a losing battle, shall believe in the faith of one small Matoran. As long as he believes we shall survive, then so shall I. It is my duty as a Toa. We shall repair the sky, and he shall live as he was meant to; in peace and safety. This, I swear.Word Count: 804

A new Flash Fiction contest? My, this is exciting! I've been saying for ages that I need an excuse to write stuff. Of course, if I was better, then I'd find my own excuses to write. Still working on that part. Anyhow, huzzah for excuses! Let the writing commence! Cookies for all!**Each person is responsible for supplying their own cookies

The Doctor is a benevelent alien who can travel through time/space and has a knack for getting both into and out of trouble. Q is a mischievous omnipotent superbeing from another dimension who likes to mess with people because it's fun. I don't see the connection.