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PeabodySam

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  1. PeabodySam

    The End

    By PeabodySam,

    To all the great friends that I've met here, you've made my time on BZPower unforgettable and I will always cherish that.  But, most of you have long since left this website and will likely never read this message... and I feel it might be time for me to finally move on as well.
    I had always trusted BZPower to be a safe haven of my childhood.  No matter what, even if I didn't post in years, I could always come back here and remember the good old days.  But now, I fear that might no longer be the case.  If the appalling recent allegations are true, then I don't think I can rightfully think of BZPower as a haven anymore.  I may be a cisgendered heterosexual man, but if women and LGBTQ+ people cannot feel safe here, then no one can.
    Currently, I am posting the Dino Attack RPG: Director's Cut on BZPower, and I had started doing so "for old time's sake", since this website is where the RPG began fifteen years ago, it has been my most cherished memory of BZPower, and I wanted to bring it full circle.  Despite it all, I still want to leave BZPower on a positive note, so I shall continue to post the Director's Cut until it is complete.  I've made my commitment, and I won't stop until my mission is accomplished.  But aside from that, I doubt that I will be posting much else or continuing to engage with this community.  There is a very real chance that the Director's Cut shall be my BZPower swan song. 
    There is other unfinished business that I had wished to attend to, such as posting The Story of Rosamu (a rewrite of an old BIONICLE fanfic from my early days on BZPower, which I had previously been hyping up on the Blaaahhhg whenever I remembered that I had a Blaaahhhg) whenever it was finished.  When the time comes, I will decide whether I shall do so on BZPower, again "for old time's sake"... but what I had once treated as a certainty is now merely a possibility.  To be honest, with the once-thriving library forums now silent as a graveyard, there may be no one left to share my stories with.
    I have my notification settings set so that I am emailed when I receive a personal message, so I can still check and read any PMs sent to me in the future if needed.  That way, you can still reach me through BZPower even after I am gone.
    I can only hope that one day, BZPower can prove that it can change for the better. Maybe there's a chance that we'll see a thriving, healthy, welcoming community whenever BIONICLE Gen 3 comes around. But until then...
    "It's all right, children. Life is made up of meetings and partings. That is the way of it."
  2. PeabodySam
    Edit 7/26/16: This was originally posted back in 2014, but I tried to fix a broken Majhost link last year... only to forget that BZP's anniversary had just ended. Okay, seriously, BZPower needs to disable the option of editing blog posts for non-premier members if they're just going to leave the blog post in draft mode. This is the second time that this has happened to me!
     
    Okay, so I know there's probably only two of you who have ever read The Story of Frosam or Vakama's Secret, and had one of you not suddenly showed up again after nearly a year of absence I probably wouldn't even bother to write this blog entry. But here we are again, it's always such a pleasure, and while only two of you care about this blog entry, I'm writing this blog entry specifically for you.
     
    Now, I bet you're wondering, "What's the status on Reign of Shadows? Or Shadow's Reign, as you've been forced to call it since Greg Farshtey copyrighted Reign of Shadows?" Well, the short answer is... if you're holding your breath for Shadow's Reign, you're going to die of suffocation, because I honestly don't think I'll write it at this point.
     
    Don't get me wrong. I would love to finish the trilogy and wrap up the story arc with the Shifting Shadows and reveal Meench Vyzumi's secrets and show how Turaga Wodahs and his Matoran fit into the whole thing... but at this rate, I think it would be unrealistic to honestly say that I will be able to write it.
     
    Part one of the problem? Part one of the trilogy: The Story of Frosam. It sucks.
     
    And, thanks to a certain hacker, it's no longer online.
     
    Don't worry - I still have it saved on several computers, USB drives, and external harddrives. Unlike how BZPower handled the forum archive, I can take care of my stuff so long as I have it saved somewhere.
     
    However, if you want to read Vakama's Secret and, subsequently, Shadow's Reign, you need to read The Story of Frosam first. Therefore, reposting The Story of Frosam is a major priority if I want to write Shadow's Reign. But it sucks. Who would want to read it, even if I reposted it?
     
    And then I got an idea. Ideas are very dangerous things.
     
    What if I rewrote The Story of Frosam?
     
    And then I started thinking. Thinking is a dangerous pastime, I know.
     
    And the more I thought about it, the more ideas came to me. Eventually, they became a flood, and I could not hold them back. I knew then and there that I had to do it. I had to rewrite The Story of Frosam.
     
    Now, here's the problem. I've been working on this rewrite since last fall. I've only just started the second chapter. At this rate, it'll take a long time to finish this rewrite.
     
    Also, there's Vakama's Secret. It's a significant improvement over The Story of Frosam, but it still has a number of problems. Worse, one of the ideas I came up with for the rewrite of The Story of Frosam completely retcons... well, Vakama's secret, which as you can imagine is a big part of Vakama's Secret. Now, Vakama still has a secret concerning the Shifting Shadows, and it's similar to the one in the original, but not quite the same. However, I don't have nearly as many ideas for a Vakama's Secret rewrite at the present moment, which is probably a good thing at this point.
     
    But for now, I'm focusing my efforts on a rewrite of The Story of Frosam. And even though I'm barely over a chapter finished, I'm very pleased with the results so far. I'm torn on whether or not I want to wait until later chapters are completed before I post the first chapter, but I'll keep you guys (all two of you) posted.
     
    In the meantime... please enjoy this preview image of a certain major character who desperately needed a revamp:
     

  3. PeabodySam
    EDIT 7/20/15: If you think this blog post looks familiar, you'd be right! I posted this over a year ago when I had premier membership. Some time after said membership expired, I noticed a typo in this blog post and tried to fix it because I obsess over tiny things like that... only to accidentally lock this entry in "Draft" mode because I couldn't republish it without a premier membership! If you're wondering why this blog entry disappeared for a while, that's why.
     
    -----
     
    Well, here we are again. It's always such a pleasure. Only, for the first time, this isn't just a week that I get premier perks like everybody else in celebration of BZPower's anniversary, but a full six months (or actually, we're probably down to five months now... that's what I get for procrastination, eh?) thanks to the Caveat Scriptor contest. Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who voted for my entry and made this possible.
     
    But alas, this blog post isn't celebratory.
     
    Last night, I did a Google search for "Dino Attack RPG" and came across the second instance I've seen of it so far where it has been ridiculed by someone who found out about it on TV Tropes. Why? Because it has a ton of tropes. The first time was easy to laugh off... but now, with the second time, I have to ask myself... was it worth it?
     
    For those who aren't familiar with it, Dino Attack RPG is my pride and joy of all the things I've done here on BZPower. I started it back in July 2005, and it ran for another seven and a half years before finally being wrapped up for good on December 21, 2012. In that time, I've had the honor of working with dozens of other BZPower members in writing this collaborative story. After the forum update of 2011, it was the primary motivation of myself and my fellow writers to stay on BZPower to finish what we had started. It had became something far greater than I could have possibly imagined it being back in 2005.
     
    Now, was it the next coming of Shakespeare? No. Was it a magnificent work of modern literature? No. Was it full of cheap plot twists and plot devices? Yes. Was it clearly written by a bunch of LEGO-obsessed teenagers who were incorporating every cliche from every movie they had ever seen? Yes. But I love it just the same, and I wouldn't give up that guy from that show's brilliant psychological posts or Andrewnuva199's fun self-aware humor or Brikman McStudz's great character arcs just because the story has a ton of tropes. Even if Sturgeon's Law is in effect, that 10% is worth wading through the other 90% to get to.
     
    Speaking of that forum update of 2011, Dino Attack RPG was stalled for nearly a whole year because of it. In my years hosting RPGs, I know that this is very dangerous - you need to keep your fellow writers engaged or else they lose interest and won't return. I was trying to think of a fun collaborative project we could do to keep ourselves busy and entertained while waiting for Dino Attack: At War's End, and as a result I turned to TV Tropes. My mindset was, "Hey, Dino Attack RPG is written by dozens of people, each employing tons of tropes and cliches in their storytelling... why not try to find as many of them as we can?"
     
    So, on a page on the Dino Attack RPG Wiki, we started listing tropes. It was something we did for fun. Just a fun collaborative project to keep ourselves busy while waiting.
     
    Then, when we were finished, my fellow writers asked, "Why not publish this list on TV Tropes? We've got four pages of tropes that we've been compiling. It's more than enough for a good-sized TV Tropes article, and plus it will give Dino Attack RPG some extra publicity so that, in the future, it can continue to attract new readers even after it's over. It'll give the RPG a longer-lasting legacy!" And it sounded like a good idea at the time.
     
    Well, thanks to TV Tropes, Dino Attack RPG has indeed gotten itself a legacy... but not a positive one.
     
    One problem is with BZPower itself. Shortly after the TV Tropes article was published, the BZPower Archive was hacked and subsequently lost forever. Along with it, the first 224 pages of Dino Attack RPG. Now, whoever finds the TV Tropes article and would be potentially interested in reading it only has full access to the last 50 pages of a 274-page-long story. That's a problem. And then, if that's not enough, last November formatting was broken for most of the older topics on the new forums, including Dino Attack: At War's End. So now, those last 50 pages look like a complete mess of broken paragraphs turned into walls of text, and the BZP staff still hasn't fixed this five months later.
     
    But at least the list of tropes is still intact... right?
     
    A couple of weeks ago, I did a Google search for "Dino Attack RPG", just curious to see what I'd come up with. What I saw both appalled and amused me.
     
    On another forum, there's a topic devoted entirely to hating TV Tropes. Now, I've accepted the fact that any popular website is going to be hated by people, even BZPower, so this comes as no surprise. The topic started off as a rant about this one TV Tropes article that shouldn't have existed (and, apparently, no longer exists). Okay, fair enough. Much of the topic complains about the administrative staff and policies. Again, fair enough - I strongly disagree with the website's policy on spoilers, for example (why shouldn't tropes that are spoilers by nature, such as The Hero Dies or All Just A Dream, be placed in spoiler tags?).
     
    But then the topic crosses the line by declaring that "everything those no-life aspie tropers create is pure crud, no exceptions". And to prove their point, they start listing off a bunch of troper works... including Dino Attack RPG. And what do they have to say about Dino Attack RPG?
     
    It's written by tropers. It's a dark fanfic. And "said RPG has four full pages of tropes".
     
    ... That's it. That's all you need to know that Dino Attack RPG is undiluted crud in its purest form.[/sarcasm]
     
    I was appalled that Dino Attack RPG was so easily dismissed for such petty reasons... but I was able to laugh it off because of how petty it was, combined with their laughably immature insults. Oh, how I loved their use of "aspie" as an insult... since yours truly (and at least one of my fellow Dino Attack RPG writers who also contributed to the TV Tropes article) happens to be diagnosed with Asperger's (great job, guys, you made fun people with Asperger's by calling them "aspies", I bet you feel so proud of yourselves right now!).
     
    But then, last night, I did another Google search for "Dino Attack RPG". And found another topic on another forum. This one starting off with a member tired of seeing some trope-heavy work called "The Whateley Universe" on so many pages. To which another person responds:
     
    "I'll see you Whatley and raise you Dino Attack RPG."
     
    Once again, Dino Attack RPG is being ridiculed for having a ton of tropes. Nothing more. This time, it's not so easy to laugh off. It's no longer one forum full of immature people mocking the RPG for petty reasons... it's now becoming clear to me that Dino Attack RPG is gaining a reputation as horribly trope-overdosed thanks to TV Tropes.
     

    EDIT 3/8/14: And again, I Googled "Dino Attack RPG" one more time and found another result. This time, a tumblr blog came up. Like the others, devoted to hating TV Tropes. And again, our very own BZP member iHodor - a fellow BZP member, rather than just some random person on the internet who probably has no appreciation for a site like BZP - is complaining about Dino Attack RPG getting excessively "shilled" by "one obsessed fan" (largely the work of myself and Atton Rand, since we're still trying to crosswick the four pages of tropes the rest of us came up with). With ten likes, too, so it's no longer just "oh, it's just two people who don't like this", now it's up to twelve. 
    Now, when a dozen people get bored and start compiling a list of tropes in an over-seven-year-old RPG written by dozens of teenagers including the aforementioned dozen, guess what? They're going to find and list a ton of tropes. So I'm sorry that Dino Attack RPG has more tropes listed on TV Tropes than classic literature like 1984 or Romeo and Juliet, but given the aforementioned circumstances, that is to be expected. So why is it a point of so much contention?
     
    It is naturally difficult to accept criticism. But, if your criticism is constructive, I can mull it over, come to the conclusion that you're right, and know better for the future how to improve my writing. For instance, you could tell me that Talia Kaahs and Shannon Grimton were flat cardboard cutouts with little purpose other than to stall the story with lousily-written romance. You could tell me that there are ways that I could have fleshed out their characters and made them more interesting. And you know what? You'd be right. That's something I can accept and learn from.
     
    But how can you accept and learn from criticism such as "it has too many tropes"? For one thing, tropes are inherently neither good nor bad... they are tools to be used. And for another thing, as stressed before, this is the culmination of over seven years of writing by dozens of people. My writing does not necessarily include the tropes that Atton Rand used, and Atton Rand's writing doesn't necessarily include the tropes that guy from that show used, and so on and so forth. How can I learn from "it has too many tropes" if many of the tropes listed aren't tropes that I've used?
     
    This isn't what we wanted. We hoped that, through TV Tropes, Dino Attack RPG could attract a new audience. Instead, the RPG itself has been destroyed by a hacker and a formatting update, and all we get at the end of the day is a reputation for having "too many tropes". And now, bitterly, I cannot help but ask myself...
     
    Was it worth it?
  4. PeabodySam
    Not enough to warrant its own topic on BZPower, but still an interesting subject that I feel should be discussed. Especially in the most boring blog on BZPower.
     
    First off, let us start by acknowledging that, outside of heavily story-oriented themes such as BIONICLE, LEGO has a very loose grip of canon that frequently contradicts itself and encourages each person to come up with his or her own personal interpretation, sometimes called MOCanon. With a canon as unreliable as LEGO's, one may ask, what's the point of analyzing it? To which Cave Johnson would reply, "Why not?"
     
    So, let's begin this journey into LEGO's confusing canon with everybody's favorite fedora-wearing adventurer himself, Johnny Thunder! Arguably one of LEGO's most popular and memorable original characters, having transcended years of absence from toy store shelves combined with a license for Indiana Jones by keeping his memory alive through the likes of Laser Raiders, LEGO Universe, and most recently The LEGO Movie. Everyone who was a fan of LEGO in the late 1990s and early 2000s remembers him fondly, and thanks to The LEGO Movie, a whole new generation will be introduced to his legacy.
     
    But did you know that Johnny Thunder has the largest genealogy of any original LEGO character?
     
    Let's begin with his dear comrade, Dr. Charles Kilroy (also known as Charlies Lightning, Articus, and Titus, among other names). This brilliant yet absent-minded professor has been by Johnny Thunder's side since his first adventures in Egypt and now goes hunting for the famed Jeweled Triceratops on My LEGO Network. He is not only one of Johnny Thunder's closest friends, but he is in fact Johnny Thunder's uncle according to the January/February 1998 issue of LEGO Mania magazine.
     
    Now, let us take a step back for a moment and consider this. Johnny Thunder is LEGO's answer to Indiana Jones, another famous fedora-wearing adventurer. In the third Indiana Jones film The Last Crusade, Indy is joined by his father Dr. Henry Jones, Sr. It is clear that Dr. Kilroy is LEGO's answer to Dr. Jones, and Kilroy being a close relative to Johnny supports this notion. Makes sense, right?
     
    Hold onto your hats, because here's where things start taking a turn for the strange and unusual.
     
    Johnny Thunder and the Adventurers were not the only products of the late 1990s. Enter the Time Cruisers in 1996, two years before the Adventurers hit store shelves. These sets follow the whimsy and wacky adventures of Dr. Cyber and his assistant Tim as they travel through time and meet the characters of other LEGO themes sharing the LEGO catalogue at the time. On the United States' side of the Atlantic, the Time Cruisers were a thing of the past by the time the Adventurers arrived... but not on the other side of the Atlantic.
     
    The German LEGO magazine World Club Magazine published a series of comics following the adventures of Tim and his faithful monkey Ali (also known as Ingo in other sources such as LEGO Mania). While LEGO Mania left the Time Cruisers back in 1996, World Club Magazine continued to follow their adventures through to the end of the year 2000, after which World Club Magazine was revamped to closely resemble its western counterpart. Until that time, the Time Cruisers kept cruising through time... and as 1998 rolled around, take a few guesses which new LEGO theme was featured in the comics.
     
    Extreme Team, of course!
     
    As the story progresses, it is revealed that Extreme Team was sent by Dr. Cyber to find Tim in the Wild West because Dr. Cyber's brother was in need of help. Oh, wow, Dr. Cyber has a brother? What's his name? Professor Articus. Hey, wait, haven't we heard that name before? You can either scroll up to check a few paragraphs above, or you can look at the comic's next page and see for yourself.
     
    Dr. Cyber is Dr. Kilroy's brother. And by extension, that makes him related to Johnny Thunder.
     
    But wait, that's not all! While it's not explicitly stated in the comics themselves or in any other LEGO media (as far as I know), one of the creators behind the comic series, Kim Hagen, did a write-up of the comic's concept which confirmed that Tim is, in fact, Dr. Cyber's nephew. So, thanks to the World Club Magazine, Johnny Thunder is related to Dr. Cyber and Tim from Time Cruisers.
     
    But we're not finished with Tim yet. Throughout the comic (and as mentioned in the write-up above), he is given the surname Timebuster. That name might not mean anything to you until you recall that there's a minifigure from the Town theme named Max Timebuster, featured prominently in commercials such as
    and , with his full name confirmed with this LEGO catalogue. "Timebuster" certainly cannot be a common last name, therefore it stands to reason that Max and Tim are thereby related... which would indicate that Max Timebuster is yet another one of Johnny Thunder's family members! 
    Okay, now we're finished with Time Cruisers. Let's move on to another theme... Dino.
     
    When images of Dino's minifigures first arrived, I took a long look at this minifigure and noticed there was something familiar about him. He wore a loose khaki shirt with a belt strapped across his torso (starting at his left shoulder and extending down to his right hip) and a scarf around his neck. Although shaved, this minifigure has stubble resembling sideburns and a mustache, and his cocky expression with one raised eyebrow was unmistakeable. While his hatless head, shaved facial hair, and white shirt led me to doubt it was the Thunder himself, I could not help but wonder... was this minifigure another relative of Johnny Thunder?
     
    Weeks later, the LEGO Dino website goes live and reveals that his name is, in fact, Josh Thunder. Later, the 2012 edition of The LEGO Book briefly mentions the Dino theme and confirms that he is a descendant of Johnny Thunder.
     
    How many generations separate Johnny and Josh? It is not confirmed. Depending on your personal MOCanon (does the Adventurers theme take place in the 1930s or the 1990s?), Josh could be Johnny's son or grandson. But now it confirms that Johnny Thunder did have a son, whether that son is Josh himself or Josh's father.
     
    Before we get into any further speculation, here's a quick recap of Johnny Thunder's family tree so far.
    Charles Kilroy: uncle
    Dr. Cyber: uncle's brother
    Tim Timebuster: uncle's brother's nephew
    Max Timebuster: unknown relation to uncle's brother's nephew
    Josh Thunder: descendant

    Just to give you a heads-up, what follows is entirely based on future LEGO products that are subject to change, so there will be some speculation involved that stretches a little further than "Max is related to Tim".
     
    First, let us begin with a potential LEGO product that hasn't even been confirmed as a future LEGO product as of this writing: The Adventures of Steamrod, a CUUSOO project currently at 1,865 votes. By the way, you should all definitely go support that project because it's awesome, but enough about shameless plugs. What matters here is that this CUUSOO project is obviously one big homage to the Adventurers theme reimagined in a Steampunk setting.
     
    Who is the main heroic character? Sir Jonathan Bolt. And despite the striking family resemblance, he is merely a distant relative of Johnny Thunder.
     
    Why does this matter? Should the Adventures of Steamrod project receive another 8,135 votes, it could potentially see the light of day as a LEGO product if it passes review. And, depending on how much of the original concept is maintained in the final product, Sir Jonathan Bolt could very possibly become an official LEGO character, adding another member to Johnny Thunder's already surprisingly-extensive family tree.
     
    But there is another reason why I bring up Sir Jonathan Bolt. Like Timebuster, I cannot imagine that Bolt is a particularly common surname. And there will be a character in the upcoming LEGO Ultra Agents theme who shares that surname: Curtis Bolt.
     
    According to various sources, the minifigure currently identified as Curtis Bolt does not bear much of a resemblance to Johnny Thunder. However, I believe that this is based on incorrect preliminary information that is subject to change (remember when Brick Daddy was called the Brickfather in early material?), and I've got strong evidence to support my hypothesis. For you see, there is another minifigure currently identified as Solomon Blaze according to that same preliminary information.
     
    But wait a second, Solomon Blaze is a character from last year's Galaxy Squad theme. It wouldn't be the first time in recent LEGO history that a minifigure from one theme shows up in another later theme (most notably, Brains from Power Miners later showed up in the Atlantis theme), so it's very possible that Solomon Blaze will return this year as a member of the Ultra Agents... but this guy looks nothing like him! Instead, he looks like... like... hold on.
     
    Crooked mustache. Cocky expression. Raised eyebrow.
     
    He looks like Johnny Thunder!
     
    Just like Josh Thunder, "Solomon Blaze" looks like a relative of Johnny Thunder. In comparison, "Curtis Bolt" looks more like last year's Solomon Blaze; while their facial expressions aren't exactly the same, they're both young, clean-shaven, and have some sort of high-tech gadget over one eye. Thus, leads me to my hypothesis that the preliminary information identifying the two minifigures mixed them up: "Curtis Bolt" is actually Solomon Blaze and "Solomon Blaze" is actually Curtis Bolt. After all, wouldn't it make more sense that the character named Bolt bears a striking resemblance to Thunder?
     
    Now, I know what you're thinking. Even if I'm right about the name mix-up, Curtis Bolt is a futuristic secret agent. Josh Thunder, at least, is a character in a spiritual successor to Johnny Thunder's Dino Island adventure, so that connection makes sense. What sort of connection would there be between Johnny Thunder and some secret agent?
     
    Two words: James Bond.
     
    ... What does that have to do with anything?
     
    Johnny Thunder is based on Indiana Jones. According to several sources, Indiana Jones is in fact based on James Bond. This is why Spielberg and Lucas cast Sean Connery in the role of Dr. Henry Jones, Sr., because that would mean that James Bond is literally Indiana Jones's father.
     
    Back in 1998, LEGO created Dr. Kilroy as an answer to Henry Jones, Sr. If my hypothesis is correct, "Solomon Blaze" is not only actually named Curtis Bolt but also strongly implied to be another reference to Henry Jones, Sr. And if Sir Jonathan Bolt is canonized by CUUSOO, then the relationship between Johnny Thunder and Curtis Bolt would only be further supported.
     
    So now, let's do another quick recap including these speculative members of Johnny Thunder's family:
    Charles Kilroy: uncle
    Dr. Cyber: uncle's brother
    Tim Timebuster: uncle's brother's nephew
    Max Timebuster: unknown relation to uncle's brother's nephew
    Josh Thunder: descendant
    Jonathan Bolt: distant relative
    Curtis Bolt: unknown relation to distant relative

    Johnny Thunder's family tree would include seven other members. Considering typical LEGO families, that's a surprisingly extensive list spanning five LEGO themes and one CUUSOO set.
     
    That's all that we have for today. By now, I imagine you're quite bored with all this talk about genealogy and family trees and confusing ties between LEGO themes. In that case, this blog has served its purpose well. But now, at least you can walk away with more useless trivia about plastic Danish figures that will never help you in real life!
  5. PeabodySam
    In addition to Dr. Walter Bishop and Dr. Glados, we'll be seeing more high-ranking scientists of Dr. Rex towards the finale of the Adventurers' Island story arc. Like Dr. Bishop (Fringe) and Dr. Glados (Portal), they will be named after characters who fall into the categories of "mad scientist", "evil scientist", or "sadistic being focused on science".
     
    Right now, I've got two candidates in mind. Both of them, one of them, or neither of them might actually appear in the RPG. In case they don't, here are their names:
    - Dr. Wallace Breen, named after the main antagonist of Half-Life 2
    - Dr. Zed Provehzor, inspired by "Ze Professor" from the Conker series
  6. PeabodySam

    Movie Reviews

    By PeabodySam,

    I wrote this long speech in Primis's blog entry about the same subject. So long, I decided that I should just repost it here as an entry now that I have access to the Blaaaahhhhhg again.
     
    For the most part, I find that there's a good reason why the majority of reviewers praise or criticize a movie. If most reviewers gave positive reviews to a movie, I can expect that to be a good movie. If most reviewers gave negative reviews to a movie, I can expect that to be a bad movie. If a movie has mixed reviews, then it's a case where I would need to see the movie to understand my feelings for it.
     
    Reviews are like book cover. A positive review is like an amazing book cover that gets you hyped up, a negative review is like a dull book cover that leaves you uninterested, and a mixed review is the kind of book cover that leaves you thinking, "Well, it might be good, or it might be bad... can't really tell..."
     
    And this is where I say the overly-cliched phrase: "You can't judge a book by its cover". And the reason I made the comparison between reviews and book covers is because "You can't judge a movie by its review".
     
    Critics hated Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991) to the point where Spielberg himself considers it an embarrassment (they even made a reference to this in the LEGO Studios Backlot game; the Director, modeled after Spielberg, says "It'll be worse than Hook!"). Completely unaware of this fact, I went to see the film and found it rather enjoyable. It was no masterpiece, but I liked the concept, the characterization, and the musical score by John Williams. I thought it was a pretty good movie, and I was shocked when I saw the 22% approval rating on RT.
     
    Most of BZPower, or at least the vocal section of BZPower, says that The Legend Reborn is a terrible film, an embarrassment to BIONICLE, full of corniness and kiddiness, and the number one cause of teen suicide. When I hear these people, I shake my head in disbelief. Every time I watch that film, I feel like it is the best of the four BIONICLE films, with actually less corniness and kiddiness than the others. The only major problems I have with the film are its lack of villain characterization and its lack of Nathan Furst (curse you, John D'Andrea!). So, once again I enjoy a film that the majority hates.
     
    On the other hand, according to RT, 62% of critics gave David Lynch's Dune (1984) a positive review, meaning more people liked it than hated it. And I despise that movie with every fiber of my being. It was a horrible adaptation of a great book, with poor storytelling that had many unnecessary changes and cuts. The whole movie was the definition of a mess. My father, who also loved the book, shares my opinion on this movie. Apparently, I only agree with 38% of "professional" reviewers.
     
    Also, one must remember that not everyone is going to have the same taste. If this was the case, every film with positive reviews would have a 100% rating on RT, and every film with negative reviews would have a 0% rating on RT. But that's not the case. Most well-received films have ratings between 75% and 90%, and most poorly-received films have ratings between 20% and 40%. There is always somebody who will dislike a movie with mostly positive reviews, and there is always somebody who will like a movie with mostly negative reviews. That "somebody" could very well be you.
     
    Reviewers are more like guidelines than actual rules. They suggest that you will probably like/dislike something, but they may not be right, so sometimes the best way to determine what you like is to go to the theater or rental store and see it yourself.
     
    However, getting back to The Legend Reborn, reviewers can also have a negative impact and can actually sway your opinion even if you disagree with them. For example, when I first saw The Legend Reborn, I was absolutely sure that it wiped the floor with the original trilogy (and this is coming from someone who did not hate the original trilogy). As BZPower's views of the movie became increasingly negative, it rubbed off on me, and my views went from being "Wow, this is the best BIONICLE movie by far!" to "Okay, I guess it's a bit better than Legends of Metru Nui...".
     
    I also think it is a good thing that I did not read reviews when I saw Hook. Self-fulfilling prophesy is a horrible disease. If you walk into the movie theater thinking to yourself, "I read reviews and they say that this movie is going to suck", chances are you'll be predicting a bad movie, and as a result you will have a higher chance of disliking this film because you predict it to be bad. It will create a sense of negative bias that would not exist if you did not read the reviews. If I had first seen Hook knowing full well that critics hated it, I probably would have viewed it as a bad film.
     
    Basically, reviewers can help, but you may not always agree with them and you cannot let them sway your feelings.
  7. PeabodySam

    Hi-yaa!

    By PeabodySam,

    "I knew this guy who was a black belt at karate. He killed himself saluting! Heh, heh... ouch..." - Flattened Shade, Hades Challenge
     


    It's official. As of Wednesday, July 21, 2010... PeabodySam is a second-degree black belt at Martial Arts. So, you better not mess with him, or he'll break your bones with a spin-sidekick followed by a 540... assuming he doesn't break his own bones in the process. Which he nearly did while testing. Ouch.
     
    I would have used the brand new Black Belt Minifig in these photos, except I don't have one seeing as Series 2 of the Collectible Minifigures is not yet released where I live. So, instead I used all five of my Ninja Minifigs... two from the original line, two from the Vintage Minifigures Collection, and one from Collectible Minifigures Series 1.
  8. PeabodySam
    I think that I should give a few hints as to several plot developments that will take place in the Dino Attack RPG... if anybody tries to ready this Blaaaaahhhhhg, they will know these before anybody else! Some of these, I've had in mind for a while... others, I actually came up with this morning.
    The Second Headquarters Squad will be heavily involved in the revelation of Dr. Rex's spy. We will meet Dr. Walter Bishop in person very soon. Frank Einstein's prominent role will be revealed by the end of the Adventurers' Island story arc. We will meet one of the unused Minifig/Mutant Dino Hybrids. Four specific Mutant Dino characters of mine will return for the final battle. Somebody thought to be dead is... Still Alive!
  9. PeabodySam
    That's right, it's time for another entry to the Blaaaaahhhhhg... the most boring blog on the internet!
     
    So, yay, it's BZPower's anniversary. You know what else it is? The fifth anniversary of the Dino Attack RPG! But nobody else on BZPower seems to care about that... why not?
     
    Anyways, now that I've got the Blaaaaahhhhhg... again, I'll keep you (nonexistent) readers posted on updates involving my fanfictions. I don't have much to say right now, but I began Chapter 19 of The Search for the Mask of Light several months ago... haven't finished it since. I have not yet written Chapter 3 of Five Years Too Many, but nobody cares about that. Nobody reads it, anyways. Want to change my mind? Go and read it!
     
    I have not yet started Reign of Shadow, but I've got some ideas on how to set it up. There will likely be two chapters per region on Mata Nui... one involving the Wahi, one involving the Koro. Yes, Koro. But what about Ta-Koro, Onu-Koro, and the other villages destroyed by Rahkshi? Oh, you'll see about that... So, that's an easy scheme to get the first twelve chapters, then the remaining chapters will likely be about the final battle against the Shifting Shadows and the ensuing celebration.
     
    Why haven't I worked on my fanfictions? Well, it's because my focus is currently on my two RPGs, Dino Attack RPG and Alpha Team RPG: Ogel's Last Stand. And, hey, they're kinda like fanfictions, right?
  10. PeabodySam
    Well, guys, if I remember correctly, the whole Premier Perks thing is only a week long every year. Since BZPower returned last Wednesday to grant us these Premier Perks, I'm assuming that means tomorrow we'll lose the Premier Perks. That means no more fancy-shmancy rank images (yeah, mine's barely changed since last year), no more Polls (which I never make), no more Search Engine (oh, wait, that's right - you don't need to be Premier anymore to use it!), and no more blogging (not a great loss; after all, I still have my Blaaaaahhhhhg on deviantART!).
     
    So, I guess until next year, thus concludes "The Blaaaaahhhhhg". Have a nice trip, see you next fall!
     
    EDIT 10/04/09:
     
    Heh, heh, heh... don't tell anybody I'm doing this (not that anybody would be reading this), but I'm bypassing the inability to post more Blog Entries by editing my last entry!
     
    Anyways, I'd just like to say that Chapter 17 of The Search for the Mask of Light has FINALLY been completed! In addition to the Bridge of Death and Gorge of Eternal Peril, this chapter features a serious battle with some small humor thrown in, the arrest of a main character, the introduction of a mysterious villain, and - most importantly - the revelation of one of The Search for the Mask of Light's greatest secrets!
  11. PeabodySam
    Alright, today I just posted Chapter 2 of Vakama's Secret. You should go read it.
     
    I'd just like to address why Vakama's Secret seems to be starting with a very boring version of BIONICLE: Mask of Light from a different perspective, because based upon these first two chapters, it sounds like Vakama's Secret will be completely BIONICLE: Mask of Light from a different perspective.
     
    First, the Epic will not be entirely BIONICLE: Mask of Light from a different perspective; in fact, only the first two chapters are. The rest of the Epic, starting with Chapter 3, will be completely original, only referencing the main BIONICLE storyline now and then as opposed to being about the main BIONICLE storyline. Starting with Chapter 4, the Epic will take place after the events of BIONICLE: Mask of Light and even after Vakama's finished yakking on about Metru Nui in the "present day" storyline of 2004-2005, so no more BIONICLE: Mask of Light.
     
    Second, I needed Frosam to be safely out of Onu-Koro before Turahk, Kurahk, and Vorahk arrived and brought down the place. At the same time, I needed to allow Frosam to encounter the Rahkshi for storytelling purposes.
     
    Third, it's only the beginning of the Epic - it's the exposition, not even the precipitating events yet! Expositions are always boring!
     
    Fourth, I remember that Chapters 1-3 were written before I got my new computer, which was in December 2007. So these chapters are old; over a year-and-a-half old. This does not mean that they're horrible; this simply means that my writing skills then were lower by a year-and-a-half's worth of experience.
     
    So that's why Vakama's Secret has a boring beginning. Just be patient; next week, things will be exciting. Just like its predecessor, The Story of Frosam - that, too, had a boring first two chapters and exciting things only started beginning with Chapter 3.
     
    As a side, unrelated note that just happens to be related to my fourth point, I believe that if my calculations are correct, Chapters 4-10 were written in 2008 and Chapters 11-17 were written in 2009. Just wanted to say this interesting-yet-trivial fact.
  12. PeabodySam

    Revealed At Last!

    By PeabodySam,

    Well, it's been a long time since I've updated the Blaaaaahhhhhg. Over a year, in fact. But it's not my fault, it's because BZPower only does this Premier Perks thing once a year!
     
    What's that you say? It is my fault, because I could have paid for Premier Membership instead of waiting a whole year? SILENCE, FOOL!
     
    Let's get down to business. Obviously, due to the Forum Downtime, this Premier Perks thing was delayed for nearly a month. If that had not been the case, I would have been continuing my plan of giving you status updates on Vakama's Secret and The Search for the Mask of Light. However, because of the delay, I can't give you a status update such as "I'm writing chapter 15 now" for the former story, and for the latter story... I really have bad writer's block, because I have not written anything since the last time I could update the Blaaaaahhhhhg!
     
    But why can't I give that kind of status update for Vakama's Secret? Well... because I finished the darn thing!
     
    That's right - I took advantage of the Forum Downtime, sat down in front of my computer, and said to myself: "Alright, PeabodySam, you must stop talking to yourself." Then, I said to myself: "Alright, PeabodySam, you've got to finish this story that you've been working on for two years... before the end of July!"
     
    I thought that giving myself a deadline would make me anxious, and anxiety presumably brings that Writer's Block, or else lower-quality chapters. Instead, giving myself a deadline made me work harder and longer on it, and on July 31... I finished Vakama's Secret! And I said to myself: "Great! Now I gotta post it!"
     
    "... oh yeah, that's right... BZPower is offline. DARN IT!"
     
    So, I waited...
     
    ... and waited...
     
    ... and waited... Is this getting repetitive?
     
    ... and waited... Seriously, I think I should stop with the waiting.
     
    ... and waited... OKAY, ENOUGH WAITING ALREADY!
     
    ... and finally, today I checked BZPower, and to my delight I saw the news entry titled "The Forums Return". So, in no time at all, I updated The Story of Frosam's Review Topic and posted Vakama's Secret! And, if you want to read this long-awaited Epic, sit down and click!
     
    Alright, seriously, click this instead.
  13. PeabodySam

    Entry #1

    By PeabodySam,

    Alright, you guys are lucky this year, for I've finally taken advantage of the week-long Premier Membership of BZP's anniversary. By "you guys", I refer to those of you who read my stories. Which means "you guys" only refers to one member. Yes... you know who you are...
     
    Anyways, I figured I'd use this week to write a blog so you guys aren't left in the dark about the status of my stories. This is my first time posting a blog on BZPower, so there's bound to be some problem, so please inform me if there is one. Those of you who read my "Blaaaaahhhhhg" on a certain art-hosting site, of which I'm unsure is appropriate enough to identify here on BZP, will probably recognize some elements, such as the idea of calling it a "Blaaaaahhhhg" instead of just a "Blog". I never really liked the term "Blog" anyways...
     
    Just recently, I finished writing Chapter 8 of Vakama's Secret, the sequel to The Story of Frosam. This chapter introduces a Ga-Matoran who will be unlike the stereotypical Ga-Matoran. That was one of the problems I had with Ikaag in The Story of Frosam; she was just too stereotypical, too kind, quiet, caring, and pacifistic. True, this was because my writing skills were still being developed and I was trying to make the job a bit easier for me, but now that my writing skills have improved, I'm giving this other Ga-Matoran an entirely different personality.
     
    This other Ga-Matoran, who will not be identified in Vakama's Secret but will be in Reign of Shadows, is a very dark character. While Ikaag put her trust into Frosam and Lahka, two Matoran she had never met before, this Ga-Matoran will not trust anyone, including the Matoran she has been living with for the past couple-dozen millennia. While Ikaag is pacifistic and will only fight when necessary, this Ga-Matoran kills without a second thought. While Ikaag is like Zneo in Tohu's Tale, this Ga-Matoran is like Ehlek in Hate.
     
    That's why I enjoy writing about this Ga-Matoran.
     
    In other news, there's The Search for the Mask of Light, the rewrite of the infamous BIONICLE spoof of Monty Python. Well, technically, the first 20-or-so chapters are spoofing off of Monty Python, and the next 30-or-so chapters are more original. I just finished writing half of Chapter 17, which will be half-Monty Python and half-original. Therefore, I just finished writing the Monty Python half.
     
    I changed quite a bit, nonetheless, and it isn't quite as directly based off of Monty Python as the original was. It's a lot better now, and in fact one of the characters mutters about how seemingly close this comedy is to Monty Python. I also changed all of the "Question #3"s that the Gate Guardian asks, to better fit BIONICLE. The last "Question #3", actually, has nothing to do with the "swallow" joke in Monty Python, but instead refers to a never-answered question in the original The Search for the Mask of Light.
     
    The next half of the chapter, which I'm about to write, is completely original, and replaces the whole "intermission" concept of the original. Since it won't be completely random, will be original, and will feature a battle, I'd say it will be a huge improvement over the "intermission".
     
    That's all for now...
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