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TNTOS

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Blog Entries posted by TNTOS

  1. TNTOS

    Monday A U A Updates

    By TNTOS,

    Forgot to post this notice earlier, but here it is for all to see:
     
    In this chapter, Makuta Hajax attempts to kill the Matoran Kavi, but is stopped by a now-conscious Oggak, who challenges Hajax to a fight after refusing his offer to make an alliance. Who will win and who will die?
     
    Only four more chapters and the epilogue to go. The end is nearly here . . .
     
    -TNTOS-
  2. TNTOS

    Have You Ever . . .

    By TNTOS,

    . . . spent nearly two hours taking notes on a subject you are sure will be important for your story (or essay or report or whatever you may be writing), only to learn that this subject is barely brought up in-story or else is focused on even less than you originally believed?
     
    I bring this up because it has recently happened to me while working on Dimension Hoppers. Minor spoilers - the main characters are on a ship and, me lacking knowledge of ships, did a little research in order to know what to call certain parts of ships before I began writing. So I figured this info was going to be fairly important to the current story, but so far I have used very little of the terms I have researched and taken notes on. It doesn't look like I'll get to use them very much, either, based on the direction the story is heading at the moment.
     
    It is frustrating because I feel like I wasted my time taking those notes when I could have been doing something else.
     
    But on the bright side, I am now a little bit more knowledgeable about ships. So I guess there's a good side to everything or something like that.
     
    -TNTOS-
  3. TNTOS

    Ask T N T O S

    By TNTOS,

    Since everyone is doing it (and following what everyone does is always right and smart and logical, of course), you can all ask me anything you want, as long as it is not against BZP's rules. Plus I wanted to make a blog entry that was unrelated to my fanfiction for once.
     
    -TNTOS-
  4. TNTOS
    Shoot me if I didn't post a blog entry between this update and the last. Not my problem.
     
    In this chapter, Nastan and Death are still fighting Icetraz, when Raider decides to finally act. But when he notices the Tuikas flying high above, he decides to finish them instead. Will he slay the Tuikas or only end up making things worse? Find out in Chapter 21: Target Locked!
     
    -
     
    Also, on a completely unrelated note, please read and vote in this poll. I will be very happy if you do.
     
    -TNTOS-
  5. TNTOS

    Monday A U A Updates

    By TNTOS,

    Posted the 20th chapter of An Unlikely Alliance today. That means there are only ten chapters left. Getting closer and closer to the ending of the Shika Trilogy, it looks like.
     
    In this chapter, Hajax, having been defeated and knocked unconscious earlier by Oggak, awakens in the jail cells of Koro Nui only to discover that he is bound in heavy metal chains. He also finds that Turaga Joha, the Toa Shika, Oggak, Jokao, and the Dark Hunter Kigin have all gathered down here to determine whether he really is Hajax, as Oggak claims he is.
     
    Hajax at first plays stupid, then reveals himself as Hajax, reveals the true origin of Oggak and the Tuikas, then defeats Chimoy and Kigin and teleports away with Oggak as his captive. He no longer has to pretend to be Barilo anymore and decides to initiate his plan to put the Tuikas under his control.
     
    -TNTOS-
  6. TNTOS

    Bs01 Contest #5 Entry

    By TNTOS,

    After a bit of editing and proofreading from two great people, I have finally posted my entry for the Sleeping Awake contest, A Change In Plans.
     
    Don't care if you don't read it or not. As long as the judges approve of it, I'm okay.
     
    -TNTOS-
  7. TNTOS

    Mondy A U A Updates

    By TNTOS,

    Posted Chapter 18 of An Unlikely Alliance today. Go read it .
     
    In this chapter, Makuta Hajax is still attempting to learn the secrets of the Tuikas, but has had no time to interrogate Oggak about it during the week. However, when the Toa of Shadow comes to him to confess something to him, Hajax may end up learning what he needs to know after all. And it may be nothing like he expected it to be.
     
    -TNTOS-
  8. TNTOS

    Recent Purchases

    By TNTOS,

    Recently, I have bought (in no particular order):
     
    -Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Quite a good game so far. I'm on Day 290 or something like that, but I'd definitely say it's a pretty decent game.
     
    -BIONICLE: The Game (for the Gamecube). I'd say it's a so bad it's good game in some parts (especially the final cutscene) and Nintendo Hard in others (the Tahu Nuva level right before the boss battle against Makuta comes to mind). It's got nothing on Days, but since I only bought it for $5 I suppose I can't complain too much.
     
    -A deck box for my Yu-Gi-Oh! decks. It's decent and its small size is quite nice. Should definitely help keep my decks safe and in good condition.
     
    -Outdoor Products Mountain Duffel (Medium-sized). I like this bag a lot. It's big, looks nice, and seems to be able to hold a lot of clothes and stuff. I primarily bought it for whenever I will be staying overnight some place or if I am going on a long trip. Haven't actually used it yet, but I'm confident its immense size will greatly help.
     
    -A nice-sized winter coat. I know it's still summer (the weather just reminded me of that the other day by reaching 104 on the thermostate), but it is always good to stock up on these kinds of clothes before winter rolls around, since they're usually pretty cheap. Plus it was only $2, which is a pretty good deal for a medium-sized men's coat IMO, especially since it was in such good condition despite being from a garage sale.
     
    -A poster of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians movie. Even though I thought the movie was terribly inaccurate and in some ways a lot less enjoyable than the book, the poster was being sold for only 50 cents at my local video rental store, so I decided to get it. It is currently hanging in the den of my house, but I have to admit it does look kind of cool.
     
    -A used pair of jeans. Bought at a thrift store for about a dollar or so. It's not in the best shape, but I plan to use it as work pants, so it doesn't have to be particularly clean or fancy.
     
    -A smaller bag (from the same thrift store as the jeans). Dunno why I bought it, since the Outdoors Product duffel can do what it can but so much better. Guess I just wanted a smaller bag for short trips or something like that. Anyway, it did help hold the other things my brothers and I bought yesterday, so I suppose it isn't totally useless.
     
    All of that cost a little more than $50 altogether, I believe (the duffel bag, Kingdom Hearts Game, BIONICLE game, the coat, jeans, and small bag were all used, BTW). Quite a nice deal, in my opinion.
     
    Also, notice that I did not write this in my usual blue text. That's because I doubt a lot of people enjoy reading giant walls of blue text on a computer monitor. So from now on, whenever I write a longer entry like this, it will not be in blue. Just plain, old regular black/default. It's a lot easier to read and doesn't hurt the eyes as much. Shorter entries, however, will probably be blue, as they always are.
     
    -TNTOS-
  9. TNTOS
    Okay, I am writing a short story for the 2010 Library Summer Olympics, even though I didn't think I'd make the deadline. Guess the fact that the deadline was extended a week gave me the inspiration to write a story. Now all I have to do is actually finish and post it within the next six days or so.
     
    It's based on my first epic, The Tales of Shika Nui, expanding on the battle between Makuta Koghi and the Dark Hunter known as Icetraz that was briefly mentioned but never actually shown in the epic itself. Thus far I am extremely pleased with it, although I will be posting my entry for the BS01 contest first before posting this one. Still, it seems like it'll be pretty cool if it keeps heading in this direction.
     
    Heck, even if I don't finish it by the deadline, I'll probably post it anyway, since it has been a while since I posted an actual short story that wasn't part of the Glatorian Chronicles or for a contest.
     
    -TNTOS-
  10. TNTOS

    Delayed A U A Update

    By TNTOS,

    Sorry I didn't get chapter 14 up yesterday. BZP simply didn't want to work for me for most of yesterday, so I was forced to wait until today to post it. At least I got it up, anyway.
     
    In this chapter, Akuna, Nastan, and Chimoy hold a private little funeral for Addis and Nonzra. Nastan then blames Oggak and the Dark Hunters for the deaths of their two friends, which causes an argument among the three Toa that causes Nastan to nearly hurt Akuna in his anger. Fortunately, Chimoy stops him and Nastan, realizing what he was about to do, explains that his shadow side has been much stronger ever since Wanderer had turned him back to normal in Tapestry of Evil and thus harder to resist than it normally would be.
     
    However, Akuna and Chimoy asure him that they would do whatever they needed to do to help him resist his evil side, which Nastan is thankful for. So the three Toa head back to the village to go back and help with the clean-up and reconstruction process, although Akuna secretly worries that Barilo, Jokao, and Oggak may not make it back to Koro Nui alive . . .
     
    -TNTOS-
  12. TNTOS
    Yesterday my brothers and I watched Toy Story 3 (in 2D, by the way).
     
    Very, very good movie. Humor was great, plot was nice, and the characters actually got some decent development. I think TS3 is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, since I have no major criticisms with it like I do with other movies I've watched recently. It was a fun movie to watch and I definitely think I'll be buying it once it comes out on DVD.
     
    After that, we went to Wal-Mart, where I bought Skrall Stars and this awesome red T-shirt that has a flying bald eagle with the American flag design printed on its feathers with the word "AMERICA" printed across the eagle itself. It was only $3 and I had been looking for a new shirt for a while now, so I bought it.
     
    As for Skrall, I think it is a decent set. I actually like it quite a bit, since it really does look like a miniature version of the original Skrall set 'cept green and no shield. His neck doesn't bother me as much as I'd thought it would, much to my surprise. However, his arm blades are a bit annoying, since they can get in the way of posing his arms.
     
    Overall, though, I'd say I actually prefer Skrall over Rahkshi. Yes, I know that is practically heresy, but I don't care. Skrall is a lot more fun to play with than Rahkshi, IMO, although the Rahkshi is still a decent set.
     
    With my acquistion of Skrall, I now officially own all six of the Stars. Tahu, Takanuva, Gresh, Piraka, Rahkshi, Skrall - all six are now mine. That also means I have all six of the golden armor pieces, all of which have now replaced my Tahu's original armor. He looks very cool with the gold, in my opinion. Very cool.
     
    I'll discuss my overall opinion of the Stars line later, but I'll say right off the bat that, while I would have preferred canister sets to end BIONICLE, the Stars as a whole aren't half bad sets At least, that's what I think, anyway.
     
    -TNTOS-
  13. TNTOS
    I just ordered BIONICLE graphic novels #2-#9 off of Amazon a few minutes ago, plus the last Percy Jackson book. I may not need all of them, but if buying these graphic novels will help to convince Papercutz to make #10 then I'm all for buying graphic novels.
     
    The only ones I didn't buy were #1 and #6, since I already had those. Okay, technically I did order #1, since I bought the box set that had #1-#4, but whatever. I'll just keep the second copy to sell later on or something.
     
    Also, I ordered all of them in paperback. Yes, I know that means less money for Papercutz, but I felt that getting the GNs for less than ten dollars each was a good deal (not counting the $20 box set, of course). Although I do admit, I usually prefer the hardcover versions, but paperback might not be too bad, hopefully.
     
    -TNTOS-
  14. TNTOS

    Fanfic Updates

    By TNTOS,

    A few days ago I finished the second draft of Dimension Hoppers, which was around 56,000 words or something like that and less than 100 pages long according to Mircosoft Word. It was an interesting challenge, writing a story with two first person narrators, but don't expect me to post it any time soon. This draft was mostly practice so I could get used to the different personalities of the two main characters, Isarot and Kiriah, and as a result has a lot of errors that I didn't bother to correct (not including the changes made to the plot halfway through as well).
     
    But now I have a firmer grip on the charcters' personalities and what the general plot will be. Eventually, when I write the third draft, it will be better and probably longer than both the first and second drafts. It will probably be the draft I post on here (after some extensive editing, of course).
     
    I will return to DiH after I finish doing some worldbuilding for my original fiction series Two Worlds. That shouldn't take long, but since I plan to revise a lot of my older ideas for TW that may take a while. I suppose it doesn't matter, since I'm not posting DiH anytime soon, but I would like to get it done as soon as possible so I can begin work on The Beginning of the End, that Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic I mentioned earlier.
     
    Regarding the Glatorian Chronicles, I have decided to make Vastus the main character of the seventh, yet-to-be-writen GC instead of Ackar. Vastus never appeared much in the story but seems really interesting, so I'm going to see what kind of story he comes up with and see how that works out.
     
    -TNTOS-
  16. TNTOS

    Rahkshi Stars

    By TNTOS,

    Yesterday I got the Rahkshi Stars set from Wal-Mart (which is where I've gotten all of my Stars sets from so far, oddly enough).
     
    It's a cool-looking set and really does remind me of the original Rahkshi sets, but I find it very hard to play with and pose because of its staff. It's articulation is a bit too limited, IMO, which is unfortunate since I like articulation in my BIONICLE sets. Thus, I wouldn't call it my favorite Stars set, but it is definitely not the worst of the bunch.
     
    Now all that I need in order to complete my Stars collection is Skrall, but unfortunately, I don't think I'll be getting him until Christmas (I have other plans for my birthday and can't include Skrall unless something hapens in the foreseeable future that changes my plans).
     
    -TNTOS-
  17. TNTOS
    Since I haven't updated this blog since Monday, I've decided to write a brief review (and nonspoilerific) of the Iron Man movie franchise as a whole, just to see if this blog is still alive.
     
    So what word would I use to describe the Iron Man movies as a whole?
     
    Awesome. Completely, totally awesome.
     
    The fight scenes and specifal effects are really awesome, the story and characters are generally well-written, and the movies are just fun to watch. I liked most of the actors chosen to play their roles (especially Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man) and thought that the humor was pretty good.
     
    But what interests me the most about the movies is the fact that, unlike other Marval comic book movie adaptions, I watched the IM movies because I genuinely cared about the characters and eagerly wanted to see what happened next. I mean, it's not like with Spider-Man or X-Men, which I mostly watched just because they were Spider-Man or X-Men. Not that those are bad movie series, but they simply never interested me enough to say that I watched them because I thought they were worth watching as respectable movies in their own right.
     
    However, I can safely say that that is not the case with Iron Man. When I watched the first and second movies, I really did want to see what happened next. I wanted to see the plot advance and see what happens in the end, what happens to the characters, and so forth. At first I watched only because it was Iron Man, but when I actually began watching them I decided I liked them as good movies in their own right.
     
    The only other comic book adaption that has ever caught my interest in the same way is Batman Begins (haven't seen The Dark Knight yet, sorry). And that, my friend, was a very, very good movie. For IM to even come close to catching my attention like BB did is . . . well, that means I liked it a lot, to say the least. True, the Batman and Iron Man movies are very different, but I am genuinely interested in both, which means I think that they're both pretty good.
     
    Overall, I'd say that the Iron Man movie franchise on the whole is great. Great acting, great characters, great writing, awesome special effects and fighting scenes . . . I'd even go as far as to say that it is my favorite Marval comic book movie adaptation ever. It really avoided most of the cliches and pitfalls of comic book adaptated movies, IMO, and made Iron Man even more awesome than he already was.
     
    So I'll leave you with one last quote from the first movie (which is definitely going in my sig, BTW):
     
    "Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!"
     
    "Well, I'm sorry. I'm not Tony Stark."
     
    - Obadiah Stane (Iron Monger) and a scientist.
     
    Because yes, Tony is that awesome.
     
    -TNTOS-
  18. TNTOS
    Yesteday my brothers and I went to GameStop and bought a used Wii, as well as a copy of the New Super Mario Bros. Wii so we'd have a non-Game Cube game to play on it.
     
    Really pleased with both the Wii, which works well despite having been used already, and NSMBW, which is an awesome game, even though the Wii controls are sometimes tricky. Very much a worthwhile game IMO. It's just like the original Mario games but even better. In fact, my youngest brother is playing it as I type this.
     
    Also, when we were in Wal-Mart the same day, we saw they had the movie Avatar by James Cameron on sale. My oldest brother went to pick one up (we didn't end up buying it, BTW) but when he touched it, he was electrocuted by the awe-inspiring divinity of James Cameron that had blessed the DVD in that store. Or maybe he just got shocked by the static from the car. But I like the first idea best, personally .
     
    Picked up Fero & Skirmix while at Wal-Mart as well. Originally I planned to buy the Rahkshi Stars, but since they only had one F & S keft and it was almost half-off ($11), I decided to buy it. Fero & Skirmix is a decent set, though not necessarily my most favorite set that I own. Skirmix reminds me of Kikanalo for some reason. Was worth the $11 IMO, at least.
     
    -TNTOS-
  19. TNTOS
    If I do, it would have a completely sarcastic, condescending attitude towards people who post blog entries with sarcastic, condesending attitudes and my popularity - if I have any at all - would drop below %0 and everyone would think of me as the most unlikeable person on the website.
     
    So I won't. There.
     
    -TNTOS-
  20. TNTOS
    . . . could put Gurren Lagann, Death Note, Pokémon, Transformers, and SD Gundam together in one dream and make it awesome, though completely illogical in just about every definition of the word.
     
    So yeah, I just had a dream last night about all five of the above mentioned franchises mashed together. To be frank, however, I don't feel like recounting the entire dream here, since it would take a while for me to write down everything that happened in it. So let's just say that I can't understand why Team Cipher of Pokémon would steal the Pokémon of other people to give to the Anti-Spirals, nor why they apparently think that the Zakus from SD Gundam are the Minicons from Transformers that will protect them from the Anti-Spirals once they attempt to flee Earth and leave it at that.
     
    (BTW, I finally figured out how to do the "é" in Pokémon today, as you can no doubt tell by my repeated usage of it above.)
     
    -TNTOS-
  21. TNTOS

    Bad Writing Days

    By TNTOS,

    Ugh, I just spent the last hour working on an extremely frustrating short story and had to delete almost all of it because I wasn't satisfied with it. Now I only have a couple of paragraphs or so left of what I think is good in place of at least two days' worth of material. This is what I call a bad writing day, which is something I rarely experience, which is part of the reason it is so dang frustrating to me. Argh!
     
    On the other hand, bad writing days are usually just that - bad writing days and by the next day I am back to writing at my usual level of quality again. So maybe my frustrations will soon pass. Hopefully .
     
    -TNTOS-
  22. TNTOS
    Hi there, my fellow BZPers and bloggers.
     
    As you all probably know by now, I've been working hard on finishing editing of the third and last epic in the Shika Trilogy, An Unlikely Alliance. I have said I wouldn't post it until I'm done with it and I nearly am (only about 40 or so pages to go).
     
    However, I am wondering if I should begin posting it while I am still editing. Essentially, while I would not be finished editing it yet I would post chapters anyway. This idea could work, I think, because AUA has about 29 chapters (30 if you count the epilogue), which would take it a while before it caught it to where I am, editingwise. With this idea, people will get to read it earlier than I have planned while I still get to edit it, and by the time the posting does catch up with my editing, everything will be ready for posting.
     
    So in closing, would you like it if I began posting it now, even though I am still editing it, or would you all want me to edit the entire thing and then begin posting it?
     
    -TNTOS-
  23. TNTOS
    Okay, you know how I said, a few entries ago, that my future, yet-to-be-written epic Dimension Hoppers was only going to have one main character?
     
    Well, I've decided Isarot, the protagonist of DiH, is not going to be the only main character. Instead, he shall be accompanied by Toa Kiriah, a Toa of Psionics and a good friend of his. Both of them will be working together to retrieve what has been stolen from their peoples and the story shall take place from both of their POVs.
     
    The part about showing the story from both POVs will be the most tricky part in writing DiH, I think, since I plan to write the epic in first person. This means I will have to work to make sure that Isarot and Kiriah are different enough so that you can tell them apart when I switch POVs. Right now I think they are different enough characters, but when I get around to actually writing it, I'll have to be critical about such things as personal biases, thoughts, opinions, word choice, etc, etc. I think it'll be fun, but probably very difficult and I may need to get a beta reader to help during the editing process.
     
    In case I forgot to mention this earlier, Isarot's not going to be a Toa, but a Tagiki, which is a species I made up for my fanfics, so I'll be able to contrast or compare the differences and similiarities between the two if I want. I doubt there will be romance, but since I don't plan this sort of thing beforehand, it may happen (or it may not XD).
     
    Personally I'm excited for DiH now, since when I wrote the first draft a while ago (like, back in late 2008) Isarot had been a pretty boring character by himself. Hoping Kiriah will spice things up a bit and make it funner to write.
     
    As for An Unlikely Alliance, I'm nearing the end. Right now it is in the final stage of editing, which is close to completion. Once I finish it, I'll probably post a preview here in my blog one week before the posting of the first chapter (once I find a non-spoilleriffic part to preview, that is ).
     
    -TNTOS-
  24. TNTOS

    S & T Contest #6 Entry

    By TNTOS,

    So I posted my entry for the newest S&T contest earlier yesterday and it was approved by three or four judges XD.
     
    If anyone wants to read it, you can check out my library, the link in my sig, or the "General Short Stories" content block below. But if you're too lazy (XD) to do any of that, then here's a link: False Hopes. It's pretty short compared to some of my other works, but I think that the length fits it well IMO.
     
    -TNTOS-
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