Wrinkledlion X

Why use pins at all? Lego should use studs in all their lines! [/sarcasm]

 

~EW~

Genius!

Yeah, but why come

If you need, I could talk about smooth jazz in a low voice.

That doesn't work when you spell out "eyes," Bunda!

Graaa! The rage!

I agree 100%. It's ridiculous to expect the storyline to stagnate so that your fanfiction can develop itself. If you want to keep everything in your fanfiction accurate to the story, you've got to rewrite it, just like Greg has to.

I agree with you, Greg, on everything except what Dokuma said.

 

We do sometimes get too many plot points out of you ahead of time, and they end up spoiling the story when they actually happen. Like how you explained everything about the Baterra early on, when people were just beginning to get excited about what these mysterious new villains could be. The problem isn't you adding fan's ideas, it's you revealing too much to us. I would never even think about sacrificing the ability to ask you questions and give suggestions, but it might help to be a bit more tight-lipped.

So Greg cut off Baterra speculation when people were just starting to get excited. Would you have preferred if Greg let everyone continue to build excitement until the massive letdown that "Guys, they're just assassin robots with one-track minds"?

In the long run, whether or not a few people are disappointed is a lot less important than whether a lot of people are excited.

Even so, this isn't so much an issue of excitement and letdowns as it is an issue of basic storytelling. The serials are obviously telling a story with an element of mystery, and when the answers to all the questions are given out ahead of time, there's no longer going to be any interest. You simply aren't supposed to tell what the story is before it actually happens. That's not how fiction works.

I agree with you, Greg, on everything except what Dokuma said.

We do sometimes get too many plot points out of you ahead of time, and they end up spoiling the story when they actually happen. Like how you explained everything about the Baterra early on, when people were just beginning to get excited about what these mysterious new villains could be. The problem isn't you adding fan's ideas, it's you revealing too much to us. I would never even think about sacrificing the ability to ask you questions and give suggestions, but it might help to be a bit more tight-lipped.

Well I use GIMP for all my resizing.

 

Does Windows 7 Paint make the resizeing look pixelated like previous versions of paint or is it smooth?

Well, I'm talking about shrinking photos that come off a camera. I'm sure increasing image size is the same as anywhere else.

How about, halfway through the interview, you stand up tall on the couch, pound your chest like a silverback gorilla, and yell "Brakelabasasta feed me!"

...To resize every photo you put into your computer.

Whoa this is awesome. I love the second-person perspective.

That's pretty good, actually.

Is nice, yes? I get two days past.

Ooooh.

I just need a new graphics card...

THE FAMILY PACK IS SITTING ON MY DESK RIGHT NOW AND I DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT CARD YET

IT IS MOCKING ME

First, I never described any existing Makuta as "Mischievous spirits." I said that if there were lesser Makuta like that, it would be cool, and I even mentioned that I was digressing and that it might make a good fanfiction idea. (And for that matter, I'm not talking about 'castes' in the Skrall sense. I listed three possible levels, but I was simply thinking of a sliding scale rather than the usual blanket statements we get in BIONICLE like "All Makuta have the exact same powers and are evil." If you want a real-life example, think of trolls in folklore: Some are stupid and dangerous, some are friendly and mischievous, some are clever and greedy, etc. Without any reason for all their variety, the Makuta are incongruous... Lady Kopaka said it well.)

Second, I never complained about the Matoran-Toa-Turaga process; in fact, I specifically defended it, bringing up the fact that it was originally portrayed as a "mystical gift" from the Great Spirit. I only brought it up in response to several posters in the original topic who were complaining about the Nuva no longer being the only Toa. I was disagreeing with them.

Then I brought up the Inika not because they were transformed, but because their transformation went largely unremarked upon. They skipped over the character development you'd expect to get from a transformation—the Inika immediately knew how to use their elemental powers, their masks worked flawlessly from the beginning... They were Matoran one moment, and perfect, fighting Toa the next. When real people are thrust into a position like that, they don't completely adjust within a day.

Assume that there are only six Toa, only one island, only one Makuta, and so on, and you've got a pretty good synopsis of 2001 story, but what will you do with the story in future years? Wave-after-wave of villains with origins as ludicrous as some B-movie monsters? As many Deus-Ex-Machinas as it takes to keep Makuta from being truly defeated? A new transformation of the Toa Nuva every year ad infinitum? The story would quickly get tiresome, and beyond tiresome-- it'd be so far-fetched that we might all be looking back and wondering how we could have ever thought it was a story with staying power.

 

Change is needed to advance the story, and that has been a given since BIONICLE began. Nothing changes about that, and thus everything changes. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Significance" doesn't mean a maintained status quo, it means consistency. If one group of characters is transformed so that they double in height and develop fantastic powers, and they take half a story-year to truly become adept at using their abilities, why does another group undergo an even more radical transformation nonchalantly, in a day? Why is a transformation that inspires awe in one group shrugged off by another? Because the story team stops placing significance on the transformation. Significance is not at all a myth.

(And deus ex machinas aren't related to this debate, but if you want to discuss them, the ultimate deus ex machina in BIONICLE is, once again, the transformation of the Inika.)

Also, I think you might be arguing with me under the impression that every single one of these points is a complaint, which is false. This is just me trying to analyze what might be responsible for dissatisfaction among older fans—Hence my asking if this is what people are feeling at the end of the entry.

I'm home sick today, so I'll read your epic.

Transformers 1 was dumb but fun.

It was critically pretty bad, but it had some entertaining characters (that silver Decepticon that turned into a cell phone, in particular), and it had enough actual excitement in it to keep you content while watching.

Transformers 2 was dumb but strikingly lacking in fun.

It dragged on and on and on and on to the point where it became unexciting and unentertaining. Explosions don't make an action movie on their own—there has to be a bit of tension, even if only enough to keep you from getting bored... I was ready to leave halfway through the climax. Also bad jokes, lame plot, couldn't tell apart two robots when fighting, and too much softcore pornography.

The DK is correct.

(DK = Dairy Kween)

We, TRENCHMOUTH.

We've been aware of them for a while. We named ourselves after the gum disease a long time before we discovered them.

It's ugly, yes.

 

The sets/characters of Bionicle come from another universe. What do we call beings that come from other universes? Aliens. And since when do people from any fictional industry present aliens as anatomically identical to humans?

 

Just my take.

 

~EW~

If it's admittedly ugly in the first place, I don't see how the alien excuse fixes anything.

It's listed officially as "Rahkshi." There's no reason to say it's Panrahk.

Can someone just admit it's ugly? Please.

^He's right^

There's probably some adorable little midget-Makuta who makes all the Ussal crabs and Lightning bugs and things.