Zatth

I've mentioned before being on the Forensics Team at George Mason University. Along with that comes a ton of other responsibilities, and this past weekend was an event that, quite literally, has shaped my life. In 2009, having moved to the U.S. only three months ago, I had been competing in this thing called Speech and Debate. I wasn't too sure about how I was doing, and whether this was for me. Then December rolled around, and I was told of the first national tournament we could attend, which was 20 mins away from us at a university called George Mason University. And so, in December of 2009 I competed in my first Patriot Games tournament. I should've realized then how magical the event was, because the Sunday of the tournament I saw snow for the first time in my life, on that campus, at that tournament. A year later, I decided after my second Patriot Games that I would go to the summer camp offered by Mason. After those two and a half weeks of camp, I was hooked. Junior year of Patriot Games I was lucky enough (I mean that literally, luck was the only factor that decided things), to not only final Impromptu Speaking (an event with about 200 students entered), but win. I still believe, to this day, that if it hadn't been for that I would never have been accepted on Mason's team. Senior year I auditioned for the team during my last GMIF. I got on. Freshman year of college, I got to host the tournament for the first time, which was kind of scary in itself. And a day ago we finished hosting the 11th Annual Patriot Games Invitational. It was weird to think that this little tournament helped me choose my college. Speech has opened me up to other perspectives and ideas, without which I would be a much more narrow-minded individual. I have made friends during camp and at the tournament that have been my friends and mentors for six years now, and I don't see those friendships fading any time soon. Patriot Games and GMIF have made me see that I want to give back to the community, helping me choose to major in Language Arts for Education and become a teacher (for those who have sneeze freely hand out MOCs at BrickFair, I imagine this didn't come as much of a surprise). I don't think I exaggerate when I say Patriot Games is magical. It has literally steered my life in one direction. Over 120 high schools, 60,000 Speech ballots (not counting debate), and a myriad tired high schoolers and college students, and I think it was all worth it. Here's the recap video we made. Enjoy:

Honestly, that's why I'd like to see it win. Its meta-comment on being a catchy song that parodies today's pop music and yet is itself a catchy music is what I loved in the first place. That and the fact that my radio show is named after the song, so...

*cyberhug* But for realsies, though, I'll be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. Know that any puns I find that are worthwhile will go directly to you. We're here whenever you need us, friend. Team Farm Animals sticks together

I finally published Chapter 1 of the thing! I hope y'all get a chance to look it over and feel free to send any comments and criticisms! Thanks again, y'all

Link to Epic Hey, y'all! Thanks for taking a look at my first Epic since 2007! (I know, I'm equally shocked). Any comments, criticism, and otherwise thoughts on it will be extremely appreciated! And again, thanks for taking time to read it. Hopefully it's half decent

A Mystery Explored Chapter 1 Ajura barely twirled her finger, making the water sphere rotate on its axis. She usually did this to unwind after a day of dealing with irascible Matoran, or to clear her mind and focus on a problem at hand. Having to separate a physical altercation between two Ko-Matoran and their slightly different predictions on the star’s alignment counted as both. How simple, yet complex, she mused. A perfect sphere, but with a simple yet small flicker of my wrist, and it becomes an entirely different shape. The ball was now a diamond. From a continuous, smooth surface, to seemingly solid sides. The intricacy… The droplets flew out of her hand violently, splashing against the wall. And there’s someone who isn’t intricate in any way, Ajura thought. “Having fun twisting some droplets around?” asked Orde. “It’s as if you want to go back and spend your days studying the thing. Does controlling water mean nothing to you?” “Oh, it means quite a lot,” Ajura said as she stood up from her chair to face Orde fully. “I can control it, yes. Does that mean I spend my days over a desk trying to study water or Liquid Protodermis from far away? Not anymore. But now that I control it, it affords me so many more opportunities to learn. One door opens up, leading to a thousand corridors.” Orde couldn’t hold his snicker. “I’m sorry… corridors? I didn’t realize you were also into architecture. Here, I’ll call that Po-Matoran Hafu and tell him that you don’t really want to be a Toa anymore, that you want to design houses now.” Ajura’s expression didn’t change. “You really think you’re funny, don’t you?” “It could also be me having subconsciously projecting so many of my famed jokes into your head that now you consider them funny.” Ajura smiled. “Look at that, you might actually have an actual sense of humor after all.” “Yeah, well, humor isn’t gonna do much during our next patrolling session.” “No?” Ajura was bringing the droplets back near her palm. “You might be able to use it to get some Matoran to stop fighting each other.” “Or I could also use the more direct formula.” “Even though violently flinging Matoran against a wall using your telekinesis doesn’t actually fix anything.” “Alright, first, I was talking about that Doom Viper I stunned using that telekinesis, and second, you can’t just shoot all of my ideas down!” “No promises.” Before Orde’s retort, the high-pitched dinging noise that signaled someone entering the Toa Base rang. “Looks like I’ll get to test more of my strategies sooner than I expected,” Orde beamed. Ajura unsheathed her Water Sabre and followed Orde. She wanted to keep close to him in case he decided that the area was too peaceful for his taste. *** If they had to guess, the next block of foundries would be as calm and serene as the last seven had been. Ajura and Orde had been patrolling for about three hours now, and nothing seemed to be amiss in Ta-Metru. Two more blocks and they were off to Le-Metru. “It’s odd, isn’t it?” “What is?” Ajura asked, scanning for any signs of trouble. “You’d think that with this place being so… non-temperature friendly, the Matoran here would be more hot-headed.” “There’s only one hot-headed being here, and it sure isn’t a Matoran.” Orde let the jab at him slide, but he nonetheless stopped walking abruptly. “What is it?” “Ajura, just because I was never a Matoran doesn’t mean you can classify me as a being, or make fun of who I am.” “Orde, it was just teasi-“ “I DON’T LIKE IT!” The outer wall of one of the foundries began to shake violently. “Orde, please calm down!” “JUST BECAUSE I WASN’T A MATORAN DOESN’T MEAN I DON’T FEEL LIKE THEY DO, OR CAN CARE ABOUT THEM.” “ALRIGHT, I GET IT! BUT CALM DOWN OR ELSE YOU’LL BE HURTING OTHER MATORAN!” Orde paused and looked at the wall that was beginning to cave in. He’d let his telekinesis run rampant. He breathed, and used his telekinesis to try and return the wall to the shape it once was. “What do you think you’re doing to my foundry?!” asked a Ta-Matoran that ran out of the disfigured building. “Apologies for that. We’ll have it fixed,” said Ajura. “Yeah well, you’d better!” Orde eyed him as he scurried back to his foundry. “I don’t trust him.” “Yeah, well, I don’t think he trusts us much either thanks to your temper tantrum.” Ajura made a mental note to send someone to fix the wall. Orde was great at punching holes, but his psionic powers weren’t as powerful as to allow him to undo the damage. She pushed Orde along. “In all seriousness, think about it, Ajura. No conflict, no fight between Matoran? How come Ta-Metru is that quiet? Heck, how come the entire island is this calm?” “You’d have the League to thank for that. You know that.” “The League? I have to thank a band of tyrannical despots who decided to form a trade pact with Metru Nui that leaves us out of their dealings?” “Orde, we’ve spoken about this. You have no proof that the League of Six Kingdoms is tyrannical. Are they the rulers of our universe? Yes, they were appointed as such by Mata Nui. Does this mean there could be someone else that could be ruling? Certainly. But we have no proof or evidence that they are such cruel leaders as you like to think about them.” Orde folded his arms. “That’s easy for you to say. We have to stay here and not see what’s going on out there.” “Well, it’s not like we have much of a ch-“ “TOA!” Orde and Ajura turned around to notice another Ta-Matoran running towards them with an expression of anguish on his face. They quietly glanced at each other, worried at the Matoran’s state. “Please, you have to come with me!” “Of course. Your name?” “M… Maglya. Please, come with me Toa!” Ajura, why is he leading us to his foundry? Why not tell us here? I don’t know about you, but this seems slightly off, projected Orde into Ajura’s head. As the more diplomatic and level-headed of the two, she would be better suited to get the answer out of the Matoran. “We will, Maglya. We just need to know, why not tell us here?” “It’s about the Archive Mole infestation. They’ve been fighting amongst themselves and destroyed much of my property!” Wait, Ajura. Don’t Archive Moles work together? “We understand, Maglya. We’ll go with you to figure out the problem.” *** Maglya’s veiled message had indeed been hidden as a code. When the three of them were inside Maglya’s foundry, where the sound of the Matoran working was loud enough, he told the Toa this would be a safe place where no one would be able to eavesdrop on them. “Why would someone evasedrop?” “Because of what you yourself were saying, Toa! You know, about the League.” Ajura looked at Orde with annoyance. “Maglya, I understand that you are worried of the state of other islands,” assured Ajura. “But we have no proof of what my friend here was saying. So let’s deal with the situation at hand. What’s the problem?” Slightly off-put by Ajura’s dismissal of Orde’s comments, Maglya paused and then resumed. “My friend… Kadira. Po-Matoran living on the Tren Krom Peninsula, I… we send each other letters ever since he was relocated there. Even with the League’s conquest of the Northern Continent Kadira has always been able to stay in contact with me. Sure, the letters arrive late, and other times they might get lost, but I always know how he’s doing. In his last letter he told me that he was relocating in secret, to go to a better place. He said he’d send me a message again once he was there.” Orde crossed one leg over the other. “Alright, so why hasn’t he answered back?” “I don’t know, but the point is I got that letter seven months ago! I’ve written three more times and no responses have returned.” Ajura felt pity for the Matoran, but knew that they couldn’t go around helping every Matoran in a pickle. “Alright, anything else we should know?” “In the letter, he… well, he highlighted some of the letters. And they spell out something.” Maglya pulled out the letter. It was worn down, as if it had been folded, clutched, hidden, and clutched over again. Order didn't need his telepathy to know how much pain Kadira's disappearance was causing Maglya. Under every few letter there was a line under it. Not too visible from far away, but from close up it was quite evident: VALMAI MANGAIA “Well,” whispered Ajura wide-eyed. “That’s not foreboding or anything.” Orde couldn’t contain the smile. “Does this mean we get to go out there and see what’s going on?” Ajura didn’t want to leave. Metru Nui had a certain safety, and their team hadn’t communicated with any Toa outside the island for a long time now. But there was something in this story that suggested that there were deeper layers. Only scholars like the Ko-Matoran and Ga-Matoran knew these archaic terms that well. Why this Po-Matoran from the Northern Continent knew them, she had no clue. And even though the term ‘Mangaia’ was more understandable, ‘Valmai’ wasn’t the kind of word she’d hear from a Matoran, unless there was something very serious going on. Was this Matoran insane? Had he learned something that had put him at risk? Ajura wasn’t sure. But it was worth investigating. Review Topic

It's true! Even though this weekend we are hosting the largest Speech tournament in the nation and I have finals in the next two weeks and then a hospitalization at NIH on the 15th that could last until who knows when, I'M BACK WRITING! I decided that if I don't feel like writing an actual novel (my second one, technically), I might as well go back to my roots and write a BIONICLE story! I mean, sure, my first BIONICLE Epic was written when I was 13, featured a myriad members who agreed to be characters in the story, and never actually got resolved, but that's past. I'm hoping this new Epic gets em writing in my familiar element (the BIONICLE universe and mythos), ensuring that I'm excited to write. And if the Epic goes well, I hope on making it a sort of anthology series! Expect the first chapter soon-ish. And, can I just say, it feels so good to be writing again

Actually really excited about Rooster Teeth's new channel. I remember when in the podcasts or in other Lets Plays we met the younger children (that one Christmas short sticks out), and thinking that Rooster Teeth had the potential to go much more family-oriented. Not only do I think the videos will be successful (I audibly giggled with the Fireplace and Sims videos), but I think it makes sense, not as a company but as parents who want their children to see content they create. I applaud RT for taking this leap, and while a departure from other RT content, I still think it'll be wild enjoyable.

^All of the above are acceptable to Zatthman The Bley Can we make it so?

Question answered.

I'm just happy that #teamfarmanimals now has official fanfic misadventures

Question answered. Thread closificated. Question answered. Thread closificated.

Usually my life is measured by the days when I'm not in a hospital versus those when I am in a hospital or when I'm afflicted by a specific thing. Since moving to the U.S. when I was fourteen, my health had been the best it ever had been in fourteen years. In 2011, I used November to do and win NaNoWriMo, convincing myself that I could do anything, and continue writing as much as I wanted. Should've knocked on a lot of wood. Next year, as November was starting, I was taken to the hospital because I was losing weight too quickly (and my depression started to really manifest for the same time). Because of a treatment of TPN "(Parenteral nutrition (PN) is feeding a person intravenously, bypassing the usual process of eating and digestion. The person receives nutritional formulae that contain nutrients such as glucose, amino acids, lipids and added vitamins and dietary minerals. It is called total parenteral nutrition (TPN) or total nutrient admixture (TNA) when no significant nutrition is obtained by other routes.") and trying to adjust my TPN levels, I spent all of November hospitalized. Whatever, no biggie, I told myself. Then November of 2013 it turned out after a fairly normal year for me that I'd had blood pressure so high, I'd been having random absence seizures "( The hallmark of the absence seizures is abrupt and sudden-onset impairment of consciousness, interruption of ongoing activities, a blank stare, possibly a brief upward rotation of the eyes. If the patient is speaking, speech is slowed or interrupted; if walking, he or she stands transfixed; if eating, the food will stop on its way to the mouth. Usually, the patient will be unresponsive when addressed. In some cases, attacks are aborted when the patient is called. The attack lasts from a few seconds to half a minute, and evaporates as rapidly as it commenced.)" If you ask me about specific moments from November of 2012 to November of 2013, I have quite literally blank spaces in my memory. They discovered the absence seizures because they caused me to 'cheat' during a Forensics competition, with me not remembering having cheated, and my coaches giving me an ultimatum and threatening me off the team. A phone call later, some tests later, and I was put on way too many medications that made Nov 2013 - May 2014 the worst year for me medically since 1997. So after getting out of those long years of medical annoyance, I thought This year will be different! No weird brain problems, no TPN, nothing terrible to hold me back! I'll get back to seriously writing during November and it will be just what I need! Remember that tournament in Illinois we went to? Turns out the team didn't do as well as we should've. Because of our terrible record (we finished fourth in the nation), I tried doubly hard to focus on Forensics work, plus school work. Add to that a lack of being invited or even acknowledged by my 'friends' from the team, plus a kidney stone that dislodged itself a week and three days ago plus a laptop that got fried on Friday evening and my depression popping by again to make me Apathetic Man, and I've gotten nowhere with my writing. It's just annoying to me that I've decided that I love writing more than anything, and because of school/Forensics/medical stuff, I haven't written anything as satisfactory as my novel The Spark for 2011's NaNoWriMo. It's tedious, and annoying, and I just wish November would be kinder to me. ​tl;dr: I had a bad week and needed to vent. I guess this entry counts as writing, so at least it did me some good there :/

Oh! I had no idea, I hadn't looked them up for like two years, and I'd just played the song as a song request. Nonetheless, I am glad to know and will ensure not to endorse a person like Alex Day. Thanks! And yes, ALL OF THE MIND CONTROL!

Yup! The best part is since it's online, you get to see my ugly face LIVE!

WGMU

It's called 'Everything Is Awesome', and it plays on my university's radio station. And yes, I do indeed play Everything Is Awesome at the start of the show every week

I get to play all kinds of music I love (Weird Al, BIONICLE songs, Vitamin String Quartet, Chameleon Ciruit, Gothic Archies, etc). I get to tell fun and interesting anecdotes and personal stories I read a quotation of the week and a Today in History segment Total indoctrination and mind control of the general population That last one might have been a lie...

Next year at BrickFair I'm going to DEFINITELY have to stock up on ammo at Pick-a-brick. Just fill up a whole cup with 1x1 round plates and spend the whole weekend shooting them at people. I think we just discovered how to make sure the kids don't touch any MOCs...

Using the forum to advertise non-LEGO comics. Topic closed.

I'll jump in, why not. Name: ZatthArea of Expertise: History of the Matoran UniverseMask: Summoning (I guess that makes me the Moon Moon of the MU)Weapon / Element: Air Scythe. Element: Air.Side: GoodMotivation: To learn more about the universe around himFatal Flaw: Doubtful of himselfOther Details: Is too happy around others, carries a knapsack that carries a lot of maps and writings.

Duplicate topic. Closing.

I wish Nah, forensics is competitive public speaking (think the Speech side of high school Speech & Debate). Buuuuuut, I will make sure to ask Han about the matter if he is present.

14 hour bus ride to Peoria, Illinois for a Forensics tournament. It's the first big national tournament of the year, and as a measly sophomore I don't expect much success. But I'll still pour my heart out in my performances. At least the theme this year is Star Wars, so I hope to get a lot of pics with Yoda. And whoever else is there. Also got some good reading material for the trip, plus planning for NaNoWriMo. I'm also showing up at our parking lot at 4:45 a.m. as Pajama Deadpool. I'm not wearing a costume for 14 hrs, so I'll just slap on my mask and leave it at that.

I'm supposed to be writing an essay. How do I concentrate when you've announced movies like Black Panther and Captain Marvel (FINALLY some more representation on superhero movies), the extended trailer for Age of Ultron, the Agent Carter trailer, the rest of the movies, and the FREAKING INFINITY WARS TEASER? More than one hype train...