Six months without reviewing…I think it’s clear that Pangaea is broken.

Nonetheless, here are my reviews of the last two chapters:

Chapter 31

Ruby continued her decent into the dark trench.

Should be “descent”.

Realistically, I’m not sure that Ruby could be injured so badly from an underwater fall, but I guess we could chalk that up to physics working differently in the Matoran universe.

She looked up and could barely see the glowing armor of the four-armed monster from whom she had taken the mask from.

The second “from” is redundant, and should be removed.

*sigh* Ruby, if I were you, I would have let Nocturn continue fruitlessly searching for the mask at the bottom of the trench, rather than show him that you had it so that he could get back to chasing you right away.

Then again, considering some of Ruby’s behavior in the next scene with Cera, maybe her decision to taunt Nocturn with the mask was a result of the “One Ring effect” the mask seems to be having on her…

Not far away, a pile of rocks shifted. The rocks fell away, revealing Cera to be underneath the pile. She sluggishly unburied herself, then suddenly jerked a bit before shoving aside more rocks to reveal an electric eel that had just shocked her ó again. When Nocturn had hurled her away, she had slammed right into a small school of electric eels. Unsurprisingly, the eels reacted by repeatedly zapping her. She had finally managed to make them stop after unintentionally slamming her head against a cliff, causing a small rockslide to bury her and leave her unconscious for a short time.

Cera quickly brushed off the electric eel before pulling herself the rest of the way out of the rock pile. “If I ever get out of this place, I'll live in a desert,” she muttered to herself.

Poor Cera…

Hydraxon fired his blaster.

My thoughts, summed up in two words or less: Oh crap.


Chapter 32

Wow, I definitely agree with you about this being one of your darkest chapters yet. However, well written as Karzahni’s scene was, I can’t get over the feeling that his rtole in the chapter seemed a little superfluous (there must be a better word than that, but I can’t think of it). To me it felt like he just came in out of the blue, abused the characters, engaged in an exchange of dramatic dialogue, before being dispatched (in a manner that left his exact fate unclear). I felt like Karzahni’s entire appearance in this chapter could have been omitted and it wouldn’t have affected anything, though I’m guessing this isn’t the last we’re going to see of him, and I can’t blame you if you’re just following the original storyline. In any case, I think you should add a description of Karzahni’s physical appearance when he first shows up.

Again, no offense to you or your storytelling decisionsójust my opinionóbut I felt rather disappointed by the conversation at the beginning of this chapter. Did Makuta really let the gang win their climactic battle with him in Quest for the Energy Stones? As I have mentioned before, the gang have already spent much of this story feeling like virtually powerless characters in the Matoran Universe, and if what Makuta says is true, they evidently didn’t hold much clout as adversaries even when they were in control of powerful Matoran artifacts, which I find rather depressing.

“But I do know her crime. She tampered with an object of power that did not belong in her hands. It was too much for her. She went wild, was defeated by Toa Lhikan and Toa Nidhiki, and the object was destroyed, or so the heroes thought.”

Eegh…is it just me, or does this story sound disturbingly similar to what’s happening with Ruby right now? :unsure:

The mangled armor and damaged Kanohi Mask slowly began to move, rearranging themselves into a crude shape of what they once were. It was a somewhat gruesome sight that neither Matoro nor Littlefoot could ever forget.

Just my opinion, but “somewhat”? I should think that it’s probably the most gruesome thing Matoro has done with his mask so far!

Littlefoot awoke from his vision to see * Karzahni had been struck down by Makuta.

*Insert “that”.

He had already unleashed his power to give nightmarish visions on the Toa of Ice and the long-necked creature.

Should be “to”. Alternatively, you could rewrite this entire sentence as “He had already used his power to unleash nightmarish visions on the Toa of Ice and the long-necked creature.”

Makuta simply stare at the ancient tyrant.

Should be “stared”.

That’s about all I’ve got. :unsure: For whatever little it’s worth, I’m sorry for not reviewing. Writing reviews is yet another skill I’m just no good at anymore.

Congratulations on your 21st star day, Amy!

UGH, I can’t believe me! I have been in such a rut lately! I am so, so, so, so sorry for not attending to this thread weeks ago!

Let me see…I’ll try to address everyone who’s posted updates or queries in the last couple months:

brittanytangle13: Are you still interested in playing? If so:
ï  What characters (if any besides yourself) would you like to play in the RP?
ï  Are you clear about the rules of the RP and what it’s basically about?
ï  Did you have anything particular in mind as far as what you want to do with your character(s) and who you want to interact with?
We want new players to be aware of where everyone's characters are so that they don't have their character(s) start off in the Great Valley and then take a short walk over to talk to a group of characters who are supposed to be miles away, for instance. On that noteóand this is probably a stupid questionódo you need an explanation of where everyone’s characters are at the moment?

Belmont2500: Incredibly enough, there hasn't been any activity in the Great Valley to speak of since your last post, though a few hours may have passed. By the way, just out of curiosity, why did you decide to "reboot" your character? Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but you needn’t feel like you should start over with your character just because other a few other players are doing something similar.

Rat_lady7: Sure, you can take Rinkus. And as far as Hyp goes, would you be okay with the idea that he followed the Big Water group without being officially "invited"? Basically he would show up and the group realizes he's been following them since they left the valley, but they have no choice but to let him come along. Hyp hasn't been an active character in the RP for a long time, so I think if he's going to suddenly appear in the Big Water subplot, then he deserves a proper introduction.

Blitz and The Great Valley Guardian: Whoa, I didn't know you two were still interested in this RP! That’s good news!

One more important thing: I’ve created a new thread to serve as a list of current RP participants and the characters they’re playing. It’s still a work in progress (I may add the RP rules there as well), especially since some players have made changes to their character rosters that I haven’t been very good at keeping track of. If each of you could find the time to take a look at your entry on the list, and tell me if I have something wrong or if there are any other changes I should make, it would be much appreciated.

Also, I think it would be less confusing for everyone if we kept all of our RP discussions on one thread*, so if you don’t mind, please don’t post in the character list thread. Thank you!

* If anyone else thinks otherwise, please do give me your input.

No offense to anybody, but as far as the paleontological community is concerned, this is a dead horse argument. Even Jack Horner, the paleontologist who publicized the hypothesis that T. rex might have been an obligate scavenger, doesn't believe it anymore (if he ever did so in the first place). It was never a valid scientific theory; Horner never actually did the research on T. rex remains to back up his hypothesis. More than likely, he popularized the idea just to get people to think outside the box about T. rex's life habits, or even for the publicity (He has been quoted as stating that he sometimes broached the subject just to be contrary and to get his colleagues arguing). And for the record, another paleontologist eventually did do an evaluation of T. rex's anatomy, and found that none of Horner's claims about Tyrannosaurus being physically ill-suited for predation stacked up. In short, everyone agrees that our favorite sharptooth would have scavenged whenever palatable carrion was available, and hunted when it wasn't, just like any other terrestrial carnivore.

Again, forgive me if I sound annoyed, aggressive, or like I'm trying to censor the discussion (I promise I'm not). All I can say is, to anyone who's still wondering about this subject, read this article. If it's anything to go by, paleontologists are tired of hearing the "T. rex: hunter or scavenger" question, and very keen on spreading the word that it's not something people have to debate anymore.

Quote from: StarfallRaptor,Jul 29 2013 on  11:34 AM

Well, maybe the tall grass was taller back then! Maybe it would have worked if they hid!

There was no grass in the dinosaur age, though trees like redwoods dominated the planet, perhaps they could conceal a 20 foot tall, 40 feet long Tyrannosaur.

Actually, in 2005, paleontologists discovered phytolithsófragments of silica uniquely found in grassópreserved inside titanosaur dung from the late Cretaceous of India. So evidently grass of some form did exist at least at the end of the Mesozoic, though I don't know if there's any evidence that there were grassy fields like we have today, or if they were more like bamboo thickets (bamboo itself being a giant, woody grass). In any case, there surely must have been some kind of plant that filled the role of grass back in the Mesozoic, so you're certainly right that there would have been something for ambush predators to hide in.

Source:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8336...ml#.UfeIqBZhung

Don't worry, you're not "late"; this is meant to be a continually updated thread. I'm happy to see some new activity in it.

You make a good point, although personally I'm not 100% convinced.

However, I remembered something else that I somehow forgot to bring up in that earlier discussion: in LBT XII, Littlefoot uses the term "fire rocks" to refer to the lava pits Guido is sleepwalking towards. I always thought that was awfully strange; I have a bit of a hard time believing that he's referring to the lava itself as "rocks"; although lava in real life often can look like a slow-motion avalanche of red-hot rocks, LBT lava is almost always in the molten state of typical Hollywood lava. There did seem to be rocks in the lava that were presumably red-hot, which Littlefoot may have been referring to, in which case "fire rock" may refer to any rock that is on fire, period. Maybe I'll add a new footnote to the glossary that mentions this possibility…

Thanks for your contribution!

Back with more questions, as promised!

Here's a silly one I asked FlipperBoidSkua a while back; I thought it would be fun to hear another egg stealer fan's take on it:

What do you think would happen if Ozzy and Strut were unleashed on a present-day Easter celebration? What would they think of chocolate eggs? And hard-boiled eggs, for that matter?

Happy 23rd star day, Blitz!

Also, happy star day to everyone whose birthday I've missed lately.

I probably should have posted a notification like this earlier (I forget that not everyone visitsóor has access toóthe "After Midnight" section), but up until at least Saturday, I may not have the time to post in this RP, its discussion thread, or most other threads on the GOF. The full details can be read here; the long story short is that I am attending an intensive scientific workshop at a national park in Arizona with a schedule that runs from 7 AM to almost midnight, with only short breaks for meals and stretching our legs between otherwise back-to-back lectures and field trips. I've been keeping an eye on the GOF, but I'd really like to be able to enjoy this experience to the fullest, using the break time to enjoy the local wildlife and spectacular scenery. I am leaving the RP running since I am seeing members who have been gone a while beginning to post again, but I am afraid some of you may need to wait until the end of the week (possibly even longer) for me to answer your queries. I apologize for this, and hope you understand.

^ That doesn't answer the question. Which myth or episode are you talking about? The MythBusters have blown up a lot of cars, and moreover there's usually some sort of reason behind it. Even in the first viewer's special, in which there was no myth behind the exploding car, they blew it up (A) at the request of a fan and (B) to illustrate the difference between a fiery movie explosion and a real-life explosion.

The myth on Mythbusters does not make sense.

Which myth are you talking about? And what about it doesn't make sense? Could you please elaborate?