I get that some bronies are awful people. I get that they have a pretty loud voice. What I don't get is the amount of hate bronies get AS A GROUP for the sins of a few. To the right wing they're a symptom of the waning masculinity of society. To the social justice types they're misogynistic brutes who took one of the best modern feminist cartoons and turned it into their sex object, all while adopting a persecution complex that belittles the struggles of actual oppressed groups. Do you know
How can ANYONE say in good conscience that the Bionicle story should have ended with the villain victorious and all hope extinguished? It would be the ultimate disrespect to the rest of the story, undermining every single lesson the Bionicle story ever tried to teach. Yes, not all stories have happy endings. But endings, happy or unhappy, should MEAN something. Ending Bionicle with despair would have zero meaning, being "edgy" and "dark" but also "terrible" and "idiotic". Sometimes I think p
It seems that as soon as Takuma Nuva changed his name to Equinophobia and declared a fear of ponies, all the anti-bronies have been coming out of the woodwork. I'm not blaming Takuma for this, as his comments have been hilarious. What isn't is the proliferation of members replying with "This. I've been waiting for this meme to die" and other such comments. It does the fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic a disservice to dismiss the entire thing as a meme. Does it have memetic aspects? Y
Boo, apparently we're not allowed to have an official topic compiling G1/G2 connection topics. I was hoping that someone in charge of S&T finally decided to whip that forum into some semblance of order, but I guess that's too much to hope for... Anyway, I'm too proud of this post to let it fade into obscurity, so I'm copying it here.
http://andrewbarnick.tumblr.com/post/87440485002/pixelkitties-askasanebrony-retake-the I was happy to see this on my twitter and tumblr. There's still not much I can do on my own to make bronies and non-bronies alike reconsider what the fandom really means—but hopefully by sharing this I can add my voice to the choir.
One suggestion I've seen a lot regarding a potential Bionicle return is the return of mask packs. I would normally be quick to dismiss such a notion given the utter failure of the original collectibles packs. But given some thought, and comparison with modern Lego lines, I think a similar product might actually have the potential for success. The original Bionicle mask packs were a failure largely because they didn't offer much play potential on their own. A mask is just a mask (albeit usually
The recent trend of fans petitioning Greg to canonize details of the story has been controversial. But I've been upset to see that devolve into a bunch of Greg-bashing. Let's be clear: Greg's not the problem here, or at least, not the main one. The fans are. They're the ones who decided, after Bionicle's end, to consider Greg the sole arbiter of canon. During Bionicle's run he may have been the "mouthpiece" of the Bionicle story, but he was only one member of a team. And that team, for the m
Well, after 30 minutes of Wonder Trade I managed to trade away 24 of my nicknamed Binacle. But as I did so I began to notice that none of the people I traded seemed to be BZPers. So instead of trading away the whole box, I decided to get rid of the last ones a bit differently. I have six #Binacle2015 left, with one destiny—to be traded DIRECTLY to BZP members who are interested in them! For those who don't have me on their Friend List, my Friend Code is 0817-4310-5392. If you're interested in
I don't mind the new forum layout. I don't mind, and in fact encourage the site shifting focus. I do mind when members make a passive-aggressive blog entry, and then lock it so that the targeted members can't even defend themselves. I mean really, who DOES that? I mean, seriously. My brother and I loved BIONICLE, but we were okay with it ending. We do, however, take offense to people blaming LEGO for what was, in essence, a wise business decision. We don't like when people stereotype peopl
I'm confused and ashamed by BS01's choice to submit large swaths of fan-created ideas to Greg to be made canon. I understand that Bionicle has had user-generated content before in the form of canonized MOcs and stories, but these were included in moderation and after being properly judged. Yet now BZPower and Biosector01 have decided that they are important enough to decide whatever they like about the Bionicle story. These changes did not need to be made, and Bionicle is the worse for them.
I've been trying to figure out my plans for BrickFair VA this year and am seriously considering cutting out on Saturday, August 2, and catching a train up to Baltimore to spend the day at BronyCon instead. BrickFair is one of the highest points of my social life each year, but it still wears me out each year and try as I might, I can't avoid being mega-awkward even around my fellow FOLs. I'm worried that an extra day of BrickFair, like we're getting this year, might just push me to my breaking p
Earlier I replied to a post in S&T about Bionicle G1 and G2 being connected, despite Lego saying it's a reboot. That point has been refuted a thousand times, but it got me thinking about the big problem with those sorts of theories in the first place. In science, one of the essential qualities that a theory can have is that it's falsifiable. What that means is that the theory is constructed in such a way that it can be proven demonstrably false by new evidence. Falsifiability is an essenti
Alright, since a lot of folks have shown interest, I took some quick pictures of the figure I built at the Lego Store building event at Comic Con. Once I get home I can get better pictures, including pictures of his individual parts, but for now what I have is going to have to do. Front Back Close-up on the gearbox (for those who were interested) Any questions? I have a long train trip ahead of me this afternoon so I'll be all ears!
They're both happening the same weekend next year, and for once Bronycon is within a reasonable distance of my home in Virginia. I'm definitely going to BrickFair (as I have for every year since its inception), but it'll be a shame to miss out on Bronycon when it shows up on my doorstep. Part of me wonders if it would be feasible to visit Bronycon just for one day, probably Saturday during the public hours. Any other Bronies going to be at BrickFair? Perhaps together we could come up with so
Sumiki was 10 back when the Piraka Stronghold was released? Geez. It makes me realize that my mental image of the staff generally makes them out to be older than me (probably in part from having been on the site when I was young enough for the staff to have genuinely been older than me). Still.
I'll make a confession. I have pretty much ignored the comedies subforum for years now. Checking it regularly was one of the casualties of the Great Downtime, since so many of the great comedic minds of BZPower moved on from the site, and what was left (in my eyes) was a wasteland of long-form Bionicle parodies (which I had had my fill of, like I had with Bionicle in general) and stories about flanderized Bionicle characters in decidedly non-Bionicle situations (The Toa Try To Run an Establishme
It looks like it'll be funny, heartwarming, and spectacular looking, while paying homage to the Lego experience. The sets are fantastic and really capture the spirit of Lego creative play. It seems that it could generate more interest in Lego among the non-FOL population. My upcoming meetup will give me a chance to see some of my BZP peeps without having to wait six more months for Brickfair VA. And finally, it seems like other Lego fans will love it too. Not in the cult "there will neve
I really need to revamp my blog (and pay more attention to it). Two entries ago was before Christmas...
Anyway, today's my birthday! Which means it's Aanchir's birthday as well! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, US!
...'ahem'.... Post comments...
Right now I actually feel ashamed to be an AFOL. I'm at a Lego convention I looked forward to for months, anxious and scared and wishing I could be anywhere else.
I am now Ortographobia, or the fear of spelling mistakes. I thought it'd be fitting since I work as a copy editor half the week. So, I want all of you to do your very best to spell correctly in the next 45 days. I'll be trying my hardest not to freak out at every mistake you end up making anyway. Wait... This is the internet. What have I gotten myself into? OH GOD THEY'RE EVEYWHERE.
It just occurred to me that Kevin Hinkle proposed a "Bring Back Bionicle" design for this year's BZPower T-shirt contest. And now evidence is mounting that Bionicle will return next year. Kevin KNEW, man. He KNEW and did that just to mess with us. It's a shame he won't be at BrickFair to interrogate about Bionicle's return (along with 2015 Monorails, which are totally a thing that has leaked and not something I'm making up out of the blue, no sirree).
So a week or so ago I noticed that I was coming up on 1,000 posts. I resolved to pay attention so I could make that 1,000th post count for something. Today I checked back and my post count was 1,007. Whoops. Anyway, you'd think I'd have more posts than that given how long I've been here, but I'm far from the most active member. It doesn't help that I have a twin brother who shares many of my views and is generally better at conveying them through his posts. At least he's working on an avat
