aldero

This topic is fairly self-explanatory. Would you be partial to LEGO remaking some classic sets to promote older generations of sets to newer generations of kids and manchildren? If you're not opposed to the radical idea that definitely wasn't inspired by LEGO's past acts of re-releasing sets, what sets would you remake? Additionally, how would you remake them? Would they adopt the CCBS building system or stick to the Technic-based system? If you ask me, I would love to see some classic set remakes, particularly of ones that were particularly lacklustre and in desperate need of revision, such as the 2001 Turaga and arguably the Bohrok-Kal.

The Piraka Rap, but for all of the right reasons.

How about the utopic island of craftsmanship, engineering and creativity known as Artahka?

The artistic direction of the first three years. It's... just... so... GOOD. The juxtaposition between the tribalistic Maori influences and the mysterious technological cracks peering out of the facade of a paradise was so inspired and original.

Would you like to go and spam requests for sheet music on Nathan Furst's YouTube channel with me?

All too true. Another problem that had stemmed from Greg Farshtey's total control of the story is that he didn't exactly have a censor, middle man or representative for rationality. Farshtey could just write his stories in a convoluted, confusing and inconsistent manner without much interference or hesitance on his end because he had no filter whatsoever. I'm not necessarily saying that Greg Farshtey himself was a poor writer - he's fantastic for the most part - I'm saying that he needs more constructive criticism and external input. Just look at George Lucas during the production of Star Wars, for example. Without people like Gary Kurtz, the movie we have today would have been far more convoluted, overdeveloped, inconsistent and boring.

The Island of Doom book clears most of this up with the reintroduction of Turaga Dume sending the Toa Nuva on another perilous journey, peppered with some refreshing subversive elements, but I can certainly understand your gripes here. It's more a problem with the comics, than anything.

One of my most persistent regrets, although somewhat trivial, is the genderlocking of females to the element of water. I know that this theme is primarily directed towards young boys, but that didn't stop Steven Universe from cramming a whole lot of female characters into their franchise. Representation is key here, people!

That is an extremely good point. While I enjoy certain aspects of Teridax's character post-MoL, such as his history with the Brotherhood of Makuta and his backstabbing, strategising mannerisms, I wholeheartedly agree that the potential of a genuinely interesting character was lost. If we're keeping the rest of the story canon, we'd be seeing a Makuta who chooses to overthrow the Brotherhood and usurp Miserix to serve Mata Nui, protecting his 'brother' from his destiny of finding new worlds and collecting information for the Great Beings. Not only that, Teridax would be reverting to his original state of protecting and serving the inhabitants of the Great Spirit Robot, refusing to change in the face of conflict and turmoil. I just only imagine what the final fight between Mata Nui and Teridax would be like with this complicated emotional baggage. That right there is some emotionally charged stuff. The picture of Makuta Teridax as an obsessive and powerful yet loyal and vulnerable character is an incredibly interesting one, even more so if Mata Nui's ultimate destiny and correlation to the Great Beings was developed just a bit more.

Do you enjoy Bionicle? Great. Do you enjoy it's storyline and lore? Great. Do you like it's diverse cast of characters with the exception of Toa Matau, Kiina and Berix? Fantastic. Do you think that some of these characters could have been written better and developed more? Splendid! Now we're on the same page. It's no secret that I have a deep affinity for this franchise, even if I've been inactive for a good few months now. Keeping that in mind, I would love it just that little bit more if some of the characters were given more attention and written more tightly. While the vast majority of these characters are well-written, flesh-out and characteristically unique, some are regrettably bland at best, and unlikeable for the wrong reasons at worst. I'm talking about characters such as Turaga Dume, Axonn and Makuta Miserix, just to name a few. Characters like Artahka and Karzahni are supposed to be mysterious and enigmatic, I get that, but characters like those that I just previously mentioned are begging for more development. The main storyline of the franchise is fortunately more focused and intimate as a result of that, but all that these characters need is a serial to flesh them out, similar to how Lesovikk was developed as an emotionally-broken nomad who had retired their Air Sword long ago due to personal guilt that ended up haunting him for the rest of his days. That's some splendid stuff right there. Now, would you mind doing for some more characters? That's where you, the magnificent reader who decided to waste their valuable procrastination time on my insignificant article, come in. I'm sure that I'm not the only person who regrets that Makuta Miserix did not get the focus he deserves... right? I'm also assured of the fact that the vast majority of the other people on this forum have a longer list of characters that they want to see developed. With that said, what characters would you like to see developed more, and how would you go about it?

The films were never particularly good with their consistency and coherency. I'm 99.98% sure that it was Teridax's Shadow Hand in this situation, but yeah, the film really does make this death ambiguous. He blocks the Shadow Hand with his shield and then Lhikan... gets... knocked out and dies? All things considered, not even a Toa, let alone a frail Turaga on their last legs, should be close to a Makuta's Shadow Hand. That ol' number is absolutely lethal.

Pretty solid taxonomy. Categorising numerous vaguely-defined biomechanical beings was never really so much of a pressing matter to me, but this is pretty much definitive. Nice work.

This revelation is, at the very least, a neat bit of inspiration in terms of art direction. I think the presence of Energised Protodermis, or mercury in this case, in Mangaia serves as some contrast against the comparatively ruralistic* and tribal Matoran inhabitants of Mata Nui. Alas, the shrouded wizard's alchemy against the sticks and stones of the villagers. I always love some historical correlations and analogues. * Yes, I know that ruralistic isn't a word. I just used it because it complimented the flow of my sentence.

I've only ever played the Mask of Creation mobile game, but I don't really think there's more to see here. It was a pretty entertaining waste of about 20 minutes of my time and nothing else. It's fairly standard, one-note, generic and repetitive, but it certainly wasn't bad.

- Prelude - Born of the universe, moulded by the world, driven by gods. My child, this is your universe, this is your world, and I am your god. My child, I bring you into the vastness of space, in the flux of time and space, only motivated by my will. My child, I am Demurgia, and I bring you from the depths of nothing. Rise, my child! Just as they had willed it, Demurgia had created a new being out of what, by all accounts, seemed to be nothing. Everything within the perception of Demurgia's presence and surroundings was nothing. Nothing of note, nothing distinguishable. It was expression of existence in flux; never appearing to be anything and remaining nonexistent through the eyes of the lesser beings. Demurgia themselves was even more of an enigma. No being of the mortal plain could have possibly known who Demurgia actually, in terms of definitive physicality, was. Their influences and creations in the world around them only extended to what they allowed beings of the mortal plain to know. Their voice was simply the delusion of the mortal witness through subjective experiences and interpretations of higher beings, their personality was another delusion and their intentions were, even still, more of an enigma. The very name Demurgia was even rooted in seeds of doubt. Beings of entirely different and alien plains of existence are practically incapable of perceiving each other. It's just, simply put, impossible. My dearest child and my greatest creation, ascend from the void and into sentience! Beings of the mortal plain, or more appropriately, Kolmius, were just like any other beings of individual plains -- sentient lifeforms living in disconnected harmony. Arise from your mortal complacency and into omnipotence, my child! To say that Demurgia was deviating from this order, however, would be a colossal understatement. Since the individual plains of existence have entirely separate laws, physics, societies, regulations, boundaries, expectations, formations, lifeforms and more that starkly deviate from one another, even stranger things can happen when separate beings interfere with a separate plain. Subservient to my will and unbound by the will of the universe, I grant you the gift of exploration. Different beings are bound by their own distinctive, universal laws, but when they... somehow... surpass their own plain and enter another, the very matter of their universe is like sand or clay to them. Birthed of the need for knowledge, I grant you the gift of curiosity. To them, the very composition of other universes doesn't apply to them. To them, the matter of other universes can be moulded to their will. Created from the desire to discover, I grant you the gift of creation. When the deviants had already gone this far, they are beyond intervention. In the pursuit of knowledge, they will do anything. From the pursuit of knowledge, I create a messenger. Be it divine intervention... Rise, my herald. ... unchained interference... Rise, my champion. ... or unregulated experimentation... Rise, my pupil. ... the deviants will do anything to see the universe as it truly is. RISE, MY CHILD!

To be honest, I kinda loved your sardonic and somewhat dismissive attitude. Any further development of community interaction and individual personalities is absolutely beneficial to the longevity of this fandom. I mean, you're already writing all of your posts in Comic Sans. I'm not exactly taking your posts to heart. Not that I'm completely dismissing your posts, though, quite the opposite. Although this might not have been the intention, I saw a lot of your posts as conduits for cliched complaints for the line and all the negativity towards the line expressed through some tasty ironic humour. True, I might be shrugging off your individuality here, but the persona that you've projected thus far is just so memorable. It's an absolute joy to see you around on the forums.

I'm going to cut to the chase here. I don't know if this is necessarily universal and well-known knowledge in the community, but quite a few of the old discontinued themes connect to each other in some fairly interesting ways that might require your attention. So, Ninjago (arguably) connects to Ultra Agents through the continued presence of a 1x1 printed microchip piece in Ninjago sets that was most notably part of AntiMatter's staff, Ultra Agents connects to the Agents (2008-09) line through the presence of the classic Agents suit in an Ultra Agents comic, Agents connects to Racers and freaking City through their shared presence in an online flash game hosted back in the day (you know what I'm referring to, right?), and Clutch Powers connects to both Ninjago and Agents through the mention of Clutch Powers himself when Cole talks about a Fang Blade and Agent Chase's getaway car being used by good ol' Clutch Powers. But wait, there's more! Clutch Powers is the key here. Clutch Powers directly connects to the Fantasy Era Castle, Mars Mission, Space Police III and Power Miners themes in his film. Furthermore, Power Miners connects to Atlantis through the presence of one Dr. Brains in both themes, Atlantis loosely connects to Aqua Raiders, but more importantly, to Pharaoh's Quest, Alien Conquest and Dino through this one comic in a November-December 2011 issue of LEGO Club that strings them all together. Here's a link. http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/Alien_Conquest Here's something that will probably attract your attention; Johnny Thunder is canon is all of this! This connection mainly traces back to Dino and the throwaway character of Josh Thunder, who is stated to be a descendant of Johnny Thunder in the 2012 edition of the LEGO Book. There's also a correlation between Knights Kingdom II and Alpha Team through the villain of Ogel, who is stated to be a descendant of Lord Vladek himself. Unfortunately, there's no other connection to any other line in this little universe we've established. Another thing! Galaxy Squad and Ultra Agents are in the same continuity as Solomon Blaze is a prominent character in both themes. If we are to take Galaxy Squad's clear inspiration from Starship Troopers to heart, I think we know why Solomon has a missing leg by the time Ultra Agents rolls around. Yet another thing! Legends of Chima connects to all of this as Chima is shown to be one of the sixteen realms during Ninjago: Possession. Aside from that, there really isn't that much else that comes to mind. I just wanted to bring this forth.

And by artistic future, I am primarily referring to art direction and general consistency of the line's presentation. I'm probably (definitely) not the first person to say this, but I believe that the future of Bionicle lies in some really good art direction. Like, really, really consistent, flowing, pleasing, original art direction that both compliments and surpasses the ultimate reality that this was founded the basic principle of making action figures out of processed oil. At this point, however, Bionicle's future is looking to be uncertain. That's where you, yes, YOU, the wonderful human being who decided to read this post, come in. I'd like to initiate a bit of an insightful discussion about art direction in terms of personal suggestions and preferences. I'm not necessarily looking for anything that is even remotely related to G1, G2, the integral themes of the story, or even something that's traditionally family-friendly and optimistic. I'm essentially asking how you would handle a spinoff of the theme. If you were to solely govern the artistic direction and creation of any given facet of any given instance of Bionicle, what would it look like? Show me what you've got.

If I were ever to completely wrap up the franchise, I would probably end it from the perspective of a Great Being, say, Angonce, with him talking about the nature and fate of his co-creations. Something like this: "These beings... these creations... in all of my years, I never would have thought that it would have come to this. At the moment when our creations have finally looked past the light in the tunnel, they have finally realised the nature of their existence. Despite all of the petty conflicts, disagreements and hindrances in progression, they all achieved their collective destinies and fulfilled their purpose; our intentions for them. In all of my years, I never thought I would see them be unified in such a powerful way. Today, I have witnessed the final conclusion of the Bionicle." This would be mentioned in a closing serial and would be the final official piece of the lore, chronologically speaking. The ensuing fates of the rest of the characters after their respective closures would be left open-ended, of course.

Interesting. The way I would put it would be along the lines of that the Toa's capabilities and pre-existing experience are increased x-fold, across the board. The Kanohi themselves act as a central source (at least a crucial aspect) of a Toa's power and capabilities, after all.

True. On the subject of elemental powers, I think it has something to do with the inherited power of the First Spinjitzu Master, but that's just my explanation, not LEGO's. On a different note, I believe that I'm speaking on behalf of the entire fandom when I say that the introduction of, like, forty more elements during the Tournament of Elements is one of the most contrived and forced plot threads in fiction. It contradicts everything and makes no sense.

Ah, yes, the tall tale of Ninjago. It has been to some... interesting... places over the years as more and more layers continue to be added on, but to varying degrees of success. As much as I appreciate some of the segues into new themes and how they effectively build off and collectively strengthen each other, namely how the destruction of Djinnjago ties into the series' pervasive theme of responsibility and discretion... and is only ever addressed in the first few episodes and the theme just lays low for the rest of the season until it needs to permeate the setup of another season. This is precisely my main problem with the series as a whole. One could argue that a story of this magnitude and scope is already beyond the point of no return and simply doesn't need to be strengthened because it's a toyline, but forget those superfluous standards for a moment. I'm not asking to expand the story here, I'm only looking to strengthen for the purposes of making far more fluid continuities, more identifiable and characteristic... err... characters... and constructing stories that leave fewer loose ends. Here's a few of my questions in no particular order: • Is Sensei Wu ever going to bring back his tea shop? It wasn't exactly a financial failure. • Shouldn't have the other 15 Realms collapsed into oblivion after the Preeminent was destroyed? Was Djinnjago the only Realm to have disappeared? Do the Realms have to be kept at an even number? • Are you absolutely sure that the Overlord has been vanquished? • How did Master Chen find Titanium Zane and capture him before the Ninja could find him? • Who created Zane's Titanium form? Was it PIXAL? Did Cyrus Borg manufacture that form? If so, how did Zane manage to slip through his fingers? • Garmadon never really received any proper form of closure. Why hasn't he been mentioned even once after the fact? • How in the name of heck did Clouse manage escape from the Cursed Realm/Preeminent? • What's Skylor up to? She's an pretty well-written and entertaining character. Why abandon her entirely? • What ever happened to Ed and Edna Walker (Jay's parents)? I sincerely hope that they are receiving more financial support. These are just a few questions I have. So here's another question; what are your questions and how would you formally address them?

Well, that's another reason to go to Scotland. First Ullapool, now Bonkle. Simply beautiful.