Alyska

G1 stuff mostly... Takanuva and Jaller being reunited on Spherus Magna. Takanuva scoops Jaller up and hugs him so hard he can barely breathe. Jaller starts to laugh and then just suddenly breaks down sobbing because he'd been putting on a brave face for his team since Matoro died, but just couldn't hold it in any longer- and was so relieved to see Takanuva again after everything that had happened. Takanuva joining the Mahri on a quest. Also, Macku tagging along, because more Macku-Hewkii banter would be the best even if it was just platonic. Kopaka and Pohatu meet Nikila on the Red Star, the three of them make it out and Nikila is reunited with Lesovikk. Kiina, Dalu and Balta having adventures together. Poor Balta. He just wanted to settle down for a nice quiet life on Spherus Magna... Kopaka and Vezon having to work together. Just coz. That serial we were promised about the new Toa team that had the two female Toa (Lightning and Psionics) on it that Greg somehow never got around to starting (The Yesterday what? Never heard of it. Must be a figment of your imagination.) And although I don't like the Great Being reveal that much, Kazi's reaction to it would be priceless. As in, like, three chapters of angry Ko-Matoran swearing.

Toa have to dance together to fuse into Kaita (Blame Steven Universe for this one). Wairuha has trouble forming because two thirds of him is made up of the two clumsiest clots on Okoto. Also, G2 Pohatu has G1 Pohatu's looks and G1 Kopaka's personality. G2 Pohatu is the son of G1 Pohatu and Kopaka.

I'm also curious about the intellectual capabilities of the undead. They surely wouldn't have the personality of the original being, but would they have any sort of basic problem solving skills? Can they understand and respond to the speech of others? Would they check an area for traps and enemies before entering? Or just blunder off the nearest cliff when left to their own devices? Okay, now I'm picturing a story about some poor Matoran who was accompanying his Toa friend on a epic quest when his friend had a fatal accident, and now the poor little guy has to guide his stupid dead friend along the remainder of the quest and keep him from getting obliterated even further. Facing challenges like said stupid dead friend not understanding the concept of Matoran sometimes needing to stop to sleep or eat. Or the concept of "you wait here and don't wander off". Or "Let's check that the lake's not full of giant hungry eels before we decide to swim through it". And just- having to explain the situation to everyone he meets... "Greetings, mighty Toa! What has our village done to deserve this visit?" "Uh, don't mind him, he's uh, not the talking type," "Oh?" "See, he's a bit, well, you know..." "A bit...?" "Dead..." Also, what's all this about "Gadunkas"? Get your grammar together people, everyone knows the plural of Gadunka is Gadunkadunkadunkadunka.

What exactly counts as the user's last objective? Suppose there was a Toa on a long-term quest to save the universe from Makuta, but he was unceremoniously killed when he stopped to find something for lunch?

Yeah, the sand connection makes more sense for a lean, agile character, and the colours match as well. They've actually made the distinction between rock and earth much clearer this gen by taking Onua and Pohatu's powers and abilities in such different directions. Before they were both big hefty guys with a fighting style consisting of throwing heavy chunks of the ground at people, but giving Pohatu pseudo-flight and sand control I think is really going to distinguish him more from Onua. If they were doing a total reset with completely new characters, I'd recommend merging Earth and Stone, but given that they're based on the G1 characters, it's nice to have both Pohatu and Onua back (even if Pohatu is almost unrecognisable personality-wise, but that's a rant for another day.)

I had this stupid idea that someone should make a blog where they review all the Steven Universe "action figures"... but since there are currently no action figures, it's just a bunch of pictures of their rock collection, with comments gushing about the level of detail, poseability and articulation, and how cute and tiny their Peridot is. And a pic of somebody trying to stack a ruby and a sapphire on top of each other, complaining that they're having trouble assembling their Garnet figurine. And then when we're old, we can moan about it to our grandkids like this: "You kids these days don't know how good you got it. Back in my day, they didn't make no lady action figures, we jus' had to play with them there big ol' hunks o' rock."

That's probably the biggest challenge- they wouldn't be able to actually float, but if you had them all as separate pieces and they plugged into a limb-enhancer "hand" that had a flat surface with lots of connection points, you could get a lot of poseability. You know the little lever pieces? If they were hinged like that, it might work well.

Yay! Aanchir's in the fandom! I think you'd need custom-molded heads ala The Simpsons at the very least to get the characters to translate to minifigs. (Garnet, Amethyst and even Steven might be ok as traditional figs, but Pearl's lithe figure and beautiful nose just wouldn't work.) If they started doing minidolls with more diverse looks, that could work as well. Peridot would work so well as a constraction set, but I don't think any of the others would. Anyway, looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Is it just me, or is it really creepy that the Friends characters have exactly the same face? I mean, there's definitely a precedent for that in girl shows ala Bratz etc, but the increased realism and detail is weirding me out.

Sooo, topic's been quiet lately... how are we finding the new episodes?

Nothing seems to stick in the recent Dalek episodes. New brightly-coloured Daleks? Nope. Daleks forget the Doctor? Nope. A good Dalek? Impossible. A human-turned-Dalek declaring its identity? Vocab wouldn't allow it. I mean, it's understandable in such a long-running show and each showrunner has his own sense of continuity and the "rules" of the thing, but it's not even consistent to the showrunner any more. Can't say I personally mind all that much, but I do feel a bit sorry for the poor saps who try to fill out wikis on this sort of thing. And, hilariously, Moffat has so far found three different ways to stuff Clara in a Dalek. I did like the line about the chairs, too. Yet another callback to the Curse of Fatal Death.

Yeah, definitely understand where you're coming from there. Recently, I've been dealing with the possibility that I might be asexual... and you know what Moffat thinks about asexuals? They're "boring," apparently. An asexual character holds very little potential for a writer, according to His Royal Moffliness, because they are incapable of having romantic relationships! Because asexual means exactly the same thing as aromantic! And because they don't have those feelings, they must be happy all the time! AND THAT'S TERRIBLE! Because romantic and sexual relations are the only things that can cause any stress or drama in somebody's life! No normal human could relate to a character like that! (I totally fantasize about the above gif happening when Moffat makes one of his blunders at a press conference) But, y'know, as bad as some of the rubbish that comes out of his mouth is... he did not invent these misconceptions. He's parroting rubbish he's picked up from elsewhere. And he, like many men in his position, is unaware of his privilege and status, and any possible responsibility to do right by minorities. It's all part of a bigger system. He does try for representation- DW is easily one of the most progressive "kids' shows" on TV, and generally, I'll take slightly flawed representation over none at all. Captain Jack is (probably) better than no bisexuals at all. Sherlock (maybe?) is better than no asexuals. Vastra and Jenny are better than no same-sex couples. And yeah, he's not quite up to the Davies era on that front, but he's getting better. It's important to call out his rubbish when he screws up big time, and you are definitely entitled to be Absolutely Bloody Furious about those moments, but assuming he's responsible for all that is wrong with the world is a bit much.

Pohatu: Gah! All these sheep Rahi keep getting stuck to me! Lewa: Must be your... animal magnetism.

Unless you're talking about a non-licensed superhero theme, which could be interesting, though Ninjago comes pretty close.

I presume it's Lego's reported involvement in the DC Superhero Girls line, which will likely be minidoll sets considering other companies are doing the dolls/action figures. I'd have liked them to make constraction sets of it, now that Lego's actually putting out decent human-looking constraction figures.

New Pokemon! Or new forms?

I definitely like this idea. I was toying with something conceptually similar for a possible constraction concept. There's a "villain" who is basically what would happen if Princess Leia was raised by the Empire- the result is a character with a strong moral conscience, determined to right the wrongs committed by her father and others, but she goes about it the only way she knows how- widespread destruction, kidnapping, psychological manipulation, and striking fear into the hearts of everyone in the known galaxy.

Constraction space opera with a primarily female cast!

I think when any fandom grows big enough, there will be things like gatekeeping, genwunners, newbie-shaming, people trying to assert their intellectual superiority using obscure trivia, and just general nastiness. But there is also a lot of fun to be had if you choose the right people to associate with. I tend to lurk in the Who fandom mostly, so it's easier to enjoy the good bits and dismiss the bad bits when you're not actively involved. I believe that if something about the show troubles you, it's perfectly okay to say so. I rewatched the Crimson Horror last night and the Doctor non-consensually snogging Jenny still grosses me out. But it's still okay to like the show otherwise if that's the way you feel. Hey, some people get genuine enjoyment out of watching shows they consider terrible, and then sharing their criticism/snarky comments with others. Whatever floats your boat, as long as you don't resort to belittling other people's opinions. Generally speaking, we all want the shows that we like to be the best that they can be, and the shows wouldn't ever get better if nobody called out the problems in them. And, yeah, sometimes you do have to just move on. Bionicle often failed to live up to what I thought its potential was, and I suspect it never really will. When you find yourself saying "ur doin it rong" more often than talking about things you enjoy (or if you're more of a riffer, if snarking/complaining ceases to be any fun), it might mean that it's just not for you. Add that to the fact that there's just so much more out there (Steven Universe, I've found, ticks nearly every box on my "Things That Would Make Bionicle Better" wishlist) and you can see that you don't have to remain in a fandom once it or its show fails to entertain you. There's also nothing wrong with being a casual fan who watches the odd episode to see how the show's doing, without investing too much time, energy or money in it. Anyone who tells you there's only one "right" way to enjoy a show is not worth talking to.

Speaking of fanart, anyone seen any good SU-Bionicle crossovers yet?

Binge watched this show on the weekend- it's so good! The storytelling is so cohesive and snappy, and each new bit of worldbuilding is backed up by plenty of foreshadowing, and it all just fits together so well. It's also one of those shows that you can tell was created with a lot of love, and it's beautiful to see that. Re: Rose knowing/not knowing Pearl's thoughts. By the same logic, why didn't Garnet know about Pearl and the tower the second time they formed Sardonyx? I guess we have to conclude that fusion doesn't give instant access to all of your partner's thoughts. Perhaps they are theoretically accessible if the fusion wants to think about the topic, but don't register otherwise. Say, if Sardonyx had stopped to think "how did Peridot fix the tower so quickly?" she'd probably find out the answer from her combined memories. (Another interesting thing about Sardonyx: she's the exception to the "rule" that fusions have the same number of eyes as the collective gems that made them. She should have five.) Also, thinking about Rose: I have a theory that Rose could have produced a child without sacrificing her body, but she chose to do things the way she did so that Steven would have her gem and powers. My reasoning is this: Gems, from what we know, typically don't reproduce biologically, but Rose made some modifications to her body so that she could. In the first episode, the Centipeedle apparently had offspring that did not bear gems. Now that we know the nature of Gem monsters, it seems plausible that, with a few bodily alterations, a Gem could produce non-gem children without harming herself. The fact that Rose gave her gem to Steven suggests she made him that way for a reason.

I'm willing to bet that we'll see the DC Superhero girls as minidolls within the next year, probably won't get a constraction line with it, though. Most of the young girls I speak to in the 8-11 year old bracket will be quite eager to watch the latest superhero movie, but they don't buy the toys due to lack of female characters. Yeah, there's Black Widow, but she's often not the sort of character girls really want to be like... it'll be interesting to see how these things change with the Supergirl series coming out, Wonder Woman in the Batman v Superman film, among other things. We live in interesting times... For an actual constraction thing, I'm vaguely turning over some space adventure in my mind involving a teenage inventor, a psychic space pirate, a superpowered cheerleader, an intellectually-enhanced hamster, and a "villain" who's basically what would happen if Princess Leia was raised by her dad. Might submit it next time Lego does a call for "theme concepts", if they can be bothered thinking about girls this time. And I've said this before, will say it again: Bionicle really could have appealed more to both genders if they'd done things a bit differently. A few tweaks to the aesthetics, a more even gender ratio, more time spent on character interaction, and more strategic marketing, and voila!

I quite like the idea of new character names, and a bit of a reshuffle of elements: Ice (white/blue) Water (Blue/navy) Jungle (Green/brown) Lightning (Yellow/black) Fire (Red/ orange/gunmetal) Air (Light purple/silver/pale blue) For the first year perhaps,then follow it up with a gravity/magnetism/sonics/ etc team.

My thoughts on nonbinary and transgender characters... A transgender character would certainly be interesting and innovative, and could be done very subtly- "oh, yeah, most Le-Matoran are guys, but she's not. It happens." But, on the other hand, I have seen actual transgender people get offended by things like the trans-Tamaru headcanons. Their reasons vary, but the two most common ones are A) It's partly based in gender stereotypes (ie, being shy, cowardly or fearful as a feminine trait, having a feminine-looking mask, etc) and B) Matoran not having a physical sex, (and therefore, to some, no "assigned gender"), making several aspects of transgender lifestyle non-applicable, and so not really being a fair or accurate representation of transgender people . Now, I fully understand the first criticism, but I will confess I don't fully understand the second. I'd say that Matoran do have "assigned" genders via their programming, even in the absence of a physical sex. We've seen that Matoran transcend their programming in several ways, and Greg has left open the possibility of the occasional Matoran who does not identify as the same gender as the rest of the tribe. Now, the question is, do these individuals count as trans? With Orde, it's a straight "no." He was designed as a male, has lived as a male his whole life, and has not, that we can tell, ever wanted to be anything else. With others, who might have been intended to be one gender but turned out another... I don't know. I sorta feel like it would be wrong to outright say "yes these are transgender Matoran. Look at how progressive we are!" when many transgender people feel that it's not a true representation. It would be nice to have these characters just... appear, and be themselves, and if transgender people see something of their own experiences in them, that's great. And if they don't, then the characters don't have to be "trans" in their eyes at all. So, ultimately, what I understand of the situation as a cis person is largely irrelevant- what needs to be considered first are the feelings of actual transgender people. While I would really like to see a trans character from LEGO, I don't think Bionicle is the most appropriate context for that- at least, not for their first transgender character. Some characters might have trans subtext (reading Takua as bi-gendered or genderfluid is actually pretty easy to do), and there have been some great works of fiction that explore gender identity in non-human characters (I'm reading a great webcomic at the moment called "O Human Star" that uses humanoid robots as a metaphor for transgender folk), but trying to officially label a sexless robot character as such could upset a lot of people- and not just the ones who deserve to be upset.

It might be kind of amusing for Emmet to meet Starlord and the guy from Jurassic World, come to think of it.