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SailorQuaoar

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  1. SailorQuaoar
    Be a bit more specific here. Do you not like the way I drew it? Does my art need more shading? Do you not like my aesthetics or art style? Oh man am I glad you asked. Yes I have a lot of these.
  2. SailorQuaoar
    Haha thanks man! And if you're talking about the recent humanized Toa pics, those aren't mine. Those are from D5 Petewa I think. I have a totally different art style. My Toa designs are a lot more tribal, like this beautiful Tahu right here:
  3. SailorQuaoar
    A few Matoran designs for my Binacle re-imagining. Yes, all Matoran are children. I know some people don't like that idea but I saw the Matoran-Toa-Turaga cycle as the natural aging of the species and ran with it. Plus I had to keep the height difference between them and the Toa. Because Mata Nui is a pre-industrial tropical society, pants and shoes are rare. The Onu-Matoran are the only tribe that wears something resembling "modern" clothing. Kotu is way smaller than she should be, and the last three were random designs that I ended up applying to specific characters. I tried to give each tribe their own unique style of clothing so a viewer can tell which element a Matoran is, even in grayscale.
  4. SailorQuaoar
    Why is he white?
  5. SailorQuaoar
    Maybe because to a lot of people it looks nice and really adds to her color scheme? You might as well ask why Tahnok has "that stupid orange" or Lhikan has "that stupid gold". Titanium Metallic is just a color, and a neutral one at that — it doesn't need any special justification. Gunmetal's ok but I think Gali has way too much of it and not enough blue. Azure is such a lovely color but she only has 4 shells of it. Not to mention that azure is so new to CCBS that it's not in any other sets so I can't give her more of it. I gave her more trans light blue but it's just not the same.
  6. SailorQuaoar
    Indeed. And in this case I'm willing to give Greg the benefit of the doubt, that he had a purpose to the 40 million foot number and that he (and the rest of the members of the story team) actually put some thought into it, and that it can be explained without resorting to pocket dimensions. (Unlike my example/absurd joke. ) The number actually makes sense, if you disregard the other outdated stuff that contradicts it and/or come up with an unproblematic explanation. Greg has always been bad with numbers and scale. I don't know why people keep asking him to do math. The GSR's height is a sloppy piece of writing. Greg probably just thought of a really big number without bothering to look up just how big 40 million feet is. A terrestrial planet cannot be the size of Jupiter. And even if that was somehow possible, the gravity on such a planet would be so immense that nothing could live there. Even a planet that's only 20% larger than the Earth has significantly stronger gravity. Stop defending Greg's sloppy worldbuilding. We can still be Bionicle fans while also recognizing that there were some really stupid things that made it into canon. Greg is far from perfect. He's a good writer, but don't ever ask him to give you measurements. Also, if the GSR really was 40 million feet tall, the island of Mata Nui would be about the size of Australia. And we know it's not that big. Faber's measurements are the only ones that even make sense in the "Mata Nui Rising" video. Mata Nui is small enough to not completely envelop the surface of Aqua Magna when he awakes. If the GSR was the size of the Earth in that video, it would make Aqua Magna at least double the size of Earth. Which makes Spherus Magna ridiculously, impossibly large.
  7. SailorQuaoar
    What was the purpose of... that? Miss Quaroar said that writers can't throw numbers around. I just proved that they can. But that's bad writing. Everything a writer puts in a story should serve a purpose. It should make a certain amount of sense.
  8. SailorQuaoar
    Protodermis is just an excuse which should not been happened in the first place. Protodermis is just a fancy name for mana. At least that's how I think of it. The Agori call it "lifeblood".
  9. SailorQuaoar
    Now, Ballom, that's no fun. We have to have giant robots, extra-dimensional wackadoodles, and crazy explosions and implosions. Otherwise we don't have an excuse to pay the special effects team. It actually has nothing to do with bad writing - the written story itself never defined a size for the bot. It's actually a conflict between an obscure promotional image from 2001 and a Greg Answer ten years later. Such petty things are what debates are made of. Personally I just chuck the former promotional image to the curb, claim it as outdated information that Greg retconned. It's easier than trying to do a bunch of math to get out of it or come up with wackadoodle explanations (bones did a good job, but I don't like his explanation for some reason so I just...do that.). Bonkles is science-fantasy, so there are a few oddities we can explain away as magic and super tech. I'm ok with that to a point. But fishers. dudette. Do you know how big 40 million feet is? It's really, really, really big. It's astronomically large. It's larger than the Earth. Do you know how big Bara Magna would have to be in order for two Earth-sized robots to fight on its surface? Writers can't just throw numbers around like that. Found the image I wanted to use. Faber has the GSR at about 3,300 feet tall; still very large but not reality-breaking. Most of Mata Nui's important islands are situated in his torso. As you can see here, his waist is so small and gappy that there's no room for a whole continent. And for the robot to be able to move, his arms and legs would need to contain some kind of mobility mechanism, so no room for islands in there. So what I propose is that the dimension is contained in Mata Nui's upper body while the limbs are pure machinery so he can move. It's just as well that the only islands that were ever plot important were in his upper body. I like the idea of the GSR; it's very fitting with the theme of Bionicle as well as drawing allusions to the Titans and World Turtles of ancient mythology. Someone I know is so frustrated with the very existence of the GSR that she made an AU where the MU is just islands on Aqua Magna; I don't want to do that. The GSR works; it just needs a bit of tweaking.
  10. SailorQuaoar
    Mata Nui falling asleep weakened the dimensional barrier, allowing things to pass in and out with little resistance. As for Voya Nui, there's no reason why it couldn't still escape to Aqua Magna's surface in this version. Maybe the dimension still resembles the dome system, it's just situated in a much smaller GSR. Matooti the Bionic Man took control through dark magic obviously. Also he's a gas so he could enter and exit the robot super easily.
  11. SailorQuaoar
    There's been plenty of debate among bonkles fans as to the size and scale of the Great Spirit Robot, and if there's even enough room inside there for a whole world while still being able to move without completely destroying the surface of Bara Magna due to its gravity. Plus the fact that if the GSR was 40 million feet tall, Spherus Magna would have to be the size of Jupiter. No terrestrial planet can get that big. I thought about how to make the GSR work for my fanfics. Then it hit me. Mata Nui is bigger on the inside...the Matoran Universe is a pocket dimension! Why didn’t the writers themselves use that explanation? It would have been so simple. The Matoran Universe being another dimension solves almost all the problems with Mata Nui’s size and scale. Plus there’s already alternate dimensions in Bionicle canon. It would also explain the weird physics. Bam I just fixed Bionicle. You're welcome nerds.
  12. SailorQuaoar
    The Sand Tribe got turned into feral scorpion people (Vorox), so they don't really wear clothes. The Earth Tribe is technically canon but since they weren't in the main story and never had any sets or visual depictions, I'm not even gonna attempt that one.
  13. SailorQuaoar
    I'm not going to critique your actual drawings, but I do think your character designs could be improved. The outfits of these characters are very bland and generic, and they look nearly identical. Variety is essential among a large cast so that individual characters can stand out in a crowd. I'm not sure if your human versions are meant to live in the present day, but the island of Mata Nui is tribal as well as pre-industrial. Your characters are wearing clothes that are way too modern if they're supposed to be from Mata Nui. When designing an outfit for a Matoran it's important to keep their element in mind, as well as the character's personality and profession. Because Ga-Matoran live near the ocean, they would probably wear something that resembles a swimsuit, and may use shells or pearls as jewelry. Takua is the Chronicler who travels around the island, so he might wear a traveling cloak as well as a messenger bag. Jaller is the captain of Ta-Koro's guard, so he would probably wear some kind of armor. Things like that. Try researching what people wear in various climates if you need inspiration.
  14. SailorQuaoar
    More stuff for my organic re-imagining of bonkles. Because the tribes of Bara Magna don't have gender limitations, you can have ladies in any element. Each tribe has differing styles of dress based on climate and social class. Fire Tribe - The fashions of Vulcanus are based on Roman attire. Fire Agori usually wear draping garments in shades of red and orange. The upper class usually adorn themselves with gold trinkets and jewelry. The people of the Fire Tribe range from fair to light brown in skin tone and usually have light brown or red hair. Jungle Tribe - The clothes of Tesara are based on the traditional garments of Central American and Central African tribes. Jungle Agori wear light fabrics in all shades of green decorated with bold patterns. Some women may go topless as the tribe doesn't really have a nudity taboo. Both men and women wear large chunky rings, bracelets and earrings. The people of the Jungle Tribe have red-brown skin and black hair. Ice Tribe - The fashions of Iconox are based on Northern European attire. Ice Agori wear thick and insulated fabrics and animal skins in shades of blue and white, and their clothes are usually lined with fur. When outside they always wear a coat or cloak. The people of the Ice Tribe are fair skinned with blond hair. Water Tribe - The clothes of Tajun are based on Greek attire (with a bit of Egyptian mixed in). Water Agori wear togas and dresses in all shades of blue that are usually made from water-resistant fabric. More wealthy Agori like to adorn themselves with silver jewelry or pearls. The people of the Water Tribe are medium brown or olive-skinned and have dark brown hair. Skrall - All Skrall clothing is deep black, an odd choice in the desert. Their garments are patterned with a caste color. In the case of female Skrall, this is blue. As the species lacks hair, many female Skrall who live in an Agori village wear headdresses or wigs to keep up with beauty standards.
  15. SailorQuaoar
    I had heard from a few people I know online that Target was putting certain sets on clearance already, but I didn't believe it until I saw it myself. Gali was marked down to $10. But none of the other sets had a "clearance" sticker on them, just Gali. Why Gali in particular, and no one else? Is she not selling well for some reason? I don't know what's unappealing about her. She's one of the more solid sets in my opinion and I can't imagine why she'd shelfwarm.
  16. SailorQuaoar
    That name would be a mouthful though. Electricity has 5 syllables. Lightning only has 2. Plus lightning is more fantasy-sounding.
  17. SailorQuaoar
    Some of the secondary Toa elements in the original story were awesome (and would have made some cool sets), but others were redundant or over-powered. Lego will probably stick to the basic 6 elements for a while, but I could see some of the others working their way back in. Lightning: I see lighting/electricity as the most likely element to return. In Lego themes with elemental motifs, lightning is usually the blue element instead of water, as in Hero Factory and Ninjago. Plus, with water's main color now being the lighter azure, I can see mata blue being reserved for lightning. Iron: Iron/metal is another likely candidate to come back, as it has precedence with Bulk in Hero Factory. And we all know how Lego loves to slap silver and gunmetal onto every set it can. Since orange doesn't seem to be a main fire color anymore, maybe it and gunmetal could be used for iron? Sonics: Sonics/sound is less likely, but Hero Factory's Stringer did have sound-based abilities (even if he had a completely different color scheme). I could see sound users wielding instrument-like weapons, but I have no idea what their colors would be. Psionics: Psionics/mind is even more out there (and can be very overpowered) but I always thought it was cool. If we didn't get a Toa of mind, maybe a one-off villain with psychic abilities? It needs new colors though. I will suggest pale pink as one of them. Magnetism: Redundant with iron. I never liked this one being an official element. It's just psionics but for metal objects only. But I could see it as a power. Gravity: Too overpowered to be a whole element. Also, black and purple is now earth's color scheme. But I could see a villain with gravity-based abilities. Plasma: Redundant with fire. Plantlife: Technically canon, if only because it and air are the same element now. But that's just my opinion. What do you think? If these other elements had villages/regions, what would they look like? What kind of weapons would Toa of these elements wield? How would their abilities manifest?
  18. SailorQuaoar
    I came across this post showing a picture of the new Gali comic. http://kallernuva.tumblr.com/post/107936376707/humans-are-canon-in-the-comics That sunken statue is clearly depicting a human, so humans must have been on Okoto at some point. But what do you think happened to them? Did they die out before the Prortectors arrived on the island? Or did they rebuild themselves into mechanical bodies and become the Protectors? Greg had previously said that humans would never be in Bionicle so this is a shocking development.
  19. SailorQuaoar
    If Lego pulled BZP's support, would they die?
  20. SailorQuaoar
    This isn't Nahuatl at all. This is Japanese. Making an Okotan language is pointless because there are little to no special terms being used this time around. There would be nothing to draw from.
  21. SailorQuaoar
    Aw yeah! This looks awesome. I absolutely love the art style in the animations. I wish the Bionicle shorts could be that detailed. It reminds me of all the stuff that made Bionicle a hit, but translated for girls. And that's pretty cool. I'll definitely be on the lookout for Elves stuff. What if we can even get Elves constraction sets (and/or dolls) down the line? The character designs are way too detailed to just be minifigs. I think the fact that this is getting such a big launch is testament to the fact that Lego is taking girls more seriously as a demographic, and actually putting effort into it now.
  22. SailorQuaoar
    About the "assuming a character is cis is by default is hurtful and marginalizing" thing. "Cis" people are the default. Less than 1% of the world's population is transgender. It's just not something that occurs to most people when creating characters, and you can't blame someone for forgetting to include gender-variant characters. Statistics back it up.
  23. SailorQuaoar
    Yes, it does. Because they're misrepresenting the franchise. And cultural ignorance is no excuse. You guys would be mad if an artist/writer had a poor representation of women, right? So why let whitewashing slide? They're both bad. BZP tears apart any artist who dares to draw "pinup" style Bionicle art. But yet you guy say nothing when it comes to this kind of stuff. That's a big double standard.
  24. SailorQuaoar
    I think my words got a bit mis-interpreted. Again, I don't want to police anyone's art. I can't force anyone to draw or not draw something. And it's not even about "diversity". It's about respecting the culture by depicting the characters in a way that makes sense with the setting. Some people on tumblr have racebent Lord of the Rings characters into black, Asian and/or Latino characters. I'm against that because LOTR is a European setting based on Anglo-Saxon mythology. It wouldn't fit the setting because LOTR is a European-based setting. And that's okay. I mean yeah you're free to draw bonkles however you want. Or write them. But just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Before you get the urge to write that highschool AU fanfic where the Toa are angsty teens with no powers, think to yourself "is this a stupid idea?" Because it probably is. Also, I know a guy from New Zealand (won't names names for now) who is Maori. While Bionicle's representation wasn't perfect (see the "Tohunga" controversy) it was pretty much the biggest piece of fiction that was based on Maori/Polynesian culture, and he told me that it was one of the reasons Bionicle meant a lot to him. Even though in-story the Matoran were only on Mata Nui for a (relatively) short while, it's the era that everyone remembers. And that's why it matters. It's not about "restricting creativity". It's about respecting the culture of Bionicle's roots. And really, if you can't be creative without involving white people then well, that joke writes itself.
  25. SailorQuaoar
    Ok yeah I was kind of too aggressive and unreasonable. I wasn't entirely honest with my words, and I'm sorry for that. But there have been threads on this very site that have argued similar things about race and culture, just with Ninjago instead of Bionicle. And a lot about genders too. This is an issue that legitimately bothers me though, so let me give you guys my real opinions. The very nature of art is that everything is open to interpretation. However, when doing fanart, a certain amount of your material is fixed, because it's based off an existing work. If you were to do fanart of the Toa Mata but draw them as Medieval knights instead of Maori warriors, well I guess you could. But why would you? Bionicle is very obviously not a Medieval European (aka "generic fantasy") setting. It just wouldn't make sense. There's nothing on Mata Nui that even remotely suggests the European Middle Ages, or the modern era. Really, even most other places in Bionicle doesn't fit into that aesthetic. Also, one of the big reasons Bionicle stood out (at least to me) was that it was probably the most famous speculative fiction work that used a Polynesian setting. Pretty much all of Lego's other IPs are Sci-fi or Medieval Europe. And really, I can't think of another fantasy setting that uses a Pacific Islander base. And that's why I don't understand people who draw Bionicle characters in modern day or Eurocentric settings. You've already got a pretty cool aesthetic to work from and yet way too many people ignore it. Yeah "they can draw what they want" but it just seems like more work to deliberately use an unfitting setting.
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