Eiji Hino

they are classified as separate species in official bionicle lore, which doesn't make sense. if the "life cycle" of the matoran species goes matoran - toa - turaga, why aren't those terms just used to describe the different stages of said cycle? you don't give an insect a brand new species name at every stage in its metamorphosis. i'd much rather have that if there absolutely has to be an evolution otherwise, i think they should just be titles to describe village roles.

hi, local 2009 apologist here to weigh in on the subject. like i said in another thread, 2009 wasn't a bad year; the saga it started just wasn't given as much time as the matoran universe saga to develop. the story started answering some of the long-standing questions of past arcs and started laying out some really cool new ones, like why the agori/glatorian were so suspiciously similar to the matoran, or where the prototype robot that showed up at the very end came from. and the world of bara magna held the intrigue necessary to tell these stories; sure, it was a bit barebones, but that added to the mystery and made it feel like there was a lot more to find out. plus, post-apocalypse desert setting? what a lovely day. the character beats took some refreshingly new directions, like ackar being a supporting protagonist and malum becoming essentially a side character in an era where the fire characters hogged the spotlight, kiina and berix being the enthusiastic and goofy ones instead of the traditional air-affiliated characters, or metus being the traitor- that one genuinely floored me as a kid. shout out to perditus, though, for being the absolute king of blank slates; he can be almost anything i want him to be now. and set-wise, the new pieces were designed well, fixing a lot of the problems that 2008's sets had, and combined to make each character really stand out visually. the character and set design of 2009 is actually one of my favorites out of either of bionicle's runs. i actually don't think the legend reborn was that bad. its visual style was great (minus the teeth), and the voice acting was distinct and expressive. if anything, it felt like they were trying to cram too much story into a single movie. it should have been told instead by a longer series of books/comics than what we ended up getting, like the chronicles/adventures/legends series before. tl;dr i like 2009.

matoran, toa, and turaga being treated as separate species makes no sense. they'd be much better off as titles applied to one species and its different occupations- matoran are the normal villager guys, toa are the warrior heroes, and turaga are the village leaders and priests.

the toa mata/nuva are overrated and overexposed. maybe it's because i got into bionicle when they weren't on the shelves, or maybe it's because of my anti-"first installment always wins" attitude- i really don't like it when people praise the first iteration of a series/franchise to the detriment of later installments (like i've seen countless members of this community do with the 2001-2003 saga)- but personally, i don't understand why those particular six are held up as the "golden standard" or the "best" characters in so many circles. they always felt kind of basic and tropey to me. i might have been fine with that at first, but especially toward the end of their run they lost their charm for me. i also don't understand why they took up so much of the spotlight. part of the reason my reaction to the phantoka/mistika was negative was because i was sick of seeing them make another comeback and dominate the story again. even when they toyline came to an end, they continued to be driving players in the online serials. really, greg? you've just introduced us to a brand new world full of brand new characters waiting to be explored, and you're going to go back to the same six guys that we already know inside and out? and then there's the fact that they were the only main heroes in the reboot. i was holding out hope that a different team would get another chance to shine, but no. it was the same. six. guys. tl'dr the toa mata/nuva need to take a break.

the bara magna saga wasn't bad. it just felt more lackluster because it was relegated to the last two years of bionicle's shelf life, as opposed to the eight years the "main" saga received. story wise, it had some pretty high concepts like the creators of the matoran universe, a society long lost to history, post apocalypse, tribal warfare and imperial expansion, and reactions to a literal deity walking among the populace. they definitely should have been given more room to shine; i think a lot more cool stories could have been spun from them. character wise, every major player had their own charms about them that made them stand out from the crowd that came before. there were also some interesting spins put on traditional archetypes. for example, i really liked gresh being idealistic and light-hearted because of his rookie status, rather than him being a general jokester like almost every green character before him, or malum taking the hot-headed brashness of a fire character to its logical extreme and making him extremely unpleasant to the point of everyone severing their ties with him permanently. the characters who weren't present as often made their limited screen time work. and the characters who only got the barest amount of characterization were- and still are- begging for fans to elaborate on them and flesh them out. (i'm looking specifically at perditus.) after all, isn't fan creativity one of the central pillars of the bionicle community? set wise, we got a lot of new and cool-looking pieces, several of which solved problems that had affected the sets that came before. the new skull pieces removed the awkward neck placement of the previous av-matoran style skull piece. the new neck piece removed the hunched look the hordika neck constantly provided. and we finally got pieces that looked like actual hands. there was a lot more variety implemented in the canister sets to give everyone a distinct look despite the relatively limited inika building system. the vehicle sets looked stellar and i wish i had gotten my hands on one. the only real stinker was toa mata nui, but that's not exactly an unpopular opinion. tl;dr bara magna deserved better.

pretty sure that's lego, not so sure if that's david

hold me closer lv80 dancer

smiley face rotisserie

--IC: Catina: Cliffside-- If this Agori had met his fate so witlessly, then the same fate could befall anyone with a lesser attention span. And that would simply not do. Catina's finger tightened around the trigger of his launcher... And then he stopped once he saw the doctor's pleading face, and dart gun. The knight errant reluctantly lowered the launcher; his arm felt noticeably heavy as he did so. Perhaps there would be another opportunity to slay this beast, one in which the possibility of getting shot himself was not present... - - - --IC: Grank: New Atero-- I place the empty bowl on the table; Oko's soup is as delicious as ever, thinks I. Thinks I afterward, I know where it is I should take my fire. Tesara. For all their marketeering and peddling of wares, if I remembers correctly they have a distinct lack of home-grown, ember-forged metalwork. It's all imported. If I sets up shop there, then they won't have to pay out the nose for good quality imports, reasons I. My mind's made up. I make to stand up, but before I do, I catch a wave in my direction. Comes from a lanky red fella with pitted armor; a fellow craftsman, by the looks of him. I cast him a wave back. - - - --IC: Hestala: Tesara-- Well, it was about time. Hestala hadn't gotten up to much while she had waited for the Vista Baby to be fixed, so this was about the most exciting thing going on for her at the moment. As she approached, she cast a gaze over the fresh shell of her precious airship, and her pupils practically shapeshifted into hearts. She let out an excited squeal. "Oh, dahling! You've gone above and beyond! She's just perfect! I can't thank you enough!" The Vortixx woman threw her arms around Vehe in a hug (which doubled as an excuse to feel up his pockets). - - - --OOC:-- sorry again for the wait. computer broke again.

magic mushroom.

--IC: Bacchus: The Arena-- The meaning of Kaenis casting a loathing gaze upon herself was not lost on Bacchus. "Oh," he said. "That's what you mean." He scratched his head at the giant woman's question about Bota Magna natives' residency status; as far as he knew, the majority of them were still on that jungle world. "If that's the case, then we won't have to go to Bota Magna after all," he said in a hopefully encouraging tone. "If you'd like, you can certainly go and try to find one. I'd hate for one of us to have to leave, though..." More thoughts on the symbol representing the Red Star whirled through his head. Wasn't there an old legend about it being the place where departed souls came to rest? How would they get their hands on a departed soul? It wasn't as if one of them could just die and come back to life... could they? Another outlandish theory that might bear some looking into, but for now, he would be content with trying out their theory about Bota Magna. - - - --IC: Catina: Cliffside-- Catina did not put his launcher down, nor did he fire it despite the tendrils of horror creeping up around his heart. If the consumption of this plant creature's seeds resulted in a half-death like the one the poor Agori was experiencing, then he wasn't so sure it would be a good idea to let it take root elsewhere. Perhaps it would be best to put both plant and Agori out of their misery. Still, he respected the doctor's wishes and did not fire. Instead, he cast another thought, asking why the Agori would willingly consume a seed. --OOC:-- sorry for the wait, everyone. my computer broke. this arena mystery is getting real puzzling.

recently finished a drawing of gali that my mate requested. took way too long, but we both were happy with it.

--IC: Hestala: Tesara-- Above her pink aviators, Hestala shadowed her brow and peered around for the specific number of the bay she had parked the Vista Baby in. "Number 42, on the outskirts. I'll expect to see you there tout suite, dahling!" - - - --IC: Catina: Cliffside-- If setting up roots and growing potentially involved more Agori becoming twisted and tormented like this one, Catina wasn't so sure he would take kindly to having this plant around. He mentally asked the plant if this root situation it was currently in would be the exception or the rule.

--IC: Catina: Cliffside-- Polite had never been Catina's style, not since his crash. But regardless, he still did not pull the trigger; he kept the launcher where it was and mentally asked the plant (why of his own volition, despite his extreme disgust, he didn't know) what he meant by not meaning them any harm.

--IC: Catina: Cliffside-- The poor Agori was in clear pain. He? She? It just wanted to be put out of its misery; that would be the pragmatic thing to do. Would this plant survive if its host were killed? Would it puppeteer the corpse around as it was now doing with the live body? Or would it perish, and its mind reading with it? Catina raised his launcher, but he did not aim it at the more concentrated areas of plant. He pointed it at the crying Agori's head... and waited.

--IC: Catina: Cliffside-- The last word seemed to slam Catina back into the door frame. It was reading his mind, there was no other explanation for it. Never mind how a grotesque plant parasite inside an Agori's husk had learned to communicate- somehow it was invading his mind and rustling through his thoughts without permission. And as a Glatorian who liked his privacy, in all forms, this did not sit well with him at all. Could the beast see as well as speak and think other's thoughts? The knight errant tried his best to close off his mind so that it would not perceive his hand going slowly for his Thornax launcher...

--IC: Catina: Cliffside-- He reeled back slightly. He had not said a word- he was physically incapable of saying a word- only asking his question with a thought and an expression. And the creature had given an answer out loud. How was this possible? Catina thought briefly. How could it know what I asked, without me asking it?

--IC: Catina: Cliffside-- Catina flexed his hands experimentally, tested the limits of the soft throbbing pain that filled his stitches. They would hold, and they would hold well. It was very good. The knight errant stood awkwardly for a moment, unsure of his next step. The doctor said that he was free to go; was that true? Would he not ask for money in exchange for his service? Should he, Catina, offer some of his meager store of widgets unprompted? Ultimately, he decided to give a nod of acknowledgement before he caught the doctor's aside glance, toward the strange Agori-plant creature. He quirked an eyebrow, as if to ask, "What exactly is that?"

the boaty mcboatface of the fungus world

eyes hurt

snowmen genetically engineered to survive in greener climates, at the expense of looking like diseased children

--IC: Bacchus: The Arena-- Bacchus tapped his bushy chin with the stem of his pipe as he mulled over what he had said to the giant woman. As he had said, his idea that the six-pointed symbol represented Bota Magna was just that- an idea. But its persistent red color, coupled with the fact that it definitely looked more like a star than a symbol for a jungle planet, made him start further considering the idea that it represented the Red Star. In his explorations, he had heard snippets of rumors and stories that something- be it strange creatures or actual people- lived on that small glowing piece of the cosmos, but he had discounted them. He wished now that he had taken the time to remember some of those snippets; they might be worth considering in his passing theory. The Rock Agori was just about to reply to the giant woman's offer to find a Bota Magna native to see if that made a difference, when Kaenis cut in with a discouragement. "Why not?" he asked. "What's wrong with Bota Magna? Or do you mean that we lack the ability to go there?" - - - --IC: Catina: Cliffside-- The doctor seemed not to know what Catina's gesture meant, so the knight errant tried something else. He pointed to the doctor, then to the stitching in his own hands, and followed that with a thumbs-up. It was intended to mean, "You fixed my hands. It is good work." - - - --IC: Hestala: Tesara-- The Vortixx woman cocked a hip and planted her hand on it, an annoyed expression on her face. "Weren't you paying attention? I said I want you to fix my airship; it's just gotten out of a rather unfortunate dogfight and I can't bear to look at the damage anymore. I have more than enough widgets that might help you start getting back on your feet. Will you do it? Or do I have to repeat myself again?"