#and then i kinda feel like the toa villains from there on out just get kinda. worse?

[hugemilkshake]

Okay so I’ve been playing the Cookie Run games for a while and I’m realizing how in most games Gingerbrave should be dead-

Like that sounds bad but in the games, he’s just been born and somehow finds himself fighting god or something

And most of the time, Gingerbrave has a shit ton of bravery, friends. main character privileges and nothing else

Now that’s not a bad thing, Gingerbrave is a very fun and enjoyable character but let me just tell you what I think the differences between each Gingerbrave is and the tom foolery he experiences in each game (summed up since I don’t feel like going in depth)

And if you want to discuss this then feel free! I’m open to theory’s and other ideas :3

This will have spoilers so be warned!

Ovenbreak

Gingerbrave has been born and escapes the oven with some friends, they find a compass which eventually leads him to battling a primordial dragon (with friends ofc)

In Ovenbreak, Gingerbrave seems like a more head on guy, trying to reach his goal while also aiding others along the way

Kingdom

He escapes the witches house, creates a whole ass kingdom and then chases a dog with a crown which leads him to having to stop Dark Enchantress from destroying cookie kind but now there’s these beast cookies who are also going to destroy cookie kind (and there might be something worse coming) so now he has to help prevent that

Gingerbrave seems like more of a support character in kingdom since he’s usually there for moral support (like at the moment, the ancients are facing most of the challenges-)

Witches Castle

Gingerbraves been born and now had to worry about a witch eating you, but before you escape Ginger Dozer aka your little brother figure gets kidnapped so you save him but now have you are going to find all the cookies from the first batch to save a baby and help First Cream Cookie fitful her destiny

Gingerbrave seems to go with the flow in this one, like “you need help? Well I was going to go and escape but I’ll help”

The Darkest Night (the vr game)

Not many people acknowledg this version and I still want to play it but basically Gingerbrave is born and becomes cookie kinda last hope against the dark lord

Gingerbrave in this one I’m not sure but maybe he’s determined?

And now you might be wondering why haven’t I mentioned Tower of Adventures yet? Well thats because ToA Gingerbrave has one little quirk that makes him not seem like he’d die without main character privilege

He’s the Cookie with a Shinning Heart, the cookie of prophecy. He’s able to reverse darkness/ undo damage the oven has caused. While he’s not sure how he can do this, he was able to vanquish darkness.

He literally has a power besides unlimited bravery.

In ToA Gingerbrave is basically hope and is over all hopeful that everything will turn out just fine

Now I love Gingerbrave, he’s a fun character but ToA Gingerbrave is not only my favorite, but built different.

Because, this is just me but Gingerbrave is very much motivated by his friends, ToA brave is no exception, but if his Sugar Star wasn’t kidnapped and his friends lives weren’t at risk from the oven, he would probably just go and vibe on one of the floors. While the other braves seem like they’ll actively go out of their way to aid someone else.

I will also mention Witches Castle brave because he kinda just wants to escape but he literally didn’t have to help out, he could have dipped, and come to think of it, all of the braves except maybe Darkest Night and ToA could have dipped.

But now I’m will say that Darkest Night Gingerbrave could have just hidden away instead of fighting the dark lord.

So basically ToA Gingerbrave is the only one who 100% had to do something and somehow seems the most chill? Like yes, the position he’s in is probably stressful but in dialogue in the levels, you can see that he’s having fun with his friends while he’s on his adventure!

So in summary if I was Gingerbrave I would have become a villain by now-

[imthepunchlord]

Honestly, the thing I’m saltiest about in Tales of Arcadia is how they handled the redeemed villains. Angor Rot? Dead. Strickler? Dead. Nomura? Dead. Tronos Madu? Dead. Literally every redeemed villain doesn’t get a happy ending. It’s especially egregious when it comes to Angor Rot and Tronos, who were redeemed for all of five seconds before getting killed. Like, why even bother going through the trouble of giving that development if they’re going to die anyway? Redemption Equals Death is an incredibly stupid trope, and I really hate how liberally Tales of Arcadia uses it.

The trope does have purpose to serve, but it does depend on the characters. Cause sometimes that finality is the only way, and there is peace in moving on. One of the best examples can technically be Darth Vader, though that can be up for debate on his redemption. I wouldn't say he's fully redeemed, but has a redeeming death, saving his child over his dark service, felt like a good end for him.

So, the trope of Redemption Equals Death, it does have it's purpose and use, it just comes down to the character it will be applying to and their situations and set up. But the big issue with ToA is that they overused it. I would've top that trope at 2 characters max cause not every character will apply to that trope.

Like, I don't see the point of killing Strickler, narrative wise it didn't feel fitting. To me, it always felt that he was set up for a redemption and a happy ending.

Before he revealed himself a villain, you got to see that he loved teaching, and he worked off Jim well and on some level did still care for him. Like, you can also see the alarm/horror in his expression when he saw that Jim was the new Trollhunter and that Jim his student was now his enemy.

And even afterwards, able to accept that Jim IS his enemy, for a trained assassin who can easily kill this kid who just started out and would get stronger as he performed more, he didn't go out of his way to kill Jim, he first wanted to try and just steal the Amulet without causing Jim's death. I could be wrong, but, as antagonistic as he got, I felt he did always care for Jim on some level and was reluctant to see him dead, especially the first half of s1.

Also he did come to really care for Barbara (though it didn't stop his villainy, I feel those smacks in s3 should've happened in s2 but I guess they didn't want to explore Barbara in the know which is a weak choice to me). But, with her, his love of teaching, and his soft spot for Jim, Strickler was always set up for a redemption and a future ally and mentor. And with this, I always felt that Strickler's end was going to be him and Barbara marrying and he'd be Jim's stepfather, which would've led to more of their fun dynamic, where they do care but also can't help but be a little antagonistic and that it would improve as the years went on. Death didn't feel like a fitting end for him.

Angor Rot though I did see as a potential redeemed character and still fated for death and finding peace through it. This is a troll that had his soul taken from him, got forced into servitude to a human mage commanding him to hunt down his own people who were fighting his enemies, and through the years became hollow, bitter, and ruthless. Also, mindful the show is kinda up in the air about troll life expectancy, but there could be in the realm of possibility that Angor is also much longer lived than he should be given that he is tie to that ring. He's a villain that got put into a situation outside of his control, and he's forced into a service he didn't want to be in. By set up, that leaves him open for a redemption, and the possibility that death could finally bring him some peace, give him true freedom. Which I'm sure was the idea for s3 but I also had different ideas of what s3 was going to go, and it was so weird seeing Angor think highly of Morgana like, didn't you hate her?

Did, did you get some amnesia with your revival? Or was there some brainwashing with your revival? What's going on there, buddy?

Anyway, when s2 ended, I predicted that we were going to see a Claire and Angor dynamic explored, cause for Trollhunters, the first 2 seasons was really good about giving us different dynamics that actually came out to be a lot of fun to watch. Like Jim and Strickler and their antagonistic rivalry + Strickler falling for Jim's mom. And we got Claire and NotEnrique that was a lot of fun. And then we got Steve and Eli and gosh those two were hilarious.

So at the end of s2, I was anticipating that Claire was going to be trapped in Morgana's service with the revived Angor Rot and that they were going to be forced to work together and do as Morgana wills, and it was going to be intense and fascinating as Claire, next to Jim, had the biggest clash with Angor; she even thought that Jim should have kept that ring and wore it and forced Angor to work for him. And then lo and behold, she's now in a forced servitude and is working with a hostile and bitter Angor and what starts out as hostility becomes them becoming reluctant frienemies cause they're enemies stuck together serving something more dangerous than them and holds all the strings and the enemy of my enemy is my friend and those scenarios are always so fun to watch. And once free of Morgana, because he hates her far more than he hates Jim and co, he helps in that fight, and would pass on more at peace in contrast to his first end.

So, that's what I would've expected and that's what would've been my ideals on the paths for redeemed characters. Not every redeemed character needs to live on happily cause sometimes, there is that peace in death and moving on. But not every redeemed character should die either. And this series just took it waaaay to far, to a point it feels more for angst and shock value than something fitting to the character and story. But I also felt that s3 of Trollhunters was the start of this series starting to go downhill and made weird choices that clashed with what was initially set up so I'm not too surprised.

[kanohivolitakk]

I'd argue that only Botars replacement is really an example of this and that Botar's replacement and Dekar-Hydraxon aren't really comparable.

With Botar, he is a pre-established character whose main purpose in the narrative is to move people around the proverbial chessboard that's Bionicles narrative until he gets killed by Icarax. Thing is though, as the character whose job is to literally move the pieces around so the story can function, Botars narrative function is kinda a big deal in a story that needs characters be able to go from place to place rather fast. It honestly feels like Botars replacement was only added to the story because Greg realized that maybe killing off your personification of a taxi wasn't the smartest idea and thus needed something to replace that function in the narrative. Ergo, why not add a literal replacement to fill the void of Botars narrative function?

This doesn't really apply to Hydraxon and Dekar-Hydraxon. The real Hydraxon never served any purpose in the narrative, as he was already dead by the time the story begins. Dekar-Hydraxon is the main Hydraxon we see in the story. The narrative never replaced Hydraxon with another character, instead being a replacement is simply Hydraxon's backstory to give his character a bit more flavor and depth alongside with showing the powers the Ignika is capable of.

There's also the fact that out of the two, only Botar's a plotdevice. As I said before, Botar's main purpose in the narrative is to move characters/mcguffins/things around and that's it. He doesn't really have much of a purpose otherwise.

Meanwhile, while Hydraxon serves as a major antagonist of the Mahri Nui arc, there's a bit more going on with his character. Not just with the Dekar-Hydraxon shenanigans but also with his connection to OOMN and the Toa Mata/Nuva. There are decent stuff in his character that make him more than just his narrative purpose.

Yes, Hydraxon isn't exactly the most complex character out there. His character is relatively flat and he mainly serves as an obstacle preventing the heroes from completing their goal. Thing is though, this is true for almost every antagonist the series has. At the very least Hydraxon has an unique identity being a ward who isn't evil and just doing his job instead of having the 50th powerhungry warlord with a personality gimmick to make them standout from all the other powerhungry warlords like pretty much every other villain in the series was.

Is the Dekar-Hydraxon thing convoluted? Yeah. But it does have the benefit of making Hydraxon a bit more interesting beyond the "angry jailer who serves as a major arc exclusive antagonist" he otherwise is. If it was just normal Hydraxon with no MoL shenanigans then he'd be far more flat of a character than he is.

"o no we killed the plot device too early"

[many-gay-magpies]

the thing that always messes with me about villains whose entire motivation is "i wanna rule the universe and become a god" is that im just left wondering why? like if a character becomes a villain because theyve been hurt and want revenge or something i can get that but why would you even want to rule the world. whats the motivation behind that. it seems like it would be really stressful

[0m3g45n1p3r4lph4]

A1, A24, B18, C32 for the BIONICLE asks?

A1 - Favorite Character

This is the hardest question by far. Choosing within limited groups? Easy. But there's so many characters that I feel this answer changes around frequently. Maybe Takua? Perhaps Taipu? Or Krika? Who knows? I sure can't decide.

A24 - Favorite Piraka

This one's slightly biased by headcanon, but Avak. In canon, the Piraka barely have differing personalities beyond Zaktan, with everyone just always being aggressive and backstabbing, but I always liked to imagine Avak was kind of roped into things with the whole "Species Loyalty" mentioned in Legacy of Evil, and that if left to his own devices, he'd end up focusing on tinkering rather than enslaving Matoran. Maybe, in different circumstances, him and Nuparu could've been lab partners?

Of course, if we're exclusively focusing on canon details, I'd say Zaktan. Makuta may be menacing by virtue of being a dark god, but Zaktan is a mortal who has seen the end and survived through sheer hatred. Dude could stare down Irrnakk and that's commendable, he'd probably be outright immune to a Tuhrahk.

B18 - Favorite Comic

Thiss is a bit tough since I've only gotten into the comics recently. Overall though, the final 2001 comic (issue 3? I forget the name) where Gali has a vision of the Toa Kaita and the Toa learn to work together. It feels kinda rare - especially in '01 - to get Unity like that, and it's usually depicted as either "everyone hits at the same time" or like Fant4stic where they all try and the villains deflect everything, but once they say "together" the villain stops fighting back. Here, the Toa are constantly under attack, from Makuta's environmental control to his infected Rahi, and through the whole thing the Goa are genuinely supporting each other and using their unique abilities to catch each other's blind spots. 10/10 Mask of Light wishes it had this good fight choreography.

C32 - Favorite Fan Artist

This is unfair. So many different artists have their own styles and things I like about their art that I couldn't easily put one above the rest.

Does a conlang count as fanart? Cause if so then @/outofgloom definitely ends up high on the list. I gotta get back into those studies.

Tattorack (no tumblr account unless I'm misspelling, but has twitter) is also a fave. Their work on Project Inquilina (a Mirimax-esque modular animation kit for Matoran) is one of the closest things I've seen to the perfect ideal style, I'd highly recommend people check it out.

@/beesgav is also really high on the list. Incredible cute matoran. 11/10 such a charming style

[kanohivolitakk]

Some ramblings about Memory and why I’m happy it wasn’t canonized

Honestly the more I think about the story, the happier I am that Memory (a winner of the Memories of the Dead canonization contest) was never officially canonized. And Im saying this as someone who absolutely adores Nidhiki as a character and would've liked to see more content of him, especially one that explores his psyche in a nuanced manner.

Before we go on a few disclaimers. First off, yes, I'm aware that Memory is fan-made and that some people see critiquing fanfics as bad, at the very least unless the author personally requested it. And I completely understand that sentiment given that fanfics are hobbies and the writers may not always want critique on stuff they worked on for personal fun and passion. Thing is, Memory was not only submitted to a canonization contest, but was one of the winners. The only reason it (and the other winners of the contest) weren't canonized was because Greg wasn't allowed to visit BZPower anymore (or had it to do with LEGO quitting Bionicle g1 completely in preparation for g2, don't remember tbh). In other words, Memory was this close getting canonized, and was only left out due to external circumstances. That makes criticizing Memory fair game in my opinion.

Secondly: I actually like Memory as a story. It's well written, explores Nidhikis character in an interesting way and has a really interesting theme of how some individuals are forced into roles they didn't want to by circumstance. I think it fills in gaps from the lore nicely (especially the ending). And not only does the story use Mimic (a Dark Hunter I desperately wish was used in canon) it characterizes and uses him rather well. Him acting as a pararell/comparasion to Nidhiki is a solid way to showcase the storys central theme. All in all, it's a solid story in vacuum. Even as part of the larger Bionicle mythos I do like some elements of it and have adopted them into my headcanonverse.

That being said, I have one major issue with the story specifically regarding how it relates to the greater Bionicle canon. And that is, giving Nidhiki a "my original teammates were killed by Dark Hunters and now I desire revenge" type of backstory doesn't work for his character and arguably makes him less interesting.

First off, I understand why the writer chose to do this decision, to paint Nidhiki in a more sympathetic light. In canon, Nidhiki isn't really a sympathetic character (or at the very least wasn't intended to be one, ymmv whether or not he can be seen as one). He is selfish and his reason for betraying toa Mangai boils down to desire for glory and self-preservation. So wanting to give Nidhiki a more sympathetic backstory in order for the reader to understand why he is like that and thus sympathizing with him makes sense especially given how Bionicle doesn’t really have that many sympathetic villains to begin with and Nidhiki is one of the few who could easily be written in a more sympathetic light without making his character worse thanks to his backstory being rather tragic and there being a few hints of him being a more sympathetic character than the canon presents.

Thing is, by giving Nidhiki a desire of wanting revenge against Dark Hunters, I feel the writer misses a major part of Nidhikis character, one that could be easily expanded on to make him a more sympathetic and understandable character: his pragmatic opportunism born out of survival instinct.

Nidhiki is largely driven by pragmatism and self-preservation, by making actions that benefit him. This sense of pragmatism most likely comes from him coming from Tren Krom Peninsula: a harsh climate where you had to be pragmatic in order to survive. Pretty much everything from his characterization boils down to this survival instinct, this desire to survive taught by harsh living conditions. This is the core of his characterization and something worth keeping in mind  both when trying to understand him and writing him. And while the writer of   Memory does understand this to some extent, I feel they only saw it as part of his character rather than the main core of his characterization and driving force of his actions.

While Nidhiki loosing his teammates does add more fuel into him not trusting anyone and developing this pragmatic mindset (something Memory does pretty good job showcasing), I also feel that it's kinda unnecessary. It feels as if it exists as this big push, this big traumatic event that shaped Nidhiki's mindset into this pragmatic self-survival we see in canon and I just...don't feel that suits him. It makes more sense if rather than one big traumatic event that made him what he was it was a series of smaller events, it was him living in a place with a certain mental climate that forced a certain mindset just so he could survive.

The backstory also feels that like it exists largely to give Nidhiki a history with and grudge against the Dark Hunters which just...doesn't make sense at all when you give more context into canon. Like, if Nidhiki had a grudge against them I doubt he would've interacted with Lariska the way he did in BOADH let alone agreed to betray his team, no matter how good opportunity it felt like. Well at least it gives him one more reason to despise TSO and his organization and that’s always a plus if you ask me.

However,the main reason I don't really like this is because it feels kinda cliche and makes Nidhiki less interesting than he could be. Like, it feels that the easiest way to make your audience to sympathize with a villain is to give them a tragic backstory of them loosing a loved one that made them bitter and cynical. It just feels like a cop-out, an easy shorthand. It feels such "been there done that" and does more harm than good for Nidhikis characterization, feels like its there to make him more sympathetic through tried and true means than actually trying to understand him and what makes him tick, and building up a more sympathetic portrayal from there.

What makes this all worse is that I do think you could make Nidhiki a more sympathetic character without resorting to cliche tools like that. And thats by focusing on expanding on whats already there: his desire for survival and self-preservation. While it does make him rather selfish, its also what makes him understandable and (for lack of better term) real. While we want to talk about how self-righteous and good we are, truth is that desire for self-preservation and survival is a driving force that can override (or at the very least heavily affect) our moral compass, especially if you come from a traumatic upbringing. And like I said, the harsh survival of the fittest nature of T.K Peninsula certainly was that kind of place where Nidhiki was essentially forced to adapt a certain mindset. It’d be cool to see him slowly develop this mindset from the environment he grew up in, to have whatever potential goodness and optism he once had be eroded through him having to come in terms with the messed up nature of the world. it would’ve made him much more interesting, sympathetic and tragic character than he is in canon, all while feeling unique

That being said, I understand why the writer did the way they did. Like I said, Nidhiki isn’t exactly the most sympathetic character in canon, and wanting to give him a backstory that’s easy to sympathize with is an easy and good way to do that. It’s also worth pointing out that Memory was an oneshot, so the writer didn’t have time to go through everything Nidhiki went through before becoming part of Toa Mangai and as such, it’s easy to understand why the writer choose to give one big event that changed his mindset. I also dont think giving Nidhiki revenge motive is inherently bad (I mean its basically canon he wanted revenge against Lhikan), nor is making him more emotional and not just a pragmatic opportunist (if anything making him emotional is more than welcome in this house). But I feel that Memory just kinda, changes his character in such a drastic way that didn't sit with me, at least not completely. It kinda makes him an archetypical "I'm aloof and refuse to work with others because I lost my friends against these villains" type of character. Not only is that rather cliche that's also not what Nidhiki is like...He's more interesting as an opportunist who became such due to the harsh nature of Tren Krom Peninsula rather than your archetypical edgy shonen anime rival whos aloof because tragic backstory murder.

So yeah, Memory is a good story but I’m happy it isn’t canon because while it was an interesting take of my favorite Bionicle character, it being canon would’ve done more harm than good for his characterization as whole I feel. Also you can make a character sympathetic without having to resort to “they saw someone close to them die and desire revenge because of that”, especially when it doesn’t fit to that characters characterization as whole.

[purplerose244]

My thoughts on Tales of Arcadia: Wizards 💚💚💚

LOOK OUT FOR THE SPOILERS!!!

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SHORT VERSION

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REGULAR VERSION

I don't know if I can fully express how emotionally exhausted I am right now. I cried. And I'm not talking about metaphorical tears or stuff like that, no-ho-ho, I'm talking real freaking tears. A roller coaster of emotions, truly. You stood by your words Aaron 👌

Douxie gets into the best protagonists I've ever seen group ASAP. Like, I knew I was going to love him but GREAT GAYLEN this is ridiculous. I WOULD DIE FOR THIS WIZARD AND HE WOULD PROBABLY WANT TO SAVE ME ANYWAY LIKE HE IS A POOR BABY WHO JUST WANTS TO BE RECOGNIZED BY HIS MASTER AND FIX EVERYTHING AND SAVE HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AND AAAAAAA 🤯🤯🤯

JIAIRE 💙💜💙💜 Everything about them, from them wanting to find the other, to how much they just love each other so MUCH, to the kisses, to Claire not giving up on him, not even once. This is the ship, the OTP, the couple that went through so much yet somehow still made it. Bless them 💕💕💕

I'm biased because I love Steve and I generally don't mind comic relief, I think they are more useful than people think. That being said, yes it did feel a bit... useless? The part with Lancelot was still very cool anyway so good on that. Kinda felt like Steve found a group of dads in Camelot 😚 Also him sending that one message to Aja, that was something 😂 Can't help it liking Staja 💙💙 Although him calling out Eli so much was also very interesting 😏😏

Do I even have in me the words to fully express how amazing was Claire's arc in this? How she wanted nothing more but to save the man she loves? How she managed to get a hold onto her dark powers even though they are scary and she didn't want to become like Morgana? HOW CAN I FULLY EXPRESS HOW MUCH OF AN MVP WAS CLAIRE NUNEZ IN THIS??? 💜💜💜

Also Morgana? MORGANA??? We saw her point of view, the heart she used to have, the compassion that somehow brought her to the edge of darkness! And her redemption, AND ACTUAL!! REDEMPTION!! FOR MORGANA!! 😱😱😱😱😱 Her working with Claire, heck yeah, omg, I don't have words for such awesomeness 👌👌

Deya was glorious. I think we all kinda knew Callista was going to become the first trollhunter 😅 But she has such a strong and unique personality, and a background that makes sense for her to acquire a new identity as the first defender of the two worlds. I loved how much she connected with Jimbo, loved her A LOT 👌👌

Seeing Blinky and AAARRGGHH!! meeting for the first time and slowly building their friendship, that's the sappy stuff I'm looking for 😍😍

... wait now that I'm writing I realized, Angor Rot was there? Just that one cameo? That sounds a little suspicious 🤔

Okay sorry, I need preparation for this one *clears voice* Why is- No that's not right *cough a bit* Why is that...! No no still too low *deeply inhales* Okay so...

WHY IS THAT BEST BOY JIM ALWAYS GETS HORRIBLE STUFF THAT HE DOESN'T DESERVE?!?!? 😭😭😭

The luck of this kid, my world 😞 Besides this, man that was heartwrenching, loved it even thought it hurt a lot. And the best part is that, nothing was out of character, it all made perfect sense. Jim is and remains an altruistic person, even to a fault, who would and will think about others before himself, even if that means putting himself into such danger. I think him turning back into a human will generate a bit of controversy through the fandom, which I can understand, but personally I think it makes sense how they did it IN THIS WAY. Especially since he is now without amulet, after such a strong experience, in need to reshape himself... is this why in the game he doesn't have a troll form? NOW I'M WAITING FOR THE GAME EVEN MORE!!! 😍😍😍

The bonds. The bonds, freaking, how refreshing they were? Not only we didn't get a useless triangle with Jiaire and Douxie, him and Claire had a genuine friendship and he even taught her magic! And Archie was MAGNIFICENT?? 😭😭 Fully supportive, so close to Douxie, he clearly loves him dearly and wants only the best for him I LOVE THIS FAMILIAR SO MUCH 😍😍😍

And then Merlin... Wizards actually managed to make me feel sorry for him. And I would like to applaude the season for not making him fully good, like just because it was proved he cares about others doesn't mean he is not the known jerk that thinks about "the bigger picture" first before actual lives. Toby said it that nobody likes him (I know it was a joke but there is a bit of truth for me), Claire clearly despised him, even Douxie said it at the end that he wasn't perfect. But I think half his entire kind of redemption was right into his last words. He said his greatest accomplishment was saving Douxie. The greatest magician of all times said he did better saving a "nobody" than stuff like helping prevent the Eternal Night, or saving Camelot. I think he realized there the real bigger picture, and that actually made it hard for me to watch him pass. I really thought if he was ever going to die in the show, I would've been ecstatic 😅 But no, it felt like he died right when he was understanding. And that hurt... dang it TOA crew, playing with my heart!

But what hurt the most was just how much Merlin meant to Douxie. He was everything. His master. His friend. His father even. Not the perfect one, but one that made him who he is. He gave him a purpose, a path to follow, and a reason to be. And at the end he was someone who was even glad to see Douxie making choices different from his, like he was happy to see him taking a different path... I cried okay 😢

I know a lot of people were hoping and got rewarded to see Zoe involved, me included 😂 Didn't really explain much of the relationship between her and Doux, maybe another time? Still nice to see her pink hair again 💕💕💕

If any of you heard some kind of strong explosion coming from the general direction of Italy... that was me after seeing Krel again 😅😅 I am disappointed that he was barely involved (although him tinkering with Akiridion tech and magic was DOPE LET HIM DO MORE OF THAT) but apparently there's a movie coming next year so I'm guessing that one will show the arc Diego told us about?... I WANNA SEE MY LITTLE BOY IN ACTION AGAIN 💙💙💙💙

Also too bad Toby also didn't have that much of a role, hopefully they will fix that in the next installation 👍

I did like the Arcane Order, they all have cool as heck powers and amazing designs. With that being said, it felt like there's still stuff to discover? I freaked out for a month because of Skreal since he looked so much like an Akiridion, but Krel didn't acknowledge that? Is it just a coincidence? It didn't help the fact that they even have a similar name 😅 Also fire pal there had a mask... maybe it's just me but in my opinion masks should always be there because of a reveal. And they seemed pretty unknown. I loved these villains, they are cool as HECK and Skreal cracked me up 🤣 It just feels like we still don't know much about them

Also Nari is absolutely adorable and cute and PRECIOUS and I'm happy she's with Douxie and has that super cute disguise omg so freaking CUTE 💚💚💚

What a ride. What. A. Ride. I'm more than ever looking forward to this movie, because I hope we'll get Akiridions fully into this. Is this why the Genesis Seals are made of three parts? That would make sense

... wait wasn't Jim's dad supposed to be revealed here? Did I miss something? Or is it for the movie? I STILL HAVE QUESTIONS!!! 😱😱 The movie might actually be like a second season of Wizards. This one presented Douxie, the next one will be the final fusion of all the three franchises. CAN'T. WAIT. NOW ONTO THE VIDEOGAME 😍

FULL EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER 😭😭😭 Amazing, really amazing, and I'm really happy it's not the last we've seen of this franchise. The end will come, but not today my friends 😉

[incorrigible-groupie]

Actually, the ends weren’t that bad (a TPN/TOA essay)

So.

There are two series that ended recently and which had a lot of impact for me but also a very controversial end, like there are some wars between fans who argue about if the end was good… or not.

And me ? I really want to believe that The Promised Neverland (the manga, obviously) and Trollhunters have very coherent ends.

You’re probably wondering « why putting these two together ? » and I have a reason, multiple reasons actually. Of course, there will be spoilers of The Promised Neverland and the entire Tales of Arcadia saga (Trollhunters, 3Below, Wizards and the movie Rise of the Titans).

First, Promised Neverland. 

And mostly the character who made a lot of people cringe even before the last book : Emma. Cringe because, for some fans, she isn’t someone you can relate with because she isn’t realistic… in every sense of the word.

She is too perfect or at least too perfectly programmed for the plot whisky is not entirely true ! « She is too kind ! » well… maybe not ? I don’t think all her actions were driven by kindness. 

She is too clever to be the naive kind of kind. 

And don’t tell me that if she was that clever, she would have noticed that her orphanage was a farm because… she probably was in denial. Also, how would she imagine that monsters were waiting for them outside ? Maybe she didn’t see, maybe she didn’t want to see. But anyway, when she discovered the truth, her first thought was to get everyone out. EVERYONE.

Of course, there are her family, she won’t let them… but she did have to let some of them because it would have been too complicated, so that prove that she isn’t just a naive idealistic.

She wanted to fight, first for her family, then for every kid of every farm, because that wouldn’t be fair if her kids stayed alive and not the others. Then she also want to save every monsters, because that wouldn’t be fair since they didn’t choose to have to eat meat.

This is not about being kind, this is about being fair. This is about responsibility and guilt.

Emma doesn’t want to save everyone because everyone deserve to be saved or something cute like that, she would have killed less people or monsters otherwise.

She wants to save everyone because she doesn’t want to feel as bad as the people, as the monsters who hurt her and her family. She doesn’t want to be a monster.

When she understood, and ONLY WHEN she understood what it means to hunt, she realized how thin was the line between her enemy and herself so she doesn’t want to live knowing people lived horribly because of her. 

She didn’t want to live with that on her conscience.

And… I think this is kind of selfish ? She doesn’t do that because it’s right, she does that because she wants to be better… I don’t know. She took a lot of risks, for her and for a friends just so she won’t feel that guilt.

But the others don’t care that the mutants die, only Emma who is really clever like I said before understood and was like « yeah so no we need to find a solution or it will haunt me for the rest of my life ». This is more like a perfectionist thing that a kind thing.

Which is… logical for a character like Emma.

Really the characters in the manga are very well-written, especially Isabella who has such a dignified way to die. It was a good end for her, very symbolic, even if I’m very sad about it. When she betrayed the blond guy, I was pleasantly surprised but at the same time it made sense like, it’s very consistent, everything is consistent even if we started with a complex project. Ending the meat industry ? Save all the children ? And Isabella’s end shows how the real villain of the story are the one who benefit from the system (which says a lot about our own society).

But Emma, actually, became « queen » of the system when she made the new treaty, she literally created a new system so… welcome responsibilities while she was only 14. Will she benefit too ? Or even take advantage ? But how could she after everything she learnt, and mostly after so many people sacrificed their lives so she could reach her goal ? Did she deserve it ?

How could she live with that on her conscience ?

The answer is : she can’t. She isn’t that strong. She isn’t that positive. She isn’t that perfect.

And destiny (haha) gave her a solution on a silver plate. Not by surprise like a Deus Ex Machina since we knew there would be a counterparty which won’t be too violent because Emma cleared the path. This was an equivalent exchange. THIS IS LIKE FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST ! (By the way, why does everyone think TPN’s end was too easy while in FMA, the best manga of all time, the solution to get Alphonse’s body back was in Ed’s hands… LITERALLY !).

Anyway.

The demon offered to lose her memory, thinking she would refuse because she would be alone, separated from her family which is… euh… stupid… I mean… have you seen Your Name ?

People who are meant to be together will find each other.

Moreover, Emma was so relieved because it was solving all her problems : nobody dies, everybody goes to the other world, nobody sacrifices themselves, and the guilt she was afraid to live with ? Gone. I think Emma was also relieved to be like « yes, I have a second chance, now I will live a normal life ». And it was selfish because it seemed like she said « so guys I will send you to another universe I know nothing about after I brought you into this mess but now you will deal with it yourself everyone ! ». That was… a little cowardly ?

And the worst was that every encounter she made, every lesson she learnt, she lost them…

Well, thinking about that…

TROLLHUNTERS !

Trollhunter’s end was… hard. And gave me a bitter sensation since not only we said goodbye to our favorite characters but we also genuinely said goodbye to the show. Even if we wanted to watch the show a second time, it was kinda deleted (along with Anton Yelchin acting…) ? 

Yes, it’s hard… but isn’t it ballsy to do a scenario like this ? And we could have expected this, it’s not the first time we talked about time travel in this saga. And for gods sake at the very beginning of the movie there were a lot of things that shouldn’t happen. The train’s crash in New York, the Titans probably crushing people, the bridge being destroyed, and all that jazz… Can you imagine how Jim should have lived with all of this besides everything else he had lost ? And then, Toby died (which affected me more than I imagined).

But it’s not Toby’s death that made Jim want to change everything, it was just the last straw. The last thing that wasn’t supposed to happen. After all, if it was written that Jim was given another chance, if Naru saw that Jim would have to get back, to go aaaaall the way back, there must have a reason, or multiple reasons. Do you think humans could live normally after everything that happened ? Do you think humans and trolls could coexist ? I’m not sure, not after that kind of damage. And Arcadia was destroyed ! The HeartStone, the center of the universe, was destroyed too ! I think even if Toby survived, the end wasn’t that bright…

And the time-travel wasn’t a Deus Ex Machina either because otherwise it would have been a « and then BOUM everything is back to normal and everything is ok » situation, which isn’t… 

We don’t know what will happen. 

Jim will do everything so it’ll be okay but maybe he will make some mistakes. Vendel may not survive, maybe they will take more time to kill Gunmar, Aaaaaargh may be turn to stone again… we don’t know. And I think everyone in the fandom is pissed because of that. Because we don’t know. And I do understand : this is not the end, not a conclusion, not a great finale, more like the beginning of something we won’t get to see (like a legacy?), which is both great and very very sad for us. I hope Dreamworks will do comics or books…

But also, I doesn’t mean that nothing will be like before. There is a lot of things Jim has no control of. For example, what happened to the extraterrestrials, Jim knew nothing about it so he can’t change a thing. And for the wizards too. And when you think about it, what happens in « Wizards » has to happen. Jim won’t be a troll during that arc but it will happen anyway, it’s supposed to happen because it’s the creation of the Trollhunter, the creation of the Amulet ! And Jim has no idea of what will become because he wasn’t really there.

What is supposed to happen will happen.

Friendship or love, it will happen. Even the relationship between Jim and Blinky, even if Jim isn’t the Trollhunter. OH, SPEAKING OF WHICH.

Choosing Toby as the new Trollhunter is a super idea. Toby will accept his role right away. Toby will love his new destiny. And since he will have Jim’s help, he will be okay. Jim doesn’t want his friends to get traumatized again (I mean it’s cool to learn stuff but do you really need to suffer for that?)(I’M LOOKING AT YOU AGAIN, EDWARD ELRIC), so he will do what he can so things don’t get too heavy. And you know, maybe he want (AND DESERVE) to give a bit away. He probably give the Amulet to Toby because he knew Toby is brave enough to fight even without powers… and because he was tired to bear the Amulet ? Anyway, like I said, everything that is supposed to happen will happen and if Toby isn’t the right Trollhunter, the Amulet won’t choose him.

AH ! And don’t forget that Jim doesn’t need the Amulet to be a Trollhunter ! This is literally what the show wanted to teach us, guys ! If you forget it, it proves that it’s not only the characters who had a reset…

A reset…

Holy guacamole this is exactly like Undertale. This is Undertale’s principle. Jim is Frisk who after taking a Neutral Route wants to do a True Pacifist Route ! This is so cooooool !

Except that, exactly like in The Promised Neverland finale (well, not exactly but like a reversed version of it), Jim decides that everyone forgets everything that happened and take the guilt off their shoulders, as heavy as an armor. He erased everyone’s guilt, except his. That is far from being selfish or cowardly.

It’s the opposite ! These two shows which don’t have a lot in common have finales being negative pictures !

And Jim’s end isn’t perfect either because he still has the world on his shoulders (a little less because he isn’t the Bearer of the Amulet, but still a little more because he knows what happens if it goes wrong). 

He is still the Young Atlas because even if the characters in the shows won’t live the same thing, they will still be the characters we knew, the characters we saw growing, the characters as brave and as strong as we used to see : like in Undertale, « despite everything, it’s still you ».

And to everyone who says to me « yeah but it will go wrong because when Merlin shows Jim the future where he isn’t the Trollhunter, it was shit », well : NO.

Jim stays a Trollhunter, he said so ! And I mostly think (since the moment I saw this episode) this all thing was an illusion, not a real future, because Merlin is a real piece of garbage and I was only sad for Douxie when Merlin died (otherwise, I would have celebrate it). And I think Jim knows it too, that it wasn’t real.

By the way, I hope they will find another way to not say « For the glory of Merlin » anymore, I loved the new version of the Amulet in the movie (AND JIM LOVED IT TOO).

All of this just to say that : these endings, even if it’s very frustrating, make sense.

Of course, saying goodbye to so many things I cared about for years make it difficult to assimilate it, but that also means that I really loved it.

And in the end, it showed these two characters flaws, these perfect, pure, way-too-nice characters with too many responsibilities and a huge desire to survive, but who are being selfish for once by taking a clean start.

But they’re doing it with their pockets full of determination… proving how humans they are.

And I really will miss them.

Ready ? Set ? Go !

[star-butch]

More Mangai Rantings

Coming off of a whopping 26 note high on my secondary toa teams post, I have more rantings about the whole storyline of the Mangai.

So for starters, WHAT THE FUCK.

Lhikan, my heart and soul, my golden sweet sweet trauma boy, has the most fucked up life out of anyone in the entire lore like his entire life is spent losing the things he cares about and watching troves of people die around him. Like, boy probably had PTSD before he even GOT to Metru Nui from the Frostelus incident, like he had one job and he failed and ran away and everyone died horribly. Thats gonna leave some psychological scars. 

He then proceeds to fight A LITERAL GODDAMNED DRAGON and like, he was probably useless as fuck in that mission. Maybe running support at most, but homeboy is a specialist with fire, and this thing specifically went to a giant lava pit to gain more power. He aint gonna hurt it. They had to call in 4 ice toa, mess up the 6 toa different element comp and just cranked it up to 11. SO hes not having a great start. 

Then, after he kills the dragon, someone starts MURDERING THE CIVILIAN POPULATION LIKE WHAT THE FUCK. No other villain seemed to be as careless about Matoran life. Makuta? Brainwashed and boxed em up. Piraka? Brainwashed and enslaved. Not great, but it wasn’t just straight up elaborate murders! Tuyet, I love her. She is so full of personality and spite and I want to do so much with her character. Like next to Naho, I feel like before this, Lhikan would have trusted her the most. She is smart, skilled, and good at what she does. Easily a very useful friend, and so he had to really trust her and to find out she was doing this? My boy would have been devastated. He then has to watch as the one he doesn’t trust as much has to pick sides, which has gotta be stressful. Also yes, he definitely doesn’t trust Nidihki. Dude comes from the hell peninsula of hell island where life is hell and he gets out of there, dude aint gonna be a socialite. Hes the dark side of what toa are meant to be before he even gets there and golden boy has to just trust him to do what is right in this moment, and obviously, it isnt an easy decision, because we only know he sided with likhan in one universe, all the others might have been more in line with the Toa Empire or something like that.

So Nidhiki makes the right choice, they throw tuyet in jail to IMMEDIATELY have her stolen away to NAUGHTY HELL JAIL, so like, that must have been a conversation, like none of them knew it, and last they saw her, Tuyet was about to become possibly the most powerful toa ever, with the ability to become even more powerful as time went on. So shes just... GONE... and nobody knows shit. Thats gonna be stressful. 

AND THEN A WAR STARTS. Like all of this has gone down, things are going to shit, and shadow boy just decides fuck it im going downtown and invades the island. Thats gonna be a hard time on Lhikan, who now is essentially a war general. He has to run an island that does not seem particularly equipped for dealing with this kinda stuff. At this point also, we might just be getting the start of the Vakhi, so its not clone wars level, they cant just send out all these robocops to deal with the issue, at best they might still have kralhi??? but no idea. Nuparu might even still be working on the vahki when the hunters show up, just trying to crank em out. So Lhikan has now 10 toa vs dozens to hundreds of dark hunters, and thats gonna be a fight you lose. So in order to make this work, he has to arrange for Naho to sneak out, leaving them with even less defenders because also so. 

Water toa right? Easily some of the most powerful, if not the most powerful toa, especially in a small island like this. Just use the water around them to suck people to the ocean floor, and I feel like while Tuyet was more of a tactical and combat specialist, naho was really focused on her elemental powers, kinda like lhikan, with his precise fire powers. So she, possibly the strongest member of the team, just leaves, and has to go find some other army in the meantime. After this goes down and she comes back, its gotta be rough i mean they were holed up in the colliseum, thats gonne be crowded and hard to deal with morale, because that place cant be that secure, its got no roof sometimes. So any hunter that can fly is gona be up there trying to make a move, and those that can dig or climb have their own ways in. So after defending this for who knows how long with 9 toa, she brings in the cavalry and messes them up, but lots of them die. like just straight up in canon on both sides they were dying. By this point, its been a hard war already, righting back from within the colliseum, and trying to get control back of the city. 

Then we get the big slap in the face numero dos. Nidikhi, all ready for his glory, gets too overeager and betrays likhan and is so bad at doing so that he wins the war for the toa. He is so weak compared to what tuyet could have been like he had no sense of anything going on, no military knowledge, he was just edgy. Now he goes off and tries to sell them out and Lhikan already was able to suspect this right off the bat so he cant be too trusting at this point still, so he has probably had these doubts like what if he had been thinking about what might have happened if nidikhi had sided with tuyet this whole time. Like he probably set the bar so low that Nidihki just tripped over it not knowing it was there. So he gets that, and has a whole plan set up. 

THIS IS WHERE IT COULD HAVE GOTTEN GOOD FOR HIM. SO he talks to Hakann, makes the deal to RETURN THE ONE THING HE WAS SUPPOSED TO SAVE FROM HIS FIRST BIG TRAUMA so like huge personal victory for him and hes gotta be doing pretty okay, but the issue is, hes now gotta kick nidikhi out. I dont think hed be okay doing so either, like he had totaally been trying to give the edgelord a chance, and he just throws it back in lhikans face. So he kicks him out, never to be seen again, and the war ends. Nice and easy. 

AND THEN HIS BOSS GETS POSESSED. Like this boy cannot catch a break, he has fought a dragon, an impossible war, lost two teammates to betrayal, maybe more during the war, I have no idea, but they have gotta be on edge after the war at least, because they were likely split up. they were the toa with the most knowledge of the city, so they would likely all be generals, not to mention whoever was assigned to Dume’s guard, because that would also be so much stress and i feel like that was probably nahos thing after she saved the day the first time. so shes been stressed, lhikans been stressed, and then their boss starts sending all his teammates off on suicide missions. That’s just gotta destroy him. He also probably knows at this point that shit is going south, you are telling me a man who has seen this much betrayal would not instantly be on guard about this? I think if anything this might have been the hardest part for me to believe, that after being betrayed by two of his teammates who he was so willing to trust, to have dume start pulling weird shit and him not question it is hard to get. SO I think naho would have been last. Naho would have been his rock, ironically, because shes there to make sure hes still sane after the war, and shes been personally guarding dume this whole time so she trusts him more, and is persuading lhikan right up until its her turn. I have more personal head-canons about some of this but ill save that for later. 

so he is alone again. team all disintegrated, boss possessed, when guess who comes a-knocking, but the horribly mutated spider version of the only person he knows is left from his team. He has this last reminder of what he had show up, and it is so warped and distorted that he has gotta be just messed up so completely by that. So he decides to do what he can, make the stones, and then take on his old teammate, and then the movie happens, he gets captured, has to teach new toa how to do their stuff, which he has no experience in and so he is getting this chance to get to be a influential part of this toa team

AND THEN HE JUST DIES. And this is real hard, because Vakama and the rest were so ready to believe he was the Heart of Metru Nui like, this is someone who you can tell all the matoran respect and know and he just dies right in front of Vakama. This hero of the city, such an integral part that he was considered its heart, is just straight up killed by getting thrown aside by a shadow hand. That is the end of his life, is he gets this chance to try to prove his worth to these toa, and then he gets killed protecting them, even as a turaga. Beyond this, he was already a legacy. The metru, when they became turaga, told all these stories about him, about the adventures he did, like they know what he did for them, and so he does live on, in Jaller, in the metru, and in the minds of all the matoran, who may know now that this legend from their stories was actually real and actually did all this stuff. No other toa team did as much as the Mangai except the mata, and they werent even normal toa, they were specifically designed to be toa like they had to be the best designs, and also got upgraded several times. Lhikan and the Mangai didn’t. they got beat down time and time again and eventually all died protecting their city or turning against it.

I will tell this story in detail, and I think that it is one that needs to be told, because it isn’t one of the main stories that ends all happy, it is a tragedy, but it is the most important and untold tragedy of the entire canon. 

[sepublic]

Yeah, having the heroes do darker things didn’t quite work out because they didn’t really choose nor mean to do so- As you said they were tossed around and manipulated, told what to do without the full context, and often didn’t realize until it was too late. There’s no meaningful discussion on what to do in this Trolley Problem because it’s already chosen by others. It was more the decision of the OoMN, and this also highlights another issue I have with them- Their total lack of transparency.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the heroes and narrative properly called them out on it, on how the OoMN manipulates and lies to people, kidnapped the Turaga, forced the Matoran to work, made Toa follow orders they didn’t fully understand by threatening them, instead of giving honest reasoning and transparency... And the OoMN just kinda gets away with it. The story handwaves their horrible actions because “There’s a war going on” and “It’s for the greater good”.

It’s especially egregious since we JUST came back from the Turaga and their insistent lies, which I was salty about. The lack of honest communication made it feel like so many groups were running around in the dark, which messes with this idea of Unity and a collaborative war effort, where the people of the universe rise up together to defeat the Makuta!

On another note, it sucks that Greg wrote that scene where the Toa Mahri are duped into committing genocide and just have to shrug their shoulders accept it without ever confronting the OoMN over this. Again, not only is the meaning kind of ruined because they just stumbled into this with no choice, but also it gets completely undone anyway when Makuta makes new Visorak.

Still, at least it has a moment of introspection- I have to wonder if this was Greg’s attempt at recapturing themes he never got to discuss in the cancelled Invasion book, which would’ve had the Toa Inika see how far they were willing to go to save the day, and thus learn things about themselves they weren’t too proud of- With a major scene where they threaten to kill Makuta in Matoro’s body to force him out as an example.

But yeah, sometimes it felt like the Order of Mata Nui was a plot device to keep our heroes’ hands clean and dump exposition, while still being needlessly vague about it so the audience is also in the dark in buildup to certain reveals. It kind of feels like Greg was dipping his toes a bit into exploring how the real world logistics of such enigmatic quest giving would be morally dubious, but then he otherwise leaves it unaddressed.

And there’s also that whole mess about Botar dropping the Tahtorak on Xia instead of returning it to its home. What the hell. That’s such a scummy move. Who knows how many innocent Vortixx were needlessly killed, and what for??? Because Botar thought it was funny? He definitely had his brutal death by Icarax coming, but it falls flat because it’s only mentioned in passing, and anyhow nobody ever calls out Botar or the OoMN for this.

But I guess it’s okay because the Vortixx are an Evil Species so they deserve it anyway, but also the heroes still save them- Not because the story wants to humanize them, argue in favor of their right and autonomy to exist regardless, showing how they’re victims in this situation... No, it’s just a chance for our heroes to flex how cool and noble they are. The Vortixx themselves are basically mute damsels in distress, and the only one who isn’t in the background is the villainous Roodaka getting her comeuppance.

The Vortixx aren’t given the dignity and time of day the Matoran are, as people who also deserve to be protected, they’re just kinda there. They have no say in what the OoMN or Dark Hunters do. Obviously any arms industry should be shut down, but not like this- And is Botar dropped the Tahtorak to destroy manufacturing plants, was the Dark Hunter occupation even necessary? Or did Helryx expect both to contribute?

Also, with how the Tahtorak has been jerked around TWICE as some cruel joke by an OoMN agent, and the story never pauses to acknowledge how he really is a victim too, kidnapped and displaced- When back in 2005 we got that wonderful Rahi Beasts book, providing such a nuanced look at the Rahi, as creatures with their own right to live... Only to be revealed as made by the Always-Mean Makuta to serve. I’m not a big fan of that either. 2005 really seemed to stress the dignity of these creatures and how a lot of them were rightfully scared...

And then does this to the Tahtorak, who was previously an ally of the heroes last we saw. Not a big fan of how Krahka and the Tahtorak return, just to then disappear and not really do anything of note. I wish we could’ve seen them meet with the protagonists, who recognize and welcome them as allies and friends because of the stories.

We at least get something for Krahka but it’s essentially off-screen. And it sucks that Greg clarifies that “What is the answer?” is Tahtorak asking how he was displaced so badly from home... And the story never apologizes for this by continuing to displace and toss him around like the heroes are, without agency, and thus never getting to return home. And home is eventually dismantled alongside the Matoran Universe!

But yeah- Lots of characters really are tossed around helplessly and manipulated by the OoMN. I guess it’s an interesting parallel to how Teridax plays with others like a chess master, this idea that Helryx had to combat that by doing the same... I can appreciate the thought about that- But it’s ultimately marred by some really needlessly horrible things, an often unnecessary lack of transparency, and this implication that the heroes need to blindly follow orders and be like the bad guys to win, because Cynicism is Realism now I guess.

That last part bothers me, because we had the Metru Nui arc with its dystopian villains like Makuta or Roodaka, who demanded blind following by underlings, lied and withheld secrets, and then expected people to just go through without questioning. The Toa Metru were meant to oppose this as they did the Vahki, and then after hearing this story, the Toa Nuva and Mahri... Blindly follow the OoMN’s orders without knowledge because they know what’s better, just trust them. No wonder the Turaga were ‘uncooperative’.

And I guess it was supposed to be badass how Helryx kind of threatens the Toa Hagah in Dwellers in Darkness, how she’s such a cool and edgy anti-hero. But it doesn’t work for me like it did Hahli, who was doing mostly an actual to protect herself and her friends, against actual villains. Instead, Helryx just comes across as obnoxious and like the Toa Hagah, I really do have to ask who the hell she is to just threaten and order people like this, acting like she has Mata Nui’s own will behind her.

Which, she may or may not have, I’m not sure just how much the OoMN is following Mata Nui’s will, or just interpreting how to carry it through... But still, I just want to ask “Who died and made YOU our overlord?” Because it definitely wasn’t Matoro. He really did that for Makuta and I don’t want to deal with it a second time. It’s funny that Helryx imprisoned Tuyet, because honestly I think they’re pretty similar, far more than the narrative seemed willing to admit.

To put it bluntly- Helryx really did feel like a Girlboss, in that in Greg’s attempt to make a badass, edgy, female anti hero... He just made a really terrible person who the narrative glorified as so much cooler than she is and let’s her get away with it scot-free. It’s not unlike Chiara killing an innocent lizard for fun, and it’s almost sexist in a way- Where these female characters need to push themselves as far away as possible from ‘feminine’ emotions like being kind and caring.

And they’re only allowed to be cold and unfeeling like toxic masculinity but Woke, until we get Helryx being the CIA and we’re supposed to root for her like that Margaret Thatcher meme, because look at her she’s a girl bossing people around and being a dictator, isn’t that empowering, isn’t that what girls want to see??? Suddenly this Power Fantasy feels more like a misunderstanding of what girls actually want, until it’s twisted around and framed as totally okay.

Keep in mind that Helryx decided it was better to kill the entire universe than let Makuta keep conquering, which... Just shows her arrogance is not unlike Makuta in deciding who lives and who dies like that. I guess it’s fitting Makuta chose her as a ‘friend’ who decided this in the Core Processor where he controlled from... With what I said earlier about Helryx’s similarities to Makuta, I guess he recognized the similarities. It’s a shame Helryx didn’t have the self-awareness to do the same, because unlike her, Makuta actually admits and accepts that he’s horrible and evil and isn’t glorified for it.

The Ignition Trilogy’s Morality

(What follows is a tangent that transitions into an analysis on my main issue with the Ignition Trilogy; Specifically in that it fails to provide a proper rebuttal to the cynicism and cruelty introduced with characters like the Piraka or Order of Mata Nui, who basically exist to mock the Toa’s idealism and tell them to ‘grow up’. Which in turn, causes the story’s attempts to be more nuanced to backfire, and instead become even more edgily black-and-white, with one-dimensional villains whom we are supposed to accept as having always been pure evil, unlike our noble heroes who are good and thus could never become bad.)

      Is anyone else miffed that the Piraka defeated the Toa Nuva? I think with characters like the Rahkshi or even the Bohrok-Kal, it didn’t really bother me because… Yeah, the Toa Nuva usually have their initial loss, their harsh learning curve- But the idea is that eventually, they learn to overcome this and win anyway, because that’s what heroes do, against all odds.

      But they never defeat the Piraka- Instead, the Toa Nuva are helplessly shackled with no agency, and provide no bearing on the plot whatsoever, needing to be rescued by others. Sure, I can live with the idea that it was more Brutaka powered up by Makuta that defeated the Toa Nuva, but our heroes never did get their proper rematch with the Piraka.

      In fact, none of our heroes did- Every time there was a full fight between the Toa and Piraka, it was always the Piraka who won, or kind of weaseled their way to victory because of dumb luck. And it really bothers me, because while I have professed to find the Piraka pretty hilarious… They’re my least favorite villains for a reason, and it’s because those obnoxious jerks never got properly put into their place by an actual team of Toa heroes.

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[kanohivolitakk]

Have you done Krekka for the ask game? I know you're a huge Nidhiki fan, curious if you have any thoughts on his partner?

I haven't gotten Krekka yet actually. So far I only done Toa Ignika and Axonn for the Bionicle ask game (which Im still accepting). That being said great choice. Krekka isn't necessarily a big favorite of mine (partially because I'm not that fond of the "dumb brute" archetype barring a few exceptions), but I have to admit I do have a soft spot for the big guy. Krekka is a relatively simple character when it comes to characterization/backstory/role in the story (especially when compared to Nidhiki), but that doesn't mean I don't have any "deeper" thoughts regarding him or that there isnt stuff worth discussing.

Anyways some thoughts/headcanons/general musings:

This is a weird thing to start with but... Krekka is kinda adorable for me. I think its kinda this ...overgrown puppy (bulldog??) vibe due to his loyalty and dumbness. I admit BOADH is a big reason for me feeling this way since it gave him a few moments that made me go "AWWW he's so cute". Just..love his loyalty so much.

His undying loyalty makes him stand out for me across the other dark hunters. While many dark hunters we ha e are opportunistic and schemy, Krekka is just...very loyal. Maybe too much so. But I love that he is loyal. Feels refreshing tbh.

And now I cant help but feel that TSO is just "guys stupid but at least he wont double cross me and is easy to keep in check" when it comes to him.

Not to go woobifying villains but I genuinely dont think the guys that bad. Hes just really stupid, overly loyal and doing his job. Its kinda like w Lariska being a decent person despite being a knife happy murder girl although to a much lesser extent since guys a literalminded fool and also just smashy boy.

I do like his backstory of being a former guard who lost his job and started wreck havoc until one day a dark hunter found and hired him. It isnt anything too complex but it works well for his character and explains why he is so loyal to Dark Hunters. It also helps bringing a bit more light to his homeland and I love when we get more info of places through character backstories, makes the world feel more real that way.

Also can Gorast please stop hurting charaxters I like. This is the reason shes my least favorite character in the 2001-2008 storyline that isnt just a glorified extra or a plot device.

When it comes to Krekka, one scene I always think of when I think of him is in BOADH where he temporarily forgot to fly and Nidhiki was just "WAIT A MOMENT LARISKA TOLD ME YOU CAN FLY????" and Krekka just goes "whoops I forgot". That was adorable honestly. You dumb idiot, forgot you could fly.

Also, I know he's kinda "the idiot character", and while I am NOT saying he isn't, I do think its worth pointing out that he's basically literal minded. In BOADH (again) when Nidhiki tried to do that training scenario Krekka basically was like "wait I’m here, there’s nothing there why should I move there". This is

Another thing I really like about Krekka is that how, despite being an absolute idiot and tool, he still is willing to sometimes not take Nidhikis bullshit, see preventing him from getting the Zamor launchers (geez BOADH did a lot for this guys characterization lmao)

I sometimes call him truck boy because his name is one letter off my languages word for truck.

Also unless canon/word of Greg says otherwise I don't think every member of his species is as stupid as him. Like possibly on similar level but still.

It is made pretty clear that Nidhiki couldn't stand Krekka at all, but I do genuinely wonder how Krekka feels about Nidhiki. Based on the little we have I'd say he liked him to some extent or at the very least, didn't hate him to the same degree. I also have to wonder how aware he was about Nidhikis haterd towards him.

I also love the idea that when Nidhiki was mutated, Krekka just...wasnt afraid of him at slightest, no fear in this dumb boy. (I also like the idea he didnt recognize him at first and Nidhiki just, had to explain to his thick skull who he was. It took a while but eventually he got it.)

On a related note, I find it interesting how the LOMN website describes him working with Nidhiki because guy knows where to get the good jobs or something rather than being his goverment (read TSO) assigned partner The way the twos relationship were described makes it feel that by this point the staff hadnt figured out what they wanted to do with Dark Hunters , or if it even was an organization or just these two tools.

Its really interesting for me how Krekkas characterization not only varies between the books/comics (where hes more intimidating and him being a simpleton isnt as pronounced) and the movie (where hes more of a dumbass) but also how his characterization evolved. Like, his loyalty wasn't that pronounced trait but now I feel its just as important part of him as him being a dumbass (which is to say, very interesting)

I remember how the aftoermentoined Metru Nui movie website described that Krekka hated toa to the point wouldve hunted them for free if Nidhiki didnt make sure the two would get paid. I feel this is somewhat early installment weirdness as it isnt mentioned anywhere else but at the same time Krekka being willing to fight without payment sounds 1000% in character if you ask me

Something I have been confused over: when exactly was Krekka recruited to the dark hunters??? The timeline is very vague about this and I wish we knew.

It's been AGES since I watched my home countrys dub of LOMN but what I recall I really liked Krekka's voice in that dub. He sounded more badass and I loved it, the VA had a pretty unique sound. Sadly dont think there is any clips of the LOMN dub, which is a shame. UPDATE: I rewatched the dub and I love the voice itself but felt the voice direction made him sound kinda inconsistent

This is more a "Nidhiki and Krekka related thought" rather than just Krekka related but one thing I really like about Krekka and Nidhiki is that how they are like a more serious and competent take of "those two evil henchmen with contrasting personalities" trope. Often these types of villains are rather goofy, but these two could be rather dangerous as well and I really like that. I also like their dynamic of just doing Nidhiki being done with Krekkas bullshit. One of the main reasons I wish LOMN was a miniseries rather than a movie is because I really wanted more screentime with the two.

On a related note can I JUST SAY I LOVE the way the two compliment/pararell each other. From design (Krekka being bulky mostly blue colored, Nidhiki being slender and monstrous, mostly green colored) to personality (Krekka being foolish and simpleminded but loyal Nidhiki being cunning and ambitious but treacherous) to powersets (Krekka being strong physical attacker, Nidhiki being weaker(??) but faster and more special attacker).Heck, even their backstories have similarities as they both lost their orginal purpose in one way or another and didnt have anywhere to go but Dark Hunters (the main difference being that Nidhiki inflicted his fate upon himself by betraying the toa while Krekka didnt really do anything iirc)

Now for something crossovery, Krekkas and Nidhikis dynamic reminds me a lot of Kronk and Yzma from Emperors New Groove. Yes I have drawn a parody of the "pull the lever kronk" meme, yes I intend to make more screencap redraws. They also remind me a lot of Mummymon and Archenemon from Digimon 02, partially due to the dynamic (smug spider that tries to be cunning and intimidating but gets outclassed by most other villains in that + loyal blue dumb boy) partially due to their ultimate fate being rather similar.

I don't know how familiar you are with the franchise, but Krekka reminds me a fair bit of Gamel, one of the four villain generals in Kamen Rider OOOs, mainly because "the dumb brute major villain that's kinda cuteish and loyal a f while everyone else is an asshole".

I remember reading a p good oneshot fic that was just him accidentally killing a civilian when all he wanted was a hug and...honestly that is p much what I imagine him being like. Guy may be strong, reckless and a fool but like I said I dont think hes all that bad and just a puppy. An overgrown, moronic puppy but a puppy nontheless

For AUs, I remember I have thought once of "What if Krekka survived but Nidhiki died" and just ...guy wouldve been very lost and confused and unsure what to do tbh. He would most likely returned to Dark Hunters but Mata Nui knows how say TSO wouldve felt about that. Its not too complex au yet but I am thinking of developing it further one day.

Thank you for asking.

Sorry this took longer than expected. I had too many thoughts and half of them were deleted so. I hope its worth the wait tho. I do have a lot of Krekka thoughts and tbh wasnt sure if I was even able to get them all here.

(I am still doing the ask game so if anyone wants to send me a bonkle I will try to give thoughts, meta and headcanons on them)

[purplerose244]

Hi everyone!!! 💜💜💜

Today is my birthday! 🥳🥳🥳 DJ Kleb put on some music, let's celebrate!! 😎

Been another year, so let me take out my imaginary book of fairy tales and let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, an Italian fangirl discovered the Tales of Arcadia world 😍

So I can admit, I started to watch the show very late, even if I knew about it for a long while: that's because the screenwriters of my beloved Ninjago, Dan and Kevin Hageman, had announced they were going to work on this. I thought that it could be worth it just by that, but never really got interested. Besides, I didn't even have Netflix at the time, so eh 🤷‍♀️

Fast forward time, it was a month before the release of 3Below when me and my friend decide to share to get Netflix. And I remembered about the show, Trollhunters, and I decided to give it a look.

And I guess I kinda-

I DEVOURED IT, REGRETTING ALL THE TIME LOST NOT WATCHING IT 😢

There was just something really special in all of this, from this very standard yet pure protagonist, this smart love interest, a best friend that was actually and always supporting his best bud (how I loved Toby 🧡). Then the trolls, the bonds between the characters, the plot, the villains, the feelings behind and 🤯

After I discovered it was going to be a trilogy, I got super excited but scared as well: new characters, what about Jim and the others? Will I ever love others like I loved the Trollhunters team?

If you know me enough and the way I fangirl about beautiful baby boy Krel, you know the answer is yes 💙💙💙 3Below got me good, the best sequel for Trollhunters with the complexity of the characters, more beautiful bonds and a new thrilling atmosphere. Also that's how I met my OTP Kreamus 💜

And now, we are waiting for Wizards that will probably kill us all 😅 So thrilled and hyped for it, HECK YEAH 💕💕💕

All of this to say that I'm really happy to be part of this fandom, full of talented and wonderful people I'm glad I met!! 😊

I'd like to make just a few names, it's a thing I did last year too for another one of my fandoms and I like the tradition 🤷‍♀️ Whoever is in the TOA fandom though, love ya pal 👍

Sooooo:

@akozuheiwa My favorite Kreamus artist and mutual shipper! Girl I'm so happy I've met another person crazy for these two math dorks!!! 😎😎 (also the writer that taught me to fear the 🙂)

@thearcadialedger THE theorist! I love your theories about the show so much, they inspire me a lot! Also your posts about The Dragon Prince are beautiful ✌

@ginger-le-gay What can I say, an absolute icon, never met such a loyal fangirl before. Really inspiring 🧡

@fligshaag Wonderful artist, your work is beautiful, I love your style!💕

@shitpostsfromarcadiahigh Do I even have to say it? I know I'm gonna wake up with a smile as soon as I see one of your shitposts 😂😂

@earth-ambassador-jim A mention for the very nice art you make and the fic/fanart I got for the secret santa on Christmas, it was the cutest thing 😍

@yellowmagicalgirl I love your posts, especially about Douxie, your theories are so cool! 👌

@regwishesshehadmagic Always present in the Krel Tarron tag 💙 Also your GIFs of the show gives me life 😚

I know I missed many of you, sorry about that, I honestly appreciate every single old and new member for the fandom! 💜 Anyway thank you for your work! We're going for the third part of this amazing trilogy!

... so yeah, I guess I'm celebrating my last birthday before the storm 😅

Well then everyone, stay safe wherever you are and have a good day!!! 😙😙

[beesgav]

I actually finished up vol 6 like the day after I made my last post like this but I didn’t want to make too many of them in a row, so

final Bionicle 2006 Thoughts below the cut

- All in all, I actually... really liked it? It’s probably tied with 2005 for my third favorite year honestly

- I’m kinda surprised by this because originally I was really not looking forward to this one. To me, it shifted entirely from the original content I liked about Bionicle, which encompassed the first three years. I really liked the setting of Mata Nui and was sad to see it being moved away from. It doesn’t help that up to the Inika’s arrival on Voya Nui, things just seemed to be getting bleaker and bleaker

- Speaking of, it was really hard to get through the first, like, half of the volume because things seemed so bleak. Between the scene at the gate to Karzanhi (which still gets me because I don't know how/when they’ll meet up with Takanuva again), the Nuva being captured, and the Voyatoran being enslaved (with a not-insignificant number of them dying during that tenure), it just seemed like things were getting worse and worse

- I don’t think I talked about Karzanhi in my last posts? He’s alright. I liked the scene Matoro got with him and how it starts to set up a conflict between Matoro and Jaller, which would be referenced/expanded upon later. I wonder how it’s gonna escalate (assuming it does) in 2007, up to the eventual climax (which I’m... not looking forward to)

- The Piraka, though, I loved. It took me a bit to warm up to them but honestly they’re so great and such a needed refresh from super dramatic villains like TSO or Makuta. They’re complete slime but written in a way that really really works (a pet peeve of mine is characters that are evil just for the sake of being evil because they so often wind up absolutely boring). The contrast they have with the Inika w the whole ‘duty vs freedom’ thing already makes them intriguing villains, and the banter they have on top of that makes them really fun to read about

- It is a little weird to me that they started out as Dark Hunters, but I suppose it makes sense. I had just always assumed they were separate entities entirely

- I’ve said it before but the banter in these books is absolutely a high point, and that extends to all of the Farshtey books

- Even though I don’t really like the Inika masks and do prefer the appearance of the Mahri, I’m a bit sad that they’re moving on so quickly. I understand why from a toy standpoint, but it feels like they’re getting rid of some really interesting concepts in doing so- stuff like the Inikas’ mask powers and the combination of their elements with lightning- how do they deal with their potential to be dangerous to the people they’re trying to protect?

- I really liked this bit

I’m absolutely reading too much into this, but I like that in Tahu’s line, the emphasis is “Toa Jaller?” rather than “Toa Jaller?”. Like it’s no surprise Jaller came after them, but it is a surprise that he’s a Toa now. All in all, I was just really excited for the Inika and Nuva to meet.

- I’ve mentioned it before but I also love the Voya Nui Resistance Team’s whole dynamic, but I failed to mention that I especially enjoyed how they had a philosophical Po-Matoran (even though he’s nooot I know I know) and a Ko-Matoran who absolutely hated that. Like, between that, how Garan, not Balta, was the leader, and how Dalu is the warrior of the team, I liked how the VNRT shift the dynamics we’ve gotten used to. But I esp like Kazi and how annoyed he is heheh

- This moment was also nice and showcases some of the character development Tahu’s gone through

(on the whole, Tahu seems pretty divisive, but he’s actually one of my favorites. He was great in this book even for how little he featured)

- anyways this is getting really long. It’ll be a while before I get to 2007 but I’m... again uncertain, since i’ve heard it’s one of the bleakest years.