#i should draw more bionicle

[polygonalfish]

A swarm of protodites that believe they are the Piraka Zaktan

[somuchforsnakes]

Bionicle's Bohrok were one of the first antagonists in the theme, yet it's incredible how their designs nailed their characterization and story role while being unique. Let's analyze them all, for they must be analyzed.

In my review of Friends' Leo, I stressed the importance of communicating character and story role efficiently and effectively in a toy, since you can't guarantee that everyone will read the supplementary material before or after buying it. This is also true for the Bohrok, but their story isn't about baking and soccer games.

The Bohrok are a hive of powerful, fearless and mysterious machines built long ago, kept in a deep slumber underground. When awoken, they swarm the surface and destroy everything, per their directive to "clean it all" (The Bohrok aren't truly evil, it's just that our heroes count as "all" right now). There's no use appealing to emotions or morals, since the Bohrok have neither. While the story's main protagonists can disarm a few Bohrok at a time, their weapons can't stop the whole swarm.

Aside from a few technicalities, this is a typical "alien invasion" story, so the Bohrok need designs befitting an invading force. They need to instill fear and look unfamiliar, but they should also have an interesting thematic throughline. On top of that, the Bohrok need to look distinct from other monsters in fiction and unmistakably belong to Bionicle. How did the designers solve these dilemmas?

Like many sci-fi and horror creatures, the Bohrok's designs draw from a classic well of inspiration: the arthropods. Basing a design on something so different from humans is a convenient way to instill unfamiliarity and fear (it's partly why more people fear spiders than deer, who have a much higher body count). The Bohrok don't draw from a single creepy crawly, though: they have sturdy, compact bodies reminiscent of beetles, the cast structure of termites (two monarchs, a wealth of soldiers, and diminutive helpers), powers that evoke the roles of eusocial insects in an exaggerated way, a hive similar to a bee's, the ability to curl into a ball like a woodlouse, big eyes and sharp mandibles.

The Bohrok also deviate from their inspirations as much as they borrow: they're bipedal, they have two body segments, and they lack many of the trademark body parts of an arthropod, such as wings, antennae and stingers. Altogether, the Bohrok's designs are hard to pin down - they're not quite animals, but not humanlike either - and that ups their fear factor (their sharp shape language also helps). Their inscrutable faces sell their lack of individual thought and makes it even harder to relate to them.

This may not have been intentional, but one of my favorite details about this character design is how it plays with our tendency to look for eyes first. Since the standard Bohrok silhouette is bipedal, I was conditioned to find the Bohrok's eyes near the top of its head, but this failed me since I just saw their clear head-plates. Those teardrop-shaped parts next to the mandibles are their actual eyes. Even if this misdirect lasted for a few seconds, it left a distinct impression on me.

Nailing the fundamentals is all well and good, but I could have used those earlier paragraphs to describe a lot of monsters. What makes the Bohrok so special? The answers lie in what made Bionicle so special in its early years: the focus on combat and the masks.

You may have noticed that beneath the Bohrok's head-plates lie rubbery, face-like things: those are krana, the brains of the Bohrok and their only piece of organic tissue. This exposed brain serves as both ghastly imagery and a play function: press down on the Bohrok's eyes and the krana jumps out. If it finds its way on a character's head, they become part of the swarm.

Mind control and assimilation are two other classic sci-fi conventions, conveyed beautifully by the krana forcibly replacing the victim's mask, the window into their character. Combined with how they don't quite fit their victims' heads, you know something isn't right when a character is wearing one of these.

Since both the traditional masks and the krana are designed to be knocked off in battle and the Bohrok can attack using their gear functions, the intended story can unfold naturally through play. Children could easily invent stories where a Bohrok emerges and it's too powerful, and uh-oh, one of the heroes has become corrupted! They can pit heroes against heroes, or maybe the villagers find their own way to stop a Bohrok. Sure enough, these possibilities are explored in supplementary material.

It's no easy feat to make a design's inspiration and role clear while also respecting its mystery, but the Bohrok stick the landing. While the tropes they pay homage to are familiar, they put a Bionicle spin on them. They truly earned their status as one of Bionicle's most iconic antagonists.

Author's note: Thanks for reading my second analysis! Going from minidolls to Technic creatures was a weird transition, but I'm glad I chose these bonkle bugs as my first non-minifig, non-minidoll subject. Brushing up on the lore was a ride.

I probably won't analyze another Bionicle character for a while, though, as I want to represent a wide variety of themes on this blog. Still, I appreciate recommendations and feedback.

If you're wondering about the Friends cast in that last picture: originally I planned to showcase the Bohrok's play features through a Nuhvok invading Heartlake City and destroying stuff, but I thought it would be more fitting to use its home series' media to prove my points. Plus, I forgot just how small typical LEGO characters were to the Bohrok. I still wanted to include something featuring them, so here's Autumn and pals dismantling it. Careful with that krana!

[skylinx2o]

Admittedly, I've been feeling terrible lately. I didn't even finish my weekly drawing and broke my now months long streak. I thought I would be able to do it, but my emotions weighted me down too much. I might go back to drawing one art every two weeks.

Anyway, I feel like I should do more fun things. I mean, drawing is fun, and I love creating stories for my OCs, but I do have a lot of other interests. And tho I'm sticking to talking about LEGO today, I want to talk more and get out of my shell. And maybe give you more insight into me as a person.

So today I'm going to talk about my favourite LEGO themes and why I love the series, plus how I personally got i to all of them. It's not a normal review whatsoever, just an excuse to ramble about my interests freely. Just remember this is my experience and my feelings.

(And it's not at all like I'm making this post because I need all of this to prepare for a speaking class and the only way to motivate myself is by making a post about it o _o Come on, I'm killing two birds with one stone here!)

Okay, so, my all-time favourite themes are (in chronological order to when I found them):

1. Bionicle

Honourable mention: Hero Factory

2. Ninjago

3. Legends of Chima

4. Monkie Kid

5. Dreamzzz

1. So. Bionicle. I have a weird history with Bionicle. My dad's friends used to get movies for us, and one day it just happened that my dad's friends gave us a pen drive with Bionicle: Legend Reborn on it. I think I would be around... Seven or eight when I watched it I've seen fans say that it was a pretty weak film, but I didn't know Bionicle back then, and I really enjoyed it! That movie was a soft reboot of the series, and as someone who started their Bionicle obsession with that movie, in my opinion it worked really well as a standalone supposed to capture new audiences. I really loved the sense of mystery that was probably lost on new fans. It wasn't exactly explained what or who Mata Nui was, besides him being a warrior who lost his people. And the ending... I really thought there would be a sequel to it, and was really intrigued by whom the great beings were, and what happened to the world, why Mata Nui knew them, what the giant ahh robots were supposed to do.

Of course, when a few years later in middle school I looked for the sequel, I didn't find it. And to be honest, the ending was disappointing to me. However, there was a whole other storyline in Bionicle to catch up on! And so one faithful summer was spent reading all the comics I could find, reading wiki pages one after another, playing Mata Nui online game obsessively, refusing to use a walkthrough. Believe me when I say I was obsessed!

And then out of nowhere in 2015 g2 came out, and I was stoked since I missed out on practically the whole g1 as it was being made. (I mean, it's understandable, I was born the same year the first Bionicle movie came out.) I mean, can you blame me for being excited? A dead franchise that I just started becoming a devoted fan of is suddenly revived from the grave. I felt like the luckiest person on earth that day. Honestly, g2 was a lot simpler than g1, but I really like it, even if most people said it sucked. Sure, it wasn't exactly like g1, and even I cringed a few times when watching the g2 show, but for what it was, it was cool in my eyes, and loved finding all the g1 references. And there were quite a few of them! The story of g2 was simpler, but for little kids I think it would've been fine. But alas, LEGO did a crap job promoting it, and it died early, with an ending that was so bad even I can't defend it. It just didn't make sense, and it was rushed as hell. But I still wished it would've continued.

I love both generations for different things, and I'm sad I didn't get any g2 sets when they were out (Lewa was my favourite one). But years later I managed to get a promotional anniversary set of Tahu and Takua, and you wouldn't believe my happiness when I was building it. It's strange being a relatively new fan compared to others I see online, but I still remember seeing Bionicle commercials, and even have a very vague memory of seeing a Phantoka commercial on our ancient TV. I mean come on, I was so into it, I even learned the Matoran alphabet! My mom had to listen to my countless rambling, and if I ask her about Bionicle today, she still remembers some answers, that's how much into it I was. Hell, this blog started as a Bionicle blog before I moved fully to Monkie Kid content.

Okay, this Bionicle ramble is getting a tad long, so I'll wrap this up. Would I recommend Bionicle to anyone? Well... Not really, unless you like long lore researching adventures. The story is so convoluted, with many sides stories, and it went on for so many years, that despite my obsession I still probably missed like, 40% of the lore. G1 at least, wouldn't vibe with casual audience probably. G2 might be easier on the brain, despite it having some deeper lore too. Plus, there's the cultural appropriation issue, that I'm not qualified to talk about, but others already made pages long blogs and articles about. Plus the weird gender situation. But, it's still a good story in my eyes, despite its many faults. But that's just me, and if you didn't catch on yet, I'm already deep in this hole and there's no getting out of here now.

Honourable mention: This brings us to Hero Factory. I watched the first few episodes at around the same time as the first Bionicle movie. Came from the same source as before. I think it deserves a mention, because I still loved it, and did some lore digging, but I wasn't as obsessed with it as the other positions on the list. I didn't like the later stuff as much, tho some concepts were really cool too. But the story of the first episodes was really well done, and worked great as a movie. The fights were tense, and when watching it for the first time, I couldn't really know if the characters would be okay. Honestly, it got me really excited and invested. A factory of heroes is a unique concept, and I always found it intriguing how they made the robot society work. But, I don't think it needed more time than it needed, unlike Bionicle, where I didn't like the ending of either generation. I think it wrapped things up quite well with the first episodes, and the later ones just feel like cool side stories, and it works in my opinion.

This one I would definitely recommend, because I feel like it's underrated, and it's not long. Like I said, the version I got was just a one movie like compilation. I checked and there's just 11 episodes. It would probably take 1–2 hours to watch it, not counting the later movies and all.

2. Next one is Ninjago! I started watching it almost from the start. I must have been around ten or so... The episodes aired on TV, so I had easy access to it! I almost never missed an episode, and watched even the reruns. And believe me, I was hypnotised when watching it. Tho, starting from rebooted I watched the episodes online, first in my native language, then in English since I started getting too impatient to wait. This was my first obsession. For the longest time, when people asked me what I wanted to do, I said I wanted to be a ninja. One of my oldest OCs is Mika, and she grew up with me. Whenever a new season was to come, I would design a new suit for her. I have a whole dedicated blog to her, I wonder if you all can find it lol. Anyway, for a kid's show, the first seasons were really well written, and the show could be dark when it wanted, but it didn't lack jokes, and most were very funny. And honestly, Ninjago had a really big impact on my life. It taught me not to give up, and it made me want to make the world a better place. Grade school was a horrible time for me, and Ninjago was like my escape. Tho, I might have daydreamed about it too much at one point...

I started distancing myself from Ninjago around hands of time. I didn't watch the show as regularly, catching up on seasons long after they aired. I think that's also where the writing quality started dropping… I just didn't like it as much any more. But it should've been expected with a series that went on for so long. I'm not one of the people who think old Ninjago was better than anything. It wasn't perfect at all. But I didn't like the short format of newer seasons. But then secrets of forbidden spinjitzu dropped, and i as a person started getting better too, so I went back to Ninjago, and while it wasn't still the best and people had a lot of issues I loved those few next seasons. I mean, they somehow hit right into my interests with those seasons. First the adventure movies like atmosphere with the Egyptian like tomb, then they get sucked into a video game, then the very DnD like feeling Shintaro. It was right up my alley. My love for Ninjago was back in full force by then. So you can imagine how sad I was when the word that Ninjago was ending started going around. The series has been with me for half my life. My friends even knew how much I liked it, my best IRL friend even bought me a Ninjago set for Christmas one time. But you know, I thought it was probably Ninjago's time. Nothing can last forever after all, and it had a very good run. Why not end it when the story was still quite alright? And then… Crystallized happened. I didn't watch Crystallized. I heard the spoilers, and I wasn't… thrilled. Especially with Harumi. And people hated that season. It left a bitter taste in my mouth. It didn't feel like a send-off Ninjago deserved.

So you can imagine how damn happy I was about Dragon Rising! And surprise, it's the best Ninjago has been in a while! I absolutely loved the first season. The new characters are wonderful, and that change was certainly what Ninjago needed. And the fact that it's merged with one of other of my beloved LEGO series only makes it better. And that's probably my cue to move to it hehe

So, would I recommend Ninjago? Yeah. Its story is easy to follow, you just need to watch the show. If you're ready to watch sixteen+ seasons that it! Even the worse seasons have some value to them I'd argue. But I may be biased with how close to my heart that series is.

3. Yeah boy, Legends of Chima! I started watching Chima around the same time I started watching Ninjago, and I was equally hooked. And yes, my mom remembers this one as well, I watched it every time it was on too. Actually, I think the first fanfiction I've ever written was about Chima. With a pencil on paper. I think that, while the other series captivated me because of magic or the setting or the action, in Chima it was the characters and their dynamics mostly, despite there being plenty of magic powers and action too, plus a unique setting. The main characters all have distinct personalities, and it's fun to see how their personalities clash or work together. I think it's cool because the conflict between lions and crocodiles takes the main stage in the first season. Later seasons are great too, and they shake things up to make things interesting quite well. The lore isn't as broad as in other series, but it's pretty cool and interesting either way. There were some unique concepts there. I can't explain my love for this theme as well as with other series, because I don't think there was anything big that made me like it. It's just a cool show. I think what there was has been satisfying, tho young me was really sad and angry it ended anyway. But it's great for what it was. But I can't say I'm not happy that Chima is now merged with Ninjago, and it works so well together, and I absolutely love Lord Ras.

I would absolutely recommend it. It's a fun show, and only three seasons long. It can be both fun and serious, and I definitely had a blast watching it.

4. Now one of my newer obsessions! Monkie Kid! I watched the pilot in Chinese when it came out, then I promptly forgot about the series and binge-watched it all when season 3 came out. I was reading about Journey to the West long before the series was announced, since I have a liking for old stories and legends and myths and stuff. And Asian cultures fascinate me. I blame Ninjago with its Japanese influence and all the martial arts movies that were on the TV all the time. Plus Mulan and Kung Fu Panda. Anyway, I can't say much about how accurate it is or anything since I'm not Chinese, but I think the show is great. I noticed a lot of references to Journey To The West. No shocker here, it's inspired by it. But being in this fandom made me learn a lot of new things about China, tho I still have a bunch of things to learn. I'm no expert yet. Tho, I try my best to be respectful.

Umm... Like I said, not much to say about how accurate the story is. But I really liked Journey to the West, so naturally I like Monkie Kid too. Plus, MK i really relatable to me. I feel like my personality is really similar to his, tho I'm more introverted. For some reason, I relate to this portrayal of Macaque and Wukong as well.

I dare to say that from all the series so far, I find this one to be the most well written. I just find the writing to be the most impactful. Plus, the artstyle is very different from other LEGO shows. Action scenes are really fun. The artstyle definitely works in its favour. And yeah, I would recommend this show 100%.

5. And finally, the newest addition to the LEGO series, Dreamzzz! The show is really new and just starting, but I love the concept and the writing! Plus again, I really relate to Mateo. The characters feel like real people you would meet, and how they interact feels realistic. And I found myself liking even the characters that annoyed me, because their personalities were the realistic type of annoying, one that you might find out in the wild. And the concept of a dream world just really speaks to me. And it gives the creators a lot of creative freedom. All wacky things can happen in a dream after all. One thing I didn't expect in the show was the secret agency, and I think it's a clever addition to the story.

I would recommend this series. I hope it'll have a bright future, and that the writing will stay this good.

Well, time to wrap all of this up. Whoever suffered through this whole ramble deserves a juice and a cookie 🍪🧃 For a few finishing thoughts... I noticed a lot of the series I like blend magic powers and technology together. I just thought it's interesting. And I wanted to mention that the songs for Bionicle, Ninjago and Chima absolutely slap. I used to listen to them on repeat all the time lol Even my mom really enjoyed those songs

Yeah, I don't know what this post was for, I just felt like writing all that :v

[beesgav]

Also as someone who usually starts screaming internally when trying to draw a bionicle mask with expressions,

How the beans do you do it? what's your process?

Hooog I admittedly have a lot of trouble explaining my methodology when it comes to art but I'll do my best.

It's pretty much a process of boiling down the key elements that make a character distinctive and then mapping those onto a cartoon head, and then making adjustments that follow whatever stylistic rules you keep in place.

The most key parts of a cartoon face when you're going for readable/extreme expressions are the eyes, eyebrows, cheeks, and mouth. This is pretty neutral, but in more extreme expressions, the face shape itself distorts- how much is up to your discretion, I tend to go pretty subtle.

For me, most important thing to remember is how the "cheek" region being moved affects the shape of the eye. It's less of an overt element and moreso a physical mass in the face that's important to keep in mind when building expressions.

I also tend to stylize characters pretty heavily so that they're quicker for me to draw. the Miramax movies and Templar animations honestly did a lot of the heavy lifting for me here in terms of simplifying the physical toys into something more parseable, but even then I've kind of corrupted them down into something distinctly mine, which just takes a lot of drawing these characters (this is relevant because a simpler character design means you have more freedom for expressions).

I was thinking about doing a breakdown of each specific feature I feel is integral to these characters but I realized my point would be more gracefully illustrated by drawing the characters as they actually appear in MoL.

i sure have, uh. made some changes. By emphasizing the eyes and making the overall features simpler, I can do much more with them in a shorter amount of time than I could if I were being completely loyal to the original designs (note: this is why characters intended for animation, particularly 2D TV animation, tend to be very simply designed).

The rest of it is just practice, I'm afraid. In a ton of drawings I'll need to redraw the faces several times to get the expression as close as I can to what I have in my head. Getting references for specific expressions can also help, though admittedly it's not something I do as much as I should.

Here's one of the first times I drew these two as Matoran, back in Feb 2020. Practice takes a long time but it genuinely does pay off.

Hopefully this was somewhat helpful, at least! The most important thing is to just keep drawing and not get permanently discouraged, it'll all come in time.

[sanvirtheobserver]

Taking Flight, Chapter 45: Elliott Manor

Pomni slowly pushes open the front doors. Light pours in as the wind blows decades of dust up into the air. Moth eaten cloths draped the windows. Several chairs lay in pieces. The once vibrant floral wall paper is now faded and peeling. Pieces of shattered pottery cover ripped up carpets. It was a mess. Bob immediately gets to work pillaging the drawers for anything of value while Uzi and Pomni take a look around the foyer.

Pomni: Y'know, this place is a lot more creepy when Jax isn't pestering you 24/7.

Bob: Holy s*** you weren't kidding! These Elliott losers were LOADED!

He has already amassed a sizeable haul of necklaces, rings, and vintage video tapes.

Pomni: Bob, I think you should have just a LITTLE more reverence for the supposedly deceased.

Uzi: What? You think the Elliotts got this rich by being philantropists? The only time those snobs would toss a coin was to see beggars fight over it. You do you, Bob!

Bob: Will do!

He runs upstairs to pillage every room he can find, leaving Pomni and Uzi to head towards the central ballroom. The doors practically fell off their hinges when Uzi touched them. Bob gleefully and shamelessly scours room after room, kicking up decades of dust as he snags every trinket he can get his grubby little blades on. The kid's room doesn't have much to offer besides a music box and some weird drawings of yellow eyed people with wings. The Guest Rooms have much more to offer in the form of fancy necklaces and broaches. He then rolls up to a pair of large doors and KICKS those b****es down as he enters a small lounge. He gets to work checking behind every painting until he finds a small safe peeking behind a painting of four angels.

Bob: Hello, young lady.

He tosses aside the creepy painting and gets to work on the safe, listening closely to every little sound as the gears turn within until he hears that sweet sweet CLICK! He eagerly swings the door to the side to reveal several FAT STACKS...........of journals. Bob's joy quickly turned to confusion as he pulls one out. The name on the front reads "Specimen Catalog #17."

Bob: Huh...........I wonder what kind of nerd would need to keep books in a safe..........

A sudden noise catches his attention. He turns around to see a random TV perched atop the coffee table. A high pitched ringing echoes out with the words "Please Stand By" emblazoned onto the black and white screen.

???????: Do you know what time it is!?

The TV suddenly lunges into the air as a full lanky torso sprouts from under it. The dapper figure lands on his feet and adjusts his tie before turning the dial on his TV head to reveal a cartoony face with a polychromatic smile. That's right folks, this chapter of Taking Flight has been brought to you by the TV Man himself........... THE AMAZING MR. PUZZLES! And you know what that means!

Puzzles: 🎶It's TV Time, with your pal Mr. Puzzles! It's TV Time, TAKE A BREAK FROM YOUR TROUBLES! Let's sit down criss cross apple sauce, and we'll flip through the channels to see what we come across!🎶

He plucks his TV Head from his shoulders and lays it down on the table. Another turn of the dial flips between the channels until it lands on a showing of BIONICLE: Mask of Light, The Movie.

Bob: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Pomni and Uzi sift through what's left of the Ballroom. Some of the marble columns were split in half as parts of the balcony have completely colllapsed. Every single table was either overturned or shattered to splinters, and various tapestries lay shredded beyond recognition. The two make their way through the wreckage and come up to a fallen iron chandelier laying in a heap on the dance floor. Pomni was at a loss for words.

Uzi: I guess you didn't go in here last time?

Pomni notices the walls, floor, and ceiling were ripped up to all hell. Even the solid marble and brick bore deep lacerations around three to four inches deep.

Pomni: What the hell could've done all this?

Uzi: I dunno. Bears, I guess? I've seen them rip RVs in half, but I'm not sure whether or not they can claw through marble and brick.

The two make their way to the upper balcony. Various displays of old antiques could be seen, along with the remains of several mannequins. Pomni takes a look in the cupboards to find several sets of fine table wear caked in dust. Uzi picks up a discarded longsword, likely originating from an ornamental armor display. Pomni opens so easily drawers and finds some old family photos of the Elliotts. One of them was of a young brunette holding what appeared to be her newborn sibling, with the words "Welcome home, Cynthia." written on the back. A slight weight begins to tug at her heart.

Pomni: Do you think any of the Elliotts became.......... lost?

Uzi: Um.......... elaborate.

Pomni: When a soul gets lost it ends up becoming......... something else. It's effectively a second chance for the soul to live. That's what Aybel says, at least.

Uzi clearly doesn't quite follow, but she still recognizes the contemplative look in Pomni's eyes.

Pomni: I guess what I'm trying to say is.......... maybe some of the Elliotts are still............ around.

Uzi gives a shrug as she holsters the sword onto her belt.

Uzi: Well........ I see any of them I'll let you know.

She hops down to the dance floor and beckons Pomni to follow.

Uzi: Let's go.

Back with Bob, he gets up to stretch his legs as the movie's credits roll. Mr. Puzzles gingerly picks up the TV and places it back on his shoulders.

Puzzles: Did you enjoy the show?

Bob: Hell yeah! I gotta hand it to Miramax, they really knew how to cook.

Puzzles: Indeed. And as a reward for watching BIONICLE: Mask of Light.......

With a snap of his fingers, a glowing light appears and slowly congeals into the shape of an ornate ring of keys. He hands the prize to Bob with a welcoming smile.

Puzzles: You get this! There are MANY secrets in this place that are hidden well and locked up tight, so you'll need a sharp eye if you wish to find them all.

He leans in and whispers into Bob's ear.

Puzzles: I saw all sorts of locked doors in the cellar. You may just be able to open it if you use the right key.

Bob: Will I find more valuables?

Puzzles: Oh, I'm certain there's a VERY valuable reason as to why such security would be required.

Bob: Swag! I'll keep an eye out. Thanks!

Puzzles: Ta ta, friend, and good luck on your hunt!

Bob runs off to the ground floor. Mr. Puzzles peers out from the darkness of the lounge, his screen flipping to a rather uncanny smile.

Puzzles: You'll need it. Hehehe......

With the keys in his hand and the dollar signs in his eyes, Bob rushes back down to the ground floor and proceeds with his hunt. Pomni and Uzi had just come in through the hall when Bob just rushes past them.

Uzi: Woah! What's got you all riled up?

Bob holds up the ring of keys.

Bob: Keep your peepers peeled. There's gotta be a way into the cellar somewhere.

The two follow Bob as scours every corner in search of this secret trapdoor. He begins upturning mattresses, ripping up carpets, and tossing dressers to the side. The three stop when they see a stairway leading down somewhere.

Bob: JACKPOT!

Pomni: Bob, wait! Why do we need to go here? And where did you get those keys?

Bob: I'll explain on the way down. Just follow me.

And so the three descend into the cellar as Bob recounts his encounter with Mr. Puzzles.

Bob: I was checking out this lounge upstairs and found a safe full of weird books. That's when this guy with a TV Head came along and started singing and dancing. Then he let me watch a Bionicle movie on his head.

Uzi: A Bionicle movie? Lucky bastard.

Bob: After the movie he gave me these keys and said there were things they could unlock here. That's when he mentioned all the locked doors in the cellar.

Pomni: And you just......... trusted him? Whole heartedly? Without the slightest thought that this could be some kind of trick? How are you so sure he wasn't lying?

Uzi: I mean, the guy clearly has taste.

Bob: We won't know until we find whatever these keys unlock. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Pomni: *sigh* And here I was thinking I'd never know a bigger jackass than Jax.

Bob leads the way with Pomni and Uzi in tow. A few minutes pass as they search through the cellar. It seemed unusually large. Several minutes of searching reveals an intricate labyrinth of halls and storage rooms. Most of them were filled with excess furniture while others held racks of moldy wine and flat champagne. That's when the three came across a doir that was locked, prompting Bob to fiddle with the keys. Eventually he finds the right one, and the door creaked open to reveal a hallway lined with shelves and cabinets. The three made their way down the hallway, the crackling of broken glass audible with every step. Looking in the shelves, Bob finds rows of books and jars of what appeared to be........ specimens of some kind.

Uzi: Huh....... not really the kind of treasure I was expecting.

Bob: Eh, maybe I can sell some of this to E. Gadd. He's all about experiments like this.

Bob snags some of the books and jars as the three continue forward. At the end of the hallway is a large room lined with capsules, some of which lay shattered with pale roots stretching out from the broken glass. Uzi kneels down and examines the roots more closely. Some of the roots appear to be dry as bone, while the central mass is somewhat darker and more moist.

Pomni: It looks like some kind of ..........science wing?

Uzi: I think the word you're looking for is "lab." Looks like the Elliotts had more skeletons in their closet than I thought.

The two walk over to one of the intact capsules and peer inside. A dense mass of roots lay suspended in a dark liquid. For a moment Pomni thought she saw it........ twitch.

As the three turn towards the exit, a churning noise begins emanating from the hallway outside. They tense up as a slow wet thumping gets closer and closer, until a writhing black mass now stands in the doorway. Long boney claws extend from stretched limbs, and a head of empty eyes bears its toothy maw as it lets out a gutteral roar. The three ready their weapons as they prepare to fight.

Bob: Okay, I'll be honest........... there was probably a catch with the keys.

Uzi: You f***ing think!?

[bionicle-ramblings]

So I've made a few Humanized!Bionicle posts and now that I've had a while to let it simmer, I think I've got an idea of how a Human-ish Bionicle AU would look, in my eyes, at least

Starting off, the composition for everyone is they are usually at least 60% organic to 40% mechanical, so stuff like they all have stuff like skin, hair, blood, teeth, fingernails, and vital organs, but their bones and inner framework is purely mechanical. If an arm breaks, it has to be repaired to prevent infection or further damage. If a limb is damaged to the point it can't be repaired, then that person will need to get a prosthetic. They need to eat food and drink water, but it's all used a energy to keep them going. They also still need to sleep

Matoran are the same size as averge heighted people, so they can be between 4 to 6 feet tall on average. Toa, on the other hand, can be 7 or 8 feet tall

On the topic of Toa, it is harder to tell who is actually a Toa in this AU because Toa are basically Magical Girls in this AU: they use Toa stones to transform and armor themselves. The Toa stones can be hidden as pieces of jewelry or even as things like tattoos, but are relatively easy to carry around, which is a good thing because they are a NECESSITY for Toa to live their day-to-day lives; if a Toa is too far from his or her Toa Stone(i.e. a distance of 3 or 5 meters max) they will be significantly weakened before ultimately collapsing as they are dead

The reason they "die" when they're too far away from their Toa Stone is not because their soul is in the stone. Instead, all of their energy is tied to the stone itself, and the further away they are from it, the weaker they will become. Toa Stones are indestructible, but the Toa themselves can still be injured and killed in battle

The city of Metru Nui is more or less either a domed off area where all the Matoran live or is still in the GSR, except everyone is more humanoid than mechanical. In my head, it's the former, but it can be the latter

Masks in this AU look more like facial markings or either face masks that cover your mouth and nose or really masquerade masks that cover the upper half of your face, a quarter of the upper half of your face, or an entire side of your face. Facial markings are seen as a sign of having abundant resources or knowledge, but is not frowned upon. Masks can be customized, but it's highly advised that carving into a mask should be avoided as it can lead to a person becoming weak

Some masks can appear as helmets, but the most common case is with the Toa, who have helmet-masks to hide their identities. Their voices become modulated in these masks for the same reason

Phones don't exist in this AU, so long distance communication comes in the form of notes and letters

The lore stays the same for the most part. The most that changes is the fact that the Toa Metru have normal lives outside of their Toa-ing. Toa in the past have revealed their identities to the Matoran, and it went fine. They just wound up dead thanks to the Makuta Teridax

The Makuta themselves are still vapor and need a vessel tonget around. In physical vessels, no matter how close they get, there's ALWAYS an uncanny valley feeling look to them, like looking at them triggers a sort of, "There's something wrong," feeling and it's clear that what they're looking at is a threat even if they don't know why(yet)

Turaga come to be similarly in the canon lore. The only difference is that their own Toa stone draws from THEM, as in when a new Toa Stone is "activated," the power in the original is depleted to the point it needs to draw strength from its Toa, which means said Toa will lose their strength and have their power depleted in turn. There's a minimal amount of energy left in the original stone afterward, but not enough for a transformation. The Toa are also weakened, their body diminishing, their hair going gray, and their strength decreasing VERY significantly

There aren't cars, not really, but there are places like stores, arcades, and more modern stuff like that. Still a barter system too; if you want a tool of some kind, you either need to trade it with another tool or some other good

[magicalgirlmascot]

May or may not have been inspired to create the KNPS Toa in Hero Forge. Probably also gonna do the Turaga. I’m def curious as to your thoughts on everyone’s appearances, wanna see how what I have so far compares.

I am in TEARS please please please show me when you're done!!!

I've been kind of deliberately vague about their appearances in the fic itself because last time I wrote a big long human!Bionicle fic where I was more specific about their appearances I. wound up hating it later lol. I will say though that my Bionicle Sports Anime designs aren't necessarily what I have in mind when writing! (Those are mostly just for drawing Bionicle fanart without having to draw robots and possible eventual comic reasons.)

I do have some stuff in mind, though! I'm putting it under a readmore because it wound up getting fairly long lol

Tahu: redhead, toned and fairly beefy on account of the MMA but not like dehydrated about it, jeans, t-shirts, and button-downs with the sleeves rolled up kinda guy

Kopaka: my brother thinks he should be albino but I'm on the fence there, either way he does have blue eyes and light hair cut pretty short, glasses, tall and thin

Gali: petite, curly hair usually pulled back from her face, wears a lot of long, flowy clothes (cardigans, skirts, etc.)

Onua: short af, fat, muscular, hairy, I've made Gimli jokes before but I honestly do picture him looking like Senshi DungeonMeshi with less beard, almost exclusively wears black jeans, glasses are not prescription but to help with his light sensitivity

Pohatu: tall, runner's build (muscular legs, kind of average weight distribution tbh), thick brown hair that he's been growing out, tends towards muted colours and earth tones

Lewa: fucking beanpole, tall, thin, and gangly, hair is a bird's nest 99% of the time and he has given up trying, wears green almost to the complete exclusion of other colours, loves himself some good cargo pants

Vakama: glasses and tidy beard, greying hair, middling height, wears a lot of old man sweaters/cardigans

Nokama: taller than Matau but shorter than Vakama, hair is going grey but she dyes it, carries herself with grace and poise, it's. I do picture Lucretia Adventurezone a little bit while writing her ngl

Matau: short!!! absolute manlet and either mad about it or chill with it depending on which is funnier in context, wears loud shirts

Onewa: was not a cane user at the start of the story but is one now on account of his bad back, growing his beard out, worst case of resting bitch face you've ever seen, decently tall

Whenua: tallest Turaga, thick glasses, has worn a dress shirt and tie to work every day for the last 20+ years and isn't going to stop now even if his husband makes fun of him for it >:(

Nuju: average height, long fingers, went white by age 35 (claims it's from stress but it just runs in the family, Kualus was also fully white by 35 and Matoro probably will be too), dresses nicely but not a full shirt and tie like some people

Also you didn't mention them but bonus characters bc I've been thinking about them:

Takua: built like Lewa (tall and gangling), dyes his hair blue, fashion choices are "the colours gave me a headache so I bought it immediately"

Jaller: short king, blonde, probably the most athletic kid in the class

Hahli: shorter than Takua but still pretty tall, wears jeans and sturdy clothes, solidly built

Krahka: I mean sometimes she's a fox and sometimes she's got six arms and tits the size of her head, she can look however she wants

Again please please show me when you're done!!!! I would like to see it

[springbonnie2024]

Heyyyy my favorite family artist.. maybe I should rephrase that, you know sense you don't really draw family appropriate things. Maybe something like "Heyy my favourite family member who draws" Yeah no.. that sounds worse. Anyway let me get to the point.

Can you draw me OUR version of Tahu?... *wink wink* OOO and with Samantha? I know it has been a while sense you've drawn our version of bionicle, so i'm curious to see if it'll turn out as good as it used to. Sense I am family... i'd like to make a request, well more like a list of ideas on how i'd like you to draw them. Also these are just ideas and of course you are the one who is maybe gonna make the art, so feel free to add your own little twists!

Here are some of the ideas lol;

Tahu sitting on a chair but you can only see the upper half of him, and Samantha hugging him around the neck from behind. Of course we need some chaos in the background so put Sage beating up Karzahni.

(I've decided that it would be great if I were to add a certain person who you love into this... I hope this gets you excited... *Drum roll* AND ITS SLASHERRRRR!!!! (Maybe a bit dramatic)

2. Samantha and Slasher out on one of their assassin missions and fighting with some of the people at the club they do most of their work at (You can choose who they fight) and slasher doing an epic kick move into a guys face, while Samantha is in the background holding a broken bottle up to a guys throat.

Maybe I thought that out a bit more than I expected...

For anyone who reads this and is confused... me and my sister (The amazing artist @springbonnie2024! Who i'm not sure they want their name public, so I will not say it.) created our own versions of Bionicle and Fnaf characters and smooshed them together into a rp where they're in the same universe. It's a lot to explain...

Anyway, I wrote so much stuff I didn't even realize it. I hope it's not too boring for you to have to read lol.

-Your favorite sister Sage!<3 (I at least hope i'm your favorite..)

congrulations for giving me the biggest ask I've ever received so far!!

I didn't have time to do Tahu and Samantha YET, I plan on doing them, but here's that scene of Samantha and Slasher on a mission

(Samantha is in her half form)

[bionigrls]

The first and most prominent of those characters i wanted to revisit is Naohi, I can't quiiiite recall what her Deal was? i think she was a tinkerer of some sort but hell if im rememebring something that old, ANYWAY she's wide now because i said so.

(what is funny is how often i used to draw A Bionicle by slapping maybe 4-5 bioniclish parts onto a regular drawing of a human being, i technically still make them more humanshaped than i should but now it's a defined stylistic choice vs me just being bad at drawing things that aren't organic.)

[magicalgirlartist]

[ID: 3 drawings with 2 characters each, all male, 1 higher and older facing left, 1 lower and younger facing right. 1: the higher one has light green hair with white streaks in a long ponytail, wearing a light green shawl over a dark green jumpsuit and carrying a buzz saw staff, winking with his hand to his chin. Text beside him: "TURAGA MATAU, leader of Le-Koro, most handsome Turaga (according to himself), lovely singing voice. The lower one has tiny green glasses, baggy bright green pants, and an open green vest, and he's smiling and waving. Text beside him: "SANSO, musician, plays a mean flute, can and will talk for hours about music theory." 2: the higher one has a brown scarf wrapped around his head and shoulders, loose brown clothes, a hand on his hip and a grouchy expression, carrying a hammer staff. Text beside him: "TURAGA ONEWA, leader of Po-Koro, friendly, but kind of rude, perfectionist, hates Ahkmou so much it's unreal." The lower one has black hair pulled back by a headband, a light brown tunic over black shorts, and tall gladiator sandals, with one hand by his face and a smug smile. Text beside him: "AHKMOU, merchant, normal merchant, nothing to see here, just a regular merchant selling regular wares." 3: the higher one has long greying red hair and a braided beard, long red vest over red clothes, carrying a fire staff and smiling. Text beside him: "TURAGA VAKAMA, leader of Ta-Koro, oddly prescient, very patient, "First of all let me make one thing quite clear. I never explain anything." -Vakama probably." The lower one is standing awkwardly with one hand raised, with a bright orange tank top, red pants with the legs rolled up to his knees, and a red bandana. Text beside him: "KAPURA, left hand of Turaga Vakama, member of the Ta-Koro Guard, slow and methodical, moves quickly by moving slowly (???)" End ID.]

Finally got around to doing more Bionicle Sports Anime designs! Matau's was the most fun tbh. Either the Toa Nuva or some uniform designs are next. I've been saying uniform designs for so long at this point I should probably do them.

Like to slap Onewa's bald head. Reblog to slap Onewa's bald head.

[Commissions open!]

[decadentladypirate]

Hottakes

(TW: Self Harm, Isolation, relationships)

I didn't see the Barbie movie yet because I got spoiled heavily to the point I know everything about the movie just because everybody else is chronically online. Other than the overwhelming amount of "mandatory make everything about woke versus based discourse" social media force-feeds me since 2014 (and the frequent mental breakdowns that came with it); I am happy. I like how random men are pissed off because of Barbie because they think everything that belongs to pop culture and fandom is supposed to be made for them but they get mad. CONGRATULATIONS. You felt something. When I see man marketed demographic things like the original Star Wars and Game of Thrones. I just don't get it, the prequels and Berserk was more interesting. And getting kicked out of society and social media for it is painful. Just because a severely unhealthy man with glasses a told them to like a thing or else they will get shunned by society or made to become a janitor for some tech company for wearing a pleather sports jacket and liking sports that one time. OR some bullshit like. I've had self harmed in the past over that because I don't like being told I am going to be in a horrible situation for *GASP* like the pleasing sensation of a rubber ball hitting a wooden floor or failing to keep up with Homestuck. Pro-geek propaganda was ablest during my childhood because I have a disability and mental illness and I didn't understand anything but I was forced to follow along. Yet got looked down on for not keeping up with the Joneses. Am I allowed on Tumblr to question that? Like we've seen the plethora of "oh you don't like Bionicle or Rick and Morty I'm kicking you out of the house, thot" memes plastered over the net they and thought it wouldn't bite back at them. Well it did, big time, and it got press coverage because journalists think tweets are newsworthy enough. Now I have a fear of hating a popular thing because of a fear of isolation so I am forced to miss out on everything.

But if I do like a manly thing that I understand then all the women who wanted to be my friend bullies me because they think I am a traitor. I am shunned by society again. Like WHAT GIVES? Just because I am a little bit tired of hearing about Taylor Swift's failed relationships and care more about other music during the mid 2010s on doesn't mean I hate entire demographics. Correlation isn't causation, I just want to do math and draw. I just wish she did more relatable things like show off a really cool collection, say her opinions on random shows she likes, tweet about her favorite webcomics, or show off a random bug she saw. Unfortunately the music business and Hollywood doesn't let artists have any signs of a well rounded personality and that is probably why I am so similar to weird Barbie. Considering the Swifties have the ability to sway economies and politics, I can see these are now precautions and Taylor is a very smart lady who calculates her moves like queen regnant in charge of empires.

But no, they have to promote a popstar's breakup over a devastating natural disaster, or human rights violation that should have gotten more press coverage. Also I self harmed because r/notlikeothergirls exists as a bullying tactic. Like come on, saying that you aren't a fan of a popstar doesn't mean you hate her, and drawing female led webcomics isn't anti-women or being too political.

I hate people, they're so petty. There are bigger things people should get upset over. I like the rerecorded versions more than the originals because I now like her "screw you Dr. Luke" phase and I finally can feel why early TS was awesome. I still want to see Barbie movie.

[chickenpeep77]

List of interesting stuff from when I was in school because I felt like sharing

My middle elementary school gave me and other children asthma. It was a moldy dusty super old school that got closed down a few years ago. A local church bought the playground equipment and its so weird seeing it there.

My class played the telephone game and there was some mean kid that bullied me so I changed the message to "*so and so* is an idiot" and it was said out loud at the end and no one knew it was me that changed it to that.

I got bullied for having misophonia.

One day in kindergarten I brought a stuffed toy dragon to school. I was told I had to put it in my backpack in this weird long closet area thing where everyone else's was hung up. End of day. Got my backpack. Toy was gone. Teacher checked everyone else's backpacks. Not there. It was just vanished. Still no idea what happened to it.

For some reason in first grade I refused to do the morning warm-up work thing and instead drew creatures in my journal. Teacher took pictures of the pages and sent them to my grandma. I also headbutt other kids during carpet time because Spyro. That was also the year I was started on meds.

In music class it was around Halloween time and spooky music was played. There was this one that was like "there once was a woman all skin and bones wooooooooo". It scared me. The teacher made fun of me for it. I went to the art class next door and crafted a kangaroo bat out of construction paper.

For some reason I was just out early and waiting for the bell to ring to tell us to get to the buses. Principal was there. I had this bad fear of missing the bus ride home for some reason. The sight of the area being empty before bell rings looked the same as the sight of the area being empty after everyone got on the bus and so my brain was screaming at me that they were about to leave me so I ran to the buses early even though the principal told me to stop. Yeah anxiety problems started early.

Multiple basketballs got stuck in the rafters of the gym building.

I think I heard one time someone had to call an ambulance because some kid sat on a pencil wrong and was stabbed in the butt.

Convinced my teacher to have a field trip to my place because it was a cool farm.

Got ISS (in school suspension) at least twice because I scratched up bullies.

Fitness gram pacer test. This one girl keeps running long after everyone else has sat down. Eventually just stopped the timer.

Brought this bionicle toy to school. It was this cool big one I had built out of pieces of older bionicles. Had long neck wings and a tail. Should try to draw it from memory at some point. Anyways the day I brought it everyone was brought into the auditorium for an assembly. One of the things the principal talked about was the problem of kids bringing toys to school. It was in my backpack the whole time lol.

Science class had a garden we worked at. In particular I enjoyed digging with a particular tool. I said I wanted it. Learned hoe was also a slang term. The outside world is full of nasty freaks so I would sometimes over think every word I ever say because it might also be a nasty slang term I wasn't aware of.

Grew watermelon there. It was harvested too early. Me, with farm living experience, kept saying that was not ripe. It wasn't. In the teacher's defense though if we waited too long the raccoons would just get it.

My school did a lot of field trips. Went to sciport many times. Saw a film in the IMAX theater for the first time. It was about scary weather phenomenon. I was terrified. From then on skipped IMAX time and hung out with a teacher. One time around Christmas I helped hand out reindeer candy canes to the staff. Few times later I decided to try IMAX again. It was amazing. I loved it so much. Saw it two more times at that school. I'm still angry that the film we experienced first was one that scared me and made me miss out.

One day there was a nothing day close to the beginning of a break. Some kid brought in a movie to watch. DVDs were getting to be the norm I think, so it was kind of weird that he brought in a VHS. It was a recording of that movie Hop from a video camera at the theater. Teacher stopped it when she realized. We almost watched an illegally obtained movie.

In high school there was this chemistry teacher I didn't like. I had this habit of correcting teachers on things. Her worksheets spelled aluminum as aluminium. I told her about the spelling mistake. Later found out that's just how it was spelled in England. I have no idea why she used that spelling.

Something in that chemistry class I'm still upset about. We were doing this lab thing in groups. Were growing crystals on pipe cleaners. The directions included the word tare. I had no idea what that word meant. I don't recall whether we we taught briefly on that word or not previously. I asked her what it meant. She said to ask the others in my group. None of them knew it either. Didn't let me ask another group. So we had to skip that step. Our group was the only ones who didn't get pretty crystal ornaments. Just wet pipe cleaners.

[beesgav]

Likely no post today, I have no internet on computer and only data on mobile

Have a poll instead

[elv-arts]

found these pretty old bionicle sketches and figured i might as well post them. I really don’t draw much bionicle considering how much of my brain is permanently moulded into bionicle shaped pieces.

[ID: Image 1 - A sketch page titled BONKLE containing each of the toa mata. Tahu is shown from the knees up with his back to the viewer, looking over his shoulder holding his fire sword. Kopaka is shown with his sword and shield, holing his shield in front of him. There’s a little sketch of gali’s kaukau mask, then a sketch of Pohatu in a wide stance. Onua is crouched with his claws at the ready as prepared to attack. Gali is shown from the waist up with her hooks at the ready. In the corner is Lewa, crouched, holding his axe, partially obscured by the edge of the page.

Image 2 - An angular sketch of toa Kopaka in a wide stance with his sword and shield. End ID]

[skylinx2o]

I should not be given creative freedom

Hello. I came to send into the void more of my ideas

I saw someone posting about pink Bionicle element (don't feel like finding that post), and the other night I was struck by a brilliant idea! If there is no pink tribe, I SHALL MAKE ONE!!! >:D

But don't expect any wise ideas from me. I thrive on chaos! xD

So I began brainstorming what a pink element could possibly be. I thought about crystals, but it was too obvious. I was about to give up and just go to sleep, but on the brink of falling into unconsciousness, my brain served me this thought: Salt is pink sometimes... AND SO IT WAS DECIDED!!!! >:D

(And salt is a crystal, so...)

So now that I've settled on an element, it's time to create the lore!

Matoran Prefix: Ne-

Associated Colours: shades of pink

I couldn't decide whether my tribe should be all male or all female, and I was leaning more toward female, but in the end I compromised, and decided they should all be nonbinary, but they don't care what pronouns you use with them, and some might prefer one pronoun over the other

Matoran and Toa of Salt are very rare. There's actually only one village in the Matoran universe, and It's because their creation was an accident. When Great Beings were creating the MU, one of them accidentally found a way to control salt when he was working on the tribe of stone. They were intrigued, and so he created a few Ne-Matoran, and two Toa of salt: Salina and Nelios. But not much more came of it. In the end, the element of salt was deemed useless by other great beings, and they were forbidden from creating any more of Matoran or Toa of salt. They never got a chance to create any Turaga either. So the whole tribe was put on a small island, unmarked on any map, and very hard to stumble upon. They had no role in the destiny of their world, and weren't even aware that there was anything beyond their island. Well, up until the robot they were living in was WRECKED by a moon. Yes, they were inside the robot when it was destroyed, and the two Toa bearly managed to save everyone, but their island was destroyed, and they kinda had to finally get off their piece of rock and salt floating in the ocean :V

That's when they emerge from the great robot, much to the confusion of everyone from the Matoran Universe and Spherus Magna! :D

The salt element is kinda an offshoot of the element of stone... Idk, they seemed similar enough to make it that way.

All users of this element were passively stronger than other beings, but a bit weaker than stone and earth element users, and passively more resistant to cold, but less resistant than ice element users.

My explanation for why I chose those traits is simple: since I made it an offshoot of the stone element, it made sense to make them strong, but just not as much. And I wouldn't have added the ''resistant to cold'' part, if not for the video I watched when researching salt. And, apparently, adding salt to water lowers the temperature at which the water can freeze. So yeah, can't freeze a salt Toa that easily hehe

I wanted to add something about healing or something along those lines, looking at the meat preservative properties of salt... But honestly, my mind is blank at the moment. If I get any ideas, I'll add them, but that's all their abilities right now.

Oh, and they can't be assigned any personality stereotype, because some users of this element will be very chill and nice, and some will just be feral gremlins

And I've decided that this tribe only eats with their mouths (and not with their hands), and has teeth, because the image of a Matoran or Toa of salt casually crunching on a salt crystal and other Matoran or Toa, or even Glatorian and Agori, just looking at them like: "???? *visible confusion*

So yeah, I believe I have written everything that my half-asleep mind conjured! 

If you have any questions, ask right away!

Oh, and I'll definitely draw Salina and Nelios when I have free time :)

[rabidfirefoxfan]

Whenever the Discussion around what Makes Art valuable, I always find myself coming back to this interview with David M. Bird

Specifically what he says at 2:20. This Man was a designer for many Bionicle toys and something they learned when trying to make the Toys was that "Children are drawn to characters that tell a story"

When Discussing AI Art, one message I believe gets lost is that it doesn't really matter how 'Realistic' or 'Stylist' the AI Art is because AI Themselves currently lack a true desire or drive to independently do something or create something. Currently AI is just a tool for a Human to show their own desires and wishes. As such, when AI makes Art, it's not making something that tells a specific story or explores a specific theme, it's mashing often times randomly related things to create something vaguely similar. AI is really good at looking at 100 Anime Girls and Making another Anime Girl. However, this New Anime Girl wasn't created with the desire to tell a story. The AI didn't decide that the Girl has Red Hair to symbolize that they are hot-blooded or brown hair to suggest they are common, they just put together something that seemed close enough. AI seems really good at capture vague human dreams but not specific human thoughts.

AI Art has it's place in generic PowerPoints, BS Corporate or Ads were having any random Aesthetically Pleasing imagine will do. AI can also help with concept boards of "What does He-Man look in a Batman Universe." However, it will eventually fail at drawing people in with a new story or a new point of view because people will get sick and tired of the same meaningless Waffle. For a Non-AI Example, People got sick and tired of the "Teenagers fight to the death in a Dystopian Future with factions between groups" after seeing Hunger Games, then Divergent, and then finally Maze Runner. I think something vaguely similar might happen with AI Art, as in "What are you trying to do?"

I think that the direction of Art discussion should more focus on "What am I trying to say/ Do" and less on "How Realistic something is/ Is it Aesthetically Pleasing." Also I believe we should be trying to understand and analysis Art we do see and not just quickly consume and move on to the next thing. Both of these lines of thought seem more interesting to me than just "AI Art is Nonsense"

I think a decade or two ago it used to be common for artists working in Photoshop to explain that "no, this is really 'painting' just as much as traditional media, it relies on the same skills". But now the AI art tech kindof vindicates the traditionalist-purist side?

Like, it seems clear that generating images from text prompts isn't painting, but at the same time there's a continuum, and out of the many labor-saving devices like perspective tools, custom foliage brushes, posable 3d models to paint over, etc, it's hard to say where the line is. So the new tools retroactively make the previous ones suspect...