#nui’s design has changed the most

[squidinu]

early sharkmates bachelor concepts

[goattypegirl]

While not physically dependent on Kanohi the way Matoran are, Makuta give them equal cultural weight. A Makuta's mask is their identifier. It is difficult to identify who's who if you are all natural shapechagers and illusionists, so it is customary to avoid altering one's mask too drastically in the company of other Makuta. The Hagah tradition to honor past heroes by wearing masks shaped like theirs is derived from this philosophy.

Masks are never swapped or gifted, with a single historical exception. Icarax inherited the Mask of Shadows, and gave his mask of Scavenging to a lowly Matoran as a show of power. Icarax was too foolish to realize Teridax had just done the same to him.

Masks are also emblems of a Makuta's character, their beliefs and philosophies distilled into a single object. Teridax's coup changed the Makuta from scientists and shepherds to occult chessmasters, but can be thought as a shift from the Mask of Mutation to the Mask of Shadows. Would the Makuta have become isolationist hermit-kings had Krika taken control? Accelerationists and disruptors had Gorast?

Only one of Great version each mask has ever been made*, and it is uknown who made them or the Noble versions rewarded to a Makuta's chosen Matoran. One would think that the Makuta's masks were declared immoral for Toa to use after the Brotherhood's betrayal was made public, but this was established in the Toa Code since its creation. A Toa would only ever be in a position to use a Makuta's mask if the Makuta had just died in front of them, most likely by the Toa's own hand.

*There is one exception, debatably two. Chirox and Mutran share the same mask. Some accounts theorize that Mutran initially had a different mask, and changed his mask in order to torment Chirox. Others say that the two always had the same mask, a symbol of their role as left and right hands of a greater whole. The Jultin is a matter of debate. The Jutin was Antroz's mask, but there are conflicting reports of his whereabouts just prior to the destiny war. A Matoran word for failure is 'spiriah', which is not only Makuta in origin, but constructed like a personal name. It is possible 'Spiriah' is in fact the Makuta of Zakaz expunged from history, and that Sipiriah donned an unpowered Jutlin in order to disguise their identity.

Rahi contain 'tags' within their core essence, instantly detectable and innately understandable by Antidermic creatures, but require a veteran archivist's knowledge to even to begin to comprehend for Protodermics. These tags are believed to be signatures by the Makuta who designed that Rahi species, maker's marks imbedded into their fundamental being. A codex of marks and their associated Makuta are on the Makoki stone, allowing for researchers to know precisely which Makuta created which Rahi. Curiously, there are tags within Rahi found nowhere upon the Makoki stone. The history of the Brotherhood begins with the formation of the Makoki stone, which suggests an early "generation zero" of Makuta born prior to the brotherhood. None of these elder Makuta have ever been successfully identified or contacted.

It is common belief that Antidermis was a byproduct of Protodermis synthesization. This is only partially correct. Antidermis was an attempt at artificial energized protodermis. Both substances are mutagenic, both components of a gestalt consciousness, but while energized is damnably finite, new Antidermis can theoretically be created forever.

The earliest design documents for the GSR were found recently. They revealed that the Great Beings initially wanted to build *6* vessels, at least some of which would have been made from Antidermis. Only one vessel was ever created, but the Great Beings reformulated this initial concept into another failsafe for the GSR. This should come as no surprise though. After all, Teridax's plan hinged on the fact that the Makuta are potentially destined to inherit the role of the Mata Nui intelligence.

[tiredspacedragon]

Essence

That post about what happened to Nidhiki's Air Scythe reminded about something I've been meaning to talk about for a while, which is how mutation and transformation in Bionicle work in relation to tools.

For the longest time, I've found it strange that characters' tools transform with them when they get mutated or transformed in some way. Especially when it's something like the Toa Metru's tools changing when they became Toa Hordika. How could an injected mutagen affect an external object? And after giving it some thought, I think the answer is that, like most things, mutagens and other transformations don't work the same way in Bionicle as they do in the real world.

I posit that most* methods of transformation in Bionicle, such as through exposure to Hordika Venom or Energized Protodermis, or via the Matoran metamorphosis cycle, do not cause a physical transformation so much as they transform a being's essence, with the physical change following as a consequence of or perhaps reaction to the affected being's change in internal form. (Potentially made possible by the adaptive nature of Protodermis?)

This change in essence provides two potential explanations as to why external equipment like armour, Kanohi, and tools are transformed along with their bearers. For one, because the change is not rooted in biology, it is possible that the equipment's own essence is transformed independently; this method may be true for Energized Protodermis specifically, given that of the 42 Kanohi Nuva known to have existed, 36 were were created by Artakha through immersing Kanohi in Energized Protodermis while (presumably) unworn.

The second explanation is more universal in application and is my preference between the two, and it is that, over time, a being's equipment becomes part of their own essence. The Hordika's tools were transformed because their Toa Tools were part of their identities, as was the case with Lhikan's swords becoming his shield as a Turaga. We know this connection to be canon in some sense, as it is the explanation for how Takutanuva was able to revive Jaller after his death: through the imprint of his spirit, or essence, that lingered on his mask. I favour this explanation not only because it has support in-text, but because it adds importance to the storytelling medium of character design, oft neglected in Bionicle. With this explanation, not only is a character's equipment an avenue for revealing nuances of their personality, history, and abilities, it is a part of their very selves just as much in-story as the characters' tools are part of their set.

*On a related note if the hypothesis that most transformations affect characters' essence is taken as true, it marks Pit Mutagen as a notable exception, as it canonically does not transform Kanohi or tools, at most only damaging them, as can be seen with the tools of the Mahri Nui Matoram, the mutated forms of Lesovikk, Sarda, and Idris, as well as Brutaka's blade and mask remaining unmutated, with most of his transformations described as fins and spikes, possibly all organic growths from beneath his armour

[sammykat2hb-blog]

Fixing (maybe) the Red Star

As a concept, this broken afterlife slaps — but it also derailed my brain and a good chunk of lore. I think it was a problem for Greg Farshty, too, since he immediately had to go back and specify why the Machine That Resurrects Everything couldn't exactly resurrect everything. (RIP Toa Mangai)

There's a lot going on with the Red Star. I think the easiest fix is to narrow the its field. Why back up millions of brains when most matoran, etc. were meant to be drones? Instead, make the Red Star a failsafe for key systems figures. Leaders. Guardians. People like Artakha, a few Order of Mata Nui members, the Toa Mata, the Great Spirit himself. Oh, and Karzahni. The Barraki. The makuta.

A few narrative implications and plot bunnies:

• Imagine accomplishing the impossible and killing a makuta, only for him to appear in a new body a few months later and tell you no matter how many times you end him, he'll always come back. He can never not come back.

• Immortality messes beings up. Die, return, die, return. After a few times, every other being feels less real than you are. Expendable.

• @herora-nuva (hi! love your work!) theorized on his YouTube channel that The Pit exists to keep the worst of the worst from being reincarnated, and that idea still tracks here. Bonus points if knowledge of the Red Star fed the Barraki's god complexes.

• Makuta Teridax can't kill specific people in his way, and that's enough motivation for him to break the afterlife. Or, if this Red Star decays on its own as the original did, the game changes drastically one day. The beings keeping him in check aren't dead, but they also aren't here, and things in the GSR are about to get messy.

• Maybe another being breaks the Red Star to keep the immortals dead. It doesn't go quite as intended.

• To modern matoran eyes, resurrected beings are...strange. The populace of the GSR has upgraded and evolved over the millennia, but the Red Star only has the original designs. Resurrected bodies can be modernized, but there's still something off about them.

• The Red Star's purpose fades from memory, but clues drift throughout the myths.

[legend-as-old-as-time]

Toa Metru headcanon

Makuta’s claim in the books that he chose the six most stubborn, strongwilled, and argumentative matoran (the Toa Metru) has been on my mind. I like the idea he knew of them by reputation and as center of appeals as Dume. So he’d have also known people’s less favorable opinions of them (which there is a lot of basis for in canon), which he used to justify why he chose them to foil Mata Nui’s plan:

- Nokama used to be a nuisance in academic circles. (Inspired by @crystaltoa.) If she disagreed with a point or a thesis and thought differently, she’d ignore it or try to argue it down. With her renown as excellent teacher and academic both, her words carried a lot of weight. Arguments got heated regularly because her peers got on edge. Students were much less likely to be bulldozed. But they often didn’t have the skill to argue back with Nokama or the experience to realize that she was wrong or that there existed other valid points.

- Onewa was both famous as an artist and for his scathing demeanor. He had an insult for almost anybody famous in the city - except for Dume and Lhikan -, the other Metru, and everybody he met face to face. He liked to get a rise out of people. The only reason he got so many commissions was because a) the reputation about his excellent and meticulous work was true and b) there were enough matoran willing to deal with him or have others deal with him to get one of his pieces.

- Vakama’s temper was always a terrifying thing. He argued back when somebody harassed him, real or perceived. Some of his work colleagues tried to pick on him when he started as Nuhrii’s apprentice, envious of his skill. They dropped it when he became enraged... Until one notable case that escalated to the point that the vahki were called. He debated with Nuhrii a lot about techniques. He debated with his colleagues. He argued against throwing away faulty products that could be repaired. Repeatedly, heatedly.

- Matau was infamous as a test driver. Nobody could deny his skills. Many agreed that the ban on racing for fun even on designated tracks sucked. And many of his colleagues were annoyed by him. He showboated his skills in driving, hogged the schedule, and complained when he didn’t like a vehicle. He argued a lot about designs and repeatedly proposed changes that were ingenious, but that couldn’t be implimented because of restrictions which he didn’t want to hear about.

- Whenua is the type to be passionate about teaching, no matter who they are. He’s the type to use scathing wit and words on anybody that earns his ire, no matter who they are. He was cautious. He was likely to bulldoze ahead in situations - shouldering aside colleagues, arguing with them, etc. - when he saw a solution and was going to do it no matter the naysayers. And Whenua was stuck in the past. He saw little worthwhile in the present or the future even when he knew proposed changes were necessary. Even when other archivists agreed.

- Nuju was among the best seers, and being Ihu’s apprentice made his word carry even more weight. Ehrye wasn’t the only matoran he denied becoming a scholar. What made him so unpopular among the worker ranks of Ko-Metru was his dismissal of their physical work which maintained the Knowledge Towers’ integrity, made his own work possible in the first place, and carried his information to where it was needed. This arrogance and lack of grounding made him a decisive figure among his peers. Nuju’s tendency to argue instantly rather than ignore others or leave a conversation added to that reputation.

[crehador]

package day! it's nuis nuis and more nuis this time (plus misc but all smic)

first the asanuma cover issue of seiyuu animedia aka the only thing i was originally going to buy lol

it's a lot bigger than i thought it would be and the pages are all thick like a proper photobook, asnm's warumono-san photoshoot is fucking glorious in its entirety and there are soma and shoutan spreads in here too (which is written on the cover but i was too asnm-focused to even notice until i flipped through)

got two copies to potentially cut one up for poster-making but... idk if i can bring myself to do that, might just keep a spare lmao

OK SO NOW THE NUIS. ALL THE NUIS

the family grows!! and by like a lot lmao

ew02 nuis have finally been obtained, and yes i got the new ones that i said were ugly (it was like an affectionate sort of ugly!)

i still need to get clothes for the 15cm fanmade ones, they're absurdly adorable (more stiff than i imagined, in a good way) but completely naked. so photo gets cropped here for now lol. did pick them up a... familiar-looking jacket they can share in the meantime though

ichiro cosplay jumpscare! not for wearing, will see if i can somehow incorporate it into a nui house/nest area

(just to be fair to the two blorbos i picked up a set of samatoki cosplay bracelets too lol)

anyway. most of the nuis are new but the orig design ichinui and samanui are dupes because......

these new ones have bones! and beef. with the original originals. but. surely they'll start to get along soon......

i thought a lot about getting just the bones and doing the surgery myself but honestly i don't have the heart to cut them open. or the skill lmao. so luckily managed to find a listing for bone-in ones

grabbed a bunch of clothes for them too

and love them, holy shit they fit so well. if i can find this shop again i might buy more next time

(they're too cute for me to change their clothes now... will get around to letting them try on the other outfits later)

last but abso-fucking-lutely not least FOOD CRIMES GEORG HAS BEEN PROCURED

been on the hunt for these stands since the designs first came out tbh, candyapplegate will never die. to me. ichiro what is the matter with you

(the stands are TINY but i love them to bits)

so yeag the "just two magazines" order became very much. not that lmao. there's also a postcard that deserves its own post so i'll get to that once i clean everything up

think i finally have enough nuis now <- guy who has 2 more on preorder for this month lmao

[usafphantom2]

The cover artwork of the novel Firefox by Craig Thomas depicted a MiG-25, and the plane was described similarly to the MiG-25 in the book.

The Soviet MiG-25 (NATO code-name “Foxbat”) was a high-speed interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft. The aircraft entered service in 1970 and has a top speed of Mach 2.83, powerful radar, and could carry up to four air-to-air missiles.

A capable interceptor, the MiG-25 was widely exported by the Soviet Union.

The MiG-25’s capabilities were not discovered until 1976 when Viktor Belenko, a Soviet MiG-25 pilot, defected to Japan.

Subsequent analysis revealed a simple-yet-functional design with vacuum-tube electronics, two massive turbojet engines, and sparing use of advanced materials such as titanium.

The Soviet government put pressure on Japan, demanding the delivery of the purloined ‘Foxbat’ pronto. Since there were no legal reasons not to, the MiG-25 was returned, in dismantled and crated condition. The Japanese did it on purpose to cover up the ‘surgery’ they and the U.S. intelligence experts had undertaken on the MiG.

However the Soviet experts were quick to find out just how much the West actually knew. When the MiG-25 was returned to the USSR it was determined that the Americans had run the engines and measured the aircraft’s infra-red signature and also made a detailed analysis of the systems and avionics, including the radar, and the structural materials. Not knowing how to operate the equipment, the Americans had damaged some of it and had to make hasty repairs (foreign fuses and resistors were discovered in the radar set).

The incident got the world press going wild with stories about the MiG-25 and U.S. Defence Secretary Schlesinger stated that the new Soviet interceptor was a sufficiently potent weapon to bring about drastic changes to the Western weapons systems and strategies.

Belenko’s defection was also mentioned in the novel Firefox by Craig Thomas, on which Clint Eastwood’s movie is based. According to an interesting post appeared on Quora, in the book there’s a mail conversation (the snail mail kind, since it was published in 1977 and takes place a short time after) in which they discuss Belenko’s defection. Someone argues that the new MiG-31 Firefox is not a big deal, since they already have Belenko’s MiG-25, while someone else argues that the MiG-31 is a completely different beast.

Clint Eastwood in Firefox

Then, as MiG-31 flies for the first time, NATO has everything in the air to spy on it, and nobody could see anything on the radar. They conclude that the MiG-31 not only is faster than anything and features a revolutionary fire control system controlled by thought, but also is invisible to radar, and that they have to steal one.

And that’s when the book begins in earnest, and also where the movie starts.

Since the defection of Victor Belenko was widely mentioned at the time, the publisher had an unusual large first print run, gambling on the publicity of Belenko’s defection to push up the sales.

In fact Craig Thomas was inspired by the awesome performance of the MiG-25, and then Belenko defected as he was finishing the book and thus included in the letters.

Fun fact: the cover artwork depicted a MiG-25, and the plane was described similarly to the MiG-25 in the book. In the sequel, Firefox Down, the description was more like the MiG-31 in the 1982 movie.

MiG-31 Firefox

Full-scale MiG 31 Firefox mockup used in the film “Firefox” parked at Van Nuys Airport, California in May 1982

Fun fact 2: The artwork on the Swedish paperback translation of Firefox instead depicted a canard and double-delta aircraft, pretty similar to the Swedish JA-37 Viggen.

JA-37 Viggen

Photo credit: Screenshot from YouTube video, CIA, Dmitriy Pichugin and MilborneOne via wikipedia

Dario Leone

Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force.

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[rei-caldombra]

I'm so hyped for the Omori Manga

This contains no serious direct story spoilers.

I absolutely love Omori. It’s one of my favorite games. Few games have gotten me as emotional as Omori has. There are certain scenes that can still get me to tear up on rewatch. I would not call it perfect but it’s pretty much as close as you can get. I love the characters (all these crazy kids are great, but Hero is my favorite.). I love the visual style, it’s very unique and charming. The contrast between Headspace and the real world is great, along with the horror elements being genuinely scary and impactful. I was late to get into it (as I often am with video games that get popular) and first learned about it in 2022. This is one of those cases of a random meme video about the game showing up in my feed getting me into something I get super into. It was Ban.mp4 by Osulan on YouTube. I thought the video was cute and funny, so I looked into what game it was from. I am very happy to have gotten into the deep, dark hole that is Omori!

I was not able to find much info on Nui Konoito, the illustrator for the manga, but I am very happy with how the promotional art we have looks. Dreamer’s design is great and spot on to the game and I like the look they went for with Sunny. I like the differences between them and think the style fits. It’s a bit different than Sunny in the game but I take no issue with this change. Speaking on the visual standpoint I do wonder how the manga largely being black and white will affect how Omori is portrayed. There is some importance to color in the game which will likely harder to portray. Such as Omori being all black and white in Headspace while everything else is colored. Not sure how to go about making this distinct, perhaps the other members of the group with be stylized a bit differently. It should also be very clear for the viewer whether you are currently seeing Headpsace or the Real World. But I am more interested in seeing how this will be tackled rather than truly concerned right now. With some creativity this can likely be remedied. We are already shown multiple styles in the promo art, so I feel positive about this not being an issue.

It will be interesting to experience it without the soundtrack. Now the soundtrack I would truly call flawless. The music, sound effects, everything. Catchy, beautiful, goofy, sad, freaky, dramatic- it hits everything sound can elicit. Just hearing some of the tracks and sound effects makes me feel emotional (It Means Everything hits me the most, it so perfectly portrays the scene and feelings in the moment. The sound effect for you-know-what instantly hits you with a little anxiety). That part of the sensory experience missing from the manga is a shame but that’s how the medium is. I generally prefer anime to manga as I highly value the animation and auditory experience, but at least I can at least use my imagination based on the game’s soundtrack. I can still enjoy manga even if it’s not my preferred medium and especially so if I am already very attached to the property from other pieces of media. 

The story is very good, though not perfect. Some parts can be a little confusing and I do think the main event that spurred the story goes a bit further than it needs to, but the emotions we get out of this story is just fantastic. The interpretation of mental illness is great. The character interactions feel down to earth and real. You very quickly grow very attached to this group of characters.

I have no serious reservations going into this. The one visual we have is great, so I have no concerns with the style and art quality. The game and original material the game is based on give it a strong foundation to work with. Omocat has given me no reasons to doubt them too so I’ll have faith they put their baby in the right hands. 

Only fears I can think of are ones I’d consider towards any adaptation of a longer video game- bad pacing and loss of critical details that bring down the experience (cough cough Danganronpa 1 anime adaptation). The characters are the main focus of the story so it would be a serious blow if we lose a lot of the dialogue and interactions that make us get so attached to them, especially for first time viewers. To me that attachment is critical to your enjoyment of the story. The official tweet says it will be for both new and old fans so hopefully that’ll be true. 

I’m happy with any more Omori content I can get, but I do hope we get some original stuff rather than it being a one-to-one retelling. I prefer adaptations doing something new outside of just the visual medium, so I am hoping we can get content like new character interactions and some new enemies at least. I wouldn’t want the story significantly changed but I would love to see original details that complement and enhance the original story and expand the worlds. 

I’m feeling very optimistic towards this adaptation and hope you are as hype as I am! I’ll follow along with the manga as it releases and will post about it (hopefully gushing over it) so stay tuned for that! Please check out Omori if you found and read this without playing or watching the game (highly recommend playing it yourself, it's worth it.) Thank you for reading!

[chronological-barnacle]

tbh I think we can draw out some really interesting implications from the idea that the MU was a world where morality is literally a binary system by design. we all know about the Great Beings' fucked up notions regarding gender, it would make sense if they conceived of Good and Evil as mutually exclusive opposites with no room for nuance

framing it that way, I think it makes a little more sense that groups like the Brotherhood and the Dark Hunters remained cohesive and functional for so long while being backstabbing bastards - for the most part, Mata Nui's body was able to turn everything that happened inside it towards its own overall functioning. apart from the Barraki rebellion, the Matoran Civil War, and Teridax's deliberate viral attack on theata Nui's vital system, the whole internal universe ticked along just fine for thousands of years with Vortixx and Skakdi being as evil as they pleased, bc morality was just another piece of code in a vast machine where almost nobody had been intended to be sapient enough to think about it

clearly nuanced approaches to morality were starting to develop little by little by the time we start witnessing events (Brutaka's fall and redemption, Krika if you ignore word of Greg, etc) but for the most part morality stays binary

then everyone from the MU has to adjust to life on Spherus Magna, where things like good and evil might be muddier and full of gray areas. how much of a culture shock would that be for them, Good and Evil alike? how might they react? how might they be changed?

I go back and forth on how I feel about Bionicle’s villains being for the most part simplistically evil with no redeeming features.

On the one hand, that Ursula K. LeGuin quote about good being complex and interesting, evil being simplistic and mundane rings very true in Bionicle.

On the other hand, it would have been so interesting to see more characters come into conflict with the heroes over something that wasn’t just their own greed and cruelty, and especially to have those characters continue to be antagonists because they’re never going to like or agree with the heroes. And there’s also the unfortunate fact that some entire species are depicted as uniformly evil, which is lazy worldbuilding.

And then there’s the other other thought, which is thinking about how passionate some people in other fandoms get in their defence of “sympathetic” villains, and imagining Greg trying to navigate that. Like if I were in a position like his, I would probably want to have woobie-proof villains too.

Krika seemed like an exception to the norm, except Greg then went and stated that his monologue about being jealous of the Toa’s heroism was an act he put on to win Gali’s trust. Frustrating to some, but also kind of funny to think he was the only Makuta smart enough to try playing the poor little meow meow card on Gali instead of just using violence, and that it very nearly worked.

[jomaccudo]

I felt pretty vulnerable when I put that last post up, but I did not anticipate the warmth my Tangy and Rosie would receive! Thank you all for your kindness :)

Rosie was the second AC plush I made, and Tangy was the third. I can post some others another day, but for now I think I want to show what went into making one of these two.

The minky I used for their fur started off as white, so each color has been dyed using Rit Dyemore Synthetic: their base body colors, Tangy's leaves (there's a second one on the back of her head), Rosie's fringe, the pink blush, and even the gradients on the ears which I had to dip. When I dye, I don't use measurements and instead play it by ear, so sometimes my colors are just "good enough." (Rosie's blue could have been darker, for instance.)

I am really particular when it comes to making their faces! Because I love plushies that evoke a sense of life. This doesn't have to be through realism—just expression. I freehand draw the face, tighten the sketch on graph paper, then trace two copies: one to cut apart and use as a template, and the other to keep as reference when designing future AC plush faces. (It's helpful to have for placement and scaling of the features: in case I want to make one with eyes as wide as Rosie’s, or as far apart as Tangy’s...etc.)

I then use the cut-up template to draw the face on the back of the fabric.

The face is made of felt appliqué and hand-embroidered details. I start with the appliqué, sewing stiffened felt onto the minky. Then I embroider the lines, which are done using a split-stitch, doubled layered to create thickness.  And I couldn’t forget Tangy’s freckles! Those were satin-stitched to make sure they appear recessed. 

This picture is a little horrifying! But it shows the back of the embroidery. I used a water soluble marker to draw the face on here. That way, it didn't leave any permanent marks on the finished plushie.

Here I'm about to sew the face to the rest of the head, using nami nui! Which really is just a running stitch. It’s what I learned from my mom, who learned it from my grandmother. Additionally, nami nui is a foundational stitch for hand sewing in Japan: sashiko is a type of embroidery that is made of nami nui; boro involves repurposing old and worn textiles using nami nui; and traditionally, kimono were sewn using nami nui. It is a stitch like a wave: up, down, up, down; consistent, even, and repeating in one steady direction.

A side note: for some reason, my mom never taught me to use a regular knot. I only learned French knots! Which meant that there were many years of her tying off my stitches for me before I finally mastered it myself. I've since learned simpler knots, but...old habits die hard!

I modified my head pattern here, because the previous plushie’s (Rosie’s) head came out too wide. So Tangy has a head that’s more proportional to her face. Additionally, I changed the pile direction for the side of the head, to go downward as opposed to toward the face (as it did with Rosie). This amounts to a more seamless (lol) transition between the face piece and the sides. I would continue to alter my strategies for future plush: for instance, the next AC plush I made got embroidered paws on both arms and legs!

Tangy was a lot of fun at this stage. The silly little head got up to a lot of mischief.

The leaves were made much like the face: drawn in the template, transferred to the fabric, put on an embroidery hoop, then split-stitch embroidered. Afterwards, they were sewn onto the head using a ladder stitch.

If you look closely, you can see a plant on the left in the background. That scraggly thing became the lush ivy that features in most of the plush pictures I’ve taken lately! It has really thrived since this photo.

The running stitch is a reliable hand stitch, but it is not the strongest one. So I make two accommodations to increase the strength of my seams. First, I work with my thread quadrupled over (passing both ends of the thread through the eye of the needle), and secondly, I keep my stitches very even, short and tight. The majority of my time goes to sewing these seams together.

Naturally, using a machine can drastically cut this working time down. I even had a sewing machine several feet away from where this picture was taken. But I wasn’t interested in using it, because my craft is not about efficiency or making a sellable plush. Ultimately, it’s not even about what I'm sewing. All that matters to me is how I'm sewing it, and that's by using the same stitch as my mom, grandma, and great-grandma.

Though I was born in Japan, I grew up in America and barely got to know my mom's family. This craft is one of the few threads that ties me to them. When these sewing motions and rhythms become second nature to me, I like to imagine it’s because their hands are guiding mine.

I would like to draw attention to the one freckle I embroidered on her body! I was delighted to discover that the character’s designers put a freckle there. That was a detail I knew I needed to add, even if it would always be hidden in the final plush.

And here is the finished Tangy, dressed and properly photographed! She ultimately took me 52 hours to complete. This dress was a nightmare to sew, as I was still very new to patterning clothing. But I pulled through somehow.

So that's how I made Tangy! I did edit this down to have at least a little chill, haha. But my sewing craft is so intrinsically tied to where I came from, what I've lost and my attempts to reconnect, that it's hard for me to separate these things from the process and end result, even when it’s something as simple as Animal Crossing plushies.

[moviemunchies]

Do you guys remember BIONICLE? Do you remember that it was the shiz? Because it was. In 2003 they released their first movie through Miramax, and because I’d been rereading the books I thought I’d give it another watch.

Alright, so. BIONICLE. First released in 2001, BIONICLE was LEGO’s attempt at creating their own story-based toy line that wasn’t a licensed property like Star Wars. Using the LEGO Technic line, it’s own comic series published by DC, and a lot of Maori words (which they got sued over, by the way, hence some spelling changes a year or so after it launched), BIONICLE told the story of six heroes with elemental powers called Toa who inhabited the island of Mata Nui, guarding similarly-elemental-themed villages, and fought against the forces of an ultimate evil named Makuta.

[EDIT: @cousin-possum-kc has noted that LEGO didn’t actually get sued, they were contacted by Maori activists and the whole thing was settled happily enough for all parties. Small correction.]

The series heavily featured collectibles to keep sales going, and in the first few years these collectibles were mostly masks (I’m counting Krana as masks get over it). In story, the Kanohi masks of power allowed Toa to access certain abilities not related to their elements, so they went on quests to go find as many as they could.

There were web animations early on as well, featuring the Matoran–diminutive villagers who the Toa protected. Among the most prominent were Takua, the Ta-Matoran (fire villager) Chronicler who traveled throughout the island recording important events (read: story-relevant events), and his friend Jaller (pronounced “Jala” which is how it was originally spelled before the Maori lawsuit), the Captain of the Guard.

The movie Mask of Light, released in 2003 and seemingly wrapping up the main story at the time, involved Takua discovering a Mask of Light, and being told that he must go on a quest to find the Seventh Toa who would defeat the Makuta once and for all and awaken the Great Spirit. 

[Spoiler alert: despite the movie implying both of those things happen, neither of them do for the sake of Plot. But at least for a bit it SEEMS like they defeated Makuta. Dude won’t stay dead.]

This wasn’t the first time BIONICLE fans saw their characters in animation–various video games and online animations showed some of the characters' adventures. But it was the first full movie, and with completely different designs than in the web animations (which mostly just used the sets as character models). Some people are really worked up about how different the characters in the movie looked from the sets–TV Tropes still has complaints about it up to this day. Personally, I don’t mind–it’s clear that the sets are meant to be the best representations that can be done with the LEGO pieces they had. I don’t understand people who are upset that they gave these characters hands and took away the gear from their backs.

There is some weirdness in adding organic elements and making the masks more like faces. Why is there so much purple on Lewa? And also it’s jarring how thin petite Gali is compared to the other Toa. Yes, she’s the only female Toa, but she barely looks the same species as the other Toa. 

But overall, it’s fine. I don’t get why people care that much.

The bigger problem is that so many of the characters’ personalities are off. Some, like the Makuta, hadn’t been quite worked out yet, and hadn’t featured that heavily in the stories (his personality wouldn’t get solidified until the 2005 book Time Trap). That’s fine. Mostly. But a couple of the Toa are laughably off-base. Laidback and carefree Lewa speaks with an Irish accent (because he’s green I guess–but it’s an odd choice for a character at home in the jungle) and is in touch with nature, referring to the bear they come across as ‘sister’ like some sort of Native American stereotype. Wise and thoughtful Onua makes jabs at Pohatu about how stonecarving isn’t a “real job” like digging mining tunnels is.

This movie introduced a lot of things that became standard for BIONICLE stories, like “Mata Nui!” exclamations, and referring to Toa as “Toa ____”, so I’m glad that these characterizations didn’t stick.

I remember that the “Unity, Duty, and Destiny” thing felt a bit odd watching it the first time. The symbol had been part of BIONICLE since the beginning, but I don’t remember the Three Virtues being A Thing until this movie (unless we count the Mata Nui Online Game 2, which was made to be a lead-up to this movie). In this, they’re the guiding virtues of Matoran life, and are referenced all the time. That felt a bit odd, but it doesn’t detract from this movie–they’re firmly established at the beginning of the movie.

It’s also somewhat inconsistent on how these are applied? Mostly Unity. The Toa learn Unity to defeat the Rakshi, and that’s great, but when Takanuva prepares to face Makuta, the Toa want to go with him because Unity–only for Takanuva to shut that down and insist he has to go face Makuta alone. Except shortly after he gets to Makuta’s lair, he decides the Toa, Turaga, and assorted Matoran for…Reasons. It becomes evident later on that they’re necessary for awakening Mata Nui (except they don’t), but there’s not any way for Takanuva to know this.

The animation looks a bit dated, but for the most part, the world doesn’t look bad–since it’s all CGI, and isn’t trying too hard to be realistic, it’s not as if it’s too much of a problem. The main probably with animation is that there are several shots that just kind of…happen? Like, the camera will switch shots and then show that a character has entered the scene, or done something, without doing the work of showing the character in that action. We’ll cut to Tahu appearing in a fight scene, or Takanuva having already leapt off of a pillar, or something like that.

The fight scenes are also… alright? I remember GregF claiming that people liked the second movie more because there were more fights in it, but this one had plenty of fight scenes. The Toa are very bad about using their elemental powers though–other than Kopaka. Tahu rarely ever just blasts someone with fire when he can try to cut lava lines in the ground with his swords. These are the Toa Nuva, guys! They have an insane amount of power! There should be elements flying everywhere. Instead Gali defaults to blocking attacks with her axes.

We also have this annoying problem BIONICLE kept for years in which the original Toa were just bad at their jobs, refusing to learn to work together, and even then struggling to defeat foes they should be able to easily mop the floor with. This isn’t as egregious as 2006, and I understand that it fits with the movie’s theme about learning Unity, but considering that they’ve taken down the bad guys thrice at this point, it’s pretty dumb that they have to learn to work as a team AGAIN and don’t use their powers to their full abilities.

There are things really great in this movie though. Tahu’s too much of a showoff to be completely in-character, but his introductory sequence is fantastic–not only is it REALLY cool to see him surfing on lava, but it quickly establishes who he is (Toa of fire), what his powers are (relating to fire, his Magma Swords, and his Mask of Shielding), and what his role is (protector of the Ta-Matoran). That’s a darn good way to introduce a character.

It is, in general, fantastic to see some of the BIONICLE world realized in a CGI movie. A lot of it doesn’t look how some fans expected, but overall I think it’s a good look. And overall, it’s a heck of a lot of a better adaptation than BIONICLE: The Game, which was released the same year.

Gosh that game was disappointing.

And while there were web animations that showed the lives of the Matoran, this was The Movie, and the two main characters. That’s cool. Matoran life generally takes a backseat, which makes sense given all the world crises going on in the BIONICLE Universe. But it’s good to see these two front and center.

I can’t imagine this movie being appealing to non-BIONICLE fans, less so now then when it came out when BIONICLE was still A Thing. If you ARE a BIONICLE fan, I think you’d get something out of watching it again to see one of the biggest things to happen to the fandom and what all the fuss was about.

Random Fun Facts!

-According to GregF, an early version of the story that got scrapped pretty early in development involved a kid from our world being transported to the BIONICLE world to become the seventh Toa. Fans got worked up about this, but I don’t think this idea ever got very far.

-The voice actors for Jaller and Takua actually started off in each other’s roles? Or auditioned for each other’s roles. Except when they showed up, the performer trying out for Takua had his script in pristine condition and showed up dressed well, whereas the performer for Jaller showed up with his script looking like it had been folded and stuffed in a bag. They decided to switch the two and that’s how the two leads of the movie got cast.

-This movie seems to imply Makuta is some sort of well-intentioned extremist, keeping Mata Nui asleep out of desire to make sure his brother doesn’t suffer. This entire angle is dropped, especially by 2005’s book Time Trap and the 2006 storyline indicates that Makuta is actually still alive.

-This is the first time that it’s shown that Matoran can become Toa in BIONICLE–turns out that’s normally how Toa are made. The original team is an exception, as they were never Matoran.

-The Jaller x Hahli ship was established in the web animation and brought back again in the movie. The other Ga-Matoran on her team (Macku) totally has A Thing for the captain of Po-Koro’s team, Hewkii. This subplot was dropped after the movie because A) GregF said Matoran don’t reproduce biologically or get married, so Jaller and Hahli holding hands on a beach twenty years from now will still be them holding hands on a beach, and B) this is a franchise aimed at pre-teen boys. LEGO is not really invested in maintaining this. Didn’t stop fans, though.

-I mentioned the Mata Nui Online Game 2 as a lead-in to the movie. In that game you play as Hahli and join Ga-Koro’s kohli team, traveling around the island and winning enough matches to go to the championship.

-The Mask of Light in the movie has Matoran text in it, and it actually says something. It’s complete nonsense though.

-When I saw this movie with my dad one time way back in the day, when Vakama says, “Rakshi! Makuta’s sons. Exactly as foretold.” My dad said something like, “Then why weren’t you ready for them?!”

-Composer Nathan Furst considered his work on the BIONICLE movies among his favorite projects, because he was given quite a lot of freedom on what to do with the soundtrack. You can totes mcgotes find the soundtrack of this movie, the other two in the trilogy, and other BIONICLE projects from the BioMedia Project.

[kanohivolitakk]

From a heroic flame to passing of the torch: The Cleverness in Toa Lhikans writing

The more I think about it, the more I realize that Toa Lhikan is probably one of the most cleverly written and best utilized characters in all of Bionicle.

Lhikans main purpose in the story is to serve as the motivation for the Toa Metru (Vakama especially) to fight and learn their powers. Lhikan is the one who gives the Toa Metru their powers. He drives them forward, both with his absence and as a mentor figure. The Toa Metru are doing everything for finding Lhikan because they think he is the perfect hero. Lhikan is the goal, he's the thing our protagonists want, what pushes them to change and grow both physically as well as emotionally. He is also a major factor to Vakamas character arc, his death affecting him long after hes gone, like a lingering ghost. Finally, Lhikans an excellent showcase to the arcs themes of loss, duty and what it truly means to be a hero.

With all this in mind, Lhikan is basically a plotdevice character. He mainly exists to further Toa Metrus developement and the themes/ideas of the arc. Now, you could argue that every character in a story is a plotdevice, especially in a plot oriented series where characters serve the story (rather than other way around) like Bionicle. But what I mean is that Lhikan is one of those characters whose sole purpose is to serve other characters than do any meaningful stuff themselves. You know like R2D2 in Star Wars, which main purpose is to be a literal living mcguffin? Or like how a lot of japanese media have that one girl character with mysterious powers who literally just exists as a key to the series deepest mysteries and as an object the other characters fight over? Basically, Lhikans like that. While Lhikan doesnt completely lack agency (hes the one who kickstarted the plot afterall with calling the heroes to their mission and without this action Metru Nui would be doomed), he's more important in how he affects the cast than what he does himself.

But the thing is... Despite his main purpose in the story being literally the catalyst and motivation of Toa Metru, Lhikan doesn't feel like a plotdevice character. An issue with these type of characters is that often they feel like their sole purpose is to serve the plot and rest of the characters, and as such they often are rather uninteresting. You can clearly see that they only exist as a means for the plot to move forward, than anything more substantial. But Lhikan isn't like that. He's a cool badass veteran hero with a calm and friendly yet determined personality. He has some hints of an interesting personal story thanks to being the sole protector of Metru Nui who lost all his comrades as well as him having a(n at the time implied) personal connection with one of the arcs main villains. Thanks to his personality, badassness and having hints of a personal backstory Lhikan feels like a dynamic character and not like a glorified tool plotdevice characters often feel like. He's the arcs fanfavorite and probably the most popular toa that isn't part of the three main teams (Takanuva not withstanding), and for a good reason I'd say.

And that's all thanks to the cleverness in Lhikans writing.

Lhikan is written in such a way that, while he feels dynamic and active, every decision with his character is made to serve his purpose in the story, to serve as the guiding light to Toa Metru. He's written in such a way that his purpose feels hidden, like its masked (heh). Lhikan feels like a more dynamic character than he actually is and thats very delibarate, in order to make him feel like a great hero and have his absence affect the viewer just as much as it does the characters, thus making us empathize with them.

From a design and characterization point Lhikan is meant to invoke a model hero: Lhikans design is basically an expy of Tahu, right to him wearing the same Kanohi. This is delibarate, as him sharing the design with THE posterboy of toas is a shorthand for how Lhikan is a legendary hero and just as posterboy for toas in-universe like how Tahu is the posterboy of toas in our universe. Lhikans personality compliments his status as a model hero as well: he is brave, determined, viligant yet caring and compassionate. And the beginning of Legends of Metru Nui does a fantastic job showcasing Lhikans characterization at the span of 8 or so minutes.

We start the movie with Lhikan taking the toa stones and follow him during the first five minutes as he delivers them to the future toa Metru. The fact that we start with Lhikans POV makes the audience care about him, not only because hes the first thing they latch onto, but also due to his characterization. Lhikan is shown from the get go as a determined hero, willing to complete his mission and save the city he swore to protect no matter what. He's shown as a capable fighter, holding well against the formidable Dark Hunters. And while Lhikan has this sense of rigid determination, hes far from stoic as hes shown as friendly and caring from the way he talks to the future Toa Metru, addressing them in such a way that takes them to account. You can see how he is this hero that not only fights to protect the innocent, but cares about those he protects. Lhikan also is shown to have a sense of humor, with him chuckling to Matau "don't break this" while giving his Toa Stone or telling Whenua not to archieve his toa stone. Lhikans determination, his skills as a fighter and his friendly His voice acting enhances these qualities, as in every language hes given this reliable, down to earth yet heroic voice, perfect for his character.

And then we come to the scene with him and Vakama in the forge, culminating everything we know of Lhikan so far into one scene.

The scene starts with Lhikan saying with urgency that Metru Nui need saving. He sounds serious and desperate, like he sees Vakama as Metru Nuis last hope. Then the Dark Hunters show up. Lhikan fights them (quite well I might add), but is defeated and captured. Its worth noting that Lhikan isn't defeated by force but rather by Nidhiki exploiting one of Lhikans core traits: empathy and willingness to protect others at the cost of his own safety. By holding Vakama on thread, Nidhiki knows that Lhikan will give himself in to save the matoran from death, that it's in Lhikans nature to do so. "Compassion was always your weakness," the insectoid Dark Hunter says. While I wouldn't call Lhikans compassion a weakness per say, it is a trait that encaptures Lhikan very well and serves as a double edged sword. It is one of the many traits that make Lhikan a model hero and such a likeable character, but it can be exploited as seen here.

And so, after a moment of hesitation, Lhikan gives in. He drops his sword and lets himself be captured. This is such a powerful moment, as Lhikans expressions carry a sense of desparation but also determination. He doesn't want to give in, but knows its the only way to protect not only Vakama, but Metru Nui as a whole. And so, he sighs, drops his swords and gives Vakama a means to escape.

These first eight minutes are important. Not only do they serve as an introduction to Lhikan (and rest of the cast and story), they also show a more important purpose: to show how much he means to not only Vakama, our main character, but the City of Legends as whole. Lhikan is the citys last Toa, the last hero who can protect the city. As such, when he disappears, it can be seen as the citys last hope vanishing. Lhikans disappereance can be seen as the tipping point to our heroes, their call to adventure, the thing that will make them the heroes the city needs. Thing is, they don’t realize it just yet.

After that, Lhikan fades into a background for a while. But just because he he's absend doesnt mean he fades from the story. He is still in minds of toa Metru, especially Vakamas. Vakama blames himself for Lhikans disappearance, thinking he should've done something to save his hero. Were he stronger Lhikan would've not been captured. Saving Lhikan becomes an objective for Vakama, not just because of the Toas status as Metru Nuis hero, but also because of Vakamas inferiority complex. Vakama believes that he is too flawed to be a hero, too imperfect compared to Lhikan, his idol and the pure epitome of heroism. Because of this Vakama thinks Lhikan is the only one who can save Metru Nui, that he's its soul, the heart of it. Due to a warped psyche Vakama thinks its his mission to save the true hero rather than being the hero the city needs himself.

During this time, the toa metru are divided into two groups: one (Vakama, Matau, Nokama) are trying to rescue Lhikan, while the other (Nuju, Whenua, Onewa) are trying to escape the prison, as they are mentored by a mysterious helmeted stranger who serves as a quirky mentor. Unbeknowst to the latter group, this stranger is Lhikan, now Turagafied. Lhikan doesn’t reveal his identity and that’s on purpose. While the toa groups are trying to rescue Lhikan and escape the prison, they are learning skills and becoming stronger. They are becoming independent of Lhikan. This is why the “disguised” Turaga Lhikan never reveals himself til the time is right. He knows that the Toa Metru are surpassing him, that they are growing into the heroes the city needs. Were he reveal his identity now, it would just derail them of their developement

By the time Lhikans "officially" reintroduced, five of the six Metru have learned their mask powers and grown stronger. They are closer at becoming the heroes of the city. Lhikan tells the Toa Metru that the city doesn't need him any more, because the city has them now. That Lhikan has passed the torch and the Metru have become the citys protectors, the ones meant to save it from Makutas darkness. Vakama is the only one who hasn’t learned his mask powers. This is because he still believes to be in Lhikans shadow, he still believes that he isn’t the hero destined for greatness. Even after Lhikan has been revealed as a Turaga, Vakama still doesn’t believe that he should save the city. Not Lhikan.

This all changes in the climax.

Lhikans death is not only emotional and impactful, but serves an important purpose in the story. It is essentially the culmination of the metaphorical passing of torch Lhikan started at the beginning of LOM. By sacrificing himself to protect Vakama, Lhikan essentially paves the way for the new generation of heroes.  “My lifetimes journey has ended. Yours lies beyond”, he says to Vakama.

And this is the moment where Vakama gets his mask powers, because its the moment where he realizes he’s the hero now. While he hasn’t moved on from Lhikan, this is where Vakama finally comes to terms with his destiny and purpose. And as such, its where he finally gains his mask powers. It’s a culmination, a reward for Vakama letting go of Lhikan. This is also a structural reason why Lhikan dies, because he has fulfilled his purpose in the narrative. To use Bionicle terminology as an analogy, Lhikan has completed his destiny, to create the Toa Metru and guide them where they can become the heroes of the city. Lhikan isn’t needed anymore, his work is done. And so, he dies peacefully.

In conclusion Lhikan is the best glorified plotdevice character in any fiction because hes written in such a way you don't realize hes a plotdevice character yet he still fulfills his purpose as the guiding light for Toa Metru perfectly. The writing makes you care about him and be invested in him just as much as the citizens of the city he protects are, which helps us connecting with our real heroes. And thats why Lhikan is such a cleverly written character and one of the many reasons he's my favorite Toa and one of my top favorite characters in the franchise.

[sepublic]

Quick question: Would the Baterra recognize elemental powers as a weapon? Because if not, then...

We know that in the cancelled Valley of the Maze film, Kiina and Ackar‘s elemental powers would begin to develop, beyond their control even; To the point where Ackar leaves behind molten footsteps, for example. This would imply that their elemental powers are no longer confined to their weapons, but possibly a part of themselves that they can use, without said weapons. Likewise, Mata Nui has begun to regain some old powers of his, such as control over gravity; And I presume he would’ve imbued Buckethead, Oris, Tera, and Likus with their own elemental powers too.

If the Baterra don’t recognize elemental powers as a threat -so long as the user doesn’t have any weapons on them- then perhaps this is not just a telling weakness that explains their purpose; This might’ve been intended as a narrative device to force the heroes to discard their weapons and hone their elemental powers instead!

Perhaps the Baterra would’ve proven too difficult for our protagonists, who realize the key to victory is to use their elemental powers only, thereby incentivizing and encouraging their development. 2010 would’ve placed a lot of emphasis on the elements, hence the Element Lords being the main antagonists; Likewise, if Baterra don’t recognize powers as weapons, then this would add to how the Element Lords made it into the Maze when few others could.

Not only are their powers grand enough to take on the Baterra, but they possibly didn’t even register as a threat to begin with! After all, the Baterra were designed only to disarm powerless armies whose only threat came from the weapons they carried, instead of six select individuals. So the Element Lords get by just fine, while our Glatorian protagonists have to abandon their weapons to proceed.

This is a major character moment, not just for their Skrall companion, but for everyone; Weapons and combat are such a central part of the Glatorian lifestyle! But discarding these in favor of accessing just the raw power of the elements could be a neat thematic moment, as the protagonists become more attuned to nature, preparing them for the later arc on Bota Magna.

The Glatorian-Agori society is so dependent on weapons, so being able to let that go would be a nice moment of development to display the unity of the tribes and how Mata Nui has helped them move on from conflict, in contrast to the Element Lords who can’t stop fighting one another even at the end. It’d also make the lords into elemental rivals for our protagonists, who have to go through a training montage and get acquainted with their elements in the properly-themed locations, like the rock falls for Buckethead the Skrall.

Once they realize how vulnerable they are without weapons, then they’d better rely on their powers and learn to make the most of them; Especially when their battles with the Element Lords will ultimately boil down to who uses their elements better! The Baterra necessitate the protagonists fight fire with fire -sometimes literally for Ackar and the Fire Lord- and beat their seemingly superior enemies at their own game. And it changes the conflict from the typical melee combat into something more fantastical, as Mata Nui thematically arises from mortal limitations to godly power, hence his returning abilities.

Having to rely solely on elemental powers could also bring up a bit of a moral here, as the Glatorian learn to use their powers for good and creation like the Great Beings whose work is around them; In contrast to the Element Lords, who use their powers for control and domination. After all, what really IS the difference between tool and weapon, besides how one uses each? The Glatorian leave behind their weapons but also learn responsibility with these new powers, something their society had been lacking, especially when it came to the Energized Protodermis. The Great Beings actually manage to teach a lesson with the Baterra, finally.

And since these powers are described as a bit out of control in the beginning, again; There’s that lesson of control and restraint, of temperance with their power that the protagonists need to learn. If all they have is their powers, then they’d better learn to control them lest they hurt one another in using them, and become no different than the Element Lords at the climax of the film.

For all we know, maybe the Baterra DO register elements as weapons, which means not only the heroes leaving behind their weapons, but also controlling their powers so as to not alert the machines; Thus they only use them as needed, because with great power comes great responsibility. And the protagonists can summon and dispel their elements at will, making weapons more of a liability anyway if they have to constantly retrieve them when the Baterra are gone.

There could be a thematic lesson of restraint for our protagonists, something the Element Lords lack, and would be very important for a god learning to be better like Mata Nui. It’s definitely a lesson he’d take to heart unlike Makuta, while the Glatorian learn to master their elements and not just embrace them, but also not be controlled by them either; VS the Element Lords who are overwhelmed and consumed by their own power.

Thus you could have Ackar rejecting his Lord’s temptations to give into Fire and be as all-consuming and destructive as it; Ackar instead uses Fire as a tool (weapon VS tool morality), since Fire is linked with the civilization and technological progress the Great Beings embody. The Lords by comparison are nature primal and untamed to their detriment. Don’t forsake nature like the Great Beings, but don’t be consumed by it like the Element Lords; Balance is key here.

Really, one could go with an interesting angle here; Since the Element Lords were Glatorian granted power by the Great Beings, what if our protagonists see the similarities? The fate could be raised that if they, too, gave into their elemental powers... The protagonists would also become those elements as they’re overtaken by them, turning into Element Lords.

Thus the Lords are a dark echo and cautionary tale of what our Glatorian could become if they’re not careful, with Makuta acting as Mata Nui’s evil counterpart; Mata Nui wants to be a more participating god but not tyrannical, which sets up how he gives up power in the end once he uses it to make things right. Our heroes thus learn from the past’s mistakes, breaking the cycle of destruction and untamed nature by choosing control and restraint, achieving a nuanced harmony and mastery over their powers that the Lords lack.

And this talk of responsibility with power; It does make me wonder if there’s a Unity Duty Destiny moral going with this speculated trio of Magna arcs. I mean, not only is the Spherus Magna setting the visual basis for the three virtues, but also... We’ve got Unity in 2009, Mata Nui uniting the tribes past their common differences towards a greater goal.

Then there’s Duty, the heroes learning to use their powers responsibly and for good, while against the Element Lords who have forsaken their duties as leaders for power; Something that Mata Nui would likely be inspired to reflect over when he draws parallels between the lords, his neglect for his people, and Makuta’s callous tyranny, as Greg confirmed Teridax is the kind of person to slaughter his subjects on a whim.

And Destiny I presume is Bota Magna; As I speculated, Bota Magna is where Mata Nui would meet the Great Beings who made his destiny, and learn what it is; Reuniting Spherus Magna. Not to mention the potential inclusion of energized protodermis to stabilize his power source, with EP’s whole schtick being whether people are destined to transform or die.

On a final note, I also have to wonder how this Baterra plot point would’ve affected the sets; Would the Glatorian sets of 2010 still have weapons? Or would emphasis be placed on pieces that represent their elemental powers, possibly being made of them; Ideally, these elemental weapons would only be summoned when the Baterra aren’t around, dismissed otherwise. Having fully-elemental weapons and pieces would be cool, and great for creating environments and effects as well!

[kissinginkitchens]

You Bring Me Home — Chapter One: Flightless Bird, American Mouth

a/n: I've been working on this story for mooonths now and I'm so excited to finally share it with the world! It's heavily inspired by Harry's Behind the Album mini doc, except I changed the setting to Hawai'i because I've personally spent some time there and as they say, write what you know! YBMH takes place in the period between One Direction's hiatus and Harry's first album/tour, but with that being said, this is entirely a work of fiction and some events don't follow the true timeline. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my little story, I hope you love it as much as I do! It will be updated every Friday at 5 PM PST. My inbox is open, so feel free to talk to me once you've finished reading! I'd love to hear from you :) Much love, Mel <3

Pairing: Hawai'i!Harry x Original Character

Warnings: swearing

Word Count: 5.5k

May, 2016

Harry watches LAX get smaller through the airplane window and visualizes all of his worries stuck at the terminal gate, their magnitude also diminishing as he takes flight. He sinks lower in his seat and skims through playlists on his phone when a nagging feeling at the back of his mind pulls his attention away from the screen. Looking up from the song choices, he spots a cell phone quickly lowered from his line of vision and a girl with flushed cheeks who quickly averts her gaze. Harry shoots a tight-lipped smile in her direction and goes back to his phone with a sigh. The days when he could roam the streets freely without fear of recognition—or worse, harassment—feel like an entirely different lifetime. He sometimes imagines that he’ll wake up back in his childhood bed as if the past five years had all been a dream, but he never does. In fact, his privacy and anonymity seem to dwindle with each minute of radio play that One Direction receives. It’s a bittersweet pill to swallow, but one he hopes will go down easier with some time in the Hawaiian sun.

His close friend and new manager, Jeff Azoff, had suggested the vacation as soon as the band privately agreed to take a hiatus.

“You’ll go home for a few weeks,” his voice had crackled through the speakers of Harry’s phone. “Visit your mom and Gem, lay low for a while until the smoke blows over,”

Harry mulled it over in his mind, eyes flickering over the rolling landscape outside of the tour bus window.

“Then what?”

“Then you go for a little vacation. The label offered to cover a house in Hawaii so you can start working on the album,”

“Alone?”

Jeff chuckled lightly on the other end before responding. “I mean, if that’s what you want,”

“No,” Harry corrected. “You and Tom should come. Mitch and Bhasker, too,”

“The dream team,”

“And there’ll be a studio there?”

“Yes,” Jeff started, almost hesitant. “But I don’t want you to think about that too much,”

“But you said the label—"

“I also said vacation. Look, Rob said ‘it will all happen in due time,' did he not?”

Harry twisted the rose ring around his finger, tracing over the silver petals and thinking back to his conversation with the CEO of Sony Music, Rob Stringer. Upon the proposal of his debut solo album, Rob had told him that the most important ingredient for a successful debut would be patience. The singer had agreed in the moment, but every day not spent in the studio felt like a test he hadn’t studied hard enough for.

“Yeah.”

“So you take the free vacation,” Jeff suggested. “You go out, live, get some writing material. Maybe mess around with some tunes. And then we come back to L.A. and get to work. But until then, I just want you to focus on taking it easy.”

So take it easy he had. Or at least he had tried to when he was back home in England. Harry quickly grew restless after what felt like the millionth awkward conversation with past friends and acquaintances, all of which eventually led to the topic of One Direction and it’s unexpected hiatus. After one month at home, his mind and journal were full of ideas for songs, things that he wanted to say before he lost his nerve. One night as he tossed and turned in bed, he shot Jeff a text, just two words that would kick off a three month getaway to the Big Island of Hawai'i:

I’m ready.

********

“Sounds great, I'll go put in your order.” Alani offers sweetly, trying not to overdo it with the customer service voice. After waiting on the family at her designated table, she heads back to the kitchen and finds her younger sister, Pua, crouched in the corner taking what appears to be a serious phone call.

“I don’t know, I just saw it!” Her sister cries in a hushed tone. “Where do you think he’s going?”

“Is everything okay?” Alani cuts in with concern.

Pua whispers into the speaker before bringing the phone to her shoulder.

“Harry Styles was just spotted on a plane this morning,”

“Who?”

“The guy from One Direction,” her sister explains with a hint of irritation in her voice. “The band who sings that song you secretly like, ‘Fireproof,'”

Alani vaguely recalls the melody, but she waits expectantly for Pua to elaborate. “And this is news because…”

“Because the band just broke up, so where could he possibly be going?”

"The unemployment office?”

Pua rolls her eyes and returns to her phone call while Alani envelops her in a tight hug.

“I’m just kidding!” Alani apologizes, squeezing tighter despite her sister’s attempts to break free. “I’m sure he’ll be living off of royalty checks until he’s, like, eighty,”

“Get off me, freak!” Pua cries out, finally breaking the embrace.

Alani clutches her chest and pulls out an invisible knife. “Ouch. I’m telling Harry you said that,”

“This is exactly why I don’t tell you things.” the younger sister huffs, storming out of the kitchen through the employee entrance where Alani’s best friend, Maleah, has just arrived.

“Looks like someone forgot to eat their Cheerios today,” she remarks, tying her curls into a high ponytail.

Alani shrugs and leans against the counter. “She’s going through something. Just discovered that boys in pop bands are, in fact, just regular boys.”

“Poor thing,” Maleah frowns. “We all have to learn eventually.”

********

The sky is a blend of cotton candy pink and burnt orange when Alani returns home from the café with a strawberry smoothie in tow. She empties the mailbox and sorts through the various bills and advertisements, but her stomach drops when she sees a familiar return address label. After a quick greeting to her excited dog who waits at the door, Alani bolts up the stairs and quietly shuts the bedroom door behind her. Breathe, she reminds herself before tearing into the envelope and discarding it onto the wooden floor.

Dear Ms. Hale,

We are very grateful to have received your submission to Rolling Stone magazine. However, we regret to inform you—

She doesn’t read the rest, slumping to the floor in defeat. The sixth rejection letter from Rolling Stone lies crumpled at Alani’s feet and she kicks it across the room with a frustrated grunt. She had worked for over two months perfecting her analysis of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi and its allusions to the environmental impact of urban development in Hawaii. As part of her initial research, Alani had even traveled to both the Royal Hawaiian hotel in Honolulu, which is the famous Pink Hotel mentioned in the song, and Foster Botanical Garden that Mitchell referred to as “the tree museum.” She was certain that her effort and persistence would result in at least a consideration. The second third time's the charm! Maleah had joked watching Alani submit the piece. Six articles in the span of two years, each one facing the same rejection despite the increased effort Alani had put in over time. The fact that the rejection letter hadn’t changed over the course of the two years brings an incredulous smile to her face, and her stomach turns when she considers that the editors probably hadn’t even read her work, anyway. All that effort, she thinks to herself, all that time, for nothing.

“It will take time,” her favorite professor, Dr. Hudson, had reassured her three months after the Joni Mitchell article was submitted. “Every great writer faced countless rejection until that one piece. Yours will come. Keep your eyes open and your pen ready.”

Alani sighs and lifts herself off the floor, choosing to crawl into her unmade bed instead of slumping onto the hardwood. She hears a soft scratching at the door before her King Charles Spaniel, Freddie, pads into the room.

“Come here, bubs,” Alani whispers. He obeys and burrows into the duvet, giving her temple a gentle lick before nuzzling into the nape of her neck.

“You still love me, right?” she asks, voice cracking. “Even if I’m a failure?”

Freddie sniffs her ear in response.

********

“Right,” Harry says, his tongue peeking from the corner of his mouth as he reads the map. “No, left, sorry,”

“Do you actually know how to read a map?” Jeff teases, correcting the turn.

Harry pouts in response, his brows furrowing. “In my defense, we’re literally in the middle of fucking nowhere,”

“There are worse places to be,” Mitch pipes up from the back seat. “England, for example, where they say things like ‘litchrally’,”

“Very well said, Mitchell,” Jeff Bhasker adds with a fake British accent of his own.

Harry turns to his friends in the back seat with a finger pointed like an agitated mother. “If you lot don’t shut up, I’m gonna lead us to a volcano and push you in,”

“Where are we even going? I forgot,” Tom complains.

“To get food,” his manager responds from the driver’s seat. “I think,”

“Why can’t we just stop there?” Mitch asks pointing to a café pulling up on their right.

Jeff merges into the turning lane quickly without a second thought. “Good enough for me, I’m starving.”

“Sorry, H.” Mitch pats his friend on the shoulder.

Harry scoffs. “You’re the one who wanted poke.”

The Aloha Nui Loa Café is much more spacious than the exterior suggests, yet it still feels cozy. The walls are painted sage green and adorned with various local art pieces, as described by the plaques that accompany them. A skylight fills the center of the room with plenty of warm lighting, leaving the space along the walls in a bit more shade for an intimate feel. In one corner, a hanging disco ball leaves freckles of sparkling light along the walls where the sunlight hits, making the whole image very idyllic in Harry’s mind. As if he couldn’t enjoy the setting more, he hears the beginning of an Otis Redding song that he’s had stuck in his head drift through the restaurant speakers.

“Welcome in!” a voice calls, which pulls him from his survey of the room. His head whips to the source—a girl around his age with wavy, dark hair and honey skin. “For here or to go?”

Harry takes a hesitant step up to the counter. “For here,”

She smiles warmly and pulls some menus from under the counter. “How many in your party?”

“Five.”

“Great, follow me.”

Harry and his friends follow the waitress to the corner of the room under the disco ball and take their seats at the round table.

“My name is Alani,” she introduces herself, setting the menus down. “I’ll be serving you today. Can I get you started with some drinks?”

Harry continues scanning the restaurant while his group orders. His eyes land on the shirt that Alani is wearing, a white tee with the words “Enjoy Health, Eat Your Honey” in blue lettering that surrounds a picture of a cartoon bee.

“Harry,” Jeff says gently, catching his drifting attention.

The singer turns to his manager, who nods to Alani waiting with a pen pressed to her notepad. Harry feels a rush of embarrassment creep across his cheeks and he clears his throat to cover it.

“Just water,” he says, eyes glued to the menu. “Thanks.”

“You got it.” Alani nods, flashing a toothy grin at the rest of the group before turning back to the kitchen. Harry. Her mind repeats, finding a hint of familiarity, though she doesn’t know why.

When Alani arrives at the drink station, she finds her sister staring at her, mouth agape, while Maleah unsuccessfully conceals her laughter.

“What?” she questions, checking herself for any embarrassing stains or smells.

“You were—and he—” Pua stammers. “He was—and then he—”

“That’s Harry Styles,” Maleah translates, her voice hushed as she peers over her friend's shoulder.

Alani turns to steal a glance at the table she just seated, but Pua and Maleah latch onto her and shake their heads frantically.

“Don’t look!” her sister hisses.

Alani smirks, amused at their reactions. “No shit. That’s One Direction?”

Maleah snorts, clasping a hand over her mouth as Pua huffs. “No, dumbass! It’s just Harry. I don’t know who the other guys are,”

“But the blonde guy? That’s not—?”

“No!” Pua and Maleah giggle in unison.

“Okay, geez,” Alani relents. She manages to steal a quick glance at the table over her shoulder, immediately searching for Harry. Her eyes scan over the long, curly hair kept out of his face by a pair of white sunglasses that she had seen on Kurt Cobain once. All of his features are sharp and striking, from his pointed nose and defined jawline to the bright blue eyes. Or maybe they were grey? Alani wonders, trying to remember the exact shade. He doesn’t look anything like the fresh-faced teeny bopper she’d had in mind, the one from a music video her sister had shown her a long time ago. She would have never guessed that the What Makes You Beautiful singer had so much dark ink trailing down his bicep and forearm, though her knowledge of One Direction was very limited.

“What did he order?” Pua questions, her eyes wide.

Alani quickly snaps back to reality and resumes filling the drinks. “A water,”

“Oh my god,” Maleah swoons. “I’m never drinking anything else ever again,”

“I didn’t even know you liked him,” Alani teases with an eyebrow raised.

Maleah sneaks another peek at the table and catches her lower lip between her teeth. “I mean, I didn’t really think so either but look at him. What a fucking dream,”

Harry was objectively handsome, this Alani could admit, but she personally didn’t see the appeal and had a strong feeling that he was just like every other male celebrity. The fact that he hadn’t even bothered to make eye contact with her only served as further proof of what she knew to be true.

“Okay, well, your dreamboat is waiting for his water. So excuse me,” Alani winks, making her way back to the table.

The singer spots Alani returning out of the corner of his eye and the sight of her causes a strange flutter in the pit of his stomach that makes him want to duck for cover. Instead, he pulls his phone from his back pocket and pretends to be occupied with something on the screen.

“Okay,” she greets, setting the drink tray down. “I have a Blue Hawaii, a Mango Mama, two Loco Cocos, and a water,”

The group graciously accepts their drinks with a chorus of “thank you," but the only one under Alani’s scrutiny is Harry. He still doesn’t meet her almond eyes, and though she figured he wouldn’t, she can’t help the inkling of disappointment that washes over her. After taking their meal orders, Alani heads back to the kitchen, checking on her other customers along the way. Harry’s eyes follow her and he observes the way customers light up at her presence, indulging her conversation with laughter. He watches as she lingers by the jukebox in one corner of the room, a detail he had missed in his initial scan, and waits anxiously to see what song she chooses. Baby I’m-a Want You begins softly and Harry feels the corner of his lip curl ever so slightly. Good choice, he thinks.

********

“He’s still here,” Pua muses, peering through the tiny window in the kitchen door. It had been nearly two hours and the five men were still seated around their table cracking jokes and doing a lot of talking with their hands.

Alani doesn’t look up from her bowl of sliced kiwis, offering a hum in response. “And what do you want me to do about that?”

“Nothing,” Pua shoots back. “Don’t bother him,”

“What kind of girls do you think he’s into?” Maleah asks, attempting to peek through the window.

Alani shrugs, bored of the conversation and of thinking about Harry. “I don’t know, but I’ll bet he’s a real sucker for the ones who stalk him while he’s eating,”

“How does he make eating a salad look hot?”

“Can we talk about something else now?” Alani whines, poking holes in a lone kiwi with her fork.

Pua tosses a wet dish rag in her sister’s direction and cheers when it lands in her face. “Go see if he wants more water, he looks thirsty.”

“I already refilled it,” Alani defends. “Twenty minutes ago. I’ve refilled it a hundred times, I’m surprised he hasn’t peed his pants.”

I’m gonna piss myself. Harry thinks, his right leg bouncing to distract himself. He really wasn’t all that thirsty, but he couldn’t stop himself from finishing each glass of water that Alani placed in front of him. He really wasn’t all that thirsty, but he couldn’t stop himself from finishing each glass of water that Alani placed in front of him. Like clockwork, she would return to fill his glass almost as soon as the last drop had been drained, and so what began as a little experiment slowly turned into a bladder hazard. But if the trend was to be trusted, she would be back any minute and he wasn’t going to miss it; afterall, there were only so many ways to casually linger in a small café without making it weird. Unable to bear it any longer, he heads to the restroom and hopes that Alani doesn’t clear their table before he has a chance to see her again.

Harry pads down the back hallway with his eyes cast down at the floor, which proves to be a mistake when he walks directly into another person.

“Sorry!” they both apologize quickly, Harry’s palm taking purchase on the other person’s upper arm.

“I wasn’t paying attention,” he offers, finally meeting the dark, mocha eyes already looking back at him.

Alani presses her lips into a tight smile. “Me either,”

Harry’s heartbeat picks up when he realizes it’s her, and he isn’t aware of how close they’re standing until he detects the faint scent of kiwi on her breath. He takes a step back and rakes a hand through his hair.

“So I guess I’ll just—”

“Yeah, sure.”

Green. Alani notes to herself. His eyes are green.

********

Shortly after Harry returned from the restroom, him and his friends settled their bill and headed out. Alani cleared their table and her eyes nearly fell out of her head when she saw the hefty tip left behind. The word mahalo was also left behind on the receipt, underlined twice, and she wondered if it was his handwriting.

Later that night, she settled into bed with her laptop and hesitantly typed his name into Google. As she expected, countless articles about the split of One Direction emerged, most of them speculating what was next for each member. To her surprise, however, Harry’s name seemed to be mentioned more than his fellow bandmates as various sources labeled him “the next Justin Timberlake” and rising star of the group. Upon further investigation, she learned that the demand for information about the elusive Harry Styles was high, especially concerning any possible solo music. No news had yet been confirmed by Styles himself, nor anyone claiming to represent him, but she still wondered if his presence in Hawaii had anything to do with a possible solo project. Almost as soon as she thought it, Alani dismissed the theory in favor of the idea that he was most likely just taking a vacation. And from the buzz that she saw surrounding the news about One Direction, she couldn’t blame him.

The more Alani read, the more she wanted to know, and something deep down told her that his was a story worth telling. Of course, the only problem was that she had hardly talked to him, and there were only so many things she could say about the fifteen glasses of water he downed. There was no way of knowing if she would ever see him again, either, or if he was merely stopping in Hilo on his way to another island or somewhere else entirely. Alani sighed, thinking back to her most recent rejection from Rolling Stone. She knew that there was no possible way she would ever see or talk to Harry ever again, and even if she did, why would he bare his entire soul to a stranger? Still, she let her mind wander through the possibility.

Dear Ms. Hale, the letter would read, we are very grateful to have received your submission to Rolling Stone magazine and are pleased to inform you that your piece on Harry Styles will be featured in next month’s issue. Additionally, we would be honored to have you on staff, effective immediately.

It was far-fetched, Alani knew this, but she dozed off that night with endless ideas swimming in her head.

********

By the third day after his visit, the only trace of Harry is in Alani’s search history. She would have completely forgotten about him if it weren’t for her sister’s constant reminiscing and multiple attempts to rename the house salad to the “Harry Special.” As a result, a part of Alani’s thoughts periodically linger back to that day and the subsequent hours spent on Google that she’d rationalized as research instead of stalking. Somehow the knowledge that she’ll never see him again only adds fuel to the questions still burning in her mind, but a customer clearing their throat while she sorts menus below the hostess podium interrupts her thoughts.

“Welcome in!” She calls, standing. “What can I—”

She stops in her tracks, unable to believe her eyes. Harry blinks and waits for her to continue.

“What can I get started for you?” Alani tries again, hoping that he hadn’t noticed her shock. Luckily for her, Harry had been too focused on choosing his next words to register her mistake.

“What’s in the Honu smoothie?” he asks, mentally kicking himself for asking such a stupid question when the menu just inches above her head clearly spells it out.

Alani hums, thinking back to the times she had made the smoothie herself. “Kiwis, spinach, mango, avocado, and a hint of lime,”

“I’ll take one of those,” Harry says, reaching for his wallet.

Alani punches in the order with trembling fingers and nods. “For here or to go?”

“To go,”

Disappointment fills her chest. Sure, she hadn’t planned on seeing him ever again, but the fact that she did felt like a sign. If she wanted to take the chance, she’d have to do it fast.

“Anything else?” she asks, weighing her options while he skims the menu.

“No thanks.”

Alani makes the smoothie quickly, head spinning. She had spent most of the night after their initial meeting planning out exactly the type of questions she hoped to ask him and what kind of article she would write. She was used to writing about what she knew—artists and music she’d admired for years— but she figured that starting fresh with someone she hardly knew would be a good challenge. Not to mention that it seemed like just the thing Rolling Stone would jump for. Alani finally works up the courage as she finishes his smoothie, but when she returns to hand it to him and hopefully strike up a conversation, his ear is pressed to his cell phone. She holds out the drink and he graciously accepts, giving her a small nod as a “thank you” and rushing out of the restaurant.

Two days later he returns and is seated at the counter, typing away on his phone. Alani feels both a rush of optimism and annoyance at the universe for dangling his presence so unexpectedly. She starts heading over to him, but Maleah cuts in.

“Trade me?” she proposes, eyes wide.

Alani blinks. “Oh, I would but I—”

“Please,” her best friend pouts. “I’m leaving to see my grandparents in stupid California for two months. Who knows when I’ll get the chance to see him again?”

Alani sighs, but gives in, reluctantly exchanging Harry for the family of four seated by the window. A strange feeling settles into the pit of his stomach when he sees that she heads in the opposite direction after a hushed conversation with another waitress. He doesn’t know why she traded him for a different customer, but he takes the hint.

A week goes by without another sighting of Harry and Alani has permanently taken on the role of greeting hostess in hopes of seeing him again. Her heartbeat temporarily speeds up when she sees a long haired customer approach the door, but her spirits quickly fall when the face doesn’t match his.

Another week brings another disappointing realization that Harry might be gone for good. One rainy morning when the restaurant is quiet and only two customers huddle together in a booth near the back, Alani hunches over the hostess podium and doodles on a stray receipt— a sunflower, a crescent moon, and two hearts. The bell above the door jingles but she doesn’t look up, too absorbed in her scribbles.

“Do you serve coffee?”

The familiar accented voice stops Alani’s pen dead in its tracks. She lifts her eyes first to confirm, and then straightens up when she sees that her ears haven’t deceived her.

“Yes,” she swallows.

“Great. I’ll take it to go,”

She slightly deflates, but Harry thinks he’s reading too much into it.

“Actually,” he corrects anyway, just in case he isn’t. “I think I’ll stay for a while,”

Alani flashes a warm smile and nods in the direction of the counter. “Right this way,”

Harry sheds his windbreaker onto the back of the seat, revealing a black and white Rolling Stones t-shirt that makes Alani’s blood pressure rise. A sign, she thinks.

“What do you want in your coffee?” she questions carefully.

“Nothing,” he responds, shaking out his damp hair gently. “Or actually, uh, butter...if you have some,”

Alani blinks, not sure if she’d heard correctly or if there had been some transatlantic miscommunication.

“Butter?”

“Yeah,”

“Like the—”

“Spread, yeah,” Harry confirms. “It’s weird, I know,”

She lets out a light-hearted laugh and nods. “It’s a...unique request,”

“I thought the same thing at first,” Harry confides. “It’s not bad, actually. But maybe I’ve just been in L.A. for too long.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

She offers a polite smile and heads to the kitchen where the cook and two other waiters talk amongst each other. Alani is grateful that the restaurant is slow this morning because she knows that it means minimal interruptions to her time with Harry. To ensure this, though, she asks one of the other waiters to cover the podium and returns to Harry with his coffee.

“One butter coffee, free of judgement,” the waitress announces, setting it down.

Harry grins softly, stirring the drink with the spoon Alani provided. “You can judge, it’s alright,”

“I just wanna know why,”

The coffee had been part of a fad diet while on tour in order to boost Harry’s energy on stage and stay trim for the hundreds of photo-ops he would be a part of. He doesn’t know how to communicate all of this to Alani, however, not sure how much she knows about that part of him, so he shrugs and tells a simplified version of the truth.

“I read about this trend a while back, it's called bulletproof coffee. Supposed to get your energy up and I needed it for my job,”

“Which is…” Alani trails off, downplaying the knowledge that she had acquired from Google.

“I make music,” is all Harry says and he takes a sip of the drink to avoid elaborating.

“Anything I would have heard?”

He swallows hard and listens to the faint rumbling of thunder outside before replying. “Possibly,”

“Try me,” Alani challenges.

He narrows his eyes and takes another sip of coffee. “Why don’t you tell me something about yourself first?”

“What do you wanna know?”

Everything, Harry responds internally, though he reigns it in. “How you got into waitressing,”

Alani sighs, resting her elbows on the counter across from him. “There’s not much to tell, it’s a family business. What I really wanna do is write,”

“Music?”

“Articles. I’m studying Journalism at UH,”

Harry hums in response, filing the detail away in the back of his mind. “Sounds interesting. You ever publish anything?”

“Not yet,” Alani shakes her head gently, toying with the sleeves of her green University of Hawaii crewneck. “Hopefully soon, though,”

Harry racks his brain for something else to say, but before he can, Alani speaks up again.

“Is it my turn to ask something now?”

He offers a curt nod and stirs his coffee.

“What kind of music do you write?”

Harry chooses to be vague again. “Different stuff. Pop, usually. Been messing with some classic rock, though,”

“Explains the shirt,”

He peers down at the design on his tee and agrees. “Yeah, I guess so,”

“Do you like it?” Alani asks, her eyes begging to make contact with his again. “Writing music, I mean,”

“Yeah,” Harry confirms, tapping his spoon against the rim of the mug. “I really do,”

Alani’s heart pounds. This is her chance, a moment to finally secure her breakthrough piece. She doesn’t know how to approach it, so she opts to dive right in without looking back. The worst he can say is no.

“Can I ask you something else?”

“That’s cheating,” Harry teases lightly. “It's my turn,”

She pouts playfully, but obliges. “Fire away,”

Harry doesn’t know which question to ask first, but when he glances down at the crescent moon inked on her wrist, he decides to start there.

“What’s with the moon tattoo?”

Alani isn’t sure what she expected him to ask and wonders what purpose such a detail could possibly serve him, but she answers anyway.

“Oh, well,” she begins, tracing her index finger over the outline. “It’s kinda the meaning of my full name. It’s Mahealani, Hawaiian for ‘heavenly moon,'”

Fitting, Harry comments to himself. Every detail he learns about her makes him want to learn that much more, from her favorite foods to the last thing she thinks about before falling asleep. Studying her expectant eyes, he suddenly remembers that it’s his turn to respond.

“That’s cool,” is all he says.

Alani doesn’t know what to make of the faraway look in his eye, but she decides to pose her most burning question while he appears to be in good spirits.

“I know this is gonna sound totally out of the blue,” she starts, working past the lump in her throat. “But when you mentioned how you write music, I was just reminded of this assignment I’m working on in my class,”

Harry waits for her to continue, nursing his now lukewarm coffee.

“I’m supposed to write a piece about someone who I don’t know that well,” she continues. “You know, to practice our interviewing skills. And, well, I was just kind of wondering if you might be interested in helping me out—being the subject, I mean,”

Alani had every intention of telling Harry the truth, about how she really planned to submit the article to Rolling Stone in hopes of securing an internship before her college graduation next Spring. But as she started speaking, she quickly realized how it would come off: a complete stranger asking for personal information to submit to a well-known publication. She knew that there was a chance he would shut down and never return, so she lowered the stakes and hoped that this route would be less risky. Was it ethical? Alani hadn’t decided yet, but she would work out the details later. After six failed articles and two years of rejection, she saw a ray of hope and wasn’t going to let it slip away.

Harry ponders her offer for a moment, which confirms that she had recognized him. Normally he would be off-put by such a request, and to a certain extent he is, but there is something sincere in her voice that he trusts deep down. Before he agrees, however, he decides to fish around a bit to test her reaction.

“You know who I am,” he says gently. “Don’t you?”

Alani’s heart drops into the pit of her stomach, not sure what to say next. She hopes with every fiber of her being that she hasn’t upset him, or worse, ruined her chances, so she decides to offer some truth to throw him off her scent.

“My sister recognized you,” she explains. “That day you came in with your friends. I thought they were your bandmates at first,”

This lets Harry know that she isn’t a total stalker, which is comforting, but he wouldn’t have been minded if she were a fan simply engaging in conversation.

“Oh,” he laughs weakly.

“I totally understand if you say no,” Alani offers quickly, trying to smooth things over. “I just thought it was worth a shot. And that it might be more interesting than interviewing our produce guy,”

Harry decides to give her one last scan for any sign of insincerity. He’d always felt that his gut instinct was strong and it hadn’t led him astray thus far.

“An interview?” he clarifies.

“Just one,” Alani promises. “An hour, tops. And you can proofread all of it once I’ve finished, too.”

Harry waits a beat, already knowing his reply, but he wants to see how she will react to his silence. She doesn’t budge, almond eyes set and determined.

“Okay.”

next chapter

[tiredspacedragon]

BIONICLE Retrospective

2001: Quest for the Masks

Part 7.5: Nui-Kopen

As opposed to combiner models, the 01 Rahi could be taken apart and rebuilt into alternate builds that combine parts from the two figures featured in each set. For the Nui-Rama, that alternate model is the Nui-Kopen.

Whereas the Rama are gigantic mosquitos, Nui-Kopen are massive wasps. Naturally, the two insectoid species are bitter enemies that compete for food and territory, but under the control of the Makuta they are forced to work together and even live in the same nests.

The Nui-Kopen is one of the more solid Rahi alts, I would say. Literally. Though I don’t think it does a great job of looking like a wasp. To me, the Nui-Kopen looks more like a larger breed of Nui-Rama that would rule over the hives, like the one in MNOG seems to.

Its colour scheme combines the orange and green of the Rama, which actually manages to look quite good thanks to a mostly symmetrical layout and excellent colour balancing. However, though the colours do look pretty good, lime and orange just aren’t wasp colours.

Its build is quite similar to the Nui-Rama as well, with most of the changes being additions. Even the somewhat nonsensical wing-bashing function is retained, though the Nui-Kopen features four much heftier wings with which to attack, rather than just two. It also has an extra pair of arms, and both Nui-Rama mandibles forming one large mouth. A large structure rises from its backside, but it doesn’t seem to serve any purpose other than to be a mount for several exposed pins and generally look unattractive. Is it a stinger? A place to attach a rider? I don't know. Aside from those features, it’s identical to a Nui-Rama in build and functionality.

My only issue with the Nui-Kopen is its designation as a wasp. It just doesn’t look like one. What kind of wasp has huge jaws, four bashing wings and is orange and lime? What the Nui-Kopen does look like is a kind of alpha Nui-Rama, since it really just is one with a few extra parts tacked on, and I wish that’s what it canonically was.

With that out of the way, there’s really nothing I can really say about the Nui-Kopen that I haven’t already said about the Nui-Rama. Their strengths and weaknesses as sets are nearly the same, as are my opinions on them. The Nui-Kopen is fine by me, solid for the same reasons the Nui-Rama is, and a good alt build on top of that.

Next up: Kahu

[whiteheartlight]

Toa Nuva and Toa Mahri really need to get to be friends like how you meet your cousins ten years since you've seen them last and suddenly they're old enough to hang out with you instead of tiny people. Hewkii and Pohatu are playing kolhii together from the get go and Hahli and Gali are so excited to see each other and spend hours talking and swimming together, but the others kind of have new relationship dynamics to figure out.

like Kongu's so happy to see Lewa again, but Lewa's been through a ton and he's really worn down and kind of sad. suddenly Kongu is the one who's trying to be cheerful and comforting all the time while Lewa's a little more serious and withdrawn. but he gets some energy back when he's around Kongu and his little brother helps him remember how he used to have fun, throwing parties and pulling pranks until they're the terrors of the camp (nobody minds if it means Lewa is laughing again). Onua and Nuparu embrace each other and get along just fine, but it's not til Nuparu starts sparring with other Toa for practice and then he and Onua get matched against each other that Nuparu starts feeling like he and Onua are really on the same level now - just tussling in the mud with another Earth Toa, hearing Onua laughing as they wrestle and fight. they end up doing a lot of practice fighting together, but more than anything they work on projects, Onua's wisdom and practical thinking combining with Nuparu's ingenuity until they're designing great things together and enjoying each other's company while doing it.

Jaller and Tahu are the most awkward... Tahu doesn't have great interpersonal skills to begin with (his siblings are his only friends and really only bonds through surviving death with someone else) and Jaller's still torn between respecting Tahu and knowing he wants to be a better Fire Toa than he was when he was young, so they kind of just sit awkwardly beside each other sometimes and talk logistics like in the old days when Jaller was Tahu's Captain of the Guard. even going on missions together does not help because then it's just confusion over who should be in charge. it doesn't help that Jaller's still pretty messed up and really disillusioned from what happened to Matoro and now he's just tired and a little angry at the universe about the way that Tahu has Kopaka and he doesn't have Matoro.

in the end, the two of them have to get in a fucking fight to sort through everything they have going on between them. Jaller loses it and lets go of everything he's feeling, lets Tahu have it, lets him know about all the times he felt disappointed by him and about how angry he is now and how he doesn't want to be like him, but at the same time he does, he really does, and Tahu is shouting back at him that it's not his fault that he lost his Ice Toa, that he never asked Jaller to come to Voya Nui after them, that he knows Jaller can be a great Toa if we would just stop beating himself down over what happened and remember what it was like to believe in his siblings and in the Matoran and in the goodness of the world, and they're leaving scorch marks in the sand, hitting and scraping at each other, yelling and burning armor. Takanuva and Hahli tear them apart from each other still screaming. Kopaka is watching from a few meters away, silent. when Gali shows up and scolds him for not helping, he just walks away.

the next day something has changed. Their sisters clean them up and talk to them and when they come back to each other, they've burned the weeds away, and something new can grow now. they're quieter with each other. they work in harmony. Jaller didn't know Tahu could actually make jokes and be playful til now. Tahu didn't know Jaller had so many insecurities and fears about the future until he confides in his older brother and starts to value Tahu's advice and support. Tahu understands his position and Jaller has good insight in return. soon they're helping each other lead instead of tripping each other up. Vakama tells them that this is how fire brothers light each other's way. but also they don't tell him that sometimes when they get frustrated they just set off explosions in the desert for fun.

Kopaka doesn't really have an interest in any of it. he won't talk about Matoro even when his siblings put some pressure on him, and he'll usually at least hiss a couple admissions at them when they're worried about him. he's just quiet about the Toa Mahri though. he's a good big brother and he can be both helpful and protective when needed, but he would have done that for them when they were Matoran too.

most of the Toa Mahri still think of Kopaka as the slightly-scary and very cool Toa who would sometimes show up in their Koro to kick ass and then go home again, so they don't really try to worm their way into his heart or any shit like that. but Gali is quick to pull him along when they're going surfing or boating or something (she KNOWS he has a secret love of the ocean and one day she will get him to admit it) and Hahli isn't awkward around him. she's fond of Kopaka and treats him like her brother. he allows this. the others keep a polite distance.

the secret about Kopaka is that he is not actually as hard to convince as he acts. in fact, if you tell him you need his help, turns out he'll do just about anything for anyone. so Nuparu comes up to him all shy one day and tells him he has a really cool idea, but he needs an Ice Toa's help for it, and Kopaka just glances at Onua and then gets up to come along and spends the whole day helping him. he's even smart enough to keep up with Nuparu on what he's working on, which makes Nuparu's week. Kongu asks him if he will please please please help him with a funny prank and Kopaka is begruding but come on, Toa Kopaka, it's to make brother Lewa laugh - okay, fine, he'll help. Kongu actually does make Lewa happy, and that... means a lot to Kopaka. especially when his brother has been so down lately, and Kopaka himself isn't sure how to help. suddenly he's helping with smaller and smaller things - Hewkii needs another kolhii player and Kopaka won't go until Pohatu picks him up and drags him onto the field - and then Hahli just wants an extra hand on the boat and the girls pull him down to the pier and he can't say no when they're just that fucking excited to see him. but he's pretty sure Jaller is avoiding him. he looks at Kopaka like he's looking at Matoro's corpse but he never says anything. whatever.

...which is when he starts to realize that Jaller could actually really use some help. cause this kid is honestly kind of fucked up from what he's been through. the others are too, honestly, but Jaller's the one who's cramming everything inside of him and never letting it out. Kopaka's the one who first tells him to let it out. who pulls him to his feet when he's sulking and tells him to pull his sword out. he makes him spar with him until he's genuinely pissed off, wild with grief and frustration, ready to just fucking end everything, and then Kopaka does what an Ice Toa is meant to do for his Fire brother - he holds him back while the fire burns out of his control.

burn the underbrush. there has to be new growth. an Ice Toa understands this better than anyone. the winter kills so new things can live. this is one thing fire and ice have in common. Kopaka makes it known in the space where their blades meet, and then, later, in the place where he wraps himself around Jaller and lets him burn like hell, as many times as he needs, until that fire starts to burn out. he lets Jaller scream at Tahu and then pushes them back together the next day, lets Jaller get in stupid fights and then cleans him up when he comes home bruised and battered, lets Jaller stop viewing his rage like it is the horrible curse of every Fire Toa and tells him instead that it is a part of him, an important part. that it is his passion and that the reason he has siblings is to help him when it's overwhelming and direct it when he needs guidance.

"Matoro knew that too," says Kopaka, very quiet, and something in Jaller breaks open. "That's the only reason you two started fighting. You were young and you needed him. He could sense that. He wanted to be your guidance. But you both had to find the balance. And you just didn't have time to do that. You would have, little brother. He wasn't disappointed in you. You were just young and needing each other without knowing how to help. That's all. You would have found the balance."

The balance with your opposite. Jaller needed that. He and Kopaka learn to balance, and that same broken thing in him steadies out again, and eases.

and Kopaka starts to see that the others need his balance too. so he takes to the sea with his little sister laughing and spraying salt water at him, and he helps Nuparu and Onua in their workshop for long, warm, quiet hours, and he and Jaller and Tahu ditch council meetings to go get in stupid fights and kick some ass together. He lets his Air Toa rope him into dumb stunts and sometimes even dances with them when there is music playing like all Le-Matoran love, letting Lewa hug him close for a minute and take comfort without words, making Kongu laugh while they swing around. he takes Hewkii with him when he goes to explore the mountains for the first time, and they love each other because Pohatu loves them both, and by the end of it, because they are friends all on their own. his little brothers and sister always know they can come to him when they need anything now, and he goes to them too when he needs help, which is the greatest expression of trust someone like Kopaka can give.

when he feels alone despite their love, when Matoro's spirit star is nothing more than an empty space in the sky, Takanuva always manages to find him somehow, no matter how well he hides, and the two of them have learned to savor the ways in which they are a little set apart from the others, a little more alone, because it means they belong together just a little more.

between the twelve of them, Matoro breathes.

yeah. I just think they all need to have a chance to be family. it's what they're supposed to be.