#typically i'm not as much of a fan of the “i'm the lancer and i make snide remarks” character

[maspers]

Bionicle is weird yall

Okay so let's talk Bionicle. The Lego action figures with surprisingly deep lore and themes, and basically one of the coolest things to ever exist. You either love Bionicle or have not read Bionicle.

Who's your favorite? Mine has got to be Kopaka. For various reasons, including his general competence throughout the whole story. He's just pretty rad.

Now, you might be surprised I like Kopaka, since all things considered he's kind of a prick. He snarks at basically everything that enters his line of sight, and largely acts kind of stuck up due to his (admittedly justified) belief that he's the smartest person around. He spends the entire story fed up with everything else. He is completely and utterly convinced that he is the only sane person in the entire universe, and that nothing in the entirety of Mata Nui is behaving in a logical and rational way.

But see, here's the thing: all of that bluster about being the only rational thing around is complete bullcrap and lies, and here's why:

Kopaka, like all the original six Toa, is an amnesiac. He popped out of a magic canister in the ground and basically has no backstory to speak of since before he woke up he essentially didn't exist. And we know he's not a possible exception to this since, unlike the other Toa, he's the one we actually see it happen to. He has legit no idea who he is until Nuju tells him. What this means is simple: KOPAKA HAS NO FRAME OF REFERENCE. You can't judge something to be insane if you have not experienced sanity. Nothing is "irrational" in the abstract, you need context. Most people have extremely well-developed context obtained by living, but since Kopaka had not yet lived until he woke up he has NONE OF THAT.

And even if he did, he'd still be a massive hypocrite. Sure, the Matoran society and the Makuta are kind of weird, but Kopaka is a TOA, and Toa are a whole new kettle of craziness. Kopaka is a magic space warrior robot with the power to control the very concept of THIS STUFF IS COLD. His face is a magic mask that grants him X-ray vision and then gets even more powers later on. He can physically combine with other Toa to create a weird mega fusion Toa. Heck, after his first upgrade his primary weapon was skis. SKIS. He basically shapeshifts into a new body every time he goes somewhere else. And, as noted before, he legit just popped out of the ground one day, which makes him and his sibling Toa objectively weirder than all other Toa ever, since all the rest are transformed Matoran. Kopaka's entire existence is really freaking weird. He has no legs to stand on in his "I am the only rational being in the universe" belief. So where the heck did he get it from?

The simple answer: Mata Nui himself. When designing the Toa to act as a sort of internal anti-virus for all the weird garbage in his system, Mata Nui decided "You know what let's make the Ice one a prick who thinks he's sane" and somehow that idea perpetuated to the very end of the design process. The only reason Kopaka has to deal with everything else seeming completely bonkers to him is because Mata Nui, massive benevolent Troll that he is, *made him that way*. I bet when Kopaka finally made it to Bara Magna he was probably internally extremely relieved, because now he could judge the Agori by comparing them to the Matoran and vice versa instead of judging the Matoran on no actual justification whatsoever.

TLDR Kopaka is my favorite Bionicle because the entire premise of his personality is absurd and he probably spent the entire plot trying to internally justify it. Also ice powers go brrrrr

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

the massive difference with which GLaDOS and Wheatley handle being in control of Aperture is interesting. to be fair on Wheatley's end, he wasn't made for that, and his way of doing things certainly doesn't help either. makes me wonder how different AI will handle being in control of Aperture, or of a ship. of course, AI specifically made for such purposes will handle things well, but it'd be neat if there were differences in how they do things, slight differences that fit with their personalities. certain AI being firm and rough with moving something around, while others are gentle and smooth. AI letting humans do things while others prefer more close control over everything.

I love different personality profiles for AI and you touched on so many good points.

GLaDOS and Wheatley are great comparisons. Black Box from halo is fun because he's proud to be an ai and is a conniving old man who works for the corrupt shadow agency.

[Typical statement of how I don't like Traviss's work but she wrote parts of halo and I'm mad that I like some of it]

From Glasslands - courtesy of bloodgulchblog who specializes in all the books and areas my halo knowledge is weaker.

Cortana is personable and clever and funny. Roland is curious to a fault and sometimes rash but good. Mo Ye is blunt and rude and is fun to read.

So much Sci-fi has AI running everything for humans from ships to cities to agricultural centers, but few media seem to explore the personalites and quirks the AI have.

I'm a huge fan of ART/Perihelion from The Murderbot Diaries because it is the ship and the ai piloting it. It is a mother hen and a genderless ruthless being capable of harming anything that stands between it and its designated beings :o)

I don't have many thoughts beyond :) wow they're sapient beings who are unique and mesh differently with their jobs and charges.

Oh except everyone should look at NHPs and Lancer

[pangolinheart]

And another: how did you go about creating Rhiki? was she always a Miqo'te? Did she change at all from where she started?

Rhiki was actually my second FFXIV character, albeit my first long-term one. I had started the game like 2 or 3 years earlier via the free trial and had a character on the Aether server who was a Roe lady named Styrnlona. I never really got very far though and then I got busy with work and other things, so I ended up putting it down and not picking it up again. (Styrnlona also started out as a lancer.) When I picked it up again it was at a recommendation of a few friends I played D&D with. Because I played a tall, buff goliath barbarian woman, it somehow seemed too on-brand to remake Styrnlona on the server they played on. So I tried to make a character that was totally different from anything I had played recently (mostly buff women and shitty magic elves). A miqo'te or viera seemed like a sufficient departure from what I would usually choose, so that's how Rhiki ended up being a miqo'te. That being said, I was really tempted to make an au ra... If female au ra weren't so short I probably would have (though Rhiki ended up absurdly short anyway so the joke's on me.) As for her personality, I kept with the theme of trying to make her different from my typical character. I don't have very many recent characters who are super social or emotionally intuitive, and the idea of playing a character that was more fun-loving and mischievous appealed to me. Originally I envisioned her as being more of a trickster-type character, but as I played she ended up becoming a little more excitable and dorky.

Compared to other rpgs I've played, ffxiv doesn't really give you any sot of starting point or background for your characters, and since I knew nothing about the game or plot when I started I wanted to make her motivations general enough that it would be easy to adapt to whatever direction the plot took. Lots of "fledgling adventurer" backstories I had used before or felt too edgy or played out, and I also didn't know enough about the game to 100% commit to a backstory. I ended up with the general idea of "some dumb wayward 20-something who doesn't know what they want to do with their life so they're just vibing and trying stuff out." Appearance-wise I really just kind of played around until I found a concept I liked. I had a hard time deciding between the sun-seeker and moon-keeper subtypes (I like the moon-keeper lore better but I'm just not a huge fan of the giant round pupils lol). I ended up trying to make her coloring around a theme of "sunrise/sunset" - thus the original purple and orange hair and purple and orange highlights and purple/pink eyes. I originally intended for her skin to be darker, but the lighting in the background I was using made it look much different than it ended up being in-game. I've thought about my free fantasia to change it, but I'm not totally sold. If I could go back I would give her the lion-like tail instead, and maybe the slightly darker nose facial feature... But I've already gotten so much art of Rhiki as she is and I can't think of a good story-relevant reason for her appearance to change lol.

Overall, Rhiki hasn't changed too much since I originally made her. Obviously she got a new haircut that necessitated a slight color change (the orange looked too weird with the highlights on the pvp cut.) She really does look older with her new hairstyle. In regards to her personality, she definitely ended up less "alluring and impish" than I intended and more "goofy and obnoxious," but she's still a fun character to play around with! And of course there's the maturity that comes with age and experience. And the compounding effects of trauma. You know how it goes. If I ever made an alt I might try to go with someone a little... taller lol. Maybe go back to Styrnlona, or try out a duskwight or viera. There are a lot of glams Rhiki just doesn't look good in because of her body type. I'm still tempted to make an au ra though because I love the horns and scales... A hyur wouldn't be off the table either. I might also try to make a character with longer hair - sometimes i want to try out a longer style for Rhiki but every time I try them on she looks like a totally different catte...

[transferscannervirtualization]

Watching Danny Phantom in 2021, part 1

I've been feeling fairly nostalgic and sappy lately, just like I do every October/November (maybe it's the shorter days and longer nights? idk), so I decided to revisit a series I haven't thought about in a long time: Danny Phantom.

I didn't watch a lot of Danny Phantom growing up; I was vaguely familiar with the show, but (1) it just didn't resonate with me the way Code Lyoko did, and (2) I didn't have friends who were really into it at the time like I did with Ben 10. However, I was quite familiar with the Danny Phantom fandom, mainly due to crossover fanfics - and seriously, with the attention to detail in these fics, it was very clear to me just how much the DP fandom loved their series.

So - since as a lifelong Code Lyoko fan, I'm very much aware how nice it is to see a newcomer discover a show you thought everyone had forgotten about - I've decided to share some thoughts on my experience so far (I'm partway through season 1):

Mr Lancer must have been such a fun character to write, he's amazing.

Gulliver's Travels, I love him.

He's not perfect - he's no Principal Bump - but it's clear he genuinely cares about his students' education and that's such a breath of fresh air compared to the typical teacher characters I'm used to.

Sam and Danny are so adorable together and I can't believe I didn't get into this ship sooner.

They're called "Amethyst Ocean", if I understand correctly? Something to do with eye color?

Either way, I desire more fanfics of these two.

I feel kinda sorry for Vlad.

To clarify: I'm not defending any of his actions.

He's incredibly toxic and that's putting it lightly.

I'm just sorry that he let his obsession with Maddie (and with exacting revenge on Jack) cloud his judgement so much; it's clear he could've lead a fairly happy life if he just accepted the past and moved on.

He likes to paint himself as the victim, yet he's only the victim of his own ego.

Anyway, enough about him.

Jazz is a total mood.

Also, changing the status quo mid-season? In my early 2000's animated TV show? It's more likely than you think™.

Granted, I was kinda spoiled on that by JelloApocalypse's excellent "So This Is Basically..." series, which I discovered four years ago when I was on a big Miraculous Ladybug hype...

...but still, this is impressive.

Speaking of Miraculous Ladybug, the witty banter in all the episodes so far has been amazing and it makes my inner Chat Noir leap for joy.

...

Why does Tucker?

Not anything in particular, just why does Tucker?

"Biggest thing since MP3s" - that line aged gloriously.

Unlike me. I feel old.

Speaking of which, remember when PDA stood for Personal Digital Assistant and not Public Displays of Affection?

I do.

Like I said, I feel old.

Technus is great.

The contrast between technology-based ghost powers and having no idea about anything modern (especially slang) is just glorious.

And his monologues - man, his monologues. He's such an icon.

Vlad may be the most intriguing villain so far, as a foil to Danny sharing a similar backstory, but Technus is certainly the most fun.

No, I'm not biased towards tech-based villains as a fan of Code Lyoko, I don't know what you're talking about.

I will probably expand on this list as I continue watching.

I'm really looking forward to meeting Dani eventually - I remember her from a crossover fanfic I read ages ago and she seemed like an intriguing character with a lot of potential.

[blueeyeswhitegarden]

Thank you for responding to my ask, and for that answer, Really, I mean it. I've dealt with bad fandoms before, but the majority of the YGO Community is probably the one that would drive me insane the most. I can understand where they are coming from and why they are upset, like Zuzu not getting her own Pendulum Monsters (Which I'm still confused over because logically, it doesn't make sense for her not to have it. Then again, I don't know when she would get them, maybe Synchro?).

But that doesn't make it less painful. I'm a late newcomer to the series, I only just started getting into it 2 years ago around this time, so I wouldn't know any better about this stuff, especially YGO"s weird, and quite frankly, unnecessary female duelist problem. Like this shouldn't be an issue in the first place, yet it is. But, Arc-V, despite not exactly fully delivering, was a step in the right direction.

You're welcome! I've been familiar with the YGO fandom for a long time and I saw a lot of Arc V hate as the series progressed. People insulted me, as well as my friends, for still liking Arc V before and after it finished, so I can definitely emphasize with how bad and insane the fandom can be. There are a few reasons as to why I try to avoid the online community as much as I can and that is one of them.

I would have loved for Yuzu to get Pendulum cards, but I can see why that didn't happen. In-universe, the only way she could have gotten Pendulum cards was from Reiji and I don't think he would have made Pendulum cards for her deck. She wasn't officially a Lancer, even though he did say that her skills where on par with the other Lancers during the Synchro arc, and considering they didn't know where she was or how long it would take to find her, I don't think it would have made sense for Reiji to have Pendulum cards for Yuzu on standby. That being said, I am baffled that Konami hasn't made Melodious Pendulum cards yet. Her deck relies on her monsters being special summoned and having Pendulum cards would really give her archetype a much needed boost, as well as a couple of more Fusion monsters. I don't know if they'll do that when I'm not sure how popular Melodious monsters are in the OCG, but I love playing Melodious monsters in Duel Links as Yuzu, so giving her archetype some much needed love and support would be so cool.

To be fair, it isn't a problem exclusive to YGO in regards to their female duelists. It's more of a problem in shonen series since female characters in general typically aren't given the best writing or treatment. One could argue that this has been improved upon over time some of the more popular shonen series, but by how much is pretty debatable. Still, I'm not surprised that people see this as a YGO problem considering that there are questionable to sexist writing throughout the franchise for its female characters. It's been a pretty big talking point about the series pretty much from the start. Although, I've also seen plenty of sexist reactions from the fanbase towards the female leads too. It's kind of a complicated topic because there are plenty of issues with how the franchise as a whole has handled its female characters and plenty of ways for it to improve, but at the same time, I do think that the fanbase can be much harsher towards the female characters compared to male characters. With Yuzu in particular, I still remember seeing people wish for her to get hit or hurt because she stopped the Dragon Boys from merging in Synchro. Even before then, people were upset that she kept Yuya and Yuto apart for so long, despite how she wasn't doing that on purpose and there was a really good reason why they didn't meet for awhile. That isn't to say that there aren't any valid criticisms from fans, but just that I've noticed that some reactions over the years can also give off some sexist vibes.

I do agree that Arc V was a step in the right direction in regards to female duelists. I still think that the franchise has a complicated issue with female leads based on the series following Arc V, but ideally, they can continue to improve in the future.