muaka-safari

[muaka-safari]

The team dynamic is strong with them.

Even though technically they haven’t become a team yet

[muaka-safari]

From a dream

The snippet I remember has the Turaga meet in some non-descript room and they're getting a sort of interview? It's about what helps to make a team form cohesively.

The rest of the details are hazy, but at one point Nuju throws in the words: "Mutually compatible insanity."

All conversation drops in the room, and everybody stares at Nuju. The the other former turaga try to keep their laughter down. Somebody asks Nuju to elaborate and he says, "You have several toa teams as examples to observe. I don't need to explain what is right in front of you."

The turaga lose it. They start laughing so hard that they can't speak anymore. The rest of the people are in pandemonium. Nuju smirks, smug.

As dreams tend to be, just as it got interesting, everything veered into a different setting with different people. I don't know how that conversation ended.

[muaka-safari]

That certainly makes sense! Nokama pushing Vakama as their leader always felt (imho) prompted by his visions – and that she originates from Ga-Metru with its spiritual focus really adds to that - especially if she takes the visions to mean he's been chosen by Mata Nui.

He's not a Ga Matoran, but he's – like Ga-Metru – spiritually linked, favoured one might say, by Mata Nui, and thus Nokama's own biases about the inherent wisdom of her own people settle over Vakama.

Inspired by @muaka-safari's analysis of Vakama's relation to anger.

My hypothesis: Nokama, while stressed too about fulfilling her duty, has a different core issue in relation to it. Rather than the aspect of fulfilling a command by her leader, she constantly thinks of her behavior. For her, her conduct is part of her duty.

She has to act a certain way. She has to be in a certain way, or she is failing.

Which makes sense. She is a teacher, after all. She has to be a role model for her students. But what if it went deeper than that?

Nokama puts a lot of stock in order, reflecting her Metru and the vahki assigned to this metru: The bordakh. These vahki carry staffs of loyalty that instill uncompromising desire for social order.

Official material depicting in-universe information describes Ga-Metru in a very flattering light. It's the city's spiritual center and said to be favored by Mata Nui himself.

None of the Ga-Metru hold any jobs in terms of repair, manifacturing, or engineering. Matoran from other Metru do these jobs for them. Ga-Metru is privileged.

But like with everything in Metru Nui, this is only one side. The side most would think about first, whether as good or bad. The other one of this reputation means that all ga-matoran must be peaceful, right? They are orderly, spiritual, wise, etc. Otherwise Mata Nui wouldn't love their Metru as much.

Ooof. Of course, some would feel arrogant about that. But mostly, that'd be a lot of pressure. If you're the favorite of the city's most important person - your God - then you have to show it that you're showing reasons why you're the favorite? And keep it up all the time?

I doubt all ga-matoran took it that deeply to heart, but some of them likely did. They have to act responsibly. Among them is Nokama.

Remember what I said farther up in the post that she thinks she has to act in and be a certain way? We see it regularly.

Nokama in the movie and in the movie's novelization [[gave the Po-Matoran a sharp look. “Your negativity pollutes this sanctuary, builder.”]]

She snaps at Matau and tells him they have to take their duties as toa seriously.

She scolds herself after she argues with Vakama in the Archives. Never mind that it's a genuinely stressful situation and the others barely ever consider that they themselves need to make an effort to argue less. In my reading it felt like she deemed it more a moral failing of hers rather than a practical concern?

She tries to mentor Vakama and steer him into the direction of being leader. We're never given a concrete in-universe reason. (Out-of-universe, the writers clearly pushed the fire toa into the leader role.) But maybe Nokama saw it as her duty and responsibility to keep teaching in the one way she could, if she wouldn't teach matoran anymore? (Not to mention that's the only connection to her old life that she still has.)

She asserts that she's a toa in the comics when Nidhiki mocks her, Matau, and Vakama to be overgrown matoran.

Feeling rejected by the Great Temple when she enters it as Toa Hordika deals a heavy blow to her. She feels impure, as if she's longer fit as she is to serve the Great Spirit in his regard.

She has a rage breakdown, yelling that "She's still a toa!"

On the other end, Nokama notably has moments as Toa Hordika, while she's trying to calm down and find stability with Gaaki's help, where she doesn't seem to care about her previous high standards anymore. She feels tempted to give into her hordika side and is much more reckless, less thinking about how she acts as a toa.

She also makes an effective and chaotic team with Matau. As @crystaltoa pointed it out, they both are now "hold my beer" types, while they act about each other as "I can't take you anywhere with me!"

As if the transformation into a hordika beast, which looks nothing like a toa's supposed to, has freed Nokama from a great weight.

(@crystaltoa She might still think back on the Great Temple, however, and wonder if the stain on her from being transformed into a Toa Hordika remains.)

#look i know ppl joke about matoro being bionicle-jesus #but vakama is kinda bionicle-moses or some equivalent #god beamed directly into his mind and tasked him with bringing his ppl to freedom #do i think that parallel was intentional? nope #but do i think being raised in a culturally xian society shapes the themes of stories you're drawn to tell? #very probably!

[muaka-safari]

Idk if I've ever written a proper post on a theory I have on how gender works in the Matoran universe, but tumblr can't seem to find it, so I'm gonna assume I haven't

Anyway, my theory is their pronouns have nothing to do with what we perceive as gender, but instead are based on spiritual importance

A breakdown:

Ga-Metru is the favoured metru of Mata Nui. Now, idk if it was considered favoured before the Great Temple was built and thus was the chosen location, or if the Great Temple was built and then Ga-Metru came to be considered favoured by association of harbouring a holy place

(Given the Great Temple's role of purifying protodermis, personally I think it was built in Ga-Metru originally because it needed a lot of "water" and then Ga-Metru became favoured by default, but that's just my personal theory)

So now there is a subset of Matoran who are considered spiritually closer to Mata Nui than the rest – they work in the temple, their homes and building are similar to the temple, etc – and there pops up a need/desire to differentiate when addressing them

The Matoran were not programmed with a concept of gender, and "he/him" are their default pronouns (in the same way ships are she/her). Similarly "brother" is a term of trust/respect, also divorced from gender

However: now they need a term of trust/respect that identifies Ga-Matoran as a more spiritual kind, the same way you have "reverend" or "captain" as titles that infer a particular kind of respect – simply "brother" isn't gonna cut it

In their programming somewhere is the understanding that "sister" is a title on par with "brother". Again, no relation to gender, just the knowledge it's a term opposite to brother

Thing is, the term "sister" is also programmed with its own pronouns (she/her) so Ga-Matorans become referred to as she/her as well as sister, as a way of showing respect for being in Mata Nui's favourite metu

Ta da: Matoran now how have accidentally ungendered gendered pronouns

(Note: I'm not too familar with the story beyond the return to Metru Nui, and I vaguely know that Av-Matoran can be either "gender" (as far as gender goes) but I reckon that can be explained by their being the first matoran to be built)

#bionicle #gender #idk i just love the idea of what we think as gendered pronouns #meaning something entirely unrelated to sex #i mean. this does kinda imply that if a matoran changes their pronouns they're finding/losing god #which is at least a little bit funny #ga matoran becomes athiest and now goes by he/him

[muaka-safari]

Velika never died but came back wrong.

Ignore the Matoran body and the Karzhani mutilations. Something is wrong. Something is not how it was, something is unusual, something is confusing, something is different, something is wrong.

He speaks wrong. There's something weird in how he pronounces words, the way he marks accents, the structure of the sentences. It's all correct - grammar, morphology, phonology, syntax - but something is wrong.

He looks wrong. His true appearance is the same as it was but something is off on his posture and movements. He performs the action of looking at others wrong too: it's all miniscule details, eyes a little too still, a little too wide, pupils contracting and expanding a little too mechanically, a strange lack of feeling, a thin smile on his lips that never leaves them. It's always only small things, but something is wrong.

He thinks wrong. It's hard to explain. The way he poses himself, the way he talks, the way he feels, the way he listens, the way he moves, the way he reacts to things, the way he replies to questions, the way his body responds to stimuli, the way his reflexes trigger, the way his glands activate, the way his muscles contract or relax, the way his heart beats, they way his breaths sound. None of it is so overtly, obviously, painfully different, but something is wrong.

Some liked him, some hated him, doesn't matter. It's so clear.

Of course, Velika never died.

This Velika is not Velika. This Velika is wrong. This Velika is not right. This Velika cannot be Velika.

Velika never died, of course.

But Velika came back, and Velika came back wrong.

It would be too easy otherwise, I suppose.

To change without being changed.

[muaka-safari]

I love this quote because it tells you literally everything you need to know about Mutran.

#mutran: i can excuse unethical experiments but i draw the line at h&s hazards #wrong blog oops

[muaka-safari]

Muaka

This cat will steal your tongue and everything else.

Source

Creator: imbatman123459

[muaka-safari]

[muaka-safari]

Inspired by @muaka-safari's analysis of Vakama's relation to anger.

My hypothesis: Nokama, while stressed too about fulfilling her duty, has a different core issue in relation to it. Rather than the aspect of fulfilling a command by her leader, she constantly thinks of her behavior. For her, her conduct is part of her duty.

She has to act a certain way. She has to be in a certain way, or she is failing.

Which makes sense. She is a teacher, after all. She has to be a role model for her students. But what if it went deeper than that?

Nokama puts a lot of stock in order, reflecting her Metru and the vahki assigned to this metru: The bordakh. These vahki carry staffs of loyalty that instill uncompromising desire for social order.

Official material depicting in-universe information describes Ga-Metru in a very flattering light. It's the city's spiritual center and said to be favored by Mata Nui himself.

None of the Ga-Metru hold any jobs in terms of repair, manifacturing, or engineering. Matoran from other Metru do these jobs for them. Ga-Metru is privileged.

But like with everything in Metru Nui, this is only one side. The side most would think about first, whether as good or bad. The other one of this reputation means that all ga-matoran must be peaceful, right? They are orderly, spiritual, wise, etc. Otherwise Mata Nui wouldn't love their Metru as much.

Ooof. Of course, some would feel arrogant about that. But mostly, that'd be a lot of pressure. If you're the favorite of the city's most important person - your God - then you have to show it that you're showing reasons why you're the favorite? And keep it up all the time?

I doubt all ga-matoran took it that deeply to heart, but some of them likely did. They have to act responsibly. Among them is Nokama.

Remember what I said farther up in the post that she thinks she has to act in and be a certain way? We see it regularly.

Nokama in the movie and in the movie's novelization [[gave the Po-Matoran a sharp look. “Your negativity pollutes this sanctuary, builder.”]]

She snaps at Matau and tells him they have to take their duties as toa seriously.

She scolds herself after she argues with Vakama in the Archives. Never mind that it's a genuinely stressful situation and the others barely ever consider that they themselves need to make an effort to argue less. In my reading it felt like she deemed it more a moral failing of hers rather than a practical concern?

She tries to mentor Vakama and steer him into the direction of being leader. We're never given a concrete in-universe reason. (Out-of-universe, the writers clearly pushed the fire toa into the leader role.) But maybe Nokama saw it as her duty and responsibility to keep teaching in the one way she could, if she wouldn't teach matoran anymore? (Not to mention that's the only connection to her old life that she still has.)

She asserts that she's a toa in the comics when Nidhiki mocks her, Matau, and Vakama to be overgrown matoran.

Feeling rejected by the Great Temple when she enters it as Toa Hordika deals a heavy blow to her. She feels impure, as if she's longer fit as she is to serve the Great Spirit in his regard.

She has a rage breakdown, yelling that "She's still a toa!"

On the other end, Nokama notably has moments as Toa Hordika, while she's trying to calm down and find stability with Gaaki's help, where she doesn't seem to care about her previous high standards anymore. She feels tempted to give into her hordika side and is much more reckless, less thinking about how she acts as a toa.

She also makes an effective and chaotic team with Matau. As @crystaltoa pointed it out, they both are now "hold my beer" types, while they act about each other as "I can't take you anywhere with me!"

As if the transformation into a hordika beast, which looks nothing like a toa's supposed to, has freed Nokama from a great weight.

(@crystaltoa She might still think back on the Great Temple, however, and wonder if the stain on her from being transformed into a Toa Hordika remains.)

#nokama #ooof i'd never considered the effect having the great temple would have #(apart from a theory about how that's affected ideas of gender/pronouns but thats for another day) #being from the favoured metru only to feel rejected by your deity multiple times?? #because not only did she experience first hand the rejection of the great temple as hordika #there was also the whole 'makuta tricked mata nui into choosing the wrong matoran' fear #i'd never linked her 'your negativity pollutes this sanctuary' comment to being from ga metru #also also this is probably just a movie quirk BUT #nokama stands tallest and most toa like as a hordika #(compared to how vakama becomes more hunched as WoS progresses) #you could definitely link this to her being most aware of how she's perceived #esp wanting to look like she has things under control

[muaka-safari]

Matau Metru + text posts/tweets

#lmao #matau

[muaka-safari]

I think it's also interesting that Nokama shouts "grab him" as she pushes Vakama off the edge, and "the vahki will know how to deal with you" as she attacks Matau – both imply that her motive is to hand the traitors over to the vahki rather than killing them.

Her actions probably wouldn't have hurt someone if they were all Matoran, but since they're Toa atop a tower, her actions (push traitor away and restrain the other) could have been fatal.

(That said, pushing someone away could also be fatal if you were, say, a Matoran near a furnace or Rahi or any of the numerous dangers of daily Matoran life – so there probably were injuries/fatalities, but they were possibly marked as "accidents" officially)

Mmhh. I remembered a few days ago how a vahki bordakh used its staff of loyalty on Toa Metru Nokama. And she pushed Vakama off of a high building. The impact of the long fall could've killed him if he wasn't able to fly.

Was that only because of Dume / Teridax's orders? Or had some matoran at least severly injured fellow matoran - who were deemed breaking order - under the staff's influence?

[muaka-safari]

Muaka and Kane-Ra

[muaka-safari]

So apparently on Metru-Nui, Matoran only needed to be fed with energy once a year.

It's not clear how often they need food on Mata Nui, but it seems to be a pretty regular thing since they refer to "lunch", "breakfast" etc (though how much of this is the translation convention is unclear).

That must have been a hell of an adjustment for the Turaga when they first got to the island.

[muaka-safari]

2004 Bionicle DVD Print Ad/Poster

#oh i do love the lomn one #love esp how it makes it sound like the vahki have suddenly sprung out of nowhere #and not been a) around for a good while and b) the second attempt by a local matoran to make a #police force #'every legend has its villains' #so bionicle really was going acab huh

[muaka-safari]

[muaka-safari]

Had the thought of Mata Nui referring to the Nuva, Metru, and Mahri as "my protectors, my champions, and my beating heart" respectively and I think I need to go lie down

[muaka-safari]

Reblog this and put in the tags what you think your role is in your fandom.

#flailing newcomer #menance in the tags #sporadic fic writer