{Burnt out since 2018, maybe even longer. Still going, though.} Generally trying to post and reblog things that I think are cool or nice. Some of my own stuff may show up from time to time. I'm also starting to put together my bluesky here: matau-228.bsky.social
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
The trailer for the Project: Anglerfish prototype, the Myst game I was art directing back at Cyan that got shared at Mysterium last week.
SUCH a lifelong dream to get to work on a new game set in the Myst universe—still hope we’ll get to see it through someday, but I’m thrilled we can share the trailer at the very least. ♥️📖
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
My adaptation of the God of Arepo short story, which was originally up at ShortBox Comics Fair for charity. You can get a copy of the DRM-free ebook here for free - and I'd encourage you to donate to Mighty Writers or The Ministry of Stories in exchange.
Again it's an honour to be drawing one of my favourite short stories ever. Thank you so much for the original authors for creating this story; and for everyone who bought a copy and donated to the above non-profits.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
A consistent element of all official descriptions of the Kanohi Hau's power is that it creates a force field that protects the user from physical attacks, but not against ambush. A lot of masks have weaknesses like this, which I think is a really interesting and often overlooked element of Kanohi in general.
The Hau's weakness has always confused me though, because I've never been exactly sure what it means. If it doesn't protect against ambush attacks, does that mean an attack would pass right through a Hau-shield if the user didn't see it coming? Because that seems like a pretty crap force field if you can have it up but it doesn't block anything if you're not looking at it. So is it more that it just has to be triggered manually, and won't activate on its own to protect the wearer from unexpected attacks? I mean I guess that fits the description, but why would one ever assume it would work that way? Maybe it's got to do with the coverage of the shield then. It's usually portrayed as a full-body dome or sphere, but "canon" visuals are always a little questionable, so maybe it's more like a hemisphere that forms where an attack is expected, leaving the Hau-user's back or side or wherever open and vulnerable unless maybe they will it to cover them entirely because they expect attacks from all sides. Or maybe I'm missing something obvious, I don't know. So I'm curious what other people think.
What does "the Hau does not protect against ambush attacks" mean?
Unanticipated attacks pass right through the shield
The shield must be triggered consciously, so the user can be caught off-guard
The shield only covers the front/where an attack is expected to come from
Something else?
Voting ended onJul 31
Some notes below the cut
There is some canon support for option 1. In MNOG, Onua uses a Hau-shield to block an attack from Makuta's shadow tentacles, but then gets slammed in the back, seemingly through his shield, though admittedly the way the shield is animated makes it a little hard to tell.
If option 1 is accurate, maybe the idea is that you couldn't just walk around with the shield up all the time and be completely invulnerable, you still have to pay attention.
Still seems odd to have a force field that's only solid in some areas and just aesthetic in others.
Option 2 is what's currently on BS01, but we know how reliable they are these days...
I'm not sure option 2 really preserves the idea of a weakness. "The shield doesn't block anything if it's not on." Yeah no shit. Most masks require conscious activation. That's not a weakness against ambushes, that's an IT guy asking if your mysteriously non-functioning computer is plugged in.
Option 3 is pretty much me just spitballing some kind of in-between that doesn't compromise the integrity of the shield but keeps the vulnerability.
I have seen some fanworks do it this way though, so it's not fully something I made up.
The idea is that the shield is directed by the user's focus, so it forms where their attention is directed. That is in front of them, or above them, to the side, so on. It could give the full dome we see in-story, but only if the user consciously wills it to do so and maintains focus on surrounding their entire body. Otherwise part of the shield may come down as energy is redirected in one particular direction or another, leaving an opening where the user is vulnerable because their attention is diverted somewhere else.
Alternatively maybe the shield is always a full bubble and is just stronger wherever the user is focusing, and weaker where they're not. I'm not sure that quite fits the "doesn't protect against ambushes," but let's be fair, it's a weird line.
The Hau is a line-of-sight concentration spell that must be activated prior to a known incoming attack. Except when the lore says otherwise because Bionicle be like that sometimes.
A good example in support of this is when Tahu gets buried by falling rocks after losing his elemental powers.
We know he was aware of the danger because he DID try to do something about it (with his magma sword lmao).
BUT the mask didn't protect him, because he didn't activate it. Despite being aware of the danger, he chose another strategy instead of using the Hau (...and consequently got buried by rocks).
<-crystaltoa's tags
I'm in favor of it requiring both some sort of danger being sensed (heard, seen, etc) and there having to be an activation trigger of some kind, instinctual or not. You have to know where the threat is and want a shield there, in some capacity.
I'd even argue that in Tahu's case that because he attempted to use his magma sword to shield himself the Hau didn't receive the activation trigger because he was already shielding himself.