Nov 15, 2024
Author's Commentary #226:
Time to talk about Chapter 226: Wakuta of the shadows.
This was by far one of my favorite chapters to write, mainly because I was a big fan of Lego Bionicle back in the day. As mentioned before, this chapter is much more lighthearted compared to the rest of the arc, and it shows. There's also tons of Lego references too.
First up, the amusement park is obviously meant to be Lego land California, but here, it's Ogel land. Then there's Roboticle, which is an obvious parody of Bionicle. And of course, Wakuta Ogeldax himself is a parody of Bionicle's main villain, Makuta Teridax.
ワクタ・オゲルダックス (Wakuta Ogeldax) is how his name is spelled in katakana.
His birthday is August 10th, which is coined as Bionicle day or 810ONICLE day.
His favorite piece is the king, because he is the king of the shadows. His rating of 2003 is also a reference to the year Makuta Teridax's set was released.
Wakuta was ironically the reason I wanted to post Sandy's Side Story so quickly. I really just wanted him to be out there in the wild. Naturally, this means Wakuta will return. And who knows, he might even come back with some of the Ziraka, who along with their themesong are obvious parodies of the Piraka and the Piraka rap.
As for Retskcirb, he's a parody of The Brickster. In fact, his name is literally "Brickster" spelled backwards with his full name, Retskcirb Eht, being "The Brickster" spelled backwards. His Retskcirb-bots are also parodies of the Brickster-bots.
レツクシルブ・エート (Retskcirb Eht) is how his name is spelled in katakana.
His birthday is September 26, which is the day Lego Island, the game featuring the Brickster's debut, was released.
His favorite piece is the king, since he's the self proclaimed king of thievery.
This really was a fun chapter for me to write. Naturally, this means the characters introduced here will return in future arcs in the story, so look forward to it.
As for the game itself, I decided to have Sandy be more of a Mengarini player, though she always opens with 1. a3 and follows up with 2. e4. The opening in this game was actually a Sicilian Defense: Mengarini variation. Now however, the Side Story will get dark again, so best be prepared for it.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
