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ToM Dracone

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  1. ToM Dracone

    Drip

    By ToM Dracone,

    It was almost 50ºF here today... When it's been in the teens and twenties for the past week... Which means that the snow is melting. What's left of the icicles is dripping steadily downward. And it really feels like the beginning of spring (which is annoying, because we only got a full blast of winter last week).
     
    Otherwise I've been drawing all day – not my AC13 entry, which I really ought to be working on, but instead a portrait of Hahli. (Matoran form, of course.) A landscape portrait, if that would be the term, with her sitting on a beach, framed by palm trees, looking out onto the scene from the inside of a forest.
     
    It actually complements another landscape portrait I've had in the works for a while, one of Toa Shenyu... Not by design, but by coincidence. Interesting that the two are my favorite characters (Hahli for official storyline, Shenyu for my own), and also happen to be a couple...
     
    Of course, I'm going to need a lot of practice CGing plant life before I can color either one of them...
    ~ ToM
  2. ToM Dracone

    As It Stands...

    By ToM Dracone,

    ToM has been way busier this past week than he needed to be to take his mind off things, and in fact so busy that he didn't even have time to post in his blog; Chapter 13 has begun to be written, and ToM is trying to keep Dume from acting like Yoda in his imagination; ToM is quite curious about who is going to win the EC6; HH married BR and had Tufi and KIE, Tufi married Omi and had ET, and KIE married Janus; Kex is for once not the main character's lover, but ... instead ... ToM's almost-girlfriend ... which he just realized ... ( ) ToM and WaWa were killed personally by Bink; And ToM is thoroughly enjoying these antics. That should be sufficient. ~ Kit
  3. ToM Dracone

    Green Again

    By ToM Dracone,

    Okay, I'm feeling happy again now. I was a rather depressed last night, but I'm better now – a day of bright sun, at least six inches of snow on everything, and just a normal day at school will do that to one.
     
    And yes, a normal day at school can make one happy. As exams were last week, we got them back today – I wound up with an A+ in Biology, French, and Latin, an A in Advanced Algebra, an A- in English, and a 97 in History (not sure what letter grade equates to exactly). I am happy. Although comically annoyed at myself – I filled in the wrong bubbles on two multiple choice questions – despite knowing the right answer and circling it on the test! And to think I would have gotten a perfect 100 if I had caught those. But oh well!
     
    I also haven't actually seen my Latin exam yet (Dr. Jones was out), but the headmaster dropped in with our quarter, semester, and midterm grades for the class, so I found that I had gotten an A+. As I said, we had a pretty easy translation, and now I'm pretty sure I got the meaning of coatus est right, even if not the literal translation, and that's more what Dr. Jones is interested in...
     
    Nocturn approaches! And the Viking Longship! I can't wait for this weekend.
    ~ ToM
  4. ToM Dracone

    The Temple Of Air

    By ToM Dracone,

    So, I finally got around to making the last category banner today...
     
    And I'm also looking around for a photograph of forest-claimed ruins to make a new banner for QfLD. I need a picture for the Temple of Air, where Kopaka, Onua, and Pohatu were studying at the beginning of Chapter 12 of QfLD, since it becomes a rather significant setting toward the end of the story... Plus I just like it as a location, going along with the Temple of Rain as one of the elemental temples remaining from Éa-Nui. Haven't thought up any of the others yet, though.
     
    ...I also wish magic were real. There are two things hanging over me right now, one of which happened recently (although I knew it was coming) and has now left me gloomy and in pain – much more so than I had expected. Rather so much that I can't ignore or forget about it right now, although that will come. The other I'm more hopeful about (indeed, almost happy by comparison), but I wish it, too, could be avoided. But with magic... both could have been resolved in an instant, leaving me with neither pain nor stress.
     
    But the more one wishes for a fantasy, the worse the reality becomes. So I'm going to go distract myself by dreaming about getting Nocturn and the Viking Longship next weekend. That's one thing I can't wait for.
     
    And until then, I can lose myself in Le-Wahi and the Temple of Air.
    – ToM
  5. ToM Dracone

    Resurfacing

    By ToM Dracone,

    Music: Jack Sparrow and The Kraken, Hans Zimmer
    Mood: drained but happy
     
    So midterms are going on this week – today was Advanced Algebra in the morning and World History II in the afternoon, which have left me drained but happy. I spent most of yesterday reviewing for Algebra – the class being equivalent to taking both Algebra II and Precalculus in one year, it's thoroughly exhausting, but I'm finally on top of things around it. I actually understood the formulas for sums of sequences, explicit and recursive definitions, sigma, and logs better than when we did them in class. (Well, maybe not logs, as we just did those.)
     
    But the exam wound up being a lot easier than I expected! Although that doesn't mean it was easy. Oh no. There were exactly 28 questions on the whole exam, of which we chose 20 to do. But there were exactly twenty I had no problem at all with (they just took more than an hour and a half to do), so I actually think I did fairly well... Especially because this was easily going to be my hardest exam. Yee!
     
    History was for the most part easy (there were a couple multiple choice questions where the answer was ambiguous, I thought), but with a really long (but really easy) essay... Then tomorrow I have Biology and English, then on Friday Latin and French. Usually I have Latin last, in the conflict exams spot (two languages! Woo!), but this time around I have French then. I like having Latin last, with so few other people taking exams with me; it's such a relaxing and enjoyable test. I finished my final last year in 45 minutes and then got a 99.5 on it because I forgot to translate the word "et."
     
    Meanwhile listening the PotC2 soundtrack is giving me even more ideas, so I hope to have some time soon to keep writing chapter 13... Given how rare it is for me to start a new chapter right after finishing the old one.
     
    So now I'm off to study for Bio and English. *dives back in*
    ~ ToM
  6. ToM Dracone
    I've been wanting to blog about this for a while, but now I finally have an opportunity... The Word of the Month is a word I learn during a particular month that I find highly interesting, either in meaning or just how the word sounds. I also have to come upon it by chance. Though there isn't one every month...
     
    And this month there is: asterism! An asterism is a small group of stars, which can be a constellation or just a part of one – for instance, the Big Dipper is an asterism within the constellation Ursa Major. How cool is that?
     
    Past words of the month:
     
    Antepenultimate, third-to-last (March '06)
    Sesquipedalian, using long words (April '06)
    Hirsute, hairy (July '06)
    Apocryphal, generally assumed to be factual but not known for certain (I think October '06, might have been September)
    Bibliothecary, a librarian (December '06)
    Asterism, a small group of stars (January '07)
     
    In other news, Bio and English weren't hard yesterday, and today Latin and French were almost easy. I found the sight translation on the Latin exam most entertaining, as it was the only challenging part of the exam – I didn't know the meaning of coactus est (though I regognized that it was a form of coegi) and potior on an earlier part, but it was nevertheless quite fun.
     
    If you couldn't tell, I'm quite fond of obscure words. Whee!
    ~ ToM
  7. ToM Dracone

    Jo Temptans Victrix

    By ToM Dracone,

    So it's a little bit late, but Jo is now in the Temperance Final Poll for BBC 40! As always, any and all votes for her are appreciated...
     
    And while you're at it, if you haven't voted yet, vote for Xirgath in the Fortitude Final Poll! Xirgath is a great embodiement of Fortitude, and I maintain that Toro ought to win his category.
     
    As Toro said at the beginning of the contest, it's Clash of the Titans all over again – Seran, Shadrahk, and I all in the same poll... Yeesh...
    ~ToM
  8. ToM Dracone
    Yes.
     
    You heard me.
     
    Quest for Lost Dreams has finally, finally been updated! A combination of sunlight, snow, and listening to the Dead Man's Chest soundtrack inspired me to finish the new chapter this morning, which has now been posted! *bounces around*
     
    The epic itself is in a bit of disorder at the moment, because I'm going through all the old chapters and editing them – I've gotten great ideas for backstory and Éa-Nui history lately, then some even better ones for Hahli's past last night... Also, I decided a few months ago that the MNOLGs, comics from 2001-2, and flash episodes are, as the original Bionicle storyline, superior to everything since, so I've also been editing dialogues and descriptions to match the personalities introduced in them.
     
    I'm also editing the opening chapter and changing the beginning of chapter 10, because both were rather out-of-character for the people in them. But I think I got his personality down quite well in the new one. As well as Hahli having an identity crisis. Which allows me to open up a whole new plot tangent – one that actually gives a hint into her mysterious past.
     
    Finally, QfLD is beginning to get the way I want it. So go read it!
    ~ ToM
  9. ToM Dracone

    Underwater

    By ToM Dracone,

    The weekend is here, we went sledding during ninth period, snow is swirling in the air outside, and ideas are flowing! There may be midterms next week, but exams don't faze me – and I need a break from studying.
     
    I got a great idea for dragon physiology recently, followed last night by the concept of the Land of the Rising Sun, a distant land to the east of the island-continent where my dragon story takes place. A most entertaining location to ponder, as no one knows what lies beyond the impassable mountains running along it...
     
    It also occurred to me that Toa Tiome (my Bionicle self) would have immense power underwater. His natural mask is the Kaukau, so he hardly needs to work to maintain the mask's activation, and his element, heat, has devastating effect in water. And as wielding a sword is less than practical underwater, he can use his element to great effect instead... He could cause it to boil or freeze in an instant – the former to scald an opponent or create a screen of bubbles, the latter to trap an enemy in ice far more easily than out of water... And I love water anyway, so this is even cooler.
     
    And yes, that latter idea was brought about by a combination of City of the Lost and the Dead Man's Chest soundtrack. Whee!
     
    Finally, Jo made it to the semifinals! Her new poll can be found here. Votes are, as always, appreciated!
     
    And I promise that I will update Quest for Lost Dreams this weekend. I'm almost done with this chapter; I just haven't been in the right mood or had time to work on it lately...
    ~ ToM
  10. ToM Dracone

    Jo For President

    By ToM Dracone,

    So I finally entered BBC 40 a few days ago, almost right before the entry period ended, with an MOC I'm quite fond of: Jo! The Jo in question being Senjo, formerly (and irreversably) known as Jo_Shmo, the Puller of the Plugs and General of the Bananas of the BGC. In this instance she and her plug are representing the Platonic virtue of Temperance, or moderation and self-control.
     

     
    You can find her in Temperance Poll B... Currently she's coming in third in the poll, so I'd appreciate any and all votes for her!
     
    Also on the note of contests, Epics Contest 6 has begun over in Epics. This time it's the classic theme – all you have to do is to have written an epic. See the topic for more details, and do enter!
     
     
    It's also been snowing off and on for the past two days here – I'd guess we have between two and three inches now. And all still on top of the ice, as it's been consistently below freezing since the freezing rain on Monday. It's great! Everything is shining and glittering during the day... Now it finally feels like winter...
     
    I'll have a picture of Jo up in the Most Recent MOC block soon... But for the mean time, do vote for her, won't you?
    ~ToM
  11. ToM Dracone

    Frozen Rain

    By ToM Dracone,

    It's been a while since I updated this... I haven't had much time.
     
    Firstly and of most interest, I woke up this morning to find the world encased in ice. This is the first time I've experienced freezing rain, and the result looks beautiful. There's a perfect, crystalline shell of ice around everything, often dripping with icicles – even the grass is frozen solid. The pine trees in front are sagging with the ice coating their needles; two branches from the willows have already fallen. The red buds and bark of the maple enclosed in ice are striking, and the frozen evergreen bush in front looks etherial.
     
    I was just outside taking pictures of everything (even though it's still raining), and my hands are finally thawing. Unfortunately nature coated in ice doesn't record very well, because the striking effect of the light being refracted from all the ice isn't captured unless there's sun, but some of them came out well. The crackling of the ice under my feet... The sight of everything outlined in clear light... The glittering shards of ice on the ground where branches fell... I am happy. I like grey, cloudy days when it's still light, and the beaty of all the ice increases that.
     
    Maybe I'll finally get around to finishing this chapter of QfLD... Ice is inspiring, even if the chapter involves water more – they are one and the same, after all.
     
    ~ToM
  12. ToM Dracone

    Et Tu, Brutaka?

    By ToM Dracone,

    I couldn't resist.
     
    The purpose of this entry is to rave about Brutaka. I finally unpacked my assortment of Lego from Christmas yesterday (I haven't had any time this past week), took him out of his box, and he just radiates power.
     
    It's the combination of being really tall (he ties with Roodaka as tallest, excluding Kardas since that's a combiner), bulky, covered in spiky golden armor, and weilding a huge sword. He has a really solid construction, both in build and posability, as the 2006-new pistons give him a lot of support. His body and feet are solidest in appearance, and, though I wish the insides of his thighs were filled in, they're still excellently bulky.
     
    I like his extra arms... They make for an interesting appearance in an action pose, but make his body even bulkier when stored away (and some nice back armor). His normal arms are somewhat impeded in posability by his body armor and the extra arms, as well as the odd angle of the wrists. The tubing along his shoulders is a nice touch, though. And despite their highly simple construction, they still look good. As do his claws, despite their positioning.
     
    For that matter, his whole set looks great. As I said, he's really sturdy, so he can go into all sorts of stances easily... And all that gold, too. It's pretty.
     
    Now imagine him delivering a blow with the serrated side of his sword. Ow.
     
    That is all.
    ~ ToM
  13. ToM Dracone
    I'm obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean. Have you noticed?
     
    I just realized yesterday, Davy Jones's organ theme (from The Kraken) can be described perfectly by the phrase "going down with a fight." It's powerful, dramatic, yet also has a sense of inescapable tragedy to it – putting up a valiant fight but knowing that defeat is the only outcome in the end. Perfect for the final battle of Dead Man's Chest. And at the same time, Davy himself pouring out the pain and anguish from his love by hammering out on the organ, venting his anger through the Kraken. It's an amazing piece.
     
    Crew member: "What of the survivors?"
    Davy Jones: "There are no survivors!"
    *Davy storms off and the crew slit the prisoners' throats and throw them overboard*
     
    Which leads to the question... If the Barraki are Davy Jones's crew... then who's Davy Jones himself?
    ~ ToM
  14. ToM Dracone

    Davy Jones's Crew

    By ToM Dracone,

    Because the Barraki are very much like them – each one looks like a different sea creature, but they all share a hominid structure, which I've always liked. Even before we knew what they looked like, Greg's statement that they were all unique made me think of the crew of the Flying Dutchman... Plus the fact that the storyline is underwater!
     
    And they achieve that look amazingly well. Ehlek and Mantax, at the very least, look awesome in hand.
     
    To start with, Ehlek has that amazing new green color for his head and spines. I call it translucent green, as it's closest to the original green, but semitransparent, though not the dark color of transparent green, and with a slight hint of teal in it. It's blended with yellow so that the yellow is entirely covered by the green, but you can see through the green to get this amazingly bright, vibrant color. That alone makes Ehlek worth buying.
     
    And his construction is great – the structure uses no new molds but produces an entirely new shape. Despite his marketing as an eel, he looks exactly like a sea urchin, and the thin, spindly construction of his body augments that. He also has a hunchbacked appearance from the side with his body obscured with his arms, and that with his thin limbs make it look like he could curl up into a ball with only his spiky back showing on top – as a sea urchin. And the wide Piraka feet also work well, continuing his pattern of thin broadening into wide: thin upper arms with wide forearms, a thin body with a wide back "shell", and thin legs with wide feet. With his legs bent and his body hunched, from the side his set just forms one smooth curve, a little like a backwards S. It's an excellent appearance, especially with the unity of the spikes on his head, back, and claws.
     
    One thing I have changed on him, though, is getting rid of his squid launcher and attaching his left claws the same way as his right. It makes him look much sleeker. And the red axles are also really garish, as with the yellow-orange squid, which I've also taken off... As I've said before, I'd love for his entire color scheme to be translucent green over lime green, but what he has now is great too. And the blue eyes Lime green short double-sockets! Yee!
     
     
    Now, on to Mantax!
     
    I like him just as much as Ehlek. His new feet actually work really well – working with his Vahki shins, Piraka thighs, and shoulder armor, they give him a bulky but smooth look, from his wide, round feet to his even wider, round shoulder armor.
     
    His shoulder armor! It is awesome that Mantax's shoulder armor is the same piece as Carapar's chestplate. One of the best set quirks to date. Anyway, his whole design really looks like a manta ray – his body is mostly horizontal, which is emphasized by how low his neck is relative to his hips. His long legs help, too, accentuating how small his body is vertically. From the top, his body is wide, his head protrudes forward – and he has a tail! He just screams "manta." And his head is great, too, with the ear-like appendages like what a manta really has beside its mouth. (I don't know the term for them.) And the smooth, long, flat shape of it even more makes it look like a manta!
     
    I originally wanted his arms to have armor of some sort, but their thinness further offsets the width and bulk of his shoulders, which looks great. At any rate, I think they ought to have been symmetrical, perhaps with Toa Metru shins as forearms, but they still look swell, so who cares? The minifig Piraka spines on them are a cool touch, too. Useful pieces, those. His claws are good; nothing I adore but certainly not bad.
     
    Color wise, black, dark blue-grey, and silver are an infallible combination, and the red accents of his eyes and spikes look great. Even the squid are okay, as the red compliments their orange.
     
     
    The mandibles in both aren't bad, but are a little out-of-place on a manta ray. And the squid launcher is a nice piece, very aquatic appearance, if a bit hard to use right, and inexplicably made of a slightly rubbery plastic. If you're having trouble launching the squidlings, try this: hold the launcher with your left index finger in the loop (or your right if you're left-handed) and your thumb on top of it, so it points upward at a 45º angle. Then stick the squid in and pull it back parallel to the ground – I've gotten them to go 15 feet that way. (Also, I confess – I got the squids. They look like water made solid with their bright blue-green color, something irresistable to me. They actually come in a spectrum of clear blue to pale green. They're fun!)
     
    Overall: the Barraki are awesome. Or at least Ehlek and Mantax are. Mantax has a bulkier build and looks more like his intended sea creature, Ehlek is great in his thinness and has those aresome back spines and new green color, and both of them have great builds. I can't speak for the rest of the Barraki, but Ehlek and Mantax alone are easily some of the best canister sets in quite a while. Plus the fact that they use so many old pieces while being new designs is great. And their canisters look really cool, if still being about as tall as the Inika's.
     
    Finally, Mantax's feet really look like nautical boots of some sort. Can't you just see the Barraki marching out of the sea like Davy Jones's crew in the island scene in Dead Man's Chest? Swaggering onto land dripping with water and seaweed, weapons drawn...
     
    "So tell me, what has become of my ship?"
    ~ ToM
  15. ToM Dracone
    Merry day-after-Christmas! I've had merrier, but this one was fruitful – or perhaps I just got more things I actually like than usual... My favorites being:
    Brutaka Vezon and Fenrakk Umbra Deep Sea Treasure Hunter Striking Venom Velika from Alsru! Eldest gift cards to Toys R Us, Target, and Barnes & Noble Once and Over the Hills and Far Away by Nightwish Dead Man's Chest The Witches' Datebook, which should be much fun to read through... Metaphysical tickets to go see Riverdance and Wicked!! Yaaay! And some other things I was less interested in. So far I've built Brutaka, Umbra, and the Deep Sea Treasure Hunter, begun to read Eldest, and decided I want to use one of the TRU gift cards on Ehlek at least. 
    I would like to proclaim that Brutaka is awesome and very tall and the best use for Umbra is spare parts. Also that the Aquaraiders are excellent (judged also by the Lobster Strike, which I got last week as a belated birthday present). Great sets in both pieces and construction...
     
    Finally (although first chronologically), BCii gave me an early Christmas present in the form of an awesome MOC of me! It's really great. Go check it out.
     
    On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
    – ToM
  16. ToM Dracone

    Hide The Rum

    By ToM Dracone,

    The week after Christmas wound up being much better than the week before for me. In fact, so much happened that it has to be spread over several entries.
     
    It was fruitful on all fronts – I got a bunch of ideas for backstory, scenes, and language for both Éa-Nui and another story-in-planning of mine involving dragons; watched Dead Man's Chest, listened to Over the Hills and Far Away (already heard Once), and bought the Dead Man's Chest soundtrack with one of my B&N gift cards; and used one of my TRU gift cards (and a little of my own money) on Ehlek, Mantax, and the squidlings. Wheee!
     
    I also built Vezon and Fenrakk and Striking Venom and read through Eldest, which I enjoyed, despite the astonishing revelations at the end. But I've gotten used to those plot twists. The title is misleading as well... But I really like the levels of power weilded by various characters and demonstrations thereof. I like really powerful characters. I'll probably ramble on both books at some point.
     
    And I finally settled on designs for Toa Aera and Toa Zetheon, Toa of Water and Ice on Lhikan's team. (My rendition thereof, with six Toa of the normal elements.) Glow-in-the-dark blue, like on Takadox and Nocturn, finally provided the vibrant blue color I needed for Aera's armor.
     
    I'll rave about Ehlek and Mantax next entry, as well as the linguistic ideas I got over break. Now I'm listening to the Dead Man's Chest soundtrack once again, which is really, really great. Jack Sparrow and The Kraken are my two favorite pieces, as I especially like the various themes for Jack, the Kraken, and Davy Jones's organ... I liked Curse of the Black Pearl better, but I still really like the movie. It has just as many hilarious incidents as the first, like the wheel sequence and battle on the island, during which I was doubled over laughing when I saw it in the theater...
     
    Jack: "Elizabeth! *turns to Gibbs* Hide the rum."
     
    Lord Beckett: "I'm listening."
    Elizabeth: *sticks a gun to his neck*
    Lord Beckett: "I'm listening intently."
     
    Norrington: "You actually were telling the truth."
    Jack: "I do that quite a lot, yet people are always surprised."
     
    And innumerable others. We wanted to see Curse of the Golden Flower on New Year's Eve, but the theater nearest us wasn't showing it. Oh well. I also wish there hadn't been school today; I need a day back here after we drove back yesterday...
     
    As for my New Year's resolution: finish Quest for Lost Dreams and post Spell of Shadows. I meant to do it last year, but I've been short on ideas and inspiration.
    ~ToM
  17. ToM Dracone
    As I mentioned last entry, a variety of linguistic ideas for my own two languages, the Matoran and draconic speeches, occured to me over break. Neither of the two is very much fleshed-out at this moment – Matoràu is much further along than draconic, with a three-page vocabulary list and a variety of inflections determined right now. Most of the ideas I got were epiphanies, too, which I always like better than things I sit down and mull over for hours on end, because I suddenly know something and almost always keep the thought.
     
    Just the word Matoràu, the Matoran's name for their language, is a demonstration of how the naming aspect of the language works. Matoran is already a contration of mata, "spirit," and toran, "people." A final a can always be dropped in forming a name, and if that results in a double consonant, then the extra consonant can be elided, as follows:
     
    mata toran
    mattoran
    Matoran
     
    ...leaving Matoran, meaning "the people of the spirit." All terminating vowels and -an can be dropped in naming, so ràu, "speech," can be added to Matoran and the process repeated to form Matoràu, "the speech of the people of the spirit." The same process forms the name Tahu, contracting tan ahu, "eternal fire," to Tahu.
     
    For grammar, I've fleshed out noun declension much more than verb conjugation, despite having about an equal amount of both nouns and verbs. I have three declensions of nouns with several cases and three numbers each (singular, plural, and collective plural), filled in in varying degrees, but only first and third person singular and third person plural for the present active of both indicative and subjunctive. And the singular imperative. (Some names use the various cases: Inika is made from ini, the ablative singular of inu, star, and kan, energy or power, to mean "energy from a star.")
     
     
    Draconic (title until I have a name for it), however, is much less complete. I only have a handful of words so far, but a variety of grammar stuff... and the first word I "invented" was dragon. I know, it seems unoriginal, but it gave me two roots to establish the sound of the language – dra-, to fly, and (as I finalized recently) gan, a word referring to any scaled creature with legs. ("Lizard" is so unpoetic.) Gon is the augmentative form thereof, with gyn as the diminutive, so a dragon is a flying great lizard.
     
    Aside from vocabulary, I have very little else done for draconic, aside from plurals, so for example dragonae are multiple dragons. However, the fire-dragons have a somewhat different mode of the language: dracon (DRA-kohn) is one, and drácaen (dra-KANE) are several. Hard g and c are linguistically interchangeable.
     
     
    ... And there you have it. Obviously Matoràu is my own take on the Matoran language, derived from various names (and inventions of my own); aside from the word dragon, the rest of the draconic words are original. And gaia, earth as an element. A taste of my linguistics. What do you think?
     
    Barraki are next entry, I promise!
    – ToM
  18. ToM Dracone

    The Advent Of Winter

    By ToM Dracone,

    Happy Winter Solstice everyone! Unfortunately it was cloudy this morning and evening, so I got to watch the sun neither rise nor set (and yes, I actually was up early enough to do the former... *falls asleep*), but meh. Winter is now officially begun! (Unless you live in the southern hemisphere.)
     
    Schizo asked if he could throw a party in my blog while I was away, so I guess this is occasion. After all, it is the longest night of the year. We have plenty of time! *lowers the temperature until it starts snowing* Drinks all around! Assuming they don't freeze...
     
    More updates will come when I'm on my usual computer rather than my uncle's. (That being my dad's when he comes down here as well.) One with an option key...
     
    Ave nox!
    ~ ToM
  19. ToM Dracone

    Away!

    By ToM Dracone,

    Off I go on winter break, the holidays of choice being the Winter Solstice and Christmas... Leaving HH alone with a munkey in Epics.
     
    I should be able to drop in at some point, but I'll be back for real on New Year's Day. Hopefully bearing Barraki and Aquaraiders. See you then!
     
    And Nocturn is completely and totally awesome in almost every possible way. Lime greeeeeen! Glow-in-the-dark blue! Whee!
    ~ ToM
  21. ToM Dracone

    Limits And Antics

    By ToM Dracone,

    We have officially begun dealing with limits in Advanced Algebra. This is awesome.
     
    Meanwhile, we continue to read Ovid's Daedalus and Icarus. Cicero is easy after you get used to him; this is much harder, not least because it's in verse. But also much more fun. Whee!
     
    The most entertaining part, however, was when we noticed a Freshman's purse sitting on a desk, and we got the idea for the entire Latin class to get up, walk out of the room, and go through the school until we located its owner and then give it to her as a group. We actually did so with about ten minutes left of class – we had stopped at the head of a very long clause, didn't want to do the full thing right then, and so Dr. Jones asked if we wanted to go and find the Freshman. So we all got up and walked down the hallway together (with Julianne as Bearer of the Purse) and found her in Geometry class. Unfortunately they were taking a test, so we stood outside the door until Mrs. Broberg saw us, came over, and opened the door, at which point Dr. Jones and Julianne delivered the purse. It was hilarious.
     
    We then decided to go find Lowell, who had randomly walked out of Latin halfway through. At the front desk we found he had signed out for a doctor's appointment, and Dr. Jones then led us to the college advisor's office to sing "Happy Birthday" to him (even though his birthday is in March). He wasn't there, so we walked on to the Lower School, decided we wanted to have a class in the Teachers' Lounge, and opened and looked into a door to the statement from Dr. Jones: "There's a live dog in there."
     
    It then became a quest for the Ear (don't ask), which was missing. Someone must have put it somewhere, but to our knowledge, Leigh Ann and I are the only members of the Order of the Roving Ear...
     
    I also received Christmas presents of a bottle of orange soda, a chocolate bar, and a candy cane from Ally, Dani, and Rose. Yum... Third period included a discussion of the possible uses of candy canes as weapons.
     
    This was a fun day.
    ~ ToM
  22. ToM Dracone

    Calamari

    By ToM Dracone,

    Yes. I finished CGing Kalmah. Go look (and I wouldn't mind if you posted); I'm quite fond of the result...
     
    Other than that, I've had a thoroughly stressful week. At the moment I just want to go and find somewhere where people will leave me completely alone... Stop reminding me of things that if I could just forget, everything would be fine and I could stay happy... Thank goodness Christmas break starts next Friday; maybe then I can find some peace – and if I can't, I almost certainly will explode on someone...
     
    But for the moment, there are a couple inches of snow on the ground, the sun is shining and making everything bright, and Enya remains her infallibly calming self. Singing along to the chanting refrain of Pax Deorum is a very relaxing exercise, and The Memory of Trees is still my favorite song ever. Browsing image sites for pictures of forests and mists and waterfalls is similarly enjoyable...
     
    I also got my PSAT results earlier this week: I'm still unable to make any sense of the scoring, but I do know that my overal score was in the 99th percentile of all Juniors who took it (and I'm a Sophomore!), so that was good. But also before everything else started happening.
     
    ...I actually don't rememberwhat squid tastes like.
    ~ ToM
  23. ToM Dracone

    Aquamarine

    By ToM Dracone,

    I think Takadox is hypnotizing me.
     
    I've been wanting his set more and more lately. Maybe it's because of his new armor color. Maybe it's the fact that dark blue and ice blue together look totally awesome lit from the back. It's even managed to overrule the black body and red thorns.
     
    Ehlek is looking great, too. I love that new blended shade of green. I wish his whole set came in it. It looks like a swirl of teal and lime... (Thanks to Takua95 for the pictures!)
     
    And I've even fallen for those adorable little trans-blue squid! They look so much better than the yellow/orange ones from the Barraki... As a rule I love bright shades of trans-blue; they look like they're solid water... And especially good alongside Ehlek's new green...
     
    It's the only logical explanation!
    – ToM
  24. ToM Dracone
    So, exactly what kind of a Matoran is Dekar, anyway?
     
    Greg decreed that he is a Po-Matoran. However, Shop At Home originally listed him as an Onu-Matoran. But despite all corrections to the contrary, I much prefer him as an Onu-Matoran.
     
    For one thing, Po- and Onu-Matoran have often been ambiguous. Tan and black were shared by the two in the MNOLG, with medium orange going to Onu-Koro (the Prospector, Azibo, and Nuparu, for example) and dark orange to Po-Koro (where dark orange was the trademark Matoran color). Taipu and Hafu are almost identical, but from different Koro. And now we have a new ambiguous color: yellow-orange, a secondary color to both Oohnorak and Toa Hewkii.
     
    And in addition to this, Dekar, unlike Defilak, has two main colors. On Defilak, black is an accent color, like the original Toa, who all had black joints. But Dekar's arms are black, which makes it a main color in addition to yellow-orange, as the two are balanced in prominance. Black and yellow-orange is a combination we've only seen on Oohnorak so far, so we're predisposed to see it as an Earth elemental combination.
     
    Earth and Stone are very close elementally, so it's natural they should share colors, and Dekar could indeed go either way. But I see yellow-orange as being closer to medium orange (a color assigned to Onu-Koro) than to tan (one of the principal elemental colors of Po-Koro, even if shared by both), as it's a bright color like orange in contrast to the muted hue of tan. Dekar especially makes me think of Nuparu, a Matoran with black as a primary color but then a mask of bright orange — so even with the traditional blurred boundary between Onu-Koro and Po-Koro, everything about Dekar makes me think of Earth.
     
    Maybe this is just another manifestation of my resistance to the changing of the color of stone to yellow-orange, but ... What do you think?
    – ToM
  25. ToM Dracone

    Defilak And Company

    By ToM Dracone,

    Blue highlighter is now one of my favorite things.
     
    In completely unrelated news, I posted my revamps of Defilak and Dekar a couple of days ago, featuring Dekar as an Onu-Matoran (I shall never give in!) armed with a shoulder-mounted Zamor launcher with a design I'm quite fond of...
     
    I'm also busy CG-ing Enter Kalmah... I'm still not that great with textures, so this is partly practice for that. Exercise in lighting, too, since he's underwater... It's fun.
     
    Christmas vacation starts next week! Whee!
    ~ ToM
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