ToM Dracone

Woah. "Dude" is right. But that sounds awesome. And freaky. I really need to keep up with the OGD.

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

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

I once had an English teacher who had bad grammar... It's very sad when the 8th grade student knows grammar better than his teacher... Although I've thankfully never run across something of the sort in math. Or this bad. Sheeesh.

Actually, et cetera literally means "and other things." But yeah, et as a conjunction means "and," but it can also mean "even" or "also"... For instance, Et tu, Brute? "Even you, Brutus?"

Pridak comes with two, but my acute senses of perception inform me that you're even less likely to tear into him... Other than that, black Rahkshi legs come in Nivawk and Roodaka, though nowhere else... Though I agree, Mantax's uneven arms are odd... Especially since it results in "Piraka syndrome" in his left arm because his elbow can't turn properly...

Welcome to the world of Writer's Block. This is why it took me almost a year to write the latest chapter of Quest for Lost Dreams, because I just didn't know what I wanted to have happen in it. And if you have to force yourself to write, you almost never like the result. My advice is to find someone to talk to while writing – discuss a character or plot element in the scene, and I usually find I get ideas for the scene as a result. Or if not ideas for the scene, plot and backstory elements as well. The very best writing occurs as a result of an epiphany, I think: a sudden knowledge of what happens (or happened) that works so well it usually never gets changed. Unfortunately those are rare, but one epiphany often leads to more ideas...

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

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

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

It's Clash of the Titans all over again...

...And actually "fast" is both an adjective and an adverb, so "Give me the ball fast" is perfectly correct. But your point is valid. I hate it when people use an adjective where an adverb belongs...

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

Thanks, Shine. Deep-Freeze ~ I've built myself several times, none of which are worth showing except the very latest – Toa Tiome. I posted him, oh, quite a while ago. Summer of 2005, I think, and I still have him intact on my desk – Tiome is one of my favorite MOCs ever. And Nukora, I think you mean public... At 20,000 views, I think I can safely say my Bionicle folder is fairly popular... But for some reason it's taking ages to become public again... Takatu ~ Isn't it? I've always loved studying the ocean (I have a bunch of books about it from when I was little), and this year has renewed that for me...

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

Hating snow? Blasphemy! Can I take it? Please? This is the first enduring snow we've had all season and I'd like for it to stick around... It's inspiring, the snowflakes swirling in the air and then the magnified brightness of white carpeting the ground and trees...

I agree totally! So far I hate the Mahri's sets... A terrible shame, because they're shaping up to be amazing characters. (Any Ice Toa with the power to animate an army of undead Rahi has to look awesome, but this one looks anything but.) So far at least. I'm hopeful the leaked pictures were of prototypes. So I agree totally with Lady K, but I also despise the red one in entirety...

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

That sounds like so much fun; I'd have loved to have done all that... Even climbing the tree, because I've always liked doing that, even with my fear of falling. And that church sounds amazing – a church with no walls and trees growing inside it? I love things like that. Great fun to explore ruins, seeing how nature has reclaimed them...

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

Woah, that's great, <dd>! Finding stuff you put away ages ago is fun (buried treasure, anyone?), especially if it's money, and then you got payment for your writing – awesome! Bravo! As for what to do... hoard it. Er, I mean...

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

Except that they aren't the same thing. Titling Nuhvok-Kal's Krana as "copper" was a severe mislabling – copper is the color of the Mask of Victory, closer to red or pink than anything else. Brutaka's gold, Nuhvok-Kal's Krana, both are far closer to yellow and orange. Pick up a piece of copper – a penny, for example, is the color of copper – and compare it to Brutaka. They aren't the same at all. Besides, the 2002 golden Kanohi are almost exactly the same shade as Nuhvok-Kal's Krana, and they aren't "copper," are they? The Mask of Victory is so far the only true copper piece in Bionicle. Pardon the tirade, but in all propriety of definition Brutaka just is not copper. Copper is reddish-pink. Brutaka is not. End of story.

Copper is what the Mask of Victory is. Brutaka is anything but that; light gold (in contrast to Takanuva's dark gold) is what I always call it... But yeah, he easily earns a rank among the best Bionicle sets to date.

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