Jump to content

Zox Tomana

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    853

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Zox Tomana

  1. Zox Tomana
    Well, just got the email that said I was needing to either ante up for another six months, or allow my premiership to lapse. As is becoming usual with this blog, I'm going to allow it to lapse and wait until I can either win a contest or something to gain premier again. Been nice to post up my thoughts the past half-year.
     
    And as is also becoming tradition: I shall end off with an AMA. If anyone has any questions they'd like to ask about anything at all, fire away!
  3. Zox Tomana

    Aggie Muster

    By Zox Tomana,

    I’ve put off actually posting about this because I’ve been considering what I’d actually say. But maybe the best way to figure out what I want to say is just to ramble about it like I did for my birthday, so here we go...
     

    rambles follow A couple weeks ago on April 21st, San Jacinto Day, Aggies all over the world celebrated Aggie Muster. Muster is widely considered the crowning tradition of A&M, and it is one that I personally hold close to my heart. 
    On Muster Day, Aggies gather together to “eat a little, and live over [their] days at the A&M College of Texas.” It’s a gathering of friends, a gathering of a large family, to celebrate our common bond. It is also a day of mourning, because in many gatherings—though certainly not all—and most significantly at the largest gathering at Texas A&M itself we hold a Roll Call for the Absent. We call the names of the Aggies in our community who have passed away in the last year, and answer “Here!” in their place.
     
    Muster is our most solemn tradition, followed closely by Silver Taps: a monthly gathering, if need be, in which students gather silently on Academic plaza, campus lights extinguished, to observe a 21-gun salute and the playing of Silver Taps* in honor of any student who dies in the previous month.
     
    During my four years at A&M, I participated in Muster as a member of the Texas A&M Singing Cadets. We always sing particular songs at Muster. The Women’s Chorus and the Century Singers always join us at the start. The WC sing their arrangement of
    , and the CS sing a choral setting of the poem . The SC have changed what we sing a couple times. We all sing Amazing Grace. As the ceremony goes forward, the SC also sing the songs 12th Man, Aggie Muster Day, and **. There are a couple other things we do, but the list isn’t really that important I guess. 
    The thing is, I’ve never actually been at Muster beyond being part of the ceremony. Heck, I never went to a football game without being part of the medical staff. Depending on various schedule type things, I may not get to attend a Muster outside an official capacity ‘til at least 2018. I feel like I should remedy that.
     
    We hold Muster so highly because Aggies don’t view each other as merely students who happened to go to the same University. We are part of a big, extended family. At Muster, I never once knew a name that was called. But, as tradition dictates, I answered “Here!” for every person whose class year was the same as my own. And I didn’t do it out of deference to tradition. The families of those who had died were there. I wanted them to know that we—the classmates of their children, brothers, sisters, husbands, and wives—were there to support them and share in their pain.
     
    But I want to attend as not-a-Singing-Cadet.
     
    By the time I finally do get to attend, very few if any of my classmates’ names will be called. But I want to experience Muster as a normal person anyway.
     
    I have these personal rules. When I’m doing something in an official capacity, my rule is to keep as much of my personal self out of it. Mainly this involves how I react to things I may have certain feelings about. When I am doing my job as a Medic who you are, what you’ve done, and what you’re doing doesn’t matter. Are you injured? I will bandage you. Are you sick? I will help you feel better. Are you panicking? I will put your hand on my shoulder and guide your breathing, and listen to you as you talk things out. When I am a Singing Cadet, I am a representative of Texas A&M University, an honorary ambassador of the State of Texas***, as a part of the choir I have even stood as a representative—to some degree—of the United States. As a Singing Cadet, and as a Medic, I do my best to not react like Zox Tomana, because Zox Tomana is temperamental. Zox Tomana is socially anxious. Zox Tomana wants to cry when he hears the words “Softly call the Muster, // Let comrade answer, ‘Here!’ // Their spirits hover ‘round us: // As if to bring us cheer. // Mark them ‘Present’ in our hearts, // We’ll meet some other day. // There is no Death, but Life Eterne // For heroes such as they!”
     
    But on that stage I am not Zox Tomana. I am Mr. Tomana, and Old Man in the Singing Cadets. When I put on that uniform, or swing that stethoscope around my neck, I take on a role that demands responsibilities that my temper and anxiety simply fail to allow for.
     
    And that’s why I want to go to Muster as a normal person, as just plain old Zox Tomana, so I can experience it without it being a matter of responsibility.
     
     
    *
    , is an arrangement of Taps performed by select members of the Corps of Cadets. It is played three times, once to the North, once to the West, once to the South, but never to the East, for the Sun will never rise on those fallen Aggies again. It is also played at Muster, at the end of the Roll Call, after a 21-gun salute. 
    **Talking about how important this song became is a whole other ramble in itself.
     
    ***Not even kidding: the Singing Cadets were designated as “Official Ambassadors of Goodwill” of the State of Texas back in 1974 by then-Governor Dolph Briscoe. I don’t know if that sort of thing is still an official thing, but it is something we still take seriously and, in the spirit of the thing if not the official-ness of the thing, carry on.
     

     
    Well, that went on for a length I didn’t anticipate, nor in directions I anticipated. But I guess I’ll post it anyway.
  4. Zox Tomana
    So, my brother went into business for himself in the trucking line. He took a job where he left yesterday( or day before, I forget), got loaded, drove to the location, and was supposed to be unloaded this morning. He was told this morning, and the paperwork said this morning.
     
    Nope. He calls in to the lady dispatching him and says "Hey, they aren't unloading me." She is surprised he thinks so. According to her screen he's going to be unloaded Monday morning.
     
    Turns out, if the person writing out the paperwork doesn't input a delivery date, the computer just assigns one. Yeah. Instead of returning an ERROR: NO DELIVERY DATE SPECIFIED is just "assigns one."
     
    And so my brother will be missing his 10 month old son's first Easter.
  5. Zox Tomana
    They turn what was meant to be one night at your ex-gf's parents' house into 3, and having to overhear on the morning after the third night your ex-gf's mother refer to you (on accident) to your ex-gf as "your boyfrien-- your friend..."
     
    Dagnabit, Freud!
  6. Zox Tomana
    I had a blog post.
     
     
    But then I exited my browser and restarted my computer, completely forgetting to submit it.
     
    In short: I made mediocre soup and should really learn to stick to recipes for a while before making something up, and also Win10 finally started giving me some problems. Start Menu vanished for some reason... we'll see if it happens again.
     
    Yes, my blog title and tagline are a riff on Fishers'. Yes, I find it hilarious.
  7. Zox Tomana
    I celebrated my 23rd birthday yesterday (the 11th) quietly. And by "quietly" I mean I hardly left my apartment, ate lentil soup and cornbread for dinner, played some Zelda, watched some YouTube, and generally didn't really do anything at all. I fielded some texts and a phone call wishing me happy birthday, washed some jeans so I could pack for the weekend, and drank rootbeer. Exciting.
     
    Do I get to have a little rant on my birthday? Caution: been having thoughts about stuff from back in college relating to honor. Your mileage may vary on agreement with anything I say below.
     
    [Pre-Publishing Edit: I think I'll put what turned into a long ramble in tags. Read if you will.]
     

    "Rambles Follow During my tenure in the Singing Cadets I entered the group as a "buffo." A buffo is a novice member of the group and is subordinate in every way to the full members: the Old Men. A buffo does all the setting up, tearing down, loading and unloading, etc. required for the group to move around and function on a practical basis (the Old Men took care of the administrative functions). A buffo has no first name and can not say and variation of the words "all aboard," "break," "rest," "push" and "get up." Therefore I was buffo [redacted] and I "A.A.'d," "shattered," "quieted," "shoved," "woke up," ate "morning meal," hit the "decelerators," . . . perhaps you get the picture. But the other significant thing I did was a process called "Key" in which I had to do several assignments in "campusology." In normal terms: I learned about the history and traditions of Texas A&M as well as the history and traditions peculiar to the Singing Cadets. The assignment that prodded my mind the most was the assignment about "Honor," one of the four pillars of the Singing Cadets. (funny thing, by the way, the four pillars are Purpose, Unity, Spirit, and Honor: P.U.S.H) 
    The assignment involved a trip to the "Quad," the quadrangle of buildings around a common space where the members of the Corps of Cadets live. At the front of the quad is a series of arches with plaques proclaiming "Return With Honor." I was to take a rubbing of the plaque and return to the Old Man who had given me the assignment and explain several things about the phrase. When I later became an Old Man I took this assignment as my own and held onto it for three years because of how important I saw the assignment to be.
     
    The basics of the assignment came in two parts: what does "Honor" mean and what does the phrase "Return With Honor" mean?
     
    Hear is how my answer ended up after years of giving and responding to the assignment.
     
    Honor is something we display to others and something we hold ourselves to. It is a code of conduct, and a means of self-estimation. It is also something we receive from other and are judged by. A measure of approval and trust. While not a tangible item, it can be lost easily, and can be very difficult to gain. It is not merely respect, though respect is very involved. Our honor is the dignity to which we hold ourselves, which is shown by treating the people around us with dignity and respect. It is always two-sided that way, and originates in us.
     
    So, the big question: what does it mean to "Return with Honor"? Based on the previous paragraph, it means that you are to come back to where you are with the ability to look back and say "I treated everyone I met with dignity and respect, and acted in accordance to the values and virtues I hold dear." But it is also a command to set out with the intention to do that at the get-go. It is not enough to come back and say "Looking back, I maintained my honor." You must go out saying "I will maintain honor in my dealings with all."
     
    A further reflection, though, allows us to extend the concept. At A&M, the Cadets are known as the Keepers of the Spirit and the guardians of Aggie Tradition. They are possibly the most visible representatives of Texas A&M among the students. Therefore, when they are told to "Return With Honor," they aren't just being told to uphold and maintain their own honor, but also that of the Corps, and of the University. When I was in the Singing Cadets, I represented the group to people at A&M. A&M to people throughout Texas. I represented A&M and Texas to people in other States. And for 10 days I represented A&M, Texas, and the United States to the peoples of China. I always made sure to tell the new buffo that they were responsible for maintaining not only their own honor, but the honor of the group, of the University, of the State, and of the Nation. Perhaps a little megalomanic, but I think it is on point. To Return with Honor is not to simply come back and say "I kept my honor intact," but to go out and return having kept safe your honor, the honor of those around you, and the honor of those groups to which you belong.
     
    There was something that reminded me of all these things, but it isn't fit for description here. The thought that it inspired in me, though, is that sometimes you need to be willing to risk being hurt. Treating someone, and yourself, with honor and dignity is not always easy to do. Holding to your values can be risky. There is so much in the generation to which I was born about avoiding pain, and being creative in keeping yourself from being hurt. A lot of these ways, I feel, fall short when it comes to honor. Instead of hurting, I can cut a corner here or there in my values. Instead of feeling pain or risking feeling pain, I can avoid treating a situation with the seriousness, dignity, and commitment required. There are so many pains that should be alleviated, must be alleviated, and that are terrible blights upon the world, but that are also many that sometimes must be felt. Or, at least, risked. When we avoid those pains, we can do damage to the honor of ourselves and (more importantly) of those around us. I have been told before that what I view as changes or shortcuts are simply part of the changing times or part of a cultural difference, but so many times this doesn't really hold up and this difference in values is brought forward (I feel) more as an excuse to avoid the fear of reproach, not in a genuine expression of that persons view of honor (or morality).
     
    I should also make special note of the use of the word "Return." I've glanced over this point in the preceding paragraphs, but I'd like to make the thought explicit even if this repeats some sentiments. The phrase is "Return with Honor," not "Go With Honor." The implication is that you will be returning to the place you are leaving. You are expected to leave knowing what honor is and of being capable of maintaining it while you are away. You must have either arrived with such knowledge or learned there at that place so that you can go out from there with the capability of returning with honor. You may even have arrived with some knowledge and learned even more. Go out with not only the resolve to acquit yourself honorably, go out with the expectation that you will one day return here and look back to judge yourself.
     
    A buffo once gave me a very good answer by making reference to the hometown and the family. He said that these are the places where values, beliefs, respect, and honor are (generally) first instilled in you. When you go out, you learn more. You grow. He posited the question, "Can you return with honor to your family and to your hometown?" In this case, the "Return" is not only a command to come back to the place where the command (with all its implications) was issued, but a command to return to the place where you came from before. Return having kept sacred the honor of your home. Indeed, the command in both cases (return here and return elsewhere) may imply that you are to bring honor back to those places. Go out, and return having won honor for your school, for your home, for yourself. Return here, return home, having acted in such a way that people look upon your family, your choir, your squad, and you with greater esteem.
     
    Richard Coke, Texas Senator and Governor, was not a particularly honorable man I think. He stuck to his values, but students of history can easily look back on him and find that there is something to be desired. I think, however, in his advice the students of the then newly founded Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas he gave advice which could allow those students and us to be better people than he.
     
     
     

    "Let your watchword be duty, and know no other talisman of success than labor. Let honor be your guiding star in your dealings with your superiors, your fellows, with all. Be as true to a trust reposed as the needle to the pole, stand by the right even to the sacrifice of life itself, and learn that death is preferable to dishonor."

    There are some things more important than being comfortable throughout life, and things that feel good are not necessarily good thing. I have not been wholly honorable in my dealings with my fellows and superiors, and I regret that immensely. One day I will return to A&M, one day I will return to my home, and one day I will go somewhere else. I hope that on each of those days I can say I go, and return, with honor.

     
    Ramble over. I need something for my wall now.
     
    EDITED: Added in a couple paragraphs focusing in on the word "return."
  8. Zox Tomana
    A long time ago, my dad told me a story from when he was a resident at a hospital in the DFW area. I forget the doctor's name, but Dad told us how this particular doc would have music going while he performed surgeries. One song that would play is
    by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the doctor would sing along until the chorus where he'd insert the wrong lyrics. Instead of "there's a bad moon on the rise" he'd sing "bathroom on the right." I find this hilarious. "Don't go around tonight. It's bound to take your life: there's a bathroom on the right." 
    I'm sure this particular lyric swap has been noticed before and spread widely, but even if I'm singing the right lyrics, I can't help but hear "bathroom on the right."
     
    Dangit, Dad!
  10. Zox Tomana
    Regarding concerns I talked about in a previous entry: I'm now more okay with Finn's initial arc from Stormtrooper to good guy, still iffy on Kylo Ren's backstory and how all that may have played out, and still think Rey should be dead by the end of the movie.
     
     
     
     
    But the movie is still pretty good. Still recommend it.
     
    With that said, what do I want for dinner tomorrow?
  11. Zox Tomana

    Weird idea at 4 a.m.

    By Zox Tomana,

    So, my scumbag brain woke me up at 3:30ish this morning. Couldn't go back to sleep. So I wrote a bit in a journal I'm trying to start keeping for reasons. For related reasons, I'm writing this journal in an alphabet of my own creation, and while I was going along, slowly getting faster and complaining to myself about some of the more complex letter-forms I had two thoughts:
     
    1. This writing system looks awesome when I use my fountain pen (my opinion, your mileage may vary).
     
    2. I might be able to make this go faster if I discarded this current form and re-did it using consonant-only letters, with vowels appended as diacritics like unto Hebrew or Arabic.
     
    Part of the reason I thought of this was that I was using a fountain-type pen, and part because I was thinking of how much information can be compressed into a small space if you are careful with making that information legible. My primary concern was that I have letter forms that require three or even four strokes with the pen I was using and elimination of vowels will free up my 9 simplest forms for use by consonants. Of curse, the downside to this is an impediment to writing English as I am most apt to do with this considering a couple of our most commonly used words have no consonant sounds (I write by sound, not letter by letter transcription): I, A. Might need a simple form to which vowels can be attached?
     
    While I'm doing this, in recognition of the fact that I don't really write my uber-basic conlang with this, I may reorganize the consonant order such that the most commonly used ones (is there a frequency table for sounds instead of letters?) use the newly freed, simplest letter forms.
     
     

    Example Image


    I might also want to revamp my math system, too. Currently, it is not conducive to writing formulae in easily read formats since I only have a way write things in big, long lines.
     
    Math is boring, why did thinking of that not help me sleep??
  12. Zox Tomana
    Rey is... ehhh.
     
     
     
     
    Finn was okay.
     
     
     
     
    Kylo Ren is a little frustrating.
     
     
     
     
    Overall, I liked it. Thought it was good. Not great. Not a wonder to behold. Had some quibbles
     
     
     
     
    and had the aforementioned character issues, but I enjoyed it. 7/10, would watch again.
     
    Oh, two more things...
     
     
     
     
    That's all I got!
  13. Zox Tomana

    Names

    By Zox Tomana,

    So, I had the awesome privilege of attending Brick Universe Dallas. Got to meet Black-Six, xccj, Toaraga, Liopleurodon and others. It was weird, though, introducing myself using my real name. I have three names: the one my parents gave me, Zox Tomana (which has lots of variations), and E.R. Alwardby. I would respond to all of these things, because all of them are names of mine. I am ER Alwardby just as much as I am Zox Tomana (or Zox, or Tomana, or Tom, or Tommy-Gun, Zoxy, Foxy Zoxy, Zox the Fox, etx.) and I am Zox Tomana just as much as I am [DATA CLASSIFIED].
     
    Next time I meet BZPers, I'm gonna stick with either Zox or E.R.
     
    More comfortable that way.
  14. Zox Tomana
    No matter who you are, where you're from, what you believe, or whether you do or don't like Hero Factory, I'd like to wish you the absolute best of this season. I hope that you will have peace and joy as the year winds down and that the blessings of the season will follow you throughout 2016 and onwards through your life. You people are awesome. Merry Christmas, BZP!
     
    And a belated Happy Hannukah, too.
     
    And I'm not familiar with other festivals that happen around this time of year.
     
    Oh well.
  15. Zox Tomana

    Old Medicine

    By Zox Tomana,

    This is extremely random, but about a week ago I went out and bought olive oil, a small bottle of balsamic vinegar, and put them together in a jar with some cinnamon, oregano, rosemary, thyme, red pepper, black pepper, salt, and maybe one or two other things. I then heated the mixture repeatedly by setting the jar in boiling water. At one point I put it in a food processor in order to break up the congealed cinnamon bark mass that formed at the bottom before heating it again. So now I have a scented oil type product and I've been wondering what the heck I'm going to do with it.
     
    Yeah, I didn't figure that out before I did all preparing of it XD
     
    But now I have a use for it...
     
    Been having an issue with one of my toes for a while now being a little inflamed and touch-sensitive. Oddly, putting this oil on the inflamed area seems to be helping. Who knew? I'm sure the Ancient Physicians would be proud XD
  16. Zox Tomana
    Many thanks to Bfahome for the free six-month Premiership as a result of his User Title Contest.
     
    What to do with this blog for the next six months...
     
    Well, I can post more thoughts about that giant Zelda Game I brainstormed a few posts ago... In a few days I'll be wishing everyone a Merry Christmas... and then a Happy New Year...
     
    Hmm....
     
    Well, since I ended my year of Premier (granted by that kind duck known as Tekulo) with an AMA, how about I start off this next six months with an AMA? I think that works. Yeah, ought to be fun. Go ahead, ask me anything!
  17. Zox Tomana
    So I had this blog entry typed up about this being my last entry since my premier seems to be expiring, but I accidentally deleted the text twice. I'm not typing it up a third time.
     
    Oh, and as a celebration of a year of premier, gifted to me by that generous duck we know as Tekulo, I'm ending this off with an AMA!
     
    So, Ask Me Anything!
     
    Hurry!
     
    Before I delete all this text again!
     
    *cries for the loss of his write-up piece*
     
    oh, and here's my last AMA entry if you ever wanted to look at it.
  18. Zox Tomana
    Here's a semi-coherent storyline that I shouldn't be thinking about, but am and need to get it out of my head.
     
    Open: Link and Zelda are far away from Hyrule in Labrynna for, diplomatic purposes. A dark force related to the ancient power of Veran has awoken in the land and the Mayor has asked for help from the Princess and the Hero. Just before they can meet with the Mayor, one of this epoch's Six Sages appears, gravely injured, to report that Ganondorf has (finally) given up on the idea of gathering the Triforce in order to subjugate Hyrule and more sensibly launched a full-scale military assault from the Gerudo Desert, the Gerudo tribe supplemented by the dark creatures that normally appear wherever Ganondorf happens to be. After sweeping across the country, the desert tribes have captured the Castle and eliminated all organized resistance to their reign, his last act being the execution of the other five Sages. Ganondorf now sits as King on the Hylian throne.
     
    The Mayor of Labrynna, shocked at the news, immediately asks about the people. The dying Sage assures them that the people of Hyrule seem to be in no harm. As long as they submit, they go about their daily lives, albeit with a lot of Gerudo women around enforcing harsh laws. The Mayor continues that Zelda and Link must of course go back to Hyrule and set things aright, if it is even possible, but regrets that he cannot send any soldier of Labrynna along due to the power in the North. Here, the player could make a decision to skip part of the storyline and go back to Hyrule, leaving the Labrynnan's to themselves. If they choose to leave, scenes in the later parts of the game would indicate that there was a massacre in Labrynna, followed by the simple disappearance of Holodrum from the map. If the player chooses to help Labrynna, they will be helped back to and ashore in Hyrule by Labrynnan soldiers once they make the return trip there.
     
    So the player helps Labrynna, but as they defeat this shadow of Veran, word comes that Holodrum has fallen under darkness. Holodrum is on the way back to Hyrule and the player can choose to either stop save this other land, or continue on to Hyrule. Choosing to continue on will cause you to hear later that Holodrum has vanished from the map and that the soldiers of Labrynna are on constant patrol to keep monsters emerging from the void out of their country's lands. Helping Holodrum will gain you help getting back into Hyrule and allow for the establishing of a military foothold on the coast of Hyrule that expands as you hit certain milestones in the game.
     
    Labrynna would have the classic three opening training dungeons, and Holodrum would have six more. You wouldn't always gain an item from each dungeon, but instead get upgrades for the ones you have at that moment, maybe a new sword, a new shield. Items from these lands would be focused on basic combat and survival, the idea being to make things in Hyrule be a little easier.
     
    Once back in Hyrule, however long it takes you to get there, you have four dungeons to crawl. The first three take you after the Three Spells (Din's Fire, Farore's Wind, Nayru's Love) and the fourth is your first attempt at Hyrule Castle. This is where you Holodrum and Labrynna friends come in handy: they attack the castle and make it easier for you to sneak in without you being noticed turning into a very bad situation very quickly. They can also lay claim to such places as Kakariko in order to protect the citizens there. But, no matter whether you help Holodrum or Labrynna, you only get so far in the Castle. As you approach the area of the Castle where Ganondorf is (throne room if you didn't help either country or only helped one country, an area of the battlements if you helped both) a dark figure appears and attacks you. This figure turns out to be creature created in Termina (you later find out) with the ability to do some Time manipulation. Acting without direction, it decides to not annihilate you, but throws you far into the future where Hyrule is ruled by a descendant of Ganondorf.
     
    This Hyrule is a land whose development has been advanced somewhat. Still medieval on the surface, their weaponry and technology has been refined by a combination of Hylian and Gerudo thought, supplemented by darker magic. Castle Town has become Castle City, the old Castle now being a large fortress that dominates the place. Zelda and Link are captured by a resistance cell in the city and taken to a place on the coast as far away from the expanding Gerudo Desert as possible. When who they are comes to light, they learn that Ganondorf's time-creature has been used to solidify the rule of the Dark Kings ever since their attempt to bring down Ganondorf I, though now it destroys people instead of sending them to other parts of Time like it was rumored to have done to Link and Zelda. The resistance has finally learned of the creature's origin and how to either bring it under their control or to destroy it.
     
    The duo are sent to Termina, which seems to be stopped in Time, though anyone who enters the zone from outside is unaffected (perhaps instead we explain their immunity to Zelda being the dormant Sage of Time?). There are the four dungeons of Termina as before, though as you beat each one in order to destroy the sources of the time-creature's power, the land becomes increasingly warped. By the time you get to the last dungeon, you have to deal with some areas being frozen (easy), active (medium), actually pieces of the far part (dangerous because the last dungeon would be Stone Tower, and the tribe possibly living there back then was possibly not peaceful). I think it would be neat if the last Termina boss was a possessed Majora, and your defeat of it allowed the tribe to seal the creature in a mask, setting up the events that created Majora's Mask. With Termina liberated, you return with the power to subdue the time-creature.
     
    You first fight your way through to Hyrule Fortress, and then out to the lands of the Gerudo where you finally capture the creature. Zelda, only partly awake as the Sage of Time, is able to use the power of the creature to send herself and Link back to their proper time. So begins the last leg of the journey. First you have to get OUT of the land of the Gerudo, but you then go straight for Hyrule Castle. If there was a siege when you left, it has now expanded and the player is able to enter the castle directly. If not, the player has to get in a different way than the last path they took. No Time powers from Zelda as she wants to save her energy for the defeat of this present epoch's time-creature. They encounter is, and Zelda's part in the battle involves countering the creature's magical ability + some physical attacks, while Link's job is to both attack the creature and defeat enemies that try to interfere with Zelda's spellcasting.
     
    Then ensues the final fight with Ganondorf and tadaaa, the day is saved.
     
    The idea of ocean exploration would probably be opened up as a post-game reward with spare bosses out there to find. Also, a mechanic to allow you to replay dungeons and visit the other epoch and replay its dungeons could be unlocked where Zelda can use, say, a crystal taken from the time-creature on its defeat to let you "relive your experiences." If the player didn't help Holodrum or Labrynna earlier, they could take the time now, though Labrynna's dungeons would be expanded to six, and Holodrum would be a kind of Master Quest series of levels. In these lands, the "relive" power would expand to "experience what could have been" since there are two options for this area.
     
    So, how does it sound now?
     
    I really should be studying.
  19. Zox Tomana
    A dual, parallel storyline game where both Link and Zelda are out and about in the world. All/Most dungeons have to be conquered along two separate paths that sometimes cross each other, and the bosses take a two-person approach. If the gamer wants to play as Link, they select Link at the start and play through the Link campaign. If Zelda, the they choose Zelda. Whichever character they don't choose gets controlled by an AI that follows you around, assists in combat (preferably by fighting enemies you aren't locked on to, unless there be only one enemy, so that combat doesn't get clustery), and follows the OTHER dungeon path to meet up with you at the boss. Each campaign gets some unique scenes, puzzles, enemies, and roles in boss fights to make both storylines worth playing after you've beaten its companion.
     
    Of course, I also want to see a huge, gigantic Zelda game sprawled across both Hyrule and Termina as well as a couple different epochs (present and future Hyrule), and possibly involving a third land (fourth? return of Holodrom and Labrynna?) and a large, explore-able sea whose exploration is completely tangential to the plot but can also affect and effect plot. "Legend of Zelda: Epic of Link" if you will. I may or may not have enjoyed going back and forth across WW's oceans and traversing TP's enormous Hyrule a little too much...
     
    Combine the ideas and allow for a 2-player campaign: allowing the adventurers to split up to conquer or explore some areas more quickly, and have them return together to work on Plot-Critical things as a team.
     
    Have L & Z be out of Hyrule in Labrynna and Holodrum, and they have to work their way from one to the other in order to finally be able to cross the sea to Hyrule (I should mention I have a rough geographic head-canon with Hy, La, Ho, and Te all in one world).
     
    Send them to a future Hyrule where they help a resistance fight a descendant of Ganondorf before they can move over towards Termina (probably chasing the descendant back to there) and fight to liberate Termina in order to return to the past and battle Ganondorf in that epoch as well. Sure, it would fragment the timeline even further because of how Nintendo handles paradoxes, but hey? It would be fun....to me...
     
    This is why I should and must and will never, ever, ever be put in charge of creating a video game XD
  20. Zox Tomana
    I was listening to a song, "Mend" by Jourdan Burks, and I was absent mindedly singing along when someone I was hanging out with on Skype (sometimes you just want company...even through VOIP) asked me what I was singing. I told her, and then tried to look up the lyrics to link...
     
    You know the artist you're listening to isn't well known when Google fails to find the lyrics for you. Even going on Bing (hissssssssssss....) failed to bring me results. I even tried her full name--Jourdan Burks Johnson--despite it not being the name on the album. Weirdness, yo.
  21. Zox Tomana
    I've grown up with dogs. I've never not had a dog as part of my family. Bailey Quarters, Phoebe, Hero, and Samantha Carter. Bailey died when we were kids, a long time ago. We had Phoebe for a little while, but she couldn't be housebroken and we gave her away. Then we got Hero way, way back when I was in elementary school, and Sam came along when Hero got a little older and needed someone to play with. Sweet, sweet girls. We had Hero put to sleep a little over a year ago, and just today we buried Sam beside her out near the trees.
     
    I'm gonna miss my dog =(
  22. Zox Tomana

    I Has Diploma!

    By Zox Tomana,

    "The Eagle now stands behind your class year, just as the entire Association stands behind you."
     
    ---

    Today at 1400, Texas A&M began Commencement Ceremonies for graduating members of the College of Architecture, College of Science, and College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science (one of these things is not like the others), awarding Doctoral, Masters and Baccalaureate degrees. We also commissioned about 130 officers going into the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. A big, big event.
     
    I have officially been awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Biology with a Minor in Creative Writing. The diploma is already in a frame and I'm not giving it back!
     
    The most meaningful part of the ceremony, though, was standing with my graduating class and getting to turn my Aggie Ring around so that the Eagle and Class Year faced outwards, symbolizing that we were ready to face the world. The Association of Former Students representative added another layer to it, though, with the quote I have there above. I may be leaving the safety of this University, off to the greater challenge of Med School, but I'll always have the Aggie Family standing behind me
     
    All in all, an awesome, eventful day.
     
    Also, for the whole ceremony I had WALK THE MOON's "Shut up and Dance" in my head. Good times.
     
    A couple pics before I go!
     
    The Multi-Thousand Dollar Piece of Paper
     
    A friend and I, happy to be graduating
  24. Zox Tomana

    Coming to a Close

    By Zox Tomana,

    After looking at my calendar, I can now count the time until the end of my college career by "Things to Do."
     
    Apr. 29th: 1 presentation for physiology, followed by an exam for communication.
     
    Apr. 30th: 1 performance with the Singing Cadets for a Salvation Army banquet.
     
    May 1st: 1 exam for genetics.
     
    May 7th: Final Singing Cadet performance at a dinner for A&M's new president, and final exam for communication.
     
    May 11th or 12th: Final exam for genetics.
     
    May 12th: Final exam for physiology.
     
    And from there I can just sit back and relax until the graduation ceremony, and then I'm home free... until July when I start at Med School!
     
    And yet, right now, my biggest desire is to go home and finish working on a wooden box for these dominoes I was given as a token of 8 semesters in the Singing Cadets....
     
    Priorities: I have them XP
×
×
  • Create New...