deviantART: by:WorldSerpent

deviantART: by:WorldSerpent http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:WorldSerpent&section=today deviantART RSS for by:WorldSerpent en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:02:44 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png Stop! Meme time! http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/28461796/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/28461796/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:15:47 PST Watch me Note me Journal Instructions

-in terms of fandom how would you categorise yourself?-

Transformers and Pokemon being the two major ones, and Gurren Lagann, Avatar: TLA (to differentiate it from the unrelated film coming out soon), Magic the Gathering and Mythbusters being the minor ones.

-what keychains are on your backpack right now?-

On my school backpack are my McAllister clan crest and a fleur-de-lys (sp?) from France. On my usual backpack there used to be a red crab, but it vanished somewhere along the Sculpture by the Sea walk.

-favourite subjects?-

Art, Modern History, Biology

-aspiration?-

To be the very best, like no-one ever was.

Ahem. A paleontologist, particularly a famous one.

-who are your heroes?-

Fred Morrison (for being amazing), Tom who helps run DnD club (for managing to be a total nerd and have a life at the same time, although in retrospect that's not really too amazing nowadays), and Kamina and Simon, from Gurren Lagann (for persevering in spite of all odds-even death-and going on to, rather literally, pierce the heavens).

-what famous people would you like to meet (up to 10)-

Fred Morrison

-one talent you don't have that you would like?-

-what three things bother you most right now (nothing that has a good chance of being solved in the next few days)?-

* I have a crush on someone and it's incredibly awkward
* I spend way too much money and don't save it long enough
* I don't like my freckles

-what are you afraid of?-

The dark, thunderstorms, sharks, being killed and eaten by predatory organisms in general.

-is your hair color natural?-

Yeah. I'm thinking of changing it, though.

-list 5 things that are beautiful-

* Dinosaurs
* Silver
* Gold
* Celtic knotwork
* Green hills
* Running water

-your three favorite ice cream treats-

* Strawberry
* Cookies and Cream
* Vanilla

-bonus points if you can say what a troclobite (dunno if i spelled that right) is (dont look it up!)-

You mean trilobite. They were hard-shelled organisms that lived in the seas millions of years ago, but went extinct in the Permian mass extinction.

-3 random things about you.-

* I have upwards of 45 Transformers toys.
* I have a thing for reddish hair and would like to dye my own that colour.
* I don't like all those effeminate gay boys who are all shaved and tanned-it just annoys me for some reason.

-3 random things about 3 of your ocs (if you don't have that many its ok)-

* Flynn refuses to wear a shirt because he's determined to appear as manly as possible.
* The double-mouthed taniwha speaks in two different voices, each of famous duos. So there's one which speaks like Laurel and Hardy, another which speaks like the Mythbusters, etc.
* Thanks to being the main character of my HSC Art animation, done mainly in frame-by-frame, Haro is the OC I have drawn the most.

-3 random things you have added to any canon characters you frequently rp-

N/A

-anything defensive you would like to say-

LEAVE BRITNEY ALOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooOOOOOOOONE

-tag at least 5 people-

...eh, do it if you want to.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Fossil Fighters http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/28387172/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/28387172/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:22:22 PST Watch me Note me Journal Instructions

I got a new DS game today: Fossil Fighters. As you can imagine from the title, it's basically a Pokemon-style game with dinosaurs: you dig them up and then fight other people.

The game, though, is more than a generic Mons game. For one, it's in full 3D-even Pokemon uses sprites for the most part. Another thing is that the designs of the 'vivosaurs' (because the revival process makes them look weird and gives them super-powers, unlike real dinosaurs) are pretty cool. Kronosaurus, being named after a god of time, has the Roman numerals for 1-12 on its body, Dimorphodon is coloured like a WWII British fighter plane, and Carcharadontosaurus has Egyptian-style markings in reflection of where it was discovered.

Fossil Fighters also has some pretty interesting writing that's actually rather funny, sometimes in poking-fun-at-the-game-itself type ways. Take, for example, Rex the anthopomorphic dog-thing: no-one is really sure of what he is, not even his fellow villains (they even ask you to tell them what he is if you know).

The battle system is also interesting, in that you have one main attacking vivosaur, and two others in support zones which give the main vivosaur stat boosts (or decreases, in some cases, for the enemy, or your own vivosaurs), and can be switched around. The main vivosaur can attack enemies in the attack and support zones, and the supporters can only attack the vivosaur in the attack zone. There's other stuff besides that, including the obligatory elemental matchup system, which all makes it more than the standard mons affair.

Oh yeah, and you can carry five vivosaurs around, but only three can be placed in a battle (although the other two still get gains if you win).

For me, though, the main appeal lies in the crazy amount of dinosaurs (and other prehistoric creatures) in the game. Aside from the famous ones like T-Rex and Triceratops, there's other, more obscure ones-I hadn't even heard of Shamshamosaurus before now (Shamshamosaurus, by the way, is a Chinese tyrannosaur).

Yeah, so Fossil Fighters is basically a pretty cool game.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Shameless advertising http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/28366111/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/28366111/ Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:13:03 PST Watch me Note me Journal Instructions

Thanks to a film called Ninja Assassin (by the way, isn't that a tautology? I mean, ninja ARE assassins...), journal skins are free for everyone, at least for a while.

Looking at this one, I'm feeling motivated to get a subscription eventually, because this looks incredibly sexy.

I'm planning to get on with various projects (like flash animations and character redesigns and profiles), so more stuff will be up here more frequently. I'm also thinking of putting Twisted Dreamtime up here in 2010, since by then it will have been officially marked by the HSC markers, and so I hopefully will not screw my marks up by uploading it for all of you to see.

]]> ~WorldSerpent HSC over! http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/28302831/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/28302831/ Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:33:06 PST Watch me Note me Journal Instructions

As of 12.30 today, the HSC for me was over...finished!

Whee!

]]> ~WorldSerpent Hypothetical situation time http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/28210433/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/28210433/ Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:36:33 PST
How would you feel if you ended up in a land where you were knocked down several places on the foodchain, where you risked being crushed under the feet of giants or killed by ravenous predators?

How would you feel if there was a way back to your world, but you only knew the vague direction in which to go? How would you cope with the time spent in a land of incredible danger?

How would you feel?

]]> ~WorldSerpent Things http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/28117937/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/28117937/ Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:52:04 PST

's journal.

1. Who are you?

2. Are we friends?

3. When and how did we meet?

4. How have I affected you?

5. What do you think of me?

6. What's the fondest memory you have of me?

7. How long do you think we will be friends?

8. Do you love me?

9. Do you have a crush on me?

10. Would you kiss me?

11. Would you hug me?

12. Physically, what stands out?

13. Emotionally, what stands out?

14. Do you wish I was cooler?

15. On a scale of 1-10, how hot am I?

16. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.

17. Am I lovable?

18. How long have you known me?

19. Describe me in one word.

20. What was your first impression?

21. Do you still think that way about me now?

22. What do you think my weakness is?

23. Do you think I'll get married?

24. What makes me happy?

25. What makes me sad?

26. What reminds you of me?

27. If you could give me anything what would it be?

28. How well do you know me?

29. When's the last time you saw me?

30. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?

31. Do you think I could kill someone?

32. Are you going to put this on your deviant journal and see what I say about you?

---

HSC is going well. Four down, three to go. The next is on Friday, and since two of the three subjects haven't got that much to study for, I'm allowing myself tonight as a break.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Title Get! http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/27698734/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/27698734/ Sun, 11 Oct 2009 02:44:40 PDT
Am studying hard, today was a semi-break day to stop me going completely loopy.

]]> ~WorldSerpent I need a title http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/27312588/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/27312588/ Sun, 20 Sep 2009 04:20:11 PDT
Also, they crash head-long into an ancient conspiracy against the inhabitants of a supernatural dimension parallel to their own, although this isn't initially obvious.

I was initially naming it Walkabout until it began to spiral into territory more epic than the title implied. Also, that's already the name of a film, and I really don't want to get the two confused.

]]> ~WorldSerpent The List of Arty Things I Want To Do After The HSC http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/27182394/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/27182394/ Sun, 13 Sep 2009 02:30:56 PDT 2) Flash animations. Despite having cured myself of any desire to do more with my Art BoW, I have gotten some more ideas:
-'Mononoke Dance': I found this weird Japanese techno song a few weeks ago. The music video is a bunch of mythological Japanese creatures having a rave party. I want to do one with the cast of my Art animation. Because it sounds FUN.
-'Free Runner': Again, music-based. It's a mash of music from Sonic Unleashed with some of

's characters.
-'Hellion Bob': Not music based, so whether I make this depends on whether I get my act together and do voices. Basically, there's this weird flash cartoon called Eskimo Bob, in which crazy stuff happens, most of which involves eating fish. Then there's also this mechanic in Magic: The Gathering called Devour. Yeah. Weird shit will happen.
3) Write some more. I've got loads of story ideas in my head that I want to get down. I would probably go back and revise some of my older stuff-'Celtic Tales' would definitely be one, since I actually want to keep the story going, largely unplotted as it is.
4) Make comics. Toy Story X and Decepticomics have ground to a virtual halt since the HSC year began. I want to keep them going. They don't get many views on their own sites, so I'd like to stick them up here (well, Decepticomics, at least). Also, I want to do some of my story ideas as comics, and it seems to me that sticking them on here would be a good idea.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Events http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/26789179/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/26789179/ Mon, 24 Aug 2009 05:09:54 PDT 2) Twisted Dreamtime premiered at the HSC Art Body of Work Showcase Evening, to great reception. I'll put it up here after the HSC is over and I get my ATAR.
3) I finally managed to get Spinosaurus and Pentaceratops on Dinosaur King. Not that I've been talking about my adventures in that particular game, but I've been after those two for ages now. The only one left to get for completion (besides the unobtainable EX dinosaurs) is Megaraptor, and compared to Spinosaurus, it's a breeze to get (namely, connect to Wi-Fi 50 times).
4) I'm getting steadily addicted to Magic: The Gathering, on account of it gaining a small cult following amongst the younger years in the school.

So yeah.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Animation=FINISHED! http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/26019875/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/26019875/ Sat, 18 Jul 2009 05:08:56 PDT Twisted Dreamtime, my Visual Art Body of Work.

Woohoo!

Now I just have to colour everything in. At least that won't be too hard...

]]> ~WorldSerpent Music request! http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/25708522/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/25708522/ Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:43:44 PDT
I need a short instrumental piece that is the kind of music that one would use for a twist ending. Kind of like "DUN DUN DAHHHH', except in a low key, so it ends in a dramatic tone.

]]> ~WorldSerpent REVENGE!!!1! http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/25579223/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/25579223/ Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:22:30 PDT Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen today, or Transformers: Reveng as my movie ticket called it.

It was a mess of a film. It had a few solid sequences around the start and the middle, but it was kind of muddly everywhere else. The opening sequence in Shanghai was great...then we cut to Sam moving out of home and accidentally causing kitchen appliances to come to life...then we cut back to the robots...then to Sam...then to the robots...seriously, it was like lurching from an awesome party into a less awesome party until the two eventually just formed one massive party.

But it was also an AWESOME mess. There were a lot of kick-ass moments, mainly because of Prime and Jetfire.

Speaking of Jetfire, I freaking love Jetfire. He was awesome. I want his toy.

There were several moments which could have been awesome, but weren't due to either really confusing camerawork (if things like Cloverfield made you sick, don't see this film, it is worse), hi-then-die characters (oh hi there Blackout-lookalike, and Sideways, and Demolisher, and Rampage...), fights being pathetically short (there was a lot of ripping apart of robots in this), or all three. I'm looking at you, Devastator. Seriously, he just shows up, causes some devastation, then gets blown up. What the hell.

A bunch of characters I expected to see more of got little to no screen time. Sideswipe, Jolt, and the Arcee threesome have been hyped up a lot-the first two getting multiple toys, and Sideswipe looking extremely cool. But their total screen-time was less than an hour! Instead, the main Autobots were Bumblebee, Skids, and Mudflap, who, while rather cool and funny, were not really the guys I wanted to see the most.

Also, it was quite funny. While there were some things that just failed (i.e. Devastator's giant steel wrecking balls...NO, REALLY.), there were more bits that were hilarious. Wheelie, Jetfire, Mudflap, and Skids in particular brought the funny for me. Apparently the last two have caused some controversy due to apparently being racist stereotypes of Afro-Americans. I failed to see that-I saw them more as being parodies of the tryhards who tried to be black gangsta/rappers.

Overall, I think I'd give it 3.5/5, or a 4.

---

I'm the Unagi in deviantART's Official Avatar: The Last Airbender Crew!

I'm Sludge in the G1 Crew on DA

I'm Grimlock in the Transformers Animated club!

Livejournal: [link]

Youtube: [link]

Clubs I'm in:

http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/25558228/ Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:30:01 PDT
I think I might use this space for more artistic thoughts.

Over the past two weeks, I sort of created two new original characters. I seem to have a thing about making use of my own characters and not canon ones-maybe because, as the creator, I feel that I can do whatever I want with them.

The first new guy showed up when I had this image in my head of a tribal person watching a herd of dinosaurs pass in front of him. After a few related thoughts, he stumbled into my minds eye. All I really have right now is that he's some kind of stone age hunter-type guy. He's all thin and gangly. Maybe he's just out of his teens. I think he is. Right now, though, I need to do some fleshing out of him-he doesn't even have a name.

The other guy is more developed. He's a big burly 18th century Scotsman whose name so far his Hugh McDiarmid. Unlike other big burly 18th century Scotsman, he's got a giant set of fusion cannons in his (cyborg) right arm, which looks like any other right arm until it transforms and folds out into guns. He got it from aliens, who abducted him while he was lying, almost dead, missing his right arm, on the field of battle-exactly why they gave him a set of BFGs is a mystery. As well as giving him immense firepower, it projects a shield, making Hugh invunerable to projectiles. Essentially, he's unkillable. I'm interested to see what effect this would have on him-I'm thinking that he'd be supremely overconfident. It'd also have a major effect on history-since he could single-handedly kick the English's collective arse.

I have to draw these guys a bit more before I end up with a final version that I'm happy with.

Also, Revenge of the Fallen tomorrow! I can't wait!

---

I'm the Unagi in deviantART's Official Avatar: The Last Airbender Crew!

I'm Sludge in the G1 Crew on DA

Livejournal: [link]

Youtube: [link]

Clubs I'm in:

http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/24646429/ Fri, 08 May 2009 05:10:21 PDT [link]

They ARE remaking Gold and Silver! HECK YES!

Only this time they're called HeartGold and SoulSilver. Eh, whatever, I can always call them Gold and Silver anyway.

Either way, YES!

---

I'm the Unagi in deviantART's Official Avatar: The Last Airbender Crew!

I'm Sludge in the G1 Crew on DA

Livejournal: [link]

Youtube: [link]

Clubs I'm in:

]]> ~WorldSerpent EEEEE! http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/24576453/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/24576453/ Mon, 04 May 2009 00:49:47 PDT [link]

*screams incoherently*

]]> ~WorldSerpent TF month http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/24557264/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/24557264/ Sat, 02 May 2009 23:26:00 PDT [link]

I think that I may try this. Since I'm starting today, I have to start on 3: Hound. I don't really mind not having to draw Optimus Prime or Megatron, since I am not really fond of most of their incarnations them-although I may try to work BW Megatron in, because he is awesome, yesssss.

Prepare yourselves for crappily drawn Transformers.

The list, with links to the ones I've done, and speculation on who I may do in bold.:

3.Hound [link]
4.Ratchet
5.Skyfire
6.Femmes (probably Airazor)
7.Bluestreak
8. Beast wars (I may draw the McNeil gang-Dinobot, Rattrap, Silverbolt, and Waspinator. Or Terrorsaur.)
9. Prowl
10. Bumblebee
11. Rumble and frenzy
12. Perceptor
13. Twins (any two ex: jetfire and jetstorm or Sunstreaker and sideswipe)
14. Soundwave
15. armada/energon/Cybertron
16. Starscream
17. Grimlock (likely with cameos of all the other Dinobots)
18. Wheeljack (probably his Animated version, since I cannot resist the urge to put a beret on him on account of his resemblance to one of the Mythbusters)
19. Tracks
20. Humans (as far as I'm concerned, this entry will likely be Sari, but I could possibly do Kicker being harassed by Alpha Q)
21. Rodimus Prime/ hotrod
22. Omega Supreme
23. Jazz
24. Constructicons (maybe merged into Devastator, to save me drawing them all)
25. Animated
26. Galvatron
27. Cliffjumper (probably G1)
28. Blitzwing (Animated version, definitely)
29. The fallen (I can't draw the movie version, so it'll probably be the comic one)
30. Movie (This'll likely feature Wreckage and Ironhide: the former is my favourite toy from that line while the latter is my favourite character)
31. Any Bot you want or I've missed (A surprise!)

I think I'll draw quite a few of these characters in their Animated versions, since I love the designs. I'll probably also try to go outside G1 for the mode part, since EVERYONE will be doing the G1 versions-so I'll draw BW Prowl or Movie Jazz, for example.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Monsters vs Aliens http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/24438536/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/24438536/ Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:53:29 PDT Monsters vs Aliens last night.

I was thinking of writing a review, with a score out of 10, but I couldn't decide a score.

So the words BLEEPING AWESOME are going to have to suffice for a review.

As you can deduce, I really liked the movie. I think my favourite character would be Dr Cockroach, since he got a lot of the best lines.

"I'm not a quack, I'm a mad scientist. There is a difference."

]]> ~WorldSerpent Stuffage and nonsense. Also, quad laser http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/24302113/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/24302113/ Sat, 18 Apr 2009 04:52:44 PDT Decepticomics back up since it went on hiatus in January. I think I should stick it up here, since no-one actually reads it over at Drunk Duck.

Speaking of which, I had an idea for a strip involving Octane and his Universe incarnations combining guns, based off the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Quad Laser. I had a look at the back of his packaging, and his combined weapon is indeed called the Quad Laser. Much lulz were had. XD

ALSO HOLY CRAP FOOTAGE FROM REVENGE OF THE FALLEN

[link]

]]> ~WorldSerpent TFA S3 AIRDATE! http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/23373482/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/23373482/ Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:42:45 PST [link]

IT'S AIRING MARCH 14TH!!!!!.

*bounces off the walls*

RodimusandStrikaandBlackoutandWaspinatorandHotShotandBrawnandSpittorOMG!

]]> ~WorldSerpent On Twisted Dreamtime http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/23208581/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/23208581/ Sun, 15 Feb 2009 02:47:42 PST
However, I have no idea whether or not I can stick pieces relating to it up here or not, in case someone accuses me of plagiarism and my marks go down the drain as a result. Just to be safe, I'm not putting up any more, and I'm taking down the stuff I already have.

]]> ~WorldSerpent BIG NO 2 http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/23132505/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/23132505/ Wed, 11 Feb 2009 03:01:58 PST
THIS IS TERRIBLE. HOLD ME, SOMEONE.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Year 12-holy crap http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/22836061/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/22836061/ Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:33:14 PST
But now is the real final year. Well, not so much a year as nine months. Fuck, where did the time go?

Anyway, since the workload will be increasing a lot, I doubt I'll be on here (and everywhere else) as I was recently. I'm not, though, going to impose a 'no deviations' rule like

has-I'd like some critique regarding backgrounds I draw for my visual art body of work. Also I have to get around to finding and uploading all the photos of Scotland I want to put up here.

So, I'll guess we'll see how this HSC thing turns out.

]]> ~WorldSerpent HOLY SHIT NEW INTERFACE http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/22736530/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/22736530/ Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:27:46 PST
Also, damn, now I have to re-learn everything again.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Um... http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/22421897/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/22421897/ Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:04:18 PST
Yeah, so I got some stuff. Books, money, a new wallet, a sound system for my iPod, and various other stuff that I got back in November from my pre-birthday party (since all my friends are away right now, I wanted to have a party with them before they left).

Some of the money already got spent on Transformers-Snarl (who is awesome) and Overkill (who is somewhat less awesome but still pretty cool). I've been wanting those two for ages, so it was a perfect opportunity. The rest is in my bank account.

And tonight we're off to see a play, in which all of Shakespeare's plays are performed within 97 minutes. This should be immensely funny.

]]> ~WorldSerpent The Eleventh Doctor http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/22379363/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/22379363/ Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:52:54 PST [link]

Incidentally, who the hell is Matt Smith?

EDIT 5/1/09:

After seeing some clips of him when the ABC reported it on the news, I am far less apprehensive about Smith than I initially was. After all, didn't we have the same reaction to David Tennant? (and all the other doctors before that?) Look what he did. I now think that, while it IS pretty sad to see Tennant go, Smith will probably be pretty freaking awesome in his own right.

If there's anything that the Transformers fandom has taught me, it's that things aren't as worse in person than people make them out initially.

]]> ~WorldSerpent NYE08 http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/22323471/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/22323471/ Thu, 01 Jan 2009 03:52:19 PST
Note: ballistic has more than one meaning, especially when it comes to clothes.

I also got kissed, albeit accidentally, by a guy...not that I really minded. He was freaked out, though, since he didn't mean it to happen.

]]> ~WorldSerpent 2008 http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/22291315/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/22291315/ Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:55:26 PST
On one hand, Grampa and Gemma both passed away in it, and the result for me was intense depression and anxiety over death. They were both very important to me, and the former was in the retirement village's hospital for a very long time before he died, so it affected me a lot.

Year 11 at school piled on the stress, and homework. The fact that, for most of the year, the texts we studied in English were very much centered around death did not help me at all.

On the other hand...

I went to Scotland. This was just after Gemma died, so it was good to get away from it all. It was an amazing place (and I should really find the photos to put up here), and I really want to go back there sometime in the future.

I socialised a lot more with other people in my year group (and, to some extent, outside of it). This led me to knowing more people than I would have done if I hadn't decided to go outside my usual circle of friends. Considering that next year is the final year that our class group was together, I think it was important to get to know them better.

Fandom-wise, things were great. I'll admit Transformers kind of took me over, but it's a very active fandom, with new things happening all the time, whether it be new toys or a new cartoon episode-in contrast to the Godzilla fandom which I was a part of last year, which was active only because it erupted in flame wars hourly. Avatar ended, giving a fitting end (but not a complete end) to a great series. Doctor Who reached new levels of awesomeness with the season finale, and gave us Donna Noble, the Greatest Companion Ever.

I GOT A KILT. Ironically, I feel that I drifted away from my Scottish identity this year. I shall work hard to get it back.

Finally, we got Zoe, who is a fun little dog, despite her attempts to destroy stuff with her teeth.

So yeah. 2008. I suspect I played up the bad parts, but I reckon that the good parts outweighed those quite a bit.

Now...2009...HSC...crap.

Happy New Year, people!

---

I'm the Unagi in deviantART's Official Avatar: The Last Airbender Crew!

I'm Sludge in the G1 Crew on DA

Livejournal: [link]

Youtube: [link]

Clubs I'm in:

http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/22251688/ Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:33:22 PST
Christmas was fun. For a change, we celebrated it with Dad's side of the family, at the house where Aunt Jenny and Uncle Phillip plan to retire to. There was lots of bushland around, which meant that wildlife popped up throughout the day. A hornet showed up and attacked a spider-the hornet won and dragged the (still living, just paralysed) spider off to lay its eggs on it, which would then hatch and eat the spider alive. Merry Christmas, I guess.

I got a kilt. YES.

In my clan tartan too, and with all the assorted bits. Best. Present. Ever.

Also, loads of money, a new iPod, a calender featuring highland cattle, art books, and other stuff besides.

Incidentally, the Braveheart theme music is going around and around in my head SOMEONE MAKE IT STOP PLEASE

(this is because it was on TV last night. To say the least, I was not impressed. The constant flashbacks to Blackadder and Monty Python and the Holy Grail that it caused did not help)

]]> ~WorldSerpent Avatar Movie Casting List http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/21941426/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/21941426/ Fri, 12 Dec 2008 03:09:55 PST
Then this pops up:

[link]

For those who don't know:

-Avatar: The Last Airbender is an awesome animesque show that you should watch because it is awesome and that it basically owns every other animated show ever.
-A movie is being made of it.
-The movie is live-action because apparently 2D animated films don't profit well even if they are based off high-quality series with huge fanbases across a wide variety of demographics.
-M. Night Shlayman is directing.

Of course, nothing is set in stone, but...

JESSE MCCARTNEY AS ZUKO

HOLY SHIT

WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYY???

THIS MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE. It's like casting Arnold Schwarzenegger as Cinderella without intending for the resulting product to have massive lulz.

(Incidentally, to see how the Avatar fandom took it, see [link])

Since I will see this movie inevitably, since I'm a sucker for anything Avatar-related (bar, of course, sex toys), I'll take along two of my Transformers, and designate one Tom Servo, and the other Crow T Robot, so I can pretend I'm in Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

---

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http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/21495221/ Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:59:09 PST
It was FUN. Someone handed me a sign saying 'No War-The Greens', which I carried around for the march. I didn't bring any signs of my own (I brought TFU Hound, on account of his bio saying he loves Earth, so he'd probably not support climate change), but Dina brought two banners-one saying 'Storming Global Warming' and the other saying 'Global Warming is Not Cool'.

We marched from Martin Place to Hyde Park. I chose to march barefoot as I wanted to feel the road beneath my feet, as I do not regularly get the opportunity to walk on busy roads. The lack of cars on our route made for some contemplation as to what the city would be like if all the people were gone.

I was marching at the front, so I had to be careful not to go too slow or else a thirty banner pileup ensued. We were chanting various things-the most used being "What do we want? [Renewable energy/Solar Power/No Mines!] When do we want it? NOW!" After getting bored of endlessly chanting 'RENEWABLE POWER' in response to 'What do we want?', I started adding my own things:

WHAT DO WE WANT?
Me: Transformers Animated Grimlock!
WHEN DO WE WANT IT?
Me: NOW!

Ah, the joys of materialism.

We eventually reached Hyde Park, where they had some speakers get up and address the crowd, including an ex-miner, before finishing off with a concert by some brothers whose names escape me (they weren't famous, in any case). Me and a bunch of the girls danced-well, sort of danced, if jumping around and waving your arms is dancing-to the more upbeat songs. It was also the only time in my life that I've danced with a polar bear. One song in particular had 'Yes we can' as a core phrase, and we urged the crowd to chant 'Yes we can' in time-I don't think we managed to convince them though. XD

The whole thing had this 70s vibe to it, what with dancing barefoot in the grass with a polar bear to live music surrounded by lots of people.

Afterwards, when we all disbanded, I went around the various stalls and signed lots of petitions and mailing lists, and donated $2 to a conservation group. There was also this big banner on the ground which was basically a giant petition to get the Prime Minister to get serious about green issues. I signed, and drew a Diplodocus under my name. Then I decided that the dinosaur had to stand for something, and so wrote the first thing that came into my head: Dinosaurs Against Deforestation.

I really want to do it all again.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Body of Work http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/21414843/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/21414843/ Mon, 10 Nov 2008 02:32:30 PST
It hasn't been very hard. Mr T said he wanted to see my drawings come to life-so thus, I am going to Flash animate.

Of course, deciding which of them to animate has been harder. Initially, I was going to do a giant monster fight scene like

's Discontent Summer series. However, as I'm aiming to do frame-by-frame, this proved to be beyond my scope.

So now I'm turning to my other ones. In particular is a sequence set to 'DIO_2' from an old game I had. The music is pretty spooky-the sequence is pure nightmare fuel. Think the Spirit World from Avatar with the creepiness factor ratcheted up to fifty. I think it'll be easier to animate, as it's more sedate in pace than the giant monster fight. As for the creatures in it-expect to see the taniwha and the bunyip show up, as well as some new things you haven't seen yet (for good reasons).

Also, expect Playground Equipment to be re-released here with some modifications, as Bronte has managed to get one of my flash animations to be played at assembly this week (which makes her AWESOME) and I chose that one as I was most proud of it. Of course, it wasn't perfect-so I've spent my free time today tweaking it, adding sounds, changing graphics, and generally sprucing it up for its Big Debut.

]]> ~WorldSerpent BIG NO http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/21226480/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/21226480/ Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:07:34 PDT [link]

It had to happen sooner or later. T__T

Also, I has Darkrai.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Down to Earth, or, Why I Love WALL-E http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/21134939/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/21134939/ Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:23:08 PDT
I have an addiction to it. It reminds me of how totally great the film was. Seriously, it's a masterpiece and a triumph for western animation and the animated medium in general. It was far more deeper and emotional than most contemporary CGI films, which are mostly just funny animals cracking jokes and being voiced by celebrities. Not to say there aren't good ones, just that there's WAY too much of that kind and, well, not much of the other kind.

Which is why WALL-E is awesome. Seriously, go see it.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Calm before the storm http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/20947264/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/20947264/ Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:40:42 PDT
Damn the time's gone fast.

I'm nervous. This is my big chance-if I don't get a good UAI, I'm going to be resigned to working at McDonalds for the rest of my life. And I really, REALLY don't want to do that. I want to go to uni, take a course that leads me to paleontology, decorate my dorm with action figures-in essence, end up in my idea of heaven. So you can see why I don't want to stuff this up.

There's also Mum who really wants me to do well. She's actually stressing me out with her lofty ideals of perfection. However, she's also helping me form a foundation upon which to attack the HSC courses, as well as kick my sorry arse into gear when it needs to be. So I suppose that's something to be thankful for.

So I'll have to be putting a lot of work into this. Not that I expect it to be easy at ALL. The end result is that I'll be dropping off the MSN radar for pretty much more of the coming year for most of you guys, as the only computer time I'll allow myself will be for about an hour or so in the afternoons. You might think I'd be able to log on in school breaks, but they've blocked most of the sites I communicate through-including this one, for the absurd reason of 'ads'. Seriously, wtf.

Wish me luck, guys (and girls). I'll need it.

]]> ~WorldSerpent I can has L plates? http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/20883745/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/20883745/ Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:53:06 PDT

http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/20863617/ Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:20:06 PDT

.

"1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, MP3player, etc on Shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name
5. Tag 6 people."

Are you male or female?
Deus Aribus-Purser & O'Dywer (so, I'm a Latin chant from old Scotland. Okaaay...)

Describe yourself!
Le berger volage-Genticorum (...*runs to get CD cover*..."the flighty affections of the shepard with the wandering eye"...so I'm unfaithful?)

What do people feel when they're around you?
The Bells of Dunblane-The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (ummm...okay, this is getting random)

Describe your current relationship.
Live from Matt Molloy's Pub-The Chieftains (it's a high-spirited jig!

Well, I think)

Where would you like to be now?
In the Clouds (The Dream of Flying)-Simon Lewis (flying!

)

How do you feel about love?
An Gaoth Aneas (The Wind from the South)-The Chieftains (it blows you away?)

What's your life like?
Sandy River Belle-Sharon Shannon (just cruising along...)

What would you ask for if you had only one wish?
Move Your Feet-Junior Senior (No worries, I just want to dance)

Say something wise.
Magic Dance-David Bowie (Dance the magic dance!)

(You know, wouldn't it have been hilarious if 'The Internet is for Porn' came up now)

If someone says "is this okay?" you say...
03 Earth Defenders: Mothra-Heavy Melody Music (OH MY GOD IT'S A GIANT MOTH RUN!!!!1!)

What do you like in a guy/girl?
Arunda-Keiya (Basically, this song is about some guy going out into the wilderness and meeting all these musicians. I dun get it)

How do you feel today?
De Kabouterdans-Kabouter Plop (cheerful!)

What is your life's purpose?
The Transformers: The Movie theme-White Lion (My purpose is to be...MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE!!)

(...ROBOTS IN DISGUISE!!)

What is your motto?
The Jump-Pete Anthony (hm...)

What do you think of your parents?
How To (No.1)-Axis of Awesome (They taught me a lot)

What do you think about very often?
Stock Route-Ankala (animals, the wilderness)

What is 2 + 2?
The Pebble In The Bronze-Purser & O'Dywer

What do you think of your best friend?
22 Mutants: Titanosaurus-Heavy Melody Music (I think

is a giant dinosaur from beneath the sea? Giant, yes. Dinosaur from beneath the sea, no.)

What do you think of the person you like?
Business Time-Flight of the Conchords (I want to make SWEET LOVE to them...apparently)

What is your life story?
Charm to stop a Hail Shower-Purser & O'Dywer (I try to stop misfortune)

What do you want to be when you grow up?
The Clyde Medley-Kenneth McKellar (...a Scottish river?)

What will you dance to at your wedding?
Ben Ten theme (...wheeeeeeeeeee!)

What will they play at your funeral?
Swan Bone-Purser & O'Dywer (a melody from a flute made of a swan's bone. I sure get a lot from these guys, don't I?)

What is your hobby/interest?
Main Theme-James Brett (How appropriate. The main theme to the Walking with Dinosaurs Live Experience. Finally, one that makes sense!)

What is your biggest fear?
Jack of All Trades-The Chieftains (...knowing a lot?)

What is your biggest secret?
Sexyback-Justin Timberlake (...I don't think that's a secret. XD)

What do you think of your friends?
Puerto Angel-Skyland soundtrack (we're all rebels who resist an oppressive regime)

What will you post this as?
Tiree Ringing Rock-Purser & O'Dywer

What, no Fred Morrison?

Now to tag people...

http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/20716512/ Sun, 28 Sep 2008 03:50:24 PDT
Y/Y?

]]> ~WorldSerpent Zoe's Bath http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/20577594/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/20577594/ Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:19:18 PDT
It went...well. I managed to restrain her enough for Dad to wash her (and vice versa). Zoe does not look good wet. She essentially looked like a wet rat.

After the bath was over, she jumped out and started rolling around in the grass to dry off. Dad tried to dry her with the towel-I say tried since he managed to maintain towel-to-dog contact for ten seconds before she suddenly shot off. Zoe had her own idea of 'drying off'-running around the backyard at speeds that would surpass anything that Sonic the Hedgehog would be capable of if he actually existed.

Of course, Zoe is not a perpetual motion machine, though she acts like one, so she eventually stopped and calmed down. Her high-speed dash had actually dried her, though she did still look like a rat from the halfway point down.

Now she has three nicknames: Muggins (Dad's alternate name for her), the Shredder (on account of her chewing abilities), and Sonic the HedgeDog.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Exam End! http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/20532119/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/20532119/ Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:48:57 PDT
HECK YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES.

Now to enjoy my four day weekend, since I don't have to go to school if I don't have exams.

Oh, and Zoe has learnt to watch television.

---

Livejournal: [link]

Youtube: [link]

Spore: [link]

Clubs I'm in:

Clubs I own:

I'm Sludge in the deviantART Transformers Crew!

]]> ~WorldSerpent Exam Start! http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/20414014/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/20414014/ Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:20:59 PDT
Due to this, I'm studying at home...well, a little later, anyway. I'm checking my messages here first, just in case I get an email back concerning my job application.

Of course, if that atom smasher in Europe ([link]) ends up destroying the universe, I don't think I'll have to worry about the job...or exams...or anything, really. I don't think it will, though. Plus, when Stephen Hawking says something won't destroy the earth, it won't. End of.

EDIT: Well, the world hasn't been destroyed...yet. The particles haven't actually collided, as it'll take a month for that to happen. I'm sure the world will not be destroyed-if there was any chance at ALL of that happening, they wouldn't have BUILT the LHC in the first place. When the particles do collide, I think they'll just show us new atoms and things, rather than suck us all into a black hole or open a portal to the planet Zeptron.

---

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Youtube: [link]

Spore: [link]

Clubs I'm in:

Clubs I own:

http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/20016553/ Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:23:58 PDT
Tonight, I managed to beat it.

The final battle was HARD. Basically, I was fighting this big...thing named Zeromus which was wanting to, as giant psychotic manifestations of hatred tend to, destroy the world, then the universe. As the party of good guys, it was our responsibility to give him a smackdown.

I have never been so thankful for Phoenix Downs ever before. Since Rosa (the healer) got KO'd quite a bit by Zeromus' Big Bang attack (which was effing LETHAL, since it usually KO'd several party members)), I had to use the Down to revive her and the other party members who were casualties of Big Bang.

Eventually, after much fighting, summoning, throwing of sharp objects, and healing, it got down to just two members: Cecil and Kain. Cecil was on low health, and I made Kain use his Jump attack so I would have at least one guy left if Zeromus Big Bang'd again before Kain came down. In the meantime, I had Cecil attack, just in case he would deal enough damage for Kain to kill Zeromus with Jump.

Cecil: *slash slash*
Zeromus: ASGHFGHDGHDGSHGDD!!!! *dies*

VICTORY IS MINE! *duh duh duh duh duh DUH DUH DUH!*

Phew. I don't want to do that AGAIN. Although I kind of will have to if I want to unlock everything. Still, at least I managed to beat the game!

And now I am tired, so I am off to bed.

---

Livejournal: [link]

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~WorldSerpent Roxette http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19873248/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19873248/ Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:32:03 PDT
So we went out to the RSPCA, and came home with Roxette (or Roxy for short). She's an Australian terrier, and she can be summed up in one word: ZOOM. She does NOT run out of energy easily. We keep having to keep the front door closed, because she likes to run out of it...and across the road...and into other people's yards. I had to catch her yesterday, and cut my wrist on broken glass picking her up.

Roxy's also gained a new name: The Shredder. She loves to chew things: soft toys, balls, power cords, tissues, tin foil, anything she can get her jaws on. Thus, we're going to stick loads of chew-toys in the backyard tomorrow so she doesn't go mad.

Speaking of names, we're thinking of renaming her Zoe, because Roxette (and Roxy) doesn't sound right somehow. It isn't going to majorly confuse her-she doesn't respond to either name.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Spore creature creator-I has it http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19741140/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19741140/ Sat, 02 Aug 2008 19:13:36 PDT
Despite not being the full game (it's simply the creature creation thing), it's fun and addictive. The amount of customisation you can do is amazing.

Go check out my army of freaks: [link]

---

Livejournal: [link]

Youtube: [link]

Spore: [link]

Clubs I'm in:

Clubs I own:

I'm Sludge in the deviantART Transformers Crew!

]]> ~WorldSerpent International Day and other things http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19711661/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19711661/ Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:27:16 PDT
Initially, I wasn't looking all that forward to it. The reason for this? Year 11 (my year) has to help out. I got food stall duty. I didn't particularly want to be stuck down in the preschool playground.

But you know what? It worked out fine. Food stall duty was more enjoyable than I initially thought. I ended up on the International Sweets stall (since my national costume-Scottish, by the way-would clash if I decided to help out at, say, the German stall), and it got busy quickly, especially since all our stuff was cheap. The jelly sticks (from Thailand, apparently) sold out really fast, and I'm glad I managed to nab one myself (grape, mmmm!) before they all disappeared.

There were lulls in the level of activity in the stall area, and I used this as a break to go and have a look around the country rooms. It wasn't exactly the best bunch of country rooms ever, due to the lack of a Celtic room (which I loved). The Indian room was fun though, and I got to eat bark (it was spicy...in a bad way).

I counted four kilts: me, Jess, and two small kids.

There were some other interesting things too: saying 'hello' to certain teachers in certain languages got you a sticker, and the stickers were then added to a giant board for each house (most wins, obviously). Also at the assembly there was an aboriginal smoke ceremony. In case you don't know, this is when two guys go around and waft burning eucalypt smoke everywhere, apparently to ward off bad spirits (since they don't smoke...maybe).

I also learned how to say hello...in mathematics! Hi Pi!

And the lesson I took away from this day? A total lack of underpants is surprisingly refreshing.

--

[link]

OMG OMG OMG OMG

MUST BUY TELEGRAPH

NOW

---

Livejournal: [link]

Youtube: [link]

Clubs I'm in:

~WorldSerpent Avatar Grand Finale http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19634121/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19634121/ Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:06:18 PDT
I was too overwhelmed by the awesome to post this sooner. Plus I was kind of busy.

Anyway, OH MY GOD IT WAS SO AWESOME. I'm probably going to descend into incoherence right now...

OH YEAH SPOILERS

It was awesome not just because of the action (Toph invented Iron Man!), or the scale of it (giant airships raining fire across the land!!!1!), but how they made it that it was action with...well, emotion. I think this was especially true of the Zuko/Azula battle-they eschewed loud sound effects and fast-paced music completely, instead using no sounds and letting the music-a slow, tragic piece-dictate the emotion, which was appropriate, given that it was a duel between brother and sister.

Action was definitely the dominant element in the latter two episodes-it was a four parter-and it didn't disappoint. The two main duels-Zuko vs Azula and Aang vs Ozai (teh fiya laird!!1!) were really well animated-it was spectacular. There were also several other battles, such as Sokka, Toph, and Suki taking out the airships and the Order of the White Lotus (Iroh and a bunch of Cool Old Dudes) retaking Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation. I have to admit, the elemental powers thing has been impressively realised beyond simply blasting fire/water/air/rocks at each other.

There was also a lot of interesting stuff involving the characters. The most notable, for me, was Azula. She got given the responsibility of looking after the Fire Nation while Ozai burninated the Earth Kingdom...and then proceeded to lose it completely, becoming increasingly paranoid and erratic (due in art to her up-to-then loyal goons, Mai and Ty Lee, deserting her several episodes previously). It wasn't funny-insane, like Random Blitzwing, it was scary-insane.

Aang also deserves a mention. From the first season, it was known that he would fight Ozai in a battle to save the world from the war machine that was the Fire Nation under Ozai's control. However, at this point, Aang realises that there isn't much choice other than to kill Ozai-something that he's averse to doing because of his belief that all life is sacred, and that Ozai still is a human being, no matter how twisted (it can be argued that he's killed twice before-although one time he was more-or-less being controlled by the Ocean Spirit in a fit of rage, and the other time he was seriously upset, angry, and frustrated at the fruitlessness of his search for Appa). Aang thinks that there must be another way-only that everyone else points out that there isn't. Heck, even the past Avatars pretty much endorse ending Ozai's life, albeit in a roundabout way. Fortunately, by way of a lion-turtle (yeah, really-it'd apparently been in the show previously as statues and dialogue mentions), he finds another way-spiritbending (yeah, really-fanfic was right!). This, however, doesn't end it all satisfactorily-he nearly kills Ozai while in the Avatar State (yeah, he gets the ability to use it back via a sharp rock to the back in the climatic battle, which apparently unblocks his chakra), but only gets control over it just in time-only to nearly get overwhelmed by Ozai's spirit when Aang uses spiritbending for the first time. Fortunately for the world, he wins. I thought it was neat, not bumping the villain off (as most shows do), but instead taking away his powers.

Toph KICKED ASS. Not that she never does, it's just that she got killer lines and totally awesome action scenes.

*training excercise*
"I am not Toph. I am MELON LORD!!" MWAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"We need to split up and find Aang."
*Toph grabs Zuko*
"I'm going with Zuko!"
*Everyone looks at her weird*
"What? Everyone else went on a life-changing field trip with Zuko, now it's my turn."

And everyone else was AWESOME.

What I found interesting was Ozai's plan: harness the power of Sozin's comet (it increases firebender power) to burninate the Earth Kingdom. It was, to put it bluntly, genocide. While the show hasn't been averse to genocide before (Air Nomads), this was the first time it was going to be shown in-action on screen. And in a show officially aimed at the 6-11 demographic, too!

In terms of plot threads, such as the whereabouts of Zuko's mum, it didn't solve everything. Sure, the 'ships got worked out-Katara/Aang, Mai/Zuko, and Sokka/Suki are now completely canon with no going back-but other things were left to dangle, possibly for a timeskip sequel, or possibly because nothing ever is totally tied up.

There were only two complaints I had. The lion turtle, plot important as it was, was virtually incomprehensible when it spoke (voice modding failure), and it and spirit bending seemed like a last-minute ass-pull by the writers. The other complaint I had...I can't remember it.

This was the best finale of any show I've ever seen. Nothing q... ]]> ~WorldSerpent *snuffle* http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19540793/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19540793/ Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:26:20 PDT
To put it simply, I'm sick, as

can probably attest to. I've been coughing and sneezing a lot since I got off the plane on Sunday.

Evidently, it wouldn't get better if I didn't take a rest. So I'm taking the day off to get better.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Well, I'm back. http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19486760/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19486760/ Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:41:22 PDT
In the intervening time between last journal and this one, I went to Kintyre, Glasgow, and then to Edinburgh for the really long flight home.

Kintyre is the area of the clan MacAlister, which includes me. Naturally, the first thing we headed to was the clan centre, known as Glenbarr Abbey (which wasn't an abbey at all ever). It was...underwhelming. Usually the laird would have been taking people around on a tour-only he died last year, so his eccentric American (yes, really) wife took us around instead. Like me, she collects toys. Unlike me, she didn't exactly seem to have a good idea where to put them. This resulted in dolls showing up around the house pretty much at random, and one entire ROOM full of teddies.

In terms of getting to know my heritage, I felt...well, sort of betrayed. Imagine McDonald's turning the Parthenon in Greece into a fast-food outlet and you'll know the feeling. There was info there, yes (including the only MacAlister tartan kilt I have ever seen), but it seemed to be overwhelmed by all the kitsch crap that didn't belong.

The next day, we did some touring of Kintyre, and discovered that the area was rich in Stone Age sites and other places of archaeological interest. It was also rich in sheep. At one point I ended up in a Wild West-style standoff with one, which ended in the sheep running away after staring me down for a minute. Another site, a church, was pretty uninteresting (churches don't especially interest me) except for a small and very energetic Jack Russell, that appeared to belong to the owners of the farm adjacent to the place, who followed us around. I liked her (yes, it was a she) company because...well...recent events and all.

Next we went off to Glasgow. Contrary to popular belief, people are actually understandable there. It was much more cosmopolitan than Edinburgh. It was also less dependant on tourists, judging by the low number of Scottish souvenir shops.

Highlights for me were the Glasgow Science Centre, the Kelvingrove museum and art gallery, and the Hunterian museum (with the oldest dinosaur merchandise in the world, apparently!).

While there, I didn't really buy anything totally specific, apart from the UK Transformers comic. However, I did buy what must surely be one of the most awesome things ever-the Kilt Towel. Yes, you read that right.

And then we got packed, left for Edinburgh, got on a plane, then got home via London and Bangkok stop-offs.

And I have a friggin' throat-cold-thing. *cough hack cough*

]]> ~WorldSerpent I AM IN THE SCOTLAND! http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19355751/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19355751/ Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:56:37 PDT
As you can probably deduce from the title, I am currently in Scotland. This is to reassure all you people that the plane didn't re-route into a building.

So far, I've been in Edinburgh, Pitlochry, Inverness (where I MAY have seen Nessie), the Orkneys, Ullapool, the Isle of Skye, and am currently in a youth hostel in Oban (which is not a planet, for all you fans of Oban Star Racers).

It's been quite good. Not as good as I thought it would be. This may have something to do with the fact that the highlands of Scotland (which is where we've been travelling through) are mostly deserted thanks to poverty and the clearences. That, and an unfortunately large percentage of the people running the places we go to are not Scottish.

I've kept a little tally of Scottish stuff, like highland cows, men in kilts, and English-Gaelic roadsigns. I'll tell you the results when I get home in a weeks time.

I saved up a heap of money, and have been spending it with somewhat reckless abandon. Well, not really. I have, however, gotten stuff for some people back home. You can now speculate en masse as to what said stuff is.

The scenery is wonderful. It's like something out of Lord of the Rings. I keep expecting to be ambushed by orcs, and more than once I've had 'They're Taking The Hobbits To Isengard' stuck in my head.

Oh yeah, and I saw the Doctor Who series 4 finale on the boat to the Orkneys, which must be some kind of special feat. It was fantastic, by the way, though it did pull a big deus ex machina disguised as technobabble.

One exchange stuck in my head, and it's pretty much non-spoilery if I don't include who says it.

'You're the Doctor!'
'Yes!'
'...you're naked!'
'Yes!

'

Yeah, so I'm having a brilliant time.

See you all in a week!

]]> ~WorldSerpent Off to Scotland! http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19084204/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19084204/ Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:16:49 PDT
So, see you lot in three weeks!

(Oh yes, and mood icons are broken, so I'm not bemused)

---

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]]> ~WorldSerpent .... http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19069718/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/19069718/ Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:46:30 PDT
Life is really screwing me over right now. Just before a nice relaxing holiday-back to the green lands of my ancestors-my last surviving grandparent on my mothers side (the Scottish side) has died.

Fair enough, he was old. Don't get me wrong, I was really sad about it. But he was old, and sick. I'm just glad it's over.

But now my dog, Gemma, is sick. She's actually been ill for a while. It's because of her heart problem-she can't process fluids as well as she used to, so they build up in her abdomen. We've had them removed, and she's been a new dog after each.

But now the fluid's spread to her chest, making it painful to breathe. Adding insult to injury, the medicines aren't working, and never will.

So she's going to be put to sleep tomorrow morning. I dread the approach of tomorrow. It's the last few hours I'm going to ever spend with her, and I intend to indulge her.

Gemma will sleep in my room tonight, like she did years ago. It'll be the first time she'll have slept inside for a while. I'd like to have her with me, on this last night together...

*breaks into tears*

]]> ~WorldSerpent AVIJ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/18961330/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/18961330/ Sat, 21 Jun 2008 04:48:27 PDT Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull today. If you can deduce what the title is, you've pretty much spoiled The Big Surprise. Which isn't exactly much of a surprise, anyway.

Spoiler warning!

It was a rather good film, I thought. It was interesting seeing everything 1950'd up, and I could even spot some of the things they showed (such as the town full of dummies) as things that actually existed. It was also good to the series as a whole how they made room for the space of time between the last film (Last Crusade) and this one, so they didn't go and cast a younger person as Indy.

There was also massive fanwank, moreso than even an episode of Transformers Animated. The Ark of the Covenant from the first film makes a cameo appearance. Indy's dad also cameos, although it's a photo, since he has apparently died between the films.

Cate Blanchett's character, Irina Spalko (the leader of the Soviet forces after the titular Skull), was my favourite out of all of the characters, for being so bizarrely awesome in ways I cannot explain. She just managed to pull off having a bowl haircut and being a badass at the same time SO VERY WELL.

Oh yeah, and Shia LaBeouf (a.k.a that kid from Transformers) is in it too, as Indy's son, Mutt Williams (real name Henry). They imply at the end that he's going to eventually follow in his dad's footsteps, or at least have a similar taste in hats.

If you've worked it out from the title, there are aliens in this film (well, beings from another dimension, to be technical). Think the offspring of ET and Cathy Freeman with psychic powers. The crystal skull's actually one of their own skulls (I'll have to ask my biology teacher about the possibility of that), and it has powers of its own-which kind of make it a deus ex machina in some places, when it diverts flesh-eating ants and wards off psychotic natives (who get massacred a scene later by the Soviets).

Although Mutt swinging with monkeys was more random (and inexplicable) than the aliens. As well as Indy SURVIVING AN EFFING NUCLEAR BLAST. Judging by that, the man's Chuck Norris with an archaeological bent.

So, yeah. Fun movie.

Oh yeah, and before the movie started, I owned

at Pokemon. THERE WILL BE A RECKONING, though.

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http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/18796183/ Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:08:43 PDT
But that's not what I want to talk about.

I want to talk about this: [link]

It's been known since last year that Avatar: The Last Airbender (which, for people who don't know, is awesome) would be turned into a trilogy of live-action movies directed by M Night Shlayman, or however you spell his name.

Though the creators were being involved heavily, the news was not well-received by the fandom. Personally, I don't see the point of making a NON-animated feature film based on the series-especially if it does indeed turn out to be season 1 (a.k.a Book 1: Water) in a nutshell.

Then we got the above news just recently.

It doesn't exactly make me feel better.

"the film's religious subtext was what drew him to the project. "It has to be something I see God in," he said."

I acknowledge that there is indeed something of a religious subtext, since the main character is an incarnation of what can be seen as something of a major deity (hence 'Avatar'

and he has to save the world ('from the forces of evil' doesn't exactly merit mention, since the 'bad guys' are not totally bad, especially in Zuko's case). However, beyond that, it's not so much religious as spiritual, given that spirits and the spirit world have shown up in the story, as well as elements based on Eastern spiritual teachings, such as chakra. It makes me wonder if Shlayman's going to tack some Christian moral onto the story, which really doesn't fit with the Eastern themes of the show.

And then this:

""I have a low action-fatigue level," Shyamalan said after the event, when asked to explain why he hasn't made many films outside his trademark thriller genre. "It can't be 'I want to hurt you.' All the fighting has to have a reason behind it.""

Big fat problem: Avatar, though not Fist of the North Star by any means, has lots of fights in it. The fight scenes are also amazing, since they're not always standard kicking-and-punching. Though they aren't mindless with no motivation, I don't think Shlayman will see them that way. Plus, "I want to hurt you" is a legitimate reason for some of the characters *cough*Azula*cough*.

Yea, so I'm more than a little concerned, especially considering that this will be the first major Avatar thing that will be noticed by the general public, and not just the ones who watch TV. It could do what the Pokemon anime did for its franchise and make everyone believe it's childish and silly.

Which it most certainly isn't.

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http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/18620359/ Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:19:18 PDT
So now you know.

]]> ~WorldSerpent Modifications http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/18587564/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/18587564/ Sat, 31 May 2008 04:10:36 PDT
I've decided to try growing the hair on my face a little more than I usually do. Usually I shave it after a few weeks. Today I shaved the sides, but not the area around my mouth. I don't want a great whacking big beard-just a small one.

After that, maybe I'll change my hair colour. Maybe a brown-ginger type colour.

Now you people can occupy yourselves trying to imagine me with a beard and ginger-brown hair.

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]]> ~WorldSerpent Naked Friday http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/18458035/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/18458035/ Fri, 23 May 2008 05:07:21 PDT naked day. Well, somewhat.

In Art, we're doing the female nude as our subject (although for the most part we've been drawing hands and stuff). We'd be doing the male nude if it was more prominent in art history (damn...).

Of course, a course on the female nude wouldn't be complete without a nude female. So that's what happened: Mr Thompson (our art teacher) has a friend who's a model, and so he got her (name's Kerrie, by the way, from what I heard) to come in and model for us.

It was interesting, to say the least. Initially, I was very jittery about it, because I haven't actually seen a woman naked before in real life (I've seen men naked in the change rooms at the pool, but no women). But when the class started, and the model took off her clothes, it was actually less 0_0 than I initially thought it was.

Unlike what you may think, she was in no way all thin and shaved like essentially all the female nudes on this site. Rather, she had an ample amount of curves. Not that she was obese, but it was very interesting drawing all the lines formed by her poses.

I made four pages of drawings in total. The first was a variety of one minute poses-basically, she'd strike a pose for a minute, then change. There was no time to get it all detailed-it was to get us warmed up. The other three were of poses of varying lengths of time. The best one I did was one where she was facing away from my side of the room and standing up, because I managed to capture the feeling that she was putting all her weight on one leg.

We're doing it next week as well. I'm looking forward to it.

Oh, and in English Extension we watched Ten Canoes. It's a film about Aborigines, but it's set before white settlement-indeed, white people never show up in the film at all (ironically, the director-Rolf de Heer-is white). As such, it was generally showing what their lifestyle was like before settlement-so obviously there were not many clothes in it. This made for a funny moment when the main cast are confronted with a stranger from another tribe (who incidentally is wearing a loincloth) and wonder whether to trust "the stranger with the covered prick".

There was very little 'Aboriginal mystical connection with the land'-type stuff in it. In fact, it was basically like an Aboriginal sit-com, except with spears and a somewhat crude sense of humour.

Arising from this film is my new OTP: BirrinbirrinXHoney.

So yeah, I've had a very naked day.

You know what would make this fitting? If I posted this journal naked.

...

*takes off clothes*

*hits 'Add' button*

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~WorldSerpent *roars in rage* http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/18314101/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/18314101/ Wed, 14 May 2008 00:28:13 PDT
This annoys me greatly, since it means I can't go on any TF board without people screaming 'OMFG [spoiler]!!!1!' and ruining the new stuff for me. I want to keep it a surprise!

Plus, since about the only thing not blocked at school anymore that I still have an interest in is TF-related sites, so I may have to temporarily exile myself from the fandom.

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]]> ~WorldSerpent This is why I dislike Channel 9 http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/18127860/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/18127860/ Fri, 02 May 2008 04:49:01 PDT
So far, they haven't. Either it's on next Saturday, or they've decided to shove a different program in the Saturday evening timeslot and never show any more Primeval episodes.

Well, I have had enough of this drought, especially since it's one of my favourite shows. I've decided to actually do something. And by 'something', I mean 'torrent the damn thing'. Yes, I'm aware Piracy Is Illegal (courtesy of being barraged with ads stating 'You Would Never Steal A X'

, but practically everyone does it-I've already downloaded several episodes of Avatar and Transformers Animated, because I'd be waiting a long time for them to show here, and there is also the case that Avatar things get deleted off YouTube pretty fast, so I can't watch them there.

If it turns out that Primeval is going to be on next Saturday, I'll stop downloading. If it isn't...well, the torrent will keep going.

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http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/17874457/ Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:23:59 PDT [link]

Why don't I have a fanclub?

Or, for that matter, why don't a fair few number of people I know have one?

Anyway, holidays have been alright so far. Me and some friends (

among them) had a movie night on Monday. The next day I spent in the city walking off the junk food from the night before, and today I spent inside (outside being cold and dreary and not doing much to promote itself) doing things. I should probably be working on something productive, but I can't really concentrate.

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]]> ~WorldSerpent Exams-OVER! http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/17774481/ http://WorldSerpent.deviantart.com/journal/17774481/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:48:19 PDT
I don't feel any weight miraculously lifted from my shoulders, but I'm just SO GLAD that the exams are over for now. I'm going to relax right now.

Semi-bizarre fact: I kind of really enjoyed not having my school uniform on. Actually, it's more that I kind of really enjoyed not having anything on, period.

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]]> ~WorldSerpent