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Just to clarify: her name is Kori. I’m not sure how I wrote that wrong...

Busts of the champions by @the-scorpion-strike

Full version here: http://fav.me/dcrowzn

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Telzin, Toa of Air

Extroverted, wild, and energetic to the point of being hyperactive, Telzin made a reputation for herself as the life of the party as a Matoran. However, it also made it difficult for her to keep a job down and she often found that she exhausted even the sociable Le-Matoran outside of regular festivities. There was a general sense among many that, while plenty enthusiastic, she wouldn't be able to handle the responsibility of being a Toa, a sentiment that one does not call a clown to defend them from danger; one calls a soldier. Events have proven the doubters wrong; though she is often more reckless than is healthy in the face of danger, Telzin's a capable fighter and flyer in the fight and has taken on the role of being the glue to keep the team together out of it. Her wings, supported by extending protodermic rods, are tipped with small, sharp blades, allowing her to attack with slashing motions in the air, while on the ground clawed hands and feet and an talent for pushing foes around with concentrated air blasts make her an effective fighter.

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The Wealth Below

A commission for a friend. Toa Lehari of Earth, passing the time by using his particular talents to bring up valuable gems from the bottom of an underground lake or something. This is the first commission I've done where I haven't had a MOC to work off of for the design of the subject (though I've done the same for plenty of my own characters), and I mostly tried to keep the theme set by the Mask of Emulation that he wears: lots of ridges with deep-set, circular 'cores' in opportune spots.

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A commission for Makuta Luroka's eponymous OC, Makuta Luroka, with burning Brotherhood of the Mukuta flags and ruins in the background. Okay, the later can't really be seen through all the shadow tendrils and firestorm that he's whipping up, but still. I toyed with the colors a lot on this one; originally the scheme was much warmer, but I really took a liking to the pinkish-purple hue as a lighting color when shadow powers are used.

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Burning Core

A simple shaded commission for fobodoesstuff.tumblr.com/ of his character Sterk, a self-styled "Toa of Steel." Basically, a giant flaming axe-wielding brute, albeit one with some events that he's not exactly proud of in his recent past, hence the somewhat uncertain expression on his face.

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Sovereign's Pass Carried by the howling wind, the snow fell nearly sideways this high in the mountains of Ihu. Sheltered by the peaks, the surface of the glacier was calm by comparison, but even there the wind still blew hard enough to break any creature's tenuous footing on the ice and send it hurtling along the rough-hewn surface. No Matoran in their right mind would cross this... no Matoran except an Ihuan, that is, and surely, three small figures were carefully picking their way along the glacier's surface. At least one was less than comfortable in the endeavor.

"Sir, the wind is getting worse!" Kantai complained. Neither of the figures ahead of him responded; had they heard him over the noise of the wind? He couldn't be sure, and was about to call out again when suddenly a loud, ominous cracking sound from deep below stopped him in his tracks. This Matoran knew well how treacherous the terrain could be; stories of Matoran vanishing on the glacier, falling into holes or cracks without a hope of rescue were commonplace. As a scribe and record keeper, he had recorded the list of missing names. Now, he was running the risk becoming the latest name added to it. "SIR!" he called out, louder this time. No verbal reply came, but the two figures that had not stopped even for the cracking did so now. Both turned to look back towards him. Kantai hastily clambered his way along the glacier's surface to catch up to them, trying not to mind the fact that his king was watching him with a stare even colder than the ice he was trying to gain a foothold on. It took him a minute, but he did catch up. "Sir," he began again as he tried to catch his breath, "the wind... it's getting worse..."

"We anticipated as much," the king of Ihu replied. Kopaka, he was now, though Kantai had once known him by a different name. At the time, he'd been friendlier too; the elemental spirit Kopaka was said to be as cold and unforgiving as the mountains themselves, and ever since taking on its mantle, the recently crowned sovereign appeared to reflect that more and more. Equipped with full battle armor and carrying the king's spear and shield, he at least looked every part the warrior king, and Ihu needed one, but for all his splendor Kantai didn't find his demeanor in any way reassuring. "It will continue to get worse," Kopaka asserted. "If we do not make it back to Cleft Ridge within the hour, we will not make it back at all. So keep moving." With that command, he turned and was on his way again. Not in the least bit comforted, Kantai looked back and up towards the structure that they had departed well over half an hour ago: Cleft Ridge, a collection of tall buildings made of stone and wood perched on a ridge jutting out from the mountain. There, the mountainside was so steep that the glacier running down it appeared as a wall of snow and ice in a slow but continuous and visible descent, a cracking, rumbling avalanche in slow motion, split near the base of the mountain by the rocky crag on which the outpost had been built. At the top of the highest tower, a large fire burned to make the Cleft Ridge a navigational beacon; Kantai feared that soon its light would be the only thing left to see of the place in the worsening weather.

"Come on, we're almost there," his other companion invited. A royal guard and distinguished explorer and soldier, Matoro was far more comfortable than Kantai in these parts. Unlike the person he was tasked with guarding, however, Matoro had an apparent capacity for empathy and never acted as though he was above anyone in any way. Couple that with a reputation for honesty, and it was no surprise that an update from him did far more to put Kantai's fears at ease than what Kopaka had been willing to offer. Relieved, the scribe picked up his pace; once they reached the precipice, the king would need him. It was the only reason why he was here in the first place; for all its hazards, this was the best route to get from Cleft Ridge to a point overlooking Sovereign's Pass, where Ihuan king and later Toa Nuju had destroyed a large Mangaian force centuries ago. Now, history was set to repeat itself: a Mangaian army under the command of Toa Tahu was on its way, its first units already camped in front of the pass. Ihuan warriors were still making their way here to mount a defense, but while awaiting their arrival, Kopaka insisted on checking on his enemies movement himself... even if the weather didn't exactly cooperate.

At last they reached the precipice; a fault line that the glacier, piece by melting piece, plummeted into, only to reform at the bottom and continue its slow march downhill. Kopaka walked almost right up to the edge to cast his gaze on Sovereign's Pass below. There he stood, spear planted next to his feet, as though standing for a painting or carving, and as he tentatively closed in on the edge himself, Kantai could tell who he was presenting this image to: at the entrance of the pass, on a rocky plateau, three Mangaian units had set up camp, their red, yellow, and orange armor, banners, and tents still clearly visible even at this distance. Kopaka used the scope incorporated in his mask to zoom in and get a clearer view; Kantai pulled out his notebook and pen.

"Record three units," Kopaka began and Kantai quickly recorded, "with two large siege engines in tow." Kantai shuddered at the thought of the Mangaians using these machines, with the barrage of flaming projectiles that they could produce, to reduce Ihuan cities to rubble; it had happened before. "Artillery under Jaller's command," Kopaka continued as he picked out a distinctive yellow-clad Mangaian next to one of the siege engines. "Also... note the presence of Tahu." Kantai noticed a change in his king's voice as he said that... the presence of Tahu. Was he sure? Peering over the precipice and scoping in on the Mangaians, it didn't take long for Kantai to spot the Toa of Fire himself, and he recorded his presence as such. Then he looked back to Kopaka, who it seemed hadn't moved a muscle, except his expression had changed. It wasn't the stoic gaze of before, no, looking at his king's face now, Kantai saw worry. Worry about what? Compared to what was on the way on the Ihuan side, the Mangaian force was still grossly outnumbered, and they were definitely not in their element here. Ihu had more than a fighting chance, so what could possibly concern its commander so much that his stoic facade was broken, even if only momentarily? And momentarily it was; almost immediately after Kantai picked up on his change of expression, Kopaka reasserted himself, turned around, and quickly started back towards Cleft Ridge. Matoro and Kantai followed, though slightly behind as both had been taken aback by the king suddenly and quickly taking off. In fact, even going as fast as they dared to go under the circumstances, both Matoran soon realized that the Toa was actually opening up the distance between them, running across the glacier in a way that only one able to sense the movement and disposition of the ice itself could... well, could without accident.

"We're not gonna catch him." Matoro surprised Kantai by saying and slowing down as he did so.

"We're supposed to be with him, though," Kantai pointed out. "You in particular."

"True," Matoro admitted, "but he does this sometimes. Whenever he needs to be alone, to think alone... he goes somewhere his guard can't follow. The sight of the Mangaians must have given him something to consider. Either way, he'll come back soon."

"So we..." Kantai began, but Matoro finished the sentence for him.

"...we make our way back to Cleft Ridge on our own. Come, I know the safe routes." Matoro started on a slightly different path than the one they had taken to get to the precipice, but Kantai followed.

"You think it has something to do with those rumors about him and Tahu?" the scribe asked as they picked their way back across the rough yet slippery surface.

"I don't know," Matoro answered, "and I don't put much stock in those rumors. Yeah, they're both Toa and they've worked together in the past, but it wasn't a happy partnership. And now things are a lot worse." Kantai couldn't argue with that; in the wake of the Toa's success, relations between Ihu and Mangai had gone from strained to broken, and now they were about to face off in war.

"Do you think that he'll live up to his ancestors' standards?" Kantai wondered. "I mean, he'll have to if he wants to dispel those rumors, right? He has to beat the Mangaians soundly."

"Yes, he would..." Matoro acknowledged, but trailed off.

"...but?" Kantai beckoned for him to go on. Matoro sighed.

"I have been guarding him since he was old enough to wield a half-spear," he continued, "and I've seen how he's grown up in the shadow of those ancestors. Yeah, they set a high bar for him to clear, but... it's not their standards that I'm worried about. It's his own."

"His own?" Kantai repeated questioningly. Matoro looked to the Toa, now a fair distance ahead.

"The standard of Kopaka."

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Ey, nice to see an official version at last. Of the replacement arm, I mean...

5 stages of smol

I don’t draw enough of my OCs, not much personal art going on lately besides sketchy stuff.

Kal loses an arm, yeah. Thanks, jerk.

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Spirit of the Mist, Mistress of the Acid Falls, and The Ambitious Lieutenant

The Phantoka & Mistika makuta definitely rank along my favorite sets as a whole, and I drew the latter some time ago; probably the pictures that got me into drawing again. Shading isn’t where I’d like it to be today, but at the time I wasn’t using a whole lot of brushes on a regular basis... I’ve learned since then, somewhat.

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Shadows’ Angel & Dark Seas - Mestrelis

These are a little older now, but in my eyes they’re aging better than most of my gallery is. Mestrelis is a Toa of Shadow (formerly water, and trying to get back to that state) that I’m playing in a Bionicle RPG.

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Project Afterman - Mayko

A little concept art of a character for the Afterman project that I drew up a week or so ago.

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A decidedly more somber picture this time, as well as my first attempt to layer some serious battle damage over the structure I use for the Toa. I've been doing some art for Hazash's Biowave project, which Kaibagal is also involved in. During some side conversation, she noted that a piece holding on her self-MOC Kalikiki's arm broke recently and Kal has had to go at it sans left arm for a while. This has now made its way somewhat gruesomely into her backstory; the arm was basically torn off by force in combat or something similar. I envisioned this as Kal the moment after combat, after the realization that part of her has literally been torn off and destroyed... I don't know, but I'd feel pretty awful after something like that, and either way I'm a sucker for dark stuff like characters being beset by serious issues and edgy pictures with overly dramatic lighting. So I drew Kal again. Something in the background is still on fire.

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To the Matoran of Bota Nui, Ilani's something of an enigma. A solitary hunter on the plains of Su-Wahi, the only part of the 'civilized' world that she regularly interacts with is Su-Nuva, which is little more than an outback trading post. Yet she's also got a taste for rather fine clothing as a symbol of wealth and status, kept in impeccable condition in spite of her rough-and-tumble lifestyle. And that's only the start; physically, there's always been something off in appearance about the Vo-Matoran turned Toa of Lightning; an unusually large mouth and toothy grin, a significantly stronger physique than that of a normally lithe Vo-Matoran, and some swear that they've seen her armor change color... Ilani has done much to keep her true identity a secret; she never was a Vo-Matoran and now isn't a Toa of Lightning either, and in the eyes of many probably wouldn't even be a Matoran or Toa at all if they knew the truth. Ilani's design is, in fact, half-Skakdi, and her element is Light. The Skakdi and Matoran were never really on friendly terms back on Spherus Magna, and there's no other Av-Matoran at all on Bota Nui; past experience had already caused Ilani to mark herself as an outcast, and post-transport she's taken care to avoid unnecessary contact with the rest of the Matoran as much as possible. This made her the only one of the 'chosen' Matoran on Bota Nui who actively didn't want to become a Toa at all, who wanted to avoid the spotlight as much as possible, but at the same time she was pretty much the only Matoran available who had any combat training and experience in handling a weapon; much as she hates it, this team needs her, and to that end she was effectively blackmailed into to becoming a Toa. Though her skill and ferocity make her a very dangerous and very valuable fighter, she's not sure how much longer she can keep her identity a secret, especially when her elemental powers, which she has been careful not to use too much, don't really resemble Lightning at all to anyone in the know about the Lightning. Instead, she's relying on her swords (now effectively lightsabers, though she's passed them off as 'lightning blades' for now) and a wide assortment of throwing knives whose effectiveness is greatly enhanced by her Kanohi Sanok. Through it all, she's keeping up a confident, stoic facade occasionally punctuated by sarcastic commentary and grudgingly trains the other Toa in the art of combat; the way she sees it, the stronger the team, the faster they'll solve the crisis at hand. When that day comes, she'll at last be free to leave Matoran society behind again...

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Lady of the Mountains

A female Kopaka, drawn during SueDraws' livestream. Basically, I asked her to drawn an old OC of hers, and pretty soon we were all drawing Kopakas.

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April Fools’ aftermath; the Toa Mata as re-imagined by TTV’s “brickonicle” project, re-cast as all female, re-imagined as Friends minidolls, and thrown together as a band.

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Tykal, Toa of Iron

Scorzen's friend and former roommate (hutmate?), Tykal was an aspiring inventor, albeit one whose inventions had never really caught on. Still, it was more interesting to him than his day-job of making and doing maintenance on tools used by Bo-Matoran farmers. Honest and hard-working, he's got a more difficult past than he's willing to tell others about, though in effect his body does it for him: he spent his early years in the mines where he was subjected part-time to an early version of the protodermic cycling scheme that was introduced in full shortly after he left. Though the effects that this had on his body were nowhere near as pronounced as they are on Po-, Fe- and some Ba-Matoran coming of age today, Tykal was still rather small in stature compared to most Matoran and now compared to the other Toa. He packs a lot of strength and armor onto his frame, though, and his elemental power lets him shift his armor about to some extent to make it all the more effective. It also makes him the only one able to use his particular choice of weapon: two iron ingots on a stick, which in combat he shapes into whatever tool he believes will be most useful for the engagement. Though not antisocial by nature, his background of working in the mines has left him with some very entrenched views of certain tribes that make it very difficult for him to work with one other Toa in particular. After years of being dismissed as an oddball or crackpot, he's also overly eager to prove himself a worthy Toa, which at times can make him ignore danger or even relish the possibility of it rather more than is healthy.

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Scorzen, Toa of Sonics

Though all of Bota Nui's new Toa had their fears, doubts, and questions about the role they'd apparently been 'chosen' to perform, none were as apprehensive about the affair as Scorzen. Originally a De-Matoran shunned by the others in his tribe due to his passion for music, he made a living doing odd jobs in Gal Rui. Though he worked hard at these jobs, it barely paid the bills and Scorzen was never able to shake the feeling that his exile from his tribe and the reason for said exile meant he was somehow inferior, failed, defective. Why would a failed Matoran be chosen to become a Toa? That's the question that's plagued the new Toa of Sonics' mind ever since the transformation, and due to it he's by far the most hesitant of the team to exercise his powers in any capacity; it's simply more than he ever bargained for and he fears the consequences of losing control of it or using it improperly. However, nervous disposition and lack of confidence aside, Scorzen's much more capable than he gives himself credit for. His mask, the Kanohi Crast, is for the moment free of the stigma associated with it in the old world and versatile in its abilities. Being a Toa of Sonics has provided him with keen senses, through which he is often the first to alert the team of danger. His transformation into a Toa also transformed his favored instrument, a horn-like contraption called a sonitone, into a weapon capable of firing devastating sonic blasts over significant distances; just as well as Scorzen's not exactly eager to get closer and into the fray. In spite of his doubts and often grim outlook, he takes being a Toa seriously and his quiet, introverted nature and utter devotion to whatever task is at hand have at least earned him Garta's respect, even if he doesn't feel deserving of it.

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Garta, Toa of Water. The team's leader, more due to his actions and demonstrated abilities as a Matoran than any will on his part command others. A staunch proponent of the "if you want something done right, do it yourself" approach, he finds it quite difficult to trust others to do their jobs without constant monitoring or interference and would prefer to, when possible, strike out on his own instead. Quiet and distant in demeanor, he venerates the truth above anyone's feelings about it and often comes off as crude because of it. However, one would be wrong to assume that his blunt personality is the product of a dull mind; possessing great intellect by any standard, Garta's ability to quickly analyze situations and formulate strategies for dealing with them make him a more natural leader than he'd readily admit to. This shows through in his battle style as well; lightly armored and armed with a short spear and shield, he relies extensively on mobility, careful positioning and the exploitation of any vulnerability displayed or mistake made by an opponent to get the upper hand. He wears a somewhat streamlined Kanohi Komau, a mask whose abilities underline his at times "intellectually domineering" personality even if he's not that keen on using them.

Oduna, Toa of Earth. Coming from a position of power and wealth as a Matoran, she's self-assured, confident, and sees herself as the team's natural leader. Unfortunately her behavior often comes off as abrasive and arrogant to others in the process. She's a force to be reckoned with, though; triple-stranded from head to toe, she boasts tremendous strength and will not hesitate to use it in a brutal, close-quarters fighting style. Gem-encrusted brass knuckles allow her do deliver devastating blows while leaving her large hands free to grapple and wrestle foes into submission if need be. Carbide claw-tips at the end of her fingers help her to dig through the toughest ground, though application of elemental powers is obviously faster still and Oduna has no reservations about deploying that power at generous measure. Though she wears a Kanohi Rau (with reinforced forehead structure, customary for Onu-Matoran), she's not really the negotiating type; she mainly wears the mask for the many gems its design could incorporate.