Angels... Manhattan... AURGH...

Yeah, basically, I'm just posting because this morning I finally got caught up on the last few episodes of Doctor Who: Series 7, including A Town Called Mercy, The Power of Three, and Angels Take Manhattan. And I am physically unable to contain the feels. 

*FEELSPLOSION*

Yes. I cried pretty hard. Shutting up now. Spoilers. But it was great to see the Angels again! They're always fun. Plus, I don't have to feel guilty about missing episodes because of DnD every week now. Until after Christmas, that is. Still need to finish the Series 4 specials. In all my free time. Yeah.

And now a scary picture.

It is a crack in the skin of the universe, in case that wasn't obvious. I found it at music camp this summer. RIGHT NEXT TO THIS:

I may have freaked out a little.

Anyhoo. Theory. Yeah.

Commander Kip
"Of course, you sexy androgynous mass of crystal!"
Normal is overrated!

so... college

...is pretty good. I did, unfortunately, have to go home this week for my grandfather's funeral, but it was nice to see my family. Other than that, college is going marvelously. Some pictures to prove it!

On the trip there before school started, we experienced a disturbing lack of cows with which to play My Cows, probably having something to do with the 100+-degree temperatures outside.

The last night before my family dropped me off, my brother and I went to the Mall of America and did a quick tour of the little aquarium there. It's a nice little aquarium, but one thing that's super awesome about it is the shark tunnel. It's the most enormous shark tunnel I've ever seen. Super impressive. There's my bro having a Percy Jackson moment.

One of the first nights we spent on campus, there was a thing called the Awkward Dance. The idea was to dress up as awkwardly as possible and go out into the parking lot with all the freshmen from other dorms and have a dance. Despite looking suitably awkward, I only lasted about ten minutes with the actual dancing. Then I came inside to watch the new episode of Doctor Who with Anna (pronounced Onna) and that was it.

We have very nice sunsets here. Just thought I'd document it. Why not.

Now, a brief photographic tour of our dorm room. It's basically a closet with two people living in it. Little tighter than I'm used to. But I think it's good for me - at least I'm forced to keep my side of the room clean. There's my desk:

Corkboard, computer, new!shiny!sketchbook, sonic, some homework, et cetera.

The stuff on the upper shelf - extra sketchbooks, crackers, Kleenex, Ipod speakers, paper TARDIS, pretty new alarm clock, lamp - and my awesome map of Middle-Earth.

Vera and I both have one of these cube towers for stuffing things in. Hers is quite a bit neater than mine.

Mah top-bunk bed. Bunk beds are cool. Also, notice the fat thing with the pink hat. Vera brought it for me from China. It is quite huggable, and there's holes for your hands to keep them warm in the winter. XD

Also up there are a map of Skyrim (a guy upstairs has the exact same one in his room) and the board of high school pictures Lady Arin gave me as a grad present. I love waking up and seeing my friends' smiling faces every morning.

My half of the closet. Our jewelry-hanging solution is makeshift, but surprisingly workable.

Our lovely carpet! Thanks, awesome parents.

Bought this at a poster sale in the common building. It's small, but brilliant. U jelly, Brenticus?

The temperamental minifridge. Dad set it too cold before they left, and everything in it froze and/or exploded, including several jars of pickles. It seems to be behaving itself better now.

Ileana's character sheet and stats, because they happened to be sitting on my desk at the time. More fabulous D&D stories later.

Aaaand a closeup of the shiny cover of my new sketchbook. Some circular Gallifreyan I pirated from the Internet. No, I have no idea what it means. I can't read circular Gallifreyan. Or High Gallifreyan, for that matter. It just looks cool.

I would eventually love to do a post dedicated to my old room at home. I took a bunch of pictures before we took everything out and switched my brother into it, but it would probably end up being a huge post and taking awhile, so we'll see about that one.

Right, so D&D. I LOVE IT. Definitely one of the most fun ways to spend my time I have ever encountered. It's basically sitting around a table being obscenely nerdy for several hours in a row. How is that not awesome? Some highlights: last weekend, our party set an Imperial Messenger on fire using an extremely strong alcohol called Goblin Gear-Greaser. Also, we fought some Undead and I spent basically the entire fight stunned and immobilized because our tank was gone and therefore not doing his job. Also, I swallowed a sharp metal thing because no one told me Raven Marks were sharp metal until after I'd swallowed it. Six damage, I tell you. Six. This weekend: the party made it to the capitol city and we visited a very ritzy tavern, bought some poison in a sketchy apothecary shop, visited the King (I tried to seduce him into giving us more information but didn't roll high enough,) found - and promptly lost - the informer we were looking for, got collectively drunk because someone (SPOILERS) brought up Wash's death in Firefly and we were all horribly depressed (I drunkenly molested a palace guard shortly thereafter,) hitched a ride with some friendly panda people, and fought off a pack of the wimpiest wolves I have ever encountered. I got to deal actual damage and even used a Minor Action for the first time ever. It was quite exciting. And then Sam's character Alora tricked me into drinking a healing potion that regrew the chunks of gray matter missing from my brain, and I became slightly less insane. Unfortunately. But not before swallowing a key ring I got from the guard I molested. So there.

And irl, we built a box fort in the lounge the other day. It was fabulous.

Some drawrings soon, mebbe?

Commander Kip
"Am I dead?" "No, you're just really, really unconscious."
Normal is overrated!

The Day's the Thing: ARRRRRRRRRGH!

Avast, me beauties, it be International Talk like a Pirate Day! The Day itself do indeed be the Thing this time. In honor o' this joyous occasion, prepare yeselves fer a lollopin' journey through Cap'n Kippy's top three favorite piratical films! AAARRRRR!

Sorry. Anyway. The first one is Peter Pan!

I know, it's not strictly a pirate film, but there are enough pirates in it that it should count. I adore this movie because it's extremely quotable and also visually gorgeous. And, y'know, Jeremy Sumpter. And Rachel Hurd-Wood. And also, this guy. *swoon*

Jason Isaacs = hottest Hook ever to appear onscreen. And probably the only Hook who was more of a character and less of a caricature. The Hook in the animated Peter Pan was basically comic relief. The Hook in Hook (with Robin Williams) was just ridiculous. His hair was a wig. But Isaacs's Hook had depth, a backstory, feelings, reasons for doing what he was doing. And he's also just freaking hot. I mean, look at that smexy face.

My second favorite pirate film is Treasure Planet, because, hello, STEAMPUNK SPACE PIRATES. You can't beat that. You just can't.

Disney does steampunk space pirates! It's a fantastic idea. It's a pity it didn't do better in the theater, but then again, the time of release was poorly planned. (It came out at the same time as Don Bluth's Titan A.E., which, incidentally, I also love.) Anyway, this movie gets me because of the relationships between the characters. Jim and his mother, struggling to cope in the absence of Mr. Hawkins. Jim and Silver, developing that mentor/father figure/mortal enemy thing. Doppler and the Hawkins family as he helps them out in times of strife. Doppler and Amelia, the unlikely lovers. Amelia and Arrow, captain and loyal first mate. B.E.N. and everybody else, because after being alone so long, he just wants to be friends with the whole wide world. And Morph. Just... Morph. A flying pink blob that somehow manages to be the single most adorable thing you've ever seen in your life. They're all so beautifully nuanced and realistic, for an animated movie about steampunk space pirates. Also, two of Disney's hottest animated characters to date: Jim Hawkins, troubled teenage heartthrob (voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, oh that's why) and Captain Amelia, strong, clever, sexy cat lady (voiced by Emma Thompson. Which, again, explains everything.)

And, the third one is - surprise - Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Because it's awesome, that's why. And the first one was definitely the best. Zombie pirates. Yeah. And again, just a gorgeous movie. Details all spot-on. and FUNNY. SO FUNNY. Talk about quotable. I loved the tone of the first one because it was just a big rollick. Sneaking, swordfights, cannonfights, daring escapes, zombies, pirate caves, kidnapped ladies, marooning, billowy shirtsleeves, cursed treasure, bumbling henchmen, the whole bit. And as an added bonus, it's full of pretty people, particularly this guy:

Check out the hair. It's epic. And the little braids in his beard? Priceless.

So there be m'top picks fer piratical-type movies, me lubbers. Watch'em, I do beseech ye, or I'll be forced to tar, feather, scupper 'n'keelhaul the scurvy lot of ye. An' don't think I wouldn't, either.

Fare-thee-well, mateys! Don't forget t'speak nautical-like today! An' belt out a shanty or two while yer about it!



Commander Kip
"A firefly!" "A pixie!" "Amazing!"
Normal is overrated!

meanwhile, in real life...

... Kipin's college is awesome.



Sadly, I was not there at the time, but I think we can all agree that the international students here are frikkin' amazing. Props.

Funny story: my brother mentioned this song in a text, and I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. It came up again during the DnD session later that evening, and when they found out I hadn't seen the video, they basically paused the game mid-battle and made me watch it. (It was weird. I was like, "What is this?" and they were like "It's... Korea. Don't worry about it.") Then this happens in the cafeteria because the international kids are amazing. Basically, this song is stalking me. It's pretty great.

Back to theory. Oh, theory. SO MUCH THEORY. ALL THE TIME.

Oh, and I got my homework done all timely-like yesterday, so I watched V for Vendetta because they didn't have Hunchback of Notre Dame in the library. Basically the same thing, right? Haha, no, but it was good. Natalie Portman, y u so osm? Even with her head shaved, she's stupid gorgeous.

Commander Kip
"And... how is it sonic?" "Makes noise, see? *taps against doorframe* That's sonic, isn't it?"
Normal is overrated!

Ileana

First DnD session last night! It was seriously a blast. Mostly because the first thing this girl did was go into the tavern and get extremely drunk. It was hysterical.

Our group is doing a more story-heavy campaign - less combat, more character interaction/development - which is good for me, since the combat is the hard part. I was rolling lovely high numbers early in the game, and as soon as we entered our first battle, my rolls just dropped off the map. I literally did like two damage the entire fight. And this was after rolling a natural 20 just to trick the bartender into giving me my very strong drink for free. What.

So Ileana's story is that she arrived in this small kingdom in a locked metal box and was shipped straight to the local sorcerer who attempted to cure her mental disease by magically scooping out large chunks of her memory. There are subsequently some inconvenient gaps in her mind, which comes in really unhandy when she's trying to remember how to use her weapon, for instance. Also, spaz. At least she has a reasonable amount of Charisma, which basically means she's very, very pretty. What I more or less discovered, after one of the other party members started shooting off relevant Firefly quotes after everything she said, was that I am basically playing River Tam, but blonder.

Rebel leader: So, you. Mentally disturbed girl. What skill can you contribute to our cause?

Ileana:  I have a flail with a mess of knives on the end. Sometimes I hit stuff with it... but usually not.

Eric (metagaming): It's just an object. It doesn't mean what you think.

Me (mg): *snort of laughter*

Ileana: Oh, and also I'm a telepath!

Eric (mg): She can kill you with her brain.

That was basically the whole last half of the session.

I expect you will be hearing lots about this campaign. It's shaping up to be pretty darn epic. I will prolly draw more pictures of Ileana as well, because I love her and she rocks.

And by the way, I finished Series 4 of Doctor Who yesterday. AND CRIED SO VERY HARD. Why are they so mean to the Companions all the time? Aurgh!!

Now I should go write a paper on Homer. Yay.

Commander Kip
"It's you!" "Oh yes." "You're naked!" "Oh yes!"
Normal is overrated!

OYAN SW: Day Number the Last One (Day 4)

Last one! *chairdance* <--- basically a general flail of the arms, head, and upper body - singing is optional.

Day 4

(1.    Today I am dressed up as my character Andra in disguise. I stab many people with the nose of my Venetian carnival mask because it’s like sixteen inches long. I also dip it in my root beer at lunch. I’m just that cool.

(2.    During critique group, someone’s hero is throttled. All ten of us grip our own necks to see what being throttled feels like.

(3.    I get sneak-attack recruited for the movie that’s being filmed in the Black Box. I’m only down there to watch, but they’re missing both of their Black-Garbed Men and are running behind schedule. They ask me if I want to be a Black-Garbed Man. I’m like, “Dude, YES.” So I get to lurk behind a black curtain, pop out creepily, and drag people away screaming and flailing into the nefarious Time-Out Corner. Muaa. On another note, someone has given Wooton a fencing foil. This is a terrible idea. We fear for our lives.

(4.    Brenticus plays “Still Alive” from Portal on the piano in the Lounge of Tipping while I sing the words at the top of my lungs. Kudos to those of you who sing along. (The two of us have been muttering “This was a triumph” all week whenever something awesome happens. This is a culmination of that.)

(5.    I find my giant bag of popcorn! It’s sitting in one of the armchairs in the Lounge. Unopened. Weird. I set about devouring it, with the help of random passersby.

(6.    Final games of Ninja are played. We do a round of two-hands, but change the rules slightly; you have to get hit twice to be out, but until then, you can still use both hands. Longest game of Ninja ever. But I stay in until the final three, huzzah! Brenticus is in a hurry because he’s itching to go write a crash sequence, and of course, he doesn’t get out until the very end of the game.

(7.    On my way to bed, I get distracted by a bunch of lovely ladies in the dorm lounge. Snuffles joins me, and we hang out until like four in the morning. We come to the mutual agreement that everything is funnier at four in the morning as a general rule.

mah costume - no leg brace, sadly

a very un-Andra-like pose

no idea who this belonged to, but whatever, it was awesome

my unicorns (and a lemurcorn)

a pretty awesome Sherlock costume

MASSIVE GROUP PICTURE OF MASSIVE

a kid who looks like Neal Patrick Harris wearing a monocle

the Lounge of Tipping... literally

the back wall of the Lounge, also used as a makeshift Villain's Lair

the Trio of Terror and Killing Off of Perfectly Nice Characters

Some other notes: the little bag I'm wearing around my neck in the last picture is part of the Andra costume - it's her new thing she has instead of the glass gypsy charm. An amulet type of thing. I dunno. I was wearing it in the earlier pics as well, but I had it stuffed down the front of my shirt because that's where Andra wears it. Less easy to steal that way, you know. (Oh, I found out yesterday that the word "andra" means "man" or "hero" in Ancient Greek. How convenient - I swear I didn't plan this.) It should also be noted that there was a huge cryfest that evening, but I didn't include it in the list because I wanted to be happy but couldn't because everybody else was crying. I tell you, I handle real-life-sad so much better than fictional sad. Seriously. And last note: I vaguely remember someone showing me the Runaway Bride episode of Doctor Who that night while we were busy staying up till four in the morning, but I was in such a daze of exhaustion that I barely remembered any of it. I did get the impression of lots of screaming near the end. Must have been the spiderlady grieving over her drowned kids. That episode was just weird.

Speaking of which, I just watched Midnight (SO CREEPY - poor Doctor), so that means only one more disc of Season 4! Then on to the specials! I'm getting there! Although people keep telling me I need to go back and watch Series 1 because Eccleston is actually not a doofus. We'll see. Still need to watch Sherlock too. And Buffy, apparently. Oh, and college. That too.

Gotta go finish the Odyssey now! Actually pretty excited. I like the Odyssey much better than the Iliad.

Oh, but just for fun, get this - I met up with my GM to create my D&D character last night, and she turned out super awesome. I'm playing a half-elf Ardent named Ileana and she's gonna wield a weapon called an alhulak, which is apparently a handle connected to a rope connected to a bristling mess of knives. Some kind of flail, maybe? Whatever, it should be pretty great. I'll keep you posted. Although, funnily enough, her Wisdom score is rather below average, which will basically make her a spaz. Perfect. I can play a spaz.

Commander Kip
"Ood on the loo, Ood on the loo..."
Normal is overrated!

OYAN SW: Day the Third

Still on a roll! Day three coming up! Just so you know, I was wearing elf ears this day in place of an actual costume. No pictures of that, sorry.

Day 3

(1.    Snuffles gets up early to go to another conference, and I drastically oversleep on account of my own alarm being busted. Angelik calls me twice, but my phone is predictably dead. I miss the first half hour of the first session, as well as Mrs. S. being herself. I am forced to sprint over to the Bell Center in – GAWSP – regular clothes. I painted the stupid teddy bear cloth for nothing. Snarl.

(2.    Jeff Gerke is wearing a Firefly shirt. Instant win.

(3.    Writersblock draws a flippin’ awesome steampunk squirrel on the back of my folder, which I swear to cherish always.

(4.    During critiquing, someone’s love interest gets her throat slit. We are all devastated.

(5.    Snuffles is once again a smash hit in her Weeping Angel getup. There is a brilliant fight sequence between her and both the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors during which they sonic-screwdrive her in the face. Simultaneously. Timey-wimey what? Unfortunately, since so many people have taken her picture, we have inadvertently created a massive army of Weeping Angels. Whoops. Also, many people are covered in tick marks because apparently the Silence are everywhere, although I can’t remember seeing one…

(6.    DOCTOR WHO. Why have I not watched more of this? Both episodes make me cry. (Although I sort of want Jenny to stay dead - just because I think her resurrection bears an uncanny resemblance to Spock’s in that one Star Trek movie where his coffin is jettisoned onto that terraformed planet and he is subsequently recreated. Sorry, I’ll stop now.)

(7.    Greenleaf improve knocks it out of the park yet again. "Welcome to Walmart, which now covers 95% of the earth!” I am called up to improvise a Lord of the Rings dance. See the video I posted before.

(8.    Due to the Whovian party, we miss dinner. But never fear – I have a huge sack of food in my room that my mommy packed for me. I don’t even know what’s in it yet. I sit in my room stuffing my face for like half an hour and also email my parents because I am a good person. I bring a ginormous bag of popcorn to the Lounge of Tipping, only to have some kid pick it up and march off with it. Um, okay.

(9.    It’s Snuffles’s turn to be up later than me. She’s filing her false nails for her Avatar costume tomorrow.

the panel held during the morning session (Jeff Gerke in his awesome shirt on the left)

this guy has seen a staggering number of Silence

one of my adorable unicorn children (sorry for blurry picture)

Brenticus is obviously a cannibal

best Doctor Who shirt evar

yes, that's Snuffles in there - she's just that awesome

the Doctors fight off the Weeping Angel

mah lovely steampunk squirrel, thanks to Writersblock

the fantastic Greenleaf improv team, plus a sneaky OYANer

the super awesome sign Snuffles made for our dorm room door

That was Day Three, and it was totally awesome. I went to bed that night, actually! Which was exciting. And it was an all-around marvelous day. Next year I am so totally doing a Doctor Who costume. I could totally pull off a Smiler or something.

Oh, and I forgot to say - I did another thing. Another crazy thing. A college-kid crazy thing.

I joined a D&D club. 

0.q

Yes, that's Dungeons and Dragons for those of you who don't know. I've always wanted to try a tabletop RPG, and since mah mommie wasn't around to say no, I jumped in and did it. I have to have my character created by Thursday so we can start playing on Saturday. I like my game master; he's a bearded dude about twice my size and he's friggen hilarious. There's five people in my party, and I've never done this before! Yay! Super excited. So yes, turns out I'm even geekier than you all thought I was. XD

So there's the news at present. Other than that, college is going swimmingly, there's tons of Whovians and even a few Browncoats here, and a very few awesome people are actually both. It's pretty great. I think Great Con might kill me, but it's okay cuz the food is delicious and the people are really cool. This might just work out.

Gotta go practice - first lesson with new teacher tomorrow!

Commander Kip

"What's wrong with my chin?" "Careful, you'll put someone's eye out."

Normal is overrated!

OYAN SW: Day Number the Next One (day 2)

Gettin' these done, y'all! 

My notes from that day:

Day 2

(1.    I am carrying a shotgun and wearing a monogoggle, and they are both a huge hit.

Mr. S: So, that goggle... does it let you see into my soul?

Kip: Yes. And your innards.

Mr. S: How do you tell the difference between my innards and my soul?

Kip: Well, one is squishy and the other is not.

Mr. S: Ah. That’s interesting.

Kip: It’s a precise and unexpected detail!

Mr. S: High five.

(2.    Good conversation with Dewey, Brenticus and Writersblock about Avengers. Sorry, Dewey, but I still think Loki’s prettier than Thor.

(3.    Jeff Gerke is awesome. Great advice about how to craft the first 50 pages of a novel.

(4.    One of my unicorn children makes us an awesome critique group sign for the door of the Snowbarger room. It’s a zombie unicorn, and now instead of the Glory of Unicorns, our group is the Gory of Unicorns.

(5. Many steampunk pictures are taken. Also, Brenticus magically slides his folder under a locked door. 0.o

(6.    I am ambush-adopted by Queen Jane. Good thing, too, because she’s one of my lovely unicorn children.

(7.    I spend hours and hours painting over a piece of navy blue cloth covered with Christmas teddy bears in order to use it for my Jedi costume the next day. I am up past two-thirty A.M. Snuffles beats me to bed, and I fall asleep before I get the painting done. So not fair, because Snuffles is wearing her Weeping Angel tomorrow and it’s done already.

Brenticus and I with the TARDIS

everybody holds my shotgun (except me)

our lovely sign

Sharpie and I being awesome

a gorgeous costume

two gorgeous costumes

more steampunk ladies

all of Jane's siblings (except me - she recruited me shortly thereafter)

Apparently, Day 2 was supposed to be Celtic Day, but I didn't get that memo. So steampunk instead. Nothing wrong with steampunk. I did, in case you were curious, take off the monogoggle during critique session because it was rather difficult to read with it on. And if you were also wondering why I was wearing like five watches, it's because I'm a time-traveling steampunk mercenary and I need to know what time it is in all the different timestreams I pass through in my adventures. My unicorns made up a name for the character - what was it again? Alexandria something. Whatever, it was friggin awesome.

That was Day 2, and we haven't even hit the Doctor Who yet. Oh boy. Be excited.

College is awesome too! Today I had my first classes. Luckily, the only early-morning class I have is 3D art. I can handle that. Yay.

Also, I love mail. Send me it, and I will send you some in return (when I have time.)

Commander Kip
"It was nice, not dying with you."
Normal is overrated!