my life

is not particularly exciting right now. Hm, what have I been doing lately? (This post is basically filler because I have not collected enough pictures from OYAN to do that/those post/s.) 

Oh, we visited the military cemetary in Leavenworth, where my grandpa is buried. We brought him some flowers from my grandma's rose garden.

Saw some fuzzy adolescent geese outside of Pizza Street.

Took my brother out for gelato. Obviously a huge mistake. Lookit that sugar-high face.

Went to Imagine Dragons at Starlight Theater, which was a spectacle. Angsted over lack of boyfriend's presence. Got spectacularly chewed by mosquitoes.

Made some faery wings. Nearly finished; need to add straps.

I've also been pulling weeds for various people for monies, skyping Matt, exchanging character letters with Anna, spending far too many hours of my life on Pinterest, and rewatching Sherlock with the bro. Baaaaw, Sherlock. He's such a great detective and such a terrible human being. I do love him so. And John is such a saint to put up with his crap. I'm catching so many little cute things this time around; like when Sherlock yanks that parka off of John, who makes some slightly breathless remark about Sherlock stripping his clothes off in a darkened swimming pool and how people might talk. Or when Sherlock goes "hand me my phone" and John's like "where is it" and Sherlock's like "jacket" and John goes over there and pulls the phone out of the jacket Sherlock is wearing. Or anytime Sherlock's in his pajamas and curled up in a ball on the couch. So much adorable. Can't even. Words.

Love you people. (Whoever still reads this thing; I get the sneaking suspicion it's just Leaf and Anna now...)

Commander Kip
"It's a three-patch problem."
Normal is overrated!

a taste of awesome

Kay, this is sort of a teaser-taster OYAN post. Just pictures. Of pretties.

More to come, once I've stolen some pics off the Internet. Yay stealing!

Got some brilliant ideas from my group this year, as well as the agent who conducted my mentoring session. Yay yay. Now I'm itching to edit. Later, dudes!

Commander Kip
"Girls have horns."
Normal is overrated!

Release the flood!

... of arts, which I have been saving for you. Uploaded from my mom's computer, as promised.

Firstly, some D&D things. I colored that picture of Valandra for funsies, because I felt like coloring and that was what came to hand. Didn't mean for her dress to turn out quite so minty, but anyway.

And Ileana got another sketch, because I still love her even though she exploded.

And some older steam mess doodles. Sergeant India Ravelin and Captain Benathy Greene of the good ship Cordelia, as well as Ivy Dale, Lizby and Hickory's insane Conduit mother.

Super old Hunger Games minidoodles I forgot about. Pretty self-explanatory.

So, Matt gave me The Fault in Our Stars by John Greene to read, and it slew me. It's a good thing he was sitting there next to me for the last thirty pages or so, because I was a sobby, snotty mess and needed to be held. Anyway, here's Gus and Hazel being cute.

And there they are again, along with the lyrics to the Amanda Palmer song "Astronaut." Go look it up on YouTube. Fits their relationship pretty well. (Also, I can't seem to ever draw Augustus's face the same way twice, rrr.)

Now, Mistborn things. I gave Matt the first one to read, and then he discovered that his brother had the whole trilogy at home. The other day, he Skype-chatted me something along the lines of "Sazed and Tindwyl are way too cute" and I was like OH NO. THE ENDING WILL DESTROY HIM. I should really draw those two sometime; they are in fact the sweetest couple ever. But in the meantime, have some Vin looking badass. (I rescanned this image; should be better now.)

And then have some Elend looking badass with her. Finished this one up because I love how small she looks, standing next to him.

Right, back to Birthright. I finally drew a picture (albeit a crappily composed one) of the whole gang! From left to right: Matteo, Fidelio, Andra, Nath, and Luca. They've been with me for lots of years, and they've changed some, and a few of them go by different names now, but they're my babies. D'aww.

Kay, I feel better with all that out of my system. Back to previously scheduled OYAN freakout.

Commander Kip
"Wait, Beast Boy had a brain?" "Hahahahaa - hey!"
Normal is overrated!

Houston...

... we have a problem.

*shoos alligators off of landing strip*

No, actually, I have a problem. I cannot currently upload pictures to the Internet from my laptop, or the Internet browser crashes. I do not know why I am having this problem, or how to stop having it, but until I get it figured out, I will have to find time to post from my mom's computer. Ugh. Such a pain.

This makes me sad, because I have drawrings for you. But I guess they'll have to wait. Meanwhile, working furiously on OYAN stuff! Writing like mad, putting costumes together, etc. In absence of pictures, perhaps you'd like an excerpt?

I reentered the cupboard and reached down into the tunnel, feeling the unwelcome heat pass close to my palm. Gripping the cloth-wrapped handle, I raised the torch out of the hole, keeping the flame well away from my body. Luca wriggled up beside me. A bit of dirt tumbled out of his spiky hair. “Well? Is there anything here?”

I ignored him, examining the cupboard walls by the wavering light of the torch. Many, many sharp things. Knives. Saws. Meathooks. Several pairs of shears. Drills. Long, thick nails, like the ones used by the Rumeni to stake down their tents in the summer. Every blade shone clean and silver in the torchlight. For a moment, I entertained the notion of taking one of the knives to replace my confiscated dagger. But they looked too long, the blades too wide or too curved, to fit in my sheath. I squashed down a shiver of discomfort and exited the cupboard.

The dim pool of light fell upon a low trestle table a few yards away. Very long, extending past the reach of the torch. Thick, dark wood. I approached it with caution, hearing Luca’s short breaths close behind me. The tabletop gleamed, polished from countless scrubbings. The smooth, shining surface broken only by the occasional gouge, scratch, or scar. Here and there, an irregular glint-gold stain.

Gold?

Memoria’s blood, a fine golden mist. Staining Fabello’s white shirt. Gold.

“Luca,” I said, low and even, “go back to the tunnel.”

“Why?”

His voice rang in the vast stone chamber, too loud, too high. “Go back to the tunnel,” I repeated. “Now.”

There. Satisfied? Even if not, that's all I can give you at the moment. *sings quietly to self* Se-cret-laboratory... se-cret-laboratory... through the mountain... se-cret-laboratory...

Oh oh oh, and I finally saw the new Star Trek and HOLY CRAP IT WAS AWESOME. Now I'm so glad I watched Wrath of Kahn with my parents all those years ago so I got the references. Now I need to watch Wrath of Kahn again. And then Into Darkness again. So I can drool over Kahnberbatch some more. GOD THAT MAN IS HOT. But anyway. Now every time I hear him talk, all I can think is Angel Islington. Oh well.

Also, I got some new boots. To replace the ones that exploded. And they are pretty sweeeeet.

Commander Kip
"Whoa, are you guys fighting?" "I don't want to talk about it." "What is that even like?"
Normal is overrated!