GREEN

I missed green. So happy to be drowning in it now. Even when it's NOT nice outside, there's still enough green to drown in. *happy sigh* There's this awesome gorge behind my piano teacher's house, and it's like a river of leaves in the spring and summer. I wish I could camp in there. That would rock.

GREEEEEEN!!! *points and squees*

Have you ever seen such a gorgeous leaf in your entire life?

All those delicate little curlies...

I thought these flowers looked like little faerie wedding bouquetes or something. Aren't they adorable?

And look here; faerie cabbadge!

And this was just too gorgeous, but there were so many bees flying around it, I thought they were amassing to mount a full-scale attack on me. Luckily, they were just there for the pollen. XD

Lookie, it's my Valentine's Day present. Moar green, yaay!

And this is Mom's Valentine's day present. Cute, isn't it? My dad can be sweet on occasion.

*squee* Look at those nice fat droplets...

Prettyful sunset. Check out the purple!

Tree silouhettes. Mmmm.

In other news, I passed my recommended-second-degree black belt testing without any broken bones or other mortal injuries, woot! So I'm the same rank as mi hermanito now. Haa. So thare.

Just a second, I'm gonna post again. Hold on.

Commander Kip

RE-AN-I-MAY-SHUN NIN-JU-TSU!

Normal is overrated!

as if I need more characters

But they just keep coming to me, you know?

Terrible excuse? Yeah, probably. Will I try to put a damper on it now, lest all the random charries form an army and take over my soul?

Nooooo. Nevah!

Anyway, this is Rosephayne Stone. Yeah, she actually does talk like that. The profile of her face came out nice, I think. That and the tail end of her braid, and her butt. She has a nice butt. Everything else... meh. Whatever. There's a very small revolver in there somewhere, but the whole blasted thing made a lot more sense in my head.

Rosey is an energy vampire like the ones in Lady Arin's and my collab... but she's kinda floating right now. Tam's letting her crash at his place, but they fight so much it's barely worth it. Gaah.

I started sketching this cute Thaelen/Anabeth thingy last night, but as always, I can't get Thaelen to cooperate, so we'll see how that goes. Plus, I can't draw hands to save my life. *smites Thaelen and his oddly spiderish hands* Anabeth's look weird too. Like puppet hands. *shudder* I'll keep working on it. Oh, I think I'm getting better at drawing people kissing though... it makes so much more sense now... wonder why...

Blast, it's starting to look like Chapter Eleven might be one of those twenty-five page epic ordeals. I SO don't have time for that. But Nath had to have his little angsty moment and be all "Don't ever do that to me again, I thought you were dead, call the WAAAAMBULANCE" and stuff. *snort* Don't get me wrong, I love him to pieces. But too much Naruto will have that effect on my writing, I notice. And I've had far too much Naruto of late. Hehehehe. Not that I MIND.

Ouch. Someone needs to defrag my brain.

Commander Kip
NO PEEKING!!! *defenestrates*
Normal is overrated!

Rasengan versus Sharingan

NARUTO. Bwahahaaa.

"I will bring you back, even if I have to break every bone in your body to do it..." Tam: Dude, nobody cares. You're stalling. Get back to your Spanish paper.

Me: *pouts* Go away.

Rosephayne: Yeah, git outta here, punk! *draws revolver*

Tam: Hey, who're you calling punk, freakess?

Rosephayne: That's Miss Freakess t'yew.

Me: Here we go again with the blood-drinkers and the energy-drainers. Gaah. Take it outside, guys!

Arkady: *bangs their heads together and frogmarches them out the door*

Hee.

Naruto (c) Kishimoto

Tam McKarthy, Rosephayne Stone and Arkady of Erimon (c) Da Commandah

Commander Kip
Aw, you made me fail my fish!
Normal is overrated!

Kipin's getting better at this whole 'grief' thing

You guys who have known me forever and read my stuff, know that I used to suck at it. Epically. After writing most of my original adventure novel, I'm finally getting the hang of portraying grief. You know how your first instinct as a writer is to make your character cry when sad things happen? Don't do it, I tell you. Resist the urge! *glomps Magnus* Don't let your character cry! At least, not too much. It's way more effective, when hugely awful things happen, to hide them behind a mask, or send them into shock, or make them lash out in a fury, or whatever we DON'T expect them to do. So, from that space, read this and tell me how I did.

I shoved past a pair of soldiers with their blades locked together at the hilt, each straining to best the other. My boot snagged on someone’s discarded quarterstaff, and I went down on my hands and knees in the muddy snow. As I lifted my head, my eyes refocused on the body stretched out in front of me.
He lay on his back, arms flung out to either side. A sword stood upright in his chest, a sword with a smooth black stone set into the crosshilt. The general roar of battle dropped away, leaving behind a numb silence. Violence swirled around me, men from both baronies fought and died, but I couldn’t hear them. Only the hushed murmur of heavy, wet snowflakes striking the ground.
Get up, my mind told me. Get up and keep moving. You don’t know this boy. You’re making a mistake. He’s not who you think. Just leave him. Get up. Get up!
But the spiked, tawny hair told me otherwise. I only knew one person with hair like that.
My hand moved as if it belonged to someone else. When my fingers brushed the frozen stream of blood at the corner of his mouth, I felt nothing. I watched, impassive, as the hand that was not mine traced the frost on his closed eyelids, skimmed his pale jaw, and waited at his neck for a pulse. Why couldn’t I feel his heart beating? Why couldn’t I feel?
“He’s quite dead, I’m afraid,” said a gentle voice by my ear. “Pity that stupid Dawnbridge brat can’t seem to follow orders. That is his sword, I take it?”
I turned my head. Fable crouched beside me, wearing a sorrowful expression that didn’t match the hard gleam in his eyes. I stared at the sharpness of him, of his nose and chin and cheekbones. His green cat’s eyes. I wondered why he didn’t cut people simply by looking at them.
“Yes.”
Peering at me, he lifted a few sodden black strands away from my face with his callous-tipped fingers. “I believe you’ve gone into shock.”
I didn’t move.
He jerked me upright by my hair. “Andra, do you know where your mother is now?”
That question didn’t make sense. “My mother?”
“There is no need,” he snarled, “to repeat everything I say. Do you know where she is?” Holding me by a fistful of hair, he yanked my head back, forcing me to look him in the face. I blinked as he shifted in and out of focus. Even his teeth are sharp.
“No.”
A smirk thinned his lips. “I thought not. She happens to be at the Gypsy’s Bramble just now, suffering from an extremely high fever. My sources tell me she’s not expected to last the night.”
Another piece of information that didn’t make sense. I tried to think. I don’t know for sure where the Baroness is, but I can only think of so many places she might be, and the Gypsy’s Bramble isn’t one. “She can’t be there. She hates gypsies,” I mumbled.
“Not the Baroness, silly girl,” Fable said, rolling his eyes, “I’m talking about your biological mother. Alice, or Eris…”
“Aurice.”
“Yes, Aurice. That’s her name. In any case, I would hurry if I were you. It would be such a terrible pity if you were to miss her.”
With a short laugh, he flung me down beside my friend’s body and strode off, the purple lining of his half-cloak the only color in a world washed gray.

Gah! I miss Kaden already. You guys could tell it was him, right?

Anyway, Andra is a complete mess in this scene. Normally, she wouldn't begin to put up with Fable jerking her around like that. *swats Fable*

Commander Kip
Hey look, a ring! But I can't see it through all the spam...
Normal is overrated!

Kip was doodling again

Quite a bit, actually.

Kay, let's make this quick. IT'S NATH OMG. And it looks like him and everything. Woot. I love that guy. I've only drawn Kaden once before, and this one is better than the first one. His hair is behaving nicely. XD Too bad I always draw the best things on my church bulletin...

First-ever picture of Flavius, making an awesome face. Ha, I bet you didn't know he had a ponytail!

First-ever FULL picture of Fable (I've drawn his eyes before, but never his whole head.) His hair came out nice. And his bladey nose.

ARKADY! Mah favorite bonkybear. XD I've never drawn him before either. But I love this sketch cuz it looks exactly like him. He makes that face all teh tiem.

NOO, don't take my Appropriate Points!! *hoards points* This is part of a bigger sketch, but I hate their bottom halves... gaah, pants are STUPID. :P

Switching gears completely... it's Thaelen, looking nothing like Thaelen, on a YELLOW piece of paper. Yellow is not Thaelen's color in the least. His face looks okay, but I gave him the wrong hair. Meh.

First time drawing Necrea! You guys probably don't know this person, lawl. She's from Portals, Anabeth's second-in-command. I'm still in the process of tweaking her design, so if she looks completely different the next time I draw her, do not be alarmed. I like her elfy eyebrows, matches her description, 'a human built like a Fae'. See? Round ears. *gawsp*

SQUEE, MORWYN!! I rawk at drawing her. XD Sheesh, I misspelled her name on the pic though...

First decent pic of Ellian. I've drawn her a buncha times, but not within the last year and a half. Darling, isn't she?

Horas, first time. He's one of Anabeth's Fae Irlicans, in case you didn't know that already, duh. Weird lookin' elf, isn't he? I like the weird on him. Fits somehow.

Hey, you guys remember Captain Calamity from the Picnic Club site? I resurrected her. Cuz she's cool and in the last pic I drew of her, she looked like a man with a corset. This is an improvement, yes?

I'm presenting my Takacs Project for the school talent show. Be excited! It's gonna be awesome, even if I have to scream the whole story from behind the piano in the back of the room. XD

Tide. One of the Gatekeepers; don't expect me to remember which Gate he's guarding. (I have two characters named Tide now: this one and the Mast-angel on the Leaders' Circle in Erimon Hill.)

Wow, this girl's old. Like, ancient almost. I haven't drawn her in... gah... four years. Jeez. Her name is Kija Belanaza, and she's from a really old scifi thing I tried to write a while back. She's an alien! Hur hur hur. Oh, and she's also extremely pregnant (with four kids.) The only pregnant character I've ever had.Fletcherrrrr. From Takacs Project. I FLIPPIN' LOVE HOW HE CAME OUT. *glomp/squee*

Needed a break from Chapter Ten the other night and colored this old Irk doodle. Attempted shading and everything. She's so patient with me. I don't even have a door for her yet.

Random freckled elfy. Everything I draw has pointed ears now. Done on the back of a 5 Browns concert program. Thanks, Grandma, epic win of a birthday present.

Hey now, why are you asking ME who it is? I certainly have no idea, other than the fact that she has Eigon ears. Also, I think she wants to eat your brain.

I wasn't BORED in novel writing class, I was LISTENING to Mr. S talk. There's a difference. Gum wrappers are fun to blow up. *gigglesnorts at the expression on Peter's face*

If I go too long without drawing TT fanart, I go into withdrawl. So here's everybody's favorite Titan throwing a fit. And no, she's not wearing much and yes, that border is exceedingly crooked. It looked straight from where I was sitting when I drew it, okay? Sheesh. Oh, have I mentioned how much I love messing with Raven?

Stress relief. Thanks, Sasuke.

Kakashi-sensei! *squees & tackles*

Kakashi: *poof*

Me: *mutters* Blast, it's ALWAYS a shadow clone...

So Liese and Trucano and my brother and I (and some other people) went to see How To Train Your Dragon the other night.

DUDE. That movie is the most incredibly adorable thing IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE. Srsly. I didn't have a ref for Hiccup and Astrid, but I had to do SOMETHING.

Esplodin' birdy! Gaah, Deidara pwns ur soul. He is such the coolest. Exploding clay, I tell you! It gets no cooler! And Deidara himself is so pretty you just want to pet his hair. He's mah favorite.

Although... I saw a few episodes with Kimimaro in them, and that guy is Hot with a capital H, even though he has the weirdest grossest jutsu ever. Sigh. I should draw him sometime.

My random ninja character Kiri. Not to be confused with Kimimaro. I didn't even know about him when I drew this pic. I like her pose, and her epically huge kunai. Oh, and ninja face masks ftflippinw.

Naruto and all related characters (Sasuke, Kakashi, Deidara's bird) (c) Kishimoto

How To Train Your Dragon and charries (Hiccup and Astrid) (c) Dreamworks, I believe

Teen Titans and Raven (c) Murakami

EVERYBODY ELSE, including ninja Kiri (c) The Kip

Okay, quick novel update: I sprouted an extra chapter between the Achievement and Black Moment by accident. Chapter eight ballooned into forty pages, and most of my chapters are between fifteen and twenty... so I cut it in half, and now I have an extra chapter to write. Lovely. I finished Chapter Ten (Black Moment) on Saturday night - well, early Sunday morning actually, like, four a.m. or something... heh... *sheepface* But anyway, Kaden's dead and I'm really proud of his death scene, as awful as that sounds. If I post part of it up here, do you guys promise not to steal it?

Oops, it's really late now... nearly midnight... this always happens when I post. Gaah.

OFF TO FINISH FABLE WEAVER!!!!!!!11!!!!1!!!

Snuffles somehow made off with ALL the madskillz.

Commander Kip

Next time I see a dragon, I'm gonna cut all its legs off... with my FACE.

Normal is overrated!

the long overdue Mitzi sketch...

... has arrived. BOOYAH. Used a reference for the face. Love the hair, hate the sleeves, border was a pain... and that about sums it up. Love you, Liese! I'll be bringing this in to you on Monday finally. Lol.

Poor Mitzi. *claps handses over mouth*

Aaand Kaden just died.

BLAST IT.

*flails*

Commander Kip
Thanks for nothing, you USELESS reptile.
Normal is overrated!

paranoia on hooves

Yeah, Mom and the bro and I were listening to The Lost Colony on tape in the car, and it was super funny to watch Mom crack up. I heart Foaly. He made my mother laugh. XD Commander Kip
"What color is the uniform?" "Matte black." "Okay. I'm in."
Normal is overrated!

"What's wrong with my eyes?"

Letting you know about the blood ahead of time. Ye be warned. This post not recommended for small children or people's parents.

Is it weird that I feel really bad for Pippa Cross? I mean, I know she turns evil and everything, but she has such a sad life, it's hard to NOT feel bad for her. Like, I nearly cried when the other three girls came to visit her in the realms, and her eyes go all creepy on them, and someone says something, and she's like, "Eyes? What's wrong with my eyes?" She can't even tell that she's turning into a Winterlands creature. See, there it is - proof that bad things always happen to beautiful people. It's so not fair. *glomps Pippa*

Pippa: *murders* *sacrifices* *makes scaryface*

See, what did I tell you?

Oh, it was awesome, at Lady Arin's house, she saw this picture, and:

Arin: Hey, it's Pippa! Is that her shadow or something?

Kip: *flaps hands in a nonchalant manner* It's prolly blood.

Arin: Oh... Ew.

Kip: *falls about laughing*

We had too much fun over thare.

The arrow in her hand represents Felicity, by the way. *muffled, belated squee*

Happy April Fools Day!

Commander Kip

I feel like a million bucks... *keels over*

Normal is overrated!

Presenting...

...Lady Arin's backup BACKUP birthday present... her character Terrin!! *flying tackle-glomp* He is the awesomest. I got to interview him in the car on the way back from the library, and then we ended up having a four-way conversation with two people, and Her Ladyship's daddy kept looking back at us like we were crazy and it was AWESOME. If you've never tried having a four-way conversation between two people before... I urge you, go for it. A bigger blast you will never have. Especially when there are confuzzled parents listening in. AHAHAHAAA. Check out those girly elf boots. XD By the way, he's not as pleasant as he looks. The kid needs to work on his manners, lol. *nudges the Lady* You knoweth of what I speak, yes? *cackles maniacally*

Sorry, everybody, it's late and Kipin's in a very strange mood. What else is new?

Commander Kip

"Oh, for heaven's sake," said Prak, and died testily.

Normal is overrated!

WIPs *gawrsp*

NO WAI DOOD, Kipin's actually posting something that's NOT DONE?! Naww.

Yep. Believe it.

This bristly gentlemen is Hatter Madigan from The Looking Glass Wars. Pretty much everthing he wears can be turned into a deadly murder weapon, including his hat, which collapses into a ring of spinning blades when thrown. Needless to say, I love this guy. And no, this picture is not done, or I would have taken an eraser to it and cleaned it up moar.
Why, you ask, am I so excited about this new drawing I'm working on that I'm posting a thumbnail-sized wip of it? You'll never guess in a million years, so I'll tell you. Two words:

Black Ribbons.

I heart mah Black Ribbons people with a fiery passion, folks. Instant character development, right thare. You only get Min and Juni right now, but Draith will be in the finished product, after I get his knees to cooperate. I love Jasmine's little baby horns. X3

Oh, have I mentioned that nightgowns are stoopid and no one should ever wear them because they're way too hard to draw? No? Well. Now I have.

I told you guys about Broga here, but I won't blame you if you don't remember. I barely remember. XD Anyway, this is probably as done as she's going to get, seeing as I'm in no humor to acutally clean this up at all. By the way, I love her ear, and her hair, and her tattoos, but I pretty much hate everything else about this picture. The proportions are all off and her fin looks terribly flat. Plus, her nose offends me.

Broga is an Eigon chieftainess, by the way. Hence the weird extremities. Her name means 'frog' or something in Welsh. Ah, I love mah Welsh and Gaelic dictionaries. *huggles them*

So yes. Now that all of those wips are out of my hair, I need to sit daown and actually FINISH them. O.o Scaryface.

But first I turn my attention to Lady Arin's TOP-SECRET birthday present that I shall do my very best not to spoil for her. MUAA.

***

You thought I was done, didn't you? Tch, you should know better by now.

I wanted to say something really quick on the subject of character interviews - a writing exercise that involves throwing said character into a small, grey cell with grimy walls and strapping/chaining/manacling them to a chair and asking them questions until they say something that surprises you. Pippin the author did one of her charries, and it sounds like oodles of fun (plus, some of my Erimon Hill people need it rather desperately.) I've been thinking about doing Arkady, because I just can't figure that boy out and he's way too... eh. I dunno... he feels kind of fake, like a puppet, you know, a marionette puppet with someone yanking strings to make his limbs move and his head nod. It all feels a bit stiff. He's a weirdo; he doesn't talk much, but when he does talk it's NOT to say something profound that everyone will listen to... it's usually to tease or berate Kaden, or ask some form of stupid/rhetorical question. Most of the time he's only there to smack Kaden around when he gets too goofy, but then when they're escaping from the warehouse, he single-handedly holds off like a dozen armed men while Andra and the others escape. I just can't figure him out. He's terribly inconsistent. Gaah. Must have a talk with that boy.

Nath's had his share of inconsistencies too, and mi padre, whom I hardly ever discuss story ideas with, thought I should interview him. I was telling him about the Chapter Seven incident when he starts yelling at Andra because he's worried about her, which shocked me rather, since that particular shouting match was not at all in the outline, and I didn't think Nath was a very shouty guy. Padre said it all sprung from not knowing Nath well enough and said I should do an interview with him, try to figure out why he felt the need to break character and yell at Andra like that. I'll try to work on that over spring break and if it turns out presentable enough, I might even post the interview up here. *wink wink grin*

There. Done for real this time.

Commander Kip

Never mind us, it's the candles I'm worried about!

Normal is overrated!