insaneladybug | Entries tagged with pokemon

So I watched Giovanni's song again because it's one of my favorites in Pokemon Live and pondered on how some of what he sings is really scary ("complete annihilation" to his enemies?!). I wonder if Jessie and James and Meowth really take him literally. In the anime, he never says anything like that, at least not for them to hear. But in the play, he does. So in that verse, either they don't care or they really don't think he means it literally. I'm tempted to have a bit with them really thinking about what he said and starting to get worried about it.

Other possible tweaks to the storyline would involve them eventually not going along with his plans to some extent (either by actively trying to stop it and maybe getting hurt or else just not doing anything and maybe hiding during the final battle; either would fit with their personalities). Even though I know I will never put on any version of Pokemon Live, I did think that figuring out a slightly tweaked version of the production for my own enjoyment would be fun to do. Only thing is, it's a pretty light-hearted production and I wouldn't want to make it too serious. So I debate whether to even tinker with it at all.

And even though I'd want to make Jessie and James not as incompetent as they were in the play, another of my favorite songs in the production was The Best At Being the Worst. Fun tune and it made me snark. I liked Jessie and James tangoing too. So I'd want that one to stay. But I'd think of it being more like it was in the abridged production, because Jessie and James seemed kind of mean-spirited to each other in the full production version of it, or at least Jessie did, since James was accidentally injuring her and it looked like she was deliberately hurting him in turn. Very Jessie-like, of course, but I think they'd be able to dance without so many disasters happening. LOL. Although I definitely laughed when they got tangled up like pretzels. **snerk.**

(Yeah, I like them dancing together even though I'm not a Rocketshipper, heh. Because I think it's adorable for them to be enjoying dancing together like that if there aren't any romantic feelings involved!)

Also, my favorite line from the song: "We defy Murphy's Law!" LOLOLOL.... Or actually, I think it's "define." But either way, that's classic.

... And I think another of my favorite tracks on the Christmas album is Nobody Don't Like Christmas. LOL. It's a very cynical ditty with more humor that grown-ups would get than kids. Meowth is so funny.

I think chapter 2 of the fic is done, but I haven't posted it yet. I've been getting Favorites and Kudos, but no comments yet. Was hoping for at least one, so I might wait until tomorrow before posting more. I have chapter 3 started and I also wrote the updated version of the future scene where Jessie finds Meowth attacked. It's much more involved and intense and sad than before. I also plan to do a scene unique to the new version where Jessie is at the Pokemon Center, waiting for Meowth to wake up. Reading the old version, I cringe at how Meowth disappeared from the plot once he was hurt. He's mentioned a couple of times, but only appears again at the end, running in with Ash and company. And really, I think if Meowth was hurt after James was already thought dead, that would really put a strain on Jessie and it would be something to write about, not gloss over. Man, the old version is so terrible....

Also, I finally saw Mewtwo Returns. I totally love it! So much great Team Rocket content. I especially loved that even though they were being dangerously weighed down by the rope with all those people hooking onto the basket, they never once considered taking the rope off and letting the people fall to certain injury or death. And Meowth helping the other Pokemon was awesome, and also how he hoped to help Jessie and James by doing so, since they'd promised to let Jessie and James go if he helped. Then he got really involved in the Pokemons' plight and sincerely wanted to help them. I loved when he stood up to Mewtwo at the end and insisted that everyone's memories needed to stay. And Mewtwo trusting all three of them to keep things secret speaks volumes.

I also love that the city where Mewtwo settles at the end looks like New York. Heh.

I'm going to watch it again now. I might have liked to have seen the third movie and the Lucario movie again when I had them, but I didn't think I'd have the time for that, since they're longer, especially the Lucario one, but this is shorter and it's also harder to get hold of since it's out of print, so I'm definitely going to watch it some more before it goes back to the library.

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Pokemon Christmas Bash

The Team Rocket shirt that I thought would work the best for me, the one with Meowth standing in front of Jessie, is only $10.49 right now. That's the one with the "Prepare for trouble and make it double" around the picture, which would be awkward if Dad tried to read it, but at least he wouldn't really be able to see what Jessie was wearing. It is so tempting to get it....

And ugh, I was looking for a kids' book at Barnes and Noble last week, an adaptation of some X and Y episode with Team Rocket getting to save the day, and I couldn't find it. I was pressed for time and I didn't really think I'd buy it since it's $3.99 for a 32 page book, so I didn't keep looking or ask, but now I see that they do have it in stock somewhere in that branch. I do wish I could have found it and at least looked at it.

I watched the abridged Pokemon Live on Saturday night and just finished watching most of the scenes cut out from it in the full version. Aside from the Pokeshipping stuff, I actually do really like it. But I do cringe that Team Rocket seems OOC. Jessie and James seem more idiotic than usual and Meowth even has a key phrase that he screams at them throughout. "Knuckleheads!!!!!1111" Brock also seemed a little goofier than he should have been. Trying to forgive those problems, it was a lot of fun.

Watching live stage shows and things like that fun Double Trouble video make me wish I could put on productions like that, or even just short Pokemon or Turtles videos. It would be so fun to have some local friends who would like to get together and do something like that! I don't think I ever mentioned this, but as a kid I had a dream of putting on plays that I'd written. I even wrote one about the characters that started out as Don Karnage and Mad Dog and later became more like OCs. I never did get to put it on, but for a while I really tried hard to make it work. Now I have a silly dream of wishing I could put on an amateur and free production of Pokemon Live (although I'd probably cut the Pokeshipping stuff and tweak Team Rocket's dialogue a bit, heh). But I wouldn't have anyone to put it on with, unless I tried to recruit kids in the neighborhood who like Pokemon, and I doubt I'd really be able to handle something like that. I would get so overwhelmed so quickly, especially with kids' short attention spans. (I think that's partially why my old play never quite worked. No one else wanted to do it as much as I did. Although I probably could have made it work had I tried harder. I eventually got overwhelmed.) I'd rather put it on with contemporaries and not be the only person in the crew, and I just don't have any local Pokemon fan friends. But ah, it's fun to think about, at least.

And then I started working more diligently on my redo of the old Pokemon fic. The first chapter was written very quickly and I ended up deciding I wanted to share it right away and post each chapter as it's written, as is my usual modus operandi. I'm working on chapter 2 now. It is so fun writing this fic over and making it better!

... Also, while listening to the Christmas songs yet again, I'm pondering on how I think one of the charming things about Pokemon and 87 Turtles and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is that they don't tend to have rude or crude words involving body parts or bathroom humor so common in kids' shows starting around the mid-90s. 87 Turtles only used those types of rude words maybe twice and I don't recall ever hearing such talk in My Little Pony or Pokemon. Don't know how the newer Pokemon seasons hold up, but it was something nice about the old ones, at least. It makes the shows feel dignified, at least in that respect. Definitely the shows have their flaws, and I will always cringe whenever I see Team Rocket being electrocuted, but I do like that at least listening to the shows is a clean experience. It's especially surprising coming from Pokemon and My Little Pony, since they both came out after the point when such talk was becoming commonplace in kids' shows.

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Under the Mistletoe---Pokemon Christmas Bash

If I change the disaster to water for my Dead and Alive redo, maybe James somehow manages to drag himself out of the water or just ends up washed ashore and then is attacked by Bonnie and Clyde at that point. Then I could still have him trick them when they try to kill him, although I'd also want to change that the method of death is strangling. I haven't done that since learning of how it hurts the throat/neck even if you do survive. Several weeks of wearing a neck brace just for a few seconds of strangling ... no, thank you. Maybe they just try hitting him on the head and he falls down dazed, but fakes being dead when he realizes they think they hit him hard enough to kill him. Of course, then they'd try checking for a pulse and he'd have to get up and try to fight them off, and then he still falls off a cliff to lower ground. They leave him for dead at that point, either that or they have to leave because the ground is crumbling all around. (Or because of some other effect of their flood. I imagine Ash and company will have to try to repair the dam to stop the entire forest from being wrecked.)

Also thinking that the water disaster starts when Bonnie and Clyde deliberately break a dam or something to try to flood the cabin where the trio is staying. So a flood happens and James tries to help Jessie and Meowth, but then goes under and they can't find him and are panicking thinking he's drowned. But instead, yeah, he gets to shore and then that other stuff happens.

In the morning I tried redoing the scene in the climax when Jessie finds James after he's hurt saving her from the Big Bad. That scene didn't end up so different, though, since that was the one where I wanted to keep the dialogue I already had. But other things will be pretty different and/or fleshed out.

And I'm worried that I screwed up my other fic by posting the epilogue without reading through the whole story again first. I read through it so many times while writing and posting other segments, and after writing the epilogue too, so I thought it was okay and I'd addressed everything I needed to in the epilogue, but now I'm worried that maybe I didn't. Bleh.

Heh, how funny that I was worried getting the Pokemon DVDs would plunnie me since I'd casually written for the show in the past, but then decided it probably wouldn't happen. And now it has anyway. I'm still working with the Turtles fics too, but I'm having a bit of trouble concentrating on finishing the one I've been working on. It's actually close to the end, so hopefully I'll be able to get the rest done in between all these Pokemon plunnies. I really want to do a second Christmas Turtles fic and have Santa return and talk to Barney, happy that he's in a better place now. But aside from that, I am worried about the continuation of the series. The other fics on the list aren't really speaking to me and I don't have any other ideas.

A year ago tonight, I was working on my Phantom of the Floxy Redux fic. I went to this awesome Messiah sing-along thing and planned out the hurt/comfort scene while I was there. It was the only time I was really happy during that Christmas season. Every other celebratory thing I tried to do that year seemed to go wrong. I can't attend the sing-along this year, so I hope other things will go right this time.

I still love that old fic. So intense and exciting and fun to write. But wow, have Baxter and Barney come a long way since then. Especially Barney. But Baxter's grown too.

... And wow. I didn't think anybody could make me like the song Christmastime is Here. It sounds so melancholy and sad even though it's really supposed to be peaceful, happy, and nostalgic. It always make me feel melancholy and sad. But I just heard Kurt Bestor make it sound peaceful and nostalgic. (Then it got upbeat and jazzy too.) Finally, a version I like! Now he's doing a calypso O Christmas Tree. Epic.

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Kurt Bestor

So I'm back to thinking of how I could redo my old Pokemon fic Dead and Alive. I read through it again and pondered.

One thing I would probably want to do is to change what actually happens. The original story has a fire and explosion, and since I just did that in the fic I just finished, it should probably be a different disaster that happens in the old fic. Considering rapids/waterfalls/something else to do with water.

Next problem: James reveals at the end that he tricked and fought off his attacker in the woods and then was pushed off a cliff to the beach below. I would like him to trick his attacker in a redo, but if it's in the water, it might be harder to do.

I guess the story really is more that he's missing rather than positively dead, since there's no body and only a bloodied glove Pikachu finds, but then again, with the explosion they figure he was caught in it and there isn't anything left to find. If I change things to water, I might play up the missing angle more, although still with people considering him dead.

I'm still thinking of each story being self-contained and not referenced in other stories (aside from the crossover ones and the starfish oneshot) because I like to keep having different ways that Ash and company sees Team Rocket showing their goodness and somehow I like it most when such stories are not connected. That way it feels fresh each time. Therefore, this story would not reference the one I just finished, for example. But we'll see.

Still debating the Giovanni problem, as while I don't really think I want him to be trying to kill James, I'm also not sure I want the stickiness of an imposter in there, as that could take some of the focus away from the main problem. Maybe I should just make it some creep in the organization who thinks Giovanni will reward him for getting rid of such incompetence. Instead, Giovanni is furious that the person acted without his permission. (Tentatively thinking of making it two creeps and calling them Bonnie and Clyde. **giggle.**)

My own incompetence with writing different aspects of the Pokemon world, and the Pokemon themselves, would of course be smoothed out, since now I would really know what I was doing, at least well enough to be convincing. The original fic clearly shows my mind was on one thing and one thing only and I had little interest in even keeping basic facts and spellings straight.

Things like Meowth being attacked would be fleshed out, with Jessie absolutely distraught and refusing to lose him too.

James' misadventures, like choosing a disguise and later hiding in an old house, would be fleshed out as well.

I should probably wait a while before posting this fic in any case, but it will take a good long while to write the revision, if I write it, so probably no problem there.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Silent Night---Cherie Call

Well, I decided to contact the girl who created the Team Rocket video and played Meowth, as I figured that was definitely the only right thing to do when I wanted to use the majority of her human catboy Meowth design in a fic and in some drawings. As I hoped, she said yes! I've been tinkering a little more with the fic and I definitely think it will happen. And I already did a couple of experimental drawings yesterday. One of them, at least, I'll probably touch up and post. The main differences with my version are that the ears are to the sides of the hat instead of going through the hat, the charm is now in a ring, he can extend his nails as very dangerous claws, and he still has cat-like eyes. And I'm not sure if I'll keep the R on the tie, as that was a little detail of hers that I might want to leave unique to her version. (Maybe an R lapel pin instead, LOL.) Everything else basically looks like her version.

Of course, the fic will be another installment in the Turtles/Pokemon crossover verse, but this one will fall on the Pokemon side of things and the Turtles characters will be guests, so it will be posted in the Pokemon category. I'm debating whether it will be a oneshot or if I should leave it open as a vignette series, since I want to play around with the idea of human Meowth for a while yet I don't want the mutation to be in other fics. I'm also debating if Krang should try to get Meowth, as James is now worrying he will. If he does, that will go over very badly, LOL. The mutation resulted in much longer, stronger claws. Meowth could probably wreak havoc on the Technodrome if Krang tries to abduct him.

Then I had a weird thought. I wonder why catboys always seem to have blond hair. Of course with Meowth it makes sense since his fur is cream-colored, but then there's Chat Noir from Miraculous Ladybug and Schrodinger from Hellsing.

I've also been pondering on my continuing very bad reaction to the K-Marts in the state closing. For weeks I was even telling myself, "No, it's not gone. It's still there, exactly as I remember it in the good days." Of course, I never actually made myself believe that, but it was just nice as a way of coping. Now I seem to have better settled into acceptance that it's gone and I'm not really telling myself it's there anymore, but I still choose to remember it in a happy way. I'm still not sure why it closing affected me so badly. I guess I just plain loved it more than I even consciously knew.

Current Mood: pleased

... Random thought, but it's odd to see Pokemon has the Y7-FV rating these days. I remember when the early seasons had the Y rating. Y7 is probably better for it, really.

And I have the problem that as I've been looking at my old Meowth plush and seeing the differences between it and the more accurate Build-a-Bear plush, I'm ... kind of wanting to get the Build-a-Bear one after all. I shouldn't and should just get ones I don't have in any form, but now it's kind of tempting. Then I also have the problem that I feel like it would be betraying the old Meowth plush to get a second one. **headdesk.** I probably won't really get the Build-a-Bear one, but who knows. The tail on the Build-a-Bear one is so cute! It really looks curled, whereas on the old plush they couldn't seem to figure out how to achieve that look. And the old one looks so chubby/stubby. I love him so dearly, though. My aunt gave him to me on my 16th birthday, which was one of the happiest birthdays I've had, for that reason and others.

I had a slight time of it getting into the swing of Johto, but after the first couple of episodes I watched, I found some that I liked a lot more and that felt more like the first two seasons in tone. Now I'm happy I got it and I'm back to figuring I'll get season 4 too. But beyond that, probably not, since I was so unhappy with how Team Rocket was written starting in season 5.

I also debate on what to do about Wobbufett. I've always liked him a lot, and I like him way better than Lickitung, but I don't know whether to put him in the fics or not. (I hadn't introduced any Johto Pokemon for the main characters because I was trying to keep the classic original line-up feel.) I always feel bad for him since Jessie treats him so rotten, at least in the older seasons. And I just saw the episode introducing him. It was kind of sad that Jessie didn't even get a chance to say Goodbye to Lickitung, and sad that Wobbufett was raised in a good home and then had to end up with crooks.

Then I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this publicly, but I enjoy that live-action Double Trouble and its human/catboy version of Meowth so much that I have a weird plunnie that won't go away involving Meowth stumbling into some mutagen Bebop and Rocksteady probably dropped and ending up mostly human, probably strongly resembling the human Meowth in the video, but still possessing all of his Pokemon powers and cat behaviors. Apparently mutagen does weird things to Pokemon. He is confused and initially freaks out, but quickly warms up to the idea. There is the retro-mutagen ray gun that can change him back, but he wants to have a little fun as a human first. I do not like humans turning into animals and sometimes animals turning into humans is also uncomfortable for me, but I can sometimes be intrigued by the latter. In Meowth's case, he already really thinks he's a human/has to keep being reminded he's a Pokemon, so it doesn't seem like much of a stretch for him to look the part. I've been tinkering with blurbs and one cracky one where he's trying to fool Ash and company/see how long he can carry on a charade before they figure out it's him. It kind of reminds me of Mr. Ecks toying with Illya in my fics. I don't know if I'll really do anything with any of the blurbs, but it's fun fiddling with them. I kind of wonder if I'd need to contact the person who made the video and mention I was inspired by the human Meowth in the video and would it be okay if I designed one who looked very similar to that one. I also went on dA to see if drawing human Meowths was common. I figured others would have done it, and they have, but I really raised an eyebrow that female Meowths are more common than male Meowths. Which is totally cool if it's some other Meowth, but I think at least some of the females were Team Rocket's Meowth. What? I know canonically Pokemon get called "it" (which I hate and won't do in fics for Pokemon whose genders should be known), but Team Rocket's Meowth is a boy. I think Jessie and James always say "he", even though I don't think Ash and company do. "It" is so impersonal. No pet owner in real-life would call their beloved animal "it."

Then I was fooling around on YouTube and stumbled on the information that characters get encased in stone in the Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction movie. I found it and watched that part. Team Rocket was clutching each other in terror when it happened to them. It was pretty heartbreaking. And Pikachu slowly dying in Ash's arms ... GAH. I loved the good Pokemon restoring everyone to life.

Speaking of restoring to life ... I'd better go bring James back by uploading the next chapter of my fic.

Current Mood: embarrassed

So the car is not fixed. But my brother (the one who gave me the $20 for my birthday) let us borrow his car.

Traffic was frightening. But everything went well!

Bulbasaur is definitely striking. But I couldn't justify paying so much for him. Plus, honestly, he looked hard to cuddle with. They had all the Pokemon in the store, as I'd hoped, and I decided I really wanted Pikachu the most. But I think I'll get Eevee too at some point. She's so cute!

$28 still seems a lot, but somehow Pikachu seems bigger now than he did two years ago. Maybe that's because since then, I've seen what else is available and how small the other sizes are. And at least I got $5 off the price thanks to the coupon that prompted the entire outing! The Turtles on the last round were $28 too (although I got 30% off on the one I bought on that round, Michelangelo).

While we were out, I decided to check Barnes and Noble on the off chance that maybe a stray Sailor Moon figure was still on clearance. Naturally not; they were all bought up by this point. I'm glad I got to get a couple last month when the sale was on.

I've also wanted to check another Wal-Mart to see if they still had the Pokemon hat I wanted, and maybe The Johto Journeys too, because I do crave some more Pokemon and there are definitely things I like about Johto. The Wal-Mart I tried had both! And I got both. The hat had reached $2 in clearance price! So awesome. I love clearance! I hope I won't regret the DVD purchase. Hopefully there will be enough awesome Johto episodes to make it worth my while. And I'm obsessed with the theme song. Never cared much for season 4's theme, but as soon as I heard season 3's theme years ago, I fell in love with it.

I listened to the Pokemon Christmas album again and found it just as amusing as before. Then I started fooling around on YouTube playing random songs, and I've also decided Pokemon Live is awesome when all the Pokeshipping subplot stuff is omitted. I love another, abridged production I was shown and still need to see in full, and I love the utter, wonderful crack of Dexter being sentient and having a song. **snerk.** That kind of crack is in line with the Turtles' stage show, I think.

Somewhere along the way, I ended up stumbling on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYdRJyFAnMY

I'm kind of obsessed with it too. A bunch of girls and a dad got together and this happened. LOL. Fun times. And I love Meowth's clothes and hair, I think mainly because they remind me of Scott on Carmen Sandiego.

So all in all, I'm having a Pokemon obsessed moment again, like I had last month. It's fun.

I'm also moving steadily along on the Turtles' fic. I think I've reached a snag and I hope it won't last. Snags are annoying and not fun.

Now I'm debating whether to post another Pokemon chapter right away. I think the one chapter a day thing is wearying to the readers, even though they're short chapters and that's usually what I do if a story is mostly written. But I ended up adding more to the chapter because I decided the fight scene needed to be shown more than briefly summarized. I'll need to look it over again before I post it. I'm wondering if I should hold off until after Thanksgiving to post the rest. Many is the year I posted something on Thanksgiving and had very little luck with reader response because of that.

Also debating if Brock will blame himself for James ending up forced to sacrifice himself protecting Ash, as Crystal pointed out how protective Brock is of Ash and Misty. This is Team Rocket, but under the circumstances, I wonder if Brock might think it should have been him instead of James. On the other hand, he might not because of his siblings and how devastated they would be. (And Ash and Misty too, of course.)

Current Mood: happy

Happy Birthday to the awesome Joseph Campanella, who is turning 93! I'm celebrating (so far) by continuing to post the Pokemon story that features his Invaders character guest-starring. It would be nice if later I could watch something with him. (I did re-watch the Invaders episode before I started posting the fic, by the way. I adjusted a few things after doing so, but basically I had him right.)

And seriously? As if we needed something else to go wrong. Now our current car is having the traditional holiday flip-out. Why is it we can rarely get through the holiday season without that happening? And why does it have to be right now, when Dad was actually willing to take me to use the birthday coupon and this is the last day? All hope isn't lost yet, but it's really not looking very promising. Ugh.

Current Mood: tired

Got up the first chapter of the multi-part Pokemon fic today. Since everything's already written, I will probably try to get up a chapter per day. I think I just finished up the first draft. There are five full chapters and an epilogue. So far there's a pretty good reception. I just hope people won't throw things when we get to the end of chapter 4. I cut it off when the Pokemon apparently kills James. Then chapter 5 is mostly the mourning and attempting to get him back until it works.

I've also got a lot done on the Turtles fic this week. Hopefully it won't take long to finish it. It's fun. But it immediately continues from the previous one, so it takes place at the beginning of the month. Generally I like to keep this series moving in real-time as much as possible. After this one, I may timeskip to now for several reasons (including the desire to do or reference a Thanksgiving scene in a fic).

Only tomorrow and Tuesday to try to get that Build-a-Bear coupon used. I really didn't want to waste it when that lady was so sweet about trying to make sure I got to have it. If it wasn't for that, I probably would just give up. I wanted to use it anyway, of course, but I know how hard it is to get Dad to agree to go and now it looks like something else might interfere too. Ugh. If a family friend comes by tomorrow, I might ask if he would be able to run me over there since he's always willing to help with errands and doesn't have Dad's issue of getting bent out of shape about gas prices. If that doesn't work, hopefully there won't be the problem I'm fearing and we can go on Tuesday.

Another reason I was hoping to do it before Tuesday is because technically there's a meeting I should go to on Tuesday evening. I wish we weren't trying to have a meeting to plan December's activity on Thanksgiving week. I'm told it's alright if I can't make it, especially on this week, but I feel terrible to miss it for a reason like this. Still, I probably wouldn't really be needed anyway and I was going to try to plan some things on my own and email the leader I'm mainly in contact with so I'd still be contributing. And there's definitely still time before the activity to learn what they planned and offer whatever opinion I might have. And if this other problem interferes with going out, it will also interfere with the meeting so I wouldn't be able to go in that case either. Bleh.

Last week I carried the Togepi plush around Wal-Mart for a while to try to decide whether to buy it. I almost did, but then really felt I shouldn't do that until I saw what would happen if I was able to use the Build-a-Bear coupon, since I wasn't sure if I'd end up splurging and getting Bulbasaur even though I shouldn't spend that much. And $11.99 is really too much for a small plush like Togepi. But I know the prices will only get worse, not better. A while back I considered a Wobbuffet plushie they had, and I think he was $10.99 at that point. Also too much for the size. So if I want Togepi, I'll have to bite the bullet and pay $11.99. But I really need to go to Build-a-Bear first. I put Togepi in the back, trying to conceal him under the Sylveons until I could decide what to do. But unless I can go early tomorrow, I still won't know by tomorrow night when we get the groceries. I did find, however, that I didn't go nuts wanting to go back for the plush like I do sometimes if I decide not to get something and end up really wishing I'd gotten it. But I always did sort of want a Togepi plush, and there were two several weeks ago and one of them's been bought since then, so who knows how long the other one will be there.

Current Mood: discontent

I also decided to check out Pokemon Live. I read a detailed summary of the whole thing and have been skipping around in the video looking at the Team Rocket parts. I'm not too fond of many of the voices. I'm generally okay with James', even though he has a way higher pitch than on the show. Jessie's voice, on the other hand, really makes me cringe. She shrieks and screeches half her lines and some of her dialogue sounds more fitting to Jessiebelle.

Giovanni's and Delia's voices are the best in the production, I think. And hearing Giovanni sing about his plans and using his robot to defeat trainers all while sounding like Pegasus will never not be amusing.

Not crazy at all about all the mush subplot nonsense. Of course. I'm not a Pokeshipper and I tend to think that spoils the great friendship Ash and Misty come to have in canon. (I also wonder why shipping them is called Pokeshipping. That makes it sound like the definitive pairing or something. Seems like Pokeshipping could describe almost any pairing on the show, so why was that name picked for them?)

I am kind of intrigued by Delia knowing Giovanni from the past. I may watch those scenes later.

Overall, the thing seems to be around the same crackiness level as the Turtles' live show. I'm trying to figure out why I get a kick out of the latter but am cringing at Pokemon Live. I think the mush subplot and Jessie's voice are the main reasons. And somehow most of the characters feel kind of off. Especially Misty and Brock. (And is it terrible that I find it super weird for Ash to sound like a teenage boy whose voice has broken?) In the Turtles' show, any OOCness is more for cracky purposes, like Shredder rapping. ROTFLOL. But in Pokemon Live, a lot of it is supposed to be taken seriously, like the mush stuff. (I think if Misty has a crush on Ash in canon, she's denying it to herself instead of knowing it and just keeping quiet about it.) Although I guess Brock's refusal to acknowledge they're lost and such was supposed to be funny. That felt OOC too and I didn't care for it. Of course, Baxter in the Turtles' stage show is OOC by 87 series standards, but I seem to be more forgiving of that since they actually included him. And since I decided the stage show is just a separate verse. It feels like its own verse because it has elements from different branches of the franchise. And there are so many Turtles verses that it's easy to accept one more. By contrast, for Pokemon I think there's just anime, manga, and game verses. With Pokemon Live, it really seems to be meant to be the anime verse, yet it doesn't feel like it. So yeah, I think those things are why I'm having trouble fully liking Pokemon Live. That said, I'm enjoying some of it, and if they'd left the mush and OOC stuff out, or else made it more clear that it's a separate verse, I'd probably accept it better.

I also figured out why I love the Orange Islands arc so much. I was watching one of the filler episodes from season 1, during the time Ash should be training for the Pokemon League, and I felt the same love for it that I do for the Orange Islands. Some of my favorite season 1 episodes are among those filler ventures. I've always had a habit of loving filler, largely because characters seem to develop the most in filler episodes, and because they're fun and usually without baggage, and Orange Islands feels like filler in between Kanto and Johto. I like the slice-of-life feel of those episodes. I also like how Team Rocket often gets to shine in filler, and how Ash and company seem more likely to help them in filler. They jump to help in both Onixpected and Blank-Out Blaistoise episodes. Not usual, and very enjoyable. (I also enjoyed Ash helping in the non-filler All Fired Up! episode, though I wondered why that occasion was different than the other occasions where they're on fire and he doesn't help.)

Current Mood: thoughtful

So years ago I wanted the Pokemon Christmas album, but wasn't able to get hold of it. Then I was frustrated because I heard that Team Rocket only had a part in one song.

I finally heard the album in full. That was hilarious and cracky and adorable. Team Rocket participated in many songs. My favorite was probably The Night Before Christmas. Priceless crack! The Christmas medley was hysterical too. The only thing I didn't like was parodying Joy To The World, but at least they just did one line of that. They also parodied Good King Wenceslas, but I'm always on the fence whether I consider that one of the sacred carols or not. I've parodied it myself at times. I did get the giggles at their parody of it. And then Ash did this parody of Here We Come A-Caroling that really made me snark even though I love Team Rocket.

I also loved that everyone was at a Christmas party and they had a truce with Team Rocket throughout the album. The characters talked at points throughout the album and it was such fun. And I am highly impressed with Maddie Blaustein's talent at singing in Meowth's voice. And on-key, unlike in the Jigglypuff episode, LOL.

I think I want the album for sure now. I can listen to it online, but that's not the same as owning the physical disc. It's such fun crack and so much better than I was led to believe.

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: We All Live in a Pokemon World---Pokemon 2000 soundtrack

Ugggh. This has been a day when so many things go wrong and very few things go right. About the only thing going right was getting to spend some time with my local friend. That was fun. The horrible insomnia beforehand wasn't fun. Neither was fighting with the computer for hours because apparently Flash and all its other Adobe products were so out of date they were messing things up and they hadn't bothered to tell me they needed updating long ago. When they get like that, it takes an hour or more to update when it should only take 10 minutes.

And I believe I mentioned everyone getting interested in Scarecrow and Mrs. King. I was the only one in the household who wasn't thrilled by the prospect of the characters getting romantically involved. I know how that sort of thing usually changes the whole show, ruins characters and relationships, and can totally fall short of people's expectations.

Season 4 started strong and was just a mess by the end. Of course, the female lead's near-absence from most of the final episodes was most likely because the actress was fighting breast cancer at the time, so a lot of that can be forgiven ... although I think they should have just gone on hiatus until she was well enough to be in the episodes as a main character again and not just as a walk-on role in her own show. Of course, maybe that wasn't an option. They were probably being pressured to get the season finished. Ratings had already dropped and they gambled with the marriage thing to try to pick them up. But the episodes with very little of Amanda right after the wedding probably went the rest of the way in killing the show. There's only one episode after the wedding where she even has much of a part. And the very last aired episode had them having marriage problems and Lee really being kind of a jerk to her (6 pages of quirks he didn't like about her?!) until the end of the episode.

I'm used to keynote episodes being lame, and the marriage episode was really lame. I expected them to be on a case for most of it, as they were, but I'd expected a better case. It was so pathetic. And then the honeymoon had Amanda critically shot and that was the first of the episodes that didn't have her much. I hate having someone badly hurt on a special occasion to begin with, and then not having them in the show much because of it, or even afterwards, makes it so much worse.

One thing we loved about the show was that it was pretty clean. Season 4 had many innuendos with unmarried characters, both the leads and other characters. That was another thing I was afraid would happen once romance was brought into it.

I also think Francine was usually shafted by the writers in all seasons. There was the issue of how sad she felt that Lee wasn't as interested in spending time with her anymore, even as a friend, which made me really feel for her and relate to her. In some ways, I think Francine was the real underdog of the series, and I tend to root for underdogs. (Of course, I rooted for Amanda too, but I really feel sad for how the writers treated Francine. Amanda, on the other hand, usually got a good break.) Then Francine was the trained agent, but it seemed like she was always getting in trouble and unable to get herself out of it, whereas Amanda was able to figure out how to get out of it despite having no training. That would be okay a time or two, but the way it was set up, Francine just came off looking incompetent a lot. I was glad that at least one of the last episodes showed her being a resourceful agent and pulling some Jim West level tricks to get out of a locked crate. The episode also revealed some of her backstory, how her dad pushed her to compete in a man's world and she felt she had no choice, which was both interesting and sad. She also seemed to have some longing for romance. Early episodes seemed to show she liked being an agent, though, without much interest in settling down and with an apparent dislike of kids. I rather prefer that version of the character (even though I don't dislike kids).

It was also frustrating how Francine seemed to go back and forth on characterization. Season 1 had her being rather passive-aggressive to Amanda, season 2 had her being nicer, than seasons 3 and 4 had her being nastier again, especially in 3. In 4 she was nice again sometimes.

It was neat seeing Amanda progress from being a civilian worker to actually having a job as a trained agent. But I have to admit, I think a lot of the charm in the show came from her housewife skills coming in handy on cases, rather than her just being another agent with a gun. One of the most priceless exchanges was in an early episode, when Francine complimented her on some wild driving and she said it came from taking her kids to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. ROTFLOL.

Ultimately, I miss the show when things were at a friendship level. I think season 2 was when it was at its best. I didn't like the cheeky, cute approach of the show four years ago, but I warmed up to it and now I miss the classic episodes when there was friendship stuff going on and there were plots like Amanda being given a weird, mind-altering drug or a hitwoman having plastic surgery to look just like Amanda. I had all seasons on my Amazon list, but I think I'll remove season 3 since that's when things started getting mushy. We watched it all from Netflix and there are very few episodes there that I'd like to rewatch. On the other hand, I want season 2 more now than ever, not just for the Luke episode but because that was the show's high point. I might also like season 1. Lee was kind of standoffish in season 1, though. Season 2 was just perfection.

I'm worried Mom won't even want to watch the episodes we haven't seen of 1 and 2, though, or rewatch the classics from 2, because she's so frustrated by how 4 spiraled downhill. I don't think that should make us hate the part of the show that was good, but she tends to feel that if a show ends bad, what's the point of seeing any of it. I can feel that way too, depending on the show. In this case, I see no reason why I have to accept all the seasons into my headcanon. I'd rather just think of the first two seasons as canon and then it splits into two different paths and the path in my mind probably stays closer to season 2. And if they ever do get romantically involved, the show wouldn't lose the charm that made it so special in the first place.

I feel sad for Mom getting so disappointed, especially since she was so excited when Dad presented season 4 as an anniversary present. But honestly, if she wants a good show with a married team of crime-solvers, Hart to Hart is way better at handling that angle (most of the time). She loves that show too. I wish I could have found out things about season 4 of Scarecrow beforehand, like Amanda not being in her own show much after the wedding. There weren't user reviews of those episodes on IMDB, I don't think. Maybe I should have read the reviews on season 4 on Amazon, if there were any. Maybe they wouldn't have helped, but maybe they would have. Mom might have still wanted to see 4 anyway, but at least if we could have been prepared for those lame twists, it wouldn't have been such a let-down for her.

In lighter viewing news, I finally got hold of a copy of the third Pokemon movie from the library, as well as the later Lucario film. I loved them both and want to own them. I especially loved that Team Rocket really didn't do anything villainous in either film, they helped save Ash in the third film (and obviously just didn't want him dead, in spite of Jessie's excuse about why they saved him), and that Meowth saved Pikachu and didn't think once about stealing Mew in the Lucario film. He just seemed sad most of the time and like he wanted to go back to Jessie and James. And it was heartbreaking when he thought they were dead.

I never watch episodes in order if I can help it, and on the last time I was able to catch a couple of episodes, for some reason I decided I wanted to see the last Orange Islands episode and see how Johto was set up. I ended up supremely sad to think of that arc coming to an end. For some reason, the Orange Islands seems to be my favorite Pokemon season. Part of it is probably my love of the second movie. And Team Rocket (especially James) getting some chances to shine in episodes. But that's not all it is. For some reason, the whole area and the way the arc is set up fascinates me. I can't explain why, especially since I don't even like tropical locations that much. But it's my favorite, even above season 1 in some ways. (Although I still have those special season 1 episodes I love as major favorites too.) I'm glad I don't watch episodes in order so there's still a few Orange Islands episodes I haven't seen yet. I think, though, that for my next viewing session, I may want to settle in with Pokemon and Turtles episodes I already know I love, especially when it's been such a bummer day for the most part.

Yesterday I struggled with a scene in my multi-chapter fic for a long time and finally accepted that I needed to write my oneshot fic about the starfish Pokemon before posting any of the bigger fic. Some references just wouldn't make sense otherwise. I knew it wouldn't take long to write, and indeed, it was done in less than 90 minutes. I had a horrible time actually posting it, which was another frustration, but I finally got it up. Maybe later today I'll start posting the bigger fic.

I also worked some on the Turtles fic. I can write about the Pokemon characters, but I don't really click with them as I do the 87 Turtles crew, writing-wise, and it felt so good to get back to Baxter and Barney.

It's interesting how the two shows have some similar humor, though. Both are fond of breaking the fourth wall. Both are light and silly and usually have fairly happy endings.

YGO is really the deeper show between it and Pokemon, and it's certainly better on characterization, but it's interesting how Pokemon has the depth of real animals while YGO is just cards (except in certain circumstances, of course). I will always love YGO better, but I think Pokemon's lighter nature is more in line with how tired I am of dark things right now.

Current Mood: sad
Current Music: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear---Josh Groban

I wrote most of the missing middle section of my fic on Sunday night and Monday morning. I love when fics suddenly fall into place and mostly write themselves! And I fixed the hero discussion by simply having Father Joe talk to the group as a whole, instead of just James. I think that really looks better. Now I'm just fleshing things out before posting any segments. I think I determined the chapter breaks, but depending on how much gets fleshed out, that could change.

One thing I did was show a conversation early in the fic around Father Joe's lunch table. They ended up discussing Giovanni and why he keeps the trio around when they always fail. After all, Team Rocket could afford to let them go. That ended up inadvertently looking like a plot point that should be explored more, and now I'm thinking again about my old fic that I wanted to redo. That dealt a lot with Giovanni's interaction with the trio.

It does seem like too many near-death incidents for James in a row, though. (Although he was just knocked out in the crossover and in the possession fic, and I'm guessing most readers in the Pokemon category wouldn't have read the crossover ... although the one vocal Pokemon fic reviewer did. But just counting the Pokemon category, that would really just leave two prior hurt/comfort scenarios and only one being thought dead incident, in the fic I'm going to post. But said being thought dead incident is pretty major, just as it also is in the old fic.) If I wanted to redo the old fic and have it in this timeline I'm crafting, maybe he should just be missing and not thought dead. But then that removes some of the poignancy and a large point of the plot. I really wanted to redo the old fic with the same basic plotline and just flesh it out.

Decisions, decisions....

Meanwhile, I'm planning for the next Turtles fic and really getting a kick out of it. ROTFLOL, it's going to be priceless.

Current Mood: tired

I think I'm obsessed with the starfish Pokemon. I always seem to get intrigued by something not many people do anything with, and I assume not many do anything with those two. I have a vague plunnie that might become a oneshot, but meanwhile, much more pleasing news is that I think I've worked out all the bugs with the big fic, including how to make it different from the second movie, what kind of Pokemon are guarding the object, what the object is, and how Tyson or whoever learns about things to go and cause trouble. The only hang-up now is the sacrifice angle, but maybe I can work that out too. Maybe Father Joe tells James he has the potential to be a hero and James is able to help with things in the plot along the way, with Jessie and Meowth too, of course. And then the sacrifice is, as planned, only after everything else has been tried and it's the last option left to get the object back into place. If James has successfully helped with things earlier in the plot, maybe it won't have a "you're only helpful if you die for something" feel. Of course, I'll also have to be careful not to bend over backwards making him helpful at too many things. I'll need to spread the helpfulness around.

I find it interesting that with most fandoms, someone will probably die for real somewhere in the stories (but be brought back). But with the Turtles, for some reason, I seem to have a block with doing that. I don't want it to happen to Baxter, at least. The only times he's been thought dead, he really wasn't at all. Then Barney's heart stopped very briefly once, but he doesn't seem to have left his body and I don't seem to want to have him really die either. Vincent may or may not have really died in the Rare Magnet fic. Still not sure on that.

Now, I'm generally always uncomfortable when I do the "someone dies for real" idea in a fic, no matter what fic, but then I calm down and feel alright later. But for some unknown reason, I don't want to do it with Baxter, even if he'd be brought back. I'm really not sure why he's an exception. Maybe it's one of those "he's been through too much for that" lines that I don't want to cross, same as how, after the emotional anguish Duke goes through after Lead Me Through the Fire, I don't think I'd ever do David hurt/comfort scenes and probably not Duke hurt/comfort scenes either (unless it's emotional hurt/comfort). There's definitely a block against it with them because they've already gone through so much in the Lead Me timeline. In Baxter's case, though, I'm perfectly willing to do certain types of hurt/comfort with him, just not other types. Some kinds of hurt/comfort I don't seem to be in a mood to do anymore with any characters, but when it's one specific thing I don't want to do to one or two specific characters, I find that puzzling.

Current Mood: accomplished

I watched several Team Rocket episodes I especially liked and that made me feel a little better. I've settled into tired resignation for the see-saw characterization, shall we say. I've accepted that the writers didn't care enough to make the good characterization stick from one episode to the next, even though I'm still not pleased about it.

I did go over my story and add a few things, which I think makes it a little better. And I'll keep pondering on the big story. In addition to the waffling over the sacrifice problem, I need to figure out how to make the conflict different than in the second movie. The original blurb drew from it for inspiration, but I'll need to change some of those elements more for an actual story.

I finally got the Halloween Turtles fic done, too. I turned the haunted house/cemetery fic into the Halloween fic after all. I really like how it came out!

I had some weird dreams this past day. One involved Snakes and I think I can make at least a blurb out of it. Now that the Turtles story is up, I plan to tinker with the blurb.

Build-a-Bear already released a new Pokemon plush. I am surprised about that, so soon after Vulpix! It's Bulbasaur, and he looks amazing. For all that detail, I figured he'd cost more, and he does. Sigh. I doubt I'd ever be able to afford him. Of course, maybe when I see him in person, if I really like him so much, I'll decide to splurge. I really shouldn't do that, though. It's expensive enough to get one of the regular priced Pokemon, even with my $5 coupon. The regular ones are $28, and Bulbasaur is $35. Gah. But Bulbasaur is so pretty and blue, and there's so much accurate detail.... I was entranced as soon as I saw him in the email. I guess I'll just have to wait and decide when I see him in person. Somehow I have to get to Build-a-Bear in the next few days.

Wal-Mart has little 8 and 9 inch Pokemon plushies. They're $11.99 and $12.99. Ugggh. Waaay too much for small plushies. I guess that's about the standard price for anime plushies of those sizes, though. There's a Togepi that's really cute that I've considered buying, but I hate paying that much for such a small plushie. Also, there's a long hair on it and I'm not sure if I got it there or if it belongs to someone else. Somehow it just seems a little creepy if it's some stranger's hair. But it is my approximate color and length, so it could be mine.... Build-a-Bear might make a Togepi, but I don't know if they're going to and in any case, that would be a long wait. And with their prices, I'll be lucky just to get one or two of their Pokemon plushies.

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Do You Hear What I Hear?---Jackie Evancho

It's really confusing when characters can frustrate you so much and yet you can have sympathy for them.

It seems like all three Team Rocket members get chances to both be real jerks and to be nice. I suppose that's realistic, good and bad qualities, but it's frustrating both as a writer and as a fan. It makes it hard to know how to write for them. It also makes hard to understand why I even like them, considering that the bad traits tend to press all the wrong buttons for me.

While Jessie is definitely the most abusive, James and Meowth can be that way too. I hate it when James or Jessie beats up on Meowth. But I don't like when Meowth scratches them just because they've said something he thinks is stupid. I can't decide whether James always had an abusive streak or if he just picked it up from Jessie, but it upsets me whenever he hurts a Pokemon. The only time I felt slightly more forgiving for that was in Pokemon Shipwreck, since they were all half-crazed and starved being stuck on that raft after nearly dying and finding out Magikarp was pretty much useless for everything just pushed him over the edge. And even at that, I was still upset.

Anyway, since I just can't stand abusive behavior in a character, I wonder if I should even try to write James as being a relatively nice person. Yet canon supports that side of things too, in many episodes. And he is overall less abusive than Jessie. Usually he's the punching bag. I wonder if James beats up on Meowth and occasionally other Pokemon to let off his frustration over Jessie abusing him. (That, and maybe also, he's trying to look tougher than she might think he is.) He doesn't dare strike her, and he hardly ever verbally expresses how upset he is at being abused, so maybe going after something smaller than him is his solution. That's sadly realistic. And it doesn't make me feel much better about the situation, but it is something to ponder.

Of course, with Jessie one assumes her rotten early life is why she's so abusive. And then canon sometimes shows that she does care about James and Meowth. But I still don't like it, and since she's the most abusive I can't deny I've always had thoughts that maybe James should get away from her. But that's too sad because they're a team and a weird family. I feel the same about characters such as Kaoru on Rurouni Kenshin. I just can't seem to like her, yet since she's part of the team and the characters love her in spite of her abuse, I wouldn't want to split up the team.

I wonder if the abusiveness goes away for all three of them as the show goes on. That would certainly be one plus about the later stuff. It's hard to picture James in some of those later episodes as being that way. But then you have to deal with things like Noodles Roamin' Off, which I found really OOC, at least in Jessie abandoning James and telling him to go back to Jessiebelle.

Then, back to earlier ventures, you have things like Meowth nearly being abandoned when he's sick in The Problem With Paras, yet on the other hand, James and Jessie helping Meowth in Go West, Young Meowth or worrying about Meowth in Meowth Rules! (And Meowth abandoning them in the latter, yet feeling bad about it, unlike them in the Paras episode.) The characterization just seems so inconsistent. One episode they're ready to abandon each other. The next, they're worrying about each other. What are you supposed to do with characters like that?! How do you write for them?! I would like to just think about the things that made me like them and still make me like them, namely, when they show their good sides. But it's hard to ignore these traits that I detest so much. In fact, it's impossible. And it makes me wonder if I should give up the whole idea of even trying to tell these stories. I feel like the characters aren't worth my time or my love. Yet the part of me that still cares about them and the good that's in them wants to tell these stories. Usually when I get upset like this, I try to watch one of the episodes where I really liked them and it helps.

I really think that my story needs more content and should be fleshed out more and maybe deal with these problems more than it did. Yet it's hard to know exactly how to approach them in detail. I had the spirit pointing out to James that he was making excuses for Jessie and that's something abuse victims often do. And Jessie later acknowledges that she isn't very nice sometimes and she doesn't like the part of herself that hurts James and Meowth, but that's about as far as it went. Well, that and her later saying she'll try to be a better person. I should probably also acknowledge more that James and Meowth have been abusive at times too. I wasn't thinking about that as much until this week.

And I am aware that the show is largely slapstick humor with the abuse and the blasting off, yadda yadda, but I've never been able to approach things like that as being normal, even if it apparently is in the verse. A few people complained in the past that I was taking the blasting off too seriously, but a lot of Team Rocket fans feel similar to me on that point. And abuse, honestly, should never be played for laughs. I liked how Holy Matrimony! showed that it really wasn't funny at all and that yes, Jessiebelle was worse than Jessie, abuse-wise. I just wish it would have made Jessie shape up seeing what Jessiebelle was like.

Another problem with fleshing things out in the story is that I was trying to save most of the fleshing out for the big story, if I'm able to put it together. I didn't have too much of a hurt/comfort scene for that reason too. But I'm sure I could do better than I did.

I'm also mostly done with my Pokemon episodes. I crave more, yet I wonder whether to get into the Johto seasons or not. By Johto, any episodes with team-ups or other nice Team Rocket moments always seemed to end with cheap betrayals. That seriously bugged me, especially since it didn't tend to happen in the first two seasons (A Chansey Operation being an exception). Ignorance is Blissey is different, but it's so heartbreaking, gah. Probably Jessie's finest moment, though. And I finally saw the second movie again (and own it at last) and find it the pinnacle of Pokemon entertainment, just as before. I'd forgotten Jessie and James and Meowth were so prominent all the way through it, and their sacrifice was just the icing on the cake. It's hard to think of things going back to the status quo after that amazing movie. I like to think of it being more meaningful than that.

Then I also keep worrying about the big fic and the sacrifice bit again. I think I figured out, maybe, what that Megaman fan's problem with sacrifice stories was. If so, it's also a problem I have. I think I ranted once about the movie Paratroop Command and how it seemed to bring out the idea that the bad luck main character was only good at being a hero if he died. I hated that. I don't want it to look like I'm bringing out a similar idea in this fic. I was hoping to do a scene at some point with Father Joe (yes, I really did that thing with bringing in the Invaders priest) talking to James and telling him he has the potential to be a hero. But if I do that, having the sacrifice bit really might look like I'm saying he can only be a hero if he dies for something instead of living for something. If I could just figure out a way so it won't look like that....

Current Mood: confused

This has been an interesting week. I haven't gotten much written on the WWW fic, but I wrote that creepy Ginger and Lou fic that followed up the Emergency! episode and then felt the urge to write a Pokemon fic based on a role-play with Crystal that we were just wrapping up. The fic is pretty different from the role-play, but both involve a haunted house and James getting possessed by an evil spirit.

It was fun writing for Ginger and Lou again. It felt natural and normal and I easily slipped into it, as I have every time I revisit them after an absence. And it was amusing to see that they're still having the same old trouble with having to fight malevolent ghosties.

I still find it strange how obsessed I became with those characters. Ginger is not the type of character I normally go for, even though he is played by a darling. I found him good-looking but repulsive the first times I saw the episode. But that chemistry I picked up on between him and Lou (or between the actors, whichever) was so fascinating to me that it became the basis for 200 short stories and a couple of multi-chapter fics. And a webcomic. And I still feel like I'm writing for them IC, that if they were to try to go straight and get out of crime, they would probably be similar to how I write them. Except for the openness in their friendship, perhaps, but I have it that that developed from being in prison together. Dang it, I love them and I can't help it.

The Pokemon story was chilling. I love how it turned out, though, and especially I love the climax on the widow's walk of the mansion they're at. I think I'll have to illustrate some of that. I haven't printed it yet, as I was debating whether anything needs to be changed or added and I was waiting on a particular person's opinion of it before I decided that. I will probably also read it over again myself later tonight and see how I feel.

I still don't think I'll write many Pokemon stories, but one thing I was thinking of is that for it, I may feel I need to be episodic. That is, stories not referencing each other. I suppose I figure they all take place in the same verse, but I'm not sure I want to build on each story like I usually do. That could change, but with this series it's complicated, since I really don't want to mess up the status quo, as previously pondered on, yet I can't see myself ever writing a story where Team Rocket doesn't get to be key/awesome. Also the problem that even if I'm only using the canon of the first two seasons and then a few things I liked here and there from other ones, I seem to mess it up. This is a hard series to keep straight.

I also wrote a crack Turtles fic with Clefairy copping all kinds of odd things, LOL. Barney flips out when one takes his car's antenna.

I wasn't planning to do an actual Halloween fic for the Turtles since I'd planned on slice-of-life for it, I wasn't sure I was in a slice-of-life mood, and of course, Halloween's past. But I'm still in a Halloween mood, as evidenced by the fics of the week, and I feel like writing a haunted house fic with Michelangelo and Baxter. That's still not the Halloween fic, though. I'll decide after I write it if I still want to write the Halloween fic. Maybe the clock being set back will put me in more of a Christmas mood. Usually I get Christmassing a few days after Halloween.

Yesterday morning I had a Turtles viewing session and watched some spooky episodes. One was Nightmare in the Lair and I got an idea of Michelangelo and Baxter stuck in Nightmare World. After I slept, though, I wasn't so keen on that idea anymore. But I wanted to do a friendship fic with them, hence the old haunted house concept being retooled to mostly focus on them (even though the others probably will show up looking for them after a while).

One of the Halloween discussions in a recent fic has both Baxter and Barney revealing they're not really into dressing up for Halloween (although they were as kids). I honestly can't picture them being into that, but it probably also plays into this odd hang-up I have where, unless a character I really like shows a canon enjoyment of disguises (i.e., James), I will probably not be able to picture them liking it and/or not want them to like it. I like to see the characters looking like themselves. It's a funny hang-up, but I've always been that way. I remember freaking out as a small child when Dad dressed up with a fake moustache for a Halloween party at his then-place of employment. I did not like seeing him looking different and I flipped and hid until he took the thing off. Of course, I wouldn't act ridiculous like that anymore, but I still have that pesky hang-up and I can't seem to make myself like the idea of Baxter and Barney dressing up.

Of course, the irony to all of this is that I myself adore dressing up. But even though characters can definitely pick up some of my personality traits in the writing, that's one that just doesn't happen.

I did write a Perry Mason fic that heavily involved a masquerade party setting, though. And I had to come up with costumes for those who were attending, which I found slightly uncomfortable albeit interesting and amusing at the same time. As I recall, though, my most favorite characters did not dress up, LOL. They showed up at the party later, not in disguise, because of problems that were happening that they were coming to see about.

Speaking of dressing up, Halloween went very well. As usual, not many at the door and some came while we were at the trunk or treat, sigh. But the trunk or treat was fun and there was food for the adults too! Soups and donuts! I originally planned on having chili, but when I got there and there was potato soup, well, that took priority. Yuuum. I also enjoyed seeing some of the decorations in town, especially one house that set up a whole graveyard thing with creepy creatures in the yard. And I went into Wal-Mart. I always love going into a store in disguise. I'm sad that they just weren't as big for Halloween this year. Not as much merchandise and they were shuttling some of it out the day before Halloween to make room for Christmas aisles. I used to get plunnies for Halloween stories from walking their aisles. It was so magical and creepy. The way they did the Halloween section this year just wasn't very magical. Everything was crammed together on fewer aisles. Sigh.

Also, I kind of wanted a Pokemon hat. They're clearancing some, but the prices were higher than I wanted. This past week they lowered, but the hat I wanted had some bizarre white fuzz stuck all over it. I wasn't sure if it was synthetic or if some animal loose in the store could have mauled it, so I didn't find that very appealing. Sigh. (Yes, sometimes there are animals in there, although when they're not service animals the owners try to hold them or put them in the carts.) And there was only the one copy of that one, at least this week. I think when the prices were higher, there were two copies of it. I'm debating getting a hat with just Pikachu on it instead (the one I wanted had several Gen 1 Pokemon, including Meowth) or if I should try a different Wal-Mart and see if they might have the other hat.

Current Mood: okay

October 28th, 1966 was when the world was introduced to Lucrece Posey and her bizarre gang of crooks in the Wild Wild West episode The Poisonous Posey. For the 50th anniversary last year, I made sure to watch the episode. For the 51st anniversary this year, I also wanted to watch the episode and was able to. I also got to see Count Manzeppi's second episode, The Feathered Fury, and ended up going to look over my Wild Wild West story that heavily involves both of those episodes as well as The Sudden Plague. And I just wrote a little bit for the next chapter. That felt pretty good too. It's always liberating coming back to a fic and finally feeling the time and inspiration are right to do a little more. Maybe I'll actually be able to get it finished. I really liked it.

I do need to see if I can get the current Turtles fic done by Halloween, since it's slated as the Halloween fic, but I have the feeling it won't be done by then, especially since it's a humor fic and those sometimes move slower. Also, I may still want to detail some of the Halloween preparations and this fic would be better for that, pushing the actual Halloween venture to still a later fic, and probably a post-Halloween one, if I do it at all.

Earlier in the week we watched the Emergency! episode where the lady keeps thinking her dead sister is haunting the house and wanting her husband out, since the sisters had a falling out over the now-dead one thinking the husband wasn't good enough for her sister. It ends where they think the lady set a fire in the house and honestly believes the sister did it, but actually, no one saw her set the fire. The husband just naturally assumed she did it, as did the paramedics, since none of them believe the place is haunted. I got a plunnie where Ginger and Lou are contacted by the husband, who discovers that while he's in the house alone as his wife is undergoing psychiatric observation, something else really is there with him. He's terrified, as well as horrified that he's sent his wife to the psychiatric ward when she doesn't belong. Ginger and Lou come to investigate and find that instead of the sister, something dark and evil was summoned at the seance that started the madness. That would be a nice Halloween fic too. I'm sure I wouldn't get it written in time, though, but I really want to give it a whirl.

I did a dry run of my costume Tuesday night, as I figured that would be better than putting it on for the first time right before the party the next day. It came out pretty good. I took a few selfies, which I posted here: https://cubeupload.com/codes/bff957 The thumbnails don't show the entire picture, though, so they have to be clicked on to see it all. Hopefully later I can get someone else to take a picture or two to get the whole costume in. It is a pity I couldn't find a brown wig, as I prefer Baxter with brown hair, but I'm glad I found a wild one, at least!

The Halloween party went alright, but there wasn't much of a turn-out and hardly anyone actually wore costumes. I was disappointed, especially compared to previous years. At least the girls weren't uncontrollably wild. And they had fun. And there were leftover cookies from the ones they were decorating to give people, so I got to bring some of those home. Yum.

I found out that the most one can earn at the book fair is indeed $10. I also discovered that working two shifts in a row is exhausting, just as I feared it would be. I only did it because that was the only possible point in the week when I could do the extra shifts. But they had dinner for everyone afterwards, both because of teacher conferences that night and the book fair. So many different delicious soups! I had a cheddar and potato one, along with a roll and ice water. Perfection! Then I brought home a combo of chili and taco soups and three dessert things: a pumpkin and chocolate chip cookie, a raspberry cheesecake cookie, and a brownie. I love copious leftovers so I can do that!

I also decided that for all the work I did, the meatiest book choices were the two Pokemon ones. As much as I wanted the Pony storybook, it is for episodes I've seen. And it's a short story picture book. The Pokemon storybook was a chapter book of episodes I haven't seen, and then the other was the guidebook to the original 151 Pokemon. I was a little surprised that some of the things firmly ingrained in my mind weren't introduced until Gen II or later, like Pichu. The books are fun and I feel like they were worth what I did.

Still, I'm not sure that I'll do the book fair again when it comes time. It really was a bad week to try to do it, so I guess I'll have to see what things are like on the week it comes back. Also, though, maybe next time they won't have anything I'd consider worth all the work. We'll have to see. I did end up finding one other thing there I thought was pretty cool, a book about gems with some raw samples of some. But getting that would have meant not getting anything else, so I stuck with what I'd already chosen. That looked pretty awesome, though. I love rocks, minerals, and gems. Always have.

Current Mood: tired

Well, to my relief, things did settle down soon after writing that mega hurt/comfort scenario. For the first time in months, though, I've been working on two fics at once, the latest Turtles one and this Pokemon one, since it insisted on being a story. It's interesting going back and forth between fics again, especially when I enjoy them both.

The previous Turtles one came out alright, but now I'm stalling a bit again because I think the one I'm trying now will be filler until the antagonist shows up to cause trouble, and I have most of that part written already. Maybe I'd better work on that rest of that bit and I can fill in the other filler later.

Then for some reason, while fiddling with the Pokemon one, I started thinking about this person I ran into years ago who hated sacrifice fics, at least with certain characters. I remember her saying that Bass (from Megaman) was far more interesting than to do that with him, or some such. Of course, I certainly don't care for deathfic sacrifices, but stories where they do survive (or come back to life later, heh) I adore. It sounded like her arguments against them weren't really about killing him off, but it was so long ago that I don't recall the details.

Anyway, so then I started worrying about the Pokemon story and wondering if I should really have the scenario I wanted where James has to be heroic and nearly dies, since maybe there'd be some Pokemon readers who hate such scenarios too. But there have been canon occasions where Team Rocket has done that (second movie especially), so it wouldn't be OOC for them. Then I worried if it should just be James in the fic or if it should be all of them, like in the second movie, but I specifically wanted it to just be James. And I had assorted other worries, like whether Rocketshippers would get bent out of shape for James to do that and leave Jessie (although the reason he gave was because he wanted to keep the world safe for Jessie and Meowth, and he was pretty much forced into a situation where he had to do it or there wouldn't be any hope). And then of course he does come out of it alive, even though there's a big scare at first.

(Then I also worry if Rocketshippers will be mad that I'm not Rocketshipping, even though I do of course portray them as being very close.)

Eh, I don't know. I like how it's been coming out, though, and I would like to post it. This one I may wait until it's all done to post. I rarely do that if it will be in multiple parts, but right now I'm not fully sure how long it will be, so I don't know what kind of chapter breaks it will have. It was originally going to be a long oneshot, but I decided it needs to be at least several segments.

Then I wonder about ages too. I thought they were in their late teens years ago and some fans seemed to have that as a thing, but others felt they were adults. I'm not sure canon has ever said one way or the other, but I know that at least in the early seasons, they come across more as teens to me. They've certainly seen more than a lot of adults have, yet at the same time there's a definite immaturity to them. (Plus, James looks like a teen in how he's drawn.) And of course, sadly, there are a lot of adults who act immature. But I prefer seeing them as teens and am still writing them as such. Especially since I'm sticking with old-school Pokemon.

I'm honestly bothered by a lot of the canon that comes later. Even in episodes where James gets good development, like the one with his grandparents, Jessie and Meowth don't fully seem IC. One would hope that they would respect James enough not to steal from his grandparents when he repeatedly pleaded with them not to. And then I saw some of the one where the team splits up, specifically the scene where Jessie tells James to go home to Jessiebelle in spite of knowing how abusive she is and then just twirls off and leaves him in the middle of nowhere to do her Pokemon Coordinator stuff. I'm all for them leaving Team Rocket, but they should leave together. Jessie didn't even ask him to come with her. She just seemed to not want to be with him anymore. It all felt so very off. I thought I must be watching a nightmare or something at first, because it didn't ring true. I do like that when James flips and tries to catch a rare Pokemon in the hopes that she and Meowth will come back, Jessie does come running as soon as she learns that everyone who's tangled with the Pokemon has vanished.

So anyway, things seem to go up and down like that. Add to that the confusion of many years of canon and regions and types of Pokemon that I know next to nothing about. I think I prefer sticking with old-school Pokemon and I imagine all of my fics will too. I like the simplicity of when there was a core cast that didn't keep changing.

I doubt I'll ever write much for the series. One hiccup is that while I want them to leave Team Rocket, it would probably change the status quo too much. I'd want them to always be around, and how would that happen if they weren't following Ash? Of course, I guess it could be like the movies and they keep ending up in the same place by accident. Or they could be shadowing Ash to protect him from other Team Rocket members, but that's pretty unlikely, especially since Ash manages fine. Anyway, since I'm worried about the status quo and yet at the same time must keep developing characters in stories to be happy, I don't think I'd be able to sort out my problems and write very much with them.

In any case, one interesting thing is that years ago, I was pretty much only interested in the series for them (even though I did enjoy certain Pokemon creatures). This time around, I seem to be absorbing more of the culture as a whole and find the Pokemon themselves utterly fascinating and magical.

I also drew a picture of Barney meeting a Clefairy. I am highly amused.

Still don't know what the deal is on the payment/credits for the book fair, so I'm undecided on what book to drop if I figure I can't get them all. I did decide they were worth enough to me to take the extra shifts, however, so on Thursday I should be able to find out for sure what the deal is with the money, if my friend doesn't learn tomorrow on one of her shifts---the only one of hers we won't be sharing. Too early when Mondays are usually busy. And Tuesday is the only day I won't be doing something this week, so the breather is nice.

I always get nervous when debuting a new costume. Hopefully it will go over well on Wednesday at the party for the girls at church. And it looks like I'm probably going to a Halloween dance, as my friend was interested when I told her about it and I'll go if she goes. It's big band and masquerade, so those things are certainly appealing. We both just want to go and have a fun time rather than looking for romance with guys there.

Current Mood: tired

14-15 years ago, I had a crush on James. Can't recall how it started, but I went after episodes that either featured him or had some form of hurt/comfort material or both. And of course, my few fics either had him getting in trouble or being the hero. Or both.

(I also recall that the fact of there being a talking cat was one of the first things that fascinated me about the show. I think I was tuning in waiting for YGO, caught some of Pokemon, and was intrigued by either Meowth alone or the whole group.)

I seem to have awakened all of that crushing stuff and hurt/comfort wants by rewatching episodes over the last couple of weeks. It's like no time has passed at all. I didn't think I'd still crush on someone who is now much younger than me (if he's 16-ish in canon, he's almost half my age), but I'm pouncing on those episodes and having a wrestle with myself over fics. I ended up doing a most cracky TMNT 87/Pokemon crossover and was rather shameless with the hurt/comfort in it. And I couldn't seem to shake the desire for hurt/comfort afterwards, so I drew a picture.

On Monday I saw Wal-Mart was overhauling their DVD section and Johto was gone. They also only had one of those 4 Pokemon movie sets. It wasn't the movies I especially longed for, but for $5 I decided to get it. I figured with four movies, there would surely be something I'd like. Earlier today I watched Pokemon 4Ever, which I was sure I'd seen years ago but absolutely did not remember at all so this was obviously my first viewing. I loved it in general and due to the very intense and heartbreaking and long-drawn-out hurt/comfort climax, I ended up with an insistent plunnie that became a long hurt/comfort blurb. Basic premise: I wanted to see James be heroic and apparently die and everyone mourn over him, since even in the second movie, I don't recall that anyone mourns Team Rocket despite not knowing they survived sacrificing themselves to save the world. I think the only time Team Rocket is thought dead and mourned is in Pokemon Shipwreck. Which is probably why it is still one of my favorite episodes. (Also, I am darkly amused that every time a Pokemon is told to bring something back, they bring back Team Rocket. LOL.) Now the blurb wants to be a fic. Help....

I really intended on writing at least two other TMNT fics for October, three if I could. But this fic has me sidetracked. I write a little more in the blurb and I think that's it and things will calm down, only they don't. In a bit I'm right back to wanting this to be a fic. So ... I guess it's going to be a fic.

I also have the urge to put a Joseph Campanella character in it. I had the most random thought recently of wondering what would happen if the characters stumbled on a church where the pastor had Pokemon helping out with the garden and the upkeep and such. This fic will have some definite religious themes and it would be a perfect place to insert such a thing at the beginning. I want to have Joseph's priest character from The Invaders appear. I should probably watch the episode again, but I'd like to start writing the scene anyway and then maybe I can find the episode and see it before it's time to post it.

I'm also helping my local friend at a book fair. We set it up this past day. And we get credits for helping out. I wasn't sure if I'd find anything I liked, but I was secretly hoping I would, maybe even some Pokemon novelizations. I used to love those. They had a lot of varied stuff and several things I was definitely interested in. One is cheaper on Amazon, but some others are about equal in price. I found a Pony storybook, something I've been looking for for years and have never seen. Amazon doesn't even seem to carry it. And there was a guidebook to the original 151 Pokemon that looked fun. Honestly, things seemed so much more simple where there were 151 and there was a core cast that didn't keep changing. I set those two things aside in case I could get them. Then, right before we left, I found a Pokemon novelization. Looks like it's the first couple of Alola episodes. I'm not crazy about some of the Alola stuff. Animation for Ash looks awful. And a Pokemon school makes me go "..." because I'm just not crazy about school concepts for the most part. (Or maybe shall we say unrealistic schools, because I seem to like realistic school settings, like in Equestria Girls.) But the novelization looked fun with a lot of Team Rocket scenes and some pictures and I added it to the stuff.

(Funny thing, I don't think it ever occurred to me to wonder before what kids in that series do about school....)

I'm working two shifts, the setting up and one while the sale is on, and my friend says we'll each get $5 for working two shifts. If we do four, we can get another $5. I don't know if I want to work two more for $5, especially since I'd rather not do it without her but earlier is better for her and later is better for me, and I'm so exhausted from today that I just don't see how I could do more than the other early shift I already had planned. But if I do later ones, I'd be doing them without her. And next week is the only time the fair's on and it's really not a good week for me to try to fit a bunch of shifts in. And just for $5 ... it doesn't seem worth it. Now, if we get $5 for each shift, making $20 total for four shifts, I would totally do it. I received a gift certificate for $5 for this past day, but I don't know if that's because they're counting the other shift I'm signed up for, or if the certificate is for both of us, or what. Only my name is on it, so I figured my friend got her own. I really need to ask the person in charge or something to confirm about the money. It's possible my friend understood it wrong and it is $5 per person per shift. She thought it would only be $5 for two shifts because ... I think because I'm a volunteer she recruited to work with her and she's on the PTA and I'm not, or something like that. Maybe it is, but since I got the certificate for $5, I'm confused. I should have asked something then, but I was too exhausted to think. I didn't get much sleep before I went. I had trouble going to sleep when I hadn't been up long, and then I woke up sooner than I needed to. Uggggh.

I want all three of the books I turned up. The $5 credit for two shifts would cover the novelization. But I can't pay full-price for both of the others, so either I have to choose just one to pay full-price for (and it should probably be the Pony one, since it's rarer) or I have to decide to work more shifts and get most of the cost covered for all books. Only if it really is $10 for four shifts, I just don't feel I can spare the time for that much work and so little credits. And the Pokemon guidebook is on Amazon, so there's that. Although I don't know if I'd try to get it ahead of other things if it wasn't a setting other than this book fair, where it's right under my nose.

It's so funny that I'm a grown woman and the section I was most thrilled with at the book fair was the kindergarten to 3rd grade section. My friend or someone else there was mentioning there was a table with grown-up books and I looked at it, but nothing on it really excited me much except cookbooks that I couldn't afford. I also was mostly "eh" at the Middle Readers section. But Ponies and Pokemon ... fun and affordable stuff. They also had some Nick Turtles markers with character toppers, but they're $4 a pop. Eeek. I don't think so. I'd rather have a book. Of course, if it was 87 Turtles and they actually had a human Baxter one, I'd be all over it.

One fun thing about being into something like Pokemon is that there's always some kind of merchandise around. And when I like Pikachu, that makes it even better. He's probably my second favorite Pokemon after Meowth. Naturally cats would be tops with me. I also really like Umbreon. Always have. And Eevie. And Vulpix/Ninetales. And Goldeen. And Articuno. I kind of want that Pikachu plushie Build-a-Bear has, if they still have it in-store. I can't recall if I saw it there or not. I always wanted a Pikachu plush, even before I started watching the show. Can't recall why I never got one. Build-a-Bear just released Vulpix, but I'm not so crazy about the way they did the tails. It looks like they're all on one flat piece of material, sigh. The tails are the most beautiful feature, so that was disappointing.

Current Mood: exhausted

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Page generated Jul. 10th, 2025 03:25 pm

The Winter Court of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

We were so carefree then, our hearts were on a cloud ...

Entries tagged with pokemon

To tweak or not to tweak

Uh oh....

Still thinking

Revising the old fic

Awesome!

Hmm.

A Pokemon World

Yay!

And so it begins....

Pokemon Live

ROTFLOL. Oh gosh.

Uggggh.

Yesss.

Yes!

Well ...

Honestly ...

Yay for Halloween stories after Halloween!

And now, a third fic. Maybe a fourth.

Hmm....

I've released a sleeping monster....