The Winter Court of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

Nikki arrived and she's awesome. And I found a G. I. Joe to be Nesbitt! I knew it would be too strange if there weren't any that looked like him, because honestly, his character design looks like a G. I. Joe, lol. I found several possibilities and decided on Wheeler Field Pilot. I bought one on Amazon and I think he'll be here tomorrow! Meanwhile I was set to buy the Hawk River Lector G. I. Joe and then an auction popped up. I ended up going through with the Buy It Now listing anyway. I hope I won't regret not following the auction. I was concerned about someone else getting the Buy It Now and the auction suddenly spiking into a bid war and then I wouldn't get either one. That probably wouldn't have happened, but I didn't want to take the chance. Plus, I didn't want to wait 9 days for the auction to end.

A friend had some TaleSpin cereal box figures that she sent me. They're so cute! And it's almost the whole set of them; I just need Baloo, and I'm sure I can get him at the antique mall. And she also included a neat thing about Louisiana since I periodically write fics set there, and ohmygoshsqueee, a surprise item: an autographed picture of Boba Fett! She got it signed by Jeremy Bulloch in person years ago. I was over the moon and exclaimed aloud when I opened the package!

Monday we finally got to do an outing I've been hoping for for ages and it was one of those amazing days where things actually went right. Weirdly enough, both that Monday and one I still hold fondly from about three years ago or more involved getting paint at Hobby Lobby. LOL. I got a color that I hope will be good for painting Lector and also grabbed some black paint for Johnson's hair, since I don't know when I'll get back there and I thought I should just have it around even though I probably won't have Johnson for a while. It's always fun to explore there. Such a huge store! I wish they closed at 9 instead of 8. I was hoping to see some Halloween decor, but they had harvest coming in and that was a good compromise. Strangely, they still had some aisles of Easter stuff.

Then we went to Joann's and they finally had plushie bases back in stock. They also now have WiFi! And squeeee, they actually had the fake fur I needed for Umbra's hair! Since they don't have a whole rainbow of colors, I do wonder why they specifically had turquoise/teal/whatever it is. Is there a lot of demand for that color? Whatever the reason, it's awesome! It's super expensive by the yard ($29.99!), so I asked for the smallest piece and that was only $3 and change, and more than enough! I have a ton left over.

Then it was on to Kohl's to see if I'd have any better luck with my merchandising credit than before. The fitting rooms are closed and I didn't want to risk getting any more pants that didn't fit, so I focused on toys. I didn't really think they'd have Stacie, and I was right, but they did have a doll that I think and hope is Renee. Why don't they print character names on the boxes anymore? But I got her.

At Target I found Stacie! I also saw the new Yami Bakura and Yami Marik combo deck set they put out. I want it for Yami Bakura, but I couldn't afford it right then. If it was any other kind of Yami Bakura merchandise I wouldn't have been able to resist, but since I don't have anyone to play with I drag my feet on cards. I definitely plan to get that deck for my Yami Bakura collection, though!

At Walmart I got some muslin for the plushie ears. I still don't understand why they aren't made with ears on in the first place.

I waited several days for possible germs to die before starting the plushies. On Friday I made the ears and expressions. I copied Umbra's from a screenshot and I used Lumis's excited expression from Duel Links, even though I'm doing anime verse and not manga verse. The expression is just too cute! Saturday night into Sunday morning I worked on Umbra's hair. It's always hard dealing with fake fur hair and my finger is sore from pushing hard on the needle. But I love the results! Since they're not Rare Hunters anymore, I'll probably dress them similarly to how I depict them in my fics, in basic dark pants and purple tops. I have a progress picture up: http://meromeroyui.deviantart.com

I also figure I'll need to sew clothes for the Joes. I can't find anything that looks canon-accurate around, and a blog I found this morning warned that a lot of clothes don't fit Joes because some of them have big hands. I don't think mine do, but I can't be sure until they show up. I was going to use Luke to help me make clothing patterns today, assuming that the Joes and the Star Wars figures have the same bodies, but since Nesbitt is coming tomorrow, I think maybe I'll wait and have him help me instead. Nesbitt probably is a pilot, so it wouldn't look odd for him to sit around in the clothes he comes with for a while. I learned that some Joes and Star Wars figures have the same bodies, but I can't find out if the highly articulated ones do. I'm not sure Nesbitt has bendable knees, though, so his body might be more like the 1996 Star Wars ones that didn't bend the knees. But I'm not sure, because his hands are amazing and the FINGERS bend! I love it!

We've been watching some Star Wars movies and I had to write a bizarre blurb where Nesbitt is frozen in carbonite and Lector is able to release him (thankfully after a short period of time, unlike poor Han). I doubt I'll post it in any story, and maybe it won't even make it to 31 Days. But it was interesting to write. So far I gave no explanation for how it happened or why such a thing exists on Earth. I might if I flesh it out more. I'd certainly have to if I ever plan to really use it in something.

I also decided to look up Jason Wingreen, who voiced Boba Fett, and Jeremy Bulloch, who played him physically. I somehow stumbled on a hilarious interview where he said that in rehearsal he tripped on Darth Vader's cape and they both fell down and got tangled up, **snerk.** And then he flubbed a line and said "Put Captain Cargo in the Solo Hold." I've been giggling about that all day. I still wish I could get a 12 inch Boba Fett to match my Star Wars figures, but he still remains one of the hardest to get in the set. I should have tried to get one years ago, when they were first out. I remember watching my brother bring home his electronic Boba Fett with goggle-eyed interest. There's an electronic one on eBay for not too bad a price, but the Try Me button doesn't work. If I'm buying an electronic figure, I expect it to talk to me! I'd be fine with the Collector Series one too, even though I like the electronic one better, but it's also very elusive.

Since I've been having so much trouble finding out things about Barbies, like whether they're hollow or solid, or what characters they are, and this new problem about G. I. Joes and Star Wars figures, I'm slightly considering doing a blog on Blogger or somewhere talking about my collecting and things I've discovered on my own. Surely I can't be the only person who wonders things like this! It would be nice to be able to pass on my knowledge in case anyone else is having problems about such things.

I could talk about reality, but I'd rather not. Except to say, it was very disturbing when Dad said that 80 new cases of coronavirus in the county were traced to this town and a subdivision of it. **cries.** I was hopeful it was safe for things to start opening up in some places, but I wonder if it's safe to do so in this area yet.

I also find it very frustrating that at last there's a decent, wonderfully furry Scooby-Doo plush and I don't know whether it's safe to get it right now, since it's all open and exposed to whatever germs are floating around. I've been buying things that can be wiped off or washed before use. Can't really do that with a plushie. But I hate to pass it up. I've waited literally years for a good Scooby plushie. The last one before this had this horrible scratchiness that wasn't furry at all. If Amazon had it, I could buy it there and they'd ship it in a wonderful, sealed plastic bag (inside a box, of course). But I can't find it on Amazon.

Also, I think I'm going to buy that minky Sonic plush I've wanted. He's modern Sonic and my current Sonic is classic Sonic, and hey, in Sonic Generations they actually meet, so hopefully it won't feel like a betrayal of my old Sonic to get this one too. I just want to stroke the minky so much, lol. As always, the plushies in that set continue to sell out quickly and have to be restocked. People just love them!

I also hope to buy the Sonic movie when it comes out on DVD next week. I've definitely been waiting eagerly to finally see it! I wasn't about to pay $20 just to rent it on Amazon Prime Video. Or was it $20 to own it digitally? Eh, whichever. I want a physical copy.

Back in January I was still Christmassing, and for some reason I decided to watch a Barbie Christmas movie. It was adorable and filled with family squee! It was very weird seeing Skipper with brown hair streaked purple, though. LOL. I'm used to her having blonde hair. My paper doll has huge curly hair.

Recently I decided I needed some more wonderful escapist entertainment like that and I've been watching Dreamhouse Adventures on Netflix. It's just as adorable as the movie and has lots of family squee and friendship squee too. I like that the parents are there. I always wondered about them! Ken is kind of a drip, though. I remember he was also kind of that way in Toy Story 3. I wonder why Mattel wants to write him that way. Definitely not the personality I always pictured him having! He can be endearing too, though. EDIT: And of course, the day after I wrote this I found a ton of episodes where he isn't a drip at all, but just very sweet.

I miss Whitney. She was around in the 1980s and maybe the early 1990s and I have a paper doll of her. I'm happy Teresa is still around. I have a doll of her that my cousins gave me and I was thrilled. I like Nikki and Daisy, and Renee is cute and funny too. I saw a Daisy doll at Walmart on Monday. She has a kitty, which immediately drew my attention.

I decided I want to get Barbie's sisters to go with my Barbie doll. (Yes, I do have one; even though it wasn't a huge interest for me, I did love the characters I was familiar with.) I also want Daisy, and probably the other characters from the show as well. I would preferably like to buy them on Amazon with gift cards, but Amazon is sold out of ALL OF THEM. Seriously? I also saw that the Walmart two towns over completely sold out of the new Skipper and Stacie set. Wow. We still have it here. I might end up getting either them or Daisy at Walmart. We'll see.

Somewhere around here I have Barbie's car. It was $10 one year at Christmastime and I wanted it and got to have it. I was thinking it would be hilariously cracky to do a photoshoot with it and my Star Wars figures. I don't think Han or Lando would be caught dead in something pink, but I am just so amused picturing them cruising around in Barbie's car!

I also had a Barbie storybook with her and Skipper camping in the camper. This was before the camper was pink, heh. I found the book sans cover, and then found the cover too and taped it on. It's a cute little read involving them making friends with a local boy and then he disappears and they help look for him. The book was dated 1977. I wonder whose it was before me? I can't imagine it having been my brother's. LOL.

I also got into a Beauty and the Beast kick, watched the live-action movie again, and finally bought the animated one this week with an eBay coupon. Still waiting for it to come; it should be here by Saturday. And I realized the first verse of Something There sounds like Lector coming to realize Nesbitt isn't what he first thought.

There's something sweet, and almost kind
But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined
And now he's dear, and so unsure
I wonder why I didn't see it there before

And I got plunnied for a nice hurt/comforty squee fic where Yami Marik puts them in a Shadow Game and makes them forget each other. The others aren't allowed in because he knows they could break the spell, so they're forced to just watch. Lector and Nesbitt argue at first, but it doesn't continue long and they're seeing the good in each other again. Yami Marik then incites the small town they're in and tells them Nesbitt is a mad scientist, which they already thought anyway, and gets them to try to kill him. They want Lector dead too, and Nesbitt ends up getting killed trying to save him. Of course, the spell over them breaks and Nesbitt is healed. Just nice, satisfying (possibly gratuitous) hurt/comfort goodness. I have a version I got up for yesterday's 31 days prompt, and I plan to flesh it out at a later time. Right now I'm getting back to the Duke fic, which is the next ensemble fic as I'd planned.

Also, Tristan was awesome in season 1. I just really realized that yesterday morning as I studied some early YGO episodes for inspiration on how to work with him as a main character. I wish they hadn't ended up making him almost a joke character later. I always hated the robot monkey thing, but now I have even more reason to.