The Winter Court of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

On the 2nd we went to an open house. They've been building ten new houses near us and they allowed everyone to tour them before the families moved in. It's a company called Self-Help Homes; I think the deal is that whoever is moving in does a lot of the building themselves. It was mentioned that food would be provided, but not what. I looked up what's usually served at real estate open houses and turned up cake, so that's all I was expecting and wasn't surprised when we got there and found some. We didn't make it in time for the opening ceremonies, though, so it was probably announced there that they'd be serving an actual dinner after the house tours. While we were touring, I saw that getting set up and heard some of the other people talking about that. It was awesome to get dinner, especially after 90 minutes of walking! A hamburger with cheese, a hot dog, all kinds of toppings, Doritos, ice water, and giant chocolate chip cookies! Yuuuum!

The houses were all gorgeous. My favorite ones had huge bathrooms with the toilets off to themselves in nooks. One house even had a giant walk-in closet with a light off the bathroom! It was epic.

The weird thing is, while we were touring I kept having intense Sonic the Hedgehog nostalgia and thinking about getting that Amy Rose plush. Something about the touring or the houses or the time of day or the way the sun was coming in or all of the above was making me remember something Sonic-related, but I couldn't remember what and I still can't. It may have been a memory of around ten years ago when I was on a big Sonic kick in late summer. Or it could be a memory of when I got my first Sonic game set in July 2001, but that was a cloudy day, so I don't think so. In any case, it was very nice but also very strange. Maybe it was a memory of being into Sonic while taking those driving classes years ago, but I don't know what new houses would have to do with that. I don't know what new houses have to do with any of my Sonic memories, honestly. LOL. Maybe being on a Sonic kick and listening to the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack on our way to my childhood friend's wedding reception in her big backyard? I don't know. Maybe it's even as simple as the new houses being for families, and that reminding me of when I was a kid and just newly getting enthused with Sonic. It wouldn't explain the specific Amy Rose association, though. Then there's the thought that maybe I was associating the houses with anime, like Sailor Moon, and thinking about those characters' families, and how I got into anime in summer, and thinking of Sonic since it's also a Japanese property and I have many summer memories of Sonic....

I did finally get my gift card and order the Amy plush, and I got the last one. I was worried wondering if there was really one left or if I'd get a message that she wasn't available after all, but she was there and shipped and I got her the day before I needed to cancel the Prime trial, the 11th. She's so cute, and gorgeous, and so soft! Her dress is soft too. It's so hilarious that I would actually end up wanting an Amy plush, but realizing she didn't act out nearly as much as I'd thought really helped, because she was so cute and sweet in the episodes I was watching, and tough when she needed to be (not when she didn't need to be). I also like that sometimes she's kind of a voice of reason; when Knuckles flips out she usually stays logical. (Of course, then sometimes she's illogical herself at other times, heh. But I guess she's a pretty well-rounded character.) I love characters who are voices of reason; that's one reason why I love Gansley so much. (And I love Marc Thompson's voice for him in season 3; I could listen to that for ages. Help, I have a crush on a 60-year-old man (who isn't someone I've watched in stuff at various ages)! How did that even happen? Lol. I keep remembering this Charlie's Angels episode where Sabrina has a crush on a 60-year-old man because she loves his intelligence, and Jill and Kelly keep giggling about it. Of course, I certainly don't like the way Gansley acts with Yugi and Atem in their duel, but what I don't think people tend to realize is that if I write for a character for a long time, sometimes I end up falling in love with the version of them that I'm writing. Gansley is repentant in my post-canon verse, and combining that with his voice and being one of the logical ones of the group, well ... squeee. (And I think his "happy" sprite in Nightmare Troubadour is adorable.) Same thing with Nesbitt, minus him being one of the logical ones, lol. But I really love the way I've developed him in my post-canon verse. It's really those versions I'm crushing on, not what we see in canon where they're displaying such repugnant behavior ... although I do feel sorry for Nesbitt, especially considering his backstory in the original Japanese, and of course I love Gansley's canonical logical behavior trying to look after the others. Team Dad Gansley is adorable both in canon and in my verse, I have to say. Johnson doesn't seem to have any good qualities in canon unless he cares about the others, and Crump is so repulsive with his dirty-minded behavior towards Tea and Serenity in the original Japanese. The dub thankfully removes that, but he's still repulsively sadistic and I really don't have a lot of sympathy for him in either version. I do like the versions of him and Johnson I write for, though. I didn't think anyone except Lector was even deserving of a second chance until I re-watched the episodes enough to pick up nuances and realized that they seemed to care about each other. Then I really wanted to save them all.)

I was worried wondering if they'd even get any more Amy plushies in, as then it was saying "Unavailable. We don't know if or when this item will be back in stock." But I checked again and it said she'd be back in stock this week, so that's good. I have never seen something like this. All of these Sonic plushies are so popular and in demand, and they keep flying off the shelves almost as fast as Amazon can put them back! That should tell Sega that people still want quality Sonic merchandise. It's so hard to find Sonic stuff in stores right now and it's so frustrating. I love that I was able to get a shirt at ShopKo before they closed. I still feel a little sad that I didn't get another one I saw, but I didn't have much money and it was white and long-sleeved. I don't really like white for shirts because it gets dirty so fast, and I only wear long sleeves in public and in cooler weather, so I figured that shirt might not even get much use for a while. It was definitely more practical not to get it, but I still feel a little sad, especially when it's so very hard to find Sonic stuff.

I have to admit, in spite of the silly rivalry with Mario, it seems to me like Mario is clearly the winner in merchandise and almost always has been. There was a time when Sonic figures were around and more interesting than Nintendo figures, though, but that's long past. And there's a book about Mario that's readily available, while The History of Sonic book was never easily obtainable and went out of print before I could save up enough to get it. Sigh. I miss the days when Sonic stuff was easier to get and so plentiful. Even though the non-Boom ban is over, it seems like companies aren't getting back on track very quickly. Boom really ruined the merchandise scene and it's never recovered.

Then I have the problem that I love these Sonic plushies so much that I ... really want the actual Sonic one. The thought of petting a Sonic with minky-like fur just sounds glorious. But I think I'd feel more guilty getting another Sonic plush than I would for almost any other character, because my classic Sonic plush was such a close companion of mine as a kid, probably my favorite Christmas gift ever, and I never really wanted another Sonic plush because I was so happy with him. I know the plush isn't really alive, but it's really hard to think in logical terms like that, especially for someone sentimental like me who kind of wonders if the inner life idea could be true. Plushies and figures and dolls are alive to me, because in Jessie from Toy Story's words, "that's how they [the kids] see you [the toys]." I try to rationalize it by saying I have classic Sonic and why not get modern Sonic; they're different so it's not a betrayal of the classic plush; it would be nice to have a Sonic without felt spikes, etc. We'll see which side of my mind wins out.

The 4th was ... probably about the worst holiday I've ever spent. As a normal day it was okay, but as a holiday it was really lame. Two wonderful things happened, though: I reached the Big Five arc in my game that day and I got to role-play with Crystal. After that, the day went downhill and didn't stop. We didn't do anything as a family to celebrate and I wasn't even able to get a pizza. (I did finally get one next week after the Scottish Festival, though.)

The Festival was fun and we got to see the band The Fire again, which was awesome. I was a little sad they didn't do a full hour concert like they usually do (it was 45 minutes instead), but I guess they were worn-out from the heat. It was so hot, ugh. Although I don't think it was as bad as last year, where it was so stuffy it was hard to even breathe.

I wanted to find a pendant with a purple gem or rock so I could think of the amethyst ring I gave Lector in my fics, but I couldn't find anything like that. The jewelry shop I like so much didn't come this year, for some reason. The new store I liked so much last year was back, though, and they had some raw amethyst samples that were really tempting. But I really wanted something to wear and I didn't have much money, so I ended up not getting one of those.

It has been a really busy month. Most of this past week has been taken up with preparations for my sister getting re-married, and then the wedding was on Friday. Outside. In 97 degree temperatures. GAH. But at least it was at a beautiful place and there was some shade. The reception was pretty awesome. Most receptions around here only do dessert, but they did a meal! Cheese sandwiches and crackers and cheese squares and potato rolls and punch and nuts and M&M's and vegetable trays and gigantic pieces of cake ... ! Paradise! And on the way home I found the My Little Pony Bubbles at Target! This is G1 Bubbles, not G4 Bubbles. This Bubbles is yellow with blue hair, one of the two sitting down Ponies. I've wanted her for a long time. I hope I can find her friend Seashell too, because it would be too sad not to have her BFF. Plus, she's also really pretty, lavender with turquoise hair.

This week may be busy too; I'm desperately hoping we can have fun on our local holiday, especially since the 4th was such a bust as far as doing fun family things to celebrate.

And I finally beat the Nightmare Troubadour game, after many struggles against Yami Marik! I have to admit I oddly enough didn't have too much trouble with the other odd or difficult duels in the game. No one else really seemed to be on Yami Marik's level. I kept getting trounced to the point of utter frustration and aggravation, especially since I thought he was the final barrier keeping me from getting back to the Big Five. Finally some Internet searches brought up some advice and a gameplay video with good strategies I was able to use and I beat him. It was especially hard because I had to defeat him with Obelisk, and he kept destroying my monsters before I could get him on the field, and occasionally when I did get him on the field, Yami Marik did something else to make me lose, like play Ring of Destruction after already whittling down my lifepoints with Lava Golem.

Then when I finally beat Yami Marik, I found I wasn't at level 20 and I had to be at level 20 to see the Big Five again. I was just barely at 19. So there was some frantic dueling to level up, and occasionally a Rare Hunter or Yami Bakura showed up and screwed up my EXP. I love Yami Bakura and any other time I would have been happy to see him, but not when he ruined the EXP I'd got from Seto by causing me to lose before I'd saved again. He showed up a couple of other times and I beat him those times, so then he helped me get EXP. (I don't get any when I lose.)

It's been a delight to play against the Big Five again! I don't like that apparently I can only duel them in a row and have to start over if I lose to any of them, but at least I get to see them again in some way. I don't like that the game made it sound like they're possibly holographic projections, but I'll just insist they're real and this is their new job, lol.

I'm finally wrapping up my multi-chapter fic. I ended up feeling really badly for Pegasus, as through this fic and other ones of mine, he's seen or heard about characters getting second chances and yet he can't have Cecelia back. I don't even like Pegasus that much (mainly because of how flippant he acted about all the horrible things he did, even after he supposedly repented), but I felt like I was slapping him in the face and it just didn't seem fair, like that everyone is allowed back except Cecelia. (Of course, there are other characters who stay dead, but I don't think any case other than Cecelia's involves a loved one so unable to deal with the death as Pegasus is.) So I've set up a situation where Shadi's taking him on a quest that may bring Cecelia back. I was going to end the epilogue with them reuniting, but now I wonder if I should leave things with him on the quest and possibly have the next fic with more of the cast ending up on the quest too and having that be an adventure fic. Maybe it should be the one I've wanted to do for so long with the Big Five having to take Capsule Monsters trials. I'll think about it. That could take focus away from Pegasus, but I'm really not sure I could write a fic with him as a central character. It took me years to finish Until You Find Answers, mainly because I couldn't get into Pegasus's mind and was dreading his chapter so much.

Been nostalgic today, remembering a shopping trip from nine years ago. I was looking for Ninja Turtles and Sonic merchandise. Maybe other stuff too, but that's mostly what I remember. I went to Big Lots, Rite Aid, Toys R Us, and maybe F.Y.E.

At Rite Aid I saw a Turtles plush, but it was made out of a really annoying non-furry and non-smooth material that catches fingernails. And it was of Michelangelo, who at that time I didn't like. He annoyed the heck out of me in the 2003 series, which was my main focus at that time. But he'd always kind of annoyed me; I remember thinking he was an idiot in the one Archie Comic I had. I wish I'd been able to see some of the other Archie Comics they did for the Turtles, because I've since learned that Michelangelo really had some powerful storylines! I think it was only a couple of years ago when I really began appreciating Michelangelo, both because of how he began developing in my fic verse and because of the long conversations I had with ThickerThanLove, a devoted Michelangelo fan. Hilariously, he's now my second favorite Turtle in the 87 verse. Haven't revisited the 2003 series much, so I'm not as sure how he stacks up there now, but I did rewatch my DVDs of the first few episodes a couple of years ago and only found him super annoying in the first one. I'm glad I didn't get that plush, though. I've found much nicer Turtles plushies of all of them.

At Big Lots I saw the game made for the TMNT movie. I seriously considered getting it; it looked like a blast. But from the system requirements, it looked like it would probably only work on Dad's computer, and I didn't think he'd appreciate that much. And I wasn't crazy about the thought of being downstairs to play it, either. At this house my computers have been upstairs, and I like that much better.

At Toys R Us I found a DVD of Sonic Underground with all four Knuckles episodes gathered together. Those were the only episodes of Underground I really wanted, so I was thrilled and bought it. That ended up being my only purchase of the trip, although I may have seen some other things I liked. Those are the memories that stand out the most for me.

I've been in a bit of a Sonic mood tonight. I meant to install Sonic R and Sonic Heroes on the computer in the hall, but I haven't got around to it yet. I switched the computer that was first in the hall with one that was downstairs that has more memory. I want to use it as a gaming computer. But I've only played Duel Links for my gaming sessions since I finally got to have it, so all other gaming projects have been on hold.

I've also thought a lot about Toys R Us. Of course, how could I not? I haven't been able to fully accept that the U.S. stores are now gone. Part of that may be because I didn't see it at the last. I was last there when I bought Sailor Mars, and they still had a lot of stuff. Maybe in the future I'll regret not seeing them at the last, but right now I'm fine with it. It makes it easier to remember it as it was. But it also helps to know that the store lives on in Canada and overseas. Even though I'll likely never visit any of those locations, it's just comforting to know they're there. The brand isn't dead, like my beloved Borders is.

The brand has certainly changed, though. It's been years since the days when I could almost always find something there I wanted to buy. The last several times, even before the liquidation, I wanted desperately to help give them business and I just couldn't find the things I wanted. I think the last thing I bought there before the liquidation was the Baxter figure I turned into Barney, and that was in February 2017. I did see Miraculous Ladybug stuff I wanted, and I remember wanting to get in on a BOGO half-off sale on dolls, but there was only one Marionette doll and nothing else I could combine her with. Now the dolls and figures aren't anywhere to be found except online, and usually for bad prices. But after hearing how the dolls often fall apart, I am horrified and think maybe it's for the best. But seriously, WTH Bandai? You're a big name brand. Where's your quality control?

There are so many happy memories of Toys R Us through the years, starting from around age 5, when my brother discovered it after my beloved Play World went out of business. I was skeptical that any store could be as good as Play World, and I think I was initially lukewarm to Toys R Us, but it didn't take long and I warmed up to them and loved them. It was my favorite place aside from home. I was always asking to go there, especially if we were out doing other errands. I remember one time Dad needed to talk to some guy about I think a computer problem, and the guy was really nice and let me play these fun arcade games he had set up while I waited. Afterwards, I asked to go to Toys R Us and we went to the one East of us.

They were there through all of my Sonic love up to now. I remember when Sonic and Knuckles was going to come out and they had a banner with the logo and my eight-year-old self overdramatically proclaimed it "Beautiful!" Heh. Then when the game really came out, it was on display and I got to play it a bit. The Loop-De-Loops baffled me. Later, I also played a little of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle there. Probably other Sonic games through the years too, but that's what I remember most. And the Tiger Electronics handheld games. I have two of them and always meant to get the other Sonic one, but never did.

All of my Talespin and Darkwing Duck figures came from there, and my Donatello figure. A lot of my childhood Ponies, too. I remember how proud I was to take my carefully saved money and buy a Magic Meadow Pony when they came out following the demise of G1 My Little Ponies in America.

Of course I went through a period where I mostly wasn't interested in visiting Toys R Us. After I discovered Yu-Gi-Oh!, that all changed. I went there so much again after that. We used to get milk from a dairy because Dad was obsessed with natural products without lots of added chemicals, and I was fine with that. We got to get ice cream cones from the dairy and then go to one of the Toys R Uses on the way back. I loved all the Toys R Uses, but for YGO visits I probably got the most sentimental about that one. We went there every couple of weeks when we needed milk. So many happy memories of those trips....

(And I hardly ever use makeup. Example: I bought two tubes of lipstick around then, when I was 16, and ... I still have some left. Occasionally I still use it. The smell will forever remind me of YGO and those shopping trips.)

I remember visiting a Toys R Us shortly after I first discovered YGO. We'd been to a wedding reception and were coming back and I stopped there and was looking in a magazine. Then we hurried on home so I could watch and record YGO that afternoon, LOL. It was one of the Seto vs. Yugi trilogy from season 1. I think it was part 1, and yet another part of me thinks it was part 3.

I remember calling them asking about YGO figures, and then going and seeing them. Just the small ones then, but I was happy for any. When the big ones came out, I was over the moon. I ordered Seto online, not sure when the stores would get them, and then he arrived on August 1st. We were going out later that day, visited the standard YGO Toys R Us, and I found the figures were out. Heh. Of course. So I bought Yami Yugi that same day. (That winter I found Joey at Walmart and asked for him as a New Year's present. About a year later, after five months of searching, I found the big Marik figure at ShopKo. I wish they'd made more human characters, in both figure sizes.... I don't know why Yami Bakura wasn't made, for instance, since he has always been a very popular character. Now there's a gorgeous figure of him, but it's far too expensive.)

My 16th birthday I usually cite as my happiest one, although I've had many happy ones. That one was my first after getting interested in YGO. I got the board game among my presents, which thrilled me, and on the shopping spree that year I bought my first two YGO shirts, which I'd previously selected as things I wanted to buy. One was gray with Seto and Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, the other was electric blue with Yami Yugi. Most future YGO shirts came from Walmart (with the exception of my first Marik shirt, bought at Target), but those first two were from Toys R Us. Although I think one was at Kids R Us, so we must have been at the Toys R Us where I recently bought Sailor Mars, as it was the one with a Kids R Us next-door.

Many years ago I started a tradition of wanting to go to Toys R Us on my birthday. I think my 8th birthday was the first year that was done. Later the plan expanded to include other stores. A couple of years I didn't make it to Toys R Us in favor of other stores that had more of what I wanted.

I think the last point in time when Toys R Us had many things I wanted was around 2009, when I was having fun with Sonic stuff. Figures, clothes, fun memorabilia. . . . Then Sonic Boom came along a few years later and pretty much all merchandise was Boom. I still haven't tried Boom; I detest what they did to Knuckles' personality. The changed design was bad enough, but I could have dealt with that if they hadn't ruined his personality. Finally the ban on other merchandise lifted, but I don't recall seeing any Sonic stuff at Toys R Us other than Boom, except the recent classic Sonic plush and maybe one or two other classic design items. Last year on my birthday trip, I was very sad that I couldn't find any Sonic stuff there at all.

There were other fun times.... One year I had a very Mario birthday. At Toys R Us I bought the Mario backpack plush for $14.99 and a shirt on clearance for $2! And I got a free Mario scarf because they were running a promotion of getting a free scarf with purchase of Nintendo stuff. I felt a little guilty at first to be buying Mario instead of Sonic, even though I'd always loved Mario too. I quickly got over such silly feelings, especially since having a Mario plush was always a dream of mine!

And now I'd probably better close this topic, as I'm starting to get sad really thinking that those times are over and there won't be any more unless that businessman saves the U.S. stores. I'm not even sure if he's still trying, but he said he'd even be willing to get the empty buildings just to save the store. That was some months ago, though.

I did, however, finally decide after days of deliberating, what I wanted most to buy with some of my video conference money. Of course, in the end, what I wanted most was a lot of YGO Hexors that included the Yami Bakura one and a lot of pins that had the Yami Bakura one. Both were a little more than I wanted to pay, especially for the pins, but they really were an amazing price. And at the moment I could afford it, so I decided to do it. No regrets! I am so thrilled to finally have those things that I looked so hard for years ago. I bought as many boxes of Hexors as I could, trying to find the Yami Bakura one, and I went to so many 7-11s looking for the Yami Bakura pin. I'm really happy to have the Mai pin too. It's really nice and I've always liked her since she started to develop around episode 11. I thought the Seto pin was the same one I had, but it's not. The pose is the same, but it's a totally different pin, much sturdier and more collector's quality. Then the Joey pin is neat, and even though I'm not a Pegasus fan aside from scenes of him being awesomely helpful in the movie or setting the souls free because he's a man of his word, I do like his pin. I think I have every pin in the set except Yami Yugi, and I'm hoping to get him to complete it. At the moment, though, just so thrilled to have the Yami Bakura merchandise.

I also decided to make a Bakura plush. I have my cute little one, and so of course I felt guilty to bring in a second one, but that first, commissioned Bakura is in scale with my commissioned Yami Bakura in Thief King form but not with the Yami Bakura I recently made. I thought it was sad for him to not have a Bakura too. So, I made one. Everything went so well! I made most of the plushie on the 4th, and then I did the shirt this weekend. Not sure if I'll make the sweater. If I do, I'll change the design and have it open so the pretty turquoise shirt will still be visible. http://meromeroyui.deviantart.com