insaneladybug | Entries tagged with pokemon

Some things the same, some better.

I'm getting paid now by a veteran's organization to take care of Dad. The money helps a lot, both for things needed in the household and fun things. I've had the freedom to buy things I couldn't before, which makes me very happy. One of my most treasured things is the Play Arts Kai Advent Children Sephiroth with wing. He arrived on my birthday last October and I adore him so much.

I finally got a Switch Lite and have plenty of games for it. Best discovery was realizing I could actually play Final Fantasy VII after loving it for so many years. I spent hours reading the game script, I watched countless cutscenes, watched Advent Children over and over, but I never had access to the games to be able to actually play them. Playing it at last and getting to actually experience those beloved characters' story opened story floodgates for me and I've had lots of ideas for both FF and KH stories. I'm also finally able to play Crisis Core, which I also love.

Twilight and Dawn timeline has definitely taken off and I've been writing many stories with Cloud and Sephiroth after they've grown even closer. I feel I should probably insert a few stories to bridge the gap between where the timeline left off and the first recent fic taking place after the other fics that showed them much closer than before, but I don't know. Maybe it looks okay as it is, especially since that recent fic has a crisis in it and said crisis furthered their closeness in it. I love those guys so much.

I overhauled my KH fic timeline after finally looking into Birth By Sleep and deciding it was time to accept it and work with it and that it mostly helped the main things I wanted to have in my timeline, mainly Sephiroth being his own person and actually trying to help Cloud instead of hurt him. My new KH timeline is way better than the old one and also accepts the magical nature of the source material much more. Seph has a much better and happier backstory, especially regarding his wings, and he no longer is bound to Cloud like in the old timeline. He's trying to help completely of his own free will. So much better.

Bought a gaming laptop and am able to run Dissidia NT on it. I play that most every day, always as either FF or KH Seph. It's funny that a fighting game is actually calming and comforting to me, but I think it's mostly because of being able to play as Seph. Smash Ultimate is another comfort game for the same reason, as is my ROM of Dissidia 012. I also have Rebirth and the mod that lets me play as Seph in at least some of it other than just chapter 1. That is delightful. The graphics in that game are so beautiful and I'm always swooning over Seph's gorgeousness in it.

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is such a wholesome and adorable game, and useful to try to learn timing in music better. I like getting that out a lot too. My main team of Seph, Cloud, Zack, and Aerith reached Level 99 within a week or two, lol. Of course, it's fast leveling up in that game, but still.

The Eevee colony has expanded exponentially. And Pokemon Center is doing a Year of Eevee event, which of course has contributed to the expansion.

Very upset about Joann closing. I wish someone would step in and save them like someone did for Big Lots. Big Lots isn't even the same unique store it used to be, but there's really nothing that can replace Joann. I'm stocking up for future crafting projects and need to get back there again for more. It still doesn't feel real to lose it.

Party City is gone now too, save for the franchise locations that weren't affected by the bankruptcy (and the Canadian stores owned by other people). I'm glad I did end up getting the Eevee cardboard cutout when they got it back in stock last autumn.

Current Mood: cheerful

I have always had great anticipation for my birthday. The last couple of years have been strange, with having to get my gifts myself, but in another way it's been nice since most of what I want is online-only, Dad has never been good with shopping for others online, and this way I ensure I get lots of what I really want. I've stocked up some fun things for my birthday, mainly Eevee and Star Wars and Encanto merch. And at least there will be a couple of surprises from friends.

On one such trip, I was absolutely overjoyed and elated to see the free-standing GameStop closest to us came back! It was such a shock. Last year they definitely seemed to be closed and I'm sure they were no longer listed on the website. But a couple of weeks ago they were open, fully functional, and on the website again! I doubt anything else could have excited me as much, except a new free-standing Toys R Us in the States. I might actually cry for joy if such a thing were to ever happen again (which I doubt it will). I wish I could go to Canada and visit it there.

The GameStop had many Eevee things. A lot of them I already have, lol. But there were a handful of things I didn't have, and I got a cute Eevee figure to put away for my birthday. She looks like she'll be better in scale with my Radley doll than my talking Eevee (who will of course stay Radley's as well).

I also finally saw the sleeping plush. She is very cute! But more expensive than Amazon was last charging. I'm hoping Amazon will restock. I never thought I'd want a sleeping plush, but the Eevees are so darling. They're even more appealing since I'm playing Pokemon Sleep. I imagine that game is responsible for sales of the sleeping plush going through the ceiling lately. Although they've always seemed popular.

Even knowing what most things are, the anticipation of opening them is just as exciting as if I didn't know. Perhaps a little moreso, since I know I won't get disappointed (unless I was sent the wrong merch, which I certainly hope won't have happened). The crowning piece is the adorable Halloween Eevee statue. I have no idea where I'll put her, but I had to get her. It hurt so much not getting her last year. She's so precious. Even Pikachu in that line is trying to be scary, but Eevee is just too innocent and sweet and genuine for that and is just going "Yay! :D"

Stores always like to send me things for my birthday month too. Disney has sent their annual 20% discount, which I plan to save for combining with their free ship day this month. I haven't decided what I'll use it on yet. Possibilities are Kristoff doll (if he's still in stock), Isabela or Dolores plush (Mirabel is cheaper on Amazon and Luisa is here waiting for Tuesday), or maybe Eeyore. I always wanted an Eeyore. Or a really furry Tigger. I have my brother's, but he is not very furry so many years later.

I was so frustrated that I got distracted with the possibility of a Disney order right when I was trying to place my Pokemon Center order a couple of weeks ago. I was distracted so long that I missed out on the Flareon and Jolteon Sitting Cuties, and those are the only two Eevee family members I have no plushies of. I had no idea they'd sell out over the weekend. I was worried the Afternoon with Eevee figures would sell out that fast, but they stayed and the plushies vamoosed. Go figure. I should have really known all along the Pokemon Center order was what I wanted the most, considering I've had other chances to get those Disney items on other sales and have always decided I couldn't justify the cost, even with discounts.

Target will send me something on Tuesday. Last year it was 10% off something, which is barely anything at all. But I still put it to good use getting the 24 inch sitting Eevee. This year, I have my eye on the Eevee costume accessory set. We're finally getting a Target closer to us and it's supposed to open this month, but I don't have an exact day yet. It would be awesome if they have the set. Not all Targets carry it. It would be so fun to buy it in-store. There's something especially satisfying about getting a wanted item in-store and bringing it home right then. Although mail is certainly fun too.

I'm also heavily contemplating a three-foot cardboard Eevee stand-up from Party City. Of course, this is utterly ridiculous since I am not at all sure where I'd put it. But it's oh so tempting anyway.

The one other order I'm debating right now is at Macy's. Last year I saw a beautiful blue reindeer and was crushed I couldn't get it. I don't know why I forgot about it entirely until I saw it on Macy's site the other day. A special sale on her ends tomorrow and I've been debating getting her. I really want her, but I also really want the Eevee things and I can't have it all. I'm honestly leaning more towards the cardboard cut-out, but it seems so foolish to get that. I must decide quickly, as my discount on that also ends tomorrow.

Current Mood: hopeful

Christmas was basically very nice. I did manage to capture the feel of a Christmas from my childhood, which I had so desperately longed to do. It made me very happy. I also discovered cutting many dolls and figures out of their packaging can really hurt the thumb. My skin is dry and it cracked a lot there.

One of my favorite gifts is the Encanto doll set I've been wanting for a year! I was so thrilled Azalea542 got it for me! I have them set up on a metal tray right near my bed. They can stand on their own, which is so cool. I also got the Bruno and Dolores dolls so I'd have all the released dolls. I hope they will make the other characters too.

Another lovely gift was a gift card from Ladyamberjo so I could get Sylveon. I was sick of missing out on the Eevee family plushies at Build-a-Bear and I wanted to grab her since she's a favorite. That outing was a time. Almost everything that could go wrong on that outing did. Thankfully, we managed to return with Sylveon or it would have all been pointless. It started precipitating. I objected. Dad insisted we keep going, for some reason. We had to stop and get something from my sister. We had to get gas and had a hard time getting the locked gas cap off. We got stuck in a ditch for which there was no warning sign posted. People were very kind and helped us get out, but it took an hour or more. When we finally got to the mall, some mysterious thing had gone wrong and the store was temporarily closed?! I waited a bit, left in discouragement, then tried calling before leaving the parking lot. They were open again, so I went back for Sylveon. There was already a line forming, so I had to wait a bit more. Driving home was a nightmare as the precipitation continued. But at last we made it!

I got some more Eevees and watched The Rings of Power. I loved it and named Eevees Merry and Pippin. ThickerThanLove sent me the Lord of the Rings bear from Build-a-Bear, squeee! He looks like Frodo, with brown curly fur and blue eyes. I need something to name Sam next.

I am still furious at Nintendo cutting off eShop access to 3DS and 2DS tomorrow. I spent most of this past week looking for things to snap up. There was a big sale on Capcom games, for some awesome reason. I got Mega Man Legacy Collection. Mega Man games are hard. I can't jump on the bad guys and they swarm me really fast. I can't blast them all. I'm really happy to have the games, though. I'll figure it out. I was disappointed I couldn't seem to find anything else. I already got most of the awesome stuff I could afford in the months prior. Then I finally thought to look up Phoenix Wright. Those games were also on sale, for an incredible $2.99 each! Even the trilogy set! After spending much more than I really intended or wanted to (especially on DLC), I have many Phoenix games. I wasn't going to get Apollo Justice, but NinetalesUK finally convinced me I should. If I happen to take to him and the other characters from his games, I probably would be upset to not have the first game with them. I am notorious for balking at things and then loving them when I finally try them. For $2.99, I figured I'd better get it.

I got Investigations for the iPhone, since that was the only way to get it. (Yes, I have an iPhone.) But apparently I will only get the first case and have to drop a lot more to get the rest. I don't know when that will be, since I've already spent a lot. I'm enjoying the first case. Miles is still my favorite; playing as him is wonderful.

I still wish someone could use Radley's sprites from Over the Nexus to make a video game with him. I wish I could do that. I have no skills and would have to learn.

I got my dad's HP laptop working again and downloaded Steam onto it. Then I got The Disney Afternoon Collection, which was on sale for $5. I have always wanted to play those games. Darkwing is hard like Mega Man. The Chip and Dale games are the easiest. I am enjoying them all, even though I'm having trouble getting very far in them. I'll figure it out.

I had plans to get the Leafeon plush at Build-a-Bear, even though I'd have to do the online bundle with unnecessary clothes. I still want to try to make it work even after needing to snap up all that Nintendo stuff before it's gone. I have tried for days to convince my brain it is foolish. My brain will not listen. It's the only way to get him. I'm hoping I can re-sell the clothes, at least the sleeper. I might like the cape enough to keep it, but the onesie seems very silly. I don't want to cover up all that beautiful fur. If he hasn't sold out yet, I plan to order him tonight. He will make a lovely Easter gift. I'm tired of missing out on the Build-a-Bears. I wish I'd got him and Glaceon when they were briefly in physical stores last year, and Umbreon when he was online again briefly.

Some family members wanted me and Dad to get on their Verizon phone plan with them and we'd get iPhones. Mine was free! It's 13. The camera is glorious and I've taken videos of the kitty. The space is also glorious. I have 128GB! And there's not a lot of bloatware. It looks like I can delete whatever I want to, too. I like using the iPhone as a gaming device, mostly. I see both pros and cons of it. It's much harder to type on; if I need to correct a mistake, I can't even go right to the mistake. I have to erase the whole word! There's no headphone jack. Clearing caches is much harder. Apparently I'm supposed to hit offload app, but the description sounded much more complicated than a simple clearing of the cache. It sounded like I would have to redownload the app any time I clicked offload! Some of those apps are big. I don't have time to keep redownloading them! I got my dad's Motorola Android phone since he didn't need it anymore. It has 64GB, which is also good. I like to use it for most other Internet activities since Google devices are easier to manage in a lot of ways. Two of my tablets have been dying a lot, leaving me with the Amazon Fire tablet and these phones. I am happy to have them all.

I found someone called ZakuraRain who will do beautiful pictures for only $3, $6 if it's colored! They call them doodles, but they're definitely higher quality than mere doodles. I've got four pictures from them so far.

Fanfiction writing is slow at times, but still going on. I'm writing some enjoyable Kalin and Radley stories. Sometimes inspiration flows.

I also finally put the collars and lapels on the Kalin and Radley plushies' coat and jacket. I need to take pictures. I was going to get silver snaps for Radley, but I couldn't find the right kind and then I wondered if even the lightweight duster kind would weigh the light material down a lot.

Current Mood: okay

I'm tired.

I'm tired and sad and worn-down. But I have to keep dealing with the problems that are plaguing us and I have to be stretched thin trying to take care of everything and not having help with some of the problems.

My dad is practically blind. He needs help with all sorts of things. My mom has Alzheimer's and is very needy. She gets distressed if I'm not around, even just if I need to go into the basement for a bit to help Dad with something down there. It makes it very hard to get things done. There are a couple of others who are able to help Dad from time to time, but I'm about the only one who can help Mom. I have to dread each day wondering if I'm going to be mistaken for my aunt, my grandmother, or another version of myself. Any day when there isn't a distressing flip-out that takes ages to repair is something to celebrate. I've had to say goodbye to so many things we loved to do together that she doesn't like anymore. And the more I think about it, the more I think that the symptoms were starting to show years ago. I thought some of the things she said for years were extra strange, but it was only last year that it really became apparent what was happening.

I just wish we could all be happy again like we used to be, but I know that is highly unlikely to happen. Things have just been getting worse and worse in so many ways ever since 2019, at least. I can't stop longing for healing miracles, especially when we watch true stories like on It's a Miracle, but it doesn't seem like anything like that is in store. I just wonder why we can't have amazing healing miracles like those people have. Why aren't we good enough or deserving enough? Of course, there are no answers. I don't need to be preached at that life is full of trials, or that we're supposed to go through trials, yadda yadda. Why this trial in particular? What are we supposed to get out of it? What I get out of it is that Alzheimer's is Hell and I despise it with all of my heart and soul. And it kind of runs in the family. I'm terrified it may be my fate in the future. I don't want it! It is tragic to see an intelligent woman crumble like this. She used to spend hours writing letters and poems to cheer people up. Now most of her writing is devoted to letters to nonexistent people she's determined to deliver to real houses, or letters to real people about things that never happened. Why did God let this happen so she can't really serve Him anymore as she so loved to do? She touched so many lives for good. She could have done more.

I try to find escapes in online things, but I often find drama, unfriendliness, and story reviews dwindling close to nothing. I don't feel like I belong or am wanted most places, and the places where I do feel welcome enough aren't as active as I would like. I do have happiness talking and RPing with certain people, but those numbers have dwindled a bit too. What I do have means everything to me. I cling to the fictional characters' realities where things are happier than reality.

Retail therapy is still a thing for me. I have some more adorable Eevees now. I got the cute Tomy one, and the seller included two more plushies as extras! Popplio, whom I intended to get since she's Sandy's friend, and a tiny Eevee I have as the child of the Tomy one. I also bought Gigantimax Eevee.

I got the Pokemon Center's Christmas Eevee shortly before he sold out. I also found the autumn Eevee with pumpkin on my birthday. That was a special treat! Then Target finally got the sitting down 24 inch Eevee in stock again and I bought him. Those and finally getting to play Pokemon Go were the highlights of October. Most of the month was terrible.

I have three Eevee ornaments, the two Hallmark ones and one from the Pokemon Center. The latter is so heavy I was afraid it would fall off the tree, so I have her standing up on my filing cabinet. She and my other Eevees all brighten my days immensely. Their innocent faces are just precious.

I've needed to buy my own Christmas presents again this year. I've found a lot of lovely things for myself as well as my parents, and friends are starting to send awesome things too. It's hard to wait to open everything! Only two weeks to go. I pray desperately that Christmas can be nice and magical, like when I was a child, but I know the reality is that something will very likely go wrong, as it has on all holidays and my birthday lately, or the day right after.

Please, God, let us have a happy Christmas....

Current Mood: sad

I had unusual dreams worth writing down:

There was some kind of dark creepy RP or something I was looking at, where there was a cult sacrificing people. It said if someone was sacrificed and revived, they might find parts of themselves?! Apparently they would revive in a new body because the old one had been damaged. I refused to allow Radley to be a victim. He was around and terrified, though.

I had to get more mysterious stains off my white Radley shirt, which is something that happens in real-life and is aggravating.

I was looking at some old Great Illustrated Classics, which was a line of abridged classics for kids. I found one that to my utter shock was a crossover with Andy Griffith and YGO 5Ds. The storyline was something about Andy Taylor having a daughter or maybe a granddaughter and I guess he was dying and unable to care for her, and apparently he wanted Radley to be her guardian. So the main plot was whether Radley will do that or not. The Bunch was in it too, and Radley was stricter with them than he seems to be in canon (locking them out of I guess the diner because of their rowdy behavior getting out of hand?!), but I was just beyond ecstatic to find actual published merchandise with Radley and I was thrilled with the illustrations and such. I also turned up what seemed to be a movie version, called Blue Moon.

It was very hard waking up from that and realizing it was just a dream.

I don't know why I didn't discuss this in the entry from June 24th, but on June 15th I tried again for my driver's license and I finally got it! It was such an amazing, incredible relief and divine blessing, as I desperately needed the license in order to help the family. There was a much nicer guy who went with me that time, and apparently the guy I'd had back in March has a reputation for strictness, as this one said, "Don't worry, I'm not as strict as that guy." He was so nice and personable and helped me to relax better. He also said he lives here in town, and I kind of think I may have seen him at Walmart a time or two! I'm not positive, but he did look familiar.

Since more stress was building up on the drives in to get the license, we decided the best thing was for someone else to drive me in so I could focus all my energy on the test. My sister drove us in, and I am very grateful, as I'm sure that helped reduce the stress enough that I could pass the test. But it was disappointing that she had to get right back, so I couldn't do anything to celebrate. I still haven't really had the celebration I wanted, as I'd wanted to go out with both Mom and Dad to do it and that just hasn't happened.

I've driven alone three times, and while the first time was fun, the second time was more tense. The third was okay. I think I prefer having company.

The Scottish Festival was finally attendable again this year, but unfortunately, a lot of things went wrong that I do not care to discuss (in connection with the serious real-life problems going on that I also do not care to discuss here). It was extremely disappointing and a let-down that it couldn't be enjoyed as it always has been before. In addition to that, many of my favorite booths either did not come or brought very little stock that interested me. I barely found anything that appealed to me.

My best celebratory efforts were in the Easter Eevee I bought the night before the driver's test, as well as the two bought afterwards. I got the cute winking Eevee and then saw a wonderful deal on the 24 inch Eevee and tried to snag it. The seller refused to respond to either me or Mercari and wouldn't ship. I don't know what happened. The seller has a history of cancelling orders. I don't know why Mercari doesn't boot her. After scouring the Internet high and low for days, I caved and bought the big Eevee on Amazon with my gift cards and Zip. I am so happy to have him! Normally I do not buy something this expensive ($58.99 plus tax, with $16 covered by gift cards), but occasionally I have. I remember my Captain Tarpals and Kaadu Star Wars figures were $50. My Monkees Bears set was $40. My Yami Bakura figure was $64. My Marik was $80, but he was paid for entirely with gift cards, as was my Nintendo 2Ds. I also bought all of Cannon, with most covered by gift cards. None of those purchases have been regretted. This one hasn't either! I'm so happy to have him. I fell in love with him in February and thought I could never have him.

I'm taking a break from buying things for now to get everybody paid off. My Eevee sitting like a person will be paid off in full by tomorrow! The Easter Eevee has one more payment. Then it's just paying off the big one. I still want the other Easter Eevee, if I can get an official one. I found a lot of bootlegs popping up. I'm lucky the one I have is the official one. The bootlegs do not look right. There's also a precious Tomy Eevee standing and looking up adorably. Most of the ones turning up seem to have much-loved fur and I want a newer one. There's one on eBay a little more than I'd wanted to pay, but I might cave on that if it's still there once I have a free slot for merchandise again.

Great Eastern finally made Nack in their Sonic plushies line and he's sold out almost everywhere and more expensive than I'd wanted to pay for him too. I do want to get him, though, albeit I wish the company would actually use fur. I think they still don't.

Then I want the Encanto doll set Jakks Pacific did that includes Luisa and Antonio. I think that set is the only way to get them, and Luisa is my favorite character. Mirabel (my second favorite) and Isabel have other doll releases. The price has gone up $10 since Walmart had it in stock before! Aurgh!

Current Mood: okay

I made good on my decision to collect Eevees. I now have seven, with another on the way. Of course, I'm only sticking with specific ones that really strike me and are in my price range, rather than being all "GIVE ME ALL THE EEVEE!!!!!111" But since I've been doing most of my shopping on Mercari now, I discovered their partnership with pay in 4 partner Zip, and that has really quite changed my life. I still have to be careful not to go overboard, and I'm sticking with only buying when I'm sure I can make the payments, but it is just so amazing and so liberating to be able to get a little more than I could before. I never could have got all of these darlings without Zip. I've bought four that way and am eyeing a couple more for later consideration.

The first thing that excited me was, I believe, an Eevee sitting like a person. Precious! Then I discovered that the Eevee from Alola arc, Sandy, got a plush! I was over the moon. Before I'd sorted out which one to get first, my heart was stolen by a precious angel laying down and looking up with the sweetest "Take me home" expression. And then my heart was broken and crushed when she was bought before I could get her. (It was Sunday and I didn't want to make a frivolous purchase on a Sunday. Had I known then she's fairly rare, I think I might have made an exception.)

Honestly, usually I can just shrug it off if I don't get a particular item, even if I don't get another chance. But for some reason, I could not shake this one off. I was devastated. I refused to give up and kept scouring the Internet for another one. I found one on eBay, but she was more than I felt I could pay. I was just about to give in anyway when I tried one more thing, searching using Google Shopping. Wonderful Google actually came through and I found one on Mercari that had not come up on my searches of Mercari, WTH. She was still a little more than the one I'd lost, but I wasn't going to lose her again. The seller sent me an offer, bringing the price down a little more, and she came home to me!

I'd already bought Sandy the day before I found her, and they both showed up on the same day. LOL. It was awesome.

After that I had some debating over getting a Halloween Barbie and Ken doll set I've wanted since last year, but I decided I wanted the sitting up Eevee first. Much rarer than the dolls. He feels like he's minky! So incredibly soft!

Pokemon Center made two Easter Eevees. They're very rare and very sought-after. I especially love the lop-eared one, but both are adorable. An incredible deal appeared on the other one and I snapped her up.

Lastly, I've also been following a winking Eevee. An amazing deal for one happened on eBay and I got her.

Other ones I'm eyeing for the future: the other Easter one, a 2 foot one I fell in love with at GameStop and thought I'd never be able to have but could with Zip, Chloe's Eevee, and one raising a paw like a wave. (Not the one imitating Wobbuffet, but a much more squeeable one.) Oh, and Gigantimax Eevee. Maybe also the Christmas Eevee at Pokemon Center.

I'm planning to make a video of Radley showing all the Eevees and discussing them after I get the winking one.

I started writing another version of my Night After storyline for 5Ds because I wanted to write a fic inspired by a heartbreaking scene of Radley being attacked and beaten unfairly that we did in a Western AU RP. I couldn't think of any way to work the scene into a fic until I thought of some of his former Duelists attacking him in the mine. So, yes, another Night After. This one has become a three-part behemoth instead of my usual oneshot treatments of the storyline. I keep adding more and more, thinking of new angles to explore with the characters. I'm voicetesting Crow a lot in part 2. I love him, but I don't use him much, and it's enjoyable writing him trying to comfort and counsel Yusei in this one. This fic gets more into Yusei's thoughts than any other version I've done. I've also noticed that with each version, as I test Kalin caring more and more in each succeeding one, he falls apart more and more. But this seems to fit with canon and how he cannot deal with losing those he loves. The original scene that inspired all of this, the beating, was in itself inspired by the movie Rigoletto. I don't know why I wanted to do it, because that scene leaves an extremely bitter taste in my mouth in the movie. It horrified me. I also hate that the people never find out the guy was miraculously/magically restored to life, so they'll go all through their lives knowing they hatefully beat a man to death when he didn't deserve it and never knowing that he did get a happy ending. I fix that in my version.

I mostly stay logged in to my RP account constantly these days. I hardly ever post here, so it seems logical to stay logged in with the other account the most. I wish there was a YGO-based group RP on Dreamwidth. There's hardly any on Dreamwidth for kids' franchises at all. I think the one I'm in is the only one around that's really active. I love it and it's adorable, but I would like to play in more RPs too. I can never get enough.

I really want to RP tonight. But Discord and Dreamwidth are both so quiet. Sigh. I'm eager to continue one adorable Kalin and Radley-centric one on Discord especially.

Current Mood: okay

This has been a fun week, something sorely needed. Real-life is rarely fun these days.

Monday I got hit in the head by an AMV that needed to be made. I already had the song and took a few more screencaps and made Radley Will Make a Man Out of You!

We ended up getting groceries on a different day this week. I don't know if that made a difference or not in products that were out, but if it wouldn't have happened on our regular day, I'm glad we were late. I've been waffling for literal weeks on what to spend some money on, which makes it difficult when I want just about everything I've seen but can't get it all. Then, after being unable to make a decision, I see an adorable little Eevee plush at Walmart and immediately fall in love. I'd kept feeling like I couldn't make a decision until I checked Walmart one last time, and that was apparently what I was waiting for. I have my beloved big Eevee, but I've wanted a little one to be my Radley plushie's Eevee. I just never thought I could afford the price for one when I already have one. But as soon as I saw her, I knew I was getting her. Unfortunately, I thought she was going to ring up as $12.99 and she rung up as $16.99 instead. Gah. And by then, I'd bonded with her way too closely to not get her. I still wondered if I'd made a mistake and worried about having spent so much, and yet there was no buyers' remorse and no desire to return her, although I did ask some people what they thought about the scenario. I was thrilled to give her to Radley. I was a little sad thinking I'd really like another one to be Kalin's Eevee and figured no way would I be able to pay that price a second time.

The next day I got an amazing package! I knew my friend MoonlightTyger was sending a couple of fun souvenir shirts from a town we both like, and those were there and very cool! One is a Christmassy shirt, and I feel like wearing it now, heh. And also in the box was another little Eevee! Not the same one I'd got, but just as soft and cute! I was over the moon and stayed there for hours. I wondered briefly if I should return the one I'd bought, but there was still no desire to do so, especially since I'd wanted two and now I had two! ... And now I'm encouraged to want more, lol. There's an adorable winking one I'd like to be Scotch's Eevee. I've even been considering a sleeping Eevee. Normally I don't see the appeal in sleeping plush since you can't really play with them, but when it's Eevee, I might make an exception.

So maybe what I really want is to collect Eevee plushies. One awesomely fun thing about multiple Eevees is that each one can be a different character, whereas if I'm getting multiples of, say, Shadow, it's all the same character. That makes it feel like there's much more of a point to getting multiple Eevees. I love them so much, I want many. Some of the things I've been considering buying are figure sets with multiple Eevee figures. But the figures are too small to pair with a Radley, so the plush was more appealing on that level as well as softness level. I love soft things, and these Eevees feel like minky! Utter paradise!

Current Mood: happy

I took this some time ago and decided it would be fun to take it again now that I've actually had a chance to play several of the games.

Day 01: Favorite Pokémon: Eevee. She's so cute! Sweet and innocent and very cat-like, licking and rubbing people. I just love using her as Radley's Pokemon in various storylines.
Day 02: Least favorite Pokémon: Aerodactyl. After terrible experiences with them in both Crystal and X, it is tempting to believe this Pokemon is downright sadistic or evil. In Crystal especially, it's absolutely maddening! It will claim it needs to recharge, but then when you try to attack, it attacks anyway and doesn't let you attack! What a liar.
Day 03: Favorite starter Pokémon: Aside from the two Let's Go starters, it's a hard choice between Bulbasaur and Chikorita.
Day 04: Favorite Eeveelution: I believe ultimately it's still Umbreon. I'm still enchanted as I was years ago when I first saw one in season 4. But I also love the other Friendship evolutions and Glaceon a lot too. And Vaporeon is growing on me a lot.
Day 05: Favorite legendary Pokémon: Articuno is still gorgeous. I'm also quite fond of Xerneas.
Day 06: Most terrifying Pokémon: That one that looks cute but has a second, deadly head with sharp teeth at the back ... that is pretty terrifying. Mawhile.
Day 07: Most adorable Pokémon: Eevee!
Day 08: Most amusing Pokémon: Still Clefairy. The stuff they take for their spaceship is just WTH hilarious. And the fact that they're building a spaceship at all.
Day 09: Favorite Pokémon type: I'm not sure. Ice, perhaps, or still Water.
Day 10: Least favorite Pokémon type: In thinking of what they are and where they hang out, still Sludge. In thinking of how frustrating they are to fight against, Steel.
Day 11: Do you nickname your Pokémon? Why/Why not? I definitely do. It seems lazy not to. In real-life, people that use Cat or Dog as names are not considered good with names.
Day 12: Favorite Pokémon attack or move: I like Swift in Crystal, but Return in X. A move that gets more powerful the more you're loved is just so squeeable.
Day 13: If you lived in the Pokémon world, what would you be? Probably a quiet person with one or two Pokemon at home that are pets or helpful beings, rather than frequent battlers. Although they'd have to be in battling condition to protect us from crooks, I suppose.
Day 14: If you were a gym leader, what would be your specialty? Probably Normal and have a team of Eevees.
Day 15: Favorite region in the Pokémon world: Kanto and the Orange Islands, still, but also Johto and Kalos. For gaming, I am especially enchanted by Kalos. It's so lush and varied, and unlike some other areas, there are many interesting Pokemon right away instead of mostly bugs! I really can't fathom why the older games mostly have bugs to catch when you first start out. I can't imagine those would be terribly exciting to most players overall.
Day 16: If you could live anywhere in the Pokémon world, where would it be? I lean towards Kalos, but I'm not sure. I love things about all regions.
Day 17: If you could be any Pokémon, what would you be? I would rather be a human. But Articuno would probably be a pretty fun Pokemon to be. No more sweltering in the heat! I could create an ice palace in the middle of a heat wave and it would last!
Day 18: Favorite Gym Leader: I like Misty a lot more than I did as a kid. Brock is always cool too. I enjoy seeing those familiar characters while traveling! The Snowbelle Gym Leader in X is really cool too. And I actually like Sabrina in Crystal. I wish the anime hadn't made her so messed-up.
Day 19: Favorite Elite 4 member/Champion: Probably Lance.
Day 20: Favorite Pokémon Professor: Professor Oak. Classic and iconic and endearing. He seems like a really fun mentor to have.
Day 21: Favorite Pokémon bad guys: Jessie, James, and Meowth, but mainly because they're really good people despite their jobs. Redeemable bad guys are the most fascinating kind. For organizations overall, Team Rocket is iconic and classic and I think they could probably beat up most, if not all, of these other odd organizations that have popped up. Team Flare is really WTH in the game except for Lysandre (although they're better in the anime, I think), and Team Skull is just ... what.
Day 22: Favorite Rival: Probably still Gary. Although the X rival is nice. It's enjoyable to have a rival who isn't a complete jerk to you for most of the time. Still irritating to have him suddenly appear and demand a battle when I'm not expecting it or prepared for it, though. In fact, in some ways it's more annoying for a nice character to do that.
Day 23: A Pokémon which reminds you of a friend: Raichu
Day 24: A Pokémon you’d find useful in real-life: Any flying Pokemon big enough to carry you.
Day 25: A Pokémon based on your favorite animal: Persian
Day 26: A Pokémon that is your favorite color: Horsea
Day 27: Favorite Pokémon game: X
Day 28: What did you nickname your rival? When I played Crystal, I didn't bother looking up the rival's name and completely and totally randomly named him Carl. Lol. In playing SoulSilver, I've just allowed him to keep his real name.
Day 29: Favorite Pokémon tune or song: Lavender Town theme and Pokemon Tower theme. It's interesting that most towns didn't seem to have anything very stand-out for theme music, or several would use the same one, and then suddenly there's Lavender Town. Haunting, sad, and sweet all at once.
Day 30: Most nostalgic element of Pokémon: Favorite anime episodes like Holy Matrimony!, which I have very fond memories of from the past.

Current Mood: okay

Got into

victory_road as Radley. It's a very cute game set in the Pokemon verse! That caused a plunnie explosion and I decided to further explore my past concept of both shows in the same verse. I just put up chapter 1 of a fic.

Very annoyed at Nintendo taking away eShop access for portable devices next year. I bought a couple of games, including Pokemon Crystal. It's very nice, very liberating, even, to finally play a Pokemon game! I'm breeding Eevees. They're so cute! I have three so far, all male. (I have to use a Ditto mommy.) I'm hoping I can get a female eventually too. I've always loved them, but I got obsessed with them after having Radley get one as a starter. I chose Eevee because the Espeon evolution looks like Ruby Carbuncle, one of Radley's cards.

I'm watching some of Pokemon Master Journeys to see Chloe's Eevee. There have been others on the show, of course, but I'm not sure any others have gotten an actual arc about them! I hope she will end up deciding not to evolve. I love the evolved forms, but I also love the original form. The way the story arc is set up, I kind of suspect that she will not ever evolve even if eventually she gains the ability to do so. I would like to see another Pokemon like Pikachu who doesn't even really want to evolve because she's happy with herself.

I decided that when Team Rocket only appears to do villainous things and we don't see character development for them, I prefer them not being there. I enjoyed a couple of Master Journeys episodes without them just fine. Although that could be because I'm so intently involved in the Chloe arc. I still love the episodes where we see better sides of them, although I am pretty confused by their twisted morals. So they get upset at the thought of taking away people's special memories in that amnesia scheme from Alola, but they think it's okay to steal people's Pokemon so all they're left with all their memories?! I kind of think and hope that if they actually did succeed in taking someone's special Pokemon for a while and then saw them all sad and heartbroken, they would feel so guilty they'd bring the Pokemon back. When we see their good sides, it kind of seems like that's something that could be the case. Maybe I'll write such a fic sometime.

Still driving, and have actually been on the freeway repeatedly! That is really huge for me. I bought a Glaceon plush at GameStop yesterday. I also got an Espeon from Mercari. It's an interesting online shopping place. I think the sellers there seem more often like fans able to identify official plushies from bootlegs. There are lots of bootlegs that have crept onto Amazon, and maybe eBay too.

Current Mood: excited

I finally got to do my birthday outing, but as I'd figured, I didn't find anything I wanted other than a plushie base, and a nice patriotic shirt when I exchanged a pair of pants. Target was sold out of everything I like to buy there! Aurgh! But I did decide, while looking at a small Disney Store Mickey Mouse that cost $23, that I was going to buy the 25 inch one on Amazon. I got him that night and he arrived two days later thanks to my Prime trial, which they offered to extend for another month. He is sooo soft, both the fur and the huggability. I love him! I keep him on the bed.

I also finally got Build-a-Bear's tuxedo cat to be Oreo. They understuffed her, as usual, and I don't know when I'll be able to fix it since I'm not comfortable going into the store with her right now and I don't trust myself to do it. But she's adorable! Definitely the most Oreo-looking plushie I've ever found.

For Halloween, I put down paper towel on our wall and then put spaced-out candy. We got more kids this year than we have in a while. Go figure. I guess with no trunk or treats, they go back to traditional methods.

I immediately felt like getting Christmassy the day after Halloween and I turned on the small trees. On Monday we got lights for the big tree, since some were about to burn out on it (and immediately did when I turned it on, oy). The new lights are gorgeous. Instead of the cheap brands we usually buy, these are GE. Love it!

I wrote the YGO fic with Nesbitt being tricked into accepting the Orichalcos. I'm just finishing it now. It didn't work to extend it very long due to his unique circumstances and also the fact that I rarely like writing duels, but I like how it came out. Very heartbreaking and very squeeful and I use a lot of my personal feelings and struggles with self-hatred in how I write for Nesbitt. At the end, the problem isn't gone, but he's starting to heal thanks to his friends.

I'm kind of obsessed with the 5Ds character Kalin Kessler. He is a pretty horrible person even before the dark force gets him, and then he completely turns his life around after he's freed. It feels very vindicating. People would tell me I was writing characters wrong if their personalities became different when they wanted to repent. Kalin is a canon example showing it happening. I think his redemption arc was very well-done. I play him a lot in Duel Links. I want to make a plushie of him, and I might use my current plushie base for that. I even sought out some nice, soft material I could use for his hair. I found the right color and everything. Problem is, I could only buy it in a set of a yard and a half for over $8. Oy! The things I do for my crafting projects....

(I also bought a talking Charmander. I wanted him for my birthday, but they sold out, and they just finally got a couple this past week. One disappeared right away and I decided I'd better buy the other instead of waiting to try asking for him for Christmas.)

I also actually want to buy 5Ds. I've seen enough of it to know that I want to see more, and I would prefer to just get the DVDs and watch it that way instead of streaming the episodes on my tablets. I still hate the setting of Domino in the future, but I just love the characters and that's what sells it for me.

Duel Links added Zexal. A lot of fans of it have wanted it, apparently. I honestly think it looks very childish compared to the first three YGO series (yes, even GX). The characters seem to be younger and their cards are out of this world ridiculous. Zubababancho Gagagacoat?! How can anyone take a name like that seriously?! **headdesk.** Maybe someday Duel Links will introduce a character or event that will interest me, like they finally did for both GX and 5Ds, but somehow I doubt I will ever be that intrigued overall. With GX, I love Jesse Anderson and will play as him sometimes, and I'll play as Tyranno only because David Wills voices him, but GX just doesn't enchant me overall. The setting of a duel school is still preposterous and I just can't seem to get invested in the adventures. They're either too slice-of-life, which I can't get behind when I'm not invested in the characters, or too dark. 5Ds, on the other hand, grabbed me with the Dark Signer arc and Carly Carmine, and then I got invested in all the characters and their adventures. Somehow, in spite of the setting of a ruined Domino City and the nonsense of Turbo Duels, it feels like a better follow-up to classic YGO, storyline-wise. (On the other hand, GX still uses familiar cards, which felt so good to see after watching 5Ds. But I was seriously underwhelmed by the GX Paradox Brothers episodes. Not epic like the classic series at all.)

Current Mood: tired

It never fails to amaze me how popular my Pokemon stories are. I just got another Favorite notice. It makes me wish I had more ideas for Pokemon stories. I never expected to have many, and then I definitely didn't once I got back into YGO. I had a dream the other day that was interesting and odd.... We were at the old house, in the room I designated a play room (something I wish I had here, instead of cramming everything into one room!), and there were thieves coming in. Cliche type thieves, in black, the works. For some reason, I cornered them and was poking fun at them and got them locked in the closet. LOL. Then Team Rocket showed up for some unknown reason, and Meowth in his human form from that fun Double Trouble fan video came in. Apparently he had been lost from the others for a while and James got very emotional seeing him. They embraced and James was crying. It was cute. It made me want to get out those blurbs of human Meowth and look at them.

Then I've been pondering which Big Five member controls which dragon head. What I ended up with was that Gansley definitely seemed to be the Earth/Rock dragon, judging from part 3 of Legendary Heroes. Of course, Crump is Water. After a little pondering, I decided Johnson is Wind because he blows hot air in court. LOL. Nesbitt and Lector I puzzled over. Either way could work for them. Lector could certainly be Fire, especially in the dub, and Nesbitt could certainly be Darkness, with his violent tendencies. But I suppose it's probably the opposite, especially when you consider the way the Big Five stands when they're all together at the beginning of season 3 and how that would correspond with the dragon's heads. Gansley is in the middle, flanked on his right by Crump and then Nesbitt, and on his left by Johnson and then Lector. That would make Nesbitt representative of Fire, which certainly works with his impulsiveness and temper. But it also makes Lector Darkness, which I don't much like. He does control Dark monsters, though, like Jinzo and Berserk Dragon. And he could be considered the darkest member of the Big Five, since he is on the one hand outraged by Seto's cruelty yet seems to fail to notice his own hypocrisy in being so upset about the betrayal to Gozaburo.

I'm still kind of adoring how well the Big Five work together, and that makes me really like the Five-Headed Dragon monster, as the monster clearly represents their close bond and ability to work together despite their differences. I can't think of it without thinking of them, and I wish they had been referenced when Yugi-tachi had to fight that monster in the Capsule Monsters arc. I think that was the only time the monster featured in the series without the Big Five being responsible.

I also ended up with one of my creepy-sad plunnies exploring the grief process. With Gansley being the oldest, I can't help wondering how the others would deal if he died. But of course, I also don't want that to happen. Portman thus entered the plunnie and abducted Gansley, leaving a ringer in his place to convince the others that he died suddenly of a heart attack. The real Gansley is probably making life miserable for his captors while trying to escape. LOL. I might tinker with it, but it might make me too sad trying to write a lot of long scenes of the others trying to cope with the apparent death.

I'm having a bit of a struggle focusing my Christmas fic on all the characters. I know it's slanting towards the Big Five, with them having the majority of the screentime and important scenes so far. When I started this arc, I didn't know them well enough to delve much into their personalities, although some things started to come out, such as Johnson's cruelty in toying with people's emotions, Nesbitt trying to get at Seto through Mokuba, and various hints that Lector might not be as sold on the plans as the others were. By this point I understand them all a lot more and it's so much fun writing them interacting, it's hard to stop and show the other characters. It makes for a dilemma, since I doubt hardly anyone is interested in reading about the Big Five. I always end up writing about characters most people don't care about. Although occasionally it ends up snowballing; I think I was one of the first to really write a lot about the bikers and then more started following suit. That probably wouldn't happen this time, though. Especially so long after the show has ended, and so long past the time when I was a fairly popular YGO writer. I get Favorites on my Pokemon fics all the time, but not many at all on the YGO fics.

Sigh....

(And part of me can't help thinking that if the Big Five were younger, they would probably have a lot of fan interest. Heh. Kind of sad for that to be a criteria for interest. I get interested in characters for various aspects of their personalities, no matter what they look like or how old or young they are, etc. At the moment, I am totally in love with the Big Five's interactions with each other, even though individually I'm not that crazy about all of the members and all of them have done things I certainly object to. I find myself pretty much at squee/fangirl levels of excitement over their interactions with each other. So much love for how they genuinely seem to want each other to succeed and escape, instead of only thinking about getting out themselves.)

I can't help wondering what those people I met years ago who liked Lector would think of my current arc and what I'm doing with him and the others....

Current Mood: thoughtful

So I finally got Kris, along with the G1 Pony playset, thanks to a second Target gift card. They did immediate shipping! I wish Amazon was that fast. They never are, unless you have Prime.

Kris looks more accurate than Kelly, just as I thought to begin with. I definitely want all the girls, though, even Julie. I honestly don't like her as much, especially compared to the classy Tiffany that she replaced, but maybe I'll like her more over time. I flip back and forth on her, really; I really liked her in Island Angels, but tonight we watched Stuntwomen Angels and I didn't like her slightly crude comments or her cowardly behavior. Although at the same time, I can't blame her for being afraid! I would be terrified to do frightening stunts! But I didn't like her cheating when they drew straws and causing Kelly to have to do the dangerous stunt first.

I could be wrong, but I think Julie is better-liked in the fandom than Tiffany. Maybe because Julie is different from the norm and they like that. But Tiffany is different too, in other ways. Like, she has an interest in the occult and believes in ghosts. I really like that and it would have been fun to have explored that more. I love the Halloween-ish episode with her! It doesn't hurt that she was in the first episode I saw, too, the one with Simon Oakland: Angel's Child, so in some ways I was used to her right off the bat. Some people have said that Tiffany is useless, but she doesn't seem so to me. Of course, I always love things everyone else hates, and in some ways, I think my ideal line-up would have been the season 4 line-up but with Sabrina staying on too, or at least making guest appearances like Jill. I love Tiffany!

The down-side of season 4 is that it's book-ended by two two-part episodes, neither of which particularly appeal to me. It opens with a crossover with The Love Boat, and while I like the main characters of that series, I don't care for the series since it seems like there's often insinuations of the guests getting it on with each other. (But I could be wrong on that happening a lot, since I haven't watched many Love Boats. A mushy series about guests often falling in love, or in infatuation, doesn't appeal much to me. I'd rather see more about the main cast.) Then season 4 ends with an irritating plotline of Kelly and Kris both falling for the same guy and that causing a rift between them. I hate that type of storyline. Although I am morbidly curious to see how bad the rift gets, as I always hope some friends won't let it ruin things completely. Naturally, we'll see all episodes eventually.

Halloween went well, costume-wise, although I didn't get to cosplay in local stores like I like to do. I still wanted to do it badly enough that I did it the following Monday. No one batted an eye. I love how chill this area is. I also love the dinner at the neighborhood Trunk or Treat: chilis and soups. They had a chicken chowder thing and even better, a potato soup! And tons of shredded cheese. So much love. A guy also gave us giant Snickers bars, which was epic. I adore Snickers!

Best Buy sent me a mystery certificate that I had to go in to find out the amount of. It could be anywhere from $5 to $5,000, with several other levels in between. Of course, I knew it was likely it was $5, but I wanted to try anyway, and even $5 would make me happy. Dad was very iffy about going, but finally agreed we could. We also needed to run a couple of errands, so it wasn't just a shopping trip for me to do frivolous, fun things. (And anyway, if it had been a big amount, I probably would have tried to find something to share with the family instead of just something for me. Although I badly want an Apple tablet, especially since I don't think they keep mysteriously gobbling space like Androids seem to....)

It was indeed the $5, and though my original plan was to get screen protectors for the big tablets if that happened, I was unable to do that. Oh dear. I know Best Buy had them back in April. But they have other neat stuff, even toys these days. I've been wanting a Wobbuffet plush that's bigger than the one Walmart has, and Best Buy had one. It's normally $20, but was on sale for $15, and then my certificate meant I only paid $10! I saw other things that looked good too, but my heart was set on Wobbuffet as soon as I saw him and the price. So soft....

I also had another coupon for Build-a-Bear and wanted to see if I could still get Peanut. She's no longer on the website and they're clearancing her out in stores, so I was worried they might not still have her. They actually had just one left! She was also part of a deal on clearance plushies for 2 for $25. Since she's $25 by herself, and would be such if I didn't do the sale, I thought it would be ridiculous not to do it. Why get one plushie for $25 when I could get two for the same price? They had one Halloween cat in the Clearance bin too, and since I'd wanted their pretty, glisteny cat, that was perfect. I also added a sound to one of these plushies for the first time, both to get the purchase up to what I needed to apply the coupon and because it was kitty sounds and it was too adorable to pass up.

I peeked in The Disney Store and they were still running plushie sales, as usual. I think I may ask for Lady for Christmas, to have something to ask for since I'm always puzzling over it. They also had a lot of Wreck-It Ralph figures and plushies because of the sequel coming out next week. I would enjoy having some of those too, but I don't know if I'd ask for any of those because Dad would probably make fun of the movie title and the character designs. I saw the trailer for the sequel as part of my work, of all things, and it looked so fun that I decided I should really see the first one. I'd always thought it looked like something I'd love. I was right, surprisingly, even though there was some bathroom humor I hated. Normally that will turn me off of something then and there. But I was so enchanted by the characters and the friendship and the "bad guy" thinking he was bad even as he was doing good things that I just fell in love with it when I bought it last week. I watched it three times, twice in a 12-hour period. LOL. I think the last time I did that with a film was the third Equestria Girls film. I also feel like it's time for another watch.

I also dropped in at Target with a third Target gift card (I've really been getting some amazing work lately) and remembered this time to get The Monkees' Christmas album. I'm going to listen to that today. I'm thrilled they finally made one, and that they got Davy on there in the form of archive recordings! It wouldn't be right without him. I also got another Pony. They still don't have the third wave yet, but now I have all but one of the second wave and three of the first wave. I hope I'll still be able to get the rest of the first wave, but I suppose I'll be able to; they keep selling out and restocking. People love having G1 Ponies back!

Then it was to Joann's to find material for David's hair. I really haven't wanted to use the same material as Duke's, since David's hair is lighter and that material is such a pain. I couldn't find anything in the exact shade, only lighter or darker. I chose lighter, because the material was amazingly soft. I also got a plushie base for Serenity and discovered that there is no tan or auburn fleece at Joann's. Walmart didn't have any either. I had to settle for something more orangey than planned on, as it was the closest to the right color. I also talked to an employee briefly about My Little Pony (G4), because of my Pony hat. We both have Twilight and Fluttershy as favorite Ponies, and she likes Applejack a lot too. I also like her, although I usually like Rarity as third favorite main Pony. (Overall, my most favorites are Twilight and Sunset, but Sunset I think of more as a human than a Pony, since she chooses to live as a human.)

I've mostly finished the Yami Bakura in Thief King form plush, by the way. I've detailed some of the process at dA, so I don't think I'll do it here too. http://meromeroyui.deviantart.com

During the trip, we heard a radio ad about Papa Murphy's Pizza having XL pizza for $6 on Fridays, so I badly wanted to check it out. Dad agreed and we brought one home. It's more seasoned than a Little Caesar's, but the crust is very thin and I prefer thick crust. Seems like the other Papa Murphy's I had featured thicker crusts. Ah well, I love the pizza regardless, though! Yuum.

I've been in a lingering Halloween mood since the beginning of the month, but Christmas music is finally go on the radio and I'm getting into the Christmas spirit from that and from seeing the lovely Christmas decorations in stores today. There's also a beautiful new store in the mall that has mostly religious paintings! I can hardly wait to take Mom there; she'll be in love with it.

I finished my WWW fic and started on the next YGO one. I needed to further my Big Five storyline, so this one features Lector back in his body and Dr. Portman trying to manipulate him into helping her torment Seto for her latest experiment. But Lector, torn after getting fed-up with revenge plots and having tried to help Mokuba, isn't sure what he wants to do. He's the only one of the Big Five that I felt could be redeemed, so I wanted to try it. I definitely find it intriguing how upset he is about thinking Seto used Mokuba and betrayed Gozaburo. Portman points out that he's hypocritical, since he also betrayed Gozaburo. This is juxtaposed with Yami Bakura wanting to celebrate Halloween and turn the front lawn into a scare fest. LOL. It's my attempt to write something similar to the old mysteries, as I mused about wanting to try doing. The mysteries were quite a mix of humor and dark situations, which this definitely is. I didn't stop to realize, though, that maybe newer readers wouldn't appreciate the humorous tones.... I'm also not sure Dr. Portman is appreciated, since YGO leans more towards fantasy than sci-fi. There are sci-fi elements too, though, especially in the virtual reality arc, so it doesn't seem so out of place to me to have a villain who's more about sci-fi than fantasy.

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Christmas music on the radio

The first draft of the fic is done! I watched the third movie to get inspiration for fleshing it out so it's not so raw and I came up with some stuff that I'm inputting now. Hopefully I'll get the first segment up soon.

One thing I'm debating is whether or not to do any scenes from Mokuba's POV after the Unown unleash their spell. I'm wondering if it looks better from a storytelling POV to not do Mokuba's POV, so that there's more of a mystery for the readers as well as the other characters as to what's happening and why some of these locations are in Mokuba's dream world.

I'm still wanting to see more YGO episodes on DVD. It was so fun watching some episodes this week. I watched the Duel with a Ghoul trilogy twice, LOL. Those episodes have always been among my most favorites of the series as a whole, and as I recall, they were also largely responsible for me liking Seto. (I didn't at first, and these days, post-Duelist Kingdom Seto tends to frustrate and aggravate me greatly, albeit less so in the anime-only arcs. I love him in Noa's arc. I hate to say it, but I think the anime writers knew what to do with the character more than the manga-ka did, since he decided to write The Dark Side of Dimensions and screw over Seto's characterization. Ugggh.) I think I actually do prefer the ghost Seto being an imposter, though, rather than the evil part of him from episode 1. Mainly for this reason: the ghost Seto is very cold and cruel to Mokuba (at least in the dub) and I don't like to think of the real Seto ever having that as part of his personality. I guess manga-wise it would fit, but anime-wise, I don't think so. One thing that baffles me about the imposter idea, however: how would that imposter manage to get such a vastly different body shape, unless he's a shapeshifter or something? I almost wonder if that's why the dub changed it to a supernatural being. LOL. That's really the only thing that makes sense.

And I still love Seto's sassy computer. I know most of my friends hated her, but I thought she was awesome. Now, of course, I want her to meet Vincent and interact with him somehow. That would be a blast. Barney and Seto would be so bewildered. I'm pondering on the possibility of a full crossover, but in any case, I'm going to write a blurb of the computers meeting.

Anyway, so I wanted more YGO episodes on DVD. I went looking and stumbled on a seller on eBay who has seasons 1, 3, and 4 brand new for incredible prices. It's the half-season sets and if you get three or more, you get 50% off the entire order! **jaw drop.** I selected the second half of season 1 and both season 3 sets. Then I had a huge struggle over season 4. Part of me wanted to add it too, even though I really shouldn't (and probably shouldn't have bought any right now, really). The other part argued that it really is the most depressing season. As much as I love the bikers, I can't deny that. The season is largely people losing their souls left and right and good guys going dark. I finally opted to set it aside for now, especially since I do have the VHS copies, but I may go back for it later. So far I don't seem to regret it, but I am worrying over whether I should have bought any at all right now. But they were almost sold out and I'd never see prices like those again. I got all three DVD sets for $8 and change!

I also remembered an idle thought I had the other day. That old pondering of wondering what would happen if James either went on a power trip or got corrupted? I pictured him getting hold of the Seal of Orichalcos somehow. Original thought was that eventually he would lose the duel and his soul, but now I'm thinking maybe he wins and has to cope with what he did. I don't think he's dueling Jessie or Meowth; I think some enemy backs him into a situation where he feels forced to use the Seal even though he really doesn't want to, similar to Atem and Raphael's duel. And unlike that duel, it's the enemy who loses his soul. But I think James would still feel terrible about the darkness of the Orichalcos getting hold of him.

I'm also thinking back on that dark fic I started where Alister and Rishid think their friends and siblings are dead and form Doom Reborn or something similar to try to get them back; I remember the Neo-Orichalcos. That was a weird one. I've got one favorite character as the main antagonist, another as the secondary antagonist, and other favorite characters thought dead and out of commission for most of the fic. I never did quite figure out if they were really dead or if their fate was something else, like their souls being stolen, so I never was sure how to get them back, either. I naturally did plan that I would, somehow; I just wasn't sure how. And I never did advance very far into that one. I've read it over several times since the stall and haven't been sure what to do with it. Like season 4, it's pretty depressing. Part of me would like to explore that dark Alister's character and eventually wrap up that storyline; the other part doesn't want to make the effort, since there was so much to do and most of it was depressing.

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: The Seal of Orichalcos Theme

I watched the YGO movie over the weekend, hoping for enough inspiration to start the fic. It worked.

It was interesting contrasting the YGO movie with the second Pokemon movie, which I followed it up with. The YGO movie is dark and creepy, but with awesome friendship squee. The Pokemon movie, despite the dire situation of the whole world in jeopardy, managed to be lighter and cheerier in tone. And of course, it also has friendship squee. The different tones were kind of a shock; it's been years since I watched Pokemon and YGO practically back-to-back.

Now I'm listening to a lot of the unreleased YGO score music and thinking that the dub musicians were geniuses. Some of the music is so beautiful, like the friendship and duel triumph leitmotifs, and some of the themes, like the Orichalcos and God Card themes, I still like way better than their Japanese counterparts. I also love Duke's and Marik's themes. I wonder how the composers came up with such awesome music.

I think I'll watch a few favorite YGO episodes tonight. I only have a few on DVD. I haven't been very quick on getting the DVDs since I have VHS copies of all episodes. Those can only be watched in the living room, though, which is always awkward since I hate getting interrupted and that can often happen there. I'd kind of like to watch the Noa's Arc duel with Tristan, Duke, and Serenity, though. Maybe I'll have to try watching the original Japanese version on CrunchyRoll. I'll always prefer the dub names and voices, though, despite my dislike of the dub cutting things out. I doubt much, if anything, was cut from those episodes, however. And I always find it interesting to see Duke's and Tristan's different duel strategies and how they're each trying to save everyone, but it looks like Duke is only thinking of himself and Tristan just doesn't trust him, and since they can't discuss things, Duke can't make his motives clear. But I always think that if Tristan had just trusted him, he wouldn't have lost the duel and ended up kicked out of his body.

I never have understood the fans' tendency to pair them up, especially given that they're both obviously straight and nuts about Serenity. And also the fact that hey, Tristan really doesn't seem to like or trust Duke. It's true that he gets distraught if anything happens to Duke, but hey, of course he would, because he's a good guy. He doesn't want to see an ally get hurt. Maybe he likes Duke a bit in spite of himself, but the fact that he doesn't trust Duke and thinks the worst of him speaks volumes to me. Duke's feelings in turn are unknown, especially since the dub made him more of a jerk on some occasions than he really was. (Episode #85, anyone?) But I think it's safe to say he doesn't feel particularly close to Tristan, or any of them, really. The manga makes that pretty clear, but the anime is more up in the air. Of course, shippers often take things like Tristan's feelings as their cue to pair characters up, because of course, if they don't like or trust each other, it really means they want to bang each other! **rolls eyes.**

I've always liked touching on the tension between Duke and Tristan in fics, and sometimes Joey and Duke too. I don't think the mystery fics did it so much, since I mostly tried to have the group as a happy family in those, but the old oneshots and blurbs did stuff with the tension, and when I finally got a better handle on Duke and ended up with plunnies for him, the later fics like Lead Me Through the Fire and Close Your Eyes, Clear Your Heart did a lot with it. Of course, in spite of the tension, Joey or Tristan would certainly go out of their way to help Duke if he needed it, and vice versa. And there does seem to be some level of friendship there, possibly deeper than it might seem on the surface. I touch on that in some of the fics too.

The fic is moving along very nicely so far, but up to now it's been the set-up and some character interaction stuff. Now I'm going in to Mokuba's fantasy worlds, and I am wondering if I'll be able to dig into his mind well enough to come up with stuff he'd dream up. The first scene is floating through a sky zone with Blue Eyes White Dragons flying around. I may have to cheat a little and have some areas designed more by the Unown, especially since these are supposed to be renegade Unown.

Team Rocket has indeed entered the fic and they've largely been interacting with Marik. That's been a blast, LOL. And I decided that instead of the crack of the YGO characters being completely baffled by the Pokemon characters and culture, they are aware of them to some extent. I realized Marik would no doubt know of Team Rocket because of his time in the criminal underworld leading the Rare Hunters, so that gets brought up. And the Ishtars and Solomon know of the Unown, and Pokemon in general. They're just not very prevalent in Domino City, but they definitely exist.

When I first started the fic, Seto and Mokuba flowed easily but I worried whether I was writing Marik alright. It's been years since I tried, and of course, we only have bits and pieces of what he's like in a normal frame of mind. After I let the fic sit a bit and came back to it later, everything seemed alright, so hopefully it is. I know I used to write Marik a little more like his fake Namu personality, albeit with a bit more snap to it. Later I switched to more snap, and that's what I've got here. Although with Mokuba he has a friendship not unlike Baxter and Michelangelo's, and I do hope he doesn't sound too much like Baxter. Favorite characters of mine do sometimes have speech pattern similarities to some extent, although overall they're different.

It's also fun writing for Duke and David again. I do bring up the issue of Duke not really feeling included in the group, as I like touching on that and it's been a while, so people might not remember. So far Bakura hasn't appeared and maybe he won't, because things are awfully crowded right now. But he's mentioned, and The Pendulum Swings verse is referenced.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Marik's Theme

I no longer regret not getting to Build-a-Bear. I bought the Darren figure that was slightly cheaper on eBay. I watched a video of a deboxing and observed how good the sculpt is and how much it looks like Darren and I knew I had to have it. There were ten people Watching it and I was afraid it might get bought out from under me if I didn't act quickly. There aren't a lot of my darlings that get figures made of them and I like to get whatever ones I can find. I was thinking I'd have to resort to one of those super-deformed Funko POPs if I wanted a Darren figure. I was ecstatic to discover a real figure! Squeeee. And I'm relieved the price wasn't more! When I first saw it at Toys R Us, I was afraid it might cost $50!

Then I watched the third Pokemon movie yet again to get rid of the bad taste those books left and I pondered on how that movie has a definite YGO feel to it. And how some of the track during Molly and Misty's battle sounds YGO-ish. I also pondered on the possibility of doing a YGO version of the story.

After running through several thoughts, I determined that the most logical thing would be for Mokuba to fill Molly's place in the plot. That would mean Seto would have to vanish. Don't know how or why (no, I won't set it in the most recent movie verse). Also not sure if I'm using the Unown or coming up with something else. I've already attempted to set the shows in the same verse before and thought it went okay, so I'm not adverse to the idea. Plus I generally like all my shows in the same verse, with only an occasional exception like Sailor Moon (mainly because I don't like the idea of Crystal Tokyo as a definite world future in either manga or anime verse). Maybe a crew of Seto's went looking for some powerful artifact and comes back with some Unown letters, which Seto scoffs at until he accidentally activates them and ends up falling into their world.

One thing I know is that since Mokuba's older than Molly, he wouldn't be likely to make-believe a creature is Seto, so the illusion would have to actually look like Seto. Maybe he'd also have something like Blue Eyes White Dragon guards or something. I also wonder if, unlike Molly, Mokuba really ends up under some kind of a spell, as I'm not sure if he'd end up creating something so isolating as a crystal fortress in his right mind. He would have had to have really flipped, maybe by thinking he and the fake Seto or the company was in danger. That might not be so far-fetched. But I don't want to have threats from without, just the threat from within as Mokuba is swallowed up in his dream world, so having him fall under a spell would probably work best. I definitely want to do some kind of wacked-out crystalizing of things, either the mansion or the KaibaCorp building. Probably some odd rooms in the place too, like the underwater one or maybe one in mid-air. And of course, Yugi-tachi has to get in there and find out what the heck's happening.

Yugi-tachi would include Ryou Bakura and Duke Devlin. Not sure if Serenity or Marik is there. If Marik is currently in Domino City, he would totally be there, as I still love the idea of a friendship between him and Mokuba. Hmm, maybe Marik should be there when Mokuba accidentally unleashes the spell and ends up thrown out by the spell like the servants and Skylar in the movie, so he's the one who runs for help. Also debating on the inclusion of either Yami Bakura or David Tanaka. That could be interesting. David hasn't really been on adventures with the whole group. Not sure how they, or rather, Joey and Tristan especially, would react to him. If Yami Bakura is there, that means it's The Pendulum Swings verse, but that's pretty much what I decided happened after the end of the series anyway, so it's my default verse now that my old, old mystery verse has long been defunct. I've tried to write stories that align better with canon since the series ended. Anyway, so Yami Bakura's presence would add some tension, for sure.

(I've also debated a bit on, if I decide it is the Unown, to have Team Rocket wander into the plot in a supporting role. They would certainly be horrified to have fallen into another dream world! LOL.)

Also, I awesomely found what seems to be the entire score for the third movie, like, every bit of music throughout the whole thing. I was hoping to find something like that for movie 2, instead of just select tracks. Maybe one exists for movie 2 as well. In any case, this is fun to listen to while planning a possible YGO fic.

I also wrote a blurb for that Pokemon fic I was musing on where everybody gets invited to a mysterious mansion by a mad scientist. Pikachu and James both end up vanishing and the others find them in the laboratory, where the scientist is provoking Pikachu into using electricity of higher and higher voltage that's blasting James and slowly wearing him down into a badly hurt state. It ended up pretty dark, but then again, that sort of plot can't really not get dark, even by Pokemon standards. And naturally when I'm writing it, getting dark if it's a possibility anyway becomes a sure thing. But since real-world health and physics seem to have little bearing in the Pokemon world, I can pretty much do what I want regarding James' injuries and recovery, which is nice. I hate being bound by reality. And Pikachu ends up feeling very bad and guilty when he realizes that he's been shocking James and seriously hurting him, instead of just shocking the things the scientist has been using to provoke him.

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Pokemon 3 movie score

So we got to go out today, which is awesome because it was the last day of my Barnes and Noble coupon and the last day before things are supposed to start acting like winter around here. I think the East Coast is having their winter plus ours this year! We need some more moisture or we'll probably have a drought come spring and summer.

Anyway, Target did have some of the Ponies! Squeee. As I half-expected, Bluebelle and Blossom weren't there. Neither was Butterscotch. But I was happy to get Minty! I wondered if I should have got Snuzzle too. I wanted to save money and hope to have a chance at getting Bluebelle and Blossom later (and Butterscotch), but really, I want all six. I kind of wish I'd gotten Snuzzle too. But I needed to check Toys R Us to see if they had any, so I opted to just get Minty. And really, I'm glad of that, because I met a guy there who was absolutely chuffed to see 1980s Ponies back and he was excited hoping to go buy some with his paycheck tomorrow, so I really hope Snuzzle and Cotton Candy will both still be there for him! Toys R Us doesn't have any yet, but they're being shipped to the warehouse, so maybe in a couple of weeks.

I also saw the Mutagen Canister figures back at Toys R Us, but they only had two Raphaels. Honestly, he seems to be the worst seller of the set. The Wal-Mart I visited later didn't even have a place for the Mutagen Canister figures anymore. Now I'm a little worried that maybe I won't get to buy another Baxter to fix into Barney for my dA friend....

I didn't end up going to Build-a-Bear because I felt I wanted to save the money for more Ponies, but Mom asked twice if I'd gone there and now that's making me nervous wondering if I should have. I have a month to use that coupon, but the time will likely go by quickly.

At Barnes and Noble I was considering getting the book on Legendary Pokemon, but when I saw it, I wasn't impressed. It told some of the encounters from the series and movies, but it didn't seem to want to talk about Pokemon Classic much at all and refused to mention movies 2 and 3. WTH.

I saw the new Equestria Girls book and it said that Sunset's friends fell under a spell where they only remembered the bad things about her. I'll probably want to read it since it is an original story, but that sounded sad and I knew I'd probably spend the whole book feeling bad for her, so I decided I didn't want to get that right then either.

Then I looked in some other Pokemon reference books and ended up hopping mad. I thought that book about Ash's journey from Kanto to Kalos was bad in their descriptions of Team Rocket. I found way worse! One reference book out and out lied about James' past. It said he got bored of the rich life and ran away because of that. No mention of being engaged to an abusive girl his parents were forcing him to marry. Maybe they felt that was too dark for kids to hear about, but why make up stuff?! Just say nothing like the Kalos book did! Then a book about the movies slanted it so that Team Rocket's unselfish acts sounded selfish. True, they did try to say that they were only helping to save the world because if it was destroyed there wouldn't be anyone to steal from, but their later sacrifice proved that was just talk. They thought they were going to die, which they outright said and which the book outright didn't say. Ugh. It's one thing to want to make sure the kids don't want to emulate the antagonists, but making them sound worse than they were and even lying about them is not the way to go about it.

I ended up supremely ticked off and bought a Nancy Drew book instead. There was one classic Nancy Drew that they had that I didn't. And heh, oddly enough, the few Nancys and Hardys they had were on the bottom shelves, just like in my dream. They weren't on the bottom shelves the last time I was there.

All in all, a fun little outing and I discovered an amazing Darren figure modeled after his character in A Christmas Story! I couldn't get it right then, as it was $30, but I'm going to keep monitoring it for a price drop! I must have it!

I just hope I won't regret not going to Build-a-Bear....

Current Mood: tired

But nice enough that I wanted to document it.

I was organizing my books, and in the dream I seemed to have more bookcases for them than I do in real-life, and more books too. They were in a big, well-lit room, with bookcase rows and a couple of tables for reading or crafting. It was probably the haunted mansion we usually live in within the dream world. And we'd bought up tons of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books years ago when Borders closed (which we didn't in reality) and I found our stock of them, which we'd been keeping at the bottom of one of the bookcases and planned to mostly use for presents for people. (Heh, in reality we'd only put presents for people up high, not down low! It kind of looked like Barnes and Noble's displays for clearance/bargain books, though, so it wasn't super low to the floor.) I was going to use one for a belated birthday gift for a friend of mine on FF.net. I also wondered where most of my Star Wars books were, because I only found a few on the shelf and I knew there were more.

I also ran into some children's books, including TaleSpin storybooks. The weirdest one was written in 1908 and also included Darkwing Duck characters. LOL. But eh. Made me wish I had the other TaleSpin DVDs....

Then there was this weird object that I could use to wish on and it would create a temporary fantasy world of my wish. It was a nice escape from the real-world (and maybe an indication that I've watched the third Pokemon movie too much lately). One wish was to perform on a TV show. I also talked with someone I apparently knew within the fantasy, and I'm not sure if they were part of the fantasy or someone from real-life in the fantasy with me. The latter, I think. It seemed to be a guy character, yet it seemed like Mom was playing him, so it was like a role-play thing. I used the object more than once, and that was the last fantasy. I can't recall the others.

I dream about books a lot, either at bookstores or libraries, or sometimes with us having more books than we do. I often dream about Nancy Drew books that don't really exist. And I dream a lot about Borders as though it was still here. I heard that Circuit City is making a comeback, first with the website and then with new stores. I wish with all my heart that Borders would come back, but I know that's highly unlikely. A tech store coming back could happen easier in this day and age than a bookstore, although Borders was much more than just books. They had music and DVDs and toys and a cafe, like Barnes and Noble, but the prices were better.

I miss Borders so much.... I don't think I cried about it leaving or has as hard a time adjusting as I did with K-Mart, but that could be because I had plenty of time to get used to the idea as things got worse and worse. I really knew that eventually all Borders would close once they started having so much trouble. The fact that I dream about it so much shows that I miss it badly even though I don't consciously show it as much. And it really hurt when we had to go out to a funeral right across the street from where it used to be. We got there early and I just stared out the window at the shopping center. Dad didn't even seem to remember that the drive was the path we'd taken so often to Borders, but I sure did. I guided him right to the place when he was having trouble with the address.

And I think I've tentatively figured out how things work in my Pokemon verse. They're clearly not traveling in Johto for most of it, since they tend to hug the East Coast, but some Johto events are referenced, so I think it's more of an alternate season 6 than 3. I think I've figured it that Johto did happen, but not exactly the same way. The things I liked happened. The things I didn't like either didn't happen at all or happened in a different way. Ash did get the Johto Pokemon, but after leaving Johto, he must have put them with Professor Oak and reunited with the original team. Same with Misty and Brock, and they didn't leave. (Hmm, maybe they left some of their Pokemon with their families. Misty had to get Starmie back from her sisters.) They don't seem to have a new region to visit at the moment, so they're hanging around Kanto again and sometimes traveling North of it to New York City. Maybe it's kind of an alternate Battle Frontier, since I hear that was back in Kanto.

I also have a new plunnie after watching the first movie on the official website. I always love the trope of being summoned to a mysterious mansion or castle by a strange person, and there being odd servants and such. I want to do something where Ash-tachi and Team Rocket all get summoned to one. And this time it's a mad scientist and he probably wants to experiment on Pikachu and Team Rocket because of all their clashes. Creepy! And the mansion will have a ton of secret tunnels, of course. I think I'll try working on this plunnie next.

Current Mood: sad

I think I can conclude that even though there are a lot of dark Pokemon fics that are popular, mine are not terribly liked. Can't really blame people when it comes to the mask fic, though. I knew all along I was taking a risk by posting that. I am happy that the few comments I've received are positive! But there have been less Favorites on it than on most of my Pokemon fics. The same situation happened with A Hero Lies in You, the other dark fic (although not as dark). I wonder what people will think of the fall of the organization fic, if I ever post that.

After a writing slump, I had the urge to work with the human Meowth vignettes. So I got that document out and have been looking it over. I keep being bothered by the opening scene. I think I need to figure out how to rewrite it, because something just feels wrong about it. I wish I could pinpoint exactly what, other than feeling that I don't describe Meowth's mutation scene very well and that it happens too soon. Maybe I'll never be satisfied with that scene, though, since anyone turning into something they're not makes me uncomfortable. Also, looking at it through the eyes of someone who hasn't read the prior Turtles crossovers, there are a lot of scenes that need to be reworked or tweaked or it won't make sense to those readers. It feels rather overwhelming figuring out how to rework so much of it and being worried that no matter what I do, it won't work for those who haven't read those prior fics.

The Pokemopolis fic would probably be the easiest for me to work with, so I might start it and see if it goes anywhere.

I also still want to write more Turtles fics. I've planned to do the augmented reality one next. But my heart still seems to want to tell some Pokemon stories first. I've considered making that fic a crossover so I could do both, but I don't know if I really should.

I went to edit one of my dark pictures with the link to the mask fic, as I promised I would, and I just stared at my dA icon for a bit. Meroko Yui is still one of my absolute favorite characters, at least in the Full Moon wo Sagashite anime, but I've always been a little troubled by her backstory in the manga. She flips out because she ends up thinking Mitsuki is the direct granddaughter of her lost love and Mitsuki's grandmother getting together and thinks she has to kill her because of that. WTH? Thankfully, Mitsuki calms her down, but it's disturbing if the only reason it works is because Mitsuki really isn't the direct granddaughter of the lost love and the grandmother getting together, because they didn't end up getting together. I think it was unnecessary to have that in there, and that it would have been better for that part of the story if it was true and Meroko had to learn to deal with that in non-destructive ways. But on the other hand, that would have made it look worse for Mitsuki's grandmother, so in that respect it was better to not have gone there. And Mitsuki does say that she's sure Meroko doesn't really want to kill her; it's just an impulsive reaction. I think I prefer the anime not doing that storyline at all, though. Well, I would have been okay with the backstory of Meroko as the grandmother's friend, who impulsively killed herself when she thought the grandmother was having an affair with the guy Meroko loved, but if the stuff of Meroko wanting to kill Mitsuki had to come along too, I am not in favor of that. I think the reason the anime went in a different direction for the grandmother's backstory was because the manga hadn't written that far yet. But on the other hand, it could have been because they felt it was too dark.

In any case, yeah, I still adore the anime Meroko, no question. And she's been one of my online namesakes for so long that looking at her name feels like I'm looking at my name, LOL. I really would like to see some of the anime again. CrunchyRoll doesn't seem to have it. I wonder if the rest of it ever got released on DVD. I know it stopped halfway through years ago. It would be awesome if the whole thing finally came over and I could just buy the whole series. That's a real feel-good show.

And I'm finding it more and more appealing to think of taking the $10 Build-a-Bear coupon I was sent through the mail and using it to get Peanut and some clothes for her and Sugar Cookie. It's absolutely not a good time to get something there, and yet ... they hardly ever send coupons at all anymore, especially $10 ones. I already had to forfeit one of those that was emailed to me for use between Christmas and New Year's, because I couldn't get out and I was super frustrated at the Pokemon plushies not being included. I was really surprised to get another one so soon. I am going to get a cash-out soon, so that could replace money spent at Build-a-Bear. I don't know.... I really know I shouldn't. I'll probably take the coupon with me whenever we're able to go and decide then. I should go to the other stores first and then decide based on what happens at them. I found out the G1 Ponies aren't Target exclusives, so I can check Toys R Us too. But they won't be at Wal-Mart, sigh. So if I don't find any when we go, it could be ages before I can get back to look again and I could go ahead and use that money for Peanut, probably.

I also found out that there will be more G1 Ponies besides these initial six! There are waves planned for summer and fall, and for the next three years! Squeeeee! This is epically awesome.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Jon Schmidt

I dug up Crystal's Pokemon 30 Day meme and took it all at once like a normal quiz.

Day 01: Favorite Pokémon: Meowth. I love cats and I love that a cat is one of the two most prominent Pokemon characters. Now, I don't always love Team Rocket's Meowth's personality, but all of the characters are pretty flawed, so I've pretty much had to learn to be forgiving of all of them, including him, to enjoy the show. I also adore Starfish Pokemon and think they don't get nearly enough love.
Day 02: Least favorite Pokémon: ... Probably the Sludge Pokemon, Grimer and Muk. Gross! Although Ash's Muk, specifically, is rather endearing. LOL. I love how much he loves Professor Oak.
Day 03: Favorite starter Pokémon: Bulbasaur.
Day 04: Favorite Eeveelution: Umbreon. I remember being enchanted by him in Johto.
Day 05: Favorite legendary Pokémon: Articuno and Mew. A beautiful blue bird with ice powers? And a cute pink mewing cat? Yes!
Day 06: Most terrifying Pokémon: Good question. But as a clean freak and OCD person, I would probably be most terrified of Sludge Pokemon. Especially if they were chasing me!
Day 07: Most adorable Pokémon: Just one? There's so many adorable ones: Pichu, Pikachu, Jigglypuff (although her looks can be deceiving; oy, I'm glad they didn't keep her being mean to Pikachu as something that kept happening), Mew, Togepi....
Day 08: Most amusing Pokémon: Clefairy. The stuff they take for their spaceship is just WTH hilarious. And the fact that they're building a spaceship at all.
Day 09: Favorite Pokémon type: Water
Day 10: Least favorite Pokémon type: Probably Sludge, although I'm not crazy about a lot of Bug Pokemon too.
Day 11: Do you nickname your Pokémon? Why/Why not? If I had access to the games, I would! That's what pet owners do in real-life. I think the only reason Pokemon usually don't have names in the series is for marketing reasons. They want you to remember the species names. It's not very realistic. Imagine people calling "Cat!" or "Dog!" and those being the most common names. LOL. In real-life, that is generally thought of as very lazy naming!
Day 12: Favorite Pokémon attack or move: ... Good question. I think I like some of the Abilities more than the Attacks, since I'm not really into the battling aspect. Water Gun is pretty cool, though, and useful for non-battle situations too!
Day 13: If you lived in the Pokémon world, what would you be? Probably a quiet person with one or two Pokemon at home that are pets or helpful beings, rather than frequent battlers. Although they'd have to be in battling condition to protect us from crooks, I suppose.
Day 14: If you were a gym leader, what would be your specialty? Water, for starfish and other fish, or Normal, for cats. Or both. Ideally both.
Day 15: Favorite region in the Pokémon world: Kanto and the Orange Islands. The first two seasons had the greatest number of awesome episodes. Kanto is really varied and fascinating, and honestly, even though I don't like heat and don't find the idea of tropical places very inviting, the Orange Islands are highly intriguing too. And my favorite Pokemon adventure takes place there.
Day 16: If you could live anywhere in the Pokémon world, where would it be? Kanto.
Day 17: If you could be any Pokémon, what would you be? I would rather be a human. But Articuno would probably be a pretty fun Pokemon to be. No more sweltering in the heat! I could create an ice palace in the middle of a heat wave and it would last!
Day 18: Favorite Gym Leader: I don't recall a lot of specific oneshot Gym leaders. I like Misty a lot more than I did as a kid.
Day 19: Favorite Elite 4 member/Champion: Probably Lance, after seeing Bruno and Prima. And I just don't remember Agatha. But I remembered Lance all through the years.
Day 20: Favorite Pokémon Professor: Professor Oak. Classic and iconic and endearing. He seems like a really fun mentor to have.
Day 21: Favorite Pokémon bad guys: Jessie, James, and Meowth, but mainly because they're really good people despite their jobs. Redeemable bad guys are the most fascinating kind.
Day 22: Favorite Rival: I'm only really familiar with Gary, and I don't even particularly like him until later in the series. He is really immature and nasty through most of season 1.
Day 23: A Pokémon which reminds you of a friend: Raichu, Crystal's favorite.
Day 24: A Pokémon you’d find useful in real-life: Any flying Pokemon big enough to carry you.
Day 25: A Pokémon based on your favorite animal: Persian.
Day 26: A Pokémon that is your favorite color: Horsea.
Day 27: Favorite Pokémon game: The only one I ever got to play was LeafGreen, which was very fun and I hated to say Goodbye to it and to my Pokemon when we left CompUSA. Even in just a few minutes, I became very attached!
Day 28: What did you nickname your rival? I don't recall if I played long enough to encounter my rival. If I did, I probably named him Gary, if he was still the rival in LeafGreen.
Day 29: Favorite Pokémon tune or song: Team Rocket's motto music. Also, the openings for seasons 1, 2, and 3. And much of the English score of the second movie. So happy to have located that, and to hear that most of my favorite parts are included!
Day 30: Most nostalgic element of Pokémon: Favorite anime episodes like Holy Matrimony!, which I have very fond memories of from the past.

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Jackie Evancho---Heavenly Christmas

After more edits, I put up the second half of the mask fic. Now to sit back and hope people won't stop reading in outrage and throw things.

In the morning I made some tweaks to the wax blurbs and now I have it that Team Rocket was drawing the creature away from Ash and the others, although they didn't realize they were going to be trapped until they ended up alone with it. I also mention Pokemopolis to see how it looks, and I like it. So I guess that will indeed be part of the Pokemopolis fic I'm tentatively planning.

Still hoping to go out this coming week, both to look for the G1 Ponies and to use a coupon and a gift card I have for Barnes and Noble. Don't know if it will really work, though; I think I'm okay to go out, but I thought that last time and then it caused more trouble. Ugh. But I'm longing so much to get out. I still have Christmas presents to buy and I want to enjoy the stores I didn't get to see at Christmas. In January they probably still have some Christmas things on Clearance, judging by past years, so I'd get to see a little bit, even though it wouldn't be the same. I wish we had one of those year-round Christmas shops. I don't think we do.

It's fun pondering what to get at Barnes and Noble, although in the end I might not end up with any of the things I'm thinking of. I'd like a Pokemon book, but I don't know what one would be nice to Team Rocket. I looked in that one book at ShopKo that covers things from Kanto to Kalos and I didn't like what was said about Team Rocket. Of course, I suppose they do that to try to keep kids from liking or emulating the characters, but it isn't fair to slant things so as not to tell the characters' good sides too. Nor do I like that they didn't bother to mention why James left his life of luxury and instead made it sound like some big mystery.

I think there's a new Equestria Girls book out, so I might look at that. Don't know if I'd get it, though; I've really been less interested since they introduced the gems with special powers. I liked Equestria Girls because the girls didn't have special powers except in times of crisis. And maybe the book just adapts the new webseries or something. I only buy the ones with original stories.

Also, I find it so insulting that Build-a-Bear won't let the Pokemon plushies be included on their coupons! I'm amazed I was able to use my birthday coupon on one. Part of me wonders if it was a fluke! I hate wasting coupons, especially $10 ones, but I don't know what to do when the plushies I want to buy most are the ones excluded! There are others I'd like, though. I've considered off and on maybe buying Peanut from the Lalaloopsy line. I love her purple hair. I'm not too happy she's a prankster, but at least she seems to believe like Pinkie Pie does, that it's only fun if no one gets hurt and everyone enjoys it. So she's a much nicer and more thoughtful prankster than some. Problem with buying human characters is that they need clothes. I STILL don't have clothing for Sugar Cookie! (I will not call her Crumbs. What a horrible name.) Then there's the tuxedo cat, although I thought she was awfully small for the steep price. Maybe she'd look bigger on a second viewing, like Pikachu did.

It's really not a good time to buy from Build-a-Bear anyway, though, what with the G1 Ponies and the Barnes and Noble stuff (I might find something I want that would cost more than the gift card would cover, after all) and the Christmas presents. I guess we'll just have to see what happens.

Then there's the Team Rocket plushies idea, but I haven't been as motivated for that because the figures are so nice and big and have been satisfying my need to have the characters in the house. And Wal-Mart sold out of the blue stuff I wanted for James' hair. Maybe by now they've restocked, though. That was three weeks ago when I checked. If it turns up again, I might consider making the plushies again.

Current Mood: okay

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The Winter Court of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

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

Entries tagged with pokemon

We'll Carry On

Birthday Preparations

Mandatory Check-In

Downs and ups.

Life Updates, to some extent

Eevees!

So much cute!

Redo of Pokemon Quiz

Pokemon and YGO

Yay

Five-Headed Dragon

More shopping fun times.

Team Rocket meets the Seal of Orichalcos....

YGO fic is go!

I couldn't resist.

Lies, all lies!

Had a really weird dream today....

On to new projects ... but what, exactly?

This is what can happen when I can't think of anything else to write at the moment.

And there goes the rest of it....