The Winter Court of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

So. Coronavirus. Definitely not happy about it, and disturbed that it's become so difficult to find antibacterial hand wipes. But we have found some baby wipes, so have to be grateful for those.

Of course, the Rockapella concert has been cancelled again, and this time everyone's getting refunded because they don't know when they can reschedule. I wish they'd do it at the holidays so it could be the Christmas concert I wanted and paid for in the first place.

Sad about the "non-essential" stores closing, since I feel like people need to still have something fun around for cheering up, but I understand the reasoning behind it. I just hope they won't end up staying closed longer than estimated, but I'm afraid they will be. (Plus, some stores' ideas of "non-essential" are making me WTH. Seriously, JC Penney thinks it has to close? What is non-essential about clothes? What if someone needs clothes and can't find any that fit at Walmart? I've been needing pants desperately and couldn't find the right size at Walmart for weeks. I finally did this week, though. Whew.)

At least fun things are available in stores that are still open. I even found a Scooby-Doo shirt that has Scrappy on it! Who would have thought they'd ever make an official shirt with Scrappy that's a nice shirt and not bashing him? I just wish it wasn't almost as thin as mesh. Seriously, why do people think women want to wear things like that? I haven't bought it because of that, but unless they restock it, I suppose I won't have the chance to get it another time. I'm happy it's popular. Hopefully that will show Warner that Scrappy is not universally hated like Cartoon Network tries to make everyone think.

Of course, the isolation part of things isn't that hard for me to deal with aside from lack of stores to visit, since I'm an introvert and usually stay home anyway. I've been going about my business: writing, talking to people online, watching things....

I've watched almost all of season 1 of Yu Yu Hakusho. I love the characters, and indeed, I've developed an appreciation for Hiei at last. But the show is really too violent for me sometimes, and I really dislike that this Dark Tournament thing runs a season and a half. I don't particularly want to watch that many episodes of Yusuke, Kuwabara, and the others getting the stuffing beat out of them. And I definitely don't want to see some of the things that happen to other characters, like apparently there's a whole episode revolving around a creep who defeats his opponents via my most hated death trope. Seriously?! I would, however, like to see a few of the intense episodes, like where Genkai is killed and where they think Kuwabara is dead. But I can't see myself watching all episodes of the Dark Tournament. It is frustrating, though, because I love the characters and want to see their adventures.

I also, after 11 years, managed to feel ready to watch The Princess and the Frog. That's how long it can take me to be able to deal with something that revolves around a lesser-hated trope, even though I was excited about it when it was first coming out because I loved the New Orleans setting and music and enjoyed the return to traditional animation. Having watched it, I loved the characters more than the film itself, I think. Heh. Charlotte's obsession with marrying a prince was kind of annoying, but I forgave it all because she was such an adorable friend! She could have blown a fuse when she realized that the prince she'd hoped to have had fallen in love with her friend, but instead, she fully supported them and thought it was wonderful. I had to snort at Naveen changing within the two or three days the plot took place, but that's standard Hollywood fare. Suspending disbelief, it was very sweet and moving. I loved how Naveen and Tiana each helped the other grow and develop into better people. That was lovely. And the reason I finally watched the film in the first place, hoping for inspiration for my current New Orleans fic, well, I'm basing my current villain on Dr. Facilier (although of course he can't transform people into creatures).

Downside, I haven't ever seen an animated Disney film so crude. Usually I only see one or two backside jokes, but in this film, every few minutes they had to make another one! It was like they were obsessed and couldn't think of anything else to make jokes about. And of course, I didn't like seeing the trope I hate of people turned into animals. And I hated that they killed off Ray. It was sweet that he could be with Evangeline, and that it could give everyone comfort, but the film had been light-hearted all the way along in spite of the weird stuff happening. Suddenly killing a beloved character at the climax drastically changed the mood and left a bad taste in my mouth. Somehow that seems worse than killing a character in the middle of the film, where there's still a lot of time left to recapture a lighter mood later. (But on the other hand, I haven't seen The Lion King or Bambi in years and I don't know how I'd handle those deaths these days either. I didn't handle Mufasa's too well even in a YouTube clip.)

I've kind of wanted to see the film again because I loved Charlotte and Tiana's friendship so much, and I definitely want the dolls Disney has of them, but I don't know if I feel up to seeing the things I didn't like again. Heh. So we'll see which feeling wins out.

Meanwhile, my New Orleans fic decided it needed to get darker than I really intended on it getting. Lector's been wearing down emotionally because of a succession of terrible things happening over this one day (not to mention other things that have been wearing him down over the last year and a half!), and a cruel spirit made him think Nesbitt had been murdered in a gruesome way, pinned to the floor by a sword. It was just too much after everything else and he collapsed. Nesbitt, meanwhile, is lost because the ghosts trapped him in a changing floor plan. But he senses when Lector collapses and is able to find his way back out and get Lector to rally. I adore the squee, but I really think overall I've been way too mean to poor Lector in this fic. Plus, I'm worn-out now from how dark it got and now I'm not sure I want to do a scene in the Zorc fic where Lector is put under the control of the Neo-Orichalcos and Nesbitt has to save him. It would be so developing for Nesbitt, but I don't really feel like doing that dark a scene now and having Lector say so many cruel things to Nesbitt while under the control. That just seems too heartbreaking after how far they've come and what they've been through in this fic. Maybe I'll want to do it after I recover from the darkness of this fic, but we'll see.

I'm also actually playing a 5Ds related event in Duel Links. It's to unlock the Carly Carmine character. I like her from what I've seen in the game, and her story arc parallels Duke's from my old Life After the Tears fic: killed and then brought back working for the bad guys unwillingly while brainwashed. I'm toying with whether that arc could give me inspiration for the Zorc fic when the Neo-Orichalcos comes back. Maybe I should do that with a character. Not sure if I'd feel up to it, though. I don't normally care about 5Ds at all because of it taking place in a post-apocalyptic Domino City and not knowing if the original characters are okay, but I like Carly enough that I would probably occasionally play as her in 5Ds world if I unlock her, same as I occasionally play in GX world with Jesse or Tyranno.

I requested a picture from ElfBean that will be in the climax of the current fic, Nesbitt rescuing Johnson from an exploded ship and the others gathered around to help get him out of the water. It looks incredible! Squeee.

I've continued to draw some of my own, too. Still trying to improve my craft. http://meromeroyui.deviantart.com ElfBean's pictures can all be seen from my Favorites.

I always have a need and longing to RP, and Lisa was very sweet and did a specific storyline with me that I've longed to do. And now I think I've found a longtime RP partner in Kohakuhime. I was going to put out feelers to find a complete stranger to RP with, but then I thought of her and felt she would be a lot of fun to RP with, since I already know her and know she likes many of the same story elements that I do. We've been RPing on Skype and it's a blast. I'd forgotten how fun instant message RPing is. IM programs are so different than they used to be too; you can just leave the conversations up all the time and they can be added to whether someone's online at the time or not. I love it!

Been getting some nice writing done and stories completed. Can't remember if I ever talked about the desire to write one where Lector is a vigilante in town, but the urge to do that kept coming back and I finally figured out a way to write that story the way I wanted it and it ended up bringing in the manga-verse characters again. Right now I'm starting one about the Big Five having ancestors in Atlantis who ran from the final battle and have been considered cowards, but it's finally learned that they ran because they were getting Critias's younger brother to safety, and that the Kaiba family line comes through the brother they helped to escape.

I was able to start that RP on Tumblr I was talking about, and it's a lot of fun. I'm starting to get the urge and plan to do some hurt/comfort at some point in it. I'll have to run it past my RP partner.

I've been getting more Big Five commissions from ElfBean. Six now, and I have many more ideas. I'm just so in love with her work! It's torture having to wait to get more while I accumulate more money, lol.

We did our annual re-watch of creepy Wild Wild West episodes for Halloween time, including The Night of the Tottering Tontine. I like that episode, and yet I don't like its And Then There Were None plot set-up, because I don't like seeing so many characters get killed off left and right. A couple of the deaths particularly upset me, and for the last couple of years I've toyed with a fic that while they're all waiting to be freed from the house they're trapped in, they discover that those people are still alive but badly hurt and in need of medical attention. It would be a nice and suspenseful hurt/comfort fic. Problem is, if I bring back two of the characters, then I also feel bad for the other one who died needlessly while they were trapped. Yet if I revive all of them I imagine it would look ridiculous. Plus there was one other character who didn't deserve death who died at the very beginning of the episode. I feel bad for him too. So I don't know if I ever actually will write the fic.

Lots of the events last month that I was hoping would be awesome didn't really go the way I was hoping they would. I try to just focus on the good parts and move on, as they weren't total busts and some elements were really great and fun, but it is disheartening when things just don't work out the way one dreams of. October is my favorite month, and I feel like I just didn't get to enjoy it to the fullest extent. I'm really hoping Thanksgiving and the Rockapella concert and Christmas will work out nicely, but I'm rather skeptical at this point, especially since there's sickness traveling around the house and it can hang on for a long time when it comes. I'm desperately hoping I won't catch it, but who knows. I still don't have my ticket for the concert, and since they're non-refundable I don't even know whether to try getting one yet in case I might get sick and not be able to go anyway.

I did get an amazing $15 off coupon for Build-a-Bear, and even though they once again screwed me over for the birthday gift they promised to send, I doubted that would have been better than that coupon. (The gift has only been $5 in the past.) I decided to either get a Pokemon or a Pony, and with the series ending this year, I thought I should get a Pony since it might be the last time I could. The choice was between Rainbow Dash and Cheerilee, and although beforehand I had decided I would probably get Cheerilee, I ended up deciding I wanted Rainbow Dash at the store. It just felt like the right time. I got her and no regrets. She's certainly not my favorite character still, but she has her moments, and her design is gorgeous in any case.

I have mixed feelings about the series finale. I am so relieved that it ended with everyone still alive and friends, but I can't deny being annoyed that Twilight has to rule apart from her friends. The royal seat was moved at least once, when Celestia took it to Canterlot, so there's no real reason why Twilight couldn't have moved it again and ruled from her castle in Ponyville. As I see it, the only reason they did the ending the way they did was to show that friends can be friends even if they're apart. Which is certainly a good lesson and all, but it feels like everybody wants to teach that lesson these days, even if it doesn't fit the particular world for characters to leave (Ralph Breaks the Internet, I'm looking at you).

I made a Target order as my birthday gift to myself and finally got my Farrah Fawcett figure and Sailor Moon shirt. And a belated birthday present for JP. They were running a Buy 2, Get One Free DVD sale, so I also got the 1980s My Little Pony movie and was able to add the G3 Pony Christmas special as the free one. I have to admit, while I like the 1980s TV show, I didn't like the movie much. The TV show had villains and situations I could take seriously, but the villains were so goofy in the movie and some of their songs so ridiculous that I couldn't take the Smooze problem seriously even though one was supposed to. There were some scenes I liked, but overall, I have to say, the G4 Pony movie was way better.

The G3 special, on the other hand ... it was so sweet and felt very pure. One thing I love about most Christmas things is that even if they don't want to do anything overtly religious, most of them teach worthwhile lessons about kindness and unselfishness. The G3 special was full of those things. Minty accidentally broke the beacon that leads Santa to their town, so she was afraid she'd ruined Christmas for everyone. She didn't once think about herself, and instead tried to think what she could do to save it for everyone. She decided to give her treasured socks as gifts to them. Then, when she decided that wasn't good enough on its own, she determined to fly a balloon to the North Pole to give Santa directions to their town. A Pony afraid of clouds went after her when she realized, and then all the other Ponies went after them. They could have been mad, but they realized breaking the thing was an accident and they were just so worried to get Minty and Thistle Whistle home safe. There were some suspenseful bits, and things did get a little cheesy with the Ponies' love for each other creating a new beacon to guide Santa there, but I can totally deal with that kind of cheese. LOL. It was so very sweet. It reminded me of Lalaloopsy, which always seems to show the characters helping each other during day to day crises. I want to see more G3 things. People who don't like G3 because there aren't save the world level crises are missing out.

I've been interested in Scooby-Doo this autumn. The figures got re-released and I didn't want to miss out on them this time. I got them all and have seen some of the movies and assorted series' episodes here and there. I really enjoy the movies, honestly. As much as I loved What's New, Scooby-Doo? when I watched it in first-run, I think some of these movies have the characters more IC. Fred was portrayed as an idiot so often in What's New, sigh. And I'm not sure what to think of Velma fangirling so often, even though it's cute enough (and I of course can relate; I'm just not sure it works for that particular character). All of these recent things seem to make the characters livelier than in the old 1970s series, though. They often seemed more like one-note cookie-cutter characters back then, but the re-envisionings in recent years give some of them more personality. I also saw the trailer for the Scoob movie next year and it looks really cute. I love what it shows of how Shaggy and Scooby first met!

I also saw the new Sonic trailer. The redesign of Sonic is beautiful and Jim Carrey as Eggman looks like fun. I'm hopeful and anxious for the movie now. I wonder if it depicts their first encounter, since Tails doesn't seem to be in it and he wasn't in the first game.

Thanks to Netflix, I finally saw both of the theatrical Grinch movies. There were pros and cons for both, and maybe I'll elaborate in another post, but overall my feeling is that the movie from last year is the best and most magical. Both movies tried to humanize the Grinch, and I liked that, but I don't like how cartoony and shallow the Whos felt in the live-action film (nor did I like the Grinch's disgusting habits there). It's funny that they all felt more real in the animated film. I was surprised there wasn't a lot of crude humor in that, when Illumination made it. It was just lovely. And they weren't afraid to use religious Christmas carols, with lyrics!

I've been enjoying the next batch of Carmen Sandiego episodes on Netflix. I hope there will be more. I found both Zack and Ivy really annoying in this incarnation, but Ivy has started to develop more and I love that. I hope Zack will develop more too. One character I haven't been able to like is Graham. He seems nice enough with amnesia, but since he was ready to kill Carmen with his memories, despite their past as dear friends and surrogate siblings, to me he's a ticking timebomb. If he regains his memories and is horrified at what he was with V.I.L.E. and wants to be different, then I'll probably like him. But for the time being, when I don't know what he'll be like if his memories return, I just don't. I certainly feel for Carmen still remembering the good times they had, though. I can't get enough of this series.