The Winter Court of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

So Dad and I got Mom the complete Monk set for Christmas and we've been watching episodes here and there. I have reconfirmed how much I love Sharona. I always liked her better than Natalie, I have to admit. Natalie was just too perky for my tastes. One thing I will grant is that Sharona is more abrasive than Natalie, although once I saw the pretty awesome argument for that that it was Sharona, personality and all, who was able to bring Monk back to himself enough that he could work as a consultant after Trudy's death destroyed him. That was finally acknowledged in canon too, in season 8, which thrilled me. (Natalie was the one who acknowledged it, as I recall. I loved that.)

I always hated the way they wrote Sharona off the show. I know that with the contract mess they didn't have much choice but to do something to remove her, but the way it was done was totally OOC. Sharona would not run off and abandon Monk with only a note to explain. I know they had problems sometimes and she'd quit, but that wasn't the same thing. She was still there. She hadn't run off to New Jersey and left him alone. If she did feel she had to leave, she would make sure he was well taken care of with a replacement first.

I tried writing a Monk fanfic once to bring Kevin back, as that was something else that seriously ticked me off. I never handle killing off favorite characters very easily, especially when it's something that completely doesn't have to happen. I couldn't get beyond the first chapter because I found so many roadblocks. I wanted Sharona to move back and that wasn't going well in the writing. I didn't want Dr. Kroger to be dead, and yet that really couldn't be helped since the actor died, and I didn't see how I could bring back more characters from the dead than Kevin alone, and I love Dr. Bell too, and everything was just so frustrating with me not knowing quite how I wanted to write that mess that I ended up giving up.

I realized that all of my problems with various things in the show started with that terrible way of writing Sharona out. But there's probably still nothing that can be done for it, fic-wise; I'd considered before doing an AU where Sharona doesn't leave, but Natalie comes in too, but I don't know how it would work with both of them there. Monk really only needs one. Although I wonder if it could work like, with Sharona staying the nurse-type assistant but Natalie becoming like a secretary or something? And they could both help with different aspects of the cases, maybe. Monk's like a private detective, more or less, and they usually have more than one operative.

It's a nice thought, at least. I doubt I'd ever do anything with it, just like I doubt I'll ever write anything more for Once Upon a Time. I hit a roadblock with it because I still hate a lot of the things they did to Rumpelstiltskin, but I do love how they finally did develop him and get him to fully turn good. So I'm left with not wanting to accept a lot of stuff as canon but loving other things so much I hate to discount them.

Then, switching gears to YGO....

I find it terribly amusing that I was telling someone I didn't think I had anything more I could write about Seto, that I'd explored him so much in the past and I felt I'd told it all, etc....

And then things exploded and I got further inspiration for my arc with Seto coming to acknowledge Yugi-tachi as friends, and since I got fascinated with the Big Five, Seto and Mokuba have become extremely important to that arc and I've found new aspects to develop with both brothers. At the moment, they're probably the most important characters in the timeline. Yami Bakura is still working with his quest, of course, and in fact, he made some important progress in the last fic. But for the moment he's mostly kind of taking a step back while I work with the Big Five and the Kaibas. It's fun having new ideas for Seto and Mokuba, especially since I used to write stuff with them before switching to the Ishtars. At the moment, I've been having trouble thinking of new Ishtar sibling scenes, and often Ishizu and Rishid don't say a whole lot and Marik interacts more with Mokuba. Maybe eventually I'll get some more inspiration for the Ishtar siblings as well. I hope so.

I've also been pondering a lot on my love of the dub. I love the dub names and voices and localizations, and in some cases, I realize I really love the dub personalities as well. Not Seto and Marik, I must confess; they are mostly better in the original, although I love their dub voices and always will. But like with Yami Bakura, I'm in love with his dub voice and it really seems to change his personality too. He's more informal in the original, I think, but I just love him as classy and educated in the dub. To me it's much more fascinating to think of a thief in ancient Egypt with his dub vocabulary and knowledge.

Then there's the Big Five. Johnson and Nesbitt I don't think are too different between versions, except that in the original Seto made Nesbitt blow up his compound as a show of loyalty, something I keep in my verse. And I'm not sure if Nesbitt likes pretending to be a robot in the original, but I admit I find that intriguing in the dub, that he prefers machines to that extent. Nesbitt did seem slightly more sympathetic in the original, both in his flashbacks and in some of his dialogue during the three-against-one duel. Honestly, in the flashbacks, he really did get a raw deal and was treated pretty much like dirt. After he blows up the compound, he asks about the Duel Tower and Seto tells him about a new engineer coming in to work on it, and that Nesbitt can follow him around if he doesn't get in the way, or something like that. Of course, it still doesn't justify what Nesbitt and the others end up doing, but I actually do feel bad for the guy. And you can see how upset and angry he is but that he's trying desperately not to lose his temper, which is interesting since in the present-day he displays some impulsive and reckless behavior.

Gansley is obsessed with war quotes in the original. I'm okay with that, but I have to say, I'm terribly fond of his business obsession in the dub and prefer that. I just wish the dub had kept him knowing about Atem, because that was kind of epically awesome that he paid that much attention and knew there were two spirits there. Also, it just kind of amuses me that Atem is getting so frustrated and angry with Gansley in the dub when he talks about business. Getting upset about war quotes is more logical, but getting bent out of shape while being told about the three rules of business or how Gansley become a lemonade distributor is just seriously amusing and kind of gives Atem a rather human quirk that we don't see too often.

Crump ... oh boy. He is one dirty old man in the original. That side of his personality is completely absent in the dub, which is just fine with me. I ran into a dilemma of whether or not to bring any of the original over with him. I ended up settling on keeping his interest in women younger than he is but not making things so sick. I think he is mostly teasing Tea in my fics when he makes cracks and he only does it to get a rise out of her, and in any case, he doesn't say anything like what he said in the original, ugh. And when he does get involved with someone in my fics, I think it's more like May/December romance type instead of lustful and creepy. Like in the current fic, where he's trying to go on a date with a suspect around Mai's age to get her to open up, she's been told by the villain to try to come on to him and she acts like a femme fatale at first, but he says she can just be herself, that he'd prefer that anyway. And they just have a nice talk. I think I figure that since with him I am writing more from the dub personality, I can do whatever I want with the girl angle and it won't necessarily be OOC for the dub version even if in the original it might be. In the original, I probably like Crump the very least, even less than Johnson. In the dub, I like Johnson least. And I've gotten rather fond of Crump writing for him as the one who tries to encourage the other Big Five members to open up about their feelings when he can see they're upset about things. I didn't set out to write him that way, but it just kind of happened during some of the emotional hurt/comfort scenes. Somehow it seemed right. And I don't like picturing him as having this really sick side, so it's nice that the dub gives another option. (Although, of course, the sadism he displays in both versions is a whole other kind of sick, ugh. Trying to freeze Tea.... I decided he should find out what that really feels like, so the villain threw him in a freezer in the current fic. And Seto's in there with him too, lol. Awkward.... They're in there long enough that they're both getting hypothermia, and I think Crump will have to try to take care of Seto when Seto gets worse first. Crump handles the cold a little better because he's somewhat overweight.)

Then Lector.... I've mentioned that he seems more justice-driven in the dub. Aside from the scene where they fight over bodies and Lector seems to be a bully to Crump in the dub but not in the original, I prefer him in the dub. I phrased it on Tumblr as him having my heart. I love the Southern accent, I love the justice-driven attitude, and I love that in the dub there's more of an indication that he might care about Mokuba. I also love him saying that he helped raise Seto (and presumably Mokuba as well). Not that it isn't possible that he did in the original too, but it seemed like the original slanted it more as him just associating with them for that one year. With Gozaburo's wife gone and Lector being the next closest person to Gozaburo as his assistant, I really love the concept that he helped raise the boys. I also prefer that in the dub, he didn't taunt Seto about his virtual reality technology being used for war. (The dub removed that plotline altogether, which I didn't like them doing, but I was definitely fine with Lector not taunting Seto about it.)

With Crump and Lector especially, it makes me want to be able to feel like the dub versions of characters are legitimate versions of the characters instead of just being screwed-up or watered-down versions of the characters and not legitimate versions since only the original is a legitimate version. Manga and anime are different verses to begin with, so maybe sub and dub anime could be seen as different verses too, each legit in its own way.

Maybe that is kind of the culture now, for all I know. I'm used to remembering how things were, when dub fans really struggled against the purists. It does kind of seem like things have settled down since then and that at least some people have an appreciation for the dub versions. I know there's been some marketing directed towards those who grew up with the dub and are adults now and still think of it fondly. As a dub fan, that makes me very happy!

On Dreamwidth, I'm trying a Kaiba brothers icon. You know, I think it's the first time I've ever used a Seto icon of any sort....

Here's pictures of my two main Marik cosplays, from many years ago. http://cubeupload.com/codes/cad37e

The first two pictures are from the first attempt, a very ghetto cosplay with a blue shirt instead of lavender, but I was ecstatic when I got it for my birthday, both because it was awesome in general and because it was close enough of a color that I figured I could use it for my Marik costume, which was already underway at that point (I'd been planning it since July). You can see the gold foil armbands, which, as mentioned, were very uncomfortable to wear for long. They looked awesome, though! The Millennium Rod was made from a very heavy cardboard cylinder (probably off aluminum foil), a miniature bowling ball, and cardboard shapes, all covered in gold foil and taped together with clear packing tape. The cape was used pretty much only because I wasn't keen on walking around in public in something sleeveless, heh. And behind me you can see my Bakura and Marik commissioned plushies from SetsunaKou. Also, my YGO board game and Star Wars Trivial Pursuit (which I love to play, but rarely do; it's a little embarrassing because I'm so good at it, LOL).

The bottom picture, from the following year, is five together because it used to be on CosplayLab, which has now shut down. Waaah. The accurate lavender hoodie I sewed from a pattern. As I recall, the pattern was for something longer, a sweater or something, and I modified it. (And yes, I used the sewing machine that time, instead of trying to do it by hand.) The middle pictures are from the church Halloween party; the others are of the very small bedroom at the old house. I still have the Balto standee, but I haven't been able to display it ever since we moved. **sniffle.** Of course, clicking on the pictures makes them bigger. I shouldn't have to say that, but it's incredible how many people I've encountered who don't seem to know that.

... Huh, since the bottom picture is labeled 2004, that means the first attempt must have been from 2003. I didn't remember I had both Bakura and Marik that soon; I thought I only commissioned Bakura in the summer! And it takes weeks to get the plushies, although less weeks back then. I don't know; I am seriously confused. Maybe I commissioned Bakura in May and Marik a couple of months later? I will have to think about this.

That blond wig I'm using has got a lot of mileage. I originally bought it to use for my Margaret Houlihan cosplay (yes). I love when I can reuse wigs for other costumes! And I know the wig looks consistently white in the pictures, but I swear it isn't.

I'm amazed at how fast I'm moving along with the Seto plush. Shirt's done and I'm currently hemming the coat. I don't think I'll do any more tonight, but later today I'm hoping to do all the rest, finishing the hemming and sewing the sleeves and attaching them. Then I'll take pictures and display him while I try to figure out how to make the locket. Normally it takes me around a week to get a plushie done. Maybe this shows I've done it enough times by now that it's a swifter task.

The anime and the manga both could have done more with Seto than they did, but in both it really is moving how different he becomes by the end. Especially in the anime, since there you get to see him move past the hate and not just think about it. All of that content is anime-only. The Seto from the first episode could never have been the hero he became in later seasons, or at least, I don't think so. So while he still has a long way to go (and I'll see what I can do about that in my fics), he did come a long way from where he started.

It is sad, though, that the storyline had him get so bad in Battle City at all. In the final episode taking place at Duelist Kingdom, he actually seems peaceful, happy, and respectful. I fully believed he was going to loosen up after that. Instead, he got a thousand times worse than he'd already been! In my old timeline, he is already very relaxed and pleasant with Yugi-tachi in the early stories, albeit still aloof. That was because I believed that was how he would be after Duelist Kingdom. Later on, when I saw he wasn't that way at all, I think I half-unconsciously started changing how I wrote him to match canon more. I remember at least one reader wondering about that. For my new timeline, since it follows canon to the end before branching out, he still has a long way to go. But in Dragons at Dawn, Yugi speculates that Seto does think of them as friends and just can't admit it out loud yet. That was inspired by Ishizu's words to Seto before Atem's duel with Yami Marik. Of course, in any case, I think I've mostly toned down Seto's rudeness to original Japanese version levels. I cringe at how the dub made him sound so much worse than he was on many occasions. When I am displeased at how the dub handled something, I tend to write from the original Japanese version and pretend that the dub mangling didn't happen. But I will always write with the English names, locales, and humor, since that's "my" YGO.

Occasionally the dub actually improves on something. One thing I noticed is that in the original Japanese, Marik doesn't seem to acknowledge how badly he treated Rishid. In the dub, he does. And then there's how the dub tried to give Duke more of a noble reason for going after Yugi then just being whiny about not being able to get his game going because Yugi defeated Pegasus. In the dub, he's upset about that, alright, but what bends him out of shape the most is that he believes Yugi cheated to win. So he wants to expose Yugi as a cheat.

(Of course, then there's the sticky situation that I hear in the original, Yami Yugi can actually will certain cards to come up next, which definitely is cheating. As cheesy as the Heart of the Cards thing is, I far prefer that explanation to what's going on in the original. Although in the case of facing Pegasus, I wouldn't begrudge Yami Yugi willing cards to appear to win....)

And I'd forgotten I have so much of the YGO manga. Most of it I bought from Borders because of their awesome 40% off coupons. I have 30 out of 42 total (including YGO R). And I'm confused that I don't seem to have Duelist #19. I was sure I had that one. I must just be remembering reading some of it in the store. I'm missing 1, 4, and 5 of the first seven, and 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 13, 19, 21, and 22 of Duelist. I have all of R and Millennium World. And the Movie ani-manga. Also, I am still thoroughly grossed-out by all the gratuitous shots of Yami Bakura being eaten by the darkness in Duelist #20. It looks much more gruesome in the manga than in the anime. Of course, it is absolutely horrifying in any case, and I had to look at other parts of the screen a lot while watching those scenes in the episodes, but I see no need to depict it the way the manga did. Give me the anime version any day.

And I still think anime Yami Marik is a way better villain because he's more creative and personalizes his torture. In the manga, he just torments Mai with sickening physical depictions, including one of my most hated tropes. In the anime, he tailors his torture to her insecurities. That was repugnant, but honestly brilliant. In my fic Taming the Darkness, which is of course anime-based despite the manga quote title, he tortures Thief King Bakura along anime-style lines (although he does get manga-style gruesome at some points, as what he tends to torture his victim with are mainly illusions of Ryou Bakura being harmed in all manner of different ways, or him betraying Yami Bakura, and reenactments of the Kul Elna massacre). Taming the Darkness and its predecessor, White is in the Winter Night, are both very important to my current timeline and also the darkest and most disturbing fics I've ever written. Both have a category of Horror, although White is in the Winter Night is mostly psychological horror while Taming the Darkness is a physical/psychological horror mix. Both also develop Bakura and Yami/Thief King Bakura's relationship a great deal, which was certainly necessary when following canon and taking place shortly after it. Yami/Thief King is separate from Zorc at last and trying to figure out who he is, and who Bakura is to him, and Bakura likewise is trying to decide what Yami Bakura means to him, and they get into more than one argument as Bakura finally lets loose with a lot of pent-up feelings from canon.

... Also, manga Bakura seems to either be an idiot or extremely innocently clueless, always wanting the Ring back and not seeming to realize there's any problem with it. I was thinking he remembered there was a problem because of what happened in his manga introduction arc. Maybe I'd better read that one again.

I know I'm down on the manga a lot, but I usually do prefer the TV or movie versions of most things. But I really do respect the manga for being what came first and bringing the characters to life for the first time. And I do prefer Duke's manga intro and some parts of Millennium World in the manga, although I prefer Seto being present for that last arc, as he was in the anime. I'm a little surprised I have so much of the manga since I do prefer the anime, but I think the reason is because I wanted some new YGO following the anime's end and the manga certainly fit that bill in some ways, LOL. Millennium World, as I recall, I happily bought before the dubbed anime version happened ... I think? ("Happily," because I was so eager to see what Yami Bakura was like in ancient Egypt.) Because I remember when the anime version came out and I was disappointed by some things being mostly absent, like Atem and Thief King's intriguingly deep conversations in the early scenes. At least, I think some volumes came out before the English anime version, but it finished up after the anime did. I seem to remember getting some of the volumes at the new house, and we moved when the final season was underway. Then R was the other manga thing I really looked forward to. One of the characters, Pete Coppermine, has occasionally popped up in my fics as Duke's neighbor. I should read R again. As is usual with filler arcs, I loved it.

And I feel somewhat guilty that I've always enjoyed seeing Yami Bakura being villainous, to some extent. Naturally I don't like seeing him hurt people (... usually, although I did like his protectiveness of Bakura against that mean gym teacher in the manga, despite disagreeing with his methods, and I felt his dispatching of the thugs that wanted to kill and rob him in the tavern in ancient Egypt was self-defense), but sometimes I like seeing his schemes and him being smooth and cool, and sometimes I get a kick out of that mad cackle and his sarcastic wit. I know many feel the same way, about him or other villains, but I'm usually not that way. Usually I only like antagonists because of them showing goodness and/or repenting. And I certainly prefer writing Yami Bakura as an antihero rather than a villain. But ... I've always found him a fun and intriguing villain in canon. He was in the first episode I ever saw (The Evil Spirit of the Ring), and I remember hoping it wasn't the only time we'd see him because he was just too interesting. He and Bakura were my first favorite characters and certainly part of what made me so excited about this strange new show. I was hooked from that episode. I've rewatched it so many times, and I even remembered that I watched it in Spanish on my old DVD at least once, just to hear the Spanish voices. And I'd rewatched it so many times in English by then that I think I mostly provided my own subtitles. LOL.

Back to the manga rambles, one thing I've long puzzled over is how to have Duke's manga intro plus the anime thing of mind-controlled Bandit Keith both happen in my verse, since both involved the breaking of the Puzzle and a fire. I tentatively sorted out some of the problem by having Duke's intro involve that creepy Devil's Boardgame go haywire and age the house they're in so it starts collapsing. (Yeah, I'm not going to burn down or collapse Duke's store.) But as for the Puzzle getting broke, I think that still happens in both adventures, unless I alter Keith's escapade so it doesn't happen there. Maybe someday I'll try to actually write Duke's intro as per my verse, which is mostly manga but with the anime inclusions of the store belonging to Duke and not his dad, his store manager "David," and the apology scene. And with my own concept of them being in a house that ends up aging into collapse. And I didn't have his dad turn good, but I still wonder if I should have let that happen. I think I was influenced by a friend who felt he would probably go back to his old ways despite the redemption. For manga verse, honestly, I feel that he did truly turn good. There were glimpses of a good person still there all along and I think that won out. But for my verse, it worked better for him to not turn good and to instead leave off disowning Duke. It gave Duke a lot of issues to work through. Yet I feel guilty about doing it that way, feeling it's not fair to the character of Duke's father. So I continue to waffle about that from time to time and wonder if I should try to redeem him in my verse, either by him coming back after being thought dead or else him coming to Duke as a ghost and wanting forgiveness. (My verse had him die in the collapsing house when he refused to be helped by Duke and Yugi and fell instead.)

I'm rambling again.... I should be working with my fics!