... What.

So I bought some stuff on Amazon, including three of the new Six Million Dollar Man comics. But whoever packed the stuff must not know how to pack comics. There were no cardboard slips for protection and the comics were not even at least lying flat. The box was too small and they couldn't. So they curled up at the top and got bent.

They also sent my paperback book creased and the box wasn't tall enough for everything and the flaps bulged above the top item, one of two DVDs.

I complained. Amazon has a thing where you can review the packing, and I didn't hold back. I even outright said it was an incompetent packing job, which it really was. But then, because I really am a lot like Fluttershy, I immediately started worrying that I'd been too harsh on them and I shouldn't have said that. **mushroom sigh.** I wasn't rude and I didn't scream at them or anything, I was just very blunt and honest. And I'm sure I should have said exactly what I did. But it doesn't keep me from worrying that maybe I shouldn't have said it that way.

Now I'm wondering again how to get more of the Six Million Dollar Man comics. I thought I'd just found a way to get them without paying an arm and a leg for shipping, but I'm sure not keen on using Amazon for comics again. The local comic store is no help, as usual. They immediately sell out, don't plan to get more unless it's a special order, and it takes THREE WEEKS for a special order to come in. Um, no thank you. Why can't that store ever be useful? You know, one time I even tried to special order something in, and then they called back and told my mom they couldn't get it! Lovely. Apparently the only way I can get the comics from that store is if I actually subscribe (which basically entails them holding each issue for me as it comes out), but I didn't want to do that either, because we don't often get up there and I worry about the comics piling up and me having to drop a bundle to pick up a whole bunch at once, which I just wouldn't have the money for.

And completely switching gears, I was re-reading some of my completed Rockford Files fic and then fell asleep and had an odd dream. My mind created a new episode, which I announced in the dream I'd seen before. Chris was in it and so was a little guy playing a friend of his, but I can't think who that actor was supposed to be. I don't think it was Joe E. Tata or Jimmy Murphy. All I really remember is that he was short and slight and was wearing a plaid newsboy hat with a dark overcoat and vest. Chris had a dark brown overcoat. And their characters had names in the dream-isode that I can't remember upon waking. I almost want to say one of them was called Chip (Chris's, I think), but I can't swear by that.

The important thing about the dream was that they seemed to be part of some sort of rebel group or resistance movement. Chris's character was more experienced; he looked about like he really does in the two existing Rockford episodes he's in (puuurrr). His friend was younger and more inexperienced. And the bad guys eventually caught up to him when he was running from them and shot him repeatedly at the side of his and Chris's car. Gah.

Chris and Rockford came running up, and I can't recall if the bad guys were still there and got caught or if they were gone. Chris cried out his friend's name and bent down to look him over. Of course, the poor man was dead, and Chris was devastated. He slowly stood up, shaken and sobered, and said he was going back to London (presumably for another assignment). I knew that he and his friend had shared a house (much the same as Ginger and Lou do in my fics) and it would be so lonely and sad for him.

There also seemed to be a bit before the death where the friend encountered an old flame of his and they were making plans to get together again. The girl did not reappear in the dream after the death.

I said in the dream that I would have to write a fix-fic, because the friend being dead was unacceptable. Now that I'm awake, part of me actually wants to write a fix-fic despite the fact that these characters don't even exist!

I wonder if I could use them in my novel. I need more human characters. They could be G-Men or else actually be part of the resistance movement that's in the novel.

Sailor Moon Crystal

So during an incident when I tried downloading Safari as a back-up browser (and later getting rid of it because it took up too much memory), I decided to see if videos would play any better on Safari. That resulted in watching the two Sailor Moon Crystal episodes available at the time. I ended up pleased and excited, wrote an actual chapter for my Sailor Moon fic after SIX YEARS, and watched the third episode today.

I don't really like the way the eyes are drawn; they don't seem to have the same sparks of life that the original anime's eyes do. But so far, I think that is my one major complaint. I'm enjoying the retelling, the new character designs (especially Mercury's and Naru's and Nephrite's), and I'm anxious to see how this new version will differ from the manga. I was skeptical of it from the beginning, and even moreso when I heard it would try to follow the manga more closely. I prefer the anime version, so I wasn't sure what to think of a more manga-flavored anime this time around.

I'm happy that they didn't kill Jadeite in episode 3, which is where he died in the manga. (At least, I don't think he died; it looked like he teleported out.) I'm hoping that this new anime will have some fun development for the Shitennou, like the manga did not and like the live-action series, and to some extent the original anime, did. I hope it will have their backstories, but not that weird, weird thing of them being transformed into the minerals they were named after upon death.

And I can't help wishing that they would favor the original anime a little bit by having Nephrite/Naru happen to some extent. There have been some lovely winks at the original anime, including some portions of the transformation sequences, and I would just adore seeing how this anime would depict Nephrite/Naru. I suppose that's a fruitless hope, but since this series isn't quite like the manga, and there have been nods to the anime, perhaps it's at least slightly possible?

Bleeeeeh.

Third post today. I just spent some time on the Sailor Moon Wiki. Sooo confused ... so many canons to keep straight.... No wonder I threw up my hands in despair when trying to write that Sailor Moon fic. I think I made a couple of errors in plot points that I'll need to get corrected. I'm trying to mostly follow the anime, with the exception of a couple of manga and live-action elements to flesh out the Shitennou's backstories and personalities when not under Beryl's control.

I remember another point of frustration was that people would read, but they wouldn't review. And I really wanted some help in knowing whether I was getting characterizations right. You know, I don't have one review on that thing from an actual Sailor Moon fan, except the very latest one, which wasn't very helpful? Two friends were reading, neither of whom were familiar with Sailor Moon, then someone popped in just to comment on Dr. Portman skipping fandoms between Sailor Moon and Detective Conan (actually, I figure each of those fandoms are in their own separate verses, as I don't like to think of either of them existing in the same verse with more realistic fandoms), and then someone popped in to talk about Sailor Moon Crystal as though I was unaware of it and oh, by the way, great story, keep it coming.

Mama Mia.