Ramblings and Musings of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

Hmm. Maybe Hulu still has I Spy after all; I'm not sure. I tried watching the one season 5 Once episode I was interested in (The Bear and the Bow) and discovered Hulu's search feature is broken, at least on certain searches. I had to do Advanced Search to find the episode.

It was great, ohmygosh. It was heartbreaking to see Rumpel so unnaturally afraid of everything, but he still loved Belle so much, and in the end he came back to himself and rushed to save Belle and had renewed confidence in himself and an epic exchange with Emma and it was just so great. I don't like at all that Emma is the villain in this arc, but I do rather love the idea of Rumpel as the hero. I just hope that won't immensely backfire on him and Belle in the end, as it seems like every time he tries to do the right thing, he gets punished for it in the storyline sooner or later.

I finally got my other Amazon gift card, so it was time for another little shopping spree. Unfortunately, some of the things I thought I was going to get abruptly went off sale prices or went out of stock AGAIN, so I had to revamp some of my plans. I am still going to be able to get the one Perry set I'm missing, so that's awesome. Then I discovered Get Smart was $7.99 a season, except for season 2 at $9.99. I decided to get season 5 to have that epic two-parter in London with Hedley Mattingly (his deadpan reactions to the stupid were so priceless) and season 1 to have the Milton Selzer episodes. But then season 1 said it shipped within 10-12 days. Uggggh. Not acceptable. So I decided to get season 2 instead.

I think season 1 is my favorite, followed by season 2. There were some funny ones in season 4 (especially the honeymoon one, oh gosh), but I think it has impressed me the least of all the seasons overall. I was really disappointed by the wedding episode in particular. Something that momentous should have had a better episode to showcase it. It was just so sad to see 99 doubting Max after everything they've been through together. And then after seeing some of the early Hymie episodes, Max's attitude about him in the bachelor party one did make me cringe when I thought back on it. Season 4 has some serious OOC behavior.

I had wanted season 3 of Mannix, as that's the only Mannix one I'm missing, but it went out of stock again. I also considered season 4 of WWW, since I figure my TV copies are cut up, but it was out of stock too. Then I thought to check The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries and decided to pick up season 2 for about the same price I thought I'd be getting Mannix or WWW for. I can't stand the crossover episodes with the characters, at least the ones with Pamela Sue Martin, as Frank just acts so unbearably sexist and doesn't respect Nancy as a detective and it's awful and painful to watch, but luckily I think they only had two of those. I loved all the solo Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew ventures from season 2, and the crossovers with Janet Louise Johnson playing Nancy were not sexist, so I handled those far better.

I finished off the order with the original Equestria Girls movie, which was only $4.74! I like the other two better, as I don't really like seeing Sunset Shimmer as the villain, but those movies wouldn't have as strong an impact without that first one. Sunset's journey from the first movie through the third one is really incredible. I'm so excited to see what comes next.

Then at Wal-Mart yesterday, I found Sweet Dreams Bear! I think she's my favorite female character on the recent Care Bears series. I was thinking I'd have to get a tiny beanbag of her, but then on Facebook I heard that they've made a 20-inch one! So I've been looking, and last night I dug her out of the new shipment on the shelf! I debated for a moment on whether to get her right then, but I decided I should, since I really wanted her, there was no telling when I might see her again, and I could afford it at the moment. I had some really great success on Textbroker last week that should give me some good money to have over the holidays. Maybe I'll be able to get presents for more people this year! We'll see.

So anyway, now Sweet Dreams is sitting next to Bedtime Bear on the bed. They look so cute sitting there. I still kind of want Share Bear and Cheer Bear in the big size too, but I don't know if/when that will happen. Wish Bear is the one I want the most that I don't have, and I can't figure out why I haven't seen the medium size of her yet. I wonder if they might make a big one of her too.

Made a few new icons the other day, when I realized The Disappearing Declaration was a season 1 episode with high enough quality that the icons would probably be good. This is my favorite, although I wish I could have gotten Barry in there a little better. But this one still does better than my last attempt, I think, to get them all in fairly equally. And Sean still gets highlighted as lead singer. Awesome.

Yesterday I finally got to go in to use the birthday coupon at Build-a-Bear and I bought the bat plushie. I didn't have enough money to get the cat right then, and anyway, after Halloween the bat will be gone but the cat will still be there. And the bat is so cute! Probably the cutest bat plushie ever made. I had the oddest urge to name her Milly, and yes, it had to be with a Y. So that is what her birth certificate says.

For some weird reason, earlier in the month I was muddledly thinking that bats were rodents and naturally I didn't want any rodent plushie after this summer's disaster. (Note that I still love Mickey Mouse and any other cartoon rodents I previously liked, however. In general, they behave more like people than rodents. Heh.) I'm assuming the misconception is because Batman is sometimes called a rodent by the villains in the 1960s show. But so I Googled "Are bats rodents" and went "... Well, duh, what's the matter with me" at the information that they are not and that was the first step to feeling okay about a bat plushie. Anyway, too, I've cosplayed Rouge the Bat three times and I love Batman, so a bat plushie rather makes sense for me, doesn't it?

Also, at Build-a-Bear I was thrilled to see the online exclusives Zecora and Shining Armor! I didn't have enough money to get one of them, and anyway, I had my heart set on the bat, but I hope I'll have the chance to get them both now that I don't have to buy them online! I was so excited to see them there!

I also had a coupon for half off something at Jo-Ann's, so we went there and I found that the doll I'd put away in the back in hopes of buying it when I wasn't broke was still there, so I bought it. It will become Barry. I just hope I can find a decent doll wig. It's bizarre that I can't find a simple brown shoulder-length doll wig.

Then I've been contacted by a sweet girl who really loves my Detective Conan fics and especially my Gin/Sherry stuff. She was hoping I could finish Snow White Queen. I doubt I ever will, which I told her, but I told her how I planned for it to end and I let her see an unfinished chapter I'd apparently started years ago, and she was happy with those things.

When I was trying to help her, I ended up re-reading what I have of that fic and pondering on things regarding it and how it happened. The whole idea of Gin/Sherry is twisted to begin with, and then I was trying to figure out how to turn that twisted mess into something that could be happy for both of them. That happened mainly because when I was scoffing at the idea that the pairing could ever be anything but twisted, someone (Claude, I believe) talked to me about different possibilities that could make it end up happy. And I was curious and interested and decided to take up the challenge, so I started writing various things with them, liked it, and eventually started work on Snow White Queen.

I have to admit, I do think it's written fairly well, but it's very strange seeing me try to take the twisted canon information and make something positive out of it. I suppose maybe it's possible, especially considering those characters' backgrounds (both canon and what I invented to flesh out their pasts), but I am still pretty skeptical that it could work realistically.

It's interesting that what started as an experiment became something I genuinely loved and was enthused about. I think I always struggled a bit, though, and I think that's why the story trailed off. I just wasn't sure how to get them from Point A to Point C. Point B baffled me. That didn't stop me from writing stuff after they get to Point C, but I really needed to show how it happened and that problem stopped me in my tracks.

I used to write a lot of darker stuff that handled twisted situations, twisted characters, etc. etc. It wasn't just Detective Conan, but some of the psychological horror fics I did for YGO and maybe other categories. I think a lot of the reason why I did it was because I was encouraged and I really liked the praise I was getting. It was fun to impress people and have them feel like I was smart and deep. But I don't know, I don't feel like writing twisted things was really me. Or maybe it was me then. Eventually I got tired and worn-out and didn't want to play in many of those fields anymore. Maybe I stopped wanting to impress people so much. I still want them to like what I write, but that's not as much of my drive as it used to be.

I'm still tired. Mostly now I just want to write fun things or hurt/comfort. That doesn't mean I don't like deep subjects or exploring how characters' minds tick; that's still a lot of how my stories run. But I don't think I'm really into dealing with twisted stuff like figuring out how to make a positive relationship when the canon is Gin being possessive and sadistic towards Sherry (and of course, Sherry hating him). Somehow in the "after Point C" stories I actually did manage to get them to a more normal place where Gin wasn't sadistic and Sherry wasn't hateful and Gin's possessiveness was softened a bit into more protectiveness. And I know it probably all sounds terrible and like a bad fanfic from what I'm describing. It actually isn't as bad in actual fact; it's certainly not like Twilight or 50 Shades of Grey or something that tries to make it look like the bad stuff is okay. And it's not hearts and rainbows and suddenly everybody is good, wheeee. It's more the characters being able to gradually get past the bad things and grow and mature into better people. But I'm skeptical it could ever really happen in a situation like theirs and I don't think it's a place I want to explore again.

Some of the characters I write for are still somewhat twisted, though, like Ginger. And it certainly took a lot of pondering and struggling to try to figure out how to make it make sense that Lou could both care about Mike and forgive Ginger for shooting him. I think my essay approached the problem from all possible angles the episode hinted at and presented every possible answer. The difference with those characters is that, more unlike Gin and Vodka (or Baby Face and his gang), I do have them try to go straight. They're still antiheroes/unconventional heroes and don't like to get involved in trouble if they can at all avoid it, and Ginger can be dark and vengeful, but mostly what I write about them is cute slice-of-life, conversational fics, and mysteries and hurt/comfort.

And then there's Ecks and Wye, who are in the same sort of situation as Gin and Vodka from Detective Conan regarding employment. (I do, however, try to soften it a bit with the implied idea that Ecks and Wye are in it for the spying part and go after other spies and don't have much, if anything, to do with going after innocent civilians. I also tried to make Ecks a little sympathetic with the idea that he grew up in the organization and couldn't get out, same as I did with Gin, actually....) I honestly probably wouldn't even be interested in them if not for two factors: Ecks is played by darling Christopher Cary and Wye absolutely flipped after finding Ecks stabbed, indicating they were very close. I was immediately intrigued. Actually, the idea of interaction between Gin and Vodka is how I got interested in writing for them, too. But I did keep them with the Black Org and carrying out missions, at least until I developed that Snow White Queen timeline where they and Sherry escape to make a new life elsewhere. With Ecks and Wye's situation, were they to survive their episode, they would very likely have to run for their lives to avoid being killed as traitors to the extremist organization. Which is how I approached that. I wouldn't exactly say they're going straight now, but they are trying to avoid getting in trouble with the law.

The Riddler is in the same situation. I didn't really want to have him completely straight, and he's certainly an unconventional hero in that he's most interested in matching wits with his opponents rather than bringing crooks to justice, but if they're so heinous that even The Riddler is upset by them, then he will go after them for the purpose of bringing them to justice. Of course, since he probably always will be at least a little twisted, his justice would include making them play through one of his complex, booby-trapped mazes. But they would survive; I actually question whether any of the traps set by The Batman's Riddler would kill or if it was only a tease. (Yes, maybe even the bombs were set up in a way that wouldn't have killed Gorman. Possibly. I debate over that because The Riddler wanted Gorman to really experience failure, so maybe he would want to keep Gorman alive to experience it for a good, long while. On the other hand, maybe he wanted Gorman's last thoughts of be of his failure and then the bombs would kill. I just don't know. But anyway....) He seems like the type who might tease, especially considering his first appearance on the show. Batman: The Animated Series' Riddler sets traps to kill, but he is a completely different character.

And then there's Snakes, oh boy. With him, though, he really is trying to go straight. But he's selfish and cowardly and in most verses, is struggling to learn about friendship. I have so much fun developing him everywhere.

I dunno; thinking on things in these lights, I definitely still do a lot with criminal-type characters (even though sometimes I just want more true-blue heroes, like the ACME characters). And even though, yes, I do like reforming them when possible, I always try to keep their personalities intact, especially if they're wild cards. I think the reason why I'm more burned-out on Detective Conan stuff is Gin's specific personality, the absolute twisted mess of the Gin/Sherry pairing, and the fact of not particularly being into writing about enemy assassins at work in their organization. Well, and the fact that I was never comfortable with the series' basic premise. It took me ages to feel like trying it at all, and after playing in the waters for a while, I don't think I'll go back. That doesn't mean I won't, though. I sometimes end up doing a lot of things I hadn't planned on doing again.

Like writing Carmen fics, heh. But I do love the semi-fictional Rockapella and I just couldn't stay away. Once Crystal's enthusiasm started us both on a second renaissance, it didn't take long and we both started writing fics again. And we haven't shied away from hurt/comfort, either, heh. And not just with the Dying Informant character, either. However, I do think the stories are a little more mild this time around, anyway, even mine.

Sometimes it's fun writing about more true-blue hero characters rather than antiheroes/unconventional heroes. They aren't just blandly good guys; they have a lot of personality and they struggle with things too. Not all deep things have to involve dark and twisted characters and situations.

I guess it all depends on my mood. But even though I did kind of like looking at that old Detective Conan fic, and feel a little sad it will probably never be finished, I still doubt that it ever will be.

That said, my romantic side does still like the idea of the "After Point C" stories where Gin/Sherry are a thing. And I still love the things that others made for me regarding the pairing.

Every time I think about the fact that I need to sit down and write an entry, I think, "But I have so many other things I need to do that need doing more!" And then things drag on and on until everything I need to write about has piled up so much I wonder how to ever get it done at all. That's why I barely write in my offline journal, which isn't a good thing.

Basically, birthday shopping trip ended up happening the day before, due to a $12 off coupon that expired on Saturday, and then Dad insisted we had to go to a place he wanted to go to or he wouldn't go at all, and they weren't open on Saturday. We didn't end up making it there anyway, and luckily he didn't really mean what he said and he let us go just for a fun birthday time.

I didn't end up getting the doll two-pack, as I couldn't find it for less than full price and I ended up having other things I wanted to make sure I had money for. But I'm still longing to get that. Gazed at it longingly in K-Mart last week. Maybe soon. I also still really want the Applejack archery doll. I just adore her; she's so autumny! And ever since I realized how much I really am like Applejack, I've felt much more of a kinship with her and like her a lot more (although she was already on the rise of my favorites before that).

I got DJ at Build-a-Bear, after an exceptionally long struggle over whether to get her or the cat/tiger I like. I could have got both, actually, with the 2 for $35 sale and the coupon both, but I had other places to go and didn't really want to spend all my available money in one locale. I also noted that the Halloween bat plushie has extremely soft fur, and even though I didn't think I'd want a bat plushie, I really kind of liked that bat and I wonder if I might want to get it sometime this month. I still have my birthday coupon, which couldn't be combined with the $12 off coupon. It's good through the month.

I saw some cat plushies at Toys R Us I absolutely adored, especially a Maine Coon! It's been years since I've seen cat plushies other than tabbies or whites. It was too expensive; $20 for a size that would have cost maybe $12 years ago, but it is an FAO Schwartz plushie, so very high quality. I might have to get it sometime. It was gray and had green eyes, so I'd kind of like it to represent Jane the Silver Persian.

I also had a Jo-Ann's coupon, so I decided I'd go there and look for plushies that might work for Sean and Barry. I only found one that I thought might work, so I got that for Sean and then got some material at Wal-Mart. I immediately began crafting the next day. Unfortunately, I had the wrong yarn color, so I had to wait until Monday to work with that, but I did get the ears and the brown part of the hair done. I just had to use my leftover muslin for the ears (and I think I might still be able to get one more pair out of the piece!) and leftover mohair from the Hamilton plush. I wish it was longer and curlier, but it's okay at least for now. I also started the blue shirt.

I puzzled for ages on how to attach the yarn and worried that I'd have to seal it with an open flame. Then someone at the craft comm presented a solution so simple I could hardly believe I hadn't thought of it: take a piece of yarn twice as long, twist it, and sew it down on the loop. That also saves time, as two braids get attached at once!

On Monday I searched and searched and couldn't find yarn in exactly the right color, but I found something that I hoped was close enough. I also got black fabric for the pants then. I wanted a light pink for the tie, but couldn't find any in the right material. Later I found a strip of light pink in exactly the right color that I had at home from my Rouge costume. I'd forgotten I'd bought that! I decided hot pink worked better for her and didn't use the light pink. I thought it would never get used. But it was exactly the length I needed for the tie! I was thrilled.

I also wanted Sharpie to make the face. I had to borrow a friend's brown Sharpie before, to make Lou, but I felt I should have my own, especially since I keep wanting to make these every now and then and I will be making at least one more (Barry). And I didn't really want to wait several days until I could maybe get my friend's again. Plus I needed a new black marker anyway. It frustrates me that I can only get brown in a set, but when I found a set for only $4 something after think it cost $6 something or even $8 something, I was over the moon enough that I picked that up too. I like making the face right away, as that brings the plushie to life for me.

I wanted elastic for suspenders, but I could never find any in the right color. The elastic was patterned, what the heck. No solid colors! Then I thought of bias tape, but I was low on funds and wasn't sure I wanted to pay for that. I thought maybe I could use leftover black cotton from the pants. It would take longer, since I'd have to do more sewing to use that, but I decided it would be worth it to save a little money.

Long story short, everything came together. The face shape wasn't quite right, as I knew it wouldn't be, but I really tried my best. The things I am most proud of are the yarn, the suspenders, and the fedora hat. I wasn't going to make one of those, especially when I couldn't find a decent tutorial, but then Wal-Mart had felt in exactly the right color and I thought maybe I'd give it a go and try to make it from common sense. And honestly, that worked! It looks really good. The only thing I haven't been able to do is dent it like a proper fedora. Still considering ways to do that.

I'll try to get pictures soon, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to, as we don't have a working digital camera and we rarely develop film. And my Twilight costume is not working out (can't find the right wig anywhere and now I'm broke after buying the third Equestria Girls movie, but that's okay; I'd rather have something I'll enjoy many times than something I'll likely only wear a couple of times), so I'll probably have to do something ghetto. I am determined to be a Twilight, but instead of Pony Twilight turned human, I'll probably have to be Pony Twilight as Pony. I have a purple sports suit I can wear, and maybe I can make construction paper ears and bangs/fringe. I'll still paint her symbol on my cheek. But the costume will be so simple, I don't know if I'll want pictures of it. Maybe I'll just use it for the girls' party next week and try to do something different on Halloween.

Anyway, maybe I can take Sean to the party and have one of the other leaders take a couple of pictures of him with her phone. If I don't do that (and maybe I'd rather not, since I don't know what kind of treatment he might get from the well-meaning but hyper girls), then I'll have to find a chance to get some film and take pictures the old-fashioned way. Gah, it makes me cringe that it costs $10 to develop one roll of film these days....

Let's see.... Other projects.... I'm planning the party and I'm trying to think of fun, harmless Halloween songs for it. (I am heartbroken that I likely can't use my favorite Halloween song, Zombie Jamboree, unless I use Kevin's version and I don't care for his version with the zombies falling apart humor in the bridge. I like Sean's versions much better, but a song that goes "I don't give a damn" at a church party for 8-11 year-olds ... yeaaah, not a good idea.) So I listened to Halloween songs on YouTube the other night. When I played Ghostbusters, I got this image of making a music video with pictures from my Ginger and Lou comic and other pictures I could draw that would have them fighting the supernatural. LOL. Of course, no one would even care about that other than me, and I'd probably get a lot of thumbs-down and "WTH is this" if I posted it on YouTube, but the idea really amuses me. Ginger and Lou end up as ghostbusters in my stories very often, sometimes because I'm writing creepy Halloween fics and sometimes because the prompts take me in that direction and sometimes because it just plain amuses me.

I'm looking for a wig for the Barry doll and am annoyed that I'm getting lots of listings for wigs in fancy styles. I can't find one simple brown wig with hair long enough to pull back into a ponytail. (I want the season 1 look; I love that thick ponytail!) There must be one somewhere; I'll keep looking. This trouble definitely makes me amazed that I found exactly the right wig for Ginger, and so easily.

Also wondering if I'll be able to find green fabric for his shirt. I think sometimes he wore light blue, but since I opted to give Sean blue and asked for Haruka Kou to make Scott with a blue shirt, I'd rather not have Barry wear blue too. But I'm worried that I'll only be able to find forest green and that is totally the wrong color. Maybe I'll have to review the colors Barry wore in only season 1 and pick one of those. I really wanted green, though, like the dark green he wore in the full-length Zombie Jamboree performance and in some of the other season 1 and beyond episodes.

Crystal and I have been having fun breathing new life into our steady RP ever since Crystal's enthusiasm started us on a second Carmen renaissance, and we just did a powerful and poignant arc based on The Hardy Boys episode Sole Survivor. Part of me really wants to make a fic version of it. The other part isn't sure I'd be comfortable with that. But I'm going to attempt it and see if I like what starts coming out. Naturally, as with all my fic versions of RPs, some things would be changed. I'd try to patch up a couple of small plotholes, for one thing. And I really want Snakes to be involved, since he was key in the RP, but since his association with the guys is different in the fics, his involvement would be different too. I'm already planning how to work him in.

I also need to finish A Change in My Life, I know. I have chapter 9 started. And I'm almost done with the Perry fic! Just the epilogue to go, squeeee. Then I'm slightly considering a story in three or four parts with Della and Sergeant Brice and maybe Andy puzzling over the mystery I sent them and the others on three years ago in a disturbing place called the Twilight House, based on recurring houses from my dreams. I always meant to return to that storyline, but didn't have the chance. If I could do it at Halloweentime, it would be perfect.

So the Pony episode this past day was really good; I think it was another of the best ones this season. But for me, that was just an appetizer before the entree, the Equestria Girls movie!

I was worried that someone might not put it up tonight, so I decided to try to get in on a live stream, even though those have never worked for me. I tried one on The Brony Network after being unable to find a YouTube one, but the connection just didn't hold. I went back to YouTube and figured I'd watch the first ten minutes clip that's been up, and instead I found a live stream that wasn't in my previous search for some reason. By that time the movie was already on, but I was able to get in on a good chunk of it. The stream kept cutting out and I'd have to start over, but I got to see many of the best parts. And then someone did put it up, so I've been able to see it in full now!

Eeeee, I'm so excited for the DVD release on the 13th.... I wish it would be in time for my birthday, but I'm glad the wait isn't too much longer.

Honestly, I seriously adored the movie. ( Mild spoilers )

Also, I always get excited because it's so uncanny how Sunset Shimmer runs these accidental parallels with the way I developed Snakes' character. They're both antagonists who ended up being shown true friendship and wanting to turn their lives around and are trying to figure out what friendship is about. And now one of my RP versions of Snakes is starting to try to pay forward the good he's been taught. It's very interesting how RPs can grow and develop and things like that can happen without it being planned on at all. I have no idea how that will turn out, but it's just kind of neat to explore that side of Snakes no matter what comes of it.

I just wish I had a place to really share my enthusiasm with other movie fans. The LJ comm is so dead. And the Pony forum I'm on is so often critical of both the TV series and the movies. Sometimes not without cause, but they also nitpick a lot instead of being able to enjoy the good. I have certain complaints of my own, especially with the series, but I still love it in spite of its flaws. Its missteps haven't reached Once Upon a Time levels of bad; hopefully that will never happen.

Ah well. Overall, such a really satisfying evening and a perfect early birthday present. I'm ecstatic.

Counting down the last couple of weeks until my birthday. Belle is still unopened and by this point I definitely plan to keep her for my birthday. Anticipation is highly mounting and it's fun. The last couple of weeks kind of fly by.

Not to mention, next Saturday is the new Equestria Girls movie. I've been waiting so long for that! I wondered how I'd ever stand waiting the last couple of months. Then the new Carmen renaissance happened and it wasn't miserable waiting at all. I'm so psyched that it airs a week before my birthday. I hope I'll get to see it that night. Since I don't get the channel, I have to rely on YouTube to see Pony stuff.

And the Pony episode this past day was AWESOME. Rarity solved a mystery and it was a detective/noir parody and the detecting scenes were in B&W and Rarity had a fedora and trenchcoat and narrated like it was an old detective show ... ! I am ecstatic. I may have to re-watch this one very soon. I sooo want Rarity as a detective to be a thing. She seems like such an unlikely candidate for a detective, but she was awesome! And she used her knowledge and love of fashion to solve the mystery! Now I want to dress both my Rarity plushies in fedoras and trenchcoats. And I want an icon of Rarity like that, although I don't know where I'd put it. But seriously, so much awesome! That's one of the few episodes without Twilight that I really like. Of course, Rarity is one of my other main favorites.

I was going to make a dream post a couple of days ago and wasn't able to get to it. It has been so hectic this week. I wonder if now I can remember enough details of the dreams to even write down.

I remember my dream redesigned Snakes and gave him longer hair, about like Scott in season 2. It doesn't suit him at all, but it did look very nice in the dream and I woke up kind of wanting to try illustrating it.

There was something weird going on where we were at a mall, I think, and Snakes was with a girlfriend. It wasn't the Chita character I created, but someone else. She wasn't so nice either and she'd done something to make criminals angry. They slipped something into her food and apparently into Snakes' as well, and both of them collapsed unconscious. I think Snakes found out she was a creep first.

Later on there was a dream where we went to a recurring locale that hasn't turned up for a while: a very weird place with aquariums where the fish are huge and can jump out of the aquariums and swim through the air and be held for a little bit. I've been there maybe three or four times in my dreams, so it doesn't recur as much as some other places. It was kind of nice to see it again. So many cute fishies!

The last time I was asleep I had another Once dream. They have definitely been coming with increasing frequency over the past month. I don't know if that's solely because of Belle or if it's also because I sort of wonder if I'll actually be interested in trying the new season. The stuff I've heard about it could make it really good, but I've been burned so much over the last season and a half that I don't know that I dare believe it will be decent. The dream seemed to be about me having watched the first half of the season and being frustrated when the mid-season finale ended with things being left up in the air and the villain biding his time and waiting to do whatever he was going to do, which put Rumpel and Belle in a spot.

This has been a long week of pain, merchandising dilemmas, and mice.

For almost two years, as I've recorded here off and on, I've been trying to find a Belle doll with removable clothing. I don't know why it's so hard to find her that way when some of the other Disney girls are fairly accessible with more than partially molded clothing. I usually only see Belle with removable clothes in expensive sets. There was one with another girl for $25, and that wasn't too bad for two, so I considered that, but then Wal-Mart stopped selling it before too long. Sigh.

A couple weeks ago, when they got in their new Fall stuff, I actually saw a Belle with removable clothes that was an acceptable price! She's part of a new line, I guess. I struggled with wanting to buy her right then, but my plan was to buy her on my shopping spree on my birthday next month, so I didn't. But then I had a random Once dream on Tuesday and woke up worrying that maybe they'd sell out of her by next month and I wouldn't be able to find her, etc. And I decided to get her that day when we needed to go get some stuff for mouse battle.

Crystal suggested maybe I could refrain from de-boxing her until my birthday, since my original intention had been to get her as a birthday present to myself. I decided maybe I would try that. Then I got her home and kind of wanted to de-box, but I ended up in so much pain almost immediately that I decided not to do anything until that was over. I make a big deal out of de-boxing and love to do it when I can really enjoy it.

So all this week I've gone back and forth on should I or shouldn't I. There's always other things to get on the shopping spree; typically I like to get several things. I don't know how much money I'll be able to gather by then, though, since finding stuff I can write has been slow and I'm still paying off some money I owe my church. And I don't know whether I'll be able to do the shopping spree right on my birthday, since it falls on a Saturday this year and that generally isn't a good day for us to go out. So I thought it would be nice to have Belle here to enjoy de-boxing then, especially if I couldn't get out right on that day.

(I'm also debating whether to do the shopping spree before or after my birthday. Usually if we can't make it on the actual day we do it after, but I don't know if I feel like waiting the whole weekend to do it Monday or Tuesday, so we might do it Friday. Still thinking about that. There's also the high probability that I might be cramping on both Friday and Saturday. Ugh.)

I lean more towards trying to hold out and save her for my birthday, but I don't know if that will work in the long run. Today, when I heard that another mouse was loose in the basement stealing bait, in addition to Mom and Dad hearing weird noises in the living room and not being sure whether it was the mouse in Dad's room with the sound carrying through the wall or whether it was a new living room mouse, my willpower just about broke.

It was such a beautiful day when I got Belle on Tuesday evening; it was September 1st, and since I celebrate meteorological seasons, that was my first day of Fall. I saw leaves all over the ground at the cemetery. It was beautiful. And even though nothing has really changed regarding our problems, it felt so liberating to finally have summer behind us. I want to keep hoping that Fall will be better, even though the logical part of me strongly doubts it.

I did finally solve my Amazon problem; I got Octavia, Vega$, and both season 3 Perry sets, as the prices were way down. I only had to pay $4 in cash after the gift cards paid the rest. The package came yesterday and it was wonderful. It was a little like a mini-birthday, getting all of that. It was a mini-respite from all the horrible things happening in our house right now.

Christopher does have some more screentime in his Vega$ episode than in what I saw on YouTube! I was absolutely thrilled! I must take pictures from that soon; he just looked gorgeous. I swear, he grew more and more handsome the older he got. And his hair! Ohmygosh, that beautiful, thick, fluffy, curling at the ends hair....

I really like that show in general, too; the main character seems to have very high morals and it's just very nice and refreshing to watch. I'm anxious to see the other episodes on the set. I introduced Mom to the show via Joseph's episode last night and she liked it too. And Greg Morris is the police lieutenant in it! I love the friendship between his character and the main character.

And it was so exciting to finally have Octavia! The doll Octavia is with my DJ doll, of course; I love the fanon concept that they are friends in an Odd Couple way, and that's become canon recently. The Pony Octavia is with Sunset Shimmer and some other Pony girls. I need to get the Pony DJ now to go with her. I also have Funrise plushies of them both. Build-a-Bear is making a DJ plushie that will come out this month, and I might buy her, but I hope they'd make Octavia too.

(Ugh, I was looking so forward to Build-a-Bear's Ditzy/Derpy/Bubblecup/Muffins plushie, and now they just make her an online exclusive and randomly up her price by $5 more, for no apparent reason. I am so bummed. I might try to get her anyway, because I really wanted that one. DJ will be in stores, so I'll be able to see her in person before buying. I'm not as sure I'll get her, since I have Funrises of both her and Octavia and I don't know if Build-a-Bear will make Octavia, but DJ has one of my most favorite color schemes ever, white and blue, so I might get her regardless. And I love that Build-a-Bear made a unique, original cape just for her, even though I probably won't buy that.)

I'm thrilled to have season 3 of Perry now, too. There's so many of those I haven't seen uncut before, and the ones I have seen uncut I wanted to own. There's lots of Sergeant Brice in season 3; I remember several episodes where Lieutenant Tragg is teaching him things about investigating. I'm anxious to see those again. Sergeant Brice is adorable!

I finally started writing the necklace Perry story, too. It's going to have the Decadent Dean characters in it and the masquerade ball and Tobin Wade laying low but trying to do what he can to help. I do not excuse the character's action in the episode at all; I think he was probably the biggest slimeball in the series. Or one of the top five, at least. But I have always been curious as to whether he might regret what he did to his friends, since it was heavily implied that he was once a genuine friend. Hence how that LJ blurb happened years ago and why my story is going to feature him now. I hope no one will think I'm trying to excuse him when all I'm trying to do is explore a possibility. And when the story will feature themes of repentance and restitution. I don't know that I will have him and Aaron Stuart being able to fully mend things, though. The LJ blurb is more that way because it was self-indulgent, as many LJ-only things I write are, but I am totally skeptical that they could ever have a friendship again after what Tobin did. I guess I'll see how I feel after I've written the story out. While I usually only have a overarching outline for a story in my mind, I generally do try to plan each chapter in detail as I come to it. I think I know what will be in chapter 3 now, so maybe I'll start writing it soon.

Also, today I had another of those "wandering around a place trying to avoid being found, but in a low-key, no danger way" dreams. Those kind seem to often take place at the church, for some reason. This one did, too. I was trying to avoid being found by some dream "friends" whom I didn't really think of as friends. I wandered through empty classrooms, paused to watch a performance on the stage and try to sneak a few chips from the snack table, and then randomly wandered down to the basement and into a cold room? I was almost caught in the cold room and it turned into a sort of hide-and-seek. I think dreams like that are manifestations of my repressed loves of exploring houses and buildings and playfully hiding from people. That was followed up by another Once dream. I barely think about the show in reality these days, but it keeps entering my dreams. I wonder if I'm going to keep dreaming about it with increasing frequency as long as I'm trying to resist de-boxing Belle before my birthday....

Speaking of Once, though, I also noticed a new line of Disney Prince dolls. I'm kind of excited hoping Prince Adam will be in the line and I can get him and maybe figure out how to touch him up a bit to look like Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin.

This has been the week from Hell. August better than July? Ha!

We are still having mouse problems. I don't know whether there's one or more in here. We thought there were more, but after a long fight with one tonight, it could easily be the same one causing all of our problems. Filthy little disease-ridden monsters.

For the last several nights we've been up all night chasing them when they appear and trying to put precious things out of their immediate reach. One of the days I ended up with two and a half hours of sleep. I think that was yesterday. Usually I'm good at keeping track of the passage of time, but everything is just blurring in this nightmare. Today I had pretty good sleep to make up for it, but the horror goes on.

If only it was like the last time we had a mouse, where it stayed in the walls almost all of the time! This disaster is more like the very first time we had mice problems, at the old house. It was horrible and it took weeks to put the house back in order after we got it. I remember Mom and I both having to sleep in the living room while the carpets were cleaned and furniture was everywhere. I suspect we will be in for more of the same when this thing or things is finally caught (if ever). It/they have been spreading their filth everywhere. I don't know what we're going to do about some of the things it's been getting into, if they can even be salvaged.

I know Applejack was being illogical in some of her frustrations in the Bats! song (and so was Fluttershy in some of what she said in their defense), but I can so sympathize with her feelings, especially the line about them not caring what anyone else wants. Of course, bats and mice just aren't intelligent enough to reason out that they're ruining things for others, but it just gets so frustrating that one feels like exclaiming things like that.

Bought stuff for Dad's birthday this past day, finally. I hope he likes it.

I also dropped in at the Wal-Mart in the town we were in. They don't have the new dolls; they're still clearancing the old. They had one of the Twilight dolls I've kind of wanted for $9 now! I seriously considered getting her. But I wanted to check another Wal-Mart for the Sunset plushie first, only I couldn't because when we tried to go, the freeway signs were messed up and the one claiming it went the right direction actually took us back home instead, not even letting us off until we were almost there, so Dad wouldn't go back. Ugh. Our car gets such bad mileage and money is so tight that he can't stand to waste a smidgen of gas. I can understand that, but it's still disappointing, especially when both towns are only about ten minutes away from here.

He might have gone back if I'd said that if I couldn't find what I wanted most, I was planning to get the other thing I wanted. But I really knew I should save my money for something else, so I just let it go. I already have one Twilight, and I'm planning to get one of the dolls of the naturally human Twilight (probably the one in the two-pack with Flash Sentry, when we get them around here, since I'll likely never be able to get the convention Twilight and I like the one in the two-pack best after that one). Still, when all the dolls are so unique, it's hard not buying several different ones of my favorite characters. This Twilight doll on clearance has her hair up and it looks so retro and classy.

It does seem like the local Wal-Mart still had some of those, so maybe if their price has lowered to $9 also, I'll have another chance to get her this coming week. I really should resist, but I don't know if I can when the price is that low.

At least I was able to get some headphones at a ShopKo sale. I usually get cheap headphones at Dollar Tree, and now they only have earbuds, which I don't like because they're too close to the ear and I get even more headaches that way. When I saw in an email that ShopKo had $10 headphones for half off, I wanted to get some. I just hope they'll last for a good, long while. I got a pair in dark blue. So pretty!

I also got some notebooks, as I always try to get some when they have them for literally pennies during the back to school time period. But I probably shouldn't have, because Wal-Mart had them for 2 cents cheaper. Ah well. I got the last five ShopKo had, so maybe we can get more at Wal-Mart this week. Always good to stock up.

And I am so excited that my Perry fic is so thoroughly on the move! Once I realized that the story didn't have to move so slowly with the bad guys' plot, it picked right up! The other day I read through the chapters and made out a list of important things that I needed to keep straight, and from that I planned the climax. I just put up the climax chapter. Now I only need the epilogue and it's done! That will be such a relief!

I waited to open the document until I was right ready to work on it near-constantly, and for once Avast! didn't give me trouble, which makes me think that it only does that when the document hasn't been touched in a while, as I already surmised. Perhaps if I don't leave them lying around, I won't have to go through the annoyance of turning off the File Shield System when I want to write and save. I looked up other antivirus programs and I really don't want to switch. Avast! takes up so little memory. And when I read that AVG can install a toolbar that hogs memory and is almost impossible to get rid of, I was horrified. I certainly don't want to get into a mess like that.

Crystal's been so excited this week having another Carmen/Rockapella renaissance, thanks to that hilarious new parody the Carmen-era Rockapella members did. She's even going to start writing fics in that fandom again. I kind of want to follow suit. Neither of us wants to do hurt/comfort fics for that fandom again, as we got so dark and twisted with our fics and RP that we both burned out. (It didn't help when Scott got hurt in real-life, either. Oh gosh that was scary.) But while Crystal hopes to write light-hearted fics, I think I'd like to write some slightly creepy mysteries again. I just won't throw in hurt/comfort or angst anymore. I'm already hoping to write a haunted house fic, because there can never be too many of those. My dreams can provide plenty of inspiration. Heh.

And I remembered something I'd kind of forgot I have: a plushie of Elliott, more or less. I commissioned SetsunaKou to make it, but because the only pictures I could find were terrible quality, the hair ended up not being quite long enough and he looks like a cross between Elliott and Kevin. But he's still very cute. And hey, maybe I could get some hair extensions for him or something. I also always meant to order a Scott plushie, but that never quite materialized. I think Elliott is currently under my Turtles; I'll get him out later and look him over.

So I did not find the Sunset Shimmer plush, as I was hoping to. The waiting gap for the Applejack and Octavia plushies two years ago was March to the end of July, and that's been about the same timeframe here; I think it was March when I first knew the plushie had been released somewhere in the nation. So I hoped for another end of July find here. Although it was later in the week when I found them; possibly I'll see Sunset later on. Or maybe she'll be like the Princess plushies and Wal-Mart won't even get her at all. Ugggh. Right now I know that there's only a very few stores across the nation that have her in stock, so as long as she isn't very plentiful anywhere, there's still some hope.

However, the dolls connected to the movie in a couple of months are starting to come in! I saw the new deluxe Applejack and Fluttershy, and oh my goodness. I must have them both, but especially Applejack. She looks so gorgeously autumny! And since autumn is my favorite season, I think just having her around would make me happy thinking of autumn all year. It was actually very difficult not to immediately buy her then, at the price Wal-Mart is charging. It's $5 less than someone else thought she was going to cost, much to my relief, but it's still a little pricey. I would certainly prefer a sale price, but I'd be willing to buy her at full-price.

I also saw some of the new Apple family playsets, and while I'm not sure why they're being spotlighted, I really liked the house playset and that is honestly tempting to get sometime. I wish I could have seen what the interior looks like, though. I'll have to see if anyone on the forum has one and took pictures.

I should be getting a gift card for Amazon in the next week or so, and when I do, I'll probably give in and get Octavia with it. I didn't want to buy any more dolls through Amazon, but I don't feel like paying an arm and a leg for shipping to have someone else get her for me, either. I'll just have to hope that Amazon will do a better job than they did with Rarity.

I am so excited for this upcoming movie! It's torture thinking of waiting two more months for it. I wonder when Hasbro is going to start releasing the pre-movie shorts. It seems like they should be getting going on that by now. They said there were going to be some.

I also saw the next Batman and Sailor Moon sets. I still need to finish getting season 1 of Sailor Moon. Maybe I'll do that through Amazon too, since Wal-Mart doesn't have that set right now and it would be nicer not paying tax on it anyway. It adds over $2 to the price.

Then at the grocery store I saw a magazine with some information on Gotham. I had a curious peek. I wasn't too happy with the information on season 2, but it wasn't anything I wasn't expecting, after the way season 1 turned out. ( Mild spoilers )

I've mostly got the Sunset Shimmer piece written, I think. Instead of flashbacks, I'm telling it in her monologue, although part of me wonders if I should do the flashbacks. I kind of think it would break the flow of narration, but maybe it would look better. On the other hand, maybe it wouldn't.

I'm kind of nervous to think of posting it when I get it done, but people seem to like my first Sunset Shimmer piece, so hopefully I don't need to worry too much. I still can't find a title I like, though. I was hoping for a line from a Pony/Equestria Girls song, but nothing stands out to me.

Next project is starting the new U.N.C.L.E. fic, which will hopefully happen soon.

And Avast! decided to update last night, as usual. I let it download stuff, but also as usual, I just didn't finish the process because I hate restarting when I'm trying to do stuff. I just let it wait to finish until I turned it off and then on again today.

Then I discovered it had decided to make Web Shield a new thing. I also discovered that Web Shield is an idiot. It blocked everything. Seriously, it even blocked itself. I couldn't access the Avast! website to read a topic on the forum. It was so preposterous and laughably ridiculous.

Somehow, I finally managed to access a website elsewhere that told where the Web Shield controls were. So I adjusted them and was able to start using the Internet again. Good grief, I hope the settings will stick and I won't have to do that every time I boot up. I will disable Web Shield altogether if that happens. Ugggh.