Ramblings and Musings of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

So MeTV is doing another round of their silly MeTV Madness this year, where MeTV shows are paired up and voted on by the viewers who use the Internet. I'm really not sure what the point of the thing is. I originally figured it was to determine what was popular so they'd have some idea what to keep/what to toss/what to bring back, but the MeTV Madness results really don't seem to have any bearing on that, so I'm not sure what the point is. Maybe it's just silly fun. Sometimes I wonder, though, if the voting is really completely what the users are saying or if MeTV makes the end result be something they want. I can never forget when 4Kids did that voting thing to get viewers to pick which new show they wanted to see a special preview of, and Tokyo Mew Mew was ahead for most of the voting time, yet suddenly when it was time, they announced that F-Zero had somehow won. Considering it had the least votes all the way along, that was more than a little suspicious.

And I was thinking about politicians being immature and flinging stupid insults back and forth at each other and that got me thinking about that Patty Duke Show episode where Patty and Cathy are running for student body president and start doing the same thing. The students get so sick of it that they end up overwhelmingly voting for the one candidate who wasn't insulting everybody else. But she also didn't have much of a voting pitch; she'd always get up and flatly say, "Vote for me." LOL. But according to Patty, she actually started doing a good job once she was voted in.

Then I started thinking how strange it is that while I remember the series fondly, there are many, many episodes that I either don't like or find tedious to watch. Episodes that I truly, genuinely liked all the way through are actually less in number than the other kind, I believe. So that made me wonder why I bought the first two seasons on DVD years ago. I think it was because I wanted the episodes with that recurring character actor who looked like Autor, Jeff Siggins. Then season 3 changed production areas and the supporting cast was dropped, including him, and season 3 changed the show in other ways and overall I didn't like it as much. But I still recorded the ones I liked best.

The other great thing about The Patty Duke Show is William Schallert. I became very fond of him while watching him in all those episodes. He reached the tier right below the actors I actually crush on, which is for other actors I am very enthusiastic about and can go out of my way to see and get very excited to see when stumbling on them by chance. I don't know if I would have come to like him as much as I do if not for seeing him every night as part of that main cast.

I also think off and on how Cathy is usually remembered for being so demure and sweet, and yet she can actually be pretty nasty too, like in the voting episode and several others. Sometimes I think she can actually be more nasty than Patty, because Patty usually just says things off the top of her head without thinking about it, whereas Cathy seems more likely to plan out at least some of what she says. Sometimes she behaves on impulse too, though, like in the Cleopatra episode. And I suppose she has to behave badly sometimes so she'll be a well-rounded character. But I have to say, it's always painful to see her like that and I don't think I like any of the episodes where it happens. Regardless, though, I do prefer her to Patty, as Patty Duke herself does. But both girls are pretty well-rounded and have good and bad points, which is nice.

That sort of thing is necessary, but while flaws are important, I honestly have trouble writing characters actually acting out/deliberately being vicious and petty and mean. Even if they're prone to such behavior in canon, I just cannot get into that mindset if I'm trying to write them as a protagonist. It's easy if they're an antagonist, but if I want them to be the one the readers are rooting for, I just ... can't seem to make myself do it, which is why canon jerk or villain characters in my hands usually end up not being anywhere as bad as canon portrays (although generally there's an explanation of trying to turn over a new leaf instead of it coming out of the blue, like it did with Hook on Once Upon a Time). It's just not my nature and I can't get into their heads and don't feel comfortable trying if I don't try to soften them/humanize them a bit to make them relatable to me. Some of them I still can't really relate to regardless of my efforts, since of course I have to try to stick to canon information and sometimes that means the character will end up darker than I'm comfortable with no matter what I do. (Usually that means I eventually drop the character, as in the cases of Gin and Vodka and some certain others in other fandoms.) But anyway, yeah, I usually have to fall back on other types of flaws for protagonists than acting out.

Then I started reading one of my locally-written mystery books. I was slightly concerned when I saw the main character described on the back as "quirky", as usually that seems to mean an absent-minded weirdo or someone who can't be serious if their life depends on it. Both character types are fine for people who like them, but they can grate on my nerves very quickly, especially since the latter category often leads to practical jokers and that's a sub-character type I don't care for either. (Which is why I've honestly never been that excited about the Weasley twins from Harry Potter.... Not that I'm that excited about Harry Potter in general, honestly. But despite my feelings, I still felt it was sacrilege to kill off one of the brothers. Gah.) There's a character in the latter category who's in a fairly popular locally-written book and movie adaptation. She says she's an intellectual, but she honestly never acts like it. She pretty much spends the whole book/movie acting like a silly, mischievous, slightly naughty goof and being rather outrageous at times. Although technically, she does get serious when her life depends on it. She dies and the thing ends up heartbreaking after starting so screwy and silly.

But to my relief when I started reading the mystery book, the lead character is a serious, capable person and her quirkiness mostly stems from OCD. I can totally deal with that. And it's rather nice to see an OCD character written seriously; as much as I had fun watching Monk, it always did bother me that he and the other OCD characters who popped up were portrayed as acting so childishly due to their phobias. We're really not all that way!

So I was re-reading the two separate The Batman Strikes! comics and the graphic novel compilation I have. As I mentioned before, I thought the third Riddler comic was very badly done and OOC for him. There were always oddities in their Riddler stories, however, and I found myself wanting to believe the comics were a separate continuity and did not take place in the same verse as the show.

Some of the specific oddities: The Batman Strikes! Riddler is always blowing things up. Compare this to The Batman TV show Riddler, who threatens to blow things up, but actually only has lime Jell-O in the canisters. LOL. He isn't trying to hurt random innocent people; he just wants a distraction to keep Batman away from where he's stealing technology information.

Also, while I loved the first of the three Riddler comics, one thing I always found a little strange was that in the climax, he's built himself what looks like a throne. Now, he's a very arrogant fellow, it's true, but that seems a little extreme even for him. In the TV show, he never does anything to give the impression that he actually thinks of himself as royalty/a king/etc.

To me it feels like the comics have a sense of who this Riddler is, yet they miss the mark and never quite grasp it all the way.

Yesterday I found proof that the comics are indeed their own verse. In the TV show, Bruce Wayne meets Selina Kyle at a dinner party in the episode From Ragdolls to Riches. They become more or less friendly and continue associating. But Bruce starts to become suspicious of her and is surprised when she cashes a large check he gives her and donates it to a pet fund. She wasn't fond of Bruce's dog art. Oddly, neither he nor Alfred ever considered that maybe she liked another animal instead of dogs. **rolls eyes.**

In the comics, he meets her for the first time at an animal shelter event, where she adopts every kitty there. He wonders if she's going to give some away, since that's a lot of cats, and she says she could never give one of her darlings away.

I suppose it could be argued that since in the comics they just had the one meeting, maybe Bruce had forgotten it by the time they met in the TV show episode. However, it would seem he would remember eventually, especially considering she adopted all those kitties. That's not something one could easily forget! And if he remembered about the kitties, he wouldn't be surprised at her donating the check to the pet fund.

Therefore, I can only conclude that the comics meeting came before the TV show episode aired and each is meant to be their own verse. It makes me feel a lot happier to have come to that conclusion.

I wish the comics had been a little better with their Riddler characterization; I love new adventures featuring the versions of characters that I love. But it seems like in general, whenever I venture into a media type other than the TV shows, I'm disappointed by the characterization or other things in them.

I was excited when I heard about the Diagnosis Murder series of novels that would be written some years back. However, they were written by one of my least favorite writers from the show, Lee Goldberg. I know he's usually praised, but I think a lot of it is misguided hype. I find it disgusting how his scripts and also the novels tend to feature death in the most bizarre and gruesome ways, like one episode where a man is crushed by a bed of spikes plunging through him. Horrifying! Also, he tends to rely a lot on stupid scatological humor more than other writers. And I don't always like his characterization. I wasn't entirely fond of his version of Jack Stewart, and in his Monk novels, I think he misses the mark on Monk's characterization and also on Sharona's. One novel even features Monk chasing after another character over continents because he can't stand them going away. That is not Monk. He might feel like doing it, but he doesn't do it. If he was going to, he would have done it when Sharona left.

And then there's the My Little Pony comics. Someone said that they felt the characterization in the comics is basically the stereotypes of what the characters represent, without really getting into all the facets of the individual characters. To some extent, I agree. I don't like the characterization in the comics, especially of Rainbow Dash, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders drive me bonkers. They're being held prisoner and all they do is sit and talk about how maybe they'll get their Cutie Marks for being kidnapped, and other silly things like that. They drive Chrysalis crazy, so if that was their purpose, it was genius. But instead it seemed like they really were being brainless dolts, talking about their Cutie Marks instead of devising a plan to escape, like I'm sure they would have on the show. And other comic arcs just really make me raise an eyebrow, like the pirate one with Fluttershy. She seemed OOC there, from what I've heard about her trying to keep a fish when it didn't want to stay, and there are others who feel the same.

I think just about the only thing I like in the comics is that they made Trixie a deeper character. In the show and the movies, she's pretty much the most shallow character there. But in the comics, she recognizes she did wrong and is honestly trying to better herself.

And then there's the recent Six Million Dollar Man comics, which are much more gruesome than the show and take things into really bizarre territory, like a scientist getting cut by an alien substance and mutating into an alien creature. And the substance has infected others and the entire base is now under siege by this nonsense. It sounds like something from Superman or Marvel Comics, not The Six Million Dollar Man. And in the main plot, a rampaging robot tore off all the prosthetic/bionic limbs from Barney Hiller, a twoshot character from the show played by Monte Markham. It's treated very seriously and isn't gory, but it's sickening and horrifying and is much darker than the show.

And then there's a whole other category of "this isn't as good" when it comes to The Saint. I still feel like the TV show is better, but I don't think I'd ever dare say that to a nest of Saint fans. Most of them prefer the books and the character in those. Of course, unlike with the other things I've been talking about here, the books came first, so there wouldn't have been a TV show without them. I appreciate the books to that extent. But I really don't like how much more permissive The Saint is in the books and how he'll even let murderers go free if he thinks they were justified in killing. Sometimes, in some books, I believe he even kills himself, and not just in self-defense. I think it's only if the person is particularly evil, like a mad scientist or something, but still.

This week, MeTV has up two episodes based on short stories in the one short story collection I have: The Gentle Ladies and The Ever-Loving Spouse. I don't really like The Gentle Ladies in either incarnation, but I certainly prefer the TV version overall. The blackmailing bad guy is killed by accident when he falls down the stairs, instead of one of the ladies killing him on purpose. In the episode, Simon helps them make it look like the guy was trying to rob the place to avoid scandal about the creep's blackmailing ways. In the book, Simon buries the body in the yard.

The Ever-Loving Spouse follows the plot of the short story a little more than The Gentle Ladies does, but it expands on it favorably and I quite like the TV version. The book version annoyed me not just for Simon's reaction to the revelation of the murderer, but because Simon seemed to just be sitting by and letting things unfold around him. He wasn't really actively involved, except for finding the first body and then confronting the two-time murderer later. And he just lets the guy go free because he feels that blackmailers are so repulsive and that killing two of them isn't a great loss to the world. What he doesn't seem to consider is that perhaps the murderer will someday be afraid Simon will talk and so he'll come after Simon to kill him too! I wouldn't put it past the guy, since he killed twice and since he didn't really seem to trust Simon.

The TV version has the same murderer, but Simon figures things out before the second death and calls the person to try to warn her. Then he comes to stop the murder and is able to, and is going to see that both people go to prison for their respective crimes: blackmail and murder. He expresses a bit of sympathy for the murderer due to his desperation and seeming madness from what the blackmailers are doing to him, but he isn't going to let the guy go scot-free.

I know the idea in the books is that Simon feels that legal justice isn't always good enough for some criminals and so he takes the law into his own hands a lot more. But I guess I'm just a prude; I prefer the more cleaned-up version of the character in the TV show.

I decided to try using my Dreamwidth account for something and posted that fanfic meme that's been going around.

http://insaneladybug.dreamwidth.org/441.html

Ladyamberjo voiced an interesting problem with the West Side Story fic that I'm surprised no one pointed out before, as it's been in my mind from the start.

When did wearing bullet resistant vests become standard?

Well, since my stories are present day, it's safe to say they're standard. Which means that if Schrank was wearing one, it was old. Why? Had he not been diligent and replaced it when he should have? Or was he issued an old one by mistake?

... Or, was someone deliberately trying to kill him and made sure he had an old one that night?

That last thought just came to me while pondering on the problem and adding in some paragraphs that address the characters' confusion over it.

Should I go that route? It would make the fic a lot longer and throw in some new elements that had originally not been planned at all. But it would be interesting.

If I don't go that route, I'll say that there was a mix-up and Schrank was issued an old vest by accident. That could put the entire precinct in a bad spot, though.

I'm kind of leaning more towards this mystery idea that someone really was out to get him and hoped he would get shot that night.

EDIT: Nevermind. I did some poking around and I have my answer: plainclothes police are not required to wear bullet resistant vests and usually keep them in the trunk, if they have them. That explains Captain Stottlemeyer being shot, too.

I was told how to access my old Angelfire websites and I managed to get into the Monkees one. Surprisingly, I also have access to the Web Shell. It says right on the site that only paid members can use that now, so I've immediately written and asked if I was going to be charged for it. Maybe the rules are different for old, old members? I hope so, because I really want to use the Web Shell. I don't like the over-simplicity of the GeoCities-type Site Builder.

I put up a page for episode trivia and had the stuff for episode #25 that I posted here, albeit tweaked a bit. I also promised some new stories soon. On Monday I'll be posting the new fic to 31_days and then linking it on the website. Now that I can host fics on LJ, I see no point in going to all the added trouble of putting them directly on the website, where I have to manually add HTML for carriage returns for each paragraph. So I'll just link, both that one and this new one about Baby Face and company.

I think I should also find a couple of new WebRings to join. By now there's probably at least a few new Monkees WebRings, and more circulation always helps.

I also think I'm about to start my Monk fic. I've started feeling out the plot in an RP and I think I know how this fic should start (probably with a scene that likely will not appear in the RP).

And EEEEEEEEEEEE! I found news from Antenna TV! Circus Boy is coming! YES, YES, YES! I will do all manner of crazy antics to record this show, no matter what time they put it on. http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2010/12/antenna-tv-launch-schedule-changes.html

I am like Adrian Monk in many ways. One of which is that when I posted my chapter to my fic journal yesterday, I discovered I'd forgotten to post Nuit's birthday fic from Monday in there. And it bothered me so much that they wouldn't be in chronological posting order that I almost felt like deleting the post with the chapter in order to make the other post come first. Unlike Monk, I made myself not follow through. I don't think he could have resisted.

I am very obsessive-compulsive about fic order, as well as organization of books, music, DVDs, etc. I've never been a fan of those cloth booklet things that you use to remove the CDs from their cases when traveling with them. CDs must stay in their cases when they're not in the CD player. Likewise with DVDs. I also like arranging my plushies in a specific order, as well as figures, collectible dolls, throw pillows, etc. I'm slightly more relaxed than I used to be; when I was younger I absolutely *hated* if one plushie/figure was out of its usual place. Although these days I'll still try to ensure that they stick to said places.

I'm into chapter fourteen of the thriller fic now. I got the first robbery scene done in thirteen. Fakir doesn't help them. Thirteen also has the scene I was anxious to get to that I thought would be in eleven. Albeit I cheated and wrote it out of order, something I haven't done in a while. Part of the scene ended up as the beginning of fourteen, as I discovered it really needed to be lengthened and having it in thirteen was making the chapter too long and the scene too cramped and stuck-on.

Eleven has a scene I really like too, for that matter. I'll be anxious to get that one up.

And because I love Sailor Moon and likely always will, here is a meme/quiz from heaven_phoenix.

Sailor Moon
[ ] You're a Cancer.
[x] You're really quite short for your age
[ ] You are a hyperactive person.
[ ] Your weakness is cute boys/girls & junk food.
[x] You're very emotional & always seem to be crying over something. (I can cry over very insignificant things, as well as things that may sound insignificant to others because I don't explain them well.)
[ ] You have a black cat.
[ ] You hate school, & your least favorite subject is math. (I don't hate school, but math is my least favorite subject. Half credit?)
[x] You always seem to be late. (I am the Queen of Non-Punctual Arrivals.)
[x] You may be kind & loving, but you are very jealous. (I try to not get that involved anymore. Now and then I discover that I've failed and I am jealous. Also note that I am not talking about romantic relationships, since I have never been in one.)
[x] You try to do good.
Total: 5 and a half

Sailor Chibi Moon
[ ] You're the youngest of your group of friends.
[ ] You have/had pink (in your) hair.
[x] Your hobbies are painting/drawing.
[x] You have a total sweet tooth.
[ ] Your favorite colors would be red & pink.
[ ] You're typically childish & stubborn.
[x] But you can be selfless, kind, trusting, & wise beyond your years.
[x] You make friends very easily. (Online, yes. Offline, no.)
[ ] Your mother is very childish/not mother-like.
[ ] You wish you were from the future.
Total: 4

Sailor Mercury
[ ] You love school (University) & are quite good at it/You have no least favorite subject.
[ ] You are always stressed out.
[x] You love the color aquamarine.
[ ] You're sign is a Virgo.
[ ] You have/had blue (in your) hair.
[x] You are quite shy, & find it hard to make friends. (I wouldn't say I'm shy exactly; I just don't like to bother people. And sometimes when I do reach out, they show a lack of interest.)
[x] You are always very kind & helpful towards everyone. (Always? I try, but I doubt anyone is always this way.)
[ ] Your favorite sport is swimming.
[ ] Your mom is always working.
[ ] You want to be a doctor/nurse when you're older.
Total: 3

Sailor Mars
[x] You have a bad temper.
[ ] You hate learning about more modern history (within the last 100 years). (I love modern history. Those first parentheses are not mine.)
[x] Your dream job is to be a singer or model. (Singer.)
[ ] You have dated someone your friend had a crush on.
[ ] You have a friend you're always fighting with.
[ ] You can run in high heels.
[x] Your favorite color is red & black. (Two of them, anyway, at least to wear.)
[ ] You love fortune-telling.
[ ] You used to be a complete loner, but now you are popular. (I like to think I'm popular in certain circles on FF.net, but it might just be a delusion. And I am still a loner offline.)
[ ] Your sign is an Aries.
Total: 3

Sailor Jupiter
[ ] You hate airplanes.
[ ] You're a tomboy, but have a girly side.
[x] You've always been taking care of yourself & are independent. (Always? No. But I do feel I am independent in many ways.)
[x] You're very strong-willed.
[ ] You're a troublemaker, or so people think.
[ ] You're one of the tallest of your group of friends.
[ ] Your sign is a Sagittarius.
[ ] You have an ex who you're always thinking about since everything reminds you of them.
[ ] You have dated a lot of people.
[ ] You love cooking more than anything.
Total: 2

Sailor Venus
[ ] You have a white cat.
[ ] Your favorite foods are Japanese foods.
[ ] Your favorite colors are red & yellow.
[ ] You love to exercise.
[ ] You are a very cheerful person. (Catch me in a good mood and maybe I will be.)
[x] You love singing & want to be a singer when you're older.
[ ] You're good at almost any sport.
[ ] You're an only child.
[x] Your sign is a Libra.
[ ] You would fake your own death.
Total: 2

Sailor Uranus
[ ] You have short hair, enough to be mistake for a boy.
[ ] You love watching cars race or you race cars.
[ ] Your sign is an Aquarius.
[ ] You're into the same sex as yourself.
[x] You're easily annoyed by people.
[x] You have a very dry sense of humor.
[ ] You enjoy running (track or cross country).
[ ] You have a girlfriend (or if you’re a boy, boyfriend).
[x] You love to confuse people.
[ ] You're a huge flirt.
Total: 3

Sailor Neptune
[ ] You're average height for your gender.
[ ] You're very elegant & lady-like.
[ ] You are into the same sex as yourself.
[ ] You have a girlfriend (or if boy, boyfriend) that you just pretend is a good friend.
[x] You are very selfless. (The "very" throws me off. How very is "very"? I would think I'm not much more than average.)
[ ] You're a Pisces.
[x] Your least favorite food is mushrooms. (They're one of them, anyway. I honestly wonder why Hobbits love them.)
[x] You love music more than anything.
[ ] You have/had green (in your) hair.
[x] You can play an instrument of some sort.
Total: 4

Sailor Pluto
[ ] You're a Scorpio.
[ ] You want to be a fashion designer when you're older.
[x] Your favorite color is dark red. (One of them, especially to wear.)
[ ] You drink green tea.
[x] You are not the best at playing music. (I play piano, but I'm not that good.)
[x] You are quite blunt with your statements. (I can be.)
[x] You enjoy sewing & cooking. (I enjoy both only sometimes.)
[x] You would be considered a loyal friend.
[ ] If you could have one superpower, it'd be to tell the future.
[x] The bug you hate the most are cockroaches. (And flies. Both are utter filth.)
Total: 6

Sailor Saturn
[ ] You are by far the shortest of your group of friends. (I actually know a couple of people shorter than me. Amazing.)
[ ] Milk disgusts you. (I love milk. Unless it's hard milk. Then it disgusts me and I am horrified. I wonder if hard milk is the element of milk that Monk is afraid of. It doesn't seem like something he would like.)
[x] You enjoy reading more than anything.
[ ] You hate working out because you're considered weak.
[ ] You're an only child.
[x] You have very few friends. (Offline, yes. Well, I suppose I don't have many close friends online, either. I'm rather selective about whom I get close to.)
[ ] You're a Capricorn.
[x] You're a very shy person.
[ ] You live with your father.
[x] You care for others & appreciate sincere friendships.
Total: 4

Sailor Pluto, with Sailor Moon a close second due to that half-point. They're both favorite characters of mine, so I like this.

Aubrie recommended the show Monk to me, so I put the first episodes on hold. That's what we picked up on Friday, instead of Twelve Kingdoms like I thought. Earlier I watched the first mystery, which seemed to consist of two episodes. Wow, it was great. XD I just love it. I think I even prefer it over Diagnosis Murder, and that's saying something. It just feels really fresh and new and different.

Also, I'm terribly amused over an idea I got late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, when I really stopped to notice my long black wig again. I really doubt that I could ever find what I need to pull this off, but I just have the strongest, scariest urge to attempt an Alucard cosplay. XD I think I have the explanation, though (other than the fact that he's just simply cool and so're his clothes). I think the idea appeals to me because he's my polar opposite and because dressing up as him would probably disturb a lot of people. ^^; I kinda like to show that I dare to be different. And I like teasing people too. Muwahaha. Plus, now that I have the idea, I'd kinda like to see if there's any way I could possibly pull it off. This is how I got two years ago when I first decided I'd like to try cosplaying as Marik.