Ramblings and Musings of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

... I was watching a show about talking rag dolls. And ... loving it.

On Saturday I had a chance for a sudden unplanned shopping opportunity, so I pounced on it. It was a window-shopping trip in the end, but I learned something important: what I want the most that's available is online. I was scouting for things to use my share of an amazing $100 gift card present given to all of us on, but I couldn't turn up any of what I was hoping for, including the Star Wars books I want. Barnes and Noble has greatly reduced the amount of Star Wars books they have just since last year. Considering the new movie, I find that rather odd. (Unless they're just low after the holidays and haven't replenished yet?)

But anyway, so I determined that nothing other than The Persuaders! would do. I looked for it at F.Y.E. and Barnes and Noble without success. I can't figure out how to use the card online, because I'm asked for the name on the card, and I figure Dad will want to put his name on it, and that could look sticky when I'm the one ordering. So we pretty much decided that I'd get what I want and Dad would give me the cash in my account for my share of the card money. The Persuaders! was down in price too, so it was the perfect time to buy. I had wanted season 1 of Get Smart to go with it and The Saint book I wanted to read, but Amazon is being greedy and decided no one can get that unless they have Prime. Aurgh.... So I decided I would finish my collection of Phoenix Wright manga at long last. Then I can start on the Miles Edgeworth volumes. (I had a weird OCD idea that I needed to read all the Phoenix ones first.)

I also still have a Build-a-Bear coupon and gift card money, so I decided to stop in there and see if I wanted Pikachu since Muffins hasn't been re-released yet. Pikachu is cute, but in the end I really didn't think I wanted him, especially at his price. I was getting worried about the time and needing to eat, so I didn't stay to debate longer over other options, but over the weekend I've thought and thought and come up with two things.

One, I could get the other members of the Honey Girls band so that Teegan the purple cat/tiger will have her friends. They're the same price as Pikachu, but they're bigger and seem more worth the price (especially after I take $5 off with my coupon).

Two, I could get the blue-haired Lalaloopsy doll. I never considered buying any of those until the sweet girl who gave me the coupons suggested I might like them. I meant to research them and see what they actually were all about, but I didn't get that done before the shopping trip. I liked the looks of the blue-haired one, but I didn't want to buy until I knew more what she was like.

I did the research over the rest of the weekend. The line sounds really cute; it involves these living rag doll characters that were sewn from scraps. Part of the purpose of the line is to teach kids that things can be repurposed and deserve a second chance. There's also a TV show, and well, I found it and watched a couple of episodes. I also saw a couple of random clips. The end result? I think the thing is adorable and I love the blue-haired character. I wish I'd done the research before; if I had, I likely would have bought her on Saturday. Hopefully I'll get another chance to go up there soon.

One interesting thing about the series is that it sounds like all the characters are voiced by children, instead of by adults trying to sound like children. Unfortunately, that makes them sound a little wooden sometimes, but it also adds to the adorable factor.

I honestly seem to have a weakness for little kids' morality plays. I love stuff like My Little Pony, Care Bears, Thomas, and now this. Of course, I loved Ponies and Care Bears and Thomas years ago, so that's all just continuing interests from before. I dunno; it's just really nice to escape reality and watch cute things where problems can be resolved and friends stay friends. I guess it's part of my burn-out on really dark things. While I like stuff where characters are thought dead and then aren't, I think mostly I like that in oneshots so the payoff is soon and you're not in torture being dragged through chapter after chapter of character misery. I like slice-of-life and conversational fics and other happy things. That said, I do want to finish that Sole Survivor-inspired fic I started writing. Somehow.

The second volume of the Phoenix Wright manga is epic. Miles is there for both featured cases. The second case is just kind of silly, but the first, the remainder of the spider case from volume #1, is the epic part. Miles is his awesome self, and I'm sure fans will be highly pleased! I don't want to spoil it, but anyone who likes Miles should love this volume! Get it as soon as possible!

Also, I have to say I like that neither volume has brought in the whole spirit-channeling element (other than a brief allusion to its existence). It's not really one of my favorite elements of the series. I'd rather see crimes solved with logic and deduction only and to not have to resort to psychics.

And I swear, it's nigh impossible to find gen fic concerning Phoenix and Miles. I tend to stay away from the fandom, so I don't know if it's changed in the last few years, but I remember turning up maybe one or two fics in the past and that was all. And one of them was Miles interacting with some female OC. Sigh.

(Of course, the other was a really epic hurt/comfort oneshot involving that time Miles tried to use that ... it's on the tip of my tongue, but that psychic lock or whatever it is involving some of the supernatural elements of the series. And he ended up badly injured from trying it.)

Does anyone possibly have any gen fic recommendations concerning Phoenix and Miles? (Bonus points if it's hurt/comfort!) Oneshots preferably, as I really don't have time to devote to a multi-chapter, but if you know of an awesome gen multi-chapter focusing on their friendship I'd be happy to know of that too!

I seem to have lost half my audience on the Perry Mason fic. I'm not sure if it's because they think I killed poor Mr. Burger off or if they don't like the teeny-tiny references to the present day.

Perry Mason is a fandom that I definitely think could adapt to any era. Every time something's been done with it, it's taken place in the present day of whenever it was put out. (The movies, the thirties. The original TV show, the fifties/sixties. The other TV show, the seventies.) Of course, I'm writing for the original TV show; I just chose to poke it into the here and now. Nevertheless, I wasn't actually going to reference the present day unless it really had to come up. Well, as it turned out, it was pretty much unavoidable a couple of times in chapter three. But I think the references are very natural and don't distract from what's happening.

If the lost reviewers do think I killed off Mr. Burger, I wish they'd give chapter three a try! On the other hand, maybe they just haven't gotten to it yet by sheer coincidence. In any case, I replied to one agonized reviewer and tried to hint that the tides turned in chapter three.

Speaking of legal/law fandoms, I have learned that there is a new series of Phoenix Wright manga that actually is like the games, following cases and such instead of just compiling a bunch of silly, fan-made stories like the so-called "Official Casebooks" do. I can't seem to find out much more about the case-based manga, such as whether my other favorite prosecutor Miles Edgeworth is in it, but surely he would be. Only volume 1 has been released in America so far, although volume 2 is supposed to come later this month, I think. I stuck volume 1 into my Amazon shopping cart with two other things. Come morning, when money processes in my bank account, I can finally make a purchase. I really shouldn't get the manga too, but I don't think I can resist. From the sound of it, it's exactly what I thought and hoped in vain that the "Official Casebooks" would be like before I saw them and heard about them from other fans. I've browsed through the Casebooks a few times in stores, but haven't ever really known what to make of them (or of their price). Their price has come down, but I still don't know what to make of them. I'd rather get this other manga series.

Borders had a pretty book with artwork from the games. Even with 25% off, it was still too much. I think I'll be able to go again next Monday, when the prices will be even better, but I suppose by then the book will be gone. That's one problem with going out of business sales. By the time the prices get really good on most things, there's not much good stuff left.

Oh, I remember what I wanted to talk about in the morning. I actually saw a Circus Boy episode that rather irritated me. I've been watching since June and it's the first one that I've felt really bombed.

It involved Tim Champion, the circus's owner, trying to marry his childhood sweetheart. It was the standard variety of "he can't marry her after all because something else, in this case the circus, is still his real true love" plot. That was not what bothered me (even though that plot is kind of lame and wearing out its welcome), so please don't think that it is.

What bothered me was that he sold the circus to these guys who then went back on their word and tried to have most of the circus people fired in order to bring in their own people. Tim was angry because they'd promised his people could stay on, and they're his friends and he didn't want to see them turned out in the cold with nowhere to go. So he found out right before the wedding and wanted to go see about making those creeps hold to their deal. And his fiancee decided that because he wouldn't leave the circus problems alone after selling it, the circus was still his first love and she wouldn't marry him then.

Um. So basically she's saying that he shouldn't have been worried about his friends? That because he sold the circus their welfare shouldn't concern him any more and they shouldn't be considered his friends anymore and he should have just let them get unfairly fired or feel forced to quit? That's terrible! Even if the writers didn't intend for that message to come across, it really did. I wasn't sure whether I was more disgusted by the girl's attitude or by the writers putting that in in the first place.

10 Things Currently On Your Desk
1. Monitor
2. Keyboard
3. Computer mouse
4. Hard drive (and on the desk by association, on my hard drive I have little Sailor Moon dolls and the Potions figures of Seph and Zack)
5. Pin collection (YGO, Monkees, and an American flag; FF7 pins are on my hat X3)
6. Decorative white candle
7. Small picture of Jesus with children
8. Advent Children figures of Seph, Cloud, Kadaj, and Vincent
9. Zip drive
10. Disney books (Darkwing, Oliver & Company, Lady and the Tramp)

9 Favourite Ships (No Particular Order)

... Do I even HAVE 9 favorite romantic ships? XD; I'd rather talk about platonic ships! So I shall!

1. Sephiroth and Zack Fair (the first Seph friendship hinted at in canon, and always the best!)
2. Sephiroth and Cloud Strife
3. Zack Fair and Cloud Strife
4. Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz (especially Yazoo and Loz)
5. Alister, Valon, and Raphael
6. Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth
7. Marik, Ishizu, and Rishid Ishtar
8. Seto and Mokuba Kaiba
9. Yugi-tachi (Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Téa, and extending to Duke and Bakura)

8 Current Favourite Songs (No Particular Order)
1. God Help the Outcasts (either version)
2. My Immortal - Evanescence
3. Hand of Sorrow - Within Temptation
4. Fallen - Sarah McLachlan
5. Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance
6. Frozen (The Heart of Everything version) - Within Temptation
7. Some song from Pirates of the Caribbean (I don't know whether it would be called the main action theme or what, but it rocks)
8. Heaven's Light/Hellfire

7 People You Talk To Most
1. amanechan - Lisa
2. cskazaam - Kaze
3. fairywings1781 - Lizzie
4. Hamda
5. wngdngl (in LJ comments)

... I'm not sure I can come up with the full list. XD;

6 Types of Candy/Chocolate
1. Butterfinger
2. Snickers
3. Butterscotch
4. Any variety of Hershey's Kisses
5. Nestlé Crunch
6. Peppermint patties/Junior Mints

5 Musicians/Bands
1. Within Temptation
2. Evanescence
3. Nobuo Uematsu (composer of FF stuff)
4. Cherie Call
5. Nightwish

4 Websites You Visit Daily
1. Hotmail
2. Livejournal
3. FF.net (to reply to PMs/post stuff; I rarely read anything there)
4. YouTube

3 Favourite Fictional Characters
1. Sephiroth (FF7 and KH; I love them both!)
2. Zack Fair
3. Cloud Strife

2 Favourite Sayings T-shirt Phrases
1. There is nothing to fear but Chuck himself (Chuck Norris joke)
2. It's better to be silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.

Favourite Movie

Advent Children

Morgan Fey calls Phoenix "good sir"!

**can't stop thinking of Dalton now, when that term is used. Giggles.**

And I think I need to write that fic of Azazel in the snow now. The interaction with Gunju would be so fun. XD I did a crack RP twist where Gunju drove the car after Azazel shot Miles, because Azazel was wounded. So anybody driving by would see a car going on by itself. LOL. Azazel would duck down, so nobody at all would be visible.

Here's an AMV I found. X3 Fanarts (and some official art) are used, because well, in-game sprites make good crack videos, but not serious videos. XD It's Fallen by Sarah McLachlan. It really fits Miles well, especially at the end of game 1, and I think in some ways it would also be a good Seph song, when he's struggling against his insanity and feels so alone. Kaze mentioned it might fit Genesis, too. ^^

I was reminded of how I always seemed to misspell Gozaburo as Gozaburp. Then I had a random crack idea of him or Seto finding the name spelled like that by accident on a document (or even better, in a newspaper). **snerk.** Oh man, Gozaburo would be so mad.

And zoinks! I knew I remembered reading that Miles was originally going to be a lot older, but I had no idea that this was the original design (on your right if you're facing the computer): http://gyakusai.magical-art.com/gallery/gallery.php?g2_itemId=355 Wow. What an ugly melodramatic-looking villain. XD Okay, not that everyone isn't melodramatic in the games, but you know what I mean. I read somewhere (now I can't find it) that when they came up with the younger design, the creator liked it so much that he figured out the whole backstory between Miles and Phoenix. (The backstory of which is much squee!)

And for Heaven's sake, is his hair silver or brown? XD; I've seen it both ways on official art! If it's silver, I will probably laugh.

I wonder what the manga is like. We're supposed to get it starting in the summer.

I hope it's better than the Megaman manga. I dislike almost everything about that manga, save for any time Bass.EXE appears. It just ... rarely seems to take anything seriously! XD; Come to think of it, the KH manga is that way too. Is that how all manga based on video games is?

I can hardly believe that God Help the Outcasts is done. I finished the epilogue today. I got the whole thing fixed in sheet protectors and into a binder, and for now I slipped the pic of Seph and Cloud in the snow in the front as the cover. Now if I could just focus more on Bend and Break! I think I need to detail the Lucrecia and Hojo stuff and not just summarize some of it. That will require more writing of their dialogue than I had planned. That will be interesting. I'm really excited about writing this KH Lucrecia. X3

And I randomly wrote the first draft of the ficlit for the prompt "Running late for an appointment with Death." It's utter crack, involving Hades trying to force KH Seph to work for him. XD Of course, Hades regrets it.

I'm tinkering today with part 2 of my little crossover, which will be posted at 31 Days later today. I'm thinking it will be posted as a separate thingie from the first part, though, because it delves into the Jenova and Triangle characters' reactions to what happened and includes Genesis and Dalton having another deep talk. XD And ... I kinda think it would bowl over the Phoenix Wright community. So yeah. Separate post, in the FF7 category. I think when I do start chapter 2 of Something Wicked This Way Comes, the Diagnosis Murder cast will have to make cameos. XD;; It's sort of an unspoken rule that if anyone is hurt in Los Angeles in my fics, it's off to Community General Hospital they go! LOL. I've already been planning their few lines of dialogue in my mind.

When crossovers make sense, they're just so fun. XD I need to write that crack piece of Siegfried hiring Phoenix, too.

Oh gosh. **imagines Siegfried and Miles discussing their wardrobes.** The crack!

I find it hilarious that other than YGO, all of my fandoms right now are video games. XD

Speaking of which! Gamespot has a nice, non-spoilery, whet your appetite review for Crisis Core. X3 I loved it, except this part made me scared. They called Seph an effete goth. WTH? How is anything he does the least bit goth? Is wearing black supposed to be goth-only now? I guess that makes half the cast goths. XD; **headdesk.**

I don't know how this happened. Blame the exciting RP twists I'm plotting with Lisa. XD I actually wrote something for a new fandom! Kinda? Mostly it happened for two reasons: I wanted to see this scenario, and I couldn't find that anyone had written it, and I wanted to practice writing for these characters just for fun. It conveniently ignores both the fact that the series near-randomly takes place several years in the future and the fourth game altogether. I am still ticked at what the fourth game did, and I don't even want to acknowledge it as canon. XD; **remembers being mad about it last year, too.** But no mention of it here, for spoiler reasons.

... And I really should be proofreading chapter 10 of God Help the Outcasts. The below meme is taking way longer than I thought it would. XD; I was going to do it anyway, but now I've been tagged. LOL. And I couldn't resist giving it a go.

List 10 anime/videogame (aka fictional) characters you find attractive, then tag 5 other people.

1. Sephiroth. Both FF7 Sephiroth and KH Sephiroth. I love me some sane Seph. X3 **hugs them both.** Wonderful personalities: sarcastic, mysterious, blunt, and (at least canon for FF7 Seph) an extremely loyal friend. Their good looks don't hurt, either. XD; (Though I didn't like FF7 Seph until I saw him sane. KH Seph has always been sane in canon.) I've cooed and ranted about him a lot, so I'll save that for another time.

2. Zack Fair, from FF7. Adorable! Cheerful, playful, a bit mischievous, but he knows when to get serious. He isn't some one-dimensional happy kid all the time. He truly loves life, and people, but at the same time he has another side, a side that swells to anger at any sight of injustice, a side that longs to protect his loved ones and that can't bear it when he cannot.

3. Cloud Strife, from FF7. I debated adding him, because I don't think I actually crush on Cloud the way I do Seph and Zack, but I'm certainly attracted to his character. And aww, he's so cute here! Yep, I gotta love Cloud. He's had a rough time of it, he's insecure, but he's willing to admit his mistakes and always strives to go on. And it's so cute when he gets dorky. XD

(I really like his counterpart, too. KH Cloud is so full of anger! A very dark character, but with glimmers of light and hope.)

4. Yazoo, from FF7. This guy is cold as ice! He gleefully shoots at Cloud so many times in the movie. XD; And yet in spite of it all, there's a certain childlike air about him, as he says to Reno, "All we want is to be with Mother!" All of the horrible things he and the others do can trace back to that desire and longing. His relationship with Loz is fascinating, too. Yazoo is the one who seems to be obnoxious towards Loz (and it irritates me when some fanfics make it Kadaj, because he honestly doesn't seem to mind what Loz does!), and yet they have such close-knit teamwork in battle. I just get the feeling that they have some deep understanding and comprehension of each other.

5. Marik Ishtar, from Yu-Gi-Oh! Lovely YGO bishie, here. He's such a deep character, wanting revenge because he feels his family has been wronged, and wanting to make things right when he realizes the truth and knows of his mistakes. Truthfully, I don't think I've crushed on anyone as hard as I crushed on Marik, until Seph came along.

6. Rishid Ishtar, from Yu-Gi-Oh! Yes, Rishid is attractive! ^^ Definitely in personality, but in looks as well. His loyalty and his determination to save Marik has always made me squee. And I never have been able to bring myself to say Odion, even though I use other dub names.

7. Alister, from Yu-Gi-Oh! (Ignore the wonky subtitles, or laugh at them, if you desire. XD) Still my favorite of the bikers (and my favorite male YGO character, at the moment). Of course he's totally mixed up, just like everyone in the organization, but something about him made me find him fascinating and I'm not sure what. Perhaps because he was the token mysterious member, blunt, sarcastic, and not so obnoxious in the original Japanese. Perhaps because something about the way he was mixed up intrigued me more than the other two (though Raphael is highly fascinating as well). Perhaps because I can relate to him on some level, same as with other mysterious characters. I honestly can't fully say what drew me to him, even if I once could; I just know that the fascination is still there. I had a dream the other day about writing a fic about him, and I do have my 13 Fears claim on him.

8. Yami Bakura, from Yu-Gi-Oh! Totally the best YGO villain. X3 I may be a bit biased, since he was in the first episode I saw, but my immediate reaction was what a great villain he made. And I hoped he'd be back for more. Ted Lewis interpreted him amazingly, and I still prefer his version over the Japanese VAs'. XD; They just don't sound right to me, making him sound so young. The manga has some really fascinating extra stuff, too, like the creepiness of him trapping souls in game pieces so that Bakura wouldn't be alone at home.

9. Malachite, from Sailor Moon. (You know, I've often had the feeling I really like silver-haired/white-haired men.) As with Yami Bakura, Malachite was in the first episode of Sailor Moon I watched. And I was intrigued by him. I thought he was an intense villain, too, and when I heard of the manga backstory of him and the other generals being brainwashed by Beryl and that they were really Mamoru's protectors, that made him even cooler to me. Mostly I think the anime did better with the villains and the manga did better with the good guys, but for the generals' backstories, the manga is tops. (But I'm still angry that they had to die, and I don't understand the turning into the gems they were named after bit.)

10. Nephrite/Neflyte, from Sailor Moon. I couldn't really find a decent picture. XD; I have a few, but I don't wanna upload one right now. Neflyte in the anime totally fascinated me. Such a dark character, and he seemed to know it. He didn't believe that he could ever do something worthwhile or righteous, and he even manipulated Naru's feelings to get what he wanted. Yet somehow along the way, he developed genuine feelings for her as well, and was even willing to die for her in the end. I cannot even begin to imagine him with Jupiter, as some fans picture him after that experimental picture the manga-ka drew (which she abandoned). It isn't just because of Naru, though; I don't see how his and Jupiter's personalities go well at all!

Anybody who wants to can go ahead. XD