ladybug_archive | Entries tagged with the persuaders!

So I finally admitted in the U.N.C.L.E. comm that I don’t see Napoleon as a chronic bed-hopper even though he certainly loves a pretty face and is a serial dater. What I didn’t say was that if I really thought he was a bed-hopper like James Bond, I doubt I would be attracted to him or find him appealing at all. Part of the reason why Napoleon appeals to me is because I’ve always had the impression that he’s a more moral person than James Bond. I don’t like James Bond because he’s a chronic bed-hopper. I do like Roger Moore, and yet when it comes to Bond, there’s just an automatic turn-off. No attraction.

(Years ago, when I was experimenting with walking more on the wild side, probably because I liked how impressed someone seemed to be when I did it, I had a character who was kind of a bed-hopper and that continued even after he became seriously involved with one particular person. That was gross. We never wrote out any bedroom scenes or anything like that, but it was always known what he was doing. I couldn't do that now, especially the continuing with playing the field even after starting a serious relationship. I would be totally uncomfortable, especially if the character was very important to the story as he was in those role-plays. I would also be uncomfortable with the character having a big role since he was a big-time crime boss and very unrepentant. If I ever get my novel off the ground, he will either have a very reduced role, not be a bed-hopper, or possibly both.)

Speaking of Roger Moore, though, it’s interesting how I can be totally obsessed with him for a while and then it fades and while I still like the characters, there doesn’t seem to be much, if any, crushing. That’s happened more than once. I wonder if that means he’s more on the fringes of my darlings instead of smack-dab with them. With all the rest, there is constant crushing on the characters when I see them even if there isn’t a constant, serious obsession with them/the actors.

I think a lot of why it faded this time was because of Simon Templar, actually. I like the character, but I am one of the few who prefers the color episodes to the B&Ws. There were a lot of B&W episodes I hadn’t seen before and then they finally released the DVD sets of those seasons and I snapped them up. In the B&W episodes, Simon seems rather sexist sometimes. And I know that was likely largely a product of the times and has to be looked at in that way, but Simon by his very nature is an anachronistic person. I think that even in the present-day, Simon would probably have some sexist ideas and feel that women are silly worrying things that need to keep out of the men’s worlds and stick to their own place. The book Simon is a lot more that way, I think, but the TV version has some of it too. I hadn’t seen some of the worst offending episodes of that sort before and when I did, they were kind of a turn-off. The most sickening episode of all was the more humorous Luella. Everyone was unlikable there, from Simon to his friend to his friend's wife. I think those views aren't expressed as much in the color episodes. Or maybe possibly Simon matured beyond such views. I should have been watching the color episodes on MeTV once they came around to them again. I keep longing for a new DVD release of all the color episodes, but I’m not sure they’re going to release separately from the boxset. I'd better watch my scant few color episodes again; maybe that will cool things a bit and I'll like Simon more again.

I still love Beau Maverick and was thrilled to see a couple of his episodes I’ve never seen before when Cozi showed them. The Town That Wasn’t There was sooo good and establishes why Beau is my favorite Maverick. It starts out seeming that he’s being a selfish prick, but throughout the episode he grows to honestly be fond of the people he’s with and sincerely wants to help them. He even turns down $10,000 when accepting it would have hurt one of those people. He then comments to himself something like that his uncle would send him back to England if he knew.

(Honestly, I really don’t like Beau’s uncle. He treats Beau like crap and most of the sayings he gives sound really selfish. And yet when he actually appeared on-screen, he acted more like Bret and the others in that he seemed to try to help people, so I ended up torn on what to think of him. Although it also seemed like he mostly helped because he liked giving the finger to the bad guys rather than because he wanted to help the people who were being hurt. When I write about him in stories I try to be kind, since even when I don't like certain characters I try to examine them from all angles within the contexts of the stories unless they're meant to be out-and-out villains and don't need to be examined more closely. Part of me seriously wants him to just flat-out not care about Beau since he treats him so rotten, but I always try to instead stress that he's just worried about Beau doing something that will get him hurt or killed. Although the $10,000 thing makes me question that idea.)

I think Lord Sinclair may be my favorite Roger character. Part of me would like to say that my Roger Bond figure is Lord Sinclair, as I think he’s the one I want the figure to be the most, but I feel I can’t since I don’t have a Tony Curtis figure to be Danny. Sacrilege! If I had a Tony Curtis figure that’s around 6 inches, my Roger figure would totally be Lord Sinclair. I don’t suppose there is such a thing as a Tony Curtis figure? Sigh.

Current Mood: thirsty

So while I was going through stuff tagging it recently, I stumbled on that entry where I was comparing Napoleon and Illya's interaction to Jim and Arte's. That was before I'd seen The Summit Five Affair, so I didn't even really believe there was a friendship between Napoleon and Illya and in any case, if there was, I preferred Jim and Arte's insult-free friendship. It was interesting to read that again. And even though now I have come to believe in Napoleon and Illya's friendship, the comparison still made some observational points that are relevant regardless. I've been thinking about it ever since.

It was amusing about Napoleon and Illya, really. The whole fandom pretty much celebrates their friendship, and then there was this one person who insisted she didn't see their relationship that way at all and felt they were only partners, and then there was me in the middle. I wanted to believe in the friendship, but I wasn't feeling it, and I wondered if she was right. I was thrilled when I watched The Summit Five Affair and finally saw clear and present friendshippiness. Yet in spite of that, and in spite of the fact that I enjoy reading other people's friendship fics with them now and then, I personally don't seem to be that interested in writing about friendshippy, hurt/comforty situations with them. For that matter, I don't really seem to be that interested in writing that sort of thing with Jim and Arte, either.

It could be the fact that I don't actually crush on any of them very seriously. (I do have mild crushes, to varying degrees.) Generally, I reserve hurt/comfort scenarios for characters I'm actually crushing on very seriously. On the other hand, it could be that plus the fact that for both shows, my favorite things about them are the plots and mysteries rather than the friendships. (And some of the guest-stars....) And that may sound strange coming from someone who can get so intrigued by friendships that she'll even tinker with characters she normally wouldn't go near, but considering that mysteries and detective shows were always my first love, it makes sense. I mean, seriously, I was four years old and I knew I just had to watch Carmen Sandiego because it was about detectives in these awesome fedora hats and catching crooks and that just sounded so epically awesome. I'm still puzzling over how I already knew I wanted that type of show. I certainly hadn't been exposed to it before; Mom felt I was way too young for that sort of thing. Then the same thing happened when we got this thingie in the mail telling about upcoming shows and I learned about Darkwing Duck. I was like "... A crime-fighting duck?! I MUST WATCH!"

So yeah. Pretty much if it was a crime show, I wanted it. That was my original motivation for getting into The Andy Griffith Show too. (Well, that and Barney sounded hilarious.) Then I started learning all I could about classic TV and found out about U.N.C.L.E. and WWW and all those great things and I wanted them. But it took years before I actually had access to them. And I was all over the James Bond film Moonraker when I saw it (aside from the bed times). Spy stuff ... yay!

But back to Napoleon and Illya. Their specific friendship type is not being very open about their caring. As Crystal pointed out, the best way to see their caring in most episodes is through their facial expressions. It's a very visual thing. That, of course, doesn't translate to stories (unless they're illustrated). But that could be part of my disinterest in writing friendshippy fics about them too, since in lieu of seeing the caring via pictures, it would have to come out some other way. I don't want things to get too mushy/goopy since that would be OOC for them, but sometimes even them discussing deep things at all can result in them seeming too open/OOC. With them, I usually prefer to keep things pretty much as they are in the show, and hence, my stories usually seem to focus on their adventures instead of being hurt/comforty (aside from one creepy fic). I do like having them discuss deep subjects at times, which they do in The Peaceful Meadows Affair, but it doesn't really feel like I'm having them be so open.

Then we have characters like Brett and Danny, who also have that insult humor I don't like but can also do a 180-degree turn and be very open about their caring like it's the most natural thing in the world to show it (which it should be, but it's understandable/professional/better if secret agents like Napoleon and Illya don't follow that idea). I'm hoping to write more fics with them, but I am wondering if I'll be able/comfortable getting the insult banter into things. I haven't really needed to yet, and come to think of it, I've left that out of the U.N.C.L.E. fics too. The thing I adore about Brett and Danny is their openness and I find that easier and more relatable to write than friends who are holding themselves more at arm's length.

When I really think about it, Brett and Danny may very well be an exception to the usual, as it seems like the friendships I usually enjoy writing about the very most ... are often ones I've developed almost or entirely on my own, rather than being fully in canon. With the exceptions of the canonical friendships of Sephiroth and Zack (as shown in Crisis Core), Joe Mannix and Lew Wickersham, and now Brett and Danny, it seems like most of my main friendships have only really been developed into friendships by me. The familial relationships I've loved to write about are canon, but the friendships ... either hardly ever are or else there's only the slightest smidgen of it shown in canon and the smidgen is enough to intrigue me and make me want more. Even with Seph and Zack, there isn't a whole lot showing them together in canon, although as I recall, someone does specifically identify them as friends in-game.

Usually I characterize working partners as friends, regardless of whether they're actually depicted as such in canon. Other examples would be Gin and Vodka, the bikers, Schrank and Krupke, Ginger and Lou, and Ecks and Wye (although the evidence for the latter being friends seems pretty strong to me, given Wye's actual flipping out after finding Ecks stabbed).

With the bikers, Raph seemed protective of Valon in canon, but Valon and Alister couldn't seem to get along. And usually aside from that, they didn't interact together. But it became a fanon thing to have them be friends anyway, with several people adopting the idea of them deciding to start over together after the Doom arc, since they'd already been through so much together and they were really all each other had.

With Ginger and Lou, you have to look pretty closely to see what's going on there, but there is definitely some kind of chemistry between either the actors, the characters or both. I think that essay I wrote pretty well examines every possibility and shows that it is possible that they could be friends. I develop the idea by saying that they became closer and more open while in prison, thus opening the door for their interaction as I've depicted it. Of course, one could certainly use the argument I made with Napoleon and Illya and throw it back at me, saying I shouldn't portray these two being open either. I've worried about that. But one thing is, we've only seen how Ginger and Lou canonically interact during a high-stress situation. With Napoleon and Illya, we've also seen how they behave during downtime. So with Ginger and Lou, I figure there might be some leeway since we don't know how they behave during normal times. I try to make their interaction as fitting the characters shown in canon even though at the same time I'm trying to develop it a bit beyond that. (I guess I also figure no one would care if I soften Ginger a bit, really, since I doubt anyone really became intrigued by him and Lou in canon like I did. I kind of worry what David Chase, the writer of that episode, might think, though. Yes, that David Chase....) Of course, that's what a lot of the U.N.C.L.E. writers do as well, often with excellent results.

Then there's Autor and Ahiru, who were certainly not friends in the series proper. But Autor seemed friendly in that little follow-up play some of the voice actors did, and given Ahiru's gregarious personality, I have a hard time believing that she wouldn't eventually come to see the good in Autor and accept him as a friend. So that seemed to have good potential even though it wasn't expressly canon and that became another of my favorite friendships to work with.

Then we have Duke and David. There's no indication of who David is to Duke in canon (aside from the dub note that he's the store manager), but since Duke confided in David about his plans, at least partially, and David teases Duke without consequence, I would say it's pretty likely that they're friends.

And of course, things like Ray Norman and Coley Rodman, Snakes Tolliver and Beau Maverick, and Snakes and Duke, are most certainly not canon by the slightest stretch of the imagination. Those characters are not on the same show in canon, nor are Ray and Coley or Snakes and Duke canonically in the same time. It's interesting how things like that can just develop in fics or role-plays and end up feeling so right.

Perhaps I usually prefer focusing on things like that because I feel that either canon or the other fans are handling the main friendships just fine and I'd rather do something different and explore other angles. I know that's how I tend to feel about Rumbelle, even though I still enjoy writing my vignette series now and then. That's more in protest of the way Once has gone downhill, though, instead of a desire to actually write Rumbelle. I like to write them talking, which the show should have done more of, but I am pretty useless when it comes to romantic stuff. In general I find romantic/kissing scenes tedious, boring, and almost impossible to write, and I don't want to let down the fans who want to see lots of that, so I still hesitate to post my vignettes on FF.net. (That, and the fact that I don't update that story very frequently....)

Current Mood: contemplative

The episode of The Saint that was the initial blueprint and inspiration for The Persuaders! is one of the few I haven't seen. The summary said that Simon had to team up with a Texas oil baron and I believe it said something about them not getting along well. I figured the Texas character would be obnoxious, as that seems to be a rather unfortunate stereotype of Texas oil barons, and that constant arguing would be annoying. And since I only had enough time to watch some of MeTV's currently posted episodes before they switched them out for others, I let that one drop in favor of others.

Naturally, I am curious about it now. I went to look for it on YouTube, even though I knew that would likely be fruitless. Any MeTV shows generally do not turn up on YouTube. And MeTV, although it still has The Saint episodes online, is only in season 2, so it will be a long time before they get to that one. They probably don't play well anymore anyway; they haven't ever since MeTV changed their videos to take up more memory. Ugh. Even people with more recent computers have trouble, so for once it isn't just me.

I did find a couple of clips and watched them. And I have to say, my initial thoughts were right: the character is extremely obnoxious. He keeps talking about having so much money he's drowning in it and he has to spend just to keep breathing. And he says other weird things like that and seems to put a high priority on money. Danny, by contrast, is playful and cute and while he kind of seems like he doesn't always know what to do with so much money, he isn't always bragging about it and waving his wealth in people's faces. It's easy to forget sometimes that he's a millionaire. I don't recall ever being particularly annoyed by Danny. This Rod Houston character is instead stuck-up and seemingly shallow. (Although in one little bit he seemed slightly naive and that was kind of cute.) I suppose if I ever get to see the full episode, I'll see the character become more likable by the end. (I hope.) But I have to say, I am so glad they decided to change the American character to a streetwise New Yorker for The Persuaders!. And that regardless, they altered his personality. Somehow I just honestly can't see The Persuaders! becoming a beloved cult favorite series had the American character acted as obnoxious as the one in The Saint episode. It almost seemed like they combined elements of what would become Brett and Danny in Houston, with the Brett elements being seemingly more into having money, while Simon played the character who doesn't seem to put as high a value on money (parallel with Danny). While Brett often makes it clear about his wealthy background, etc., however, he isn't bragging and hence, usually doesn't come off as obnoxious about it as Houston does. I guess that's the (admittedly a bit stereotypical) aloof and cool British elements of the character.

What was interesting, however, was seeing the parallels with the first Persuaders! episode. The clips I watched had the idea of the two car-racing through the streets, although it didn't end up working as well as it did for The Persuaders! characters. And they talk about the plan in The Saint, whereas on The Persuaders! it's all silent and they just seem to know what the other is thinking about the race. Then the other clip has them in a casino and Houston gets Simon into a game he doesn't like playing, which I assume may be the parallel with Danny trying to get Brett to have a drink in a way he doesn't like. The clip cut off before I could find out what happens. I do know, however, that they end up having a fight in the casino, just like Brett and Danny did. I wonder who instigates the fight on The Saint. Simon seems more inclined to start fights than Brett does, but on the other hand, only if the other person probably deserves it.

And I have the most weird and bizarre dreams. It was another house dream this time, and it was about 3:30 in the morning in the dream, and even though it was of course still dark outside and I was going to bed, I opened the curtains in front of the glass doors on the deck. (WTH.) That part of the house looked somewhat similar to reality, but not quite, as the area outside seemed to be a little more high-class and .... jungley. Tall, tall grass and plants hanging over the fence and half-obscuring the other yards. (Although we have one bush/tree that has exploded enormously since we moved in.)

Then I went in my room and was trying to rearrange books and things in order to go to bed. I wanted to dust off a wardrobe and put some big books on top of it. Then I discovered that someone set up these ... bizarre and dangerous traps of wooden boards that would fall down and swing around and I had to be careful to avoid them just to get into bed. They were right around the bed. Apparently they had been set-up by ... Kemo. The house was a mansion and Kemo and Croquet were working security there. I found Kemo and bawled him out for his bizarre security. I was certain he was working against me, not for me, and I tried to lock the door ... only there was another way in from a long passage to the side of the door and some woman on the staff came to get me because they wanted to talk further about the matter and I went with her and got lost somewhere in the basement, which the tunnel also led to.

Just ... WTH, mind? Kemo and Croquet? Of all people, why them? I haven't even watched any Pegasus episodes of YGO in ages, although I was briefly thinking of it just the other day. But just ... seriously, oy vey. I really don't think Kemo would be that stupid.

Current Mood: okay

Now that I've seen all the Persuaders! episodes, I decided to go back and watch A Death in the Family since it was the first one I saw. I thought I'd see how it holds up having watched all the others.

I still don't like the black humor; I'm just not into that and don't find it funny. But ohmygosh, the hurt/comfort scene! It's even more special having seen all the episodes. For one of the only times, we see Brett drop that calm, cool, and collected attitude and show the worry he's feeling. His expression when he sees Danny lying on the ground ... ! And then he runs over calling to him and kneels down to examine him and exclaims, "At least he's alive!" And then Danny wakes up and is dizzy and Brett is all worried asking him if he can walk.... I think that was about the moment I fell in love with the show when I first saw the episode. And it will forever be one of my favorite moments. Just think how Brett goes from saying to Danny in one of the earliest filmed episodes that maybe he cares about Danny's safety only so he can hate him alive to being so visibly concerned and worried and fussing over Danny asking if he can walk! It's just so beautiful. I love, love, love this show.

But it does present a problem, as in that episode Danny meets Brett's uncle the Duke for the first time. Originally my first Persuaders! fic was supposed to be set after all of the episodes, but now that I've seen all the episodes I see that the way they interact in it only makes sense if it's earlier on. But the Duke is in the fic briefly and mentions that Danny is like family to Brett. So ... what do I do now? Rewrite some of the dialogue so it's later on in the series, or change the Duke to a different relative, or ... ? **headdesk.**

Also, I dreamed about Ginger and Lou yesterday. I miss them. I put them in one scene of my Saint fic and it was so much fun to have them around again. I wish I could get unstuck on the current fic I was writing for them so I could move on to some other ones. I periodically get stuck on the long installments I write with them, and then finally I get unstuck and write a whole bunch more. I want to write another conversational fic and have Ginger react to Lalaloopsy. LOL. Then I just have to decide if that's something Mike watches as a guilty pleasure or if Ginger found out about it through some other means. I don't think I've run into any guys who like Lalaloopsy yet, but I imagine they could like that just as easily as My Little Pony or other shows usually directed at girls.

Current Mood: rushed

So this morning I finally got around to looking up what the heck The Lion Guard is about. The concept sounded ludicrous to me in the past (a Prince running security? WTH?), and learning more about it is not helping me think it sounds any less ludicrous. In addition to that weirdness, we've got him with the absolutely bizarre ability to ... channel his ancestors' roars? What? And since it takes place around halfway through the second movie, I have to wonder, why was there no mention of him in The Lion King 2 (other than because of course the character hadn't been animated yet)? It makes very little sense to have him absent throughout that entire film. (Now I can't remember if he was the character they used in some kids' books long before The Lion King 2 came out. If he was, that's cool that they finally animated him. But it doesn't help the series sound any less weird.)

I actually liked The Lion King 2, so I do like the idea of getting to see those characters some more. But I don't like that they never use the original hyenas from the first film, except in that silly, generic Timon & Pumbaa TV series from the nineties. Why create new hyena characters? What's wrong with the original ones? I do love the concept of having one hyena in The Lion Guard be nice, though. It's about time there was a protagonist hyena.

And then I have to admit that while even though the original Lion King featured a smidgen of scatological humor, it at least wasn't a plot point. Apparently in The Lion Guard, we've got the Prince's security team saving Kiara from a stampede because ... the honey badger passed gas? What? **headdesk.** That is so stupid. About on par with The Lion King 1 1/2 saying that the animals bowed not because Rafiki was holding Simba up, but because they were all fainting from the smell of Pumbaa passing gas. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I've never wanted to see The Lion King 1 1/2 because it sounds like it deconstructs the original movie and I loved that film. I rarely like parodies or satires because I don't like to see things I like being made fun of.

(Then a minor quibble with The Lion Guard is the character's name. Kion ... really? It rhymes with lion. Why, why, why would anyone want to name a lion character Kion? How can you take that seriously?)

I'll admit that perhaps the show looks better than it sounds on paper, but overall I am not that impressed by what I've learned. I suppose sooner or later I'll give it a try, but I'm not looking forward to that so much.

I also learned that this year's Equestria Girls movie will have a camp theme. I can't say I'm excited. I'm not an outdoorsy person and camp is not my thing. I can't imagine it would be Rarity's thing, either, for that matter, although the Pony Rarity went glamping once. LOL. Anyway, though, it seems like the movies just keep getting better and better, so I'm going to keep hoping for the best. Rainbow Rocks didn't sound like much at first, but then it ended up being wonderful. As long as there's lots of Sunset and naturally human Twilight character development in the camp movie, I'll probably love it.

And then Muffins is finally being re-released as Build-a-Bear promised. But she's still a web exclusive! **cries.** Why? Uggggh. I was hoping so much they would put her in the stores this round, like they finally did for Zecora and Shining Armor. I just don't know how to buy from Build-a-Bear online. You have to get $40 to get free shipping, or else shipping is about $6, and Muffins is $30 instead of $25 for some mysterious reason, and it's all a big mess. I just can't afford to buy from them online, but it doesn't look like they're going to put Muffins in-store, so if I want her, I'm probably going to have to get her online somehow.

Also, I finished watching The Persuaders! tonight. I am sad that there are no more new episodes to see. I stretched the last few out as long as I could. I will definitely start re-watching my favorites now. I've already seen some of them twice, as I've been introducing Mom to the series and showing her the best episodes. She likes the series, which I'm thrilled about. But I regret that we'll soon have watched all of the really friendshippy ones together, leaving the earlier ones where they're not as close. I'm not as anxious to show her those or to see them again myself.

I can't understand why they didn't air the episodes in the order of filming, since that makes so much more sense regarding character development. In the earlier ones, you have things like Danny questioning why Brett is even concerned about his safety. (And Brett just makes a quip about "Maybe I'd rather hate you alive than dead", heh. Not my type of humor, but at least I know he doesn't mean it. I've never been a fan of the insult humor that heavily populates male buddy stuff.) But by the later ones, you have Danny telling everybody that Brett is his very best friend and they never question each other's concern; they have complete trust in each other by that point and know that they can rely on each other. And you have things like Brett growling furiously that he will take an old house apart brick by brick to find the missing and hurt Danny. (And he also says things like that he's terribly, terribly hurt that Danny hired his housekeeper from under his nose. He wouldn't have expressed hurt in the earlier episodes. Not knowing Danny very well, he wouldn't have had reason to feel hurt then. I didn't like what Danny did, but I did love what Brett's reaction says about him and their friendship.) The progression of them as people and as friends is just so beautiful. But by airing them out of order, some of that gets lost in the translation.

I think my very favorite episodes are The Time and the Place and Someone Like Me. Those are two gems just overflowing with friendship squee. They're the first ones I showed Mom. And Someone Like Me also has the distinction of being very much like some of my fics. Heh. Other big favorites are Someone Waiting, The Ozerov Inheritance, That's Me Over There, Chain of Events, Anyone Can Play, and The Old, The New and the Deadly. And while I didn't like the black humor of A Death in the Family (which was based on Kind Hearts and Coronets, oh my), there are some great friendship moments in it. It was the first episode I saw. I had previously been led to believe that the characters were not that close throughout the entire series. Imagine my surprise when I watched that episode (one of the later ones, naturally) and saw many expressions of close friendshippy concern and even some hurt/comfort! I was immediately in love.

Current Mood: determined

So our dryer has been acting up for a while and Dad finally decided that so many things needed fixing, it would be better to get a new dryer. K-Mart had a Kenmore on sale for $299, so on Friday we went and looked at it and decided to get it. Dad then had to return the dryer parts he'd bought, so that took us up near Build-a-Bear and I got the Lalaloopsy doll/plush I wanted, Mittens Fluff N Stuff. I think I will get the other Honey Girls plushies sometime, but I figured they'd be around longer since they're the house brand and not one of the licensed brands that floats in and out. I saw all four Lalaloopsy dolls they've made, and I kind of want Crumbs Sugar Cookie too, so we'll see how that goes in the future.

I also managed to snag both Saint DVD sets and The Persuaders! online. I lost two auctions trying to get the seasons 3 and 4 set and then finally went to a Buy It Now listing that was still cheaper than the going retail price. I've been watching the Saint episodes I missed on MeTV's website and then plan to re-watch the others. And I've been gobbling up The Persuaders!. Oh my gosh, it is seriously adorable, gah. This show is just overflowing with friendship squee! It is paradise. Words cannot fully describe how much I am in love with this series.

I wrote that Saint fic that I had the idea for a year and a half ago. It absolutely flowed and ended up clocking in at 11,400+ words. And I posted it on AO3 in one chunk without checking word count first. Ooops. But some people have looked at it anyway. I hope they liked it. As usual, no one comments on AO3. I've posted 42 things there, and I think only five or less have comments. Part of me doesn't know why I bother. But at least I see people are reading, and sometimes I get Kudos, so that's nice. And there's no Saint category at FF.net. I requested one, but nothing's happened. I also wrote another Persuaders! fic, a follow-up to the angsty Angie ... Angie episode. I want to write a follow-up to Read and Destroy too, and then I want to move on to an amnesia fic. I originally figured Brett as the victim again, but then I decided it should be Danny and we'll see how poor Brett with all his British resolve reacts to that. (I think I'll have some Brett hurt/comfort in the climax, though. And poor Danny will feel horrible about not remembering Brett. Amnesia fics are cliche, but they're so interesting for exploring character reactions. Anyway, The Persuaders! takes some cliches and puts their own spins on them, making them all seem new.)

The Scott plushie I ordered came too, and he is also adorable! Very well-made, as they generally are, and he fits well with Elliott's size. I finally gave up on having the hair I really wanted for Barry and rushed to get him semi-presentable once I knew Scott had shipped. I wanted Barry to be part of the welcoming committee. I got brown fleece at Wal-Mart to do the hair and it doesn't look too bad. Making a ponytail out of that looks a bit odd, but I just decided Screw it, I can't find hair extensions anywhere and they probably wouldn't match the fleece anyway, so I'll just totally wing it. I think when I finish Barry, I want to make a Snakes plushie. I need to make Barry's shirt, tie, suspenders, and hat. I may just stop for a while after the shirt or tie, though.

And then I got around to finding out if I could find any Ivanhoe episodes. I could, and watched one. My reaction during it was basically, "... Oh my gosh. Soft, thick, fluffy hair. I didn't know he grew it that thick back then. Help." Mixed in with, "... Such a lovely voice to listen to. Help." And, "This character is awesome! Help." Also mixed in with amused/embarrassed giggling due to my shameless fangirling and thinking, "Oh brother, I am acting ridiculous. I shouldn't be fangirling over him." And, "Oh dear, wouldn't it be amusing if I end up saying offline what I'm watching and why I've got the giggles." And the American distributor was Screen Gems. I'm trying to remember if Antenna TV has ever aired this series. If they haven't, I wonder if they'd consider it. It would make a nice addition to their oldies block for children on weekends. (If they still do that....)

If I watch a few more episodes, I think I'll be ready to brave Mom's copy of Ivanhoe the book, which she gave to me. I want to read it (I loved the 1952 movie), but I'm worried the old language will go over my head. I don't read many classics because the language often confuses me. But now I have an indelible image of Ivanhoe looking like Roger Moore. I already got out the book and skimmed around in it today.

I also want to see the film The King's Thief. It's part of the Warner Archive collection. I'm trying to remember if my sister might have given us a VHS copy among some stuff she recorded, but I kind of think I'd remember a swashbuckler. Most of what she gave us is musicals, which I'm not so into. I think I remember everything she gave that was something else. It sounds like Roger has some good screentime and that he survives the film, so I'd probably be willing to spring for the DVD. It sounds like a pretty fun movie in general. And of course, everything is always better with a darling or two.

It also occurred to me that there is probably a figure of him as James Bond and I should have it, since so few darlings have figures of them. I thought maybe there'd be a little four-inch figure or something. Instead I only find listings for 12-inch figures, and there's one I particularly like that could perhaps double as a Simon Templar figure, but I can't seem to find it for less than $60. Oyyyy.... I cannot spend that much on a figure!

Sometimes I still want to bash my head against the desk for including him among my darlings. But I have accepted that that's the way it's going to be. He certainly has his faults, but there are lots of good things about him too, and I try to focus on that.

Current Mood: giddy

... 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.

Current Mood: tired

So I got a plunnie involving Beau Maverick and the episode The Rivals. It would involve Beau getting mistaken for Bret's friend Jack Vandergelt III during some chaotic episode where bad guys are after Jack for some reason (maybe wanting his or his father's business assets or something). Bret would likely turn up somewhere along the way. I don't know if I'd bring Bart in too; that could get pretty crowded. Although it would be amusing to have Bart react to Beau and Jack. And Bart and Beau's relationship is the most interesting for me to write, since Beau never interacted with Bret.

I'm debating whether Jack might be up to his old tricks a bit and want him and Beau to deliberately switch places and try to figure out what's going on. Jack (or Van, as he is usually called) is a little bit of a jerk in the episode, but by the end he's pretty adorable. (And there's some very nice hurt/comfort. Purrrr. Although Jack exaggerates the seriousness of his injury, heh.) He might want to try it, but on the other hand, he wouldn't want to deliberately endanger Beau's life.

I'll ponder on exactly how to work it out. Meanwhile, I wanted an extreme hurt/comfort fic with my Persuaders! fic and got it. And the Star Wars fic is almost done, I hope. I got a little distracted by the Persuaders! fic. Hopefully I can easily touch up the Star Wars fic and post it soon.

Current Mood: exhausted

Help, I've got a crush on Roger Moore that will not be denied. Nevermind that his good guy characters usually always have many of the same elements about them and hence he doesn't fully slip into parts the way character actors do. I guess in one way, that kind of makes me love him even more, as I then figure the characters are probably much the same as the real person and I love the characters.

I dug up those four episodes of The Alaskans, gobbled them up, and want more. And since I still don't have The Persuaders! DVD set, I just watched two more of those on YouTube. And I need more. Both of those shows are hilarious and adorable. I wish they'd run longer, I wish Roger had played Beau Maverick longer, and I wish The Saint box set wasn't so expensive.

What do you want to bet that I will wear down enough to actually watch some certain James Bond movies? I have never desired to see a James Bond movie in my life, but a couple of times this past year I've been tempted by the Roger Moore DVD sets Wal-Mart has had. If they still have those, I may just decide I need them in my life.

I also apparently need to watch an old 1950s version of Ivanhoe. Wheeeee.

Someday I may take pictures from my DVD of The Last Time I Saw Paris. His character in that is a jerk and a creep and I don't like him, but focusing on the actor and not the character, he is so young and cute and the quality of the DVD is pretty good even though it's one of those dollar DVDs.

Originally Mom gave that to me when we bought it years ago because Micky Dolenz's dad is in it. That is awesome too. I wasn't expecting to ever have another reason to squee over having it. When I was looking it over and saw Roger's name on the case, I immediately set about arranging a time to watch the movie. Naturally I plugged the reason as being to see Micky's dad, and I don't think Mom realized I had a second reason too. Which is just as well, since as mentioned, Roger's character in that is not a nice guy.

I still kind of want to read his autobiography too. Normally I don't like reading those, as I can very easily end up disillusioned. It took me years to decide I was ready to read Micky's very colorful book. But I think (I hope) I already know about the skeletons falling out of Roger's closet, so perhaps I wouldn't end up with too many unwelcome surprises there. And he is, I believe, the only person I crush on whose book I don't have. Most of them haven't written books; the ones who have, I have their books (Micky and Richard). I can't find the book at the library or at Barnes and Noble; thus, the only way I can read it is either by Inter-Library Loan or by buying it on Amazon without being able to skim through it first. I suppose Amazon may have a few preview pictures, at least. I don't like to not be able to examine it all the way through before buying, but the latter would give me some secrecy; getting it through the library loan thing would likely mean Dad might become aware of it since he would probably take the call about it arriving, and um, yeah, I think I'd rather not go that route.

That's because there's still that slight uncomfortable problem that I don't think either Mom or Dad like him. Mom used to, but then was displeased by that movie where his character seduces a missionary. (I doubt I'd be too thrilled with that one myself, although when I looked it up, his character didn't sound quite as bad as Mom was saying. He did offer to marry the girl and Mom hadn't remembered that he did.) I've sort of tried to hide my crush on him and acted blase one time when I showed her Vendetta for the Saint and she wondered if I would end up adding him to my list of guys. (He was definitely already on the list at the time.) But if she isn't aware it's there now, she will be soon. I don't think she placed him when I showed her some clips from The Alaskans (they mostly focused on other characters, the screen was small, and the picture was a little fuzzy), but I have to show her some of this hilarious Persuaders! episode I watched and she'll place him then and most likely connect the dots between him and Silky Harris.

Ah well. I accepted months ago that I am crushing on him, instead of vainly struggling against it. I've definitely been happier since accepting that fact.

And I wanna go write a hurt/comforty and angsty Persuaders! fic.... Help....

Current Mood: giddy

I'm slightly worried to use this as The Persuaders! icon that everyone probably knew was coming, since it makes it look like Brett and Danny are different heights when they're really about the same height, but it's such a squeeable picture. I don't have the DVDs yet, and this was the picture I liked best that was available in the highest iconning quality when I did a search.

It has been a very busy and interesting week. Maybe I'll type things up in more detail later, but right now I just want to blog about a couple of things.

We got a couple of awesome coupons to try out McDonald's Create-a-Burger thingie, so we investigated last Wednesday. It was epic and awesome and it's hard to think of ever eating their standard burgers after eating one of those. It was sooo good. I had two kinds of cheese and tomato and lettuce and a special artisan bun....

The coupon I used gave a free Happy Meal with the purchase of a Create-a-Burger. The kids' toys this month were ShopKins and Rabbids. I rather abhor Rabbids. I knew nothing of ShopKins, but anything sounded better than Rabbids.

I waited until I got home from our little shopping trip before I took the toys out of the bag to examine them fully. Apparently they're inanimate objects with faces. I got a ring and a mirror, and they came in a plastic bag (which, oddly enough, didn't have a face). I'm such a sentimental slob that I found the things utterly adorable. I looked at the available ones at Wal-Mart when we were there next, but I didn't find them as compelling. They're much smaller than the McDonald's toys, interestingly, and the current line is anthropomorphic food, which I ... really kind of don't like. Then it makes me uncomfortable thinking of eating food if I'm picturing everything from cheese to ice cream having faces and being alive. Um, no.

Actually, I kind of liked the McDonald's ones so much that I kind of wish I could get more of theirs. But I don't have the money to spend on that. (Plus, I guess they'll probably be gone now if they were December's toys.) They were really high-quality, though, and I was really impressed.

I got some awesome Build-a-Bear gift cards from Ladyamberjo and Lisa, and then the store sent me a $10 off thingie that was only good for this week. So I was worried about getting there and being able to use the certificate/coupon thing. Dad doesn't like to go out for just one thing. There's several things we need to do up there, but last night he finally agreed we could go up and we were borrowing a car again and we had to have it back by a certain time. Our car went kerplunk again earlier this month and the only way we've been able to get around is by borrowing a friend's car. Gah.

The store was so extremely crowded that it proved impossible to go anywhere else. I swear, I have never seen it that crowded except before Christmas. I didn't think it would be so active after Christmas! But I was able to get Shining Armor, as I hoped. I also checked out the new Pikachu. I was surprised he was $28 instead of $25 (yikes), but he looks really high-quality too. I'm considering getting him, depending on when Muffins is reissued. I still have plenty of gift card money and another coupon good through part of February. Meanwhile, my Funrise Cadance is perfectly in scale with Shining Armor, as I'd hoped, and she looks so happy to have him here at last.

Among the things I watched for Christmas was Mickey's Christmas Carol, which got me thinking a lot about Scrooge McDuck and Alan Young and how awesome it is that Alan still voices Scrooge. I can hardly believe that they really won't use him on this DuckTales reboot. Terrance McGovern says that everyone is being replaced. That is sacrilege. Why not use anyone who's still around and interested from the old days? I think I need to look into Terrance's Facebook; he sounds adorable. I read the blurb where he was talking about everyone being replaced and he said he hadn't told Launchpad yet. Launchpad was out in the garage working on the Thunderquack. I love someone like that who really cares about the characters they play, instead of just considering it a job. I can't imagine anyone else bringing Launchpad or Scrooge to life, honestly.

They used Alan Young for Scrooge just earlier this year, in some silly Mickey Mouse cartoon. He only had a line or two, but it was so wonderful to hear him again! He sounds just the same; it's incredible! He's 96 and still kicking. So, so awesome.

Apparently there's a series of Mickey Mouse cartoons airing now. They use a pretty retro style for the characters; Mickey only wears shorts and shoes, for instance. And it's some strange slapstick thing like old cartoons were. I read an episode guide and one episode said Mickey loses his ears.... Um, WTH? Mickey isn't Felix the Cat. But so I don't think I'd go much for the show. I didn't cotton a whole lot to the episode I watched. Goofy fell in love and Mickey and Donald were trying to help him, only at the end they find out he's in love with the sandwich the waitress was holding and not the waitress. The episode ended with a marriage ceremony and being pronounced "husband and sandwich." Goofy then ate the sandwich. It was so, so weird and stupid. But I have to admit, Mickey and Donald exclaiming, "He's in love with a sandwich????!!!!" was kind of epically priceless. ROTFLOL.

Another thing I didn't like a whole lot was that they kind of simplified Scrooge's character. He acted more like his namesake, LOL. He promptly kicked everyone out when Donald asked for money. I think the DuckTales version would have started choking on his tea and exclaimed, "WHAT???!!!" But regardless, it was so good to hear Alan again, and I'm so glad they had Scrooge wear blue, like on DuckTales. In the comics it's usually red.

If the whole cast is really being replaced for the DuckTales reboot, the only good thing about it is that there will hopefully be new merchandise. Maybe I can finally get a Scrooge plushie. I tried to get one years ago, when I got Darkwing, but I lost the auction.

Current Mood: contemplative

So the other day I decided to try the first episode of The Persuaders! to see how it all began. I had assumed both characters were probably equally distasteful of each other, but while Danny definitely disliked Brett, Brett actually didn't seem to dislike Danny, merely to find him an annoyance. And Brett was actually the one who seemed to behave the most jerkish of the two, which I was a little disappointed by. Of course, Danny was being a little pushy about the bartender including two olives in Brett's drink instead of one, but he seemed to honestly be trying to be friendly and share the version of the drink he liked, even though Brett had previously irritated him. (On the other hand, it's possible Danny really was trying to be cheeky.) And then it's Danny who actually wants to fight about it when Brett absolutely doesn't want the drink that way, ROTFLOL. So Danny is definitely being immature even though Brett is being a bit of a jerk. And then Brett is being immature too when he agrees to the fight even though he really hadn't wanted one.

What's interesting, however, is that even while they're fighting and immediately afterward, they're not hating each other; they're starting right in with the banter that they developed through the rest of the series. You can immediately see that there's something awesome here, and by the end of the first episode they seem to be on the path to genuinely liking each other. I love how the episode ends with a callback to earlier, when Brett gets in the elevator and the doors shut before Danny can get in. At the end, it happens again, only then Brett opens the doors and tells him to come on in, he isn't going to leave Danny standing out there. Squeeee. I can think of other shows that would have just had Brett keep Danny out of the elevator again and leave it on that obnoxious note, so to end in a squeeable way thrilled me indeed.

I think I've seen three full episodes now and pieces of a couple of others. (Then Adobe Flash finked out and made it impossible to go on. But it and other things are updated now and Flash has been working a lot better since then.) I've seen more than enough to know that I must own this show, so maybe I won't watch any more and just focus on trying to get the DVD set as soon as possible. This series is just overflowing with friendship squee! The other episode I saw had the bad guys kidnap Brett and hypnotize him to obey their commands, and poor Brett instead thinks there's a double of him doing these things because he just doesn't remember. At one point he attacks Danny and they have a huge fight in an alley. Danny shows up the next morning angry, haunted, and hurt, saying Brett tried to kill him. Brett honestly doesn't remember and insists it was the double. Finally Danny figures out what's going on and has to rush to stop Brett from killing a businessman the bad guys are trying to knock off. I am so in love with this show.

I've also been having a conversation with a friend that has included some talk of the All Dogs Go to Heaven franchise. I have to admit, while in the past I was all over the TV series, I haven't been as enthusiastic about it for years. I am still amused by the detective/spy parodies, but even with them, there's really no comparison with the depth of the first film.

This is basically what I've been thinking lately:

Charlie Barkin in the first film is wow, quite a dark character, actually: a wild crook and a gambler who becomes obsessed with the idea of taking revenge on Carface after Carface tries to murder him. He's boistrous, loud, and loves to live a riotous life. But he still has a heart deep down, even if he is loathe to admit it. Frankly, he reminds me of the way I've fleshed out the Snakes Tolliver character.

Charlie Barkin in all other parts of the franchise has been lightened to varying degrees to make him more kid-friendly. It's like the writers of the second movie and the TV series kind of are aware of the basic parts of Charlie's personality, but they don't put them together quite right and thus, don't create the same character. On the one hand, I can kind of see how first movie Charlie might get bored of Heaven eventually, and yet, it's disappointing to think about because he was supposed to be okay with being there by the end of movie 1 (and it seemed like he was going to liven up Heaven in very interesting ways). Now, perhaps his attempts to do so kind of epically failed and he grew bored, but I really don't think that was Don Bluth's intention with the character and it made me kind of sad. (That said, I did love that he got a second chance at life at the end of the second film.)

The TV series is basically standard cartoon fare and mostly has the kind of plots that you can find in many other sources, even a Freaky Friday episode. Which, when you think about it, makes very little sense. Charlie and Itchy lived together in an OLD CAR for who knows how long and they apparently didn't have any problems. But when they have a whole apartment to move around in, suddenly they can't abide each other's living habits and Anabelle has to switch them to teach them a lesson? I suppose one could argue that having a much bigger space made them spread out a lot more and be more "in your face" with their habits, but it's definitely started to make me scratch my head in confusion.

I also have a very hard time imagining first movie Charlie doing something dumb like creating copies of himself to take care of various things he needs to do that day. He's definitely always looking for a quick solution, but somehow I can't imagine him thinking that would be a good one. Again, it's basically standard cartoon fare and could happen with pretty much any Saturday morning characters if they were presented with the way to do it. I doubt first movie Charlie wants to be a detective either, or that many other TV series events quite align with the first movie.

Of course, the TV series is really a continuation of the second movie, which was made by different people and naturally wouldn't capture the feel of the first movie. One interesting thing, however, is that I believe Itchy and Killer carry the same personalities throughout the franchise, or at least, are usually much closer to their first movie selves than the other characters. (There's still Itchy's illogical behavior in the Freaky Friday episode.) I always said Itchy and Killer were the only characters that absolutely could not be replaced by other voice actors, and of course, now Dom DeLuise and Charles Nelson Reilly are both dead. Not that I think there will ever be any other attempts to revive the franchise, really.... The Christmas movie was a pretty good place to leave things off and I'm pretty sure that it will remain that way.

Now, I also realize that people who didn't come in on the first movie may not have the same problems with characterization that I do. Maybe even some who did wouldn't have such problems. I used to not. I don't remember exactly when it was, but one time I was watching the TV series and thinking "... This is really silly." And I never have felt the same about the series since. As I said, to me, even the episodes I still like are pretty much standard cartoon fare compared to movie 1. That doesn't mean they can't just be enjoyed on their own merits. They should be, really. That's pretty much the only way I can enjoy them now. When I try to think of them relative to movie 1, I hit a brick wall. I know they're supposed to be the same characters from movie 1, and yet, they're not. If I think too hard about the differences and try to reconcile them, I won't get anywhere and will just drive myself nuts.

(A whole other can of worms is the differences between Vic Tayback's menacing Mob boss Carface and Ernest Borgnine's softer, more humorous portrayal. Even Ernest's Carface's freak-outs are usually funny rather than downright scary.)

As a closing thought, back to Snakes. The thought of trying to write Snakes differently so he'd be more kid-friendly kind of makes me go "...". I just don't think it could be done without dismantling or dumbing down his character. It's rather a scary thought. Although at the same time, part of me is darkly, dementedly amused by it.

Current Mood: okay

I try not to let silly things irk me as much as in the past, when after reading a magazine article that showed the writer clearly didn't understand the Marik Ishtar character, I wrote a long letter to the magazine pointing out a bunch of things the writer either didn't understand or didn't know. I doubt I'll write a letter to the publishing company Little and Brown now. But ... I can't help feeling annoyed that on the case for a set of Equestria Girls novels, they made some actual errors about Sunset Shimmer when describing the book plots. You'd think that a case of the books would make an effort to get things right. Instead they make it sound like Sunset is still a problem for the characters following the first movie. They have the idiocy to say that the Dazzlings is her band, when in reality she had nothing to do with being in the band and instead wanted to stop them. And they call her "always rebellious."

...

Completely aside from the fact that she had a complete change of heart at the end of the first movie and wanted to be good and not rebellious, the books actually portray her as even more insecure in the succeeding adventures than the movies do. Even in the most recent book, the Friendship Games adaption, this is done. In the movie, a key scene has Applejack making a remark that could be taken as guilting Sunset about her past. But Applejack means it as a joke; they are close enough friends now that such jokes can be made. Sunset half-smirks in response; she knows it's a joke. But in the book, Sunset takes it as a way to guilt her and show they'll never forget what she did in the first movie.

Apparently the publishing company will certainly never forget, or forgive, since they want to portray her so unflatteringly on the box and even accuse her of things she didn't do. **headdesk.**

Saturday was an extremely long day. Where to even begin? I feel terrible everything took so long, especially since Mom wasn't feeling well enough to go and we had to leave her home and call in every little while or so. But things can't fully be explained on the phone, so she was still plenty worried and I felt plenty horrible at the time it took. Even moreso since some of the time didn't have to have been taken.

So let's see. We made good time getting to the church and made it for the viewing/wake, as we were aiming for. The following funeral service was lovely and all the kids spoke, but gah, it was so sad. They were all so sad and some of them kept breaking down. These were grown men. It was moving to see how much they loved their mother (and for most of them, she was a stepmother, but they still considered her a mom just like their other mom). But man, it was heartbreaking. I don't often cry at funerals, but it was a struggle not to cry at this one.

The luncheon for the family and close friends was pretty amazing. I've never been to a funeral luncheon like that before. It was Mexican food. There were giant tortillas to fill with beans, chicken, cheeeeese, salsa, avocado spread.... It was so awesome. And there was ice water and several kinds of cake.

We hadn't actually planned to go to the cemetery part of the service, since it was even farther away and Dad just didn't see how he could afford the gas. But then my sister offered that we could go with her and her youngest daughter. We had to make a spur of the moment decision because everyone was leaving right then. I was worried to go with someone else, since then we'd be captive to their whims, but I could tell Dad really wanted to go to the cemetery, and I did too, really, if we could manage it. And I hoped it wouldn't take too long afterwards to come back to the car. So I figured we'd better try it. He left the decision up to me and I didn't want to be responsible for Dad not getting to go.

She didn't seem to know her way around too well for some reason, but her daughter set up the Google Maps app on the phone and used that to guide her up to the city where the burial would be. This was where we all used to live, and the cemetery is one of my favorites ever. It's so huge and old and mysterious.

The burial plot was in the newer section, so we drove over there, my sister got us to the wrong burial service even though we told her it was by the fence, and we had to try again. That time it went right and we arrived early.

I was surprised not to see the jagged triangular headstone in the area. I had thought it was right near the family plots in that area. Since there was a little extra time, I wandered off to find it. That thing creeped me out so bad as a kid, but it morbidly intrigued me too. It's just so unique. And then it's also creepy to me because from a distance, the only thing you can see written on it is the surname going vertically down the stone. The name is unusual and it's similar to the name of an aunt (just minus one letter), which only adds to the unsettling nature of it. I've tried to put it in every cemetery picture I've drawn (albeit I don't put the name).

I finally found it, over near where some family friends are buried. It still creeps me out, but it was daylight and didn't seem so creepy then. I walked right up to it. It's pretty big in person; it was about as tall as I am. Of course, I'm pretty short (five feet even), but that's still pretty big for a tombstone. I wonder why they used such a jagged piece of rock like that for the marker. That would make for an interesting story, I imagine. It's sad too; the person buried there was only 19.

I walked back and they still hadn't started yet; they were waiting for the hearse. When it finally got there, we did a little graveside service and tried to sing some family hymns, but we didn't know all the words, especially on the final one we tried. I'm glad we made it to the cemetery to participate in that final part of the service. It was after we left that the problems started.

We needed to drop my niece off at a friend's house where she'd arranged to spend the night. My sister detoured a bit to look at my dad's birth house (yeah, he wasn't born in a hospital) and the old shop where he used to work with his grandfather. Along the drive up, I had remembered that I wanted to check Marshalls for the rare Adagio Dazzle doll, as she's been turning up in a lot of them lately. The only Marshalls here are up in that approximate area, and my sister agreed we could try one on the way back down.

After some trouble with rush hour traffic, we finally got to the place and I went in to look around. I was really impressed with the store; it looks really upscale, even though it's a discount place. I wish Mom could see it; I think she'd love it as much as I do now. I couldn't find the doll, but I did find the big Twilight Sparkle figure. I'd just been thinking about her and that she wasn't in stores any more. I had wanted the original unicorn one and had not paid attention to the winged version, but I finally knew I'd never get the unicorn one since she's rare and expensive now and I was willing to get the winged one. When I saw her at Marshalls for $10, I figured I'd better snap her up.

We headed back to where we'd left our car at the church. We got off the freeway too early and started wandering around. Even though I saw street signs that said we were not in the right town, my sister didn't believe it. We wandered around some more as it got dark and ended up in yet another wrong town. Finally we all saw a sign proclaiming the name of the place and my sister believed we were lost. She didn't know how to work the Google Maps app, but the directions were still programmed into it from that morning as to how to get to the church. So she brought that up, followed them, and finally we were able to get back to the car.

I suppose I really should have just said for us to go home then, since we'd been out eight-nine hours at that point. But since we hardly ever get out that far and there were sales I needed to see about right then or they'd be kerplunk, I could hardly bear the thought of just going home then. I really tried to hurry regardless, but it didn't work out that way.

We also tried finding some stuff Mom wanted for Christmas presents, but we didn't have any luck finding stuff for the adults. We did get the stuff she wanted for the kids, so that was good.

I checked T.J. Maxx and Ross for the doll and still didn't find her, so then it was on to Toys R Us. They had a 30% off sale on all Pony stuff, and I thought I'd planned I'd get the archery Applejack and that would be that, but when I actually got in there and everything was on sale, suddenly it wasn't an easy decision. I debated for ages over several things I'd wanted, couldn't decide, and then we had to rush to the mall to see about the Build-a-Bear discounts. I had discounts adding up to $15 off, plus there was a 2 for $35 sale on. Both of my discounts worked with that, which meant I could get two for $20! Naturally I couldn't pass that up. I'd planned to get Zecora and Teegan (the purple cat/tiger) if I could get two, so that was what I did. It was fun and the girls were so friendly and sweet and fun. And since Teegan comes with a tank top (as well as sewn-on underwear), I found some cheap swim trunks for her to wear at least for now. Maybe later I'll have money to get her a nice outfit, but right then I just wanted to clothe her good enough and save more money for other things. But it took a lot longer to get two than I'd planned on; it was about thirty-forty minutes later when I got back to Toys R Us.

During the interim I thought I'd decided what to get at Toys R Us, the two-pack with Twilight and Flash. But every single copy Toys R Us had featured a stray glitter problem. It was shedding off of Twilight's skirt and getting everywhere. That didn't seem appealing at all, so I wondered if I'd rather get the characters separately and buy a Twilight without that skirt. I turned my attention more fully to the two-pack I'd tried to get in the summer, with Sonata and Aria from the second movie. There were only two copies of those, they're phasing out, and with the sale they were only $13.99. That was definitely the best deal. (Well, actually, the best deal was Photo Finish and her two band members, but I don't really know those characters other than Photo Finish herself. They don't even have any dialogue.) So I preferred Sonata and Aria. I still debated for a moment, feeling guilty as always to get antagonists, but I knew I really wanted them. They bicker like sisters, which makes me have a certain fondness for them. Plus, I knew I probably wouldn't be able to find the set before long. And I have a chance to get the Adagio doll from someone on the forum, so I wanted to have the other girls in the band right ready in case I could. It would be too sad not to have the whole group.

(Also, I have plans for a story where Sunset finds them post-movie and tries to extend friendship to them. One thing I did like in the book version of the second movie was that she felt some pity for them. I can definitely picture that, since Sunset had some similar goals of wanting to be popular/well-liked.)

With that taken care of at last, I wanted to just try one more Wal-Mart looking for Sunset Shimmer. (We'd tried one around the time we got the stuff for Mom.) That was a fizzle, of course. We had planned to try one more store looking for DVDs for the adults, but it was so late by then and I was exhausted and panicking, knowing Mom would be so upset and worried that it was taking so long. So we went home, arriving over twelve hours after leaving home. GAH. Mom didn't like the long time we'd been gone one bit, but she did like seeing what I'd brought back and was happy I'd been able to get those items, so that made me feel a little better.

I felt awful that I was too exhausted to stay up for long with Ladyamberjo and JP, though. That's the night I chat with them and Ladyamberjo and I have had all kinds of trouble having a conversation the last several weeks. And of course, on the night when Ladyamberjo tried extra hard to be available and awake, I'm so tired I'm falling over in the chair.

With weather reports of storms coming up this week, we decided we needed to look for the other DVDs on Tuesday. That was just two towns over. We left earlier than we do sometimes and spent the latter part of the afternoon checking out the DVDs at K-Mart and ShopKo. I also discovered that K-Mart's two-packs of Twilight and Flash are glitter-free and gorgeous, so I'm back to wanting the two-pack again and not to get the characters separately. I wonder if it would be worth paying full-price for it to get a nice glitter-free one.

I still couldn't find Sunset Shimmer, but I did at last find a good Scootaloo at Wal-Mart! All legs were the same length and her face wasn't shaped weird (yes, those are problems with Funrise sometimes), so I decided I should get her.

Also, I very randomly saw the 12-inch Applebloom at ShopKo. It was frustrating, because from a distance I momentarily thought she was Sunset. Sigh. But it was interesting to see a rare character turn up at ShopKo, of all places. ShopKo doesn't even have any Friendship Games dolls yet! I wonder if seeing her is possibly a good sign. Scootaloo just started showing up last month, and now an Applebloom.... Maybe, possibly, Sunset will still come? I don't hold out much hope of that, though. And I still wish I had taken that person up on her offer to get one for me in the summer. I was worried about shipping costs and I was fully convinced back then that we were just about to get her for fall stock. And then we didn't.

Well, anyway, we had some good luck with the DVDs, and I got a couple of Christmas presents, and it was a pretty nice little outing. We got back in time for me to chat with Crystal.

I also had good luck with one of my survey companies and got an Amazon gift card again already! I got a couple more Christmas presents with it, as well some more Get Smart for myself. Hopefully it will arrive in time for me to send one of the presents on and have it arrive before Christmas....

I also discovered that I need to watch every episode of The Persuaders!, ohmygoshsquee. It's wonderful! I plan to buy the DVD set with my next gift card. Meantime, I found it on YouTube and watched an episode in the morning. The friendship between the main characters is glorious, and it's even more awesome because they start out hating each other, and they go from that to really caring about each other and being really close friends. It's such a shame it only ran one season. It should satisfy my Roger Moore withdrawal nicely. I love his character, and the friendship with Tony Curtis's character, and I won't be surprised if I want to write fanfic somewhere down the line. As much as I love Simon Templar, he's a loner, and it's harder for me to relate to writing for loners if they don't have one good friend or family member to interact with. And if they're the only steady character in the cast. Then they work better in crossover fics. I really love to write about friendships. (Plus, I still worry about the fact that I prefer the TV show Simon while the few fanficcers prefer the book Simon. I'm still going to write that one fic with Simon appearing to be dead and Inspector Teal reacting to it, though. Then it flashes back to tell what led up to it, comes back to the present, and of course Simon will be alright when the drug wears off.)

I also became obsessed with the song Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men. It's absolutely haunting and gorgeous. I'm thrilled Ladyamberjo found that song and shared it with me! I am totally going to want to write a fic based around it at some point, although right now I'm unsure what characters such a fic would involve. I'd also like to sing it, but I don't know how well it would go over if I tried recording me singing it, since it really does need to be a duet.

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Home for the Holidays---Perry Como

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April 2017

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Page Summary

Roger characters.
Friendships and crime-fighting
Weird....
OHMYGOSHSQUEEE!
No more new Persuaders!, sniffle.
... Help....
Lalaloopsy
Maverick plunnie
I'm in trouble....
ShopKins. Interesting.
The Persuaders! and All Dogs Go to Heaven thoughts
What a long day.

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Page generated Aug. 17th, 2025 08:10 pm

Ramblings and Musings of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

We were so carefree then, our hearts were on a cloud....

Entries tagged with the persuaders!

Roger characters.

Friendships and crime-fighting

Weird....

OHMYGOSHSQUEEE!

No more new Persuaders!, sniffle.

... Help....

Lalaloopsy

Maverick plunnie

I'm in trouble....

ShopKins. Interesting.

The Persuaders! and All Dogs Go to Heaven thoughts

What a long day.