Another fantastic episode of Crystal this week, with the debut of a new version of the OP song, a brand new ED song, and new transformations for Uranus and Neptune! I'm still not totally in love with the OP, but I gotta say the new singer is a lot better than the person who sang it before. Now I kinda like it. The new ED is sung by Chibi-Usa and is SUPER CUTE, although I can't help but feel that it seems really out of place when this season is so dark. The Haruka/Michiru duet worked better as an ending. As for the new transformations, they basically kept the same exact choreography as from the original anime, which is kinda disappointing, but they look really gorgeous otherwise. Moving on to the episode itself, the second half was actually really quite exciting. I think that was about the best battle of the series so far!( Spoilers for the very end of the episode and next week's episode )

In other news, I did something a little -- okay, a lot -- nuts yesterday. There was a listing on eBay for this very rare Crystal Carillon plush that can transform into Pegasus when you turn it inside out, which I've been wanting ever since I first came across a picture of it on one of my favorite Sailor Moon collectibles sites. The seller was asking $299 for it, but was also accepting Best Offers. Well, about five or six hours before the listing was set to end, I decided to throw caution to the wind and send in an offer of $100, never expecting it to be accepted but figuring it wouldn't hurt to at least try. The listing ended without me hearing anything back about my offer, so I assumed that was it. However, a few hours later, I got a message from the seller asking if I would be willing to go up to $130. I didn't really want to pay that much to be honest, but there was no telling when or if I would ever get another opportunity like that again. I mean, it was still new in the box and the only one I've ever seen offered up for sale. Based on its apparent rarity, plus knowing what other Pegasus items tend to go for (A LOT), I wouldn't be surprised if it was really worth $200-plus, so how could I possibly pass up the chance to buy it for that price? (Plus, I was still disappointed about losing out on that other Pegasus plush I mentioned a few entries back which ended up selling for $172.) So...I did! It's pretty much the most expensive single item I've ever bought for myself, but I'm calling it my reward for finally finishing Melting Ice. (Speaking of which, the last chapter has been posted at FF.net, AO3, and oyster_shell.) Definitely no more buying stuff on eBay for a while, though. My wallet can't take it!

Remember earlier this year, when I mentioned I had started a Percy/Penelope Christmas fic set during Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets but had decided to put it on hold until it was closer to Christmas? Well, even though I just remembered its existence a little over a week ago, I actually managed to finish it! Private Christmas has been posted at all the usual places, including my writing journal, oyster_shell. I wish I could have spent a little more time on it before posting, but I wanted to get it out before Christmas, so I hope you enjoy it as is. Merry Christmas and happy holidays! 

Gah, I really did mean to update late last week, but I kept forgetting. Oh, well. For those who are interested, Chapters 6 and 7 of No Longer Alone have been posted at the usual places, completing the story. I'm planning to post it over at oyster_shell tomorrow, if all goes according to plan.

Now, onto today's meme questions. Yes, plural. These next two questions aren't very interesting IMO, so I'm going to post both at once.

17. A manga/an anime that you feel embarrassed about liking

None. Maybe some I'm embarrassed about watching/reading, but not liking.

18. Favorite BL/yuri couple

Not really my thing, but if I had to choose... Kurogane/Fai from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and Haruka/Michiru from Sailor Moon, I guess.

New chapters have been posted for Melting Ice and To Be By Your Side at FF.net and .moon. I also finally updated my much ignored writing journal, oyster_shell . Just some MI and TBBYS chapters, but if for some reason you don't want to read them at the other two sites, you can find them there, too. I'm going to try to keep that journal updated from now on... We'll see how that goes.

*hates having to sign out of this journal to access the other; should have made it a community*

And now this week's manga review.

TITLE: Haru Hana
AUTHOR/MANGAKA: Yuana Kozumi
PUBLISHER: Tokyopop
RATING: Teen (13+)
CATEGORY: Shoujo
NUMBER OF VOLUMES: 3 (released as an omnibus)
SCORE: 6 (Fine)
RECOMMENDED FOR FANS OF: Yuana Kozumi (mangaka of Flower of the Deep Sleep and A Million Tears), romance, humor, drama

Link to "Haru Hana" Review

I had a strange dream today while I was taking my usual afternoon nap.

In it, I was wearing Dejana's Princess Pluto cosplay outfit.

But that wasn't the weirdest thing about it. I wasn't at an anime convention, where at least it might have made a modicum of sense for me to be dressed like that.

No, I was in Wal-Mart of all places, whacking random people on the head with the Time Staff.

Uh...yeah. Crazy.

By the way, I posted a couple more sm_monthlyentries over at oyster_shell if anybody is interested.

If anybody is interested, I posted Playing Doctor (my Fruits Basket .moon challenge and 15pairingsentry), as well as the first chapter of my Princess Tutu fic, Search for the Missing Past, over at oyster_shell. They should be up at FF.net and .moon within the week. You can probably expect weekly updates of the PT fic since it's already completed, so don't let that stop you if you're one of those people who don't like to read WIP in fear that they'll never be completed. I'd love to hear any comments you have about it!

Why won't your links work like I want them to, LJ? I'm trying to keep my writing journal all nice and neat, but I can't do that when you randomly combine links so they only link to one story, instead of the two, three, or four different stories they're supposed to. I've been trying to fix it for the past hour or so, but I think I'm just going to give up for today before I lose my mind.

On the plus side, I've found some holiday icons that I actually like, so now I have a full set. That's something, I guess.