Mysteries and Meddling Kids On a Rainy Day

Began the day with breakfast, baking Ally's "Snappy" Ginger Snaps, and more Be Cool, Scooby Doo. Scooby and Shaggy are "All Paws On Deck" when the gang helps a friend of Fred's who owns a small-time treasure hunting ship clear out a sea beast that's ruining business. Hollywood beckons the gang in the form of "Poodle Justice," a popular show about a female detective and her super-smart poodle. Despite the pedigree of an episode being directed by a famous director, it's been attacked by a gargoyle that seems to have come to life. The kids have to find out what's going on, while Scooby develops a nice little crush on that pretty poodle.

Work was a lot less crazy than yesterday. Actually, it was dead for a lot of the afternoon. I rounded up carts, did the very few returns there were, and bagged. I did get stuck in the register for a while, including for the last 20 minutes of my shift. 

There were dark clouds gathering as I rushed home, but the clouds were sort-of broken, like Mother Nature didn't know if she wanted to rain or not. It spit a little when I was on Kendall Boulevard, but the rain had stopped by the time I got home. I had debated all day whether or not to get the laundry done this afternoon, or wait until tomorrow. The weather had spoken. It wasn't raining, so I figured I'd get it done now.

It was fairly busy when I arrived for an afternoon with such weird weather. I ended up using one of the expensive washers. The driers were available by the time I was ready, though. Maybe it's just as well I didn't have a very big load. I spent the time listening to the news (which was all about politics and the rain on its way), watching the downpour when it did arrive, and working on story ideas.

My next story after I finish the fairy tales will probably be a short original kids' story, based after my own childhood - I haven't decided what yet. After that, I'll either be doing the Star Wars 80's High School AU, or the 30's Adventure AU. I worked on the 30's story today.  Inspired by this aesthetic post on Tumblr, Leia is now an Amelia Peabody-type archaeologist, fresh out of the University of Arizona with her sweet-natured reporter brother Luke. They both want to change the word in different ways, but while Luke is content to be an intern for world-weary journalist Ben Kenobi, Leia wants to find lost treasures for Martha Mothma, who runs a museum in Los Angeles. Her current obsession is rescuing the priceless (and reportedly magical) treasures of the lost Kingdom of Alderaan from nasty Governor Tarkin.

Luke convinces her to hire Han Solo, a pilot with a dilapidated cargo plane who runs his own charter service, to take them to the site where the treasures were last seen. Leia's not thrilled with the idea at first. Han is rude, arrogant, and only cares about getting his share of the reward for the treasure. Not to mention, a couple of Han's former bosses make Tarkin look like a kitten. Tarkin turns out to have a rather formidable underling as well, the corrupt industrialist Derek Vader. And even after Kenobi gets into trouble with Vader, Luke insists on bringing along another teacher, venerable old Asian archaeology professor Yoda. 

But Luke and Leia turn out to have ties, not only to Vader, but to the treasures themselves and the magic they supposedly hold...

I'm really having a hard time deciding which one to do next. This 30's idea is so delicious, but I've already worked out most of the 80's story. We'll see how I feel when I actually finish the current story. 

I got very lucky with the weather today. I managed to get out of the laundromat between storms. It started sprinkling again on the way back to the apartment, but thankfully waited until I was inside and putting away the laundry to really rain. 

(And there would be one more storm a bit later, and at press time, that was it.)

Finished out the first disc of Be Cool, Scooby Doo while tossing together various leftovers for dinner. Shaggy and Scooby are devastated when their favorite baseball team might have to dissolve, due to a "Grand Scam" that's caused the ghost of their best player to appear and attack players. Velma teaches kids about statistics as everyone else discovers what they love about the Great American Pastime - and good teamwork. 

"Trading Chases" is kind of odd, even for this series. The gang switches up a typical "catch the Egyptian God Ghost at the museum" case by letting a museum guide lead Mystery Inc, while Fred leads a group of younger kids. It works about as well as you can expect. (Which is to say, it doesn't, and everyone learns a lesson about what makes a good leader.) 

"Be Quiet, Scooby Doo" also experiments with the regular formula a bit. Once again, the gang helps out a friend of Fred's who is guide that's exploring treasures. This time, the "treasures" are a beautiful crystal cavern found deep underground. The crystals are very delicate - even the smallest noise can shatter them. Mystery Inc has to figure out how to solve the crime without making a sound...and by deciphering Fred's rather cryptic series of hand signals.