Let's Try This Again.

It's not been a great time for Neth.
Kirsten's mood here is a great summary of why.

20-Twenty-Twee was fucking hard for me after that Hoffman Twins post.

20-Twenty-Whore was even worse.

Posts on the most recent things coming May 10th. Hopefully. Stuff before that to follow after.

I'll at least try. I miss doll blogging. fuck.

Enter 20-Twenty-Hives: Stop Critting Yourself

--Neth¹

¹Obligatory footnote. Along with obligatory "rent-lowering, youth-scattering two fucks a post."

My girl pinched my hips to see if I still exist.

Belated Holidays and what not.

I think not, I'll send a letter to my friends. A born again hooligan only to be king again.
~ Fugees, "Ready or Not"

*~*~

I've been sick and sleeping poorly.

Don't worry, it's not Covid. I stay masked. But it's been exhausting.

I'll cover Kavi in a few days and then go back to 2022. And 2021. And 2020 and 2019.

It's whatever at this point.

But I did get my Addys in holiday dresses, so I'm still hanging on.

Be here in a bit.

--Neth

this is just to say

Dolls in snow is kinda my thing every single time it snows.

 

(with apologies to William Carlos Williams) 

 

i have been unable to blog
the posts
that were in
the planning

and which
you were probably
hoping to have
for reading
 

forgive me
i had an injury, nano, 

and two power outages
the latter of which was so unexpected
and so cold

    

Nano '22 is in the books and my knee is better and Kelvin remains an absolute unit.

New post in about a week, barring any other issues.

 

--Neth

The Return of An Outsider and Regaining My Voice in the Fandom

Claudie Wells and one of my many sunflowers.
Finding peace where it can be found, some days.

Let's start my return with a confession. 

Sometime early last winter--December or so--I considered quitting this whole blog. Shutting it down and leaving. Writing a "goodbye" post, then packing up shop. Not taking down any of my posts, mind, like I did when I was removed from AG Playthings and felt that my reviews shouldn't remain on a site I wasn't welcome on. Right call, that. But I was ready to call it quits, and leave AG fandom to the next generation: AGIG meme accounts, TikTok videos, and whatever the fuck is going on on AG Tumblr involving book piracy. I'd go dark and just stay in my own little corners where maybe people would leave me alone and stop hurting me. Because people were hurting me.

I almost gave up my voice.

And to start to bring it back, I need to say that and several other things.

I'm being vulnerable in this post, but not too vulnerable. Some of what I went through mentally and emotionally is for the select circles who know the best ways to reach me and treat me the way I ought to be treated--gently, and with love and care. There's some things about me that aren't worth the energy I'd spend trying to talk about it on a public blog about dolls and shit, where any yahoo serious with too much free time on their hands tries to scan every paragraph I write and twist my words for their agendas and vendettas. 

But the truth is I almost quit, and I want to be direct about it. 

That's the tone we're starting with. And this post is not so much about AG or even dolls or toys as it is about me, the Gen X black demifemme human behind this blog, and what I've done to even get back to where I can write this. So if that bothers you or you don't want to hear that shit because it's not the tone you enjoy, then go ahead and back out now because actual feelings on "new" things this past year to catch up and "old" things to look back on in Retrospecticus Posts won't happen until later this week or so when I have the energy to do research for the posts I want.

I'm a person behind this, same as anyone else, and I ought to be allowed to be myself.

The rest of how I feel and where I'm going--as much as I'm willing to share--is below the cut, along with some random pictures of dolls that I've taken pics of.

Refreshing My Broken Soul.

 

sometimes what you need is plants, yarn, dolls, and an entire year and more off.

Sometimes real life writes the posts. Sometimes real life gets in the way for a year. 

Even the woke gotta rest up. 

American Girl Outsider returns October 3rd.

If you know, you know. And if you don't, you won't.

--Neth

It's a Cruel, Cruel Summer

 

it's been one of those days since may.

Me: *makes plans for anything even with Covid*

Plans: *severely fucked* 

Let's see where I am in October. 

--Neth

 

Rambled Opinions and General Snarkiness: The 35th Anniversary Party, Flashback Fri-Year, Stuff Down Under, and Whatever Else Has Came Out Recently

Party down if you ain't no clown. Also don't invite clowns.

Go, AG
It's your birthday
We gon' party like it's your birthday
We gon' sip Bacardi like it's your birthday
And you know we don't give a fuck it's not your birthday--

But it is their birthday! At least, it was. Is? How does a year long celebration work vis a vis a birthday? I merely give myself a month, and that's more to allow gifts to arrive anytime in the span around with the actual celebration generally a few days before or after the moment of Actual Birthday. I even redid the layout of the AG Wiki to celebrate--and because hey, it should have a nicer background after this long. Fresh coat of digital paint and what not.

Congrats, American Girl. You were born in a warehouse north of Madison, Wisconsin--one of the two places in the state that has any concentration of black people, go argue with your unseasoned cast iron pan, I was born there--as the brainchild of a former teacher who gets over-revered. You started with just three modified Gotz dolls with the Romina Mold, covering three overly romanticized historical time periods and accompanying books, and outfits and accessories that fit a single two-page spread in the Doll Reader magazines that my mom's crafty and very wonderful friend used to let me flip through because I was a quiet well-behaved kid who didn't tear things up and I loved the blue trunk with the flowers on it and the doll that had the collection for it.

And now, past the invention of the CD, DVD, Internet, streaming and me being Entirely Grown, you as a company are still kicking it. In part because the last twenty-plus of your life have been Mattel run. No one tell the PC Purists, you'll break their hearts and send them into apoplexy when you remind them that Kit never was a PC doll no matter what the back of her head mold might say. Go argue with Samantha's shitty plastic shoes.

This is an achievement, and that's me being sincere. Not every line of toys makes it this long, or every line of dolls. Yes, Barbie's the same decade as my parents, and I'm older than Ponies--another line that still lasts--and I am Classically Trained in that an NES was my first system. There's things that last. But not every brand of toy thing lasts so long. Just a few doll and toy lines born the same year as AG that didn't make it out of the 1980s, courtesy of Ghost of the Doll:

• Jem, truly outrageous and over by 1988¹
• Fluppy Dogs, which didn't make it to 1987
• Shimmers, also didn't make it to 1987 
• Sweetie Pops, weird little dolls that only did a year
• Fairy Tails, birds with happy endings by 1988
• and MoonDreamers, which had images in 1988 Hasbro catalogs but never went into production.
  

Every few years toys and brands are born, live a little and die, burst onto the scene in a surge of popularity and fizzle out a few short years later to scatter thrift stores and wistfully look forward to the day they show up on Buzzfeed lists of Only Decade Kids Remember. Even the Baby Face dolls I like only made it two years, and I didn't know about Year Two until I was older. So congrats, AG, for making it three and a half decades, and thanks for making my life a lot more brilliant. Can't wait to see you make it to four decades and beyond.

Now let's talk goodies before the next set comes out. I am trying to maintain this 2021 energy of staying semi-on top of new things. Let's talk party booths and doll cupcakes.²  

Honestly, I meant to do this earlier this month--and the Wellies Retrospecticus last month before I did this. All these delays from me are for many reasons--including realizing damn near all my Wellie pictures for the past two years are of such poor quality that using catalog pics is just better for the whole damn thing--but the major one is that getting my anti-Covid shots³ whooped my ass. Like whooped it. I still have a cough since the last one at the start of May, WTF. My immune system went into major overdrive, which is good, but meant having hot eyeballs and swollen lymph nodes and a lack of focus to do anything but play New Pokemon Snap which is bad. The swollen knots in my neck, not New Pokemon Snap. That game is my friend. I'm chucking fluff-fruit at everything. But yay, I'm immunized. And still wearing masks in public because even though I'm fortunate enough to be stuck and the CDC claims we can just walk around with our faces out, not everyone is safely immunized, some fools who can be are refusing out of sheer selfishness, and the pandemic is still raging worldwide and other countries can't get all the vaccines they need for their people for who knows how long. Also I invested a lot in cute face-covering wear and I'm continuing to wear it and that way I can cough when my issues act up and know my mouth is covered. We'll decide how I feel about sipping Starbucks in the store later. 

I digress. It's a three day weekend, May is almost over, and I have my attention together long enough to blog about things even if I smell of Halls cough drops. So Wellies later--well, Old Wellie Stuff later, because I'm covering the New Party Stuff today--and New Stuff Now. Including New Stuff that's Old Stuff! But not Bitty stuff. LOL Bitty shit. Go argue with a Safeway doughnut.

Party under the cut!

Get Vaxxed, Puppies

Filler Kendal, since the next post is wellies.

Me: I'll blog after my covid shot! 
Miss Moderna: go take naps all week
Me: oh okay

See y'all next Monday when hopefully my brain is not all the sleep. 

Get vaxxed. 

 ETA, May 9th: that next monday was foggy and unable to focus, though i got things sorted. by the time i wasn't fogged, i was getting shot two, and it knocked me on my ass. lmao, i forgot that any immunization fucks me up.

 let's see where I am Tuesday. 

--Neth

Rambled Opinions and General Snarkiness: Dat Street Chic Urban, Flying the AG Skies, and Sweets, Treats, and Other Neats: The 2021 Early Quarter Releases

We run these exceptionally clean and well-maintained streets.

I got two retrospecticuses--retrospectici? retrobungalows? we'll take that to the workshop--in and started sorting images for the third when a local snowstorm came in and delayed me and my buddies going to AG Seattle together, even though it was good for Maryellen in the snow for pics. Followed by sad over my last day in AG Seattle. Followed by concern over my family and friends in Texas because of their own freak snowstorms. Followed by March yet again I'm just saying, February was wilding and my brain decided every trip up meant focus was bullshit. I didn't even get my Valentine's day takeout dinner until last weekend.¹ Yes, I'm a bougie bitch. Get you a partner that looks at you like a warm cheddar bay biscuit and then gets them for you to eat at home.

Anyways it's now March and as of today, it has literally been an entire year that my life has been affected by this pandemic. "I'll be working from home for at least two weeks" followed by "actually, roomie, don't go on your usual walking trip out to the store this weekend, it's not fun out there" followed by "...all my thingies are getting super cancelled and the Costco is out of  paper towels, bleach, disinfecting wipes, hand soap, baby wipes, hand sanitizer, and rice. And toilet paper, wtf, why is everyone buying all the toilet paper, good thing we restocked last week."² Things are better but we're not out of the woods yet. Wear your masks, stay home, and stay distant. I don't care what your stupid state governor says about opening the entire state up to full capacity right now because their dumb ass wants to force things "back to normal." Fuck a normal. This is the equivalent of going "the flames are only on half the house now, everyone back into the living room to play on the XBox!" That bastard ain't gonna pay your medical bills and you can't contribute to the economy when you're dead. Freedom is not freedom to be a dick to everyone around you because you're weaker than a fursuiter and mewl at the mild inconvenience of some cloth on your face. And if you're like "lol that's what Texas/Mississippi get, backwards states voted backwards and everyone there deserves it" I want you to snort capsaicin up your nose like it's the 1970s and sauce is the new snow. There's millions in the south, many of which are BiPoC, that are being voter suppressed and trying to be heard, and they're not less worthy. Fuck your northern moral superiority, you fucking weeb. Don't make me overlay the Republican dominated states over the diagram of the Confederacy again. 

Ahem.

While I was working on old stuff and also being sad at times, new stuff came out with AG. I already covered Courtney's new stuff--all of it, really--in her own post, but she wasn't the only one getting the goods. The only Historical, true--but not the only line. Lo, have the moddie things been thinging. Due to the local store closure, I knew I wasn't going to see any of it in person and would just have to use website images and details as it came out, with the oldest new stuff coming out with Courtney and the newest new stuff having come out yesterday. 

So to keep on top of that, I'm still gonna blog about it. And Blaire's gonna have to wait another week for me to take my meds, get my new glasses to read better, and slam some black tea with milk and sugar so I can go over the deep interest of her not being able to eat dairy. I could try to do her stuff first, but then I'm delaying more and then more stuff comes out and then we're talking about 2021 releases in 2022 and I've got enough of a 2019/2020 backlog. Also I've got something neat coming soon and y'all might get the first new review of something in forever.

That and those three new girls are stupid cute and I'm trying to decide when I'll get them.

Pop under the cut and run these streets, site-used images and all. 

If Real Life Don't--(A Micropost with Nellie)

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Rambled Opinions and General Snarkiness: Kira B.'s 2021 Aussie Adventure, The Future and Past Two-Year Retrospecticus on Releases, and The Reason Anon Should Get Off My Areolas

Be like Kira. Stay in bed and stare at the wall.

I haven't done a substantial blog post since January 2020. 

I haven't done a properly set up review of items in my collection since Sept 2016. I haven't done a craft post since 2018. I haven't done a true Book Blather since May 2016, a Casual Friday since 2018 with Series One Hairdorables, a complaint department since summer 2018, a "Why I'm an Outsider" talk since 2016, and several other things in...whew. *mops face with sweater sleeve*

2019 got barely anything--certainly not any Blaire posts--and 2020 got two posts: the start of Joss's collection (and my joy over winning her for free) and my lamenting that I ever invested in a day planner by July, when I'd basically been no further from NethBae's House of Fabulousness and Sparkles than about a thirty minute drive since March, hadn't been in a group of more than two other people since that February, and masking up was the fashion of those not trying to die on a fucking ventilator.¹ And this is not because I don't care about American Girl any more. I love AG still. I can get things done on the Wiki, and snap pics for Instagram, and sometimes even sort a whole one bin of doll clothes! And Courtney was my 40th birthday present.

So why haven't I blogged in forever? Simple and complicated. Not only is there an entire pandemic throwing my entire groove off like an emperor in a Disney animated movie, but I have a wonk problem.

Wonk? Wonk. 

Cut for talk about my head, and then we can talk about Kira B.'s things to start to try again.

my worst purchase in 2020 was a planner

had a post in the works for feb 29th. started it. was gonna backdate it. still will.

the pandemic, racism, the murder of black folk, and general malaise from everything outside my front door got my brain fucked up since march 5th.

all my summer plans are shot and dead, but better shot plans than shot people and death by coronavirus.

i'll be back july 2nd.¹

wash your hands, wear your masks, stay home as much as you can, stay six feet away from me and don't be a racist.

black lives matter.

--neth

¹ETA: or august. or sometime after that. are you seriously the kind of person to lurk and spam my damn comments? must i remind you there is a whole ass pandemic out there? fuck's sakes, riding my ass about me not writng a blog post doesn't make my ADD ass post any fucking faster. cultivate patience. you're at home anyways and everything is canceled, you have the time to do it.

Rambled Opinions and General Snarkiness: Surfing In with Joss Kendrick, A Double Handful of Moddie Mix-and-Match, and Notes on the 2019 Discourse

Surfing In: It's Joss Kendrick!

Meet Joss Kendrick, 2020's New Girl of the Year! She Surfs! She Cheers! She Can't Always Hear! And oh, how I am buzzing to really tell you why she's my new darling in so many ways this soon into her release. 

We will not discuss my lack of actual review, talk, or new shit posts in 2019.

*gets glared at and someone points to the two--two!--posts I did in 2019*

Okay, okay we will! I'm sorry!

In the past year I didn't cover anything. Not Blaire, not the death of BeForever and Rise of the Historicals Again, not the Moddy Shit, nothing. Between the all new house and the all new other shit on my plate, I let the blog fall aside. I've been packing! Unpacking! Putting up trees! Putting up book cases! Putting books on them! Not having enough book room! Painting rooms! Washing raw wool and processing it and spinning it into things! Working on novels! Spinning yarns in both senses of the word! (I wouldn't be the queer you know and love if I wasn't doing both things.)

...And in all that, not blogging. And now here we are, in 2020, with a whole new Girl of the Year, and I haven't even covered the last one. Entire Mix and Match sets have risen and fallen in the time since I last gave a "new shit" post.

I will make it up to you, my beloved audience.

First, let's talk about what I've missed talking about that can be summed up in paragraphs and expanded on later.

Then, about the new shit.

*~*~*

2019: All The News That's Fit To Blog

What's happened in the last twelve months on the AG Front news wise? Well, well,  well...

 It's All In Her Wonk-Filled Eyes: 

After copious complaints from everyone--some justified, some not--AG has gone back to an older style of eyes. Dolls could be sent in to have their eyeballs popped out and replaced with new ones, so you didn't have to live with inferior peeper. You had until December 31st to get this done for free. Now you'll have to live with your choices in eyes. Or pay, maybe, I guess. I sent Blaire Fifi in as soon as she was purchased, but everyone else is staying the way they are. Including Luciana.

Maybe now that annoying Bring Back the Kwality account on IG can quietly tumble into a bayou.

BeForever Is Dead, Long Live The Historical Characters:

In October 2019, AG publicly removed all the BeForever branding from the Historical Characters. Kit and Josefina have joined the Cube Life with Addy, Samantha, and Felicity--wait, Felicity? We're not sure. Is she there? Is she not? She's in the catalogs but not in the stores. And what of Molly? What of Molly?! Who knows? Anyways. Now every character has their own adorable logo that emphasizes the year and their name, and their books have the illustrations back! Addy, Kit, and Josefina will get theirs in a few months, but Ellie, DeeDee, Nanea, Julie, Becca, and Kaya already got theirs, which meant all new pics for the first three!

Speaking of those books.

We seem to be missing some things...¹

The new books have pictures. And whole chunks of books and story missing.

Guys gays and enby pals, welcome to the Abridged Historical Books. Barnes and Noble was having a yoink one yeet one free sale on AG books right before the switchover and had the new abridged AG books, so Neth got them all and did a few comparisons since I have all the prior volumes. And what changed? 

Well, hope you like illustrations more than all of Maryellen's holiday story. Or Rebecca's. Or Julie's story about helping eagles. Or Kaya's story with Lone Dog other than maybe a chapter. These books said abridged and they mean it. Stories are missing, chopped, remixed, and screwed like a 90s mix tape.

AG answered the demand for illustrations to come back by monkey pawing y'all. Picture's worth a thousand words and I'd say about that many got cut per volume. If you're a person who doesn't already have the books in some prior form, first of all what are you doing with your AG book life, get them old books. And second, you're going to be a sad panda. I suspect we're going to have a new set of readers in the future who won't understand major plot things (for example, there is no conflict of Speaking Rain being anywhere but back with her tribe forever). 

Y'all asked for illustrations back, you should have said you wanted to keep all the words too. You know genies are assholes. Next time specify your wishes into the universe. I'm chill but others won't be.

Maybe unabridged will come out later. Or maybe we're all boned. 

AG Stores, We're Two Down: 

American Girl closed two AG Place locations--Mall Of America/Minneapolis and Boston/Natick--on March 20th. All the petitions in the world online didn't help and just got your data harvested. Enjoy the spam mails! The general thought is that AG, losing money hand over underwear and eyeballs, let them go. Or the malls just didn't want to renew the leases because whatever reason. 

My store seems to be doing okay. 

Here's the Free Shipping You Wanted, and Dolls Are Cheap and Plentiful
  
American Girl in June started offering standardized free ground shipping on minimum orders of $125 or more. Additional charges continue to apply for rush shipping, shipping outside of the US or Canada, and shipping large items.  

Then they dropped the cost of dolls across the board to $98 by October.

So you're going to have to buy more than dolly and a pair of shoes to get them sent to you no cost. Get her accessories. And then some shoes. 

AG Rewards: It's now by Moneys:

The AG Rewards got a revamp, with the biggest change being that that each tier is reached by dollar amounts spent annually, not points accumulated per year. Y'all were gaming the system too hard, now it's dollars. Each reward level will have its own unique annual reward certificate gift, and Berry level members also will not have points expire as long as the level is maintained.

The 2019 Retrospecticus: Neth Will Cover What She Missed

She's got a chicken!

Regarding the old new shit, here's what I'll do: Every few posts here in January,  I'm going to go over the 2019 things. Blaire, the All New Old Historicals, Moddy Shit--even if it's gone forever and your only hope is eBay or crying on Instagram. Hell, half the stuff missed me by. It was gone faster than Sam's Velvet Underworld Dress. I was too busy picking out carpet and bedroom funiture, visiting my mom and grandma, hanging out with cool people, ending up with two Kirstens² and hanging vertical blinds³ to get everything, and what I got I'll be okay with. Hey, Blaire's still around. Hell, Luciana kind of is.

I got pictures of it all! I just didn't blog. So you can still have my thoughts on everything.

*~*~*

Now, we can get to talking about Joss! 

Air over the cut and let's get this surfing party starty.

Moving a Gang: Neth's Fuc'n House And How She and Bae Got the AGGiRL Into It

The place looks new. Because it is.

*dusts cobwebs* ahhhh--dead spiders~!¹

*blows dust* oh god bad idea--hack hack hack *cough*

*one inhaler pump, a cold beer, and a pack of Halls later*

Backstreet's Nethie's back, all right!

On Gods and Yemaya, it's been a time and a half, hasn't it my loves? We've got like, three months left in the year--Inktober,² NaNoWriMo,³ and Holiday. And I ain't blogged but once to say that I couldn't blog yet back in Pride Month but good things were happening. I call months what I want, thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

Twenty-Bi-Teen has been a year of transformation for me in so many good ways. I have been elevated and rose and am making my ancestors proud. I've been working, I've been working, I get focused when that caffeine get into me. I had a Thing. A multiple month long Thing.

But working on The Thing meant not being able to blog here.

Yes I know there's new things from AG. I got pictures of them each release--huh, we actually had and lost a whole set of mix and match options while I was doing the thing, didn't we? They redid the AG core books while I was busy.⁴ Blaire got here and been here as my Fifi and will get her freckles later. Eyes were addressed. And if I hadn't been doing the Thing, I would have done the blogs. I'm just going to play catch up later, and everyone will be okay with it. Even when new stuff coming out--what you mean it's in the stores today look I will just go this weekend.

Spinning more than wheels.

I did many things while doing The Thing. I ended up with two Kirstens.⁵ I had visitors in the state that came to hang out--multiple different sets--while I did the Thing. I went to my con-work and MCM while doing the thing. Visited my grandma and mom and family. Ate the creamed puff and the scone. Went to the state fair as a demonstrator again. Hung out with friends in Seattle. Went to PAX West. All while doing the Thing.

The Thing I was doing?

Moving. Into a new house. That Bae and I now own.

Kirsten under the sold sign. To my house.

say what hit that cut

Busy as a Bee - With Fifi

It's Pride Month, and Neth is very busy.

Hi, everyone.

Yes, I've missed two releases. I was dealing with my brain, and as soon as my brain fixed a lot started going on everywhere in my existence. Everywhere.

So consider this a pause--but not a termination. Around August to September, once my life is sorted? I'll catch up. Promise.

Heart you all. Pay attention to my IG to keep up with me.

Enjoy "I have two moms and live on a sheep farm" Blaire Wilson Fiona Martin-Russell and her lamb Chrysanthemum.

--Neth

Rambled Opinions and General Snarkiness: 'Twas The Week Before Giftmas for Moddies and Wellies

Not a Wellie was stirring. Except she was. Because cookie dough.

I was ready to blog for my birthday, after getting decent shots of the new stuff that'd come out on October 1st.

I...did not do that.

Long story short, some stupid shit went down two days beforehand that ate the entire second half of October right up until Nano. Then I spent all November working on Nano, and making up for the fact that I lost my entire planning period dealing with fuckshit.¹ As me and my friend BWI put it, when both the Libra and the Scorpio want out of the birth month, then you know it's been fucky.

If I've told you what happened, then you know. If I haven't told you but you know I would, then you know how to get to me to be told. And if I don't want you to know? Then you ain't gonna know. I'm damn near forty, I gave up fucks for Lent years ago. Silflay hraka and die mad about it.

So yeah, it sucks that 2018 also was a low blogger's year. Which is weird because Twenty-Gay-Teen has gone on for what feels like 200 years already.² Sucks that I am getting out the October release *looks at her phone clock* two weeks before the Girl of the Year Twenty-Fine Bi-Teen launches.³

But then I wouldn't have this cool heading. So, uh, silver lining.

To the stuff that came out months ago and you already heard other people opine about. Or maybe not, because maybe I'm the only doll blog you read. And in case you're wondering, yes, I did get #80 for my birthday, her name is Giselle and she's pretty.

Rambled Opinions and General Snarkiness: New Tones, Veggie Stands, and No Driving with Cell Phones: The Summer 2018 AG Release Two Months Late

When you go on a trip, you don't blog.

AG's most recent new stuff came out in mid-June. And new stuff is probably going to come out in a few weeks to cover the holiday spreads. Why am I just now getting to the new clutter? Well let's see.

A week or so after my last blog post, I set my online life down and prepped to head out of town for about three weeks in the Lake Michigan area. I spent those three weeks with family, including a full fledged family reunion--and while I do take my laptop with me for long trips and mess with my social media, I don't really blog there because I'm generally either busy enjoying festivals and fairs or just enjoying spending time with family. Look, I have one living grandparent and one living parent, I get all the time with them I can and I actually half unplug from the internet. I got back mid-August, had to handle some other stuff, then after this weekend of getting my brains rebrained I moved the pics I'd taken off my phone and onto the computer to start this opinionation about AG stuffs. And here we are. August is hot, I can't go outside because the air is hazy¹ and so it's a good day to blog.

Before I do, all the AG News that's worth my time and maybe yours: now with opinions from Yours Truly, Me!²

1) That new Molly coming out? She might be a Costco only exclusive; in which case I might end up with a not!Molly just to get that sweet new meet. We'll see. The glasses are apparently plastic. Welcome to the new age.

Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu.

2) The news has gone out about modern collection retirements. At the end of 2018, Tenney-Sue is retiring and taking Nogan with her! Good riddance, you two, I'll get what little I need before year's out.

...and also, Gabriela and Z are retiring. Well. Gabriela I knew would eventually: she got two whole years, she's not been in stores much since Luciana came out, and she was due to leave eventually. Z, on the other hand....Z got boned. Outright screwed over by AG. And I have my personal theories why.

Z is a victim of Tenney's Shadow.

AG was planning for Tenney to be the girl of the year in 2017, quietly extending the line of white and white IDing Girls of the Year out even further than they had (with Lea as a little speedbump of ambiguous brownness). They hyped Melody early in 2016 as the new historical after MaryEllen, getting ready to make a big deal about all the good research they'd done for her time period and all the black people they'd consulted. But then there was public media call out in 2016 on CBS which pointed out both the retirements of Cécile and Ivy and how there had never been a black GotY--in fact, that out of the twenty-odd character dolls created only three had ever been black and none of them had been modern. And the company backpedaled. AG snatched #46 out of the moddie line, made her their new GotY and had her first book written in a few months, and tossed together something quickly to get that Black GotY out.

But there they were with a whole collection's worth of a modern white girl, complete with fancy earrings and a big stage to perform on. The stuff was already being made and had been. They weren't going to just let millions of dollars worth of product catch dust for a year, would they? Hell no. They had stories about songwriting girls from Tennessee to get out while people might still remember that Taylor Swift once sang country. They were not going to take that L on Tenney Grant.

So they created the contemporary line as an excuse to get Tenney released anyways. They had Tenney and Nogan--who we were already getting leaks about as early as summer or so 2016--wait six weeks and then released them under their new line to make it like they had totes planned to just make a new line of modern dolls. They created Z from their online Stop-Motion blogs, and got her together a quickie collection they could release a few months after Tenney--see, we're totally just making a non-limited GotY line! They even kept Gabbi out longer, to make that whole Choose Your Character a big deal--and tossed in Felicity and Nanea as well, to make it very clear that they were going gung-ho with pushing out six characters in only eight months.

But now that Tenney's had her little spotlight and all her stuff and Nogan have been out long enough that they can pretend they weren't going to make her a one-year thing, they're pulling her like they planned. And Z? Well, not only was poor Z the named face³ of the permapanties fiasco, but she had done her job of helping push the illusion that Tenney wasn't just GotY 2017 but held back for six weeks. She's gotta go too, or we can't keep this lie up.

Alas poor Z. You were done so wrong.

3) AG opened a new outlet store! It's in Hershey, PA and thus the air smells like Deth Food. AG would put their outlet in the one city I would probably puke my guts out in. Then again, when will I ever be in PA? They sell some old stuff, some exclusives that may show up oneBay or online or something--I only like a shirt or two--and moddie dolls! For full price. Hah you thought outlet stores were cheap always? Nope.

4) There has been some noted changes in production in recent dolls. The most noticable, if you notice doll eyes a lot, is that the eyes have changed their design since Luciana's release. Instead of the large metal weights in the back and a slight hollow behind the eyes, and clear plastic as the base, the eyes are now a different weight style and made of solid white so the white pegs can be visible. The change in weight leads to some dolls having a downcast, off center eye look, more visible eye whites at the sides and when the eyes are closed, and trouble when eye swaps are done. I've only gotten one new doll since the change⁴--Luciana, who I had to really have the eye whites pointed out to me recently, and had to look in with a flashlight to see the white pegs. So I have no first hand knowledge of the new eyes. I have seen some images of a wig swap gone wrong with vinyl peeled up, with and cracked and "squished" vinyl accompanied with hands pushing so hard the white person's fingertips are white from pressure, so I'm leaning away from that.

Has the production design changed? Yeah. Could parts of it be improved? From sources I know well and trust enough not to throw a fit: sure could. Would I like this to be looked into? Sure.

Is blowing up every IG post with the same four words helping? Hell naw. Cause this is what AG's comments on the official IG account  have looked like for about a month:

AG Official IG account: This month our monthly book is one of Gabby's! Read along with us!
Twenty people in the comments: bring back the quality!!

AG: It's Friendship Day, Tag a friend you're happy to have! 
The same twenty people in the comments: my friend says bring back the quality!!

AG: It's Campfire Day with Maryell--
Those Same twenty people in the comments again: bRiNg BaCk ThE qUaLiTy!!!!!11!!!!eleventy! WE HATE YOU FIX THE QUALITY BRING BACK THE QUALITY QUALITY WE HAVE SIGNED A PETITION TO ADDRESS OUR GRIEVANCES EMAIL THIS TO THE CEO HERSELF 

Hey, kids and kidlike adults? You're not helping. One bit. Take it from someone who used to work for a large corporation who got a lot of correspondence insisting their feedback go right to the CEO: The CEO is not looking at these comments on IG.⁵ You can scream "we will be HEARD" in the comments until you've basically tripped the spam filters, but Marketing isn't even reading those comments. You're spamming the mentions of a Customer Service rep who, after about the fifteenth comment she's read while trying to ask about National Brownie Day to make her 10 bucks an hour, is wondering if she really can't ask IG for a mute function like Twitter has.

Y'all will not get heavy weighted eyes back this way, even if they do come back. You're just being a ass.⁶ Customer service can take your feedback, and forward it on, and like the permapanties I suspect that enough complaints are likely to get things fixed on some form even if it's not back to what it was like before. But flooding the IG comments won't change things faster. Send your data once, be clear and polite and articulate your exact problems, then let it be. CS can't change the eyes themselves. They won't port your e-mails or comments to the CEO. They just can forward your feedback and hope that it gets up the chain so they can stop hearing about it and get back to the other parts of the job.

And yes, I know what the complaints about permapanties did to change the lines. I also know that those got a ton of noted media attention. The permapanty controversy made People's website. A change in eye weights and the vinyl being squishier haven't so far. Maybe you should try sounding less like a nine year old who just discovered they could copy paste comments on social media.

Onto the shiny things, with their wonky eyeballs and all. And enjoy long pics until I get a better digital camera. I'm not changing the aspect ratio on my phone for my general blather.

Rambled Opinions, General Snarkiness, and Crafting Creatively: Two Kids of Mid 20th Century Release, A Smackering of Books, and the 1952 Walk-Away Dress for 18" Dolls

A fancy striped dress was not one of the things released. It's one of the things I made.

Me, Jan 2018: 2018 will get me back up on the proverbial AG horse! I'm gonna get back on that blogging wagon! Luciana exists, I will get to do cool things, I will be seeing HAMIL--

Depression: siddown bitch, be humble *kicks me in the solar plexus of my brain*

Me: yes brai--*does not finish sentence because she just puked, curls up, can't move*

And that's where I went for four months, because the brain weasels are shitgibbons and resolve to ruin my world like so many mansplainers going "well actually--" and the very existence of election manipulation because white people were primed to vote stupid or throw shit away because they fell for racist, self-centered bullshit.¹

Have I done stuff since then? Well, yeah. I just haven't been blogging. Which I feel bad about. Let's start over again and don't hold my problems against me. As the song by Rag 'N Bone Man goes, "I'm only human, after all." It's okay to be a sad Neth.

What's happened in four months?  Um, well, a quick gloss. 

Gabbi's still hanging in there, even unto May, even if her bed is gone. Tenney-Sue still stinks. Logan is a No-gan. There was a short leak of the nu!Molly which was then instantly yanked down, but not so quick that I didn't put it on the Wiki. Luciana became part of my gang,² known colloquially as Space Girl Lucci, and enjoys things such as knit sweaters, Houston Town Pride (mine moved, I know more about Houston than Virginia), and Sailor Moon. The end of January had a purple moon--when a blue moon gets eclipsed.

There's the books listed for the GotY for 2019. Toys R Us is shutting down--and it's not dying from WalMart or Amazon or millennials not having enough babies, but because people like Mitt Romney murdered it and are looting the corpse to fund the rich-poor divide.³ And it's ruining the world of toys--AG sales dropped badly last quarter, but I try not to freak out about AG dying. MCM is coming up this year but I have family stuff to attend to at that weekend so I shan't be going. HAMILTON.⁴

I continue to spin yarn. I actually used some and now I'm not scared to use my own yarn. I saw Black Panther, added to the destruction of Titanic in high rankings, and now Wakanda Forever. (Infinity War what now? Nah.) My local AG store no longer has a cafe, because the economy is crap and AG picked the Seattle and Scottsdale stores to get kicked from having a cafe. We had a successful Secret Snarker, but I didn't post about my outfit because of brain weasels so I'll get on that soon. I went to Emerald City Comic Con and I loved it and I want to get a full pass for next year, like three days if I can dig it. I now have four of the AG Craft sets from the 90s. Janelle Monae came out as queer and I am a Dirty Computer but I do not consent to be cleaned.⁵

And such and such. 

Oh, and the part that's in this post: I released a pattern and there was a short AG release that consisted of a handful of Historical stuff and the Bitty stuff I tend to ignore. I did get to get pics in February. February. Ugh, my stupid brain. So this is a short post, since there's not much to yammer about. And at the end of this post, I'm going to be a little more proactive about my Etsy shop. If I can't pimp me, who can?

But on the real, I'm sorry that I made y'all worry about me. I try to let people know I'm alive--if struggling--on Instagram by posting fairly regularly. But these past four months, every time I went to go work on any blog post, my brain screamed "shut up, no one wants to read your garbage words about toys aimed at little girls,⁶ you're an adult, this is stupid, you're stupid, you care too hard, no one cares this hard when they're normal. You're weird and ugly and boring and garbage for being damn near forty and being so ass to the wall about girls' toys. You should be an adult and into things such as homeowner's fees, shot glasses, babies, long form stories about soup on recipe blogs, eating at Applebees and the stock market--you know, things that might matter to people. Or nothing, because caring about things isn't cool, South Park and Family Guy said it so it must be true." And as the span got longer since my last post, I kept feeling more and more like I should just like, give it up and pack it in and stick to silence because no one really cared.

But you know what? No. No, I can talk about what I want on this space of the internet I've chunked out for myself. And what I want to talk about in this chunk is American Girl Dolls and race and gender and sexuality and intersection as a person who lives the intersectional life by the nature of who I am--black, queer, female, and into dolls. At least one person cares, I know they do.

And if there are in fact people who don't like me doing this and wait for every post online I make to go spend their time reading all that I blog and 'gram and tweet, and hover around my e-presence in order to see me say something they think is dumb and run over to their own e-space to go "ah ha ha what a freak" and talk shit about me?

Okay. Fine. Let them. If these people really do enjoy spending their precious free time looking at me or anyone else doing shit openly and complaining that people are living, when they themselves could be using that time to do literally anything else in this span of life they have to themselves? I hope it's fulfilling to them. I'm too old for that shit. I been too old for that shit since the days of Cloak Girl and Barefoot Jimmy. Dolls and race and being queer and shipping characters and social justice are fulfilling to me, and I'm gonna do what I can to be a happy person.

Are you hate reading me? Did you stumble across my space, sneer, and decide this is fucking stupid? Okay. "Enjoy" this post and all the posts I've made and will make after it. You could spent that time watching Netflix, reading a book, editing TV Tropes, playing D&D, carving swords, spending time with people in your life that love you, or doing anything in the world to add to your skillset as a human, but instead you're spending it with me in my room in the internet for some reason I don't understand and frankly don't want to. You do you, boo-boo. It's your life to do with as you will. I'm going to keep blogging.

Are you reading me for joy? Did you stumble across my space, smile, and decide you want more? Are you one of the people who, for whatever reason, like and enjoy reading what I have to say or think or anything about dolls made for 8-12 year old girls? Do you understand that just because a toy is aimed at preteen girls, the company has been around thirty-plus years and like anything it has people who have grown up with them, found love or peace in them, and who have made bonds with others over doll collecting? Do you like seeing people find affection for things instead of only derision? Am I kinda cool? Did you miss me? Then hey. I'm back, and I'll do what I can to get back to the rhythm.

Go under the cut and read on.

Sleeping, Not Lost, Just Gotta Get My Shit Resorted

Why yes, Amanda is a brown-eyed beaut, thanks for asking.

Hey.

Hey, Neth.

You have been dealing with a lot of shit. It's mostly in your head and is brain weasels. It sucks. You don't want to go into it. You feel like every day you aren't on your blog is a day that loses you more people caring about your AG opinions.

This hiatus shouldn't have been til November, and you feel terrible that it has been. So whatcha gonna do, Neth?

...

What you will do is get up off thine ass and pick yourself up, girl, that's what you'll do, and you will get back to reviews and complaints and chatter, and if you end up going back til August and Nanea's release to talk about shit, then you will, and no one will fault you, because even if your stupid brain likes to say you're a fuckshit lazy stay at home lump who hasn't done anything worthy in thirty-seven years and that amounts to nothing, it's a goddamn lie.

Girl you traced your family line back to 1810. You can trace your matrilineal line all the way back for six generations because you found lost family. And considering you are the descendant of multiple enslaved people, honey you are doing all right for yourself. You're a walking AG magazine paper doll. You went to your grandma's 85th birthday party and you did your first eye swap and you found two different new gang members in Milwaukee and you had an action-packed October, and are out here living your best life even if you don't always feel it.

Also you are actual factual going to see the Hamilton Tour. 

Now dust you off, kiss your Bae, and hit your 50k in nano for the 13th year in a row, because you're a good person, even if you don't always feel it. 

....

Yeah. You are.

Sincerely,
You. 

*~*~*

Sorry for the shit, people. I'll get back on my damn horse in a few weeks.

If you want to keep an eye on me til I get off my effing ass, feel free to check the instagrammas, @libra.nethilia. I also have one for my etsy shop, which is at @hodgery.podgery

Be back post NaNoWriMo. I'm 30k into a rewrite and it's going excellent.

--Neth

Rambled Opinions and General Snarkiness: The Real Z of the AGGIB, Gabby's Glorious Art Revolution, and Wellie Wishing and Dressing (oh and Those Two Damn White Kids Redux)

The Real Z of the AGGiB. And my vainglorious return to not sucking at blogging.

.....

aye, fam. Been a while, huh?

So there I was, middlish of March, doing okay if not my best because what is wrong with me, can I uninstall or suspend some of these apps that came with Human.¹ I was anticipating the release of Z and blogging about it, saving my funds for Nanea, about to post about what I got in the Secret Snarker--I'd even took pictures!--ignoring the Two White Kids in the fandom more and more every day, and staying firm on my position that permapanties were not Satan's Own Dolly Butt covering.²

And THEN.

Everything went to shit on a Broadway stage. We're talking Peak Neth Distress, fam. You ever see that old Bugs Bunny Cartoon "Little Red Riding Rabbit" where at the end, Red's ass is over a shovel of hot coals and she's holding a ton of weight, trying to keep herself from falling ass-first into the fire? This shot right here.

That was my April. And May. And the first part of June. I would rather not go into full detail but between several fannish dramas, severe friend worries, family issues, more drama, financial instability, travel distress, the TV dying right in the middle of an episode I was watching and me not realizing this for like 10 minutes because it was right after the show faded to black, yet more drama, some people not getting it in their head that intersectionality is not about white folks feels, news that my only good local roving store is shutting down, stabs in the back, and bullshit? I got boned.

Thus I had...shit, what is this, fifteen damn weeks since my last blog post? *uses Time and Date to calculate* Shiiiiit. Fifteen weeks of just not being able to pull off more than at little bit of functioning. No one Mage should have all these problems, but there they was. Oh, and working con which, while a stressor, is mostly the opposite of fucked up. In fact, being at con and talking shit through with other people and getting my energy back that way is how I've gotten my head back on straight and able to bring you another fine Nethie blog post.

Fifteen weeks since my last one. I'd apologize for the delays but fuck it, I've been through too much shit to say I'm sorry about not being able to put dolly/fandom blogging higher in my life. The Universe is being a total dick, and my queer ass don't need it.

So what have I not talked about in AG News? Um....shit, a lot happened since March. Fuck me running. Let's do as much as we can.

Then again, maybe we won't.

First of all, the whole permapanties thing. So that was snatched back faster than New Coke. In May--about three months after announcing permanent underpants on doll butts, while I was still in the middle of my life trying to crush me--American Girl saw the news was eating this shit up over the controversy, that people left and right were throwing fits, that drama was turning into llamas, and said "well that's going over about as well as swimming the English Channel with balls on chains tied to all our limbs." So nah, they actually won't be doing that. And they will actually be doing a one time free body exchange if you bought any dolls with the permadraws and just can't suffer another minute with a pink cloth butt with silver tape waistbands, by damn it!

And the fandom rejoiced! And then ignored anything else we asked to be heard or spoken up about like PoC representation and the minimizing of racist/bigoted elements in the fandom forever, because fuck any other representation or issues we're having when everything's safe now for dolls to sit bare-assed on toilets and wear pretty panties. Fine, whatever, I don't change underpants that much anyways.

The Reals and My Feels! I want the books.

Secondly: AG coming out with books not just about characters! Books about history! Books about people! Books about real people. Books about Hillary Clinton and Rosa Parks. My little broken heart is a little more healed now. I need like seven copies of the Hillary book, with at least one to put in a plastic sleeve and smack haters with.

Making it yourself!

 Thirdly: AG is gonna soon offer custom dolls. For the low, low cost of Two-Hundred Dollarydoos,³ you can get a doll you design yourself, an outfit and accessory set, a ~Fancy Keepsake Box~, a six-month subscription to AG Magazine which works out to three issues, and free shipping! So far I have not seen the travesty in the world that would be a white skinned Addy Mold. They do, however, appear to be doing a light Sonali mold, and ugh ugh uuuuuuuuuuugh c'mon son stop it. The Sonali Mold has very ethnic features. Who's ready for a flood of blondie blue eyed customs all looking the same but being super unique~ and teenagers on IG fighting that someone else copied their doll by ordering another blond one themselves? Not me. I'll probably get one later on though. After other things.

So is that all the news? Okay. To the stuff.

I managed to get the pictures at Z's release, back at the end of April. And then at this new one, before my camera battery died, got stuck in my camera, and when Bae removed it found it had swollen, thus destroying my camera nice and proper but the SD card was saved.

...Oh, yeah. That happened too. So I barely got these pictures up for everyone.

God damn it. To the stuffz. Oh and some good shit. Today I'll cover Z's release, the Two White Kids, Gabby, and the Wellies. Next time--which will be within the week, I will do my best, promise--I'll do the new Truly Me shit.