![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impyAG revamped their rewards system, finally, and as a result they sent out codes which I briefly debated letting lapse but then decided fuck it, and picked up Isabel's journal and Claudie's first book in paperback.
tangent.
Not sure what the fuck's been going on with AG and their books, honestly. The switch to journals being included with the character dolls was... odd, but I can kinda get that. Use the journals to get them interested in the character enough to buy another book. Also, it masks the fact that most of these characters are only getting one, two books if they're lucky. I'm happy they decided to release them seperately from the dolls as well, but it's still weird in general.
But the fact that Kavi's book was ONLY available in hardcover and that it took so long for Claudie's second book to be available (or did I misremember that?), and the twins have their joint book in hardcover, plus the lack of digital books in general is just strange. Buying books from AG proper has never really been something I did, aside from those that came with the dolls or during a good sale, but that really good sale was almost always clearance. But the digital copies didn't stop me from buying physical copies (please see Melody), and I'm fine waiting on paperback. Claudie's I assumed was a bit of a stunt because they got a ~name~ for their author and they were milking it because it got them good press. But why the fuck were we waiting so long for Kavi's book and then it's been in hardback hell only? People weren't buying regular AG priced books, what makes them think they'll fork over double that for a skinny hardcover? Pretty sure there was a wait for the twins to get their book as well.
Gimme books, AG. It's not that hard. That's right, this is about me and my wants, dammit.
end tangent. for now.
So. Read the two I picked up and pretty much immediately fell for Isabel, the character. I don't see myself necessarily buying the doll as I still think the eyebrows were a poor choice but like, she loves the Spice Girls and has her friends turn on her. How could I not love her?
Claudie was also a damn delight, but I did have an issue with her book. While Isabel's was her journal, and thus I expected a lot to be left out, Claudie's was her first book proper. Yet nothing is resolved and we got left waiting for book two. I could be okay with this if not for the fact that the book is also really, really thin. Like AG was speedrunning through the story and... I don't know why, other than they've been gutting their books for years now. (AG, honey, baby, sweetie- the books are what sets your company apart. It's how people justify the insane prices; they tell themselves the books make these Educational, and therefor Better.) I knew in the back of my mind this was gonna happen as I think Lori mentioned it when she read the book but I also didn't fully know until it became very clear we weren't gonna resolve a goddamn thing.
Meanwhile, AG's gonna be showcasing their Historical Collector releases, with self contained stories. I'll freely admit that in this case, I'm firmly in the "the past versions were better" camp because it means I get more stories. Sigh. Uh, anyway. Basically, good story, hate that it's so short and that I need to buy another book to finish pretty much any of the storylines.
This of course prompted me to go ahead and grab the AG books I've been missing since I had a giftcard and needed to fix my SVT order anyway.
Well, that and work got real weird Saturday night. I can now cross stabbing inside the building off my work bingo card. Not entirely sure if that's wholly accurate, as I never did figure out if the guy got his light stabbing inside the store or right outside, but I'm counting it anyway.
Who knew I'd ever have to use the phrase "light stabbing at work"? Not me. I say light stabbing because from what I've been able to glean from A, it sounds like he got stabbed/slashed on his upper arm, so it's not like someone got gutted at work. (no, I do not wish to have to cross that one off, thanks.) But I also don't want to downplay the whole dude got attacked angle either because wtf.
Sometime a little after 1:30, I heard the pharmacist call out to A from the front of the store, either to ring him up or to ring up a waiting customer. A and I were both hanging ad tags, but I was in the back of the store on the farthest aisle from the registers. A few minutes after that, I heard two voices yelling at one another- one male, one female. The woman kept saying something about wanting her phone back but I never really heard him. About the second or third time I heard that, I started working my way upfront to see if A was okay. By the time I made it to the front of the store, the duo was outside. I thought I heard light smacking sounds on my way up, but I could be misremembering, or it could've been unrelated.
I head behind the registers as A finishes ringing weird pizza customer up and she grabs her phone and calls 911. Turns out that at some point in all this, prior to me getting up there, the woman grabbed the dude by his t-shirt and smacked him, then dragged him outside. Not sure if the stabbing/slashing that got his right arm happened in the store, the atrium, or just outside. She runs off, gets in the car and ditches him. And her phone. Idiot. He comes back in (A's gone outside to check on him), is on the phone (maybe hers? Oh, the irony.) and is giving someone his full name, so I assume he also called the cops because there's a tone you get when you call 911, y'know? It's hard to explain but if you've done it/heard it enough, you know.
He's looking for his glasses and I look, but don't see them. A comes back in and asks the guy if he wants an EMS called, and she has to ask a few times because he's obviously in shock. He starts to say no, but A points out that he's bleeding and the cops are on the way and you're bleeding. He realizes this (he touches his face first, and at this point I still have NFC about the stabbing/slashing) and agrees. The cops pull up and this is all like, under two minutes. I've NEVER seen the cops show up so quickly except for the time Courtney was dating one of them. Never.
He originally declines to press charges, but changes his mind when he gets to the hospital and possibly the shock wears off. We're closed for about 3 hours because hey, crime scene. It's all very weird and A goes a bit nuts when she can't get either our SM or the next in line on the phone, probably because the cops want the footage from the fight but we no longer have access in store. Also, her shock is clearly wearing off because she starts to worry she's done something wrong and will get in trouble, so the pharmacist and I point out that she's done nothing wrong, and then I tell her that what she's feeling is totally normal but again, she didn't do anything wrong.
Later I tell her they'll probably offer her counseling and sure enough, I got a text Sunday afternoon about that. Alas, I was asleep at the time but still, it's good to know they didn't cut that back.
So, yeah. Comfort books, please and thank you.
tangent.
Not sure what the fuck's been going on with AG and their books, honestly. The switch to journals being included with the character dolls was... odd, but I can kinda get that. Use the journals to get them interested in the character enough to buy another book. Also, it masks the fact that most of these characters are only getting one, two books if they're lucky. I'm happy they decided to release them seperately from the dolls as well, but it's still weird in general.
But the fact that Kavi's book was ONLY available in hardcover and that it took so long for Claudie's second book to be available (or did I misremember that?), and the twins have their joint book in hardcover, plus the lack of digital books in general is just strange. Buying books from AG proper has never really been something I did, aside from those that came with the dolls or during a good sale, but that really good sale was almost always clearance. But the digital copies didn't stop me from buying physical copies (please see Melody), and I'm fine waiting on paperback. Claudie's I assumed was a bit of a stunt because they got a ~name~ for their author and they were milking it because it got them good press. But why the fuck were we waiting so long for Kavi's book and then it's been in hardback hell only? People weren't buying regular AG priced books, what makes them think they'll fork over double that for a skinny hardcover? Pretty sure there was a wait for the twins to get their book as well.
Gimme books, AG. It's not that hard. That's right, this is about me and my wants, dammit.
end tangent. for now.
So. Read the two I picked up and pretty much immediately fell for Isabel, the character. I don't see myself necessarily buying the doll as I still think the eyebrows were a poor choice but like, she loves the Spice Girls and has her friends turn on her. How could I not love her?
Claudie was also a damn delight, but I did have an issue with her book. While Isabel's was her journal, and thus I expected a lot to be left out, Claudie's was her first book proper. Yet nothing is resolved and we got left waiting for book two. I could be okay with this if not for the fact that the book is also really, really thin. Like AG was speedrunning through the story and... I don't know why, other than they've been gutting their books for years now. (AG, honey, baby, sweetie- the books are what sets your company apart. It's how people justify the insane prices; they tell themselves the books make these Educational, and therefor Better.) I knew in the back of my mind this was gonna happen as I think Lori mentioned it when she read the book but I also didn't fully know until it became very clear we weren't gonna resolve a goddamn thing.
Meanwhile, AG's gonna be showcasing their Historical Collector releases, with self contained stories. I'll freely admit that in this case, I'm firmly in the "the past versions were better" camp because it means I get more stories. Sigh. Uh, anyway. Basically, good story, hate that it's so short and that I need to buy another book to finish pretty much any of the storylines.
This of course prompted me to go ahead and grab the AG books I've been missing since I had a giftcard and needed to fix my SVT order anyway.
Well, that and work got real weird Saturday night. I can now cross stabbing inside the building off my work bingo card. Not entirely sure if that's wholly accurate, as I never did figure out if the guy got his light stabbing inside the store or right outside, but I'm counting it anyway.
Who knew I'd ever have to use the phrase "light stabbing at work"? Not me. I say light stabbing because from what I've been able to glean from A, it sounds like he got stabbed/slashed on his upper arm, so it's not like someone got gutted at work. (no, I do not wish to have to cross that one off, thanks.) But I also don't want to downplay the whole dude got attacked angle either because wtf.
Sometime a little after 1:30, I heard the pharmacist call out to A from the front of the store, either to ring him up or to ring up a waiting customer. A and I were both hanging ad tags, but I was in the back of the store on the farthest aisle from the registers. A few minutes after that, I heard two voices yelling at one another- one male, one female. The woman kept saying something about wanting her phone back but I never really heard him. About the second or third time I heard that, I started working my way upfront to see if A was okay. By the time I made it to the front of the store, the duo was outside. I thought I heard light smacking sounds on my way up, but I could be misremembering, or it could've been unrelated.
I head behind the registers as A finishes ringing weird pizza customer up and she grabs her phone and calls 911. Turns out that at some point in all this, prior to me getting up there, the woman grabbed the dude by his t-shirt and smacked him, then dragged him outside. Not sure if the stabbing/slashing that got his right arm happened in the store, the atrium, or just outside. She runs off, gets in the car and ditches him. And her phone. Idiot. He comes back in (A's gone outside to check on him), is on the phone (maybe hers? Oh, the irony.) and is giving someone his full name, so I assume he also called the cops because there's a tone you get when you call 911, y'know? It's hard to explain but if you've done it/heard it enough, you know.
He's looking for his glasses and I look, but don't see them. A comes back in and asks the guy if he wants an EMS called, and she has to ask a few times because he's obviously in shock. He starts to say no, but A points out that he's bleeding and the cops are on the way and you're bleeding. He realizes this (he touches his face first, and at this point I still have NFC about the stabbing/slashing) and agrees. The cops pull up and this is all like, under two minutes. I've NEVER seen the cops show up so quickly except for the time Courtney was dating one of them. Never.
He originally declines to press charges, but changes his mind when he gets to the hospital and possibly the shock wears off. We're closed for about 3 hours because hey, crime scene. It's all very weird and A goes a bit nuts when she can't get either our SM or the next in line on the phone, probably because the cops want the footage from the fight but we no longer have access in store. Also, her shock is clearly wearing off because she starts to worry she's done something wrong and will get in trouble, so the pharmacist and I point out that she's done nothing wrong, and then I tell her that what she's feeling is totally normal but again, she didn't do anything wrong.
Later I tell her they'll probably offer her counseling and sure enough, I got a text Sunday afternoon about that. Alas, I was asleep at the time but still, it's good to know they didn't cut that back.
So, yeah. Comfort books, please and thank you.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-05-10 10:26 pm (UTC)Also, major side-eye that none of the higher ups were answering their phones, at least not when the employee tried calling them. I've always side-eyed your management because you have horrible working conditions, but this is kinda a whole new level of neglect. At least they finally did right by your co-worker, but YEESH.
Sorry to hear AG is starting to be stingy with their book offerings as well as everything else. The OG Pleasant Company hardback books were amazing, but if you are telling me that these scrawny little paperbacks that AG has been putting out for years are now basically the same thing with hard covers, then no thank you. Books are expensive enough, no need to try to make even more of a cash grab on them.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-05-12 04:14 am (UTC)Yeah, the not answering was a big problem with the last SM, but I always chalked that up to the SM I worked with for eons being on call basically 24/7 and me just not used to the differences between them. Apparently not. They did both apologize and check in at various points, but still.
The new AG books seem to be even SMALLER books with hardcover prices. It's worse! To be fair, I'm gonna assume Kavi's book is either out of print or on its way out of print and that's why the price wasn't at all marked down, since the twins' book wasn't full price, but good lord. That said, I'd still rather have books as options, AG. Bring back my mysteries, dammit! Those I'd buy in a heartbeat.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-05-12 09:29 pm (UTC)WTAF, AG. I mean, we all know that you squeeze every last penny out of your customers, but this is ridiculous.