I'm titling this as such since I have a story to tell. Whether or not it is read is purely up to the viewer; whether or not it is meaningful is also the viewer's option. To me, it means a great deal, hence why I am telling it.

In October of 1990, my aunt and uncle decided it was high time to take my parents and I to Disney World, they having been before and we not at all. It was for the benefit of older and younger - my parents wanted to go, and I was seven, and at an age where things might still be ingrained in a memory still fresh and impressionable. (also my dad needed an excuse to lug his RCA video camera and two spare brick-sized batteries around, but I tell you what, I am damn glad he had them. We still have the videos, and as tacky and unsteady as they are, they are fantastic.) Stand-alone, I do remember the parks, the rides, but only as colorful blurs. Only one thing remains, as clear as day, in my mind, and that is EPCOT, the Imagination pavilion, and Figment.

The pavilion itself was fantastic. I can remember riding the elevator up to the second floor, and walking through the rainbow tunnel, and the room where colored spots on the floor made distinct instrumental sounds when you walked over them. But oh, Journey Into Imagination... I was mesmerized. It was gorgeous. The pre-show where Dreamfinder introduced you to the Dreamcatcher and Figment (bless Billy Barty; NOBODY can replace his voice for Figment no matter how they try), then the subsequent ride through the arts, writing, theater, science, EVERYTHING. I remember the Dreamcatcher and how I loved how it looked, brushed copper and steampunk-y (even though at seven I had nodamnidea what steampunk was), I remember Dreamfinder, what a quirky fellow. And Figment.

Ahh, Figment. Of course being seven and an odd duck for a girl (Barbies and baby dolls? Pfft. Gimme dragons and action figures plz.), I instantly fell in love. My dad even caught me on video of the segment of the ride at the end where you ride around a Figment in the middle of a circle and around the ceiling you just see Figment in several different screened scenarios but all singing the song... I think I was trying to look at every single screen JUST to absorb it all. It always stuck with me, and no matter the spans of time where I'd "forget", or go without thinking about it, I never, EVER forgot that impression. That whole pavilion stuck with me, not just the ride or the song, or even the characters. The whole experience stuck with me, for years and years.

ANNNNND then we went again in 2000 and we saw what happened to it and part of me died. But I won't go into that here, though I will say, I have seen the newest incarnation on videos, and while it still doesn't equal out to the very original, I will give them props for at least trying to make it something of what it was. It's still a shadow of the grandeur that it had, but at least they made it look like an honest effort to fix the mess it was developed into.

Recently, with the advent of Facebook and being able to Like things, as movies, shows, books and etc., I flooded my own book with Disney-related Likes (TLK, Mulan, etc.). So occasionally I will get posts from The Lion King linking to a blog that now and then I'll click and read. The latest, a new TV series based around Kiara's little bro, caught my eye, so I clicked and read-NO I TOTALLY DIDN'T WHAT IS THIS THING IN THE SIDEBAR ABOUT A FIGMENT COMIC?!

I learned about it just as the first book had come out, the second one weeks from coming out, and the final three still in production. If my eyes could bleed they would have, but instead, they tear-ed. I also learned that the comic book industry is a strange beast. I was able to get a subscription to Figment at a local shop, but only the last three books First Printings will I be able to get. At the time I made the sub, Figment hadn't been announced to be getting second printings of the first two books, and both books' first prints had sold out at distributor level. Now yes, I am aware of the concept of digital copies, but you see... Figment means a lot to me, on a very personal level. It's both a ride, and a concept, that I hold dear to my heart. Digital copies are great, but physically having it in my hands is entirely different (to me, anyway...). For a while I fangirled intensely and pretty much pestered the everloving hell out of both my husband (who frequents said shop for Friday night Magic: The Gathering) and the shop itself for news of getting the first two issues in. I'd pretty much given up hope on acquiring actual print copies...

And then I learned that Marvel planned on secondary variant prints and that's a thing that happened and now I have the first two books do-dee-do-de-doo the end.

I'm aware they are second prints. They have little value next to the first prints, and are variants, so the covers are not in full color as the first prints are. But do I care? NOT A DANG WHIT THANKS SO MUCH. xD

Oh, and a Figment plush from 1990 because whydahellnot.

Sorry for uploading something trivial and non-arty (and WORDY wow) but I had to express my sheer delight and joy.