Missy Watches Stuff
May. 4th, 2023 07:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miss_ingnoHi! Haven't posted in a hot minute, but here's some stuff I've been watching lately and my thoughts on it :)
I very much enjoyed it! I went to see it with my family, and my mom who doesn't know anything about DnD found it quite enjoyable, too, and easy enough to follow along. Personally, I was glad there wasn't as much fecal humour as I feared, and the jokes were pretty funny. The visual gag of the Big Boy rolling down the incline, like a triggered boulder trap, was friggin hilarious xD The gore was kept to a minimum as well, unlike other DnD inspired media (much as I love Critical Role and The Legend of Vox Machina, the blood and violence and crass humour are never my favourite part).
I came out of it vaguely shipping Edgin/Xenk Yendar, as apparently many others did. Régé-Jean Page made for a great regal paladin. (He seems to pull off noble bearing particularly well, I loved his Duke Simon in Bridgerton, too.)
The central relationship being queerplatonic man&woman raising a kid together, especially with the woman being portrayed as straight (she has an ex and a future LI in the epilogue) was great. And they made it an important relationship! Edgin gives up /everything/ he thought he wanted for her! Without turning it romantic at all :D!
Super Mario Bros (Movie)
TL;DR: boring as expected.
By which I mean, I didn't have high expectations for this franchise movie that was really more about PR than profit, and even it being a box office hit didn't convince me otherwise. I did like that they went all out on spending, I doubt that playing stuff like I Need A Hero, Take On Me, and Thunderstruck came cheap and I appreciate that they weren't stingy in that regard.
But imo it also exemplifies why the movie fails at being better than average cash grab: it's all hot air and brand recognition without any substance.
I will say to their credit, they did include multiple games in beautiful sequences. It was just obvious that these were picked first and a story patched on as an afterthought to hopefully connect the set pieces.
The Odyssey plot of Bowser being misunderstood and wanting to marry Peach was… fine. I guess it could've been more groundbreaking? His speech and roleplay practice with Kammy Koopa was pretty funny, but the outcome was too predictable to enjoy it. His lack of empathy or understanding of how Peach works made it more of an exercise in frustration, the immediate turn to full destruction to show his bad temper just. Ugh. Not even worth the effort of an eyeroll.
What I really wanted was to have more Luigi moments. Luigi trying (and failing) to escape his cage could have been a great character moment both showing an attempt at growth with too high a risk while simultaneously raising the stakes by showing the true danger he's in. (Also, my shipper heart wanted him to have more moments with Bowser. Even just having Luigi witness Bowser's true wish behind the conquests could have been a good humanizing moment. And Luigi is the sort of character who would try to advise him, in what Bowser could easily mistake for mockery or feel suddenly too vulnerable, so he gets shouty and punishes him, properly re-establishing him as the villain.
But I get this is Mario's movie instead. Ah, well. Definitely don't recommend paying money to watch this.
花琉璃轶闻 | Royal Rumours (TV)
I started watching this period cdrama after seeing it be not-recommended, and ngl I can see why. It's a bit superficial and has contrived scenes set up for shippy tropes rather than to serve the narrative, and so far the villains don't feel particularly dangerous aside from their rank and associated power. I got stuck on episode 12 (I really should have finished it before requesting it for f5k 😅 I thought I would! But then life happened) because of a particularly badly set up tropey moment that the camera keeps lingering on :')
What got me into it though was the premise, which is still great: a General's daughter is basically taken hostage by the Emperor to ensure said General's loyalty. She's an expert at martial arts, but her dream is to be remembered as a sickly, fragile beauty. Plus it's really important that people stop perceiving her family as a threat, which a daughter who has mastered Kung Fu would be. The male lead is the Crown Prince, who hides behind his reputation for being a lazy hedonist and womaniser to conduct a spy network to help his dad the emperor.
The way these two dance around each other is great fun to watch, seeing the Crown Prince suspect the female lead, and her slowly coming to realize there's more to him than the rumours say. I'm excited for them to see beyobd each other's mask and fall in love! Crown Prince already dismissed one of his spy's suggestions that female lead is conspiring with the enemy. He trusts her <3
Dimension 20's A Crown of Candy
I binged this series the last couple days in preparation for Matt Mercer DMing the prequel, and it was amazing 😍
The premise of Candyland Game of Thrones was already pretty fun, and it being a high lethality setting with house rules about minimum healing spells/abilities within the party and no resurrection, the stakes were already incredibly high. Brennan brought his A game with the political intrigue and twists, and all the players did a great job bringing the game to life.
My least favourite player character was Cumulous. He just didn't feel as complex or fleshed out a character in comparison to the others, more a side or background character for his gimmick. I know he basically added another faction to the party's (and Saccharina's) side, but even with his connection to Lazuli he felt vapid to me. Like a cloud. Heh :3
The Rock sisters were all amazing. The sheer tragedy of Ruby only ever meeting Saccharina after Jet's death, of Saccharina being the solution to all their political problems, of her being able to offer them so much when she grew up with nothing - and at the worst possible time, where none of them are emotionally available. I cried for Jet's death, and I cried at Saccharina's pain. I don't really ship anything much in this canon, but the messed up family dynamics I want to explore so much more.
I love Caramellinda, too. She's a great NPC who has to endure so much. The love of her life dying (and being in love with someone who never gives her her full attention, always juggling way too many balls, past present and future), having to marry Amethar while they're both still reeling, running the kingdom because Amethar sucks at ruling, raising two rebellious daughters who don't heed her, becoming in many ways her own mother—a pattern which she never wanted to replicate and yet—and then losing so much more. Amethar keeping the secret of his prior marriage ruining their status and leaving her kingdom vulnerable, the one she spent so much time and effort on, her daughter dying, Amethar's secret love child showing up and stealing their crown and she's supposed to be grateful for it, too, since it'll save Candia— watching with suspicion as this witch-queen brings destruction to her home. Finally connecting with Ruby, but only once it's too late, only about this interloper. And then Ruby chooses to give Saccharina a chance, despite everything.
Saccharina's past and how she mirrors the twins, mirrors Jet, and the tension between her and Ruby was amazing. Both Emily and Siobhan played that so well, I was convinced the final choice, the Prisoner's Dilemma Brennan offered them, would end in tragedy. And knowing that it so easily could have—! Siobhan's reveal that if she'd been closer to Saccharina space-wise she might have chosen to end her instead destroyed me.
Because Ruby chooses to give Saccharina a chance, offers her what she most wants: family. A sister. And it's not genuine, not yet, not really. Ruby chooses to stick close to Saccharina to keep a careful eye on her. And why should she trust this woman who usurped the throne, who she doesn't know? Whose destruction she has seen firsthand? It's a big ask and they haven't had the opportunity to truly get to know each other.
It'll work out because Ruby misjudges Saccharina here. But everything Saccharina gets from her family at this points comes with strings attached, and it's heartbreaking and realistic.
I have way too many feels about this family lol
Also, I kinda ship Primsy/Liam. I liked their interactions a lot, and the idea of Primsy growing in confidence, becoming the politically savvy Princess of the Dairy Isles with such a weirdo husband is hilarious. I bet Liam spends a lot of time just tending to the gardens, and then surprises everyone in court when he ices the assassins sent after his wife like the creepy gloomstalker he is. Because they forget he's more than the socially awkward, odd Prince Consort.
Grimm (TV)
I haven't seen this show since it first aired, and I can't remember at what point I broke off (somewhere in season 2? I don't think I watched 3 but *shrugs*). I was talking withtrobadora about it and our shared love for the Nick/Renard/Juliette OT3 when she suggested doing a rewatch :D
We're up to episode 10 of the first season and I'm surprised by how much is coming back to me about the plot and characters.
(I'm already getting some inspiration for fics. Like Juliette time travelling back to first season and confronting Renard about Wesen and his status as Prince would be fun, don't you agree?)
I'm stuck on the middle of the fic, furiously trying to resolve some issues to get from the start to the ending, which are mostly finished. I'm low-key worried I won't get it done in time if work throws me another curve ball (because I was planning to be done by now to avoid exactly this anxiety), but realistically I should get it done next week. I'm also eyeing one of my recip's other prompts, wondering if maybe I'll get a short treat written before reveals? Fingers crossed 🤞
Fandom 5k
I've started to separate potential fills, both a bit short of 1k, and having a hard time choosing which to go with. I'm putting the decision off until I'm finished with my 520 fic. I think it'll come down to if I can figure out a more concrete plot for fic A outside the premise, because I have a decently detailed outline for fic B. I haven't decided yet though because B is smut, and if I'm not in the right mood/mindset smut can be a chore to write and then it'll read as boring…
Regardless which I go for, I'm sure I'll match up with this recip again in the future, so I'll leave the other fic for then or as a treat if we don't match, I think ;)
Writing
In This As In All Things is currently on hiatus until I get my exchange fics in order. Sorry about that! The next chapter will likely end on a cliffhanger, so I want to get the one after done first to avoid long waits (tho I might reshuffle the scenes, I haven't decided yet). I've outlined the next three chapters or so, and am almost done with Chu Shuzhi's chapter, which will have to wait until the mini-plot in the next couple chapters resolves. I'm also trying to figure out how and where to end this, I keep realizing that I want a lot of different things from this fic and not all of them are compatible.
This is why I don't usually post WIPs as I go :')
Watching
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among ThievesI very much enjoyed it! I went to see it with my family, and my mom who doesn't know anything about DnD found it quite enjoyable, too, and easy enough to follow along. Personally, I was glad there wasn't as much fecal humour as I feared, and the jokes were pretty funny. The visual gag of the Big Boy rolling down the incline, like a triggered boulder trap, was friggin hilarious xD The gore was kept to a minimum as well, unlike other DnD inspired media (much as I love Critical Role and The Legend of Vox Machina, the blood and violence and crass humour are never my favourite part).
I came out of it vaguely shipping Edgin/Xenk Yendar, as apparently many others did. Régé-Jean Page made for a great regal paladin. (He seems to pull off noble bearing particularly well, I loved his Duke Simon in Bridgerton, too.)
The central relationship being queerplatonic man&woman raising a kid together, especially with the woman being portrayed as straight (she has an ex and a future LI in the epilogue) was great. And they made it an important relationship! Edgin gives up /everything/ he thought he wanted for her! Without turning it romantic at all :D!
Super Mario Bros (Movie)
TL;DR: boring as expected.
By which I mean, I didn't have high expectations for this franchise movie that was really more about PR than profit, and even it being a box office hit didn't convince me otherwise. I did like that they went all out on spending, I doubt that playing stuff like I Need A Hero, Take On Me, and Thunderstruck came cheap and I appreciate that they weren't stingy in that regard.
But imo it also exemplifies why the movie fails at being better than average cash grab: it's all hot air and brand recognition without any substance.
Semi spoilers rambling thoughts
The skeleton of a story was there. The hero's journey followed along the exact beats down the beaten path, easily and boringly predictable. Even the couple moments where I expected a twist they went with the more boring choice. There were some nods to Peach being a more active participant in her own story and Luigi being the damsel in distress, but frankly, it all felt so by route, jokes included. Aside from some modern animation techniques, I wouldn't have been surprised to see this movie a decade or so ago. But then, I didn't really expect a progressive masterpiece going in.I will say to their credit, they did include multiple games in beautiful sequences. It was just obvious that these were picked first and a story patched on as an afterthought to hopefully connect the set pieces.
The Odyssey plot of Bowser being misunderstood and wanting to marry Peach was… fine. I guess it could've been more groundbreaking? His speech and roleplay practice with Kammy Koopa was pretty funny, but the outcome was too predictable to enjoy it. His lack of empathy or understanding of how Peach works made it more of an exercise in frustration, the immediate turn to full destruction to show his bad temper just. Ugh. Not even worth the effort of an eyeroll.
What I really wanted was to have more Luigi moments. Luigi trying (and failing) to escape his cage could have been a great character moment both showing an attempt at growth with too high a risk while simultaneously raising the stakes by showing the true danger he's in. (Also, my shipper heart wanted him to have more moments with Bowser. Even just having Luigi witness Bowser's true wish behind the conquests could have been a good humanizing moment. And Luigi is the sort of character who would try to advise him, in what Bowser could easily mistake for mockery or feel suddenly too vulnerable, so he gets shouty and punishes him, properly re-establishing him as the villain.
But I get this is Mario's movie instead. Ah, well. Definitely don't recommend paying money to watch this.
花琉璃轶闻 | Royal Rumours (TV)
I started watching this period cdrama after seeing it be not-recommended, and ngl I can see why. It's a bit superficial and has contrived scenes set up for shippy tropes rather than to serve the narrative, and so far the villains don't feel particularly dangerous aside from their rank and associated power. I got stuck on episode 12 (I really should have finished it before requesting it for f5k 😅 I thought I would! But then life happened) because of a particularly badly set up tropey moment that the camera keeps lingering on :')
What got me into it though was the premise, which is still great: a General's daughter is basically taken hostage by the Emperor to ensure said General's loyalty. She's an expert at martial arts, but her dream is to be remembered as a sickly, fragile beauty. Plus it's really important that people stop perceiving her family as a threat, which a daughter who has mastered Kung Fu would be. The male lead is the Crown Prince, who hides behind his reputation for being a lazy hedonist and womaniser to conduct a spy network to help his dad the emperor.
The way these two dance around each other is great fun to watch, seeing the Crown Prince suspect the female lead, and her slowly coming to realize there's more to him than the rumours say. I'm excited for them to see beyobd each other's mask and fall in love! Crown Prince already dismissed one of his spy's suggestions that female lead is conspiring with the enemy. He trusts her <3
Dimension 20's A Crown of Candy
I binged this series the last couple days in preparation for Matt Mercer DMing the prequel, and it was amazing 😍
The premise of Candyland Game of Thrones was already pretty fun, and it being a high lethality setting with house rules about minimum healing spells/abilities within the party and no resurrection, the stakes were already incredibly high. Brennan brought his A game with the political intrigue and twists, and all the players did a great job bringing the game to life.
Rambling thoughts and spoilers
It's actually surprising that there were only two perma-deaths. With how often Amethar went down in the beginning, it's truly a miracle he survived to the end - and thanks to the party doing their damndest to get him back up. I love how he was targeted from the start and all the subtle assassination attempts, and his nat 20 ability only showing up in the very last episode to cut down the traitor was so poetic, I can't believe it didn't come up before.My least favourite player character was Cumulous. He just didn't feel as complex or fleshed out a character in comparison to the others, more a side or background character for his gimmick. I know he basically added another faction to the party's (and Saccharina's) side, but even with his connection to Lazuli he felt vapid to me. Like a cloud. Heh :3
The Rock sisters were all amazing. The sheer tragedy of Ruby only ever meeting Saccharina after Jet's death, of Saccharina being the solution to all their political problems, of her being able to offer them so much when she grew up with nothing - and at the worst possible time, where none of them are emotionally available. I cried for Jet's death, and I cried at Saccharina's pain. I don't really ship anything much in this canon, but the messed up family dynamics I want to explore so much more.
I love Caramellinda, too. She's a great NPC who has to endure so much. The love of her life dying (and being in love with someone who never gives her her full attention, always juggling way too many balls, past present and future), having to marry Amethar while they're both still reeling, running the kingdom because Amethar sucks at ruling, raising two rebellious daughters who don't heed her, becoming in many ways her own mother—a pattern which she never wanted to replicate and yet—and then losing so much more. Amethar keeping the secret of his prior marriage ruining their status and leaving her kingdom vulnerable, the one she spent so much time and effort on, her daughter dying, Amethar's secret love child showing up and stealing their crown and she's supposed to be grateful for it, too, since it'll save Candia— watching with suspicion as this witch-queen brings destruction to her home. Finally connecting with Ruby, but only once it's too late, only about this interloper. And then Ruby chooses to give Saccharina a chance, despite everything.
Saccharina's past and how she mirrors the twins, mirrors Jet, and the tension between her and Ruby was amazing. Both Emily and Siobhan played that so well, I was convinced the final choice, the Prisoner's Dilemma Brennan offered them, would end in tragedy. And knowing that it so easily could have—! Siobhan's reveal that if she'd been closer to Saccharina space-wise she might have chosen to end her instead destroyed me.
Because Ruby chooses to give Saccharina a chance, offers her what she most wants: family. A sister. And it's not genuine, not yet, not really. Ruby chooses to stick close to Saccharina to keep a careful eye on her. And why should she trust this woman who usurped the throne, who she doesn't know? Whose destruction she has seen firsthand? It's a big ask and they haven't had the opportunity to truly get to know each other.
It'll work out because Ruby misjudges Saccharina here. But everything Saccharina gets from her family at this points comes with strings attached, and it's heartbreaking and realistic.
I have way too many feels about this family lol
Also, I kinda ship Primsy/Liam. I liked their interactions a lot, and the idea of Primsy growing in confidence, becoming the politically savvy Princess of the Dairy Isles with such a weirdo husband is hilarious. I bet Liam spends a lot of time just tending to the gardens, and then surprises everyone in court when he ices the assassins sent after his wife like the creepy gloomstalker he is. Because they forget he's more than the socially awkward, odd Prince Consort.
Grimm (TV)
I haven't seen this show since it first aired, and I can't remember at what point I broke off (somewhere in season 2? I don't think I watched 3 but *shrugs*). I was talking with
trobadora about it and our shared love for the Nick/Renard/Juliette OT3 when she suggested doing a rewatch :DWe're up to episode 10 of the first season and I'm surprised by how much is coming back to me about the plot and characters.
(I'm already getting some inspiration for fics. Like Juliette time travelling back to first season and confronting Renard about Wesen and his status as Prince would be fun, don't you agree?)
Fannish Activity
520 Day Reverse ExchangeI'm stuck on the middle of the fic, furiously trying to resolve some issues to get from the start to the ending, which are mostly finished. I'm low-key worried I won't get it done in time if work throws me another curve ball (because I was planning to be done by now to avoid exactly this anxiety), but realistically I should get it done next week. I'm also eyeing one of my recip's other prompts, wondering if maybe I'll get a short treat written before reveals? Fingers crossed 🤞
Fandom 5k
I've started to separate potential fills, both a bit short of 1k, and having a hard time choosing which to go with. I'm putting the decision off until I'm finished with my 520 fic. I think it'll come down to if I can figure out a more concrete plot for fic A outside the premise, because I have a decently detailed outline for fic B. I haven't decided yet though because B is smut, and if I'm not in the right mood/mindset smut can be a chore to write and then it'll read as boring…
Regardless which I go for, I'm sure I'll match up with this recip again in the future, so I'll leave the other fic for then or as a treat if we don't match, I think ;)
Writing
In This As In All Things is currently on hiatus until I get my exchange fics in order. Sorry about that! The next chapter will likely end on a cliffhanger, so I want to get the one after done first to avoid long waits (tho I might reshuffle the scenes, I haven't decided yet). I've outlined the next three chapters or so, and am almost done with Chu Shuzhi's chapter, which will have to wait until the mini-plot in the next couple chapters resolves. I'm also trying to figure out how and where to end this, I keep realizing that I want a lot of different things from this fic and not all of them are compatible.
This is why I don't usually post WIPs as I go :')