misura

Picked up Molly's Game from the library last week because it had Idris Elba in it and was written by Aaron Sorkin (who also wrote The West Wing, Moneyball and The Social Network, all of which I enjoyed). I was hoping for fun, charming and quirky with a touch of heartwarming, but it didn't really deliver on any of that. I think it was all in on 'heartwarming', except that it missed that for me, so.

(I watched Moneyball about five times last year, and would be happy to watch it again right here, right now. In spite of the fact that I neither know nor care about baseball, there's just something about that movie that works for me and make me Feel Things.)

Still having a lot of fun with Chaos Galaxy II: I'm currently playing as the AI faction, which is tough-ish going, since pretty much everyone (human) hates me. Plus, the alien invasion is slowly coming my way, so I'll need to fight them too.

Combat is still 90% of game play, but it's very satisfying to stomp someone after they've told you that you're an abomination, that they're going to reduce you to scrap metal, that you don't deserve to live, etc. Just ... rawr! Were you saying something, puny human? I couldn't hear you over the sound of my high-tech warships zapping your fleet. Muahahaha!

(All right, so it's not quite that easy: stabilizing my economy while also maintaining a technological superiority over everyone else takes some doing. But it's just difficult enough to feel satisfying when I pull it off, and getting to field pretty much any ship, giant robot or artillery I want is very fun too.)

I think that last time I spent this much time on a game was Hades. 100+ deaths, but I got there in the end! (Heat? I know not this heat you speak of! I got the happy ending song complete with boat ride, that's enough!) Still not entirely sure if I'm also going to buy the sequel, though. My keyboard may not be able to handle another Hades.

It turns out 2024 is finally the year I'm going to reread Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. I've now arrived at Midnight Tides which means it's time for:

1) zombies! (I think?)
2) Tehol and Bugg!
3) many other characters I vaguely remember but don't remember loving nearly as much as
4) TEHOL AND BUGG!

(I tried out a lot of new fandoms during Yuletide, so I was in the mood for something half-remembered that would also save me from having to consider what to read next for the next eight weeks or so.)

Woot! 'tis the season again! This year, I'm repeating one request from last year and adding three new ones.

Italicized text = request text that's also on AO3 and/or the app

All likes and DNWs apply only to that specific request.

The Limehouse Golem
Dan Leno, Elizabeth Cree

... I did not see that ending coming, but it made me ship these two in a messed up, 'my love language is not killing you (and maybe one or two of my victims were chosen because they were a bit horrid to you too)' kind of way, and I'd just like to see more of them, whether it's will-they-or-won't-they Unresolved Murder Tension or just platonic snuggling without anyone talking about murder at all.

Yes Please: murder, obsessive/protective/possessive behavior (from either or both of them), theatrics, 'do I want to kill you or kiss you? who knows? certainly not me' vibes (um, I hope that made sense?), crossdressing

Rather Not: requested character death, animal death or cruelty, focus on Lizzie's abusive childhood, regret/redemption for the murder spree

Strenuously trying to avoid spoilers but um, yes. I'm a bit of a wuss so some parts of this movie got a bit much, and I ended up shipping these two in spite of, well, everything. (Gore/blood bothers me in live-action in a way it doesn't in writing or non-moving art, so make things as bloody as you please, be it 'very' or 'not at all'.)


The November Man
Smokey, David Mason

The fluffy ninja monster rom com plot device and his only slightly stupid human! I just want these two to get some more bonding time, either pre-canon, with David going to some lengths to return Smokey to his official owner while avoiding the horrors of social interaction or post-movie with Sarah either recovering and David cat-sitting for her, or with David as Smokey's new human. If you're keen on Peter, feel free to have him make an appearance, provided that his behavior towards Smokey remains civilized.

Yes Please: holiday fic, humor, domesticity-but-with-CIA-training-and-trauma, Smokey being a Fluffy Ninja, Smokey being Grace Personified, Smokey being rom com plot device, David trying his sincere best, (emotionally or physically) hurt David & comforting Smokey, the inherent dramedy of being a cat 'owner'

Rather Not: threatened or actual vet-visit-requiring hurt to Smokey (f.e. David accidentally steps on Smokey and Smokey is now ~HURT and ~DYING does not count; Smokey almost gets hit by a car does), if David is dating Sarah: Peter appearing on-screen; if David is dating Peter: Sarah appearing on-screen; if David is dating no one: Sarah and Peter appearing simultaneously (basically, I feel Sarah deserves to never meet Peter again after the Worth Saving scene)

I love that someone apparently felt this movie needed A Cat to facilitate A Meet-Cute just so that Peter could have a nice moment of being an absolute psycho. Which is not to say that I don't appreciate Peter's character or his tension with David, I should add: it's just that on paper, I feel this movie had no need whatsoever for a cat, and yet they put one in, and they're fluffy and stealthy and sneaky and snuggly and all things cat (except for meekly letting someone pick them up and carry them across a hallway).


Last Scenario (Video Game)
Matilda, Drakovic, Augustus, Felgorn

Originally, I was going to ask for either Matilda and Drakovic or Augustus and Felgorn, but I've realized that I'd actually be delighted to see any combination of these four, so go nuts. Feel free to diverge canon a bit to facilitate encounters (I don't think Drakovic and Felgorn are actually ever on the same continent in canon?) and to have people not die when canon says they did due to them making different choices earlier on. Maybe the Republic didn't win their war for independence (yet). Maybe Augustus supported Wilhelm instead of Helga. Maybe Wolfram survived and joined the Omega Team. ... Okay, that last one's a bit out there. But hey, just have fun with this!

Yes Please: manipulative assholes and the straightforward military people they love, straightforward military people and the manipulative assholes they love, weaponized loyalty, loyalty in general, manipulation, competence, competence kink, casual or covert displays of affection, 'the only one allowed to kill/judge me is you', pining of any flavor, politics & diplomacy

Rather Not: major character death, unrequited loyalty (maybe not the right word? Augustus is the specific character I'm thinking of here: he used Felgorn's loyalty/trust to manipulate Felgorn into killing Leopold, but it didn't mean he stopped being or acting like Felgorn's friend; he betrayed Felgorn's trust in him, but not Felgorn himself. More or less, and admittedly a little bit more than less.)

I may or may not have actually finished this game by the time of reveals: do with that knowledge what you will, but don't worry about spoilers. I'm very fond of all these characters (yes, even Augustus) and would love to see more of them in any way, shape or form. I lowkey ship the original combinations of Matilda & Drakovic and Augustus & Felgorn, which is why I put in 'pining' as a like (because I don't think Matilda would ever cheat on Valentin, no matter how many shiny new weapons Drakovic presents her with).

Edit: ... Felgorn and Drakovic were in fact on the same continent during the Republic's invasion of the Empire, oops? (I knew that! I just meant they weren't on the same continent in the sense that *mubmle-mumble* Ack!)


Tintenwelt-Trilogie | Inkheart Trilogy - Cornelia Funke
Black Prince, Black Prince's Bear, Dustfinger

Would love to see these three pre-canon or during canon: the Prince and Dustfinger are supposedly best friends (or so we find out in the second book, after not a single mention of this in the first book) and I'd love to see this on-screen, without too many other characters around. Feel free to get shippy with this or to keep them as just friends. (Um. I would prefer for the bear not to be involved in any sex.)

Yes Please: hurt Prince or Dustfinger & comforting other parties, worldbuilding cq Inkworld locations other than Ombra, heroic rescues, slice of life, fairs & festivals, food porn (ie, descriptions of delicious food), fairies & other Inkheart critters

Rather Not: hurt bear, major character death

Apparently I'm requesting animal companions this year? I loved Fenoglio getting all grumpy that he'd written the Prince to have a bear, of all things, instead of a more sensible and safe-to-others pet like a dog, and I love that the bear is, well, a bear, even if it has a special bond with the Prince.

Watched and very much loved Eternals, in part I suspect because my expectations were low. I loved Icaris, I loved Sersi, I loved Dane (even if I still don't get the giraffe thing), I loved Kingo, I loved Makkari, I loved Druig, and I liked all other characters just fine, too.

I came out of the movie shipping Icaris/Sersi and Druig/Makkari: the first one seems a rarepair, but the second one appears the most popular on AO3, so ... double win!

Having had it on my shelves for months, I also finally watched the second LEGO Movie, which sometimes felt almost funny and sometimes actually funny, but never just straight-up funny? I might just not have been in the right mood for it. More unforgivably though: I watched this movie yesterday, and I no longer remember what the 'catchy' song sounded like. (After watching the first movie, I had Everything Is Awesome stuck in my head for days, so this feels like a bit of a miss. You had one job, Catchy Song!)

I nibbled at Samantha Shannon's The Priory of the Orange Tree but about 100 pages in I felt a bit overloaded with names, places and things, so I put it away for later and instead picked up Dave Duncan's Lord of the Fire Lands (a comfortable reread)

Finally, I started playing Stardew Valley about two weeks ago, and may be somewhat obsessed, oops? It's very easy to tell myself to play 'just one more day' (game time, not real time) but then I've picked up another quest or need to buy seeds for crops and then suddenly it's late at night and I need to get some sleep.

These past weeks I signed up for several exchanges in a burst of (over?)confidence, two of which revealed last week, so now here I am to show off my amazing good fortune because I definitely won the exchange jackpot:

For raremaleslashex I received:
- When the Chips Are Down (TFatWS, Bucky/Zemo) where Bucky encounters Zemo on a mission and they have to kiss to distract the bad guys
- FANART of Plunkett and Macleane (from the movie of the same name) playing strip poker

For rarepairexchange I received:
don't need no dollar bills (GI Joe: Retaliation, Flint/Storm Shadow) where Flint encounters Storm Shadow on a mission and they have to pretend to be boyfriends to distract the bad guys

... there might be a theme here?

Both CinemaSins and Honest Trailers posted videos for G.I. Joe: Retaliation recently, which felt like an amazing coincidence until one of them revealed at the end that there's apparently a new G.I. Joe movie out that's all about Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, so ... guess I'll add that to my To Watch list.

Also: the fandom for Aliette de Bodard's Obsidian & Blood trilogy celebrated its semi-official one-year anniversary with more fic!

As part of the Fandom Battle over at fffc, I sampled two new shows last week, both based on books:

- The Alienist, which basically had me at 'Luke Evans and Daniel Bruhl'. But um, yes, Luke Evans, Daniel Bruhl and Dakota Fanning play a crime solving trio in late 19th century New York.

I remember next to nothing about the book, other than that I read it. It was just ... one of those mystery/crime/thriller novels with a gimmick (mysteries in Ancient Rome! in the Middle Ages! in space! with unicorns!) in this case: in late 19th century New York by a psychiatrist (the titular alienist) and some friends.

You could say, 'oh, so you're only suddenly interested in something when it gets turned into a TV-show starring attractive-to-you actors, huh?' to which my response would be 'yes?'. (In my defense, I'm still unlikely to go and read the books again. Definitely hope to pick up the second season once it becomes available though.)

- The Shannara Chronicles, which basically lost me before the first episode was even over.

The book this is based on (The Elfstones of Shannara) was my favorite one of the trilogy. It wasn't until seven or so years later that I realized why: unlike the other books, Elfstones contains a dash of military fantasy. What it doesn't contain is a lot of romance and romantic relationships, which the TV show uh, let's say 'did not decide to adhere to'.

In fairness, I quit this after the first episode, so maybe things changed in later episodes. But finding myself going 'oh, they changed this from the book (and I don't like it)' every other scene just didn't make for a fun viewing experience.

Also: the dog! (I'm not saying I'd have forgiven everything if they hadn't messed with the dog, but the dog was definitely part of it.)

During the first month of 2021 I signed up for 2(!) exchanges (for context: during all of 2020, I signed up for 4 total) and I got a ton of shiny, shiny stuff:

For the hoelidays (Hux/Poe from the Star Wars Sequel trilogy) exchange, I got:
- hurt/comfort-y fanart with Hux wearing Poe's jacket
- 12k delightful space road trip after accidental marriage
- 3k handcuffed together by magical Sith handcuffs

For chocolateboxcomm, I received:
- Spirit/Stein (Soul Eater) Valentine shenanigans of the Sorry Were We Dating I Hadn't Realized variety
- Kawado/Tengu (Yokai Rental Shop) terrible people in love, the first and
- Kawado/Tengu (Yokai Rental Shop) terrible people in love, the second, three scenes from three time periods

I picked up Yokai Rental Shop during Yuletide last year - it's a four volume manga series that starts as one of those 'weird shop with weird owner sells weird stuff to sort of normal customers who somehow can't seem to follow some very simple rules' á la Pet Shop of Horrors, but then around volume 2 plot starts happening and it turns into something more fantasy/action/supernatural flavored. (Also: messed up family dynamics, as well as straight-up, brotherly-love-between-brothers dynamics, even if one refuses to admit he feels anything of the kind.)

Playing Shadowhand, which is basically just another solitaire variant, but with equipment and gear and weapons and costumes - quite how 'you can swing this fancy sword ... as soon as you get rid of four playing cards!' works, I've no idea, but of course that's par for the course with games of this genre.

(Regency Solitaire was made by the same people, but that one was a lot more straightforward. In Shadowhand, you either play single solitaire, or you 'duel' the AI, which is where the whole 'you can only use your weapons after x cards' thing comes in.)

I've just been taught the rapier at a fancy party by dueling a French chevalier of ambiguous gender who definitely felt like they were flirting with me, and whom I hope will show up again later. (Yes, I ship it.) Meanwhile, my closest (female) friend has run off to sea to become a pirate, and I have made the logical decision to become a notorious highwaywoman going by the name of Shadowhand. For uh Reasons?

The game seems to think this is all perfectly normal, and most of the time I go along with it. I mean, I'm playing solitaire to steal someone's horse over here? (How does that work?)

I did have a bit of a weird moment when I was digging up graves at the local graveyard (as you do), looking for a map revealing a smuggling route (so normal!) and then got attacked by the gravedigger who was, I felt, understandably angry at my shenanigans. I'd kind of have preferred to give him some gold, a heartfelt apology and a promise to never do it again, but alas, I ended up having to kill him.

(Am I sliding down the slippery moral slope? Is that what this game is secretly about? You play a few fun games of solitaire, and next thing you know, oops, you're casually murdering people left and right? That's uh kind of dark.)

Some weeks ago, I wanted to see if maybe Big Wolf on Campus had become available on DVD yet. It hadn't, but someone who was involved with that show was also involved with another show that sounded fun, so I ended up acquiring that one for a few bucks on eBay.

Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire is a live-action fantasy parody, where Krod and his friends face off against evil chancellor Dongalor and his long-suffering left-hand yes-man Barnabas. It's only five episodes, so I breezed through it in a weekend, and felt it's, I dunno, 50% 'just okay', 25% terrible and 25% Actually Funny. For example, ( mild spoiler for the first episode )

'Well', I thought to myself, 'this was made in 2009, which is a while ago, so people's sense of humor has surely evolved since then. And hey, I still have that Power Rangers movie they made in 2017, that should be a nice change'.

And then in the first five minutes of the movie, there's a hilarious (???) mishap where someone thinks they milked a cow they kidnapped (!) but their friend points out it's actually a bull, so, no, they didn't milk a cow, and I went 'whyyyyy?' very quietly but for a long time, because I'm pretty sure I've gone for years and years without running into a single bestiality joke, and now suddenly this?


In happier occurences, I also acquired the full series of Elementary on DVD. I'm somewhere in the second season, and ( slight spoiler ), and that's all I needed and wanted, hurray.