rodo's journal

Still hanging in there (with the help of dramas), only two and a half weeks left... so here's some recs from the last couple of months.

( The Atypical Family, Black Out, The Kidnapping Day, My Dearest, What Comes After Love )

Usually, I only rec dramas – because let’s face it, I probably watch way too many of those – but I do watch other series as well. Here are five recs for some non-Asian TV shows that I liked and haven’t recced yet:

( Five TV Show Recs – Bodies, Lupin, School Spirits, Starstruck, Zorro (2024) )

So, I was a bit too busy to keep up with my reactions through the week (turns out I have to learn a lot of technology stuff I am not the least bit interested in right now, like which bus does what and what the difference between SRAM and DRAM is), but I did manage to keep with the new episodes. My reaction, from what I gather, is more positive than most people’s (hence me having noped out of Reddit and general discussion), but it’s not altogether positive, and some aspects I really don’t like.

Generally speaking, the second season, especially the middle, needed more time to breathe, and the characters and relationships needed more time to move in the directions they went. So I understand why people complain, but to me at least, the overall trajectories made sense, at least in theory. I also appear to be one of the few people who like the Pact-related world-building we got, and didn’t think the series demonized communism or something. I actually really appreciated that we got to see the fae react in different ways to different types of oppression some more this season.

I just really wish it hadn’t been so rushed, especially around the middle, with Jonah and Sophie – they deserved at least two more episodes to end up where they did! And the case could have needed some more work.

The one thing I really, really didn’t like was the Vignette/Tourmaline ending. Not because I ship Vignette/Philo more (although I do) – I liked Philo’s ending, including him being alone. And not because I wanted Tourmaline to end up with Darius either (she clearly wasn’t into him in that way). I just absolutely loved Tourmaline’s take-down of Vignette’s personality when she shot her down at first, because it makes Vignette a very interesting character to me and explained a lot about her behaviour. But also, Tourmaline deserves better than her because she’s the best, especially since the series didn’t put in the work to show me that Vignette had changed. I read somewhere that they cut out some stuff that would have made it poly, and honestly, I’m not really into poly pairings, but this would have been one situation where it would have actually worked, and I’m sad they had to cut down so much.

Things that I liked in general:

Berwick (I do need to write a fix it for him, don’t I?)
Kaine (especially the Philo and Kaine team-up!)
Darius and Tourmaline and Darius and Philo!
Runyan being out of his depth in politics (and going back on the road with his kobolds at the end)
Philo grappling with his identity
Agreus and Imogen’s ending

Andor: If you watch one of these shows, make it this one. Yes, even if you’re not into Star Wars or have never watched anything Star Wars (I had a guinea pig test it, and it’s enjoyable even if you have no idea what a Death Star is). It’s honestly the best show of the bunch, and while knowledge of the universe enhances the experience, I wouldn’t say it’s necessary. Andor deals with a part of it that hasn’t really been explored that much before, it’s tone is very different from the usual Star Wars stuff, and I love it for it. It’s a show about people living under an all powerful totalitarian regime and it revels in pointing out the flaws in it. It’s serious but not dark, optimistic about human nature and just altogether wonderful. I love the characters, I love the story, and the season finale really delivers on its promise.

Babylon Berlin: So this was a really good season, overall! At times, the storylines felt a little bit disjointed, but on the whole, not bad for a third season. Not bad at all. I still crave more. Hopefully there’ll be another season, but nothing’s certain yet. I think what I liked most about this season was the developments in the relationship between Gereon and Charlotte. I ship it, of course, but I thought it added a bit of levity to a series that can otherwise be rather dark. Ditto with everything Elisabeth Behnke and Katelbach. On the darker side of things, I was rather intrigued by Helga and her relationship with both her husband and her mother-in-law. Honourable mention goes to the cool Jewish gangster from New York! That character charmed me out of the blue.

House of the Dragon: So, yeah, this season should either have been two seasons long, or they should have just cut the pre-Dance bits and turned the rest into one season, with more exposition sprinkled throughout the series when needed. It was just… meh. The last two episodes were good, because we finally started getting somewhere without it feeling like we were skipping over a lot. But still, it’s lacking whatever it was that originally made me love Game of Thrones. Plus, too many dragons – turns out, dragons make everything boring for me. (But hey, we’ve finally got working subs… only took a couple of months.)

This time, a little more varied in terms of origins.

( Business Proposal, First Love, Little Women, My Roommate is a Gumiho, The Rise of Phoenixes )

So, I’ve been watching the “big” shows adjacent to fandoms I’m into recently, and I’ve got some opinions:

Andor: Four episodes in and I absolutely love it! It was slow at the start, but I really liked the look at some of the more “normal” aspects of life under the Empire: people working to get by, people trying to make a career in company security, people being against the empire in small ways… you know, really banal stuff that the movies didn’t really have time for. I also enjoyed seeing Cassian again immensely and getting a more fleshed out backstory for him. And the spy stuff in the third and fourth episode! I love myself a good spy story, and Rael and Mon Mothma are great for that.

House of the Dragon: This one really needed to be either longer (two seasons for what they crammed into one) or cut the backstory/prologue stuff altogether and start with the Dance. It also needs subtitles (at least the version I watch) and lighting, because I’m watching with my mother, whose hearing aids mean I have to repeat the dialogue and tell her what’s happening on screen sometimes. Other than that, good show so far, but it didn’t grab me like Game of Thrones did. My favourites are Viserys and Lyonel, so, yeah.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: The objectively worst show of the lot (especially if one of the leaks turns out to be true), but I still find myself engaged more than with Family Drama With Dragons. I also think I’ve figured out why: the whole thing is just more earnest. The characters by and large want to do the right thing, even if they’re not perfect. Hell, even one of the major bad guys only wants a home for his children. Plus, there’s a whole lot of pretty, Meteor Man acting like a creepy lost puppy, Arondir making sad eyes all the time and Míriel being the best Queen Regent. I don’t care about the dwarves at all. No idea how that happened. I’m usually all about dwarves.

AKA what I've been doing lately instead of being productive like I wanted to:

( One Spring Night, Save Me, Tale of the Nine Tailed, W - Two Worlds Apart, When the Camellia Blooms )

This is me, procrastinating on finally starting my Yuletide fic. If I don't get that done soon, finding a beta will be a bitch.

( Arang and the Magistrate, A Gentleman's Diary, Nice Guy, Queen In Hyun's Man and To the Beautiful You )

I think I mentioned my obsession with Horrible Histories, although "obsession" might be a bit tame a word for the utter glee I feel when listening to the songs. And since I just found a couple of new videos to listen to, it reminded me that there was also great Yuletide fic that I don't think I linked yet. But first, the songs:

- Single Ladies, by Mary Seacole, way better than Florence, yo.

- David Bowie - ChangesCharles Darwin - Natural Selection. Hey, it is about changes.

- The Monkees, pardon, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Diogenes - The Thinkers

- The RAF Boys debut with their RAF Pilots Song Watch out, Take That

The last two make me want to dance so much. I want more! I guess there goes the rest of my day. Again. As for fanfic:

- Cranky Cristmasses in HHTV's News at When studio.

- The Big Gay Episode - including songs!

- Merry Monarchs experiment with crossdressing