Tantai Jin Apologist

Been a busy week & I've barely managed time for anything, but I've finished How Dare You!? & loved it.

It was pretty much everything I'd been hoping it'd be. Fun & hilarious, & totally nailed the vibe & tone of the novel, & took excellent advantage of the ridiculousness of the scenario for comedic purposes. I was absolutely dying at the scene where Xiahou Dan is marching through the palace grounds while the team of eunuchs carrying the palanquin that he's supposed to be riding in scuttle along behind him, desperately trying to keep up. And the scene where they're 'texting' each other where Mr Bei is running to & fro carrying the messages between them was another highlight. The fight choreography was also way better than expected for a comedy that wasn't especially action-focused.

Particularly loved the Empress Dowager. She was deliciously evil & charismatic & must have been wearing her teeth down with all the scenery chewing she was doing. She stole every scene she was in & the actress was clearly having a fantastic time with that role.

I have a few thoughts on the ending...

( SPOILERS! Detailed summary of how the novel's ending compares to the drama's, & my thoughts on it. )

I still loved it, don't get me wrong. Absolute 11/10 drama, no question. Do not skip this because I'm being a little nitpicky. But considering how insanely faithful it'd been, & how funny & cute the novel version of the ending was, it felt like a weird choice, & I can't help comparing the two. If the drama was an original work & not an adaptation, or I'd watched the drama before reading the book, I'd be 100% fine but as it is, it's inevitable I'll compare the two versions & be a little 'aw c'mon!'.

I had planned to read The Demon Lord Wants A Vacation after finishing The Wrong Way To A Demon Sect Leader, but I spontaneously took a trip involving a long bus journey & physical books don't have batteries, so volume 2 of the 7seas translation of My Husband & I Sleep in a Coffin it is. It was even better than the first volume. Highlight for spoilers! Explicit sex scenes where *the normally thin-faced character is under a truth spell/curse*? YES PLEASE! :D

I also ended up really liked the side pairing way more than I thought I would when they were first introduced.

I finished This is Ridiculous/How Dare You?! & loved it. I especially like the extras, where they Highlight for spoilers! *have an ending where they do go back to the modern world, but it happens long after the story has concluded, with the characters they've transmigrated into dying of natural causes after living a life together, a censorship-friendly ending for the drama to follow (even though they seem to have relaxed on that front lately) without making everything that happened seem meaningless*. Can't wait for the drama.

I gave The Wrong Way to a Demon Sect Leader a go, but unfortunately it proved a disappointment. It was very short (82 chapters plus 47 extras, with the epub I was reading coming in at around 200 pages), which is absolutely enough for writing a satisfying story if the author keeps the story tight & has a knack for characterisation even with minimalist prose. But the author here couldn't pick a struggle. The first part was funny while being light on plot (no time for that between the humour), & the rest tried to add a plot, which mean no time for jokes, & the plot itself had no foundation so it was just... stuff happens I guess. And none of the characters felt interesting because the characterisation was so bare bones, which left the couple with no chemistry & not feeling like a couple (they just... sort of got together at the end? I guess?). I finished the main story, but couldn't get too far into the extras. The translation that's actually good only did the main story, & the translation that covered the story + extras is... less good. It didn't feel worth pushing through as the extras seemed to be wanting to deal with loose ends, but the plot was so much nothing that I couldn't bring myself to care ('hey this character has gone mysteriously missing!' Uh you mean the random side character that had one line of dialogue in the main story? okay) enough to push through.

Months ago I chucked a bunch of kitchen utensils, bowls, & assorted stuff in a box, as well as packing up my microwave, after realising I don't use most of the stuff cluttering my kitchen cupboards & drawers. I had a bunch of recipes in my notes app that I wanted to try out (some stuff I've made before but not for a long while, & some I've never tried) & decided to go through them all.

The end result: I've whittled own the number of recipes I have saved to a few favourites at I'll know I'll make again. And the box of assorted kitchen equipment got taken to a charity shop yesterday, without even glancing at what is still in it. I did cheat a little - there were a couple of things I took out for a recipe, but I hated the result, & will therefore never make it again, so using the item didn't count & it went back in the box.

Same with the microwave. Once in a while there's been something I've wanted to heat & being able to just stick it in the microwave would be convenient. But there's always been other ways, or I've decided it's not worth bothering.

There are one of two recipes left, so that part's not finished, but they don't require equipment I don't already have.

Finished Lego Horizon Adventures (the story at least - I still have a bunch of stuff to do for 100% completion) & absolutely loved it. Silly goofy charming fun & that had me laughing pretty much constantly. I enjoyed seeing how it remixed elements & characters from the game.

I am tired, but I forgot the Game Awards were tonight. So I guess I'm staying up to watch that instead of going to bed heh.

I now have a Switch! Yes, a Switch 1. I'd been toying with the idea of getting one for a while, but knew that prices on the secondhand market would inevitably drop once the Switch 2 was released & a bunch of people sold their old consoles & flooded the market. So I waited. Now it's been months & I figure prices are as low as they're going to get. I did briefly consider aiming higher & buying a Switch 2. But eh. It's more money, & sure it's more powerful, but I'm mainly looking at it to play fun indie games on the go, & also try some Nintendo exclusives while I'm at it (first console I owned was a PS2 & I've stuck with Playstation ever since, & before that the kids I hung out with were all Team Sega. So aside from briefly checking out the Wii before deciding it wasn't for me, I'm a complete Nintendo newbie). I already have a PS5. Buying a Switch 2 would be like owning a Ferrari, going to buy a bicycle for chill rides around town, & deciding to get a souped-up bike that goes faster. Like that's cool & all, but it's not what I'm here for. Maybe I'll get a Switch 2 in a few years when prices come down a little, if I enjoy my experience with the Switch.

I did get an OLED though. I also picked up Breath of the Wild to play on it.

In even better news, on the way to buy my new(ish) console, I ran into my friend Tina, who announced that she'd had her last chemo session (fingers crossed, touching wood, pending a confirmation check-up in a few months) & is (hopefully!!!!) cancer-free. So we're meeting up for coffee next week to celebrate that.

Also... WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME THE THAT THE SOUND AT THE START OF SWITCH ADS WAS ACTUALLY THE SOUND THE CONTROLLERS MAKE WHEN YOU SLIDE THEM ON??? I thought that was just a random sound effect they added as a kind of jingle.

I have the best brother! We're both gamers, & while chatting, I mentioned I still hadn't gotten round to getting the last few trophies on Stray that were necessary for the platinum (Can't Cat-ch Me for getting through the first Zurk chase untouched, which I'd been putting off because I knew it'd be frustrating, & I Am Speed, for completing the game in less than 2 hours, which takes some pre-planning), & offered to do Can't Cat-ch Me for me. So I brought my PS5 round & let him at it. It took him an hour, but it's done.

So now I only have one trophy left! :D

Woo! The new Knives Out film, Wake Up Dead Man, is actually showing at a cinema near me! Just one cinema, & not at either of the two nearest me, but pretty close & not a hassle to get to. Glass Onion wasn't showing anywhere remotely near me.

Have to wait a few days because my parents are in town & expect me to spend time with them (while being vague on their plans for each day, so I spend my day sitting waiting to see if they'll arrange to meet up & so get nothing done *sigh*). But hey a few days is fine.

So, I've read the translation of the new extra, & I did enjoy reading it, & liked getting to see more of the characters (& I appreciate Airplane has an actual real name now!). But the worldbuilding just doesn't add up with what was established, & the more I think about it, the more it bothers me.

( shh! spoilers! )

I've now read My Husband & I Sleep in A Coffin volume 1. For all the misgivings I had about the quality of the book, the actual text itself was fine. Though admittedly I have no Chinese ability, so my assessment of the translation is based on it being a coherent & well-written story in English (as well as comparing a few early passages to the fan translation, triangulating the original intended meaning based on that, & figuring out who expressed that better), & this is. It's a lot smoother than the unofficial translation, & sentences that I struggled to parse in that make much more sense here.

My original plan was to read volume 1 then continue on from where the official translation left off using the fan translation, before picking up volume 2 when it comes out in December (assuming there isn't a delay on that as well...). But somehow the end of December looks a lot closer to the middle of November than it does the beginning. Even with my terrible memory it'll still feel like I only just read it, & that's assuming I finish it quickly & don't get distracted. Plus the official translation really is better, so I'd rather wait.