Epic Winter and stuff
Aug. 7th, 2016 08:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impyWandered into Walmart this morning to see if they had a few things. I originally planned on snagging the Boo York 3 pack but then... then I saw the new mini three packs and they also had the minis with the coffins and I, um, went with the minis.
Alas, they were cleaning (waxing?) the floors so I couldn't get the stuff I actually should have bought (dog food, Gatorade) and Walmart seems to kind of exude a forcefield that keeps one from being able to use their phone to look stuff up, so I couldn't actually look up the cheat codes for the minis. Which is just as well because the box I got had a code not actually listed. Naturally, I got Clawdeen. Because of course I did. And the codes wouldn't have helped me. Why, doll gods, why?
I snagged two of the three mini 3packs. The Lagoona set and the Circus Venus set. I left glitter Abbey/ragdoll Clawdeen/Catty behind because both Abbeys had smudged faces and I was already wincing at the price. It was also the set I could live without longer. Priorities, I suppose.
Since my ankle and I kinda snoozed the day away, this isn't going to be as thorough as I might have imagined, but it'll do.
Epic Winter!
I'll be up front about this right now. I had no expectations for Epic Winter. None. There wasn't really a reason, I just... didn't care about Crystal and her subsequent plot points. Her doll didn't thrill me (I've still yet to see one in person so that may change in the future) and I dunno, it just wasn't exactly pinging my YES PLEASE YES buttons. Which sounds really weird. Sorry!
That said, I'm a big sucker for a story so as we inched closer to the release date, I got more excited in general, but still, nothing in particular was sticking out to me. Basically this is just my way of saying I walked in without hoping specifically for or against anything. Low bar, EAH. You don't have to do much to clear it.
Which isn't true, actually, because I really like most of their other specials.
Anyway. I watched the first 'episode' (it's a movie divvied up into four parts because Netflix, that's why) and fell asleep pretty much as soon as the second part started. That has never happened before so make of that what you will. Was it simply having worked truck the night before? Or was Crystal just that boring to me? We may never know.
So, let's do this in list form because I haven't rewatched yet.
The Bad:
I... don't really like Crystal? At least not early movie Crystal, anyway. I don't blame Jackie for plotting against her, honestly. Crystal can't even be bothered to learn to tie her own damn laces because her pixies always do it for her. And magic. But, and this is the part that tips me from "meh, spoiled princess was finally bound to appear" to "uhhhhhh..." is that when the Snow King freezes her mother and is going off the deep end, Crystal runs off to Ever After High, not because she needs help/backup because clearly the king has gone mad but because she wants people who will be nice to her.
At first I thought I'd just misunderstood and that I'd missed something in between all the cringe worthy winter puns/wordplay (sorry if you loved that part in the winter castle! I didn't mind the action, just the uh, dialog.) but no. She's hanging out with her friends to avoid her dad being on the warpath. I'm sorry, is it customary for your father to freeze your mother and for them to scream at you? Because I was under the impression this was wildly out of character and thus a warning sign that uh, yeah. Not right.
I will say she grew on me as the movie progressed and she grew, but her flight from the castle wasn't about getting away to get help and thus further proof she's not ready to rule. Which, btw, is totally fine since she's probably like, 15/16 and there's a reason we don't hand teenagers kingdoms anymore... but don't end your special acting like she's always been ready to rule. Nyaaaaaaaargh.
The rose of winter. - SERIOUSLY? You expect me to buy that not a single character went "uh, duh, the rose of winter is gonna be at Crystal's place" right off the bat? None of these characters are dumb (well, I love you, Daring, but you're still pretty stuck on yourself, so him I might understand) so really. REALLY. This is not the rose to pretend you have no idea where it is. Nope, nuh uh. You could have had them all worry that with the snow king all crazy they'd have a much harder time getting to it but never in a million years will I buy that not a single person, especially with Faybelle there, didn't know exactly which castle to storm for it.
A pet peeve of mine is when a story expects the audience to be completely stupid. Look, even small children aren't that clueless. It hurts me, it does. It's bad storytelling and that's just not something I expect from EAH. :/
The Meh:
Daring/Rosabella. I don't mind it as a 'ship in theory, but I... don't see it? They had all this interaction and it was almost always something like, "Daring, think of others." Which is fine, but I need more than this as a basis for a 'ship. And I can 'ship just about anyone at any time and usually I can at least work up a little enthusiasm for a canon ship. This just needed... more. I was still far more interested in the wreckage of Apple/Daring.*
The Castles- I don't get why everyone was acting like none of the others had ever seen their homes before? Aren't they friends? Or hell, Briar and Rosabella are family and clearly they don't live THAT far apart since this trek was MAX three days (given Faybelle's deadline) so... what the hex? Only Faybelle seems to have been to Briar's and that makes no sense. NO. SENSE.
Blondie. Not sure where to put her since I liked that she had a purpose (locks are her specialty!) but she continues to remain the worst at times. Her winter look is cute as hell but I fear she'll never actually be more than a gossip. Sigh.
The Good:
FAYBELLE. That's right. In a special that had Daring front and center as a Beast (I shudder to think of the furry population growing but there you are), Faybelle waltzed away with the MVP title. Her little cleaning bandanna, her Epic Winter outfit (you've got the pattern, Mattel, use it and give us the doll already!), her thing with the Mob Fairies... seriously, there was almost nothing I didn't love about Faybelle. I think the writers realized a little too late that they'd given the group a character who was/is a little too powerful and had to either come up with reasons not to use Faybelle's magic to solve things OR just kind of ignore the fact that they could. They seem to have realized Farrah would be too powerful (and sidelined her, though her thing about noon or midnight, whichever comes first, amused me) but really, why when Faybelle is right there, was anyone stressing about getting over the snow wall? Sigh.
Daring. Normally he'd be the kind of character I hate, but he's so over the top that I just can't. He gets some of the best lines (his vapors line cracked me up repeatedly) and his wallowing is just... yes. Yes, please. Love him. I did the way he decided he was the prettiest beast ever and shouldn't all his fairytale chums just accept him the way he is only to have that... kind of not work. It was kind of fabulous and kind of not (really, did you learn nothing from the fairytales, guys?) and his 'kiss' do-over with Apple was kinda priceless.
Also, I need a plush version of his Beast form ASAP. NEED IT.
Jackie & Northwind. Design wise, Jackie is gorgeous. Did we really need Crystal's pixies? Couldn't we have had these two instead? Couldn't we still have them? I mean, Courtly got a release...
Rosabella. While I'm not fully aboard the good ship whatever, I do like Rosabella. She's not afraid to say what she thinks and she stuck by Daring, knowing that left to his own devices he'd pretty much be hosed. Her only real misstep was when she congratulated Daring on the plan right in front of Northwind. North may be dumb as a post but still, he's not quite THAT dumb, Rosabella. Think a little, y'know? Anyway, not as ghostwritten Dawn as I feared.
Sparrow amused me in his moments and I need more Duchess in my life. Raven wheeling her mom's mirror into the assembly was also pretty spiffy. Heyo, Jillian's dad.
Oh, I also liked the use of the mirror dust as the evil force. It was just the right touch somehow.
Overall, it wasn't bad. It just didn't grab me and keep me the way some of the other specials have done. And I'll be the first to admit it's probably because I'm not in love with the main character. Points are awarded for this not being Raven or Apple centric, though of course this means it was one of the few times I wished for more from Apple.
* Seriously, from day one the audience has known that Daring wasn't meant to be Apple's Prince Charming, but the characters didn't. And it was kind of fascinating that they showed very little romantic interest in one another at all, even though they both assumed that one day not so far in the future, they would be together forever after. But their friendship! Oh, how I loved it.
And then you had the reveal and the way it just threw them both into turmoil and it was kind of fantastic and heartbreaking and I wanted more. Fanfic, I suppose, or maybe we'll get more from Apple's side in the next special or webisode or something.
Gotta screencap tonight or tomorrow.
Unrelated, apparently yesterday was the three year anniversary of us moving out of the house Widget grew up in. The final day, that is. It's weird to think back on that because that place (the one we moved into) turned out to be hellacious in so, so many ways, but when we moved in I was SO EXCITED in a way I don't think I've been since I realized what a bad idea it was. Sigh.
On the plus side, I do have a happy memory of that move. The day we first started moving in, I was alone at the new place with the computer and it was dusk, and I didn't really have the lights on, but I was lying on the floor watching Golden Girls. Good times.
The downside? I'm pretty sure that was the day after Ari had the surgery that would lead to hell. So really, 2013 was the year of the unpleasant surprises that didn't fully reveal themselves til later.
Alas, they were cleaning (waxing?) the floors so I couldn't get the stuff I actually should have bought (dog food, Gatorade) and Walmart seems to kind of exude a forcefield that keeps one from being able to use their phone to look stuff up, so I couldn't actually look up the cheat codes for the minis. Which is just as well because the box I got had a code not actually listed. Naturally, I got Clawdeen. Because of course I did. And the codes wouldn't have helped me. Why, doll gods, why?
I snagged two of the three mini 3packs. The Lagoona set and the Circus Venus set. I left glitter Abbey/ragdoll Clawdeen/Catty behind because both Abbeys had smudged faces and I was already wincing at the price. It was also the set I could live without longer. Priorities, I suppose.
Since my ankle and I kinda snoozed the day away, this isn't going to be as thorough as I might have imagined, but it'll do.
Epic Winter!
I'll be up front about this right now. I had no expectations for Epic Winter. None. There wasn't really a reason, I just... didn't care about Crystal and her subsequent plot points. Her doll didn't thrill me (I've still yet to see one in person so that may change in the future) and I dunno, it just wasn't exactly pinging my YES PLEASE YES buttons. Which sounds really weird. Sorry!
That said, I'm a big sucker for a story so as we inched closer to the release date, I got more excited in general, but still, nothing in particular was sticking out to me. Basically this is just my way of saying I walked in without hoping specifically for or against anything. Low bar, EAH. You don't have to do much to clear it.
Which isn't true, actually, because I really like most of their other specials.
Anyway. I watched the first 'episode' (it's a movie divvied up into four parts because Netflix, that's why) and fell asleep pretty much as soon as the second part started. That has never happened before so make of that what you will. Was it simply having worked truck the night before? Or was Crystal just that boring to me? We may never know.
So, let's do this in list form because I haven't rewatched yet.
The Bad:
I... don't really like Crystal? At least not early movie Crystal, anyway. I don't blame Jackie for plotting against her, honestly. Crystal can't even be bothered to learn to tie her own damn laces because her pixies always do it for her. And magic. But, and this is the part that tips me from "meh, spoiled princess was finally bound to appear" to "uhhhhhh..." is that when the Snow King freezes her mother and is going off the deep end, Crystal runs off to Ever After High, not because she needs help/backup because clearly the king has gone mad but because she wants people who will be nice to her.
At first I thought I'd just misunderstood and that I'd missed something in between all the cringe worthy winter puns/wordplay (sorry if you loved that part in the winter castle! I didn't mind the action, just the uh, dialog.) but no. She's hanging out with her friends to avoid her dad being on the warpath. I'm sorry, is it customary for your father to freeze your mother and for them to scream at you? Because I was under the impression this was wildly out of character and thus a warning sign that uh, yeah. Not right.
I will say she grew on me as the movie progressed and she grew, but her flight from the castle wasn't about getting away to get help and thus further proof she's not ready to rule. Which, btw, is totally fine since she's probably like, 15/16 and there's a reason we don't hand teenagers kingdoms anymore... but don't end your special acting like she's always been ready to rule. Nyaaaaaaaargh.
The rose of winter. - SERIOUSLY? You expect me to buy that not a single character went "uh, duh, the rose of winter is gonna be at Crystal's place" right off the bat? None of these characters are dumb (well, I love you, Daring, but you're still pretty stuck on yourself, so him I might understand) so really. REALLY. This is not the rose to pretend you have no idea where it is. Nope, nuh uh. You could have had them all worry that with the snow king all crazy they'd have a much harder time getting to it but never in a million years will I buy that not a single person, especially with Faybelle there, didn't know exactly which castle to storm for it.
A pet peeve of mine is when a story expects the audience to be completely stupid. Look, even small children aren't that clueless. It hurts me, it does. It's bad storytelling and that's just not something I expect from EAH. :/
The Meh:
Daring/Rosabella. I don't mind it as a 'ship in theory, but I... don't see it? They had all this interaction and it was almost always something like, "Daring, think of others." Which is fine, but I need more than this as a basis for a 'ship. And I can 'ship just about anyone at any time and usually I can at least work up a little enthusiasm for a canon ship. This just needed... more. I was still far more interested in the wreckage of Apple/Daring.*
The Castles- I don't get why everyone was acting like none of the others had ever seen their homes before? Aren't they friends? Or hell, Briar and Rosabella are family and clearly they don't live THAT far apart since this trek was MAX three days (given Faybelle's deadline) so... what the hex? Only Faybelle seems to have been to Briar's and that makes no sense. NO. SENSE.
Blondie. Not sure where to put her since I liked that she had a purpose (locks are her specialty!) but she continues to remain the worst at times. Her winter look is cute as hell but I fear she'll never actually be more than a gossip. Sigh.
The Good:
FAYBELLE. That's right. In a special that had Daring front and center as a Beast (I shudder to think of the furry population growing but there you are), Faybelle waltzed away with the MVP title. Her little cleaning bandanna, her Epic Winter outfit (you've got the pattern, Mattel, use it and give us the doll already!), her thing with the Mob Fairies... seriously, there was almost nothing I didn't love about Faybelle. I think the writers realized a little too late that they'd given the group a character who was/is a little too powerful and had to either come up with reasons not to use Faybelle's magic to solve things OR just kind of ignore the fact that they could. They seem to have realized Farrah would be too powerful (and sidelined her, though her thing about noon or midnight, whichever comes first, amused me) but really, why when Faybelle is right there, was anyone stressing about getting over the snow wall? Sigh.
Daring. Normally he'd be the kind of character I hate, but he's so over the top that I just can't. He gets some of the best lines (his vapors line cracked me up repeatedly) and his wallowing is just... yes. Yes, please. Love him. I did the way he decided he was the prettiest beast ever and shouldn't all his fairytale chums just accept him the way he is only to have that... kind of not work. It was kind of fabulous and kind of not (really, did you learn nothing from the fairytales, guys?) and his 'kiss' do-over with Apple was kinda priceless.
Also, I need a plush version of his Beast form ASAP. NEED IT.
Jackie & Northwind. Design wise, Jackie is gorgeous. Did we really need Crystal's pixies? Couldn't we have had these two instead? Couldn't we still have them? I mean, Courtly got a release...
Rosabella. While I'm not fully aboard the good ship whatever, I do like Rosabella. She's not afraid to say what she thinks and she stuck by Daring, knowing that left to his own devices he'd pretty much be hosed. Her only real misstep was when she congratulated Daring on the plan right in front of Northwind. North may be dumb as a post but still, he's not quite THAT dumb, Rosabella. Think a little, y'know? Anyway, not as ghostwritten Dawn as I feared.
Sparrow amused me in his moments and I need more Duchess in my life. Raven wheeling her mom's mirror into the assembly was also pretty spiffy. Heyo, Jillian's dad.
Oh, I also liked the use of the mirror dust as the evil force. It was just the right touch somehow.
Overall, it wasn't bad. It just didn't grab me and keep me the way some of the other specials have done. And I'll be the first to admit it's probably because I'm not in love with the main character. Points are awarded for this not being Raven or Apple centric, though of course this means it was one of the few times I wished for more from Apple.
* Seriously, from day one the audience has known that Daring wasn't meant to be Apple's Prince Charming, but the characters didn't. And it was kind of fascinating that they showed very little romantic interest in one another at all, even though they both assumed that one day not so far in the future, they would be together forever after. But their friendship! Oh, how I loved it.
And then you had the reveal and the way it just threw them both into turmoil and it was kind of fantastic and heartbreaking and I wanted more. Fanfic, I suppose, or maybe we'll get more from Apple's side in the next special or webisode or something.
Gotta screencap tonight or tomorrow.
Unrelated, apparently yesterday was the three year anniversary of us moving out of the house Widget grew up in. The final day, that is. It's weird to think back on that because that place (the one we moved into) turned out to be hellacious in so, so many ways, but when we moved in I was SO EXCITED in a way I don't think I've been since I realized what a bad idea it was. Sigh.
On the plus side, I do have a happy memory of that move. The day we first started moving in, I was alone at the new place with the computer and it was dusk, and I didn't really have the lights on, but I was lying on the floor watching Golden Girls. Good times.
The downside? I'm pretty sure that was the day after Ari had the surgery that would lead to hell. So really, 2013 was the year of the unpleasant surprises that didn't fully reveal themselves til later.