Ok maybe finally on to something!
I took the valves out, inspected everything. They both seem to have clean rings around them, and they seem to be seating very well into the cylinder head.
HOWEVER the intake valve does seem to be a little sticky! I don't know how much stick is "normal" for valves, but the exhaust valve is definitely much free-er moving than the intake. Its not sticking around the ring though, it's sticking on the shaft. It looks like the intake valve's stem goes through a gasket or seal of some kind and the exhaust does not, thats probably whats causing the sticking, and hopefully that is the cause of the misfiring and blow-by.
But without any obvious gunk to clean how, how do you loosen up a valve like this? OR am I barking up the wrong tree, and is this a totally normal amount of "stickiness" that the spring and combustion will fully eliminate when it's running?
Edit: In the video, the springs are removed, so the exhaust is closing fully by gravity, and the intake is not.