glow-wine

[glow-wine]

Oh, no! Noooooo! I was referring to the adaptations! Not the books! XD I meant that it has not affected Pratchett's legacy that some of the adaptations of his books have been mediocre, bad, or The Watch.

I get annoyed every time someone tries to make Good Omens Season 3 about "Terry Pratchett's legacy".

Terry Pratchett was a novelist. He wrote over fifty books. That's his legacy. There have been various adaptations and some of them have even been bad. Didn't affect his legacy. It feels dismissive of his actual accomplishments to claim that his whole career is practically unfulfilled unless Good Omens Season 3 happens / has six episodes / whatever. This one piece of television allegedly based on mere ideas for an unrealized sequel to a co-written novel, as remembered by a known liar. Just no.

Just admit you want Season 3 because you want Season 2's cliffhanger resolved. You like the show and want more of it. That's perfectly normal! That's why TV seasons end on cliffhangers. Don't claim it's really about the interests of a respected author who is conveniently dead and cannot contradict you.

[glow-wine]

Chrono Trigger (Squaresoft - SNES - 1995)

Source: x

[glow-wine]

I kinda wish people wouldn't conflate book canon and show canon so much. Such as citing things that only happened in the books to prove a point about a character in the show. I'd rather treat show and book (and movie) as separate works. I mean, it's fine to draw on book knowledge, the author's life, on interviews and other secondary sources in order to strengthen an analysis. But you have to acknowledge the differences between the source material and the adaptation, because they are deliberate choices, quite significant and they have consequences. The characters are different, their experiences are different, their actions are different ... It's kind of frustrating when there's an interesting discussion happening somewhere, and then people start aggressively bringing in things that haven't been established yet on the show, happened differently, sometimes didn't even happen in the books either because they misremember, and then everyone gets insanely confused because nothing really makes any sense and they're talking about entirely different stories!

[glow-wine]

I get annoyed every time someone tries to make Good Omens Season 3 about "Terry Pratchett's legacy".

Terry Pratchett was a novelist. He wrote over fifty books. That's his legacy. There have been various adaptations and some of them have even been bad. Didn't affect his legacy. It feels dismissive of his actual accomplishments to claim that his whole career is practically unfulfilled unless Good Omens Season 3 happens / has six episodes / whatever. This one piece of television allegedly based on mere ideas for an unrealized sequel to a co-written novel, as remembered by a known liar. Just no.

Just admit you want Season 3 because you want Season 2's cliffhanger resolved. You like the show and want more of it. That's perfectly normal! That's why TV seasons end on cliffhangers. Don't claim it's really about the interests of a respected author who is conveniently dead and cannot contradict you.

[glow-wine]

I am incoherent tonight, but ... Has anybody discussed the parallels between Louis betraying Lestat in Season 1 and Armand betraying Louis in Season 2? There are similarities, for example that both play the happy loving boyfriend in the time leading up to the carnage, that in both cases someone else is the mastermind and driving force behind the plan (Claudia, Santiago), and both Louis and Armand commit to it, but have a change of heart at the last moment and save/spare their BF's life after all. There's always collateral damage. Both Claudia and Santiago go for maximum drama and theatrics with costumes and silly wigs. There are differences, too, and I think the most important one concerns Louis and Armand's respective motives ... I struggle to put this succinctly, but idk ... Louis agrees to Claudia's plan because he needs change and independence, while Armand accepts Santiago's plan because those same things scare him; he'd rather stay in his familiar environment, even in a demoted position, than go off into an uncertain future with Louis, who he fears might end up leaving him. Something about how Louis chooses freedom, Armand chooses stability. The same wrong choice for such different reasons, or something? THERAPY COULD HAVE PREVENTED ALL OF THIS.

I always get ambitious thoughts like this during the day, when I am busy, and in the evening when I have time to think and write them down, my tired brain hides all the good words and won't tell me how to construct an argument. Stupid brain. :(

[glow-wine]

I am starting to get a hang of the things but for the record, the first time I read a post about Louis that said something like "after all, he is LDPDL", I thought: "LDPDL??? Is that from some trendy new personality typology system that I haven't heard about?! This is getting out of hand!!"

[glow-wine]

I start new crochet projects "to use up leftover yarn" and then to finish the projects I have to buy more yarn, argh.

[glow-wine]

Re: Arondir

2x8 spoilers obviously

The Rings of Power generally suffers from having to balance so many different storylines, which also advance at very different paces and aren't always equally exciting. It's a problem that the Gandalf subplot has not at all overlapped with any of the other storylines FOR TWO SEASONS. These characters do not even know of each other's existence.

In Season 1, the most engaging storyline for me was the Southlands stuff. The stakes were high and felt that way, too, since all the characters were original creations, their fate not predictable, the threat was tangible. As this storyline's protagonist, Arondir was pretty much constantly fighting to survive or to save others, and he often failed simply because the odds were so high. His dynamic with Adar was interesting and felt like it was setting up something. Arondir watched Adar grieve for a dead orc and became the first (and for the duration of Season 1, the only) character to see that emotional side of Adar. They were both doing the seed planting ritual before a battle, a deliberate paralleling of the two characters.

In Season 2, those same key moments were replicated with Galadriel, setting up the same kind of dynamic between Adar and Galadriel. Meanwhile, Arondir is ... handled weirdly. Frankly, Season 2 uses him like a cheat code: Isildur needs saving? Arondir! Galadriel needs help? Arondir! He's the action guy, who does action things. Oh, he also wants revenge against Adar for Bronwyn and everything else, but this part of the storyline isn't even half-assed, it's quarter-assed at best. He just goes up against him and gets stabbed in 2x7. But only mildly stabbed, I suppose, because the injury isn't even brought up in 2x8, he doesn't share any further scenes with Adar, does not even comment on his death. He's given no room for his personal feelings, and his character arc is a mere sketch. He's purely a supporting character as soon as he is surrounded by the "important" canonical Elves. It's not very satisfying, not very good storytelling.

And I wonder if the original plans for these characters were anything like this. Supposedly Bronwyn only died because the actress quit, so was Arondir meant to stay with the Southland refugees? Was he meant to go after Adar for some reason other than revenge? I did not think it boded well that Bronwyn wasn't recast; obviously removing this character didn't impact the overall plans all that much, and the writers didn't worry about how her death would affect and change Arondir's story. I mean, he's lost his love interest and his personal antagonist was essentially taken from him and assigned to Galadriel. All Arondir is left with is some badass action scenes and a few nice moments here and there, but it doesn't come together in the end. It just fizzles out. What's his story?

Overall, I don't think The Rings of Power has handled its original characters all that well. Not really a surprise, because the show is telling too many storylines at once, and simply doesn't have enough time to develop original characters as well. But think of the elves who briefly journey with Elrond and Galadriel, how they are non-entities and you do not even learn their names until their "shocking" death scenes. The black guy dies first, too! With that in mind, I guess Arondir is lucky to be alive, even if he's relegated to the status of a supporting character without significant relaionships or goals of his own.

Honestly, I'm not even that suprised or disappointed. I found it hard to get into The Rings of Power Season 2 right after watching Interview with the Vampire, because that show is so much better at writing characters and developing complex relationships. Surely part of the reason is that it's just a much more personal story with a smaller cast. Fallout was another positive example of a TV show handling multiple storylines/main characters more successfully than ROP, again a smaller cast and more focused writing, and a season finale that involves everyone in meaningful ways, which Rings of Power has failed to do twice now.

I'm sorry if this rant was incoherent or if there are typos, I don't feel like rereading and editing it, lol. I could also go on and on and ON! But it's way past noon, I'm still in my pyjamas and starting to feel grimy, so I need a shower.

[glow-wine]

It bothers me that there are people suggesting that Armand lied about his past for sympathy. I also find it hilarious, because at no point in the series does a character express sympathy for what happened to him. He's taunted with it, though! :D?? And there is the whole D/s thing with Louis that fascinates me, but which I do not understand at all. Whichever character will be the first to say "Wow, that sucks, I am sorry that happened to you", I will cherish forever!

[glow-wine]

I started playing Between Horizons yesterday. I enjoyed the studio's previous game, Lacuna, a noir-y sci-fi detective game where our choice affect the outcome of the game. And yeah, I didn't fully solve the case! Because I missed clues! I also fucked up one dialogue in a completely spectacular manner and got someone shot! :D I fixed the detective's relationship wit his ex-wife, though. I am proud of my result.

I've always dreamed of a videogame where your choices and behaviours actually matter, and not just in the form of obvious binary choices, so Lacuna thrilled me, and Between Horizons thrills me, too. It also absolutely terrifies me. All the introduction texts at the beginning, telling me that the game auto-saves, there is no turning back, your choice matter, you cannot undo decisions, you may not find out until much later if you solved a case correctly! There's also a timer for multiple choice dialogue options, and I'm stressed out already! :D :D :D

But also, yay for being chief of security on a space station. Like Odo! Not that Odo is my role model. The opposite may be closer to the truth.

(With Deep Space 9 in mind, I think it'd be nice if for the studio's next game, they'd do a science-fiction setting with alien species in the mix, since this would make the dozens of characters more visually distinct at first glance. And I like aliens.)

Now I'm off to investigate some space crimes!

[glow-wine]

Does Lestat ever say "Lestat, c'est moi"?

[glow-wine]

51 years ago today two vampires ruined a twink journalist’s life

[glow-wine]

I am very proud of Louis for his decision to just be single for a while!

None of these vampires should be in relationships. They should be in therapy! :D

[glow-wine]

Elrond: I don't care how cool those rings are, Sauron made them, therefore they are evil and should not be worn, period.

Cirdan: Pff, Elrond, you just gotta separate the art from the artist.

[glow-wine]

Noodle!Sauron is my favourite Sauron.

[glow-wine]

Life is torture because all my conversations (at work) during the last few weeks have been about

the weather

football

back pain

But what I really want to talk about is gay vampires.

[glow-wine]

Wow, I miss that game, I miss Nintendo Streetpass so much.

@vgadvisor