#But I liked how Merle's story was handled in the gn and was looking forward to seeing that part

[knockknockitsnickels]

Ramble about the TAZ: Suffering Game graphic novel bc I just finished it and saw discussion around it and had a few thoughts which I didn't want to tag ramble on someone else's post about.

I don't really mind how little time they spent in Wonderland itself, though I might be biased, since I found the podcast version of suffering game dragged a bit. I felt the gn kept the vibes of "oh god, can this get any worse?" while not overstaying its welcome. I was also just relieved the lunar interlude was included, since imo that's one of the best parts of the series.

I think I only had two little gripes with the book. First one is that i feel "you stole half of my heart" doesn't hit as hard as "you took everything from me" (though I don't remember if the former was said in the podcast - maybe it was?). Second is that Merle choosing a penalty over losing his memories of his kids was a really nice moment which would've been fitting for this version of Merle.

I know others were upset about Taako not losing his beauty or Magnus not forgetting governor Kalen, but I didn't mind losing those. In Taako's case, I think he's generally a more emotionally open character in the graphic novels already, so I don't mind losing the scene where he opens up to Kraavitz by dropping the glamor. It's OK to disagree ofc, since it's a pretty iconic scene for the pair. With Magnus, I kind of expected them to cut that out, since his revenge plot against Kalen hasn't been mentioned in the gn, and the other two offering to go get revenge on his behalf isn't resolved in the podcast itself.