#ooc: we love a nice bela!!

[ask-the-little-candy-devourer]

yaa pastys r kool tooz, i mak dem evry dey cause dey yummis!! i lik saring dem too X3

mm dey smatie!! iz yummislious , wanr it!? i hav 50 cokie !!!!

[no typing quirk: Yeah, pastries are cool too, I make them every day 'cause they yummy! I like sharing them too! Mhm, they're smarties! Is yummilious (yummy + delicious), want it? I have 50 cookies!]

do yous lik candi ?! i hav cokie :'D

[no typing quirk: Do you like candy? I have a cookie!]

×⠀┊⠀@ask-the-little-candy-devourer

I like candy, but if I had to be honest, I like pastries more. :)

And that cookie looks delicious! Are those smarties on it?

[grey-gryphon]

I finally have a minute to type up my notes/thoughts for the first four episodes. So this was basically thoughts I wrote down while I watched it.

SPOILERS if you haven't read the books!!

First impressions: The scene with the Reds seemed unnecessary, as did Moraine mentioning that there are rumors of ta'veren in the Two Rivers. She didn't say what ta'veren are (if I recall correctly) and how would there be rumors of ta'veren getting out anyways? Who has been traveling there that would recognize them? What events transpired that were suspiciously ta'veren?

The vaguely British, generic fantasy accents everyone has is disappointing.

UGH, Perrin's wife. She barely had any lines or screen time at all before she was fridged. That, combined with me knowing she's not supposed to be there, made me feel absolutely nothing at what was supposed to be a heartbreaking scene.

Hearing names being said on the screen that have lived in my mind for for 20 years almost brought me to tears!

I don't know why they had to change the Cauthons so much. Mat never goes back home, at least in the books, and if they keep to that it's going to make him seem like such a jerk. He wasn't really needed at home in the books.

Wisdom's can't marry and have kids? Wasn't Daise Congar married? I guess they made that change to add drama.

Padan Fain's toothy grin!!! SO. GOOD. I hope they make him more of a threat in this. He never really accomplished much mischief in the books except for bringing the Whitecloaks to Emonds Field and killing the Aybaras.

Honestly I think Moiraine telling them she is looking for the Dragon Reborn is very ooc. She never tells anyone anything unless they absolutely have to know it, and not until the moment they need to know it.

I love that they made the Whitecloaks a legitimate threat, I'm assuming with forkroot. It makes sense, didn't they originally find it in Amadacia?

NYNEAVES RETURN!!!!

I liked the addition of Moraine getting wounded. It gives the other characters a chance to get more time in.

Still not on board with roughening Thom up and giving him a guitar instead of a harp.

I hope they don't end up cutting Gaul out since that would mean two Aielmans in a cage.

I thought it a little odd that a Dark friend was spouting Ishmael's nonsense nihilism, most pretty much just want power and eternal life, but it makes he more interesting.

I'm disappointed with the costumes so far. Not the Emonds Fielder's, but most everyone else. We haven't seen much non traveling clothes, but I would expect for the Aes Sedai especially to have more embellishments and details on their clothes. Like some embroidery or something. Also where are Liandrin's braids??

So far my favorite episode was the Shadar Logoth one. The place looked super creepy although I'm worried about Bela still, where is she?!

Now the 4th episode.....I didn't like it so much. Partly because I was trying to figure out wtf the Aes Sedai were doing. They're not as competent as they would like the world to believe but I feel like the viewer should think they are competent for longer. Also they are not doing a good job of explaining things to non book readers. Dave has been watching this with me and I have told him almost nothing, but he didn't understand what the Fade was it why it was a big deal.

Liandrin, while clearly sinister, seemed sort of out of character. Deigning to talk in a friendly fashion to Nyneave the wilder? Almost burning herself out with rage at a sisters death? She doesn't care enough about others to do that.

I understand they had to cut characters, but I am feeling the lack of Elyas. There's no one to tell Perrin what is happening to him and to instill Perrin's fear of what he could turn into. He also gives a nice contrast to the Tinkers philosophy. (They spend a year away? What are they, Amish??l I hope they don't take away the creepy running from the birds! Also Hopper!

Now. The shielding of Logain. Why were the sisters not linked? They linked later, so they haven't taken that ability out. It seemed like the two sisters watching each maintained a shield. That made no sense, and clearly didn't work out well. And when the warder tried to axe Logain? It looks like he had to break through the shield. It's not a physical shield, it's just to keep him from touching saidin. I don't understand how that was supposed to work. I also still don't like how they are showing channeling.

I've mentioned I'm finding the whole Who is the Dragon Reborn thing tiresome. I feel like its making them make a lot of unnecessary changes, and I don't care about the question at all, because it was obvious from Tams fever ramblings who it is.

And now I want to discuss a real fear I have about the lore changes they have made. So far, that I noticed, they have not mentioned saidar/saidin, just the One Power. They also have not removed the taint. I'm afraid that in an attempt to remove the gendered magic system, they are instead going to have it so men are all just tainted, which would be SO AWFUL. Like it or not, RJ's theme was to have a yin yang thing going on. Why would the Bore have even been drilled without saidin/saidar?

[tiktaalic]

All I know of sheila is what i've read in your posts over the last, um, ten minutes --- but she exudes og wincest shipper c.2007-2008. Accurate?

A couple thoughts: I did not start watching the show through a certain lens. I was hooked by the acting and cinematography as well as the twisted fucked-up Winchester story. My only awareness of a fanbase were the “Destiel” people, whose eruption of outrage in re: Season 9, episode 3 is what made me start watching, out of curiosity. But all the other stuff – Wincest, etc. – wasn’t on my radar. I think that because I didn’t write my re-caps through a particular lens – defensive/offensive in re: my particular “ship” – because I was open to possibilities (in the story onscreen) – since the show ITSELF encourages that kind of ambiguity – the people who gravitated here were those who also liked to “swim in possibilities.” Who were interested in story and how stories are told.

There have been a couple of “either/or” people who showed up here, Sam Girls, Dean Girls, who “hated” Sam, or “hated” Dean, but they didn’t last long. (Member “You’re all a bunch of annoying cunts,” anyone?) In general, you fine people who read my SPN stuff are “both/and” people. We like the show and how it’s told. We like trying to parse it out, figure it out, we like to look at all the possibilities. This is why the discussions here have been so epic. We all have our takes, and strong takes, but we aren’t positional about our SHIPS. Because we aren’t interested only in our ships. We’re interested in the SHOW. The way I look at it is: I don’t “ship” the brothers. I’m a fan of the SHOW. As I became more aware of the fan battles – most of which I stay out of – I became aware of what I call the “consensus thinking” in the different factions. If you ship THIS one thing, then you also like/hate this other character. And it all seems agreed upon. If you ship THAT, you hate THAT arc. Etc. I am so glad I watched the show completely free of all that white noise.

I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to “like” Amelia. I was open to the possibilities of that arc, and very curious about it. I like learning new things about Sam and Dean. People who are like “I hated Amelia, she was so rude” … that’s fine, it’s just that that’s not how I interact with stories. What does Amelia bring to the table as a STORY? Why did they write her that way? Back then, I trusted the writers. It was fascinating to me that Sam found comfort with a woman who was such a mess. It told me where HE was at. What a fascinating and complex choice. These secondary characters need to reveal something about our leads. Amelia – like Bela – was HUGELY revealing about our leads. I also didn’t know I was supposed to “hate” that Sam didn’t look for Dean, and see it as – dreaded word – “ooc.” So any time something bad happens, or your “fave” does something you don’t approve of – it’s “ooc.” Convenient! I find Lady Macbeth sinister, but I love her as a character. I don’t want to meet Raskolnikov in a dark alley, but he’s one of the greatest characters ever written. I didn’t know I was supposed to run out of town on a rail any woman who DARED to “come between the boys.” Nope. I don’t watch the show that way. People who aren’t on this wavelength are really turned off by me. Lol. I’ve seen your subtweets.

I prefer Sam and Dean fucked up. Not ENEMIES, or at loggerheads, but fucked up. Human, making mistakes, screwing up, hiding things from each other (thinking they’re protecting the other), always making the same mistakes because they can’t help it. This feels very true to me. This whole “relatable” thing – a character deemed good/bad based on whether or not you “relate” to them … this is fine for fans (I guess? I’ve never rolled that way, but never mind) … but for a critic, which I am, and how I’ve approached writing about this show – relatability doesn’t matter. When Tommy Lee Jones came and spoke at my school, he was talking about Executioner’s Song, where he played serial killer Gary Gilmore. Someone asked if you needed to “like” the character you played. TLJ said, “No. You don’t need to like the character. You need to want to WATCH the character.” This is so well said. No matter what either of those guys did in early seasons, I wanted to watch what happened. Even when they betrayed each other, did awful things, etc. I’m not running around “defending” this or that choice. That’s not how I engage with stories. So all of this “I hated when Sam wouldn’t forgive Dean in Season 9” noise … is really foreign to me. Okay, yes, it was upsetting, but my God, it was great dramatically. It was supposed to be stressful and uncomfortable to watch. It showed character growth, and development.

Wanting everyone to be nice and supportive to each other all the time is fine for fanfic and boring as hell onscreen (which we have now seen for the past 3 seasons, which are basically crowd-sourced from the fandom). I sound like I’m down on fanfic. Please. One of the first things I ever wrote was at the age of 12, and it was a screenplay about Han Solo’s scrappy 12-year-old sister. But I don’t think George Lucas needed to listen to my fanfic. I never showed it to a soul. It has nothing to do with the movie itself, it was a FANTASY. So anyway, back to the point. What is the point?

june 2019 viewing diary, sheila o'malley