#taz negative

[ghosty-schnibibit]

me finishing the new graphic novel like on the one hand yes the art is gorgeous as always yes the chalice scenes were handled well yes the lunar interludes got included in a cool way but on the other hand me looking at ren (and also a bit at taako by proxy) like

[foxy-alien]

taz graphic novel thoughts… I’m putting it under the cut because… spoilers silly.

Forewarning this really got away from me and is unfortunately pretty negative. read at your own risk

Huh, this really is an adaption? After the eleventh hour this is a really big let down tbh. Just so much was cut and it felt SO rushed. In the first 3 scenes we lose taako’s “because I’m afraid no one else will have me” and practically ALL of Magnus and the void fish swimming.

Obviously things need to be cut, it’s a completely different medium, but all the emotional payoff was ruined. I was never scared they were going to lose something great, I didn’t even cheer for them when they killed Edward. All the sacrifices are so minimized FOR GOD SAKES MAGNUS AND GOVERNOR KALIN WAS CUT. Are you kidding me? One of the most important sacrifices and emotional moments of TAZ.

With every cut there is a cut to later payoff, in the eleventh hour that was balanced well but here it just doesn't work. So much is cut out of tsg that as a reader there were no stakes to win or lose. I knew they would win because its their story but i didn't care what would happen to them.

So Wonderland was too short, why do I care? because the very heart of the suffering game was lost.

This is the thesis of the suffering game summed up best.

What did they learn in wonderland? How did they change? They don't really. Taako doesn't choose the mission over himself, Magnus doesn't give up his main purpose in life, Merle doesnt lose his faith.

We don't get to see them at their worst because there is no one in Wonderland who their actions effect. I always, ALWAYS tear up at Rowen's "why?" after they go through their round with the monster factory. This catalyses Taako into later choosing to sacrifice his beauty. With the stakes cut we lose the emotional payoff of later scenes.

The solution of the suffering game being too long was not to cut out all of the spinning. It needed a restructuring. Heart attack has every interesting character moment cut, its barely a drive by of the original scene, why not just cut the moment entirely? It doesn't say anything about the character's emotional insights and True sight could have easily been cast at another moment.

Some moments have been adapted beautifully but they ended up reminding me what is lacking. Arms outstretched has great pacing that I had come to expect from the team. But compare that to Magnus's sacrifice and its just... nonexistant.

There was a way to trim down suffering game to fit it and the reunion tour that didn't require cutting every interesting sacrifice.

Now the reunion tour... what a mess. they cut out our narrator to show our plane being cut off, but this section dearly needed some narrative guiding. So much running back and forth in time and locations to make it run smoother but again, they needed a whole restructuring. Which some parts got but for all the wrong reasons.

I was happy that they cut the whole act with Magnus being dead when they get back to the campus because it barely works in audio form. But instead the campus is cleared because of the storm but then its packed for one panel when Carey and Killian cancel their side mission? why have the side mission at all? I'm assuming to drive Carey's and Magnus's friendship but it is a really clunky addition.

Everyone drinking the voidfish ichor separately is visually and narratively frustrating. It happens on a smaller scale in the show but by this point griffin has taken the reins back of the narrative and guides us through it seamlessly.

Griffin's final narration, has been separated and mutilated for what? it barely exists at all. its been replaced with an odd speech from Lucretia being happy about their return.

Its such a confusing moment to end on when you could have had idk THE ORIGINAL BELOVED ENDING?

"And from those pillars, the Hunger’s armies have begun to manifest, marching outward to raze the world below. It’s the end of the world. Again."

Tldr: bruh just read it, but seriously idk the changes made are clunky and dont make sense. and all the moments that are cut ruin the pacing of the rest of the book. It's especially confusing as this is probably one of the most straightforward arcs since petals to the metal and it is the most confusing adaption.

[yardsards]

the fun thing about taako is he has very little in the ways of canon physical appearance other than "in-universe, he is seen as extremely beautiful" so you can give him whatever features you want and implicitly celebrate those features as beautiful

[kawoshinlighter]

got super inspired by this video of the OPLA cast to make valentines! The pick up lines are so in-character and it’s just perfect. here’s a sketch sheet of all of them together (plus zoro because I love him and missed him in this) hopefully I will have individual cards for vday <3 enjoy

(descriptions of the pickup lines below the cut)

Zoro: “Rizz, non-existent”

Usopp: “If you want to see some treasure… i’ll show you my chest”

Luffy: “I must have eaten gum-gum fruit, cuz… my heart bounces every time I see you”

Nami: “Hey, do I have, scurvy? cuz suddenly.. i’m weak in the knees”

Sanji: “With me, you’ll never drown. I give great mouth (mouth to mouth)”

[dinerbrewcoffee]

Guys I am high off my ass but I just realized that Robert Chase from house md and Devo la Main (taz ethersea) are literally the same character:

1. Pretty boy canonically

2. Funny accent

3. Religious past (trauma)

4. The prodigal son…

[davlucies]

taako rescuing lucretia frfom the depression nexus because otherwise there's no way he and lup can pull off this prank 🌶

[ethersierra]

i wish people were more open to saying "its not for me" rather than being like "this is objectively bad and here's why"

[omegas-reincarnation]

Feeling sorry for Argonaut Keane, a man who clearly has a lot going on, but still has to babysit a guy who has no concept of lying and another guy who doesn't know what a confidence scam is.

[beanghostprincess]

tiskdjsdkcnxnd yes they took away zoros whimsy too!!!! hes not serious and solemn all the timeeee (tbf he did get like one joke in the la but still)

I expected Zoro to be sillier. I must say that the jokes he makes are good and I did laugh at those but when he got serious he probably got TOO serious and he was giving post-ts instead of pre-ts (if that makes any sense)???? Idk. Both Zoro and Nami deserved to be sillier.

[raspberrybluejeans]

i just finished Outre Space!! it was so funny I enjoyed it c: I hope Clint gets to DM again sometime soon, and I really liked Gabe and Kate

[thesnakethatmarches]

Listen we all got out issues with the graphic novel and the character designs for such but can I just say 11th hour did not hold back on committing to a character design.

You’ve got:

Ren, who is a fat character and literally it is not commented on or anything she’s just the best and she’s trying to help her town.

And then just the doubling down on all dwarves have facial hair? The visible facial hair on Hécuba (and a little on Mavis) felt so like interesting bcuz like that’s just a trait of their race, it means nothing to them. But to see it represented, not shied away from? Idk yeah there’s still valid criticism that can be said about a lot of the character designs but I’m a huge fan of some of the minor characters and the representation that these characters are giving us

[ghosty-schnibibit]

on the one hand i knew from the get go that realistically they were going to have to cut things from both the suffering game and lunar interludes IV and V if they were going to attempt to fit all three into one graphic novel, especially since reunion tour was a two parter

but, with all of that in mind, i did not think those cuts would include pivotal character developing moments for multiple main and side characters, so many fan favorite lines that at some point i gave up keeping track, key pieces of foreshadowing and themes that come into play during the finale, and literally every side character introduced in the original arc are you fucking kidding me

[somelazyassartist]

Ough I need to avoid my TAZ shelf when I'm tired, because reminding myself that The Adventure Zine and the graphic novels are right next to each other and how painful some of the differences between them are legitimately gives me a migraine. That and my eyes are weird so looking at comics for too long just does that anyways but I digress

[autismjpg]

genuinely obsessed with justin playing taako as a ranger during imbalance thats so legitimately funny but,,, DEEPLY interesting to me,,, taakos relationship with magic and casting is so deep and complex and i know this was Justin just having a laugh BUT TO ME. it really showed how that complexity manifests sometimes

[johnpallo]

I made the mistake of going on The Adventure Zone subreddit to see what people's thoughts were on TAZ Vs. Dracula episode 1 (I just started listening to the season).

Not only is it an overwhelmingly negative and complaint driven community, but the needless hate towards Travis McElroy is just astounding. Like I get that some people are sore at him over how he handled TAZ: Graduation, and that's fair, but it's turned into this culture of the guy being everyone's villain all the time. Makes it basically impossible to engage with the TAZ fandom at all outside of the fan art and similar.