#the showrunners are fans of the book series

[middle-earth-mythopoeia]

I'm out of the blue here but why do Tolkien fans hate Rings Of Power? How is it damaging his work and legacy?

We don't hate it because it's damaging Tolkien's work or legacy, which stand on their own merits. We hate it because it's an awful adaptation that treats his world and characters horribly. We hate it because it's made by a company that utterly betrays Tolkien's values and showrunners who have arrogantly compared themselves to him as if they're on his level. Not only that, ROP is being shoved down our throats: it's all over online spaces, it's mentioned in Tolkien-related news articles that have nothing to do with it, and ROP images have even been plastered on the covers of Tolkien's books just to make more money for Amazon. I have more than a few criticisms of Peter Jackson's films, but they all pale in comparison to the criticisms I have of this dumpster fire of a show and the company that made it. ROP has tried to present itself as diverse, but it actually has extremely regressive writing and tokenistic casting, not to mention abhorrent labor practices because it's made by fucking Amazon. Its plotlines and dialogue and internal consistency are shit. Despite an absurdly high budget, its production value is also shit. Even if it were a standalone fantasy series that had nothing to do with Tolkien and we weren't comparing it to canon, the whole thing is embarrassingly, sickeningly bad. Does this answer your question?

[thedynamic]

The thing that is so important about iwtv is that like. This is bad people the book series, and therefore it is bad people the television series. Does this make sense? None of them are good people they are all monsters. Louis is the worst of them all because he clings so hard onto his humanity that he can’t even recognize the monster within. Armand tortures everyone he spends an extended amount of time with because he knows nothing else. Lestat is so fearful of abandonment that his very being becomes an active grenade that pushes people away. Claudia is the worst parts of her parents put together and spat back out. Daniel is so fucked up that he is welcomed amongst vampires before he is ever even turned into one. They are all liars. They are all monsters. And they are all evil because they are all vampires. There is no moral high ground for you to sit upon while watching this show by saying that one is worse than the next. The entire point is that they all deserve this and they all deserve each other.

[mieczyhale]

@gay-jewish-bucky IT REALLY FUCKING IS. No matter what if it’s a canon gay couple it’s just not going to be good enough for the exact same people who complain about wanting more gay rep. Part of getting gay rep is accepting that we’re going to get rep for all kinds of gays, all kinds of relationships, all levels of relevance - not just the kind that some people want or deem acceptable.

We finally have what is, in my opinion, a pretty well balanced canon queer ship that isn’t just ~hints and eye contact~, that isn’t squeaky clean, that have meaningful conversations and show love and affection like it’s not a big deal. It’s treated on equal levels to any straight ship on the show and I think that’s a breath of fresh goddamn air tbh.

I know people are always going to complain, but this topic has gotta be one of the most annoying and most exhausting ones. People should be happy we get any kind of lgbtqa+ rep, and that that rep is getting not just more diverse over the years but better too. There’s never going to be Perfect Queer Representation and to bitch and hold out for it?? To nitpick the fuck out of every ship?? Why would you, y’know??

[queenvhagar]

Do you know where "the book is team green propaganda" came from? I often see this in the fandom in discussions

The showrunners themselves said this 🫠

Ryan Condal specifically called at least Blood and Cheese and the Aegon/Sunfyre bond propaganda, as in, he believes that women lie about their trauma and Alicent somehow got to the historians through all of this and lied about what she and her family went through (and apparently made up a grandson 🥴) with the specific purpose of slandering her ex bestie of three years/enemy of decades, despite the fact she apparently would kill her sons to reconcile with her... and he says the stuff about Sunfyre being beautiful and Aegon choosing his golden banner based on their strong bond was "Westerosi historical propaganda."

Basically it's their justification/shutdown of critics for what they view as their own superior writing changes to the story. These writers are high on their own fumes and their ego is so inflated that they think they can write ASOIAF better than GRRM himself (despite the fact that Sara Hess admitted she never even watched Game of Thrones and took no consideration of the universe when creating her own narratives in this show).

This also stems from this "maester conspiracy" where people believe a select group of people high up in society are secretly controlling things from the shadows and calling the shots... and like all similar conspiracy theories, this is actually deeply rooted in antisemitism.

It's very unlikely that a large number of people, even maesters, could collaborate in secret and all agree on set things in order to completely rewrite history... and there's the fact that the historical textbook Fire and Blood was written by GRRM as the in-universe definitive source on the real history, using a variety of sources including historians, eyewitnesses, survivors, and royal household staff, in which there are people sympathetic toward both sides of the Dance.

Despite all of this, writers and fans are convinced that somehow all the sources that paint TB in a bad light are fictitious propaganda while at the same time accounts that paint TG in a bad light are taken at face value, and vice versa: parts of the story that recount TG as doing something for realistic reasons, being Targaryen dragonriders with bonded dragons, or even being a loyal united front as a family are apparently lies and stolen from TB in order to make TG look better, so the show "corrects" this by giving it all to TB.

Really wild that anyone can think the author of a series known for his anti war, all characters and sides are morally gray, and each character is conflicted in their heart about love and duty stories apparently purposefully wrote a story where war is justified due to actual prophetic divine right... some characters are completely good and others are completely evil... and their motivation really changes whenever the plot or writers need it... and he did all of it by purposefully crafting a story based on lies for no reason.

And well, we already know that GRRM has some opinions about how stuff like this has failed the story.

[adventure-time-news]

Now that we've had some time to process today's announcements, here's a slightly more in-depth breakdown of the three new Adventure Time projects.

HEYO BMO

Heyo BMO will be a preschool show starring BMO. The Animation on Max Twitter account says that it "follows little BMO as he approaches each challenge he faces with his unique brand of enthusiasm and a curiosity to learn and fill his database."

This is the only project of the three for which we have received some promo art so far, which might mean it's the furthest along in development and the most likely to premier first, especially if they used rigged rather than traditional animation as is often the case with preschool shows. This promo art was created by 3D artist Crisppyboat, who has previously worked on a handful of web projects and indie games. I don't think this is the style that the entire show will have, but who knows.

Other people confirmed by Variety to be working on Heyo BMO are Adam Muto, who has been showrunner on everything Adventure Time since season five of the original show, and Ashlyn Anstee, who storyboarded on Obsidian and has written many children's books.

This show is especially interesting given that Adam Muto has often joked about the inevitability of a preschool spinoff of Adventure Time, and now that has finally come to pass while he is presumably still running the show.

SIDE QUESTS

Side Quests will be a "prequel series" to the original Adventure Time, likely meant as a return to the early seasons' storytelling style. It will be mostly episodic rather than serialised, meaning episodes will each tell their own story without much of an overarching plot, and it will target the original show's young demographic. Ice King is confirmed to be returning in this series, but that's about all we know about the plot.

Interestingly, Variety did not attach Adam Muto's name to this project. Instead it mentioned that Nate Cash will be involved. Nate Cash was supervising director on Adventure Time between seasons three and five, often alternating with Adam Muto in that role. So if Nate is producing Side Quests and Adam is producing Heyo BMO, this will be something of a return to form for both of them.

One question that I've seen a few fans ask is who will voice Finn in this show. Jeremy Shada can't really pull off the season one Finn voice anymore, and they've run out of younger Shada brothers to defer to like they did after the pilot episode. So a new casting feels likely to me, with Shada continuing to voice an older Finn in other projects like Fionna and Cake and the movie. Speaking of which...

UNTITLED ADVENTURE TIME MOVIE

This is the announcement that we know the least about. To give some historical context, an Adventure Time movie was announced all the way back in 2015 but never came to anything. There was also allegedly a plan to end season five with a TV movie back in 2014. Elements of these two movies were later recycled into the plots of several later episodes, most notably Something Big, and possibly Distant Lands: Together Again.

This latest attempt involves Adam Muto, as well as Rebecca Sugar and Pat McHale, who were both influential storyboard artists in the early seasons of Adventure Time before leaving to make their own shows; Steven Universe and Over the Garden Wall, respectively.

According to MidouMir on Twitter, who was live-Tweeting the Warner panel at Annecy, a brief synopsis was given as something like "Finn and Jake set out to find a birthday gift for PB but their adventure will lead them to world changing stuff." Other than that we know nothing about the plot.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Adventure Time wasn't the only show to get spinoffs announced today. Regular Show, Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, and Scooby-Doo will all be receiving new series too. We don't know anything about the Regular Show spinoff, but the Fosters spinoff will be a preschool show like Heyo BMO.

All of this appears to indicate that Warner's current animation strategy is to recycle characters who have already proven popular in order to try and attract a new generation of viewers. Original fans of Adventure Time are beginning to get old enough to have children of their own who might enjoy something like Heyo BMO, plus since the end of shows like Amphibia and The Owl House there has been a vacuum of popular "fandom" shows for the older children to younger teens demographic, which I imagine is what Side Quests is aiming for.

To be fair they have also announced a handful of brand new projects; Lovey Dovey, Bad Karma, and Barbara are all new shows announced today.

What are your thoughts? Is there anything I missed? Be sure to let me know!

[cha-faile]

babes. darlings. wot series readers.

I get it. I've read the books more than twenty times through. I was on theoryland. I was on dragonmount. I was am on tarvalon.net. I was on the grey-tower rp site. I was on irc with multiple registered wot usernames. I've gone to RL wot parties to meet wot fans I'd only hung out with online. I'm such a fucking wot nerd that I've visited wot fans on three continents to hang out with them in person. I have a Badali officially licensed Aes Sedai ring I wear most days, and I have had multiple Aes Sedai shawls. I've written wiki pages and articles for online WoT newspapers. I've literally taught WoT classes. I put the fanatic back in fan!

The show is different. the show has problems. the show has idiosyncracies and fuck-ups.

just. like. THE BOOKS!

fuck, I love it. I'm having such a good time loving it. I can love it and have criticisms. All I've done for over 15 yrs is lovingly critique the books! Why would the show be any different!

We are so lucky. Our showrunners love the source material! We don't see headlines like the Witcher, where the writers and directors literally hated the source material. We have real, handmade costumes and handmade sets like the much-lauded LotR movies, and unlike the much-maligned Rings of Power.

It's so much fun loving WoT. It's so delightful having theorizing back!! I get to make crackpot theories about the Wheel of Time again! how cool is that?! is the show perfect? Certainly not! but we're WoT fans! Since when have we needed perfection??

[justjensenanddean]

Justin Hartley Says Jensen Ackles Brings Tracker to the 'Next Level' as They Reunite for Season 2

Ackles will appear on the second episode of 'Tracker' season 2, airing on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS

The brothers are back together!

In PEOPLE's exclusive photo from the upcoming episode of season 2 of Tracker, Justin Hartley and Jensen Ackles reunite in their roles as siblings.

After first working together in season 1 with Hartley as Colter and Ackles as his estranged brother Russell, the longtime friends are coming together once again — but it isn’t without drama.

“Jensen and I have known each other for a long time, we just never had a chance to work together,” Hartley, 47, tells PEOPLE in a statement. “Jensen is the perfect guy to play Russell. It’s such a well fleshed out character in the book and even more so with what we’ve done on the show.” “And then Jensen just brings to it the next level,” he adds.

Episode 2 of season 2, titled “Ontological Shock” airs Sunday, Oct. 20, and sees Colter disappear while searching for a missing father. Reenie (played by Fiona Rene) then calls in Russell to help track him down in the intense hunt for the survivalist.

Hartley first teased Ackles’ return to the series during the Summer Television Critics Association 2024 Press Tour in July. Fans went wild seeing the two together at the end of Tracker season 1 when the Supernatural star made a guest appearance and they have been anticipating seeing him again.

“We got him, he’s coming back,” Hartley said at the time. “We’re having fun with that. It’s a great story.”

Although the This Is Us alum said “I don’t know” when asked how many episodes would feature Ackles, showrunner Elwood Reid assured viewers it would be for "more than one" episode. 

"It’s like family: when we text him [he says], ‘Tell me where and tell me when,’ and he shows up," explained Reid, who previously worked with Ackles on Big Sky. "He’s just that kind of guy.”

[splintersintime]

As someone who's a fan of Good Omens (the show and the book), in the wake of the revelations about Neil Gaiman I want to say that the victims' wellbeing is more important than any closure from the completion of Series Three. If the showrunners find a way to remove Gaiman and complete it without any input from him, that would be a blessing. But if it never sees the light of day, I'll accept it.

We had one amazing first series that was based on the novel which Terry Pratchett's daughter has stated was 75% his work. The second series ... well, no matter how good you think it is (or isn't), it feels like an impostor now - a way to string out the story and keep fans on the hook with a cliffhanger ending before rewarding us with a final series based on some alleged ideas that the two authors once had for a sequel. For me, I think I can be OK without it.

I'm angry and disgusted with Gaiman but I realised that I don't feel sad. For his victims, yes. For other fans who lost faith in an author they loved, yes. But not for myself as a fan. Because as good a writer as he was, his own books were never, unlike Terry Pratchett's, up there with my favourites. And that's because, ironically, Gaiman fails at writing happy endings.

[david-talks-sw]

I got a good feeling about "The Acolyte"

Not even kidding. Like, I've spoken before about why I'm wary of it.

George Lucas' Star Wars is something that intentionally has black and white morality, rather than shades of gray. Those movies are meant for kids and projecting a "gray" morality onto them then proclaiming it was George's vision all along is doing so in bad faith.

The narrative of the Prequels doesn't frame the Prequel Jedi in as negative a light as Leslye Headland, Dave Filoni, etc etc do.

See here for more details, but bottom line: yeah, a show that has a darksider as the underdog is bound to demonize the Jedi (who are the actual underdogs in the Prequels), and obviously that rubs me the wrong way.

BUT.

The trailer looks fucking cool. It really really does.

And more importantly? I've done some research... and Leslye Headland is ticking a lot of good boxes, in my book.

1. The Acolyte won't be a 10-hour movie.

I've criticized Disney Plus shows before, explaining that a big source for most of their issues is that these series are being structured as "long movies" rather than, y'know, actual shows.

But in this interview with Collider, Headland addresses that: it'll be a series. Not a long movie that you need to watch across four weeks.

Thank God. You have no idea how much that comforts me. Finally a showrunner who's, y'know, actually running a show.

And this goes hand in hand with what she told IGN, here, about how she's going about building suspense.

Yes! Exactly! That's how it's supposed to be!

Like, compare this to Baylan Skoll's storyline in Ahsoka.

In no possible way was that emotionally-fulfilling. For 8 episodes we had no idea what he was after, and the season ended where we still don't know. What does he want? What is he after? Your guess is as good as mine, it's something Mortis-related.

So yeah. Maybe getting the Emmy-nominated trained screenwriter on board to run this was a good idea.

2. Maybe the Jedi will not be as demonized as I originally thought.

Don't get me wrong. 80% of what she says about the Jedi makes me cringe. It's the typical fan's interpretation and y'all know I disagree with that interpretation.

It's painful to see her refer to the Jedi as an institution (not how the Prequels' narrative frames them) and to see her frame "Balance" in the "oh there's so many of them and just two Sith, that means the Force is out of balance" meaning... but at least she acknowledges the Jedi are a benevolent institution.

They're not an "elitist force hiding in their ivory tower" as others have described the Jedi.

Moreover, there'll be a variety of Jedi POVs, many personalities.

Yord Fandar, is described as a strictly by-the-book Jedi Knight and guardian from the Jedi Temple, is an overachiever and a rule follower.

The question now becomes: will the narrative frame him as "your typical Jedi" or is it just this one guy? I'm hoping it's the latter.

I also like how her reasoning goes re: Jedi drawing their lightsabers.

Which explains the hand-to-hand combat seen in the trailer.

This teenager is coming at Carrie-Ann Moss with a dagger, of course the Jedi won't draw her saber.

3. She's a fan of Star Wars... but a screenwriter first.

You can tell in the interviews she's a fan. She's using words like "BBY" and "EU" casually. In the above-linked interviews she's bringing up the Nightsisters, Timothy Zahn, The Clone Wars, she mentions she has a tattoo of Ralph McQuarrie's concept art of Leia, the High Republic books, etc.

She's done her homework. She's a fan.

But the vibe I'm getting from these interviews is that she's weaving in these various lore-elements in a more organic way, rather than in the "fan-servicey" way Dave Filoni has been doing in his shows.

The references and Easter Eggs will be there, but the narrative won't bend over itself just so you can get it. Crafting a good story comes first, and Andor is a beautiful illustration of why this is true.

Which is why I was never bothered about one of the writers never having watched Star Wars before getting the job. You need those fresh eyes when you're tackling something of this scale.

That makes sense to me. Maybe it's because of my own screenwriting experience, but yeah. That out-of-the box perspective is precious.

And like, obviously, that writer watched the films eventually, but for some reason everyone who bitched about Headland omitted that detail and opted for a more bad faith interpretation.

Hm. Wonder why.

Maybe it's the same reason that months ago this clipped audio circulated socials without context, in which she debates whether Star Wars only came from George Lucas and only Lucas is the key.

The FULL context of that interview reveals that she's actually:

debating the "autheur director" myth and positing that it was achieved by a collective of excellent filmmakers and craftspeople that George was skilled and smart enough to recruit...

the studios now think it's a simple as hiring one guy and throwing money at him, because they have no idea what the fuck they're talking about. See Napoleon (2023) for example.

Yes, she also does a jab to the Prequels, which speaks to the generation of fans she's a part of... but overall she's giving Lucas props whilst also stating an ideological difference, that's it!

George is a proponent of the "autheur" theory, Leslye isn't.

However, guess what, in like half the talks George gave post-selling Star Wars? He's giving shoutouts to everyone who helped make the first film, even remembering their names.

So I'm not even sure he'd vehemently disagree with Leslye, in fact they'd prolly have a conversation about it and immediately bitch about how stupid studio executives are :D

But that's not as incendiary, is it? Again, the more I do the research, the more it feels like the reason most of these influencers are hating on her is purely sexist.

I mean, on IGN she's even acknowledging that she does plan on taking stock of fan reactions for Season 2.

It's not a guarantee that she'll incorporate the feedback, but at least that's more consideration than, say, JJ Abrams or Rian Johnson gave the fandom.

She's even bringing the moral ambiguity that the Gray Jedi-loving edge-lords love so much.

"No, she's a woke feminist! Anything she does is evil! Eww, girls!"

🙄

Needless to say... I'm gonna give it a shot.

I think it's gonna be a good show, I think it's gonna be a solid story.

I'm crossing my fingers that they won't as biased against the Jedi as it seems they'll be. Even if they are... if it's still an enjoyable experience, I'll gloss over it.

As @gffa states in this post:

Worst case? It's not a story from George. I can dismiss it from my headcanon without a moment's hesitation :D

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

(CROWLEY LIVING IN THE CAR CONFIRMED! 🐍🚗:D❤)

Although the trailer for "Good Omens" season 2 shows the life-long frenemies living in quasi-domestic bliss (until Jon Hamm's memory-wiped Gabriel shows up), their living arrangement apparently isn't quite so simple. The latest issue of SFX magazine includes an interview with Sheen and Tennant, and although the pair say their characters end up closer than ever, SFX also reveals that season 2 will pick up with Crowley living out of his car (plants and all) while Aziraphale is thriving hanging among humans at his Soho bookshop. It's at the shop that Crowley often finds himself, according to Tennant.

"He spends a lot of time in the book shop," Tennent tells SFX magazine. "He only has one friend. He can only have one friend." As Sheen notes elsewhere in the interview, the pair aren't exactly on the run, but aren't off the radar of the powers that be in heaven and hell either. When Tennant notes that the pair are "kind of free agents" these days, Sheen says they're also semi-fugitives. "They are sort of in-between. But this amazing life they have created over a millennia, they are now able to enjoy in a slightly different way," he explains.

The pair might be retired from their jobs working for the big men upstairs (and downstairs), but that freedom leads to a dependence on one another that perhaps feels different than what they've known in all their previous centuries of coexistence. "That is the great liberation, and also the great prison, that they find themselves in," Tennant says after noting that Aziraphale is Crowley's only friend. "They have no one else. They have come to rely on each other more than they ever did. And more than they care to admit."

Fans have already caught a glimpse of that denial in the "Good Omens" season 2 trailer, when Gabriel asks Aziraphale whether the presence of one person in his life has ever given him an inexplicable sense of comfort, and the angel responds with a stuttering "No, certainly not." Meanwhile, the trailer edits in a shot of Sheen's character looking quietly delighted while sharing a drink with Crowley, making it pretty clear the angel's caught feelings. The actors don't address Aziraphale's heart eyes in the interview, but do talk about how the sense that the pair are, as Tennant puts it, "strangers in a strange land" will impact their relationship.

"That kind of connects them in a slightly different way," Sheen says. "They have always been the only two beings who could understand each other's position. Now they are pushed even closer together." 

Luckily for the two co-stars (and for fans), the show is never better than when it's exploring the closeness of the pair, as Crowley and Aziraphale possess a dynamic chemistry that gives their companionship an undercurrent of romance. How much season 2 of "Good Omens" may or may not explore that aspect of their relationship remains to be seen, but it sounds like series creator and showrunner Gaiman is well aware that the dynamic duo is at their best when it's them against the world.

[ewanmitchellcrumbs]

HBO have responded to George’s blog post already lol they are big mad.

“There are few greater fans of George R.R. Martin and his book ‘Fire & Blood’ than the creative team on ‘House of the Dragon,’ both in production and at HBO. Commonly, when adapting a book for the screen, with its own format and limitations, the showrunner ultimately is required to make difficult choices about the characters and stories the audience will follow. We believe that Ryan Condal and his team have done an extraordinary job and the millions of fans the series has amassed over the first two seasons will continue to enjoy it.”

Source

[retiredkat]

DEN OF GEEK article

The Walking Dead Daryl Dixon Season 3 Needs to Decide on Daryl and Carol’s Relationship

Will they or won't they? Daryl Dixon season 3 really needs to make a decision about Caryl once and for all...

By Jeanette WhiteNovember 6, 2024

This Walking Dead article has spoilers for Daryl Dixon.

The desire to see a romantic relationship between Carol and Daryl isn’t anything new, but it has ramped up. Across The Walking Dead and Daryl Dixon spinoff, fans have witnessed friendship bracelets, “I love yous,” and plenty of face-caressing reunions between the two. Carol crossed an ocean to find Daryl in France, and he assured her that he never stopped trying to get home to her. Cute, right? Well, that all depends on who you’re talking to. According to David Zabel, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol showrunner, there’s nothing romantic about it.

When asked about the nature of Carol and Daryl’s relationship in an interview with Collider, Zabel said, “I don’t think it’s romantic,” seemingly attributing the duo’s chemistry to whatever magic exists between Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus behind the camera. This, of course, isn’t the first time Zabel’s spoken against romance. When talking to SFX magazine, he said turning Daryl and Carol into a couple would be a “mistake.���

For “Caryl” shippers, it’s disheartening news. More importantly, it makes The Book of Carol’s romance hints feel a bit like gaslighting. For the series to succeed, it needs to decide what’s going on between Carol and Daryl because, right now, it’s sending mixed messages.

Daryl Dixon’s First Season Made Season 2 Messy

AMC originally conceived Daryl Dixon as a Daryl and Carol spinoff before overseas shooting made Melissa McBride’s inclusion “logistically untenable” for her. While a new direction was necessary, season 1 goes a step further by ignoring Daryl’s past almost entirely. Unlike The Ones Who Live, which delves into Rick and Michonne’s feelings about being separated from each other and their family, Daryl Dixon’s first season establishes Daryl’s bond with Laurent and Isabelle in France. Daryl doesn’t do much lamenting about the gang back home. In fact, he barely mentions them. When Laurent asks about the people Daryl left behind, he responds, “There’s Judith. There’s RJ. There’s a lady named Carol.” We all know Daryl’s tight-lipped, but “a lady named Carol” feels like a pretty big brush-off for someone he said “I love you” to just two months prior.

Watching Daryl choose between the people he just met in France and returning to his found family in the US is painful. The Daryl we know wouldn’t hesitate to return home. Yet, the big choice season 1 desperately pushes for doesn’t matter anyway. Once Daryl and Carol reunite, The Book of Carol kills off Isabelle, making Daryl’s “choice” a whole lot easier. Maybe the series didn’t want to steer into soap opera territory, but it sends a bizarre message nonetheless: Why can’t two women occupy space in Daryl’s life at the same time? The write-off feels like an all too convenient way of pushing Carol and Daryl back into the spotlight, but then, what was the point of season 1? Watching Daryl play reluctant guardian once again didn’t do much in terms of character development. Judith and RJ still exist, after all.

The Book of Carol Sends Mixed Messages

The Book of Carol includes plenty of Caryl moments that aren’t just fantasies of hopeful shippers. The fact that Daryl never returns Isabelle’s “I love you” after telling Carol that he loved her in TWD’s finale practically begs audiences to question his feelings for Carol. Strangers compare them to an “old married couple” and hint at the spark between them. When you toss in the playful banter, the hugging, and all those looks, you get something that feels a lot like romantic foreshadowing. If Zabel is so against romance, why bother including these moments at all? Yes, straight men and women friendships lack representation in entertainment, but the solution to that isn’t depicting a relationship wobbling on the edge of romance. That’s not authentic, either. In fact, it’s harmful.

The best will they/won’t they relationships work because, at some point, the “will they” becomes “they want to, they just haven’t.” This is where Carol and Daryl drip with slow burn potential. Taking the romance route suggests feeling realizations are underway. However, following Zabel’s path of friendship, ironically, makes things a lot more complicated if the spinoff keeps dolling out interactions like this.

Right now, season 3 plans for Carol and Daryl aren’t clear. Perhaps Zabel thinks people will keep tuning in if their relationship stays the same, but there’s too much history between them for that. Romance or not, Daryl Dixon would be wise to choose a side because playing is alienating shippers and non-shippers alike.

[olderthannetfic]

Update on the Bridgerton stuff: the online fandom is so homophobic and horrible, and the mods of stuff like the main subreddit refuse to do anything about it (but will remove comments by people upset about the homophobia for "generalizing") that LGBTQ+ fans have had to make their own spaces. There's a whole separate subreddit that bans homophobia called r/bridgertonlgbt, and of course the ones from the main one keep trying to get it banned with false reports by accusing them of "heterophobia" and "doxxing" (re: complaining about their homophobic comments in their own spaces). Assholes who are mad about them making a straight romance from the books lesbian in the show are also doing petitions and flooding like every Instagram post including one by the original author about how she was initially skeptical about such a big change from her books but she's had lots of talks with the showrunners and she trusts them, and has always supported greater diversity in the series. People keep misusing that stupid fucking George R.R. Martin quote (about how creators these days don't do anything original but just warp other people's existing works) when he himself has condemned "the show must be exactly like the books" fan attitudes, especially the racist tantrums around House of the Dragon casting a couple years ago. And on a post by the author HERSELF where she explains why she gave the go-ahead, supports these changes, and condemns homophobia in the fandom! How is she "warping" her own work???

I've heard about this all secondhand from my friend and it just makes me so glad I don't go on Insta or Reddit and instead keep my fandom activities to Tumblr or AO3. Where for all the drama over other things, at least this kind of rancid homophobia you get in spaces where everyone is cis and straight feels entitled to only ever consume straight and cis romance stories (they'll claim they "are okay with gay characters but new ones!" but their example is always like a side character who has an unhappy ending, can you really not get why queer fans are not satisfied with that?) at least that's not so much a thing here. Instead I'll be happily writing Francesca/Michaela and Benedict/male characters slash and ignoring and blocking the haters. And remembering that that show has way more fans than use social media and everyone involved is continuing to refuse to listen to the loud idiots online. Like everyone I talk to about it who isn't super online, most of whom are straight women, think the change is really cool and can't wait to see what they do with it. Some of them have read the books, but most have not.

But god, it just seems like toxicity from top to bottom over there. I really wish a lot of the straight women fans would just admit they don't like a lesbian romance because there's no one for them to find hot. And maybe consider why it's not a big fucking ask to "find something relatable" in gay romances, like gay people have had to do with straight ones for all time. Why must we continue doing that but you're entitled to whatever you want all the time? It's just so weird to see these attitudes still and in fandom in 2024!

--

These attitudes never went away.

On the fanfic side of things, the slashers just happen to have built the currently-popular platform, so the haters have to deal.

[nicetoseesofttotouch]

The audacity!!!!!

Book spoilers. Show spoilers, spoilers all around!

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My expectations were low but holy hell! This Showrunner is awful, the skipping didn't do Polin any favor, they needed TIME to develop the friendship into more and not in like a scene snap, the friends to lovers of the book is well written and believable, this was... NOT. And why does it feel like they weren't the actual leads? Why make it about two leads per season when you write a million subplots?

She is like one of those fans that saw Benedict befriending a gay guy and said oh yes totally bi when CVD said explicitly that the storyline was to show how much he is tolerant about different kinds of love foreshadowing his future HEA. I have NO problem with anyone being queer as long as they don't change their book HEA, (this will be textbook queerbaiting to please a loud annoying internet minority) especially the ones who follow specific struggles, like infertility, not wanting their children to be bastards, the role and dangers of a woman in the working class, etc this leads me to the heartbreaking erasure of the best male written character on the whole Bridgerton series, you are not gender bending, you are erasing a whole book creating a fanfiction of what was the best and more complex Bridgerton book, Francesca married for love, she was completely in love with John and didn't develop feelings for MICHAEL until much later, she erase that, she'll erase the infertility struggle, of course she'll have John's baby, of course, of course it will be a boy who'll inherit the earldom.

And lastly I have no doubt that Jess Brownell will want to butcher TSPWL too... Maybe recast Phillip, maybe erasing him, who knows, but I know Eloise will also suffer from her awful writing.

[liloify]

i really do love Emmas’ suggestion for Rhaenyra and Mysaria to kiss bc I feel like it does add some nuance to the scene that’s only gonna make this season all the more entangled

I don’t like the argument that “oh when Rhaenyra was young she didn’t like goose(pussy)”, like that was ten years ago, that is a whole decade, and these aren’t books so we don’t exactly get a look into her mind in the form of italics, or a shortened retelling of something that made her realize, “ykw, goose isn’t that bad.” or even more likely, RHAENYRA IS STARVED.

1. Imagine a war being fought that’s all about your inheritance, the inheritance that your father literally upheld to his LAST BREATH, and everyone is acting like you have nothing to do with it aside from being a visual for the cause.

2. Your husband/uncle (aka, the closest older male relative you have now) is in harrenhal tripping off weirwood leaves and a thirst for power

3. Your oldest child starts undermining you

and all this whilst still processing the death of your father, your son, your daughter and now your cousin who was technically your Aunt anyway bc she was old as hell.

Rhaenyra is not only feeling powerless but now she feels unneeded, useless, she doesn’t feel like she has control in a war that was only started because nobody listened to her in the first place when she said she is the rightful ruler of the seven kingdoms. And don’t come under my post talking about, “WELL THE BOOKS SAID—“ the books are literally being retold through someone, an unreliable narrator, and I thought we all knew by now that GOT/HOTD doesn’t follow the books to the T.

Should they in some cases? yes, absolutely, but this is TV, it still has to be entertaining to an extent, it still has to be easy for the audience to follow to an extent.

Why would any of you think after 8 seasons of reinventing and in S7 and S8’s cases, just inventing in general, that they would follow the books exactly in the prequel series? Why would yall think that in season 2 they would suddenly start following the books??

If you don’t like the changes, don’t watch it, simple. stop going under posts and being like “it was fan service by the writers!!!” “it’s woke propaganda!!!” nigga this is a show about incest and dragons what the fuck could be woke about THAT??

I love the decision because it really does show just how starved Rhaenyra is for anything at this point, her husband is gone, she’s lacking physical intimacy. Rhaenys is dead, she’s lacking a female confidant. Even Sonoya says that they BOTH needed someone at that point, it wasn’t about manipulation, it was about two women who had been groomed, assaulted, underminded and alone finding comfort in each other.

Mysaria was already a confidant for Rhaenyra, and had she won the war, she probably would’ve been elevated any way. Why would Mysaria, who is so closed off about herself suddenly decide, “you know what, I should tell her this brutal story about my father abusing me because maybe she’ll elevate me right now.” With what kingdom??

I understand y’all don’t like the fact that the show strays from the books, and I understand that the Rhaesaria kiss came out of ‘nowhere’, but y’all keep looking at this face value. Yeah, they never really hinted at Mysaria or Rhaenyra liking women after season 1, but they did make it very very clear that the two are alone, and right now they feel like they only have each other. The kiss doesn’t have to go anywhere but it does make sense for it to have happened, in the heat of an emotional connection, they kiss because theyve both been lacking physical intimacy for so long that it just happens.

It’s not propaganda, Rhaenyra and Mysaria are two lonely women and the kiss made sense from an emotional standpoint, if you have an issue don’t get mad at me bc 1. it’s not my show??? and 2. theyve done gay shit before (laenor, renly, loras, oberyn, yara, ellaria) so be mad at the showrunners for allowing it.

[renthony]

🏳️‍🌈 (queer media rec please !)

(Drop a 🏳️‍🌈 in my inbox and I’ll respond with a queer media recommendation!)

I've been sticking to indie or less-popular works for these recommendations, but the most recent Interview With the Vampire episode destroyed me and I need to get more people in on this sweet, sweet suffering.

AMC's television adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview With the Vampire is phenomenal. The season 2 finale airs next week, and I'm hoping very much for more. It's officially available via AMC+, and if you're at all into queer gothic horror, you have to check it out.

The basic premise is that an immortal Vampire named Louis tells his tragic story to a human reporter named Daniel. We learn all about Louis' life as a human, how he was turned into a vampire by his vampire lover Lestat, and how the two created a child vampire named Claudia to be their daughter. It's a messy domestic drama where every single narrator is unreliable, it's a horror show, it's tragic, it's queer as hell, and it's perfect for people who want to see mean, petty, mentally unwell, horny queer characters waging psychological warfare on each other.

Here's the trailer for season 1:

I was very, very nervous when the adaptation was first announced. I'm a huge Vampire Chronicles fan, I was absolutely obsessed with Lestat as a teenager (...and also now...), and I was pretty firmly on the side of folks who were thinking, "we did this already, Queen of the Damned was a horrible (albeit still pretty fun) movie, we can just let the books stand on their own after that one."

When the casting announcements for Lestat (Sam Reid) and Louis (Jacob Anderson) were made, I got even more nervous. In the book, Louis is a white slave owner born in the late 1700s, and I was worried that the showrunners would just make Louis a Black character without examining or unpacking any of the anti-Blackness in the source material. I'd enjoyed Jacob Anderson's performance in Game of Thrones, and I didn't have any ill will against him, but I was genuinely worried a Black Louis was going to be in poor taste at best.

Instead of presenting Louis as a Black slave owner, though, the show reworked his backstory to make him a Black businessman in 1910s New Orleans. We get to know his family and his situation, and the dynamics of a queer interracial romance in turn-of-the-Century New Orleans add quite a lot of new depth to the story. Jacob Anderson deserves basically every award ever, because his performance as Louis is just...goddamn. He is the definitive Louis for me.

The show feels like a love letter to both the book series and the 1994 film. In the show, the interview takes place in 2022, and is framed as a second, "do-over" interview. It makes meta-commentary on the film and the books, and it's a real treat as a fan of the prior works. The constant little book references and hints for future plots are fantastic. The show loves the source material just as much as the audience does, and it never tries to say, "the old version sucks, we're doing it better." It's a loving tribute to my favorite messy queer vampires, and I need everybody to go lavish attention on it so it gets more seasons.

Edit 6/27/24:

Season 3 has been confirmed, babes!!!