#this is about shows in general

[tinemilk]

Respect the source material

Over the years there have been many adaptations of books, comics, video games, and much more. There are many adaptations that are good or decent, however, there are many that disregard the original material.

When it comes to adapting something that already exists in a different form of media than film or TV, is that there are expectations. Expectations of a dream cast, the set, music, storyline, you get my drift. Of course, it is impossible to meet everyone's expectations of the above, yet there is one expectation that is not impossible to meet and that is to follow the source material. So many movies and TV shows forget to follow the source material, there was a reason it got popular in the first place. It became popular because people liked the original material. (Even if it wasn’t major popular, if it has original material that is what should be what is strived after.)

Many adaptations get rewrites that completely crash with the original material and such rewrites most of the time lead to it being a bad adaptation, or at least a disconnected adaptation. Adaptations are not the writers' or showrunners' own story being brought to life, it is someone else's, and that should be respected. Because if it isn’t respected it comes off as "we just wanted an already established fan base to get money from, but we don’t care for the material you are fans of. So, sucks to be you." Which is, to be honest very off-putting and sad. Because they take away the joy by dismissing the core fans. Yes, a show or movie should be made so that everyone can understand the plot and more without being die-hard fans, but that is very much possible without disrespecting the material. Also, it is always going to be the established fan base that is going to do the unpaid and sometimes unnoticed promoting of the adaptation. So, adapting a movie or show that is as close to the original material as possible is just being decent.

There are of course allowed liberties if they do not change the story or character into something/someone new. Everyone understands that a word-by-word adaptation is impossible. But striving to have a very close adaptation should be the goal.

I think most people agree that The Last of Us is a very good and close adaptation. It has taken liberties but kept close to what the material. (I haven't played the game, just watched reviews on YouTube and talked with others about it.) (I just know more about F&B and hotd, okay so I can actually talk about it.)

House of the Dragon is a show that has done the opposite, it has taken too many liberties. While it is decent, but a rush show on its own. It is very far from the book. While I know that the book is written by an unreliable narrator, there are still many changes from what is reliable. There are many examples of how many liberties the showrunners have taken. Timeline, character relationships, changed entire events, characters have been altered, costumes have been lacking, and so on.  These changes take the show more and more away from the original material and end up at "yeah we just wanted an established fan base". There is such a difference that one has to clarify if it is the book or show canon, and when that happens you know it failed to bring the source material to life.

Fire and Blood even has lots of room for liberties since it is written by an unreliable narrator. They had every chance to show how Rhaenyra is slandered by history and men for the simple fact of being a woman (who liked being a woman), and how victims are not always the perfect victim. They had the chance to create a TV show that focuses on power intrigues and relationships between characters. They had a chance to show how war changes people even if they live in a violent society. Love stories of both romantic and platonic feelings. HEALTHY FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS! RHAENYRA AND LAENA. What I am trying to say is the possibilities for liberties that make the original story more were there, but they did not take them. Because they disregarded the material.

RESPECT THE FUCKING MATERIAL. THERE IS A REASON PEOPLE LIKED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE.

this is about showrunners and actors who think that the og material isnt that important

[colorstrike624]

No but seriously the things turtles can do are unhinged.

[weirdsociology]

hey writers we have to talk.

if you've read any romance or fanfic in the past twenty years (i know you have), you know that there are a certain number of scents associated with hot dudes. you can probably recite the list of Things Men in Fic smell like in your sleep: leather, black pepper, pine, sandalwood, "something uniquely him", clean sweat, and if the character has ever fucking been within 50 yards of a firearm, something called "cordite".

here's the thing.

NO ONE SMELLS LIKE CORDITE.

cordite was a highly specific type of smokeless gunpowder developed in the 1890s by england specifically and used mostly in wwi.

if your good-smelling guy is not (a) english (b) using a very specific type of british rifle (c) dying in a trench in flanders, he does not smell like cordite. technically even if he does meet all those conditions he still doesn't smell like cordite because he smells like trenchfoot.

the point is, cordite is so far from universal that no one but the most hardcore gun nerds give a single shit about it. making your Sexy Hero smell like cordite is like naming a cassette-only bootleg live recording from the 1970s as your favorite grateful dead album. everyone at the party hates you immediately and knows you're doing it for clout. also, it's just factually... wrong. please stop. i know everyone else is doing it, but you can do the right thing here, i believe in you.

so what do people who are using guns smell like?

well if your story is set before the late 1880s, the smell of a fired gun is black powder, which, unfortunately, smells like seventeen flatulent cows have been shoved in a tire factory. trust me, you do not want your Hot Dude to smell like black powder. it's b a d.

if your story is set after the late 1880s, guns are using some variety of modern 'smokeless' powder - which speaking broadly doesn't really have a ton of scent when used. it does have some, but it's sort of non-descript: the best way i can describe it is the sweet, ozone, hot-plate smell of popping your car hood with a warm engine.

people who use guns a lot don't smell like fired guns all the time anyway, so while those scents might work in a fight scene, they're not realistic all the time. but there are some things that your Sexy Shootist will smell like basically 24/7 and that's metal and gun oil. metal you can go and sniff (i recommend non-stainless steel), but if you want a reference, most gun oils have a sharp, organic smell that's not dissimilar to canola oil but muskier and with a tang overtop. it's not unlikely leather is in the mix as well due to routine handling of leather equipment and gear. modern gear also tends to have a certain smell although it varies by production country and storage conditions - lots of opportunities there.

in conclusion: gunslingers and hired killers and military folks can be sexy and smell great on page, but i am begging you not to say "cordite" when you mean "gunpowder" ever again. we can do this. we are writers and therefore pedants. i believe in us!

[paintedcrows]

they make me feel unwell

(continued: Stan & Young Ford)

[the-oracle-of-the-lost]

the thing is that when you look deep enough, Klingons and Klingon society is actually pretty well developed by Star Trek standards. we know the ideals of their society and the way their ideals are corrupted by classism and archaic tradition. we see how "warrior" and "honor" are complex terms that involve more than just warfare and fighting. but we also see Klingon scientists and lawyers who are proud of their work but are pushed aside for not living up to their society's standards. we see how their political relations change over time and how strategic alliances are formed and dissolved. we know their marriage customs and holidays and mythology and history. we see a variety of Klingon characters with varying degrees of attachment to their species and culture. we see how they're stereotyped and discriminated against in the Federation for being "too alien" when the Federation is supposed to be accepting of differences. we have an entire real, usable language for Kahless's sake.

the thing is also that 90% of Klingon stories choose to ignore all this complexity in favor of bioessentialism and racist takes on "warrior society".

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The penisest of tunes.

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[idontwikeit]

Ask a historian, “What was mankind’s greatest invention?” Fire? The wheel? The sword? I would argue it’s history itself. History isn’t fact. It’s narrative, one carefully curated and shaped. Under the pen strokes of the right scribe, a villain becomes a hero, a lie becomes the truth.

-Gaal Dornick, Foundation

[thevioletcaptain]

i genuinely don't care how good a piece of ai generated art or writing looks on the surface. i don't care if it emulates brush strokes and metaphor in a way indistinguishable from those created by a person.

it is not the product of thoughtful creation. it offers no insights into the creator's life or viewpoint. it has no connection to a moment in time or a place or an attitude. it has no perspective. it has no value.

it's empty, it's hollow, and it exists only to generate clicks (and by extension, ad revenue.)

it's just another revolting symptom of the disease that is late stage capitalism, and it fucking sucks.

[smileytriceratops]

watching leverage is truly a "giggling and kicking my feet" experience for me personally. it's genuinely such a fun show with such fun and compelling characters that i can't help but grin like an idiot at my screen when they do barely anything

[hajihiko]

It runs in the family

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[slfcare]

the most difficult thing about growing as a person socially, as in getting out of your shell and noticing that you are, is that there will still be times when it doesn’t feel like you’ve grown at all! times when you can’t really connect with anyone around you, times when you fail to enter into an existing conversation, times when you say the wrong thing (or nothing at all when in hindsight you probably should’ve). but that’s also kind of the best thing, because that’s the thing that helps you realize that sometimes, it’s not you or your lack of skills or any shortcoming. sometimes certain environments just aren’t for you and certain people aren’t your people, and that’s okay. that’s human. it’s okay to not feel the progress you have made all the time.

[art-is-kayos]

Checking up on his commission

[blackkatdraws2]

The narrator and the ugly ahh protagonist [Blank Scripts AU/non-canonical]