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PaperclipPerfector  8mo ago (text post)   2940 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for September 8, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I've been watching the new season of Wheel of Time, and kind of like it. I haven't read the books and don't plan to, so that might affect my enjoyment, but in general they seem rather fun, with alright actors and nice costumes. I'm especially enjoying the costumes.

As a huge fan of the books Season 1 was a massive letdown. I was willing to cut them some slack on some of the standard woke stuff (every country's demographics looking like a college brochure, unisex magic source instead of the book's gendered system) but Rand's final showdown with a weirdly laid back Ba'alzamon being about Egwene being too cool to settle down and start a family really crossed the line for me.

To hijack this thread, what's everyone watching? I finished Midnight Mass recently and thought it was great. Well-written, unpredictable, and balanced takes on religion. Starting Yellowjackets now and am not particularly enjoying it.

Yeah, the end of Season 1 didn't really make sense on it's own terms either, I thought it was absurd plotting.

As a non-book reader, the ethnicity of the casting of the Two Rivers characters doesn't bother me all that much on a visceral level, possibly because the in-show world building isn't very deep, so I don't have a strong sense of those in Two Rivers actually being a distinct ethnic group. My impression from the in-show world building is more that the timelines are shorter/shallower than the book timelines, and it may not have been all that long since the Breaking. Maybe only a few hundred years? So these are all towns full of refugees from the past world wide civilization that was destroyed, and in the show it's been long enough for low technology to be the only thing living characters remember, but not so long that visually (or even especially culturally) distinct people groups have formed. It isn't like the Balkans, where in addition to looking similar physically, every village has its own distinct embroidery pattern or something. I realize this probably doesn't make as much sense overall as the book world building, though.

Anyway, the in-show logic of the first four episodes of the new season is alright, much better than the end of Season 1, and it's handled rather well for following a separated ensemble cast. Visuals are really a strength -- most of it looks quite good, with nice shots, sets, lighting, costumes, etc (as long as, again, it's meant to be a continent full of refugees and relatively short timeline).

My impression from the in-show world building is more that the timelines are shorter/shallower than the book timelines, and it may not have been all that long since the Breaking. Maybe only a few hundred years?

Well who knows? They felt free to make up a wife for Perrin. The idea makes sense but doesn't leave too much room for Artur Hawkwing, Trolloc Wars or Cadsuane the in-lore girlboss - would've thought they'd leave some space for her at least. Anything can happen.

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