Back in my day we thought MySpace and AIM were going to be the pinnacle of social media. It was a better time.

On 8/27/2022 at 1:41 PM, VooDooNut said:

Worried? No, I'm not worried. Disgusted? Absolutely. The only way I would find myself worried, per se, is if I had kids and those kids watched HOTD and thought it was the pinnacle of modern television. Like I said, I think it uses violence and sex as a crutch when it really doesn't need as much of either to tell a quality story. It already has a lot of good aspects beyond those two elements.

As to ratings, I really couldn't care less. I have my own feelings towards HOTD and WOT and online reviews and ratings are not going to influence my opinion. Since it's something you enjoy, I hope it's a successful project and you get to enjoy many more episodes/seasons to come. I'll look elsewhere for my story-telling entertainment. 

I've been thinking about this comment I made for a few weeks. I ended up coming back to House of The Dragon and watching the rest of the season. And...I actually enjoyed it quite a bit! I thought the acting was fairly strong across the board. I still stand by my previous comments though. This show was good. But it could have been GREAT if it didn't insist on thrusting the most disturbing content on the viewer. Some things are better left to the imagination. Off the top of my head, a few scenes I think could have been nixed without any loss to the story or quality:
 

3 minutes ago, Jsbrads2 said:

I’m in a reread and the CargoMaster of the Sea Folk ship in Tear is glad to trade Two Rivers Tabac for pelts… it is like champagne, I would totally accept even someone in Bearlon saying “oh you guys grow tabac!” not “what the hell is two rivers?” and he wasn’t alone. More people in western Andor didn’t know, but the Aiel prefer it, shienarans, heck, if we had more books at the end there would be Sharan and Seanchan talking about the best tabac being from two rivers. 🤷

But have you tried it though?

14 hours ago, templar7 said:

Hell ya. Is it me or does Galadriel look like she just turned 19. I would be happier if there were no hobbits at all.  The whole thing is over produced and under acted.

The only character that really fits their role is Elendil.

I thought she had a bit of an Aes Sedai look to her. In some shots, yes, 19, in others, older than 30. It was kind of odd.

8 hours ago, bringbackthomsmoustache said:

Since I do love to be pedantic it was Elayne who attempted to unweave her portal having seen Aviendha do so on her portal from Ebou Dar to the farm and having no idea how hard it is to do this.

Whoops! Got my ladies mixed up! Fairs points all around. This definitely gives me something to think about.

3 hours ago, DojoToad said:

Maybe a flaw like in Callandor?

The Bowl also wasn’t used with men in the circle, so it could of been an effect of the bowl channeling Saidin unguided. 
 

Edit: assuming the effect was the result of the bowl and not Aviendha.

5 hours ago, DojoToad said:

Yet we have no problem thinking humans can affect climate?

 

I think they do and can - though I also think it is often overstated.  So I don't have any problem making the leap to humans affecting the source of power.

The disconnect for me comes from how the  TBOTW/Aviendha affected the One Power and the lack of effect the two most powerful sa’angreal, used in conjunction, had on the One Power. That’s where I get confused. 

*shrug* I wish it was more clearly explained in the books, but I could certainly be convinced it was Aviendha and not the BOTW that caused the issue. To @Stedding Tofu's point, it seems odd that the source of power for the world can be affected in this way by humans.

3 hours ago, Stedding Tofu said:

I don't think this is ever addressed clearly in story but I'm pretty sure RJ confirmed that stressing a powerful ter'angreal by overusing it causes a disturbance in the force an instability in the one power.  So this is a direct and lingering after-effect of the use of The Bowl of The Winds.

 

Not a particularly satisfactory explanation to me as it suggests the force that drives the wheel of time can become unstable through human meddling but there it is.  Maybe regard it as ripples in a pond caused by a  stone but the stone has to be huge to cause any impact.

Agreed. Definitely not satisfactory.

23 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

And this is part of what doesn't work for me in the adaptation for TV.  The heroic moments are coming too fast.  Though I don't remember any for Mat and Perrin.  Nynaeve had the ninja kill on the trolloc and the healing explosion in the Aes Sedai camp.  Egwene brought Nynaeve back from the edge of death.  And together they took out all the baddies at Tarwin's Gap.  Rand had the Eye.

 

They're making a super hero show not a fantasy.

I don't disagree that the Nynaeve and Egwene moments were over the top S1, but I think we have to see more before I pass judgement. A WAFO if you will...

6 minutes ago, holger said:

It will not be two books, more like one and a half. Most of season 2 will come from book 2. From book 3 I expect them to only pick up some parts of the Nynaeve, Elayne and Mat story lines, and very little otherwise. Tear will be left for a later season. Many parts of book 3 will be completely cut, e.g. almost everything related to the journeys from Falme to Tar Valon (girls), from Falme to Tear (Perrin, Moiraine) and from Tar Valon to Tear via Caemlyn (Mat).

 

We need about 1.6 to 1.7 books per season on average if we want to adapt 14 books into 8 seasons, and that is already accounting for the "slog" books being very heavily compressed.

we can definitely use some *snip* *snip* with the slog.

11 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

If everyone is a hero, then no one is...

If every character's arc is based on being heroic, I agree, but each character can have heroic moments without it becoming cliche. To be fair, most of the characters in the books are fairly heroic at one point or another.

9 hours ago, DojoToad said:

Must say I liked episode 8 of RoP. A lot packed in there. The color choice for the gemstones on the Elven rings seemed odd

The double shot of the rings on the anvil was a bit too much IMO lol.

3 hours ago, DojoToad said:

Agreed - that the sword scene is likely not a replacement for Mat's staff scene, but the chance is not zero.  But why does she have a sword scene at all?  WAFO I guess...

 

Of course you can hear the complaints of  Nynaeve's apparent invincibility - look at S1.

WAF... oh, you beat me to it, @DojoToad

2 hours ago, notpropaganda73 said:

 

I am not sure about the inspiration for Sindarin but he definitely wasn't a fan of Irish as a language:

 

"I go frequently to Ireland (Eire: Southern Ireland) being fond of it and of (most of) its people; but the Irish language I find wholly unattractive."

 

There was also this letter because of the black speech name for ring and Irish word for ring being so similar: 

 

“nazg: the word for ‘ring’ m the Black Speech. …it remains remarkable that nasc is the word for ‘ring’ in Gaelic (Irish: in Scottish usually written nasg). It also fits well in meaning, since it also means, and prob. originally meant, a bond, and can be used for an ‘obligation’. Nonetheless I only became aware, or again aware, of its existence recently in looking for something in a Gaelic dictionary. I have no liking at all for Gaelic from Old Irish downwards, as a language, but it is of course of great historical and philological interest, and I have at various times studied it. (With alas! very little success.) It is thus probable that nazg is actually derived from it, and this short, hard and clear vocable, sticking out from what seems to me (an unloving alien) a mushy language, became lodged in some comer of my linguistic memory.”

 

There's a very well researched article on Tolkien and Ireland here if anyone is interested, though it is quite long: https://ansionnachfionn.com/leabhair-books/j-r-r-tolkien-and-ireland/

Wow. The whole second quote reeks of superiority and disrespect. Why does Tolkien have such disdain for Gaelic?? Did some pretty Irish lass break his heart when he was young? /s

Surely, as a professor of a spoken language, it's possible to find (some) beauty in all languages (familiar, alien, or otherwise). Even contrast can be beautiful. Odd.

I've only just started reading the article you linked, but it, coupled with this post, provide a fascinating insight into English and Irish history/rivalry that I was unaware of.

Thanks for sharing, @notpropaganda73

I doubt anything that I see in ROP is going to top my appreciation for the Peter Jackson LOTR movies, and I'm ok with that. 

1 hour ago, notpropaganda73 said:

 

The bad in ROP is much worse than the bad in WoT for me. 

I take it you didn't like the slow-mo horse-riding scene?

5 hours ago, CaddySedai said:

Which is weird because the show is being criticized for being run by the woke...

 

So would one not revel in that which you oppose eating itself?

 

But I digress, if our boi Barney wants to keep it mum, then it is mum.

To be fair, I feel like the "wokeness" of the show's thematic elements and the "wokeness" of the decision to remove Barney from the cast are two VERY different things and should not be conflated.

I agree, however, that Barney deserves his privacy. It seems to be a rare commodity these days.

House of the*

19 minutes ago, Chivalry said:

Dragon Riders of Porn.

6 hours ago, Asha'man Shar'aman said:

Was it really that boring? I’m on the fence about watching, but if it’s that boring, I might skip it. I can’t even watch more than 20 minutes of shows I’m invested in (thanks ADHD and predictable plots), so I’m not sure I’d be able to struggle through if other people think it’s boring. 

Yeah, I agree with @CaddySedai. I haven’t read the books, but I love the LOTR trilogy (hobbit is bleh), and I get similar vibes to that, so I’ll probably keep watching. I’d recommend at least checking out the first couple episodes. 

8 minutes ago, Asha'man Shar'aman said:

I wasn’t into Marvel when the Infinity Saga was still going so I guess I can’t say. 
 

I think they might be going a little too fast, and some stuff has been slightly disappointing (MoM’s pacing just felt off and it seemed more of a Wanda movie than a Doctor Strange one), but some of Phase 4’s stuff has been really good in my opinion (NWH, Ms. Marvel). But it’s all subjective anyway. Like what you like, hate what you hate, and as long as it’s not for bigoted reasons, I’m absolutely willing to respect your opinion. It’s just for fun anyway, right? 

I really enjoyed the religious and cultural insight in Ms. Marvel. And I feel the same as you about MoM. It also doesn't seem right that MoM is basically a continuation of WandaVision, and not watching the show beforehand would leave the viewer very confused. But I also wasn't the biggest fan of WandaVision. It had a messy, nonsensical plot imo.

On 9/1/2022 at 11:33 AM, Asha'man Shar'aman said:

Ooo, do tell. Not all of it’s been the best in my opinion, but definitely not the worst. 

Hrrmmmm, I guess it just feels like the tight coupling between movies for the Infinity Saga is not present in these projects. Not a deal-breaker, but kind of disappointing. I definitely think the quality has dropped post-Infinity War, but I still enjoy watching content when it comes out. 

I’ve only watched the first episode of ROP. Each scene individually is quite beautiful. The landscapes, lighting, and costumes are very good. Which makes it all the more surprising when there are really bad CGI-ish scenes, two in particular: when Galadriel is climbing the icicles the whole frame looks CGI’d to Shayol Ghul and back. And when they are riding the boat, the lighting is just wrong. It definitely feels like an obvious green screen effect. Outside of those two moments, though, each shot looks very good. Other than that, I feel like I’m totally lost on the story. I tried to wrap my head around the plot and just couldn’t so far. Maybe that will become clearer in future episodes. I also grew bored many times. It just didn’t keep me engaged despite the beautiful vistas. Also, for some reason, I feel like the scenes transitions are WAY too fast and choppy. It almost gives me motion sickness with how fast they jump around. I’ll check out episode 2 this evening but the boredom I’m experiencing is making the viewing quite tiresome. 

Yeah @Leelou it’s not you at all just bad timing. It would be great to play a Leelou-modded game in the future. I just need to recover first.

Sending positive vibes your way for a good surgery and fast recovery.