Raithe

The Wheel of Time writer Brandon Sanderson thinks the show is "fantastic" (winteriscoming.net)

I'm a firm believer in people getting their geek on about whatever it is. It just has those aspects that make me think a lot of those teenagers are picking up the wrong lessons of what relationships should be from them. Then again, I never think of Romeo and Juliet as romantic. I see it as Shakespeare doing moody teenage angst melodrama warnings.

Twilight Fan Fiction is pretty much its own genre even now. Note: Also, My Little Pony Fan Fiction / Slash Fiction / Torture Erotica. Yes, there are things I really wish I didn't know about the internet.

Five episodes in and I think the pilot is the weakest of the bunch with WoT. The world feels less janky and more expansive. There are still moments I'm having the "How the crap is that change going to work??!" before settling back and doing the "show as a companion piece to the books, not a literal translation of the books" moment. Finally have Loial on screen, and while there are potential issues with his looks - they've pushed practical prosthetics that can be used again and again vs CGI that might see the character sidelined due to budget issues - but the voice, character and delivery are pretty much spot on. That and the library introduction sequence between him and Rand was almost spot on to the book. For the subtle note, I did enjoy the lurking presence of Padan Fain hiding in the background of some of the shots of the boys moving through the city. Edit: Also of note for the uber-WoT geeks out there: The panning shot when Mat and Rand arrive to look out over Tar Valon? To be there looking over the river and seeing the city and Dragonmount in the background... Would mean at some point they've gone from west to east, crossed the river, headed north, and now have to cross back over from east to west. Apparently all roads do lead to Tar Valon, but possibly via euclidian geometry.

That's part of what makes it work to my mind. A sequel where they take the original idea and try something slightly different from it while expanding the "universe" as a whole. Instead of just redoing the first film "bigger". Switching genres is an interesting way to play with it, and lets it stand more on its own merits, plus it gives you interesting way to do character growth and evolution from the ones who survived the first film. Which is also one of the things I actually admire about The Chronicles of Riddick as well. So take of that what you will.

Still waiting on some replies from job interviews, and noting my sleep patterns shifting along with some focus issues. The old joy of procrastination creep vs hyperobsession on one random thing done to the exclusion of all other things on the to-do list. The possible warning signs of creeping edge of depression/anxiety type of response. Still, managed to step back, take a breath...and then obsessively played around with Blender until I had initial chest piece design for my Mando project. Although a little bit of colour to help make it pop: Actually running these designs past the Mandalorian Mercs. Then when I get back to having disposable income, I can start printing these out and working on the rest of it to potentially join the local clan.

The Wheel of Time’s Showrunner Talks All Things Loial | Tor.com

The cloud is a lie...

For the consideration:

The Wheel of Time is proving.. oddly interesting. Each episode keeps building, and has been getting better responses from the fanbase even as more of the book aspects are getting some mashed around. A chunk of the post-production apparently had issues due to the pandemic, and might be part of why there's some rougher aspects to it. Also while they've got a chunk of money from Amazon, they haven't got silly money like the LoTR series has, and it seems that a lot of the first seasons budget was on establishing work for later use. Although given how well WoT is apparently doing (rating up there with Hawkeye on Disney for viewer ratings, and apparently having become the most pirated show currently), the budget might be getting increased. You can see the money they do have has been spent on costumes and set design and world aspects, although that's one of the reasons why the showrunner has said for changes in the show vs the books, they want to build physical sets and practical effects for long term use rather than constantly rely on CGI. But then you get a few moments where it feels like Xena with budgetary constraints and they're doing workaround with a handful of Czech extras. I'm taking it as a show to be a companion to my enjoyment of the books, rather than a pure adaption of the books.