#if i can only have 1 sja character in the main show

[sandymybeloved]

non SJA fans:

I had to cut from this, the episode that was just the main characters' anxiety dreams, the second episode ending with an alien child begging for his life than dying horribly, whatever was going on in the woman in the attic, and probably a bunch of others that slipped my mind

[lev-iathan]

RoW Thoughts

I was planning on doing one of these for every part, but then I kind of... got carried away and finished the book. So, here are my thoughts on the whole thing.

(spoilers for the entire Cosmere, just in case)

- Kaladin was wonderful all the way through. I was so worried all the time that he would die. Like, genuinely worried. Especially during the fight with Lezian (that was staged a bit too similarly to the Kelsier vs. Inquisitors fight in Mistborn and we all know how that ended) and when he jumped off the tower (I knew Brando wouldn’t let him die by suicide, but let’s just say I still hummed to the Terrors). And then he does it. He swears the Fourth Ideal and it goes better than anything I could’ve imagined. Now he’s committed to healing and has reconciled with his father and everything. I just love him so much. Though, I am concerned. At the end there, he did glow with some weird yellow light and Syl forgot the words. That doesn’t bode well.

- Teft’s death. Brando destroyed me with that one sentence, and while I don’t really want to talk about it, I have to acknowledge it. Also, Fuck Moash. I didn’t really care that he killed Elhokar, but after what he did to Kaladin and this, it’s gotten personal. I’m not opposed to a redemption arc for him, but right now, I’m not very sympathetic towards him.

- Dabbid was so good! I really like when minor characters get their chance to stand out and he was wonderful! I hope he bonds a spren, he deserves it.

- Rlain becomes a Truthwatcher! I did not see that coming. I thought Bondsmith or Willshaper but not Truthwatcher. He can see the future now, potentially creating another blind spot for Odium. And Sja-anat is creating more corrupted Truthwatchers that will have that ability, which I think will be a massive advantage in the coming battle.

- I was disappointed we got so little of Renarin and Jasnah. Renarin barely had a chapter and Jasnah had two but it wasn’t enough. To be honest, Jasnah and Hoid’s relationship annoyed me but oh well. Not worth complaining about.

- Dalinar has little pagetime too, but it was enough. I’d been waiting for them to confront Ishar since he was first mentioned in OB and boy oh boy did they confront him. Ishar is fucking terrifying. He stole Dalinar’s bond with the Stormfather, he can leech Stormlight out of Radiants, he’s experimenting on spren (that was truly and utterly fucked up). What was that all about??? I also loved that it was Dalinar that accepted Kaladin’s oath, not the Stormfather. Him speaking with that godly lowercase caps seems like a bit of foreshadowing...

- I’m so happy for Shallan. Finally coming to terms with everything and realizing that she’s strong enough to work though the pain. I loved Veil’s “death” scene. I was soooo relieved when it turned out that Pattern wasn’t a traitor and the moment we saw the Cryptic in the marketplace I suspected that Shallan could’ve had a different spren that she killed. Also, worldhoppper Shallan confirmed? Hell yeah! She already has a Seon and I can’t wait for her to get her hands on some Breaths because I think she would enjoy those immensely. But first to find a way to get off-world with Pattern.

- Adolin and Maya were phenomenal. I’m really glad he didn’t become a Radiant because we really have a bit of an oversaturation of those among the main characters, but I love that she awakened for him. When she finally reveals the secret of the Recreance... Chills.

- I liked Navani well enough though I have to admit that I was a bit bummed when she bonded the Sibling because of the aforementioned oversaturation of Radiants, but I guess it was foreshadowed. She’s still got a lot of work to do though, with the fabrials and all. I loved her interactions with Raboniel, them discovering the Rhythm of War and all the different lights. Them just sciencing together and coming to understand each other was just great.

- I appreciate that we got at least a glimpse of Szeth and Nightblood. Next book it going to be great, I can feel it.

- Could have used a bit more Lift. I’m happy that she’s doing well after Moash happened, but I’m still confused about the red chicken...

- And finally, the star of the show, Venli. She was actually much better than I expected. I was afraid she would be pushed to the side since she didn’t have many chapters in part 1 and 2, but she played a really great role. Her flashbacks didn’t hit me as hard as the ones in the other books, maybe because they were split and I was never really interested in Eshonai (though that last flashback hurt a lot), but her present-day plotline was great. I like how it wasn’t easy for her to swear the Ideals and she wasn’t forgiven. She didn’t even forgive herself, but she’s on the path and that’s all that matters. It felt fitting that she only managed to swear the First Ideal at the very end. I like Venli quite a lot. I hope she doesn’t get pushed to the side now that she’s rejoined the listeners. One question though? Does Cultivation accept her oaths? Because she hears a female voice instead of the Stormfather.

- Taravangian. Oh Taravangian. You can’t convince me that anyone predicted he would kill Rayse and Ascend to Odium. That was so out of the blue but it worked so goddamn well I actually screamed. That’s a gamechanger. Taravangian is waaaaaay scarier than Rayse could ever be because he’s smart and he’s a planner and those are always dangerous. And what was it he did at the end, mind wiping Hoid??? Seems like this was all part of Cultivations plan and now they’re in cahoots and I am Afraid.

- This was probably my favorite Sanderlanche??? Maybe, I’ll need to do a reread to say for sure, but just the way everything came together to a massive crescendo was phenomenal. Kaladin fighting Lezian. Navani and Raboniel. The boundaries breaking between singers and humans and the fight now becoming a battle between ideals not a battle between races. The Fused defying Odium. The Tower lighting up at the end. I teared up when Venli finally told Leshwi she is a Radiant and Leshwi asked after her old honorspren. I have to wonder if all Fused used to be Radiants back when the spren bonded singers, and Odium just transformed them into brands analogous to their Orders. Anyway, it was great.

- Thaidakar is actually Kelsier. Confirmed, on page. I yelled ‘I KNEW IT’ so loud my cat ran away from me. That bastard. He did it. He became the ultimate cult leader.

- Who the fuck is El? That’s all I’m going to say because I really have no clue.

- I don’t think it’s possible for the entirety of book 5 be set within 10 days. There’s too much stuff to be done. I think the duel will happen about halfway through the book and then we’ll be dealing with some of the fallout, but it’s waaaaay to early to speculate about that.

[scriptscribbles]

I know you didn't reblog it but I saw an ask post on my dash about "5 things you'd change about a TV show/book/fandom if you could" and it seemed like something you may like doing sooooo (1/2)

I give you: Davies Who, Moffat Who, Sherlock, Game of Thrones, ASoIaF (as a separate 5 things to the show), Star Wars, aaaaand Class for good measure. Have fun! 😉

Thanks, anon! This sounds fun!

Davies Who 

Donna remembers. I don’t care how. Just, not this violation of her agency.

Use Donna to call Ten’s hubris out.

Kill Queen Victoria. It was the original plan for series 2, and it works far better for the story arc. The whole thing is about consequences for Ten and Rose and their behavior, them creating Torchwood through their irresponsibility, but as is I think it lacks the sting.

Have Rose not end up with the Doctor. I know, they’ve got star-crossed true love and all that. But I think part of what made them compelling was that they were so gleefully, ignorantly doomed. They were grinning and laughing and flirting from battlefield to battlefield and there’s a wonderful contrast in that. But they also need to face the consequences. I think something like Hell Bent for them would be better, something pushing Rose to realize that it’s in her best interest to leave him even as it breaks her own heart. I think the parallel world stuff is good, though, particularly since Jackie ends happy.

Give Mickey and Martha their own stories in their episodes. Let them be appreciated more for their own strength rather than sidelined by the Doctor’s dismissive attitude. And, uh, don’t have them randomly in a relationship out of nowhere. Build it up or don’t do it. Also, have Martha remain a Doctor rather than a soldier.

Moffat Who

I hate calling for monster returns, but a story of something like the Mara for Amy in series 7A or 6B. Something to suggest the trauma she’s had and the abandonment through surreal imagery. Stuff like Asylum of the Daleks or The God Complex acknowledges it well, but I want more. It’d be even better if she realizes she’s being taken over early but struggles to tell the Doctor or Rory because she’s afraid of them dismissing her. Moffat’s really good at inside head stories so it’d work well I think, particularly if they got Hurran in for it like so many in that era did.

Show us River’s wives. Clara and Jane Austen. Canton’s husband. I know these things are incidental to the plot, but the representation means so much more when you can see it. I love it as it is but I do think more is called for and is a reasonable request.

Cast something other than white people in The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People. Like, I think it’s a really underrated script, but a story about the plight of the oppressed needs a diverse cast, and it just utterly fails that.

Paternoster spinoff. Let it be the SJA to Class’ Torchwood, eh? They lend themselves so much to silly adventures, and they provide amazing representation. Only hurdle I could see is in their heavy makeup work, but I’m sure there’s ways around it, like Strax wearing the Sontaran helmet or Vastra her veil.

Get Davies back for an episode. I know Moffat’s tried, but, like, try harder. Please?

Sherlock

Make the nature of Irene’s sexuality and her attraction to Sherlock clearer because that discourse is hell

Reduce the quantity of not-gay jokes. They do make sense in acknowledging a long history of speculation and I don’t think they need to be excised entirely, but there is a bit too much

Kill John instead of Mary. It’d change up the shape of series 4 a fair bit, particularly given Mary has far less aversion to killing and would probably make quicker work of Eurus’ puzzles, but there’s gotta be stuff to be done with that. Perhaps her not being willing to kill anymore after seeing John shot? That could be interesting. I dunno. I just feel like, good as series 4 was, there’s a better version where John takes Mary’s place and Mary John’s.

More Sally. I know the actress was unavailable for series 3, but it’s a huge blow in diversity to a show that has basically none.

Cut The Blind Banker.

Game of Thrones

Get rid of all straight white men in the writing staff. Let me be clear, there is nothing inherently bad about someone being straight, white, or a man. But as there is so much ignorance towards intersectional issues in a text that needs to be aware of and critiquing them (something Martin generally does well in the books and is sort of a main point of the series), that needs to be shaken up.

Stannis would never burn Shireen and that was the dumbest plotting decision ever. No. Just no. Now, his wife, she would. Melisandre would. His soldiers would. But he wouldn’t. Seeing him pressured to burn his daughter or else the troops will leave him for not being sufficiently devoted to the red god could be a good way of keeping the beat while removing the out-of-character side to it. But as it is it just does not function. At all.

More of Sam’s book scenes. The show gets a bit too fixated on the upsetting material, upping torture and violence to extreme levels, when some of the strongest material is in the quieter character work. Sam and Gilly taking the boat south is one of those.

A different direction for Sansa. I’m not saying keep her in the Vale and out of the plot, I get why that’s an issue. But don’t subject her to Ramsay. Or to rape. Actually, too much Ramsay is easily one of the show’s biggest problems. They seem to think he’s compelling because he’s awful, but instead he’s just awful.

Make Dorne the planners like they are in the books. The show has gotten so much drama out of the likes of Littlefinger and Varys, surely the plotting of Dorne like in the books could make for excellent television. I’m not saying it needs to be the same as it was in the books, there are changes for a reason. But they were changed in the show to the most ridiculous and incoherent thing yet.

ASoIaF

Cut characters/plotlines. Yes, they all have thematic points to make. No, that does not make them all good storytelling. Many of the strands could be condensced, combined, or cut entirely. Not to say the show is the best example of that, just that there is sound logic in changing it because it just doesn’t flow as a story.

If you have to keep alluding to the sexual violence and critiquing it, please muster more sympathy for the victims. Would it hurt, for example, to have a PoV chapter for Shae, right at the end, so we know who she is? Or for Jeyne to get some agency rather than focusing just on Theon?

Have some victories. So many of the plotlines are subversions of classic narratives, like with Robb or Quentyn or Ned’s downfalls. But there comes a point when it gets too repetitive. There’s other twists stories can take that also build in the drama of the world. And if they’re so important to subvert, a standalone novella might be a better approach. For now the amount of these dead-end plots clutters an already chaotic series to make the pacing turgid and the overall scope confusing. Plus, the basic pleasure of telling a story involves victories as well as twists and horrific fates. I know this series is about subverting those pleasures, but it should do that by also finding new pleasures in unexpected places.

Deliver on teased developments. I know a lot of that’s a problem because A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons are transitional pieces to get the characters in the right place after the climactic events of A Storm of Swords, but it means after five very long books we are still reading setup for things we have been expecting for literal thousands of pages, with new characters dropping in for even more setup. It makes the books frustrating to read at times. And saving all the shocking twists in all the storylines for the end of each of the books just makes it even tougher going.

More of the original cast. The series keeps adding in new characters, and while many of them are indeed interesting, it’s frustrating when Sansa, Jon, Daenerys, and Arya’s arcs are all grinding to a halt and their chapters become increasingly spread out. At the very least, if you’re going to keep adding PoV characters, do it like, say, Brienne was done. Have them expand from a prominent character’s storyline and then branch off into their own. Like, I love Jon Connington, but the man is utterly disconnected from basically everything. And there are so many disconnected plotlines now that many of them barely move at all.

Star Wars

Erase every racial stereotype alien

Poe kisses Finn on the forehead or something while he’s unconscious in The Force Awakens. Maybe an “I love you.” I need it for reasons.

No kid!Anakin or kid!Anakin flirting with Padme.

Either make Padme or Obi-Wan the main character of the prequel trilogy. Padme is a more interesting angle to see Anakin lose it from I think, and has better access to the political storyline Lucas clearly wants to tell. And Obi-Wan gets a lot of the most compelling material, his plot in Attack of the Clones in particular feeling like a hint of a far better film.

Cut the Bodhi interrogation stuff toward the beginning of Rogue One. Just have the pilot talked about a lot like they do and have them not actually meet him until the cell. Because as is, he breaks up the first act’s pacing quite badly and distracts too long from Jyn’s story.

Class

Less dialogue. I love a lot of the dialogue, but the show really needs more showing and letting the actors emote.

Make the two-parter one part. As it is the pacing just does not work at all.

Put Detained before the heart stuff. At the moment, the characters take too long to come into focus, not really doing so until Detained. It’s a good opportunity to take an already dysfunctional group, identify their flaws and tensions, and make that a focus of the series earlier on.

A different approach to the Shadowkin. Commit to an approach. Are they comedically rubbish? Terrifying menaces? A parody of toxic masculinity? An othered evil species? They don’t quite hit right and that hurts the plot arc. Also, their voices are edited poorly and that makes them hard to hear.

Promote the damn thing. Air it in a reasonable way in a reasonable hour when people will actually see it. Don’t just cut it loose and expect the Doctor Who brand will save it. If it utterly fails to get renewed, it’s down to how poorly it was promoted.