HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones - will this be just for nerds? (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Not sure why me sharing my opinion gets people so rankled.
Insulting people and willful misunderstanding get them rankled, IIRC
(for instance, no one here is all "fuck reading" or devoid of escapism/self-enrichment)

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/spoilers-dont-spoil-anything/

so who gives a shit. also the books are awful.

fuck reading! I'm not even reading this thread! DVRing it for later tho

i have my family act out ilx threads, pffft reading is SO 20th century

do we really need to get trolled into an argument about whether spoilers are necessary or not, seriously, there is no reason not to be a dick about this

the interpassive subject; i bookmark threads so that my browser can read them for me and i can do something more fun

if i'm not going to post trigger warnings i'm sure as hell not going to post spoiler warnings

the read the books/make time/no excuses/the things that i value the most are the things that everyone else should value the most argument is so stupid that everyone should just ignore it asap.

in other news, i finally caught up with this show so i was pumped to open this exciting thread! it's been forever, but what i was intending on posting turns out to have been said by Matt DC already:

Everything supernatural in this that doesn't involve either dragons or white walkers is a bit rubbish really.

― Matt DC, Wednesday, June 6, 2012 9:01 AM (8 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I mean one of the reasons I like it is that it keeps all that stuff firmly in the background in favour of backstabbing and political intrigue but really having a smokey ghost Stannis that inexplicably doesn't do anything in an actual siege feels both wasteful and a cop-out.

― Matt DC, Wednesday, June 6, 2012 9:02 AM (8 months ago)

i am not a big fan of the magic stuff in this show. i can tolerate the dragons, and i enjoy the whitewalker story line, but i hate it when magic is used as the deus ex machina. it's been a while so i can't really remember the details, but remember when the baratheon who likes to make out with the magic lady who wears red was in that struggle with his brother, and their troops were lined up across the river from each other? that was so awesome! so tense! how would they resolve it? oh, i know - just send a ghost magic thing to the other side and murder one of the brothers. that was less than satisfying.

I recently found out i have a mutual acquaintance with Joffrey.

― Number None, Wednesday, 6 February 2013 21:56 (36 minutes ago) Bookmark

i have one with renly baratheon. not quite so exciting :(

xp - magical assassin was def. the low point of the series so far, IMO

creepy ghost people fucking with Daenearys second worst

Thinking about GoT with all that thrown out makes me sad that we'll never get a series about medieval Europe with fewer boobs than The Tudors or that one that was similar to the Tudors but about the Medicis IIRC.

Borgias you mean?

There's alway Cadfael.

creepy ghost people fucking with Daenearys second worst

definitely. i was definitely glad to see the lead creepy ghost killed off (by a baby dragon?). but what a complete waste of time! i'm glad daenerys got to defeat the grand mage and level up (side quest: say final goodbye to a lost true love http://png-5.findicons.com/files/icons/1722/gnome_2_18_icon_theme/16/stock_form_checkbox.png), but it doesn't do much to advance her story arc.

^House of the Undying in the book is AMAZING, which made the botched TV execution of it all the more sad.

otm

See? WE DO SO TOO READ

http://25.media.tumblr.com/76851508bc532e984cc284a949c8e5db/tumblr_mhtpsbLcKM1s4m9sgo1_500.jpg

NO SPOILERS

FYI ghost Stannis was cribbed pretty much directly from the book, probably one of the more faithful interpretations IIRC

except for the part where they bone down

and it was a pretty cool scene in the book. I think it's supposed to be less of a deus ex machina moment and more of an "oh shit, Stannis can tap into some freaky magic, and he framed Catelyn!" moment.

xpost

it doesn't do much to advance her story arc

oh sweet summer child...

oh shit, is she going to level up so much that she too becomes a grand mage? or i guess a dragon mage? i hope her Dragona4 spell (enhanced by the corresponding dragon runes that she picks up on a side quest in season 4) is totally awesome to look at, sigh

the scene where she is basically down to zero mp is chilling

kinda want someone to keep the political intrigue and backstabbing of game of thrones but set it in a modern city instead, sans magic. for example, baltimore, early 2000s.

the problem with dany is that grrm will never ever think of anything remotely as cool for her to do as eating the heart while her brother watches

^that was amazing.

the thing about Martin's storytelling is that he is wholly, obstinately wedded to the idea of trying to subvert most common pulp fantasy cliches in the most depressing, brutal manner possible; the entire execution of Renly fits well into this because Renly was on the verge of wiping Stannis and his forces off the map and in the running with Robb for "most benevolent option as king of Westeros" up until his brother's witch lover summoned up a giant ghost baby that stabbed him in the gut

basically, if you are viewing all of these plots with the idea that at some point horrifying consequences are going to come down on half the characters like a ton of bricks, you will do well at guessing which direction Martin is most likely to go

Woah, hot medic is Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter.

House of the Undying in the book is AMAZING, which made the botched TV execution of it all the more sad.

Meh, I found it pretty trite, plus, every time we get supernatural bollocks in this vein I shed a tear.

kinda want someone to keep the "basically, if you are viewing all of these plots with the idea that at some point horrifying consequences are going to come down on half the characters like a ton of bricks, you will do well at guessing which direction Martin is most likely to go" of game of thrones but set it in a modern city instead, sans magic. for example, baltimore, early 2000s.

that would be a great show! we could call it...mcnulty & friendz

I dunno The Wire plus magic could be a good time

"Omar summonin'."

There was a pretty awesome crime procedural in an alternate future San Francisco with magic that made a pilot, never aired, and wasn't picked up. The pilot was on youtube for like a day sometime last year. Still hoping the Sci Fi channel or someone runs with it.

Was that the Ronald D Moore show I heard about?

It was going to be called Precinct 17 iirc?

Oh, 17th Precinct, which is a terrible name. Yeah, that's the Moore. I thought it was completely great! Stockard Channing and Tricia Helfer, y'all!

To be fair, I have no idea how anyone could execute the House of the Undying scene well. There was a lot going on there.

omg that show sounds amazing

the fifth season of the wire had magic iirc

It was seriously cool. Where we would use electricity, they used a magic life-force sourced from growing plants. It sounds gimmicky but it was inserted smoothly and not explained except by demonstration--a quick shot of the Golden Gate bridge turned into a giant trellis and covered with verdant growth, wall planters in people's homes in the backgrounds of shots, etc.

That sounds p awes. Like Ballard but happy!

i sometimes use a magic life-force sourced from growing plants if you know what i meaaaaannnnn

OH NO YOU DI'INT

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcsh22pYjv1r4chwro1_500.gif

From what I know about that pilot, it's probly a good thing it didn't air.

I think Ron Moore made it in Vancouver with BSG castmembers

Sorry for insulting anyone. I realize that Game of Thrones is pretty lightweight G-rated material.

Anyway, I'm just gonna stare at the bud gif for a while and chill out.