@fantasysamsclub / fantasysamsclub.tumblr.com
i just got word from someone watching the graphic novel panel that taako doesn’t even fucking HAVE his hat in the crystal kingdom, and i gotta say. out of all the artistic decisions i disagree with carey on, not answering the taako helmet hat question is the one that enrages me the most
with 2020 being the way it is why couldn’t we just have his bigass wizard hat stuffed into that little astronaut helmet as a treat. the people deserve it
i just got word from someone watching the graphic novel panel that taako doesn’t even fucking HAVE his hat in the crystal kingdom, and i gotta say. out of all the artistic decisions i disagree with carey on, not answering the taako helmet hat question is the one that enrages me the most
got bored and made a quiz about the weird character archetypes we somehow keep running into in my dnd games!
edit: i know two of the questions are out of order! but it also won’t let me fix it and since it’s a silly quiz i’m not gonna sink a lot of time into it lakdsfjsadi;fa
hey guys! this weird taakitz insurance fraud fic is moving to updates every OTHER friday! but this one is here now so ENJOY!
so the adventure zone was recently picked up for an animated series.
hooray! good for the mcelroys. i’m glad they’re getting more mainstream. i’m glad they’re able to financially support themselves and their family with this fame. i’m glad taz has a chance to get new fans! i’m glad fans get to see some of the most iconic balance moments animated!
i also think it’s a monstrously bad idea.
(this is long and this may seem pretty mean and radical, but please read before fighting me on any of this. also this isn’t an attack on anyone that’s excited for any of this adaptation stuff! it’s good to be excited for this success. but also there are some things to consider.)
bumbelbee
Op i know youre probably right but a big naive part of me is really really hoping itll be good :(
oh BELIEVE me, i hope it’ll be good too. it’s not naive to hope and want that!
if this helps, i’m not actually worried about the show being GOOD. the individual artists, writers, and performers they hire for the show will take care of it as best they can with the resources NBC gives them. and lots of shows are good even with these tight restrictions!
i’m more worried about people going into the show expecting another mcelroy product. it’ll be similar! probably! if the team knows the source material and knows what its doing. but it’s going to feel off, no matter what.
downhype the show to yourself, but not out of negativity. the show will be more entertaining if you don’t walk into it thinking it will be perfect. you’ll walk out saying “that was better than i expected!” rather than “i’m sad they didn’t include _____”
be cautious, but not without hope.
oh also i know i already made like ten posts today about animated series discourse but if any of ya’ll use that as an excuse to be mean to people that are genuinely excited for the show i will metaphorically stomp you to death with my hooves, be cool
so the adventure zone was recently picked up for an animated series.
hooray! good for the mcelroys. i’m glad they’re getting more mainstream. i’m glad they’re able to financially support themselves and their family with this fame. i’m glad taz has a chance to get new fans! i’m glad fans get to see some of the most iconic balance moments animated!
i also think it’s a monstrously bad idea.
(this is long and this may seem pretty mean and radical, but please read before fighting me on any of this. also this isn’t an attack on anyone that’s excited for any of this adaptation stuff! it’s good to be excited for this success. but also there are some things to consider.)
You are basically ignoring all the context for the Wendy’s One Shot and the animated show for CR. Sorry, but if you can’t even get the basics of both situations right and resort to make cheap shots about them instead, I won’t waste time on reading the whole post and try to argue with you.
(I mean seriously, how can everyone forget that since the Kickstarter campaign started, CR searching for someone big to pick it up was mentioned MULTIPLE TIMES on different platforms.)
cool! thanks for not reading the whole post. that’s so nice of you, it lets me know i don’t have to pay attention to your points either :)
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm interested in why you don't think the TAZ comics work very well. I absolutely adore Balance, but the first 2 comics so far just feel off to me and I'm struggling to articulate why.
i can do a longer analysis later, once i finish painting the bookshelves in my office so i can actually. like. get my books out! but also the taz comics are way easier to read than some other gn adaptations of other stories. and the added scenes they put in generally help the story transition well from podcast to comic. like i do have a LOT of issues with the character designs but as i said before, i know carey’s work, she’s generally real good with actual panel composition and storytelling, which is where i see most comic artists trip up the most.
so like. i will keep buying the graphic novels when they come out because i very much enjoy them! even as a critic. it captures the same spirit as the podcast while recognizing it’s in a different medium.
but tldr my biggest problem with the taz graphic novel is how it IS presented as a dnd game, with in universe rolls and with griffin mcelroy as the GM, instead of just as a fantasy story. i think actual play podcasting works better in audio/video format than in comics. i will also admit that this is a very personal dislike, and it’s not like. a failing of the whole graphic novel!
(also problems with characterizations BUT, i’d need to grab my books to do more accurate sourcing on that)
positive taz balance tv show thing: my dad texted me when the news went viral with “the adventure time is getting a tv show...but i thought it already got one! is it getting a second one? i know it’s your favorite”
so the adventure zone was recently picked up for an animated series.
hooray! good for the mcelroys. i’m glad they’re getting more mainstream. i’m glad they’re able to financially support themselves and their family with this fame. i’m glad taz has a chance to get new fans! i’m glad fans get to see some of the most iconic balance moments animated!
i also think it’s a monstrously bad idea.
(this is long and this may seem pretty mean and radical, but please read before fighting me on any of this. also this isn’t an attack on anyone that’s excited for any of this adaptation stuff! it’s good to be excited for this success. but also there are some things to consider.)
longlivethefallen
I dont agree with everything in this post, but I wanted to thank you for how respectful you were while stating your concerns, I really appreciated
it is totally okay if you disagree! i hope you enjoy the show when it comes out, and i also hope this post didn’t ruin your fun. thanks for reading all the way through and coming to your own conclusions respectfully!
so the adventure zone was recently picked up for an animated series.
hooray! good for the mcelroys. i’m glad they’re getting more mainstream. i’m glad they’re able to financially support themselves and their family with this fame. i’m glad taz has a chance to get new fans! i’m glad fans get to see some of the most iconic balance moments animated!
i also think it’s a monstrously bad idea.
(this is long and this may seem pretty mean and radical, but please read before fighting me on any of this. also this isn’t an attack on anyone that’s excited for any of this adaptation stuff! it’s good to be excited for this success. but also there are some things to consider.)
i agree with a lot of the points made here but overall the idea of it being a “monstrously bad idea”? i HAVE to disagree if only from my (and ik other neurodivergent peoples) own perspective. i have NEVER been able to get more than ten episodes into taz because of my adhd. ive wanted to for SO long because i really enjoyed the episodes i did listen to but i am literally incapable of listening to podcasts without completely zoning out or getting bored, so every time i tried the podcast i would zone out repeatedly while listening and miss important plot points and eventually get bored and confused and stop listening altogether. i also don’t have the ability to read things for long periods of time unless im hyperfocusing, so transcripts are no help either. basically this is all a long-winded way of saying that an animated series would be PERFECT for me. it’s imo the only flawless way for me (and other adhd individuals) to intake the media because tv shows are something easy to focus on! theyre bright and fast and demand your attention and thats ideal for most people with adhd and similar disorders. i just think its a little bit insensitive to brand the idea as bad when it could help so many people enjoy this media. i can only speak from my own perspective but i think a tv show would be easier for a lot of people, especially disabled and neurodivergent people
oh, finally! a GOOD counterpoint to this!
i do hope you get to watch the animated series and enjoy it. this is still a bummer to me because i just hope the show is NEAR the same spirit as the podcast, and I’m unsure how close it will get. i hope your emotional experiences of it will be the same or similar to someone listening to the podcast.
sorry for not thinking through the accessibility portion of this! for me, an animated show would be horrible, because with all the magic effects and stuff, they might resort to using strobes in the show. and i have epilepsy so, haha, you can imagine that wouldn’t be fun.
also if peacock doesn’t do closed captions and audio captions on their shows i’m gonna yell so much
anyway, the idea of an animated TAZ isn’t bad (if they had gone with a small independent studio where the mcelroys were more than just “consultants”, that would have been PERFECT) but i was going more for the idea that a big company animating it was bad. thanks for allowing me to clarify that, and i hope you enjoy the show when it comes out!
so the adventure zone was recently picked up for an animated series.
hooray! good for the mcelroys. i’m glad they’re getting more mainstream. i’m glad they’re able to financially support themselves and their family with this fame. i’m glad taz has a chance to get new fans! i’m glad fans get to see some of the most iconic balance moments animated!
i also think it’s a monstrously bad idea.
(this is long and this may seem pretty mean and radical, but please read before fighting me on any of this. also this isn’t an attack on anyone that’s excited for any of this adaptation stuff! it’s good to be excited for this success. but also there are some things to consider.)
this is VERY important to keep in mind.
I will also say that the showrunner has written for very good shows before (and by that I mean orphan black; I don’t know if I’ve seen any of his other stuff), but OB, at least, is a Very Different Tone to taz and so I’m not sure how that might translate to a taz series.
yep! also directing for animation is different than directing for live action. the difference in tone shouldn’t be a problem for a good director that knows what they’re doing, i wouldn’t be worried about that! it’s more just that animation takes a very different skillset to direct.
also if this show does come out and it’s not directed as well as orphan black was, that’s not even necessarily the fault of the director! lots of directors for shows have trouble working properly under strict corporate guidelines, especially for streaming platforms.
but also i’m not worried at all about the individual artists and teams working on the show, i’m sure they’ll do as good of a job as they can, given their restraints
oh my god so I clicked on your blog bc of the very important warning you wrote about the taz animated series and then I realized that yOURE THE ONE WRITING THE INSURANCE FRAUD AU?? DUDE THATS LIKE ONE OF TGE FUNNIEST GODDAMN FICS OUT THWRE OH MY GOD IN SO GLAD I FOUND YOUR BLOG
thanks so much! i’m having a blast with it :) it’s a fucking mess :)
Do you have the article or tweet saying taz got confirmed picked up by NBC? Last I heard it was still an idea/option but wasnt confirmed for full on production
i don’t think it is confirmed for full production yet, but it’s on one of their slates, which means it’s under HEAVY consideration. they don’t announce these things unless they’re like. 90% sure they’re going to do it.
so the adventure zone was recently picked up for an animated series.
hooray! good for the mcelroys. i’m glad they’re getting more mainstream. i’m glad they’re able to financially support themselves and their family with this fame. i’m glad taz has a chance to get new fans! i’m glad fans get to see some of the most iconic balance moments animated!
i also think it’s a monstrously bad idea.
(this is long and this may seem pretty mean and radical, but please read before fighting me on any of this. also this isn’t an attack on anyone that’s excited for any of this adaptation stuff! it’s good to be excited for this success. but also there are some things to consider.)
capslockdoesntexpressmyjoy said:
I think your concerns about how the ~non-mainstream-friendly~ parts of TAZ or CR will get cut down are valid, but, I really don’t that the animated series’ being an investment only for Peacock/NBC etc is. You’re essentially saying they’ve turned into sell-outs by accepting these deals. CR has had money making attached to it for a long-ass time; TAZ less so, but they haven’t avoided it 100%. “Creators want to get paid for their work” is not an unreasonable thing.
nope! that wasn’t my point. i said multiple times that i’m glad the mcelroys and CR team are getting success from this. my beef is SOLELY with the big corporations preying on individual creators like this. it’s not just a problem with d&d podcasts.
in college, one of my professors sold the movie rights for his graphic novel for a quick couple thousand dollars. was that a good move for him? yes! he wanted to see his work on the big screen and definitely wanted some royalties. is he going to get money from this if they ever make the movie? yes! and that’s good for him. but the movie that comes out will never have the same spirit as his original work. they might misinterpret it entirely.
this situation is NOT the fault of the original creators. (i personally think, as a creator, it is greedy to keep getting more money out of a single successful franchise. there’s a point where it’s successful enough! but that’s a personal opinion, and i don’t fault others for disagreeing.) i understand why the mcelroys took this deal, and it’s not for the same reason peacock GAVE them this deal.
big corporations take advantage of smaller creators, and that’s not the fault of the creators.
ladyfoxfire
All I’m getting from this post is “creators making money from their work is bad” and “adapting into different mediums is bad, because you have to make changes to the story to make it work in a different format.” Both of which I heartily disagree with.
what a scalding cold take. did you not read the part where i said i was happy for the mcelroy’s and CR’s success? also like, every time where i say it’s the corporation’s fault and not individual artists?
also my favorite adaptations are ones where they do change things for the medium. i’m more worried about them making changes that make the show less progressive
ladyfoxfire
Here's the thing: the creators are putting a lot of time, effort, and money into producing the content that we love so much, and the only way they can keep doing that is to get financial support from their fans, either directly through merch purchases and subscriptions or indirectly by viewer counts attracting advertiser money. Adapting into different mediums attracts new fans, brings in more money, and keeps the show alive.
oops! did you still not read the part where i said i was happy for the mcelroy’s and CR’s success? also like, every time where i say it’s the corporation’s fault and not individual artists?
also my favorite adaptations are ones where they do change things for the medium. i’m more worried about them making changes that make the show less progressive
sorry for posting this twice! it just seems like you had trouble reading it the first time :)
so the adventure zone was recently picked up for an animated series.
hooray! good for the mcelroys. i’m glad they’re getting more mainstream. i’m glad they’re able to financially support themselves and their family with this fame. i’m glad taz has a chance to get new fans! i’m glad fans get to see some of the most iconic balance moments animated!
i also think it’s a monstrously bad idea.
(this is long and this may seem pretty mean and radical, but please read before fighting me on any of this. also this isn’t an attack on anyone that’s excited for any of this adaptation stuff! it’s good to be excited for this success. but also there are some things to consider.)
capslockdoesntexpressmyjoy said:
I think your concerns about how the ~non-mainstream-friendly~ parts of TAZ or CR will get cut down are valid, but, I really don’t that the animated series’ being an investment only for Peacock/NBC etc is. You’re essentially saying they’ve turned into sell-outs by accepting these deals. CR has had money making attached to it for a long-ass time; TAZ less so, but they haven’t avoided it 100%. “Creators want to get paid for their work” is not an unreasonable thing.
nope! that wasn’t my point. i said multiple times that i’m glad the mcelroys and CR team are getting success from this. my beef is SOLELY with the big corporations preying on individual creators like this. it’s not just a problem with d&d podcasts.
in college, one of my professors sold the movie rights for his graphic novel for a quick couple thousand dollars. was that a good move for him? yes! he wanted to see his work on the big screen and definitely wanted some royalties. is he going to get money from this if they ever make the movie? yes! and that’s good for him. but the movie that comes out will never have the same spirit as his original work. they might misinterpret it entirely.
this situation is NOT the fault of the original creators. (i personally think, as a creator, it is greedy to keep getting more money out of a single successful franchise. there’s a point where it’s successful enough! but that’s a personal opinion, and i don’t fault others for disagreeing.) i understand why the mcelroys took this deal, and it’s not for the same reason peacock GAVE them this deal.
big corporations take advantage of smaller creators, and that’s not the fault of the creators.
ladyfoxfire
All I'm getting from this post is "creators making money from their work is bad" and "adapting into different mediums is bad, because you have to make changes to the story to make it work in a different format." Both of which I heartily disagree with.
what a scalding cold take. did you not read the part where i said i was happy for the mcelroy’s and CR’s success? also like, every time where i say it’s the corporation’s fault and not individual artists?
also my favorite adaptations are ones where they do change things for the medium. i’m more worried about them making changes that make the show less progressive
so the adventure zone was recently picked up for an animated series.
hooray! good for the mcelroys. i’m glad they’re getting more mainstream. i’m glad they’re able to financially support themselves and their family with this fame. i’m glad taz has a chance to get new fans! i’m glad fans get to see some of the most iconic balance moments animated!
i also think it’s a monstrously bad idea.
(this is long and this may seem pretty mean and radical, but please read before fighting me on any of this. also this isn’t an attack on anyone that’s excited for any of this adaptation stuff! it’s good to be excited for this success. but also there are some things to consider.)
paradoxgavel
This is a really cynical view on it, and I really don't think I can agree with it because of that. I know that the McElroys aren't just going to let the network do whatever they want with it.
okay. i’ve already had a few people tell me this is a really cynical view. and it is!
:)
i’m not coming at this situation as a fan. (when they make this, i will watch it, and i will try to enjoy it for what it is!) i’m coming at this situation as someone who is in this industry and knows how it works.
the executive’s decisions will always outweigh the mcelroy’s. full stop. it doesn’t matter if they’re consultants or writers or whatever.
if the mcelroys try to fight them on it, there are two likely outcomes:
1. the project is dropped entirely
2. the mcelroys will be kicked off the project.
again, i haven’t seen their contracts. but based on every contract i’ve seen from a major company, this is what will probably happen.
i can’t stress this enough: it’s okay if you’re excited about the show. it’s okay if the show comes out and you love it. it will still be art and it will still be exciting.
but it’s not a mcelroy product. it’s an NBC product.
