If there's one of these already then I couldn't spot it, oops. But I'm halfway done with the first book and I've seen a ton of stuff on my dash over the years from the show but not watched it myself yet, and saw like... the finale episodes sometime last year for that season? And it really fascinated me. I don't care about spoilers, it's still and adventure for me, but I guess put major spoilers under a cut same as anywhere else. Please someone scream with me about this series.
I've also admittedly been flipping about through random clips and such from the show bc of having seen things on my dash before and its just making me want to read more and entrench myself in stuff. Also, goals- "That is what I do: I drink and I know things."
So i have read most of the books (i skimmed the last one i think) and watched like 2.5 episodes of the series. not impressed with the show, not enough to keep watching it. i like the books and some of the characters, but it's definitely a canon i prefer to write my own stories in than get more invested with the canon story anymore. i'm going to read the last book when it comes out just so i know how everything ended up, but my expectations aren't too high i don't think Martin writes his characters with quite enough care to make us care after the ninth or tenth one dies. he's more of a shock writer i think. thats his schtick, that and the 'realistic' rape and stuff. its a pretty ugly way to tell a story, which is why i just prefer to play in his sandbox.
I read...part of the first book, and then got distracted and never picked the series back up. I watched the first season of the show, and at least...part of the second season? idk. I stopped watching at the point where the writers decided to lovingly write scenes involving torture porn, because while the dude who was raised by the Starks as basically a hostage for good behaviour from the Iron Islands definitely deserved to be punished for the shit he pulled, and I was reasonably sure how he was getting treated was even canonical, that didn't mean I wanted to be shown every detail as he was broken and mutilated by a psychotic asshole. (I've since found out that the details are probably canonical, but the books did not actually show them; there was a cut from him being captured and the torture starting, and the next time he showed up in the book series he was almost unrecognizable as the same person.) I've not entirely stopped watching, I've seen bits and pieces since then - I've watched a couple episodes and have a gist of the plot from seeing stuff pop up on my dash. But as much as I love Danerys and Arya and all the rest who're admirable and funny...I'm still stuck in the wastes of "fuck it, I'm done with the series". I have no intent on picking up the books again, ever; I don't deliberately watch the show. I don't want to reward the writers for choosing to go for shock value and horror, and I especially don't want to reward them for choosing to make things worse than they were in the canon. GoT is just too grimdark for my preferences, these days, I guess. I want more fluff. Or more punk. Or even just proof that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't the flaming wreckage of a disaster that hasn't happened yet.
I'm sorry it left a bad taste in your mouths, I guess, but I'm having a ball and am very much enthusiastically enjoying myself. I hadn't anticipated majority negative when I made a fan thread, I admit. But thems the breaks.
I like the series! I have not read the books because I have no patience for 500+ page books these days. But like I said I like the television series. I especially love Arya as a character :D
god i feel the patience thing. my focus is in the shitter and has been for ages, but I've been steadily crawling along bit by bit with the books. I did a lot of reading during the convention recently and have been increasingly "!!!!!" ever since. I'm really digging Jon, Arya, Daenerys and Tyrion tho :D
Eh, I don't feel like I'm really negative about it? For all that, re-reading what I said, it does come off pretty negative. It's great that you're having fun! And maybe one day, I'll be in a headspace where I can circle back to the series. But right now, I'm happy to just sit on the sidelines and watch other people have fun.
(ngl the negativity i'd seen around on the forum when i searched for any thread like, a few years ago when i was first reading the books is why i never posted a thread while i read it, lol) that said, I super enjoyed reading the books! I.. marathoned the entire show in two months right before the final season only to end up just reading summaries of the last two episodes because, to put things shortly and somewhat nonspoilery, I discovered really suddenly that I had such an intense emotional tie to Daenerys that seeing the show turn against her was honestly something I could not stomach watching. So that's been something, specially since i usually don't get tied to a character in a way where things happening to them that are really bad or unfair really affect me in that way. wheee? I'd love to see your screams through reading the books!! and scream along with!
I was definitely not doing weird archive diving and only realized after clicking post that i was necroing this thread. whoops, too late. have all my emotions at an awkwardly later point in time than any of the posts in this thread. i'll go hide in a corner forever
i need to get back to reading tbh!!! its been. way too long since i read omg.. but i finished the first book and was starting in on the second one!
yooo do it i don't have enough people to talk the books with. being an animator means all my coworker group i eat lunch with are generally on with the mainstream nerd things so i had hell months of show-only people talkin trash on my favs
I much prefer the books to the show; I stopped watching after season 4 I think, but when/if the last two books come out I will definitely pick them up. I like the world and the characters (again, in the books. The show writers don't quite get the characters). I'm not sure Martin has anything resembling a grip on the plot. I guess that's what fanfic is for.
i’ve read the series & have, regrettably, watched every episode of the damn show. i’m a big fan of the books; as for the show, well, i’ve always been a books elitist to some extent, buuuut... starting around season 5 the show started going increasingly downhill (in my opinion), and then season 8 was a trainwreck that fell off a cliff. by which i mean: there were exactly 3 moments — not entire scenes, just moments — in the entirety of season 8 that i honestly actually liked. everything else, i either failed to give a shit or couldn’t stand it. (only continued to watch bc my cousin and i were watching it together for heckling purposes.) i have... many, many grievances with the show and its shoddy characterizations in the later seasons. if i had to pick my biggest characterization grievance, it’s probably jaime. ye gods. but no character really escaped the bad writing. but i’m sleepy so i won’t do a full rant. just... all my rage. books tho. tyrion, theon, brienne, and jaime are probably my top faves. also davos!! davos is great omg.
I too am also reading the books for the first time! I started watching the show a few years ago but gave up on it after the finale of season 6 (or maybe it was season 5, I can't really remember). I absolutely devoured the first book, the second one is a little more slow going but I like the characters enough that I'll stick with it. Tyrion is also my MAN. (If I had to pick a favorite I'd probably say Arya or Sansa tho)
