#debbie pelt

[winnie-the-monster]

[thegayhimbo]

Top 11 Things I thought True Blood did better than the books

This is just my personal opinion, and I get not everyone is going to agree with this, but there were things about the show I thought were better than in the books, or else were improvements on the books. Spoilers ahead:

1.) Lafayette's expanded role in the series. This is pretty much a given. In the books, Lafayette gets killed off after the first one, and thankfully the show avoids going that route. He was an amazing character, and Nelsan Ellis's performance was stunning. He's one of my favorite characters on the show!

2.) The changes they made to Godric's character and his relationship with Eric. I was glad the show didn't go the route of making Godric a pedophile/child-rapist like he was in the books, and instead made him a reformed vampire who was actually advocating for peaceful co-existence between vampires and humans. There's a tragedy to his character that makes me sad because he genuinely wanted to atone for his past sins, and was trying to set an example for other vampires. I also found his relationship with Eric to be fascinating and prefer this version of Godric being Eric's maker as opposed to the way it went down in the books.

3.) Sookie and Jason's relationship. I wasn't a fan of it in the books, and it was so contentious and out-of-focus most of the time that it was hard to care about it. In the show, it's one of my favorite platonic relationships. I liked seeing the character development there, with Jason becoming a protective big-brother to Sookie, and Sookie trying to help out Jason when he was struggling. I enjoyed a lot of their moments, from Jason saving Sookie from Steve Newlin, to the conversation at the hotel, to them cleaning Gran's house, to the talks they had during the show, to Jason coming to Sookie's aid and staking Warlow in season 6, and so on. It was nice seeing that sibling love, and it helps that both Anna Paquin and Ryan Kwanten actually look like siblings.

4.) The introduction of Jessica's character. I know she wasn't in the books, but Jessica still remains one of my favorite characters on the show. I enjoyed seeing her journey of becoming a newborn teenage vampire and having to learn the ups and downs of it. I also thought the whole "she struggles with her vampire nature" was done much better here than it was with Bill. It genuinely felt like she was trying to be a decent person while struggling with her bloodlust and being trapped forever in a teenager's body.

5.) Lafayette and Jesus's relationship. As someone who identifies as gay, I enjoyed seeing a positive depiction of an LGBT+ relationship on the show. Jesus (despite not being in the books) is one of my favorite characters. I thought his backstory as a brujo was fascinating, and the story arc where he and Lafayette explore the world of magic remains one of my favorite plots on the show. It helps that Jesus was a genuinely kind person and that his relationship with Lafayette was genuine.

6.) This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I was okay seeing the show branch out into an ensemble cast. In the books, everything is told from Sookie's perspective, so we only get to see the world through her filter. In the show, they give different POV's to characters like Eric, Pam, Jason, Tara, Lafayette, Sam, Jessica, and so on. While there were certain storylines that didn't work, I didn't mind the approach because it was interesting for me to see the individual reactions from these characters to the supernatural world around them. I also enjoyed seeing the backstories of certain characters that weren't just Sookie.

7.) Pam's backstory on the show. One of the things that always bothered me about Pam turning into a vampire in the books is that it wasn't consensual on her part. Eric just did it, and she was forced to adapt to it, which didn't sit right with me. In the show, I was glad that this was her choice because she didn't want to die alone as a prostitute. I also thought her backstory was well fleshed-out. It explains why she's so loyal to Eric, and why she's closed off from other people behind a way of sarcasm and snarky remarks. It also does a good job showing why she holds Bill in contempt: She remembers him (and Lorena) as the vampires who were raping, draining, and killing the girls she oversaw in her brothel.

8.) This is probably not going to be one everyone agrees on, but I liked the expansion of Tara and Jason's characters on the show. I enjoyed Jason's journey and character development on the show much better than in the books, and I loved his friendship with Andy. It was interesting watching him open up more to the supernatural world and work to improve as a person, and I enjoyed some of his arcs, like joining the Fellowship in season 2, or working with Andy, or even helping Sookie, Lafayette, and Jesus during the whole witch war. I also hold Ryan Kwanten is underrated as an actor, and enjoyed his performance as Jason. Likewise, I've always had a soft spot for Tara and the struggles she went through. I'm still angry about what they did to her in the last season (which is why I don't consider it canon), but I appreciate how fleshed-out she was compared to the books. Plus, Rutina Wesley is a great actress!

9.) Eric's rivalry with Russell Edgington. Russell is still one of the best villains on the show, and Eric's backstory explains a lot about how he became the person he was and why he wanted to become a vampire.

10.) Again, this is probably not one everyone is going to agree on, but I liked the witch-vampire conflict better on the show than in the books. Antonia for me was one of the more complex villains on the show, and I like how, for once, the vampires were finally getting called out for all the atrocities they'd committed against humans over the centuries. I also liked the contrast they did with Antonia and Marnie, as well as the themes about victimization and the dangers of becoming just as bad as the people who've abused you.

11.) The way that Lorena, Debbie, and Claude were done on the show. In the books, they came off as little more than one-dimensional cartoon villains with no other interesting personality traits. They were evil just for the sake of being evil. In the show, both Lorena and Debbie are given more tragic elements that helped me to care about their characters somewhat. Lorena for instance is implied to have been so twisted by the abuse her maker inflicted on her that it's warped her ability to understand what love is, and possibly fueled her obsession with Bill. Debbie genuinely does love Alcide, but she's also a struggling V-addict and the things she wants (having kids, being part of a pack, etc) are at odds with what Alcide wants. Not to mention, it felt like there were moments in season 4 when she was trying to be a good person. As for Claude, I get people have issues with the faeries on the show, but I prefer his show counterpart where he's helpful to Sookie and Jason and genuinely cares about protecting the faeries on the human plane. Book Claude was all over the place, to the point of being grating. I couldn't stand his character in the books, and not in a love-to-hate sense, but more in a "this character is annoying and I wish they would be written out" kind of way.

Anyways, that's my opinion. I know people will prefer certain elements in the books better than the show, but I personally hold there were some things the show did better.

[thegayhimbo]

I saw your reblog about Alcide, if you don't mind answering what are your personal thoughts on him?

Hi there. Sorry for the wait on this. I actually thought this was going to be a simple answer, but I realize there's a lot I wanted to say about the character in relation to how the fandom perceives him as opposed to how he actually comes off onscreen.

When I first saw the show, my feelings about Alcide ranged from okay at best to indifferent at worst. I didn't hate him, but I didn't care for him. He wasn't my favorite character on the show, and I found most of his story (and the werewolf plots) to be boring. I was actually surprised when I came online and found out he had a following with certain fans.

Upon rewatch, I'm still mostly indifferent to Alcide, but I lean a little more towards mildly disliking him now. And a lot of that has to do with how the fandom (especially people on Reddit) treat him vs how he actually comes across in the books and on the show.

I’ll start off by saying that I never liked Alcide in the books. He was an asshole, and most of the time he used Sookie to advance his position in the werewolf pack. What little relationship he had with Sookie felt one-sided on his part. It also doesn’t help that he unfairly blamed Sookie for stuff that was out of her control (like the death of Debbie in the books or the death of his father.) His attraction to Debbie in the books is also something that doesn’t reflect well on him. Contrary to the show’s portrayal, Debbie in the books was written as a one-dimensional psychopath with a jealous streak and no redeeming qualities. She’s basically a cartoon villain with no depth to her. The result is it’s hard to understand why Alcide got into a relationship with her in the first place, and it makes it look like he was just thinking with his dick. In other words, Book Alcide was nothing to brag about.

As for the show, like I said, I’m mostly apathetic to Alcide’s character (with a few exceptions that I will talk about in a minute) and I thought he was pointless. I know he was suppose to be a vehicle to introduce Sookie to the world of werewolves, but the way that was executed didn’t work. Common consensus in the fandom seems to be that the werewolf plots in both the books and the show were tedious and forgettable. It’s ironic because I know there are Alcide fans out there, but whenever I’ve asked them about what they thought of the werewolf stories, their responses range from “I don’t remember them” to “They were bad.” A lot of fans didn’t care for them. They could have been cut from the show without affecting the main story. That’s a problem because Alcide was usually involved in those stories, and the result is it was hard to care about him because of how non-compelling they were.

As for the character himself, I wasn’t impressed with him for a number of reasons.

First, there’s his relationship with women. I didn’t pick up on this the first time, but a rewatch has shown me how sexist Alcide came off during certain moments on the show. Case in point: His relationship with Debbie. One of the big conflicts between Alcide and Debbie on the show is that they both wanted different things. Alcide didn’t want kids and was fine not being in a werewolf pack. Debbie was the opposite where she did want kids and wanted to be a part of a community. Nothing wrong with that, but it was pretty clear from the get-go that this relationship was never going to work out. The problem though is that Alcide never seemed to recognize that, and kept trying to force Debbie to be something she didn’t want to be: A housewife who didn’t have kids, who was isolated except for her and Alcide, and who spoke softly and cooked meals for him. Basically the opposite of what Debbie was. And yes, I get that Debbie had a lot of problems and made really poor choices, but Alcide’s method of imposing his idea of what she should be was not the way to have handled that. It doesn’t help that he didn’t really seem to care about what she wanted because he thought he knew what was best for her. Like I said, that’s pretty sexist on his part.

And then there’s Sookie and how she factored into Alcide’s relationship with Debbie in seasons 3-4. I find it telling that when it comes to how this situation was handled, fans are eager to blame Sookie and Debbie for the whole mess that resulted in Alcide abjuring Debbie and Debbie getting killed by Sookie, but people rarely call out Alcide for his part in all of this. Personally though, I think Alcide bears some of the blame here for what happened.

Something that’s been pointed out is that during seasons 3-4, Alcide has only known Sookie for a brief period of time. Season 3 for instance takes place over the course of 9-10 days whereas season 4 takes place over 10 days (October 21st-October 31st). That’s about 2-3 weeks at best. And yet, despite only knowing Sookie for about a week in season 3, and despite having been in love with Debbie for a number of years, he’s already pining for Sookie:

Now maybe you could argue that he saw Sookie as a replacement in season 3 because his relationship with Debbie deteriorated and he was heartbroken. However, that excuse doesn’t hold up in season 4 when he’s supposed to have repaired his relationship with Debbie during the year Sookie was gone in faerie-land, and yet he’s still lusting for Sookie despite only knowing her for a short period of time.

It’s so telling to me that only a few days after Debbie’s death in season 5, Alcide tries to have sex with Sookie when they’re both drunk, and he tells Sookie “I’ve waited so long for this.” It really puts his relationship with Debbie in a negative light, and calls into question whether he actually loved her at all.

I’m not saying that Debbie was blameless in this, and it doesn’t excuse her cheating on Alcide with Marcus or trying to kill Sookie, but it’s not like she didn’t notice Alcide was eyeing Sookie for some time. This was a woman who had hitched her sobriety onto Alcide and felt isolated and alone, and the man she was depending on was emotionally cheating on her. And rather than owning up to that, Alcide tries to gaslight Debbie into thinking she’s crazy and it’s all in her head. He literally says that to her when they’re in bed together, and it’s nasty.

What’s frustrating is this usually gets overlooked in the fandom when people talk about Alcide’s character, and he’s usually referred to in a sympathetic light whereas Debbie is blamed for being an unstable, violent whack-job whereas Sookie is blamed for being a house-wrecker, even though she was in a relationship with Eric at the time.

This is also one of the reasons I never liked Sookie/Alcide as a pairing, and why them getting together at the end of season 6 felt forced: Putting aside how their only sexual interaction up to that point was Alcide trying to have sex with Sookie one night when they were drunk and Sookie vomiting all over him, it was basically Sookie getting pigeon-hold into the role of domestic housewife for Alcide. And I’m sorry, but I find it unbelievable that they were together for 6 months and Sookie never once picked up on any unkind or dirty thoughts from Alcide during the time they were together until the season 7 premiere when that suddenly was a problem.

But even putting aside his relationships with Sookie and Debbie, the biggest problem I have with Alcide is he’s not a compelling character. He’s a character whose motivations and personality change when the plot demands it, and most of the time the writers didn’t know what to do with him and just stuck him in different stories with no rhyme or reason. It doesn’t help that he has no character development during his time on the show. There is no difference between the Alcide we meet in season 3 and the one we end up with in season 7. The result is I don’t care about him.

It’s funny because I’ve seen plenty of fans project these kind of criticisms onto Jason, but I actually think they apply more to Alcide than they do to Jason.

Jason actually had character development. He learned to become more responsible and be someone others could depend on. He began to move away from his womanizing behavior in the later seasons and eventually settled down and had a family. He re-evaluated his stance on supernaturals, and actually became an ally for them in several ways. There is a big difference between the person he was in season 1 and the man he became by season 7. If people missed that, or chose to ignore it, that’s on them, but it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

Alcide on the other hand..............what was his character development? How did he grow as a person? What did he learn from his relationships with Debbie or Sookie or Rikki? Or even from the whole werewolf pack nonsense? Cause I’m drawing a blank here. Was it suppose to be that pack life wasn’t for Alcide because it would turn him into a power-hungry asshole? I never got the impression that was a problem for him in the early seasons, and it was a contrived conflict that was manufactured for season 6. The show never did a good job fleshing out what his arc was suppose to be.

Also, say what you will about Jason’s stories, but at least they were memorable: Amy and Jason’s relationship. The Fellowship of the Sun. The werepanthers. Becoming a cop with Andy. His relationship with Jessica. His hunt for Warlow. I would also argue that each of these stories added something to Jason’s character, and helped him grow as a person. Alcide’s arc on the other hand.......................not so much. When I was rewatching, I had to take notes just to remember what was going on with the werewolves, and even when I was rewatching, I felt the overwhelming urge to hit the fast-forward button. That is how boring those scenes were. It says something that even Alcide wasn’t able to carry them.

TL;DR: I’m apathetic to Alcide (with a few moments where I find him unlikable), and I don’t think he was a good character. The werewolf plots were tedious at best and irritating at worst, and Alcide’s arc on the show wasn’t compelling or interesting. I don’t hate him the same way I hate characters like Bill, Hoyt, and Violet, but I don’t like him either.

[dead-n-reckless]

[emofairyprincessofarkansas]

So Debbie’s not engaged to Cooter in the books?

[thegayhimbo]

"I've waited so long for this."

Umm......how long was that Alcide? Were you pining for Sookie during your relationship with Debbie? Cause if so, then Debbie's paranoia that you would cheat on her suddenly makes a lot more sense.

Also, I love that Sookie throws up on Alcide, and Eric sarcastically remarks “You sure know how to treat a lady.”

[thegayhimbo]

I don't care for Debbie's parents. Where the hell were they when Debbie was high on V in season 3 and working for Russell Edgington?

[thegayhimbo]

Jason and Andy just found Debbie's car. Jason knows about Debbie, and how much she hates Sookie.

Also, good on Andy for giving Jason the V and not taking it.