Just learned from another answer that you're involved with the languages in Shadow & Bone, so I'd like to ask you about something that's been eating away at my enjoyment of the show.
I realise that you're probably not involved in this particular linguistic aspect of the show, but maybe it came up while you worked on the languages: the fictional countries and their languages are clearly based on existing European (and neighbouring) regions. Why is everything pronounced like it's English, though? (For example, Genya doesn't get the g sound the name has in Slavic languages.)
Part of it is because the names are the way Leigh pronounces them. She wrote the books, she created the names, she gets to say how they're pronounced. But maybe I should back up. The show Shadow and Bone is based on a book series written by Leigh Bardugo. She created the stories and characters. This is why her pronunciations are important.
Now that is also filtered through the fact that on the show, there isn't anyone to ensure consistency. The same character's name is sometimes pronounced two different ways in the same scene. Either no one noticed, or no one cared. That's life. For what it's worth, we did produce a pronunciation guide at the very beginning, so that, at least, all the names would be pronounced consistently. I've been on a set, though. A single piece of paper can be important for like ten minutes, but then something happens, and pretty soon the whole world has shifted.
For authors and future authors on here, though, a great way to avoid this is to not base your names or languages on existing names or languages. It's a fantasy world. It should be original. Also, the way you spell things in the Roman alphabet should be consistent and obvious. Don't be cute. It doesn't matter how your name looks on the page if it's adapted for the screen. Your name with three x's and an apostrophe is neither cool nor original. You make think it looks cool, but if you actually spell it the way it's pronounced, your readers will end up thinking that looks cool, because it's not the look of the name that's important: it's the character.
For more on naming, I wrote up an essay called "Names Aren't Neutral" which you can read here.
