#ben blue

i was thinking about if virals magically had an on screen tv adaptation and i magically had creative control, what decisions/changes i would make from the source material and i've decided to make a list.

firstly, the seasons would have to be at least 12 eps each. the books all have like a million chapters and so much content to cover

i would age up tory by a year, so she can still be in hi's & shelton's grade, but just not be soooo young. she's just too young in the books. on screen i wouldn't want there to be such a noticeable age difference between her and ben, or her and jason

ben would not be racially ambiguous, he'd be played by a native actor of as close as possible accurate heritage. this would lend more of a direct acknowledgement of the overlap of racism with the classism and general discrimination he faces in school, from the media, from officials they meet, etc

shelton would speak japanese at home, and ben's & hi's cultures and backgrounds would generally be more heavily featured

i would canonise some lgbt headcanons, but there doesn't have to be a storyline about them. my fav hcs are hi being trans and shelton being gay, so these could be confirmed via casting or casually in the script

i wouldn't want any of the virals personalities to change, but they do need a little more depth. for example, tory's childhood and loss of her mom shaped her mindset towards literally everything. ben's mistreatment (think about the year he spent at bolton entirely alone before hi & shelton) would've changed how he presents himself. hi & shelton can have a little more depth to their childhoods and home lives while still being the lighter hearted friends

chance would not be forgivable, and their alliance in terminal would be more of a reluctant deal rather than tory pushing the 'he's one of us now!' thing. this actually raises tensions way more and makes a better story. she could still have her awkward moments of flirtation and confusion with him, but he wouldn't be seen as a real romantic option compared to ben

more bluenan in earlier seasons shown through direction, symbolism and cinematography. tory, of course, can remain oblivious or deep in denial, but the audience would be able to pick up on cues as early as the first season

the story would be as charleston centric as the books, down to shooting on location. which, realistically, would be really tricky to achieve but in an ideal world i'd love it

i would leave the 'when is this set' kind of up to interpretation. i feel like it would be hard as of 2026 to solidly ground a series in 2010 because culturally and socially things have shifted a lot since then. but maybe via the technology they use and the general feel of things, it could still be in the 2010s, just later on

directional choices would also be used to imply that tory has a crush on ella and just hasn't quite realised it

shock flashbacks would occur throughout the first season

i think there should be some kind of arrangement in place for kit and tory. like a social worker they see or family therapy, something to build on their relationship further so that it evolves well over time

Hi - Getting way too into it, incorporating his best dance moves

Shelton - Removing his glasses plus awkward, nervous judo moves

Ben - Scowling with his arms crossed, turning only once for the eye reveal

1972.