cafekat91

[cafekat91]

When the rest of the world looks at the united states right now, we see a government who sends billions to support genocide but cannot help their own people starving on the streets.

We see a police force who won't go in to save children from school shootings, but deploy at a rapid rate to arrest peaceful protestors using their right to free speech to protest a genocide

America, you are a war mongering snake eating your own tail. You will protect and support war criminals in another country but let your own people starve and die

To the students bravely protesting now, we see your strength. We see what we saw when students protested the Vietnam War. We have faith you will prevail

[cafekat91]

Which Percy Jackson adaptation is best? (tw opinions)

I am going to rate them all based on several things, casting, dialogue, entertainment value, how accurate it is to the source material (story, characterization of the characters, etc) and finally, does it capture the spirit and nostalgia of the og series.

The Movies

Casting - By far the worst of the three. These are supposed to the 12 year olds? Why are they like 20?

Dialogue - Not the worst here. You can tell they were written by someone who understands how story’s play out on a screen vs a script.

Entertainment Value - Also not the worst here. These two movies are actually pretty fun and funny, if you can look past the inaccuracies.

How accurate is it to the source material? - This is what kills it. These two movies couldn’t be further if they tried. It actually upsets me how they butchered the story. WHY THE HELL DID THEY FIGHT CRONOS IN THE SEA OF MONSTERS?!? WHY EVEN CALL IT THAT IF YOU WERE JUST GONNA RUIN THE ENTIRE PLOTLINE OF THE FRANCHISE?!? As for the characters, where did Grover’s insecurities go? Where is Annabeth’s… literal entire personality? Ig they did Percy alright, could’ve been more angry (when it counts) and sarcastic.

Does it capture the spirit of the og series? - In the most minute way possible, kinda. It has some funny moments, some attempts at heart felt ones, kinda.

Final rating - A solid 4/10, actually entertaining, butchered the plot and most of the characters, kinda feels Percy Jackson ish.

The Musical

Casting - This one is tricky. This, unlike the others, is a stage musical, so you cannot be too picky on the casting, nor can you easily cast children. However, this musical was written with the intention of being an age appropriate musical for youth theater programs, because of that I will say the casting is well done.

Dialogue - Again tricky but I’ll just interpret dialogue as the songs and well dialogue that happens in between. This has the best dialogue in the list, it’s goofy, funny, but also hits those emotional beats very well.

Entertainment Value - This one really depends on the person, because a lot of people don’t like musicals. For me personally, it’s fantastic. The music bops and the story is interesting.

How accurate is it to the source material? - Best on the list. Considering the options they have, as a stage musical, and what they were able to achieve, easily the best here. It has the monster battles, the pen, an actual sizable Bianca and Nico mention, best on the list. The characters are so well done, each of the og three having their own struggles and challenges that they overcome in the span of the play. Best on the list.

Does it capture the spirit of the og series? - 100% It’s funny. It’s heartfelt. It connects to the issues faced by neurodivergent kids, as well as kids who grew up missing a parent.

Final Rating - 8/10, entertaining, follows the books, only reason I give it an 8 is because a lot of people don’t like musicals.

The Show

Casting - Best on the list. Actual preteens? They all act very well? Crazy. But yeah easily the best here, I mean that right there is Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, no argument. I will say however, this is unfortunately the only thing the show wins at here.

Dialogue - Listen, Rick, you’re a book writer. Not a script writer. And it painfully shows. It’s bland, there are a lot of useless lines (as in characters are often saying things rather than ever showing them). Not to even mention how horrendously rushed the entire thing is. I thought it would slow down as it went on, so the big story moments could have the time they deserved, but no. If I am being completely honest it makes the entire show feel cheap.

Entertainment Value - Worst on the list. It is actually boring. The fights they took out, the fact that you never see riptide transform, the whole thing just feels so so cheap.

How accurate is it to the source material? - It’s… weird? It is but with some changes I just don’t understand, it’s a lot like the dialogue, kinda small yet useless changes that I believe make the show suffer a bit. The characters are, kinda accurate? Why does Percy know so much? Grover is… off. Much like the movies, but in a different way. He doesn’t have most of his insecurities and honestly he doesn’t have much of a personality. Same with Annabeth. The both of them were never really given time to have one.

Does it capture the spirit of the og series? - Not really. The funny moments don’t land and the serious ones are too rushed. It never really felt like Percy Jackson.

Final Rating - 5/10, the only reason it’s 5 is because I feel like the internet would crucify me if I rated it the same as the movies.

Final Conclusion

Listen to the musical if you haven’t already! The movies aren’t good but are entertaining. The show is a disappointment. Before you come at me saying how Rick was there blah blah blah, I don’t care. Rick being there doesn’t make it good.

[cafekat91]

At some point in my life I need to write an essay or make a slideshow or SOMETHING about how well the Lightning Thief musical understands its characters and the thesis of the Percy Jackson series. Like. Percy’s resentment of his father, ALL of Luke’s lines before his Good Kid Reprise that, if you already know his story, show how he feels about it SO WELL, MY GRAND PLANNNNN I will never be over how well Annabeth is written in this musical. Also how extremely early-two-thousands the music sounds is just Perfect, it provides the exact correct vibes and, for lack of a better term, historical context, and it’s Kinda Cringe and I LOVE IT FOR THAT. Also OH MY GOD CLARISSE. Another character whose dialogue and song lyrics provide so much depth to her character (who was already amazing in the books it just took more time to introduce those sides of her) also Put You In Your Place is a BANGER.

[cafekat91]

I understand that budget and time constraints are considerations for the show but I also find that so hard to justify when the musical did it So Right with like a $3 budget and only 2 hours

[cafekat91]

I hate that SEPTember OCTOber NOVember and DECember aren’t the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th months.

[cafekat91]

Blue Eye Samurai by Abigail Larson

[cafekat91]

okay, okay, but the whole "a sword needs impurities, it cannot be too pure or it will break" thing - Mizu needing to allow the people she meets along her journey to influence and change her - the way that in order to achieve her purpose she needs to be able to bend in her purpose - and the way that season 2 is probably going to be set in Europe (?!).

If she ends up in europe, she's going to be forced to reckon with the idea that not all white people are monsters and she's going to have to re-evaluate who she is in light of that information. And I'm having a MOMENT about that okay. I had a mentor once who told me that someone of mixed race or mixed ethnicity can't pick and choose what they are - she was saying I had to own all of my family tree, the the monsters and the victims together. Mizu is going to have to embrace and incorporate her white heritage into her identity the same way she had to re-evaluate her identity and incorporated the new metals when she wanted to melted down her broken sword. I AM HAVING A FUCKING MOMENT

[cafekat91]

Blue Eye Samurai

Artist: Yun Ling / Christelle Dhomé

[cafekat91]

Mizu halfway through fighting anybody: I know something you don't know. I am not left-handed.

[cafekat91]

Men will ask to see your true self and then call you a monster when they don't like what they see.

[cafekat91]

Someone: sex?

Mizu: never

Someone: I mean, what's in your pants?

Mizu: my meteorite sword

[cafekat91]

“We’ll flood your land with our people, our music, our shame, bread and milk until you think an ugly face like mine more beautiful than your own”

I AM SHIVERING

[cafekat91]

[cafekat91]

[cafekat91]

thinking about mizu from blue eye samurai. thinking. thinking so much. thinking about how mizu operates outside of gender. like we joke about her gender being revenge but straight up? it literally is. like she grew up as a boy and is most comfortable being a man, but behind that is the feeling of betraying himself because he isn't being honest about who he is and he lives in fear of being discovered. and when he lived as a woman, she found joy there as well. she fell in love, and though she wasn't good at it, she liked being a wife and enjoying a simple life. but in that life too, she isn't being honest about who she is. and when she reveals her true self, it's not a woman, she's a demon, a weapon. she's to masculine to be a woman, and too feminine to be a man. ultimately, mizu is most comfortable when they are being a murder machine. that's when they feel they are being the most true to themself. like a sword, they are neither man nor woman, but a blend of both, which makes them stronger.

[cafekat91]

kay so on my 5th rewatch and something i wanna point out that is such a brilliant acting choice: kenneth branagh's very specific speaking cadence for fowler.

fowler's cadence threw me off so hard the first watch i could barely even tell he was irish. my gf thought he might be from around glasgow. neither of us could pin it down. it is NOT the cadence of a native english speaker, no matter the accent. the words flow strangely into each other like there's no natural punctuation in his sentence structure. even the lilt is kinda different from what you hear in the irish accents today.

so i got to thinking: maybe this is how the japanese hear him? he's fluent, yes, but his cadence is off. he's not a native speaker. it's just slightly off. that could still be a possibility but no, i don't think that's it.

and then i remembered: ireland was still speaking gaeilge in this time period. so i looked up some recordings of native speakers of it from the 1800s, before it got heavily anglicised. and wouldn't you know it, the cadence is pretty damn similar. the lilt is almost identical.

i think fowler grew up speaking gaeilge. and i think the cadence of his native language follows him into his japanese. if so, that's some next-level meta and brillance from kenneth. I'm actually really excited to hear fowler speak around other native english speakers, excited to see if it changes at all. i wonder if he'll mask it, make it more british to better blend in. i wonder if we'll get an obvious difference when he speaks to mizu vs. speaking with other english speakers.

i could be wrong about it too but that seems like an acting choice kenneth would do tbh. either way it's intriguing as fuck fowler is such a cool and terrifying villain. as much as i think mizu should have slit his throat on the boat and tossed him overboard, i'm happy we'll get more of him and his weird lovely scary voice.

[cafekat91]

the reveal that mizu is not only the ronin but also the bride is so well executed. the way she walks the line between man and woman, white and japanese, victor and victim... it's good fucking writing.