#but the bus stop scene reprise just. made me feel a lot.

[continuousmeowing]

i liked the ending! I thought it was sweet. I have a few gripes, but i think it was overall pretty good.

[newsies-and-the-nutcracker]

Newsies but it’s French (Canadian) pt.2

(aka me just getting increasingly frustrated the longer it goes on until I’ve completely lost whatever bits of sanity I had left lol)

~ king of new york scene ~

“We’re in the papes??” “You’re in the papes.” why do I find this so funny help-

“For the good of Jack, we can stop complaining...” not the whole thing but that sounds so out of character for Race I can’t-

After a quick google search, I can confirm that Race says “The world is at our boots.”

The newsies are very confused

Apparently he was meant to say feet.

“I’m talking about our feet!”

…

hOW IN THE WORLD IS THAT EVEN CLOSE TO ‘THE WOILD IS YA ERSTER’-

Okay I’m done

“My own face on a piece of wood!” good for you ig

“I’m respectful. I’m looking at you.” please-

“I am pretty, am I not?” yes race you’re very pretty

“My own bed and an indoor toilet!” wait… does that mean you literally have a toilet outside?? In the open???

“Nothing more normal for a famous journalist!” Irdk how I’m supposed to process this-

“Leave, idiot! It’s her, the king of New York!” guys is this actually what he says in English?? Race why are you so m e a n

“Some…” *checks notes* “depressive defeatists” ?? I just want to know how you got that from “Buncha wet noodles”-

“We were on the verge of drowning ourselves in alcohol.” WHY AM I ONLY NOW FIGURING OUT WHAT SOME OF THESE LINES MEAN AS I’M WATCHING IT IN F R E N C H ???

They cut out a lot of the background comments during the dance break and now I’m sad

After Katherine’s little dance: “It’s a joke, I hope.” wow

“You’ll see what the Delancey’s do in their pants!” that sounds so wrong I-

“Friends can leave, let them be!” I don’t think that’s what they were trying to say but okay

~ letter from the refuge scene ~

“There’s guards here, they’re mean.” WOW JUST TEAR MY HEART OUT WHY DONTCHA-

“If they tell us to jump, we obey, if not we’re screwed.” ow

“The rooftop misses me.” I give up.

“It’ll go. I’m in shape.”

“End.” the only time they decide not the put ‘the’ unnecessarily in front of something-

“Good, that’s enough.” how rude

yeah that’s all for that song. I hope you guys weren’t actually expecting me to find much humour in that one

~ watch what happens reprise scene ~

“You are a love.” ??

Guys where I live if you say “tant mieux pour vous.” it means “Too bad for you” and that’s literally what Jack just told Davey-

“Stop. I understand. It’s useless.” eh close enough

“Good blood, where do you have to go to avoid you guys?”

“It’s impossible. We are inevitable.” since when did Davey actually become Thanos?

“And this here girl, Sally, she’s great.” :(

“We say that you wrote a good article.” “You seem horrible.” they’re much more salty in this version-

“Yes, it’s true. And, he is dead.” uhh guess who’s not going to Santa Fe-

“We can forget that and go back to work?” the person who wrote this had a real passion for butchering Les’ lines lol

“Be positive. No one is dead.” mmmmmmmmmmm-

“Is that what you’re hoping for??” MMMMMMMMMMMMMM-

“There’s no question of cents, Jack!” yk what? sure. i don’t even care at this point-

“We’ll do what?” he sounds like he doesn’t even want to win.

“We’re already winning.” “Agreed.” ABORT ABORT THIS ISN’T WHAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO S A Y JACK-

“And ‘voila’ why I think that Joe is an idiot. It’s a rattlesnake.” “... Yes.” you heard it right here, guys. if it’s a rattlesnek, it’s an idiot

“And you know why a snake whistles?” WHAT

“He is scared.”

“Go see, the poor of the head that’s spinning.” This is shredding whatever bits of sanity I had left-

“Why send the brutes?” idk why Davey

“You have maybe reason!” “Thank you!”

“And I have an appointment!”

no but when you say you have a ‘rendez-vous’ here where I live, it means you have like a doctors appointment or something lol

~ the bottom line reprise scene ~

“After his release, I surprised him myself!”

“If that’s the case, we’re going to bring him in... in softness.” nice of them

“... or the little thief?” I’m really starting to think that they lack like 99% of words in the French language-

“I was fighting in a war.” “And that turned out well for you?” get wrecked joe

“Rally as much as you want, no journal in town will talk about it.” guys I don’t have enough serotonin for this-

“Everyone here knows you’re horrible!” they made Jack sound like a little kid in the translation, and honestly I’m not even disappointed lol

“We’re missing time, little.” I don’t even know what to say-

“Your abject surrender was always the bottom of the problem.” sure why not

“Gentlemen, escort our guest to the cave-” well isn’t he nice?

“Be happy you’re alive, little. That’s the essential.”

“Yeah, so go!” ?? how is that even remotely close to “Yeah, so behave!” ??????

“I exercised my favourite American punch!” uhhhh good for you?

“You can sleep here, on this old press! It’s very firm.” help I’ve fallen and I can’t get up-

~ brooklyn’s here scene ~

“The sellers need our help! The sellers need our help! Tell them that Brooklyn’s arriving! Tell them that Brooklyn’s arriving!”

“We’re from Brooklyn, we’re the sellers from Brooklyn!” UHHHHH EXCUSE ME???

“We just learned that our friends are going wrong!” please you heard they were ‘going wrong’ like five days ago-

“You know we’re there for you, since always.” oH rEaLlY???

“Brooklyn is there!”

“Strikes aren’t nice, but they’re passionate!” well I’m glad you think so

“Let’s shout it, Brooklyn is there!”

“Aaaaand sooooooo!!” “Sooooooooo!!” “Soooooooooo!!!” “We will send you half road, just to Queens!”

“The pigeons are going to get soaked!” aaaaaand we’re back to the pigeons-

“What sad way to finish your career!” they sound so sarcastic I can’t-

“They’re not serious, but if they think we’re laughing…” i feel low-key threatened-

“Let’s shout it!” well if you try hard enough, you can make it sound like “loud and clear!”?

“Manhattan is theeere, Flushing is theeere, “Richmond is theeere, Woodside is theeere, and the Bronx too!!”

“Sorry, little. No news of him.” I just… why does it translate to “little”?

“You are alone, we could say.” “No.” “Yes.”

Medda really isn’t taking no for an answer-

“The sellers of journals of New York!” I’m crying why is it such a mouthful-

“You want to be treated like an adult? Act like an adult!”

~ something to believe in scene ~

“It’s Specs!” wow kath throw specs under the bus like that-

“And if I was a boy you’d be looking at me with a butter black eye!” I’ve officially given up on the French language I’m sorry-

“You win a fight when the other guy bites the dust.” and another one gone and another one gone-

“If there’s a way I could grab hold of something,” has literally been shortened to ‘if I could.’ IF I COULD-

“If I could stop time.” I’m so mad

“Really?” “Really.” ahhHHHHHHHHHHH

“But it’s going. It’s going.”

“... who didn’t even know she gave me a hope.” WHAT EVEN IS THE POINT IF THE TITLE ANYMORE??

“But it’s going. It’s going.” The thrilling sequel

“No. I’m scared of you.” “No!” yeesh-

“I believe in something.” good for you

~ once and for all scene -

“He is with us.” but like… how much?? only 99 percent????

“We could hold a hoedown here.” I feel like the person translating this just gave up by the end of the show-

“Happy to have found you again.” what did you like lose him or something

“The close.” ok yes that’s funny, but it gets even funnier when you realize it could also be translated to “the farm.”

“A little grease, and she’ll be like new.”

“This is for the guys who kill themselves at the factories.” w h a t

‘THE BANNER OF SELLERS OF JOURNALS’ I’m still not over this

~ everything that comes after that ~

“Anyone who doesn’t act in their own self interest is an idiot!” ey watch it-

also what the heck is ‘quiconque’ I swear I’ve never seen that word in my life

“We will find a way, but let’s seize the moment.” first it was “the chance” and now it’s “the moment” google translate are u okay-

They really went and changed ‘bully’ to ‘monster’ didn’t they

“You can make it.” he really makes it sound like Jack is about to die or something-

“It’s disgusting!” you’re disgusting sir

“And the world will know, we’ve been taking notes.”

“It’s a joke!” nope lol

“Goodbye, fool!” I’M LAUGHING WAY TOO HARD ABOUT THIS-

“Well you already work for my father.” “Yes.”

“Super, Jack Kelly!” I CAN’T-

“So, Jack, you’re staying?” yeah sure close enough-

“Sellers of journals on a mission!”

Das it ‘my friends’ lol. Hope you enjoyed.

[9w1ft]

feels a little early to be writing a year-in review but i find myself in a quiet moment so i thought i’d tap a few things out

in 2019, in all facets of my life, i faced a challenge of some sort and i surprised myself as i held my ground more often than ran away, which felt new. what *also* felt new was this sense of ease i began having professionally, when it came to conceptualizing and making decisions. sorta feels like a lot of things are crystallizing.

in terms of life on here, i didn’t have TSL for the majority of the year (anybody out there remember TSL?!) so i busied myself with crafting fun memories on my own. there were spans of weeks where i’d just get on a tear and run into one new thing after the other and it was all really just fantastic. i gave myself permission to indulge in the most decadent of things and to follow the most mercurial of assumptions to places i thought closed off.

i’m pretty sure i’ve smiled and laughed more over this year than i ever have in my entire life. no joke.

here are some kaylorverse moments that brought me joy in 2019:

it’s nice to have a friend

2018 was my first year being a kaylor and i just sort of was moreover on the contributor or commenter side of things so 2019 was interesting in that when taylor really leaned into the gay imagery leading up to album release, i started getting newer people sending me stuff! and asking me my takes on things! and like, my words suddenly had weight for some reason? it felt weird but i truly enjoyed getting to talk with so many different people and hear their ideas and laugh and such. that was markedly different from last year. from within this, 79-swift reached out to me with the eye theory, the most beautiful and rare of observations by a singularly lovely individual that i have dedicated my life to protecting and promoting. and i feel like i’ve gotten to know many people i knew through 2018 more deeply and have come to accept the role i play, lean in to it, and formulate my own truth of the matter, and that sort of heightened perspective on it has been a blessing and i’m so thankful for this strange sense of camaraderie that has formed with many of you? thank you??? and my conviction, and my wishes, for the girls to find happiness have only strengthened this year... im committed to seeing this through whether people like it or not!! harumph!

block ‘em

i also started proactively curating my experience.. that’s right! i began blocking trolls with reckless abandon, and i turned anons off! 😂 and damn it’s so much more worthwhile of a time on here when you set aside people that only want to ruin your day.

i got over my fear of eyeballs!!

😂 no seriously, body horror and in particular eyes out of context was actually sort of a thing that previously creeped me out BUT LOOK AT ME NOW. i’m gonna do my best not to rehash the eye theory, please read the post and recall the number of times i filipped out 😂 each and every one is precious to me

also

geeking out with bert and ernie gifs with kaylorfossil and making empsmd-blog drop her debit card need a mention.

the ME! music playlist.

i fell in love with so many songs and like, running into eye motifs in so many of the songs, lyrically and visually, was the most hilarious thing. but really just a lot of the songs really tapped at my soul with an ice pick and i even went to go see The Japanese House live in Osaka which was transcendental and i’m just so thankful for having taylor introduce Good At Falling to me because it was a *necessary* album.

i made and collected stuff

i made and amassed many artifacts that one day i can look back on and remember what a wild ride it has been. some favorites are my procuring of the pixel art heart ring from the ME! mv (a nod to my tsl days..), as well as the evil eye ring.. i didn’t physically make this but the eye theory made the taydar podcast and there’s nothing i enjoy more in this world than making someone giggle and i just love that the episode exists. making that kaylor straw was 👌 working on a mock-up of the golden locket has been very satisfying. i started incorporating fun kaylor winks into my artwork as well which was fun, and i also commissioned a collage from the very talented and lovely valheria and i couldn’t have asked for anything better 🥰

wildin in the TS7 tag was the best.

i made this observation that there’s this type of cocoon that looks like a cobra, which transforms into a butterfly over a period of 13 days, and like, the post got so many notes and i just had a lot of swiftie eyeballs all of a sudden on my blog which led to some hilarity. but honestly i just love geeking out over theories and it’s fun to get to do that as fans of taylor at large. things felt warm and effervescent.

my newspaper subscription

i subscribe to the TTB Times and let me just say the submissions and anons this year were overwhelmingly a delight to read through every day. also like, we did get cued in to stuff before album release and i am just thankful that there are people out there both who want to give us that and people who work to help them give us that. thank you ttb for moderating your blog (my newspaper of choice) however it is that you do and to everyone that contributed to her blog.

the whole lead up to the ME! video release

so glorious... but particular the hour before. i was rushing to pick up my kid from school and suddenly i kept getting messages from people that taylor was covering her face and framing her eyes, and i was like oh please yeah sure BUT THEN when the snake in the video had a blank eye like i don’t think you guys understand i had to wait at a bus stop and exchange pleasantries with the other moms but it was a *five alarm fire* in my mind

cause shade never made anybody less gay

stealing away to listen to YNTCD for the first time and hearing Taylor Alison Swift use the word gay in a released song for the first time was a transcendental moment

karlie’s hand in the YNTCD mv.

‘nuff said

daisies. daisies everywhere.

taylor said daisy kaylor rights, and she said it everywhere. *everywhere*. cannot, will not, get over how blessed we are.

gay gay gay gay gay.... taylor’s

sorry not sorry that wiz khalifa collab with elohim on her track FYM was ethereal and i still hope it’s a part of the preshow playlist for Lover Fest

clue hunting in klossy videos and karlie ads

call me a corporate shill all you want like, there’s always a little something in there and i also enjoy the little flickers of goofy karlie that jump out from time to time. and i know this is not the case for everyone but post eyepocalypse, karlie leaning in, winking that eye of hers time and time again was just pique comedy for me and it always made me chuckle. the brands karlie has repped have been really laying it on thick too and it’s been a joy to see. when taylor does it with her music it’s art, and for me karlie’s media presence is a form of art too 😌

oh kaptain my kaptain

kimby liked a comment of mine on her insta which was a distinct honor and privilege 😌 and really she was dropping clues left and right through spring up until she got her snazzy new job and things calmed down 🥰 of which i am so proud talk about an on brand job! also partially clearing the air about my TSL theory and the lead up to clearing that air was quite fulfilling for me and i am forever grateful for the time we shared. and to this point, the seesters in general (and kurt omg) have been quite active all year and we don’t deserve it but they’ve stuck around and it’s been calming.

album cover art release on the livestream

LIKE I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE NEVER HAD A FOURTH WALL BROKEN SO DULY

i love you forever, thank you for everything

when taylor came to visit tokyo this year i was basically reenacting the swamp scene from OOTW trying to get a ticket to the secret event... i listened to ME! on LINE MUSIC for over 2000 plays, i bought multiple CD’s, it was such an ordeal and then to not have a ticket after all but still putting on my thinking cap and managing to figure out where the event was while i was at disney sea and literally running from disney sea to the venue in high heels with The Man playing on my phone was oscar-worthy and actually *being correct* and the moment i knew i was correct and how i knew i was correct was so amazing 😉 and i play by the rules so i didn’t try to get in without a ticket and i didn’t lurk. but just to have figured it out and validated it was such a thrill. seeing her on TV live was amazing as well ///

lost in japan, reprise

oh and, last year for rep tour there was this theory i had which didn’t pan out but it had to do with the clues i thought shawn mendes was dropping through autumn 2018 and anyway that’s a story for another day but as i was bopping around town, looking for lockets, staying in rooms i have no business being in, drinking lots of whisky...just to know that while i was doing *everything but* successfully meeting taylor, she literally phoned shawn and had him record lines for that eye theory remix like, i will never ever, like, guys. guys. 😂 it’s too perfect for words. the world is weird like that sometimes.

Lover

and omg Lover the album? i absolutely love lover and i loves that honeymoon period of theorizing and parallel unearthing that we did and i love how slightly creepy-cute it is and i love the whole wabi-sabi thing going on and i absolutely love every song on the album, every one, they all have so much meaning to me... and each one is teeming with little blips and bloops and sound samples and seconds of silence and i love all the brass instruments and so many lush moments... i guess my shortlist (in no particular order) would be the archer, lover, i think he knows, daylight, cruel summer, false god, cornelia street, ME! (yea i really like me 🥰). and to think about everything that went in to the album and the thrill of what it might have been and the vastness of what we don’t know, but like, the weight of that potential?? it’s like this vast pastel and black abyss of drowsy and deep feelings and i love every inch of it. it’s a vibe that reflects so much of what this year has been for me and i’m happy to have existed in this time to have had it with me.

jesus this has gotten too long, and i still have like 24 more things to write out but um, basically, as i’m sure you’ve been able to assume? i wanted to say that despite 2019 being somewhat of a slasher film affair for our fandom, i still had a goddamn great time this year and i hope everyone can find some good memories and relive them as well 🥰

[imi-ike]

for all those inquiring here is a list of changes made to mean girls on broadway as of 12/11/19 (forgive me if i missed anything)

CHANGED:

⁃ [“You can’t buy integrity at the mall it’s not for sale.”] “Truth.” (changed from: “Nice.”)

⁃ “We have a new student joining us. She just moved here from Arkansas.” “Africa.” “Africa. Everybody welcome Caddy.” “It’s Cady.” “Cady, my apologies. I don’t do well with these modern names. Back in my day you were named Lisa or Keith. That was it. Now I have a nephew named Drogon. Why? Maybe introduce yourself.” “Hi, I’m Cady Heron.” “No one cares!” “Take your top off!” (changed from: “We have a new student joining us her name is Caddy Heron.” “Cady.” “She just moves here from Kansas.” “Kenya.” “Everybody welcome Caddy.”)

⁃ “In the spring we do condoms and choking.” (changed from: “condoms and nutrition.”)

⁃ [“And you need to lick your wounds in the ladies bathroom stall.”] “Ew! What? [Weirdo.]” (changed from: “Tomorrow I’ll find friends who hear the call, the same call, the need to belong that roars-“ “Weirdo.” “-within us all.”)

⁃ “[There’s girls that eat their feelings and girls that don’t eat.] They’re not a Lifetime movie but they might be. [Debate team and dance team, they like to compete.] But neither team would take me, so they can bite me.” (changed from: “I like eating birthday cake around them, makes ‘em crazy”/“And if they don’t win their parents ground them.”)

⁃ “[I also DJ and I designed that font so] PEACE!” (changed from: “Byeeeee!”)

⁃ Mrs. George’s dog is now a giant cocktail with little umbrellas in it

⁃ “2,300 followers, likes for likes! #bellytea #ad.” “Mom, you can’t say #ad if no one is paying you.” (changed from: “2,300 followers, follow back, likes for likes! Oh I like you too.”)

⁃ “[Cady looked cute.] Those other three were like my SAT words: hard, boring, and I already forgot them.” (changed from: “Those other three were busted.”)

⁃ “[Her instagram is just pictures of lions and no selfies.] She is goals.” (changed from: “Badass!”)

⁃ “No sit down, I’m amazing!” (changed from: “No sit, boy, sit!”)

ADDED:

⁃ “This is why I have to be high every day.”

⁃ “Big mistake dance team!”

⁃ weird little ditty of music after the applause following “My name is Karen so may not be smart. That’s it.”

⁃ “Oh Regie, I’m gonna need your tech help, honey. I think I accidentally Marco Polo-ed your dad’s boss from the toilet again.” “Out!” “Okay okay well you girls have so much fun. Enjoy your tiny butts ‘cause it’s all gonna go.”

⁃ “Be nice to her. [She’s really grouchy ‘cause Aaron broke up with her.]”

⁃ “Sorry Regina. [Rules are rules.]”

CUT:

⁃ “Move. My boyfriend sits there.”

⁃ “No fair she’s leaving.”

⁃ “[So] keep an open mind and a closed mouth and [let’s get out there and pick your new life.]”

⁃ “On Wednesdays we wear pink. [On Wednesdays we wear pink.]”

⁃ “What size are you?” “Six.” “Really?”

⁃ [“Did you get that text I sent you?”] “No I’ll read it right now. Wow. It’s long.”

⁃ “Also she hasn’t had any protein in like six weeks so her blood sugar is like-“

⁃ “Did you change your hair?” “Yes.” “I like it.”

⁃ “[That is not gonna happen to me.] Ooh, gotta go! Mwah!” “Did she just leave while I was actively caring about her? Cady Marie Heron get back here!” “Damian Hubbard [I am not making bad choices!]”

⁃ “Hey! Hey! Congrats on being nominated for Spring Fling King!” “Thanks. It’s pretty stupid.” *Aaron lifting his shirt up to wipe his sweat and Cady swooning* “Totally.”

⁃ “Meanwhile men are running around grabbing butts and shooting everybody. Not all men, sorry Rick.” “No, I get it. I got shot in the butt at Joliet.”

⁃ “[It is not my fault she got hit by a bus.] She got hit by a bus...”

⁃ “[And how when Coach Carr tells me he has an open marriage that his wife probably doesn’t know that they do.] And I should probably leave the parking lot immediately. Which I do.”

TOUR CHANGES *NOT* ON BROADWAY (YET):

⁃ Wildlife additions to It Roars

⁃ Cady Thinks being cut

⁃ “That’s my land line so my mom might answer.”

⁃ “I’m gonna buy you those suede heels ‘cause you need more.” “More what?” “More shoes, more style, more height, more butt lift. Trust me, more is better.”

⁃ alternate Fearless

⁃ dancers’ formation during Stop

⁃ Cady leaving Stop early

⁃ “She left, just like my dad!”

⁃ Fearless (Reprise) changed

⁃ Janis and Damian Spring Fling #complicit scene being cut

⁃ Janis and Damian on stage at Spring Fling

⁃ alternate I See Stars

[blackaquokat]

I SAW THE LIGHTNING THIEF MUSICAL ON SUNDAY

Okay, so first off, the stuff that stood out to me, and then after the highlights, THE STORY OF A LIFETIME INVOLVING A CAST MEMBER THAT HAPPENED BEFORE THE SHOW EVEN STARTED 

This is going to be very long, strap in.

***Spoilers Under the Cut***

--Chris McCarrell, indeed, slides out to the edge of the stage and sits like, “Paint me like one of your French Girls, audience” for a full moment before singing.

--For a cast of SEVEN people, all of their voices fill that stage SO WELL.

--I’d only ever heard the soundtrack, but in the show (this time, anyway) Percy says he stopped Nancy Bobofit from “setting the first graders on fire” instead of preventing wedgies and it was just as if not more hilarious because his delivery was just totally stiff terror in the face of Mrs. Dodds.

--HE ACTED SO DEVASTATED WHEN HE THOUGHT MR BRUNNER THOUGHT HE WAS TROUBLE AFTER HE GOT EXPELLED, LIKE, HE LOOKED LIKE HE WAS ABOUT TO CRY, HIS VOICE SHOOK, MY BOOOOOII

--When Smelly Gabe appears, Percy not only covers his face with his shirt but also SPRAYS ACTUAL AIR FRESHENER behind the bastard’s back, I was on the FLOOR

--Chris mimics the body language of an awkward twelve year old so well. Fiddling with his jacket, looking down, awkward motions with his hands, he nailed it.

--SALLY IS STILL THE BEST MOM EVER AND THE MUSICAL CAPTURES HER STRENGTH AND LOVE AND AGENCY SO WELL, SHE TOTALLY GETS GABE TO BACK OFF OF PERCY AND IT’S GLORIOUS

--”Percy was attacked by a fury!” “What? Grover, YOU’RE THE FURRY!”

--Just before his mom is “crushed” by the Minotaur, Percy said, “Mom?” shakily and I was freaking SHOOK, MY FEELINGS

--During the first Dream Sequence, Poseidon comes down with the GOOFIEST grin and hands off the seashell. There’s this long, hilarious silence before he says. “It’s a seashell.” The audience couldn’t stop laughing up until Percy said, several beats later, “Like I said. Weird.”

--MR. D SHARPENING A PENCIL IN KATIE GARDNER’S FACE AFTER HER RANT ABOUT TREE RIGHTS

--During the entirety of Another Terrible Day, Percy is just standing in the back, slack-jawed, in a “What the Hell have I walked into” look

--Chiron does this hilarious dancy step with his feet to mimic the clip-clopping of horse steps and every time it got a laugh. 

--In the books, Luke is described as the Hot Boy of the Camp, that half the demigods are in love with him, and honestly, it’s one of the reasons I think James Hayden Rodriguez is perfect because you take one look at him and you’re like, “Yeah, I can see everyone falling in love with this guy in no time flat,” because aside from being REALLY attractive (like, damn boi, you’ve got amazing arms and face and just a LOT going for you) he’s so damn sweet and you want to trust and I DON’T THINK I EVER WANTED CANON TO CHANGE SO BADLY FOR HIM UNTIL THE MUSICAL CAME OUT

--Okay, so seeing Luke portrayed in this show made me care SO MUCH MORE about him than I did reading the books, which is a very strange feeling for me, ngl. His adorable interactions with Percy and Annabeth made me SO EMOTIONAL I MEAN

--Like, when Annabeth acts all suspicious about Percy, Luke is there to validate her skills and tease her and she teases him right back, like, you can definitely see she “likes” him and it could be interpreted that he feels something for her too, and he had such chemistry with Percy too, was endlessly supportive up until, you know, the end (I...may or may not be on board with this Tragic OT3, FRICK)

--OH ON THAT NOTE, when Grover finds Percy after the Minotaur, he’s all, “I’m sorry, Percy, I’m the worst Satyr Guardian ever” and Percy just HUGS HIM, “GROVER, I’m SO GLAD YOU’RE HERE” LIKE MY TWO BOIS I MISSED THEM

--”Grover, are you ever going to wear pants again?” followed by a gleeful “NOPE!!”

--Clarisse’s first two entrances involved this loud fighting yell before her song started

--Percy’s first time with his sword in Camp and he freaking made lightsaber noises when he swung, I read about it but I was NOT PREPARED, it was the cutest damn thing

--I was equally unprepared when Annabeth walked up behind him and when he turned and saw her and yelled out, “MY DREAM GIRL!!” Long beat of silence while the audience laughs their asses off, and he follows it up with, “I mean...you were the girl...in my dream...earlier...”

--When Percy says, “I love girls,” when Annabeth calls him out on assuming her dad was where she got her Godly heritage, Luke gives him the BIGGEST side-eye, it was adorable and Percy did his best to recover, but alas, he is but an awkward noodle.

--”Luke, Hermes kids are fast--” “Actually, that’s a stereotype--” I MEAN

--Percy sitting on the toilet and rolling it across the stage with his feet after the fight sequence, my God, what a visual.

--CHAPTER TITLE DROP, LUKE CALLS PERCY THE SUPREME LORD OF THE BATHROOM

--The Campfire Song was just amazing, everyone’s familiar body language with each other, Luke and Annabeth, Luke and Percy, Grover’s adorable little dance during his bit, everyone comforting him when he starts crying, everyone agreeing that “Chiron wins” in the shitty dad department, everyone’s sympathetic horror with every bad story they all tell,

--after Silena’s bit about how her mom “steals her mascara and all of her dates” she says to Katie, “She’s why I cry,” my sister and I can’t stop talking about how much we related to that moment (not about our mom, but more about our other relatives)

--When Percy is claimed, you can see the horror on everyone’s faces, but he doesn’t, and he’s like, “I’m...the son of the Sea God. That is so COOOOOL!!!” Then he realizes he just squealed like an anime girl and tries to recover by posing and saying to Luke next to him, “Hey,” in a very Miles Morales-from-Spiderverse kind of voice. 

--The dread on Luke’s face whenever he interacts with Percy from here on out, by the way, hurts me so much. You can tell every time he talks with Percy that he really doesn’t want to manipulate him, doesn’t want to do this, but he does, and even before the reveal, you can see how unsure and guilty he feels, even if Percy is totally clueless, like even when Percy agrees to go to the Underworld you see he’s THIS CLOSE to maybe trying to talk Percy out of it again and when Grover hops in to join the quest, there’s another layer of Luke going, “Oh no, not Grover too, shit, no!” and I SWEAR, JAMES HAYDEN RODRIGUEZ, IF THIS TURNS INTO A SHOW, YOU’RE THE ONLY LUKE I WANT

-- Mr. D: “WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT SOME TIN FOIL PROP THAT YOU’D FIND IN A BROADWAY MUSICAL”

--Percy yells for Mr. D to eat his pants in Latin. It’s amazing.

--Chiron: ”You must talk to” *everyone looks at the ceiling* “Our mummy.” Percy: “...when you say ‘mummy,’ you mean old-person slang for Mom, right?”

--Percy, in the most ‘I am so done’ voice ever: ”You’re expelling me? Again?!”

--This is turning into an appreciation post for Rodriguez, but for real, after Good Kid (which gave me ALL THE FEELS just like when I first heard it on the soundtrack), Luke goes to him with this nervous but genuine grin and laugh, like, “Hey, so when you’re the son of the Sea God, and you want to be left alone, maybe don’t go to the lake? It’s the first place anyone will look.” And they have this real sweet moment where Percy confides in Luke, and Luke validates his anger with the gods and says, “I’m not saying you owe them anything BUT” and if you’ve read the books or already listened to the show, you KNOW how this turns out but you see how SINCERE Luke is about Percy’s pain and his own pain and how much he obviously is already regretting that he has to manipulate Percy into going to the Underworld and DAMN IT CANON

-- Clarisse: ”Don’t get eaten by monsters!” Chiron: *claps hand over Clarisse’s mouth* “Have a great quest!”

--The immediate Squad Energy that Percy, Annabeth, and Grover embody right before the act break, what LEGENDS

--Act II opens up in the middle of Mrs. Dodds attacking the bus. Percy: “I LIKED YOU BETTER AS A MATH TEACHTER!!”

--Mrs. Dodds: ”PREPARE FOR ETERNAL SUFFERING!!” Percy: “I’M SUFFERING NOW!!”

--Cheerful Stoner Stranger from the bus just before the bus explodes into confetti: “Not my weirdest experience on a Greyhound!”

--I knew the show was low-budget going in, but I at least thought the squirrel would be a puppet not a freaking figurine that Sarah Beth Pfeifer sat next to in plain sight to voice, I was dying

--On that note, Annabeth visibly holds back laughter at Percy’s “that’s kinda nuts” joke, these idiot CUTIES

--Grover is the only one who catches onto Medusa, who is played by Chiron’s actor in DRAG, but not even in a funny way, it’s played straight (not that Medusa wasn’t hilarious, but that fact that it was a drag role wasn’t mocked at all)

--Annabeth starting to explain why Medusa hates her and muffling her words by drinking her bottle while Percy and Grover are NOT impressed

--Annabeth teaching Percy how to hold a sword better because this adorable dumbass just twirled the damn thing into his shoulder because he forgot it was sharp

--MY GRAND PLAN, MY GOD and intersecting it with Annabeth saying, “When boys screw up, Percy, they get a second chance” Like, this show pulled no punches, and then afterwards when he’s sending Medusa’s head to Olympus and signs Annabeth’s name next to his and she’s like, “WAIT NO STOP” and the “Impertinent” interaction that not only is in the books but also comes back at the end of the show HELL YEAH

--DRIVE. WAS AMAZING. It was my mom’s favorite on the soundtrack and it still is (although now Bring on the Monsters competes as her favorite)

--YOU CAN HEAR LUKE AGAIN WITH HIS HESITATION ABOUT SACRIFICING PERCY DURING THE STRANGEST DREAM REPRISE

--Grover: “Percy, you almost woke everyone up. Well, not Annabeth.” Annabeth, in her sleep: “Mom...you remembered my birthday...”  WILL THESE DEADBEAT GODS VISIT THEIR KIDS, I SWEAR---

--OKAY SO TREE ON THE HILL, LEMME TELL YOU

--On the second level, you see Annabeth, Luke, and Thalia re-enacting the scene while Grover narrates at the bottom and not only does Jorrel Javier look SERIOUSLY emotional and on the verge of tears for the whole thing, but at the top when Thalia is re-enacting her death, LUKE GOES TO REACH FOR THALIA TO SAVE HER AND ANNABETH PULLS HIM BACK AND THEN THEY JUST HUG EACH OTHER SO TIGHTLY BECAUSE THEY DON’T WANT TO WATCH THALIA DIE AND THEN THEY STAND BEHIND THALIA AND REACH OUT THEIR ARMS TO SYMBOLIZE HER TURNING INTO THE TREE AND YA’LL I SHIT YOU NOT I ALMOST BURST INTO REALLY LOUD SOBBING I WAS NOT OKAY

--They did the Bathtub Story from the book. Every second that passed I was more in love with the show.

--Charon: ”Ya’ll wanna hear my song?” *choruses of refusals* “SORRY I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THIS SWEET ASS RIFF!!”

--DOA is just as much of a bop in person as it is on the soundtrack.

--OKAY SO, Percy is almost yanked into Tartarus with his winged shoes and the mood is like, SUPER SERIOUS, as they all realize he almost fell into the pit and when Annabeth says, “I think that’s Tartarus,” Percy says, in this confused but still scared and serious soft voice, “You mean like the fish sauce?” and just. Annabeth and Grover both. Annabeth looks at him like, “THIS is the idiot I’m going to fall in love with over the next four books,” while Grover just Facepalms so much he shoves his glasses up his forehead and shakes his head, another RELATABLE MOMENT that my sister and I won’t shut up about

--Hades. I just...there’s nothing else I can say, but Ryan Knowles, Sarah Beth Pfeifer, Jorrel Javier, Jalynn Steele, and James Hayden Rodriguez deserve about fifty Tonys for all the roles they do in this show, for real

--SON OF POSEIDON, WHAT A HYPE SONG, AND ALL THE TOILET PAPER DURING THE LAST NOTE IT WAS GLORIOUS IT COVERED HALF THE FLOOR AUDIENCE

--My Poseidon and Sally feels have returned with a vengeance. That Miles Morales moment with Percy that I mentioned earlier? Poseidon does the same thing when he sees Sally, and the two of them are just Vibing it up while Percy is between them like, “THIS IS SO WEIRD”

--As Poseidon leaves, he turns away from Sally and makes this fist bump gesture like, “Hell yeah, best time of my life was this woman right here”

--Percy, after Poseidon exits: “So that’s my dad?” Sally, in a very horny tone: “THAT’S your dad.” Like, GET IT, Sally

--Sally: “Oh, what is this package, Percy?” Percy, with a shit-eating grin: “Oh, it’s a...DIY Statue Kit” *Sally goes to open it* “WAIT NO DON’T IT’S MEDUSA’S HEAD!!” and the Grossed Out Look on her face as she exits the stage. Priceless.

--Luke is Very Obviously avoiding Percy when they return to camp. More on this later because My. Feels.

--Annabeth: “Hey Clarisse! We met your dad! He’s not as tough as you are!” Clarisse: “Hey, get back here! You saw my dad!” *slightly vulnerable voice* “Did he ask about me?”  YOU DUMBASS GODS, TALK TO YOUR DAMN KIDS WILL YOU???

--Annabeth and Percy grinning like idiots over Sally’s Medusified statue of Gabe, what cuties, I love that their romance wasn’t forced in the show, it was handled so gracefully because they are Twelve and in the Very Early Stages of their Undying Love for each other (and Luke, I promise you guys, all three of these idiots are in love with each other and it hurts me so much)

--OKAY SO PERCY RUNS UP TO LUKE CLEARLY EXPECTING TO BE COMFORTED AND TO SLIP INTO THEIR SWEET AND SUPPORTIVE DYNAMIC BUT THEN PLOT AND PAIN AND LAST DAY OF SUMMER HIT ME THE HARDEST ON THE SOUNDTRACK BESIDES TREE ON THE HILL AND IT DIDN’T DISAPPOINT

--And the hardest part? The way Rodriguez plays Luke, you really CAN’T be angry with him. I mean, there’s no justifying his actions because it’s freaking KRONOS, but given that we’ve been given the time to see what a great guy he was, how much he cared about the campers, how many he must have seen never come back from quests the Gods gave them, who feel abandoned by their parents, Luke’s own quest, how he watched Thalia die with little to no intervention from the Gods, how he must hate to see Annabeth killing herself to prove her worth to the Gods for a quest that could get her killed, and then Percy coming in after losing his mom and sympathizing with his justifiable bitterness towards the Gods, the show doesn’t shy away from the fact that the Gods are effed up and you just can’t blame Luke at ALL for how he feels about the Gods, but it makes everything hurt all the more.

--The Most Millenial/Gen Z ending ever, “We didn’t ask for this, we shouldn’t be the ones fighting this war, but if we don’t, we all die, so fine, we don’t want to do this, but no one else will, so here we are, ready to fight” and then Bring on the Monsters which is one of the best closing numbers to a show ever, I swear.

--All in all, the critics can suck it, this show has more heart and love and hilarity and depth than half the stuff on Broadway and the fact that it’s going to have such a short run is a Crime.

--I sincerely hope they can do another one, if at all possible. I would go watch it too if it’s made by the same creative team and the same actors (maybe even more actors).

OKAY NOW FOR MY STORY!!!!!!

So I had paid leave to use up, hence our trip to NYC last weekend, and we stayed in a hotel really close to the theatre. My sister and I, having been fans of the books for half our lives, were wearing Camp Half-Blood t-shirts. Anyway, we were so excited that we got there an hour and ten minutes early, and they weren’t letting anyone in for another half hour, so we decided to take a few pictures and go get a snack.

While we’re taking pictures, suddenly behind us my sister and I hear “TAKE ANOTHER ONE!!” so I turn around thinking What the hell and then have the biggest Brain Glitch of my life because it’s CHRIS FREAKING MCCARRELL WITH A COFFEE/SMOOTHIE THING AND A MUFFIN STANDING BEHIND US AS IF HE WAS JUST LA-DEE-DA-ING ALONG TO THE THEATRE AND DECIDED HE WANTED TO GIVE AN INNOCENT FAN A HEART ATTACK, because he could have just gone in and we wouldn’t have even noticed but NOPE HE CAME RIGHT UP TO US, AND I’M STILL IN SHOCK, NGL.

My gut reaction was to hug him and then I apologized because I hadn’t asked his permission and didn’t want to be That Person who didn’t respect boundaries (I am a very tactile, hugging kind of person and have to remind myself that not everyone is the same way, especially with performers) and he said I was fine and not to worry. My sister and I got a few pictures together with him and he asked if we were seeing the show that night, and we were, and he looked so pumped, and I got to tell him that I read Percy Jackson before Harry Potter and that it was my favorite book series and when he asked if I had listened to the soundtrack, My mom said yes, multiple times, but fondly, and he looked so excited that we were so excited to go that night.

So yeah. That happened.

And then after the show, we managed to catch Kristen Stokes on her way out, but we waited until she got to talk with and sign playbills for kids (there were so many kids in the theatre, it was adorable, even if the ones behind us kept crinkling their snack wrappers consistently during THE WHOLE SHOW which got annoying, ngl). My sister and I took a few with her and I got to tell her, also, that this was my favorite book series growing up and that she played Annabeth, a big role model for me, absolutely perfectly and she looked so touched. 

(Also, she was much shorter than me. I forget that even if I’m one of the shorter members of my family, I’m still pretty tall by usual standards.)

Anyway, WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE, PJO FANS, AM I RIGHT????

...I wanna see the show again, but idk what the chances of that happening are. If you haven’t seen it and have the ability to, I must encourage you to GO. PLEASE. GO SEE IT.

[aq2003]

FULL ENDGAME REVIEW

6.5/10 was ok but could’ve been a lot better in my opinion and by a lot better i mean

tony should’ve lived

-the russos are war criminals for what they did to tony alone. he had a family to go back to, JUST like clint. but i guess self sacrifice is cool, right?

-ever since iron man 3, tony’s story has essentially a dark twist to the “great power great responsibility” trope: the hero internalizes the motivating phrase (“don’t waste your life”), and let it interfere with their ability to take care of themself/open up to others. it started strong in iron man 3, got undermined in aou, got slightly more prevalent in the context of civil war, FINALLY got foreshadowed in infinity war. his arc was ultimately about letting other people HELP him with the responsibility he feels like he needs to carry 

-until endgame threw it under the bus again. in an objectively cool way, yeah, but it still got thrown under the bus and i’m mad

-so now tony stark’s story is ultimately a tragedy. and i fucking hate it, man. he had happiness (but not really, because peter’s not there) for 5 years and that got snatched away from him too! he underwent so much trauma since his goddamn origin story and he had a few moments of peace, sure, but he died before he could fully reunite with his loved ones. and it SUCKS. 

-god this is . this is like. if obi-wan kenobi went through All That but got really close to luke before he died and also never got any closure with anakin as a force ghost

-the russos have said, like outright, that thanos was a symbol of what tony’s been fearing of since 2012, the being that symbolized the root of his anxiety and ptsd. so what does tony do to defeat it? uhhh idk he dies i guess. but it’s okay! he can finally rest now!

-really great message there for the kids, right? 

-also there was a whole sequence about him talking to his dad about not abandoning his kid and being there for her. but now he CAN’T be there for morgan because tony stark is fucking gone and dead and i can’t fucking handle this he deserves so much better

-also also not to be a DudeBroGeek™ but he totally got nerfed during his fight scenes

thor shouldn’t have been played off as a joke

-my whole theater laughed at him being . fat. and i was SUPER SUPER SUPER uncomfy the entire time

-he has a PANIC ATTACK and people LAUGHED i mean way to treat more of your mentally ill characters like shit, russos! sure! just devaluate thor’s suffering by saying “oh he’s fat so it’s funny now! hehe!” FUCK you

-i mean, yikes, i can’t believe we went from iron man 3 (where mental illness is one of the major problems the protagonist clearly struggles with, where tony’s panic attacks are disturbingly real and in no way funny) to THIS SHIT

-don’t even get me STARTED on his arc. like from thor 1 to dark world it’s about putting aside his arrogance for the good of his people. for ragnarok it’s finally stepping up and finding his powers while taking up the responsibility as king. in infinity war i was able to turn a blind eye to it, but it’s so prevalent in endgame how little the russos care about thor’s journey in his movies

-in the end he passes off the responsibility he took up in ragnarok to val and just straight up fucked off to space. like what the hell, man?

-ALSO . loki said the sun would shine on them again but the sun DIDN’T fucking shine on them and i feel robbed. i feel like the russos broke into my home and stole something important.

-the brodinsons deserve better.

-how can taika even be there, like physically. i mean. the thor from his movie got entirely retconned

-also not to be a DudeBroGeek™ again but. but like tony he was so 100% nerfed especially during the fight against thanos HOW did thanos even touch stormbreaker aka the weapon made to kill him like what

-i hate to put this all on james gunn but he’s GOTTA fix the crimes committed in endgame against the guardians and thor

steve’s entire character arc shouldn’t have been undermined

-one of his defining character traits is that he won’t stand by and let bad things happen when he can prevent it

-if you could describe steve rogers THAT’S what you would say about him. 

-it’s like tony being smart. or thor being powerful. steve is just Like That

-so why did he go back in time when two full movies were dedicated to him adapting to the future

-idk it doesn’t really make sense to me

-i don’t actually have much to say about steve, i’m not as attached to his character as tony and thor but it still rubs me the wrong way. maybe it makes more sense to steve stans but from what i’ve seen they’re PISSED even though out of the trio he got the most time to shine in battle lmao

also

-the time travel fuckery was. hmmm

-nat wasn’t there for the admittedly cheesy but still sort of nice girl-power shot

-wong did nothing until the final battle. like him surviving the snap did nothing to impact the story

-why was okoye even on the poster? she should’ve gotten a bigger role imo

-WHAT was dr strange even doing holding back the water

-my brother (who watched the movie with me) thought that the lgbt rep in the movie was “america’s ass” rather than the gay russo in steve’s support group, which just goes to show that the lgbt rep is SO small and the media should really stop hyping it up. not really salt towards the movie itself but it’s still salt

-fortnite

general saltiness out of the way, i’m going to list what i did like about the movie

-those posts going around about how knowing the spoilers take away from the movie are actually really, really wrong. i went in knowing more than half the plot including who lives and dies and i still found it entertaining, to say the least. the movie had a lot of effort put into making it and it really shows. if you ignore the parts you don’t like, you can actually kick back and have a relatively good time

-also the action was really, really good. throughout the entire movie. it’s an avengers film, so the action has to be good, but the fights were still super awesome and a lot were actually a cut above the rest of the mcu (especially the melee fights)

-the final battle was amazing. up until the end, i was on the edge of my seat, because even though it’s another “big final battle against an army of cgi monsters” i actually really really liked it. pretty much everything was perfect about it, and it was so fun to watch the theater go ham whenever a hero did something badass.

-the score. god, the score. alan silvestri did so good with calling back motifs from other solo mcu movies (something marvel should’ve been doing the entire time). ant man’s theme after scott pops out of the quantum realm, captain america’s march when tony hands the shield back to steve, the reprise of “even for you” from infinity war during clint and nat’s mission to vormir, captain marvel’s theme when she blows up thanos’ ship? beautiful

-the actors did a superb job with everything they were given (which probably wasn’t that much). since the russos were paranoid about spoilers apparently no one knew who they were talking to which sucked? because the marvel cast is pretty good at improv lines. but the actors still did a REALLY good job despite this (and really do carry the movie). i felt in my BONES tony’s frustration and anger at steve during the wheelchair scene, thor’s pain and self-loathing when he reunited with frigga, and peter’s DESPAIR when he watched tony die (i will never be okay ever)

-the callbacks to previous mcu movies were fanservice, yeah, but it was the GOOD kind of fanservice in that it was really really cool and served the fans. it’s a great way for the last movie in the infinity saga to end, by revisiting some of the iconic places it touched on before

-tony and nebula! they were only together for the first scene of the movie but the scene with paper football was really soft and nice 

-the civil war conflict was glossed over save for that one scene of tony going the fuck off on steve and i couldn’t be more grateful

-MORGAN STARK. god if i had the capacity to cry i’d be sobbing through writing this entire post. morgan and her soft dad made my heart MELT into pieces i love them 3000

-they still deserved better though

-scott. like in general. he was one of the highlights of the movie. his reunion with cassie was :’)

-carol’s haircut

-by the way a lot of people complained about her makeup in her first scene with the avengers shown in the trailers but it literally wasn’t a problem for any other carol scene in the movie (because that was the only scene in the entire runtime where she was wearing noticeable lipstick/eyeshadow or whatever)

-professor hulk. i actually didn’t expect to like him, but he made a lot of actually funny jokes and i liked his personality contrast with 2012 hulk. also he made scott tacos! he’s really wholesome and i’m willing to ignore the part where he dabbed

-the mark 85 is one of my favorite iron man suits now, even though it didn’t get a lot of screentime

-speaking of which it’s REALLY great how most of the time when tony saves the day it’s because of his smarts. it brings back the main theme of the character: tony stark, the human, plays ball with gods, aliens, and monsters just by being quick witted.

-the entire sequence of tony, steve, and scott getting the scepter and the tesseract was PURE gold. (it’s my favorite part of the movie honestly)

-tony: ok scott to create a distraction i need you to put my past self into cardiac arrest. \ scott: uhh. uhh ok dude?? \ tony: my self loathing is this strong

-rhodey and nebula! they were an awesome teamup and i really really liked their friendship/dynamic

-PEPPER IN RESCUE ARMOR. WE DIDN’T GET ENOUGH OF THAT BUT IT WAS SO GOOD I LOVED IT HER ARMOR DESIGN WAS REAL GREAT

-tony reuniting with peter. i teared up. legit. i teared up.

-thanos: *headbutts carol* \ carol: *doesn’t even move an inch*

-wanda was so badass in her 10 second scene. i just thought it was really cool

-peter using instant kill mode

-tony using the gauntlet was badass. i hated it but it was SO amazing at the same time i wanted to cry and cheer at the same time so i ended up in a semi catatonic state for the rest of the day

-the little wreath with the first arc reactor, morgan craving cheeseburgers, tony’s last message.....;-;

-i love you 3000.....:((((((

-SAM GETTING TO BE CAP. (this was one of the best parts of the all-new all-different avengers comic) even though i still don’t like steve’s ending, i love that sam is going to take up the mantle (and i’m super excited to see the falcon winter soldier show now)

-the movie ended with the soundtrack of tony building the mark 1 solidifying that none of this would’ve happened without iron man. good thing endgame credits said that maybe tony stan lives do matter

-a rat is responsible for saving half the universe and i find that REALLY funny. my favorite theory is that the rat was loki the whole time and that doubles the hilarity

tldr: the movie had an ending that didn’t really fit the characters, but the rest of it was fun to watch: the action scenes were great, the interactions between the characters were mostly good, and it’s overall pretty entertaining as a film by itself. as a closing to the infinity saga it feels unsatisfying, but as a movie it’s enjoyable