#Bat Manuel

[chernobog13]

Nestor Carbonell as Bat Manuel on the original live action The Tick (2001) television series.

I always wondered if Christopher Nolan casting Carbonell as the mayor of Gotham City in The Dark Knight Trilogy was a sly nod to Bat Manuel.

[weirdlookindog]

Manuel Breá Rodriguez (1932-1985) - Original cover art for Pánico #34, 1973

source

[lin-archive]

[scurybooween]

Manuel Prieto Muriana

[worthless-weight-in-gold]

@detectivewoof​

Jim couldn’t actually prevent all inconvenient situations from happening forever. Hell, even if he did have the ability to, the amount of effort would be unreasonable. He liked sleeping in far too much to commit to that. Besides, the odd slip up from his coworkers kept things interesting -- nothing to solve if things always went right!

That, however, did not mean he was enthusiastic about the most recent fuck up. Failing to properly dispose of a dead boy, especially a human, was a different level. It was being looked at, properly, and by the types of eyes Jim’s gang was usually lucky to avoid real scrutiny from.

Whatever. It was fine. Jim could deal with it. He just needed to get ahead of it -- frankly, he was willing to let his gang all burn if he had to because he could always find another damn one. It’d just be annoying. He was probably getting scoped out, and either he was going to get arrested or having someone supernatural pull him aside. At least, if someone hadn’t looked incredibly hard for a long time, Jim didn’t look like he ran the gang. He looked like he was borderline one of their victims -- working for them, sure, but being sold for his supernatural beauty and allure, and the reason he didn’t run could be explained by Stockholm syndrome. Not a key target, at least, just someone who knew what was going on.

He found himself an appropriately isolated building, because the more people around the more cautious he had to be with his power. Couldn’t fully let loose, but he never really could, anyway. As expected, hoped, someone did show up. Tall someone. A nice benefit. Jim faked a little jump in surprise, a quick intake of breath, then someone schooling themselves to appear calm despite an undercurrent of anxiety. Eyes just a bit too wide to look comfortable. Fingers twitching like they were avoiding a nervous tick. He eyed the -- surprisingly angry -- man carefully, and waited for him to speak first.

[cypherdecypher]

Animal of the Day!

Madagascar Sucker-footed Bat (Myzopoda aurita)

(Photo by Manuel Ruedi)

Conservation Status- Least Concern

Habitat- Northern Madagascar

Size (Weight/Length)- 6 cm

Diet- Insects

Cool Facts- Named for the 'suction' cups on their wrists and ankles, the Madagascar sucker-footed bat does not actually use suction to cling to shear surfaces. Instead, they produce a bodily fluid that allows for adhesion. The bats can easily unstick themselves as they climb around or launch into flight. This form of adhesion results in the Madagascar sucker-footed bat being one of the only bats to sleep right-side up. Their massive ears are used for echolocation. During dusk, the bats go off to hunt in the thousands. Their echolocation allows them to catch beetles and moths while in mid flight.

Rating- 11/10 (I like to think they make a popping noise while crawling around.)

[jgroffdaily]

The episode was recorded on 24 September, before the death of Gavin Creel. The hosts are Andrew Chappelle, who worked with Jonathan on Hamilton, and Cody Rigsby. Highlights:

Jonathan talks about Cody Smith, his first boyfriend, and says they are still close. They met during 'Bat Boy' and Cody is six years older. "And I love him."

Jonathan talked about his plans to transform '& Sons Steakeasy' (currently a restaurant) back into the gay bar where Barbra Streisand first sang (previously discussed in an interview). He would change the name of the restaurant to 'The Lion' (its original name) and make the upstairs a gay bar and call it BARbra. He has never met Barbra.

Cody talks about meeting Ru Paul that day. Jonathan says he would love to be on Drag Race. He also said he was with Cody (a Peloton instructor) 'on' the bike, crying, during Covid "you are a light".

Jonathan went on a silent meditation retreat after 'Merrily We Roll Along' closed. He has now done three Vipassana meditation reteats in Quebec, Lava Hot Springs Idaho and Massachusetts and gave up his phone for the duration. "With your breath, your demons, a lot of things and yourself... giving shared bathrooms and roommates... The presence you get from being silent, and just with your breath all day is kind of incredible." Jonathan agreed that it was one of the hardest things he had ever done.

Jonathan says he still deletes text messages after replying to them. He says it started from a break-up when he was 24 or 25 [likely Gavin Creel] "and I kept Googling this person, I kept re-reading our texts over and over and over again and I was like, 'Groff, you've got to let go of re-reading everything over and over again. The good, the bad and the everything in between. I need to delete this chain. Let it go.' And then I thought, why am I holding on to any conversation?" He says he's slow at getting back to people, but usually responds (but can respond to a joke a month later).

Andrew says he is the most un-Hollywood person, and Jonathan had warned him about moving to LA. "The alone time is very quiet there, or was for me at least. The tumbleweeds." Andrew said he wanted Jonathan for the podcast and said he would reach out to his publicist, but was concerned when Jonathan said he could just text him, as he may not respond quickly (but he did respond).

Talking about the Bobby Darin project 'Just in Time', Jonathan said: "I'm so excited... It's something I've been working on for about seven years... This guy is fire. He talked about his relationship to the audience. For example he would wear a condom on stage in case he ejaculated. [A video clip of this part has been released.] He was a primal, primal, profound, epic, epic live performer. Sammy Davis Jr said the only person he wouldn't follow was Bobby Darin... The magic of him, and of his essence, was his live interaction with the audience." He brought Alex Timbers on originally because of the 'environment' he creates.

He then describes the conceit of the show [around 23:45, will not be discussed/spoilered here]. But he talks about wanting to evoke Darin's primal energy as a love letter to entertainment and the relationship with the audience.

Jonathan talked about the opening night gift he gave the off-Broadway Hamilton cast and crew [apple cider donuts?] before he was officially announced as being part of the show, even to the cast. Lin-Manuel Miranda told him he had one song and it would be pretty easy, and he was given sheet music and the script but no further information or a video.

Jonathan says King George was the hardest thing he had done because you on stage so briefly, come out cold, sing through your range and then leave. Merrily was easier because he was on stage the whole time.

Andrew said Jonathan as the King made himself available to the cast in Hamilton, and not all people in the role could do that.

In tech for Broadway, Jonathan and Andrew would sit in the mezzanine, and one of Andrew's favourite memories involves sitting with Jonathan and watching Renee Elise Goldsberry in a dispute with the crew about her wig. Jonathan: "And these gays are dying for it. We are loving it so much." [Both cracking up with a lot of cackling.]

Andrew ditched college for three days to see Jonathan in 'Spring Awakening'. They discuss the false rumour about Lea Michele and Jonathan says Lea can read. Jonathan talks about how he was cast in Glee after Ryan Murphy said he would write a show for Jonathan and Lea, and Ryan wrote the role of Finn for him. Jonathan was asked to sign a seven year contract and declined, and Ryan then wrote the guest star role of Jesse St James for him.

They discuss Looking, Raul Castillo and Murray Bartlett. Asked if he hooked up on the show, Jonathan said there was some hooking up on the show but not with the core group. Andrew then discusses Jonathan's cameo in 'Blindspotting' with Emmy Raver, filmed in San Francisco.

Asked about the rumored kiss at Battle Hymn on Pride this year, Jonathan said he did attend and make out with someone. Jonathan said he has gone a couple of times to Battle Hymn by himself. He says he shot a movie in Berlin and learned from friends he had met there the joys of going out all night and dancing all night. So when he came back to New York he wanted to "scratch this itch of going out". The first time he was at Battle Hymn he was in line during Pride ("in my harness, in my shorts") and Oak Onaodowan called him. Asked if he cared about the kiss being made public at Battle Hymn, Jonathan said "It makes me laugh. I'm not bothered by it. It's OK." He said in his early days he would have been scared to even walk past a gay bar due to career ramifications and the thought of being considered gay.

Around 55 minutes Jonathan said he is very lucky to be an out actor at this time, and that he came out publicly because Spring Awakening had been everything he ever dreamed of and wanted, and then he fell in love due to Gavin Creel. He said he was such a fan of Gavin's, they started dating, and then he came out publicly at the march on Washington. He remembers thinking at the time he would rather be in love and be out publicly than have a career if he was giving up movies and television.

Asked if it was difficult to date an actor, Jonathan agreed that "it's been a thing" when work was the priority over a partner. Andrew said Jonathan has dated a lot of peers, and mentioned an ex of Jonathan's has a new series out. Jonathan: "ZQ [Zachary Quinto]? Love ZQ. We are still very close. Love me some ZQ."

Andrew said he still wants Zach and Jonathan to work out as he found them together visually pleasing, and Jonathan said "No, we're friends through and through at this point... It's lovely to... however much time you spend time together as partners, and then you separate, and then you maybe come back together as friends, and the sort of beauty of coming back together as friends, and being reminded of why there was that spark. Reminded why... that connectivity..."

They hosts then ask him to play Marry, F..., Kill with his characters and shows.

Jonathan says a lot of Looking was based on his experiences, for example the uncut d... discussion was based on his talk with the creators about being insecure, and the douching talk was based on his previous boyfriends.

Patrick, King George, Jesse St James: He says he would marry Patrick because he has shown growth, and personal growth is a huge thing in someone he would marry. He would f... the King because there would a lot of rage that would be interesting and a unique experience, and he would kill Jesse St James.

Hamilton, Merrily, Spring Awakening: He would kill Spring Awakening because it was so underage, f... Hamilton because “Hamilton is my sexuality because I was so attracted to every person in Hamilton" and would marry Merrily.

Glee, Looking, Mindhunter: Kill Mindhunter because there is so much depravity there, f... Glee and marry Looking.

Asked to pick between people, he starts with Lin, then Michelle Obama and finally Beyonce, including over Lea ("she would understand"). He saw the Beyonce movie twice and says "she is everything".

Asked for a scam, Jonathan said he doesn't think standing ovations are overdone ("Why not? What's life? Let's live. Let's celebrate.") He discussed drag queen story hour, the protests in Lancaster, the celebration in Lancaster the week before, and said he remains frustrated by drag queen story hour being considered wrong and how hate and discrimination has localised to story hour protests.

[mxmorbidmidnight]

Things I’ve done at school

Wrote a horror piece for a creative writing test and had to be pulled out by the school counsellor for a mental health check

Ran after kids making assorted animal noises when they pulled the legs off lizards.

During a test I cut up the working out paper to make a short book about poop. This happened often.

I had a hyperfixation on pigs so every time we got a creative writing assignment I wrote about pigs. The teacher banned me from writing about pigs so I wrote about boars instead.

Accidentally threw a metal baseball bat at my teacher and hit her in the shin

Sticky taped a piece of cheese to a tree to try catch a rat

Brought bugs the classrooms (numerous times for numerous reasons some purposeful others by accident )

Made rude finger out of blocks in year three. Teacher was not impressed.

Collected rubbish for my collection and kept it in the classroom (in my own space)

Stabbed myself with a led pencil

Taught conservative Christian kids how to swear

The skibidi toilet/brony/lin Manuel Miranda/roblox/peter griffin death pose/bakudeku Romeo and Juliet mpreg English projects.

[the-moon-and-stars-4ever]

the ✨marauders ask thingy✨ as everyone has been referring to it as (please (if u have time))

used to be the therapy friend but friend group expanded and instead am one of the ones relying on the therapy friend whilst feeling kinda bad cause they have so many people's problems plus their own bottled up inside them

is currently going through the "i was a gifted kid and everything in school came easy but now im drained and i dont understand anything but i dont want to ask for help cause that would make me weak and therefore unworthy"

huuuge on physical affection, have managed to expose my friend group enough that literally all of them will bat an eye if i randomly decide to latch on to one of them its so fun

dont have a favourite colour, used to be black cause it was a "mix of all the colours"

fav ice cream flavour is white chocolate or honeycomb (used to be a vanilla fan, and before that it was mint chocolate‼️‼️)

liked reading and still call it my hobby even though i barely read any more because i dont have time and its really sad

wide music taste, favourite genre falls somewhere between kpop, pop and musicals (specifically lin manuel miranda hes an icon)

want to work with animals at some point in my life, currently has 4 pets (border collie dog, two rabbits, snake)

is the type to scroll around on my phone when i know i should be asleep until my eyes are literally blurring then close my phone and conk out immediately (and then struggles to wake up in the morning)

cant think of anything else lol thank u~

james potterr <3

[sy-tech]

Alright, so as part of a private project to literally condense everything (Meaning lore and history) Castlevania related into notes for my own reference when writing fanfiction. (Or even just talking about the series because I feel like some of y'all will eviscerate me if all I knew was the Animated series...) I get to look through a lot of the old game manuels. Most the time any narrative that those old games had was in the manuel and not the game itself. (Kinda just how games back then worked because I know Fallout even did the same thing. Granted there still WAS a lotta lore in the game itself but there was a whole lot more in the manuals/books and such but I digress...)

Now most of these manual are just as I expected. Really fun and campy writing. More or less aiming to set up the reason why the game is happening however something about CV 3's manual- cracks. me. up.

Just in case the quality drops and you can't read it...

"The time is 100 years before Simon Belmont's birth. The moon burns red overhead and the black clouds loom large on the horizon. All is still and quiet. Only the call of a distant crow stirs the cold night air. Suddenly, thunder roars out of the Morbid Mountains and into the village of Warakiya. Like the yell of an angry giant, the terrible sound shakes homes and shops as if they were sapling branches. But no one blinks an eye. The village is dead calm. For all the people have fled after receiving warnings from the Great Beyond that Count Dracula has assemble a mighty army of evil, and they're poised to march up from the Valley of Graveyards to bury mankind in a Tomb of Terror. Unfortunately, there's no corner on Earth that won't be gobbled up by this bloodthirsty legion of Swamp Dragons, Slasher Skeletons and Forces of the Undead. The last line of defense is you, Trevor Belmont- the forefather of Simon Belmont and the origin of the Belmont Warlord Chromosomes. But your chances are slimmer than Jim. In fact, the only real edge you have over this fang sharpened freak is your power to transform into three different partner spirits: Grant DaNasty, the ferocious Ghost Pirate. Sypha, the Mystic Warlord. And Alucard, Dracula's forgotten son. Each of these spirits will confront you as you fight through 17 possible levels of never-ending fright, including the Haunted Ship of Fools, the Clock Tower of Untimely Death and Curse Castle. You must also possess the strength to wield the mighty Battle Axe and Mystic Whip, which were given to you by the Poltergeist King. So go forth young Trevor into the cold black night, where death lurks around every corner and evil lingers on every stone. And remember, if your courage and cunning are any less than magnificent or if you fail to choose the correct Paths of Fate, you'll be banished to the world of the undead, and zombies will rule until the end of time." - Pg. 4-5. "How to Play Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse"

Once again... if you can't read the text,

Trevor C. Belmont - "Trevor the infamous forefather of Simon Belmont- the mighty warrior who pulverized Dracula in Castlevania and again in Simon's Quest. Trevor has a number of oldie but goodie attack items that have been given to him by the Poltergeist King. These include the Mystic Whip, Battle Axe, Banshee Boomerang, Dagger and Sacred Water. Trevor is also the master of special items. Including a Pocket Watch, Invisibility Potion and the Rosary." - Pg. 8, "How to Play Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse"

Alucard - "As the son of Count Dracula, Alucard once tried to prevent Trevor from accomplishing his mission. However, he reached a point where he could no longer abide by his father's evilness, and is now looking for a partner to help him put an end to his father's wicked plans. A resident of underground tunnels, Alucard attacks with a Ball of Destruction, which he can also fire in three directions (if he captures a special power booster.) Alucard's primary strength, though, is his ability to turn himself into a bat. However, he cannot attack while he is airborne and will turn back into a human form if his wings are clipped by an evil enemy." - Pg. 8, "How to Play Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse"

Grant DaNasty - "Count Dracula used his sinister powers to turn this Pirate Captain into a ghost. And as one of Dracula's gruesome gang, he will attack you from the top of the Clock Tower of Untimely Death. However, if you can defeat this scoundrel, his spirit will join you. He's small, nimble and has a strong spring in his step, so he's able to jump up onto walls or ceilings and stick to them like glue. Grant's primary attack weapons are an axe and a dagger. Another of his weapons is his skill to scurry along hidden routes not accessible to Trevor. Unfortunately, both his body and ego bruise easily." - Pg. 9. "How to Play Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse"

Sypha Belnades - "Sypha, the Mystic Warlord of Warakiya, is also a vampire hunter who walks quickly and carries a big stick. Rumors of his death were spread throughout Eastern Europe, but in truth he was captured be "Cyclops", the one-eyed Ultimate Evil. Sypha uses his Warakiya Staff to attack. Other attack favorites of his include flames, frozen crystals and lighting bolts. With these, he can destroy evil enemies before they get close to him. However, his skin is very thin and blisters easily when blasted by grotesque enemy attacks. To score BIG, Sypha must attack before his enemies find him." - Pg. 9, "How to Play Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse"

This game did NOT take itself seriously in the manual. The text feels like someone had a list of keywords they had to hit for each character (They probably did) and the framing is so... campy. I ADORE it.

The look of the character too are just so... stereotypical too. For example, Alucard there? Like I knew that this was his original design but something about viewing an actual PDF of the manual with the corny description just made me smile. Smug bastard. Trevor and Simon basically have the same BarbianTM look. Grant was ripped from being a deckhand and Sypha is so covered it really managed to keep the fact she was a girl till the very end of the game when she lets her hair down. I both adore this and found a new gratitude for the later re-imaging of these characters.

Last little tid-bit is this incredibly classic monster art on page 20-21. They are so goofy! I'd see them in a Goosebumps book! I love it!

The link to the PDF used.

Also found this site that lets you play CV3 in a browser. Probably common knowledge for those of you that have been around for awhile but... I figure I should share it anyway. The only problem I had with it was the audio was a tad distorted.

I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

[youreonyourown-kid]

I saw Moana 2! Some thoughts

We’ve been so blessed with really cool and interesting animation lately I forgot how boring Disney character design is

Like no hate to the artists/animators; I know y’all put in the work I just wish you had more freedom

The water scenes were pretty though. I’m not even a huge fan of the original but I’m a sucker for ocean/water settings

The music was not as good as the first. I hate that Lin Manuel Miranda has been bullied by the internet so much. He makes such good/catchy music; it was such a big plus for the first movie. He can’t help who he is (annoying theater kid)

I heard it was supposed to be a Disney+ show but they reworked it to be a movie. I’ve seen some reviews slam that, but I don’t think that was much of an issue? Honestly I think having a kids movie be kinda episodic might help keep a kids attention.

It stinks that the most interesting new character (Matangi) with the best song (Get Lost) had such a small part. I feel like they knew they has someone good though cause they set her up to be in the next one

She just gave cool vibes and I love a bat sidekick

I also loved Loto

I can tell kids love this though. There was one part where Maui gets hurt pretty bad and a few rows ahead of me a little kid in the most worried little voice says “oh no what happened to Maui” and I swear that made me feel more than anything that happened on screen.

Overall pretty mid. I kinda wish I had decided to see wicked even though I saw it once already and have plans to see it again with friends on Sunday. But if you have very young kids they’ll probably have fun. At least it’s short.

[weirdlookindog]

Manuel Breá Rodriguez (1932-1985) - Original cover art for Pánico #14, 1972

source

[iicraft505]

Borneo Fruit Bat (Aethalops aequalis), Pteropodidae, Malaysia, by Manuel Ruedi

[kaitcreates]

The Shadohunter Chronicles Character Showdown

First Round, Second Round, Third Round, Fourth Round, Fifth Round, Semi-Finals, Finals

Rosemary Herondale vs Arthur Blackthorn, (Feb 23)

Celine Montclaire vs Diego Rocio-Rosales, (Feb 24)

Maureen Brown vs Anna Lightwood, (Feb 25)

Christopher Lightwood vs Ragnor Fell, (Feb 26)

Julian Blackthorn vs Livvy Blackthorn, (Feb 27)

Bridget Daly vs Jon Cartwright, (Feb 28)

Nate Grey vs Sona Carstairs, (Feb 29)

Gabriel Lightwood vs Madeleine Bellefleur, (Mar 1)

Paige Ashdown vs Rupert Blackthorn, (Mar 2)

Valentine Morgenstern vs Kraig, (Mar 3)

Andrew Blackthorn vs Irene, (Mar 4)

Axel Mortmain vs Thais Pedroso, (Mar 5)

Kit Herondale vs Ke Yi Tian, (Mar 6)

The Dark Sisters vs Filomina di Angelo, (Mar 7)

Lucie Herondale vs Simon Lovelace-Lewis, (Mar 8)

Shiyun Jung vs Cameron Ashdown, (Mar 9)

Elias Carstairs vs Tavvy Blackthorn, (Mar 10)

Luke Greymark vs Will Herondale, (Mar 11)

Ash Morgenstern vs Matthew Fairchild, (Mar 12)

Sophie Collins vs Jaime Rocio-Rosales, (Mar 13)

Catarina Loss vs Tessa Grey, (Mar 14)

Jessamine Lovelace vs Woolsey Scott, (Mar 15)

Diana Wrayburn vs Magnus Lightwood-Bane, (Mar 16)

James Herondale vs Jesse Blackthorn, (Mar 17)

Sebastian Morgesnstern vs Ty Blackthorn, (Mar 18)

Julie Beavul vs Tatiana Lightwood, (Mar 19)

Meliorn vs Helen Blackthorn, (Mar 20)

Alexander Lightwood vs Arawn, (Mar 21)

Jace Lightwood-Herondale vs Michael Wayland, (Mar 22)

Raphael Santiago vs Kieran Kingson, (Mar 23)

Marisol Garza vs Hypatia Vex, (Mar 24)

Dru Blackthorn vs Ari Bridgstock, (Mar 25)

Eugenia Lightwood vs Bat Velasquez, (Mar 26)

Eliza Rosewain vs Rafael Lightwood-Bane, (Mar 27)

Anush Joshi vs Seelie Queen, (Mar 28)

Church vs Cecily Herondale, (Mar 29)

Annabel Blackthorn vs Robert Lightwood, (Mar 30)

Beatriz Mendoza vs Malcolm Fade, (Mar 31)

Jocelyn Fairchild vs Max Lightwood-Bane, (Apr 1)

Imogen Whitlaw vs Jem Carstairs, (Apr 2)

Mother Hawthorn vs Chairman Meow, (Apr 3)

Manuel Casales-Villalobos vs Barbra Lightwood, (Apr 4)

Cordelia Carstairs vs Benedict Lightwood, (Apr 5)

Divya Joshi vs Lily Chen, (Apr 6)

Patrick Penhallow vs Alastair Carstairs, (Apr 7)

Isabelle Lightwood vs Mark Blackthorn, (Apr 8)

Amatis Greymark vs George Lovelace, (Apr 9)

Maryse Lightwood vs Elliott, (Apr 10)

Alexei de Quincey vs Elyas the Demon, (Apr 11)

Hodge Starkweather vs Henry Branwell, (Apr 12)

Camille Belcourt vs Auraline, (Apr 13)

Aline Penhallow vs Roland Loss, (Apr 14)

Johny Rook vs Stephen Herondale, (Apr 15)

Rayan Maduabuchi vs Alec Lightwood-Bane, (Apr 16)

Esme Hardcastle vs Jordan Kyle, (Apr 17)

Grace Blackthorn vs Evelyn Highsmith, (Apr 18)

Jia Penhallow vs Charles Fairchild, (Apr 19)

Horace Dearborn vs Max Lightwood, (Apr 20)

Emma Carstairs vs Mina Carstairs, (Apr 21)

Charlotte Fairchild vs Aloysius Starkweather, (Apr 22)

Janus Herondale vs Zachary Carstairs, (Apr 23)

Gwyn ap Nudd vs Clary Fairchild, (Apr 24)

Maia Roberts vs Gideon Lightwood, (Apr 25)

Thomas Lightwood vs Cristina Mendoza-Rosales, (Apr 26)

[magnorious]

Review: ‘We Take a Zebra to Vegas’, Percy Jackson Episode 6

***Spoilers Ahead for all books and show. TL;DR at the bottom***

After episode 5 I was starting to wonder if episode 3 was a fluke. Here we have the potential for the only non-book reference I wanted in the entire show: Would Nico cameo in the Lotus Casino?

Small, I know, but book fans were robbed of ever seeing him on screen once already when Titan’s Curse was never adapted and with his massive popularity, I was almost certain he’d be here. The closer we got to the Lotus Casino, however, the more I wanted to be wrong. Almost none of the characters look like they’re supposed to, many of them with inconsistent personalities to match. I went from hoping for a blink-and-you’ll miss it reference with a little scruffy 10-year-old that book fans would be able to tell is Nico by his appearance alone to hoping they’d not touch the matter with a 10-foot pole.

After the absurdly dramatic and angsty episode 5 that was supposed to be semi-dangerous and funny, there was a chance to have both the whimsy and wonder of the Lotus Casino, and the rather chilling escape. Before that, the conversation about conservation in the back of the zoo trafficking truck. There was a lot of opportunity for more quiet character moments as well as the adventure and absolutely no need for more nonsense filler.

Onto the episode and given that Hermes is in the thumbnail, are we all in agreement that he only exists here because he’s played by Lin Manuel Miranda? That’s the reason, right? He barely exists in the first book otherwise.

We start right off the bat with more interesting changes. Instead of IM-ing Luke in some random car wash, they do so in the zoo truck. The scene in the book was funnier, because it existed in the place that it did to be funny and the pay-to-pump water gave a clear time limit. But more importantly – they decided to scapegoat Clarisse… for reasons.

Why? Just why? In the book they spend 99% of their quest accusing the wrong person, Hades, and don’t realize they’re wrong until it’s too late. Everyone in the book was like “it’s Hades, it’s gotta be, his kids were Nazis” (a detail I still can’t believe exists, wow). Chiron said it was Hades, everyone said it was Hades, based on ancient biases that Hades spends the entire series proving wrong. He is the best godly parent by a country mile by the end of Book 5 and all of that groundwork started here, when Hades was just as much a victim of the Master Bolt nonsense as everyone else.

Clarisse is neither here nor there, because the writers didn’t have the foresight to script or film any scenes at camp of this random arrest that’s supposed to be important now. The jump cut from ‘the animals have a plan’ to them stopping traffic on the Vegas strip was funny, but it robbed the scene of the seriousness it should have had. More powers Percy doesn’t get: His ability to talk to horses and horse-adjacent animals.

Once they make it to the Lotus Casino, the script does this incredibly irritating thing where it removes the tension of the unknown from every hurdle they meet. Percy’s trapped alone against a mysterious monster in the book and has no idea how to beat it? Nope, Annabeth exposits all over it. They enter a seemingly-abandoned, mortal waterpark and only get suspicious once it’s too late? Nope, Annabeth figures out immediately that it’s a godly amusement park and they must be careful. Two twelve year olds and a satyr are immediately charmed by the glitz and glam of the lotus casino and get trapped for almost the rest of their time limit for the quest? Nope, Grover exposits all over that, too, ruining the mystery and any danger or threat.

Why?

The show also does the irritating thing where it creates problems just to solve them later and before you go “that’s the point of conflict” I mean it creates meaningless problems through meaningless contrivances, like every horror movie cliche that forces its characters to make illogical choices so they don’t just run away from the horror.

And another irritating thing! Spoiling bigger mysteries before their time: We didn’t learn about May Castellan until book 5. Why is this here? What purpose does this serve? Percy realizing he didn’t even know Luke’s last name for five whole years meant something to him. Seeing Luke’s tragic, mortal mother, after hating him for five years *means something* to Percy and to the readers. The gods damned Lotus Casino was absolutely not the place to discover any of this. Why did they do this?

Also, who tf is Augustus? He’s fine. Grover’s random side quest is fine. Every consecutive episode leaves me more and more annoyed with him, but it’s *fine*.

They do actually forget their purpose in the casino, thank the gods. Or, Grover does. Annabeth continues to give away May Castellan exposition like Halloween candy, smack-talking Hermes in a way that she’d never dare at 12 years old. Hermes is still only here because he’s played by Mr. Miranda. He’s fine, he’s just not Hermes. His “woe is me, loving mortals is so damn hard” speech exists. The sentiment is four books early, but it exists.

I understand why it’s here. They’re trying desperately to capture Percy’s internal conflict over whether or not the gods and his dad care about him, if he should let himself be disappointed presuming that they don’t. Problem is– in the book, Poseidon didn’t send a naiad to give him false promises of a clandestine meeting. In the book, the naiad told Percy there’d be a vague “gift” in Santa Monica, and Percy was never naive enough to think that gift would be his dad.

The entire season so far has tried to give nuance to both sides of the “do the gods care and should they be expected to” argument and it’s just not a very well written attempt. Why? Because it had five entire books to give both sides, and they’re shoving as much of it as they can here like they’re afraid they won’t get renewed for season 2. In doing so, they’ve made a tonal mess.

Once Hermes is gone and done randomly and spitefully sabotaging their quest, Percy, unseen, figures out that they’ve lost time and lost Grover. Also, Annabeth pick-pocketed the God of Thieves? Funny, but no. The script has its weird Mitichlorian moment sciencing lore by adding in the detail that lotus nectar or whatever is pumped in through the air, a question no one had and a plot hole that didn’t exist.

They do manage to keep the fear and unsettling realization that they’ve lost time, but their amnesia is inconsistent and confusing, considering that they overexplained how the casino works. Then they’re gone using a God of Thieves’ Car gimmick.

No Nico, thank the gods, unless he was one of the VR kids in the background. It would have been wonderful to see him in a better script.

In the book, they get instantly dazzled by the food, the video games, the nice clothes, nice suite, all things Percy could never dream about growing up poor. There is no Hermes and he only figures out something’s wrong when he meets other kids displaced from time and has to shake Annabeth and Grover from the illusion. They use their casino cash cards with infinite money to hail a cab all the way to LA and it’s funny.

They create more problems that didn’t need to exist by forcing Percy to drive a taxi and okay, that was genuinely funny. I am shocked, though, that Annabeth’s pride let him drive.

The episode comes to an end with them supposedly by the Santa Monica Pier… in a thunderstorm. In southern California. Odd choice, but okay. I'd say the storm exists because Poseidon's pissed but I really think it's there beacuse "dark and stormy night" fit their new vibe better than bright sunlight.

Maybe in live action it was tricky trying to make him both dry underwater and still plausibly underwater and not just rotoscoped in with a hazy green filter. For all their love of exposition, they never actually told non-book watchers about that, or that he can breathe underwater and control some currents. It’s also supposed to be night time, and yet he’s lit as if it’s high noon far above on the surface – they could have just written the beach scene at noon.

Then the naiad he was supposed to talk to in St Louis drops the bomb that the Summer Solstice deadline already passed, Poseidon got too impatient to wait for Percy after the casino delay, and the gods are now at war.

What the fu…..?

Percy resolves to keep going despite armageddon already happening apparently. She gives him exactly the right amount of pearls that he needs, not three, which would force him to choose, and then cut to black.

—

How is the best part of this episode Annabeth’s completely deadpan and exasperated Dude when Percy asks her not to make fun of him? That, and Percy driving the taxi.

Once again, to all the set designers and VFX artists and costumes and makeup and foley and music and score and everyone in between – you’re amazing, keep up the great work. To the actors, you were given a bad script and bad direction and you did the best you could.

Having just come off watching Game of Thrones for the first time and seeing little Arya, Bran, and Rickon Stark’s actors doing donuts around these three just goes to show that it’s not that child actors’ lack of experience that’s the problem. Heck even Baby Percy is better than these three. It’s how much or how little help they get in conveying what they’re supposed to. These kids were thrown to the wolves.

I don’t watch the teasers and I stay away from all marketing for the show. I don’t know who’s been cast to play any characters we haven’t already seen so what Hades and Poseidon look like are a complete mystery that I do hope pays off.

With two episodes to go they have the following left from the book to adapt: Crusty’s water beds, the DOA studios, the entire trip to the underworld and Cerberus and Hades that took two hefty chapters, the Ares fight, Percy’s trip to Olympus, Luke's betrayal and reveal, and the return home to find Hades had paid his debt.

Suddenly the mini series with an episode to burn in St Louis has to sprint to the finish line.

Maybe if they hadn’t spent ten minutes expositing with Hermes they could have at least crammed in Crusty and the DOA, but it looks like armageddon is already upon us so who knows? They might’ve just tossed out the rest of the book to write their own ending.

TL;DR This show is a mess and this episode actually has me nostalgic for the brevity of the horrible movie because they didn’t even try and it’s fun to make fun of. This is just disappointment stretched out across seven hours instead of speedrun in 90 minutes. The skeleton of the book (mostly) remains intact and to all those who keep saying “at least it’s not the movie,” you’re right. Enjoy.

[ceasarslegion]

Swinging the bat at the proverbial hornets nest here but it doesnt escape me that lin manuel miranda is treated with disproportionate animosity on this site compared to white creators who have done way worse shit

Those of you whove been here for a while know that i of all people dont encourage a single-minded approach to art at all regarding creator vs work but that hypocrisy never sat right with me. I notice it with other minority creators too.