#i was in a stage adaptation of his version and i was very upset

[clownery-blog]

[nathaniel-underwood-is-an-intj]

Literally just finished Notorious Scarlett and Browne

In that hyper stage where I just have to share my thoughts so excuse the ramble. (Spoilers!)

Sneaky Bartimaeus reference? Very reminiscent of Nat and Kitty's parting. I love how It's easy to find similarities between Storud's stories and characters without it feeling too repetitious.

The revelation about Thomas didn't surprise me- I'd read the summary for the third book but before that I felt it was kinda obvious she was like the reverse of Lockwood. But her middle name being Josephine absolutely did surprise me (unless I missed it being mentioned before?) but omg does the name suit her!! Made me realise we don't know what Jo and Ettie's surname is which I'd like to know!

Lighthearted moments I liked:

But also I was so confident Albert was my favourite character (love all of Stroud's psychologically messed up male protagonists anyway so it wasn't exactly a competition) but then in came Mallory omg - a more fucked up version of Albert that has absolutely no qualms about killing people?? Sign me tf up baby I love him so much! I said Nat has Catholic guilt vibes but oh boy Mallory is the BLUEPRINT for catholic guilt 🤌🏼🤌🏼

Maybe an unpopular opinion? But he definitely deserved better! I want to see him developed more as character and see more of his personality shine through rather than just be a vague threat from Stonemoor. I found his self assurance and egotistical nature really interesting considering years of child abuse - we kind of see it with Nathaniel but it's mostly an act and bravado whereas that does seem to just be what Mallory is like.

I'm loving the found family vibe as well - it was nice to see Jo and Ettie have stayed with Scarlett and Albert and the addition of Sal Qin at the end is really sweet. And I just think Mallory would fit in perfectly with the found family trope. None of them are really great people so he fits in so well 😭 I know I'm deluding myself thinking two people with the same power and background could be given equal space in the book so Mallory's end is probably final. But it was a little more vague so maybe? 🥹 What do we think does anyone else want him back? Also I know mentions of an adaptations are out there and I can't get the image how the last chapter would look on screen: Albert and Scarlett discussing the fight, thinking about the future joking about how Mallory is under several buildings and the future looks so bright. And then post credits we just see him come crawling out the revine. Or is that too cliche? But a small dose of cliche is healthy in a western vibe book right?

Mallory goading Albert before their fight was actually really cute as well; he was 🤏🏼 this close to being a mentor to Albert like an annoying af big brother or something 😭 I can picture him flirting with Scarlett as well purely to be irritating.

And I understand Albert being upset about Mallory killing the watchman - Albert does feel bad about hurting people even in self defense and it contrasts to Mallory not caring at all, but I was surprised that it was such a strong catalyst for his rage? Mallory kind of inadvertently helped them by getting rid of someone who could sound the alarm.

I just really love Mallory's pursuit of perfection leading to his own self hatred and I feel like it could be explored more with him as a character. Nathaniel gradually became more fearful of uncleanliness and disorder as he lost control of his life but it's cool to see the concept of a character viewing themself as impure and being filled with self hatred because of that (again gimmie those catholic guilt vibes all day long.)

I also like how he hasn't got the fear of his power that Albert has; Albert fears himself Mallory hates himself instead. But he also hates 'normal' people too which is really interesting, he just seems so lonely that's why I want him to join the little ragtag group 😭

Dr Calloway's death felt very justified but Mallory's (potential?) death just felt hollow because he's exciting and doesn't feel like his story was filled out enough. But then again we don't have any information about Calloway- not even a first name. The effect it gives is of a faceless entity of an institution. Even the description of her wearing glasses gives the impression of dehumanising her- If anyone knows anything about the Stanford Prison Experiment that's the impression she leaves. And that lack of knowledge about her is fulfilling in a way. No real personality shines through because she's been dehumanised. But Mallory is different - we see little glimpses of his personality, he's less of a faceless entity.

And even when Albert is trying to convince him to join them (whether this was supposed to be a trick or genuine I wasn't sure- Albert is kind enough to have been genuine but also I don't know if he'd want to risk Joe, Ettie and Scarlett) his reaction shows the cracks in his confident swagger. He's furious when Albert suggests society hates him, even though he's stated it himself many times and says he's accepted that fact. It kinda gave me the impression he's just trying to convince himself he's okay with being an outcast an completely alone but hearing it from someone else reminds him of the trauma of having it pointed out by Drs in Stonemoor and the defence mechanisms start to kick in.

And during his fight with Albert we see him have a real connection with someone- he and Albert share strange moments bordering on bonding with each other. I think it's a connection they both need because no on else has such similar shared experiences. I don't even want a redemption arc for him- he's irredeemable in the same way Scarlett and Albert are which is why he fits in with them so much!

Anyway what do people think? Do you think Mallory will return? Do you want him to? I'm so excited for the last book to come out and so scared I'll be disappointed 🥲

Aside from Mallory; the will they won't they of Scarlett and Albert is stressing me out! I can't decide if they're even meant to be shipped or not. It doesn't help that Albert's age is left really vague - Scarlett makes him sound quite young in comparison to her but Albert says she's hardly older than him so idk. I know Stroud tends to keep these things vague on purpose but this seems more so than usual which makes me think I'm crazy when they have adorable moments together.

I kind of get the impression Albert has a sort of crush on Scarlett but she views him as a little brother. How does everyone else see them?

[emilysidhe]

Half hour into the 1995 Persuasion now, and I can already see why everyone is saying that this is the superior adaptation - what’s odd though is that the 2007 version seems to have copied a number of minor alterations to the book’s plot from this earlier adaptation (the timing and staging of the young Musgrove boy’s fall and injury, for example*) rather than either keeping closer to the text or doing their own thing. Not sure how I feel about that, but as both versions are BBC productions I suppose they had the right to copy whatever they wanted.

*in the book, the boy falls from a tree in the afternoon of the day before Captain Wentworth is to dine with the Musgroves for the first time. Only Anne and Mary are home, and Mary is so upset that Anne must do all the work of sending for the apothecary, sending another servant to find Charles Musgrove and bring him home, keeping the toddler away from the injured child, comforting Mary as best she can, tending to the injured child and trying to keep him still and out of pain, and sending a message to the grandparents to let them know what’s happening. The whole family stays home with him the first night, anxious to find out if there will be any permanent spine injury, but by the following day it’s clear that only his collarbones is broken. Relieved, Charles wants to go to dinner that night but presumes Mary will want to stay with their child. Mary tries to get him to stay home with her until Anne suggests that Mary go too while she (Anne) looks after the boy, which makes Mary happy.

In both adaptations, the accident happens in the evening on the same day Wentworth is to dine. The scene starts with Anne dressing for dinner and taking extra care over her appearance as she knows Wentworth will be there, when a commotion draws Anne to the window. She sees her nephew being carried towards the house while someone shouts for help (though in the 1995 version the child is being carried by his father while Mary, walking next to them, calls desperately for Anne, while in the 2007 version the boy is in his grandfather’s arms and old Mr. Musgrove is shouting for Charles. The composition and camera angles in this shot are very similar in both versions.) We then cut to Anne tending the child while Charles and Mary argue about whether to go to dinner anyway and Anne solves it by offering to stay. Which shortens the timeline, but also presents both parents as being completely willing to abandon their child the very night of (indeed, within an hour of) the accident when they don’t yet know whether he will be paralyzed or not, instead of the next day when they’ve determined that he will recover without permanent consequences.

ETA: Also means that the accident happens after sunset, implying that the boy was climbing trees *in the dark* instead of during the day as in the book

[ealvara7]

Watching the Tour Cast for the Very First Time!!! ✨

During a conversation in one of the Discord groups I'm in, one of my good friends shared with me a Beetlejuice Tour boot that included Jackera Davis as Lydia!

I'm still going to see the musical on May 22nd, but I thought this would be a really cool way for me to get better acquainted with how the Tour cast play their roles!

I'll leave my notes under a "read-more", so you can keep scrolling! Thanks for reading, regardless! ✨

-

Jackera's voice is beautiful... 💖

She doesn't linger on a lot of her notes, which gives off the impression that her Lydia is more angry about the situation she is currently facing. That's a nice take on her character!

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Justin jumpscared me the first time I saw him! I've only ever heard his Beetlejuice voice on a couple of YouTube videos, so getting to see his face was such a surreal experience- (The initial silence when he pulls down the paper was depressing...)

I've actually noticed this on a couple of GIFs, but the area where the banjolele was thrown in The Whole "Being Dead" Thing was moved to the back! I'm not sure if this is consistent on all stages, but I imagine this was done in order to adapt to as many of them as they can!

Similarly, Sandy does not appear at the beginning in the Tour version. This I had been aware of for some time now-

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In the Tour version, the house is hidden behind a curtain, which is something Beetlejuice mentions just before it opens.

In the boot I'm watching, Justin goes:

"It's a house!!!"

Then he does a little pose, which immediately knocked me out-

Also, I now see what people were talking about with the tongue thing Justin does... and now I can't unsee it-

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Another Tour change that I had known for some time is the usage of electrical items for the Maitlands' death. Adam purchases an eletrical adapter, rather than Manchurian tung oil, in order to light up the new mobile connected to the crib. Some of the lyrics in Ready Set, Not Yet have also been changed to reflect this.

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Jackera has to have my favorite characterization for Lydia so far!!!

I always imagine Lydia to be rather lively, like her cartoon counterpart, but still carrying the angst that she is going through in the musical, and Jackera does this! The only difference is that Jackera leans more on the angry side of Lydia, which gives her more of a punk teen vibe. I love it so much, and I feel like she plays off the rest of the cast so well!!! 💖

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In Fright of their Lives, the chorus simply walk in rather than the set opening to reveal them. It's a little heartbreaking to see that change... but I get the idea at this point-

On a lighter note - Justin interacts with the chorus after they get interrupted and says:

"Sorry guys... I'll pay you for the full day-"

Once again, knocking me out-

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Beetlejuice's mood ring hair... is not present in the Tour version. I had been very well aware of this for some time, but out of all the changes made to the Tour version... this one was the one that hurt me the most.

In my heart, Collettejuice most certainly has mood ring hair, even if it's not visually presented on stage.

Speaking of Collettejuice... I've notice a ton of little things that make him distinct from other Beetlejuices. For example, he is very fidgety and fast - he usually apologizes more than once when it comes to a situation that he's in. He also appears to be more disconnected when it comes to his emotions - rather than being sad, he likes to make fun of his own misery. He'll also get really angry when things don't go his way.

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During Say My Name, Jackera's Lydia is just absolutely not having it with Beetlejuice. Instead, she is very quick to turn down his offer and simply stands her ground.

Also, when the Maitlands appear, Colletejuice is just visually bitter and upset towards them??? Oh my god???

It makes his "old pals" statement feel more condescending, which is a very nice twist from other Beetlejuices, who usually look happy to see them!

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I find it kind of adorable that at the beginning of Act 2, Jackera's Lydia is much happier with Beetlejuice, but still not entirely sure about all the little quirks he does. It's like when you're getting better acquainted with a new friend, which is exactly what is happening here.

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I love how Collettejuice is just absolutely embarrassed by his plan to have Lydia marry him. Like, it's the only option he has, but if he had it his way... he absolutely would not be doing that.

"If you wanna save Barbara, I need you... to marry me!"

"WHAT?!"

"..."

"It's a green card thing... guys..."

-

There are a couple of instrumental additions in the Tour version, but easily my most favorite has to be the violin addition in Home.

It's slow... and sad... and somber... It fits with the rest of the song perfectly, and I can no longer imagine the song without it.

Jackera also did a fantastic job with this song! Home requires a ton of strength when it comes to hitting certain notes, and she pulls it off perfectly! I'm so glad I got to hear her sing! 💖

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In the Life or Death scene, the wheel has been replaced with stocks. Before Otho dies, he is carried off stage by two skeletons.

Beetlejuice's game show outfit in the Tour has the same yellow blazer. However, the outfit is now green at the top, and blue at the middle and bottom.

I... am personally not a fan of this design choice. I feel like having all blue in contrast with the yellow works wonderfully to create a bold look. Adding green at the top makes the outfit blend in a bit... and that just doesn't work for me.

That being said... I adore the addition of the lapel pin on Beetlejuice's wedding blazer! I'm a huge sucker for Beetlejuice wearing a rose or any other kind of flower on his lapel-

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I feel like I've said everything that I have to say for this boot, except for one more thing...

Justin's wonderful addition to the last "This guy knows what I'm talking about!" will never stop making me go crazy whenever I hear it.

"Look, I only joke because I see myself in you... later tonight."

[deductivisms]

if you read the blue giant manga what do you think about the movie ending??

I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS LMAO

... short answer no spoilers? i like the movie ending a lot / the changes they made really suit the film version !!

long answer all spoilers

i'm the type of person who considers something "good" if i think it's moving and it definitely helped that you could hear the jazz in the movie adaptation -- like.

you get this really crappy rendition of first note at the beginning of the movie, it sounds unpolished (by design ofc), tamada is fighting for his life but even dai and yukinori are still kind of grappling with each other -- this doesn't make it bad and it does have its charms (the composition itself is very nice; s/o to first note which is one of my most played songs of 2023 according to my spotify wrapped LMAOOO--) but when you compare it to the last rendition of first note it's LIKE ?!?!??!

after yukinori returns from the hospital and is only able to play the piano using his left hand -- which of course calls back to his first encounter to Dai, who saw him performing using only his left hand

i thought it was crazy

i also thought that them having the disbandment conversation directly before the performance - which would be their first and last as a trio at So Blue - elevated the emotional weight of the scene to levels that i thought was kind of mean 😭

like i'd read the manga so i was anticipating the accident and the disbandment but when that bit was altered for the movie i was like UM!??!?!!

it was.

really good and i like that it felt like a true end to JASS as a trio and also tamada's tears before the performance had me like AUAUAUGUGHVHHGG---!!!

... that being said i do think the original manga ending is emotional in its own way too

in the movie, yukinori still suggests disbandment because dai still wants to continue on with his aspirations as a saxophonist and there's no guarantee that his hand will heal up the way it's supposed to -- they're also both aware that jazz bands don't stay together all the time, it's the nature of the genre and goes hand in hand with the 'in the moment' nature of jazz

that part isn't different but what is different is that tamada chooses to stop playing the drums on his own -- he's already noted that he'll never be able to play on the level of dai or yukinori, he's satisfied to retire; during his last performance with dai, he likely realized that dai was only going to get better and better and he was there during the conversation with yukinori wherein yuki explains that he can't and refuses to stop dai's momentum, and tamada likely draws the same conclusion

that being said, the fact that JASS was unable to perform as a trio upon a stage that they aspired towards is tragic in itself

unlike in the movie, they don't end off together, and dai's bandmates essentially walk away from him

furthermore you get to see dai's reaction to their disbandment, and it's one of the rare instances where he's upset - his own aspirations have separated him from two people he cares about, who have been with him from the beginning

it's like ??!?!?!? idk ishizuka is nuts for that

i think the movie ending suits the film adaptation given the fact that performances are animated and able to be heard (that piano solo in first note still makes me tear up HAHA,,) while also lending the film to a more standalone feel -- i think given the performances that the film would have felt incomplete if they hadn't ended together

but the manga ending is also good as it is because it lends itself to the fact that blue giant has sequel manga, dai's journey isn't over, and he's set to keep going!!

[dervampireprince]

Hi Prince. I just listened to one of your Erik audios for the first time and it's gotten me interested in The Phantom of The Opera now. What would you suggest watching as a first introduction to it?

oooo okay okay okay okay. so. you'll quickly realise how much of a nerd i am for phantom, look, i had a whole two years where this was all i was drawing and thinking about and making up my own aus and comics and just. a lot.

if you want a musical watch the 2011 live concert 25th anniversary performance, it's not exactly the same staging as if you saw it on the west end of broadway, but it's pretty close and it's professionally filmed and it's a good easy way to get into the musical. if you're not bothered about something pretty i'd recommend any recording with ethan freeman as the phantom, that man makes me sob. i know a lot of people got into the musical via the 2004 film adaption but... but, i don't be upset if you love the film, it's not a great film and it's not sung the best. so i'd always recommend watching a live version of the musical over the movie version.

now if you want something non musical well i first have to recommend the actual original novel. it's wonderful and it's one of the few places you can actually find the character of the daroga, who is almost always cut out of every single phantom of the opera adaption, which is not a good luck when he's the only poc in the book. and he deserves to be included for being the only man who can cope with putting up with any of erik's bullshit, like can you imagine having erik as a friend, this man deserves a medal. the andrew lloyd webber musical cuts out entire characters, rearranges the plot, and makes up a backstory for erik which is taken from 'phantom' by susan kay, a novel that is basically published fanfiction, but in the novel and older stagings of the musical erik's backstory wasn't explained and i think it's better that way.

and if you're wanting something to watch that's not a musical, there are many film and tv adaptions. the 1990 miniseries with charles dance as erik is so sweet omg, it's the nicest like morally good version of erik, i want to just hold him, he's often called "cherik" by the fandom (mashing up charles + erik) and he's just a sweet little baby.

another movie that's an adaption of phantom even if you didn't know it? a monster in paris! it's cute, it's animated, it's a musical, i wanna take Francœur home and look after him.

other movies? there's a lot. i'd stay clear of a few in particular because they're... either really bad or way too trigger warning inducing (i'm talking about you rat phantom), there's the original (well the first ever phantom film was actually before this, but it's lost media) 1925 black and white phantom with lon chaney, that's one of the most book accurate but not really because once again, no daroga... or well sort of daroga, but not really. but there's so many movies and i haven't seen most of them so i can't really say which ones are good or not. the most known ones are the 1925, 1943, 1962 and 1989. however there is also The Phantom of the Paradise, which is a rock opera horror musical movie with the very talented Brian de Palma as director, very cult 70s film.

did you know there's other musical adaptions other than andrew lloyd webbers? he actually made his musical because he say ken hill's phantom of the opera musical on stage and wanted to make his own. the next popular after alw's would be Phantom by yeston and kopit, there are some beautiful japanese productions by takarazuka of that musical (an all female acting troupe where yes the male characters are played by women).

don't watch love never dies. don't. it's. webber's bad fanfiction of 'what if erik and christine banged during the original musical and what if i ruined the personality and character and agency of all the female characters, but also made raoul just horrible because i ship erikstine 4ever and also i can definitely do basic addition and the 1910s definitely take place 10 years after the 1880s"... sorry if you like love never dies, you're a braver soul than i.

if you can find a copy of it, the 1980s manga adaption that i was lucky enough to find a copy of on yahoo actions jp a few years ago is beautifully illustrated. as is like every japanese publication of the book, which they also have published it multiple times as a children's book?? well the illustrations are pretty.

and if you like metal you might wanna listed to nightwish's cover of 'the phantom of the opera' from webber's musical.

[septembersghost]

Not sure if I've seen the Wizard of Oz film completely. But we read his books. I remember a friend had Ozma of Oz book adaptation version maybe- bit. ly/3O24wOe Maybe it was a coloring book we saw- it was of someone changing heads. Lol- kinda got freaked out. bit. ly/450iK88 One of the characters was called Tik-Tok. Traumatizing- but I do have the Judy Garland version- so someday.

oh my goodness, you MUST see the film all the way through some day, it's a classic! this is funny though, because i never saw return to oz due to the fact that i had a childhood friend who was terrified by it. (and one of my cousins was terrified of the wizard of oz - the wicked witch of the west gave him nightmares! actually a rather sad thing, because margaret hamilton loved children and was constantly sorry that her performance caused them to be scared of her. there's also unfortunately endless upsetting behind-the-scenes lore, but i didn't learn any of that until much later in life and have tried to keep it separate from my childhood innocence of loving the film.) i read the baum books as a child too, and have a beautiful illustrated edition, although it's been such a long time that the memory of the text has faded a bit. (my strongest recollection is the fact that, in the book, the emerald city isn't emerald at all, but only looks green due to the wizard making everyone wear green tinted glasses. the movie is more magical and technicolor!)

i had a somewhat similar experience with wicked - my interest in the music stemmed from that formative love of the wizard of oz, i was very passionately invested in it back in the day, and i read the book a bit later and was like 😳 because the themes are FAR darker and more disturbing than the story adapted for the stage. it's always interesting to see transformations like that, and how much a story's interpretation can impact culture and its legacy!

[scattered-winter]

me: oh i don't like fics where a main character dies they're too sad, sorry, pass :(((

me reading your ideas for a single parent buck au: ... go on

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA THIS MADE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD THANKS <3333333333333333333333

right now this au is still very much in the initial planning stage where I don't have a lot of things set in stone yet but I have decided to make 2 aus of this. one where eddie dies and buck gets custody of chris, and the other is like....an au of the au. where everything's the same except eddie's just in a coma lmao. because the original version is gonna be basically pure unfiltered angst with a bittersweet ending and tbh I gotta have an adjacent version that ends happier. for me specifically <- was held at gunpoint in dms /j

but the thing I really wanna highlight in the death version is how the 118 sort of .. splinters apart and then comes back together a little stronger. with such a tight-knit group, losing one of their own is a heavy blow, and there's an empty space in the overall group dynamic where eddie should be. and grief is a funny thing and I can really see how they'd sort of split apart at the seams because they've all lost people before but never one of their own. and the grief and shock and guilt would all affect each character in a different way and there would be outbursts and fights and there'd also be comfort and support and reconciliation. they're family they fight and hurt and ache but they do it together, ya know??

and of course buck and chris will have more focus because chris has now lost both parents in the span of just a few years, and buck has lost his other half (even from a purely platonic standpoint you can't deny that buck and eddie compliment and complete each other) and now he has to take care of chris on top of grieving his best friend. and bonus points if buck hadn't confessed his feelings to eddie yet, so he has the horrible guilt of knowing that he never got the chance to tell eddie how he feels and now he never will. and it's basically just gonna be buck trying to be a good caretaker for chris and sort of step up into that parenting role that eddie used to fill while dealing with his own grief and chris' grief (I know chris loves buck, but to lose his dad and then have buck become his new caretaker??? chris is a KID who's grieving both parents I imagine he'd sometimes feel like buck is trying to Replace His Dad even though that's sooo not the case even if he perceives it that way). it's a very new dynamic for both of them to grapple with, and it'll be super interesting to explore how they adapt and shift to meet it over time.

the coma version is very much the same in a lot of ways (buck caring for chris, the 118 generally having a Bad Time) but everything's temporary, and the entire time instead of grief there's the question of "is eddie ever going to wake up" that's basically just hanging over their heads the entire time. so buck and chris' new and changed dynamic has the added element of "if eddie wakes up, then this won't be necessary anymore, but if we assume he'll wake up and then he doesn't, neither of us will be prepared for the very real situation that will put us in" and "if we assume he won't wake up, then he does, then he'll be upset at how much I've taken over in the parenting role/how I didn't do an adequate job of caring for his kid." and both of those standpoints have the caveat that both buck and chris are under extreme emotional distress so neither of them are really thinking rationally about anything. and that's what makes it fun to write :]

[moonmothmama]

i like collecting different film/tv/stage/etc adaptations of a christmas carol. it's a good ass story for one thing and some adaptations (muppets obviously) are genuine masterpieces. also, though, i think it's interesting which adaptations choose to keep what; like, it's very common for certain bits from the book to be left out (as is the case with p much every book that gets adapted into film).

the whole "Ignorance and Want" thing is very often omitted, especially from more intentionally Kid Friendly versions. understandable, bc not only is it disturbing in a pretty unique way, it's less relevant to Scrooge's journey. you cut it out you don't even know something's missing. like, the threat of Tim Cratchit dying of a treatable illness is also super disturbing but it's essential to the story. also it's something that's resolved in the end. two symbolic wretched spirit-children hiding out in the ghost of christmas present (who is in his character design basically santa/father christmas)'s robes? that just stays upsetting. not that i'm saying "that should be cut out," just that it's an understandable decision to leave it out of a film.

there are also things that are commonly trimmed out of the scene with Marley; though there's sometimes a visual reference to the whole "untying the kerchief and his jaw hanging open" thing it's, to my knowledge at least, never left hanging there throughout the scene like in the book. which... that bit, yeah. please do cut that out. fuckin' eew.

also you don't always see the bit with all the other phantoms out on the street when Marley leaves Scrooge's chamber through the window. i don't know why that's cut out, unless it's for time, which if that's the case is a damn shame. i think that's a powerful image. when it is shown, as i recall, you almost always see the image of the phantom hovering miserably over a woman and her baby out on the street.

there's more of course. i'm just saying. if i recall correctly, out of all the ones i've seen, the 1984 version (the one with David Warner as Bob Cratchit) is the only one that doesn't cut out virtually anything. and it's a great film! though personally my two favorites remain the muppet christmas carol and the more personally nostalgic stingiest man in town (an old and somewhat obscure rankin bass cartoon adaptation of a stage musical), the latter of which is probably the first version of the story i ever encountered. honorable mention to starkid's VHS christmas carol which was super super fun. i saw a recording of it with a friend, and i do recommend it. funnily enough all three of those are musical versions. hmm.

anyway if i were ever to make a film adaptation of a christmas carol, hypothetically, i know what i'd keep in and what i'd leave out. goodbye Marley's jaw hanging open for the whole visit. afaik no one else has put that in and i hope no one ever does

[arigatonamuse]

okay get ready for some technicalities, unnecesary categorisation, long gushing and some ranting

First Category: The Original

soooo i think it would be unfair to call the original A3!JP an adaptation because it's the original, it's not adapting from something else, so this one gets its own category

Second Category: Adaptations I Have Engaged With

that said, i DO consider the localisations some sort of adaptation, since it's taking the original material and adapting it not only to another language but to appeal to an specific audience, which i think was done brilliantly in the case of the Eng loc, because of this, the best adaptation to me is A3!EN (i miss her every day)

in a close second comes Esute/Mankai Stage, you can't have a game about theatre and then not put on a great stage adaptation for it! and i think esute succeeds at what it set out to do! there are some nitpicks i have here and there (RIP Banri being in Summer Act 2) but I think that what they have managed to do so far has been brilliant Not only we get a faithful adaptation of the original story, but we get songs to go along and flesh out scenes and characters in a different light, both in the plays themselves and in the non play songs/albums they have (Muse my beloved (no shit tumblr user arigatonamuse)), these songs help us grasp a lot of the characters that we could maybe miss given the omission of Izumi and her narration on the stage (that's one change i completely understand), and it gives us a new perspective that maybe wasn't there in the original while still remaining in character and in line with the story! Additionally! the visual aspects of the stage, the blocking and usage of the different levels in the stage adds SO MUCH to the narrative, it is obviously very well thought out and analysing their choices has been a delight to me Not to mention that just being able to see the actual plays come to life in their lil song montages has been amazing And with the things that they do that aren't in game or in the original story like 4 Seasons With You and the shuffle cast plays! i LOVE LOVE LOVE what they did with the shuffle plays, Homare's Dewey lives in my mind RENT FREE and i think that for every character, these changes in cast gave them a chance to explore the nuances of each of them as actors and what they bring onto the stage, what makes it so only they can bring to life their own specific version of a character, and so on, it's a brilliant exploration and i want more of it AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE STAGE CAST! I LOVE THEIR BACKSTAGE PICS SO MUCH (i still miss Makki and his goofing off with MizuKen but oh well) this is long enough as it is and i wanna scream more but uh Esute gets second place as an adaptation i've engaged with only because of the couple nitpicks i have about them removing certain characters or scenes

lastly there's the anime... don't get me wrong, i didn't dislike the anime, not really, it was an okay adaptation given the constraints they had aki arc was adapted pretty well, even if they cut out the scene where Banri and Juza defend each other from Banri's old acquaintances which leads to Azuma making his first appearance i loved how they did Banri's portrait and i do think that this one is the strongest adaptation when it comes to that portrait in particular Also, like in the stage, being able to visualise things was AMAZING, it gave me a lot of fuel for analysis (thank you Mankai Kisetsu for hearing me out there and analysing things with me!) but where the anime fails for me is on fuyu arc previous arcs HAD taken away scenes that are important to me, and i had been upset at that before, but i understood that they had very strict constraints and were on a time crunch, plus the story still flowed okay and did justice to the characters most of the time but then fuyu came and it became almost solely tasutsumu focused, putting the other three characters' stories on the background... not getting the Azuma and Hiso scenes and development HURTS and it hurts the story too, as you kinda don't care as much about them through the entire thing honestly i think the anime did Azuma the dirtiest, not only cutting out his fuyu scenes but the one in aki too? the one that explains why he's in mankai to start with? i'm not even an Azunee oshi but i do not like how they cut his story so short also it's a hard one to revisit too! because the anime did NOT change a certain someone's voice! so hearing it is very uncomfortable to me now still, i DO believe that they did okay, i REALLY enjoyed the anime as it was coming out, i loved talking, gushing and analysing things about it with my friends, it's an adaptation with a special place in my heart, faults and all

this is long enough as it is but... Third Category: Adaptations I Have NOT Engaged With

This one i can keep short, since i don't know enough to talk about it in depth Here we have

A3!CN

A3!TW

Comics Adaptation - i am making grabby hands at this

Comics Anthology - ditto

Mankai Movie - this one i REALLY wanna watch

Novel Adaptation - this one i also wanna get my hands on

and more i may not be aware of ofc, i'm not ranking these, as i don't have the knowledge to do so

and, for the last category, we have what i call "not quite part of the game but also not an adaptation on its own"

Here we have the CDs with all the music, Mankai Manga Sengen, and the Anni books and more stuff i may not be aware of the stage's Troupe LIVEs could also fit in this category but i already gushed about them above so uh... double mention lol

I am also not ranking these ones as I feel they're too different from each other to make a fair assessment of which one i like better

Mankai March question 6!

Yesterday was kinda a weird question, huh? Don’t worry, this one should be easy! What’s your favorite adaptation of A3! ? Is it the original game? Or maybe the stageplays? Or the movie? The anime or manga? Maybe you’ve read the light novels, too!

(Also happy birthday Madoka I’m so sorry I forgot I love you I prommy)

[zhenjun]

white people, your cosplay is yellowface

Content warning: images of yellowface that may be upsetting below

Note: I have made the decision to remove the images of modern-day cosplayers. I stand by my initial choice to include them, as I believe actually seeing images of modern cosplay side by side with “real” yellowface was essential to understanding the point. However, this post has gotten much more attention than I ever anticipated. I had, at the time of making it, fewer than 30 followers.

In addition to harassment from sockpuppet accounts, assertions that my opinion on racism is less important because I am in the diaspora, misinterpretation about what this post was initially about (several people claimed cultural appropriation), threats to report and suspend me, and, apparently, discussion on twitter, for my own mental health, I am taking these images down.

I will no longer be responding to criticism or questions on the post, but I will happily answer DMs or asks on the subject. If you disrespect this or try to start more discourse, you are getting blocked, not because I want to silence your voice, but because I am a real person who can choose not to engage with people for reasons as seemingly unfair as my mental health and not wanting to continue filling my blog with the same post that honestly is upsetting for me to look at (as I already stated within the post).

If you have been blocked by me it is either due to disrespect and/or some form of unrelated drama due to how I like to interact with fandoms (i.e. ships like Ch*ngxian, Xu*xiao), not because I am trying to silence you. As I have so few followers, I am sure you can make your own post and gain even more traction than I did.

If you are white, please stop cosplaying MDZS/TGCF characters. It often looks like/is yellowface, and honestly there’s no way to respectfully do it when these media are based so heavily on Chinese culture. I’ll try to sum up why these fandoms need to be more mindful. You can find links and citations at the bottom that read best on my desktop blog theme.

The goal of yellow face in the past wasn’t always to look “authentically Asian;” white directors, actors, set designers, and playwrights set out to use what pieces of East Asian culture they found most inspiring, fun, cool, violent, or backward. Sometimes, white people had "good" intentions" with their use of yellowface and were not "trying" to demean our cultures, but the practice itself did so regardless.

To summarize, white people of the past did yellowface to erase our identities, take aspects of our culture that they liked, or ridicule us. Most modern-day cosplayers are doing the first two.

Below are examples of early Hollywood yellowface and modern-day theater, as well as modern-day cosplay:

[Previously pictured was a white Xie Lian cosplayer who was very receptive after seeing this post and has since removed these images from their social media. If you happen upon any of their cosplay or other social media, please do not send them any hate.]

As you can see actress Katharine Hepburn in “Dragon Seed”[1][2] is in very traditionally inspired Chinese clothing. The previously pictured Xie Lian cosplayer was in a similar hat and wearing white robes. They both had some sort of eye makeup; Katharine Hepburn darkened her hair for the role while the cosplayer was wearing a dark-brown/black wig.

Of note, the character Katharine Hepburn plays in "Dragon Seed" is supposed to be positive; an adaption from (white) author Pearl S. Buck's novel about a brave Chinese woman who stands up to Japanese imperialism. Like modern day cosplayers of Chinese media, just because the white people creating this film did not intend to be harmful does not change that it was yellowface and racist.

[Previously pictured was a before and after picture of a white Xue Yang cosplayer with blue eyes, brown hair, half of which was dyed blonde in the before image. In the after, they were wearing a long black wig, heavy eye makeup, newly shaped and darkened eyebrows, and robes made to emulate CQL in warm lighting]

Here are before and after pictures of actress Katharine Hepburn in 1944[3] and, previously, was a white Xue Yang cosplayer in 2020. Both had altered their eyes and eyebrows as well as donned black wigs or darkened hair.

[Previously pictured was a Jiang Yanli cosplayer in a black wig and robes meant to emulate the donghua]

Yellowface does not always involve modification to the eyes. In these two images, neither Mary Pickford in Madame Butterfly[4] nor the previously shown modern Jiang Yanli cosplayer have done anything noticeable to shape their eyes. They were, however, both wearing black wigs with traditionally inspired outfits. Jiang Yanli wore a modified version of Tang Dynasty fashion.[5]

[previously pictured was an image of a Wei Wuxian cosplayer with face powdered white and rouge around the eyes. Their eyes were still blue as the Madame Butterfly’s were on the left, and they were wearing a long black wig as well as robes designed to emulate his. This image has been replaced and amended with an additional example of modern theater; the production of The Mikado where one actor is wearing a black wig, the other a Japanese inspired hat, and both are wearing Japanese robes]

The final comparison was an example of a stage actress from the 2015 Fargo-Moorehead Opera production for Madame Butterfly[6] on the left (the earlier movie is an adaptation of the play). [This image was previously erroneously attributed to the Knoxville Opera which faced backlash for their production as they had an all-white cast depicting actors in yellowface in 2019.][7]

Honestly, these images just had a strange similarity to me so that’s why I chose to put these two together. Most importantly, was the similarity in makeup, hair, and East Asian clothing. Though the image is not there any longer, but just google Mo Xuanyu cosplays and ask yourself, if you didn’t know the fandom, would you be able to spot the difference of which one is supposed to be worse?

The new image is just another example of modern yellowface in theater, where the actors do not necessarily wear extensive eye makeup to emulate East Asians but, much like modern cosplayers, nonetheless are trying to look like the Asian characters they play in a Seattle production of The Mikado.[8]

As you can see, it’s pretty sad and disturbing to see how the rise of East Asian media is creating a new modern wave of yellowface. I think white people tend to think that black/brown/yellowface is only about darkening the skin, but that is just not what many depictions of yellowface have been for East and Southeast Asian people.

I know a lot of people recognize this is wrong and I appreciate those of you that do, but if you didn’t recognize the past parallels, please read up on the links below! Researching this was honestly triggering and emotionally taxing and caused a mild breakdown, so if you clown on this post you’re getting blocked.

Despite the post losing effectiveness to an extent from taking down the modern day photos, I suggest a quick google search of cosplays from the series during/after reading this. And if you don't agree with me, feel free to block and don't send more hate to me! I'm not trying to get into fights. I just wanna feel like I have a semi-safe space in the fandom but if this annoys you, it's better to just block me.

HISTORY, Casting White People in Asian Roles Goes Back Centuries[↩︎]︎

Youtube, Dragon Seed (1944) Trailer [↩︎]︎

NBC News, 'Correcting Yellowface': One Woman's Project to Fix Whitewashing[↩︎]︎

IMDB[↩︎]

Stony Brook University, The Influence of Chang-An Culture to Korea and Japan: Cultural Diffusion in the Glorious Age of Tang Dynasty[↩︎]

Howard Sherman, Yellowface Bait-And-Switch With ‘Madama Butterfly’ In Fargo[↩︎]︎

OnStage Blog, Knoxville Opera Forgets It's 2019 and Opts for Yellowface for "Madame Butterfly"[↩︎]︎

Seattle Times, The yellowface of “The Mikado” in your face[↩︎]︎

[jacketpotatoo]

Dear Evan Hansen Movie: Review (spoilers)

It says review but trust me, it’s more of a well worded rant than anything. Taken from my Letterboxd

Where do I even begin.

Okay, I enjoy the original musical. I have listened to the soundtrack more times than I can count and I've watched a bootleg of the original Broadway run, as well as many, many animatics. I was one of the people who saw the trailer and went oh crap - Kaitlyn Dever from 'Booksmart'? Amy Adams? From the people who brought you 'Perks of Being a Wallflower' and 'The Greatest Showman'? This must be in good hands, Ben Platt looking way too old for the role aside.

Haha.

Something that makes the musical actually work is the fact that it acknowledges the morally squicky situation and constantly calls Evan out on his bs. They allow you to sympathise with him while making it clear that hey, Evan is in the wrong here.

THE FILM CLEARLY DOESN'T GET THAT.

Instead, Evan is portrayed as the victim and they spend little to no time dealing with the moral and ethical complexities that makes the source interesting in the first place, even when that would be totally something that could be done with more emphasis on film than on the stage. They cut out 'Does Anybody Have a Map' - a song that sets up (arguably) the emotional core of the musical which is the mothers and their relationship with their sons and family. They cut out 'Good For You' which is (and I don't know how to emphasize this enough) SUCH A CORNERSTONE IN THE PLAY. It's the song where Evan has to face the consequences of his actions head on. But noooooooo. All we get is zero fricking resolution with the side characters that the film wrote pointless songs for to accommodate and Evan and his mum NOT talking things out realistically and lashing out like humans. I cried while watching that 240p bootleg of 'So Big So Small'. I felt nothing here. Instead, all the emotion the stage offered is put up in a blender of terrible sound mixing and hilariously bad VEVO music transitions.

Speaking of that, my gosh was the editing awful in this movie. The stupid, stupid quick-cuts during 'Waving Through A Window', the asinine repeated shot of Evan falling down the tree, THE ENTIRE 'Sincerely Me' I MEAN WHAT WAS THAT?? The whole film visuals felt like the Nexus ad in WandaVision. Y'know. The dreary antidepressant advertisment. Except one was ironic and the other was completely genuine. 

The thing with adapting Dear Evan Hansen into a movie in the first place is that it's a low-key kind of musical. Most scenes are confined to 4 walls and include very few people just conversing with each other. It works fine on stage but when you're shooting 50% of your film in the same location and all the shots are either framed similarly or are straight up comical, it's going to be a problem. It was visually, either uninteresting or plain bad.

I didn't think the performances were terrible, aside from Ben Platt (oh we will get there). I liked Kaitlyn as Zoe (I will admit, I am biased), the others were... alright. They were passable. I blame it on the direction and script because they're clearly good performers.

And now we get to Evan Hansen himself. The 'too old' thing has been talked about to death but it genuinely takes you out of the film as you can't suspend your disbelief that he's playing a teenager, especially when his peers actually do look like teens. Ben is also overacting so much. When in theatre, the exaggerated slouches and ticks work because he's on the stage. Most people are far away. But on film when everything is close up, his stuttering and shaking come off as so forced. I genuinely don't understand. I've heard great things about him in The Politician and he's fine in the Pitch Perfects so what went wrong?

The only thing I sort of maybe liked was them getting closure with the video of Connor playing the guitar. But then, they went and got Jared to look sad for Connor when he literally has been doing everything to propel his social status and has no emotional stake with Connor, only with Evan for using him. WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN CLEAR IF THEY INCLUDED 'Good For You'.

I have calmed down since writing this and all I feel now is numb. I listened to songs from the original Broadway Soundtrack after the movie as it auto played on youtube and felt. Now I’m just upset that people would probably never give the stage version a shot anymore. Thanks movie. *sigh*

[kachinnate]

i feel like wrt jared’s character, there is easily the Other Side of the spectrum of people who make him haha funny memeboy bathbomb cronch but ppl just wanna Not acknowledge it

like…… cuz alright class let’s dissect WHY we hated bath bomb era jared …. he was reduced to like three characteristics/personality traits and we hated that bland surface level characterization and begged those people to grow up and have nuance bc he is More than just that

,,,and yet on the other side of it

a lot of.. Perceptions i’ll say of jared get dangerously close to making him JUST into the misunderstood gay teenager who doesn’t mean any of what he says in an act of Angsty Cognitive Dissonance…. just misunderstood just sad n queer if he could get over the internalized homophobia he’d be fine whatever whatever

which yeah depending on who you are you might agree that the latter is better than the former but when you really think about it they’re Very much so similar ! i do think — at least in FANON — that universally we all seem to agree that.. yeah dude he copes differently than evan and as such gets misconstrued and misunderstood, yeah it’s more believable that he would be gay more than anything, and yeah things are definitely not perfect in his world if you pay attention to the things that are blatantly there…… but then if that’s it, if that’s all he is, then what is his place in a story outside of shipping…. when he gets with evan or connor what else is there to him?

and it gets to the point too that people get so attached to this weird version of jared that exists in their mind that’s very much … like, somewhat musical jared but more tortured and concentrated into something specific, that anything outside of that is suddenly a massacre to his character. like fuck dude, i also love him as a character, but it’s getting to a point that i almost want to go Back to people focusing way too much on his Questionable lines and accusing him of being an asshole ????

there’s like a very very specific difference between being frustrated at an adaption!jared’s character because it seems to be made into something completely different COMPARED TO THE ORIGINAL (NOT fanon!), as in given lines or behaviors that are inconsistent with how he was on stage, and then being entirely way too upset that fanon jared isn’t like the jared on screen in a movie you already don’t want to like going Into it…. and also a character who is inherently not going to get the Most character development as is anyway given that he isn’t the main character !

[mzminola]

#dc comics asks #tim drake #lady shiva #ask me stuff #robin #tbf in a VERY different context Shiva using that white line on a mixed race part-Asian Tim would have interesting possibilities #but that's very much not what this was it was just Dixon being cringe and racist again [tags via OP]

Yeah as someone from a mixed & multicultural family who was not paying any attention to the writers, I did not read that line as any kind of confirmation Tim was white or christian, just that Shiva is being an asshole and doing the racism version of negging.

Anyway I'm still going through Tim's comics, but I can think of at least five interactions between them:

1. Paris One: the above-mention Robin miniseries. Shiva is going after Edmund "King Snake" Dorrance for a lethal fight because he's one of the world's best non-meta fighters, and once you hit a certain skill reputation level in DC Shiva just Does That.

2. Tengu: Bruce got real fucked up and needs Shiva to train him. She agrees on the grounds that he kill someone during his final test. He fights in a theater mask, and fakes his opponent's death. Shiva and Tim don't really interact directly here, but they're both present and Tim is SUPER upset when he thinks Bruce broke the no kill rule.

3. Paris Two: Civil War Boogaloo: Tim goes back to Paris to finish his training with the healing and martial arts master he was supposed to the first time, that man is dead so Tim learns from someone else, meets a girl who's learning every possible Single Strike Move she can. Turns out she's in the resistance in small European country, with access to a drug that makes you go super fast so single strike moves are for maximizing that effectiveness.

Shiva shows up to fight (and probably kill) her. Tim had been given the speed drug too, accidentally kills Shiva trying to save the girl, and successfully resuscitates Shiva. She runs off at partial super speed, since some of the drug was on Tim's mouth.

4. Is This Racist Or Is DC Just Awkwardly Adapting Kung Fu Movie Tropes: there's an ancient martial arts organization trying to kill Green Arrow (currently Connor Hawke) because he's got the reputation as one of the best non-meta fighters on the planet. They're all called [Material] Monkey, Shiva's achieved the level of Paper Monkey (highest possible) through defeating so many others.

Shiva beats the shit out of Connor, and Tim leaps in before the killing blow to say "Hey you owe me a life debt! Since I didn't leave you dead that one time! I'm calling it in to save Connor."

Shiva makes it clear that she doesn't consider Life Debts to be a thing, but Tim's attempt amuses her so she pats his cheek with a smile and leaves.

5. Near The End of Robin 1993: I haven't read the full arc, but Shiva is in Gotham to fight Tim. I guess he's finally gotten past the 'potential' stage and into 'fight'? He tracks down her hotel, poisons her complimentary chocolates with a paralytic that only kicks in once your heartrate raises above a certain level. Their fight starts, he might get beat up a bit, and then Shiva falls the fuck down.

Tim informs her the cops are on the way, and that if she breaks out of jail, he'd prefer she not go after him again, thanks.

Note: Everything between Shiva & Cass in Preboot Era happens between these 4 and 5. And since I haven't finished my read, I don't know if Tim & Shiva have interaction in between there, or if she shows up again after the poisoned chocolates incident.

~

Lady Shiva shows up in a fair number of DC titles as a chaos element. I feel like I need to read more appearances outside the Bats to get a bead on how she feels about individual people, but I get the impression that she has similar motivations as a particular type of stock immortal character (despite not being one) -- that life gets boring when there's no risk of anyone killing you.

Sandra "Lady Shiva" Wu-San will fight any non-meta that she suspects has a decent chance at killing her. Sometimes she kills them, sometimes she lets them live. According to some meta I've read, she tends to find people who are stuck somehow and drastically change something in their lives so that they have to change too.

For Cass, that's killing and reviving her so she's free of her death wish.

With Tim, I get the impression that she met him early enough that he's not stuck in anything (though prodding about the no-kill rule might be an attempt to prevent him getting stuck). She sees potential, they're going after the same guy, and teaching is interesting. So why not?

Tim is a chance for her to watch how someone grows as a fighter instead of only meeting them once they're highly skilled. Teaching him is also a way for her to make more waves in the world, and give him a better chance at surviving his vigilante career; wouldn't it be so terribly boring if he died too soon?

So how many times did Tim meet Lady Shiva or interacted with her? What was their relationship like?

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure, I'm not as well versed in that particular relationship (and I'm in the middle of unpacking from my move so I'm not currently in a position to research it.) I know they run into each other at least twice because Shiva turns up at some point during the Robin ongoing but I don't know if it's just the one encounter or if there's more.

I'm most familiar with the relationship they form during the first Robin miniseries, which I've read a couple of times. Tim was sent to Paris to train with someone else, he fell into Shiva's orbit because of the King Snake investigation, and she simply... took an interest in him. Seems intrigued by his potential.

The short version, at least by my read, is that Tim respects Shiva because of her skill and worldliness, but is also wary and low-key terrified of her because she's a cold-blooded killer who keeps calling him 'little bird' and implying that she's either going to turn him into a murderer, kill him in battle, or both. Shiva, meanwhile, seems intrigued by Tim's potential and actively tries shape him into "her weapon" but it's not really clear what she means by that -- maybe she wants an appreciatice or a partner, or maybe she hopes he'd be the one to kill her in the fight she's been craving when he's an adult, it's kind of left up to interpretation. The last one would explain why she kinda drops this thread after Cass is properly introduced.

Mind, the mini is from 1991 so there is also some uncomfortable elements to it... like implying that Shiva is literally trying to seduce the underaged boy and also having her describe his vow against killing as, "How very Christian of you. How very white of you." which is just... yuck. Chuck Dixon everybody, still a racist.

[thisbluespirit]

Top 5 episodes of British TV you wish hadn't been lost?

@theuncertainhour Thank you! And I was unsure whether to be strict about this being episodes rather than series, but then I thought that we usually talk about DW serials as one thing (I mean, the missing ep of Tenth Planet aside, we generally dream of the story being uncovered if we could have it). So I just mixed it and matched it a bit. XD

But OMG burnination is one of those things that just gets worse and worse the more you get into this stuff. It's just awful, really. Anyhooo...

1. "Cross That Palm When We Come To It." I mean, I want ALL the missing Public Eye episodes (very little of S1-3 survives), and that loss must surely top the lists of anyone who knows about old Brit TV, but if we're going for specific episodes, then the S3 finale where Frank gets framed and sent to prison, that leads into the whole story arc of the brilliant piece of TV that is S4, and which is written by series creator Roger Marshall... I'll take that! Let us watch Frank suffer. (People at the time were upset enough to try and send Frank Marker cake. Which is funny, but also something Frank might actually have appreciated. I mean, cake. A cup of tea. *nods*. Or is cake a bit much? Should it just be a biscuit?)

2. "Power of the Daleks". Gimme. Please! I mean, all the missing DW episodes, especially Two because he's still so badly hit, but Power is my top pick. Love it even just on audio, but I would give a lot to see it!

3. Haunted (1967-1968) After loving Enemy at the Door and Public Eye, I got curious about script editor/producer Michael Chapman's work (there's an elusive quality of idk, complexity, compassion, humanity to it that I really like) and tried to obtain what was available of his back catalogue. One of these was the 1965 SF TV series Undermind, which was a really interesting alien invasion series (including scripts by David Whittaker and Robert Holmes) - and it spawned a sort of supernatural sequel, which was Haunted. But given how interesting Undermind could be, I would love to see how Chapman approached Haunted! I'm so intrigued, but I'll have to stay that way forever, unless eps turn up.

4. Danton's Death (BBC 1959) I have been good and not just filled this with my Top 5 James Maxwell Eps I Want (and that probably might have been the truest list right now /o\), but I'd be really keen to see the TV version of his adaptation of this play, with him as Camille Desmoulins (and Patrick Wymark as Danton) - it was supposed to have worked better than the stage version, and also it's the only TV performance where he and his wife Avril Elgar played husband and wife. I do have the script book, but still. It'd be cool to see it!

5. I'm loving the recovery of The Hidden Truth! So, on the same JM train, I'd love the other episodes back! If I had to choose one, "The Guinea Pig" just to see if it's shippy. Even though it probably wasn't!

(I would have put Twelfth Night BBC 1957 ahead of Danton, with JM as Feste, which I would adore, thank you; but the odds are high that it was never recorded and so can hardly be called burninated. I mean, if it WAS recorded, then you can put it at no. 4.)

But there are so many things I could put here! As with the others - this is my top 5 for this five minutes, today.

[ginnyweatherby]

Let's talk process The Prom because the tag is v negative rn and I have some random thoughts

I loved it. Like genuinely. I love the musical and was a little nervous since stage-to-screen adaptions can be a hit or miss, but I liked it a lot.

I've seen a lot of complaints on here comparing the two, but I honestly thought it was a very faithful adaption. Yeah, there were some changes, but that's to be expected. This wasn't a pro shot, this was an adaptation.

Emma: I liked her, especially for a debut role! I thought her voice was really nice, although I'm so used to Caitlin's higher pitch that some of the notes threw me, but nothing major.

I found it odd that she smiled through Just Breathe, but I chocked it up to her daydreaming about having it better than she currently did. Idk, it seemed like a weird acting choice but whatever. I liked her... except for that weird mechanic jumpsuit thing she was wearing. Wtf was that?

Alyssa: I'd have liked to see more of her, but I honestly feel that way about the musical too. She's a very important role, and yet I never quite feel connected to her, at least until her song Alyssa Greene. I found her voice to be a little mature for a high schooler, but no real complaints there.

Barry: Oof, the elephant in the room. Okay, I have mixed feeling about James Corden in general. Loved him in Into the Woods, hated him in Cats, but I like him as a person in general like on his talk show. I was nervous about him in this role because I wasn't sure how he would pull off the campy gay vibe that Barry requires. For the most part, I think he did well. There were some parts I thought were a little cringy (I'm not a gay man so I shouldn't speak on whether it crossed the line into offensive), but I didn't hate him like I feared I would since Barry is my favorite character.

They made him younger for some reason? Is that just because James Corden is younger than the original role is for? He says prom was only 21 years ago, instead of 29. No big deal, just an odd change.

Dee Dee: This was a pleasant surprise! As much as I like Meryl Streep, I was nervous about her in this role, although I do think she was a little too old for it, namely The Lady's Improving. That's a huge number and while I knew she could sing, I wasn't sure her belting chops could handle it, but I thought she sounded great! It's Not About Me was great as well.

Trent: I needed more of him, but again, I've felt that way about the musical too. I'm devastated they halved The Acceptance Song, but I get it. It's not that necessary to keep the plot moving, I would just have liked to hear it, because any excuse for more Andy Randy is always a plus for me.

Love Thy Neighbor was the part I've been most looking forward to since day one and it did not disappoint! I will definitely be jamming to this one a lot in the near future. Loved it.

Angie: Angie isn't a character I normally cared for, and Zazz was one of my least favorite songs so I didn't have many thoughts going into this, but I think I liked her better in the movie tbh? She was more fun I think, and I liked that Zazz became more of a spectacle. It's normally one of the first songs I'll skip on the cast recording, but I thoroughly enjoyed it here.

Tom: Didn't expect him to have so much screentime! They seemed to play up his and Dee Dee's relationship more in this, which is... fine I guess? I didn't really care either way, but I think he did a great job and I didn't find We Look to You as boring as I usually do lmao. He and Dee Dee were cute, especially on their Apples & Bees date.

Mrs. Greene: I mean, what can I say? She pissed me off, which was her entire purpose. Her dress at the end was ugly af tho.

Some of the changes they made were... Choices, but nothing that really stood out to me as terrible.

The addition of seeing Emma's grandma was fun, especially her bonding with Barry. I just thought it was cute - as was his relationship with Emma, obviously.

The addition of Barry's mom however was um, odd. I'm fuzzy on the details in the musical, but I don't know if we ever learn whether Barry actually calls her or not? He mentions it in Barry is Going to Prom, but I think it's left up to interpretation, which I like. Seemed weird, but I guess it was a sweet moment?

Unfortunately, this meant we didn't get the "you're going to lose her" moment I kept waiting for. Slight complaint there.

Dee Dee calling Barry's mom though... her heart was in the right place, but that may not have been the best choice. He was clearly upset, and rightfully so - his parents wanted to send him to conversion therapy ffs. That's traumatizing. It should have been his choice to reconnect, not something forced upon him.

They seemed to give the adults (mostly Barry and Dee Dee) more backstory, which was probably unnecessary, but I didn't mind it. Unpopular opinion, but they're my favorite parts of the show anyway.

However the addition of more backstory certainly added an extra element of angst. Ouch. Some moments hurted.

Barry and Dee Dee's relationship is really sweet and I'd like to explore it more sometime.

I liked that the songs weren't really changed much (a few words here and there, but nothing too noticable), other than The Acceptance Song and You Happened, but I liked Emma's Tonight Belongs to You reprise a lot, so I'll deal with it.

Unruly Heart gets me every time man... actually this movie in general made me tear up like three separate times ugh ugh.

All in all, I found it to be a very true adaption and have no real complaints at this time. I'm sure I will revisit this movie soon and maybe I'll take a deeper dive in a rewatch, but for the most part, I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable and I think if anyone is looking for a fun musical to watch, you should check it out, as well as the Broadway version.

This is a special story that shouldn't be missed.