don't say I didn't warn you

show fans can claim that pjotv is doing numbers or whatever, but the fact of the matter is, it's not becoming a household name beyond what it already was before pjotv existed. no one outside of the pjo bubble is talking about it. regular department stores don't have shirts or other merch for it. any non-bookish person you talk to has not heard of it or has no interest in watching it. and if/when pjotv is ultimately remembered as another poor adaptation of the books, there will probably be people who say that pjo was just not meant for screen. but i will know better. i will know that hollywood fumbled the bag twice. i will know that pjo deserved the same fame, the same household-name status, as other book-to-screen adaptations that became massively popular. i will know that the story could have worked in both live action and animation. no one will ever convince me that it wasn't possible.

the "percy is an unreliable narrator" bit they've been peddling since the beginning of season 2 is going to haunt me forever i fear. like what is the goal here? to make people think that every novel they read in first person, or close third for that matter, is automatically unreliable?! that's not how it works! unreliable narrators are intentional literary devices used to create stories where the narrator genuinely should not be trusted by the reader, and the story is crafted to reflect that. percy jackson is NOT an unreliable narrator because we ARE supposed to believe his version of events/the story that unfolds through his eyes. "but he's wrong about things! he misinterprets things sometimes! he—" YES BECAUSE HE IS A CHARACTER WITH EMOTIONS FEELINGS FEARS HOPES ETC. HE CAN MAKE MISTAKES. and alternatively, "these [new] characterizations are actually Correct and True to canon, percy was just unreliable—" NO! IT'S CALLED RECONTEXTUALISATION. OR SIMPLY, A CHANGE FROM THE SOURCE MATERIAL. omfg just because we are limited to his pov in pjo does not mean everything is suddenly unreliable. it only means we don't have full context about everything at all times, which is how a lot of stories are told. i am certain this has been said before, and more eloquently at that, but percy is only unreliable when it comes to himself (i.e., how he views himself and how powerful he is). but we can trust what he says or thinks about other characters, especially in the context of their actions and dialogue. (side note: i once saw someone point out that everyone percy likes is beautiful and everyone he doesn't like is ugly, and i think that's less about him being unreliable and more about the author's view that morality and beauty are somehow connected.) god these showrunners don't have any media literacy, critical thinking, or reading comprehension skills.

um...does the <3 show up correctly in the blog description above??

pjotwt show fans are actually disgusting for calling anyone with valid criticisms about pjotv "book purists." the connotations of the word pure/purity across cultures, religions, et cetera are so intense, and in many contexts, extremely fucked up. i didn't expect to feel so pissed off, especially because other shit these same people/accounts have said since december 2023 hadn't bothered me beyond a fleeting thought of "lmao that's stupid" but wow, this one is despicable. these people genuinely cannot think beyond a binary—either you love the show in its entirety, no exceptions, or you love the books in their entirety, which means you must hate every. single. change. i have to wonder how they would engage with me, someone who likes the cast of season 1 to the point where i find myself imagining these actors when rereading the books. do they think i wanted a cast of only white people? in 2023? lmfao. they cannot fathom that someone would like leah as annabeth and also think the show's script absolutely destroys her character. that's too much nuance for their smooth brains. it would make them combust. what these people want, quite literally, is to be on good terms with the mouse so they can be invited to premieres and sets and whatnot. at this point, they should be viewed as unpaid marketers of the show. their reviews are not completely authentic, either due to their connections to the mouse or their desires to connect with the mouse. imo, their words should be regarded the same way one would take in a youtuber's segment about the sponsor of their video. in this context, show fans likely believe in what they're saying to an extent, or they (ideally) wouldn't bother at all, but their words are still going to be filtered for approval, or if/when seeking or wanting approval. and this interpretation of their intentions is not baseless—some of them have even voiced their wishes to be noticed by the mouse in their tweets. so...yeah

sometimes i get a funny feeling that the pjotv actors (especially the kids) know season one wasn't good (through no fault of their own). like you have some of them spouting lines they've probably been instructed to say about how season one "laid the groundwork" and "needed a lot of exposition" (though somehow we never learned basic things, like riptide/anaklusmos, nectar & ambrosia, etc). a lot of them are really emphasizing how action-packed season two is, so it's clear they know season one lacked quality action sequences. i swear i even saw an interview (not in these past days, but earlier in season two's promo) where one of the actors said that season one involved a lot of "standing and talking" but they're "moving" a lot more in season two. and now we even have the actors occasionally voicing their doubts/hesitations during interviews (but quickly following up with reassurances because the mouse is always watching them). like one actor said that when they'd get the scripts they'd message each other like ??? "but by the end it all made sense" because the screenwriters are "so intentional" and another actor said that they were originally concerned about the battle at camp in season two because that's from book four and they "can't do the same thing twice" (lmao because the showrunners had percy sacrifice himself in back-to-back episodes), but apparently they're going to do something different in season four (assuming they get renewed). an actor even said that not having george and martha on the caduceus was a "missed opportunity." in trivia rounds during interviews, actors are admitting that so much has been changed that they sometimes get confused between the book and the show, yet they still voice their hopes to see characters like silena and beckendorf in the future. and honestly at this point i wouldn't be surprised if these child/teen/young adult actors who are fans of the books know that the show is not as fun/entertaining as it could be, but i doubt the adults calling all the shots would listen to them even if they said something

i know i'm not the first person to say this but every time i remember that sunrise on the reaping exists i get frustrated all over again bc i really feel like this installment was meant to be from the pov of a career. like i really really really think we were supposed to get a story about the 50th quarter quell specifically, but from the perspective of a career. and because they would die at the end, the final chapters could be from haymitch's point of view. but from page 1 to their death, we would follow a career and witness their brainwashed state of mind slowly unravel as they realize that they too are victims of the capitol. suzanne collins really could have written something worthwhile

so i started rewatching merlin on a whim and it's fascinating how the action sequences in a show from 2008 are more enjoyable to me than the ones in the pjo tv show. and we actually get to SEE excalibur. and the sword looks GOOD. riptide barely appeared on screen, especially in its entirety. and it looked so dull. shouldn't celestial bronze shine? but what do i know

incredibly disappointed and frankly aghast by the number of people i respect and admire in bookish spaces who loved sunrise on the reaping and rated it five stars. like how are so many people praising this? the denial of mediocrity in art when a certain person's name is slapped on the cover will never make sense to me because i'm over here expecting better solely because a certain person's name is on the cover!! i know suzanne collins can do better because she has done better, and sotr is a mess!

i'm never not going to be mad that lockwood & co (a spectacular middle grade series) got an absolutely stellar adaptation and still got cancelled, while pjo and atla (both phenomenal stories targeted toward the same age group) got watered-down adaptations that were mediocre at best and still got renewed. i'm just devastated about everything

every so often i open this app and scroll through the pjo tv crit tag just to feel something