#that first scene needs like... a remastered version now lmao

[rontra]

persona enjoyer alert!!!! i’m so glad to hear that someone i already follow is also into it. i haven’t played p3 yet so this is my first go of it but i’m really enjoying it so far. what’s this game like from the perspective of someone who played one of the other versions?

HIIIII god i'm so excited for you...imagine getting to play p3 for the first time...<333

i'm so glad you're enjoying it thus far...!!! 🥰 it's my beloved game. WELL all of my thoughts on Reload are obviously extremely skewed due to my pure attachment to this game's story and characters, so i can't give a very "objective" comment on... anything... but i'm not finishing this replay of p5 any time soon to put it that wayDBHFJKM

basically what it's like is., its everything to me. heart

i'm nowhere near done with P3R yet obviously (i keep putting it down to rest my wrists or draw stuff hahsahbd) but so far it's been such a treat for me. i'm very happy 🥺

to ME, persona 3 is (and will probably always be) The Peak... nd the remaster is running more or less the same script (i think it's based on p3p's script??? i forgor 💀) just with, yknow, new graphics and voicework and stuff. so it's hard to really complain about it when it's more or less been "persona 3 running on the persona 5 engine" 😭

like that sure is My Game! with extra Unreal Engine Motion Blur (<- LOL)

it's hitting all the beats in the order it should what more can i ask for. the music has been remixed a bit (as always huh) but it's still recognizably homey to me. like even if i keep getting thrown off by changes like "new lotus juice verse about going to bed early" (Iwatodai Dorm) i'm still just vibing along lmao. i cheered out loud when i heard Deep Breath Deep Breath

SO FAR my "complaints" have been pure, yknow, "unreasonable superfan nitpicking", so they aren't actually worthy of being called reasonable critique. it's all shit like "they rearranged the order of shots when remaking this cutscene, and the original sequence was stronger...TO ME"

STUFF THAT NO NEW PLAYER WOULD BE THINKING ABOUT...

and of course neutered Tactics is a no-no. i'm gonna be huffy about that forever but c'est la vie, it's what the franchise has settled on... but as a Certified P3 Tactics Gamer i'm basically obligated to be a lil miffed about this Post-Tactics World we live in. and like cmon man you introduced baton pass but my AI teammates can't even see it...even though the "recommended move" scan logic CAN....!!!

^^^ but this one is ALSO at its core a complaint that new players won't have comparison context for (because the Tactics in P3R is not the Tactics we once had). and . also many newbies will never even rub up against it if they prefer Direct Command to begin with (which lots of people do) so like. who cares . it doesn't ruin the game for me i just dearly miss the Epic Highs And Lows Of P3 Tactics HAHBDS

on the upside, adding more content for party members who didn't have SLinks in the original is Very Good. i'm really very much enjoying those new scenes and it's needed badly. sweet treats for diesel...❤ AND TARTARUS LOOKS SO GOOD HOUAHHH

AND that UI...so shiny.... ough... no i lovie. i really do

like at the end of the day i admittedly could never love P4, and while i did really enjoy P5 (and P5R) it was always "but it's no P3". so asking me for my thoughts on P3R is mostly incoherent nodding and pointing bc its very much My Game reincarnated. i'm glad all my friends have an easier way to play it all gussied up and shiny now so i can finally foist my old rpg upon them... 🥰

peace and love on tatsumi port island.

[antisocialxconstruct]

part [one] [two] [three]

Nine months from when I posted the first part and I feel like I’ve completed my magnum opus or something

Patreon | ko-fi

[gemsofgreece]

I've been finally getting into rebetiko so I was wondering if you could give me some recs? M' aeroplana Kai Vaporia is my fav song and gives me chills, and so does To Minore Tis Avgis from the softer ones. And could you point me towards info for its history & culture? Due to my personal circumstances the Smyrna aspects in particular is something I want to reconnect with. Note I'm Greek so I don't need English info I I'm just writing in english for accessibility in case people are interested

REBETIKOOO ah my favourite genre!!! (along with entechno) I am gonna add English info if you don’t mind.

Μ’αεροπλάνα και βαπόρια (With planes and ships) is one of my favourite songs too! Perhaps you already know this but fun fact: Savvopoulos was dreaming for a long time to write a proper rebetiko. So when he got Sotiria Bellou to sing his song he could hardly contain himself. When Bellou got out of the studio after she had finished recording the song, she told him “I ripped your “pops” and “rocks” apart”. After that, Savvopoulos never attempted to write rebetiko again. Now, to be fair, the song IS rebetiko but with an obvious entechno and soft rock flair :)

Since you like Bellou, here are other great classics from her:

Μη μου ξαναφύγεις πια (Don’t leave me no more)

Συννεφιασμένη Κυριακή (Cloudy Sunday)

Δε λες κουβέντα (You don’t say a word) (this is actually laiko bordering on soft rebetiko)

And since you also like Το μινόρε της αυγής some songs of Markos Vamvakaris, the dad of rebetiko (he was the one who made it mainstream and exculpated it):

Φραγκοσυριανή (Lady from Syros)

Τα ματόκλαδα σου λάμπουν (Your eyelashes are shining) For a less heavy approach, it is also great by Giannis Poulopoulos.

Τα ζηλιάρικα σου μάτια (Your jealous eyes)

And now a short history of Rebétiko.

Rebetiko is a music genre that first appeared in the late 19th Century and at the first three decades of the 20th Century it had reached the familiar sound we know today. It flourished amongst the Greeks of Asia Minor, mostly the low and working class. When the population exchange between Greece and Turkey took place in 1922, the 1,5 million Greek refugees who arrived at Greece brought many things, including rebetiko. In the beginning, the rapid influx of over a million people made the Greek citizens basically hostile towards them. The Greek refugees were severely marginalized and they survived and flourished in the underground scene. Rebetiko was considered provocative, shocking as, besides love, it often also addressed the struggles and little joys of marginalized people (poverty, prison, drugs, prostitution, life in the streets in general etc). Rebetiko was censored by the regime of Metaxas in 1936. In 1940, during the Nazi Occupation, rebetiko became a resistance genre against the Nazis and that helped it find wide acceptance amongst all Greeks by the early 50s. Since then, rebetiko has become an “untouchable” of Greek (and not only) genres and even Mikis Theodorakis (arguably the best or runner-up Greek composer of all time) once said: “We (the composers) are all just branches of a tree and that tree is Markos Vamvakaris” (the aforementioned dad). Rebetiko music is now part of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Aaaand some more recs!

1) Some very old

Τα παιδιά της γειτονιάς σου (The kids of your neighborhood) Actually folk Minor Asian of the late 19th century that was rebetised around the 20s. The version I linked is recent cos I love it)

Μισιρλού (Misirlu - Egyptian girl) Song from 1927. The main theme of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is a cover of this song. Black Eyed Peas also did a cover.

2) Some hardcore ones, like the Hashish songs (yep that’s an actual subcategory of rebetiko)

Ένας μάγκας στο Βοτανικό (A man of the streets at Votanikos) Sung entirely in a made up street slang Greek dialect.

Το πιτσιρικάκι (The kiddo)

Έμαθα πως είσαι μάγκας (I heard you are a street man)

Στην υπόγα (At the basement) I love the original 30′s version. The melody written and performed by Kostas Bezos was then remastered by him and led to the super famous ---->

Παξιμαδοκλέφτρα (Rusk thief) The dude who made the video for this song is my idol. I wonder what people who don’t speak Greek make of it lmao

Η προσευχή του μάγκα (The street man’s prayer)

3) And some more mainstream:

Βρέχει στη φτωχογειτονιά (It’s raining over the slum)

Με παρέσυρε το ρέμα (The river took me)

Απόψε στις ακρογιαλιές (Tonight at the beach)

Ακρογιαλιές δειλινά (Beaches and sunsets) I’m linking the Imam Baildi version.

Είμαστε αλάνια (We are street kids (?) )

Που ‘σαι Θανάση; (Where are you Thanasis?) Okay I am cheating a bit here because this is a laiko song but I INSIST it has a rebetiko flair also I am obsessing over it today

4) Instrumental

Τα ωραία του Τσιτσάνη (Tsitsanis’ nice tunes) Basically Vasilis Tsitsanis killing it.

Ζεϊμπέκικο της Ευδοκίας (A zeibekiko for Evdokia) Our unofficial national anthem shouldn’t be missing from this list. Fun fact: This was to be a full song. When Manos Loizos (the very famous composer) gave the melody to Lefteris Papadopoulos (very famous lyricist) refused to write any lyrics because he was sure this would destroy the song. And of course he was right.

5) Last BUT NOT LEAST, everything written by Stavros Xarchakos for the movie Rebetiko.

I give you my three favourites. But, like, I recommend all the movie basically.

Καίγομαι, καίγομαι (I am burning, I am burning)

Στου Θωμά το μαγαζί (At Thomas’ shop)

And for last, I saved the song that freezes my blood, sung by the man himself. Flirts heavily with entechno genre. This was Xarchakos’ only appearance on the silver screen.

Το πρακτορείο (The bus station)

I think I covered you well XD but in general Markos Vamvakaris and Vasilis Tsitsanis  wrote many masterpieces for rebetiko you can find. Xarchakos did too in this movie (but he generally composed more laiko and entechno). You can find a lot of good stuff.  Happy listening!

P.S I was double checking whether Βρέχει φωτιά στη στράτα μου is laiko or rebetiko (I’m stupid I know) and this is the genre Google gave me for Stratos Dionysiou:

As we speak, Dionysiou is rolling in his grave. I’ve never seen a disgrace like this before XD

[nancydrew428]

Hi!! So I’m conducting kind of a survey/study? Can you rank the games in order from best to worst in your eyes? A simple list will suffice. Include MID, and both SCKs please. But exclude dossiers ;)

Hi! Sorry for the late response! I’ve been doing finals and my last assignments of the semester haha. But I eventually finished this!

Also, don’t hate me (I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this except for on my bingo card, subtle plug), but I haven’t played 10 of the games, and of the ones that I have played, I still haven’t finished 3 of them🙊😂 So I might not be the most helpful, especially if you need exact rankings or answers from someone who knows everything about each game. I’m sorry! But hopefully my answer will still help you. If not, I’m hoping it’ll be interesting!

1. Curse of Blackmoor Manor

This one has definitely been my favorite game! It took me 8 years to finally finish it, but I’m so glad I did. I love the atmosphere, especially the creepy vibes (and I do like the English moor aesthetic, haha). The game used to scare me so bad, but now it’s just cute, and a little spooky. The only thing I don’t like is the moving rooms. All the other puzzles were good. But that one made me dizzy and confused, lol.

2. The Secret of Shadow Ranch

Dave Gregory. That’s it. That’s the tweet. Lmao. ...Seriously, though, I love being out on the ranch in real life and I love how that translated in the game. I love horses and cowboys. The love story with Frances and Dirk… My heart. I also loved the book. And I liked the glyphs. And the chocolate Shadow Ranch cake is to die for (it’s my go-to chocolate cake recipe!⁠—although I will never do walnuts).

3. Danger on Deception Island

This was the first game I played, so obviously it had to be high up on my list. Again, I love the atmosphere (that’s probably my biggest factor when ranking these games, and with playing games in general). It really reminds me of a place along the California coast that I visit during the summer. And I don’t think there would have been a better game to introduce 8 year old me into the world of ND video games.

4. Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake

This one used to scare me. Every night I would be afraid for the dogs to jump on the house and windows. Every time I would be in the woods looking for bugs I was terrified that something would happen. Also, Yogi! And I remember actually enjoying the puzzles and the hunt for bugs. Also, the speakeasy was so cool!

5. Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon

The Hardy Boys!! I saw someone say this is like an off-brand Murder on the Orient Express, and it was so funny to me, and I wanted to share it with you. But I love the train idea, the Hardy Boys, cooking, the potential “ghosts,” the hunt, and the dialogue.

6. Secret of the Old Clock

I loved this book. It’s the first Nancy Drew book (definitely a classic), and I love how they set the game in the ‘30s. It was completely different in that aspect than any of the other games. Although the driving wasn’t the most fun, I lovedthe pies, going through the secret passages, playing mini-golf, and the ugly yet cute cat that I don’t remember the name of.

7. Shadow at the Water’s Edge

I don’t know how accurate this is in the portrayal of Japanese culture. I hope that it’s pretty accurate and that it isn’t racist, but I’m not sure. But I remember playing this game when I was 11 and being absolutely terrified. The bento boxes were very cute, but I remember getting frustrated with it. The jumpscare is arguably the best part of the game and the scariest scene in any Nancy Drew game.

8. Sea of Darkness

This one is honestly this high up specifically for the graphics. Overall, it is a good game. I liked the puzzles, the setting, characters, dialogue, etc. But the graphics stole the show. It is the best Nancy Drew game with graphics, plus the scenery is pretty (even if it wasn’t as quality). I love the snow and the chilly atmosphere, and I definitely feel like it’s a winter game.

9. Treasure in the Royal Tower

I liked this game. I loved (you guessed it!) the atmosphere. I loved being snowed in, and I loved Hotchkiss. I don’t remember much of this game, and one might argue that that means that it should be lower on the list, but I remember really enjoying it, so I’m keeping it in this spot.

10. Legend of the Crystal Skull

I love the atmosphere, New Orleans, and Henry so much. This isn’t my favorite game, but it is so good!

11. Danger by Design

I like this one, with the Sonny Joon references. I also like Paris, and I think this is a fun game. But I always get it confused with The Phantom of Venice, which is why Phantom is listed right below this one. Which one has JJ and the cookies? I couldn’t tell you.

12. The Phantom of Venice

Like I said, I always get this one confused with Danger by Design. I couldn’t tell you what happens in each. Except this one has you dance in a catsuit and play SCOPA, but I don’t remember necessarily caring for either of these.

13. The Captive Curse

I like this one. I like Germany, the monster, the scary beginning, Renate falling asleep. But I feel like it could have been scarier. (If it was, let me know! I gotta replay it in that case.)

14. Alibi in Ashes

I love Alexei, the ice cream/milkshakes, and getting to play other characters than just Nancy. But other than that, it’s not my favorite game.

15. The White Wolf of Icicle Creek

I’ve only played the Wii version of this game, so I’m not sure how different it is from the PC version. + I never finished it. I loved the kitchen and cooking, and the wolf is super cute! But I didn’t like the ice thing. I could never get past it. Is it any easier on the PC?

16. The Haunting of Castle Malloy

I’m Irish and I think it’s cool that the game is in Ireland. I actually like the character design, but it feels a little bit….ridiculous to me? And the banshee? I don’t know. But I love the atmosphere, and from what I remember, I liked the characters.

17. The Creature of Kapu Cave

I remember liking the game, and I love anything with the ocean or lakes or swimming or diving. Like, the water is where I belong, and I think it’s so fun. But the character design is awful. Frank and Joe don’t look the way they’re supposed to, and I can’t get over it.

18. The Deadly Device

It’s a good game, but I’ve never finished it. It’s difficult in some parts and boring in others. But I love the Tesla idea, Mason’s sarcasm, and Ryan (I just love Ryan). But it’s never really pulled me in. (I think part of it might be because it’s the only game, other than SSH that I’ve tried playing without using any walkthroughs, so I’m having a tough time, lol.)

19. Warnings at Waverly Academy

I know that this is a fan favorite, but it isn’t my favorite. I like all of the Nancy Drew games that I’ve played for the most part, and it is a good game. But I’m tired of school, and I play video games to escape it. Plus, other than Mel, I don’t like any of the characters. That might be the point, but in a game where you have only a handful of characters, I don’t like only having one of them be likeable.

20. Message in a Haunted Mansion

I don’t remember much of this game. But I love anything even slightly spooky, and I remember thinking this game was cute.

21. Secret of the Scarlet Hand

I’m playing this game right now (not as I type this, but I’ve played it on and off for the past few months), and it’s pretty good. I like learning about Mayan culture, but it isn’t that special of a game. Nothing really stands out to me, and none of the characters are all that likeable imo.

22. Secrets Can Kill Remastered

Again, I don’t remember much from this game. It didn’t stick out to me much, and I enjoy games with a good atmosphere and a somewhat lasting impression. This game isn’t bad; I don’t think any of the ND games I’ve played have been bad tbh. But I don’t care about high school, and I want something else to remember. But I give Her Interactive kudos for making a game for girls about murder (especially because it was technically their first game, and this was just a remake). And that sounds sarcastic, but it actually isn’t! Lol.

23. The Haunted Carousel

This wasn’t a bad game. I just don’t really have an interest in carnivals and that sorta thing. They’re okay, but they don’t intrigue me that much. And I don’t remember much from this game. I played it around the same time that I played most of these games, and it didn’t stick out to me. However, I do love the cover and the fact that not every character is white.

24. Ransom of the Seven Ships

I know this game gets a bad rep, but I don’t think it’s a terrible game. But the black face is just too racist and makes me too uncomfortable to enjoy it as much as it could be enjoyed. If HeR toned down the racism a little bit, I could have actually enjoyed this game (except for George’s character design; they did my girl dirty, but what’s new?).

[suspiciouslandlady]

OTP Game

Pick your top 10 OTPs without reading the questions

1. Kirishima Eijirou x Katsuki Bakugou

2. Sasori x Deidara

3. Erwin Smith x Levi

4. Jean Kirschtein x Marco Bodt

5. Nagisa Kaworu x Shinji Ikari

6. Cloud Strife x Sephiroth

7. Steve Rogers x Tony Stark

8. Peter Parker x Wade Wilson

9. Kaminari Denki x Sero Hanta

10. Emperor Mateus x Kuja (lmao I had to add this crackship, I’ve started to like it so much ahaha)

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?  - Honestly I can’t remember when I started to ship Sefikura because the first time I saw them was in Advent Children movie, followed by Kingdom Hearts until I finally started to be interested in Final Fantasy. Somewhere between their eternal fighting haha.

2. Have you ever read a fanfic about 2? - I’m reading one atm hahaa!! But yeah, Sasodei was my 1st ship ever and I did read some fics about them back in 2008-2009. 

3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr screen saver? - Oh yeah they definitely have. 

4. If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be? - Wasn’t that the plot of Captain America: Civil War? No? Pfffft!! But honestly watching CA: Civil War was pain since I don’t want to take neither of their sides or see them fighting against each other but ugh. 

5. Why is 1 so important? - I love everything about their relationship. They complete each other and it’s just so amazing that Kirishima is Bakugou’s first true friend. A person he really acknowledges as his friend and trusts him. And I don’t even need to talk about that one moment we all know... *cough* take my hand *cough* 

But also!! Kirishima is able to grow as a person with Bakugou’s help too. It’s not one-sided with only Bakugou improving his character. They both are good influence to each other.

6. Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship? - I think to me, they’re more of a funny ship because the memes and shit, two damn goofballs at your service. But there’s a hint of seriousness and I really like to read serious Kamisero fics as well. Though sometimes it feels like they’re more harder to find :/

7. Out of all the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry? - Ugh I think there’s at least couple ships that have so much chemistry but I gotta say Eruri. I mean, Isayama did hint stuff about Erwin and Levi having deeper relationship than just friends but beside that, their chemistry is so fucking great. I guess it has something do with Levi’s Ackerbond to Erwin as well, Levi has dedicated his entire life to help Erwin reach his goals. And Erwin respects him, I feel like at the beginning he was the only one who held some kind of respect toward him and saw all the potential in Levi, even when he was just a thug in underground city.

8. Out of all your ships listed, which ship has the strongest bond? - Eruri again. And again, one of the reasons is probably Ackerbond. But their bond is so damn strong and Levi trusts Erwin with his whole life. And we all know how selective Levi can be with people.

9. How many times have your read/watched 10’s fandom? - Well it’s a crack ship so I guess I have to break it down into three different fandoms. FFII where Emperor is from, not that much. I’ve played the remastered version of it with my PSP but never finished it. I should play it some day. 

FFIX where Kuja is from, I finished the game last month and loved it. It made me love and understand Kuja’s character a lot more and he’s now my top 1 favorite Final Fantasy Villain.

Dissidia Final Fantasy is probably ‘the fandom’ where I ship this, as it’s an actual game where they both are. I used to play Dissidia back in middle school so much, like my first Dissidia 012 saving on my PSP is from 2011... And I recently played it again and finished the story mode. Still the best 1vs1 game ever, and I’m not even fan of those types of games.

10. Which ship has lasted the longest? - Sasodei probably. I started shipping them when I was 12 and even when I fell out of Naruto and stuff, they’ve always hold a special place in my heart. Even now as I’m getting back to the old fandom, reading and seeing pics of them gives me that same sweet feeling I felt toward this ship decade ago. I don’t even care what people say about them (I’ve heard some peepz call it abusive??? I kinda see what they’re trying to imply but then again wtf people???) because honestly, idgaf. It’s a ship that is precious to me from my past, it’s the roots of my weeb and shipping life.

Another long ship is both Eruri and Jeanmarco, I started shipping them back in 2014 and still ship them! 

11. How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up? - They never were together in the beginning since Sephiroth is Cloud’s arch-nemesis 😂 It’s hard to even describe their relationship because there’s nothing sane in it. That’s why I also ship Zack x Cloud, it makes sense and balances the hate stuff what is happening in Sefikura pfft.

12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8? - LMAO I love how both of these ships have one who is immortal. Or ‘’immortal’’. Wade would have no problem with the virus since his healing factor is good and I bet zombies wouldn’t even care about Sasori since he’s a puppet. 

But I think they both would actually make it out alive. Peter is freaking Spiderman, he has everything what will help him survive (his spidey sense, being able to crawl on the walls/ceiling etc). Deidara would just explode everything into pieces. 

13. Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason? - I don’t think they’d have a reason to hide it, but also I feel like they’d prefer to keep it behind the walls of their home. 

14. Is 4 still together? - 😔 Marco has been dead like forever. I’m still salty about his death after all these long years.

15. Is 10 canon? - Definitely not since they’re from different games pffft! Oh the joy of crack ship. But you know, in original Dissidia Kuja’s encounter intro for Mateus is “You think you can dominate me?” 😂 and honestly Kuja, that’s not something you should say to Palamecia

16. If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win? - I honestly feel like Cloud and Sephiroth would win it. Sephiroth alone is a fella you don’t want to fight against because he WILL kill you without a hesitation. And since Cloud has Jenova cells in him as well, he’s not just an ordinary guy with a sword. If he can keep up with Sephiroth’s shit, being literally stabbed like a kebab in AC, I’m sure he can keep up with others as well.

17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 5’s ship? - Well Kaworu is literally one of the enemy in the series but he abandoned his mission and let Shinji kill him. He also truly loved Shinji, that’s what I like to think. He didn’t just play with his feelings.

18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond? - Probably the top 5 since they’re mostly my serious-serious ships. The rest 6-10 are one way or another either for fun or something else. Sefikura is good source for arch-nemesis stuff and hate-sex etc (tho I’ve read sweet and great fluff about them too), Stony is just there with superfamily au, Spideypool is great and they’re both goofballs, Kamisero is more fun than serious stuff and Emperor/Kuja is just a random crack ship I happened to stumble upon suddenly out of nowhere. 

19. Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s tumblr page? - I used to but since I haven’t been active in snk fandom in a year, I’ve been digging other ships from Tumblr instead. I guess one of the reasons is that Eruri fandom kinda just... idk never felt so welcoming as some other fandoms? AoT fandom in general has been so fucking toxic through the years. 

20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all forever, which ship would you sink? - Probably Emperor/Kuja because they’re just a crack ship and don’t even have a lot of content... even tho there’s this one fic what I absolutely love about them aaaaa. But yeah probably that or Cloud/Sephiroth because I can always ship Cloud with Zack ;D

My tags @repesso @thats-so-hambone @cybergutzz

[vvitchering]

I followed you literally a few days before the name change cause you had a Witcher name posting Mandalorian content so I figured it was the best of both worlds! What are you most excited about on Mando S3 and Witcher S2? They both have a lot of story to tell! Shipping wise, love Cobb Vanth (and Tim Olyphant) but the possibility of more development in canon seems slim, while the potential for Geralt and Jaskier is there, even if just to try to fix the mountain scene + throw Eskel into the mix!

The name change was a bit out of the blue but I tend to do that whenever I decide to focus on a new fandom! I kept my twitter handle the same though, so I figured that was a good compromise :) 

Oh lord,,,,,I hope you are prepared for Opinions because I have many. So many I think I’ll put this under a cut to spare the dash lmao

Aight so let’s talk about Mando S3 first since that’s what I’m most excited about anyway. I actually just marathoned S2 yesterday for the millionth time so I’ve got it all fresh in my head. I’m still thinking they’re going to go in a more introspective direction with Din at first. Where we leave him in the s2 finale, he’s lost literally everything. 

He’s broken his creed beyond what he feels he can excuse away, he’s finished his quest but lost his son in the process, both his covert and his ship are gone so he’s effectively entirely homeless, and now he has Bo Katan breathing down his neck for the Darksaber that he doesn’t even want but can’t just hand over. 

That’s a lot for one emotionally vulnerable dude to handle. I think he’ll try to disappear for a while and give himself a chance to grieve. I like to joke that maybe we’ll see him in the background during The Book Of Boba Fett crying on a couch. I’d like to see him be able to take the time to process everything that’s happened, properly grieve, and be able to make an informed decision about what to do with the Darksaber. I don’t feel that Din would feel comfortable taking that responsibility on without something or someone influencing him in that direction. Maybe we’ll see the armorer again? Whether or not she’s going to continue to be a positive figure for Din remains to be seen. 

Regardless, I do think S3 is going to deal with themes of self discovery and focus at least of its time on Din’s personal journey into figuring out what being Mandalorian means to HIM, rather than trying to fit back into the ways he was raised in. I don’t see him giving up his faith or traditions. But I do see him and the show exploring these things in a deeper way and I hope that means we get to see more Mandalorian lore and culture :D Once he’s more secure in himself again, I can see him being an absolutely fantastic leader for his people.

And of course I want the show to give him his baby back!!! I want those themes of found family to remain strong and I desperately want to see Din acknowledge his paternal bond with Grogu in some more concrete way. Whether he formally adopts him in the Mandalorian tradition, or he’s called to wherever Luke took Grogu for training to help, I just want them to get to see each other again ;A;

My last feeling about s3 is it had better NOT try to shoehorn in a romance. Both s1 and 2 were so solid and satisfying without one and I would hate to see s3 replace the focus on familial bonds with romantic ones. We just don’t need it. I love shipping, but that’s my side hobby. I don’t need it in canon. Especially not this canon. 

And now we switch gears and talk briefly about The Witcher s2

So I am significantly less excited for this one, to absolutely no one’s surprise. From what I can tell, it’s heading into the story that takes place in Blood Of Elves, which I actually have read, so I have a good idea of what to expect plot-wise. They’re tossing in a few of the stories they didn’t use from The Last Wish too which could be cool. I’m looking forward to seeing if they manage to keep the whimsical nature of Nivellen’s story intact or if they’re DoomGloomGritting it like the rest of the story in the show so far.

I Hated the mountain scene for various reasons and I’m not getting into it again, but I would say not to hold your breath for the miraculous apology everyone seems to want for some reason. But if you like Jaskier angst/whump.....you’ll like this season. 

The one thing I actually am still holding onto some excitement for is finally seeing Kaer Morhen and the rest of the Wolves (+ Coen). I’m still not over Thue having to step down as Eskel and I’m Big Worried about how this new guy will do. I just can’t see it, he doesn’t have anywhere near the right look, imo. But makeup is a powerful thing so we’ll see. I’m very excited to see Lambert because Paul is Gorgeous and I think it’s about time the world got to have a Gorgeous Lambert. 

Again, if the show follows the book at all, we should be getting some lighthearted and cute witcher family scenes but I don’t really trust the show runner to not run off and do her own thing again, as she is so fond of doing. After that point, I got bored of the story and I don’t have any plans to finish the rest of the books so. Yeah. 

I’m hoping by that time I’ll be able to afford a PS5 and can play the remastered version of TW3 and get back into the franchise again through that. Despite my lack of faith in the show, I still do really love the characters and the lore! 

[rachaelwatchestv]

Baywatch - Season 1 Episode 1 Panic at Malibu Pier

My mom was obsessed with this show when I was a kid (for reference, I’m about to be 25), and the “remastered version” just appeared on Hulu so why not see what the fuss is all about. I’m gonna put a read more line here, so anyone who comes across this post but doesn’t want to scroll down through what could be miles of me talking doesn’t have to.

DISCLAIMER: There are a few things in this episode that some people might find triggering, there’s a character who is extremely mentally ill, has delusions, and is mentioned harming herself.  If you might find that upsetting, please do not continue on with reading about this episode.

So this is the “Pilot”? And it’s a whopping 95 minutes long so I guess we should just get right into it.

Okay I know this show was like an 80′s/90′s show but already the swimsuits have me dying...so 80′s lmao.

I already cannot get over how young David Hasselhoff looks.

The theme song is literally just beautiful people running on the beach.  I knew that was the premise of the show but I didn’t expect it to start right away

So we start with David Hasselhoff (whose name is Mitch, apparently) in a kayak  water ski boat thing with a kid (who is his son), racing another one of the lifeguards from the theme song.  Mitch and the kid win, and the lady lifeguard (Jill) accuses him of gaining weight.

So Hobie, Mitch’s son asks if it’s okay to rub sunscreen on a girl’s back and admits that he said no because he thought it would be too embarrassing.  To which Mitch (HA) tells him that under no circumstances should he ever say no to rubbing sunscreen on a girl’s back. This conversation has extremely creepy undertones.

This is Craig.  He’s a lifeguard and a lawyer and he’s decided to skip out on his lawyer job because the weather is just so nice that he has to go to the beach.  He also drives a corvette.  I want his life.

Rookie Shawnie came in 46th in her class, Rookie Eddie came in number 1.  Shawnie clearly has a crush on Eddie and clearly doesn’t take her job too seriously.  More trouble to come I assume.

Craig gets to the lifeguard headquarters right as Hobie is arguing with Mitch about having to go live with his mom.  He has to go to summer school and she thinks it will be too distracting to live so close to the beach with his dad.  I don't think she's wrong on that count.  It also seems like there might still be some feelings between Mitch and his ex-wife.

Craig meets up with an older lifeguard, Al, and says that he found a loophole in the mandatory retirement age so he won't have to retire.  Craig then gets his truck stuck under the pier as the tide is coming in.  Rookie mistake.  It’s lucky that he was there though (for the plot), because a girl was stupidly trying to balance on the Pier’s railing and she fell off.  Imagine that.

Craig saves her and gives her mouth to mouth.  She very creepily strokes his hair.  Later, someone at the lifeguard tower gives her Craig’s sweatshirt to keep her warm.  Seems like a bad idea to me...a later conversation between the two shows that she’s clearly into him.  Also we find out her name is Lori.

Mitch got promoted to lieutenant and everyone makes fun of his new uniform, yet they’re throwing him A GALA to celebrate.  Not a party...a GALA!! Seems a little excessive to me but what do I know? Also Craig and Mitch are BFFs for life and no one will convince me otherwise.

Back to the Rookies, Eddie gets assigned to tower 27 but Shawnie wants it because that’s where all of her friends hang out.  Mitch assigns Shawnie to a boat with Jill, but not until she changes swimsuits because what she’s wearing is not practical at all.  It really just seems like a way to make her character look stupider, and to give gratuitous near nudity to all the male viewers.  I guess in the 80′s this was viewed as a win-win for TV, but nowadays it just hits very differently.

Lori sneaks through Craig’s bag and grabs his key to the lifeguard tower before she's sent home.  

And we have our first lifeguard montage!  This one's not nearly as bad as I'm sure they're going to get.  Just a lot of random shots of lifeguards doing lifeguard things while an uplifting song plays in the background.  Also everyone on this beach (even the tourists) seem to have a perfect body...just feels unrealistic. 

Now we're introduced to Captain Thorpe who isn't sure that Mitch is the right person to be lieutenant.  He also seems skeptical of Shawnie and Al. And he forces Mitch to wear his dress shoes...the horror!

While Jill is complaining to Mitch about Shawnie, an Australian lifeguard from a private beach named Trevor climbs up the flagpole and into Mitch's office. His business card reads "shark fighter and virgin converter" and that's really all you need to know about him.

Lori surprises Craig with a visit on the beach, and is upset when she sees him with a girl who needs help (Yeah girl, you're not special).   Foreboding music plays as she watches him fix the other woman's toe. She then gets real freaky and keys the other woman's car.

Eddie gives us his backstory by telling a six year old kid that he was in foster care growing up.  Dude, that kid probably doesn't even know what foster care is.

A bunch of people are caught in a riptide and all the lifeguards jump in.  Shawnie freezes when a little girl stops breathing and needs CPR.  Trevor passes two drowning people to save the pretty girl who was drowning at the same time even though Mitch was much closer to her.  This, of course, is a problem between them.

Hobie UNHOOKS A GIRLS BIKINI STRAP and goes to put suntan oil on her back, but some kid swoops in and does it instead.  These kids are 13, and honestly the children actors look even younger...something seems so wrong with this story line.

Mitch and his ex get in an argument about custody because his ex wants Hobie to live with her so he doesn't grow up only wanting to be a lifeguard.  She wants him to have options.

Meanwhile, Lori the crazy girl (Whose name is shown to actually be spelled as Laurie) shows up in Craig’s tower at the end of the day with wine and in just a silk robe.

He very nicely gets her to leave the tower and tells her that he has a wife, Gina.  Laurie tries to kiss him and reveals that she's naked under the robe (Gasp!) right as another lifeguard drives up and sees.  Laurie runs off before he can say anything else.

Shawnie's in the shower crying over freezing earlier that day.  Jill comforts her and reminds her that the job isn't "all fun in the sun".

Captain Thorpe comes back and insists that Al be put on desk duty until mandatory retirement.  Mitch goes to talk to Al and finds him painting on his back porch.  Damn this guy can paint!!

But also how does a man on a lifeguard’s salary afford a massive oceanfront house like that?  

Anyways, Al offers to talk to Gail (Hobie's mom) about the custody arrangement and take Hobie out for a fishing trip.  He also declines Mitch's offer of a desk job.

It's time for Mitch's gala...which is more of a simple party at a really nice house.  No idea why they were calling it a gala in the first place.  But they also have a live girl group playing?  And Shawnie is dressed up like Madonna while Eddie swims laps in the pool AT THE PARTY?  This is the most confusing party I've ever seen.

Laurie shows up to the party (big shocker there) and creeps on Craig's wife, Gina in the bathroom.  She tells Gina that a lifeguard saved her life, kissed her, and then they "made love right there in the tower" Lovely Gina offers to help her find the lifeguard at the party and is stunned when Laurie points out Craig in the crowd.

Gina kindly but sternly points out that Craig is her husband, then Laurie causes a scene, shouting that she didn't know he had a wife and he's embarrassing her in front of the whole party.  The lifeguard from earlier that saw her naked basically confirms her story by staying silent when asked, and Gina storms out of party with Craig running after her.

At home, Gina is very obviously upset while Craig tries to insist that nothing happened.  Crazy Laurie calls the house and tells Craig to meet her at the tower or she'll kill herself. Gina tells Craig to call the police and not do it himself, but Craig insists.  Gina decides to tag along to try to help.

At the life guard tower, they find Laurie in the corner crying not to take her back to her parents.  She has bruises on her neck and tells Craig and Laurie that it was her father.  Craig decides to take her back to their house (bad move).

At home, Craig and Gina talk and Craig decides to go to Laurie's house tomorrow to talk to the parents before he calls CPS.  They kiss in their bed and surprise, surprise, the camera pans to reveal Laurie watching them

In the morning, Laurie goes through Craig's bag and finds a diving knife. She goes to the beach and practices her stabbing motions while having flashbacks to Craig and Gina's relationship.

Craig meets with her parents and is surprised to find that Laurie's father died ten years ago.  Her mom explains that Laurie gets violent and hurts herself and just got home from the psych ward at the hospital.  

Back at the house, Laurie sneaks up on Gina who by the way is an actual saint.  Like Gina treats Laurie so nicely and sweet and doesn't even care that Laurie stole her shirt, she just goes, "It's fine, it looks pretty on you." Laurie's craziness could not have happened to a nicer person.  Laurie convinces Gina to drive her back to the beach so she can release a letter she wrote Craig into the ocean and release all of her feelings towards him.

Laurie tries to get Gina to go into a super creepy place under the pier, to which Gina wisely says "No thanks." So Laurie runs in on her own and Gina chases after her out of the goodness of her heart.

Craig comes home to find the house empty and quickly drives to the beach to try to find them.

Gina catches up with Laurie who tricks her to get her to turn her back and pulls out a knife.  Gina realizes that the letter Laurie wrote is a fake suicide note to make it look like Gina killed herself.  Laurie tries to slit her wrist but Gina is able to pull away and throw sand in Laurie's eyes so she can escape. She runs, calling for help as Craig pulls into the parking lot and sees her car.  He hears her cries for help and finds her right before Laurie catches up.

Craig manages to talk Laurie out of killing his wife for a minute, but then she sees his wedding ring and freaks out again. Craig is able to grab the knife through the fence and stop the whole thing.

While the drama at the pier is gong on, Al and Hobie are out on a boat for their fishing trip.  Al overhears a woman remarking on how he’s too old to be a lifeguard. A crew member goes down into the cabin to cook Hobie's fish for lunch, but accidentally causes an explosion while changing out a propane tank. Luckily the whole boat doesn't blow up, but a massive fire breaks out and Hobie falls through the floorboards into the hull of the ship while Al shouts at everyone to jump off.

Back at Baywatch headquarters, the team assembles to go help, and they all know that Hobie and Al might be on the boat.  Al is shown in the water telling everyone not to panic and helping everyone grab onto floating pieces of wood.  Mitch, Jill, Shawnie and Eddie are all parts of the rescue team.

Mitch gets to Al but they don't know where Hobie is.  They find him in an air pocket in part of the boat that is now completely submerged.

Al and Mitch work together to get everyone out of the boat safely, but Al gets stuck on some rope on his way out.  Mitch finds him but it's too late, he has drowned and they are unable to revive him.  I don't know why, because we got very little screen time of him, but Al's death actually made me sad.

They hold a lifeguard funeral for Al which involves a bunch of trucks driving on the beach, and some boats lined up in the water.  Mitch gives a very touching eulogy about all the lives that Al saved over the years and how they'll never forget him.  

The episode ends with a montage of the lifeguards working the beach presumably the next day with an overarching feeling of "life goes on". No word on what happened to Laurie, but Gina and Craig are still happily married so I guess all's well that ends well.