#and shortly after that is endgame arc

[reading-writing-dying]

After a bit longer than expected, new chapter!

Life is crazy but it's been decided that I should break up the planned chapter into two bits so have part one of the holiday chapter (which feels odd to be posting when it's only September and also 80 degrees where I live but shhhhh)

[those70scomics]

Hi hi hi!

So, since you watched the show as it was airing I wanted to ask if Hyde and Jackie were always intended to become a ship and if they were, how do you know? Also, how do you know the original intention was for them to get engaged at the end of season 7, before it was renewed? (Outside from the obvious) I'm so curious

Hi! 😊

I'll start with how I know what I know. The T7S message board at Fan Forum was created very shortly after T7S began airing. When I became co-moderator of the board (less than ten years ago? Around ten?), I read every single post. Including those that were lost in what was called "the purge" by using the Internet Wayback Machine when Fan Forum was called Forum 4 Fans. These are the earliest posts one can find about the show.

This effort took me weeks. I read tens upon tens of thousands of posts and T7S / T7S fandom history. Followed links to defunct T7S fansites (again, the Internet Wayback Machine). This includes reading articles and transcripts of interviews with the cast, producers, writers, and showrunners. Press releases. News about cast negotiations.

Within these posts and fansites are people who went to tapings and wrote thorough reports. People who spoke to producers at tapings. People who (were) connected to people who worked on the show. Wilmer Valderrama posted himself in the board and interacted with fans. Remember, this forum existed before Twitter/X, before Facebook, before Tumblr. These forums were where social media started.

This was also the time of Myspace, and some of the cast posted there, too, which was reported on the message board.

As I found all the info through my research, I posted it in fresh threads on the message board. I also inherited my grandfather's eiditic memory and have partial highly superior autobiographical memory -- which is, thankfully, nowhere near Marilu Henner's complete HSAM. Of course, if I place a pen down and I'm distracted, I'll forget where I put the pen a second later 😂.

Facts stick in my head. Once I know it, I remember it. For example, I used to recite one of my college classes from start to finish to my friends (those who were interested). I've forgotten half the class by now. I learned how to let go of certain info so it wouldn't drive me 🤪. But not autobiographical memories. Those I re-experience like I'm watching a movie but with all thoughts and feelings attached. It's a visceral trip. A blessing and sometimes not so much. 😅

Anyway, there's the how.

Jackie and Hyde weren't always intended to endgame. The Filgos were writers on the show a few years before they were chosen as showrunners. During Jackie and Hyde's season 2-3 arc, the Filgos became enamored of the chemistry between the characters.

When the Filgos were chosen sometimes during season 4 to be the showrunners moving ahead (season 5 through the original end of the show, season 7), they asked the current showrunners to break up Jackie and Kelso by the end of season 4 because they wanted to pair Jackie and Hyde in season 5.

In the second half of season 4, one can see the change in Jackie and Kelso's relationship. It grows more and more toxic, a turn from their previous growth away from their original toxicity. It's written in stages rather than a sudden shift, so it's grounded in story and character.

From season 5, Jackie and Hyde were intended to be endgame. During the press for season 7 before it aired, the cast made clear this was the final season.

The Filgos were contracted through season 7. They got their next job since T7S was ending. Topher was moving into his movie career fully. The scripts, including the series finale, were written. Shows were filmed and began to air

Then Fox decides to renew the show (safer to continue a popular series than to risk $$$ on a new show). But the Filgos already had a new job lined up. They couldn't break that contract. They hoped whoever was hired after them would follow through on their vision for the show and reasonably expected the new showrunners to respect the past seven years of character a d relationship development.

But the showrunners hired were a) probably cheaper to pay because this was their first showrunning gig and b) presented their vision for season 8, which was to "bring it back to the humor and feel of season 1" -- the only season they liked, clearly, but didn't watch very carefully or with any depth of understanding.

W.V. also had in his contract changes for his character, including him ending up with one of the principal female characters. It wasn't going to be Donna, obviously, so that left Jackie. Not a problem for the S8 showrunners who hated J/H and, very evidently, Jackie as a character.

So instead of following through on the storyline the Filgos left them (i.e. reconcile fan-favorite couple Jackie and Hyde for good) to ease them into the role, they destroyed Jackie and Hyde's relationship because [partially direct quotation, partially close paraphrase from a magazine interview published before season 8 aired], "We never understood it. We never liked it. We think it was a mistake for the show to pair them romantically, so we're returning them to their season 1 dynamic. They were originally antagonists, and they should have stayed that way. That's where the humor is."

Fortunately, frustratingly, and sadly, someone connected to the show revealed Jackie's endgame from the original series finale, the original season 7 finale: Hyde proposes to Jackie, and they get engaged. Their season 7 arc is built around this endgame. Despite the script revisions and rewrites made when season 8 was greenlit, their original endgame remains evident throughout the second half of season 7.

Hyde tells Eric peacefully and happily (for Hyde) that he's decided [to marry Jackie]. Jackie would have actually left for Chicago, leaving Hyde the note he reads shortly after his decision. Kelso was not involved. But the rewrite, I believe, changed Jackie to having pretended to leave. It's messy writing, but it sets up that Kelso must now drive Jackie to Chicago. He's in her motel room, etc.

The original scripts likely have Jackie go to Chicago before the deadline she set for the ultimatum. Hyde is naturally upset and angry because he'd decided within her deadline to propose, but she deprived him of the chance after forcing the choice.

Hyde's conversation with Eric and Donna about his feelings (in Hyde's way) was probably in the original script. Donna calls out Hyde, realizing he was going to propose. Later, Eric tells Hyde he recognizes that Hyde became happy once he and Jackie got together.

All of the above is easily discernable. The following is conjecture based on the facts, foreshadowing, the Filgos' intended endgame for Jackie and Hyde, and my education and experience as a writer.

These conversations lead Hyde to break out of his misery and go to Chicago (with a ring) and follow-through with the proposal -- a huge character moment for him. He's going to fight for Jackie even if she ultimately rejects him (a parallel to "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" in season 5, where Jackie professes her love and doesn't care if Hyde says it back).

Hyde would have knocked on Jackie's motel door. She would've been shocked and asked Hyde what he's doing there. He would have entered and gotten on one knee. The audience would have squealed. Hyde would have proposed in a way true to himself -- not sentimentally but touching nonetheless.

She'd be in shock. "I can't believe you came to Chicago ... "

Hyde says his knee is starting to hurt, so she better make up her mind before he's forced to stand up.

Jackie: "Yes! Steven, yes, I'll marry you!"

Hyde blows out a heavy breath in all kinds of relief, stands up, and puts the ring on Jackie's finger. Jackie and Hyde kiss and embrace. Then Jackie examines the ring and is surprised he didn't go on the cheap like Eric.

Hyde: "Yeah, well, I asked W.B. for help."

Jackie: "But you hate hand-outs!"

Hyde: "It's not a hand-out! It's a loan. I'm gonna pay him back."

Jackie stares at Hyde lovingly.

Hyde: "What?"

Jackie: "This is our first fight as fiancés!"

Hyde laughs quietly then kisses Jackie again.

Fade out.

Other scenes to finish off the series, including the reveal to Jackie and Hyde's friends and family about their engagement.

[adamnablelittledevil]

I'm excited for Devil's Minion but I hope the Lesmand aspect isn't undermined in its favor. That ship may not be endgame but it's so important to both Lestat and Armand.

I only know Devil's Minion content from what I've seen on the tag, but I share the same feeling! I also enjoy Armand and Daniel's dynamic on the show. I can't wait to see more if it (and any possible duo, romantic/endgame or not, because they're all so appealing) and I hope they did have something in the past as well (and I think it's highly possible), because both Eric and Luke are great. And, well, this chemistry is too extraordinary to ignore.

Sure, this scene wasn't a positive one, but tell me they don't have potential to deliver the romantic content?

So, about the books, I'm still on chapter 5 of The Vampire Lestat (I'm leaving IWTV for last), but so far I don't see how they could reduce lesmand. I guess you could say there is some romantic aspect to them, but there's so much more than that too. Now, I might be interpreting this wrong or things will naturally change over the course of the books, but I believe they have this soul ties/mirrors/foils/two sides of the same coin aspect. It's only been a little over one chapter since Armand was firstly introduced, but their dynamic already feels so important. They're so similar and yet so different, they're fascinated by each other, they see parts of themselves that they don't like on one another, they see things they can't understand but want to, there's empathy, there's protectiveness, they're attracted to one another and not even just in a physical/romantic sense, but there's some genuine curiosity, admiration and magnetism there, but they're still afraid of each other, they still despise one another, they hurt each other, they know it's better to stay way, but don't really want to so it challenges them to the point they also HATE each other... I even feel like it's more frustration and projection than actual hate, but still... They're very INTENSE, in every sense of the word. And it keeps fleeting all the time, sometimes it's warmer, sometimes it's more explosive, sometimes they have similar reactions to one another and sometimes they don't... Which leads to different types of tension that is entertaining to play with. Plus, they have the best conversations and arguments for me. They touch on some really relevant topics about each other's existence, their collective existence as a species and as individuals (which is part of their conflict). Basically, we can call them whatever we want, but they're never boring.

So I can't see them being able to change that even if they want to? Also, because Armand is the first vampire Lestat meets after his maker and fledgling. Magnus kills himself shortly after turning Lestat, Gabrielle and Lestat are almost on the same level when it comes to powers and knowledge about vampirism. Armand exists out of their sphere, has been a vampire for a while, has more abilities/knowledge than them... I feel like you need that in order to 'shake' things up on the flashbacks instead of just being in the bubble of Lestat and his fledglings or using Armand as a small character.

And Assad is one of the main actors, he's paid for main actor screen time, so it would be a waste not to use him as such? And, like you said, it's so important for both Armand's and Lestat's arcs, and this is a main character + main character dynamic, it's not like a side plot with a guest star. It would be killing multiple birds with one stone, because you'd find a way to use two fundamental characters, tell the story in a proper and also engaging way. Not to mention they would be insanely stupid to waste this.

Yeah, I know this is different on the book, but my point is that the enigmatic chemistry they're supposed to have is there and Rolin should make the most of it. Like, I'm still a bit frustrated they didn't play a little more with Jacob and Assad's chemistry too.

So let's not do it again? I mean, this is the first show I watch where everyone has amazing chemistry and good reasons to have lots of scenes together because they live forever and need to have more than just one company, lol. I say let's explore all of it, whether something is romantic/endgame or not.

Anyway, I believe we'll see a lot of Armand in the 1700s flashbacks and that lesmand will be top 2 of Armand's dynamics on season 3. Depending on what they want to do with armandiel, they might even explore more of lesmand next season, since that's 'Lestat's' season and they can have all future seasons for armandiel? I mean, I can see something kind of like season 2, when we had loumand, but dreamstat was still a significant presence and then the big scene at the end. Plus, I'm expecting Daniel to have a lot of screen time with Louis and Lestat, respectively.

Btw, sorry I deflected so much, I just had a lot to say, lmao. Thank you for the message. :)

[aihoshiino]

An ONK question that's been on my mind a lot is that what does ch109 serves to the character of Kamiki. The chapter felt out of place to me when it came out, because it's a (supposed) murder and no at all tied to the entertainment industry. It's criminal activity with no nuance. Many read this as an implication that Kamiki has been killing people left right and center and Ai was one of his victims. But... Now I wonder if this is a retcon of some kind. Yura's death was mentioned once (1) after the chapter and I kept wondering how the heck is it possible for Kamiki, a pretty high profile guy in the industry, to be going around killing other high profile people without anyone noticing. It also doesn't feel like the current ONK plot is leaning towards "Kamiki is a psychopath murderer". Don't get me wrong, I like what we know about Kamiki now and how his past shaped him. It feels more in line with the theme of ONK. It's just hard for me to forget that a woman died on screen! I want to know your thoughts on how this might play out / tie into his character? Your character analysis are always on point & your HKAI posts helped me processed a lot of the 15YL plotline.

NGL at this point I really don't know what to make of it LOL. Back when I was first trying to figure out what was going on with Kamiki, I revisited that chapter and actually came away feeling pretty certain that he hadn't actually killed Yura and the presentation there was a red herring to make him seem more actively villainous to the reader and mislead us as to what his intentions were.

Part of this was because we had gotten the reveal of his victimisation at Airi's hands shortly before this chapter (just shy of 10 chapters before, iirc?) and that reveal combined with Akane's revolted horror in reaction to putting those pieces together had me pretty sure we were heading towards a place of Kamiki being portrayed as sympathetic and someone to emphasize with. Thus, it would be weirdly incongruous with that setup for him to also be a yandere serial killer who was wandering around sniping sparkly actresses.

The other (and tbh, probably more influential in hindsight) factor was that we don't actually see Kamiki killing her. The chapter being set up to make him so overtly suspicious while refusing to show him actually committing murder ironically made me less inclined to think he was responsible for Yura's death. The way I interact with murder mysteries and also just like, fiction in general is pretty much entirely filtered through the ways Umineko specifically and When They Cry as a whole warped my brain and the way 109 was presented read to me exactly like the sort of narrative trick R07 would have used to make a character look suspicious of something they didn't actually do.

Now though… I really dunno lol. Like you said, it feels out of place - not just in Kamiki's arc but in the story as a whole. My best guess is that Akasaka maybe did originally intend to write Kamiki as a serial killer targeting women who would surpass Ai but in the process of actually putting his arc to paper, he evolved into a different character for whom that kind of arc wouldn't make sense. Which I actually prefer! The Kamiki we get in the manga feels a lot more nuanced and human to me compared to the yandere Light Yagami serial killer mastermind people were making up in their heads. But it also means that Yura's death is this weird snarl that I don't think Akasaka knows how to reconcile.

Actually - literally as I was writing that I suddenly realised, this might be why Nino suddenly came out of nowhere and started being written like she was? Akasaka has said in the past that he's had OnK's ending in his head for a really long time and I can't help but wonder now if part of that ending involved the twins' father playing an antagonistic role that ultimately did not suit the character that he became. So the character's antagonistic traits and role in the endgame were grafted onto Nino because she happened to fit the bill.

[madrigaljail]

Interlude

Would you like some celebrity AU in these trying times? Have some nonsense; don't worry about Eli, he's an OC, it's fine.

*

“Finally tonight, my producers won’t let me end the show without discussing the most compelling story in the nation, a tale of intergenerational drama which begs the question: which speaks to you most? Do you like a redemption arc, recognition coming after decades of struggle? Or a reward for raw, young talent the likes of which has never before been seen? These questions will possibly be answered Sunday night, when the Emmy Awards give a trophy to…a Best Supporting Actor in a Drama.

“On the one hand you have Bruno Madrigal, whose offscreen exploits have overshadowed his work for decades. In recent years, however, he’s become beloved by children as the voice of Hernando the Crab in the animated Shore Thing film series and attracted critical acclaim in indie films such as The Collaboration and onstage in an off-Broadway revival of Endgame. Now he’s nominated for his role as Oscar Ramos, a pedicab driver with a secret in AMC’s thriller Upper West. 

“Then there’s his nephew, Camilo Madrigal, who has veered away from the music careers of his mother and sister to follow - cautiously, we hope - in his uncle’s acting footsteps. He has more than a knack for it, given his star turn as nine different characters…or maybe it’s the same one in different phases, who knows what’s happening on Max’s scifi-horror hit Idle Hands? My nephew’s tried to explain it several times, but I’ve given up figuring it out.

“So, where do you fall: Team Camilo, or Team Bruno? Personally I think we as a society should have moved past these hashtag labels a long time ago, but if I were a betting man? I’d say the Madrigals are going to split the voters and we’ll get the winner we deserve, the venerable J.K. Simmons.

“That’s it for me this evening, stay tuned for the latest headlines on ‘Nightbeat’, and I’ll see you back here bright and early Sunday morning for ‘Mas with Guzmán’. Buenos noches.”

The news program theme music played, and Bruno would have continued mindlessly playing Candy Crush on his phone but-

“You know there’s a rumor you slept with that guy.”

Bruno glanced to his right. Eli was slumped the corner of the couch, smirking, light brown hair tousled and hazel eyes glancing his way with a mischievous twinkle. Bruno scowled.

“You don’t- that’s ridiculous. I can’t help it if people think we had chemistry or there were ‘sparks flying’ in that interview or whatever, but it’s all…fanflick?”

Eli laughed and gently kicked his shin, he retaliated by pinching his knee. “Fanfic, boomer.”

“Everybody really does forget about Gen X,” Bruno muttered, then shook his head. “Anyway. The point is I can’t believe people still think Pulitzer prize winning reporter José Guzmán would risk his journalistic integrity by hooking up with me.”

“Depends.” Eli straightened up to lean closer, waggling his eyebrows. “Is ‘journalistic integrity’ what he calls his-”

“Guys! I’m still right here!” 

They both cringed and glanced over the back of the sofa towards the kitchen, where Mirabel had taken over the island in a flurry of embroidery floss. She’d swiveled around on the barstool to give them a glare, but a smile still tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“Sorry.”

“Sorry, Mira.”

She nodded, satisfied. “Thank you.” A moment or two slipped by, a perfect pause, before she went on. “But you totally did hook up with him, right?”

Bruno blinked, turned back to the TV, and picked up the remote. “I am changing the channel. It’s a metaphor for changing the subject.”

Shortly after that Mirabel presented him with a baseball cap emblazoned with “#TeamCamilo”, and a black necktie which she’d decorated with symbols representing all of the Madrigal family…and a blue, pink, and white striped heart for Eli. Bruno happily wore both on the Emmys red carpet two nights later.

*

A/N: he did totally hook up with him. Celebverse!José is basically Anderson Cooper. Yes he does get stuck doing New Year's Eve with Andy Cohen still, it's fine. As for who wins the Emmy, it's been almost two years and I am still not sure.

[elfqueen006]

Duchess' Choice - Villainess AU

Based off of @yukidragon's Villainess AU headcanons, that are absolutely brilliant! I love villainess manhwas with all my heart, and the Sunny Time Town AU being added to the mix is even better because the AU as a whole needs more attention!!

---

May-Rose is a perfect cut out for a villainess isekai protagonist in my opinion. She's curt, standoffs, and can have a bit of a sadistic streak if she's feeling nasty - it usually never goes too far beyond some teasing and hazing, though.

In my "perfect universe" of what I would call the Sunnyside AU, Ian has inherited the role of Sunny Day Jack from an older Jacktor rather than usurping it by the studio. In this universe, May-Rose is the Cloudy-Bell Sue actress' daughter, and seeing as this makes her "television royalty", she'd automatically be offered a role on the show, likely as a supporting character.

Instead though, she chooses to be in the background, working on designing the set, the toys, and some of the promotional material.

And she loves it! She feels like she's playing an important part in all of this.

And another thing, Ian and May are engaged in this universe. Everything seems to be going well for her!

That is until she caught Ian cheating with an old flame in the backseat of his car. Skylar, her name was. Ian got caught up with her in theater school. It was a big hurdle in their relationship but he'd sworn to May that he wouldn't get involved with her again... guess old habits die hard.

In a fit of rage, May had stormed off set and drove away. She died in a crash shortly...

Enter the villainess, Midnight Bluebelle. At first, she was a one-off antagonist from the original series. A mime lady who mocked people with puppets and took toys from children. The new Sunnytime Crew Show would've been written with more complex situations in mind, and if May were on board with acting, she would've been cast as such and been a villain for a major arc. However, she was scrapped from the show and put in the promotional book series aimed at young girls and tweens: Duchess' Choice !

The OMC in Duchess Choice is a generic female lead to stand in for the reader. She's from a dwindling house, but boosts her standing in high society after returning Prince Jacks' special pin that was given to him by his father who's away on diplomatic business.

Her sudden popularity then attracts attention within and outside the castle, including that of the cruel Duchess, Midnight Bluebelle, who taunts and sets up various schemes to sabotage OMC's standing with the prince, whom she aims to marry after discarding her fiance, Ian Duff, the knight deemed Sir Sweet Dreams.

Over the course of the three books OMC balances other possible suitors such as the Glad-Pire, Sous Chef Sweetly, and Sir Sweet Dreams. Inevitably, the endgame is Prince Jack. And after learning of her crimes, Belle is stripped of her title and is exiled from the capital.

When May awakens as Belle, she's in the middle of the ballroom floor, having fainted either due to shock or a sudden illness.

She's tended to by her only living relatives, cousins Cloudy Belle Sue and her resentful father, Sam Sours of the Marquisate.

She's taken to her estate and takes some time to gather her bearings, taking note of the point in time before the story.

She and Ian have only been recently engaged, set up via Gretchen Duff as a way to keep Ian in check, so the first standing of business is to properly divorce him. Just because she remembers the woman she was doesn't make her blameless in Sir Ian's torment. She divorces him and makes a formal apology to him, leaving him perplexed and worried.

With the title of Duchess gone, Belle has gone back to being a Marquess. Naturally, this raises some eyebrows that the coarse and condescending woman would cut off a man so devoted to her without a second thought.

Sam definitely has some things to say. In his eyes, she'd blown off the best chance at a happier life even after she practically abandoned Sue and him. But Belle has a plan in mind. She decides... to open up a toy store!

Before Ian had gotten his big break, Belle as May had been struggling to make ends meet for the both of them. Part-time, she worked as a cashier in a yogurt shop. But she'd made a majority of her funds making gothic stuffed animals on her own time and from commissions.

Despite this being in a medieval European-like setting, and around this Era stuffed toys wouldn't have been invented yet, they coincidentally are! Because when you have a society full of clowns, you naturally make more fun things to do.

And that's just what Belle intends to do this time around, have fun!

(And if she can... avoid the OMC!!)

[vadertyrannus]

Zendaya's MJ will definitely return in the second MCU Spider-Man Trilogy

Ever since the ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home, people have wondered whether MJ (played by Zendaya) will return in the next trilogy, and for those who know she will, whether she should.

I'm making this post to not only prove that yes, she will, but also debunk common arguments against her returning.

Foreshadowing in the movie

MJ's return is directly foreshadowed quite a few times in No Way Home.

"If you don’t, I’m just gonna figure it out. I’ve done it before, I can do it again."

MJ tells Peter she loves him. Then Peter is about to tell her he loves her too, but MJ interrupts him, telling him to wait until he sees her again. If this was the end of their arc, the writers wouldn't leave this thread open. You can't set up something and have no payoff.

The way MJ looks at and acts around Peter in the pastry shop scene. She has that same look in her eyes that she always has when she looks at Peter (probably a symptom of Zendaya loving Tom Holland in real life, but still). The way she smiles, brushes her hair, is nervous around him while at the same time open (being willing to talk about going to MIT) seems to indicate that MJ is naturally comfortable with him and maybe even has a crush on him.

And finally, right here, which is by far the most obvious example and the nail in the coffin.

The final shot of the scene is MJ having a lingering sense of recognition, and this is specifically pointed out in the script. Very, very blatant foreshadowing. So much so that I find it so weird that so many people seem to miss it.

It's as she said, "If you don't, I'm just gonna figure it out."

If this was her final scene, this scene would have much more finality. It wouldn’t end holding on MJ, but rather Peter leaving. This is basic cinematic language.

The final shot of a scene is always the most important, because it’s the last impression it leaves on you. And here, they chose to emphasize MJ recognizing Peter the most.

All of this is clear set up for MJ remembering Peter and the two eventually rekindling their relationship.

MJ is Peter's true love

The fact is, MJ needs to come back. It's inevitable. Expecting MJ to actually be gone is like expecting Spider-Man to have stayed dead after Infinity War.

It's very clear watching both Far From Home and No Way Home, both of which focus a lot on their relationship, that Michelle Jones is Peter Parker’s endgame love interest and an incredibly important character to this iteration of Spider-Man.

I plan on making a separate post later going into more detail, but it's important enough to shortly elaborate on here.

Peter and MJ are truly in love with each other and meant to be together. They’re perfect for one another, have amazing chemistry, love each other to no bounds, and support each other every step of the way.

Peter always puts MJ's well-being before his own, and MJ is so loyal she'll bring a mace to help Peter fight killer drones, and refuses to leave his side when facing 5 villains. And I mean she literally won't leave his side; like, she wants to be right there with him, even when it's that dangerous, because she's that brave and she cares about him that much.

Peter and MJ are alike and while also complimenting each other in all the right ways. MJ is as soft, sweet, caring, strong, intelligent and loyal as Peter. At the same time, MJ’s introverted, collected and pragmatic self compliments Peter’s more extroverted, energetic, and idealistic self perfectly, creating a symbiosis between them.

They bring out the best in each other. Because of Peter, MJ is able to come out of her shell and be vulnerable (her arc in Far From Home). And in the same way Peter supports and brings out the best in MJ, MJ encourages and supports Peter when he needs it to most by always being there for him, being level-headed and comforting in crisis situations.

Their kiss in No Way Home perfectly conveys the image of two true lovers, with the way their bodies create a heart shape and the contrast created by the sun in the background.

Peter and MJ are bound together.

Both Far From Home and No Way Home dedicate a lot to the Peter and MJ relationship, and during the promotion of both Far From Home and No Way Home, images of them were used constantly to advertise the movie, reinforcing that Peter and MJ are ultimately the heart and soul of those two movies.

And even though MJ didn't have much screen time in Homecoming, she was emphasized a lot in the promos and almost every scene with her foreshadows her relationship with Peter in some way. Zendaya's MJ is essential to MCU Spider-Man.

Her not returning would also be a disservice to her character. MJ is her own person with her own agency and desires. The MCU Spider-Man movies have been very consistent with portraying that. To just ditch MJ instead of giving her the ending she deserves, to be with the one she loves the most? To disregard what she made Peter promise to do? Terrible writing.

It's also a disservice to Peter's character. Spider-Man is supposed to end up happy. Peter should get to be with the one he loves the most.

Michelle Jones-Watson is the MCU version of Mary Jane Watson

Michelle Jones-Watson is a reimaging of Mary Jane Watson, and the definitive MJ of the MCU. They're not gonna bring in "the real MJ". Zendaya is the real MJ.

I really shouldn't have to go any further then pointing out that her name is literally MJ Watson. But I will.

Again this will be it's own post eventually, but it's still important enough to shortly talk about here.

This reimagining of MJ shares many core elements with her comic book counterpart.

Both are progressive rebellious characters, Mary Jane being a party girl (which in the 60s was considered progressive) while Michelle Jones is a liberal and activist who has unconventional interests (being interested in conspiracy theories and morbid topics).

They both have a troubled past (especially with their fathers).

Michelle's arc is basically the same as Mary Jane from the comics; dropping a façade she created to hide her vulnerable self, opening up her true caring self to Peter.

Both are their version of Peter’s perfect match.

They're both strong-willed and loyal, sticking with Peter no matter what.

There’s also been several easter eggs connecting Michelle to Mary Jane.

Michelle's birthday (revealed on her passport during FFH promo) is the same day the comic Mary Jane first appeared in was released.

In Far From Home, there’s a license plate on the bridge where Peter and Michelle kiss for the first time that reads “TASM 143”. This is a nod to the issue in which Peter kisses Mary Jane for the first time in the comics, The Amazing Spider-Man #143.

She wears two outfits with tigers on them in Far From Home (nod to Mary Jane's famous line).

Zendaya’s blatant “Face it, Tiger…” post while having red hair during the Far From Home press. And all the other times she's dyed her hair red for Spider-Man press, too (she did it again for NWH promo once).

MJ has always been Peter's true love in every Spider-Man iteration. It was true in the comics (before the current terrible writers ruined it). It was true in the Raimi trilogy. It was going to be true in the Webb films (Mary Jane was gonna be introduced in TASM 3). It was true in Into the Spider-Verse. And it's true here too.

MJ is to Spider-Man what Lois Lane is to Superman. You can't have one without the other.

Definitive statements from Executives

In the Deadline article regarding Jon Watts leaving Fantastic Four, on April 29, 2022, this statement was made.

Sony and its Spider-Man producers have made it clear they expect to reunite Watts with Holland and Zendaya to continue the series.

This was the statement that prompted The Direct's article (among others) in which this news spread and more people realized that Zendaya is likely coming back.

This was reinforced in another interview directly with Tom Rothman, head of Sony, less then a month later.

ROTHMAN: We hope to get working on the next Spider-Man movie. DEADLINE: With Jon Watts, Tom Holland and Zendaya returning? ROTHMAN: That whole group, we hope.

This confirms that the studio wants Zendaya to return. They've made up their mind, creatively. At this point, whether Zendaya returns or not is up to her.

It makes sense that the studio wants her back so bad. Zendaya not only has a ton of star power, but it also dating Tom Holland in real life. Her name is gonna get people in seats.

Statements from Actors

If Tom Holland is coming back for another trilogy, Zendaya's coming back too. Statements from Tom Holland also confirm that she was always gonna come back from the beginning.

Tom Holland stated in an interview with GQ on April 15, 2021 (a month after shooting No Way Home) he will not do another movie without Jon Watts, Jake Batalon, and Zendaya.

So he’d say yes? “Absolutely. One hundred per cent, yes.” Any renegotiation clauses? “We’d need to keep the same core team. The director, Jon Watts, is as much Spider-Man as I am. Zendaya, Jacob [Batalon].”

While he might be exaggerating when implying that he would outright refuse if they all also didn't come back, it emphasizes the importance to which he views the director and his co-stars role in the MCU Spider-Man series. Including Zendaya.

A month later, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he stated:

“We were all treating No Way Home as the end of a franchise, let's say. I think if we were lucky enough to dive into these characters again, you'd be seeing a very different version. It would no longer be the Homecoming trilogy. We would give it some time and try to build something different and tonally change the films."

Notice how he says these characters. Plural. Not just him, but also the other MCU Spider-Man characters, meaning MJ and Ned (I mean, it's not like it can mean anyone else).

These statements from Holland are pretty consistently pointing to the same narrative, that all three actors would return if they continued the series.

It's unlikely these statements were made to prevent spoilers. Not only because they align with what's been said after NWH's release, but also because they tried to build up suspense about whether MJ would die in trailers and TV spots and these statements wouldn't match up with that agenda. It's obvious that these statements were made without any studio influence.

This is also corroborated by this statement from Zendaya during the press tour:

ZENDAYA: “Well, we have no idea what the future of us or this Spider-Man franchise is or will be […] if there’s a world where we continue and grow with the characters, that would be beautiful [...]" TOM: “Yeah you said that perfectly.”

They’re talking as a pair, as if returning would mean both of them.

I also think the body language and facial expressions of the two reveals a lot about their feelings on the matter.

It looks like the two know more then they're letting on.

You can hear and see Zendaya’s voice and eyes brighten up when she talks about returning. She has a very positive tone.

Tom looks directly at her as she’s talking about returning whereas most of the time he’s looking down at the ground.

Zendaya looks directly at Tom after saying that continuing the series and both of their characters would be beautiful. If she’s looking at her boyfriend, the person she loves most, directly in the eyes as she’s saying it then it’s probably true, that’s just basic psychology.

Another pretty telling quote also comes from Zendaya. After making the Time100 list for 2022, Zendaya in her interview stated about No Way Home:

“The perfect way to, maybe I don’t know end our trilogy, there’s people that are more in charge then I am so I don’t know what the future holds so I’m just saying.”

Notice how she pins the decision on the executives and not herself. As if she's already made up her mind. This was likely recorded before the executive's decision was made (or at least, before she was aware of it); they record these interviews well in advance.

The fact that she says "our trilogy" is also very telling. She clearly misspoke when she said trilogy, because whether they make a 4th movie or not it’d still be the end of the trilogy. Since she immediately started talking about how they might continue, as if correcting herself, she obviously meant to say series or franchise. It’s not just Tom’s Spider-Man series, it’s hers too.

Zendaya has repeatedly stated and shown that she loves doing the Spider-Man movies. Especially since, you know, the lead is her boyfriend. We don't even have to infer this, she literally said working with Tom is one of her favorite things about playing MJ. She even said she wanted a happy ending for Peter and MJ in this interview.

I am certain that Zendaya will sign on for the next MCU Spider-Man trilogy once given the contract, if she hasn't already.

Statements from Leakers

A very reliable leaker known as Ember, who now runs a Twitter page called Cult of Ember (formally Culture Spider), has stated that Zendaya will definitively be returning, meaning that she has officially signed on.

Now, I don't want to put too much stock on leakers. IMO they should always be taken with some level of uncertainty. At the same time, Ember leaked costumes from No Way Home well in advanced (among other things). She's pretty reliable. She's also the one responsible for the leak that Tom Holland has signed a new 6 picture deal.

The leak about Zendaya signing on also seems to line up with the fact that she just finished filming Dune 2 at the time. Perfect timing to be signing a new contract.

Ember had been saying for awhile that the studio wants Zendaya to return, the exact same thing stated by Sony chairman Tom Rothman.

This was also corroborated by another leaker.

Whether you believe the leakers or not is up to you. I wouldn't take their word as gospel. But they are very consistent and it makes a lot of sense, especially considering all the other evidence.

Addressing arguments against her coming back

"It would undo the consequences of No Way Home"

And Avengers: Endgame undid the consequences of Infinity War (as well as Captain America: Civil War). Your point?

Ending their relationship like this would be a disservice to both of their characters. Neither of them deserve this ending. It's too severe. Peter and MJ have earned their happy ending. And you can have consequences as a result of all this while still having Peter and MJ together again, just like how Endgame did it.

There are plenty of consequences of No Way Home that will stick. The death of Aunt May is obviously permanent, as is the loss of all of the Stark Tech.

"It undoes Peter's choice"

Spider-Man 2's ending also undid Peter's choice at the end of Spider-Man (2002). The same choice Peter makes at the end of No Way Home. Your point?

The point of Spider-Man isn't that he always loses everything, the point of Spider-Man is that he's willing to sacrifice things and gets rewarded for it eventually. He always gets the happy ending.

The "I need to keep the one I love away to protect them" trope never sticks with superheroes. They deserve to be happy, and it's also patronizing and takes away agency from the woman.

Peter made a promise to MJ and he did a disservice to her not fulfilling it.

I find it so odd that the some fans are so willing to have Peter undo his choice to protect Mary Jane by leaving her out of his life in the Raimi trilogy, but want so badly for Peter to keep Michelle out of his life for the same reasons here.

I wonder if there's an underlying issue with some fans mindsets that would explain this...

"It's too soon"

The majority of the fanbase agrees she should come back but thinks she shouldn't come back until the 5th or 6th movie. I do respect this opinion as at least it acknowledges that she's obviously coming back, but at the same time, I can't say I agree entirely.

Like yeah, obviously they shouldn’t get back together within the first 20 minutes of the 4th movie, but at the end? Absolutely.

What other arc is Peter gonna have in the 4th movie other then learning to open up again? Making new friends and having a new girlfriend and putting them at risk is a shitty thing to do when you ditched the ones you had and didn't fulfill a promise you made to them to protect them.

I think it's pretty obvious that Peter's arc is gonna be opening up again, and he's gonna tell MJ the truth at the end of the 4th film.

The longer Peter waits to tell MJ the truth, the harder the relationship would be to repair and the more upset MJ would be at him waiting so long. To me, at least, it seems like something that would be way smarter to resolve sooner rather then later.

Either that, or MJ's gonna figure it out herself and she's gonna be like a detective throughout the movie. Still, though, I think she deserves the truth from Peter.

"You're just a delusional Spideychelle/Tomdaya shipper"

Congratulations, you not only didn't address any of my evidence or points, but you also devolved into ad hominem, the worst thing you can do in any argument.

You just admitted defeat. Thanks for letting me win so easily!

I'm not sure if you're aware but insulting me personally doesn't suddenly make all of the proof disappear. Sorry :)

So there it is, definitive proof that MJ's coming back. If you read the entire thing, congratulations and thank you for reading. And MCU Peter and MJ FTW!

[ichinoue]

Idk if you’ve been asked this question before but whilst reading the manga weekly before it ended was there a time where you felt like the chances were low of Ichihime becoming endgame ? Maybe you felt like it wasn’t going to happen and IR was or Ichigo was going to end up alone ?

Nah, I mean I watched the anime first and was just a casual fan for a long time--I didn't know about the fandom and shipwars, I hadn't ever read the manga, I just watched bleach as a teenager and didn't put much thought into it. But, while watching, when Ichigo made the vow to protect Orihime, I thought it was pretty likely for canon, and then when the Grimmjow battle and lust arc happened I was even more convinced. But I didn't get into the online fandom and start reading the manga weekly until 2012 and by then, the final arc of the manga had already started.

I think I joined shortly after the chapter with the peach ass scene came out because I saw ichiruki trending on twitter one day so I looked into it to see what all the fuss was about. And I was so confused by how many people thought IR was endgame when I thought IH was so obvious?? But then I thought, "well, maybe the anime has added in a bunch of IH filler and downplayed IR." So I started reading the manga to see for myself what was actually canon vs. filler, and I was surprised to find that a lot of IH moments had been downplayed/omitted from the anime while a lot of IR moments were either played up, or they were complete filler! So once I finished reading the manga all the way through, I felt like the fandom had things totally backwards on which ship was actually romantic and more likely for canon so I started this blog so I could talk about it lol.

So anyway, long story short, by the time I joined the fandom and started reading the manga weekly it was already the final arc, and I was pretty convinced IH was going to be canon. If not, then I figured Ichigo would end up alone/in an ending open. I never really thought IR stood much of a chance once the SS arc ended and the arrancar arc began. And then in 2014 when 589 happened (with Ichigo blushing about Orihime's clothes while their friends played Cupid for them) I knew it was only a matter of time for canon. Even an open-ending didn't seem likely at that point because IH just became more and more obvious in the final arc, and then when it was announced that the final chapter would be set 10 years in the future, I was like "okay, so they'll be married and their next gen kid will be revealed." And, that was that!

[sith-obikin]

SECOND BATCH AUTHOR REVEALS ❤️‍🔥

• A song to keep us warm by nakintups (sputnikan)

Dyad AU.

Obi-Wan Kenobi was renounced by Qui-Gon Jinn after the battle on Naboo and had chosen to leave the Order.

Anakin gets to be Qui-Gon's new padawan instead.

Years later, Obi-Wan resurfaces again, on the battle of Geonosis, as a Sith Lord.

Shortly after that Anakin begins to have visions of him, the Force somehow connecting them and Anakin is forced to confront the man who might have been his older brother his friend but now turned his enemy.

DW: Sort of Reylo Force connection vibes, with Anakin being angry and guarded, while Obi-Wan is curious and calm. Maybe they slowly learning about each other.

DNW: Major Character Death, Unhappy Ending, Anidala (could be in passing but ultimately obikin is the soulmate endgame)

• 'eat your young' by DeanSWade

Sith Lord Kenobi and his acolyte Skywalker have a grueling training session.

DW: sexual tension, sweaty bodies, bloody sparring relationship might be established or not.

DNW: go crazy! no limits

• i'll help you fall down with me by zombiekatherine

Rako Hardeen Arc (or a similar style mission), but rather than faking his death, Obi-Wan fakes a fall to the Dark Side for the mission. In his distress, Anakin falls (for real) and follows after his Master to find and rejoin with him.

DWs: Angst, Established relationship for obikin, Dubcon or noncon when Vaderkin finds out Obi-Wan was faking his fall

DNWs: piss, scat, vomit, mpreg, heavy pet play, major character death

• I would burn the stars to protect you by Himilce

Whump with sith Obi-Wan + jedi anakin.

They haven't known each other for long but actually long enough for them both to develop feelings to each other despite their differences. The context on how they meet is up to you. It can be because of a mission the council assigned to Anakin, but yeah you decide.

One day Anakin gets seriously injured by one of Lord Kenobi's inquisitors. Obi-Wan goes feral and fully in protective boyfriend mode (The guilty inquisitor is immediately killed of course).

DW: The more angsty and whumpie the better!, Blood loss injury

DNW: major character's death (it can be temporary tho), smut

• Disintegration by CourtesyTrefflin

ROTS AU where Obi-Wan Falls instead of Anakin

• flesh amnesiac by innominatta (acrylicsalt)

Reverse AU + AU where (suitless) Vader and Anakin are twins

Master Anakin and Padawan Obi-Wan are on a mission when they get separated (either by accident or evil plans, your choice) and Vader finds Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan thinks that Vader is Anakin and Vader has no issues with playing along with it when Obi-Wan starts to come on to him.

Bonus points if Anakin finds out that Vader fucked Obi-Wan somehow and gets really jealous/possessive.

Your choice if Obi-Wan ever finds out.

DW: Established relationship between Anakin & Obi-Wan, dub/non con due to identity issues, "thank god you're alive" sex, Vader being rougher in sex than Obi-Wan is used to, jealous/possessive!Anakin

• i've done dark things (in these shadows) by apagetorn

Obi-Wan as a Sith apprentice of Dooku and is Dooku's chosen heir but seeing as Dooku is just from a part from an external branch from the Bane line of Sith, his line of Sith Lordship isn't well liked or favored by either the wide known Sith Empire or Sidious himself (the current Sith emperor).

Because of this, Dooku cautions his apprentice to hide his talent so others will not know their plan to overthrow Palpatine, so they can usurp the throne and establish Obi-Wan as the new Emperor.

Palpatine's chosen is Anakin and the moment Anakin and Obi-Wan meet, Anakin knew he wanted Obi-Wan for himself, cue dangerous flirting game and Obi-Wan trying to navigate having both Anakin and Palpatine's attention on his back.

DW: Bottom Obi-Wan Kenobi, Top Anakin Skywalker, Kinks of all kinds, Gore, dead Dove, it doesn't matter, anything goes.

DNW: Top Obi-Wan Kenobi, Bottom Anakin Skywalker, Major Character Death (Only Anakin and Obi-Wan, if others, it's fine idc)

[cptn-m]

One Piece chapter 1125 review

One Piece arcs have slow and bloated midsections that can be difficult to sit through week to week. This is nothing new; we've been doing this dance since Skypiea. But it's the endings, the post-arc lore bombs like this, that make it all worthwhile.

Now, I don't want to toot my own horn too much, but I feel pretty validated by Garling being promoted to Elder status following Saturn's fall, which I spitballed in a chapter discussion thread in February, and Punk Records taking off to fill the role of satellite internet, which I was pitching as a way to escape the siege since at least August last year (though admittedly, I thought it could be launched all the way into space). I believe I also said in one of my reviews, when the escape plan was being made and Shaka said the Vegaclones were expendable that Oda seemed to be setting them up for self-sacrifice, but that it didn't feel like his style to kill them all, but also that he probably also wouldn't bring the full set of them on the Sunny, so there had to be a third option. And would you look at that, this week we get the third option.

Cover story first. Minatomo's disappearance has to be linked to the kidnapping foiled in the last installment. There were theories last from the last one that Raizo could be back to his old ways, but he wouldn't be interested in Minatomo, so the lead theory that it's a former Beasts Pirate gains ground.

Right away we get a very interesting inferred character interaction for Lucci and Kaku. Is Lucci lying for Kaku? You can tell from Kaku's face that something difficult for him has gone down. I'd love to someday see the conversation that preceded this scene, but that wouldn't have the engagement factor of trying to fill in the gaps short term. And then, where is Stussy? I don't believe for a second that she's dead, but would she have made it to Punk Records before its takeoff?

Next, we learn some big things about the Five Elders. We know from the Gum Gum Fruit being a myth even to them that the Elders of today do not date back to the Void Century, but Saturn at least goes back 200 years. So the demonic forms come with a kind of agelessness. And shortly after, that the forms come with the position, seemingly bestowed by Imu and taken away just as easily. The first big clue about how to beat these guys, and a deepening of the mystery of who and what Imu is. And what an unexpectedly brutal and satisfying way for Saturn to go. A fantastic escalation for the series' endgame.

Earlier than expected, the setup of the cloud machine's importance pays off. But I'll be honest, the mechanics of how the clouds are moving to pick up only Punk Records and not the rest of the lab aren't really clear. And what the heck was York shooting at? Seems like she breaks the connection between the two halves of the eggshell, but that only makes it easier to steal Punk Records. Bit of a weird one.

You can't help marveling at the sheer entitlement of the Celestial Dragons in their little sequence. How about that guy saying the sinking of the world wouldn't impact him. Dude, you're starving to death because you don't have a way to grow your own food on top of your rock. You're getting a taste of what it's going to be like when the lower world goes away right now. And the obvious implication that while they have fewer choices and extras, the Celestial Dragons themselves are still eating well. The guy complaining about fish has a full plate, and another is still fed decently enough that snacks are an expectation. All while the chef serves on a growling stomach. You can see how far things are being stretched to make sure the haves keep having while the have-nots feel the impact first. There's no saving these guys.

Garling joining the Elders is an awesome development. Can't wait to learn more about this guy. And will he adopt Saturn's demon form, or while he get ihs own monster to play. For how relatively late he's come in this story, this guy's already been fantastically set up as a villain.

I also think it's worth noting how the Elders treat Garling when he walks in, before they know he's joined their ranks. Garling seems to have been about as highly ranked as a non-Elder Celestial Dragon could be, a Holy Knight with the authority to execute an otherwise untouchable nobleman. But the Elders confront him about coming into their space without stated business. They demand deference. He's told to know his place. There's clearly a towering difference in rank that they expect to see respected, even though all present are Celestial Dragons.

The new Vegapunk Frankenclone is certainly something. I do enjoy the asymmetry of the giant Atlas arm though. I wonder if this entity will get a new name. I wonder if these guys would consider manipulating the information in Punk Records to mislead or mess with York should she try to reconnect. Hopefully they've learned enough to do the things York and the Stella did to prevent info they don't want seen from syncing.

When I spoke about the last spread of chapter 1121, with the key players of the final saga, I raised the possibility of unexpected rivalries, but I'm still surprised to see Revolutionaries considering the implications of a run at the One Piece. Sabo and Luffy becoming rivals, even if they're friendly about it, would be a crazy place to escalate things to.

Ivan realises something about the bridge projects, but I'm not sure I see it the same way. They don't seem tall enough to escape the flood, but maybe they're not just to live on. They could be ways for the people of the lower world to make pilgrimage to the Redline. Or they could have been intended to slant gradually upward as they extend out. There's a few ways it could work, but no single one sticks out as the answer.

Meanwhile Dragon leaves us with some relevant social commentary. As much as we've all been thinking about Vegapunk's words sparking rebellions and anger against the World Government, there would definitely also be panic and war. If the WG is smart, it can stoke the battles for dwindling space and keep the peasants below distracted fighting each other for as long as possible so no one has time to think long enough or get a big enough force together to challenge it directly. Will the Revolutionaries have a way to capture the hearts and minds of the whole world and unite them to collective safety instead of personal survival?

This has been the kind of One Piece chapter I'm here for. The sheer amount of work my rewrite project was taking had me a little burned out on the series last week, but all these big developments and hints to future lore and events are a shot in the arm. Can't wait to see what Oda has in store next.

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

hi! i’m sort of contemplating writing a remus centric fic atm, which would feature wolfstar but mostly focus on remadora. the main conundrum i have is that it’s a divorce arc—i love tonks and remus, and i think their relationship is so interesting and complex but i’m writing for an au where they survive the war and remus sort of falls apart (and their marriage shortly follows). I’m sort of nervous about how this might be received among remadora fans? I might hint at a wolfstar endgame but majority of the fic would be about remus and tonks and the angst of their relationship. sorry if this is odd to ask i was just curious what you’d think :)

Hello anon! I'm putting both of these asks together as I assume they both come from you?

In any case. I'm just one of many Remadora fans (I'm suddenly reminded of Arrested Development, if you've ever seen it. Tobias shouts 'there are dozens of us! dozens!' regarding never-nudes [jean shorts] and it's what I'm feeling now as Remadora doesn't have as many fans as other ships).

I can tell you now that the biggest determiner for how the fic will be received is going to be your tagging and/or notes. There are definitely Remadora fans who would read and enjoy this. I know of several who also ship Wolfstar and they'd be fine with this idea.

However, I will also add that many Remadora fans, if they saw that Remadora was not endgame, wouldn't read the work. That doesn't mean you shouldn't write it. You write whatever makes your heart happy.

From personal experience, Remadora fans will gladly gobble up angst. I mean, Remadora is basically the cycle of together-apart-together again. They've got a 'divorce' arc built right into the center of their canon relationship, both between Remus leaving in HBP and leaving again in DH.

I'll say that for many Remadora fans, their reunion and endgame happiness makes the angst worth it. Knowing that they're endgame and will have a happily ever after (or at least have a canon ending where they die together) makes up for all the pain.

Not everyone is going to feel this way. Again, you write what you want. If you're nervous about Remadora fans' reactions, your best friend is going to be tagging and notes. If you are upfront about it by saying "Remadora isn't endgame" from the beginning, either in your summary or beginning notes, then you won't have any surprised or possibly disappointed Remadora fans.

[bayalexison]

Bay Plays Persona 5 Royal [Third Semester Arc!] Part 1

Alright, soooo there seems to be some antics going on Twitter (for the hundredth time *sighs*). Because of that, I decided to also document my playthrough of Persona 5 Royal here like I did back when I was playing Pokemon Scarlet. Trying to retrieve all of my Persona 5 Royal screenshots will be a bit time consuming, so I’m gonna start with what happened in my playthrough earlier today (or yesterday if you’re reading this next morning lol). Also there will be spoilers for Persona 5′s original endgame storyline and beginning of third semester arc!

So a few days ago I defeated Shido and then shortly after the Phantom Thieves had to go through the big Mementos dungeon. Today that took much longer than I thought because loads of cutscenes and miniboss battles. Also I grinded a little bit to have my Personas gain some skills lol. But yeah, got through Holy Grail/Yaldabaoth and boy what a crazy battle it was!

After that, did my Christmas Eve with Haru (I chose her as my romance partner) and it was cute! After that had a headstart with the third semester arc and, well, let’s just say it’s off to a very wild start. Morgana human?! Those scenes with human!Morgana were hilarious. 

Alright, some screenshots I’m pulling from Tumblr:

Can't help but chuckle at the semi-meta reference here

Yoooooo! (Joker’s 2nd form Persona Santanel!)

Christmas Eve date with Haru!

So for some reason I can’t do screenshots from my switch atm, so here’s one I took of the Royal trio. Tomorrow third semester in full force!

[leonawriter]

My current place in watching through the P4G longplay I found (that was actually, y'know, completed) is shortly after the Kubo Mitsuo dungeon. Bearing in mind I finished the vanilla anime and got partway through Golden anime, so I Know Things already. But endgame stuff is still spoiler territory.

I actually left the boss playing rather than fast forward through the fight because the music was cool.

I admit I'm not looking forward to the school trip arc (King's game made me cringe hard). Or Naoto's dungeon.

Current feelings in general are that I love the concept of Shadows, but all of the dungeons are uncomfortable in ways I really... wish they weren't. I understand to a degree why; it's not just their Shadow talking, it's what people want to see, it's the sensationalism of it. But it's... yeah.

The character writing is also all over the place; I love Yosuke when they aren't making him a sexist, homophobic asshole just for the sake of out of date humour. The whole thing of Chie wanting to be a cop to, basically, beat up bullies, is... rife for her to be radicalised the wrong way. Even after she sees how that kind of mindset turns out. And with all the cop stuff going on irl... um. Yeah. And Rise has so much potential and yet the moment they have her in team they wrote her as "clingy jealous girl archetype" and tbh I'm angry on her behalf. She deserves better. Is worth more. I'll also admit I'm not a fan of Marie so far. She doesn't read like a teenaged girl who's keeping people at a distance, she reads like a *caricature* of one. Like a teen wrote their idea of it.

Please don't take this to mean I don't like the game/story/and so on! I just... I think it's one of those stories I'll enjoy better in famworks?

[diablotraeluz]

Beat and platted Spider-Man 2 and I have a few thoughts on the game. Overall, it was fun, the gameplay is solid, movement in Insomniac Spider-Man games is top notch, the story and writing could've used so much more room to breathe and the quest structure and pacing is so bad it's kinda silly. Still can't recommend it enough though, if you liked the first game or Miles's solo game.

Spoilers under the cut.

The game can be 100% completed and platinumed in around 25 hours if you're not rushing. Normally I'd appreciate a game not wasting my time like this but the game's really, really oddly paced and stuff isn't really given time to breathe. Harry gets revealed to have the venom symbiote, joins you for one hero adventure, randomly shows up in crimes, and then two missions later he loses it to Peter. In 20 minutes, Harry will go from being completely healthy to being on the verge of dying. Peter's corruption arc is about 3 hours long, then it's time for Venom to take over the plot. And then the plot kinda grinds. There were a few points where it felt like the ending was baiting me and the symbiote enemies that make up the entirety of endgame foes are really annoying to fight even after getting anti-venom that despite me having a lot of fun it was starting to drag on me and get me down. There are a lot of things that feel wasted or left out that I can't help but feel a little disappointed. Why did half of the Sinister Six and Shocker have to die? Why did Black Cat even have a mission at all besides an excuse to get her out of the game? Why are so many minigames introduced and then left behind immediately? You have to set up drones to get the FNSM app up in the start of the game and you never have to do anything like that ever again. There's a whole rhythm game that gets made for one 2 minute section that also never gets iterated on with different songs. It feels oddly undercooked in certain areas, which is frustrating.

Sidequest pacing is also kind of odd. There's only one sidequest in the game that requires story progression and it's the most blatant this-will-be-the-subject-of-DLC sidequest I've ever seen. Thank you Cletus, you did nothing, had the most annoying faction in the game, can't wait to beat your ass as Carnage next year when the DLC drops. The others drop every single mission at you as soon as you get them and can be completed immediately. Spider-Man becomes the hero of Brooklyn Visions in the first 20 minutes of the game, netting you a cool Puerto Rican Spider-Man suit before you even need to do anything else to get anything else. It feels like a reward that would come at the end of the game. Mysteriums are also weird, since they're just combat challenges, but Miles is the only one that can actually do them. They're also the only repeatable content in the game besides trying to optimize the various random crimes, which isn't very hard. Peter can do a bunch of experiments with the Emily-May Foundation and the reward is held off from you until the post-game, which feels jarring because you can knock out all of the EMF experiments literally the minute they become available. I thought I was missing something when I noticed there weren't any left to do. Granted, there is no EMF once Kraven attacks it shortly after getting the Black Suit but y'know. Whatever.

Other aspects of the presentation are odd. Miles has the best suit selection between the two Spider-Man games I've played but Peter's is bogged down by MCU references and movie suits. Tom Holland has like, 6 suits in the game. They decided to put two Andrew Garfield suits in. There are so many "adjusted classic suit" designs for Peter that the space feels wasted, especially since they didn't pick any of the good suits for returning suits.

Everything just needed a lot more room to breathe. It felt like the animated series from the 90s in the worst way possible.

[animejacket22]

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[eternalstargazer]

With the Pokémon World Championship and Project Mew story arcs shifting into high gear soon, I want to talk about one major concern I have going forward (endgame predictions are hidden).

I think there's a good chance Ash and Goh won't be there to see each other reach their dreams.

And honestly, that sucks. Really sucks.

Goh has been there to cheer Ash on during every battle. Ash has gone along with Goh on every trial mission. They support and help each other, celebrate together. Their dreams matter to each other.

You should all go check out @torchiccakes wonderful analysis that takes a look at the reoccurring theme of Connections and Support Over Long Distances in recent PM19/Journeys episodes if you haven't already. I think that's the direction the writers are going to take Ash and Goh's individual story arcs.

Calling it now (hope to look back and say that I was 100% wrong): the M8 competition and Project Mew expedition will take place simultaneously, with each episode divided up to focus half on Ash's M8 battles and the other half on the PM expedition that will consist of Gary, Horace, and Goh as the Chasers, along with Danika and Quillon.

Before this happens, Ash will get a notification of the time/date the M8 is to begin. Goh will plan on being there (of course) but shortly after, will get his own notification that the expedition to Table Mountain is about to start. We'll get a brief scene where Goh feels bad about not being able to be there for Ash, and maybe even consider not going on the expedition all together, but Ash will remind him of the importance of dreams and that friends can support each other even when far away. Goh will get teary eyed, but put on a brave face and tell Ash that he's right. Goh will tell Ash to win it for him, and Ash will tell Goh that it's finally time for him to catch Mew.

Ash will defeat Leon, but while Goh will encounter Mew, he won't catch it. He won't even try because of what happens on the island (big surprise, Professor Amaranth is not the person he appears to be). These are predictions, so don't take them as fact.

But, what happens on the island will bring about a realization in Goh, and by meeting and helping to protect Mew, his dream will shift from wanting to catch Mew to seeing it again one day. He'll realize that he doesn't have to catch Mew to understand it and other Pokémon, and that Mew plays a role that's critical to maintaining an important balance in the natural world.

Why do it this way? It's one way to increase the number of M8 episodes, so it will be better for ratings, overall, as this will essentially double the number of episodes people will need to watch if they want to see the entirety of the M8 competition. It also ensures that there aren't a block of episodes back to back that consist only of battles, especially when PM19/Journeys has two protagonists. Will Goh, and then later, Ash, really take a backseat for a stretch of episodes? On top of that, Ash isn't a part of Project Mew, so what does the anime do with him if the expedition takes place before/after the M8? The only alternative is for the writers to come up with a convoluted reason to bring him along (which is a possibility).

For those that argue that Project Mew is the exit plan that the writers have for Goh, that's not what's going to happen, imo.

The anime would not show us an image of the island Mew is believed to be on, and identify a specific mountain by name on said island, and then bring up how the "rainy season is ending sooner than we thought. We don't have time to waste selecting Chasers," only to not show the expedition. PM19/Journeys is not going to end without giving this aspect of Goh's story arc a resolution.

And the expedition is starting soon. Just like the M8 is.

I'll also note that Ash wasn't allowed to help Goh in the most recent trial mission, and in the final upcoming mission, Ash appears to be absent, so Goh will be going it alone until he teams up with Gary. The groundwork is being laid to separate Ash and Goh ahead of the final leg of their respective story arcs.

I'm not saying that will then lead to a permanent separation... yet. On that, I'll talk more about later.

For now though, for the love of Arceus people, give me reasons why I'm wrong. I wholeheartedly welcome it.