#I'm finally doing the answers!

[night-orchids]

the fact that you can see the exact moment tears appear in his eyes

[outer-andromeda]

So very glad people seem to like my take on Mr. TV hehehehehe. He's incredibly fun to doodle

[doctorweebmd]

oh okay head empty only thought is nakajima fucking atsushi

obviously the fact that this is. not just light in his eyes. not just the half-alive gradient that we've seen in the previous chapters. its clear, resolute, fully formed. this is the first time Akutagawa's eyes have been drawn as 'human' and its just -

atsushi makes akutagawa feel human.

the first person that hasn't tried to use him. manipulate him. lie to him. the first person that saw him. the boy who he thought was so special and privileged, who had everything he didn't, who valued him enough to die for him.

do you think he didn't see himself as a human being until this moment?

do you think he thought that 'if someone like him would be willing to risk it all for me... maybe i am more than I had once believed?'

[kenzan-brainrot-mp4]

Hello! The twist ending of PYIH kind of shocked me. 'Twas really foolish of me for thinking that for the entirety of Kiryu's saga, Majima has just that twisted obsession with Kiryu, being a "Mad Dog" and all. I came across your PYIH analysis the other day and it really brought home what they were conveying with the ending.

I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the premise of PYIH. Is the sole purpose of Majima's "filming/documentary(?)" is to rehearse telling it to Kiryu? Because if it had been, that would be even crazier.

Oh, and at this point, is it even reasonable right now to interpret their relationship as platonic or brotherly? What do you think?

YEAHHHHH imo I think yakuza kenzan yakuza 3 (rooftop scene) is where we first truly starting seeing a glimpse of a deeper dynamic between Majima and Kiryu that goes beyond the "weird twisted obsession" reading, and we see more examples of it later as the series goes on (gestures at yakuza 5 and IW) but moments like those were decently subtle/blink-and-you'll-miss-it (not to mention they lessen in frequency also probably in part to Majima's lessening screentime throughout the series), but pyih's ending really goes out of its way to ensure that you actually Know how deep and genuine Majima's feelings are, which I am both extremely appreciative of and Kinda Crazy about

I think the whole documentary thing is interesting. Given the fact that they went out of their way to get the equipment/crew/etc. for the "film version", I would say that the Majima's retelling of his story at the studio and at Kiryu's bedside serve different purposes, and that him telling the story on set was not specifically for Kiryu (what Majima plans to do with the "film version" I'm not completely sure, but I guess for now we can assume it's just a project Majima wanted to do while getting Majima Construction back off the ground?) I'd say the premise of pyih is both to retell Majima's story as he presents it to the "general audience" And Kiryu, hence why the game starts with one and ends with the other. It's the same story to everyone, for the mostpart, and the main difference between the two 'versions' is How he presents it (to the cameras/the players/main audience he puts on the fuckass pirate costume and the theatrics, to Kiryu he tells it to him straight, without the extra show stuff for the cameras. We can Assume the story he tells to each audience is practically identical, considering that the cutscene of him telling it to us in the beginning of the game and him telling it to KIryu at the end of the game use identical lines (cough cough in the Japanese audio), but his tone of voice between the two are notably very different)

Uhhhh shoot I don't know if any of that made sense 💀 Point is I think Majima telling the story of pyih is, in fact, meant for Everyone, it's just that Kiryu gets a sort of special, more authentically told version of it if you will (After all, Majima could've just shown Kiryu the film when it was finally done, but instead he went out of his way to tell it to him personally)

As for the question of "is kazumaji canon now", WOO boy. First of all I actually lowkey want to thank you for asking that question, I've been wanting to post about it for a while now but kept putting it off lol. I mulled over this exact question quite a bit during the week-or-so long time period that I was writing most of my analysis after finishing the game, and, despite the fact that I myself am very vocal about liking kazumaji in a romantic scenario/context, I would not personally call it canon, and I say it is still absolutely reasonable to interpret them as platonic.

While many of the aspects we see in their relationship (especially on Majima's end) such as obsession, devotion, etc. etc. are often associated with romantic interest (Especially in fandom spaces), I don't think they have to be considered specifically romantic. People who have read through my posts may remember a while back that I did an analysis of The Sun at 36.5 wondering if the song was written with the intent to represent Majima's feelings towards Kiryu (for the record this was incorrect and the meaning behind it goes past the scope of the game) and I was going pretty insane about it lol. That's because, had the song been written with that in mind, it would've meant with almost 100% certainly that they would be, in fact, canon, and that would've been Insane. However, this is not the case, and other than that theory I had there's nothing else in the games that would specifically state that either one has Explicitly Romantic feelings towards the other. Do they have a very deep and complex relationship, the likes of which they don't share with many other characters? Definitely. Is it explicitly romantic? I wouldn't say so

The main example I would like to bring up to argue against it would be minedai (*cough* my second favorite yakuza ship I fucking Love Mine Yoshitaka so much he's one of my favorites). I'll link this amazing post with all the examples but essentially, while minedai and kazumaji share many of the same themes in their relationship/dynamic (again, obsession, devotion, you get the drill (can you tell Majima and Mine are two of my favorite characters yet LOL)) the main difference between them is that, with minedai, it is basically outright said Multiple Times in Multiple Sources outside of even Yakuza 3 itself that Mine loved Daigo, with words used Specifically to convey strong romantic connotations, a choice rgg went out of their way to make every single time they wrote about them together. Kazumaji, on the other hand, does not use these kinds of words to describe each other, whether it be in words coming from Kiryu and Majima themselves, or official relationship charts, descriptions, etc.

Can feelings including romance be heavily implied without needing to be explicitly stated? Absolutely, but with the way rgg tends to Very Obviously and Explicitly state when characters Are romantically interested in each other, and also simply because there is still (imo) plenty of room to read kazumaji as Not romantic, I wouldn't say it's canon. And for the record, I wanna reiterate that this is coming from someone who is personally very enthusiastic about kazumaji as a ship, so I'm trying to be purely objective here, and that is my verdict (Also this is just a random aside, but I really don't agree with the people who are (unironically) labelling Kiryu and Majima's relationship as "queerbaiting". but that's a whole other discussion entirely)

Thank you for shooting an ask !!

[hylianengineer]

Does anyone know how to deal with the despair and fear that as a chronically ill, disabled, neurodivergent person who is not 'disabled enough' to get pretty much any external support, I will always be too exhausted to enjoy life properly because between working full time and dealing with chores and the various annoying tasks of being an adult, I am barely keeping my head above water?

I'm so tired all the time. I do any fun thing and I suffer for it via even worse exhaustion for days afterwards. A fun weekend will make the whole next week feel like I've got a spoon deficit I can't catch up on.

I need coping strategies or something. Help.

[hurlumerlu]

Did THK really miss an opportunity by not exploring BDSM further or was it simply doing something else

[xxplastic-cubexx]

Mr. Cube I have a question of utmost importance for you as literally the only Magneto main I know of. HOW... DO YOU PLAY HIM. Do you have any tips. I want to look at him.

So You Want To Be Pretty OK As Magneto In Marvel Rivals

(3 March, 2025) a beginner's guide written by your resident magneto main snapperoni because now i get an excuse to talk about marvel rivals magneto extensively and in gross detail

*this guide will be treating you as though you have never used magneto in your life and will go into extreme depths at explaining his abilities as well as what it means to be a tank player. if you feel confident in understanding his abilities, feel free to skip the abilities section and head straight to the bottom for talk on strategy and tips

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

TLDR ROLE INTRODUCTION ABILITIES Melee/Greatsword Primary Fire/Iron Volley Secondary Fire/Mag Cannon Metallic Curtain Metal + Iron Bulwark [TEAM-UP ABILITY] Metallic Fusion [ULTIMATE] Meteor M [PASSIVE] Magnetic Descent TIPS AND STRATEGIES Iron Volley + Mag Cannon Combo Bubble and Shield Usage Two Tanks Are Better Than One Metallic Fusion How to Use Meteor M CLOSING THOUGHTS

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Too Long, Didn't Read:

Magneto is a poke tank meant to be played at medium-to-close range whose priorities should lie in acting as a living wall for his teammates. preserving his abilities mostly for himself yet sharing them when the situation calls for it.

While his priorities should be defense-based, when it comes to going on the offensive you want him to target strategists and duelists and only engage in tanks if the rest of the team is with you. As far as aiming goes, he's very friendly and isn't hitscan reliant, and you should find yourself picking up his aim style easily with time.

He's not a super flashy character like the rest of the cast, but he's far from useless and, at this moment in time, stands as one of Rival's best tank options alongside Doctor Strange and Hulk, whether you're running two tanks or running solo.

Overall, the two-star difficulty he is awarded is very fitting: available to newcomers to pick up and start playing, however offers a little something extra to those with a better understanding of him; he's generally straight forward as far as tanks go, but picking up a few extra tips and tidbits never hurt anyone. Except your enemies, of course.

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Role Introduction: Vanguard/Tank

As a vanguard unit, Magneto's top priority should be taking the brunt of the team's damage on the front line and should give the team either opportunities to push forward, or shoot behind the cover you provide.

With 650HP (without shields), while he has average health for a vanguard, his defensive kit allows him to be a formidable wall when his abilities are used tactfully and you work in tandem with your support/s. Unlike dive tanks like Venom and Captain America, Magneto is much more stationary, and his kit rewards playing defensively and close to the team.

A common misconception with FPS games is that your top priority is to get the most eliminations as possible and to exclusively hunt for the next kill (unless that is the objective of the specific map you're playing on, then kill away). There are several errors with this philosophy: for starters, you begin to neglect the objective, which can lead to a game loss.

The amount of kills you have won't matter if you stay off point and the other team takes the objective. No matter what anyone says, don't stress about your eliminations so long as you know you're protecting your team, securing the point, and overall providing value to the game (though it is important to be able to land a shot....).

Moreover, playing under this philosophy is a sure-fire way to not only get you killed and remove your time away from the field (which should truly be your game philosophy: die as little as possible), but specifically as a tank you'll bring your teammates down with you as they lose what should be a reliable line of defense. As a tank, you should be opening up opportunities for your teammates to get the eliminations and protecting your strategist/support units.

All of that said, tank is not for the passive player: as tank, you need to be firm about the playing field being yours and making sure the enemy team knows they're going to have a hard time taking it from you. Fitting for Magneto, really.

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Ability Review

Before dissecting Magneto's abilities, I will preface and say I calculated his damage using Doctor Strange (600HP) and Scarlet Witch (250HP) as damage dummies. The numbers I have here may not be accurate, so to circumvent this potential error I'll describe how many shots it takes to use a specific skill in order to eliminate certain enemies.

Melee/Greatsword

Attack speed: ~1 second

Damage Output: 40 (About seven swings to KO a 250HP enemy)

Utilizing Doom Bot remains, Magneto swings with a grandiose blade. The problem with this sword is it's not only one of- if not the- slowest melees in the game as of right now, but it has very little to compensate for its poor speed. Should very rarely be used in place of a well-aimed primary fire.

Primary Fire/Iron Volley

Reload time: ~1 Second

Damage Output:

Direct Damage: 80 (About four shots to KO a 250HP enemy)

Edge Damage: 40 (About seven shots to KO a 250HP enemy)

Fall-Off Damage: 40 (About seven shots to KO a 250HP enemy)

Magneto's Iron Volley asks that you lead/predict your shots. Moreover, his Iron Volley will explode automatically once reaching 25M(eters), whether it hits a target or not. At 25M, your shot will no longer do 80 damage, but will do half instead. As noted before, Magneto's primary fire will explode when it comes into contact with a wall, floor, or enemy. As such, the explosion has a small hitbox- doing just about half of a regular, direct shot. Because of this, you shouldn't be too stressed if you're not the greatest at aiming: Magneto's primary fire makes up for any minor imperfections and is rather generous so long as you're in the general area of your target.

Secondary Fire/Mag-Cannon

Reload Time (Without Bulwark Aid):

One Ring: ~4 Seconds

Two Rings: ~8 Seconds

Full Power: ~12 Seconds

Damage Output:

One Ring: 40 (About seven shots to KO a 250HP enemy)

Two Rings: 80 (About four shots to KO a 250HP enemy)

Three Rings/Full Power: 100 (About three shots to KO a 250HP enemy)

Edge Damage: N/A

Similar to Iron Volley, you will need to lead your shot when firing off a Mag-Cannon. Unlike his primary fire however, Magneto's secondary fire will keep going until it hits a wall or enemy. Moreover, it doesn't suffer any damage fall-off, nor does it offer any edge damage. How many rings you possess show both on Magneto physically, but they can also be tracked by the purple arrows below your crosshair. As a bonus, the Mag-Cannon momentarily stuns and pushes back any targets it hits which can either cancel an enemy's advancement, or open the floor for a follow-up attack.

Metallic Curtain

Recharge Time: 3 Seconds

Replenish-to-Full Time: 10 Seconds

Duration: 1.5 Seconds

Shield HP: N/A

Putting up an impenetrable wall just shy of two seconds allows Magneto and his allies to pull back safely from oncoming damage or provide just enough cover to make an adequate push forward. Not to mention, this indestructible wall scoffs in the face of any ult coming your way. Once the shield has been spent, a white bar will appear on the right side of your crosshair. This bar indicates how long you can hold your shield up the next time you use it before it's fully charged, where then the bar will fade. Finally, you can put your shield down early. While this means you'll have to wait the full three seconds for it to be available again, this means your shield will have more durability the next time you use it.

Metal Bulwark + Iron Bulwark

Recharge Time: 12 seconds

Duration: ~3 Seconds

Shield HP: To be calculated, but it does exist: be cautious of the damage you and your teammates take.

Magneto can spring a magnetic bubble over either himself or an ally. The bubble not only negates any incoming damage and protects allies from Scarlet Witch's Reality Erasure, but once the bubble has popped or faded Magneto will regain some Mag Cannon rings relative to the damage absorbed.

[TEAM-UP ABILITY] Metallic Fusion/Chaos

Recharge Time: 30 seconds

Duration: 10 seconds

Damage Output:

Direct Damage: 100 (About six shots to KO a 600HP enemy)

Edge Damage: N/A

Being his only team-up ability as of writing this post, this father-daughter duo ability allows Magneto to fire at an impressive 100 damage per second as he finally finds use in his otherwise-inadequate greatsword, adding a truly dangerous ability to his typically defensive kit. It's as though every shot taken was a Mag Cannon with a wider hitbox- however this hitbox varies from being vertical or horizontal and thus can be a little unpredictable if you aren't aiming carefully. Is used best at medium-close range, but don't neglect its potential to snipe enemies from across the map.

[ULTIMATE] Meteor M

Duration: 4 Seconds

Magnetic Range:

Lowest to the ground: 30M

Nearest to the skybox: 5M

Damage Output (No Charge):

Edge: 150 (About over half of a 250HP enemy's health bar)

Direct: 300 (About half of a 600HP enemy's health bar)

Damage Threshold Before Explosion: To be calculated, however can be tracked by the counter below the crosshair

Automatically floating into the air, Magneto stays true to his name and acts as a magnet for all incoming projectiles; extracting enemy projectiles to build the power of his metal meteor and granting Magneto the ability to float freely, Magneto's ultimate doubles both as an offensive and defensive ability. You're able to see your magnetic field + blast radius by observing the purple ring on the ground. Remember: you can rise and descend freely so long as your ultimate is up, use this wisely. I affectionately refer to the meteor as "rock", however this ultimate has garnered a reputation for not doing as much as some believe it should. Hopefully this guide helps you in ensuring your meteors make the impact they deserve.

[PASSIVE] Magnetic Descent

Manipulating the magnetic field around him, Magneto decreases his fall speed by 50% when holding the jump button. Nuff said. People have a hard time aiming up in FPS's so if you find yourself with the opportunity to float around a bit (especially using Rocket's jump pack) then by all means terrorize from above as you descend.

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Tips and Strategy

Iron Volley + Mag Cannon Combo

A basic tip, but a valuable one nonetheless. To eliminate an enemy with 250HP- assuming you land all your shots directly- it takes about 3 seconds, four shots. Again, this is assuming you hit all your shots and if the enemy doesn't regenerate any health. Alternatively, utilizing the PRIMARY-SECONDARY-PRIMARY combo allows you to not only stun an opponent with your secondary fire, but it should take nearly half of the time spent then if you only used primary fires, so make sure to use your secondary shots responsibly. Remember that your primary fire has, at max, 25M of utility: afterwards, it won't be able to do much. Fine for picking off low-health enemies while they're fleeing, but don't expect to hit any enemies close to the skybox or far away from you without moving in a little bit first- that's what your secondary fire's for. As Magneto, your targets should be squishy characters like support and DPS. Because of his relatively-slow DPS, Magneto doesn't fair well against other tanks and shouldn't engage in 1v1's if possible (they're not unwinnable, but they could be a great distraction and leave your team vulnerable).

While I'm here, I'm just going to stress to not use your melee. Like. At all. You're much better just using your primary fire. At most you can set it up as Hulk's turning into Bruce if you'd like but that should really be it: your primary fire is much more effective than your sword.

Bubble and Shield Usage

As a tank, you want to act as a wall for your teammates, and this can be done effectively by being more conservative and selfish with your shields: you are the wall. Remember. Draw the enemy's fire towards you by being an irritant. While Magneto is healthy in shields, remember you have natural cover from stage obstacles and structures as well. Magneto can be regarded as a 'poke' tank: a tank who is meant to attack sporadically and in short bursts. He is best played at a medium distance from the enemy front line and to not to be wholly damage focused when he is much more defense focused. 'Poking' the enemy from behind structures is not only a great way to conserve your abilities, but it utilizes Magneto's primary and secondary fires well due to their moderately-slow start up and overall DPS, letting him take cover when need be.

While attacking on the front line, once you notice your health start to dip below half or you feel as though the crowd is about to overwhelm you, raise your Metallic Curtain and step back to give yourself some air. Bubble yourself as a last resort if you still need to back up- be sure to fire your Mag Cannon beforehand so you'll immediately have it replenished if your bubble pops during your escape. It's important to remember Magneto has zero movement abilities and it takes 5 seconds for him to traverse 30M: it doesn't sound too bad, but when there's a large crowd in front of you, you'll wish he could move faster. Don't push too far ahead, and be aware of exits around you.

That being said, be conscious of your teammates. This is a TEAM game after all. We've covered Magneto and Scarlet Witch's team-up ability before and how valuable it is. As a result, you'll need to learn to play well with any Scarlet Witches on your team, and this means having your bubble ready to protect her when she decides to ult (this also means making sure to check the scoreboard occasionally for your teammate's ult charge as well as, again, being ability-conscious of those around you). Only when she's in immediate danger do you bubble her, not before: this ensures the bubble lasts long enough for her to get her ult off (or there's a better chance it'll be executed, anyhow). If you feel as though you won't be able to react fast enough, then you can try to bubble her beforehand; don't stress out about timing the bubble perfectly, just make sure she's protected. In general, bubble your duelists when they're deep in a crowd to give them a chance to escape (but don't stress out about protecting them. After all, there's only so much you can do before you put yourself in danger or use a bubble inappropriately when someone else could have better benefited from it). Besides Wanda, it's naturally best to look after your support units and to make sure they're not being overwhelmed. Don't helicopter them and neglect the rest of the team, but just make sure to check on them every now and then. Ultimately, your bubble priority should be Supports -> Yourself -> Others. After all, your support/s can't help you or the team if they're dead.

Two Tanks Are Better Than One

Magneto has the fortitude to be able to tank by himself comfortably, however the rare days you find yourself partnered up with a second tank, know these are the days you can be more generous with your bubbles and shields to your teammates. Your second tank will help cover with you and should make it easier for you to escape the crowd when need be, so bubble-hogging is less of a necessity. Make sure to help your tank too if they're in a bind and they're out of defenses/movement abilities (but again, not at the detriment of yourself or your supports: once more, Magneto can tank by himself if need be so long as you use your abilities carefully).

Metallic Fusion

It's tempting to want to use Magneto and Scarlet Witch's team-up ability the second you have it, however it's best to save it for crowd control. That being said, once it is active, make the absolute most of it: there's no consequence to holding down the primary fire, so just let loose and go crazy (with reason, of course: don't run in and get yourself killed and don't forget your teammates).

How to Use Meteor M

Someone asked me this midmatch once and I scrambled to come up with an answer. Both because the round was about to start in five seconds but also because I truly didn't know the answer at the time. The longer I've played though, I think I finally have the answer- or a better one besides "spray and pray" at least. As noted before, Meteor M is a fickle ultimate and how you use it is dependent on the situation (many such cases about anything, honestly). At times, you'll want to play higher to the skybox to ensure your meteor doesn't explode immediately. Alternatively, a quick throw of the meteor might do the trick in some situations where it's both safe to build meteor charge close to the ground, and the faster you remove a target/s, the better. This is also dependent on how many projectiles are being thrown out onto the field: if you're in a situation with predominantly melee opponents, it's best to use your meteors to single-out troublesome duelists and supports- there's little chance your meteor's going to exceed 30+ charge in those kinds of matches. Generally, you'll want to use it to counter support ults like Cloak + Dagger and Luna Snow (NOTE: a raw meteor will NOT KO an ulting Luna. You need at least 30+ charge before a direct hit can KO her. Cloak + Dagger can be KO'd from the get-go with a direct hit). Don't be afraid to throw out a meteor if you see a cluster of low health/squishy enemies without any defenses, however. Just remember it's ok to hold onto an ult if it means it gets greater value later on, and that you shouldn't hunt exclusively for team wipes. If you find yourself popping ult and the crowd's dispersed, support units should be your default priority (unless there's a duelist/DPS unit using their ultimate: take them out instead if you can). Initiating Meteor against Punisher's Final Judgement can be tricky if you aren't fast enough, as Frank's ammunition will quickly push your meteor to its limit. If you don't throw your meteor fast enough, you could potentially risk your teammates their lives and waste an ultimate in the process. Use your meteor against Punisher with caution. Similar notes to be said about Star-Lord's Galactic Legend, only now your problem is also throwing at a flying enemy. If he's close enough to your 25M range, I personally would shoot him down with a regular primary/secondary as his DPS isn't nearly as grand as Punisher's and a meteor could be superfluous. Otherwise, focus on getting to cover and protecting your vulnerable teammates. You'll especially want to be wary of enemy tanks and their shields as they'll without a doubt cancel out your ult with ease, more specifically enemy Magneto's and Doctor Stranges. Be cautious that Captain America can deflect your ultimate, though I personally have had minimal trouble with Captains. In general, you should track enemy ability usage, but especially the prior two if you hope to pop your rock soon.

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Closing Thoughts

Ultimately, improving at Marvel Rivals in general comes with time and willingness to acknowledge you're bad at the game sometimes but to not let that stop you from playing who you wanna play, whether you're playing as Magneto or not. While you can do your best to improve your aim in Rivals' practice area, things like game sense are something that can only really be accumulated through experience and playing the game.

Sometimes I watch back old games/moments of mine to figure out where I could've gone wrong to improve next time, but you don't HAVE to do that: just play the game, have fun, and love Magneto.

And throw a rock at every support you see for me okbyethankyouforreading

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Bonus: My Credentials so you can determine if i'm reliable or not. or something.

[PS: every hero Not Mags/Wanda/Adam is purely my brother i swear im loyal]

[gingermintpepper]

I would love to hear you talk about Kassandra???

So, what can I say about Kassandra.

Well, firstly, I've been thinking about how I want to answer this question since I got it however many months ago and I figured I wanted to speak about my own interpretation of things rather than formal stuff - half because I don't want to cite anything since going through Iliad based papers brings me little joy and half because I figure I could treat it a bit more casually this way. So here's like, a very brief selection of thoughts I have about Kassandra, Saintess of Troy.

I view her tale as a microcosm of the wider tale of the Fall of Troy from Apollo's perspective. A human is given a choice and, of their own free-will, they make the most destructive decision ignorant of the way they're sealing their own fate and no matter how much their patron will want to save and help them, they will be unable to so much as lift a meaningful finger because the choice made is one that is sealed in Fate and powers far beyond any one god. The themes of doomed love are also shared; Kassandra loved Apollo just as Apollo loved her but she couldn't be what he wanted of her. She couldn't accept what it was he was offering, no matter how much power, honour and love he tried to tempt her with and in a lot of ways, I think of her devastating visions of doom and death(tm) as a physical parallel to the feelings Helen must be tormented with knowing that she will be cited as the reason of such mass death, destruction and violence. Likewise, I see Apollo's inability to save Kassandra up until the end as representative of his wider inability to save Troy. All his love and blessing were not enough, even though all she had to do was take his hand, it simply wasn't meant to be and so I imagine that must be a fresh hurt for him with each beloved mortal he loses during the campaign.

Kassandra is genuinely so interesting? Both as a character and as a narrative idea; she sits almost in the center of so many fascinating parallels and foils that it gets me so excited whenever she comes up in conversation! I've mentioned it briefly before but she forms a very neat triad with Iphigenia and Troilus which runs parallel to the three dominant male powers in Iliad - Agamemnon, Achilles and Apollo. They're what I somewhat refer to as the sacrifice trio, innocents who must ultimately be abandoned and stripped away for the sake of the desire of their sacrificer, in turn revealing something intrinsic about the nature of the man. For Iphigenia, she reveals that Agamemnon truly values his ambition over all, that his image and status as a leader is more meaningful to him than the love of his family (which, of course, dooms him in the end). Likewise, for Achilles, Troilus' sacrifice reveals that no matter the glamour or glory that crowns Achilles' head, his rage is ultimately his most powerful feeling and it burns bright and hot no matter the circumstance, opponent or arena. For Apollo, Kassandra's sacrifice (which is much more symbolic as he is a god and therefore need not actually physically kill her) reveals his position as the 'loser', one who will be scorned and reviled and lose all the things he loves no matter how closely he cherishes or adorns them. He can't protect the mortals he's blessed, he can't protect his children - he can't even save one woman. She also has that aforementioned triad with Helen and Andromache - the sequestered women; doomed to wait and pray but each, in their own ways working to save and support their own in the conflict. They're all haunted by the promise of what awaits them - Andromache's hopes and future lies with Hector and with her son yet she is the embodiment of a war-wife, solid and stoic in her support when Hector returns but suffering deeply knowing each fight could be his last. Helen, of course, carries with her both the suffering of the greek women and the hatred of their men - if Andromache fears death taking the breath from her beloved fighters then Helen bears the weight of death upon her shoulders, all grief and scorn is bore like a crown upon her head and she must bear it. It is her duty to bear it. Kassandra then becomes the suffering of the young women - they who are surrounding on all sides by throngs of death and do not know why it has come, they whose screams intermix with that of the dead upon them. There is no avatar for Kassandra to experience the war through, no reason for her to be stoic or strong or upright. She tears her hair, hysterical at the suffering that is poured into her mind day in and day out, wild and unrestrained where her elders must hold their grief and tame it. In this way, she gives voice to the voiceless, she screams for those who cannot and is reviled for it - a young woman surrounded by death yet ordered not to speak a word of its stench or horror. There's many more things I can talk about too such as the whole Kassandra as Apollo's living Palladium thing or the Kassandra-Electra-Clytemnestra trio or even Chryseis as a reflection of Kassandra and how the taking of a priest's daughter could be seen as tantamount to trying to steal away Kassandra (and how this eventually wraps back around to the actual incident of Kassandra being stolen away and ending up right back under Agamemnon's care just as Chryseis before her) but like, we would be here all day.

Y'all maybe this is a hot take but scorned woman Kassandra is like, the most boring interpretation of her ever. She has so much life and passion in her, so much joy, so much despair, so much love - making her jaded and cynical towards both her fate and her god is such a slap in the face to me of what her character could and generally does seem to stand for. Kassandra never stopped loving Apollo - likewise, Apollo (at least to me) never abandoned her. All in Troy suffer heavy, cursed fates - Kassandra is one of the few who at least had some awareness of how hers would turn out. I like that she's a fighter. I like that she screams and cries and spits and is expressive and ugly in her torment and grief when so many of the women around her cannot afford to be. I like that she said no and despite how much she suffered for it, she never begged for her yolk to be taken from her because she knew that the choice she made was the right one for her. She's raw, she's vivid, she's human and more than anything, that's what I love so much about her.

[egophiliac]

listen. people have always debated which character is the most normal guy but what if it has in fact been crowley the whole time. no string pulling no master plan just a guy who wants to keep his school running and is cursed with problematic students and incidents

honestly I think the funniest possible reveal would be one of two options:

ONE: Crowley has no plot relevance whatsoever. he wears the mask to cover his receding hairline. his darkest secret is the bottle of "medicinal" whiskey under his desk. this man can barely plan a PTA function with six months' advance notice, he doesn't have the time or patience for any kind of overarching master plot involving mutating students or whatever. the only thing wrong with him is that he's been running this school for (mumblemumble) years and, quite frankly, if you'd been putting up with NRC students for a couple of centuries, you'd have totally checked out by this point too.

OR

TWO: Crowley IS actually Raverne and HAS been slowly enacting a master gambit...to embezzle school funds. the overblots are still completely incidental. he has somehow less idea of what's going on than we do. we confront him about it and he's just like

[rawbins-undertale-blog]

A/N: I love this this is so interesting to explore.... oldest request in my inbox too so over 2 years old at least !! Sorry it took so long but I had a lot of fun doing it now LMAO (˶˃ ᗜ ˂˶)

⟢ CWs: jealousy (all, ofc), mentions of possessive/controlling behaviour (all), actual possessive/controlling behaviour (rus), unhealthy relationships (rus). Lmk if there's anything else I forgot !

⟢ Characters: Vanilla, Cinnamon, Mal, Rus

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

── .✦ Vanilla

I don’t think he can handle a lot of jealousy. 

I see a lot of headcanons about him being this possessive, jealous, overprotective guy, but that’s… really not how I see it at all?

The only reason he threatens Frisk in game (from my interpretation at least) is because they’re a very real threat, but he’s never shown to be hostile in any other situation. Everyone likes him because he’s so easygoing and charming, I can’t imagine him having any sort of jealousy issues. Like, genuinely not at all. I don’t think he ever gets jealous himself tbh unless he’s having a really really crappy day and you’re giving all your attention to other people, but even then it’s not in the “grrr you’re mine” type of way it’s in the mopey kinda sad type of way. I think he’d get super freaked if his partner had those types of issues. 

Like, a little bit is fine. It’s endearing when you cling to him and when you pout and try to get his attention. It can even be a little charming if you get a little huffy with the person making you jealous. He just draws the line at real anger. If you get legitimately upset about him talking to someone else then he really will not appreciate that. 

Willing to communicate with you about it if your jealousy revolves around only one specific person, can slightly compromise by putting a little distance between himself and that person (unless it’s someone he’s super super close to since before he even met you), but he’s not gonna accept unreasonable jealousy and anything he deems as controlling 

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

── .✦ Cinnamon

Surprisingly little, but he won’t leave his partner over jealousy issues even if they’re bad — he just won’t accept it, and train it out of you LMAO

Listen it’s never your partners responsibility to fix your issues. but. Papyrus will fix your issues I’m crying

He tuts at you and scolds you when he notices you sending other people dirty looks for getting too close to him, but he isn’t necessarily cruel about it. He assures you that it is, of course, perfectly normal to be afraid to lose something as perfect and great as him !! But you don’t need to be because he loves you. And also, frankly, you need to get a grasp on yourself !! It is not very great to get angry about these kinds of things. Now, learning to control yourself, that is truly… beyond great !!!!!! 

Works on it with you, without ever entertaining your jealousy problems. Type of guy to legitimately change you for the better forever I'm so serious

Will, however, with a very heavy heart break up if there’s no end in sight at all. If you don’t even try to improve, and your jealousy creates actual anger in you, then you are unfortunately a danger to his friends and family and he can’t keep you around. But it probably won’t ever come to that.

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

── .✦ Mal

Can handle surprisingly much, actually

You’d think a stern guy like him, who always insists you must retain a large level of independence from him even in a relationship, would hate it. And while, yeah, he doesn’t like it… he also really doesn’t hate it either. 

He’ll sternly tell you off if he thinks it goes too far (for example if you snark at the person you deem as haven gotten too close; he can defend his own honour perfectly well on his own, thank you very much), he’ll put up with more than you’d think.

Mostly rolls his eyes at your behaviour, calling it juvenile. He doesn’t mind it too much though. You would know if it really bothered him. He is not the type to let behaviour he doesn’t like just slip without a serious talking to with real consequences. Certainly not above demanding more space should he find that the both of you need the distance. You know he’s fine with it as long as it goes out on no one but him and in non violent/hostile manners. Sometimes he even grins, finding it a little bit charming.

Unless you have, like… SERIOUS serious jealousy issues, it won’t be a dealbreaker for him. 

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

── .✦ Rus

Would accept any amount of jealousy from you (/neg)

This bad boy can fit so many unhealthy coping mechanisms

He even finds it nice. He actively enjoys it. He WANTS you to be jealous. It feels validating to him that you want him so much you’re willing to fight on his behalf just to keep him. 

Only times he’ll mind it is if it goes out over the people he genuinely cares about. Will get super uncomfortable if you try to control what friends he sees, but will do as you ask because he’s afraid to lose you. This goes past jealousy to controlling and possessive, I know, but I’m trying to paint the picture of how bad it is. 😭 His self esteem is actually so awful, he’ll take whatever he’s given. If you’re not careful, he does become codependent on you. It’s no surprise then that he’s willing to accept unacceptable behaviour. 

Mal, however, will notice if it gets to a point and steps in. If your jealousy issues cause you to become controlling, the relationship will end. 

But, if we’re talking about how much he SHOULD handle, not how much he’ll allow himself to handle, I think it’s for the best his partner isn’t very jealous at all. Sometimes a little jealousy is obviously fine, that’s normal and human, but I don’t think it’s good for him to have a partner who will get too clingy or mopey, and definitely not mad at him, if they feel he isn’t with them all the time. Like I mentioned before, he has codependency issues; I think a partner who gets jealous might unintentionally feed into it. His partner needs to be able to encourage him to hang out with other people and handle him having friends if things are to work out well. 

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

Thanks for reading !! Sorry this took so long for me to upload despite finishing this, like, a month ago HELP. Idk why but uploading stuff is a big barrier for me, but creating isn't for some reason..... Idk how to explain it......... Anyways I hope you enjoyed !!! (˶◜ᴗ◝˶)

[stabbyfoxandrew]

Your our mini writings about kissing are amazing 😻🫠

May I super kindly request a combo of 16 and 9? 🙏🫶

16. A kiss in the rain / 9. A kiss to the eyelid with ???

Of course it had to be raining.

That's what Jeremy thought as he stepped out of mother's house with a couple precariously balanced boxes in his arms. He tried his best to hunch his shoulders, to let himself shield the flimsy cardboard from the buckets upon buckets of water falling out of the clouds. He scoffed, then sniffed as he shoved the boxes into the trunk of his car. As if today wasn't emotionally charged on its own, Mother Nature just had to be hilarious and deliver unto him a fucking thunderstorm. As if on cue there was a rumble in the distance, then a streak of lightning bolting across the sky.

When he blinked, the spidery afterimage of electricity remained for a moment. Jeremy shut the trunk and hurried back inside. He had to be done before his mother got home. William had already done more than could be expected of him. He had helped Jeremy pack up boxes, providing both copious amounts of coffee and the sort of fatherly support he'd never been granted in his life.

Jeremy supposed he would buy a new bed frame. Mattress. Desk. Desk chair. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to image dollar signs being whisked away with each big ticket item. But there was no way in hell he could transport those things on his own, in his car. And there was no way he could afford them on his own, either. Perhaps he would get a secondhand sleeping bag and convince himself it was fun to sleep on the floor.

As he hurried up the steps to his bedroom— not for much longer— Jeremy heard his phone ringing from where he'd left it downstairs. He ignored it to go grab a trash bag full of clothes, throwing it over his shoulder like a much less jolly version of Santa Claus. He took it with him back downstairs and was interrupted by William.

"Miss Dermott called you," he said, holding Jeremy's phone up. "It went to voicemail."

"I'll call her back when I'm done," Jeremy answered with a smile he could tell William didn't believe. Then he continued back to his car. At least his mother was letting him keep the car. Or at least she hadn't mentioned taking it away. If she had it repossessed, Jeremy supposed he would just have to walk. Or catch rides with his friends. He didn't think they'd mind lugging him around too much.

Just as Jeremy stuffed the majority of his clothes into his trunk, he heard a vehicle approaching and his heart stopped momentarily. His mother was home early. Or Bryson had come home to chase him off for taking one too many cookies from the cookie jar. Jeremy braced himself and slammed the trunk yet again, but it was neither of his relatives' cars that backed in next to his. It was a U-Haul truck. Jeremy blinked at it in confusion, then watched as three familiar faces climbed out.

"What do you think you're doing, doing this all by yourself?" Laila demanded as she ran to meet him, arms already open and pulling him in. Jeremy let her, hugging her back and burying his face against the side of her head. Jean and Cat weren't far behind— they stood just a breath away, each of them slowly getting drenched and wearing matching, mildly pissed off expressions.

"I don't have that much stuff. Not really." Jeremy said. He gestured to his car, all packed down and loaded up with the majority of his things already. "See? Almost done. What's the truck for?"

"This house does not need your bedroom suite any longer." Jean told him matter-of-factly. 

"Yeah, we're here to Robin Hood all your big stuff away." Cat said, producing a small toolbox from behind her back. 'Toolbox' was a strong word for it considering it was really a small pink backpack, though Jeremy knew it did have tools inside so it fit. "I think between the four of us we can handle breaking down your furniture."

"Yes, I think you'll manage just fine." William's voice startled the lot of them and Jeremy turned to see him standing just inside the door. "Come along though, you have got to be quick. Mrs. Wilshire is due home in..." the butler checked his wristwatch, "Ninety minutes."

"Then let's hustle, team. Let's go!" Laila said, leading the charge up the stairs. Jeremy watched them from the landing.

"Did you know they were coming?"

William merely blinked at Jeremy. "How do you think they knew to bring a truck?"

Jeremy can't stop a laugh from bubbling up his throat. "You're the best, William."

"Yes I know." William gave a sly wink before returning to his post in the kitchen. His livelihood might already be at risk thanks to Jeremy, he couldn't risk having dinner be late too.

-

The next seventy-four minutes included plenty of cursing, grunting, and heavy-lifting, but Jeremy's bedroom was now bare as newborn baby. All that remained was the carpet and the few glow-in-the-dark stars Jean couldn't pry loose from the ceiling. Oh, and the law textbooks which Jeremy placed square in the middle of the floor. The girls giggled at this petty act, proud of him, as they left the room with with his bed clothes in an enormous trash bag.

Jean bumped his elbow into Jeremy's. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Yeah. I really am." In the last few months, Jeremy had realized his family's love was either conditional or non-existent or both. Either way there was nothing left for him in this house. Jeremy took Jean's offered hand and the two walked down the stairs together. The girls were waiting by the front door, each of drenched with rain the same as Jeremy. Laila had a picture frame in her hand, which Jeremy raised a brow at.

"It's your grandmother," she said simply. Jeremy's throat tightened and he nodded a thank you.

Cat clapped her hands then. "We have approximately eleven minutes to spare. That's pretty good time, I think."

"Go team," said Jean with a smile, making them all laugh. Jeremy's came out a bit wet, but they had the good grace to ignore it. Cat moved to open the door and the rain was still pouring outside. Because of course it was.

"Um, I'll be out in a sec. I'm gonna say bye to William." Jeremy told them. His hand felt cold the moment he let go of Jean's to turn and head for the kitchen. He found William hard at work, in the middle of a five star meal. Jeremy's phone lay on the counter near his workspace. He picked it up to put it in his pocket without checking his messages. "Thank you."

William looked up at Jeremy from his cooking and gave a smile. "You are most welcome. I trust you have my number memorized still?"

"I do."

"Use it. I want to hear from you, to know you're doing well."

Jeremy swallowed as he worried with his keys. "I will. Bye William."

"Goodbye, Jeremy."

Walking back through the house, Jeremy worried with his keys. It took a couple annoying minutes, and one broken thumbnail, to pry off the one marked with a dab of black fingernail polish. He dropped the key in the mailbox attached to the house and shut the door behind him. The girls must have already taken shelter in the U-Haul, but Jean was waiting for him on the stoop. He looked like a drowned rat. A beautiful one.

"All done?"

"All done," Jeremy repeated with a nod. He trailed after Jean to the car and turned to look back at the house one last time, tears welling in his eyes. Well at least the rain's good for something, he thought as he felt a couple slip out. A second later, Jean had an arm around him. Jeremy stilled at the embrace before returning it, hands clasped behind Jean's back. He placed his forehead on the other man's collarbone and tried to get himself together enough to drive.

After a few seconds Jean's hand found his chin and lifted his head to press a kiss to Jeremy's eyelid. Jeremy's breathing hitched pathetically at the gesture, especially considering he'd witnessed Jean give similar affection to the girls. But he couldn't help it.

"They don't understand what a mistake they are making, throwing you away." Jean whispered against his forehead. "But they will one day. And they will live to regret it. You are too good for them and always have been."

"Je-"

Jean's thumb wiped the space under Jeremy's eye and he held his hand out. "Give me your keys, I'll drive us home."

Home, echoed Jeremy's thoughts as he stared at this lovely man. And then he placed his keys in Jean's palm.

[gayvephelis]

every time someone mischaracterises jay ferin as the therapist friend a fairy loses its wings btw. put some respect on her emotionally-constipated ass.

[gen-is-gone]

This is perhaps bitchy and uncharitable and certainly almost a year late to really be complaining about but fuck it, we complain anyway.

Yes, I am still unreasonably upset about Sutekh clinging to the side of the TARDIS since The Pyramids of Mars, and upset because I was sort of foolishly hoping we might get some actual characterization fallout from that addressed properly this series, which of course isn't going to happen. And the reason I'm upset about it while it seems fairly few people care all that much is because it's a litmus test for the degree to which any given person sees the TARDIS as a character in her own right. And it's fairly obvious now that rtd doesn't, or at least, only does when it suits him.

Because the thing is, if the TARDIS is a character, is a person, then the manner in which Sutekh uses and usurps her, and the ambiguity in whether it was consensual ('seduction' vs 'coercion') becomes extremely important to the Doctor and the TARDIS's relationship, and the TARDIS's characterization as a whole, both going forward and echoing back. Like bearing in mind that what actually happened is so ambiguous, what Sutekh being 'there the whole time' even fucking means, that trying to pull a point out of it is almost an exercise in futility from the jump, but to borrow some wildly inadequate or perhaps even inappropriate language, it's the difference between whether the TARDIS has been cheating on the Doctor for more than half the length of their entire relationship, or whether she'd been being (sorry) raped that whole time and the Doctor just hadn't noticed.

And yeah, evidently it was too much for me to hope that there would ever be any kind of real emotional or plot-relevant followup about that, because, again, that requires you to see the TARDIS as a character whose choices and emotions and relationships matter beyond their immediate relevance to the plot. And this isn't new by any goddamn means. This isn't actually the usual split between the traditionalist and the avant-garde camps. The TARDIS's sapience and autonomy do not begin with The Doctor's Wife; this is established (more or less) in The Edge of Destruction, the third ever serial in the history of the show, all the way back in nineteen sixty-fucking-four.

And y'know, yes, it would still be a big deal if Sutekh jumped on in Wild Blue Yonder (as would make way more logical sense) rather than Pyramids; the ambiguity of consent that the show either doesn't care or lacks the stomach to address would still be a blow, but it wouldn't have the unutilized capacity to fundamentally alter the relationship between the two longest-running characters in the franchise if it was the span of a season, rather than thousands of years in-universe and nearly five decades in real life. And not to be conspiratorial or assume categorical bad faith on rtd's part, but yeah, it's hard not see that particular unnecessary detail as a petty response to Moffat and Chibnall's own continuity-and-paradigm-altering retcons, and an attempt to get his own shot in.

And it's just. Never gonna get talked about, huh. 'Cause it doesn't actually matter, right? 'Cause it's not like the TARDIS is really a person, right?

[elitadream]

I HAVE RETURNED!!! 💃🎉✨

[fix-me-sixteen]

all for the game, the locked tomb, and severance are all in the same boat for me as in i've known about them since 2022, knew about them before they became majorly popular but now know less about them than the average person because now they're so popular, and i wanted so so so so badly to read/watch them from the moment i heard about them in 2022 . . .

. . . but they aren't finished so i don't do anything about it

[egophiliac]

thank you for blessing us with twst pokemon au i appreciate it greatly. if i may ask you a question

how does one read book 7 without selling their soul to the deep dark web. i've been wanting to read the other parts for a while but i can't find a place with all the chapters. i've seen translations on youtube but i don't think they have all of them?

(also why'd you government name mickey like that on your last post what did he do)

thank you! :D

I'm not really sure where to find up-to-date main story translations, so opening it up to the floor for other people to chime in! for reference, the latest release in JP was episode 7 chapter 6 on December 11th, which covered 7-88 through 7-100. fingers crossed for more in February...but that's where we're at right now!

(Michael knows what he did)