#salem/adam

[viquipo]

School kicking my ass so hard I made these the day after my last post and only had time to post them now

[blighted-elf]

Vampire: The Masquerade - Choice of Games Titles

[rachetmath]

RWBY Villains

Okay so here is my question. What was the point of Hazel, Watts and Tyrian? Like we had other villains that fit the job requirements, were well-established, and were better parallels to our main characters. Miss Malachite and her twin daughters are a better addition. And Neo, who should have shown up earlier in the story but whatever. That in my opinion.

[anthurak]

So here’s an interesting little detail I noticed while rewatching some of the Beacon arc:

Out of all the various disposable pawns, patsies and stooges we’ve seen utilized by Salem over the course of the show (not counting the stooges who make up her inner circle), it’s funny how the only one who seems to actually recognize how much of a pawn he really is, is TORCHWICK of all people.

Like when you look at Roman’s scenes with Cinder and her minions, and particularly his final fight with Ruby in Volume 3, it’s pretty clear that he was always acutely aware that he was a very small piece of a MUCH larger game.

Just compare that to the likes of Adam, Leonardo, Jacques and Ironwood, who by all rights were all COMPLETELY oblivious to how much they were getting played, or just how little they mattered to Salem.

And that gets even more interesting when you consider that Roman was probably the smallest piece in terms of both status and overall significance compared to Salem’s other pawns. Like I actually don’t think for a moment that Torchwick ever actually met Salem or even KNEW about her by name. I imagine all Roman knew was that there was some boss/mom that Cinder was reporting to.

Instead, Torchwick was able to look at everything Cinder was doing and plotting, between manipulating the White Fang, securing several warehouses of stolen dust, planning a full-on grimm-incursion of Vale during the Vytal Festival with the ultimate aim of toppling one of the four Huntsman Academies. Not to mention I imagine Roman had at least an inkling as to the whole Maiden business that Cinder was after, plus the fact that she seemed to be able to control grimm to a degree. Maybe even guess that this was a plot years if not decades in the making.

And it’s pretty clear that Roman took one look at all this and rightly surmised that he was a bit player in a truly MASSIVE game. As he implies to Ruby during their final fight, Torchwick may not have known much about Salem or her plans, but he knew ENOUGH that he didn’t want to be standing AGAINST her.

Again, just compare that to someone like Adam Taurus, so-called big-shot revolutionary with his big plans to topple the oppression of the humans… who seems to have had no fucking clue that his new ‘friends’ were fully intent on sending him and his followers out to die as a DISTRACTION for their own plans.

Or of course, James Ironwood the big, strong (self-appointed) defender of Atlas and (also self-appointed) last, best hope for humanity, who to his dying breath seems to have been ENTIRELY oblivious to just how completely Salem and her minions were playing him like the cheap kazoo he was.

Or just Jacques Schnee the big-shot corporate overlord who wasn’t even important enough to know about any kind of scheme. All he needed was Watts dangling an election win like keys in front of a baby to be a dutiful little pawn for Salem.

Though funny enough, to Jacques’ credit; the moment he hears about the heating grid going down he does seem to immediately catch on that Watts played him for a chump.

And it’s rather amusing that this is more than can be said for the likes of the ‘Faunus Revolutionary’ who bent the knee to a human girl who kicked his ass, or Ol’ Jimmy the Child-Shooter himself.

[jedidragonwarriorqueen]

[howlingday]

Weiss " yang me and Jaune have been lovers since day one of Beacon.

Yang ".... What?

Weiss " we pretented to keep my dad out of it , Neptune was a good beard as was Pyrrha, but he hind doors Daddy Arc was spank his pretty pittle princess, me till I was read and was dirtier then a tv crime scene."

Yamg horrifed " why are you trlling me this.

Jaune walks up grabs weiss by hair and kisses ger.

Weiss pops leg happily as she breaks kiss " no one will believe you xaio long

Yang ".... I will never unsee this.

Jaune uses weiss pony tail as leash to pull her " you haven't see nothing yet.

Yang "..... ADULT I NEED AN ADULT

Weiss " we are adults Yang

Yang: AGH! Oh... Oh... Oh, shit... It was just a dream...

Adam: What was just a dream, honey?

Yang: AGH! Jeez! I... Holy shit...

Salem: Is something wrong, sweetness?

Yang: AGH! Oh... Please, don't let this be a dream.

Ursa: Rah?

Yang: ...Y'know what? Fuck it. Good night, honey.

[swiftie-nator]

Sign suggestions for my AEW event on August 7th in Winston-Salem NC ? I have floor seats so hoping my sign will actually be seen lol :) thx

[erros429]

i need to watch rwby volume 6 for the first time again that was such a fucking cultural reset for me

[bloodycowboyclub]

@nymets1320 on twitter

AEW House Rules | Salem, VA

[ian-the-existential-crisis]

Valley of Sin preview

╔⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶✞⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷╗

“All people sin.” Lucifer said slowly. “Even you are not free of that charge.”

“I am a man of god. I do not sin. I never listen to the devil's whispers, I purge such filth from this world with the power of my righteous faith.”

“You say purge, but how many families have you torn apart in your never-ending quest for something that is not inherently evil?”

“Magic and witchcraft are evil!” He yelled, the flickering fire casting a shadow, hiding Lucifer’s true evil intentions. It was protecting him from Adam's wrath.

“My magic is meant for healing and helping others. I cure their wounds and ease their sickness. I do not brew toxic potions to bewitch men so I might steal their children and eat them. I craft careful tonics to bring about peace to those who are suffering from any ailment. That is not evil.”

This man before him was not the first to be accused of being a male witch. He was just the first that Adam himself had encountered. A man who easily moved about the shadows as if dancing among them was in the very nature.

The way that he stepped ever so lightly away for Adam as if being concealed by his sin so Adam couldn't touch him.

“It may not be by morning's light that I find the evidence to bring you down, but I swear on all that is just and holy that I will have you atone for your sins.”

[viquipo]

Guys... I have something to confess... I am

... Italian..... I'm so sorry......... I will change ❤️‍🩹

[chntfessions]

au where jefidiah bites elijah’s hand before he can do the whole pyre thing and then elijah goes and runs into the woods like the fucking dried raisin of a pissbaby he is and then jebijijah gets rabies from biting the stinky forest man and then he has to leave too because he doesn’t want the campers to get rabies and then sydney is like “oh buddy oh boy the two main men who were in love with me are both gone now i can go off with rowan” and then him and rowan kiss and hug and are happily ever after and maybe juniper or up and adam too just for kicks also then it ends with yvonne and marisol and salem taking over and being the main characters for the next season

-🧩

...........WOW!!!!!!!! everyone is very creative!!!!!-🎀

[rachetmath]

Salem: *sigh*

Me: Hey.

Salem: Who are you?

Me: Not in important. You must me Salem. The immortal.

Salem: Yes.

Me: You have magic right?

Salem: Yes.

Me: You control the Grimm right?

Salem: Yes.

Me: Good. So is that it?

Salem: What are you-

Me: So let break this down for you. Your immortal woman. With magic. Yet you never use any other spell besides a lazer.

Salem: …

Me: You never picked up any hand to hand combat skills yet your immortal.

Salem: ….

Me: Have you ever touched a weapon?

Salem: … ….

Me: Okay but at least you’re smart right? You have allies right?

Salem: Yes.

Me: Okay good.

Salem: But…

Me: But?

Salem: Two of them betrayed me. Two of them died. One them has an tendency to disobey me. So…

Me: So there’s no structure in your team. Are there any other members besides the ones mentioned?

Salem: …

Me: Okay see that’s the problem. Do you have any idea what’s going on in the world? Like any clue.

Salem: Not really.

Me: So, you didn't know the White Fang is divided, right?

Salem: Why should that concern me?

Me: Because you can take advantage of that. You can lead them and they can be your servants. Your soldiers. Next, your Grimm are very adaptable and it seems they can merge with objects. Have you ever thought of experimenting with them?

Salem: No, I could barely find the time.

Me: Well then there is somebody who can help with that. And they hate Ozpin.

Salem: I see.

Me: And you destroyed Atlas. That increases your reputation. You can gain more allies.

Salem: Hm, you're right. May I ask you something?

Me: What is it?

Salem: I have this relic that was supposed to answer any question I wanted. However, one of my allies used it and now it won’t work for another hundred years.

Me: Oh so you need information. Well theirs a group for that.

Salem: Really?

Me: Yeah. And their criminals. Help them. They’ll help you. And you have a lot to offer.

Salem: Hmm. You know I could use an adviser. Do you mind?

Me: Sure.

Salem: Really? Sir you do know I plan to recreate this world in my image. I plan to be god.

Me: Okay, and if the heroes win it means nothing was wrong with the world. Or if you win it means this world was doomed from the start.

Salem: Okay.

Me: Let’s do this. We gonna make you a Madara, Seprthioth, and Thanos tier villain. Heroes ain’t go know what hit them.

[because-she-goes]

@/trumanblackblog sell this as a 10th anniversary poster bestie

[bestworstcase]

What are your thoughts on the use of rose symbolism across the show? (Ruby, Adam, Summer, the songs)

ough.

ok broadly speaking there are three different but intertwining Rose Motifs, to wit,

the burning rose (summer + ruby)

the withered rose (adam)

roses that rot or die (salem)

but the third motif is complicated because salem herself is not symbolically identified as a rose but rather with the broken moon, most overtly in sacrifice ("the moon will sadly watch the roses die/in vain").

so. the very first few images in rwby are 1. the full unbroken moon, with a single red rose petal floating up into the frame; 2. ruby, cloaked and shedding rose petals, standing before a gravestone with the moon at her back; and 3. the gravestone, with the burning rose engraved upon it, and below that the name Summer Rose and the epitaph Thus Kindly I Scatter. note also that the grimm in the red trailer bleed rose petals.

it is possible that the key aesthetics weren’t decided yet, but: 1. the moon is broken and a normal size in the white trailer, and 2. "red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest"—the red trailer is the dream. that ruby keeps having about her mom. RLR2 playing under the nevermore fight (and the burst of rose petals when ruby decapitates it—something that doesn’t happen with any other defeated grimm) underscore this point. ruby is looking for her mother inside the grimm.

(that’s why she jumps to the specific conclusion she does when she sees the guy in the hound, incidentally. cutting open a grimm and finding what’s left of her mom is the nightmare that has been haunting her subconscious ever since she learnt that summer wasn’t coming back.)

anyway, because the red trailer depicts a dream it goes extra ham with the symbolism. (and it makes a very neat implication about who ruby is that where her teammates are all introduced to us in these active moments of striving for what they want, ruby’s pain is buried so deep that she can only find it in her dreams—see also her arc in the ever after.) 

so the red trailer provides something of an interpretive guide—the burning rose is a symbol of death, we first see it on a gravestone, and the red rose petals suggest grief but they are also, explicitly, associated with blood and violence. and then there’s this huge moon looming on the horizon. on a second viewing you realize that ruby’s dream is lit by either a whole moon that never broke or that the broken face is rotated away, hidden, and because dreams are non-literal it can be both of these things at the same time. 

then on top of this we have the grave of summer rose—in this dream of a bleak, colorless winter—and that epitaph, "thus kindly i scatter," which if you know the poem (or take the time to look it up) is immediately a curveball because it’s…

'Tis the last rose of summer, Left blooming alone; All her lovely companions Are faded and gone; No flower of her kindred, No rose-bud is nigh, To reflect back her blushes Or give sigh for sigh! I'll not leave thee, thou lone one. To pine on the stem; Since the lovely are sleeping, Go, sleep thou with them; Thus kindly I scatter Thy leaves o'er the bed, Where thy mates of the garden Lie scentless and dead. So soon may I follow, When friendships decay, And from love's shining circle The gems drop away! When true hearts lie withered, And fond ones are flown, Oh! who would inhabit This bleak world alone?

an interesting allusion to follow this:

"red like roses fills my dreams"—ruby turns around here to walks away from the grave, toward the moon—"and brings me to the place you rest." and then her departure reveals that summer’s epitaph is this moment when the poem’s speaker plucks a rose and scatters its petals upon the ground to express sorrow for its loss and loneliness; "oh, who would inhabit this bleak world alone?"

the rose in the poem is not summer, in other words. summer’s epitaph identifies her with the speaker who scatters the rose, and the red petals "bleeding" from ruby’s cloak insinuate her as the scattered rose.

keeping that in mind, consider the lyrics of RLR1 in relation to the accompanying imagery in the red trailer; yes the song is a thematic statement about the four main characters, but it’s also illustrated in a very deliberate way.

"red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest"—in this dream, the redness comes from ruby. she is carrying it with her, around herself, and it leads her from the grave to the grimm, whom she breaks opens to reveal the red of her own pain… beneath this white unbroken moon, which,

hi. (ruby can’t see summer in her dreams when the moon is at her back, but in the moonlight she sees the ghost of her mother, shedding white…? she imagines rose petals, finding herself in summer’s reflection. but in the red trailer it’s snowing.)

"white is cold and always yearning, burdened by a royal test"—journey through a bleak, snow-bound forest toward an open field. aside from the obvious grief metaphor: the warrior in the woods, the white witch in the woods, the grimm child… and the indecisive king, in which a silver crown torments a king with haunting visions of an impossible crossroads that leave him "pale as the moon."

and then: "black the beast descends from shadows," as she looks up to find herself surrounded by grimm. the imagery of descent from shadows has also always interested me because it’s ordinarily reversed; one rises up from shadows, as in 'this time', but rwby turns it upside-down in a specific way; the descent from shadow precipitates a new flame rising from the ashes, here as in 'from shadows' and (more poetically) elsewhere, which is also why the line runs into "yellow beauty burns…"

with "gold" being the shot of ruby suspended in midair before the moon, which in just this one shot glows golden like the sun.

burning rose. burning rose. gold, the song about yang picking up the pieces and trying to comfort ruby after summer’s death, goes like this:

If the stars all fall When there’s no more light And the moon should crumble It will be alright Don’t you worry about the dark I will light up the night with the love in my heart I will burn like the sun I will keep you safe and warm Like the smell of a rose on a summer’s day I will be there to take all your fears away With a touch of my hand I’ll turn your life to gold

notice the mirrored imagery with sacrifice:

Born an angel, heaven-sent Falls from grace are never elegant Stars will drop out of the sky The moon will sadly watch the roses die In vain Lost, no gain But you’re not taking me.

as well as the imagery in sacrifice ("all your faith in ancient ways/leaves you trapped inside a maze/take the lives of those you need/sow the death and reap the seed"), reversed in rising ("a rose will grow to be a seed/from every life, another leads/born the way were meant to be"), both rhymed in for every life ("some roses will never bloom/some dreams will rot on the vine/some lives will end much too soon/some evil will never ever die/some wars will not end in peace/some heroes choose the wrong side/sometimes it’s worth it all/to risk the fall").

there is a pattern here.

the burning rose is a symbol of death. the withered or decaying rose suggests, not death, but slow corruption: adam’s is "just the story of a boy who lost his way/into shadows strayed," descending into a darkness too deep to rekindle as flame—and it is through juxtaposition with the withering rose that the burning rose also becomes a symbol for revival, as new fire blossoming from ashes.

and then both of these symbols are adjacent to the broken moon, which represents 1. the death and resurrection of humanity (thence its symbolic association with silver eyes), and 2. salem herself.

in volume one, summer appears only in the light of the moon and the grimm in the red trailer ignite the (seemingly unbroken) moon—this evokes the in-universe folklore about the broken moon having been the sun, once upon a time when there was no light in the sky at all during the night, so there’s burning-moon phoenix imagery hiding in plain sight here. when summer left, she left the burning rose behind. (which i’d call a smoking gun for summer not being dead if that weren’t already so obvious. but she unburdened herself of the death-symbol before confronting salem. lol.)

summer herself is also pointedly not the rose but one who scatters it, which puts her in juxtaposition to the way salem associates ozma with roses in sacrifice. (HE is the roses that salem, the moon, sadly watches: this becomes quite clear once you grasp that withering/decaying roses symbolize corruption, spiritual death. this is why sacrifice and nevermore rhyme, btw:

— "born an angel, heaven-sent/falls from grace are never elegant" -> "you think you’re someone’s hero/you’re hiding more than your eyes"

— "back when it started/i thought that justice was your goal/then in the darkness/you lost your mind/i lost my soul/that’s in the past and i won’t be controlled" -> "stars will drop out of the sky/the moon will sadly watch the roses die/in vain/lost, no gain/but you’re not taking me"

— "you can’t have my life/i’m not your sacrifice/you can try, but i’m free/and you won’t conquer me/i won’t crawl/most of all/i won’t fall/for you" -> "you may have taken the lead/but i’ll even the score/you won the battle, you won’t win the war" and "i won’t stay a martyr/it’s my turn to take back what you stole"

— "you promised hope, salvation/gave me a place to be/but your vision of liberation/was all about you/it could never apply to me" -> "show them gods and deities/blind and keep the people on their knees/pierce the sky, escape your fate/the more you try, the more you’ll just breed hate/and lies/truth will rise/revealed by mirrored eyes" -> "i challenge your weak manifesto/the goal of a savior is not to be lionized" -> "what if all the plans you made/were not worth the price they paid?"

it’s the SAME SONG. you stalked me across anima / he had to destroy salem.)

this is part of why i think rising is a salem + summer song, the mirrored (ha ha) rose imagery; ozma the rose who never bloomed and rotted on the vine, summer the rose who burned and regrew from the ashes to rise like the moon. ozma who sows death and reaps the seeds, summer who flowered and planted new seeds. (the other part is that rising is a paean to cyclical change—destruction—death and resurrection. it doesn’t express the perspectives of the main characters, it exhorts them to learn the lessons the blacksmith eventually teaches them and it is a direct rebuke to miracle, which plays first.)

[superiorsturgeon]

Huntsmen of the Caribbean pt 2:

Jaune: *pushed to his knees by Tyrian and Hazel*

Salem: *steps close and leans down towards Jaune’s face*

Salem: …

Salem: …do you fear death…? 👿

Jaune: 😨

Jaune: Uh…Roman Torchwick sent me to settle his debt…?

Salem: …Roman Torchwick…?

Salem: *turns and looks directly at the spot where Roman is hiding a mile away*

Roman: *looking through binoculars* 😨

Roman: *quickly lowers binoculars*

Salem: *standing right in front of him* 😠

Roman: 😱

———————————————————————

Clover: *pacing the decks of huge warship* Say, what’s that?

Vernal/Shay D Man: *slowly rowing in a tiny boat, dressed in frilly gowns and bonnets*

Shay: *waves handkerchief at warship* Yoo-Hoo! 😘

Vernal: *pulling the oars* Stop doing that! I feel like an idiot in these outfits!

Shay: At least you look pretty for once!

Vernal: …

Vernal: 🤬

Vernal: *strangles Shay from behind*

———————————————————————

Tyrian: *kicks Jaune back* I’m going to teach you the meaning of “pain!”

Ruby: You like pain?

Tyrian: *simultaneously hit by a spear and scythe*

Pyrrha: …try wearing a corset! 😠

———————————————————————

Qrow: *dramatically leaps atop a wall to make his escape*

Qrow: *pauses* …Jaune…?

Jaune: Yes, Qrow?

Qrow: …nice hair!

———————————————————————

Jacques: You can fight, and you will all die…

Jacques: …or you can surrender, and only most of you will die!

———————————————————————

Raven: Bring forth the nine pieces of eight!

Ghira/Raven/Maria/Adam/Roman/Sienna/Ozpin/Junior: *pull out assorted knickknacks from their pockets and toss them in ceremonial bowl*

Vernal: …wait, those aren’t pieces of eight! They’re pieces of junk!

Taiyang: …yes, well, when the first Brethren Court originally met, they planned on using enchanted pieces of eight, but unfortunately they were, to a one, completely broke!

Taiyang: …so they had to make do with what they had!

Vernal: …so change the name!

Taiyang: To what? The “Nine Pieces Of Whatever We Happened To Have In Our Pockets At The Time?”

Taiyang: Oh, yes, that sounds very piratey!