#she's vindictive with a thirst for revenge for no reason at all

[caitlynmeow]

she's a real menace, an absolute terror. Cassandra Dimitrescu is no one's peace and her wife is a living example of this

[just-like-playing-tag]

Yo it's Apollo!Ray AU hours again

I just think Ray would be more fitting as ruthless psycho than Norman? I mean, Ray was willing to sacrifice 35 children out of 37- children that were his family, children he loved. I'm not saying such decision didn't destroy him internally; but if he, after having thought about it for a long time and considered there was no other chance, eventually agreed to sacrifice most of his own family, think about what he might be able to do to the creatures he despises.

Now, I'm not saying I'm 100% sure this is how Ray would act if he was sent to Lambda, and I know I'm on thin ice with remaining in character; but I find it fun to think of what could have been of him and eventually bringing to light some hidden dark aspects of his!

Hear me out: Ray is a complex, predominantly gray character. Through the canon story, he was greatly effected by Emma's good influence for the better. Nota bene!! I don't mean that Ray isn't his own character, and that his personality and development was solely shaped by Emma; what I mean is that he was influenced by Emma's attitude as much as she was of his own, because our personality is also built on the people we're surrounded by, especially the ones we share a deep bond with.

Now, let's say that, at Grace Filed, Ray's heart was still in a predominantly gray zone: a bit ruthless at heart - he really was willing to abandon to death 92% of his family - but still able to be influenced by Emma's good resolutions for the best (even though it's important to keep in mind that he didn't believe an escape involving more than three people was possible until it took place in front of his eyes. I think it's a very relevant detail, as it shows how GF!Ray's cynism and realism often lead to him solely being able to see the most negative results, and not allowing him to believe in the impossible as Emma and Norman did).

Now, things changed as canon Ray escaped. He had seen the impossible become reality right in front of his eyes, and in that moment he vowed he would have never made the same mistake: he would have never given up again; not on his family, nor on his life.

He swore to protect his family, and that he would have never allowed any of his siblings to meet death again: and that's because, for the very first time in his entire existence, he started to believe that no-escape-scenarios can actually be overcame without sacrifices, if only you have enough faith into making it possible. He learned that fighting back will never stop being an option, and he's now willing to do anything, even the impossible, to grant his family an happy life- this time, for all of them.

It's beautiful, isn't it? Well, bad news!!! Lambda!Ray never got the chance to go through this character development. In fact for him after his shipment everything got worse and more desperate!

I find it unlikely that Ray would have left a note with a revisited escape plan like Norman did before leaving... We know for sure in two months he didn't come up with what Norman had thought in a couple of hours, and even though in the circumstances of him being shipped he would have been him to make the recognition, he didn't know about the support of the younger siblings, which was a key element of the escape plan. Overall, even putting aside the fact that Norman is generally considered being a span more witty than Ray, I personally like to think that Ray, for how he is - pessimistic, depressed and everything - after seeing the cliff would have been far too miserable to come up with something as fast as Norman did.*

*Actually, it's hard to tell for sure, because I think Ray would never give up on saving Emma and Norman- but things were happening so fast, so what if he didn't have enough time? What if he just couldn't come up with a plan to overcome the cliff? I fully believe Ray would have done anything to save Emma and Norman, but what if there wasn't anything to be done? It's hard to say.

Ray is shipped to Lambda. This is probably what he's thinking, differently from Norman:

1. Their plan to escape somehow feels as it's already failed, since they already lost one person: without him, the plan of setting the house on fire to distract Isabella has no chance to work, making their already few chances of escaping go down to basically none.

2. Differently from Norman, who never stopped believing in Emma, Lambda!Ray doesn't know if his siblings were actually able to escape; taking into account how pessimistic Ray is, he has probably long presumed them dead. In such situation, it's very likely he considered the work of the six years of his life to at least make Emma and Norman survive gone to waste. I think it's actually very likely for him to get even more depressed and hopeless at Lambda, believing that now all his family is dead, and probably blaming himself for that. The fact that out of all his family he was the only one who survived - him, the one who out of them was the most ready and willing to die - must feel to him like the most cruel joke from destiny.

[For reference: until the very moment they finally met, also Norman didn't know the escape was successful.

Of course, Norman believed in Emma and in her plan, but what about cynical, realistic, I'm-depressed-since-I-was-one Ray?]

At Lambda, Ray is hopelessly stalling, obsessing on this kind of thoughts. His hatred for demons and, for extension, the world he lives in, is growing stronger and stronger. He's slowly sinking in the abyss of his own desperation. Now that all for him is lost, the only thought that keeps him from giving up on his life is one: the thirst of vengeance. A single, dark, rooted thought that somehow manages to be the one thing that keeps him going on. (Once taken on the Apollo facade, there probably was also a component of wanting to stop once and for all the suffering of thousands of children... But in all honesty, I believe with Ray the revenge component would be much stronger than it was with Norman.)

Let's take a moment to reflect on Ray's vindictive side, shall we? Of course, the main reason for Ray to set himself on fire was because according to him it was the safest way to make the others escape (honestly I think a big part of it was also because of him being suicidal kind of depressed, but that's not relevant to the point). But I believe another primary reason for his actions was his seek for revenge: you can clearly see it in his words full of hate and loathing. And I mean, I think that's pretty canon? Ray's beautiful theme in this moment of the anime is literally called “Ray's retaliation”.

That night Ray sought revenge for having ruined his six years plan to save his true friends (since Norman was ultimately shipped without him being able to do anything to save him), together with revenging all of his siblings he saw being led to death. Somehow, it was a moment for him to set all his anger free as his last testament leaving that cruel world.

But as for the Ray of the AU, he never got to experience that freeing moment! Instead, the anger inside of him kept growing stronger and stronger. And now that he believed the whole escape plan had failed and not a single child had survived, it's fair to assume his thirst for revenge would keep growing with it. And also, once again: this time there's no Emma to have a good influence on him.

Now imagine: after escaping Lamba, Ray meets Emma and Norman again!! He's overjoyed: for the longest time, he had thought he would have never got to see them again. He's ecstatic, overwhelmed with joy. In that moment, he swears to himself he'll never lose them again. Skip to the moment of the confrontation between the three of them, except this time it's Ray to expose his plan to exterminate the demons; when Emma randomly speaks her mind and says that, well, she actually doesn't find it very nice to eradicate an entire species, and that in fact she and Norman were already planning a fun trip to a deadly metaphysical place nobody ever came back from to reforge the promise. Needless to say, in the span of minutes Ray is back sinking deep into the abyss. He won't lose them again. He can't lose them again. And click boom, he goes “You know what Emma? Why don't you visit our Paradise Hideout a bit longer instead 😊🔪🔪🔪”

What I'm trying to say is: when the story starts, Ray has gone through all of the most dreadful and disturbing horrors; he's unstable, and depending on his fate when leaving Grace Field he could have easily swing from one extreme to the other. I think Emma greatly helped him overcome his hatred; but what would have been of him, hadn't she been there to support him? What if he only met people who shared his hatred for demons? What if Ray had the choice to kill them all?

[borisbubbles]

ESC2019 Preshow #18

18. ROMANIA Ester Peony  - “On a sunday” SemiFinal 2, #06

~Oi see da smøk rrrrrrrois freummmm deeeee eshhhhdrrrrreyyyyy ~

ENTRY ANALYSIS

You can forgive me for posting the NF version here, but “On a sunday” is one of those songs which comes alive ONLY during the live performance. I just love how she sllllllllrs her wrrrrrrds; See above. It’s funny to me that Ester, who is Canadian, has such questionable English diction but then I remember she’s from the FRENCH-speaking part of Canada 😍😂

Anyway, “On a sunday” is an interesting song to me for many reasons. A of all, it’s probably the closest thing we had to a genuine shock NF winner in this season, which is always exciting. B of all, um hello it’s a dark, vindictive gothic powerballad and I’m only gay, after all. 

Personally I quite love the theme Romania are going for: I can definitely get ~Bride of Dracula~ vibes and you can FEEL the overwhelming anger and pain and thirst for revenge in Ester’s voice, which I think are very powerful attributes. Having said that though, the song itself is sorta weak lol. I mean, it has potential, which is already capitalizes with its Mrs. Havisham-themed styling, (there’s a reason it won Selectia Nationala and that’s because it GLEW UP), but “On a sunday” gives me less in terms of actual replay value and fun factor. It’s a curious entry and my interest is piqued but as if yet not fully retained.

NF CORNER

Time for the longest part of the write up because of all the shit I need to address here. 🙄

Well FIRST of all, I will NOT be addressing Laura Bretan because i don’t give a fuck about “Dear Father” and never have.  Yes, she’s probably not gay-friendly, but I don’t give a care, honestly. I care about entertainment value and “Dear Father” was a BORING FUCKING SLOG to get throug. I’m happy it lost to something which i actually cared about. :-)

Who will I address? Let’s start with my faves. Nearly everyone favourited either Laura or Bella, but not I. I loved Trooper with their exquisite pirate rock:

Lol this almost literally sounds like “Yo Ho A Pirate’s Life For Me!” but I Adorez It anyway <3 It’s so cheesy and gimmicky but I enjoyed it and YOU WOULD HAVE TOO, DON’T LIE. 🍺

And of course there’s also Bella Santiago, half-Philippina, half-Romanian biracial butterfly 🦋

AN ARMY TO FIIIIIGHT FOR LOOOOOOOOVE!!!!!! Adding some lines in Tagalog <3 Everyone compares it to “Fuego” but this sounds way more like a mashup of “My Number One” and “The Balkan Girls” to me? I”Army of Love” is a fun-dispenser from start to finish. She should have won (literally. She was TVR’s chosen one.)

Sigh, I suppose this is where I also address the meltdowns after Ester won? Oh man, I don’t want to fucking address ... all of this, but the jist of it is this:

Laura Bretan was, as stated previously, boring and was rigged out because of it. Emmelie de Forest then ruined Bella with her TerribleDanishTaste™. The Laura Fans blamed, in increasing order of severity: TVR, Ester and “The Evil Wiwibloggs Gays” and even tried to get Ester DQ’d because the result wasn’t what *they*, fewer than 4000 people in a country of seven million, wanted. 🙄

(the funniest/saddest comment I ever read on the debacle and perhaps the entire internet period calls out William and Deban as -wait for it- ‘HOMOPHOBICPHOBICS’ lmfao how even. How dare those evil homos be phobic towards those poor homophobes!!!! #StopHomophobicphobiaNow #JeSuisBretan). 

(and if anyone had any doubts Laura actually did make a public statement saying she still supports the message of the anti-lgbt marriage vid she appeared in 🙃)

Shit got SO BAD Ester refused to appear on public television for WEEKS, afraid of being badmouthed and attacked. Poor woman. Vile, toxic BULLYING by Wild Jokahs On A Gold Throne is NEVER the answer. Remind me to quote this when we get to Italy, a bit later in this ranking.

Qualification Odds: Borderline (+)

Obviously, after the entire ordeal she had to ensure I ABSOLUTELY WANT Ester in the finale even if she’s barely in my own top 10 for said SF. I don’t dislike Laura, but I do hate her fans and every instance which proves them wrong counts as a moral victory against cyberbullying to me :-)

I wish I could say with confidence that she qualifies though, but the reality of the matter is that Ester is Borderline at best. Romania’s best chance is if they go ALL OUT on the ~Gothic Vampire Queen~ idea they’re currently preparing and make it dramatic, powerful and visually enthralling (without taking themselves too seriously, obvi). If they manage that or similar, they should pull of qualification or at least come very close without embarrassing themselves. 

Projected Placement: 6th-12th in the SemiFinal. If she qualifies, 12th-20th in the Grand Final. 

Link to the masterpost

[runephoenix6769]

Adam Taurus: Collected Villain or Whiny Possessive Ex?

(Long post Vol 5 spoilers. )

Off the back of the excitement of the announcement, at RTX Austin 18, of an Adam Taurus character short it got me thinking. 

Adam is not a character I have commented on before so here we go, if i miss anything or misquote or you wish to add or debate feel free to do so.

From the very beginning we are introduced to Adam as being a deeply entwined part of Blake’s dark past, someone who she had more than a platonic relationship with, that has helped shape her into the character we are first introduced to. 

In Vol1 -3 Adam’s motivations are quite clear, He is hellbent on the destruction of Human’s due to their mistreatment of the Faunus. 

“We’re better than Humans. We have everything humans have and more. Humans shouldnt just fear the Faunus, they should serve the Faunus.”

-- Adam,

He has risen through the ranks of the White Fang, whose actions over the years have gone from peaceful, progressing into terrorist organisation territory. His lack of regard for life, increasingly violent tactics and blood thirst culminated in Blake making the decision to leave  run away  from him.

Witnessing the progression of Adam’s monstrous behaviour has deeply affected Blake to the point that when faced with what seems on the surface to be someone else she cares about showing a similar progression, she reacts with mistrust ultimately rocking the foundations of their partnership and team RWBY. 

  Blake is fearful of him and for good reason. Initially he is set up as Blake’s antagonist. In Vol 1 - 3 he is a great villain, he is a psychopath willing to follow through on his convictions, focused on achieving his goals, so far in fact that Salem states he is loyal to their cause, though he begrudgingly accepts Cinder’s offer of an alliance. 

As a villain, he is on par with Cinder. 

In the Fall of Beacon episode, he comes across as a cool customer, ruthless and in control, willing to destroy anything in his path. 

He shows how vindictive, vengeful and ruthless he can be, going so far as to taunt Blake by calling her ‘my darling’ and ‘my love’, threatening to take everything from Blake. 

Some people have stated that Adam’s change in character is vol 4 -5 is down to ‘bad writing’ and that he is no longer a strong villian, that he lacks his previous focus and conviction. I disagree. 

 In Vol 4-5 Adam exhibits violent and possessive behaviour, willing to deliver on his earlier threat by attempting to kill Blake’s parents Ghira and Kali, even though he is aware that to do so will lose the support of the residents of Menagerie.

He is willing to risk it. 

That sounds to me like some one who is still following through on their threats but that is not to say that he is not confused by other aspects .

In Vol 4-5 he becomes increasingly emotional, almost focusing solely on Blake and her perceived slight and betrayal.  Fennic Albain goes so far to point out that his behaviour has become increasingly impulsive and unstable with his obsession to punish Blake.

He begins to behave as if he has only just realised Blake has broken up with him. He` yo-yo’s between demanding that Blake be captured and brought to him alive whilst simultaneously attempting to kill her at the same time.

This all makes sense

I think it stems from this, 

Blake defies him. Blake puts herself in between him and Yang. She draws a line in the sand that shows him who she deems as more important. In Adam’s mind, Blake has aligned herself with the humans, turning her back on her own kind, turning her back on him. 

Up until this point, as far as we know, Adam only knows that she left him and the White Fang, not the motivations behind it. For someone who is so possessive and arrogant, it makes sense that seeing this protection, this willingness to but herself in harms way, something that once over may have only been reserved for him, is a kick in the balls and a direct affront to his ego. 

Over the course of the Vol 5, Adam’s behaviour seems to take on almost a petulant child having a tantrum. He begins to take risks, alienating his subordinates and allies. 

This devolution from cold collected psychopath to angry emo ex boyfriend all makes sense when being looked at from a different perspective. 

Maybe he HAS just realised that Blake has broken up with him, for real. That she didnt just run off for some time alone to gain perspective

His own personality coming to the fore that the fact he cannot have his own way and realising that he is no longer number 1 in Blake’s eyes, shattering his fragile ego where she is concerned.  

( it could also very well be the writers intention for the benefit of Blake’s character arc...... See the companion piece, Blake and Adam Analysis.’

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runephoenix6769/activity ) 

 Vol 4-5 seems to be have a theme of hubris where villains are concerned. 

Cinder and the collection of relic, she shows her arrogance, ego and lack of fore site where Raven is concerned and ultimately she suffers for it.  

Both Adam and Cinder are young, esp in comparison to Salem, in Vol 5 both have shown their lack of ability and execution of wielding power. They have both shown that they are not ready.   

“There is no victory in strength.”  - Salem

As Adam is still at large at the end of Vol 5 and Cinder is MIA, it gives plenty of scope for character development in the next Volumes. For them to lick their wounds and evolve into increasingly dangerous antagonists hellbent on revenge.  

I cant wait to see what direction they take him in. 

(Some people have pointed out that if he really wanted to make good on his offer and maintain on being the villain we initially met he should have gone after Sun and Ilia, my argument is he was unaware if Ilia’s betrayal till the last minute and Sun isnt even on his radar due Adam’s own ego.*I am in no way saying Blake does not care for Sun*. I just dont think that was Adam’s intended character arc, to comtinue being that Vol 1-3 villain. )

[lorelaisgilmoresarchive-blog]

- ̗̀ ❝ i solemnly swear i am up to no good: marauders verse !!

           *evil laughter* my dreaaaam has finally come trueeee!! my time to shine has come, and my harry potter knowledge will finally be appreciated? too much? probably but idc i’m excited ya’ll!!, but anyway let’s talk characters, my kids below the cut!!

alice fortescue..* 

full name: alice minerva fortescue

blood status: pure-blood 

house & year : gryffindor ;; 7th year

wand: 10 ½ in. applewood wand with a dragon heartstring core ; unyielding

patronus: dolphin ;; the witch or wizard who casts this patronus is known to be adventurous, playful, and carefree ; incredibly unique individuals, quite often social and loved by most. inquisitive and full of life they understand the importance of not taking themselves too seriously.

boggart: spiders, she absolutely loathes them one of her worst fears is to end up in a place surrounded by them. ( she’s had dreams where she is covered in them and that’s driven her to have panic attacks. )

extra curriculars: chaser for the gryffindor quidditch team ;; dueling club, care of magical creatures club and astronomy club.

future aspirations: auror for the ministry of magic & member of the order of the phoenix

sunshine personified, miss alice is literally always putting a positive spin on everything. little witch looks for the best in everyone and would befriend a scorpion if people let her. however that’s the trick when it comes to alice, she may be soft and gooey on the outside but she’s a rock on the inside. underestimating her is probably the last thing anyone should ever do. she lives in diagon alley above florean fortescue’s which is the family business. her dad is the willy wonka of ice-cream ( u know eccentric genius type lmao. ) she has 3 older brothers, all part of the order and her mom is a healer at st.mungos. excluded from the sacred 28 bc they unconventional and v. vocal about their support for muggles and muggle borns. in fact alice loves muggle fairy-tales and she tried making a book club at hogwarts but she forgot when the meetings were lmao. ( i could go on i’ve played her so many times and i adore her so pls )

andromeda black... *

full name: andromeda black

blood status: pure-blood

wand: 10 3/4 inch hawthorn wand with a unicorn hair core, unbending. 

house & year : slytherin ;; 6th year

patronus: owl ;; symbolizes a strong aura of wisdom, and individuals with it shine intellectually. They are not very social people, but they tend to be very admired for the impression their blatant knowledge of the world. Others tend to be comfortable going to these persons for advice, because they know they are trustworthy.

boggart: her sisters forgetting who she is, aka seeing a boggart version of bella or cissy who refuse to acknowledge her or ask her who she is will send her into a spiral. 

extra curriculars: 6th year prefect for slytherin house, slug club & transfigurations club

future aspirations: healer for st. mungos. wishes to remain neutral in the war to come. 

from the most ancient house of black, andromeda is the 2nd and middle child she has an older sister and a younger one. her sisters are her entire life, bella and cissy are her world so literally don’t breathe near them she will end you. tends to be an observer more than she is someone who carries out conversations. very much one of those ‘ one word ‘ sort of people, unless she’s with someone she trusts. she appears rigid and can intimidate those who don’t know her. however once you get past her tough exterior she is incredibly kind. respectful of everyone, and very much a believer of treat me the way you want to be treated. now while she isn’t exactly a fan of muggles or muggleborns she isn’t against them? ( tbh someone pick up ted we can plot stuffs. ) like she’s not okay with the cruelty that people of her status show them but she is also bound by tradition. she is very loyal to her family, respects her parents and most importantly wishes to make them proud so it’s like a constant struggle for her? because a lady should be demure and un-opinionated and those are things andromeda black won’t ever be.

james potter...*

full name: james charlus potter

blood status: pure-blood

wand: 11" with a dragon heart string core, mahogany, pliable

house & year : gryffindor ;; 7th year

patronus: stag ;; the witch or wizard who casts this patronus is known to be noble and brave. strong temperament, came come across as intimidating in more than several instances. quick to defend those he cares about, a protector of formidable sorts. 

boggart: the deaths of the people he cares about in particular it would be his parents, sirius, remus, peter and while he’ll never admit it... lily.

extra curriculars: head boy and quidditch captain for the gryffindor team he is a chaser. part of the dueling club and transfigurations club. turned down slughorns invitation for the slug club bc he’s not a git.

future aspirations: in a perfect world he’d be a quidditch player, but they are at war so auror it is. has joined the member of the phoenix.

adored from the moment he was conceived, his parents are of the older generation and they struggled to have children so james is very much a miracle baby. that’s why he’s so spoiled, literally anything he could ever want he’s had. so he’s been the golden boy since birth practically... so why would hogwarts be different? he’s the epitome of ‘ cool ‘ along with his best friends the marauders, sirius, remus and peter. he is an unregistered animagus and can turn into a stag ( the same as his patronus ) a hot head, he will literally throw a punch and then remember he owns a wand it’s a problem. cares little to nothing about purity and will fight anyone who deems it important. arrogant, but very noble and he can inspire loyalty in more ways than one. but also he’s an idiot show off, as much as he’s a ‘ genius ‘ when it comes to classes he don’t know women... aka he doesn’t understand evans... he tryin tho lmao.

alecto carrow...*

full name: alecto carrow

blood status: pure-blood

wand: 11 inch, blacktorn wand with a dragon heart string core, unyielding 

house & year : ravenclaw ;; 7th year

patronus: she can’t produce one, a patronus is light magic aka not stuff she believes in.

boggart: the death of her twin brother.

extra curriculars: dueling & slug club

future aspirations: hit witch and hopes to find her spot within voldemort’s rank as a death eater.

cruel, vindictive but smart. incredibly smart, she has a thirst for knowledge hint as to why she was sorted into ravenclaw house. ( bc not all death eaters were slytherins damn it ) independent and fierce, you’ve heard of an ‘ ice queen ‘ that’s alecto, always in control... emotions are for the weak minded. except where her brother is concerned, her twin brother is an extension of herself so as a true narcissist she has to love him because he is a part of her. she doesn’t have the best reputation around the castle and would probably kill your pet and hang it up in the great hall for everyone to see... simply because you spoke to her and she considers you unworthy. no conscience or apathy just pride and a lot of zeal for the pure blood supremacy cause. she is attracted to the dark arts, to pain and misery and she isn’t shy about letting anyone know that. 

remus lupin..*

full name: remus john lupin

blood status: half - blood, werewolf.

wand: 10¼ inch cypress, with a unicorn hair core, pliable

house & year : gryffindor ;; 7th year

patronus: wolf ;; The wolf is a bit of a darker and mysterious soul, with the strength of a fighter. A person with this patronus has had a lot happen in their life, and do to that they wear a mask over their emotions. They do, however, have a very big heart that is full of both passion and fire. They have a lot of emotion within them that they are willing to give, but only once they completely trust you.

boggart: the full moon, for v. obvious reasons.

extra curriculars: 7th year prefect, dueling & charms club

future aspirations: outside of joining the order, he doesn’t let himself dream of a job because his kind aren’t hired anywhere... bc you know discrimination. 

he was attacked by fenrir greyback to take some kind of revenge, after his father insulted him. aka he suffers from lycanthrophy. this would have made it impossible for him to come to hogwarts but dumbledore disagreed. so precautions are set in place, the whomping willow, the shrieking shack will get it’s reputation because of remus. ( it’s a secret, so there aren’t many people who know. in fact it’s only james, sirius, peter and lily. )  this is where he was taken to transform once month, and turning is painful especially because he is separated from humans to bite so he’d bite and scratch at himself because of frustration. anyway that didn’t exactly matter much because he has friends, real friends. he didn’t have them until he came to hogwarts and he was terrified that they’d find out the truth... but you know once they did they all decided to become an animagus... and thus begin the adventures of the marauders. remus is a good student, he’s talented and well behaved sort of.... at least he behaves better than james and sirius. dumbledore made him a prefect in his 5th year and they think it’s so he’d exercise some control over his friends. spoiler: he doesn’t.