#apollo ray

OOH thank you so much for promoting this, I loved thinking about it. I think their interactions would be way more chill and informal than with Norman: since he is still the mind, Ray keeps being the boss, but to the Lambda group he feels a lot more like a chill boss rather than the whole intimidating "emperor" aura Norman had going on. Maybe exactly because Ray is a tiny step behind Norman in wits, he necessarily needs to rely on his squad more, which contributes to create a feeling of equality amongst them rather than the impression of interacting with a god. But even beyond that, it's just how Ray is personality-wise you know? He skips formalities and pleasantries, and is always found speaking bluntly. He doesn't care about formalities, and while Norman always puts on a nice face with both his allies and enemies (Gillian / Legravalima), Ray won't hesitate to tell you that he hates you (we could already see him disdaining pleasantries during his private interactions with Isabella). But that also means he'd probably be more chill and relaxed around the Lambda squad, because he simply doesn't feel like he has to put up with any kind of fake confident-and-invulnerable leader like Norman did. Just like in chapter 4 he disregarded sugarcoating the reality of the impossibility of the escape to Emma while Norman wasn't ready to tell her about that yet, Ray as Apollo won't fake confidence or superiority to reassure his comrades like Minerva Norman used to do. He won't try to soothe them in a false sense of safety by acting like he's unerring- that's just not how Ray is. Rather, I think he would act similarly to what he was used to at GF: make his comrades, hisfriends aware of the danger of the situation, maybe even of the impossibility of succeeding without sacrifices, all to make them the more conscious and determinated (reminder that just like Lambda didn't give Norman the chance to grow healthly and rather fomented his most ruthless tendencies in canon, the same happened to Ray in this AU, so he stayed a lot more similar to his old cynic GF self than the post-escape Ray we're used to). He's contrary to sugarcoating because from his point of view that's just creating another impediment that keeps them from being conscious of their position and objective of their chances. Ray is not as confident and arrogant as Norman is: he knows he can't make it on his own, so he's compelled to rely on others in order for his plan to succeed. Making them blind to the difficulty of the situation is not going to help, and that's why, at least when he's with his close collaborators, there'll be a lot less acting like he's invincible. And if initially the Lambda squad won't feel as reassured as they had been meeting Norman, I think on the long run it will be nice for them to believe that they can relly make it, they can create a new world by fighting together, and not because they have an unbeatable being on their side. Even if Ray is more direct and cynic than Norman, I still think he would manage to be enough reassuring and encouraging for the children he rescued. We know how, though never actively trying to become one, Ray showed to be ready and able to step in the role of leader when Emma needed his support. Though we could only catch a glimpse of his operate as a leader, I like to think that right here is how he would behave as one: straightforward and realistic, plainly and clearly exposing the reasoning behind his decisions; but also, somehow, being indirectly reassuring, in the way his people know what they're doing is the most rational way to act in order to guarantee their safety, finding comfort in the fact that their leader is always able to calculate what ensures the most chances of survival for them.

I digress, sorry about that //// Back to the main matter of how Ray would interact with Barbara and the others, I think we need to take into account that, differently from Norman, Ray probably shares their same hatred towards demons. I won't get into that thoroughly, but while I believe that Norman, though indeed hating the demons to an extent, didn't hate them as much as the others (he's repeatedly shown being upset by his lethal actions + honestly I just think Norman is a inherently good, emphatic dude don't @me), Ray definitely held the same resentment and loathing as the others did.

I can imagine, differently from what happened with Norman*, Ray hanging out with the group often, spending time in the forbidden demon room with them, joking and messing around. In the chapter 113 spread, I picture Ray not being somewhere else being dramatic, but instead walking alongside the others.

I finally got around to doing Apollo...

Rathafeubeujsbe IM IN LOVE

I wANT TO MARRY THIS MAN!!!!!