Okay so you say the silver eyed warriors come from a different origin. So they're no longer the god of light's doing. Which begs the question are they even still a thing in your rewrite and if so how are they different from Canon? I get the strong suspicion this is a spoiler question too but I'm going to ask anyway
For the moment, SEWs are one of those topics I’m reluctant to elaborate on. Partly for spoiler reasons, partly because I’m still developing them. I have some details I need to iron out before I’m satisfied with the changes I’ve made.
That being said…
Silver eyes aren’t just tied to an ability. They’re an indicator of something. They are the fossils of footprints left behind by something long ago, its impression on the world still enduring. Seen, but not understood for what it truly is.
Silver eyes are only one of these impressions. Several others continue to linger as well.
You recommending My Own Worst Enemy was how I got into that series, and I loved it to pieces, so thanks for that. With the sequel having just wrapped up, I'm curious if you're caught up on that fic. (Also, I hope the family emergency cools down soon!)
IT’S FINISHED?
Normally I’d ask, “How the hell did I miss that?” but… [gestures at the last four months]
Thanks for letting me know! It’s awesome to hear that I was able to get someone else hooked. xD ElektricAngel deserves all the love and praise for her work. Y’all make sure you go and tell her what an amazing writer she is!
may have covered this but what do the naval forces look like in Redux? I've always thought that kingdoms should at least have one large port city if only by virtue of the fact that the GRIMM should make resource/tech sharing necessary to survive, to an extent. correspondingly, I think they'd have quite large navy's, possibly even selling escort services to less developed nations in the case of Atlas?
I kind of did/kind of didn’t cover naval forces when I talked about the world military here. You’re right; since virtually all of the kingdoms have cities near water, it would make sense for them to have navies (or at least something analogous). Not just for handling aquatic Grimm, but for other important functions: enforcing water traffic laws, search and rescue, dealing with pirates, helping owners recover flotsam/lagan (goods lost in wrecks), enforcing environmental laws, and so on. In a world where access to water is considered a must—not just for trade and travel, but for natural geographic defenses—it’s mind boggling that the actual show never once touches upon it. (Not unless you’re counting Argus’ hard-light barrier and piloted mechs, which seem to be the exception, not the rule.)
However, since no country in the Redux has its own standing army (and by extension, navy), maritime forces are handled a little differently. Technically, there is one official navy in the Redux, which is considered a division of the world military (the equivalent of the Atlesian military from the canon). It very seldom gets mobilized unless the World Council unanimously votes to do so (the circumstances under which that happens being extremely rare).
The world military (naval division included) is reserved for two things:
Intervening in conflicts too large or aggressive to be handled domestically;
Eliminating sudden, massive surges in Grimm that can’t be subdued by Huntsmen.
Outside of those scenarios, coasts and waterways are primarily overseen by either local law enforcement or Huntsmen. As for which group gets involved (and when), it’s a matter of bureaucracy.
The general rule is that all bodies of water within the borders of a city are under the jurisdiction of law enforcement. Anything outside of cities is considered the responsibility of Huntsmen stationed at outposts. There is some overlap between the two, which also happens to be a point of contention for both groups (which I’ll get into another time).
The cities with coastal/river access (and therefore water police) are as follows:
VALE: City of Vale, Patch, the Gossic cities (Eldegoss, Sindegoss, Tordegoss), Avonford, Vellichor, Petrichor
VACUO: The Eyrie, Seaglass, Rockport, Kenyte, Feldspar, the Yrrose cities
MENAGERIE: Dun Obel, Dun Ashai, Dun Paror, Rorqual, Thalassion
Of the 17 outposts, the following 8 are equipped for handling water:
Belpont Station, Düahþ, Fort Iosefka, Fort Kittiwake, Keep of the Broken Spear, Keep of the Tattered Cloak, Northmarch, Oxebay Island
TL;DR - Responsibilities traditionally held by naval forces are instead divvied up between Huntsmen and law enforcement, depending on the location. Remnant's only "true" navy is a division of the world military, and it almost never gets deployed.
idk what your spoiler rules for your blog are, but i HATE the name "The Ever After" for Remnant's Wonderland equivalent, its so flavorless and unimaginative but i also cant think of any other ideas, do you have any?
Re: spoilers for the show (and side media), I try to tag things whenever possible (especially in the immediate week after the episode airs; anything after that is fair game, I think). I’ll typically add a readmore to posts as a courtesy.
Since the Ever After got namedropped in V9.E2, I think it’s safe to discuss at this point.
And…yeah. I really hate how everything about the Ever After is rip-off Wonderland. It feels like it lacks an identity beyond aping the aesthetic of the book, without considering the fact that Wonderland’s weirdness was a metaphor for a child navigating the incomprehensible and sometimes arbitrary rules/etiquette of adulthood. Its nonsensical setting exists to support the underlying commentary. RWBY’s decision to cherry-pick Wonderland’s design, without using it to reinforce some sort of narrative commentary, makes it little more than a shallow knock-off.
The alliterative episode titles aren’t helping matters, either.
If it were up to me, I would have axed the entire premise of the Ever After. But if I had to give it some sort of alternative name… I would avoid anything that feels evocative of Wonderland and fairy tales in general. Nothing whimsical or romantic.
I’d likely give the Ever After two names—an endonym (a name that the residents of this place use) and an exonym (a name given to it by outsiders).
It’s bizarre that the people who live here call it the “Ever After,” when the reason why Team RWBY called it that is because it has a fairy tale vibe to it. (See: Blake’s comment at the end of Episode 1.) As in, nothing about this place feels “normal.” But for the people who live here, this is their version of normal. So why would they call it something that alludes to a fairy tale (a folklore genre populated by things that are unreal)?
Timothy Hickson does a great job talking about place names here. If you have the time, I highly recommend you watch it!
If we wanted to create a name that feels at least somewhat believable, maybe come up with a handful of prefixes and suffixes with assigned meanings. Then combine those root words to form endonyms.
A great example of this is The Lord of the Rings, where minas is the Sindarin word for “tower.” Tolkien uses minas in the names of several locations, like Minas Tirith (“Tower of the Guard”) and Annúminas (“West Tower”).
As for what Team RWBY would call this place (at least initially, after they first arrive)… If pressed, I would call it “The Hinterlands.” There are two reasons why.
Traditionally, a hinterland refers to any area that’s inland from a coast. When Ruby first arrives in the Ever After, she wakes up on a beach. Immediately she begins to travel away from the shore, and into the jungle further inland.
The second definition of a hinterland (and my other reason for choosing this name) is any area that is “unknown, unexplored, vague, or ill-defined," which nicely compliments the hostility and mystique of this place.
Not only does hinterlands work in the literal sense, but in a figurative one, too.
The second chapter for my Pokémon fic, The Pursuit of Knowledge, is now done and can be found here on AO3. I likely won’t post it to this blog because the chapter uses a specific work skin that I don’t think is compatible with Tumblr’s formatting.
If you enjoyed reading about overly-technical pseudoscientific speculative biology the first time, then come check it out. (Featuring: Sycamore’s attempt at making sense of Fairy-types.)
Kvetch? Are you joking, do you not know Yiddish, or do you know what it means and you still thought it worked?
Sounds like you're kvetching quite a bit yourself, anon. :)
Believe it or not (you probably won't, but feel free to take my word for it), but that was a coincidence. Originally, the Younger Brother's name was spelled kivech. It was a word I coined forever ago when I first started creating the language spoken by the Brothers.
When I learned that kvetch was a real word, I thought it was hilarious how similar the two were. Doubly so after I realized that it means to whine or complain.
Kvetch is a loanword from Yiddish קוועטשן (kvetshn, "to squeeze"), but go a little further back and you find that it's descended from Middle German quetschen, "to crush." Seems rather fitting for a self-professed god of destruction.
At that point I decided to adjust the spelling and make it Kvetch.
Kinda hard to believe it’s been over a month since I last posted anything.
I’ll spare you the details, but the TL;DR reason for why things around here have been so slow is because I was dealing with a family emergency. It’s not over by any means, but things have calmed down enough that I feel comfortable trying to put out more content.
If nothing else, being active on this blog is a welcome distraction. Things have...not been great, to say the least.
Since I’ll be cleaning out my inbox and getting back to asks, now’s a good time to send in any questions. I’ll try to put out something in the meanwhile.
a·po·thym·e·tics /ˌæpəθɪˈmɛtɪcs/ n. the study of Semblances. [Ancient Greek ἀπο (apó), apo-, derived from, + θῡμός (thūmós), -thym-, soul, + ικός (ikós), -ics, pertaining to]
Introduction
If Aura is the physical manifestation of a person’s soul, then a Semblance is the form that manifestation takes. Apothymetics, the study of Semblances, is a subdiscipline of pneumatophysics (the study of Aura). Broadly speaking, a Semblance is a skill or ability that enhances or transcends a person’s biological limits. These abilities draw upon a person’s Aura reservoir as their source of power, and over time, that reservoir is gradually depleted through usage. Scientists and historians alike attribute the advent of Semblances, along with the discovery of Dust, as the catalyst that turned the tide in the abiding conflict against the Grimm, and brought humanity back from the brink of extinction. Semblances are widely regarded by researchers as pneumatophysical adaptations—evolutionary responses of the soul as a result of Grimm predation. The staggering variety of Semblances supports this claim, as the diversity of Grimm would have created the necessary selection pressures to trigger a similar apothymetic diversity in humans and Faunus.
Despite numerous scientific advances made in the last few decades, even some of the most fundamental questions about Semblances remain unanswered. Pneumatophysics, along with rhizology (the study of Dust) and archotherology (the study of Grimm), belong to a group of sciences historically known as the Profaned Arts. As recently as three centuries ago, academic inquiries into any of the aforementioned topics were considered stigmatized at best, heretical or blasphemous at worst. All three subjects directly or indirectly pertain to the soul, and thus formed a recurring pancultural trinity throughout Remnant’s past. Pervasive superstition and religious influence often stymied scientific progress, and in some cases this crusade took on more extreme forms, such as destroying physical research, or executing the people that conducted it. While a decreased religiosity led to paradigm shifts in modern culture, the influences of past stigma can still be felt across the four kingdoms where soul research is concerned. In particular, the Kingdom of Atlas, the world’s foremost leader in pneumatophysics, still receives criticism from those who feel that its work sacrifices ethical constraints in favor of “mutilating” the soul.
Estimates on just how many people have discovered their Semblance are notoriously vague. Census data compiled over the last century (starting ca. 2 AB) suggest numbers from as few as 0.25% to 4% (875,000—14,000,000) of the global population, though pneumatophysicists point out that this figure could be substantially lower. Predicting which demographics are most likely to have Semblances is an imprecise measure at best; that being said, Huntsmen, and people living in extraregnal settlements, tend to disproportionately have higher-than-average Semblance discovery rates.
Activation Criteria and Auratic Plasticity
The only prerequisite for discovering one’s Semblance is to have an unlocked Aura. Very seldomly, a person may simultaneously unlock both their Aura and their Semblance, under extreme conditions.
The pathway to unlocking one’s Semblance, while outwardly unpredictable, does seem to be determined by certain factors. Intensive, routine physical activity tends to be the most reliable way to trigger Semblance discovery, although intense emotions have been suggested as another. The type of Semblance a person has, and the circumstances under which it’s gained, are dictated by a mechanism called Auratic plasticity. Auratic plasticity is the ability of the soul to generate a Semblance based on either an individual’s personality (innate), a scenario-specific survival method (adaptive), or a “genetic” trait that’s repeatedly selected for due to its “inherent fitness” (inherited). These three categories are determined by a variable called hierarchical prioritization—the soul’s ability to decide which Semblance-trigger gets precedence.
It’s agreed by the scientific community that there’s an order to Semblance-triggers: inherited > innate > adaptive.
If, for example, a person hailed from a lineage of summoning Semblances, then that person would acquire summoning by default. When a person doesn’t come from a family of inherited Semblances, then they would receive an innate Semblance that aligns with their nature. The last type of Semblance-trigger, adaptive, only occurs when a person is confronted with a life-or-death scenario, and the soul “overrides” the default order to generate a reactionary Semblance tailored to their immediate survival. In the case of an adaptive trigger, a person from a line of summoners could gain an unrelated Semblance, and break the chain.
The discoverer of these mechanisms, Ilere Koya-Hark, famously tested their theory when they went out into a thunderstorm, and induced an electrokinetic Semblance. This experiment laid the groundwork for what would become the field of dilonometry.
It should be noted that any Semblance can be innate, adaptive, or hereditary. There’s no distinction between a hydrokinetic Semblance inherited over generations, or a hydrokinetic Semblance that emerged in response to a near-drowning.
While adaptive and hereditary Semblances are easy enough to understand, innate Semblances are a little trickier. Researchers agree that innate Semblances in some way relate to one’s personality, but it’s debated to what extent—whether a Semblance pertains to a singular, immutable trait, or to one’s overall disposition. And even then, it’s hard to define what, exactly, an innate Semblance says about its user. Does a speed Semblance always mean that a person is hasty? Can it be interpreted as someone who’s limitlessly altruistic, and rushes to others’ aid? Or perhaps it signifies a person that’s energetic and enthusiastic. If innate Semblances can represent multiple traits, then two people with the same Semblance might have drastically different, overall personalities, further muddying the debate.
For now, the consensus is that an innate Semblance is in some way a reflection of one’s soul. Anything more specific than that typically devolves into arguments and fistfights.
Categorization
It’s been disputed just how many Semblances there actually are, and how best to go about divvying them up into neat, consistent headings. At multiple points throughout history, the very idea that Semblances could even be organized into categories was debated, under the belief that “no two Semblances are alike.” This mindset stemmed from a philosophical approach rather than a scientific one, rooted in the idea that souls were so unique as to not be identical, and therefore neither could their Semblances.
Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, that’s not actually the case.
The system currently used for classifying Semblances was devised by Cerise Maida, the archivist of Fort Nubuck, roughly seven decades ago. There are 14 recognized categories each defined by unifying criteria, such as how their powers are expressed, or how they affect the world around them. While far from a perfect system (and not without its criticisms), it’s helped streamline the process for identifying Semblances. More importantly, it allowed apothymeticists to not only clarify what Semblances can do, but what they can’t do.
Absorption Defined as the ability to store physical damage as a form of potential energy, and later release it in a single burst. As the user’s Aura shielding sustains damage, the depletion of their reservoir is “converted” into a latent power that increases over time. This buildup is proportionate to the damage that the user receives. When released, the gathered energy is channeled into a motion—such as a kick or a punch—that drastically amplifies the impact behind the next attack. With enough buildup, a skilled practitioner can deplete an opponent’s Aura in a single hit.
Alteration Defined as the ability to temporarily alter certain qualities of matter, such as temperature, color, tangibility, volume, and opacity. The effects of alteration Semblances can either be self-imposed or directed upon another person or object, once the user initiates contact.
Cloaking Defined as the ability to conceal oneself from the Grimm. There are two varieties of this Semblance: Aura-cloaking and emotion-cloaking. Each has the ability to interfere with a Grimm’s two primary senses (pneumatoception and algeaception), by masking either a person’s Aura signature or their emotional state. Although highly effective against lower-ranking Grimm, the success rate tends to decrease against more dangerous species. Ideally, the Grimm becomes “blind” to the user and cannot distinguish them from ambient sensory data. Under less ideal conditions, a Grimm becomes alerted to the user’s presence but can’t pinpoint their exact location.
Elemental or Kinetic Defined as the ability to generate or manipulate certain expressions of matter/forces. This category contains a diverse range of elemental powers, with common examples including pyrokinesis (fire), hydrokinesis (water), gyrokinesis (gravity), ferrokinesis (metal), electrokinesis (electricity), terrakinesis (earth), and aerokinesis (wind).
Enhancement Defined as the ability to exaggerate or heighten certain physical attributes to an otherwise superhuman level, such as speed, strength, or endurance.
Illusory Defined as the ability to create visual illusions. This power calls false images into existence and projects them into the user’s surroundings. Although these illusions are of a high fidelity, they’re intangible, and lack the mass necessary to be interacted with. With training, the user can increase the complexity or scope of their illusion, and even selectively choose who can or can’t perceive it.
Interference or Modification Defined as the ability to influence another person’s Aura. There are several recognized varieties of this Semblance-type—amplification, bypass, transfer, and suppression—that each directly modifies the target’s Aura when the user touches them. Amplification Semblances allow the user to donate Aura to a recipient from their own reservoir. Bypass Semblances enable the user to disable their target’s Aura shielding. Transfer Semblances allow the user to redistribute Aura between multiple people, by acting as a conduit. Suppression Semblances nullify the target’s Semblance for a brief window of time.
Manifestation Defined as the ability to physically manifest a person’s Aura as extensions of multiple body parts. When activated, the user envelops their limb in an Aura “sheath” that then assumes the function of that body part. From there, the Aura sheath can be manipulated to perform various functions. Examples include forming long, whip-like tendrils that extend from the shoulders, or sharp spines on the soles of one’s feet for traction or increased stability.
Metaphysical Defined as the ability to interfere with the mind. Statistically the rarest Semblances, this heading is often regarded by apothymeticists as a “wastebasket” because of how dissimilar many of the Semblances in this category are from one another. Each interacts with a foreign psyche in some way, be it remote communication (telepathy), temporary episodic wiping (memory repression), or polygraphic intuition (lie detection).
Mimetic Defined as the ability to perfectly mimic body movements and speech patterns observed in others. This Semblance-type is unique in that it doesn’t require the user to have any prior experience in the actions they’re attempting to replicate. A person with no gymnastic training, for example, can still accurately mimic the backflips they once watched someone else perform. This temporary skill acquisition can let the user do things as mundane as copy another person’s handwriting, or imitate an unfamiliar accent.
Probability Defined as the ability to manipulate variables within one’s immediate surroundings to create cause-and-effect changes that either directly benefit the user, or disadvantage others. Also informally known as “luck” Semblances, these are by far the hardest to study in any capacity, given the sometimes-random nature of their effects.
Replication Defined as the ability to create copies, or “shades,” of oneself. Considered one of the more demanding Semblances to master due to its higher Aura requirements, but it’s undeniably powerful to have. The user sacrifices a chunk of their Aura and imparts it upon a copy of themself. Although the copy doesn’t have the ability to use Aura, it does have some considerable bulk and can withstand a specific amount of damage before being destroyed. Copies retain physical mass and are visually identical to their user, making them useful for ganging up on opponents, or deceiving them. Skilled replication users can create an upward number of nine copies; anything beyond that has never been recorded.
Summoning Defined as the ability to conjure apparitions, or thralls, of Grimm that have been defeated before. These spectral creatures share a link with their summoner, and will act in accordance with the user’s will. The user’s proficiency dictates both how many thralls they can summon at once, and what species they’re able to conjure.
Teleportation Defined as the ability to transport a person between locations at will. In order for this Semblance to work, it requires the user to have physically visited the destination at least once before.
Alteration, elemental, replication, and enhancement Semblances are the most commonly-occurring. By contrast, illusory, interference, probability, and metaphysical make up an extremely small percentage of unlocked Semblances.
Active versus Passive Semblances
It’s a generally-accepted fact that Semblances require conscious choice on the part of the user. That being said, there are cases where a person doesn’t always get a say.
The term passive refers to any Semblance that is involuntarily engaged, and runs in the background at a much lesser intensity. Studying them has been notoriously difficult to do, in part due to their rarity and the stigma associated with them. While technically any Semblance can be passive, in theory, certain categories disproportionately represent that number (namely elemental, cloaking, alteration, and probability).
It’s not well understood what causes a Semblance to be passive as opposed to active. One tentative study found a potential correlation, where age and environment were considered factors. A number of study participants who had passive Semblances either unlocked theirs when they were younger (< 9 years old), or as they grew up in unstable home environments. Given the lack of childhood autonomy, it’s been suggested that passive Semblances are formed during adolescence as a coping response to stress.
Just like an active Semblance, a passive Semblance requires Aura in order to function. In exchange for being constantly running, passive Semblances deplete Aura at a significantly decreased rate, and their effects are disproportionately “lesser” than those of active Semblances. With training, a person with a passive Semblance can learn to “direct” it and momentarily bolster its effects.
The impact of a passive Semblance on a person’s quality of life can range from mildly inconvenient to outright debilitating. Some individuals manage by tailoring their daily lives to accommodate their Semblances, whereas others resort to cataspin to keep their Auras (and thus, their Semblances) in a permanently-suppressed state. Doctors typically advise against the latter due to potential negative side effects.
For those reasons, passive Semblances are generally considered a disability.
Limitations
While Semblances can push the boundaries of natural laws, they too are beholden to limitations. Known as Maida’s Four Laws, these limits were described shortly after the establishment of the Semblance category system.
They are defined as such:
A Semblance is restricted to one per person.
A Semblance cannot be used without Aura. If a user’s Aura is inactive, depleted, or suppressed, then the Semblance will fail to work.
A Semblance, once manifested into its current power, cannot change.
A Semblance cannot transfigure a user’s form, or convert matter into a new substance.
Needless to say, these laws have been indispensable to pneumatophysicists in debunking previously-accepted historical accounts. Claims of people transmuting objects into gold were attributed to alteration Semblances, that temporarily made objects gold-colored. Other claims of Semblances turning people into animals were dismissed as folklore.
Similarly, the myth of those with multiple elemental Semblances are now seen as exactly that—a myth.
Regulation and Legal Oversight
Compared to post-war legislation, older laws were far more restrictive.
One such example included the impositions of the Mistrali Empire, which expressly forbade private citizens from unlocking their Aura. Anyone found to have done so—whether accidentally or intentionally—was either forced to enlist (as a guard, ranger, or soldier); was required to pay a monthly tax; or had to take medicine made from Aura-suppressing bellicyclate-rich plants, prescribed by a state-authorized physician.
These measures were meant to serve as deterrents, and discourage anyone from activating their Aura (and by extension, their Semblance). The explanation given under imperial law was to preempt Grimm aggression and encroachment, by reducing the amount of stimuli that their pneumatoception could perceive. It’s been proven that Grimm do, in fact, prioritize targets with unlocked Auras over targets with dormant ones, and that Aura signatures more strongly attract them.
However, historians now accept that the then-given reason was a guise. The Mistrali Empire likely implemented these measures to prevent secessionists from gaining a means to fight back. While anti-Aura and anti-Semblance restrictions weren’t unheard of in other polities, Mistral’s were undisputedly the most authoritarian.
International law passed during the Vytal Summit guarantees considerably more freedoms, regarding one’s Aura. The ability to pursue Semblance-acquisition is considered an inalienable right, and no person may be penalized for doing so. Likewise, Semblance disclosure is considered voluntary (and in many places, is reinforced by cultural taboo). The only demographics legally required to do so are academy students and licensed alumni, who must register their Semblance with their alma mater. Individuals employed in a military or law enforcement role are held to the same standard.
The only time when private citizens are required to disclose the existence of their Semblance is when they’re arrested for criminal charges.
In Non-Humanoid Species
Although all animals have the ability to unlock their Aura, only two species (humans and Faunus) have been observed using Semblances. Researchers in the field of pneumatozoology have suggested that it’s theoretically possible, although it’s not currently known what criteria—if any—is needed to achieve this.
Reception to the idea of animals with Semblances is mixed. Some groups, like Huntsmen, favor the possibility of using a familiar with increased combat aptitude. It’s this same combat aptitude which also garners detractors, who fear that an animal with a Semblance could become a nuisance or a hazard.
For better or worse, apothymetic laws have yet to preclude the possibility.
So seeing how you brought up silver-eyed warriors in a previous post in a recent time frame I feel like I have to ask the question How do they function in this redux edition of yours and how do they fit in with everything else? Do they work exactly the same as in Canon or have you made differences?
Sorry to say that for now, silver-eyed warriors are strictly off-limits. They're one of the few spoiler topics that I refuse to clarify.
The only thing I'm willing to say about them is that I've changed where they come from.
So you basically turned ozma hosts into discount avatar ATLA? Yeah that's honestly kind of a letdown. Doesn't really have anything to do with you I just never been a fan of everything involving the gods or Oscar. Would like to go into further detail but character limit and all that.
Oh, no worries. I’m not bothered. A comparison to A:TLA was always inevitable, no matter what I did to try and differentiate Ozma and his hosts.
I knew from the onset that I wasn’t going to do the “soul merge,” in no small part due to how vague it is in the canon. That, and I was never a fan of the whole “host’s personality gets devoured until the only thing that remains is Ozma.” Great for a story that deals with existential dread and consciousness, but that’s not this story.
If I wanted to be pedantic, I’d argue that Ozma’s soul doesn’t technically reincarnate so much as it goes couch surfing between hosts. It’s why I used the Yugi Moto/Pharaoh comparison instead of the Avatar; Ozma isn’t the person doing the actual living and dying. He just anchors himself to a new “vessel” each time his host’s body expires.
His hosts becoming bound to him once they die has to do with the specific nature of his curse. Basically, it turns Ozma’s soul into a phylactery.
And this is the point where I actually can’t elaborate any further, because then it would spoil plot details. Specifically, where souls come from, and what happens to them when they die.
Are SEWs going to be foreshadowed more in the Redux?
I wondered when someone was going to ask me about them!
Rest assured, they’ll be getting foreshadowed fairly early on (and I don’t just mean Ozpin making one vague offhand comment and then they’re not brought up again for another three seasons). The Redux’s equivalents of V1 – V3 have quite a few subtle nods to the existence of silver eyes as a phenotype, and curiously, why they seem to be so rare.
There’s a scene during V2 where Weiss tries to explain Atlesian culture to her teammates, and one of the things that gets brought up is the significance of eye color. You see, eye color is kind of a big deal, and certain colors are more highly valued than others.
In the dominant religion of Solitas, Teyic, the auroras are sacred, and so are the five colors associated with them: red, green, blue, yellow, and purple. Eye colors that correspond with the auroras have certain traits ascribed to them (in particular, green, which is considered one of the beauty standards of Atlas). Weiss matter-of-factly informs Yang and Blake that they would both be considered extremely desirable by Atlesian courtship standards. (Which, of course, leads to Yang asking Weiss if they're “desirable” enough for her to consider dating them. Weiss very pointedly ignores this.)
Ruby asks Weiss about her eye color and what it means according to Atlesian culture. Weiss admits that silver doesn't have any traits ascribed to it since that phenotype isn't found up north. Weiss goes quiet for a moment, and then admits that she’s never actually seen that eye color before, come to think of it. It's not a phenotype associated with people of Atlesian or Mistrali heritage. It must be a really weird, really uncommon trait. Maybe it’s a genetic mutation found in Vale? Or something like that?
When outsiders accuse Atlesian society of being draconian, this is nearly always the example that gets cited. The Law of Disownment, also known as élagage or pruning, is a centuries-old practice that dates back to the first Matsu settlers. Whereas disownment in other countries is treated as a social or interpersonal act, in the Kingdom of Atlas, it has actionable consequences.
The legal process involves stripping a person of their surname (regardless of whether it was acquired by affinal or consanguineal means), and replacing it with the toponymic appellation d’Atlas, or of Atlas. In addition to losing their name, the disowned are barred access to their ancestral estate, and must forfeit the right to their inheritance or any titles previously held within the family. Kinship status (either biological or marital) is no longer recognized by the government, save for a formal notation on a person’s citizenship records.
It can be difficult for non-Atlesians to fully grasp the significance of disownment, and what it means for a person’s social or economic prospects. Not only is the person shunned by their immediate relatives, but often by their neighbors, coworkers, and other members of their community. The enforced isolation generally leads to an inaccessibility of public safety nets, and predisposition toward unemployment and homelessness. To say nothing of the psychological harm this process causes.
There’s been talk of repealing the law, but it’s never gotten anywhere past the discussion stage. Many of Atlas’ old families—who often hold political clout, either through wealth or nepotism—have intervened to prevent it from happening. Despite disownments being relatively uncommon nowadays, certain Atlesian families insist on the practice remaining legal, usually under the claim of “preserving their cultural heritage.”
Origins
While the modern-day version of pruning seems senselessly cruel, it did have some practicality, long ago. The ancestors of the Solts were a diasporic group of Matsu settlers, fleeing from the encroaching Mistrali Empire in Northern Anima. Upon making the dangerous voyage to Solitas, they founded two settlements—Evadne and Chequer. In order for their culture to adapt and survive, it relied on reciprocal trust, unity, and altruism.
Anything which threatened that success was dealt with swiftly and harshly. The highest form of retribution—the precursor to disownment—was reserved for murder, attempted murder, and other unspeakable acts. Traditional élagage consisted of three separate penalties: name-erasure, tonsure, and exile.
The criminal would be brought before the god-caller (or high priest) while the members of the community watched. As the acolytes shaved their head, the god-caller would preside over the ceremony that formally revoked their name. Once concluded, the criminal was chased from the territory and left to fend for themself.
While death (either from starvation, exposure, or the Grimm) was certainly one of the intended (and usually inevitable) outcomes, it wasn’t the only one. Stripping a person of their name carried the weight of dehumanization; of being denied their identity. For exiled criminals, it was as close to psychological torture as one could get.
Even if a criminal attempted to hide or lie about their circumstances, they would still bear the physical mark of their punishment. In addition to serving as a visual identifier, a shaved head (especially during the winter months) was painful.
Modern Élagage
Although exile and death are no longer part of the process, they might as well be. As far as some Atlesians are concerned, anyone that’s been legally disowned is pretty much dead to them. This attitude is reinforced by the taboo of refusing to speak the person’s name, and referring to them in the past tense. If pressed on the subject, or forced to acknowledge them at all, a family will substitute their name with a kinship term—“our son,” “my niece,” “her cousin,” and so on.
Disownment can only be initiated by the heads of a family; as in, the oldest members within a lineage who share the same surname as the intended recipient. While this role usually falls upon parents or grandparents, it isn’t unheard for a pair of great-aunts, or even an elder first cousin twice removed, to fulfill that obligation. What matters is that there is unanimous consensus between the family members who share the decision-making privilege. If, for example, two parents disagree on the outcome, then disownment can’t be initiated.
Disownment is not lightly meted out. It’s typically reserved as a last-ditch measure for insubordinate family members who risk harming their family’s sociopolitical status. Nonconformity, counterculture behavior, or a rejection of societal values are the most common causes, especially where they pertain to gender roles and sexuality. The threat of disownment is usually enough to get unruly family members in line. Some amount of deliberation usually precedes disownment. (Believe it or not, Atlesians aren’t keen on using it frivolously, although they will if they feel there’s no other recourse. Disowning someone usually invites some amount of pity or shame, in addition to gossip. If it can be avoided, then it will.)
The few times when a family will implement it without hesitation is when a relative is the source of a major scandal. Or, when they’re facing criminal charges.
love Terra Ignota, v pretty (as all your redux poetry has been), but what is it about?? im no thoughts head empty, help
If you’re interested in hearing the specifics, click below the readmore.
Let’s start with the title, terra ignota. “Land unknown.” It’s a variation of the Latin phrase terra incognita. It’s a cartographic term for places that haven’t been mapped or documented.
A lot of lines in the poem aren’t going to make sense right away, since I haven’t talked about the Younger Brother’s domain just yet. Some of the descriptors I use (starless skies, jagged stone) are pretty accurate...to an extent. The Younger Brother’s domain was given a facelift in the Redux, so it’s no longer just crimson fog and tar pits and giant crystals.
His shrine, after all, isn’t just death and destruction. It’s the very antithesis of life, of existence. It’s a warped perception of reality. In his own words, it’s half of a necessary symmetry. It’s meant to disturb your sense of comfort; to make the animal instincts deep within your cells scream predator.
The Younger Brother is a fun guy to hang out with. :)
The unblinking Eyes are a reference to one of the Grimm’s main characteristics: their scrimshaw.
Left: The eye-pattern seen on the Beringel’s back plates. Right: The eye-pattern seen on the Geist’s mask.
Most species (with a few notable exceptions) have these patterns somewhere on their exoskeletons. These are what archotherologists use to ID Grimm. Some species (like the Beowolf) can be highly polymorphic, with a wide range of phenotypes. The scrimshaw is one of the few, if only, characteristics that stays consistent between all members of the same species, so it’s what people use to identify them.
As for bringers of the End…
The Grimm have a few different titles, depending on where you go, and who you ask: The nameless. Heralds of death. Beasts of extinction. Darkness incarnate. The first, and the last, adversary of man.
Across Remnant, there are several eschatologies, shared by cultures, religions, and doomsday cults, which claim the Grimm will bring about the end times.
Beyond the gates of portals fell,
Strongholds of old, and empty cells,
The unblinking Eyes watch and divine.
Forces move unseen and malign.
Inside the void and dark they dwell.
Beyond the light of worlds known,
’Neath starless skies, on jagged stone,
Bide the bringers of the End.
Should you go, heed me, friend:
Those who venture walk alone.
Anything you can tell us about the high-ranking Grimm in her army?
There's not a whole lot I can say without spoiling things. Not unless you want me to be maddeningly vague, of course. :3
Salem's generals (for lack of a better term) have the ability to communicate with her, much like the Seer from V4.E3. Their intelligence is on par with that of a human or a Faunus, and they're all either Category 4 or Category 5 Grimm. Most of them have appeared in the canon at one point or another.
Like all Grimm, none of them self-identify with names. Some Grimm simply lack the mental faculties needed to understand the concept. For those that can grasp the concept, they find it foreign and altogether meaningless. The generals of Salem's army are no exception.
However, that doesn't mean that people haven't conferred names upon them. Of course, it bears mentioning that Salem's existence is unknown to the vast majority of Remnant; the same goes for most of her generals. That being said, the ones that have encountered people, and had their existences recorded, were sometimes given titles.
One of them was called Wraith. Another was called the Desolation of Anima.
How is Salem’s faction organized in Redux? I know that for example some rewrites create a grimm-worshipping cult to fix her lack of manpower but what is it like in Redux?
To be fair, one of Salem’s lieutenants in the Redux was an active Grimm-worshipper—Tyrian. He’s not an outlier, either.
Selectively inducting Grimm-worshippers to her ranks is one of her favorite recruitment tactics. Grimm-worshippers (or archotherolatrists, as they’re technically known) are predisposed to following Salem, because they venerate the creatures that she controls. Once Salem makes her existence known, they tend to immediately adjust their reverence to centralize around her instead. After all, if Grimm are worthy of veneration, then what of the woman who is their master?
It's one of the reasons why Ozark outlawed all forms of Grimm-worship after the Great War. It was his way of directly cutting her off from a steady supply of followers.
Salem’s inner circle—much like Ozma’s—tends to be pretty restricted to just a handful of supporters. The difference here is that Ozma chooses to limit the number of people he involves in their conflict. Salem, on the other hand, would love to increase the number of followers she has, but it’s a lot harder for her to do so. Sometimes she literally can’t, and there have been a few critical points over the millennia where Ozma actually managed to cull her inner circle and reduce it to zero. There’s a reason why she has such limited access to followers, but that’s spoiler-territory for now.
Her current roster is identical to the canon. Out of her four lieutenants, Hazel’s been in her service the longest, followed by Watts, then Tyrian, then Cinder. Cinder was the one who recruited Emerald and Mercury (both of them by serendipitous accident), and it was her idea to enlist Roman Torchwick’s gang and Adam Taurus’ cult. Leonardo Lionheart is also a member of her faction, but unlike the canon, he didn’t defect to her out of cowardice. His motives are rooted in nihilism and pragmatic resignation.
Although Salem can’t easily pad out her inner circle, she does have access to a resource that Ozma lacks: the Grimm. And this story treats the Grimm very differently from the canon.
In the Redux, there’s this thing called cognitive metamorphosis. It’s a form of psychobiological growth that senescent Grimm undergo once they’ve survived enough encounters with people. Their behavior is no longer exclusively dictated by a single-minded compulsion to kill. Grimm that successfully undergo this process become smarter, gaining self-preservation instincts, theory of mind, and other traits associated with advanced cognition.
There are several individual Grimm within Salem’s forces that have achieved this state. They functionally serve as generals within her army.
It’s been a very, very long time since Ozma has seen any of them.
