claymore thoughts and spoilers it's rotisserie time baby and I'm un well
thinking about Priscilla! The fact that she as a traumatized child had to eat the flesh of her parents/a yoma to survive. The way her savior was the Organization in her mind's eye. How they no doubt used that trauma against her to forge the loyalty and foster the hatred consuming her
Clare being lugged around by Yoma before being saved by Teresa. We get no idea of what her life was before that, but her time with Teresa nutures her. And if a big part of becoming a warrior is what I kinda headcanon it is (ahem eating the yoma flesh along with doing the operation)... then there's an even stronger comparison
Then nearing the final battle Priscilla begins to defeat and consume other awakened beings, using their capabilities. A twisted mirror to Clare/Teresa's awakened form, where they utilize the techniques of other warriors who they've befriended with throughout the series.
The overall difference of fate between Clare and Priscilla being the connections and support they had. Whose hand was on their shoulder guiding them.
Yoma can eat regular food, but only live or freshly dead food gives them true sustenance. Their bodies integrate the live cells into their system to provide nourishment. Any regular food they eat essentially becomes waste, it also tastes bad to them.
Yoma rarely prey on or eat children unless they are truly desperate for food or are voracious eaters. It would be like eating an unripe fruit. They also avoid eating sickly people.They prefer to eat healthy adults.
Yoma don't react to alcohol or poisons. Their systems filter it out completely. They are also immune to most illnesses.
Yoma get better at shapeshifting and mimicking with the more people they consume, and the longer they are alive. So newly created Yoma are frequently crossing into uncanny valley territory in both appearance and behavior.
Sometimes Yoma can confuse the memories of different people they’ve consumed.
Prey animals tend to avoid or hide from Yoma, repelled by their aura. Scavenger and Predator animals are drawn to them.
I've been brewing and stewing these theories for a while now on why the Organization would switch from male to female warriors. While I've posted about this before, I thought I'd go more in depth and add some additional thoughts. Based on a variety of factors, I believe that this change was made as a political move.
*Spoilers for the later parts of the manga*
Shout out to @valenshawke for proofreading and input!
The Organization came from the mainland with Asarakam to conduct human experiments on the island with the intent to learn how to create living weapons to fight in its war. Now going around snatching up unsuspecting commoners wouldn't go over all that easy. Recruiting them outright isn't easy either. The best way to be able to do whatever you want is to build power and influence that is big enough for you to control an entire population.
Throughout the series we don't get a very concrete sense of politics or geography on the island in the main timeline. We see towns and cities that are rather separated and somewhat self governed but we don't hear anything about any sort of government or ruling body other than the Organization, which oversees the warriors primarily and, as we find out later, Yoma control. The exception to this being Rabona of course, which has never needed the Organization's assistance prior to the infiltration that Clare handles early in the series.
But we do see the ruins that suggest that there was some sort of ruling class on the island at some point. The hideouts that Riful uses are both large castles that are in disrepair.
So if there was a ruling class of some sort, who were they? What happened to them and the people that they ruled?
The Organization took them down, from the inside and outside. Kind of like this:
Suddenly the island and its people have a huge problem that doesn't affect just one group of people: The Yoma. Yoma are not the sort of problem you can just push aside because of politics or affiliations. The average human can't easily kill a Yoma, but one Yoma can easily kill a multitude of humans.
Then an organization comes forward with a solution to combat the Yoma. This group is composed of people with ties to the various governing bodies to band together so that they can handle the Yoma as a united front. They could have a rather nondescript name like “The Organization” that shows that they are not solely aligned with any one country/area.
Now the role of a warrior could be painted in a rather attractive light. A warrior becomes superhumanly strong, lives longer than the average human, and has a necessary role in society that would fight a unique problem. Kind of heroic depending on how you view it. You could offer this solution to future leaders, their families, their knights, etc. with a few successful test subjects to show off you can now recruit.
There would surely be a high cost from the Organization that would begin to deplete the wealth that these governments/royal families have acquired. As political power is poured into the Organization, these governing bodies begin to mean less and less to both the common people and across the political landscape as a whole.
The Organization wouldn't be above coordinating attacks from Yoma to destabilize any resistant groups. Aaand I wouldn't put it above any warriors with prior political standing to use their new position/power to take out an old enemy or competitor. Or aiding in a plan to infect noble families to justify getting rid of them.
Now having just men as warriors at first makes sense. The time period would probably align best with the armies and generals/knights being men. Though, as we see from the chapters showing the early warriors when Riful meets Isley, Dauf, and Rigardo, women would eventually be phased in for a brief mixed force, then to the main timeline the manga where the warriors are just women.
Since plenty of men would die either as warriors or fighting against the yoma initially, the switch to female warriors would have to be made eventually. This switch gives them power to control the Yoma, warrior, and human population. Effectively minimizing resistance on either front.
Now while canon does essentially say “it feels sexually good so men can't control themselves/are naturally too strong,” I don't really buy it. Especially given as Helen herself explained that when she surpassed her limits she felt the same arousal. The Organization is more than willing to push untrue narratives if it supports their actions.
Potentially the Organization could have gone a bit overboard on recruitment, many male warriors could've died fighting Yoma. They also could have tried to revive their old political structures or tried to form their own groups, which inevitably the Organization wouldn't want and so they'd have to discreetly be disposed of. And they could influence the public perception of male warriors being too power hungry to help justify getting rid of them as much as possible.
When it comes to the main timeline, the female warriors of the series are met with uncertainty, fear, and even hostility by the common people of the island, I believe this also is orchestrated. There is a benefit to creating division between warriors and commoners. And while the warriors are physically powerful, they don't have any sort of sway among commoners. Commoners are too wary of warriors and The Organization itself to risk any ties. So there's minimal communication and less risk of any sort of uprising.
To bring back an old Volume 1 line, Clare mentions that she had been trained to play certain roles, namely aristocrats or prostitutes. Now in the case of Rabona, this makes a lot of sense as she has to blend in for this particular mission and kill Yoma. But the skills she was trained in (and supposedly other warriors would be trained in) would make her and any other warrior an excellent tool of surveillance. If warriors weren't just used as a way to kill Yoma, but also to spy on commoners then this would create additional distrust.
As for acting like an aristocrat, there could potentially still be some new leaders or those who claim to have royal blood. But the current ones would likely have to have close connections with the Organization, so they would serve as a puppet. And having a warrior ready to play a role to spy on them prevents them from plotting in a way that the organization doesn't approve of.
The Awakened Beings from this time the Organization would likely allow some to stay alive not just because they were too powerful, but to have some that could be used to keep the fear among commoners and warriors alike. When Miria, Clare, Helen, and Deneve are sent to hunt down an Awakened Being, they were canonically being sent to what was supposed to be their deaths. Same with the warriors in Pieta.
Speaking of Pieta, this actually brings me into an adjacent theory that a few notable Awakened Beings in the series are not only the most powerful awakened beings and early warriors, but that Isley, Rigaldo, and Riful in particular were royalty.
”Silver King” Isley,”Empress” Riful “of the West, and “Silver Eyed Lion King” Rigardo are the only Awakened Beings with any sort of titles associated with royalty.
These titles could still be a reference to their influence as being powerful yoki wise or how they had leadership type roles amongst other Awakened Beings/Yoma… but no other awakened beings share this naming trait, even those who are similar in power, from the same era, or other Abyssals.
They themselves could have used these titles as a means to honor their lineage, and/or as a middle finger to the Organization after awakening. Frankly I like to think that they were once in a similar situation to Clare, Miria, Helen, and Deneve. Where they realized they had all surpassed their limits and or that the Organization did not want them alive. And in the face of that they chose to awaken purposefully to unlock their full potential. Aaand plan future havoc for the Organization.
if Ophelia wasnt a gay then why'd she bite Clare right on the fucking titty? why'd she chomp our beloved protagonists knockers?? this bitch likes girls
whenever a url I dont recognize makes an innocent post wishing claymore had a bigger fandom I have to PHYSICALLY restrain myself and wipe the froth from my mouth so I can just calmly like/reblog the post
will probably never end up writing it bc just mapping it out is taking forever but ive had an ophelia lives au of claymore thats been rumbling around in my noggin for ages.
i wanted to write an ophelia who lives instead of awakening, so basically irene beats her ass and it results in her not fully recovering in some way. ophelia makes the decision to head back to the organization. however since she can't fight at the same capacity she could before shes demoted/humbled. eventually shes assigned a mission up in the north with various other warriors. in a town called Pieta
theres added tension to the warrior dynamics in the north. especially between miria, clare, and ophelia. but there'd be additional discussion amongst the warriors sent as to why they were chosen to be culled (other than the partially awakened gang). bad behaviours? injuries/disabilities? illicit relationships? making mistakes? mental state?
of course the war of the north happens. ophelia survives and after having been cast away to die by the organization the first time, she stays with the ghosts. so the ghosts essentially have this pet murderer to try and rehabilitate. its of course a rough ride given the history that ophelia has with certain characters and her connection to the organization having been shattered. clare and miria especially have to face the emotional conflict of helping someone who has hurt them.
as the story plays out in mostly the same way plot wise. i would've gone into certain theories that i have about additional roles that aren't related to rank (such as the God Eye/Tracker, the Anti Warrior, spys, warriors who can kill other warriors).
((theory side bar 1: when it comes to the Anti-Warrior/No. 10 they wouldve also had a bigger role than the last defense that we see shown in the manga. the No. 10 would be used within the organization to shape/manipulate warriors to push them towards certain techniques or roles. not just yoki wise but mentally. though they work mostly with the senses, in this case they can also look into a warriors mind to some degree. warriors within the top 5 especially are kept close the the men in black and would have to regularly see the No.10 warrior to ensure that they were not planning on going rogue in some way and potentially some reconditioning.))
warriors in the top 10 have more knowledge of the inner workings of the organization, but especially the top 5. not only do they have more understanding of the organization, but the island in general.
((theory sidebar 2: in this, the organization limits the knowledge/education of most warriors. other than the top warriors, most have less writing/reading capabilities, geographical/political/economic knowledge. since the warriors are typically assigned a specific area of the island and are always lead by a top 10 ranked warrior for awakened being missions this works out pretty well. it also makes it harder for the average warrior to communicate with other warriors/islanders and harder for them to try for rebellion.))
as ophelia was ranked No. 4 she proves to be a great asset in helping the ghosts once they decide to leave the north. ophelia also ends up with a begrudging connection with miata and in effect clarice. ophelias later days as a warriors and miatas first would've lined up, so they would've both been seeing the No.10 regularly.
((theory side bar 3: the No. 10 still has to master their own techniques which might take some trial and error. so i imagine that alongside mental illness/trauma the conditioning that they put warriors through might leave them in a certain state. as an example, i think alicia and beth were not only successful due to being twins, but having their pysche broken in a way that would make their situation easy to control. priscilla and ophelia i feel might have had their past traumas amplified so that they are able to go through with killing other warriors, either out of loyalty or instability/fixation. *and while i personally also headcanon some autism in there* i think miata might've seen the No.10 for early conditioning, but it didnt quite work how it was supposed to.))
the attack on the organization runs differently because ophelia stops miria from heading off completely her own. they devise a plan that has miria attack from the outside so she still fights and wins the hearts of the warriore, whereas ophelia infiltrates and intercepts the No.10 raftela. raftela does look into her mind and sees how vastly she has changed. this along with mirias fight on the outside makes her choose to fight against the organization.
everything past the fall of the org is murky in my memory soooo im still mapping it out, though im considering mashing it together with my thoughts on a different fate for priscilla, plus some teresa era changes, aloooot of changes to clarice and galateas backstory
though i will probably never end up writing out a full fic on this, its still fun to think about :*)
