One of the things that oddly I really enjoy about R/WBY (oh, one of?) is that most of the vocabulary is really modern, to the point of the early volumes literally referencing RT memes which was extremely endearing back then, and the naming system at first seems kind of unwieldy and didn't need to be explained in that V2 lore dump bonus video, but then when you actually get to the Salem and Ozma deal it suddenly just works. They speak differently, comport themselves differently, and even their names alone stand out as just strange. The excess of the naming system, that made it feel well - literally colourful and strange - fairytaleish, normally afforded to the most fantastical elements, is actually the most mundane by comparison; the thinness of Salem and Ozma is the most ancient and the most simple and the most necessary. It's a love story.
And then when it comes to Cinder, she's very fascinating because there's this sort of retroactive effect (from Salem's introduction and thereafter) that her speech is affected in some way, this sort of performative darkness, grandstanding, or (my favourite) forms of sort of evil politeness, that when it drops it's very significant. It's very significant (to me) when she lets in casual speech (she contracted "gonna" once and I lost my mind) and I'm not even sure this was ever a conscious choice, but it works perfectly for the character who bridges the mundane and supernatural backdrop, who is literally the pauper turned princess. It also makes her weird (fondly) and to me works very well with how she exists in those crossroads, on the perimeter.
Look, I still have that dog in me.

















