Just learned that ozymandias was a name for king Ramses great in Egyptian history. Do with that as you please uWu
Ooh, yes! See, at first I chose the name "Ozymandias" simply because everyone else was doing it and I thought it sounded like a cool name. But the thing that sold me on it was the poem "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley which.... idk. It's fantastic.
[Note: Ozymandias = me referring to the poem/the king in the poem. Mandias = me referring to the character in the AU. just to try to make things less confusing.]
I've been playing with the idea of how Mandias could be related to this poem. I have a word doc SOMEWHERE with the analysis of it and how it relates to Mandy but I CANNOT FIND IT ANYWHERE AHHH--
So I guess I shall try my best to remember what I had on there and ramble here about it.
The poem is essentially about how those in power--such as the King in the poem, Ozymandias--are deluded in their belief that their power is supreme and invincible. Those who are powerful in the world think that their power--their rule--will never go away or be taken from them.
However, the might and power of leaders does not last, as shown by how the desert has taken the place of what once used to be Ozymandias' kingdom, and how the great statue that was made in the King's honor is crumbling to dust.
Now, how does this relate to OUR Mandias?
Well, the thing is this. Mandias wants to be like the Ozymandias in the poem. He WANTS to be able to see himself as all-powerful. He WANTS to be seen as that strong King who is sure of himself and his word, comparing himself to Gods, etc. However, he just isn't. Mandias is riddled with doubt and insecurity and fear. He is very much the opposite of how King Ozymandias is presented in the poem; Mandias wants to BE, well, Ozymandias.
But he isn't.
And in current, with Ozpin, he believes wholeheartedly that if he had been like Ozymandias, he wouldn't have suffered the fate that he had. He would have been strong enough to stop the war from happening in the first place, to take the crown the other kingdoms were offering him when the war was over and be able to establish peace. But he couldn't, and he didn't, because he views himself as weak.
[noooo this self deprecation and insecurity won't carry on into Ozpin in present RWBY what do u mean pssssssssssshhhhhhh ;P ]
So I do have THAT goin on, but there's also something else that interests me that I want to point out. And it's that in the poem, while King Ozymandias and his kingdom are already gone, it's the fact that the statue is still there to crumble.
Because while those in power eventually have their kindgoms fallen into dust, barely to be remembered, there is an argument to be made that certain things DO last—like the statue.
Not only does the desert itself outlive the King--nature itself--but the statue does. ART does.
And, well, in RWBY, The Great War was ALL ABOUT art and freedom of expression.
Idk, i just feel there's somethin there ;P
