oh. hm. i wonder if dark made grimm by himself because light refused to participate in creating anything destructive again after the jabberwalker—certainly it seems telling that in the myth, light creates a vast monoculture lawn and then declares that dark’s contribution of a moon and new biomes and plate tectonics is “spoiling” it; the myth flows from light’s presentation of himself to ancient humans and if he saw any value in these things he would surely have claimed them as his own—and then there’s the brother-cult framing that humans were given the capacity for evil (destruction) and good (creation) and the free will to choose which path to walk, always with the underlying premise that if humankind chooses wrong then they will “destroy themselves” (by earning annihilation at the final judgment)
this is in stark contrast to the narrative treatment of destruction as hunger and as an agent of change, and creation-without-destruction as, well, a vast monoculture lawn. sterile, stagnant, artificial, unalive.
(<- not a euphemism for “dead” and i resent that the word has those connotations now.)
to create is to destroy; paint, for example, is destroyed by the act of painting. you can’t ever use it as paint again. eating a meal is destructive—both in the sense that something living has to be killed, whether plant or animal, and in the sense that the food itself is destroyed. but this is the basis of all life. one eats to stay alive, to grow.
so in light’s view grimm are evil abominations because his brother made them to be destructive; to dark the grimm are embodiments of natural forces whose churnings keep the world forever in motion and therefore alive. jabber came out wrong—brutal, but effective, the blacksmith says—because light’s misapprehension of destruction influenced his nature. the grimm, created by dark alone, turned out right.
are they good? are they bad? they just are. the tides, the mountains, the deserts, the storms, earthquakes and volcanoes, the grimm.
meanwhile humans were given destruction by darkness and creation by light—the separation and recombination into one being was probably necessary to avoid a repeat of what happened with jabber—and then taught, by light, to understand their natures as a moral conflict and a moral challenge to rise above ‘evil’, i.e. destruction.
this is, of course, why light is so set on the necessity of permanent death: in his afterlife the dead are unaware and unalive, existing in everlasting stasis, and so nothing can ever be destroyed. darkness, who has never feared destruction, allows salem to glimpse the truth that life and death are a circle. and then he burns it all down and leaves her alive in the ashes, the wellspring of primordial destruction there for her to do with it as she will. and she does, and that is how mankind returns to life and how the faunus come to be.
which is the whole point. the grimm represent and embody pure destruction, hunger and change, which the brothers’ humans were taught to abhor as unnatural, evil abominations. salem becomes grimm and in doing so stakes humanity’s claim on destruction as darkness understood it, rejecting the false moral dichotomy light imposed on her generation. remnant is set free, and humanity rises phoenix-like from the ashes, unbound by death.
the brothers’ humans rebelled in order to claim the powers of their creators and perfect their own design. and she did.
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does it ever just hit you that ozma returned for salem.
light tells him that mankind is no more, yet the world remains, and in time mankind will grow to walk its face once again, but they will be but a fraction of what they once were. light offers ozma his task that can only end in two ways: either humanity remakes itself and is made whole again, or the world will be wiped from existence.
and ozma says no; "that world just isn't as dear to me without her." he'd rather go back to afterlife to be with salem... except salem isn't there.
so ozma changes his answer to yes; "i'll do it."
and it's just so. yeah, it's no wonder he isn't pushing full steam ahead trying to fulfill his task bc it was never really about that for him. he didn't accept to return for some altruistic reason of wanting to save the world and make the humanity whole again, he returned for salem.
"so all those times you talked about having faith in humanity, that was just for everyone else?" <- i think ruby is hitting the head of the nail here, to an extent; does ozma actually have faith in humanity? the same humanity that he was told by light was but a fraction of its former self? the humanity that needs to be remade, to be made whole again? it certainly adds another layer to his secrecy, this deep underlying "i'm not like you, broken and fractured" that has been knocked down, notch by notch, with every reincarnation he has gone through, every reincarnation he has learned to live with instead of taking over their lives, bc those people are part of that broken, fractured humanity who obviously care about their own kind.
but the fact remains that it all started with salem being in the first place with the world and this new humanity in a distant second and it's driving me up the walls.
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Ah, come on!?!
ONE
Jaune sat before his secure terminal in his small bioengineering lab, slack jawed and totally dumbfounded. Head of and the sole staff member of the Inner Circle's Grimm Development Division, he just couldn't understand what he was being instructed to do.
Salem: I feel your proposal has merit, Executive of Espionage Oleander Arc.
Oleander (Executive of Espionage): Thank you, Lady Salem.
Salem: All in favour of this information gathering operation, please raise your hands.
Every Arc Sister plus Watts and Tyrian raise their hands.
Salem: All opposed?
Hazel raises his hand, along with Jaune.
Salem: Jaune I appreciate your desire to contribute to the discussion, you however are not an executive and your vote will not be recorded in the official meeting minutes.
Jaune: But...
Azalea Arc (Executive of Policy and Procedures): Jaune please, don't embarrass yourself. While you are head of the Grimm Development Division, you are not a member of the board.
Jaune: But why not? I'm the Head of the Department I'm the only member of... plus you're all deciding to ADD to my work load!
Jasmine Arc (Executive of Finances): Jaune as this operation will have the greatest impact on your department, it is only appropriate that you lead the operation. You will be compensated for your time.
Jaune: Compensated? Does that mean I'll get some staff members?
Daisy Arc (Executive of Human Resources) : I'm sorry that is not currently a priority. Combat and Liaison Departments along with Mobile Applications Development require such resources.
Jaune: But I'm the only...
Daisy Arc (Executive of Human Resources): I'm sorry, Jaune. It's not in our mandate for this quarter.
Jasmine Arc (Executive of Finances): Your department is constantly over budget and under performing, and as such we can not justify the additional resources to hire more staff.
Jaune: But... I would meet deadlines and budgets if I had staff to share my workload! I mean, I have six projects that are in limbo because I don't have the time to allocate to their development.
Jasmine Arc (Executive of Finances): It's not in this quarter's budgets. You'll have to make due. Sorry little brother.
Salem: We are getting off-topic. So as per the vote, I would like it noted in our minutes that the Proposal for Grimm Development to infiltrate Beacon to observe and analyze the training methods deployed by our foes in an effort to make more effective grimm as a countermeasure has been approved.
Jaune: This is not fair! What am I supposed to do with my latest project? Wolf Bete's brain is complete, I just need to work on fashioning his body...
Juniper Arc (Executive of Public Relations): I would like to introduce a counter suggestion and amend grimm Development's Wolf Bete proposal.
Salem: Please continue.
Juniper Arc (Executive Public Relations): We have conducted some focus groups about Wolf Bete's final design...
Jaune: Focus Group? How do have a focus group about grimm?
Juniper Arc (Executive of Public Relations): Simple, we structure it as the reveal of a potential new character for one of our mobile products. Regardless, while Wolf's abilities were well received and applauded, the consensus was that Wolf's appearance was not cute enough. So I suggest a reconfiguration of Wolf's body to one that of a young woman, preferably around Jaune's age.
Jaune: WHAT?!? DO you KNOW how much work that will require? Not to mention the reconfiguration of the brain to accept the new body structure?
Jasmine Arc (Executive of Finances): We can not allocate any further funds to this project, Jaune. You will have to make the needed adjustments with in current budget constraints.
Jaune: That is unaccepta...
Salem: All in favour of the proposed modifications to the Wolf Bete proposal?
Everyone raises their hands.
Salem: Motion unanimously passed. Grimm Development will make the directed modifications under the budgetary and time constraints originally agreed upon.
Jaune just slumped in his chair. It was just inconceivable the amount of overtime he was going to have to pull to reconfigure Wolf Bete's body along with preparations to attend Beacon.
Salem: If there is no further business (looks about seeing no one stepping forward) Meeting adjourned.
Jaune fell back into his seat as he watched all the holographic images blink out one by one. Until finally it was just him and Lady Salem.
Salem: Jaune, even though you are not an executive like your sisters, I wanted to reaffirm that you are a valued member of our organization.
Jaune: Thank you, Lady Salem.
Salem: This additional assignment will be rough on you, and as such aside from your Wolf Bete project, I am formally extending all your deadlines indefinitely until you return from this assignment.
Jaune: Really?
Salem: Yes. I look forward to seeing your bi-weekly reports.
Jaune: Bi-weekly? As in, one every two weeks?
Salem: (Chuckles) No, twice a week.
Any relief, Jaune had been feeling, fled his body in that instant. Even with his other grimm design projects shelved, he was still facing a huge backlog of work. As Lady Salem's hologram blinked out of existence, Jaune truly began to wonder if the choice his mother had made in talking Lady Salem out of World Destruction and into incorporating to facilitate World Domination... was really worth it.
/==/ 26 Hours Later /==/
The bio-pod drained and slowly rose into the ceiling. A pair of bare feet splashed through the small puddles of bio-fluid that has not drained away.
Wolf Bete: Finally! Those huntsmen and huntresses won't... hey? What's with my voice?
The nude figure rushed past the sleeping form of Jaune, and straight for the large mirror attached to the far wall.
Wolf Bete: What the HELL?!? (She reaches up and grabs her bare breasts) What the HELL?!?
Spinning about, the nude young woman with a wolf's tail and wolf ears, rushed over and yanked Jaune from his chair, and proceeded to start roughly shaking him.
Wolf Bete: What the HELL, dude?!?
Jaune: Ahhh, what? I'm up!
Wolf Bete: What did you do to me?!?
Jaune: Oh, you're awake, and... (Jaune's face grew bright crimson) naked!
Wolf Bete: Of course I am! I don't own any clothes! But that's not important! What happened to my body?!?
Jaune: Executive Decision.
Wolf Bete: Eh?
Jaune: I was out voted... but I can't vote, so does that count?
Wolf Bete: What did you do to me? I was supposed to be a hunk of a guy! Not... not this!
Jaune: The BoD amended your proposal, due to the feedback from a focus group. I was directed to give you the body of a young woman.
Wolf Bete: (Releases her grip on Jaune) A focus group?
Jaune: Focus Group.
Wolf Bete: Okay. Okay... this is NOT okay! I'm supposed to be a guy! I trained in all those simulations as a guy! Why didn't you fix my brain at the same time? I know I'm supposed to be a guy!
Jaune: Deadline and budget.
Wolf Bete: Er... what?
Jaune: The BoD wouldn't extend my deadline or increase my budget for your development... so I did what I could, and I think I did pretty good considering. I even came in under budget... just barely, but I'm under budget.
Wolf Bete: Eh?
Jaune: We should get you dressed. Now that you're complete, I have to present you to the BoD...
Wolf Bete: Why?
Jaune: Final approval, and quality assurance testing.
Wolf Bete: Quality Assurance testing?
Jaune: Yeah, they'll ask you some questions to make sure you have a functional mind, and can think independently, as well as a physical test.
Wolf Bete: Test? What type of test?
Jaune: You'll fight another grimm.
Wolf Bete: Fight... another... grimm?
Jaune: Yes.
Wolf Bete: And if I lose?
Jaune: Psh. You lose? Wolfie you are the most advanced bioengineered grimm I have EVER created! You can't lose! But try your hardest... I can't afford to have you lose.
Wolf Bete: Wolfie?
Jaune: What? Don't like it?
Wolf Bete: WAIT! You said I couldn't lose, and just said you can't afford for me to lose! Which is it?
Jaune: Both?
Wolf Bete: I'm confused.
Jaune: And cold.
Wolf Bete: And... HEY! Eyes up PERV!
Jaune: (Face cherry red) Sorry! Sorry! I suggest we get you some clothes...
Wolf Bete: (Covering herself with her arms and tail.) Fine clothes first, and then you're explaining all this to me... (pokes Jaune in his chest as he opens his mouth)... again.
(== Table of Contents ==)
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