Archivisting Headcanons:

- Archives are meant to have an archivist. If one is not provided, the archives will fill that space itself. Usually by luring in one or more compatible humans.

- The archives will lure in people with the promise of knowledge and answers. Usually, they will feel a certainty that this is where the answers lie, as well as an anxiety that the answers will be taken away. This is to encourage them to make the choice to become Archivists.

- The level of anxiety grows over time, but is usually low enough that it can be written off as that person’s own anxiety about losing something important. By the time they realize it’s coming from an outside source (if they ever do) it’s probably already too late.

- This anxiety usually persists until the Archivist accepts the position officially, although they don’t have to necessarily know what that means.

- Being marked by an entity (such as by working at the institute) isn’t enough. An archivist needs to be Eye-aligned, to have a burning drive to know and a desperation for answers. These archivists will be rejected. What does that mean for them? Nothing good.

So just as a heads up, this is a continuation of this post about which of Smirke's 14 Fears from the Magnus Archives team RWBY+Pyrrha would be aligned with and @im-the-king-of-the-ocean asking my thoughts on Winter, Ozpin and Oscar (sorry it took so long to get back to this! I've had it sitting in my drafts for a while)

Winter: The Slaughter

Winter as an Avatar of the Slaughter is something I hadn't thought of but it actually fits insanely well. The Slaughter does often bring up the question of whether anger and violence is just senseless and mindless, or following orders followed by rationalisation; or if we're entirely conscious of the choices we're making, and which is worse, which is something that Winter's arc has been dealing with A LOT. In how she follows Ironwood's orders and has to rationalise his actions to justify her own and her "choices", like how she explains to Weiss how she accepts her role as the Winter Maiden being her destiny, though it was something Ironwood groomed her into and how she tries to explain to Penny why they have to internalise however they might feel about abandoning Mantle and trust Ironwood.

There's the element of anger which you bring up, and Winter's relationship with anger is interesting to me to think about, because she seems very much afraid in indulging that emotion, or any emotion, and because of the military industrial complex and her abusive controlling upbringing, leads to a lot of emotional suppression and refusal to think on those feelings or deal with them in any healthy way. Which of course leads to everything boiling over, and there's this. Rage, an passionate fury that's boiling inside her. But I wouldn't say it's something she thinks she needs or enjoys right now, quite the opposite. (the idea of being afraid of being hurt, of needing to have control of her situation and to throw back her hurt of the world fits more with Cinder than Winter in my mind, and I think Melanie's relationship with anger and needing it reminds me a lot more of Yang. It justified her need for it and fed into it, and Melanie liked that, she wanted it, but for Winter her anger is something she's ashamed of, something to be locked away)

But I actually do think with where her arc is headed that thinks she will come to indulge in that feeling more. The one time we see her have an angry outburst expressing her true feelings is at Jaques at his dinner party, and she scolds and shames herself for allowing herself to get angry, that it was childish and immature. To which Penny disagrees, saying she thought she was just speaking from the heart. But Winter believes that to precisely be the problem. She cannot allow herself to think, or feel just for herself,  because that terrifies her. So she only allows herself to follow orders. Again, similar to a lot of the Slaughter statement givers who were soldiers in wars of some kind and become numb to the atrocities they are made to commit, the sensless violence of it all, but her choice to accept her lack of agency and self worth still makes her complicit and is still a conscious decision on her part. This sort of meandered and I'm not sure if it made any sense but yes, I hadn't thought of it but the Slaughter actually fits Winter really well for a lot of reasons. And I think we will see her Go Feral in the near future, the thing she's most afraid of, showing how she really feels, and oh boi all that confusion, emotional repression, the lingering bitterness and jealousy towards Penny being the Winter Maiden, and projected feelings of thinking of leaving or betraying Ironwood she's been having and her conflicted feelings pushed onto Weiss, who betrayed and left first, just a whole over boiling pot that's a mess of emotions manifesting as Big Feral Winter Feelings. 

Ozpin:

The Eye, Ceaseless Watcher, Beholding/The Vast, the Falling Titan, Awful Deep

Ohohohoho Ozpin. I can't tell you how many times I've listened to TMA 151 imagining Ozpin as Simon Fairchild or vice versa. Simon's VA was told that his character had to give off the impression that he might offer you a plate of cookies or fling you off a cliff and when I heard that my mind immediately jumped to Ozpin back in v1. And Ozpin's VA said that if he didn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders, he'd be a lot more chaotic and fun. And that's the thing with Ozpin though, is that he wants to be Simon Fairchild, so so badly. I think he wants people to see him as that kind of person too. But in reality, he's stuck being Jonathan Sims. (The Ceaseless Watcher's/God of Light's Special Little Boy assdkjhkk) Oz is 100% an Eye Avatar. Fair warning, like with Ruby and the End, I have a lot of Big Feelings with this one. 

I see where you're coming from, but the thing with being an Avatar of the Vast is being so overwhelmed by the expanse and eternity of everything that you just accept your own insignificance as well as everyone else's, hence why they rarely form attachments or work with others. It's a very nihilistic perspective that it's Avatars tend to be very hedonistic as a result, we're all insignificant, nothing matters, let's just do whatever we want and try to have a good time, who cares what happens. And I do think Oz is Vast aligned, since he encourages the people around him, and tries himself, to enjoy the little things and have fun when he can, since he knows Salem is unstoppable and everything could go to shit at any given moment. And yknow. Him enjoying flinging students off of cliffs during initiation a bit too much.

 But Ozpin cares so much about humanity. He desperately wants to believe, and tries to, in humanity, and tries for them. He's been fighting so hard for so long, and believes humanity is worth fighting for (even if he has trouble actually having faith and believing in them). Everything matters to him. He agonises over every choice he makes and impact that has, takes on so much responsibility on himself, is so guilt ridden that he admits to making "more mistakes than any man, woman or child on this planet" that he practically paralyses himself with indecision and guilt. He’s also someone who has been shown to be paranoid, (his reluctance to fully trust the people around him out of constant wariness that he may be betrayed) and afraid of being perceived for who he truly is and having his secrets exposed, which are all very Eye related fears. Ozpin’s very much in this position in which he is the one who knows everything, who passively watches and waits and knows, from up high in his tower. “Oh please, your god is nothing! The Eye, Beholding, Ceaseless Watcher, whatever you call it, that’s all it does, it watches and knows, sitting bulbous and comfortable in the ignorance of infinite knowledge.” (TMA 89) In the Lost Fable, he believed he needed to be the one to know everything (think to how he only trusted himself to hold onto the relic of knowledge, believing it to be “his burden to bear” and was desperate to take it back from Ruby) and as shown in his past lives, sought after Jinn’s knowledge in the belief that knowledge would help him in his cause, only for the ultimatum of the answer in “Salem can’t be killed” to break him and make him lose all hope of doing anything more than maintaining a perpetual stalemate. In the words of his speech in vol1, in which is a very good example of Ozpin desperately needing to practice what he preaches; 

 “I'll...keep this brief. You have travelled here today in search of knowledge--to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step”  (RWBY 1x03) 

There’s also like. A lot of Eye statements, particularly those relating to Jonathan, that relate heavily to Ozpin and his character, including this one:

“And at last, the Archivist looks up. At last, he looks into the eye that sees all, and knows all, and clutches at the secret terrors of your heart. The Ceaseless Watcher of all that is, and all that was; the voracious, infinite hunger that tears at his soul, invoking him to discover, to observe, to experience all, and everything, and forever. It stares into him, and it stares out of him, and he is falling into the devouring eternity of its pupil. He wants to cry out in horror, but he cannot. 

He. Is. Whole. 

And still he does not wake. Wandering his slim collection of gifted nightmares, passing the grey and lifeless remains of severed dreams he can no longer watch, he waits- but not for long- before they can all begin again”

Like if that doesn’t describe Oz’s endless reincarnation and merging, becoming “whole”, and living all these lives is discovering, observing and “experiencing all and forever” then I don’t know what does. And then there’s the last statement we had before the s5 break, also an Eye one, revolving around the “Minister” which also gives off major Oz vibes:

God, the children. They won’t stop looking, won’t stop following him with their piteous, desperate gaze that speaks so loudly his knees feel like they will buckle. ‘Help us.’He will. Of course he will. He wants to. He hasn’t lied to them, he really hasn’t. He used to be one of them, he remembers what it can be like. He is there to speak for them. And if necessary, he will join them again. The minister grips his black leather briefcase closely to his chest, bile rising in his throat at the sudden jolt of fear that races through his veins. Where did that come from? Is he afraid of it, returning, of that sharp stab of hunger, the shivering of a cold you can’t escape? Or is he afraid that should it come to that, they will see him as a deceiver?” 

“On his side of the arena the shouts should be sharper, more angry, but their tone and pitch are such as to merge seamlessly with the others. There are no golden stakes on this side pinning down his would-be comrades. But the minister must be careful not to look too closely, or else he might see how many of his allies are fused to their own chairs, on which they have sat comfortable for so long"

"His eyes drift away, through the walls to the crowd outside. Their baying cries for justice cannot be heard in here. If any whisper should make it through, it is utterly destroyed in the deafening shouting that surrounds him. But he cannot forget their eyes, watching him, piercing him with their wounded humanity.” 

Another thing is that one of Ozpin’s allusions aside from the Wizard of Oz is Odin, and Raven and Qrow are meant to be his Huginn and Muninn, two Ravens that act as his “eyes” spying and gathering information for him. If you look at Raven and Qrow’s emblem, they have a left and right bird’s eye respectively, with Oz’s gear emblem inside the eye. In v4, Salem, upon hearing that Tyrian poisoned Qrow, says “the last eye is blinded” as in,the belief that with Raven having left Oz and Qrow now dying, Oz would have no more eyes to “see” with. You also have Jonah Magnus, whose corpse is missing his eyes, but is able to watch through the eyes of the Archive employees. That and the whole body hopping host thing is a little similar in concept (and Peter Lukas mentions near the end of s4 that if Elias died, Jonah would have chosen Jon as his new host which is just. Terrifying). There's a lot of other little things too, like Oz in the first three volumes is usually shown watching events like the iniitiation, the fight at the docks, and the vytal festival through his cameras in his office, a passive observer rather than someone who is actively involved. And Yang at the end of v6, when Oscar tells them about Oz saving him, says "so he's just been watching is that whole time?" The underlying tone suggesting that he could've come back at any tike but chose to watch them instead, through Oscar, and everyone looking at him like that's pretty weird or creepy (except Ruby tho, because she's Ruby)

I feel like I could go on, but this is probably waaaaay too long, so, in summary, Oz serves the Eye, is basically a perfect candidate for the Archivist, and is also Vast aligned, and in different circumstances would have totally been a great Vast Avatar. 

Oscar: The Spider, the Web, Mother of Puppets

Oscar. Was. HARD.

This lil shit is part of the reason it took so long to make this post. Because see, with other characters the most obvious indicators would be their semblances (which are often manifestations of coping mechanisms for their personal fears or trauma) or songs (which delve deeper into their characters), or have very specific fears that I can focus in on as to how that factors into their arc. But Oscar? He doesn't have a semblance. His whole THING is that he's scared. All the time. His song is called Fear for Pete's sake. Now, he is Oz's reincarnation, and Oscar does also share a fair few things in common with the Archivist and his character arc, (Elias's plan and the whole plot of the first four seasons was that he was trying to align Jon by having him touched by ALL the fears, aka, to fill Jon with fear of everything, so that he became a walking living record of fear) he persistently calls out people's BS and takes issue with people withholding information, also similar to Yang (who I firmly believe is Eye aligned). So like. Eye, right? But that just... doesn't properly fit Oscar. He's not Ozpin. The Stranger, then, becoming a stranger to yourself, perhaps? That is something Oscar's afraid of, right?

"Everything changes when you see a stranger, feel proud or betrayed" (Fear)

But Oscar is growing more confident in his own identity and figuring out who he is. He’s not becoming Oz, he's becoming his own person. And even if he was becoming Oz, Oz is hardly a Stranger to Oscar. The merge, from how it's described in the show, seems more similar to how the Distortion functioned, except Oscar and Oz don't fit into most of the Distortion's themes.

I was sort of uncertain, and I wanted to wait and see till I was more certain of where Oscar's arc was headed this volume, since he's being pushed to his limits and wanted to see how he acted and what choices he made. At the start, because of how he was regretting all the choices he'd made previously, and was telling Oz how badly he didn't want the merge to happen, I was speculating about the possibility of him being manipulated by Salem and Grimm!Oscar happening, which might fall him into the Corruption, but no.

Oscar is the Web.

It fits with his fear of being controlled, of his will not being his own, and like Jonathan, who was marked and scared for life by his encounter with the Web as a child, it is his greatest fear. Only, where Jon was so afraid of the Web he sought the Eye as his refuge, believing it would keep him safe, Oscar realises that can be used to his advantage. (Which actually makes him more like Anabella Cane, which is. Hilarious) He's trying to do what Salem does, focus in on people's weaknesses and fears and dig at them, manipulate and push them, divide them, only like, steering them into the opposite direction than Salem. He's trying to use the fact that people see him as Oz to his advantage and trying to manipulate their impression of him. He's just got this very sneaky, cunning and pragmatic streak in him that people overlook because he's also incredibly kind and just. Good. But those qualities very much scream "Web" to me the more I've dwelled on it.

This isn’t really a “theory”, in the sense that I think it’s a direction the show is actually going to take things, and I’m sure someone’s brought it up at some point before, but there’s a thought that keeps recurring to me, basically ever since 134.

(Since I have yet to do a full relisten, and I listened to most of the episodes for the first time while at work, it’s very possible that something’s come up that makes all of this moot, even for a crack idea, and I just missed it...)

134 is when we learned that the End and the Web have never (to Peter’s knowledge) attempted a ritual.  According to Peter, both have a preference for the world the way it is in canon because it doesn’t matter to the End (so long as whatever world exists has entities capable of fearing their own death) and because the Web likes being able to manipulate things the way they are.

But that leads me to a question... if it’s possible for entities to choose not to have their followers attempt a ritual, why would the Beholding want its own ritual to go down?  Because a lot of the fears of the Beholding require at least some, if not all, of the other powers in order to function at optimal capacity.  

(More under the cut because this got a bit long...)

Maybe I’m missing something, but the fear of being watched/having your secrets exposed is not usually motivated out of, well, the fear of being seen, full stop.  Because some people are scared of their secrets being revealed because they believe it will make their loved ones shun them (Lonely) or because they believe they could be used to manipulate them (Web), maybe they’re afraid of being tracked down for some reason (Hunt), etc.  

Moreover, if the Beholding is the infinite drive to know more, regardless of the cost to oneself, what world could be better for that than the one that exists in canon right now?  There’s so much unknown to explore and catalogue, and so many dangers and things to be afraid of in the process.  Having things like the Dark, the Stranger, and the Vast is beneficial to the Beholding because they inherently cannot be fully known, and, thus, must be eternally quested after at great personal risk.

Not to mention the fact that the Eye apparently literally feeds off of the experiences the other powers enact on people.  That makes sense if it’s also the fear of something watching you suffer for its own amusement, but it doesn’t explain what the Beholding would get out of its ritual that it doesn’t currently have.

And, I absolutely do not trust that the Web has no interest in its ritual.  Unlike the End, which, as Peter points out, gets everybody eventually, the Web has to at least do some work for its prey.  It could definitely get something out of a world where people were more easily manipulated or had more to fear from manipulation (and spiders) or whatever would happen if its ritual were completed.  

And, in all honesty, Peter isn’t the most reliable narrator in regards to anything the Web.  He’s an avatar of the Lonely.  What does he really know?  He assumes that the Web hasn’t attempted a ritual because it likes the world as-is, but assuming anything about a power that is blatantly associated with manipulation seems like just about the worst plan anybody could possibly have.

So, alright.  Maybe the Web doesn’t have a ritual it intends to enact, or maybe it does and it’s just keeping it on the down low so no nosey Archivists step in and blow it up.  Makes sense.

This is where my brain gets over excited and goes a little off the rails, because I can’t stop thinking about the connections between the Archives and the Web.

There have been a lot of theories about the recorders being Web-aligned, rather than Beholding-aligned.  Jon’s first encounter with the fears was in relation to the Web.  Martin loves spiders to the point that Web!Martin is a popular fandom idea.  Jon carries a web lighter.  The table that housed the NotThem (and was therefore, by proxy, protecting the archival staff from it) was of the Web.  There are a number of theories about Jon having to collect a scar/experience from every power in order to bring about the Watcher’s Crown, and the Web seems to be playing both sides of that fight... although, by (seemingly) brining the Flesh to the Institute, it did lead to Jon losing a pair of ribs to Jared, so who knows what that really means.

(Not to mention, Gertrude mentioned being able to recommend a statement-giver the name of a good psychologist and now Melanie is seeing someone in that capacity who certainly wants to use a recorder, and Annabelle Cane was a psych student, I think, or at least was aware enough of psych experiments, as a student, to participate in a rather frightening and long-term one... it’s all very coincidental, if it’s not directly connected.)

Basically, for the Beholding’s seat of power, there’s a lot of Web stuff going on.  Like, down in the coffin, it was the Buried and only the Buried, as far as we saw.  But the Archives have lots of Web stuff and, unlike when other powers attack the place, nobody seems particularly interested in even trying to kick the spiders out.

And, you know who an archive would be really good for?  Someone who needs/wants a record of past information in order to use it for future gain.  Say, in order to manipulate someone.

Elias’ demonstrated powers include seeing things remotely (which he uses... to manipulate people) and implanting experiential memories into people’s heads (which he uses...... to manipulate people).  Jon’s demonstrated powers are having “weird” body parts (whatever that means), manifesting tapes (maybe), and pulling information out of people’s heads, sometimes so hard it kills them (which he generally doesn’t do on purpose but, one very notable time when he did, he immediately used the information he got out of it for blackmail).  All I’m saying is, their powers definitely make sense for the concept of being able to “watch” and “know” the world, and strike fear with those abilities, but... they also make sense in terms of being extremely useful as methods of working out exactly how to make someone do as you tell/blackmail/ask them to.

We currently believe that there are fifteen fears, because Smirke came up with a list of fourteen and we’ve added the Extinction to that.  But when Gerry talks about it, he talks in terms of colours.  Why isn’t pink a shade of red, when pale blue is just another shade of blue?  Which mirrors what Leitner said about all of them being part of something incomprehensibly large, like a human sticking multiple appendages into an ant hive.  So Smirke labeled the fears where he thought the labels ought to go, and everybody goes along with it because it’s handy, but just because Smirke saw distinctions doesn’t mean that those distinctions necessarily exist on a cosmic level.

Before we had that list, there were ideas about the things that became known as the Web being the “active” component of the Beholding.  The things that went out and used the Beholding’s knowledge.

The fear of having your secrets revealed and turned against you.

And, what better trick?  Convince the entire world that your entire fear is, in fact, two smaller ones.  One that draws all the attention by being the annoying nerd who can’t stop asking questions (the Beholding) and the other that hangs out in the shadows, carefully pulling all the threads so everything works out just right (the Web).  Why bother informing an Archivist who is more comfortable with the limits of the Beholding than they might be with the Web (Jon, possibly also Gertrude) that the distinction between those powers isn’t real at all? 

(Though if the Web and the Beholding were one and the same, that could lead to a really fun payoff for Jared having Jon’s rib, where Jared turns up again, and it’s Jon who uses the fact that a part of him is inside the Boneturner to puppet him in some way.)

Also, the other, dumber reason that I keep thinking about this is because the Watcher’s Crown just makes me think of some sort of crown of eyes, and there are real life spiders with eyes arranged like that (a couple pictures of the peacock spider are in the link below-- I didn’t want to just add images to the post on the off chance that someone somehow made it through my ramblings to this point and didn’t want to be surprised with a sudden closeup of a spider). https://geyserofawesome.com/post/125967598482/peacock-spiders-are-awesome-creatures-theyre

tldr: I have a crack theory that I can’t stop thinking about which basically amounts to “the Beholding is fake news made up by the Web”.

Jolajich Pinbeak

What is their name? What do they prefer to be called?

Jolajich Pinbeak prefers to be addressed by his surname. Do not call him ‘Jola’ if you prefer to keep your reputation intact.

How are they best recognized in a crowd?

Pinbeak consistently wears the raven headdress and gold-embroidered ceremonial robes of his station as Master of Circles. Even while buying groceries, he is easily identifiable by the glossed black feathers and sweeping white cloth.

What is a stranger’s first impression upon meeting them?

If one were to meet Pinbeak at his post in the highly guarded Periphery Library, a stranger might be overwhelmed by the impression of an otherworldly sentinel posted in constant vigilance over the dangerous and sacred records housed within. On the street, however, Pinbeak’s costume might lead a stranger to believe he might be on his way to a party, or had lost a bet. To speak with Pinbeak, similarly, is an official and lofty experience on the job, and an uncomfortable encounter outside of it.

How do they see themself?

Pinbeak sees himself as the supreme authority of magic, psychology, philosophy, and celestial knowledge. His mind is naturally superior to everyone else’s in this regard, and their discomfort in his presence is only evidence of their pitiable inferiority. Pinbeak is above reproach, above the law, and above social norms. His responsibility is of upmost importance and he dedicates his life to the integrity of his post.

Where did they grow up? Where do they feel at home?

Pinbeak doesn’t remember much about the orphanage. He was adopted by the Periphery archivists and raised among bookshelves and gardens, magic circles and forbidden knowledge. He spent years at the palace shadowing the prince’s advisors, learning firsthand why certain magics are forbidden, and trained at the docks where dangerous texts and artifacts arrived with the cargo ships. The only place he truly feels at home is the library basement, where he sleeps on an elevated platform overlooking the shelves.

Who are the most important people in their life?

Pinbeak never knew anyone long or well enough to call them an important figure in his life, but he highly admires the previous Masters of Circles and has been known to quote them extensively. He collects paintings, photographs, and handwritten notes from the Masters and keeps them in his platform or displayed throughout the basement archive with pride. There is no living person who is as important to him as the old masters, or himself.

What is their profession, skill, or lifestyle?

Most days, from dawn to midnight, Pinbeak will stand guard over the library hall and survey the visitors with an all-seeing scrutiny. He barely moves, seeming almost a statue perched on a high balcony, except when someone has requested admission to the basement archive. Then, with dignified authority, Pinbeak will leave his perch and descend to the basement, where he will determine the worth and integrity of knowledge-seekers. It is his primary duty to keep this knowledge out of the hands of those who would abuse it. In all the years Pinbeak has protected the archive, only the prince himself has been allowed access.

What do they think their strengths are? What are their actual strengths?

Pinbeak believes his strength is as a symbol of the city. He has brushed aside petty social expectations of friendship and personality, and instead proudly dedicates himself to the guardianship of secrets. He sees himself as eternally unfazed, anchored in confidence. Confidence is, in fact, his great strength.

What are their fears, flaws, and secrets?

Pinbeak is afraid of being perceived as anything other than a deity presence of immovable integrity. He does not lash out or raise his voice at unsavory comments, but he has a penchant for spreading rumors about people he doesn’t like. Because he is untouchable, he reasons, he can say whatever lie he wants and it will be perceived as truth. He secretly wants a child and a family, and is often achingly lonely, but he sees this as a weakness to be overcome.

What do they want most? What do they actually need?

Though Pinbeak tells himself he wants nothing more than to protect his charged knowledge at any cost, he still feels a tug of longing whenever children are inside the library. He will not admit to himself that he desperately wants to be a father. His own successor has already been adopted, as he himself was drawn out of the orphanage, and is being trained by the archivist council. Pinbeak sees the child only briefly, never long enough to form a bond. What he really needs is to let himself be vulnerable and honest and human.

If they could have any supernatural ability, what would it be?

In his station, Pinbeak would want the ability to read minds as clearly as if reading a book. He would analyze every person he meets and know them better than they know themselves, and judge them accordingly.