Finally, something Michelle can get enthusiastic about!
17 Comments
As I understand it Michelle’s is blank until she changes from human shape.
Not quite. It was blank because it had been worn down over time. When she reconnected with the Sphinx power source by touching the Phoenix Egg, the medallion was restored to its original form, with the sphinx stamp.
ooooh, love me some good backstory and worldbuilding on that front~ (also, Meesh nerdery is always a win)
Oh, wow, my weirdo question about medallions got answered. So the answer is… “It’s to help tell who it’s for and that’s it.” Neat. And functional blanks could be for anyone cuz folks don’t know who they were made for (unless they were passed down). I like this knowledge. Thank you! <3
This is interesting! I didn’t actually think there was anything more than an aesthetic difference between medallions besides age, but medallions were deliberately designed to suit the species of the person it was made for.
I had the impression otherwise because of Anthony’s situation – just touching a medallion was enough to break the warped shapeshifting spell passed down to him by his mother, but that’s because medallions are old and complicated in general and any medallion would’ve done it.
Does this mean that if Merial, for example, had come across any kind of medallion besides a nixie one, she never would’ve shifted? Or is that another case of medallions being old and complicated and any of them doing the job? Because there’s also the fact that once you’ve got a medallion it’ll be the only medallion that works for you (if it works at all, if Sam really isn’t human), so if she’d gotten, like, a griffin medallion and broke her ‘make me look human’ spell, but a griffin medallion won’t disguise a nixie, would she have just been stuck in nixie form the rest of her life?
Sorry for the barrage, I’m just a worldbuilding nerd, lol
As I understand it, someone in human shape because of inherited medallion magic will only be Turned by touching the right kind of medallion — and it has to be one that’s available, not currently in use. Anthony’s case was unusual because his human shape was the result of sorcery, which is nowhere near as strong.
I haven’t seen any explanation of Merial’s Turning beyond a one-frame flashback that showed her on a beach, apparently surprised at her nixie shape. I’ve speculated about her playing with inherited “costume jewelry”, but I’m probably off the mark.
Kory has said somewhere that Merial’s turning was unusual and complicated, and wasn’t like a normal turning. Unless that’s a plot point that got written back out later, I’m interested in the reveals on how that happened and what’s going on there.
The medallion will only react if it was made for the user’s species. When Madam U gave Anthony the nokk medallion she was testing whether it would rect, and prepared to perform more tests until she found tge one that matched Anthony (and therefore made a sale).
Related; What does Madam U usually sell the medallions for?
First, the flip answer to your question is that Madame U usually sells medallions for as much money as she can get.
The more serious answer is that most of them probably go to families with youngsters coming of age, but no heirloom medallions conveniently at hand. (Colin’s medallion used to be his great-great aunt Winifred’s.)
So we know that the Unturned are non-humans born to medallioned mothers. Is this dangerous for first-generation Unturned? What if the mother shifts to mid- or full-form during pregnancy? Is her child affected? Does her child shift with her? What does determine the child’s shape? If conceived as a human then born as a human, regardless of the mother’s form at time of birth? Come to think of it maybe I should direct this question to Dr. Hobbes. What patterns have you found, good sir?
It seems the spell passes on at birth, as there was a suggestion in prior RQs that Nemean mothers should be encouraged to give birth in human form to prevent super-powered indestructible cubs from running all over the place.
Regarding shifting, remember that medallions aren’t actually, physically changing a user’s shape but casting a craaaazy complex illusion that encases their real form in a human-shaped ‘shell’. (Per explanations given by Jim and Tim. Heh.) So no worries or dangers regarding the unborn, at least as far as that goes.
It looks like one of the blank medallions has some scratches in it. Can a blank medallion be carved/scracthed with an owner or type? To what degree does a medallion need to be damaged before it starts affecting the user like Greg or Myra?
For that matter…. Do young and clumsy Nemeans ever accidentally damage their medallions with their super strength? Is that a common hazard?
Nemeans have to pass a test administered by the Nemean Council before they’re given medallions, so they probably wouldn’t be distributed to anybody who isn’t responsible enough to handle them. The Council also reserves the right to temporarily revoke medallions of a Nemean proves to be a problem. While this probably wasn’t intended to keep them out of the hands of rambunctious cubs, it probably helps.
I can see someone in the modern age putting a sticker on their blank hand-me-down medallion to keep track of it. Imagine how much Elise would flip out if she saw another Pterippi with a my little pony pegasus sticker on their Pterippi medallion.
Haha I forgot about that question. It’s true that the “Friendship is Magic” version hadn’t come out yet. However, my sister and I were crazy about the 1982-92 series growing up, and Hasbro did have a G3 toy line in 2006, so it’s still plausible for someone to have an mlp sticker in that timeframe.
17 Comments
As I understand it Michelle’s is blank until she changes from human shape.
Not quite. It was blank because it had been worn down over time. When she reconnected with the Sphinx power source by touching the Phoenix Egg, the medallion was restored to its original form, with the sphinx stamp.
ooooh, love me some good backstory and worldbuilding on that front~ (also, Meesh nerdery is always a win)
Oh, wow, my weirdo question about medallions got answered. So the answer is… “It’s to help tell who it’s for and that’s it.” Neat. And functional blanks could be for anyone cuz folks don’t know who they were made for (unless they were passed down). I like this knowledge. Thank you! <3
This is interesting! I didn’t actually think there was anything more than an aesthetic difference between medallions besides age, but medallions were deliberately designed to suit the species of the person it was made for.
I had the impression otherwise because of Anthony’s situation – just touching a medallion was enough to break the warped shapeshifting spell passed down to him by his mother, but that’s because medallions are old and complicated in general and any medallion would’ve done it.
Does this mean that if Merial, for example, had come across any kind of medallion besides a nixie one, she never would’ve shifted? Or is that another case of medallions being old and complicated and any of them doing the job? Because there’s also the fact that once you’ve got a medallion it’ll be the only medallion that works for you (if it works at all, if Sam really isn’t human), so if she’d gotten, like, a griffin medallion and broke her ‘make me look human’ spell, but a griffin medallion won’t disguise a nixie, would she have just been stuck in nixie form the rest of her life?
Sorry for the barrage, I’m just a worldbuilding nerd, lol
As I understand it, someone in human shape because of inherited medallion magic will only be Turned by touching the right kind of medallion — and it has to be one that’s available, not currently in use. Anthony’s case was unusual because his human shape was the result of sorcery, which is nowhere near as strong.
I haven’t seen any explanation of Merial’s Turning beyond a one-frame flashback that showed her on a beach, apparently surprised at her nixie shape. I’ve speculated about her playing with inherited “costume jewelry”, but I’m probably off the mark.
Kory has said somewhere that Merial’s turning was unusual and complicated, and wasn’t like a normal turning. Unless that’s a plot point that got written back out later, I’m interested in the reveals on how that happened and what’s going on there.
The medallion will only react if it was made for the user’s species. When Madam U gave Anthony the nokk medallion she was testing whether it would rect, and prepared to perform more tests until she found tge one that matched Anthony (and therefore made a sale).
Related; What does Madam U usually sell the medallions for?
First, the flip answer to your question is that Madame U usually sells medallions for as much money as she can get.
The more serious answer is that most of them probably go to families with youngsters coming of age, but no heirloom medallions conveniently at hand. (Colin’s medallion used to be his great-great aunt Winifred’s.)
So we know that the Unturned are non-humans born to medallioned mothers. Is this dangerous for first-generation Unturned? What if the mother shifts to mid- or full-form during pregnancy? Is her child affected? Does her child shift with her? What does determine the child’s shape? If conceived as a human then born as a human, regardless of the mother’s form at time of birth? Come to think of it maybe I should direct this question to Dr. Hobbes. What patterns have you found, good sir?
It seems the spell passes on at birth, as there was a suggestion in prior RQs that Nemean mothers should be encouraged to give birth in human form to prevent super-powered indestructible cubs from running all over the place.
Regarding shifting, remember that medallions aren’t actually, physically changing a user’s shape but casting a craaaazy complex illusion that encases their real form in a human-shaped ‘shell’. (Per explanations given by Jim and Tim. Heh.) So no worries or dangers regarding the unborn, at least as far as that goes.
It looks like one of the blank medallions has some scratches in it. Can a blank medallion be carved/scracthed with an owner or type? To what degree does a medallion need to be damaged before it starts affecting the user like Greg or Myra?
For that matter…. Do young and clumsy Nemeans ever accidentally damage their medallions with their super strength? Is that a common hazard?
Nemeans have to pass a test administered by the Nemean Council before they’re given medallions, so they probably wouldn’t be distributed to anybody who isn’t responsible enough to handle them. The Council also reserves the right to temporarily revoke medallions of a Nemean proves to be a problem. While this probably wasn’t intended to keep them out of the hands of rambunctious cubs, it probably helps.
I can see someone in the modern age putting a sticker on their blank hand-me-down medallion to keep track of it. Imagine how much Elise would flip out if she saw another Pterippi with a my little pony pegasus sticker on their Pterippi medallion.
https://www.skindeepcomic.com/reader-questions/reader-question-17/ ;-)
Haha I forgot about that question. It’s true that the “Friendship is Magic” version hadn’t come out yet. However, my sister and I were crazy about the 1982-92 series growing up, and Hasbro did have a G3 toy line in 2006, so it’s still plausible for someone to have an mlp sticker in that timeframe.