|
Oma Jäger Blog Entry |
|
October 4, 2024, 12:01:10 AM 10/4/24: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's characters from my anthro WWII storyline are Oma (Granny) Jäger, Frau Jäger, and Herr Jäger (first names never given). They're the paternal grandmother and parents of Ludolf Jäger; they aren't from the character list, but they're starting to develop an important role in Jäger's backstory as I'm writing up his full bio, so I figured I'd draw them. (Jäger also has six older sisters but I don't know that I'll draw them yet.) Young Ludolf is especially close to his Oma, who teaches him the old ways (rather to his mother's dismay). There'll be more about them later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se. Regarding their design, they're late Victorian/Edwardian; Oma falls more under the former while Frau Jäger's big hair gives her away as Edwardian. They're all leucistic, not albino (white fur with blue eyes, not red). TUMBLR EDIT: All righty! Having finished Dobermann's official profile (you can find it HERE), I decided on Major Jäger's next. Jäger's backstory first started to really reveal itself in his son Lars's entry. These art entries are based on what's been revealed so far in the in-progress bio, which is still in his childhood and subject to change. I suggest keeping an eye on HIS PAGE for future updates, though it takes me quite a while to finish them! These entries will be individualized to avoid repetition, though I have less info for Herr Jäger so far. Oma "Granny" Jäger is the one of the three to develop the most info so far due to her unusual nature. A cursory glance at her everyday appearance--prim, severe, prudish-looking older woman with her hair in a neat bun and dark full dress buttoned down to her wrists and up to her throat (as opposed to Frau Jäger and her Gibson girl-style daughters with their giant poufs and bare shoulders and bosoms)--really does not even hint at her true nature. The older generations of Jägers don't appear in the main story--parents and sisters have long since moved out of the country, and Oma is possibly dead--though there's supposed to be a scene where Captain Himmel spots a pair of family photos on Jäger's desk, one of him and his wife Magda and their large brood of children, another with a man and woman, an older woman, a slew of girls with big hair, and a little boy in a sailor suit. The hint is that these are both photos of Jäger's family, the latter being siblings, parents, and presumably grandmother. The story never tells what became of them though I believe at one point Jäger briefly mentions them leaving, indicating that they're still alive. They're presumably still alive when Jäger and Magda and all their children die at the story's end, his sisters likely having started families of their own--so, the Jäger family doesn't COMPLETELY die out with him, yet they aren't the Jäger family anymore, either. This has particular significance, given the direction his backstory is taking. This is largely the reason Oma Jäger--his paternal grandmother--is the one to become his teacher. She's not a Jäger by blood, but she's still a Jäger. I don't know her particular history yet but I have to assume she was born and raised in the ways which she later teaches her son and then her grandson. Presumably, whichever preceding parental figure taught her grew up in those ways too, and the one before them, etc. etc. What I'm not so sure about is her husband's side of the family, the actual Jägers--are they also from such a background, and is this why Oma and the deceased Opa (Grandpa) were drawn to each other?--or did Oma bring him into the lifestyle, OR just introduce their son (the future Herr Jäger) to it, similar to Ludolf, whose other parent (Frau Jäger) was never involved? I'm not sure, but I lean toward Opa Jäger also having followed the old ways, and he and Oma connected over this. Because really, it's the Jäger name that carries importance. Let me clear up here, BTW, that when Jäger's name was originally chosen, NONE of this background was known, and I knew nothing about the significance of the name in folklore, either--this connection happened by chance. Or is it chance...? At least, it wasn't planned. I went over the details of Ludolf's--then known as Luitpold's--difficult birth, the bargain his mother made with her mother-in-law to help her sons live, and the death of his twin Ludolf and the transfer of his name to the surviving brother, in Lars's entry above, so see that for some context. Oma Jäger has a reputation as a sort of seeress, capable of performing small spells and divining the future, so Frau Jäger asks for her help saving her sons, the price being that they will be raised in the old ways should they choose. And surviving twin Ludolf indeed comes across his Oma praying before her altar one night, and is afterward introduced to this lifestyle. Oma is a completely different person when praying to die alten Götter (the old gods): Young Ludolf spies her from behind, kneeling stripped to the waist, her long hair hanging loose down her back which is decorated with tattoos and painted runes, and when she hears him and whirls around, her face is painted too, her eyes wild, her pupils mere dots, and she has horns on her head. He doesn't even notice she's half naked, the rest of the transformation is so stunning. Oh, plus he's positive she's about to murder him. Oma, however, following her initial surprise, doesn't even get angry or start rebuking him; she coaxes him forward instead, promising she won't hurt him. Ludolf's curiosity overrides his fear and he comes out of hiding and Oma introduces him to her world. She explains her altar, her prayers, her tattoos and runes, and when Ludolf asks if she's a witch, she asks in return, what would he say if she said she is...? He's fascinated to be related to a real live witch--previously, witches were just from folk stories and Brothers Grimm fairytales--and when Oma says she can teach him her ways, he jumps at the chance, and becomes her apprentice and her star pupil. Ludolf seeks a sign, under Oma's guidance (stripped to his waist, painted, drugged with the poppy seeds and staring into the fire--he sees his twin, he sees the fire engulfing the world), to determine which god is his patron. Possibly due to his "two souls" (his and his deceased twin's), he ends up with two: Wotan and Donar, though it seems to be Donar he personally feels a stronger connection to, as later on he and his wife and children all wear silver Mjölnir (Donar's hammer) pendants; indicating that his connection to Wotan is through his deceased brother...this might explain Jäger's unpredictable fits of rage later in the story, when in stark contrast with his prim and sensible office demeanor, he quite literally goes completely unhinged at the drop of a hat and more than once ends up murdering someone. That's just a theory, though. It's Wotan's connection, legitimate or not, to yet ANOTHER divine being that also figures heavily in Jäger's story, as this divine being is intimately entwined within Jäger's very family line, his very name itself. He doesn't need to go looking for this being, Oma tells him, as it's already within him, passed down through the generations. There's no escaping your own blood. Along with the old gods, Oma quietly introduces Ludolf to the even older, primordial gods, those who have been so largely forgotten that they're reduced to mere folklore figures, like Frau Holle or Holda, a great mother goddess now mostly relegated to a Grimm fairytale figure shaking snow out of her down comforters. Frau Holle has a shadowy male counterpart, who before even Wotan, once led the Furious Host, the Wild Hunt, as it rampaged across the sky on wintry nights. The lead figure with his baying hounds and his hunting horn and the antlers rising from his head. The common folk call him "the Eternal Hunter"...der Ewiger Jäger. That's right, Oma tells the wide-eyed Ludolf, the oldest gods are right there in the family name, they've always been there even before Wotan and Donar and they'll be there long after Götterdämmerung. Donar and Wotan might be his patrons but der Ewiger Jäger is in his very blood and there is no escaping him. Wotan may lead the Wild Hunt now but der Ewiger Jäger preceded him, and Ludolf best never forget where his loyalty truly lies. Else he might end up a casualty of the Wild Hunt, himself. This particular aspect of the story is still under development, though Jäger is meant to continue his pursuit of understanding the gods, especially Ewiger Jäger and his deceased twin (a sort of ancestor worship), throughout the plot. He joins the Waffen-SS when he comes of age and says farewell to his family when they leave the country; although he sees potential in this organization, a way to better connect with his roots, his family don't seem so convinced. After transferring to the Allgemeine-SS he starts his own family, and builds on his growing vision of a new, more perfect world, with Magda (see HER ENTRY); you can see that by this point, his belief system has been corrupted by the influence of the SS and is developing into a sort of full-blown mania. (I do believe Jäger starts succumbing to some sort of mental derangement the further along the story goes.) While he's out away from the family's mountain home one night, kneeling before a fire, stripped to the waist, painted up, high on poppy and praying to the sky, he's startled by a noise and whirls around, spotting his oldest (adopted) daughter Leopoldine spying on him; she scurries off in fear when he gets up and comes after her, yet when he reaches her he simply holds out his hand, helps her up, brushes the leaves and twigs from her hair and gently rebukes her for sneaking out so late. Yet the moment it becomes clear that she, like he once was, is curious to know what he's doing, he makes her his apprentice, his star pupil. And Leopoldine is very willing to carry on the tradition; she follows her adoptive father's path with blind, fanatical devotion, Papa's little princess. Before long she too sits before a fire as Jäger paints her face with his thumb and offers her a drink with poppy and waits for her to reveal what she's seen. History repeats itself as it has countless times before...except that this time, the old wisdom has changed, been twisted around into something dark and awful, and without intending it, despite all his attempts at understanding, Jäger forgets Oma's words, misses the warnings--or, rather, just considers himself to be impervious to such things--and steps right into the Hunter's trap. His master plan brings everything literally collapsing around him; as explosions start rocking the Alpine Fortress and the walls of rock and ice collapse and fire plumes, filling up the caverns, Jäger finds himself staring into the rapidly approaching flames and finally understands what his vision was telling him so long ago. "Götterdämmerung," he murmurs in awe, right before his world ends. Magda is left behind to finish off the backup plan, and, swallowing her doubt and grief, steadying herself with Leopoldine's faith, she follows through. The Jäger family is wiped out within mere moments, as if they'd never been. The vision for the new world Jäger had at the end, though, wasn't the vision Oma tried to teach him. Oma may have been a witch but she's not the villain in this. Her intent wasn't corrupt, the way Jäger's was. She would've been appalled to see what he turned the old ways into. She wasn't perfect, not by a long shot, but she tried to be a decent person...she just put her faith in the absolute worst person, her star pupil. See also Frau Jäger's entry and Herr Jäger's entry. [Oma Jäger [Friday, October 4, 2024, 12:01:10 AM]] |