User blog:Deafro/Dust and Aura: What is to come?

In my previous post to this site I argued that one of the critical things that makes this series stand out amongst most of the genre is the rationallity of its characters. However, Dust is something that has been a mystery for quite some time and has been endlessly debated since it was first mentioned by Monty Oum. Here I hope to discuss what theories for Dust exist and how they might affect the story later on. Do note that these arguments have very few facts to work from and are based largely on conjecture, so it is very possible they could be proven incorrect with the addition of new episodes. Nonetheless there are some strong arguments out there, some of which I would like to see over others.

So what do we know about Dust? From what we have been told, mankind discovered Dust and used it to drive off the creatures of Grimm. Through it they prospered in a united society and used it to "light their way through the darkness". Through the store in episode 1, we know Dust to come in many colors and can be stored either in crystal or powder form. We know from Weiss in episode 2 that Dust contains various elemental forces in a controlled docile form. We also know from that same encounter that Dust can be set off by so much as a sneeze if in the right concentrations, and we know that Dust is somehow used in the current millitary.

Aura to is something we have little data on. All we directly know comes from Pyrrha in her talk with Juane. She says that Aura is a extention of the soul that shields a person from harm. It is something that every human possesses, and is something the Grimm do not possess. It can heal wounds, repel physical harm, and be cast out as a rippling surge of energy. Weapons also serve as a conduit for this Aura, some even using Aura bullets like Lin's machine pistols.

Now we have all the data we currently have about Aura and Dust before us, so now we can begin to speculate what Dust and Aura work. It is here that we have to start meandering off the path of proven fact and into the realms of speculation to see what is possible.

Dust does not require Aura to be used

We speculate this because Dust is used to power the Robots and the machinery that we have seen thus far. Granted they might well run on a different fuel source altogether, but Dust is the only one established thus far so I think it is a safe assumption at the moment.

Dust is cheap, easily produced, and avaliable to the public.

This argument comes from the fact that a store that sells Dust exists in the city at all. If only a few closed circles of craftsmen needed this Dust, they would likely just buy from the manufacters themselves rather than deal with a middle man. The store also maintains a large quantity of all flavors of Dust, which according to the principal of supply and demand, says that the demand must be somewhere close to the stock maintained. the assessibility of Dust can be seen by the existance of a magazine rack and the various shapes of containers to match the personal taste of the consumer. They even have gift bags similar to how ground coffee is stored on the shelves.

It is not yet confirmed that Dust is like this, but there is enough evidence to at least make it a reasonable assumption.

Dust is used in Spellcasting

This might be considered a given, but it is entirely possible that a spellcaster might only be able to pursue the magic avaliable to their particular Aura. Still, Dust would explain why Weiss can generate so many different spells, which serves a strong evidence for this point.

Dust is stable until it reaches a proper concentration.

If Dust is something the public can use it is also something that is somewhat foolproof in its storage. The only time we have ever seen it explode was when Ruby sneezed in a cloud of the stuff, so it is possible that the critical concentration of Dust is what set it off, much in the same way vaporus gasoline explodes at the proper ratios to air. This might also explain why people who use Dust prefer to store it in crystal form.

Aura can trigger Dust

We already saw with Rin that Aura can be pushed from the user for destructive effect. The fight with Crimson is the prime demonstration of this with her use of the fire vortex traps. Likely she used the Dust that came from the red crystal Roman used to generate the fire. This is somewhat shaky since we do not see any of the actual powder in later scenes, but we do see the crystal explodes into a cloud of Dust. I make the argument that the Dust would precipitate and eventually settle onto the rooftops.

Aura resists other Auras

In much the same way Aura repels physical force, I would say it can also repel non friendly Auras. This seems self explanatory, given that Aura exudes a physical force both to deflect and to push.

Different Dusts can be mixed for different effects.

This we have not seen as of yet, so there is no evidence that this is possible. On paper it makes sense, and it makes for a interesting study of the various combinations of Dust, but there is no proof that this is a topic that will be touched on. I still find it very interesting however, and will consider it for my potential theory.

Dust can be used by the Grimm.

Now this is foolhardy to suggest because Dust is what gave mankind the edge against the Grimm. Aura is the only thing we know that mankind has that the Grimm do not, but we can also say that Aura is not needed to trigger Dust. I would say that mankind was more capable of using Dust as a resource than the Grimm were, and that is why it turns the war in favor of mankind.

I doubt all these points will survive the ever folding story, and it might be all of them are left obsolete, but these points do lead to some possible theories as to how Aura and Dust are used in combat, three of which I think are very plausible.

1) Dust user Vs. Aura user

This is the argument that Dust and Aura are two seperate things. This gives a good amount of variation to occupations in the world, it allows for Dust to be used in technology, and it gives the Dust caster as the great harbinger against the Grimm. On the counter however, that would make Aura users by comparison obsolete since mankind has had Aura all this time and was unable to defeat the Grimm with it. It also brings the question of why the Grimm could not use the Dust in the first place. Perhaps they lacked the intellect to use it, or maybe they felt like they didn't need it. I personally do not like this theory just because it promotes a classism that we haven't even seen hinted at yet.

2) Dust amplifies Aura

This is a theory I've seen quite a bit, quite popular. A caster could use Aura to change the effects of their Aura and then just manipulate the Aura to achieve the desired effects. Using Pyre Dust for example would give the Aura the ability to cast large amounts of heat. This would explain why the Grimm cannot use the Dust, because they don't have Aura and its useless to them. It also explains why Dust seems to have the properties of magic. I also do not like this theory though, but that is because Dust needs to be used in other situations besides Aura amplification, and it shown to be a power source in and of itself. Unless they suggest there is another fuel to keep the technology running, I would only put this theory down as a maybe.

3) Aura manipulates Dust

My favorite theory to come out so far, and sort of a comprimise between the previous two theories. This allows Dust to still be a seperate entity, but also lets it be manipulated by Aura without being directly tied to it. The implications of a fight under these circumstances is the one that I find to be the most fruitful, as it leads to so many possibilities. It makes bringing Dust as a weapon a flexiable and powerful form of attack, but comes with its own risks as well.

If a person uses their Aura to attack, then they pull Aura away from their defense, leaving them vulnurable. If they lose their Aura to fatigue, the Dust they brought can be set off by another Aura and detonate right on top of the caster. A caster can customize their spells, but has to bring the Dust in a more unstable form. Any spell cast expends a good portion of Aura and weakens the spellcaster, which means any spell they cast needs to count. In this world magic is pyromancy, and it is the caster who determines what mixture of Dust will give them the best firecracker. The rules are simple, and the possibilities are endless, so to me it is the perfect set of rules for the job.

This is still up to discussion. I would love to hear from the rest of you what you think the relation between Dust and Aura is and what it can be used for. This is not a craft set in stone, but a pool ideas that may or may not be wrong. I hope this proves as a nice starting base for a strong debate, and that the community is all the better for the information.

Thank you for reading.