littlemisssquiggles

[littlemisssquiggles]

…So…about Kamen Rider Gavv....

This squiggle meister got some things to get off her chest about Gavv, particularly about our main girl. Everyone’s favourite Hapipare CEO--- Miss Sachika Amane.

Let’s talk about it.

As a small disclaimer, I don’t usually talk about Kamen Rider here on my blog. I mean it’s certainly been a long time since I have. For those of you reading unaware, I am a fan of Kamen Rider. I just don’t fangirl about it as much as I would other series that I love because, over the years, Kamen Rider is definitely that one franchise that I’ve struggled to keep up with when it comes to watching all the newer iterations since I’ve haven’t had luck with finding sites that have and keep up to date with episodes as they release. So because of that, I’ve only managed to watch a small handful of KR seasons.

Til this day, Kamen Rider Gaim is the ONLY KR season I actually successfully finished cause I was able to watch all the episodes. And I’m glad because when the trailer for Gaim first dropped, its premise definitely grabbed my attention. No way was a rider season about heroes with costume designs based on fruit of all things was going to work and not be silly, right?

Suffice to say, I was made to eat my words cause … if you know, you know. Gaim was really, really good!

And here I am in a similar position having the same feelings about Gavv. I thought to myself: NO WAY is a rider season about heroes with costume designs based on FREAKY CANDY was going to work and NOT BE SILLY, right? RIGHT??

Suffice to say…

Y’know I’m really starting to like the taste of my own words.

They’re JUICY like poppin gummies because I am 10 episodes into watching Gavv and I am having fun with it.

So far, I’ve been watching the new episodes religiously as they’re released and enjoying the story so far. But enough gushing about Gavv as a whole for now. What I mainly wanted to discuss here in my post is my  interest in one of the series titular supporting characters--- Sachika.

My curiousity lies is what her ultimate key role in the story will be down the line since I doubt she’s merely there to be a recurring support character and ally to our two main riders.

I guess my main point here is that I wonder if history will repeat itself in the story for Gavv.

You know how the main plot of Gavv all started because Shouma escaped the Granute Homeworld for Earth because he watched his beloved human mother be killed by his so-called “siblings” after years of loneliness because Shouma’s father--- who is a Granute---brought his mother to the Granute World, presumably after she became pregnant with him and has been keeping her there against her will throughout the first years of Shouma's life.

I’m mentioning this because I’m curious if something similar will happen to Sachika in the end too.

Given that the latest episode revealed Shouma’s older brother - Lango Stomach - rolling up in the human world and Sachika’s brief brush with him (although he paid her no mind), I’m wondering if at some point later in the story, Lango will become interested in Sachika due to her connections with Shouma.

Not saying that I’m hoping for a love triangle but … hear me out.

Let’s say … Sachika and Shouma start to have feelings for one another, allowing Shouma to experience the joy of love that probably enticed his father to his mother in the past.

I don’t know how long they plan to drag out Sachika not knowing the truth about Shouma’s Granute lineage. However, if sparks were to fly between these two, I wonder if Shouma hiding his Granute biology from Sachika will be a future point of conflict between them.

Obviously based on next week episode’s teaser trailer, Hando is going to surely find out the truth about his rider senpai’s identity. But what of Sachika?

Anyways, back to my theory. So Shouma and Sachika are catching feels and keeping secrets.

At the same time, let's say... Lango also becomes interested in Sachika and he decides to mimic his father’s actions - kidnapping a woman from the human wold to be his bride/ mate and possibly birth him a half human/half Granute heir with possibly similar abilities to Shouma that he can grow into a solider to further aid in their family affairs and rise in the Granute ranks.

Or something like that.

I mean I can be totally incorrect in my hunch here.

That being said, it’s not like we haven’t had KR series with a (potential) romance between the main hero rider, his main female companion and the  villain before in Kamen Rider, right?

I mean, Kamen Rider Kiva had a love story where Kiva was in love with a girl who eventually was chosen to be the bride of his main nemesis who was not only our third rider, but also Kiva’s freaking childhood best friend who also turned out to be his half brother. (Yeah Kiva was on some wild telenovela soap opera type  drama and I was loving it. Disappointed I never finished it though).

That being said, I can’t help but feel like that whole forbidden love between a Granute and human thing has to come back into the picture in Gavv in some shape or some form, right?

I mean my first choice for Sachika’s ultimate role in the story was for her to become the third rider to join forces with Kamen Rider Gavv and Valen.

I mean, it’s not like female riders aren’t a thing in KR. Originally, I pegged them to be a rare commodity, only reserved for the more mult-rider seasons like Ryuki.  However, I recently watched a compilation of all the female rider henshins throughout Kamen Rider over the years and was genuinely surprised to see that there were way more female riders in the series than I thought. Especially in this new era.

So my hopes for Sachika to potentially be a rider aren’t too far-fetched. The only thing is that I’m not exactly sure HOW Sachika will be able to transform if did become a rider though.

We know Gavv is able to transform due to him being a half human/ half Granute with the ability to make his own Gochizmo minions that grant him his powers through the Red Gavv modification on his stomach, courtesy of his paternal uncle.

Valen is able to transform due to him volunteering as a lab rat to be surgically infused with a Granute gland with a special makeshift gun that allows him to transform with Gochizmos, albeit, stolen from Gavv (at least not anymore as of last episode).

So I dunno how the fudge Sachika would even work as a rider in this context. It seems like being part Granute is the essential requirement for becoming a rider this season. We’re more likely to have our third rider be a full-blood Granute; most likely on the villain side, to best our two half-breed heroes.

So unless Sachika is the exception to the rule and finds a scientist who can also grant her the tools to become the series first pure human rider to combat the Granutes, then I dunno what else can work.

Unless there’s a twist that she’s secretly another Granute halfbreed.

Y’know like Shouma but the opposite of him because she was raised her whole life in the human world, believing she was human the whole time and never learning of her Granute heritage because she lacked a second mouth. A Granute with no bite; basically.

Since the Granutes hunt humans to feed on their happiness, perhaps there will be something special about Sachiko that will make her not need to be a Granute to become a rider. Y’know have her be a rider powered by happiness --- the very thing the Granutes crave and want?

If she doesn’t become a rider then she has to become someone very important later in the series. So important that our current main villains (and probably any others down the line) will want her. Since Sachika’s whole spiel is that she is the ultra compassionate type with a drive to help others, that type of palpable unyielding passion will definitely make her a target of Stomach Inc at some point. And the fact that she has ties to both of our veteren riders (and can potentially be a love interest for Shouma if the story does shift gears towards that) definitely puts a target on her back. But that’s only a theory, for now.

As I mentioned before, I haven’t made Kamen Rider musings on my blog in a long time. Since the days of Gaim actually. But I’ve honestly been enjoying watching Gavv and if this post affirms one thing, it’s that I’m definitely on board with seeing where the plot goes for sure.

I have another Gavv hunch to get off my chest; this time about our local choco-boy, Valen.

I’ve definitely got some things to say about where I think his story might go too. But I’ll save those for another day, I suppose. If any fellow KR fans who are also enjoying Gavv wish to hear them, feel free to let me know.

Until then, that’s all I got to say for now.

~LMS (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

I think there’s something worth saying about Isha and the (rather ironically) positive influence that Jinx had on her and her life despite her reputation as a “jinx”.

Think about it.

[ARCANE SEASON 2 ACT II SPOILERS AHEAD! NUFF SAID!]

When the audience first met Isha, she was a seemingly orphaned child on her own on the streets of Zaun, forced to cower and run away from those she perceived as a threat to her well-being and sense of what she believed in (which was NOT siding with any of the feuding turf leaders. And even then; she still showed that she had some spunk and fire to her, referring to when she bit one of the goons that grabbed her during her first escape before bumping into Jinx later on)

But after she met Jinx, she became our veteren rebel heart; willing to take on someone ten times her size because they were a threat to her well-being and what she believed in ( which was Jinx).

Even if she knew she was no match, the fact that she still had the confidence to do so given the parallels to the first time we met her says wonders.

When the audience first met Isha, she was a girl willing to sacrifice herself to protect Jinx, going so far as to grab her weapon and point it directly at Vi, threatening to shoot because she was about to kill Jinx.

But despite that brief moment of bravery, it was short-lived because Isha was still too scared to pull the trigger back then.

But after her time with Jinx, Isha was still the same girl willing to do anything to protect Jinx only this time, she was much stronger. Braver. Bolder. More confident in herself than she probably ever was. Despite not having a voice of her own, that never deterred Jinx from ever trying to understand Isha.

To be an ear of understanding and encourage her own voice despite her not having one.

And this time, when Isha pulled the trigger, there was no hesitation. No regret.

In that moment, Isha probably felt nothing but pure love for Jinx. She was her family. Literally the best big sister/maternal figure she could ask for.

She owed her her life. Isha owed Jinx her life for saving hers.

So what better way to go out than saving the person who saved you.

---

That being said, if Act III comes and confirms that Isha truly is dead then what a genuine waste of a good character and potential new champion for League.

Seriously, if Ambessa could have a life beyond Arcane despite only being introduced in the show then why couldn't Isha man.

They could've EASILY made a new champion out of her, RIGHT? THE LORE PRACTICALLY WROTE ITSELF IN ARCANE!

If Batman can have Robin and Sailor Moon can have Chibi Moon then WHY THE F*** couldn't Isha have worked as a new LOL champion sidekick to Jinx?

You ALREADY set her up as a JINX COPY CAT/ BELIEVER/ YOUNG PROTEGEE.

She could've been the Rebel Heart to her Jinx.

BLOWING SHIT UP AND TEARING THE PLACE APART WHEREVER THEY GO!

SERIOUSLY RIOT, you gave her a BANGER OF A CHARACTER THEME AND THEN KILL HER!

I'm so mad!!!!

But I guess ... Riot and Fortiche did DO ONE good thing.

They created yet another UNFORGETTABLE Arcane-exclusive character for everyone to love with a catchy ass theme song.

So I'll give them that at least.

That being said, REBEL HEART/ Isha was a GREAT character and I'm sure, even if she doesn't have a life beyond Arcane, she certainly will live on in plenty of Arcane fanarts.

The fandom ain't gonna forget about her for sure. (Certainly not with "Rebel Heart by Djerv" as her theme song. Seriously that theme is FIRE!)

~LMS (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

I'm probably a little late in realizing this parallell but, as a fan of both RWBY and Arcane, I just now realized that Cait and Vi are pretty much what Weiss and Yang could've been like as a couple if the Freezerburn pairing had become canon.

It pretty much the same kind of dynamic in some ways, no?

The brawler (who also shares a close relationship with her younger sister) and the princess (who has a strained relationship with her parent who is a leading figure in their main world).

Not saying this to spark any shipping discourse. It's just an observation I just made.

~LMS (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

Pony Tales - Legendary and Epic Pony Patterns Set

Here are the pony patterns that I made for Pony Tales: My Magic Horse - the newest mobile game title brought to you by the creative masterminds over at Foxie Ventures.

For this project, I was only responsible for textures based on my own designs. Another golden opportunity to further hone my 3D hand-painting skills in Substance Painter.

Overall, I had a lot of fun working on this project and it was pretty amazing seeing everything come together in the final product. Not just for my own contributions but my fellow colleagues as well.

Everyone did a fantastic job bringing this game together and for what it’s worth, I hope that long time fans of Foxie’s games enjoy their newest work!

~SC (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

Horse Riding Tales - Reward Treasure Chests Set

Got the opportunity to test my hand-painting skills in a recent update to Horse Riding Tales by Foxie Ventures. Designed a set of four new reward treasure chests and one of them is even featured in the game right now. Not sure about the remaining three. Nonetheless, overall, I had a lot of fun working on this project. It was great to come up with the designs for the chest and of course, I enjoyed the texturing portion of the project the most. Really helped me to hone my painting skills in Substance Painter and cement it as my go-to software for hand-painted textures.

Special shoutout to Mike Nixon, Art Manager and Oliver Kiel, Creative Director over at Foxie for their tremendous feedback throughout this project.

~SC (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

So... I finally started my watch through of Season Three of The Dragon Prince: The Mystery of Aaravos. I just finished episode three and I have a few words.

I cannot be the only person to feel like this episode was a not so subtle analogy for Rayllum, right?

Tell me I wasn't tripping about that for this episode!

I feel like this entire episode (minus the really sweet Terry and Claudia crumbs and the stuff with King Ezran and Viren) was the writers poking fun at us Rayllum shippers.

Because OBVIOUSLY, Raylum is the "frozen ship".

Ray of Illumination is the name of the ship.

RAY OF ILLUMINATION!

RAY OF ILLUMINATION

The frozen ship that started off pretty strong and then got frozen for two whole seasons.

REALLY TDP WRITERS!

Ya'll aint slick! I saw through your shit! I am only on episode three and...

I'm sorry, the way how both Callum and Rayla declared to let their beloved let them die at the end there...

I dunno man. I dunno what to expect for the remaining episodes so I'm just gonna continue on.

Just wanted to share this random thought on here as I carry on.

Looking forward to seeing how everything else goes.

~LMS (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

Squiggles Answers:

Thank you so much Chels! Much love!

I heard today is @littlemisssquiggles’ birthday so I made her once again into a Barbie inspired princess, this time from the first animated Barbie movie that started it all: Barbie in the Nutcracker! Created through here: https://meiker.io/play/13605/online.html

Happy 33rd birthday, Squiggles! Hope you like it!

[littlemisssquiggles]

The squiggle meister hits the big double threes!

Here’s to yours truly leveling up another year!

~ LMS (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

A couple hours short as I'm currently under the weather. But regardless, this is a tradition that I've maintained on my little bloggie here for the past couple of years and I definitely wish to keep it going (even with my recent inactivity here on Tumblr).

It's officially the first of June!

A month that some of ya'll who've been following me should know is quite special for this squiggle meister given what's coming up next week Saturday.

Let the countdown begin!

~LMS (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

The end product of a practice paint I did recently in Substance Painter. I used a free wooden sign asset provided by @nhanceschool and @shabik3d from their free hand-painting tutorial guide.

As stated, this was done purely for practice so that I can get the hand of painting in Substance Painter.

I know SP isn’t particularly the “go-to” for 3D hand-painting. That’s usually either 3DCoat and/or even Photoshop. However SP is my main 3D texturing software.

I use regularly in my professional work and I have painted in the program before with pretty decent results and wanted to give it a try again since it’s been a while since I’ve done it (well…at least not for work and it’s actually using SP to hand-paint for work that inspired me to try painting in it again).

Hand-painted is a style of 3D texturing that I really, really love and want to make my own as a stylized 3D artist. I’m now determined to make Substance my main software to achieve that look since as you can see, it’s definitely capable.

Hoping to test this out some more moving forward.

~LMS (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

Okay…I gotta talk about these last two episodes of RWBY Beyond…

As much as I liked the “Boba” episode; I mean it was very sweet for the series to finally address one of the remnant elephants in the room which was Yang and Ruby briefly discussing what happened to her in the Ever After.

I liked that Yang finally no longer needed to front the burden of leadership by herself like how it was in the past.

I like that the show finally had that point brought up because it’s been a key observation of Ruby’s role in the group for a really long time. So I’m happy we finally got this development along with other drops of info---like Tai Yang missing in action in Vacuo.

That’s interesting. What could Tai be doing if he’s not in Vacuo with everyone else? My best bet is that Tai is probably teamed up with Glynda Goodwitch since she’s also MIA and the “assignment” at hand must have something to do with the true whereabouts of the Chamber of Choice. At this point, it has to be that.

Overall, “Boba” was a sweet episode and I’m looking forward to seeing how this new detail will be used in the future. The episode left off with Ruby and Yang agreeing on using the word “boba” to signal to one another when they will need emotional support from each other moving forward and I’m looking forward to see how that will come into play down the line.

That being said, while the last episode was nice, it’s not the one that I got my attention. It’s actually the previous episode. The one with the Adventures of Somewhat. Particularly how that one ended.

That ending got me hyped.

One thing that I’ve been itching for was to have RWBY return to the Ever After. And the main reason I wanted for this return is because of Oscar.

As ya’ll know, Oscar is going through the Merge with Ozpin which he is also trying his best to fight off.

So one headcanon that I’ve been playing with is something tragic happening to Oscar to force RWBY and co to return to the Ever After in order to help him.

So my headcanon was that while in Remnant, Oscar gets poisoned by Tyrian and falls into a comatose state, twerking the lines of life of death. In order to save Oscar, Ruby and the others figure out the only way to help him lies in the Tree of the Ever After. So they have to figure out a way to get to the Ever After. Unfortunately, the only way for them to get back to the Ever After is through how they got there in the first place: through the powers of the Relic of Creation which is sadly in the possessions of Salem. Therefore, our heroes must figure out a way to regain the Staff in order to get back to the Ever After in time to help Oscar go to the Tree so he can be saved through his own form of ascension.

The portal that opened was one of the portals created through the power of the Relic of Creation. And given Somewhat’s reaction, it has to be someone that they recognize which means that whoever it is before them has either got to be Ruby or all of Team RWBY (plus Jaune).

My money is that it’s probably Ruby since Ruby was the closest to the Somewhat back when they were still Little.

Either way, this has me excited! I mean, yeah sure, I could completely be heavily mistaken about this return to the Ever After being connected to needing to save Oscar at all.

But regardless, it does at least confirm that there will be a return to the Ever After to come for V10.

Personally, as a Pinehead, I want this return to be related to helping Oscar with the Merge so badly because I can’t think of it being related to anything else but that. Unless it has to do with finding a way to stop Salem in the Ever After.

I mean, it was highlighted back in V9 that the Brother Gods were the “children” of the Tree of the Ever After. And given that Salem is a by product of the Brother Gods’ meddling, finding a solution to undoing Salem’s immortality in the very birthplace of the very Gods who made her what she is isn’t too far of a stretch. I mean it makes sense from a narrative standpoint.

But regardless of that, I’m sticking with my first hunch. I really, really want the Return to the Ever After to have to do with Oscar’s Merge and potential Ascension.

I just want it to be about taking Oscar to the Tree.

I need it to be about that because…it makes sense. Ever since ascension and the Tree were brought into RWBY’s lore, I’ve been wanting Oscar to go to the Tree since I really think it could be the key to helping with the Merge.

Either to stop it as a whole or…have Oscar go through his own form of reform and become the person he needs to become.

Of all the characters who I wanted to meet the Blacksmith, Oscar is one of them. Like he’s the perfect candidate for this kind of development.

But I dunno. These are just my wild thoughts on this subject after watching the final two episode of RWBY Beyond.

Speaking of which, that's it. That's all the episodes of RB officially out which means, as of now, that's it for RWBY until they announce something about V10.

In the mean time, these are my jumbled thoughts on the last two episodes.

~LMS (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

The Missed Potential of WISH

It’s funny.

Last year, I really wanted to watch the new Wish animated film from Disney.

While everyone else were hating on the art and animation style, I actually kind of liked it and was genuinely looking forward to possibly viewing it on the big screen.

Then the reviews came in. Needless to say, I didn’t watch Wish.

I remember a time when people used to complain about Disney making “too many love stories”. Then Disney stopped making love stories leading to films like Moana, Coco, Encanto and even Turning Red, which weren't bad.

Following the failure of Wish, the biggest complaint I’ve heard for that film is that “it probably would’ve been more successful if it were a love story”.

The last romance Disney had we’re the protagonist was a “black girl” was Tiana from The Princess and the Frog which was technically their last 2D animated feature film.

And don’t get me wrong, til this day, The Princess and the Frog still tracks. Second to Tangled, I still very much love TPATF and it's one of Disney's classics that definitely have the rewatchability.

That being said, Wish is the first Disney film I've seen where the missed potential of what its story was originally supposed to be (herego a love story between a human girl and shape-shifting star boy) versus what we actually got is more popular.

Aww Disney, what were you thinking?! How could you think a film where the main character, who is a PoC, the first "black girl" (well technically I think Asha is meant to be mixed) female lead/love interest that you've had since Tiana in The Princess and the Frog in 14 YEARS where she is actually human for all of the movie and gets to share a love story with a handsome "star boy" who can literally make all of her dreams come and think that that's NOT gonna make you money!

I haven't even watched Wish yet I've seen more artwork and fan-made animatics of Asha and Star Boy than anything from the actual film.

At this point, Disney should just take all of the original ideas they left on the chopping block for Wish and revise them into a future title which is an actual love story they could market from.

Or…as an audience, we can just wait for one of their competitors, like Dreamworks to smell the blood in the water like the sharks they are and capitalize on Disney’s latest flop by taking the ideas they didn’t use and coming up with something that could potentially usurp the popularity of Wish’s failure.

In the case of Dreamworks, they don’t even need to make a new star boy since, technically, they already have potential “star boy” they can use.

Remember Rise of the Guardians?

Hahaaaaa OF COURSE you do, since it gave us the original immortal boy internet heart throb (also ironically voiced by Chris Pine who played King Magnifico in Wish) ---Jack Frost.

I find it hilarious that another reason why folks are hating on Wish so much is because Disney could've given us another potential immortal boy heart throb "Star Boy" to finally usurp the chokehold that Jack Frost has had on our generation of weebs and artists for the past 12 years since RoTG first dropped.

We could've had it all.

But as I mentioned Rise of the Guardians, did you know that there is character in the original series it was based off of called Nightlight?

While technically not a “star boy”, Nightlight is the closest thing to one in an already established universe from a Dreamworks property and since this squiggle meister never misses a beat to push for continuation of Rise of Guardians, hear me out:

Imagine a Rise of the Guardian prequel-sequel about the character Nightlight and make it a love story.

(Because apparently there's a girl that Nightlight grows close to in his story called Katherine. It's just a friendship but needless to say, there is potential there).

I know it’s been 12 years since Rise of Guardians first dropped and I know I've be hollering for a sequel since 2012.

But c'mon, if there was ever a time for Dreamworks to capitalize on an RoTG sequel, it's now.

As Wish has proven, the internet is hungry for another handsome immortal boy with magical powers.

Dreamworks set the ball rolling with Jack Frost.

If Dreamworks were to revisit RoTG again, take Nightlight's story. Take his design and give him the "Jack Frost" treatment and make it a love story on top of that.

I'm not saying it will happen. Not even saying it could happen.

But if somehow thought becomes reality and something like this does actually happen, whoever does it will be rolling in dough.

This is just a longwinded way of me to say that somebody needs to bank on the concept of a star falling in love with a human and do it now since as the internet has shown, it's what the people want and what Wish failed to give.

~LMS (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

In today’s episode, Jaune revealed that Lewis and Alyx were actually residents of Vacuo Kingdom (surprise, surprise) during a time before the Great War. And since we know that Lewis actually returned from the Ever After, it make wonder something curious.

If Lewis was the author of the Girl Who Fell Through the World fairy-tale then it would make perfect sense as to why he omitted himself from the written adventures in the Ever After and chose to make Alyx the protagonist. It makes sense since, unlike Lewis, Alyx never returned home and basically “died” in the Ever After.

So my assumption is that Lewis must’ve maintained his sister’s story through his story about her. That way Alyx’s legacy was able to live on in some shape or form despite the real Alyx practically ceasing to exist after never returning home.

Since Jaune was shown to still be have some qualms over his time in the Ever After, it got me thinking.

What if…Jaune were to (somehow) discover the original journal of Lewis which he had used to record his experience in the Ever After in the Vacuo archives?

What if…Jaune were to meet someone closely connected to Lewis and Alyx while in Vacuo? Like a surviving member of their family bloodline still thriving in modern Remnant.

What if… Headmaster Theodore was that surviving member? I know the main popular theory is that Lewis was one of Ozma’s reincarnations but imagine if Lewis wasn’t an Ozma reincarnation but Theo’s ancestor instead?

I haven’t read either of the RWBY After the Fall books so I’m not familiar with Headmaster Theodore in terms of characterization or like what his backstory is.

That being said, I do, however like the idea of the final maiden being connected to Theo in some shape or form.

For me, I like the prospect of the Summer Maiden being either Theo’s daughter or younger sister or cousin or niece or some important person to him as she’s probably the only family he has left.

Again, I don’t know anything about Theo but thus far, none of the other headmasters of the huntsmen academies have had any reason to be protective of their respective maiden outside of a moral obligation as per Ozpin’s instructions.

To make Theo stand out more, I think it would be a nice change of pace if Theo, the final headmaster, were to share an actual connection to the final  maiden as she is a beloved relative of his.

Why bring this up? Well I like the idea of Jaune forming a close relationship with another Maiden candidate. Maybe he could even fall in love with the Summer Maiden.

Technically, Jaune hasn’t had a legit love interest since Pyrhha and I don’t know about ya’ll but…after six seasons (and half a movie), I’m kind of tired of being reminded of Arkos, ya’ll.

It was the Ship that was meant to be that never got to be because Writers decided to kill it off early.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Arkos. Arkos was a great ship that was gone too soon.

To (finally) close the chapter on Jaune moving on from Pyrhha (since even after all of his growth, I still don't think he's over her as the show keeps constantly bringing up whenever they can)...

I think it actually might be cute if Jaune does end up being romantically involved with the Summer Maiden who he actually succeeds in protecting from Cinder when she comes to steal her powers.

I’ve grown tired of new maidens showing up in the story just to die for the sake of the powers being passed onto a main character.

Since Summer is the last maiden, it would be nice if Summer is the one to stop the cycle of original maiden deaths and she actually gets to live on even after opening the vault.

As much as I like WhiteKnight as a ship, I honestly gave up on it becoming canon after V5 dropped and nothing else was done to further develop Weiss and Jaune’s relationship as a prospective romance.

Yeah sure, V9 tossed us a crumb of Weiss being attracted to Jaune in his more mature Rusted Knight persona.

But after further deliberation, I’ve concluded that that little nugget of hope isn’t enough to get me back on the horse of hoping for a romance between these two.

Do you know what would actually be pretty wild?

If Jaune fell in love with the Summer Maiden who is not only a red-head (like Pyrhha) but is also a descendent of Lewis who is the author of the Girl Who Fell Through the World and thus a relative of Alyx.

And unlike Alyx and Pyrhha who Jaune failed to protect/help/save, Jaune is able to do just that with the Summer Maiden by protecting her from Cinder and thus, the two are able to live happily ever after.

That would actually be wild.

Not saying this would become true in the canon. I'm just tossing it out into the RWBY FNDM ether as a food for thought.

~LMS (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

...So...about the second episode of RWBY Beyond...

[SPOILERS AHEAD! NUFF SAID]

It skips over the return of RWBY and Jaune, reuniting with their comrades in Vacuo and getting to see everyone’s reactions to being reunited with their missing comrades after so long.

Alright. I guess they're saving that for V10 if it gets greenlit. Fair and fine.

That being said, it skips over the reunion to focus a whole episode on Jaune in the aftermath of the return from the Ever After?

...Huh?

I’m sorry. But for the sake of being that person, I’m gonna be that person.

Just to set the record straight, I don’t hate Jaune. I've never hated Jaune as a character. I have mostly had issues with the way the Writers just love to have Jaune’s development usurp others who deserve the screen time and focus more than him.

Personally, I do not care for Jaune’s development right now. Jaune’s whole experience in the Ever After, for me, did NOT need to be a focus episode for RWBY Beyond.

Especially since there are other characters who had more tragic experiences in the Ever After whose feelings I would’ve liked to see in the aftermath.

And by other characters, I mainly mean Ruby!

I do, however, love the detail of Oscar being someone that Jaune gets to talk to.

That was nice and I’m pleased to see that for a second time, Oscar is featured in RWBY Beyond. I actually hope that’s a thing for the final two episodes. I hope that Oscar appears in each episode of RWBY Beyond, even if he’s just in the background.

But going back to my original rant, Jaune is NOT the person I was itching to see Oscar talk to especially in respect to their experience in the Ever After.

If there is any body I wanted to see talk to Oscar, it’s RUBY ROSE! And no, this has nothing to do with Rosegarden or shipping potential at all. I’m talking about this from a narrative perspective.

Ruby’s whole arc in the Ever After was basically about life, death and rebirth in a sense. A complete deconstruction of her character, resulting in her committing the Ever After equivalent of “suicide” and be faced with an ultimatum of choosing to become someone else or be herself in which she chose herself.

Ruby lost herself in the Ever After for a moment. Oscar is on the cusp of losing himself at this moment.

Ruby saw Oscar “die” as part of an illusion that hinted at her being responsible for his death and/failing to save him just like she did with other friends like Penny.

Oscar is on the cusp of “dying” metaphorically right now.

YOU DON’T THINK THESE ARE TWO PEOPLE WHO DEFINTELY NEED TO TALK TO EACH OTHER?!!

C’MON CRWBY! IT'S FINE THAT JAUNE GETS TO TALK TO OSCAR BUT I NEED RUBY TO TALK TO OSCAR TOO!

And speaking of Oscar, don't think I didn't notice his little awkward cough and shifty eyes, immediately redirecting the conversation when Oscar made a point about being in similar situation to Jaune and Jaune be like "You mean Ozpin, right?" and Oscar be like "Aah yes, of course". Ya'll ain't slick dropping dem Merge crumbs! For what it's worth, I do hope an episode focus more on Oscar and Oz in the cards for the final two episodes.

Overall, this second episode of RWBY Beyond was alright. As was the first.

The artwork of RWBY Beyond is absolutely breathtaking to me and is easily my favourite part of watching the anthology. Inspite of the limited animation, the beautiful artwork more than makes up for it. I definitely wouldn’t mind an actual physical RWBY storybook anthology series done in this same art style.

Makes me wish that Fairytales of Remnant animated series was done in this exact same style instead of the awkward Camp Camp style that DID NOT feel like RWBY at all.

All in all, onward to the next episode of RB. Makes me wonder who will be the focus of the final two episodes.

Like which characters will be we get to have an episode about? Obviously, speaking for myself, I would love an Oscar-centric episode. I mean…he’s been in every episode thus far so it’d be nice to see on all about him for once.

Outside of Oscar, I wouldn’t mind an episode about the Schnee Family done from Whitley’s perspective? That’s also a good one to see.

And of course, if there is one person an episode needs to be done on, it has to be Ruby. I mean the Oscar and Whitley ones are probabilities but a Ruby-focus episode for RWBY Beyond has to be in the cards, right?

If they can touch base on Jaune’s feelings during the Aftermath of the Ever After then surely, they gotta talk about Ruby's whole experience with her literal death and rebirth, right? RIGHT?

I guess only time will tell. 2 Episodes down. 2 more to go so see ya’ll next week.

~LMS (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

I love that it was confirmed that Oz was also fighting the merge just as hard as Oscar is, it really makes me happy that he cares and has cared about Oscar to the point where he is fighting a merge he knows he cant/has no chance of stopping, yet he’s still doing it, all for Oscar’s sake.

Same anon-chan, same. I mean it definitely makes sense that Oz would be fighting the Merge just as much as Oscar because he fully knows that the Merge is something that Oscar doesn’t want.

As you put perfectly, I also love the detail of Oz doing this all for Oscar’s sake since he genuinely does care about what Oscar wants.

It is for this reason why I’m kind of curious what the Merge was like during Ozpin’s experience.

Was Oz also apprehensive of merging with his predecessor and ultimately gave up and accepted his fate? Or did Oz and his predecessor come to a sense of understanding and their merge wasn’t as daunting as Oscar’s since Ozpin had learnt to perfectly coexist with his predecessor and had made peace with the two becoming a part of one another.

If we do get V10, it would be great to have a moment of Oscar possibly seeing the memories of previous Wizards in the Ozma Cycle and witnessing their experiences with the Merge and how they all handled it when their time came. Perhaps this could be a learning moment for him since I still would like to hold onto the possibility that the Merge may not be as bad as Oscar thinks it will be.

Back in V5, Oz simply described the merging experience as “his soul being paired with another and he is changed, but his memories stay with him”.

It is for this reason why I don’t think the Merge may be so bad and that Oscar will still get to retain his own identity even after becoming one with Oz.

But that’s how I’m interpreting it. Then again, the CRWBY Writers have been known to abandon previously established ideas in the RWBY narrative so who really knows what Oscar’s fate will be in the end. For what it’s worth, I hope it’s something positive at least.

~LMS (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

Hello thank you for answering my last question I asked you I love it when you do long post and long answers

💖

I wanted to give a reply to something you mentioned in the post

I've never seen Doctor who but that is something I've wanted to happen for a long while now since getting into RWBY and realizing that Oscar and Oz pin are my favorites

💚

Is that I hope they would somehow maybe get separated maybe somehow the others could get Oscar to the tree like maybe a leaf from the ever after got stuck on their clothes or maybe there's a leaf attached to Ruby that she doesn't know about after getting turned into a tree in the ever after and they make Oscar some ever after tea and he

💖

ascends from remnant to the tree in the ever after and then he and us come back to remnant to help with the final fight that is something I hope for cuz at the end of it all I'll just be sad with with whoever we lose because I really like both of them so much and I can't imagine Oscar without ozpin

💛

But since Oscar's story is also the Little Prince and I believe that Oz is supposed to represent the pilot in his life at some point they are supposed to separate but maybe

💜

if we're lucky that means they'll just separate as people and us and will get a body somehow

💚

I was actually hoping while they were in Atlas that that Oscar would maybe take up engineering and make ozpin a body

💜

I saw you mentioned in a post that you hoped Oscar would maybe doing apprenticeship under Penny's dad

I was hoping for something like that too and have it where Oscar makes Android kind of like penny and he makes it for oz so he could maybe use the staff to separate himself from ozpin that could maybe still happen but I don't know there are still other Atlas research facilities that could be used to make another Penny or even another Android like person similar to Penny who runs off Aura but instead of Aura they just put another soul into it

Oz/ozpin soul

These are just my thoughts on it and the hopes I have for the future when it comes to what's going to go down with the merge mainly just them separating cuz that's something I know I would just love to see happen cuz I want to see them interact with each other in person not as the same person 😄

Hello again Autumn. You are most welcome m’fam. Happy to hear that you liked my last response post and thanking you in advance for giving me an open opportunity to further discuss the Oscar the Sorceror’s Apprentice Pinehead headcanon concept I tossed into the Pinehead ether.

Happy to hear you liked the idea and also shared similar sentiments and ideas.

For me, Oscar going to the Tree in the Ever After is actually the whole reason I’m willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that the concept of Oz and Oscar being separated is a possibility.

THE SPLIT

Back when V8 first dropped and we got the whole scene of Penny being turned into a human through the power of the Relic of Creation, I made a post expressing that the writers basically opened the gateways for Oscar to do something similar.

If Team RWBY could use the Relic of Creation to basically turn their former comrade who was a living robotic puppet into a real girl with a beating heart and everything; then there should be nothing on Remnant that could stop Oscar from doing something similar.

If the Ever After and the Tree are to never ever return to the main RWBY narrative or rather, if Oscar Pine is to never be fated to cross paths with the Blacksmith of the Tree then surely, as an already established alternative, Oscar should AT LEAST be able to use the Relic of Creation to ask Ambrosious to separate his soul from Oz’s, splitting the two apart and therefore granting Oz(ma) his own form. Possibly his own original form that he never regained from the Brother Gods.

If Ambrosious could turn Penny into a human girl then there shouldn’t be anything stopping him from freeing Oscar from the Merge by splitting him away from Oz(ma). It’s literally the same principle as Penny. Taking an living being that has a soul but not a true real body of their own and granting them said body. Instead of Ambrosious turning a robot girl into a human girl, he could have the very creatively challenging new project of separating a person with two souls into two separate beings with their own individual identities.

The only drawback of a potential split between the two souls is Ambrosious not being knowledgeable enough on either Ozma or Oscar to differentiate which soul is which. That and the fact that I doubt Ambrosious will be able to undo Ozma’s curse. He is technically a creation of the Brother Gods no different than man. So there is a chance for both Oscar and Oz(ma) to be cursed with immortality.

So in a nutshell, given that the Merge was already happening at such an accelerated rate, I can’t see the Split happening without side effects.

So basically what I’m saying here is that I can more likely see a very similar scenario to Penny back in V8 with Oscar in V10. Meaning I can see our heroes desperately needing to seek out reclaiming the Staff of Creation to use it to save Oscar from the Merge.

But unlike with Penny, saving Oscar with the Staff of Creation came with potential risks that could prove detrimental to both souls. There was always the chance for Team JNR_RWBY to do more harm to Oscar even though the Split was actually meant to help him, now that I think about it.

It is for this reason why I can actually more see the Split being a wicked idea of Salem. I can picture Salem once again kidnapping Oscar and using the Staff of Creation to force poor Ambrosious to split the two souls apart.

The last time Oscar was Salem’s prisoner, she failed with him since he and Oz were a united front that worked together to free themselves by sowing seeds of doubt in Salem’s more apprehensive members like Hazel and Emerald. I can definitely see Salem not making the same mistake twice so this time she destroys the very thing that made Oscar and Oz a formidable unit---their union.

I can see Salem forcibly splitting Oscar and Oz apart---practically yanking the two souls out of Oscar’s now soulless corpse and holding them both at her mercy.

And to add more salt to this wounding theory, I can even picture Salem torturing Oscar’s fragile soul, threatening to “kill” him first if Oz(ma) didn’t reveal to her the location of the last Relic----the Relic of Choice.

Yes, I can definitely more see Salem doing something like this.

Causing a Split as a way to simultaneously kill them both Oscar and Oz(ma) and put a permanent end to the cycle.

I can see this possibility just as much as I can see the possibility of this ending two different ways, neither in Salem’s favour.

Either Salem induces a Split between Oscar and Oz(ma) and the whole ordeal results with the souls finally becoming one with Oscar completing the Merge but being recognizably different from past incarnations in the cycle, at least to Salem because he is noticeably stronger.

Basically picture Oscar having a Wanda becomes the Scarlet Witch infront of Agatha in Wandavision moment but with Salem. Pardon if you haven’t seen Wandavision either, by the way.

I’m gonna call this Pinehead possibility --- Oscar Becomes the Gold Sorcerer as my interpretation of Oscar completing the Merge and becoming a great and powerful wizard who is like Ozpin/Ozma, but not quite, as Oscar once boldly put it.

And of course, you know already that my alternative to this is my idea for a Oscar the Sorcerer's Apprentice Pinehead possibility:

Salem uses the Staff of Creation to induce the Split but it doesn’t work out in her favour because it results in Oscar and Oz(ma) becoming two separate beings, both now equally great and powerful since Oscar can now use magic just as competently as Ozma.

And after all this happens, Oscar basically becomes new Ozma’s apprentice, being trained by him in the ways of magic and more importantly, being a second major problem for Salem due to his growing mastery of the mystic arts.

Y’know come to think of it, this is exactly what happened in the Doctor Who 60th anniversary special. The villain of the story shoots the Doctor with a weapon that was meant to kill him but instead of generating like he always did, the Doctor instead undergoes a bi-generation for the first time in Who history where he splits apart into two Doctors. A rather humiliating issue for the villain since he basically doubled his own Doctor problem.

That being said, I too would very much like a somewhat similar “Ha-ha. Teehee. Bitch you thought” kind of comeuppance for Salem where instead of permanently killing her ex-husband turned mortal enemy and his new “young face”, she instead unintentionally brings her said ex-husband back to life with him not only recovering his younger, devilishly attractive form---the SAME form she originally first fell in love with.

But now, that same young protegee of said ex-husband has inherited some of his magic and his combat skills as a result of Salem trying to kill them both via Split so now Salem has twice the problems she had before.

And for the final whammy, said fully revived great and powerful ex-husband and his equally great and powerful young protegee are gonna team up with their gaggle of friends to kick Salem’s grimm mummy ass, inclusive of the silver-eyed wild card who’s got a huge stickler for Salem since y’know, she might have killed her mom or caused her disappearance (that is still up in the air). Either way, things would not be good for Salem if something like that were to happen to her.

Between these two possibilities, now I really want the Split to become a real thing to happen for V10.

I want Oz(ma) to be revived into his own immortal body, completely separate from Oscar.

I want to have Oz(ma) and Oscar be split apart instead of merging together.

And, most importantly of all, I want all of this to happen because Salem tried to initially kill Oscar and Oz via a Split only for it to backfire on her big time because it would be the most hilarious “F*** you!” moment to Salem.

I mean, implications aside, I don’t hate Salem at all. I actually quite like her a lot as a villain character. However who am I to resist a potentially juicy humbling moment like this for Salem?

After all the wins she’s been having for the past few seasons, what’s funnier than a major big bad villain unintentionally reviving their greatest arch nemesis and creating double the problems they had with them before AFTER trying to kill them for good? I mean c’mon!

It’s such a picture perfect “SCREW OVER THE VILLAIN” moment by RWBY standards that I now wholeheartedly want this to happen in the canon. It may not happen ever but humour me. This would be pretty darn good if it actually happened canonically.

I would scream if Salem tried to kill Oscar and Oz(ma) permanently and it instead grants them the freedom they both desired. Forget the Tree.

Give me Salem tries to kill Oscar/Oz with the Staff of Creation and it instead splits the two apart with both Oscar and a now fully revived and still very much immortal Ozma retaining their magical powers and combat skills.

That’s my new headcanon.

And if I wish to further define the “catch” with this Split. Obviously, like I mentioned, I would want the Split to come with certain amenities like:

Both souls retain their original memories and individual identities.

Both souls retain shared combat knowledge and magical abilities inherited from Ozma. Only Oscar’s control of his magic is better than Ozma’s since, while Ozma chooses to use his Long Memory as a conduit to channel his magic through, Oscar fights freehand (like Salem).

So right away, both souls have different combat styles despite sharing the same level of magic.

I say this because I really, really like the idea of Oscar using magic freehand.

The Long Memory is Ozma’s weapon. He is the soul with the real attachment to the cane since it’s been his fateful weapon since his very first life. Oscar only inherited it as the current life. From the few times Oscar has used magic canonically, he’s been shown to possess good control of it without needing the cane.

So let him go all Doctor Strange on everyone and be conjuring magical shit with his bare hands. It’ll be totally badass and Oscar deserves to be a badass on his own at this point. I totally would wanna see that. As a Pinehead, wouldn’t you?

Perhaps both Oscar and Ozma can even retain some of each other’s shared memories and mannerisms. Like for example, Oscar still carries himself and shares the same speech mannerisms as Ozma while Ozma could still instinctively read and often even feel Oscar’s emotions as if they were his own as a result of sharing a body with him for so long.

In terms of looks in respect to New Ozma: At first I thought it would be cool if Ozma looked exactly like Diggs---his first life after he was first revived. I wanted this look in particular since this is the form Ozma shared the most time with Salem. They even started a family together and had four children. So for me, this face holds the most significance to Salem outside of Ozma’s original form because unlike that form, Salem had a life with this one.

Original Ozma only had promised adventures and hard days where Salem had to watch her beloved slowly succumb to an incurable illness not even the god-given power of magic could heal him from.

First life Ozma or Diggs, as I dubbed him, was Salem’s partner in life. Her lover. Her husband. The father of her children and the king of the new world empire they built together.

If Ozma were to be revived, I can picture his new design being an amalgamation of his original face and his first reincarnation’s. I can picture new Ozma with similar features to his first life---tall, confident, strong and handsome with dark skin. But his hair will still be an unkept mess of fluffy white hair, just like Diggs but in a similar style to his original form or perhaps Ozpin’s.

And perhaps as a result of the Split and a way to have Oscar rub off on him physically, new Ozma could also have hazel eyes. Only his are not as green as Oscar’s. More light brown with green flecks. I think I can see that working better.

And of course, if new Ozma were to have a distinct voice, I would naturally envision him being voiced by none other than Mr. Shannon Mcormick himself. Not only did Shannon voice Ozpin as fans know but he also voiced Diggs---Ozma’s first reincarnation. The version of Ozma who was Salem’s partner. So it’s practically perfect.

---

So basically new Ozma will be very very much a fusion of the two versions of him who spent the most time with Salem. A time when he was deeply in love with her.

And y’know what? A part of me is even willing to believe that deep down Ozma still loves Salem unconditionally. After all this time and after everything she’s put him through throughout the life times, I think he still very much loves her. He still loves the woman he saved from the lonely tower and fell in love with.

You really expect me to believe that this man doesn’t still love Salem? May I remind folks that this is the same man that first said no to the God of Light when he was first propositioned to become humanity’s saviour. It’s very telling when you remember that Ozma only agreed to return to Remnant because it provided him a sliver of a chance to reunite with the woman he once loved and still loved.

Remember finding Salem was Ozma’s first priority once reincarnating. Not uniting humanity like Light asked him to. Light asked Ozma to ignore Salem and focus on humanity but Ozma did not listen. He did the opposite and only remembered his mission after he realized that him being with Salem did not align with his mission to the Gods.

There is so much left to dissect from Ozma and Salem’s former relationship.

Salem once asked her beloved Ozma, through Oscar, about why he kept coming back. And again, I’m willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that the reason Ozma keeps coming back outside of his whole curse thing is because there is a lingering part of him that still loves Salem and wishes to save her again, this time from herself, much like he did in his first life. That’s my theory on that and another reason as to why I want a Split to happen instead of a Merge.

A Split provides an opportunity to deeper explore Ozma’s connection to Salem. Learn more about her from Ozma’s perspective beyond what we glimpsed in the Lost Fable episode and beyond what was teased lightly in Fairy tales from Remnant.  

Not to mention that a Split is a chance to (potentially) explore a (potential) romance for Oscar to have with Ruby (as the true rose in his little prince story) and highlight how that paralleles with Ozma’s love story with Salem, especially now that he was fully revived but still immortal; unable to fully move on until he united humanity and stopped his former beloved for good.

Genuinely, I actually really liked Ozma’s love story with Salem and given what I know about their shared story, I’m beginning to think a possible fitting end for their story would be if our heroes succeed in uniting humanity against Salem and that pleases the Gods enough for them to return to live amongst humanity like they said they would; making Remnant whole again.

So first we had First Remnant when the Gods first shared the world with humanity that was destroyed by the God of Darkness following humanity’s betrayal of the Gods at the hands of Salem.

Then we had current Remnant, which was New Remnant, without the Gods and finally there will be Remnant Third Genesis or Remnant Gen III, for short, when the former four kingdoms are probably living under one united nation situated in what used to be Vacuo and the Gods return with Salem no longer a major problem.

As for Ozma and Salem, instead of “moving on” in the after life---both Ozma and Salem are essentially given a proper third chance at a life together. I mean third time’s the charm as the saying goes, right? Salem is back to her old self, no longer the Mother of the Grimm, corrupted by darkness and wanting to destroy the world.

Her and Ozma are now free of their immortality curses, able to live a brand new life together in Remnant Gen III raising a new generation of their children together.

Probably not the fan favourite ending for Ozma and Salem but this is what I’d personally think would be a good ending for them. Either they get to move on together in the after life after the Gods’ Return or they get to share one last life together happily ever after.

So even if Ozma died before Salem again, this time she wouldn’t have to grieve for him alone as a young widow because a) she would have had the luxury of a longer, much happier life with Ozma where they actually grew old together and b) she would have the support, comfort and company of the many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren she and Ozma bore together.

I think that would be a rather sweet ending to Salem and Ozma’s love story. I mean it works for this squiggle meister. How about you or ya’ll reading?

---

So yeah, these are examples of things I can see from a Split between Oscar and Ozma. I can go on and on about this but I’ll stop here for now XD Don’t want this response post to be too long otherwise we’ll be here for as a long as Salem has been alive.

~LMS (2024)

[littlemisssquiggles]

Did you see the RWBY volume 9 epilogue?

I'm happy there was more to it than what we got from last year and that we actually got to see characters like Nora Oscar and Ren featured as important characters

I'm especially Happy Oscar actually got to be in it because to be honest he gets excluded so much I was actually shocked he had a part and we actually got to focus on him for once

This also gives me hope that they'll do something similar like they did with cinder ,with Oscar because I believe it was possibly said in a q&a or in a live stream

that originally they wanted to do cinders backstory and volume 4-5 when we thought she got killed off again but they kept having to push it back along with other things they wanted to do for certain characters

and since many think Oscar is possibly not going to make it through his merge and it will be just ozpin/Oz

when it's done maybe we'll actually get to see his past and maybe because Oscar is merging with Ozpin that means his memories are catching up with Oz's memories and will maybe get to see Oz's past too because that's something we've all wondered about as well

and maybe we'll get a hint at where the final relic is because I don't believe the writers are just going to wait tell the last minute to show us were it is I think they're going to hint at it

I don't Oscar part sense he my favorite along side ozpin

what do you think 🤔

Hiya Autumn o/ Thank you so much for your inbox and pardon the late reply.

To answer your first question, yes, I did see the full V9 Epilogue Animatic. TWICE and I plan on rewatching it many, many times because I haven’t recovered from it yet.

I know I’ve been relatively silent these days especially when it comes to this newly dropped animatic. But that’s mostly because I haven’t fully gathered my thoughts on it yet to form a consisive essay.

My head is still reeling from all that was revealed in that short space of animatic frames, particularly the bits about Oscar and what he’s currently going through. As a Pinehead, you just know that part got to me the most because BOI! WAS IT GOOD! Oscar-worthy, as I might say,

So if I may, and if you don’t mind m’fam, I am going to piggyback off of your inboxed message and use this as opportunity to get some of my main thoughts about Oscar’s side of the Epilogue off of my chest. So here I go.

According to the RWBY V9 full Epilogue Animatic…

Oscar’s story with the Merge with Oz has officially started with him isolating himself from his friends while he goes through it on his own, practically dooming him (and essentially Oz as well) to suffer in silence.

But while that’s how things seem to be starting, if it doesn’t end with a scene where Oscar is going through the Merge but this time he’s surrounded by all of his friends all vowing to stay by side through it all and cherish him for who he is---Oscar---no matter who he becomes after the Merge.

If it doesn’t end with all of Oscar’s friends being there for him during the Merge (ESPECIALLY Ruby) then, like Jon Snow , I don't want it.

I don’t know how Oscar’s story will end.

The way I perceive it, Oscar’s story can end in many possible different ways.

In one way, Oscar’s story could end the way it was originally intended to, according to the natural progression of the narrative.---with Salem being defeated, Ozma finally moving on and Oscar being allowed to live the rest of his days as himself, Merge completely avoided.

Or like a Shamalan movie, it can end with a twist. Maybe Oscar isn’t so lucky and doesn’t avoid the Merge like his predecessors and is changed forever.

Maybe Oscar gets attack by Tyrian and “dies” forcing the Merge to happen as a way to save his life.

Maybe Oscar is taken to the Tree and gets to meet the Blacksmith who decides his final fate in the Merge.

Or who knows? Maybe the CRWBY Writers saw the recent 60th anniversary Doctor Who special and have the brilliance to put a new spin on the whole Ozma cycle where instead of Oscar merging with Oz, the two split apart with either wizards retaining their memories and single identities.

Instead of Oscar of losing himself to the Merge, he is set free leaving Ozma to carry on his mission to the Gods as himself. So no more pairing him up with like-minded souls. Like Oscar, Ozma is now his own person with his own agency. So even if he died again, similar to Salem, Ozma was still immortal only now he would simply come back in his original body as opposed to the former latter of playing hot potato with his soul inhabiting another poor innocent man or young boy’s body. All this with the extra added bonus that now we have two great and powerful wizards for the price of one. Both Oscar and the newly reincarnated Ozma (who gets back his original form---the one that was married to Salem and equally as powerful as her) retained his combat-ready muscle memory and shared ability to use magic. So Ozma, naturally fights with his trademark Long Memory, while Oscar uses magic freehand without the need for the cane.

That last one’s a big stretch but like all of my past Pinehead headcanons that I’ve tossed aimlessly into the ether of the FNDM community, I’m keeping it on the table of possibilities since it’d make a sick Oscar the Sorceror’s Apprentice Pinehead headcanon AU. Definitely adding that one to the list.

---

Anyways, getting back on track. Through everything that Oscar has been put through in the story so far, the most I want from this whole Merge storyline is that he doesn’t have to go through it on his own and I don’t mean, he’s going through it with just Oz as his main company.

What I mean for that is, I don’t think the implications of what the Merge means has truly sunk in for the rest of the hero team. A part of me wishes to assume that part of the reason why the rest of the hero team seems so nonchalant about Oscar’s whole merge with Oz is because Oscar has never truly been honest with them about how he really feels about the merge.

The last time Oscar spoke about the Merge with the team was back in V6 when he basically did it in such a “no biggie; don’t worry about me” sort of way that it came off as if he just said it to sound brave in the moment for the sake of the team and for the sake of keeping his own emotions in check.

I say this because as we’ve seen from the events of V7 through V8, Oscar is very anxious about the Merge. He doesn’t want it to happen which is why he and Oz are now fighting to keep it from happening even though it’s already long begun.

Bottom-line, I don’t think Oscar has been completely honest with anyone else outside of Oz about how he truly feels concerning the Merge. And now that it’s happening, he’s basically resolved himself to go through it alone. I don’t even think anyone else in the current group; not Nora, not Emerald, not even Ren (who literally has the ability to read someone’s thoughts and feelings through their emotions) knows about what he’s going through.

I wonder if Oscar puts on a brave face whenever he’s with the others and anytime he feels another “Merger episode” coming along, he quickly excuses himself (probably claiming that he needs to get back to his research in the Archives of Solitude) so the others don’t have to see him going through it.

Ren, in particular, because I’m sure if Ren saw Oscar’s pain from the Merge, he would blurt it out. Ren has now become the unsung singing canary of the hero team after his whole semblance upgrade.

Just like how he blurted out that Ozpin was back during the tunnel walk back in V8 following the rescue mission and escape from Monstro, Ren would definitely reveal that Oscar is going through the Merge if he knew he was going through it and having a painful grand ole time too.

Ren’s inability to remain discrete when revealing another’s true emotions could probably explain why Oscar has been avoiding alone time with him.

If you look at it, Ren is on his own probably stretching himself between helping everyone. It’s also interesting to me that Oscar hasn’t asked anyone else to help look for stuff in the Shade Archives.

Even if Oscar is technically two people in one, that is still a big ass library of books and archives to sift through for even two people. And yet, as we saw from the epilogue, Oscar is ALONE most of the time and I highly doubt no one else offered to help him in the libraries.

I know the Atlesian refugees are a priority but, when you look closely, everyone else is basically sharing the work; helping each other out with something. Nora is supporting folks like SSSN and CVFY.

Same for Ren. Em as well (even though she’s mostly mentioned in notes in the scene in the animatic).

 But when you look to Oscar. He is ALL BY HIMSELF.

Yes, he has Oz with him. But, that doesn’t count. Why hasn’t anyone else volunteered to help Oscar in the archives?

My assumption is because Oscar probably convinced the others to leave the archives to him (and Oz) and prioritize the refugees as a way of ensuring that he’s by himself at all times so no one would have to glimpse his pain from the Merge.

Again, each time a merger episode was highlighted in the epilogue animatic, Oscar was by himself. So my money is that no one knows what Oscar’s really going through.

No one else knows of his mental struggle or pain.

And why I find this interesting is because it kind of parallels Ruby’s whole detachment period from the others in the Ever After before she went to the Tree and what happened at the Mad Tea Party.

Not saying Oscar will share a similar experience as Ruby. I’m just saying, he’s clearly removed himself from the others and acting alone.

As Ren pointed out, he’s not himself. He’s there but…not there at the same time.

This brings me back to my point. Personally, I do want Oscar pulling himself from the team to hide the fact that he’s going through the Merge to be proven canon.

And I want it to be canon so that the first person to pick up that something is clearly off about Oscar’s behaviour to be Ruby.

Maybe Ruby realizes that Oscar is acting weird and when she brings it up, Ren is probably definitely the first person to reveal that he’s been sensing something off for a while but after everything that’s happened, similar to how he’s currently giving Nora space to work things out on her own, Ren has been doing the same with Oscar.

He’s been giving the little prince space when if anyone were to look closely at Ren’s expressions, they could probably see his frustration in being the one to know fully well that his friends aren’t entirely ok and despite wanting to help, he still feels helpless because Ren can’t force his friends to accept his help; no matter how much he offers, y’know what I mean?

I feel like some of RWBYJ’s struggles in the After Ever and how they rose to triumph over them could be mirrored in what NOR is going through now back in Vacuo.

Overall, the point I’m trying to make here is that I just want a moment where Oscar is having another merger episode and he tries to go through it alone, believing that he has to, only to get the reassurance and support he needs from his friends.

I saw someone compare Oscar’s merger episodes to Penny’s battle with Watts’ virus back in V8.

And while I didn’t enjoy the forced heavy focus on Penny during that season, I did sort of like how it culminated in everyone coming together to show their support of Penny and reminding her that she is a part of their team.

That is a type of a moment I want for Oscar. Because unlike Penny, feeling like a part of the team as himself and not just a placeholder for Oz is something Oscar desires.

I want Oscar to push his friends away, believing that he needed to go through this Merge on his own, only to be reminded by his friends in the end that they have his back no matter what.

That he is still a part of their team. That he is still Oscar to them no matter who he becomes in the Merge.

I want a scene where Oscar loses it, possibly even abusing his magic to force walls between himself and his friends only for those said friends to break down those walls and be there for him.

(Maybe even have a moment where Oscar loses control of his magic while trying to fight the Merge and it ends up looking like a moment where everyone thinks it's another Grimm attack when it's actually Oscar whose feelings of the merge have manifested into some kind of monstrous form that Oscar practically cocooned himself inside of).

Y’know that moment in Steven Universe Future where Steven loses control and all of his friends---all the major people he has helped throughout the seasons---come together to help him for once.

I want a moment where the whole team---Ruby, Nora, Ren, Jaune, Blake, Yang, Weiss and Emerald---all of Oscar’s people are there at his side showing him full support as he goes through the Merge; ensuring him that he doesn’t have to be scared of the Merge anymore because no matter who he becomes in the Merge, he will always be Oscar to them.

He’s not Ozpin. He’s not Ozma. He’s sure as hell ain’t Salem’s Ozma. He’s Oscar. Their Oscar

The small, cute farm boy from Mistral who showed up on their doorstep one random night in Mistral and has now cemented himself as one of the most important members of their little team that they will not stand to lose; not even to himself.

I want Oscar to be reminded by his friends that he will be cherished and supported no matter who he becomes in Merge.

Even if Oscar forgot his “old self” due to the Merge, they---his friends, will be there to remind him of who he was because they, as his friends, will never forgot Oscar because to them, he never left.

I just want a moment where everybody group hugs Oscar while he cries about SIX SEASONS worth of repressed tears after all the sh** he's been put through plot-wise. I want it dagnabbit!

Who knows? Maybe Oscar has another painful merger episode and it’s the worse one he’s had since it started and the love and support of his friends surrounding him is what helps to ease him out of it and back to his old farm boy Oscar self.

Just give me one scene like that. That’s all I want.

Don’t know if it will ever come to fruition given the current state of RT and the fate of RWBY as a whole. But hey, still wanted to get that off of my chest.

---

On the subject of the CRWBY Writers possibly showing more of Oscar's past in V10 as he's going through the Merge:

Honestly, at this point, m'fam, it's either now or never.

Now, as in during the events of V10, is the perfect time to give the audience more insight into Oscar's past and who he is. It is practically mandatory at this point that they show it as he is going into a storyline where he's being forced to lose that part of himself. They just have to do it!

Just as how V8 could pretty much be pretty much summed up as another Cinder-centric season similar to V4-V5, V10 could potentially be more Oscar-focused as he's going through the Merge. Like I said, it's the right time for them to do it.

And while I'm unsure of them telling Ozpin's story, maybe that too can be done and do something similar to what they did with Ren and Nora's backstory back in V4.

We got Ren and Nora's whole history in Kunoyuri in an episode that jumped back and forth between the past and the present.

Perhaps Oscar could have a potential episode in V10 where he's having another Merge episode and, as I theorized, he loses control of his magic while a) fighting the Merge again and b) running away/hiding from his friends so that they would've have to see him suffer through it.

So it's an episode that ping pongs between the present day where Oscar's friends are trying to get through to him while he's suffering through yet another painful Merger episode and the past which reveals more of Oscar's backstory leading up to the moment he met Oz and possibly showing other Oscar-centric moments that we, as the audience, never got to see like what happened with Oscar in Argus after his fall out with Jaune (remember we never got to see his side of things and it's something that still bothers me to this day)

Perhaps Ozpin's past is mixed in with it as well as you mentioned and the location of the final relic is actually revealed in Ozpin's memories in a flashback where he entrusted the location to someone. Maybe that person was Summer Rose. Since V9 revealed there is more to Summer Rose's story and that Raven actually knows more about that; perhaps Summer Rose's disappearance is connected to the final Relic or at least the final vault?

I dunno.

Overall, I definitely do like the idea of a potential episode of V10 fully dedicated to sharing bits of both Oscar's past as well as Ozpin's; specifically during his time as headmaster of Beacon when Team STRQ were still students since it could potentially reveal more on where Oz hid the location of the Vault of the Fall Maiden and the Relic of Choice. And if that episode is then followed up by an episode that shows the hero team---all of Oscar's friends actually helping him through an episode of the Merge then even better.

I think that would be pretty amazing. Hope that helps answer your questions m'fam. Let me know.

~ LMS (2024)