#figured I'd separate it out so you guys could have the gifs without the nonsense lmao

[thisismehappy]

The last Tuckson Scene - They'll always have Paris

SVU 22.12 - The Longest Night of Rain

[itsclydebitches]

If you could choose any member of RWBYJNPR - including Pyrrha, let's assume an AU where she's alive - to replace Oscar as Oz's host, who would you choose?

Cool question! Having given it some thought, I think I'd have to go with Ren. For a bunch of different reasons that, when combined together, I think could potentially work well:

It's another guy host so we dodge the complications of slamming Ozpin into one of the girls' heads (something that, while compelling, isn't an issue I think RT should tackle)

But this time it's someone the fandom is already familiar with and, though a background character compared to Team RWBY, Ren is already well established while also being kind of a blank slate? Pre-revenge arc Ren was still pretty open-ended in terms of characterization while simultaneously having some basic traits that fans enjoyed. He seems like a good balance between someone the fandom feels like they know and someone whose personality we wouldn't mind changing a bit as a result of the merge

Immediate reason for why Team JNR is sticking around for the war/helping our primary protagonists when arguably the story should have left them behind by now

Interesting tension between Team JNR and Ozpin where they have to reconcile their teammate housing the man who (according to Jaune) is responsible for Pyrrha's death. Take the hints we got for that in the canon — anger at the fireside, accusing Oscar of being Ozpin in disguise, etc. — and expand it into an actual arc for Ren

Imo Ren is one of (if not the) most level-headed in the group. He's a good candidate for dealing with this kind of nonsense

On the flip-side though, tie that into his "My semblance is literally shutting down my emotions, so guess how well I'm handling the erosion of my identity? Not well, thanks!"

Back in Volume 4 Ren demonstrated an interest in souls, semblances, and how powerful skills reflect one's identity. Move that conversation back a bit and like Blake's book, it could serve as foreshadowing

Literal orphan whose entire family now consists of Nora and (to a lesser extent) the rest of the RWBYJNR team, so we're not left with any questions like, "Oscar just ditched his aunt and she's never mentioned again? Really?"

Also unlike Oscar who lacks long-term goals, Ren is established as wanting to be a huntsmen. Much like Pyrrha becoming a Maiden, this is (presumably) just a different way to achieve the primary end goal of helping Remnant, though the merge could be used to delve into the specifics of what Ren is looking for in his life

It's Ren who shows up on Ruby's doorstep post-Fall of Beacon, looking for Tai and Qrow so that Ozpin can get his cane and regroup. Handy that his new host knows the daughter/niece of two inner circle members! Cue Ruby eavesdropping on the conversation and deciding that she's going to get involved in whatever all this is

Perhaps an arc where Ren and Nora separate/don't officially get together because Ozpin has now made this into a trio. Personally, I like Renora as a couple and yeah, we saw in flashback that Ozpin has been in relationships before, but it's still different when it's the young adults in the flirting stage of the relationship managing their ancient headmaster as a third wheel. Nora still decides to figure out who she is without the both of them and ideally (for me anyway) Ozpin gets his own body/is released from the curse by the end of the story, giving them the freedom to come back together now that they're more mature, more experienced, and know that this is indeed what they want

Ideally Ren's Volume 8 views on them screwing up could be handled respectfully, with the added bonus of that being a very "like-minded soul" moment. Out of everyone thus far, Ren has displayed the most willingness to both accept fault ("I have made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child") and think about their actions on the large scale. Prior to being convinced that he was wrong, Ren is 100% the kind of guy who can step back, take stock of where his good intentions went wrong, and make changes moving forward