#it’s like the wizard of oz dark side of the moon theory but a little more unhinged

[gutcvlt]

had a dream that all the music in orgazmo was replaced with ethel chain’s preachers daughter album and i’m still chasing that high

[thomas-hobbes-hater]

I was rewatching Goncharov last night, and I noticed something really interesting: it has the exact same runtime as Quadrophenia, the 1973 rock opera by The Who about a guy called Jimmy who has a classic case of "DID written by someone who does not have DID and is not qualified to write about DID" (yes it's extremely problematic).

What's important about Jimmy's "DID" is that he has four personalities, and each one has their own separate song. So, being familiar with the way Dark Side of the Moon fits over Paul Blart 2 (and also The Wizard of Oz), I thought, 'hey, I don't have any responsibilities now semester's over' and put it on again, and somehow each instance of the four main character themes ('Bell Boy', 'Is it Me?', 'Helpless Dancer', 'Love, Reign O'er Me') perfectly, and I mean perfectly line up with important moments in each of the four main characters' (Andrey, Sofia, Goncharov, and Katya respectively) arcs from the very beginning of the film, where the first shots of each of them coincide with the themes appearing in the background of the opening calm beach sounds before that first montage kicks in with 'The Real Me', which of course has a deep resonance with Goncharov's whole arc too.

So here's my theory. Quadrophenia the album was released in 1973, but the movie that used it as the soundtrack wasn't released until 1979, plenty of time to film and edit the whole thing after the album had made it to the public. I submit that this is exactly what happened because The Who had originally been hired by Scorsese to do the soundtrack. However, the score they provided was a little too lyric-heavy or a bit too brash and literal in its interpretations of the characters. Regardless, they'd spent so much time on the project and it was so close to release when Matteo JWHJ 0715 decided that the score was unsuitable that no further edits were done on the film. The score was then hurriedly put together from recordings and a single day of recording a chamber orchestra, all deliberately designed to sound slightly grainy from the beginning to add to the 1940s noir-esque aesthetic but also to hide the various different recordings and imperfect takes.

That each of the four characters meld into each other in this way is just fascinating to me. Are they meant to be reflections of each other? Aspects of the same being? Creatures woven together by fate? All of these seem like totally plausible readings, and all of them are strengthened by the thematic linkage of the album. Some of those links can still be heard in the way the themes begin to play off against each other towards the climax of the film. It also adds another layer to Andrey shooting Goncharov as the man that used to know himself is destroyed by both the persona he has cultivated and the accompanying dissolution of his selfhood into these three others' lives he has so deeply changed.

[swimmingleo]

The Wizard of Oz: yet another conspiracy

It's about the infamous spinning around parallel, this one:

Why... would they do this.

Point is I've gone too far, Harryween happened, I fell into a Wizard of Oz rabbithole and found this that for some reason I've missed all this time, which happens to be mf Pink Floyd related because why wouldn't it be.

I promise it kind of adds up in the end, but it's mostly me... clowning.

The Dark Side of the Rainbow:

It's an old Pink Floyd theory and one of the most well-known in the band's lore: it started around the 80's with the popularization of videotapes. One day, someone just had the idea to mute the Wizard of Oz (1939) and play The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) over it right at the beginning of the movie (the third roar from the MGM lion). A scarily accurate synchronization resulted, to the point where one could ask themselves if the album was indeed produced as an alternate soundtrack to the film.

cut, im pouring mercy on the dash

Just your average fan theory, which really took off in the 90s and surprisingly received a lot of response. The album's audio engineer called it "eyewash" and an impossible thing to do with the technology they had back then. (which is. really not true. You could do it, it was just terribly impractical. then again if you're crazy enough..)

David Gilmour and Nick Mason, guitarist and drummer of the band, also vehemently denied the theory: total non sense and a waste of time.

basically everyone got real pressed for no reason lol it's a cute fan theory guys not gAy rUmOuRs cmon

HOWEVER, there is one person who never denied it and it's the guy who literally conceptualized the entire album. Indeed, Roger Waters found the theory "amusing" and had even referenced Over The Rainbow in later album The Wall (and seeing how frustrated he gets when the audience doesn't engage with their music the way he'd like, it almost feels like he was encouraging the theory but then again. pure assumption idk shit)

So yeah, make what you want of this dysfunctional band's response to the theory.

Okay but does it really work ?

There have been psychological explanations of the phenomenon: the theory has been dismissed as the brain always finding connections and parallels between different elements: if you're looking for something, you find it. Yes, this explains various fan theories like the Beatles' ''Paul is dead'', or crispy audios we have around here (pReTtY uNfoRtUnaTe) where the perception is influenced by what we're told to hear or what we want to see. If you play any random music over any random movie, you will always find synchronized moments. But I think the Dark Side of The Rainbow goes beyond that: you can actually make out obvious interpretations and patterns that make sense with the rest of their discography or what they said about certain things/songs. The album actually matches the movie’s narration or the transitions between scenes. But once again, the theory has been associated with crazy delusional fans on acid who live on conspiracies so... (so larrie of em)

Here you have the full movie, with the album playing on loop over it (cuz it's an album designed to be played on loop). Most little moments feel like those funny coincidences I mentioned before, like a character moving, dancing or speaking on beat, but some others are like... too much for me to dismiss as coincidences, because they carry some deep PF-esque meaning. I won't get much into it here cuz we don't have time for that~ but if you're a PF fan interested by the topic feel free to send me an ask and we'll rant about it it's honestly so cool ffgeifzji

Still, I really recommend to watch this specific part:

There isn't any kind of edit to make it fit. It just naturally goes smooth like that.

CMON IT'S. IT'S WEIRD.

Also the front and back cover of the album:

...No colour > Colour > Back to no colour // Sepia > Technicolor > Back to sepia.

If you're wondering why Roger Pink Floyd would go this far to hint at a movie which had a massive impact on queer culture ever since WW2, and how it could be even more relevant to Larry, here <3

AND LARRY BITCH??

Do we know other weirdos with too much time on their hands who do weird shit with synchronization in their art yes we doooo.

So, the shot of them filmed by a camera spinning like a tornado, in an already spinning setting (twirling dancers) in MVs loaded with queer symbolism.

last one just because... SOTT sounds a lot like The Great Gig in the Sky to me. Also he's flying passing by a rainbow at some point so.

The tornado scene is the core of the Dark Side of the Rainbow theory. The music and image go incredibly well together: the piano starting on the first gust of wind, the music gradually getting louder with the chaos on screen until it suddenly calms down when Dorothy’s unconscious in the eye of the tornado. Music ends when the tornado stops for good. But also the symbolism of that song and that scene combined: The Great Gig in The Sky is part of the transition between the first and the second part of the album and it evokes death. The tornado in Oz is the transition between sepia and technicolor, two different worlds and technically.. it's Dorothy's departure from earth to somewhere over the rainbow.

Meanwhile, TPWK is in black and white, Walls is colorized. Both songs represent a significant milestone in their respectives careers. That theme of "I used to feel bad, but I've made peace with myself and now I feel better".

The TPWK/Walls parallel starts at 1:41. Solely based on that film video I linked earlier, The Wizard of Oz is 1:41:47 long. So like. If they wanted to be little shits and choose a precise timestamp that would hint at the Oz synchronicity theory...

... I just like the idea of Harry and Louis scanning the internet for some rbb/sbb ideas, stumbling upon (or already knowing) the Dark Side of the Rainbow and being like.. aha, we could do that at some point. Because in the end, whether it's intentional or not, it's a pretty big pop culture fan theory, and they've both already hinted at PF and Oz.

All in all, the first person who had the idea to play Pink Floyd's album over the Wizard of Oz would have made an excellent delusional larrie and I wish they were here.

[argentvive]

Alchemy 101 - Numbers 1-3

In honor of reaching 1444 followers, I thought I would do a review post of basic alchemy principles.

As a guide, here are a couple of alchemy emblems that lay it out in diagram form.

Heinrich Khunrath, Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae, 1602

Michael Maier, Atalanta fugiens, 1618

One

The goal of the alchemical process is to create the Philosopher’s Stone by reconciling and joining opposites into a perfect oneness, symbolized by a circle.

 In a story, the hero or heroine is the Philosopher’s-Stone-to-be.  So he or she can become “the One” (Maria in A Little White Horse) or “the Chosen One” (Harry Potter).  The idea of the chosen one also fits nicely into the paradigm of the Hero’s Journey.

A quite different tack is when an author makes “the One” an inanimate object, such as “the One Ring to rule them all” in Lord of the Rings. In this case the One Ring is pure evil, the complete opposite of what the Stone is meant to be, and it must be destroyed for peace and harmony to be restored.  

Two

According to the French alchemist Nicolas Flamel (1330-1418), “all metals have been formed out of sulphur and quicksilver [mercury], which are the seeds of all metals, the one representing the male, and the other the female principle.” (Lyndy Abraham, p. 193).  This is the dua prima principle--i.e., there are two basic substances.   You can see this clearly in the Michael Maier diagram above--the man and woman are together in the center.  

The Male Principle corresponds to Sun, Sulphur, fire and air, hot and dry, fixed, power, Red, gold.

The Female Principle corresponds to Moon, Mercury, earth and water, cool and moist, volatile, wisdom, White, silver.  

Almost every alchemy story has a protagonist and an opposite-sex alchemical partner:  Maria and Robin, Harry and Hermione, Lyra and Will (His Dark Materials), Meg and Calvin (Wrinkle in Time), Jaime and Brienne (ASOIAF), Sophie and Josh (Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel).  Boy-girl twins, like Sophie and Josh, are a popular choice, especially in stories for younger readers where there’s no romance.  

Exception: Tolkien’s main duo are both male, Frodo and Sam.  Tolkien worked around the male/female requirement by giving Samwise Gangee a couple of female markers, the “wise” in his name and his occupation as a gardener, a tiller of the earth.  (I explained this in an earlier post.)  

The Male Principle and the Female Principle unite in a Chemical Wedding, a central process of the Great Work, the opus alchymicum.

Three

The Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus (1493-1541) was focused on creating healing medicines rather than making gold.  For his purposes, he needed an additional elemental substance--Salt.  

According to Paracelsus, all metals were made from a three-fold matter: mercury (the spirit), sulphur (the soul) and salt (the body).... (Abraham, p. 176.)

This is known as the theory of tria prima, i.e., three principles.

On the Khunrath diagram above, the three sides of the triangle are labeled as anima, spiritus, and corpus (soul, spirit, and body).

 I’ve yet to encounter a character marked as salt, but there are quite a few examples of trios in alchemy stories where the sidekick to the main duo is marked as body.  Body characters typically have a voracious appetite for food and drink and other bodily needs; they are often cowardly.  Think Wiggins in The Little White Horse, Ron Weasley, or Papageno in The Magic Flute, the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz.   In Madeleine l’Engle’s  A Wind in the Door, Charles Wallace is literally the body that Meg and Calvin, miniaturized, travel inside to cure his illness.     

Please add in the comments examples you know from other alchemy stories.  I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface here.  Thanks!

[littlemisssquiggles]

Little Red Headcanons: Ruby the Saviour of Humanity

crystalandbrass asked

“Hey long time no speak so I have two theories on RWBY I want to run by you the first is the lamp, I feel it functions like the old 'Be careful how you word your wish' essentially you have to be spercific with what you ask as Ozpin only asked 'How do I kill Salem?' Djinn obviously said there was no way because Salem is immortal, however if Ozpin asked 'How do I defeat Salem?' Djinn might have given up how to undo Salem's immorttality. What do you think? I will give the 2nd one later”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Squiggles Answers:

@crystalandbrass​​ 

Hey Crystal, what’s up? Apologies for the late response but I hope you’ve been doing well in these trying times, fam. To answer your question, that’s an interesting way to look at it. I agree with your point about Jinn answering questions according to their wording but I’d like to add an additional hunch that I think the results are also dependent on the person asking the questions.

During his lifetime with Norman, Ozma asked Jinn how “he” could destroy Salem. Only for Jinn to answer that “he” couldn’t. For me, I took that as Jinn indicating that Ozma wasn’t the one destined to stop Salem once and for all. It doesn’t necessarily mean that destroying Salem isn’t possible. Ozma (and by extension, the Wizards of Light following in his lineage) just wasn’t the one meant to do so. He had his own part to play in this ongoing fight for the fate of humanity.

I’d like to stand by the concept that there is someone in Remnant who destined to stop Salem.

I also believe that the key to stopping Salem for good isn’t through destroying her either. Yes she needs to be stopped, but I don’t think her fate is to die by the hands of her chosen adversary but rather the way the Gods intended for her to die.

It’s for this reason I like the theory that was eluded by Nora in V7CH6 during her conversation with Ruby.

“…We’ve spent so much time worrying about how Ironwood would react to the truth about her; but has any of us considered how we’re even going to beat her if we managed to work past that?”

“Jinn said she can’t be beaten.”

“She told Oz that he couldn’t destroy her.”

“…But…maybe someone else could?”

“…I don’t know.”

A part of me thinks that if someone were to ask Jinn the question of “Who can stop Salem?” then I believe her answer might be a bit more hopeful as she reveals the identity of humanity’s true saviour against the plight of Salem. In the Lost Fable, Jinn did say that in time Salem would’ve ultimately met her adversary. During the events of that episode, us as viewers were led to believe that that person would be Ozma.

However now that I think about it---despite creating Salem and resurrecting the soul of her former beloved, the Brother Gods NEVER really tasked Ozma with stopping Salem. All the God of Light told Ozma to focus on was figuring out a way to unite humanity as a means of recreating the world that they once had---that he once knew. A world where humanity was made whole again with the return of the Gods and their magic to live among the People of Remnant again. Now that I think about it, the God of Light warned Ozma to not pursue Salem as he more desired for him to focus on avoiding the inevitable Judgement Day and the end of the world should he fail in bringing the people together.

From the start, the purpose of Ozma and the Wizards of Light was always to see to humanity’s preservation by uniting them for it is only in harmony shall they be saved and spared the wrath of the Gods should they be summoned back to Second Remnant.

From what I gathered from the Lost Fable, First Remnant was a time when mankind more or less lived in commune with not just each other but also the Brothers. However that changed after Salem rallied all the leaders of the First People of Remnant and turned them against the Gods thus leading to their mass genocide by the God of Darkness.

You can say that from the beginning, Salem has been a figure of conflict--- dividing humanity--- turning them against one another as a means of only fulfilling her own selfish desires.

From the get-go, Salem has been a source of manipulation and division. This was not only evidenced by her turning the People of Remnant against the Gods but her first attempt was done even before that when she dared turn the Brothers against one another after manipulating Darkness into resurrecting Ozma against his brother’s wishes and prior knowledge.

Salem was only cursed because she refused to see the value in human life beyond herself and sadly to say, even after living on Remnant for over thousands of years; she still only views mankind as nothing less to her than mere pawns to achieve her goals. She even came to see her own beloved Ozma as the very same thing---an obstacle against her retaining her sense of freedom.

“…We finally have freedom!”

I know other RWBY fans have pegged Salem to be nothing more than an irredeemable villain and character; however I think the opposite. Ultimately, I think Salem’s fate is to die after finally learning the lesson the God of Light tried to get her to see. Believe it or not, I’m actually an advocate for Salem getting redeemed at some point for the future of RWBY.

While Salem has been shown to be selfish and manipulative, she’s also expressed a softer, more compassionate side to her as well; as evidenced by her love and determination for Ozma and even their children during Ozma’s second lifetime as Diggs.

I’d even go as far as to say that there is a slight, almost parental approach to Salem’s mentor and apprentice relationship with Cinder Fall; if that makes sense. Again, while I understand that Salem is a villain, there are qualities about her that has convinced me that she can be redeemed and ultimately will be saved since that’s how I think her story will end based on elements from the Lost Fable.

I think Salem is the way she is, not so much due to her corruption from her baptism in the Grimm Pools of Darkness but more so as a result of her past and upbringing; being locked away in isolation for so long---having her own freedom stripped away away from her at an adolescent age by the acts of her cruel father.

Going back to your question on the lamp---I think what needs to happen next is either for someone to ask Jinn for the identity of the person destined to bring forth Salem’s end. Or for that person to ask Jinn that question herself.

Since V6, I can’t help but feel like the show is slowly starting to pave the reveal that Ruby Rose will be the one to stop Salem. NOT destroy her or kill her. But more or less guide her back to the light after the former lonely princess had submerged herself in darkness for so long; thus transforming herself into the wicked witch we knew her to be.

I feel like Ruby has the potential of being placed in a similar tricky scenario that Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender faced during his final confrontation with Fire Lord Ozai.

Much like Aang, this squiggle meister believes that Ruby will be the one to stop Salem but she’ll be torn over the thought of actually killing her if she were to discover to possess that kind of power.  

I’m not saying I’m expecting Ruby to talk Salem out of being evil.

I’m more in favour of my Little Red Ruby headcanon of Ruby’s silver eyes being a remnant of the God of Light’s Fountain of Light and Creation that was introduced during the events of the Lost Fable. We’ve already met Ozma---the First Wizard of Light tasked by the God of Light and blessed with his power to unite the people of Remnant to avoid its destruction should Judgement Day come.

Now what I need to know is the origins of the Silver Eyes. I want to know who the First Silver Eyed Warrior  to walk Remnant was since I believe that their beginning is connected to the Fountain of Life and Creation. Much like the Grimm Pools, the Fountain of Life and Creation once belonged to a God and thus harbours some semblance of his power.

This is how I think Salem is able to command the Creatures of Grimm. It was the God of Darkness who first made the Grimm, correct? Therefore since his pool was connected to him,  by baptising herself in said pool that once belonged to a God, Salem gained powers akin to the God of Darkness---at least in respect to the ability to command the Grimm and even create her own Grimm monstrosities.

While the God of Darkness’ Grimm Pools survived the test of time, the Fountain of Life and Creation seemed to have been destroyed during the meteor shower sparked by the God of Darkness destroying part of the moon. Since World of Remnant described man being born from dust; my assumption is that the Silver Eyed Warriors are the remnants of the Fountain. 

Therefore, the Silver Eyed Warriors are the living embodiment of the Fountain of Life and Creation. This, by my understanding, is how the Silver Eyed Warriors are connected to the God of Light. Just like the Wizards of Light in Ozma’s lineage, the Silver Eyes possess a portion of Light’s power running through their veins.

In the Lost Fable, it was shown that the God of Light cursed Salem with immortality by dropping her into his Fountain. If the Silver Eyes were ‘born’ from the Fountain then a Silver Eyed Warrior may be the only being that can actually harm Salem or even stop her.

Hence Ruby’s importance as she is currently the last living Silver Eye, according to the main series narrative. I remember reading somewhere about a theory someone had shared about the markings on Salem’s body---the weird blood-coloured scars that resemble veins---someone made theory that those markings may have come from Silver Eyed Warriors that Salem killed in the past.

I actually quite like this theory and I’d like to add my own spin on it.

In V4, Arthur Watts alluded to Salem and her minions dealing with Silver Eyes in the past and this point was confirmed in later iterations such as V6CH7 with Tock and her pawns targeting a young Maria Calavera in her prime and even the Warrior from the Warrior in the Woods tale in the upcoming Fairy Tales From Remnant.

So it’s my understanding that Salem and her pawns have been ruthlessly hunting and killing the Silver Eyes for many generations due to their unique ability to stop the Grimm.

But here’s what I think. What if…Salem’s scars were as a result on an encounter with ONE Silver Eyed Warrior and not as a result of her dealing with many over the years?

Despite hunting their kind for so long, what if…there has only been one Silver Eyed Warrior who has come close to even touching Salem and those scars are the lasting impression that that particular Silver Eye left on Salem as a relic of what that power can actually do to her.

What if… Salem got her scars from Summer Rose?

 Even though Salem succeeded in killing Summer (as alluded to in V7CH10), what if…another Summer Rose secret is the revelation of the way to stop Salem---a feat that Summer left in the hands of her daughter.

I know this is only a hunch but I really do like the thought of Summer Rose being the one who inflicted those types of wounds on Salem, revealing the witch’s own fallibility in a sense. It’s not a bad concept but for now it’s just another one for the table of possibilities.

Another Salem-inspired RWBY headcanon of mine is that the Silver Eye power will actually purify Salem of the effects of the Grimm Pools, thus severing her connection to the Grimm. What I find unique about Salem is that she is a being who has been touched by both light and darkness. Light made her immortal while Darkness gave her reign over the Creatures of Grimm.

If my hunch about the silver eyes being a remnant of the Fountain of Life and Creation is correct then Salem being hit with the power of a Silver Eyed Warrior on full blast; as displayed by Ruby Rose during the Fall of Beacon, might be what finally ‘kills’ the Wicked Witch of the West. 

For me, I really like the concept of Ruby’s power cleansing Salem of the effects of the Grimm pools that corrupted her for so many years; reverting the immortal woman back to her original ‘lonely princess’ form from the Lost Fable.

Since the Grimm Pools hypothetically granted Salem the power to control the Grimm, then hypothetically the Silver Eyes---a power born from the Fountain of Light and Creation that negates darkness--- could potentially Salem’s connection to the pools thus severing her connection to the Grimm. Therefore Salem will no longer be able to command the Grimm. I think that a huge part of Salem being a threat to humanity stemmed from her sovereignty over the Grimm. She was even described as being their leader by Raven Branwen during V5.

“…I know the Grimm have a leader…”

That being said, if Salem’s power over the Grimm is taken away---if Salem is changed back to her former self then she’ll no longer be that big of a threat anymore because the thing that gave her reign will be gone for good. Salem the Lonely Princess may return but the Salem the Wicked Witch would be gone for good. Therefore---DING! DONG! The Wicked Witch whose ancient presence haunted Remnant for years will finally be dead!

As for the fate of the original Salem, I’m still sticking to my guns on her receiving a redemption arc since according to the Lost Fable, Salem learning the error of her ways is the only way for her to lift her curse; allowing her to finally die peacefully.

The God of Light said just that. In the Lost Fable, the Brother Gods told Salem that the only way for her to reverse her curse is to learn how to value life.

 “…When you first came to me, I did pity you. But it is clear now that your selfishness and arrogance have led you astray.”

“What did you do to me?”

“I have made you immortal.”

“Immortal?”

“You cannot die. You cannot be with your beloved.”

“So long as this world turns, you shall walk its face.”

“You must learn the importance of life and death. Only then may you rest.”

That is a lesson that Salem still has to learn and it honestly won’t surprise me if her story wouldn’t officially conclude until she realises the very message the Brother Gods tried to impart on her. That’s my deduction with that.

So to conclude and reiterate my answer to your question---I’d like to think that the final question of the Lamp of Knowledge will definitely be asked by Ruby. Her brief moment with Jinn from the V6 finale where Jinn warned her about summoning her without a question makes me believe that we will get a call-back to this at some point later in the story (hopefully).

Y’know what’s funny? I think in some odd way, Ruby already knows or has somehow figured out the answer to stop Salem herself. A part of me thinks that the one question Ruby both secretly wants and is dreading to have asked of Jinn is “Who can stop Salem?” because in a weird way, I think she already knows in her heart the answer and is fearing its reveal in a sense. Maybe.

In the RWBY Theme ‘Red Like Roses Part II’, there are two lines of the lyrics sung from both Summer and Ruby’s perspectives that makes me think this:

For Summer it was “…I didn’t have a choice. I did what I had to do.  I made a sacrifice, but forced a bigger sacrifice on you…”

And for Ruby’s side it was “…I know you didn't plan this. You tried to do what's right. But in the middle of this madness, I'm the one you left to win this fight…”

“…I made a sacrifice, but forced a bigger sacrifice on you…” “…I'm the one you left to win this fight…”

Knowing what I know now in regards to RWBY’s ongoing story, these lines really resonate with me. I know we were told not to take the RWBY themes seriously in respect to the story. However Red Like Roses Part II technically is the first and only RWBY theme where we actually got a sense of Summer Rose as a character.

It’s the closest thing I have right now to knowing anything about her personality outside of the little things that other characters have sparingly said about her over the seasons and in the expanded universe novelizations.

Going off of this alone, I think what I can deduce is that Summer Rose made the choice to go after Salem herself in an attempt to stop her once and for all on her own. However Summer failed in killing Salem but not without leaving a last imprint that might just spark the key to ending the witch’s reign.

And soon, Ruby Rose will basically have to pick up where her mother left off. This is why I like the idea of Summer causing Salem’s scars. I think Summer set out to stop Salem by herself and unlike other Silver Eyed Warriors before her, Summer is the ONLY ONE who came close to actually stopping Salem. Not that she lived long enough to reveal this truth---a truth that will be revealed in time by Jinn (possibly).

And now Ruby, as Summer’s daughter and heir is left to take over where her mother left off and finish the job in a sense. At least that’s my hunch.

Not quite sure if this long response post actually answered your questions Crystal but, like always I hope it does and feel free to please let me know if it does, fam.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)  

[powerbottomblake]

RWBY:Ragnarok or predictions on the Atlas arc

Building on my previous post about how the RWBY arcs parallel seasons and the archetypal narrative structure linked to each season, I’ve established that Atlas corresponds to winter, aka themes of darkness, dissolution, the return of chaos, and the defeat of the heroic figure, but what I’m going to be developing here is how winter is linked to Götterdämmerung myths, a.k.a Ragnarok, otherwise known as the death of the gods in Norse mythology. So yes, Atlas is definitely a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Time for our heroes.

The thing is, that isn’t the only Norse mythology allusion tied to Atlas, be it the cast, the location or the events of Ragnarok itself. This post will be about delving into all of these allusions and find how Ragnarok’s narrative beats find equivalents in RWBY and how it might help predict the Atlas endgame (or at least part of it) as well as figure out some general plot points.

But before that, I feel like you need to familiarize yourself with the G.U.N theory (though I don’t know if I’m 100% in the scope of it with this post). I think the person that best explained it in a concise way would be @alexkablob in this post but basically the nitty gritty of it is that all RWBY characters aren’t allusions to a single myth but have layers of different allusions to several myths, and decoding them makes it possible to predict the beats of their narrative. Think v6 made it all too obvious with how Adam was Prince Adam (a.k.a the Beast before any character development or growth), the Rose curse and Gaston all wrapped in one (plus some references to Anakin Skywalker too apparently!); or how Yang is Goldilocks, Beauty and the Beast simultaneously (amongst others).

So characters that you know are allusions to a certain myth/fairytale, might have allusions to other ones, less obvious but still just as significant in determining that character’s fate and their overarching character arc, and the Atlas arc of the story is just full of these other allusions, all Norse mythology themed.

I’ll start with the allusions tied to the central figure of Atlas’ plot, aka the man himself, James Ironwood, then branch out on the connected cast’s allusions and how they’d fill their respective roles in Atlas’ version of Ragnarok.

So, as we all know James Ironwood is supposed to be our Tinman from the wizard of Oz. Thing is Ironwood also refers to a location in Norse mythology, Járnviðr (literally old Norse for Iron-wood), where a witch gives birth to giant wolves that are alluded to as Fenrir’s kin, one of them in particular being dubbed snatcher of the moon, who will swallow the moon come Ragnarok.

Before delving deeper into this, who is Fenrir?

Fenrir is a monstrous wolf who’s bound until comes Ragnarok, where he breaks free, wreaks havoc on the realm of the gods, and kills Odin, the patriarch of the Norse mythology pantheon and one of its most powerful figures.

I’m gonna go ahead and assume that CRWBY will merge all the monstrous apocalyptic wolf figures into one because that’s the decision that makes the most sense, and I’m gonna refer to it as Fenrwby to differentiate it from the original Fenrir (listen I couldn’t come up with anything else).

So now we’ve established that Atlas harbors or will get invaded by this giant wolf, Fenrir, who announces the apocalypse and swallows the moon.

Damn, I wonder which character is always closely associated to moon symbolism, incidentally also alluding to a tale called Dead Moon (again @alexkablob got you covered) and whose death circumstances are still a mystery till now?

That’s right I think Fenrwby will be confirmed to be the reason Summer died. Another point that absolutely convinces me of it is that he(it?) refers to. A gigantic evil wolf. Or you could say. A Big Bad Wolf. And guess where Little Red Riding Hood is headed right now?

But before eating Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf eats the grandmother first.

Yeah, this might very well be the last time Maria’s making the trip to Atlas.

But let’s go back to Ironwood. There’s yet another allusion to him and that’s the Norse god Tyr. Tyr was a war god, but also presided over law and justice, which aligns with Ironwood being leader of the military, headmaster and even has the Council (which I assume is executive and judicial power) bow to him.

Tyr’s most striking act and for which he’s most known though is that he’s sacrificed his arm when the gods first bound Fenrir, the arm the wolf bit off being the right one, and lo and behold:

James Ironwood is indeed missing a right arm (well a whole right side because he’s also Tinman, but you get me). From this we can already surmise that the mission Summer was sent over to was probably the containment of Fenrwby, and it cost Summer her life and Ironwood his right side.

That leaves us with one question: who/what is Fenrwby and where did he come from?

We’ll have to go back to the original myth for a bit here. In Norse Mythology, the trickster god Loki fathers three children with a giantess:  Hel, a woman that becomes a sort of queen of the Underworld, the world serpent Jörmungandr and the world wolf Fenrir. All three siblings are prophesied to be big trouble to the gods but what sets Fenrir apart is that:

He’s the one foretold to announce Ragnarok; his unbidding decides it

He’s the one destined to swallow Odin himself whole

He’s the only “hellish” sibling who’s raised right where the gods live, in Asgard

Beyond the similarity in how the names sound, I do believe Atlas’ design takes after Asgard and is meant to symbolize it.

For further reference here’s Marvel’s take on Asgard:

And here’s our first look at Atlas:

Atlas even has those threads attached to Mantle below which I suspect act as anchors + elevators/transportation conducts (most of it probably dedicated to Dust transport) between Mantle and Atlas, but also are a visual reference to Yggdrasil's roots, the Norse world tree, extending from Asgard to the other realms below.

So Fenrir is raised right in Asgard, but the wee pup is growing at an alarming rate (plus is prophesied to destroy all of it) so none of the gods is keen on approaching him. None except one brave god that is the only one to get close and feed him. And who would that be? That’s right, Tyr a.k.a our basis for Ironwood.

Ironwood hosting and hand-rearing a monster that will ultimately cause Summer’s death and the Atlaspocalypse sounds extremely unlikely, but there’s one scenario where this makes sense.

Atlas is known for its technological advancement and its constant development of new weaponry. I believe Fenrwby was born out of such a project, under the general leadership of Ironwood, but someone must have taken the experiments too far and ended up creating something so terrible Summer Rose herself (and maybe all or a combination of the remaining STRQ team), a silver-eyed warrior, had to be dispatched to neutralize, dying in the process.

Now is the time to remember that Fenrir is Loki’s son. In the original myth, Loki, an Asgardian god, gets eventually banished and during Ragnarok sides with the enemies.

So we’re basically looking for a disgraced Atlesian, who was possibly a scientist and is now currently working with the enemy.

And here is our Loki, none other than Arthur Watts himself, whose fallout with Atlas is yet to be explained.

I believe the reason he left Atlas was because he’s the one responsible for Fenrwby’s creation and in its immediate fallout, evaded arrest.

Another reason that leads me to believe Watts is our Loki is that Loki’s ties to Hel, Norse queen of the underworld, who was described to be “half-black and half flesh-colored”, which is a dead ringer for Salem.

Arthur Watts’ name also seems to refer to Arthur Conan Doyle and John Watson, the first one being the creator of Sherlock Holmes and the latter his dutiful companion and side-kick, so I believe Watts might be a combination of (evil) Sherlock and Watson. This is further supported with how Watts’ appearance seems to be a blend of both (Watson is described as tan, with a strong build and a moustache and Sherlock as tall and lean) and his outfit being Victorian-era inspired. He is referred to as Doctor by Salem, first to affirm his status as fallen scientist from Atlas but also most likely as a nod to Watson who was a skilled doctor and often would be referred to as Doctor as well. Sherlock Holmes is known to be an emotionally detached analytical machine with a caustic (and at times callous) kind of humor, having a usually dispassionate and cold demeanor, all of which match what we see of Watts. How is this linked to our Ragnarok? Well one of Sherlock Holmes’ most well-known stories, one where incidentally Watson has a very proactive and prominent role, is the Hound of the Baskervilles. The story is itself based on the legend of a “monstrously evil man” who sold his soul to the Devil (Salem) and after his death led a pack of phantom, evil hounds.

Evil hounds, monstrous wolves...Watts always gets linked to big bad canidae one way or the other.

Which brings us to our next question: now that we know who made Fenrwby, what exactly is Fenrwby?

Ok so this is the part where the theory gets tentative because there isn't much to go off of, so bear with me.

Watts is partly based on Sherlock Holmes, who is indifferent and detached usually, unless he's in the midst of an investigation. He then turns driven, getting tunnel-visioned and borderline obsessed (he can even go without food for so long he faints) until he solves the mystery. I think Watts is much the same. He carries himself with cool composure mostly but there was one instance where he showed a sort of zealous fascination: when he saw the seer Grimm.

Ok so I have an inkling that Watts is fascinated by the Grimm, and his forbidden experiments involved Grimm creatures. This is further supported by the Baskerville allusion to a pack of phantom hounds, which could very well reference the Grimm.

So going off this, Watts experimented on Grimm - since Atlas is very much wolf-themed, maybe Beowolfs? - and out of them he made Fenrwby.

But what could possibly be combined to Grimm in a way that’d defeat the combined forces of Ironwood (whose entire right side got severed) and an experienced silver eyed warrior like Summer?

I think we can make an educated guess based off the two major technological breakthroughs we got to witness during V1-3, namely Penny, the first synthetic being able to generate aura and the aura transfer machine. You’ll have guessed it, I think Atlas was dabbling into aura experimentation and Watts rerouted it to his own Grimm endeavors. What if he succeeded in equipping Grimm with something similar to Aura? Something that would hijack the Silver Eyes. I’m just bouncing ideas here but I’m pretty sure Fenrwby is the result of Watts tinkering with Aura and Grimm, and I think Watts staying with Salem is in large part because she’s the crystallization of the divide that fascinates him, being both human (having a soul, so in theory having aura) and grimm. Salem is the long running case study Watts is pursuing in a way.

So. Now that we’ve established what Fenrwby might be and who is behind it, we can delve into the narrative beats of Ragnarok. I made a synthetic list of Ragnarok events that seem relevant and connect to RWBY as a narrative:

Fenrir swallows Odin

I think Ozpin having Odin references in his character is common knowledge enough in the fandom. Odin is the king of Asgard, is associated with wisdom, knowledge and sorcery amongst other things, and is known for having two raven familiars (Raven and Qrow), all of which fit Ozpin.

What could Odin being swallowed mean for Oz and Oscar?

Of course, this could simply be an indication of Oz/Oscar fighting Fenrwby with Ruby, and losing.

But we can take it further. Oz lives inside Oscar through the merge between their souls, their auras connecting. We’ve established Atlas has been studying and experimenting on aura; Watts has most probably even toed the line of what is morally acceptable in terms of experiments. What if Fenrwby, or one of the machines Watts has been “tinkering with”, is able to sever the connection, effectively trapping Ozpin’s soul or at least sending it in another reincarnation cycle? This is a reach, I’ll admit, but something about Odin being swallowed somehow does not bode well for Ozpin.

Thor fights Jörmungandr

Can’t talk about Norse mythology without talking about Thor! And incidentally we have someone in the main cast based off him. I’ve always found it weird how V4 gives Ren a comprehensive backstory but never an explanation for how Nora is just there, beyond “random Kuroyuri orphan”  (How did she get orphaned? Why was she in Kuroyuri? Who were her parents?). I think Nora’s backstory will be fully explained in Atlas as I have a feeling Weiss isn’t the only one coming home. Thor’s home is Asgard after all.

So Thor fights the giant serpent that is Loki’s other son and Fenrir’s brother. One of Jörmungandr’s most striking features is his venom, as he’s described spraying it through air and sea, and it’s how he kills Thor even as he’s slayed by him, poisoning the god to his death.

Our Jörmungadr equivalent thus needs to wield poison, and be sired (or fixed) by Loki aka Watts. That would be Tyrian.

I believe we’ll have the second round of Team JNR vs Tyrian - as foreshadowed by Tyrian’s interest in Jaune - and it’ll end with Tyrian dying and Nora being gravely wounded.

The frost giants join the fray against the gods

I’ve already expanded on this in my previous post, but Jack Frost, Jacques’ fairy tale basis, is said to be based on the norse frost giants. This, coupled with the “Jack and the beanstalk” references, pushes me to think Jacques is going to betray and cause the death of Ironwood and help team W.T.C.H steal the relic.

Gamr, another big hellish hound, kills Tyr

Gamr is another monstrous hound who breaks free of his bindings in Ragnarok. As I said before, I believe all hounds/wolf imagery is going to be compounded in a single entity in RWBY (especially when they sometimes share identical characteristics), so this is Fenrwby getting free of whatever binding Summer put him under (maybe the Silver Eye power petrified him the way Ruby did the giant Nevermore?) and killing Ironwood.

Surtr, a fire giant from Muspelheim, the realm of fire, covers the entire world with fire with his flaming sword

Surtr is a fire giant that guards Muspelheim, a hot and glowing land of fire, and who sets the world on fire with his flaming sword at the end of Ragnarok. This signals the destruction of the world, but also announces its rebirth with the surviving gods and humans meeting afterwards and leading into a new era.

So the guardian of a sword of destruction (Vacuo’s relic), coming from a hot unforgiving land (Vacuo), crashes the fight. I believe this is when the Summer maiden gets introduced, and she uses the relic to end the fight and save the thoroughly defeated team RWBY so that everyone may escape to Vacuo as Atlas’ destruction is complete.

So, to TL;DR this extremely long post:

There is a Big Bad Wolf kind of monster/entity in Atlas I’m tentatively calling Fenrwby

Watts created this monster by dabbling into forbidden experimentation, probably on aura and grimm

Summer Rose sealed said monster but at the cost of her life and the fight cost Ironwood his right side

Fenrwby is unleashed on Atlas, either by Team W.T.C.H, accidentally by Ironwood, or a combination of both

Jacques sides with W.T.C.H and helps them steal the relic

Fenrwby kills Ironwood and Maria

Oz is either defeated, sealed away from Oscar or sent in another reincarnation loop

Nora is from Atlas and we get her extended backstory

Team JNR fight Tyrian and are able to defeat him but Nora is gravely wounded

the Summer maiden arrives in a bind and with the relic of destruction ends the fight and takes team RWBY to safety

[ymoviesuk-group]

Was The Shining Stanley Kubrick admitting he faked the moon landing?

As part of part of our series on mind-blowing movie fan theories, we're changing the way you watch some of Hollywood's most famous films. This week: 'The Shining', whose source book by Stephen King turns 40 this year.

The theory

There are several bonkers theories on 'The Shining', nine of which are detailed in the excellent documentary, 'Room 237'. 'The Shining' is the perfect film onto which to project such theories, because a) Stanley Kubrick was incredibly detail-oriented and never left anything to chance, and b) Stanley Kubrick is dead, therefore unable to disprove any of the crackpot conspiracies you'd care to sling at his movies.

Read more: Shia LaBeouf’s anti-Trump project Sir Ian McKellen had the best sign at the Women’s March Rogue One crosses $1 billion at the box office

Several theories detailed in 'Room 237' are interesting, including a claim that the Native Americans on the hotel's food cans suggest an underlying theme of American imperialism, and an interesting dissection with a dolly cam that proves that the spiralling architecture of The Overlook Hotel is, in fact, impossible. One theory, however, outdoes all the others in terms of lunacy: theorist Jay Weidner claims that Stanley Kubrick littered 'The Shining' with clues to suggest that he filmed the fake Moon landing for NASA in 1969.

I'll just let that breathe a little. It's a conspiracy wrapped in a riddle wrapped in an enigma. But is it true? Humour us.

The evidence

Deep breath. Weidner believes that NASA were so desperate to beat Russia in the space race, they contacted director Stanley Kubrick to shoot a fake landing, so they could at least appear to have beaten them to the surface of the Moon. The evidence for this, says Weidner, is that there are apparent signs of the lighting technique known as 'front projection' in the infamous NASA Moon landing video, which Kubrick had pioneered for use in movies like '2001: A Space Odyssey'. 'The Shining', released 11 years after Neil Armstrong walked on the 'Moon', is heavy with symbolism that suggests Kubrick was confessing his 'secret'. Symbolism like...

- Little Danny Torrance is wearing the film's biggest clue: a jumper with the Apollo 11 rocket knitted right into the pattern. It's hardly subtle and suggests that Kubrick really wasn't doing such a great job at keeping quiet.

- One change from Stephen King's book that Kubrick saw fit to make was to change the number of the iconic room in the Overlook from Room 217 to Room 237. The reasons for this are obvious, apparently: the average distance between the Earth and the Moon is 237,000 miles. Room 237 represents the fake lunar landing set, The Overlook Hotel represents America and Danny, who approaches the room, represents Stanley Kubrick's artistic side. Still following? Good. Because it gets weirder.

- The page that Jack leaves behind at the typewriter? Cast iron proof that Kubrick faked the Moon landing. Where you see the word "All", as in 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy', Weidner sees "A11", short for Apollo 11. Apparently, this line is an insight into Kubrick's mental condition: that working on the Apollo 11 'project' and having to keep it a secret has made him go a little crazy. Obvious, really.

- If Jack Torrance represents Kubrick, then Shelley Duvall's Wendy represents Kubrick's own wife, Christina. The scene in which Wendy confronts Jack about his behaviour and suggests he has to quit has parallels with Kubrick's own secret. Jack's response? "That is so typical of you!… I've made an agreement… I have obligations to my employers!" It's so blatant! Wake up, sheeple!

- Weidner also claims the iconic hexagonal pattern found on the carpets in the Overlook Hotel were designed specifically to reference the Apollo 11 launching pads. This is how Kubrick effectively owns up to his engineering of the biggest fakery in human history: via carpet samples.

- Weidner didn't stop at room numbers and carpet patterns. He claims that the fact Danny sees the corpses of twins is a reference to 'Gemini', the NASA missions before Apollo. There were seven Apollo space missions, but only six landed; in the hotel lobby, there are six crates of soft drink 7-Up. Dick Halloran comes from Florida, which is where Apollo 11 was launched. The owner of the hotel has an eagle on his windowsill; the Apollo 11 lunar module was nicknamed 'The Eagle'. The truth is out there! If you look hard enough!

The verdict

It's tempting to instantly dismiss this as twaddle, and… well, we are going to dismiss it as twaddle, because it's a flagrant case of over-analysing – if you search long and hard enough for something, you'll start seeing the results you want to see. Rather like how some claim Pink Floyd's ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ syncs up perfectly with 'The Wizard Of Oz' (it doesn't, at all), the idea of the Kubrick Moon landing theory is so much fun you can't help but entertain it. Once you open yourself up to the idea, your findings are coloured.

But yes. No. Obviously Stanley Kubrick did not fake the Moon landings for NASA while shooting '2001: A Space Odyssey' and did not confess his secret in the form of 'The Shining'. We feel we can say this with no small amount of conviction.

Read more Who should win the VFX, according to VFX experts Can anything beat La La Land at the Oscars? Jimmy Kimmel reveals Oscar host wages

Watch a trailer for ‘Room 237′ below...

Photos: Press Association/Rex/Warner Bros.

[littlemisssquiggles]

RWBY Musings #85:  One Unique Rose. What if...Ruby Rose is a direct descendant of the First Silver Eyed Warrior to walk Remnant?

Someone asked

“ OK HEAR ME OUT I got this crack ship between Ruby and Fox don't know what it's called in the fandom) that basically started with good ol Fake Dating because there was a special going on at a coffee shop during Remnant's equivalent of Valentine's so these two were just like "I like coffee, you like coffee, let's get coffee as Fake BF/GF" and that's the core of their "relationship" AND THIS IS ALL TO SAY what if Fox, self proclaimed Comic Relief of CFVY, is Oscar's "wise young fox"?

Ruby/Fox crack ship anon again and the previous ask probably goes too literally with the narrative but my other guess would be someone from RWBY or JNR who can play the “wise young fox” role

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Squiggles Answers:

Uhh well that’s certainly an interesting way to start liking a crack ship indeed anon-chan.

Is that like in canon with something? Like did Ruby and Fox pretend to be a couple in RWBY: After the Fall or something like that? I haven’t read it so any CFVY and RWBY flashback shenanigans that went down in that book, I’d have zero clue about so let me know if that was the case.

Anyways, you’re not the first person to suggest Fox Alistair being Oscar’s potential “wise fox” in his Little Prince story and as I’ve voiced before, I’m open to the concept since I dig the thought of Fox—a blind man teaching Oscar about seeing with his heart since it harkens back to the very message that the Fox imparted on the Prince.

So I’m cool with Fox being Oscar’s Fox. The one thing I’m uncertain of is the probability of Oscar encountering Fox (and essentially the rest of CFVY) during his Little Prince story.

The only way I can see Oscar meeting Fox is if CFVY were sent to Solitas along with SSSN. Since Tyrian teased the idea of General Ironwood calling upon aid from Vacuo back in V6 then I’m assuming that that’s the one way that our heroes’ allies from Shade Academy will get involved. If part of V8’s plotline highlights Ironwood finally coming to his senses and sending a distress signal out to Vacuo, leading to Headmaster Theodore sending some of his best huntsmen and huntresses across to help (inclusive of SSSN and CFVY) then that’s how I can picture Oscar and Fox finally meeting. But as of now, we have no clear indication of Ironwood even doing that given how things shaped up by the end of V7.

What would be interesting is if Oscar attempts to do that on his own somehow as part of his journey back to Atlas. It’d be interesting if Oscar somehow manages to do something to get in contact with Headmaster Theodore of Vacuo. But I’m not sure. For now I’ll safely leave it as a probability on the table of possibilities.

As for other Oscar’s Fox candidates, I toyed with Nora Valkyrie being Oscar’s Fox since her very relationship with Ren embodied the Fox’s lesson, at least in my opinion.

I also toyed with the possibility of Oscar’s Fox being a completely new character introduced for V8 or perhaps an old character reintroduced back into the story for Oscar to meet along the way as part of his separate arc (like for example: Klein Sieben).

But as of now, my key pick for Oscar’s Fox is Ozpin since he’s currently Oscar’s main companion.

Even though I more favour Oz as being Oscar’s Pilot; in a recent RWBY Musing I shared, I expressed my openness to the thought of Oz playing a double role as both Oscar’s pilot and his Fox since I have a Pinehead/Ozpinhead headcanon where Oz would teach Oscar the lesson that the Fox taught the Prince through an important memory he shared with him. A memory that was a secret that Oz had kept for many years out of a promise he made long ago to Summer Rose.

My theory is that Oz knows the full details of Summer Rose's death however it was a secret he kept out of a solemn vow he made to Summer before she died.

Since Qrow mentioned in V7 that Summer’s death was a “Summer Rose secret” while alluding that Oz might know something about it, I figured it might be just that.

Summer’s last mission was a personal secret that she entrusted only to Oz and probably made him swear not to tell a soul for reasons that probably made more sense to Summer Rose than anyone else.

But Oz was able to understand Summer and even empathize where she was coming from with her final choice since he had been in her shoes more times than the average person—all the more reason why Summer felt that she had chosen right by entrusting him with her secret.

From my perspective, I really like the idea of Oz making many, many mistakes in his lifetimes as he once told Ruby back in V1—he probably even broke a lot of promises once made to people who placed their full faith in him as we also saw from the events of V6 and V7.

However, if there is one promise that Oz hasn’t broken; it’s the one he made to Summer Rose. To Summer, Oz promised to withhold the truth of what truly happened to her. The truth of her greatest sacrifice and greatest failure.

I like the idea of Oz chosing to keep such a secret close to the chest out of loyalty and a solemn vow to a dear friend he once cared for, just as much as I love the idea of that secret ultimately being passed down to Oscar who will then go on to finally reveal it to the person who probably needs to hear about it the most out of everyone: Ruby.

I like the concept of the full truth about Summer’s death being told to Ruby by Oscar as Ozpin’s successor who shares a bond with Ruby who is essentially Summer’s successor as her daughter and the last of the Silver Eyed Warriors following her mother.

I have a theory that Oz secretly harbours remorse for what happened to Summer. Feeling like he had failed her in some way which was why he faithfully kept her secret. In his mind, it’s the one thing he hadn’t done to fail her. This for me, puts a bit more emphasis on the importance of the growing bond between Ruby and Oscar.

It is the Fox’s lesson that renewed the Prince’s belief in the meaning behind his love for his rose. Therefore, I really love the idea of Oz using his past with Summer; sharing in his feelings of thinking that he had failed someone he once loved like a daughter (maybe) to strengthen the resolve and feelings of his successor—Oscar—who shares his own relationship with the descendant of Summer Rose—Ruby.

Much like Summer was to Oz probably once upon a time, Ruby is important to Oscar for his own personal reasons.

While Ruby and Oscar are both heirs to Summer and Oz respectively, they both share their own story together.

While many characters (mainly Qrow Branwen) have commented on the similarities between Ruby and Summer both in appearance and personality—nevertheless, Ruby isn’t her mother. Just as how Oscar isn’t Oz. He may share in his memories and the memories of the past Wizards in Ozma’s lineage. However Oscar has his own life to live as he is, bottom-line, his own person as Ruby once rightfully told him.

Both Oscar and Ruby are their own individuals free to forge their own destinies and thus, make choices that may ultimately succeed where their predecessors didn’t.

But much like the two people before them, the Wizard of Light has shared a bond with a Silver Eyed Rose that has transcended two lifetimes (as far as I know).

Basically what I’m saying here is that I really dig the idea of Oz and Summer being bound together by a promise (i.e. Summer’s final wish) that is ultimately both broken and carried on by Ruby and Oscar who make their own promise to each other, in a way as part of their budding relationship.

Through Oscar ultimately sharing the truth about her mother, I can picture Ruby finally having a sense of closure about her mother since time and time again; the series has hinted how much Summer meant to Ruby.

We saw how Salem merely mentioning that she met (and probably killed) Summer crippled Ruby emotionally. For me, I think it could be cool if there’s another side to how Summer died. Like maybe Salem dealt a killing blow to Summer but not before she was able to perform a move that revealed something to her about Salem—like a weakness or something.

I know that Salem can’t be killed but a part of me still wishes to hold out for the belief that the key to destroying her isn’t killing her but permanently severing her link to the Realm of Darkness and thus the Creatures of Grimm.

My theory still remains that the key to stopping Salem is to purify her of her darkness. It was the God of Darkness’ Grimm Pools of Darkness that turned Salem and gave her sovereignty over the Grimm and it was the God of Light’s Fountain of Life and Creation that made Salem immortal in the first place.

I still wish to believe that there is a connection to that. And as of now, much like the Fountain of Life and Creation, the Silver Eyes are the closest thing to the power of the God of Light which made Salem immortal. Not to mention that the God of Light’s power is the only think that can stop his brother’s power. So I want to believe that Summer Rose’s death meant something in that way.

Maybe she learned something—a small potential weakness that could stop Salem that only a Rose can do?

I know that the Rose Family weren’t the only Silver Eyed Warriors to come out of Remnant. Just as how I know that Salem has spent years hunting and killing Silver Eyed Warriors.

That being said, imagine if…there is something special about Ruby’s family meaning hers and her mother’s family line that makes them unique even when compared to other Silver Eyed Warriors and their family lines.

What if…the Roses are special in general?

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The Legend of the Moon Rose

Here’s an idea. What if and this is a big IF…the Rose Family—Ruby’s bloodline—are descended from the very First Silver Eyed Warrior to walk in New Remnant whose origins are somehow connected to the Fountain of Life and Creation that as far as we know, has been lost to time.

I know that it was shown in the Lost Fable that Henkle—the fifth reincarnation of Ozma—bore children who were Silver Eyed Warriors (potentially���I think it was confirmed to be true in the RWBY V6 DVD Commentary).

However I personally DON’T think the Silver Eyed Warriors began with the Wizards.

This squiggle meister actually more likes the idea of the Silver Eye lineage starting with a Rose with all other Silver Eyes that succeeded them (like Henkle’s children and even Maria Calavera and her father) were spawns from centuries of crossbreeding within different family lines and all that jazz.

I found it weird but interesting all the same that both of Henkle’s kids had silver eyes but neither him nor his wife (whose eyes were blue) had silver Eyes. Kind of reminds me of how Muggleborns worked in the Harry Potter series. In that series, wizards and witches could be born to non-magical parents so I figured the same can work for Silver Eyed Warriors where they could be born to parents who aren’t Silver Eyed Warriors themselves but probably share ancestry that link them back the Silver Eyes bloodline.

I actually would love to think that the very First Silver Eyed Warrior was Ruby’s ancestor who stemmed from her family tree.

I know it sounds like a silly theory but for now I’ll hold onto it since I’m starting to really, really like it as a Little Red headcanon.

Imagine if…in the end it is revealed that Ruby descends from a more “powerful” line of Silver Eyed Warriors with a greater direct connection to the very First Silver Eyed Warrior in Remnant history who I will hereby dub the Moon Rose.

And in the end, it’s her light that will stop Salem since, as the last living direct descendant of the Moon Rose; Ruby is connected to the Fountain of Life and Creation and the God of Light and thus has the power to stop Salem. Or something like that, I dunno. Just me and my theories here.

Overall, what I’m trying to say with all of this jibber jab is since Summer’s death is a mystery the show has dragged out since the start of the series, I’m assuming it will mean something very important to the PLOT down the line. Probably.

That being said, I like the idea of Summer Rose’s death revealing or hinting a small minor weakness that could potentially turn the tides against Salem in a way. I’d like to think that of all the Silver Eyes that Salem had killed, Summer is the only one who had managed to truly “hurt her” in some way.

In the RWBY Theme: Red Like Roses Part II, the Summer part of the theme mentioned Summer being forced to make a sacrifice that ultimately resulted in her forcing a “bigger sacrifice” on Ruby. 

Like I imagined Summer chose to fight Salem because she believed she would be the Silver Eye to finally kill her. But of course, she failed and now because of this, Ruby is the one left with this destiny in her lap.

Nevertheless from this, I still want Summer to have entrusted Oz with the full truth behind why she left and as promised, the Wizard took that secret to his grave and into his next lifetime where Oscar will eventually tell it to Ruby on his behalf. 

I just like this idea since I can see it potentially leading to Ruby regaining her respect in Oz. It still bothers me that V7 didn’t highlight our heroes feeling any remorse for how they treated Oz in V6.

Who knows? Perhaps…if Ruby discovered that one of Ozpin’s lies and half-truths was one that he told out of a promise to hide her mother’s own secret, it may lead to Ruby gaining a newfound appreciation for her former headmaster; restoring her trust in him since her mother wouldn’t have trusted Oz with her secret if she didn’t fully believe in him too. So that’s an idea.

Not to mention that such a move could also help further solidify Oscar as a most trusted confidante and potential partner to Ruby since both smaller, more honest souls could finally share in some closure over the secrets of their precursors. Or something like that. Then again, these are only my theories but you get the picture.

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So in conclusion:

Anyways, I know I went off on another whole long tirade about Oz and Oscar and Summer and Ruby and Ruby and Oscar but bottom-line I hope I was able to actually answer your point anon-chan XD

As I’ll reiterate, I don’t mind Fox being Oscar’s Fox. It’s just that right now, my money is more on Oz since it could potentially help to a) deepen the bond between Oscar and Oz, b) reveal more on the truth of Summer Rose and c) deepen the bond between Oscar and Ruby by extension of their connection to Oz and Summer.

That’s my take on it.

More Squiggles’ RWBY Content

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)