#ozma being brought back to kill her but upon seeing him again she locks him away to keep him safe

[fanstuffrantings]

Thinking strongly about the concept of a Salem lore rewrite where she was a creation of the God of darkness who was trying to make more advanced Grimm, and Ozma was a hero blessed by the God of light. The only person to never look at her like a monster.

[littlemisssquiggles]

I was wondering; in your story idea when Salem’s forces take a number of Atlesian citizens hostage to use as leverage against Oscar, what sorts of people did you envision would be taken prisoner and what would become of them after Ruby and Oscar finally defeat Salem?

Hey Al.Well that Pinehead headcanon is actually one version of two Dark Domain Arc concepts I’ve shared before.One where Oscar is the only one taken prisoner by Salem and he becomes the Boyin the Lonely Tower as Salem imprisoned him in a similar fashion to how she waslocked away centuries ago and the second version is the one where both Ruby andOscar are the only ones taken prisoner by Salem and are forced to survive herdomain in the Land of Darkness in order to make it back to civilization wherethey’d hope to be reunited with their comrades who they last saw trying toescape the Fall of Atlas.

The one where Oscar becomes Salem’sprisoner is the only version where the Atlesians are captured along with him. Ifigured it’d be pretty interesting if Salem succeeded in capturing a fractionof Atlas’ populace when they were trying to flee Atlas before it fell from the sky.I figured it word appeal to the malicious side of Salem if she captured thoseinnocent people to be used as leverage to force Oscar, as Ozma’s incarnate tosubmit to her whims.

It’s also another way to provide anexample of just how little Salem cares for humanity while Ozma and by extension,his successors, do. 

To have Salem threaten the lives of innocent men, women andchildren from a kingdom she destroyed, using them as collateral to force Oscar into submission which the young lad would willinglysubmit to for the sake of the people is an excellent way to show the differencebetween these two immortal beings’ mind-sets on humanity and the value of humanlife.

So to answer your question Al, Ipicture Salem capturing a mixed bag of Atlesian captives. I figured Salem to be the typeto honestly care very little for what type of class an individual is. That stuff mattersnaught to her to her victims because in her eyes, they’re all expendable in the game of fulfilling her selfish desires.  Soeven if she were to capture someone who was originally of upper class in Atlas,like let’s say Jacques Schnee for example—it’s not like she’d give him oranyone else better treatment over others.

They’ll all be her slaves forced underthe same chains of bondage with their fickle lives in the hands of one poor youngboy forced to be their ‘king’ with his actions reflected upon them; be it good or bad. The idea Ihad is that during the Fall of Atlas, let’s say the Atlesian Army led by WinterSchnee rallied together to board as many fleeing Atlesians from both Atlas andMantle to take them to safety in another neighbouring kingdom.

Since the Kingdom was going to plummet andpossible decimate both Atlas and Mantle, at this point, the army could notdiscriminate. So you had ships piled with refugees from all walks oflife—Atlesian and Mantlese, upper class and lower, human and Faunus, huntsmenand civilian. And although the military were successfully in rescuing everyonebefore the devastation, that didn’t stop Salem from using her forces toimprison a good portion of the populace.

Like imagine the Atlesian armysuccessfully rescuing 100 airships holding over 1000 people only for Salemto swoop in and capture at least half of that. So while the one half managed toescape, the other half were taken to the dark lands.

I even have this idea of some of Weiss’family—like perhaps Whitley and her mother along with family members from her mother’s side—become prisoners of Salem. It’s a cool way to give Weiss anincentive to go on a life and death rescue mission to Salem’s Domain joining Ruby and theirteam.

The way I pictured this version of theDark Domain Arc is that Oscar and more than half the Atlesian populace becomevictims of Salem’s abduction during the Fall of Atlas. General Ironwood is outof commission, practically on his death bed since he sustained life-threateninginjuries during the Fall. PerhapsJames was trying to help/ protect Qrow Branwen during a fight before the two wereswarmed by a pack of winged Beringels who practically tore both man apart,particularly James (a nod to the Wizard of Oz where the Scarecrow and the TinMan were harmed when the flying monkeys came for Dorothy to take her to theWicked Witch).

With Ironwood down, the Atlas militarylook to Winter as his right hand to take charge in his place.

Basically my idea is that theFall left a big blow that affected everyone—it was even worse then whathappened in Vale. Speaking of Vale, I really like the idea of everyone fleeingfrom the Fallen Atlas and returning to Vale with what was left of the Atlesianpopulace. From Vale, not only do our heroes reunite with old allies (such as GlyndaGoodwitch, Professor Port and Dr. Oobleck) but they also plan their next bestcourse of action.

Like I have this theory where I believepart of Salem’s plan would be to use Atlas to spark a second Great War betweenthe kingdoms. Like I know it’s a stretch but…think about it:

Salem has kind of shaped Atlas to takethe fall for certain events. Like the Attack at the Vytal Festival and the Fallof Beacon, that could be misconstrued to look like an Attack from Atlas. Caroline Cordovin pointed at this during V6 when she made the acknowledgement that since the Vytal Festival, it’s cause the rest of Remnant to see Atlas in poor light.

Not to mention that the stunt that waspulled with Cordovin herself and the mechazord in Argus. That could be twisted to makea point that Atlas was planning to make their move on Mistral too since theirforces resides in one of their main cities. 

And lastly, there’s Vacuo. With the wayhow Vacuo was brought up last season where, I think it was Watts who said thatif Ironwood comes to his senses, he could reach out to Vacuo. My guess is thatSalem is planning to pull some move that will probably paint Atlas at firingshots at Vacuo. That’s my hunch. 

Atlas will be turned into a martyr to spark a Second Great War in Remnant. And upon Atlas falling, perhaps this might spark the unknown Leaders of Mistral to cease this as an opportunity to have Mistral rule over all four kingdoms since technically, Vale (the kingdom whose original leader first ended the first war) and Atlas (the most technologically advanced and military leading kingdom crumbled to the ground) are at their weakest.

For all we know, after Atlas falls, Mistral might want to take over. After all, wasn’t it not Mistral who sort of instigated the first Great War in a way? I’m just saying. 

This is actually making me think ofsomething important—what if…Salem is the least of our heroes’ worries. What if...the big final battle would be during a Second Great War?

I have this weird feeling that, if wedo get a standalone Dark Domain Arc during the Atlas Trilogy, it’ll probably end with the group confrontingSalem. Like Salem vs Ruby as our main heroine but instead of killing her, Salemis sort of restored in a weird way. A part of me believes that it’s not Salem’sfate to die by being killed but to receive death through finally understandingwhat the Gods were trying to show her after all those years ago.

I know no one likes the SalemRedemption headcanon buuuuuuuut…this squigglemeister think it’s very likely due to theforeshadowing left behind by the Lost Fable. At least…okay, hear me out withthis one.

My gut feeling is that RWBY’s climax arc will involve historyrepeating itself. 

It will feature Remnant going througha second Great War and it will also feature Salem gathering an army from thatGreat War to enact her revenge on the Gods for a second time.

I feel as if Salem could go throughsomething similar to Haggar/ Honerva during the final season of VoltronLegendary Defender (only not as poorly executed).

I feel like should Ruby use her Silver Eyeson Salem on full blast, she wouldn’t kill her but restore her to her originalself before she fell into the Grimm Pools of Darkness. I feel as if Ruby’s eyes would only cleanse Salem of all of her darkness.However, it wouldn’t change her.

Salem would be reverted back to her original self from First Remnant but she would still harbour the same negative emotions that brought her to her own self destruction.

Alhough she has been cleansed of her darkness, it did not rid her of all the anger and resentment she still harbored for so many years. Her body may be changed again but her memories of the past will still stay with her.

As a matter of fact, it only served to remind her of why Salem became the monster she once was and still was at heart.

The Gods. It was all their fault. They did this to her and they still needed to pay for what they put her through. So basically Salem returns to her old ways.

I like the idea of Ruby cleansing Salem with her Silver Eyes but Salem is still bitter. She hasn’t let go of the past and still wants vengeance.So like before, she tries to form an army of the Grimm but  because Salem no longer had anyties to the darkness after her restoration, the Grimm no longer served her.

Thus Salem loses her Grimm army. There could even be a thing where Salem is unable to turn herself back into her Grimmified form. Perhaps after seeing that her power could cleanse Salem, Ruby uses it to get rid of the Grimm Pools? Not sure if she’s that powerful. If not Ruby then I can see Oscar doing that or her and Oscar doing it together, using their combined Light to rid away the land of Darkness maybe?

 This infuriates Salem.  In a nutshell, my theory is thatRemnant will fall into a second Great War. During those events, we’ll see ouryoung heroes experiencing what their ancestors suffered through with the kingdomstaking fire at each other with Mistral making the first advances to invade and conquer the remaining two kingdoms since Atlas fell. And while and Vacuo’s leaders are doing their best to ensure that Mistral doesn’t wind up taking over their kingdoms, the people suffer at the hands of the Grimm who become more rampant during the chaos.

And while the War is in full effect with everyone fighting against Mistral, Salemuses that as a ploy in her schemes. 

Similar to how she gathered First Remnant’sleaders against the Gods in the Lost Fable, what if…Salem rallies the leadersof Mistral (as the most dominant kingdom) appealing to their lust for power so that they may train their weapons on a much higher target. 

Imagine if… Salem gets the leaders of Mistral to side with her by saying something along the lines of why rule all of Remnant when you can rule the whole world should they aid her take down the Brother Gods.

What do you think of that? Again I know it’s a stretch of a theory butit’s worth thinking about. So yeah, this answer took a rather strange turn. Nosure if I quite answered it but that’s my answer in a sense XD Hope I answeredyou in some shape or form Al or at least gave you more than you bargained forXD

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[littlemisssquiggles]

Pinehead Headcanons: Oscar and Dark Magic

I’ve shared quite a number of Pinehead headcanons in my time in the FNDM and if there’s one thing I’ve considered, it’s the concept of Oscar ‘accidentally’ using dark magic---the power of destruction. Like I’m pretty much convinced that, upon awakening his magical potential, Oscar would stick to the side of the light---becoming a powerful user of light magic representing creation and preservation of life.

However there’s also the other side where I peg Oscar also has the potential to use dark magic, mimicking the same sorcery we’ve seen Salem perform in the event of anger and provocation.

Like imagine Oscar being backed into a corner: a literal life and death scenario where a dangerous foe---possibly someone as blood-thirsty as Tyrian Callows or even Cinder Fall---threatens the safety of one of his friends/teammates or someone he loves dearly (for example: Ruby Rose) and in heated rage, Oscar awakens a darker side to his magic conjuring the same kind of dark tendrils that we saw Salem conjure to supress Hazel in V6.

Imagine Oscar doing something like that out of anger or worse…I have this scene in my head where Oscar uses dark magic but loses control and winds up ‘accidentally’ killing some with said power; succumbing to the remorse of such a heinous action against another living soul. Even worse if folks close to him wound up becoming frightened of him since his power reminded them of Salem. Thus, Oscar has to deal with the thought of being compared to the very person he’s trying to stop just because they share the same kind of power.

I even have this concept where Salem forces Oscar to use dark magic while he’s her prisoner during a potential standalone Dark Domain Arc. There’s also the idea of Oscar using dark magic on Salem cause he has no choice. 

For those Avatar: The Last Airbender fans---remember Hama and Katara? Remember how Hama was the first water bender to master blood bending and she tried to pass that teaching onto Katara. But when Katara refused to blood bend, Hama kind of pushed her into it when she threatened her friends. So in the end, Katara was forced to use blood bending to stop Hama from hurting the people she cared about. Katara didn’t want to do it but she had no choice to since Hama pushed her to that point.

I can definitely see Salem trying to do something like with Oscar as Ozma’s incarnate. Like what if…another skeleton in Ozma’s closest is that he used to engage with Salem in using dark magic to keep their followers in check as the so-called ‘new gods of Remnant’. But unlike Salem who took pleasure in bringing the weaker humans to their knees, using such a negative power was something Ozma personally despised it and upon reincarnating again, he swore off of that side of his magic. Or something to that extent. And it’s a mindset that he and Oscar shared.

Oscar doesn’t want to use dark magic but that doesn’t stop Salem from trying to push him to do it. And when she pushes Oscar too far, by threatening Ruby’s life in front of him (playing off of the shared headcanon I concocted with @miki-13 where Ruby is captured along with Oscar and while he’s locked away in a tower, Salem puts Ruby through the ringer---forcing her to fight endless hordes of Grimm in her castle arena as means of breaking the young warrior), that’s when Oscar finally snaps and uses black magic on Salem.

It could even be interested if Oscar sort of ‘kills Salem’ with his black magic. Like maybe he summons the Grimm hands from the ground to restrain Salem and ends up snapping her neck in the process out of unbridled rage. Of course Salem survived it since she’s immortal and all but the very thought that Oscar had been brought to that level, instantly horrifies him.

And thus, Salem succeeded in what she had been trying to do. At the moment, Oscar is a just a boy. A child. He is more or less seen as innocent. A smaller, more honest. Pure. I can definitely picture Salem trying to tarnish that purity. Blacken Oscar’s heart and tarnish him like she had done herself years ago.

It’d be even more interesting if Salem originally saw herself as being just as pure and innocent as Oscar was until she met the Gods or even Ozma---blaming them all for the monster she had become and once again not taking responsibility for her own descent into darkness.

I think something like that could be done for Oscar. It could be an interesting plot-point to explore for his character. Maybe. At least it’s an idea.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[littlemisssquiggles]

Pinehead Headcanons: Oscar versus Ruby II

yellow-eyed-green-crocodile asked 

“Hello, Squiggles! So, I was listening to Red Like Roses part 2, and I thought: what if it would shift from being from the POV of Ruby and Summer to the POV of Oscar and Ruby, with Oscar in the place of Ruby and Black Rose Ruby in the place of Summer. In the sense that Ruby would willingly offer herself to be thrown in the Grimm pool, thinking this would save Oscar in some way, but realises she actually forced a bigger sacrifice on him, when they see eachother for the first time in months, 

Only to be told that they now need to fight eachother, just for Salem's enjoyment, just like in your musings. I say "for the first time in weeks" (I wrote "months" accidentally) because I imagine that, if Oscar and Ruby get captured together, hey would be held completely isolated in separate cells. What do you think?”

Squiggles Answers:

Hey there Yellow! You’re right. As aforementioned, I see two ways a potential standalone Dark Domain Arc can go. Either Ruby and Oscar are kidnapped together and become Salem’s prisoners in her Dark Domain or Oscar is imprisoned alone and becomes the Boy in the Lonely Tower with Ruby forming a search party to journey through the Dark Lands towards Salem’s castle to rescue Oscar (and possibly some abducted Atlesians taken hostage as well during the Fall of Atlas).

Both of these ideas are perfectly possible since they reference idea from the Wizard of Oz narrative.

 In the Captive Children version of this concept, I definitely pictured Ruby and Oscar being separated during their imprisonment. Going off of ideas that me and @miki-13​ developed, Oscar would be locked away in a tower so that Salem may put him through the same isolation and loneliness that she felt after her father imprisoned her so we can get that irony right there.

And as for Ruby, she wouldn’t be as lucky as Oscar. While Oscar is isolated, he is more or less pampered by Salem. I still like the idea of Salem leaving human minions (like Tyrian or Emerald, Mercury and Hazel) or a Grimm (like my No-Face inspired Grimm idea) to nurture Oscar and ensure that he’s well taken care of. 

Ruby, on the other hand will be forced to more or less rot in a cold cage. Salem would put her through the ringer in an attempt to break the young girl. Forcing her to fight endless hordes of Grimm, day in and day out til she dropped before dragging her tired and beaten body back to her jail cell. She might even starve her or feed her less food since Salem wants Ruby to be tormented, but more or less kept alive.

I can see this happening since it plays off of what Miki told me transpired in the story for the Wizard of Oz, in which Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion were taken hostage by the Wicked Witch and during their imprisonment, Dorothy was left unharmed due to protection spell placed on her by Glinda (I believe). The Cowardly Lion, on the other hand, wasn’t as fortunate and was starved mostly.

In this context, Oscar would be Dorothy and Ruby would be the Cowardly Lion, to have that Oz reference.

I still like the idea of Oscar’s actions contributing towards Ruby’s overall treatment. Like if he tries to rebel in any shape or form, it’d result in far harsher punishments for Ruby. I can definitely picture Salem using Oscar and Ruby’s bond and devotion to each other as means of getting them to bend the knee for her.

Plus, in a weird way, I can even picture Salem treating Ruby poorly out of some sick sense of jealousy. Like since Oscar is technically an incarnate of Ozma (or possibly his true incarnate), imagine Salem being envious of Oscar’s love and care for Ruby. Perhaps it might even resurface from surpressed memories of the good ole days between her and Ozma; both before and after the Gods intervened in their lives which makes her even more bitter.

Like Miki painted this really cool scene in their last response about Salem trying to woo Oscar over to her side; believing him to be impressionable. However Oscar is no fool. He was willing to play Salem’s games for Ruby’s sake but he wasn’t about to submit entirely either. I can see Salem’s ploys as a way of her forcing both Ruby and Oscar to their breaking point.

She provokes ways to force Oscar’s hand as a means of seeing how far the boy was willing to go for his ‘beloved rose’. At the same time, Salem pushes Ruby over and over again to the point of extreme exhaustion out of curiosity to see just how resilient Ruby’s indomitable spark is.

Call me a weirdo here but I can see Salem pushing Ruby in that way as a means of playing off of the Indomitable RWBY Theme.

According to the lyrics of that song, the line reads:

“…There’s a light that shines and it’s power is mine. Though the body is weak and breakable. The spirit is indomitable”  

An experience like this can be what tests this for Ruby’s character. From the get go, Ruby has been described and often portrayed as this unquantifiable spark that can inspire others even in the darkest of times. She has been crowned as this remarkable individual whose light can become a beacon of hope for many to look to. 

But this pegs one question I’ve asked before. 

If Ruby is out there being the light that drives others then who is there to keep her fire going? 

It has also been foreshadowed that Salem’s intentions are to do everything in her power to extinguish Ruby’s light.

This now pegs this question:

Should Ruby’s light be snuffed out, who will be there to help her reignite that spark.

This explains one of the reasons why I believe Oscar’s relationship with Ruby will become very detrimental to her story moving forward.

Since his introduction, the series has sort of positioned Oscar as someone who is willing to step up to do everything in his power to help her to persevere in tough moments. He’s there to support her. Even when she falters a bit, Oscar jumps at the opportunity to step up and lend a helping hand.

And in an odd way, in moments where Ruby was brought down, since V5, Oscar has been quick to rush to her side when other characters didn’t.

When Ruby was behaving indifferently about her repressed grief over the events of the Fall of Beacon, it was Oscar’s words that pushed her to finally come clean about it. We even got that scene at the end of the V5 Dojo scene where Oscar acknowledged Ruby’s share of hardships in an understanding manner. 

“…This must be really hard on her too.”

Mind you, this was his own deduction about her with only knowing her for a short time. Not something Oz had to tell him was the case.

And notice how ever since then, we’ve gotten moments of Oscar trying to back Ruby in some shape or form. Even if it might be small.

 I also found it interesting that when Ruby felt awkward under everyone’s gazes during the V6 finale, it wasn’t Yang she looked to as her big sister. It wasn’t Weiss she looked too as her best friend. It wasn’t even Blake or the JNR crew as her supportive friends who knew her longest that she looked to. It was Oscar. She looked around at everyone else but it was Oscar she chose to deflect attention onto. She looked to him. 

I guess what I’m mainly trying to say here is that, there’s a reason why I keep saying that Oscar will become an important fuel to Ruby’s spark.

I think part of the reason these two Rosebuds are being wedged together is because when Ruby’s light goes out, it will be Oscar’s light fuelled by his love for Ruby and his desire to help her that will reignite that spark.

I do believe there is a chance that Salem will succeed in breaking Ruby. This is why I’ve jumped on the bandwagon of the Black Rose Ruby theory.

Black Rose Ruby will be the embodiment of a tarnished Ruby Rose, completely broken by Salem. I like the idea of Salem’s goal being to not kill Ruby but torture her physically, psychologically and of course, emotionally. 

Use her complete separation from her friends and lack of knowledge of not knowing whether they survived the Fall of Atlas to her advantage. Push her till she breaks. After all, even the most beautiful of roses ultimately wither.

I can definitely see Salem doing this since, as I said, Ruby is someone Ozpin---well Ozma valued as his proclaimed beacon of hope. The one he viewed could potentially be the answer to him finally stopping Salem once and for all, more or less, in a sense.

So I like the idea of Salem, as a means of taunting Oz and giving him the metaphorical middle finger, taking his proclaimed ‘precious spark’ and turning her to her side. To show him that all the faith he put in her was wrong.

“…You thought this girl was strong? Indomitable, you say. Well allow me to prove you wrong like I always have, Ozma…”

I can see Salem relishing in the satisfaction of one-upping Ozpin-Ozma in that way. Breaking Ruby. Making her lose her spark and give up for the first time since we’ve met her as our leading hero. And when performing the final blow, after Ruby is at her most vulnerable, that’s when Salem will drop her into the toxic Grimm Pools of Darkness.

I also really like the idea of Salem tricking Oscar into submitting to her using Ruby. In their last response, Miki described another cool scene where Salem finally breaks Oscar by threatening Ruby’s life. Like after weeks of not interacting with each other, this is what makes Oscar fall.

Okay hear me out with this one:

I know it will probably not happen but...this is where Oscar having a mind-semblance would’ve been perfect. I still dig the concept of Oscar being able to reach out and connect to Ruby in a way that Salem can’t detect. 

Like let’s say…by the power of Deus Ex-Let Me Have My Headcanons no Jutsu, Oscar, being of magic and the God of Light’s light, he has this unique ability to connect to Ruby using his mind since the two share the God of Light’s light inside them.

Like imagine if…upon awakening his semblance or unlocking his magical potential, Oscar becomes able to sense other beings sharing the Gods’ power like Salem (as another survivor of First Remnant) and Ruby, being a Silver Eyed Warrior with her eyes still intact.

So because they share the God’s Light, Oscar is able to connect to Ruby via her dreams and almost feel her presence. Like he can feel when she’s sad or hungry or lonely and sort of project himself onto to her. Like he can touch her mind or her soul (???) and comfort her from within without the need for physical contact regardless of the distance between them. If that makes sense.

Like it’s an odd psychic connection where Oscar can just close his eyes, fall asleep on his end and just appear to Ruby in her mind as a voice, talking to her but Ruby can also feel that Oscar is there with her and feel his emotions in her own body while he’s present in her mind.

So if Ruby is feeling scared and Oscar wanted to comfort her, Ruby can feel him projecting his comforting emotions onto her almost like he’s physically infront of her holding her hand.  

It’s kind of like how Oz is with Oscar only Oscar and Ruby won’t be connected by souls. But by their hearts. It’s their bond as close friends that acts as the glue holding them together, especially in such a trying time for them both.

But it’s something that only Oscar can only do and he can only do it with Ruby. Since they both share the Light of the God of Light and she’s his closest confidant and strongest bond. That’s an idea to play off of.

As an added fault in this ability, I can picture Oscar realizing that he can perform this magical feat when Ruby is mentally conscious enough to permit him entry into her mind. 

In order for the link to work, Oscar needs consent from Ruby to enter her mindspace and it’s not something he can just force his way into. Not like Oscar would want to do this since...he knows fully well that’s not the way to go, right?

And to clarify, Oscar can’t take over Ruby’s body. They’re not bonded at the soul. They’re bonded at the heart which creates a different experience from the  Man with Two Souls bit. At least that’s how I’m spinning this idea.

Moving along, Oscar can only link with Ruby when she’s conscious. If she’s awake and he can sense she’s there despite them being separated, Oscar can reach out to Ruby and connect to her in that way. 

Like I said, it’s only something Oscar can do since he technically has the magical capabilities of pulling it off in the context of the show. 

Seriously, if the Writers wanted to do something like this with Oscar, they can blame it on magic since magic is the power of unlimited possibilities in RWBY.

If Salem and Ozma were able to use magic to make themselves fly and become gods, create Maidens, create Grimm, turn people into birds, etc then I’m sure Oscar mind linking himself to Ruby or appearing to her in her mind or dreams via magic wouldn’t be too impossible. 

Anyways, I like the idea of this being how Ruby and Oscar are able to communicate with each other outside of Salem’s influence and keep themselves sane during captivity. However, despite Oscar being the one creating the means to link, the connection is only strong so long as Ruby is mentally stable. It’s like Wifi in a sense. Magical Mind Wifi. 

Like I can picture Oscar doing this perfectly when Ruby is fully conscious. But the instant she’s either too tired or worse, unconscious, Oscar can’t connect to her.

Because of this, I can especially see Oscar becoming incredibly anxious in moments when he can’t connect to Ruby. Like he can feel her there but they can’t communicate. This signifies to Oscar that Ruby is hurt or worse which often makes him worry for her.

The worst of it being a time when Oscar stopped sensing Ruby’s presence entirely. Like she’s completely gone and the young farm boy panics at the possibility of Ruby being dead. I can see this as Oscar’s breaking point. The very thought of Ruby being dead being what brings him to his knees, grovelling at Salem’s feet practically begging her to let him see Ruby.

Like I can see Oscar losing all hope at this point. He wants to see her. He needs to see her. He’d do anything to see her and it is that point where Salem finally has him.

So Salem takes Oscar to see Ruby. And once again, playing off of an idea Miki presented, what Oscar finds is horrifying. 

What’s even worse is that the feeling returns. As in what Oscar sees before him is a deadly Salem-esque version of Ruby but what makes Oscar more frightened is that it IS Ruby.

It wasn’t a Grimm impersonating Ruby or Salem playing tricks on his mind. It was her. Broken. Tarnished and completely under Salem’s control. 

From there, like my headcanon suggested, Salem forces Oscar and Black Rose Ruby to duel to the death on the idea of the two killing each other.

Either way it looks bad---if Ruby kills Oscar then he’ll probably reincarnate as someone else but Ruby would be left as Salem’s pawn forever. But if Oscar kills Ruby, he’d have the blood of the girl he loves on his hands and both him and Ozpin-Ozma would have killed their spark.

This is why I’m in love with the idea of Ruby and Oscar having a similar battle to Keith and Shiro from Voltron: Legendary Defender during ‘The Black Paladins’ episode. 

I can see Oscar, similar to Ozma, crawling on the ground, possibly stained with blood at this point, thinking he had gotten away only for Black Rose Ruby to come flying through hellfire to pin him to the ground.

Oscar only has a split second to raise the Oz-cane (newly upgraded with some kind of metallic handle so it’s resilient against a massive blade like Crescent Rose) in time to block the attack. Ruby has him down with every intention to cut off Oscar’s head. Oscar could feel the sharp tip of Crescent Rose beginning to dig into his skin at his throat.

The reason why I say ‘The Black Paladins’ episode since, like that episode, I can picture Oscar reaching out to Black Rose Ruby like how Keith reached out to Shiro. I can see Oscar doing what he always does---use his words to hopefully get the real Ruby Rose to be brought out.

Despite her weakened body being broken and moulded into this monstrous form to serve Salem, Oscar still believed in the indomitable spirit that rest within. That same spirit that has been the driving force for him and so many others for such a long time. 

Oscar tells Ruby all of this. Even under the threat of dying. Even as the hell fire flared all around them, nipping at their toes. Even under the destruction they caused together in their waltz of death, Oscar still did his best to call out to Ruby.

To extend his helping hand out to her in hopes that she may grasp it and allow him to take her back to the light. And, being the cheesy romantic that I am, I also envision Oscar professing his love for Ruby in this moment. Why not?

I can see him saying almost the same words as Keith did to Shiro, only in a more romantic context.

  “…Ruby please, this isn’t you! I know you’re still in there! I believe you are! You’ve always been able to bounce back from everything the world pushed at you. You persevered. Kept moving forward. Keep us moving forward. Keep me moving forward. You’re my best friend. More than that. I love you! You’ve always looked out for me. We looked out…for each other which is why I’m not going to let her destroy you too!”

Or…something like that. 

I guess I just want a moment where Ruby is turned by Salem and forced to kill Oscar but it’s Oscar’s words that brings out the real Ruby, even in her tarnished form.

So Salem orders Ruby to kill Oscar only for Ruby to turn and shock Salem by cutting her head off instead with Crescent Rose. Like a metaphorical fuck you for all the shit Salem put her through,

Tired, broken and confused, Ruby drops Crescent Rose and falls back, Let’s say she and Oscar were fighting on some pillar that was crumpling. The pillar falls plunging Ruby to her doom only for Oscar to jump in after her and there’s this epically romantic as shit moment where Oscar and Ruby are both drowning in the Grimm Pools of Darkness.

Despite the crushing force of the pools, Oscar does his best to reach out to Ruby as she drifts further and further away from him. But Oscar manages to grab Ruby and…just when you think they’re both death, a light erupts from both Ruby and Oscar engulfing them both.

Remember my theory of Ruby and/or Oscar getting rid of all the Grimm Pools by purifying them with either the Silver Eyes or the Light of God or whatever you call it.

My point is, I just wanna see Oscar saving Ruby and then their combined light destroys a Grimm Pool and when Oscar walks out of the pool, he is glowing gold while carrying an unconscious Ruby in his arms.Oscar looks at Ruby, think she might still be corrupted only for her to awaken, revealing her eyes to no longer be red but back to their silver form. The two share a smile and then hug or even better, share their first kiss together, finally consummating their love.

I also like the idea of the Grimm Pools turning Ruby’s iconic red hair to silver. Like if I had to envision Black Rose Ruby, she’d be the reverse of her normal look with silvery-grey hair and blood red eyes, red like roses.

And after Oscar helps cleanse Ruby of the Grimm Pool’s dark effects, I like the idea of Ruby either regaining her red hair or…how about silver-haired Ruby Rose with matching silver eyes? And every time she uses her eyes, her hair glows with her. Ey? Ey? C’mon, it could be a cool look.

Besides, I kind of want it for obvious Howl’s Moving Castle reference:

Oscar: Ruby, your hair…. it looks like starlight. It’s very beautiful. Ruby: You think so? So do I!

So yeah, that’s my take on that. Overall...did I even answer your question Yellow? XD

I think went off of another idea tangent again. Sorry. 

But basically I agree with you on Red Like Roses Part II take. I can definitely see it working for sure. 

I like the idea of a broken Ruby Rose agreeing to be baptized in the pool as a means of seeing Oscar again. Like Salem convincing her to do it to see him or it’s either Ruby do it or Oscar takes her place. So Ruby, already at her wits end, does this for Oscar. Because she loves him just as much as he loves her. 

I will forever be an advocate for Ruby and Oscar falling in love with each other at the same time. I mean techically Ozma and Salem fell in love at the same time but they didn’t know each other for very long.

I like the idea of Oscar and Ruby following the same pattern but in reverse. They get to know each other, grow close and fall in love with each other throughout their friendship. I still wanna see a beautiful close friendship between these buds before any love and romance blossoms. It could be adorable.

They’ve kept these two mostly mutual up until this point. Sure Oscar is gonna be the one to obviously realize his feelings first and confess first, no doubt. Buuuut....I’m hoping it’s still a mutual thing. You’re doing these buds right so far CRWBY. Keep it up and embellish it further in V7.

Mutual interest. Mutual respect. Mutual support, care and devotion. Mutual friendship. Mutual love.That’s what I see for these two kids.

But that’s mainly me.  What do you think? I know I shared a lot (again) but if you can, let me know your thoughts on my thoughts as always.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)